#Stephen just liked my tweet while writing these tags

[danglovely]

Everything I learned or experienced from watching the commentary track for “Community”:

*deep breath*

The Pierce writing the Greendale song subplot had a darker version cut by NBC.

Pierce helping Troy with sneezing had a cut Chevy line: “you used to be the big man on campus AND NOW YOU’RE A JOKE.”

Chevy Chase seems to not know what ecstasy is.

Dan Harmon definitely is familiar with it.

There was a shooting at the school they filmed the debate scenes at which put the cast and crew into lockdown. 

Joel McHale received emails from church groups regarding the content of his “Man is Evil” debate.

Donald Glover hits on Yvette Nicole Brown in a Barack Obama impression.

Chevy Chase loves being behind a piano.

He also loves doing prat falls.

He improvised calling his beastmaster owl “Abed” in Introduction to Statistics.

Jack Black filmed his episode in one day.

Annie having sex with a guy, him revealing himself to be gay, and her never seeing his genitalia was drawn from Alison Brie’s life.

According to Dan Harmon, Slater is supposed to be the Jolie to Britta’s Aniston. 

Dan Harmon was worried people would think he was ripping of Funny or Die with Jeff and Slater’s relationship declaration form.

The cast of Derrick Comedy is Pierce’s joke team in Romantic Expressionism. 

Yvette Nicole Brown came up with the Burt and Ernie tag.

Craig Cackowski is on the show because his sister wrote for the show.

JUST MY OPINION, but Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon seemed quite appreciative of each other in the first season. 

The “Goldbluming” joke was a big point of contention between Joe and Anthony Russo.

I can’t confirm... but it really sounds like the show killed a frog for Britta’s prank. 

The Starburns - Abed chicken scene was an intentional homage to Heat.

Abed and Jeff are both cut off from people according to Dan Harmon. The difference is that Jeff can manipulate people and Abed covets that ability.

Jeff and Britta had sex in Modern Warfare partially to make the episode important to the overall story’s structure (in addition to it being the first real high concept episode).

Abed wears a Boondocks shirt because Sony owned it and it was free to use by the show. 

Dan Harmon does not respect Good Will Hunting as a movie.

The “so it begins, the greatest relationship ever known” kiss took 30 takes.

Betty White did not know Toto’s Africa before filming her rap.

The music budget for the second season was entirely spent on Abba music for Epidemiology. Dan Harmon paid out of pocket for the Sara Bareillis song they use in Paradigms of Human Memory. 

In Calligraphy, Gwynnifer is named after Dan Harmon’s twitter “nemesis”. He confirmed it is a code name for Britta, who had been hooking up with Jeff since the space bus. 

Dan Harmon repeatedly refers to Jeff and Britta as the inverse of Jim and Pam from The Office.

Bruce Hornsby was supposed to punch Pierce in the season one finale. 

Chevy Chase was upset with how cruel Pierce was in Advanced Dungeons in Dragons.

Levar Burton changed the line from “more fish for Levar” to “more fish for Kunta”.

The joke of the tag where no one says anything to each other while they surf their phones is supposed to be that it took place on Britta’s birthday, but the writers realized that it was the wrong time of year. 

Dan Harmon paid for that Sara Bareillis song because it was set over the first Jeff x Annie shipper video he had seen. 

The dean’s cartoon tag exists because Paradigms of Human Memory is somehow the only episode that came in UNDER expected time. 

At the end of Competitive Wine Tasting, Abed was supposed to hear a gunshot coming from Stephen Tobolowsky’s office after proving Angela was, in fact, the boss on Who’s the Boss?

Yvette Nicole Brown calls Gillian Jacobs “Stinkerton” for some reason.

No one on the commentary was happy with the Jeff calling Annie “kiddo” scene in Geography of Global Conflict. Actors, directors, nobody. 

Chevy Chase told Maggie Bandur that she shouldn’t write comedy. 

Dan Harmon tweeted as all the characters for #AnniesMove.

Dan Harmon realized the sound was off to Abed and Troy’s Christmas Rap while doing the commentary.

Dan Harmon said a lot of the planning in season three was about minimizing Chevy’s contact with the cast and crew.

Gillian Jacobs said she didn’t move much in Virtual Systems Analysis when Abed wasn’t supposed to be inhabiting her. (My opinion: none of the other characters seem to follow her rule.)

Alison Brie raps on set a lot.

Gillian Jacobs was in an Apple PC commercial that never aired. 

Dino Stamatopoulos repeatedly requested to be killed off the show.

Jim Rash’s stand-in was bronzed to fill in for Danny Pudi who was absent while his wife was having twins. 

Jim Rash was in and out for a bit while winning an Oscar for The Descendants.

Dean Laybourne was self-conscious about his appearance to justify John Goodman’s appearance for another movie. 

Moses Port said the opening of season four was supposed to be a fake out to make people think the show suddenly sucked.

Annie’s The Ring entrance was filmed backwards then run in reverse.

Britta’s ham costume had to be recolored to prevent her from looking like a scrotum. 

Intro to Knots was originally supposed to be filmed in one shot as an homage to Rope. The first two minutes was all they managed to get through. 

Gillian Jacobs says Troy and Britta have nothing in common.

According to Dan Harmon, Chevy Chase was happy to do his scene in season five and was open to coming back for more.

According to Dan Harmon, even if he wanted Chevy Chase back, Sony would have refused his return to the show.

Jonathan Banks told Christopher McKenna that he would “punch him in the heart” which Dan Harmon wrote into the show. 

It is all butt confirmed that Annie is the Ass Crack Bandit.

Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was so behind schedule that it totally rushed/altered the season five finale. 

Dan Harmon says Jeff shares things with Britta that he doesn’t with Annie but feels things for Annie that he doesn’t with Britta.

Dan Harmon and Paget Brewster were good friends before she joined the show.

Frankie’s backstory is that she is moving to Colorado to take care of her handicapped sister.

Chang is actually gay. 

#community #dan harmon #jeff winger #britta perry #annie edison #troy barnes #shirley bennett #pierce hawthorne #abed nadir #joel mchale #yvette nicole brown #alison brie #gillian jacobs #danny pudi #donald glover #chevy chase #Paget Brewster #jonathan banks #jim rash #nbc

[hopeshoodie]

Ok so in light of the Independent article (see my tag #fusebox layoffs for more info), I’ve been trying to piece together the sequence of events that lead to FB Going to Shit™. 

All of the below is based on articles, tweets from the staff, and dates from screenshots. Especially with the Matchmaker stuff, I’m using the dates I personally accessed the stories- that might not be accurate to when they were actually released to an international audience, just when my phone updated the app. In hindsight, I’m not a great person to do this because I have a shit memory and don’t keep receipts, so if you have any corrections PLEASE lmk either in the dms or replies. 

In sum, the timeline appears to be:

1. Key players left Fusebox in early 2020. 

The one that people are probably most familiar with is David Gallopim, one of the artists who helped define the S2’s distinct style, leaving sometime before March 2020. He seemed to indicate that there was conflict over the new art style of S3, and released assets he’d designed of Harry in his own style (notably way prettier than Harry looks in-game). 

But probably more important to the direction of the company, Michael Othen, one of the co-founders and former CEO, left in July of 2020 (I had thought it was earlier in the year but according to LinkedIn it was July). It’s much more unclear why he left, but it’s notable because he was a huge force in making the game inclusive of LGBTQ characters. 

So all in all, not a great sign when employees who had a huge hand in creating the content and direction of a game that defined its success jump ship. Especially after the game was seemingly hitting its stride, with the host of Love Island (the TV show) doing a sponsored Let’s Play of S3 and projects in the works like Boat Party and CMM.

2. It seems like Fusebox‘s CEO/executives hired new management, either in 2020 or early 2021. Employees complain that the executives don’t understand what it takes to make a game and are pulling the studio in the wrong direction. It’s unclear if the newly hired execs had experience. 

Wil Stephens, the CEO/founder, has been with FB since its inception but also appears to have only founded game distribution ventures and not worked in any development or employment capacity. If that’s the case, maybe the complaints about lack of experience/knowledge about the mechanics of making games work are about him. If not, then some of the newly hired execs would likely be to blame. 

Paul Virapen, COO, was brought on in November of 2020. He’s worked with Disney’s gaming division, Big Pixel studios, Wooga. The quality of that experience is dubious since he headed up the ‘let’s make apps for Apple watches, it’ll be the next big thing’ department… Lol. Notably also, all of his roles had been in the executive/managerial realm, not the development teams, so the complains might have been about him. THIS IS SPECULATION, but I’m willing to bet that Virapen was a if not THE driving force in switching Fusebox’s focus entirely to matchmaker. All the studios he’s worked with have primarily produced and promoted Match 3 games, and he has a background working with big studios that produce games for large international audiences, not small studios making narrative games for limited audiences.

A new Manager of Finances, Ruth Erskine, was brought on in December of 2020

Rob Goddard, a new producer, was brought in January of 2021

Several key operations positions were filled by existing employees being promoted to management- 2 as far as I can tell. But as a whole it seems like December 2020 was a huge shift in leadership for the upper management while a lot of the other teams expanded but kept their old players as well.

3. At some point in late 2020- mid 2021, the executive team made the decision to switch LITG’s focus from a narrative pass-based game to a Match 3 incorporating romance narrative cut scenes. In early 2021, Fusebox teased more content to come while releasing S3 (seemingly referring to Matchmaker and not S4). In the interim between S3 endings and Boat Party’s release they put out an interview confirming the new game will be Match 3 but did seem to indicate that the plan at that time was for Matchmaker to be a side project with a different development team and not replace the main game. Notably, the LITG writers and artists were reassured that their roles will continue to exist (according to the independent article) as they’re working on S4.

3. In September of 2020, Matchmaker became briefly available in the US. That’s when I first downloaded it, at least. It would be added/removed from the google play store multiple times before having a unilateral release in July of 2021. 

Throughout 2020, Matchmaker is available to Asian audiences solely with LITG S1 getting rolled out in incremental updates. 

Eventually, Beanie Quinn is released (March 2021)

LA Noir is released (May 2021)

Seduction Games is released (late May or June 2021- I got the update and played it June 3rd, but hadn’t opened the app for a month or so. It might have come out before then, which is unfortunate for this timeline since it’s so inextricably linked to the open letter and layoff dates)

LITG S2 is released (only like 20 levels of it) the same month- June 19th for me. Notably, all of these stories are only released to an international audience, with the UK and USA still not having access to the app.

4. At the same time, Fusebox’s internal affairs are pretty quiet from 2020-2021, at least on social media. 

S3 comes out in 2020, Boat Party comes out later in the year and finishes in 2021. Post S3 in October of 2021, a survey goes out gauging player interest in new art styles and representation, which was pretty in keeping with past actions and seemed promising for S4. 

Boat Party features a promising cross promotion implementing irl brands into the game. It’s unclear if enough money was made from this on FB or the sponsor’s end to make that strategy viable, but that might’ve impacted management’s outlook for the profitability of LITG.  

Fusebox teases more content for the summer on Instagram, and then follows up and confirms it’ll be a proper season.

5. More key players leave in early 2021

Ed Sibley is still listed as Narrative Direction on LinkedIn, but he’s not credited as a writer on Season 4 (he was on 3,2,and 1) and started work with NetSpeak games in May of 2021, so we can assume he left around then or at least transitioned away from Fusebox then.

Fred Francis, another writer who had been on the team since S1, turns in his resignation ‘weeks’ before the layoffs were announced in late June. So we can assume he made his exit sometime early June or late May.

6. Prior to the release of Seduction games in May/June, staff expressed concern about the biphobia in Seduction Games. No sources have given a specific time when this took place. They were reassured that the problem would be corrected prior to release, but then the story was released as is to an international audience in June. The article released by the Independent is unclear- there might have been discussion prior to the open letter where staff expressed concerns and then were reassured before the game going live. OR the open letter might have been the first expression of concern by the staff. I tend to think the former, and the open letter was a response to Matchmaker going live with Seduction Games anyways, but I have no proof for that. On May 24th, 31 employees sent an open letter of concern regarding the problematic content in Matchmaker. This letter isn’t public, so we don’t know the scope of the employees' concerns or who the employees were.

7. To resolve the situation, a meeting between the staff and at least the COO (likely more than just him though) was held sometime after May 24th. Allegedly, Virapen was disrespectful to the employees who had questions, refused to answer, and ended the meeting early before any resolution was had by closing his laptop and leaving the room. At least 4 HR complaints were made in the wake of that meeting, we do not know the nature of those complaints. 

8. Some time mid-July (maybe July 26th? A writer tweeted about their job ending soon on that date), employees were made aware that the LITG app would move into ‘sunset mode’. It’s unclear what was communicated, but it seems as though S4 will be heavily delayed or cancelled altogether and no future seasons would be made. Writers begin to post about looking for work on Twitter

9. June 30th- The majority of Fusebox writing staff announce on twitter they’re out of work. In addition to the entire writing staff, unity engineers and producers are also let go.

10. July 5th - Fusebox executives respond to an article by MCVUK with a statement asserting they were “consulting with [their] employees on a proposed change to its business model” that would focus on producing Matchmaker content. They also expounded that the move was to secure “cash injections and and continued support from respected investors across the media and gaming industry”

11. July 6th- Fusebox announces that S4 will be delayed from the summer release date and that there is no fixed release date. 

12. August 2nd- three jobs are posted to Fusebox’s careers page on their website, one being Head of Narrative Content. In the job listing, it specifies that they’ll be maintaining existing properties as well as new ones, and that because of the co-development model (re:fusebox outsourcing Matchmaker to another studio) the new Narrative Lead must collaborate with external content creators.

Hopefully posting this timeline gives players a better understanding of how radically Fusebox has changed in the course of 2021 (and how royally they screwed over the people who made LITG what it is). Again, please let me know if you have receipts showing dates are different or things to add. 

#fusebox layoffs #fusebox games

[barryslightningrod]

To My Followers

Not to sound like a disgraced beauty guru, but I owe everyone this post. It’s Ramadan, I’m fasting right now, and in my faith, there is such a thing as accountability for the things you say and do if they are harmful, and my fasting is nothing more than an empty gesture if I did otherwise. Along with owning up to the words that hurt black women and apologizing for them, I would also like to be fair to myself and clarify some things. That’s what I’m hoping to do with this while being as truthful and as objective as possible, so please bear with me, as I anticipate that this will be quite lengthy. I’m also going to detail what happened chronologically and include links to my posts before I ultimately explain where I went wrong. In full transparency, I did not delete anything after the first “callout” post was made about me earlier this year because I didn’t want to come across as trying to pretend what I said never happened, but I also think I should have explained the posts in my subsequent apology.

On Policing Fandom Over Nora:

Over the last year, I’ve been a Nora “apologist” if that’s the word to use. I was and have been upset with fans for initially not taking to her and then for despising her entirely. I made posts about this throughout my blog. I explained that I felt as though the conflict between her and Iris was legitimate and that Iris was validated by the narrative, but I occasionally recognized that Nora was also being used by the writers to mistreat Iris for their own racist/misogynist agenda. There was some pushback to my views every now and then, with people pointing out that I was coming across as arrogant and as though everyone should feel the same way I should. I also felt like fandom had a double standard toward Nora. The writers have used characters and story arcs, involving Joe and Barry for example, to abuse and mistreat Iris before, and I saw Nora as an extension of that. So it was confusing to me that through all this, people still loved Joe and still shipped Barry and Iris, but advocated for Nora’s erasure and/or death. I also took the comments of some fans about Nora getting in the way of WA or always third-wheeling them to mean that this was the primary reason people disliked her, and that they were pitting Iris and Nora against each other for Barry’s affection. That prompted this post that fans who did that should’t have kids.

On The Elseworlds Crossover:

I hate Oliver and felt like the switch was ruining the trope of WA being together in every reality. I also was worried it meant Barry and Felicity would be together, and I still think that if Marc hadn’t been angry with Emily Bett, they would have fleshed that out more in the crossover. He was mad at her, yet Felicity and Barry still got a kiss for no reason than just to kiss. I vented about fans being excited for Oliver and Iris as a pairing when they wouldn’t feel the same way for Barry and Felicity or Barry and another woman. I made a claim that fans were self-inserting on Iris and wanted Iris to be loved by other men because they wanted those other men. I compared this to their distaste when Barry was with Patty or Felicity. I felt like real WestAllen fans wouldn’t want that and felt like there was a double standard going on because of over identification with Iris. There was also a subset of fans from Twitter boasting that Stephen had an erection after one kiss with Candice when he never did with Katie or Emily, and I know that was influencing my mindset at the time. So I wrote this and this about fandom wanting men to lust after Iris.  

On Stephen Amell’s Racism and Islamophobia:

It bothered me that fans were sending Stephen praise for sending Candice a heart on Instagram or Tweeting her or whatever else he did around the time of the crossover. In January, he addressed the Ahmed Mohamed situation again (the Muslim student who was arrested for building a clock) and said he wasn’t regretful of the comments he said about that situation back in 2015 and that the police did the right thing. I made a post that Stephen is an asshole and that any Candice fan who looked over his racism because he sent her hearts should be ashamed.

January 2019:

In response to my post about Stephen and Candice, I received multiple Anonymous messages pointing out that I was coming for a fandom comprised of many black women for something a white man did. I became defensive in my responses that I didn’t call out black women and was rather speaking about a fandom collectively: (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)

Afterward, this post was written about me detailing all of the above. I wrote this apology in response.

May 2019:

I did not use the term, “misogynoir,” but I might as well have because I did make this post last week attributing fandom double standards when it comes to Nora vs other characters’ treatment of Iris to racism or misogyny. That triggered this post and here we are today.

My Response:

Everything linked here has not been altered or edited and are words I typed out and posted myself. There were tags on one post about fans not caring about Iris’s journalism that I remember editing out shortly after publishing it in November 2018 (I think this was the post they were initially on), but they are saved in this screenshot by the original author of both callout posts.

I take responsibility for everything I said as a nonblack woman of color. I am not black and never claimed to be, and whenever I was asked by curious followers if I was, I disclosed that I wasn’t.

I do not believe that black women shouldn’t be mothers. I do not believe that black women lust after men and/or white men. I do not believe that black women want men and/or white men to lust after them. I do not believe that black women want to be validated by white people and prioritize validation by white people. I do not believe black women are quick to cry racism.

But I do know that over the last year, I have implied these things on my blog whether I realized I was doing so or not. What I considered to be a member of a fandom calling out other members of a fandom that I’m a part of can never be exclusively seen as that, because the fact of the matter is that I cannot divorce my status as someone who isn’t black from my criticism of a fandom of a black character and an interracial ship that may be varied in its makeup, yes, but is still ultimately composed of black women. Because I am not black, my frustrations with fandom will be put into a “political” context. They will stop being frustrations that are just general and start to become frustrations that are racist and anti-black, regardless of intention, not to mention that I am not immune to feeling or expressing anti-black or micro aggressive sentiments, consciously or not, simply by way of being a product of a racist society.

I thought I realized this in my first apology in January, but I never fully outlined that I did, and clearly I still had learning to do months later because I stepped out of my lane again. I still believed that fans were quick to forgive Barry whenever he wrongs Iris because he pulls a romantic gesture but will not extend that same consideration to Nora, despite both of them being exploited by the writers to abuse Iris. My thought process was that anyone can fall prey to the biases and prejudiced views that we’re socialized to internalize and accept, and I thought that was happening here again, which was why I said that this fandom isn’t exempt from racism or misogyny.

This came off as my telling a group of people who experience a combination of racism and misogyny that I will never come close to knowing what is and isn’t racist. And with the help of a friend, something that I didn’t consider or understand at all in the entirety of this Nora situation and throughout the course of the whole series is that is that because black women are subject to racism from the moment they’re born until the moment they die, when it comes to something like a TV show where they are being represented, they get to individually or collectively decide when to worry about their representation. They get to decide how they will worry about it. They get to decide if they will take action about it. And throughout this entire season, I, a nonblack person, have been telling black women how to deal with or address this particular instance of racism on the show because of my own personal experiences and because of what I myself prioritized in Barry and Iris’s story. This is arrogance at best and anti-blackness at worst.

My bias for the concept of WA having a child impacted my attitudes, as did my own familial relationships. I get why I had such an emotional response. I was looking forward to WA having a family and a child they would love more than anything, and it’s because I question very much the love my mother has for me. I’m not trying to make excuses or elicit a sob story, only that I understand now why people pick and choose things to “excuse” when it comes to the racist writing on this show. I have to make sense of why some fans were willing to overlook how abysmally Iris’s potential death was handled in Season Three for example, because they prioritized other things. Maybe they liked angst and liked that Barry was protecting Iris, whatever it was. Even if we’re all operating on the same notion that these writers hate Iris and will never see her as a human, we’re all just grasping at the smallest thing on the show to try to find solace or happiness in and taking what we can get. For me, that was with WA and their child, and it bothered me that a majority of people weren’t feeling the same way. So yeah, I became emotional. I let my emotions get the better of me a lot of the time. I made posts shaming fandom. And then my frustrations with fandom seeped into other things too, like the crossover and the praise of Stephen. I started to have less inhibitions about the things I posted, and in that, an ugly hostility toward fandom came out that was made to be political. I understand why it was and why I have to be more mindful in my criticism.

I will also say my experiences with fandom over the last five years came back to “haunt” me I guess you could say. For example, I’ve been called out before and unfollowed and blocked by other fans for being too critical of the writing. I was told that I’m never happy with anything, when a lot of my criticism was over the treatment and neglect of Iris because of her being a black woman. So I started to get upset because now there was this collective acknowledgment of that in fandom when it came to Nora. I’m sure that was also influencing my attitude because I was conflating a bad experience with fandom before with one now.

I’m not going to copy and paste my prior apology since this post is long enough, but I am linking it again as I want to echo its sentiments and because I am just as apologetic about the things in it. I am sorry once again to my followers and to anyone who came across my posts. I am sorry to the black women I hurt. I am sorry for dismissing the black women who tried to explain to me why they were hurt. I am sorry that it took a second callout post and reality check for me to understand your hurt.

On a more general note for my followers, I am sorry for shaming people who disagreed with me. I am sorry for shaming multi-shippers. I am sorry for the arrogance and superiority I ever exuded.

I understand that some people will not forgive me. I understand that some people will not believe this is sincere. I understand that some people may never have a favorable view of me again. I am still sorry and I will continue to say sorry.

I wanted to thank the friend who took the time to listen to what happened and to explain to me why I was wrong. She certainly didn’t have to take that on, but she did and I’m grateful to her. I also want to thank anyone who gave me a chance and read this in its entirety.

If there is something that anyone is still confused about or has a question over, I am willing to clarify in the replies.

Peace.

-BarrysLightningRod

#housekeeping #barryslightningrod

[kdenbibi]

A little defensive

Bruce Wayne X Black!Reader

Summary: You’ve had your fair share of assholes to deal with so the snide and rude comments don’t bother you anymore, Bruce however?  that’s a whole nother’ story

Warnings: Your favorite internet trolls, Bruce’s ability to be petty

Author note: This is my first request!!! I hope it’s what you wanted, this was my first time writing for the big bad bat himself so i’m sorry if its wack :’) Feedback is welcomed and encouraged and of course, requests are absolutely open so request away

tag list @mirajanestrauss1999

“Bruce Wayne can date who he want but at least make her pretty lol.”

“(Y/n) is such a strange choice for a fling, not to be racist but black is so not his usual type.”

“Interracial dating is low-key ugly lmao”

“She’d be prettier if she was lighter.” My eyes rolled hard at the keyboard warriors latest onslaught of bitter words directed directly at me, I knew I’d only work myself up but I couldn’t help myself, a sick curiosity possessed me to look through my mentions on Twitter.

I leaned into the warm sheets surrounding my body with a sigh, I weeded through the tweets for something actually relavent to me before tossing the device away from my reach, usually I wouldn’t be tempted to be on the device but  Bruce wasn’t with me so I was left to my own devices. The rare moments Bruce and I did get together were spent just like that, together, away from the rest of the world and their problems. I smiled at the thought of the usually stoic man, today was supposed to be one of those sickly sweet days spent draped around one another like cling wrap, but he was pulled away to the office, some kind of emergency that required his presence. With some pushing fro me, he very reluctantly climbed out of the nest of blankets and pillows a few hours ago.

“Baby you gotta go.” “I think they’ll survive without me for a day.” He mumbled into my shoulder making no effort to get up, I felt him smile against my skin, his arm quickly latching around my midsection.“Nuh uh I see what you trynna do over there- no starting something till you handle your business.” He laughed as I pushed  away from him. “Are you kicking me out of my own bed?” I pushed myself up on my elbows to look him in the eyes,

“Yes.”

He rolled over on his back with a sigh, I shamelessly watched his body stretch out, the muscles expanding as he moved.His body was more like a machine than anything, after so long of being the bat, scars were bound to litter his warm  skin, sometimes I think he forgot he was human, that he wasn’t just a nameless figure of Justice who stuck fear in the hearts of his enemy’s, it took me almost two years to break the two identities apart, and now there was a fine line between the two, so fine even he could see the difference, the real Bruce Wayne had been buried under an endless quest to clean up Gotham, but now, he was beginning to shine through.

 Like this moment for instance, as he begrudgingly got ready, pouting all the while. That was Bruce Wayne, despite being a grown man he had these rare moments where he acted like a teenager, almost like the lack of childhood peeked through from time to time. He fastened his tie in the mirror, meeting my eye in the reflection. “See something you like?” One of his thick brows arched, a playful smirk resting on his lips.

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, what are you gonna do about it?” I spoke walking over to try and wrap my arms around his large form, he laughed finishing his tie before turning so we faced each other. I leaned up to rest my hands against his chest. “Now look who’s trynna start something.” He spoke breaking our stare off. I pulled away with a laugh, making my way back to the bed. “Hurry up and come back so you can finish what you started.” He grabbed his suit jacket, sliding the expensive material over his arms before leaving with a smirk and a quick kiss to the forehead. That was a solid two hours ago and he still had yet to return, as tempting as it would be to just lull myself back to sleep until he arrived, the bad taste those comments left in my mouth forced me up for the day.

Knowing Bruce, he’d give me that stupid glare he reserves for criminals if he knew what I did. See the thing is, he’s told me a million and one times to avoid all things social media, he knew how nasty the world could get, how lies spread faster than the truth and people would always believe what they wanted to, but I refused to run away from my life, I wasn’t about to let some close minded twats have that much of an impact on what I did, so I went through my morning routine of deleting all the negativity I could stomach to scan through on my timeline and slowly drinking some of Alfred’s famous tea to warm up my body.

When Bruce finally returned to me I was half way through a novel I borrowed from the manor’s library, it was an old annoyingly, spooky Stephen King novel so when the bedroom door slammed open I couldn’t fight the Yelp that left my mouth.“Christ Almighty you almost gave me a heart attack.” I laughed lightly putting a hand to my chest, my smile fell when I saw the expression on his face, his face was set in unmovable stone, almost as if he was still wearing the cowl, I shivered at the unspoken anger in his eyes. “Baby?” I asked hesitantly rising from my seat, I placed the book down on the nearby table and met his gaze. “What’s wrong?” Usually when something bad happened he would try to carry all the weight alone, not wanting to bother another with the responsibility of resolving whatever the problem was. One of the things we overcame with separating Bruce from the bat was this very issue, from the look on his face I couldn’t help but worry something happened between this morning and now so bad we’d end up fifty steps back. “Bruce?” He was silent as he pulled out his phone, he typed away before handing me the device.I scanned over the collective of negative headlines, all different but all surrounding me and him.Mostly me.I stared at him even more confused. “Baby that’s nothing, you told me yourself to ignore that kinda stuff.” He finally spoke. “The reason they pulled me in today was to talk about this- my PR representative showed me that and then some.” He scoffed leaning heavily on his knuckles against a dresser. “Did you know people were saying all horrible these things?"I sighed walking over to his tense form, I placed a hesitant palm on his shoulder, 

"Well yeah-”

“How long?”

“Since we’ve been dating, but baby it’s nothing new, I don’t let it bother me.”

“Well it bothers me.” He hastily loosened his tie, tossing it somewhere off in the room, now beginning to pace the shiny marble floors. “I don’t care if they trash my name, or my company, but you?” He scoffed, anger shining through in his tense actions.“I won’t sit back- I can’t.” I watched him, my worry clear before I forced myself to calm down. I made him meet my eye, grabbing the sides of his face, stopping him in his tracks.“Hon I know- but you need to calm down, don’t act when you’re angry, you may do something you’ll regret.” His expression softened for a moment as he leaned into my touch subconsciously. “You’re one of - if not the most- incredible people I’ve ever encountered, you’re naively kind but all the same stubbornly intelligent, you’re what keeps me sane. So it’s hard to watch idiots who have no idea what kind of amazing human being you are judge you for something as ridiculous and trivial as the color of your skin.” He quickly worked himself back up so I wordlessly pulled him to his bed. He landed on his back with a huff, I pushed myself off of the soft mattress to get up and close the blinds, I took both our phones and silenced them, before putting them across the room. He stared at me with a face that asked what I was doing but I said nothing. I pulled his shoes off before kicking off my own. “What are you up too?” He spoke, the words were still serious as ever but slightly amused.I sighed with a sad smile. “Growing up- and sometimes to this day- it felt like a crime to be brown, anything and everything you did was wrong or not enough, so when the world got just a little too bleak for me to handle, I would shut it out for a little while and collect my bearings so I could face the challenges with a clear mind.” He stared at me as I climbed my way up his stupidly big bed until I made it to him. I hovered over his body, a small grin on my face as I stared at him. “We’re gonna shut the world out, because they don’t deserve our attention right now.” He said nothing but them smile growing on his face told me everything I needed to hear. His eyes turned soft, his body finally un-tensing and Bruce, had finally come back to me.

We laid there for hours, curled into each other’s bodies, hands never leaving the other persons as we  talked about anything and everything, the conversation never had a direct direction but that’s what made it nostalgic, like we were both seventeen again, and our biggest worries were senior year. 

The butterflies raving in my stomach never left when I looked at him, no matter how long we’d been together, I could always fall a little more in love with the man who laid before me. Thankfully, the drama from before was pretty much forgotten as we settled into the night, at least I thought it was. I woke up later in the evening searching for his warmth in my sleep but coming up empty, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I aimlessly walked down the manor’s extensive hallways until I found the door I was looking for. I’d been down in the cave a handful of times but I never got used to opening the secret door in his study, I always felt like James Bond afterwards. I made my way down the steps, my bare feet almost stung with every step down, I forgot how cold it could get in here.I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between one of the boys and Bruce. “Remind me again why I’m hacking into Twitter accounts on a school night?.” The loud sound of typing was heard before Bruce responded. “Recon.” The other voice laughed- I now realized who it was.

“Tim?” They both looked up, the younger man smiling at me.“Hey (y/n)! Fancy seeing you here, Couldn’t sleep?” I crossed my arms, trying my best to look intimidating in my robe and bonnet. “I was asleep, but my Bruce-is-about-to-do-something-stupid senses were tingling so I figured I’d come check it out.”

 Tim barked out a laugh before covering it up with a cough at the Bat glare™ he received. He turned back to the computer with an awkward whistle. Bruce turned to me, removing his cowl so we were face to face.“You should go back to bed, I’ll be in later.”

“Oh I’ll go back to sleep, if you tell me what you’re doing over there.”

“That’s confidential.”

“He’s making me hack into some random Twitter accounts.” I could feel the glare he gave Tim all the way across the room. “Bruce!” “This is justice.” “This is petty is what it is.” He crossed his arms, smirk ever present on his smug face.“Cyber bullying is illegal, I’m just doing my job. "Tim peaked his head out from behind Bruce 

"Wait who got bullied.”

“No one" 

”(Y/n)”

 Bruce and I spoke simultaneously, Tim made some sort of noise of acknowledgement before the typing noises intensified.“Yeah they got this coming."I sighed into my hands. "Tim not you too! You’re supposed to be the smart one.” He leaned back, satisfied with whatever it is that he did. “Exactly, that’s why these jerks won’t be bothering you or anyone anymore.” I sighed walking past Bruce’s smug figure to kiss Tim’s temple, “I don’t agree with either of y'all but- Thank you, I appreciate it.” I then leaned over to give a quick peck to Bruce and question him"Are you done being petty or do I have to worry all night?“ He grabbed my hands bringing them to his mouth for a sweet kiss."I’m done.” I squinted at him before shrugging and heading back to the warmth of his bed. “Tim, look up how much it would be to buy Twitter.”

“Dear god Bruce.”

#dc imagine #dc x reader #black reader #poc imagine #bruce wayne #bruce wayne imagine #batman imagine #batman #batman x reader #poc x reader #dc #imagine

[vreugd-madelon]

Reading Habits Tag

I really wanted to spice up the post on the blog and thought to do a tag. So with google I found and interesting one. Do you want me to do a specific Tag? Let me know!

Here we GO!!!

1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading? Most of the time when I read is right before I go to bed. 1 to 1,5 hours before I want to sleep. Just to get my mind off of all the things that happened during the day. It's a really great comforting method for my over-active night brain, I just speculate about how the story will continue until I fall asleep.

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper? Actually neither. Since I always lose those kinds of things, I prefer to use a Post-it note (or rather a knock-off brand). In thinner books I use them to write down notes too. Things to remember to mention in my reviews. If one note is full I place it in the front of the book and just grab another to continue.

Can you guess the book from these notes? (yes, the review is up on the blog) 3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/certain amount of pages?

This certainly depends on the situation. I like to stop at an easy to see part, ends of chapters or the switch from POV's. I also try to see if I can fit in a new section until the next stop if I'm on the bus or train. If I can't I stop reading early and stare out of the window for few minutes. If I'm enthralled into the book and forget the time, I place the note just above the next sentence I should be reading.

4. Do you eat and drink while reading? Generally no, too distracting. Even though I'm a woman, I can only do one thing at a time.

5. Multi Tasking: Music or TV while reading? Once again, no.

6. One book at a time or several at once? One book at a time for sure. Can't keep up with stories if I read more at the same time. However, I might take a break from a book if it's a really long one. Like, I've been technically reading Under the Dome by Stephen King since the 30th of May, but I took a 4 month break and just continued at the beginning of this month.

7. Reading at home or anywhere? Generally anywhere, when I have the time. 7 minutes before my train arrives, grabbing my book. On the train, grabbing my book. On the bus, grabbing my book... well, it depends on the driver.

8. Reading our loud or silently in your head? Silently. I mostly read in public places, so out loud would be really weird.

9. Do you skip ahead or even skip pages? I skipped a lot when I was a kid, only wanting to read the dialogue and not the 'fluff' text in between. But recently I've been really appreciating the world described in books, so not as much.

10. Breaking the Spine or keeping it like new? I break the spines for sure. Too me, reading should be a comfortable experience. Why suffer just so you can keep a book prestine?

11. Do you write in your books? Generally I don't unless it's a thick one or I want to learn something specific from the book. Something like descriptions or dialogue or the stucture. And you know, when it's a book you have ownership over, it's alright to do so. Once again reading should be a comfortable experience.

12. Do book series have to match? I'm torn on this question. Yes, I would like the series on my shelf to match because it's aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. No, because it's about the stories that the books tell, so you get the best cover that you can get at the time!

13. What form of book do you prefer? Audio, E-book or physical? I definitely prefer the physical books over anything else. Reading from a screen just isn't something for me, as it hurts my eyes after a while. Audio books I've never gotten really into, but I tried a few and it really didn't resonate with me. I've heard recently that Jenna Moreci (Author of The Savior's Champion) is doing an audio book and I really want to try it out, so once that happens you'll hear more of my thoughts on it.

When you want me to do a specific Tag or have some more questions, be sure to let me know!

Either here on tumblr or tweet me.

#reading habits #tag #tags #book tag #book tags #series #books #book #habits #habit #annotating #notes #reading #read #reader #note

[jsamtaylor]

#VoicesofYA

The marvelous Hetal Avanee (one of my fellow Pitch Warriors!) tagged me last week in a challenge called #VoicesofYA created by writer Caitlin Lambert. Here, at last, are my answers to the ten questions on writing and YA books (two of the things I love most in this world). 

ABOUT THE WRITERS

What draws you to YA?

I’ve been asking myself this for a while, because it’s a question often posed to YA writers. To me, there is so much potential and possibility in YA. When you’re a teenager, you’re figuring out your identity and the world is open with so many paths to take. And teenagers feel everything so deeply, so there’s plenty of room for emotion on the page. They are honest and dig deep into issues as they figure out themselves and the world around them. I also love how the YA book world paves the way in being more inclusive of diverse voices and backgrounds. (Yes, there’s still a long way to go, but I’m also encouraged at the diverse voices that are appearing on bookstore and library shelves, and I want to read them all.) I love the energy in YA books, and how quickly they move—especially in SFF! YA books are a sheer delight to read.

Describe your writing process. Do you like outlines and structure, or seeing where the story takes you?

I always do at least a little outlining. I need to know the gist on the characters I’m writing about, and what I’m writing toward. So, I’ll need at least some idea of the ending, and I try to have mapped out the other major plot points of the story (inciting incident, point of no return, midpoint gamechanger, dark night of the soul crisis). But, especially during early drafts, I give myself permission to explore any ideas that strike me while writing. I keep my rough drafts to myself, and this lets me have the freedom to explore my world and characters, without troubling whether the words are perfectly connected or would make sense to someone else. Having that freedom in the first draft does make for a lot of work when it comes to revision, yes, but it’s also helped me stretch my mind and open myself to ideas that never occurred to me in my first outlines. In my Fire manuscript, some of my best plot twists, and the best villain, came to me only after I was more than halfway through that rough draft.  

 How long have you been writing? Where are you in your journey?

I’ve kind of never not been writing. As a child, even before I knew how to write, I’d draw picture stories, sheet after sheet after sheet, without any words. Or, I’d draw elaborate pictures on the inside cover of my coloring books, and make up elaborate stories about them as I worked. In third grade, we wrote little books and made covers out of construction paper, and my story folder was the largest of anyone’s in class (I had to wrap both arms around it when we brought them out for writing time, so all my little books wouldn’t come spilling onto the floor). In high school, I knew I wanted to become a writer when I grew up … but I didn’t really know how to get myself there. I studied creative writing in college, but it wasn’t until after college and grad school that I really buckled down with a vision of making my writing dreams into a career. I joined SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), made more writing friends and found critique partners, and starting writing as much as I could and even querying. I have a couple shelved manuscripts (one of which I may go back to—I won’t talk about the very first one, though!). My next manuscript however, a fantasy inspired by ancient Babylon, got me into Pitch Wars last year (in a very roundabout way, more about that here), annnnnnd, it recently won the YA category in the 2017 New Voices in Children’s Literature Tassy Walden award! I also have my beloved Fire manuscript, which is close to being complete, a new project that I’m starting to revise … and another idea knocking around my brain, because my mind likes to keep things complicated. Heh.

 What do you need to write? Coffee? Music?

Music always helps! I love movie and video game soundtracks, and often pick one or two for a particular project and listen to it on repeat for hours while writing and editing. I’ll also make Pandora stations for particular projects as well.

 If you could offer one piece of advice to another writer (OTHER THAN “don’t give up”), what would it be?

Write the story you need to tell. Write what appeals to you! Yes, it’s good to pay attention to the market and what is currently selling and where the gaps are—but ultimately, you have to be passionate about your story. After your craft skills are honed and polished, your passion for the story will determine how strong it can become, and your enthusiasm will be evident on the page and carry over to the readers. There’s often a lot of talk between writers about what’s selling and what isn’t, what’s “trending” and what’s “dead.” Last week on Twitter there was a statement going around, someone insisting that YA contemporary was “dead,” and I saw some rising writers worried about this. It’s always alarming to hear that that genre you write, the one that calls to you most, isn’t selling. But amidst these tweets were reassuring words from established authors, who while writing their own books had heard similar ominous words. But they persisted in the stories they loved--and now we know them and love them too. 

It seems there’s often someone knocking the marketability or quality of a particular genre. When I was taking my creative writing classes in college, my professors were adamant that we write only short literary fiction for adults. That was the only type of literature they thought had any merit. But you see, I was always a YA writer--I just didn’t know it. Even in these classes, though, my stories were about teenagers; that’s where my mind goes. “Write about something else,” I was told. “Write about different agents, different circumstances.” But I didn’t want to. So rather than changing what I wrote, I changed my surroundings. Soon after finishing grad school, I joined SCBWI and connected myself with other YA writers who could help me get where I needed to go. So don’t let your writing path be derailed by what you’re afraid will or won’t sell, or what someone else says you should be writing. Instead, look to connect yourself with the writers and industry folks who can help you get were your writing heart longs to go. 

ABOUT THE BOOKS

What book still has you reeling from its plot twist? (*no spoilers please*)

Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King. Ohhhh, if I ever meet him ...

 What books are you most anticipating for this year?

Kathryn Ormsbee’s Tash Hearts Tolstoy. I. NEED. THIS. BOOK. From the moment I first heard about it, I needed this book in my life. Is it June 7th yet? 

Sandhya Menon’s When Dimple Met Rishi. So many people keep talking about how great this book is and gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I want it now. 

Kiersten White’s Now I Rise. The first book (And I Darken) basically ran all my feels through the meat grinder last year, but of course I have to read on to find out what happens next. It’s cathartic, it really is. 

In your opinion, which YA book/series has the most unique premise?

Ahhhhhhh, so many my brain is short-circuiting! Okay, I think Mackenzie Lee’s This Monstrous Thing is the most creative approach to a retelling that I’ve ever seen, working with the historical context of the real Frankenstein text to create an alternate history for the novel. Bonus: Steampunk! (And, in a time when I keep hearing people claim that steampunk is “dead.”) 

What is your all-time favorite quote from YA lit?

From Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower: "And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.” It kind of sums up everything I love about YA books--that sense of unlimited possibility and potential. 

 What book do you most hope will have a movie adaption?

Roshani Chokshi’s A Crown of Wishes! Gorgeous, gripping book, and I can only imagine how brilliant it would be to get this world on a huge screen. Someone please do this, yes? 

Next Up: Maria Hossain and Lindsay Hess!

#VoicesofYA

[rsadelle]

Yuletide 2016

Below the cut is a Yuletide round-up of recs and also the things I wrote.

Stories For Me

all that is good (10136 words) by sevenfoxes Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Bourne (Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jason Bourne/Nicky Parsons Characters: Jason Bourne, Nicky Parsons Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, unprotected sex Summary:

You think about Landy, how the hearings meant to expose corruption instead started to swallow her whole, destroying the last genuinely good person you knew at the CIA. You think about Vosen and Conklin and Abbot and all the fucking men who hid behind the flag and a thick line about patriotism while pursuing their own agenda, their own power and money. You think about your father dying alone, believing you were gone, that the last of his family was dead.

“There have to be consequences,” you tell him.

That is the difference between the two of you. Jason wants to be left alone.

You want vengeance.

What I liked: NICKY! I was really excited to get a story all about Nicky. This does a really good job of alternating past and present to flesh out the characters and their relationship. Plus reproductive choices.

make haste from Babylon (3990 words) by Addison R Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Killing Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Stephen Holder & Sarah Linden Characters: Sarah Linden, Stephen Holder Additional Tags: Soul Bond, Writing on Skin Summary:

This must be the new guy, but he sure doesn't look the part.

What I liked: SOULBONDING. I won't give it all away, so suffice to say there's a match to shapes that I enjoyed, and also a pull to keep them together.

Other Stories I Enjoyed

A Divinely Attractive Arrangement (5895 words) by Fahye Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Love and Friendship (2016) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Sir James Martin, Lord Manwaring, Lady Susan Vernon Summary:

A selection from the Private Diary of Sir James Martin of Martindale. Concerning Peas, Friendship, the state of Blessed Matrimony, and several wonders of Modern Medicine.

What I liked: This is absolutely hilarious. The characterization is spot-on, and I laughed all the way through it.

Exclusive, Mutually (1507 words) by youjik33 Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Arrested Development Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: George Oscar "Gob" Bluth/Tony Wonder Characters: Michael Bluth, Lindsay Bluth Funke, George Oscar "Gob" Bluth, Tony Wonder Summary:

“You realize they’re only even having a wedding for the attention, right?” Michael asked.

Lindsay looked at him quizzically. “Well, yeah, why else?”

What I liked: This is an outsider pov on Gob and Tony Wonder's wedding. It's funny, and I also suggest listening to the mood music linked in the notes as you read.

Aviens Rex (1603 words) by sumeria Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: birdsrightsactivist (Twitter) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Bird (birdsrightsactivist) & Original Character(s) Characters: Bird (birdsrightsactivist), Original Male Character(s), Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Twitter, Yuletide, epistolary?, no politics Summary:

In which Brad and Steve just want to have a picnic and a Tyrannosaurus is only another kind of bird.

What I liked: This is a very funny story told in tweets where we see both sides of Bird's interaction with a family having a picnic.

They Call it Undercover Work for a Reason (But Not That Reason) (8273 words) by greywash Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Spy (2015), Olympics RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Nancy B. Artingstall & Susan Cooper, Susan Cooper/OFC, Susan Cooper/Nancy B. Artingstall/OFC (ish), Susan Cooper/Rick Ford, Susan Cooper/Rick Ford/Nancy B. Artingstall (ish), Nancy B. Artingstall/the Italian men's Olympic rowing team Characters: Susan Cooper (Spy 2015), Nancy B. Artingstall Additional Tags: Yuletide Treat, the olympics, Actual Bids for the 2024 Summer Olympics, (but everything else is made up), (definitely 100 percent made up), Los Angeles 2024, Paris 2024, Budapest 2024, international espionage, Adventure, The CIA: Have Fun and See Europe While Hitting Lots of Dudes in the Face, Rivalry, Hatesex, Alternate title: The Dr. Seuss Compendium of Hatesex, Would you do it on a plane?, Would you do it at a party?, Would you do it in an alley?, Would you do it on a Ferrari?, Cephalopods, Oh my God Rick Ford be better at your job, Susan and Nancy 2017 World Tour, I have 'friends' at the American embassy, Everything author knows about French accents they learned from Harry Potter IV, (sorry France), Irresponsible use of Google Translate, (sorry everyone), shh shh you have a head wound, maybe guest starring some famous person's second cousin once removed or something just because, also there's a yacht Summary:

"Cooper," says Crocker. "We've had word of an agent trying to undermine the American bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics."

"Do we care about the Olympics?" asks Nancy.

What I liked: This is exactly as absurd as a Spy story should be.

10 Things I Hate About Reunions (17278 words) by BryroseA Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kat Stratford/Patrick Verona Characters: Kat Stratford, Patrick Verona, Bianca Stratford Additional Tags: Partial epistolary - text messages, Post-Canon, the 2nd chapter is just the story stripped of all formatting for accessibility Summary:

Is there anyone less likely than Katerina Stratford to go to their high school reunion?

Well...maybe there is one person.

What I liked: I loved the mix of Kat and Bianca's relationship and the improbable coincidences that happen because of Bianca's scheming.

And All The Roads Are Blinding (7978 words) by moemachina Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kat Stratford/Patrick Verona Characters: Kat Stratford, Patrick Verona, Bianca Stratford, Cameron James Additional Tags: Lovers to Friends to Lovers, Sisterhood, Social Media, History of Technology Summary:

In the years after high school, Kat tentatively becomes friends with her ex-boyfriend Patrick. And then Bianca gets married.

What I liked: The slow reconnecting, and also the bits about Bianca's relationships with her exes.

Days Gone Down (1614 words) by Nomad Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Eroica Yori Ai o Komete | From Eroica with Love Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Klaus von dem Eberbach, Klaus von dem Eberbach's father, Dorian Red Gloria Additional Tags: Future Fic, Yuletide Treat Summary:

An aging Klaus has a conversation with his father.

What I liked: Aging, the connection between Klaus and his father, the mix of that serious conversation with the ridiculousness that (of course) occurs when Dorian shows up.

Friday Night Bracing for Monday (21485 words) by Addison R Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Good Will Hunting (1997) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Will Hunting/Chuckie Sullivan Characters: Chuckie Sullivan, Will Hunting, Morgan O'Mally, Billy McBride Additional Tags: Sharing Clothes, Happy Ending, Sharing a Bed, Postcards, Canon-typical language, Families of Choice, Past Violence, Past Child Abuse, Post-Movie(s), Yuletide 2016 Summary:

Chuckie grows up a little, and Will moves back to Boston.

What I liked: Stories about people growing up and getting their lives together are my faaaavorite.

The Dame's Only Doing It for that Doll (1561 words) by major_general Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Guys and Dolls - Loesser/Swerling/Burrows Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sarah Brown/Sky Masterson Characters: Sky Masterson, Sarah Brown, Nicely-Nicely Johnson Additional Tags: Rule 63, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Sky Masterson, Misses Clause Challenge Summary:

Sgt. Sarah Brown runs a mission on her own terms in the years after agreeing to a Boston marriage with Sky Masterson.

What I liked: Lesbian Sky Masterson! Also the effect of a gangster and a missionary making a life together.

Renovation (2712 words) by faithfulcynic Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Practical Magic (1998) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Bridget "Jet" Owens, Frances Owens Additional Tags: Humor, Siblings, Magic, The House has Opinions, Franny watches HGTV, Jet wants another brownie Summary:

Every decade or so, Frances has the urge to renovate the House and every decade or so the House has other plans. Jet always gets caught in the middle.

What I liked: I enjoyed the House's personality and the battles it has with Frances.

Stories By Me

Every Single Holiday (4043 words) Fandom: Spy (2015) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Susan Cooper/Rick Ford Characters: Susan Cooper (Spy 2015), Rick Ford, Nancy B. Artingstall Additional Tags: Dick in a Box, 5+1 Things Summary:When it comes to gift-giving, Ford's repertoire is somewhat limited.

First Choices (2017 words) Fandom: Chalion Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: the Bastard (Chalion), Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting Summary:A growing number of L.G.B.T. Quintarians are choosing to devote themselves to gods other than the Bastard.

Life to the Kingdom (2097 words) Fandom: The Huntsman (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The Huntsman/Sara (The Huntsman)/Snow White (The Huntsman), The Huntsman/Sara (The Huntsman), The Huntsman/Snow White (The Huntsman), Sara (The Huntsman)/Snow White (The Huntsman), Snow White/William (The Huntsman) Characters: The Huntsman (The Huntsman), Sara (The Huntsman), Snow White (The Huntsman), William (The Huntsman) Additional Tags: Threesome - F/F/M, Infidelity, Future Fic Series: Part 1 of The Huntsman: Future's Hope Summary:When the kingdom of the north had been freed and the mirror's shards taken to Sanctuary, Eric and Sara returned to Snow White's kingdom.

Hope Of Our Hearts (4031 words) Fandom: The Huntsman (Movies) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: The Huntsman/Sara (The Huntsman)/Snow White (The Huntsman), The Huntsman/Sara (The Huntsman), The Huntsman/Snow White (The Huntsman), Snow White/William (The Huntsman) Characters: Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Snow White (The Huntsman), William (The Huntsman), The Huntsman (The Huntsman), Sara (The Huntsman), Ravenna (The Huntsman) Additional Tags: Future Fic, Past Infidelity Series: Part 2 of The Huntsman: Future's Hope Summary: When the Heir to Snow White's kingdom, who was known to the people not only by her name of Hope but also as Hope-of-our-hearts, had reached her majority, word came from the kingdom to the east that they were being harried at their eastern border by an army of nearly supernatural strength.

#fic rec #yuletide

[thenatureofpages]

Tweet Cute: An Absolutely Adorable Rom-Com for the Ages

*Disclaimer: I received this book as an ARC courtesy of both St. Martin’s in exchange for participating in the blog tour.

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

A Non-Spoilery Review by The Nature of Pages

Genre: YA Contemporary

Favorite Quote(s):

Pepper smiles, then—actually smiles, instead of the little smirk she usually does. It’s not startling, but what it does to me in that moment kind of is.

Before I can examine the unfamiliar lurch in my stomach, the bell rings and knocks the smile right off her face.

Synopsis:

Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming — mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account. 

Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time. 

All’s fair in love and cheese — that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life — on an anonymous chat app Jack built. 

As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate — people on the internet are shipping them?? — their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.

Rating: 5 Stars

What Made This Book Unique:

Where do I even start? The fast-paced banter of the characters, the incredible twitter war, from start to end this book is a rom-com for the ages.

Okay, buckle in because not only was this one of my favorite reads of the year, this is one of my favorite reads of all time. *fangirls screeches*

The characters. The characters. Holy cow, everyone, I was rooting for the characters from page one. Pepper, type A perfectionist is so incredibly easy to relate to, from her desire to keep everything under control to the cute baking moments we get to see. She’s also a blogger, so that’s super neat! Books with bloggers in them are my weakness.

Our favorite soft class clown boy Jack is so easy to find adorable, y’all. He’s genuinely funny and had me laughing out loud as I read his sections. The internal sarcastic comments we get from his point of view are so great – it’s a battle of wits with these two.

Also, they’re all Hufflepuffs??? Can we all screech heck yes in unison?!

I’m such an absolute dork for this book that I actually had the opportunity to interview the author herself, Emma Lord!

Our new writing royalty herself!

Hi, Emma! Thank you so much for letting me ask you a few questions!

Q: Did the plot or the characters come to you first when writing this novel?

A: This one was an odd one for me because the plot came LONG before the characters, in the form of a tweet I made in 2017 joking that there should be a rom-com about social media managers from warring fast food chains falling in love. Usually I’ll think of a character first and build plot around them, but I had to go through about five iterations of characters before landing on Pepper and Jack. 

Q: What was your favorite part about the process of writing Tweet Cute?

A: For sure writing with my friends! We try to meet up once a week and are constantly bopping around in the group chat. I wrote Tweet Cute in a month and a half while holding down a full-time job, so my brain was basically just leaking memes by the end of it, but those sessions we spent writing in coffee shops after work were my best memories of the process. 

Q: As a debut author, what was a surprise when it came to writing your book?

Uh, people READING it. That was profoundly surprising to me. Like, logistically you understand that people are going to read it if it’s getting published, but usually I’ll write something, stick it on a fan fiction platform anonymously, and that’ll be the end of it. I’m still not over the surprise any time someone reads the book and tags me in something about it! 

As you can see, Emma Lord is not only a fantastically wonderful writer, she’s also incredibly sweet! Make sure to check my Twitter (@natureofpages) as the month goes on – I’ll be reposting other blog posts with her other interviews as they get posted!

Hopefully by now, you’re as excited to read this book as I was, so here’s a sneak peak!

JACK

“Look.” I glance into the classroom, where Ethan is thoroughly distracted by Stephen and no longer keeping an eye on us. “I may have . . . overreacted.”

Pepper shakes her head. “I told you. I get it. It’s your family.”

“Yeah. But it’s also—well, to be honest, this has been kind of good for business.”

Pepper’s brow furrows, that one little crease returning. “What, the tweets?”

“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck, sheepish. “Actually, we had a line out the door yesterday. It was kind of intense.”

“That’s . . . that’s good, right?”

The tone of my voice is clearly not matching up with the words I’m saying, but if I’m being honest, I’m still wary of this whole overnight business boom. And if I’m being honest, I’m even more wary of Pepper. If this really is as much of a family business as she claims it is—to the point where she’s helping run the Twitter handle, when even I know enough about corporate Twitter accounts to know entire teams of experienced people get paid to do that—then she might have had more of a hand in this whole recipe theft thing than she’s letting on.

The fact of the matter is, I can’t trust her. To the point of not knowing whether I can even trust her knowing how our business is doing, or just how badly we need it.

“Yeah, um, I guess.” I try to make it sound noncommittal. My acting skills, much like my breakfast-packing skills, leave much to be desired.

“So . . .”

“So.”

Pepper presses her lips into a thin line, a question in her eyes.

“So, I guess—if your mom really wants you to keep tweeting . . .”

“Wait. Yesterday you were pissed. Two minutes ago you were pissed.”

“I am pissed. You stole from us,” I reiterate. “You stole from an eighty-five-year-old woman.”

“I didn’t—”

“Yeah, yeah, but still. You’re them, and I’m . . . her. It’s like a choose your fighter situation, and we just happen to be the ones up to bat.”

“So you’re saying—you don’t not want me to keep this up?”

“The way I see it, you don’t have to make your mom mad, and we get a few more customers in the door too.”

Pepper takes a breath like she’s going to say something, like she’s going to correct me, but after a moment, she lets it go. Her face can’t quite settle on an expression, toeing the line between dread and relief.

“You’re sure?”

I answer by opening the container she handed me. The smell that immediately wafts out of it should honestly be illegal; it stops kids I’ve never even spoken to in their tracks.

“Are you a witch?” I ask, reaching in and taking a bite of one. It’s like Monster Cake, the Sequel—freaking Christmas in my mouth. I already want more before I’ve even managed to chew. My eyes close as if I’m experiencing an actual drug high—and maybe I am, because I forget myself entirely and say, “This might even be better than our Kitchen Sink Macaroons.”

“Kitchen Sink Macaroons?”

Eyes open again. Yikes. Note to self: dessert is the greatest weapon in Pepper’s arsenal. I swallow my bite so I can answer her.

“It’s kind of well-known, at least in the East Village. It even got in some Hub Seed roundup once. I’d tell you to try some, but you might steal the recipe, so.”

Pepper smiles, then—actually smiles, instead of the little smirk she usually does. It’s not startling, but what it does to me in that moment kind of is.

Before I can examine the unfamiliar lurch in my stomach, the bell rings and knocks the smile right off her face. I follow just behind her, wondering why it suddenly seems too hot in here, like they cranked the air up for December instead of October. I dismiss it by the time I get to my desk—probably just all the Twitter drama and the glory of So Sorry Blondies getting to my head.

“One rule,” she says, as we sit in the last two desks in the back of the room.

I raise my eyebrows at her.

“We don’t take any of it personally.” She leans forward on her desk, leveling with me, her bangs falling into her face. “No more getting mad at each other. Cheese and state.”

“What happens on Twitter stays on Twitter,” I say with a nod of agreement. “Okay, then, second rule: no kid gloves.”

Mrs. Fairchild is giving that stern look over the room that never quite successfully quiets anyone down. Pepper frowns, waiting for me to elaborate.

“I mean—no going easy on each other. If we’re going to play at this, we’re both going to give it our A game, okay? No holding back because we’re . . .”

Friends, I almost say. No, I’m going to say. But then—

“I’d appreciate it if even one of you acknowledged the bell with your silence,” Mrs. Fairchild grumbles.

I turn to Pepper, expecting to find her snapping to attention the way she always does when an adult comes within a hundred feet of disciplining her. But her eyes are still intent on me, like she is sizing something up—like she’s looking forward to something I haven’t anticipated yet.

“All right. No taking it personally. And no holding back.”

She holds her hand out for me to shake again, under the desk so Mrs. Fairchild won’t see it. I smile and shake my head, wondering how someone can be so aggressively seventeen and seventy-five at the same time, and then I take it. Her hand is warm and small in mine, but her grip is surprisingly firm, with a pressure that almost feels like she’s still got her fingers wrapped around mine even after we let go.

I turn back to the whiteboard, a ghost of a smirk on my face. “Let the games begin.”

*flails* AAAAHHHHH so many feels just from that snippet alone!

Tweet Cute is such an adorable cute rom-com, full of witty banter, spectacular characters, a ship name to die for, and a hilarious Twitter war! I, for one, will be heading to the book store the day it comes out and already can’t wait for the next Emma Lord book!

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord is hitting the shelves on January 21st, 2020!

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[biofunmy]

She Was Ordered To Pay Damages And Apologize To The Man Who Allegedly Assaulted Her. So She Left The Country.

NAIROBI — On an unusually warm night in early August, Shailja Patel packed her most valuable belongings into a carry-on bag and suitcase, and headed for the airport.

Days earlier, a judge had ordered her to pay damages worth more than $87,000 to the man she said sexually assaulted her, to apologize to him, and to never publish defamatory statements about him ever again.

She refused. And now she was leaving the country.

Once she was outside the jurisdiction of the Kenyan court that handed down its judgment, the 49-year-old writer and activist began to tweet about the alleged incident five years ago, and the subsequent grueling court case that led her to uproot her whole life.

“They will not humiliate me. They will not disappear me. They will not break me,” she wrote, before breaking into a verse style:

“They

“Will

“Not

“Take

“My

Voice.”

Speaking to BuzzFeed News over the phone from a location she doesn’t want to be published for safety reasons, Patel described the turmoil of the past half-decade, and why she needed to leave her home behind in order to feel safe again.

In 2014, Patel and her friend Wambui Mwangi had accused another writer of sexually assaulting Patel at a writers gathering held at Mwangi’s house. They detailed the alleged assault in a series of tweets — Patel said that she did not have any faith in the police, who have been known to harass and victim-blame women for crimes of sexual and other forms of physical violence.

After an investigation, police declined to file charges against the man Patel and Mwangi had accused, a well-established poet, author, and journalist named Tony Mochama. But he sued them both for defamation, arguing that their tweets nearly ended his career.

“We lost because the system is utterly and absolutely corrupted,” Patel said from her self-exile. “I could have saved my time and not bothered to engage it at all.”

BuzzFeed News has reached out to the magistrate who handed down the decision for comment.

Patel’s nightmare began on the afternoon of Sept. 20, 2014. She and Mochama were among those attending a small gathering of around a dozen writers and poets hosted by Mwangi. Despite the event taking place at Mwangi’s house, she was not present. BuzzFeed News reached out to Mwangi for this story, but she was unable to speak about it due to the terms of the injunction that apply to her as well.

According to court documents seen by BuzzFeed News, Patel said that Mochama hugged her without her consent, and later grabbed her breasts when they were alone. Toward the end of the two-hour event, Patel said Mochama tried to hug her again, but she told him, loudly, to back off. Mochama denied Patel’s claims in court, but acknowledged that she had yelled at him when he moved toward her at the end of the event.

Three other people who were at the gathering — Tawi Achieng Nyang’aya, Stephen Derwent Partington, and one person who asked that their name be withheld — told BuzzFeed News they heard Patel yell at Mochama, but did not see any other direct interactions between them.

The tension between Patel and Mochama prior to the gathering was known within Kenya’s close-knit writers circle. Patel said in her 2014 statement to police that she believed his writing to be denigrating toward women. She told BuzzFeed News on the phone that back in 2013, she refused to shake his hand at a literary event because of the way he had referred to another Kenyan woman writer, and has held that view of him ever since. Mochama, 44, told BuzzFeed News over the phone that Patel “already had hatred toward me, absolutely,” and that he believed Patel was jealous of his success as a writer.

“I think it really annoyed her that it was 2014 and no one really was recognizing her at all. It wasn’t a good year for her. I had won two awards. I’ve had time to think about motive. So let’s just say she wasn’t the biggest Tony Mochama fan at that moment,” he said.

Patel said in her statement in the defamation case that while she was shaken by the alleged incident, she did not want to disrupt the gathering, which was organized to help up-and-coming Kenyan writers network with international organizations that could promote their work. Once everyone left, she described the alleged incident to a colleague who was there, and eventually to Mwangi.

Patel said she wanted to avoid going to the police at all costs, at least initially. Kenyan women are regularly taunted, blamed, and told that their case won’t go anywhere by the very police they seek help from when they choose to report. In one BuzzFeed News story about a Kenyan woman who said she was raped, a police officer told her that women sometimes want these things to happen, and asked her why she had been drinking alcohol that night.

Patel is a Kenyan woman of Indian descent, and deeply aware of the racial dynamics of her case.

In Kenya, the Indian community is so large that it is formally recognized as a tribe, but has often been cast as separate from — and tends to be wealthier than — black Kenyans. Black Kenyans have historically viewed the Indian community with suspicion, due to the number of Indians who own businesses and employ black staffers — an aftereffect of British colonial policies.

Patel said it was another reason that she and Mwangi decided not to go to the police.

On Sept. 22, two days after the alleged assault took place, Mwangi wrote to the Concerned Kenyan Writers Google Group, which Patel, Mochama, and about 50 other people were a part of, detailing her claim and asking how they should handle it in the name of restorative justice.

Mochama vehemently denied the claim in the group, calling his invitation to the meeting a “set up,” asking Mwangi, “Are you fucking insane or suffering cancer of the brain?” and adding that he was going to contact his lawyers, according to an email thread of the group’s conversation that was viewed by BuzzFeed News.

Patel said on the phone that Mochama’s response in the group showed “he had no interest in restoring anything, just in denying, attacking, and reversing blame.”

Mochama told BuzzFeed News on the phone that he was “absolutely not interested” in the Google Group discussion dialogue about Patel’s claims.

“I didn’t do anything. To be asked [to respond] was very insulting,” he said, adding that he believed “the entire aim was, of course, to start the humiliating process.”

The same day that Mwangi wrote to the Google Group, she started tweeting about Patel’s claim, but she did not initially name Patel or Mochama.

She asked why Mochama, whom she described as a “sexual assaulter” in her tweets, had a job, had been awarded with writing scholarships, and had fans.

She added that it was unacceptable for organizations to remain neutral on his alleged offenses, and asserted that it was not the job of Kenyan women to control male journalists’ behavior. She tagged the Standard, where Mochama works.

In several tweets that followed, Mwangi made similar accusations, @-ing other institutions that had been supporting or employing Mochama at the time, like PEN International, on which Mochama still serves as secretary general for Kenya. The tweets have since been deleted; BuzzFeed News viewed them in court documents provided by Patel. Another writer from the Google Group started using the hashtag #StopTonyMochama to draw attention to Patel’s claim, which Mwangi also subsequently used.

On Sept. 23, Patel revealed on Twitter that she was the woman who made the claim about Mochama at the event Mwangi had been referring to.

“I came home. I was on hiatus. Resting. Being with loved ones. This happened. To me. #StopTonyMochama” she wrote.

I came home. I was on hiatus. Resting. Being with loved ones. This happened. To me.

http://bit.ly/2MMAEX5

#StopTonyMochama

07:33 AM – 23 Sep 2014

As the hashtag about Mochama began to spread, several people and organizations in the writers community began to urge Patel to file a report with the police.

Patel said that literary organizations that Mochama was affiliated with told her, “‘You can’t expect us to change our policy based on your word.’”

Muthoni Garland is the founder and director of Storymoja, one of the literary organizations Mochama was associated with at the time. She told BuzzFeed News over the phone that when she heard about Patel’s claims against Mochama, she directed the organization to stop promoting his work and inviting him to festivals. Garland, who is close with Patel and Mwangi, added that she contacted Patel a few days after learning about her claim and urged her to report it to the police — not as the director of Storymoja, but as her friend.

“I told her, ‘You’re a powerful, strong woman with extraordinary powers of communication. If you don’t take this to court and pursue justice, how will uneducated women be able to do it?’” Garland recalled saying.

On Sept. 25, 2014, Patel went to authorities and reported Mochama for sexual assault. The following February, while the case was still being investigated, Mochama filed a defamation lawsuit against Mwangi and Patel, arguing that they had tainted his name.

“[Their tweets were] targeted at the Standard Group, at PEN International where I’m the secretary general,” Mochama told BuzzFeed News over the phone from Venice, Italy, where he is currently completing an Emily Harvey Foundation writer’s residency. “It was a ruinous campaign to totally screw me up in terms of I can’t make a living and so on.”

Then in late November 2015, Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) informed Patel it did not have enough evidence to charge Mochama. She and her attorneys petitioned the decision, so far with no response.

Mochama’s defamation lawsuit continued, meanwhile.

“It’s wasn’t enough to be cleared by the [Directorate of Criminal Investigations],” he said on the phone. “I needed to do two things: get my name cleared, and make them suffer some sort of retribution, because nobody should be able to smudge the name of any individual.”

Mochama said that after Mwangi and Patel’s tweets, the regular invitations he used to receive to deliver university lectures and lead writing workshops in Kenya and abroad had “dried up,” and that some of his funding from various organizations had been withdrawn. Publishers cancelled book tours he had planned, he stopped winning scholarships, and only recently resumed work at a local NGO that supports women’s creativity, he added, all because he had been labeled a sexual molester.

“Emily Harvey is the first thing I’m back on for five years internationally, or at any intercontinental level,” he said on the phone from Venice.

One of the writers who was at the September 2014 gathering, Partington, told BuzzFeed News that after the incident spread across social media, he and one of the organizations he volunteered with began to distance themselves from Mochama.

“Previously, I had been asked by include Tony in an anthology for Kwani” — an African literary magazine — “and to edit some of his poetry, but agreed with the publisher to put that on hold until the case had been settled,” Partington told BuzzFeed News on the phone from Machakos, about 42 miles southeast of Nairobi. After Patel’s claims were made public, Partington also asked the organization to find someone else to edit Mochama’s work. He only witnessed Patel telling Mochama to back off, but felt that women should be believed when they say they have been harmed.

When Magistrate Addah Obura handed down her judgment on Aug. 5, she condemned Mwangi and Patel for looking for justice from social media, rather than the police — the very thing Patel was trying to avoid because of how unfair she felt the system was to victims of sexual violence.

“Every person has a right to have their dispute resolved by application of the law and fair administrative action,” Obura said in her ruling. “They should have known it is reckless and ill-advised to resort to social media to give damaging information concerning a person without any evidence or legal basis.”

Patel was shocked. “I had mentally steeled myself for anything that could go wrong, but given how weak his case had been, and how he presented it to the court, it didn’t seem like the judge had any basis,” she said.

The added punishment felt like a huge blow.

“It wasn’t just a judgment in his favor. It was a massive sledgehammer to silence and punish us,” she said.

After investing five years’ worth of energy and money to support her case, Patel said she realized she would have to leave home in order to get her voice back. In her Twitter bio, she now calls herself an “exiled Kenyan whistleblower,” but she now realized that she’d been feeling like an exile even when she was still at home.

“One of the things that came to me after I left is that I was internally exiled,” she said. “I had moved out of Nairobi and couldn’t go to many literary events or spaces that didn’t implement sexual harassment policies to protect people. There was a narrative about me that I had no way of defending myself against. When I left, I was geographically exiled, but I could reclaim the right to tell my own story.”

She’s been comforted by her fellow African feminists who have made the same difficult decision to leave their home countries in order to escape social stigmas. Many of them, like Patel, are queer, and fled because of the anti-gay laws and prejudice they faced back home.

On Aug. 22, the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), a feminist organization that represented Patel for part of the defamation case, announced in a Twitter thread that it was reviewing the judge’s decision.

“This decision has far reaching consequences and seeks to not only gag survivors from speaking out about violence but also to completely silence them through the fear of being slapped with massive punitive damages for speaking their truth & speaking out against sexual abuse,” the organization said.

1/6 @CREAWKenya together with other interested partners are studying the decision of the court in the matter of Tony Mochama Vs @wambui_mwangi and @shailjapatel which has set a dangerous precedent with regard to cases of sexual violence and harassment.

01:58 PM – 22 Aug 2019

Patel also said that several women have reached out to her on Twitter, offering to raise funds for the $9 million Kenyan Shillings (or about $87,000) in damages she was ordered to pay Mochama.

“I was just like, ‘This is crazy. This is insane that we actually have to pay these evil men,’” she said. “I cannot and I will not ask a single woman any more [for help] against this fucker. I’m just so done with letting this system drain us like this.”

Mochama, meanwhile, is still celebrating. “Shailja’s just running away,” he said when asked how he felt now the case had been decided. “She’s a failed poet.”

He added that Patel “doesn’t like to see black people succeeding within the areas she thinks she’s in,” building on previous statements he’s made about her accusation being rooted in racism.

Mochama told BuzzFeed News that he’s working on a new novel while on his writer’s residence in Venice.

“It’s called Italian Trial, and it’s about an African immigrant footballer who gets falsely accused of rape in Italy,” he said.

Then he added, with a laugh, “You have to make vodka lemonade out of everything.”

Sahred From Source link Technology

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[thewebofslime]

This site uses cookies to improve your experience and to provide services and advertising. By continuing to browse, you agree to the use of cookies described in our Cookies Policy. You may change your settings at any time but this may impact on the functionality of the site. To learn more see our Cookies Policy. OK Business ETC The42 The Daily Edge Search siteSearch Dublin: 2 °C Sunday 10 March, 2019 Homepage Irish Politics International Voices Family Culture Business Brexit My Feed RSS TagsBROADBAND COMMUNICATIONS COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER DAVID MCCOURT DAVID MCCOURT – HEAD OF THE GRANAHAN MCCOURT DENIS NAUGHTEN GONE LEO CULLEN NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN See other tags Denis Naughten has resigned as Communications Minister He made the announcement in the Dáil this afternoon. Oct 11th 2018, 3:09 PM 62,053 Views 115 Comments Share968 Tweet Email2 Image: Leah Farrell EMBATTLED COMMUNICATIONS MINISTER Denis Naughten has announced he is to resign his position. He made the announcement in the Dáil this afternoon. Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Naughten said he had a meeting with the Taoiseach last night, in which Leo Varadkar asked him to reflect on his position. “The Taoiseach does not have confidence in me,” he said. Naughten said he was left in a difficult position, where the opposition had not called for him to step aside, nor had the Taoiseach, but added that he had to reflect himself. Do I wait for that decision myself, to resign, or do I wait for someone else to make that decision for me? He said the outcome “is more about opinion polls than telephone polls. It’s more about optics than fibre optics”. Naughten has been in the spotlight following revelations about a dinner he had with the head of the only group bidding for the National Broadband Plan contract. Naughten admitted to attending a dinner with David McCourt – head of the Granahan McCourt consortium – in New York in July, while yesterday it emerged that the minister facilitated a lunch in the Dáil for McCourt’s daughter in April. He told the Dáil today that he had offered to pass over the NBP process to his junior minister, or to another line Cabinet minister, but this offer was refused by the Taoiseach. Source: TheJournal.ie/YouTube Speaking to TheJournal.ie today about the matter, Varadkar revealed that while he was still seeking clarity on protocols that prevent the minister from influencing the procurement process, he was nonetheless happy with the explanation Naughten gave him last night. He said: “I don’t have all the information yet. I’m certainly satisfied with what he said to me last night at the meeting. “I just need to look at the communications protocol for myself and need to hear from him if he has any further information to share with us.” After his speech the minister left the chamber. Source: TheJournal.ie/YouTube Speaking after his resignation today, his counterpart in Fianna Fáil, Timmy Dooley, said he had “great sympathy” for Naughten today, and for his family and constituency. A number of TDs have called for the Taoiseach to come before the Dáil this afternoon. On a side note, the Department of Communications website is down. Short URL Tweet this Share on Facebook Email this article About the author: Christina Finn @christinafinn8 [email protected] See more articles by Christina Finn Contribute to this story: Leave a Comment Send a Correction Read next: 'An unprecedented number': 1,700 buildings in Dublin are awaiting protected status 661 Views Introducing our new podcast: The Explainer 2,076 Views One Irish person among 157 dead after Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes en route to Kenya 81,660 Views COMMENTS (115) This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part. WRITE A COMMENT dB O'Neill 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:10 PM Good. 660 Ger Murphy 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:13 PM @dB O’Neill: I think he has no option given poor judgement. 300 Dáithí O Raghailaigh 6m Oct 11th 2018, 3:27 PM @dB O’Neill: Varadkar throwing anyone in his way under the Bus. Power is a Drug..? 248 SEE 13 MORE REPLIES ▾ Tony Stack 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:14 PM Wow a resignation , this is not normal for Ireland 573 Midland Celt 5y Oct 11th 2018, 6:36 PM @Tony Stack: He was effectively sack and in disgrace. 17 James O'Brien 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:11 PM More to hide now running away. 318 prop joe 3y Oct 11th 2018, 8:06 PM @James O’Brien: so is the contract still valid? No real change unless there are a few bids. One bidder for a multi-million euro contract. 7 dB O'Neill 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:11 PM Good call, 186 Desmond Wisley 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:12 PM There goes my high sped broadband 186 Niall Donnelly 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:14 PM @Desmond Wisley: ask O’Leary or O’Brian. They’ll help ya out!! 114 Niall Donnelly 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:16 PM Lowry & O’Brien. Ha Typos 115 SEE 3 MORE REPLIES ▾ Kenneth Carroll 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:12 PM More Brown envelopes??? 197 Go way ba willu 1y Oct 11th 2018, 4:36 PM @Kenneth Carroll: It’s over Leo… 43 Sean Murphy 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:12 PM Do TDs/ministers still get a pension if they resign early? 179 Dave. 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:14 PM @Sean Murphy: Standard issue. You could burn down the Dail and you’d still get a pension. Literally no accountability. 410 Roger McGowan 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:23 PM @Dave.: That pension goes up every time the Dail gives them selves a pay rise too 171 SEE 2 MORE REPLIES ▾ Paddy Murray 7y Oct 11th 2018, 3:27 PM Funny when the communications minister has to resign over his lack of communications with his boss with regard to his communications with a potential supplier . I hope I am communicating this properly 186 Dave Doyle 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:23 PM Dennis will look after him. Just ask Brian Cowen. 182 Wayne Scales 7y Oct 11th 2018, 3:20 PM It wouldn’t be a surprise if more was to come out.Hopefully Minister Murphy follows suit. 171 Mr E Oct 11th 2018, 3:45 PM @Wayne Scales: and Leo needs to reflect on all these scandals while he has being Taoisock 88 Kenneth Hayden 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:11 PM Bye bye. 167 iComment Oct 11th 2018, 3:24 PM The civil servants who were at this dinner in New York where the minister was present should also resign….The Moriarty tribunal spent 14 years investigating the last big communications contact the state gave out….They strictly advised how ministers and civil servants should behave in the future… 193 Gary Kearney 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:45 PM @iComment: Finally somebody said what everybody misses. It is like an episode of Yes Minister. Same thing happened to Shane Ross, of all people his department screwed him over on Bus Connects 56 Kj bar 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:11 PM It never ends….. 149 Johnny Mason 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:13 PM The calm before the storm ? 119 Trevor Hayden 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:19 PM Let’s see, before revelations come out about millions in bribes. 116 Dermot Lane 7y Oct 11th 2018, 3:44 PM @Trevor Hayden: there is only one player in the arena for this contract, why would they pay him bribes? 29 Trevor Hayden 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:55 PM @Dermot Lane: To ensure the others are put off. Siemens and water metering, we’ve seen this all before. 88 SEE 1 MORE REPLY ▾ Shane O Malley 6y Oct 11th 2018, 3:21 PM Yesterday Leo backed his man in parliament , last night F/G mouth organs were on RTE radio and TV3 telling us what an honourable he was, at the same time Leo was telling the minister he had no confidence in him 136 Sean Conway 4y Oct 11th 2018, 4:00 PM @Shane O Malley: Think leo wants an election. i hope it backfires on him and FG/FF. 60 Séan Ó Nuanáin 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:13 PM Buíochas le Dia. Is féidir linn rud éigin maith a dhéanamh don timpeallacht anois 74 Stephen Boland 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:15 PM @Séan Ó Nuanáin: yep 29 sb 6m Oct 11th 2018, 3:28 PM @Séan Ó Nuanáin: da bleedin spanish? 16 SEE 2 MORE REPLIES ▾ Brian Lonergan 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:21 PM Take a few more of them with you! 92 Squiddley Diddley 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:14 PM Fianna Fáil Lite 70 Mark 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:13 PM That stank to high heavens 121 James Keogh 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:30 PM It is unfortunate that it has come to this but, it is what it is. It would appear that the Minister ran away with himself and his self-assumed status. It was not an honourable resignation it was an escape route chosen to avoid serious questions and he leaves a Bigger Question, Who is going to carry the Churn now and explain his errors and mis-judgement. 64 Joseph Dempsey 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:30 PM Leo should be embarrassed but of course won’t be, not a few hours after offering fullsome 100% support of his Minister, this happens. No doubt Leo’s communications unit will be in over drive trying to spin the unspinable, just hope Michael Martin will develop enough balls and call an election, enough of this lecerious government 109 jim dee 6m Oct 11th 2018, 3:24 PM varadkar ,coveney the whole lot of them had complete confidence in him one hour ago, what a shower of absolute shysters 143 @mdmak33 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:43 PM About time,and the contract must be put on hold,DOB involvement puts a cloud over the whole process,he is being investigated by CAB and the ODCE for god sake for criminal activity. 82 mursim 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:32 PM On the bright side. He’s independent – he needs to withdraw support from the government. We need an election – particularly after this abortion of a budget. 67 Patrick James Walsh 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:21 PM Micheal Martin was devastating on this at leaders questions in the Dail yesterday. Can`t believe that these ministers have handlers, special advisers, and media and PR people employed as well as the full armory of the dept and the civil service at their beck and call, and they still manage to do idiotic things like accept offers of dinner etc, which are clearly designed to gain access to the Minister who has the gift of deciding the bid in question. 98 James O'Brien 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:26 PM Storm Denis 41 Jc Nulty 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:59 PM He was told last night when he met the taoiseach that he either resigns or he would be sacks, not one senior goverment minster was in the house when he resigned he was left out to dry by theses blue shirts get them out and call a election 51 Sean Conway 4y Oct 11th 2018, 3:41 PM And FF don’t see anything wrong with naughton. 48 Martin Meyler 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:25 PM Well. That’s a unexpected but welcome development. 37 Charliegrl80 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:45 PM The newest government scandal and properly lots more of them to come – shame we still have politicians in the Dail willing to stay or support these scandals. And this is not about €37 this is about what and who is involved. 39 P Quinn 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:38 PM Varadkar knee that this would become a potential cause for an election and therefore asked the minister to go. Varadkar knows FG will suffer at the polls 37 Charliegrl80 3y Oct 11th 2018, 3:48 PM @P Quinn: it’s still an election issue even though naughten resigned, as the people involved are still holding the contract. 29 Tom's 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:35 PM Tell us what his exit package will be. 30 Mark Plunkett 6m Oct 11th 2018, 3:48 PM Well well well amazing what a few hours can do,Leo the liar quoted yesterday he had no problem supporting him,what a joke,ah well nice pension,off to the sun without a care in the world.the usual run of the mill in the dail. 45 Maurice Dodd 6y Oct 11th 2018, 9:48 PM @Mark Plunkett: lieo 2 Barry O Toole 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:18 PM Leo wont allow any dung stick to his socks 77 PJ Berry 4y Oct 11th 2018, 4:00 PM Absolutely no loss 28 WoodlandBard 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:15 PM What’s wrong with having dinner? That aside, yes I feel it needs someone else in that job. It was going nowhere. 26 Do the Bort man 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:18 PM @WoodlandBard: My thoughts exactly, I guess there may be much more to this story that would have leaked of he hadn’t resigned. 79 WoodlandBard 2y Oct 11th 2018, 3:18 PM …. but who else is there to get the rural broadband out? 13 SEE 3 MORE REPLIES ▾ Tadhg Kelleher 7y Oct 11th 2018, 3:23 PM The nbp comes to fruition the same time mobile broadband providers claim 97% coverage. Now some lucky divil is going to get half a billion for the last 3%. There was never an nbp…. 28 John McCann 6m Oct 11th 2018, 4:01 PM Leo the Liar. Denis the Crook and the other Denis being investigated by CAB. It’s just like going back 20 years. FG putting 2 fingers up to the voters and Mehole Martin as spineless as ever. They’re all a shower of crooks. Would almost vote for the Shinners, only joking! But we now need an election to clear out the bad apples. 46 Jc Nulty 5y Oct 11th 2018, 4:08 PM Come on fianna fail lets see what you will do now or will you still sit on the fence and do what you always do and abstain thats why the people put you in to do nothing you will get your answer when there is a election. 33 Paddy Murray 7y Oct 11th 2018, 3:27 PM Funny when the communications minister has to resign over his lack of communications with his boss with regard to his communications with a potential supplier . I hope I am communicating this properly 23 BK 2y Oct 11th 2018, 4:28 PM On the same day she has been “vindicated” by Charleton Tribunal here comes Frances Fitzgerald back in cabinet to save the day .. ….what will FF do then ? 18 Yourmam McCarthy 1y Oct 11th 2018, 4:17 PM You wouldnt see Simon Harris resign. You would want a crowbar to get rid pf him. 31 Dave Moran 7y Oct 11th 2018, 4:43 PM Ill bet there is a lot more to this….? 18 Nigel o'Neill 2y Oct 11th 2018, 4:35 PM Just look at all the headline articles on here today!! They make for some very very sorry reading for us as a people. Corruption and incompetence stamped over so much of what’s going on at the higher end of state authorities…the question is, will we rubber stamp it and keep the status quo or will we actually action real change!? 25 Sean Conway 4y Oct 11th 2018, 4:46 PM Is this a coverup because of the charleton report coming out today? 14 Frainc Ó Broin 5y Oct 11th 2018, 3:39 PM I never heard of him! Must have communicated it badly. 11 Insider at RTE 1y Oct 11th 2018, 3:32 PM Boxer for cabinet 10 Donal Desmond 3y Oct 11th 2018, 4:50 PM Fitzgerald back in the good books… Naughten resigned… lucky day for the blueshirts. 11 Rich Walsh 4y Oct 11th 2018, 4:50 PM Here we go again. Same oul story. Another election probably. Such messing and the Irish taxpayer gets screwed again. Sad really. 15 Arron 4y Oct 11th 2018, 5:41 PM Dinner together…. another one.. Christ.. no responsibility in public service whatsoever across the board. Country will never change. Good luck 10 Rory J Leonard 5y Oct 11th 2018, 4:38 PM It’s sad that an honorable, innocent, decent, hard working, but very naive man is taken out like this. With all the spin docs and comms consultants around Gov you would have thought that a Min would have been forewarned and properly briefed on protocol in these situations, especially given past history and costly failings in the granting of such monstrous government contracts in the past. The Inv House putting the deal together in NY also has a lot to learn…in doing business with Govs in EU and needs to educate itself on the relevant protocols. Who decided that having the birthday bash in the Dail restaurant was a good idea? By Mr. N. being a gentleman and hospitable to his guest on a biz mission, it has cost him his job. Zero comp for a €500m Gov contract needs careful handling 9 John Blessing 4y Oct 11th 2018, 7:47 PM @Rory J Leonard: Honorable, innocent, decent, hard working???? He’s loves brown envelopes !! 7 Dave Moran 7y Oct 11th 2018, 4:41 PM Have to say I’m surprised. Not at all normal in our political system..? 8 David Van-Standen 5y Oct 11th 2018, 5:36 PM Well this can only mean, that there will soon be yet another announcement by yet another Minister for communications, of a plan to roll out broadband nationwide…. 7 Mari 2y Oct 11th 2018, 4:16 PM U had no choice …u were wrong.. 7 eddie horgan 1y Oct 11th 2018, 6:15 PM He had to resign when it came out that he had more than one meeting. Beggars belief what he was thinking 8 gmac84 4y Oct 11th 2018, 7:31 PM All previous dealings he has had should be looked into like his cosy meetings with Eirgrid. 5 Karen Lynch 2y Oct 11th 2018, 4:50 PM A very big issue is that Eir and Siro have been left cherry pick where they will deliver to, whilst neighbours within a couple of hundred meters are with nothing. I live 10kms from Cork City Centre, 4 kms from Blarney. Not a “ribbon route” and not “a one off house”. 1.5 yrs ago, my neighbours were provided with full FTTH by Eir, whilst the remaining 400 meters stretch of road, housing 9 houses, 7 apartments and a busy pub/restaurant, were left with less than 1mg. Next tranche of houses over 2 miles away. No joined up thinking, ultimately leaving to the tax payer under the NBP to pick up the tab. My 13 yr old, 1st yr son has Dysgraphia, and uses Ass Tech, for all his educational needs. I hope he won’t be through college by the time any NBP is delivered. 7 John Blessing 4y Oct 11th 2018, 7:44 PM Brown envelope Scu&%^g, goodbye and take all the rest with you please? 6 Tony Kennedy 3y Oct 11th 2018, 6:32 PM Varadkar says he asked him to resign . Naughten says he offered to resign . ???? 5 eastsmer 6y Oct 11th 2018, 5:12 PM SICK OF FF FG LAB TRAITORS 16 Daire Friel 7y Oct 11th 2018, 7:11 PM Now maybe we will get a minister who will concentrate on the climate change and environment part of his role rather than the communications part which seemed to be what this minister spent all his time on 3 The Red Devil 7y Oct 11th 2018, 4:24 PM No my high spee…………..d ……………..broad…..ba….nd dam u Dennis naughton 7 Maurice Dodd 6y Oct 11th 2018, 9:47 PM Always looked like a sleeveen looking crook 2 Ludie Creech 4y Oct 11th 2018, 10:06 PM I think Russia is somehow involved 1 Grainnewhale 6m Oct 11th 2018, 11:14 PM Very unprofessional 1 Brian harris 1y Oct 11th 2018, 4:23 PM Good. F$#k off and bring the rest of these idiots with you. Worst Dail ever. 34 LEAVE A COMMENT LOG IN WITH: FACEBOOK TWITTER Share Comment on Facebook or Twitter POST COMMENT Read Next: 'An unprecedented number': 1,700 buildings in Dublin are awaiting protected status PROTECTED STRUCTURES Download our app Trending Opinions The Irish For: Some older words don't exist in English - clochscríbhinn means an inscription on stone Darach Ó Séaghdha George Orwell said that history was a palimpsest – a chalkboard which could be scraped clean and reinscribed, exactly as often as necessary, writes Darach Ó Séaghdha. Opinion: Claims culture is out of control - as play centres close due to being sued for kids falling Grace Vaughan Kids fall, that is what they do, it can happen anywhere. If they fall at Granny’s – do we sue the pants off Granny? 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