#a man was lynched yesterday

[chrisery-business]

every time a person is killed for the crime of being black, as a black person i feel like a part of me dies with them. it’s like i knew them personally and i mourn another family member every week. it’s terrifying that it’ll always be possible that i could be joining them next and that i’m just supposed to go about my day like my brothers and sisters aren’t being killed all around me

[zodgory]

Which director's filmography would you rather listen to a series of podcasts about?

Consider also voting on the actual poll at Blank Check’s website

Current standings

[the-holy-ghosted]

i must preface this by saying he is Not old in edward ii but it simply must be discussed why are we not talking about this.....

itching here because its entirely irrelevant to the overall theme of my blog but if i dont talk about [THAT OLD MAN] in [MOVIE] where he [PERVERTED DESCRIPTION OF SCENE] im going to fucking explode

[spiderbitesandvampirevenom]

that anon yesterday really ground my gears so lets quickly review some historical facts:

1. white men get accused of rape, pedophilia, and incest, and more often than not escape any form of tangible consequence. this is especially true when their victims are people of color.

2. men of color get accused of rape, pedophilia, or incest, and get lynched before there's even a trial. these accusations often come from white women to escape consequences for sexually assaulting the man in question.

3. rape and pedophilia have been used as forms of colonial-imperial violence to enforce white supremacy by both white men and women who, shocker, almost always got off with any consequences. and yes, its an issue that is still incredibly, horrifyingly relevant today.

4. people of color have been systematically painted as sexual deviants, incestuous savages, rapists, and child predators by white society from the moment they met us, which was then used to justify hundreds of years of enslaving, torturing, raping, and murdering people of color across the globe.

so, to review and add it all together:

rape, pedophilia, incest, and other forms of sexual violence are, first and foremost, an extension of violence, NOT sexual desire. treating sexual violence as solely an expression of desire is a privilege of white heteropatriarchy. when people of color open admit to wanting to engage in acts of sexual violence, they get killed. when white people do it, they make a new porn category for it.

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

people glazing rafe even harder then I thought was possible when they already did in the last seasons when he was actively trying to kill his own sister and now when literally saw his sis starve knowing she was pregnant oh when he had so much 💰too is crazy work

Rafe never beating a racist piece of sh*t the billie of obx driving around town with a blue lives matter truck after he literally beat pope and tried to kill pope and lynch pope for breathing the wha he never went after jj or johnb like that even strangled kie annoying brat ass

y’all are so fcvking🤢🤢 weird atp cancell 5th szn just bc I can’t look at that nasty man and the glazing anymore and seeing people on tktk talk about him being 1 now that jj is gone first off all he wouldn’t even ranked 2nd when pope is right there be serious losers

JJ clears will always clear him even if he is six feet under like dpmo with those silly jokes! the way rafe don’t even clear johnb and y’all think he’s top3 and 1 when pope exist and when 💀exist? Obx staying pmo like I need him six feet under like yesterday since s1

Pushing 30 still hanging around kids 18-19y what a loser like sir go do smth with ur life I thought you said you was a proactive guy who gets sh*t done(hasn’t gotten shit done since his daddy left) or some cringe sh*t! getting saved by ur pregnant sister whom you let starve when you had so much money🤮🤮nasty work

[pumpumdemsugah]

An black man got lynched and strangled in bus yesterday

But "male violence" though lol

And 4 to 7 Black women in America are murdered every single day almost exclusively by Black men, if this is competition now

5 women and girls are killed every hour globally from femicide

I'm Black. Fuck off. Come back with a less remedial " counter ". You lot genuinely think racism cancels out misogyny and will use the death of someone to do that because you're dumb, desperate and probably unemployed

You lot never have anything to say about issues that impact Black women because racialised misogyny scrambles your little brain. Even if we spun Black female issues as a race only issue, you still wouldn't care because you're a misogynist who's pissy that I'm posting words on the internet.

What a massive loser. Which one of my posts sent you over the edge ?

[originalleftist]

This is what Donald Trump said about a member of his own party, a white Republican elite, who dared to go against him.

Imagine what he'd do to everyone else.

Back in 2020, Donald Trump retweeted "The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat". I will never forget realizing that the President of my country had just declared a war of extermination against me, my family, and millions of others who shared our views.

He meant it. He proved that on January 6th, when he sent a mob to lynch his own Vice President for not helping him to carry out a coup.

His supporters mean it too.

Yesterday in one of my classes, we talked about the genocide in Cambodia in the 70s. How a third of the country is thought to have died.

That could be us. It could be the whole world.

This election is not a fucking game. It's not "both sides" and it's not business as usual. If we lose, we won't get to just try again in four years.

And if you sit it out, or God help you vote for that fucking man, then the blood is on your hands, and you will never wash it off.

Vote Blue.

[matrixwhore]

IWTV S2 Watch Thoughts EP 1

This is technically a rewatch, but I literally just finished watching this for the first time like yesterday and i'm watching it again 🤭

It's been a while...that is one part intentional and was always going to be the way I approached S2. It was also one part very necessary that I took time away from online and just focus on my life, and one part so much anticipation of the show that I couldn't watch it until I was absolutely ready. This show means a lot to me for a lot of reason beyond just watching it. So yeah I'm gonna just stick with the point of this post. I am watching IWTV from a disability lense. Among the other themes and different angles to look at what's happening on the show I often consider how disability/ableism interacts with blackness, how it interacts with ageism, how it interacts with mental instability, how it interacts with gender, religion, class etc. etc. etc. etc. I'm mostly doing this for me to get my thoughts out, but I love to talk about this show, so I just want people to keep in mind the angle I come to this w if for whatever reason there's something to say about what I got to say (not that, that really matters in the grand scheme). It seems obvious to me why this lens is necessary, but I'll note here that the show literally opens in S1 with an aged disabled man staring down the finality of his life and deciding to chase after the fountain of youth/the fountain of forever that never flows with water (I'll never stop thinking about that conversation on here!) that refreshes no one even as they are imbued with power (supernatural ability).

Season one was structured like a hunt being played out like games. Poker, then chess and then at the end the play (as in the staged play but also as in the hand in the game!) was revealed. In S2 there's a clear interaction with being in a staged play and being on trial and that matters to me because how often trials are like plays especially when you are being judged as a person with intersecting marginalized identities. I think about who is a witness, and who gets to testimony with their voice, and when and why someone is judged as guilty and who is directing the play (and trial), and who gets a speaking role, and what do they get to say when they are allowed to speak. Lynchings for black people were trials fast tracked to executions, they didn't have a say about the supposed "crime" they committed, about their death as as result of their supposed guilt and about the fact that their death existed as entertainment much like these plays, for the white people who attended with their children even. (This too is a conversation about disability. this is a conversation about ableism as the mechanism that keeps every marginalization/"ism" functioning as we know them, but lemme slow down) so...yeah, much to think about.

please this is about s1 but it shows up in the previously ons....the opening of the story Louis is telling that takes place in NOLA "the year was 1910" and we see the Fairplay in lights! AINT NOTHING FAIR ABOUT THIS PLAY! my chest is in knots

also Claudia as a poison, a venom. forbidden both as the forbidden fruit and the snake in the garden... I'll have to come back to this train of thought...maybe, maybe not idk. have we said this already? the thinking pieces are many on here.

anyways!

(9 minutes into the show this is already so long I'm putting this under a read more)

What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned?

In the title the war is on top (somewhere Beyonce's love on top is playing...I know it is...) bombs being dropped on what would be heaven if not for the fact that they are already in hell. It is not just the vampires with hungry mouths for death, it is also the cities themselves (oh I did say this somewhere already I'm sure)

thinking about their escape from what they perceived as hell equating/being: existing under Lestat and his domination over them, is revealed as just one facet of the hell that has always already existed around them. I wonder sometimes if they had managed to find somewhere that wasn't even more war torn than the life they left behind (leave the battle to join the war. win the battle to lose the war foreshadow foreshadow) what that could have been for their relationship because my heart weeps okay?! But Claudia knows she has to find other vampires. she isn't enough for him no matter what Louis tells himself to dream at night.

_____________

Claudia doesn't dream, she goes after the life she believes she deserves and that's what I think she wants Louis to know when she insists she doesn't dream. That is what she finds he fails in relating to her on i think. it's one of the things anyway. Maybe she's also saying all she has is nightmares. There are no dreams. not in her waking, not in her sleep. Idk im getting ahead of it.

Louis: "She might have said that to shut me up, but yet, she writes it here. So, let's believe it"

Daniel: "Let's."

keeping in mind everything is part of the play/trial. also that the trial that takes her life itself is a spector over their lives. that the journals were and still are Claudia's only voice (the only space she had the ability to express honestly and the only space where they "listen" to her) and how they are used out of context to legitimize or delegitimize her in their (Louis, the court, lestat, Daniel, Armand and on and on.) own experience even with her. ugh so much so much I'll get to it.

_____________

please delainey is already so cute climbing out the ground 🤭 murdering dying soldiers. das my baby fr! nobody touch me! i wanna raise her. i too would have begged to keep her! 😭 (don't remind me of this when I'm on Louis about this....I get to keep truths in the shadow too! I'm ahead of myself!)

thinking about the fact that they dig their own graves for the days, bury themselves to sleep and then every night they crawl out of their graves to keep on enduring hell (foreshadow foreshadow). the imagery of the birth of a vampire in many other vampire lores being crawling out of their own graves comes to mind. and this is kind of their birth seeing as how this is them as vampires officially out on their own for the first time really.

____________

Armand continually cutting in is taking if FOR ME personally. He is so funny like you're 500 year old parent trying to make jokes pleaseee. 🤭 this is followed closely by Claudia throwing Louis the ripped out heart of a dying soldier.

____________

let us take a moment with Louis to ponder Claudia's inability to dream as a deficit. meanwhile he is tormented by his dreams even in his waking. his dreams being made up of dreamlestat makes me think his pondering of her lack of dreaming here is related to his inner belief about whether or not she is capable of love. his nightmares are linked to his love for lestat and the torment it causes him to have been involved in his "demise". so I wonder if he has this view of her lack of dreaming because she was able to kill lestat and would have had he not intervened. and because he doesn't feel she loves him--Louis. and because he doesn't see her anger towards him as rooted in love loss because of the betrayal she feels. love loss would indicate she can and did love him and he lost that love. she is seen as someone who can't love. just like she can't dream. because it's easier to ponder these things as a deficit in Claudia for him. (for now)

Armand likens it to the sleep of an infant while she out there providing for Louis and herself. I have to laugh. Such is her existence. she got the papers, she facilitates the meals, she makes the plans, she learning all the languages, she still the baby! even though she's not. because she is. even when she's not.

(off topic, kind of, but I saw a gif set of Assad saying Armand would love Buffy and it made me so happy. I agree and his favorite episode is Buffy S6 I can't remember the episode number..maybe 5 or 6, but it's the tabula rasa episode! He was on his tablet writing a think piece about why Willow is misunderstood in that episode when he was playing Rashid. He might be writing it right now at the table 😂. I like to think his username was TheRealRashid, because it makes me laugh even more every time Daniel calls the real real Rashid "Real Rashid").

__________

The switch from the very controlled way Armand appeared in S1 as Rashid to the very relaxed way he appears now. Is this the first we see him in white? He wants to be seen as an angel so badly. one thing about Armand he gonna let that chest peak! I like this white button down!

He's not part of the interview but he's at the table, he's not eating bc he is no longer an actor he's directing, the table is part of his home, but his home is the stage, this is all part of the play/trial. viewers included, we are all part of it (the writers did allude to that before the season started, but it's exciting to experience it) the play and are all on trial. the Théâtre des Vampires is also a haunting over their lives.

________

Claudia calling Louis dumb, Louis playing dumb ,made me laugh a little bit. it made me laugh! I'm sorry. but it fascinates me because she cannot get around without an adult, but here she passes him off as an invalid because she is leading this expedition and he is barely useful in this journey. I think it's interesting that Louis doesn't consider she might be too tired to dream when he is under the framework of believing she doesn't dream.

________

She also doesn't talk to him but she writes everything. I have so much to say on Claudia and her journals, but I really want to get into it more when we get to the trials. She can't talk to him and have her full experience considered. Also he literally choked her. He always talks about it like she's angry because he wouldn't let her burn lestat, but he doesn't reflect much on how he stopped her from doing that. he knows it's fucked up enough when lestat did it to her. he doesn't consider that he choked the trust out of their relationship.

ALSO

Louis never drank from black people in NOLA so this, I guess, this is his first time of being confronted with drinking blood as drinking life meaning whatever life the person lived being consumed can be miserable. he is confronted with this now because the inescapable misery of this war. (inescapable misery......) this makes me think about who lestat chooses to kill and how Louis viewed him for who he chose. it makes me think of when they drank from the tenor who mostly led a good life. it makes me think about how lestat is ruled by hedonism in many ways. it also makes me think about this as his abuse and monstrosity doubling as sheltering them from the dreadful scope vampirism. I imagine lestat figured this out on his own and that is something he considered when choosing his victims. he learned to read their minds as part of his hunt and that's what he passed on to Louis. he learned to consider their inner world before drinking from them. they, Louis and Claudia, don't have the luxury of doing that where they are right now. There is no escape from the misery. there is no life untouched by the chill of death in this all consuming war. there's no dreaming. no hope. only surviving. tho I do think the only hope he has is dreamlestat and that is also torment. I think about how Louis' vampirism is an all consuming war. and I do want to jump just a little. just a little!

Claudia staring at that fire like oh we really speaking French now talking about "we're taking it all in." and "we can't get warm." even tho Claudia has only known a life on fire she has never been able to stay warm, but okay Louis.

I really like this scene. Louis talking to himself is a running theme that I'm kind of obsessed with.

_______

Louis knocking off that jaw and it turning to dust means something! It means something!!!! Claudia's hope for a future with vampires better than lestat being a long dead thing. a dead on arrival thing. what he did to them being turned to dust at Louis' touch. I think about that in terms of how the hard truth that they where better off with out him being as good as dust to Louis at this point anyway. even if he can't say it out loud.

_______

I know that dead weight hit, but at least she put it in a journal Louis! he would have never known had he not read it. but you 🫵🏾 Louis! you like to say that quiet part out loud! I can only do so much understanding!

________

"Unworthy in San Francisco, unworthy in Dubai. Disregard!" I'm sure there's something to say here but I cannot stop laughing. He really went from dad jokes to scorned mother talking shit.

_______

Claudia still taking souvenirs. I was gonna ask what does she even need the gun for. I can think of how it can be used even by vampires. but I doubt it's being used.

_________

I know why the caged bird crawls out of lestat's neck and flies away!

__________

bloodletting anyone always used to feel like murder until he murdered lestat (the only one who isn't actually fully dead). do we call this growth? im joking

__________

in romania is really the upfront conversation of what do people believe about what they witness. what do they cast doubt over in order to shield themselves with. and off the strength of even possibility what precautions do they take? I like that this happens before we get to the theater in Paris that makes a show out of this very thin line.

anyways the excitement of possible vampires that aren't lestat (and Louis) break Claudia's silent treatment.

__________

Emilia said "you will make the friends" because vodka surely that is a unifying vice. but they black Emilia. they aren't just American. they are black. I have to laugh.

___________

I just know Claudia is tried of seeing Louis' walls come down, quiver, at the sight of any half decent looking white man with an accent. because what is there to trust about him enough to break character right now??n(that he ends up as the someone untrustworthy by this very same man later on like...)

I need time to think irt to memory and Louis. I'll circle back.

__________

Daniel hanging on to the legitimacy of this interview like a life line. his power lies in the investigation he's more than capable of.

_________

something something about kids turning darkness into song, and Claudia being an eternal morbid child likened to a caged bird singing with clipped wings imprisoned in an eternal night and still not fitting in with these morbid singing children who's wings have been clipped by war and occupation something something and the looming threat of the vampire on them all.

__________

the cover being searching for his wife with a picture of his sister, while he looks for vampires with his daughter/sister now provider. this is so normal. all of this is so so normal.

"up your bum" I am laughing. I am laughing. this is all so normal. Morgan said "I know what you are"

what I have to say about memory and Louis is tied in with something I have to say about Louis being regarded always as exceptionally untrustworthy in comparison to those around him (who also lie). I need to chew on it a bit.

even when he wants to be genuine (giving his real name) he is lying (just looking for his wife). are his intentions nefarious in this lie. not exactly, but by the very nature of being a vampire yes, but not in the way this man is thinking of it, except to this man exactly in the way he is thinking of it. because oh! he is black and it does matter. This white man feels it his duty to keep this black man in line with the rules and the laws (themes motifs we'll see this again, we see this often). never mind what it would mean for him to turn back and take his punishment for his black daughter who this white man has seen and knows would be left alone should this Louis turn back and take his punishment. because they do see her as a child. so does she also go back to take her punishment as well? and what is her crime? and if no crime. isn't it still a punishment she would suffer regardless? isn't her fate always intwined with the ways in which Louis doesn't adhere to laws and rules expected of the black man. expected of the fledgling vampire. I see this in so many ways as Louis still fatally underestimating how his vampirism (and his blackness) separates him from others existing in time and space in a way that he does not.

(preemptive anxieties: anyone with the urge to tell me it's not about Louis being black should remind themselves that they flat out have Louis calling himself the magical vodka negro and keep it.)

_________

delainey is so infectious the way she plays Claudia's excitement. 🥺

Louis said baboons. please this why she told that man you dumb Louis.

_________

something something lestat left in a dump yard to feed on rats. something something them sleeping in where the rats lived, something something the rats at the theater to come and Claudias fate (more later), something something Louis to share a rat meal with lestat. something somethings.

_________

"why you laughing with them giving out your real name?"

like I said, Claudia perceived in her coldness, but her coldness is her awareness of their vampirism and how it separates them and their blackness and how it separates them and her black girlhood/womanhood and how it separates her from Louis.

thinking about the difference between the old vampires with powerful blood running through their veins and options of blood to feed on and the old vampires that are seemingly weak by comparison being sick. sick by the the age maybe? the misery? and maybe the blood they have to survive on...

________

oh yeah Louis is also choking the life out of their "freedom" by carrying lestat with them. there's also that.

I wanna cry that the one vampire that she "finds" that isn't a bastard is one she has to have made and that's so very short lived.....

_______

so this thing with Louis actively working through his memory right. the reveals come in his being able to testimony. Dubai also serves as a trial and here Louis gets to speak. and here Claudia only gets to say what's written in her journal and what we know of her experience is still perceived by the men who pick apart her experience by way of her journals. it's important that Claudia writes down that she doesn't dream. tells Louis that she doesn't dream. but is seen by Louis most likely dreaming. so does she not remember her dreams? does she lie to Louis and her self about those dreams? Does she not qualify them as dreams because they are nightmares? We will never know. We will never know because she does not get to testimony. She does not matter as a witness. Louis as a witness and his testimony is held under the same ableist scrutiny that victims of abuse, survivors of assault, black people, and mentally ill people critically face when it comes to the law. Do they speak of what they remember perfectly? Do they get to speak at all? and when they don't remember perfectely they are liars even if it's just that they are remembering incorrectly. Even if they believe what they remember and tell it that way because they believe it. I know that he does lie, but THEY ALL LIE. everyone. he is seen as exceptional in this often by the viewers included because we are also part of the play and the trial and like the audience at the theater (I do recall the great "Louis is a liar" wave of s1) and by everyone around him even tho he suffers from what is only natural about memory and age as well and memory irt to trauma and mental illness as well as memory irt to the difference of perspectives. This is why it is very important that Daniel is the other side of this memory coin. he is also the other witness that corroborates a truth about San Francisco that is missing for both of them, but we will get to that. Mental illness and blackness (and for Claudia girlhood/womanhood intersecting with blackness) disable credibility. disable worthiness. disable fair play! I want to get into Claudia more, but I will later.

and I think this moment with Louis crying because he is able to uncover a truth beyond his Claudia's diaries and what she says to him, hidden within his own memories is really one of the first times Daniel is forced to confront the full scope of Louis humanity. his experience. he is uncomfortable with the rawness of authenticity not because he hasn't seen Louis cry. I think because he also carried an inner belief that Louis is a liar. that his is not a credible source rather than that his is a traumatized vampire that is reaching back through time to make the monster that is memory reveal what is real and true about what happened all those years ago. I consider his sarcasm when Louis stressed how important it was that they got every detail right. that they got them accurately. this eats at him. and this is the first time Daniel has to sit with viewing Louis as a meal as well.

__________

anyways there's a trial in romania as well. on whether Emilia is a monster for having possibly been bit by one. the very possibility of truth in superstition means her head rolls. the occupying soldiers are the judge, jury, and executioner. and even though this situation does involve a vampire, the fallout and impact of what vampires do to humanity are viewed, by Louis and Claudia, as a separate human issue that they will not involve themselves in. because their aim here to join that issue and make friends with it. in a way they cannot with non-vampire humans.

__________

the caged bird sings to scare the locals! (well in this case not the locals but you get my point)

__________

Forgive me, I keep hearing They Not Like Us every time I see this vampire omg!

he's no good as a vampire anymore because Claudia disabled him by taking his eyes, so he dies. and the vampire who kills him prophesies Claudia's demise it seems, dreams only for a moment a life with them off of Claudia's sweet blood (with the power of lestat coursing through it) and she then jumps in the fire. for the hopelessness and the endless loss, and probably for having been the one to have to kill her own son and also for not being able to make anyone new vampires.

the blood is no good for turning vampires. Louis says "maybe you need better blood" where she gonna get it Louis? where can she get this elusive better blood?

"all those that in darkness go into the darkness" she says this to Claudia specifically. then she jumps into the fire and burns! that means something I know it does. as well as the rest of what she says that feel very much like a warning. dreams give you their names and die right before your very eyes.

__________

I was getting side-eyed for noting that it's (seemingly) been many nights since the warmth of infatuation and the heat of needy fucking transpired in this home of theirs. but there that groan is. in between them. like I am truly a loumand fuck crazy and nasty truther, it's just the chill is right here before my very eyes in the text. that freaky feeding at the dinner table in front of Daniel was a reawakening that's all I was saying. that's all I was saying! 🤭

I wanna believe someone figured out what book that was on Armand's iPad...if someone did. I wanna know.

Armand goes from notes in the margin participation to directing the course of this thing.

He is on the record and now Louis is leading the expedition in the past! I love that their intimacy is always played up when they really get into the act! and we are certainly on a different act.

and now Armand is dressed in grey. just little observations. it means something im sure.

_______

the hard words and soft words from Louis! He really does weave through being brother and father and mother. their relationship is so normal. He wanna believe he's being real with her even with dreamlestat sitting right there. He's choosing and she's choosing to believe him. they both need it.

[justinssportscorner]

Elise Carson-Holt at LGBTQ Nation:

In the wake of her gold medal win, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has filed a legal complaint in France after being faced with a wave of online harassment brought on by false claims that she is transgender. The complaint was filed Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office focused on stopping online hate speech. Khelif’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said Khelif was the victim of “aggravated cyber-harassment,” which he described as “a misogynist, racist, and sexist campaign” in a statement.

Khelif, who is a cisgender woman, has been victimized by anti-trans bigots, including prominent people such as Elon Musk, JK Rowling, and former president Donald Trump, all of whom have shared baseless claims that she is secretly a man or transgender. She is neither. The statement reads, “After the sporting time, comes the legal time. Having just won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, boxer Imane Khelif has decided to lead a new fight: that of justice, dignity, and honor. Ms. Khelif contacted the firm which filed a complaint yesterday for acts of cyber harassment aggravated by the anti-online hatred center of the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office.” It continues, “The criminal investigation will determine who initiated this misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign, but will also have to focus on those who fueled this digital lynching. The unfair harassment suffered by the boxing champion will remain the biggest stain of these Olympic Games.”

Good to see Algerian boxer Imane Khelif file a legal complaint against the online harassment she received as she was falsely labeled a “man”, amplified by right-wing and anti-trans bozos like J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk, Riley Gaines, and Donald Trump.

See Also:

The Advocate: Imane Khelif files legal complaint for harassment over gender controversy

[arctic-hands]

I'll be honest, I've lived in Baltimore for nine years and didn't know who Ta-Nehisi Coates was until I caught the tail end of CBS Morning where they were interviewing him and trying to catch him as if he were an antisemite just for his saying that he, as a Black man, doesn't believe any Apartheid ethno-state should exist. That was the last time I watched CBS Morning and it was the day before his new book, The Message, came out. I immediately got the ebook (would have loved to have gone to Red Emma's and joined the book party, but on top of the transit costs to get to that part of town the physical book was thirty dollars against the ebook's fifteen).

Didn't get a chance mentally to start it until yesterday tho. Incidentally when i was at the phlebotomy clinic on Friday, I looked up from my chair to see a tech's corkboard with Coates's name on it and a list of his works sans The Message, which started a brief conversation with the lab tech after I had my blood drawn–she didn't know he had a new book out–and probably is the reason I started it the morning after. I'm only 4 chapters in and I had to stop myself from crying 3 times. The fourth time–in chapter 3, as the show of support in a North Carolina for a teacher in the midst of being censored for the crime of loosely teaching CRT and how it relates into the George Floydd protests and the ahistoric "the Civil War was about states rights" myth and the very real history of lynchings in North Carolina, I didn't bother stop myself from crying.

Anyway fight the book bans that have already targeted his previous works and buy it or check it out from your local library. I'm told the second method is vitally important, as it tells the local governments that books like that are being read, there's a demand for it, and the libraries need to stay funded and supported and provide the books people want

[akookminsupporter]

Rosie, new fan and follower here. Really like your rational approach. Not an ask, but just a thought: I have been around shipping Jikook from 2018 or so. And as I watched yesterday’s live, I exactly imagined for this to happen. The largest shipping fandom being thrilled about J being Jungkook, the Vkook live being the epitome of true love or even a stepping stone to their coming out defying Hybe and Jkkr folks fully having a meltdown because J above M isn’t for JM.

I have nothing to say about Vkookers. I don’t mind any ships really, I find some of them adorable actually- like Taegi makes me crack up and Minomoni energy is so FREAKING cute. Ship whoever man. It’s a fragment of your imagination any way. What we think isn’t influencing reality in any way. But I draw the line at hating on another person to make your ship valid. So if you are gonna tell me JM is the reason Vkook isn’t together and you have to paint him in the most horrendous paint to sustain your ship, miss me with it. I can’t stand that. They have all been friends for a decade. And while I agree that they might not be as thick as they were once, they still are what you call second family. You don’t live together for 7 years and not have some kind of fondness for the other person. None of them are actively trying to cause damage to each other.

My bone to pick with is with JKKRs: I am sorry what? What did you all think he will do when he started explaining his tats? Even if it was meant for JM (which it isn’t from what he said), he would scream it out to the world? Yes, I am mentally married to my bandmate from the biggest music group that’s responsible for at least tens of billions each year? My country(which is extremely homophobic) thinks of us as the proud sons of Korea and we are considered a national treasure, we are a part of the President’s convoy, our everyday life is deeply intertwined with bureaucracy, business and even national GDP, but screw it, let’s throw caution in the wind? I am a south East Asian dating an East Asian in a very Queerphobic country. I live in Asia and I can promise you, despite how powerful you are, you just can’t ever admit to being Queer publicly without ultimately getting your ass whopped. In this case, there are 5 others and a whole ass company they love and want to protect? What’s with these expectations? Do we all think coming out as typically as you would see in a Netflix movie is the way it works? This isn’t a western centric situation where you get out pours of support when you come out. I don’t think the fandom even fathoms the scale of reaction that would erupt if any of them announce they are queer. I come from a very progressive family, they still don’t know my sexuality. Only my closest friends know, that’s it. Unless I am moving to a a country where queer relationships and marriages are legal and is safely tolerated, I will never be able to say it loud. I can get lynched, mobbed, honour killed. I will for sure be an outcast, I will lose relationships over this. I know BTS will never face any of these, they will get protection and all that, but man, I can’t believe that’s what we are expecting. Sure he could have not talked about his J tattoo, would that leave more room for confusion though? That boy wanted to show off his tattoos. Let him live Jeez.

We don’t know a 100 percent if they are/were together. We see some things that we relate to and make our assumptions. I love them together. They are my comfort space, I appreciate that they share little nuggets of their lives with us. But that’s all we have, little crumbs they left that has since been edited , proofed and vetted. Or things that slip out of them while on lives. We don’t know the full picture, we don’t even know one hundredth of it. They don’t owe us anything, they don’t do things to appease us. That man sang Vibe and only knew JM’s part (lol me), he did the signature move, dropped honorifics with JIMIN when he saw the poster and said he was cool. None of this registered, we couldn’t be happy because he didn’t tell us his tattoo on his ring finger stands for his supposed partner? Let’s please do better. Also the whole bunch complaining about he lives alone with Bam. Yes, folks have their own places that they can go back to routinely, because they are adults? Especially in a country where property ownership is public information? Also, you saw an empty room with hangers and a karaoke machine. How do you know he’s alone? I truly believe we will never catch them together in their houses or whatever reflections on TV. If they are together, they would be SOOOOO very cautious about even remotely creating suspicions. They know to tread the line of carefully of being implicated and deniability. Please just chill y’all and enjoy the moments. Not everything they do is to validate what we think. Please let’s just take a breather and be sensitive yeah?

Thank you for coming to my ted talk. I am tired of them being treated as drama characters who need to have an ulterior motive for everything they do. They deserve to just exist.

Anon, THANK YOU for your ted talk. More than one needs to read this. Welcome to my blog, we are cool over here, I promised.

Please just chill y’all and enjoy the moments. Not everything they do is to validate what we think.

Yes to this and to everything you said, thank you!

OPINIONS.

[gwopijon]

Donald Trump has won the president four years after he sat for months on Covid being deadly and after he incited an insurection.

He's an abjudicated rapist. He stole classified documents. He's a traitor. He is personally corrupt but it meant nothing to voters.

He hid the fact that Covid was deadly for months. We had empty shells and long lines at food banks but it meant nothing to voters.

He had zero ground game. He’s a felon. He incited an insurrection less than four years ago. But he was running against a woman again, and if there’s one thing Americans hate, it’s women.

In 2016, I still had some sense of hope that whatever happened during a Trump presidency, we could find a way to survive and recover. I don’t have that hope this time. Not after everything that’s happened, not after the past nine years of this utter sh-tshow. This is the American electorate looking at this orange clown and saying “that’s my guy.” This man spewed the most despicable, hate filled rhetoric and someone who is clearly declining physically and mentally. They heard “mass deportations” and they said “anything to bring down housing costs.” They heard every single warning about Trump’s authoritarian fascism and they said “sounds amazing.” They heard the promise of authoritarianism and they said “sign me up.”

What’s especially crazy is that Trump doesn’t even want to be president again. He was just running to avoid prison. This senile, hateful, disgusting 78-year-old man was exhausted and phoning it in for most of the campaign. He kept disappearing for weeks at a time to golf and sundown in peace. When he went to vote in Florida yesterday, he sounded almost resigned to losing. Even he underestimated the stupidity of Americans. Even he can’t believe that people fell for it again.

Kamala Harris was a great Democratic Presidential Candidate. She still lost.

In 2016, in the hours after Hillary Clinton lost, I was partly in a fugue state, half-numb and half-enraged. Accusations flew across the political spectrum – what if Hillary had done more in the Rust Belt, what if she did this or that differently, why did she run given the “Clinton Fatigue,” why did James Comey f–k her over in the final weeks. There’s really none of that eight years later. We couldn’t have asked for a better candidate than Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris was disciplined, joyful, wonkish, fun and cool. She energized the base and she had widespread cross-party appeal. The only things “wrong” with Kamala Harris were: she’s a woman, she’s a Black woman, and she isn’t Donald Trump.

This isn’t even because of one particular demographic – white women, men of all races, Latino voters, suburbanites, they all swung wildly against Kamala Harris.

I hope Kamala knows that she did the best she could with the hand she was dealt. The numbers don’t reflect a failure on her part, in my opinion. The numbers reflect a failure of the American electorate. Good news for the American electorate: Donald Trump promised that this would be the last votes you would ever have to cast, that he will “fix” everything so no one has to vote anymore. Congrats on making it count.

I’m terrified as a woman. As a biracial woman. As someone with complex healthcare needs. As a gay woman. As the friend of many LGBTQ+ people. And I’m genuinely scared for the many Republicans who had the courage to speak out against Trump, particularly Liz Cheney, Fascists do not deal lightly with perceived disloyalty.

Bibi and Putin are celebrating today. Gaza will be nuked into oblivion and Ukraine will be handed to Russia just like Taiwan will be handed to China. YOU did that!

I am struggling with my faith with feeling anger and hatred towards those ingrates who came and found the table set from the blood, sweat, tears, whipping, lynching and jailing of my ancestors and threatened us with a Trump/Vance/Heritage Foundation/ Project 2025 has Harris not tap danced on Gaza knowing full well, she was doing her job as VP she could not supersede the sitting President of this country. Some of ya'll knew she was personally against arming Israel and has always been for a 2 state solution. For those voters: FUCK YOU!

FUCK you if you voted 3rd Party.

FUCK you if you didn't vote at all while you could and should have.

In order it went white men, white Latino men, and white women who overwhelmingly voted for Trump. We should stop with “economic uncertainty” again as a cover.

Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas will fucking retire and this motherfucker will nominate who Leonard Leo orders him to nominate and the fucking Supreme Court will unleash on our asses for the next 40 years. Roe vs Wade and the overturning of Affirmative Action will be nothing to what is next to come...

We black people have no fucking allies. Folks been piggybacking off black blood, sweat and tears for too fucking long. We're tired. We're fucking done. DON'T fucking expect us anymore

What hurts most is, this is apparently who we are as a country. Racist. Misogynistic. It doesn’t happen twice unless that’s just who the fuck we are. The rest of us will continue to fight against it, but it just got a lot harder. I think MVP and others will still help guide us but DON'T fucking expect black women to fight our battles and YOURS. FUCK that. We're done. We're gonna fight our battles nowadays .

I will not protest anything Trump wishes to do. DON'T expect us black women to play Mammy and clean shit after you anymore. We're done playing Captain Save a Hoe for you ingrates. I think he should have full reign to do whatever he plans and America should get it good and hard. It's what they asked for.

This country is not the Eutopia some of you are foolishly hoping for. IF you think a unqualified backbench like AOC or corrupt Nina Turner (the OPPO dossier on her is out there) or Katie Porter or Warren would have fared better or will ever become president; think again. It will NEVER happen. NEVER gonna fucking happen!

We black women as of last night have done what Pontius Pilate did and to wash our hands with America:

[friend-of-wisdom]

98/100 days of productivity

Monday, September 23rd 2024

For once I went out during the weekend twice and had a lot of fun with my friends. I'm having trouble with waking up early now, though. I was unable to go to class this morning cus I went to sleep at 3am yesterday. But I was very productive today! Here's what I did:

read one academic paper

did the Intro to philosophy graded assignement

did this week's readings for the same class

ate healthy

went to the gym!! it lasted 40min which is a big progress already

Yesterday I watched David Lynch's The Elephant Man. Great movie, hadn't seen something like this in a while. Today I've also played some Papa's Freezeria. Also, to add to my nostalgia crisis with childhood games, I'm rewatching Winx hihihihihi Being old and watching Winx makes you see that Riven is even worse than I already thought. He's so toxic omg

[dannyreviews]

Ordinary People (1980)

Yesterday, news came out that Hollywood legend Donald Sutherland had passed away. In a career lasting 60 years, he played a myriad of roles, leading and supporting, comedic and dramatic and everything else in between. Out of the wide breadth of his filmography, his best performance came from Robert Redford's Oscar winning masterpiece "Ordinary People", probably one of the best tearjerkers since the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The plot revolves around the Jarretts, an upper class family living in the Chicago suburbs. They seem like the normal family next door, but are marred by a family tragedy, the death of the eldest son Buck. Mom Beth (Mary Tyler Moore) copes by acting as the dutiful housewife to her attorney husband Calvin (Sutherland) and their surviving son Conrad (Timothy Hutton). When Conrad is released from a mental hospital due to a suicide attempt, he is referred to psychologist Dr. Berger (Judd Hirsch). It is through subsequent therapy sessions that Conrad opens up about the demons that plague his family in the aftermath of Buck's death, such as blame that he puts on himself for the tragedy, how his mother favored Buck over himself and his father's unwavering love and attempt to keep the family together. Over a one year period, the Jarrett family is pushed to the breaking point and their lives are irrevocably changed.

"Ordinary People" is a rarity as it treats its characters like human beings and doesn't trivialize their plights. The dialogues, the fighting and the tears are all realistic, almost to the highest degree. Redford, in his directorial debut, puts together a top notch ensemble that not only play these roles, but live and breathe the trials and tribulations of a grieving family. At times, when it's just the three main characters on screen, the drama is at its rawest the tension is as sharp as a knife. This isn't a Lifetime Movie of the Week, or an After School Special, where you can predict the next line in some paint-by-numbers scenario. It isn't even like a Douglas Sirk melodrama where the performances are too theatrical in nature. "Ordinary People" is a whole different drama that removes itself from the sugar-coated cliche factory and makes the tragedy of losing a child relatable.

As stated before, the ensemble of "Ordinary People" is at the highest level of acting. Mary Tyler Moore as Beth runs the gamut of emotions that make you both hate and empathize with her at the same time. To see this actress, best known for her comedic performances on television, transform into a character without a funny characteristic in her body goes far and beyond ones versatility. Timothy Hutton, in his Academy Award winning performance, portrays Conrad not as a pathetically over-emotional mess, but level-headed in the face of strife. There are moments of calm where he rolls with the punches, and then there are the gut-punching scenes where the loss of his brother is still fresh in his mind. Judd Hirsch's provides the perfect balance as the stern but caring psychiatrist who gradually unravels the root of Conrad's issues. And then there is Donald Sutherland, in the role of his career, as the almost too controlled Calvin, whose vulnerability slowly seeps out and culminates in a heartbreaking monologue that puts everything in perspective.

"Ordinary People" won Best Picture in a contentious race with Scorsese's "Raging Bull", Michael Apted's "Coal Miner's Daughter" and David Lynch's "The Elephant Man", but nonetheless a well deserved honor. Timothy Hutton won Best Supporting Actor in an indisputably amazing performance that is still talked about positively to this day. Robert Redford's win for Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay round out the film's 4 Oscar wins. Unfortunately, Mary Tyler Moore was nominated in the wrong year for Best Actress because Sissy Spacek's performance as Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter" was too great to beat and sadly, Donald Sutherland would never get an acting nomination in his career, and was robbed of a nomination for Best Actor. "Ordinary People" is the kind of film that once its over, you feel the impact of its characters for hours on end and that is a credit to the 4 main actors. The only other films to rival this in a non-melodramatic, and realistic intensity is Mike Leigh's "Secrets and Lies", and Michael Haneke's "Amour". As far as I'm concerned, drama has yet to reach heights like these masterpieces.

10/10

[aneenasevla]

Red Velvet - Chapter 11 part 1

MasterList / Akane’s profile / Last chapter here

Chapter 11 - Intervention (part 1)

EggHead: 

heya guys

have any of you seen rihito?

or heard of him idk

I’m even thinking of going after him on his job

it’s been almost three days for fuck’s sake

we didn’t even get a “hi” or something

Kelpthullu: 

Cannibal called Kanami yesterday and said he’s fine

but only because tomori and her insisted a lot, since they saw him hurt and all

other than that, nothing

GiantKiller: 

I’m getting worried

he never disappeared like that before

not in the chat, at least

Gigolo_Master: 

yeah, that's the thing

that fucker visualized the texts

I can see it

but he hasn't answered since that day

EggHead: 

man wtf

he isn't even answering DMs

only seeing them

he's never let us down 

but he's letting HIMSELF down

I think it's intervention time, guys

GiantKiller: 

I second that

I didn't want things to get to this point

But he didn't give us a choice

Gigolo_Master: 

I’m so fucking pissed rn

rihito is a lot of things, but a coward isn't one of em

seeing this dumbass running away is driving me insane

I'm about to break down his door with a flying kick

Kelpthullu: 

Oh, we’re gonna have a brawl then? Cool

Violence isn't the answer. It's a question, and the answer is always "yes" 😎

GiantKiller: 

Wow, slow down, guys

Let's not resort to that until we're sure there's no other way 

We want to carry out an intervention, not a lynching

EggHead: 

I'll agree with kaneda this time

and not because rihito's my best friend

I know him, he's one insecure mf

this is new stuff, even for him

I mean, I didn't run away when I was going through that. I was just too embarrassed to speak

maybe that's what's going on with him

or maybe he's just confused

Gigolo_Master: 

that's what's pissing me off so much

he knows we'd roast him, but just a little

and we'd help him afterwards, like we did with you

what is he so afraid of?

doesn't he trust us??

Kelpthullu: 

the thing is, this must be really new to him

just like it was to me

and all of it came to me at once!

in a matter of weeks

well, I'm down for anything you want to do

talking to him or kicking his ass, whatever it works

GiantKiller: 

Let’s try talking before anything else, please

And it’s still weird, Ohma

I mean, it was all new for Okubo too

And he accepted it pretty quickly 

I don’t know, something’s fishy 

I feel that Rihito isn’t telling us everything

EggHead: 

well...

I've had a few crushes before, so I had an idea of what's going on

Gigolo_Master: 

lol bullshit

you may have had your crushes in the past

but I'm pretty sure none of them made you run through a supermarket like a fucking lunatic

GiantKiller: 

I have to agree

you have me and a shopping cart as proof

EggHead: 

c’mon man

I was having a hard time accepting the fact lmao

Kelpthullu: 

(answering to @GiantKiller) Nyoooommm 😎

Gigolo_Master: 

LMAOOOOOOOOOO

FFS TOKITA 

you triggered the stickiest memory possible!

Kelpthullu: 

I still want to go "Nyoom" in a shopping cart

no one let me do it

EggHead: 

maybe cause you're a GROWN ASS MAN ON HIS THIRTIES who weighs 185 lbs, is 6 feet tall and has a scary, “I’m gonna murder you if you come any closer” face?

GiantKiller: 

(answering to @Kelpthullu) 🦽🦽🦽🦽🦽 

Yeah, man, Nyooom

Gigolo_Master: 

wtf kaneda

that’s a wheelchair emoji 

🤣

GiantKiller: 

It’s not my fault!

There’s no shopping cart emoji! 

EggHead: 

alright that was fun

Now let’s poke that ass 

Wait… this sounded wrong af

Kelpthullu: 

Let’s call Saw Paing 

Then we’ll poke that ass and ensure screams and chaos 😎

Gigolo_Master: 

FUCK MAN

STOP MAKING ME SCREAM IN THE MIDDLE OF MY SHIFT

EggHead: 

LMAO

man I didn't know you could be such a troll

now I know why you eat like you're about to starve

you ran away from a cage and there was a plaque warning people not to feed you lol

Kelpthullu: 

I don’t remember any of that

but it's likely, since I don't remember shit before I meet Niko

anyway, let’s focus on ichiro now

EggHead:

Yep

alright, everyone, how about some takoyaki at his place?

it’s an excuse for us to talk his ears out

and it has to be before my trip to osaka

I still have to win my public match

Kelpthullu: 

Oh yes, the one tomori is talking non stop about. 

She’s going with you, isn’t she?

It’s going to be two weeks from now, so we need to go to ichiro’s place as soon as possible. How about this weekend? 

Giant Killer: all fine with me

And It’s a great idea, Okubo!

going there with food, as a peace offering

things don’t need to resume to beating

Kelpthullu: You got me at “food”

What do I bring?

Gigolo Master: anything edible is fine

go figures what that asshole is doing rn

possible he turned that pigsty into something worse

anyway, I’m in too

Egghead: I’ll settle the rest

see ya.

Okubo leaves the group chat, and soon arrives at a private person he knew very well. He smiled as he was greeting his sweetheart, but he needed her help if he wanted this to work.

Naoh💖: 

Honey ❤️❤️❤️

I need you to do something 4 me.

Tomoh💘: 

Heeey Babe

Lemme guess

You promised cookies to your sponsor, didn’t you?

👀

Naoh💖: 

now that you mentioned…

Lmao no, no, jk

It’s other issue

Can you talk to your friend, miss akane, for me?

Tell her to not let rihito invite her anywhere this weekend

he needs to stay at home

Bc we are planning to make a surprise visit

and we don’t want that golden retriever to ran away

he’s been avoiding us, and we're pissed af about that 😠😠

Tomoh💘: 

Oh my

Rly?

why??

Did something happen?

Naoh💖: 

No

that’s the thing, nothing happened yet

since that thrift store thing, with that rug shenanigan

he won’t speak to us

I guess he got angry when we laughed at him

bc he FOR SURE has it bad for her, but he went MIA

It’s not usual for him to run away from us

himuro wants to kick his ass 

ohma wants to join in

and kaneda is holding both back

And I’m anxious here bc he didn’t even talk to me

Not even through DM, man

Tomoh💘: 

OMG

What did you say for him to act like this??

I know it’s how you guys work

But come on, you tend to go too far

Specially him…

... ok I see the problem, he looks like an hypocrite

Anyway, I’ll speak to Akane

But wait…

Did he really fall for her???

I just saw this part rn!!! 

Naoh💖: 

we didn’t do anything out of the ordinary

I swear. We didn’t even threat to punch him like we always do

He didn’t even tell us to go fuck ourselves

But yes, he is head over hells for her 

we were already sus about that, bc honey…

really, do you remember how they were treating each other last christmas party?

He even wanted to beat ohma using his RAZORS bc Kelphtullu made her SAD about losing in JD

I mean, himuro didn’t do that for his date, and he was as pissed as rihito

and then like, the guy almost screwed himself trying to get a PORN-ISH RUG

all of this, because of her.

ohma and I would do that for our own girls, but him?

If it’s not love, I don’t know what it is.

Tomoh💘: 

HOLY~

I almost screamed here at the bakery!!😍😍😍

but seriously, I was suspecting it a bit

After all that ruckus about the rug

Even Akane was all moved

Jeeeeesuuuus

And he is just pretending there’s nothing going on???

Naoh💖: 

Why do you think we are all pissed off?!

Even ohma saw that

He was all like “the guy offered premium game for his girl”

But I already got it, he understood everything 

Me and the boys are going to intercept rihito at his place.

that’s why I need you to assure he won’t go anywhere

Can you ask Akane to tell him to stay home?

She is the only one who can convince him so

Tomoh💘: 

Ok ok

I’ll call Akane and make up something

so she can’t invite him for anything

but babe

I think you don’t want me to tell her, do you?

About him being in love with her…

Naoh💖: 

I dunno, babe.

I’m worried about her not feeling the same and rejecting him if she knows

Then it’ll be our fault for not minding our business

So like, we just want to make him wake the fuck up

so HE gets his shit together and goes to talk to her

they need to have this conversation by themselves

Before the Cannibal get fed up and kick him to the curb

You know how he’s gonna whine afterwards

Okubo had no idea, but on the other side of the city, at one of the tables at the Heavy Bakery during her lunch break, Tomori looked at the screen of her phone while biting the tip of her thumb, suddenly nervous.

Damn, being the keeper of everyone's secrets sucked so much! She knew that Rihito liked Akane and vice versa, but she couldn't tell anyone else, not even her boyfriend! Why did things have to be so complicated? This was looking like a soap opera, and one she hadn't even wanted to get involved in in the first place!

Tomoh💘: 

yeah I know

alright I’ll do it

but seriously, naoh, try not to beat his ass if you can

please

I don't want you guys fighting again

Naoh💖: 

... not even a friendly brawl for, like, 5 min?

Tomoh💘: 

I’m serious, Naoya

…

alright, a 5 min brawl then, but only if it's really friendly

you and this need to show affection through violence, I swear

Naoh💖: 

LMAO pot, meet kettle

your friendship with Cannibal started just like that

kaneda and himuro became friends after the former BROKE THE LATER’S ARM

rihito met ohma when he broke into his shack, even before they fought in a kengan match

(in fact, 90% of tokita's friendships started this way)

AND YOU HIT THE GIRL’S FACE WITH A BASEBALL BAT

a friendship forged like this is hard to break

even more so because we saw each other's worst side already lol

Tomoh💘: 

BRO DON'T USE MY SHITTY PAST AGAINST ME

FUCK, MAN

LMAO alright, guess I deserved that

sorry for the hypocrisy

I just want my boyfriend and his friends to be on good terms with each other

Naoh💖: 

don’t worry we’ll be

but not if things keep going like this

that’s why we’re doing an intervention

so let's put the plan into action babe

ooooh yes…

if everything works out (and now I want it to, since rihito is really in love)

I'll give up on our bet, but I still want you to spend a whole month in osaka with me, please

I don't know the exact day when we can meet Gaolang, but I know he's gonna be there and I promise I'll get you his autograph. Sounds good?  

Tomoh💘: 

alright, I'll tell you when I've arranged everything with Akane

and about the bet 

are you throwing the towel cause you know I'm gonna win? 😏

LOL jk

I'd love to spend a whole month in osaka with you 💞

I'd have to give up my official PTO to make up with Kanny for it, but it'll be worth it

It'll be my first time seeing a live match of yours, I'm so excited! 🥳

and yeah, I want that autograph 💞💃

Naoh💖: 

that’s what I’m saying!

now I’ll inform the guys about our plan

later, babe 🥰

He doesn't wait for her response; he immediately goes to the group chat to talk to his friends. 

And with that, everything was settled.

He just hoped things wouldn't go south...

…

“Kaneeeee!”

“Hirooooo!”

They both meet with  a tight, noisy embrace, laughing and twirling around.

"Bitch, I haven't seen you in a while! I missed you," Hiro coos while they hugged, and Akane laughed.

"Sorry, honey, I haven't been in a mood for a girl's night in a while," she sighs. "A lot of stuff happened in my life and I needed a friend to take me outta my funk. Hey, Tomoh, Butch!" 

"Hey guys! Damn, I feel like I we're back in high school, when we used to go to cafeterias together," Tomori waves, all happy, already going to hug Akane "I miss those times!,"

"Eh, I don't much," Kanami gives them an embarrassed, wearing her favorite coat, a simple shirt, jeans and combat boots. "Probably because I didn't hang out with you guys much back then."

"If you had, you'd have had a lot of fun," Akane smiles, unwrapping a lollipop and putting it in her mouth. "I'm happy to see you guys, this weekend really came in handy... you're going to be away for the whole month, right, Tomo?"

"Yes, I am! I've already arranged everything with Kanny and take my PTO now," Tomori nods, smiling from ear to ear, hugging Kanami's muscular arm. "I promise I'll make it up to you, girl. But it will be a whole month in Osaka, just Naoh and I!"

"Lemme tell you, despite some regrets, your gorilla knows how to give early birthday presents!," Hiro comments with a scathing smile. "A whole month in the best hotels in the region, visiting tourist attractions, watching his matches, getting laid-"

"Hiro!"

"What, am I lying? I'm actually jealous of you!"

"Oh, you," Kanami smiles, blushing. "But yeah, it's a wonderful opportunity. I'm just a little sorry that you're taking your PTO now, it's gonna be hard to keep the bakery functioning during the summer while I'm gone..."

"Oh yeah? Are you gonna take some time off during summer?," Akane raises an eyebrow.

"It's kind of a retreat that Ohma and I agreed on. We went camping last summer for a week, and we really enjoyed the experience, so if everything goes well, we'll try to go every year."

"Girl, I won't say 'how fancy' only because you’re going to fend for food in the woods, not in the trendy places of a tourist city…," Akane laughs when Kanami blushes. "But it's the kind of thing you'd like, so go for it!," She raises a thumb and the baker smiles.

"Well, that’s where the exercise is doubled! Kana here will return with glutes that would make any girl envyous," Hiro jokes, and Tomori guarantees, "I swear I can handle it! Perhaps this would be the ideal time to reopen our discussion about hiring a third assistant cook, Kanny. "

"Well, yes. The kitchen is bigger, so there's space," she nods. "We'll think about it later. Now, we have a trash day ahead of us, and places to go. What will it be? "

"I'm down for whatever you decide, but right now I'm a little hungry," Akane says. "I'll have some snacks before taking a walk, how about you?"

"I'm in! Ever since these two took two muscle heads as their boyfriends, they have become even more neurotic about keeping in shape," Hiro comments. "I mean, Kana already was before, but now things have reached another level."

"What can I say? We have fun training together," Kanami laughs. "And the guy has a monstrous appetite, I end up trying to keep up and... well, you know, it all goes to my hips, I have to burn these calories before it happens..."

"You can't just burn all these calories in bed?"

"Well, sometimes we- HEY!," Kanami blushes a lot. "A couple can't just be twenty-four seven in bed, you know that, right? You horny bitch." 

"How can I know? I hardly even see guys kissing, Tomoh and her man are sweeter than my p-"

"I don't need to hear that!," Kanami exclaims. "I'm no saint, but that doesn't mean I like talking about these things in public!"

"And the 'public' in question is your friend group," Hiro laughs, to which Tomori just shakes her head, smiling amusedly.

"I don't even know why you're still surprised like that, Kanny. Akane is even taking it easy today, if I do say so myself, hahaha!"

"I'm not surprised, I just don't-"

"You're just uptight, that's all!," Akane puts her hands on her hips. "Ever since we formed our little group, I've been wondering how you and that hunk fuck, and I don't hear a peep from you. You're acting like you're in a cult or something..."

"What's the problem with kissing and not telling, you loudmouth?!"

"The problem is when you keep secrets and I can't even fantasize…"

"You can take your eyes off my man, you fucking minx!"

The two stare at each other, one furiously, the other calmly. When Tomori and Hiro tough they were going to fight, Akane says:

"You’re staring at me too much, Butch. We can go get a room if you want…"

Kanami walks away, raising her arms in frustration. "Arrgh!"

Akane laughs loudly "I love you too, my favorite dyke!," she licks the lollipop coquettishly.

Tomori and Hiro laugh, more relieved. It was good to know that they wouldn't have to pull these two apart during a potential fight. Both of them would definitely get their asses beaten.

"Good gracious, Akane, you’re braver than half the idiots I know," Hiro begins, shaking his head. "To be able to stand up to our Amazon like that…"

"Who doesn’t she stand up to? I had to see it at school, her being all sarcastic with the student inspector when he threatened to give her detention," Tomori laughs again.

"C'mon, I'm very well behaved now," - Akane laughs. "I was a devil. But then life comes back to bite us in the butt, and we sort ourselves out," She sighs. "Yes, Tomori... how-"

"Yeah, we do it pretty often, but it's not like it's every day," Kanami says suddenly, blushing, but still gathering courage. 

Akane turns like a sunflower to her friend, looking very interested.

"Hmmm… really? And why?"

"I told you, a couple can't be twenty-four seven in bed," She rolls her eyes. "And Ohma also doesn't have the biggest sex drive, but he’s always down for it when I'm in the mood. But like, there are special occasions when he practically throws me over his shoulder and...," She seems incapable of finishing the sentence, mortified. "Yeah, it's always more intense on those days. Like after one of his matches."

"Ah, so he's the quiet type? That's cute," She smiles. "But does he fuck you properly?"

"What kind of question is that?," She grits her teeth, terribly embarrassed, but still answers, "Of course! Even more so because he likes… uh… licking… more than being licked. It's kinda odd, but it is what it is."

Akane gasps loudly. "Oh my God... he's a professional mango eater, on top of it all?! May God and Daddy Satan bless this woman, 'cause she won the fucking lottery!," she puts her hands together in prayer and bows. "GOD BE PRAISED!"

Hiro listens to everything, absolutely enchanted. "Are you fucking kidding me?! When I ask for details you get all skittish, but when Akane asks, you let your tongue loose? I'm offended!," He puts a hand on his chest in theatrical indignation, but the sparkle in his eyes was unmistakable. "But lord, this is quite the information! You're lucky as hell!"

"Guys, tone it down…," Tomori hisses, a little red in the face, but still giggling. Kanami shuts her mouth, shrugging her broad shoulders, very red "But yeah, Kanny is one lucky gal, hahaha. Both because of the treatment she receives and because her boyfriend is now the bakery's number one customer."

"That's real love right there," Akane smiles more. "And what about you, Doll? Now I want to hear from you. How can you handle that bald gorilla without turning into a pancake or without you bending like two pretzels?"

Tomori, who was still laughing, chokes a little on her own saliva, to which Hiro smiles even more devilishly.

"I was dying to ask the same question! Are you gonna tell me you can only ride that Breton cowgirl style?"

"Shut up, Hiro!," She hisses. And then she adds, her cheeks flushed and a little swollen, "And he likes it, okay? He loves it, actually. And with me lying on my stomach it's just as good..."

"Lazy dog? Now we're talking!," He shrieks between laughs. Kanami blushes, rolling her eyes.

"Oooh, I still need to try that one with Rihito," Akane declares excitedly. "I'll test it later."

"This is one of our favorites…," Kana speaks softly. But the Panther had keen hearing.

"Niiice! Tell me he bites your neck, please!," She grabs the other's arm, her eyes shining. "That's all I need to complete my fantasy, please!"

Kanami wanted to bury her face on the ground, blushing profusely. It was enough for Akane.

"Oh my Goood," she smiles a lot. "That's food for my soul. Hiro, is this enough fantasy for you too now?!

"Enough for the whole month, honey. Believe me, I have a lot of fun fantasizing about that clan of himbos," He jokes with a sharp smile. "Except with Kana's and Tomori's because I'm not a backstabber, but you get the picture."

"Stop fantasizing about my boyfriend! I don't fantasize about your blonde idiot!," Kanami exclaims, cowering. Akane blinks, looking at her.

"I mean, if he were mine," Akane laughs loudly, waving her hand. "He's a wordly man, I only receive him as a visitor...," her voice drops, but then gets loud again. "But just for your information, the guy's down for almost everything. And he also know some moves that drive me up the wall..."

Hiro sees when Tomori's expression changes, for a measly second, but enough for him to be able to identify the discomfort there. He arches an eyebrow before turning to Akane.

"Rihito, huh? The modern caveman who threw a fit about creating a measly Instagram profile? I always thought he just had bravado, but when it was time to go to Pound Town, he thrusted about three times, rolled over and started snoring...," He comments nonchalantly.

"Not even close!," Akane smiles, vehemently denying it with gestures of her hand. "Too bad he doesn't like 'sword fighting', Hiro, otherwise I would highly recommend him to you. When he's in the afterglow, he's super affectionate, like a huge teddy bear... he was a little clumsy at first, but he just needed a few tips from a professional like me. Now he's become The Hot Blonde, I can guarantee that. 

"He seems more confident to me," Kanami sighs. "And he stopped being inconvenient at the Bakery. He's still noisy, but at least I don't have to threaten to kick him out."

"Indeed. He never disturbed other customers or the new waitresses again. Girl, you are a savior!," Hiro smiles. "You turned a fuckboy into a respectable fuck-buddy!"

"You’re welcome… but you know what I like most…?," Akane smiles too, more tenderly this time. "He was the one who asked me to teach him. I had punched down his pride really badly, but he just came and asked me what he was doing wrong. Damn, he didn't even get mad at me. That…that was really mature of him. A breath of fresh air, I must say…"

"Wow. I really didn't expect that," Kanami blinks. "Our advices really penetrated that thick skull, apparently...," She looks at Tomori and Hiro.

"He asked you to teach him? Serious?," Tomori blinks, pretending to be surprised. "I had no idea he had even heard us, damn... I've known him for less than a year and I already know he's a prideful bastard..."

"Nothing like your classic strategy to humble guys like that," Hiro claps discreetly for Alane, smiling scathingly. "And it brought out his cute side too, because apparently even you developed a soft spot for that big, scruffy dog."

"There's no better words to describe him," She points to Hiro. "A big, lively, needy and cute golden retriever. All he needed was training and he became the best dog ever. Although there are times when he's more like a leopard, like me... welp, details...," She laughs coquettishly, pushing Hiro with her hip.

Hiro laughs too, shaking his head. "Birds of a feather, huh, Sekihyo. Not in terms of intelligence, because that one is dumb as hell, but in terms of naughtiness, you're evenly matched, hehe."

"And they're both great friends to the people around them too. There was no way she couldn't relate to him," Tomori gives Akane a cute smile.

"Ownnn... and you found the cute gorilla who takes you on trips to watch the fights you like so much...," She squeezes her friend's cheeks.

"So you admit that you like him?," Kanami drops the bomb.

Akane stops right in the act of kissing Tomori's forehead, and it's her turn to blush profusely and face the floor. Kanami smiles with a very peculiar mischief of hers.

"Gotcha…," she laughs devilishly.

Hiro's eyes widen a little, but he doesn't look exactly surprised. 

"Girl, I was kind of suspecting it already, but to see it confirmed like this…"

Tomori just sighs.

"Eh, I kept my promise, Kane. They found out by themselves…"

"‘Wait, did you already know then?"

"I promised I wouldn’t tell, c'mon!"

"I was suspicious since the thrift store incident," Kanami raises an eyebrow. "And Ohma told me too, which only confirmed it."

"Well, I've been told. you and that sea monster of yours are cut from the same cloth, scary when you want to be...," Akane tries to say. "And now you've become Yakuza members too? Do you also having matching tattos!?"

"Only if it's with the same guy who tattooed your leopard prints," Hiro jokes. "No, but seriously, honey... how? You were always the one who made others fall for you, not the other way around."

Akane sighs, still blushing. "I don't know... I just know that he... it's cliché, but he just surprised me, and he broke down all my walls, one by one," she gestures a little. "First, he came back after I used The Strategy and he didn't curse me, like everyone else did before. Two, an ex of mine showed up and he practically dismantled him with one punch," She shakes her head. "Then he asked for tips on how to be a better lover, and he started treating me like a friend on the same level as me and Tomori," She nods at her friend. "Then after that he arrived at my place and was over the fucking moon when I bought him some sweatpants. Sweatpants! That I bought just so he could wear something when he went to crash at my place. Then at New Year's, he called me to wish me happy holidays, when I was at home alone... and now... he got into a fight in a thrift store to get me rug! Tell me, how was I supposed to not fall for him?" 

"Wow," Kanami blinks. "Anyone who doesn’t know this side of him will definitely bite their tongue…"

"I… I kind of knew, actually," Tomori suddenly comments. "Do you remember, Akane, when Naoh messed up really badly and ruined our first date? Remember how furious with him I was? Well, Rihito was the one who showed up at my doorstep, under a downpour, admitted that he was partly to blame for what happened and asked me to give his friend a second chance. He almost kneeled down and begged with his forehead touching the ground…"

"Don't even remind me of that shit, my fist is still itching to hit his face again," Kanami snorts. "Okubo and Lihito never messed with me again."

"Yeah, it's just like him to do such a thing," Akane smiles. "But still, I didn't stop being me just because of him, I just... well, I'm just opening up a little..."

"Relax, Akane," Kana hugs her shoulder. "None of us have. And Hiro is here to prove it, right?"

"For sure! You're still the same crazy chicks that I love," Hiro declares, making a heart with his hands and making them laugh "You're never gonna change because of a man, if you're confident enough in yourself, that is. If they're good, they're just enough to add to your life."

"Yeah...," Tomori nods fondly. "And Naoh has already redeemed himself, Kanny, c'mon. Your punch pushed him to the right track, it even took him a while to find the courage to drink when we're together. Even Rihito started to behave more."

"Hnf," the baker smiles a little. "Oh, there’s the snack bar. It's nice to have a break from cooking... c'mon, let's eat and gossip about everything and everyone."

"I'm in!," Akane was returning to her normal self, hugging the other three of them. "Let's rock and roll!"

"I'll rock your shit if you keep screaming like that..."

"Wow, Butch, that sounds kinda hot..."

"Shut up!" 

And after that, all they could do was laugh loudly.

Next chapter soon

[alarrytale]

Have you seen Troye Sivan's performance of the song "one of your girls" in London with Ross Lynch? I never paid much attention to Ross because I had assumed he's just looking for attention. But it was kind of interesting because he was willing to perform it live with an openly gay man even though he is known as a straight man. And of course people started flooding everything with comments like "eww I've lost my attraction" or "never knew he was gay :/"

Then I saw that Ross also wore Troyes merch, made a video with Troyes mom and also commented on one of Troye's instagram posts with "you're my only girl". It's probably just a joke and pr but I feel it's nonetheless a small step in the right direction of openness. In a perfect world, they'd become a power couple lol. But it's better than nothing

Hi, anon!

Yes, i've seen 🙈. My twitter timeline yesterday consisted of tweets from that performance from every angle, a bit of Louis at Glasto and a couple of Chapell Roan tweets, nothing else lol. People are loving it!

I'm not sure if Ross is queer or not, but i think Ross saw how much positive attention he got from the video appearance and he's again gaining alot of praise and attention from this, so he's playing into it regardless of his sexuality. I saw several people say it's queerbaiting. It's thirstrapping at least. I don't mind this at all, and i'm loving it too. They would make a really good power couple!