#tyler austin harper

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Tyler Austin Harper

Published: Aug 14, 2023

The hotel was soulless, like all conference hotels. I had arrived a few hours before check-in, hoping to drop off my bags before I met a friend for lunch. The employees were clearly frazzled, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of several hundred impatient academics. When I asked where I could put my luggage, the guy at the front desk simply pointed to a nearby hallway. “Wait over there with her; he’s coming back.”

Who “he” was remained unclear, but I saw the woman he was referring to. She was white and about my age. She had a conference badge and a large suitcase that she was rolling back and forth in obvious exasperation. “Been waiting long?” I asked, taking up a position on the other side of the narrow hallway. “Very,” she replied. For a while, we stood in silence, minding our phones. Eventually, we began chatting.

The conversation was wide-ranging: the papers we were presenting, the bad A/V at the hotel, our favorite things to do in the city. At some point, we began talking about our jobs. She told me that—like so many academics—she was juggling a temporary teaching gig while also looking for a tenure-track position.

“It’s hard,” she said, “too many classes, too many students, too many papers to grade. No time for your own work. Barely any time to apply to real jobs.”

When I nodded sympathetically, she asked about my job and whether it was tenure-track. I admitted, a little sheepishly, that it was.

“I’d love to teach at a small college like that,” she said. “I feel like none of my students wants to learn. It’s exhausting.”

Then, out of nowhere, she said something that caught me completely off guard: “But I shouldn’t be complaining to you about this. I know how hard BIPOC faculty have it. You’re the last person I should be whining to.”

I was taken aback, but I shouldn’t have been. It was the kind of awkward comment I’ve grown used to over the past few years, as “anti-racism” has become the reigning ideology of progressive political culture. Until recently, calling attention to a stranger’s race in such a way would have been considered a social faux pas. That she made the remark without thinking twice—a remark, it should be noted, that assumes being a Black tenure-track professor is worse than being a marginally employed white one—shows how profoundly interracial social etiquette has changed since 2020’s “summer of racial reckoning.” That’s when anti-racism—focused on combating “color-blindness” in both policy and personal conduct—grabbed ahold of the liberal mainstream.

Though this “reckoning” brought increased public attention to the deep embeddedness of racism in supposedly color-blind American institutions, it also made instant celebrities of a number of race experts and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) consultants who believe that being anti-racist means undergoing a “journey” of radical personal transformation. In their righteous crusade against the bad color-blindness of policies such as race-neutral college admissions, these contemporary anti-racists have also jettisoned the kind of good color-blindness that holds that we are more than our race, and that we should conduct our social life according to that idealized principle. Rather than balance a critique of color-blind law and policy with a continuing embrace of interpersonal color-blindness as a social etiquette, contemporary anti-racists throw the baby out with the bathwater. In place of the old color-blind ideal, they have foisted upon well-meaning white liberals a successor social etiquette predicated on the necessity of foregrounding racial difference rather than minimizing it.

As a Black guy who grew up in a politically purple area—where being a good person meant adhering to the kind of civil-rights-era color-blindness that is now passé—I find this emergent anti-racist culture jarring. Many of my liberal friends and acquaintances now seem to believe that being a good person means constantly reminding Black people that you are aware of their Blackness. Difference, no longer to be politely ignored, is insisted upon at all times under the guise of acknowledging “positionality.” Though I am rarely made to feel excessively aware of my race when hanging out with more conservative friends or visiting my hometown, in the more liberal social circles in which I typically travel, my race is constantly invoked—“acknowledged” and “centered”—by well-intentioned anti-racist “allies.”

This “acknowledgement” tends to take one of two forms. The first is the song and dance in which white people not-so-subtly let you know that they know that race and racism exist. This includes finding ways to interject discussion of some (bad) news item about race or racism into casual conversation, apologizing for having problems while white (“You’re the last person I should be whining to”), or inversely, offering “support” by attributing any normal human problem you have to racism.

The second way good white liberals often “center” racial difference in everyday interactions with minorities is by trying, always clumsily, to ensure that their “marginalized” friends and familiars are “culturally” comfortable. My favorite personal experiences of this include an acquaintance who invariably steers dinner or lunch meetups to Black-owned restaurants, and the time that a friend of a friend invited me over to go swimming in their pool before apologizing for assuming that I know how to swim (“I know that’s a culturally specific thing”). It is a peculiar quirk of the 2020s’ racial discourse that this kind of “acknowledgement” and “centering” is viewed as progress.

My point is not that conservatives have better racial politics—they do not—but rather that something about current progressive racial discourse has become warped and distorted. The anti-racist culture that is ascendant seems to me to have little to do with combatting structural racism or cultivating better relationships between white and Black Americans. And its rejection of color-blindness as a social ethos is not a new frontier of radical political action.

No, at the core of today’s anti-racism is little more than a vibe shift—a soft matrix of conciliatory gestures and hip phraseology that give adherents the feeling that there has been a cultural change, when in fact we have merely put carpet over the rotting floorboards. Although this push to center rather than sidestep racial difference in our interpersonal relationships comes from a good place, it tends to rest on a troubling, even racist subtext: that white and Black Americans are so radically different that interracial relationships require careful management, constant eggshell-walking, and even expert guidance from professional anti-racists. Rather than producing racial harmony, this new ethos frequently has the opposite effect, making white-Black interactions stressful, unpleasant, or, perhaps most often, simply weird.

Since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, progressive anti-racism has centered on two concepts that helped Americans make sense of his senseless death: “structural racism” and “implicit bias.” The first of these is a sociopolitical concept that highlights how certain institutions—maternity wards, police barracks, lending companies, housing authorities, etc.—produce and replicate racial inequalities, such as the disproportionate killing of Black men by the cops. The second is a psychologicalconcept that describes the way that all individuals—from bleeding-heart liberals to murderers such as Derek Chauvin—harbor varying degrees of subconscious racial prejudice.

Though “structural racism” and “implicit bias” target different scales of the social order—institutions on the one hand, individuals on the other—underlying both of these ideas is a critique of so-called color-blind ideology, or what the sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva calls “color-blind racism”: the idea that policies, interactions, and rhetoric can be explicitly race-neutral but implicitly racist. As concepts, both “structural racism” and “implicit bias” rest on the presupposition that racism is an enduring feature of institutional and social life, and that so-called race neutrality is a covertly racist myth that perpetuates inequality. Some anti-racist scholars such as Uma Mazyck Jayakumar and Ibram X. Kendi have put this even more bluntly: “‘Race neutral’ is the new “separate but equal.’” Yet, although anti-racist academics and activists are right to argue that race-neutral policies can’t solve racial inequities—that supposedly color-blind laws and policies are often anything but—over the past few years, this line of criticism has also been bizarrely extended to color-blindness as a personal ethos governing behavior at the individual level.

The most famous proponent of dismantling color-blindness in everyday interactions is Robin DiAngelo, who has made an entire (very condescending) career out of asserting that if white people are not uncomfortable, anti-racism is not happening. “White comfort maintains the racial status quo, so discomfort is necessary and important,” the corporate anti-racist guru advises. Over the past three years, this kind of anti-color-blind, pro-discomfort rhetoric has become the norm in anti-racist discourse. On the final day of the 28-day challenge in Layla Saad’s viral Me and White Supremacy, budding anti-racists are tasked with taking “out-of-your-comfort-zone actions,” such as apologizing to people of color in their life and having “uncomfortable conversations.” Frederick Joseph’s best-selling book The Black Friend takes a similar tack. The problem with color-blindness, Joseph counsels, is it allows “white people to continue to be comfortable.” The NFL analyst Emmanuel Acho wrote an entire book, simply called Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, that admonishes readers to “stop celebrating color-blindness.” And, of course, there are endless how-to guides for having these “uncomfortable conversations” with your Black friends.

Once the dominant progressive ideology, professing “I don’t see color” is now viewed as a kind of dog whistle that papers over implicit bias. Instead, current anti-racist wisdom holds that we must acknowledge racial difference in our interactions with others, rather than assume that race needn’t be at the center of every interracial conversation or encounter. Coming to grips with the transition we have undergone over the past decade—color-blind etiquette’s swing from de rigueur to racist—requires a longer view of an American cultural transition. Civil-rights-era color-blindness was replaced with an individualistic, corporatized anti-racism, one focused on the purification of white psyches through racial discomfort, guilt, and “doing the work” as a road to self-improvement.

Writing in 1959, the social critic Philip Rieff argued that postwar America was transforming from a religious and economic culture—one oriented around common institutions such as the church and the market—to a psychological culture, one oriented around the self and its emotional fulfillment. By the 1960s, Rieff had given this shift a name: “the triumph of the therapeutic,” which he defined as an emergent worldview according to which the “self, improved, is the ultimate concern of modern culture.” Yet, even as he diagnosed our culture with self-obsession, Rieff also noticed something peculiar and even paradoxical. Therapeutic culture demanded that we reflect our self-actualization outward. Sharing our innermost selves with the world—good, bad, and ugly—became a new social mandate under the guise that authenticity and open self-expression are necessary for social cohesion.

Recent anti-racist mantras like “White silence is violence” reflect this same sentiment: exhibitionist displays of “racist” guilt are viewed as a necessary precursor to racial healing and community building. In this way, today’s attacks on interpersonal color-blindness—and progressives’ growing fixation on implicit bias, public confession, and race-conscious social etiquette—are only the most recent manifestations of the cultural shift Rieff described. Indeed, the seeds of the current backlash against color-blindness began decades ago, with the application of a New Age, therapeutic outlook to race relations: so-called racial-sensitivity training, the forefather of today’s equally spurious DEI programming.

In her 2001 book, Race Experts, the historian Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn painstakingly details how racial-sensitivity training emerged from the 1960s’ human-potential movement and its infamous “encounter groups.” As she explains, what began as a more or less countercultural phenomenon was later corporatized in the form of the anemic, pointless workshops controversially lampooned on The Office. Not surprisingly, this shift reflected the ebb and flow of corporate interests: Whereas early workplace training emphasized compliance with the newly minted Civil Rights Act of 1964, later incarnations would focus on improving employee relations and, later still, leveraging diversity to secure better business outcomes.

If there is something distinctive about the anti-color-blind racial etiquette that has emerged since George Floyd’s death, it is that these sites of encounter have shifted from official institutional spaces to more intimate ones where white people and minorities interact as friends, neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances. Racial-awareness raising is a dynamic no longer quarantined to formalized, compulsory settings like the boardroom or freshman orientation. Instead, every interracial interaction is a potential scene of (one-way) racial edification and supplication, encounters in which good white liberals are expected to be transparent about their “positionality,” confront their “whiteness,” and—if the situation calls for it—confess their “implicit bias.”

In a vacuum, many of the prescriptions advocated by the anti-color-blind crowd are reasonable: We should all think more about our privileges and our place in the world. An uncomfortable conversation or an honest look in the mirror can be precursors to personal growth. We all carry around harmful, implicit biases and we do need to examine the subconscious assumptions and prejudices that underlie the actions we take and the things we say. My objection is not to these ideas themselves, which are sensible enough. No, my objection is that anti-racism offers little more than a Marie Kondo–ism for the white soul, promising to declutter racial baggage and clear a way to white fulfillment without doing anything meaningful to combat structural racism. As Lasch-Quinn correctly foresaw, “Casting interracial problems as issues of etiquette [puts] a premium on superficial symbols of good intentions and good motivations as well as on style and appearance rather than on the substance of change.”

Yet the problem with the therapeutics of contemporary anti-racism is not just that they are politically sterile. When anti-color-blindness and its ideology of insistent “race consciousness” are translated into the sphere of private life—to the domain of friendships, block parties, and backyard barbecues—they assault the very idea of a multiracial society, producing new forms of racism in the process. The fact that our media environment is inundated with an endless stream of books, articles, and social-media tutorials that promise to teach white people how to simply interact with the Black people in their life is not a sign of anti-racist progress, but of profound regression.

The subtext that undergirds this new anti-racist discourse—that Black-white relationships are inherently fraught and must be navigated with the help of professionals and technical experts—testifies to the impoverishment of our interracial imagination, not to its enrichment. More gravely, anti-color-blind etiquette treats Black Americans as exotic others, permanent strangers whose racial difference is so chasmic that it must be continually managed, whose mode of humanness is so foreign that it requires white people to adopt a special set of manners and “race conscious” ritualistic practices to even have a simple conversation.

If we are going to find a way out of the racial discord that has defined American life post-Trump and post-Charlottesville and post-Floyd, we have to begin with a more sophisticated understanding of color-blindness, one that rejects the bad color-blindness on offer from the Republican Party and its partisans, as well as the anti-color-blindness of the anti-racist consultants. Instead, we should embrace the good color-blindness of not too long ago. At the heart of that color-blindness was a radical claim, one imperfectly realized but perfect as an ideal: that despite the weight of a racist past that isn’t even past, we can imagine a world, or at least an interaction between two people, where racial difference doesn’t make a difference.

[ Via: https://archive.today/8zfvc ]

[mariacallous]

[freshlyblaked]

[femalestyles]

stunt (h.s.)

i am fighting for my life to get through the slow burn writing, bear with me pls

masterlist

TW: anxiety, insecurity

wc: ~3.8k

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4: providence, ri

Providence was quiet—almost eerily so compared to New York. Unlike New York, there wasn’t relentless energy, the nonstop movement. It was a city nonetheless, but one unburdened by the flocks of hopefuls looking to find their big break. No grand expectations of stardom and flashing lights. When I had been given the tour schedule months prior, I was particularly interested in this stop. It was rich with cultural history, bound to provide me with a promising day off.

The flight over was fine enough. We’d been stuck at the hotel for a few extra hours this morning due to aircraft maintenance delays—not ideal, but I didn’t mind the extra sleep. The flight itself was barely an hour, including taxiing and landing.

God forbid anyone tracked our carbon footprint. 

Time passed quickly in the back of the plane with Harper, gossiping about which crew members were secretly hooking up. A pang of jealousy flickered in my chest as she spoke. She had built real friendships with the crew—relationships I lacked. Dating Austin meant my time was split, leaving little room for anyone else outside of Harper. Over the past few months, she had become my confidant, my anchor, whether she realized it or not.

She animatedly recounted how Helen, a lighting tech, was now seeing one of the roadies, Tyler. I listened, soaking in her energy, my envy fading. We had clicked instantly earlier this summer, bonding over our shared aspirations. We both knew this job was temporary—a stepping stone to something bigger. Harper had her sights set on running her own business one day. As for me? I still wasn’t sure. But one thing was clear: corralling five man-children for a living wasn’t it.

As we landed, I scrolled through Twitter, attempting to gauge what to expect from this trip. I wasn’t surprised in the least to find enormous buzz surrounding their upcoming concert. A lot of that excitement stemmed from the band’s larger-than-life presence, amplified by the release of Masquerade this week—their highly anticipated duet. I had to give myself credit for the press surrounding it; I’d outdone myself. I had worked tirelessly to ensure Masquerade was everywhere—on major radio stations, plastered across social media, woven into commercials. No matter where you looked, Mirage and Lena Love’s faces stared back.

That level of exposure definitely played a role in the frenzy surrounding our arrival. 

But the real spectacle was still on its way.

Lena Love herself would be joining Mirage for the first-ever live performance of Masquerade, eager to ride the wave of streaming success alongside them. She would be arriving later in the day, separate from the band. We had kept the announcement under wraps until yesterday, and within hours, the concert had sold out.

It wasn’t until we pulled up to the hotel that I truly understood the magnitude of our accomplishment.

Glimpses of blue, pink, green swirled around us as security escorted us out of the car. The moment my foot hit the pavement, a deafening wave of screams pierced my ears. Instinctively, I dropped Austin’s hand to throw my hands over my ears, a pathetic attempt and blocking out the noise. Hands reached out, some grasping at my jacket, others brushing against my skin, a tangled frenzy of bodies pressing in from all sides. Everything was moving so quickly that I couldn’t keep up, losing track of Austin as the five security guards encircled them. It was absolute chaos as Mirage was hoarded inside, my body being slammed between two teenagers. Panic clawed up my throat as I shoved forward, desperate to reach the others, but the crowd was unrelenting. The air began to thicken with my shallow, quick breaths, black dots flickering my eyesight.

I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.

My body was descending into itself, going into fight or flight mode. My chest tightened, breath hitching as the world around me blurred. In the depths of my brain, a male voice screamed my name. The voice grew louder, pounding against my skull, begging me to open my eyes. I hadn’t even realized I screwed them shut until I felt warm hands rip my hands off my ears. The sound of fans screaming returned, vibrated against my brain and reverberated through my entire being. Louder, louder, until everything went silent.

Not silent, just quieter.

Heaving, I doubled over, my forearms braced against my trembling thighs as I stared at the dull brown carpet beneath me. I studied the gaudy yellow swirls twisting across the floor. The hideous lobby flooring stared back at me, willing me to breathe. 

Two black boots peeked into my line of sight, planted atop the outdated design. I didn’t look up, knowing Harry was lingering in front of me. He didn’t speak, didn’t reach for me, but he didn’t have to; I recognized the feeling of his hands when he hauled me out of the crowd. 

The boys had gotten used to this kind of attention, but as their fame grew, so did the intensity of it. With the tour only halfway through, the overwhelming reception we faced at every stop was becoming suffocating. Privacy was becoming a rare luxury. It was nothing short of a miracle that they endured this chaos daily—smiling through it all, posing for pictures, signing autographs—never letting the weight of it show.

“Thanks,” I muttered, brushing past him before he could respond. 

Ahead of us, the boys rushed toward the elevators, caught up in their own chatter, oblivious to the fact that I had fallen behind. I slipped in after them, keeping my head down, hoping to disappear into the cramped space. I tried to ignore the way Harry followed, his eyes studying me. Always watching, always assessing. The walls of the elevator seemed to close in, each passing second stretching unbearably long. My grip tightened on the cool metal railing behind me, nails pressing deep into my palm. As soon as the doors slid open on our floor, I bolted out—whether to escape the suffocating space or the weight of Harry’s stare, I wasn’t sure.

Dragging my feet, Austin walked into our room first, still riding the high of our entrance. The afternoon sun was already sinking, dipping lower behind the city skyline, casting long shadows across the room.

I followed him in, dragging my suitcase behind me and tossing it onto the luggage rack. Unlike him, my anxiety was at an all-time high. The constant attention, the lack of personal space—it was overwhelming. The fans weren’t there for me, but as an extension of the band, it felt like I was being dragged into the quicksand with them. My heartbeat was still drumming in my ears, or maybe they just hadn’t recovered from the frenzy that ensued.

“Holy shit, babe!” Austin exclaimed, his ego clearly still basking in the moment. He paced over to the window, peering down at the swarm still gathered outside. “They love us!”

I knew what he meant. It wasn’t us. It was Mirage. It was him.

I let out a quiet laugh, trying to match his energy. The cogs inside my brain were whirring, despite my silent pleas for peace. My bones still shook deep within me, and for a moment, I wondered if he could see it. The way my face was drained of color and my hands shook ever so slightly. All my efforts went to slowing my breathing, quieting the alarm bells inside my head.

While the limelight wasn’t for me, Austin basked in it. It was a quality I found endearing when we first started dating, but now it felt blinding. A fundamental difference in our characters. I couldn’t blame him for his desires; he worked hard and was reaping the benefits. Yet, through the haze of celebration, he couldn’t always see me choking on the smoke.

Quick as a cat, he had crossed the room and lifted me off the ground, fingertips digging into my plush thighs. With ease, he twirled me around, my head tilting to look down at him. He stared back with unadulterated glee in his eyes, and I wanted to wallow in. If I could, I would lay out a towel and sunbathe under that look. It was a look that he had never given me, a look reserved for his artistry. I craved it more than I could voice. 

This time, my laughter was real as I clung to his shoulders, trying to steady myself.

When he set me down, he leaned in, pressing a lingering kiss to my lips. I barely had time to brace myself, lightheaded from the quick change in positions. Clinging to him for stability, my lips moved against his softly, trying to devour the sunshine from his eyes. 

“You killed it,” Breaking away, his smile stretched wider. “The press, the photos—Lena! I don’t know how you even convinced her to record the song, let alone show up in person to perform.”

What I didn’t tell him was that it hadn’t been difficult at all. The moment Shelley pitched it to Lena’s team, she was in. She had nothing but good things to say about the five boys she had yet to meet.

“Thank you,” I murmured, suddenly shy under his attention. Unlike his usual compliments, this one felt different. Real. He wasn’t just saying it to say it—he meant every word. It was difficult work staying in the shadows, hustling behind the scenes to make sure everything went off perfectly. It was unappreciated work, at best. 

“Obviously, I wouldn’t have had a song to bring her if you guys hadn’t worked your asses off,” I added for good measure. Austin’s compliment wasn’t free, they never were. He was fishing for something more, validation he never stopped craving. 

Austin nodded, accepting the praise without hesitation. He reminded me of Lexi in some ways—so effortlessly self-assured, as if he never second-guessed a single thing. He could walk into a room, flash a smile, and not be burdened. Never concerned that he would face rejection.

And yet, I knew what was coming next.

Austin smirked, sinking onto the edge of the bed. “You really pulled it all together. I mean, it’s easy when the music is already this good—but still, solid work.” 

There it was. 

If he had been watching me in that moment, he would have seen the slightest drop in the corners of the mouth. The light in my eyes dimmed, I felt a tightening in my throat. Of course, that was only if he was paying attention. 

Instead what he saw was the imperceptible nod of my head as I turned away from me. I fiddled with my backpack to busy myself, only opening my mouth when I knew the shakiness of my voice wouldn’t betray me. “Sound check is at seven instead of five tonight, we gotta wait for Lena,” I reminded him, hating the weakness in my voice.

Austin hummed in acknowledgment, already half-checked out. I seized the moment to slip toward the door, glancing back only once. He was tapping away on his phone, the energy from moments before already drained from his expression. The light had gone out. Snuffed like a candle.

Why was I even surprised?

Five minutes of fun, and now I was discarded, set aside like a toy he was done playing with.

I left before he could respond—not that he would have.

Immediately I veered right in the direction of Niall’s room, quietly tapping my knuckles against the door. There was a muffled sound of Niall shuffling across the room towards the door, yelling out that he would be out in a minute.

Instinctively, I began to pick at my nails. The blue nail polish from days before was nearly non-existent at this point, truly exposing my torn cuticles. I really needed to repaint them this trip. The longer I waited, the more I shifted from foot to foot, unable to stand still.

“Hey, Jules! What’s up?” Niall’s door swung open, and he leaned casually against the frame, a smile playing on his lips. His eyes flicked over me, clearly clocking the distant look in mine, but—bless him—he didn’t call me out on it. Just a slight raise of his eyebrows, waiting.

“Oh, um,” I stammered, momentarily forgetting why I was even there. “Sound check is at seven today. Not five.” The words finally landed, my voice evening out.

Niall nodded, rolling his lips together like he was locking the information in. “Right, seven o’clock. Got it.” He tilted his head, still watching me a little too closely. That should’ve been it. Message delivered. Conversation over. But I stayed put, his gaze lingering like he knew I had more on my mind.

“That all?” he asked, not unkindly—just checking.

I didn’t answer, my thoughts drifting back to Austin in our hotel room, my mind still in shambles from the situation downstairs. My stomach twisted.

Niall didn’t press, just took a step back and nudged the door open a little wider. “Why don’t you come in?” It wasn’t really a question, more an invitation for my sake than his.

I should’ve said no. Should’ve thanked him and walked away.

Instead, I stepped inside, the soft click of the door closing behind me.

He continued rummaging around his room, doing his best to make me feel less like the inconvenience I was being. Niall sifted through his suitcase, digging out a gray hoodie before turning back to me. “Y’know,” he smirked, his Irish accent thick. “I’m starving, and there is a rumor of delicious Italian food nearby...” he trailed off, raising an eyebrow towards me. “So I think we’re going to dinner.” He decided, snatching his wallet off the dresser.

I raised my hands, shaking my head quickly in retort. “No, really, it’s okay. I’m not hungry.” Liar. The rumbling of my stomach betrayed me, only receiving a raised eyebrow from him as he breezed by me. He got to the door first, pulling it open and beckoning me out.

“Mmmmm, nonsense. You’ll be m’date for the evening,” he slung an arm around my shoulders, tugging me into his side. I welcomed the distraction, and I hadn’t ate anything since we got on the plane. Niall knew better than to go towards the elevators, heading the opposite direction towards the fire exit. Luckily, the hotel wasn’t that big, so there weren’t too many flights to take. As the windy evening greeted us, I found myself thankful I hadn’t shed my jean jacket. The sun was already on the descent, the temperature dropping by the minute.

Niall slipped on a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap as we walked, leading me away from the hotel. I didn’t ask where we were going—I just followed. The streetlights cast a warm glow on the brick buildings around us, their facades symmetrical yet distinct, old shuttered windows looming above like relics from another time.

British Colonial. I’d read that somewhere. Architecture left over from the Revolutionary War.

Once we were far enough from the hotel, Niall ordered a ride, ushering me into the car. I leaned my head against the window, watching the city blur past.

My mind wouldn’t stop.

Years of insecurities swam to the surface, replaying the entire day. It had taken months to build confidence in my role—not just as Mirage’s publicist, but as Austin’s girlfriend. And still, I expected nothing. I didn’t need recognition, but I had poured my heart into making Masquerade a chart-topping duet. Not just for me, or even for Austin, but for Niall, for Louis, for Zayn and Harry. Every night, they went onstage and gave everything they had, never asking for a break.

And Austin?

Was he being an asshole on purpose, or was he really just that oblivious?

I hoped, for his sake, it was the former.

“Whoa.”

Brightly painted buildings—blue, pink, yellow—came into view as we pulled into Federal Hill. Providence’s own Little Italy, alive with culture, markets, and most importantly, delectable Italian food.

Niall wasted no time. The moment we stepped out of the car, he headed straight for a cozy little restaurant, the kind meant for first dates. Dim lighting, intimate booths, paintings of meadows lining the walls.

One smile at the waitress, and we had a table.

My spirits began to lift as he cracked jokes, trying with all his might to break me from the funk I was in. Tour, even with Austin, could feel so lonely sometimes. On some days, the pressure mounted so high that I thought my back would break. I had days where the air felt so thick that I didn’t know if I would be able to clear my lungs.

As expected, the food was orgasmic. This is the type of food that I would choose over sex any day of the week. 

Still, even with the distraction, my eyes drifted to the window. I watched the people passing by, wondering where they were going, who they were meeting. If they carried the same restless ache that I did. If they, too, took life day by day, hour by hour.

“What’s wrong?”

I startled, returning my attention to the boy across the booth. 

Sometimes, when my mind is racing at full speed, I can’t even pinpoint what’s bothering me. If my emotions get too overwhelming, I distract myself—usually with work—pushing everything aside until I’m alone. That’s when the silence forces me to face it all, no more avoiding, no more pretending it’s not there. Most of the time, it’s just my own brain twisting some insecurity into a problem that doesn’t actually exist.

If Austin’s around and notices my unease, I can usually brush him off with a few quick assurances. He doesn’t push. Just pulls me into a hug, presses a kiss to my temple. A band-aid over a bullet hole.

So when Niall asks what’s wrong, I’m caught off guard. I don’t have time to build my walls, to make up some excuse and escape before I have to deal with it.

“When you first joined Mirage, did you ever feel… inadequate?” The words spill out before I can stop them, and I suddenly can’t bring myself to look at him. I brace for the usual response—a scoff, a brush-off, something to tell me I’m being ridiculous.

But that’s not Niall.

Instead, he laughed.

Not in a mean or dismissive way. It’s soft, almost… understanding. “I still feel inadequate sometimes,” he admitted, his voice brutally honest. “It’s better now, but people can be cruel. And when you already have that little voice in your head? It’s even harder to ignore when the rest of the world is saying the same thing.”

If someone told me he could see directly into my brain at this moment, I’d believe them. He’s saying exactly what I’ve been thinking. It should make me feel less alone. It should ground me. But somehow, it doesn’t.

I chewed on my bottom lip, lost in thought, until his voice pulls me back.

“I know it’s not the same,” he continued. “It’s got to be so much harder, being Austin’s girlfriend and his coworker. Always on the sidelines. But you have to know—without you, there wouldn’t be an Austin. There wouldn’t be a Mirage. Your work doesn’t go unnoticed.”

His words hit harder than I expect, my cheeks growing warm under his steady gaze.

“Thank you,” I murmured, meaning it.

I exhaled, fiddling with my fingers as I try to put my thoughts into words. “It’s just… weird getting used to. Seeing all these celebrities you’ve only ever known from screens and airbrushed photos. And then you meet them, and they’re even more surreal in real life. Like these perfectly curated portraits. It’s enough to make any normal person feel a little crazy.”

“You know, I met John Mayer once and made a complete fool of myself. Just stood there, nodding like I had a single thought in my head. And don’t even get me started on Stevie Nicks—I think I forgot how to speak.”

I let out a small laugh before I can stop myself. The idea of him getting starstruck is oddly reassuring. He doesn’t even realize he’s just talked me down from a ledge I didn’t know I was standing on.

He points at me. “Aha! There it is. A laugh. Progress.”

I roll my eyes, but I’m still smiling. “Shut up.”

“Not a chance.” He muffled over the bread he had shoveled into my mouth. I reached into the bowl, grabbing a roll before he could finish them all.

“Y’know what we go perfect with this?” He answered before I could guess. “Ice cream.”

Before I could point out the lack of logic in his statement, he was flagging down our waitress.

~

We pull to sound check with five minutes to spare, a surprising feat for me considering I’m always 30 minutes early. I had let Austin know to head in without me, that Niall had whisked me away for some one on one time.

Niall thanked the driver before stepping out, offering me his hand. I gasped as he turned and began to jog, pulling me with him. “Thank you!” I yelled over my shoulder, chasing after Niall as he hustled into the venue. 

We stumbled into the wings of the stage, laughing breathlessly, only to be met with five sets of staring eyes. Five—including Lena, who must have come straight from the airport.

The first thing I noticed was how close she stood to Austin. The second was that he wasn’t exactly pulling away. Yet the moment I entered the room, he subtly shifted back, just enough to be noticeable.

“Hi,” I giggled, still breathless. The energy in the room shifted as I was met with a round of smiles—except for Harry’s, who stood tucked in the corner, watching me with an unreadable expression.

I could feel his eyes on me, even as Niall launched into some ridiculous retelling of our evening.

Even as I laughed at his blatant exaggerations, I could still feel that unwavering gaze.

Once Niall finished, I tore my gaze over to our guest, pushing myself up from the wall I was leaning up against. I made my way over, gently reaching out to place a hand on Lena’s forearms.

“It’s nice to see you again,” I mustered, earning a dazzling smile in return. “Please let me know if these boys are being too much.” 

While I admittedly wasn’t Lena’s biggest fan, she hadn’t really done anything to cross the line. I couldn’t fault her for Austin’s attitude. He didn’t always act like a taken man, so I couldn’t always expect he would be treated like one. 

Lena returned that bodacious laugh, the one that garnered all of the attention in the room. She waved me off, gesturing to the boys in front of her. “They have been absolute perfect gentleman,” she assured. 

From beside her, Louis piped up, an innocent smile ghosting his face. “Scout’s honor,” he added, raising three fingers on his right hand. I playfully squinted my eyes at him, shaking my head before turning my attention back to her. 

“Well, let me know if anything changes, I’ll be in the wings for the entire sound check.” I offered. 

I wondered if she, too, carried that ache.

-

taglist: @indierockgirrl

[eludin-realm]

Character Name Ideas (Male)

So I've been browsing through BehindTheName (great resource!) recently and have compiled several name lists. Here are some names, A-Z, that I like. NOTE: If you want to use any of these please verify sources, meanings etc, I just used BehindTheName to browse and find all of these. Under the cut:

A: Austin, Aiden, Adam, Alex, Angus, Anthony, Archie, Argo, Ari, Aric, Arno, Atlas, August, Aurelius, Alexei, Archer, Angelo, Adric, Acarius, Achilou, Alphard, Amelian, Archander B: Bodhi, Bastian, Baz, Beau, Beck, Buck, Basil, Benny, Bentley, Blake, Bowie, Brad, Brady, Brody, Brennan, Brent, Brett, Brycen C: Cab, Cal, Caden, Cáel, Caelan, Caleb, Cameron, Chase, Carlos, Cooper, Carter, Cas, Cash, Cassian, Castiel, Cedric, Cenric, Chance, Chandler, Chaz, Chad, Chester, Chet, Chip, Christian, Cillian, Claude, Cicero, Clint, Cody, Cory, Coy, Cole, Colt, Colton, Colin, Colorado, Colum, Conan, Conrad, Conway, Connor, Cornelius, Creed, Cyneric, Cynric, Cyrano, Cyril, Cyrus, Crestian, Ceric D: Dallas, Damien, Daniel, Darach, Dash, Dax, Dayton, Denver, Derek, Des, Desmond, Devin, Dewey, Dexter, Dietrich, Dion, Dmitri, Dominic, Dorian, Douglas, Draco, Drake, Drew, Dudley, Dustin, Dusty, Dylan, Danièu E: Eadric, Evan, Ethan, Easton, Eddie, Eddy, Einar, Eli, Eilas, Eiljah, Elliott, Elton, Emanuel, Emile, Emmett, Enzo, Erik, Evander, Everett, Ezio F: Faolán, Faron, Ferlin, Felix, Fenrir, Fergus, Finley, Finlay, Finn, Finnian, Finnegan, Flint, Flip, Flynn, Florian, Forrest, Fritz G: Gage, Gabe, Grady, Grant, Gray, Grayson, Gunnar, Gunther, Galahad H: Hale, Harley, Harper, Harvey, Harry, Huey, Hugh, Hunter, Huxley I: Ian, Ianto, Ike, Inigo, Isaac, Isaias, Ivan, Ísak J: Jack, Jacob, Jake, Jason, Jasper, Jax, Jay, Jensen, Jed, Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jesse, Jett, Jimmie, Jonas, Jonas, Jonathan, Jordan, Josh, Julien, Jovian, Jun, Justin, Joseph, Joni, K: Kaden, Kai, Kale, Kane, Kaz, Keane, Keaton, Keith, Kenji, Kenneth, Kent, Kevin, Kieran, Kip, Knox, Kris, Kristian, Kyle, Kay, Kristján, Kristófer L: Lamont, Lance, Landon, Lane, Lars, László, Laurent, Layton, Leander, Leif, Leo, Leonidas, Leopold, Levi, Lewis, Louie, Liam, Liberty, Lincoln, Linc, Linus, Lionel, Logan, Loki, Lucas, Lucian, Lucio, Lucky, Luke, Luther, Lyall, Lycus, Lykos, Lyle, Lyndon, Llewellyn, Landri, Laurian, Lionç M: Major, Manny, Manuel, Marcus, Mason, Matt, Matthew, Matthias, Maverick, Maxim, Memphis, Midas, Mikko, Miles, Mitch, Mordecai, Mordred, Morgan, Macari, Maïus, Maxenci, Micolau, Miro N: Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Niall, Nico, Niels, Nik, Noah, Nolan, Niilo, Nikander, Novak, O: Oakley, Octavian, Odin, Orlando, Orrick, Ǫrvar, Othello, Otis, Otto, Ovid, Owain, Owen, Øyvind, Ozzie, Ollie, Oliver, Onni P: Paisley, Palmer, Percival, Percy, Perry, Peyton, Phelan, Phineas, Phoenix, Piers, Pierce, Porter, Presley, Preston, Pacian Q: Quinn, Quincy, Quintin R: Ragnar, Raiden, Ren, Rain, Rainier, Ramos, Ramsey, Ransom, Raul, Ray, Roy, Reagan, Redd, Reese, Rhys, Rhett, Reginald, Remiel, Remy, Ridge, Ridley, Ripley, Rigby, Riggs, Riley, River, Robert, Rocky, Rokas, Roman, Ronan, Ronin, Romeo, Rory, Ross, Ruairí, Rufus, Rusty, Ryder, Ryker, Rylan, Riku, Roni S: Sammie, Sammy, Samuel, Samson, Sanford, Sawyer, Scout, Seán, Seth, Sebastian, Seymour, Shane, Shaun, Shawn, Sheldon, Shiloh, Shun, Sid, Sidney, Silas, Skip, Skipper, Skyler, Slade, Spencer, Spike, Stan, Stanford, Sterling, Stevie, Stijn, Suni, Sylvan, Sylvester T: Tab, Tad, Tanner, Tate, Tennessee, Tero, Terrance, Tevin, Thatcher, Tierno, Tino, Titus, Tobias, Tony, Torin, Trace, Trent, Trenton, Trev, Trevor, Trey, Troy, Tripp, Tristan, Tucker, Turner, Tyler, Ty, Teemu U: Ulric V: Valerius, Valor, Van, Vernon, Vespasian, Vic, Victor, Vico, Vince, Vinny, Vincent W: Wade, Walker, Wallis, Wally, Walt, Wardell, Warwick, Watson, Waylon, Wayne, Wes, Wesley, Weston, Whitley, Wilder, Wiley, William, Wolfe, Wolfgang, Woody, Wulfric, Wyatt, Wynn X: Xander, Xavier Z: Zachary, Zach, Zane, Zeb, Zebediah, Zed, Zeke, Zeph, Zaccai

[pupsmailbox]

Hi! I don’t know if this was asked before (I’m sorry if you already did this) but do you have names similar to Logan?

LOGAN︰ aiden. alex. alexis. amelia. asher. ashley. austin. ava. avery. blake. boden. bowen. brooke. caleb. carter. charlie. charlotte. chase. chloe. cohan. cole. connor. dani. drew. dylan. elliot. emily. emma. ethan. evan. grayson. hannah. harper. hayden. henry. hudson. hunter. jack. jackson. jacob. james. jensen. johan. jordan. keagan. keegan. laken. lakin. lakshman. lakshmi. landon. lane. lauren. lawson. laxmi. layton. leighanna. leighanne. leighna. lejane. leo. levi. lezane. liam. lian. lisanne. lizina. lochana. lokni. louisiana. lozano. lozen. luca. lucania. lucano. lucas. lucian. luciana. luciano. lucien. lucina. lucine. lujayn. luke. luken. lukyan. luqman. mackenzie. madison. mason. max. megan. meghan. miles. morgan. navy. noah. nolan. ocean. oliver. olivia. owen. paige. parker. payton. peyton. quinn. regan. riley. rohan. roman. ronan. rowan. ryan. sawyer. sophia. spencer. taylor. teagan. theodore. tyler. wyatt.

[castlesrp]

Face Claim List

Below the cut, you will find our list of face claims featured on our canon list. Enjoy this sneak peak at what is coming your way when the canon lists start being released this week!

FC List:

Abigail Cowen Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Amita Suman Amy Adams Ana de Armas André De Shields Andrew Garfield Angela Bassett Anna Kendrick Anne Hathaway Anthony Anderson Anthony Mackie Anya Chalotra Anya Taylor Joy Aja Naomi King Avan Jogia Avantika Audra McDonald Austin Butler Beanie Feldstein Ben Barnes Beyoncé BD Wong Bette Midler Caleb McLaughlin Camila Mendes Catherine O'Hara Charles Melton Chiwetel Ejiofor Chloe Bennet Chloe Bailey Christina Hendricks Christina Nadin Chrissy Metz Cody Christian Constance Wu Courtney Eaton Dakota Johnson Danai Gurira Daniel Ezra Daniel Wu Danny Trejo David Harbour Deepika Padukone Denzel Washington Dev Patel Diana Silvers Diane Keaton Dianna Agron Dove Cameron Dylan O'Brien Eddie Redmayne Eiza González Emily Alyn Lind Eva Longoria Ewan McGregor Fan Bingbing Felix Mallard Florence Pugh Froy Gutierrez Gabrielle Union Gemma Chan George Takei Gillian Anderson Gina Rodriguez Gina Torres Hailee Steinfeld Halle Bailey Harrison Ford Harry Shum JR Harry Styles Henry Cavill Hero Fiennes Tiffin Hunter Schafer Hugh Jackman Idris Elba J. Cameron-Smith Jacob Artist Jacob Elordi Jameela Jamil James McAvoy Jamie Chung Jamie Lee Curtis Jasmin Savoy Brown Jason Momoa Jason Sudekis Jean Smart Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Wright Jenna Ortega Jensen Ackles Jesse Williams Jessica Chastain JK Simmons Joe Locke John Boyega John Cho John Krasinski Jon Hamm Jonathan Bailey Jordan Connor Jordan Peele Julianne Moore Justice Smith Kate Winslet Kathryn Hahn Kathryn Newton Keanu Reeves Keith Powers Keke Palmer Kerry Washington Kit Connor [1] Kit Connor [2] KJ Apa Kristen Bell Kumail Nanjiani Lana Condor Laura Harrier Lauren Ridloff Leonardo DiCaprio Letita Wright Lili Reinhart Liv Hewson Logan Browning Logan Lerman Loretta Devine Lupita Nyong'o Mädchen Amick Madelyn Cline Madison Bailey Mahershala Ali Manny Jacinto Manny Montana Margot Robbie Mark Consuelos Mark Hamill Mario Lopez Mason Gooding Maude Apatow Megan thee Stallion Melanie Lynskey Melissa Barrera Michael Cimino Michael Evans Behling Michael Fassbender Michael Peña Michael Shannon Michelle Yeoh Morgan Freeman Naomi Scott Natalia Dyer Natasha Liu Bordizzo Nina Dobrev Noah Centineo Normani Octavia Spencer Olivia Coleman Olivia Rodrigo Oscar Isaac Paul Rudd Pedro Pascal Phoebe Deynover Phoebe Tonkin Phylicia Rashad Priyanka Chopra Rachel Weisz Rachel Zegler Rahul Kohli Reese Witherspoon Regé-Jean Page Renee Rapp [1] Renee Rapp [2] Riz Ahmed Robert Pattinson Robert Downey JR Rome Flynn Rosamund Pike Rose Byrne Rudy Pankow Ryan Gosling Ryan Guzman Ryan Reynolds Sadie Sink Sam Claflin Samantha Logan Samara Weaving Sandra Bullock Sandra Oh Sara Ramirez Sarah Jeffrey Sarah Paulson Sebastian Stan Selena Gomez Sigourney Weaver Simu Liu Shawn Mendes Skeet Ulrich Sophia Ali Sophia Bush Sophie Turner Sonam Kapoor Sophie Thatcher Sterling K. Brown Steve Martin Steven Yeun Storm Reid Sydney Sweeney [1] Sydney Sweeney [2] Taika Waititi Tati Gabrielle Taraji P. Henson Taron Egerton Taye Diggs Taylor Zakhar Perez Ted Danson Timothée Chalamet Thomas Doherty Tom Blyth Tom Ellis Tom Hardy Tom Holland Tony Goldwyn Tyler James Williams Tyler Posey Uzo Adubo Victoria Pedretti Viola Davis Whoopi Goldberg Wolfgang Novogratz Will Smith Willem Dafoe William Jackson Harper Winona Ryder Winston Duke Yasmin Finney Zayn Malik Zendaya Zoey Deutch

[jakeluppin]

A long but good read on antisemitism at universities and what could/should be done on campuses. Really good, especially for those of us in academia. Full article below, but a few highlights I wanted to share:

Many students today have little exposure to ideological diversity on campus, and most agree on most politically fraught topics, such as abortion or transgender rights, said Eitan Hersh, a professor of political science at Tufts University. Since issues in the Middle East are so divisive, even among groups that otherwise tend to align politically, students don’t know how to talk about them. They are “not equipped to know how to deal with that,” Hersh said.

“Students have been entirely left alone to sort this out for themselves with zero institutional support, with zero attempts to organize any kind of rational discussion or conversation about the issue,” [Tyler Austin Harper, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Bates College] said. “It’s not a big surprise that they’re floundering when adults have been too cowardly to do their jobs.”

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator asked [Jared Levy, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Texas at Austin] how he could defend Israel. “I sat there in the rain for an hour and a half talking to students about why I supported Israel,” Levy said. He talked about the importance of a Jewish homeland, about his conviction that Hamas was a terrorist organization, and that Israel had made mistakes but had a right to defend itself. Some of the students with the pro- Palestinian group, he said, didn’t understand what Hamas was and had just been told by friends or social media that Israel was committing genocide and was an apartheid state.

“A lot of students have been eager to engage in dialogue and weren’t just here to yell in my face,” Levy said. At the local Hillel, a Jewish campus-life organization with chapters on many campuses, he said they’ve discussed organizing a “neutral- ground dialogue.” But despite Levy’s success in engaging with students one on one, he doesn’t feel the campus is ready for group discussions. “We came to the conclusion that things need to cool down first,” he said.

A Jewish student’s nose is broken in a melee sparked by attempts to burn an Israeli flag. Messages declaring “Glory to our Martyrs” and “Divestment From Zionist Genocide Now” are projected onto the façade of a campus building. Jewish students huddle inside a campus library while protesters shouting “Free Palestine” bang on the glass walls.

With each new headline and video snippet that goes viral, the pressure on colleges to respond forcefully and quickly to incidents of antisemitism is building. So too is the pressure to resist calls from politicians, donors, and alumni to crack down on protesters in ways that stifle protected speech.

College leaders, who’ve been lambasted over the past few months for failing to tackle antisemitism with the same ardor they’ve confronted other forms of prejudice and hate, are having to make quick judgment calls under the harsh glare of the national spotlight and the war between Israel and Hamas.

The questions are complicated, and backlash is certain. What counts as antisemitism? How can campuses help Jewish students feel safe? And perhaps of greatest consequence for colleges, where is the line between protected speech and prohibited harassment, and how should students who cross it be disciplined?

College leaders today “face tremendous pressures from competing groups of students, faculty, alumni, and administrators,” said Ethan Katz, associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the University of California at Berkeley, one of several universities facing lawsuits over alleged antisemitism. “The number and intensity of those pressures is pretty widely underestimated by the public.”

The Chronicle spoke with more than 20 scholars, free-speech experts, faculty members, and students — all of whom echoed a similar message: Battling antisemitism is one of the most pressing challenges facing campus leaders today, and it is also one of the most difficult.

Many colleges have taken a typically academic approach to the situation, forming or expanding task forces on antisemitism, and often, Islamophobia. To protect students who feel threatened, these groups have proposed tightening security, clarifying reporting procedures, and improving mental-health supports. They’re examining speech codes and student-conduct policies to ensure they’re being applied evenly and fairly. The task forces themselves are proving controversial, especially when it comes to who should be appointed to them.

When campus leaders are called on to intervene in a dispute, the terrain can turn treacherous. If they discipline pro-Palestinian protesters over chants many consider antisemitic, they’re accused of trampling free-speech rights. If they defend the right to demonstrate, they’re accused of failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitism. Impartial stances are attacked as weak, sparking debates about whether campus leaders should comment at all.

In Utah, Gov. Spencer Cox has made it clear he doesn’t want the leaders of public colleges speaking out about the Israel-Hamas war, or any other current events. “I do not care what your position is on Israel and Palestine. I don’t,” he said on December 1 after the Utah Board of Higher Education passed a resolution requiring colleges and their leaders to remain neutral on such topics. The board also called on colleges to spell out the protections and limitations of their speech policies.

Punishing protesters has only stoked anger on some campuses. When the president of George Washington University, Ellen M. Granberg, denounced pro-Palestinian messages projected onto the library in late October as antisemitic and the university suspended the group responsible, Students for Justice in Palestine, demonstrators formed a new coalition. Declaring that “the student movement won’t be silenced,” they marched to the president’s home.

Tightening restrictions on when and where students could protest has often resulted in even rowdier clashes. At the entrance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, known as Lobby 7, pro-Palestinian protesters went ahead with a demonstration in November even after the area was left off a list of approved sites that the administration released the night before the planned event. Students clashed, some were suspended, and outrage followed.

In early December, that anger erupted on the national stage, when three university presidents testifying before a House congressional hearing on antisemitism appeared to waffle on a question about whether students should be punished for calling for the genocide of Jewish people. The backlash led to the resignation of one of the presidents, the University of Pennsylvania’s Elizabeth Magill, and was a factor in the resignation of another, Harvard University’s Claudine Gay.

Nationally, colleges have been accused of doing too little, too late. Between October 7 — when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage — and December 7, the Anti-Defamation League recorded more than 2,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States, compared with 465 during that period in 2022. At the same time, the free-expression group PEN America points out that there’s been a significant uptick in harassment of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students since the Israel-Hamas war broke out. Students have reported being called terrorists and having hijabs pulled off. Some politicians, including former President Donald J. Trump, have called for international students to forfeit their visas for participating in pro-Palestinian rallies. Three Palestinian American students were shot and injured — one seriously — on November 25 in Burlington, Vt., during their Thanksgiving break.

Pressure is building on colleges, and it’s coming from both Republicans and Democrats. Republicans have seized on rising antisemitism as evidence that the culture of higher education has dangerously liberal leanings. They’ve accused colleges of more aggressively enforcing speech and harassment codes when Black or Hispanic students accuse people of being racist and looking the other way when hateful, or even violent, speech is hurled at Jewish students.

More than two dozen colleges are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education over complaints of antisemitism or Islamophobia. The vast majority of the investigations began after the October 7 Hamas attacks. The Education Department reminded colleges in November of their legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to “take immediate and appropriate action to respond to harassment that creates a hostile environment.” That extends to discrimination against people based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including Jewish, Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students.

Students complaining of antisemitism have sued several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of California system and its Berkeley campus, New York University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Eyal Yakoby, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who spoke at a news conference before the House hearing, is one of two students who sued his university, calling it an “incubation lab for virulent anti-Jewish hatred, harassment, and discrimination.” The lawsuit contends that Jewish students have been subjected to antisemitic chants, slurs, and graffiti, including a spray-painted swastika in an academic building.

Yakoby says the university has ignored his complaints, while aggressively disciplining those who harass other minority groups. “When it comes to the protection of Penn’s Jewish students,” the lawsuit states, “the rules do not apply.”

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union joined a pro-Palestinian group in suing Florida higher-education officials and Gov. Ron DeSantis after the Republican governor ordered public colleges in the state to “deactivate” campus chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, and Chancellor Ray Rodrigues of the State University System of Florida conveyed that message to system presidents. That order, the plaintiffs said, violated the First Amendment.

Threats are also coming from state politicians, including Democrats. On December 9, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York said in a letter that a call for genocide made on a public-college campus would violate state and federal law, as well as codes of conduct. Colleges that failed to discipline students for engaging in such behavior, she wrote, would face “aggressive enforcement action.”

To Jeffrey Melnick, an American-studies professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston whose research interests include Black-Jewish relations, reports of antisemitism have turned into a “moral panic”: They have roots in a real situation but have been heightened out of fear. Colleges need to carefully distinguish, he says, between true instances of antisemitism and those he believes shouldn’t be considered antisemitism, such as chanting “Intifada revolution.”

If phrases like that make Jewish students uncomfortable, colleges need to help them understand their history and what they mean to the Palestinian movement, said Melnick, who is Jewish.

“Our main job as university instructors is ‘teaching the conflicts,’” he said. “You don’t shy away from them. You say: ‘This is complicated. A lot of people feel really invested in this, and now we need to kind of drill down and figure out what it all means.’”

While antisemitism needs to be confronted, Melnick said, the “panic” is distracting from the continuing violence in Gaza as well as other forms of hate on campuses. When college presidents are called on to condemn antisemitism and “no questions are asked” about how they’re handling Islamophobia, he said, “that silence speaks really loudly to me.”

Kenneth S. Stern, now director of the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, in 2004 drafted what became known as the “working definition” of antisemitism as a way to help data collectors identify trends in such incidents. Stern identifies antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” He goes on to say, “Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The definition also provides examples of antisemitic acts, including “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination,” “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”

Though other definitions of antisemitism exist, Stern’s is one of the most widely accepted, having been adopted by the U.S. Department of State and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. In 2019 then-President Trump required all federal agencies, including the Education Department, to use Stern’s definition when assessing violations to Title VI.

The move drew widespread criticism, especially from Stern, who considered it an attack on free speech. Using the definition in Title VI enforcement has a “chilling effect” on administrators, who may try to over-correct speech violations out of fear of being sued, he told The Chronicle.

Such controversies have surfaced repeatedly in recent months. Chants like “Globalize the Intifada” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” have become staples of pro-Palestinian protests.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican of New York, demanded a yes or no answer during the House hearing in December about whether calling for genocide — which she’d earlier equated with such pro-Palestinian chants — would warrant discipline. None of the presidents pointed out that the meanings of those phrases, and whether or not they’re antisemitic, are contested. The impression they left in those deer-in- the-headlights moments, when they all insisted that context was important, was that they wouldn’t immediately condemn actual, explicit calls for the elimination of the Jewish people.

Many Jews and their supporters do see the chants as calling for violence, the destruction of Israel, and the genocide of Jewish people across the world. But to many of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including students, the calls are for the liberation of Palestinians and the return of land they believe belongs to them.

Problems arise when definitions of antisemitism, such as Stern’s, are used as speech codes, said Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a free-speech advocacy group. Many of the examples listed under Stern’s definition are protected speech under the First Amendment, as are pro-Palestinian chants, even some cases when one calls for “horrific acts, including genocide.” Other acts, especially ones that are true threats or incitements to violence, go beyond the bounds of the First Amendment, Creeley said.

“To impose a blanket ban on certain sentiments or phrases,” he added, “would imperil a great deal of constitutionally protected expression.”

In an initial hearing on antisemitism, in November, House Republicans spent much of the time blasting campus offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, accusing them of dividing students and fomenting hatred, especially against Jewish students. Some argued that such offices actually encourage anti-Jewish sentiments by dividing groups of people into oppressors and oppressed and failing to see Jews, whom many regard as relatively privileged white people, as among those oppressed. In the second hearing, with the college presidents, Republican representatives repeatedly raised questions about whether Harvard was disciplining students for racist acts but not antisemitic ones.

A recent article on Jewish Insider.com described deep rifts within the current and former leadership of prominent Jewish communal organizations about whether campus diversity offices can be partners in combating antisemitism. Two former longtime heads of the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee argued that those offices and the infrastructure they support only worsen problems for Jews. Leaders of those organizations have recently urged members to work with diversity offices to better incorporate Jewish concerns into the DEI structure.

Meanwhile, lawmakers have taken advantage of the spotlight on antisemitism to intensify attacks on campus diversity offices. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, introduced a bill in December that would strip federal funding for any university that requires students to write diversity statements, blaming them for the spread of antisemitism on college campuses.

“Make no mistake — the DEI bureaucracy is directly responsible for a toxic campus culture that separates everyone into oppressor vs. oppressed,” he said in a news release announcing the legislation, which also bans diversity statements as a condition of employment.

Paulette Granberry Russell, president of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, calls such critiques “an orchestrated attempt to discredit and dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in higher education.” She added that “these attempts by individuals, well-funded organizations, and legislators who have leveled such criticisms and misrepresentations stand in opposition to higher education’s efforts to create more diverse and inclusive campuses and experiences for all students.”

Many diversity offices, Granberry Russell said, provide opportunities for cross- cultural dialogues and encourage students from various racial and cultural groups to collaborate on community-service and other projects.

Georgina Dodge, vice president for diversity and inclusion at the University of Maryland at College Park, said her office is working closely with a task force on antisemitism and Islamophobia created in November at the main campus in College Park.

“Within our department, we have a unit dedicated to supporting any member of our community who has experienced hate or bias, which includes antisemitism,” Dodge wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “This has been a key element of our work for years, and recent events have only underscored the importance of this kind of care on our campuses.”

Granberry Russell agrees. “What is evident today is that there is much more work ahead,” she wrote in an email to The Chronicle. “But to ignore the work, and the evidence-based research that informs the work, of offices specifically designed to respond to the needs of a diverse campus, and to conclude that such offices” contribute to antisemitism is “ill-informed and short-sighted.”

Some, however, question whether diversity offices are equipped to handle the complexities of antisemitism and Islamophobia, especially at a time when their work is under siege from right-wing groups that have succeeded in getting many banned.

“Antisemitism doesn’t fit with what is generally DEI’s focus today — on structural issues of equity and inclusion,” said Berkeley’s Katz, who’s also faculty director for the UC flagship’s Center for Jewish Studies. In 2019, he co-founded the university’s Antisemitism Education Initiative, which has worked closely with campus groups, including the university’s DEI office, to educate people about the roots and different forms of anti-Jewish bias and hatred. That kind of close cooperation with diversity offices, he said, is somewhat of a rarity across higher education, as well as corporations.

“It’s clearly very difficult for DEI professionals to figure out what to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Katz said. “When attacks are coming from white nationalists shouting ‘Jews will not replace us,’” in Charlottesville, Va., “it’s much easier to wrap your head around it and get on board.” But when the hostile language is coming from the left, and the terminology is disputed, the connections to hatred and exclusion might be harder for diversity officers to grasp without additional training and education, Katz said.

Many students today have little exposure to ideological diversity on campus, and most agree on most politically fraught topics, such as abortion or transgender rights, said Eitan Hersh, a professor of political science at Tufts University. Since issues in the Middle East are so divisive, even among groups that otherwise tend to align politically, students don’t know how to talk about them. They are “not equipped to know how to deal with that,” Hersh said.

Colleges have failed to help students navigate “one of the most complicated geopolitical issues in the 21st century,” said Tyler Austin Harper, an assistant professor of environmental studies at Bates College who frequently writes about issues involving politics, culture, and race.

Part of an administrator’s job is encouraging open debate about complicated topics, he said. Rather than censoring student speech, colleges should be encouraging faculty members to model how to have conversations with people who disagree with them.

“Students have been entirely left alone to sort this out for themselves with zero institutional support, with zero attempts to organize any kind of rational discussion or conversation about the issue,” Harper said. “It’s not a big surprise that they’re floundering when adults have been too cowardly to do their jobs.”

That’s assuming that students are ready to have those conversations. “A lot of campuses are struggling with what to do now,” said Todd Green, director of campus partnerships at Interfaith America, which works to promote greater understanding among people of different religious backgrounds. “Do you try to bring students together now, or wait?”

In a different time, his group might have suggested bringing people from different faiths together in a room to try to find some common ground. To many, though, the issues at a time of daily bloodshed are too fraught, the emotions too raw. People from opposite sides may be shouting at each other, but there’s little talking, Green said.

Interfaith America, he added, “isn’t traditionally a crisis-response group. But we’re in the midst of a crisis that, in my years of higher education, is the most tense it’s ever been on campuses — even compared with post 9/11. In this moment, it’s very difficult to bring students together to try to build relationships.”

Some students, like Jared Levy, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, are doing their best to connect. Levy went to a Jewish boarding school in New York City, where his parents are both rabbis. In November, hundreds of UT students walked out of class to join in a large pro-Palestinian demonstration. Levy, with an Israeli flag pinned on his backpack, noticed a small group of Jewish students standing quietly off to the side. “People are being very cautious. You don’t want to be the next student to get punched in the face,” Levy said, referring to an incident at Tulane University where a Jewish student was smacked with a megaphone during a tussle over an Israeli flag.

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator asked him how he could defend Israel. “I sat there in the rain for an hour and a half talking to students about why I supported Israel,” Levy said. He talked about the importance of a Jewish homeland, about his conviction that Hamas was a terrorist organization, and that Israel had made mistakes but had a right to defend itself. Some of the students with the pro- Palestinian group, he said, didn’t understand what Hamas was and had just been told by friends or social media that Israel was committing genocide and was an apartheid state.

“A lot of students have been eager to engage in dialogue and weren’t just here to yell in my face,” Levy said. At the local Hillel, a Jewish campus-life organization with chapters on many campuses, he said they’ve discussed organizing a “neutral- ground dialogue.” But despite Levy’s success in engaging with students one on one, he doesn’t feel the campus is ready for group discussions. “We came to the conclusion that things need to cool down first,” he said.

Other students, like Katie Halushka, a Jewish senior at George Washington University, also wouldn’t be comfortable participating in an open forum or other type of civil discourse. While she hasn’t felt threatened much on campus, even after Students for Justice in Palestine projected messages on a campus building, she’s still tried to avoid talking about the war out of fear that it could permanently sever some of her relationships.

“It’s been sort of a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation,” Halushka said. “If you say anything, someone will be upset with you.”

A popular move among college administrators has been to establish advisory groups to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia. They are typically made up of faculty members, experts, and sometimes students.

Most of the groups, often called task forces, lack the authority to make changes or respond directly to incident reports, but they meet multiple times a week to evaluate campus policies and climate.

Following its creation in early November, Columbia University’s 15-person Task Force on Antisemitism first met in full in mid-December. Columbia has been one of the most tumultuous campuses in recent months, with several tense rallies, dueling faculty statements, and clashes between students. It’s one of the colleges under investigation by the Department of Education for incidents of alleged antisemitism and Islamophobia. The university also banned two pro-Palestinian groups — Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace — saying the groups held “unauthorized” events that included “threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The following week, 400 students and 200 faculty members protested the suspensions.

One of the group’s main goals is to evaluate the university’s policies on free speech and demonstrations, said Nicholas Lemann, a co-chair of the task force. When Columbia suspended the student groups, many on campus were unclear whether it was on the grounds of an existing campus policy or if the administration had created a new one. Once the group understands the specifics of the policies, Lemann said, they’ll recommend how to revise them.

He also hopes the group can study the root cause of discomfort among Jewish students, evaluate where antisemitism is present in classrooms, and include lessons on antisemitism in orientation programs for incoming freshmen.

“This is not an easy moment at our campus and many other campuses,” Lemann said. “But I do think that our charge from the president and the way we have been working so far makes me optimistic that we can produce something useful.”

Some task forces have had a rockier start, though. Ari Kelman recently resigned as co-chair of a Stanford University subcommittee on antisemitism, bias, and communication, after some controversy about his writings on the difficulties of defining antisemitism.

David Wolpe, a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, arrived at Harvard University’s Divinity School as a visiting scholar planning to do research and teach a class on Jewish spirituality. But since October 7, combating antisemitism has become his “full-time job.”

Amid a whirlwind of complaints over her response to the war and a highly publicized statement from a coalition of student groups solely blaming Israel for “all unfolding violence,” Gay, who was then Harvard’s president, called Wolpe asking for help. She was “clearly shaken,” Wolpe said, and he agreed to join a new advisory panel to help her respond to antisemitism on campus.

Wolpe’s inbox has since been filled with reports of antisemitism at Harvard, and he’s spent much of his time talking with administrators, donors, and alumni about the problem. But following Gay’s testimony during the House hearing this month, Wolpe met a breaking point. In a now-viral X thread, he announced his resignation from the panel.

While Wolpe anticipated that the university would make changes to campus, he said it wasn’t moving fast enough to discipline students, define antisemitism, enforce current regulations, or begin “serious education about Judaism and antisemitism.” Gay’s testimony was the final straw. “I saw what was going on as a five-alarm fire,” Wolpe said. “The way it was being treated was a sort of slow- burning flame.”

The focus, he said, should be on creating civil discourse and communication. Many campuses have become “screaming echo-chambers” where students find it impossible to have a conversation with someone whose view is different from their own, he said.

“If you can’t model civil discourse at Harvard University, where do you expect it?” Wolpe said.

There’s no sign that the political, cultural, and legal pressures on colleges over their handling of antisemitism will let up anytime soon. In addition to investigating the responses to antisemitism at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce has set up an email address to report antisemitism on college campuses.

Wealthy donors will continue to flex their muscle, and faculty groups will continue to push back. The president of the American Association of University Professors, Irene Mulvey, issued a statement on December 12 saying that universities are obliged to protect both student safety and free expression. “We must not allow partisan actors to exploit this moment to demand further control over university curriculum and policy in order to shape American higher education to a political agenda,” she wrote.

Student protests continued to reverberate as the semester came to a close. Many of the demonstrators’ tactics have become increasingly disruptive — sit-ins, occupying buildings past normal hours of operation, and directly targeting campus programs and partnerships with Israel.

Colleges have ramped up their consequences as well. On December 11, 41 Brown University students were arrested after holding a pro-Palestinian sit-in at a university building and refusing to leave before 6 p.m. The next day, Rutgers University suspended a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine on its New Brunswick campus for “disrupting classes, a program, meals, and students studying” and “allegations of vandalism,” according to a letter an administrator sent the organization. The student group accused the university of applying a “racist double standard” and attempting to silence Palestinian voices. Rutgers is the first public college to suspend the group.

As war continues to rage in the Gaza Strip, those who are pleading for a free exchange on campus of even sharply divergent opinions worry it may never come. Melnick, the professor from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, said that despite his “annoyingly optimistic” nature, he’s never seen the campus climate as grim as it has been over the past few months. And, with no easy solutions, some fear the turmoil could deepen in the new year.

An incident at Syracuse University in December underscored just how fraught things have become. Even a seemingly innocuous event — in this case an advertised study session before finals — can become a flashpoint. Students were gathered in the student center on December 14, three days after the university’s chancellor had released a statement saying that calling for the genocide of any group of people would violate the university’s conduct code. One student had taped a flier to her laptop that read “globalize the Intifada.” Some students complained they felt threatened. A campus administrator asked the student to remove it and she refused, a video posted on Instagram showed. The administrator told her the word called for genocide, and constituted harassment. She told him the word meant uprising and did not call for genocide.

A campus spokeswoman said other students had similar fliers that they were told to put away in their notebooks or book bags and that when they didn’t, they were told such refusal violated the student-conduct code. It’ll be up to the university’s Community Standards office to determine what, if any, punishment they’ll face.

[hollywoodfamerp]

Hotel Adlon Kempinski

In the heart of Berlin, facing the Brandenburg Gate and only a few steps from the government district, you will find the legendary five-star luxury Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin. A total of 385 elegant rooms and suites, 3 top-tier restaurants, including Lorenz Adlon Esszimmer, which has been awarded with 2 Michelin stars, and a spacious spa meet the highest demands of every guest!

Under the cut is the roommates list. Couples have been roomed together and everyone else was randomized by a generator. If you have been roomed with another fc that you play, please message us politely and we will fix it asap! Roommates are subject to change due to unfollows, follows, activity check etc. so please like this post to keep up to date on any changes.

UPDATED 9/27 @ 7:20 PM EST

Demi Bennett (Rhea Ripley) - Ashley Fliehr (Charlotte Flair) 

Fergal Devitt - Renee Young

Hwang Hyunjin - Bang Chan

Sarah Paulson - Jessica Lange

Lee Know (Minho) - Lee Felix

Park Jinyoung - Lim Jaebeom

Awsten Knight - Miley Cyrus 

Kim Jisoo - Christian Yu

Choi Minho - Kim Ahyoung (Yura)

Tyler Hoechlin - Maura Higgins

Maika Monroe - Dylan O'Brien

Kim Mingyu - Sana Minatozaki 

Zoey Deutch - Geoff Wigington

Kelsea Ballerini - Joe Keery

Shay Mitchell - Andy Biersack

Zendaya - Timothee Chalamet

Vanessa Hudgens - Austin Butler

Dua Lipa - Maya Hawke

Yoo Siah (Yooa) - Kim Minjeong (Winter)

Xiao Dejun (Xiaojun) - Yoo Jimin (Karina) 

Min Yoongi - Kim Namjoon

Kim Hongjoong - Diamanté Quiava Valentin Harper (Saweetie)

Julianna Margulies - Cate Blanchett

Jung Yoonoh (Jaehyun) - Lee Taeyong

Jackson Wang - Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul (Ten)

Sebastian Stan - Margot Robbie

Colby Lopez (Seth Rollins) - Rebecca Quin (Becky Lynch)

Pamela Martinez (Bayley) - Mercedes Justine Varnado (Sasha Banks)

Lucas Wong - Kim Jungwoo 

Lee Taemin - Kim Jongin 

Tom Holland - Natalia Dyer

Akanishi Jin - Lee Sunmi

Mark Lee - Lee Donghyuck (Haechan)

Zoë Kravitz - Lili Reinhart

Beyoncé Knowles - Gong Yoo

Lupita Nyong'o -Tessa Thompson

Sarah Drew - Brett Tucker

Gareth Southgate - Kendall Jenner

Choi Soobin - Sofia Carson

Ryan Gosling - Cha Eunwoo

Jensen Ackles - Jonathan Good (Jon Moxley)

Hwang Yeji - Camila Morrone

Park Seonghwa - Romee Strijd

Lee Jeno - Louis Tomlinson

Jung Wooyoung - Mazz Murray

Byun Baekhyun  - Harry Kane

Choi San - Taylor Zakhar Perez

Olivia Rodrigo - Elizabeth Olsen

Hailey Baldwin - Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (Megan Thee Stallion)

Florence Pugh - Carrie Underwood

Selena Gomez - Anya Taylor-Joy

Liam Hemsworth - Kang Seulgi

Adelaine Kane  - Chace Crawford

Jang Gyuri - Molly-Mae Hague

Jessica Chastain - Ross Lynch

Sydney Sweeney - Park Seoham

Park Jihyo - Sam Claflin

Ben Feldman - America Ferrera

Taylor Momsen - Blake Lively

Bill Skarsgard - Jacob Elordi

Nicholas Galitzine - Mason Mount

Sabrina Carpenter - Jenna Ortega

Niall Horan - Ariana Grande

Kim Taehyung - Wong Kunhang (Hendery)

Samantha Gibb - Leati Joseph Anoa'i (Roman Reigns)

Joey King - Joshua Wong

Lauren Jauregui - Min Yoongi

Taylor Swift  - Naomi Scott

Lucy Hale - Emma Mackey

Jeon Jungkook - David Corenswet

Otto Wood - Madelyn Cline

Halle Bailey - Brittany Baker (Britt Baker)

Cillian Murphy - Chris Evans

Chris Hemsworth - Na Jaemin

Lily James – Glen Powell

Olivia Culpo - Danny Amendola 

Bruno Mars - Gigi Hadid

Josephine Skriver - Aaron Taylor Johnson

Harry Styles - Sofia Carson

Nick Jonas - Jennie Kim

[gcddamnvampirea]

( okay bc tumblr is being a butt, this is what i currently have queued and in my drafts. if I'm missing something, please let me know. <33 )

@dozenzofrozez

maxwell & scarlett

kennedy & onyx

@mccntower

lydia & ace

jackson & leanne

harley & iridescent

@vicletnight

parker & trenton

elliot & iris

taylor & saige

grace & river

@siiinfully

malachi & eve

@foolishonewriting

elliot && adelaide

regina & harper

dylan & hadley

norah & carter

roxanne & diego

tbd & sophie

vittoria & elle

ismail & tabitha

dallas & rose

levi & chloe

cameron & nathan

james & matilda

charles & jasmine

savannah & james

jackson & daisy

sebastain & aurora

kathryn & isabelle

@emeraldhazes

serenity & rhea

@popcultr

tbh & riley

@mantlehold

rosalie & regina

@desiredisgvst

james & freya

@dishonaesty

james & bianca

@sinistersxns

river & loren

@twistxdtales

brooklyn & emin

@hxtties

yesenia & raul

cassandra & stefan

@mndstom

cheyenne & chloe

phillip & lydia

elliot & maia

charles & naeun

@everyoneisagame

angelica & felix

@bloomswilds

yesenia & alberto

malachi & aubree

@thewolfruns

shiloh & salem

@everettandersonandmuses

norah & everett

@blushdrunks

tbd & natasha

charles & erin

javier & jocelyn

@troobelliever2ndgig

valeria & tyler

dallas & tyler

@cruelangcls

xiamara & blair

@somebrokenfate

sebastian & shay

jacob & maggie

@purehoneybees

bianca & dennis

@thewxnderer

olivia & brenton

@talesfromthevoiid

valeria & dani

@fangsandmagic

riley & nicola

@loyaltybroken

samuel & isabelle

grace & yvonne

@camilish

brooklyn & michael

@huntrcssqueen

sebastian & skylar

phoenix & sebastian

norah & austin

elliot & willow

brooklyn & reid

william & taylor

hope & jacob

georgia & nathaniel

jackson & kassandra

giovanni & phoenix

wesley & liliana

jacob & bridget

micah & elizabeth

naomi & joshua

@missmvrder

kennedy & declan

maxwell & shiloh

@tearfest

nathaniel & penelope

@seolinah

samuel & liz

@lellarps

tbh & cassian

@bitemescftly

theodore & anna

@agentwicked

savannah & alastair

@lostxones

micah & carsyn

@headofrdi

xiamara & rick

evelyn & rick

@whileurmine

olivia & liam

tbd & santiago

tbh & johnny

cameron & nash

georgia & xander

@intcxications

charles & kat

@mysteryoflovc

shiloh & freddie

[landrysg]

Leaving aside what impact, if any, the protests had on global events, let’s consider the more granular effect the protests will have on the protesters’ job prospects and future careers. ... A desire to protect future professional plans no doubt factored into the protesters’ cloaking themselves in masks and kaffiyehs. According to a recent report in The Times, “The fear of long-term professional consequences has also been a theme among pro-Palestine protesters since the beginning of the war.” ...

“Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses,” Tyler Austin Harper noted recently in The Atlantic. “Students took them at their word.” Imagine the surprise of one freshman who was expelled from Vanderbilt after students forced their way into an administrative building. As he told The Associated Press, protesting in high school was what helped get him into college in the first place; he wrote his admission essay on organizing walkouts, and got a scholarship for activists and organizers. ...

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations lacked the moral clarity of the anti-apartheid demonstrations. Along with protesters demanding that Israel stop killing civilians in Gaza, others stirred fears of antisemitism by justifying the Oct. 7 massacre, tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis, shoving “Zionists” out of encampments and calling for “globalizing the intifada” and making Palestine “free from the river to the sea.” ...

Employers generally want to hire people who can get along and fit into their company culture, rather than trying to agitate for change. They don’t want politics disrupting the workplace. ...

[mariacallous]

tyler austin harper gotta be one of the most insufferable people on the bird app. he said one reason that men were cratering rightward is because they're afraid of the draft, as if that was a reasonable concern and dems' "failure to address it" cost us the election. like dude log off.

Every time he tweets it's like a terrorist attack on my fucking sanity.

[freshlyblaked]

selling the oc season two

[swldx]

BBC 0408 3 Aug 2024

12095Khz 0359 3 AUG 2024 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55334. English, dead carrier s/on @0358z then ID@0359z pips and newsroom preview. @0401z World News anchored by David Harper. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a pre-trial agreement reached with men accused of plotting the 11 September 2001 attacks. The original deal, which would reportedly have spared the alleged attackers the death penalty, was criticised by some families of victims. The US will deploy additional warships and fighter jets to the Middle East to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said. Tensions remain high in the region over the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and a key commander of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro says ‘perverse and macabre’ electoral rivals are stoking protests as US official calls for governments to acknowledge Edmundo González Urrutia as election winner. Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said Friday. Guatemala’s government announced Monday that it has given temporary residency to 207 Mexicans, mostly children, on humanitarian grounds, after they fled across the border last week to escape drug violence. Saturday marked exactly 10 years since Islamic State (IS) entered Iraq’s Sinjar province, displacing, killing and enslaving hundreds of thousands of Yazidis. On Saturday morning, crowds gathered for a ceremony to remember victims of the genocide at the “grave of the mothers”, where 111 elderly women were shot dead or buried alive after being separated from their family members. Aerosmith retire from touring due to permanent damage to Steven Tyler's voice. @0406z "The Newsroom" begins. Built-in Whip Antenna, XHData D-219, 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2259.

[heavenlyhoundoom]

We're gonna go further back with the grandparents' childhoods.(next gen fnaf x Willy's Wonderland au)

1.Astra grew up in Syracuse, New York with her mother, Starla, her father, Apollo, and her big brother, Sirius. Their childhood home looks like this.

2.Oswald grew up in Macedon, New York with his Mother, Brooke, his father, Merlin, and his younger identical twin, Harry. Their childhood home looks like this.

3.Skye grew up in Washington, Connecticut with her mother, Madison, her father, Caleb, and her big sister, Ella. Their childhood home looks like this.

4.Jason grew up in Ontario, New York with his mother, Chole, his father, Nathan, his big sister, Riley, and his little brother, Tyler. Their childhood home looks like this.

5.Trisha grew up in Newark, New York with her mother, Nancy, her father, Gabriel, and her big sisters, Lauren and Olivia. Their childhood home looks like this.

6.Leonard grew up as an only child in Waterloo, New York with his mother, Karen, and his father, James. His childhood home looks like this.

7.Maria grew up in Bernal, Mexio with her mother, Isabella, her father, José, her little sister, Camila, and her little brothers, Diego and Luis. Maria inherited her childhood home when her parents decided to move to Mexico City, they gave it to her because she was the first to have kids.

8.Jonathan grew up in Dallas, Texas with his mother Katelin, his father, Anthony, and his big sister, Carol. Their childhood home looks like this.

9.Dixie grew up in Lancaster, New York with her mother, Julia, her father, Gavin, and her big sister, Ava. Their childhood home looks like this.

10.Herbert grew up in Buffalo, New York with his mother, Deborah, his father, Logan, and his little sister, Kayla. Their childhood home looks like this.

11.Lily grew up as an only child in Toronto, Canada with her mother, Susan and her father, Jeffrey. Her childhood home looks like this.

12.Austin grew up in Canandaigua, New York with his mother, Alexis, his father, Cameron, and his big sisters, Sadie and Linda. Their childhood home looks like this.

13.Jasmine grew up as an only child in Newark, New York with her mother, Clover and her father, Ryan. Her childhood home looks like this.

14.Adam grew up in Waterloo, New York with his mother, Barbara, his father, Lincoln, his big sister, Kimberly, and his little brother, Jack. Their childhood home looks like this.

15.Michelle grew up in Naperville, Illinois with her mother, Amelia, her father, Donald, and her older identical twin, Makayla. Their childhood home looks like this.

16.Robert grew up in Chicago, Illinois with his mother, Harper, his father, Benjamin, and his little brother, Lucas. Their childhood home looks like this.

17.Sherry grew up in Brisbane, Australia with her mother, Abigail, her father, Hudson, and her little brother, Warren. Their childhood home looks like this.

18.Daniel grew up as an only child with his mother, Sophia and his father, Gary. His childhood home looks like this.

[chenfordswopez]

Full Name: Carly Lisa Shay

Nicknames: My Sister (by Spencer), Carls, Cupcake, Carly Girl, Mrs.Benson (by Sam), My Best Friend (by Sam and Freddie), My Girl, Frisky, Life Alert (by Freddie), Little Baby, Kiddo, My Sweet Carly, Girl, (by Spencer), Stupid American Girl (by Wade Collins), Dumbo, Dummy (by Mrs. Benson), Aunty Carly (by Charlie and Julie)

Gender: Female

Birthday: July 24, 1994

Age: 29

Occupation: Host of iCarly/YouTuber, Student at Ridgeway Junior High School (formerly, graduated), Employee at The Groovy Smoothie (formerly), Employee at the 32 Flavors Ice Cream Shop (formerly)

Education: Ridgeway Junior High School (graduated)

Residence: Apartment 8-E, Bushwell Plaza (currently), Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza (formerly), Italy (formerly)

Hair Color: Dark brown, Brown with blonde highlights (revival season 1 & 2), Dark Brown (revival season 3)

Eye Color: Brown

Family: Colonel Steven Shay (father), Mrs. Shay (mother), Spencer Shay (older brother), Granddad Shay (grandfather), Gramma Shay (grandmother), Great Grammy Shay (great-grandmother), Barry Dorfman (uncle), Tess Dorfman (aunt), Faye Dorfman (cousin), Ozlottis Dorfman (cousin), Margaret (aunt), Sunny Johnson (11th cousin), Potter Shay (niece), Julia Puckett (honorary niece), Charlie Shay (niece), nine other nieces and nephews

Friends: Harper Bettencourt (best friend; roommate). Freddie Benson (best friend), Tori Vega (close friend, future girlfriend), Millicent Mitchell, Sam Puckett (best friend), Principal Franklin, Sunny Johnson (11th cousin), Gibby Gibson, T-Bo, Melanie Puckett, Wendy, Shelby Marx, Missy Robinson (formerly), Claire, Toji, Gwen, Paul Denham, Lewbert Sline, Tinsley

Romances: Tori Vega (crush, has feelings for), Sam Puckett (kissed one, bi awakening), Freddie Benson (Ex Boyfriend), Ben Huebscher (first kiss), Jake (former crush), Gibby Gibson (one date), Shane (dated), Nevel Papperman (alternative reality boyfriend), Griffin (ex-boyfriend), Austin (one date), Adam (former crush), Steven Carson (ex-boyfriend), Kyle (ex-boyfriend), Cort (former crush), Lance (one date), Gary Wolf (former crush), Luke Tyler (one date), Justin (dated), Trenton (one date), Beau (ex-boyfriend), Wes (ex-boyfriend), Troy (dated)

Pets: Cookie (former bunny), Shelly (former baby chick), Huevo (former baby chick), Omelet (former baby chick), Benedict (former baby chick), Yoko (former baby chick), Poachy (former baby chick), Sparky (former dog)

Enemies: Nevel Papperman, Tasha, Valerie, Ms. Briggs, Mr. Devlin, Jonah, Amber Tate, Zeebo, Ms. Ackerman, Kyoko and Yuki, Wade Collins, Missy Robinson, Chuck Chambers, Chip Chambers, Mr. Howard, The Petographers, Nora Dershlit, Mr. and Mrs. Dershlit, Penny Tee Employees, Steven Carson, Aspartamay, Ashley, Dana Bukowski, Mandy Valdez, Griffin, Beau, Wes, Argentina Woolridge, Pearl Wallace, Prunella Pitz-Papperman, Emily Haines, Myrtle, Her mother

First Appearance: iPilot (OG), iStart Over (Revival)

Last Appearance: iGoodbye (OG), TBD