#if i see these on twitter tonight i may do something drastic

[mattymartin]

↳ MAT BARZAL PREGAME | NYI v. CAR | 12.17.24

[ankewehner]

Livetweet of accidentally getting into fairyland...

Best twitter thread ever?

https://twitter.com/NeolithicSheep/status/1330548523721515013 Shepherd: Oh hey Ursula, do you have the number for those people who take out invasive plants still?

Ursula: Probably somewhere, yeah. They said they didn’t usually work on such small properties, though, and I don’t know if I’ve got an infestation worth their time.

Shepherd: Ok but what if I say "kudzu" to you, can we throw enough money at them to make it worth their time.

Ursula: If you say “kudzu” to me, I will panic, scream, and come running to Dogskull with a flamethrower.

Shepherd: Ok well I suggest driving but maybe pack up the flamethrower. Ursula: OH MY GOD YOU FOUND KUDZU OH GOD WHERE IS IT ARE YOU SURE IT ISN’T JUST WILD GRAPE

Shepherd: YES I KNOW WHAT WILD GRAPE LOOKS LIKE THANK YOU anyway I was walking Beamer this morning after the deer ate breakfast and the white deer was walking down toward the back of the property, you know that low tucked away part? And I thought, well, we'll just trail after her at a polite distance and if I'm lucky I'll find some of her fur caught on a bush! Wouldn't that be great! So we kept going past the big ass fucking oak trees that make, like, that weird arch? And there's kudzu.

Ursula: What big oak trees?! There’s no big oak trees back there! It’s all pine!

Shepherd: Yeah you know, the two really big motherfuckers that look like English oak. They're like, way the fuck back there.

Ursula: There are no English oak on Dogskull. Are you sure you weren’t trespassing on the Freemason’s property?

Shepherd: No they're closer to the front I think? Who's next door to them? Also I thought Dog Skull was 7 acres? Because I should be off it and hitting the road by now.

Ursula: Next door to them is the people with the trailer on its side. Do you see any trailers lying on their sides?

Shepherd: A lot of oak trees, a little bit of kudzu, zero trailers in any orientation. Some birds and squirrels. Oh hey Beamer found a nice pond.

Ursula: Okay, this is important. Do the oak trees still have leaves on them?

Shepherd: Yeah but so does the one up front. Oh wait. These are, uh, still green. Like summer green.

Ursula: Right. Okay. This could be a problem. Give me a couple minutes, we have to take trash to the dump and then I’ll look some stuff up. Meanwhile, DON’T EAT ANYTHING.

Shepherd: You mean in case it's poisonous, right? Like THEORETICALLY if I didn't see this tweet until just now and HYPOTHETICALLY I found an apple tree and ate an apple, that would be fine?

Ursula: ...that would not be fine.

Shepherd: Beamer didn't want any, which was weird I thought.

Ursula: INDUCE VOMITING! INDUCE VOMITING!

Shepherd: He didn't eat anything! I'm not going to gag my dog for not eating an apple!

Ursula: Not the dog! Induce vomiting in yourself! Every chunk of that apple needs to come out before you digest it!

Shepherd: FINE. I have puked it up. It was a really good apple, too.

Ursula: Oh thank god. Whew. Okay. The alternative was that you were gonna need a cold iron enema and I wasn’t sure how to do that on short notice.

Shepherd: Oh hey fun fact, "cold iron" is just, like, iron. It's not a special kind or anything!

Ursula: Do you have any on you right now? Beamer’s collar or tags or anything?

Shepherd: Collar hardware is all aluminum these days, otherwise it rusts. Let me pat down my pockets. Syringe of dewormer? Is that helpful?

Shepherd: Anyway I don't want to alarm you but uh. I can't find the trail I followed? So you and Kevin will need to go over tonight and give the boys [i.e. oxen] a hay bale and the goats and sheep two.

Ursula: No! I am scared of cows! We have to get you out of there! Look, I have a bunch of Llewelyn books from my teenage pagan days. I’m sure Scott Cunningham or Silver Ravenwolf covered this somewhere.

Shepherd: Scott Cunningham seems like a really drastic measure just because you're afraid of some cows. But sooner or later I'm going to run out of cigarettes so sure, why not. Oh!! The boys' bow pins are in my pocket, I was going to sand them today and oil them! They're very definitely iron!

Ursula: That’s good! That’s very good! If anyone tries to talk to you, keep hold of those! Now let’s see...do you consider yourself a “solitary practitioner?”

Shepherd: Ursula I'm an ornamental hermit, you don't get much more solitary. Also so far the only person who tried to talk to me was a frog.

Ursula: ...what did the frog say?

Shepherd: "SMOKING KILLS." I tossed it back in the pond.

Ursula: *rubs forehead*

Shepherd: Fucking frogs are all alike, I'm telling you.

Ursula: I really wish these authors had spent less time on ��why Wicca isn’t Satanism” and more time on “what to do when you’ve strayed into the fae realms.” I mean, I understand it was the political climate of the time...

Shepherd: I feel like nobody really covers that last one anymore. You have 4 hours until the cows want dinner.

Ursula: Silver Ravenwolf suggests making your magical working space more inviting with stencils? These books spend a surprising amount of time on interior decorating as a vital part of ritual magick. I never noticed that when I was fifteen.

Shepherd: Yeah me neither honestly. It's remarkably unhelpful when you're stuck in faerie and your collie is getting bored. Shepherd: So you want me to... Build a magical working space and stencil it?

Ursula: I can’t actually see how that would help matters. Maybe I should check the Foxfire books instead.

Shepherd: I... Don't remember them having anything relevant, but I might be wrong?

Ursula: They have everything. Ooh, this one is about how to scald the bristles off a hog!

Shepherd: A) I already know how to do that and B) I do not have a hog, sufficient firewood, or a hog scrubbing brush here. FOCUS, URSULA. FOCUS.

Ursula: Sorry, the ADHD meds haven’t kicked in yet today...uh...let’s see...avoid whippoorwills, if you see any?

Shepherd: I do that already, otherwise they steal your toenails.

Ursula: If you harvest apples, leave one on the tree or it attracts the Devil.

Shepherd: You told me not to eat the apples! Am I allowed to eat the apples now??

Ursula: No! These are hypothetical apples! NO EATING! I tried to look up deer in the Foxfire books and there’s a story about somebody’s grandpa wrestling a buck in a mill dam and drowning it, but I don’t see the relevance here. I mean, Grandpa does sound like a badass, though.

Shepherd: I feel like I shouldn't wrestle deer here. What if I try telling Beamer to find his sheep? 

Ursula: Well, research has hit a small snag. I tried googling for the foxfire books and kudzu, in case there was something about fae kudzu portals, right? But it turns out your Twitter is the third hit. Shep, we may BE the experts.

Shepherd: Uh oh. OK. In that case, you and Kevin go over to Dog Skull. Hitch up Cole and Cannon and take them back to the oak trees. Put a logging chain around one and yell real loud "LET SHEPHERD OUT OR WE START PULLING"

Ursula: Oh hell no! I read tree law Reddit! I know how this ends! Do you want us to get sued by Freemasons?! 

Shepherd: I DON'T THINK THE FREEMASONS ARE THE PROBLEM HERE, URSULA

Ursula: I DON’T TRUST THEM WITH THEIR LITTLE LEVELS AND SHEEPSKINS AND WEIRDLY OCULAR PYRAMIDS Also if you see a pyramid with an eye on it, don’t eat it’s either.

Ursula: Okay. Never mind the Freemasons. I wrote a book about this once, I think. White animals, scary fae, random magic deer. It was set in Finland, so you may need to fashion some umlauts, though.

Shepherd: I've got my chore knife, I can carve so many umlauts. Do I just put them in trees until I get back?

Ursula: First of all, are you wearing pants?

Shepherd: YES I'M WEARING PANTS YOU WEIRDO

Ursula: t’s a legitimate question! I mean, I’m not wearing pants.

Now Shep, this is very important. You have to take off your pants.

Also your shoes, your hoodie, and probably Beamer’s collar.

Shepherd: Ursula. Why are we getting naked.

Ursula: To break the misdirection spell! Put your clothes on backwards!

And possibly inside out? Shit, there’s a bunch of different sources. I don’t know if they have to be inside out, but definitely backwards.

Uh...let’s see...hmm, backwards definitely. Inside out might be for leshy. Leshies? Leshys? What’s the plural form, do you think?

If you happen to see any giggling green hairy dudes, ask them what the plural form of their name is. That’s gonna bug me.

Shepherd: Beamer's collar doesn't have a backwards! I'll turn it inside out. And my clothes backwards and inside out, got it. 

Shepherd: There's just, like, frogs. And squirrels. I can hear music though! There might be a dance party, I could go ask about green hairy dudes?

Ursula: STAY AWAY FROM THE MUSIC unless it’s the Freemasons I guess 

Shepherd: No it's more folk music. The Freemasons play, like, Michael Jackson. 

ANYWAY clothes are backwards and inside out. Beamer's collar is backwards and just to be thorough I tied the rope end of his leash to his collar instead of using the clip, so his leash is backwards too. He's pulling me away from the pond! 

Ursula: Tell him to go find his sheep! 

Shepherd: I have so instructed him! Hopefully there's not, like, the faerie equivalent of really good sheep here. Hey do you want me to grab you an apple 

Ursula: No, they don’t come true from seed, but if you can cut me a decent slightly whippy twig with a few leaves, I might be able to root that sucker. 

Shepherd: ...you want me to pause a collie on a mission while I test the whippiness of twigs?? 

I HEAR MOOING. I SEE PINE TREES. 

Ursula: GO TOWARD THE MOOING

Shepherd: THERE'S THE OLD RUSTED OUT METAL THING! I'm back! On uh the opposite side of the property from the one I left from.

Also there's a goddamned chorus frog calling. 

Ursula: Yeah, they do that.

Ursula: THANK GOD THE KUDZU IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PORTAL

...oh, and you’re back, that’s good too. Very pleased.

Shepherd: Anyway you don't have to feed the boys. Unless you want to?

Ursula: There is no situation where I will WANT to feed your giant-ass death bovines.

Also, what have we learned about following the white doe into the woods?

Shepherd: She knows where the really good apples are? 

Also my boys are tiny!!

Ursula: ...I’m gonna go take a nap.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

December 5, 2020

Heather Cox Richardson

Today’s news just amplifies yesterday’s, but the stories add up to an interesting scenario.

Coronavirus continues to devastate the country, with official deaths topping 281,000 today, but it turns out that the Trump administration did not actually have a plan for distribution of vaccines. Federal officials have drastically slashed the amount of vaccine they promised to states before the election. Instead of the 300 million doses the administration had promised before the end of 2020, the plan is currently to distribute 35 to 40 million doses. Even those, though, are plagued by bottlenecks in parts of the production process, as well as manufacturing issues. This means a longer struggle with the disease than many had come to expect.

Trump continues to refuse to acknowledge his loss in the November election. This morning, before a scheduled rally in Georgia for two Republican senators facing runoffs against their Democratic challengers, Trump called Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to pressure him to overturn Biden’s win in the state. Trump asked Kemp to convince the state legislature to ignore Biden’s victory and appoint their own slate of electors who would give the president the state’s votes in the Electoral College. Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes, and Georgia law does not permit the legislature to submit alternative electors. When Kemp, who is a Republican, declined to do as Trump asked, Trump took to Twitter to attack him.

Trump also asked Kemp to demand an audit of the signatures on mail-in ballots, which Kemp does not have the power to do. Georgia’s governor may not interfere in elections. Instead, the state secretary of state has jurisdiction, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has defended the existing signature match process and says there is no evidence of fraud.

At tonight’s rally, Trump continued to insist he had won the election and to assure attendees they are all victims of the Democrats’ plot to steal the election. The rally was nominally about the senate candidates, but Trump treated it pretty much as he treated his rallies before the election. He is convincing his supporters that the election was rigged, and that President-Elect Biden will be an illegitimate president.

Trump loyalists at the Pentagon continue to refuse to let Pentagon officials communicate with Biden’s transition team. According to an official, the Pentagon chief of staff Kash Patel, a former staffer for California Representative Devin Nunes appointed after the election, has rewritten policy descriptions to reflect well on Trump before letting Biden’s people see them. He has also stopped communications. He “told everybody we're not going to cooperate with the transition team,” an official said, and he has "put a lot of restrictions on it." He is “controlling the information flow.” This will put the Biden camp behind on getting up to speed on sensitive foreign policy issues with Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, and North Korea, hurting national security.

Also today, the Washington Post printed the results of its query to all 249 Republicans in the House and Senate, asking them who won the 202 presidential election. Only 27 of them are willing to acknowledge that Biden won. Two Republicans insist that Trump won the election, all evidence to the contrary. The rest of them—220 of them—refuse to say who won.

This is a big deal. This was not a close election. Biden currently has over 7 million more votes than Trump, and has won by 306 to 232 in the Electoral College. And yet, Republican leadership is permitting Trump to undermine our democracy. Try to imagine any past Republican president doing what Trump is doing, and you can’t. But today’s Republican lawmakers are standing to the side, permitting Trump to poison our democracy.

To what end? Why are Republicans accepting this anti-American behavior from Trump?

It seems to me they are unwilling to risk losing Trump’s voters in the future because they are determined to regain power. They don’t much care about our democracy, so long as they have a shot at keeping Trump’s people on their side. But then, again, to what end? If Republicans regain power in 2022 or 2024, what will that look like? Do we have any reason to think they will then begin to defend our democracy? Do we have any reason to think they are interested in anything but even more legislation that moves wealth upward?

We have been in a spot much like this before. In 1884, Americans turned against the Republican Party because it had abandoned its support for ordinary Americans in favor of the industrial leaders who put money into Republican lawmakers’ political war chests, as well as into their pockets. Voters put Democrat Grover Cleveland into the White House, the first Democrat to hold the presidency since James Buchanan was elected in 1856.

Horrified, the Republicans flooded the country with stories of how Democrats were socialists who would attack the rich by ending the legislation that protected businesses. If Democrats continued to control the government, Republicans said, they would destroy America. In 1888, they suppressed Democratic votes and created modern political financing as they hit up businessmen for major donations. Despite their best efforts, voters reelected Cleveland by about 100,000 votes, but Republicans managed to eke out a win for their candidate, Benjamin Harrison, in the Electoral College. Harrison promised a “BUSINESSMAN’S ADMINISTRATION,” and indeed, in office, he and his men did all they could to cement the Republican Party into power so it could continue to defend business (among other things, they added six new states to the Union to pack the Electoral College).

But voters still didn’t like the Republicans’ platform, which seemed more and more to funnel money from hardworking Americans upward into the pockets of those men who were increasingly portrayed as robber barons. In 1892, they voted for Cleveland in such numbers they couldn’t be overridden in the Electoral College. Voters also put Democrats in charge of Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

And that is the moment I cannot help thinking about today. Faced with a legitimately elected Democratic government, Republican leaders deliberately sabotaged the country. They swamped the media with warnings that Democrats would destroy the economy and that men should pull their capital out of stocks and industries. Foreign capital should, they said, go home or face disaster. Money began to flow out of the country and stocks faltered. When financiers begged the Harrison administration to shore up the markets in the face of the growing panic, administration officials told them their job was only to keep the country afloat until the day of Cleveland’s inauguration.

They didn’t quite make it. The economy collapsed about ten days before Cleveland took the oath of office, saddling the new president with the Panic of 1893 and very few ways to combat it. Republicans had deliberately sabotaged the country in order to discredit Cleveland, then demanded he honor the demands of financiers to stabilize the economy. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Cleveland tried to work with moneyed interests to combat the depression and promptly split his own party. The country roiled as out-of-work Americans despaired, some of them marching on Washington, D.C., to demand the government do something to address their plight.

The Republicans went into the 1894 midterm elections blaming the Democrats for the crisis in the country. They won the midterms in what remains the largest seat swing in the history of the House of Representatives. Then they claimed that, with Republicans back in power, the economy was now safe. They papered the country with media announcing that the panic was over and people should reinvest. The panic was over, and a Republican president won in 1896, once again insisting the Democrats were socialists, but this time adding that the past four years had proved the Democrats could not run the economy.

There is no excuse for the silence of Republican lawmakers as their president attacks our democracy. But there might be a precedent.

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[cilliansaccent]

Class of Temptation - CHAPTER THREE

Leave a like, reblog or comment below to show your support and love! Enjoy…

PLEASE READ:

No mention of Cillian’s true family or relatives. All names are made up.

This is a TEACHER x STUDENT fanfiction, it’s going to be kinky and very taboo!

I will write whenever the mood grabs me, so I apologise if there are long breaks between chapters :)

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Background: Tessa is a twenty-three-year-old model from a broken-up family, living in London with her best friend and starting a course on Drama and Theatre. Though, when she gets closer to the super hot Mr Murphy who is her much older teacher, there is a battle of lust and love between them. They’ll have to figure out what to do with their tight relationship as other issues begin to rise and nip at their heels…

Word Count: 2,141

!!Warnings!!: None.

Chapter Name: First Day

Brief Chapter Outline: It’s Tessa’s first day of class and she goes through it without any hassle. But a letter comes in and her mood changes drastically...

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Tessa was early for her first class, walking towards it. She wore wet look pants and a tucked-in black shirt with TOMMY JEANS across it in bold red writing. She had a pair of white sneakers with the trademark Tommy Hilfiger branding on the side of red, blue and white stripes. She liked the brand, most of her clothing was bought from the store. Well, she is one of their models for their brand. 

She hoped no one was there already but also unsure if she was able to even enter the class. As she came to the door which was slightly ajar she peeked her head in. 

Mr Mur- Cillian was already inside setting up the chairs in a large circle. She counted about forty chairs. 

Cillian turned and spotted someone peaking in, "Come in." He called out, standing in the middle of the giant circle he had made. 

Tessa pushed the door wider and stepped in, "Good morning." She said as her nerves began to start. 

"Morning, Tessa. Welcome back." Cillian gave her that heart-stopping smile. He wore a button-down blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves to his elbow and black jeans and a pair of brown loafers. He looked good. 

"Yeah. Nice to uh, see you again." She smiled as she stepped to the chairs. "What are you doing?" She asked seeing all the tables pushed against the walls. 

"Preparing the morning class. Instead of the old, sit at your desks thing I thought it would be good to get everyone involved." He said as he gestured for her to take a seat. 

"And what would that be?" Tessa stepped through and took a seat, setting her bag in front of her legs. 

"Can't say. You'll see." He said as he finished up, "By the way, you are very early. Class doesn't start for another hour." 

"Oh, yeah. I know. I wanted to make sure I was in the right class." She blushed lightly. 

"You found the right place fast too. I had students who would come in with the campus' student guides cause they couldn't find the place." He chuckled as he came over and took a spot next to her, a chair in between them and crossed his ankle over his knee. 

"Oh, well. You won't expect that from me, I'm pretty good at remembering where I have to go." She explained. 

"I hope so. I'll make sure everyone comes early. Makes it better to start the class right away." He said, "So, tell me about yourself a little? I remember you said you're a model?" 

"Yeah. I um, I work for an agency in Central London but I do shoots for various brands. Currently working with Tommy Hilfiger." Tessa said trying her best to meet his gaze. She wasn't used to this type of attention, most of it was through a camera lens which she never got to met the gaze of the person behind it. 

"Huh, I can see the clothing you wear. What is it like?" He continued, genuinely interested. 

"Fast-paced, constantly changing clothing, makeup and hairstyles to fit in with the shoot. Can be some hours to a whole day or a couple of days." She explained clearly. She was okay about discussing her work but never about herself to strangers. 

"Seems intense. Do you think that will affect your studies? This class does have a lot of practical sides to it." He frowned a little. 

"If it does, I will make sure to give you a heads up. I can miss some shoots but not all, it won't be seen as a professional." She stated. 

"Hm, okay. We'll see how it goes." He nodded. "So you get to go overseas as well?" He moved on. 

"Yep. I can when we have big events happening. I tend to go to as many as I can, I love it." She laughed lightly. "Most of the events are in Europe so its shorter trips." 

"So I'm assuming you're quite a big deal?" He asked his smile never left his face. 

"Uhhh... I mean, I don't know. Maybe not as big as you are but I do have a large following on social media." She shrugged. Tessa never saw her number of followers as important, just the support and care she received from her fans what made it important. She wanted to make sure she created a caring and supportive environment for all types of people. 

"How big, may I ask?" Cillian was always curious about others especially if it came to learning that they worked in a completely different industry than himself. 

"Well, almost six hundred and thousand followers on Instagram and about two hundred and fifty thousand on Twitter. I rarely ever use Facebook, only for updates for the ones who don't use the other two media." Tess shrugged. 

"Wow. That is big." He chuckled. 

"Yeah. But I honestly don't care about the number, as much as it sounds bad. I'm just after a good happy environment for all." She shook her head. 

"I'm curious, how do you deal with it all though? Can it get daunting?" He asked her. 

"Yeah, a hundred per cent. There are days where I take breaks from it all to recollect myself. I guess any person with a big following will always attract the good and bad kind, but I don't let it get to me. It's only words on the internet." Tessa stopped there. She felt like she was just blabbering on nonsense to him. Who wants to listen to that anyway? But Cillian did not seem annoyed or bored, he was really into it. 

It made her nervous and intimidated. It showed. 

Cillian spotted the odd look across her face as if she had said too much and began to step back. So he stepped back faster, "Nice, that's good. Well, I'll let you sit here and relax while I do some paperwork before the rest of the class comes in." He said and gave her a gentle smile as he stood and sat behind his desk. "Do you mind if I play music?" He asked. 

"Oh go ahead. I don't mind." She gulped as she pulled out her laptop to set up her documents and look at her uni email for any updates. 

Cillian played some cool jazz, rock, alternative, some genre she never really heard before. It was odd but she kinda liked it. 

When the hour was up, people began to file in. A mixture of guys and girls all dressed in various clothing types. They took their seats around the circle until it was somewhat full, about five seats unoccupied. 

Cillian started the class and began to introduce himself. Tessa could see some of the girls, the flashier ones watched him with such unashamed desire for him. 

It made her internally cringe. What the hell? 

The first thing they did was go around the class and introduce themselves. Their name, what they like, and why they picked this course. 

Everyone seemed here for the same reason, to get into acting for a play or movie. Or whatever fancied them. A lot of book readers, she thought once it came to the five flashy girls. 

The leader, or so Tessa thought made herself to be super good at... everything with acting. The other four nodded in agreement, but Cillian didn't seem one to phased by the sexual attraction the girls seemed to give the vibe of. 

Tess wondered why they were taking this class in the first place if they claimed to be so good. They were the only ones who had said that. 

Then it came to Tessa and she slowly stood. All eyes on her, "Hi. I'm Tessa Miller. Uhm... I love music and reading and uhm... Relaxing. I... Took this course because I want to expand my path into something new." She gave the class a tight smile and hastily sat back down. She had gripped her hands tightly in her lap and kept her eyes downcast. 

The last ten people went before Cillian praised them all for telling him about themselves before they spent the next two hours playing games. 

It consisted of a lot of small groups doing things, and she worked with a few different people in each game. Cillian tried to get every person involved and to constantly swap seats. 

Then it got serious and he took them through the module for the first term. There was a small project that was to be started by the following week, a short play with two people that was basically a monologue and acting it out for ten minutes. 

Tessa was paired up with a guy named Julian. He had blond hair that was combed back and faded edges. His eyes dark brown and his facial features were strong. 

The class went on as they went through some basics and more introductions to the whole acting thing. By the end of the class, they were to state an interesting fact about their new partner and then class was dismissed after the tables and chairs were put back in order. 

"So you're that model chick on insta?" A voice came from behind Tessa and she turned around to face of the five girls that had eyed off Cillian the whole time. "Didn't think you would actually do the course." Sofia laughed, flicking back her dark brown hair over her slender shoulder. 

Tessa kept her face neutral. To be honest, she wasn't even sure what to make of this situation. "Okay? Your point?" Tessa wanted to head into the library ASAP to get the reading material for tonight's homework. 

"I'm quite proud of you. That's so cool." Sofia said with that hidden malice that Tessa could easily pick up on. 

She knew how people can act fake. 

"Ah, thanks." Tessa gave her a smile, "I really must go. I have things to do." Tessa bobbed her head once. 

"Okay. See ya next time, Tess." Sofia and her squad walked past her. Tessa watched them go, laughing and muttering to each other. 

She would work hard and not let anyone else try and deter her from that. She was not the kind to let others trample on her. 

She headed to the library and get to work on her task given to her. Once she had finished her given tasks, she had headed home to rest. On the train, she thought back to the class. 

Most of the guys in the class had watched her like she was some meal as she did the warm-up games Cillian had prepared. She was used to the stares and tend to not pay much attention to it. If they verbally spoke to her in a way that would make her uncomfortable, then she would say something. 

But she would stay alert no matter what. Especially towards those group of girls. They seemed off and trouble circled them. 

She was glad to be back in her apartment and flopped on the bed as she discarded the letters on the coffee table. But one had fallen to the floor and she reached to grab it. 

It had been addressed to her in that familiar writing she knew. She quickly sat up and frowned, this time it wasn't thick. 

"Fuck." She muttered as she battled with her thoughts before she ripped it open. Time to see what else the bastard wanted. 

Reading the letter felt like the world had stopped. Her father and his bitch of a wife was going to come down in December to have a Christmas altogether. He wanted the family back together and he was willing to make amends. Also, he had added he wanted to see how Tessa was going with her studies. 

Was he really? Why now of all the times? She prayed silently to whatever God heard her in hopes that this wasn't some other shitty way of pinning the blame on her or her two eldest sisters. It would be totally messed up and would make her even angrier than ever. 

Tessa chucked the letter aside and rubbed her eyes. Great, she did not want to deal with Grace or her stupid sons who always bullied her. This was not how she pictured it. 

She tried to distract herself by playing her cello in her room, a cover of With or Without You and various other slow songs for the most of the afternoon until Esther came back from a shoot. 

The pair made dinner but Tessa would not tell Esther yet about the news she received today. She wasn't in the mood for it and Esther seemed to sense Tessa's change in mood so she had left her to her own thoughts for the rest of the night. 

Silence yet inside Tessa's head was a roaring tidal wave. 

[i-need-a-life-from-life-2-0]

(Art work done by my beautiful wife and I’ll post a link to her Twitter cause y’all should check her art out. She’s drawing way more MhA now so go check her out! Also this has nothing to with the fic I just love her art)

There was no doubt that Taishiro, aka Fatgum, loves you. He loves everything about you. He loves how he can pick you up, go out to whatever food restaurant, and just eat. He also loves picking you up in general seeing as you are significantly smaller than both his big form and his small form. But recently, he started noticing how you slowly pushed him away. He’d ask you, “Would you like to go out for yakisoba? I’m buying!!”

“I would but I’m not feeling well.” Then when he asks you if he needs to come over or if you need anything, it’s just “no.”

He loved you so much, and it hurt him to slowly watch you push him away. You even stopped calling him “Tai” or “bubblegum boy”. Whenever you two would hang out on the off chance you let him come over, you called him by his full first name. You also would sit far away from him and lessen any form of affection. This worried him so much. Had he done something wrong? Did he say something? Was there someone else? And finally, his world came crashing down.

“W-what do you mean you want to break up?! I don’t understand Y/N! I thought we were perfect?” He stammered out, trying to hold back all the tears and emotions inside.

“Well clearly you were wrong. It’s over Taishiro... I’m sorry,” was all you said before walking away. He watched you walk away. God, he wished he ran after you. He wished he grabbed your arm and asked why. He wished so many things that night. If he did he would have known how you were really doing.

It had been 3 months since your breakup. No one could tell that there was anything wrong with Fatgum. He was always smiling and well...being him! But the moment he got home, his walls would fall. Seeing all the old pictures you two took; all the food dates, movie dates, just everything. To him you were his world, his future wife, and mother to his kids. But now you’re just... gone. He refused to eat when he was at home as it was just too hard without you.

Tonight was the final straw. He needed to see you, just hear you! Understand why you left, why you pushed him. He knew you didn’t live that far away from him so it was an easy walk. As he walked outside in the cold night weather he thought about what to say to you. Then he wondered if you found someone else? He let his thoughts consume him to the point where he didn’t realize he was at your door. He stood there for a moment. Just looking at your door. He was a pro hero and has done so much harder things. But at this moment, finding the strength to knock on your door...was the hardest damn thing in the universe.

Finally he took a deep breath and knocked on your door. He heard your footsteps slowly get louder as you got closer to the door. As the door swung open it was almost as if you were an angel, your warm living room light acting like a halo on your figure. He missed you. God he did. Just looking at you made him so weak.

“Tai? What are you doing here? It’s almost 12.” Hearing your voice say his name made him break.

“I’m sorry,” he said, trying not to fall on his knees.

“Excuse me?” You asked, examining him. You knew Tai so well and could tell immediately he wasn’t eating as much. That broke you, but you kept your strong composure.

“I said I’m sorry! God, whatever I did I’m sorry! Y/N I’m so sorry! If I said something! Did something! Just whatever I did I’m sorry!” He yelled looking deep into your E/C eyes, searching for anything in those beautiful E/C he loved so much. You quickly pulled him into your apartment and closed the door.

“What the hell Tai! You trying to disturb my Neighbors?! And what the hell are you even talking about!” You quietly yelled trying not to break. You refuse to show him. You refuse to let him know how much pain you were going through standing right now.

“I’m talking about why you left me!! I just want to understand why. We-we were perfect Y/N.... I know it’s been 3 months but all I can think about is us! And thinking about anything I could have done and I just–” You quickly cut him off.

“It wasn’t you Tai.... if I had known just ending things and walking did this to you. I would have just told you it was me... Tai you were the definition of the perfect boyfriend. It’s me Tai... you don’t deserve me.” You said as your voice started shaking. Taishiro looked at you so confused.

“I don’t understand...I–” you cut him off again.

“Tai please... I know you're gonna say ‘Y/N I didn’t deserve you’ or something like that. And you’re wrong, Tai. God, you're so wrong...” You said, feeling the god awful pain in your right leg slowly getting worse. As Taishiro opened his mouth to question what the hell you meant, your leg finally gave out and you almost fell to the ground...almost. Tai quickly caught you and helped you to the couch. He noticed how much pain your face was twisted into. He examined your right leg but couldn’t see anything physically wrong with it.

“Y/N! What’s wrong?! What happened to you?!” he panicked.

“Nothing, go away! I’m done talking, I want you out!” you shouted at him.

“I’m not leaving you! You're clearly in pain!”

“Yeah you will! You’d have left me if I told you! Now go!”

“Y/N! Tell me what’s wrong!! Why would I leave you?!?”

“BECAUSE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO WALK ON MY RIGHT LEG ANYMORE!” You yelled, finally crying. Taishiro looked at you with such shock. He had no idea what you were talking about. You never mentioned anything about your leg. He quickly shook the initial shock away and cupped your tear stained face.

“Y/N... my love... please tell me everything.” He calmly said as he caressed your cheeks. You took a deep breath and looked at him.

“Ok... but first I need to lay down and get an ice pack. I’m glad I’m not on the floor, but the couch–or at least the way I’m sitting–is making it hurt so much.” You cried trying to adjust yourself.

“I’ll get your ice pack. Just get comfortable ok?” He quickly got up and opened your freezer, grabbing the first ice pack he saw. He brought it back to you and noticed you got into a position where you're half sitting and half laying. He handed you the ice pack and watched you put it under your butt.

“I thought you said your leg was-“

“It is. Just...” You sighed and pointed to the floor at a spot in front of you. He sat down on the ground with his back against the couch and your stomach. He watched you take a deep sigh and slowly turned your head to look at the ceiling.

“It’s called piriformis syndrome. It’s when your piriformis muscle, which is in the butt, gets inflamed and compresses the sciatic nerve. Thus, the ice back on the butt. It causes pain, tingling, and numbness from my ass down; the back of my thigh, the side of my calf, and it ends at my ankle. The pain gets worse after sitting for a long time, climbing stairs, walking, or running,” you explained in defeat. Taishiro sat there listening intensely. When he was sure he was done talking he got a small list of questions he wanted to ask.

“How did you get it?” He asked, now turning his entire body to face her. You finally meet his eyes. God, you missed his eyes. You missed him so much.

“When we started working out. Apparently when we started doing more leg workouts, my right leg was significantly weaker, so it was only a matter of time.” He nodded and thought about how to phrase the next question.

“What do you mean you may not be able to walk on it?” He asked, looking at your leg.

“Well... if it doesn’t get better, there’s a chance it can cause permanent nerve damage in my right leg. I might have overreacted eith the ‘never be able to walk on it’ part but..” The room fell into an awkward silence. Finally Tai spoke.

“So why did you think I’d leave you for this?” He asked, not understanding any of your logic. He just wants to understand your thought process of what happened and why you would let it get this drastic.

“Because Tai... you’re Fatgum. You're always so happy and strong. You do so much for others and I just...I didn’t want to burden you Tai....I didn’t want you to come home and have to take care of me or worry about me. You deserve someone who’s not crippled,” you said, crying again. You just couldn’t hold back anymore. You broke down sobbing again. You kept this from him for so long. You loved and missed him so much. To be honest you were just as miserable as he was in the last 3 months.

“Y/N... I don’t ever want to hear you say that. You are the love of my life, I want you to be my wife and mother to my kids. I love you so much I’d do anything for you. If your leg doesn’t get better, I’ll carry you. I want you to throw all your burdens on me. I love you so much Y/N...” He said as he started tearing up himself. You looked at him and smiled.

“Bubblegum?” You asked, wiping some tears away. He smiled so brightly at you and took your hand.

“Yea my hubba bubba?”

“Wanna go get some ice cream?”

~E.N.D.~

A/N: so this hits pretty close to home for me cause I have piriformis syndrome and like it’s really hard. In a way this was a self soothing fic but yea. I’m diving into more of an angst mood due to a certain group chat 👀

(My wife’s Twitter is anyone is interested https://twitter.com/gitty_kitty2646)

[bubmyg]

Hi 👋 Can you maybe write a fic where Jungkook introduces his girlfriend on his YouTube channel since they haven’t seen her before? (I know you’ve already written a few YouTube fics with Jungkook already, but I thought it could be cute) and then later, after the video has gone up, they both look at the comments together, but the reader is kind of nervous about the result, but of course she doesn’t need to since their all positive 🤗 If you do, then thank you ❤️🧡💛

genre/warnings: youtuber!jeongguk, again.....the most tooth rotting fluff with the tinniest bit of angst but you may need glasses to see it

word count: 1,631

a/n: i think i’ve said this but all my youtuber!guk drabbles are non chronological but all exist in the same timeline so obviously this occurs before anything already on my masterlist atm :’-)

“We don’t have to do this, you know.”

You ignored the press of Jeongguk’s lips to your cheek, staring down the bulk balanced on top of his tripod carefully centered at the end of his bed. It was the outlet to his fan base, the tiny glass lens that opened up his budding creativity to love and criticism all the same, that allowed him to monetize carefully placed vulnerabilities of his life on a dangerously slippery slope, some pieces chosen on his own accord, others pried out, speculated on, fussed over. 

It was something he’d chosen to expose this time, unlike his phone number on Jimin’s livestream or his address when he’d filmed a little too far out on the street of his building. 

“Everyone already knows,” He tried, “This is just like...confirmation.”

“I know,” Your eyes wandered from his camera equipment to his apprehensive gaze, “I’m just a little nervous, is all.”

“I can turn the camera off right this second,” Jeongguk offered explicitly this time, curling warm palms against your cheeks, “We can go back to pretending like you, my friend, just so happen to be here every morning. And every night. I can keep editing out you forgetting your role and kissing me—” You whined and he kissed you on reflex, “—until you’re ready. There’s no rush.”

You cupped his hand holding your face, lightly brushing your thumb against his knuckles. Softly, you inquired, “Do you want to do this?”

“I have seven unlisted videos ready to post that are giant love professions hidden behind fancy editing and royalty free music,” He chased the embarrassed drop of your chin with his lips, “but I can make how many ever more in the time it takes to wait on you. I don’t love you any less because I haven’t got to tell the Internet yet.” 

You were silent for a handful of heartbeats before mumbling, “Well I’m not helping you set these lights up ever again, so get over there.”

Jeongguk’s eyes lit up when he pressed his forehead to yours, “You’re sure?”

You suppressed the urge to knee his thigh in response. “Go.” 

He kissed the tip of your nose for good measure, taking careful strides to his camera, questioning eyes wavering to your appending glare only for a moment before he was pressing record and bounding to the end of the carefully made bed. 

You mocked his intro out of habit but also to calm the flutter of nerves in your stomach, grin shaky at the tiny giggle that escaped Jeongguk’s lips when he cast a glance at you. He stretched backward, tiny smile turning full featured as he placed his hands behind him, back arching, and in that moment did you finally see the tiniest hints of nerves seep into his aura, in the awkward lean of his stature, the sideways cast of his eyes away from the lens, the dimple in his cheek when he bit the inside of his mouth, the prolonged hums in between his words that you hadn’t heard him do since watching his years old vlogs. 

“...so, yeah, as you can tell, today’s a little bit of a different video. An update? Yeah, I guess it’s an update—” He was staring at you now, arms outstretched and fingers wiggling, voice a drastic contrast to the childlike innocence of his gestures, tender and low in his request, “—come here, baby.”

Your hesitation was brief, a part of your lips and a panic in your eyes but Jeongguk mouthed it’s okay with the tiniest of smiles and tilts of his chin and suddenly the lens prepped to project your relationship to the world felt minuscule in comparison to the glittering astral bodies adored only to you in the gentle light of his sparkling irises. 

“The update is...” He was speaking while you fit yourself into his arms, letting him pull you down against his side with his nose nuzzling into your hair. “...that this one refuses to leave my house. So if you all have any suggestions to get her out—”

“Can’t leave when you won’t let me,” You countered, nerves falling out in the slight stutter of your tongue but you managed to elbow his stomach none the less. His actions seemed to affirm your words, arms twisted around your waist so you were half sprawled across his thighs, cheek pressed against the top of your head. 

"No, uhm...” Jeongguk pulled away to look at you, the softest of smiles meeting the seam of his lips the longer the fondness of his eyes streaked up and down your features, “...meet my girlfriend, everyone.”

Soft touches trailing down your spine woke you, the loving affections carrying to the lips that were pressed against your forehead. He hummed, the vibrations renewing the jump of your heart, “Are you awake?”

Something like a noise of negation groaned past your sealed lips and you hiked your stature higher on Jeongguk’s chest to press your nose into his neck. “No. Still asleep. Leave a voicemail. Call back later.”

He’d ordered a nap after posting the video, dragging you out of his office and into his embrace on the couch while your social medias stayed as dark as the screens of your sleeping phones. He combated your itch to mindlessly scroll Twitter in search of that one negative comment by promising you could read the feedback on the video, together, after a nap. 

It was enough for you until you suddenly wanted the nap to last forever so you never had to know. 

Jeongguk squeezed your waist, rolling until you were underneath him with digging fingers tickling at your sides. He swallowed your loudest squeals, ones of I’m awake, I’m awake! — lips sweet into the part of your mouth.

The exchange between your steady gazes was silent until he nodded, “Are you ready?”

You trailed him by attachment to his hand wrapped securely around your digits, following him with furrowed eyebrows back into the depths of his office. “Why can’t we just look on our phones?” You pouted while he fiddled with the lighting settings, dropping the room into a gentle purple. You continued to glower when he let go of your hand, dropping into his chair with outstretched arms. “I’m not ready for Y/N reads hate comments about herself but in size seven hundred font on Jeongguk’s seventeen different monitors—” 

“Baby girl.”

Your teeth sank so deeply into the your bottom lip you tasted the hint of metal. “Yeah?”

“I’ve got you. I’ve always got you,” His chin tilted, hands flexing once more in your direction, “Come here.”

You tried to make yourself as tiny as possible in Jeongguk’s lap, immune to the periodic stumble of his mumbling mouth against your skin as he clicked around on the screen, shades of whites and blues contouring the concentration in his features as he sought out the touch of your skin against his lips. There was a stutter in his chest when he inhaled, properly nudging your temple with his lips, hand leaving his mouse to wrap around your hip. 

“Well, the top comment is a petition for you to make your own channel,” You felt his lips curl against you, “It has a thousand thumbs up. And counting.”

You shifted to press your cheek to his chest instead of your nose, “Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” Jeongguk’s mouse clicked as he scrolled, “this one just says ‘I knew it!’ with, uh...eighteen hearts after it.”

You dared to squint at the screen, not catching much in his absent scrolling but stretching your arm out with the tiniest of gleeful smiles. 

“That one—” He paused vaguely after following the line of your finger, “—I used to think I wanted someone to look at me the way he looks at Jimin but now I want someone to look at me the way he looks at her :-(.” 

“Why not both?” Jeongguk teased against your hair and it took you a moment of feigned shock to realize he’d stretched out to type it in reply to the comment. 

“Are we going to be one of those couples that has those cheesy the way he looks at her edits now?”

“We have been,” He continued scrolling, “Sprinkled in with Jeongguk annoying Y/N for four minutes straight.” 

“They could only find four minutes of footage? Must be a new subscriber...”

His monitor dimmed as he pulled away from it, hugging you tighter underneath his chin as the chair spun in a slow circle away from his desk. 

“Are you okay?” When you nodded underneath him, he teased, “Well, then I don’t want to say I told you so but...”

“Shut up—”

“No. Look at me.” 

You complied, fitting your chin into Jeongguk’s awaiting palm, one that curled around your features. 

“I wouldn’t have put you, us, in that situation if I didn’t know,” His thumb strayed from pressing into the corner of your lips to stroke your cheekbone, “I’ll always protect you to the best of my ability.”

“Good, does that mean we can skip the obligatory couples yoga challenge? You’ll crush me.”

Jeongguk whined, high pitched and dramatic as his head hit the back of his chair and your surroundings whirled as his foot turned you in another looping circle. “Announce our relationship to the whole Internet and you can’t even let me be sentimental for five seconds—”

You kissed him, chaste and everything you weren’t good at articulating. 

“I love you.”

He smiled against your lips and you missed his arm that outstretched to drag your figures closer to his desk again. 

“I love you...” Jeongguk trailed off and you squinted when his monitor lit again in your peripheral, “...so how many of these videos of you will you allow me to post tonight—”

[the-shadow-of-atlantis]

Cinderella AU Part 9

Summary: Cinderella AU for annabella and Kaldur.

A/N I’m gonna try to see if I can finish this by the end of the week. Emma belongs to @lizartgurl

Tagging: @lizartgurl @thespacebuns @melyaliz @coffee-randomness @speedypan @gobydana

Read Earlier Parts Here

David was the first one to recover a face of fake worry crossed his face.

“Mister Al Ghul I am so terribly sorry. I was being rudely distracted by some ratty teens. I have reason to believe your step granddaughter has something to do with it.”

Annabella narrowed her eyes at David, that was a low blow. Yes it was common knowledge Ras did not think too highly of her but still. Ras however did not seem to think much of the comment David had made.

“It’s alright it can be washed out Mister…”

“Kane, David Kane owner of Durham Shipping.”

Ras raised an eyebrow. “Strange I do not recall seeing your name on the guest list. And yes I do check the guest list when I decide to come to these things, I like to know who my family is associating with. Now I would have remembered if I seen you on there I remember your predecessor he was a brilliant man and his company was one I could respect. It’s a shame what you have turned it into, so if my granddaughter was trying to get you out by whatever means then you honestly cannot blame her for a mistake you made in coming here."

"Did he just…" Annabella heard Emma mumbled beside her.

"Stand up for you?" Donna finished.

Annabella wasn’t really sure what to respond the interaction was making her head spin. David's face fell as what Ras had said finally fell into place.

“I suggest you leave now before drastic measures are taken. As for everyone else continue with the party. Annabella…”

Annabella blinked and looked at him standing a little straighter.

“Help me get this out.” Ras said gesturing to the coffee stain.

Before Annabella could protest he had grabbed her arm and lead her towards the kitchen. She was in a slight daze as she still tried to process what was going on before they slipped completely towards the kitchen she caught Thalia looking at her with alarm.

“I must say you impressed me tonight. You had a good turn out, the speech was perfectly timed.”

“Why are you here?” Annabella finally asked wringing out the rag she soaked.

“I came for support.”

“Yeah, try again.” Annabella said staring him down causing Ras to raise an eyebrow.

“Very well, I came to see your dedication to this. I see now that this cause is very dear to you and I am willing to help out. I am after all a humanitarian.”

Annabella let out a snort making Ras look at her puzzled.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. You may dress up your words to sound pretty but we both know what you really mean. So no I will not take your offer, you know why? Because I know you only want to fund this if it means I’m being kept away from my fathers business. I know you want to groom Damian to take over when he’s old enough. And maybe he will who knows but that’s for him to decide not you.” Annabella tossed the rag she was holding at Ras. “Now you may be old but we both know you are far from helpless.”

And with that Annabella walked out of the kitchen.

“Are you alright?” Emma said immediately walking up to her.

“Yeah Ras is just being an ass.”

“Language.” Emma scolded making Annabellla stick out her tongue.

“I just hope Kaldur was able to get back okay.” Annabella whispered as she glanced at the giant clock that was in the ballroom.

~~~~

Kaldur panted as he slammed the back door behind him he looked down and noticed his uniform was back on.

“Here put this on.” Lagann said tossing Kaldur a dirty apron.

Kaldur quickly caught it and tied it around his waist. Lagann took him to the kitchen where Garth was cleaning the dishes. Kaldur immediately stood next to him and began helping him out.

"Unbelievable!" Kaldur heard David suddenly shout from the entrance. "Where is Kaldur?!"

Kaldur walked out drying off his hands trying to seem confused as to what was going on.

"Yes?"

"I need you to take these stains out of my clothes as soon as possible." David grumbled as he took off his coat jacket.

"What happened?" Kaldur asked now definitely feeling confused.

"Ugh those damn Wayne kids is what happened. If I thought taking on you was a heavy burden I have no idea how Bruce Wayne has managed to keep track of that awful horde of children."

“Tim isn’t that bad.” Micheal mumbled making David turn to face his son slowly.

“Go what in the car.” David said through gritted teeth making Michael bow his head and slowly walk out.

David sighed and turned to face Kaldur. “Close the diner. Get home. And get to work on that stain.”

When David left the diner Kaldurs friends began bursting into laughter.

“Oh my god I thought that twitter thread was joking.” Garth said.

“What twitter thread?” Kaldur asked.

“Oh someone had been posting about the things happening at the gala.” Gathering shrugged.

“We think its one or all of the Wayne kids that manage it.” Tula continued.

“Any ways they tweeted about David crashing into a coffee table along with Ras Al Ghul.” Lagann finished.

“Ras Al Ghul?” Kaldur asked a faint memory of an old gossip show talking about how Ras seemed to be a bit cold towards Annabella came to mind. “Did anyone get in trouble.”

“I know your step dad got called out but other than that i haven’t seen anything recent.” Garth shrugged.

Kladur nodded and wondered if maybe he should try to start getting in contact with Annabella and make sure she was okay.

“I better start locking up.” Kaldur decided, he was definitely going to have a long day tomorrow he doubted David would get over this humiliation overnight.

“Be careful Kaldur.” Tula said as Kaldur locked the door.

Kaldur nodded as he hugged her goodnight and made his way home.

He sighed as he laid down in bed his head trying to process the night. Had he really gone to the gala? Or did he somehow slip and hit his head when he went to take out the trash? But then he remembered the kiss, his one second of courage, yeah there's no way that kiss was fake. Kaldur smiled up at the ceiling as he remembered how quick Annabella was to help him get out.

Kaldur let out another sigh as he closed his eyes. If he really wanted to be with her he was going to have to do something about it. He smiled as his head started to imagine a world where he was free, maybe that wouldn't be so far fetched.

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[roguerebels]

Sal’s Personal Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Here we are.

The zero hour.

The last stand.

The beginning of a new era of Star Wars.

Everywhere you look Star Wars, Star Wars, and Star Wars. For someone like me it’s the stuff of dreams. For old and new fans alike the excitement is building. Some people have been waiting for this moment since the announcement of Star Wars: Episode VII on October 30th, 2012.

But then there’s me.

One of the people who have been waiting for this since May 25th, 1983.

I’m of that first generation who grew up not remembering the first time they saw Star Wars. It just always was. I’m the generation that was left at the end of the story without knowing if there would ever be more. I was there when the Expanded Universe began to fill the void in our world with new Star Wars. From Heir to the Empire and Dark Empire to Crucible and Star Wars Legacy, I was there.

I was there on May 19th, 1999, when I was able to go back to the beginning and experience the untold stories of the saga. I brought my daughter to see Revenge of the Sith when she was too young to remember. It was the only Star Wars movie I thought she’d ever see in a theater (although I was able to bring both kids to see The Phantom Menace in 3D.) I was there through The Clone Wars and our family even now watches Star Wars Rebels.

Such a drastic change from the late ’80s of having nothing but three wonderful movies. Now, when even if you only count canon stories, we have six movies, six seasons of The Clone Wars, one-and-a-half seasons of Star Wars Rebels, ongoing comics series, new novels, and lots of short fiction from insider and various other ebooks.

On my journey here I’ve tried to stay spoiler-free but I’ve consumed every story thrown at me.

I keep up with the comics,

I read all the novels, and I love all-new stories, new characters, new adventures. All in my favorite galaxy.

With the Internet and social media being what they are it’s tough (but not impossible) to duck spoilers. If I see a link that looks fishy I don’t click it. I take part in a podcast where spoilers are discussed and I jump off when it’s that time. Not for anyone else but for myself. I want to sit in a theater for the first time since 1983 and not know where the story is going.

Finally, we are going into uncharted territory. I watched the prequels but we all knew where it was ending. Same with The Clone Wars and while the Rebels characters are new, their setting is in a familiar place. But now we finally journey forward. After anything we’ve ever seen. I can’t wait to step into this new age with fresh eyes and see it for the first time.

It’s so soon it’s scary.

I’m not scared of it being bad or anything like that. From the pieces and glimpses we’ve been afforded it feels right. I’m so happy to see my old friends and meet some new ones. I want to see the looks on my kids’ faces when they see the power of a new Star Wars film in a theater now that they’re old enough to appreciate it. I’m looking forward to it just like everyone else.

And it’s happening tonight.

I’m ready.

-Sal P. 12/14/15

So how did I get here…

To tell you the truth I don’t really know where to start. I was a lifelong Star Wars fan? I won the Star Wars lottery? Simple tricks and nonsense?

I certainly was only afforded this opportunity through being an official member of the Star Wars costuming charity groups. My wife decided to join the Rebel Legion group specifically for Resistance Pilots and was given the honor of representing the Rebel Legion as one of the costumed pilots on the red carpet. Me? As a dedicated trainer, performer, and show creator for Saber Guild I was lucky enough to score a seat. But it was only through our hard work on costumes, many charity troops, and representing the best of what Star Wars means to us that we somehow had this opportunity to be a part of history.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to share this experience with our younglings. As you can imagine the space is very limited. We told them the news. They took it as well as someone can I suppose.

After quite a bit of hard work and sleepless nights we finished Liz’s Resistance pilot (modeled after Jessika Pava so we can’t wait to work on a helmet)

Then we were there. Everything started happening. We saw things. Familiar faces. Friends. It was freezing. I can’t even properly describe what happened (kinda like Shmi.) Suffice to say the experience was unforgettable, full of wonder, and nothing less than magical. I have a few pics that may help piece together this experience…..

  And then we went in.

We walked up the red carpet ourselves and ascended towards what we’ve been waiting for. We found our seats and got comfortable.

Well, mostly.

I was pretty much on the edge of mine.

Then Iger walked out. There were introductions and speeches.

J.J. thanked both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg (who were a mere 5 or 6 rows back.)

We saw the entire cast and the people who helped put this together.

They exited the stage off a small set of stairs that led them straight down our aisle.

Well…

Liz’s aisle, as she was right on the edge and shook everyone’s hand as they walked by.

Then the theater went dark and it happened.

After the Awakening Review?

Well.

I saw it.

I saw The Force Awakens.

What can I say?

What did I think?

I’m not sure I’m quite fully functional again but I’ll try to say something.

I loved it.

Without being horribly descriptive it had humor, action, tension, and heart.

And hope.

The film MOVED.

I mean it really moved. I never had time to catch my breath. I was careening off the walls I moved so fast.

The familiar faces?

It felt like seeing a friend I’ve missed for so long. The kind of friend who you can see again and pick up right where you left off.

The new generation?

Spectacular. Endearing. Fascinating. The kind of people who you spend time with and leave just wanting to know more about them.

… and waiting for the next time you’ll see them again.

The story?

It was driving and unrelenting. The journey takes you to places you’ve never been and brings you back to places you’ve seen before.

It felt like Star Wars. The intangible something that’s so hard to catch. It’s here. The magic that started this whole journey way back on May 25th, 1977 is liberally sprinkled throughout.

I can’t wait to see it again. With the whole family this time. I’m still reeling from the experience. I don’t know if it was the film itself or the magic of the night but I do know that I left the theater both feeling satisfied AND wanting more. I feel like there’s so much more I want to analyze after a few more (probably less mind-blowing circumstance surrounded) viewings.

I have questions.

And I have answers.

It definitely feels like the start of something new while still having unbreakable bonds to the previous legacy of saga films.

It feels right.

And that’s really the best thing I can say about it right now.

All good things must have an ending…

We walked out of the theater still not quite put together. More things happened.

Like, unreal things that you never could imagine happening.

Like, I went to the Men’s room and ended up next to John Williams.

Yeah… that’s not a thing that anyone could make up.

We walked down to the reception and ate some fancy food. That was pretty awesome. I joked that if anyone asked me if I liked The Force Awakens I was going to tell them the food was AWESOME!!

We enjoyed the reception for a bit before having to finally call it a night. Everything was such a blur of friends, hugs, and memories. It feels kinda like a really intense Force vision. You can remember things vividly but can’t quite put them into context. I have a few pics that might help us put things together.

      Well, I guess not but I can’t wait to see this movie again.

-Sal P. 12/15/15

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Star Wars The Force Awaken World Premiere! Sal’s Personal Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Here we are. The zero hour. The last stand.

[fullspectrum-cbd-oil]

‘GOOD’: Republican Lawmakers Praise POTUS on Migration Deal With Mexico as He Halts Tariff Plans

President Donald Trump brought an end to the threat to place tariffs on Mexico as the start day loomed, bringing about a deal for Mexico to help curb the flow of immigrants trying to come to the U.S. southern border.

The president announced late Friday that he had reached an agreement with Mexico, causing the tariffs to be “indefinitely suspended.”

“This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States,” Trump said.

The immigration deal with Mexico will make it so those seeking asylum in the U.S. will await their cases in Mexico. Additionally, under the agreement, Mexico will deploy forces to the U.S. southern border starting Monday to help curb illegal immigration.

“I think it’s a fair balance because they had more drastic measures and proposals at the start and we reached some middle point,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said in response to the deal between the two countries.

….stem the tide of Migration through Mexico, and to our Southern Border. This is being done to greatly reduce, or eliminate, Illegal Immigration coming from Mexico and into the United States. Details of the agreement will be released shortly by the State Department. Thank you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

Trump’s initial threat to place a 5 percent tariff starting Monday that would increase up to 25 percent over the next several months had even Republican lawmakers divided on their support for the president’s move, as IJR Red earlier reported.

However, several GOP members of Congress are now praising Trump’s immigration deal with Mexico.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) labeled not implementing tariffs and having Mexico help with illegal immigration as “GOOD.”

“Ok Mr. President, good day of winning,” he added.

No tariffs: GOOD

Mexico helping us with illegal immigration: GOOD

Ok Mr. President, good day of winning. https://t.co/4BoaPAw1ia

— Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) June 8, 2019

Calling the deal “great news,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) praised Trump for the “newly-signed agreement,” as he’s “once again … proven those who doubted him wrong by getting Mexico to step up their efforts to help us secure our southern border.”

Tonight’s deal also puts us in a better position to make USMCA a reality, which would produce real wins for American workers and businesses. I urge Pelosi to swiftly bring it to the floor so we can grow an even stronger American economy while also making our border more secure.

— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) June 8, 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who backed the president from the beginning of his tariff threat on Mexico, congratulated Trump on his “bold leadership” in reaching an agreement.

Additionally, the South Carolina senator noted that although the Mexico efforts will “substantially reduce the number of illegal immigrants coming through Mexico,” the immigration problem will “never stop” unless Congress starts acting to work on solutions to the asylum laws.

Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump and his team for reaching an agreement with Mexico that will substantially reduce the number of illegal immigrants coming through Mexico.https://t.co/mY3rVuXjYh

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 8, 2019

The problem with asylum abuse will never stop until we change US law — something I plan to pursue as the Chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee.

I appreciate President Trump’s bold leadership and applaud this agreement.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 8, 2019

Check out other reactions from Republican lawmakers:

The threat of tariffs got #Mexico to agree to take unprecedented steps to control illegal migration.

Will be very interesting to see how media covers this now. It is going to be very hard for some of them to give @POTUS credit for this. https://t.co/XmKMrSH5gU via @NYTimes

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 8, 2019

I fully supported @realDonaldTrump's strategy of using tariffs to get Mexico to secure its border and stop the flow of illegal immigration to the U.S. President Trump proved he wasn’t bluffing, and his bold leadership just resulted in a huge win for America’s safety and security.

— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) June 8, 2019

The Mexican government has pledged to do more than Congressional Ds to address this crisis: Trump announces deal to avoid tariffs on Mexico – Los Angeles Times https://t.co/WTPrHmuP0U

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 8, 2019

Additionally, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded:

Despite no help from the do-nothing Democrats in Congress, President @realDonaldTrump secured billions in funding to build the wall and an unprecedented commitment from Mexico to stem the tide of illegal immigration. That’s leadership and another historic win for America.

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 8, 2019

Trump took to Twitter on Saturday morning to again make a note of his agreement with Mexico.

“Mexico will try very hard, and if they do that, this will be a very successful agreement for both the United States and Mexico!” he tweeted.

Mexico will try very hard, and if they do that, this will be a very successful agreement for both the United States and Mexico!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

MEXICO HAS AGREED TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN BUYING LARGE QUANTITIES OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT FROM OUR GREAT PATRIOT FARMERS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

Everyone very excited about the new deal with Mexico!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

I would like to thank the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, together with all of the many representatives of both the United States and Mexico, for working so long and hard to get our agreement on immigration completed!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 8, 2019

The president’s push to improve border security comes at a time when the border officials at the U.S.-Mexico border face a growing crisis. The number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants is breaking records — including 144,278 apprehensions in May — and the current Border Patrol chief has warned that there’s “no sign of slowing.”

from IJR http://bit.ly/2WsnPqp via IFTTT

[comm3p18audiencestudies]

AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE BLOG POST #1

Thursday, October 5th, 2017

 When I first started this course a few weeks ago, I was not certain that I understood what an audience experience really was. My initial thought is that I could not be considered an audience ‘member’ if I was not physically there to experience an event first-hand. In our first lecture, we were asked whether we experienced the solar eclipse and the Houston flooding that took place this summer. At first, my answer had been no. I felt that because I was not in the line of totality during the eclipse, nor was I in Houston during the flooding, that I could not confidently say that I had truly experienced either of these events.  Later, Prof. Jennifer Good explained to us that an audience is essentially anyone who witnesses or spectates an event in any format.

During the solar eclipse, my entire family; including my 80-year-old grandmother and 9-year-old nephew, gathered together to witness the eclipse. My father had run around frantically, in search of the special glasses needed to safely view the eclipse, but had no luck as they had been sold out several days in advance.  In the hours leading up to the eclipse, my family had been glued to the T.V. as CNN shared live footage of people all over the world gathering together to watch the eclipse hit.  My sister and I worked together to make do-it-yourself pinhole projectors that we had seen trending on social media. Although the maximum point of totality only took place for a few minutes, this was a phenomenon during the days preceding and following the eclipse. There was a lot of ‘hype’ surrounding the eclipse, which made me laugh considering that we did not experience complete darkness in Toronto, but this event managed to bring together my family and friends.  Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were filled with memes, GIF’s, and videos as their online communities shared their thoughts and feelings on the eclipse. In lecture, it was interesting to see how many other students felt as if they had not experienced this event, but almost every one of us had.

Source: https://www.FallonTonight.tumblr.com 

Late-night television program, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; has taken part in the social media phenomenon. This GIF was shared by @fallontonight from previous episode aired of where Jimmy Fallon performs a parody of Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart. The parody makes light of the 2017 solar eclipse. 

              See How America Celebrated the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse | National Geographic

 National Geographic shares how Americans celebrated the 2017 solar eclipse across the country.   Published on 21 Aug 2017.  

               My experience of Hurricane Harvey was much different than the solar eclipse. Although I had heard that the hurricane would be arriving, but I did not pay much attention as I assumed it would be minor. After the hurricane hit, I became aware that I was witnessing something tragic. My social media feeds had been filled with details and footage of what exactly those who had been living in Houston. This new information had appeared to be a drastic contrast from President Trump’s statement which to me, almost appeared to be in-genuine. I had witnessed hundreds of people stressing the importance of donating and spreading awareness. Although I have never been to Houston, nor do I have any friends or family; I had been emotionally affected by what I was seeing online. It did not take long before I began to ask questions, and form my own opinion on this subject. Shortly after, I started to actively retweet or repost what I saw on my online news feed. Recently, I took part in a church fundraiser that donated large barrels of necessities and non-perishable food items to displaced families in Houston.

What Hurricane Harvey Left Behind

This CNN video was published on YouTube on September 4th,2017;  just several days after the hurricane passed. CNN shows viewers a glimpse of exactly what Harvey had left behind. Currently, this video has over 60,000 views, meaning that it’s audience grows with each viewer. Having so much access to visual footage at the tip of our finger is a luxury that was not attainable before the rise of the internet.   

In both instances, the internet played a large role in the overall audience experience. The 21st century has successfully merged communication with technology. Through radio and television broadcasting, almost all North Americans have access to international news. CNN has successfully dominated the news media industry for over 30 years. This American cable network has covered major events throughout history including; the Gulf War, the September 11 terror attacks, and most recently, the 2016 U.S. presidential election. We have seen drastic shift in the early oral audiences over the last century and technology continues to change the rules that had once been in place in regards to the roles of producers, authors, and the viewers. The internet introduced users to streaming, broadcasting, and customized news content which has allowed us to make our own decisions based on what I want to see, and share. Stories are no long passed solely through word of mouth or even by letter, which would have traditionally taken much longer to reach the desks of major television news broadcasters. As an influential figure in the media, CNN has the power to frame their content and determine how they would like their audience to feel on a subject. Like the content that I follow on social media, CNN tends to often be very critical of the current social and political state of the world and more importantly The United States. I believe that this power has had a strong influence on my thoughts, values, and behaviour and could very well be one of the reasons why I lent my support. The videos, comments, and memes that I had been seeing online reflected the emotions of the ones who were posting the content, which ultimately triggered my emotions; resulting in emotional contagion.

  While working through this course content, I began to think about other audience experiences I had been apart of.  Initially, I thought I would have a hard time completing this exercise as I assumed that I had not really been apart of very many significant real-life audience experiences. It has now become evident to me that the hardest part is really deciding which one of the many experiences I will choose. The discussion of power and its influence on audience has really stood out to me over these last few weeks. The most obvious example to me was power struggle between U.S. President Donald Trump, but more specifically; the 2017 Women’s March. Power has been somewhat of a ‘

#trendingtopic

’ among political discourse right now, especially the day after the official election results had been announced.

World Marches to Support Women’s Rights

PBS NewsHour- Published on 21 Jan 2017.

On January 21st, 2017, protesters gathered across the world advocating for women’s rights, immigration and work reform, and racial equality. The march’s held an estimated total of 5 million participants. 

The rallies had primarily been a response to Donald Trump and his presidential inauguration. The march in Washington, D.C., took place just outside the White House and was streamed live for millions to view on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Washington, along with approximately 400 other marches was filled with official speakers from all walks of life. Everyday activists, experts, and celebrities, gathered together in solidarity for protection of human rights and diversity. This is a significant audience experience for me because as a female minority, I have never witnessed such a profound effort to support the voices of marginalized communities. Freedom of speech is a right that I often take for granted. Spiral of Silence theory is the concept that an individual will not express themselves when they learn that their personal views do not reflect those of the majority public. There have been several instances where I have not exercised my right to freedom of speech as I was intimidated and felt as if I should not express my personal opinions because I was in fear that it would be too controversial or even ‘stupid’. I was not aware of the Women’s March until I came across a live stream on Twitter. At the same time, several of my contacts on Snapchat had shared their own footage of the marches that they were attending. I had begun to experience what millennials like to call, F.O.M.O otherwise known as the fear of missing out. It did not take long for me to call my friends and ask if they would like to join me in participating in the Toronto march.

Women’s March in Toronto

CBC News- Published on 21 Jan 2017

Denise Hammond of CBC news is on sight of the International Women’s March that took place in Toronto. This is one of the many marches that had been held on January 21st, 2017. 

It was empowering and exciting to see so many women and men of all nationalities and orientations gather together in support of the same positive cause. Although these diverse faces resembled the ones I would usually pass by on the streets of Toronto; these faces appeared to be friendlier. As we chanted together as one, people continued to smile and share positive messages with one another throughout the entire march. This energy was almost contagious as I recall making a conscious effort to spread this positive energy throughout the day.

It was interesting to take part in an event that exercised my rights as a Canadian citizen. At the same time it led to reflect on the countries where their citizens are unable to participate in protests or any effort centered towards activism. Others may argue that the marches were merely just a product of ‘fake news’ or agenda-setting, This is because they believe that the media promotes these issues to place focus on the faults of Donald Trump in an attempt to give him more bad press and discredit the issues that he places focus on.  Ultimately, each audience member will draw their own conclusions. These conclusions will be based off their own personal experiences, values, and thoughts. As a student studying communications and looking to work in a field places diversity in high regard; it is imperative that I do not force my own thoughts on my peers and remain open the ones around me.

-END OF BLOG POST-

[livinginpublicorprivate]

on Instagram

 It’s a scenario I typically go out of my way to avoid: the crowded party at an unfamiliar house with unfamiliar people surrounding me. The person I came with has been swallowed into the sea of college-aged camaraderie, and I find everybody else here insufferable. I know that sounds pretentious, but discomfort sometimes brings out my bad side. 

Wanting to avoid any more feigned conversation, I maneuver my way into a corner and take out my phone. Immediately I feel swaddled in the security it offers. Wanting to make it known that I am closing myself off from any semblance of social interaction, I open Instagram and begin scrolling through my feed, sealing myself off from the people around me and affording myself once again, sweet, sweet privacy. 

Social media is typically discussed in terms of an increased publicity; that these new media platforms have enhanced our ability to publicly communicate and present ourselves. But what if you never share a thing? What if you are on the outside looking in? Then what does social media offer you? While social media and cell phones have undoubtedly increased the publicity of our lives, they mark a shift away from traditional public discourse, and have also allowed us to be more private, more secluded, and more removed from public society. The lines between public and private, however, are now much harder to distinguish, and have been muddied as a result of the new discourse of social media. 

I often think about what I would do if it were 1970, and if I didn’t have this thing in my pocket that acts as a rescue inhaler for introverts. What did my dad do if he wanted to avoid a conversation? I certainly inherited my introverted nature from him, but I’m lucky (in more ways than one) in that I have an escape—did he? Would he have been forced to talk to people even when he didn’t want to? In a way, that almost seems like the better option. I’m sure being forced to participate in a public discourse would be useful for many people to develop those interpersonal skills, a lack of which cripples them so. But often the temptation to subvert five minutes of discomfort is undeniable. I would much rather be cloaked in cell-phone-induced privacy than to be forced to feign interaction. And I’m not so sure that’s the right choice. 

We see this happening all the time. On the subway, in restaurants, on the street: people looking down at a screen. If you’re somebody who doesn’t have a phone, they must all look like aliens, in a trance over a device the size of their hand, dividing their attention between existing in the real world and in the virtual. I was at work just the other day, and in the break room there is a table with benches on either side. Myself and three of my coworkers were seated at the table in relatively close quarters. This was a plastic picnic table—something that is perhaps designed to stimulate conversation. But rather than talking, all four of us were staring at a phone, removed from our togetherness, and blocking ourselves off from interacting with each other. 

Is this living in private killing our ability to socialize in public? Alexandra Ossola of The Atlantic seems to think so. She writes that in 2009, Tamyra Pierce, a journalism professor at California State University, Fresno conducted a study to test the relationship between technology and social anxiety. She asked teenagers how often they use “socially interactive technologies,” like instant messages and texts, and then assessed how comfortable they felt talking to people face-to-face. Pierce found that the more the students spent using online communication methods, the more likely they were to show symptoms of anxiety about communicating face-to-face (Ossola, 2015). It seems obvious that an increasingly privatized life would lead to difficulty interacting in public, and it seems that the problem feeds into itself by using technology as an escape from the opportunity to develop those skills. The privacy offered by cell phones and social media may actually be shutting the door on developing the skills necessary to live in public, and to interact with others. 

And I know that this is not a new behavior. People used to read newspapers, listen to personal radios, or distract themselves with whatever else they had available to them. But cell phones have become so ubiquitous that many people—myself included—feel an inability to exist without them. When so much of what we do is rooted in the phone, it can be intimidating to leave it at home and navigate the world without it. Maybe the compulsion to stare at Instagram on the subway is rooted in an increasing desire to stay active in the public sphere, and to stay aware and up-to-date with what your friends and the people you care about are doing. Maybe it’s in the desire to distract yourself from the people sitting around you, and to give yourself something to stare at until you get to your stop. In either case, I wanted to find out for myself. 

I consider myself a heavy social media user. Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram are all platforms I find myself going to regularly throughout the day, either out of boredom or a real desire to see what���s been going on. I often found myself looking at them compulsively, even when I had already consumed all that there was available. Out of discomfort for the ways these social media applications had me trapped, I deleted them. There would be no more compulsive checking, or scrolling, or consuming. I was eager to see how long it would take for the compulsion to resurface and demand that I re-install them. 

To my surprise, no such compulsion was felt. I went the entire summer without opening, without checking, without distractedly scrolling, and without missing the feeling of always being connected with the world around me. It was a bizarre feeling, to go from such a heavy involvement to suddenly none. But, at the same time, it was a relief. I was suddenly free. I lived life without knowing what others were doing. And in a way, I felt more privacy than I ever had before. Living without the crutch that affords me the ability to avoid the public actually led to a greater shift away from it. I’ve since gone back to using these social media apps, but it’s getting to a point again where I feel the need to get rid of them, and go back to truly living privately. 

So how does social media actually inform the divide between public and private? It would seem difficult to argue that we are allowed truly increased privacy as a result of social media, especially after my experience living without it, but this is both true and not. It’s not like there is a shortage of things to distract yourself with on an iPhone, it just seems that social media applications are the preferred method of doing so. And really, almost any application you can look at on a phone involves some version of living publicly. In almost every way, cell phones mark an increase in the publicity of our lives. 

I hate to keep going back to Instagram, but it’s such a succinct example of how publicity manifests itself on social media. I follow 248 people on Instagram, most of them being personal friends and acquaintances. Scrolling through my feed, I see things from almost every person’s daily life. Lauren got coffee, Emily went to the beach, George has a show tonight at 10:30. Even if I never share anything from my own life, being aware of these events puts one in a position of drastically increased publicity. Without the app to inform me of the daily lives of others, I live outside the new public sphere of social media. 

Publicity on Instagram, however, is much different from the old concept of publicity. Publicity, as Jürgen Habermas might put it, consists of a network of deliberating individuals who interact on a personal level. Publicity took place in reality, in face-to-face interactions, and in spoken conversations between parties. Publicity to Habermas could only take place in public, in the physical presence of others, interacting and sharing and exchanging ideas. Now, however, the terms are slightly different, and Instagram has muddied the lines between what can be considered public and private. 

Imagine I make an Instagram post from the privacy of my bedroom. It could be of anything: what I had for lunch, something I did over the weekend, or any other thing I feel like sharing. I sit in my bed and watch as my peers “like” the image, signifying their recognition of my personal life. Am I living in public in this moment? Or am I still in private? Am I publicly in private or vice versa? What if I share a private moment on Instagram? Does it become public in its nature by being on social media, or is it still allowed the distinction of a private moment? I’ll stop the questions there, but Instagram and social media in general makes it hard to distinguish between what is truly private and truly public. It used to be easy; either you’re by yourself or you’re interacting with others. But when you’re doing both, as we are now allowed to do, the distinction isn’t so clear. 

Maybe I shouldn’t worry so much about these kinds of things. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with pulling my phone out at a party to escape the awkwardness and discomfort I’m feeling. Maybe discourse should be allowed to evolve naturally without me commenting on the way things are moving. But it seems awfully dishonest. 

I try not to look at my phone on the subway anymore. I try to look at the things around me, at the people around me, to be a part of my environment. But they’re all staring down at their phones, too. Maybe it’s a lost cause.

Sources

Ossola, Alexandra. A New Kind of Social Anxiety in the Classroom. The Atlantic, 15 Jan 2015. theatlantic.com. Accessed 2017.