#modern billing platforms

[ifindtaxpro]

💡💳 Witness the billing revolution unfold! Explore the evolution from manual invoices to cutting-edge software solutions. Simplify invoicing, amplify efficiency! #BillingTech #DigitalInvoicing #Fintech

[fullhalalalchemist]

URGENT: 🚨🚨EARN IT ACT IS BACK IN THE SENATE 🚨🚨 TUMBLR’S NSFW BAN HITTING THE ENTIRE INTERNET THIS SUMMER 2023

April 28, 2023

I’m so sorry for the long post but please please please pay attention and spread this

What is the EARN IT Act?

The EARN IT Act (s. 1207) has been roundly condemned by nearly every major LGBTQ+ advocacy and human rights organization in the country.

This is the third time the Senate has been trying to force this through, and I talked about it last year. It is a bill that claims "protects children and victims against CSAM" by creating an unelected and politically appointed national commission of law enforcement specialists to dictate "best practices" that websites all across the nation will be forced to follow. (Keep in mind, most websites in the world are created in the US, so this has global ramifications). These "best practices" would include killing encryption so that any law enforcement can scan and see every single message, dm, photo, cloud storage, data, and any website you have every so much as glanced at. Contrary to popular belief, no they actually can't already do that. These "best practices" also create new laws for "removing CSAM" online, leading to mass censorship of non-CSAM content like what happened to tumblr. Keep in mind that groups like NCOSE, an anti-LGBT hate group, will be allowed on this commission. If websites don't follow these best practices, they lose their Section 230 protections, leading to mass censorship either way.

Section 230 is foundational to modern online communications. It's the entire reason social media exists. It grants legal protection to users and websites, and says that websites aren't responsible for what users upload online unless it's criminal. Without Section 230, websites are at the mercy of whatever bullshit regulatory laws any and every US state passes. Imagine if Texas and Florida were allowed to say what you can and can't publish and access online. That is what will happen if EARN IT passes. (For context, Trump wanted to get rid of Section 230 because he knew it would lead to mass govt surveillance and censorship of minorities online.)

This is really not a drill. Anyone who makes or consume anything “adult” and LGBT online has to be prepared to fight Sen. Blumenthal’s EARN IT Act, brought back from the grave by a bipartisan consensus to destroy Section 230. If this bill passes, we’re going to see most, if not all, adult content and accounts removed from mainstream platforms. This will include anything related to LGBT content, including SFW fanfiction, for example. Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, Tiktok, Tumblr, all of them will be completely gutted of anything related to LGBT content, abortion healthcare, resources for victims of any type of abuse, etc. It is a right-wing fascists wet dream, which is why NCOSE is behind this bill and why another name for this bill is named in reference to NCOSE.

NCOSE used to be named Morality in Media, and has rebranded into an "anti-trafficking" organization. They are a hate group that has made millions off of being "against trafficking" while helping almost no victims and pushing for homophobic laws globally. They have successfully pushing the idea that any form of sexual expression, including talking about HEALTH, leads to sex trafficking. That's how SESTA passed. Their goal is to eliminate all sex, anything gay, and everything that goes against their idea of ‘God’ from the internet and hyper disney-fy and sanitize it. This is a highly coordinated attack on multiple fronts.

The EARN IT Act will lead to mass online censorship and surveillance. Platforms will be forced to scan their users’ communications and censor all sex-related content, including sex education, literally anything lgbt, transgender or non-binary education and support systems, aything related to abortion, and sex worker communication according to the ACLU. All this in the name of “protecting kids” and “fighting CSAM”, both of which the bill does nothing of the sort. In fact it makes fighting CSEM even harder.

EARN IT will open the way for politicians to define the category of “pornography" as they — or the lobbies that fund them — please. The same way that right-wing groups have successfully banned books about race and LGBT, are banning trans people from existing, all under the guise of protecting children from "grooming and exploitation", is how they will successfully censor the internet.

As long as state legislatures can tie in "fighting CSAM" to their bullshit laws, they can use EARN IT to censor and surveill whatever they want.

This is already a nightmare enough. But the bill also DESTROYS ENCRYPTION, you know, the thing protecting literally anyone or any govt entity from going into your private messages and emails and anything on your devices and spying on you.

This bill is going to finish what FOSTA/SESTA started. And that should terrify you.

Senator Blumenthal (Same guy who said ‘Facebook should ban finsta’) pushed this bill all of 2020, literally every activist (There were more than half a million signatures on this site opposing this act!) pushed hard to stop this bill. Now he brings it back, doesn’t show the text of the bill until hours later, and it’s WORSE. Instead of fixing literally anything in the bill that might actually protect kids online, Bluemnthal is hoping to fast track this and shove it through, hoping to get little media attention other than propaganda of “protecting kids” to support this shitty legislation that will harm kids. Blumental doesn't care about protecting anyone, and only wants his name in headlines.

It will make CSAM much much worse.

One of the many reasons this bill is so dangerous: It totally misunderstands how Section 230 works, and in doing so (as with FOSTA) it is likely to make the very real problem of CSAM worse, not better. Section 230 gives companies the flexibility to try different approaches to dealing with various content moderation challenges. It allows for greater and greater experimentation and adjustments as they learn what works – without fear of liability for any “failure.” Removing Section 230 protections does the opposite. It says if you do anything, you may face crippling legal liability. This actually makes companies less willing to do anything that involves trying to seek out, take down, and report CSAM because of the greatly increased liability that comes with admitting that there is CSAM on your platform to search for and deal with. This liability would allow anyone for any reason to sue any platform they want, suing smaller ones out of existence. Look at what is happening right now with book bans across the nation with far right groups. This is going to happen to the internet if this bill passes.

(Remember, the state department released a report in December 2021 recommending that the government crack down on “obscenity” as hard the Reagan Administration did. If this bill passes, it could easily go way beyond shit red states are currently trying. It is a goldmine for the fascist right that is currently in the middle of banning every book that talks about race and sexuality across the US.)

The reason these bills keep showing up is because there is this false lie spread by organizations like NCOSE that platforms do nothing about CSEM online. However, platforms are already liable for child sexual exploitation under federal law. Tech companies sent more than 45 million+ instances of CSAM to the DOJ in 2019 alone, most of which they declined to investigate. This shows that platforms are actually doing everything in their power already to stop CSEM by following already existing laws. The Earn It Act includes zero resources for proven investigation or prevention programs. If Senator Bluementhal actually cared about protecting youth, why wouldn’t he include anything to actually protect them in his shitty horrible bill? EARN IT is actually likely to make prosecuting child molesters more difficult since evidence collected this way likely violates the Fourth Amendment and would be inadmissible in court.

I don’t know why so many Senators are eager to cosponsor the “make child pornography worse” bill, but here we are.

HOW TO FIGHT BACK

EARN IT Act was introduced just two weeks ago and is already being fast-tracked. It will be marked up the week of May 1st and head to the Senate floor immediately after. If there is no loud and consistent opposition, it will be law by JUNE! Most bills never go to markup, so this means they are putting pressure to move this through. There are already 20 co-sponsors, a fifth of the entire Senate. This is an uphill battle and it is very much all hands on deck.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES.

This website takes you to your Senator / House members contact info. EMAIL, MESSAGE, SEND LETTERS, CALL CALL CALL CALL CALL. Calling is the BEST way to get a message through. Get your family and friends to send calls too. This is literally the end of free speech online.

(202) 224-3121 connects you to the congressional hotline. Here is a call script if you don't know what to say. Call them every day. Even on the weekends, leaving voicemails are fine.

2. Sign these petitions!

Link to Petition 1

Link to Petition 2

3. SPREAD THE WORD ONLINE

If you have any social media, spread this online. One of the best ways we fought back against this last year was MASSIVE spread online. Tiktok, reddit, twitter, discord, whatever means you have at least mention it. We could see most social media die out by this fall if we don't fight back.

Here is a linktree with more information on this bill including a masterpost of articles, the links to petitions, and the call script.

DISCORD LINK IF YOU WANT TO HELP FIGHT IT

TLDR: The EARN IT Act will lead to online censorship of any and all adult & lgbt content across the entire internet, open the floodgates to mass surveillance the likes which we haven’t seen before, lead to much more CSEM being distributed online, and destroy encryption. Call 202-224-3121 to connect to your house and senate representative and tell them to VOTE NO on this bill that does not protect anyone and harms everyone.

[batboyblog]

2024 Senate Elections: You'd Better VOTE!

Yes it's election year yet again in America! but not just for President, almost as important will be the US Senate!

I'm not gonna lie this is a rough map for Democrats, we're playing a lot of defense in some pretty red states with even our best hopes for a pick up being pretty long shots. But even with narrow control of the Senate we've managed the biggest climate bill in American History a huge infrastructure bill thats bring high speed rail to America capped the price of insulin changed the law to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices bring savings to everyone, and put over 160 federal judges on the bench, 2/3rds of whom are women and/or people of color the first time white men haven't been the majority of nominees by a President. So let's keep progress going by voting for, supporting, donating, and volunteering for the following candidates in the races that will decide the US Senate this year.

Arizona

Ruben Gallego (Hold)

After frustrating Democrats by repeatedly voting against major Democratic priorities, supporting the filibuster and putting donors over voters, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party to become an independent in 2022. Democratic congressman Ruben Gallego was running to primary Sinema before she left the party and is now the likely Democratic nominee to unseat her and give Arizona the Democratic Senator it deserves. Gallego is a former Marine, combat veteran, Harvard grad, a former state representative, and since 2014 a member of Congress. Gallego is a member of the Progressive Caucus and is known for his blunt and combative style standing up to Republicans. In Congress Gallego has been a strong supporter of native rights advocating for tribes on health care and child welfare issues. Gallego is also the sponsor of a bill to bring about nation wide, free, all-day kindergarten which isn't available in many states. If elected Gallego would be Arizona's first hispanic Senator. Republicans hope that the Democratic vote will split between Sinema and Gallego allowing them to win this important seat. The Republican front runner is conspiracy theorist and Trump super fan, Kari Lake. Lake rose to national fame in 2021 for pushing conspiracy theories about Trump having won the 2020 election, as well as anti-mask and anti-vaccine Covid conspiracies. Lake was the Republican nominee for Arizona governor in 2022. During that campaign she ran on an aggressive anti-LGBT platform, saying she'd ban drag, and was against trans rights. Lake also is against Abortion in all cases. After losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs, Lake refused to concede, and still pushes the conspiracy theory that she's the rightful governor of Arizona. If you live in Arizona please make sure you vote, but more if you have any time between now and November, volunteer to help Gallego! and if you don't live there you can still Donate or buy a pro-choice shirt from his campaign!

Vote Volunteer Donate Shop

Florida

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Flip)

Florida's current Republican Senator Rick Scott is a right wing extremist pushing dangerous ideas even by the standards of the Modern GOP. During his first term as Senator Scott has pushed to defund the IRS, and the Department of Education. He's sponsored bills to punish schools that allow students to use preferred pronouns, to ban affirmative action, bans teaching critical race theory, and ban trans people from women's sports. Scott is against abortion in all cases. Most alarming Rick Scott proposed a radical plan that would "sun-set" ANY and all federal laws after 5 years, including Social Security and Medicare, Scott would place all federal programs and agencies on the chopping block every 5 years for a radical Republican minority to block their renewal and leave us without Social Security, or the EPA, to name just two examples. The likely Democratic nominee is former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Born in Ecuador, Mucarsel-Powell immigrated to the US when she was 14 and had work to help support her family. When she was elected to Congress in 2018 she became the first South American born immigrant and first person of Ecuadorian heritage to be elected to Congress. In Congress Mucarsel-Powell was a member of the Progressive caucus, she fought to expand medicare, and secured $200 million for Everglades restoration. After a narrow defeat in 2020 Mucarsel-Powell joined the gun control advocacy group Giffords to fight for gun control a personal issue for her after her father was murdered when she was 24. If you're in Florida please make sure you vote, and Volunteer to help remove on of the most extreme Senators, If you're not in Florida you can help Debbie win by donating.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

Michigan

Elissa Slotkin (hold)

Long time Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow is retiring this election, so there will be a tough fight for control of this important swing state Senate seat. The likely Democratic nominee is Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Slotkin is a former CIA analyst, after retiring from the CIA she worked in the State and Defense departments during the Obama administration. Slotkin was first elected to Congress in 2018 winning and being re-elected in a tough swing district. In Congress she's fought for common sense gun control, supported the cap on insulin prices and Medicare drug price negotiation, she helped pass a law on drug price transparency, she championed the CHIP act to bring high tech manufacturing jobs back to America, and was a big supporter of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Slotkin is centering a pro-choice message in her campaign as well as gun control and bring down medical costs. Who the Republicans will pick isn't totally clear, it seems like it's between Former Congressman Mike Rogers and former Detroit Police chief James Craig. Craig ran for Michigan governor in 2022 before he was disqualified for fraudulent signatures on his nominating petition. Craig has listed cutting off US support to Ukraine as one of his top priorities, and endorsed Trump's 3rd run for President early in the primaries. Mike Rogers is also trying to win over Trump voters and has attacked the rights of LGBT students in schools calling it "social engineering". If you live in Michigan make sure to get out and vote, and also volunteer! And for everyone outside the state you can donate or buy some merch.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Montana

Jon Tester (re-elect)

In most contexts Montana is a deep red state going for Trump in 2020 57% to 40%. This makes the reelection of Montana's only Democratic member of Congress and only statewide elected Democrat, Jon Tester maybe the toughest election for Democrats this year. A Senator since he was first elected in 2006 Tester has won a series of upset wins in Montana over the years. A 3rd generation farmer Tester has been as strong for small farmers and ranchers in Washington. Tester has always been a champion of accountably and transparency in government pushing ethnics and campaign finance reforms. Tester is rated one of the most effective senators and managed to pass more bills last year than any one else in Congress. He's never been afraid to stand up for the Democratic side even if it'd be an unpopular vote in Red Montana. Tester voted to impeach Trump twice, and he voted against all 3 of Trump's nominees to the Supreme Court. He supported President Obama on The Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank, and has supported President Biden on the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Republicans seem likely to nominate right wing influencer and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy. Sheehy promises to get drag queens out of schools and the Lord's Prayer in to the classroom. He also hopes to repeal Obamacare calling for a "total privatization" of health care and made statements against the very idea of health insurance, insisting people should pay full price at point of use. If you're a Montanan make sure to vote to re-elect a champion of the little guy, and also volunteer! if you're not please think of donating what you can, if you can only give to one campaign this cycle this one, or Ohio are the most important!

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Nevada

Jacky Rosen (re-elect)

First elected to Congress in 2016 Jacky Rosen moved up to the Senate in 2018. In her first term as a Senator Rosen has championed green energy for Nevada. Together with fellow Democratic Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, Rosen has gotten millions for solar manufacturing in Nevada as well as millions to replace the state's school buses with electric, and programs to study new groundbreaking green technology. Senator Rosen has been a supporter of gun control, is in favor of banning assault weapons. She sponsored a bill, the Background Check Expansion Act, that would require background checks for all gun sales closing loopholes for on-line sales and gun shows. Rosen is pro-choice and has sponsored a bill to protect doctors from being prosecuted across state lines for providing reproductive care, and is a co-sponsor of a bill to codify Roe V. Wade into federal law. Rosen will likely face Republican celebrity and army veteran Sam Brown. Brown ran and lost a race for the Texas State House in 2014 and ran and lost for Nevada's other Senate seat in 2022. Brown stated he was in favor of getting rid of the Departments of Education, Transportation, and Energy. Brown is against Red Flag gun laws that allow police to temporarily remove fire arms from the home of someone deemed a danger to themselves or others. Brown also has refused to say if he supports a national abortion ban, but does say he's pro-life and wouldn't support any judges that weren't. If you live in Nevada make sure to get out to vote and volunteer to protect the state's green future and the right to reproductive care. If you're not in Nevada consider donating or buying some merch.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Ohio

Sherrod Brown (re-elect)

Ohio together with Montana represents the toughest re-elect for Democrats this year. The state went for Trump twice, elected a right wing radical, JD Vaince, to the Senate in 2022 and has had a Republican governor since 2010. To complicate thing more Democrat Sherrod Brown is one of the most progressive members of the Senate, regularly scoring along side Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for the most left wing in the Senate. From the time he was first elected to Congress in 1992 Brown refused to take the Congressional Health Insurance until all Americans could be covered. Brown first supported a Medicare for all bill in 2006 and has supported different efforts to expand Medicare and health coverage. He was a key supporter of the Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Brown is a strong supporter of unions and has struggled his whole career to protect unionized manufacturing jobs in Ohio. He was one of the first Senators out on the picket line during the UAW strike of 2023. Brown's hard work has help make Ohio the center of a new booming lithium battery manufacturing in America, a green manufacturing future for the state. Republicans look likely to nominate former used car dealer and father-in-law of Republican Congressman Max Miller, Bernie Moreno. Moreno's main qualification seems to be having been endorsed by Donald Trump. He lists among his priorities "End Socialism in America" and "End Wokeness and Cancel Culture". If you're in Ohio make sure to vote to re-elect a progressive giant and volunteer too! If you live out of Ohio donate, if you're looking for the race where your dollar will matter the most, this one or Montana guys.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

Pennsylvania

Bob Casey Jr. (re-elect)

First elected in 2006 Bob Casey famously beat incumbent Republican homophobe Rick Santorum by 17 points. Since first entering the Senate Casey has moved leftward on a number of issues. First elected as a pro-Gun Democrat since 2012 Casey has sponsored a number of bills to expand background checks, ban assault weapons, ban extended magazines, and well as supporting mental health funds for victims of gun violence. For a number of years Casey was called the last pro-life Democrat in the Senate, however in 2022 he came out in support of Roe V Wade and voted twice on bills that would have codified the right to an abortion into federal law. Casey voted against all 3 of Trump's Supreme Court picks and has long supported Planned Parenthood's contraception efforts with federal funds, seeing easily available birth control as key to reducing the number of abortions. In 2021 Casey published a plan he called "The Five Freedoms for America's Children" modeled after FDR's famous speech. He proposed automatically enrolling all kids in Medicaid, an expanded child tax cut, a federally supported college fund for all kids who's parents make under $100,000, expanded free school meals, more funds for head start and abuse prevention programs. Republicans are rallying behind Mitch McConnell's hand picked candidate, hedge fund CEO David McCormick. McCormick worked for the Bush administration during Bush's second term. McCormick's wife Dina Powell also worked for the George W. Bush administration and was a senior aid to Trump as well. If you're in Pennsylvania make sure to get out and vote for a solid Democrat out to solve child poverty in America and keep the Hedge Fund guy from Connecticut out, and Volunteer if you can. Remember you can donate where ever you are.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Texas

Colin Allred (flip)

Texas is currently represented by likely the most hated man in Washington, Ted Cruz. Republicans hate him, Democrats hate him more, he has a very punchable face, he might be the zodiac killer (thats a joke and meme). From shutting down the government in 2013 to try to overturn Obamacare, to leading the charge in Congress to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th Ted Cruz is a greatest hits of the worst parts of the Republican Party of the last 10 years. When Texas lost power in the middle of a historic ice storm in 2021 Ted Cruz and family ditched the state to go on vacation in Mexico, classy. Cruz in the Biden years has cast himself as a culture warrior fighting against "woke" publishing a book "Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America" in 2023 to kick off his re-election campaign. Texas is a traditionally red state but things are starting to shift and in 2018 Cruz narrowly won re-election over Beto O'Rourke. Democrats hope with the right candidate they can turn Texas blue and beat the most hated Senator in America. Democrats think Congressman Colin Allred is the man for the job. Allred is a former NFL Linebacker for the Titans. After the NFL he went on to get his law degree from UC Berkeley, and work in the Obama administration. Allred was first elected to Congress in 2018, unseating a Republican who'd been in office since 1997 and becoming the first Democrat to represent the area in Congress since 1968. In Congress Allred has supported bills to expand voting right and protect abortion rights, as well as gun control. In the Senate he promises to address Texas' shaky power grid and make sure Texas is never left in the dark again with its leaders missing. Lets do this Texas, make blue Texas a reality if you live in Texas remember to vote and volunteer, if you're an American who hates Ted Cruz you can donate to make in unemployed.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Wisconsin

Tammy Baldwin (re-elect)

When Tammy Baldwin first ran for Congress in 1998 she was the first openly gay person elected to the US House and the first open Lesbian to serve in Congress. In 2012 she became the first openly gay person elected to the US Senate and the first Lesbian to be a Senator, she is still the only openly gay Senator. Through out her time in office Baldwin has been a tireless voice for LGBT rights, in 2022 she helped spear head the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act to help protect gay marriage, she's also a sponsor of the Equality Act to protect all LGBT people from discrimination. Baldwin is a progressive who was a member of the House Progressive caucus, opposed the Iraq War and supported impeaching Dick Cheney. In the House she introduced bills for a single payer healthcare system in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In the Senate Baldwin is regularly listed as one of the most progressive members, voting against tax cuts for the rich, supporting a bill to require companies to have workers on their boards, she sponsored a bill to create a public option in Health Care, and has supported gun control efforts. The Republican field to challenge Senator Baldwin is uncertain, but former Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke dominates the polls if he decides to run. Clarke's sheriff's department is accused a number of human rights violations from his time as sheriff, including allowing a prisoner to die of dehydration after 6 days without water in the Milwaukee County Jail. Clarke is a Trump super fan who has pushed conspiracy theories about mass shootings being fake, attacked Black Lives Matter, called Planned Parenthood "Planned Genocide", and called for the mass detention without trial of Americans because he believed there were a million ISIS supporters in America. If you're in Wisconsin make sure to get out and vote for a trailblazing icon and also volunteer if you can, all Americans can donate and support Baldwin wherever they are.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

If you're an American citizen and will be 18 years old (or older) by November 5th 2024, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! make sure you're registered to VOTE please check Vote.Org to find out what you need to do, what deadlines there are and act NOW

If you're an American living outside the US, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE. Please checkout Vote From Aboard they have literally all the information you need to get registered and get your ballot wherever in the world you are, and Check out Democrats Abroad to take part in the global primary

Where ever you live in the US, there is an important life changing election happening! Get off your phone or computer and get involved, There are Events happening all around you right now Volunteer

Finally if you're a US citizen of any age any where on earth you can donate, donate to elect Biden/Harris donate to elect Democrats to the Senate, To the House, to Governorships, to local office

and the smallest thing you can do is reblog this very long post, thank you!

[taffywabbit]

"why not just make your own website?"

with the announcement of cohost's death and amidst all the other tumultuous shit currently going on with social media as a concept (i am AMAZED twitter has survived this long given the circumstances), one suggestion that i've been hearing a lot is "we should just go back to the good old days of personal websites. let's all just make neocities pages!!"

(this is gonna be a long one sorry)

and like. idk! it's certainly something i've considered, i think it would be a fun thing to have, but it also feels like the equivalent of "capitalism sucks so let's all just run off into the woods and live in a cabin outside of society" to me. like it would be nice, it would be fun, but it doesn't ultimately solve the actual problems that are present with the modern internet, it just evades them. more importantly in my case and many others, it does not really help people who rely on the modern internet and the connections they're able to make there for their income. sure i can make a website and host my art and blog posts there, but who's going to see it? i can't build a consistent audience and make a living off of random passersby who peek at my website once, say "huh, neat!" and MAYBE add it to an RSS feed or whatever if they really like it. there's minimal potential for meeting and impressing new people outside my existing circles if i don't ALSO still have some manner of social media platform to promote the website on.

a lot of the "solutions" i see people proposing for the slow, painful decline of social media as a user experience keep coming back to old-fashioned, more isolated/insular systems. we miss forums, we miss personal webpages, we miss newsletters, etc etc. but like... those things were ideal in the "old web" because the old web was more about sharing hobbies and interests with whoever happened to pass by and check them out, and even just USING the internet was a niche hobby in and of itself for a lot of people. if you wanna be kinda cynical about it (and not unjustifiably so), web 2.0 is much more blatantly business-oriented, and its algorithms and carefully crafted UX's are primarily meant to funnel you towards viewing ads and spending money on products. looking at it that way, it sure does suck and Everything Was Better Before! but the modern web is ALSO more powerful than anything before it for just like. connecting people. spreading information and news. showing your art/music/writing/thoughts/etc to strangers who never knew you existed an hour ago. putting the tools to reach out to someone and tell them you think they're cool right there on the same website where their art is hosted, just a comment or a message away.

if you're able to avoid patterns of engagement-bait and obsessing over follower counts as a measure of self-worth (a big "if", i realize, but i view it like installing an adblocker - it's just kind of a basic prerequisite for modern internet safety and survival), a lot of these systems can genuinely be really positive and life-changing in ways that were simply not possible 20 years ago! almost all of my current closest friends are people I met through sharing our art on platforms like Twitter who were complete strangers at the time. all of the art clients that regularly pay my bills and support my work came from places like that too! the "social" part of "social media" is really what makes it ultimately worth keeping around in any form, and makes the pursuit of a Good social media platform still valuable.

there's a lot to love about the old web - its aesthetics, simplicity and freedom for personal expression - but every time someone says "just delete your socials and make a personal website" i am forced to confront the fact that i could never do what i currently do or be the person i am on the old web. if i was stuck hanging out in my own little space and only ever interacting with people who openly and loudly share my interests, i couldn't support myself with art full-time, i probably would never have met the kind and quiet strangers who are now my best friends and have made me who i am, and i'd just generally get a lot less insight into the vast range of experiences and perspectives that exist outside of my own. my life would be on a fundamentally different trajectory in countless ways without the advent of web 2.0.

and that's not to say "well twitter and facebook and tumblr all suck but you kinda still have to hand it to them" cuz you don't, obviously. they're corporations, and their job is to take the personalities and thoughts and art of the people who use their products and try to scrunch it all into something uninform and marketable that generates profit and pleases their shareholders. but like, you CAN still make a good thing out of them! these websites are tools just as much as geocities or myspace or IRC used to be. and the one thing these newer tools are pretty much all REALLY good at is discoverability. if you're just a hobbyist at the things you wanna share on the internet, then you likely don't have a lot of use for those tools, and perhaps you WOULD genuinely be happier just keeping a personal blog site or hanging out in private groupchats or sticking to specialized federated Mastodon instances or whatever. it just isn't feasible for me, and there are a LOT of people in my same situation. my entire industry of online freelance artists barely existed 20 years ago, and the web culture of that era is largely incompatible with my continued survival in the mid-2020s. i would LOVE to run off and live in the woods in concept, but all my survival skills are adapted for city living and i would just eat the wrong berry and die out there. i want- i NEED people to try and improve the spaces we're in, and support better forms of social media (like what cohost was trying and largely succeeding to do!) instead of just complaining that it all sucks, everything was better when we were kids, and digging ourselves little holes to hide in. much like all the other problems and frustrations and systemic issues of the world we live in, the modern web isn't going to go away if you just ignore it, so we may as well try to make it better for everyone.

anyways tl;dr i probably WILL make a neocities at some point. it could be fun, even if it doesn't help my career stability or whatever. but i do also need ALL THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS I USE FOR MY JOB TO STOP EXPLODING PRETTY PLEASE, and failing that, some actual half-decent alternatives that aren't going to fizzle out in a month would also be great thanks ✌

[corviiids]

questions to answer about your tav that have nothing to do with baldur's gate at all and are dubiously set in some ambiguously modern period

(you can also answer these questions about unrelated non-baldur's gate OCs if you want because it is a free world that we live in)

what smiley face would they use the most if they had a phone

regular morning beverage (and snack) order

how lactose intolerant are they and if they were lactose intolerant would this stop them from consuming lactose products

if they went to a modern day university what would they get their bachelor's in and do they enjoy it

instrument they wish they could play but can't

hobby or interest they are most embarrassed about

do they watch free-to-air tv

do they collect anything and what is it

do they prefer sweet or savoury foods

what are they allergic to

story of their first kiss (if applicable)

if they were at a corporate or school-sanctioned group bonding event and someone asked them to say one fun fact about themself what workplace appropriate fact would they choose

signature perfume (you can name a real perfume or just name some fragrance notes)

how late do they leave their gift shopping before birthdays / christmas / any other event where gift-giving is required

what mundane human job would they have in modern society to pay the bills and do they like it

given a bag of fruit-flavoured candies which fruit flavour of candy is their favourite and which one do they vehemently dislike

pick a random mild injury illness or miscellaneous ailment for them to consistently or periodically struggle with (e.g. bad knee, hay fever, bad acne). or don't

everyday task they must do but struggle with or simply hate

their top 3 songs on repeat

preferred adhesive item for general use (e.g. gluestick, sticky tape, blu tack)

do they use duolingo and what's their longest streak

social media platform of choice, if any

what material do they prefer for their coasters

how do they close their emails

how do they address groups of people in group chats or in person

favourite farm animal. (has to be an animal found on a farm)

name a toxic trait of theirs that is really just a beige flag at best

movie snack, if applicable

if you dared them on the spot to get a tattoo and they're not allowed to think about it what would be the first thing that came to their mind

if you met them, you the human person reading this, would you get along

[sleepysnk]

a/n: i rlly like sanzu and uhh this idea just came to be after a long chat with some friends! 🤍 i hope you all enjoy! <3

pairings: sanzu haruchiyo x fem!reader

warnings: modern au, nsfw, established relationship, sanzu and reader have an onlyfans, smut, mentions of oral sex f!receiving, consensual recording, public sex (they’re in a dressing room), lingerie, degradation, use of pet names (baby, princess, babydoll), finger sucking, slight breeding kink, rough sex, dirty talk.

synopsis: you and sanzu began an onlyfans, and, after a video blew up, you became quite popular on the platform. the two of you are out and about one day at the mall, and sanzu just can’t help but think you look so pretty in your lingerie.

smile, you’re on camera ft. sanzu haruchiyo

It was all Sanzu’s idea to begin an OnlyFans.

The first time your boyfriend proposed the idea of making one, you almost completely spat out your drink. You had heard many stories from people online who made hundreds to thousands of dollars off of the platform. Whether it was something simple as nude photographs or videos of someone being fucked to oblivion, it was many people’s way of making money and paying their bills. You wouldn’t have ever expected Sanzu, your boyfriend of two years, to suggest such a thing to you. 

There were so many possibilities and questions you had for the man. You protested over the fact that someone could possibly recognize the two of you if the videos were leaked. It wouldn’t be that great if one of your friends or even your family found out what you two had been doing. Sanzu explained to you that it would all be anonymous. He would wear a face covering every time he uploaded content, and he would do his absolute best to make sure your identity was hidden as well. It was sort of overwhelming. Random people would be paying to see your body, and you knew the internet was a dangerous place and it could be quite harsh. People were often body shamed and it wasn’t something you wanted to see. Sanzu understood your concerns completely and he knew they were valid. He wouldn’t ever wish that kind of treatment on another human being. 

Though, after lots of convincing, Sanzu was able to make you comfortable enough to begin an account. 

It was slow and sloppy at the beginning. Some of your videos only had about thirty or so views, and you didn’t have many followers. The both of you considered just deleting your Twitter and removing the OnlyFans all together. You barely had any profit coming in, so you assumed that maybe that idea would be chalked up.

One day, all of that completely changed.

You awoke one more morning with your phone blowing up, as well as Sanzu’s. When you entered your Twitter account, your jaw fell to the floor when you saw that one of your videos had blown up. Apparently, there had been a popular Twitter porn account that had retweeted one of your videos. More specifically, it was a video where Sanzu’s mouth was latched onto your pussy. It was filmed from your perspective and the camera was able to capture Sanzu’s gorgeous emerald eyes, along with his lengthy eyelashes that made every woman jealous. The people who liked the video left many comments on it, and it in turn led to you both ranking many followers and the profits in your OnlyFans to rise. You couldn’t stop reading the replies and retweets, because they were just so encouraging.

rxdomuser822: me n who? 👀

stxllasexs: someone find this mannn!!! 😩

ppowerrs: if a man looked at me like that i’d cum on the spot

mxikasyu: find them both right now

Eventually, you two managed to make a living off of your content. People paid to see you get fucked by your boyfriend all of the time, or they’d want to see him play with your pussy until you were shaking from how great his fingers worked along your clit. It had all gone in such a successful direction that you and Sanzu were able to move out and pay off any debt you had remaining from university. The two of you were satisfied with everything that had happened so far. There had been a few flaws on separate occasions, but you both were so happy with where you were now.

Sanzu spoiled you rotten at times. He’d buy you any gift you wanted and he would take you out whenever he had the opportunity to. It was a luxury and you both enjoyed it more than anything else.

Today, he decided to take you lingerie shopping as a treat for reaching almost fifty thousand followers on Twitter. He adored seeing your pretty body in all kinds of thin fabric, and he knew that nothing would be better than treating you to some fine lingerie. You were his pretty little girlfriend, how could he resist such a woman like you? He honestly loved seeing the faces you’d make whenever you would pick up different bralettes or thongs that would fit just right around your hips. Sanzu lets you buy anything you desire at the shop. He could never say no to you. 

Though, Sanzu’s mind wandered somewhere else when you began trying on the different pieces he had picked out for you.

He couldn’t help but peek at you through the curtain that was pulled over the changing room. He got a nice view of your perky tits that were held up by the bralette you wore, and immediately his cock hardened inside of his sweatpants. He thought it would go away after a few minutes, but much to his dismay, Sanzu’s mind wouldn’t halt on reminding him how gorgeous your body was. Whether it was him fucking you so good that you saw stars, or eating your pussy until you made a mess on his face, the images refused to leave his head. He tried his best to keep up the facade at the lingerie shop, but his cock was aching inside of his boxers. It almost hurt that he wasn’t stuffing your cunt with his cock. He was growing anxious, but he didn’t want to ruin your shopping day.

You weren’t sure what came over him, but Sanzu had managed to slip into your changing room and he began fucking your brains out.

Your body was pressed against the mirror that faced the wall. Your cheek and your tits were against the glass, while Sanzu’s cock fucked into your pretty walls. You tried to protest to your boyfriend that it was quite risky to be doing such a lewd act in a public place, but that’s what enthralled him the most. The risk of potentially being heard or caught by the workers or the people who were shopping made him all the more turned on. He could only think of the fun this experience would bring for you both. He even had the idea to record the entire thing, with your knowledge of course.

Sanzu’s hand trailed down your backside. He watched the way his cock slid into your soaked pussy with such ease. His pace was quite fast, because he couldn’t help himself. He just needed to have you around him. “Fuck.. yeah, you take me so good, babydoll.” he gritted his teeth from the ecstasy that coursed throughout his body. “Bein’ such a good little slut for me.. fuuucckk,” 

He held his phone at a certain angle so the camera could pick up on how fucking amazing you looked. He had taken several videos already of the entire situation. He even went out of his way to record himself in the mirror fucking you from behind. Sanzu just couldn’t help but feel so turned on by what you were both doing. “Mmph.. Sanzu..!” your eyes rolled backwards when the tip of his cock reached your g-spot. You weren’t supposed to be moaning at all. Sanzu reminded you several times to remain silent, but you just couldn’t. He was too good.

He shoved his phone into his pocket once he finished taping you. Sanzu then reached around to your plump lips where he forced two of his fingers into your mouth, allowing you to suck on the digits. He knew he was fucking you good, but that didn’t necessarily mean he wanted other people to possibly hear you. “Keep that mouth shut, princess..” he smirked. “Don’t need us getting caught.. yeah?”

Oh how you wished you could keep quiet. His pace was erratic and rough. He was winding you up just perfectly enough so that your orgasm would hit you quite hard. Once again, there was that great risk of you two possibly being exposed by one of the workers. You were already used to somewhat of an audience. Hell, you and Sanzu recorded yourselves all the time and posted your videos for the world to see, so this was almost nothing to you. 

Sanzu was about to let out a groan, but paused immediately when he heard those familiar jingles of keys walking towards the changing room. His thrusts came to an abrupt slow when the noise filled his ears. He feared too much would bring attention to your room, but those thoughts stopped when he felt your cunt clenching and twitching around his cock. You were such a dirty slut. You liked this. You enjoyed the fact that both of you could be caught at any second. He didn’t think you would ever be that inappropriate, but fuck, it turned him on so much more than he already was. He placed his palm against your hip, beginning to thrust inside of you once again. This was surprising to you. 

You turned your head to meet Sanzu’s seductive expression. His bubblegum pink hair hung over his hazy eyes that were blown with lust. He removed his fingers from your lips, causing your mouth to fall slack. “Aw.. so you do want to get caught, huh? You like when I fuck this pretty cunt, baby? I’ll let them hear you being a slut for me..” he then picked up the pace of his ruts, earning a loud moan to fall from your lips. You were about to cover your mouth, but your boyfriend was much quicker than you and he pinned your wrist behind you. 

Your whines slipped from your lips at an endless pace. The knot inside your belly was tightening and making itself known. You were growing desperate for that euphoric high you craved more than anything else. Sanzu’s grip on the plush of your hips was tight enough to leave bruises on your delicate skin. “Ah..! Sanzu.. ‘m close!!” your nails dug into the glass of the mirror, leaving fingerprints on it. 

The sound of skin slapping filled the dressing room. Sanzu was so determined to make you a mess all over his cock. He wanted those people outside to hear how amazing he was making you feel. He didn’t give a single fuck. 

You let out one last whine, then your orgasm had washed over you. Your thighs trembled and shook. Sanzu grinned when he saw the white ring that circled around his cock. Your pussy squelched and squeaked from his thrusts. There was his pretty girl he knew so well. He was so proud of you for being a good little slut for him and his cock. He was close to his own high. His dick twitched and he could feel that pit in his belly growing larger with every rut of his hips.

He grunted several times, throwing his head back at the pure bliss of your tight cunt. You were a drooling mess and you were in paradise at how great you felt. Tingles spread throughout your body with every touch of your g-spot. “Fuck.. ‘gonna cum, baby, fuck..” he let his jaw fall open as he pumped himself into you. “Fill up this cunt.. yeah.. that’s it!”

With one thrust, he finally reached his climax. Sanzu’s cum filled into your hole, reaching your womb. He held your hips in place so none of it would slip out onto the floor. Sweat clung to his forehead and his chest heaved, trying to catch his breath from the exhilarating orgasm he just went through. He was beyond excited to upload the video he had recorded for his fans. It was quite unexpected, but he was so happy he decided to fuck you in that dressing room. He was certain somebody heard you both, but he couldn’t care less about that. 

Sanzu then pulled out, turning you around so your back was now flat against the mirror behind you. He pulled you in for a sloppy kiss, wrapping his hand around the base of your throat. “Better not let a single drop out, okay..? Don’t make me fuck it back into you, babydoll.” he whispered into your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

You nodded your head, looking your boyfriend in the eye when you did so. “Okay..” you looked down at the floor where your clothes had been previously discarded, along with the lingerie you were just wearing several minutes ago.

Sanzu picked up the fabric from the floor. He smiled devilishly at you, exposing those pretty scars of his that were near his lips. He then placed another small peck on your lips. “Let me go pay for this, you deserve it.” he winked.

[burntb4bydoll]

Hii i’ve got an ask

Could you do height difference hcs for modern Bill? He is already super tall and wears platforms all the time, it would be so funny with a 5’1 tall lover 😭

This is so good cuz i am 5’1 myself😍 thanks for the ask!!

Modern Bill Kaulitz X short reader headcannons

this man absolutely LOVES the height difference

He loves how your head just barely reaches his chest

He thinks its just the cutest thing

Will point out how small you are whenever you stand next to him

He would tease you by not bending down when you try go kiss him

So you are just standing there on your tiptoes trying to reach his lips

Man literally tips his head back to make it more difficult for you

He’ll eventually give in due to his soft spot for you, don’t worry

Whenever he wears platforms you like have to tilt your head all the way up to see his face

It makes him laugh

He’ll get you some matching platforms so you two can look hot together <3

He jokes about losing you in crowds because you are so short

Which was funny, until it actually happened

He flipped his shit when he actually managed to lose you 😭

You may or may not have did it on purpose just to scare him;)

He likes to make you sit in his lap so he can hold you

He doesn’t want you to sit in your own chair, sit on him instead 😡

you are just slightly taller than he is while sitting and you’re standing

He’ll just wrap his arms around your waist and pull you into himself so he can lay his head on your chest

BACK HUGS UGHHH

[iridescentttears]

idk about u guys but this feels like a riddle… sommonday, 8 days, guarded secret, december 1964, whistleblower, hyperbole.

okay so if summonday is the 8th day of the week, and the countdown began on release day july 23rd, and then 7 days later on july 30th the countdown ended and another countdown in negative time began. if “time is dead and meaning has no meaning” then everything could be malarkey and there’s not gonna be any way to predict what’s gonna happen. but also, maybe time got reset when it “died” and july 30th became day 1/ the first day of the week. we’re currently at day -5 and 19 hrs.

perhaps (based on nothing but the number 8 maybe-clue) on the -8th day of the countdown which falls on august 7th, they’re will be some form of a release/ another clue that hints closer to the answer.

that would make the time from release day to lost files release day 16 days (two weeks if we are counting summonday as the 8th day of the week)

all i’m saying is this feels very much like the brewings of a modern day cipher hunt like maybe it’ll be less about traveling to physical places like the original but instead some sort of wild goose chase treasure hunt online through hopping websites and soundtracks and books from 1925 and just like mixing the media formats. i think the mixed medias in tbob are so incredible and are really what set this book apart as its completely original entity and not just a sequel to journal 3. and with that shift feels very reflective of the era of time we live in now and in no way tries to recreate any previous era. ALSO all the metaphorical foils and parallels that alex hirsch has been begging us to see through the great gatsby are important. the literary connections between bill and gatsby’s characters AND the real life lesson of: we can’t repeat the past, we can’t get back things we lost, if we choose to live in the past it will lead to our demise but if we look to the future and accept what’s happened, we have a chance of building something amazing. (sooo no season 3 ppl like that’s not what any of this is about)

and and side note if the majority of the public believed the government release of the truth about “summonday” to be hyperbole, what about the minority that took it seriously? who are they? did they decide it together? are they in some sort of group/cult together?

the themes of cults, cult leaders, sociopaths, narcissists, and control come to my mind immediately regarding tbob, great gatsby, and now these weird cryptic messages from jason ritter…

sooooo long winded answer later,

i would love it if the countdown would end in 3 days @ -8 days and for it to lead to another link or to a code or to some sort of next step for us all to work together on tumblr and twitter and reddit and discord and all the platforms. thus ushering in the beginning of a new cipher hunt— but not like a cipher hunt 2. this is alex hirsch we’re talking about. i think the stakes will be different and i think it will be much less about physically finding things in the real world and more focused to online clues. and if it does end up being some sort of wild goose chase treasure hunt online i will be sooooo overjoyed.

cause i think that working together to solve mysteries as a collective is where this fandom shines. we make allies, we learn from each other, y’all are all so fucking funny and smart and passionate and genuine and i love hanging out in this community in the space between space and time.

i would love to go on that adventure with y’all cool internet sleuths!!

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

OK SO WHILE I WAS WATCHING SOME TOKIO HOTEL EDITS I GOT THIS IDEA(if it's too much feel free to ignore and I'm sorry if I confused you, I'm not good at explaining😭😭AND I LOVE YOUR WRITINGS GIRLY❤️😘)

Ok so. Modern! Dad! Tom Kaulitz with teen twins(maybe around 15-16 or sum). Like one daughter and one son. Both of them are super sassy and aren't scared of confrontation like they are really confident, they don't care what anyone thinks of them(like they laugh at haters and stuff) yet they take no disrespect especially not towards their dad or the other twin. Tokio Hotels' younger fanbase also literally simps for them and stuff, like they make edits of them and stuff. The twins also really remind everyone of Tom when he was their age. Like the boy, he has the same style his father did just with a little more modern touch to it. And the girl, her style consists a mix of Tom's style too. For exampld: cargo/parachute pants, tube tops, bralette/crop tops, trapper/biker/cadet caps, beanies, platform heels/boots(Demonias), oversized shirts/hoodies, hoop earrings, chains, bead bracelets, long acrylic nails, etc. . Like whenever anyone sees the twins, you know their outfits are never boring/dry. Like the girl is an absolute maneater and the boy is a womanizer(but they have admirers of all genders). Like both twins especially the girl really love Heidi because let's just say their bio mom went to get milk right after they were born. And like how would the relationship with their uncles(Bill, Georg and Gustav) be?

I know this is a hell lot so I won't be surprised if you just ignore it LMAO💀💀

(I love this idea sm hold up I'm finna add it to my Dr but Bill lmao. And so worries, I did a lot to match this so I hope you enjoy!)

Kaulitz Twins Gen #2

The media went crazy when you guys were born

Or being brought into the world

If you do the math, Tom was only seventeen and even he was freaking out

Especially with your mother and media and his career

But, with help from the band, he actually managed to become a good dad

Tried to help your mother stay but she just walked out

He never really looked for her, thinking if she could leave two beautiful kids like you guys she didn't deserve to even be looked for

Or if she ever wanted anything from Tom after she left he told her to fuck off

He didn't think he would be a good dad

Until he finally held you guys in the hospital room

Then he finally realized maybe, he would be a good dad

And he promised to never fuck it up

And he didn't!

Bill was happy to meet you guys, Georg was happy for Tom and sorta excited for two kids runnings around the stage while Gustav was a bit nervous but happy nonetheless

Bill always took you guys out and dressed you up when you guys were kids

No matter your gender

Georg let you guys rain hell, eat candy, stay up, even bought you guys a puppy to spite Tom

Gustav was a more relaxed uncle who let you guys do what you want but be careful while doing it

As you guys grew older you grew up in the media eye

Especially because of who your family was and you needed to be brought on tour with them

Tom tried to control it but paparazzi would literally run after you guys when the band would try and shield you guys from them

Tom felt helpless in those situations and did his best to keep you guys safe

You were confused when you saw your dad upset and yelling at the random people with cameras and when you guys would go home he would apologize

You didn't know why he did but you knew they just made your dad upset

And that made you and your twin upset, very much

Whenever paparazzi would come around you guys would yell at them

Shit like "No pictures!" Or "go away!" "Leave us alone!" "Stop following us, weirdos!"

Your dad's and uncles taught you guys to speak your minds but couldn't help but be surprised when you guys yelled at paparazzi

When you were little you and your twin even threw shit at them for following you guys

You were like six mind you

Better paparazzi, not such prying and rude ones, actually found it funny and when you guys were photographed like that it went sorta media crazy

You guys were known as the second generation of Kaulitz Twins sort

You guys were very sassy, spoke your mind and didn't care what people thought of you guys even from a young age

If expressed any interest in media, like modeling, singing and your twin did too Tom would let you guys

He would watch over of course but you guys did modeling, photoshoots, even went into interviews when you guys were young

For being teenagers you guys had quite the fanbase

You guys aren't scared of confrontation at all

Like one time someone was giving your Uncle Bill a hard time at a signing and wouldn't leave him alone

You and your twin went over, pushed them away and started yelling at them to back up or you would have to put them on their ass

Safe to say they left

Bill was surprised but your dad was very much proud

He didn't raise you guys to take bullshit

Tom admires that you guys could be so confident even at a young age

You guys genuinely do not care about being talked about or what people think about you guys

You guys have so much fun making fun of haters and laughing at them

Especially ones that try and "confront" you guys in public

You even told one "Get the fuck out my face." Laughing so hard your twin had to hold you up as Tom lead you guys away

Tom likes that you guys don't any bullshit from anyone

Especially when you guys defend him and your twin

You guys don't stand for hate and God help anyone who tries you guys

You have fought a few people when it got out of hand

They were talking shit so I say it was justified

You and your twin poke fun at how the younger fans already are simping for you guys

You are sorta like your dad when he was young in that tense

Like you guys play with hearts, flirt, tease and shit like that

You guys see edits and posts about you guys and how people find you guys attractive

You guys are constantly commenting on the edits and shit like that or are so smug about it

You guys like the attention you guys get so much

You guys like the reactions you get from fans when they see you guys saw their edits or posts and are giving them attention

You guys are too much like your father

So much so you remind everyone who your dad is everyday by simply existing

Your brother has a few collections of your dad's old clothes back then and wears them a lot

Like his shirts, hats, pants and bands that Tom wore he has a lot of them, the ones that weren't donated

Your brothers style is almost exactly like your dad's and everyone sees it

Except it has a more modern touch and a few more stuff your brother incorporated

Your style was the most surprising to everyone but not at the same time

Your style was definitely influenced by Bill when he dressed you up when you were younger

Your style everytime you wear something makes a statement and is always photographed or edited by fans

Doesn't help you look fucking good in everything you wear

Some stuff is sorta revealing and short so obviously Tom being that dad he is says stuff like

"That's too short. You look good, I know, hon, but what if you get cold?"

Get Heidi to talk to him, and plus your his little girl so he lets you rain hell if you wanted too

Bill absolutely loves your style and helps you pick out what to wear

Is holding your hand above your head, spinning you to get a full look of the outfit and applauding y'all's work

None of your family stands for any shaming of your outfits though

Especially when people say you're asking for attention or are dressed too skimpy and shit like that

Your response is always the same, that you want the attention and to fuck off

But when you're not wearing stuff like that you also wear some of your dad's old clothes or stuff that fit his style back then

Especially his shirts and his old pants

Everyone knows when you step outside your outfits are gonna be fucking good

Always making a statement and never leaving in a "basic" outfit

Tips you find from uncle Bill that are always helpful

You guys have a lot of fans, all genders, who simp for you guys and some even throw themselves at you guys

Let's just say you guys take up some offers

But you guys are described as two twins who is a maneater and a womanizer

You guys are exactly like your father in that sense when he was your age

He tries to get you guys not to like players or absolute dick like he was when he was your age

He just wants you guys to be safe and not play around with people's hearts

But bring up old interviews and he'll leave you guys to your own devices

You guys flirt, tease, kiss and sometimes more with fans but he's still your dad so he'll object

He'll take you guys away when he sees that so be careful not to do it flat out in front of your dad

Be sneaky, whisper and sneak off

You both really love Heidi

She's your mom

Not step mom or anything but your mom as she took you guys in and raised you as her own kids when she didn't need too

You and your brother are a mama's boy, mama's girl, daddy's girl and daddy's boy

You both love them equally no matter what

You both really loved by both your parents and your siblings

You helped your dad propose to Heidi and we're so excited when they got married

You two were so happy to see your parents happy and officially have siblings

You guys are little schemers with Heidi's kids

Heidi helps you guys with anything and no matter what it could be

Heartbreak, outfits, crushes, stress, happiness, anything and she is there

Even if your mom tried to come back in your life Tom and Heidi would leave it up to you guys

But when you say no it's a weight off their shoulders

You call Heidi mom and so does your brother

The first time you did Heidi froze for a moment but couldn't help but pecker kisses all over your guys' faces and hug you guys

You're her kids and she wouldn't have it any other way

You guys are very famous around the world and it can be very stressful at times

But with your uncle's, dad, mom and your twin, you wouldn't change it for anything

[tkwrites]

Second Nature - Quinn Hughes x ofc

Photos from Pinterest

Title: Second Nature

Author: Tory / @tkwrites 

Relationship: Pre-established: Quinn x Sarah

Warnings: Grief, mentions of dead parents, making out (if I missed any, let me know)

Summary: Sequel to Worth the Wait, Quinn and Sarah have their second date. Getting to know each other in many ways is like second nature.

Word count: 5,900

Comments: This took a long time to write. I caught the bug, got swamped at work, lost it and finally caught it again. I'd love to know what you think and what you'd like to see next in their little universe.

Second Nature

A Quinn & Sarah Snapshot

Quinn woke to three messages from Sarah. They had actually been delivered in the middle of the night - at 2am. He didn't see them until he stumbled into his bathroom in the morning, but they woke him right out of his listless journey to the sink. 

Thank you for last night. It was the best first date I've ever been on. 

I’d love to come over for dinner on Saturday. 

Maybe send me your address and I'll come there and we’ll see where the night goes? 

He did celebrate this time, pumping a fist in the air. It felt like a battle won that not only she was coming to his house and they could be alone, but also that he might be able to take her home. He felt like he’d slain a giant in winning her trust. Or, at least, he was on his way. He felt outrageously victorious. 

Twenty minutes before she was supposed to arrive, his phone rang. 

“Hey.” 

“Quinn?” 

“Sarah?’

 “Yeah. Hey, it’s raining buckets out here. Do you think you could come get me from the station?” 

“Of course,” he said, putting the asparagus he’d just pulled out of the fridge back into the dish, “I’ll be right there. Can you send me a pin?” 

He washed his hands, shut off the stove and ran out of the apartment. 

When he pulled out of the parking garage, his jeep was assaulted with rain. Huge, heavy drops of it that splashed and splattered over his windshield. 

He called when he got close, and she sprinted to his idling SUV. He’d even thrown the door open for her. 

“Oh my gosh,” she said, breathless, shutting out the heavy wind and rain, “I knew it was going to rain tonight, but I didn’t think it was gonna get this bad.” 

He glanced over at her. “I’m glad you called. I wouldn’t want you walking in this mess.” 

She giggled, “how noble of you.” 

“I’m serious,” he said, turning onto his street, “you would have been soaked by the time you made it.” 

It was true, she would have been. It had been shocking to come up from the platform and find that much water in the streets. It had only been drizzling when she left less than 20 minutes before. 

After he pulled into the parking garage, and into his reserved parking space by the elevator, he sprinted around the car to open her door. 

“Thank you,” she said, blushing. It had been a long, long time since someone had made such an effort. 

He scanned into the elevator and up to the penthouse. Sarah watched the numbers count up, feeling a little dizzy when they finally stopped at twenty.

When he let her into the apartment, she was overcome. In general, Quinn seemed like a nice, really normal guy who just happened to play sports professionally for a living. Standing in this gorgeous, penthouse, though, she thought about how much money he must be making playing hockey. It was certainly much, much more than she could ever make as a zoologist. She would never dare to even dream of an apartment like this. 

Her eyes caught on the floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the harbor and northern skyline. Even though everything was dark and moody outside, it made the warm, modern interior of his home feel more cozy. 

“Can I take your coat?” he asked, resting his hands on her shoulders as she looked around. Quinn loved this apartment, and it fit every bill - close to the arena, comfortable, and big enough to have a party - but at times like this when someone was gazing around in awe, it made him a bit uncomfortable. He never wanted to be better than anyone else, and didn’t think he was, but sometimes, he wondered why he was the one to deserve a top story penthouse in Gastown.

“You have such a beautiful house,” she said, still looking around at the plush dark furniture and modern, sleek lines. 

"Thanks. I can't take all the credit, though. It was furnished when I moved in." 

"Still, it's so lovely," she said, taking her bag off her shoulder. It clinked when it hit the ground. 

“Did you bring supplies?” he teased. 

“I brought wine. I wasn’t sure what you were cooking, so I bought a red and a white.” she said, turning to face him as he pulled the jacket off her arm. 

It was such a thoughtful thing for her to do that he paused for a moment before hanging her coat on the hook by the door. 

It was something out of a dream to have her in his house in her jeans and simple, blousey top. 

“I was just about to start cooking when you called, so come into the kitchen,” he said, taking her hand. 

He led her through the open concept living space that butted up to a small formal dining room before they reached the long, narrow kitchen. 

“Oh, I love your kitchen,” she said. “I've always loved a galley kitchen.”

He looked over his shoulder at her. 

“My mom was an interior designer, so we talked about this kind of stuff a lot.”

“Yeah? What does your dad do?”

“My dad was an aerospace engineer.”

“Was?” he repeated, dread filling his limbs. Surely, he was just retired. 

Her sad smile told him otherwise. “He died two years before mom did.”

Quinn set the wrapped salmon down and went to her. 

“Sarah, I'm so sorry,” he said, gathering her against him. 

“Thank you.” Accepting the embrace, she tucked her face into the curve of his neck and let him hold her. It was so rare for her to get this kind of physical affection, she relished it whenever it was offered. 

He pulled away, and looked into her face. She was so strong. How could anyone be this strong? To lose both your parents by the time you were twenty-four? He didn’t know how he’d survive. 

Suddenly, he was overcome with how much he liked her. Not just because she was pretty, which she was, but because she had so much character, so much strength in her spine. 

The red of her top made the blue in her eyes brighter and more vivid than he'd seen before. Words fell out of his mouth, "God, your eyes are pretty." 

“Thank you,” she said with a shy smile. “I really like your eyes too.”

He chuffed. “Brown. They're boring.”

She took a hold of his jaw and made him look at her. “They're not. Your eyes are the color of whiskey and I think they're really beautiful.”

A blush bloomed into his cheeks. 

"Plus, aren't they a little hazel?" she asked, studying him, "they looked kind of green on Thursday." 

He shrugged, "I've never really noticed." 

Continuing to look into his eyes, Sarah decided they were hazel. Even in the kitchen light, she could see flecks of green in them. 

Quinn was thinking about kissing her when she said, “so, how can I help?” 

“I’m cooking you dinner,” he reprimanded, “you can open the wine and talk to me.” 

A smile spread over her face. 

He handed her the corkscrew, and she got to work. When she turned around to ask for glasses, he already had them out on the counter for her. 

“So,” she did a little hop to sit on the counter next to where he was working, “how was your day?” 

“Good,” he said, “practice this morning."

“What does that look like? When you have practice in the morning, I mean.” 

“I’m usually up at 8, go to the rink and we have breakfast. Then we watch tape with some of the coaches, sometimes have a meeting, and then we’re on the ice for an hour or two. Then we have strength training, and lunch, and I’m off for the rest of the day unless we have a game.” 

“Could you teach me?” she asked. 

He looked up from snapping the ends off of the asparagus, “teach you what?” 

“About hockey. I started watching your games with my roommate Eunice, last week but I still don't really understand a lot of the rules. It’s so confusing.”

“You never watched hockey before?” he asked, feeling a corner of his mouth turn up in a smile. She had started watching for him?

“I’m from the desert. Ice hockey wasn’t really on the PE docket.” 

“And no one watched?”

“I’m sure some people did, but football was the big thing in my family. We were so thrilled when the Raiders came to Vegas, and we had our own team to cheer for.” 

“There’s a hockey team in Vegas now,” he said, his tone light and teasing. 

“I know,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. 

His eyes followed her movements, drinking in the shape of her mouth on the rim of the glass. 

“So you won’t teach me? You’re just going to let me flounder all on my own?” she teased when he didn’t answer. 

Laughing, he slid the asparagus into the oven before putting the salmon into a hot pan. It sizzled and snapped, and he stepped back to avoid getting hot oil on himself.

Once that was done, he moved to stand in front of her. 

Instinctively, her knees widened so he could stand between them.

“I’d love to teach you about hockey,” he said. 

This was ultimate flirting in Quinn’s book. Something he knew he could do. When someone wanted to talk about music, or art or classic cars, he was a fish out of water. But talking hockey? He could do that all day long. Convincing someone to like the sport he loved so much? There wasn't a more ideal situation. 

“Oh, good,” she said, leaning forward to kiss him. 

This was a perfect evening. Casual and comfortable. Cooking for someone he - liked, and kissing her whenever he wanted, taking no worry of who might be watching. 

Letting himself get swept up in the kiss, he slid his hands over her hips and tried to commit her scent to memory. No matter what happened - though he was pretty sure nothing bad was ever going to happen with Sarah - he wanted to remember this. She smelled like a dream he’d had as a boy. Like vanilla and warm skin and fireside, summer nights. It was an outlandish notion, but he couldn’t shake it. 

All her life, Sarah had read stories about star-crossed, fated lovers thrown together by chance and circumstance and serendipity. But those were all just stories. Even when her grandpa talked about meeting her grandma - like they were always meant to be together, and just had to find each other to make it happen - it seemed like folklore. A tall tale he spun to make their love story seem more epic. 

These past few weeks with Quinn made her realize how it could be possible to meet someone and decide that marrying them seven days later was a good idea. She’d never do that, but experiencing this kind of attraction first hand made her grandparents seem a little less crazy. 

She didn’t know Quinn very well, but in a way it felt like she’d somehow known him all along. Everything felt so comfortable with him.

Something popped on the stove and Quinn pulled away to check on it. His tongue darted over his plush bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth briefly as he flipped the salmon. The action made something in Sarah ache for him. 

“How was your day?” he asked. “Were you at the aquarium?” 

“No, I’m usually only there Tuesday through Friday. I was working a special shift when you came in that Monday because we had so many school field trips that day.”

They could have missed each other so easily, the fact of it made him a little dizzy. 

“I finished all my midterms on Thursday, so I actually took the weekend off. My roommates and I went to the market this morning, and then I finished a bunch of stuff I’ve been putting off because of school.” 

“So it was a good day?” he asked. 

She nodded, “better now that I'm here.” 

Quinn felt himself grin. 

“This is so good,” she said after her first bite.

“Thank you.” 

“Thank you for cooking,” she said, “It’s such a treat to get a home cooked meal.” 

His shock must have shown his face. 

She laughed, “I never have time to cook with school and work. I’m usually eating a sandwich for dinner.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. "That was my freshman year whenever I was away from the dining hall." 

“Yeah? I assumed you didn’t go to college. I thought players were drafted and that was that.” 

He shrugged. “I actually played a year of college hockey before I was drafted. Some guys don't need any extra development after the draft, my younger brother Jack didn’t. But some guys need a few years in college or the minors before they're ready.  I needed a little more development before I could come into the NHL, so I played another year at Michigan.” 

“Did you like it?”

"College?" She nodded and he continued,  "I loved it. It was time for me to move up to the NHL, but I wouldn’t have been too mad to stay there until I graduated.”

“Did you finish your degree?” she asked. 

“Yeah. In Communications.” 

“Did your mom teach you to cook?” 

Quinn couldn’t help but snort, “no.” 

Realizing how rude that sounded, he rushed to explain, “my mom is a great cook, but I really had to learn over COVID when I wasn’t allowed out.” 

“You weren’t allowed out?” she repeated. 

“They were really concerned about us getting sick, so the only time we could go out was to go to the rink or to games.”

“That sounds awful.” 

“It was, and I still got COVID twice,” he said ruefully. “So I had to learn to cook because I couldn’t go out to eat. I watched a lot of cooking shows,” he admitted with a smile.

“So what do your parents do?”

“Mom stayed at home, mostly, but she did broadcasting for women's hockey for a while before she had us kids, and dad was a development coach for a long time in the AHL and NHL.”

An amused smile spread over her lips, “so you really had no choice, did you? It was all hockey all the time in your house.” 

“I mean, my parents would have been happy with whatever we decided to do, but it was pretty impossible to avoid.” 

Her smile got bigger, and Quinn found himself smiling back. 

“When did you start playing?” 

“When I was three.” 

He jumped on a question of his own before she could get another one in, “when did you know you wanted to study the ocean?” 

Smiling, she rolled her eyes at herself. “It was a pretty classic girl who grows up in a desert, land-locked state is obsessed with what she doesn’t have. But it really kicked into gear when I moved to Hawaii after I graduated with my undergrad.” 

“Hawaii?” he asked. 

She swallowed hard and took a sip of wine, “yeah. I moved pretty soon after my dad died. I got an internship working for a conservation group on Kauai, and just kind of ran away with it,” she said. “I felt like I found my calling there in a way.” 

“Why didn’t you study there?” 

“Well, it’s really expensive to live and study in Hawaii,” she said, “and my mom died, and I found out pretty soon after that I couldn’t be that far away from my family.” 

This was the second time she’d mentioned needing to be close by family. Quinn felt like there was something she wasn’t telling him, but didn’t want to push, it would probably come out with time.  

They finished their meal in companionable conversation, getting to know each other more. He learned about her research on octopus social behavior, and she learned about some of his teammates, who were his best friends in the city. 

Sarah insisted on doing the dishes. “I may not be much of a cook, but I do know how to clean,” she said. 

Quinn followed her into the kitchen. He was getting antsy. He wanted to kiss her. 

“What did you have in mind for the rest of the night?” she asked, looking up from loading plates in the dishwasher. 

Making out. Really, he wanted to pull her into his bed, but he was only one half of that equation and the last thing he wanted was to scare her away now. 

“I'm not really sure. I figured we'd figure it out together,” he said. 

Something in Sarah melted a little at his words. It was good to have a plan sometimes. And sometimes, it was good to let the evening take you where it wanted. 

Meeting his eyes, she said, “I like the sound of that.”

After a house tour, they ended up upstairs, on his favorite couch. Gray suede softer than anything he’d ever owned. He'd been meaning to ask his real estate agent if he could take it with him when he left. 

Fingers entwined, she tugged him closer, letting her lips fall against his. 

A distinct feeling of, finally, seeped through Quinn as he deepened the kiss. One hand woven into her hair, while the other caressed her waist.

Sarah’s fingers slid behind his neck, pulling him closer. God, she wanted him so much closer. 

A breathy moan escaped her mouth when he brushed his tongue over hers just so.

Her body drove her next actions, pulling herself into his lap, knees bracketing his hips as she rested her weight on his thighs. 

He sucked in a deep breath. 

She pulled away to look into his face, “is this okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, nodding too fast, he didn’t want her to go anywhere. He hadn’t been shocked so much as trying to brace himself. 

Smiling, she leaned in again. Just as their lips met, words she'd been thinking for the past eleven days tumbled out of her mouth and into his, “I really like you, Quinn.”

His heart twisted at the tenderness, and he pulled back to look into her eyes as he responded, “I really like you, too, Sarah.”

His sincerity burrowed into her and hummed there, heating her from the inside out. Nudging his mouth with hers again, she sighed. This kiss was far more tender and slow than any of the ones before. It wasn’t so much passion as it was an expression of gratitude for companionship, and hope for the future. 

In a way, these kinds of beginnings in their relationship felt perfunctory, like they needed to get through them in order to get to the good stuff. Still, Quinn didn’t want to rush. 

Their kiss in the kitchen felt like a glimpse into a future time when the awkwardness of firsts was done away. It had taken months to get that comfortable with his last girlfriend, June. She hadn’t been as into him as he’d been into her (and hadn't been afraid to wield that fact like a sword), so that had been most of the problem. He didn’t get that game playing vibe from Sarah; just this reciprocated, gentle passion like he’d never experienced before. They even seemed to naturally kiss at the same pace. 

Her kisses were unlike anything he’d experienced. Hot, of course, but there was an underlying tenderness and safety he hadn’t known he was seeking. 

It didn’t take long for the gentleness to evaporate. After a few minutes, Sarah angled herself closer. Desperate to feel more of his skin, her fingers snuck under his shirt, splaying over his stomach.

He grunted at the skin to skin contact and felt his temperature spike.

That was it. With that sexy grunt, she was a woman possessed. “Can I take this off?” she asked, tugging at the hem of his shirt, too anxious to wait for a more natural moment. 

He leaned away from the couch to grab the collar and stripped the fabric over his head before throwing it on the floor. 

Giggling, she went back to kissing him, letting her hands explore his shoulders and chest. Feeling the smattering of coarse hair there, visions of how it would feel brushing her own chest flooded her mind. She had to stop herself from rubbing up against him like a cat.

His hands snuck under her shirt, and set fire to her skin. Sitting back on his thighs, she stripped her shirt off, letting it drop to the floor by his. 

Quinn sucked in a shallow breath. His heart kicked forcefully into his spine as if to ask, are you seeing this? 

He was and he couldn't believe it either. 

The bra she wore was dark blue, and cradled her breasts so they swelled gently above the fabric. Lace peeked over the solid lining, drawing shapes on her skin.

It had been a stroke of genius when she decided to buy this bra, even though at the time, she didn’t have anyone but herself to wear it for. Comfortable for the most part, it made her boobs look killer: pushed up and round. It was a confidence booster to just wear it under her clothing. Getting ready earlier in the day, Sarah knew herself well enough to know there was more than a slim chance she'd end up losing her shirt. She wanted this to be the first bra he saw her in.

Finally forcing his eyes up to her face, he found her nervously biting her lip, a hopeful sort of look in her eyes. 

“You’re…" He didn’t want to come off cheesy, or like he was trying too hard, but eventually, he just said what was going through his mind. Cheese be damned. "Jesus, you’re so pretty, Sarah.” 

She flushed the most adorable shade of pink. “Thank you.” 

He pulled her in to kiss her again. He wanted her so much. 

“Leave that on,” she said, moving his hands away from the clasp of her bra, not quite ready for him to see the stretch marks and asymmetry of her breasts. 

“Okay,” he whispered against her lips, entwining his fingers with hers. 

It was such a respectful, sweet gesture that she almost took her bra off anyway just because she liked him so much.  

The temptation to look at her more grew too strong and he pulled away. 

He kept their hands laced together as his eyes roved over her, from her soft stomach to the curve that dipped from hip to chest. 

His eyes caught on something dark peeing out from under the band of her bra. 

“Do you have a tattoo?” he asked. 

She nodded, lifting her left arm and twisting her torso to show him. 

“Is it a tree?” 

Looking down, she realized that while the roots and poem intertwined into them were visible, the thick band of this bra covered most of the design. 

Her hands were moving before she really had time to think it through. The need to know if he would accept this part of her consumed her until she was doing something she'd just asked him not to. Consequences be damned. She wanted to show him this part of herself - this reminder she'd had permanently added to her body. 

Quinn watched, enthralled, as she wrapped her right arm in front of her to cup her left breast, reaching back to unsnap her bra with the other hand. His mind raced with images of his hands replacing hers. 

Keeping her bra flush to her, she dropped her left shoulder until the strap fell, pulling the band forward. 

Even though he knew she would stay covered, his breathing still jumped when she lifted her arm. 

“The tree is based on a beech tree that was in my grandma's backyard. We used to play in it all the time.” 

"Can I touch it?" he asked reverently. 

"Yeah," her voice was breathy. 

The tree was a sepia photograph - dark brown, expertly detailed roots, trunk and branches leading up to lighter, autumn toned leaves that looked as if they might just blow away with the right gust of wind. 

“What do the roots say?” he asked, tracing his finger over the fine cursive text, looping and weaving itself among the chaotic web of lines. 

Goosebumps rippled over her skin. 

“It’s a poem my mom had hanging in our house. It says, ‘Good timber does not grow with ease: / The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees; / The further the sky, the greater the length; / The more the storm, the more the strength. / By sun and cold, by rain and snow, / In trees and men good timbers grow.’” 

It had been a long time since someone had seen her tattoo close enough to ask about the poem, and she’d had to recite it. Saying the words out loud after so long choked her voice with emotion. She tried to not let it overwhelm her, but it was like trying to stop a dam from collapsing when it had already cracked. Tears pooled in her vision.

Quinn stared at her for a few heartbeats, terrified to fail, before his common sense and advice from his mom kicked in. His first thought was to hold her, but she would probably be uncomfortable with her bra undone like it was. So, he threaded the strap back onto her shoulder and clumsily hooked the clasp together - that was something he’d never done before - before wrapping his arms around her. 

Sarah was stunned, but welcomed the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. This act of receiving care and comfort when she started to cry, only made her want to cry more, this time out of gratitude. 

This was something she’d never dared to say out loud when her friends asked about the kind of man she wanted. It was impossible to explain to someone that had never lost a loved one. She wanted a man who wasn’t afraid of her grief, and wouldn’t try to solve it. She’d written that very phrase in her journal, and it seemed the Universe held onto that wish until both she and Quinn were ready. 

“What can I do?” he asked, feeling so inadequately prepared. 

A small laugh chuffed out of her mouth at the absurdity that he felt he needed to do more. “This is enough. This is exactly what I need.”

A sigh breathed through his body and he tightened his hold around her. 

It was a bizarre situation. Cuddling on their third date with shirts off because Sarah had started crying over a poem her mother had loved. It wasn’t where she had envisioned the night to be going in the slightest. 

She sat up and blinked the moisture on her lashes onto her finger, leaving streaks of mascara on her skin. “I’m sorry.” 

He shook his head, letting his hands rest at her hips. When he’d called her for advice, his mom told him how sometimes, grief just came up and swept you away, and the best thing he could do as a support was be there. Be a physical presence, tethering her to the shore so she could find her way back. 

A forced little, self conscious laugh escaped her chest, and she reached behind to re-clasp her bra. He’d done up only two of the three clasps and on the wrong hooks.   

“That was my first time,” he said, self-deprecating. “Can you tell?”  

She laughed - fully, out loud - and it banished the tears from her eyes. 

“I really like this,” he said, brushing his thumb over the roots winding to the front of her ribcage. “I like that it’s something so important to you, and has so many memories in it. It’s not like one of those sticker tattoos, you know?” 

One of those adorned her thigh. A heart small enough, it could be mistaken for a birthmark in the right light. She’d gotten it on a drunken dare, and was glad she’d had enough sense at the time to at least pick something simple. 

“You don’t like sticker tattoos?” 

“Tattoos are so permanent, I think they should mean something. I have a friend that has a whole bunch of dumb stuff tattooed on his arm just because he can.” 

Quinn’s hand was still on her side. The feeling of his warm palm on her skin was grounding and comforting. 

The rest of the night was spent kissing and cuddling. Her bra stayed on, though she thought about flinging it across the room more than once when he asked if he could touch her there, and then did, heating her blood to a boil. 

When Quinn’s phone buzzed with an alarm at 11, he pulled away reluctantly and smiled at her dazed, over-kissed expression. Memorizing the feeling of her skin to sustain him through the night, he ran his palm from its place on the back of her neck to the small of her back.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet, almost as if he was trying to keep himself from hearing it. “I’m really sorry, I have practice in the morning, and a game tomorrow.” 

She nodded, pursing her lips, which were flushed and more pouty than usual. “Can you take me home, then?” 

The last remnants of the test anxiety he’d been feeling blew away. “Of course.”  

Watching unashamedly as she pulled her shirt on, Quinn tried to commit the way she moved to memory. He wanted to remember everything about this night. 

Reaching for his hand, Sarah still felt a small thrill when he took it as they walked to the elevator. 

As she directed him to her apartment in Yaletown, she watched his profile in the city lights. 

“Have you broken your nose?” 

Laughter bubbled out of him, and he glanced over. “Yeah, a couple of times. Why?” 

“I just wondered,” she said, “You have a really distinctive nose.” 

“Is that a good thing?” 

“Yes.” 

She told him to turn left and pointed to her building. 

He stopped in front of her apartment building. “Are you still taking tomorrow off?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Do you…” he didn’t know why he was so nervous about this, “do you want to come to the game? I can get you a ticket.” 

A smile beamed over her face, “I’d love that. Do you think my roommates could come too? They’d never forgive me if I went without them.” 

“Sure.” 

“Am I supposed to wear your jersey?” 

He grimaced and shook his head, “no. Just wear whatever you want. I always think it’s kind of weird when girls wear my jersey.” In some ways, he’d love to see his name across her back, but not at a game. She’d be just another fangirl there. 

“Okay.” she leaned over the console to kiss him. 

He fumbled for the gear shift and slid the car into park. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said when she pulled away a while later. 

After watching her scan into the building, Quinn drove the ten minutes home knowing, having won her trust in this way, he would sleep like a rock. 

Both Eunice and Jane were in the living room when Sarah opened the apartment door. Eunice immediately shut off the TV, effectively blowing their cover that they were awake for any other reason than talking to her. 

"How was it?" Jane demanded. 

Sarah allowed herself a moment of self indulgence, and sank dramatically into the giant black chair Jane had inherited from her cousin's best friend’s brother or something equally convoluted.

"It was so good."

"Did you fuck?"

"Eunice," Jane reprimanded, rolling her eyes. "It was only their second date."

"So? I'd be stripping him down the second I got him alone."

Sarah cut in before Jane could snark back or Eunice could say something even worse, "No, we didn't. But we made out and if it's any indication of what's to come, it'll be amazing."

"Tell us everything."

The last time Sarah had rehashed a date minute for minute, she'd been in Hawaii, home from the first of many dates with her last boyfriend. She'd forgotten how exciting it could be. 

"Oh man," Eunice said when she was done. "That sounds so magical."

"It really was."

"I like the way you talk about him, like it's fate or something." Jane said dreamily. 

"It feels like fate," Sarah admitted. "It feels like something just plopped us together."

Eunice sighed. "I want that so much."

"Oh, I almost forgot. Quinn invited me to the game tomorrow."

"Oh, that's exciting," Eunice said, voice lacking any and all excitement. She was failing to look like she wasn't pouting. 

"I told him you'd never forgive me if I went without you, so he's getting tickets for all three of us."

"Really?" Eunice squealed as she took Jane's hands, forcing her to stand and started jumping around the living room. "I've never been to a game in person! Is he getting us rinkside?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask. I was just glad he was getting three tickets."

"You have to wear his jersey. I have one you can borrow."

"Oh," Sarah paused, "he actually told me he didn't want me to."

Eunice looked perplexed for a long moment before she continued her jumping that was sure to wake their downstairs neighbors. “I'll wear it then.”

The following evening, Quinn wasn't sure what to expect as he skated out for warm up. He'd sent Sarah the tickets and asked if she would stay after the game so he could take her home, which she'd agreed to. He had warned her it might be a while before he was ready to go, and she’d assured him she would bring a book. He didn't ask her if she would be there for warm ups or if she would be down at the glass instead of up by the box. 

He did a lap, and didn't see her. He felt on edge in a way he didn't usually before a game. Hockey was something he could practically do in his sleep. It was a learned and inherited skill he'd been honing for the past 18 years. But knowing she was watching made him a little bit nervous. 

When he went back to run some passing drills, he spotted her at the glass wearing a simple blue shirt that matched his colors under a black jacket. Her hair was in an intricate braid, twined around her head like a crown. She looked so much better than she would have wearing a jersey. 

He skated over to her and knocked on the glass to get her attention. 

Her roommate shrieked and Sarah turned. A beautiful, easy smile bloomed on her face. He smiled back in a way he usually didn't allow himself to in public. 

He grabbed a puck and tossed it over the glass for her. It was dumb, he knew that, but it was all he had to offer at that moment. 

When he went back into the drill, Conor was the first to skate up beside him, "who is that?"

Quinn felt himself blush and tried to brush it off, but Petey saddled up to both of them. 

"Is that Sarah?" He asked. 

"Sarah?" Conor repeated, a smirk on his face. "Who is Sarah?"

Want more Quinn & Sarah? Check out the Snapshots Masterlist

To read all my fics, check out the Fanfiction Masterlist

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lil Kalish at HuffPost:

The first-ever mobilization of trans voters around a presidential candidate took place on Zoom on Tuesday, as around 1,000 transgender people, including lawmakers, advocates, health care workers and celebrities, logged on to show support for Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency. Trans Folks For Harris was one of numerous identity-based webinars to support Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month. Over the last few weeks, many LGBTQ+ advocates have embraced Harris, touting her decadeslong record of supporting LGBTQ+ rights, and her decision to make Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who transformed the state into a “trans refuge,” her running mate. This came just after Advocates for Trans Equality released a report showing that 75% of eligible trans voters turned up to the polls in the 2020 presidential election, compared to 67% of the general U.S. population — and that trans voters make up a crucial part of the electorate.

“We know our rights and our progress are on the line, but so is our very sense of belonging,” said Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, who was elected as the first openly transgender state senator in the country. If McBride wins her bid for Delaware’s open House seat, she would become the first transgender member of Congress. “We have the opportunity, but more importantly, the responsibility in this election to show a trans young person who fears that the heart of this country is not big enough to love them too, that no matter what extremists say or do, our next president and vice president continue to have their backs,” McBride continued. The Harris-Walz campaign has yet to release any concrete policy plans on civil rights ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, but advocates say Harris and Walz have demonstrated their commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ rights, access to abortion and the rights to bodily autonomy overall. A draft of the Democrats’ platform, which was released in July, outlines their fight to restore reproductive rights, address racial inequalities, and protect democracy.

“It’s a step forward to ensure that trans people, especially Black and Brown trans women, have the representation and the resources they need to live with dignity and pride,” Zahara Bassett, CEO of Chicago trans advocacy organization Life Is Work, said on the call. “We need to make sure that our future is one of equity, justice and liberation for us all.” Harris was one of the first elected officials to publicly back marriage equality in 2004, and she refused to defend Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, in 2008. As a prosecutor, she also led the charge to end the so-called gay and transgender “panic defense,” a legal strategy often used to seek a lesser offense for perpetrators of anti-LGBTQ+ violence or murder by claiming that the victim made same-sex sexual advances. In June 2023, Harris became the first sitting vice president to visit the Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, and the site of the historic 1969 uprising of LGBTQ+ people fighting back against police raids in the New York City bar. And earlier this week, Harris released a video on X outlining how former President Donald Trump vastly restricted LGBTQ+ rights while in office — and how he would do so again if elected. Trump has already promised to roll back several policies, including blocking access to gender-affirming care for minors and rescinding the Biden administration’s Title IX rules that expand protections for transgender students. Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, introduced a bill in the upper chamber to criminalize gender-affirming care for trans youth.

[...] Today’s embrace of Harris is in stark contrast to how some LGBTQ+ voters remembered her last bid for president in 2019. Back then, some advocates took issue with Harris’ tenure as a prosecutor for how she pushed for criminal penalties for parents of truant children and which led to the arrest of many Black and brown people. Many also noted how as attorney general, Harris’ office denied an incarcerated trans woman’s request for gender-affirming care. Harris has since apologized and said she takes “full responsibility” for her office’s actions. But still, not all LGBTQ+ voters are convinced. Harris’ support for the Biden administration’s policies towards Israel’s war in Gaza has alienated some of these voters. In the Democratic primaries this year, hundreds of thousands of voters cast “uncommitted” ballots as a form of protest to push for a cease-fire and end U.S. weapons transfers to Israel.

For the first time in American Presidential history, an organized mobilization effort for trans Americans to support Kamala Harris’s Presidency bid has cropped up, featuring a Trans Folks For Harris Zoom call. 🏳️‍⚧️

[xxstarlight-lifexx]

Some quotes I have from people speaking out against KOSA, please reblog, tag people, cross-post on other platforms, and share with everyone you can, all quotes are fair use &lt;3

“This law is a scam, created with the express purpose of persecuting LGBTQ+ people and silencing victims of abuse. That is the only possible outcome of these kinds of bills.

Oppose them on principle. Be skeptical whenever they are even brought-up.

This isn’t about safety—it is a takeover of THE major avenue to disseminate information in the modern world. It is more than censorship, it defines the avenues that thought may even take.

It will lead to identity verification companies like Clear or ID.me getting more of people’s private data and guaranteed, exclusive government contracts for surveillance and data collection, in violation of the spirit of the 4th Amendment, if not the letter.

It is also an absolute certainty that conservatives in positions of authority will use this program to persecute LGBTQ+ people, with the force of the State, under the guise of protecting children from pornography and "grooming". It has been an explicit misdirection tactic the right has invented to poison debate on trans rights issues and the (unconnected) growing evidence of sexual impropriety among the powerful, particularly conservatives.

Furthermore, I and most others will not abide by this law, if it is passed, and will take whatever actions necessary to safeguard our personal information via VPN, encryption, onion networking, etc., regardless of their permissibility.”

“This is a violation of basic rights on the Internet. Whatever happened to Freedom of Speech? Or are we just gonna ignore a literal Amendment in favor of “protecting the American children" while many of those children are the ones against this??”

“having full privacy on the internet may have saved my life growing up. don’t take away kid’s privacy, there’s already perfectly reasonable ways for parents to monitor kids.”

“I think that people have a right to privacy online, especially children. This doesn't seem like a bill that would actually protect children from anything, it would just make important resources more difficult to access, increase censorship online, and increase surveillance, all of which I oppose.”

“There are three things you never give out on the internet for your safety. 1) Name, 2) Face, and 3) Home. This bill guarantees that all three will be easily available to those who wish to hurt the children this bill falsely claims to protect. If you actually care about children, stop this bill. Listen to what those of us that actually use the internet are telling you. Children and adults deserve a private, anonymous space to be.”

“i'm a queer teen and i know full well the importance online spaces have in supporting lgbtq+ youth, especially ones who don't have supportive environments in person. censorship doesn't actually erase the information, it just makes it harder to access.”

“I’m writing to urge you to reject the Kids Online Safety Act, a misguided bill that would put vulnerable young people at risk.

KOSA would fail to address the root issues related to kid’s safety online. Instead, it would endanger some of the most vulnerable people in our society while undermining human rights and children’s privacy. The bill would result in widespread internet censorship by pressuring platforms to use incredibly broad “content filters” and giving state Attorneys General the power to decide what content kids should and shouldn’t have access to online. This power could be abused in a number of ways and be politicized to censor information and resources.

KOSA would also likely lead to the greater surveillance of children online by requiring platforms to gather data to verify user identity.

There is a way to protect kids and all people online from egregious data abuse and harmful content targeting: passing a strong Federal data privacy law that prevents tech companies from collecting so much sensitive data about all of us in the first place, and gives individuals the ability to sue companies that misuse their data.

KOSA, although well-meaning, must not move forward. Please protect privacy and stop the spread of censorship online by opposing KOSA.”

“Censorship doesn't keep kids safe. Censorship does not save abused children. Censorship does not save queer children. Censorship will not save any of us. Freedom for us all. Freedom for the internet. This shit cannot stand.”

“This bill is a massive overreach on civil liberties and freedom of speech in particular. It should not be within the government's purview to determine what content is acceptable, no matter which party is in power.”

“As we all know, the major threats to American children today are books, bathrooms, and the Internet.

Not getting shot in their own schools or attacked on their own streets.

Since graduating from the public school system in 2007, I haven't seen anything from elected officials to contradict this.”

“KOSA is a censorship bill in sheep’s clothing. It would erode Americans’ rights to privacy, especially that of vulnerable and marginalized Americans, and gather information about the whereabouts and identities of the children it play-acts at “protecting”.”

“This is a ridiculous law

KOSA is a giant bill that is pretending to be about child safety, but is actually overreaching government censorship. It is a violation of free speech and the 1st amendment.

This bill would require that internet users upload their government ID to access any site, and state attorney generals could sue to remove any site that contains content deemed "harmful" to children. The government will be able to censor ANYTHING - such as abortion info, LGBTQ+ resources, and any content relating to protesting or organizing. They will also be able to ID you if you search for any of these topics. This is the opposite of a free internet!”

“The law is pretty much just a trojan horse for censorship.”

“frankly i dont want to be put on a list the gov has of every queer person who opposes their anti-lgbt laws”

“I care about actually helping people instead of making a bill that is going to kill any ability for anyone to get help. That is going to be used to police anyone who disagrees with the absolute mess everything is right now. The conservative morals don’t allow for anyone not white, cuz, straight, or male; and I won’t have that enforced on the fucking public forum.”

[mariacallous]

Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker, who wrote the concurring opinion in last week’s explosive Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos have the same rights as living children, recently appeared on a show hosted by self-anointed “prophet” and QAnon conspiracy theorist.

Parker was the featured guest on “Someone You Should Know,” hosted by Johnny Enlow, a Christian nationalist influencer and devoted supporter of former President Donald Trump. Over the course of an 11-minute interview, Parker articulated a theocratic worldview at odds with a functioning, pluralistic society.

“God created government,” he told Enlow, adding that it’s “heartbreaking” that “we have let it go into the possession of others.”

Media Matters, the liberal media watchdog group, was the first to report on Parker’s appearance on the program.

That a state’s chief Supreme Court justice would associate himself with Enlow is a cause for alarm. Enlow is a prolific conspiracy theorist, often weaving QAnon apocrypha with prophecies he claims to receive directly from God.

As reported by Right Wing Watch, Enlow has claimed that Trump “is on assignment” from God to work with the angels Michael and Gabriel to take down George Soros and Bill Gates, among others; he has claimed that Russian President Vladamir Putin is fighting “Luciferian pedophiles” in Ukraine, in a battle to stop them from deploying vaccines and 5G that would turn people into transhumanist semi-robots; and he has claimed that the majority of other world leaders are “satanic” pedophiles who “steal blood” and “do sacrifices.”

Enlow’s interview with Parker was uploaded to Rumble, the alt-tech video platform, on the same day the Alabama Supreme Court issued its opinion that sent shockwaves throughout the reproductive rights community. The ruling, which makes fertility clinics liable in wrongful death lawsuits for harming or destroying an embryo, has already imperiled access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the state.

“Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God,” wrote Parker, a longtime anti-abortion advocate sometimes credited with building the legal framework to overturn Roe v. Wade. “Even before birth,” Parker added, “all human beings have the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.”

Parker used similar theological language in his interview with Enlow, thanking Enlow for promoting the “Seven Mountains” on his show. As HuffPost has reported before, the “Seven Mountains Mandate” is a doctrine at the core of the New Apostolic Reformation, an evangelical movement that believes in the supernatural, including the existence of modern-day apostles and prophets, and which is characterized by a belief in Christian dominionism. The Seven Mountains Mandate is the belief that Christians must conquer the “seven mountains” of societal influence — education, media, religion, family, business, entertainment and government — and force fundamentalist Christian values onto every part of American life, in order to pave the path for Christ’s return.

“As you’ve emphasized in the past, we’ve abandoned those Seven Mountains and they’ve been occupied by the opposite side,” Parker told Enlow, suggesting the chief justice is familiar with Enlow’s show. Enlow is a big proponent of the Seven Mountains Mandate, and maintains a far-right website with his wife called “Restore Seven.”

Parker also told Enlow that God is “equipping me with something for the very specific situation that I’m facing” as the Alabama chief justice.

Enlow, as noted by Media Matters, praised Parker and appeared mindful of not dragging the judge into even more controversial topics. He told Parker that he’s “in such a key place that we don’t want to have any conversations that hurt you in any kind of way, but we appreciate who you are, who you are in the kingdom.”

[bobwess]

Fighting the RESTRICT Act

You've probably heard by now that there is a "TikTok ban" being floated in the Senate.

You've probably also heard that it isn't that simple. The bill doesn't do much for security but it DOES give the US Government the power to collect as much data as they want while also giving them the power to ban any social media platforms they deem a threat to safety with scarily few guidelines on what constitutes "a threat". It's the patriot act of the modern era. We really REALLY don't want the government having that kind of power.

Imagine whatever party you don't like getting in power in the branches of government. Now imagine what it would look like if they had the power to collect as much data from your social media blogs as possible before banning their least liked ones altogether. Catastrophic. How can you help fight it? Fill out two simple email forms. Use this website to look up your two Senators. Just select your state. There is a "contact" link under their photo. It will bring you to a form to fill out that automatically emails your representative. Ask in the body that they vote against the RESTRICT act. Send it to one and then the other. It's that simple and it really goes a long way to showing that this matters to people.

Stuck on what to write? I'm copying what I wrote below the cut if you just want to copy/paste that and be done with it.

(Title can be: Vote "no" on RESTRICT act)

I urge you to vote “no” on the RESTRICT act!

It's not about TikTok, it's about everything else in the bill! It gives broad (and vague) guidelines to follow while failing to actually address the real concerns about data safety on ALL social media platforms foreign and domestic.

I’m writing today to beg you to vote no on any bill that would give the federal government the power to ban entire social media platforms.

Both the DATA Act in the House and the RESTRICT Act in the Senate are designed to allow the government to ban TikTok in the US and would likely result in bans of many other businesses and platforms as well. A ban like this would violate the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.

If these bills move to a vote, I ask you to vote “no.” In a clumsy attempt to protect the data of US persons from the Chinese government, these bills will instead limit our right to express ourselves — both online and off.

Let's talk to some experts that can help design a bill that actually protects all our data from ALL who would abuse it in this country and out, without giving the government a pass to ban whatever they see fit.  

Thank you.

[upsidedownwithsteve]

Modern au club steve?? Could be any vibe - chatting at the bar, dancing (subjectively) on the floor etc. etc. 💛💛

There wasn’t one guy in the club that was doing it for you.

In fact, you didn’t even really want to be there. It was too loud and the flashing lights were jarring, the dance floor too crowded and the scent of spilled tequila and sweat lingered in the hazy air. But you’d promised Nancy and Robin you’d make an effort and leave the house on a Saturday night.it was hardly their scene either, not really, but once the girls managed to let some sour shots slide down their throats, they found the music easier to dance to and their shared kisses certainly helped.

So you left them to move around each other on the dance floor, hands shy in public, just daring enough to wander onto each other's hips as they spun and laughed. It left you on the outskirts, where the suede couches lining the walls gave way to the platform that was a little darker than the rest of the club, where the bar curved around a ridiculous waterfall centrepiece. The lights were lower, deep pinks and reds over the crystal glasses, the optics that lined the wall.

You passed a guy named George on the way there, too handy and persistent, drinking expensive scotch and sneering when you said no for the fourth time. Then there was a redhead, broad and too quiet, barely hearing what kind of chat up line he was trying to feed you over the music. Someone else grabbed your ass, another spilled a frozen daiquiri down your bare leg, and by the time you reached the bar, you were ready to drink it dry.

It was quieter than the main bar, the one that sat by the DJ booth where no one got the drink they actually ordered because it was so loud. And once the small crowd before you had been swerved, a boy appeared in front of you on the other side of the marble counter, bathed in peach and pink lighting. He was handsome, fucking pretty, actually. All messy hair, a little wild, kind brown eyes and a little stubble along a strong jaw. His white shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, the top three buttons undone due to the sticky heat in the club. There was a glint of a chain at his collarbones, a smattering of hair that led down to his chest.

You swallowed, suddenly parched.

“You look like you’re ready to murder someone.”

You blinked, lips parting, ready to argue but you laughed instead, a sound swallowed by the music but the barman grinned at your smile. You nodded, leaning onto the bar, the cool surface nice against your overheated skin.

“Is the resting bitch face that bad?” You asked, leaning in a little so he could hear you. He smelled good, the woodsy, spicy scent of his cologne catching in the air as he moved closer too.

He shrugged, grinning, letting his gaze linger over your face, the small straps of your dress, the way the silky material dipped and draped low along your chest. “I wouldn’t say there was anything bad about it,” the barman twisted his lips, like he was trying to stop himself from smiling too much. “Besides, you fought a war trying to get over here. What can I get you?”

He had been watching you. You shifted on the barstool, thighs rubbing together, dress hitching upupup. Scanning the bottles behind the bar, you hummed, elbows pressed to the marble so you could push your tits together, testing the waters. His gaze dropped and you grinned, tongue caught between your teeth.

“Could I bother you for a whiskey sour?” You asked kindly, already fishing for your purse.

“You certainly can,” he replied, reaching for the bourbon and the shaker.

He watched you as you watched him, arms flexing and the lines of muscle in his forearms rippling as he shook the metal container, the clang of ice inaudible under the bass and drums. There was a buzz as he poured out your drink for you, wide hands and thick fingers pushing the glass across the counter to you. And when you tried to hand him a folded bill, he smiled and shook his head.

You beamed, leaning closer still to read his name tag in the low light.

“Thank you, Steve.”

He smirked back, ignoring the other customers who were lined up and waiting, arms crossed and pressed to the marble. “You’re welcome…?” He trailed off, waiting for you to give him a name.

But you took a sip of your drink instead, the foam top fizzing on your tongue and you hummed at the taste, sweet and sour. You licked your lips, sucked the tip of your thumb to get rid of the sticky bourbon and tried not to look too pleased when Steve’s gaze followed the movement.

“When do you get off?” You asked him instead.

“Twenty minutes,” came his swift reply. “Sooner, if you’d like.”

You nodded, smiling sweetly, a hand wrapping around the frosted glass. “I’ll tell you then.”

….

[justbackgroundnoise]

Women's Hockey is unfortunately more niche than NWSL and WNBA and to act like because it worked for more successful and profitable leagues means it will work the PWHL is spurious at best.

Like I can go to NWSL game and find multiple sports bars carrying their game during the season in my city, but only the lesbian sports bar that does not make very much money carried PWHL games. They probably can afford TSN but what if they choose not to pay for another channel when they have what they need to stream most women's sports?

I hope it works out for the PWHL but we can't pretend wanting to charge money is the same thing as a guarantee that people will pay.

Of course it’s more niche, I don’t disagree with you there at all, but at the end of the day these leagues are businesses 🤷‍♀️ I didn’t say the PWHL would be raking in millions of dollars because of these new broadcast partners, no shot haha, I simply used the NWSL and the WNBA as examples for how other women’s professional leagues have reached a place where they’re in a position to make that much money from media because their popularity has grown year over year. Those leagues have also been around for ages now and likely made very little in the beginning but they did have broadcast deals to help with that growth. Let’s not forget how the NWSL as a league basically failed in some of its older formats before it finally became the success it’s now grown into, and the CWHL folded as well because it wasn’t given the financial backing it deserved but things are different now and that’s great!

I won’t fault the PWHL for trying to make money and taking advantage of this buzz heading into season two and maybe, one day, they’ll also get to a point where their deals for media are huge, because we know right now it isn’t anywhere even close to those other sports league but it’s a start!

And it’s a direction the league has to move in if they want a broader audience to actually develop an interest. So if an opportunity arises that allows financial growth, even if it’s small, through broadcast partnerships, I’m not sure why the league would choose to do it any other way. The audience is growing and I know it’s great to just turn on youtube and boom the games are all there, I myself loved that last season but as someone who wants to see the league grow in a more financially successful way, even having interest from big networks to become broadcast partners is important because let’s face it, free for all on youtube doesn’t pay the bills. The reality is that the modern sports media industry operates this way, across multiple platforms, and the hard and fast of it all is that women’s professional sports won’t make money/be successful if people always expect the product to be free. Just because it’s young, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have a $ value and people will either pay to watch the product or they won’t.