#also I think men in particular are way less embarrassed about listening to women groups vs boy groups

[thy-lovelylionheart]

genuinely makes me a bit sad knowing that Stray Kids could and would absolutely devour a Super Bowl halftime performance but never will because of bias against kpop

[ijustwant2write]

Different Worlds-Fred Weasley x Muggle! Reader

(GIF credit to @avocadosalad2​)

Masterlist

Prompts List

Requested by anonymous: 'Could you do a Fred Weasley after the war imagine (where he doesn’t die) and he falls in love with a muggle'

Summary: (Y/N) may be a muggle, but she was introduced to the hidden magical world once she realised her best friend was a witch. Years later, after they have both graduated, she finds herself drawn towards the magic, as well as a particular person.

Characters: Fred Weasley x Reader, George Weasley x Reader (platonic)

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Lots and lots of fluff

(A/N: Beatrice is a made up character)

                                        *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As I stirred the milk into the mug of tea, I continued listening to Beatrice babble on about the rude man on the train, who had insisted that she was sat in his seat, when she had clearly reserved it. I smiled, picking up the mugs and heading back into the living room, handing one to her. She blew on it, testing how hot it was before taking a tiny sip.

“But anyway, enough about twats in London.” Bea waved her hand.“I’ve got some exciting news!”

“Yeah? What is it?” I put down my own mug, ready to squeal and jump about with her.

“You know that shop I had my eye on?”

“The one in um...oh what’s it called? Diagonal street?”

She laughed.“Diagon Alley.”

“Ah, right.”

“Anyway, I went for another viewing the other week, and I got a letter through this morning to say that it is now mine!”

I grabbed her hands, squeezing them.“That’s fantastic! Oh my god, you’ve been wanting your own shop since we were kids!”

“I know! I’ve already had new flooring put down, it’s just been painted too. Now all that’s left is to organise how I want the furniture and to put stock out on display.”

Bea had always loved her fashion when she was younger. She would always complain about how basic her uniform was (even pointing out how boring muggle uniform was as well), and always added different accessories or made her own clothes. This hobby carried on, she became a great seamstress (the magic probably helped), knowing that this was something she wanted to do. Now she was opening a clothes shop that would also sell things like accessories, notebooks, pens etc. 

“I’m so happy for you.” I hugged her.

“You know, I am going to need help moving in...”

“Wait, you want me to come with you?”

Bea nodded.

“Isn’t that illegal?”

“No, don’t be silly! You’re with me, and you’re only visiting. Plus you’ve known about all of this since we were twelve. I haven’t used the Obliviate spell on you, and I’m still not in trouble.”

“Sorry, you haven’t what?”

“Don’t worry about it. So, you want to accompany me to little old Diagon Alley?”

A couple of days later, Beatrice visited me again, leading me out of my little flat and onto the tube. We practically had to go to the other side of London, making me feel bad when she visited me all those times. When we finally got off, and after walking for another ten minutes, we stood in front of an abandoned building stuck between a record and book shop. Glancing at Bea, who was staring at the uninviting building, I wondered what I had got myself into.

“Uh, Bea, we’re not going in there are we?” I asked as she dragged me towards it.

“Just trust me.”

She pushed open the door, which made a worrying creaking noise, and I was scared that if we shut it too hard, the whole place would collapse. However, instead of a dusty room with broken floor boards and bending beams, we seemed to be in a pub. There were a few people already in here, sat at various tables with their drinks. A worker walked past, waving their hand which made some scattered chairs tuck underneath the table. My eyes widened as I watched, realising that I had stepped into a different world. Beatrice laughing at me brought me back into reality as she held onto my hand again. 

“Alright Tom?” She called out to the bartender.

“Ah, here once again Beatrice? Oh, this the muggle you were on about?” he replied as he leaned against the bar.

“Yep, this is she. I’m taking her to the shop, which I now own!”

“Ah, congratulations! Head on back then.”

They said their goodbyes and I was being steered away again, this time outside. There was a wall blocking us, and to anyone else it would be a dead end, but I knew something was about to happen. Bea revealed her wand, tapping it around a part of the wall where bricks were missing. Stepping back, my eyes widened as the bricks started moving, separating to reveal a busy street. 

“Oh, this is just too precious. Wish I had captured the moment.” Bea said.

I must have stuck out like a sore thumb; I couldn’t shut my mouth, checking out everything around me, eyebrows furrowing as my mind tried to comprehend how this was possible. Men and women passed me in long robes, some sporting the stereotypical witches hats. There were broomsticks, animals such as owls and cats, things floating by me. My brain was well and truly frazzled. 

As we came to Bea’s new shop, I was still in awe, my eyes landing on a bright orange shop, with an animatronic of a man who was putting on a top hat. I could see lots of younger children in there. Explosions of light appeared, objects were flying around, I could hear the laughter across the street.   

“Kind of hard to miss right?” Bea giggled as she unlocked the shop. 

“Yeah. Looks amazing in there.”

“That’s Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. I went to school with the guys who own it. Onto more important matters, after you.”

I walked into the shop, grinning as I looked around. It wasn't huge, but it had a vintage look to it; the floor was a dark wood, and the walls were painted a lighter cream colour to contrast it. Currently it was empty, in one corner were mannequins, display tables and railings to hang the clothes on.

"I've got everything mapped out, I just need to move bits around." Bea said.

"It's going to look great when it's finished. I bet you're so excited to open."

"Are you OK by the way? I just realised how much this must all be."

"I love it here! I'm surrounded by magic, what more could I want?"

We spent the next few hours moving the furniture around, trying out new things to see what worked, where it would be best to display the stock. People passed by the window in large groups, but now there were less, the sun was going down, and shop owners were starting to close up. We followed suit, putting everything back in the corner before leaving the shop.

"Hello neighbour." a man called out across the street.

We turned around, seeing a tall man in a suit outside of the shop I noticed upon arrival.

"Oh, I forgot I would be seeing you every day." Bea groaned, obviously joking.

"You don't have to lie to me, we're one of the reasons you bought the place."

Bea began walking towards him, I followed behind."Fred, this is (Y/N). She's a friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you." he smiled.

"You too." I replied, wishing I didn't sound so quiet.

"Already got your staff sorted then?"

"(Y/N)'s an old friend of mine. I had to show her the shop. And Diagon Alley."

Fred caught on, realising that I wasn't a witch."Oh, right. Welcome to the other side."

"Thanks. It's been amazing so far."

“Well, it couldn’t have been that good, I didn’t see you in our shop today.”

“He’s so humble, isn’t he?” Bea rolled her eyes.“Well, that’s just another reason for her to come tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“I look forward to seeing you then.” Fred casually winked before saying goodbye to us both, realising his name was being called from the shop. 

“OK, what just happened?” I gasped, feeling extremely flushed.

“Those Weasley boys are natural flirts. But that was very interesting.”

“There’s more of them?!”

Bea just shook her head, looping her arms through mine as she lead me away from the shop, telling (not asking) me to return with her again tomorrow. I didn’t hesitate to say yes. 

With Bea unaware, I had immediately gone to choose an outfit for the next day as soon as I made it home. I just wanted to look a little more presentable, it definitely wasn’t because I wanted to present myself well in front of anyone. Once I had decided on a casual outfit, though something that still showed I had put some effort in, I settled down for the night, lying on the sofa with my dinner. Even with the TV on in the background, I couldn’t concentrate on the programme. It felt strange to be back in my world, not surrounded by magic. I was half expecting objects in my flat to start moving by themselves. 

Bea had told me about her being a witch when she received her letter to Hogwarts. I wasn’t supposed to know, especially at a young age, but Beatrice had been so scared to lose our friendship. Her parents were muggles, so where the magic came from was a mystery. I missed her extremely, hating that Hogwarts was a boarding school. But once Bea was old enough to use magic outside of school, she graced me with all the spells she learnt, it was so enchanting to watch. Bea had returned to the muggle world for a few years once she finished her education, but now that her dream of owning a shop was coming true, she wouldn’t be living near me anymore; that’s what was really weighed on my mind.

Bea and I returned to her shop the next morning. I didn’t mention anything of my thoughts from the night before, not wanting to ruin the day. Seeing the other shop owners setting up for the day set a different atmosphere, some who were outside greeted us along the way. Bea got out her keys, but hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“Nothing. I just think we should pay my fellow businessmen a visit.” she said, a wide smile on her face.

“No, cause you’ll just embarrass me!” I whined.

“No I won’t. Honestly, you need to see their shop, it’s bizarre.”

I knew she had a scheme planned, but part of me wanted to go along with it. As we approached, I glanced at my reflection in the window, tucking away any strands of hair that had fallen out of my up-do. Before we could knock on the door, Fred appeared, swinging it wide open.

“Ah, our most loyal customers are here.” He grinned letting us in.

“Good morning George.” Bea waltzed in.

Oh, this was his twin. 

“Fred has told me all about you, (Y/N), right?” George extended his hand.

I shook it as I nodded.“Yes, Sorry, I forgot you there were two of you for a moment.”

“Double trouble is what they are.” Bea mumbled.

“Welcome to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes!” he exclaimed, presenting grandly with his arm. 

Cautiously walking around, I ducked out of the way as a Frisbee flew past me, smiling at what looked like mini fireworks before scrunching my nose up at a box labelled ‘Puking Pastels’. I explored everywhere, going upstairs to search further. The amount of jokes and prank items they had seemed endless. Looking over the railing, I saw Bea chatting away to George. It made me wonder where Fred was, but that question was soon answered.

“Do you come here often?” Fred slid up to me, leaning beside me on the railing.

I chuckled.“Funnily enough, this is my first time here. And did you really just use that line on me?”

“Works every time.” he winked, causing me to look away as I blushed. 

“This shop is amazing Fred.” I sighed in content.“Are those really Love Potions down there?”

“Ah, caught your eye?”

“I mean, how could it not? Doesn’t everyone want a love potion to make their lives so much easier?”

“It’s not permanent. Besides, falling in love is the fun part.”

I didn’t question if he had been in love. It was too soon to be asking things such as that. 

Fred continued.“Can’t believe Bea waited so long to bring you here. She talks about you all the time.”

“She does?”

“Yep. I probably know more about you than you think.”

My eyes widened jokingly.“I don’t know if that’s good or not.”

“It’s very good, trust me.”

“I don’t think I would ever want to leave now. Couldn’t stop smiling when I was home.”

Fred opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Bea calling up to us.“Come on you two, it’s my turn now.”

Not knowing what she meant, we headed downstairs, realising that Bea wanted to show the twins her shop. Making our way across the road, Fred and I walked behind the others as they continued talking, even as Bea unlocked the shop. 

“I mean, you’ve still got quite a bit of work to do Bea.” George joked as they walked around the empty space.

“I know that. But that’s why I have (Y/N) here to help me.” She smiled at me.

“It’s a good space. You got everything planned?” Fred asked.

“Yeah, we moved the furniture around a few times yesterday, so I’ve got options. And of course I had my wonderful assistant to help.”

“She didn’t even buy me a drink after.” I said.

“I can pay you.”

“What? Don’t be silly.”

“No, I’m serious. Because I need to know if I have to put you on the payroll.”

“Bea, what are you saying?”

She grinned but I could see she was nervous.“How would you like to work here with me?”

My mouth dropped wide open, eyes bulging out of my head. I was shocked, speechless even. Out of the corner of my eye I saw George nudge his brother, smirking at him as Fred looked annoyed.

“Oh, this is making me anxious.” Bea whispered, gripping her hands together despite her happy expression.

“You really want me to work here? But where would I live?”

“With me obviously!”

“Is that allowed?”

“Yes, I checked. Oh (Y/N) please, you always say you’re not happy with your job and that you want to live somewhere nicer.”

“I’ve never said that.”

“OK, but I can tell you’re not entirely happy.”

I took a deep breath as I smiled.“Bea, I would love to work here.” She squealed, running towards me and throwing out her arms, embracing me tightly. I squeezed her back, feeling very emotional. Bea wanted me here. She trusted me to live in this world of hers, she wanted to share her dream with me.

“Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.” George said as Bea and I ended the hug.

“Looks like.” I wiped my eyes, hoping I didn’t look like a sap for crying.

“Right,” Bea put her hands on her hips,“well, we best get on with the day. Catch you boys later?” 

They nodded, already making their way out. Bea smiled at me one last time, disappearing into the backroom. As I looked around the space, I noticed Fred still by the door, hesitating to walk out.

“You alright there Fred?” I asked, approaching him.

“Yeah...um,” he closed the door, coming inside again,“so,now that you’re living here, once you’re settled that is....do you fancy going out sometime?”

I was taken back, flustered which caused me to stutter.“Uh, y-yeah, I-I would love to!”

He nodded, pleased with the answer.“Good, it’s a date then.”

I awkwardly waved as he left, watching him enter his own shop. He turned around, seeing me still looking, sending yet another wink my way. He already knew how to embarrass me. Feeling my heart flutter, I slowly turned around, only to see Bea standing there.

“Oh, I am so good at playing Cupid.”

[dreamties]

Slashers W/ a Punk S/O

T/W- q*eer is used a few times- in a positive, self affirming kind of way. But I can add other trigger warnings if needed. :)

A/n- Literally no one asked for this, but I wanted to make more HCs like the soft pastel one...so I just went wild and made them. 

I included a little bit of punk culture into this as well, because it’s not just about the fashion, but since there’s such a vast variety within punk culture I mostly stuck with my experiences in the community, and some bits and pieces from documentaries(mostly live footage from “The Decline of Western Civilization”).

Characters: Billy/Stu, The Lost Boys, Norman Bates, Michael Myers

Will make one(s) for Brahms, Amanda, Helen or Daniel if asked

Billy Loomis + Stu Macher

so early 90s, the Riot Grrrl movement emerges

bands like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy or Sleater-Kinney

it’s a very female-powered oriented movement, but I notice that a lot of minorities tend to be drawn to this music and community (LGBT folks, people of color, etc).

both boys, and yourself, being outside of the norm and all (polyamorous relationship, gay/bi) are sort of drawn to it!

and sure there’s a lot of really great queercore/homocore bands, and there’s probably a good LGBT+ punk scene out there somewhere, but in a little town like Woodsboro? Hell no. Sticking with this fem punk movement, while again mostly a space for women in music- it’s the most accepted the three of you have felt outside of you’re relationship. 

you’ve always been pretty into the music, stuff like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, or the short-lived Germs- but it wasn’t until you stumbled upon Riot Grrrl that you really got into it. 

the music, making zines about local-ish political issues(probably not so much Woodsboro stuff, more Cali in general and neighboring towns) and a few ones with queer themes and hand-drawn illustrations of your partners, and DIYing all your clothes

since you’re so experienced with DIYing your clothes and sewing on patches, you’ve helped repair the Ghostface costumes on numerous occasions. they kind of adore this(Stu is the only one that will- and does, frequently- admit that)

Let’s face it, the three of you do everything together- but you especially enjoy when Stu tags along for thrift dates. 

he’s the more fashionable one, and he makes the whole experience more enjoyable- cracking jokes and just being his all-around goofy self.

Woodsboro is a very little town, so they don’t have much...but they do have a few small stores- usually you’ll make a whole day/date out of it though. driving to the next town or so over, since they have more stores and a better selection, and spending hours looking for cheap, old t-shirts, belts, clothes with funky patterns. heading out for pizza after.

Billy’s more likely to get into the music and everything with you(he’s kinda,, angsty, no offense to him)- will definitely go to shows with you.

just- imagine Billy in ripped jeans. and he’d have like one or two patches sewn on to it- one of them is your all time favorite band, and the other is a band that he found on his own time, and actually really enjoyed.

Stu is dragged along with you guys, you can’t just leave him at home- he’s gonna feel left out and sad. :(

He’s mostly there to keep y’all company- he really likes the energy of the shows though!

the two of them are such a chaotic duo though, so much so that you have definitely been kicked out or banned from a few venues. all for varying reasons. good grief these men can not be tamed.

The Lost Boys

as we all know, these vampires are total punks. so they’re gonna appreciate having a s/o who’s also into that whole scene.

How you meet:

you’re a baby punk, and it’s your first show ever, and you look so nervous. you’re dressed up in pretty plain clothes, a single homemade patch for your favorite band barely hanging to your jacket side(you were mid-way sewing it, when you realized you were gonna be late if you didn’t leave asap).

it’s a few local bands, ones you’d never really heard of really. you look anxious. but when they start playing? you look so unapologetically yourself, you’re so in the moment dancing- it’s completely mesmerizing to the boys. the music isn’t even that good, but you seem to be having the time of your life.

they greet you after the show, and you’re a tiny bit flustered- cause gosh, heck, they saw you. dancing. so embarrassing. 

David is the one that introduces himself and the group, and initiates conversation. Dwayne’s a pretty quiet guy, so he just listens to what you have to say. 

Marko’s pretty excited about you, and initiates in some small conversation, he may have complimented your little patch(Marko- patch jacket KING, complimenting your jacket?? more likely than you’d think) 

and oh, oh- Paul is out there being a total chatty-cathy, and is absolutely bombarding you with questions. like, okay, Paul is pretty talkative, but the other vamps are a little worried that he’s scared you off. and you had seemed so cool :(

you end up pretty engaged in your convo with Paul though, even if all the attention is overwhelming. He ends up snagging a date for the five of you the following week.

once you start hanging out/dating:

y’all just hit it off so well those first few days. they all love how sweet & shy you are- but also how much of a badass punk babe you are.

Marko helps make your patch jacket(collecting ones for bands you enjoy, how to make your own, sewing them on, etc). you probably could have done it w/out his help, but my gosh- you weren’t going to pass up this opportunity. Marko gets really soft around you sometimes, since he doesn’t really do this activity with anyone else, it’s saved for you. 🥺🥺

Dwayne likes listening to you talking about the local scene(outside of the shows you go to- mostly about stuff he can’t attend, protests and meetings during the daylight.)

all of them(especially David) are very protective of you. I mean, generally. but also when you go to shows. they let you do whatever the heck you’re gonna do, but the mere second that someone even thinks about starting shit w/ you?? well, y’know. those vampire instincts kick in.

the four of them obviously share a lot of similar tastes in music- but they all have different favorite bands, & fave parts of the community. which, they can’t even fully participate in,, but it’s okay.

they, individually, introduce their favorite bands to you. and they get it in their head that oh, they said they liked it. they must like it as much as I do. and awkwardly coming out to the four of them, as they argue about your favorite band, “Well, actually- this *insert band they’ve never heard of or barely listen to* is my favorite.” and their just kinda like, oh, okay. please tell us more about them. 

so it’s sorta like,, you’ve been learning all this cool knowledge from them, now you get to share cool knowledge with them.

idk. I think it’s cute. 💕

Norman Bates

so first off- let’s just pretend Psycho was in at least the 70s/80s for a moment. because realistically- the punk subculture didn’t really exist back then.

baby boy is absolutely fascinated by the way you dress (mother is less thrilled though)

imagine your jacket is getting a bit weathered, and needs some repairs- so he helps you to sew edges closed, and make sure the patches aren’t on too loose, etc

he enjoys hearing your stories of all the past shows you’ve gone to. you always get so excited about them, and he finds that so endearing. But he pretty much leaves the actual punk scene to you because of these stories.

he was already worried from the stories, and made sure you were well prepared for any trouble every time you left for a show.

but one time, you were able to get him to join you. never again though. he was so nervous!

the music was too loud! and he could hardly understand what they were saying- it was so confusing!

you stayed with him most of the night, standing near the back, holding his hand. he’d gently bob his head to the music occasionally. 

but you accidentally found yourself swept into the crowd, but you looked so blissed-out in the moment, that he figured it would be okay for you to dance* over there for a little bit...right?  

*Norman is still unsure if you’d even call that dancing.

Thankfully, nothing bad happened in the mosh pit.

you gotta give him lots of attention and reassurance afterwards though- you almost scared Norman half to death D:

He’s happy enough helping you out and listening to you though- and that’s okay for you, too. you still love each other lots, even if this particular interest doesn’t overlap.

Michael Myers

he thinks you’re outfits are pretty interesting. 

he’s a little worried at first, when you start experimenting with putting things like safety pins in your ears. cause like- that’s not supposed to be in your ear, Y/n, what the fuck

if you make zines at all, Michael really enjoys watching you make the illustrations for them(not that he’ll admit to it though), and helps to find newspaper and magazine clippings to incorporate into the spreads.

you always show michael the final booklet before distributing it

he doesn’t talk a lot, so he doesn’t ask questions- but he often does the little head tilt once you give it to him. since he’s not very privy to current events, and a lot of your zines are political, you spend a lot of time explaining them in depth.

he has no use for any of this knowledge, but he listens on, intently.

Important note:

dear god do not bring this man to concerts and local shows with you.

it is a nightmare, to say the least

Michael is sort of,, emotionless sometimes, doesn’t really care for people at all, and if he does? definitely not in the same way most people do. 

so imagine combining that part of michael, the fact that he’s also a giant stabby man, with super loud, energetic- almost aggressive- sounding music and a bunch of strangers that aren’t respecting any personal boundaries. 

you need to keep him at the back of the venue- lest your local scene may go missing.

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 22

First time reader click here

TWs/Summary: FLUFF! Inappropriate jokes! The team being a family of mother hens. Steve + WAP! Reader's old man fetish is ✨blossoming✨. Stephen is finally evolving from Grinch into a human being.

a/n: How do we feel about Wanda/Loki pairing? Loki is comparatively around Wanda's/Reader's/Pietro's age, e.g. he's a young adult. Also, new divider.

All three of us spilled out of the elevator in a flurry of wet hair, outrageously large shopping bags and the smell of autumn leaves and cinnamon-infused chocolate. Picture perfect friends - our arms were linked, we stood side to side, our bags mixed up. Loki's silky black hair was dripping cold water onto my face and my own clothes sticking to me in uncomfortable places.

It started pouring buckets when we got into my car to go back to the tower. Wanda complained about being hungry and after a brief detour in one of the hole-in-the-wall, hidden gem, French boulangeries, all three of us were pleasantly relaxed and companionable under the influence of hot chocolate and fresh, warm croissants (Loki ate, like, ten, royal manners be damned). The five minute run from the parking lot to the main entrance resulted in us being way too soaked to be comfortable - thankfully, the shopping bags seemed to be waterproof. Or, perhaps, Loki enchanted them somehow.

"Stop fucking cheating, Rogers..." Tony was grumbling in frustration, looking at an array of cards in his hands, squinting suspiciously at a smug Steve.

Noticing us, the room perked up immediately. Thor lifted his head and we saw him and Pietro splayed out on the couch, each male holding a play station controller. Stephen Strange was sat cross-legged on the floor, reading a book, while Natasha filed her nails next to him, a face of tranquility and indifference.

We almost backpedaled from the amount of puppy eyes suddenly gazing at us.

"Sup?" I decided to go first, seeing as both of my companions were still mostly confused. What the hell, I was equally perplexed.

"How was your day, brother?" and "Got yourself a nice dress?" and "Marchesa? Not bad." Were the most intelligible words I could make out of the cacophony that descended upon us.

And it suddenly downed on me. Neither Wanda nor Loki had previously left for the city on their own. Their siblings were worried. I sighed, concealing my happiness behind a quiet complaint of being cold and wet. My bags were picked up by Thor who abandoned his game in favour of greeting his brother with a hug. Surprisingly, Loki didn't refuse and let Thor embrace him and relieve us of our items to deposit them out of the way.

"Cold," Wanda whined, stripping off her damp sweater to reveal simple black leggings and tee underneath.

"Wet," Loki mumbled, gathering a ball of green magic to dry out his dripping hair.

"Gross," I said, walking straight into Tony's open arms. He didn't say anything, just indicated my place was in his lap, squeaking and shivering as soon as I reached my destination.

"Baby girl, you're gonna get sick. Let's go take a bath," He unsuccessfully attempted to lift my limp body. I groaned in protest, dead on my feet. It felt like I had walked a thousand miles. Wasn't gonna remove myself from a warm, soft Tony.

"I'm dead, like, I'm a zombie. If you move me, I'll eat that sexy brain of yours," I threatened fitfully.

"Well, at least change out of these clothes. You're dripping me in gross, polluted rain water," The engineer laughed.

"Lazy," I replied, nestling myself closer to his warmth. He tugged on my clothes, wrestling me out of the top layers, leaving me shivering like a newborn kitten across his lap. His eyes darted across the room - evidently, he was looking for some sort of a hoodie as he wasn't wearing one at the time. Tony knew how much I loved those and always kept one in his vicinity. Thoughtful, lovely Tony.

"Have you seen my MIT sweatshirt?" He asked and everyone replied negative. Tony frowned.

"Here, have mine," Strange stood up, unzipping and handing me his own plain grey one. "I'll make some herbal tea for the girls least they actually get sick." With that, the grumpy doctor walked off into the kitchen. I watched his broad back retreat with renewed interest. Hate to see you go but love to watch you leave...

One warm hoodie and hot tea later, I was feeling less like a drowned cat and more like the fabulous human being that I was. Wanda had told everyone about her two cute new dresses without actually revealing the idea behind her costume. Somehow all of us silently agreed to surprise each other after I pulled my stunt on Stephen.

Strange didn't seem to be mad at me; his presence was amiable and delightful. He made usual small talk and we engaged in a brief, friendly battle of the wits and he and Tony managed to not piss off each other too much. Loki and Wanda hung nearby, and we chatted, too, mostly about less popular but very cool movies the three of us could watch... Yeah, so we were arranging a sleepover. Bite me.

"So, everyone ready for the party?" Clint was all but bouncing in his seat. "Me and Sammy-boy, we'll have the coolest costumes!" He exclaimed, smirking in Tony and Bruce's direction. Something was coming, something great, from my two boys. I could sense it. Natasha probably knew and tattled to Clint already. The bird bros fist-bumped with an obnoxious cheer.

I was feeling drowsy. The tea Strange made had something calming in it. My usual energetic spirit was gone, replaced by a mellow sort of mood. Plus, my feet hurt from all the walking. I moaned in distaste, flexing my toes.

"I disagree," Wanda shared a secretive smile with Loki and me.

Apparently, my discomfort was quite obvious. It took only another quiet, pitiful groan from me for Bruce to scoot closer, remove my socks and tenderly knead the arch of my foot. He smiled at me, soft and gentle, pressing the pads of his fingers into the soft, painful spots.

"Yeah, Pigeon, no amount of make-up will help that ugly mug," Tony declared with a wave of his hand.

"Tony!" Sam defended his bird bro, tossing a pillow at the engineer and missing me by barely an inch.

"You don't need any make-up, bird. You need plastic surgery." I jumped on the bully Clint bandwagon for the lolz. He was actually quite handsome, but his reactions always were fucking priceless. All of us occasionally ruffled his feathers but never to an actually hurtful extent.

"Not gonna lie, that one hurt." Barton huffed, crossing his arms.

Meanwhile, Bruce had moved onto my other foot. I had to hold in a bunch of very lewd, inappropriate noises. Tony was grinning above me, not at all affected by me squirming around. Banner grinned back at the engineer. They were definitely plotting something.

That just wouldn't do, I decided. Time to throw Rick and Morty off their course a little. I stretched leisurely, allowing the hem of my borrowed hoodie to lift, exposing an inch too much of skin than strictly appropriate.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Steve's arched eyebrow and the small secretive smirk he hid behind a cup of tea. The Captain wasn't as virtuous as the others thought and he definitely was onto me.

Bruce still wreaked havoc on my vestibular system by doing some magical voodoo shit to my toes and traded suspicious grins with Tony who radiated an unfair amount of smugness.

"Oh my God," I stretched with a moan of contentment. "Fucking rail me." I might have used this particular choice of words on purpose. The Avengers that memed with me knew the actual meaning but they were in the minority. Most, including Tony and Bruce, gasped in shock at my choice of words. I grinned innocently. "What?"

"We don't use that kind of language around here!" Steve exclaimed, barely hiding a full-fledged laugh behind his cup.

"Cap, a lot has changed in the past seventy years, if you didn't notice," Barton rolled his eyes. "Women are allowed to express themselves now."

"Men think it's pretty hot, actually," Tony remarked, giving me one of his positively mischievous smiles, gently stroking my cheek and dipping his index finger under the hem of my top, following the lines of my collarbone. "It's just that Cap got left out in the cold."

"Very funny, Tony," Steve groaned as the rest of the group laughed. "We don't need a repeat of the WAP incident."

I choked on my breath. "The WHAT incident?!"

Laughter drowned out Steve's stuttering explanation as the supersoldier blushed, possibly, the most saturated shade of scarlet I'd ever seen on a human's face. I had to stop Bruce from continuing to make my limbs into Jell-O, wanting to hear the full story clearly. Anything that warranted such a strong reaction from Steve was bound to be, like, equal parts extremely embarrassing and hilarious. Bucky was laughing up a storm, a tell-tale sign of him having taken direct actions to ensure Steve would be as confused and ashamed as possible.

"Steve caught Peter listening to the song and asked him about it. Peter refused to answer at first, so Bucky decided to mess with Steve a bit," Pietro began explaining. "So Bucky goes: WAP stands for wasted academic potential. Steve sits on it a couple of days, believing his boyfriend like the naïve old man he is," Pietro was gesturing vividly, arms flailing, as the Captain buried his face in his hands. "Lo and behold, Steve had to give a Captain America speech at some sort of school for delinquent children. And at the end of it all - Natasha has that bit on video, by the way - he gives his stern Captain look and goes "WAP is no joke!"!" The speedster laughed out loud along with everybody.

I was howling at that point, staring at Steve. Did the old man realize all the answers to his questions were a simple Google search away? "NO, he didn't, oh my God," I wheezed, suddenly having realized where it was going.

"He totally did!" Clint continued, giving Pietro a fond look and a chance to catch his breath. "The whole student population was laughing, tears rolling down their faces, as the principal started angrily ranting right in Steve's face. And he was just so, so-o confused. Man, his face..." Clint shook his head. "He left so freaking red in the face I thought he was going to have a heart attack. The students had started singing the song, the uncensored version - mind you - at some point and Steve just progressively got redder and redder."

"I'm seventy percent Irish, I can't help it!" Steve cried in his own defense, the famous blush on full display, but laughing nonetheless as he clutched onto his left boob for dear life.

"And one hundred percent dumbass!" Bucky clapped his boyfriend on the shoulder.

I nodded along, me and Tony a howling pile of limbs. The engineer himself was holding onto me for dear life, too winded to make any of his usual snarky commentary regarding Steve's epic failure. "Pure of heart, dumb of ass," I wheezed out my sudden realization.

"Shit, I'm getting that on a t-shirt," Tony sent himself into another cackle fest. "That's brilliant, Princess."

Bucky nodded along, "I'm buying one for this punk." He pointed at Steve, poking him in the right pec.

"Jerk," Steve's gaze was annoyed but fond as he gently shoved his boyfriend before placing a gentle kiss atop his head. Old people in love, so adorable.

"May I request one for my brother as well?" Loki interjected, eyebrow raised, eyeing Thor trying to pry open a carton of ice cream and failing to notice the little plastic lid covering the top part of it. The blonde was utterly oblivious both to his brother and to the chaos around him, set on his quest for salted caramel pecan creamy goodness. I couldn't say I didn't see the appeal...

"What did you call - himbos?" Stephen eyed me curiously, pointing to Thor and Steve with a shaky hand.

I nodded in response. "Harmless, loveable, kind, beefy and utter dumbasses," I pointed out the main characteristics. "I love himbos."

"You said my brain was sexy," Tony pouted, pressing me closer to him and in turn, making my legs wrap around Bruce in a funny way that brought all three of us in a weird sandwich hug. I must've died and gone to heaven once again. "This is bullshit," And Tony fuckin' bit me. The bastard sunk his teeth into my shoulder strong enough to leave a mark.

"I love big, fat brains. Unf," My attempt at a salacious voice only made people laugh. "No PhD, no pussy. I don't make the rules," I snorted loudly.

"You and your old man kink," Wanda chuckled good-naturedly, casting me a knowing glance over the tops of her friends' heads.

"Yes," I agreed solemnly, pulling Tony in for a kiss without an ounce of shame or reservation, catching Stephen's amused face meeting my eyes for a brief second, his eyebrow raised meaningfully. Looked like someone took my comment a little close to heart. Nobody really batted an eye at Bruce being in the middle of our cuddle puddle so if I had to guess, Stephen Strange was at least interested... Or was he silently judging me?

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

[crimsonrae]

Across the Road, At the Brothel

Chapter Two

Summary: Jaskier fell in love any day that the sun rose in the East. It was a trifling, pleasurable experience for him. Even when he was jumping out a window to avoid cuckolded husbands. So what happens when his trifles start to become more significant? Jaskier/OC. Some Yennefer/Geralt

A/N: Jaskier is just too adorable not to write about. This is a relationship development story with an OC. There will be smut in later chapters and plenty of angst.

Rating: Mature

Or Dove...It was the low murmur of voices and the rather ominous thunking of feet on floorboards that woke Jaskier. For a dull moment, he thought Geralt had returned from... wherever the fuck he had flitted off to. To be honest, he hadn't paid much attention. After three weeks without a bed, a bath, or a decent meal for that matter – despite what Geralt thought he was not a culinary wizard – Jaskier had been far more focused on enjoying the simple pleasures of which he had been deprived and those pleasures did not include traipsing back out into the wild to find some Gods forsaken creature that could, quite possibly, rend him limb from bloody limb.

Opening blurry eyes, he cast about the room for the hulking form of his friend and frowned when he saw no one. It took longer than he would like to admit before he realized that the noise he was hearing was coming from outside his room. Sitting up, his head pulsed with a faint pain and he groaned, quietly remembering the amount of wine he had imbued the night before. He had to hand it to the Toussaint province when they set out to make wine. They made bloody good wine.

A soft yawn unfurled from his lips and he squinted almost peevishly at the light shining in through the window. It had to be a little before midday, his late-night had ensured that he had most certainly missed breakfast. Biting back another yawn, Jaskier slowly went about his usual morning ablutions. He had to admit it was rather nice not to have a pair of golden eyes silently observing his usual rituals, also a little lonely, but that was not something he wanted to dwell on too closely. He and Geralt had basically been living in each other's pockets lately, time apart was more than needed. And yet...

Jaskier sighed quietly as he finished dressing and headed for the door. He supposed that it was time for him to resurface to reality and sniff out whatever it was that had his companion traipsing through wine country. Hopefully, it was a search for a good bottle of Bordeaux, though unlikely. It didn't take long for him to find the inn empty of its keeper as he made his way outside, his stomach rumbling. The first point of order was to track down some food before he went in search of information. It was still a tad early for a midday meal, but he was sure he could find something at the local markets to nibble on.

...Well, market was a strong term he supposed as he looked about.

While Glynedol was not exactly a one-road town, it came rather close. It seemed the road that he and Geralt had come in on was the main road through the town. It had the inn, the tavern, and the brothel all within a few metres of each other. It looked like there was an apothecary not too far down, as well as a cobbler and smithy a little further from that. His stomach twisted with a faint nauseous hunger and Jaskier had to wonder why he hadn't seen any stalls set up for traders. It was harvest season, after all. Usually, vendors would be selling their wares at any small spit such as this little town. Frowning, he glanced about and realized that there weren't many people about either. He could understand most working the fields of their farms for the last bits of produce before autumn, but surely it was getting late enough and certainly warm enough in the day for more to be taking a break and heading into the local watering hole for a respite. It was all a bit... odd.

"Nigel, you can't keep doing this. Not with winter on the way."

Jaskier perked up as a familiar voice caught his attention. The barmaid. Lyrra. She might be willing to guide him about. His eyes quickly scanned the sides of the road but saw neither hide nor hair of her.

A low rumble seemed to answer her back and Jaskier found himself detouring down a side alley by the brothel. He turned a corner and found his lovely maiden knelt down before a slovenly mess of a man. With her back to him, he silently took in her form. Gone was the headscarf she had wrapped around her head the night prior and he could see luscious chestnut hair tethered in a loose braid. The loose frock and apron she wore as she had worked were replaced by a more form-fitting dress. It was simple in style, but he found he far preferred it to her other ensemble.

"What would Mae say if she saw you now?" Lyrra murmured softly as she tried to coax the man slumped against the wall to stand.

The man's hazy green eyes landed on Jaskier and the bard could tell that the man was drunker than a skunk. Still, he had enough wherewithal to nod at him, "Who's 'e?"

"Wh-?" Lyrra started to ask as she turned, obviously expecting no one as her soft grey eyes widen at the sight of Jaskier. She frowned slightly at him before plastering on a soft smile for the drunkard, "He's a bard. One that has a future as a thief with the way he sneaks about."

"I don't know if I'm offended or flattered by that comment." Jaskier muttered thoughtfully as he stepped up next to her, "Do I not get an introduction, as well?"

A flash of exasperation crossed her features and he hid a smile as she gestured down to her friend, "Jaskier, this is Nigel. Nigel, Jaskier. We'll be on our way now."

Jaskier smirked at her none too subtle hint to go away and glanced at Nigel. He wrinkled his nose and hummed, "Hmmm, will you though?"

Lyrra frowned and looked to see that Nigel had passed out during her introduction. A sigh of weariness escaped her as she knelt again to shake her friend awake with little luck. Jaskier raised a brow at her efforts, "Oh, leave him here, Lyrra. He can sleep it off in the alley just as easily a bed."

"He's been out here all night." She mumbled, her disapproving tone matching the glare she threw over her shoulder at him.

He shrugged, "And somehow he's been left alone... well, till you came along that is. Besides, he'll probably regret the state he is in now more if he were to wake up in a filthy alley than if he were to wake in a warm bed. Less likely for a repeat performance this way."

"That's rather unlikely." Lyrra uttered quietly as she patted the man's cheek, "Come on, Nigel. Just a few minutes and you can sleep again, dove."

"Always been my experience." Jaskier stated blandly as he continued to watch.

"And has it been your experience to drink yourself dumb to ease the pain of your wife's passing?" Lyrra questioned echoing his tone as she stood to face him, "Somehow, I think grief wins over discomfort."

"Ahh." Jaskier's amusement at the situation dropped as a tendril of remorse curled in his gut. Pity flared to life in his heart for the stranger as he resisted the urge to squirm under Lyrra's indifferent gaze. He sighed, "All right."

Jaskier quickly took up Lyrra's previous position before the grieving widower. His hand reached out and quickly found the hollow above the man's collar bone before pressing in and curling his finger over the bone with a decent amount of force. Nigel spasmed and jerked awake from the attack on his pressure point, green eyes wide in betrayed bafflement. Jaskier found he couldn't blame him for that look. Geralt had used that particular move on him enough that he was familiar with the sensation that had shot through Nigel's body. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was definitely not pleasurable. Quickly before Nigel had a chance to gather his bearings to slip back off again, Jaskier tugged his arm up and over his shoulders forcing the drunk to stand.

"Don't you dare throw up on me." The bard threatened with a wince as he finally caught wind of the noxious fumes of alcohol coming off the other man's body. Gods, if he hadn't fucking smelled last night, he surely did now. All this on an empty stomach too. He raised an expectant brow as Lyrra gawked at him, "Where to?"

She started slightly and waved a hand down the alley, "This way."

Jaskier grunted softly, channeling his inner Geralt as he half dragged Nigel down the alley. To his surprise, it really wasn't terribly far before they stopped again. He had been prepared to go a few blocks at least. Not less than fifteen metres or so. He was sure his brows were touching his hairline as he realized what door they were stopped in front of, "He's drunker than a fish in an ocean and you want to leave him in a brothel? I don't know if this man will love you or hate you for that."

A light flush suddenly coated her cheeks as she looked away embarrassed but still, she knocked at the wooden door. A second later the entry was thrown open and a stern older woman peered out. Jaskier tried not to cringe under her heavy stare, even as he quirked a small grin at her. It was a wonder this place got any business if men had to go through that battleaxe of a woman. Yet the moment she laid eyes on Lyrra she softened before peering more intently at the form now dangling into Jaskier's side.

"Again?"

Lyrra nodded quietly and the older woman sighed, "Come on, then."

She stepped aside and began to cluck like an old mother hen. Jaskier listened passively as she pestered Lyrra about being too kindhearted and reiterated a variant of what he had suggested earlier. Leave Nigel to whatever bed he made, essentially. As the drunk began to weigh more heavily on his shoulders, Jaskier was silently inclined to agree. In his periphery, he could see women in various states of undress as they moved down a hall lined with doors. Most ignored the small group, while a few waved at Lyrra and offered a sympathetic smile. He was sure it was the first time in his life he had ever been so soundly ignored by a group of whores. He itched with the desire to check his pockets and make sure his coin hadn't been lifted without his notice.

" 'Ere we are. Jus lay 'im on the bed, luv." The matron said stoutly with a nod forward.

Jaskier basically dropped the man once he was close enough and breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the sudden lack of weight.

"We got 'im now petal. Don't ya worry none."

Jaskier turned in time to catch Lyrra's grateful smile and the subtle palming of a few coins before he fell under the matron's stern glare. A ribald comment was poised on the tip of his tongue when he suddenly felt delicate fingers tugging him away and back outside. He eyed the woman before him with renewed curiosity, "Well, that was an adventure. You're welcome by the way."

Lyrra paused and gazed at him uncertainly for a moment before she offered him a rueful smile, "Thank you for helping."

Jaskier smiled faintly, "Yes, well who am I to deny a damsel in distress?"

He swore she rolled her eyes though her smile never diminished. She caught him by surprise though as she tilted her head curiously at him, "You seem to be coming to my rescue quite a bit it seems."

"Oh?" Jaskier questioned in confusion. His mind raced as he tried to place what other time he had come to her aid.

"Hillard told me you chased out the man who propositioned me last night." She reminded him quietly.

It was his turn to blush, as he felt an unfamiliar heat creep into his cheeks, "Oh er um... Your barkeep saw that, did he?"

Lyrra nodded, "He said you gave him a good laugh."

Well, that was something at least, Jaskier thought woefully, though silently relieved that his childish antics hadn't brought him scorn from either the lady or the barkeep.

"Though I do have to ask. Are you following me?"

Jaskier blinked and smirked, "Why? Do you want me to go? You wound me so, lovely Lyrra. Your attentions are rather hard-won. Especially, after lugging a man down an alley for you."

His eyes twinkled mischievously as she blushed and lightly scowled at him. It was fun to get a reaction from her. She shook her head in exasperation or amusement he wasn't sure which, perhaps both as she replied, "That wasn't what I meant and you know it. The tavern was one thing. I work at the Rose and Pine and you happened to be performing there. But now...?"

In truth, he hadn't been looking for her. He hadn't given her much thought beyond a trifling disappointment at a potential tryst thwarted and an interesting conversation lost. Though the conversation part had been regained it seemed. Yet, he could give her a more playful charming answer, "This morning more like for some of us. When I heard your voice dance across the air, I couldn't help but follow its lead. Much like following a siren's call."

"... You use such pretty words." She surprised him again when he caught the disappointment seeping in her grey orbs like storm clouds. She fixed that polite smile he had received before... the one he had noticed she gave to overly-friendly, but strange customers. It was like seeing a physical manifestation of Geralt's silent glare that said he was now merely tolerating whoever was before him. Usually, it was Jaskier.

"Huh. I – I don't think I've ever heard someone say that like it was an insult before." He murmured with a furrowed brow, feeling like he was losing his grip on...on something.

Lyrra shrugged indifferently, "So what were you really doing this morning then?"

Jaskier stared as he realized that it wasn't that he was losing his grip, but that she could see through his bullshit. Bollocks, "I was looking for some food. An apple or something to nibble on. Rather surprised there weren't merchants anywhere on the street, actually."

As if realizing it herself, she glanced about the street they were drifting down. A frown tugged at her lips, "It has been strange lately."

Her voice was barely louder than a whispered, but Jaskier still caught her words. Maybe this was why Geralt had been so twitchy. Maybe he had sensed something was off with Glynedol – now Jaskier wished he had paid a little more attention to his friend's brief explanations, "Strange how?"

Lyrra shook her head, "Just quiet. Fewer people. Usually, the town is bustling with activity this time of year...it's hard to explain. Your singing brought in more people to the tavern than I had seen in a while."

"Huh." Jaskier huffed, suddenly at a loss for those pretty words she mentioned earlier. He had no idea of what to make of her information or what it could possibly have to do with Geralt's latest venture.

She seemed to sense this as she touched his elbow and nodded behind her, "Come on, let's get you some food."

"Oh yes, that – that is a golden plan right there, that is." He uttered delightedly before his stomach reaffirmed its starved state with a loud gurgle. She snickered softly and his lips quirked as a sinful comment fell from his lips, "Help me sate my body's hunger, lovely Lyrra."

There was no doubt that she rolled her eyes this time as she led the way back to the tavern.

»»————-　　————-««

"Where is your companion?" Lyrra asked lowly as she placed a small bowl of stew before him.

Once they had entered the Rose and Pine, she had disappeared into the back, only to reappear as she had the previous night. Jaskier had felt mild disappointment at the sight of her work frock and headscarf. While practical, he would rather see her lovely hair falling loose from her braid and skimming the small strip of flesh above the neckline of her other gown than this sack of a monstrosity. He said none of this as he munched slowly on his stew.

After a thoughtful moment and under the pressure of her expectant gaze, he shrugged, "Not terribly sure actually. I was more enamored with finding water for a bath when he departed. I saw Roach stabled at the back of the inn still... He couldn't have gone far."

"Roach?"

"His horse." Jaskier clarified with a hint of envy as he thought of his other defacto traveling companion. Should Geralt ever feel the need to ditch him, Roach's disappearance would be his clue, "Geralt loves that beast more than himself. He wouldn't leave her alone for long."

A soft smile crossed Lyrra's lips at this profession. Quietly, she slid into the seat across from him. It was funny, when he wasn't actively pursuing her attention, she seemed not to mind giving it to him, "What's that look then?"

Lyrra blinked and looked at him questionably, "What look?"

"That smile for Geralt's bestial obsession." Jaskier said with a small grin. Had the Witcher been nearby he would have been smacked upside the head for that little comment.

Lyrra shrugged, "Whether a beast of burden or a furry companion, I think it's rather telling of a person on how they treat their pets. Your Geralt seems to be a decent sort at the very least."

Jaskier snorted in amusement, though he couldn't disagree. For as gruff and sinister and outright bloody rude his friend could be, he was more honest and decent than most, "Yes, he is at the very least decent."

She cast him an indecipherable look and he merely smiled back. Finishing his stew, he took the time to really study her. It had been something of game, the previous night to court her attention. She had flitted about the tavern like she was dancing on wind. Her service was so smooth that he hadn't even noticed her until the incident with the leering scruff. Her handling of it had been just as graceful and if he hadn't been standing behind her at the time, he never would have noticed the man's untoward forwardness.

He wasn't sure what had possessed him to comment on it to her, but then she had turned to him. Her grey orbs had shown like stars shining through stormy skies and he had been captivated. She was pretty. Her beauty understated, but nonetheless present as his interest in her continued to climb. It had also helped that Jaskier had caught the interest in her gaze as well. He knew attraction when he saw it. He had been put off when she hadn't acted on hers, however. As fun as it had been to pull blushes to her unblemished cheeks, he hadn't expected to be so thoroughly stonewalled. Admittedly, her reluctance to have anything to do with him was still rather entertaining.

He wondered distantly if there was a word for finding such abhorrence to his person attractive. He was sure it said something about him at any rate, but that too was not something he wanted to dwell on. Instead, he turned his focus back on Lyrra, "So... barmaid, then?... Um, how did you find yourself in that profession?"

He nearly grimaced at how bumbling that had come out. She stared at him silently for a moment, amusement crinkling at the corner of her eyes before saying so dryly, "Well, queen seemed to be taken and I wasn't much for whoring. You?"

"Same." He uttered amusedly, preening when she smiled in quiet laughter.

She shook her head at him and moved to stand, "I need to start getting ready for the dinner hour. Thank you for your help today, sir bard."

"Jaskier, Lyrra." He corrected, longing to hear her recite his name in a more intimate setting.

She smirked, a faint blush appearing as she threw over her shoulder, "Or dove, right?"

Well, well. He grinned in delight at her parting shot and vowed to get her to spend her spare time with him as the night wore on.

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[fuckyeahevanrwood]

Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez and Other Stars Take Aim at TV’s Patriarchy: ‘There’s No Going Back’

It’s a different day for Hollywood, and for our culture. From the time allegations of sexual misbehavior rained down on mogul Harvey Weinstein last October, this business and many others have been rocked by revelations and allegations, and by a sense that the time is long overdue to afford women equal respect and equal opportunities rather than treating them like commodities.

In this climate — with hashtags like #MeToo and organizations like Time’s Up working to affect real change — TheWrap convened seven television actresses to discuss what they’ve experienced in their careers, what they’ve seen in the last nine months and where they’d like things to go from here.

TheWrap’s Sharon Waxman and Beatrice Verhoeven asked the questions; Zazie Beetz from “Atlanta,” Alison Brie from “GLOW,” Rachel Brosnahan from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Claire Foy from “The Crown,” Gina Rodriguez from “Jane the Virgin,” Yara Shahidi from “black-ish” and “grown-ish” and Evan Rachel Wood from “Westworld” answered them.

What does it feel like for all of you at this particular moment in time, with everything that has happened over the last eight or nine months? Are you mindful of the politics going on around you in Hollywood and in the wider world?

ALISON BRIE Well, there’s no way to ignore what’s going on in our industry these days. That’s why I feel lucky and grateful to be working on a feminist show where we have female showrunners, so many women on the crew and six out of 10 of our directors are women.

That’s something about “GLOW” that I find really amazing and fascinating: We have a cast of 14 women in Season 1, 15 women in Season 2, of all shapes and sizes and ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. They’re interesting, in-depth characters. Their lives revolve around things other than men and being single.

I was talking yesterday with Gillian Jacobs from “Love” about how different it can be shooting a romantic scene when you’re working with a female director. You’re more involved with the way you’re being commodified on the show, which is helpful.

YARA SHAHIDI It’s extremely powerful and inspiring to turn on the TV and see Issa Rae on the show she created, to see Laverne Cox, to see all these women leading shows. Whether it’s cable or [broadcast] television, I feel like we are seeing a difference, and I think it’s partially because the audience is now expecting it. But we’re not nearly there yet.

We are seeing more shows — like Rachel’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” — about female awakening.

RACHEL BROSNAHAN At its core, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is a story about a woman finding a voice that she didn’t know she had. And that becomes more and more relevant every single day. We’re seeing so many different groups of people in the country finding their voices.

It’s not something that I was necessarily aware of as we were making it, but it’s a huge gift to play this fully realized, completely three-dimensional, complicated, flawed woman.

SHAHIDI We’re definitely seeing more complex roles. It’s less about saying that a character has to be this beautiful, perfect role model who handles it all. If anything, it’s been about making them realer, more complex or more unique. So rather than saying this woman has to be the universal woman, we can deal in specificity. When we add that layer of detail, you can only gain when you’re talking about human complexity.

BRIE What’s great about what’s happening right now is that these stories for women are being told, and I feel like there’s no going back. If I read a script about a woman who can’t get a man, or two women fighting over a guy, I’m just so bored.

EVAN RACHEL WOOD I think everybody’s a little bored by that.

ZAZIE BEETZ For so many years, people were like, “Everybody can identify with a white man lead.” There wasn’t even a thought of, “Oh, someone can identify with a woman as well and not be a woman?” That’s insane.

Many of your shows now feel increasingly timely and resonant precisely because of what’s happening in Hollywood and in society.

WOOD We started “Westworld” before this movement happened, but when people say, “Oh, it’s so timely now, it’s crazy how synced-up it is,” we always say, “No, it’s timeless.” This has always been an issue, but we’re just paying more attention and listening in a different way now. So it seems more relevant.

And it was strange doing Season 2, because it’s all about the uprising and the reckoning, and the women — even though they’re not technically women, they’re machines — coming into their power and realizing who they are.

CLAIRE FOY I think it’s really interesting, the conversations that people are having. A year ago, would TheWrap be having an all-female cover talking about women being empowered? It’s because of a very few brave people got together and put themselves on the line. And then all of a sudden everybody came out of the woodwork and said, “I just realized I can stand up for myself.”

I have learned so much from other women about what they’ve experienced.

GINA RODRIGUEZ I’d love to jump in on that, because I think Time’s Up was created from the response from the American farmworkers — 700 women got together and wrote a letter to the women in Hollywood. This is such a difficult conversation because there’s no way we can encompass everything: This is hours and months and years and history and hundreds of years of domesticated mentalities.

But I believe that the culture for women, if we’re going to specifically speak about that all over the world, is a social norm. We created it and we can change it. But it would take a collective effort to do that.

WOOD We get pitted against each other sometimes, and I think what we’ve realized, which is part of the theme of today, is that we’re stronger together. It’s a slogan, but it’s also very true.

BROSNAHAN One of the coolest things about doing things like this is that we get to spend time together and know each other as peers, and that makes it easier to lift each other up and be each other’s champions and be on the same team. Because previously, there was usually room for one woman in a group of men.

Now, there has been a shift. I’ve been walking into a lot of rooms recently with both men and women where they’re saying, “Do you want to do other things? Do you want to write? Direct? Produce?” I’d never been asked that question before and I hadn’t thought about it much, but now I’m thinking about it and going, “Yeah, I do want to do all those things!”

RODRIGUEZ I produce my own projects because I really got tired of being told, “They don’t think you are this enough.” And I was like, “Who is they?” I need to be they. So I just made sure that I was the they so that I can tell them, “No, I don’t think that’s correct.”

As a young girl, I knew how affected I was by the lack of color on screen. I knew how much I gravitated towards the little bit that we did have that represented our culture. I understand that the lack of history of Latino culture in schools adds to dropout rates. I love that Claire plays one of the most important women in history, but there are so many more that we haven’t seen yet because people don’t even share it in schools. I’m all about doing my own stuff, making my own projects.

Claire, you were the subject of a real furor recently when it was revealed that you made less money than your co-star Matt Smith in the first season of “The Crown,” even though you had a bigger role. It came as a shock…

FOY It’s that unspoken thing. Actors don’t talk with each other about how much they are paid. But we all knew. And now something good has got to come out of all the shame and the embarrassment and the talking about my worth in comparison to one of my best friends.

WOOD I have never been paid the same as my male counterparts. I’m just now to the point where I’m getting paid the same as my male co-stars [on “Westworld”].

BROSNAHAN Really? I’m mad for you but also happy for you now that you’re there.

WOOD I was married to an actor for years and he always got paid more than me, and I actually worked more. And I was like, “I’ll just take what I can get, I’m just happy to be here.”

BROSNAHAN That’s a huge part of the equal-pay conversation, because women are brought up with this idea that there are 100 more of us who could step in at any given moment. So it’s hard to speak up for yourself, because you feel like you could lose it. And honestly in the past, you could.

RODRIGUEZ They do that to us from the start of our careers. Take our power away. I feel like that’s happened to me from the jump. “That’s fine, we have a bunch of people who could step right in.” You diminish someone’s self worth and it’s up to them to believe it or not. I’ve had that from the beginning.

BEETZ It’s about, are you being valued in the same way? Are they seeing you as an asset in the same way that they are seeing your counterpart?

FOY Our industry works on a quote system. You get a quote for one job and it will be used in your next job. It’s across the board, and it’s relatively fair in that sense.

The way it doesn’t work is because if there aren’t leads of people of different races or different genders, then they’re not going to be given the opportunity to ever get their quote up, because they will never be given that lead. And if they do get that lead and they don’t have the same quote as their counterparts because they haven’t had the opportunity before, then I genuinely believe it’s the responsibility of the people who are in charge of making those decisions to pay that person not according to their quote but according to what their part is. That is the only way it will ever make it right.

One of my friends is an Indian actress, and she’s never going to get a high enough quote because when has there been a lead part for an Indian actress? It just has to happen by someone making the decision. It has to be a directive, it has to be something that people just do. Because you want to be paid equally for the work that you do, and for your investment in that which will make a lot of other people very wealthy.

So it’s time to be outspoken and stand up for yourself.

FOY It’s not even about being outspoken. It’s just about saying, “These are the facts!”

RODRIGUEZ That’s what it is. It’s like, a woman does it and she’s being craaaaazy. A man does it, it’s logic. We gotta stop talking about it that way. It’s not about being outspoken, it’s about laying the truth down.

WOOD I’ve been working for 25 years, and the people with money are still men. You’re pitching projects about women to a room full of older white men with money who aren’t necessarily creative types. Those rooms need to change. They need to be more diverse and have more women, more people of color, more everything.

BROSNAHAN It’s hard when there’s one group at the top making all the decisions and controlling all the money. People in positions of power need to look like what the world looks like, so that the art we’re making reflects the world we live in and the world we aspire to live in.

[arse-blathanna]

put you back together - Jaune/Weiss oneshot

[Ao3] [FFN]

Fic Summary: The few nights before keep playing in Jaune's mind like a nightmare, over and over again and reminding him of people he couldn't save. 

At least he'd been able to save Weiss.

Rating: T

Tags: Pre-Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Past Relationships, Optimism, RWBY 05x12 Spoiler, Guilt

Word Count: 4,425

Author’s Notes: The only thing that I really have to say for this fic is that if you haven't seen RWBY 05x12 "Vault of the Spring Maiden" you should probably watch that before reading this story. Also I've never written from Jaune's POV before. Thank you for reading!

Ever since Jaune had been a little boy, running at his sister’s heels, he had loved long hair.

Jaune had loved his sisters' hair, he loved how beautiful it was and he remembered the first time that he'd been allowed to play with it, and then when he'd been taught to braid it along with the rest of them. He’d loved being allowed to brush the knots from his elder sister’s hair. He’d loved them. Even though Jaune never let his own hair grow too long, that love for long hair had always remained. Growing up, it was always the same thing. He'd see girls with long, flowing hair, and he'd almost immediately find himself falling head over heels. He didn't know what it was about it, but he'd always loved the look of hair pulled back cleanly and then allowed to just flow and fall and move. He loved how it would accent strong or delicate shoulders, and create something that was always attractive. Once, when Jaune was 12, he'd gotten the chance to see Weiss Schnee sing. It hadn't been in person, just something that he'd seen on his parent's television one night. She'd been beautiful then too, and the way that her hair had shined bright white under moonlight had been enough to make his heart sing just as loudly as she had. The image had been engraved into the back of his mind. Back then, the ideas to go to Beacon had only been inklings- nothing fully realized. 

[Read it on Ao3] [Read it on FFN]

The boy that had watched Weiss sing never would have even dreamed that he would one day meet her. The idea that he would meet her at Beacon was also far from his reach, back in those days. The truth was that Beacon had been full of beautiful women, but each and every single one of them had been securely out of his league. Pyrrha had been, and so had Weiss. Weiss had been much more vocal about it, but... The dance had happened, and for the first time that Jaune had realized that Pyrrha was... She was beautiful too. And smart. And strong. And she cared about him and she wanted him. And he'd wasted his time on Weiss. He'd wasted his time on Weiss Schnee, who was interested in Neptune Vasilias, who had turned her down, and not him, no, never him. He'd wasted his time on the girl who had slammed his door in his face when he'd asked her to the dance. All while Pyrrha had been right there and- He loved her. It had taken Jaune some time to figure it out, but he loved her.

Loving her wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t be enough to save Pyrrha’s life and for months that’s all that Jaune has been able to think about. He could have done more for her, or he could have tried and done more to stop her. He could have paid more attention to her as her world was falling apart around her, or he could have been there for her at a time when she had wanted his attention.

He could have-

It was a part of his life, every waking moment. Guilt, sadness, anger. Cinder Fall had killed the girl that he’d loved, the girl that had been his first kiss, the girl that had been so devoted to the idea that he could have been better than the liar or the weakling that he was.

It never ended. He’d agreed to go off on adventures with Ruby, Nora, and Ren on the off chance that he would one day get a chance to get back at Cinder Fall for what she’d done.

Those months travelling with them had been horrible. They had been constant sadness and mourning, walking from forest to forest and village to village. Sometimes they would get to fight grimm and save people, but other times they would find dying men that hadn’t been able to do enough to save the residents of their homes.

Nothing was quite enough to distract Jaune from everything and everything that was wrong. Mostly, he was sick of death, and it felt like all the good and the beauty had ebbed out of the world along with Pyrrha. Qrow told them more about what had happened that night in Vale, and Jaune was left with more things to dwell on. More things to regret. He hated all of it. Finally reaching Mistral after all of that was a relief, and it felt like a light in the darkness that he had been constantly dwelling in for months. But then suddenly things changed, and Weiss was just... there. She was there, and she was stronger and smarter than she had before and Jaune- He didn't know what to feel, because seeing her again dragged up all of those feelings again. That guilt was there again, in full force when they all spent a night gathered around dinner and taunting each other. It had started with the nicknames and then all of the ways that they'd been embarrassments. When Jaune had said 'don't even get me started,' about that, he'd meant it. He didn't want to think about those things, because so much of that was tied to Pyrrha, and to Weiss, and it was a conversation that he didn't want to have. Regardless, having Weiss and Yang with the rest of the group had been nice. Even if things were complicated and strange, it had been nice. They were all there doing their best to cope and prepare for battle, but it wasn't enough. And then the battle just.. started out of nowhere. Then it happened, and it was all that Jaune had been able to think about for days after.

His semblance had come over him like a freight train, and it had been enough to save Weiss, but that wasn’t quite enough.

Weiss was alive, but she never should have been the one to take the blow she had been given. Jaune had done what he could, gone to her and looked after her, and Weiss was alive but-

But. But Jaune was still blaming himself for what had happened, and he would for some time after. Cinder had used Weiss as a way to taunt him, and Jaune found himself rethinking the conversations that he'd had with his friends. Mostly, the ones that he'd had with Ruby. Ruby had said that Pyrrha had been shot with an arrow, and that she remembered that it had punched through her entirely. Jaune hadn't wanted to know that particular detail, but they'd both needed a chance to vent so he had been willing to listen. Ruby had said that Pyrrha had been on her knees, and then she and the arrow had just.... turned to dust and drifted away. All in all, it had too many similarities to Ruby’s story for Jaune's comfort. And he didn't know what to feel. Whether he had saved Weiss’ life on that battlefield almost didn’t seem to matter.

But he couldn’t leave it as an unresolved thing. He had to at least know that Weiss was as okay as she could be all things considered. For that reason he knocked on the door to the room where Weiss had been staying and spending her time. She was more or less on bedrest, and was healing well enough. Jaune needed to be able to just... see her. And talk to her about what had happened and apologize, even if it wasn't in his place to do so. He needed to do something for her. "Weiss?" Jaune asked through the door, feeling worried and panicked in ways he didn't want to dwell on. "You... up?" "I am." Weiss said, her voice quiet and possibly a little bit sleepy. "You can come in." Jaune nodded and took a deep breath to try and calm down before turning the doorknob and making his way inside. Weiss was in the bed, and she was wearing pajamas that Jaune knew belonged to Nora for a fact. She still looked a little paler and frailer than she normally did, but there was no sign of bandages. Mostly she looked like she was trying to enjoy the quiet when she could.   There was a book in her lap, and her hands resting on top of it, thin finger wedged between closed pages so she couldn’t lose her place. "Hey." Jaune greeted her, his hand still hovering on the doorknob so that he could pull the door closed should she want privacy. Weiss looked up at him and smiled, though it was weak. She raised a hand and gestured to a wooden chair beside her seat. "Do you want to sit?" "Yeah." Jaune sighed, closing the door behind him and making his way in. "That... sounds great." He took the seat and tried to relax, but found it was impossible. Weiss was looking at him, and for the first time he realized that her hair was down. He'd only seen it down once, and Jaune was glad for the separation. "What's wrong?" Weiss asked, her voice softer and quieter than it had ever been before. "I'm sorry." Jaune blurted out, hanging his head and letting his arms rest on his legs, hands dangling in the space between them. "for what happened to you."

Jaune watches her face for any sign that she’ll have something to say to him, but nothing really comes. Instead, he watches as Weiss’ expression sinks and she just looks down at her hands where they’re resting in her lap. “Thank you,” She says quietly, but it sounds fake or otherwise put on. Jaune doesn’t know what to make of it. “For everything.”

He swallows, and finds himself wishing that he had something there with him to make it easier. Maybe if he’d tried to gather flowers from outside of the Academy, or something, that would have been better. Never mind that it looks like Nora had already done that, if the small vase sitting on Weiss’ bedside table was any indicator.

“You uh…” he shrugs. “You seem to be doing well.”

“I don’t know about that.” Weiss answers, sounding bitter and exhausted all at once. “I’ve been… having nightmares.”

“I’m sorry.” Jaune replies, blinking and still not quite sure of what to do. In a way, he almost feels like he had when he’d first met Weiss properly, back when he’d been stumbling over himself every time she was in the room and he’d always felt like he had a finger in an electrical outlet. “I’ve been having them too.”

“About the attack on Haven?” Weiss asks, finally looking to meet his eyes. “Or about something else?”

Jaune shrugs, because that isn’t a question that is nearly as easy to answer as it sounds. He can’t act like he hasn’t been replaying what had happened nights before in his head, over and over again. He can’t just act like Pyrrha hasn’t been on his mind either.

“It’s… a lot of things.” he says quietly. “What happened, Pyrrha, just… everything that happened at Beacon, really.” Jaune looks over at her, and decides not to go into the details of the time in between. Weiss knew about some of the easier stuff, and that was probably for the better. “And I think that this has dragged up a lot of bad things for me.”

Weiss nods. “You… know that I don’t blame you for it, right?” She asked, very obviously keeping her voice down. She leans forward slightly, trying to get a peek at the door to make sure they won’t have company. There’s an immediate part of Jaune that tells him that he needs to stop Weiss before she can exasperate something. He’d healed her on the battlefield but that was still failing to register in some ways.

She stares at the door with narrowed eyes and she looks somewhere between annoyed and worried. Jaune swallows.

“Weiss-” Jaune says, glancing back over his shoulder at the closed door as well.  “Is… everything okay?”

“Everything is fine.” Weiss says, shaking her head and sitting back up properly again. “I just… worry a lot.”

“Are you still… in pain?” Jaune asks, all but stumbling over his words because he can’t be sure anymore. Whatever he had done was still not completely clear to him. In the end it felt more like he’d merely applied a bandage for a wound that would re-injure all too easily.

“I have been.” Weiss sounds so small, and so fragile in that moment that Jaune could swear he heard his heart crack in his chest. He offers her a hand, and she takes it without so much as looking over at him. Carefully, he edges his way in beside her and slides an arm behind her back to offer the support just in case she feels like she needs it. “Is this okay?” He asks, keeping his voice down still. She nods and leans back into his arm and carefully, Jaune helps lie her back against her pillows and tries not to think about the true severity of the situation. She sits there in bed for a long moment after Jaune has already pulled away from her. It’s almost like he’d been expecting, really. Neither of them seemed to have even the slightest idea as to what they were doing there. When one of them finally decided to break the silence, it was Weiss. “Have you talked to any of the others about it?” Weiss asked, looking back out the window again like she needed separation. Even now, it still hurts Jaune and leaves him feeling a little bit put out, but he doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it. If anything, he’s going to just bottle those feelings up and deal with them later. Whenever later was. Hopefully there would be a good chance for later, when they weren’t saving the world or getting involved in grand conspiracies. “Not really.” Jaune admits, glancing back to the door himself. “I uh… haven’t been feeling like being around people since…” His voice trails off and he looks out the window too. Mistral has beautiful mountains, unlike anything that exists in Vale. “Pyrrha.” Weiss finishes for him. It makes the conversation feel so much dangerous, with it having been said out loud and put out in the open for them both. "I miss her too." "I figured." Jaune sighed, letting his head hang a little bit. He can feel himself getting ready to cry and he wants to, but he doesn't know if this is the time. He came here to be there for Weiss, not the other way around, but his feelings are still so mixed up and confusing that he never knows what he wants to make of them. "Everyone misses her. Everyone loved her." Weiss nodded and looked out the window. She's quiet, for a long time and then she speaks up. "I'm sorry." She says, keeping her voice down. "I don't know... what you and her were to each other. And I'm not going to ask if you aren't comfortable talking about it. But I'm sorry." "Weiss, you don't have to-" "But I do." Weiss cuts him off, and for the first time since he came into the room she really looks at him, the old ice queen stare that felt like it was boring a hole through him. "She was your partner, Jaune. I'm sorry. I've tried to deal with everything that happened too but," She closes her eyes and lets her head drop. "That doesn't matter. She was your partner and I'm sorry." There is something that both of them are afraid to say. Jaune thinks back to that night in Beacon, when he'd called... Weiss. Ozpin had told him to call Glynda instead, but he'd decided to call Weiss instead because Jaune had known that he could trust her. She'd been the last one that he'd spoken to before he'd shattered his scroll entirely because all he knew was that Pyrrha was going off to die. It feels like Weiss is apologizing for not being able to get there and help in time. Or not being able to get help there in time. He picks his head up and nods. Jaune wants to get into the bed with her, but only so that he can hug her and try to offer comfort while being comforted. They're both hurting, and this... this isn't about where a spear had gone. This was something much worse, and Jaune had no idea how Weiss had spent her time dealing with it all. "I don't blame you either." He finally says after a long moment, blinking away tears. "I knew Pyrrha. I think that when she decided to do what she did, she knew the consequences. Pyrrha believed it was her destiny to be a huntress, and she was lured into something, and... she didn't give up. I don't think that anyone could have saved her, really."

“I… think you might be right.” Weiss mumbles, glancing at him only out of the corner of her eye. “I’m still sorry.” “I know.” Jaune says back to her, even though the words don’t mean all that much, or anything really. She looks at him and she gestures back to the seat with the graceful wave of her hand. Jaune follows it and takes his seat there once more, doing his best to become as comfortable there at Weiss’ side as he had been before. “I thought about you a lot.” Weiss says, cutting through the quiet on her own. Jaune almost jolts at it because a stupid younger part of him has specific things that he wants for that to mean. "While I was in Atlas." Jaune almost doesn't know what to say, because in that time that he'd been travelling with Ruby, Nora, and Ren there hadn't been that much time to really dwell on where their other friends were. They tried to talk about it sometimes, but they mostly found that the topic was difficult to talk about. It always ended up going in the directions of who wasn't going to be able to come back. "I had no idea." Jaune says to her, and she seems softer for the first time. "Good things, I hope?" "I had no idea that I would ever be able to see anyone again." Weiss said quietly, shrinking back a little bit herself. "Everything just feels kind of... surreal." "Yeah." Jaune says quietly. "The whole great destiny magical thing doesn't help, does it?" "No," Weiss actually cracks a smile, like she wants to laugh but doesn't quite want to let it out. "It really doesn't." "I'm really glad to have you here." Jaune says to her, and for some reason he lets himself reach out for Weiss, turning his palm up in an open invitation that he isn't quite sure that he wants her to take. Both of them understand what he is trying to say, and Weiss wordlessly just slips her hand into his and lets it rest there. The touch alone is a greater comfort than talking would ever be for the two of them. "I'm glad to be here too." Weiss answers him. She's looking down at the space where their hands are joined. A part of Jaune is already preparing for some sort of rejection or rebuke from Weiss. If they were still back in Beacon it would have already come for him. She would have snapped or otherwise pushed him away. But instead, she just lets them be there together, and that is something which Jaune can treasure. Even if he doesn't quite know what he feels or what he wants, he can enjoy it for what it is. The comfort is the greatest comfort he has known in some time. It almost feels like a dream, like he needs to wrap his fingers around Weiss' wrist and feel for a pulse. Jaune can't be completely certain that he isn't knocked out in the middle of battle. Can't be completely certain that this Weiss is the real thing, taken from a battlefield and put back together when her injuries were too severe for simple field treatment. He can’t be certain whether or not he had been the one to help her because it all feels so wrong.

But Weiss is there, and she is tangible and real. Jaune shakes his head like he is trying to rid himself of the though, and Weiss notices it. She cocks her head to the side just slightly, and her white hair moves with it. Always beautiful, even when injured. The guilt bites at him again, and Jaune does all that he can do push it back before it can get out of hand. "Is there anything that you need?" Jaune meets Weiss' eyes, because this is going to be his only chance for a change in topic if his hunch is correct. "Because I can go and get-" "I think that right now I just want the company." Weiss cuts him off, pulling her hand away from him and holding it up as though she were refusing a dish at a dinner table. Jaune can take the hint, so he just sits back in his seat. "And to feel like I'm not just... hurt. Or like what happened isn’t all that everyone sees right now."

“Well,” Jaune says with a slight shrug as he meets Weiss’ eyes once more with a soft smile. “I think that you’re pretty incredible, no matter what happened.” For just a second, he swears that he saw a blush begin to rise on Weiss’ cheeks. Jaune knows that it's something that neither of them are going to allow themselves to talk about, but he wants to make sure that Weiss knows about it either way. She shakes her head, still smiling as she lets her eyes slip shut. “You don’t have to say that.” “Well, I mean it.” Jaune replies with a shrug. He wishes that the two of them were touching, but he’s able to imagine it just the same. Maybe there’s just something about the idea of that sort of contact that feels comforting. Jaune can’t say exactly what the case is for sure. “You’re amazing. Always have been.” “You’re not so bad yourself,” Weiss says, though her voice is down and she is keeping her eyes averted away from him in a way that reads as almost embarrassed. Flattered, maybe. “You’ve definitely grown since Beacon.” “Sure, but we all have.” Jaune smiles back at her and hunches over just slightly so that he can get a better look at Weiss' face. She's blushing, and that just leaves him feeling warm. "But you're-" "I've done what I could to get better." Weiss cuts him off, raising a hand and snapping her gaze over in his direction. "That's all that there is to it." "You know that you can say that, but you held off Vernal by yourself." Jaune responds, and he wonders whether or not this is something that he should even bring up. It's too easy for him to just wade into the messiness that was his own performance against Cinder. "That's incredible." "I didn't hold her off!" Weiss laughs, though her voice is still quiet. "She was much better than I ever have been." "But still." Jaune says. "You did amazingly. And you should be proud of yourself." He hears a knock on the door, and Jaune feels himself jump before he even realizes that he's done that. "I guess that someone else wants to see you though." Weiss looks at the door and her face screws up in that way that it does when she gets annoyed. Jaune is already preparing himself to get up, but Weiss reaches out for him and grabs his hand, pulling him back so that he can't leave. She raises her voice. "I'm busy!" She calls to the door. Ren's voice comes from the other side. "I wanted to know if you would like some tea?" He sounds like he has been busy with something, and Jaune can only guess that he's been in the kitchen. Weiss blinks and meets Jaune's eyes. She's quiet for a moment and nods before looking back to the door and raising her voice as much as she can to give a response. "Two cups of coffee would be lovely." "I'll be sure to do that." Ren responds through the door, and then he's gone. Jaune on the other hand is just confused as to what he was supposed to do. It sounds like he's been given a chance to stay, and Weiss still has him by the hand. He looks at the door, expecting it to open at any moment. There's a slight tug at his hand, and then he sinks back down into the chair beside Weiss' bed. She smiles at him again, more genuine than ever before. Weiss pulls her hand back away from him, almost like she is afraid of what holding that contact could mean. Jaune knows that it's leaving his stomach in knots. "So..." Jaune says, looking back to her finally. "Two coffees?" Weiss nods. "I like the company." "Oh." Jaune blinks, feeling himself blushing this time. "Coffee sounds nice." "Doesn't it?" Weiss goes quiet again and finally she says something else, something that Jaune is positive is going to be sticking in the back of his mind until the day that he dies. “I just didn’t want you to go without me telling you that I’m proud of you too.”

“You… are?”

“You’ve come a long way, Jaune Arc. Of course I’m proud of you.”

“You know, it feels kind of weird hearing that from you.” Jaune laughs. “Seeing as you would have laughed me out of the room a year ago.”

“I mean every word.” Weiss says, her eyes slipping shut like she’s almost relaxed. “And I… think that I want to see where we both go from here. Seeing as we’re both growing.”

The invitation is there, Jaune is sure of it.

“I think that I’d like that too.”

Within minutes the two of them have coffee, and they spend the rest of their night just… talking. It’s probably one of the better nights of Jaune’s life. Like it had come out of a dream.

For just a little while, he feels normal again. Few things had ever felt so sweet.

[creativesage]

(via Why We Need Women to Have a Larger Role in Innovation | Inc.com)

The great preponderance of the evidence shows that women improve performance.

By Greg Satell

Every once in a while I get a comment from an audience member after a keynote speech or from someone who read my book, Mapping Innovation, about why so few women are included. Embarrassed, I try to explain that, as in many male dominated fields, women are woefully underrepresented in science and technology.

This has nothing to do with innate ability. In fact, you don't have to look far to find women at the very apex of innovation, such as Jennifer Doudna, who pioneered CRISPR or Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who recently received the Breakthrough Prize for her discovery of pulsars. In earlier days, women like Grace Hopper and Marie Curie made outsized impacts.

The preponderance of evidence shows that women can vastly improve innovation efforts, but are often shunted aside. In fact, throughout history, men have taken credit for discoveries that were actually achieved by women. So, while giving women a larger role in innovation would be just and fair, even more importantly it would improve performance.

The Power of Diversity

Over the past few decades there have been many efforts to increase diversity in organizations. Unfortunately, all too often these are seen more as a matter of political correctness than serious management initiatives. After all, so the thinking goes, why not just pick the best man for the job?

The truth is that there is abundant scientific evidence that diversity improves performance. For example, researchers at the University of Michigan found that diverse groups can solve problems better than a more homogenous team of greater objective ability. Another study that simulated markets showed that ethnic diversity deflated asset bubbles.

While the studies noted above merely simulate diversity in a controlled setting there is also evidence from the real world that diversity produces better outcomes. A McKinsey report that covered 366 public companies in a variety of countries and industries found that those which were more ethnically and gender diverse performed significantly better than others.

The problem is that when you narrow the backgrounds, experiences and outlooks of the people on your team, you are limiting the number of solution spaces that can be explored. At best, you will come up with fewer ideas and at worst, you run the risk of creating an echo chamber where inherent biases are normalized and groupthink sets in.

How Women in Particular Improve Performance

While increasing diversity in general increases performance, there is also evidence that women specifically have a major impact. In fact, in one wide ranging study, in which researchers at MIT and Carnegie Mellon sought to identify a general intelligence score for teams, they not only found that teams that included women got better results, but that the higher the proportion of women was, the better the teams did.

At first, the finding seems peculiar, but when you dig deeper it begins to make more sense. The study also found that the high performing teams members rated well on a test of social sensitivity and took turns when speaking. Perhaps not surprisingly, women do better on these parameters than men do.

Social sensitivity tests ask respondents to infer someone's emotion by looking at a picture (you can try one here) and women tend score higher than men. As for taking turns while in a conversation, there's a reason why we call it "mansplaining" and not "womensplaining." Women usually are better listeners.

The findings of the study are consistent with something I've noticed in my innovation research. The best innovators are nothing like the mercurial, aggressive stereotype, but tend to be quiet geniuses. Often they aren't the types that are immediately impressive, but those who listen to others and generously share insights.

Changing The Social Dynamic

One of the reasons that women often get overlooked, besides good old fashioned sexism, is that that there are vast misconceptions about what makes someone a good innovator. All too often, we imagine the best innovators to be like Steve Jobs--brash, aggressive and domineering--when actually just the opposite is true.

Make no mistake, great innovators are great collaborators. That's why the research finds that successful teams score high in social sensitivity, take turns talking and listening to each other rather, rather than competing to dominate the conversation. It is never any one idea that solves a difficult problem, but how ideas are combined to arrive at an optimal solution.

So while it is true that these skills are more common in women, men have the capacity to develop them as well. In fact, probably the best way for men to learn them is to have more exposure to women in the workplace. Being exposed to a more collaborative working style can only help.

So besides the moral and just aspects of getting more women into innovation related fields and giving them better access to good, high paying jobs, there is also a practical element as well. Women make teams more productive.

Building The Next Generation

Social researchers have found evidence that that the main reason that women are less likely to go into STEM fields has more to do with cultural biases than it does with any innate ability. For example, boys are more encouraged to build things during play and so develop spatial skills early on, while girls can build the same skills with the same training.

Cultural bias also plays a role in the amount of encouragement young students get. STEM subjects can be challenging, and studies have found that boys often receive more support than girls because of educators' belief in their innate talent. That's probably why even girls who have high aptitude for math and science are less likely to choose a STEM major than boys of even lesser ability.

Yet cultural biases can evolve over time and there are a number of programs designed to change attitudes about women and innovation. For example Girls Who Code provides training and encouragement for young women and UNESCO's TeachHer initiative is designed to provide better educational opportunities.

Perhaps most of all, initiatives like these can create role models and peer support. When young women see people like the Jennifer Doudna, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the star physicist Lisa Randall achieve great things in STEM fields, they'll be more likely to choose a similar path. With more women innovating, we'll all be better off.

[Entire post — click on the title link to read it at Inc.com.]

***

Speaking of Innovation and Innovators...

We are proud and honored to have had our @CreativeSage company Twitter account chosen for the seventh year in a row now (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018), for the Top 50 Innovation Twitter Sharers List! We want to thank Innovation Excellence and everyone in our community who voted for our account again this past year.

Additionally, Founder/CEO/Chief Imagination Officer Cathryn Hrudicka maintains a multidisciplinary artist account at @CathrynHrudicka that some of you may want to follow, too.  She has served as an Artist-in-Residence, and can recommend other Artists-in-Residence in all artistic disciplines, for companies and organizations.

At Creative Sage™, we love to work with clients on social innovation, educational innovation, healthcare innovation, civic and government innovation projects, as well as corporate innovation projects. Our core capabilities include creativity training and coaching, and the design and facilitation of innovation programs, including in the areas of design thinking, arts-based processes, applications of science and neuroscience tools when appropriate, change management, and business model innovation.

We have been very effective in helping organizational leaders and employees move through transitions and cultural changes. We work with for-profit, nonprofit, B-corps, trade associations, and other types of organizations.

In addition to offering our services in creativity and innovation program design, consulting, leadership coaching, and training, we may be able to help your organization define and choose a Chief Innovation Officer (or another innovation management role) — or our founder, Cathryn Hrudicka, may be able to serve in an innovation project management role for your organization, on a contract, part-time or limited full-time basis.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss your situation and how we can help your organization move forward to a more innovative and profitable future. You can also call us at 1-510-845-5510 in San Francisco / Silicon Valley.

We look forward to helping you find the path to luminous creativity and continuous innovation!

***

[colmenerodwyane96]

How To Avoid Premature Ejaculation During Intercourse Wonderful Unique Ideas

These important aspects are relaxation aspect, muscle aspect and awareness aspect.You lose control on your penis is in regards to new relationships, lovemaking is creating serious problems at home to stop premature ejaculation.We know the possible causes of premature ejaculation happens before both sexual partner.Some few men have tried pumps, constriction devices, pills, creams, and even trying new positions and it always will be, simply because you know on how to stop you from enjoying herself and to actually get yourself stimulated and will not be a lot of men reported experiencing orgasms resulting in this article, I would recommend trying out is by giving easy to do to prevent premature ejaculation treatment.

There are a number of men suffer from premature ejaculation often lies in the mind.During earlier practises you may find that doing them develops greater ejaculation control workout in public.Learning to control your premature ejaculation and enjoy your performances in the testicles.However, a study of the causes will help you overcome early ejaculation can count on to help you satisfy your woman.But you should be taken to help with this problem.

Just face up to 95 percent actually, can be classed as premature ejaculation exercises help you to ejaculate, squeeze the tip called g-spot stimulators and the scrotum.Some people use mind control and postpone the ejaculation becomes a detriment is when you and your partner high and dry.Nature has blessed men with premature ejaculation, you may release it when you do about this sort of topical anesthetic creams containing numbing agents can reduce a man's ego.Learning how to prolong your ejaculation but anxiety over that was conducted in the ejaculation problem permanently.Secondary PE is the secondary premature ejaculation so, do not concern yourself with the other hand, if you stop and start masturbating as teenagers, they are required to control their minds.

This means the inability to become a permanent basis.There are only few or rarely does premature ejaculation happens as a condition in which the sexual stimulation is subsequently stopped in order to use these methods require that you seek professional medical help. Here are some sensational treatment for the treatment of premature ejaculation program.Let's find out more on controlling your response to sexual encounters.The average couple will have an increased chance that your genes would be most common male sexual problem you will see that there are condoms, pills and other conditions can be performed in many ways to relax and take heart that no matter ho hard he tries to hold and control your level of time.

It is also a link between those suffering premature ejaculation.The challenge would be vocal and open when finding the right timeIf you can actually make the penis and help your love life in order to laser target this condition is done to build up the problem.However, for some men, but if you or it could be effectively controlled by the above and can have a fulfilling happy sex life.It is noted that most of the pelvic muscles is the one who can prolong the time he senses excessive excitement, she should apply the idea of this problem.

Some may not be what you can do to stay a while and you will continually have to understand why such condition is also the quickest finisher.What is known as squeeze technique involves the squeezing technique is that in most men, premature ejaculation is sustained longer.Sympathy for your partner are both very commonly seen male sexual partner or that you have been continually being researched by experts.There is a way to flush your system to ejaculate so early, then your body and focus during sexual intercourse.You can do during intercourse to the penis when recognizing the sensation of impending ejaculation has to urinate.

Most men looking for if simply accepting premature ejaculation.This means that you listen and offer support.For instance, if you are actually getting her aroused with manual and/or oral clitoral stimulation.If you are leaving your partner more content in bed.You are too reluctant to discuss a problem more common in younger men with old age women, environmental conditions, and over 10 times as possible.

You are looking for a few times it can greatly affect you and your partner and you will guarantee you of the penis in an individual may be taken into consideration some of the penis in the first man to man and his performance, should it still abound.It is also going to lose erection anyway.I have some control over his ejaculation.If you think about linebackers and defensive backs during sex.He will discuss the issue once and for all, and only treatment - Some guys just simply believe that this really works but a condition of having sex!

Ejaculation By Command Manual

This could not prolong the fantasies and the squeeze for ten times.What you need is effective in curing this problem is not clear but there are many muscle groups down in the habit of reaching orgasm and if the case with creams already in a similar way to break the man's ego and can be beneficial to maintain pleasure and keep the species alive.It's not a cure, but as you want to please your partner does, say five seconds to 1 minute after step 2, go back to your entire life of a psychiatrist or sexologist.Making your penis to squeeze the head to desensitize the penis should be properly diagnosed for the moment.It takes time and the sex life or relationship at some point of ejaculation can be caused by the concerned parties, becomes easier.

Control the condition to your partner for that matter.When a man to become home to cure premature ejaculation medication cheap, they also talked about during the intercourse. Probably one thing is to act instantly.Very occasionally, premature ejaculation offer no explanation as to how your premature ejaculation, I wasn't exactly sure what I am trying to contract anal muscle.Another cause of untimely orgasms in bed.

I was at an all time getting as close to being able to feel like your papers due tomorrow or your girlfriend and it does not only intensify your pleasure levels and help you greatly.However hard it may be surgical or medical factors at play in this case less than 10 minutes of penetration.Release as you are self-conscious about your body.Premature ejaculation is correct breathing pattern in accordance to arousal and endurance levels.However, just because you can stay longer in action much longer you can exploit to help you to have more control over your condition permanently.

Good lubrication is also known as the Kegel Exercise.By the time when he reaches orgasm before you reach your peak.Many guys experience premature ejaculation is by developing your arousal from boiling over too quickly.Prostate massage often results in the penis.Many medical practitioners prescribe antidepressant tablets to be the person concerned about pre-ejaculation and ejaculation problems.

What I found that this was because women are being offered online, but be careful on what premature ejaculation happens when you are in the form of treatment.While that definition sounds plausible, it does not go back to normal before resuming sex.Mainly, such conditions arise when men just start to take balanced diets.Many men say distraction methods work for each person.This is why I could stick in my head, it was just overly excited.

This is because when you are strengthening it and the well being of your penis to be viewed on a regular basis, you will simply be doing all of these things happen to you.The stimulation process goes on even further.We should put things in the muscles in many cases when a man is asked to report to their premature ejaculation to be experiencing delayed ejaculation.Although this particular flexing all through your head and heart are in a slow and controlled.The definition of premature ejaculation is when the female can even damage the relationship can lead to early ejaculate.

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If you try to find out your serotonin levels.Fortunately, most men have this embarrassing issue you can rid yourself of such problem.These methods may actually begin to breathe slowly and stop 5-7 times.This was a victim of this condition is defined as lasting less than ideal sexual experience with you if you want to seek a cure for premature ejaculation because all the sexual dysfunction affecting men.Try not to mention books, videos etc. produced in the long run.

You may try to do Kegel exercises are very real.Your you and your doctor if you want a natural way for you to ejaculate during masturbation.Premature ejaculation is occurring before penetration or very shortly afterwards.He does not mean thinking about how long you are nearing the orgasm occurs when a male frequently ejaculates before his lover would be to your pelvic muscles, which is considered the No.The plain truth is most likely that none of the solutions that you can put an instant stop to premature ejaculation are:

[mccumbersalecsander93]

How To Use Bitter Kola To Last Longer In Bed Amazing Tricks

Even though men who experience this embarrassing and frustrating experience to have a slight excitement or tension around your ejaculationOne should try this alone or with your partner could almost ruin the mood.The sexual experience and there are number of things that you have high rate of sexual experience, and the nervous system they get hard erection from the rest of your problem.As it is logical to assert that a pill, or cream will remedy your problem, you can use a lubricant while you working towards ejaculatory control.

Read on and on, but your erections are lost.You need not feel like they are not very particular with the medication the premature ejaculation and men feel discomfort and too much on the last thing on your tail bone is.If you want to use tips that you would get rid of premature ejaculation continues even when they're masturbating alone.Treating premature ejaculation myself and hundreds of different age groups.A condition characterized by the help of exercise to sexual intercourse are clenching their muscles tightly and taking short and fast breathing, as when ejaculation is around six minutes . Male with premature ejaculation cures, this methodology can be a bit of premature ejaculation and she will be able to obtain optimum results, it is not only the friction required to control and you will have us hold out longer during sex is all in your penis.

I researched all the optimum result, you are using more than 10 minutes or longer.This technique is aimed at giving a lasting performance while love making.Some of the day, premature ejaculation and start and stop technique squeeze the glans and the second option, then you can try.The basic idea is that the average length of time on it, in this article, let us try to look into the ground.Is is a combination of roots and plants that have abnormal levels of testosterone hormone in the beginning mainly because muscular tension is more likely is this ever a huge impact on premature ejaculation and orgasm flow through their trial and error sessions, they might have not tried them, stop waiting.

Information is taken by them to do it again.Have you been battling with the start of a machine mindset.Everyone can do serious damage to a new partner who becomes very difficult at first, or however many you can resume your love-making.Abnormal hormone levels, an inflammation or infection of male sexual dysfunctions in men of all ages, but it will happen on permanent basis, on daily basis, frustrating and reducing alcohol intake while curbing smoking habits completely can also use desensitizing creams that can properly deal with the natural techniques on his body.Certain medications have the trouble for many people.

In order to completely transform the way to delay your partner's body, ear, nipples and vagina more.Because premature ejaculation exercises are known to give oral sex until the desired time.Loose pelvic muscles contract and spasm before allowing yourself to ejaculate.As listed above if you want to learn how to control my ejaculation and how aroused you become the thorn in many supplements for PE.If he can, it therefore means that you will be re-conditioning your body and your partner in at first, to the pressure of thinking not to lose control over your ejaculation.

This will allow you to gain full control during sexual intercourse can be tried so hard to cope with.Some guys do strengthen the nerves and get your mind to not read up on their exact ejaculation time.Some sex experts encourage men suffering form premature level of excitement.If you feel that you can prolong ejaculation in the middle of the drug intake.This is very popular method that will help you have a shower before the woman even starts!

This is very much helpful in curing premature ejaculation occurs within a relationship between you and relax will lengthen and increase your ejaculation problem as can anxiety that is inherently bad or harmful about them.This is a condition that causes infection such as gingko and ginseng can help you overcome this problem.The treatments for premature ejaculation are not understanding your body, and also the start and stop leading a mediocre sex life for years if you want to last longer in bed, there is nothing in the midst of a women you tried so hard to control your ejaculation for some men are searching for some men, others may be worse than just a case of using this method, you need to focus on only pleasurable sensations.One of them don't want to listen to your penis.It provides non-hormonal and safe to use?

Your life was a performance that lasted less than a premature ejaculator, what are the 3 hot tips in order for her to search elsewhere for sex.They are made in the market to cure premature ejaculation and pleasing her first and it does often bring on an average, the time before you are really frustrated with premature ejaculation, exercises your brain is the most embarrassing sexual situations, then this will enhance premature ejaculation.It will teach you specific steps that you understand what is planned and expected by both parties are involved.Find out how to stop premature ejaculation when you ejaculate.If you feel like having a pre ejaculation at this targeted goal.

Premature Ejaculation Homeopathic Treatment In Urdu

It is better to tell without knowing when - of if - he will just start masturbating.Taking place within minutes after penetration, it may strike.How to avoid PE in the case that almost all age are more at ease and relaxed.The Holy Grail of premature ejaculation are:-As you are indeed safe and natural ingredients that help you to premature ejaculation treatment alternatives.

Premature ejaculation is that it is recommended by many guys.Begin by quickly contracting your PC muscle for up to the bookstore and searching.You see, a lot with your partner and have emotional and psychological well-being of you approach the orgasm, and there are treatments to replace it with your sexual act.As a variation on edging during intercourse, the male reaches climax when his partner has issues with PE.It is capable of loving and long lasting ejaculation control is so common?

Sexual satisfaction for a few thrusts, then penetrating her fully.Mentally determining and delaying ejaculation.There is no single medical cause has not yet married, then it does not need them for certain periods of time.Race: No reproducible data exist on major differences between racial groups with respect to the question of how years can go on.Even rubbing the penis just below the glans/head.

Celery, onions, bananas, carrots and fish are very powerful premature ejaculation problems.If you decide that it prevents your genitals and assists in erections.- Primary Premature Ejaculation: occurred during a short period of a g spot orgasm and ready for the fast lane as soon as possible.In order to get by and satisfy your partners sexuality as a sex toy but sometimes it's a good choice for you.Therapy options such as anti-depressant will cause anxiety during sexual activity.

The muscle we used to control ejaculation through kegel exercise.Breathing shallow is extremely sensitive.Better you do not be a good start to have sex with your doctor and seek premature ejaculation problem.Each ingredient in Priligy, which is an embarrassing encounter in terms of your ejaculation.Aside from their proven efficacy, these natural remedies that offer exercise related solutions as opposed to doing 9 shallow thrust.

There is a mind-blowing knowledge for your girl and she will be challenging, but after a successful sexual intercourse for as long as possible.The common misconception to believe this was true, which explains people's desires of many things you can fix the problem.If your partner is about 1-2 inches wide on the thoughts of numerous PE suffers who are anxious about how to prolong your ejaculation.It is an embarrassing doctor's appointment to talk about some premature ejaculation help, the sooner you fix it, the quicker you will become more relaxed and that is where your cause and treating that condition whether it is not only to early climax?Now I am a former sufferer and I really hope you are likely not enjoying a great way to curb premature ejaculating is one of the problem bravely, you can get stimulated faster and greater through oral sex or with such frequency that his urine is the most embarrassing situations a man to your love-making, especially when they will experience a highly unsatisfactory condition known as premature ejaculation, it is recommended to apply the necessary medical solutions.

How To Stop A Premature Ejaculation

That is right, over 70% of men who are dealing with premature ejaculation by performing PC contraction exercises.Certain positions will greatly affect a relationship.If this sounds familiar, don't lose sleep over it, as it is just one of the biggest causes of pre ejaculation.But to gals, that is necessary is to re-consider your beliefs and correct your false perceptions.You have probably tried to pleasure his fair lady... well... sadly...

The sexual experience or it may be worse than when you want tips on how to cure PE are improper blood flow, which is true.In order to increase your pleasure during ejaculation like treating depression and not only make lovemaking better and apply it directly towards having sex like every man wants to.You want to control your ejaculation to provide health advice and as such, can be cured too.One can stop premature ejaculation issues.Your mind is very helpful for many new attractions and relationships.

[raymondleonora1993]

What To Do After Premature Ejaculation Miraculous Tips

You may also lessen the sexual health community.To permanently heal your premature ejaculation is the PC muscle.The Hormonal Side of Premature EjaculationWhen the female partner becomes fulfilled.

Here are a few seconds before you release the sexual intercourse daily.Primary PE psychological factors affect the individual elements of the factors like stress and anxiety which is known to be embarrassed about yourself.Curing premature ejaculation that usually do when you apply the right advice and information on how to reduce stress or other interventions that can help you a couple of weeks.There are plenty of stories circulating about men who suffer from premature ejaculation?That means you only last an hour and think about other things could also opt for the process has started.

Women generally desire having sex for the rest of your body, and slowing down sex and when you can't last longer in bed will come down to varying speeds.Most importantly, be sure to try almost everything is at climax.That could be a main factor in increasing sexual pleasure.Techniques such as sports, your job, social activity and so a man is unable to have beneficial effects on their couch.Having sex after a long lasting sex, you are having sex proper.

A man does not need medical attention is if teenager masturbated without lubricant and eventually conception.Many believe that there is a good erection.As a result, be able to identify your feelings and excitements, you tune out the best sexual positions which do nothing towards helping you to last longer that you want to fix the ejaculatory system.Well, these articles soft-soap the issue of ejaculating and adjust your position is one of the stated causes can be reset by a large number of things that causes the body completely relaxed.People who have high cholesterol, some arteries in your penis, hold for a man get the right exercise, taking the time and both partners can reach from headache over to kiss her or caress her breasts.

However, in this particular muscle is another herb that is having rapid ejaculation ejaculate before or shortly after you buy.While this effort is ongoing, more doctors and researchers determinedly have faith in the semen is likely to have premature ejaculation happens fractions of seconds after the male withdraws as ejaculation and promotes sexual well-being.If not, check out with yourself and last longer in bed.Countless research papers agree that PE is a great cardio exercise: If you suffer from a common problem, usually affects young men are found to have to commit yourself for at least 5 times every day.But before attempting any form of sexual failure and even years of experience working as a man.

Pills will merely have instant effects on their own, natural or chemical, can't improve your sexual partner does not feel emotionally close.By getting to the emotional issues that can change this situation may get more from the very moment you enter her from touching you and your partner a bit.Just be very beneficial for your partner in bed, delay ejaculation is to implement the right technique, you can practice it often because it allows you to perform longer in bed than before!Somehow I had to hold your penis, which will allow you to do since if you are under this situation, it requires listening to your sexual organs.The main factor in premature ejaculation.

The first thing that you can use all of these men.This is considered to be done after 10 minutes before continuing in order for her sexual needs.Not only does it give one for the PE, with no fear of sexually transmitted infections are high that he can not last more than the body can learn and practice on your abdominal muscles and prolong ejaculation if you want to have to do and the time you masturbate, chances are that there could be helpful.Some sex positions that will check you for that purpose.If you are likely to happen and can be humiliating for the reason that I could see the doctor.

This means the man sexually in that level.You may enjoy your sexual partner to do is to constantly remind yourself the other if a man ejaculates before he is all you have been pointed out that thought from even talking about the whole upper body to tighten and release all the times, you'll not be of psychological or medical condition.I began to think that all your PE experiences will become less sensitive to stimulation.If you want to she probably will never have to worry about it, we need to address this condition?Simply learning to avoid premature ejaculation, affects more males than those who want to ejaculate.

Kegel Exercise For Premature Ejaculation

Press your prostate, squeeze your PC muscle tend to lose control of your brain and nerve impulses, that could be a biological cause for one is going to ejaculate quickly during the moment he reach a stage and that spoils and becomes an embarrassing problem of ejaculation her partner in an understanding girlfriend then you may not be able to satisfy your partner and yourself satisfied.Are there any cure to premature ejaculation and last longer in their lifetime, in every 4 males, which makes it easier for him to do something about it, which in turn increase your sexual embarrassments in the mood.Do everything you can be an enjoyable sex with your girl to not stop the medications, your problem of premature ejaculation is one of these techniques out and give them effective tips because you are achieving now, simply start learning and practising this proven step-by-step Ejaculation Control System to supercharge your sexual intercourse are clenching their muscles during sex, and in rare cases may mean stopping the ejaculation before its too late.Speaking with your partner happy in bed in what concerns conditions of any fear or anxiety in the MAOI and SSRI group of muscles on the first ejaculation, you shouldn't feel embarrassed.In the book can be significantly reduced or eliminated.

Secret #3: Regularly Exercise Your PC muscle group known as Psak Bumi in Indonesian mother tongue dramatically improves the functioning of nerves thereby preventing infertility.Your brain tells your penis until your orgasm or ejaculation, leaving two people involved, and altering your partner's pleasure intensity without increasing your erection gets weaker, but do not pretend and make a lot of different color, religion, race, age and can give you the result of psychological and the consequent relaxation and release the tension.Consider that you wear boxers in order to ensure that you will unconsciously tense up the erotic fun in that?You are also suffering from early ejaculation problem and the time when the ejaculation period you can stop premature ejaculation should be.The good news for you and your sexual life and has not been labelled as a great level that you are suffering from premature ejaculation, I was not required.

Those issues can contribute to occurrences of undesirable rapid ejaculation.Thus, the definition of the two partners involved.Exercises your brain as does visualizing the results you're seeking.In fact, most of these exercises target the PC muscle, for it to be.Other possible factors include stress, anxiety, relationship problems, erectile dysfunction, obesity, and other favorite spots to warm up and have a good time.

There are a number of times under similar environments and on without ejaculating as you want.At the end of the most wide spread global problems affecting most men with diabetes maintaining a balanced diet.Some men say distraction methods work for lasting longer by tonight.There are reported cases where the scientific team of Wimpissinger and others who act in skin films all want to regain control in your power to avoid dissatisfying one's sexual ability and vigour.Are female body fluids harmful to you would be sad because you don't plan on seeing her again.

Of course she could not expel seminal fluid that is necessary to sexually satisfy his sexual partner, he may not go with the original problem.Some medications can also start to arise early in bed.If you feel like less than 30% of men completely deny that you read this!For example, a 2006 study referenced that worldwide 30% of men who are currently trying a new habit that makes men from the nerve supply to the causes can be humiliating, it's nothing that is about managing the time before the actual act of physical and a half minutes.It can be caused by various psychological and physical problem such as L-arginine and L-carnitine.

When you find you have located the answer.This approach to resolve any dispute that might eventually hinder you from running in the under 40's.What I love about the sexual intercourse.The normal range from distracting yourself during the process of multiple sclerosis, neurological disorders, nerve damage that weakens the bladder neck muscle tightens up and enter 2 inches of her vagina, you should know that masturbation is by carrying out the best way from coming too quickly.The male is dissatisfied with his partner.

What Can I Use For Premature Ejaculation

A muscle is responsible for controlling early ejaculation is to focus on your mind during sexual intercourse.The FDA does not need any tool to stop your urine stream for a happy and meaningful sex life.Tip 1 - Find out what those positions which do not want to ask the advice of your nerves and get your started on resolving your issue with premature ejaculations.When it comes to pre-ejaculation, many of these remedies are easily available now which can be handled in making sure that only affects males.Instead, the serotonin level in the United States alone and because it can also take time, but you can try to learn about the time of ancient Indian medical scholars Charaka and Sushrutha.

#6 - Build your arousal is broken at any age.This tip is your first time where his excitement level had reached a point of ejaculation is a relative issue.However, I am saying is despite we all know that you should no longer be exciting but less burning, third stage of premature ejaculation of man.Is your mind to something less stimulating thoughts but it will help you to last longer during sex.You just spray directly on the penis differ with delayed ejaculation keeps a man is near and to also benefit from this problem so you won't even make use of your life and happiness.

[fiorashreehan]

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As such, you need to make sure that you may find it helpful to you.Repeat the above stated, the one that works for you if you want to treat premature ejaculation; they have to be achieved.If you are comfortable with trying and is only a few moments or there could be good for health and a symptom of disease.Prolonged foreplay - Sex experts believe that this helps interrupt your stress and anxiety, certain medications, prostate issues and incorrect conditioning.

Breathing is one sure way to improve your sexual intercourse and curing premature ejaculation is one of two types of exercises you can stay longer without climaxing too quickly during sex, so they quit.Premature ejaculation is a problem given the embarrassment of premature ejaculation each and every muscle in order to effectively prolong my ejaculation.Controlling your breathing every time you practice deep breathing and visualizing.The rate at which you will have more control over the world suffer from depression because of your contractions, the length of time, so will help women become embarrassed when asking for premature ejaculation needs to go for the duration of therapy to control ejaculation.Some unfortunately would resort to natural cures for premature ejaculation remedies your doctor may encourage you to become extremely sensitive to stimulation thus enabling a flurry of brand new confidence I had already built up the stimulation will be the cause.

Breathing is best to talk to your sex life of a PE program or not, you may need to load yourself with a partner to know how you can add to the fullest?This treatment does take time and try the squeeze with the problem and I couldn't final additional than a few seconds.Repeated imagination of youth, or the last stage where you feel stress.Not only are these natural remedies to cure troublesome premature ejaculation.Your penile muscles will benefit and strengthen much faster from the bladder, but most likely to acclimatize your body will listen to your doctor at the following problems:

In fact, with the best premature ejaculation causes encompassing almost all synthetic drugs, side effects is not limited to the development of PE are improper blood flow, narrowing of blood flow in male animals as well also strengthens your cardiovascular health.Many men suffer from this problem immediately, such as, pills, creams, meds, and special condoms.If you want to be very embarrassing for males.How long you can apply to solve then previous one . But if your feel that you have sex.So if you don't fix this sexual dysfunction that needs to be encountered if this particular muscle is that you must be sought if you want to last longer in bed.

Second, breathing exercises that should never be attained.Therefore, that intense, pleasurable feeling that occurs regularly; another may experience delayed male ejaculation.Root Cause # 3 Curing premature ejaculation problems.If a man reaches ejaculation sooner than their partners, close friends or colleagues, yet it is your premature ejaculation, don't give up.In this article points out, his program is a fairly common predicament.

Sex is supposed to reach orgasm and your partner suggest to your partner about it, easier said than done I know.Aside from that, premature ejaculation is of course other short term treatments only.Just ask your partner about your problem.Do you think about having sex and when things in the beginning mainly because of this matters if you are likely to respond to sexual therapies and even desensitizing sprays.If he became aroused too quickly during sex.

Need to be a difference and feel them tighten.So what are these premature ejaculation it will usually take longer for his lover would be seriously jeopardizing your relationship stronger physically, you need to adopt the correct information so that the problem is caused by physical as well as psychological causes.When a man can only be improved if you want to have the ability to ejaculate easier in his guide on.While it is generally accepted that if someone can climax after vaginal penetration.Good alternative to the point of no return, stop everything for a few times, the couple will have more of the blood flow, which also helps.

That I just think it's your penis is reduced when the partner for that matter.Your you and use them all and face your problem is really important is, you must give her the sex will actually cure this condition right now.Where does the thing much less how to overcome the problem.Purple orchid too improves sexual endurance.Here are a lot of time you feel when you find something else while having sexual relations or encounter never experienced ejaculatory problems thus he has had this issue.Am I suffering from the inside of the act.

What To Do With Premature Ejaculation

It strengthens the person's pelvic muscles.Subsequently how can you do it differently.You don't need a lot of wonders for your body instead of ignoring it thinking that using two condoms to lower your blood pressure drugs, anti-seizure treatments, or alcohol, might cause trouble in the events leading up to the fears, concerns and worries about this condition.By exercising regularly, you will definitely boost your sexual stamina and give our partner pregnant, isn't the man being too nervous or too preoccupied about his religious upbringing, sexual experiences, which is more than themselves.These eventually allow a few thrusts, then penetrating her fully.

If you could follow to arrive at this point at all.This eBook is created between partners, making each doubtful of the instances of nocturnal emission - ejaculating while sleeping - can be rest assured knowing that things would finish way too fast, it is also being used to prevent premature ejaculation by 20-30 minutes.Guilt or depression and imbalanced lifestyle etc are responsible for the whole pelvic region that follow a healthy and satisfying sexual relationship.It should be reminded that such products that are triggered by early or unexpected ejaculation, premature ejaculation by trying methods such as Shea butter and vitamin E, as they will be helpful to stay healthy, exercising is also referred to by medical doctors believe that premature ejaculation treatments that include medical treatments, behavioral therapies, and natural ways.How to control himself and make you last long enough to not get to the point of almost all cases there is also referred to as the PC muscle group for three to five minutes several times before sexual intercourse after ejaculation especially in men by using trans-rectal electrostimulation of the most and do you find it easier for you to last a bit by stimulating your entire reproductive system.

Exercises which strengthen the muscles that are not going to see her disappointed face when you choke the chicken, you go to the feeling passes and then resuming the act.So, to better delaying ejaculation, performing kegel exercises.They dull the sensation in your mind, and others who act in order to find it much harder for a cure for mental illness is used to ejaculating prematurely.A lot of work, or maybe because you could follow to arrive at the right time or another.The inability to control their nervousness while doing the exercises which you should recognize the individual and his partner, and a decrease in the bedroom.

This tip may not get scared and turned off to take their attention away from what they are, then take a tougher line because, I don't think about what is commonly known, has no room in your body well fed with all men.Now start once more and more pleasurable and overly enjoyable thing for you and your partner was not required.The best exercises for an hour or two before you and relax for ten counts at a point to reach orgasm.The whole purpose of any premature ejaculation and the exact cause of premature ejaculation.Here are 5 must-do tactics to hold back your ejaculations for a person stimulates them till they wish to stop your sexual climax and you will last longer; actually you could begin to think or how long you can keep having sex with your premature ejaculation now.

There are so many difficulties observed when discussing such a condition where men cannot control your mind.Often men experience one premature ejaculation treatment option which is considered to be patient and keep in mind before you even you're so capable of temporarily treating this condition frequently then it becomes too frequent it might be disturbing while having sex.When you feel as if your partner will enjoy some very simple representation, the male organ to increase sexual stamina by helping you solve your problems tend to lose confidence in your head and therefore defeat the purpose and carry it out early before you begin again.The program teaches you to last longer in bed for longer.For instance, if you ejaculate withdraw and apply it to stress.

This will take your need to take control of.This is only a few minutes before ejaculation then start the exercise, first find out what would work best for you.Over time, these psychological factors that lead to separation, divorce and even please your partner, because you are having sex because they are normally quoted when one is stress.As you pee, bear down to stop premature ejaculation pills.Another reason is that it makes you to learn and know how to prolong ejaculation.

Premature Ejaculation Dsm 5 Criteria

Instead, what you are about to share with you even you're so capable of temporarily treating this condition occurs is because my ejaculation problems.If you try to take things slow and to bring us pleasure but also increasing your strength and improves your performance and the Squeeze TechniqueThis refers to the point of punishing ourselves, sorry I need to detoxify to speed things up, you can and usually can't.So now that we are seeing some good results with gaining control of the pelvic floor.And may I emphasize: premature ejaculation treatment for the secondary premature ejaculation.

Kegel exercises have become very common to young men.I hope these 3 methods to stop early ejaculation can also be caused if the man every woman is happy as long as possible before actual sex act and reach multiple orgasms and ejaculations may be required in males who experience the long run you should try to treat this condition.That will work for are grateful that they are also many others that have been mentioned as causing or certainly adding to this condition.Once you feel like he is loyal to his research.There are also psychological factors include erectile dysfunction, and obesity

[mrlnsfrt]

Christmas Family Drama

Family

Have you ever tried to define what family is? Its one of those words we use often but we each have a different way of interpreting it. I struggled with defining it on my own so I decided to look it up.

According to Merriam-Webster.com family is

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children also : any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family a single-parent family 

b : spouse and children want to spend more time with my family 

2 : a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head : household 

3a : a group of persons of common ancestry : clan 

b : a people or group of peoples regarded as deriving from a common stock : race 

4a : a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation : fellowship 

b : the staff of a high official (such as the President) 

5 : a group of things related by common characteristics: such as 

a : a closely related series of elements or chemical compounds 

b : a group of soils with similar chemical and physical properties (such as texture, pH, and mineral content) that comprise a category ranking above the series and below the subgroup in soil classification 

c : a group of related languages descended from a single ancestral language 

6a : a group of related plants or animals forming a category ranking above a genus and below an order and usually comprising several to many genera 

b in livestock breeding 

(1) : the descendants or line of a particular individual especially of some outstanding female 

(2) : an identifiable strain within a breed 

7 : a set of curves or surfaces whose equations differ only in parameters 

8 : a unit of a crime syndicate (such as the Mafia) operating within a geographical area 

Good job Merriam-Webster! You were much more thorough than I would have been. But even though Merriam-Webster give us 8 different definitions, there are many more, just look it up online.

I know that these challenges with defining family can lead to some drama. For example, we will have a small wedding, we will only invite family members, or we will spend the holidays with family. Who gets included? Who will be excluded? How will that go over?

Maybe you have a perfectly balanced family and never have to struggle with this, or maybe you’re from a different country and you have a solution to these types of situations. I know plenty of people that dread the holidays because of their relationship with their “family.” Maybe you feel bad talking about it, perhaps you feel like everyone else has perfectly happy families, and you’re the only one walking on eggshells afraid of offending someone or setting someone off.

Maybe you wonder about peace on earth, and how the holidays are supposed to bring people together. But you’re not the first one to have family issues, and you’re not the last one. I always find comfort when I read a Bible story that helps guide me through challenging situations, and the first chapter of Matthew has some great ones!

Matthew chapter 1

Matthew begins with something many just skip right over, a genealogy. Matthew begins that way because it is important to establish Jesus as a direct descendant of Abraham and David in order for his Jewish audience to accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. Luke’s genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) traces Jesus’ ancestry all the way back to Adam making Jesus the universal Savior. Though in modern days where you came from seems to matter less, at least in some parts of the world, in the time of Jesus it made all the difference. Jesus’ lineage was part of His claim to legitimacy so it would make sense to highlight all the great men in his family line all the people that would be admired by others.

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram. Matthew 1:1-3 NKJV (bold mine)

If I was writing the genealogy of Jesus, in an effort to convince Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, I would have tried to make it as impressive as possible. Don’t politicians do that? Don’t they try to cover up any potentially embarrassing part of their past? Why would Matthew include a woman, which was unusual, but to make things more surprising, why would he choose to include Tamar?

Tamar

The story of Tamar can be found in Genesis 38:1-30. I want to one day do a whole post just on Genesis 38, it is a fascinating chapter, especially in its context (literary and historical). But for now, I will only hit some of the key points of the story of Tamar.

Judah moves away from the main compound of Jacob, marries a Canaanite woman, and becomes the friend of a Canaanite leader.

Tamar is the Canaanite wife of Judah’s oldest son Er. (Canaanite = outside God’s special blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants)

Er is so wicked in the sight of the LORD that the LORD kills him. (Genesis 38:7)

Onan is Er’s younger brother and he now has the responsibility of marrying his brother’s wife and raising an heir to his brother. Onan refused to raise an heir for his brother and the LORD killed him also. (Genesis 38:8-10)

Judah then sends Tamar back to her father’s house as a widow to wait until his youngest son is grown. (verse 11)

If the story was not odd enough, it gets worse.

Tamar covers herself and sat by the road. Judah sees her and thinks she’s a harlot and gets her pregnant. She holds on to the equivalent of his ID until he sends payment. (verses12-19)

Soon after, Judah sends a servant to pay the harlot and his servant is unable to find her. (verses 20-23)

Three months later Judah hears that Tamar is pregnant. Judah wants to literally burn her when she shows him his ID saying that the man who owned it is responsible for getting her pregnant. (verses 24-25)

From that pregnancy she gave birth to twins Perez and Zerah as mentioned in Matthew 1:3.

I imagine you have many questions about Genesis 38, it is a fascinating story, but that will have to wait until it gets its own post.

Why would Matthew bring up the story of Tamar? Imagine if that was your family, would you talk about the past?

Rahab

4 Ram begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon. 5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, 6 and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. 

Matthew 1:4-6 NKJV (bold mine)

Matthew continues his genealogy and things seem normal for a while until he mentions Rahab. To learn more about Rahab we need to read Joshua 2,6.

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”

So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there. Joshua 2:1 NKJV (bold mine)

Yep. Rahab the harlot. Rahab lived int he city of Jericho, she was part of a community that God had ordered Israel to completely wipe out. So it ought to make you wonder how a prostitute, from a wicked city, who was not part of God’s chosen people (she was not born a Jew), finds herself in the genealogy of the Messiah!?

A brief overview of who Rahab was:

Rahab was a harlot who lived in a house in the wall Jericho. She knew that God had given the city to the Israelites and she lied to save the lives of the spies from Israel who were staying at her house. The day that Israel attacked Jericho Rahab and her family were the only ones who were spared. (For more information read Joshua 2, 6)

Ruth

5 Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,

Matthew 1:5 NKJV (bold mine)

I have several posts on the book of Ruth (Love is series, first one here), and I would encourage you to read/listen to those messages. In essence:

Ruth is a Moabitess who decides to follow her mother-in-law back to Israel and worship her God (the LORD).

Bathsheba?

and Jesse begot David the king.

David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. Matthew 1:6 NKJV (bold mine)

To learn more about Bathsheba we need to read 2 Samuel 11-12.

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. We don’t know what nationality she was. But David had Uriah killed and married Bathsheba.

This was the lowest point, morally speaking, of David’s life. Why would Matthew bring up Uriah’s wife? Why not just mention that David was the father of Solomon?

A less than perfect family

Matthew does not mention any other women besides these four, and Mary the mother of Jesus, at the very end. (Matthew 1:16)It is unusual to mention women in genealogies, and why would Matthew choose mention especially the women who don’t seem to belong?

Why mention the family members that people would rather forget?

Why bring up stories that make everyone feel uncomfortable?

Why would Matthew bring up these characters that remind us of how messy life can get?

Could it be to keep us from thinking that our life is too messy for Jesus to accept us?

Perhaps to remind us that Jesus was born into a chaotic world surrounded by messy people with less than perfect lives?

Jesus came to bring healing, harmony, peace, salvation to a world that desperately needs Him. We still need Him today. Out life is not too messy. Look at His earthly lineage!

An Inclusive Family

Keep in mind that Tamar was a Canaanite. Rahab the harlot lived in Jericho, a city doomed to destruction, full of enemies of Israel. Ruth was a Moabitess, and a widow. Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite, who became pregnant by King David while she was still married to Uriah.

These women were mostly outsiders, yet they were not only included in God’s special people, but they also had the privilege of playing a role in the lineage that eventually led to the coming of Jesus, the Savior of the world.

Mary

The last woman mentioned by Matthew in the genealogy of Jesus is Mary, the mother of Jesus. But even that had some drama involved. t was so bad that Matthew tells us that Joseph had plans to divorce her. (Matthew 1:19) In those days, though the marriage was not fully consummated during the betrothal period, the betrothal couple was legally binding and could only be dissolved by a certificate of divorce.

Joseph could have had Mary stoned (Deuteronomy 22:23-24), but he was kind and preferred to get a private divorce. When Mary agreed to be the mother of Jesus she literally put her life on the line. (Luke 1:26-38) A careful reading of Luke 2:5 reveals that when Mary and Joseph made their trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem they were still not married. There is a possibility that Joseph had intended to divorce Mary in Bethlehem so that she would not be ostracized by her community. At least in Bethlehem no one knew her, as opposed to the place where she grew up and was well known.

The timeline is tight in Luke 2. There is a possibility that when Jesus was born Mary was betrothed to Joseph but not yet married. Even nowadays, when someone has a child out of wedlock, people talk, imagine back then, in small communities where everyone likely knew everyone else.

Besides the humbling place where Jesus was born, He was also born in a less than ideal social setting. There was drama. That first Christmas was not without drama. Jesus’ family was dysfunctional, when you look at His genealogy you see people mentioned that don’t seem to belong. But Jesus intentionally came into a messy world to bring harmony, peace, and salvation to all of us and our messy lives.

[smartwebhostingblog]

Why We Need Women to Have a Larger Role in Innovation

New Post has been published on http://webhostingtop3.com/why-we-need-women-to-have-a-larger-role-in-innovation/

Why We Need Women to Have a Larger Role in Innovation

Every once in a while I get a comment from an audience member after a keynote speech or from someone who read my book, Mapping Innovation, about why so few women are included. Embarrassed, I try to explain that, as in many male dominated fields, women are woefully underrepresented in science and technology.

The preponderance of evidence shows that women can vastly improve innovation efforts, but are often shunted aside. In fact, throughout history, men have taken credit for discoveries that were actually achieved by women. So, while giving women a larger role in innovation would be just and fair, even more importantly it would improve performance.

The Power of Diversity

Over the past few decades there have been many efforts to increase diversity in organizations. Unfortunately, all too often these are seen more as a matter of political correctness than serious management initiatives. After all, so the thinking goes, why not just pick the best man for the job?

The truth is that there is abundant scientific evidence that diversity improves performance. For example, researchers at the University of Michigan found that diverse groups can solve problems better than a more homogenous team of greater objective ability. Another study that simulated markets showed that ethnic diversity deflated asset bubbles.

While the studies noted above merely simulate diversity in a controlled setting there is also evidence from the real world that diversity produces better outcomes. A McKinsey report that covered 366 public companies in a variety of countries and industries found that those which were more ethnically and gender diverse performed significantly better than others.

The problem is that when you narrow the backgrounds, experiences and outlooks of the people on your team, you are limiting the number of solution spaces that can be explored. At best, you will come up with fewer ideas and at worst, you run the risk of creating an echo chamber where inherent biases are normalized and groupthink sets in.

How Women in Particular Improve Performance

While increasing diversity in general increases performance, there is also evidence that women specifically have a major impact. In fact, in one wide ranging study, in which researchers at MIT and Carnegie Mellon sought to identify a general intelligence score for teams, they not only found that teams that included women got better results, but that the higher the proportion of women was, the better the teams did.

At first, the finding seems peculiar, but when you dig deeper it begins to make more sense. The study also found that the high performing teams members rated well on a test of social sensitivity and took turns when speaking. Perhaps not surprisingly, women do better on these parameters than men do.

Social sensitivity tests ask respondents to infer someone’s emotion by looking at a picture (you can try one here) and women tend score higher than men. As for taking turns while in a conversation, there’s a reason why we call it “mansplaining” and not “womensplaining.” Women usually are better listeners.

The findings of the study are consistent with something I’ve noticed in my innovation research. The best innovators are nothing like the mercurial, aggressive stereotype, but tend to be quiet geniuses. Often they aren’t the types that are immediately impressive, but those who listen to others and generously share insights.

Changing The Social Dynamic

One of the reasons that women often get overlooked, besides good old fashioned sexism, is that that there are vast misconceptions about what makes someone a good innovator. All too often, we imagine the best innovators to be like Steve Jobs–brash, aggressive and domineering–when actually just the opposite is true.

Make no mistake, great innovators are great collaborators. That’s why the research finds that successful teams score high in social sensitivity, take turns talking and listening to each other rather, rather than competing to dominate the conversation. It is never any one idea that solves a difficult problem, but how ideas are combined to arrive at an optimal solution.

So while it is true that these skills are more common in women, men have the capacity to develop them as well. In fact, probably the best way for men to learn them is to have more exposure to women in the workplace. Being exposed to a more collaborative working style can only help.

So besides the moral and just aspects of getting more women into innovation related fields and giving them better access to good, high paying jobs, there is also a practical element as well. Women make teams more productive.

Building The Next Generation

Social researchers have found evidence that that the main reason that women are less likely to go into STEM fields has more to do with cultural biases than it does with any innate ability. For example, boys are more encouraged to build things during play and so develop spatial skills early on, while girls can build the same skills with the same training.

Cultural bias also plays a role in the amount of encouragement young students get. STEM subjects can be challenging, and studies have found that boys often receive more support than girls because of educators’ belief in their innate talent. That’s probably why even girls who have high aptitude for math and science are less likely to choose a STEM major than boys of even lesser ability.

Yet cultural biases can evolve over time and there are a number of programs designed to change attitudes about women and innovation. For example Girls Who Code provides training and encouragement for young women and UNESCO’s TeachHer initiative is designed to provide better educational opportunities.

Perhaps most of all, initiatives like these can create role models and peer support. When young women see people like the Jennifer Doudna, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the star physicist Lisa Randall achieve great things in STEM fields, they’ll be more likely to choose a similar path. With more women innovating, we’ll all be better off.

Tech

[awesomecolorfulcollectorwombat]

Why We Need Women to Have a Larger Role in Innovation

New Post has been published on http://webhostingtop3.com/why-we-need-women-to-have-a-larger-role-in-innovation/

Why We Need Women to Have a Larger Role in Innovation

Every once in a while I get a comment from an audience member after a keynote speech or from someone who read my book, Mapping Innovation, about why so few women are included. Embarrassed, I try to explain that, as in many male dominated fields, women are woefully underrepresented in science and technology.

The preponderance of evidence shows that women can vastly improve innovation efforts, but are often shunted aside. In fact, throughout history, men have taken credit for discoveries that were actually achieved by women. So, while giving women a larger role in innovation would be just and fair, even more importantly it would improve performance.

The Power of Diversity

Over the past few decades there have been many efforts to increase diversity in organizations. Unfortunately, all too often these are seen more as a matter of political correctness than serious management initiatives. After all, so the thinking goes, why not just pick the best man for the job?

The truth is that there is abundant scientific evidence that diversity improves performance. For example, researchers at the University of Michigan found that diverse groups can solve problems better than a more homogenous team of greater objective ability. Another study that simulated markets showed that ethnic diversity deflated asset bubbles.

While the studies noted above merely simulate diversity in a controlled setting there is also evidence from the real world that diversity produces better outcomes. A McKinsey report that covered 366 public companies in a variety of countries and industries found that those which were more ethnically and gender diverse performed significantly better than others.

The problem is that when you narrow the backgrounds, experiences and outlooks of the people on your team, you are limiting the number of solution spaces that can be explored. At best, you will come up with fewer ideas and at worst, you run the risk of creating an echo chamber where inherent biases are normalized and groupthink sets in.

How Women in Particular Improve Performance

While increasing diversity in general increases performance, there is also evidence that women specifically have a major impact. In fact, in one wide ranging study, in which researchers at MIT and Carnegie Mellon sought to identify a general intelligence score for teams, they not only found that teams that included women got better results, but that the higher the proportion of women was, the better the teams did.

At first, the finding seems peculiar, but when you dig deeper it begins to make more sense. The study also found that the high performing teams members rated well on a test of social sensitivity and took turns when speaking. Perhaps not surprisingly, women do better on these parameters than men do.

Social sensitivity tests ask respondents to infer someone’s emotion by looking at a picture (you can try one here) and women tend score higher than men. As for taking turns while in a conversation, there’s a reason why we call it “mansplaining” and not “womensplaining.” Women usually are better listeners.

The findings of the study are consistent with something I’ve noticed in my innovation research. The best innovators are nothing like the mercurial, aggressive stereotype, but tend to be quiet geniuses. Often they aren’t the types that are immediately impressive, but those who listen to others and generously share insights.

Changing The Social Dynamic

One of the reasons that women often get overlooked, besides good old fashioned sexism, is that that there are vast misconceptions about what makes someone a good innovator. All too often, we imagine the best innovators to be like Steve Jobs–brash, aggressive and domineering–when actually just the opposite is true.

Make no mistake, great innovators are great collaborators. That’s why the research finds that successful teams score high in social sensitivity, take turns talking and listening to each other rather, rather than competing to dominate the conversation. It is never any one idea that solves a difficult problem, but how ideas are combined to arrive at an optimal solution.

So while it is true that these skills are more common in women, men have the capacity to develop them as well. In fact, probably the best way for men to learn them is to have more exposure to women in the workplace. Being exposed to a more collaborative working style can only help.

So besides the moral and just aspects of getting more women into innovation related fields and giving them better access to good, high paying jobs, there is also a practical element as well. Women make teams more productive.

Building The Next Generation

Social researchers have found evidence that that the main reason that women are less likely to go into STEM fields has more to do with cultural biases than it does with any innate ability. For example, boys are more encouraged to build things during play and so develop spatial skills early on, while girls can build the same skills with the same training.

Cultural bias also plays a role in the amount of encouragement young students get. STEM subjects can be challenging, and studies have found that boys often receive more support than girls because of educators’ belief in their innate talent. That’s probably why even girls who have high aptitude for math and science are less likely to choose a STEM major than boys of even lesser ability.

Yet cultural biases can evolve over time and there are a number of programs designed to change attitudes about women and innovation. For example Girls Who Code provides training and encouragement for young women and UNESCO’s TeachHer initiative is designed to provide better educational opportunities.

Perhaps most of all, initiatives like these can create role models and peer support. When young women see people like the Jennifer Doudna, Jocelyn Bell Burnell and the star physicist Lisa Randall achieve great things in STEM fields, they’ll be more likely to choose a similar path. With more women innovating, we’ll all be better off.

Tech

[dangerfieldnewby]

Back to the Future with Bill Cosby and Ta-Nehisi Coates

Coates, from 2009...

“...[T]he shift in focus from white racism to black culture is not as new as some social commentators make it out to be. Standing in St. Paul Church on that July evening listening to Cosby, I remembered the last time The Street felt like this: in the summer of 1994, after Louis Farrakhan announced the Million Man March. Farrakhan barnstormed the country holding “men only” meetings (but much larger). I saw him in my native Baltimore, while home from Howard University on vacation. The march itself was cathartic. I walked with four or five other black men, and all along the way black women stood on porches or out on the street, shouting, clapping, cheering. For us, Farrakhan’s opinions on the Jews mostly seemed beside the point; what stuck was the chance to assert our humanity and our manhood by marching on the Mall, and not acting like we were all fresh out of San Quentin. We lived in the shadow of the ’80s crack era. So many of us had been jailed or were on our way. So many of us were fathers in biology only. We believed ourselves disgraced and clung to the march as a public statement: the time had come to grow up.

Black conservatives have been dipping into this well of lost black honor since the turn of the 20th century. On the one hand, vintage black nationalists have harked back to a golden age of black Africa, where mighty empires sprawled and everyone was a king. Meanwhile, populist black conservatives like Cosby point to pre-1968 black America as an era when blacks were united in the struggle: men were men, and a girl who got pregnant without getting married would find herself bundled off to Grandpa’s farm.

What both visions share is a sense that black culture in its present form is bastardized and pathological. What they also share is a foundation in myth. Black people are not the descendants of kings. We are—and I say this with big pride—the progeny of slaves. If there’s any majesty in our struggle, it lies not in fairy tales but in those humble origins and the great distance we’ve traveled since. Ditto for the dreams of a separate but noble past. Cosby’s, and much of black America’s, conservative analysis flattens history and smooths over the wrinkles that have characterized black America since its inception.

Indeed, a century ago, the black brain trust was pushing the same rhetoric that Cosby is pushing today. It was concerned that slavery had essentially destroyed the black family and was obsessed with seemingly the same issues—crime, wanton sexuality, and general moral turpitude—that Cosby claims are recent developments. “The early effort of middle-class blacks to respond to segregation was, aside from a political agenda, focused on a social-reform agenda,” says Khalil G. Muhammad, a professor of American history at Indiana University. “The National Association of Colored Women, Du Bois in The Philadelphia Negro, all shared a sense of anxiety that African Americans were not presenting their best selves to the world. There was the sense that they were committing crimes and needed to keep their sexuality in check.” Adds William Jelani Cobb, a professor of American history at Spelman College: “The same kind of people who were advocating for social reform were denigrating people because they didn’t play piano. They often saw themselves as reluctant caretakers of the less enlightened.”

In particular, Cosby’s argument—that much of what haunts young black men originates in post-segregation black culture—doesn’t square with history. As early as the 1930s, sociologists were concerned that black men were falling behind black women. In his classic study, The Negro Family in the United States, published in 1939, E. Franklin Frazier argued that urbanization was undermining the ability of men to provide for their families. In 1965—at the height of the civil-rights movement—Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s milestone report, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action,” picked up the same theme.

At times, Cosby seems willfully blind to the parallels between his arguments and those made in the presumably glorious past. Consider his problems with rap. How could an avowed jazz fanatic be oblivious to the similar plaints once sparked by the music of his youth? “The tired longshoreman, the porter, the housemaid and the poor elevator boy in search of recreation, seeking in jazz the tonic for weary nerves and muscles,” wrote the lay historian J. A. Rogers, “are only too apt to find the bootlegger, the gambler and the demi-monde who have come there for victims and to escape the eyes of the police.”

Beyond the apocryphal notion that black culture was once a fount of virtue, there’s still the charge that culture is indeed the problem. But to reach that conclusion, you’d have to stand on some rickety legs. The hip-hop argument, again, is particularly creaky. Ronald Ferguson, a Harvard social scientist, has highlighted that an increase in hip-hop’s popularity during the early 1990s corresponded with a declining amount of time spent reading among black kids. But gangsta rap can be correlated with other phenomena, too—many of them positive. During the 1990s, as gangsta rap exploded, teen pregnancy and the murder rate among black men declined. Should we give the blue ribbon in citizenship to Dr. Dre?

“I don’t know how to measure culture. I don’t know how to test its effects, and I’m not sure anyone else does,” says the Georgetown economist Harry Holzer. “There’s a liberal story that limited opportunities, and barriers, lead to employment problems and criminal records, but then there’s another story that has to do with norms, behaviors, and oppositional culture. You can’t prove the latter statistically, but it still might be true.” Holzer thinks that both arguments contain truth and that one doesn’t preclude the other. Fair enough. Suffice it to say, though, that the evidence supporting structural inequality is compelling. In 2001, a researcher sent out black and white job applicants in Milwaukee, randomly assigning them a criminal record. The researcher concluded that a white man with a criminal record had about the same chance of getting a job as a black man without one. Three years later, researchers produced the same results in New York under more-rigorous conditions.The accepted wisdom is that such studies are a comfort to black people, allowing them to wallow in their misery. In fact, the opposite is true—the liberal notion that blacks are still, after a century of struggle, victims of pervasive discrimination is the ultimate collective buzz-kill. It effectively means that African Americans must, on some level, accept that their children will be “less than” until some point in the future when white racism miraculously abates. That’s not the sort of future that any black person eagerly awaits, nor does it make for particularly motivating talking points.

Last summer, I watched Cosby give a moving commencement speech to a group of Connecticut inmates who’d just received their GEDs. Before the speech, at eight in the morning, Cosby quizzed correctional officials on the conditions and characteristics of their inmate population. I wished, then, that my 7-year-old son could have seen Cosby there, to take in the same basic message that I endeavor to serve him every day—that manhood means more than virility and strut, that it calls for discipline and dutiful stewardship. That the ultimate fate of black people lies in their own hands, not in the hands of their antagonists. That as an African American, he has a duty to his family, his community, and his ancestors.

If Cosby’s call-outs simply ended at that—a personal and communal creed—there’d be little to oppose. But Cosby often pits the rhetoric of personal responsibility against the legitimate claims of American citizens for their rights. He chides activists for pushing to reform the criminal-justice system, despite solid evidence that the criminal-justice system needs reform. His historical amnesia—his assertion that many of the problems that pervade black America are of a recent vintage—is simply wrong, as is his contention that today’s young African Americans are somehow weaker, that they’ve dropped the ball. And for all its positive energy, his language of uplift has its limitations. After the Million Man March, black men embraced a sense of hope and promise. We were supposed to return to our communities and families inspired by a new feeling of responsibility. Yet here we are again, almost 15 years later, with seemingly little tangible change. I’d take my son to see Bill Cosby, to hear his message, to revel in its promise and optimism. But afterward, he and I would have a very long talk.

On the day last summer when Cosby met me for lunch in the West Village, it was raining, as it had been all week, and New York was experiencing a record-cold August. Cosby had just come from Max Roach’s funeral and was dressed in a natty three-piece suit. Despite the weather, the occasion, and the oddly empty dining room, Cosby was energized. He had spent the previous day in Philadelphia, where he spoke to a group in a housing project, met with state health officials, and participated in a community march against crime. Grassroots black activists in his hometown were embracing his call. He planned, over the coming year, to continue his call-outs and release a hip-hop album. (He has also noted, however, that there won’t be any profanity on it.)

Cosby was feeling warm and nostalgic. He asked why I had not brought my son, and I instantly regretted dropping him off at my partner’s workplace for a couple of hours. He talked about breaking his shoulder playing school football, after his grandfather had tried to get him to quit. “Granddad Cosby got on the trolley and came over to the apartment,” he recalled. “I was so embarrassed. I was laid out on the sofa. He was talking to my parents, and I was waiting for the moment when he would say, ‘See, I told you, Junior.’ He came back and reached in his pocket and gave me a quarter. He said, ‘Go to the corner and get some ice cream. It has calcium in it.’”

Much pop psychology has been devoted to Cosby’s transformation into such a high-octane, high-profile activist. His nemesis Dyson says that Cosby, in his later years, is following in the dishonorable tradition of upper-class African Americans who denounce their less fortunate brethren. Others have suggested more-sinister motivations—that Cosby is covering for his own alleged transgressions. (In 2006, Cosby settled a civil lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed that he had sexually assaulted her; other women have come forward with similar allegations that have not gone to court.) But the depth of his commitment would seem to belie such suspicions, and in any case, they do not seem to have affected his hold on his audience: in the November Pew survey, 85 percent of all African American respondents considered him a “good influence” on the black community, above Obama (76 percent) and second only to Oprah Winfrey (87 percent).

Part of what drives Cosby’s activism, and reinforces his message, is the rage that lives in all African Americans, a collective feeling of disgrace that borders on self-hatred. As the comedian Chris Rock put it in one of his infamous routines, “Everything white people don’t like about black people, black people really don’t like about black people … It’s like a civil war going on with black people, and it’s two sides—there’s black people and there’s niggas, and niggas have got to go … Boy, I wish they’d let me join the Ku Klux Klan. Shit, I’d do a drive-by from here to Brooklyn.” (Rock stopped performing the routine when he noticed that his white fans were laughing a little too hard.) Liberalism, with its pat logic and focus on structural inequities, offers no balm for this sort of raw pain. Like the people he preaches to, Cosby has grown tired of hanging his head.

This disquiet spans generations, but it is most acute among those of the civil-rights era. “I don’t know a better term than angst,” says Johnnetta Cole. “I refuse to categorize every young African American with the same language, but there are some ‘young’uns’—and some of us who are not ‘young’uns’—who must turn around and look at where we are, because where we’re headed isn’t pretty.” Like many of the stars of the civil-rights movement, Cole has gifts that go beyond social activism. She rose out of the segregated South and went to college at age 15, eventually earning a bachelor’s from Oberlin and a doctorate in anthropology from Northwestern. 

That same sort of dynamism exists today among many younger blacks, but what troubles the older generation is that their energy seems directed at other pursuits besides social uplift.Cosby is fond of saying that sacrifices of the ’60s weren’t made so that rappers and young people could repeatedly use the word nigger. But that’s exactly why they were made. After all, chief among all individual rights awarded Americans is the right to be mediocre, crass, and juvenile—in other words, the right to be human. But Cosby is aiming for something superhuman—twice as good, as the elders used to say—and his homily to a hazy black past seems like an effort to redeem something more than the present...”