#white rose week 2021

[netherfeildren]

Someone's Wife in the Boat of Someone's Husband .Epilogue

Series Masterlist

(Joel Miller x F!Reader)

Rating: Explicit 18+

A/N: Here we find ourselves again at the end of another story, and I just need to say a quick thing to you all who have been so incredibly kind and supportive and lovely to me throughout this. It has always been difficult for me to talk about myself and the things I feel, and a large part of why I began this writing thing was that I’ve felt for a while now that my life was stagnant and myself without growth or change, and I didn’t really know how to fix it, but I knew that I wanted to do something or say something, and writing fan fiction may seem like a frivolous sort of avenue to achieve those things, but what you all have given me, and the warmth and support you all have welcomed me with, cannot be compared to anything else I’ve experienced thus. Quite simply, you all have been so fucking nice to me, and you can’t know what it means to me or how grateful I am for it. So really that’s all I want to say which is a million times thank you, and I appreciate you all so much, and I hope I can continue to write for you for a long time to come. 

Artwork is Cloud Nine by Amy Beager (2021)

Word Count: 1.3K

Read on AO3

.Epilogue

A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.

Joan Didion, The White Album

I had a dream recently: we’re in my grandmother’s house, and I don’t know what it means, but we’re together. You’ll never be able to know my parents, and even though my grandmother passed years ago, you get to meet her here – she was always kind to me, here in this place where only I make the rules. She cooks us a meal, we say grace, and she tells you how happy she is that we've found each other. At night, tucked away into her guest bedroom together, you don’t fit in her little shower, head knocking against the spout because you’re too tall. Too big for this world. We huddle into the little double bed together in the dark afterwards, lace edged pillows scratchy and smelling faintly of moths and roses, and we laugh and press together tightly and whisper into each other’s ears. 

I don't know what it means, but I know we’re together. My mother never told me to be what I wanted, but I did so anyway. I chose to live. Now I am here with you. 

-

“I have something for you,” he says one late summer evening. The two of you are sitting on the back porch, watching Sarah run around with the new puppy he’d brought home for her earlier in the week. The air, warm and muggy, the sound of cicadas sounding like the symphony of summertime. It is a small, velvet lined black box, and when you open it, a spool of thread lies within. 

Faithlessness is escaped like this: “The first time I got married, it was out of necessity, obligation, a wish for something good or right. It seemed like the right step, the right thing to do, but I think you and I– we know what we are to each other. We have always known – even when we could not yet say it. This is a conscious act, us loving one another, an act of will – out of desire or necessity, even, or perhaps – a necessity for each other – but still, we are an act of will together.”

He takes the spool then, and makes a loop of the thread around your ring finger – then ties a little knot around you. Now you are caught. 

“I thought I always had to stick by my decisions until the end, but change is only natural, it’s the intent behind your decisions, I think, that’s what really counts. We’ve learned much about intent together, haven’t we? And you and I, we have always been us –  from the very first moment. There was a thread that connected us.” And you cannot speak, for there are tears streaming down your face and flooding your throat, battling with your very heart that’s lodged there too, but you nod anyway.

He pulls his hand back and lets the spool unravel, when he uncurls his fingers a diamond ring slides down the thread and onto your waiting hand.

“You and I – we’re connected,” he says. “Every day we become more entwined. And I want us to stay like this for the rest of our lives. Every day more and more. Will you marry me?” And it is not so much a question, but a promise. 

“Yes,” you tell him. Of course you will be his wife. “Of course, I will.” He kisses you. 

-

You wake one lazy Sunday morning, months and months of happiness later, your head anchored over his heart. Warm and soft and surrounded by him, you open your eyes to take in the sight of your hand laying over his heart, the gleam of your engagement ring sparkling in the sun. You stretch your legs and listen to the creak in your knee, and when you shift to turn your face up to him, he’s already looking down at you. 

“My love, it’s almost noon,” he murmurs, presses a kiss to your eyelid.

Your eyes are so heavy, your head drowsy, “‘M so sleepy, dunno why…” You burrow further back into his chest, yawning. 

“No?” he nuzzles the crown of your head, hand creeping around to cup your breast and gently drag his thumb back and forth across your nipple 

“I had a dream we had a baby,” you mumble, voice full of sleep.

“Did you?”

“Yeah,” you say through another yawn.

“Hmm…” He shifts up on his elbow over you, pressing a soft kiss to your shoulder, another over the curve of your ear. You roll into him, hiding your face under his jaw and breathing in his smell, sleep and musk and Joel. “What was it like?” he asks softly, dragging his hand down the length of your spine. “Tell me.”

“It was perfect. She was perfect.”

“She?”

You hum, “Little baby girl…”

He’s quiet for a moment, and then the tolling of the bell: “Your period’s three weeks late, sweet girl,” he whispers into your ear, shares the secret with you, nuzzles into the crook of your neck. His palm sweeps over your belly, and you freeze at his words, thinking back, trying to count days, finally snapping truly awake. 

“What? Why– why didn’t you say anything?”

A deep sound hums in his chest as his hand sneaks over your hip to clutch a handful of your ass, and then to cup between your legs, pressing his growing erection into the apex of your thighs.“Thought you’d want to come to it on your own.” He kisses the tip of your breast over your soft, lace camisole. 

You don’t cry anymore, or, well, at least not as often as you once did. A constant well of tears ready to spill over at any moment. No longer a weeper, in a long line of weepers. There’s just too much happiness for that now. 

But you cry now, at this, you can’t help yourself. The feeling of this, the idea of the two of you coming together to make your own little person, a sibling for Sarah, it’s a call for happiness of the highest order, like nothing else that’s ever come before it. He holds you in his arms, kisses you deep and wet, and as he licks into your mouth, you feel his own tears slide along your cheeks, intertwine with your own.

-

He finds the two of you singing and dancing to Shania Twain in the family room, Sarah’s own special, revised version, one afternoon. Bumping hips, and then clutching hands to spin Sarah away from your body, and then twirl her back in, squeezing her tight in your arms, picking her up to spin around with her yourself as the two of you sing at each other. 

His daughter catches him spying over your shoulder, “Daddy, come dance with us!” and you turn, gracing him with the sight of your gorgeous smile, as he comes over to wrap his arms around the two of you, relieving you of her weight. He anchors a hand to the small of your back to steady you, feeling the small swell of your belly press into his pelvis. Let me let you in on a secret, Shania sings.

“You wanna hear it?” you tease. How to treat a woman right.

“Don’t I know already?”

You sway in his arms and he brings his hand up to cup the back of your head, Sarah’s little palm is on his cheek, tugging at his beard, spin us, Daddy, spin us!

“Yeah, baby, you do. Like no one else.” He kisses you, and the three of you spin together, around and around. You’ll see love is gonna play its part.

Netherfeildren's Masterlist

#someone's fic #Joel miller #the last of us fic #joel miller x female reader #Joel Miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fluff #joel miller smut #the last of us fanfiction #joel miller/you #joel miller x reader #joel miller fic

[dayseternal-blog]

Summary: Dates at home solidify their love.

Initially drafted for NH Week 2021 Day 1 Prompts: First Time / Blank Period / Innocent. Completed and posted for NaruHina Fair, NH Month 2023 Day 3 Prompt: Cuddles.

Rated E for smut.

"Cuddles" - Short One-shot

Everything in the entire world is quiet and fluffy, as if the clouds of dusk stole through his window, surrounding him while he slept.

His fiancée is cuddled up into his side, molded perfectly to him…

Through sleep-worn, bleary eyes, he manages to regard her dozing form, defenseless and without care.  Her eyes closed to the worries outside of his room, her smaller hand curled on his chest, her soft breasts squishing up against his side.

His focus caresses the outlines of her body, visible along her clothing, and…

She was bathed in light and wearing next to nothing.

Heaviness clutches at his groin, memories of something that never happened flash beneath his eyelids.

A dream?  His dream from just now?

He grimaces as blood rushes low, and he can remember how she stood in his room wearing something white and very sheer, who cares that he’s never seen her wear anything like that before, but she was, the roundness of every part of her--deep cleavage, dark nipples, flaring hips, soft thighs--teasing him, pleasing him, and she shyly smiled with her lips parted just so .

Tingles scritch along his fingers, his toes, his dick, and he fidgets as he realizes he’s quickly sporting a problem.  Instinctively, his arm wraps over her shoulder to hold her body closer to his, his pelvis tilting sideways to rub against her.  Restless hands smooth over the dip of her waist to the slope of her lower back, and he closes his eyes as a kind of bliss washes through him.

They’ve been getting sort of...really excited around each other recently, like this afternoon before they fell asleep, but it doesn’t feel like he’s been “holding himself back” or “rushing things.”  They have been taking each step of their relationship in stride together, treating the meeting of lips and air and tongues as something new and different, the emotions running thick through their bodies as something to be enjoyed and explored.

He hasn’t had a perverted dream like this since he was maybe 14.

And back then, it wasn’t Hinata.

Back then, his dreams were raunchier, his clothes suddenly disappearing, dark rooms, tangled bodies with a face he couldn’t remember and all that.

Nothing so...angelic?  Innocent?  Leaving him wanting more?  So...Hinata?

He squeezes her to him, inhaling deeply, carefully and slowly humping at her stomach, and his breath turns heavy with desire.  His mouth feels dry as he imagines hugging her like that, naked beneath a little slip of silky cloth, her eyes inviting him to touch and know .

“Naruto-kun?”  Her drowsy voice halts his movement, but his piece strains out for more of her comfort, and he knows she feels it twitching.

“Hinata...,” he answers lowly, and he can’t stop his body from twisting a bit against her, his senses desperate for any tiny bit of relief.

Her face buries into his shoulder, her arm tightening over his width, her boobs and stomach and legs rubbing on him.

Abs contracting, he stiffens against her snuggling, and now he’s awake enough to finally realize that he’s full-on horny, ready to continue what they were doing almost an hour ago now that she’s awake.

“You’re hard,” she murmurs.

At her vocal noticing, he doesn’t stop himself from humping a little against her, encouraging her to understand exactly how hard he is.  “Yeah.”

She leans away to peek up at him through long lashes, a blush spreading above her shy smile, a good sign.  “How come?”

“How come?” he repeats, just to see her blush darken to a satisfying rose.

“Yeah, I was just sleeping here...we weren’t doing anything,” she quietly explains.

“I have you in my bed, sleeping on me!”  He repeats her words with a squeezing cuddle, and she giggles, everything about her curvy form and happy voice easily turning him on, keeping him excited.

He looks down, she looks up, her dazy eyes meeting his own, her lips parting into that perfect invitation.

He wants to kiss her so badly, but he also wants to see her reaction to the fact that… “I also had a dream.”

Her eyes widen.  “...a dream...?”

“Yeah, about you,” he murmurs, humping at her in emphasis.

“Naruto-kuun…” she quietly whines, her face pushing once more against his shoulder.

He could’ve guessed that she’d be really embarrassed, and he feels just the teensiest smidgen of guilt.  “It wasn’t that bad.  I didn’t even touch you in the dream.”

She untucks her face, confusion apparent in the slope of her brows.

Unconsciously, his hand squeezes at her hip, his voice dropping lower.  “You were wearing a dress that was whitish...and see-through.”

She squirms in embarrassment against him, her arm over him tightening, and another rush of attraction jolts through his cock.

“You were standing right there, by my bed.”

She hums a kind of sound, squeezing and pushing her pink face into his shoulder as if to hide.

Shifting up more onto his side, his chest receives her embarrassment instead, and he embraces her into him, eyes closing, senses honing in on the soft swells of her body.  “You’re so sexy, Hinata,” he mumbles.

One moment he feels her face turning up to him, the next, her plush kisses are blanking out his brain.  Her tongue gently caresses his own, and he can taste every little whimper and gasp of affection, warm and sweet.

She likes kissing him.  It’s obvious in the way she sounds and feels, enticing him to relish her soft solidity and find that deeper part of her that calls him in.

To come closer.

To discover more.

To massage, pinch, and taste when her blouse and bra drop to the floor, when she’s arching up for him as airy vowels leave her lips.

She sounds like sex.  Or what he at least imagines sex sounding like.  He remembers earlier last week, when she first bared her boobs for him, and when he first sucked on her nipple, he thought he hurt her.

She had to tell him that she felt good.

That piece of knowledge blew his mind.

Reading her scrunching up brows, the flush of her cheeks, the strange sounds that now ignite his libido.  Every “date” they’ve had at his place to avoid the crowds of fans, they’ve grown undeniably closer, physically closer, and for the past week, she’s been letting him play with her jiggly shapes and make out with her for who knows how long until she gets tired and his erection starts to calm.

Just like earlier today.

But his lust is back with a vengeance, totally recharged from their afternoon nap.

Leaving one hand to sink into her tit, he sucks kisses back up the sensitive path of her neck, along the smooth curve of her chin, back to her lips.

“Mmm…”  Her hips roll up toward him, and it’s instinctual to push down, for their groins to grind together.  “Na..ru...to...kun,” she breathes, her tone so needy that he rubs himself against her as heavily as he can, shots of pleasure making his jaw drop with an answering groan.

His hand slides down to cup her ass, his palm filling with the chiffon of her skirt and squishy flesh.  Eagerly, he rolls his hips against her pelvis, the length of him thrilling with the attention.  “Ugh, Hinata…”

“Mm...can you...take off..your clothes?”

He freezes.

Pale, misty eyes plead with him, and he needs no more convincing.  

Sitting up, he pulls his shirt off.  It’s a huge stroke to his ego to see her expression get even hornier, her lips fall open a little more, her lidded eyes trained on his body.  He hooks his thumbs into his pants, pausing there in case she wants to stop him.

But she doesn’t.  Instead, her hands mirror his, her thumbs sliding into her own waistband, and there his focus stays, raptly watching her raise her hips to pull the skirt over her rear.

He doesn’t even care where his pants and boxers land, the only thing that matters is bare skin sloping to the space between her tightly closed thighs, that quick glimpse he got imprinting on his mind.

Unthinkingly, his hands land on her knees and slide up her thighs, softer than he could have predicted.  Dazed, he watches her legs open for him, the secrets of her womanhood revealed for his leisure.

For all his peeping at the public baths in his youth, he never knew what this part of a girl really looked like.  Curious thumbs circle at the junction of her inner thighs and pelvis, caressing down and up, her butt shifting invitingly.

“Naruto-kun,” she whimpers.

“You’re so soft, Hinata…”  He glances up to see her biting her bottom lip, her eyes still lidded in sensual intimacy.  A stirring grips his core, and his thumbs venture further inwards, pushing upon even softer flesh.

“Ah..mm..ah…”  Her expression contorts, her eyes closing.

His jaw drops, desire surging fast and hard through his dick, his thumbs meeting in her center, dampness covering the pads of his thumbs.  His heart rate accelerates with the view of his thumbs opening her up, shockingly pink flesh glistening, arousal coating her skin as he rubs all over her down there.

“You’re so wet.”

That place, where he, his masculinity, goes, is wet.

She’s soft and wet, just for him.  She’s ready, squirming and panting, and he’s ready, and…

He pushes a finger between her folds, her slippery flesh hugging around the digit.  Every time he tries to pull out a bit, he can see her pussy resisting, tugging back with him.

She’s tight.

He’s subtly humping air as he buries his pointer finger to the second knuckle, twisting it this way and that.

“Mm..nnn..mm…”

“You’re so tight... I don’t think I can fit...”  There’s just no way his cock can fit.  His finger barely fits.  But soon enough, the whole digit sinks into her.

“Hahh..hahh…”  Her chest rises and falls rapidly, the pink stain on her cheeks down her neck vibrant.

Missing her warmth and taste, he leans back over to drink her breaths in, his finger turning and moving, attempting to loosen her more.  He muffles her whimpers and moans, shoving his tongue into her mouth, seeking out more of her kiss.

Warm liquid leaks around his finger as he rubs moist walls, and he imagines his cock buried in her heated flesh, as wet as his finger and tongue.

“I’m going to try two fingers,” he mumbles into their kiss.

Feeling her nod, he sits up again, draws his finger out, and examines the shine over his skin.  He rubs the arousal against his middle finger, idly noting how it’s longer than his pointer, how he’ll be tunneling even deeper than the first time, how when it’s finally his cock, how much deeper he’ll get…

His other hand at her hip, thumb rubbing circles over the smooth skin, he pushes both fingers in, marveling at how her hole stretches to accommodate the larger intrusion.  He wiggles them further in, testing the silky walls intent on suffocating his digits.

The softness is different from her boobs.

His free hand reaches up to remind himself how they jiggle like water balloons, well, except for her nipples.  He pinches one dusky peak, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger, delighting in the clenching around his fingers, the new arousal coating them, easing his intrusion.

Quicker than the first time, the two digits slide in, and he nudges back and forth like that, in time with his useless humping and the pinching of her nipple.

“Na..Na-...Naru...to-kun..”  Her head is shaking back and forth, the blush even more furious across her face, and it’s a real wonder to him how such easy, little motions of his hands make her look like she’s coming apart.

Leaning down, he manages to suck her nipple in, his tongue rolling it around, and then pressing on it like a button.

A magic button.  One that has her hole soaking his fingers in arousal.

He does the same to her other boob, ensuring both nipples are hard and pointy, making her gasps fill the air, and making his knuckles get wetter and wetter.

Pulling his fingers out, he climbs between her legs to flatten out and kiss her.

Her small hands smoothe over his shoulders to the back of his neck, into his hair, holding him close for each delirious lick and suck of her lips.  She pushes up toward him, pebbled nipples sliding and pushing into his chest, the cushion of her breasts taking his weight.

His hips jerk frantically against her, his length rubbing up and down her wet pussy, hot arousal coating the top of his dick.  “Hinata…”

“Naruto-kun…”

“Mm...ugh...”  Impatience boils over, and he shifts his hips, his dick poking at her, jabbing for entrance.  Blindly, he thrusts against her for relief, not caring that he’s missing her tiny hole, the bottom or top of his cock catching and sliding on the wet heat of her womanhood several times.

“Naruto-kun…”  Her eyes squeeze shut.  Her hand slides down between them, her fingertips lightly taking a hold of his girth.

With hazy eyes, he watches her give him the cutest expression yet.

She’s wide-eyed and pink-cheeked, the shimmer in her gaze flitting among uncertainty, shock, and adoration.  “You’re so big,” she murmurs, and he kisses her plump lips once, twice, before nodding.

“Because of you.  You’re so sexy.”

She shakes her head slightly.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” he huffs out in almost a chuckle.  His hips shift, his arousal-coated cock slipping slightly forward in her fingertips, his tip sliding down her moist heat.

Suddenly, her fingers lift and direct his cock at a certain angle, and his tip pushes up at softness.

Looking into her eyes, he searches for fear or hesitation, but it’s her usual, gentle shine, calm and trusting, and she gives the smallest nod.

Exhaling slowly, he places his weight forward with his pelvis, and instead of slipping, his piece nudges into hot flesh.

His jaw drops, breath catching in his throat.  “Hinata…”

Her eyes fall closed.

With clearer intention than before, he presses forward, more of his dick finding its way into her body.  “Augh…”  Short groans leave his throat as he pushes forward again, wet pussy wrapping entirely around more than just the head.  He leans more weight onto his forearms, his erection sliding deeper than he expected, almost a third of his cock sheathed in warmth.

“Oh!”  Her eyes pinch shut, and he freezes.

“Does it hurt?!”

She breathes several times, unable to answer his question, so he leans his weight onto one arm, and uses his other to grope her breast in hopes of making her feel good.

He massages it, then plucks at her nipple, her whole body immediately reacting to the stimulation, his cock nudging in deeper.  Lust flipping back on, he repeatedly pulls at her nipple, and she comes alive.

Her head tosses back and forth, her chest rising up, her ass wiggling, encouraging him to move with her.

Pulling out slightly first, he then shifts in deeper, lodging half his piece in her dripping clutch.

A moan falls from her kiss-swollen lips, and he leans back over to twirl his tongue with hers, his hips lightly thrusting back and forth, nudging himself deeper and deeper into squishy, tight flesh.

“Ahn, ahn, ahn, ahn,…”  Her repeated cries on his tongue urge him on, encourage him to snuggle the rest of the way in until his groin presses against hers.

He feels like he’s as hard as a steel rod, piercing straight through incredible silkiness, comfort pillowing around his heavy desire, accepting all of him…and happily, he hugs her close, cuddling her to his full heart.

“Naruto-kun,” she breathes, trembling beneath him, and he turns to suck kisses at her neck.

“I love you, Hinata.”

“Mm...I love you, Naruto-kun…”

He stays at her neck for a few more seconds, kissing and sucking in appreciative worship, enjoying the realization that he’s as close as possible to the love of his life, enjoying the reassuring feeling of her small hands squeezing at his back, enjoying the intimacy of her tight hold around the hard embodiment of all his adoration for her.

Twitching uncontrollably inside of her, his dick begs to reach even further in her, but he wants to see her face, to know if she’s alright, or better than alright.  So pushing his weight back up on his forearms, he catches her cloudy gaze.

She turns on a cute, little smile at him, one that lights up her lidded eyes and pools pink at her cheeks.

Unbidden, he’s smiling back, and lost in her gentle expression, fulfilled and affectionate contentment heavy in his chest, relief relaxing his fisted hands and tense arms,... he accidentally thrusts.

Shivers skate up his spine, new lust rigid in his cock, and he presses hard into her, grinding himself deep, watching her mouth fall open and a moan cry out.  He pulls out a bit and pushes back in, the unbelievable ecstasy catching him off-guard, the electricity in his veins just as loud as her gasp, and again, then again he humps into her warmth, bliss buzzing along his skin with each push of his hips.

A vague voice at the back of his mind tells him to slow down, and with every bit of his control, he manages to stop, a shudder fighting through with a heavy exhale.

Blearily, she finds his gaze, her hands sliding onto his cheeks.  “Naruto-kun,” she murmurs, and he knows she wants a kiss.

He tongues her mouth lovingly, wet lips meeting softly, her sweet taste making him strain into her, and he can’t stop himself from grinding against her, pushing up without pulling out, circling his hips in small movements, his piece desperately trying to snuggle deeper into the plush give of her body.

“I love you,” she murmurs against his lips, and he mumbles his love back, his thrusts starting to gain an urgency once more, his control slipping with the feeling of her soft form fitting so perfectly to his need.

“Hahh...Hinata…”

“Ahh...mm...ahn...Naru..to..kun…oh…”

Eyes closed, face buried in her hair, he loses himself in the tug and glide of his stiff dick into her soothing flesh, the shift of her soft body with each thrust, her breasts squishing repeatedly into his chest, her breathy moans caressing his ears.  “Hinata…”  Hot arousal bathes his cock, easing each piercing thrust, each pull-out to the tip before pushing his length smoothly into her. “Oh!  Na, ru, to, kun, oh!  Oh!”  

“Hah..ugh…”  He shoves himself into her and lifts up onto his hands to watch her.  “You feel...so good, Hinata...”

Her eyes gleam happily for a second before his thrust melts it away.  Her facial expression changes with each pump of his hips, a slight drop of her jaw, a quiver of her brows, a little tongue reaching out, her eyes squeezing shut.  Her small hands squeeze at his forearms, her fingers tightening into his muscles whenever he sinks home.  And her boobs.

He’s been aware of how big they are for awhile now.

And this week, he’s become aware of exactly how soft they are.

But nothing could have prepared him for how they move on her chest, jumping and jiggling, and he finds himself tunneling into her creamy folds faster, harder, his hips slapping at the backs of her thighs just to see them react.  Her swollen nipples nod at him in enticing circles, and further arousal sparks hot and bright in his mind.

Sitting up, he palms the teasing shapes, squeezing so her nipples rise and skin spills between his fingers, and his gaze drags down the sweet taper of her waist, down her smooth tummy, down to their joining.

The rigid base of his cock gleams whenever he pulls out of her heat, then so easily disappears into pussy lips sucking around his thick girth.  Hovering his hands just above her nipples, he pulls out a little farther and glides in, her breasts jiggling, her nipples brushing gently at his palms, a breathy whine rising from her lips.  He pulls out even farther, attention rapt on how her pussy follows the curve of his dick, holding the head warm inside, and he glides back in, bumping his groin to hers, hard nipples tickling his palms, an “Ahh~” floating up from his flushed love.

Holding her lidded gaze, he breathes out, “Hinata,” and he’s pulling out, sliding back in, popping himself in and out of her soft body, enjoying the sight of her scrunching eyes and sound of her moaning in stimulated bliss.  Her swollen nipples dance lightly under his palms until she arches, squishing her own boobs up into his hands with an impatient whine.

Heightening, clawing need has him thrusting more insistently, has him indulging in squeezing her boobs, tracing the curves of her waist, and gripping the smooth slopes of her hips.  “So, sexy, Hinata…”

She shakes her head slightly.  “Naruto-kun!”  She reaches up, her hands running over his arms to his shoulders, and she looks at him pleadingly, a slight pressure on his shoulders inviting him to her.

“Ugh!”  He gladly collapses forward, pleasure forcing his eyes shut and overwhelming him.  “Hahh, ugh!”  Ecstasy burns hot in his veins, his piece swelling longer in her silky clutch.  He’s not going to last much longer.

“Mmm!...ahh...Nna..ruto..I..love…you…”

“I love you, Hinata,” he breathes out in a rush, teeth clenching, eyes squeezed shut.  Shivers seize his frame and blossom low.  “Loveyousomuch…”  Muscles tensing, he heaves himself against her, and staticy delight shoots up his cock, through his spine, clouding his mind.

Her arms and legs hold him close, her embrace warm and tight, and happily, he lunges against her, working the base of his cock in the grip of her entrance, urging his tip deep in her folds.

Heart swollen, breath locked, he squeezes her to him.  Sparks streak bright and burning, clenching through heady pressure, collecting and building from his head, to his chest, to his core, amassing in his groin.  He shoves forward with one last stroke, and with any scraps of remaining discipline, pulls out onto her stomach.

Desperate elation releases out in a sharp stream.  “Agh, ha, mm…”  Acute pleasure thrills out in pulsing shots, and relief washes through.

Floaty exhaustion untenses his arms and legs, and he watches how her belly button puddles white.

Fuzzy pleasure exerts through his cock again, delight twitching out in random intervals.  “Ugh.  Heh.  Still coming…”

His gaze trails up, and Hinata’s staring at the growing mess.  “You pulled out…”

“Yeah… Oh!”

The puddle overflows, drops racing down her side, and Hinata brings a hand up to catch it.  She sucks her stomach in, holding his cum from dripping.  She blinks up at him slowly, a dazed look in her expression, and he presses kisses to her cheeks and to her responding smile.

“Sorry about that.”

She hums a disagreement.

Unwillingly, he gets up.  “I’ll get a tissue.”

She nods, and her gaze returns to her stomach.

They clean up, and as she helps him collect his cum, she murmurs, “There’s so much…”

“...Sorry, haha.”

She hums another disagreement.  “I’m happy.”

He leans into her, pressing more kisses to her lips.  “Mmm, me, too.”

After throwing everything away, he climbs back into bed, and she snuggles into his side.

“We’re back to where we started.”

She giggles.

“Round two.”

“Whaat?” she gasps out, and he turns to smooch her giggling face.  “Naruto-kun!”

He can’t help grinning.  He levels a smile at her, taking in her shy gaze and rosy cheeks.  His body’s never felt so content, he can’t remember ever feeling so relaxed and satisfied.  He cuddles his fiancée, grateful for the millionth time.  “I love you so much, Hinata.”

“I love you, Naruto-kun.  Sooo much.”  She smiles at him, and he works her lips, her tongue slowly tasting him.

“Hinata…”  If he didn’t just come, he’d gladly do it all over again.  “If we don’t get up, we’ll never leave.”

“Mhm.”  She sounds satisfied to just stay in his arms, stay in his bed.

“Is this what we’re doing tonight then?”

“Hmmm…”  She’s totally relaxing into him, and he thinks she might be trying to go back to sleep.

“You’re having Naruto for dinner?”

Giggles.

“Alright then.”  He peppers kisses into her neck, his hand eagerly seeking a breast, and she twists, shudders, and laughs.

“Naruto-kun!”

He pauses to smile at her.

She looks just as happy, still dazed.  “I don’t want to go out.”

“I know.”  The fans, people of all ages and nations, after they saved the planet for a second time just blew out of control, and for the past two months, it’s been difficult to have a proper date.  “Instant ramen?”  

“Okay.”

“Okay,” he repeats, and he brushes stray hairs off her shoulder.  Unbidden, his eyes trail down the rest of her naked form, and his hand follows, landing with a pat on her waist.  “Hinata…”

“Mm.”  Her eyes have closed again, and she’s cuddling into him.

Dinner can wait.  He lays down more comfortably to hold her better and closes his eyes, letting the remnant bliss of their union hush him into dozing.

#thank you for reading! #nhmonth2023 #naruhina fanfiction #they couldn't write or televise blank period naruhina because they were too lovey-dovey flirty right?

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

I will be curious to read the vituperative denials of the validity of this article's analysis, which is pasted below the cutoff:

“Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” That question, first posed by Ronald Reagan in a 1980 presidential-campaign debate with Jimmy Carter, has become the quintessential political question about the economy. And most Americans today, it seems, would say their answer is no. In a new survey by Bankrate published on Wednesday, only 21 percent of those surveyed said their financial situation had improved since Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, against 50 percent who said it had gotten worse. That echoed the results of an ABC News/Washington Post poll from September, in which 44 percent of those surveyed said they were worse off financially since Biden’s election. And in a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week, 53 percent of registered voters said that Biden’s policies had hurt them personally.

As has been much commented on (including by me), this gloom is striking when contrasted with the actual performance of the U.S. economy, which grew at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the most recent quarter, and which has seen unemployment holding below 4 percent for more than 18 months. But the downbeat mood is perhaps even more striking when contrasted with the picture offered by the Federal Reserve’s recently released Survey of Consumer

The survey provides an in-depth analysis of the financial condition of American households, conducted for the Fed by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Published every three years, it’s the proverbial gold standard of household research. The latest survey looked at Americans’ net worth as of mid-to-late 2022 and Americans’ income in 2021, comparing them with equivalent data from three years earlier. It found that despite the severe disruption to the economy caused by the pandemic and the recovery from it, Americans across the spectrum saw their incomes and wealth rise over the survey period.

The rise in median household net worth was the most notable improvement: It jumped by 37 percent from 2019 to 2022, rising to $192,000. (All numbers are adjusted for inflation.) Americans in every income bracket saw substantial gains, with the biggest gains registered by people in the middle and upper-middle brackets, which suggests that a slight narrowing of wealth inequality occurred during this time. In particular, Black and Latino households saw their median net worth rise faster than white households did—though the racial wealth gap is so wide that it narrowed only slightly as a result of this change.

A big driver of this increase was the rising value of people’s homes—and a higher percentage of Americans owned homes in 2022 than did in 2019. But households’ financial position improved in other ways too. The amount of money that the median household had in bank accounts and retirement accounts rose substantially. The percentage of Americans owning stocks directly (that is, not in retirement accounts) jumped by more than a third, from about 15 to 21 percent. The percentage of Americans with retirement accounts went from 50.5 to 54.3 percent, a notable improvement. And a fifth of Americans reported owning a business, the highest proportion since the survey began in its current form (in 1989).

Americans also reduced their debt loads during the pandemic. The median credit-card balance dropped by 14 percent, and the share of people with car loans fell. More significantly still, Americans’ median debt-to-asset, debt-to-income, and debt-payment-to-income ratios all fell, meaning that U.S. households had lower debt burdens, on average, in 2022 than they’d had three years earlier.

The gains in real income (in this case, measured from 2018 to 2021) were small—median household income rose 3 percent, with every income bracket seeing gains. But that was better than one might have expected, given that this period included a pandemic-induced recession and only a single year of recovery.

The picture the survey paints, then, is one of American households not only weathering the pandemic in surprisingly good shape, but ultimately also emerging from it in better financial shape than they were going in. And that, in turn, points to the effect of the U.S. policy response to the crisis: Stimulus payments, enhanced unemployment benefits, the child-care tax credit, and the moratorium on student-loan payments boosted household income and balance sheets, helping people pay down debt and increase their savings. In the process, these policies mildly narrowed inequality.

The U.S. government’s aggressive response to the pandemic, including Biden’s stimulus spending, also helped the job market recover all its pandemic-related losses—and add millions of jobs on top. The resulting tight labor market has been a huge boon to lower-wage workers. In fact, because the Fed survey’s income data end in 2021, it understates the income gains for the bottom half of the workforce, and the shrinking income inequality they’ve produced.

Hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers (who make up about 80 percent of the American workforce) rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023, for instance, ahead of the pace of inflation. And this was not anomalous: Arindrajit Dube, an economist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, crunched the numbers and found that real wages for that same sector of workers are not just higher than they were in 2019, but are now roughly where they would have been if we’d continued on the upward pre-pandemic trend.

The reason for this is simple: Low unemployment has translated into higher wages. As a recent working paper by Dube, David Autor, and Annie McGrew shows, the tight labor markets of the past few years have given lower-wage workers more bargaining power than in the past, leading to a compression in the wage gap between higher-paid and lower-paid workers. Of course, that gap is still immense, but the three scholars found that the wage gains for lower-paid workers have rolled back about a quarter of the rise in inequality that has occurred since the 1980s.

So what should we take away from the Survey of Consumer Finances data, and from Dube, Autor, and McGrew’s work? Not that everything is fine, but that public policy and macroeconomic management matter a lot. Enhanced unemployment benefits, the child-care tax credit, the stimulus payments—these things materially improved the lives of Americans and helped set the economy up for a strong recovery. If the policy response had been less aggressive, the U.S. economy would be in worse shape now. This is something you can see by looking at Europe, where economies are growing far more slowly and unemployment is higher, while inflation is no lower.

Key to this story is the fact that lower-wage workers in particular would be worse off, because they have been among the chief beneficiaries of the low unemployment created by the robust recovery. It’s a useful reminder that stagnant wages are not an inevitable result of American capitalism: When labor markets are tight, and employers have to compete with one another for employees, workers get paid more.

So, even allowing for the high inflation we saw in 2022, no one could really look at the U.S. economy today and say that the policy choices of the past three years made us poorer. Yet that, of course, is precisely how many Americans feel.

Although that pessimism does not bode well for Biden’s reelection prospects, the real problem with it is even more far-reaching: If voters think that policies that helped them actually hurt them, that makes it much less likely that politicians will embrace similar policies in the future. The U.S. got a lot right in its macroeconomic approach over the past three years. Too bad that voters think it got so much wrong.

#someone somewhere out there will find this infuriating #I'm not an economist and almost every time anyone says anything about economics I think 'sure that makes sense' #so I post in my ignorance #try to resist calling me a retard when you tear this apart #and it's always the worst with things like statistics because someone's gonna be like 'well if you reframe the numbers slightly #you'll find that in fact this article demonstrates that we have less wealth per capita than your average North Korean'

[coochiequeens]

Yet another case for SheWon.com. Not just any case, one where a grown ass white dude was allowed to compete against an 11 year old girl of color in the name of inclusiveness.

By Amy Hamm February 22, 2024

A trans-identified male is set to compete against women as the reigning Women’s Snooker Champion at the English Women’s Snooker Championship on May 24 in Walsall, UK. Jamie Hunter, 27, became the top women’s player following a semifinal victory against a young girl last year.

Hunter first rose to prominence during the English Women’s Snooker Champion finals in 2023 after he came out victorious against Mary Talbot-Deegan, finishing 3-1. Hunter had managed to make it to the finals after he beat out Ellise Scott, an 11-year-old rising star in the snooker world, taking 2-0 against her in the semifinal grouping. The event had been Scott’s debut in the tournament, and, prior to her match against Hunter, she had achieved three match victories against experienced female opponents.

Hunter had been participating in women’s cue sports since 2021, just one year after he “came out” as transgender.

Prior to transitioning, Hunter played in a mixed-sex amateur league for five years. Speaking with Snooker Zone in 2021, Hunter admitted that he had no intention of competing professionally until he discovered that there was a women’s tour.

“Until this year, cue sports was just a hobby, something I done once, maybe twice a week, but now finding out about the Women’s snooker tour, I believe that will change,” he said at the time. “They make out as if I played snooker as a man, I was rubbish, so decided to do it in the women’s instead. I changed my gender for my wellbeing and my life, not for anything else.”

Hunter received significant backlash after his 2022 US Women’s Open win, when former women’s world champion Maria Catalano criticized the policies enabling males to compete against females. In an interview with The Sportsman, Catalano argued that women’s snooker should exclude males from female categories, as some rugby leagues have, to ensure fairness for women. 

“We have fought so hard for our rights in the past – myself, Reanne Evans and others got people to write letters to allow us to play in leagues and clubs that banned women. I don’t believe that women can compete against men on a level playing field in sport. We are wired differently, we think differently. We are mentally different,” said Catalano. 

The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) publishes a mixed sex international ranking of players. The highest-ranking female on their current list, Mink Nutcharut, is listed at 119.

In response to the criticism of his wins against women, Hunter has framed the backlash as transphobia.

“Everybody’s human. Regardless of what choices you make. You should treat everybody with respect,” said Hunter speaking to a BBC journalist last fall. Bizarrely, Hunter was interviewed while he sat in a gaming chair in a dark bedroom — which he refers to as “the dark girl cave.” The room has a transgender pride flag pinned up on the wall behind him.

The upcoming English Women’s Snooker Championship is set for May 24, 2024. It is being organized by the English Partnership for Snooker and Billiards (EPSB), which is the national governing body for the sport in England. They describe their goal as creating a “structured coaching environment that will inspire all regardless of gender, ability, or ethnicity to fulfil their potential in our sport.” 

The EPSB has a diversity, equity, and inclusion policy with a lengthy section on discrimination, including a ban on any “condition, rule or practice [that]… particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic.” As for their list of protected characteristics, the EPSB includes “gender, gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs.”  

The English Women’s Championship is set to take place at the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall, UK, on May 24.

This is not the first time a male has dominated women’s cue sports, sparking backlash from players and fans.

Last November, a female pool player refused to compete against a trans-identified male opponent at a women’s championship in Wales. Lynne Pinches received an outpouring of support as video began to circulate showing her walking away from the table after being matched to play against Chris Haynes.

Days later, two more female pool players refused to compete against Haynes in solidarity with Pinches during the Ultimate Pool tournament in Blackpool, UK.

In January, Pinches headed an effort to launch a lawsuit against the World Eightball Pool Federation (WEPF) and Ultimate Pool Group (UPG), accusing the governing bodies of subjecting women “to direct sex discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex.”

What does he have to gain from this?

ENTRY FEES AND PRIZE MONEY

Entry: £30

Winner: £200 

Runner-Up: £100 

Semi-Finalists: £50

#UK #England #Walsall #the English Women’s Snooker Championship #Jamie Hunter is a 27 year old man who won by competing against an 11 year old girl #The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) #English Women’s Snooker Championship #The English Women’s Championship #Landywood Snooker Club

[kristannafever]

Second Chances - 9

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: Explicit WC: 2021

Chapter Index

----------------

“This is happening!” Anna squealed. 

Kristoff laughed.  “It is!”

“I can’t wait,” she said, hugging him around the neck and pulling him in for a kiss.

He basked in the warmth of her kiss and the glow of her happiness.  It had only taken about two weeks for them to plan the entire wedding, and in one short month, they were going to be wed.

“And I’m glad that works for our sisters to take time off to fly home,” she said, pulling out of his embrace and going back to her laptop where she had just finished booking the venue. 

Kristoff was too.  It was a worry when they brought it up with their sisters that they would find work too demanding for the short time frame, but as luck would have it, they were both able to make the trip and take an extra couple of days beforehand to help them prepare. 

-----

They picked a Ranchers Hall in a small rural town about a half hour outside of the city.   It was perfect for Anna’s vision of a country winter wedding.  And while the place was rather small, it didn’t matter since the only people they were inviting were family and only the closest of friends.  All in all, about forty guests.

His sister and Anna’s sister were going to serve as the best person and maid of honor, and it was decided by Kristoff (and greatly appreciated by Anna) that his parents were going to walk with both him and then Anna down the aisle.  As soon as the ceremony was complete, they were going to do some family photos outside while the venue changed the rows of chairs out for tables and started the bar and serving guests.

The flowers Anna chose were white roses because they symbolized the purity of their love and the new beginnings they were having at life with each other. 

The meal they decided on was either prime rib or salmon as per the guest’s choice, and the caterer they had booked also offered appetizers for the cocktail hour and late-night pizza and popcorn for inebriated party goers.  Kristoff thought it would be a good idea to personally pay for the pre-dinner drinks and then charge a toonie bar afterward and to offer pre-paid cab vouchers to anyone who didn’t want to stay in the town’s small hotel so there was no worry of anyone drinking and driving.

Anna had argued briefly with him about the cost of the wedding as he was handling it all, which turned into a rather deep conversation about how he’d lived with his ex.  He told Anna the sad truth that they never really did anything.  They never even went on a vacation together.  Not that he didn’t want to.  It was all his ex.  She had a group of friends from high school she was still extremely close with, and her vacation time was spent solely with them.  At the beginning he didn’t mind too much, thinking it would be nice to have those quiet weeks here and there to himself, then time went on and when he’d brought up her using her time to go somewhere with him, her reaction had been reluctance and confusion; since they lived together already, why would she give up these trips with her friends to spent more time with him.   So she kept taking vacations with her group and Kristoff saved a ton of money over the years for not going anywhere. 

Upon hearing about this, Anna’s face went deep scarlet and she sat there with her teeth clenched frowning at him.

“You know,” she started, “I have a lot of things in my mind that I could say about that, that I want to say about that, then I think of where we are now, how I don’t want to spend another second of my life without you by my side, and I realize that it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Kristoff shook his head.  “Nope.”

Anna sighed, letting go of her anger.  “I will never not appreciate the second chance at love that I got to have with you, Kristoff.  You are my soulmate and I love you more than anything.”

“I love you too.”  He leaned in and kissed her, then pulled his head back and arched an eyebrow.  “That got you kinda mad eh?”

She nodded.  “A little, I guess.  I just don’t like hearing about you getting mistreated.”

“Well, same here, but you know that.”  He smirked at her.  “Care to take out any pent-up aggression on me?”

Anna’s eyes lit up.  “What do you have in mind?”

He put his mouth close to her ear.  “Why don’t you fuck my brains out?”

Anna shuddered.  “How would I do that exactly?”

He shrugged.  “Use your imagination.  My body is your playground.”

She smiled at him wickedly.  “Damn right it is.”  Then she kissed him forcefully.

They began to undress each other when Anna interrupted told him she wanted to go to the bedroom.  Shedding the remainder of their clothes as they went down the hall, they arrived in their room fully naked and attached at the lips. 

Kristoff pressed her down onto the bed, crawled over her, and began kissing his way down her body.  She smiled.  She would definitely have her way with his body as she saw fit, but she was not about to deny the pleasure that his mouth gave her. 

She curled her fingers into his impossibly soft hair, moaning loudly as his tongue lashed out against her clit.  Her back arched as he worked his mouth, and while she was enjoying the hell out of it, she grew impatient to have him.

When she gently tugged his hair, he stopped and looked up at her.  “I need you now,” she whispered.

“How do you want me?” he asked, sitting up.

“On your back.”

Anna moved and he took her place, laying down in the middle of the mattress.  She crawled over him and took a moment to kiss him passionately before she started. 

Moving slowly, she slid down onto his cock with a passionate and somewhat desperate moan.  It amazed her how she seemed to forget in between the moments they were not making love how good it actually felt to have him inside of her.  There was nothing in the world she could compare it with. 

She moved against him, already so close from his mouth, it didn’t take long before Anna felt the pull towards letting go.  Only, this time, she stopped, and her arousal pulsed briefly before quieting down. 

��Fuck, you have no idea how much that makes me crazy,” Kristoff muttered as he caressed her hips.   

She looked down at his face, careful not to move her hips just yet.  “Yeah?”

He nodded slowly.  “It’s…” He let out a long breath.  “It just feels incredible.  Do it again.”

Anna gave him a wicked smile.  “You read my mind.”

She began to move herself against him, slowly at first, then picking up her pace a bit until that feeling came back.  She stopped again, just one more movement away from going too far, and her center quivered against his cock.

“Fuck…” he said slowly. 

Anna held stark still.  If she moved right then, she was going to come and she didn’t want to just yet.  She waited until her arousal died down, then finally relaxed her body against him. 

“I have to be honest, Anna,” Kristoff said, his hands massaging her thighs, “I don’t think I will be able to last you doing that again.”

She smiled at him.  “Does you in that much, huh?”

“You have no idea,” he mumbled, curling his hands around her back and pulling her down for a kiss. 

Anna gave in to his lips, kissing him back and starting to move herself against him.  She went slow this time, allowing herself to feel every second of her renewed growing arousal.  She pulled back from his lips and braced her hands on his chest as she got closer.  She had never felt such a deep need for an orgasm in all her life.

Kristoff’s grip was tightening on her hips and she knew he was going to come as soon as she did.  Anna found that edge again, only this time she did not deny herself.  She gasped as it got closer, and then a second later she was crying out with sweet relief.

Kristoff cried out softly with her, holding her firmly to him as they climaxed together.  It felt amazing to Anna to be able to ride out her orgasm with his cock pulsing powerfully within her.  It was basically mind-melting pleasure.  It was no wonder she was hooked on it like a drug.  A drug she was so thoroughly addicted to, that she knew they would have sex at least one more time before the end of the day. 

Or maybe two or three.  There seemed to be no way to satiate their hunger for one another.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

Their wedding day was stunningly perfect.

Everything went according to plan and the only hiccup of the entire day was when Anna realized she accidently left her precious jewellery – the pieces she got back from her shitty ex – at home.  It was rectified shortly by Kristoff’s parents driving into the city to fetch them while the wedding party got ready.

What followed was flawless.

At the end of the night, with only a few guests left snacking on the pizza and the popcorn and talking in groups, Anna looked over at Kristoff, the happy and slightly drunk smile on his face, and felt her heart nearly explode with love. 

He was talking to Chester and his parents and laughing about something.  Anna could not take her eyes off of him; the most stunning man on the face of the planet in his pressed suit pants and white button down with the tie gone, top buttons undone, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.  His hair was mussed from dancing all night, his brown eyes shinning so brightly with life, his smirk of a smile on full display.  Truly, he was nothing but complete perfection in Anna’s eyes.  The sexiest man on the face of the planet.

He happened to glance her way, catching her staring at him, and he turned towards her and smiled.  They walked towards each other and straight into a tight embrace. 

“I can’t believe you are my wife,” he mused, kissing her neck. 

“God, I can’t believe you are my freaking husband!” Anna said back excitedly.  She pulled back to look at his face.  “And now we get to have a whole hell of a lot of fun making some children.”

“You bet your ass we do,” he breathed, and kissed her. 

-----

About an hour later, Kristoff was pushing himself into her. 

The foreplay was only a couple of sloppy drunk kisses before Anna was begging for him.  It didn’t matter to her, her only goal for the night was for him to come inside of her.  She’d had her IUD removed a couple of weeks ago and in the interim before the wedding, he’d worn protection.  Anna much preferred the feeling of his naked skin without the rubber barrier.    

“I can’t wait for tomorrow,” he said between kisses.  “I am so excited to take a real vacation.  With my wife!”

“Me too,” Anna said through a sigh.  “Oh, Kristoff, me too.”

He took the hint that she didn’t want to talk too much and pressed his pelvis flush with hers.  He knew exactly what he was doing, and even through all the drinks, Anna knew she was going to come and that he was holding out to join her. 

She let go of every thought besides the building feeling in her abdomen.  It grew until it reached the point where Anna’s mind went utterly blank, then she reached the edge and fell over it.  They moaned, holding each other through every strong contraction of their shared orgasm.

---

Previous Chapter

#cee wrote this mess #second chances #kristoff #anna #kristanna #kristanna modern au #TGIF #Happy Friday #here's a little bit o smut

[roo-bastmoon]

Remembering Nana today...

Interestingly enough, it was my 93-year-old grandmother who sort of led me to BTS. Today is the second anniversary of her passing, and my rambles about that are under the cut.

So, just to give you a visual: my Nana was a lot like Rose from the Golden Girls but, like, not in any way a ditz. She was a very practical Capricorn, but she looked and spoke a lot like Betty White from that show.

Nana practically raised me. I spent literally every weekend with her, from the day I was born until my parents divorced and we moved away when I was 13. Every Friday, my folks would drop me off at her apartment, and she'd make me homemade mac and cheese for dinner and vanilla ice cream for dessert (I did NOT like to try new things). Then we'd watch Full House, Perfect Strangers, Golden Girls, and Empty Nest on TGIF. After that, it would be bath time and bed.

Fun side note: I was an extremely independent and stubborn only child. So I always insisted on bathing myself. Not wanting me to drown on her watch, Nana would sit in the bathroom with me and read me poetry while I played with my Tub Town toys. But the poetry would always be the most macabre stuff--like The Spider and the Fly, or The Wreck of the Hesperus. I am not saying I was scarred for life by this, but I'm also not saying I'm normal, either.

Anyway, those were our Friday nights. On Saturdays we'd get up at the crack of dawn to go flea marketing with her two younger sisters. She would give me $1 to spend on my "trashy treasures" -- but it was the 80s, so I could make it stretch. After that, we'd all go to a buffet lunch. Then she'd take me in the afternoons to the local library, where I would pick my books for the week.

Another side note: My parents were not big on buying toys, but I could have any books I wanted. As a young kid, I used to take a flashlight and hide in the bathtub at night so I could read past bedtime. I figured I was being super sneaky because they couldn't see the light coming from that room. But we lived in a tiny house with only one bathroom, so of COURSE they knew. Mom told me years later that they thought it was funny I was being rebellious by secretly reading YA novels in the bathroom when I was in elementary school. Nana, of course, let me stay up as late as I wanted to read. I digress.

As the years passed, even when I went out of state and the country for school, or moved across America to take jobs, Nana and I emailed every day, called once a week, kept in constant touch. When I moved back to my home state 13 years ago, I sort of became her caregiver and weekend companion.

This time it was my turn on the weekends to make her food, take her shopping, drive her around, get her books from the bookmobile. She raised me, and then for 10 years, I took care of her.

I loved my Nana. She was funny and soft-hearted and well read, but she grew up *dirt poor* and never got to see the world except through books and the TV, so she was always very humble and a bit shy. She loved me so much--she was the only person in the world who would listen to me drivel on about anything, and still be interested.

At 93-years-old, she died of a sudden heart attack on August 30, 2021. Emergency personnel were with her in her apartment, so she wasn't alone or in pain very long, but I couldn't get to her fast enough to say goodbye. Mom and I identified her later, at the hospital.

I am grateful she had a long life, and didn't suffer, and wasn't alone. But my family is very, very small. Just Nana and Mom and me. And after the whirlwind of taking care of her funeral and packing up her apartment and donating everything, suddenly there was just all this free time--these empty hours I usually filled taking care of Nana.

I just was so lost.

I started trying to read, or quilt, or watch movies. I got into some K dramas for a bit. Nothing really interested me. Then I started watching dance compilations on YouTube before bed.

And one snowy December night, I found a Steezy video where Brian Puspos was reviewing Jimin's dance style. I had no idea what it was. It was like this weird impulse--as if someone moved my finger to hover over and click that video...

You cannot imagine how every nerve-ending woke up. My brain suddenly came online. (I was a semi-pro ballet dancer as a kid, and I knew the absolute second I saw Jimin that he was a master who trained relentlessly--nobody had to point it out to me.)

For the first time in months, I FELT something other than grief.

I watched every single video of him I could. I had no idea who BTS were, didn't know anything about Kpop. But eventually I found more videos, I listened to their songs, and later I discovered Jikook, and I made online accounts and I watched RUN episodes, and I got to go see Yoongi as my first-ever concert, and now I'm making my way through In the Soop and Bon Voyage.

In fact, pretty much every day since I discovered Jimin, I've been thinking about, learning about, and trying to support Jimin and the people Jimin loves.

Jimin and BTS got me through the grief at losing the person I loved most in the world. They saw me through uterine cancer, and the surgeries, and mourning the fact that I can never be a bio mom now. They got me through the medical tests and the chronic fatigue and pain I've had for the last 4 months.

I really love our boys. I may not understand or love everything about them or their company or their industry, but loving someone doesn't mean thinking of them as demi-gods; it means being loyal even as they grow past any flaws.

To be honest, I feel like I owe Jimin my life, in a way. I was in a really, really dark place a year and a half ago. Jimin was the only joy, the only reason to keep going (besides my mom and kitties, of course).

Now I own every digital release BTS has put out--the whole discography, even the skits. I try to vote on all the apps whenever I can, and stream on premium family bundle accounts for Spotify, YouTube, and Pandora; I also do free trials for Tidal and Qobuz. II've never done any of this stuff before, never been a fan of any musicians, but I really, truly do try to return the favor.

It's a bit hyperbolic to say they "saved me" because lots of people cope with grief and illness and loneliness and it doesn't mean they just throw in the towel.

But BTS helped me stop surviving, and made me want to really live.

Plus, even when I'm too sick to go out or call up my friends, I can always get on my phone and come here, to chat with my fandom friends. I don't know most of their real names or faces or anything about their real lives, but we all love BTS; we all talk about and work together for BTS.

Nana would have loved that. (She also would have let me talk her ear off every day about Jimin and Jikook and the Tannies because that was her love language.)

Is BTS a replacement for real, genuine human interaction? No. Of course not. It is, at the end of the day, a band. Not a life.

But it also feels like getting to know 7 people I'd be honored to be friends with, if we ever met. People I want to support so they can achieve all their dreams--because they always pay it forward, too.

I sometimes wonder if Nana guided my hand to click on that video that day. Maybe she was looking down at me and thought "Ah, this will be good for her. This will be healing."

Probably not, but still, I'd like to think that. I'd like to think it was Nana who led me to the Magic Shop.

I miss her. I love her. I still can hear her voice in my head every day.

But I'm gonna be okay. (The future's gonna be okay.)

There's still so much to look forward to and work to be done. Fighting!

[foxes-that-run]

2011 Haylor Timeline

Timeline Tag, or years 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

We don’t know the whole story

Although Harry and Taylor have never said when they met or started dating, often assumed to have met At the March 2012 Kids Choice Awards, because it was the first time we saw them together. 2 weeks after the awards Justin Bieber said a superstar liked Harry, but didn't name Taylor or say they met at the awards. I have a post about the Kids Choice awards/IKYWT Secret message and Harry's Jacket here.

A source close to Taylor later said to Vanity Fair he had chased her for a year, before the started dating, which was also before he kissed Emily Ostily on the 21 April 2012 and Taylor posted about infidelities to Instagram on 23 April 2012 (which doesn't make sense if they met 24 days earlier).

That would indicate they had met by March 2011. Which is likely as they were in the same city and locations throughout 2011. In 2014 Taylor told Rolling Stone:

"People think they know the whole narrative of my life, I think maybe that line is there to remind people that there are really big things they don’t know about."

As Taylor said to Time Magazine in 2023 and Harry said to Howard Stern in 2019 it's not in their interests for a new relationship to be public before they are solid.  In Harry's words 'it's never benefited me' for a relationship to be public. In 2011 people were sent death threats for having dinner with him. It's no wonder they were hidden for most of that time.  Special thanks to @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for help with this. You are the best.

2010

31 January - Fearless won AOY & CA Grammy

27 March - Harry styles auditions for xfactor

23 July - One direction formed on X factor.

23 October - Taylor first seen with Jake at snl taping, sung monologue song

25 October - Speak Now released.

12 December - X factor semi final, 1D third, Syco signed One Direction for £2 million, each boy was only paid an initial £8,000. Maybe signed on the 13th.

13 December - Jake not at Taylor’s birthday, in January announce broke up in December. It was 7 weeks.

2011

4 January - Taylor seen in LA on the 5th January then not again for a month.

25-30 January 1D fly to Los Angeles. The Sun reported they were in US meeting writers and producers to start recording. It's likely they first met here.

5 February - Taylor seen for first time in a month, in LA, wearing the Key necklace in LA. It later appeared in the I knew you were trouble music video (4:45) and was sold as merchandise, there was a key for Fearless too, but it stopped after this.

19 February - 9 April; X-Factor live tour. TS tour break 20 & 21, 20th was X Factor O2 show.

17 - 30 March - Speak Now in Europe. Taylor wrote ATW

15 March - one direction Birmingham show, fans see boys leaving on the 16th then have 4 day weekend where he is not seen.

16 March - Taylor's Lover Journal talks about Paris, seeing castles, 4th grade and career anxiety over the Mean video. She talks about visiting having visited Neuschwanstein Castle that later appears in Bejewelled MV.

16 - 19 march Taylor seen in Paris

17 March - Taylor plays speak now in Paris at Zénith de Paris, in park bordered by Canal Saint-Denis, (technically) outside Saint-Denis.  Holy ground's secret message is “when you came to the show in SD” later the film clips for Begin Again, EHC, Falling and LOT tour images all reference canals in Paris. Taylor plays Soul Sister / Fearless mash-up for the first time that show. Soul Sister was Harry's first X-Factor Audition song. She plays the mash-up on/off for the rest of the tour and on the DVD.

21 March - Taylor in London Recording Studio wearing a rose dress key from IKYWT video. Taylor wore a Rose ring and Rose Dress the day before too.

22 March - Taylor shopping at Portobello Market and photographed at Alice in Wonderland themed store (Wonderland)

23 March - a Wednesday, Taylor wore white dress (Begin again cover) in London, Harry also in London before Nottingham show. Vanity Fair article later says they'd known each other for a year by March 2012.

30 and 31 March - One Direction Tour Break, Speak Now at O2

27 May - November 22 - Speak now in US, arm lyrics start.

11 June - “In Detroit, Swift seemed somewhat melancholy. Once in a while, I had the feeling that she was on the verge of bursting into tears. She said that she had recently decided that life is “about achieving contentment… . You’re not always going to be ridiculously happy.” She had written about ten songs so far for her next album. Asked to characterize them, she said, “They’re sad? If I’m being honest.” The most recent one, she said, “is about moving on.” (x)

6-12 June - 1D in Sweden, likely record What makes you Beautiful.

13-20 June - 1D has a break, Harry unseen, not active on social and reappears in LA on the 20th. Taylor also free 13 - 16 other than the 15th:

15 June - Taylor arm lyrics "“A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs.” – The Temper Trap, Sweet Disposition. Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Exactly one year later Harry got the lyrics from this song tattoo'ed.

17 June - Lover Journal Taylor wrote in her journal on way to Nashville “Something so unexpected and amazing happened recently... I’ve become blissfully happy with my life. Like, actually grateful for every second of the day. I've notice this onset for a while, but it's really hit me in the last week and especially since I wrote those 2 new songs. I'm happy I get to meet so many people on the road who make me feel like my music really matters to them.” One song may be State of Grace.

20-27 June - 1D in LA. Speak now break 23 & 24 June.

20 June Harry reappeared in LA at Britney concert

27 June - Taylor in Teen Vogue with photos like Babe video

2 - 10 July - Speak Now dates rescheduled due to Bronchitis. Taylor in LA and does magazine shoots.

8-15 July - 1D in LA. What makes you beautiful shot at Sycamore Cove Beach in  Malibu 14-15.

24 August - Arm Lyrics “But my heart cried out for you, California.” – Joni Mitchell, California. Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

31 August - Harry wearing paper plane necklace in heat photo shoot (1:55)

6 September - One Direction at GQ Men of the Year Awards 2011 - London. It gets mentioned in a few interviews after.

7 September - Taylor plays Tacoma -arm lyrics: “You are the ever-living ghost of what once was.” – Band of Horses, No One’s Gonna Love You. In her Lover Journal she went to Nashville rather than LA and writes Red on the plane.

10 September - WMYB on Red or Black, Harry is anxious in his solo and his hand shake. Arm lyrics “There was always something that meant more to you than me” - Jessica Andrews, “There’s More To Me Than You”

11 September - What makes you beautiful debut #1. 21st - Up all night

14 September - asked who was most confident with girls LT says "Definitely without a question say Harry, like Harry, no matter how long is known her, or who she is he will go up to her, like if it's a celebrity, like at the GQ Awards, [Niall adds "Like Pixie Lott] he will go up and sing their song and dance. It's like 100% Harold Styles." Harry then changes the conversation to silly names, Louis brings up GQ again and Harry mouths "Stop going' on about it" (9:50).

18 - 30 September - 1D in New York, filmed Gotta be You in Lake Placid NY 29 and SUNY 29 September. Speak now break 18, 21 - 23 September, shows other days. The film clip included scenes on a train, the SBT message is "when you were on the train", she wrote it sometime on a bus. Speak Now dates in Colorado, Utah and Georgia. However, 28 September is possibly an anniversary and in the Four hang out (31-33) Harry said gotta be you was his favourite 1D song of all, which Niall clapped and said “well done Taylor your boyfriends back”. Harry met Emily Ostilly.

4 October - At Bring 1D to me Munich, when asked about ‘Celebrity Dreamgirls’ Louis says "Celebrity dreamgirls um,  yeah like there's a lot of people I suppose that we think is HOT, like... Harry?" the look Zayn, Niall and Liam's expressions, and Louis this is not flirting, he is 'ribbing' Harry for making out with a famous person and sharing his secrets. Harry says his crush is Emma Watson, who the interviewer says has a crush on him,  H blushes and, not willing to let it go, Louis points out a love bite. Arm Lyrics “It’s easy saying nothing when there’s nothing to say” - KT Tunstall, “Fade Like A Shadow”

5 October - Taylor tweets “Leaving Little Rock, headed to New Orleans. Writing a song on a moving bus” in the album video (8:20) Taylor said she wrote sad beautiful tragic on a bus.

17 October - Harry goes to Ed Sheeran concert with Louis at Eleanor's university then not seen till rehearsals 2 weeks later.

19 October - Harry did a 10 min phone interview alone with Grimmy and said he was passing through Birmingham. There are voices in the background at the end.

20 October - Taylor played San Diego. Harry was not seen. He posted "Finally set the correct time on my Microwave..I feel like a new man." on Twitter.

24 October- Harry is coughing in an interview and looks and sounds unwell. At 16:20 the interviewer asks about their break, Harry purses his lips for age thinking then says he is tried when he comes back to work because he spends his break rushing around to see everyone. Zayn looks to Louis who gives a loud “Hmmm” which is a tell of his for knowing more than is said.

30 October - Taylor writes in lover journal she (also) has a chest infection!

2 November - One Direction Tour rehearsals Harry back in London for month

17 November - Louis quoted in media  "Harry's found 'The One' now." and doesn't name Caroline. Harry and Caroline never say more than friends, Eleanor seen with Louis often.

18 November - Up all night released. In listening party says “more than this” is his favorite, it’s a deep one. Harry in London,  has dinner with Caroline Flack. On 27 November on chatty man Harry clarifies there were other people there and again says just friends. Articles and Caroline tweets about death threats for having dinner with Harry. (Like WTF would anyone date him publicly?).

22 November - Taylor posts photo of London shop for preppie rugby menswear (!) and posts a photo to instagram with "Superior Style and Quality Fit" 👀 written on the window. This is a latergram, she had a show in Madison Square Garden. On October 3 Harry had said Rugby shirts look better on girls.

24 November Sugarscope asks if they have an eye on anyone in the US and mention Taylor Swift, all 5 are actually quiet for the first time, Liam’s face changes to serious (0:34), Harry and Zayn look at Louis, maybe because of Oct 4. Niall offers Demi Lovato and all the boys start saying Hollywood in a silly voice. The same interviewer asks about romantic Christmas plans, Louis looks at Harry again, Harry answers truthfully “Christmas at home with family” seems the interviewer and band know what’s not being said, they ask Harry twice

8 December - Caroline and Harry photo, see Caroline post from another blog

13 December - Taylor's birthday party inside her Nashville apartment. posted a photo in a recording studio, so assumed that Begin again was recorded on on her birthday. Taylor not seen again that year other than Snow on the Beach Photos. Harry seen in London on the 13th. One direction in tour rehearsals till tour begins 18 December in England.

15 December - Harry posted that he went skinny dipping, as in no shorts to avoid doubt. Taylor still MIA. Paper Rings vibes.

16 December - it snowed in Liverpool, including the "Snow on the beach" 50 minutes from Harry's house in Holmes Chapel.

I8 December - 1 July - Up all night tour, Europe till us in February

22 December - in 1D you tube the band chose a fan question “from Taylor, if you were a girl who would you date” and Zayn laughs and says Harry.

24 December - One Direction Holiday till 3 January. Taylor MIA.

28 December - Taylor posts three photos from a beach one with her face on the beach "Childhood beach memories revisited" and one with snow on the beach behind her "Nothing quite like a freezing cold, wintery beach." some have assumed this was in New Jersey, but the shadows look like an afternoon on an western coast and there was no snow in NJ, nor Taylor seen near there. It had snowed at the beach in Liverpool which is west.

29 December - Taylor posted a seashell with Safe and Sound Lyrics written (it had just been released) with the caption "Saying goodbye to the shore, writing on a seashell."

30 December - Harry got his drivers licence, on 28 June 2012 on Bert show (11 mins) said “the first thing I did was my …….. someone brought the car to me and I dropped them off at the pub” Harry was in Manchester. Louis posted he was in Paris Disneyland with Eleanor. Apart from the winter/snow on the beach photos Taylor hadn't been seen for a week, she then posted a goodbye and Harry's first drive was to drop someone secret somewhere. 👀 

31 December - Harry goes back to London flat for new years party, in same interview Harry said they spent Christmas at home

3 January - Caroline Break up announcement. Harry later tweets, he 'didn't dump' her, he never said they were more than friends. Caroline also said "95% of what was reported was false". 

Continue to 2012

#haylor #Youtube #haylor timeline #2011

[ausetkmt]

As they sat in the lobby of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington, D.C., last month, Garnell Whitfield Jr. and others who have lost relatives nationwide to gun violence listened as U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland helped dedicate an exhibit honoring those killed.

Garland spoke of some of the victims on the new "Faces of Gun Violence Memorial" wall, including Whitfield's 86-year-old mother, Ruth, describing her as a "mother, grandmother and great grandmother whose door and pantry were always open to family and friends." He said the wall will serve as a reminder to ATF employees of who they are fighting for each day.

In this May 15, 2022, file photo, police sit in front of a Tops Grocery store in Buffalo, New York.

"That in and of itself is progress that they would understand the need to be more empathetic and to realize the impact of gun violence on the people that they're trying to protect and serve," Whitfield, the retired Buffalo, New York, fire commissioner, told ABC News.

This week marks two years since a self-described white supremacist killed 10 Black people at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo. In addition to Whitfield's mother, the other victims were Roberta Drury, 32; retired Buffalo police officer Aaron Salter Jr., 55; Heyward Patterson, 67; Pearl Young, 77; Geraldine Talley, 62; Celestine Chaney, 65; Katherine "Kat" Massey, 72; Margus Morrison, 52; and Andre Mackniel, 53.

"I will always carry the scar of 5/14 and what happened to my mother. I'll always miss her. So, I don't expect to be healed," Whitfield said. "I know that's something everybody talks about. I think that's kind of an unrealistic expectation."

Garnell Whitfield Jr. has dedicated his life to fighting white supremacy in honor of his 86-year-old moth...

Malik Rainey for ABC News

One of the major hurdles to overcoming his grief, he said, is that such racially motivated killings and other hate crimes targeting Black people continue to rise across the country.

An ABC News analysis of the most recent FBI data shows that of the more than 8,500 hate crimes reported nationwide between 2020 and 2022, Black people were targeted in 52.3% of the offenses. Between 2021 and 2022, the numbers rose from 2,217 to 3,421, making Black people four times more likely to be targeted than the overall U.S. non-Hispanic Black population.

Hate Crimes Against Blacks in America 2020-2022

ABC News Illustration / Federal Bureau of Investigation

Among the hate crimes committed since the Buffalo mass shooting was a racially motivated attack at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, that left three Black people dead on May 26, 2023. On Nov. 22, 2023, a white gunman wounded two Black and two white shoppers at a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, in what police said was a racially motivated shooting. The gunmen in both rampages died by suicide, according to police.

In February 2023, a Florida man and a Maryland woman, both alleged to be white supremacists, were arrested and accused of plotting to attack multiple energy substations with the purpose of destroying Baltimore, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Officials said the pair was fueled by a racist extremist ideology as they "conspired to inflict maximum harm on the power grid" and "lay this city to waste." Both suspects have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are awaiting a trial

"Honestly, we shouldn't even have to look at the FBI statistics to know that Black people in America are still victims of subjugation, of discrimination, of racism, of hate," Whitfield told ABC News. "The fact that's still the case all these years later tells you a lot about this country and what its intent is for us."

'It was a modern-day lynching'

About two months before the massacre at a Tops store in the predominantly Black East Side neighborhood of Buffalo, President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching law, named after a Black teenager who was kidnapped, beaten and killed in Mississippi in August 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. The law defines lynching as a hate crime and increases the maximum penalty to 30 years imprisonment for anyone convicted of conspiring to commit a racially motivated crime resulting in death or serious bodily injury.

To date, no one has been charged under the law.

"There was a reason why it took nearly 200 years to pass an antilynching law in Congress. It's because the power of lynching is so much embedded into the society," Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ABC News.

Browne-Marshall said lynchings were committed to strike fear in Black communities, to "send a message to the community that white men are in charge."

Browne-Marshall described the Emmett Till Antilynching law as "powerful," but said prosecutors have been reluctant to apply it to criminal hate crime cases.

"So few prosecutors are doing their jobs when it comes to lynching. We as Americans have ignored the power of the prosecutor to bring charges," she said.

Gloria Brown-Marshall is a professor of law and Africana studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

ABC News

"Without protest, the prosecutors are sitting back and allowing these cases to be put under the rug," Browne-Marshall said.

But federal prosecutors countered they are using an arsenal of federal hate crime laws to seek justice for victims of racially motivated crimes.

In the Arbery case, the defendants -- Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan -- were convicted on state charges of malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault with a shotgun, aggravated assault with a pickup truck, false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit a felony. They were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole. They were also convicted of federal hate crime charges, including using violence to intimidate and interfere with Arbery because of his race and because he was using a public street. The McMichaels were given additional life sentences, while Byran received a 35-year prison sentence.

“Protecting civil rights and combatting white supremacist violence was a founding purpose of the Justice Department, and one that we will continue to pursue with the urgency it demands," Attorney General Garland said following the sentencing of the McMichaels and Bryan.

"Racially-motivated acts of violence are abhorrent and unlawful, and have no place in our society today," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said earlier this month after a 52-year-old North Carolina man was sentenced to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release for an unprovoked attack on a Black motorist he shouted racial slurs at and physically assaulted. The attacker, who prosecutors said displayed a Ku Klux Klan flag at his home, was also convicted of physically assaulting a Hispanic neighbor in a hate-filled assault.

"The severe sentence imposed for these vicious hate crimes should send a strong message that perpetrators of hate-fueled violence will be held accountable," Clarke added. "The Justice Department is steadfast in its commitment to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes wherever they occur in our country."

Payton Gendron, the gunman in the Buffalo massacre, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to 15 state charges, including 10 counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. In January, federal prosecutors announced they would pursue the death penalty against Gendron.

A federal grand jury indicted the Buffalo gunman with 27 federal charges, including 14 violations of the Shepard-Byrd Act, a landmark anti-hate crime law signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. The law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay student who was tortured and murdered in Wyoming in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a Black man killed in 1998 by white supremacists who abducted him, beat him and dragged him by a chain from the back of a pickup truck.

Garnell Whitfield and Browne-Marshall argued that the Emmett Till Antilynching law should be expanded to include racially motivated mass shootings.

"It was meant to strike fear into our communities, to start a race war and further subjugate us, keep us in our place. So, yes, it was a modern-day lynching," said Whitfield, adding that the only difference was that the killer used an AR-15 rifle instead of a rope.

While the antilynching law requires proof of a conspiracy, both Whitfield and Browne-Marshall alleged that some social media companies facilitated the teenage killer's white supremacist radicalization by allowing racist propaganda to fester on their platforms.

"This is a conspiracy. It's the oldest conspiracy we know – white supremacy," Whitfield said.

But no precedent has been set for criminally charging a social media company as a co-defendant in a mass shooting, and prosecutors have found no evidence the Buffalo shooter entered into an "agreement" with any social media company to carry out his attack, a requirement of federal conspiracy.

In May 2023, Whitfield and other relatives of those killed in the Buffalo attack filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Buffalo in an attempt to hold several social media companies responsible for aiding the killer in his attack.

The gunman was "motivated to commit his heinous crime by racist, anti-Semitic, and white supremacist propaganda fed to him by the social media companies whose products he used," the lawsuit argues, adding that the teenager did not appear to have been raised in a racist family, did not live in a racially polarized community and had no reported personal history of negative interactions with Black people.

Some social media companies named in the lawsuit denied the allegations it is aiding the indoctrination of users of their platforms in white supremacy. Twitch, the Amazon-owned social media gaming site the Buffalo gunman used to live stream the shooting, said in a statement that it closely monitors its site and took down the livestream of the Tops rampage in two minutes.

"We take our responsibility to protect our community extremely seriously, and trust and safety is a major area of investment," Twitch said in its statement in response to the lawsuit, adding it was continuously examining the Buffalo shooting and "sharing those learnings with our peers in the industry to support a safer internet overall."

Google, the parent company of YouTube, which was also named in the lawsuit, also issued a statement denying the allegations, saying, "Through the years, YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads, said on its website in February, "We define a hate speech attack as dehumanizing speech; statements of inferiority, expressions of contempt or disgust; cursing; and calls for exclusion or segregation. We also prohibit the use of harmful stereotypes, which we define as dehumanizing comparisons that have historically been used to attack, intimidate, or exclude specific groups, and that are often linked with offline violence. We also prohibit the usage of slurs that are used to attack people on the basis of their protected characteristics."

MORE: Buffalo mass shooting suspect 'radicalized' by fringe social media: NY attorney general

The Buffalo lawsuit followed the release of a scathing report by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office, alleging several online platforms played roles in the Buffalo mass shooting by radicalizing the killer as he consumed voluminous amounts of racist and violent content and allowing him to broadcast the deadly attack.

The KKK is 'alive and well'

The 64-year-old Shepherd, who describes himself as a "reformed racist" and now advocates against racial hate, said he also felt guilt.

He said many of the same practices he used to recruit KKK members are still being followed. But instead of rallies and cross burnings, white supremacist groups today use the internet to grow and indoctrinate their ranks, Shepherd said.

"It's not the robes and hoods, it's the mentality. And that mentality is what we've got to address," Shepherd said. "As I've said before, the internet is a great thing. But that's one of the tools that's being used to radicalize these kids."

'There's nothing special about this day'

On Tuesday, a monument titled "Unity" will be unveiled outside the Tops store where the Buffalo mass shooting occurred. A moment of silence will be held at 2:28 p.m. ET marking the time the massacre unfolded followed by a tolling of the bells, officials said.

The 5/14 Memorial Commission will also reveal the design picked for a second monument to be erected in Buffalo that is being funded by the state.

But Whitfield said that for him, the day will be no different from any other.

"So 5/14 may be significant for some, it's two years now since then. But it's no more significant on 5/14 than it is on 5/13 or 5/12, or today. I have to live the rest of my life without my mother and with what happened to her," Whitfield said.

Whitfield said he'll continue to speak out against white supremacy and is motivated to be as "consistent and determined" in that work as white nationalists are in their deeds.

"Every day since then [5/14] and for the rest of my life, I will honor my mother by doing this work," Whitfield said. "There's nothing special about this day coming up because I've tried to live according to these principles every day. That's how I'm going to honor my mother and my ancestors."

#2 years after racially motivated Buffalo mass shooting #hate crimes targeting Black people persist #america still as hateful as ever #hatecrimes rise in america #Black in america #Black Lives Matter #Buffalo stills awaits justice #Tops Murders #white hate #white supremacy #hate crimes

[luxe-pauvre]

Hi Holly,

I apologise if this was asked before. I am curious of what books you’d pick if someone asked you “Name 10 most important books in your life”. Would you be able to pick 10? How would you categorise them?

The way you give us amazing quotes and monthly (personal favourite) summaries, is one of the things that keep me here, on tumblr.

I can’t tell you the number of books I purchased because of your posts (Solnit’s Orwell’s Roses ending up being one of my all time favourites and latest Popova’s Figuring being one of best reads of the year…)

And at the same time I’d love to ask you about your approach to skin care routine. What were the best lessons you’ve learned about looking after your skin so far? Did you find a perfect lip balm?

A lot, I know. I deeply admire your blog. Sending a bouquet of flowers and books your way (I wish I could, truly).

🌹

This has been in my inbox since October - my apologies, life has been life-ing, but I'm getting this house in order before the new year.

Would I be able to pick 10? Probably not, too little. I'd categorise them by Non-Fiction (sciences exc. social sciences), Non-Fiction (all other), and Fiction as I did here. And I might add a special category for neuro. related books. I answered that ask in November 2021, since then I would probably add: The Act of Living by Frank Tallis, Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman, Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit, Metaphysical Animals by Clare Mac Cumhaill & Rachel Wiseman, and A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers.

I'm so glad you loved Orwell's Roses, it's become one of my all time favourites too. I think it flew under the radar a little, I don't see it talked about often.

The best lessons I've learned about looking after my skin so far: more/stronger is not always better, evidence-based is always better, and without a good SPF everything else is pointless.

The hunt for the perfect lip balm post-discontinuation of Dior's Creme de Rose is ongoing. I tried the Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm first, and my controversial and unpopular opinion is I hated it. I normally love the smell of vanilla but it was far too full-on and artificial, and way too sticky even as an overnight balm. I've now got several others on the go: the La Bouche Rogue White Balm which I like as a day lip balm, but it's not wowed me so I won't be repurchasing, along with their night serum and lip scrub - I will be repurchasing the scrub, I will not be repurchasing the serum, the balm alone is better; the Tatcha Kissu Lip Mask which does the job, but I won't be repurchasing, it holds in whatever moisture is below but it's not moisturising in itself; the Serge Lutens Lip Comfort which I think will become by day to day lip balm, it's very small/easy to transport, and is exactly the right amount of balm under lipstick; and I went insane before Christmas and tried the La Mer Lip Balm, unfortunately for my bank balance it might actually be the best lip balm of all time. I had severely winter chapped lips and it was a one application and fixed situation. I usually hate anything minty but I will overlook it, it's that good.

And thank you for the lovely compliments, I'm glad someone other than me gets something out of whatever this is. Happy new year! 🥳

#For those thinking that's a lot of lip balm: it is but I use it all up even if I hate it and never throw it. #And for those thinking I would hate La Mer given my evidence-based skincare stance: you're right I do I will never ever try the moisturiser #but the balm really is ✨it✨ unfortunately for all concerned. #What I really need is Necessaire to make a lip balm because they would nail it.

[manonamora-if]

sooooooo.... the ifdb thingy is like long over. and you're done with the seedcomp right? can we have the poll for the fav games you made?

Are you the one who sent me this some weeks ago? If so, you didn't tell me what was your fav work :(

It hasn't technically been 2 months, but I have some free time, so let's do iiiiiit!

Since I can't add more than 10 items (and I have currently 12 & 1/2 games... SO FAR), you are getting only the English ones. So no La Petite Mort, or Le Jeu de la Dévotion, or the Competition winner DOL-OS. (maybe I should do some sort of face-off lol, at this rate I should have enough soon...)

If you haven't played some titles, you can find them all HERE :D

Also, if you have thoughts about your choice, or want to elaborate on why the game you pick is your absolute fave... post it in the reply, or send me an ask :D

#ask box #poll

[cquackity]

THE dog ever !!!

THANK YOU!!! for you here's something from a c!tntduo quackity centric fic i wrote a long time ago :3 actually i think its one of my first fics from like early 2021

Wilbur pressed fresh clothes into Quackity’s outstretched arms. A large shirt with some male manipulator band Quackity had never heard of, and baggy sweatpants. Quackity waited while Wilbur leaned over the tub to fiddle with the handles. He tested the water several times to make sure it was perfect before turning back to Quackity.

“Temperature should be fine,” he said, and Quackity smirked as he loitered. 

“Are you leaving?” 

“Ah, I– well,” Wilbur started, and Quackity grabbed his arm and jerked him towards the door.

“Because I’d really let you get lucky in Philza Minecraft’s house.” He laughed at Wilbur’s dejected expression. Quackity patted his chest, before reaching up to press a kiss into his cheek. “Another night.” And for a second he meant it – for a second he forgot that they were running out of time.

“If you need anything–” 

“I won’t.” Wilbur was shoved out, and with that last remark, Quackity shut the door and locked it. Not only were they both wasted, but Quackity’s body was a nightmare. Nobody should, or could, see him in that state. It was a surprise that Wilbur even wanted to touch him. 

He started to peel off his white shirt, now brown with blood and grime, off his body. It was crusted to his skin in several places, so much so that pulling it off made Quackity wince in pain. Next came his pants, which were in a similar condition. When finally those were off, and he was bare, Quackity took a moment to study himself in the mirror. 

It had been weeks since he’d stared into his own eyes. Out of some compulsion, one he couldn't understand, he'd covered all of the mirrors in Las Nevadas. Seeing the dried blood he’d ignored for so long made him full-body shudder. Whether it was his or Dream’s, there was no way to tell. A long cut was gashed along his thigh, from when he’d fallen into Purpled’s trap and landed on a sharp rock. Various other bruises and scratches stained his body. When he turned his face and brushed his matted hair aside, the place where Wilbur punched him was bright red, and undoubtedly would turn black the next day.

I used to be beautiful. When had it all gone wrong, had he gone wrong? When Technoblade permanently scarred him? Earlier, during his relationship with Schlatt? The desire for revenge twisted every part of Quackity’s life until even his reflection was unrecognizable. Disgusted by the man before him, Quackity turned away and got into the shower.

Wilbur and Philza owned every hair product under the sun. Quackity spent a small amount of time before deciding on a simple shampoo and conditioner, both smelling flowery, before massaging the products into his scalp. It took longer than usual, having to tug out several knots. The body wash array was just as varied as the hair products, and he grabbed at random – a rose water-based one. Great. Quackity wasn’t excited to come out smelling like a bouquet, but then again, anything was better than the blood and body odor. 

He scrubbed until his skin was as red as his cheek as if the water could wash away the hatred that consumed his life. Charlie was right – and he only realized that when it was too late, now that he was gone. Quackity bit his cheek to keep from breaking down again in the shower, determined to save the inevitable cry-fest for when he’s by Charlie’s side again. He could fix this. He had to. If only to show his best friend that he could be different, that they could laugh again together. 

The water was still warm when he shut it off, toweling himself dry and slipping on the clothes Wilbur had provided. They smelled unmistakably of him. Quackity stood and inhaled it in for several long seconds, drunk and stricken. Cinnamon, wet grass, earth, and smoke.

#thes answers

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 24/02/2024 (Dua Lipa, Djo, Calvin Harris/Rag'n'Bone Man)

Guess we know who’s winning the Civil War - Beyoncé’s “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” usurps Vermont on the throne of the UK Singles Chart. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

Rundown

It’s kind of calming to have a week where outside of some new entries, of which there are only a handful to begin with. So, as always, we start with the notable dropouts, which are songs exiting the UK Top 75 (what I cover) after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to a small selection of songs but some of which are pretty important. Sure, I guess we can say good riddance to “MY EYES” by Travis Scott (featuring uncredited vocals from Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and Sampha) and “Body Moving”  by Eliza Rose and Calvin Harris without much fret, but we also see dropouts from the Barbie soundtrack with both “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa leaving, as well as Sam Fender’s “Seventeen Going Under” making yet another exit though I’m sure it’ll be back soon enough.

There isn’t much to speak of in our gains, either. The biggest story is probably our list of returns, since the new documentary, Bob Marley: One Love has people rediscovering the reggae legend’s catalogue. His greatest hits album is at #6 on the albums chart and two of his songs with the Wailers return to the top 75. Both songs peaked in 1980, with “Could You be Loved”, now at #51, peaking at #5 whilst Odyssey’s “Use it Up and Wear it Out” was #1 and “Three Little Birds”, now at #56, only peaking at #17, whilst “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police was #1. Marley would pass just one year after, of course, and it is pretty poetic to have his grandson in the top 10 right now, but just so this episode has some cool chart history trivia, how about we go through the several times these songs have charted? Different recordings of the two songs released in 1984 and 1985 peaked at #71 and #76 respectively. Joe Cocker’s cover of “Could You be Loved” peaked at #86 in 1997, and as far as I can find, no other covers of either song have charted, which kind of surprises me. After all, the latter was recently covered by Maroon 5, I figured they’d hitch a chart spot on name recognition but nope, not even a child singer Connie Talbot could do it in the talent show boom in the 2000s, so I guess Marley’s original really can’t be replaced.

As for the rest of our gains and returns, “Thank You (Not So Bad)” by way too many people who should know better is back at #73 and “Coal” by Dylan Gossett returns to #61. The gains include last week’s debuts, “Made for Me” by Muni Long and “Birds in the Sky” by NewEra at #48 and #44 respectively, “Lil Boo Thang” by the GOAT Paul Russell at #35 and, despite what the Official Charts Company would want you to believe, “Grey” by Yung Filly is at #33. There was an Aitch remix.

This week’s top 5 is actually pretty notable in terms of some shifting tides. We begin with ACR - search it up - striking Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” down to #5, and then one of a few big debuts with Dua Lipa at #4 with “Training Season”, followed by gains for some white dudes making big moves: “Lose Control” by Teddy Swims at #3 and “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone at #2, and finally, of course Queen Bey at the top. Now, we don’t have that wide of an array of new entries, or really, many at all, of which I’m pretty grateful for, so let’s zip through them.

New Entries

#66 - “Soaked” - Shy Smith

Produced by BeatBusta

Alright, I’ll bite… who the Hell is Shy Smith and why did they go with that… uncomfortable cover art? Well, this song is actually from 2021, and I assume through TikTok has gone viral, but this isn’t some indie artist as we typically see, this is a Canadian social media star, which makes this song seem a bit more like a joke. That’s a relief since despite being three years old, it sounds like Ciara made this in 2006 with the glassy synths, blocky Timbaland-esque production and squarrelling synth buzz, that is much more “in” now than it ever has been. Part of me understands completely therefore why this is charting now… but then another part of me doesn’t understand why this is charting at all. There’s really nothing to the stifled groove of the beat and it sounds like it actively strains Shy Smith to try having a personality. It’s so clearly going for semi-goofy seduction, but clawing actual intimacy out of this is as hard a job for me as it would have been for the vocal engineers, so I’m really not understanding this one.

#53 - “Whatever She Wants” - Bryson Tiller

Produced by TylianMTB

I always forget Bryson Tiller exists until he shows back up again, and I mean no offence by that as nothing has given me the impression that he’s not talented or a good person, but not a single song has clicked with me, despite having a lot of respect for his mostly singular lane and pioneering of the trap-soul sound. I can think of people who perhaps want to be Bryson Tiller, but I can’t figure out who Bryson Tiller wants to be other than, well, Bryson Tiller, and even if the music doesn’t resonate, I’m happy with that. Problem here is that he’s obviously trying to be Drake. He’s always been the easiest comparison to make with Tiller, but other than the more Detroit-influenced percussion, which really sounds like a typical trap rhythm with a Detroit choice of sounds more than anything, other than an elegant Orion Sum sample… this is just a Drake song. He goes for Drake flows, Drake melodies, even Drake’s uncomfortable whispery ad-libs. You could argue that the influence is mutual, but it is really difficult for me not to see a Drake fan taking the acapella, running it through a Drake voice AI and making something completely believable. Even the content is a slightly less embarrassing Drake riff, which just shows to me that he may be a unique singer, but not so much a rapper. Tylian’s beat is pretty good on this, I will admit, but I’m compelled by Mr. Tiller enough as a unique presence to care much about this. The train-like way the song keeps to an uptempo chug is actually pretty interesting though, it doesn’t feel like it ever wants to stop and take a breath, and Tiller does contribute to that, he’s not a total dud on his own song. He’s not really improving it either, though.

#19 - “Lovers in a Past Life” - Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man

Produced by Calvin Harris and watt

The petty part of me wants to say “2018 called” but this collaboration isn’t dated on arrival: Rag’n’Bone Man is another one of those artists I always forget about until they show up and I think this will just be a repeat of what I said about “Giant” all those years ago. He needs a rough layer of grit under him, not this flashy, sugary house track that he sticks out like a sore thumb over. Now it may not be dated on arrival but it is in execution: this is a tropical house song, and whilst Calvin Harris has always been good at mixing and making his stuff sound professional, this actually detracts from the character-void guitar and four-on-the-floor programming that all just feels rote. He even goes for an ATB-like guitar lick in the drop amidst the house pianos that just doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t dislike this - or at least not that much - I’m just confused by how either artist felt the need to make it, because it really does not work.

#11 - “End of Beginning” - Djo

Produced by Adam Thein and Djo

How do I even begin to pronounce that? Is he D-J-O, Duh-Joe, Joe, Sho? Oh, who am I kidding? It doesn’t matter, you know him as Joe Keery from Stranger Things. He was in a psychedelic band for a while but left and has solo work as a musician out now, with this taking from his second album and not actually released as a single, just a breakout solo hit. Is it good? Well, listen… I wish he knew he wanted Steve. The only buzz I had heard about this is that it sounded just like Mr. Lacy’s “Bad Habit” and well, I actively laughed when certain elements of the song came in because they hit nearly exactly the same way as in that song. This is most likely an influence and definitely not worth suing anyone over, but that’s primarily because neither song is any good. The lyrics are largely about his connection to his home city of Chicago as well as the acceleration of his acting career, making a point about how well, he’s still from Chicago! Whatever version you get of him, Chicago’s still in him. Yeah, it’s safe to say it doesn’t have the lyrical intricacies or at least, intriguing moments, that “Bad Habit” does, or even, and it pains me to say this, its sonic depth, so surely I should like this even less? Well, no. Djo Mama’s voice is a lot less pursuant and awkward than Steve Lacy, who also came up with some actual earworms that I respect but never want to hear again, whilst Djo here is just yapping over some synthpop. Which is fine. Have your fun. My opinion doesn’t matter at the end of the day. Just… maybe make acting a priority.

#4 - “Training Season” - Dua Lipa

Produced by Kevin Parker

I wish Dua found an interesting way to be good. This is a great, funky pop song, a worthwhile follow-up to “Houdini” with some excellent atmosphere mostly found in the dynamic mix that I’m sure Mr. Tame Impala had a lot of involvement with. It may not be a psychedelic song by nature, but there are transitory phases that absolutely show he was on the boards for. This feels like a sequel to “Houdini”, if that’s not already the intention, as Dua isn’t being the carefree love-them-and-leave-them anymore, she’s genuinely frustrated that she doesn’t have a more consistent and intimate relationship. She’s sick of being in control in these relationships - if they can be called such - and wants someone to go there, to actually mean something to her and put that effort in. Yet it doesn’t hit as much as I want it to… it may be the replacement of the rubbery bass from “Houdini” with a focus on soaring psychedelic synths and a guitar tone I’m not really big on in the chorus. Maybe it’s just that this funk-pop sound isn’t all that new and in that case, it’s impressive that Dua has made it this far without sounding boring.

Conclusion

With that said, she still obviously gets Best of the Week because good God, this was a mediocre set. Honourable and Dishonourable Mentions would be overly charitable probably, but I am going to give Bryson Tiller some benefit here, specifically because “Whatever She Wants” does have a decent instrumental, whilst Djo takes the Dishonourable Mention for “End of Beginning”, God, even the title is awkward. As for the worst, Shy Smith I think takes this handedly for “Soaked” but… will it even last a second week? I don’t know, it’s easily the least essential and least likely to last song that debuted. As for what’s on the horizon… I don’t know. Thank you for reading, rest in peace to Steve Wright and I’ll see you next week!

#rag n bone man #calvin harris #uk singles chart #pop music #song review #dua lipa #djo #bryson tiller #shy smith

[coochiequeens]

You mean a country that makes it harder for women to access birth control, access maternal healthcare, has maternal care deserts, has no mandated maternal leave as an increase in infant mortality?

The infant mortality rate in the U.S. rose last year for the first time in 20 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with significant increases observed in two of the top causes of death.

Between 2021 and 2022, infant deaths in the U.S. rose by 3 percent. or 5.6 fatalities per 1,000 live births. The mortality rate for newborns also increased by 3 percent, while the mortality rate for non-newborn infants rose by 4 percent. The CDC noted this goes against a nearly 20-year trend.

“The infant mortality rate for the United States rose 3% from 2021 to 2022, the first year-to-year increase in the rate since 2001 to 2002,” the agency’s report stated. “From 2002 to 2021, the infant mortality rate declined 22%.”

The mortality rate among infants born to American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic and White non-Hispanic mothers rose significantly more than the overall change, the CDC noted in its report. The changes in mortality rates observed among infants born to Black; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; Hispanic; and Asian mothers were not statistically significant.

Four states were observed as having seen significantly increased infant mortality rates — Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Texas — while Nevada was the single state to see significant drops in mortality in 2022.

Across different age groups of mothers, the infant mortality rate was only observed to rise among women between the ages of 25 and 29 between 2021 and 2022. Mortality rates also rose for all preterm infants, those born before 37 weeks of gestation, as well as male infants.

Among the top 10 leading causes of infant death, two rose significantly last year: maternal complications of pregnancy and bacterial sepsis of newborns. The top cause of infant mortality in 2022 was congenital malformations.

The agency noted the dataset is provisional and has yet to undergo a more comprehensive review so the final numbers may be slightly different.

The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate compared to other developed countries. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, America’s infant mortality rate is one the top 10 highest among its 38 member states, ranking higher than Canada, the U.K., Australia, South Korea and Japan.

Many countries have infant mortality rates that are drastically higher, with India and South Africa reporting more than 25 infant deaths for every 1,000 live births.

I couldn't get a the whole map to download but i think this still makes the point

#usa #infant mortality #the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) #Georgia #Iowa #Missouri #Texas #Good news for mothers and newborns in Nevada

[edith-moonshadow]

Master Post For Harringrove Stories

Side Blog For Completed Stories: Edith’s Writing Desk

Are We Really Happy With This Lonely Game We Play Series

Bruising For A Fight

Pretty Boy, Harrington

Hurricane Hargrove [Tumblr Post]

Only Worth Living If Someone Is Loving You Series

Stronger And Harder Than A Bad Girl’s Dream

What Are You Thinking Of

The Most Exquisite Form Of Self-Destruction

Love You In Another Space And Time [Tumblr Post]

Harringrove Week Of Love 2021

I Don’t Cook, I Don’t Clean But Let Me Tell You How I Got This Ring... [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

I’ll Find A Way Under Your Skin [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

If I Could Have A Million Tomorrows [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

42 [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

Take Me To Church [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

Chantilly Lace [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

Band Of Gold [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

Tales From Tumblr Series

You Give Love A Bad Name [Tumblr Post]

Nothing Erases This Feeling Between Me And You [Tumblr Post]

Debbie Steve [Tumblr Post]

Big Dick Steve [Tumblr Post]

Sugar Baby Omega Steve [Tumblr Post] [WIP]

It’s The Real Thing [Tumblr Post] [Life Tastes Good Tumblr Post]

The Man With The Child In His Eyes [Tumblr Post]

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words [Tumblr Post]

Billy’s Bitch [Tumblr Post]

Paradise By The Dashboard Light [Tumblr Post]

Dancehall Days [Tumblr Post]

Homewrecker Steve [Tumblr Post]

That Certain Feeling Carved By Another’s Hand [Tumblr Post]

I Fought The Law [Tumblr Post]

Deep In The Heart Of Me [Tumblr Post]

I’m Never Gonna Fuck You [Tumblr Post]

Suck It, Harrington [Tumblr Post]

Harringrove Big Bang 2021

The Poison Pen 

The incomparable @heck-in-a-handbasket’s absolutely wonderful art for The Poison Pen

Harroween Series

Feed My Frankenstein

Season Of The Witch

Extra Credit [Tumblr Post]

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden [Tumblr Post]

By The Sea [Tumblr Post]

Your First Sweet Kiss [Tumblr Post]

The Boy At The Bottom Of The Garden [Tumblr Post]

The Memory Of Scars [Tumblr Post]

Under Blue Moon, I Saw You [Tumblr Post]

The Trials Of Love [Tumblr Post]

Black Eyed Angels Swam With Me [Tumblr Post]

Unquiet Graves [Tumblr Post]

The Sweetest Tongue Hides The Sharpest Tooth [Tumblr Post]

The Will Of Count Hargrove [Tumblr Post]

The Silver Haired Witch Club [Tumblr Post]

Peachy Keen [Tumblr Post]

Beltane Blessings [Tumblr Post]

Tina’s Annual Halloween Party [Tumblr Post]

The Camera Never Lies [Tumblr Post] [Part Two]

Curse Of The Were-Rabbit 

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

I’m Your Boyfriend Now, Nancy  [Tumblr Post] 

If You Float, You’ll Burn [Tumblr Post]

Billy Hargrove Calls Steve Harrington Pet Names Series

Bunny [Tumblr Post]

Harringrove Week

Deliver Us From Temptation [Tumblr Post]

Sugar Cream Pie 

Dionysus [Tumblr Post]

Prom Night [Tumblr Post]

How To Celebrate A Win [Tumblr Post]

Sadie’s Parties [Tumblr Post]

The Double Deuce In Hawkins, Indiana [Tumblr Post] [WIP]

Soft, Low, Sweet And Plain, I Feel That Burning Flame [Tumblr Post]

I’d Rather Be Damned With You [Tumblr Post]

Lasting Aftereffect Of Trouble [Tumblr Post]

The Sweetest Tongue Hides The Sharpest Tooth [Tumblr Post]

The Will Of Count Hargrove [Tumblr Post]

The Silver Haired Witch Club [Tumblr Post]

Peachy Keen [Tumblr Post]

Beltane Blessings [Tumblr Post]

Tina’s Annual Halloween Party [Tumblr Post]

The Camera Never Lies [Tumblr Post] 

Curse Of The Were-Rabbit 

Love Was Only True In Fairy Tales [Tumblr Post]

Love Was Only True In Fairy Tales (Outsider’s POV) [Tumblr Post]

Like A Bruised Peach [Tumblr Post]

Ardent Attention [Tumblr Post]

You Can Be My Daddy White And Gold [Tumblr Post]

Steve Harrington's In The Closet [Tumblr Post]

Been Trying Hard Not To Get Into Trouble But I've Got A War In My Mind [Tumblr Post]

Steve Harrington’s Six Little Nuggets

Steve Harrington Is A Damn Good Babysitter [Tumblr Post]

Soft, Low, Sweet And Plain, I Feel That Burning Flame [Tumblr Post]

Harringrove Love Fest 2024

Come As You Are [Tumblr Post]

I Drive Fast I Am Alone At Midnight  [Tumblr Post]

Sticks And Stones [Tumblr Post]

The Carrot And The Stick [Tumblr Post]

Acts Of Service [Tumblr Post]

Praise Me Like You Do

Villainous Valentine 2024

The Crafty Baron

Omegaverse Stories

I Wanna Taste You But Your Lips Are Venomous Poison

I Don’t Cook, I Don’t Clean But Let Me Tell You How I Got This Ring... [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

42 [Tumblr Post] [Cross-Stitch]

Every Since We Met You’ve Had A Hold On Me [Tumblr Post] [WIP]

You Can’t Even See How Much You’re Mine [Tumblr Post Steve POV, Part 2] [Billy’s POV] [WIP]

Apple Seeds [Tumblr Post]

I’m Trapped By Your Love And I’m Chained To Your Side 

Devil’s Advocate 

Taste Of Pomegranates On Your Lips 

Only Worth Living If Someone Is Loving You Series

You Give Love A Bad Name [Tumblr Post]

Big Dick Steve [Tumblr Post]

Sugar Baby Omega Steve [Tumblr Post] [WIP]

Life Tastes Good [Tumblr Post] [Extra Chapter Billy’s POV]

The Man With The Child In His Eyes [Tumblr Post]

Billy’s Bitch [Tumblr Post]

Paradise By The Dashboard Light [Tumblr Post]

Dancehall Days [Tumblr Post]

That Certain Feeling Carved By Another’s Hand [Tumblr Post]

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden [Tumblr Post]

Under Blue Moon, I Saw You [Tumblr Post]

Sugar Cream Pie  

Dionysus [Tumblr Post]

How To Celebrate A Win [Tumblr Post]

Sadie’s Parties [Tumblr Post]

The Double Deuce In Hawkins, Indiana [Tumblr Post] [WIP]

Steve Harrington Is A Damn Good Babysitter [Tumblr Post]

Soft, Low, Sweet And Plain, I Feel That Burning Flame [Tumblr Post]

The Sweetest Tongue Hides The Sharpest Tooth [Tumblr Post]

Peachy Keen [Tumblr Post]

Beltane Blessings [Tumblr Post]

Tina’s Annual Halloween Party [Tumblr Post]

Curse Of The Were-Rabbit 

Ardent Attention [Tumblr Post]

You Can Be My Daddy White And Gold [Tumblr Post]

If You Float, You’ll Burn [Tumblr Post] 

The Harrington Internship [Tumblr Post]

Acts Of Service [Tumblr]

The Crafty Baron

Other Stories

Hot For Teacher

Take This Pink Ribbon Off My Eyes [Tumblr Post]

Princess Paddles [Tumblr Post]

Sealed With A Kiss [Tumblr Post]

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder [Tumblr Post]

Dear Heart [Tumblr Post]

My Bloody Valentine [Tumblr Post]

Incubus Billy [WIP]

Chemistry Lessons [Tumblr Post]

Bite Me, Hargrove [Tumblr Post] 

#harrringrove #my writing #minors dni #masterpost #long post #will be updated #with new work as it's posted #ediths-writing-desk

[klbmsw]

A political earthquake in Tennessee

April 7, 2023

Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu and Shelby Rose

Protestors yell and wave signs in the gallery after Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives expelled Rep. Justin Jones on Thursday. (WTVF)

Republicans in the Tennessee state House of Representatives have made a choice: They decided Thursday that protecting decorum in their chamber was more important than limiting access to high powered weapons like the ones that killed three nine-year-olds and three staff at a private school in Nashville last week.

The state's GOP super majority has voted to expel two young Black male Democratic lawmakers, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, for leading a protest on the House floor last week calling for gun control. A third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, a White woman, survived by one vote and was not expelled -- a discrepancy that raises obvious and ugly questions.

“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” Jones told Republican legislators as he spoke before the House in his own defense.

The expelled lawmakers had committed no crimes; they were accused simply of behaving inappropriately in the House. They admit that they broke the rules by entering the well of the chamber without permission and interrupting debate. But lawmakers break the rules all the time and are not expelled. The House in Tennessee has has only expelled members on the rarest of occasions — for bribery and for sexual offenses, for example.

The expulsions -- which effectively cancelled out the ballots of tens of thousands of Tennesseans who had elected Jones and Pearson -- came across as a disproportionate abuse of power that crushed freedom of expression for the two members and their constituents.

One Republican, Rep. Gino Bulso, said that Jones, who accused the House of acting dishonorably during his dramatic and eloquent defense, had made the case for his own exclusion. “He and two other representatives effectively conducted a mutiny on March the 30th of 2023 in this very chamber,” Bulso said. Absurdly, the Republican House speaker last week said the protest by the lawmakers was equivalent or worse than the Jan. 6, 2021, mob attack on the US Capitol.

Given Tennessee’s overwhelming conservative tint, there was never any chance that the Nashville shooting would lead to local gun reforms. But the legislature’s power play came across as an attempt to silence a debate the GOP doesn’t want to have, at a time when the state was still reeling with grief.

But now the eyes of America and the world are on Tennessee.

China’s banks and insurers have become the latest focus of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown.

Israel launched strikes in Gaza after a barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon.

And protesters stormed the Paris offices of money manager BlackRock.

Meanwhile in America, JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon says the banking crisis has increased odds of recession.

The Supreme Court denied West Virginia’s request to enforce a ban on transgender women and girls playing on public school sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

And the former Michigan House speaker said he took bribes as head of state’s medical marijuana licensing board.

'We are losing our democracy'

One of the expelled Democrats spoke to CNN's Ryan Young and warned that American democracy is under threat from Republicans seeking to hold back a young, rising tide of diversity.

“Six people died in Nashville at the Covenant School. Three were nine-years-old but instead of focusing on that, Representative Jones, Representative Johnson and myself are being expelled from the state house because we said we cannot do business as usual,” Pearson said. “No one should be wanting to operate as though this is not happening, as though we are not living in a gun violent epidemic in the state of Tennessee.”

“We are losing our democracy to White supremacy, we are losing our democracy to patriarchy, we are losing our democracy to people who want to keep a status quo that is damning to the rest of us and damning to our children and unborn people."

[smiledotdeer]

Headcanon Compilation 2.0

I made one of these back when I rebooted this blog, but I’ve tweaked and added to it since then, so here we go!

(It’s going under a Read More because good lord it’s a LOT.)

Alastor sometimes goes by the nickname of  “Cal” to differentiate himself from his alternates. “Cal” is short for  “Calloway” - a reference to his breaking into Heaven to get an alternate some signed Cab Calloway records. You can read about it here!

Alastor’s father’s name is Travis Reed. Alastor killed him when he himself was only 16 years old. Travis is indeed in Hell, and occasionally their  paths will cross. It always ends with Travis getting killed. He also generally refuses to call him ‘father’, instead preferring to call him by his name, and he’s publicly broadcast Travis’ personal information to try and cause problems on purpose.

Alastor’s mother’s name was Desdemona, maiden name of Guillory—which is the  name he’s taken to using for himself. She died as well, but she’s in Heaven, so Alastor doesn’t have any contact with her.

Alastor had a little sister named Josephine. She was born when he was 4, but died in a drowning accident when he was 10 (meaning she was only 6).

Alastor’s mother gave him a porcelain doll as a Christmas gift that his father destroyed later on. For Christmas of 2021, an alternate managed to find and restore the doll before giving it to him as a gift.

Alastor once nursed a baby alligator back to health when he was a child.

Alastor enjoyed playing with a homemade slingshot as a child, and he was actually quite a good aim with it.

Alastor hosts one scheduled broadcast every week on Sunday nights from eight to  ten in the evening. Each one is closed out with a single song request sent in by his listeners. He also visits the Cannibal Colony to hang out with Rosie and her friends every Thursday afternoon from 2-6 PM.

Alastor has a journal, and he writes his entries as if they are letters addressed to his mother.

Alastor has planted a rose bush near his radio tower in memory of his mother, with a plaque bearing her name. It’s tucked away from the public eye, in a little  clearing in the nearby woods. He takes very good care of it and would  fly into a rage if he ever caught someone trying to pick its flowers.

Alastor has a nervous habit of tugging at his cuffs. If he’s not wearing something easily tuggable, he’ll wrap a hand around his opposite wrist  and scratch. Sometimes he leaves marks due to pressing down too hard  with his nails.

Alastor is not covered in scars; they’re only on his forearms and back. His arms have scratches and dog bites from when he was trying to defend himself the day he died, and as a child his father would beat him so often and so hard that there are now  permanent marks slicing across his back. He also has a scattering of newer scars that he obtained during 2021′s E-Day.

Alastor is not afraid of dogs. He just strongly dislikes them because of their involvement in his death; it brings back terrible memories for him. In addition, his dislike only applies to beagles, since that was the breed used to hunt him down.

Mirroring his disliking of beagles, Alastor absolutely adores cats—literal or sinner. They are by far his favorite animal.

Alastor’s minions are actually rag dolls he makes by hand and infuses with the souls he’s collected over the years. He sews at least one new doll every day to keep their numbers high. If he makes a rag doll of your muse, he likes them. If he gives that rag doll to your muse instead of keeping it on his shelf, he really likes them.

Alastor’s shadow’s name is Cotton.

Alastor dislikes sweets because he is allergic to sugar—sucrose, to be  specific (aka the white granulated stuff you spoon into your coffee or  put in your cookies). Fructose and lactose are perfectly fine. Symptoms vary based on how much he eats, but even a tiny amount will get his tongue tingling, which is enough of a deterrent for him. More serious symptoms include breaking out in hives, having stomach cramps, wheezing, shortness of breath, and eventually vomiting.

Alastor tends to get uncharacteristically gloomy on his death day (November 6th).

Alastor can play the piano, organ, harpsichord, and violin! He's also slowly teaching himself how to play the guitar.

Alastor’s microphone voices and his rag doll minions used to belong to and be actual demons. They were his victims; their souls were used to animate his dolls, and their voices became a permanent part of his audience. Just like actual canned laugh tracks, whenever you hear Alastor’s microphone laughing, you are listening to dead people laugh.

Alastor doesn’t use washing machines or dryers. He still uses tin tubs, a rub board, and a clothesline. He tried to use a washer twice and simply could not figure it out. He also has a personally awful experience involving washing machines, which only gives him more incentive to stay away.

Alastor occasionally enjoys smoking both cigars and cigarettes. For cigars, he prefers the Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaraguan. For cigarettes, his go-to brand is Lucky Strike, and he specifically tends to buy the Lucky Strike Reds.

Alastor carries the following items with him, on his person, at all times: his favorite knife, a Colt Model 1908, a cigarette case, and a vintage pocket watch.

Alastor wears cologne on a daily basis! The scent is a mixture of vanilla, burning wood, mandarin, pine needles and rosemary. Also, the bottle looks damn good on his bathroom countertop.

Alastor likes to collect and keep the whiskers Husk sheds. He doesn't do anything with them; they're just stored in a little box on his home office's desk. (This headcanon only applies to his NPC Husk unless a Husk's mun agrees with it.)

Alastor’s clothing and hair maintenance are both tended to by Niffty. (This headcanon only applies to his NPC Niffty unless a Niffty's mun agrees with it.)

The gold coins Alastor likes to flick at people are worth $50 apiece.

Alastor does, in fact, have hooves; he just covers them up with specially-made shoes most of the time so he can still appear somewhat normal…and also tap-dance more efficiently.

Alastor's top three favorite holidays (in order) are: Christmas, Mardi Gras, and Halloween.

Alastor served in World War 1—specifically in the Army. It's where he was first introduced to the world of radio.

Alastor shakes off his fluff-covered hooves like a soaked cat after he showers/bathes/otherwise gets wet.

Alastor's portals (and magic in general) are bright green.

Alastor can manipulate his microphone to move on its own. He can also make its staff and the discs at the top and bottom sharpen, effectively turning it into a weapon capable of stabbing and/or slicing, and when it’s idling it always hovers against his back. Here’s a visual ref of how I imagine his control over his microphone working!

Alastor’s antlers grow magnolias throughout March and April. While normal magnolias are harmless, Alastor's are not. Do not eat those. They are extremely poisonous and will kill you. Bonus headcanon that Husk likes to crush up their petals and poison someone’s drink if they’ve ticked him off in some way. (This headcanon only applies to his NPC Husk unless a Husk's mun agrees with it.)

Alastor's favorite season is autumn.

He prefers his meat rare. Sometimes he’ll even eat it raw.

Alastor’s handshake depends on the nature of the handshake. If it’s a greeting for someone he’s coming across for the very first time, Alastor will keep his hand almost perfectly vertical as it’s offered to them; a sign of neutrality, as well as mutual respect. If it’s a greeting for a friend/someone he likes, his hand will tilt palm up and close around theirs with a gentler touch. He may even warm his hand up a bit using his pyrokinesis to make himself more inviting and friendly. If it’s a greeting for someone he dislikes/has little respect for, he’ll offer his hand with the palm tilted towards the ground and squeeze their hand firmly to let them know he is in control. Additionally, alternates (or those familiar with magical practices) may pay attention to which hand he uses, as well—especially when making a deal. If he offers his right hand, it’s a sign of good will, and if he’s making a deal with that hand it means he has no intention of crossing or breaking the terms of their agreement. If he offers the left, there’s bad magic involved. He’s planning to betray that person further down the line, or perhaps even hex them in some way.

Alastor has a terrible tendency to stare at those that catch his interest. If they look back at him, though, he’ll usually be respectful and stop. Unless he wants to make them uncomfortable—in which case he’ll continue. In conversation, he’s usually pretty good about looking his company in the eye; it’s a trait he’s developed due to years of interviewing guests for his radio show—both in life and in Hell. The only time he’ll actively avoid maintaining eye contact is when he’s uncomfortable, but that doesn’t happen very often out in public.

Although he doesn’t own a cellphone (and according to him he never will, but who knows what could happen in the future), he is capable of sending text messages through a speech-to-text sort of function in his mic (somehow; don’t ask me about the logistics of it)! In essence: he speaks into his mic, and a few seconds later a digital message is sent to the recipient’s phone! He can send these messages to just one person, to more than one person…or it can be treated as a Hell-wide blog post of sorts that shows up on everyone’s devices (this, plus the fact that he is almost always broadcasting, is why I allow dashboard commentary most of the time). His grammar and syntax in said “texts” is always perfect.

Alastor is capable of “healing” people in the sense that he can transfer their injuries—either partially or in full—to himself.

Alastor’s house isn’t ACTUALLY his house! Nor is it one cohesive house! It used to belong to Larry Landers, the man that took Alastor in when he ran to New Orleans in 1914 and later on became his mentor in all things radio. Larry died in late 1944, and early on in the following year Alastor was summoned back to New Orleans by a human wanting to make a deal by absolute chance. He found out that Larry had passed on and his home was now up for sale (since he had no next of kin to take it over)—so he decided he’d simply take it back to Hell with him in a fashion similar to how he teleported an entire casino room into the Happy Hotel in the pilot. Additionally, he has split the rooms up since teleporting the house into Hell with him, putting each one in a different location and linking them up via magical runes on the floor that allow him to traverse them as he so pleases. When people enter his home, either via teleportation themselves (see: most Alastors) or by a more traditional means, they’re brought into the foyer by the front door, which is disguised as a small and simple house on its own. The majority of that home people see from the outside is an illusion; only the foyer is accessible this way. Everything else needs to be accessed via the runes.

Alastor’s first cannibalistic experience was him eating his own body after spending several hours trying to find it. The way I personally see non-perma-death in Hell working is similar to dying in most video games: you die, you black out for a while, and then you come back. Your body is right where you left it, and it has all the stuff you were carrying with you when you kicked the bucket. Yes, this includes clothes; you “respawn” totally naked. For Alastor specifically, this isn’t much of an issue, since he can simply snap his fingers and put on another outfit. Early on, before he got a handle on his powers, he was killed and took too long navigating his way back to his corpse. By then, he was starving and desperate and he literally just…ate it. Right there. In a nasty-ass alley. Probably growling and snarling at anyone that looked at him funny or got too close.

Alastor can shapeshift! The way it works for him specifically is a little bit like working with clay: he uses magic to remold himself into new forms. This involves him studying and memorizing the appearance he wishes to turn into so he can know what he’s doing, both inside and out. It’s also a permanent change, meaning that it stays in effect until one of two things happens: he repeats the process to remold himself back to his original shape, or he dies, since dying acts as a “factory reset” and puts him back to his original shape when he returns. Bonus headcanon to accompany this: in order to better know his own anatomy, Alastor absolutely studied his own corpse after dying several times.

Travis, Alastor’s biological father, has moved several times during the years he’s been down in Hell while Alastor has been active. Every single time, without fail, Alastor manages to find him again purely so he can continue making his life miserable—or, at the very least, annoy him. It depends on how he’s feeling that particular day, in all honesty. Usually, though, it ends in Alastor pulling out his Colt and shooting him point blank in the face. He’ll leave the more creative methods of torture and death to his listeners whenever they decide to take him up on his occasionally broadcasted announcements giving out Travis’ location. He, himself, usually cannot be bothered to waste much time on killing the guy.

If Alastor played video games in any capacity, he would be absolutely flawless at rhythm games.

Alastor has petted his own ears to help himself calm down. He pretends it’s someone else doing it. Until recently it’s always been his mother, since she was the one person in life he was close to and trusted. Nowadays, though, he has multiple options.

Alastor used to be alright with TVs despite Vox’s treatment of him, but then Vox kept crawling out of the one in his office to try and scare him. It worked and he wound up getting pelted with several Double Mauls Alastor had set up on his desk in case of intruders. Now he no longer keeps a TV in his office, and he generally skirts around TVs in general to avoid having Vox pop up again. If someone asks him to watch a movie with them, he’ll do it—but he’s bringing a weapon in case Vox shows up. This doesn’t extend to the silver screens in movie theaters, since those aren’t actual screens and thus I believe Vox can’t do the whole Samara thing by climbing out of them. So if anyone invites him to a movie in theaters, Alastor will (probably) accept wholeheartedly!

If someone hits Alastor? Fine. He’ll take the hit. He might even hit back if he deems it worth the trouble. If he’s hit by an alternate, and it isn’t some kind of pre-ordained tussle? He will be shocked, angry, and then leave (in that exact order)—and that alternate will never see him again. It’s like the difference between getting punched by a stranger at a bar and getting punched by a family member. It’s meaner if an alternate does it.

The best time to hear Alastor’s southern American accent is when he’s either just waking up or on the verge of falling asleep. It’s very cute and hardly anyone ever gets to hear it because he usually sleeps alone.

If anyone managed to kill Alastor in a fight (which would be hard to do given his power level and him not holding back in one), he would be sincerely impressed and come back a few hours later to track them down and try to befriend them.

Alastor broadcasts on frequency 901. This is the same as his sister’s birthday: 09/01.

Alastor doesn’t talk directly to people with his mouth. Instead, his voice is coming from his microphone. It just SOUNDS like he’s talking from his mouth, and he moves his lips to form the words even though he’s not making them directly. This explains the near constant filter over his voice.

Alastor’s voice claim is the same as TytoCat’s in “Deal Maker”.

His handwriting looks like this.

#biography excerpts (headcanon)