#Harvard stadium

[timmurleyart]

Night energy at Boston calling. ✨🎵🎡

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Big Tech and “captive audience venues”

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in CHICAGO with PETER SAGAL next WEDNESDAY (Apr 2), and in BLOOMINGTON next FRIDAY (Apr 4). More tour dates here.

Enshittification is what you get when tech companies, run by the common-or-garden mediocre sociopaths who end up at the top of most businesses, are unshackled from any consequence for indulging their worst, greediest impulses:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/#praxis

The reason Facebook was once a nice place to hang out and talk with your friends and isn't anymore is that Mark Zuckerberg is no longer disciplined by competitors like Instagram (which he bought) nor by regulators (whom he captured), nor by interoperable tech like ad-blockers and alternative clients (which he uses IP law to destroy) nor by his own workforce (who have become disposable thanks to workforce supply catching up with demand). It used to be that Mark Zuckerberg couldn't really move the enshittification lever in the Facebook C-suite because these disciplining forces gummed it up. He had to worry about losing users, or about users installing alternative technology, or about regulators hitting him hard enough to hurt, or about workplace revolts. Now, he doesn't have to worry about these things, so he's indulging the impulses that he's had since the earliest days in his Harvard dorm, when he was a mere larval incel cooking up an online service to help him rate the fuckability of his female classmates.

When we had defenses, Mark Zuckerberg had to respect them. Now that we're defenseless, he's shameless. He's insatiable. He will devour us to the marrow.

When I'm explaining enshittification to normies, I often make comparisons to other places where you can't escape like airports and sports stadiums: "Facebook can afford to abuse you once they have you locked for the same reason that water costs $7/bottle on the other side of the airport TSA checkpoint." It's an extremely apt comparison, as you can verify for yourself by reading "Shakedown at the Snack Counter: The Case for Street Pricing," a new report from the Groundwork Collective:

https://groundworkcollaborative.org/work/street-pricing/

"Shakedown" makes the point that – as is the case with tech giants – sports stadiums and airports are creatures of vast public subsidy. If this seems counterintuitive, try Mariana Mazzucato's Entrepreneurial State, which lists all the ways in which the tech revolution represents a privatization of publicly funded research, as with the iPhone, whose semiconductors, internet connection, voice assistant technology, touchscreen and other components all count the public as a key investor:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/the-entrepreneurial-state-appl

And, as with airports and sports stadiums, the proprietors of the iPhone business are able to reap this gigantic public subsidy without taking on any public duties. Regulators that could impose some kind of public service obligations as quid pro quo for using public funds are AWOL, or worse, captured and complicit in the ongoing, publicly financed ripoff:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/08/15/private-law/#thirty-percent-vig

Airport, stadiums and tech platforms are all walled gardens – roach motels that are hard to escape once they've been entered. Thus the scorching prices of stadium and airport food, and the 30% transaction fees imposed by Apple and Google on app revenues (this is 1,000% higher than the average fees charged by the rest of the payment processing industry!), the 51% fees extracted by Google/Meta from advertisers and publishers (compare with the historical average of 15%), and the 45-51% that Amazon takes out of every dollar earned by its platform sellers. Once you're locked in, they can turn the screws, either by gouging buyers directly, or by gouging sellers, who pass those additional costs onto buyers.

Groundwork has a proposal to address this in physical settings: regulation. Specifically, a "street pricing" regulation that keeps the charges for food and drinks within these walled gardens to prices comparable to those on the outside. They note that these regulations enjoy wide, bipartisan support. 76% of Republicans support a regulation that can only be described as "price controls," two words that normally trigger head-explosions in the right.

How is it that such a commanding majority of Republicans can get behind government price controls? Simple: it's obvious that when a company no longer faces market discipline – when they're the only game in town (or on the other side of the TSA checkpoint) – that government discipline has to fill the vacuum, and if it doesn't, you will get mercilessly screwed.

This is where enshittification – a form of monopolistic decay unique to the tech sector – departs from everyday monopoly abuse in other sectors, like aviation and league sports. Tech has an in-built flexibility, the inescapable property of "interoperability" that comes standard with every digital system thanks to the universal nature of computers themselves.

Interoperable technologies let you hack Instagram to restore it to the state of privacy- and attention-respecting glory that made it a success in the first place:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained

They let you monitor Facebook's failures to uphold its own promises about not profiting from paid political disinformation:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/06/get-you-coming-and-going/#potemkin-research-program

They let you claw back control over how Facebook's feeds are constructed:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/08/unfollow-everything/#shut-the-zuck-up

They let Apple customers maintain their privacy, even if they have the temerity to be friends with Android users:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/07/blue-bubbles-for-all/#never-underestimate-the-determination-of-a-kid-who-is-time-rich-and-cash-poor

They let shoppers use Amazon to order from local mom-and-pop stores:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/10/view-a-sku/

They even let you destroy the net worth – and power – of Elon Musk:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/08/turnabout/#is-fair-play

Interoperability creates a unique, easily administered source of discipline over tech bosses that just isn't available as a means of countering the ripoffs we see elsewhere, including in sports stadiums and airports. That means that, far from being harder to fix than other disgusting scams in our society, tech is easier to fix. All that stands in the way is the IP laws that criminalize the kind of reverse-engineering work that allow the users of technology to have the final say over how the devices and services they rely on work:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

Those IP laws were spread around the world by the US Trade Representative, who insisted that every country that wanted to export its products to the US without punitive tariffs must pass laws protecting the rent-extracting scams of US tech giants. With those tariff promises now in tatters, there's never been a better time for the rest of the world to jettison those Big Tech-protecting laws:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/15/beauty-eh/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham

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

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/28/street-pricing/#sportball-analogies

Image: Daniel Brody (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South-Station-snack-bar-1970.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[teddypng]

Joan Baez at Harvard Stadium, 1969. Photo by Spencer Grant.

[pucktoxicity]

If u know it could u summarize the whole Jack and Pia (girl who pretended to be his girlfriend for like a year or smth) story? I can’t watch all of the Tik Toks I need to read it. And pics does anyone have pics of her?

OH YES. i got this one, because i know the deep stuff of it, but i will definitely summarize it for you!!!

pia was in/around nyc, hoboken and jersey city where most of the younger and single devils players live

she claimed that she was hooking up with john marino (rip i miss you john come back to new jersey), and later claimed she was hooking up with someone else she called "sex eyes" who went to harvard and played for the devils... so... also john?

she started telling people around spring of 2023 that she was dating jack, and that he flew her out to carolina for the canes series (the truth: she bought herself the tickets for the series and flew out on her own)

she claimed that trevor was interested in one of her friends and that she'd set them up, and this girl starts talking to "trevor" (truth: it was her on a fake instagram she claimed was his "private account" for just friends, family, etc.)

when she set up this girl with "trevor," the girl ended up moving away, and then suddenly stopped speaking to their friend group entirely, and wouldn't say why (truth: the girl knew something was up with “trevor” after a while and moved away anyway, but never said she had a feeling it was not trevor ahead was talking to/it was actually pia until everything exploded at the stadium series)

she was telling her friends "oh, jack got us these tickets at madison square garden for their game against the rangers" but they'd never actually see or talk to jack (truth: again, she was buying these premier seats on her own, claiming he bought them)

any time her friends were where she claimed to be with jack, they'd go to look for her and they suddenly "left" or went to a place at an event or restaurant or whatever that only VIPs could enter, so her friends wouldn't be able to see her (truth: because she was there alone and not with jack, luke etc., or because she was not even there at all and photoshopping things and pretending she was)

pia told her friends (and showed them) her wag jacket. NOW, YOU GUYS: if you remember last fall when the devils wag jacket painter posted the one w jack on the back, which we all thought was the wag jacket soft launch.... PIA BOUGHT THAT FOR HERSELF. SHE PAID FOR HER OWN WAG JACKET LIKE SHE WAS ONE. THAT WAS NOT FOR ANY OF OUR ACTUAL WAGS.

she also created "private accounts" for luke, quinn, and cole caufield, pretending to be them as well to "talk" to her friends they were "interested in"

her friends didn't really speculate that it was all faked because she was posting photos with the guys, and with the hughes' family (truth: she was finding their families' social medias and facebooks to find photos, and then photoshopping herself into said photos)

she was getting the same goodies and PR packages as new jersey devils wags (truth: she would screenshot was one of the wags posted and then manipulate and photoshop it to look like a different angle, and like she'd actually gotten one)

this went on for a long time, until the original girl who'd gotten set up with "trevor" finally said like, hey something's up. this isn't trevor, i think pia's lying, and they started to get suspicious of her but kept it to themselves

SO, when jack brought sammy to the stadium series, and the pictures came out all over the internet, pia started panicking, telling her friends that jack was "cheating" to cover her tracks, and this and that, and luke "tried to warn her" (truth: he didn't know her psychotic ass existed at all, and he can't cheat on a girlfriend who's been pretending to be with him)

they finally got pia to open up and admit everything was faked. she was the one talking to them on these "private" accounts. she wasn't getting pr and clothes and things at all. she wasn't dating jack, or luke, or anything at all, she was just LYING, and when the girl she'd set up with "trevor" called her out, she wanted to leak their messages and conversations and embarrass said girl in front of their friends to avoid her telling them pia was a liar

all in all, she's insane, and there's way more to this than the very summarized version i just gave. i hope jack, luke, quinn, trevor and cole have some sort of restriction against her so she can't get near them, and same with jesper bratt's fiance, who she claimed was her best friend, and who she talked about a lot to her friends and said she's been to her house, etc., etc.

[dandthegods]

Limitless

The Gods are everywhere, you just have to look. They’re not trapped stagnant in the myths and stories, nor in the stale histories of cultures long past. Omnipresent in their own ways, the Gods can connect with anyone at any time. 

Athena can be found walking the aisles of a Harvard library, in the study room with a first generation college student, or in between the cardboard pages of a child’s first board book. Knowledge isn’t limited to the elite or the privileged, and neither is Athena. 

Apollo can be found in the galleries of prestigious art museums, in the bedroom of an aspiring anime artist, or in the imagination of a child scribbling with crayons. He is on the stage of a sold out stadium as well as in the back row of the cheapest seats. Art and creativity isn’t limited to those with influence or connections, and neither is Apollo. 

Hephaestus can be found in the offices of any corporate building, under the machinery of a blue collar factory, or in the joy of a teenager as they receive their first paycheck. He is found in the Paralympics, boosting the athletes onward, and he is also sitting with the hospital and rehab rooms of those recently disabled. Hard work is not limited to anyone’s status or abilities, and neither is Hephaestus. 

Aphrodite can be found on the covers of fashion magazines, in the dreams of an hopeful makeup artist, and in the playfulness of a child playing with their mother’s lipstick. Aphrodite can be in the appeal of sexy fishnets or the allure of a well tailored suit. Beauty and love are not limited to one’s gender or skills, and neither is Aphrodite. 

Hermes can be found flying alongside the highest reaching airplanes, the fastest driving cars, and on a seat on public transit in rush hour. He is the luck that saves the lives of a vehicular accident, and the thrill in that first payment on a used car. Luck and speed are not limited to how far or how fancy your transportation can go, and neither is Hermes. 

Zeus can be found behind the bench of a supreme court case, in the office of an overworked pubic defender, and in the thunderous laughter of a new father. He is in the welcoming smile of a stranger to those in need, and in the homeless being invited in. Justice and hospitality are not limited to one’s power or status, and neither is Zeus. 

Hera can be found in a fabulous wedding with hundreds of guests, in the celebration of a long lasting marriage, or officiating the ceremony in a courthouse. She is in the “I love you”’s before bed, the hands held in the car after a first date, and in the hospital room of an elderly couple saying goodbye for the last time. Love is not limited to the length of one’s relationship, and neither is Hera. 

Artemis can be found in the fields and forests of nature, in the calm breath of a hunter, or in the tears of grief for a lost pet. She is the courage in the voices fighting for respect and in the cheer of progress made. Equal treatment peace is not limited to those who hold the power, and neither is Artemis. 

Hestia can be found in the jingle of a first-time homeowners’ new keys, in the shared dinner of a multi-generational home, or in the exhausted smile of a single parent. She is the warmth of a household and the love shared within its walls. Family and support is not limited to those you share blood with or in the size of your dwelling, and neither is Hestia. 

Ares can be found in the measured steps of a solider over seas, in the joyous tears of a spouse when their loved one comes home, and in the flag wrapped around a coffin. He is in the voices of those calling for change, in the recovery rooms of the wounded, and in the minds of those struggling with trauma. Safety and wellness are not limited to one’s demographics and neither is Ares. 

Hades can be found in the grief left behind after a death, in the weight of responsibility of leaders, and in the darkness of winter. He is with those who cry and fear for their lives, and in the scars left behind the pain can be too much. Loss and recovery is not limited to those strong enough to withstand it and neither is Hades. 

Persephone can be found in the joy at the first warm day, in the love bridging distance between lovers, and in the will of those daring to strive for their dreams. She is the wonderment of a child at a honeybee, and the beauty found in the darkness. Energy and strength is not limited to the times of light and color, and neither is Persephone. 

Demeter can be found in the engines of the machines in a field, in the bounty of a community garden harvest, and in the first sprouts of an amateur gardener. She is the change of the seasons and the rebirth of the new year. Change and plenty are not limited to those with capital or land, and neither is Demeter. 

Dionysus can be found on the floats of a pride parade, in the movements pushing for equality, and in the bedroom of a closeted teenager. He is both the euphoria and dysphoria felt by some in their bodies, and in the community embracing those who feel lost. Rights and identity are not limited to those who one loves or how one looks, and neither is Dionysus. 

Poseidon can be found on the decks of a ship in a storm, on the docks with a father teaching his son to fish, or in the serenity on a sandy beach. He is the joyful screams of children running from the waves and the persistence in one learning how to swim. Power and possibility is not limited to the oceans and or one’s skills, and neither is Poseidon. 

[iluvchick3nz]

I feel like this is a big ask so you do not have to do it if you don’t wanna but maybe a soulmate au?? Like soulmate identifying marks?? Just cause I’m thinking about Harvard finnlo angst where they already know they’re soulmates and choosing to ignore it🥲 and also thinking about leo somehow seeing both of their marks and choosing to hide his anyway idk I just think it would be really angsty and romantic���🥹🥹 sorry for rambling hopefully this made some sense THANK YOU❤️❤️

I think this takes the prize as my favorite prompt EVER! This idea just flowed so well to me, and I LOVE this AU! Definitely one of my proudest fics for you all. :)

All credits to @lumosinlove !! <3

Gryffindor, December 2019

Leo brushed his sweaty hair back from his face and placed his goalie mask on the bench. It was getting long, curling down towards the base of his neck. He'd need to cut it again soon.

He considered to himself, as he stripped off his pads, what exactly would happen if he cut it shorter on the sides instead of just trimming it all around. He'd always liked that style on curly hair, shorter on the sides and fluffy and defined at the top, but hadn't allowed himself to do that in years. Now it was so much to manage, especially with the more intense NHL schedule. He ran a hand across the side, imagining how it would feel- then his fingers touched the raised skin behind his ear and the thought vanished completely.

Leo's soul mark had always branded him a bit ‘different’. There were three, like fine-lined tattoos, nestled just behind the shell of his right ear: a sun, a fleur-de-lis, and a fish, like the outline of a Goldfish cracker. At first, it hadn't been a big deal. He wore it out, like everyone did at a young age, his hair not bothering to hide it. But as he got older, people started to ask questions. And at twelve years old, when he realized he liked boys, he'd decided that enough was enough. He started to grow his hair out, just enough to cover it, and that was that.

Leo scratched his fingers over it and looked around the locker room. Nobody, that he was aware of, had three marks, just the normal two. Some guys wore them out: Pascal, Sirius and Remus, Thomas. Some others kept them covered: Kasey, even though he had a girlfriend, Kuny, Jackson- Finn and Logan.

Leo tried not to let his face flush too much at the thought of the last two. It was bad enough being gay and having a distinct soul mark that would surely ostracize him; he didn't need anyone discovering the little crush he had on his two teammates who were definitely into one another. Leo had seen the looks, the longing- he wasn't about to get in the way. He sighed and turned to grab his towel for his shower.

Boston, MA, February 2015

“Fucking yes, Tremzy!”

Logan whooped as he allowed himself to be pressed into the boards by his teammates, watching as hats rained down on the ice. 

“Hatty hatty!” Percy yelled. “Beanpot Finals, here we come, let's go!”

Logan laughed, skating away towards the bench for a shift change. There were only three seconds left on the clock- overtime against Northeastern had barely been avoided.

He felt a smack on his butt from a stick as he climbed the boards. “Way to go, Lolo.”

Logan rolled his eyes and looked at Finn, who was grinning at him mischievously through his mask. It was his assist that had allowed Logan to give them the lead. “Nice pass.”

Finn hopped the boards, too, and gave Logan's helmet a tap with his own. “Fucking magic, we are.”

Yes, Logan thought as he watched the clock wind down. Fucking magic.

He was kept behind for quite a few interviews afterwards, the other boys having long gone to get dinner in the meal hall the stadium was providing them with before getting the bus back to campus. Logan sighed as he stripped his Under Armour and jock strap off, left bare in the empty locker room. He rolled out his neck and looked down at his body. He ran his thumb over the fleur-de-lis tattoo on his left. It was dark against his skin. On his other hip the thin bandage and strong tape he used to cover his soul mark was peeling off. 

He looked around carefully- nobody was here. Normally, he showered with it then removed the bandage once he put on his clothes, out of sight from anyone else. But now, with no one to disturb him, he felt an itch to wash the sweaty skin underneath. Carefully, he stripped it off and threw the waste in the trash can, grabbing his towel and some soap and heading to the showers.

The water was warm against his aching muscles. Logan washed himself then tilted his head down, back against the spray. He loved his teammates, the game, the fans, but sometimes he needed a moment to collect himself. English still had him fumbling his words in interviews, and it exhausted him to be surrounded by the noise and fanfare, no matter how well-intentioned it may be. Logan liked his time to himself, with nobody else around him. 

Well, maybe nobody else except-

A sharp gasp made him look up, covering himself with his hand. It was Finn. He was staring intently at Logan's right hip. Logan furrowed his brow. “Harz, what-”

Then he realized. The soul mark. 

Logan's wide eyes looked up, trying to catch Finn's attention, but he was standing still, more still than Logan had ever seen him. Then suddenly, as if someone lit a match under him, he turned and walked out of the room.

“Merde,” Logan swore, shutting off the water and reaching for his towel. “Fish!”

Logan hurried after him to the locker room. Finn was pacing, chest heaving and mouth covered by his hand. He was quiet, so unlike himself, and Logan was beginning to get worried.

“Finn,” Logan said. “What's wrong?”

Finn still didn't say anything. He stopped in front of Logan with his fists clenched at his sides. His eyes were hard and desperate, and Logan could feel the heat of his skin this close. It made goosebumps trail up his bare chest.

“Finn,” Logan whispered, just to say his name.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Finn plucked at the bottom hem of his own shirt. Logan watched as the skin was revealed, freckles dotting his shoulders, his muscles lean and strong. When Finn finally pulled the fabric over his head, he was looking at Logan expectantly.

“Quoi?” Logan asked. “I don't-” But his breath caught in his throat. There, along the side of Finn's ribs, where his arm was moved to display the skin, were three tattoos in a vertical line: a sun, a fleur-de-lis, and a fish.

Logan let out a small gasp, staring at the mark for a second. A hand cupped his jaw, one going down to his right hip. He leaned into the touch and watched as Finn moved the towel down with his thumb, revealing the cluster of Logan's identical marks. They were breathing harshly against one another, their chests brushing as Logan lifted his head to meet Finn's eyes. They were open and raw, asking him a question. Logan only nodded slightly, and then Finn was leaning in.

When their lips met, it was grace and relief as Logan had never felt. Finn was soft and gentle at first, but then Logan ran a hand over his ribs, over his mark, and then Finn was gripping his jaw and hip more desperately, a soft noise leaving his mouth as he kissed Logan harder. 

Logan reached his other hand up to lace in Finn's hair, soft and thick and the subject of an embarrassing amount of daydreams. Finn took that as an invitation to kiss down Logan's neck, his lips hot and wet. Logan didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until they opened abruptly at the sound of a door opening, him and Finn jerking apart.

“Harz, Tremz!” Will called. “Team meeting during dinner, let's go!”

Finn and Logan were both still panting as they took each other in. Finn stared at Logan's mark for a second, then at his face. “Lo…”

The way Finn said his name was going to make Logan melt. He jerked his head towards the door. “Allez, Will's calling.” He turned towards his stall to find his clothes. “I'll meet you there.”

There was the sound of a frustrated sigh, then footsteps and the door as Finn left. Logan closed his eyes against the tears and pulled on his boxers.

Gryffindor, March 2019

Leo heard the door to his and Finn’s apartment slam. He jerked up from where he'd been reading to find a wet and shivering Finn staring at him with his arms crossed. His running clothes were soaked through and his lips were purple. 

“Jesus, Finn,” Leo said, standing up and going to the bathroom. “I thought you were out with Logan.”

Finn shook his head, his teeth chattering. “N-no, he c-c-cancelled.”

Leo rushed towards him with a towel. “It's pouring. You were gone for hours, what happened?”

Finn shrugged, but Leo saw him try and duck away. “N-needed to th-th-think.”

“In the rain?”

Finn just looked at him, shivering. “P-Peanut, I'm cold.”

“Okay, okay,” Leo hushed. “I've got you.” He reached his hands out and grasped at the bottom of Finn's T-shirt. “Is this okay?”

Finn nodded hurriedly, letting the towel drop to the floor as Leo lifted his shirt over his head. Next, he helped Finn out of his shorts and socks and shoes, just left in his thermal undershirt and briefs. 

“Okay, last layer, then I'll warm up the shower for you, okay?”

Finn nodded. “‘Kay.”

Leo helped him pull the final layer over his head, the wet and clinging fabric sticking to his face briefly. When he was freed of the clothing, Finn immediately started shivering harder, skin exposed to the air. Leo leaned in to hug him. “I've got you. Geez, Fish.”

“S-Sorry.”

“No, don't be, it's okay.” He leaned back, arms still around Finn's freezing waist. “Shower.”

Finn nodded, leaning down to pick up his towel from the floor. As he was bent over, his arm shifted, and Leo got a peak at some dark marks on his ribs. Leo thought it was a tattoo, but then he looked closer, eyes widening. He couldn't help the gasp he let out.

Finn looked up, alarmed, until he saw Leo looking at the soul marks. A sun, a fleur-de-lis, and a fish. He smiled a bit sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Leo shook his head quickly, a little dizzy. He hoped Finn didn't notice the flush on his cheeks. “No, I'm sorry.” He hurried away. “I'll go turn on the shower for you, then get you some comfy clothes.”

Finn quietly said his thanks from behind. Leo put his hand over his mouth and tried to fight against the tears. 

Harvard University, June 2016

“Lo, c'mere. I've gotta go.”

Logan just continued to stare down angrily at the wooden table. Finn sighed and sat across from him. He looked gorgeous in the early morning light, the golden sun streaking across his brown hair. When he looked up to Finn, his green eyes were sad. “Non. You're not leaving.”

Finn bit the inside of his cheek. “Don't make this harder than it already is.”

“But you're leaving-”

“And so will you, in a year! I graduated, you'll graduate, hopefully be drafted like me. And I-” Finn sucked in a breath. “Lo, I already miss you.”

Logan closed his eyes tightly, fighting against obvious tears. Like he did almost every day, Finn thought about the marks along his ribs, on Logan's hip, and that kiss over a year ago. They didn't talk about it. It was agony, sometimes, and since then they'd kissed a few more times: after a playoff game, when Finn got drafted- one memorable time not three days earlier, watching the sunset on the grass together. They'd laid and kissed on the grass on the hill they liked to drive to until it got dark, until they were interrupted by Alex calling Finn. When he'd ended the call, Logan was already waiting for him in the passenger seat, eyes down and cheeks flushed with embarrassment. They'd driven home in silence.

Finn knew he had to try and push one last time. “Logan. Logan, look at me.” When Logan looked up at him, a tear fell down his cheek. Finn reached across to wipe it with his thumb. “I want you.”

Logan immediately shook his head. “Non, Finn-”

“We're it, Lo, it says so on our skin!” Finn whisper-yelled. He didn't want to wake the rest of the house up. “Why are you denying yourself-”

“There's three.”

Finn stopped, his mouth hanging open. “What?”

“There's three,” Logan said again, more forcefully. He stood up and out of Finn’s reach, pulling down his waistband to reveal the marks. He placed his thumb over each of them individually. “Un, deux, trois.”

Finn shook his head. “That doesn't mean anything, they're the same.”

“Yes it does, Finn.” Logan sat back down and took a shaky breath. “Who do you know that has three? Who? Everyone else has two.”

Finn could feel his eyes getting wet. “No one. Lo-”

“It means there's someone else out there for you.” Logan's face was heartbroken, devastated. “Someone better for you.”

Finn's mouth fell open with a soft, sad cry. “No, Logan, don't say that.” He pushed his chair back and went to kneel at Logan's feet. He rested his hands on the back of Logan's calves and Logan's fingers came down to grasp at his hair. “You're perfect for me, you're everything. I want you.”

But Logan wasn't to be deterred. “But this is your dream. And it's my dream.” He looked at Finn so softly. “I can't take that away from you. From myself.”

Finn rested his forehead on Logan's thigh and breathed deeply. “I know.” He glanced up again and met Logan's green eyes. “But we’re supposed to be together. And- and maybe there is someone else, yes, for me, but also for you. They're the same mark, Logan.”

Logan nodded. “I know. Merde, I know.” To Finn's surprise, Logan leaned down and kissed him. “But our dream won't let us, Fish. It just won't.”

“So what?” Finn asked. “We just ignore it? Be lonely?”

Logan shook his head. “Non, you find them. You find them.”

Finn's eyes widened. “Logan-”

“Find them, Finn.” Logan's eyes were pleading. “Please. I just want you to be happy, please.”

Finn let out a breath and knelt up higher, dragging Logan down into a hug. He kissed the side of Logan's head. “I'll miss you every day.”

“I know.”

“I'm still going to call you.”

“I know.”

“You're still my best friend.”

“I know.” Logan turned his nose into Finn's hair. “You're mine. Allez, Gryffindor is waiting.”

And in one motion, Finn squeezed Logan tightly, stood, grabbed his backpack, and tore out of OKN. He looked back and saw Logan watching from the doorway. They looked at each other one last time before Finn opened his car door and put the keys in the ignition.

Winnipeg, April 2019

Logan laughed as Leo landed one last smack to his face with a pillow, falling back against the hotel bed. He'd started it, throwing a pillow at Leo as Leo showed him a thirst trap someone had made of Logan that he'd come across. They'd been scrolling through Instagram side by side. Logan had groaned, taking one of the throw pillows from his own bed and throwing it across to Leo's, smacking him in the chest. Leo had just raised his eyebrows, stood, and used his own pillow to smack back. From there it had been an all out war on Logan's bed as they tried to best each other.

“Merde,” Logan panted from his spot against the mattress. “Allez, allez, you win, fuck.”

Leo sat back against his heels, satisfied. “Just because I don't have siblings doesn't mean I just take it, Tremblay.”

“That's obvious,” Logan grunted, propping himself up on his elbows. “Mon Dieu, you've got a fucking arm.”

Leo laughed, standing to go and gather his pillows, setting them neatly on his own bed. “Merci.”

Logan hummed sleepily. Leo glanced back to see he had his eyes closed. Logan had a small smile on his face, too, starfished on the bed, tired from their victory against the Jets. He was just in his boxers and a sweatshirt, the hem riding up to display his lean body. In the scuffle, his underwear had slid down, displaying the top of his fleur-de-lis tattoo on his left hip, and on his right-

Leo had to cover his mouth and bite his finger to hold himself back from making a sound. A sun, a fleur-de-lis, and a fish. Leo's head was reeling as he climbed into his bed.

Logan opened one eye to look at him. “Ça va?”

“Mhm.” Leo pushed a hand through his hair, then realized it was shaking and hid it beneath the covers. “Just tired.”

“Non,” Logan said. He turned on his side, his boxers riding down lower, and reached across to press a hand to Leo's shoulder. His touch burned. “Non, Leo, what's wrong?”

Leo just stared at his hand, then glanced briefly at the marks. Logan's eyes followed his and he flushed. Leo shook his head. “I'm sorry.”

Logan sighed. “Non. Non, it's okay.” He laid back on his own bed and looked at Leo softly. “Do you ever…”

Leo stared back, biting his lip. “Do I ever…?”

Logan let out another sigh and closed his eyes, as if it was too much. He spoke in French. “Do you ever feel like everything you want is right in front of you, and yet you miss it anyways?”

Leo ran his eyes up and down Logan's strong body. This couldn't be happening. “All the time.”

Logan opened his eyes again. “What do I do?”

Leo snuggled further underneath the covers. “I think- I think you have to care about it enough. Whatever that may be.”

“Even if I have to let it go?”

Leo ducked his nose into his sweatshirt neckline. “Yeah. Yeah, even to let it go.” He breathed deeply. He needed Logan to understand. “But sometimes you shouldn't. Sometimes you should take it.”

“Ouais?”

“Ouais.”

Logan looked at him. “Have you let it go?”

Leo could feel tears welling up in his eyes. “I don't have it.”

That made Logan's eyes go sad. Despite it, he smiled. “You deserve it, Leo.” He cocked his head. “I'm happy you're here.”

“Thank you,” Leo said shakily. “Thank you, Lo.”

Logan nodded, then reached up to turn off the light. “Bonne nuit, peanut.”

“Night.”

In the darkness, Leo finally let the silent tears fall.

Las Vegas, NV, October 2019

“Nut!”

Leo reached up above Finn's head to grasp the small ball tossed from Remus, jumping out of the pool to dunk it in the small hoop. The hotel pool in Vegas was a team favorite, and James had discreetly packed a portable pool hoop to bring with them this time. Their matinee game had been rough and physical, but Remus had his first NHL goal and Leo had a shutout, so the energy was wild and fierce. Coach had told them, exasperated, to go work their energy out before bed, which had James grinning widely. He'd instructed them to go to the pool, scurrying away to go find the box he'd stowed away in his luggage. Now, Leo was reconsidering his NHL career. Maybe the NBA would take him.

“Fuck off!” Sirius shouted. “That's not fair!”

Remus jumped on his back, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “You're such a baby.”

Sirius just leaned back to dip him then let go. He and James were both red-faced and frustrated they were losing so badly.

“Seriously, Knut, what the hell is up with those octopus arms?”

Leo turned to find Finn looking at him, his lean, freckled chest on display. Leo swallowed, trying to get a grip. “I can't help it.”

“I'm a fan,” Logan chimed in. His green eyes and smile made Leo warm all over. “If it makes you lose, Fish.” 

Finn rolled his eyes and splashed water over Logan's face. Logan spluttered and Finn laughed before turning to Leo. He was smiling. Leo realized what was about to happen. “No, no, I just washed my-”

But it was too late. Finn cupped his hands and threw water over Leo's head. Leo blinked hard and squinted through the chlorine. Logan was talking in fast French as he and Finn splashed each other. “Leo, allez!”

Leo laughed, running his hand across the water to get it in Finn's face. Finn gasped, staring at him incredulously. “Oh, it is so on, Nut.”

He lunged, trying to get his hands on Leo's shoulders and dunk him. Leo leaned back, trying to push him off, but slipped on the pool's slippery bottom. He and Finn both fell, chest to chest. Leo felt the water proof bandage Finn used to cover his mark as he scrambled for purchase, Finn's hands still on his shoulders. He kicked hard, breaking through the surface with a gasp, using both hands to push his hair back. He needed to pull himself together. 

“You okay?”

Leo opened his eyes to find Logan and Finn smiling at him softly. They looked so gorgeous that Leo had to take a deep breath. “Yeah. Water's just heavy in my hair.”

“Why don't you cut it?” Finn asked. 

Leo shrugged, his heart rate picking up. “Don't know,” he fibbed.

Logan tilted his head. “It looks nice pushed back.”

“Yeah,” Finn said. “I like it like that. You usually don't wash your hair in the team showers.”

Leo bit his lip. “Too much work. Don't feel like bringing my creams and stuff.”

Logan scrunched his nose around a laugh. “You're probably the only hockey player with a haircare routine.”

Leo flushed. “I like my curls.”

“They're very nice,” Finn said. Alarms went off in Leo's body as he approached. He touched the side of Leo's hair. “You know, I think it'd look nice if you cut it a little on the-”

He stopped suddenly. Leo could feel himself breathing hard. Finn's fingers were brushing right by where he knew his soul mark was now definitely visible, the hair pushed out of the way and transparent enough to allow it to be seen. Finn's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly.

Leo grit his teeth. “Finn…”

But Finn just looked up at him, their eyes meeting. Leo stepped back and Finn's hand fell. He backed away towards the steps.

“Finn?” Logan asked, looking worriedly between them. “What's going on?”

Leo didn't wait for Finn's response. He grabbed his towel and room key and jogged out the door.

***

Finn watched as Leo ran away, flip flops slapping against the bottoms of his wet feet. His head was reeling.

“Finn? Finn, allez, what's wrong?” Logan appeared in his line of sight and grabbed his shoulders. “Fish.”

Finn blinked, shaking his head. “Shit.” He looked to Logan, then at the door through which Leo had disappeared. “Shit, shit, shit.”

He ran out of the pool and grabbed his towel, some of the guys yelling questions. He could hear Logan behind him as he ran through the door.

“Finn, what the hell-” 

Finn turned and faced him frantically in the hallway. “Where is your room?”

Logan looked confused. “170B. Fish, what-”

“Leo has the mark. Behind his ear.”

Logan stared at him for a moment before his face paled. “Non.”

Finn nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, fuck, we-” He pressed his hands over his eyes. “We have to find him.”

Logan looked hesitant, shrinking into himself. “Finn…”

Finn let out a frustrated noise and backed Logan into the nearest wall, just beside a supply closet. His voice was shaky. “No, no, you don't get to do this! You don't get to ignore it, or push me away, or tell me to go off and be with him, because it's us, Logan. He has the three marks, it's the three of us.” Logan's eyes were wide and vulnerable. Finn pressed their foreheads together. “I thought I was going crazy when I first started wanting him, because I still wanted you with everything I am. I love him, and I love you, and I will not let you take this away from me.”

Logan's breathing was quick. When Finn pulled back slightly, he saw that Logan's eyes were teary. “You love me?”

Finn nodded. “I do. God, I've been in love with you from the moment you walked into that shitty house your freshman year.”

Logan pressed his lips together. His hand came to cup the back of Finn's head. “I love you, too. I love you.” His green eyes fitted across Finn's face for a moment, searching. Then, to Finn's amazement and delight, he kissed him.

Finn felt like he could barely breathe, or maybe like he was breathing for the first time. Logan was so soft against him, needy and panting. His lips were working frantically against Finn's own, that fire that was always beneath his skin bubbling to the surface. Finn cupped his jaw firmly, slowing them down with deep presses of his mouth and tongue. Logan shuddered and melted into the wall behind him. It felt like his body was overheating under Finn's hands. With a few more soft kisses, Finn pulled away, albeit reluctantly. Logan's eyes were still closed.

“I love you,” Finn whispered. “And it's okay. It's okay now.”

Logan nodded, opening his eyes slowly. “Ouais, it is. I thought-” He took a shaky breath and Finn kissed his cheek. “I thought I couldn't want this. But now Sirius and Remus, and- and you and I were drafted to the same team, that can't be a coincidence. And Leo-” Logan let out a soft sound, forehead dropping onto Finn's shoulder. “I love him. I love him, and I love you, and I'm tired of not taking what I want when it's right in front of me.”

Finn's breath hitched at his words, heart beating as fast as it had the first time he'd seen Logan's mark. He stepped back and grabbed firmly onto Logan's shoulders. “You mean you…”

Logan smiled and nodded. “I want you. I want you both.”

Finn let out a teary laugh and kissed Logan hard. They were smiling against each other's mouths, light and happy and in love, Finn realized. They might have kept kissing forever had Logan not pulled away roughly. “Leo.”

Finn jerked his head up. “Shit. Shit, you're right.” He took Logan's hand and laced their fingers. “Let's go.”

They ran to the nearest stairwell and bounded up to the next floor. Logan's hands were shaking as he scanned the room key, grabbing the handle and shoving the door open roughly. “Leo?” he called.

Finn came in after him, looking around frantically. He poked his head in the bathroom. “Leo?”

When he came out, Logan was standing still and looking at the ground. Leo's suitcase was thrown open, his wet swimsuit on the floor. Clothes were disorganized inside it, which was so unlike him. He must have grabbed some and ran. Beside it was his room key. Logan knelt down briefly and picked it up. He looked at Finn. “Fish.”

Finn leaned in and hugged him. He felt the first of Logan's soft, hitching breaths underneath his hands. “Baby…”

“He's not here.” Logan was shaking. “He's not here, and we love him.”

“Okay,” Finn said. He pulled away and gripped Logan's hips. “He's probably still here somewhere, he's just really freaked out.”

“We have to find him.”

“I know.” Finn wiped Logan's cheeks and kissed his forehead. “Let's get changed first, okay? Then we go find Leo.”

“Soleil,” Logan said.

Finn looked down at him. “What?”

Logan closed his eyes and a tear slipped out. “What I will call him. Soleil. Sun.” He opened his eyes and leaned into Finn's chest. “He’s like sunshine.”

Finn nodded. “He is.” He brushed Logan's hair back from his face. “And what am I?”

Logan reached up to run a hand through Finn’s damp hair. “Rouge. Red.”

Finn kissed him.

***

Logan watched as Finn pulled on one of his high school sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants. The sweatshirt was a little short on him, the sleeves not quite reaching his wrists, but he looked so soft and cosy in Logan's clothes that Logan could only go up and kiss him.

Finn kneaded the skin of his back, just above where he'd put some shorts on. “Go put a shirt on, baby, then we'll go find Le.”

Logan nodded, kissing Finn once more before making his way towards his own suitcase. He had a sweater in there, one from France, but it wasn't as bulky and cosy. He needed something to swallow him, to settle the aching feeling in his chest.

He looked to Leo's suitcase. He always traveled with two sweatshirts: a Lions one for the locker room and cameras, and then one from home for the hotel room. He must've grabbed the Lions one in his rush, because the one left in his suitcase was purple and had the name of an ice cream parlor. Logan assumed it was the one he and his dad visited after Leo had a good game in high school. Finn saw him looking and put a hand on his back. “I don't think he'll mind.”

Logan nodded, kissing Finn's shoulder before kneeling and picking up the sweatshirt. He pulled it over his head. It was thick and soft and reached down to his thighs. It smelled like Leo's cologne. Logan turned his nose into the neckline and breathed in the scent.

Finn kissed the side of his head, lingering and gentle. “I've got the room key. Let's go get our sunshine.”

***

Leo squeezed his knees closer to himself in the cold hallway. He didn't know which floor he was on, one of the top ones. The hallway had ended in a T, with no rooms on either side, just big windows with a nice view of the city.

Leo sat against the opposite wall, gazing at the lights below him. He imagined he could hear and see people laughing, friends dancing, couples kissing. He wondered if there was anyone else like him, but happier; someone who was in love with two people, but actually had them. He could imagine dancing like that with Finn and Logan: Finn at his back, his chin on Leo's shoulder, arms around Leo's waist; Logan against Leo's chest, smiling up at him, his hands resting on the back of Leo's neck, maybe one in his hair. He closed his eyes as a sharp pain ran through his chest. He felt a tear escape. 

“Fuck,” he whispered. He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “Oh, fuck.”

How could he have been so careless, so stupid? He thought of Finn's horrified face and the fact that Logan definitely knew by now. If they hadn't confessed their feelings to one another, they certainly had after that display, and Leo would never forgive himself if he was the cause of such an emotional and difficult conversation. Coming out was hard enough on its own, but coming out to your best friend? The one you were in love with? Leo could barely imagine that talk they were probably still having without feeling a weight settle in his gut. He'd caused that. And now he was making their lives more difficult, and the whole team saw them run out, and Leo didn't know what to do. He really didn't know what to do.

He sat there shaking for he didn't know how long, blankly staring at the lights of the city. It was almost calming; peaceful, even, save for the rapid rhythm of his beating heart. He pressed a hand to his chest and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, behind him, he heard some frantic whispers.

“I don't know, Lo, we've looked everywhere.”

“Cherchez-en devantage, encore une fois.”

“I don't speak French.”

“Look again.”

“I'm trying!”

Leo clenched his teeth, eyes widening. He quickly but quietly shuffled his way to the corner, trying to remain out of sight, but he knew he was a sitting duck. He only hoped they gave up before they found him.

What would he even say if they did? I'm in love with you, but you're in love with each other. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I'll leave you be.

No, he couldn't do that. He wasn't strong enough to do that, to let them go completely, nor to ruin a friendship like that that was so intertwined with love and lust and laughter and life- a friendship that had bones, that had history. Leo bit his lip once again at the tears that threatened to claim his vision.

“Le?”

Leo sighed heavily and turned his head. When he opened his eyes, he found Finn and Logan looking at him carefully. Their hands were intertwined.

“Hi,” he said. His voice was rough, even to his own ears. “Hi.”

He saw Logan squeeze Finn's hand and let go. He came to sit beside Leo, criss-crossed and facing him. He was wearing Leo's sweatshirt. If this ended poorly, Leo didn't know if he'd want Logan to keep it or to keep it himself and smell Logan's scent guiltily every time he wore it. He looked so cozy. 

“Ça va?”

Leo just blinked at him. Logan sighed, dropping his head down to look at his fingers, which he was twiddling in his lap.

Finn came to sit across from them both, back against the window. His eyes were soft. “How long have you known?”

Leo shrugged. He looked out past Finn's shoulder at the city lights. “Since you came home from that run. In the freezing rain, and I had to undress you and put you in the shower.”

“Quoi?” Logan asked.

Finn's cheeks were flushed. “You and I were supposed to go to lunch. But you went home with a girl from the bar the night before and then I didn't hear from you the next day.” He shrugged. “I needed to think, so I ran. It was cold and wet.”

Logan looked at him so sadly it was breaking Leo's heart. “Rouge…”

Leo's stomach jolted. A nickname. A sweet one. Red. So they'd obviously figured themselves out.

Finn nudged Logan's thigh with his socked foot. He was wearing Logan's sweatshirt and sweatpants, Leo realized. “It doesn't matter now.” He looked to Leo. “And Logan's? How'd you find out?”

Leo turned back to look out the window. He smiled sadly. “We had a pillow fight in our hotel room. Logan's boxers slid down and his sweatshirt rode up, and, well…” He looked to Finn. “He asked if I knew if what I wanted was right in front of me, but if I still missed it.” He bit his lip as his eyes watered. “That's when I knew he was in love with you.”

Finn was looking with wide eyes at Logan, who was in turn looking intently at Leo. “You knew?”

Leo sniffled. “Of course I knew. Y'all think you're discreet, but you're not.”

Finn nudged him with his toe. “So if you knew, why didn't you say anything? About you.”

“I couldn't do that to you,” Leo said. He put his hands over his eyes. “Fuck, I couldn't do that to you. Your love radiates off of you, and I just figured- I just figured I was the universe's backup. If you didn't get together, one of you would find me.”

“Quoi?” Logan asked. “Leo.”

Leo groaned and buried his face in his knees. “Not everyone ends up with their soul mate. My grandma's died when they were teenagers, and my grandpa didn't have one. But they loved each other, and were happy, and I-” He felt his throat closing up. “I had to care about you enough to let you go.”

He heard Logan take in a sharp breath beside him. “Non. Non, Leo.” He knelt up and wrapped an arm around Leo's upper back, pressing his forehead to the back of Leo's curls. “Leo, non. Non, it doesn't have to be like that.”

“I told you it can be, Lo,” Leo said. “That night. With the pillow fight. You're supposed to be with Finn, and I'm supposed to let you go.”

“You are not supposed to do anything like that, Leo.” Finn's voice was thick with tears. “Why would you say that?”

Leo sat up. Logan shifted back, but their thighs were still pressed together. “I didn't want to wreck you. You have history, years of it, and I owed it to you to let you figure out your feelings on your own time.” He looked between them. “Everyone deserves that. I'm sorry if I forced you to do that today.”

They both softened at that and looked at each other briefly. Finn shifted over to the side to be more squarely in front of Leo. He leaned forward and took Leo's hands in his own. They were shaking. “We already knew.”

Leo sat up straighter. “What?”

Logan rested his chin on Leo's shoulder, hand rubbing at his lower back. “Ouais, we figured it out years ago. We just hadn't met you yet.”

At Leo's still-confused look, Finn began to speak again. “It was after Logan scored a hatty in the Beanpot Semis, my junior year. We won, and he stayed late for interviews.”

“Ouais,” Logan said. “Nobody was there, in the locker room, so I took my covering off to go shower.” He let out a laugh. “Finn walked in and saw my mark.”

Leo hummed. “And what happened?”

Finn smiled. “I freaked out, Logan followed me to the locker room. Long story short, I showed him mine, we kissed, we got interrupted. We kissed a few more times before I left. We didn't talk about it, not until the day I came to Gryff. But we knew.”

“What we couldn't figure out,” Logan said. “Was you.” He sighed heavily. “Fish tried to talk to me, the day he left. But I told him to look for whoever else was for him- for us. Someone who deserved him.”

Leo touched their temples together. “But you do.”

He could feel Logan’s smile. “Ouais, I know that now.” He shifted, wrapping his arm fully around Leo’s waist. “But I didn't know how to make how I felt work with hockey. With our dream.”

“What changed?”

“You did, sunshine.”

Leo looked at Finn. He let out a surprised laugh. “What?”

Finn smiled at him. “Sunshine. It's what we’re calling you.”

“Soleil,” Logan corrected.

“Well I'm not French, am I?”

“Neither am I! Canada's different.”

Finn rolled his eyes playfully. “Anyways.” He reached out to pluck at one of Leo’s curls. “You came along and made us realize that avoiding what we desired was silly. And that there was so much more to want. To love.”

Leo closed his eyes briefly in a slow blink. His heart was pounding.“Really?”

“Ouais, soleil,” Logan whispered. “It’s because of you.”

Leo nodded. “And are you okay? You figured yourselves out?”

Finn laughed. “Yeah, literally, like, a half hour ago. We kissed, we talked a bit, whatever.” He brought Leo’s hands to his mouth and kissed them. “But then we came looking for you.”

Leo felt his heart kick. “You did?”

“Don't be surprised,” Logan said. “We want you. We love you.” He touched just behind Leo’s ear. ��You’re ours. Our soul mate.”

Finn reached one hand out to brush Leo’s jaw. “Do you want that, sunshine?”

Leo closed his eyes again. He felt the heat of their bodies beside him, the softness of their skin. Logan’s nose was pressed to his jaw, obviously impatiently waiting, and Finn’s thumb was tracing soft patterns on his skin. They were handsome, and kind, and good- and Leo was so in love with them.

“Yeah,” he said. He opened his eyes and caught Finn’s gaze. “I do.”

“Leo,” Logan whispered beside him. He nudged at Leo’s cheek, obviously asking. “Leo, je t’aime.”

Leo smiled and turned into him. “I love you.” And then Logan was kissing him.

It was the most gentle kiss Leo had ever received. Logan’s lips were warm and soft, softer than anything Leo had touched, and he kissed like he moved through life: a fierce, focused intensity that burned Leo up from the inside. He started out slow, then peaked with faster, deeper, rougher presses, his hand coming up to grip Leo’s hair, then settled again when Leo rubbed his hip, right over the soul mark. Logan fell against his chest a little. When Leo pulled away, Logan let himself go completely, his head resting on Leo’s shoulder, eyes closed. He looked like he was about to fall asleep.

Finn was looking them both up and down. His pupils were a little blown. When he caught Leo watching, he smiled. “I would like to record that and put it on a loop to watch forever, please and thank you.”

Leo laughed a little, felt Logan do the same, before he slouched back against the wall. Logan was gripping the fabric of his Lions sweatshirt lightly in between his fingers. They both looked at Finn softly as he got himself onto his knees and leaned forward with a smile.

“I love you,” Finn whispered. 

Leo could count each one of his freckles. “I love you, too.”

Finn kissed like he moved through life, too, but it was different than Logan. Finn was motivated by a goal, directing Leo into exactly what he wanted, somehow. He gripped Leo’s jaw gently and firmly at the same time, Leo helpless to do anything but accept what he was given. Leo sighed heavily. Finn kissed him deeper still, and Logan began to kiss up Leo’s neck and jaw. Leo whined, pulling back to catch his breath. “Fuck.”

Finn raised his eyebrows. “Maybe later.”

Leo laughed and rested his head against the wall behind him. “No, our first time will not be in a hotel. I still smell like chlorine.”

Finn let out a huff through his nose. “Then when will it be? I've gotta mark my calendar, clear my schedule.”

Leo bit his lip around a grin. “In your bed. If you want.”

Finn sucked in a breath. His ears were bright red, and Logan reached up to thumb the shell of one. “Oh, I so want.”

“Ouais,” Logan said. He pulled Finn down into a kiss. Leo loved how they looked together. “But now we sleep.”

“Where?” Leo asked.

Logan hummed. “My bed. It's the closest to the door.”

Leo snorted. “Not by much, sweetheart.”

Logan just sighed happily again and snuggled further into Leo’s body. Leo kissed the top of his head. Finn was looking at them both fondly.

“So,” he said. “Does this mean we’re in love? We’re doing this?”

Leo smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re doing this.”

Finn’s expression was nothing short of elated. “Fuck yes.” He leaned down to kiss them both hard. “Best day ever.”

Leo and Logan both laughed. Leo held out a hand. “Help us up, O’Hara.”

Finn grasped onto each of their hands, pulling them from the floor and towards him. When they stood, Leo tried to walk down the hallway, but Finn tugged him back. “Wait.” His eyes, when they met Leo's, were serious. “I just want you to know how much we want this, Le. You aren't some- some ‘third’ in a relationship already involving the two of us. You're not a second choice.”

Logan nodded, stepping into Leo's space. “Ouais, mon coeur. We're equal- all of us, or nothing.”

Leo took them both in for a second. Finn, with his gentleness and his heart on his sleeve; Logan, with his firm, yet loving, touches and the obvious desire and want that was constantly simmering under his skin. They were looking at Leo like he was everything. Leo didn't know what to do with that quite yet, but he figured telling them how he felt was as good a start as any.

“I want you, too,” he said. He cleared his throat. “When I- when I said I was letting you go, it wasn't because I didn't love you. Or because I didn't want you. I just… I thought loving you would cause you more pain when you were obviously already hurting for each other.”

Logan shook his head firmly. “Non.” He leaned up and kissed Leo. “Non, we love each other because we love you.”

Finn nodded, kissing the back of Leo's hand. “You helped us find you and each other, baby. No take backs, okay?”

Leo nodded, smiling with a blush. “Okay.” He stepped forward a bit to bring them closer together. Logan rested his head on Leo's collarbone, and Leo touched his and Finn's temples together. “Let's go to bed.”

Finn nodded. “Mhm. Sleepy time.” He kissed Leo quickly, then ducked to kiss Logan's cheek. “But mark your calendars. My mattress, as soon as that plane lands tomorrow.” 

Leo laughed, and Logan made a happy sound into the fabric of his sweatshirt. “Sure thing Harz,” Leo said. “I'll rearrange my schedule.”

“You fucking better. C'mon, let's go.”

They walked back to the room, Finn holding each of their hands tightly even in the stairwell, which was a little logistically difficult, but they managed. They each took turns showering to get the chlorine off, Finn swiping Logan's toothbrush with a smirk. Logan just rolled his eyes and kissed him. 

Leo came back from his shower to find them both huddled in Logan's hotel bed. Logan still had Leo's sweatshirt on with the hood pulled up, his hair fluffing out in the front as he laughed at something Finn said. Finn was straddling Logan's thighs and talking about something- what, Leo didn't know. Finn talked a lot.

When they heard him come through the doorway, they both looked at him and smiled widely. Finn swung his leg over Logan's hips to settle on the bed. He patted the space in between them. “C'mere, sunshine baby.”

Leo knelt on the end of the mattress and crawled to them. “Is that my new name?”

Finn nodded excitedly. “Among others. I'm workshopping a few. How do you feel about lovernut?”

Leo laughed as he settled onto his back. “Whatever you want, honey.”

Finn smiled at the pet name and leaned in to press kisses to Leo's cheeks. “You're so sweet.”

“Oui,” Logan agreed. He grunted and rolled over to flop on top of Leo with a content sigh. 

Finn tapped his butt hard. “I knew you'd be a koala, you youngest-of-four baby.”

Logan just peeked out at him. “Should I not?”

“No,” Leo said. He kissed Logan's curls. “Wherever you want to sleep, sweetheart, it's okay.”

Logan bit his lip innocently and continued to roll- right in between the two of them. He pressed his nose into Leo's neck. “Mm, c'est chaud ici.”

Finn scoffed. “I thought Leo was in the middle.”

Logan just reached back for Finn's arm. “Ici, rouge.”

Finn melted a little bit. “Fine. Fine, but we have to take turns, okay? Gotta try out all the positions.”

Leo laughed. He reached across Logan's body to brush Finn's hair out of his face. “You just can't help yourself, can you?”

Finn kissed his palm. “No. I'm telling you, it's all I'm going to be thinking about.” He settled down, throwing an arm and a leg across their bodies. “I love you.”

Leo smiled. “I love you.”

“Sleep.”

Finn bit at Logan's jaw. “Say it back, you grump.”

Leo felt Logan's smile against the skin of his neck. Logan kissed his soul mark. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

[hasgavlebockenburneddownyet]

With the birds eating the goat this year, do you think we could Harvard stadium pigeon prank the next goat?

What does this mean?

[buckychristwrites]

When the Rain Gathers | Prologue | j.t.

↳  Pairing: Jamie Tartt x f!reader

↳ Word Count: 2k

↳  Summary: Pain hits like a downpour, but when a heartbreak from your past is what greets you at your new job at Nelson Road Stadium, it's more like a catastrophic tsunami.

↳  Warnings: Enemies to lovers, Discussion of parental abuse, fluff and angst.

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Early August, 2017

���Do you have to go?” 

“I do. Or else I’ve wasted a lot of money on a flat and new furniture.” 

It was pouring outside, but that didn’t stop you from standing in the drive of your boyfriend’s house. Your car was packed to the brim with belongings, not leaving any space to see out the rear windscreen. He was standing with you, his hair matted to his forehead from the rain. The air was a weird mix of cold and hot, or maybe it was just you. 

You reached out to brush the locks back into place. As your hand fell back to your side, he caught it in his.

“Why’d ya have to go all the way to fuckin’ Harvard for uni?” Jamie asked loudly so you could hear him over the rain pounding on the sidewalk. 

“Because they have the best Psychology program,” You explained, though you weren’t able to say it with your entire chest. Two years had been spent at the University of Manchester, and while you had dreamt of the opportunity to go to the United States to finish your degree at Harvard, you never allowed yourself to believe it would actually happen. And now it was, with a full scholarship at that. While you were beyond excited, there was a lot to consider, and lot you were leaving behind.

Jamie, using your hand that he was still holding, pulled you towards him.

“I’m gonna miss the fuck out of ya,” He said gently, pressing his forehead against yours. You tried to smile playfully.

“It’ll pass. You’ll be too busy being a football star soon enough,” You muttered, averting his eyes. That was what had ruined the plan. Jamie had every intention to move to the US with you, even signing the lease to the flat with you and starting the process of packing up his belongings. What brought that to a screeching halt was the call from Man City. 

They were putting him on the team. A starting striker, at that.

His days in the Ametuar League were finally behind him at the worst possible time. 

Despite the immense pride you felt for him, you also were devastated over the change of plans. It was going to feel impossible. Going from seeing him every day to only seeing him when the both of you had the money and free time to travel internationally, which wouldn’t be as often as either of you would like.

The last year flashed through your mind. A lifetime was how long you had known Jamie Tartt, having been neighbors for as long as you could remember. But it was only just over a year ago that the festering feelings the two of you had been building for each other finally came to a head. He knew every piece of you, the good and the bad, and you him. The amount of laughs spent, the amount of tears on each other's shoulders, the amount of pointless arguments that ended with flowers from his mum’s garden scattered on your doorstep, they felt countless in this moment. 

It still didn’t feel like enough time. You found yourself yearning for another hour. Even another minute. 

“Any parting words?” You asked him, giving his hand a squeeze. He cocked his head to the side. 

“You’re gonna kill it at uni,” He mumbled, taking another step closer so there were no steps left between you and him. “Don’t get in ya head too much. You’re better than all of ‘em.” 

Despite the rain, you felt the warm dampness streaming down your cheeks. You tried to wipe away the tears, but they just kept falling.

“Are you still gonna call me before every match?” You asked, voice choked up from the pain. He looked so calm. Something about it killed you.

“I’ll have to, since ya won’t be at them.” 

“What if you have a pa-“

“I’ll call ya over paint dryin’, if ya want.” You laughed, shaking your head. For a long moment, you stared at your car. The one that you were driving for the last time. It wasn’t all that long ago that Jamie went with you to pick it out. The memory was vivid in your mind.

“What am I going to do without you?” 

This is where he kissed you, pulling you in with his hands pressed to your cheeks. The intention for both of you was clear: This kiss had to count, because who knows when you’ll get to do it again?

“You’ll always have me,” He said against your lips, as if he wasn’t knew he needed to say something but wasn’t ready to end the kiss just yet. he needed to speak but couldn’t bear to end the kiss. When his lips finally left yours, he smiled softly, though his eyes were wet. “I just won’t be next door anymore.” 

Your teeth were chattering while staring at him, but you didn’t complain. The anxiety ate away at your chest. 

Though the redness in his eyes suggested it wasn’t the time, Jamie laughed as he opened the door to your car, giving you a sad smile as he rested his hand on the rim of the doorframe. 

“Can’t stand here all day, can we?” He said quietly. 

It was overwhelming how real it all became in that moment. You threw your arms around his neck, his arms instinctively wrapping around your torso. His clothes were soaked through, as were yours. There wasn’t a single part of you that wasn’t unaffected by the rain, but you couldn’t seem to allow yourself to get in the car. 

Suddenly, Jamie was moving, forcing you to go with him. Your feet backed up as he moved himself forward so you wouldn’t fall. Your knees hit the side of the driver’s seat, and suddenly Jamie was lowering you down.

“You’re gonna miss ya flight.”

You shook your head before saying, “I’m gonna miss you.”

He closed his eyes as he said, “I’ll miss ya too.” 

The pain was searing through your chest and down your back as he shut the door. You were desperate for one last kiss, but you knew what his eyes were telling you. One more would just lead to two. And then three. And then you would never leave.

Finally, after lagging behind for too long, you turned the engine to the car on, your hands working in slow motion while you shifted into reverse. As you drove away, Jamie walked out into the street and waved. You wondered if he would run after the car, and found yourself disappointed when he didn’t. Instead, he continued to watch, hands in his pockets. Tears and rain water dripped onto the seat between your legs as you watched him through the rearview. 

Jamie got smaller and smaller as you drove away, until the road began to slope, and he disappeared from sight. 

~

Early August, 2020

You woke up alone.

The right side of your bed was empty. When you felt the sheets, they were cold, suggesting they had been bare for a while now.

With an arm holding the sheet to your chest, you sat up quickly. Your eyes were baggy and drooping, but you were alert.

“Jamie?”

Your feet hit the floor, which was no longer littered with his clothes, though yours still remained scattered. As you left the bedroom, you listened for any signs of life. Maybe he was simply having a shower, or making himself a bite to eat. But no such evidence could be heard. The only sound echoing through the flat was rain hitting the windows. Panic rose inside your chest. 

“Jamie…”

In an instant, you were down the hallway and entering the living room. 

Empty. 

His shoes by the front door had disappeared.

He’s out to pick up coffee, or breakfast, you told yourself. Or maybe he just went for a walk to explore. 

It wasn’t like him. To just disappear.

Although, the Jamie who had arrived on your doorstep the morning prior really wasn’t the Jamie you had known since you were in nappies. 

Despite your nonexistent free time since starting your masters degree in sports psychology, you did your best to continue to follow Jamie’s rising football career on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. He was now quite the commodity in England, though still relatively unknown in the United States. It was strange, getting a different reaction from your university friends’ to your boyfriend versus from people back home. 

As his stardom went up, however, your relationship with him seemed to do the opposite. It was now normal to go a week without hearing from him at all. A rare day in hell it was when he answered your phone calls, and usually they were brief. He didn’t keep his promise of calling before every match. In fact, he didn’t keep his promise of calling at all, because he simply didn’t. You tried to be understanding, but only so many excuses could be made for him, as you were also incredibly busy. 

When an opening appeared in his schedule that aligned with your own, it felt like an Olympic event to convince him to make the trip. Once he finally agreed, that was when you began to feel excited, yet also anxious about it. It was, in your mind, a last ditch effort to save the relationship. 

It wasn’t until this moment, as you came back from your thoughts, that you noticed his suitcase was also gone.

Sprinting back to your bedroom, almost tripping on the sheet multiple times as it covered your naked body, you ripped your phone from the wall. The tears had started leaking out long before you had the chance to hit his name to phone him.

Straight to voicemail.

Hanging up, you dialed again. Same result. When you tried to send a text, the text bubble immediately turned green.

Blocked. 

Anger swallowed you whole, your chest heaving. Without really thinking about it, you dialed him again. It went to voicemail for a third time, but you didn’t hang up. 

It’s Jamie. Don’t bother. I don’t care.

“So that’s it then?” You said to his voicemail box, knowing damn well he’d never receive it. “Twenty three years of friendship, just down the fucking drain? Never mind four years of that being in a fucking relationship. You piece of shit. You absolute fucking piece of shit.” 

You stared at the floor, feverishly shaking your head. 

“I guess the word from home about how much you changed is true. Never wanted to believe it but… I’ve been thoroughly enlightened, thank you.”

You swiped a hand against your cheeks.

“Are the cheating rumours true then too? Might as fucking well be, right? Fuck you, Jamie. I really thought we could salvage this. When I saw you at the airport, I…” You were properly crying now, unable to hide the sobs from your voice. “All of those feelings came rushing back to me. I felt like I was nineteen again, and we were back home. Just two kids who loved each other. It felt that simple. Like all it took was seeing each other again to make things okay. Wrong again.”

You had run into his arms in picturesque movie fashion, and he had held you for a long time. Did he know then? Did he get off the plane knowing he was going to destroy you?

You straightened your back out and cleared your throat.

“Don’t worry. I don’t fucking need you. And you’ll never hear from me again. Fuck you, Jamie Tartt. Absolutely fuck you. I deserve so much better than this.” 

Once the call ended, you threw your phone on the bed and allowed yourself to feel it all, the anger and melancholy washing over you like a wave crashing onto the coastline in a thunderstorm. Bum hitting the floor, you curled your knees to your chest and rested your forehead on them. Your entire body shook with tears, and it stayed that way for a solid hour before you stiffly stood and moved to your bed.

That was the last time you tried to get a hold of Jamie, though it was not the last time you thought of him. 

And as life moved on, you never ended up seeing him again.

Until now.

~

TAGS

@oncasette, @shiptheship, @ajkdjdnkekemfxj, @breepboopbap, @sssatorus, @jelleeyfish, @puckyou-forpuckssake, @ricciardhoe3, @buckybarnex, @loveslide, @hopefulromances, @sokkigarden

[dollwritess]

CHILDHOOD BESTIES

| Brock Purdy X Reader |

| Word Count: 406 |

| No warnings |

FEBRUARY 9TH 2024

BROCK AND Y/N had been inseparable since kindergarten until the day they were split. Brock was accepted into Iowa state (Ames, IA) while y/n went to Harvard (Cambridge, MA).

Y/N went to Harvard for four years to get her bachelor's degree in business. After coming home to her 4 bedroom house she decided to that she would go out and have fun tonight. She called one of her best friends Savannah (Samuel Womack III Wife/GF).

1 HOUR LATER

After spending almost an hour getting g ready Y/N was ready to get out and let loose. After talking to Savannah the whole ride there they finally made it and walked inside of the club. When Y/N walked in she felt a sudden feeling of relief. After making her way around the club for a few minutes she bumped into a familiar face. Nick (49ers #97 😍😍😘😻🥰😜😋😋) a few minutes after talking to Nick he invited her to come to LV to watch the 49ers play in the Super Bowl , she thought for a few minutes then finally said yes. The two went their separate ways and Y/N left the club with an exhausted Savannah.

FEBRUARY 11TH 2024 (Day of the Super Bowl)

Y/N woke up in her Las Vegas hotel room ecstatic. As soon as she woke up she decided to start getting ready for the day alongside one of her friends.

TIME SKIP (6:00) 30 Minutes before the SB starts.

Y/N met up with Savannah and a few other 49ers wives while walking towards the stadium. After getting seated she decided to watch a few of the players practice. While watching from her seat she noticed her old friend Brock on the field. A large smile appeared on her face. She admired Brock from the time the game started to the time it ended. An hour after the games was over she decided to wait outside of the stadium looking for her friend Nick while hoping to bump into Brock. As she was about to walk back to her car she was stopped by a tall figure. She turned slowly to be met with a 6"1 Brock Purdy. After standing in silence for at least 5 minutes she looked up, now face to face with the handsome quarterback. Without saying a word they embraced each other in a hug...

I hate this but it’s wtv ig😔😔😣

[timmurleyart]

Boston calling throughout the years. 🟣💓❤️🎵🎶

[louisegluckpdf]

literally nothing will beat seeing marina in the rain as a high schooler...i haven't been to any of the harvard stadium boston callings since i've moved back here but i don't think they would hit the same anyway

they literally don't harvard stadium bc is hot and cramped and feels bracingly corporate. at government center no one had beach balls so someone blew up a condom and the crowd bounced it around in the rain while waiting for the festival to restart because it'd been delayed due to lightning

[adamsvanrhijn]

blorbo question: blorbo and his boyfriend in a modern day american college situation. are they football fans or basketball fans? either? does John play one of those sports?

thank you for not making me sad!!!

reminder for people who don't live here that in this case the football looks like this

🏈🏈🏈

in one of the aus in my brain where they are in high school in the 50s ("this was not the question" shhh) john plays high school football, because it's the 50s. but the thing about established modern football is all the brain damage. which i don't like for him. i do not as yet have an au in my brain where he plays football in a modern au at any level college included. the only universe in my brain where john plays college football is at least a few of my many alternate canonical timelines... 1860s-1870s harvard football...!!

for whatever reason john is not screaming basketball at me. i feel like i don't associate john with jumping. actually that's a stupid thing to say because i have him as a baseball player plenty and that jumping works in my brain...

i do not think oscar enjoys Participating in either of these sports because he simply is at a physiological disadvantage.... the secret to not losing at sports is to only do sports you know you can win 😌💅 but in no universe i already have in my brain is oscar like an actual college athlete.

i DO however think teen young adult oscar thinks he can also win at football by being in a sexual relationship with a football player and i do think he could also apply this logic to basketball but basketball is like. less idealized. nobody* is writing songs and screenplays where you win by dating the basketball player you know?? the basketball player is not an aspirational trope. it is less impressive to turn a basketball player gay** than it is a football player.

* somebody almost certainly is.

** make him realize he actually has been so in love with you specifically all this time and was only making fun of you in front of his friends because he wants you soooo bad

i think john has had similar fantasies in his life but it's more like, the guy is already his friend and maybe he has realized through having a girlfriend that actually he does wish he still had time to spend with john, since he isn't doing that much anymore because now he has a girlfriend, and maybe even he actually prefers john to his girlfriend and just isn't ready to say it yet .............

ummmmm. in terms of like. being in College. and not in high school. and watching College sports. i don't think oscar has the patience for football for football's sake like there needs to be something else going on for this viewing experience to be fun... this is a Party thing... but he pays attention to who is winning and losing both during the game and during the season perhaps. whereas i think the act of Watching football is probably actually something cerebral enough for john to enjoy but he hates the vibes.... his ideal football watching experience is at home not being perceived maybe with like two other people he enjoys spending time with already and you don't have to deal with tailgate and/or stadium logistics.... and he is less concerned in terms of like a bigger picture state of American college football with who is winning or losing but gets invested in the individual game while he is watching it and wants his team to win. thinks about how team members must feel emotionally if they lose when the game really matters and feels sad for them. gets really upset about injuries. probably is worried about the brain damage which Oscar like. simply doesn't care about they're already playing football in the first place........ come on 🙄

i feel like John would try to support his college's women's basketball to be a good feminist ally. he could totally have a sister basketball player. Oscar unlikely to care about this / care about being perceived as caring about this but would maybe go in a group and in the right circumstances talk like he does. or he might not.

basketball is Not a big thing in my state to be honest so i am less familiar with the college politics but football i just cannot get away from so i am much more aware of what that is like.... very interested in basketball blorbo opinions if anyone has those for some reason.

[lboogie1906]

Norris Bumstead Herndon (July 15, 1897 - June 7, 1977) was the second president of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, founded by his father, Alonzo Herndon. Alonzo Herndon took the seven-year-old to the founding meeting of the Niagara Movement, the precursor organization to the NAACP.

He was born in Atlanta. He was the son and only child of millionaire African American businessman Alonzo Franklin Herndon and Adrienne McNeil Herndon (born Elizabeth A. Stephens), a well-known actress and professor of dramatics and elocution at Atlanta University.

He graduated from Atlanta University and Harvard University’s Business School. He was one of the only two African Americans in his graduating class. He joined his father’s firm, first as a cashier, and then eventually as the company’s first VP.

After his father died in 1927, he was elected the second president of Atlanta Life Insurance Company. When he took the helm, company assets totaled just over $1 million, but through decades of cautious management and prudent investments including some significant acquisitions, Atlanta Life’s assets grew to $54 million. At the time of his retirement, Atlanta Life had grown to a company with assets of $84 million.

He gave generously to the UNCF, the local African American YMCA, Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, First Congregational Church, the NUL, the NAACP, as well as many other organizations. He donated the land on which Atlanta University’s Herndon Stadium sits, and the money to build the structure. He was a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the Grand Order of Odd Fellows and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha

[fishout-of-water]

I absolutely love how Mars University was designed in the show and was really excited to add onto it for the comic! Since I'm starting off the new chapter at the MU stadium, I of course needed to start designing it since I don't think we ever got to see that part of the campus.

I used Panatheniac stadium and Harvard's stadium as references for this pass.

I've hardly ever done concept art for settings before so this is a learning experience. If anyone wants to give suggestions, I'll gladly hear them.

[dandthegods]

Working Class Gods

So I am fully aware that this will be so soaked through with bias and based on personal anecdotal “evidence” that it will start dripping down and staining the carpet. If you choose to engage with this, please remember that these are opinions, UPG, and completely pulled from my ass. 

This isn’t meant to be a “hot take”, merely an observation. I think the Gods (of any pagan belief but I’m talking about the Hellenic deities here) are more connected to and more present in the lives of working class and “middle class” people and have always been that way. Let me explain. 

This may just be my bias as someone who has only ever known a working class life, who doesn’t get caught up in the intensity of ritual and research, and has read American Gods about twenty times at this point, but I think the Gods as I know and see them are and always have been of the working classes of society. However you want to define that. I believe the Gods have a deeper and more organic relationship with pagans who identify and live lives at those sort of levels. I am not saying that those who would be considered “upper class” or those who could be categorized as “the 1%” in any given society can’t experience and connect with the Gods. I cant and won’t ever say that. Just the more it turns in my head and stews, the more I believe what I’ve said. 

The Gods are everywhere. They can be found literally anywhere if you look for them. They aren’t limited to the things humans create or the ways we’ve categorized ourselves and them. Aphrodite can just as easily be worshipped by a millionaire Instagram influencer as a teenager who works at Sephora as a job to help her parents pay the rent. Athena can be found walking the aisles of Harvard or Oxford just as much as being among the shelves of a small town bookmobile that is the closest that town has to a library for 100 miles. Dionysus can be found at the biggest and more glamorous galas and events just as well as being able to sit on the couch with a gay teen in Alabama who isn’t out to anyone but their best friend. Apollo can be on the stages of a sold out stadium show just as much as being in the furthest, cheapest back row seat. I could give examples for every Olympian and Titan with a name, but I’ll just leave it there. 

The stories we have are known to have originated as oral traditions. Oral stories told to people until someone wrote them down, and even then they still were told as bedtime stories or around a campfire. It was the populous, the working class, that told those stories most of the time. Sure, an emperor or a queen might tell their children stories sometimes, but a majority of what we have came from the continuous belief and propagation of stories by the farmers, smiths, fishermen and artists. And I think that’s the same as now. Anyone can become enthralled with the stories and mythologies retold, some across a book of retelling in any library. But I think it’s the kids who aren’t in the upper echelons of private school and trust funds are more prone to that discovery and for that to stick with them in a meaningful way. 

I’m lucky that my gods aren’t used by people in positions of power to control society. I’m lucky that my religion isn’t the dominant one and my gods names are being taken in vain to control others. I can’t speak for how the world was in the past when that WAS more likely the case, but for today I can say that I’m glad it isn’t. 

One thing that has always stuck with me about my favorite book, American Gods by Neil Gaiman is how the old gods are on the level of working class people. It has stuck with me into my own fiction writing as well as my beliefs. I do believe that if the Gods were to take physical form and function in today’s society (maybe they do, who knows. I’ve met people I could easily believe were Hephaestus or Hermes), they would take on a working class life and working blue collar jobs. I wouldn’t expect to see any of them taking high positions of power, being politicians or royalty. I would expect to run into them at the DMV, in line at the grocery store, or behind a cash register. I’d expect to see Apollo running a small Etsy shop, Hephaestus to work at a factory, Hermes to run a gas station or auto repair shop, Zeus to be a pilot, Poseidon to be a lifeguard or work at a community pool. 

I see the gods in the everyday. I see them in all the things of my life and connect with them in everything I do, not just when I’m at my altar. Seeing the spectacular in the mundane or the ordinary was how I was raised and how I still work today. The Gods are there in chipped nail polish, calm Sunday mornings, road trips in a cheap car, and in the lyrics of my favorite songs. I started thinking about this more as I was curating a small playlist on Spotify for what I call “My Hymns”. They are regular songs that I associate with the Gods. Some have some spiritual meaning intended for a different deity, and some are just match the ✨vibes✨of the Gods. I listen to that playlist as a devotional act, letting each song remind me of its own god or goddess, letting my singing along or quiet listening be like a hymn being belted out to the rafters of my own private temple. It just gets me thinking about my Gods and it makes me happy. 

I hope this all makes sense and I didn’t mince my words too much. 

Cheers

-D

[haggishlyhagging]

Radical feminism rejected both the politico position that socialist revolution would bring about women's liberation and the liberal feminist solution of integrating women into the public sphere. Radical feminists argued that women constituted a sex-class, that relations between women and men needed to be recast in political terms, and that gender rather than class was the primary contradiction. They criticized liberal feminists for pursuing "formal equality within a racist, class-stratified system," and for refusing to acknowledge that women's inequality in the public domain was related to their subordination in the family. Radical feminists articulated the earliest and most provocative critiques of the family, marriage, love, normative heterosexuality, and rape. They fought for safe, effective, accessible contraception; the repeal of all abortion laws; the creation of high-quality, community-controlled child-care centers; and an end to the media's objectification of women. They also developed consciousness-raising—the movement's most effective organizing tool. And in defying the cultural injunction against female self-assertion and subjectivity, radical feminists "dared to be bad." By 1970, there was such enormous interest in radical feminism that some have even argued it was on the verge of becoming a mass movement.

Radical feminists succeeded in pushing liberal feminists to the left and politicos toward feminism. By September 1969 Betty Friedan, founder of the liberal National Organization for Women (NOW), declared that "those people who think NOW is too activist may be less important in the future than the youth." While she criticized the younger women for failing to see that "the gut issues of this revolution involve employment and education and new social institutions and not sexual fantasy," she nonetheless urged NOW to "form a power bloc or alliance" with women's liberation groups "whose style, origins, structure and general ambience may be quite different from ours." NOW did move in this direction. On August 26, 1970, NOW joined with women's liberation groups to stage a national women's strike, the Women's Strike for Equality, and demanded twenty-four-hour child-care centers, abortion on demand, and equal employment and educational opportunities for women.

Similarly, many socialist-feminists, who in their earlier incarnation as "politicos" had repudiated radical feminism, began incorporating elements of radical feminism into their analysis. For instance, in May 1970, in the wake of the American invasion of Cambodia, a ten-woman delegation from Bread and Roses, a Boston-based "socialist women's liberation organization," delivered a speech at a National Student Strike rally at Harvard Stadium. Although the women from Bread and Roses did not entirely jettison the politico analysis, they did speak of male dominance as "the original and basic form of domination from which all others flow," and they did identify themselves as part of an "independent women's movement to destroy male supremacy."

But by the early '70s radical feminism began to flounder, and after 1975 it was eclipsed by cultural feminism—a tendency that grew out of radical feminism, but contravened much that was fundamental to it. With the rise of cultural feminism the movement turned its attention away from opposing male supremacy to creating a female counterculture—what Mary Daly termed "new space"—where "male" values would be exorcized and "female values nurtured." Although this woman-only space was envisioned as a kind of culture of active resistance, it often became instead, as Adrienne Rich has recently pointed out, "a place of emigration, an end in itself" where patriarchy was evaded rather than engaged. Concomitantly, the focus became one of personal rather than social transformation. Feminist activist and writer Meredith Tax recalls that as early as 1971 some feminists seemed to be defining their politics completely in terms of their lifestyle. Tax remembers women boasting, "we worked on our car all weekend," as though it were an act of great political significance. She “worried about what else was going to happen. This wasn't going to be the whole thing, was it?” But as the '70s wore on this was, if not the whole thing, then a large part of it. And by 1975 radical feminism virtually ceased to exist as a movement. Once radical feminism was superseded by cultural feminism, activism became largely the province of liberal feminists. According to Washington, D.C. women's liberationist Frances Chapman, radical feminism was "like a generator that got things going, cut out and left it to the larger reform engine which made a lot of mistakes."

-Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America: 1967-75