#insidie job brett

[cartoonbabbles]

MORE INSIDE JOB BABBLES

So I just realized the season finale of Part 1 of Inside Job may have a bit more of a sinister twist that I first thought, and I wanted to share my thoughts.

SPOILERS FOR INSIDE JOB PART 1 AND 2 UNDER THE CUT

So, in "Inside Reagan," we find out that Rand had been editing Reagan's memories in an attempt to isolate her and keep her focused only on her work so that she'd be able to take power and let him back into Cognito should be ousted. (The more I think about it, the more messed up it gets). We all know this. And we know that he edited out Reagan's first friend, Orrin. BUT. There's a line I noticed on a recent rewatch of the finale. When Reagan is about to enter her repressed memories, she says,

"Why were you really here?"

And earlier in the episode, we see Rand sneaking in with a plate of cupcakes. Remember, Rand had been kicked out of the company at this point. And he gained clearance via Reagan's clone hand. But as shown earlier in the season, Rand really doesn't care that much, and it would be super out of character for him to care so much that he would want to visit Reagan at work. So why was he really there?

Well, remember what kinds of memories Rand erased from Reagan. Every memory of her and Orrin together, sharing good times and successes together. Rand saw this as a weakness, and wanted Reagan to think she did it all on her own (which likely led to part of Reagan's protagonist complex and shouldering too much on her own), increasing her reliance on him and Bear-o. BUT. You know who else Reagan shares her life with? Her team.

Over the course of Part 1, there's a ton of growth between the team, as Brett acts as the glue that bonds everyone together, and they all realize they're better off with each other than without. Heck, we even see Reagan admit that in the finale herself. And here's the kicker. They were Reagan's new friends.

And Rand Ridley was going to erase it all.

Remember how he'd mentioned Reagan was his insurance policy to get back into Cognito? Why would he choose this very moment to try to reinstate himself? Why would he come specifically as Reagan was promoted? Because JR was out of the picture. JR had gone to see the Robes, and the office was left vulnerable. Evidently, Rand knew where Project Jellybean was and he still knew full-well how to operate it, but he knew there would be no way that Reagan would let him back into the company if she knew she could rely on someone other than her anything-but-reliable father. So he snuck in, with the plan to lure her to the room to erase her memories of her friends. The friends that she'd been practicing an emotional speech for nearly 30 takes for. The friends that all came back after realizing that they were stronger together than apart. The friends that Rand saw as obstacles in Reagan getting to the top in the most efficient and absolute way possible.

Now I'd mentioned Part 2 spoilers above the cut. Here is that section.

In Part 2, something similar happens where Rand tries to fix what he sees as a mistake and Reagan has to stop him, and she says to him something along the lines of how she'd been trying to figure out if he was a hero or villain, eventually realizing that he was "(her) dad, the screw-up."

And this is where everything comes full circle back to the memory editing, and something a little personal to me. I'd always felt my parents were suspicious of my friends, afraid they'd be a bad influence, and as such I'd get frequent talks from them about "oh are they trustworthy" or "oh that's kinda disrespectful of them" and looking back, my friends were just normal-ass kids. My parents were the ones being paranoid, and looking for ways that they could try to shield me from what they felt would be detrimental to me. It was sweet in a really weird, twisted way. But back to Inside Job, but I think that's exactly what Rand wanted to do. Because in addition to wanting his job, Rand is a broken man. He's looking for love, constantly trying to change the world so that he can get his ideal life back - a life with Tamiko and ridley not hating him, a life where he doesn't need to be a drunk and a deadbeat dad. And in doing so, he does the one thing he does best - he tries to take control because he loves his family. But that love grows out of control into paranoia.

I want to leave off on a more hopeful note. Across the series, we see Reagan follow a lot in her dad's footsteps, but also deviate from the norms he sets by a lot. Notably, she tries actively to put those she values before her own needs, case in point being how she let Ron have the peaceful life he wanted, but at the cost of her own happiness. And we see her becoming comfortable with letting go of control as she grows further apart from Rand's influence and feels less need to control a life that feels constrained and chaotic. She leaves Brett in charge. She trusts Myc (a little) to get them through his Hive School reunion, and whether she knows it or not, she connects a lot more with her team than she'd give herself credit for.

I'm going to leave this here, this post has kinda devolved into a ramble, but I really like this series. It's witty, charming, and has a ton of layers. Thank you for reading this cartoon babble :)

[sin-sidejob]

Insidious Inside Job: Halloween pt. 2

Note: Inspired by skoshibuns fanart on instagram + I have songs linked with each segment for the specific portion that goes with the monster, the plot, or both + reminder, I may be an english major but this thing is barely proofread

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Minors DNI, AFAB + GN PRONOUNS, RAW SEX (wrap that rascal), monster-fucking, tentacle fucking, inhuman creatures, furry fucking? One brief scene of alluded almost sexual assault/assault (that gets stopped and interrupted) incredibly vague nothing actually happens, drug use/roofied/narcotics, I guess, werewolf (slight A/B/O dynamics), breeding kink, talks of missing body parts and death, cockwarming, somnophilia the undead, zombies, doctor play, doctor kink, doctor/fake patient, living dead, experimentation with cadavers and dead bodies, mention of illness/cancer, various Halloween-y phenomena + probably more

Content: smut, spooky scary spectral holiday smuttening, monster and inhuman creature fucking, usual debauchery you can expect from me, dicks and pussy, inhuman and monster genitalia, reader has AFAB nethers/genitalia and a cunt but I don’t describe about tits so folks are safe, I used gender neutral pronouns all throughout as well. Mentions of underwear and generalized clothing but no bras or gendered articles of clothing. Southernification of Robotus (you’ll see) + probably more

! ! ! This is part two, with Reagan + Brett + Andre + Robotus + Myc. Part one, located here, includes Gigi + JR + Glenn + a bonus character ! ! !

Reagan Ridley: MAD SCIENTIST

• songs: Evil Eye - Franz Ferdinand

- You were used to the chaotic cadence that came with knowing and loving the reclusive Dr. Ridley, enjoying the maniacal dynamic and aiding her in her experiments, helping her tidy up should a test go awry. You aided her in all her endeavors, even the unsightly ones, and that dedication and mutual trust blossomed into friendship and then eventually love and list. Simple creatures, you two were, and instincts were a gravitational pull as equally potent to magnets as to mankind.

- The latter half of the year, when the weather turns and the leaves change and shed their green covers to don the classic golden hues, is when she came alive even more. She found energy in the fall and winter weather, more likely to be within the confines of her laboratory and adding scrawled, scratch-like lines into her notebooks and texts, running about with her coat billowing behind her like a shadow tethered to her, fluttering beside her with the grace of a conspirator.

- There were times when she would not need your assistance and you would be free and left to your own devices, wandering about the extravagant library and traipsing through the halls, snooping where you shouldn't, and happily receiving your punishments. Life was good and continued to be so, almost mundane in an unnatural, phenomenal way. There was no dark side of the moon to you, only the light because the shadows were your home, and the person you called lover languished alongside you in Moonglow-shaded craters.

- But your favorite moments had to be when it was you she was examining, you who she was teasing and playing with, black patent leather gloves that were entirely unsafe and unethical in a lab environment used on your form, drawing out pinpricks of chills. Especially now as Reagan hums at the sight of your disheveled state, silent beside her idle noises and internalized dialogue as if she is annotating already-written notes within the confines of her brain of you as her hands draw out more data to analyze, almost pulling all your secrets pool forth from moaning lips via her ministrations.

- Reagan is seldom tender or ginger in her touch, not in a harshness but more in a neutral, guiding, directing manner. Like moving you about with the same grace as working with her equipment and tools, movements memorized and muscles well-accustomed to all that you are. She can be softer, in aftermath moments where your body and senses can not make heads or tails of where the two of you ended or began, fully enwrapped and enveloped in one another like coiled vines of ivy, cascading upwards and intertwining in great efforts. But now, her touch is not soft, but steady and purposeful.

- Cold gloves remove clothing and secure straps onto your body, across your limbs, and holding you tight against a weathered and soft wooden table, built with the intention to be used for medical seminars and demonstrations. You lay, naked and taut upon a staged table in the center of an empty auditorium for the use of educational experimentation presentations and viewing seminars for research and study. The arena on her property is empty, no event planned for today, just the two of you in the grand room and feeling infinitesimally small, yet powerful simultaneously.

- "Not too tight?" Dr. Reagan Ridley asks softly as she busies herself with hovering over the straps that secure your wrists and ankles to the examination table, gloved hands running along oiled leather seams. "Perfect." is your answer and her smile matches the word, pride in her eyes at her wonderful assistant, her previous lover. "There's my darling, now what are te rules?" she asks, unbuttoning her labcoat to expose her blouse and slacks beneath, slinky and clinging to her body in a way that makes your firsts clench just so, palms opening and closing with the yearning need to touch.

- "Nuclear is stop, gradient is slow down, and prism is keep going, or good." you answer, squirming a bit against the restrains for show and shuffling your ass against the soft wood, feeling the cool air caress your exposed, already leaking pussy. "Wonderful," the Doctor trails off, wandering away from the table and leaving you to lay spread and scan your eyes across the planetarium-painted ceiling above and marvel at the gold leaf details in the stars and constellations, drawing you back in when she returns and adjusts her gloves with a small thwack, "now, where should we begin?"

- You don't respond immediately, not knowing how or where to answer, unable to distinguish a clear mood in her dark eyes for what she wants and what she is planning to take from you. The hesitation makes Reagan decide on her own, a dark chuckle emerging from her lips and settling in the base of your spine, curling like a funnel stormcloud. "Alright then, guess it's up to Doctor's orders." She smooths softened leather against your inner thighs and parts your lips, blowing cool air in puffs against your exposed cunt and clicking her tongue in notes as her mind wanders in fascination.

- "I think I'll start here, test your sensitivity first hmm?" she asks aloud, mainly to herself, the table raised to her waist so she can easily maneuver around you and toy with you, like a doll. It feels all like a pleasurable version of The Princess Bride's pit of despair but mixed with a sex dungeon and none of the latex. "There, how does that feel?" it feels good, decent, not enough as the first portion of her pointer finger breaches your walls, the texture not adding much besides a cooler sensation. You answer the same, and she hums before moving on, shifting in a manner reminiscent of a cat's sly sway.

- "Space for improvement, good." she comments, a stray hair falling into her forehead from her tight ponytail, dark hair pulled back and away from her face and allowing you to fully watch her move and her shifting expressions. She thrusts the finger into you, slowly and watching as you clench around her, gaping and closing in a rhythmic pattern. "And this?"

- "its g-good too," you choke out, shifting your head from looking at her to nothing, eyes shut and you try not to squirm, letting her venture as she pleased, "but not good enough?" Reagan asks, and you nod in agreement, prompting her to curl her finger upwards, matching with her second finger, and smirking, brows arching as she watches you grow more and more disheveled.

- "ah," you moan out, lip tugged between your teeth as you bite down, fists clenching and unclenching once the pleasure begins to initially build, feeling it bubble forth in your belly like a tide pool on the beach, collecting and growing as more gets put into it. "Now that's a reaction, keep speaking beautiful." she directs, curling in upward strokes from within your walls

- You nod, mewling a bit as your voice breaks and pitches, feeling her slide in another digit, pointer finger to ring finger all slotted. Her gloves are thicker, making the stretch a bit wider than what you're accustomed to, and you break a tad, grinding your hips down and wriggling, aching to get something more, and that something ends up being Reagan's attention.

- "Oh this won't do, I think you need some more advanced methods." Reagan murmurs, enjoying the look on your face as she steps back and out of your line of vision, holding back laughter as you whine and make confused tones, wondering why she stopped when she had finally gotten to the good part. "Easy now, just a moment, you can be patient for me, can't you?"

- "Yes, Doctor." She whips her head around and drops the tool in her hand, and you're worried for a second she didn't like you saying that but she arrives moments later with a silicone dick and a small vibrator in hand, accompanied by a sly grin. "Doctor, hm? We're keeping that." she states as she sets the items in her hands down beside you on the flat table, now away from your sight before you could see any of the specific characteristics or facets.

- You squirm again, chills from the exposed air finally overriding the pleasure in your veins and cooling your body. Reagan tuts at that, smoothing her dry glove up your thigh in an attempt to warm you up, "phrase?" she asks, gentle and present as she looks at you. "Prism." she smiles and nods before her expression shifts, popping the cap off a bottle of lube and warming it between her hands as she looks you over, a small smile emerging once she spots your cunt, clenching around nothing from the show she put on of her rubbing her palms together with her exposed forearms rippling.

- "Ready for me?" she asks, adjusting her gloves and then sucking off the slick residue from her one hand, purposely staring you down as she does it with intent. "Always, Doctor." a shudder that she fails to try and hide rolls through her spine at that, not fully used to you ever calling her that, especially when you're bare and at her mercy.

- "good answer." Reagan responds, lubing up the silicone and sliding it through your folds slowly, watching as you tense and begin to grind. Her hand plants your hip down still, forcing it to stop as she fixes you a warning look while she props the dick near your cunt.

- Sliding it in, she sinks the silicone dick deep into you and watches as your cunt takes it in, noting aloud how the gloves prepped you better than what she does manually glove-free. Keening out, you force yourself still and feel her hand move to instead grip your hip instead of planting it still, guiding you along in a tempo that matches the ministrations of her other hand, fucking the fake dick into you over and over slowly, picking up the pace gradually.

- "That seems to be treating you better. You agree?" barely managing a nod, you respond with a grunting moan as she angles the silicone against a spot of nerves, making you jolt and gasp. "I'll take that as a yes." Reagan jokingly responds to herself, reaching the hand once on your hip to reach away and grab the vibrator, eager to get your pent-up self breaking and shattering like glass.

- You don't realize what's happening, too blissfully unaware due to how she continues flicking her wrist, rocking the dick into you at a pace that builds tension but doesn't get that knot of pleasure unraveling at all. When the vibrator comes to life and thrums in her hand, your head whips up in that instant Pavlovian response, knowing she's about to make you see God.

- "Holy fuck please use that thing on me." you blurt out immediately, drawing a laugh from her that's dark while she fixes you a warning look, a brow raised and you rush to find your words. "Please, Doctor." Reagan hums, pleased, and then reaches down to plant the vibrator on your clit, rolling it in circles and shapes that make your legs struggle against the stirrup-like straps, body wriggling and squirming as it tries to get comfortable to handle getting fucked this way.

- "Well would you look at that, pretty damn effective." She muses, upping the vibrator speed casually with one hand as the other splits you open on the silicone cock with ease. "Next time we're going to have to test this with having both of your holes filled, probably get you squirting in minutes."

- The idea alone that she planted like a seedling in your head blooms, making you even more turned on if possible. The way the dick nestled the spots inside that already got you seeing stars? Multiplying the effect. And now the vibrator rolling over your clit and thrumming incredibly sends you over the edge, barely able to warn her coherently before you cum with a squealing moan.

- "Fucking gorgeous," Reagan marvels, fucking you through it and lowering the setting on the vibrator, still keeping it there but rolling it in softer, smoother motions while she gently fucks the dick into you, working through an orgasm that she manages to draw out for roughly a minute or so. "So goddamn pretty like this."

- She keeps going for a while until your legs stop shaking, then she removes the toys from you and moves about, undoing the straps and stirrups holding you then grabbing a nearby blanket and wrapping you up in it. You sit up and scoot over to the side of the table, legs hanging off as Reagan stands before you, smoothing your hair back and checking you over.

- She busies herself with rolling her fingers over the slightly indented marks where the straps were, double checking to make sure you were okay but she doesn't catch your adoring, sleepy look until you tap at her arm and then raise your hand to lift her chin, beaming dazedly at her. "Hi Reagan." you murmur, pressing kisses to her cheek and jaw lazily.

- "Hello yourself, feeling okay?" she asks, amusement in her tone as she looks you over, making sure you're fully covered in the blanket and warm, trying to prevent you from getting overly cold.

- You giggle and look up at her, grinning wide and honest, "I could not be any fucking better than I am right now, now gimme' a kiss." Reagan obliges, and everything fades as it always does around her, in the best and most comforting blur.

Brett Hand: FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

• song: Body - Mother Mother or My Boy Builds Coffins - Florence + The Machine

- Brett wishes he could manage to carve a place for himself in your life and at your side with as much ease as he has with loving you, completely enthralled and enamored with everything you are, all that you’ve been, and all that you’ll be. He’s fascinated by you and the intricacies in your movements and routines, the way your brows furrow when confused or frustrated, the smile you don’t show unless you’re caught by surprise and unable to remember hiding it.

- He gathers these little facets of yourself like river rocks and stones, wearing them down in the revisits of his memory, rolling them flat and small but soft in the way he reveres them. If only you loved him like he loved you. If only you actually knew him, not just of him. You’ve met before, known of each other practically since his initial creation. Yet he’s not satisfied because he doesn’t know what it’s like to be with you, only knowing you at the arms reach that he has from you helping him and fixing him up.

- You’re an assistant to his father, his creator, an up-and-coming scientist fascinated with his methods in Reanimation and modern-age necromancy, hoping to study his techniques and model some of his talents with your own. His father, Dr. Quentin Hand, made all of his siblings as initial creations and had Brett last, the youngest and most rushed one of the collection. He was an accumulation of spare parts, the battered bits left in the barrel, a literal representation of what comes from patchwork scientific craft and lacking interest. That’s not to say you didn’t treat him kindly or matched his father's lack of enthusiasm.

- No, you treated him carefully, just like the rest of his siblings. You gave him extra attention and care, sewing back on fingers should they get snagged and fall off his hand, making a few jokes all the while you thread the needle and fish it in and out of his flesh about how his hand’s should be better taken care of, especially since it’s his last name.

- his heart was monitored and he prayed you hadn’t caught the speeding up of the pace, the rapid ba-bum ba-bum ba-bum of his pre-owned heart firing off in awe of you and your presence. If you did, you don’t mention it and you just continue hemming and stitching him back together, returning his ring finger back onto his left hand with care, humming all the while some song stuck in the back of your head.

- “there,” you nearly startle him, pulling him from his reverie with a pat to his knee as you sit up from your chair and clean up, putting your supplies away and disinfecting, “all fixed. Let me know if there’s any trouble with your seams again and I’ll patch you up — no sweat.” His eyes, one hazel and the other bright blue, peer up at you with nothing short of pure adoration. It’s always there, poor boy can’t do anything to hide it. He just loves you is all.

- "Thank you, I'm sorry you have to always fix me up all the time." Brett states, rubbing his arm subconsciously, truly meaning it and knowing it had to be at least a little redundant to mend him after every trip and fall or tumble down the steps. Poor thing had no balance, something you try to work on in your spare time between projects and lessons with Brett's father. You turn, taking your gloves off and disposing of them while looking his way, a sad frown on your face making his dissipate like smoke. "Why are you sorry for that? It's not something you can help, sweet boy, and besides --" you trail off while stepping near him and fixing his hair and looking down at his still-sitting form, "I'm happy to help you, its what I'm here for!"

- and with that, you depart, heading to another appointment to experiment under supervision, He dreads the days that come forward now, nearing when you would be leaving since your education under the apprenticeship of his father ends to a close. You'd be gone, with your own experiments and helpers, a life completely devoid of him. he likes to think you'd write him or call, maybe see his name scrawled in your looping cursive handwriting and hear your words drawn across a page and yearn to find your love within them.

- but even he, Brett, a lovesick optimist knows that would be too good to be true. Within the month, you'd pack and leave and the spanning acres of his family's estate would be empty of your presence. Your quarters would miss your belongings, the posters, and art on the walls, the little personal items and books littered about. It would be as if you were never there, but to Brett, he would always remember you being there. He may have been reanimated, but the days where you roamed the halls and came across his sight were the only days he felt truly alive.

- Little did he know that you had been planning your departure for years and hoped you would go about it, what exactly you would leave or sell, what you would pack, how you would pack, and who you would take with you. "Dr. Hand, I have a request," you start, making casual conversation while you've currently got your forearms embedded in a cadaver's inner organs, organizing things, "I was wondering if I could take one of the experiments with me when I leave early this week?"

- Doctor Quentin Hand is no meek creature, nor does his stature indicate such. he was almost frighteningly tall, but with age has developed a slight hunching slouch making him roughly 6'5 with the rugby player's stature. The man is thick and bulky, with a head full of auburn hair turning grey and the shade of sunned strands with his age. "Depends on which of the creations you'd call to you, and if they'd like to go. The eldest are off limits, but should one of the children agree, you are free to take them. But only one."

- he is currently invested in combining chemicals to inject within the bloodstream when reanimation is to take place later, and luckily so. He misses your entire face light up, beaming from ear to ear behind your surgical mask and eyes glowing with excitement. "I've already decided who I'd like to bring with me."

-"Oh?" he doesn't even turn, swirling an open beaker that smells of disinfectant and acid, "who?". Dr. Hand shows no concern and even that worries you, knowing there was little love shown to the creations, and none whatsoever to your favorite. "I was planning to take Brett, the youngest of them."

-He waves a gloved hand and nods, "Of course, pack his things if he hasn't already. Be sure to invest in a lot of sutures and sewing materials as well, you will definitely need it." if you didn't need this formal apprenticeship, you would've killed him with his own reanimating equipment. "Yes sir."

- later, when you have cleaned up, changed, and wrapped up the experiment which once again went as a success, you settle down in your room and continue backing up your personal belongings into extra bags and suitcases for the items you gathered in your time here. A record plays, crackling initially but still pouring out the cadence of the Lungs album from Florence + The Machine as you wander about, clearing your shelves and delicately folding posters and emptying the walls.

- just as you flip over the vinyl to the b side, a knock rattles against your door. When you open it, you didn't expect Brett's tear-stained face to be the first thing you see. Nor did you expect him to rush and hug you, drawing you into his form and holding you close while he buries his head in your shoulder. "Why do you have to leave?"

- You think it's cruel, but it was always going to be a surprise for you to take him with you. The feelings were obvious and only reciprocated a few months ago. Sadly, you couldn't act on them until you got out from under the eyes of Doctor Quentin for Brett's sake and safety. But now that's not a worry, and you leave after breakfast tomorrow morning with the patchwork babydoll of a man before you.

- The sight enough is heartbreaking, especially with the direct feel of his tremors shaking through him, and then through you with the closeness. It takes several attempts to ease his cries and pry him up from your shoulder, stepping back to close the door behind him then flicking the lock shut before you cup his cheek and lift his head upwards. "Brett, sweetheart, how could you think I'd leave without you?" you soothe, thumbs rolling over his cheek and swiping tears away. "I wanted to surprise you but I think you need to hear it now, I'm taking you with me. I was never going to leave without you in the first place."

- Brett blinks blearily, wiping the tears from his multicolored eyes to stare at you openly and dart his gaze between your own eyes. "You're serious?" he asks, still buried in disbelief, "why would you want to take me, you barely even like me." Brett's met with laughter, not caustic or harsh and at his expense like what he's used to, yours is lighthearted and kind, just like your eyes. "Sweetheart, I care for you a great deal beyond just liking you." you say, taking his hands in yours, the ones you've constantly tended to like the rest of him.

- "What does that mean?" Brett asks, squeezing your hands tight and finding it impossible to look anywhere in the room besides your face. "It means I love you, silly thing, and I refuse to let you stay here any longer when you deserve the world. Let me show it to you." His tears reappear again but its relief, the feeling that swarms his body and makes him feel shrouded in Moonglow. You care for him, you love him, that his years of pining after you and hoping, praying for a miracle were worth it. You loved him, your silly ragdoll.

- "Say it again." he says, his hands moving from yours to your waist, brushing the bare skin where your shirt has ridden up with ease, aching to feel more of your warm skin in his palms. "I love you Brett." you murmur, forehead pressed to his as you press your palms to his chest, fingertips tracing the material of his henley while humming in a pleased tone once his hands begin to wander.

- "One more time." he whispers as he leans forward to catch your lips with his, admiring how your eyes flutter shut when he does. You kiss, lips shifting back and forth as you murmur how you loved him into his open mouth like a secret, and he'd cherish and protect it as such. Brett pulls back, palms cupping your warm cheeks just as you had previously with tender grace and you spot his tears have ended.

- "I will never let you down," he promises, smile bright and crooked, perfectly him and equally as charming, "I swear, you'll never regret this, never." and you know its the truth, not because he says it but because you've known for ages that there was no one else you'd care for this much. As if he was made solely for you, perfectly patchworked together.

- In an act of bravery or stupidity, you grab his hand and step backward towards your still-made bed, peering up at him from lidded eyes. "I know that, but how about you show me just how much you love me right here, hm?" you tease, loving how his mouth fell agape and his arms fled to your waist again, eagerness steeped into his actions like tea. "Can I?" brett asks, always the soft, chivalrous, perfect man. "Absolutely." you respond, already ushering out of the shirt and baring your chest to his hungry, heterochromial eyes.

- he spares no time in crowding you against the bed, climbing atop your languid form and pressing doting kisses at your lips then making his way down to your neck, eagerly leaving hickeys and marks while he undoes your belt and shucks your pants down. He bares your underwear to him and leaves you to kick off your socks with your pants, making a pile on your rug you don't mind at all. "Can I taste you?" he practically pleads, lifting up to stare down at you, beating you to the question you were just about to ask him, making you laugh once more, still that lighthearted sweet sound. "Maybe later, and then ill be able to suck you off. Right now I just want you in me, Brett. That okay?"

- he's torn between crying, busting a load in his jeans, or both. Brett just nods, lip tugged between his teeth and moving with all the enthusiasm of a hyperactive puppy, kneeling on the floor to help you slide off your underwear and nearly drooling the second he spots your bare cunt. He's running on more basic, bare instincts but wants nothing more than to flood your cunt with his cum and keep it there, keep himself there as long as he can. Never wants to leave you, and he never wants the marks and signs of him on you to fade either.

- "are you-" "yes I'm sure Brett, now can you please take your clothes off so I can ride you?" he nearly trips over himself in the process of standing and yanking off his shirt, which he does in that hot lift it from the back of the neck and tug it forward trademark style that has a new layer of slick pool forth. His jeans are mid-rise but are slung low, boxers peaking out briefly before he abandons those too, revealing one appendage you never had to mend. You're a bit glad, you ended up with a surprise too tonight, who would've thought?

- Brett returns, not knowing where to sit or lay until you shove him back to sit against the pillows upright, allowing you to sit on his lap and lay your arms over his shoulders while hovering, teasing before you to be gifted this man's virginity just like you were given his heart and soul. "You sure, baby?" you murmur, knees outside of his own and pressed chest to chest, "I can wait however long you need to." Brett grins, playful and teasing in his own way, and nips at your lip. "I'm okay, m'good, cant wait t'see what it feels like to be buried in you, probably even warmer than you feel right now." He emphasizes with a large and running up your bare spine, sending you arching and your knees threatening to buckle. You sometimes forget how big he is, and with the hefty dick bobbing near his stomach, you're not sure how you could have ever forgotten.

- "Take me then, babydoll" and he does, large hands encompassing your hips as he guides you to sit on his dick, slowly letting it enter and let you get accustomed, "there you go, nice and - fucking tight" Brett murmurs, voice deeper and getting you more riled up than you know what to do with. You had seen him bare plenty of times, but never fully, and the experience was doing you wonders right now as you rested for a moment and let him breathe before you started bouncing on him and making him cum way earlier than you know he'd like. You'd enjoy it anyway.

- He whines after a few moments, his hips shifting and making you both groan, his head falling back into the pillows and his fair falling into disarray, strands of auburn and reddish brown falling into his forehead. "Please, just fuck me, have me I just need you." Brett whines into your neck again, no tears this time as his arms wrap tautly around your form, allowing you to feel divinely sculpted muscles hold you tight and made your walls clench, relishing in his squeaking moan. You'd break him. good thing you know how to put him back together. "Easy baby, I've got you." you murmur, smoothing back his hair before you lower to your haunches and lift your hips, slamming back down and sending him yelling your name while biting his teeth into your shoulder.

- Oh yes, you were absolutely going to break him.

- You fuck yourself on him, feeling his hands grip and drag across your body as you use him, rolling your hips in shapes, occasionally spelling his name out through your gyrations and smiling to yourself as you watch him fall further and further into a mess, hair mussed, mouth agape and eyes tight shut. The skin of his lip is nearly broken open from how much he's bitten and tugged on it, puffy and reddened on his flushed and freckled face. Brett rises and clings back onto you, suddenly shifting his hips and fucking up into you, letting you hear louder slaps of skin against skin while he manhandles you. "M'gonna' cum, gotta' cum can I please cum — I wanna cum so bad, please." he begs, planting kisses at your collarbone and pulse sporadically between broken moans and pants.

- You never expected the reaction nor your own, unable to fight the feeling emanating from your soaked and silken cunt as he fucks up into it, stretching you wide in a way you'll never be tired of. "You can cum, go on and fill me, Brett, wanna' feel you for days. Please Brett, make me feel good." your boy delivers, jackhammering into you and making you cry out, tugging at his hair while his hands plant themselves at your waist in order to maneuver you around, biting deep at your shoulder when he cums with a broken, shattered shout of your name.

- The way his hips stutter in that frantic pattern, battering your cunt that has you squirming and grinding, you cum rapidly and heavily, whiting out and feeling your surroundings blur to nothing as you repeat his name over and over, clawing down his back as he slows and finally stops, holding you impossibly close. You take longer than he does recover and return to the world, head lolled back and breathing heavy, allowing brett to lay the two of you down and upon the pillows, wrestling the comfort and sheets over your sweat-slicked body and his.

- He always wanted to be a part of your life, and now, years later, he can't stop smiling and hasn't stopped since. Your silly, smiling ragdoll of a husband.

Andre Lee: W E R E WO L F

• song: Howlin’ for You - The Black Keys

- Andre was superficially open, not talking of more intimate aspects of his life but being carelessly free with the rest, and the personal factoids and tidbits emerge in passing comments in conversation send your brain whirling.

- he’s never answered any of your questions as to why he avoids full moons or why he’s unreachable during some times of the month, closest you’ve gotten was Myc cracking a joke about menstruation but you know damn well from a fuck ton of personal experience that he’s absolutely packing heat.

- he’d been sick the past few days, not fully present in meetings and a bit light headed. It got shrugged off as side effects from any number of drugs but you knew better. The disregard and dismissals that came from him when you showed concern were what made that worry and concern grow, manifesting and sprawling into a thorny expanse of knots tugging at your conscious, fixated on helping him.

- so you stand before an older home, 1920’s brick masonry hidden behind modern day paint, sidled beside the other brownstones on the block and fish out your key on the chain he gifted you, a little cartoonish duck smiling brightly while flipping you off, and turn the series of locks in the door while balancing some takeout on the other side.

- after several moments, you make it inside and lock back up, setting your keys alongside Andre’s in the bowl near the door and spotting the matching fuck duck keychain and smiling before making your way through the house, easily navigating through the darkness and making it to the kitchen to drop off some takeout for the egg drop soup he always ordered when sick. “Andre?” You get no response, the house quiet and your brows furrow while your lips purse, that worry unfolding again, “sugar? Where are you?” You get no response and your words echo in the house

- you get no response but you hear a groan, muffled and heady, soft and barely heard. But it’s his, and you drop everything in your hands upon the counter and follow the sound, brain a slurry of what ifs and remembering his medical history should you need it. By the time you make it back further in the house and to his bedroom, the doors locked shut. Real shut. You knock harshly and call to him, voice a bit desperate “Andre honey, you okay?”

- “go away.” It’s him, but not, deeper and meaner that the Andre you’re used to. It’s not a deterrent. “Not if you’re not okay, let me in.” You try the doorknob again and he shouts out “it’s not safe for you right now, go away.” He says more but you don’t hear it through the door. “What do you mean it’s not safe, Andre let me in.” you cry back, banging the side of a fist against the door, beating it loudly trying to persuade him to let you in. Probably not the most convincing manner.

- “GO! You’re not supposed to be here, m’gonna hurt you.” confusion could not even begin to explain what was going through your head, throat taut with fear, “Andre, I could give a fuck, I’m not leaving you like this.” He’s pleading in a sad rage, like a storm with no lightning, all thunder, “I don’t want t’hurt you, please, please just go.” You refuse, and say the same before you break the lock on the door then try and come in, not getting through until you back up and ram a shoulder into it once, twice, finally busting it on the third impact.

- he had warned you for good reason, and the yellow eyes that meet your gaze from a huddled, shadowed corner solidify that. “Should’ve run.” comes murky from him, his mouth moving oddly and you realize with horror he’s not in his regular body. It’s a larger, hulking form of shaggy fur in muted brown and chestnut hues, dusted with black and grey into a slurry of fur. A fucking wolfman was not on your list. “Werewolf?”

- “Yeah.”

- “Considering our jobs — this isn’t all too horrifying.” He bares his teeth, canines glinting, “I take that back — somewhat.” Andre chuckles, darker but remains curled in on himself in the corner of the room, staying far away from you. “Why am I not supposed to be here sugar?” You ask softly, stepping hesitantly further into the room and eyeing him warily, unsure about the entirety of this situation and wishing Elliot fucking Mothman had better-prepped staff for other forms of cryptids.

- “‘cause I’ll fuck y’ and I won’t stop.” He growls out, nails digging into knees bare of clothing and covered in fur, “not safe f’you, I could hurt you.” He doesn’t meet your eyes this time, eyes turned away and trying to shrink as far as possible into the corner, wanting to keep you at bay before his senses and instincts took over and took you. Andre doesn’t see you, but he feels you in the room. The way you smell and he puffs of breath, the thud of your heart.

- so he immediately clocks the second your pulse races at his words and how your heart flutters, along with your cunt. Andres eyes snap back to you just in time to see a shy but sensual smile on your lips. “What if I want you to hurt me?” Is what he hears from your lips, and he forces himself to sit still, ignore the erection against his thigh and the urge to fuck you until your womb got stuffed to the brim and he got you knocked up. “You better mean that.”

- “oh,” you strip yourself of your shirt and other clothes swiftly, like a subtle strip tease but far smoother and graceful than anticipated, “I mean it. Show me how much you love me sugar, I can take it.” You walk over to the bed on the other side of the room, curling up against the pillows and grin, spreading your legs and exposing the entirety of yourself, eager to mark off this box on your sexlist checklist. “Fucking better.” Is what Andre responds with, rising slowly and missing the tall ceiling by merely a foot, taking his gangly form towards the bed and closing his eyes, sniffing visibly and having his body falter, your scent encompassing any logic he had left.

- “look at that,” he chitters, teeth making his grin a bit more daunting, “already spread for me. Cute. Now turn around.” Andre orders, lurking before the bed as you shift, resting on your folded forearms and raising your ass in the air. “Good,” he praises, a hand grazing your arched waist while he settles behind you, “couldn’t follow orders earlier, but that’s just because you were worried, hm? Going to be good f’me now. I know it.” Andre settles himself on his knees behind you, arms planted on either side of your torso and he leans atop you, breath fanning your ear as he teases you, makes the eager nerves alight as goosebumps trail across your bare, vulnerable form.

- “gonna’ let me fuck you? Let me bury my cock in your pretty cunt over and over until there’s nothing left in you but me?” He muses, erection tapping at your ass and feeling much heavier than what you’re used to. You hum, trusting him to take care of you and fuck you right. “Mhm, let you stuff me like a fuckin’ brood mare, now please, c’mon and fuck me Andre.” He swats your ass with his hand, watching the fat of it jiggle and your waist bend high, “don’t have to tell me twice.”

- You bite back a few comments the second he brushes his flared, sloped cockhead into the opening of your cunt, the tip alone bringing a stretch of pain. Burying your head in the pillows around your forearms, you mewl and whimper aloud tossing both your head and your ass back. Andre’s one hand is beside your torso to plant himself while the other is on your hip, guiding your hips back towards him so he can slowly enter and sink his cock into you. "Atta' babe" he croons, breath fanning across your back in a way that makes your spine tingle.

- He lets out a whine that huffs hot air across your spine, sinking in his cock as much as your cunt can fit, several inches still untended to between where the two of you meet. His balls brush your clit when he bottoms out, and he stills, Andre's restless lungs beating his chest into your back and you can feel him through and through. "Fuck, tight little cunt, gonna' fucking break it." Andre groans low and heady as he begins to rock back and forth, in a humping motion that sends his balls smacking into your clit with little pats, making you grateful a hand now plays underside and holds your belly while the other holds him up, your body on the precipice of collapse with the angle, the feeling, all of it.

- "fucking stuff me," you blurt, pathetically trying to rock your hips back into his and you cry out each time, bulbous cockhead nudging your cervix with each shift, feeling him in your guts, "breed me full, knock me up." These were words you had used previously during sex with him, the concept not being new, only to the situation at hand. With Andre being fueled by rampant urges and instincts, barely holding on, your words were like an on-switch that sends him immediately pressing you into the bed and snapping his hips roughly, snarling. into the skin of your neck like he's on a mission, and in a way, he is. Meant to mate.

- "ah, oh fuck, Andre." you keep crying out his name between crying out incoherencies, encompassed by the way he absolutely fucked the breath from your lungs, knocking everything out of you and then drawing it back in just as he slots in, and out of your drenched, dripping cunt, slick now sprawling from his dick and balls, your thighs, to the torn and tossed sheets beneath. There's a fleeting, barely conscious thought of now knowing why sex was called the beast with two backs, the words of Othello never even a full thought as you get plowed from behind.

- oh yeah, you were never going to leave him to deal with a full moon alone, not if this is what your good deeds and diligence get you - being bent over like a broodmare and fucked like it's a need to survive, to breathe. You are livin' good.

- "taking me so damn well, gonna' pump you full, fill you over and over until others no space inside that I haven't covered." he rambles, hurried and frenzied and deep in pitch, snapping his hips rapidly as the sound of skin slapping melts into a blur with the heavy pants and breaths, the snarls and moans and groans the two of you let out, animalistic and primal, fucking elite and top tier in your honest, raw-dogged opinion. "Gonna' give you a child, claim this fucking pussy, all of it, s'all mine."

- You groan out, burying your head in your forearms and feeling his weight atop you, the way he keeps bullying his giant dick into you and fucking you apart, working you like dough in the way he works you over. "Like that? Like me marking you up, being Andre's breeding bitch?" he snarls, sounding so potent in your ear where his head hovers, splayed across your back while his hips do the work.

-"Just feel that," he murmurs, hand pressing into the fat of your belly to press against where he thrusts into you, making you squeal into the pillows as he shows off, his demeanor so contrasting than how he usually is, even in a raging fuck, "gonna' fill you to the brim, baby, already stretching you wide. Belly full of me."

- "God, please — fuck," you're babbling, fucked out and quote literally drooling upon your forearms and the pillows holding your head up, as backing into his thrusts and mewling with the brush of his balls against your clit, everything wet and sloppy, "wanna' be bred, wanna' be yours — I wanna' be yours." Andre lets out snarling laughs, darker than abyssal skies, into your shoulder blades which he litters with nips and bites of sharp teeth, little pinpricks adding to the utter euphoria of getting absolutely pounded.

- "gonna cum, arent'ya?" he drawls, leaning to huff through his nose near your ear and you smell him, sex and musk and earthy amber, you wanna drown in it. "Go on, soak this cock so I can fuck you stupid." It takes a few thrusts later, but you do and you absolutely blackout, the world turning into a white canvas that slowly lifts as you feel Andre fucking into you, pace hurried and faltering as he babbles rapidly, stitching together curses and praise like an ornamental garland.

- Cum is absolutely pouring at that point, rivulets stuck in smears across your ass and thighs, drenching his balls and making them smack wetly against the mouth of your cunt. He's come already at least twice by the load of it and is working on a third orgasm that makes your ass ripple with the force behind his thrusts. "All mine, no one gets to see this, have this, my pretty mate." he's talking to just himself at this point, assuring insecurities while nearly fucking you through the mattress, hell it's a miracle the bedframe hasn't broken. Or the wall.

- You whimper and moan weakly, just taking it at this point because all you feel in your bones is the warmth of orgasmic bliss, full lethargy and no intent to move, feeling so sated and tender than you could simply pass away with a beaming, I just had sex grin that would out do anyone else's, besides Andre's. What plucks the strings of reality a bit is a moment his teeth latch onto your shoulder, marking rows of teeth into a bite marking you as his. He fucks you through it, coming with a shout of your name that is more of a gravelly howl than anything, cum literally flooding your cunt and dripping down everywhere, making a mess of everything.

- Andre's near whimpering, fucking into you weakly while his erection softens inside you, laying on top of your form before wrapping his arms around and having you both shift onto your sides, him spooning your considerably smaller form in his considerably sized state, completely enveloping you in his hold, warmth, and love, soothing your fucked-out and pumped-full state onto the precipice of slumber.

- "M'love you." he mutters into your neck, nuzzling against your pulse as his arms coil around your belly, ensuring you stay in his arms and snug around his dick, "love you too." is what you reply, sounding not like your own voice in the exhausted, airy lilt. It's the last thing you remember before being woken up in the morning to an apologetic and scruffy Andre, back to normal with a plate of breakfast in hand.

- "Andre, honey, we are definitely going to be doing that again."

Robotus Alpha-Beta: D E M O N

• songs: Devil’s Advocate - The Neighborhood or Have A Cigar - Pink Floyd

• fanart: by @olexxx right here

- you’re desperate, and tired of calling after things in the light and day that don’t answer. You now call out for and beg for something from the night, standing in the crossroads with a box of offerings in your hands and a plea so heavy on your tongue it weighs you down like an anchor to a boat, dividing the seas currents in cleaverlike strokes. Crying out into the night, screaming for an answer, yelling out that you’ve done the right things brought the right stuff, made the right calls, you’re frustrated and distressed in the middle of this night, clad in clothing that the wind whips around your form, slinky against your chest and thighs. You’re a vision of desperation in this witching hour, and who would he be to deny your broken-hearted, bargaining pleas?

- “mighty pathetic looking, aren’t you, pretty thing.” He strolls out from the tree line, hands in his pockets of the seersucker suit he wears, hiding his eyes in the shadows while he meanders his way over dirt path and dandelions, plants dying in the markers where his footprints lay. “Pray tell, what brings you to my spacious lay of the woods?” He drones, and you’re too consumed in your own ordeals to fully analyze his appearance and demeanor, ready to bargain and barter down to the bones should it go that far.

- “I just wanna’ deal. That’s all.” You start, laying the tin box down on the ground between the two of you where you stand in the clay dirt and ash of the crossroad, pitch black sans the one flickering, sad looking streetlamp. “What will you take for sparing someone’s life?” Is what comes from your lips next, and he’s almost surprised at the dedication you show in selflessness, musing to himself in the ongoing internal dialogue that you should get one of those flimsy gold stars.

- “Depends on a lot my dear,” the demon drawls, hands gesturing in a manner that reminds you of evangelical television preachers or cable game show hosts, “who am I curing and what ails your beloved patient?” He picks the dirt from his fingernails and you wish you pry out the nails from that tin box you got from a coffin, and force them one by one into his skull for his nonchalance, his disinterest in a deal that meant more than the world to you.

- “my friend, she’s sick. Cancer. I want her cured and for her to live a healthy life and die naturally of old age. What will you accept in exchange?” You’re direct, straight and to the point, shoulders squared and eyes flint and steel, fire flickering in the shards of your irises. Refusing to let him abuse a loophole, you’ve stressed every requirement and plan — ramming the nails in straight. “Straight to the point, I like that.” He drawls, crooked grin smarmy and slimy in the snake oil style, making you envision car dealerships and the price is right but shrouded in brimstone and fire. “The question isn’t what I’ll ask of you, but what you’re willing to offer, dear.”

- he claps his hands together, a MontBlanc pen appearing in his hand and a weathered paper, looking older than your entire bloodline in the way it looks like if the wind blew a fraction harsher, it’d disintegrate. “Alright pet, lay your offers on the table and I’ll see what I’ll accept — but remember,” the demon before you with sky blue eyes pauses, looking like a walking business advert with his suit and tie, shiny cufflinks and a glittering Patek Philippe watch, “no promises.”

- you bite back the myriad of things you’d like to say to this bastard in human flesh-trimmings, but you need your friend more than anything. She’s your world. You’d give your own up for her, and you plan to do exactly that. “My entire self —“ he raises his brows, lips splitting into an amused grin and attempts to interrupt, but you wave a hand and fix him a look, the don’t fuck with me while I’m talking stare, “for part of the week, for the rest of my natural, long and healthy life. You’ll get Tuesday through Thursday, and I will be free to do what I wish the remainder of the week, every week. Sans holidays which I get to myself.”

- he’s still smiling as if it’s within the job application but looks about as pained as if he’s suddenly contracted a bout of irritable bowel syndrome. “And you’re completely mine the entirety of those three days, the full 72 hours?” You nod, face as polished as stone, equally as cold and ungiving. Hes never encountered a wayward soul like yours. Intrigue mars his mind more that he’d care to admit, but it makes the results of bartering so much better. “We have a deal then.”

- he scrawls in loopy old fashioned cursive, slanted and sloped in a manner that reminds you of history class, and fills in the blanks of his document signing your life away to him. He flattens the paper, then signs it himself and hands it to you to sign as well. You spot the larger A and B initials, shortened to AB, but can’t make out the last name, only the large R and the mussed squiggles behind it. Doctorish scrawl, hasty and impatient.

- you sign your signature and life away, not regretting it the instant you get a series of texts from your friend, her energy and liveliness returning in an instant. You pocket your phone then get dragged forward by the elbows, calloused fingertips and softened palms cup your cheeks before drawing you into a fleeting kiss. He pulls away and before you can act, he vanishes in a cloud of ash and dust, the contract within your grip and an emptied tin box at your feet. A kiss to seal the deal.

- you don’t see him until the next week, spending your time with your loved ones and with your best friend, cherishing and relishing in how she’s safe and healthy again and she would always be. The chime of reality rings twelve times, the man appearing in a click of loafers against the tile floors outside your apartment and wraps of his knuckles against the front door, coming to collect you. You’re alone and have been, making sure to be in the comfort of solitude once your first day as a demon’s bitch begins. AB opens the door and strolls in, hands in the pockets of some pinstripe slacks and a chain dangling from near his hand to a slim pocket on his suit vest, thin white stripes against navy fabric making his already tall form elongate.

- the demon struts in with the casual air of devil-may-care, eyes like a cats in how they’re languid but attentive, drawing everything in and sitting until something interesting pulls his direct attention forth. “Quite a home you’ve got here, just you?” AB muses, sauntering with the air of a spoiled house cat. “Yes, just me, now can we get on with whatever you have entailed for my next 72 hours, the suspense Y’know, got me absolutely hooked.” You respond, end of your sentence dripping in sarcasm like a freshly immersed pen nib into an inkwell and equally as dark.

- “impatient too, aren’t you just a bag of tricks,” he muses, lulling and faux cadence in a demon's silver tongue taste, “all in due time. Best to wait and see you squirm.” AB stands before a bookcase, fingertips tapping along spines of books then dusting over a picture frame with your friend, weary Polaroids paling in comparison to this snapshot of her and you several years ago, faces lit in the warmth of lanterns in summer sunset. He holds it longer than he’d deem appropriate, and he doesn’t seem to care or know why.

- “are you always this articulate or does it come with the Armani suit?” You snap, knee bouncing as you sit on the couch, lips chapped from how frequently you’ve gnawed on them in your nervous state, wanting to lose your sanity but unfortunately finding yourself incredibly lucid and stable. Against all odds. “Naturally, pretty thing, some creatures possess decorum and manners — I see you speak from inexperience.” He teases, setting the frame down and wiping his hands on his slacks, adjusting the cufflinks that glitter with initials laid in obsidian and platinum.

- He continues speaking, giving you no opening once more to speak or further deride the demon before you, meandering about your home as if he was not just showing the place, but was trying to sell it as a realtor and making the process as painfully personal as possible. "Do you have a tendency to get squeamish or easily frightened?" "I doubt it, due to how there's a demon I'm casually conversing with, so I'm going to have to say no."

- He chuckles darkly, and you see a glimmer in those glacier eyes of something far colder, and you mark it down for later. "Clever, but such a costly trait. Mind your tongue." You sit and take it in stride, having been braced for an overgrown petulant toddler playing around in daddy's suits. "Since you're being so patient," he mocks, he rolls his sleeves to the forearms after shucking off his jacket and snapping it away in a move that makes you think of hammerspace, "we'll get started. You are to shadow me as I go about dealing. Mind your tongue, presence, and entire demeanor. You are here to help me, gain insight on a modern human mind and soul, not to aid anyone but me due to how I control something far greater than your own life."

- He doesn't hesitate to gut you in the way you've been hung out to dry, hollowed like a side of beef swinging from a hook in a walk-in freezer, dripping onto a frozen floor in tandem with your bravado slipping. AB glances over your expression and smiles, childish and juvenile in a charming, redeemable fratboy sort of way. "Alrighty, now let's get you started."

- and with a snap of his fingers, the two of you began the first day of deals. It flew by, as they all would, you watching from the sidelines or removed from sight to watch as a deal went down. You could clock the bastards who were overly cocky, thinking they could outsmart someone so much older than them it was like the universe looking upon Earth's moon. Planet to sand grains. Pathetic - no match.

- the souls would fade one by one and you would spend your hours prior to the deal observing them from the outskirts in strangers behaviors, deception now a part of your ensemble in equal to your rings or shirt. "Did you observe me before we struck my deal?" you had asked later on in the duration of your servitude, roughly a year into your partial work weeks under the eye and lens of the demon. He laughed, a chiding yet lilting sound that resembled when storm clouds rumbled when the sun still shone, "Oh absolutely I did, my dear, quite entertaining and almost heartwrenching the way you went about your plans. Absolutely precious."

- AB speaks over his cocktail, Pappy Van Winkle bourbon dark and syrupy in the basin of his Waterford crystal glass, sliding about the thick ice cube like molasses, "I will say you have been the most entertaining of my companions in a long time." The way he says it lingers and you assume it's longer than you could perceive, centuries being seconds to the being beside you. It is a fleeting moment of wistfulness before he clocks his newest wayward soul and stalks forward, running a hand through his hair and barely messing his strands up, the greying streaks in his auburn hair falling upon his forehead like a staged motion, queued up to go for a movie scene.

- You tried not to watch more than you needed to when having to help him with his deals, but this time in the low light of a seedy corner alley bar, he glittered like the cufflinks he always wore. Dark obsidian and platinum, simple yet something so potent about it resembled him. If you hadn't sold your life away to the entity, he'd resemble a side character from American Psycho, far too charming to make it into the main role. It was harder to hate him than how he looked, the manner in which you dealt your days away gave you your friend back and a more stable life, albeit the hellish tasks.

- You didn't quite care for how much you cared for him, why you get enamored with him and all that he encompassed. It was disastrous and bordering a Stockholm syndrome, or at least that's what you told yourself when indulging in ice cream and childhood movies. What worsened your situation was an event that occurred in your off hours, out with friends and enjoying yourself in a night of freedom and levity. It went wrong, as you assumed it could, but had not expected the situation to unfold as it had nor the end result to your night.

- "I still don't understand, you crushing on your boss? Understandable, not doing shit about it, perplexes the fuck outta' me." Rory, a friend from high school mentions and brought a series of laughs from your booth at the club. "It's improper-" You're suddenly cut off. "Since when did you ever give a shit about proper?" another friend chimes in, and you sigh before downing the remnants of the drink before you. You get up, go to the bar to get a drink and avoid the terrible topic along with trying to escape the environment altogether. It's not your scene, too loud and overwhelming. It gets even worse after the initial sips of your drink when the world turns hazy and you don't know where you're going, nor whos leading you away.

- "Move them this way, out of the light - there, I told you no one was going to find us here." one of the two figures surrounding your hazy, barely conscious form voices, the other laughing along as they work at your shirt before a dark laugh comes from the opening of the alley, and a glint of polished silver meets the glare of a streetlamp. Its something out of a noir film but you're relieved when you hear his voice, trying to sit up and failing. His name falls from your lips, faint and sad sounding, and his glacier eyes melt away into a darkness never seen before even in the furthest of depths within the oceans.

- It takes no time for him to dispatch the two who had drugged you, the rage pouring off of him in waves you can almost see, even in your bleary state. It's as if someone coated your brain in a fog and dipped it in some liquid nitrogen. "Oh, pretty thing, what have they done to you." is what he says when he crouches near your form, bloodstained but almost holy, a savior without wings. You try and answer but he shushes you, lifting you into his arms securely with the strength beneath his tall, barrel-chested form. The two of you dissipate from the alley and leave behind blood trails no one will find, bodies gone as well to languish on hooks in rings of hellfire AB will personally see to.

- The next thing you recall after being saved up in his arms is waking in a bed far too luxurious to be your own, and enveloped in silky sheets and even silkier pajamas, deep navy blue wrapped around your form so comfortably you just snuggle back into the pillows before you fully wake to reality with a start, remembering what almost happened and sitting up, flying out of bed and wandering out to figure out where the fuck you were.

- "there you are, dear, feeling okay?" is what greats you, AB sitting at a couch reading from a book that once again looks more ancient than your entire bloodline, genuine concern feeding into his expression and making you blink, sleep still laden in your heavy eyelids begging you to go back to sleep. "You saved me." he shrugs off your comment, rising to meet your form in the doorway and taking you by the shoulders, trying to turn you around back into the bed you left. "Go on to bed, I'll bring you something-" he fixes you a look, "its an order, go rest. Your loved ones know you're safe and sound. Now, bed."

- You fall back asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow, and the next time you wake there's a change of clothes on a chair near the bed, a plate of food on the nightstand, and a pitcher of water with clean glasses readily available. In no rush, you take your time eating and then getting ready before padding barefoot out into the home you find yourself in, spotting AB finally in a kitchen you'd drool over in an issue of Architectural Digest. "There you are, rested?" you nod, cupping your glass of water in your hands and seating yourself down at a barstool beside the kitchen island, glancing around at the sprawling chef's kitchen, "they've been taken care of." AB trails off, in a casual button-down and slacks, leaning against the countertop with his arms crossed over his chest, taking a second before he looks over at you with steely, ice eyes.

- "No harm will ever come to you." your brows furrow at that, wondering why he would care so much about a person he literally owns. You voice it out loud and he guffaws, looking at you incredulously as if the answer was always there, and in a way, it had been. "Dear, you're mine. Contract bound and now, by design. No one ever lays a hand on you let alone exists a second afterwards." The glass in your hand is set down and you lean back in your chair, staring at him and wondering if the entirety of the past months of partnership you were not the lone one pining. He validates it when he approaches and falters, warming once you breach the gap and take his hand into your smaller one.

- You finally break, grasping for him and hugging him close as his bulkier form bends to hold you, knees bent in order to acclimate to your seated position. He rubs your back as you shudder and shake, warm broad hands soothing you down and facing you until he kneels and looks up at you. "I promise you, you're safe." and you want to say you believe him, but you still don't feel it, just take his hand off your knee and imbed it into your heart so he can feel how it beats, how the fear creeps into your lungs like an infection. there's no need, for he cups your cheek and tilts your chin to meet his gaze. Then it's over.

- the waiting ends, and he kisses you, tender and delicate and something so utterly unlike him that it takes you aback, almost slack-jawed for a millisecond before you realize it's him kissing you and you relish in it, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him closer until he's caged you in, safe from harm. He groans, and you part your legs at the sound, letting him fully press against you in the chair and wrap around you. "My pretty thing." AB groans against your lips, and you whimper at the sound of it so broken on his tongue, so different than the calculated and meticulous tone he took.

- "Prove it" is what flies from your lips as you bite his, feeling him grin darkly against your mouth as he lifts you into his, different from the bridal carry form the other night with how he hefts a handful of your ass into his palms while your legs wrap around his waist while he carries you into the other room. "Gladly." is whispered once he deposits you into a lavish dark bed, his own, and strips himself of his shirt and bares a chest scattered in auburn hair matching in grey streaks like his head, making you wonder about what lies lower.

- He doesn't make you wait long, and he strips himself of his boxers and pants, planting himself above you and grinning at how you observe his body and movements, letting you gasp in surprise once he lets a shudder roll through and some red markings reveal themselves, cuffs and bands of red marks paired with inscriptions of languages so old they outdated writing itself. You trace a few as he undresses you, mouth over them lavishly and kiss them tenderly, trying to show and give all the love you can to make up for what he's missed.

- "Never going to let anyone touch you," he murmurs, breathless against your skin as if he's the one rendered weak before you, "only mine, m'all yours. Gonna' keep you safe and sound." AB's wrecked already and he's hardly touched you let alone himself, the evidence leaking and resting heavily upon your now bare thigh. You feel not just safe and content, but powerful and hungry, greedy for what lies within arms reach. You get granted a freedom in his presence finally, and you take every step in stride.

- "All mine," purrs your voice in his ear, tugging on auburn locks and feeling your body thrum like musical cords when he groans low and deep, reverberating from a barrel chest that covers your form, "going to make me feel good? Treat me right, make a mess of me? Show me just how much you actually care and that I'll always be yours? Go ahead, AB, give me your all."

- "All?" he growls darkly against the column of your throat, nearly snarling if it wasn't for the pleased smirk present with teeth with slight points, "oh dearest, ask for more, don't you know I'd give you everything?" he murmurs low stripping you fully bare and letting rough and calloused palms from another lifetime's work wander your body, mapping out your skin like a cartographer. At that moment the words were euphoric enough, but his hips grinding against yours until he slotted against your weeping cunt was the emphasis to your already wavering body, the final blow to your grip on reality. Oh, what a plunge it was.

- AB rocks against you, forehead knelt down against your collarbone in a piousness akin to prayer and nudges his swollen cock against your cunt, hips grinding once, twice, before he slides into you and fills you. It's a stretch that makes you cry out, nails embedded in his skin near his markings as you whimper and cry out his name. Your chest squirms and your hips remain stilled, his broad hands encompassing your hips as he does so. With his head against your shoulder, he gets to see himself disappear into your slick-soaked pussy, and the sight is too moving for his eyes to handle. Thumbs bruise your hipbones while he stills then asks you questions he repeats several times before you process them, already hazy and fucked out and he hadn't even actually fucked you yet.

- "May I move?" your body reacted before you could even form a response, legs shifting so you can take him in deeper and fuck up back onto him, nearly squealing out as you feel him absolutely stuff your cunt, walls clenching and sending the both of you into a hurried frenzy. "There's your answer." you bite, literally and figuratively as your teeth sink into his ear. His hips stutter and you smirk, so proud of yourself before locking your legs and rolling him beneath you, still seated on his cock but now residing on top, beaming down at him with your hands planted on his marked, hair-covered chest.

- You don't even warn him before you slam your hips down, relishing in how he jolts and buckles, eyes shutting then opening back up, so torn between the feel of you and how you look, an angel of his own making seated above him and using him like a throne, getting yourself off and being nothing short of resplendent. AB thrusts his hips up to meet your grinds and ministrations, one hand splayed across your ribcage while the other snakes down to rub at your clit, beaming with pride when he feels you shudder and falter.

- "You're so pretty." comes broken from the demon beneath you, reduced to merely a man with the way you use him, treat him, love him and fuck him all at once, centuries worth of longing packed away emerging forth into glacier eyes now as warm as spring skies, and the look he gives you sends you over the edge as a crushing blow. He catches you, sitting up and wrapping his arms around you as the orgasmic, earth-shattering waves take you under. He anchors you, falteringly weak thrusts getting him to where you are in seconds, cumming and stuffing you full with a cracking groan against your heated flesh.

- He holds you, sitting upright with his arms wound around your torso and holding tight, hands splayed across your back and side as your head nestles into the crook of his, nose at his pulse and smelling hints of rosemary and bergamot and ash, and you burrow closer, wanting to sink into him like bed, he's more comforting than down comforters and pillows anyhow. It takes a while before the witness behind your eyes fades, his humming being what plucks you forth from an orgasmic abyss and you smile against his skin, soaking up the silence and him breaking it.

- "About that contract-" you joke, and AB laughs breathlessly before turning to you with a devious smirk, hands wandering and eliciting a squeaking moan from your lips, "I think I'd be open to renogiation." he murmurs, breath fanning across your mouth before your lips meet his and he hums, licking into your mouth and staking claim to it just as he had you.

Magic Myc: Z O M B I E

• song: Under My Skin - Jukebox The Ghost

- You'd been there when Myc's dead body got carted in. There were more people making jokes, cruelly grateful for his absence compared to the small group that actually missed him, and mourned him. And you were one of the very few who loved him enough to grieve his loss in such a manner it would even overpower the longing of the moon should it ever lose the sun and stars.

- He wasn't everyone's taste, hell, he was barely your taste. But you still loved him anyway and trying to work, eat, and live without him got harder and harder since he got eradicated from your life as swiftly as one strikes down a cleaver against a cutting board, final, irreversible. Permanent.

- You had thankfully been granted leave, getting enough pitying looks to send you to the comforts of home only to realize that home made it worse. All his things were there, little knickknacks and gag gifts Myc had gathered over the years, polaroids taped to the walls with glimpses of misadventures. One that gutted you the most was a picture of you, Andre, and Myc, the two of you smiling wide while Myc lifted the two of you up for the picture, all flipping off the camera and laughing like hyenas.

- Andre had been a rock of support, the two of you leaning on each other to cope and work through the loss, not knowing how to handle the loss, Andre losing a best friend and you losing a lover. It crushed you, the chasm of grief and depression consuming you whole, entangling your ankles and dragging you down in the depths like being snared in a siren's trap.

- the point where you broke down wholly and entirely, letting out ugly cries with the snot and tear tracks, getting puffy with reddened eyes in the freedom of your home. A formerly shared home is now all yours. The brownstone mocked you, once an inviting and fun space now too bright and whimsical to be fitting for one mourning a lover. A friend. A soulmate.

- in the midst of your breakdown and rattling full-body tremors, you don't hear the back door locks slowly turn one by one, the keys only belonging to one person, long dead. You don't hear something entering your home and locking back up, in the perfectly redundant routine that belonged to an everyday pattern. You don't hear Myc return into your life because you're too busy crying about him leaving it.

- "I leave for five seconds and you've already gone batshit - damn and I thought I had problems" his voice startles you, making you nearly fall off of the couch when you whip your head around to stare at him, eyes wide and mouth agape in disbelief. "You're not real." is the first thing you utter, terrified to move in case the illusion your grief-wracked mind conjured would dissipate and vanish, leaving you alone in your loss and the empty house, pathetic and sad enough to best a wet kitten.

- "You'd think that, but here I am, alive and unwell." Myc responds, sarcasm prominent but still an underlying fond tone only belonging to him comes out. It's rougher, dirtier almost in a backroad gravel kind of way like his vocal cords got tossed through a concrete mixer. "Gonna' say hello or what?" he teases, gesturing with a tendril or two and extending them, wanting a hug from his favorite person. You practically leap over the back of the couch in an effort to reach him, launching yourself into his body and nestling your head on the underside of the mushroom cap, feeling fanning gills brush the top of your head in addition to the bulbous partial veil that glows and humms against your head.

- He still smells like earth and musk, pollen and petals. and weed, and you've never been more relieved to smell the absolutely pungent aroma of weed in your life, laughing while you cry into where his neck would be. "You think I would just ditch you? No way, stuck with me for the rest of your little life, shitheel." Myc mutters, bumping your nose tenderly with a blunt nudge of a tendril, making your nose scrunch and a smile appear on your puffy, crying face.

- "wait, how are you even here?" you ask, leaning your head back enough to look at him in the dim light of your home, shadows cast over his form and hiding the majority of it sans little segments and divots of bioluminescence and ornate patterns. "You died Myc, how in the fuck are you even alive?"

- he doesn't immediately answer, and you step back to pace with a hand running down your face, immediately ranting and getting wrapped up in the concept of Cognito Inc. doing another stupid and silly science project without considering ramifications and wondering just how this will blow up once more when it concerns the love of your life, Myc.

- when he's remained silent, not saying a word in the midst of your rant about Reagan and how she's got to stop playing god, you realize he hasn't said a word and turn to find him standing very still and looking down to his tentacles as if in deep thought. Worrying, consuming, deep thought.

- "I-," he starts, moving to turn in your direction, almost looking past you, or through you, making your anger fade as concern takes over, "I don't know."

- You haven't been this worried in a long, long time. "Honey, what do you mean you don't know?" Your concern multiplies, swarming nervous moths within the cage of a chest you have, fluttering in your ribcage and making your bones itch. "Myc, do you remember getting here?".

- the uncharacteristic silence speaks enough volumes to have filled a home library, making you send a few hurried texts to the gang group chat and ignoring the silly contact names in lieu of finding a solution to this as fast as possible and trying to keep Myc stable. You turn and flick a lamp on, unable to find reason in the darkness, and barely stop the scream that almost fled your throat.

- "I just wanted to see you, I don't know how I got here-" he pauses, unaware of the terror in your eyes and the tears welling along the seams of your lower lids, threatening to overflow with the sight of him, "I just wanted you."

- You wish you were crying for other reasons beyond the sight of him, maybe even some happy tears with how he came to you because he loves you, dragged his undead self all the way to your backdoor to you.

- You cry instead at the state of him, the chunks of flesh and tissue missing, the greenish ghastly hue to his surface, tears and gouges in places where his body's mass would fill. He is dead. undead technically, and in your shared home's living room sounding close to tears himself with how confused he sounds and you're just about to break down at how butchered he looks. He is yours, and he was supposed to be fine always. Why did this happen, and why to your Myc.

- He says your name, and it is so broken it doesn't suit him. Myc's a jovial, mocking asshole that makes you feel loved, even with pet names accompanied by curse words and expletives. You respond to a few more texts and enlist the help of Reagan and ask Andre and him to come immediately. You barely have the energy to continue standing, so you absolutely don't have the strength to deal with this alone.

- You gather him close, sitting the two of you down on the couch and just try and breathe, sit there with each other and pretend things will all be okay and wait in the meantime for Reagan and Andre to appear in order to get some ideas going on what to do or how to go about this entire situation, the others on standby and there for support should you need it. You've never been more thankful for the friends you have.

- "M'not going to leave you." Myc says, determination steady within his now weathered voice, as if it was skinned and tanned like an animal hide in the sun, "I don't wanna' go." Your hands grip him tighter as your fingertips trace over patterns and textures on his surface, humming a note against the light within his partial veil beneath the cap.

- "Nothing could take me from you, and I won't let anything take you from me either." is what you choose to comfort him with, knowing that humor was a strong suit and that comedy wasn't something to include just yet, reality to raw to disinfect with the sting of punchlines.

- Andre and Reagan soon arrive, disbelief covering their features the instant they enter the door and a litany of questions follow with Andre's tears as he and Myc hug, bubbly watery giggles erupting forth from both him and you at the relief. Reagan pokes and prods, then takes notes from what you could tell, and remains as confused as you are.

- after a while and many frustrating moments, the two leave back to their respective lives. Andre promises to come the next day and Reagan plans to run tests bright and early tomorrow. Nevertheless, the night is yours with him and the two of you alone. You try and make the best of it by familiarizing yourself with the way it felt to be enveloped with Myc, to feel those tendrils around your frame holding you close.

- and as with all things with Myc, it turned sexual suddenly and rapidly, making you appreciate his ease in removing you from a current situation with his attention, touch, and care. A gift tethered in mycelial networks and fungi.

- the two of you don't even make it to the bedroom, Myc being so eager to have you in any which way, he fucks you on the floor against the plush living room carpet, letting you know how thankful he is for your precious ass in his life (both literally and figuratively) as he fucks you to delirium.

- next thing you know, you have his voice in your ear while two tendrils splay your bare thighs open, tentacles notched in the crook of your knee and thigh as he pumps the tips of three appendages in and out of you, commenting and praising you for how slick you are and how welcoming your cunt is to him, like a homecoming once your greedy pussy sucks him in like even your spongy inner walls missed him.

- "god you're so fucking wet, all for me right? getting all gushy and messy for me only." his words hit just the right buttons, perched and murmured right beside your ear as he thrums, twisting the tips of his appendages within you and barely showing signs of him being affected. The two little tendrils that have collected droplets of slick tease and prod at your ass, occasionally breaching the tight ring of muscle and allowing Myc the pleasure of hearing that broken, higher pitched cry you moaned out with his name on your tongue, grinding into his ministrations and begging for more.

- "mhmm, all for you Mikey," you moan softly, brokenly, in a way so soft it competes against battered butterfly wings, "all yours, always yours, even m'pussy." He laughs, fucking you harder at that like a reward, groaning happily and letting the waves of pleasure spread rather than him holding back and halting his own enjoyment. Now he can fuck you.

- “damn fucking straight.” He curses, fucking you with earnest while he sits behind you, feeling flush and warm while he feels you tense and clench around him. Then follow suit once he breaches your ass, fucking into you shallowly and slowly there, easing himself in and loving the way your jaw falls slack and your hips seem to have a mind of their own. You prop your feet at an angle and use it to better fuck yourself on the makeshift cock and tendrils of Myc’s appendages, loving how you felt him in both holes and stuffed full, practically gushing around him and soaking the couch cushion beneath the two of you.

- good thing they’re washable.

-“all mine, always gonna’ be mine.” He mutters, movements stuttering as he nears orgasm but tries to hold out, “my baby gonna’ let me stuff them full? Until it leaks, hm?” You nod, voicing a yes against the skin of his closest to you and cry out once his tendrils brush at your cervix as you grind down and thrust back and forth against him.

- “please Myc, wanna’ cum, want your cum, want you to make me feel good.” You drawl in a plead, hands smoothing over him beneath you and sliding up and down his cock, reaching a hand to play with your clit until he smacks it away and replaces it with an appendage and shakily strokes and he gets closer to cumming. He shakes beneath you, Myc shuddering and stuttering once he voices his nearing euphoria.

- he cums, flooding your cunt and having it spill forth, pollock-like flecks of cum splattering your inner thighs and allowing you to slide better and take him in, cumming shortly after with a scream of his name and an orgasm that lasted nearly a solid minute, senses gone and world as white as fresh snowfall.

- there’s silence for a moment, your back resting against his front, tendrils not still inside you caressing and tending to your sweaty, tired body. “Hey, hon?” He draws you out of your reverie to turn to look at him, “pretty good for a dead man.”

- “fuck off, dear god.”

- Myc cackles and leans back into the couch cushions and pillows, and the joy that thrums in your heart soothes the ache of his death, loving him in any state, even when he’s being a little shit.

—Happy Halloween—

Tags: @cognitosclowns @radioactivebowtie @mollicutes @carnalcringe @bluebaronness @flyingspicerack

[fighterkimburgess]

Sylvie Brett and emotions/trauma - I has feels.

I've had this rattling around my brain about Sylvie and emotions and trauma and how it all manifests, so I'm just gonna blurt it out and hope this all makes sense.

We know her first moments with trauma was when she was 14 or 15, in ninth grade when her mom had a breakdown. Her dad was constantly travelling for work, and didn't really have a choice to not be there. At that age, you're learning your limits. You're learning what you can and can't do, and you're trying to stretch boundaries. Being a young teenager and seeing your mom have a nervous breakdown? Having to deal with your aunt picking up the slack? It's gotta be torturous. Teenagers are cruel anyway, but dealing with that? In a small town everyone knows everyone else's business, there's no way everyone else didn't know what was going on with Mrs. Brett. And there were probably the well meaning parents who kept an eye on Sylvie, offering to bring over meals and stuff. But the insidious gossip about someone with a mental health breakdown? In rural anywhere? in probably 2003/4? Can you imagine how hard that was?

I think that's where Sylvie's shell comes from originally. She would have had to build it quickly to herself just get through the day, ignoring the comments and taunts from her peers. Because she's Sylvie Brett with two T's, and that's how she learned she had to get by. Just keep pushing on and hope things get better eventually.

Then shortly after her mom recovers, she ends up in a relationship with Harrison. From everything we've learned about their relationship they were high school sweethearts. He was probably the first guy who made Sylvie feel like she was special, like she deserved something nice in the world. And she grew up seeing her parents love each other, then seeing her mother's illness, and someone offering her love? Of course she jumped at it. Wouldn't anyone?

But she's talked about how he made her feel by the end.

I don't know when it happened, but from her reaction the relationship ended up probably emotionally abusive. From the way she says "try and cut me down" I don't think it was from the start. If I had to guess (and this is from my own experience of abusive relationships) I'd say it was when she was working full time as an EMT. She started learning she could save people's lives. She might not have been able to pull her mother out of her depression as a teenager, but Sylvie Brett could save people. She learned how to use whatever she had at hand to try bring them back to life, and she's damn good at it. Remember that scene from her second episode where she improvised with the tubing? If she wasn't good at what she does, it wouldn't have worked and Gabby NEVER would have let her do it.

But then Harrison leaves her. She's built herself up from where she was as a teenager. She's no longer "Sylvie Brett whose Mom had a breakdown", she's "Sylvie Brett the EMT and Harrison's fiancée". But then he leaves, and she's in a small town where she can't escape people talking about her. Living in a small town everyone knows everything about everyone. She was probably the height of gossip for weeks, and when the wedding date passed you know people were mentioning it. Plus, generic sexism means that even though he left her, people would have blamed her.

So she runs. She runs to Chicago and she manages to impress enough to get a job at CFD. And she runs straight to 51, where she finds a family. They don't know her background. They don't know what happened in Fowlerton unless she tells them. They don't know anything about her except she's Brett, Gabby's new partner and she's Shay's replacement and she makes people's heart hurt when they turn and look at her for the first few weeks because all they see is Leslie Shay.

But she finds her feet. She recovers from the abduction, and goes to therapy to get past it. She dates Joe and breaks up with him. The next super traumatic thing that happens is the Kjorvan storyline where she's held at gunpoint at that scene. This is the first time she's stared down the barrel of a gun. She knew death was a possibility for the abduction. She knew there was a chance. But she had a gun facing her, and this is where we see her true Trauma response. She froze. Fight or flight happened, and Sylvie wasn't going to leave her patient. So she froze and she did what she had to to get out of that situation alive.

And this is the pattern we see every time something emotional happens, up until 8x19 when she cries on Matt's shoulder because Scott wants her to take Amelia. She freezes, she ignores it, and then she lets herself feel in her own time. We saw it in S6 when she cried in the car. We saw it in S8 when she was weighing up leaving Kyle. Every single time Sylvie Brett feels her emotions, she hides them until she's alone and then she lets herself feel. Except this time, cause she feels safe and she feels ok enough to let them out with Matt.

We see it at the start of that scene, she wanted somewhere quiet so she could think, so she could feel. Could she be a mother to her sister? And for the first time ever, she lets her feelings out with another person. And it's part of what makes their relationship so special that she CAN do that. He's probably the first person since she was in ninth grade that can make her feel like this. Can make her feel like she's allowed have those feelings, like it's legitimate and it's not a bad thing.

And then we get 9x02. And the look in her eyes as she tells him to leave, the way she's stopping the tears from falling until he's gone. He used to be the person she could cry with, the person she felt safe around. But now he's not and she's alone and she has to wait for him to close her front door so she can let them fall. And I don't think it's just the Gabby thing. I think it's he was the one person she could trust implicitly with everything going on. He was there through the Julie and Amelia stuff. He gave her the time she needed. And he held her when she needed it. But now? Now she doesn't know if she can trust him, because she offered him her battered heart and then she had to take it back to stop being even more hurt.

9x12 gives me so much hope. Not just the going to the neurologist. Not the breaking up with Greg over Matt. Not even on a Brettsey level (although my hope is sky high there anyway). But because for the first time in a long time, Sylvie let her emotions out. And again, it was to Matt.

She told him she was scared. She told him she was worried. She told him how she was feeling and she made him listen to her. That hug? That glorious lift her up and swing her around hug? SYLVIE initiated that. She's the one who smiled, who said "Matt you're ok". She reached up and hugged him, and held on as he swung her around.

Sylvie needs her safe place to let her emotions out. She needs to be able to talk about them. And before Matt, it was alone in her car or her room, not letting anyone else see it. But now she has Matt and she can let them out, and I'm so excited to see her getting to do that more often.

[anexlarrieblog]

I recently got back into 1D after like six years absence and an ex larrie and I’m just curious as to why people still believe that Freddie isn’t really louis’ kid? Like you said, he was mentioned in Jays post and I was trying to find the justification for them believing Freddie isn’t Louis’ kid but I haven’t found any proof that would cancel out the fact that Freddie is mentioned in Jays post. Truthfully I do speculate that H and L had something going on during early 1D but I don’t think they’ve been together since then and I’m just confused. Even if we just entertain that thought for a moment…. What mother would willingly let her baby be involved in a kind of stunt like this? To put him in the limelight in a way that he could never escape from when he grew up? Like no closeting contract in the world is insidious enough to contractually obligate a child— before they were even born!

Hello! No a child could never be obligated to take part in the kind of thing that Larries are painting. Many Larries push the theory that his ‘real parents’ 🤪 Brett and Tammi have given parental consent to sign Freddie up for this and that they are getting paid. But as many people have pointed out this would constitute child abuse. This isn’t some legitimate paid acting job? This is, according to Larries, a forced closet against Louis’ will. It’s actually illegal to parade your child under a fake identity. And how does this work medically/legally? Is he register under two names a real one and a fake one? For someone else’s closet??? Larries claim Freddie has a ‘fake’ birth certificate which shows Louis and Briana as his parents (Larries are the ones who found out it exists) . A fake birth certificate that is being stored on file as Freddie’s real birth certificate (which Larries claim is the case) would be FRAUD and ILLEGAL. They claim Louis was forced to sign it, again FRAUD. Again I ask, what lengths are these people willing to go to to closet a musician? They are willing to commit child abuse, fraud and other illegal acts just to stop the world finding out a musician is gay?

Also why on this gods green earth would Louis consent to his mother’s passing and death being used as part of a stunt? How DESPICABLE would that be? Why would it even be necessary? What if Louis put his foot down? What would have happened? They can’t use ‘outing’ him as a threat cause according to Larries he wants to be out. So what we talking here, kidnappings? What?

IT MAKES ABSOLUTELY ZERO SENSE.

[richincolor]

New Releases

A ton of new books come out tomorrow (3/3), and at least a few have probably made it onto your TBR pile already. What’s your latest must-read?

Distant Stars: Book 3 by MariNaomi In the final volume of the Life on Earth trilogy, celebrated cartoonist MariNaomi concludes her tale of growing up, falling in and out of love, and possible alien interventions. Shy, self-deprecating Paula Navarro is coming into her own–and it’s making her new girlfriend, Johanna, a little nervous. Paula’s former friend Emily Baker is learning to look inward. Brett Hathaway, Emily and Paula’s mutual ex-hook-up, is torn about reconnecting with his estranged dad. And Nigel Jones is smitten with his tutor, Claudia–whose disappearance and reappearance remains a mystery to everyone around her. As Claudia and her guardians put the final plan in motion, they’ll reveal the truth that links everyone’s fate. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) by Rin Chupeco Tala Warnock has little use for magic – as a descendant of Maria Makiling, the legendary Filipina heroine, she negates spells, often by accident. But her family’s old ties to the country of Avalon (frozen, bespelled, and unreachable for almost 12 years) soon finds them guarding its last prince from those who would use his kingdom’s magic for insidious ends.

And with the rise of dangerous spelltech in the Royal States of America; the appearance of the firebird, Avalon’s deadliest weapon, at her doorstep; and the re-emergence of the Snow Queen, powerful but long thought dead, who wants nothing more than to take the firebird’s magic for her own – Tala’s life is about to get even more complicated…. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Every Reason We Shouldn’t by Sara Fujimura Warning: Contains family expectations, delightful banter, great romantic tension, skating (all kinds!), Korean pastries, and all the feels.

Fifteen-year-old, biracial figure skater Olivia Kennedy’s Olympic dreams have ended. She’s bitter, but enjoying life as a regular teenager instead of an athlete… until Jonah Choi starts training at her family’s struggling rink. Jonah’s driven, talented, going for the Olympics in speed skating, completely annoying… and totally gorgeous. Between teasing Jonah, helping her best friend try out for roller derby, figuring out life as a normal teen and keeping the family business running, Olivia’s got her hands full. But will rivalry bring her closer to Jonah, or drive them apart? — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Anna K. by Jenny Lee Every happy teenage girl is the same, while every unhappy teenage girl is miserable in her own special way.

Meet Anna K. At seventeen, she is at the top of Manhattan and Greenwich society (even if she prefers the company of her horses and Newfoundland dogs); she has the perfect (if perfectly boring) boyfriend, Alexander W.; and she has always made her Korean-American father proud (even if he can be a little controlling). Meanwhile, Anna’s brother, Steven, and his girlfriend, Lolly, are trying to weather an sexting scandal; Lolly’s little sister, Kimmie, is struggling to recalibrate to normal life after an injury derails her ice dancing career; and Steven’s best friend, Dustin, is madly (and one-sidedly) in love with Kimmie.

As her friends struggle with the pitfalls of ordinary teenage life, Anna always seems to be able to sail gracefully above it all. That is…until the night she meets Alexia “Count” Vronsky at Grand Central. A notorious playboy who has bounced around boarding schools and who lives for his own pleasure, Alexia is everything Anna is not. But he has never been in love until he meets Anna, and maybe she hasn’t, either. As Alexia and Anna are pulled irresistibly together, she has to decide how much of her life she is willing to let go for the chance to be with him. And when a shocking revelation threatens to shatter their relationship, she is forced to question if she has ever known herself at all.

Dazzlingly opulent and emotionally riveting, Anna K.: A Love Story is a brilliant reimagining of Leo Tolstoy’s timeless love story, Anna Karenina―but above all, it is a novel about the dizzying, glorious, heart-stopping experience of first love and first heartbreak. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Salty, Bitter, Sweet by Mayra Cuevas Seventeen-year-old aspiring chef Isabella Fields’ family life has fallen apart after the death of her Cuban abuela and the divorce of her parents. She moves in with her dad and his new wife in France, where Isabella feels like an outsider in her father’s new life, studiously avoiding the awkward, “Why did you cheat on Mom?” conversation.

The upside of Isabella’s world being turned upside down? Her father’s house is located only 30 minutes away from the restaurant of world-famous Chef Pascal Grattard, who runs a prestigious and competitive international kitchen apprenticeship. The prize job at Chef Grattard’s renowned restaurant also represents a transformative opportunity for Isabella, who is desperate to get her life back in order.

But how can Isabella expect to hold it together when she’s at the bottom of her class at the apprenticeship, her new stepmom is pregnant, she misses her abuela dearly, and a mysterious new guy and his albino dog fall into her life? — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu Two siblings. Two brilliant talents. But only one Mozart. Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish—to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she’ll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age—her tyrannical father has made that much clear.

And as Nannerl’s hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true—but his help may cost her everything.

In her first work of historical fiction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu spins a lush, lyrically-told story of music, magic, and the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth by Angie Thomas In this guided journal, #1 New York Times bestselling author Angie Thomas shares advice and best practices for developing a true-to-you writing project. Includes step-by-step craft tips, writing prompts, and exercises for:

Discovering story ideas Creating memorable characters Realizing your setting Shaping your story Writing your “zero draft” And more! With 24 illustrated inspirational quotes from Angie’s acclaimed novels The Hate U Give and On the Come Up, and plenty of blank pages for your own words, Find Your Voice will ignite your creativity and help you bring your own unique stories to life. — Cover image and summary via Goodreads

[commonsensewizard]

Let the Inquisition Begin

Starting today, the circus that will be Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing for his appointment to the Supreme Court will begin. On the Republican side, it will be mostly softballs thrown at the nominee. On the Democrat side, it will be spears of fire, mixed with the most insidious venom they can find. The entire event won’t be about trying to find the best candidate for the position, for either side. It will be about ‘agenda’. 

I have looked at Kavanaugh’s resume’, as much as I could find without giving up my other life’s pursuits. His past judicial work is quite extensive, as I would hope any Supreme Court nominee’s would be. He seems to be a Constitutionalist, which is a good thing. There are those who look at this blog and claim I am a Republican. I am not. If the truth be told...which I try to tell on this blog, even though Post Moderns don’t believe in ‘truth’...I am a constitutional conservative. I have nothing but disdain for both parties, as they are in bed together, foaming at the mouth with each other like ferrets, doing all they can to rule us instead of represent us. Which, by the way, is what has been going on with elitist politicians since before the Revolution. NOTE: Read your history and you will know this is true. OH yeah. I forgot. Post Moderns don’t believe in truth. That’s the only ‘truth’ they believe in is that there is no truth. Anyway, I digress.

Supreme Court picks are a crap shoot. We found that out with Souter. He turned out to be a snake in the grass, just like John Roberts when he swung the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of Obamacare. Kennedy was no better. We couldn’t count on him to be consistent on what kind of cheese the moon is really made of. Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan have been as advertised; socialist leaning Constitutional re-writing hacks who bow to their masters and collectively do not have a full cup of common sense. Ginsburg has said there are laws, even constitutions, of other countries that are better than ours. On the surface, that may be true, but it’s because the laws we have are not being enforced for all. The elitist few get a pass. The good news about Ginsburg is that she is soon on her way out...either by her own personal choice or by God’s decision the poor old soul has been here long enough. 

The socialistic liberals of this country are in a panic stricken state. They see the court swinging to the right with no remedy in sight. Their light at the end of the tunnel is about to be snuffed out where the Supreme Court is concerned, and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t care if the Constitution of the United States is a thousand years old. I don’t care how advanced we become as a people and a nation. The United States should never change it, discard it, or demean it as being out of touch, out of date, or as having run its course and doesn’t pertain to the present. We need people on the Supreme Court that will revere it. We need people on the Supreme Court that respect it and understand the history behind it and uphold its contents as it was written. This I believe Kavanaugh will do. Am I certain of it? By no means. As I said, it’s a crap shoot. 

So, let the circus begin. Let the Democrats on the Judicial Committee rant, rave, spit, claw, scratch, mutter, yell, scream, accuse, cuss and discuss all they want to. They aren’t in power. Thank God. I will not watch it. I only want him confirmed. And when Ginsburg bows out, I hope this scenario happens again, forcing Souter, Kagan and Sotomayor to huddle in a corner and be inconsequential mice who can only squeak during deliberations. It is my hope their votes will never carry the day in their future on the bench. We should be tired of judges, on any level, who make/ignore law or attempt to do so. That isn’t their job, and never has been their job in this country...at least on paper. Congress makes law. Judges should follow that law, whether they agree with it or not. Just follow the damn law! Follow the Constitution. And that goes for the FBI, DOJ, CIA and NSA too! If we, as normal citizens, can’t choose which laws we will follow and which laws we don’t want to, then neither should they be able to. And if it continues, our nation of laws will buckle under the weight of the lawless and will not be able to stand for much longer. Confirm the man after his torture. Keep the Constitution sound. And then let’s move on.     

[michaeljtraylor]

Trump to face heat on China deal

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

Trump will face heat on China deal — Even if President Trump gets everything currently on the table in trade talks, some China hawks will hit him for failing to get more. MM spoke with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior adviser and advocate of a tough line on China, about the current status of the talks.

Story Continued Below

Bannon: “Trump has done what everyone said was impossible — catch the Chinese off guard — they never thought he would use the weapons at hand. Now Wall Street is convincing him ‘he needs a win’ – that’s the insidious nature of this.” (More from Bannon below)

Status of the China deal — The WSJ on Sunday picked up on some of MM’s previous reporting on how close the two sides are to a final deal with over 100 pages drafted. They also note a couple new details including China agreeing to reduce auto tariffs below 15 percent and buy $18 billion in natural gas form Cheniere Energy of Houston.

A final deal still hinges on Chinese President Xi Jinping agreeing to enforcement terms including the ability of the U.S. to impose tariffs if China is found to be in violation with a promise from the Chinese not to retaliate. The Chinese could balk at that provision. Then the question will be if Trump decides to walk.

CHINA’S TOP ASK — Via our Morning Trade colleagues: A source with knowledge the talks told POLITICO that China’s chief negotiator, Wang Shouwen, has made clear to the U.S. delegation that there can be no agreement “unless all the tariffs go away.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING — Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES — Katy O’Donnell on HUD’s approval of an $8.2 billion plan for Puerto Rico. To get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m., please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

DRIVING THE WEEK — President Trump on Wednesday attends a meeting of The American Workforce Policy Advisory board … House Financial Services has a CFPB hearing on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. …

Fed Chair Jay Powell speaks Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST on monetary policy normalization at a Stanford event … February jobs report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. expected to show a gain of 185K with unemployment down a tenth at 3.9 percent and wages up 0.3 percent.

… SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Treasury’s Craig Phillips and SEC trading and markets director Brett Redfearn speak at a panel in NYC on equity markets at 9:00 a.m. Friday

More Bannon on Trump and China: “Trump gets the nature of these massive negotiations — ‘better to do it right than do it fast’. You can’t do this quickly given the complexity. It will take as long as it takes, could be till the end of the year. You literally could have a restructured world economy and a basis for genuine peace at the end of it — those are the stakes and that’s how close Trump is to pulling it off.”

Tallying the trade impact — Tariff supporters like to argue that Chinese firms cover some of the costs by accepting lower prices. A new paper argues that is not happening and that Trump is entirely wrong when he suggests China is paying us billions in tariffs.

From the paper: “[D]omestic purchasers of imports have born the full cost of the tariffs … Overall, purchasers of imports are paying an additional $3 billion per month in import taxes, with a reduction in U.S. real income of $1.4 billion per month by the end of 2018.”

TOUGH RE-ELECT NUMBERS FOR TRUMP — Part of the reason Trump is under such pressure to get a China deal and avoid auto tariffs and big fiscal fights is that his re-election campaign will be tough under the best of circumstances. And markets and the economy taking big hits in the coming months could make it impossible (depending on the Democratic nominee.)

The latest NBC/WSJ poll finds that “approximately four out of 10 voters would re-elect … Trump. … 41 percent of registered voters said they would definitely or likely vote for Trump in 2020, with 48 percent saying they would definitely or likely vote for the Democratic nominee instead.

TRUMP THE DEFICIT HAWK?? — From the can’t make it up department, our Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook: “The self-described ‘king of debt’ is about to get religion. In the next several months, the Trump administration faces several big spending and budget showdowns with Congress.

“And after mostly brushing off deficit concerns while pushing through a costly tax-cut plan, the White House now plans to reposition itself as an unlikely enforcer of fiscal responsibility led by its new top budget official, a veteran of the conservative group Heritage Action.” Read more.

MM SIDEBAR — Under Trump so far, the debt has risen around $2 trillion following the tax cut bill and higher defense and non-defense spending. Public debt is now around 78 percent of US GDP, the highest level since 1950. The idea that this White House can try to position itself as fiscally responsible is … amusing.

TRUMP VS TRUMP ON 5G — Our Margaret Harding McGill: “Trump’s campaign on Sunday sought to downplay its support for government intervention in 5G wireless networks after getting blowback from Trump administration officials who favor an industry-led approach.

“The campaign told POLITICO on Friday it backs a ‘wholesale’ 5G network, which would see the government making 5G airwaves available through a sharing system with wireless providers. … That position put the campaign at odds with the view of key Trump administration figures like White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and members of the Federal Communications Commission” Read more.

HUAWEI EXEC SUES CANADA — Our Lauren Gardner: “Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada and two of its federal agencies, alleging that authorities detained and interrogated her before declaring her under arrest.

“Canada decided Friday to move forward with proceedings to extradite Meng to the U.S. on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by deliberately misleading banks about the company’s business dealings there. Extradition could be a long process, and Meng’s lawsuits could draw it out further.” Read more.

The 2020 Election. The new Congress. The Mueller investigation. … Keep up with POLITICO Playbook. Be in the know. Sign up today here.

STOCK REIGN MAY NOT LAST OVER OTHER REGIONS — Reuters’ Lewis Krauskopf: “U.S. stock prices are outpacing those in most other regions to start 2019, but the gap is narrow and some investors are eyeing potential catalysts to tip the scales to the rest of the world.

“Investors say several factors could sway performance in favor of other developed or emerging markets, including slowing U.S. profit growth, a weaker U.S. dollar, improving economies in China and Europe and resolution of global trade tensions.” Read more.

INVESTORS SCALE BACK INFLATION BETS — WSJ’s Akane Otani: “Bets on a pickup in inflation are falling out of favor, underscoring investors’ skepticism that the U.S. economy will be able to turn stronger after a soft start to the year.

“The growth outlook has dimmed over the past year as measures of manufacturing activity, consumer spending and business confidence have waned. The cool-down in the economy helped keep inflation from running past the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target for a seventh straight year in 2018.” Read more.

TRUMP BACK TO FED BASHING — Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin: “Trump’s attempts to blame Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for any hiccups in the U.S. economy have made a comeback — this time directed at his conservative base as he gears up for a tough 2020 reelection campaign. And many investors and economists listening in are learning to tune out the complaints.

“Trump may be lining up his hand-picked choice to lead the Fed as a scapegoat in case his trade and tax policies don’t succeed: firing off a series of tweets, interviews and off-the-cuff remarks — unprecedented for an American president — that have at times shaken financial markets.” Read more.

BUSINESS LEADERS SET A.I. AGENDA — NYT: “If you were 18 and graduating from high school today, what would you do to be as employable as possible? Larry Summers: ‘I believe that the ability to manipulate, comprehend, analyze, collect and refine data of all kinds will be central to the success of individuals and organizations in the 21st century. It is absurd that high school students are taught trigonometry but not statistics, and physical science but not social science. Coding is important, but understanding the data handling that is the reason for coding is even more important.’” Read more.

THE PROBLEM FOR SMALL-TOWN BANKS — WSJ’s Rachel Louise Ensign and Coulter Jones: “Big banks have boosted profits in recent years by focusing on the largest U.S. cities, which are densely populated and more affluent. The community banks trying to fill the gaps they leave behind, meanwhile, are struggling.

“The 4,600 U.S. banks with $1 billion or less in assets — small community banks — today hold 6.6 percent of all bank assets combined. Three decades ago, around the time new laws spurred industry consolidation, they held 31.5 percent.” Read more.

NEW FRO THE ICBA — On Monday, “ICBA will unveil—Community Focus 2020: The Community Bank Agenda for Expanding Economic Opportunity—our new legislative and regulatory platform for the new Congress.” Live at 6:00 a.m. here.

Source link

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8312273 https://hashtaghighways.com/2019/03/05/trump-to-face-heat-on-china-deal/ from Garko Media https://garkomedia1.tumblr.com/post/183234825434

[garkodigitalmedia]

Trump to face heat on China deal

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

Trump will face heat on China deal — Even if President Trump gets everything currently on the table in trade talks, some China hawks will hit him for failing to get more. MM spoke with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior adviser and advocate of a tough line on China, about the current status of the talks.

Story Continued Below

Bannon: “Trump has done what everyone said was impossible — catch the Chinese off guard — they never thought he would use the weapons at hand. Now Wall Street is convincing him ‘he needs a win’ – that’s the insidious nature of this.” (More from Bannon below)

Status of the China deal — The WSJ on Sunday picked up on some of MM’s previous reporting on how close the two sides are to a final deal with over 100 pages drafted. They also note a couple new details including China agreeing to reduce auto tariffs below 15 percent and buy $18 billion in natural gas form Cheniere Energy of Houston.

A final deal still hinges on Chinese President Xi Jinping agreeing to enforcement terms including the ability of the U.S. to impose tariffs if China is found to be in violation with a promise from the Chinese not to retaliate. The Chinese could balk at that provision. Then the question will be if Trump decides to walk.

CHINA’S TOP ASK — Via our Morning Trade colleagues: A source with knowledge the talks told POLITICO that China’s chief negotiator, Wang Shouwen, has made clear to the U.S. delegation that there can be no agreement “unless all the tariffs go away.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING — Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES — Katy O’Donnell on HUD’s approval of an $8.2 billion plan for Puerto Rico. To get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m., please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

DRIVING THE WEEK — President Trump on Wednesday attends a meeting of The American Workforce Policy Advisory board … House Financial Services has a CFPB hearing on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. …

Fed Chair Jay Powell speaks Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST on monetary policy normalization at a Stanford event … February jobs report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. expected to show a gain of 185K with unemployment down a tenth at 3.9 percent and wages up 0.3 percent.

… SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Treasury’s Craig Phillips and SEC trading and markets director Brett Redfearn speak at a panel in NYC on equity markets at 9:00 a.m. Friday

More Bannon on Trump and China: “Trump gets the nature of these massive negotiations — ‘better to do it right than do it fast’. You can’t do this quickly given the complexity. It will take as long as it takes, could be till the end of the year. You literally could have a restructured world economy and a basis for genuine peace at the end of it — those are the stakes and that’s how close Trump is to pulling it off.”

Tallying the trade impact — Tariff supporters like to argue that Chinese firms cover some of the costs by accepting lower prices. A new paper argues that is not happening and that Trump is entirely wrong when he suggests China is paying us billions in tariffs.

From the paper: “[D]omestic purchasers of imports have born the full cost of the tariffs … Overall, purchasers of imports are paying an additional $3 billion per month in import taxes, with a reduction in U.S. real income of $1.4 billion per month by the end of 2018.”

TOUGH RE-ELECT NUMBERS FOR TRUMP — Part of the reason Trump is under such pressure to get a China deal and avoid auto tariffs and big fiscal fights is that his re-election campaign will be tough under the best of circumstances. And markets and the economy taking big hits in the coming months could make it impossible (depending on the Democratic nominee.)

The latest NBC/WSJ poll finds that “approximately four out of 10 voters would re-elect … Trump. … 41 percent of registered voters said they would definitely or likely vote for Trump in 2020, with 48 percent saying they would definitely or likely vote for the Democratic nominee instead.

TRUMP THE DEFICIT HAWK?? — From the can’t make it up department, our Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook: “The self-described ‘king of debt’ is about to get religion. In the next several months, the Trump administration faces several big spending and budget showdowns with Congress.

“And after mostly brushing off deficit concerns while pushing through a costly tax-cut plan, the White House now plans to reposition itself as an unlikely enforcer of fiscal responsibility led by its new top budget official, a veteran of the conservative group Heritage Action.” Read more.

MM SIDEBAR — Under Trump so far, the debt has risen around $2 trillion following the tax cut bill and higher defense and non-defense spending. Public debt is now around 78 percent of US GDP, the highest level since 1950. The idea that this White House can try to position itself as fiscally responsible is … amusing.

TRUMP VS TRUMP ON 5G — Our Margaret Harding McGill: “Trump’s campaign on Sunday sought to downplay its support for government intervention in 5G wireless networks after getting blowback from Trump administration officials who favor an industry-led approach.

“The campaign told POLITICO on Friday it backs a ‘wholesale’ 5G network, which would see the government making 5G airwaves available through a sharing system with wireless providers. … That position put the campaign at odds with the view of key Trump administration figures like White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and members of the Federal Communications Commission” Read more.

HUAWEI EXEC SUES CANADA — Our Lauren Gardner: “Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada and two of its federal agencies, alleging that authorities detained and interrogated her before declaring her under arrest.

“Canada decided Friday to move forward with proceedings to extradite Meng to the U.S. on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by deliberately misleading banks about the company’s business dealings there. Extradition could be a long process, and Meng’s lawsuits could draw it out further.” Read more.

The 2020 Election. The new Congress. The Mueller investigation. … Keep up with POLITICO Playbook. Be in the know. Sign up today here.

STOCK REIGN MAY NOT LAST OVER OTHER REGIONS — Reuters’ Lewis Krauskopf: “U.S. stock prices are outpacing those in most other regions to start 2019, but the gap is narrow and some investors are eyeing potential catalysts to tip the scales to the rest of the world.

“Investors say several factors could sway performance in favor of other developed or emerging markets, including slowing U.S. profit growth, a weaker U.S. dollar, improving economies in China and Europe and resolution of global trade tensions.” Read more.

INVESTORS SCALE BACK INFLATION BETS — WSJ’s Akane Otani: “Bets on a pickup in inflation are falling out of favor, underscoring investors’ skepticism that the U.S. economy will be able to turn stronger after a soft start to the year.

“The growth outlook has dimmed over the past year as measures of manufacturing activity, consumer spending and business confidence have waned. The cool-down in the economy helped keep inflation from running past the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target for a seventh straight year in 2018.” Read more.

TRUMP BACK TO FED BASHING — Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin: “Trump’s attempts to blame Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for any hiccups in the U.S. economy have made a comeback — this time directed at his conservative base as he gears up for a tough 2020 reelection campaign. And many investors and economists listening in are learning to tune out the complaints.

“Trump may be lining up his hand-picked choice to lead the Fed as a scapegoat in case his trade and tax policies don’t succeed: firing off a series of tweets, interviews and off-the-cuff remarks — unprecedented for an American president — that have at times shaken financial markets.” Read more.

BUSINESS LEADERS SET A.I. AGENDA — NYT: “If you were 18 and graduating from high school today, what would you do to be as employable as possible? Larry Summers: ‘I believe that the ability to manipulate, comprehend, analyze, collect and refine data of all kinds will be central to the success of individuals and organizations in the 21st century. It is absurd that high school students are taught trigonometry but not statistics, and physical science but not social science. Coding is important, but understanding the data handling that is the reason for coding is even more important.’” Read more.

THE PROBLEM FOR SMALL-TOWN BANKS — WSJ’s Rachel Louise Ensign and Coulter Jones: “Big banks have boosted profits in recent years by focusing on the largest U.S. cities, which are densely populated and more affluent. The community banks trying to fill the gaps they leave behind, meanwhile, are struggling.

“The 4,600 U.S. banks with $1 billion or less in assets — small community banks — today hold 6.6 percent of all bank assets combined. Three decades ago, around the time new laws spurred industry consolidation, they held 31.5 percent.” Read more.

NEW FRO THE ICBA — On Monday, “ICBA will unveil—Community Focus 2020: The Community Bank Agenda for Expanding Economic Opportunity—our new legislative and regulatory platform for the new Congress.” Live at 6:00 a.m. here.

Source link

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8312273 https://hashtaghighways.com/2019/03/05/trump-to-face-heat-on-china-deal/

[garkomedia1]

Trump to face heat on China deal

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

Trump will face heat on China deal — Even if President Trump gets everything currently on the table in trade talks, some China hawks will hit him for failing to get more. MM spoke with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior adviser and advocate of a tough line on China, about the current status of the talks.

Story Continued Below

Bannon: “Trump has done what everyone said was impossible — catch the Chinese off guard — they never thought he would use the weapons at hand. Now Wall Street is convincing him ‘he needs a win’ – that’s the insidious nature of this.” (More from Bannon below)

Status of the China deal — The WSJ on Sunday picked up on some of MM’s previous reporting on how close the two sides are to a final deal with over 100 pages drafted. They also note a couple new details including China agreeing to reduce auto tariffs below 15 percent and buy $18 billion in natural gas form Cheniere Energy of Houston.

A final deal still hinges on Chinese President Xi Jinping agreeing to enforcement terms including the ability of the U.S. to impose tariffs if China is found to be in violation with a promise from the Chinese not to retaliate. The Chinese could balk at that provision. Then the question will be if Trump decides to walk.

CHINA’S TOP ASK — Via our Morning Trade colleagues: A source with knowledge the talks told POLITICO that China’s chief negotiator, Wang Shouwen, has made clear to the U.S. delegation that there can be no agreement “unless all the tariffs go away.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING — Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES — Katy O’Donnell on HUD’s approval of an $8.2 billion plan for Puerto Rico. To get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m., please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

DRIVING THE WEEK — President Trump on Wednesday attends a meeting of The American Workforce Policy Advisory board … House Financial Services has a CFPB hearing on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. …

Fed Chair Jay Powell speaks Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST on monetary policy normalization at a Stanford event … February jobs report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. expected to show a gain of 185K with unemployment down a tenth at 3.9 percent and wages up 0.3 percent.

… SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Treasury’s Craig Phillips and SEC trading and markets director Brett Redfearn speak at a panel in NYC on equity markets at 9:00 a.m. Friday

More Bannon on Trump and China: “Trump gets the nature of these massive negotiations — ‘better to do it right than do it fast’. You can’t do this quickly given the complexity. It will take as long as it takes, could be till the end of the year. You literally could have a restructured world economy and a basis for genuine peace at the end of it — those are the stakes and that’s how close Trump is to pulling it off.”

Tallying the trade impact — Tariff supporters like to argue that Chinese firms cover some of the costs by accepting lower prices. A new paper argues that is not happening and that Trump is entirely wrong when he suggests China is paying us billions in tariffs.

From the paper: “[D]omestic purchasers of imports have born the full cost of the tariffs … Overall, purchasers of imports are paying an additional $3 billion per month in import taxes, with a reduction in U.S. real income of $1.4 billion per month by the end of 2018.”

TOUGH RE-ELECT NUMBERS FOR TRUMP — Part of the reason Trump is under such pressure to get a China deal and avoid auto tariffs and big fiscal fights is that his re-election campaign will be tough under the best of circumstances. And markets and the economy taking big hits in the coming months could make it impossible (depending on the Democratic nominee.)

The latest NBC/WSJ poll finds that “approximately four out of 10 voters would re-elect … Trump. … 41 percent of registered voters said they would definitely or likely vote for Trump in 2020, with 48 percent saying they would definitely or likely vote for the Democratic nominee instead.

TRUMP THE DEFICIT HAWK?? — From the can’t make it up department, our Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook: “The self-described ‘king of debt’ is about to get religion. In the next several months, the Trump administration faces several big spending and budget showdowns with Congress.

“And after mostly brushing off deficit concerns while pushing through a costly tax-cut plan, the White House now plans to reposition itself as an unlikely enforcer of fiscal responsibility led by its new top budget official, a veteran of the conservative group Heritage Action.” Read more.

MM SIDEBAR — Under Trump so far, the debt has risen around $2 trillion following the tax cut bill and higher defense and non-defense spending. Public debt is now around 78 percent of US GDP, the highest level since 1950. The idea that this White House can try to position itself as fiscally responsible is … amusing.

TRUMP VS TRUMP ON 5G — Our Margaret Harding McGill: “Trump’s campaign on Sunday sought to downplay its support for government intervention in 5G wireless networks after getting blowback from Trump administration officials who favor an industry-led approach.

“The campaign told POLITICO on Friday it backs a ‘wholesale’ 5G network, which would see the government making 5G airwaves available through a sharing system with wireless providers. … That position put the campaign at odds with the view of key Trump administration figures like White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and members of the Federal Communications Commission” Read more.

HUAWEI EXEC SUES CANADA — Our Lauren Gardner: “Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada and two of its federal agencies, alleging that authorities detained and interrogated her before declaring her under arrest.

“Canada decided Friday to move forward with proceedings to extradite Meng to the U.S. on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by deliberately misleading banks about the company’s business dealings there. Extradition could be a long process, and Meng’s lawsuits could draw it out further.” Read more.

The 2020 Election. The new Congress. The Mueller investigation. … Keep up with POLITICO Playbook. Be in the know. Sign up today here.

STOCK REIGN MAY NOT LAST OVER OTHER REGIONS — Reuters’ Lewis Krauskopf: “U.S. stock prices are outpacing those in most other regions to start 2019, but the gap is narrow and some investors are eyeing potential catalysts to tip the scales to the rest of the world.

“Investors say several factors could sway performance in favor of other developed or emerging markets, including slowing U.S. profit growth, a weaker U.S. dollar, improving economies in China and Europe and resolution of global trade tensions.” Read more.

INVESTORS SCALE BACK INFLATION BETS — WSJ’s Akane Otani: “Bets on a pickup in inflation are falling out of favor, underscoring investors’ skepticism that the U.S. economy will be able to turn stronger after a soft start to the year.

“The growth outlook has dimmed over the past year as measures of manufacturing activity, consumer spending and business confidence have waned. The cool-down in the economy helped keep inflation from running past the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target for a seventh straight year in 2018.” Read more.

TRUMP BACK TO FED BASHING — Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin: “Trump’s attempts to blame Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for any hiccups in the U.S. economy have made a comeback — this time directed at his conservative base as he gears up for a tough 2020 reelection campaign. And many investors and economists listening in are learning to tune out the complaints.

“Trump may be lining up his hand-picked choice to lead the Fed as a scapegoat in case his trade and tax policies don’t succeed: firing off a series of tweets, interviews and off-the-cuff remarks — unprecedented for an American president — that have at times shaken financial markets.” Read more.

BUSINESS LEADERS SET A.I. AGENDA — NYT: “If you were 18 and graduating from high school today, what would you do to be as employable as possible? Larry Summers: ‘I believe that the ability to manipulate, comprehend, analyze, collect and refine data of all kinds will be central to the success of individuals and organizations in the 21st century. It is absurd that high school students are taught trigonometry but not statistics, and physical science but not social science. Coding is important, but understanding the data handling that is the reason for coding is even more important.’” Read more.

THE PROBLEM FOR SMALL-TOWN BANKS — WSJ’s Rachel Louise Ensign and Coulter Jones: “Big banks have boosted profits in recent years by focusing on the largest U.S. cities, which are densely populated and more affluent. The community banks trying to fill the gaps they leave behind, meanwhile, are struggling.

“The 4,600 U.S. banks with $1 billion or less in assets — small community banks — today hold 6.6 percent of all bank assets combined. Three decades ago, around the time new laws spurred industry consolidation, they held 31.5 percent.” Read more.

NEW FRO THE ICBA — On Monday, “ICBA will unveil—Community Focus 2020: The Community Bank Agenda for Expanding Economic Opportunity—our new legislative and regulatory platform for the new Congress.” Live at 6:00 a.m. here.

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from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8312273 https://hashtaghighways.com/2019/03/05/trump-to-face-heat-on-china-deal/

[nicholerestrada]

Trump to face heat on China deal

Editor’s Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro’s comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.

Trump will face heat on China deal — Even if President Trump gets everything currently on the table in trade talks, some China hawks will hit him for failing to get more. MM spoke with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former senior adviser and advocate of a tough line on China, about the current status of the talks.

Story Continued Below

Bannon: “Trump has done what everyone said was impossible — catch the Chinese off guard — they never thought he would use the weapons at hand. Now Wall Street is convincing him ‘he needs a win’ – that’s the insidious nature of this.” (More from Bannon below)

Status of the China deal — The WSJ on Sunday picked up on some of MM’s previous reporting on how close the two sides are to a final deal with over 100 pages drafted. They also note a couple new details including China agreeing to reduce auto tariffs below 15 percent and buy $18 billion in natural gas form Cheniere Energy of Houston.

A final deal still hinges on Chinese President Xi Jinping agreeing to enforcement terms including the ability of the U.S. to impose tariffs if China is found to be in violation with a promise from the Chinese not to retaliate. The Chinese could balk at that provision. Then the question will be if Trump decides to walk.

CHINA’S TOP ASK — Via our Morning Trade colleagues: A source with knowledge the talks told POLITICO that China’s chief negotiator, Wang Shouwen, has made clear to the U.S. delegation that there can be no agreement “unless all the tariffs go away.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING — Email me on bwhite@politico.com and follow me on Twitter @morningmoneyben. Email Aubree Eliza Weaver on aweaver@politico.com and follow her on Twitter @AubreeEWeaver.

THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCIAL SERVICES — Katy O’Donnell on HUD’s approval of an $8.2 billion plan for Puerto Rico. To get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m., please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.

DRIVING THE WEEK — President Trump on Wednesday attends a meeting of The American Workforce Policy Advisory board … House Financial Services has a CFPB hearing on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. …

Fed Chair Jay Powell speaks Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST on monetary policy normalization at a Stanford event … February jobs report on Friday at 8:30 a.m. expected to show a gain of 185K with unemployment down a tenth at 3.9 percent and wages up 0.3 percent.

… SEC Chair Jay Clayton, Treasury’s Craig Phillips and SEC trading and markets director Brett Redfearn speak at a panel in NYC on equity markets at 9:00 a.m. Friday

More Bannon on Trump and China: “Trump gets the nature of these massive negotiations — ‘better to do it right than do it fast’. You can’t do this quickly given the complexity. It will take as long as it takes, could be till the end of the year. You literally could have a restructured world economy and a basis for genuine peace at the end of it — those are the stakes and that’s how close Trump is to pulling it off.”

Tallying the trade impact — Tariff supporters like to argue that Chinese firms cover some of the costs by accepting lower prices. A new paper argues that is not happening and that Trump is entirely wrong when he suggests China is paying us billions in tariffs.

From the paper: “[D]omestic purchasers of imports have born the full cost of the tariffs … Overall, purchasers of imports are paying an additional $3 billion per month in import taxes, with a reduction in U.S. real income of $1.4 billion per month by the end of 2018.”

TOUGH RE-ELECT NUMBERS FOR TRUMP — Part of the reason Trump is under such pressure to get a China deal and avoid auto tariffs and big fiscal fights is that his re-election campaign will be tough under the best of circumstances. And markets and the economy taking big hits in the coming months could make it impossible (depending on the Democratic nominee.)

The latest NBC/WSJ poll finds that “approximately four out of 10 voters would re-elect … Trump. … 41 percent of registered voters said they would definitely or likely vote for Trump in 2020, with 48 percent saying they would definitely or likely vote for the Democratic nominee instead.

TRUMP THE DEFICIT HAWK?? — From the can’t make it up department, our Andrew Restuccia and Nancy Cook: “The self-described ‘king of debt’ is about to get religion. In the next several months, the Trump administration faces several big spending and budget showdowns with Congress.

“And after mostly brushing off deficit concerns while pushing through a costly tax-cut plan, the White House now plans to reposition itself as an unlikely enforcer of fiscal responsibility led by its new top budget official, a veteran of the conservative group Heritage Action.” Read more.

MM SIDEBAR — Under Trump so far, the debt has risen around $2 trillion following the tax cut bill and higher defense and non-defense spending. Public debt is now around 78 percent of US GDP, the highest level since 1950. The idea that this White House can try to position itself as fiscally responsible is … amusing.

TRUMP VS TRUMP ON 5G — Our Margaret Harding McGill: “Trump’s campaign on Sunday sought to downplay its support for government intervention in 5G wireless networks after getting blowback from Trump administration officials who favor an industry-led approach.

“The campaign told POLITICO on Friday it backs a ‘wholesale’ 5G network, which would see the government making 5G airwaves available through a sharing system with wireless providers. … That position put the campaign at odds with the view of key Trump administration figures like White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow and members of the Federal Communications Commission” Read more.

HUAWEI EXEC SUES CANADA — Our Lauren Gardner: “Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou is suing Canada and two of its federal agencies, alleging that authorities detained and interrogated her before declaring her under arrest.

“Canada decided Friday to move forward with proceedings to extradite Meng to the U.S. on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by deliberately misleading banks about the company’s business dealings there. Extradition could be a long process, and Meng’s lawsuits could draw it out further.” Read more.

The 2020 Election. The new Congress. The Mueller investigation. … Keep up with POLITICO Playbook. Be in the know. Sign up today here.

STOCK REIGN MAY NOT LAST OVER OTHER REGIONS — Reuters’ Lewis Krauskopf: “U.S. stock prices are outpacing those in most other regions to start 2019, but the gap is narrow and some investors are eyeing potential catalysts to tip the scales to the rest of the world.

“Investors say several factors could sway performance in favor of other developed or emerging markets, including slowing U.S. profit growth, a weaker U.S. dollar, improving economies in China and Europe and resolution of global trade tensions.” Read more.

INVESTORS SCALE BACK INFLATION BETS — WSJ’s Akane Otani: “Bets on a pickup in inflation are falling out of favor, underscoring investors’ skepticism that the U.S. economy will be able to turn stronger after a soft start to the year.

“The growth outlook has dimmed over the past year as measures of manufacturing activity, consumer spending and business confidence have waned. The cool-down in the economy helped keep inflation from running past the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target for a seventh straight year in 2018.” Read more.

TRUMP BACK TO FED BASHING — Bloomberg’s Saleha Mohsin: “Trump’s attempts to blame Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for any hiccups in the U.S. economy have made a comeback — this time directed at his conservative base as he gears up for a tough 2020 reelection campaign. And many investors and economists listening in are learning to tune out the complaints.

“Trump may be lining up his hand-picked choice to lead the Fed as a scapegoat in case his trade and tax policies don’t succeed: firing off a series of tweets, interviews and off-the-cuff remarks — unprecedented for an American president — that have at times shaken financial markets.” Read more.

BUSINESS LEADERS SET A.I. AGENDA — NYT: “If you were 18 and graduating from high school today, what would you do to be as employable as possible? Larry Summers: ‘I believe that the ability to manipulate, comprehend, analyze, collect and refine data of all kinds will be central to the success of individuals and organizations in the 21st century. It is absurd that high school students are taught trigonometry but not statistics, and physical science but not social science. Coding is important, but understanding the data handling that is the reason for coding is even more important.’” Read more.

THE PROBLEM FOR SMALL-TOWN BANKS — WSJ’s Rachel Louise Ensign and Coulter Jones: “Big banks have boosted profits in recent years by focusing on the largest U.S. cities, which are densely populated and more affluent. The community banks trying to fill the gaps they leave behind, meanwhile, are struggling.

“The 4,600 U.S. banks with $1 billion or less in assets — small community banks — today hold 6.6 percent of all bank assets combined. Three decades ago, around the time new laws spurred industry consolidation, they held 31.5 percent.” Read more.

NEW FRO THE ICBA — On Monday, “ICBA will unveil—Community Focus 2020: The Community Bank Agenda for Expanding Economic Opportunity—our new legislative and regulatory platform for the new Congress.” Live at 6:00 a.m. here.

Source link

Source: https://hashtaghighways.com/2019/03/05/trump-to-face-heat-on-china-deal/

from Garko Media https://garkomedia1.wordpress.com/2019/03/05/trump-to-face-heat-on-china-deal/

[velvetcream03-blog]

Why Are Men Still Voting Republican?

In the month or so that's led up to the midterm elections, here's a snapshot of just a few things that made headlines: The President of the United States called Stormy Daniels “horseface.” An ex–Trump campaign staffer slammed Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, as a “beta male." Almost the entire Republican establishment banded together to nominate a man accused of sexual assault to the highest court in the land. After that, the President publicly mocked the woman who testified under oath against him. That man was confirmed, by the way.

And an NPR-Ipsos poll released this week showed that over 40 percent of Americans believe the Me Too movement has "gone too far," with a full 77 percent of Republicans responding that false accusations are "common." (Not true.) Which of course comes after the President of the United States came out with this gem: “It’s a very scary time for young men,” Trump said in an address to reporters on the White House lawn earlier this month.

Taken together, the moments suggest a unified approach, and one that others have noticed too. The GOP’s strategy leading up to the midterms is not their usual proposal for jobs, national security, or even small government; their sales pitch is toxic masculinity. Some suspect that this could cost them valuable female voters at the polls. And the numbers suggest a modest exodus of women from the GOP is happening. Over the summer support for Republican candidates from Republican women plummeted by 11 points.

As we’ve gotten closer to this election, the gender gap has widened. Still, in all the examination over whether conservative women will or will not elect Republican candidates, there's been less vocal concern that Republicans could lose the support of men. We expect that men will stick with a power structure and a raft of terrible ideologies that serve them. That's sad.

The GOP’s strategy leading up to the midterms is not their usual proposal for jobs, national security, or even small government; their sales pitch is toxic masculinity.

And it's not the first time I've witnessed it. Just before the 2016 election, I was reporting from one of Donald Trump’s last campaign rallies in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. An infamous Gallup poll that showed seven out of 10 women had an unfavorable view of Trump had been cited ad nauseam in the national media for months. I went to Pennsylvania to speak to women who did support Trump. Almost 24 months later, one white middle-aged woman's comments have stuck with me. I raised the poll, and she paused and said, “I think seven out of 10 women probably have an unfavorable view of a lot of men.” The implication? That hasn’t stopped them from associating with terrible men before.

In that moment, I felt bad for women. But I felt sadder for men. This woman wasn’t supporting Donald Trump because she had a high opinion of him; she was supporting him because she had such a low opinion of men.

Ever since, Donald Trump has become the ultimate poster boy for toxic masculinity. And all the while, his fellow Republicans have proudly followed his lead. The case of now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the bench is a perfect example. At the time Representative Steve King (R–Iowa) said that if the “new standard” for nominees is to never have been accused of sexual assault, “no man [would] ever qualify” for the Supreme Court of the United States again. Rep. Kevin Cramer (R–N.D.), a current Senate candidate, took it one step further, telling reporters, “Even if it's all true, does it disqualify him?” And Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman, tweeted, “If stupid, bad, or drunken behavior as a minor back in high school were the standard, every male politician in Washington, D.C., would fail.”

Are all men really comfortable with this characterization of their entire gender? And if it's not this, then what it would take for them to abandon the GOP? Because as it stands now, the GOP isn’t just sending a message to girls that their pain is no match for a man’s ambitions. It’s also sending an insidious signal to boys—you're hardwired to be bad, so why bother trying to be good?

So far conservative men have stayed loyal to the Republican Party. In fact, the 2018 midterm election is expected to have a record-breaking gender gap. While Democrats hold a massive 30-point lead over Republicans in terms of female voters, the Republicans have an eight point advantage with male voters.

Is there even some fraction of Republican men who wants to raise the bar of expectations for what it means to be a man in 2018?

But some men are starting to leave the party over its establishment's relentless misogyny. Cameron, a 26-year-old investment banker and registered Republican, said that the message that men "can't help themselves" or that all men mistreat women is "ridiculous."

“That's absurd," he said. "Whoever believes that wasn’t raised properly. [Saying] ‘Boys will be boys’ about things like assault is, frankly, genuinely insulting.” He added that it promoted “abuse toward women” and said he felt “sad that the people who represent my party grew up like that.”

Although he hasn’t decided how he’ll vote in the midterms, he said he's unlikely to vote for a Republican. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with myself knowing that I supported a candidate with those kinds of values,” he explained. “You don’t have my vote.”

I heard similar frustrations from Emerson, a 32-year-old registered Republican who lives in Georgia. While he said he tends to be politically active, he hasn’t decided whether he’ll vote Republican next week. When I asked him about the Kavanaugh hearings, he said he’d been “very uncomfortable with the entire experience.” The confirmation process, he said, undid what progress Republicans and the nation writ large had made when it comes to gender equality. “We have had a huge national discussion about how common [it is that] women are victimized. The #MeToo movement was all about that,” he said. “Everyone learned that every woman they know has been a victim.” When I asked him how he felt in the last few weeks, he exhaled. “Existentially sad,” he said. “It’s been soul-crushing to watch this happen.”

Quardricos Driskell, who teaches legislative affairs at George Washington University and is also a registered Republican, believes that the Kavanaugh hearings are a sign of a deeply rooted and systemic problem for the Republican Party that will only continue to grow. “The senators are protecting him because in many ways they are just like him; he is apart of the same or similar [ilk],” he wrote over email. “The entire hearing is symptomatic of larger issues in America—race, patriarchy, and class.”

“Men don’t need to be afraid, especially white men,” Driskell said, responding to Trump’s cautioning. “Cynically, this notion of men being afraid of women accusing them and being scared for their boys is the genesis of a future Gilead…. Patriarchy is the issue here. And a complete disregard for women and victims.”

Millennial women are leaving the GOP in droves, and there’s even some indication that married (white) women, a usual stronghold for Republicans, are backing away. A million headlines have told us in no uncertain terms that women are powering the resistance, that suburban white women could cost the Republicans their congressional muscle, that more women than ever are running and winning.

But what about the men? Is there even some fraction of Republican men who want to raise the bar of expectations for what it means to be a man in 2018? (We know some Democratic men are out there. “I have been troubled by the excuse offered by too many that this was a high school incident and ‘boys will be boys,’” said Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Connecticut, when Ford testified in the Senate. “To me that’s just far too low a standard for the conduct of boys and men in our country.”)

The 2016 presidential race produced the largest electoral gender gap of all time, and experts have predicted even that spread will be topped in the 2018 midterm elections. White women may at last start to leave the Republican Party in consequential numbers, recognizing that proximity to power (their husbands, their fathers) is not the same as genuine equality. Women may reject the GOP’s toxic masculinity platform. When, if ever, will men?

Liz Plank is an award-winning journalist and the executive producer of Divided States of Women at Vox Media

In a pivotal election year, Glamour is keeping track of the historic number of women running (and voting) in the midterm elections. For more on our latest midterm coverage, visit glamour.com/midterms.

Source: https://www.glamour.com/story/why-are-men-still-voting-republican

[ablearcher5983]

Does America Have A Gun Problem: Yes and No...

One of the most divisive topics that has faced the US in recent years is that of Gun Control. 

Originally I was going to work my way up to this topic, but recent events have spurred me to move it to the front of the list.  Before we get into statistics and facts though, let me make one admission:

I like guns.

I know that is a odd stance for someone that considers themselves a liberal and desires a stronger national stance on gun control. I admit I enjoy going to the range (though I haven't been in many years).  There is something exciting about the mechanics of a gun; the weight of it in your hand, squeezing off a tight grouping at a paper target, and the smell of spent ammunition in the air.  Guns are fun.  I personally do not own any guns (and I will get into why later), but I cannot deny that they are fascinating machines, and in the hands of trained and responsible people they are of little to no danger to the public at large.

Though it might not seem like it when you turn on the news, we are living in one of the most peaceful moments in history. In 2017 (according to the FBI's Unified Crime Reporting) we had roughly 15,000 homicides; 10,982 of which were perpetrated by a firearm, which is one of the lowest numbers since the mid-90's (over 18k in '93).  Of the roughly 3 million US burglaries that happened in 2017, only 90 people were killed and of that only 61 of those murders were carried out with a firearm.  The places in which our military forces are engaged resemble less the wars of yesteryear (WWII, Korea, Vietnam), and unbelievably death toll due to war is declining at a rapid pace around the world.  And there are more people living in free societies around the world than ever before.

Yet in a time of 24 hour news cycles and social media, we are inundated with story after story of violence perpetrated by armed assailants.  That being said, I don't want to belittle or downplay the impact of these acts.  Whether it be the Las Vegas Massacre, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting, or even the recent Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, tragedies of gun violence happen every day.  We cannot stop deeply disturbed individuals from committing heinous acts of violence like what we have seen in the last few years, but if we don't at least attempt to curtail them then are we not complicit in them?  We must try to do something, because so far thoughts and prayers have had little effect...

Yet a major part of the Right's firearms rhetoric is the need for personal protection (both from the criminal element and the machinations of an unjust government).  While gun violence still occurs everyday, every year in this country, one cannot help but wonder if the fear of it is amplified by the efforts of the mainstream media, for the numbers say we are safer on the whole today than we were yesterday.

The other main stance of the Right’s gun rights platform is that the personal ownership of firearms is an intrinsic and innate part of our history and our national fiber.  The 2nd Amendment of our Bill of Rights gives us that fundamental right which cannot and should not be infringed upon.

I hesitate to invoke his name, but newly minted Justice of the Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissenting opinion while on the US Court of Appeals calling for gun laws to be weighed based on “text, history, and tradition”.  So lets look at the text, history, and tradition of the 2nd Amendment and see what we can find.

Some of the Founding Fathers did not want a Bill of Rights to begin with.  It was a gambit they employed to gain more state support for ratification of the Constitution.  Many states feared that the Constitution gave the government excessive power, and having just thrown off the shackles of an oppressive monarchy they had no desire to sign up with another such entity.  The main reason the Founders disliked the idea of enumerating individual rights was the possibility that they would be held as more fundamental than others (hence why they included 9th Amendment).  The Bill of Rights was a compromise, a concession to curry favor.  That being said, it is an important part of our history and has helped to shape the society we now live in. 

So lets take a look at the 2nd Amendment within the view of, as Justice Kavanaugh put it, “text, history and tradition."  The text is rather simple…

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

That’s pretty self explanatory.  The problem is that isn’t all the text says.  The full text is:

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

To understand the full text you have to understand the Founding Fathers’ view of the world they lived in.  One of their insistences was that the US not have a standing army when not in wartime.  As such, when the Revolutionary war ended the Continental Army disbanded and the keeping of the peace was relegated to volunteer militias.

James Madison told the Constitutional Convention in 1787:  “A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty.  The means of defense against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people.”

Washington said “When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen.” And from Jefferson: “Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.” They feared the tyranny that could be wrought with a standing army, and none of them conceived of a local or state police force that would be able to protect the populace.  So they created the 2nd Amendment to provide for the protection of the free state by such militias.  The idea was that when the nation was in need the militias would rise up to defend freedom, under the tradition of Cincinnatus the famed warrior farmer and would disband when the job was done.

We live in a very different time now.  With a standing army, and both state and local police forces it cannot be said that the full text of the 2nd Amendment applies.  Freedom is defended aptly by the brave men and women in those bodies, and the text (when looked at within a historical light) is an artifact of a bygone era, much like the 3rd Amendment which defended against the quartering of soldiers in private residences.  For much of the history of this country that was how the Supreme Court interpreted the 2nd Amendment.  For years the "collective rights" interpretation of the 2nd Amendment was upheld; whether it was U.S. v. Cruikshank in 1876, Miller v. Texas in 1894, or  U.S. v. Miller in 1939, the Supreme Court reinforced the assertion that the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to personal ownership.

Text... History... Tradition...

In 1977 a coup d'état happened within the National Rifle Association that turned it from a sportsman's club to more of a political organization.  Due to their efforts, in 1982 a report was authored, “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms”, whose authors claimed to have found clear and long lost proof for the individual gun rights interpretation of the amendment.  Conservative Justice Warren Burger remarked that this new interpretation of the amendment was  “one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special-interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

It wasn't until 2008, in DC vs Heller that the Supreme Court first ruled in favor of a personal gun rights interpretation of the 2nd Amendment despite what the text says, what the historical context implied, and what 200 plus years of tradition had upheld.

While I've laid out the issues I have with two of the main conservative arguments for gun rights, and I believe that we have the ability to avoid at least some of the tragic violence we see around us, I have another reason for believing we need to reform our gun laws.

Above I said that I do not own a firearm.  That is due to the very personal reason that I have for believing in the need for gun control.  We talked earlier about the roughly 11k firearm homicides that happened in 2017.  Would it surprise you to know that firearm suicides accounted for nearly 22k deaths last year?  Let that sink in for a minute.  Almost two thirds of gun deaths in the US are suicides.

Firearm suicides account for a little over half of all the suicides that happen in the US.  One of the reasons is due to the firearm’s efficacy at the task.  Over 85% of firearm suicide attempts are successful, as opposed to much lower numbers with many more traditional methods.  Suicide is an impulsive act, and an easily accessible firearm allows for immediate gratification of that impulse. 

Now you might ask, “If freedom and liberty do not protect the right of self determination, then can we really say we are free?”  The problem is, other than rare exceptions, suicide is not a freely made choice.  It is not only subject to the unbalanced brain chemistry that causes abnormal behavior and impaired decision making, but years of negative reinforcement caused by the damaging and repetitive cycles self doubt and self destruction.  

I know this not only because I have done extensive research on the topic, but also because I am the survivor of two suicide attempts.  For most of my life I have struggled with bipolar depression, and for much of my adult life it went undiagnosed.  All I knew was that despite all of the things that I could list that were positives in my life, the irrational pull of my own despair was such that all I wanted was for it to end it.  I failed, twice, and was able to make it though, learn about my condition and how to combat it (pharmaceutically and otherwise). 

Over 40,000 Americans a year are not so lucky. 

Mental illness is an insidious thing, and our understanding of it is tenuous at best.  Looking back I have come to believe that had my parents kept a firearm in the house, I probably would have become a part of that statistic, leaving behind a closed casket, and a family plagued with questions.  That is why I do not own a gun, despite my enjoyment of them.  I take medication every day.  I've been trained to limit the influences in my life that incite the swings attributed to bipolar depression.  I have a wife that I love and two children that I adore, I have many reasons to live. But I am far from cured. I live with it every day, and I am always a few bad decisions away from being under the influence of that despair again.  As of yet, like with most mental illness, there is no cure...  

One of the through lines associated with the not only the personal tragedies that steal 40k Americans from us every year but also the public tragedies like that of the Vegas and MS Douglas shootings is that of our inability to help those in our community suffering from mental illness.  Unfortunately, in this day and age it is more profitable to treat an illness than try to find a cure for it.  While our initial stabs in the dark at fighting these insidious diseases have helped millions (like myself), in some cases the treatment can worsen the problem.  We have not done our due diligence when the treatment has the possibility of causing increased homicidal and suicidal tendencies.  

We can do better...  We must do better... 

But before we can do that, we have to make it a national priority.  Until we have Representatives and Executives brave enough to throw the full weight and support of the government behind committing to compassionate and ubiquitous care for this increasing problem (statistics say that almost 20% of Americans suffer some form of mental illness), we will continue to suffer the tragedies we have thus far endured.  

Until the mental health epidemic in our country is addressed  we might not be able to have a meaningful debate about gun violence, for it is one of the most central root causes to the problem.

So does America have a gun problem?  Maybe...  Maybe not...

But at the moment the guns aren’t helping the problem...

Later this week I will lay out what I think are some logical ways to try and limit the incidences of gun violence, while still allowing those in this country who desire to own a firearm the ability to. 

[lrmartinjr]

Given the negative weight that Corey A. Stewart’s past ties to white supremacists have had on his Senate campaign, it might have been a no-brainer Saturday for the Virginia Republican to immediately condemn the swastikas painted overnight on the walls of the Washington region’s largest Jewish community center.

Instead, even after Sen. Tim Kaine (D) — his opponent in the Nov. 6 election — called the vandalism “insidious” on Twitter, Stewart spent the day applauding the Senate vote to confirm Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and attacking protesters angry about the decision.

“Ridiculous protesters,” Stewart tweeted, about demonstrators on Capitol Hill just before Kavanaugh’s confirmation, on a 50-to-48 vote. “This is the only job they can get with a gender studies degree! #ConfirmKavanaughnow. #Growup.”

After the Senate approved Kavanaugh, Stewart condemned Kaine for voting no.

“Sen. @timkaine & the Dems tried to destroy a good man w/ mob tactics and FAILED!” he wrote. “It’s payback time.”

The 19 swastikas that were painted on the walls near the entrance to the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia marked the second time in 18 months that the Fairfax County building was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.

[rolandfontana]

Is Cosby’s Prison Term a Wake-Up Call to Prosecutors?

The sight of Bill Cosby being escorted from court in handcuffs to begin serving a three-to-ten year prison sentence didn’t make me smile, but it did give me a sense of hope that justice is possible for women in America.

Cosby spent decades brutally violating women’s bodies, and ruining their careers if they dared complain about his sexual demands. Now he looked downtrodden, and dejected, though not ashamed. His feelings about going to prison probably match the feelings his victims had when they woke up from a drugged stupor, in pain from neck to knee, coming face to face with a smirking Cosby, who sent them away like yesterday’s trash.

Cosby, like Judge Brett Kavanaugh during last week’s hearings, seemed incredulous that the word of a credible woman, without corroboration, should be enough to hold a man accountable.

Here’s a newsflash: the requirement of corroboration was abolished decades ago on the grounds that it was sexist, and unjustly prevented prosecution of rape cases. Nonetheless, prosecutors retain discretion to refuse to file charges for any reason, and they often do, especially if the offender is a man of influence.

Thus, if Andrea Constand had been Cosby’s only victim, he would not be in prison because, despite abolition of the corroboration rule, prosecutors, police and, more importantly, jurors, are permitted to discriminate against women. Simply put, the culture of our legal system makes clear to victims that if the only evidence they have against a man is their word, they should stay silent.

Colleges contribute to this sick mindset by treating women as second-class campus citizens when they report sexual assault.

Most schools have policies that subject sex discrimination, including sexual assault, to arduous investigations and unfair hearings that drag on for months and favor offenders, while harms based on race and national origin are resolved in a matter of days, without protracted investigations, and without anyone complaining that the offender needs more “due process.”

Title IX and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act mandate that sex-based harms be subjected to exactly the same gold standard treatment as harms based on race and national origin, but most schools mistreat women anyway, and point to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as giving them authority to do so. A landmark lawsuit against DeVos was filed a year ago in federal court in Boston, asking the court to rule that schools must treat sex-based harms exactly the same as race-based harms, and that DeVos has no authority to discriminate against women, or permit schools to subject women to second-class treatment.

College women don’t complain about second-class treatment because they don’t see it. Like women in the “real” world, they accept second-class treatment as normal, often because groups claiming to be “advocates” for victims and proponents of Title IX tell them, falsely, that schools and prosecutors are following the law when they treat women poorly.

Is it any wonder most women never report sexual violence, on campus or in larger society, and that only two percent of rapists spend even one day behind bars; a number that hasn’t changed in decades?

According to the majority staff report of the Senate Judiciary Committee, The Response to Rape: Detours on the Road to Equal Justice, 28 (1993), only two percent of rapists see even one day behind bars. Additional confirmation of this figure comes from Reporting Rates, produced by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which also points out that the majority of reported rapes are never prosecuted.

Despite the fact that schools and law enforcement officials too normalize male supremacy by refusing to take action against an offender, Stanford’s Brock Turner and Bill Cosby have been held to account, to some extent. Three months was a woefully inadequate punishment for Brock Turner, and three years (minimum) in prison is not nearly enough for Bill Cosby, but both punishments are much longer than the sentences typically handed out in similar cases against men of similar social status.

Indeed, privileged males at elite universities rarely suffer any campus-based sanctions, much less criminal charges and incarceration. Brock Turner went to jail only because he was caught in the act by two eyewitnesses who were not his buddies, and thus not willing to lie for him. And Bill Cosby went to prison because, although he is a man of significant privilege, he had so many victims.

Both men also got in trouble because their victims were drugged, a factor that helped make it politically impossible for public officials to do nothing.

Most victims don’t realize they were drugged; they think they had too much to drink because they don’t know what being drugged feels like. And they don’t call police because the drugs cause amnesia, so they often cannot recall the details of what happened. Moreover, rape laws and campus rules are vague about what constitutes an offense when a victim is incapacitated.

In Pennsylvania for example, where Cosby was prosecuted, “incapacitation” means the victim must be completely unconscious. Another law requires proof that the perpetrator secretly caused the victim to consume the drugs. In other words, in Pennsylvania, offenders have legal permission to rape incapacitated persons, so long as there’s no proof the offender secretly drugged the victim, and she isn’t totally unconscious.

Bill Cosby’s trial helped teach the public about the prevalence and effect of rape drugs, while the Brock Turner case managed to hide the fact that the victim was so heavily drugged, she remained unconscious for hours after police brought her to the hospital.

Drugging victims is a convenient tactic that often enables an offender to avoid accountability simply because the victim cannot recall what happened. By the time she realizes she was drugged, the substances have dissipated from blood and urine. Few victims are informed by school or by law enforcement officials that drugging can still be proved by behavioral evidence, and by testing the victim’s hair. Rape drugs never dissipate from hair, and the latest technology can reveal with a high degree of certainty when the drugs entered the victim’s body.

While Cosby and Turner were sentenced to incarceration, other men of influence, such as Les Moonves, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer, merely lost their jobs, or faced civil suits. Justice for most women in the form of criminal prosecution has been elusive, with Harvey Weinstein being a notable exception.

The pile of victims has to grow very high before a District Attorney pays attention.  One victim is enough.

Weinstein has been charged, and may well face incarceration when his case goes to trial, but as with Cosby, the pile of victims had to grow very high before the District Attorney paid attention.

This is unacceptable, blatant sex discrimination. One victim is enough.

The criminal courtroom is the people’s courtroom, and when violence against women does not receive its fair share of criminal justice resources, the violence gets worse and the public is denied access to truthful information about the extent of the problem, and the suffering women endure.

Notwithstanding the insidious mistreatment of victimized women in our criminal justice system, Bill Cosby’s incarceration is a cultural turning point, and a byproduct of many factors, including the #MeToo movement. #MeToo has provided a space for women to be heard when responsible officials and school administrators aren’t listening.

Led by an organic groundswell of anger, women have come together like never before around the issue of gender-based violence, and the public is finally starting to understand that a sexual assault against one woman is a sexual assault against all women.

Women have also begun to understand the importance of becoming politically active around the election of District Attorneys. Kevin Steele, the Montgomery County (Pa.,) prosecutor who filed charges against Cosby, ran his campaign on a promise to prosecute Cosby if elected. His incumbent/opponent refused.

Women need to elect prosecutors who value their lives, voices, and autonomous authority over their bodies. Too often prosecutors refuse to file charges out of fear that jurors will find reasonable doubt based on discriminatory ideas about a victim’s behavior or credibility. District Attorney Steele boldly confronted these systemic biases, rather than indulging them, and prosecuted Cosby without fear that jurors might judge Andrea Constand unfairly.

This is how all prosecutors should conduct themselves, but women need to hold them accountable.

For example, women can demand that candidates for District Attorney agree to release annual “Violence Against Women Report Cards,” showing how many rape and domestic abuse cases were reported to police and prosecutors; how many were declined for prosecution, and what happened to the cases that were filed, in terms of charges, convictions, and punishments.

Too often prosecutors reveal only the percentage of cases they won, rather than how many cases they accepted and rejected for prosecution. So a District Attorney who says he won 90 percent of his rape cases is actually hurting women if he prosecuted only ten cases, and refused to file charges in 800 more. And what does he mean when he says he “won” a case? If a prosecutor agrees to a plea-bargain and allows a rapist to plead guilty to simple assault and battery, that is a loss, not a win. Unless all the data on violence against women is revealed in an annual Report Card, women have no way of holding prosecutors (and judges) accountable for unequal justice.

Women have been oppressed for a very — long — time, and although Bill Cosby’s conviction will inspire more women to report rape, their reports will fall on deaf ears unless they demand equal access to justice, and equal treatment under the law. Prosecutors must no longer get away with citing tired excuses about the case not being “strong enough” to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Victims are entitled to their day in court. Let a jury determine the evidence. Among other benefits, this will help “teach” jurors, hence the public, that all violence against women matters, and all women will be heard.

With prosecutors focused on justice rather than winning, more offenders will start to worry about being held accountable. That men do not expect to be held accountable is derived from male supremacy in the U.S. Constitution, which long ago declared women second-class citizens. The resulting sense of male entitlement is correlated with high rates of sexual assault.

Simply put, the space between equality and inequality is where violence happens with impunity under the law.

When he sentenced Cosby, Judge Steven O’Neill said, “No one is above the law, and no one should be treated differently.”

He was talking about Cosby, but he should have talked about women, and the violence they suffer because they are female. Judge O’Neill should have pointed out that women endure very high rates of abuse because the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause does not equally protect them, on par with men. To the contrary, women’s constitutionally mandated inferiority allows federal and state officials to discriminate on the basis of sex when they enact laws, enforce (or not) laws, and interpret laws in the courts.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which aims to repair the problem by establishing women’s equality in the Constitution, was passed by Congress in 1972, but was never ratified by the necessary 38 states. Nevada ratified ERA in 2017, and Illinois ratified earlier this year, making it the 37th state.

This means America is only one state away from full equality for women for the first time in history.

Wendy Murphy

With unprecedented energy now driving the national conversation about violence against women, all people who care about the issue should mobilize and focus on ratification of the ERA because equality, not hashtags, will stop the violence.

And, not for nothing, karma would have a whole new meaning if the ERA made its way into the Constitution before Bill Cosby made his way out of prison.

Further Reading: Amid Kavanaugh Furor, Devos Ponders College Sex Rules

Wendy Murphy is a former sex crimes prosecutor and professor of sexual violence law at New England Law|Boston, where she also directs the Women’s and Children’s Advocacy Project. Follow her at @WMurphyLaw. Readers’ comments are welcome.

Is Cosby’s Prison Term a Wake-Up Call to Prosecutors? syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[adamcairnsorg-blog]

How To Be A Mobile Device Hero

Which Mobile Apps To Use And How To Set Them Up

I'm writing this post because some of my work colleagues have asked me to show them how I use my mobile devices to get things done. They've noticed that I've got something interesting going on. It's true, I've got a system that works really well for me. Since I'm writing it all up I thought, why not share it?

I'm writing a series of posts which contain step by step instructions. Here's what's coming.

Which Apps To Use And How To Set them Up

How To Take Killer Notes

How To Tame Email Your Email Monster

How To File And Store Information

How To Manage Your Important Must Do's

How To Build Accountability In Your Team

How To Manage Your Calendar

How To Plan Your Projects And Tasks

How To Review And Reflect  

If you'd like to be sure to catch the series, you can sign up to the blog. Let's get started!  

Recommended Apps

Today’s mobile devices are amazing. On some benchmarks, the latest iPhone 7 performs as well as a MacBook Pro and given that you can have a whopping 256GB of storage on your phone, these devices have become true handheld computers. 

The iPad Pro is another super effective device and I would recommend you get the 9.5 inch version as it’s easier to work with and very light. I no longer use a laptop at work as I find the iPad does the job do well and it's much light to carry round. I've bought an Apple Bluetooth keyboard which I can use whenever I've got a lot of typing to do.

By the way, it's really easy to create the ideal mobile work station and there are some simple steps you can take to make working with your iPad massively efficient. Take a look at this blog post showing Mat Gemmell's iPhone and iPad set up. The Sweet Setup where this post is featured is a great resource. 

I use the following apps on my iPhone and iPad every day.

OmniFocus

Dropbox

Airmail

Drafts

Evernote

TextExpander

These six apps are the foundation blocks for my personal digital workflow. For Android users please note that there is an app called Drafts, but it is not the same as the iOS app.

Each of these apps have powerful functionality on their own. In my opinion they are best of breed for the job they are designed to do. The better news is that by combining them together you can create a powerful system that amplifies the individual capabilities of these applications.

They're not all free – but I think good software developers should be supported. I'm happy to pay for each of these apps because they repay my investment many times over.

If you want to jump straight to the instructions about how to set the apps up, you'll find them here.

Notifications

When you're setting up the apps, I think it's a good idea to switch off all notifications on your desktop and mobile devices. Once you have your digital workflow set up and working as you want it to (not as Apple or Microsoft think you should do) then by all means use notifications to make your system work.

Being distracted by little red flags, or by notifications on your screen will drain your concentration and prevent you from focusing your time and energy effectively. Turn them off.

Further Reading

All of these apps will work straight out of the box. However three of them have considerable capabilities which may take some time to master. Here are my recommended reading materials if you want to dig a bit deeper.

OmniFocus

There are four recommendations for this app.

Asian Efficiency Premium Posts

The Asian Efficiency Team have lots to offer in the personal productivity space. Don’t let the name ‘Asian Efficiency’ put you off. They produce information that is well written and provide very clear and actionable advice. If you want a short cut to optimising your OmniFocus setup this is as good a place as I know to start.

Working With OmniFocus

If you’d prefer to consume your advice in video form, have a look at Joe Buhlig’s website. He originally wrote an eBook with the same title, which I still refer to from time to time. I like Joe’s approach to productivity and his videos are a very accessible way into deepening your OmniFocus implementation.

Creating Flow with OmniFocus

Kouroush Dini is a psychiatrist with a keen interest in productivity systems. This very comprehensive book covers everything you are ever likely to need to know about OmniFocus. He also offers a video course called Zen and the Art of Work.

OmniFocus for Mac

This one is written by the OmniGroup, the people behind OmniFocus as well as OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner and OmniPlan. This is a good place to start and is also free.  

Evernote

Evernote Essentials

Evernote is at one level a very simple app. You just open it and start saving things like documents, receipts and so on. This is just scratching the surface however and Brett Kelly has written the best guide to getting the most out of this app. The Evernote team were so impressed they hired him to write their user documentation.

Dropbox

The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide

Lots of people sign up for a Dropbox account and then throw stuff into the on-line folder without too much thought. I confess, I was one of them, that is until I read Jeffery Abbott’s The Ultimate Unofficial Dropbox Guide.  My advice is to get hold of a copy of this guide and implement it to the letter.

It’s not essential that you read these guides, but f you’re interested in mastering what each app has to offer then I think it’s worth investing the time (and a little cash) to become more familiar with them. 

It should take you no more than half a day to run through each one and decide which you'd like to spend some more time on. 

Why Organising Your Time Could Be A Game Changer

Each app on it's own does a great job but you can take things to the next level by joining them up. The way I do this is to create workflows – routines – which I use every day. 

Introducing Time-Boxes

Let me introduce you to the idea of a Time-Box. A Time-Box is a time when you will undertake a specific task or group of tasks. It might be the time when you flog through your emails. Or it might be the process you follow at the start or at the end of each day. The idea of a Time-Box is a really important element in handling your digital world. 

In the beautifully drawn diagram, the big squiggly mess represents all the digital inflows you will encounter each day. Each coloured line represents your email, social media streams, calendar events, to-do lists and so on.

If you don’t have a way of organising these flows, you will continually be presented with whichever one of them either beeps loudest – if you have notifications switched on (turn them off!) – or catches your eye.

The trouble with this approach is that what you are basically saying to the world is:

“You can send me anything at any time and I will deal with it at anytime”.

Without any kind of system in place there are a number of inevitable consequences.

Missing Something Important

It is almost inevitable that you will, without a system in place sooner or later miss something important. This could be a deadline, an important piece of information critical to a project, interesting news, an appointment with your significant other or anything else. In the diagram above you will notice that on the left hand side, not all of the squiggles emerge from the nest-mess.

That’s what will happen without a process in place. Not everything has an immediate consequences and sometimes it will days or even weeks or months later that you realise you should have picked something up.

Draining Your Brain's Battery

The second impact is more subtle and insidious. In fact you may not even realise it’s a problem most of time. 

Our brains can only hold a maximum of between 5 and 7 items in its short-term memory. If you rely on your brain to remember everything that needs to be remembered you are basically doomed to failure.

What’s worse though is that in the background your brain will continue chugging away trying to recall all of the things you are hoping it will remember. 

Think about your mobile phone. You know that having a lot of open apps will drain your battery fast. You’re not using the apps, they’re just sitting therein the background. If you close them down, they will still be available when you need them, but in the meantime they won’t be a drain on your battery.

This is a good analogy for the way our brain will run down it’s energy store much more quickly when unreasonably you ask it to try and keep an eye on too many things in the background. Stay fresh and maintain a higher level of cognitive capacity by closing down unnecessary processing by placing items not required right now into a trusted system.

Let’s return to our Time-Boxes. 

Time-Box Organisation

I recommend Time-Boxing your day so that you have dedicated time to deal with key elements of your daily workflow. The illustration below is my suggested way of starting your use of Time-Boxes. They are suggestions  and you may find that you need some other labels or you have different needs than me. That’s fine. Let me explain how mine work.

Time-Box 1: Email (Work)

How and when do you process your email while at work? Many of us have a practice which involves having the email software client on all the time and we dip into and out of emails from time to time during the day. Personally I find there are only three times when I need to look at my emails. These are first thing in the morning, as part of my Work Day Start Routine and again at the end of the day when I do my Work Day Finish Routine. 

The other time is when I'm in between other activities and I don’t want to start anything that requires a lot of mental energy. When I’m in this mode I have one rule which is that I will only read emails. 

I find that if I don't use this rule I will get sucked in and before I know where I am I will have spent far longer than I planned. There are methods I use to triage emails when in this mode, which I will come to later, which means that there is something urgent or important I will not forget to do something with it when I’m ready.

Someone once said:

"Email is a to-do list that everyone else has access to". 

I think that is so true and if you’re not careful you will soon be dancing to someone else’s tune, spending your time, energy and attention on their agenda, not yours. Be disciplined and Time-Box email so that you deal with it at a time and place of your choosing.

Time-Box 2: Email (Personal)

With the right software (see section on Airmail) you can keep all your emails in one place. If you work regular hours like me, I find that it helps to cordon off a little time each day to keep on top of my personal emails. The same principles outlined for work emails (above) hold equally well for personal emails.

A future blog post – Taming Your Email Monster – will provide advice about how to cut down the number of incoming emails you get.

How To Set Up The Apps

Each of the apps you've downloaded should work together and sync across different devices/platforms. I've set them up like this.

1. OmniFocus

Sync OmniFocus comes with a sync mechanism supplied by the OmniGroup. Sync will ensure that your versions of OmniFocus on your iPad, MacBook or iPad always reflect the latest changes. You can create your own personal cloud sync for OmniFocus by signing up here. It’s very straightforward:

OSX: cmd,  Select Synchronisation Click on the Omni Sync radio button.

iOS OmniFocus Settings–>Sync Method Select Omni Sync Server

OmniFocus Mail Drop You will also have a special email address (referred to as Mail Drop) which you can use to send items directly into OmniFocus via email. I use this all the time, sending emails that I need to take action on a later date into OmniFocus.

To find out what yours is, go to the sign in page you used to set up sync and then scroll down towards the bottom of the page where you will find your Mail Drop email address. Copy the address and paste it into your address book. The next time you have an email you want to take action on, just forward it to this address and it will appear in your OmniFocus inbox.

2. TextExpander

If you have already downloaded TextExpander on your MacBook your snippets will work directly in OmniFocus.

On iOS you can link to your snippets by opening the app and selecting:

Settings–>TextExpander

3. TaskClone

TaskClone is a one trick pony, that does it’s trick fantastically well. If you use Evernote to capture your notes, then TaskClone can capture any actions that you record and place them into OmniFocus.

Once you’ve signed up for this service, each time you make a note in Evernote just tag that note with “taskclone” which is the default tag TaskClone provides. You can change this if you prefer. When taking a note in Evernote tag the note with whatever you have chosen to be the keyword and then any checkbox you’ve made in Evernote will find its way into OmniFocus.

As an additional feature you can also send Evernote entries into your calendar by using “sch” as the tag.

4. Evernote

Evernote is going to be where you make notes. Set up your Evernote ‘BOOKs’ (Groups of Notes) and ‘STACKS’ (Groups of Books) in a way that makes sense to you.

I provide specific guidance about how to organise filing across in the Filing System post. For now the key point to note is that you should aim to create the same filing approach and naming system in each app.

When you open a new note in Evernote, you'll see along the bottom some formatting options. Tap the one that looks like a bullet list and you'll find the checkbox icon. Whenever you need to record an action use this checkbox and TaskClone will hoover it up and put it in OmniFocus for you. Just remember to tag your note with "taskclone" as described above.

Evernote Mail Drop Like OmniFocus, Evernote also has a facility which enables you to email notes to it. Just login to the web version of Evernote login and then go to settings and scroll down to ‘Send Email To’ and there you will find your unique email address. Copy it into your address book.

5. Airmail

Airmail is your email client, which you can use on every iOS and OSX device. It comes with a lot of features already set for you. The main thing to check is that on each device you make sure the share settings for Evernote, Dropbox and OmniFocus are all switched on.

Next Step

The next post will show you how to take killer notes – so you'll never forget anything important ever again.

I'll provide a step by step setup for creating your own note-taking workflow based on my own system. I'll see you then.

Question: Which routines do you use to keep on top of your daily tasks?

[rolandfontana]

Will Cosby’s Prison Term Be a Wake-Up Call to Prosecutors?

The sight of Bill Cosby being escorted from court in handcuffs to begin serving a three-to-ten year prison sentence didn’t make me smile, but it did give me a sense of hope that justice is possible for women in America.

Cosby spent decades brutally violating women’s bodies, and ruining their careers if they dared complain about his sexual demands. Now he looked downtrodden, and dejected, though not ashamed. His feelings about going to prison probably match the feelings his victims had when they woke up from a drugged stupor, in pain from neck to knee, coming face to face with a smirking Cosby, who sent them away like yesterday’s trash.

Cosby, like Judge Brett Kavanaugh during last week’s hearings, seemed incredulous that the word of a credible woman, without corroboration, should be enough to hold a man accountable.

Here’s a newsflash: the requirement of corroboration was abolished decades ago on the grounds that it was sexist, and unjustly prevented prosecution of rape cases. Nonetheless, prosecutors retain discretion to refuse to file charges for any reason, and they often do, especially if the offender is a man of influence.

Thus, if Andrea Constand had been Cosby’s only victim, he would not be in prison because, despite abolition of the corroboration rule, prosecutors, police and, more importantly, jurors, are permitted to discriminate against women. Simply put, the culture of our legal system makes clear to victims that if the only evidence they have against a man is their word, they should stay silent.

Colleges contribute to this sick mindset by treating women as second-class campus citizens when they report sexual assault.

Most schools have policies that subject sex discrimination, including sexual assault, to arduous investigations and unfair hearings that drag on for months and favor offenders, while harms based on race and national origin are resolved in a matter of days, without protracted investigations, and without anyone complaining that the offender needs more “due process.”

Title IX and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act mandate that sex-based harms be subjected to exactly the same gold standard treatment as harms based on race and national origin, but most schools mistreat women anyway, and point to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos as giving them authority to do so. A landmark lawsuit against DeVos was filed a year ago in federal court in Boston, asking the court to rule that schools must treat sex-based harms exactly the same as race-based harms, and that DeVos has no authority to discriminate against women, or permit schools to subject women to second-class treatment.

College women don’t complain about second-class treatment because they don’t see it. Like women in the “real” world, they accept second-class treatment as normal, often because groups claiming to be “advocates” for victims and proponents of Title IX tell them, falsely, that schools and prosecutors are following the law when they treat women poorly.

Is it any wonder most women never report sexual violence, on campus or in larger society, and that only two percent of rapists spend even one day behind bars; a number that hasn’t changed in decades?

According to the majority staff report of the Senate Judiciary Committee, The Response to Rape: Detours on the Road to Equal Justice, 28 (1993), only two percent of rapists see even one day behind bars. Additional confirmation of this figure comes from Reporting Rates, produced by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which also points out that the majority of reported rapes are never prosecuted.

Despite the fact that schools and law enforcement officials too normalize male supremacy by refusing to take action against an offender, Stanford’s Brock Turner and Bill Cosby have been held to account, to some extent. Three months was a woefully inadequate punishment for Brock Turner, and three years (minimum) in prison is not nearly enough for Bill Cosby, but both punishments are much longer than the sentences typically handed out in similar cases against men of similar social status.

Indeed, privileged males at elite universities rarely suffer any campus-based sanctions, much less criminal charges and incarceration. Brock Turner went to jail only because he was caught in the act by two eyewitnesses who were not his buddies, and thus not willing to lie for him. And Bill Cosby went to prison because, although he is a man of significant privilege, he had so many victims.

Both men also got in trouble because their victims were drugged, a factor that helped make it politically impossible for public officials to do nothing.

Most victims don’t realize they were drugged; they think they had too much to drink because they don’t know what being drugged feels like. And they don’t call police because the drugs cause amnesia, so they often cannot recall the details of what happened. Moreover, rape laws and campus rules are vague about what constitutes an offense when a victim is incapacitated.

In Pennsylvania for example, where Cosby was prosecuted, “incapacitation” means the victim must be completely unconscious. Another law requires proof that the perpetrator secretly caused the victim to consume the drugs. In other words, in Pennsylvania, offenders have legal permission to rape incapacitated persons, so long as there’s no proof the offender secretly drugged the victim, and she isn’t totally unconscious.

Bill Cosby’s trial helped teach the public about the prevalence and effect of rape drugs, while the Brock Turner case managed to hide the fact that the victim was so heavily drugged, she remained unconscious for hours after police brought her to the hospital.

Drugging victims is a convenient tactic that often enables an offender to avoid accountability simply because the victim cannot recall what happened. By the time she realizes she was drugged, the substances have dissipated from blood and urine. Few victims are informed by school or by law enforcement officials that drugging can still be proved by behavioral evidence, and by testing the victim’s hair. Rape drugs never dissipate from hair, and the latest technology can reveal with a high degree of certainty when the drugs entered the victim’s body.

While Cosby and Turner were sentenced to incarceration, other men of influence, such as Les Moonves, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer, merely lost their jobs, or faced civil suits. Justice for most women in the form of criminal prosecution has been elusive, with Harvey Weinstein being a notable exception.

The pile of victims has to grow very high before a District Attorney pays attention.  One victim is enough.

Weinstein has been charged, and may well face incarceration when his case goes to trial, but as with Cosby, the pile of victims had to grow very high before the District Attorney paid attention.

This is unacceptable, blatant sex discrimination. One victim is enough.

The criminal courtroom is the people’s courtroom, and when violence against women does not receive its fair share of criminal justice resources, the violence gets worse and the public is denied access to truthful information about the extent of the problem, and the suffering women endure.

Notwithstanding the insidious mistreatment of victimized women in our criminal justice system, Bill Cosby’s incarceration is a cultural turning point, and a byproduct of many factors, including the #MeToo movement. #MeToo has provided a space for women to be heard when responsible officials and school administrators aren’t listening.

Led by an organic groundswell of anger, women have come together like never before around the issue of gender-based violence, and the public is finally starting to understand that a sexual assault against one woman is a sexual assault against all women.

Women have also begun to understand the importance of becoming politically active around the election of District Attorneys. Kevin Steele, the Montgomery County (Pa.,) prosecutor who filed charges against Cosby, ran his campaign on a promise to prosecute Cosby if elected. His incumbent/opponent refused.

Women need to elect prosecutors who value their lives, voices, and autonomous authority over their bodies. Too often prosecutors refuse to file charges out of fear that jurors will find reasonable doubt based on discriminatory ideas about a victim’s behavior or credibility. District Attorney Steele boldly confronted these systemic biases, rather than indulging them, and prosecuted Cosby without fear that jurors might judge Andrea Constand unfairly.

This is how all prosecutors should conduct themselves, but women need to hold them accountable.

For example, women can demand that candidates for District Attorney agree to release annual “Violence Against Women Report Cards,” showing how many rape and domestic abuse cases were reported to police and prosecutors; how many were declined for prosecution, and what happened to the cases that were filed, in terms of charges, convictions, and punishments.

Too often prosecutors reveal only the percentage of cases they won, rather than how many cases they accepted and rejected for prosecution. So a District Attorney who says he won 90 percent of his rape cases is actually hurting women if he prosecuted only ten cases, and refused to file charges in 800 more. And what does he mean when he says he “won” a case? If a prosecutor agrees to a plea-bargain and allows a rapist to plead guilty to simple assault and battery, that is a loss, not a win. Unless all the data on violence against women is revealed in an annual Report Card, women have no way of holding prosecutors (and judges) accountable for unequal justice.

Women have been oppressed for a very — long — time, and although Bill Cosby’s conviction will inspire more women to report rape, their reports will fall on deaf ears unless they demand equal access to justice, and equal treatment under the law. Prosecutors must no longer get away with citing tired excuses about the case not being “strong enough” to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Victims are entitled to their day in court. Let a jury determine the evidence. Among other benefits, this will help “teach” jurors, hence the public, that all violence against women matters, and all women will be heard.

With prosecutors focused on justice rather than winning, more offenders will start to worry about being held accountable. That men do not expect to be held accountable is derived from male supremacy in the U.S. Constitution, which long ago declared women second-class citizens. The resulting sense of male entitlement is correlated with high rates of sexual assault.

Simply put, the space between equality and inequality is where violence happens with impunity under the law.

When he sentenced Cosby, Judge Steven O’Neill said, “No one is above the law, and no one should be treated differently.”

He was talking about Cosby, but he should have talked about women, and the violence they suffer because they are female. Judge O’Neill should have pointed out that women endure very high rates of abuse because the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause does not equally protect them, on par with men. To the contrary, women’s constitutionally mandated inferiority allows federal and state officials to discriminate on the basis of sex when they enact laws, enforce (or not) laws, and interpret laws in the courts.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which aims to repair the problem by establishing women’s equality in the Constitution, was passed by Congress in 1972, but was never ratified by the necessary 38 states. Nevada ratified ERA in 2017, and Illinois ratified earlier this year, making it the 37th state.

This means America is only one state away from full equality for women for the first time in history.

Wendy Murphy

With unprecedented energy now driving the national conversation about violence against women, all people who care about the issue should mobilize and focus on ratification of the ERA because equality, not hashtags, will stop the violence.

And, not for nothing, karma would have a whole new meaning if the ERA made its way into the Constitution before Bill Cosby made his way out of prison.

Further Reading: Amid Kavanaugh Furor, Devos Ponders College Sex Rules

Wendy Murphy is a former sex crimes prosecutor and professor of sexual violence law at New England Law|Boston, where she also directs the Women’s and Children’s Advocacy Project. Follow her at @WMurphyLaw. Readers’ comments are welcome.

Will Cosby’s Prison Term Be a Wake-Up Call to Prosecutors? syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/