#i am doing a great service to this community y’all welcome

[joelpilled]

deciding im not going to gatekeep my screencaps of joel that i made once i got my hands on an hd tor so i’m sharing them with y’all!!!

[nobody7102]

The Thing About Sunday

Pairing: Preacher!Rhett x Tillerson!Fem!Reader

Warnings: Religious stuff, SMUT, 18+, fingering, thigh riding, choking, unprotected P in V

A/N: YALL! This... this was so just great to write. thank you to @sebsxphia @hangmanapologist @rhettabbotts and @auroralightsthesky for contributing to this and letting me bounce ideas off of, and yes I am aware its like 2 AM(at least in MN) I put my insomnia to good use.

NOTE/DISCLAIMER: All characters in this story are of age (Rhett being late 20s/early 30s, Reader being mid/late 20s), if it isn’t clear in-story all actions/situations are consensual between the major of the characters if there is anything I missed in the warnings please let me know, but don’t be rude about it

Part 2

Main Master-List

———

Sunday, the day Rhett was always taught to respect. A day that he had devoted his life to, promising his momma he’d be better and proving it every Sunday as he gave sermons and led mass for Wabang. Sure he never intended on becoming a preacher but after one particularly bad bull ride, Cece brought him to Church with her while he recovered and he often found himself talking with the pastor about things he normally would just drink away or keep bottled up, soon enough after he made a full recovery no one was more surprised than Rhett when he started showing up to help set up before mass and sermons every Sunday, and staying after to help clean up. 

So when Pastor Lawrence announced he was retiring and that he wanted Rhett to fill his position he was shocked to say the least, but he worked hard every day to live up to the standard Pastor Lawrence left, and some in the community would even say he surpassed Pastor Lawrence by miles. Something Cece and Royal were more than happy to hear about, always hearing throughout the week how great Rhett was becoming as a Preacher.

Now five years later, as he stands, a little older and a little greyer than he was before, standing in the middle of the floor, watching as everyone took their seats before his eyes flickered to the front row. Entranced by her.

Watching as she fiddled with her knee length skirt, trying to smooth out the wrinkles in it. 

His eyes softened watching as the youngest Tillerson’s eyes finally met his with a smile. Looking back to the crowd he cleared his throat to get everyone's attention before he moved to stand behind the pulpit. “Hello everyone” he hummed “What a beautiful Sunday morning we’ve been given.” he watched as everyone nodded in agreement “Before we start our sermon today I would like to introduce everyone to someone who’s joining my within the Church” moving from the pulpit, Rhett walked over to Y/N, offering her his hand to stand with him. “I’m sure many of you know Miss Y/N Tillerson from around the town,” he smiled as Y/N gave a small wave to the crowd. “I’m very happy to say that Miss Tillerson will be helping us out with our youth program, teaching Sunday School after the services every Sunday, starting next week. So after the sermon today it would be greatly appreciated if y’all would help welcome her to the church” he gave her hand a squeeze before he nodded to her, letting Y/N know she could sit back down. As soon as she moved to sit down, Rhett moved back to the pulpit. Flipping thought his notes for the day to start the sermon.

The thing about Rhett was that he remembered what it was like being a kid and having to sit in church every Sunday, listening to the sermons being bored out of his mind. The one thing he made sure to do as soon as he had been appointed the new preacher, he never wanted anyone to be as bored as he had been. He always kept everyone so entranced in his sermons, never leaning too traditional for the younger crowd but never too modern for the older folks of Wabang. So when looking for volunteers for teaching Sunday school he knew Y/N would be a perfect teacher, having grown up keeping each other occupied as their families dragged them to church, not to mention she had just come back from college with her teaching degree.

He never knew why she’d chosen to be friends with him growing up. Behind Luke, she had been the ‘Golden Child’ of the Tillerson clan. Graduating top of her class in highschool, going off to college and somehow managed to stay utterly devoted to her faith. Something her mother instilled in her, out of all of her children Patricia had always been so critical of Y/N. When Cece once asked about it, in her own words Patricia had stated “If she can be better than me, she will be” words that she made sure were true.

Throughout the sermon, Rhett’s eyes drifted to Y/N, and he often found himself having to hide a slight smile at how focused and attentive she was to his speeches, he also took note of how her eyes flickered up and down his form as he walked around the front of the church as he spoke as well as how a small blush dusted her cheeks when she noticed him glancing her way.

As soon as his sermon had come to an end, everyone stood like they normally did and slowly gathered around Rhett, asking him questions, talking about how good his sermon was that day. It was as Sherif Joy asked about something that was troubling her that he noticed how Y/N was bent down talking with some of the kids that sat through the sermon, occasionally glancing up to talk with the parents of children who were talking to her. Smiling and nodding as her attention was split between the parents and children.

Finishing his talk with Sherif Joy, he quickly excused himself to walk over to Y/N. “Everyone having fun over here?” he hummed seeing how excited the kids were to talk with Y/N after listening to the children babble for a few minutes, their parents pulled them away to another part of the church, leaving Rhett and Y/N to themselves “How’s Miss Tillerson holding up?” he joked.

Shaking her head, she nudged him with her elbow “You told me not to call you Preacher” she chuckled “So I expect the same… at least with adults” 

Nodding his head he chuckled “Fair enough, fair enough” his eyes trailed around the crowd before looking back to Y/N “No one’s given you any trouble so far?” she shook her head “That’s good… what’d your folk have to say?” He raised his brow.

Shrugging, Y/N wrapped her arms around her frame, “Ma was happy… Daddy didn’t seem to mind” she started “Billy couldn’t have been prouder, practically beaming with joy for me…” trailing off her eyes looked to the floor

“And…” he almost hesitated to ask “Luke and Trevor?”

A sigh left her lips “You know how they are… never really understood church… or faith” 

Slowly nodding his head, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Well, ‘I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed’” he hummed.

“Van Gough,” she chuckled

Nodding Rhett continued “Luke and Trevor might not get it… but I remember being in their shoes… They have the same passion for faith, it’s just focused on another thing” he squeezed her shoulder “Trevors is on Bull riding, and Luke’s is on the ranch… they understand it, just in a different way” he watched as Y/N slowly smiled, placing her hand over Rhett’s

“Thank you” as he did in response was nodded before his name was called in another part of the church.

As the day wound down, Rhett found himself in his back office making last minute edits for the Wednesday night service and starting planning out his sermon for the next Sunday. Looking up from the words in front of him, he glanced at the widow before looking at the clock on the wall opposite to his desk. 

6:00PM

Dark for how much time he still had in the day he thought. Shuffling his papers into a stack, he stood from the desk, cracking his back as he stood before making his way out to the main area of the church. Furrowing his brow hearing someone humming, sure the doors were always open and he left the main lights on but everyone had left after noon. He had watched as everyone left… So who had made their way into the church?

Rounding the corner his eyes widened seeing Y/N sitting in the front pew, papers spread out around her as she bit the end of a pen as she looked over one specific paper. “Miss-” he stopped himself watching as she looked up, a smile dawning on her face “Y/N… I didn’t realize you’d come back” as he made his way over, Y/N moved to get her piles of paper under control, thus giving Rhett room to sit next to her. 

“I umm…” she started “I was trying to work on my lesson plans for the kids… for next week. I was trying to work on it at home but..” a flush came across her face “I couldn’t really focus” she admitted “So I came here” 

Nodding Rhett smiled “Well I’m glad this place provides you with some peace…” he watched as she shifted in her seat, letting her eyes follow his knees as they knocked against her’s “So what’re your plans so far?” He waited for her to sort through her papers once more before handing him a sheet full of highlighted points. “Veggie tales huh?” he chuckled.

She chuckled with him “The library is loaning me the DVD’s… besides its a lesson without being-”

“Boring” he finished her sentence as they both laughed

“Exactly” she hummed, as Rhett handed her back the paper her eyes trailed over his form. How his hair was askew from running his hands though it in thought, to his black button up that was rid of his normal white collar and even unbutton allowing a small bit of his tattoo to peak out from below the fabric

She didn’t even realize she was biting her lip as her eyes raked over him till Rhett’s fingers cradled her chin, pulling her gaze to meet his as his thumb pulled her bottom lip from her teeth, brushing over the soft skin and slightly smudging the light pink lip balm she had put on earlier in the day. 

“Something that interests you, Little Lamb?” He smirked, tilting his head to the side as her eyes widened, looking between his eyes and his quirked upwards grin before a small gulp and a sharp breath left her lips. With his head still tilted to the side Rhett slowly leaned forward, giving Y/N enough time to pull away, pausing right as his nose bumped against hers “You sure?” he’s eyes carrying so much yearning yet he knew how new this would be to her.

Being the ‘Golden Child’ of the Tillersons had its price. Following her mothers instructions of faith she also followed her fathers rules, no dating, which just went hand in hand with her mothers morals of faith. She even vented to Rhett one day in their teen years how she longed to just have just one kiss but she knew how her parents would say, not to mention what her faith would think of it. Rhett had never fully understood her devotion till he took over for Pastor Lawrence.

Placing her hand on his thigh, she leaned into him the rest of the way, closing her eyes as their lips melted together. One hand flying to frame her waist, pulling her closer. As the other moved to cradle her jaw as she moved her lips against his, he met her movements equally, letting her control the pace… the passion. 

Letting her papers fall to the floor, she let her body press into his before he pulled her body to straddle him and her legs to frame his thigh and her flats falling off of her feet. Letting the floral fabric rise to her thighs a soft gasp left her lips as Rhett pulled her against the taut wool of his trousers. Pulling away from the kiss he rested his forehead against hers, nudging his nose against hers “Rhett” his name tumbled breathlessly from her mouth as he nipped at her bottom lip.

Huffing as his lips moved across her neck, stopping just below her ears “Have you ever….” catching his breath he closed his eyes, feeling her hands run across his chest “Have you ever done anything lik-” he felt her shake her head “What about touch- Have you ever touched yoursel-” feeling her shake her head again he emitted a low groan as he felt the wool of his trousers constrict more “Oh of course you haven’t” he exclaimed, almost as breathless as she was kissing along her neck again “Because you’re my perfect Little Lamb” he whispered as his hands fell to bunch the skirt up to her waist. Exposing the pink cotton pantied that hugged her ass, letting out a groan seeing the peak of pink from over her shoulder his hands moved to knead the pink cladded flesh as he pulled her against his thigh once more, letting her head fall into the crook of his neck as he repeated the motion. Her hands holding on his shoulders, fisting the black fabric.

“Oh Rhett” she whined “We- Ahh gosh…” gripping onto his shirt so tight, her knuckles were white as she tried to resist yet her body betrayed her, bucking against his grip everytime he pulled her across his thigh “We shouldn’t… the Lord wou-” 

“Do you wanna stop Lamb?” he whispered into the crook of her neck, he felt her shake her head once more “We can stop if you want” he pulled away to look at her beat red face, eyes glazed over in a bliss “But you should know Little Lamb” he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear “It’s not a sin if you feel good” before placing a kiss against her lips once more “and it's not a sin to want to feel good either… the Lord won’t punish you for enjoying yourself” he whispered before she captured his lips again, rutting her throbbing core against the wool, not waiting for his hands to guide her. 

Grinding against his thigh as the two let their lips mingle together for a few more minutes, Y/N pulled away, her hands playing with the hair at the base of Rhett's neck as she spoke “I trust you Rhett” she leaned forward to recapture his lips “I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone” she whispered “Please” 

“Fuck..” he mumbled under his breath before biting his lip, letting his eyes scan over how her hair was a mess, the light pink of her lip balm smeared across her lips, and undoubtedly across his as well. Her cardigan was thrown from her shoulders and resting in the crook of her elbows as the straps of her tank top slid off her shoulders, allowing the pink of her matching bra to show itself over the hemline of the tanktop. Her skirt was bunched around her waist, the pink little bow that sat atop her paintes. A moan falling from his lips as he laid his eyes upon the wet patch forming on his pants. “Sweet Little Lamb…” he started bringing his eyes back up her form to meet hers, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose his hands grabbed the back of her thighs lifting her up, a squeal emitted from her as he flipped her around.

Resting her knees on the wood seat of the pew, pressing her front into the wooden back. Pushing her skirt up higher, his finger hooked the hemline of her panties, slowly pulling them down her legs she shivered.

Rhett had always had cold hands, getting his bad circulation from his mother. His hold fingers left goosebumps against her skin as he leaned to her ear and whispered “I’m gonna make such a mess of you” bringing his hand back up to her inner thigh, she jumped feeling the contrasting cold against the heat of her dripping core.

Gripping onto the wood she let out a high pitched whine feeling Rhett slowly circle her clit, her body lurching forward. “Ahhhh- Oh God!” her toes curled as he slipped his middle finger into her folds, pumping it in and out as he trailed kisses along her shoulder.

“Oh Sweet Lamb… You. Are. Absolutely. Soaked.” kissing between every punctuation “are you gonna be a good Little Lamb for me?” he smirked as she nodded with her head resting against the wood. “You gonna let me use this pretty little cunt?” 

Adding another finger, she gasped at the feeling letting out a strangled “Yes”. He continued his assault, slowly working up his speed until he watched her legs start to shake. “Rhett- I- I ca- ooh” she started “Rhett I need- I nee-” the babble fell from her lips before letting out a high pitched whine at the loss of his fingers from her burning cunt. “No!” she cried her thighs still shaking,

“Tsk Tsk Tsk” Rhett chuckled moving falling behind her as he unbuckled his belt “Romans 8:25” the sound of his zipper filled the air followed by the rusting of fabric before he leaned next to her ear, one of his hands wrapping around her front to once again draw circles around her swollen clit as the other guided his weeping cock to tease her entrance with his tip "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” he whispered before pushing into her tight cunt. 

A moan fell from Rhett’s lips before he threw his head back hearing the sound that fell from Y/N’s mouth. A sound he had yet to hear from her, a sound he quite possibly considered to be better than anything he could ever hear for the rest of his life. 

Moving his free hand to pull her flush against his hip as he continued to circle her clit, his hips snapped against her’s. No longer caring for how acquainted with the stretch of his cock she was, only wanting to hear more of the heavenly sounds that he seemed to pry from her lips with every thrust of his hips.

Feeling her plush walls squeeze his cock with every pull he rested his head on her shoulder, still snapping his hips to hers before bringing his hand from her hip to slide under her shirt and past the think pink bra, feeling how her nipples hardened and goosebumps a littered her skin at the contact with his cold hand before he took the pebbled skin between his fingertips and punched.

Arching her back into him, forcing her ass against his hips, he panted into her ear at the feeling “Oh Sweet Lamb, the Lord made a special place in heaven for you” he kissed just below her ear.

Quickening his pace, his hand trailed up further, past the hem of her shirt before gripping her throat. Forcing her head up from the wooden back of the pew, bringing her gaze to meet the stone statue that stood tall towards the entrance and back of the pews “Look into his eyes my Little Lamb” resting he forehead against her cheek “Look and thank him for making such a special place in heaven for you… and this sweet little cunt” he growled, forcing a while from your lips before his squeezed slightly.

“Thank You” She moaned, letting her mouth fall open as the pews started to move under the force of Rhett’s thrust. Now adding the squeak of the wood against the floor to the sound of her and Rhetts moans and the squishing of her dripping core as it begged for more from his cock. 

Pulling is hand from her clit, he brought his hand to his lips letting out a humm at the taste before holding it to Y/N’s lips “See how sweet you are… how sweet you were made” he smiled as she took his fingers into her mouth, drool falling from her lips as she licked over his fingers. 

As soon as his fingers left her mouth they were back on her abused clit as babble feel from her lips “Jus-...just for you-” she let her head lull as much as she could with his hand still holding her neck up “all made-...just for you Preacher" she gasped 

“Ohh shiiit!” his head fell backwards “that’s right Little Lamb” pulling his hands from her neck and clit, he gripped her hips hard. Pumping into her with a relentless pace her hips slamming into the pew with such force it tipped forward slightly before landing back down on the floor with every slam of his hips “Made just for me…. No other reason why this tight little cunt would wrap around my cock so perfectly” 

No longer able to hold herself up, her body slumped forward onto the pew “Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck” she whinned as her legs started to shake once more. He could feel her walls pulsing around him, knowing that there was a knott forming within her that would soon snap.A chuckle caught in Rhett’s throat knowing how she never used such vulgar words, smiling at the use of the foregin word passing from her lips. Brining one hand from her hips he formed a ponytail in her hair before sharply pulling her upwards, causing her back to arch and another ‘fuck’ fell from her mouth. “Such dirty words for a Sweet Lamb” he hummed “My Sweet Little Lamb… Oh how far you’ve strayed from the shepherd” he smirked, moving his other hand to press down between her shoulder blades causing her back to arch further “Don’t worry Little Lamb…” he groaned, feeling her body shake as a guttural moan emitted from her. “We can fix that”

_______

A/N: Before anyone asks, yes there will be a part 2

[verfound]

WIP Tag Asks?  Oh dear.  😬

A-hem.  @nerdypanda3126 is mean and knows exactly what she’s doing she has seen the Hoard y’all.  It’s been a hot minute since I did that Festering Folder WIP Wednesday, and the Hoard has not shrunk at all.  There’s a reason I’m the WIP Dragon.  😬

Anyway.  😂  Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. (You can make your own post or reblog this one!)  I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? Dnd campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!!  (I am only doing the MLB ones, since that’s the fandom I’m mostly writing these days and the list will be over 500 long if I include all the fandoms.  😂)

and I...am putting this under a cut bc apparently the list is five pages long...   😬  Also, Quick had a great idea: the tag WIP Wednesday: Festering Folder Edition talks about some of these, if you want to go for something new/I haven’t discussed yet.  🖤

·     All Our Broken Pieces

·     Alya Césaire is Just Trying to Help

·     And by the End of this Fic, We’ll be More than Just Friends

·     And You Thought the Bathtub was Good

·     Angsty Little Gremlin Baby

·     At the End of the Aisle

·     Banana Bread

·     Before I Say Goodnight

·     BlackBoard Blunders

·     Boat Life Not Gimmick

·     Booty Call

·     Bread Brothers

·     Breakup Songs

·     Burrow Down

·     Card Captor Sakura AU

·     Community Service

·     Coffee Shop Soundtrack

·     Coyling

·     Crayonarchy

·     Dammit AC

·     Dead Girls Tell No Tales

·     Dead Like Me AU

·     Evening Officer

·     Family Dessert

·     Fu’s Florals

·     Fun with Arts and Crafts

·     Futuresee

·     Give a Mergirl a Starfish

·     Guardian Stone

·     Haaave You Met Mari

·     Here in this Diary

·     Hey Let’s Do a Singalong

·     Hey Sicky

·     His Most Prized Possession

·     I Didn’t Expect to See You Here

·     I Didn’t Run

·     I Guess I Live Here Now

·     I Need Nipples

·     I Stand Alone

·     I Think I’ll Call Her Fang

·     If This is a Rom Com

·     It Ain’t Made of Kevlar

·     Jagged Loves Jagged

·     Julie & the Phantoms Untitled Crossover

·     Just Your Avg Sat

·     Karma Chameleon

·     LBSC SA 2022 – Dropout

·     Legally Blonde AU

·     Let’s Smoosh Faces

·     Luka Streaks On

·     Making it Work

·     MegaMind AU

·     Missed Point

·     Octothorpe JAG

·     Off Me Ship

·     Oh You’re Vocal

·     One More Time with You

·     Opportunity Presents Itself

·     Ordered Chaos

·     Our FirstFirstFirst Date

·     Pandora’s Box

·     Pants Aren’t RocknRoll

·     Paper Notes

·     Park Bench

·     Pink Fish Blue Fish

·     Please Come to Boston

·     Princess Heartmaker

·     Reality Jagged

·     Remembering You

·     See You at Gate 52

·     Sexy Guitar Guy p2

·     Snapshots of Us

·     Some People Say Hi

·     Soultember – Welcome to the Gray

·     Spinnerette

·     Suitcase Pancakes

·     That Agreste Guy was HM

·     The Couffaines’ Little Suicide Machines

·     The Girl with Flowers in Her Bones

·     The Quarantine Kwami Baking Championship

·     The Storm Rages On

·     The Tip Goes In

·     The Unexpected Roommate

·     They Know Where to Find Me

·     This is My Angry Face

·     Unsolicited Advice

·     Untitled 2-9; 11 (Selkie AU); 12-16; 17 (TS Baking Meet Cute)

·     Voodoo Viperion

·     We’re a Chance Left Untaken

·     When the Clock Strikes 13

·     Weight of it All

·     You’re Doll’s Haunted

 House Band:

·     A Harmonious Christmas

·     A Kick in the Head p2

·     Anyone Ever Told You

·     Barnyard in D

·     Can I Help

·     Dance Little Sister

·     Darnin Can You Hear Me SOS

·     Dear Old Gertie

·     Dewey’s Diet

·     Every Third Year

·     Favorite Mugs

·     Harold the Glitter Cow

·     I Already Said Goodbye

·     I’m a Unicorn

·     Kicking Things Off

·     Letting Go

·     Maman’s Day Surprise

·     Maman’s First Maman’s Day

·     Maman’s Night Out

·     Melody Super Spy

·     Papas Don’t Get Sick Days

·     Papa’s Ink

·     Piggy Sue

·     Pocket Pals

·     Sing 2 Death AU

·     Squeaks

·     Surround Sound

·     Take It Off

·     The baby Swing

·     The Cookie Principle

·     The Sexiest What Now

·     They were Supposed to be

 Dingo Files:

·     5 Things Luka Regrets Telling Dingo

·     ABBA Doesn’t Shred

·     Adrien is a Fcking Idiot ·     Adrien is Still a Fcking Idiot

·     Alibi

·     All I Want for Christmas

·     Australian Conditioning

·     Basement Corpse

·     Be More Dingo

·     But We’re Thinking of Changing Our Name

·     Cell Block Dingo

·     Coming Up Schlort

·     Ding Attenborough

·     Dingho

·     Dingo’s Cock

·     Five Words

·     Hail the Motherland

·     He Travels for Work

·     Here’s the Latest

·     Hoist the Colors

·     Ininko Montoya

·     Jellyfish Suck

·     Maybe I Could Love You

·     MLWeeklyPrompts: Only a Kiss

·     MLWeeklyPrompts: Operation SSASS

·     Nails

·     Never Check 3 AM Texts

·     Nothing for Christmas

·     Peregrine King

·     Personal Use

·     Rich Boys Don’t Stink

·     Right to Remain Stupid

·     Stealing Smoochies

·     Stowaway

·     Sunglasses

·     Sur-prise

·     That Time it was Luka’s Fault

·     Tie Me Up

·     Twins Damocles

·     Who’s Mari

·     Who’s Your Daddy

 Winters:

·     A Day in Your Scales

·     Brooms Aren’t Just for Cleaning

·     Human Feet

·     I Want One

·     Keep Your Mate Warm

·     Snake Tales

·     Snakefolk can be Fluff

·     Spring in the Citadel

·     Spring is for a Summons

·     Spring is for Courtship

·     Summer Skin

·     Summers are for Celebrating

·     Summers can be Hot

·     The Stairs

No pressure tagging...oooh, how about @livrever @19thsentry-blog @haphira and @ladyfreya123 ?  (Nerd already got Quick, Min, & Laurel 😂)

[omnia-vanitas-96]

✨Ok so, just in case my mini bio wasn’t clear enough...✨

👶 <18s/MAPs DNI I do NOT support MIK (Minors in Kink for those who do not know!) 👶

❌Untitled/Blank bio blogs DNI!❌

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Speaking of nasty!

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PRO ANA/ED/FEEDER FETISH BLOGS DNI

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💔 Break the rules, instant block, no exceptions. 💔

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I AM DOUBLING DOWN ON ☝️ THAT POINT AND BECOMING QUITE VOCAL ABOUT IT, IF ANY PRO BLOGS APPEAR ON MY RADAR I WILL THROW HANDS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. STOP HIDING BEHIND THE “It’s just muh fantasies uwu” WHEN TALKING ABOUT ACTUAL CRIMES.

🤡 Gate-keeping kink boomers who tell me “I’m not really kinky” and “don’t belong in THEIR community” for not condoning literally every fetish INCLUDING THE ILLEGAL/HARMFUL ONES are not welcome here, I hate the lot of you, you do not belong in MY community and I hope you all get doxxed/pushed in a well/stung by a great many bees 🤡

Onto the positives 🥰

My blog is POC, trans, NB, sex worker friendly! 💖

My blog is a safe space for people of all sexual orientations including ace and aro friends (STILL NOT FOR MAPs) 💜

My blog is safe for poly and polycurious people 💕

My blog is a safe space for people who are disabled/mentally ill! 💟

My blog is supportive of bodies that are all colours, shapes and sizes! 🖤

My blog is open to/accepting of people of all religions! (so long as you don’t use religion as an excuse to harm others on my watch/in my space!) 💘

If you don’t like any of these ⬆️ things, my blog is not for you so ... leave?

🦋 If you feel the need to kick off in my asks/DMs about my opinions on wether or not certain people deserve to live their lives happily and comfortably, you’re gonna get blocked. 🦋

🌸 Yelling at me/verbally abusing me is NOT going to change my opinion. 🌸

I do not negotiate with racists, homophobes, exclusionists, transphobes, assorted garbage of other varieties. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Single, not currently in a dynamic and very much interested in making new friends/networking/talking shop with likeminded members of the kink community but I’d appreciate being spoken to like a human being who is your equal! 😡

🌷 I’m a service sub/pet (pup) and soft/service/caregiver domme in practice and I’m curious about cg/l, other types of pet play, primal and shibari if you’d like to chat about kink stuff 🌷

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[shaekingshitup]

Grindin

A/N: EEEPP. This is my first attempt at a reader insert. Reader is always gonna be black. I missed a many of days. Here is the day 3 prompt because I liked this idea! Kind of based off my favorite coffee shop. Maybe I’ll do more for this lil story? 💁🏿 The chime for the door is literally from this song here. 

Summary: Reader goes back home to open a coffee shop and meets a man that stirs some things in her. 

“I love the concept,” you commented, “ I know we were only interested in black and blue originally. But can you do a mock up with gold lettering as well?”

“YAS! THAT! I like THAT! exclaimed Ray

“Already done,” Lulu noted and pulled out a secondary growler mock up from behind the print that you were assessing.

“You know me so well,” you smiled.

“Yeah, your ass is kinda predictable” she smiled back which earned her a tongue out.

This was your first meeting of the month and so far everything was going great. You loved that you could live out your dreams with the two people you trusted more than anyone in the world. Lulu had been by your side since you both realized you were the only two Spelman freshmen who were both from Cali in your class.  By your second semester y’all were so inseparable that everyone thought you were sisters. And by year 2 you were already living together. Thank God y’all had separate interests which kept your friendship and now your business in a healthy and ever growing state. You were engrossed in the world of science. You had been a bio major who often volunteered at the local greenhouse. That helped you establish your small but busy coffee shop a year and a half ago. Lulu was a graphic artist whom also was in charge of all Grindin social media and the unofficial pastry taste tester. Ray had come along when the ladies were rooming together off campus. He was a community college to 4- year transplant at Clark Atlanta but the boy was born and raised in Macon, Georgia and he’d never let you forget it. It was evident that once he met the girls at a mixer in his first week, the friendship was a wrap. That spawned regular visits back to his parents’ homes on the weekends and even some holidays spent in the south. After graduation, the bond never broke. You and Lulu returned to Cali with Ray in tow so that he could use his business degree to help birth Grindin.

You glanced over to Sherell. The Brewista Lead for the morning shift. You knew that Sherell had been strugglin to keep up a healthy sleeping schedule with finals right around the corner and the nerves of her impending graduation from Lincoln. She was a sweet girl and you couldn’t stand to see her bare any more stress. You were so caught up in your thoughts about Sherell that you had missed the very clear topic change amongst your friends.

“Okay, but that nigga’s arms? They biggg. You know what that mean!” sad Ray pointedly at Lulu

“HA” she cackled, “ that don’t mean nothin’. My guy has really soft eyes and you know Y/N loves a guy who is easy on the eyes,” Lu quips

“Bitch, you see the caterpillar above those eyes? We don’t nee her birthin the next Helga Pataki in these streets”

“Ugh” you groaned as you rubbed your temple. “I don’t know how many times we have to have to do this but I do not under any circumstances want you two meddling in my love life,”

“But” they chorused.

“BUT NOTHING! Every human with an assumed penis and who looks like they got more than $150 in the bank becomes a contestant for your little game of ‘Win a Date with Y/N’! I run a coffee shop! Not a dating service. I’m done explaining shit to y’all. Stop harassing my customers and let my ass worry about who I am with! I mean that shit.”

“I told you we should have started addin females to the list,” whispers Ray as you walk over to the counter.

“Raymond Johnson the IV and Eyeluta Nicole Hathaway, if I hear one more word from either of y’all you both gone be banned from any pastries for the rest  of the month” you spat feeling like the unofficial mother of your group yet again. You took a deep breath and continued toward the counter. 

“Sherell, how’s it going?” you asked a you approached the register.

She sighed heavily.

“You know what? You need a break. Go in the back and relax your eyes a bit. I’ll man the front”

“Oh no. It’s really-“

You cut her off. “Get back there and relax a little. I think I know how to run a register,” you winked.

You were on the register and Antwon was pouring at the bar. You two were in a good rhythm. It was either bustling or there was one customer to tend to today. There didn’t seem to be any in between this morning. 

GRINDIN rang out as the next patron entered.

“Welcome!” Antwon called out as you were assessing the stock supply up in the floor.

When you turned around you were met with... Well, you weren’t quite sure how to describe him. Fine was an understatement. Standing six feet tall was a milk chocolate wonder with a physique that his dark turtleneck and three piece suit couldn’t hide.

Keep it professional y/n

Before you could even get a breath out he growled “Y’all really got Clipse playin every time the damn door open?” He said this with his eyes glued to his screen as if looking up was such a difficult feat to conquer at 7:32 a.m.

“Yeah. It’s a signature touch,” you responded to the stranger. At your voice, he looked up and offered a smirk that probably made most women collapse at first sight. You still hadn’t made up your mind though.

“I’m feelin it.”

“Is this your first time here? I’m more than welcome to answer any questions you have about the menu or the store in general” you offered.

“Nah. I’ve been in a time or two before. Never seen you before,” he very openly eyed you up and down, “I normally let my assistant handle this shit though, you know Miss… “

“Y/N. Well, since you’ve been here before then you’re familiar with our unique take on the menu.” you supplied.

“Yeah, y’all rotate teas and coffees quarterly. You seem to keep a few staples- which I ‘preciate and y’all got some corny ass names for these drinks too.”

You bristled a bit at that last part. “There’s nothing wrong with a little creativity.”

“Never said there was, Y/N” At this point you couldn’t tell if you wanted to serve this man or show him the door. You chose the professional route.

“So, what does your assistant normally bring you Mr…?” you trailed off

“Just Erik is fine. My favorite is the single origin. Black.  It’s always the best way to start my day.”

“Mine too.” you smiled. Maybe he isn’t so bad after all

“If you’re into the single origin and you love that bold, black, taste something similar with just a little more sweetness is Brew Thang.”

He chuckled. “See what I be saying about these names? How you expect a grown ass man to order a drink called ‘Brew Thang’?”

“It’s good. Once you have a taste, you won’t have a hard time getting it to roll of your tongue.” you sassed.

Oh fuck . I didn’t mean it like that. I gotta keep this professional. I don’t need a bad review from this guy.

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Oh really? Then lemme get a taste,” he said licking his lips. Your eyes widened slightly but he caught it. 

“Size?” you asked looking down at the tablet screen. 

“Large” he said with a bld and dark stare, “How much I owe you?”

“This one will be on the house. I want to make sure you’re satisfied.”

OH MY GAWD GIRL? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT IS COMING OUT OF YOUR MOUTH. PLEASE LEAD WITH YOUR HEAD AND LESS OF THE PUSSY

“Antwon, let’s switch. I’ll take the bar. You take the register!” You yelled out and quckly you two transitioned so that he could help the growing line of customer and you could bang out the drinks. Erik followed as you moved to the bar where he watched you work your magic. Once you were done pouring his drink you gave it to him. You got started not the next orders not the board but made sure to keep an eye on him as he took the first sip.  

“Fuck ma. This shit good” It was your turn to smirk. 

“That’s what I was trying to tell you. So now you’re hooked on the Brew Thang?”

“Oh yeah, I’m definitely satisfied.” You failed to hide your giggle as you called out that Ricky’s order was ready. Erik stuck around for a little after that inquiring about other menu items that you told him not be too quick to judge based on their names. The initial tension had dissolved and you two were in a comfortable rhythm of commenting on both the menu and the changes you’d seen in Oakland during the last few years. Thankfully there wasn’t a rush at the moment and it was fine for your to be off to the side of the bar answering any questions he could put forth. He was attentive to your passion regarding the menu and all that went into the shop as a whole.

“Hol up. You ain’t a barista. This is yo shit?”

“I prefer Brewista and yes. I do co-own this shop with my best friend Ray and we have a great Graphic Artist, Lulu, on deck too” The more he learned about you. The more he wanted to know.

“Okay Miss Entrepreneur. I see you. Damn, does that mean that you tha one that come up with these corny ass names then?”

You scowled playfully. “You keep talkin on my name and you gone catch these hands. I’m a professional. But I grew up on these streets. I can throw blows Erik,”

“My bad baby girl. I respect your grind.”

“Okay. So who really is the corny one here?”

“Whatever,” he smiled. A genuine smile with teeth and this made you want to melt right there. “Anyways, speaking of Brew Thangs, you got  a ni-“

His phone rang and he glanced down cursing. He put up his index finger and gestured that he just need one moment. You nodded your consent.

“What up T?”

In that time that he took his call, you looked up and saw that you had a line out the door. Sherrell came back out to the floor and your two were in a great rhythm getting through the 16 drink orders that had come up. When you looked up again, Erik was no where to be found. Now that the shop was stable you let Sherell do her thang and went into the back to re-convene with Lu & Ray.

“Y/N we need to get you an award for best employer. You really be out here goin the extra mile for your staff,” Lu said. You lifted the corner of your mouth in a weak attempt at a smile.

“Uh uh. Hoe what’s wrong?” Ray said noting your dejected spirt.

“Now? Now you listen to me?!” you yelled. “ALLL the time, I tell yo asses not to intervene in my love life and the one time it may have actually been beneficial y’all were no where to be seen!”

“I know she didn’t” Ray said.

“Yeah. She did” Lu, retorted. “I’m gonna ignore your funky attitude because I can see you’re going through something sis. What’s the deal?”

“I was talking to this guy. This man. And y’all he was so charming and sexy as hell and he wasn’t afraid to talk about shit that matters and I just turned away to make some drinks and he disappeared! I really thought he was gonna make a move. Or at the very least that you two would move in on him and make me sit through another awkward date. But nooooooo, you two finally decided to respect my wishes for once and now Imma die alone!” you monologued.

“You done?” Lu asked.

“Yes” you pouted.

“Aww come here baby,” Ray said with his arms outstretched, “I’m sure he’ll be back.” He hugged your frame tightly and rubbed some circles into your back. “Especially if you turned around when you were in front of him, cuz BABY GOT BACK!!” He yelled.

You and Lu laughed as he started smackin your ass and shakin his own. Soon enough you were all in the back twerkin like it was the first night y’all meet all over again. Hopefully he’d be back.

I’m sorry I forgot who to tag! Soooo if you got tagged and didn’t wanna be I’m sorry. The inverse is the same 😁

@twistedcharismaaa @raysunshine78

@ghostfacekill-monger @yoursoulstea 

@shewrites02 @sarcastic-sunshines

@thadelightfulone

[artisticestheticreads]

The Heat of Trinidad (1)

 A/N: IT’S M’BAKU SATURDAY!!!!!! This is the official first chapter of my very first M’Baku series. In this chapter, the leaders of Wakanda are sent to various locations to help make the world a better place. M’Baku is sent to a place way different from home but sees a vision for sore eyes. I hope y’all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

WARNING: none..yet

SONG RECOMMENDATION: Ola by Olatunji 

  It was a breezy, sunny day in Wakanda and in the Royal Palace, all the council members were in attendance. The Dora Milage stood in a neat, precise along with the Jabari Tribe. King T’Challa was on his throne with his ambassador and Prince of Wakanda, N’Jadaka, to his left and the Great Lord himself, M’Baku, to his right. M’Baku had no choice but to wear clothing supplied to him by the Wakandian seamstresses, to respect the elders. He sat there in a chocolate tone sweater, matching slacks and shoes made by Shuri herself. “Now, as I have said before, we need to help supply our brothers and sisters all over the world which is why the WPS will assign an agent into each and every part of major police departments to teach those dumb idiots how to actually protect and serve...for everyone”, N’Jadaka said as he stood with a hologram in front of him as he wore an all-black attire like M’Baku but his sleeves were rolled up and accents of gold throughout the shirt and loafers.

 T’Challa nodded, still seated and said “thank you, Prince N’Jadaka. Very good work.” N’Jadaka nodded and sat as T’Challa stood. “Council, as the King of our country, I will be assigning each official here to each part of the world to talk to each president, royal figure or whoever is in charge. Then in a few months, I will be going to the UN to finalize everything.” T’Challa looked around before looking at M’Baku who seemed bored out his mind. His heavy legs swung back and forth, wide apart and his arms rested on each armrest of his wooden chair. T’Challa stood with his hands behind his back and said “Lord M’Baku, would you like to proceed with plans?” When T’Challa sat, M’Baku watched him. He took a deep breath and sat up slightly, hands folded before standing.

  “Alright then, while we are gone the Queen Mother will be in charge until T’Challa is back. My tribe will stay behind to protect while the Dora Milage except for Oya will be with each one of us. Of course, the warriors will be back after flying us out. We have been randomly assigned to a different party in the world. According to Brother T’Challa, we will be there for a few months as we watch our assigned areas. He thinks it will be better if we get to know them as much as we can and report back to him the process of our agent’s work; before and after.” He slouched back into his seat and tilted his head towards the king. “Ah, well then. Princess Shuri has randomly selected through her database of each area and paired with each of us. She had no say so. Is this correct”, T’Challa said and Shuri nodded as she stood.

 “Each of our results will be transmitted from my lab to our beads telling us where we are headed off to tomorrow afternoon. Each one of our ships will be disguised as aircraft from each place so we won’t cause any unwanted attention. No need pack because since we have all your measurements, you will have supplied you all with everything you need. We won’t know where we will be until we are on our flights”, she said before sitting. T’Challa’s arms lied beside him when he asked “any questions”. He didn’t even get to finish because M’Baku interrupted. “With all due respect, why on Earth do we all need to go?” T’Challa looked at N’Jadaka and the prince explained “if T’Challa, Shuri and I all went alone it would take almost eight months to go to every part of the world. We need to help our fellow brothas and sistas fast before we become extinct.”

 M’Baku said “alright but why can’t we know where we are going now and why do we have to wait until we are onboard to know where we are going? I thought your ‘technology’ is ‘perfect’ and ‘efficient.” Shuri said “well since there is so many of us, the system might take a little longer. But no worries, the system also has matched each of us where it thinks we will fit best.” The meeting went on until M’Baku stood in front of the window; T’Calla and Erik walked to his opposite sides. “Looks like you not up for helping us out, brotha”, N’Jadaka noticed. M’Baku folded his arms and said “the last time we tried to help the world, half of the world was almost dusted. We should have stayed to ourselves.” T’Challa placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and said “well, you did help in the battle, brother. You provided Queen Mother a helping hand and did what you could.”

  M’Baku still stood there in thoughts as his brothers continued to talk. M’Baku hated change, he wasn’t sure why. He just did. That very night, he sat in his dining area alone eating dinner, all alone as usual. Being so, he was comfortable doing so. Once he was done with dinner, he showered and lied in bed in the nude as the cool mountain air kissed his skin, causing him to sleep. The next morning, a knock on his door woke him up. He stood from his bed and wrapped a towel around his waist before making his way. The knocking stopped once he opened the door to see one of the Dora Milaje and a member of the WPS, N’Jabu. N’Jabu was about twenty-four years of age, 6′1 and around 230 lbs. “Morning, Lord M’Baku. The Royal Family has given us your clothing for departure” the young man said handing him a wooden box. “We leave in an hour. We will be on the aircraft waiting.”

 With that, they left M’Baku to get dressed. Once he was back by his bed, he opened the box; it made him raise his brow, unamused. Meanwhile, T’Challa was in an all-black suit with a grey tie and black dress shoes outside the rides. Shuri was in orange camouflage pants with a black tank, jean jacket and skater shoes on his left. N’Jadaka wore a navy blue hoodie, jeans and Adidas Superstars with his dreads braided and grill in. M’Baku walked out and Shuri turned to greet him. “Good morning, Great Gorilla Brother.” T’Challa turned along with N’Jadaka who put his shades on. “Goddamn, that shirt is bright as hell, bruh.” Shuri laughed as she raised her beads up recording everything. “Peter and MJ have to see this.” M’Baku was in a bright red wife-beater with a pair of black swim trunks on and sandals.; his face serious and aggravated.

  “I do not find this funny. Not. At. All”, he walked towards them and looked down at Shuri, who still recorded. “Where in colonizer hell are we all going? I need to know why I am dressed like this.” N’Jadaka said “well, my results came in last night. I’m going to LA, again” with his hands in pockets. “Yeah, mine came in too. I will be in New York City with Nyla. She’s already there so yeah. And I might even get to hang with Peter and the crew as well”, Shuri said. “And, I and Okoye will be in Washington”, said T’Challa as Okoye stood behind in an all-black suit like the Secret Service. “Well, mine has not come in at all and I am highly disturbed.” Shuri rolled her eyes before signaling before going to her flight. M’Baku looked around at all the officials who bored and saw all the ridiculous clothing. 

Soon everyone boarded and buckled in. N’Jabu wore something similar to him and Laya wore a pilot uniform. M’Baku rubbed his temples as he sat still waiting for his results. “Lord M’Baku. Please prepare for take-off”, Laya said over the intercom and they were off. M’Baku sat back in his seat trying to look over at the window but found it difficult since he sat in the middle of the ship. N’Jabu sat in the corner reading in M’Baku’s eyes sight on the right. “What are you reading over there, young man”, he asked and his agent looked up. “Our manual for assisting the officiants, Lord M’Baku. Agent Nyla Miller wants to make sure we do our job correctly, sir.” M’Baku nodded and said “carry on” before he leaned on his right hand.

  Once he started to fall in a deep slumber, he heard his beads beep a few times. The lights flashed and generated as the ship changed to a plane aircraft and M’baku stood up, still watching and moving to the window seat available. Finally, the words were readable and his eyes squinted until he looked outside.”Trinidad and Tobago”, he said to himself. He looked to the view below and saw how clear it looked. The water was an ombre of teal, blue and aqua. The trees stood tall and so green he couldn't believe it. The plane landed on a private landing strip of the Piarco International Airport. Once they were safely down, the pilot announced “we have landed in bright and sunny Trinidad and Tobago. Good luck on your months here, Lord M’Baku and N’Jabu”; M’Baku did not want to leave that plane. 

  When N’Jabu and M’Baku left the plane, a short, older woman with a light complexion stood with a group of men, both secret service and to help with luggage. She wore a navy print skirt suit and her braids up and away from her face. “Hello, gentleman. I am Paula-Mae Weekes, the president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Welcome to our country, Lord M’Baku, and Agent N’Jabu.” She held out her hand to be shaken and they took it. “Lord M’ Baku, you and the Agent you have brought will be staying at one of the best-gated communities you have to offer. You both will have separate housing to yourselves for your stay.”

“Thank you, President Weekes. It is a pleasure to be sent here instead of the US and having to meet their ‘president’.” She softly smiled and said “yes. I bet it is. Now, let us drop you off so you can get used to the country and all we have to offer.” The men began to pack their things in the car and as the President gave them a tour, M’Baku all the murals around town. “I see you like art. Every mural is done by one of this country’s best artists, Rae, and the youth’s art group. You may see them around from time to time.”

“Rae, I like that. Strong name. Very good. Very good.”

  They soon arrived to see a one-story yellow home with white roofing a nice cut green grass. There were shrubs around with a garden of yellow dandelions next to the entrance. M’Baku looked around to see everything so bright and lively; he saw the change and despised it but kept a poker face. “Okay, the front home will be for the Lord and the back home is all yours, N’Jabu.” N’Jabu bowed his head to the president and they thanked her before she left. M’Baku walked into his new for the next few months and saw the dark-toned kitchen that was completely different from the outside. The tile was an onyx marble against the oak hardwood island and countertop.  He checked the cupboards to see red and white dishes already washed and stacked.

  The drawers below had plenty of silverware for a family of five and tools for baking and cooking all alike. He walked around to find the study, very calming and nature-filled with ferns in every corner of the room. The bathroom had an earthy tone as well with wasabi shade on the walls and accents of brown and gold essentials around. When he went into the bathroom where all his luggage was, he walked into see a cream wall color surrounding him but what caught his eyes was the bed. It was a tall canopy with sheer, cream drapes around it. The bed itself looked like it can hold three of him and he gave a side smirk. 

   His kimono beads lit golden shade which indicated that N’Jadaka was calling. “Hello, brother N’Jadaka. How is Los Angeles so far”, he asked settling in the plush sheets. “Ah, man. Just like what I remember. So, I see ya made it. Where did they send you?”

“Trinidad and Tobago.”

“Ah, man. That’s way different than the mountains, big man. Ya think you can handle it?” M’Baku stood at the back window looking out to see the big tall trees and a pool in the pavement. “I can manage”, he responded with a smirk. He decided to sleep the entire day and get to know Trinidad better the next. He showered after his call with the Prince and lied in the nude, falling asleep like he usually did.

  The next morning, his eyes open to the curtains blowing inwards. The air was humid yet relaxed him. He slowly stood, every muscle at attention and stretched his limbs. Making his way to the bathroom, the Lord looked into his closet to see a buttondown shirt with various colors and beige shorts. He rolled his eyes but decided to just get it over with. After his morning routine, he dressed up and realized that the shirt looked like too much; he unbuttoned it to show off his body. He looked into the mirror to see the outfit and was impressed, didn’t look too bad but who was he kidding. He is M’Baku, he makes everything look good. 

   He slipped on the shoes Shuri gifted him to match any outfit by simply scanning the garment and matching it; the pair changed to a red tone. He looked over to the vanity and saw a wooden box. The note was in Xhosa but he read it in English. “Can’t have you lookin’ like anyone else. Thank me later. -The Prince of all Princes.” He rolled his eyes as he opened the box and saw a gold, thin chain with an ankh dangling from it. His eyebrow rose and he held it in his hand. He placed the jewelry on saw that it actually made his copper skin shimmer and pop.

   He decided to walk into town where President Weekes gave them a tour. He walked amongst the many of people. Whether they were short or tall, plump or skinny, light or dark, the all looked they belonged on the island. He walked over to a mural of Mother Nature with an afro and tending to animals. He had to admit it was an impressive piece of art. Once he looked around the corner, he saw a group of children in baggy clothing, covered in paint walking somewhere. He went back to looking at Mother Nature when he heard the most beautiful voice ever. Her voice was so soft and her accent was so soothing. “Okay, children. I loved all the colors each one of ye has chosen’. What do ya tink we should call it, eh?” All the little hands went up and she looked to see who to chose. She saw a lighter complexion child and chose her. “I tink we should call it, um, ‘Aura’.” The older 5′10 woman looked to the painting and said “Aura? Mandy, that is beautiful.”

“Mine was better, Miss Rae”, a little boy spoke up and she placed her hand on her wide hips. “Is dat right? And what was the name you came up with, hm, Randal?” The liitle boy shrugged and said “colors”; the group laughed and Miss Rae shook her head, smiling. “Silly boy. Maybe next time. I guess that will do for today, everyone. Go ahead to the bus and they will take ye back to the center while I clean up. See ye all tomorrow.” She waved to the class as the driver navigated them on the bus and drove off. She stood alone with her arms folded stepping away from the piece. 

  Rae wore a pair of jean overalls that had the straps down, a mustard yellow turtleneck muscle tee and her Converse were covered in paint, legs as well.  She took a tiny paintbrush from her deep pockets and dipped in the black paint before climbing the on to the ladder. M’Baku walked slowly to her, just watching. Her skin was bronze, golden like the most desired treasure known to man. Her bone structure was so precise with a slight extra chin underneath. The apple of her cheeks was so adorable and raised when she smiled slightly. With her hair pulled pack into a low bun, he can observe her features more. He walked to stand behind her, noticing the slight sag of her heavy breasts. As he stood behind her, he noticed the thickness of her thighs, the fluffiness of her bottom and the slight jiggle in her arms.

  When he looked up to see her painting, he met her dark orbs and she looked down at him. The sun above cast a halo around her head. “Can I help ye”, she asked and he stood frozen. She placed her brush behind her ear and stepped down to look at him. “Hello, sir. Are ye lost or someting?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am. I just saw you were painting and jus thought I watch you work. It is very beautiful.” She nodded and looked him up and down. “Tank you. I’m Raelyn but everyone calls me Rae”. She held out her hand to be shaken and he did so. “My name is-” She held her hand up and said “I know who ye are. Ye are Lord M’Baku of Wakanda.” He looked to her and said “how did you know that?”

“I do watch TV, Sir M’Baku. The president announced it last week.”

“So, how come people are not all over me? I’m used to people doing as such.” She looked around and said “maybe because ye look like one of us. Ye could easily just be another islander. That should be a good thing. Ye don’t unwanted attention.” He looked to her with a slight shrug. “Well, since ye want to watch do ye mind holding the ladda fuh me”, she asked as she climbed back up and he placed his arms to secure it more with his foot. “What are you doing to the painting if you don't mind me asking?”

“I’m usin’ black paint to outline what the kids did to make their colors pop more. It makes it look cleaner and more polished. I do this to every mural they create then it becomes a whole picture.” He watched as she continued and something in his gut asked why is she so beautiful? “So, Miss Rae, you work at the youth center? What is that like?” She looked down as she still painted and said “I love art. I love kids so it’s a dream to do this. Molding their minds to become bright and wise individuals.” And she loves children and art, just the perfect woman. “Your partner must be very proud.” 

“If that is ya way of asking if I am attached to someone, I am not.”

“Oh really? Why?”

   She looked back to him as she stepped down and said “ye know. For a ‘Lord’, ya ask a lot of questions” with a tilt of her head and squinted eyes. “I am a very curious person. I like to know how things work.”

“Well, curiosity killed the cat.”

“Maybe I care like any other person, Lady Rae.” She turned to clean up and retract her ladder before stepping to him. “Ya know, M’Baku. My mudda has always told me that there is a difference between caring and being nosey.” She started to walk to her black pick up truck, packing everything inside as he watched. “How can I see you, again? I mean when can I see you again?” She turned to him with a straight face and said “don’t worry. Ye will find me, only if it’s meant to be.” She walked over to her driver’s side, honked her horn once and drove off. He looked over to the painting to see she had painted a woman with her hands out to her hands out and eyes to the sky. He wondered how can she be this extraordinary then said to himself “I need to see her again.”

~

*𝒯𝒜𝒢𝒢𝐸𝒟 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸𝒮*

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[thestrippershateyou]

Serious in-good-faith questions I honestly have for radfems that never get answered when I post them

- What are your thoughts on the female-dominated community of fanfiction? If any of you have ever been on Ao3, you know that it’s absolutely FULL of blatant porn. They even have filters in their advance search for “under age” and “rape/non consensual”. This is a female-dominated community and yet you all think it’s only men creating this kind of content, you only ever talk about or go after men, and you only ever talk about or go after actual porn sites.

- What are your thoughts about any female directed and exclusively female acted violent or rape fantasy porn, particularly amateur such porn not financially backed by male-owned studios? (Do not insult my intelligence or yours by claiming it doesn’t exist. I want a real anwer.)

- What are your thoughts on non violent, non rapey regular vanilla porn made by women and starring only women? Take the porn movie The Gift made by the lesbian rapper Young MA for example. All female, all lesbian, all clearly consensual. Is this acceptable porn even though it’s produced by PornHub? 

- What about your thoughts on companies/studios like MakeLoveNotPorn which produce amateur porn by consenting couples of various sexualities who are often marginalised people, disabled people, and people who aren’t conventionally attractive according to patriarchal standards and which aim to show real sex with real couples instead of unhealthy, abusive, or dangerous practices with impossible standards. They also compensate their performers fairly. What are your thoughts on this?

- What are your thoughts on porn producers like PornHub doing humanitarian  work with the money they make? (Note: I’m not asking if this excuses violent porn on their sites. I’m asking specifically what your thoughts about their humanitarian work are. Is the work somehow less humanitarian because they make money on porn? What about people who accept their charity, are they less moral in your eyes? Should these companies not be allowed to do humanitarian work at all?) For those that don’t know and don’t want to google, PornHub has an $25k scholarship program for women in STEM that does not involve doing sex work to apply for, a sex ed website that’s actually really great education about safe and healthy sex and not pornographic at all, has partnered with porn stars’ charities to fight against domestic violence, and very frequently does charity drives for nature such as for whales, trees, and pandas. 

- What are your thoughts about female domination porn? Specifically where the violence is 100% inflicted on straight men by women. Really, what are your thoughts on the entire kink of female domination of submissive men and, separately, your thoughts on female domination of submissive women?

- You think that nakedness for pay should be eradicated but what are your thoughts on nude art models? Especially since many of you have some form of nude art on your blogs. Centuries ago courtesans were common models. Even if they were clothed, they got paid to model because they were known as courtesans and not because they were random women the artist found attractive. Today, many beginner artists are advised to go to strip clubs to practise figure drawing because it’s a source of varied models who quickly change poses. I’ve personally had customers pay to draw me while I’m on stage. Even outside strip clubs, figure drawing classes pay their undraped models. As for art made from stock photos....that’s still a naked model getting paid. Should women be allowed to do this work? Should men?

- What’s your end game with banning sex work? Did you think through what it would take to ban the oldest industry in the world? You’ll need governments surveilling bedrooms, hotels, night clubs, cars, etc. You’ll need all instant messaging services watched. You’ll need all phones (text and voice), cloud storages, and webcams subjected to government observation. You’ll have to have governments staging inquiries into every person who sends a nude photo to some else to find out if money or favours were exchanged between those people and if that exchange was for the photos. You’ll have to look into all marriages to determine if one party is receiving financial compensation for the marriage and even then how would you confirm if a stay at home spouse was effectively a sugar baby or not? You MUST know you’ll never ban sex work without every government in the world on board. And governments do many of these things already but it’s almost universally agreed that it’s a cruel invasion of privacy that shouldn’t be legal. Do you really think these things are acceptable methods, especially when it comes to consenting sex workers? How do you think the world will function in the wake of the measures that would be needed to eliminate sex work?

- In a hypothetical post sex work world, how would you feel about people charging for sex or sexual activities because they are exhibitionists or have a fetish for large amounts of money/wealth? (And, before anyone asks: No, I am not an exhibitionist and I don’t have a money fetish. I do sex work because I need a job that I like and I like it for entirely non sexual reasons. I’m merely asking because I’m curious as to what the answer would be) Should the wealthy be the only ones allowed to do this since they, presumably, are the only ones who couldn’t possibly be coerced through a need for money? 

- How do you reconcile being gender critical with not being okay with people who transition to being agender/non binary/genderless/etc and use they/them pronouns? (I’m sure some of you are okay with this, but I know for a fact that a large chunk of you aren’t) 

- Do any of y’all have thoughts on trans men at all? I haven’t ever seen radical feminists talking about trans men. Why? 

- Explain to me how exactly you plan to implement gender separatism in a way that isn’t a crime against humanity and what you think the end game of it will be. Also explain to me how you think it will stop men from objectifying women instead of just pushing men away to objectify women somewhere else.

- What are your thoughts on women who use things generally deemed bad for feminism in ways they find useful or empowering? Women who tightlace corsets* for EDS or to specifically have an unnatural body shape well beyond anything that’s patriarchy approved? Women who wear make up to have preternatural features such as scales or elven features or to hide birth marks or injuries that might bring them unwanted attention other wise? Are these women welcome in your feminism? (*I know corsetry wasn’t ever patriarchy approved. I am, in fact, aware of that. But they’re considered symbols of female oppression by the less informed and are often used as examples of horrible things men have done to women by feminists.) What are your thoughts on men wearing make up and corsets even for traditional reasons?

[hockey-jews]

For anyone who wants to learn more about Judaism! Also, kind of a post about how to deal with some Things and Stuff. This is a long post so I’ll put it under a read more for those interested:

This is really for an anonymous message I got that described struggles with things that I think many of us struggle with or have in the past: not being “Jewish enough” in the eyes of other Jews due to your heritage being on the “wrong” side (read; on your father’s side), yet still experiencing antisemitism from goyim. Not learning very much, if anything, about Judaism as a child but wanting to learn more as an adult. Not being comfortable with some traditions or laws of Judaism because you are a) a feminist b) LGBT c) an atheist. Living in a place with few to no Jewish spaces. Not feeling welcome in the Jewish community due to any or all of these things. 

Book recs!

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys reading (or can at least tolerate it) I highly recommend these books! They’re all books that I have either read/started reading/or plan on reading. (Please keep in mind that none of these are Jewish texts such as the Torah or the Talmud and that I do understand the importance of such religious texts but am not recommending them because I feel those are obvious sources of information)

A Bride for One Night if you aren’t familiar with the Talmud, it’s a collection of writings and explanations of Jewish laws and traditions and it’s old as balls. The author of this book, Ruth Calderon, takes a bunch of Talmudic stories and makes them into these wonderful beautiful stories that are easier to read than the original ones from the 3rd and 6th centuries. Even if you don’t know anything about the Talmud this book is so fascinating and fun to read. 

The G-d Who Hates Lies is literally perfect for you if you have issues with how women are viewed and treated in the most traditional sense of Judaism. It’s a really great criticism by people who are extremely qualified to make those criticisms (both are rabbi’s and I think they both have doctorates in theology, specifically Modern Orthodox Judaism, which makes for a really cool viewpoint). I can’t find anything about the third author of this book, who is a woman, but it’s comforting to know that a woman had a part in this as well. Obviously these people love Judaism, they just want to see it adapt to modernity. Just in general it’s a really thoughtful book that challenges dogma. 

Jewish Literacy was recommended by an anon (thank you!) The rest of the title is “The Most Important Things to Know about The Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History” so like. Ya get what ya see here folks. HOWEVER I did see a review that mentions there is some Islamophobia and hostility towards Jews who are antizionist. It does genuinely look informative and I haven’t read it myself so I can’t attune to whether or not that review is accurate, but maybe be cautious if you read this in knowing that the author may not be objective. 

Book of Mercy made me openly weep and feel something tender and weird in my heart and like. Okay so it’s not informative so much as it’s a book of poetry by Leonard Cohen (he was Jewish if you didn’t know!) He calls his poems “modern psalms” and honestly this would be a good read even if you aren’t religious at all because his writing is just so gorgeous. But it does have references to Judaism and his identity as a Jew 

Understanding Judaism is really a “building blocks” kind of book to me, if that makes sense? It’s really informative but also really basic and is fantastic for people who know very little about Judaism or just want a well presented understanding of the core aspects of the Jewish religion. Even if you aren’t a Jew who’s looking to learn or someone who is considering conversion it’s still a good book if you’re interested in world religions regardless of your faith or lack thereof. (man I’m starting to sound pretentious lmao I just mean like, if you’re an atheist or Catholic or whatever, it’s pretty interesting and also this guy is kinda dorky-funny so it makes for an easier read than some other books about religion)

Shmooze I think this is meant to be more for a group to read an discuss, and like, also maybe meant for a younger audience (I’m talking about teenagers so not really that young, but if you’ve been reading dull infodumps by 90 y/o Jewish rabbis with doctorate degrees this is gonna be a change of pace lmao) I should mention that I’ve only read like two pages of this book because I saw it at Barnes and Noble and just kinda briefly checked it out so I don’t know a ton about it but it stuck in my head and the reviews look positive so 

Obvious I don’t think you have to read all of those because I haven’t even read all of those so maybe just check one of them out if it seems like it could be helpful to you. 

Judaism here on tumblr dot com:

Okay so like. This is really my personal diced onion so take it however you will but keep in mind that this really only reflects things I’ve come across and how I feel. 

Obviously there are a lot of really great blogs about Judaism but I don’t have any specific ones to recommend I’m sorry :O I really really hate ~Discourse~ and like, in-depth arguments about the Holocaust because I get so wrapped up in it and let’s be honest, tumblr is all about the discourse and ignorance. That being said, I like to follow other people who are Jewish and blog about whatever because that usually leads to safer discussions and also is a great way to find really helpful thoughts and discussions by other Jews about topics like being LGBT, being a woman, being an atheist, etc. These are just nice to read and also if you aren’t familiar with certain Yiddish or Hebrew terms that are commonly used it’s a good way to see how and when they’re used in certain contexts. 

I’m going to tag anything like this that I post here as “good info” just so me and anyone who wants can find this stuff easier. No they won’t necessarily have anything to do with hockey. 

Also please be very careful when you’re reading a post that is presenting certain things as facts, always double check what someone is saying because misinformation is spread so quickly, and it’s almost always unintentional. The things that I find genuinely helpful/safe/fun involve opinions, common feelings and experiences, little personal stories and jokes, cool stuff like that. 

I’m Jewish on my father’s side :0

Me too boo. Unfortunately that’s an unending discussion, and one that is often held by matrilineal Jews and doesn’t actually include patrilineal Jews, nor does it consider our thoughts/feelings/experiences. Without sounding like an idiot, it is absolutely buckwild to me that there are people who have been raised Jewish, have never known anything other than Jewish tradition, have been subject to antisemitism, but still aren’t considered Jewish. 

And then this is where I see matrilineal Jews who hold this viewpoint bring up Reform Judaism, which is one of the three main branches of Judaism and does recognize patrilineall Jews as Jews. I’ve seen some discrepancy as to whether or not patrilineal Jews had to have been raised Jewish in order to be considered Jewish. This is all well and good for Jews like me whose family practices Reform Judaism, but for patrilineal Jews who wish to practice in an Orthodox or Conservative synagogue, it gets tricky. 

Basically, yes this is a huge topic that inspires a lot of disagreement, and that sucks, but here’s what it comes down to. No one else is allowed to make you feel inferior because of your heritage. So many people, even modern Orthodox Jews, recognize that certain aspects of Judaism need to adapt to today’s society. I don’t want to offend anyone here, but I really do feel that most matrilineal Jews who don’t consider us Jewish are extremely hypocritical (for a lot of reasons but mostly like...y’all really follow every aspect of Jewish Law? Like do you really? All of it? Girl do u? Or are you maybe just being elitist). Learning about your heritage, talking about shared experiences, combating antisemitism, these are all things that are fair game for you (especially for the anon who said they were atheist) and going to Shabbat services, praying, participating in holy days. That’s all yours if you want it, bubbeleh. 

Can I be an atheist Jew?

Sure you can! I, personally, am not an atheist so I wasn’t comfortable finding specific resources about this because I don’t really know much about it? It’s fine with me if you’re atheist that’s none of my business, I just don’t want to direct you to a bad source. But yes, many Jews are atheist, many are secular, I’m sure there are many here on tumblr. It’s absolutely okay, Judaism is an ethnoreligion, and while you may experience Judaism different than the rest of us, you’re still a Jew and still belong. 

Here’s an excerpt from a short lil synopsis of Judaism:

These three connotations of Judaism as a monotheistic system, as a literary tradition, and as a historical culture are sometimes viewed separately. For example, there are Jews who see themselves as culturally Jewish, but who are also non-religious or atheist, often identifying more strongly with Jewish “peoplehood” than with traditional understandings of God and Torah. Even so, all Jews would recognize that these three points of reference have shaped and guided Jewish experience through the ages.

Jewish “peoplehood” that they talk about is like. Culture, customs, food, art, history, etc. 

One last little note on this, you’ll hear a lot that Judaism focuses more on actions than on beliefs. This is an excellent article that is pretty short and worth reading that I want to include because I think that even if you don’t believe in G-d or even if you are seriously questioning, the focus on just. Doing good. Actively doing good things and trying to be a good person (I know that’s objective but bear with me) is a such a huge part of Judaism that you can try to incorporate into your life without having to subscribe to any sort of dogma or beliefs that you don’t hold. “Judaism is certainly a faith-based tradition. Belief in G-d is central to our religion. It just isn’t a prerequisite. If you are Jewish, you are so regardless of belief.” 

But I’m a feminist....

As you should be. This is probably another personal statement you gon’ wanna take with a grain of salt, but I think Judaism, especially in the last 50 years or so, has made huge strides in this. Especially Reform Judaism, but that kind of goes without saying. 

Example, my synagogue was founded as a Conservative synagogue. Our website still says we are. I’m not actually sure tbqh, like I said, my family are Reform Jews, and so are most other families in our congregation I think but this is literally the only synagoge for like hundreds of miles so. Anyways our rabbi is female (Rabbi Shaina!) and she does great work, we all love her. She’s really adament on teaching kids that gender shouldn’t keep you from anything, that Judaism is for all Jews, that it should enhance our lives. She wears a tallis, lays her tefillin, and reads from the Torah. 

My point here is that while this isn’t like, the end of misogyny in Judaism as we know it, it’s still a big deal in most religions to have a woman as their religious leader, essentially a position of religious power. For men to accept a woman as a religious leader is not something that is super common in most religions. And we’re like, a tiny congregation over a hundred miles away from anyone else, technically a Conservative synagogue, that’s super loving and accepting of a feminist running our shit... female rabbis are super common and I think it speaks a lot to how we’re progressing as a religion. Reform Judaism is going to be your best bet when it comes to tolerance but knowing that all three of the main branches are progressing, at least with this, is really comforting to me. 

However, that’s an extremely one sided view and doesn’t really show the issue as a whole. This super short article (? not sure) is a bit pessimistic in my mind but presents the other side of things and gives a good explanation of the traditional sources of misogyny in Judaism, so this could further your understanding as well. 

By no means are we perfect but we’re workin on it. Look into Jewish Feminism though, if you have the time. That article is just a lil intro to the topic. 

I’m Q*eer/LGBT and I’m not sure y’all are gonna be cool with that...

Well this one’s a doozy. 

I’ll kick this right off by presenting an article that is objective and does not reflect the author’s opinion, just lays out the issues at hand. It also has some links to other good pieces, including one cool story about a transgender man, Rafi Daugherty, embracing his role as a father and details his experience with pregnancy and giving birth. I should mention that I am cisgender so I’m interpreting this article through a different point of view, but it really does make a point of celebrating Rafi and his daughter and sharing their story. It does include a little cultural background context, but this is a positive story that I think deserves to be shared :) 

Then there’s this statement from the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism that confirms its absolute acceptance and support of LGBT Jews. 

On the other side of things, there are still homophobic and intolerant Jews. Conversion camps were not just a Christian thing, there were Jewish conversion camps as well, which is horrific. Idk what to say because I think homophobia and transphobia in Judaism is really similar to what you would find in Christian settings. 

I’m bisexual and I feel completely welcomed by other Jews who know this about me, and I certainly don’t feel any less Jewish because of it. 

I live in a place where Jewish spaces are rare.

I really hate to disappoint with this one but I don’t have any specific sources or anything like that. Alls I got to say is that’s why the internet is so great? I really don’t feel like that’s helpful at all, but I think for the most part, the Jewish side of tumblr is pretty accepting and welcoming. Obviously that’s not always gonna be true though idkdjaskfl;dj

I spose with this one I wanna encourage anyone who has any good resources for involvement or something like that to reply to this post or drop by my inbox and let me know! Or maybe just your thoughts on some Jewish spaces you’ve encountered? 

I hope this was helpful

In conclusion, don’t let anyone make you feel less Jewish. Your sexual identity, gender identity, and even your belief in G-d doesn’t take away from your Jewishness. I’d like to say that since I started delving into Judaism a little more I’ve found a lot of peace. And yeah that sounds cliche and also vague but it’s really a breath of fresh air to learn about my family and know more about this community. Also if you’re comfortable with or willing to try prayer, even if you’re atheist, it can be a good way to decompress sometimes, a really therapeutic kind of way to voice your thoughts and feelings and reflect on them. 

There’s so much information and culture to delve into but it’s so so worth it to learn and I’m really happy for you that you’re interested in getting more in touch with your Jewish roots. 

If any of these links don’t work and you’d like to see them let me know!

[orchiddshop]

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I got a Vintage Truck Yeah Mother Trucker T Shirt lot of PayPal will ship they would know they would know things about your child’s medical history in order to know about your child’s medical history in order to determine the value of your child on the market not to mention my baby was exotic as I’m I’m black and Indian Guyanese makes an mom is half black and half Puerto Rican so my daughter is a beautiful brown color is beautiful curly brown hair it’s a short she’s she’s an amazing get and knowing that I have a daughter that looks this way I understood the necessity for me to have to protect her with my life you mean because I light skinned I spent my whole life treat my finger like shit now God gave me a light skinned daughter I have to protect the child with my and I did that and I paid a steep price for but she still here and motherfuckers are still trying to take my daughter from I’m still being targeted and now using my own fucking family to try to do but that’s a whole other story and Danny golf line either. The cost met with over 200 oncologist in cancer research centers and I’m asking what is what made clear the way for where we and impediment is determined not going to walk away and tell there is real change this is a truly bipartisan issue so the leaders in this effort in the House and Senate Republicans as well as Democrats is been pushed to the edge of what anyone be expected to bear hauling correction of my cancer your man is you have experienced tragedies in our life and we are inspired by the way that you have responded to announce every single family American has been affected by cancer and we’re so close one wrong believe Anita shot this country to cure cancer is person but I know we can do there are so many breakthroughs just arise we can make them real absolute national committee are Democrats and Republicans on the Hill who share our silence this deadly disease by community one because it’s possible I before we continue with tonight’s program I want to thank everyone who has made this unprecedented. Oh shit is a disease like is will work for me all night thing about this now is like hold onto a say good things are bad things about her I don’t remember because if you if if they if they either don’t say anything at all about him or say positive things he likes them but they’ve said anything negative about them publicly will attack on and nine letter and good is Elton John playing in the back on his piece is just at a rally rally okay also was always be a good president right now this is a good president church because he decided to be positive about it do I mean obviously I want a an amazing woman you with an amazing woman and I made the music on makes me sad to be configured as amazing as you consider raising is so you will trying to think of something else that he doesn’t know many other descriptive words he has positive and ones UL very bad valuable to terminals are so sad yeah it’s another one is really good at making up this is for people’s names though honestly I like being up being a bully he’s in that’s like it’s about elementary school level though is that you so very much

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Glide the twin cam I would rates for leonine or attend in the heart soul category even if we have more that classic Harley Davidson feel that hey there’s no question on high Davidson motorcycle whereas the Northgate took away a Vintage Truck Yeah Mother Trucker T Shirt little bit of that elementand take it all away you still select Harley when you have a Milwaukee eight just took away some of that raw tackle feeling in the high Davidson writing experience so you still have a lot of the classical look in linesand feeland simplicity in engineering that people want in a Harley high quality fitand finish the bags to fairing areas really high quality that paints is very very good so that still ranks very high on in my chartingand my ratings in the fitness category that’s again the Milwaukee eight has kinda refined some of what I know people like in the classic feel of a Harley Davidson last category is the manufacturerand this is kind of just my overall score for the bike is like an average of the other scores is how I feel about this bikeand the total packageand a sum of all the parts combined the street that is just a great overall Harley Davidson it’s one of the top selling bikes right now take the number one seller in our dealershipand sent it nine 2006 that has been is one of Harley Davidson’s top sellers it sold so good that a lot of other manufacturers have basically just made their street guide copy to you to capitalize on how popular this type of cruiser is right nowand I put my money where our mouth is I’ve bought two of these things at this point I just I love the streetlight it’s a great bike as far as your tall guys a touring chassis bike is great for taller guys could spread yellow the little bit moreand so Jan given the spike in nine is like my final score for the streak I love it I saidand I just got off the that you bikes the 2016 streetlight special with the state for onceand in the brand new 2019 with the stock 14 cubic in Milwaukee a so it’s it’s always interesting although I in both of these two engines 1 million times it’s always interesting going from one to the other jests how modernand I know this word gets over use the lobby how refined the new Milwaukee eight is everything from the class to the power delivery to the way that the mannerisms of the engine are in everything between cam really is more that make old school mechanical machinery feel to itand in the Milwaukee eight is an the whole debate in of itself as to which one is better get some of Andrew’s thoughts on this Bible bike back to backand Iand youand am thankful that youand asking about the canal in a letter like Matt said that the characteristics each motorand many have more of the refined obviously that the clutch is a lot smootherand more crass your sibling is a lot more crisp you have less mechanical noise on the Milwaukee eight the power delivery on each of him I feel like the 114 a little better because it’s more top end powerand that’s what I like having common powers on a touring bike going into long distance I like having more that I think that’s where no I mainly live is six yearand having device to my post I having as stage 41070 114 Billand writing about 110 three 114 my I like that the way the 114 belt players like the way mine puts power the ground can be in here is where I feel I power you know from 4000 RPM all the way up to 6500 pages is really hardand feeling notice that classic machinery feeling to know it has a more sporadic sound like that I have the one 17 inches just easement 17 my streetlightand I would be like my perfectly best of both worlds I got streetlight on catalog so bike with about between the two I feel like you get more of low end from from the 110 ties out so to speak as opposed to the 114 it’s torque not as it is a come on as low as the RPM has the once does but a what it does comeand you feel it more towards the RPMand holds the sensation that he keeps going you feel that power really on it but yeah just just knowing the characteristics doing both motors you feel more that poll high rpm Milwaukee eight yeah toes yeah I would plan to these new shift gearsand you feel that you the polar mimetic falls off a little bit as opposed to the blockade at doesn’t really decliningand doesn’t hire RPM rangeand then you shift gearsand that builds up againand it you just feel that linear poll on the diet obviously to be a twin cam touring bike go stage 4107 built more like a bill 114 I don’t three 114and probably do stage II on it if you want to go crazy to stage LIII or four stage 4117 read written about 117 walkie 85 I love to see how this three 114 handles with a tort laminate apples from the factory I mean it’s it’s pretty good but I’m so used to my bill 114 that is a lot harderand more got a response I love how they integrated information how all this lets the layout altitude that in air temperature is more informative shows your timerand then date from the last service distance inside 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Harris as our next vice president you know it comes from people all over the country’s already occurring all over the country all ideological views all backgrounds events of course we are predictable some of them become small over except of course Donald Trump’s White House and his allies y’all knew was coming because set your watches to down jump is already started his attacks calling quote nasty whiny about how she is quote mean to his appointees is no surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best in any president in American history is anyone surprised down Trump is a problem for the strong women are strong women across the board we know the more succumb for less be clear if you’re working person See Other related products: Bird Raven Skull Attempted Murder Vintage Retro T-Shirt

[ddreamsinc]

                                        Forget Their RACISM?

We can not forget because just as the results & mistake of welcoming our enemies back into powers after The Civil War & allowed them to continually push their evil agenda without stamping it out but grow into what we see today.

Over 70 million of you demonic people voted for this mess this year. You “spiritual leaders” went so far as to even tell you that God put him as “president” & I agree, God did allow him to win, but only to expose you. As you now have been exposed.

Lil Wayne, 50 cent, & other black celebrities have not only gotten their Black Card revoked, but also their money would have echos in their pockets, black people would not buy, watch, listen, read, nor respect them anymore. 

I guess they have to rely on the very people who hate their skin to do those things for now & on. They chose their money & their fame over black people. 

The most hated in the hood is a snitch or a sellout. They sold out & soon the American people who show everyone who supported this mess, would soon know.

Yes, they have 70 million followers still to be their customers, but there are 325 million of us in total, so if I can get the others better money & healthier foods & medical care & healing & knowledge to get things done without using white supremacy systems to do it, then cause some of that 70 million to see value in not supporting racism. If it is not too late. Read your Bibles.

But 325 million means some of y’all still didn’t vote. I lean more on the side that “I ain’t voting because it just a waste of time blacks & others but not the racist. S true racists would chance a rally & catching a deadly virus to express his or her joy of racism. 

No there were the other forms of “Notgros”. I would get into that at a later date.

That 70 million who did? but I can’t trust you nomo.

If I can’t turn my back or close my eyes around you without you being a supporter of the same people who hung my people for saying & doing & rapping & drawing & inventing 

& creating platforms so people could become a business & hire themselves & 2 more with 7 kinds of professionals helping them run that new business 

& turning my first customers into rich people after a successful selling of that item sold in that first sale with a uniquely numbered pin from that clubs created & after a specific date & over 100 billion times in transaction to make them rich or richer from it 

& helping smaller churches get tithes from their alumni member’s kids from another city or nation.

& releasing a boycott app to that would get equality in the private sector business 

& uniting the money my company earns from its capitalism into socialist chains of businesses for free services to the community a facility is set up in. & uniting blacks, brown, yellow, red, & white voters to take bosship over of our company called The United States of America with petitions & boycotts of the lobbying firms other businesses as a group.

It was my nobody vlog is why the people of 2017 wanted me dead & with projects like these, how can you expect me to be silly again? The2HKOPs will be the result & it helps me solve 2 things that troubled me.

One, they didn’t pay our soldiers, agents, & police right. Not for the life to value the job & it is why I turned down the service in the first place. They didn’t pay right, so one day soon, I could do my parts to fix that by these P/T employees of a nonprofit will be paid $1.5 million with 6 months on & 6 months off, since $1.5 million isn’t near close to their Life2Value, so give more time off. 

Two, I don’t need security. I did tell you: “God blocked bullets”, so me getting security will saying to Him, “I don’t trust you God to protect me” & I do TRUST HIM, so I don’t need security but I do need people to do security like jobs like Attorneys, Accountants, Private Investigators, Cyber Security, Data Security, Bail Agents, Bounty Hunters, Bouncers, Bodyguards for (High Ranking BOSSICOLs), Estate, Chef, Maids, Gardeners, Nannies, Doctors, Nurses, Mechanic, & Boss Security for Lower Boss Levels Boss Operations per State as their detail.

Expensive? Yes, but my job? If your daddy gave you his bank card & said go & buy & create good stuff so that it would help the people on planet Earth” & His bank account size is unlimited, would you do it?

Me too & so The 7$’s Plan by TheDdreamsInc it is. 

If I can’t trust you with my life nor property anymore, why would I trust a person who rather I will be dead to have access to sabotage, this stuff? Because God told me to “Inclusive” was the word directly to me & so I am going to be. But a prophet told: “God said to be careful to whom I show my favor to” & so I have to be careful & balance to how I do this. 

How to be inclusive & careful to those I see as a threat to my & my people's life?

How in God’s name would you people on TV expect me to forget it just like that also, I know God even knows that I am going to complain about it before I repent from it later/ 

I have to be master of my emotions, but you people are testing me really really hard. If we forget, it would happen again after the first time led to over thousands of my people to be murdered & millions to be locked up & millions to die ahead of their time because a government, of both union & confederates, had made policies that targeted my people for poor life expectancies? 

Then to also to over 200,0000 deaths because he is an idiot. 

70 million of you, maybe safe from losing your jobs & respect from the rest of us, unless your neighbors have seen your signs & they personally lose the respect of you. 

That means, 1 out of 3 people in this nation, are my enemies & how can I forget that? These are the same people who massacred my ancestors for wanting fair payment for their sharecropper work of my hometown, Elaine Arkansas Race Massacre of 1919. 

The same people who massacred & burned Black Wallstreet because of their jealousy of black greatness. These are the same people who sat in church & prayed with & then murdered my people. Same people. How can I forget that?

President-Elect, Joe Biden’s job is to unite the nation, it is not mine. My job, since I have God’s protection, is to set up our own systems so that we no longer rely on white supremacy’s & there is nothing anyone nor government can do to stop me. God gave me this mission & no evil shall prevail against me.

I have seen His powers do some amazing things & I know why He allowed the 2017 shooting, let the shooter put his bullets on me & not make any holes in me. Because He wanted me to not fear doing my JOB.

We will have our own & you 70 million will still be welcome to play. BUT. You better understand something, if I can’t trust you?  I don’t want you around me. So you would have a decision to make before coming to “play” with me.

Yes, a vote for Republican policies & “dump” is a vote against my skin, you voted against my skin & that will take me some time to get over, but I will. Just don’t keep reminding me of by keep doing it.

You didn’t vote for policies, with all of these shreds of evidence of the evil of hate & you still voted for him, nope, you vote for ignorance (black & latinos & others) & of white supremacy (white people).

I do want to thank Kent County Michigan & Detroit & All other Cities & Counties of the black, brown, native Americans, & suburban whites of all of those areas for showing me that I am not alone in the mission. Thank you.

Those of you who voted for “dump” you have to come to me, I would not spend money on trying to recruit you. I would be wasting God’s money. The Blue States seem to be easier locations for The State Level Boss Operations which are the foundation to the 30 kinds of social programs chains & they need BOSSICOLs to do those programs for us & for $500,000 & up as a janitor in our transit system.

And because I know that the blacks in the south are suffering, The Boss States locations will a rural community, converted into a city of 75,000 to 100,000 new homes to house the Boss Operations members & their 8 person staff & on-call employees, we’ll recruit from those States like MISSISSIPPI & relocate them into those locations with those B2B Duty Agreements at $700,000 up to $5,000,000 Boss Pay Out 52 weeks a year. 

Then after that states customers request us to expand to that state & I need the majority of people in that State to do so, online & if our budget is set to do? Well, expand to those states too, GOD ORDERS. “Inclusive”. I will not beg to give out God’s $.

Stay Tune, help is coming.

[dailyaudiobible]

02/23/2017 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 14:1-57 ~ Mark 6:30-56 ~ Psalm 40:1-10 ~ Proverbs 10:11-12

Today is February 23rd.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I am Brian and I am ready to go.  It's great to be here with you today for the next step forward in the adventure that we’re on that takes us through the Bible and all of its twists and turns and drama and intrigue and opening of our souls that happens because of it.  So we’re back out to the desert.  The law is being given, how this new culture that is being created out of the dust of the wilderness will actually look and behave.   Leviticus chapter 13, verses 1-57 today, and we’re reading from the God's Word translation this week.

Commentary

So we talked about mold and skin rashes and all of that kind of stuff yesterday. In the book of Leviticus today, we’re kind of seeing here's what you do.  This is the law, so let's take that in context because it is very easy to get lost in the tedium of the law.  That wouldn’t be any different today.  I mean, google a law book or find a law book and start reading and if you’re not a lawyer and enmeshed in all that, well, it's not exactly page turner stuff.  So we are reading the law being given in the Old Testament and we can think the same thing, it's not page turner stuff, but when we understand the greater context, that out of the dust of the wilderness, truly, a people are being formed, a culture, a nation, a holy, set apart people of the God of all things.  He is giving out these customs, rituals, traditions, behaviors.  This is how the culture is supposed to be shaped. We live in cultures and we know the laws that are going to get us in trouble and then we have some social understandings of how we’re supposed to conduct ourselves toward each other to live in unity and harmony.  We have these understandings.  That is what we are watching in the Old Testament.  So maybe not riveting page turning stuff, but important foundational things, just as the foundational, fundamental, deep laws of the nations that we live in form the culture that we live in.  The irony is, in so many places these understandings, these rules and rituals that we just kind of take for granted, that have just always been there, they come from here in the book of Leviticus.  So it is fascinating stuff.  

Let's talk about Jesus for a second.  So in the book of Mark you watch Jesus now becoming a bit of a public figure, a bit of a celebrity.  He can’t really go anywhere inconspicuously and he can’t really get away inconspicuously either.  I mean, there is no black SUV waiting out back for Jesus to jump into so he can be whisked out of town to somewhere that no one knows.  There is no ‘Elvis has left the building.’  They follow Jesus everywhere and sometimes he even gets into boats to get away for a second, even if it is just out on the water for a second. He is trying to go somewhere where he can invest specific time into his disciples, have some specific time between him and the Father and they are everywhere.  So we see a group of 5000 people that have followed him and he feeds them.  Before all of that happened, all he was trying to do was get away for a second with the disciples who had just returned from mission of their own that he had commissioned them to do.  So he wants to just like debrief them and have just some time to talk and spend some time together.  He's trying to get that, but he can’t get that.  People are chasing him.  That is how he feeds the 5000 people.  

After that is all over, he sends the disciples back across the lake and he is just going to chill.  And he does. And he's in a place where he can see the boat on the water and that the wind is against the disciples and he's just going to go ahead and beat them.  Right?  So he starts walking on the water and he walks past them and he's just going to keep on going, but they see him and freak.  

I'm kind of in that camp.  I think that is what I would do in the same situation.  If I am out in a boat in the dark, trying to get across the lake without a motor or anything like that, we’re just rowing, and the wind is blowing and then all of a sudden there is a dark shadow on the water shaped like a person walking, I think I would, I don’t know, probably wet my pants a little bit. And the disciples are doing similarly. Their response when Jesus speaks is fascinating.  “Calm down. It’s me.  Don’t be afraid.”  That right there says a lot to us.  Maybe we’re not out in the dark on a lake trying to cross the sea when a shadowy figure comes, but we have these kinds of situations in our lives all the time where it is dark, where it is as if we are out in the open water and we’re praying, ‘Lord, help rescue me.  Save me.’ And then he comes and we freak out. We’re either afraid or afraid to lose control, afraid to trust, afraid to believe.  And Jesus comes and says, “Calm down, it's me.  Don’t be afraid.”

This was a disrupting thing for the disciples out on the lake that night. It was a disruptive rescue which is so often the way God works in our lives.  He comes crashing in, disrupting what our status quo is because it is not going to get us anywhere, and he comes for us and then we freak out.  And he just says, “Chill out, calm down, settle down. It's me.  There is nothing to be afraid of here.  I’ve got you.  I have got you.”  And then we choose.  We choose to believe that or we keep on rowing against the wind.  

So what is that thing that is your dark lake?  Where are you rowing against the wind?  What if Jesus is coming and you're just spiraling, just thrashing?  He's right there and you’re praying for his presence, but you have a preconceived notion of what that has to look like.  And yet he comes – “Calm down, it's me.  Don’t be afraid.”  

Prayer

Jesus, here we are.  Each of us has this story.  Each of us do, and many of us are out on a dark lake, rowing against the wind now in some sort of way in our lives and so we invite you into that, Jesus.  All this thrashing about it not getting us closer to shore.  All this expended effort is not getting us there.  And here you come.  So we will obey you.  We will calm down.  We will not be afraid.  We are with you.  So come, Holy Spirit.  Come into all of the issues in our lives that are dark and against the wind because we need you in them.  We have an idea of how we would like you to calm the wind and get us to shore, but this doesn’t matter anymore.  We’re letting go of that.  We won't thrash in that.  If we never get to the shore but we are with you, who cares?  This is all we need, you, your presence in everything that we do and say and think.  So come Holy Spirit, you are so welcome and invited here.  We pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.  

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It's home base.  It's where you find out what is going on around here, what people are praying for, what people are asking for prayer for.  That is all on the Prayer Wall.  Where to connect with Daily Audio Bible on social media, that is at the website as well, all the different places, and there are lots of them. Resources that are available are in the Shop.  And the More Gathering for Women that is coming up April 6th through 9th that we’ve been talking about, check it out.  If that has been something that you’ve been thinking about, well then, don’t delay.  Get the information that you would want to know at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  Just look for the More Gathering.  You’ll find it quite easily.  We’ll look forward to seeing you in Georgia soon, in the springtime.  It will be beautiful.  It's going to be amazing.  

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com.  There is a link.  It is on the home page of www.DailyAudioBible.com.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner.  Of if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.  

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today.  I'm Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

May the Lord bless you and keep you.  May the Lord make his face to shine upon you.  I pray he gives you peace and that all that you have will increase and that your blessings will never ever cease and your light be one big gigantic peace. But the truth of the matter is that the road is long and rough.  The battles are hard and tough.  That your best is never good enough and Satan will always call your bluff.  But I know that you can make it.  I know that you can stand.  The Lord will not forsake you and there is not much he’ll demand.  Keep your eyes upon his promises.  Let your vows be firm and true.  Let your friends be in his service.  Let his spirit yours renew.  Don’t be afraid to call his name when problems are too tough.  You might have to do some fasting too when prayer just isn’t enough.  But whatever problems come your way, whatever storms may rise, if you just stay faithful to the Lord, in time you’ll gain the prize.  Honesty and integrity are things you must possess.  If humbly you just ask for strength, he’ll give you all the rest. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you.  I pray that he gives you peace and that all that you have will increase.  May your blessings never ever cease and your light be one big gigantic peace.  Best wishes always, BlindTony1016@gmail.com.  Delta Alpha Foxtrot, David F., where are you, brother?  You still there?  Also Roger G., are you still there too?  Time to check in, y’all.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible.  This is Michael calling from snowy, or not anymore snowy New Hampshire. It is Sunday morning and I am just calling for prayer for my wife who, due to alcoholism, I’ve had to move on from her and get her her own place and could not live with her anymore.  I ask that you pray she is healed by the Lord's touch.  And just as importantly is my son or our son who has been I guess you would say kind of torn apart by all of this and he's been through lots and lots of trials and tribulations, all because of her drinking.  It has been a really, really long road, a long battle these last few years. He spent his first night at her new place last night.  She has been there for about three weeks.  I had a hard time with it and I just pray that he is okay and she takes care of him and doesn’t do any crazy stuff.  It's very scary right now.  Again, I appreciate all your prayers on this.  My son is a faithful prayer warrior himself.  He's only 8.  He's a true believer and is always asking me questions.  It's a great thing, but my wife has totally fallen out of her beliefs within the last year or so and she has had three major deaths in her family and lots of struggles for her.  No excuse. I pray that the Lord releases Satan's grip on her and I just want to say thank you again, Brian, for this life-changing Daily Audio Bible. And thank you everybody.

This is Cynthia in Virginia.  I'm a new listener and have gotten quite a bit out of being part of this community. I'm journaling my Bible as I listen to the lessons each day and it has been quite meaningful.  I want to ask for prayers for my son.  My son has been diagnosed with failure to thrive and has been in the hospital three times in the last six months and if you could pray for him as he journeys on.  He is only 2, but we want him to get better and we look forward to growing and nurturing him as he gets better.  Please pray for him.  Thank you.

Hi family.  This is Biola from Maryland.  I hope you’re all doing well.  Brian and Jill, God bless you.  Jill, you know I'm praying for the More Conference.  Sister, I'm praying for the group as well.  Ladies, if you haven’t registered, I'm still encouraging you.  Register.  Father, I pray that you will put funds in people's hands, in the name of Jesus.  Those who desire to go and do not have the money, Lord, surprise them miraculously, in the name of Jesus.  While I'm on the issue of funds, people, I want to encourage you to also give to this ministry, Daily Audio Bible, because this is a ministry that feeds most of us spiritually in addition to our local churches.  So give, give, give and God will bless you as you do so. God bless you.  Bill B., immediately I heard your prayer request, both of them, as a matter of fact, I prayed for you, man of God.  And I pray that Lord, Jehovah Rapha himself will continue to arise over you with healing in his wings, in the name of Jesus.  That everything that is still left in your body needs to align with the word of God.  I command it to begin to do so, in the name of Jesus, because by the stripes of Jesus Christ, brother, you have been healed.  You know that.  I know that. God bless you.  Victorious Soldier, just as I was thinking about you, on one of the podcasts you came on.  Sister, I want to pray that God would encourage you, God would continue to strengthen you, God would continue to make his face shine upon you, God would give you favor and blessings that you do not know about, in the name of Jesus. Reggie, my brother, my brother in Nairobi, my heart broke when I heard your prayer request and I did pray for you, but I wanted to call in and acknowledge that I prayed for you and I'm praying, brother, that the Lord of heaven, Jehovah Jireh, El Shaddai God, the many breasted one, the one who is more than enough will arise in the name of Jesus and will listen to you and will begin to orchestrate events in Nairobi, Kenya so that people will look at you and go, “We want that man in our company.”  So it shall be.  I begin to decree jobs unto you.  Jobs, open doors, in the name of Jesus.  

Good morning guys.  This is Jen in SoCal, aka Prayer Warrior Princess.  I was listening to the community prayers for this weekend.  Today is the 19th and I stopped after I heard Chante call and share something and I wanted to give you a shout-out, sister.  I go through the same thing almost after every single time I call.  The spiritual battle mentally is merciless.  Sometimes I actually have lost sleep over it, thinking ‘oh, I shouldn’t have called.  I shouldn’t have said that.”  Or “I think I said that wrong” or whatever.  First it leads me to pray against that because I know now.  I'm 50.  I’ve been with the Lord 23 years and I know that is not me.  That is not the Lord.  He is not shame based.  He is not ugly to us like that.  He never talks to us like that.  So I know that is the enemy and his fiery darts.  So I pray through the armor of God for myself and then it always leads me to pray for Brian and his family, because I can’t even imagine.  I hear pastors often talk about the Monday syndrome where they want to die because they are under such spiritual attack after they’ve been preaching over the weekend.  And so I can’t imagine the warfare that Brian and his family go through with him giving us the word and preaching to us every single day.  So anyways, it always leads me to pray for Brian and his family after I have those experiences.  Just know, Chante, you’re not alone.  I believe we’re all getting attacked in that way.  That is a very, very, sadly, common way the enemy tries to get to us and pick us off and alienate us from one another.  So I love you and I'm with you, sister.  Bye.  

Hello Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Jay from New Jersey calling to pray for Alicia from Kansas.  Heavenly Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, God, we thank you now for this miracle that you have provided through sparing Alicia's life.  Father, we thank you for speaking to her through the Holy Spirit in a way that she could hear you to get out of the car so that she would not be struck again by another driver.  Father, we thank you for there only being minimal injuries.  Father, we thank you now for there only being her glasses being lost.  Father, you are an amazing God.  You are great.  You are mighty.  You are powerful.  Father, we thank you.  We thank you. We thank you.  We thank you.  God, now we pray and we know that you will heal Alicia.  We know it, God.  We know it. You saved her life, so we know you will heal her. So Father, we pray that you will just do it in a way that only you know how.  God, we thank you for sparing her life. We thank you for sparing her terrible, terrible injuries.  Father, we ask that you will provide her with a pair of glasses that will be such a miracle that it can only be described as coming from you.  Father, we edify you now.  We praise you now.  We glorify you now, Father, through this thing which we know you have done.  Father, we ask that this will be a testimony to others who are unbelievers so that they can see, so that they can be awestruck and wonder how it is that Alicia survived this accident, so that she may let them know that it was only by the glorious grace of our God.  We thank you now.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.  Love you, Alicia.  I'm so happy and so grateful and so blessed that God has spared you in this accident and I'm still praying for you.  God bless.

[musicjunky1989]

Funerals and Self-care

Morning, 

A woman that I worked with the past 5 years has passed away from a long battle with cancer. She was such a bright spot in our school when it came to our student and family interactions, especially since she had been there for so long (since the school opened...I think). 

All that being said, I’ve decided to not attend her funeral services this morning. Funerals have always been hard for me and the last few I’ve attended have just really hit me. I attended my best friend’s mom’s funeral a few years ago and my aunt’s just about a year and a half ago. I am so thankful for this woman I worked with at school, but I don’t think I have the emotional energy to go. 

Emotional energy to go and talk to my co-workers, and make small talk, and grieve with everyone, I just don’t think I can. 

So here I am again, choosing myself, It feels really fucking selfish right now, honestly. It feels like I’m just being lazy and don’t want to go. Which is partially true, I don’t want to go. But there is more to it than that, I don’t want to keep up the appearances with my co-workers. The summer is my time to be completely myself, not my teacher-self, or colleague-self; just myself. 

So I’m not going to the services, but I did take some time today to really think about Ms. J and her huge impact on my school community. 

Thank you Ms. J for all the kids you have encouraged and supported over the years, and the teachers and staff you’ve welcomed into your heart. Thank you for being a constant joyful face and person to interact with at school and other functions. Thank you for being a great model for so many others of what a good Christian can look like. Thank you for all your service, time, hard work, love, and compassion. Thank you for being apart of my life and teaching career, and thank you for all the kind, sweet interactions we have had. That is how I will remember you, being the person who can light up a room with your joy and love of life. Rest in peace, our school community with miss you and think of you often. 

Self-care is hard y’all. I need to recognize that I can grieve and remember people in my own way. I need to remember that doing things differently is not always a bad thing. It’s ok to go against the grain/norm. I need to do that for myself and my own life. I need to live life in the best way for me. I honestly have no idea what that even means, but I’m searching for it. 

Hopefully I get a little closer each day. 

<3

[agapeirl-blog]

A Post Awakening Reflection         From Jospeh Stagni

I’m not going to title this because I can’t possibly describe everything that happened this past weekend in a few allusory words.  Heck, I needed a 40 minute lunch in the OR yesterday with Ben Benigno just to explain everything I could to him.  Having said that, this Awakening was probably the best and most fun one yet for me because this was the most connected to other people I had been on this retreat.  Since I was a table head, one might think that I was simply doing my job.  However, to paraphrase Padre I didn’t view this as a job; this was a vocation for me.  This is what I do.  I am very intentional about my interactions with people and the little things I do for them, and I want to empower other people to do the same.

For me, this started with my GREAT table staff as the bridge between the new retreaters and the community.  With my CLUE theme, I wanted to give them enough leeway to be able to express themselves through their choice of character.  Maddi Weaver really made Miss Scarlet personal to her and made it personal to the new retreaters by making them feel welcomed in this community before, during, and after Awakening.  Bryant showed his charismatic personality and creativity by using “axe” the way he did.  (Then he offended our collective sense of smell, but that’s not the important part!)  Leslie Galvez chose the dumbbell because of her passion for acts of service and hard work, and I’m so glad that in her final Awakening she was able to serve the new retreaters and the community in this capacity.  Wikipedia says that a trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of achievement, and we should be so blessed to have our trophy, Nicole Westerfield, here for two more years because of her achievement as a person and what this community has been able to achieve because of her presence in it.  To them and the rest of my staff, thank you, again.  Y’all changed a bunch of lives this weekend including my own.

On the retreat itself, I wanted to make it a point to talk to all the new retreaters even if was a simple “how are you doing”.  One moment that I vividly remember is when I asked this question to Josslyn, and she replied that you (staff) are all asking us how we’re doing, and someone should ask you how you’re doing because you are people too.  That moment was one of many that helped me be present to the people and the experience and is the basis for how I’ve always treated my relationship with other staffers.  I was there for them when they needed me offering to lend a helping hand whenever I could.  I also tried my best to exemplify agape by writing palancas to everyone, and as Max in his wonderful talk said agape is done without the expectation of anything in return.  This why I felt so much joy when I got anything back from this community as a result of my actions.  This is what I felt when Eggie and I were having a good conversation about the palancas.  This is what I felt when Maddie Wood, Curly, and I were having a discussion about the bright future of this community.  This is what I felt when Maddi Weaves and Flaca were affirming me what seemed like LITERALLY every time I saw them.  This is what I felt in any of these wonderful moments that I am forgetting to mention here because I don’t expect anything in return and absolutely appreciate it whenever agape is reciprocated.

However, this was also the first Awakening where not everything was rainbows and unicorns for me, but even in those few moments of anger or impatience or deep reflection that I had, I still saw the goodness of this community through people like Jay Laws who I was blessed to have praying for me and my group, talked to about these problems, and graciously and actively listened to me.  My vocation, as I said in the beginning of this, is connection with intention and I’m so grateful that I was able to do that as table head this semester whether it be with new retreaters or staff, in all of those good moments and in those few moments that weren’t and have the time of my life fulfilling it.  I’ll (finally) finish by saying that I hope this serves as a metaphorical wake-up call (Not a literal one.  Y’all have earned your rest.) to empower you to keep the agape going in “real life”.

[johnhardinsawyer]

The Pursuit of Joy

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

11 / 18 / 18 – Stewardship Celebration Sunday

Philippians 4:4-9

“The Pursuit of Joy”

(Rejoice, Give Thanks, and Sing)

Last Friday – a week before the snow – it was a beautiful Fall day.  Our eighteen-month-old son, Samuel, and I were at home and Samuel made a move toward his jacket and the stroller.  He wanted to go out.  So, we walked over to Livingston Park in Manchester – close to where we live – and we hit the playground.  After about five minutes on the swings, it was time to move over to the play structure where there are a whole bunch of steps, and poles, and slides.  Oh yes!  The slides!

Until a few weeks ago, whenever Samuel wanted to go down a slide, Amy or I would either hold his hand or have him sit in our laps while we went down the slide and everyone had a good time.  But recently, Samuel has been having a whole lot more fun going down the slide on his own. Last Friday was the first time I had gotten to see this bold streak of independence and I watched as Samuel made his way to the top of the slide, sat down, and – on the count of three – pushed off, laughing all the way down.  As soon as he got to the bottom, it was time to climb back up and go again.  The uncontainable joy on his face and the little giggle that he gave each time he went down the slide were priceless.  And, because Samuel was full of joy, so was I.

All of us have experienced joy at one time or another.  Maybe you have slid down a slide, maybe your child – who used to slide down slides – has walked across the graduation stage, or married the right person, maybe your team won the game because of a miraculous goal at the last minute, maybe you heard the right song at the right time and it took your mind back to that one special moment, maybe your whole family is going to be gathered around the same table – for the first time in years – to enjoy Thanksgiving supper together. I do believe that most of us know what joy looks and feels like.

Joy can’t be faked or manufactured.  It is a special thing – a precious thing.  It can happen all of a sudden in the most unpredictable ways.  We were feeling one way and then, in an instant, we feel joy. And – like the pumpkin chiffon pie that I will be eating at Thanksgiving this coming week – once you taste a little bit of joy, you end up wanting more of it.  It is like encountering some part – catching some small glimpse – of something holy, and your heart leaps in your chest and a tear comes to your eye.  Oh, we know joy when we feel it.

We also know how it feels when our joy is taken away.  Hearing the voices of some of the residents of Paradise, CA (the town that was destroyed by a wildfire) on the radio this past week, it was hard to hear any joy there.  Looking into the eyes of a parent whose child is locked in a battle with addiction, it can be hard to see joy there, too.  There are circumstances in life can rob us of our joy.  If only we could get it back, somehow.  Lucinda Williams – one of my favorite songwriters – sings an angry song to someone who has taken her joy and she wants it back.  They had no right to take her joy away, but they did.  And she is going to go wherever she has to go – to West Memphis, to Slidell (some of y’all know where that is) – to look for her joy.[1]  She sings about it so passionately, that I sure hope she finds it.

Joy is different from happiness.  It is a deeper thing – a holy thing.  And, even though one of the founding documents of our country says that our Creator has endowed us with certain unalienable rights, such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,”[2]  as people who love and follow Jesus Christ, happiness is nice, but joy is better.  You see, people can get very personal – sometimes, downright selfish – about their own happiness, but joy?  Joy is for sharing.

Some of our ancestors in the faith once asked the question, “What is the chief end of man?”[3]  Or, to put it another way, “What is the chief and highest purpose of humanity?”[4]  Their answer to their own question was this:  “The chief end, or purpose, of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy God forever.”  This is our purpose – what we are called to pursue with all that we are – to glorify God and enjoy God forever.  Perhaps, this is why Paul, in today’s reading from the Letter to the Philippians, encourages his readers to “Rejoice in the Lord always. . .”  (Philippians 4:4)

Just so you know, Paul refers to joy throughout his Letter to the Philippians.  “I thank my God every time I remember you,” Paul writes, “constantly praying with joyin every one of my prayers for all of you. . .”  (1:4)  “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joycomplete:  be of the same mind, having the same love, be in full accord and of one mind.”  (2:1-2)  “But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoicewith all of you – and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoicewith me.”  (2:17-18)[5]

Whether the times are good or bad, whether Paul is experiencing great hardship or triumph, he is pressing on toward the goal of the heavenly call of Christ Jesus (3:14) and he wants the Philippians – and us – to join him, because this is a cause for great rejoicing.  Paul’s joy is contagious.  He wants it to catch on.  This is why he tells the Philippians in today’s passage to “Rejoice in the Lord always.” He wants them to rejoice in the Lord so much that he immediately repeats himself:  “. . . again, I will say, Rejoice.”  In the original language, this word means “to rejoice and be glad”[6]in the Lord.  But another definition reads, “to welcome or greet”[7]the Lord – as if to say that welcoming the Lord into our lives makes us glad and gives us joy.

It should be noted that as Paul wrote these words about joy and rejoicing, he was sitting in prison – in prison for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.[8]  Now, I am sure that there were times when Paul was frustrated in prison and downright upset with his lot in life, but when he heard of how those Philippians were sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, it filled his heart with joy.  He was thankful that all of his hard work and sacrificing had not been in vain.  He was thankful that, maybe, his imprisonment had helped encourage people to be bold and fearless in sharing their love for Jesus.  He was filled with joy, because all that had led him to his present circumstance had been done for the glory of God.

Paul wanted the Philippians – and us – to be known as people who are gentle, people who are not anxious or afraid, people who pray, and people who receive [and share] the peace of God.  To rejoice in the Lord – to welcome the Lord into our lives – means that we are inspired to be honorable and just, pure and pleasing, commendable and excellent.[9]  At least, this is Paul’s hope for us.  And I would go so far as to say that I believe we have been seeking to live this way as a church.

I don’t know if you remember, but it was only three short years ago that the front portico of our sanctuary was being rebuilt.  For a couple of months, everyone who came to worship couldn’t use our front steps, but had to come in through other entrances.  And then, on a bright December Sunday in Advent, we all went outside and dedicated our new portico and columns.  It was a joyful moment – the culmination of years of worry and work.  Tears were shed and smiles were shared.  There was joy in the air.  Over the past three years, we have been able to celebrate some wonderful things which have given us great joy:  the painting of our building, the start of the Bedford Community Food Pantry, shoring up the foundation of our historic sanctuary, new carpet and paint, paying off our line of credit, closingour line of credit, celebrating baptisms, having confirmands and adults join the church, having our Sunday School grow in wonderful ways, having wonderful music each week, and people who give of their time and talents on committees and ministry teams, Thanksgiving baskets filled to the brim, and, most recently, surprising Karen Hagy in a joy-filled recognition for her twenty years of service to God and our church.  All of this – and more – was done in the pursuit of joy. . .  sharing in the joyous good news of Jesus Christ, rejoicing in the light and love of God, for the glory of God and not ourselves.

Our church has grown in faith, and hope, and love, and fearless generosity.  We have seen it happen right here in our midst.  This was not something that we did on our own. It is something that God has done – that God is doing.  And, because of this, we rejoice, and give thanks, and sing, and pray prayers of thanksgiving, and we look forward to the future.  Because if God has done all of this to us and through us, then what does God have in store for us, Bedford Presbyterian Church?

In the coming year, we will be completing renovations on the back part of our building – creating a usable and heated space for groups to meet and pray and worship.  We will be continuing to assess how we use our space here at the church for use by outside groups as well as storage.  We are planning a mission trip to Puerto Rico in early April.  We hope to hire a part-time Sexton, who can add his or her gifts to our staff by caring for this house of worship and the many things that happen here.  And, after years of focus on the infrastructure of our church, we will be refocusing on the ways we are connected and the ways we serve, and learn, and grow here.  This may involve some help from an outside consultant who can help us to see ourselves with new and fresh eyes.  All of these things are just the beginning, though. . .

God, through the giving of your gifts, can do all of this and more – right here in our midst. What will the Lord do though us?  Through you and through me?  How is God calling us to give?  What will we do for the glory of God, in the pursuit of joy. . .  real joy. . . true joy?  May our joy be contagious.  May it be shared with one another, and with our community, and with the world.  

May our joy give God joy.

Friends, rejoice in the Lord, always – and in all ways.  Again, I will say, rejoice.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---------- 

[1]Lucinda Williams, “Joy” – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.  Mercury Records, 1998.

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,_Liberty_and_the_pursuit_of_Happiness.

[3]The Westminster Catechism (Shorter Catechism), Book of Confessions7.001 (Louisville: Office of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA) 1999) 175.

[4]Paraphrased, JHS.

[5]See also Philippians 1:18, 25; 2:28-29; 3:1; 4:1, 10.

[6]Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament(Chicago:  University of Chicago Press, 1979) 873.

[7]Walter Bauer, 874.

[8]See Philippians 1:12-13.

[9]See Philippians 4:5-9.

[tyleroakley-obsessed]

Ed. Note: Contributor Wesley sits down with Shamichael Hallman to find out exactly what’s going on with the Cossitt Library in downtown Memphis. In the year CE 105, in what today is Leiyang, China, a guy named Cai Lun invented paper. Almost two millennia later, J.K. Rowling wrote the very first novel, and people went wild. They had to build book repositories all over the world just to hold the daunting amount of Harry Potter literature, which they called libraries. But then, a calamity named Amazon.com scared a great many people away, and caused the libraries to suffer a bit of an identity crisis. “But Wesley, are there any of these libraries left?” you’re probably asking me. Absolutely! In fact, right here in Memphis are 17 active public libraries, between which offer thousands of programs and services per year for the community. The 18th will be the re-imagined Cossitt Library, located on Front St. in downtown Memphis. It’s currently closed undergoing renovation. I went to Cossitt and met Shamichael Hallman, Branch Manager of Cossitt and Civic Engagement Coordinator at The Fourth Bluff (a joint project from the City of Memphis and the Riverfront Development Corporation designed to invigorate the riverfront area), to get a glimpse of Memphis’s newest community development project. We were supposed to take a walk around the building’s interior, but that was quickly shot down.  “There’s a lot of asbestos that needs to be taken out,” Shamichael told me. I was disappointed I wasn’t going to get a sneak peek of the renovations, but I do like not having mesothelioma, so I let it go. He and I went to Cafe Keough, just a couple blocks away, for a little Q&A session, and to see some mockups of the library post-renovation. Shamichael Hallman, self-proclaimed “preacher-slash-programmer” and all-around great guy. Wesley: First off, thanks for meeting me on a Monday afternoon. Shamichael: No problem, man. Wesley: Can you give me a little background about yourself? Shamichael: I’m from a little town in Alabama called Margaret. It’s about 40 minutes northeast of Birmingham. Super small town, man. Like, couple years ago we got our first traffic light, it was a pretty big deal, man. [laugh] I went down to Montgomery for undergrad and then came back to Birmingham. I worked for a little bank called AmSouth in the internet banking department. Wesley: How did you make it to Memphis to work at Cossitt? Shamichael: I served at this church in Birmingham, and I had a chance meeting with someone who was from a church here, New Direction Christian Church. They asked me to come up, they kind of created a position for me. I was doing, like, three things. I came here in 2010, so I been here about eight years. Last year, I had a meeting with the director of the libraries, Keenon McCloy, and she told me about what she hoped to achieve with Cossitt, and I was in at that point. Wesley: What about this project made you so eager to be a part of it? Shamichael: It makes sense to me now, seeing as how divided we are as a country. The library is like neutral ground. I hope that as we go through this process and rebuild the place that we truly get it to a place where all Memphians can come. Wesley: So what’s Cossitt going to do that other libraries aren’t? Shamichael: The Memphis Library does something like 3000 programs a year between all 18 locations. From tax prep to cooking classes. Often times those are driven by library staff. What we want to do with this space is get to a place where that same stuff is happening, but it’s driven by community members, by professionals, by people saying hey, I’ll do this for an hour a month. I’ll come facilitate a workshop. Wesley: How did the renovation process start? Shamichael: We had to empty the place completely. The week between Christmas and New Years, the public was invited into Cossitt to help pack up. Box up the books, break down the shelves. Community members removed the books and placed them in storage, where they await the day they return to the shelves. Pictured below is the emptied second floor. Wesley: What’s this new Cossitt Library going to look like? Shamichael: There’s a real focus on creating a space and an experience that draws lots of different people. You gotta have something that can serve as a good foundation. The first thing to go will be the fence around the property.  We’ve always felt like it’s a barrier between us and the public. Kind of like, “you’re not welcome here.” We want to add a set of stairs, and more doors that will lead into the cafe area. This is what is imagined for the front entrance of Cossitt. Notice the diverse cast of characters!  Wesley: Cafe area? Shamichael: Right, it can also serve as a sort of cafe incubator, a space where food trucks who are trying to move to a physical space can test out the concept. Wesley: This sounds more like a community center than a library. Shamichael: It’s a community hub. We still got books, the technology will still be there, but it really becomes a central gathering place. One of the things we’re gonna try is to have a different person or a different group curate a list of books each month for sections. So we have a rotation of books. One month it may be an artsy thing, one much it’ll be a design thing, one month an African American history thing. The bookshelves will be on casters, so they’ll be easily changeable. Wesley: I see some meeting spaces and workshop areas here. How’s that going to work? Is it free? Shamichael: It’ll be a registry. Everything that we do has to be free. In that, the message we convey is that this is a community space, and all of us should take ownership of this space in some kind of way. Instead of paying 50 bucks a month, would you commit to facilitating three workshops? Or spend a couple hours over the course of this month picking up trash around the building? That’s a way to help people think, this is my library, but this is also your library. I don’t want to come here and just consume, but to give back. Above are more mockups of the inside of Cossitt. I love how it looks like Barnes & Noble went to art school. Wesley: What’s going on on the second floor? Shamichael: The second floor is where more of an active program is happening. We’ll have a performing arts stage with an acoustic curtain stretching wall to wall. What we imagine for this space is a diverse mix of dance, music, acting, and film, open to the community. This space would ideally be used by smaller productions who need a space to perform. We’ll also have studio spaces for people to record video, do podcasts, something along those lines. There will be a music section, with a curated vinyl selection and listening stations. Wesley: Kind of like the Cloud901 program at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library? Shamichael: Yeah, it’s magical. We want to bring that feel downtown to this library, but make it for adults. A digital playground for grown folks. Wesley: I like everything I’ve seen so far. But I have to say — public libraries are historically a safe space for the homeless and destitute. What’s your take on that? Shamichael: There’s a stigma, like they’re lazy, they want to panhandle and don’t want to work. Before we closed, a good segment of our customers were homeless. By us being a public space, and being one of the few public places downtown, it was a place homeless people could come in the day time. They’re coming for shelter, for information, finding out how to get ID, how to find jobs. As a former minister, I know we have to deal justly with the poor. We can’t toss them to the side. We can’t just say, y’all get out, this is our library. What I’m trying to drill into my staff right now is this — day one, when we open up, we have to be very mindful to let people know this is a place for everyone. Because it’s a place for everyone, it’s gonna mean you’re gonna come in contact with people you’ve never come in contact with before. We have to let down our walls in terms of who we think belongs here. In an effort to beautify the space, Shamichael and the rest of the Cossitt team asked community members what they were thankful for, and hung the answers on the Cossitt gate. I, too, am thankful for Crazy Noodle. Wesley: Man. Directing a public space seems like a challenge. Shamichael: Any time you do something like this, you’re gonna have problems. You’re gonna have challenges. What I would hope is that the greater Memphis community sees what we’re trying to do and says, hey, I can help out. Wesley: Can you give me a date when Cossitt will reopen? Shamichael: I can’t give you an exact date, but we feel really good about fall or winter of this year. Wesley: Any parting words of wisdom? Shamichael: If you don’t have a library card, you should have one. Wesley: Couldn’t have said it better myself. About The Author  Wesley Morgan Paraham loves the 901 so much that his cat is named Belvedere. If playing RPGs were a full time job, he’d be a rich man. He’s a graduate of the University of Memphis, and a freelance writer and graphic designer. Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout http://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2018/02/memphian-to-meet-shamichael-hallman-and-the-library-of-tomorrow/

[reignbowandarrow]

Queen Sugar, My Sister, and the Carceral State

Did y’all watch the season 2 opener of Queen Sugar? *spoiler alert* It was so good, Ava did the damn thing, again, of course. But I was incredibly triggered by Micah’s arrest and time in jail. Especially with the Philando Castile case ruling last week. Especially with Charleen Lyons’ murder after she called the police for help. Especially with what happened to my own sister last December. I couldn’t fall asleep last night because I was so terrified and infuriated by the police state under which black people live and die.

My sister G is an incredible human being. She’s artistic, intelligent, funny, stylish, sweet, thoughtful, and just all around a brilliant shining light. She’s almost 3 years younger than me, and we grew up Army brats, moving around every few years when my dad, an Army dentist and officer, would get a new posting. G, a sensitive introvert, had a harder time with that nomadic lifestyle than I, a sensitive extrovert, did. She had a hard time making new friends each time we moved, and she struggled with severe depression all through high school and after. Anti-depressants, cannabis, art, and our faithful dog Pepper probably saved her life. 

When it came time for me to go to college, I only applied to out-of-state schools, way off in California, as far as I could get from Colorado and our abusive and alcoholic father. My sister was alone in the house with my parents, subject to more abuse from our father and lack of protection from our mother, and leaving her in that situation is something for which I have never really stopped feeling guilty. Even after she finally moved out in her mid-twenties, she stuck pretty close to home, finding an apartment in the same city as my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We were all surprised, and I was very proud, when she decided to move from Denver to Austin, Texas, all by herself.

My father, who is white, has a cousin in Austin who agreed to let G live with her and her family until my sister got on her feet in the new city. Our mother is black, and both G and I are very light-skinned, but we do not pass for white. With my curly dark hair, dark eyes, and tan skin tone, I am often asked if I am Latinx (many of whom are actually of African heritage - #colonization). G is a shade darker than me and often wears braids, and while she also would get the question “what are you?”, people more often read her as black. G was a little apprehensive about living with white people - we have had very little contact with my father’s family because he is estranged from most of them, but we are very close with our mother’s family. But my father’s cousin, C, is a very sweet person and was very welcoming to G.

I mentioned that cannabis probably saved my sister’s life. It probably saved mine too. Basically we are both huge stoners. I’ve been smoking since I was 18. G started a little younger than me, but we both started smoking heavily around the same time, as a coping mechanism to deal with the trauma of being children of an alcoholic and all the complications that produces in every single aspect of our lives. Since we have a genetic predisposition to addiction given my father’s alcoholism, I do worry sometimes that we both have a psychological addiction and dependency on weed. But self-medication helped us to survive. And there are a huge number of stats that demonstrate how harmless cannabis is, and more and more it is being recognized for its medicinal potential. I worked as a campaign organizer to make medical cannabis legal in New York state, and the NIMBY (not in my backyard) arguments conservatives would use against our campaign were not grounded in facts, but in racist paranoia.

Colorado, of course, is one of the states that has legalized both medical and recreational use of cannabis. This was great for my sister when she lived there - no need to seek out shady dealers or be unsure of what was in the product you were buying. It was safe. A month after my sister moved to Austin, she drove home to Denver to celebrate Christmas with the family. The day after Christmas, she went to a dispensary before she left town and purchased bath salts infused with cannabis, thinking that after the long drive back to Austin, she would get to soak in a nice relaxing bath and melt the stress of the road out of her body. Everything was going smoothly, until she reached a small town outside Austin and was pulled over for speeding. The cop, a white man, asked to search her car, and G, afraid and unsure, consented. He found the tin of bath salts, and because it was over a certain weight, arrested her and charged her with felony possession. He arrested her, took her to the local jail and impounded her car and her dog.

I didn’t know any of this was happening until I got a frantic text from my mother - “G’s in jail!” - the next morning. I called my mom and she worriedly explained that G called her from jail the night before. She had to spend the night there. She gave me a number to call so I could speak to her. I called, but was told that G had already been taken to “the back”, whatever that meant, and that I would have to try again later. I was freaking out. I’m all the way in Brooklyn, a million miles away, and my baby sister is being held captive by the pigs over some fucking bath salts, I can’t reach her, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. Sandra Bland’s story is running through my head. A traffic stop in Texas, and she ended up dead. Please let my sister be okay. Please let my sister be alive. Please don’t let them hurt my sister. Terrified prayers.

G did get a chance to call me back. She sounded so scared. I had been crying, but upon hearing her voice, I immediately put on my big sister hat. Everything is going to be okay, this is not your fault, you are not a bad person, you are not a criminal, don’t worry. Hearing her sound so small, so broken, so ashamed, so scared, was heart-wrenching and enraging. How could this bullshit happen to such a sweet and sensitive soul?

They set her bail at $3000. $3000, for bath salts! My family didn’t have bail money! She would have to stay in jail until it was paid. Thank goddess for G’s wealthy white godmother. She paid the bail. Cousin C’s husband and daughter went to pick her up. They were able to get her dog and her car out of the pound, but it took forever for them to release my sister. They finally did. She spent almost 24 hours in jail, and it almost destroyed her spirit.

So watching Micah’s face as he is led to a cell, and seeing the frantic way Charley is yelling at everybody trying to find him, and cringing at the song-and-dance Davis does to get him released, hit so close to home. Bougie black people, like Charley, like my own family, think that the carceral state can’t touch them. But the truth is that nobody non-white is safe in this country. If my sister had white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, I am convinced that she never would have been pulled over, and if she had, they damn sure wouldn’t have asked to search her car. But she’s black, and now she’s in the system. If she hadn’t had white family to vouch for her, and a college degree to make her look like a “good negro”, I don’t know what would have happened. Luckily, the charges were reduced from felony possession to a misdemeanor, and now all she has to do is community service, drug tests, and pay a fine. But even that makes me so angry. It’s such a racket. The prison-industrial complex is a fucking racket. It’s the continuation of slavery. A way for wealthy white folks to profit off the free/cheap forced labor of black and brown people. It’s disgusting and dehumanizing. And it needs to end.