#i put the screenshots side by side but it simply refuses to show it outside the editor and any time i edit the post the readmore jumps

[receding-tides]

train, sparkle, droplet, paperclip

(3) (these were all for margin(

I'll put these all in one post for convenience haha but ty for sending a bunch :] I'm glad we have Margin Likers around that's my blorbopus right there

👁️ EYE - what colour are their eyes? do people notice their eyes? is there anything special about them (shows emotion easily, literally magical...)? Margin has blue eyes w the scleras being slightly green tinted, aka Octavio but less intense. She also has the purple striped mask which is the main thing people notice. There isn't anything particularly special about them but her irises do turn red when she uses her venom (I don't have a biological explanation for this it just looks cool)

💤 SLEEPING - do they fall asleep easily? what helps them sleep? Margin has a very specific sleep schedule which she retained even after moving to the surface and then to Splatsville so I think she is one of those people who can just like Fall Asleep On Command almost haha. If she is awake after 10pm she gets so tired. I don't rly have an answer for the second question I guess just not being anywhere loud

🎂 BIRTHDAY CAKE - when is their birthday? do they like celebrating it? Margin's birthday is May 9th which is the date I started writing At Sixes and Sevens, I don't think she celebrates it or even tells other people about it though

🥞 PANCAKE - what is their comfort breakfast? She eats plain buttered toast for breakfast every day this is like, a specific character trait she has. Somehow.

🌺 HIBISCUS - do they have any allergies? I don't think she has any particularly strong allergies but I think pretty much any of the octolings who grew up in the domes probably get hayfever simply because their body isn't adjusted to Lots Of Pollen In The Air (and maybe some other things also along that logic)

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them? I have a lot of songs I associate w her but the Strongest song lyrics is probably just. the first verse of Ready As I'll Ever Be (from Tangled The Series) but specifically before her character development moment

Believe me I know, I've sunk pretty low But whatever I've done, you deserved I'm the bad guy, that's fine It's no fault of mine and some justice at last will be served

🎨 PALETTE - can they draw? what do they like to draw? (I'm assuming this is what drawing meant because I can't find one w that name otherwise) Margin can sort of draw but mostly just in the case of Making Diagrams. she has made doodles of Squidgy before but will claim it was purely for documentation / scientific purposes.

🪤 MOUSE TRAP - what will always lure them into certain danger? a loved one in danger? a promise of something they are always searching for? This will sound very cliché but if you make Margin think she is doing the right thing / something fully justified and she feels strongly about it she will gladly throw herself into a dangerous situation over it. This definitely happens less as she gets older tho

🚆 TRAIN - what is their answer to the trolley problem? I think she would do the trolley hits one person instead of five but also I guess it'd depend who the one person was lol. If it's all misc strangers then goodbye to that one guy

❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value? Margin doesn't really have many possessions besides like, her bike and the Sharker and whatever is in her room, she values things that are Useful To Her and that's about it. She has a lot of miscellaneous junk from the crater but most of it is either for selling or might be useful for building

💧 DROPLET - random angst headcanon She frequently has nightmares about drowning even though she was never conscious during the one time where she did almost drown

📎 PAPERCLIP - a random fact. Her splashtag looks like this :] (link to the splashtag creator)

[missymurphy1985]

The Umbrella Girl (part 6)

The Aftermath of your night with Cillian...

Taglist @queenshelby @margoo0 @being-worthy @peakyscillian @ntmynouis @janelongxox @elenavampire21 @noctvrnalmoth @ysmmsy

Warnings - language, mentions of baby loss, smut (this got long... Sorry!!)

The morning after your night with Cillian had gone incredibly well, considering. Your mum was surprised to see him the following morning, but she was one of the most liberal people you knew - and she adored Cillian too, especially after the cooked breakfast he'd knocked up. Emily had arrived home with Steph later that day and Steph pulled you to one side to talk to you alone.

"Lisa's gone crazy y/n.. she's already contacted the Sun, the story's going live tomorrow morning... It's all over social media.." You took a deep breath and Steph hugged you tight. The sound of Cillian's phone in the background interrupted you, you had a feeling you knew who it was. He came into the living room to join the two of you so Emily and your mum didn't overhear anything in the kitchen. Steph left the two of you alone.

"All you have is one side of the story Mr Grayson.... No I'm not prepared to give a statement yet..... Yes I'm aware of the implications... Again, I'm not interested in giving a statement... Call me again and I'll have your job Grayson, delete my number!" You could see the anger rising in his eyes and you swiftly took the phone from him before he said something he'd regret and ended the call, turning his phone off. He wrapped his arms round you and held you tight, you could feel the emotion rising in him.

"It's okay. It'll be okay... I promise..." Suddenly two little arms wrapped round you both, Emily looked up at the two of you sadly.

"Cillian crying?" She whispered, and he lifted her up into his arms to give her a big hug. Your heart lurched watching your child wrap her arms round his neck tight.

"I'm better now I've had that hug Emily... Thank you." He kissed her cheek affectionately and smiled at you, nodding. He was okay. For now.

"I'm gonna head home y/n... I have a feeling my publicist will want a word or two. I'll call you later, okay?" He kissed you, still holding Emily who giggled at him as he tickled under her ribs. "You gonna take care of your mama?" She nodded and he placed her back on the floor letting her run back into the kitchen. Saying a quick goodbye to your mum and Steph, he kissed you again before opening the front door. He quickly came back inside and closed it again.

"Fucking press are out there y/n... There's dozens of them... The fuck do I do?"

"Shit... Did they see you?"

"I think so.." he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned against the wall.

"Stay here. Call your publicist from my room upstairs, tell him EVERYTHING. He needs to know before it comes out tomorrow.. he'll know what to do?" Cillian nodded, and headed upstairs, turning his phone back on.

CILLIAN MURPHY IN BABY SCANDAL!!

Former Peaky Blinders Personal Assistant Lisa Tyler reveals she lost her and Cillian's baby as a result of the stress caused when he refused to have anything to do with their baby... even going as far as to claim she wasn't even pregnant. Their affair began six months before Murphy's wife, Cassie, left him, speculating she found out about the affair which led to their divorce last year. Murphy is yet to make a formal statement, however he did threaten to have our entertainment reporter, Len Grayson, fired yesterday when we contacted him. His temper clearly something he needs to keep in check.

Cillian's head sank into his hands, he couldn't read the rest. The front page even had a blurred out screenshot of the sex tape Lisa had made, next to a photo of Lisa holding a baby scan photo - not her scan, clearly, she was only 2 weeks pregnant when the miscarriage happened, but for the purposes of the story the image just added to the drama.

There were reports the tape was now all over the internet - the date mark clearly photoshopped to make it look like it had been filmed months before it actually was, but the untrained eye wouldn't spot that. She'd given the Sun all of the details - nothing left out. His publicist had gone ballistic the day before when Cillian told him. Even his ex wife had called him to berate him. His family didn't believe a word of it - they of course knew the truth and were standing by him unconditionally.

You sat next to him on your bed and held his hand. He hadn't left your house since Friday night, too worried about facing the paparazzi outside, but he needed a change of clothes - he had to face them today whether he liked it or not.

"Want me to come with you?" You asked him, resting your head on his shoulder.

"No.. I can't drag you into this any more than I already have y/n.. this isn't fair.. you don't deserve this. Emily doesn't deserve this..."

"Don't you dare Cillian... Don't you dare push me away now!" He looked into your eyes and put his hands either side of your face.

"I couldn't push you away now if I tried.. please don't leave me y/n?"

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere! Come on. We need to do this sooner or later... Hand in hand, remember?" You stood up, taking his hand and led him down the stairs. Your mum with Emily in the living room. You both walked in hand in hand, and Emily rushed to Cillian. The two of them had spent the weekend playing tea parties and dolls, they'd become thick as thieves. He'd charmed your mum all weekend, cooking meals and helping with the cleaning - you were worried your mum loved him more than you did, because that's exactly how you felt. You wanted him completely, and had fallen for him hard.

He put Emily down and looked to you.

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Shut up, Murphy." He laughed, and kissed your hand, leaning in to kiss your cheek. Leaving your mum and daughter in the living room you both made your way outside to the waiting reporters, statement ready. You wouldn't speak, simply hold his hand for support and let him do it.

Approaching the cameras, Cillian took a breath and told his side. Essentially repeating everything he'd told you that day in Sophie's trailer, but with less emotion. His publicist had warned him not to get emotional - the papers would simply rip him apart even more. You stood to the side, hand in his, squeezing it now and then, as he came to the end of his speech.

"This lady has completely bowled me over. Without her, I couldn't have faced you today," he looked back at you and cleared his throat. "I'd ask, politely, that you give us space. Respect the privacy I've always requested in good faith. Allow us to deal with this privately and together. What's been said about me isn't all true. I was never unfaithful to my wife of 21 years.

I have made mistakes. Show me a man who hasn't? I have hurt people. I have disappointed people. I have let people down. What happened with Lisa and the baby was tragic... It was a tragic accident. Yes, I was angry. Yes, I doubted the baby was mine, and no, I'm not proud of my actions. I've nothing else to say on the matter, and I repeat, respectfully, that I'd appreciate privacy for myself and my family now. Thank you." You both made your way to his car, ignoring the barrage of questions from the paparazzi, and Cillian kissed your cheek before getting in and driving away. You walked back into the house, closed the door and fell into your mum's waiting arms, finally letting out the tears you'd been holding all weekend.

That week's filming was, fortunately, smooth sailing. Not a single person on Peaky believed the venom Lisa had been spouting in the media, and even Cillian's ex wife had been convinced of his innocence over a course of phone calls and texts. Anto had instructed that you cancel any media interviews Cillian had planned in order for him to keep as low a profile as possible. For the most part, it was business as usual. You were all meant to have a week's break, but with the situation as it was, it was agreed across the cast and crew that the sooner you all finished filming the better so the week off was cancelled. As disappointed as Cillian was not to be going home to Dublin for a week, it meant an extra week with you, so he wasn't complaining too much.

You were sat in Cillian's trailer, a cold, miserable Friday morning. The story had been out for nearly a week and the media circus was showing no signs of calming down. There were even random women sharing 'kiss and tell' stories now that were completely false, Cillian had never even met these women, never mind had sex with them. His head was laid back on the sofa cushions his hands over his eyes rubbing them tightly. He hadn't slept properly since Sunday. You made your way over to sit across his knees and pulled his upper body into your own, holding him tight to your chest as you stroked his hair gently.

"You need sleep Cill, you're not doing yourself any favours. Plus, Steph is sick of wasting her expensive eye cream on you covering those suitcases under your eyes," you chuckled, making him laugh a little under you. He ran his hands softly up your back making you shudder. You hadn't slept together since Sunday either - his mind too preoccupied.

His hands soon snaked underneath your t-shirt, making you arch you hips slightly closer to his. He lifted you off him, and sat you on the sofa next to him. You were about to ask what he was doing, before his body was hovering over yours, his lips attacking your neck. Your fingers began unbuckling his belt and jeans, pulling them down to his ankles allowing his hard cock to spring in front of you. Without missing a beat, you took him into your mouth, his hands gripping the back of the sofa behind you as you licked slowly up his shaft. Pumping the base of his cock with one hand and taking the tip into your mouth, bobbing your head over him quickly. This was not going to be your usual slow, sensual session, but neither of you wanted that right now.

"I'm not coming in your mouth y/n... Turn around..." he pulled you up and bent you over the sofa, your skirt now hitched up over your waist and your underwear pulled down to your ankles. He ran his tongue slowly against your slit, his hands squeezing your thighs. You were already wet for him after days of no physical contact.

"I need you inside me Cillian, please...." You raised your hips up, he groaned as pushed himself inside you until you felt him flush against your thighs. His thrusts quickly becoming hard and fast, pounding into you as you gripped onto the sofa, panting his name.

"Stop... Wanna ride you... Sit down..." He spun the two of you round, never leaving your warm core as he sat on the sofa, you were now on top of him with your back pushed forwards. You held onto the table in front of you for leverage and moved your hips in circles over his thick length, buried deep inside you. He pulled you back into his chest, his hand now between your legs rubbing your clit as he thrust up into you sharp, hard, and fast. The new angle hitting your sweet spot inside with a new level of intensity.

"Fuck... I'm gonna come Cillian... Don't stop..." Your walls clenched around him as you came harder than ever, your juices flowing from you onto the sofa underneath, his release following quickly with a deep, gutteral groan. He rested his head on your shoulder, and you felt his breathing becoming shallow, before his eyes closed softly into a deep sleep. You eased yourself off him slowly and cleaned yourself up, before laying him down on the sofa with a cushion under his head and a blanket over his half naked body. He barely made a sound as he slept. Kissing him gently on the head, you straighted out your clothes before heading out of the trailer. Luckily he wasn't due on any scenes for a couple of hours at least.

Your phone pinged with a group message to you and Cillian from his sister, Orla, you could see 4 missed calls from her too. Opening the message, you nearly dropped your phone in shock.. a video of Cillian's house in Dublin... Surrounded by fire engines and police cars, smoke bellowing from a window downstairs...

The scream from the trailer behind you could've woken the dead...

[witchcraftingboop]

Re: Jbird & RainS. (Briar) Discourse

Previously, I have spoken with the person who made very serious allegations against JBird, calling him a racist, that were then used by others to spread slander against him. They have since apologized and admitted that JBird isn't a racist, and I genuinely think there was a stark miscommunication that went on to prompt such a claim. I don't want to name them or involve them here, since I do believe they've already reflected enough on the situation at hand, and is still deeply considering the multi-faceted hornet's nest of problems they've stumbled upon.

However, in light of the blatant dismissal and refusal to submit actual proof against the two, I feel as if I should share the information I offered this person before.

If you are basing your arguments against Jbird and Briar off of the previous, separate Discord group discussions of Trio & co. - screenshots of which have been, and continue to be spread years later, by Prim - then I especially implore you to be open to what I have to say. As a third party to this continually and rapidly spiralling debacle, I feel like there's not much I can say or do to assist my friends in being heard, but I feel as if I ought to try. Prim's following is large and actively prepared to follow her "do not interact even to ask questions" policy, so I worry it may be too late already. But I am not without hope or faith.

Tumblr is, unfortunately, a place where hate spreads rapidly, and while I do love the broad community it fosters, I am also aware that, even with the best of folks, it is hard to see the side of someone you've already decided is guilty and not worth approaching for an explanation.

First and foremost, I believe in innocence until proven guilty.

Now then! Onto my offered commentary/input! (Sorry to prattle on so much.)

To start, thedesertgod, also known as Trio, did go through and look for her personal information, which is messed up. But that person has already apologized, if I'm remembering correctly, and left Tumblr. And the other main user who helped spread information about Prim being a race faker also admitted wrong and left. The others in the chat, particularly Mystic and Ronan appear to just be making jokes and stating factual informative summaries, respectively. E-muete also said "ok no" after the Dolezal comment, which is a common "no that's too far a comparison/joke/statement" substitute among their forums and chats and often means they don't actually agree with what they themselves said. Ruby also politely reminds Trio that it's impossible to tell someone's race off of their appearance alone. So what I see here is definitely problematic, but entirely on Trio's part. I'm not saying it's not screwed up to find pictures of someone's parents and debate their race, but the persons who did those things have already left the Tumblrsphere.

Unfortunately, the people you've pointed out don't have a good history with Prim even before the whole "Trio nitpicking her race" thing. Prim used to follow more than a few of them and use their posts to fuel her platform, oftentimes creating uninformed mish-mosh articles with a voice of authority that simply wasn't warranted. As I'm sure you're aware, it's hard enough dealing with people stealing your content word for word, but to attempt to steal your knowledge? Your initiations and rites of passage? And use them to sell yourself as a master of a breadth of practices? The tradcrafters of that particular circle decided to band together and block her from interacting with them directly for that very reason. And because of that, Prim started telling her followers that they are all racist and elitist and ableist and gatekeepers. These terms over the years have become almost like triggers in that once they're said, everyone seems to put on a blindfold and fall into a frenzied rage. And to be fair, Prim is far too quick, in my opinion, to bring up racism as the reason others disagree with her. Most times, I've noticed at least, that if she calls someone racist or says they're unsupportive of POC, she nearly immediately brings up BLM activism in her posts or reblogs. I'm not saying I necessarily support calling all of her activistic inclinations performative, but where the tradcradt group she calls racist is more than willing to talk of and show proof of their contribution, Prim never has and avoids it if asked. I can see both sides, really. But the fact remains that calling someone performative in their actions, does not a racist make. Neither, in my opinion, does interacting with people who are assumed (without real and concrete proof) to be racist.

I can appreciate where you're coming from; honestly, I can. People have grown accustomed to hearing the prefix trad- and preparing for the worst. Racism is a systematic and prevailing problem in the society all around us, so it makes sense to be on the lookout for it. You want to protect yourself and your community. I can understand your sentiments perfectly. But I cannot support "guilty by association" viewpoints. As a WOC who grew up in some rough areas, I have seen boys killed under that very same reasoning. Jbird is a good friend of mine, and I have never questioned his morals or ethics. I have seen no sign of my being looked down upon for the color of my skin, nor anyone else who runs in that very same circle.

What I see is what I see in a lot of faces on this hellsite: hurt. Before Trio and after Trio left, the tradcraft community has been slandered and ostracized. They have shut themselves off to outsiders for the very thing you've done to Jbird just yesterday. They hold their secrets closer than most other communities now because persecution is seemingly forever at their door. On Prim's end too, there has been struggle and pain and needless arguing and hurt. If those you approach seem prickly, it is often because the world has roughened their edges, not because they personally are against you.

I asked for a couple examples from the group and one person (I'll keep them anonymous because I didn't confirm they'd like their name here) said: she has talked about saint magic (trio), hadean pamphlet (trio), hubris (Ruby), fairies, trad craft shit (Mahigan among others), etc etc

From what I personally have seen, her most recent was the Witch Fire podcast. A few tradcraft blogs had a debate/discussion about Witch Fire and its traditional eurocentric foundations in witchcraft not that long ago, and then Prim decided to put out a podcast that was so uninformed, I'm still worried about how younger or newer witches might be hurt by it.

Unfortunately the tradcraft community is vulnerable to that kind of thing [being called names or falsely accused] and an easy target. That's why being called those kind of harsh words - like gatekeeping, elitist, racist, and ableist - are met with so much anger from them. I take it very seriously because I've seen the kind of whiplash it has, especially on such a closed off group.

[A Reply.] Yeah no, Prim "apologizes" by talking about how she's been previously given a hard time with interjections of "but please don't go around spreading hate" and never directly apologizes to the tradcrafter in such posts. Unfortunately, her "apology" did more harm than good. I was hoping she'd just ignore it but . . . This tends to happen too 🤦‍♀️

I think that if both sides were able to approach it as openmindedly as you have, there would be a lot less drama and in-fighting on this app 😩 I really did enjoy talking with you though!

That just about covers everything I'd like to say on the matter.

I do not condone spreading hate, just as I don't condone misinformation or blind allegiance to what one person says. So if you can respectfully and openmindedly address your questions/comments/concerns, I don't see why you can't interact with Briar, Jbird, or myself. I understand it's easy to get caught up in the first perspective you're given, but it is my hope that Witchblr as a whole can be more open to hearing both sides of the story. Blindly blocking and cancelling certain bloggers is something I don't support nor encourage. I understand Prim must be tired of addressing all of the drama that churns around her, so I won't speak as to what her reasoning could be for suggesting such a solution. I'm simply stating what I hope for the community as a whole.

| | Note: The statements above were written early (I think, my sense of time is off) yesterday, and as of yet, I have still seen no concrete evidence that Briar or Jbird have ever made racist comments. On Briar's part, I have seen her observation that activism on a performative platform such as Tumblr can come off as performative, but she never once said she doesn't know or see why Prim would support and promote BLM activism. Something I think was misconstrued and lumped all together to sound as if she thought Prim were faking her contributions altogether. | |

[paradife-loft]

Close reading all the Jin Guangyao scenes: episode 24

Episode 10 | Episode 11 | Episode 22 | Episode 23

The title of this is a lie, actually, since the first half? two thirds? of this is going to be finishing up with episode 23, but ah well.

So, I left off with the previous episode right after the deeply unfortunate clusterfuck of a conversation between Jin Guangyao, Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue, and Jin Guangshan, followed by “sometimes war crimes can double as grooming your extremely emotionally vulnerable son, and that’s terrible”. Which means now, it’s time for…

Swearing an (extremely ill-advised) oath of holy fratrimony!

This is a bit of speculation, since we see almost no detail on what went into the decision to become sworn brothers, but my read is that it at least partially reflects a political motive – tying prominent members of three clans together, rebuilding the rather demolished state of firm alliances and power left in the wake of a major war – while also reflecting a personal desire I think on Lan Xichen’s part to repair the rift between his two good friends, and offer them each a promise that they won’t be left isolated in the middle of larger forces trying to break them down.

The political aspect becomes a bit more apparent when considering the wording of the oath itself, actually: “We are liable to the immortal sects. We are to bring peace and stability to the commoners… If there is a change of heart, one will be faced with a thousand accusing fingers, and the wrath of Heaven and men!” – While this reflects a shared set of values, certainly, it also strikes me as relevant that these three, two of them current sect leaders, are swearing essentially not to become like the Wen clan that they’ve just deposed: they’ll be accountable to others, they’ll work for the benefit of those living under their authority, rather than capriciously throwing their weight around for personal gain.

Oh, and also - I’ve mentioned before, the dramatic irony here in how the consequences they invoke for failing to uphold the principles of their sworn brotherhood are in fact exactly what happens to Jin Guangyao in the end – given what’s to come, the oath he’s swearing ends up being more like a curse. Don’t swear oaths, kids, it never works out well. Of course, at the time, I don’t think he has any intention at all of betraying those principles – the “bring peace and stability to the commoners” part is certainly something he makes an effort to follow up on, once he has the power to do so! Still, for something that starts out with an explicit declaration to not be the sort of evil that Nie Mingjue so straightforwardly abhors, it’s… a very sad outcome.

Moving forward, we have… the most awkward set of greetings in the entire world, I swear. Mingjue shows up to the post-victory banquet and gets offered the world’s most politically-fraught location on the seating chart; Lan Xichen then reminds Jin Guangyao in front of the assembled members of three(!) separate sects to call him da-ge instead of Chifeng-zun. Jin Guangyao redoes his greeting/offer with the most intense deer-in-headlights look (pictured above), pretty clearly aware that Mingjue is not about to be happy with him. (This little exchange, including the encouraging nod also from LXC to NMJ, is further evidence beyond simply their general personalities I think, that Xichen was the driving force behind the brotherhood oath, especially in a personal sense.) But also, it serves as another piece of foreshadowing future events: knowing Mingjue is unlikely to be happy with the offer of Wen Ruohan’s old throne, Jin Guangshan hands the actual task of offering it off to Jin Guangyao. Here at least, Mingjue doesn’t get distracted from who’s really behind the offer, and addresses Jin Guangshan in vehemently refusing the seat; but it nonetheless continues establishing the pattern where JGS uses Jin Guangyao to be the primary face of his own less-than-savory political maneuvering.

(Which in general, makes me think it’s kind of interesting that he does have Jin Guangyao there greeting guests with him in the first place, and not Jin Zixuan? It’s a bit difficult for me to read what the status of co-greeter is supposed to be – second-in-command, or glorified servant? I think there may be a little bit of both, if JGY is there on one hand because he was the one setting the banquet up, but on the other hand also, because JGS wants to parade him around as his very own hero of the Sunshot Campaign, as Sect Leader Yao is so kind to remind us.

And then there’s... the one-on-one chat with Wei Wuxian.

First off, I’d like to link people to this post by @hunxi-guilai​, which honestly just goes over… a lot of what I probably would have liked to say about the implied meanings in this conversation. Essentially: Wei Wuxian is interested in what’s going on with this other Sunshot hero who also seems to be not carrying any sword (in a scene where we even see Jiang Yanli carrying hers!), and who had previously used a somewhat unorthodox weapon for his Wen Ruohan stabbing. Jin Guangyao though, is… not really interested in drawing attention to either of those facts (and I’m sure not in a way that would see him in solidarity with WWX), considering “unorthodox and outside the standard set of accepted behaviours in cultivator society” is the opposite of what he’s trying to look like right now.

Relevant to this, honestly, is the question of “what the fuck exactly even is a soft sword,” which CQL does approximately nothing to explain on the face of it, and only very implicitly does so if you’re obsessive like me and try to take blurry screenshots to compare the sword we see stabbing WRH with the sword that Jin Guangyao uses when fighting WWX’s paperman in episode 41.

Which do appear to be the same sword, inability to get a good clear look at it in either context notwithstanding. Oh, and JGY seems to have either repainted or swapped out the hilt, at some point in the intervening years – perhaps to better match the Jin clan’s aesthetic of white & gold sword decoration that we see on Jin Zixuan’s Suihua?

Anyway, for context on the “what’s a soft sword” issue, I am going to quote a relevant portion from the (EXR translation of the) MDZS novel, even though in general I’m trying to keep the canon cross-pollination in these meta to a minimum.

Back then, when Jin GuangYao worked undercover at Wen RuoHan’s side, he had often hidden the sword at his waist, wreathed the sword around his arm to use during critical moments. Although the blade of Hensheng seemed to be soft to the extremity, attacking with lingering motions, it was in reality both sharp and haunting. Once the blade had wrapped around the opposition, Jin GuangYao would apply it with a bizarre spiritual power, and one would quickly be severed into pieces by the sword, despite its tender appearance. Quite a few famous swords had been battered into piles of scrap iron just like this. At the moment, the blade of the sword attacked as though it was a serpent with silver scales, biting at the paperman without any hesitation.

So yeah – it’s an uncommon weapon, a sword with a blade that can bend and thus works very well for things like being sneaky and unassuming, and not fighting “fairly” in a way the vast majority of other cultivators would have any experience countering.

And... oh my god. Now we’re finally onto episode 24 properly.

The first input we get from Jin Guangyao this episode is this charming smirk as Wei Wuxian walks up into the center of the hall to interrupt JGS’s unpleasant “hey let’s renew this betrothal~” play. Personal amusement about a rather dramatic individual showing up to do something undoubtedly also dramatic? Entertainment about how a person not known for his skill at subtle political maneuvering is probably about to come in and make a mess that the Jin clan will be able to spin to their own advantage? Ehhh, why not both?

Though of course, the Jiang clan members function very well as a unit here once Wei Wuxian comes in to shake things up, and it’s not nearly the uncomplicated win for the Jin clan that he was probably expecting. Meanwhile, once that’s over, he takes the next opportunity to introduce his father’s next order of business, the invitation to the Phoenix Mountain hunt - and in fact, he does so with an absolutely seamless transition from Jiang Yanli’s rejection of the proposed marriage plan renewal:

“Everyone. For the previous Clan Leader Jiang to have such a daughter is already a great comfort to his soul. And not just Jiang Clan, but after the mess with the Wen Clan, every clan has experienced losses. This is a crucial time for us to rebuild and we critically are in need of manpower. For the past days, Father has spent a lot of time pondering over this matter. Luckily, he’s found a countermeasure. I dare to represent my father in inviting everyone back to Jinlintai during the fall. Jin clan will be putting all efforts towards reorganizing the round-up and hunting event at Hundred Phoenixes Mountain.”

It’s easy to overlook, I think, but the amount of rhetorical skill to put that together on the fly? It’s really not for nothing that Meng Yao was first introduced as being impressively sharp and well-spoken. He’s taking what starts as a loss of face for the Jin clan, redirecting it to focus on the virtue of Jiang Yanli, and then tying that in to the losses and worries that every sect now has in the wake of the war ending. And having reminded them of their own interests and present worries here, he steps in to offer a solution that slots the Jin clan in back at the top, looking extremely good, due to the wealth and comparative manpower advantage they have over everyone else after entering the war relatively late.

(Also, to clarify since it’s only ever implied rather than stated outright in the show, via the dialogue here and then another piece during the hunt itself – the Hundred Phoenix Mountain hunt, from what I can tell, is a regular event held for the purpose of showing off each clan’s skills so that they can attract new prospective disciples, hence why it’s a solution to the sects’ manpower being depleted by the war. Additionally, given the use in particular of reorganizing the event, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that ordinarily, this event would be one put on by the Chief Cultivator. So with the Wen sect demolished, there was nobody readily available to step up and take over handling this event until now. Jin Guangshan may be fooling none of the viewers about his intentions in adopting a seat right next to Wen Ruohan’s old chair, but he’s certainly making good use of a-Yao’s rhetorical talent to get yet another instance of stepping into the role vacated by the Wen sect looked upon as praiseworthy benevolence.)

…And then what thanks does he get for it? Some dispassionate praise, more work, and no appreciation for the tea he’s made.

It’s a bit telling (and painful) the way he responds to being asked if he’s found the location of the Yin metal yet, also: “Not yet; I’m incompetent.” I think he’s definitely the sort to feel, even as he’s very aware of the worth of his skills and what sort of areas he’s good with in some respects, the foundation of his belief in himself is nonetheless incredibly rocky and it’s easy for a reminder of any sort of failure to loom suddenly very large over his self-assessment in the moment.

At the same time though, Jin Guangyao is very much an adaptable person, and we see that on full display with his next explanation: that the one who has the last piece of Yin metal may very likely be Wei Wuxian. It’s both an exercise in political savvy, pointing out a powerful and disruptive influence likely to cause problems for Jin Guangshan in the future if his interference in the marriage proposal is any indication, and a significant sewing together of information from several different sources: Wei Wuxian’s opportunity to be in the same place previously as Xue Yang, as he explains to JGS, but also the front-row seat for WWX interfering with the power of Wen Ruohan’s Yin metal using Chenqing and his new Yin Tiger Seal.

I don’t think he holds any particular animosity toward Wei Wuxian at this point? This reads to me like a calculation based pretty essentially on: his father is clearly invested in expanding the power of the Jin sect and diminishing the interest or ability of other sects to oppose him, and also in (instrumentally to that goal) getting his hands on the last piece of Yin metal. Jin Guangyao has been explicitly tasked with working on the latter concern, and probably implicitly at least with the former - at some point, and some point soon, he’s going to need to produce results on that front, or else be dropped from JGS’s incredibly conditional regard for not being useful enough. Given the confluence of circumstances, lining up suspicions (which for all he knows are likely even true!) against Wei Wuxian serves both goals, and gives him another safe place to rest for a day or two before having to continue worrying how to be helpful enough to keep deserving his newfound status.

And that’s it for Jin Guangyao in episode 24! Poor kiddo. Looks like you can climb another rung higher on the ladder, sure, but it doesn’t mean you’ll make it free of being used for quite a long while still.

[megashadowdragon]

Mako fucking adored Korra. He supported her and tried to be there for her every step of the way in Book 2 while they were dating. Most of the shit that happened in regards to their relationship was Korra’s fault. Now, was it understandable? Yes, because Korra was dealing with a hell of a lot of pressure, both personal and job-wise. Her home was in danger, her family was in danger, and no one seemed to be trying to really help her. Everyone loaded these impossible expectations on her, and she wasn’t able to rise to them. But any and all of the crap that went down happened after Mako broke up with Korra initially. Then ASAMI KISSED HIM (important: star this) during their whole drama fest. They never got back together (and Remembrances brought this up).

Honestly, if there’s one thing I absolutely hated about Remembrances, it was the absolute disregard for the MUTUAL screw-ups in the relationships and how BOTH TIMES Mako ‘cheated,’ the girl kissed him. He simply didn’t ‘fess up about the kiss (which is still a dick move, don’t get me wrong, and he should have to deal with it). Most of the crap that went down in the handling of the Makorra relationship was not Mako’s fault and was either instigated by Korra or outside forces. Not to say Mako is blameless (because he’s not, and there were a thousand ways he could have handled things better too), but jesus christ: Korra is not blameless in this whole mess. She is not some perfect paragon of virtue and wronged innocence. Neither is Asami, though I will freely admit Asami was basically innocent and largely a victim of the whole drama fest. Mako is not the only one to blame, and Mako is not his relationship issues. There is so much more to Mako than his romance, just as there is more to Korra than her romance. Especially considering Mako had the most character development of any character in the show save Korra and perhaps Lin. More on that here  (fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/103339454055/morgenstars-when-people-shit-on-mako-and-blame) and here fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/95766287285/ayasugi-san-fantastic-nonsense  .

Mako and Korra dated for six months before Book 2 started, and from everything we know they had a healthy, relatively stable relationship with each other. Like, did you people not watch “Rebel Spirit?” It was almost sickening how in love with each other they were; Bolin certainly thought so. That’s six months in. Any ‘honeymoon period’ had worn off. Mako and Korra’s romantic relationship in Book 2 disintegrated and failed to work because of conflicting responsibilities, their mutual immaturity, and their mutual hotheadedness. All of which were resolved by the end of Book 4 due to their independent character development that took place over the course of the last two books.

Anyway, onto the actual bulk of the ask, since I’ve gotten that off my chest.

You know what? Just because I freaking can, let’s count up all the Mako-Korra/Makorra interactions in Book 4, shall we?

Mako’s letters to Korra, which are honestly just as awkward as the boy himself is. No wonder Korra didn’t reply back to him, honestly; his letters sound like me when I’m valiantly attempting to be formal in an email.

“Reunions”: Five interactions, three directly related to Korra’s leave of absence (the initial reunion hug/conversation—interrupted by Wu, Mako getting upset over Korra replying to Asami but not him or Bolin—interrupted by Asami changing the subject to her father, and the “this is like old times for me and Korra” bit, followed by the look) and then two related to the Wu drama: their argument and subsequent apology (which actually shows how their independent character growth and time apart matured them to the point where any relationship they had, romantic or otherwise, would be healthy and functional; during Books 1 and 2, they would often get into arguments then stomp off and would not apologize to each other until much later, if ever)

“Remembrances”: while it didn’t include any direct Mako-Korra interaction, the episode spent ten minutes recapping the romance angle. Multiple times, it was implied or implicitly stated that Mako hadn’t gotten over Korra and was still in love with her, including the “I haven’t dated anyone since Korra and I broke up” line, the “she continues to inspire me” line, and quite frankly just the general awe with which he talks about her. Korra’s recap did not focus on the romance angle at all and instead was focused on the actual stuff that she’s done over the seasons, and so we did not get her thoughts one way or the other on the matter.

“Beyond the Wilds”: So I like to talk a lot of crap, but here’s where I put my money where my mouth is. This entire episode was dedicated to two things: the culmination of Korra’s recovery arc and the relationship between Mako and Korra. They were together nearly the entire episode. They fought together in the Spirit Wilds while looking for Jinora, Mako had his “I’m here for you. What do you need?” line, Mako was the one that went with Korra to visit Zaheer, Mako had “the concerned look” (I’m pretty sure he’s patented that look) on his face when Korra went in to face Zaheer alone, etc etc. Nearly the entire episode was direct Mako-Korra interaction except for the brief “Fire Ferrets” moment with Bolin, the brief moment with Tenzin being an overprotective father, and the culmination of Korra’s recovery arc, facilitated by Zaheer. And who was there during this culmination to support Korra? Not Asami. She had a grand total of two lines the entire episode, both of which were spoken to Varrick.

“Operation Beifong”: Honestly, this applies throughout the season, because it’s brought up multiple times: Mako being protective of Korra and being disgusted by the idea of Wu attempting to date her/verbally refusing to set Wu and Korra up. I will freely admit this could be and probably is non-romantic in nature; Mako is probably just feeling protective of someone he cares about deeply and is disgusted by the idea of someone like Wu trying to date her. But still, it bears talking about, especially considering it’s brought up multiple times.

Also applies to the season as a whole: Mako’s general verbal and emotional support for Korra, often directly.

“The Last Stand”: there is one direct interaction and one indirect interaction. The indirect interaction occurs while they are searching for Korra after she creates the Spirit Portal. The “camera” does a close-up on Mako’s disapointed and upset face when Jinora says she can’t find her. The “camera” chooses not to show Asami’s reaction. And then their final interaction at the wedding, the one where he says “I’ll follow you into battle no matter how crazy things get. I have your back, and always will.” Pan to Korra’s happy face with wide eyes.

The screenshots/gifs to back me up:

Who supported Korra verbally and physically? Mako, not Asami. The only times we see Asami support Korra are the “I’m here to talk if you need me scene” and the tea scene in “Remembrances.” Who was there to support her during the culmination of her recovery arc and spiritual journey? Mako, not Asami. Which relationship did Remembrances focus on? The Asami-Mako-Korra relationship, not the Korra-Asami friendship/relationship. Who got an entire episode of essentially one-on-one time with Korra? Mako, not Asami. Who did the “camera” choose to focus on when they were searching for Korra? Mako, not Asami. Where was Asami? We don’t know. Not with Korra, by her side and supporting her like we would assume a FRIEND would do, not to mention a person who is going to be Korra’s future romantic interest. Who’s by her side? Mako.

source: fantastic-nonsense . tumblr . com/post/105943382720/um-are-you-watching-the-same-show-makorra/embed

[13eyond13]

Comparing Manga!Near to Anime!Near

Sure! I actually found Near’s character very wooden and boring the first time I watched the anime, and then was very pleasantly surprised at how interesting and full of personality he seemed when I read the manga later, so I think comparing Near’s character in both sources is a great idea. I’ll outline the major differences I found between them below.

(This post is using the official English translation of the manga and the English subtitles from Netflix for the screenshots, by the way):

1. MELLO AND NEAR’S PERSONALITIES AND MOTIVES ARE DIMINISHED IN THE ANIME’S VERSION OF THE WAMMY’S CHILDHOOD FLASHBACK:

This is a scene that was changed slightly in the anime, and at great detriment to both Mello and Near’s characters and the audience's immediate understanding of them, I think. When we are first introduced to these two in the manga it shows a few panels of Mello being a bully at Wammy’s who gets right into the center of the action, and Near being a loner who is invited to participate but prefers to do puzzles by himself:

The anime begins directly at their meeting with Roger in the office, so we know nothing about how these two normally behave at the orphanage or how their peers perceive them / interact with them:

When asked to work together Mello refuses and explains to Roger that he and Near have always been at odds. The manga shows a flashback to Mello studying very hard to surpass Near's scores and always failing to do so, which sets up his inferiority complex and his strong work ethic. It also shows Near being surrounded by admiring students, which indicates he was probably well-liked despite being a loner, and shows that he’s very competent, the most successful student in the school:

 The anime simply has Mello say that they've always been at odds and competing with each other. Mello describes himself as overly emotional and Near as logical and cool-headed, and then they just leave it at that.

It isn’t until much later in the anime -- after the kidnapping, when Light finally finds out about Wammy’s -- that the difference in Near’s and Mello’s academic ranking is even mentioned at all:

I think the manga gives a much better sense of the successors’ personalities and motives right away than the anime does. All we see in the anime is that Near seemingly doesn't give a shit about L's death, nor care much about how the successor choice is made, and that Mello is temperamental and thinks that since Near’s unemotional he will be able to better solve the Kira case. I remember finding Near extremely cold and wooden the first time I watched it, because his reaction to L’s death is so callous, and none of that other stuff about him was shown or explained.

2. THE SPY IN THE SPK IS TAKEN OUT OF THE ANIME STORYLINE:

In the manga once the NPA Director is kidnapped by the mafia Near starts to suspect there is a mole in the SPK who would've leaked their plans to the kidnappers (which there is, Ill Ratte):

In the anime Ratte's role as the spy was cut out of the storyline altogether, so Near just immediately figures it out and then orders his FBI agent to cooperate with Soichiro:

I’m guessing they cut that spy bit out of the anime due to time constraints, but Near being betrayed by one of his employees and being shrewd enough to suspect it adds an extra little layer of vulnerability and sympathy to his character beyond just “smart, blase guy who never loses his cool.”

3. NEAR NO LONGER SUCKS AT DARTS IN THE ANIME:

The scene of Near and Light first talking on the phone and Near calling Light “L number two” is basically the same between the two sources:

Except that in the manga Near is shown to absolutely suck at darts, lol:

In the anime Near is just sitting there building a basic tower out of dice:

Little detail changes like this might not seem that consequential, but I'd argue they make all the difference; sucking at darts adds an endearing aspect to Near beyond just “humourless successor of L who sits around playing with toys a lot.”

I love it because it seems like exactly the opposite of what you'd expect them to show in order to get the audience on his side and believing he's L's super-competent successor, you know? It made me laugh and feel affectionate toward him in the manga, because he looks so dang serious about it; plus I love that he sticks with it for so long despite clearly not being very good!

*(side note: Tumblr’s image uploader glitched out at this point, so unfortunately the rest of the post won’t have any visuals, apologies:)*

4. THERE IS NO “WAS HE EATING CHOCOLATE?” SCENE IN THE ANIME:

Near never detains Sayu and Soichiro after the kidnapping to interrogate them in the anime, so sadly we don’t get that hilarious little manga moment where he deduces it was Mello behind the kidnapping because of the sound of him eating chocolate over the phone. 

5. NEAR’S RESPONSE TO THE SPK DEATH SEEMS LESS EMOTIONAL IN THE ANIME:

His reaction to most of the SPK getting murdered is different in anime, and I would argue he comes off much less sorrowful or shaken by the deaths. He seems pretty matter-of-fact about it, and almost like he'd predicted and planned for it to happen that way. The main emotional reaction we see is his dice tower falling and his face looking intense/angry. 

In the manga Near is caught off-guard by the deaths; he laments that he didn’t find the spy in the SPK before it was too late, and then he says to Light: “I was somewhat prepared for this the moment YOU gave the notebook away to the kidnappers, but it sure does hurt.” He is shown looking very sad about it. Light asks Near to share information, and Near has to deliberate for a while internally about whether he wants to trust Light with any information about Mello or himself before he agrees.

In the anime Near calmly predicts the deaths right before they happen, then tells Light that they died, then says: “L, you helplessly handed over the notebook.” Light asks him if he would have done anything differently if he was in charge, and Near says: “No, with that kind of preparation it would’ve been taken either way. There’s no point in us arguing. Let’s help each other and tell each other what we know. I have some idea of who the culprit may be.” MUCH LESS EMOTIONAL, and a bit overly willing to immediately volunteer information about Wammy’s and Mello to Light.

6. NEAR COMFORTING AND INFORMING THE SPK ABOUT MELLO AFTER THEY ARE DISBANDED BY THE GOV’T IS CUT OUT OF THE ANIME:

In the manga Near spends a good deal of time explaining Mello’s thought process to his team and warning them about his dangerousness before they ever meet up with him. He tells Halle in particular to watch out, because he believes Mello will target her home because she’s the most vulnerable, and then says to whole group: 

“If you’re scared, you don’t have to participate. But please don’t leave the headquarters. I’m scared, so I’m not going to go outside.” 

This display of thoughtful consideration for his team’s feelings and safety and his honesty about his own fears is not shown at all in the anime, as it skips directly from the news of the SPK being dissolved to Mello breaking into Halle’s apartment and taking her hostage to the SPK HQ.

7.  NEAR SEEMS A LITTLE MORE EXCITED BY MELLO’S ARRIVAL IN THE MANGA THAN HE DOES THE ANIME:

And there was a more in-depth explanation given in the manga about why he continued to defend Mello and sympathize with him. But even so, I would say these scenes are for the most part very similar between the two sources. The anime did a great job adding some lovely stained-glass visuals behind the boys and such here, too!

8. THERE IS NO SCENE OF NEAR AND MELLO WORKING TOGETHER TO QUESTION MOGI IN THE ANIME:

This is a real shame, because it’s basically the most fun interaction these two have and the closest they get to collaborating in a personal way after their dramatic reunion at the HQ (even though it could also be seen as Mello just attempting to taunt/use Near, but Near doesn’t seem to take it that way). Near’s interactions with Mogi and Mello are weirdly cute in this scene, as he often compliments them on their impressiveness and such, so it’s too bad that the anime chopped it out!

9. THE ANIME PUTS A MORE POSITIVE SPIN ON NEAR AND MELLO’S COLLABORATION AGAINST KIRA:

It’s left very ambiguous in the story if Mello was trying to save Near or beat him by kidnapping Takada. The manga takes a typically unsentimental view of Mello’s intentions, and the anime takes a more hopeful view of them.

In the the manga, Near says this: “I find it hard to believe that Mello thought that far ahead. But I am sure that he was always trying to get ahead of me. And that’s not all. Even if he didn’t surpass me, Mello always said that he was going to be number one, and that he was going to be better than me and L. But I always knew I would never be able to surpass L. It could be that I lacked the action and he lacked the calm; and even though we couldn’t surpass the one we admired on our own, together we can stand with L. Together we can surpass L.”

In the anime, Near says this: “I believe Mello knew in his heart that alone we aren’t able to reach our goal, to surpass L. But together... together we can stand with L. Together we can surpass L!”

10. NEAR’S PHILOSOPHICAL SPEECH IN THE WAREHOUSE IS CUT OUT OF THE ANIME:

It’s probably my favourite thing he says in the entire manga, so that’s too bad! He says it in response to Light’s passionate Kira monologue.

In the manga, after Near shuts Light down, Light says: “Near, you're wrong. I'm the icon of justice now.”

Near replies: “You may be right. I'm no different than you. I believe in what I think is right, and believe that to be righteous. Nobody can tell what is right and what is wrong, what is righteous and what is evil. Even if there is a god, and I had his teachings before me, I would think it through and decide if that was right or wrong myself.”

I loved getting these little deeper thoughts from Near in the manga; it made him come off less cold and uncaring and more human and insightful to me.

11. NEAR HAS A PLAN TO LOCK LIGHT UP FOR LIFE IN THE MANGA THAT ISN’T MENTIONED IN THE ANIME:

When Light tries to stall for time by attempting to tempt Near into testing the Death Note, in the manga Near replies:

“Light Yagami. Kira. I have no plans to kill you. I really don't care if the notebook is real or not anymore. From the very beginning, my goal was to capture Kira. All I want is for everything to become clear and for Kira to be captured. You're as good as arrested now, and I'll confiscate the notebook Mr. Aizawa has. That should be enough. And I will not announce Kira's arrest or the existence of the notebook to the public. I believe that everybody here can keep that secret. I'll take full responsibility for locking you up in a place where nobody will find you until you die."

I find this both refreshing and scary, because it shows Near’s definitely not doing this for his own glory or his ego (like Mello and L might), but it’s also a very ruthless and scary side of Near that adds a lot of spice to his character! I can’t imagine much of a worse fate for Light than that had Ryuk not gotten to him first, yikes.

12. THE EPILOGUE CHAPTER IS LEFT OUT OF THE ANIME:

In which Matsuda and Ide speculate about Near possibly “cheating” with the Death Note (aka being behind Mikami messing up with checking for tampering and dying in prison ten days later and such). Near is shown doing well as the new L, playing with toys and eating some of Mello’s trademark chocolate and collaborating with the NPA on their new work. Which is nice!

So in conclusion to this massive post, I would say that most of the characters in the second half of the story kinda got shafted by the anime because of how the plot was condensed; it didn’t help that the animation portrayed the subtler characters like Near in a less dynamic/expressive way than the original manga art did, either. Despite what it may sound like, I do love the anime a heck of a lot, but I think people will probably miss out on a lot of Near’s charm if they never get to experience the original manga version of him, as well!

[bloodraven55]

Sun said he likes Blake to Neptune & he still has feelings for her yes he didn’t pursue her romantically but that doesn’t mean his feelings magically disappeared. And I’ll take a blush & a cheek peck as a sign of mutual interest over nothing romantic being stated about bb outside of shippers thinking that way because they ship it. Until in show Blake says she only sees sun as a friend & yang as a romantic partner & vice versa Blksn is romantic bb is platonic. Lgbt shippers bait themselves a lot

Him liking her doesn't inherently mean romance, but he did have a crush on her, so I'll approach this from that perspective because unlike you I don't need to wilfully blind myself to the other side of the debate to make my argument. Though the official canon manga does have him specifically refer to Blake as his friend only, which according to you makes their relationship platonic, so 🤷‍♀️

But anyway it's funny, you see, let's look at what Sun says about Blake. The answer is not a whole lot.

He confesses that the whole reason he's initially interested in her is that she's a Faunus, the exact last thing she wants because she doesn't want her race to be a factor in people's opinions of her.

The only time he ever says anything whatsoever about her personality is to criticise her for being herself by asking if she's “still being all Blakey?” while she's trying to deal with her trauma that he never has the slightest clue how to help her with because she doesn't trust him enough to open up to him.

The only time she talks about her past to him it's pure exposition about the White Fang and she never says anything about Adam to him beyond the fact she used to work with him.

The only two moments between Blake and Sun with emotional weight are both immediately brought back to being about Yang (“No, not again” when he gets injured and “I can promise Yang would say the same” after he wakes up) and the only two moments where she reciprocates his flirting to any extent whatsoever are a single blush which could simply have been embarrassment and “my hero” which is instantly turned into a joke by Kali falling through the door.

As a romance their relationship has zero depth, zero substance, zero connection to the plot, and no serious emotional weight.

On the other hand, Yang never treats Blake any differently because she's a Faunus, which is exactly what Blake wants.

Yang opens up about her own issues to Blake alone, and sees Blake's strength of character even when Blake herself can't see it (“You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake”).

Blake tells Yang all about her relationship with Adam without any prompting, and directly contrasts Yang with him as people dear to her, thus putting her own feelings for Yang on the same level as the romantic feelings she had for Adam. But she compares her helping Ilia, her friend, to Sun helping her, putting her platonic feelings for Ilia on the same level as her relationship with Sun.

Not to mention that Adam, the person who knew Blake well enough to manipulate her for years, can tell Blake has no romantic feelings for Sun and so isn’t at all threatened by him hence calling him only her classmate, while he can tell that Blake does have romantic feelings for Yang hence identifying her as someone Blake loves and his insane levels of jealousy with “What does she even see in you?!”

Yang loses her arm for Blake solely because of how much Blake loves her, as Adam literally states that his reason for maiming Yang is Blake's feelings for her, which directly causes Blake to go back to Menagerie and discover the White Fang plot against Haven and take the Faunus army to stop it. Thus Blake and Yang's relationship is the entire reason that the relic from Haven isn't currently with Salem or Raven as if Adam hadn’t been stopped there the good guys might well have lost.

Sun... has no comparable involvement in any part of the plot, no development or backstory despite having been around for six Volumes, and no scenes with even half that amount of emotional depth with Blake.

Blake and Sun had a crush on each other at one point, sure, and maybe Sun is still somewhat attracted to Blake, but their feelings for each other have never been expanded beyond a few instances of shallow flirting, the only time their relationship actually grows is when it becomes a friendship instead, and nothing they have ever had even comes close to comparing to the entire arc Blake and Yang have had building a genuinely emotional connection that actually serves the plot and the growth of both characters involved.

B/lacksun is simple, superficial, and static. B/umbleby is multi-layered, deep, and contains actual growth. I thought B/lacksun would happen all the way through until the end of V5, but they had their chance to canonise it and they didn’t take it, and then V6 finished the job of sinking it romantically while putting B/umbleby beyond the realm of plausible deniability.

And no, you refusing to take “it was never about [romance]” as the platonicisation of B/lacksun that it was doesn’t mean that B/lacksun still has a chance in canon. It's called good, natural writing, but the problem is that a small number of people like you can't be bothered to use even one of your braincells to apply some basic narrative comprehension because you'd rather shove your heads up your own asses so you can keep pretending that B/umbleby isn't happening.

If you try and send me more kernels of bullshit, you'll be blocked. As many times as it takes to finally get rid of you. All of the asks you spam me with in your pathetic temper tantrum will be deleted, but I'll screenshot them before I get rid of them for a nice video I'm planning on making so it's up to you if you want to keep giving me more lovely examples of your stupidity to include in it.

I have been meaning to address the differences between B/lacksun and B/umbleby in the narrative for some time, however, so thank you for giving me a reason to explain why B/umbleby is ten times more interesting as a romantic relationship.

[katiewattsart]

29/10/19 : TEDDY BOYS. HAUL GIRLS. #1

What are they? 

Teddy Boy: (in the 1950s) a young man of a subculture characterised by a style of dress based on Edwardian fashion (typically with drainpipe trousers, bootlace tie, and hair slicked up in a quiff) and a liking for rock-and-roll music.

Haul Girl: A girl or women who makes a haul video.

The revolution will not be televised. 

The tv shows you what it wants to show you.

Television tells us what the people who run the TV stations want us to know. But social media today sometimes provides an alternative.

Subculture - Under/Beneath 

We are looking today at youth and subcultures… their historicity and their contexts, and where we are with what might be called subcultures and youth cultures today.

GUIDE TO THE CULTS

A genuine piece from the mirror in the 1980s.

Sex Pistols : This is one of the most infamous moments on television. Today it seems tame, but in 1976 this was enough to get the presenter fired.

Like Duchamp's 'ready mades' - manufactured objects which qualified as art because he chose to call them such, the most unremarkable and inappropriate items - a pin, a plastic clothes peg, a television component, a razor blade, a tampon - could be brought within the province of punk (un)fashion...

Dick Hebdige - Subculture: The Meaning of Style

Hebdige’s book has long been consider the authorative text on subculture.

In the book he discusses the ready made aesthetics of punk. Punk was the first reaction to the developing politics of Thatcher and Reagan… here a refusal to take part in business as normal led to music that sounded amateur and fresh… the opposite of the progressive rock that had dominated the mid 1970s and early 80′s. 

Vivienne Westwood

Objects borrowed from the most sordid of contexts found a place in punks' ensembles; lavatory chains were draped in graceful arcs across chests in plastic bin liners. Safety pins were taken out of their domestic 'utility' context and worn as gruesome ornaments through the cheek, ear or lip...fragments of school uniform (white bri-nylon shirts, school ties) were symbolically defiled (the shirts covered in graffiti, or fake blood; the ties left undone) and juxtaposed against leather drains or shocking pink mohair tops.

Jamie Red and others made zines that could be assembled in this same way, collaging and making work that felt it could have been made in the house, and often was.

Subcultures

Subcultures are tribal, bringing people together to form loose relations outside of the mainstream.

Different subcultures:

Even subcultures have subcultures… specific types of goth (steampunk, lolita) rude boys, K Pop sub genres, grunge punk rock etc

Once about a specific youth culture movement based around the disco music of the 1970s, clubbing subculture developed into rave culture in the late 80s and 90s, and has become a mainstream movement in the last few years. 

Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, Mark Leckey, 1999

“Something as trite and throwaway and exploitative as a jeans manufacturer can be taken by a group of people and made into something totemic, and powerful, and life-affirming.”

Subcultures are about a sense of belonging, often to people who feel excluded or disenfranchised from the mainstream.

Cosplay - form of subculture 

The Joker and Harlequin are both characters who live for misrule, and both of them come from characters in the commedia dell’arte.

Harlequin relates directly to Harley Quinn… the Lord of Misrule was the peasant who was given the task of making sure that Xmas revellers got very drunk and very naughty.

The World Turned Upside Down

These characters link back to the ideas of the carnival, a time when the world was turned upside down. Christmas was initialy this kind of festival. People didn’t know if they would make it through the winter, so they made merry whilst they could. In the carnival Kings become Jokers, Jokers became kings. 

Carnival extracts all individuals from non-carnival life, non-carnival states and because there are no hierarchical positions during carnival, ideologies which manifest the mind of individuals cannot exist.

...And finally in a few relatively rare instances, we find an extreme form of revelry in which the participants play-act at being precisely the opposite of what they really are; men act as women, women as men, kings as beggars, servants as masters, acolytes as bishops. In such situations of true orgy, normal life is played in  all manners of sins such as incest, adultery, transvestitism, sacri- lege, and lese-majeste treated as the order of the day...

Edmund R. Leach, Rethinking Anthropology

In Rabelais and His World (1965), Mikhail Bakhtin likens the carnivalesque to the type of activity that often takes place in the carnivals of popular culture. In the carnival, according to Bakhtin, social hierarchies of everyday life—their etiquettes, and normal structures—are turned on their head.

Court jesters become kings, kings become beggars; opposites are mingled (fact and fantasy, heaven and hell).

Drag Cultures

Much in the same way that Madonna, undeniable icon though she is, in no way invented voguing, neither did the queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race invent the concept of "shade", "realness" or any of the other essential sayings liberally adopted wholesale by the internet. But what the show has done is continually provide a potted queer history. Whether it’s through highlighting ball culture, trans activism, gender fluidity, or queens like the legendary Lady Bunny; or simply by allowing the contestants to talk about their lived experience, the show has put an all too rare slice of gay and trans history in American (and the world’s) living rooms and laptops.

Drag Race has brought a subculture into the mainstream. It has brought secret languages into modern parlay.

From RuPaul raising a pair of opera glasses to say archly, “I can’t wait to see how this pans out”, to season four queen Latrice Royale’s “the shaaaaade of it all”, social media’s gif game has been vastly bolstered by nine seasons of this show. A gif reaction needs to encapsulate maximum emotion, drama, and appearance – and the queens on Drag Race have all three in spades. Tumblr couldn’t create gifs fast enough in the early seasons, and the joy of so many strong characters, and sound-bites, means that there is a reaction for absolutely every occasion. Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio named one of her world tours after her own much-gif’d catchphrase, “Not today Satan”.

Memes and online culture have helped the show become part of the everyday.

Historically, "sissy" has been used as an insult against feminine-seeming men. Ru-Paul’s Drag Race not only reclaims the word – “now sissy that walk” is the phrase said at the top of each catwalk, usually preceding a demonstration of almost gob-smacking creativity – but shows that adopting a truly feminine character requires massive amounts of charisma and self-confidence. The show is wildly popular with women, not simply because of the incredible looks and transformations served by each queen, but because it is a celebration of feminine mystique in all its forms.

It has helped reclaim a sense of agency in an era of toxic masculinity.

The little show that could has turned into a global behemoth, with tours around the world each year, and an annual convention in Los Angeles. Last year, a second US convention launched in New York, while London hosted the first European edition, DragWorld UK, which saw a number of the show’s queens and RuPaul’s right-hand judge, Michelle Visage, holding court. And as fabulous, glamorous and downright funny as the queens are, the real joy came from seeing the response of teenagers to meeting their idols. RuPaul and Visage are giving hope to lost kids around the world, whatever their gender, ethnic background or sexuality. By sharing their stories, the Drag Race contestants are giving comfort and inspiration to viewers, as well as swathes of entertainment.

The show has brought disenfranchised, often hidden cultures into the open. And given people something that not only entertains, but also empowers.

The difference between Drag Race US and Drag Race UK summed up in one perfect tweet…

With RuPaul’s Drag Race UK finally airing on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it’s got fans realising just how different the two editions of the show are… International fans were subjected to the colourful world of British slang and swear words, leaving dozens bemused about what exactly the UK queens are actually saying…. But in a viral tweet shared by one of the British queens, it’s managed to capture the crucial difference between the US and UK versions of Drag Race.

Sum Ting Wong shared a screenshot of a Facebook post that so beautifully sums up the two shows:

Pink News JOSH MILTON OCTOBER 8, 2019

Drag is culturally derived, and finds its forms based on local customs. In the UK drag has a relationship to Vaudeville and play, which means it does something different to the american show. It is less about the act of putting on a show, and more about the comedic, slightly catty relations that we have come to associate with saturday evening tv here in the UK.

But that doesn’t mean it is mean in itself… it still brings a subculture to a mainstream audience. Remember, if I talked about this with you in the 1990s, I would face prosecution under Section 28

"shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship".

New Subcultures

‘It's hard not to be struck by the sensation that, emos and metalheads aside, what you might call the 20th-century idea of a youth subculture is now just outmoded. The internet doesn't spawn mass movements, bonded together by a shared taste in music, fashion and ownership of subcultural capital: it spawns brief, microcosmic ones.

In fact, the closest thing to the old model of a subculture I've come across is Helena and the haul girls. Their videos are about conspicuous consumption: a public display of their good taste, carefully assembled with precise attention to detail. When you put it like that they sound remarkably like mods.’

Alexis Petridis 

Marie Antoinette, 2006 (Sofia Copolla) 

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 120

Episode: Futari wa Precure Splash Star 22 - “Super Surprising! Michiru and Kaoru’s Shocking Confession!!” Date watched: 11 May 2019 Original air date: 9 July 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/5PEq8nL Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Before we begin, would anyone like to go on a feels trip?

If you hear the sound of gross sobbing in the background while reading this review, don’t worry it’s just me. Michiru and Kaoru are talking with Gohyaan and Akudaikaan about their failure the previous episode. Akudaikaan loses his temper, lashing out at all in the room and reminding M and K with no uncertainty exactly what their purpose is. He warns them not to hinder his ambitions ever again and they hastily leave. While they stand on Gourd Rock to ruminate some, Gohyaan appears and taunts them some more about their closeness with Precure. He reminds them that if they defeat the heroines, all their problems will be solved.

The next day at school, Mai is quiet and ponderous because she believes the Kiryuus might be from Dark Fall, but she tries to dismiss this notion. The sisters show up and repeatedly flare up their powers, causing Flappi to scream at the burst in dark energy at inconvenient moments (like the middle of a test).

evil eyes: on

Saki and Mai try to talk to the fairies in the hallway, but the sisters appear and Mai hurries off. Saki tells Kaoru that Minori wants to hang out with her again, and asks Michiru to tutor her in math. Their faces soften and they both agree to these things. Then she invites them out to the Sky Tree after school. The sisters go outside and Kaoru reminds her sister that if they wait to defeat Precure, their frustrations might return, but Minori shows up before they can do anything. She is super excited to see Kaoru and explains that she and her mother are there on a delivery to the school, so they may as well go watch Saki’s practice.

a wild Minori appears

They head behind the school near the practice fields, and Mai walks out of the building, notices the three of them, and tucks away to see what’s going on. A stray softball is coming right at Minori’s head, and Kaoru quickly makes it disappear. Mai notices this but before she can say anything, Minori notices her and Saki comes up, asking about the ball. Michiru and Kaoru deny any knowledge, so Saki shrugs it off and invites all of her friends to the Sky Tree while Minori heads off to find her mother again. 

When they get there, she instructs all of them to squish themselves against the tree, and feel the calming and positive energy it exudes.

literal tree huggers

Michiru and Kaoru reminisce about the good times they’ve had in the land of greenery, as well as remembering the threat of Akudaikaan. (see the full video at the top) After questioning why she brought them here, Saki says that it’s where she met all of them, so it seems like a special place, and then continues “Do I really need a reason to invite my friends to the Sky Tree?” This surprises the sisters as they’ve never thought of themselves as friends before. They seem genuinely happy for a moment before they remember they’ve got a mission. They clench their fists and this causes Flappi and Choppi to go crazy, so Mai and Saki quickly excuse themselves to talk. Mai tries to explain to Saki that she thinks the siblings are from Dark Fall but the fairies keep interrupting, and Kaoru insists to Michiru that they have to do this. It’s clearly hard for both of them, but they insist to each other that they are proud warriors of Dark Fall, and they prepare their attack.

the absolute anguish

Saki and Mai feel the intense dark energy approaching them and transform before they can even learn who their opponent is.... and so the reveal is that much more dramatic. But the twins do show themselves this time, and there’s no turning back. Bloom is shocked, Egret is more dejected that her hunch was right.

and look at this gorgeous shot. (textless version in the gallery)

Bloom insists that they don’t have to fight, but the Kiryuus insist that they’re from different worlds, and their only purpose for existing is to destroy the Precures and enact Akudaikaan’s will, so they attack. Bloom and Egret block, but refuse to fight back, which angers Michiru and Kaoru. They exchange ideals with the cures, who maintain that they can still be friends, but the twins retaliate that, as all life comes to an end eventually, their vision of a world of ruin, with no life at all, is actually ideal. Egret retaliates by asking Kaoru why she saved Minori earlier that day, and both cures remind them of the nice things they’ve done and promised they’d continue to do, to prove that they’re not truly evil. Saki insists that they’re all friends before they’re warriors, either of peace or of Dark Fall, and she refuses to fight her friends. The speech seems to be working, you can see that Michiru and Kaoru are being swayed, but they are still too afraid of the consequences of failure and double down on their words, before leaping into the air and diving towards the Precures, as the scene freezes and the credits begin to play.

Here we are, at the emotional peak of the journey of Michiru and Kaoru. All the cards are out on the table and they have made the choice (under duress) to put aside their personal feelings and emotional attachments and fight Saki and Mai. I honestly think this hurts them more than the Precures, because deep down, they don’t want to do this, and as much as they try to bury their feelings, they can’t help but to bleed through. There’s a clear hesitation that wasn’t there when they debuted, and they barely hide their emotional attachments to Saki and Mai. They no longer call each other out for helping, making connections, and otherwise getting involved in the lives of the heroines. They hype themselves into fighting, and maintain that they have a responsibility to Akudaikaan even when it’s clear that this goal differs from their desires. They take pause at Saki and Mai’s rejections of their fate and insistence that they’re still friends. They don’t want to do this, but they feel like they have no choice.

Normally, Michiru wears the mask and puts on the act of being friendly to the humans but secretly dismissing them, while Kaoru is more straightforward about her feelings, good or bad. It’s because of this difference in personality that Kaoru is the first one to insist that they drop all pretenses at the Sky Tree and defeat Saki and Mai, while Michiru is initially reluctant (and borderline crying).

seeing them display this kind of emotion would have been unfathomable a few weeks ago

She knows their mission deep down, but she’s allowed her friendly persona to become part of her, and she doesn’t want to fight them. At the same time, Kaoru reminds her that there’s no choice. Regardless of their feelings, they will always be warriors of Dark Fall and that’s the duty they have to fulfill. I don’t want this to read as though Kaoru simply doesn’t care, though. Arguably, she cares even more, but because she doesn’t hide her true self as much as her sister, she is better equipped to see the options in front of them: they cannot keep dodging this matter, they have to confront Saki and Mai and admit that they’re from Dark Fall. If they don’t, Akudaikaan will destroy them himself. Neither of them thinks that their friends will be accepting of their identities, because they come from the side that has been trying to destroy them and everything they care about so how could they possibly remain friends? It’s kill or be killed, so Michiru and Kaoru choose to take a stand for their lives rather than their true principles. However, Bloom and Egret’s refusal to engage and fight back does start to sway them. Mai calls out their hypocrisy particularly well:

The villains are given pause by this, for a moment they falter and lower their guard. Mai has seen through their facade, and wants them to realize the truth they’re denying about themselves. It almost works, but when Saki calls them their “friends,” that triggers a response. That level of intimacy is still too uncomfortable to them, they won’t allow themselves to become close to anybody but each other, and this challenge to their core beliefs makes them retaliate. They reiterate that they were created, given life, for only one purpose: to serve Dark Fall. If they aren’t enacting Akudaikaan’s will, they are betraying that purpose, and don’t deserve to even exist at all.  So they fight back, out of fear and loyalty. The villains who fight against their own hearts, and the heroines who refuse to fight because of theirs. What will be the outcome of this clash of ideals? Find out in the next review.

There is one bit of symbolism involving Michiru and Kaoru that I only just realized this episode, and I am furious at myself for not catching it sooner, with how much I’ve talked about other symbolism involving them:

If you’re standing in the teacher’s position, Kaoru sits in the back left corner, Michiru in the seat ahead of her, Mai sits in the back right corner, and Saki sits in front of Mai. Their positions mirror each other, in much the same way as Michiru and Kaoru are mirrors of Saki and Mai. If I were to read further into it, Saki and Mai sit by the window (the light) while the Kiryuus are furthest from the sun’s light, representing their dark nature. I do not know if there’s some Japanese mythology, folklore, or superstition about what side of the room you sit on, beyond the obvious anime trope that the second-from-the-back on the left is the Main Character Seat so they can stare out the window.

Before I wrap up, have some truly sincere Michiru and Kaoru expressions:

The next review will either be tomorrow, or in a week. I want to do some comparing and contrasting with Kiriya’s arc in FWPC, but I don’t think I’ll have a lot of free time tomorrow to write, and as I mentioned, I’ll be on a road trip for a few days. Hopefully I’ll be able to jot something down, I want to wrap up the Kiryuu arc before the trip so I can start into the back half of the show when I return. We’ll see where the wind blows. Whenever the review comes, look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Zekkouchou Nari!

Miracle Drop Count: 1

[likeadog]

and before this one gets deleted LMAO

anyway here's a little lesson in pr 101

IF YOU FAIL TO IDENTIFY AND REBUTT WEAKNESSES IN YOUR ARGUMENT, THE OTHER SIDE WILL DO SO FOR YOU.

for starters: the statement was never "staff is full of terfs". the statement was "staff is proudly promoting themselves as harry potter fans, the creator of which is very openly a TERF and claims all support of her franchise as support of her ideals. This may have something to do with why TERFS and fash are so rarely banned off this website."

you are dealing with a two part statement. you fail to address either part.

You say "Staff is full of trans people like myself. this is hurtful." FALLACY. you are arguing that which is not being argued. And not only that, you're using identity politics to weasel your way out of accountability. Trans people can be transmisogynists. There are plenty of trans men and other tme trans people who align themselves with transmisogynistic ideals. TWO. Staff is, as you imply, a multi-person team. Do you think workplaces only ever hire people of the same ideological thought? Do racists not infect the workplaces of people of color? Are you truly so simple-minded to think you and your team are immune to holding bigoted ideas? Be an adult.

YOU FAIL TO ADDRESS THE SECONDARY STATEMENT AT ALL: It is a well known issue that staff refuses to take action against blogs that are explicitly full of hate speech and harassing other users, despite multiple support tickets. This rangers from TERFS, to Fash, to pedophiles, to people who make doxxing and death threats. The userbase was willing to accept potential incompetence as a begruding excuse, but as recent examples show, all of you were more than capable of fixing this issue in the first place.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE NEXT PART OF THIS PR SHITSHOW:

If this had simply been a case of someone going "staff is icky", it would have blown over quickly. Instead, I presume Jezzuminah (or perhaps other staff sympathetic to her clout-induced plight) began with terminating the blogger who created the post under the claim of harassment, and en masse removes any images they can find of the screenshots. Now, harassment by tumblr's guidelines is defined very loosely, and largely regards sexual harassment. So instead I will call upon the common definition of harassment:

"Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral reasonableness. In the legal sense, these are behaviors that appear to be disturbing, upsetting or threatening. They evolve from discriminatory grounds, and have an effect of nullifying a person's rights or impairing a person from benefiting from their rights. When these behaviors become repetitive, it is defined as bullying. The continuity or repetitiveness and the aspect of distressing, alarming or threatening may distinguish it from insult."

Now, once again, to recall the posts: Two screenshots of a staff member's blog, which was publicly advertised and promoted as such, followed by a theoretical conclusion regarding staff's past ineptitude. If you put something out publicly, it is a well-defined social contract of the internet that you are accepting criticism on said thing. Partyjockers never made any calls to action regarding jezzuminah, only drawing a conclusion that was obviously based in opinion and publicly advertised information.

IF staff felt that having their public presence shared outside of their control would be "humiliating and demeaning", they should not have shared it. This is common sense. You willingly revoked your own anonymity.

And, by starting this crusade, staff has proven that what we all chalked up to ineptitude was a fixable problem all along. Why, staff, as most people ask, have you NOT banned TERFs and fascists? What else is this supposed to read as other than an endorsement of their conduct? If this is your official statement, it's piss-poor, and even a 20 year old paralegal major can deconstruct the argument at hand better than you can. Get your actual PR department on this, or hire a new one.

And P.S: addressing an infuriated crowd as "Friends" is condescending and only likely to incense them further.

did you see the staff personal response to the partyjocking thing

https://cyle.tumblr.com/post/685733077180432384

wow that's the lamest response ive ever seen. is this really how we're getting official staff statements? one sentence personal blog posts? all of you should be fired this is literally first thing you learn in business 130

[issajuju-bug]

Fuckboi Troubles

I had just gotten out of the shower when my phone went off. I looked over to see my cousin Nicki calling me. "Bitchhh guess what I just heard from Katlyn?" Of course Nicki would call with some tea to spill about somebody. I laugh as I walk out the bathroom with the phone on speaker. "What did Katlyn tell you this time?" I say as I sit on the bed with my coco butter.

"When was the last time you saw the hotep fuckboi?" I laugh as I put on my shirt, thinking about this morning when I saw Erik. "Gurl why the hell do you keep calling him that with yo stupid ass?" "Because his ass claims to be woke as fuck, but he fucks on every bitch and ha sister.

Thinking about it Erik has always been a free spirit when it came to relationships, but I thought us getting together would be different. I mean I knew it would be hard for him to just mess with me, but if he loves me like he says he does he would at least try.

"I saw him this morning crazy ass. What does that have to do with anything though?" I get up to go get me something to drink while still holding the phone. "Well you know how Katlyn got some loose ass lips right, so I was talking to her about Keke and em. Cause you know them hoes always got something going on and how bout Katlyn told me she saw Erik ass wit Keke.

I was so shocked to hear it I didn't know what to say. "Hold on what?" I put down the cup I had so I could make sure I heard her right. "Aight now you know with Katlyn you always gotta double check shit she say, so I asked her did she have some receipts." I was hoping that Katlyn was just talking out of ha ass again.

"Now you know I can't stand Hotep Hoe ass but I wanted that shit to be a lie gurl; but bitchh she had pictures and text messages." I'm sitting down on the couch now, I don't know when my leg started shaking. "Send all that shit." I say getting angrier. "I got one better for you, come open the door."

I jump up to open the door for Nicki, leaving my phone on the couch. I open the door to see her wearing a black nike jacket with tights to match. She has her her wrapped up with her bonnet on. We sit back down and I look as she goes to Katlyn's messages.

She scrolls up until she gets to the top of the screenshots, she then clicks on it and hands the phone to me. I try to take a deep breath to calm myself before I look at them but it doesn't prepare me for what I see.I see Erik texting Keke asking what she was wearing; she tells him to come and see with ha address attached. I look at the date to see it was a day we argued. I keep scrolling to see pictures and videos of Keke playing with herself.

I also see ha asking about me and if he was dating me. I felt my heart drop when I saw he texted back that I was just some girl he use to mess with. I wanted to throw the phone but it wasn't mine, so I handed back to Nicki.

"So what you gonna do about this (Y/n), I mean you not gone stay with his cheating ass are you?" Nicki said while turning towards me with her legs crossed. To be honest I didn't know what I would do. Erik made me feel something I never felt before him. I love him, but it's pretty clear he didn't love me.

"What do you have planned Nicki?" I ask silently hoping she'll stay just in case Erik showed up. There was no way I would be able to not forgive him. Simply because Erik has a way to get out of trouble, which usually ends up with my ankles by my ears and him rearranging my insides.

"Don't worry cuz I'm staying, I remember you telling me all about Erik and his devil dick." She says laughing. "Wait what the hell does that mean?" I asked getting up to get my cup out of the kitchen. "It means Erik has the type of dick to make you forget yo religion and praise him instead. The bad thing about that is he knows he has that type of hold on you. His ass ain't never gone act right until you leave him."

Ha leave him she says, like it's really that easy. If I did that who knows how long it would be until I get another boyfriend. It's better than being treated like some side bitch, I mean am I really gonna to take him back after this. His dick really isn't worth the trouble, but if you factor in his hands and that thing he does with his tongue.

No no I refuse to be that fucking stupid. "I know yo ass thinking about staying with him, you got that look on your face." Nicki says getting up to get a water out of the refrigerator. I look at her while finally taking a sip of my coke. "That's why I have a plan." Oh lord that's never a good thing. I don't tell her to keep talking but she does anyway.

"We go to that hoe's house and drag her by ha nappy ass weave." Bitch what? I know ha ass didn't just say that, I gotta be hearing shit. "Why the hell you think I'm dressed like this gurl. I came to drag a bitch, you know I don't play. She says rearranging her bonnet. "You know damn well I don't fight Nicki." I put down my cup to go to my room.

"Keke knows you don't fight, that's why she did this shit. She know not to try me since I stomped her sister ass out." I see Nicki going through my draws pulling out stuff. "Gurl what the hell are you looking for?" She turns around holding a black sweatshirt and some Nike compression pants and shirt. "You still got those black Nikes I bought you that one time?" At this point I was already up because it was no point in arguing with ha.

"Yea they in the closet on the right side." Nicki walks to the closet and of course she would look on the wrong side. "This that nigga shit?" I move past her to grab my shoes. I turn to see her grabbing clothes off the hangers and throwing them out. "What are you doing Nicki, we not about to fuck up his clothes."

She looks at me and makes a face like I'm crazy. "Why the hell not (Y/n), he hurt you." We both walk out heading towards the living room. "Because I'm not no crazy ass bitch, that's not gone do nothing but give me a fucking headache. I don't feel like hearing Erik yell about that shit." I don't know when she did but Nicki has all his clothes and shoes in baskets pulling them behind us.

"Fine we won't do shit to them, help me drag this shit outside." I don't know why I help but I do. We make it outside to Nicki's car to get ready to leave when I get a call from Erik. "Answer that shit and ask his ass where he at." I ignore Nicki as I answer the phone.

"How's my baby doing?" It sounded like he was having a hard time talking, so I muted the phone and asked Nicki if she hears anything too. "Oh I'm ok babe you know we were supposed to catch up on the Walking Dead today." This time we hear something that sounds like slurping. "I KNOW THIS NIGGA NOT GETTING HIS DICK SUCKED THIS NIGGA HELLA TRIFLING I SWEAR—"

I put my hand over Nicki's mouth. "What the hell is Nicki talking about." This loud mouthed bitch just had to state the obvious. "She just talking about this movie we watching, but when are you coming home?" By now we're in the car driving to Keke's house and Nicki looks ready to beat a bitch up. "That's why I was calling you baby girl, I won't be able to make i-it because somet-thing came up."

"Oh ok I'll see you whenever then. I love you." Please say it back, give me some hope. "Yea see you later girl bye." Breathe (Y/n) just breathe. "We almost there you ready for this?" I don't know why I was crying, well I knew I just didn't like it. I didn't know how to handle these emotions because this was the first time this had ever happened to me.

"Aren't you going to tell me how you were right?" I look over at Nicki as she let's out a dry laugh. "Girl hell nawl simply because I've been there before and I'm here for you." Before I could say anything we were already across from the house. Nicki said that she remembered the address just in case she had to drag Keke sister Josylin again.

"Aight here go the Vaseline and you already know that bitch gon pull hair so I gave you my wig cap. Is it normal to have first fight jitters? I felt like I was gone throw up if I moved to much, but I know I wasn't sick. Nicki grabs my hand and bows her head. "Now let us pray. Lord I come to you again to ask you to protect me and my cousin while we drag this loose neck Hoe. I know this is not your way Jesus, but ever now and then there is someone testing us lord. Lord I come to you to ask that you turn our grandma's head from this violence because you know she raised us better. In your holy name amen."

She lets go of my hand to draw a cross and turns to look towards me. "Now you know damn well you not right for pulling Jesus into this mess. " Nicki laughs and gets out. We walk up the walkway to the house and sitting on the porch is Josylin. My girl looked shook like she didn't know what to do.

"Yo dirtyass sister in there?" Nicki said looking like she was finna steal off her. "No she ain't here why y'all wanna know." We could tell the girl was lying cause she kept looking at the door and us. Before I could ask Nicki snatched ha ass up and was shaking ha. "Do I look like I'm playing with you bitch? I will drag yo ass like a water hose through a garden, you know that. So tell us if that Nigga in there or we gone take turns stomping yo ass."

Now I been knew my cousin didn't play, like she was not the bitch to be fucked with in high school. Nicki ass has been know to drag whole families asses, hell shes the reason I never got into a fight. Everybody was to scared to fight Nicki. "Ok ok they in the back fucking."

Nicki dropped her and started walking in the house. We go in it smells like weed, henny, and stank pussy. We sinking down the hallway where some noise is coming from. I couldn't even ask Nicki what we were about to do cause yo girl than already kicked the door in.

"Oh so this is what the fuck you doing while my cousin at home worried about you thot ass." I walk in behind ha to see Keke scrambling to put ha clothes on and Erik just sitting in bed with a dumb ass look on his face. By now Keke than put ha clothes on and she looking like we the ones in the wrong.

"Why y'all just busting up in my room like y'all pay rent? Looking like y'all came to bang." Nicki didn't wast no time getting on ha ass. Nicki just walked up calmly and started sending slugs to ha face. "Bitch because we came to bang you dirty ass trick. I told you the next time you fucked with me and mines it was on sight!"

Nicki was handling Keke so I jumped on Erik's ass. I know it's not good to pull hair but his ass is bigger than me and I needed the leverage. I was only able to get like four hits in though because he grabbed both my hands. "Girl is you fucking crazy hitting me like you lost yo damn mind?!"

I was trying to break his grip on me, but like I said he was way stronger than me. I heard the sound of glass breaking behind me. "Now what Hoe, bet yo ass gon think twice next time." I turn my head to see that Nicki has thrown Keke into the mirror.

Nicki has always been there when I needed her, she's always been with the shits. From behind me she punches Erik in the cheek. "Nawl nigga are you crazy for trying to play my motherfucking cousin like some side bitch!" He let's go of me to hold his cheek. If anybody can hurt him it's Nicki, she use to take boxing classes but she stopped because she didn't have the money.

"Come on gurl, they're not worth it anymore you can do much better." Nicki says pulling me out of the room. When we get to the porch we see Josylin and her mom. "I'm calling the police on y'all, y'all lucky I don't wanna catch a case." Josylin's mom screams at us while Josylin is trying to hold her back.

"Kim now you know ain't no hoe in my blood, so do what you feel. You bring yo ass over here if you want I don't mind dragging yo senior citizen built ass." Before that could happen Erik and Keke come outside arguing. "You told me that she wouldn't find out Erik."

“You bout stupid as fuck for believing that shit, I’m not dumb bitch. I ought slap the fuck out of both you dumb hoes.”

I don’t know what it was but hearing Keke say that shit pissed me tha fuck off. Maybe it was the thought of Erik actually laying up with this raggedy Ann built bitch. She can’t be that raggedy if Erik gave ha the dick.

“You ain’t bout it (Y/n), that’s why you had to get yo dog faced cousin!” “Sis she just tried you, I’ll get whoever try to jump in if you want ha. Just run up and I got you.” Well I didn’t dress this way for show.

So I ran up without question. I tried to get past Erik but his ass caught me like a football. Ask me if that stopped me from snatching Keke’s ass. “Damn girl you gotta calm yo little ass down.”

He was trying to separate us but I just kept my grip with my left hand and was working ha shit with my right. Ha momma ended up separating us by grabbing ha shoulders and pulling back, I kept ha dusty ass wig though.

Erik ended up walking me to his car. “Get in the car (Y/n).” I could tell he was pissed awf because he slick growled that. Looking at him I see his cheek is swollen and that there’s a bit of blood on his lip.

“No fuck you Erik I’m going back with Nicki, you can collect yo shot from outside tha door.” I was going to stand my ground, hell he was the one that got caught cheating. He opens the door and grabs my arm hella hard, I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a bruise.

“When I tell you to do something I mean that shit. Now getcha ass in the damn car before I wear yo ass out right here.”

Why did my stomach just drop into my pussy. This is not fair his ass is in the wrong here, not me. I’m calling bullshit I should not be in his car right now like I’m in the wrong. Maybe Nicki can get me outta this mess.

Erik walks back to the house where Kim is still yelling about calling the police and Nic is still saying she doesn’t give a fuck. He grabs Nic by ha arm when she turns around about to steal off his ass again. Before she could he grabs that arm too.

“I don’t have time for this bullshit, go get yo ass in the car and go home.” He just don’t know his dick mind tricks won’t work on her. “Getcha damn hands off me Erik and where is (Y/n), ha ass bet not be in yo car nigga.” I roll down the window and stick my head out. “He used the voice on me Nic, I had no choice. I told you what that shit does to me.” She shakes her head, “that ain’t nothing but that damn devil dick.”

She ends up walking to ha car and calling me. I’m watching Erik say something to Keke and ha mom when I answer. “Bitch why didn’t yo ass run from him or something?” “Did yo ass not see the grip he had on me, you know how strong his ass is.” I hear shuffling around before she starts the car up.

“Anyway I’m gone trail y’all just in case he wanna put hands on you cuz. Also because the way things just went you gone fuck around and give him the kitty.” By now Erik is walking back to the car I don’t know what he told them. “Wait what bitch no I’m not, the hell you think this is ?”

“Says the bitch in his car right now, talking about he used the voice yo headass.” I was about to cuss ha ass out until Erik got in the car. “ Tell yo ratchet ass cousin not to follow us and hang up.” I looked at him hella confused, cause I just knew his ass was lying.

“I wish yo pickled head ass would hang up on me (Y/n), you gone be the next one to catch this ass whopping.” I wasn’t going to hang up on her at first, but I ended up looking at Erik again. “Nic imma holla at you later ok.” “Hell nawl I’m not playing you betta not hang up hoe.” At this point I’m weighing my options. I could hang up but I know for a fact Nic is going to be pissed, or I could try to run for it. I mean I didn’t have my seatbelt on so it’s doable. Fuck it imma run.

I open the door and get my bottom half out, before he snatches my ass up. The only problem is my legs are still out kicking while my shirt is moving up. At this rate my ass is going to be running to Nicki’s car in my bra and bottoms. “Run bitch run you can do it!” I guess in the struggle I dropped the phone because I hear Nic coming from the floor. “Didn’t I say I don’t have time for this bullshit.” He wrapped one arm around my waist while the other one grabbed me between the legs.

Did this nigga just snatch me by my pussy?

“Bitch how you get snatched by yo pussy lips, I den seen it all now.” “Thanks so much for that Nic, I really needed to be told that because I had no idea what happened.” I say folding my arms across my chest. Erik does my seatbelt this time. “Anyway I’m gone go ahead and hang up because it seems to me like y’all asses getting back together. (Y/n) remember yo momma didn’t raise no bitch, cause he look like he bout to wear that ass out.”

Did I say she was always there for me... well I lied the bitch a straight sellout, but before I can tell ha ass that she hangs up. I can feel Erik looking into my soul right now. I take a deep breath and look at him. Bitchhh if looks could kill Nic would be getting ready to throw the dirt on my casket real easy like. “You already know what it is when we get home and my shit better not be outside neither.”

[atomheartz]

Taxi to Somewhere [ Dayton White x Fem!Reader ]

Prompt: You’ve heard of a mysterious black taxi that takes you not where you want to be, but where you need to be. One night, you find this cab, and you get in.

Summary: [ Y/N ] and Dayton have been best friends for year, but they don’t really speak much anymore. But one night, fate decides to change that.

Word Count: 2283 ( i got carried away oops )

Warnings: None

Author Notes: This took forever to write, simply because I was in love with this prompt and I wanted to make sure it was absolutely perfect.

Tag List ( let me know if you wanna be added/taken off ): @killmongrer @papi-chulo-bucky @xgminigypsy @sebbystanxbuckybarnes

Seeing him on TV just wasn’t the same. Sure, it was fantastic, seeing him clad in that sponsor riddled racing suit and helmet, driving a sponsor riddled car faster than any human being should go. But, for [ Y/N ], it just wasn’t the same as seeing him face to face, as she once did. Dayton White was her best friend growing up. He befriended her when her family moved from Oregon to Indiana, and they were nearly inseparable. She’d been there for him when their classmates teased him about wanting to be a race car driver when he grew up. She helped him put together his race car bed and she helped him tack posters of famous drivers to his walls. And in return, he was there for her when her parents split up, and when her dog had to be put down not long after the divorce papers had been signed. They spent summers together, walking into town and spending their afternoons at the arcade, buying sodas and hotdogs at lunchtime. [ Y/N ] had even been invited to spend a week with him and his family at their beach house in South Carolina. They went to Homecoming and both Junior and Senior prom together, as friends, of course. But when it came time for them to go off to college, things began to change.

Dayton had chosen not to go to college, instead choosing to pursue his dream of racing. [ Y/N ] chose to attend college, picking Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. They agreed to call each other every night, and they started out doing just that. But after a while, Dayton stopped picking up or returning her calls. It was like he just vanished from her life, and it broke her heart. But, she went on with her life, going through school with a smile on her face and a fantastic group of friends who made every day a blast.

After graduation, [ Y/N ] found herself a job as an editor for the local newspaper, and she waitressed on the side. She lived with one of her friends from college, and they split the rent of an apartment as best as they could. On Friday nights, they would meet up with the rest of their friends from college, the ones who stayed local, and they would head out to the bar or to dinner, just to talk about their week. The bar they always went to was a big Nascar bar. The TVs showed nothing but racing, there were portraits along the walls of drivers, some with autographs, some with driver stats. There were banners on the wall that had the driver’s number and biggest sponsor, and the banner was the color of the car. And the first time they went there, they sat in the newest booth. The Dayton White booth.

“Oh, I know him,” [ Y/N ] had said. “We went to school together when we were kids.”

All of her friends looked at her like she was crazy.

“There’s no way you and Dayton White were friends. He looks like he was one of the more popular kids,” one of her friends said. [ Y/N ] slouched in her seat a little bit, looking at her friends with her bros pinched together.

“So you’re saying I couldn’t have been popular?” she asked.

“I dunno, you just...don’t look the type.” That made the others laugh. She rolled her eyes and turned to sip her drink when she heard a bunch of gasps come from the TV closest to her booth. She looked up to see Dayton climbing out of his car, throwing his helmet on the ground in anger. She watched, with wide eyes, as he stormed off, refusing to stop for reporters, and even a press meet.

“Huh, that boy’s lost his first race, by the looks of it,” the bartender said, and though his voice was faint, [ Y/N ] just managed to hear him. Dayton White losing? That was impossible to believe. He was the best, and he made sure everyone knew it.

“[ Y/N ]? You okay over there?” someone asked, but she wasn’t paying any attention. She wanted to go call Dayton, but it had been so long since they’d spoken….

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just...I think I’m gonna head home. I’m getting sleepy,” she said, and her roommate stood up.

“No no, you can stay. I’ll take a taxi back,” she said, waving her hand.

“Are you sure? I can drive you home, and then come back,” her roommate offered, but [ Y/N ] shook her head.

“I’ll be fine, I promise. You stay and have fun,” she said, smiling at her friend before heading out of the bar. She pulled out her phone from her purse and opened up a new app for hailing cabs in the city. She nodded to herself, selecting her driver and putting in her destination. She crossed her arms, hugging herself to keep warm while she waited for her car. When it finally pulled up, it was a strange black cab with the windows tinted, and the door to the backseat opened.

“Huh, that’s new,” [ Y/N ] mused before getting into the car. She shut the door and buckled her seatbelt, and then the car pulled away from the curb. She leaned her head against the window and watched the world go by, humming softly in place of the radio. But, as she was watching, she realized her driver had missed the most important turn back to her apartment complex.

“Um, excuse me? You...you just missed the turn. Is there any way you could swing back around?” she asked before chewing on her bottom lip. The driver remained silent, and she could feel her heart start to pound. She quickly turned on her phone and checked the information she was given. She’d screenshotted the information earlier, and when she compared it to the app, she realized the cars were all different. One her screenshot, all of the cars were black cabs, but on the app, they were mostly yellow, the rest were orange. Not one black cab was in sight.

“Oh my god…. Hey! Stop the car!” she said, gripping the headrest of the passenger seat. The driver ignored her and continued down the road, and she found she couldn’t undo her seatbelt. She was trapped, in a black cab, and she had no idea where it was taking her. She couldn’t unlock the door, and the window was locked as well. She could feel tears in her eyes, and she knew she should have let her friend drive her back to their apartment. She again leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes, silently crying herself to sleep.

When she woke, it was broad daylight, and she was still in the cab. It was still driving down the road, but it was a considerably slower speed than the previous night. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, her body aching. She swallowed, then winced a little. She’d been in this strange car all night, which meant she hadn’t brushed her teeth, or even peed, in hours. She dug around her purse for the container of mints she kept on her, and she popped one into her mouth gratefully. She looked outside to see if anything was familiar to her, but nothing did. Not even when the cab pulled into a wealthy looking neighborhood, and it drove to the end of the street. [ Y/N ]’s eyes widened at the size of the house, and when the cab parked, her heart began to pound again.

“This...this is a serious mistake. I should not be here right now,” she said, her voice shaking a little.

“Actually, you should be. This was your destination, after all. 1324 Grover Street, Granger, Indiana,” the driver said, his voice deeper than she thought it would be.

“Indiana?! Why the hell did you take me here? It’s an 11 hour drive back home!” she shouted.

“Because you need to be here, young lady. There’s someone in that house who could use your company more than you know,” he said softly, and her seatbelt came undone as the back door opened.

“O-okay…. Um...how do I...um….”

“No payment is necessary, young lady. Just head on up to the house.”

[ Y/N ] nodded slowly and got out of the car, shutting the door behind her. She cautiously made her way up to the door, and when she turned back to see if the car was at the curb still, it was gone. She swallowed harshly before going to the door and ringing the bell, her palms sweating and her heart racing. When the door opened, she jumped a little and lost her balance on the top step. She began to slip, but a hand shot out and grabbed her arm gently.

“[ Y/N ]?”

“Dayton?”

The two stared at each other for a moment as he pulled her back onto her feet. Her cheeks flushed a bit, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“How...how did you get here? It’s an eleven hour drive from Jersey,” he said.

“I, uh, I had a feeling I should be here. Call it a hunch,” she said, shrugging and glancing over her shoulder.

“Okay…. Why don’t you come in? I was just getting breakfast ready,” he said, stepping aside to let his friend through the door. He then shut it behind her and brought her to the kitchen, not giving her the time to look around the massive house.

“Nice place you’ve got here. NASCAR really paid off, huh?” she asked, and he chuckled, nodding a bit.

“Definitely. I knew those jerks back in school would suck it one day,” he said, sitting at the counter. He pulled out the chair beside him and motioned for his friend to sit beside him. She sat down gently, looking down at her shoes. She felt like such a mess, sitting in this nice kitchen in a beautiful house, next to her very handsome friend….

“Can I get you anything to eat? Some fruit or oatmeal or something?” Dayton offered, and she shook her head, yet her stomach growled.

“Um...maybe some fruit. Yeah, fruit sounds good,” she said. He nodded with a smile, then got up to bring over a large bowl of fruit. [ Y/N ] took a few grapes from a bunch and popped them into her mouth as Dayton sat back down.

“So, how’ve you been?” he asked, looking over at her. She swallowed the grape she’d been eating and tucked her hair away from her face.

“I’ve been all right. Work has been kicking my ass lately, we’re coming up on a huge deadline, and everyone is frantic. What about you? How’s the racing?” she asked, reaching for a pear.

“It’s been going really well, except for last night. I...I lost my first race yesterday,” he muttered.

“I saw. My friends and I were at a sports bar and they had the race on. I still think you did really well, Day,” she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand gently. He smiled a bit and ran a hand through his hair before looking back at her.

“Hey, I wanted to apologize for not keeping in touch recently. I keep meaning to call, but my schedule has been all over the place,” he said softly.

“Don’t be sorry, I totally understand. You’re a busy dude, you always have been. That’s why I haven’t called, either. I didn’t want to interrupt anything, like, ever.” She bit into the pear as Dayton laughed, shaking his head with a smile.

“Are you kidding? I’d much rather talk with my best friend than sit through hours of brand deal meetings,” he said. Her cheeks flushed lightly and she began to fidget with the hem of her shirt. When she didn’t say anything for a while, Dayton scooted his chair closer to her and took one of her fidgeting hands in his.

“I really have missed you, [ Y/N ]. And I feel like such a jerk for not keeping in touch like we promised,” he said quietly, playing with her fingers. She looked up at him, then smiled softly as she set her other hand on top of his.

“I’ve missed you, too. And it’s also my fault for not having called you, like, at all. Even when I wanted to,” she said softly, giving his hand a squeeze. He smiled softly, inching his chair a bit closer to hers.

“Maybe...maybe we could spend the day together? Or a week? Or….” he trailed off, tilting her head up a bit.

“A week? That’s an awfully long time,” she teased.

“We’ve got a lot to make up for,” he whispered, leaning in a bit closer to her.

“Yeah, a few years, to be exact,” she whispered back, her eyes closing as she felt Dayton press his lips to hers. She returned the kiss shyly, feeling his hands move to cup her cheeks gently. She leaned into his touch, inching closer to him as the kiss became a bit more desperate and wanting. When he pulled away, she felt her heart pounding in her chest, and she let out a shaky breath.

“I, uh, I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” he mumbled, moving to sit on the edge of his seat.

“Really?” she asked him as he reached for her hands. He nodded, giving her hands a squeeze.

“Really. I should have done that senior year. Now come on, we’ve got a lot to catch up on. Kissing included.”

“But can I shower first?”

[renshengruxi]

I'm gonna pin this post about her "artistic performances" at top, so you guys know my point. I'm sick and tired of the drama. Stop attacking this man simply because I didn't write the expected topic. I said we need personal space. And then the next day a bunch of people start attacking him again. I hope all my angry posts today make you guys aware of something. Stopping wrongdoing and apologizing was what this man did, and should be encouraged rather than stepped on.

So this is our decision: No more posts for the next several days, and he is going to ignore all the harassing messages. No reply. Don't expect to peek into our privacy. No privacy invasion.

------------------------------------

For those who are praising her action of testing and games, although I'm not sure who are doing this, this my take for them. I hope they finish reading this. 

Her testings and games are means to destruction.

This man and I are the direct victims.

Yes, her games are stupid, because her games are for the intention of provoking harm and drama in our relationships, and she's excited for that.

If anyone is praising her games as an artistic performance, I don't recognize it as artistic.

So this is the picture I am getting. Yesterday she was totally excited to repeat her old testing tactics to give us trouble while we initially needed time on our own. She made me angry and I finally called out her months of testing as despicable and stupid. Then suddenly her ambitions of her games to ruin me disappeared, and she suddenly started crying that she’s a victim too, and her testing to destroy me suddenly becomes a way of showing her humility.

Something like: "Yes my actions are not that smart but it shows that I feel hurt too! I have a reason for all these I have been doing.” 

So now her actions becomes artistic performances. 

I am not sure if this is the exact process. Only you guys know.

I've seen artworks that may require exploitation of labour, and performances that involves the process of suffering, but the intentions are to initiate dialogues that tackle certain issues behind, or maybe even to criticize the suffering itself. But never have I seen an artwork that forcefully implement suffering on an unwilling party. You even need consent from your model first before you photograph them. Even those installations that provoke discomfort, audiences have choice to look away or refuse to participate.

Also, never have I seen a performance solely with the intention of provoking harm to others, or seeking revenge.

You guys must face it that, throughout this whole time, I didn’t play victim, because I am the victim.

If she did all these simply because she feels hurt by this man, therefore she seeks all these revenge on me, and suddenly her actions become understandable and even artistic, what is my position in this? 

Do I deserve her testing as a victim? She called me bitch, insulted me personally and accused me of a bunch of things I didn't do. Yet throughout this whole 5 months, I have stayed patience to communicate with Hannia about mental healthcare and how to help her get out of this ill mindset of gaming. Yet it all provokes her hatred on me, do I deserve her "artistic performances" of hatred?

Simply because she felt hurt through being refused by this man, she then thinks: “I’m gonna ruin this bitch and let her tastes how I feel. I’m gonna make her angry and show others how this bitch looks like.” If her sense of revenge suddenly becomes artistic, what is my position in this revenge? I never give my consent.

Don't tell me: “No she’s not thinking this way.” Then you explain what is her excitement of seeing me throwing on a storm, her longing to this man embarrassed all about? 

Again, this mindset of all her troubles are another woman’s fault. How does this play into her “artistic performances”?

Each time she tested me, she’s looking forward to see how mad I was. If her excitement of seeing me suffering becomes “artistic”, how did my emotional labour play a role in her performances of revenge? 

Her tactics of testing me is stupid because it doesn’t require her to think, yet her harm causes emotional labour in us. Does our involuntary suffering suddenly turn her action into an “artistic performance” of embracing revenge?

Since when did art start to promote revenge? Don't tell me that she’s not seeking revenge on me. First of all, I didn’t do her dirty. This man was never with her to begin with. Her accusation of this man may be understandable to certain extent because he initially made the mistake of letting everyone breaking his boundaries. But he already admitted his mistakes and apologized for it. But I never steal her man or something. But then she scapegoated on me. Each time she tested me, she always look forward to see if I am angry or throw on a storm. At the beginning she’s always excited to show you guys on the other side if I get angry. I have said in my letter before that I have emotional weakness. Yet you guys don't think her excitement, her looking forward to see me suffering in pain, is revenge?

Now let’s look at revenge itself. You guys all know who persuaded this man to put me into the hand of the campus police. If right now I call police on those women for harassment, by law they will not be able to see this man forever. Does my revenge become artistic performances and understandable? Or is it stupid? 

If I then cry in front of you guys saying that: “Yes my action is not that desirable and not that smart, but I’m feeling hurt, too! I have a reason behind what I did! I shouldn’t be guilty!” Does my action become understandable simply because I experience pain? 

If right now I don't seek transformative justice, but let them pay what they have done to me one by one, should I not feel guilty but proud? and call it art simply because I’m depressed and painful? 

If not, then why all of a sudden her months of testing me for the intention of making us suffer becomes artistic? simply because she’s crying?

Yes, you outsiders can judge this however you want. You can make your easy decision of which side you want to pick based on your perception. Do you know how much torment it involves dealing with those testings and invasion from them?

You guys need to know you guys are just seeing. We are truly experiencing what is going on. 

If you think her despicable action deserves understanding simply because she had a “history” and she shed some tears. Again, does tears and history count towards right and wrong?

I have had countless nights without sleep but tears. My depression started again since 2019 when all these drama started. I was persecuted, slandered. secretly attacked first. Later on two women scapegoated at me, insulted me, threatened me. Yet my intention is always that, if they stop doing it, I won't count on what they’ve done.  I have stayed patient and written to Hannia about how they may have emotional weakness. Yet each time my intention to help always got more hatred in return. What they did instead is more insult, more slandering, more belittling, more attempt to call people to attack us. Throughout this summer I drained my energy. I’ve written over 90 posts. Some are for you guys. Some are private for him. Some are over 5000 words. Some are written over night when I was weeping. Towards the end of summer my energy is really running low and then comes this ridiculous drama out of nowhere these days. Do you guys really know each time this drama is causing great burden on us? I still stayed patient. I said we need alone time. And then again! she started her stupid test to try to provoke me, as if I really wanted to play with her ambition of ruining me. I finally got angry. I called out her stupid actions, to rebuke her ridiculous “ambition” of ruining others. 

Then just because she suddenly changed her face and cried pleading for sympathy, all what she’s done becomes understandable?

Do I really have to cry for pity so that you guys can understand me, too? Do I really have to “boast” about what I have done so that you guys can think of what is right and wrong?  These women are causing us to struggle with living a normal life that an average human being deserves. Now her feeling of being “hurt” makes her revenge an artistic performances.

I don't want to participate in this artistic performance. If she recorded her despicable performances and exhibit it in a gallery, I’m gonna let this man print out his screenshots of all her disgusting harassments and hang it right beside her “artwork”.

I’m fucking done with this fake art of hatred.

Also, don't even try to ask this man to show you my private letters. I know that woman is ambitious of invading our privacy. Forget about it. He will not satisfy your craving for invasion.

[monicaannemarzoucamarmolino]

truth.

2017 -

ex-girl-person gets kicked out of my boyfriend, Andreas, restaurant (my suggestion) - I also saw the surveillance footage.

the next day, curious of why this girl is obsessed with contacting this family - I go to ask her face to face :

I pull up a person's work, as soon as I park about two minutes pass and it so happens that person comes outside. she sees me through my car window - her mouth drops to the pavement. I get out of my car and say “hey can I talk to you?” person then wants to go inside and I tell her & I quote “it’s not like I’m going to do anything to you” but person insists on going inside then to which she tells me I’m welcome to come in and we walk down a hallway to another co-worker. I then tell her who I am and throw her past in her face then I was asked to leave so I left.

she then calls the cops to which she claims I jumped out from behind her car and began to try and fight her, she then somehow got me to go inside and I lunged at her and left.

after speaking with officer Pinnell ( waiving my own rights), he said the incident was way clearer after speaking with me. basically, her story didn’t add up and after me telling him step by step my faults it was clear about what faults were hers and the case was dismissed. side note: one of the questions officer Pinnell asked when he came out to her work was, “was it a bad break up to cause that reaction” (for her to have gotten kicked out) she replies no but in reality, she basically cheated twice (lied about it) got caught which followed in drama; that’s her definition of a good break up? (Andrea also tried breaking up with this girl on multiple occasions and honestly he was not faithful to her quite a few times with several girls throughout the “relationship” from what I saw/read)

five months later, my boyfriend proposes to me! coincidentally a week later person resurfaces claiming I was begging to fight her and jumping out and going all sorts of crazy on a yelp review for the restaurant she was kicked out of (yelp themselves continuously had to keep taking down her review & flagged her account) and so then we sent her a cease and desist in the mail which led to her sending me a restraining order.

which, yes, we went to court.

now we’re in court, and she is getting interrogated by my attorney and all of sudden she remembers what happened, she admits that I did ask to talk to her and that then we went inside and I told her to stop trying to insert herself in someone's life who wants nothing to do with her. a customer came in and I left and that was it. no mention of anyone trying to fight/threaten her & so so so very different from her statements/documents vs what she just said under oath in court. she got sent home with a restraining order that day. (disclosure: apparently someone put shit in this persons mailbox one time and as a horrible defense she tried to use that on the stand I guess because I told her to watch for her mail lady & as she was talking about the shit in her mailbox she got interrupted and shut down because it simply had nothing to do with me and then the judge yelled at her to stop talking because she wouldn’t shut up as he was trying to talk lolol I was dying of laughter on the inside, anyway whoever put shit in her mailbox is the real MVP) and there is no statute of limitations for perjury in the state of South Carolina.

also after I had confronted this girl she shared an old photo of Andrea and his deceased grandfather, captioning it: “we miss ya, frank” so grossed out by this & in my opinion 100x more vile than my actions. just goes to show true color in all shades.

the beginning of 2014 person tries speaking to Andrea at the making of the Ishmael mural downtown, he refused to associate (you would think someone would get the hint after being blatantly ignored) then she stalked Andrea down at his own restaurant, during work by knocking on the door followed by cornering him and begging to be “art friends” as well as continuously tagging him in pictures via Instagram and trying to sell drugs to his little sister (which she later got arrested for)- all while dating the guy she cheated with. not to mention she kept sharing older post of andrea and his family, leading up to her tantrum - a contradiction to say the least.

I will also mention this same summer (2017) she bullied this girl that used to host with me at renatos for separate issues, person was tagging this girls place of work with drama and told this girl she shouldn’t step foot back in Spartanburg again, “for her sake”; then trying to accuse a local artist of purposely littering (they once called her out for her bullshit) she also accused one of these same artists of “threatening her with violence” (sound familiar) because she kept purposely vandalizing work around town. this same artist said that she got kicked out of every bar in town and was trying to get with him/kept pushing herself on to him while she was still with the guy she cheated on Andrea with. side note: some birdie told me she harassed a girl once and was tracking her address down and people had to tell her to stop being so immature/creating drama/harassing the girl. - obvi harassment/not leaving someone alone when they have washed their hands clean of her seems to be a very consistent pattern of behavior with person.

screenshots on screenshots on screenshots. #exposed

in conclusion, I do not regret telling her to move on to her face and in hindsight, she had to make up a reason/situation because she didn’t like what I said to her. (i guess a yelp review posted via Facebook was “revenge” lmao & it surely did not keep people from eating at the restaurant, in fact, some of her “friends” came to eat shortly after AND told me I was awesome! obviously, person was mad enough to manipulate the incident. person shoulda just took the hint back at the graffiti wall)

p.s. is it weird or sad how this person recently (dec2019) tags her friend in old pictures of Andreas' dad, Renato? & more. those screenshots most definitely have been received and saved.

only goes to show :)

can i just say that i confronted this girl because she was harassing andrea (him being a guy) would probably have had way sooner or worse consequences given if it was vice versa! she was the one that brought it to light for all her social media followers, which got several peoples attention of her antics of which she continued to act out even after all the drama had subsided. (several people came to me about this person lol)

plan executed - success!

i have SO much more to say about this, but until then -

i would be embarrassed at this point,‬ ‪but to each their own bb - ‬‪all that is, is negative energy‬ ‪& THAT, you may keep and carry all to yourself! 💥💛 enjoy‬

[adambstingus]

Fred Guttenberg will not sit down: Florida father demands gun reform

In the short time since his daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, one dad has devoted himself to change

Fred Guttenberg was at the midpoint of a 15-hour day of advocacy in Washington, and he was refusing to sit down. “No one should feel comfortable talking about the death of my kid,” he told a long line of Senate Democrats. He was standing behind the chair that had been provided for him.

Three weeks before, his daughter Jaime had been shot to death in her high school hallway. The 14-year-old had been running away from the shooter, her father said, when a bullet severed her spinal cord.

Afterwards, Guttenberg had looked his Republican senator in the eye and told him that his response to the Parkland shooting, and the response of the president of the United States, had been “pathetically weak”. His daughter and her classmates had been hunted in their own school, and politicians needed to admit that guns were the problem and ban military-style assault weapons.

Now, the 52-year-old father was standing in a basement room in the Capitol, where Democrats were hosting an informal hearing for survivors of gun violence. Congressional Republicans had refused to hold a formal hearing.

To Guttenberg’s left were a mother whose daughter had been shot and survived the Virginia Tech massacre more than a decade before, and a mother whose six-year-old son was murdered at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012. At the time, Barack Obama had embraced Francine Wheeler, promising that this time, after the deaths of 20 small children, the reaction would be different. “It wasn’t different,” Wheeler said.

Francine Wheeler, mother of Ben Wheeler, six, who was killed in the 2013 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

Florida senator Bill Nelson spoke into his microphone to introduce Fred Guttenberg. “Fred is standing,” he said, “because Fred cannot talk about this sitting down.”

Guttenberg’s older son, Jesse, is more quiet. Jaime had been the loud one, the feisty one, the silly one, the one who never stopped talking because she had so much to say. She was constantly on the phone with her mother. “If my daughter’s shoelace got untied, she would call my wife to tell her about it,” Guttenberg said.

When the shooting happened, Jaime’s older brother called his father even as he was running away, worried that he could not find his sister. “Keep running,” his father told him. The two parents started texting and calling Jaime. No response. At first they guessed she might have dropped her phone. But then, as all the other kids found ways to reach their parents, they heard nothing. They drove to the hospital. She wasn’t there.

Driving home Guttenberg got a call from one of his best friends, a Coral Springs Swat officer, who had been one of the first responders inside the school. His friend told him that they should meet at the Marriott Hotel, where students had been bussed to meet their friends and family.

Guttenberg told his friend said he did not want to wait for news. “I can hear it in your voice,” Guttenberg told him. “And he broke down crying. He found my daughter. He was the one.”

The scene around Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida following a mass shooting on 14 February 2018. Photograph: Larry Marano/Rex/Shutterstock

His wife was driving in a separate car behind him, and she could tell, just from what she could see of his demeanor in his rearview mirror, that something had changed. She called him on the phone: “You know something.” He wanted to wait to tell her. She would not wait. They pulled over to the side of the road.

“That’s how my wife found out,” Guttenberg said. “At the side of the road.”

“Imagine every worst possibility in your life,” he said, “and that’s what it felt like.”

People grieve very differently. Guttenberg’s wife, who is intensely private, now has to deal not just with losing her child, but to losing her in a particularly horrific and public way. Some parents are like this. Others are like Guttenberg, turning outward, finding their best solace in relentless and articulate rage.

In the wake of so many American mass killings, there have been a series of parents like him: the ones who come out swinging, the ones who seem impossibly strong in the early days of grief. “How can they do it?” people wonder.

A week after his daughter’s murder, Guttenberg confronted his senator on live television without a pause or hesitation. In Washington, he is polite to senators, to staffers, to the people who tell him how brave he is, to the people who tell him they are praying for his family. He seems genuinely grateful for the support. It is important to remember that all of this is a coping mechanism.

“The only time I don’t think about my daughter and just want to cry, to be honest, is when I’m busy doing this,” Guttenberg said. “At least I feel like I’m doing something to honor her memory.”

He was in a back hallway in the Capitol basement, hastily eating a sandwich that a congressional staffer had given him before it was time to testify. Guttenberg would go on to tell the story of his daughter’s murder three different times in less than six hours, choking up most often as he explained that, in the ordinary chaos of sending her off to school on the last day of her life, he could not remember if he had actually told Jaime that he loved her.

He would do most of this on his feet: standing at the hearing, standing for hours that night in front of a packed high school auditorium in Alexandria, Virginia, as a long line of adults and children, some as young as 10 and 11, shared their anger and their fear and their plans for staging walkouts on 14 March to protest about inaction on school shootings. Two Democratic congressman flanked Guttenberg. They had sat, briefly, on the stools provided them, and then stood, because he was standing.

“Three weeks ago, I was just Jesse and Jaime’s dad,” he told the audience of hundreds. “I don’t sit when I discuss this.”

“Every time one of these incidents happens, the conversation afterwards is always way too polite, way too comfortable and way too temporary.”

I’m not going away. This will not be temporary,” he said. “I intend to be part of breaking the gun lobby.”

Fred Guttenberg at a CNN town hall meeting in Sunrise, Florida, on 21 February 2018. Photograph: Reuters

Pressure on politicians will reach a crescendo later this month when the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas lead the March For Our Lives in Washington on 24 March. Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend and more than 500 events will be staged across the US and around the world demanding measures to end gun violence and mass shootings.

The activism from his daughter’s Stoneman Douglas classmates, and from kids all over the country, gives Guttenberg hope. Some of the students at TC Williams high school in Virginia were wearing and hanging out orange ribbons, like the one Guttenberg himself wore, a symbol of gun violence prevention, and Jaime’s favorite color.

Earlier in the day, he had spent an hour with Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican whose support of assault weapons he had excoriated on television. He did not think Rubio’s views were changing, but he respected that Rubio had taken the time to meet with him face-to-face.

Guttenberg carries around a screenshot of the latest ad from National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch, where she warned the NRA’s opponents, some of them by name, “Your time is running out.”

“If this was put out by a terrorist organization, we would be raising the terror threat level in this country. Why are we letting this lobby having anything to do with DC? I don’t understand it,” Guttenberg told Democratic senators at Wednesday’s hearing, his voice breaking with frustration.

Before the hearing, in the hallway outside the conference room, Guttenberg had been even blunter. “All our legislators who stand with the NRA, they’re standing with a terrorist group,” he said.

Loesch has defended the ad as simply a promo for her new NRA TV show. She wrote on Twitter that it was “unproductive” to call millions of NRA members “terrorists” because “their choice of protecting their families is different from yours”.

While he wants to ban assault weapons like the rifle used to kill his daughter, a ban is not actually Guttenberg’s top priority at the moment. “I don’t think it will ever happen in this environment,” he said. “As much as I would like to see that, I’m interested in taking steps to start dealing with the safety issue in a pragmatic way.”

His current priorities are these: raising the age to buy guns – the shooter, who was 19, had been to buy a military-style rifle before he was legally allowed to have a beer; adding a waiting period before gun sales; ensuring a “truly effective” background check system for gun sales, with no loopholes; banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and bump stocks.

He says guns should be treated more like cars, with mandatory licensing, registration and insurance – a policy that even Democrats like Obama had treated as too extreme to pursue.

Guttenberg said that was ridiculous. “Anyone who says there’s no support for gun legislation that’s as minimal as that should be fired. That’s what I think.”

He is not putting much faith in national politicians’ ability to stand up to the NRA. But corporate America has been “heroic”, with some major corporations ending special discounts for NRA members, and others voluntarily announcing they would raise the age for buying certain guns or resolving to stop selling assault-style rifles.

As Guttenberg spoke to Senate Democrats, Florida’s legislature was in the process of passing its first serious gun control legislation in decades. It was “the bare minimum legislation”, he said, raising age limits for buying guns, creating a waiting period, and banning bump stocks, but the fact that any legislation passed in Florida, a pro-gun state, was a blow to the NRA’s “aura of strength” .

The financial industry is next, Guttenberg hopes. He wanted to see all investment funds “divest themselves of these gun manufacturers and of companies that have relationships with the NRA”.

This is his strategy: “Keep the pressure on the money.”

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/fred-guttenberg-will-not-sit-down-florida-father-demands-gun-reform/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/182212790352

[samanthasroberts]

Fred Guttenberg will not sit down: Florida father demands gun reform

In the short time since his daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland shooting, one dad has devoted himself to change

Fred Guttenberg was at the midpoint of a 15-hour day of advocacy in Washington, and he was refusing to sit down. “No one should feel comfortable talking about the death of my kid,” he told a long line of Senate Democrats. He was standing behind the chair that had been provided for him.

Three weeks before, his daughter Jaime had been shot to death in her high school hallway. The 14-year-old had been running away from the shooter, her father said, when a bullet severed her spinal cord.

Afterwards, Guttenberg had looked his Republican senator in the eye and told him that his response to the Parkland shooting, and the response of the president of the United States, had been “pathetically weak”. His daughter and her classmates had been hunted in their own school, and politicians needed to admit that guns were the problem and ban military-style assault weapons.

Now, the 52-year-old father was standing in a basement room in the Capitol, where Democrats were hosting an informal hearing for survivors of gun violence. Congressional Republicans had refused to hold a formal hearing.

To Guttenberg’s left were a mother whose daughter had been shot and survived the Virginia Tech massacre more than a decade before, and a mother whose six-year-old son was murdered at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012. At the time, Barack Obama had embraced Francine Wheeler, promising that this time, after the deaths of 20 small children, the reaction would be different. “It wasn’t different,” Wheeler said.

Francine Wheeler, mother of Ben Wheeler, six, who was killed in the 2013 Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

Florida senator Bill Nelson spoke into his microphone to introduce Fred Guttenberg. “Fred is standing,” he said, “because Fred cannot talk about this sitting down.”

Guttenberg’s older son, Jesse, is more quiet. Jaime had been the loud one, the feisty one, the silly one, the one who never stopped talking because she had so much to say. She was constantly on the phone with her mother. “If my daughter’s shoelace got untied, she would call my wife to tell her about it,” Guttenberg said.

When the shooting happened, Jaime’s older brother called his father even as he was running away, worried that he could not find his sister. “Keep running,” his father told him. The two parents started texting and calling Jaime. No response. At first they guessed she might have dropped her phone. But then, as all the other kids found ways to reach their parents, they heard nothing. They drove to the hospital. She wasn’t there.

Driving home Guttenberg got a call from one of his best friends, a Coral Springs Swat officer, who had been one of the first responders inside the school. His friend told him that they should meet at the Marriott Hotel, where students had been bussed to meet their friends and family.

Guttenberg told his friend said he did not want to wait for news. “I can hear it in your voice,” Guttenberg told him. “And he broke down crying. He found my daughter. He was the one.”

The scene around Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida following a mass shooting on 14 February 2018. Photograph: Larry Marano/Rex/Shutterstock

His wife was driving in a separate car behind him, and she could tell, just from what she could see of his demeanor in his rearview mirror, that something had changed. She called him on the phone: “You know something.” He wanted to wait to tell her. She would not wait. They pulled over to the side of the road.

“That’s how my wife found out,” Guttenberg said. “At the side of the road.”

“Imagine every worst possibility in your life,” he said, “and that’s what it felt like.”

People grieve very differently. Guttenberg’s wife, who is intensely private, now has to deal not just with losing her child, but to losing her in a particularly horrific and public way. Some parents are like this. Others are like Guttenberg, turning outward, finding their best solace in relentless and articulate rage.

In the wake of so many American mass killings, there have been a series of parents like him: the ones who come out swinging, the ones who seem impossibly strong in the early days of grief. “How can they do it?” people wonder.

A week after his daughter’s murder, Guttenberg confronted his senator on live television without a pause or hesitation. In Washington, he is polite to senators, to staffers, to the people who tell him how brave he is, to the people who tell him they are praying for his family. He seems genuinely grateful for the support. It is important to remember that all of this is a coping mechanism.

“The only time I don’t think about my daughter and just want to cry, to be honest, is when I’m busy doing this,” Guttenberg said. “At least I feel like I’m doing something to honor her memory.”

He was in a back hallway in the Capitol basement, hastily eating a sandwich that a congressional staffer had given him before it was time to testify. Guttenberg would go on to tell the story of his daughter’s murder three different times in less than six hours, choking up most often as he explained that, in the ordinary chaos of sending her off to school on the last day of her life, he could not remember if he had actually told Jaime that he loved her.

He would do most of this on his feet: standing at the hearing, standing for hours that night in front of a packed high school auditorium in Alexandria, Virginia, as a long line of adults and children, some as young as 10 and 11, shared their anger and their fear and their plans for staging walkouts on 14 March to protest about inaction on school shootings. Two Democratic congressman flanked Guttenberg. They had sat, briefly, on the stools provided them, and then stood, because he was standing.

“Three weeks ago, I was just Jesse and Jaime’s dad,” he told the audience of hundreds. “I don’t sit when I discuss this.”

“Every time one of these incidents happens, the conversation afterwards is always way too polite, way too comfortable and way too temporary.”

I’m not going away. This will not be temporary,” he said. “I intend to be part of breaking the gun lobby.”

Fred Guttenberg at a CNN town hall meeting in Sunrise, Florida, on 21 February 2018. Photograph: Reuters

Pressure on politicians will reach a crescendo later this month when the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas lead the March For Our Lives in Washington on 24 March. Hundreds of thousands are expected to attend and more than 500 events will be staged across the US and around the world demanding measures to end gun violence and mass shootings.

The activism from his daughter’s Stoneman Douglas classmates, and from kids all over the country, gives Guttenberg hope. Some of the students at TC Williams high school in Virginia were wearing and hanging out orange ribbons, like the one Guttenberg himself wore, a symbol of gun violence prevention, and Jaime’s favorite color.

Earlier in the day, he had spent an hour with Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican whose support of assault weapons he had excoriated on television. He did not think Rubio’s views were changing, but he respected that Rubio had taken the time to meet with him face-to-face.

Guttenberg carries around a screenshot of the latest ad from National Rifle Association spokeswoman Dana Loesch, where she warned the NRA’s opponents, some of them by name, “Your time is running out.”

“If this was put out by a terrorist organization, we would be raising the terror threat level in this country. Why are we letting this lobby having anything to do with DC? I don’t understand it,” Guttenberg told Democratic senators at Wednesday’s hearing, his voice breaking with frustration.

Before the hearing, in the hallway outside the conference room, Guttenberg had been even blunter. “All our legislators who stand with the NRA, they’re standing with a terrorist group,” he said.

Loesch has defended the ad as simply a promo for her new NRA TV show. She wrote on Twitter that it was “unproductive” to call millions of NRA members “terrorists” because “their choice of protecting their families is different from yours”.

While he wants to ban assault weapons like the rifle used to kill his daughter, a ban is not actually Guttenberg’s top priority at the moment. “I don’t think it will ever happen in this environment,” he said. “As much as I would like to see that, I’m interested in taking steps to start dealing with the safety issue in a pragmatic way.”

His current priorities are these: raising the age to buy guns – the shooter, who was 19, had been to buy a military-style rifle before he was legally allowed to have a beer; adding a waiting period before gun sales; ensuring a “truly effective” background check system for gun sales, with no loopholes; banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and bump stocks.

He says guns should be treated more like cars, with mandatory licensing, registration and insurance – a policy that even Democrats like Obama had treated as too extreme to pursue.

Guttenberg said that was ridiculous. “Anyone who says there’s no support for gun legislation that’s as minimal as that should be fired. That’s what I think.”

He is not putting much faith in national politicians’ ability to stand up to the NRA. But corporate America has been “heroic”, with some major corporations ending special discounts for NRA members, and others voluntarily announcing they would raise the age for buying certain guns or resolving to stop selling assault-style rifles.

As Guttenberg spoke to Senate Democrats, Florida’s legislature was in the process of passing its first serious gun control legislation in decades. It was “the bare minimum legislation”, he said, raising age limits for buying guns, creating a waiting period, and banning bump stocks, but the fact that any legislation passed in Florida, a pro-gun state, was a blow to the NRA’s “aura of strength” .

The financial industry is next, Guttenberg hopes. He wanted to see all investment funds “divest themselves of these gun manufacturers and of companies that have relationships with the NRA”.

This is his strategy: “Keep the pressure on the money.”

Source: http://allofbeer.com/fred-guttenberg-will-not-sit-down-florida-father-demands-gun-reform/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2019/01/22/fred-guttenberg-will-not-sit-down-florida-father-demands-gun-reform/