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copias-thrall · 3 years

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Cause I'm Young and I'm Here and So Beautiful

A look into the rise and fall of Mary Goore's flash-in-the-pan modeling career.

~12.5K Mary Goore/Reader *drug/alcohol use; mentions of past child abuse; brief homelessness; plot no porn; POV shift*

This fic was inspired by and is very loosely based on Aurelio Voltaire's early days in NYC in the 90s, though I have set it in Boston in the early aughts. 😊

Many thanks to the artists who did commissions for this! 🥰

One Way Streets

Mary stepped off the regional rail and gripped his backpack. He had $72.57 in cash rolled into his socks and a give-em-hell attitude.

When he’d packed his bag the night before, he wasn’t even sure if he’d go through with it, but he couldn’t stand being home anymore. Some of his friends had told him he was crazy.

"Three more months, dude. You got this. Just finish high school, then bounce."

But they didn’t have to live with his dad and the step-monster. Every day was a new indignity. Having them bitch about his music and his style was one thing—that he could have dealt with—but everything else had just kind of…escalated.

Now that the kiddies were older, they’d turned into gremlins. They’d somehow sensed that Mary wasn’t their beloved older brother—he was some sort of half other. They’d stopped questioning why "mom was so mean" to him and had accepted that she was because there was something wrong with Mary. They realized they could be little shits and blame everything on him.

And dad just didn’t care. He’d throw up his hands and say, "I have to live with her"—as if Mary wasn’t in the same boat.

Dad hadn’t stopped her when—in a rage—she’d smashed every single vinyl album Mary had owned because the twins ruined her nice tablecloth. He’d shrugged when she cut all Mary's guitar strings so he couldn’t play "the devil’s music." He’d held Mary back when she took a match and burned all his secret stuff that Mary kept under his bed—action figures, books, guitar mags, journals—in the backyard because he got detention for smoking. He hadn’t said a word when the police showed up after she came at Mary with scissors because he’d dyed his hair black and he’d pushed her away before she could scalp him.

Mary thought for sure he was going to get carted off to jail as she screamed about him terrorizing the family and being afraid he was going to kill her sons in their sleep, but the officers had just looked at her bored and told her being a teenager wasn’t a crime.

So, no: Mary couldn’t wait 3 more months.

He’d scraped together what money he had left from his secret shifts working as a busboy under the table at a local dive downtown, packed his backpack with the essentials, and walked the 5 miles to the train station instead of going to school.

Eighteen was 10 weeks away. He could fudge it for a few months, especially since he could already get away without using his fake ID to get into shows most of the time.

So, to the big city it was.

He shifted his weight and tried to pretend that he belonged here in Boston, but actually facing the busy streets was a lot different from looking at a bird’s-eye view map. He had a printout in his pocket, but he didn’t want to look like a doe-eyed tourist. So he set off down the seemingly labyrinthine streets in the direction he could have sworn was the correct one.

It wasn't.

When he came out a side alley into Faneuil Hall, he almost wondered if he'd gone through a fairy portal, since he was clear on the other side of town. Begrudgingly, he checked his creased map, and set out once more.

And ended up spit out by the State building.

Finding the hostel turned into a fraught adventure, and he got turned around several times more. When he tried to ask for directions, most people pushed past him while one lady shoved $5 at him. He used the cash to buy a hotdog, and it was the vendor who ultimately gave him directions in his thick, Southie accent.

Of course, making it to the hostel ended up being just part one. The rates were almost double what it stated online ("Sorry, honey—that site hasn’t been upgraded since the 90s."), and two nights were practically all his savings. Mary had thought he’d at least have a couple of days to find a job, not 36hrs.

He left the hostel, wondering for the first time if maybe he shouldn’t go back home…but he decided it was a nice day out. Surely there was some place he could hunker down. Just for the night.

What he hadn’t anticipated was the cops at every fucking turn telling him to move along. And any place out of line-of-sight seemed to already be inhabited.

He finally found a place behind some rocks in the Seaport where he didn’t think he’d be murdered in his sleep, curled around his backpack, and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Mary woke up damp from the dew and the morning sun streaming into his eyes. The birds were creating an awful racket, but Mary guessed it was as good an alarm clock as any.

He ran his fingers through his bird's nest of hair, and he made his way back to the South Station. The men’s room may have smelled like a sewage treatment plant, but at least it was free. He had expected it to be mostly empty at the crack of dawn, but it was full of commuters making that last run to the head before they had to take the train 2hrs out of the city for work.

And it was a sight: a bunch of suits with their fancy lattes washing their hands, and Mary in the corner trying to surreptitiously wipe down with paper towels under his Misfits t-shirt and his shredded jeans. At school, he’d have probably gotten into several altercations by now—no one would have let him just turn into Mary Goore without a fight—but this was Boston, and no one gave him more than a cursory glance.

Just another college kid.

It emboldened Mary to go full-out in the kind of way he had only done when going out to the punk shows downtown at night: kohl all the way around his eyes, and some on his cheekbones; mascara because his lashes are long and thick, and he knows it (his dad had said it made him look hard, and Mary had sneered that maybe that was what he’d been going for. But maybe it had been because he’d liked the way it had made his green eyes pop.); a smear of the step-monster’s fanciest matte lipstick on his full lips; and airplane glue in his hair to give it that lift.

He made a kissy face at himself in the mirror, and headed back out.

It was a nice Spring day—almost boiling in the direct sun—and it tempted Mary to wear only his battle vest, but even he kind of figured applying to jobs half dressed was a mistake.

He walked all over the city, trying not to get lost, looking for any kind of work—dishwasher, busboy, barback—but all he had to show for it was blistered feet and a raging appetite. The only good part of the day was that he noted any restaurant or bakery that looked like it might toss perfectly good food at the end of the day.

He and his friends had become experts at dumpster diving in his podunk town, and he felt confident that he had a good feel for a jackpot. Mary staked out a bakery and was rewarded with a find of "old" bagels. He shoved as many as he could into the nooks and crannies of his backpack before slinking off to the Commons to inhale at least two of them.

Cold, stale dough never tasted so good.

He watched the tourists and the professionals walk by in ones and in groups while he ran his bare feet through the grass. Some laughed with each other as they sauntered down the path while others seemed singularly intent on their ultimate destination. A pack of dogs ran and played with each other as their owners looked on fondly, and nearby the baseball diamond hosted a casual game.

Mary counted his lucky stars that his first week in Boston was April at its kindest—always mild during the day, even when it turned cloudy, and a few times even downright warm. The nights turned chilly, though, and it had Mary in more layers than an onion. If the birds or damp didn't wake him, his butt cramps from being curled in a tight ball all night did.

He spent those days walking around the city proper looking for work. He wasn't adventurous enough to make the leap across the bridges to Cambridge just yet, but his travels gave him a good sense on how the different sections of Boston connected—and showed him potential places to crash at night. He didn't even mind living off day-old garbage food and drinking from bubblers (he'd bought a water for the express purpose of reusing the bottle), but the barren wasteland that seemed to be the job market was beginning to weigh on him.

At home, he could always find a shit job if he was willing to put up with shit hours and ridiculous requests. Here, though, Mary was just one of many desperate people willing to do desperate work.

And he didn’t look particularly trustworthy or reliable.

@dipendancesld

Hashtag WTF

I’m scrolling through Insta on the T, and I’m way down the rabbit hole of hashtags. New content was at a minimum this morning (how can I follow accounts in triple digits and only see the same 4 posts?!), so I’d started with some art tags and ended up where I usually end up—trolling social media for blurry pictures of my boy.

His band has been a local staple for years—or at least that’s what he told me on our first date. I had just moved from New York after a nasty breakup, ready to start fresh, and I’d seen him at a coffee shop hanging posters for his next show in his leather jacket, asymmetrical Metallica crop top, and stomping boots.

Fresh had never looked so good.

Then, a few months back, an online publication had featured his band in the year’s 50 best bands "you’ve never heard of," and now the band's starting to gain traction.

He’s starting to gain traction.

Finding the new online content of him first has become a game the two of us play. We had to stop counting images posted from the popular fan accounts because Mary's now acquaintances with most of them, and I said it was hardly fair to snipe me that way. Mary had pouted—but it was to cover up his grin. So now we troll for the pictures of his latest gig or at his favorite haunts from either his casual fans or one of his new ones. I even have a whole range of hashtag typos saved if I really want to triumph, since Mary just doesn't have the attention span.

I usually win, though, by virtue of not keeping Rockstar Hours—and because Mary doesn’t have a smartphone. Mary delights in spending the wee hours while I'm sleeping finding new content, and I'll often wake to one he's pulled up on my laptop and a "suck it" sticky note stuck to my monitor.

(But I’m reigning supreme.)

There’s a thirst tag I sometimes comb through (for reasons), and today I’m desperate for that morning serotonin to keep me from dozing off, which is why I stumble across a particularly convincing cosplayer in some…risqué poses and outfits.

The dude is really good, and I have to admit he really does have Mary’s mannerisms down pat. He’s younger and a little skinnier than Mary is now, but his facial expressions are on point. I zoom in to see the contouring technique because he's using one of those filters to make it look old…and that’s when I sense something off. I can’t quite place my finger on it, but usually there’s an uncanny valley to his serious cosplayers, and this dude looks so real. He’s even 100% accurate with the mole placement, which is something I never see.

My heart does a flip-flop.

Is that…actually Mary?

Foundling

Mary's sixth night in the city, it rained. It was more of a brief Spring shower, but it was still enough to soak him and his backpack through. He shivered through the early morning hours until the sun came up, then he made his way to the Commons to lay his belongings—and himself—out into the sun to dry.

By midday, he had a slight sunburn across his nose, but most of his things were dryish—though the food was a soggy lost cause. He cut his losses and decided to buy a sausage from the hotdog vendor, even if that meant he was down to $52.37 in his sock bank.

It was the most amazing thing he'd ever eaten in his entire life (sometimes he still dreams of it), and he gobbled it down as he sat in the grass and watched the show of people pass by.

He could take today off from his job search.

Just another Groundhog Day of rejections.

A gaggle of kids about his age walked past, and he lit up when he saw them: studs and bright hair and cuffs and combat boots. They ran and shrieked and shoved at each other, and Mary had never felt such longing to be a part of something.

Not that nebulous feeling of "my world is out there somewhere," but "my world is right there if I can just get to it."

And he realized maybe he could.

These were his people.

Mary hopped off the bench and approached the boisterous group.

"Uh, hey…guys."

The pack stopped and looked him over, confused but not hostile.

"Oh hey, man" said a girl with green fins and a studded, leather jacket.

"Hey."

I have nowhere to go. Can I go with you?

"Sorry, I forgot your name."

"Oh, you don’t—"

A guy in a tight striped shirt, snake bites, and blue hair interrupted him.

"Shit, were you in my intro into film class last year?"

Mary was a high school dropout.

"Nah, dude. I’m new and shit."

…But he wasn’t stupid.

A curvy white goth with bleached blonde hair and a cream princess dress smiled at him.

"Aww, that’s rough, honey. If you think about it, they really ought to give transfers on-campus housing. It sucks to be so new and away from the action."

Mary nodded. "Yeah. Sucks."

"Well, we’re going to The Pit, wanna come?"

"If you guys don’t mind…"

"Fuck, the more the merrier!"

Mary smiled as they assimilated him into the group. He found out the goth’s name was Vanessa ("But call me Vanity."), green fins was Alexa ("Or Alex. I’m trying it out."), striped shirt was Billy, and the two other punks were Mandi (Manic Panic red) and Aaron (band tee, spiked collar).

No one laughed at him when he introduced himself as Mary or asked him why he had a girl’s name.

They took him onto the T at Charles MGH, and Mary marveled at the setting sun over the Charles River before the train ducked underground to barrel in Cambridge. At Harvard, they ushered him off the train and directly into The Pit, and Mary almost cried when he saw the pit rats there playing hacky sack, strumming guitars, and smoking cloves. Mary watched as his group high-fived, bumped chests, and hugged nearly everyone there before introducing him as if they’d known him for years.

He was shit at hacky sack, but he accepted a round on the guitar and shared a clove with a white girl who had a rat's nest of hair.

"Fuck their beauty stands," she said when she caught Mary staring.

Mary smiled and pointed to his own mess of hair. "Fuck ‘em," he repeated.

She cackled and handed him a brown bag with what he expected to be whiskey, but tasted like turpentine.

She laughed harder at his face as he coughed, and she pounded him on the back.

"Moonshine, dude. Lenny makes it in his bathtub."

"Which one is Lenny," Mary asked as he wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Oh, he’s not here. He goes to MIT. We have a strict trade agreement—booze for pot. I’m Katie."

Head fuzzy, Mary had made out with her until Aaron tugged on his arm.

"Shit dude, we gotta go before the T closes. You live close to here?"

"Uh…"

"Aww, I think he got into Lenny’s moonshine," said Vanity. "If he’s a transfer, I bet he’s at some shithole in Allston. You in Allston, honey?"

Mary just nodded.

"All right then," said Alex, taking charge. "We’ll put him up tonight. There’s no way he’s gonna make it back to Allston by himself, and I’ll be fucked if I’m trekking out there without a BU party to crash."

Mary wobbled slightly as Alex took his arm in his and led him to the T.

"Ok, we gotta go now or we’ll all be hoofing it."

They took Mary back to their dorm by the Hatch Shell and signed him in as a guest.

"Is this ok?" Mary asked warily—he didn't want to get kicked out in the middle of the night.

Mandi patted him on the back.

"We do it all time. No one really gives a shit. Vegan Mick dropped out 2 semesters ago and they don’t even check for his ID."

That night, Mary slept in the common room on a lumpy couch that was half as long as he was.

It was heaven.

The next morning seemed like the end, and Mary slumped as Vanity to sign him out. For one brief day he'd been a part of something, and now it was back to Mary, party of one. But Vanity took one look at his face and asked if he wanted to get breakfast at the dining hall.

Of course, he wanted to…but he thought of the dwindling cash in sock bank and hesitated. Vanity, bless her, misread his trepidation.

"It's on me, sweetie. I know most transfers don’t opt in. Too expensive when it’s not bundled. No worries, I got a ton of points I don’t use."

Alex and Aaron were already half done with their food when Vanity and he joined them, and they looked on in amusement as Mary ate half the breakfast buffet.

When the subject of classes came up, he shrugged off questions.

"None this morning."

Alex narrowed her eyes at him.

"What year did you say you were?"

"Sophomore."

"Not a freshman?"

Mary shook his head. "I’m not a freshman."

She seemed about to ask another question, so Mary quickly changed the subject.

"I thought I’d spend the day applying for jobs. You guys know of any place that’s hiring?"

"No work study?"

"No."

"What kind of work you looking for?"

"Shit, anything. I’ll sweep the fucking floors."

They bandied about ideas, places for Mary to try, but no one had any leads. Too soon, some unknown gong had them scurrying to get to class.

Mary suddenly panicked.

"Hey, do you guys mind if I spend the night again? I mean…"

"Yeah, sure," said Vanity. "Aaron?"

"Yeah, man. Meet me after class and I'll swipe you in."

It apparently was a time-honored tradition, passed down from upperclassmen to underclassmen, on gaming the guest system. Most kids used it to essentially move their significant others into their dorm rooms, but a handful every year used it to give haven to others who had questionable housing situations.

So, just like that, Mary had a place to rest his bones.

@dilfpassing

A Deeper Look

I’m so intent on scrolling through the comments on the grainy pics—which I'm sure now are actual scans—that I completely miss my stop, and I have to put my phone away so I can wheeze lightly jog my way to where I work as a receptionist at an alternative hair salon.

It’s really important that I start a good hour before we open so I can return any calls left on our voicemail first thing in case I can fit anyone in today. Which means I have to shelve my find for now, much to my irritation.

Mornings are super-busy because apparently there are some people in the world that like getting up with the sun and want everything done by noon. (June Cleaver’s salon lets me get away with a lot—like coming to work in denim short-shorts and ripped tights, free hair colors, and a snarky attitude—but late start times aren’t one of them.) I honestly don’t have room in my brain to obsess about the pictures because I’m too busy answering calls, making coffee, settling accounts, and giving the new customer spiel for the 57th time to a walk-in.

It’s just after midday, when Penny, the shampoo girl, collects my cash for the salon-wide sandwich run, and I finally have a moment to breathe. And obsess.

I take out my phone again, and I have to retrace my steps because of course the app has refreshed, which is why Sonia has the time to look over my shoulder.

"Missing dream boy’s dick so much you gotta spend your lunch hour ogling pics of him on the internet?"

I zoom in on the one of maybe!Mary in his underwear.

"Who does that look like to you?"

Sonia makes a guh sound in her throat and backs away.

"I don’t need to see your intimates!"

"That’s the thing! It’s not mine!"

"Your boy’s nudes get leaked??"

I wave my arms around.

"I don’t freakin’ know! They may not even be him. Fucking. C’mere and help me out!"

Sonia warily creeps back over, and so does Ryan, since all the yelling has attracted him.

The three of us peer over the phone as I scroll through the images again.

By the time Penny comes back with lunch, we’ve gone back and forth on who’s in the images—Mary or a fake—and I haven’t been able to do any actual research. The afternoon rush starts, and I have to table the whole thing again, having made no progress at all.

It isn’t until near-closing, when most of the other stylists have gone home—and it’s only June who does the post-work crowd—that I can really dig into the matter.

A deep dive and a couple of defunct, decade-old forums later, I find that what I took as an aspirational hashtag was actually the name of a zine called "Heroes."

There’s like, zero online trail about it—except for a few other grainy scans of other pages of articles, poetry, concert pictures, and art—but it seemed to be an early aughts missive for local underground culture and color.

It still doesn’t explain why Mary’s in there in various states of undress and poses.

Or why Mary has never said a word about it to me.

Stripped Bare

Mary settled into a sort of routine. He spent most days looking for a job—any job—with his backpack full of food from their dining hall. Most nights he rotated couches on different floors so the RAs didn’t notice that he basically lived there.

He made friends with Vegan Mick for about 5 seconds until Mary had eaten an entire Rotisserie chicken from 7-11 in front of him. Mick had launched into a whole spiel, and Mary had pointed out that Mick's jacket and Docs were made of leather. He’d only meant it as a joke—a callout in answer to a callout, like he'd do with his friends back home—but Vegan Mick had turned purple, then iced Mary out every time he saw him after that.

Oops.

The brief friendship had lasted long enough, however, for Mick to give Mary some tips and tricks of being homeless.

Homeless.

That had been a tough pill to swallow. Until Vegan Mick had put Mary’s situation like that, Mary had just thought of himself between places.

But it was true: he didn’t live anywhere. He skated by on the kindness of his new friends, and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the ruse of "transfer student who didn’t like his shithole apartment and was too busy job searching to concentrate on classes."

He still spent a few nights a week finding an out-of-the-way place outside to hunker down in or huddling in with Katie and a few of the other gutter punks under their boxes in the corners of the T stations. He knew they would have been more than happy to make room, anyway, but Mary always emptied his backpack of all the pilfered dining hall food for distribution amongst them.

It honestly wasn't so terrible now that he had friends and a warm place to go on cold or rainy nights, but.

He needed an actual place to live. To afford an actual place to live, he needed a job. To get a job, he needed a place to live.

It seemed like a catch-22, and he began to despair that he’d never get ahead…until Mandi offered him a leg up.

Mary was sitting on the grass in the Commons in the shade, thinking that with summer coming up, maybe he could fudge it until the gang came back in September. There was always Katie and The Pit, and Mary was sure he could chip in somehow.

Mandi sat down next to him.

"I thought that mess of hair was you, Mare."

"Hey, Mandi. What’s kicks?"

"You still looking for a job?"

Mary put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Don’t remind me."

"You over 18?"

Just last week. But Mary hadn’t said, since they thought he was a Sophomore.

"Yeah."

"Wanna be at least 21?"

Mary grinned at her.

"That’s what my fake ID says."

She laughed, a tinkling thing.

"You got anything against strip clubs?"

Mary furrowed his brows at her.

"Uh…what’s the right answer here?"

She shoved him playfully.

"Do you want a job?"

"Yeah?"

"Then say no."

"No. No problems with strip clubs." He squinted at her. "Are they looking for male strippers?"

She laughed again.

"Definitely not." She canted her head at Mary. "I mean, you're very pretty, Mare. I could probably put you on as one of the girls…even with these triple As," she flicked playfully at his nipple, which had him grunting and batting at her, "but I was thinking more behind the scenes."

Mary held up his arm and made a weak muscle.

"I don’t think I’d be much of a bouncer, Mands."

"You said you’d wash dishes, sweep floors and shit, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, the club I work at—"

"The club at you what now?"

Mandi gave him a strange look.

"Yeah. The strip club I work at."

Mary’s eyes bugged out.

"As a…waitress?"

"As a stripper, Mary. Duh." At his dumbfounded look she shook her head. "It’s kind of extra credit, as a dance major. I’m going to turn it into my thesis. Plus, I make hella bank."

She swept her arm across the park that made up her college "campus."

"How else do you think I can afford this rock-and-roll lifestyle? Not all of us are here on scholarship or mom and dad’s dime."

She tilted her head at him.

"I thought you’d get it."

When Mary didn't respond, she touched his shoulder.

"Mare. I know you don't go here."

"W-what…? I…"

He looked at her, wide-eyed as the blood drained from his face.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm not gonna tell anybody. Not if you don't want me to."

Mary looked down. "Thanks." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You know that means I've got no address."

Mandi bumped his shoulder and waved his words away.

"A lot of the girls dance. Paddy is used to dorm rooms as addresses. You can use mine."

Mary looked at her, hoping he could convey every ounce of gratitude he was feeling.

She grinned and punched him in the shoulder.

"So, you up for it? Sweeping floors and bussing tables?" She leveled a look at him. "Cleaning up puke?"

Anything.

"Fuck, I’m desperate, Mands. I’ll hold their hair back if it means a paycheck."

"That’s the spirit!"

***

Mary was sure Patrick was part of the mob—or at least in cahoots. The guy had taken one look at Mary’s ID and had said, "But how old are you really?" and Mary had said, "Nineteen."

Patrick had thrown up his hands. "Well, you ain’t gonna be serving alcohol anyway, kid. Your job is to do whatever I tell you. Some asshole breaks a bottle, you clean up the glass so the girls don’t hurt themselves. Some idiot ralphs all over the toilet seat, you scrub the shit out of that fucker. A bachelor party leaves a table a hot mess, you better be out there clearing off the table for the next one, got it?"

Mary had nodded.

"You show up at 5 to help the girls set up the bar. You stay til whenever it takes to close down—but you only get paid 'til 2am—and you get an hour to eat, unpaid. You don’t bother the girls, and," Patrick had leaned in, "you don’t steal from me."

Mary had gulped and nodded emphatically.

Patrick had jabbed a finger at him. "That includes the booze. If I get fucked because some snot-nosed, underage kid is drinking with my good friends Jim and Johnnie, I’m gonna be very put out."

"Got it, sir."

"Don’t call me sir. I’m Paddy to my friends, so you can call me Patrick."

"Yes, Patrick."

Patrick had looked him over.

"You get paid as an independent contractor just like the girls, so you gotta deal with your own taxes, you got that? I’ll start you at $10 an hour."

Mary’s eyes had gone wide. Back home he was lucky to get 5.

"Ten…?"

Patrick had tilted his head again.

"No, you’re right, 12. Do a good job, and I’ll think about raising it to 15."

Mary had to physically stop his jaw from dropping.

"You do weeknights for now so if you fuck up it’s not that much of a problem. If you don’t fuck up and the girls don’t hate you, you can get weekends. Deal?"

Mary had sat up straighter. "Deal." He’d held his hand out, but Patrick had just looked at it until Mary pulled it back into his side.

"Ariel vouched for you, so I’m giving you a shot. Don’t make her regret it."

Mary had shaken his head as Patrick had handed him some forms to fill out.

"Come back at 4 tomorrow with these and we’ll get you started. Now, get out, I got shit to do."

Mary had taken the forms and skedaddled.

Mandi was outside waiting for him, all smiles.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah, but fuck—your boss is scary."

"Nah, he’s a teddy bear."

***

The job was awful.

The puke was an almost nightly occurrence, and by the end of the first week, little cuts covered Mary’s hands from the broken glass. The customers were loud, rowdy, and acted as if their mother was going to clean up after them.

Mary swore he would never get the beer smell out. It now lived in his soul.

One dude punched Mary and broke his nose for no reason Mary could tell before the bouncers dragged the guy away. The girls gave him some tampons to stop the bleeding, and Mary finished his shift.

Patrick paid Mary in cash at the end of every week with a "It’s your job to report that, not mine," and at the end of the month, Patrick bumped Mary up to $15/hr. He worked 5 days a week because, according to Patrick, "The Lord gave us a day of rest, and you get one day off per week."

Mary never reported a single cent to the IRS.

The girls loved him, and joked that Patrick had gotten them a pet. They showed him winged eyeliner and smokey eyes and how to contour. They guffawed when they watched him try out their shoes like a newborn deer. On slow nights, they tried to show him pole techniques.

He saw the gang less and less because by the time they were getting out of class, he was going into work, and when he was done work, they were crawling into bed. Fortunately, the desk sitters seemed to forget that he wasn’t an on-campus "student" and didn’t even bother signing him in anymore. There were a few sticklers, but Mary found that—while back home he was less than scum—here, he attracted all the right kinds of attention…and a smirk with the right compliment went a long way.

By the time their school year ended, Mary had saved up $1,000 (and he needed to transfer his money out of sock bank and into the ripped lining of his jacket).

Even though they didn't know just how much they'd saved him, Mary showed up on the last day as thanks to help them all move their stuff into family cars or rented trucks. They hugged him goodbye and said to ring them next semester.

Mandi bopped him on the nose and told him to keep his nose clean.

Mary took a sublet in Allston with 2 BU kids and a Berkley grad student. The "room" was a closed-in porch with a sleeping bag left by the last resident—but it was $400 a month until September, utilities included.

At first, Mary didn't know why the gang was so snobby about Allston, but the summer seemed to be one continual party. It didn't matter what day Mary got up, there were always broken beer bottles and stale beer on their front stoop, and the apartment had a designated watering can for washing away the vomit that dripped down from the top porches to their own.

But he took it in stride, and when he wasn’t at the strip club or sleeping, he was partying with the BU kids, or letting the Berkley grad show him better string fingering techniques.

Mary still tried to get out to The Pit with what groceries he could spare, but Katie had moved on with some of the others to do a protest tour with an activist street band that had come through town, and without her or the gang, it made Mary feel lonely.

By the end of the summer, Mary had saved up enough money for first, last, and security. He even had some left over to buy more than ramen and some new clothes. To Mary, it felt like a million dollars. He rented a garden-level apartment in the cheap part of Jamaica Plain for September 1st and spent that entire day with the BU dudes driving around in their rented truck for Allston Christmas’s best furniture finds.

Mary ended up with a mattress that he hoped on a wish and a prayer didn’t have bedbugs, a mismatched set of dishes, plastic drawers that were slightly warped, and a broken futon frame he swore he would fix. Throw in a few sets of slightly used string lights, and Mary’s cave felt downright homey.

When the gang got back, he simply told them he’d dropped out.

"Yeah, I just don’t think college is for me. Music’s my real passion, you know?"

Alex had groaned.

"I knew that Berkley kid was gonna be a bad influence on you."

Mary shrugged.

"My grades were shit anyway. But I’m still around, you know. The strip club’s only a block from campus."

"Because we saw you so much then," deadpanned Billy.

"Hey! Stop piling on Mary," said Vanity. "He’s following his path."

Mary shot her a wide smile.

"Thanks, Vanity."

Patrick finally gave him a little more leeway with his days off, and Mary started taking Saturday night to join the gang in Harvard Square for the shadow cast of Rocky Horror. One of Aaron’s classmates, Amber, was in it, and they all wanted to support her.

Mary felt that something again. That thing that told that this was his place and his people. This eclectic group who got up in front of strangers every week in their underwear for free enthralled Mary.

He and Amber bonded immediately, and Mary began going even without the gang. The cast welcomed him in as an honorary groupie, and Mary's friendship with the gang waned. There was still Mandi to cavort with at the strip club, but now when Mary wasn't there, he was at any one of the Rocky crew's apartments getting high and playing dress up.

"You’ve got such a Look, Mare," sighed Amber. "I’d kill for your cheekbones."

"I’d kill for your tits."

She slapped him playfully. "Don’t be gross."

"No, I’m serious. Someone once put it in my head that I'd be a hot chick."

The girls had giggled and proceeded to dress him up in bras and corsets with cutlets. They added a wig, and the glo-up surprised even Mary.

Still buzzed, they went out for girl’s night and hit up all the bars in Fenway and flirted their way to free shots from the dude bros before batting their falsies at bouncers to let them into the clubs ahead of the line and without the cover.

The cutlets eventually became a nuisance—and soon they were all flapping them about above their heads as they danced—but Mary had loved the feel of the lace and satin corsets against his skin.

When they’d all collapsed in a pile at the end of the night, Mary wondered if they’d tell him where to get some lingerie for himself.

***

By August, Mary was ready to quit the strip club.

He was tired of cut fingers (they were making it hard to play the guitar he’d bought), the drunks, and the sick everywhere. Now that he had a little cushion, he thought maybe he could at least find something with better hours.

Mandi had graduated and was well into a summer internship at Disney in hopes they’d bring her on as a dancer.

Alex had also graduated and moved out to LA to make it as a film editor.

Vanity and Aaron had started dating after finals, and they had moved in together in Cambridgeport for their last year.

Billy had stopped going to classes before dropping out altogether. No one seemed to know what happened, and when they called his home, his mother just said he was unavailable.

There didn’t seem to be much reason to stick around the Grid anymore, and it was a bitch of a commute back to his place if he wasn’t going to hang out with the Rocky crew. He landed a job at a record store that was walking distance to his apartment.

Patrick seemed surprisingly sad to see him go, saying, "Ah, the good ones smart up," and gave him a $500 bonus for not "fucking up."

Tim, one of the older Rocky people, turned out to not live too far from him, and when Mary started hanging out there, so did the party.

Now that Mary was no longer shackled by the strip club’s hours, his world opened a few more degrees. He spent his nights dressing up while he watched the cast rehearse. (When he showed them a move or two he learned from the women at the club, they tried to get him to do a guest star as Frank. But Mary had shaken his head and said that wasn’t the kind of performing he wanted to do.)

When they weren't rehearsing, they dragged Mary to TT The Bear’s, The Middle East, and The Milky Way Lounge for underground shows. They took him to fetish night at ManRay after a trip to Hubba Hubba for pleather and lingerie, and Mary made a lot of new friends.

Sometimes, Mary would show up to work straight off a night out in his club clothes, eyeliner smudged and lipstick smeared. It should have got him fired, but his boss just shrugged.

"I used to keep rockstar hours too."

Mary still wore all his old vestiges—his battle vest and his ripped jeans—it was just that now he sometimes added a corset and heels.

Wherever Katie was now, he hoped she knew he was still fucking their beauty standards.

ry.omen Insta

Answer Me This

I practically vibrate the entire way back to our place. I'm still trying to wring information out of the internet like it's too-wet clothes, but the only thing I accomplish is making myself motion sick on the bus, so I put my phone back in my pocket and breath through my nose.

When I get home, Mary is sprawled across the couch in his pjs with various limbs hanging over sides and edges as he watches some extreme sport show on my laptop.

I wonder if he just got up, but I see the start of dinner on the stove, so I decide not to snark at him.

"Hey," he says without looking up.

I am, however, gonna need some answers on "Heroes."

I gently close the laptop, and he meets my eyes.

"What?"

I climb onto the couch, and Mary’s limbs recede like vines to make room for me as I scroll through my phone to my photo app where I’ve saved screenshots.

"Lucy," I say in a terrible accent, "you have some ‘splaining to do!"

Mary squints at me and takes my phone, his expression morphing into one of surprise.

"Shit, babe. Where’d ya find these??"

"So they are you!"

He chuckles.

"Christ…I haven't thought about these in fucking years."

"Mind telling me what the fuck?" I ask, my hands on my hips.

I'm only half joking.

Mary grimaces at me.

"Ah."

"I'm gonna need more than that, mister."

He rubs the back of his neck.

"Fuck, you know those were hard times for me."

I know about his family, the homelessness. I know he tried out a lot until he found a life that fit. He'd given me the overviews with occasional anecdotes filled with names I never remembered.

But none of them included naughty pictures.

I worm my way under his arm.

"Yeah, I know, Mare."

His hand strokes down my arm.

"I mean, shit. I was kinda an asshole, you know?"

I wrap an arm around his chest.

"You're still kind of an asshole, Goore."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

When he doesn't say more, I poke him hard in the side.

"I’m literally dying here."

He laughs a little.

"Fine. But you gotta remember you asked."

Model Behavior

One day, Mary was walking down the street on his way to drinks with the new friends he'd made the weekend before. It was a good day. He wasn’t hungover as fuck, his makeup was only smudged artfully, and he was pretty sure he was going to get laid.

A guy in a leather jacket and tight jeans maybe a few years older than Mary stopped him on the street.

"Hey, man! I love your style."

Mary batted his eyelashes at him. "Thanks, dude."

"You ever think of dark modeling?"

Mary squinted his eyes at him.

"Dark what now?"

"You know—modeling but like," he gestured up and down Mary’s form, "for dark beauties. Show the world beauty isn’t cookie cutter."

"For like what? A website or some shit?"

The guy dug into his pocket, pulled out a card case, and handed one to Mary.

Heroes Greg Karson, Photographer/Web Design Butera School of Art

Actually, Mary had heard of this. It was a zine about the local happenings around town—concerts, art shows, parties, etc. There was a stack of them next to "Rrriot!" in the record shop. He’d flipped through one occasionally, mostly interested in the band reviews.

"We’re really on the lookout for anyone with the right look. You know, wear stuff you already own."

"So like a street fashion spread?"

"Well, we might do a little more with it, but—you know how it is. Most of the budget goes toward printing costs."

Mary perked up.

"Would I be paid?"

Greg laughed.

"Peanuts, my dude. But yeah. Even if it’s a T token. You interested, then?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Mind if I take a few test shots."

Mary smirked at Greg.

"How do you want me?"

"Just natural."

Putting his hands in his pockets, Mary arched his back and gave Greg his best snotty hipster face.

Greg dug out a digital camera from his carrying case and took a dozen or so pictures of Mary from different angles while telling him to turn this way or that.

Afterwards, the two of them huddled over the camera and scrolled through the shots.

"Aw yeah, this one. I love the attitude. The guys are gonna love it. You have a number where we can reach you?"

Mary gave him the number of the record shop. (His apartment had a phone, but he’d never gotten around to wanting to pay for service.)

Later, he and Amber looked up the Angelfire website on the back of the card. It was one page that contained the mission statement, bios of the creators, and locations to pick up the zine.

"Omigod—you’re gonna become a famous model, Mare!"

"Yeah, right. You know most of it ends up in the trash, right?"

But when Ben called, Mary said he was game. He directed Mary to a co-op in a converted warehouse in Dorchester, and Mary brought his favorite clothes in a borrowed duffle.

A girl in cat pajamas opened the door and pointed at a set of metal stairs with her cereal spoon.

On the second floor, Mary found Greg setting up a makeshift studio. A girl with multiple piercings and yarn dreads leaned against the wall in her black babydoll dress.

Mary sidled up to her.

"You here to model, too?"

She gave him an unimpressed once-over.

"I’m the art director, asshole."

Mary flushed hard as she turned to Greg.

"Couldn’t find one with brains?"

She turned back to Mary.

"I don’t know if you thought this would be a good way to meet chicks or what, dude. But I’m letting you know right now that I’m here on my day off to make sure this adheres to our aesthetic, so if you're not serious, fuck off."

Mary rubbed the back of his neck.

"Shit, sorry. I was expecting a dude named Ben."

She waved her hand in the air as if dispelling Ben.

"The Bens are morons. Good idea, terrible execution. I’m here to make sure we remain true to the idea of 'Heroes,' so don’t fuck up my shoot." She gave him a once over. "Christ. You have any experience?"

Greg turned from where he was testing the white balance.

"Angelique, stop harassing the talent. We get it, you have a degree from RISD."

Angelique snorted.

"As if I don't hear you going on and on about being a professional photographer. 'Hey, lemme shoot your portfolio, baby.' Whatever. As if we're not your only professional credit."

"Hey—you wanted a photographer for peanuts? You got me. You wanted models for peanuts? You got him."

Mary gave her his full snaggle-toothed grin.

"I take T tokens."

Angelique sighed, then pasted on a smile.

"Hi! So happy you’re here!" Her smile drooped. "You got your wardrobe in there?"

"Yeah."

Mary handed her the duffle, and she handed him release forms.

"Here: sign these"

She pawed through his offerings.

"Not bad, not bad." She pulled out a corset and his heeled boots. "We'll keep you in your jeans and have you wear your jacket over your corset. Cool?"

Cool.

The shoot was as professional as a shoot in a warehouse in what Mary was taking to usually be a living room could be. Angelique directed Greg with what she wanted. Greg called out positions and expressions for Mary to pose in.

It was surprisingly hard work, and by the end of a solid hour, his smirking lip was getting tired. Angelique and Greg scrolled through the shots, murmuring to themselves and nodding.

Mary waited—greeting at the other inhabitants as they squeezed by on their way either up or down—until Angelique approached him.

"That’ll do. You mind if we post on our website?"

Mary preened.

"Yeah, that’s kosher."

She handed him a pen and pocket notebook.

"Write down a quick bio."

He scribbled down a quick elevator pitch

Into general skulking and metal \m/

and handed the notebook back to her.

"Great, thanks."

She handed him a $20 bill, her eyes skimming him up and down.

"Next time we should show off those hip bones. Just jeans, I think."

Mary perked up. "Next time?"

"We’ll call you."

***

"Omigod, omigod!"

Amber perched on the record store counter, flipping through "Heroes," as Jon peered over her shoulder.

"Mary…look at you!"

Mary tried to swallow his smug smile.

Failed.

"Yeah. I’m hot shit, ain’t I?"

She bopped him on the nose with the newsprint.

"Don’t be vain."

He showed her his toothy smile.

"I like to think of it as confidence."

"So did Icarus."

Mary snorted and went back to putting prices on the new CDs.

"The camera loves you," said Jon, who was always quiet and reserved as you please…until he put on Frank’s corset and heels.

Mary had tried flirting with him, but Jon always ducked his head and played it off.

"Thanks, man," said Mary, giving him a softer smile.

"So??"

"So what, Amber?"

"Are you gonna do it again?"

Mary shrugged.

"I mean, if they call me, sure."

But he was kind of hoping they would.

When the next issue came out weeks later, Mary stared at the cybergoth on the pages and felt himself deflate. Listlessly, he thumbed through the delicate print, barely skimming the section devoted to the World/Inferno Friendship Society’s set he’d been at the week before.

He set it down with a sigh before he picked up his guitar and plucked out a tune he was trying to coax into a riff.

By the time a Ben called again, Mary had given up the modeling thing as a one-off.

"Hey, dude—thought maybe you guys forgot about me," Mary said in a teasing tone.

The Ben on the other end chuckled.

"It’s like herding cats to get shit out. Nah, dude—we definitely want you to be one of our regulars. You in for next Saturday?"

He was.

***

Over the course of a year, "Heroes" had Mary come out multiple times for shoots. Mainly, Mary wore his own clothes and did his own makeup, but occasionally, Angelique wanted something specific.

"How comfortable are you with boudoir shots?"

"With what?"

"Like a pinup, but more…saucy than sexy."

I'd pose nude if you paid me enough.

(Sure, he was a noodle boy, but he knew he had the goods.)

"Yeah, I’m cool with that."

Angelique brightened at him.

"Great!"

She picked up a set of complicated leather garters and thrust them at him.

"Put these on."

Mary had only ever worn lace garters—mostly out to clubs, but occasionally under his ripped jeans for an extra pop—but he found he liked these even more, liked the way they emphasized his thighs.

"Hey—where’d you get these…?"

(He was already thinking of what he could pair them with for goth night.)

"Local leatherworker. He mostly does pieces for Renn Fairs, but he'll also do custom. I can give you his info."

She led Mary into what was clearly someone's bedroom.

"Don't fuck anything up, or Joye will never let us use this again."

Mary shot her his best shark smile.

"Hey, I only mess up the sheets if someone asks."

Angelique gave him a flat look and called for Greg.

(But when he draped himself over the bed and told Greg to "Paint me like one of your French girls," Mary could have sworn she almost smiled.)

On one memorable occasion, she brought in a guy whose rope bondage demo she watched at a sex convention.

"Put on some of that lingerie and we'll truss you up. You ok with that, Goore?"

Mary ran his fingers over the coils and gave her a wolfish smile.

"You know I'm game for anything."

She gave him a vulpine smile of her own then, and she looked down at him from the height of her platformed boots.

"Good. I thought you should be submissive for once."

Mary had no witty rejoinder for that.

He listened with interest as the guy carefully explained what he was going to do, complete with pictures, and he relaxed easily into the process. (They put bunny ears on him, and it would be much, much later that he got that particular joke. Well played, Angelique.)

The ropes hadn’t let him do much posing, but Mary had kind of liked the constriction, and his thoughts were already on asking Amber to help him create a more versatile version for fetish night.

He’d left that day with a new kink…and the guy’s number.

"Why not just do one big shoot?" he asked another time. "Get it all done in one big bang!"

Angelique held up his garments to eyeball over him.

"Honey, we never even know if there's gonna be a next issue. The Bens spend most of the time arguing. My god you should hear them—Ben bankrolls the whole thing, so he says he should get final say on shit, and Benji wants total artistic control because it was his idea, because 'he's the graphic designer', and because it's his Kinko's employee discount they use."

She gave Mary a curled-lip smile as she tossed a few items at him.

"In the end it's this bitch you're looking at who gets shit done."

Mary began to change (they were long past modesty).

"How'd you get involved?"

"Went to school with Benji."

"Ben too?"

"Neg. The Bens are childhood friends. Ben works some cushy start-up job, so Benji lets him bankroll them both. Rent, utilities—everything. I love Benji to death, but he's a giant mooch."

"Shit, that must be nice."

Angelique shrugged. She stood back to appraise Mary's look.

"It's fucking lame. But it least it gets us fucking paid."

Mary didn't say I'd do this for free. Instead, he struck a pose and said, "I'm just happy for the exposure."

Angelique rolled her eyes and went to fetch Greg.

***

That year and a half would become a nonstop party with Mary as one of the VIPs; he wouldn't say no to anything—be it casual sex, club appearances, or whatever drug the current pretty thing was offering him in the bathroom.

But recognition started slow.

At first, it was customers who would leaf through the zine and recognize Mary.

Then, it was the occasional scenester who’d stop him on the street in JP as he walked about, and Mary would pose for grainy cell phone pics.

Soon, he was being approached at shows and clubs. The first time it happened, Mary was high off his new infamy and ready to please. A woman in a black bandage bra and pleated skirt with bondage straps approached him, and Mary was already thinking of what he could do with those.

"You look like that guy in ‘Heroes’!" she'd shouted to him over the music.

Mary had flashed her a crooked smile and leaned in.

"Maybe I am the guy in ‘Heroes’."

She'd given him an exaggerated once over before sidling closer with hooded eyes.

"I dunno…you're wearing way more clothes."

Mary had pulled his mesh top down by the collar in a tease as he'd curled over her.

"Take me somewhere more private and I’ll let you do a comparison."

She'd compared him all night.

And that was before he and the other "Heroes" models formed their own posse.

The Bens had thrown a BBQ and had invited everyone they'd ever met. There were people packed into their little 2 bedroom in Brighton, spilling down the back stairs, and equally packed into the little square of shared backyard. Ben had taken the 12-pack of 'Gansett beers Mary had brought, then introduced him to the other dark models.

"Now you're all here!" said Ben. He slung his arm around Mary. "Guys, this is Mary. Mary this is Mayhem, Lesley, Lola, and Bryan."

Mayhem was a rivethead, and Mary took to him instantly, but he was wary of the others. Lesley was the cybergoth who'd been in the first issue after him, and Mary still felt a bit salty at them, even though Mary knew by now the Bens rotated the models. Lola, the romantic goth, reminded him enough of Vanity that he felt guilty for losing touch with her and had him projecting a little. Bryan was a metalhead, so: competition.

Mary had thought they'd get along like cats and water, but weed, booze, and "Never Have I Ever" went a long way to creating a shared bond.

And there it was again. That pull. The magnetic force telling him that he'd found the place he was supposed to be. They quickly coalesced into their own pack, calling themselves the "Deathbutantes" (because they always killed it when they debuted for the night).

It had been rare for Mary to miss Friday and Saturday night shenanigans with the Rocky crew, but now, every night was Friday night. There was always a show or a concert or club that one of them knew about—and if they couldn't get lucky with the local color, they'd just go home with each other.

Mayhem taught Mary what Lola jokingly called the "grab a bat" dance, and the two of them cut quite the picture on the dance floors.

Lesley took to Lola, and the two of them could always be counted on for scintillating conversation in dark corners when Mary's limbst needed a break from flailing about.

The clubs weren't really Bryan's scene—take him to a sticky hole in the wall with concrete floors and a stage close enough to feel the sweat from the bands, and he was in heaven—but he liked to come along to hang. He'd drink PBRs, rub Lola's feet when she invariably abandoned her heels for the evening, and argue with Mary about the purity of death metal.

Mayhem and Lola weren't really into live music of the screaming kind, so—while Lesley, Bryan, and Mary bounced off each other in the mosh pits—they'd save a "home" base at one the bartops.

Amber noticed Mary's diminishing presence and stopped by the record shop to call him out.

"So you're not dead! Could've fooled me."

Mary was organizing the albums into order, and he grunted at her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a cad. I'll make it up to you."

"You missed game night."

"Sorry. Jethro Tull played some tiny venue in nowhere Mass, and Bryan was salivating. I mean, Jethro Tull. Can you blame me?"

He looked at her, arms out wide in supplication. But she just blinked at him.

"You have no idea who Jethro Tull is, do you?"

"Sorry, dude. But christ, Mare. You should have invited me. I'd've gone. Maybe I would have even liked them. Now you'll never know."

"I could just lend you an album."

"Nope! The moment passed. Too late!"

Mary riffled through the stock and shoved a Jethro Tull CD into her hands.

She tapped it against her thigh.

"So, when do I get to hang?"

"I can get us into 80s night free."

"No, I mean, with your cooler friends. Your 'murder models', or whatever."

"You wanna hang out with the Deathbutantes?"

Amber scrunched her nose.

"That's so fucking pretentious."

Mary kind of liked it.

"Dunno if they're really your scene."

"Oh? And what's my scene?"

"Musical theater on crack."

She mock gasped at him, "Called out!" before smacking him with the CD. "Whatever. You love musical theater on crack."

Mary draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, I do. But I don't live it, you know? You guys have your niche—and fuck…I love to visit—but it's not mine."

Amber looked up at him, her expression serious.

"So the Dumbutantes are your niche?"

Mary shrugged and went back to shelving.

The Rocky crew had been good to him. They'd taken him under their wing, no questions asked, and helped him realize things about himself. Tim had taken him to the ER when Mary had come down with a serious case of the flu. Matty had taught him the basics of sewing. Gretchen had held him after a bad trip. Omar and he had had many drunken heart-to-hearts about their shitty home lives.

And Amber was his best friend. She'd been his #1 cheerleader for years and had never been afraid to call him out on his shit.

So yeah, he loved the Rocky crew…but they laughed at anyone who took anything too seriously. Mary would show up to game nights in his latest creation—with everyone else in pjs or jeans & hoodies—and they'd tease him about trying to impress the wrong people. He'd try to talk about the newest guitar god he'd been mainlining, and they'd make snoring noises at him.

How could he explain the kinship he felt with the Deathbutantes? That they were as serious about music as he was, that they just…got why he felt the need to dress the way he did to express the way he felt inside on his outside.

Instead, he said, "I'm just trying shit out, Ambs." He quirked his eyebrow at her. "I gotta do something while you guys do your real-person jobs."

(Amber had recently started as a junior marketing assistant at the American Repertory Theater. "Purely mercenary," she'd said. "Maybe it'll give me a leg up during auditions.")

She made a disgruntled scoffing noise in the back of her throat.

"Fuck, don't remind me. I actually gotta go to bed a reasonable hour now."

"Don't worry." Mary winked at her. "I'll keep ya honest."

"That sounds a lot like my head in a toilet, Mare."

"I'll hold your hair back."

She gave him a good-natured shove, and he pretended to cower.

If she wanted to cross pollinate, who was Mary to stand in her way? So, he invited her out the next time the Deathbutantes went to a show, and it went exactly like he thought it would.

They disliked her, and she was equally unimpressed. They thought she was too loud and frenetic, and she thought they had no sense of humor.

"I fucking told you," Mary had snorted as they sat on the curb sharing a clove.

"Shut the fuck up, Mare."

But she'd put her head on his shoulder.

"They make you happy, though. So I guess I approve. Just as long as I don't have to play nice."

Mary still hung out with the Rocky crew—there were still game nights and drug-fueled sex parties and theater games—but the Deathbutantes introduced him to the underground scene. They always seemed to have insider knowledge about the best up-in-coming bands and the secret shows. Theme nights at the goth clubs were always a must, and they rarely missed one. Sometimes, Angelique would crash, and they'd take the commuter rail to Providence to party at Club Hell before collapsing in a sweaty, smeary pile at a friend of a friend's hole in the wall.

As a bit player in the Rocky crew, Mary had been another made-up face in the crowd. As a certified member of the Deathbutantes, Mary became the face.

They all did.

The owners loved them because they bought round after round at the bar, and if word got out that the Deathbutantes were there, their admirers came to spend money as well. The employees loved them because they were fun and talked to them as equals. The clientele loved them because they were pretty young things.

Sometimes, though, Mary wasn't in the mood to party or get laid, so he talked to the DJs instead. He'd buy them rounds and stay past closing to help them pack up while they talked about the history of punk and 80s new wave and nu metal. There was one in particular, Dave, that Mary even considered a friend.

The two of them would sit in the club past closing, sharing a whiskey and talking about life while the bartenders closed down and cashed out. Occasionally, Dave's other friends would be around, and they'd all walk back to his place; he'd fool around spinning in his home studio, and they'd drink box wine as they danced and laughed before Mary would have to sit on the ground in an intoxicated exhaustion, good for only thumbing through Dave's vinyl collection.

Mary was just happy to talk shop with another music aficionado, but Angelique had pointed out that he should leverage his minor clout.

They'd been waiting for Greg to finish setting up, and Mary had been struggle city after a particularly hard night out. It was all he could manage to sit there quietly and hope some god would put him out of his misery.

"You need to get your shit together," Angelique had said out of nowhere.

Mary had cracked a puffy eye and had slowly (as to not bring the nothing in his stomach back up) turned his head to her.

"As if I haven't seen your melted ass on the floor wanting to die."

"Fuck, Mary. You've turned it into an art form."

He'd closed his eyes and given her the finger, but that hadn't stopped her.

"You wanna be a rockstar, boy? You can't just sit on your ass and hope the right person on the right night hears you. You're effervescent and charismatic—heads turn when you walk into a room and not just because of your skinny jeans—but you need more than air, Mary, which is all you are right now."

"Fuck you, Angela."

She'd clapped in front of his face, and she was lucky he didn't Exorcist bile all over her.

"You're a fucking pain in my ass, Goore. I'm doling out the good stuff, try not to bite my hand off, k?"

"All right, all right!"

"You wanna start that band? You wanna get play and amass fans? Well, make that demo you're always droning on about and give it to those DJs you're alway fanboying over. Fucking network, Goore."

At the time, Mary had been too hungover to care, but her advice would sink in…

Eventually.

For the time being, Mary was content. He loved the attention, and it made him feel invincible, made him feel like it was finally His Time. And he was going to make up for every slight, every unfair situation, and every beat down with sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.

With his newfound nightlife, Mary's day job had become an afterthought. He started sleeping through opening shifts, but with the extra foot traffic Mary brought to the store, his boss seemed resigned to let Mary slide (after a stern talking to and a pay docking).

The shadow cast had started using him as a mascot of sorts, and he was happy to show up on Saturday nights and hype up the waiting line with a pseudo striptease. (Even if it was sometimes to kick off his evening with the Deathbutantes and not hang with the cast after.)

Mary started a band ("auditioning" any and all of the many admirers who said they’d be more than happy to join it), and after a few false starts and a couple of lineup changes, they began working on an EP. (At least, when Mary showed up to rehearsal, they did.)

A Boston Phoenix reporter got wind of the Deathbutantes and called around about doing a story on them. The Bens were excited about the exposure that meant for their zine, and Angelique and Greg were excited about what it could mean for their careers. Mary did a brief interview over the phone where he answered questions about his style and talked about his dream of making his band a household name.

Mary saw his name up in lights, and he was reaching for it, full speed ahead.

But then things turned.

The story fell through at the last minute with no further explanation or contact by the reporter.

His boss finally fired him after Mary showed up too high to function too many times—or not at all.

The shadow cast had a turnover, and suddenly he was old news—a cringey hanger-on.

A trip to the clinic and a round of antibiotics for an STI had him way more wary of who he hooked up with.

"Heroes" lost momentum when imitators popped up and Ben cut off the gravy train.

Angelique moved to NYC for "better opportunities," and the Bens took their brand of counterculture to Portland, OR.

Greg took down the website when he got offered a legit job as an apprentice at a food magazine, and that was that.

The physical zines were cheap things, most ending up papering the sidewalk after trash day or lining the bottom of cages. Without the online presence, did Mary's "modeling career" even exist?

Mary was a little sad to see the era go, but when he woke up in Maine on the hood of some girl's car and only a hazy recollection of how they'd gotten there, he was beginning to see Angelique's point. He needed to get his shit together if he was ever going to become a rockstar. And frankly, he kind of felt like he needed to spend an entire month eating carrots and hydrating.

The 24/7 party had always been an ephemeral thing; it had been sand passing through his hands in a finite amount as he'd tried to hold onto it

He put himself on detox, and waking up sober for the first time in months felt like a revelation. And as it turned out, playing the guitar without badly shaking hands was way, way easier.

He found another job in another music store, and his starter!band was bringing butts into the smaller venues, like Toad.

He still had his old Rocky friends and the Deathbutantes. The club and venue owners still let him in for free, and Dave was always happy to give his demos a spin. By anyone's else's measure, he was steal one of the scene's darlings.

But Mary was beginning to realize that he needed to stop seeing himself as that scared kid who’d arrived in Boston 4 years ago with only a backpack, $72.57 to his name, and void where his family should be.

He needed to stop finding people to please into loving him.

Instead, he needed to live for himself and let them love him for who he was—fuck ups and all.

@slimylayne

Epilogue

"Honestly, that’s probably the reason I even got a band together," he says. "I was still kind of shit at guitar, but people came to see ‘Model Mary’ perform in his underwear."

He shoots me a smirk.

"I’m sure there’re pictures out there of me looking more glam than metal. I kind of played up the whole pinup thing for a while."

"Fuck, I would kill, literally kill to see that."

He pulls me into his lap until I’m straddling him.

"I could open up my underwear drawer and show you right now."

"Goore, you temptress."

I lean down to kiss him, and his hands sneak under my shirt, but I pull away again.

"I kinda thought I knew all your torrid secrets by now. Shit, how come Dave's never needled you about it?"

After 2 years with him, I’m surprised I hadn't even heard a peep from his oldest friend.

Mary snorts.

"Dave would miss shit hanging off his nose. Great dude, amiable as fuck, but he's always had fucking tunnel vision for his music."

I smirk at him.

"Sounds like someone else I know."

Mary pulls a face at me, and I apply kisses to every line until he laughs and bats me away.

"But really, Mare—how come you never told me about your brief career in blue steel?"

He blows out a breath, his hands smoothing up my thighs.

"Fuck. Cuz maybe I was a little embarrassed at how off the rails I was then, ok? Didn't want you to know what I fuck up I was." He takes my hand and kisses my palm. "And even I know it's a shit move to pitch woo at someone by telling them about banging half of Boston."

I make a face at him, and he laughs.

"Yeah, that’s what I thought."

His hands rest on my waist.

"Christ, everything about that year's a bit fuzzy, and it was like 10 years ago. Sometimes it feels like it happened to someone else, honestly. And shit—most of those people aren’t even around anymore. College kids who moved on and 20-somethings that grew up and moved who knows where. I used to watch Amber have—what is it when it’s four people?—and now she lives in bumblefuck Pennsylvania with 3 kids. After she left, I just kinda drifted away from all that."

He shrugs, his eyes downcast.

"I’m sorry, Mare," I say as I smooth his eyebrows.

He shrugs again.

"I mean, we all kinda keep in touch. It's like the only reason I have Facebook."

"When was the last time you even signed into that?"

Mary grins at me.

"Lola's birthday."

"One of the models? What happened with them?"

Mary bites his lip and thinks.

"Mayhem found religion after an OD and kinda ghosted everyone. Lesley followed a girl to New Hampshire. Uh…Lola pursued a PhD for something sciencey involving renewable energy with sugar beets in Idaho, and Bryan moved back to Florida to care for his grandma, who raised him."

Mary leans his head back on the couch and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"I mean, shit. We were fucking babies back then. Head empty except for a good time and unlimited potential."

I run my fingers through his hair.

"You miss it?"

His eyes pop open to look at me.

"Fuck no. Not for a million dollars. Too many question marks." His eyes glint as he runs his hands down me. "I like what I got going on right here."

I wrap my arms around his shoulders and kiss his forehead. The fucking sap.

Mary picks up my phone and scrolls through the pictures again.

"Fuck. I used to be goddamn adorable, though. Half this shit wouldn’t even fit me anymore."

I squish his little potbelly, and he grunts at me indignantly.

"Do you still have any originals?" I ask.

He shakes his head, his eyes wistful and his smile sad.

"Nah. Got destroyed when my roof collapsed and leaked everywhere. Fuck, landlords are useless. Glad we fucking own now, babe."

He scrolls up, scrolls back down.

"Just these four?"

I nod.

"Yeah. They were the only ones I found—and I did a lot of searching."

"Christ, I think there were at least 10."

I smile ruefully at him. "It’s not gonna be long anyway before they make their way into the popular tags and shit starts coming out of the woodwork."

He tosses my phone onto the table.

"Whatever. Just shows that I’ve always been cool."

And then he’s kissing me again, his hand tangling in my hair.

"You know, I’m your family now, Mare. Just for you."

He brings my hand up and kisses it.

"Fuck, I know that. Why’dja think I put a ring on it?"

#mary goore #longfic #gender neutral insert #aurelio voltaire

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tabloidtoc · 4 years

Text

National Enquirer, November 2

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Jealous O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown over sizzling photos

Page 2: Melanie Griffith was caught in lockdown meltdown mode outside her Los Angeles home yelling at an unsuspecting laborer and giving him a good working over after he somehow crossed her bath and pushed her buttons but it doesn’t take much to get Mel to blow these days because she’s upset about two things which are getting old and not having a man in her life

Page 3: Lisa Marie Presley’s son Ben Keough’s tragic last moments were caught on tape as he argued with his girlfriend according to the coroner’s report on his suicide and security camera footage also captured the eerie sound of an apparent gunshot said the officer who viewed the tape -- Ben had hosted a party for his girlfriend Diana Pinto then about 4 a.m. the 27-year-old musician went to his bedroom; two hours later Diana went to check on him and had to jimmy the bedroom door lock with a bobby pin and she discovered his body and called 911 but Ben was pronounced dead at the scene -- since his death a devastated Lisa Marie has blamed herself for not intervening sooner; Ben had been to rehab several months before and Lisa Marie could see he was struggling with drugs and depression and she has kept a close eye on Ben’s gravesite with Graceland’s surveillance system

Page 4: Anne Heche’s shocking public pronouncement that she wants to reunite with former galpal Ellen DeGeneres was met with fury from Ellen wife Portia de Rossi -- Ellen and Anne were Hollywood’s highest-profile lesbian couple when they dated for three years before their bitter split in 2000 and they haven’t spoken since but Anne announced after her elimination on Dancing with the Stars that she would love to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show but Portia has made it clear she wants Anne nowhere near her wife and she believes Anne is using Ellen to drum up publicity for herself, lonely Ryan Seacrest is longing for a reunion with former flame Shayna Taylor but she wants no part of him -- workaholic Ryan announced the combustible couple’s third split in June after eight on-and-off years together -- Ryan’s obsession with being the next Dick Clark tests the patience of everybody around him and it’s made him a nightmare to be in a relationship with as Shayna found out firsthand -- Ryan seemed so cocky and sure that breaking up was the right thing to do but not having Shayna there to lean on has really gotten to him however Shayna is refusing to be played for a fool

Page 5: Kelly Clarkson made a massive mistake dumping husband Brandon Blackstock according to famed numerologist Glynis McCants

Page 6: Doting dad Kanye West is spoiling oldest daughter North rotten and it’s causing even more problems between him and wife Kim Kardashian because Kim feels North is getting too spoiled but Kanye won’t hear any of it because North is his firstborn and his princess and he treats her like it -- North is regularly served breakfast in bed on a silver tray and gets whatever she wants even if it’s waffles with strawberries and ice cream and she also has a team of beauticians and a stylist to cater to her every need as though she was a full-grown woman and her wardrobe is extensive and expensive and she never wears the same designer outfit twice plus North also loves to shop online for jewelry and Kanye gives her his credit card and she can spend $100,000 in a single sitting and Kanye just thinks it’s cute

Page 7: Daring Jill Duggar and husband Derick Dillard are rebelling against her conservative parents and causing a full-scale family war as the couple has publicly defied Baptist patriarch Jim Bob Duggar several times since their 2014 marriage and now they’ve been banned from the 19 Kids and Counting reality clan; Jim Bob’s even demanded that their neighbors have nothing to do with them -- Jill and Derick drew Jim Bob’s fury after criticizing her parents’ conservative views and shutting down their own family factory after having two sons and said they’re stopping there for now unlike Jill’s folks who had 19 kids, dog lover Jennifer Aniston adores her new rescue puppy but potty-training the pooch has been the pits so desperate Jen had to sign up her new pup Lord Chesterfield for private lessons with a dog trainer -- she has two other dogs Clyde and Sophie but they’re well-behaved and know to do their business outdoors and Jen loves them all but she forgot how much work it is to train a puppy

Page 8: Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle revealed her private battle with depression as her struggles with first-time motherhood and fitting in with the rigid royal family pushed her over the edge but Queen Elizabeth thinks her conniving confession is simply a ploy to sully the monarchy -- Meghan described the emotional pain caused by criticism as a death by a thousand cuts and said if people are saying things about you that aren’t true what that does to your mental and emotional health is so damaging -- Queen Elizabeth believes Meghan’s confession is a calculated attack on the monarchy and Meghan is acting like the royals waged a war against her but Meghan and Harry’s actions since they quit have infuriated Her Majesty because Meghan keeps orchestrating situations where she takes center stage appearing to support and put the spotlight on those in need but she turns them all into opportunities to talk about herself and how hard her struggle is

Page 9: Rattled Tyra Banks’ rocky start on Dancing with the Stars has her looking for a way to waltz off the show and she is already trying to back out of hosting because she hates the criticism she’s been getting from virtually everyone plus she’s unpopular with the contestants and is bickering behind the scenes with producers who now regret replacing longtime hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews -- ratings have also plummeted since Tyra took the helm with the show losing more than a million viewers in early October from the same week in 2019

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Gwen Stefani during a photo session in Calabasas, Tiffany Haddish used a leaf blower during a skit on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Justin Bieber on a scooter in Beverly Hills, Zosia Mamet donned a unicorn horn as she wrapped the final scenes of The Flight Attendant, Robert Pattinson and Colin Farrell on the Liverpool set of The Batman

Page 11: John Oliver’s jokey jabs have earned him a crappy honor from the town of Danbury in Connecticut -- after he ragged on tony Danbury on his show Mayor Mark Boughton vowed to rename its sewage plant after him and now it’s official that the Danbury Sewage Plant is now the John Oliver Memorial Sewage Plant and as promised John is donating $55,000 to local charities which has spurred fundraising efforts for local food banks and Boughton is offering tours of the plant for $500 donations to local food pantries, ailing Phil Collins was rocked by ex-wife Orianne’s betrayal and pals fear he won’t make it to Christmas -- the singer was shocked when it emerged that Orianne who he’d divorced in 2006 and reunited with a decade later married another man in Las Vegas and the stunning news prompted him to serve an eviction notice to get her out of his Miami home and his life for good but Orianne refused to leave

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Nev Schulman on roller blades in an L.A. parking lot (picture), Eboni K. Williams only landed the gig on The Real Housewives of New York City because she co-hosts State of the Culture on Sean Diddy Combs’ Revolt TV cable network and Bravo is desperate to get famous New Yorkers on the show so cameras will be following Eboni around at work hoping to catch Diddy, with Keeping Up with the Kardashians ending E! is looking for the next big reality family and it may be Sylvester Stallone’s daughters Sophia and Sistine and Scarlet Stallone who are all models and not one has a sex tape, with Bravo boss Andy Cohen and axed Housewife NeNe Leakes at war their mutual friends are being forced to pick sides -- Andy gave NeNe access to his famous non-reality show friends and now he’s regretting it -- Kelly Ripa and Anderson Cooper are all Team Andy

Page 13: Kris Kristofferson is battling Alzheimer’s disease and has been forced to retire from singing and acting but the songwriter is in the best place he can be at his home in Maui with family and friends who are surrounding him with love and support, frantic Kate Gosselin is feeling a financial pinch and ready to take a bath on her house by putting her $1.2 million mansion on the market for a measly $815,000 because she’s been struggling with money because she hasn’t worked in a while and living off the money she made in past

Page 14: Crime

Page 15: Marie Osmond was blue over being booted from The Talk but husband Steve Craig gave her something to get over it which was a stunning pair of opal and tanzanite earrings worth nearly $3000, Megan Thee Stallion cheated death when she was shot twice in July and is now using the terrifying incident as a platform to empower Black women and she wrote an op-ed saying the attack proved she and other Black women are not protected as human beings -- fellow rapper Tory Lanez was charged with the shooting that left two flesh-shredding wounds in Megan’s feet and allegedly took place after they argued in an SUV in Hollywood Hills

Page 16: Cover Story -- Rampaging O.J. Simpson was driven into a kill-crazy rage after seeing photos of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson dating hunky young boytoys and flaunting her body in modeling shots -- 25 years after the disgraced football star’s 1995 acquittal intimate images from Nicole’s secret photo album including a picture of the blond beauty posing topless with lover Brett Shaves is believed to have given the jealous ex-jock a motive for murder

Page 18: American Life -- I found a $1M diamond in the rough

Page 19: John Travolta paid tribute to wife Kelly Preston on what would have been her 58th birthday three months after tragic death following a secret two-year battle with breast cancer -- John addressed his late love in a touching Instagram post featuring an image from their 1991 wedding day alongside a picture of his own parents as newlyweds, sci-fi legend George Takei has fired yet another shot at former Star Trek castmate William Shatner as the aging actors’ war of words continues to rage on well into their 80s -- George who played Sulu claimed Shatner was jealous of the amount of fan mail received by their late co-star Leonard Nimoy who played Spock but Captain Kirk shot off a testy response and claimed George was making things up and the only person with jealousy is George -- when told Shatner’s comments George calmly remarked that you can tell by those words that he is upset to put it mildly

Page 20: In a rerun of their long-running rivalry Madonna and Mariah Carey are prepping dueling biopics -- their cold war dates back to the ‘90s but Mariah ramped up their feud when she revealed the very exciting prospect of her biopic but that followed Madonna’s announcement that she was collaborating on her own script -- they’re each obsessed with getting their film out first and getting the right It Girl to play her so the other one doesn’t grab her first

Page 21: Elton John and ex-wife Renate Blauel agreed to zip their lips about their four-year marriage and privately settled her $3.8 million lawsuit over claims he blabbed about their relationship in his memoir Me and the movie Rocketman, Stevie Nicks admitted her insomnia has gotten so bad that she needs therapy or needs someone to hit her on the head with a hammer -- she’s long been nocturnal and it used to be she could sleep from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. but now says she doesn’t nod off until 8 a.m., singer Amy Winehouse died in 2011 but her dad claimed he still can’t get her out of his house -- former taxi driver Mitch Winehouse who is working on a movie and stage show about the late singer insisted he’s regularly visited by his daughter’s ghost who comes and sits at the end of his bed -- Mitch also said Amy helps around the house in his dreams

Page 26: Niecy Nash’s new bride Jessica Betts has a nightmarish criminal past according to police reports -- Jessica was arrested twice in Chicago once for domestic battery and then for selling a gun to a minor

Page 28: Stars Who Refuse to Zip It -- cringeworthy confessions and nasty habits and more -- Jennifer Love Hewitt, Megan Fox, Al Roker, Olivia Wilde

Page 29: Kristen Stewart on Robert Pattinson, John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Suzanne Somers

Page 32: Demi Lovato’s relentless ex Max Ehrich refuses to let her go and her friends are worried he’s turning into a stalker -- since their breakup he’s been particularly creepy, Tatum O’Neal’s confession that she was ready to jump off the balcony of a Los Angeles home was actually a desperate cry for help -- Tatum was reportedly put on a psychiatric hold at a local hospital after the alleged incident and the event signaled she was in unbearable emotional and physical pain and she feels lost and rejected because she was the youngest Oscar winner ever and now she has trouble finding a job and lost all confidence in herself

Page 34: India Oxenberg has confessed she was afraid of former NXIVM cult master Allison Mack of TV’s Smallville -- India found herself Allison’s slave and realized she was being groomed as a sexual partner for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and she was branded with Raniere’s initials in her pelvic regions, a disturbing TV interview in England has sparked new fears for the well-being on boxer Mike Tyson -- Mike looked like the train wreck he was when he was plowing through drugs and was sent to prison in the early ‘90s; he looked barely conscious as he slurred his speech and offered incoherent responses -- Tyson blamed his interview on lack of sleep and insisted his contact with drugs is now limited to growing and smoking pot on his California ranch

Page 36: Health Watch

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Zendaya

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Debbie Matenopoulos on Home and Family

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makeste · 5 years

Text

BnHA Smash!! 01 and 02: Smash!!Might is a Fucking Menace

okay, so. I have about a million other things I should be doing instead, including (1) responding to asks and/or finishing in-progress metas, (2) reading Vigilantes, and last but not least, (3) actually making a dent in the ever-increasing backlog of Actual Work That I Really Should Be Doing Instead.

so naturally I’m procrastinating by taking my first stab at reading BnHA’s cute 4-panel omake spinoff series, BnHA Smash!! IT JUST MAKES SENSE. look, I have exactly one thing I felt like actually doing and not procrastinating today, so I might as well do the thing. basically it’s my attention span’s world and I’m just living in it.

anyway! so apparently this series was scanlated by good ol’ Fallen Angels. that’s right; prepare yourselves for some very creative cursing, fellas. other background info for anyone who, like me, is unfamiliar with this spin-off: this series debuted on November 9, 2015, a little over a year after the original series. said original series was currently at chapter 66, meaning the Final Exam arc was just wrapping up.

so now that we’re all properly oriented, let me go over a few disclaimers real quick and then we’ll get started!

all comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.

I’m aware that not everyone may be familiar with Smash!! even if they’ve read/watched the original series, so I’ve tried to make this recap comprehensible even if you haven’t read the spin-off. that being said, it’s probably more enjoyable if you have, so you can either purchase the first volume from Viz here, or read the chapter online (I don’t want to link directly, but the spin-off is available on most of the usual sites. literally just google “read mha” and you’ll find some good options).

this readthrough contains a handful of sorta-kinda spoilers for the BnHA manga, although there are no direct spoilers. just an indirect reference to a joke in chapter 242, as well as a reference to a theory which as of now is in no way canon. but just to be on the safe side I’m posting a heads-up.

and I think that’s it! so here we go.

so we’re opening with a brief summary of the series. people have superpowers and shit’s nuts. you know the drill

there’s also a brief description of the way that the superhero economy works, complete with Mt. Lady’s employees unionizing and demanding better pay

...what

guys I keep staring at this and thinking that surely, SURELY it doesn’t say what I think it says. sidekick... what... manager??

you know what? Viz unfortunately doesn’t include this series as part of their subscription package (WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR, VIZ), but it does at least include a free preview of Smash, and I bet you that this, the first fucking page of the series, is a part of that preview. so... let’s see...

okay, see, this actually makes sense! so did the FA scanlating team collectively all have a fucking stroke?! just, what??

this is one of the reasons why I had difficulty reading Vigilantes too, tbh. those early chapter scans were, uh. but at least Vigilantes has a Viz scanlation too. I don’t want to spend 10 bucks just to read one volume of this, but we’ll see. anyways

so now there’s a strip about baby!Izuku watching his favorite clip of All Might saving one hundred people from a bus accident or whatever

lol Inko you should not have left your shrewdly calculating four-year-old son unattended omg

TWELVE MONTHS’ WORTH OF TEXTBOOKS HOW CAN THIS EAGER YOUNG MIND RESIST

and this is why you don’t leave your credit card info saved on the computer when you have kids. life lessons learned today

this is the first indicator we have ever had that baby!Izuku wasn’t perfect and was, in fact, capable of being a little shit and giving his mom plenty of gray hairs in his own special way. ngl, I fucking love it

also 12,800 yen is about $118 USD, which is honestly a really good deal for a year’s worth of textbooks. he got three boxes of books! I just googled the average cost of college textbooks, and the google article said the average student spends about $1200 a year. so this is a fucking steal tbh

OH MY GOD INKO HOW MANY TIMES MUST HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF BEFORE YOU LEARN

at least install a fucking adblocker ffs. you’re lucky quirk supplement ads are the worst of the ads he’s getting! PARENTAL CONTROLS

now we are cutting to a comic about baby!Izuku defending another boy from my problematic fave, as seen in page one of the original series!

lmaooo

I’m not clear on how much of this spin-off can actually be considered canon. my understanding is that it is Horikoshi-reviewed and approved, even though he doesn’t actually write it. but it’s obviously a humor series, so a lot of it is just going to be jokes. that being said, I think my approach is going to be “if it’s not completely ridiculous and doesn’t contradict the actual manga, go ahead and consider it canon”

(ETA: I might change this up after reading the first two chapters. most of these strips would have terrifying implications if they were actually canon sob.)

anyhoo, this actually does contradict the manga in that we saw this encounter play out very differently. but I kind of wish it was canon regardless because looool. these cocky preschoolers and their fucking Battle Tears

the next comic is Mt. Lady accidentally stepping on a guy’s face and the guy being way too fucking happy about it (read: having a fucking nosebleed and taking an upskirt shot). we’re just going to skip this entirely. this is another problem I was having with Vigilantes too. you know, for all my complaints about Mineta and such, BnHA as a whole is so much tamer than it could be, and I need to give Horikoshi credit for that. he mostly knows where to draw the line, and to his credit he’s also much, much better about this kind of thing than he was when he first started. maybe Mineta’s standings in the character poll results are helping to clue him in

anyway, I’ll mostly just skip past the iffy stuff because I don’t have patience for it and there’s still plenty of other stuff to cover. so on to the next strip

which features a bunch of reporters fawning over Mt. Lady’s flashy quirk while Kamui Woods laments in the shadows

and yet we know this kid will have a prominent rise within the next six months. it’s so strange to revisit the start of the series and see how much things have changed in such a short time

oh my god

no one who dresses up as a giant mushroom could possibly have good intentions. I. just

and look at the fucking disappointment in Deku’s eyes. KAMUI WOODS HE BELIEVED IN YOU!

now some strange man is coming up to Deku and is all HEY YOU, YOU’RE A HERO OTAKU, TELL ME WHAT TO BUY MY SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SON FOR HIS BIRTHDAY. better not ask him unless you’re prepared to shell out $120 bucks for some fucking textbooks

hey, what!!

WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO SEE WHAT HE BOUGHT HIM? unless it’s the action figure the kid appears to be holding? but I’m just going to go ahead and assume Izuku recommended the number one best gift that any seven-year-old child would love, i.e. a giant sword

now it’s a sludge monster omake!

so Izuku is trudging home all depressed after CERTAIN INCIDENTS, and Sludgey is glooping his way out of a sewer towards him

oh no All Might

my biggest takeaway from this is the fact that the entire second half of chapter one takes place after All Might has emerged from a fucking sewer. I forgot all about that somehow. or maybe it never fully processed until just now. but omg. this entire chapter must have smelled so fucking bad. these poor kids

wow All Might

sure called that one wrong. ah well nobody’s perfect

looooool

lmao, Smash!!All Might appears to be quite a bit more vain than the original. wow dude

btw, friendly reminder (and I think this is something that was actually pointed out to me after one of the recaps; that’s one of my favorite things about doing these) that All Might, after saving Deku, actually read his notebook before signing it. super-fast, I guess, because he’s the best. but yeah, so he knew exactly how smart and observant Deku was, and how much he wanted to be a hero. his decision to pick him as his successor didn’t just come out of the blue; even before the “my body moved on its own” thing, there was a lot Deku had going in his favor. this is one of those little details of which BnHA has so many, and which I love

lmao what the fuck

ngl this version of the series would have been amazing in its own way. but yeah. so this is why we clearly can’t assume everything in Smash!! is canon lol. but I can already tell I am going to enjoy the shit out of this series

now we’re cutting to Deku running at Sludgey in order to save Kacchan, oh shit. the most dramatic part of chapter one. clearly no moment is sacred

sob what

I don’t understand this strip at all. is this supposed to be a serious moment inserted unexpectedly among this multitude of joke strips? or did I miss the punchline? heeeeelp

(ETA: okay so. my best guess is that All Might wrote all over Deku’s life-saving advice, and so the joke is that Deku no longer knows what to do when assaulting sludge men because HIS NOTES ARE RUINED. idk. what does 25 P mean??)

now All Might has Done The Thing and saved my boys, and now Mt. Lady is helping with the cleanup. scooping up all the bits of sludge and putting it in trash bags

oh my god

nope nevermind. nope. nope

-- shit. okay, you know what? this first chapter has been a real in-your-face reminder of the fact that the sludge monster was not made of cute sparkly 2018-trending-fad slime, but was in fact composed of RAW FUCKING SEWAGE. (ETA: to be clear, I’m pretty sure the joke in this strip is that she accidentally picked up dog-doo during her clean-up. but still, the fact that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the gunk speaks for itself.) I think I forced myself to gloss over this fact originally due to the nope factor. but just. Izuku and Katsuki were both choking to death on this shit?? and just, how the fuck did they make it out of this not traumatized

and also, like. All Might was straight up going to leave Izuku alone afterwards, just, “well enjoy your autograph, fine citizen” and blasting off out of there. and everyone fucking saw Katsuki almost suffocate to death later on, and after giving him a pat on the back they fucking let him go off on his own too? and you can’t even make the argument that this was Just Another Day In Quirk Society either, because more than a year later, Katsuki is still a bona fide fucking celebrity from the media coverage of his attack. it clearly was not something that happens every day. in conclusion, these kids are resilient as fuck, and thank god for that because people apparently just do not give a shit, holy christ

anyway. at least Mt. Lady had gloves

OH MY GOD

I FUCKING KNEW IT OH MY GOD. THE ROIDS. MUSCLES LIKE THAT DON’T JUST GROW ON TREES, I DON’T CARE HOW MANY LBS OF GARBAGE THIS KID HAULED OFF THE BEACH. THIS BOY BEEN HITTIN THE JUICE

Smash!!Might is so fucking shady omfg. probably sells cheap counterfeit electronics on Amazon

oh shit and that’s the end of the fucking chapter lol. that’s it?? that was only eight pages. fuck it, let’s read another. but first here’s Horikoshi’s note on the spin-off

so he really feels that Neda gets the spirit of the series and understands him. that’s very encouraging. the best spoofs and parodies are done out of love. I really think I’m going to enjoy this series

so! onward to chapter two

so here’s All Might dressed as Mr. 2 Bon Clay from One Piece, I guess??

“you know what’s funny? dressing a man in girl’s clothes LOL.” guys can we grow the fuck up. and also acknowledge that All Might can look good in anything, so this questionable gag wouldn’t have even landed anyway. you work that tutu All Might

lmao check out the past users of OFA here

All for One for All theory fucking confirmed lol. just look. that’s him in the back of the conga line. clearly

so Deku is all “hell yes why would I possibly say no??” but then

HIS LIMBS. lmao. sign here

in all seriousness, given the shit this kid has been through since the part of the series, All Might probably should have gotten him to sign a liability waiver of some sort. not that it would have stood, since Deku is underage! anyways Deku you totally have grounds to sue the shit out of the Symbol of Peace should you ever choose to do so. and the trend of Smash!!Might being shady af continues yes please give me more I love it

so now All Might is giving Deku his fitness plan which has a really elaborate name

given that this is Smash!!Might, I can’t help but wonder if this plan is in actuality some sort of MLM scheme. All Might are you trying to get Deku to do Herbalife

lol what in the fuck

the original series skipped right over a hell of a lot, it would seem. like the time Deku traveled to Arizona and fought coyotes in a poncho

I’m starting to suspect that Neda-sensei might be on some sort of substance. “let’s see what jokes can I make about chapter 2 of BnHA. I know, I’ll send the protagonist to a fictionalized version of the American Southwest in a sombrero, and then turn him into a 65-year-old oil tycoon.” naturally

lmao that’s really it, that’s the strip. moving right along. okay??

now Izuku is staring at the intimidating piles of Beach Trash and is all “I HAVE TO PICK ALL THIS SHIT UP?”

omg Deku no

somebody call Marie Kondo. Deku none of this is salvageable. not even to reuse in a color page photoshoot spread four years from now

OH SHIT

PROVED ME WRONG OH SNAP. SHOWED ME RIGHT WHERE I COULD PUT THOSE SASSY TAKES. MY BAD DEKU I’M SORRY

anyways I don’t know what Smash!!Might is so upset about. he probably wove some kind of clause into the contract Deku signed that allows him a percentage of the profits. unless Deku already spent it all on textbooks

what the fuck is this fucking series lmao

time for a round of ��what is All Might casually crushing in this panel?” is it (a) a cardboard box, or (b) like, a mini-fridge or some fucking shit. IT COULD BE EITHER. IT MAKES EQUALLY AS MUCH SENSE EITHER WAY. “HEROES THESE DAYS ARE [FLEEEEEEX] OBSESSED WITH BEING FLASHY”

holy shit no wonder he ran away to the Sierra Nevada. it’s only a matter of time before this freak fucking kills someone

NOW WE’RE CUTTING AWAY TO KAMUI WOODS DRESSED LIKE A DAFFODIL, IN THE SAME FUCKING COMIC STRIP, BECAUSE REASONS

my jokes about the mangaka being high as a fucking kite when he wrote this are gradually becoming less jokes and more serious inquiries??

lol so he coincidentally just stumbled across All Might and Deku at this exact moment

AND IT WAS A FUCKING REFRIGERATOR OH MY FUCKING GOD

do you guys remember during the final exam when All Might beat the everloving shit out of Deku and Kacchan, and everyone was all “JESUS CHRIST WOULD YOU LEARN TO FUCKING HOLD BACK A LITTLE THEY ARE CHILDREN YOU MANIAC.” but now we can see plain as day that he was, in fact, holding back. anyways Smash!!Might is terrifying as shit and if this had been the main series I would have already pegged him as the final villain by this point

here he is now wearing an old-timey bathing suit but looking more like an escaped convict than anything else

this panel is actually canon. I’ve decided. this 100% definitely happened at some point. especially the swimsuit

now two bikini babes are walking up and they’re all “IS THAT ALL MIGHT??” with excited sparkly eyes because they don’t know that he’s actually a deranged con artist who crushes refrigerators like empty soda cans. this spin-off has truly opened my eyes

LOOK AT THIS SKEEVY FUCK. JUST LOOK

AND NOW HE’S RUNNING OFF AND LEAVING DEKU TO DROWN IN EXHAUSTION, SON OF A

“SUDDEN BUSINESS” KSJLDKF SMASH!!MIGHT IS A FUCKING MENACE TO SOCIETY AND ALSO DOES NOT GIVE ONE SINGLE FUCK. NOT ONE!! HE’S OUT THERE FUCKLESS, AND NO ONE IS SAFE

now Deku is approaching his mom all serious and says he wants to change up his diet

and she’s looking at the menu he prepared all impressed and thinking that she might join him. as long as it’s for your health, Inko. if this manga starts making jokes about your weight, I will beat it over the head with Deku’s textbooks

OMFG

THIS WENT IN THE EXACT OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS EXPECTING, AND THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I’VE EVER READ WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. the whole fucking family is on the juice. and the fucking mangaka is on some special juice of his own oh my stars

now we’re cutting to Mt. Lady stomping on a car

thank fuck no one was actually in there. also does she not wear shoes

and also, it only just occurred to me that she must be another person with a special quirk costume, because her suit shrinks and expands along with her. Hagakure and Momo are really getting shafted by the costume design team here. they need to fire some people

anyway so Mt. Lady slipped on this carelessly placed vehicle and fell down and crushed an entire building whoops

bruh, you think you’re “ow.” let’s hope that building was empty too

and now she’s toppling another building just fucking because, I guess. and saying she can’t do urban areas

lmao and now the sidekick [CENSORED] manager from chapter one is back to guilt-trip her omg

I need this man to show up in every freaking chapter. please. respect my wishes

and now Izuku is standing on top of his collected pile of garbage screaming in victory

I only just realized that there’s still a big old Pile O’ Trash on this beach, though. someone needs to haul all of this junk away. or else get All Might and Mt. Lady to crush it all with a combined effort

oh shit here it comes y’all, the famous “eat my hair” scene. potential comedy gold right here omg

lol what the fuck

this man is a fucking billionaire and he’s out here clipping coupons and deleting pictures of his son in order to make room for them smdh

okay now we’re doing the hair scene

oh. oh no. I know where this is going sob please keep this comic rated PG for the children Neda

motherfucker they really --

Smash!!Might is a straight-up felon. this man has no fucking scruples. that’s okay Midoriya-shounen, if you don’t want to eat my hair we could just try some REDACTED, jesus christ I am going to need some bleach for my eyes after this

OR LET’S JUST STRAIGHT UP GO THERE WHY NOT

lmao sob. well, two chapters in and we’ve established that no territory is off-limits here. it’s a brave new world. wow

so that’s it! our introduction to BnHA Smash!! I enjoyed it a lot and I will definitely be reading more! I’m not sure what kind of schedule I’ll keep, but this is a really good procrastination manga thus far, so knowing me I might actually work my way through this relatively quickly. especially since the Manga At Large is on break this week. anyways my deepest apologies to the many people who have been requesting for me to start Vigilantes instead. I just need something lighter right now, and this is a good fit. one of these days I’ll get my shit together with the other two spinoffs as well.

#bnha smash!!#boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #all might #midoriya inko #mt. lady #kamui woods #bnha smash!! 01 #bnha smash!! 02 #makeste reads bnha #the pile o' trash is a legit plothole though you guys #are we just supposed to pretend it magically vanished #they really drew deku standing shirtless on top of a heap of garbage #and in the very next panel declared that the beach was spotless??#so what is the truth #someone #answer me

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stillinaincrad · 5 years

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Summer 2019 Edition

There are still a few that I have yet to check out, mainly due to a significant lack of free time (hooray, adulthood!), but there is already way more going on at the start of this summer season than there has been in months, at least to me.

The Good

1. Given

Honestly, I don’t care how long it lasts. Honestly, I don’t know how long they can carry an entire anime based on the flimsy story already laid out. Either way, I really don’t care. The interesting art and especially the various facial expressions in just the first episode drew me in and caught my attention, but I was shoving all my chips to the center of the felt the second the music started. As a guitarist myself, there’s no way I could stay away from this combination of drawing, characters, and technical music. I think this is going to get very good from here, but even if it doesn’t, I’ll be onboard.

2. Are You Lost? (Sounan Desu ka?)

I have this system I’ve developed where if the OP starts and it’s the cast singing/lip-syncing? The anime is almost always raw sewage. (take it out for a spin sometime, it’s amazingly accurate) There are exceptions, and I’m not going to call this one great, but so far it’s not too bad. I grew up out in the woods, hiking and camping sometimes where you were nowhere for days at a time with only what was on your back. I probably could be stranded and survive. Doesn’t mean I want to, but for all this anime is fluff, it’s also pretty realistic and accurate in places, too. Plus, I mean, even if it were awful, is only 12mins per episode, so yeah - not hard to move on from after. Still, though, am enjoying it so far. Am certainly not expecting anything, but it has yet to annoy me too badly, either lol

3. A Certain Scientific Accelerator (Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator)

Know what anime I was most excited for last year? Yup, Index III. Know what anime I struggled to get through and kinda didn’t care for? Yup, Index III. In the first two, as well as the Railgun seasons, there was enough offset. I mean, yeah, there were themes of mass murder, and government corruption, and imbalance and all, but there was enough humor and goofiness to offset it. Index III to me felt like a great big piece of meat that was dense and you had to chew until you were tired of eating just to get through it. Accelerator seems to be sandwiched in between storylines and feels like it will have more of that balance. And, I have to admit, the first of the ‘Scientific/Magical’ series I watched was Railgun and haaaated Accelerator - thought he was the worst of the worst - but then as you get into the other stories and see how they intertwine, you see he's a little more Walt Kowalski and a little less Amon Goth than what you thought. Am interested to see how this show goes, given we know how he begins and how he ends.

4. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka)

I did not get to see the prequel Dan Machi series because I wasn’t going to pay the money for Amazon Strike, which was the only place that had it without all the pop-ups and viruses and fun stuff we don't feel like dealing with like we used to for our shows. So, I never saw it, which drove me insane. I have really loved these characters since day one, and am wicked stoked that DM2 is being streamed and I get more of them for a while. They moved right in on the first episode, too. Looks like it’s going to be another fun season!

The Bad

1. Magical Sempai (Tejina-senpai)

Yes, it is fun in small doses, but this is a bad anime. And I don’t just mean the weak writing, the dependence on fanservice, or any of the things anyone can demise from sitting through an episode which, well, isn’t totally terrible. The schtick gets old quickly, but there are funny moments. But what makes it bad to me is that Kotoyama, Tezuka, Feel... none of these names appear anywhere in the credits, but damn if Senpai isn’t awfully close to a dead ringer for Hotaru Shidaire, and the OP music/mood/sequence doesn’t have Dagashi Kashi written all the frick over it. This show is bad to begin with, yes but stolen valor is the worst kind of imitation.

2. Granbelm

If you can’t tell what is going to happen about ten minutes before it happens - right down to lines that are going to fall out of these girls’ mouths - then you probably shouldn’t play video games. Granbelm has every edge rounded off for safety, and if the Powderpuff girls had had mecha back in the day, this is exactly what they’d have looked like (and at the same time, bizarrely enough, kind of remind me of the Invid from Macross in a way, too). Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to watch the hell out of it start to finish because it’s about badly acted mages having a battle royale in another realm using gooftastic-looking mechas that fire spells, and let’s face it - who wouldn’t? Just don’t expect me to talk about how good it is. I already know it’s going to be very bad lol

The Ugly

1. Isekai Cheat Magician

OK, look - I watched In Another World with my Smartphone. It was awful. I watched Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku) and it was mindless as can be. And just this past season, I watched every episode of Wise Man's Grandchild (Kenja no Mago). They ALL are quasi-dependent upon cliché and irritating romances, tee-hee characters that are as shallow as the writing, and a singular, ridiculously overpowered character that nothing ever happens to. I really enjoy the isekai genre of anime and will tend to watch just about anything to see where it goes, but two episodes into this turd, I said no more. I just can’t do another one of these mimeographed brain leeches. Not this season, at least.

#given #are you lost?#sounan desu ka?#a certain scientific accelerator #toaru kagaku no accelerator #is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon?#dungeon ni deai wo motomeru no wa machigatteiru darou ka #magical sempai #tejina-senpai #granbelm #isekai cheat magician #summer 2019 #anime

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anastpaul · 6 years

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Saint of the Day – 16 April – Saint Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) Marian Visionary of Lourdes, Virgin, Consecrated Religious. Born on 7 January 1844 at Lourdes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France and died on 16 April 1879, Nevers, Nièvre, France of natural causes, aged 35. Patronages – Bodily illness, Lourdes, France, shepherds and shepherdesses, against poverty, people ridiculed for their faith. She was Canonised on 8 December 1933 by Pope Pius XI. Her Body is incorrupt and is on display in Nevers, France.

The eldest of nine children, only four of whom survived childhood, Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was born at Lourdes, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. After her father, a miller, lost his job in 1854, the family was exposed to the direst extremes of poverty.

By the time she was 14, Bernadette had been sick so often that she hadn’t grown properly. She was the size of a much younger girl. She, her parents and her younger brothers and sisters all lived in a tiny room at the back of someone else’s house, a building that had actually been a prison many years before. They slept on three beds: one for the parents, one for the boys and one for the girls. Every night they battled mice and rats. Every morning, they woke up, put their feet on cold stone floors and dressed in clothes that had been mended more times than anyone could count. Each day they hoped the work they could find would bring them enough bread to live on that day.

“Bernadette” grew up uneducated, undernourished and asthmatic, obliged to work as a waitress and a farmhand. The little girl spoke in a Basque dialect and could scarcely read or write. She did, however, imbibe from her parents a deep Catholic devotion.

By 1856 the Soubirous were living in an abandoned prison cell which stank of sewage. On 11 February 1858 Bernadette, with her sister Toinette and a friend, went to gather firewood. In a grotto beside the River Gave, at a place used as a watering hole for pigs, she saw a vision of a “Lady” wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot. Bernadette’s companions saw nothing and she herself wondered whether her experience had been an illusion. Three days later, though, she returned to the grotto, and again saw the apparition. On 18 February her third visit, the vision spoke for the first time, asking for her presence over the next fortnight. Next day, the Lady instructed Bernadette to tell the priests to build a chapel at the grotto.

Crowds began to gather to witness the regular phenomenon of the small girl in ecstasy. The police, concerned, interrogated Bernadette, who related her experiences with clarity and conviction. Local interest quickened after the Lady told Bernadette to drink from a muddy trickle in the grotto. By the morrow the trickle had turned into an active spring.

On 4 March at the end of the prescribed fortnight, a crowd of 10,000 gathered to watch Bernadette. In fact, she would experience three more apparitions, bringing the total to 18. Chivied by the parish priest, she insisted that the Lady should give her name. “I am the Immaculate Conception,” came the reply, in perfect Basque dialect. Bernadette had no idea what this meant. She repeated it to herself over and over on her way back to the village so she wouldn’t forget the strange, long words. When she told her parish priest what the lady had said, he was quite surprised. The priest knew that what the mysterious lady had said meant that she was Mary, Jesus’ mother. The mysterious lady of the grotto had told Bernadette who she was. But it was not very common for people—especially poor little girls who couldn’t read—to think of Mary as the “immaculate conception,” a phrase that reminds us of how God saved Mary from sin even before she was born. The Blessed Virgin also told her: “I do not promise to make you happy in this world but in the next,” the apparition had told her.

Disliking the attention she was attracting, Bernadette went to the hospice school run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers where she had learned to read and write. Although she considered joining the Carmelites, her health precluded her entering any of the strict contemplative orders. On 29 July 1866, with 42 other candidates, she took the religious habit of a postulant and joined the Sisters of Charity at their motherhouse at Nevers. Her Mistress of Novices was Sister Marie Therese Vauzou. The Mother Superior at the time gave her the name Marie-Bernarde in honour of her godmother who was named “Bernarde”.

Bernadette spent the rest of her brief life there, working as an assistant in the infirmary and later as a sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. Her contemporaries admired her humility and spirit of sacrifice. One day, asked about the apparitions, she replied:

“The Virgin used me as a broom to remove the dust. When the work is done, the broom is put behind the door again.” and “They think I’m a saint,” she observed. “When I’m dead they’ll come and touch holy pictures and rosaries to me, and all the while I’ll be getting boiled on a grill in purgatory.”

She later contracted tuberculosis of the bone in her right knee. She had followed the development of Lourdes as a pilgrimage shrine while she still lived at Lourdes but was not present for the consecration of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception there in 1876.

For several months prior to her death, she was unable to take an active part in convent life. She eventually died of her long-term illness at the age of 35 on 16 April 1879 (Easter Wednesday) while praying the holy rosary. On her deathbed, as she suffered from severe pain and in keeping with the Virgin Mary’s admonition of “Penance, Penance, Penance,” Bernadette proclaimed that “all this is good for Heaven!” Her final words were, “Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! A poor sinner, a poor sinner”.

In the 1858 Lourdes apparitions, the Blessed Virgin Mary declared herself as the Immaculate Conception to the innocent little shepherd girl named Bernadette: … The Immaculate Conception (CCC, 490-3)

(via AnaStpaul – Breathing Catholic)

#stbernadettesoubirous #april16stbernadetteoflourdes #stbernadette #catholic #catholicism #theimmaculateconception

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itsmedianapatino · 3 years

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CREATIVE NONFICTION WEEK 6-QUARTER 4

My Childhood Story: Memoir

(Excerpt)

By Nicholas Klacsanzky

I was born on December 12th, 1984, in Seattle’s Children Hospital as a twin boy, weighing about three pounds. My mom said she could fit me in her hand. I was lucky to be born in that specific hospital, as I had to have an open-heart surgery the moment I was born, and the best doctor in the country for congenital heart disease was there. The doctor gave me about a 50% chance of living. My aunt Julie had been praying throughout the operation in a church in order for me to live. Well, obviously I survived. However, I had to be put in a type of container for months to ensure my health would be stable. I had a second heart surgery and a hernia surgery the year of my birth as well.

Though my mother was with me in the hospital those months in the container, I believe the lack of touch during that time affected me for the rest of my life. I have always been sensitive to touch and have learned that my language of love (psychologically) is touch. Anyways, after about six months living in a container in a hospital, I was brought home to live in my parents’ home. At that time, we lived in a tiny house near Green lake next to a railway station. My family was not rich or even middle class—they were searching for coins underneath their couch to buy milk and often had to decide whether to pay for electricity or for heat. In other words, our family was barely surviving, just like myself when I was born.

I was told that when I came from the hospital to live in our home, I had an angry, despondent face most of the time. I was mostly silent, and seemed uninterested in people. I think this was a result of my time in the hospital, away from normal human contact. While my twin brother, Chris, was energetic, bigger, and sociable, I was more of an introvert. Over the next few months, however, I heard I loosened up a bit, and started smiling and interacting with people around me mostly in a standard way for a toddler. I was still an inward child, content to play with toys by myself. My mother told me I eventually was a very happy child, though.

My first word was “choo choo.” This was not a coincidence, as I lived those first three years of my life next to a train station. It is amazing how your first word or the situations you were involved in since being a newborn can affect you so much. Since then, I have always adored trains, and I felt a spiritual connection with them. In my teenage years, I walked a lot on train tracks, and still do. I also always enjoy riding on a train. There is something that draws me to them—I think it was those first three years of my life.

Around three years of age, my grandfather got fed up with the situation of our family. He was a lawyer and banker living in Chicago, and did not want to see his daughter (my mom) down in the dumps. He bought us a house in a nice neighborhood from a professional golfer. The place was the playhouse for this professional golfer, so it had a pool with a mini golf court around it. My mother and father were supposed to pay off my grandfather over time for the house. My mom was social worker that made a decent salary and my father was refugee council leader with a little bit better salary. It turned out that they never paid off the house during my grandfather’s lifetime, and not in their marriage (they got divorced when I was eight years old). My mother paid off the house about 15 years after my grandfather’s passing, with the help of a second husband.

Anyways, we moved from being essentially in downtown Seattle to way out in the boondocks. It was a pleasant place called the Town of Woodway. Surrounded by a forest, the Puget Sound just a 15-minute walk away (a bay that connected to the Pacific Ocean), without street lights, and hardly any traffic. It was a grand switch from the energy of downtown. It was almost too peaceful in Woodway. There was a nunnery about five minutes away from our house, and sometimes there were large distances between houses—so, you would feel like you could shout, scream, or have a party at your place and no one would care.

REVIEW CHECKLIST

STIMULATING IDEAS

✓ present essential and interesting information about the work criticized

________ contains thesis statement that describes major argument of the author

✓ examines the elements of the work by objective presenting its strengths and weaknesses

✓ uses evidence to prove analysis and claims about work

✓ maintains clear and specific focus or purpose

✓ holds the reader’s attention all the way through

LOGICAL ORGANIZATION

✓ includes clear introduction, body, and conclusion

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✓ contains specific details arranged in the best order to support the main idea

________ summarizes the main points and objectively describe how the work portray these through

concise and accurate information about elements of the work

PERSONAL VOICE

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CHOICE OF WORDS

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EFFECTIVE SENSE OF STYLE

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✓ flow smoothly from one sentence to another

CRITIQUE PAPER

2020: Manila Bay dolomite sand project stirs controversy

INTRODUCTION:

By Marita Moaje

The Manila Bay white sand project continues to pique the public’s curiosity as bikers and other passersby on Sept. 6, 2020 stop and try to take a look at the large heap of white sand at the bayfront. Manila Bay has always been famous for its breathtaking sunset.

BODY:

In September, the overlaying of the dolomite in Manila Bay beach or the beach nourishment project caught public attention, stirring curiosity and setting off waves of people flocking to the area to get a glimpse of the “white sands”. Many criticized the project, throwing allegations at the DENR, calling the project a health hazard and a waste of public funds. But the DENR emphasized that the beach nourishment with the use of dolomite is a significant component of the rehabilitation aimed to protect the coastal resources in the area and prevent coastal flooding, erosion, and pollution.

The Manila Bay rehabilitation efforts also include continuous bay and estero clean-ups and the setting up of sewage treatment plants.

The whole program, which started in January 2019, was also called “Battle for Manila Bay” aimed at “restoring the water quality of Manila Bay in accordance with the Writ of Continuing Mandamus of the Supreme Court”.

Among the challenges faced by the DENR this year are the limitations in mobilizing people due to the community quarantines imposed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our work continues despite the limitations in mobilizing people, especially for our clean-up, monitoring, and enforcement activities,” said Cimatu.

He said among the significant accomplishments for the rehabilitation is the inauguration of the solar-powered sewage treatment plant (STP) in July.

He said STP is capable of treating 500,000 liters of wastewater per day from three drainage outfalls—Padre Faura, Remedios, and Estero de San Antonio Abad.

A significant decrease in fecal coliform has been recorded in three priority sites, namely, the Bay walk area, Estero de San Antonio Abad, and Baseco Beach.

CONCLUSION:

The cleanup and rehabilitation of the Manila Bay are guided by the Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy which covers the period 2017-2022, and by Administrative Order No. The President’s directive also includes the monitoring of establishments for pollution and compliance to required standards, as well as the monitoring of water quality in key river mouths, outfalls, and bathing beaches along the Manila Bay region.

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classic-rock-roller · 6 years

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1. One of your exes keeps coming to your house, an your 12 year old son keeps answering the door. He does as you say, and tells him you’re not home, until one day he messes up and says to him, “Mom says she’s not home.” What does your ex do and how do you respond?

He’d push past my son, and come into the kitchen. I’d think he was Kevin and turn around and once I saw it was him, we’d start screaming at each other before I push him out of the house and tell him to leave. I don’t tell Kevin so as not to worry him.

2. You’ve been super busy at work lately, so Kevin has been getting your kids ready for school in the mornings. One morning you go downstairs and see him making their lunches, and a bit of ash from the cigarette in his mouth falls onto a sandwich. He doesn’t notice, and before you can say anything, he puts the other bread slice on top and boxes the sandwich. What do you do?

“Kevin, you just got ashes in that sandwich. You might want to make another one.” “I did?” “ Yes, please don’t smoke while making the kids’ lunches.”

3. Kevin is being extra bossy with you today, and after a while you tell him to cool it. He just looks at you and yells, “Respect my authority!” How do you respond?

“Respect your authority? I would if you weren’t being so bossy and sassy towards me.”

4. You got really drunk at a party with Crue one night, but somehow you ended up back home. Someone knocks on your door the next morning, and you open it to see Nikki. “Hey, sweet thing, how about some more sugar for Daddy?” He says. You ask him what the hell he’s talking about, and he just says, “Last night. You wanna go at it again?” You have no recollection of anything from the previous night. How do you respond?

“What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t remember anything from last night.”

5. You’re staying at Kevin’s great gramma’s house in Colorado in the middle of BFN. She’s got grey water hooked up so that her trees get water during the hot weather. One day, very early in the morning, you all hear a loud boom. You roll over while Kevin gets up to investigate. He goes downstairs, and you hear a muffled, “Oh God” before he comes running back upstairs, yelling, “Gramma Frieda! We got a problem!” You get up and are greeted by a terrible smell. You follow Kevin and his great gramma downstairs to see that the pipe used for the grey water exploded, and now there is raw sewage seeping through the basement. What do you all do?

We’d try to stop the sewage and call a plumber to get it fixed so there’s not too much damage.

6. You are on tour with your band and notice that your wind player reads one book like it’s the Bible. When you ask, she gladly tells you that it’s Ozzy Osbourne’s autobiography. One day, when you’re all on the bus, your bass player says something along the lines of, “Why do you read that book so much? It’s the same story over and over again.” The wind player angrily shouts, “It’s because my dad was an asshole and I used this book for fatherly guidance instead of him!” The bus goes instantly quiet before the wind player locks herself at the back of the bus. What happens next?

I’d head back and knock on the door “sweetheart, are you ok? I’m sorry about him he can be oblivious sometimes. Is there anything I can do?”

7. You’re at a family reunion when one of Kevin’s cousins comes up to you guys. “So, Kevin, where’d ya find this hot piece?” he asks. How do you two respond?

I’d blush like crazy and Kevin would smile and say, “ I found this “hot piece” at one of our concerts.“

8. You’re going through and doing some thorough spring cleaning when your twelve year old son comes up to you with a shoebox. “Mom, what’s this?” You look at it, and it’s some, shall we say, dodgy photos from when you and Kevin were touring with your respective bands. How do you respond?

“Oh, that’s nothing. It’s nothing interesting mostly old papers of mine and your dads.” I’d grab it from him and put it in mine and Kevin’s room.

9. Your band has been on tour for a few weeks, and you feel like shit. Everyone’s experiencing a little jet lag, but you’re just feeling awful. Upon further investigation, you find out you’re pregnant. You don’t recall sleeping with anyone since you left for the tour, but you don’t know if you can go on without receiving medical attention. What do you do?

I’d confide in my wind player because she’s my closest friend and then I’d try to find an obgyn that I could go to while on tour.

10. You and Kevin have lived in the same house for 20 years. The old couple down the street have just passed away, and a new couple from Texas move in. Kevin looks out the window a lot, and he always comments how at night there are never any lights on except for the one in the basement. One night when he comes up to bed, he says to you, “I am a thousand percent sure that they are cooking meth in Old Man Waterman’s house. There’s no other explanation. How do you respond?

“How do you know that?” “They’re always down there. What else could they be doing?” “You watch too much Breaking Bad.”

11. You come home one day to hear that Kevin is on the phone. He sounds upset, so you just wave in greeting when you walk in. He halfheartedly waves back before his face falls. “Well, that’s great, then. You get to blame your life on me. Congratu-fucking-lations.” He hangs up and sighs. “What was that about?” you ask. How does he respond?

“Yeah, my brother just blamed me for most of what happened in his life.” “Aw, honey, I’m sorry.”

———-

1) Your band enters a “battle of the bands” with Crüe and QR. How does your band do?

2) You tell Randy your pregnant and at first he is elated. But over the coming weeks you can see that he’s less excited. When you ask him about it he says, “I’m just worried about being like my father. I don’t want to be like him.” How do you respond?

3) Randy is putting your six month old son to bed and you go in to check on them because it’s been a while. When your enter the room, you see Randy walking around with him and hum singing QR. “Is that one of QR’s songs?” You ask. How does he respond?

4) You went to QR’s practice and while getting ready to leave you’ve lost your car keys. You and Randy spend twenty minutes looking for you keys when Kevin comes up and says, "Are these your keys? I found them on the floor.” How do you respond?

5) You’re daughter has been awfully quiet. You and Randy go to look for her and find her about to flush your four kittens down the toilet. What do you you?

6) You and Randy are staying in a really seedy hotel and were given a room that hadn’t even been cleaned from the last people who stayed. You voice your opinion and while you’re unpacking the desk clerk tells you that you need to leave because you complain too much. How do you and Randy react?

7) You’re sitting at the table with Randy working on school work. Kevin comes over and says, “Are you done yet, you freakin’ nerds?” How do you and Randy react?

8)You’re at a bar with Kevin and Randy. You order a beer and take one sip before saying, "I now remember why I hate beer.” Kevin takes your glass and downs it all at once. You look at him and he says, “Well we can’t waste it.” How do you and Randy respond?

9)You and Randy are rushing around to finish last minute things for Kevin and his girlfriends wedding. You are setting up the hall at the hotel and your six year old son is trying to help. You leave because it is getting late. As you are halfway down the road, Randy looks in the back and screams, "Crap, we forgot James." What do you you?

10) You're staying at the hotel for Kevin and his girlfriends wedding. When you get back to the room you find Randy wearing your pajama pants. "Why are you wearing my pants?" "I forgot mine and didn't realize until we got here." How do you respond?

11) You and Randy are taking care of your cousin's baby. You're taking to him and walking around with him. You're trying to keep him from fussing too much because your at a family function. All of a sudden Randy goes, "You'll make a great mother to our kids one day." How do you respond?

@osbournebemydaddy your move love

#tag game #tag war

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anestheticx · 7 years

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What Exactly is Trump Doing?

What Exactly is Donald Trump Doing? It's been months, and many are asking what in the world is Trump truly doing? Better yet, what, if anything, has he accomplished? Is America now magically "great?" Are the claims of job creation and a "better" economy true or simply fluffed up garbage? Is he fighting for the everyday person, or against them? Is he draining the swamp, or filling it? Does he believe in climate change, or is it a Chinese "hoax"? Some of Trump's advisers aren't even certain of what Trump actually means, thinks, or does - this much is obvious in their continuously undermined remarks by Trump himself. An adviser will publicly say one thing, and yet, Trump will say another, disagreeing with them entirely. For all we know, Trump makes decisions on a total, uneducated, emotionally charged whim during late night hours while he skims twitter, alone in his bedroom. Let's look at what Trump HAS done. Trump Has: 1.) A Record Low Approval Rating. Trump's approval rating is the lowest of any new president since Gallup began tracking approval ratings in 1953. New presidents have typically experienced a "honeymoon" period in approval ratings during their first few months, however, Donald Trump has not. His approval rating stands at about 37% consistently. Presidents have slumped low before. George W. Bush fell to 25%, Clinton fell to 37%, Obama fell to 38%, and Reagan fell to 35%. However, these presidents did not lose support so intensely so early in their presidency, and had higher approval ratings from both sides of the political spectrum during the beginning of their terms. If Trump's approval ratings are the highest they'll ever be now, and if they get any lower, he may be the most unpopular president of all time... 2.) Done a lot of Mar-a-Lago Golfing. Since taking office, Trump has spent nearly half of his weekends in Florida. This adds up to a total of 25 days, and the costs are mind numbing. These trips have costed tax-payers about $20 million in 100 days, while Obama's costs for personal travel were at about $97 million in eight years. The costs are historic, but why exactly is the president taking so much time off, so early on. Shouldn't he be working? 3.) Pushed Anti Environmental Legislation. From pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement ( which was a voluntary agreement to consciously cut back on environment destroying carbon emitters ), budget cuts to the EPA, dismissing EPA scientists, scrubbing the EPA's climate change website, expanding offshore drilling, denying climate science, and ordering a review of national monuments to the Dakota Access Pipeline approval - Donald Trump has denied, destroyed, and thrown to the side what we know about climate science completely. Obama's Methane Regulation law was something Trump attempted to ban as well, however, surprisingly the Senate voted not to repeal it. Donald Trump refuses to push towards modernized, cheaper, cleaner energy such as solar, wind and hydro powered technologies, and in doing so has put the U.S.A behind other major countries putting the health of their citizens and this planet before profit. As usual, Trump sees profit as more important than people. The scariest part may be that our water, land, air and general environment will suffer long after Trump, oil and coal are gone. The course he's set on is one that will harm millions if not billions of people if continued without review. With or without the support of Trump and the fossil fuel industry, many states have decided that they must transition rapidly away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Clean energy employs 6x more people than coal, and again coal and oil are finite anyway. 4.) Rolled Back Protections Against Transgender Students. During his campaign, Trump claimed he "loved the gays", and even held up a rainbow flag at an event. However, actions speak louder than words, and he quickly decided that his campaign rhetoric, though apparently good for snagging votes, was no longer useful in his real life legislative decisions. In February 2017, Trump ended federal protections for transgender students that allowed them to utilize the bathroom that suited their gender identity. This move against transgender students allows each individual state to decide whether or not they wish to, basically, discriminate against trans students. Conservatives claim this decision isn't harmful, and that trans students just have to "use the bathroom of their 'true' gender" ( which is transphobic in itself ), but obviously transgender students will be faced with bullying, and various forms of aggression while attending class due to this. Trump also has stated that he wants to give bosses and landlords a "right to discriminate" against LGBT Americans. He is expected to sign an executive order so religious groups, individuals and businesses can do so. 5.) Created a slew of failed Muslim bans. Donald Trump is still engrossed in a battle that seems to inevitably be headed to the Supreme Court over his "travel band" which, if we're being honest here, is really just a ban on seven predominantly Muslim nations. Trump and the alt-right are obsessed with blaming the entire Muslim world for extremist terrorist actions. Due to this, Trump has repetitively tried to enact travel bans on predominantly Muslim nations, and has been struck down due to this sort of wide spread generalization not only being xenophobic but against our Constitution. Trump claims this action is one that is necessary to, "Keep America Safe," yet when one looks closer, the ban actually excludes countries that Trump has business ties with such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Sketchy..... 6.) Embarrassed the USA. Trump officially embarrassed the USA during his first trip abroad for a multitude of reasons, the biggest being angering our international allies which he seems to continuously take for granted. From enraging the intelligence community in Israel and Europe by publicly confirming sensitive material they told him NOT to leak to dragging out his confirmation of alliance to NATO forces - Trump has repetitively agitated our closest allies including France, Germany, the U.K. and Canada with patronizing commentary, overtly aggressive hand shakes, off-hand remarks and a basic, "I'm not working with you" attitude. Not to mention, can we talk about the glowing orb situation in Saudi Arabia? No biggie, right? 7.) Took to Twitter Continuously. You would think that the president had better things to do, but, apparently not. #Covfefe got more press than a Delaware-sized iceberg breaking off Antarctica, symbolizing a climate crisis that threatens all life on Earth. Needless to say, Trump is obsessed with the social media platform, and has not only embarrassed himself continuously on it but never seems to quit tweeting no matter what hour of the day or night it is. If Obama had tweeted "Covfefe", Fox News would have had 24x7 coverage trying to prove it was a code word for Muslims to overthrow the government. What does covfefe mean, after-all? Incompetence, classism, corruption, and nepotism all in one, of course. 8.) Refused to release his taxes. Donald Trump has said he has absolutely no intention of releasing his tax information. But, why? Trump would be the first president in more than 40 years not to do so, and one can only wonder why that would be. What does he have to hide, other than his claimed "large sums of income." Pieces of Trump's tax return reportedly obtained by the New York Times showed a net loss of about $916 million, which Trump has admitted he used to avoid paying some federal income tax. The story just gets thicker, and thicker doesn't it? 9.) Attacked Net Neutrality. The internet is one of the last, large, fairly accessible communication platforms not yet entirely destroyed by corporate influence. Net Neutrality basically protects all internet entities by ensuring that they all get equal representation, not influenced by money or advertising sums for the most part. For instance, your internet provider doesn't dictate what you do and do not see. However, unsurprisingly, Trump wants to put an end to that, and allow your service provider to do just that - dictate what is and isn't easily and readily available via their own personal interests. Imagine going to the book store, and wanting to read a book on gardening. Yet, the books on drilling for oil are free, and the books on gardening are $50.00. Now shove that analogy into internet terms. Ah, yes, censorship. Smells like typical Trump erasure and suppression of opposition voices. What I love is that the American public blatantly and unabashedly voiced its interest in keeping net neutrality yet, this administration plowed over our insistence and stripped away our right to fair and affordable internet in order to cater to their own egotistical desire to deepen their already bloated and overflowing pockets...some Oligarchy *cough* uh, democracy we live in. Basically, what this means is that they will also lift up content that pays large sums and essentially censor others. Also - want to watch Netflix? Just add on $29.99 a month to enjoy up to 300gbs of streaming data at just $10 for every 100gbs afterwards! Enjoy YouTube? Add another $5! Get the Youtube/Netflix/Hulu Triple Play for just an additional $50 a month! (Throttling fees still apply). Congrats Trump Voters, this is literally what you voted for and literally what ISPs will be able to legally do. 10.) Created a Sea of Nepotism. From Kushner's influence to Ivanka's when did children of a public figure with no government experience himself, magically become political experts, and been allowed to interfere with serious government affairs? Monarchies don't seem to be the kind of system American's typically go for, but with Trump fusing his family and business into his dealings politically, it's unfortunately, comparable. 11.) Filled The Swamp with Raw Sewage by Appointing Billionaires to his cabinet. How exactly do men with vast sums of money legislate in favor on the everyday person when the everyday person has no ties to them personally? Apparently to Donald Trump, filling his cabinet with billionaires equates somehow to "draining the swamp" aka making it "everyday Joe" friendly. How can corporate lobbyists truly be concerned with the well-being of typical citizens, both working-class and marginalized - when they still have ties to their own money making agendas? Trump has officially surrounded himself with like-minded individuals who are all about self-preservation, self-interest and of course, profit. 12.) Favored Tax Cuts for the Rich. After his cabinet appointees came out, who can be surprised? Trump released a one page piece of paper that resembled a flea-market flyer in April, void of any legislative or outlined text. In it, briefly, it stated that Trump, "planned to revamp the tax code." At a closer look, the plan would slash corporate tax rates, repeal a fee on wealthy taxpayer investments, repeal the estate tax for millionaires. Doesn't seem too lucrative for the everyday person, but in reality, it could benefit Trump himself "bigly" - in his own descriptive terminology. 13.) Favored A Healthcare and Budget Revamp that will Hurt the most Vulnerable. From cutting aid programs like Meals on Wheels, to creating a healthcare system that would make almost everything a pre-existing condition, Trump has made it clear that his priorities are to benefit the most comfortable Americans, and stick it to the most vulnerable. Democrats wanted to save 6 billion dollars by cutting federal handouts to oil companies and firms with private jets, but the GOP thought cutting food stamps to over 900,000 veterans and their families was a better way to save money. Trump's budget plan hasn't passed yet, and for this reason, hopefully it's dead on arrival. Now, let's get to the, "AHCA". If passed by the Senate, how will Trumpcare aka the AHCA function? Sure, there will be no requirement/tax if you decide not to get healthcare. However, Medicare will be slashed, leaving those in poverty possibly without any healthcare at all. Rich Americans will receive tax breaks. Younger Americans may pay less due to older, more vulnerable Americans paying 5x more simply due to their age. Under current rules, insurers cannot charge older adults more than three times what they charge young adults for the same coverage. The House bill that was passed would allow them to charge five times as much. FIVE. TIMES. If grandma can't afford her insurance now, just wait. Also, the states would decide what pre-existing conditions they would and would not cover. The list of what the GOP considers as pre-existing conditions is lengthy, including everything from pregnancy and rape to mental health, cancer, and acne. What this means, is if your state decides any or all of these GOP mandated pre-existing conditions isn't eligible for coverage, you won't be covered under any insurance and probably won't be able to afford coverage for care you need. This bill is classist, misogynistic, dangerous, selfish, lacking any empathy, and downright pathetic. Call your Senators, tell them to ensure this bill becomes dead on arrival. Here is the comprehensive list of which pre-existing conditions will get you denied health insurance under the GOP plan that just passed in the House. AIDS/HIV, acid reflux, acne, ADD, addiction, Alzheimer's/dementia, anemia, aneurysm, angioplasty, anorexia, anxiety, arrhythmia, arthritis, asthma, atrial fibrillation, autism, bariatric surgery, basal cell carcinoma, bipolar disorder, blood clot, breast cancer, bulimia, bypass surgery, celiac disease, cerebral aneurysm, cerebral embolism, cerebral palsy, cerebral thrombosis, cervical cancer, colon cancer, colon polyps, congestive heart failure, COPD, Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, DMD, depression, diabetes, disabilities, Down syndrome, eating disorder, enlarged prostate, epilepsy, glaucoma, gout, heart disease, heart murmur, heartburn, hemophilia, hepatitis C, herpes, high cholesterol, hypertension, hysterectomy, kidney disease, kidney stones, kidney transplant, leukemia, lung cancer, lupus, lymphoma, mental health issues, migraines, MS, muscular dystrophy, narcolepsy, nasal polyps, obesity, OCD, organ transplant, osteoporosis, pacemaker, panic disorder, paralysis, paraplegia, Parkinson's disease, pregnancy, rape, restless leg syndrome, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder, seizures, sickle cell disease, skin cancer, sleep apnea, sleep disorders, stent, stroke, thyroid issues, tooth disease, tuberculosis, and ulcers. 14.) Invited Racist clowns like Nugent, Kid Rock and Palin to the Whitehouse. Trump invited the three to the White House to apparently pose in front of portraits of Hillary Clinton. Palin has repetitively spewed elitist, classist garbage, Kid Rock is a vehement confederate flag supporter, and Nugent has openly stated that he wanted to shoot Obama and Clinton. Which leads us to Kathy Griffin.... 15.) Freaked out over Kathy Griffin. When Griffin created imagery of herself holding up Trump's fake, bloody severed head, the internet exploded. Trump cried foul play as he claimed his son was traumatized from seeing such a thing. When did we decide to hold a comedian to higher regards than a "president"? Trump can endanger generations to come in one day, with one pen stroke, and Kathy Griffin can post a photo decapitating Trump, and yet the photo seemed to matter more? Apparently, to Trump, it's alright to body slam a reporter, and talk about how you sexually abuse women with NO consequences, decide to openly destroy our environment and basic human rights with NO consequences - yet a photo is beyond unacceptable to the far right? People created effigies of Obama, burned and lynched them during his presidency. Sasha Obama was nine years old when the birther conspiracy started on top of it all. The ridiculous outrage over the image was palpably hilarious. Would it be more acceptable if we "grabbed some pussy?" while Nugent hailed for the murder of Obama and Clinton? 16.) Watched Himself on TV, and TV In General Nonstop. From NBC's Chuck Todd to White House staffers we've heard continuous mutterings of Trump's TV addiction. Apparently, Trump closely analyzes every interview after its been taped, often on mute, and focuses on...you guessed it, himself. When he's not doing that, and seemingly infuriating 70% of the planet, he's watching cable TV. Seems, "productive." 17.) RUSSIAGATE. Where to even begin? Trump's administration is submerged in seemingly sketchy secret contacts with the Russians, yet, Trump "isn't" involved? US, European and Australian intelligence knows the 2016 election was hacked by Russia, but how far did it go? Trump wasn't under investigation when he fired Comey, but most likely is now. Trump asked an FBI director for loyalty, as if to, "shove the matter" under the rug, but it's acceptable because he doesn't know what he's doing yet? This matter is one that could go on indefinitely, and with Trump claiming he'll take the stand under oath, it can only get juicier, more ridiculous and more awful. One thing is certain, the ex-FBI Director and Trump can't both be telling the truth. 18.) Attempted to segregate schools with voucher programs. The Washington Post has obtained the details of Trump and Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos’ first education budget proposal, and it spells disaster. The pair of billionaires are planning to gut the education budget by $9.2 billion dollars – 13.6% of the entire department’s funding – and reduce total federal education expenditures by $10.6 billion. Charter school crusader and religious extremist Betsy DeVos, who has pledged to use her position to “advance God’s Kingdom,” has budgeted $400 million for school “choice” vouchers and another $1 billion to “push public schools to adopt choice-friendly policies.” By “school choice,” of course, DeVos and Trump mean “allowing affluent white families to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private religious schools with questionable approaches to scientific education” and deprive schools serving low-income students of desperately needed resources. School “choice” programs originally began as a way for racists to get around desegregation rules in the South, as governors closed public schools and allowed white parents to send their kids to whites-only academies while black children were left with no schools. There is only one federally funded school choice voucher program, in Washington D.C., and a recent Department of Education analysis found that the students in those charter schools performed worse on testing than children who attended public schools. The budget proposal cuts nearly two dozen vital programs, including: - $1.2 billion for after-school -$2.1 billion for teacher training and class-size reduction - $15 million program that provides child care for low-income parents in college - $27 million arts education program two programs targeting Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, totaling $65 million - $72 million for two international education and foreign language programs - $12 million program for gifted students - $12 million for Special Olympics education programs - $168 million from career and technical education grants - $96 million from adult basic literacy instruction - $13 million from President Obama’s community-building Promise Neighborhoods programs - the entire $1.65 billion fund for “student support and academic enrichment that is meant to help schools pay for, among other things, mental-health services, anti-bullying initiatives, physical education, Advanced Placement courses and science and engineering instruction.” - $700 million in Perkins loans for disadvantaged students - $490 million from a federal work-study program - His plan would also end loan forgiveness for 552,931 people for public servants in rural areas. The United States remains far behind many industrialized nations in academic achievement. Our schools need more funding, not less. Our public school system could use reform, yes, but from skilled educators with decades of experience managing education systems – not an enormously incompetent ideologue like DeVos, whose sole achievement is her role in the Detroit charter school program, which is considered “the biggest school reform disaster in the country.” The children of America cannot afford to let an unqualified religious zealot upend the public school system so she can achieve her lifelong dream of turning America’s schools into Christian camps. The future of our nation depends on it. 19.) Inspired White Supremacists. Hate crimes against people of color have risen since the election of Donald Trump. So has the re-emergence of white supremacist groups in public. From clashes with alt right, and KKK groups that have lead to violence, to the two brave people who stepped in to protect two Muslim women against a man spewing hate speech in Portland and were murdered - when people in power normalize racism and xenophobia it emboldens those with similar beliefs. This is why Trump and this entire xenophobic, hate filled racist "conservative" movement ( among many other reasons ) needs eradicated. 20.) Refused to Listen to the Pope. During their meeting, the Pope not only donned a somber face but a written letter to Trump, telling him why he should not dip out of the Paris Agreement. Trump obviously used the letter as toilet paper, because we now know what his final decision was. 21.) Refused to discuss a livable wage. In his first 100 days, Trump has done nothing to address the issue of wage stagnation. I know a $15 minimum wage seems radical to republicans. You know what's radical? That people working 40+ hours a week are living in poverty, and that those unable to find suitable work are considered unworthy of basic necessities. 22.) Been Involved in Scam, after Scam....Fake for profit university, settled with a fine. Rape allegations, pushed under the rug with settling out of court. Tax Return absurdity. Involving family in serious political decisions. Leaking information about ally intelligence. Tweeting offensive garbage. Fighting with people on twitter due to said garbage. Russiagate, Russiagate, Russiagate - when will it end? Hopefully soon...... 23.) Claimed EVERYTHING EVER was "FAKE NEWS." Removing information and claiming legitimate news to be "fake" while propagating actual propaganda is an Orwellian technique to keep the public in the dark. How much evidence is needed that Trump obstructed justice? When will Republicans put the well-being of others and even themselves above loyalty to their party? It's clear that Donald Trump hasn't fought for the working class, struggling Americans, everyday Americans, veterans or even small business owners. If anything, he's fought to pass legislation for the wealthy, for those that benefit him, those with ties to his business, and legislation with classist, close-minded leanings. It's notable, that Trump views the world as a zero-sum game in which either you "win" and they lose or they win and you lose. It's the personality of a sociopath. As scary as Trump is, this reality show disaster is being used to distract us from the true depth of an economic system built to exploit working, and marginalized people. As stated before, Trump has made it clear that his priorities are to benefit the most comfortable Americans, and stick it to the most vulnerable - all while he destroys our foreign affiliates. What I really, really love - is how anyone speaking out against this country's current capitalist Oligarchical structure is a "snowflake". Over reacting. A "baby." Yet, these ultra conservatives are offended that not everyone is Christian, white, straight, rich, and subordinate to them. When did fighting for universal healthcare, livable wages, social equality, workers well-being, legitimate and affordable education, women's rights and environmental protection become so "unreasonable" to these people? When did logic become radical? When did voting against your own self-interests to better those with wealth become "patriotic"? I see so many extremist, Trump-esc supporters attacking others for speaking out with slurs, xenophobic hatred, gender-based hatred, and pure propaganda fed ignorance. Aside from the fact that they can't formulate an articulated argument without straying from the subject at hand, they'll immediately attack individuals for their appearance, gender, or for striving for working and marginalized people's well-being. Conservatives will spend hours attempting to defend their oppressive corporatist government that doesn't even benefit them, AND even after this detailed list of the awful things that Trump HAS ACTUALLY done or plans to do, they'll still try to defend him.

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tabloidtoc · 4 years

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National Enquirer, September 21

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Prince Andrew silences Jeffrey Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell

Page 2: Aubrey O’Day is unrecognizable in new photos of the apparently ballooning reality star walking her dogs and letting it all hang out -- the only way to identify the bulky body is from the dogs she’s walking and her signature neck and midriff tattoos

Page 3: Reese Witherspoon has been dragged into a bizarre divorce drama involving her mom and her accused bigamist dad and his second wife -- Reese has been helping her parents untangle the nightmare as they try to freeze out her dad’s ex

Page 4: Jilted Jennifer Aniston feels stabbed in the back by Brad Pitt’s hot new romance with a married model less than half his age and now she’s banned him from her life for good -- Jen was completely sandbagged by Brad jetting off to France with Nicole Poturalski after she’s spent months supporting Brad through his divorce and custody battle with Angelina Jolie during secret meetings at both of their homes, Julia Roberts has moved her family to San Francisco but first she burned her bridges in Los Angeles by cutting ties with old pals

Page 5: Justin and Hailey Bieber bought their dream house for $25.8 million in the Beverly Park area of L.A. but their new neighbors are calling their arrival a nightmare -- residents including Eddie Murphy and Denzel Washington and Sylvester Stallone are less than thrilled with the new kids next door because this is an old-school crowd that prides itself on privacy and Justin’s clashes with previous neighbors and party-hearty reputation aren’t exactly a selling point and nobody wants to deal with his adolescent drama

Page 6: Brave Chadwick Boseman married longtime girlfriend Taylor Simone Ledward mere months before he lost his four-year battle with colon cancer to seal their love and ensure she’d be provided for when he was gone -- Chadwick was worth an estimated $12 million and was deeply grateful to Simone for staying by his side as he fought for his life -- Chadwick and Simone had an intimate ceremony witnessed by family at his home after he realized his personal fight was unwinnable

Page 7: Gwen Stefani has reined in country stallion Blake Shelton and his buddies are complaining his new life has broke up the old gang -- Blake was once a fixture on the Nashville bar scene where he owns his honky-tonk Ole Red but Gwen has tightened the leash on her former fun-loving guy and he’s cut back big time -- Blake is trying to show Gwen he can be a responsible person and a good husband and stepfather to her kids, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore are planning to reunite as co-stars on Broadway -- Bruce has been speaking to producers about finding a project on the Great White Way and he’s been pushing for ex-wife Demi to join him

Page 8: Prison-bound Lori Loughlin may serve time in a California town so ravaged by drugs it’s been dubbed Methville -- the convicted college admissions scammer has requested to do her two-month stint at the Federal Correctional Institution in Victorville where the drug scene could have been ripped straight out of Breaking Bad, Hollywood Hookups -- Liam Payne and Maya Henry are engaged, Becca Kufrin and Garrett Yrigoyen split, Trevor Noah and Minka Kelly are dating

Page 9: Justin Hartley’s reality star ex Chrishell Stause is hell-bent on ditching any memories of their time together so she dumped his prized belongings in the trash -- because of Justin’s hasty departure Chrishell was left with many of his belongings including watches and clothes and CDs and books and other items of sentimental value and he wanted them dropped off or mailed back to him but Chrishell demanded he meet her in person for a face-to-face drop-off where they could clear up some lingering issues but Justin never showed and she decided to treat his stuff like they said he treated her and she tossed it out

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Kristen Taekman exercising in Malibu, Jason Momoa at a Hollywood juice bar, Rob Schneider performed at a drive-in show in Ventura, Brian Austin Green got an eyeful of cheeky galpal Tina Louise

Page 11: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will launch their megabucks production deal with a tribute to his beloved mother Princess Diana -- Harry doesn’t want Diana’s memory to fade and wants to create a definitive work to honor her and he’d be able to share the intimate memories only he knows in a way that’s never before been seen -- Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles are sure to be devastated by this; they’re happy for Harry to forge a new path and live his own life as long as he leaves them out of it

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Bradley Cooper on the set of Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film (picture), Jennifer Lopez is the hardest working person in show business and expects the same work ethic from fiance Alex Rodriguez and wants him to get out of the house and get a job, Ellen DeGeneres wants her talk show to be more diverse and give lesser-known celebrities exposure plus the show will have more regular guests such as ordinary people doing extraordinary things especially in communities of color and guests will no longer be encouraged to flatter Ellen’s ego, Madonna celebrated her 62nd birthday with her 26-year-old boyfriend Ahlamalik Williams and they’re talking marriage

Page 13: Rihanna said she’s forgiven her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown for brutally attacking her and that she still truly loves him

Page 14: Crime -- gruesome unsolved murders and mysterious suicides and head-scratching accidents contributed to a staggering 142 deaths in just four years at the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood in Texas

Page 16: American Life -- my night of terror with Hurricane Laura

Page 17: Ailing rocker Ozzy Osbourne swears he’ll have to be carried offstage before he retires, country legend Loretta Lynn set some tongues wagging when she announced she had tied the knot with Kid Rock but it was just a joke while they were both attending the vow renewal ceremony of Loretta’s son and his wife

Page 18: Jason Aldean’s Nashville watering hole is a hotbed of brutal brawling that left one man with a permanently maimed mug according to accusations in court documents -- in 2020 alone a whopping five lawsuits seeking up to $5.55 million in total damages have been filed against Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Rooftop Bar

Page 19: Carrie Underwood’s happy home life may be on thin ice as husband Mike Fisher is eyeing a return to the hockey rink -- after being holed up during the pandemic in Tennessee and driven crazy by Carrie’s obsessive-compulsive ways Mike is considering a coaching gig and has even entertained offers from his native Canada

Page 22: Tyler Perry who was once penniless and homeless is officially a billionaire according to Forbes magazine -- Tyler overcame some of life’s greatest hardships and is a great example of how determination and hard work can lead to success

Page 24: Carol Burnett was named temporary guardian of her teenage grandson after alleging that his mom is a hopeless drug addict -- the 87-year-old comedy legend and her third husband Brian Miller will have custody of 14-year-old Dylan through January 8, 2021

Page 28: Cover Story -- Sex pervert Jeffrey Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell is spilling her guts to prosecutors about some of the world’s most powerful men but she won’t rat out Britain’s Prince Andrew and that could torpedo the feds’ attempts to grill the prince about his friendship with the billionaire pedophile -- she’s petrified that if she talks the all-powerful royal family will have her murdered because she’s convinced the royals ordered a prison hit on Epstein

Page 32: Disgraced chef Paula Deen has been tightening her belt since the collapse of her multimillion-dollar empire -- 7 years after cooking her own goose by making racist comments and condoning porn in the workplace the loss of her Food Network show along with several corporate sponsors has pushed Paula to pull in the purse strings, Shania Twain wants to celebrate her upcoming tenth wedding anniversary with husband Frederic Thiebaud by renewing their vows -- the couple hopes pandemic restrictions are relaxed in time for their January 1 anniversary as they plan to invite close friends and family to a bash in the Bahamas

Page 36: Bloated brothers-in-law Rob Kardashian and Kanye West are bonding over blubber and the portly pals have committed to work together in their battle against the bulge -- Kanye is impressed with Rob’s recent 30-pound drop and has begged him for weight-loss advice -- Kanye hopes that cutting the fat will prove to his wife that he’s committed to self-improvement, Brooks Laich is trying to swing another round on the dance floor with his estranged wife Julianne Hough by offering her an open marriage and Julianne seems very open to the idea -- they’ve been a lot happier lately and more relaxed and the sparks seem to be back between them

Page 38: Health

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Elizabeth Debicki

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Joy Bauer

Page 47: Odd List -- the mayor of Danbury in Connecticut jokingly renamed the sewage plant after John Oliver

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soccernetghana · 4 years

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BYU-Hawaii soccer player fighting ‘national disgrace’ of child trafficking in Ghana

[caption id="attachment_805354" align="alignnone" width="767"] Lillian Martino-Bradley escaped horror in Ghana as a child and now is helping others do the same.[/caption] The most impressive person in college sports this school year may not be the football player who wins the next Heisman or the teenager who becomes the next No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. It may be an athlete from a team you’ll never see on television with a story that has nothing to do with winning a national championship of any sort. That’s because you have to look pretty far and pretty deep to find this story: halfway across the Pacific Ocean, to a Division II women’s soccer team in Hawaii. It’s a story of survival and of faith, of getting out of a hopeless situation and then of returning to that place in order to save others. It’s a story that’ll make you feel like you’ve accomplished very, very little in your own life but also one that’ll inspire you to do more. Lillian Martino-Bradley is a 19-year-old sophomore soccer player for the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders. She’s a pretty good player, quick on the pitch, technically sound and with a high soccer IQ. Her coach says that she would have been a surefire Division I talent if not for a slew of knee injuries in high school. But that will be the last mention of athletics in this story. Because the most impressive story in college sports isn’t really a sports story at all. After all, the soccer exploits of a young woman battling for a starting job on a team that finished 4-13 last year isn’t exactly something that’ll make your ears perk up. Instead, listen to the story of what brought Lillian to this Mormon university, where she majors in intercultural peacebuilding and aims toward fixing the atrocities committed against children just like her in her homeland of Ghana. It’s a story about the worldwide fight against human trafficking, which – if this Division II soccer player hadn’t been rescued from Ghana at age 3 – would have enveloped her own life. “It’s hard for even me as her coach to understand what she’s gone through let alone for other 18-year-old girls to understand it,” said her soccer coach, Mark Davis. “Just the amount of faith she has. She never complains. It’s so contagious with the girls. She’s just so stinking impressive.” ****** Lillian was born in a field. There were no doctors on hand. Her uncle helped her mother deliver Lillian, born amidst tall grasses and to a future that seemed doomed. At best, Lillian would have the same life as her mother, a life of selling goods along the dirt roads in order to buy food for her family. At worst? At worst it would have been a life that you and I could never even imagine. Lillian’s mother died from childbirth complications. She never met her biological father; he was from another tribe, and it was taboo to marry a woman from another tribe. Her uncle raised her, but they were desperately poor. Her uncle would leave her at home when he went to work, and when he came back her body would be covered with ants. She’d walk miles with him just to get their mail. When she got a rare treat, it was a boiled egg. “I don’t remember any of it,” she said recently. “I was adopted really young.” Meanwhile, in Heber City, Utah, some friends of Lois Martino had just come back from a two-year Mormon mission to Ghana. In Ghana, they had met Lillian’s uncle. They knew he wasn’t capable of raising her – and they worried that she could be sold into slavery. Human trafficking is a huge problem in Ghana, especially in coastal towns where boys are sold into slavery as young as age 4 to work in the fishing industry. Estimates for the number of boys enslaved at the country’s largest lake range from 1,000 to 10,000. As recently as 1997, an estimated 5,000 young girls and women were sex slaves in the country. In the capital of Accra, an estimated 30,000 children are enslaved to work as porters, according to the U.S. Association for International Migration, which runs an anti-trafficking campaign in Ghana. Another international non-profit described Ghana’s human trafficking industry as “a national disgrace.” “Trafficking in Ghana is very, very ingrained in society,” said Maria Moreno of the International Organization for Migration. “It’s selling your children because you cannot afford to take care of them.” At the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward where Lillian’s future family belonged, the couple came back from their Ghana mission and told the ward, “This little girl needs to be adopted.” Lois Martino and her husband, who owned a chemical company, had three sons. The youngest was in kindergarten. They made up their minds that this was something they were supposed to do. They traveled to Ghana, and at Lillian’s uncle’s tin hut in their tiny village, they met the girl they would adopt. She didn’t have a birth certificate. She was small and malnourished, her stomach protruding from a lack of food. When they took her to breakfast, she’d eat one grain of rice at a time, as if she were savoring every bite. “Then she’d look at us, and say, ‘More?’ ” Lois Martino recalled. “And she was so surprised when we said yes.” In Utah, Lillian acclimated surprisingly well. Classmates loved playing with her braided hair. She never experienced racism even though the town was virtually all white. The hardest part was food, but slowly, she began eating more: from strictly pineapple and rice to pasta to meat sauce to bread. At age 13 the family decided it was time for Lillian to visit her old home. She had no memories of the place. They boarded a plane to Ghana. As they were landing, Lois gave her adopted daughter a warning: When you get off the plane, she said, it will be overwhelming. The heat. The humidity. The noise. And most of all, the smell. Lois thought it smelled like sewage. “I walked off the plane, I breathed it in, and I was home,” Lillian said. “It was such a natural thing for me. It was a powerful feeling of connection, just so connected to who I was. Even smelling that air – it was kind of musky and different, but it was me. It was my home. My body remembered that.” “It was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen,” her mother recalled. The trip changed her life. Not just seeing her uncle, or meeting both sets of grandparents, or visiting the orphanage and school that her adoptive parents had funded in Ghana after adopting Lillian. It was because when she visited Ghana, Lillian learned a family secret: That when she was born, Lillian had been promised to a man in another tribe to become his sex slave in order to settle a tribal dispute. And it was because she befriended a boy who was about her age and who was living in her old village. And after Lillian returned to the United States, she learned that the boy – a boy she’d spent time with just months before – had been sold into slavery. This is how a 19-year-old college sophomore comes to start an international non-profit that has so far raised more than $20,000 through fundraisers and has opened a safe house in Accra for victims of human trafficking who are in the midst of court cases against perpetrators. The boy’s name was Enoch. His grandmother accepted money from a man who said he would put the boy to work. “This grandmother, they have nothing, and she doesn’t know how to feed her family,” said Lillian’s mother. “Someone came to her and said, ‘This is the oldest and strongest of your grandsons. I’ll put him to work on a farm and send the money home.’ It’s a matter of sacrificing one for everyone.” When Lillian and her mother learned he’d been sold, they knew they had to do something. But what? It’s not like she could just fly back to Ghana, pluck Enoch from his captor and set him free. The money never came home. The Martinos hired a private detective in Ghana. He tracked Enoch to a remote plantation miles into the bush, where he was doing farm work. Somehow – Lillian doesn’t know how – the private detective was able to wrest Enoch away from his captors. The captors were in the midst of sending a busload of children to Nigeria to be sent to a different plantation, the private detective told the Martinos. The private detective called the Martinos after rescuing Enoch, and here’s what Enoch told them: “I thought I would be lost forever.” Now he was free, but he didn’t have money for food or education or housing. Back in Utah, Lillian held a fundraiser. She put up fliers around town. At the rec center in Heber City, she held a benefit dance for Enoch. The money she raised became the seed of something much bigger. “From that moment on I realized how much I could help, how much everyone can help,” Lillian said. “You get people together. You have passion for a cause. And you can really make a special, significant impact in people’s lives.” Since then, Lillian and her mother have visited Ghana a few times. They set up the safe house in Accra, which has so far helped 19 children who are dealing with the legal system after having been victims of human trafficking. They found a local man to run the safe house; Enoch works there, too. They have raised more than $20,000 for the non-profit – it’s called Fahodie for Friends; “fahodie” means “freedom” in Lillian’s native dialect – but need more. The majority of the funding has come from friends and from Lillian’s adoptive father’s estate. (He passed away when she was in high school.) Lillian has spoken out against human trafficking here in the United States – at her school, in her hometown – as well as in West Africa, where she has given speeches to hundreds of young adults in Liberia and in two Ghanaian cities. This summer she got married, to a Mormon young man from her hometown who had spent his two-year mission in Ghana. She knows millions of children worldwide are sold into slavery, and she knows she could have easily become one of those forgotten numbers. Where will her non-profit go from here? She’s not sure. But she’s had conversations with her husband about possibly moving back to Ghana together to fight this issue first-hand. She was saved from tragedy when she was adopted from Ghana and came to the United States. But she knows Ghana is part of her. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she moves back,” her mother said. “She knows this was why she was saved. She knows this was why she was adopted. She was put on this earth for a reason, and this may be the reason.” By Reid Forgrave Foxsports.com source: https://ghanasoccernet.com/

0 notes

footballghana · 4 years

Text

FEATURE: BYU-Hawaii soccer player fighting ‘national disgrace’ of child trafficking in Ghana

The most impressive person in college sports this school year may not be the football player who wins the next Heisman or the teenager who becomes the next No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. It may be an athlete from a team you’ll never see on television with a story that has nothing to do with winning a national championship of any sort.

That’s because you have to look pretty far and pretty deep to find this story: halfway across the Pacific Ocean, to a Division II women’s soccer team in Hawaii. It’s a story of survival and of faith, of getting out of a hopeless situation and then of returning to that place in order to save others. It’s a story that’ll make you feel like you’ve accomplished very, very little in your own life but also one that’ll inspire you to do more.

Lillian Martino-Bradley is a 19-year-old sophomore soccer player for the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders. She’s a pretty good player, quick on the pitch, technically sound and with a high soccer IQ. Her coach says that she would have been a surefire Division I talent if not for a slew of knee injuries in high school.

But that will be the last mention of athletics in this story. Because the most impressive story in college sports isn’t really a sports story at all. After all, the soccer exploits of a young woman battling for a starting job on a team that finished 4-13 last year isn’t exactly something that’ll make your ears perk up.

Instead, listen to the story of what brought Lillian to this Mormon university, where she majors in intercultural peacebuilding and aims toward fixing the atrocities committed against children just like her in her homeland of Ghana. It’s a story about the worldwide fight against human trafficking, which – if this Division

II soccer player hadn’t been rescued from Ghana at age 3 – would have enveloped her own life.

“It’s hard for even me as her coach to understand what she’s gone through let alone for other 18-year-old girls to understand it,” said her soccer coach, Mark Davis. “Just the amount of faith she has. She never complains. It’s so contagious with the girls. She’s just so stinking impressive.”

Lillian was born in a field. There were no doctors on hand. Her uncle helped her mother deliver Lillian, born amidst tall grasses and to a future that seemed doomed. At best, Lillian would have the same life as her mother, a life of selling goods along the dirt roads in order to buy food for her family. At worst? At worst it would have been a life that you and I could never even imagine.

Lillian’s mother died from childbirth complications. She never met her biological father; he was from another tribe, and it was taboo to marry a woman from another tribe.

Her uncle raised her, but they were desperately poor. Her uncle would leave her at home when he went to work, and when he came back her body would be covered with ants. She’d walk miles with him just to get their mail. When she got a rare treat, it was a boiled egg.

“I don’t remember any of it,” she said recently. “I was adopted really young.”

Meanwhile, in Heber City, Utah, some friends of Lois Martino had just come back from a two-year Mormon mission to Ghana. In Ghana, they had met Lillian’s uncle. They knew he wasn’t capable of raising her – and they worried that she could be sold into slavery. Human trafficking is a huge problem in Ghana, especially in coastal towns where boys are sold into slavery as young as age 4 to work in the fishing industry. Estimates for the number of boys enslaved at the country’s largest lake range from 1,000 to 10,000. As recently as 1997, an estimated 5,000 young girls and women were sex slaves in the country. In the capital of Accra, an estimated 30,000 children are enslaved to work as porters, according to the U.S. Association for International Migration, which runs an anti-trafficking campaign in Ghana. Another international non-profit described Ghana’s human trafficking industry as “a national disgrace.”

"Trafficking in Ghana is very, very ingrained in society. It’s selling your children because you cannot afford to take care of them" - Maria Moreno, International Organization for Migration.

“Trafficking in Ghana is very, very ingrained in society,” said Maria Moreno of the International Organization for Migration. “It’s selling your children because you cannot afford to take care of them.”

At the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ward where Lillian’s future family belonged, the couple came back from their Ghana mission and told the ward, “This little girl needs to be adopted.”

Lois Martino and her husband, who owned a chemical company, had three sons. The youngest was in kindergarten. They made up their minds that this was something they were supposed to do. They traveled to Ghana, and at Lillian’s uncle’s tin hut in their tiny village, they met the girl they would adopt. She didn’t have a birth certificate. She was small and malnourished, her stomach protruding from a lack of food. When they took her to breakfast, she’d eat one grain of rice at a time, as if she were savoring every bite.

“Then she’d look at us, and say, ‘More?’ ” Lois Martino recalled. “And she was so surprised when we said yes.”

In Utah, Lillian acclimated surprisingly well. Classmates loved playing with her braided hair. She never experienced racism even though the town was virtually all white. The hardest part was food, but slowly, she began eating more: from strictly pineapple and rice to pasta to meat sauce to bread.

At age 13 the family decided it was time for Lillian to visit her old home. She had no memories of the place. They boarded a plane to Ghana. As they were landing, Lois gave her adopted daughter a warning: When you get off the plane, she said, it will be overwhelming. The heat. The humidity. The noise. And most of all, the smell. Lois thought it smelled like sewage.

“I walked off the plane, I breathed it in, and I was home,” Lillian said. “It was such a natural thing for me. It was a powerful feeling of connection, just so connected to who I was. Even smelling that air – it was kind of musky and different, but it was me. It was my home. My body remembered that.”

“It was the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen,” her mother recalled.

[caption id="attachment_751585" align="alignnone" width="200"] Lillian Martino-Bradley escaped horror in Ghana as a child and now is helping others do the same.[/caption]

The trip changed her life. Not just seeing her uncle, or meeting both sets of grandparents, or visiting the orphanage and school that her adoptive parents had funded in Ghana after adopting Lillian.

It was because when she visited Ghana, Lillian learned a family secret: That when she was born, Lillian had been promised to a man in another tribe to become his sex slave in order to settle a tribal dispute.

And it was because she befriended a boy who was about her age and who was living in her old village.

And after Lillian returned to the United States, she learned that the boy – a boy she’d spent time with just months before – had been sold into slavery.

This is how a 19-year-old college sophomore comes to start an international non-profit that has so far raised more than $20,000 through fundraisers and has opened a safe house in Accra for victims of human trafficking who are in the midst of court cases against perpetrators.

The boy’s name was Enoch. His grandmother accepted money from a man who said he would put the boy to work.

“This grandmother, they have nothing, and she doesn’t know how to feed her family,” said Lillian’s mother. “Someone came to her and said, ‘This is the oldest and strongest of your grandsons. I’ll put him to work on a farm and send the money home.’ It’s a matter of sacrificing one for everyone.”

When Lillian and her mother learned he’d been sold, they knew they had to do something.

But what?

It’s not like she could just fly back to Ghana, pluck Enoch from his captor and set him free.

The money never came home. The Martinos hired a private detective in Ghana. He tracked Enoch to a remote plantation miles into the bush, where he was doing farm work. Somehow – Lillian doesn’t know how – the private detective was able to wrest Enoch away from his captors. The captors were in the midst of sending a busload of children to Nigeria to be sent to a different plantation, the private detective told the Martinos.

The private detective called the Martinos after rescuing Enoch, and here’s what Enoch told them: “I thought I would be lost forever.”

Now he was free, but he didn’t have money for food or education or housing. Back in Utah, Lillian held a fundraiser. She put up fliers around town. At the rec center in Heber City, she held a benefit dance for Enoch. The money she raised became the seed of something much bigger.

You get people together. You have passion for a cause. And you can really make a special, significant impact in people’s lives.

Lillian Martino-Bradley

“From that moment on I realized how much I could help, how much everyone can help,” Lillian said. “You get people together. You have passion for a cause. And you can really make a special, significant impact in people’s lives.”

Since then, Lillian and her mother have visited Ghana a few times. They set up the safe house in Accra, which has so far helped 19 children who are dealing with the legal system after having been victims of human trafficking. They found a local man to run the safe house; Enoch works there, too. They have raised more than $20,000 for the non-profit – it’s called Fahodie for Friends; “fahodie” means “freedom” in Lillian’s native dialect – but need more. The majority of the funding has come from friends and from Lillian’s adoptive father’s estate. (He passed away when she was in high school.)

Lillian has spoken out against human trafficking here in the United States – at her school, in her hometown – as well as in West Africa, where she has given speeches to hundreds of young adults in Liberia and in two Ghanaian cities. This summer she got married, to a Mormon young man from her hometown who had spent his two-year mission in Ghana. She knows millions of children worldwide are sold into slavery, and she knows she could have easily become one of those forgotten numbers.

Where will her non-profit go from here? She’s not sure. But she’s had conversations with her husband about possibly moving back to Ghana together to fight this issue first-hand. She was saved from tragedy when she was adopted from Ghana and came to the United States. But she knows Ghana is part of her.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she moves back,” her mother said. “She knows this was why she was saved. She knows this was why she was adopted. She was put on this earth for a reason, and this may be the reason.”

Source: www.Foxsports.com//Reid Forgrave

source: https://footballghana.com/

0 notes

yeskraim · 5 years

Text

Butter Gritty, radish stink, goatnapping: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Decatur: More than 800,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled from the city’s utility plant and eventually reached the Tennessee River during two days of heavy rains, documents filed by Decatur Utilities show. Disclosures filed with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management reveal that about 8 million gallons of raw sewage have escaped the Decatur Utilities sanitary sewer system this year in 81 overflows, The Decatur Daily reports. The largest discharge happened last week when rain overwhelmed old pipes, and sewage began pouring from a manhole near the utility’s headquarters. It took the city-owned company more than 40 hours to stop the overflow. Decatur Utilities told the Environmental Department the heavy rains caused the problem, though the newspaper says similar companies in neighboring communities reported few to no sewer overflows during the same period.

Alaska

Anchorage: An air carrier that suffered a cyberattack has experienced more disruption than initially projected, according to a company announcement. The RavnAir Group on Dec. 20 experienced what it called a “malicious” cyberattack on its information technology network, Anchorage television station KTVA reports. The company canceled some Alaska flights of Dash 8 aircraft and said passengers could expect more schedule changes. This week the company announced the disruption was worse than initially reported. Restoration of systems could take up to a month, the company said. Additional flight cancellations and delays are possible for the group’s three airlines, RavnAir Alaska, PenAir and RavnAir Connect, the company said. The company is working with the FBI, a cybersecurity company and others to restore systems.

Arizona

Tucson: Three mountain lions found feeding on human remains near a popular Tucson hiking trail have been killed, authorities said Wednesday. They were not suspected of killing the person but were determined to be a danger to the public because they showed no fear of officers trying to remove the remains, the Arizona Game and Fish Department said in a statement. The area in the Coronado National Forest was closed for a day while officials attempted unsuccessfully to trap the mountain lions. The medical examiner will work to identify the name and cause of death for the person found Tuesday morning off the Pima Canyon Trail. The trail at the base of Mount Lemmon was reopened Wednesday, ahead of a planned Jan. 14 reopening, after authorities decided there was no danger to the public.

Arkansas

Little Rock: A judge on Thursday ordered the city to reinstate a police officer who was fired for fatally shooting a black motorist. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox reversed the Little Rock Civil Service Commission’s ruling upholding the termination of Officer Charles Starks over the fatal shooting of Bradley Blackshire. Starks fired at least 15 times through the windshield of a car Blackshire was driving in February. Starks and another officer were attempting a motor vehicle stop at the time. Police commanders fired Starks in May, saying he violated department policy. Fox upheld the commission’s ruling that Starks violated policy requiring officers to move out of an oncoming vehicle’s path if possible rather than fire. But the judge said a 30-day suspension and reduction in salary to an entry-level officer are more appropriate sanctions.

California

Corona: A Southern California quarantine zone has been expanded in an effort to stop the spread of a disease that threatens the state’s multibillion-dollar citrus industry. The addition of 107 square miles encompassing the cities of Corona and Norco and part of Chino followed the discovery of a dozen trees with citrus greening disease in Corona, The Press-Enterprise reports. The quarantine zone now covers 1,127 square miles in parts of Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Orange counties. The quarantine forbids movement of fruit, citrus plants or foliage, but the fruit can be consumed on properties where it was grown. Citrus greening disease is also known as Huanglongbing or HLB. It is spread by a tiny, aphid-like bug called the Asian citrus psyllid. Infected trees develop mottled leaves, produce deformed fruit and eventually die.

Colorado

Denver: Two affiliated organizations with ties to hospitals and insurance companies have launched a six-figure public relations ad blitz against the creation of a “public” health insurance option in the state. The campaign began in December and comes ahead of the 2020 legislative session, which begins next week and is expected to feature an intense battle over how and whether to create the public option, the Colorado Sun reports. The so-called public option, as proposed by Gov. Jared Polis’ administration, would actually be run by private insurance companies that would offer plans with government oversight. The plans would be available at first only to people who buy coverage on their own, without help from an employer. But Polis administration officials have said they hope to expand the public option to small employers within a couple of years.

Connecticut

Hartford: The state’s Department of Consumer Protection is urging consumers to do their homework before signing a contract with a gym or health club. Commissioner Michelle Seagull says better health is often a New Year’s resolution, and there tends to be a spike in new gym and health club memberships in January. “But sometimes the excitement of working out wears off after a few months, and consumers are stuck in health club contracts that they just don’t use,” she says. “That’s why we’re encouraging consumers to do their homework and to be smart before making a commitment.” Connecticut law requires health clubs to have contracts in writing. The consumer protection department urges consumers to read them closely and know how much they will pay, when the bill will come in and what the cancellation policy will be. The department also recommends reading online reviews, talking to current customers and visiting the club in person.

Delaware

Middletown: The 2020 Hummers Parade went off without a hitch Wednesday following last year’s controversy, though parade watchers said it was not as good as past years and had far fewer marchers. Accompanying this year’s parade was a group of more than 50 protesters holding signs decrying racism. Hundreds more lined the streets to watch the annual parade that drew national scrutiny last year for a float depicting kids in cages that many deemed offensive. The loosely organized parade is a spoof of the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia, and floats often satire top news stories of the past year. The parade was led by unofficial Grand Marshal Jack Schreppler, who held an original American flag with 13 stars. About a dozen and a half small groups and a few lone individuals paraded through downtown Middletown on New Year’s Day. The most popular topic depicted this year was the Delabear from earlier this winter.

District of Columbia

Washington: An apparently intoxicated man fell onto the tracks of a Metro station, causing some of the first delays of the new year, according to authorities. The man fell early Wednesday morning and was taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, news outlets report. The fall is being investigated as an accident, according to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority statement that says the man appeared to be “under the influence.” The man’s identity wasn’t immediately released.

Florida

Deland: Fifteen cars were shot at while driving along Interstate 4 and Interstate 95 in Central Florida, authorities said Thursday. No injuries were reported, and the damage from the Wednesday shootings appears to have been caused by a BB or pellet gun, according a statement by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicles hit in the shootings were near Deltona, DeLand and Daytona Beach, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. Witness accounts of the suspect vehicle vary. An investigation was ongoing.

Georgia

Brunswick: The state’s waters are closing to shrimp fishing Jan. 15, but whelk season opens the next day. The annual shrimp fishery closure aims to allow shrimp to reproduce in large enough amounts and grow to large enough size to hopefully provide for a good shrimp harvest in the coming year, The News reports. The shrimp fishery tends to reopen in late May or early June, depending on conditions at the time. Meanwhile, the state’s whelk season is to open at 7 a.m. Jan. 16 and run through 8:15 p.m. March 31. Regulatory requirements for whelk trawls include the use of minimum 4-inch stretch mesh trawl gear and a certified turtle excluder device. Fishermen also need a state commercial fishing license with a whelk endorsement.

Hawaii

Honolulu: Hawaiian Telcom painted over an unauthorized mural on one of its buildings by renowned marine artist Robert Wyland. The artist acknowledged he did not have permission to spray-paint the Maui building, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. The life-size image stretching 65 feet depicted a female humpback whale. Wyland said he apologized and hoped Hawaiian Telcom would not paint over the mural he created during work over two days. “I apologize for not running it up the food chain,” he said Monday. “I’m so passionate. I swear to God I don’t think about those things. I kind of painted it and look for forgiveness later.” Hawaiian Telcom never received a direct apology from Wyland, the company said.

Idaho

Carey: State land management officials have secured a conservation land use easement on the Cenarrusa Ranch ensuring the land in that area is not developed. The Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy in Idaho finalized the easement in the Pioneer Mountain foothills near Carey after years of discussion, The Times-News reports. The easement ensures protection of about 13 square miles of land including sage grouse habitat and migration corridors for wildlife, officials said. One of the longest pronghorn migrations in the west, a 160-mile journey crosses the ranch and includes grouse breeding grounds, land officials said. The easement is also expected to bring new recreation opportunities including more than 3 miles of access routes, officials said. “It’s the kind of place that makes Idaho Idaho,” Nature Conservancy Conservation Manager Tess O’Sullivan said.

Illinois

Chicago: The city seems to have closed out 2019 with a drop in the number of homicides for the third consecutive year, police say. Preliminary numbers Tuesday showed there had been 490 homicides in 2019, making it the first time the yearly number has dipped below 500 since 2015, when it was 491. The number of homicides in 2019 dropped 13% compared to 2018, when there were 565 homicides, according to police statistics. The declines happened across the city, including in historically high-crime areas. Police have credited the city’s dip in crime to the use of technology used to predict where shootings might occur, while experts also credited anti-violence programs that offer jobs and gang conflict mediation.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The city is a bombed-out disaster area in an upcoming G.I. Joe comic book. Being depicted as a war zone is less than flattering, but writer Paul Allor isn’t picking on the city. He lives here, and the story presents Indianapolis as putting up a fight against the bad guys of Cobra – long-running nemesis of the G.I. Joe team. Unfortunately, Cobra rules the world in Allor’s story. The organization has no problem making a cautionary example of Indianapolis. “Cobra essentially wipes the city off the map,” Allor said. What’s left? Downtown’s Soldiers and Sailors Monument, at least, is seen on the cover of “G.I. Joe” No. 5, scheduled to arrive in stores Jan. 8. And a survivalist biker gang, the Dreadnoks, is hanging out at the Indianapolis Art Center. Broad Ripple resident Allor also incorporates a reference to Guilford Avenue’s multicolored “rainbow” bridge.

Iowa

Fruitland: A service club intends to build a memorial for veterans in this Muscatine County community. The Fruitland Community Lions Club wants to place it near Fruitland Community Center instead of at a cemetery. A club committee decided the location near the center would allow more people to see it and would deter vandals, the Muscatine Journal reports. The committee worked with Louisa-Muscatine High School art students to devise a manageable and affordable design. It will have black granite walls with seating, a flag and lighting. Each veteran will have two lines on the wall, enough room to list names and service information, for $100. The memorial can fit 400 names. “We don’t want to leave someone off just because there’s no room. We’ll find room – we’ll buy more granite if we have to,” says Janina Hawley, the committee chairwoman.

Kansas

Wichita: The state has been able to reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions for a 10th straight year largely due to the rapid adoption of wind energy and a slow move away from coal-powered electricity. About 36% of all electricity produced in Kansas is from wind, the highest percentage of any U.S. state, the Kansas News Service reports. In 2019 alone, Kansas saw four new wind farms, adding enough capacity to power 190,000 homes for a year. In 2017, about half of Kansas’ total carbon-dioxide emissions came from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and natural gas, to create electricity. Plant upgrades and federal environmental regulations since have forced coal plants to clean up what was coming out of their smoke stacks. Carbon-dioxide emissions contribute to global warming.

Kentucky

Ashland: The city is hosting a dedication ceremony for several new statues, including two of Roman deities. Ashland’s Friday festivities will include a lighting ceremony, catered food, live music and a presentation by the artist, Gines Serran-Pagan, The Independent reports. The bronzed clay and fiberglass statues of Venus, Vulcan and the concept of Genesis were commissioned by an anonymous donor who hoped to memorialize three distinct parts of their hometown, according to the newspaper. “I am so grateful that Serran-Pagan’s magnificent statues will be part of Ashland’s riverfront landscape,” city manager Mike Graese said. “The generosity of the donor is, in my opinion, reflective of Ashland’s giving spirit. Mayor Steve Gilmore said he’s confident the statues will draw tourists from all over.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Authorities announced Thursday that a man has been arrested in connection with the deaths of three homeless people. Jeremy Anderson, 29, was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul told news outlets at a press conference. Paul said evidence found inside Anderson’s home helped link him to the murders. The first two killings happened Dec. 13 when Christina Fowler, 53, and Gregory Corcoran, 40, were found fatally shot underneath an overpass, huddled in blankets beside an empty shopping cart. On Dec. 27, investigators discovered 50-year-old Tony Williams shot to death on the porch of a vacant home about two blocks away from where Fowler and Corcoran were found. Paul said Anderson lives two blocks away from where both shootings occurred.

Maine

Freeport: Coastal Maine has a lot of seaweed and a fair number of cows. A group of scientists and farmers think that pairing the two could help unlock a way to cope with a warming world. The researchers – from a marine science lab, an agriculture center and universities in northern New England – are working on a plan to feed seaweed to cows to gauge whether that can help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. About a quarter of the methane in the country comes from cattle, which produce the gas when they belch or flatulate. The concept of feeding seaweed to cows has gained traction in recent years because of some studies that have shown its potential to cut back on methane. One of the big questions is which kinds of seaweed offer the highest benefit to farmers looking to cut methane, says Nichole Price, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, Maine, and the project’s leader.

Maryland

Annapolis: The governor has indicated he’ll continue to allow refugees into the state. The Capital Gazette reports Gov. Larry Hogan’s office released a letter Wednesday that was sent to the Trump administration. The letter said the state would continue to accept properly vetted refugees. The White House had set a Jan. 21 deadline for states and cities to decide whether they would continue to allow refugees to settle within their jurisdictions. “We are willing to accept refugees who the federal government has determined are properly and legally seeking refugee status and have been adequately vetted,” Hogan wrote in his letter. “This, as you know, is different from any kind of ‘sanctuary status’ for those in the United States unlawfully.” Maryland has accepted nearly 10,000 refugees under Hogan’s leadership since 2016. But the Republican was among 31 governors who wanted to refuse Syrian refugees in 2015 out of fear of terrorism.

Massachusetts

Boston: The state is extending its electric vehicle rebate program. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced the rebates were being extended Wednesday to last through at least Dec. 31, 2021, and the administration will make at least $27 million available per year in 2020 and 2021. The program was phased out from Sept. 30 through Tuesday because a rapid growth in applications caused a lack of funding, Baker and Polito said, but the funding plan they proposed for an extension was largely adopted in a recent supplemental budget. Since 2014, the state has allocated more than $31 million for the effort, to incentivize the purchase of more than 15,000 electric vehicles and reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 39,000 metric tons annually, Baker and Polito said.

Michigan

Delta Township: The community has solved an olfactory mystery that could be dubbed “The Case of the Rancid Radishes.” Residents called officials in Delta Township last month, concerned about a smell they thought might be natural gas or sewer leaks. Township Manager Brian Reed and his staff got to the, well, root of the problem: rotting radishes in nearby farm fields. To be more precise, it was the unseemly smell of decomposing daikon radishes, a Japanese root vegetable. They had been planted in fields in the township and surrounding areas as a cover crop after a wet spring. The radish variety is among those recommended by natural resources officials to plant during such periods – not to harvest but to decompose in a bid to nourish the soil, aerate it and prevent erosion. Decompose they did, and when temperatures rose in December the scent permeated the air. The stench should subside with consistently colder weather.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: State Attorney General Keith Ellison on Thursday called for the Minnesota Board of Public Defense to examine the process that led to the suspension of Hennepin County’s chief public defender, saying he believes Mary Moriarty was targeted for speaking out against racial bias in the criminal justice system. Separately, law clerks and lawyers in Moriarty’s office wrote to the board in her defense, praising her leadership and commitment to clients and calling for her reinstatement. And dozens of public defenders and public interest attorneys outside Minnesota signed onto a letter objecting to her suspension. Moriarty, appointed in 2014, was put on paid leave last week. She said officials expressed concerns about her management style, what they called inflexibility with other criminal justice officials and confrontations on the issue of racial inequality. They also questioned a series of tweets about historic lynchings in the Deep South, she said.

Mississippi

Hattiesburg: The Hattiesburg Cultural Center hosted a jazz brunch Wednesday in honor of Jeanette Smith, a prominent leader in the city’s civil rights movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s, WDAM-TV reports. She was 78 years old when she died in Atlanta in 2018. Her late husband, Dr. C.E. Smith, also was instrumental in Hattiesburg’s civil rights movement. Both of them served as the president of the Forrest County NAACP, which they joined in 1959. The center plans on hosting the brunch again next year to honor those who have made a difference for the civil rights organization, according to the station.

Missouri

Jefferson City: The state’s levees need to be strengthened and repaired, especially in rural areas hit hard by prolonged flooding in 2019, according to an advisory group appointed by Gov. Mike Parson. St. Louis Public Radio reports the Flood Recovery Advisory Working Group on Tuesday released its report on ways to address flooding in the state and improve flood recovery. Parson signed an executive order in July creating the 24-member advisory group. Record flooding early last year and in the summer overtopped and breached dozens of levees along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Some parts of western Missouri experienced flooding for up to seven months. Rebuilding in flood-prone areas has led to repeated damage, said Dru Buntin, deputy director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Montana

Helena: Wildlife officials have opened the permit lottery for non-motorized watercraft on the Smith River in central Montana. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks annually awards floating permits to groups of up to 15 people to access a 59-mile section of the Smith River east of Helena. Applications must be submitted by Feb. 13 with a $10 non-refundable fee. The permit drawing is scheduled for March 2, officials said. The state regulates the river to combat overcrowding and allow users to take quality, multiday floats, park officials said. About 10,070 people applied for private floating permits last year, and about 1,300 were awarded, officials said. People can also buy a chance to win a super permit for $5 until March 12, officials said. That permit allows floaters to pick any day they want to take the river trip, park officials said. The entire float trip usually takes about four days and begins near White Sulphur Springs, officials said.

Nebraska

Brownville: Federal inspectors plan to review how well a nuclear power plant handled a water service safety problem blamed on a silt buildup from the Missouri River, which overwhelmed or broke through levees last spring. The Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville was operating on full power Dec. 6 when employees detected that water wasn’t flowing through a pipe connected to one of the plant’s two safety generators, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a news release Thursday. The generators weren’t running because they are designed to kick in and provide power for the plant’s cooling systems only when all five lines that power the plant are knocked out. If needed, the other generator was available, the NRC said. The plant generated power throughout the problem.

Nevada

Carson City: The state Supreme Court has ruled that workers’ compensation rates for injured inmates are set at inmate pay rates instead of the minimum wage. Inmate Darrell White was assigned to the Forestry Division when he suffered a finger injury that left him temporarily disabled for 144 days in 2016, the Nevada Appeal reports. White filed for workers’ compensation disability benefits at the minimum wage set in the state Constitution after his release, but an appeals officer ruled that state law sets the amount of compensation at the average monthly wage the prisoner actually received when the injury occurred, officials said. White argued his compensation should be set at the constitutionally guaranteed $7.25 an hour. Court officials argued compensation should be about 50 cents a day, or $22.93 each month, based on what he was actually being paid.

New Hampshire

Dover: The City Hall clock tower, which officials say has lost its sheen and is sorely in need of a significant cosmetic overhaul, will be getting a full facelift ahead of the city’s 400th birthday celebration in 2023. City Manager Mike Joyal says the 80-foot tower needs a lot of work to get it in show-worthy condition for the city’s big birthday bash, the bulk of which will be celebrated during a 10-day schedule ahead of July 4, 2023. The historic bell atop the tower was rung July 4, 1976, to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial, according to city records. After that, Joyal says, as far as he has been able to determine, the last time the bell was rung was Sept. 11, 2001. The significance of the bell to Dover’s history makes it a must for ringing on the city’s 400th birthday, according to Mayor-elect Robert Carrier.

New Jersey

Howell: A man who set off fireworks near a movie theater as his friend made a marriage proposal created panic among moviegoers who mistook the fireworks for gunshots, leading to 911 calls and an evacuation, authorities said. Howell Township police responded to the Xscape Theater about 6 p.m. Wednesday and soon learned the theater manager had confronted a man who had lighted fireworks outside another business near the theater, authorities said. The remnants of the fireworks were located, and it was determined that no shots had been fired. A 23-year-old Lakewood man told police he had set off the fireworks as part of his friend’s marriage proposal at the other business. While noting there was no intent to cause panic at the theater, a post on the Howell police Facebook page stated that “obviously this was a very poor decision rather than an overt act.”

New Mexico

Santa Fe: A newly forged steel instrument that can pinpoint the path of stars and planets across the night sky using the naked eye is a throwback to the years just before the advent of telescopes, returning stargazers in the hills of northern New Mexico to the essentials of astronomy in the past. Installed at St. John’s College by graduates, the device is a remake of long-lost originals devised by Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the late 16th century to chart the location of stars and the orbits of planets. It consists of four interlocking rings – forged of precision steel and aligned with the north star and equator – combined with a sliding viewfinder that is moved by hand to measure angles between the any celestial object, the horizon and the equator. Lengthy, painstaking measurements from such an instrument in the late-1500s allowed Johannes Kepler to show that Mars revolved in an elliptical orbit around the sun.

New York

Victor: The top Republican in the State Assembly was charged New Year’s Eve with driving while intoxicated in his state-issued vehicle, just a week after he wrote a newspaper column warning citizens against getting behind the wheel drunk. Brian M. Kolb, a Republican from Canandaigua who represents a district just outside Rochester, was arrested near his home after what he called a “lapse in judgement.” Authorities said they were called to a crash in Victor just before 10:30 p.m. after a vehicle ran into a ditch. Kolb was found to be the driver of the 2018 GMC Acadia that crashed in front of his home. An Ontario County sheriff’s deputy administered field sobriety tests, which Kolb failed, before taking him to jail. While there, authorities said a breath test indicated Kolb’s blood-alcohol content was over 0.08%, the legal limit for driving in New York.

North Carolina

Raleigh: The state says it has secured an agreement with Duke Energy to excavate nearly 80 million tons of coal ash at six facilities. The Department of Environmental Quality said in a Thursday press release that it will be the largest coal ash cleanup in the nation’s history. It also settles various legal disputes between Duke and parties that include environmental and community groups. For decades, coal ash has been stored in landfills or in ponds, often near waterways into which toxins can leach. Duke Energy will remove coal ash from the Allen, Belews Creek, Cliffside, Marshall, Mayo and Roxboro sites into on-site lined landfills. “This agreement is a historic cleanup of coal ash pollution in North Carolina,” said Frank Holleman, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.

North Dakota

Mandan: Authorities say an ice jam along the Missouri River near Mandan is causing water to rise, threatening property along the shoreline. Morton County officials say water in the Square Butte Creek area along Willow Road and Rosy Lane has risen approximately 18 inches since Tuesday. Commission Chairman Bruce Strinden toured the area Sunday afternoon. He says residents may want to move items from low areas. Authorities say they are working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold back on increased releases at Garrison Dam until the ice jam issue has been resolved. The Corps had increased discharges from the dam earlier in the week and planned another increase Thursday.

Ohio

Cleveland: A ban on single-use plastic bags took effect Wednesday in Cuyahoga County, though the ban won’t be enforced with fines until July 1. Despite the long roll-out, most Giant Eagle grocery stores in the county eliminated the bags beginning New Year’s Day, Fox 8-TV reports. The company will have reusable bags for purchase, and customers will receive fuel perks for every reusable bag used. A few suburbs opted out of the ban, and Cleveland also opted out until July 1 to give a working group time to study the impact of reducing plastic bags on businesses. Some state lawmakers and business groups say such local bans make it harder for grocers and other businesses to operate, and proposed bills would prohibit local governments from forbidding the use of plastic bags. But Gov. Mike DeWine opposes those efforts, saying it would be a mistake for state lawmakers to override local government decisions.

Oklahoma

Sand Springs: A man stole a pickup truck with a sleeping passenger and a goat inside it and drove it all the way from Missouri to Oklahoma before releasing the terrified victim and animal and eventually being arrested, authorities say. According to an arrest report, two men in the truck parked outside an adult video store in Carthage, Missouri, early Wednesday morning. The driver went inside the store, and the passenger fell asleep. When the passenger awoke, a masked man was driving the truck and pointing a gun at his head, Tulsa TV station KOTV reports. The carjacking suspect, 40-year-old Brandon Kirby, drove from Missouri through Kansas. During the 130-mile ordeal, Kirby took methamphetamine, pistol-whipped the victim and continually threatened him, according to the arrest report. The Sand Springs Police Department said on Facebook: “OK 2020, it only took you 4.5 hours to get weird. Let’s slow down on the carjacking-goatnapping calls for the remainder of the year.”

Oregon

Salem: The number of nonaffiliated voters in the state has increased by nearly 60,000 since the beginning of this year, according to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office. As of last month, there were 951,908 nonaffiliated voters in Oregon – an increase of almost 7% since January 2019. The increase of nonaffiliated voters is largely due to the state’s “motor voter” law, passed in 2016, which automatically registers eligible Oregonians as nonaffiliated voters when they register with the Oregon DMV. “There are at least 300,000 new registrants since 2016 because of OMV (the Oregon Motor Voter Act),” says Paul Gronke, a political science professor at Reed College and political director of DHM Research. “And 80% or more of these did not respond to a postcard allowing them to affiliate.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The butter sculpture for this year’s Pennsylvania Farm Show was unveiled Thursday, featuring three of the state’s professional sports team mascots. This year’s sculpture, crafted from about 1,000 pounds of donated butter, shows Gritty, Swoop and Steely McBeam, mascots for the Philadelphia Flyers and Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Farm Show in Harrisburg, which calls itself the country’s largest indoor agricultural event, includes 12,000 competitive exhibits and draws about 500,000 attendees every year. It runs from Saturday through Jan. 11. Admission is free, but parking in Farm Show Complex lots is not. After the show ends, the butter sculpture will be taken to a farm in Juniata County to be converted into energy through a methane digester. New to the show this year are hard cider sales, an expanded rabbit competition and a waterfowl habitat with live ducks in the poultry area. There also will be a demonstration by people with bows riding horses.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state’s residents must now have health insurance or face a penalty on their taxes. The taxation division released a list of tax changes taking effect Wednesday, including the new health insurance mandate. Residents who do not have minimum essential coverage in 2020 and do not qualify for an exemption will face a penalty next year when filing a state tax return for 2020. A federal appeals court ruling this month in New Orleans struck down the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that people have health insurance, leaving President Barack Obama’s signature health care law in legal limbo. Rhode Island’s General Assembly passed legislation that was signed by the governor to enact the requirement and penalty in the state, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2020.

South Carolina

Charleston: The state’s Department of Natural Resources is calling for citizens to recycle used oyster shells and discarded Christmas trees through programs aimed at boosting estuary health and promoting growth of marine life. The state is continuing to expand its oyster recycling and restoration program, where South Carolinians and restaurants can drop off used oyster shells, especially after events such as oyster bakes and holiday parties, The Post and Courier reports. The recycled shells are reintroduced to local waters, where they provide a surface for new oysters to grow, natural resources officials say. Live oysters then filter water, protect against erosion, and attract fish and other sea creatures to their reefs. The state’s Coastal Conservation Association and Natural Resources Department collectively donated more than $100,000 in equipment to pick up and transport the shells, the newspaper reports.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: South Dakota’s minimum wage is increasing slightly with the the start of the new year. The state’s minimum wage is now $9.30 per hour – an increase of 20 cents from 2019. Workers who receive tips are seeing their minimum wage rise to $4.65 per hour. The increases are part of a voter-approved measure in 2014 to raise the minimum wage, which was $7.25 an hour at the time, to $8.50 an hour. KELO-TV reports the minimum wage will continue to increase at the rate of the cost of living measured in the consumer price index. The state’s minimum wage was below $4 until 1992. The $7.25 minimum wage was set in 2010.

Tennessee

Memphis: Elvis Presley’s Graceland is planning an auction of artifacts to be held during the late entertainer’s 85th birthday celebration Jan. 8. All the items up for auction Wednesday come from third-party collectors but have been thoroughly researched and certified by Graceland Authenticated, according to a news release from Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. The mansion and all artifacts in the Graceland Archives continue to be owned by Lisa Marie Presley and are not for sale. The 288 artifacts include a golf cart, clothing, jewelry, autographs, concert memorabilia and Hollywood items. In addition, several Graceland experiences will be auctioned, with the proceeds benefiting the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation. Items to be included in the auction were announced Monday along with registration information. The catalog is available at Graceland’s official online store.

Texas

Dallas: A judge on Thursday sided with a hospital that plans to remove an 11-month-old girl from life support after her mother disagreed with the decision by doctors who say that the infant is in pain and that her condition will never improve. Trinity Lewis had asked Judge Sandee Bryan Marion to issue an injunction in Tarrant County district court to ensure that Cook Children’s Medical Center doesn’t end her daughter Tinslee Lewis’ life-sustaining treatment. Texas Right to Life, an anti-abortion group that opposes the “10-day rule” and has been advocating for Tinslee, said the girl’s mother will appeal the judge’s decision. Doctors at the Fort Worth hospital had planned to remove Tinslee from life support Nov. 10 after invoking Texas’ “10-day rule,” which can be employed when a family disagrees with doctors who say life-sustaining treatment should be stopped.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Operators of a copper mine have announced plans to extend operations by using an experimental method of extraction they say is safe despite concerns about potential groundwater contamination. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that officials with the Lisbon Valley Mine are seeking permits for an acid-based extraction method that involves pumping diluted sulfuric acid underground in San Juan County northeast of Monticello. The new process could extend the mine’s lifespan for at least another 25 years, officials said. Environmentalists have raised concerns about long-term water contamination for nearby residents reliant on groundwater for drinking and livestock. The Lisbon Valley Mining Company has managed the mine since 2008 when its former owner declared bankruptcy three years after opening, officials said.

Vermont

St. Albans: The Vermont attorney general’s office sued the state’s largest dairy operation Thursday, alleging the farm built a 90,000-square-foot barn addition and a 10 million-gallon manure pit without the required permissions. Attorney General T.J. Donovan said the expansion of the Lumbra Farm in Berkshire between 2016 and 2017 qualified as a large farm operation under state regulations, but it was done without the required permits and planning input from the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets and state environmental officials. Donovan did not allege that the additions to the farm contributed to the water pollution woes that have plagued the state, but because the expansions were done without the needed permits, there was no way to determine if water qualify was affected. Vermont has been struggling for years to improve water quality in Lake Champlain. Agricultural pollution is considered one of the largest sources of that pollution.

Virginia

Richmond: The state has executed nearly 1,400 people in its 412-year history – more than any other in the nation. But as a new Democratic majority prepares to begin the legislative session, some see an opportunity to end executions in Virginia. A bill to abolish the death penalty has been filed by Del. Lee Carter, a Democrat from Manassas, and several additional bills are expected. The push is backed by Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, along with some powerful voices: loved ones of murder victims. Thirteen family members sent a letter to the General Assembly in November asking lawmakers to abolish the death penalty. No death sentences have been imposed in the state since 2011, and only three people remain on Virginia’s death row. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, the state is second only to Texas in number of executions, at 113.

Washington

Yakima: The state’s snowpack is less than a year ago, and officials say it’s similar to the start of 2015, the state’s last big drought. The Capital Press reports the statewide snowpack is 47% of normal. It was 46% of normal at this time five years ago. “It’s very reminiscent of 2015, but this year we are way behind on mountain precipitation,” says Scott Pattee, state water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Mount Vernon. “It’s worrisome. It’s the third-slowest start in snow accumulation statewide since the 1990s, and we had one of the driest Novembers on record.” The biggest concern is that the five mountain reservoirs serving the Yakima Basin are significantly behind in recharging, and 130% to 135% of normal snowfall is now needed in the Upper Yakima to get it back to normal by April 1, Pattee says.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice on Thursday tapped the director of a General Motors dealership to lead the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles. Everett Frazier, who has worked in the auto industry for more than three decades, will start as DMV commissioner Monday, according to a news release from the Republican governor. “My goal is to treat everyone who comes through the door of the DMV as a guest,” Frazier said. “I am looking forward to being part of a team that will maximize the use of technology to make the DMV more efficient and customer-friendly.” Justice said Frazier’s experience in the auto business includes 25 years of managerial positions, most recently as the director of operations at the Thornhill GM Superstore in Logan County. Frazier has also resigned as a member on the state’s pharmacy board to assume the new DMV role.

Wisconsin

Madison: A conservative law firm on Thursday asked a judge to find the Wisconsin Elections Commission in contempt and impose $12,000 a day in fines until it immediately purges more than 200,000 voters from the rolls, a move Democrats are fighting in the key battleground state. A judge last month ordered the purge of voters who may have moved and didn’t respond within 30 days to notification sent by the elections commission in October. The bipartisan commission has deadlocked twice on attempts by Republicans to do the purge immediately while an appeal to the court order is pending. Rick Esenberg, leader of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty that brought the lawsuit, said the commission must purge the voters now. The judge in December ruled that the commission was breaking state law by not removing voters who did not respond to the October mailing asking that they confirm their address.

Wyoming

Casper: The state’s population increased slightly in the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019 after three years of decline. Census figures released this week show Wyoming’s population grew by 1,158 between July 2018 and July 2019. The state’s total population of 578,880 remained below a peak of 586,000 in 2015. The Casper Star-Tribune reports the latest numbers were recorded before a coal company’s bankruptcy in 2019 furloughed hundreds of workers at two major coal mines for four months. Hard times in the coal, oil and natural gas industries caused many people to leave Wyoming starting in 2015. State economist Wenlin Liu says growth in the energy and construction industries accounted for Wyoming’s recent population increase. Liu says Wyoming’s that recovery now shows signs of slowing, with recent lower job growth and rising unemployment. Wyoming remains the least-populated state in the U.S.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

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