#the way this role has lived rent free in my head for the last decade

[avadaniels]

MATT BOMER in GLEE 3x15 “Big Brother”

#glee #matt bomer #gleeedit #gleesource #mattbomeredit #mbomeredit #tvedit #dilfgifs #userlolo #userraffa #usersavana #tusersonny #userzo #tuserhan #userlaro #* #the way this role has lived rent free in my head for the last decade #still extremely funny to me that his name is anderson cooper backwards

[dramioneasks]

HP FESTS: Dramione RomCom Fest (Part 1)

Dramione RomCom Fest 2020:

12 Years and 3 Months by pixiedustandbluebutterflies - T, one-shot - As news of their engagement takes Wizarding England by storm, elusive power couple Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are finally sharing their love story in this Witch Weekly interview!

50 (First) Dates with Hermione Granger by HufflepuffMommy - G, WIP - Draco Malfoy sets his heart on romancing Hermione Granger, but she has short-term memory loss; she can't remember anything that happened the day before. So every morning, Draco has to woo her again. Her friends are very protective, and Draco must convince them that he's in it for love. Plot (andsummary) taken from the movie "50 First Dates" for the Dramione RomCom fest!

About Time by WordsmithMusings - E, WIP - When Draco's Father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel back in time, he uses his newfound gift to do many things - save a life, be a better friend, reconnect with a witch, and fall in love.

All's well that ends well (to end up with you) by weestarmeggie - M, one-shot - Hermione Granger is all set to be the maid of honor at her best friends wedding. She is taken back when she finds out that the best man is none other than her ex-fiance.

Away by In_Dreams - E, WIP - Desperate for a change of pace, Hermione unknowingly commits to a home exchange with Pansy Parkinson and finds herself swept up in the chaos of New York City and into the arms of Draco Malfoy. Dramione/Hansy. Loosely inspired by The Holiday.

Bells on a Hill by HeyJude19 - T, WIP - Left by his fiancée a month before the ceremony, Draco never got his dream wedding, so agreeing to assist Granger with her own wedding planning to distract himself from his broken engagement seems like a great idea—though Draco probably shouldn't fall in love with the bride-to-be. Based very (very) loosely on The Wedding Singer.

Chasing the Future by Rdlentz8 - T, WIP - An unusual and anonymous Patronus finds a frustrated Hermione alone in the library and talks to her about being lonely. Could this be the push she's needed to change her fate? Inspired by A Cinderella Story. There are direct quotes from A Cinderella Story.

Domino Effect by KoraKwidditch - M, WIP - Resolved to live her life in Muggle London, Hermione Granger finally felt free. Free from the Ministry, free from her celebrity status and everything that entailed. But who knew that one cataclysmal incident would lead her straight into the Malfoy's den and down a series of unfortunate events? At least they think she's a Muggle.**A Dramione retelling of While You Were Sleeping**

Fairytales and Wishes by Charlie9646 - T, one-shot - All Scorpius wants is for Hermione to be a nice step mother, but somehow that sort of gets lost in translation with his accidental magic.

Flipping Through the Pages by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns - T, WIP - Draco Malfoy had a fascination with a popular book series and its writer. His life changes when he meets her.

The Hate List by bethelson - T, WIP - While chaperoning the post graduation trip, Hermione and Draco find themselves wandering the streets of Paris in the middle of the night, fruitlessly searching for the seventh years they were supposed to be in charge of. What Hermione doesn’t know, is that those seventh years struck a bargain with Draco to keep her occupied so they could sneak out for a last hurrah before they all head back to London. So in his efforts to derail her search, he convinces her to join him in their own night of frivolity. As they paint the city red, they slowly learn to let their guards down, and find that putting the past behind them allows them to finally focus on the present. ___ My contribution to the Dramione RomCom Fest!

Hollywood & Vine by dreamsofdramione (Bugggghead), msmerlin - M, WIP - As the manager of an occult bookstore currently renting a room from an old friend and living paycheck to paycheck, Hermione wasn’t exactly living the Hollywood dream. But her life is turned upside down when a chance encounter with Tinseltown’s current heartthrob, Draco Malfoy, leaves her questioning everything she thought she knew about life and love. or the one in which Hermione unintentionally falls in love with a movie star.

Home is Where the Heart Is by lrs002 - T, one-shot - A rewrite and Draco/Hermione look at basically the last scenes of the movie Sweet Home AlabamaOr in the other words: The Wedding and the Kiss

How to Lose a Wizard in 10 Days by GracefulLioness - E, WIP - Hermione will do anything to prove to her boss at Witch Weekly that she's ready to take on more serious topics, including dating a man just to drive him away for the sake of her next column, How to Lose a Wizard in 10 Days. But pushing Draco Malfoy away proves to be a challenging task, perhaps because he's got ten days to make her fall in love with him. Inspired by How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

It Happened One Knight by Klawdee - T, WIP - “A spoiled heir running away from his family is helped by an old classmate, who is actually a journalist in need of a story.” Based off of the 1934 film, It Happened One Night

It's All In The Malfoy Family by TwilightToMidnight - M, one-shot - Over a decade of longing and desire comes to fruition one night. Not quite the way Hermione expected but definitely with a bang. Everyone and their dog seem to be working against her. For the 2020 Dramione RomCom Fest. Loosely based off Sabrina (1954 - with Audrey Hepburn).

Love, Actually in Dramione by Blessedindeed - G, one-shot - I absolutely love the movie "Love, Actually" and was so excited to make some art pieces from a few of the more memorable scenes! Many thanks and kudos to QuinTalon & NuclearNik for hosting and being such amazing encouragers to everyone! I cannot wait to dive into all these fun pieces!!

Love, Hermione by pandora_rose_xo - G, WIP - When Hermione leaves some personal letters lying around in a sleepy haze, Dobby comes across them, and trying to be helpful delivers them to their recipients. Who were never supposed to see them.

Metamorphosis by persephone_stone - T, WIP - Draco Malfoy is king of Hogwarts High—student body president, captain of both the water polo and basketball teams, and boyfriend of Astoria Greengrass, the hottest girl in school. That is, until said girlfriend returns from Spring Break with some unexpected news: she’s dumping him for a college boy. Now, Draco is on a mission to win her back. And who better to help him turn into a more intellectual, cultured version of himself than Hermione Granger, the smartest girl in school? As he and Hermione spend time together, will Draco learn how to be the right type of boyfriend for Astoria? Or will he instead learn that maybe Astoria is not the right type of girl for him? Written for the Dramione RomCom Fest, based on the 90’s teen romcom She’s All That.

Midnight in Paris by Aneiria - E, one-shot - ‘Granger,’ Draco replied, casting a quick wandless charm to clean his own clothes. ‘Want to watch the magic you’re casting next time? Whatever spell that was, it nearly took both of us out.’ Hermione’s face settled into a frown of confusion. ‘I thought that was you,’ she said, hesitantly. ‘I wasn’t using magic.’ They both looked away at the same time, taking in their surroundings. ‘Where are we?’ Hermione wondered out loud, as she spun on the spot and took in the sights. It was the wrong question, really.

My Big Fat Muggle Wedding by BiscuitsForPotter - G, one-shot - Draco's gotten more used to having Muggles as future-in-laws, but what about his parents?

No More Waiting by anchoredto717 - T, one-shot - The end of Hogwarts, an impending Mastery, and confirmation that Hermione is well and truly over Ronald Weasley: three factors that push Draco into a place he never imagined. Is he really going to Harry Potter’s house party? A one shot heavily inspired by the 90s teen classic, Can’t Hardly Wait.

Off the Rails by RoseHarperMaxwell - E, WIP - For the Dramione RomCom Fest 💚 My adaptation of the movie Trainwreck (Amy Schumer/Bill Hader), featuring Draco in Amy's role. “Pans.” Draco’s head falls back petulantly. “I can't interview Granger, especially not about how she's healing Potter. Neither of them are going to want to talk to me. Make Creevey do it.” “No, you'll do it. And don't sulk at me, Draco.” Pansy shuts him down immediately, not that he expected to talk her out of it. She gives assignments, not suggestions. “Old Quidditch rivalries. Gryffindor Princess confiding in the Prince of Slytherin, with a side of The Boy Who Lived. You’re the only one for it.” She drops her pen on her notepad with finality. “She’s also fit as hell now. I’d even fuck her, so our readers will be drooling over her. This is easy, Draco. Don’t fuck it up.”

One Thing We've Got by IrisCalasse - M, WIP - Over a decade after the Second Wizarding War, Draco Malfoy is a broke socialite straddling the Muggle and magical worlds. One day a new neighbour moves in his residential complex. What has happened to Hermione Granger to make her hide from Ronald Weasley? If Cormac McLaggen is gay, why is he hanging around Granger so much? And why does her cat seem to know way too much about everything? Based on the plot of Breakfast at Tiffany's, but set in 2012 London with a magical twist. Updates every 16th of the month.

Pin down your heart by hiyas - G, one-shot - Hermione Granger contemplates a door when Destiny comes knocking.

Playing Cupid by tygermine - T, one-shot - Set It Up AU.

Pretty Witch by TakingFlight48 - E, WIP - When confronted with the opportunity to take on an alter ego - Hermione Granger, Potion's Mistress and the Wizarding World's Golden Girl became Vivian Roberts - London's weekend escort. For three years she lived in this duality until Draco Malfoy, lost in Soho and driving a precious DB6, wound up uncovering her secret. This is the tale of Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy finding a balance between work and love through the guise of fake dating, unacknowledged feelings, and Hermione not wanting to let go of a part of herself that is no longer serving her.

Promises, Promises by Musyc - T, one-shot - Lawyer and social work advocate Hermione Granger is one signature away from fulfilling her dream to have a house-elf education program. All she needs is to seal the deal, and Draco Malfoy has promised the full support of Malfoy and Son Developments. But the owner of the property is balking, there's a new buyer in the mix, and a promise isn't a contract.

The Proposal by FaeOrabel - M, WIP - When Head of Creatures Division of the DMLE, Hermione Granger, is pushed into a corner regarding a new marriage law she doesn't want to comply with, she gets the brilliant idea to stage an engagement with her long time, loyal assistant, Draco Malfoy. Draco goes along with the charade on the condition she gets him promoted to a new position. A deal set, they prepare to fool not only the Minister of Magic, but Hermione's best friend, and Draco's entire family. What could go wrong? Just the threat of Azkaban should they fail.

PS I love you by emotionalsupporthufflepuff - M, WIP - After a tragic accident, Hermione must reintroduce Draco to a life they've built far away from home. She recieves unexpected help in a series of letter written by Draco himself before the accident...

Regrets Only by nztina - T, WIP - Draco and Hermione are the best of friends - until Hermione goes off to teach at Hogwarts and Draco realises that he doesn’t just miss her. Upon her return to London, he intends to reveal his feelings, but she has a surprise of her own, one that will definitely put a damper on Draco’s plans. Draco. Hermione. And...Hermione’s fiancé?

Restless in Ripon by QuinTalon - T, WIP - Scorpius Malfoy wants his father to be happy again and as his grandfather often told him, a Malfoy always gets what he wants. A nosy radio host, well-meaning friends, and fate will help bring two lonely souls together. Well, that and one tenacious eight-year-old.

Rushing Back by floorcoaster - M, WIP - Draco Malfoy is thirty, surviving, and very much not thriving. He's near the utter end of himself when he experiences the worst of all possible bad days--a double betrayal that rocks him to his core. Unmoored, untethered, he winds up in a strange place, where he begins an adventure through time that will change the course of his life. A time travel fic with a twist on the movie "13 Going on 30."

Say Anything by MidnightValkyrie - G, 9 Chapters - To know Draco Malfoy is to love him. Hermione Granger is about to know Draco Malfoy. Written and created for the Dramione RomCom Fest, based on Say Anything.

She's the Snake by monsterleadmehome - E, WIP - In a universe where Voldemort never came back, Harry lives with Sirius, and Dumbledore isn't dying, the worst thing the Golden Trio has to contend with is their grades and Quidditch matches... oh, and the recent magical attacks on Muggles and Muggle-borns. Harry is sure Malfoy had something to do with it, and though Hermione doesn't agree, her sarcastic offer somehow turns into her latest nightmare: to go undercover as a boy in the Slytherin dorms and find out what's really going on. And maybe throw a Quidditch game or two. But there's one thing she hasn't prepared for: falling in love with the boy she's supposed to be spying on.

Signed and Sealed by niffizzle - M, WIP - She owns a children's bookstore. He runs a corporation buying significant shares of small businesses. Never in their lives have Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy gotten along — or so they think.

Timing is Everything by anne_ammons - M, 7 Chapters - Draco Malfoy is your average bachelor living an average bachelor's life, until he crosses paths with his former classmate, Hermione Granger. Strike that - when has Draco Malfoy ever been average? A retelling of the 1994 movie, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Dramione-style.

A Trip to Kouloura Beach by rennaissance_woman - one-shot - A day at the beach, what could happen?

The Truth About Kneazles and Crups by samkablam7 - T, WIP - When Draco Malfoy started hosting his wizarding radio show The Truth About Kneazles and Crups, he had no idea that it would bring Hermione Granger back into his life. He also didn't know that they would both be interested in each other. The only problem? She thinks that the radio host she's interested in is his best friend and Pro-Quidditch-player-wannabe, Blaise Zabini.

Untitled Marital Crisis Comedy by Darlingheart - G, one-shot - Draco is rich, handsome, and most importantly, excellent with the ladies. Harry Potter is not. Which is where Draco comes in. With Draco’s help Harry will learn there’s more to life than being a one-woman man. But what happens when Draco meets someone who changes his mind? And what does Hermione Granger have to do with it...

A Woman of Some Dignity by mcal - G, one-shot - That seemed to get his attention. “What are you—of course I respect you, you daft witch!”

“Your actions today show the opposite!” I answered. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a woman of some dignity and I’d like to shower in peace. You’ll kindly wait half an hour before Apparating back to my flat.”  Hermione's not one for diaries, but it's been a week to say the least. It all started off with a confusing meeting with Draco Malfoy in her office, and... well, Hermione thought maybe recording her thoughts on the events would help her process. She isn't wrong.

You lost and lonely, You just like heaven by Wake_The_Dragon - T, WIP - Dramione Romcom Fest. Hermione Granger had needed something new and a change of scenery was a good start. What she hadn't counted on was renting a flat with an annoying (if handsome) ghost, who claims he isn't dead. Somehow, helping out a ghost and falling in love were two things she hadn't bargained for.

You Wish by Talonwillow (Ehollis303) - T, WIP - What makes a bad case of "Black Cat Flu" more tolerable? Young Perseus is learning that hearing about dueling, torture, revenge, giants, dementors, chases, true love, and miracles from his Grandfather Scorpius certainly makes things easier- If the man would finish the story that is. A story about love, where not even death can keep the beautiful feisty stable-girl and her sometimes irritating one true love apart. Together they must battle the evil Lord Voldemort through an adventure crossing the magical and fairy tale realm.

#Fests/Exchanges/Challenges #dramione #Dramione RomCom Fest #humour #fluff #based on other book or movie plot

[iregretallmydecisions]

well, I rewatched a few episodes of leverage and am now forced to consider a leverage inspired criminal AU for SBI. This isn’t meant to be taken as a direct 1-1 ratio to leverage, especially when considering character relationships and personalities but the found family in that show is just *chef’s kiss*. As always, based off of rp characters and no shipping! So here we go 

Philza is the mastermind. Unassuming, forgettable in appearance, and far smarter than he appears, he is a brillinat master mind. He once worked on the side of the law but now plays a different game. He has a knack for getting into people’s heads in ways they don’t expect. 

Wilbur is  the grifter. He has a silver tongue,a sharp mind, and can seamlessly slip in and out of his character. Wilbur is far more in tune with his emotions than anyone else. He was also chased by Phil in the last few years Phil worked for the law, and have certainly played cat and mouse. Wilbur isn’t quite a mastermind, but he has an intimate understanding of what makes people trust him.  

Technoblade is the hitter. He is deadly with his fists, has played the scene for years, though his name is nothing more than a boogeyman in many circles. Phil chased him early on in his career. No one is certian exactly how old ‘the blade’ is, but he appears to be only a few years older than Wilbur, despite playing the field for over a decade. 

Tommy is the hacker. He is loud, has a problem with authority, and his self preservation skills are minimal at best. He always overcommits to his bits and grifts but is terrifying behind a keyboard

Tubbo is the thief. He appears small, unassuming, and harmless, but will rob you blind with an innocent smile on his face. He doesn’t quite understand human interaction all that well, and has even less self preservation than Tommy. He also has a scary fascination with weapons.

At some point they open a restaurant, because that is one of my favorite leverage plot points, and Ranboo is Amy, in that he is a normal worker, who nearly gets kidnapped. He then become a crime apprentice and is a pretty good thief.

I’m open to suggestions on character roles here because this is literally me just pouring brainrot onto paper. Well. Text post I suppose. Please ask me about this AU bc it’s living rent free in my head right now

#sbi #leverage #dsmp #crime family #found family #please I have brainrot ask me about this

[wizzardhat]

alright im reading/rereading all discworld books in (approximate) order. Because only some of them are available through audible I'm kind of alternating between two at a time because the ones that aren't on audible I have to listen to on my computer, which is how I managed to finish Mort before The Light Fantastic. I'm still calling it "in order" though because i make my own rules and i am a god of my own making

rambling below cut

So far I've (finally) finished The Colour Of Magic (probably my 4th or 5th attempt lmao), re-read Equal Rite & Mort, and now I'm alternating between Wyrd Sisters & The Light Fantastic--very close to finishing the latter so I'll be on to Sourcery soon, which I'm hype about bc I've been told this was the Book Terry recommended people start with.

To me the issue with TCOM is Terry hadn't quite nailed down how to really bring his characters to life just yet--I can already tell that TLF is kind of bending in the right direction but as early as Equal Rites that spark is totally there. I have a feeling that that's the main reason why I found it hard to feel invested in Rincewind so I'm excited for Sourcery, since it'll be the first novel focused on him after we get over the hump. Also his cameo in Mort definitely hit different when I actually had enough context to appreciate it.

I completely forgot how much i loved Mort. I remembered enjoying it a lot but I forgot how genuinely cute Ysabell & Mort are and also absolutely ICONIC Death lines such as CURRY TIME! and I AM SADNESS which annihilate me every single time without fail. Also I'm weak and Mort's "don't leave me" after he breaks out of the Death Trance has been Living In My Head Rent Free as the cool kids on Twitter love to say. I have not felt an urge to draw sappy fanart in probably a full decade but I am feeling it rn.

AND THEN THERE'S

GRANNY

WHOMST I LOVE

Granny is really like...not my comfort character in the sense that people usually use now. Comfort characters generally leave you feeling as though you've visited with an old friend, but one who is approximately your equal and therefore someone you relate to heavily. Granny leaves me feeling as though finally I've had a chance to talk to someone who I actually believe knows what they're talking about, has it all figured out, and who I genuinely aspire to be more like, and I feel better for it, and more equipped to deal with life. Like, when I Need An Adult, I wanna read a book with Granny in it. Genuine role model material, even with her many imperfections. PTerry's ability to write interesting, flawed, loveable women is always wonderful and refreshing, but what I love most about Granny is that she is badass and unfeminine and powerful and nothing about her revolves in any way about her attractiveness nor any romantic arc. Arguably peak ace and possibly aro rep. Someone who is respected, and admired, and fails to meet any expectation that women are usually held to. Everything is on her terms. And she is just...incredible and i love her so much.

I think that's it for now. I actually had to throw this in drafts last night and I finished TLF this morning and I'm about an 8th the way in to Sourcery so, we will see how that goes.

Also this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think the Blue Sky 2-part tv movie about TCOM & TLF is arguably a lot better than the actual books--it cuts out a lot but it captures the right amount of Discworld magic & the adjustments to the characters are a lot easier to get invested in. To be honest I watched it before I finished Sourcery, so I was surprised that while the movie made a small effort to show Twoflower & Rincewind becoming friends, and their goodbye was warm and felt appropriately awkward but bittersweet, the book was just straight up awkward. And to be honest I miss the little guy and I'm sad he won't pop up until way down the line in Interesting Times.

#discworld #terry pratchett #discworld reread 2k21 lets go #mutuals who love discworld please interact #or who don't love discworld #or who aren't mutuals #who may become mutuals in fact #wink

[tirednotflirting]

happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time

a day late on getting this here but!!! some bday jalex i wrote for @reveriesofawriter​‘s bday! sticking to our all taylor is jalex brand, it’s a 22 fic :) 

kinda fits within the marble mansion wus writing universe that my pretty venom fic is in if you want more of these boys (they’re quite sweet i think)

here this is on ao3 if that’s more ur jam x

Alex is a planner. 

Early on, being a frontman meant he was the first person anyone trying to coordinate band things reached out to, and as time went on, he embraced the role. He likes organizing and keeping track of the who and when and where of it all. He likes the sticky notes and his planner and the dry-erase board he keeps on his fridge for lists. He likes knowing what is coming next.

Alex never meant to fall in love with his best friend. He never planned on Jack.

They’ve reached the point where they should probably have an adult conversation about whatever it is that’s going on between them. Honestly they probably reached that point half a decade ago, but Alex knows neither of them was ready for it then. He wonders if they’re really both ready now. He knows he is. But it scares him a little to think about what happens if the other involved party isn’t.

That conversation and what it might sound like is what Alex is thinking about as he watches the end of the sunset over the desert from the edge of the pool at the house they’re renting. He lets a wine glass dangle from his fingers, the last few sips of his pink wine swirling around the bottom. His feet slowly swing in the warm water to avoid splashing over the edge. For someone whose job it is to come up with words for feelings, he finds himself struggling with where to even begin. He wonders if that should feel significant.

He’s draining the last of his wine when he hears the back door slide open and feet pad over the stone in his direction. Just as he’s about to question who’s come to join him, the visitor sits behind him and legs drop to frame his body. Alex leans back into Jack’s chest and breathes in the scent of his cologne mixing with the nighttime air. Jack’s arms wrap around Alex and the mess of thoughts trying to piece together the conversation to be had word by word fades off to the back of Alex’s mind.

“What are you doing out here?” Jack asks, his lips brushing against Alex’s neck. Probably against his tattoo. Jack’s always particularly fond of pressing his lips there.

“Just finishing my wine,” Alex says, and lifts the empty glass as evidence. “Wanted to watch the sunset, too. Don’t think I’m ever going to want to say goodbye to this view.”

“You should get a house out here someday,” Jack says as he rocks them back and forth a little. Alex leans further into his chest. “This place has your vibes and the stars look really sick out here.”

Alex smiles at Jack thinking of his astronomy habits. “I like the way you think,” he agrees before turning to stand. “Is it time we go in and join the pregame?” 

Jack lifts a hand to be helped up and elects to keep holding Alex’s hand as they head in the direction of the door. “Why do you think I came out to find you?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex says as they approach the door, a blush painting across his cheeks. “Was just a little bit stuck in my head, trying to figure something out. Didn’t mean to leave the birthday boy waiting.”

Jack smiles and drops Alex’s hand before he reaches for the door handle. They’re in the desert in June, but Alex immediately misses the warmth. The two of them so easily gravitate physically toward one another when they’re together but they don’t hold hands in group settings. The way Alex wishes they did starts the spiral of words again. “Let me know if you need any help figuring whatever it is out?” Jack says as a worried look takes over his features.

Alex never wants to worry him, so he drops a hand to Jack’s back to guide him inside. He lets his answer to Jack’s question mix into a smile. Others in the living room grab Jack for shots. He shoots Alex a look as a lime is placed between his fingers; Alex points in the direction of the stairs and mouths need to change as he heads off. A smaller smile pulls at Jack’s lips as he nods and turns the rest of the group whining for him to join in. 

Alex takes a deep breath before making his way out of the room and only lifts his brows to acknowledge the knowing look from Rian as he climbs the stairs.

*

The club is loud. Alex isn’t sure why he always expects them not to be, but the sounds in his environment accompanied by the buzzing in his mind is almost overwhelming. 

He’s just grabbed another drink and when he gets back to the table their group has claimed for the night, Jack is sitting on the tabletop, his legs swinging as he talks to a couple of girls. Alex smirks as he watches Jack lift up the birthday sash someone had shown up with for him before they left the house (it’s pink and says I’m 21 Today! in sequins). The girls laugh before they wave and disappear into the crowd. Jack turns and his eyes brighten when they fall to Alex.

He scoots closer to where Alex sits and leans in. “What’s that?” he asks, pointing at the cup Alex has just come back with. 

Alex raises the drink in front of his face and frowns as his tipsy mind forgets whatever the drink was called. “Uh, pink?”

“Lemme try,” Jack says and plucks the cup from between Alex’s fingers. Alex hadn’t planned to argue with the request but he can practically hear Jack’s voice reciting the statement Alex has heard probably hundreds of times over the years: You can’t say no during birthweek.

Jack takes a sip and then leaves the cup beside him on the table. He nods thoughtfully for a moment before leaning back in so Alex can hear him. “You’re right, it tastes very pink.”

Alex laughs but before he can respond Jack is moving to sink into the seat beside him and his head drops to Alex’s shoulder. “Are clubs busier than they used to be? Feel like I can’t breathe in here,” he whines. Alex agrees, though he was ready to just blame it on their age. “Where are Rian and Zack?”

“They were talking to some girls at the bar, I think,” Alex explains. “Rian told one of them he’s a drummer and she basically melted, it was hilarious.”

“You think anyone in here has even heard an All Time Low song before?” Jack asks, his tone indicating he’s reached the kind of happy drunk where every thought that comes to mind has to leave his lips. 

“Maybe ‘Dear Maria’?” Alex offers as he drops his arm to rest against Jack’s back. His fingers trace lazy patterns against the soft fabric of his t-shirt. Jack hums but he doesn’t sound convinced.

Jack nuzzles his face into Alex’s neck and Alex hears him sigh. “Hey Alex?”

“Yeah?” Alex replies while his eyes track one of the bright lights circling around the room over the crowd on a dance floor.

Jack lifts his head up and throws Alex big brown puppy eyes. He can tell Jack’s about to ask him something and before he’s even heard the question he already knows his answer will be yes. He’s never been able to say no to Jack. 

“Can we leave?”

Alex laughs. “Thought birthweek had no time for quitters?” he jokingly asks, recalling something Jack yelled across the room at Zack when he tried turning down shots the night before.

“Please?” Jack asks. “It’s loud and I want a snack.”

“Anything for the birthday boy,” Alex replies with a nod. Jack smiles again at the response. “Thought I saw a diner down the road. Late night breakfast?”

“God, you’re the best.”

Jack slides out of the booth as Alex reaches for the jacket he shed shortly after they arrived. While they head toward the doors that lead out to the street, Alex sends a message to the group text (The BoyDay Boys) to let the crew know they’re headed off.

The nighttime air is cool when they step out onto the street. Alex can’t remember which direction they’re meant to head so he pauses once they’re out of the way of the entrance to the club and pulls out his phone again to figure out where they’re going. 

Another cool breeze blows down the street and Jack leans in closer to Alex’s side in response. It’s a frequent habit of his, the way he’s always trying to share Alex’s warmth. If Alex were a little more tipsy he probably would just wrap his arms around Jack’s waist as he leads them in the direction of the diner he’s successfully located. But he’s a little bit too self-aware for that at the moment so he elects to let Jack continue to lean into his side as they head down the street. 

They pass couples walking in the opposite direction, their fingers tangled or lips pressing together without a care in the world. Alex finds he feels something in the realm of jealousy, though he’s not sure that’s the right thing to call it. Loneliness, maybe? He knows he should just say something, just see if there’s any chance at all that Jack feels the same way about figuring out what the hell they are. But it’s been so easy to just teeter the line of something for as long as they have. Alex doesn’t want to scare him away by considering the idea of throwing a label on it. Every time he explains it to Rian like that when he asks, Alex is told he’s being ridiculous and have you seen the way he looks at you, Alex?, but the fear in the back of his mind won’t budge.

The line they tightrope across is confusing, Alex thinks. But even so, he’s not unhappy. Maybe this is just the way they’re meant to be. Confusing but happy. Alex could be okay with that.

It’s a short walk to the diner and Jack chats to Alex most of the way there about some party he went to the previous week. There had been a petting zoo for some unknown reason. Alex listens to Jack describe the animals he got to pet and the kitten that tried stealing some of his White Claw. Soon enough they reach the door and push through to inside, a tiny bell jingling over their heads as they enter. 

Someone behind the counter tells them they can seat themselves, that they’ll come find them in a minute for their drink orders. Jack wanders to a booth in the back of the room and Alex follows him. He waits to let Jack pick a side and slides into the one opposite him. A clock on the wall tells Alex it’s just past midnight, meaning Jack’s actual birthday has just finished. The celebrations should continue for another day or two.

A waitress comes to take their drink orders and they ask for a couple waters and a couple coffees and then they’re alone again. Jack squints his eyes down at the menu while Alex glances around the diner, ignoring the butterflies stirring whenever their knees knock together below the table and neither of them make any effort to move. 

The entire scene has waves of nostalgia crashing all around Alex. It’s a pretty regular event during Jack’s birthday celebrations that he and Alex slip away from the rest of the group to catch a moment of something more tranquil during all the crazy of the week-long party. 

It had become something Alex looked forward to every year. Usually when Jack’s birthday fell during a break from touring or between cycles, they would just go for a drive. Jack would find whatever couch or bed Alex had passed out on and pull him from sleep to go watch the sunrise or the sunset (his body clock was always thrown completely off balance during birthweek). 

He’d usually want to go to the beach. Jack would play navigator and call out directions to whichever beach involved the least amount of traffic to get to, in a voice rough both from sleep and from screaming along to Top 40 hits in karaoke bars and clubs around LA. Once there, they would walk all the way out to the water and let little waves splash against their ankles as the sun rose higher and higher or sunk lower and lower. Eventually Jack would smile and nod toward the Pacific and sigh a deep breath of salty air and that would be the cue that he was satisfied with the experience. They usually would end up at a diner like the one they’re at right now, sipping coffee with tired eyes and laughing over pancakes.

It’s probably a two hour drive to the coast from where they currently sit but if Jack had asked to go to the beach, Alex would have gotten him there without a second thought.

Jack moves so their long legs are all tangled together below the table, and it breaks Alex out of the nostalgic place he’d been transported to for a moment. He looks up to meet Jack’s tired, happy gaze. Alex raises his eyebrows in a silent question and a gleeful smile pulls across Jack’s cheeks.

“Do you think they’d put sprinkles in my pancakes if I tell them it’s my birthday?”

That’s when it hits Alex head on, like a dart hitting the bullseye. They walk a tightrope but there’s always been a net to catch them if need be just below their feet the whole time. The look Rian’s been trying to convince him to see for years is staring back from the other side of the booth, and it says everything in the most plain but beautiful way possible. It’s the same smile Jack would give to the Pacific just after the sun had set over the city of stars. Alex breaks into a quiet laugh and wonders if he’s ever not been in love with this sunshine of a boy sitting in front of him.

(They do put sprinkles in the pancakes. Rainbow ones. And add whipped cream and a candle too.)

*

It’s close to 1AM by the time they pay the check and head back out into the early morning desert air. They had enough water and coffee that they’re pretty much sober now. The moon shines bright down onto them as they stand in front of the diner, unsure of where to head next. 

“Want to take a walk?” Alex asks while pointing down a more quiet part of the street in the opposite direction they came from. 

“Sounds nice,” Jack agrees, and motions for Alex to lead the way.

They start down the sidewalk and let the nighttime noises play as their soundtrack for a few minutes. Jack breaks the silence to tell the story of something his mom told him about when he called her a couple days ago and at some point in the middle of the tale, he reaches for Alex’s hand and threads their fingers together so their joined hands swing between them. Alex continues listening as he looks down, and there’s some tiny part of his brain that tries to start making another set of pros and cons lists, but then he shakes the thought away and stops walking. 

Jack glances back with a confused look when he feels the pull on his arm. “What is it, Al?”

Alex lets out a sigh as he looks back and forth between their hands and the look on Jack’s face. The words fall from his lips before he can even process them fully. “Jack, I really like you.”

The look of confusion fades into something more stunned as Jack takes a step closer to him. “What?” he asks in a quiet voice, like he’s worried that speaking too loudly might shatter the moment that Alex’s confession just created.

“I really like you,” Alex says and reaches over to pull Jack in at the waist. “I like you in the want to show you off and kiss you until our friends groan and introduce you as my boyfriend at parties kind of way. I want to hold your hand when we walk back inside after watching the sunset like the cheesy idiots we are.”

For a moment he just watches Jack nod before a smile brighter than the full moon overhead pulls across Jack's face. He lets his arms wrap around Alex's neck and pulls him close enough that their foreheads touch. “I like you, too. So much. I might love you, I think, but that feels like a really big word,” Jack says back, in a voice still just above a whisper. “I could never come up with the words to say that until right now.”

Alex doesn’t realize he’s tearing up until Jack moves to cup Alex’s cheek, his thumb running across his cheekbone just in time to swipe away a tear. “God, we’re stupid. You’d think we of all people would know to just let the words come to us.”

Jack shakes his head and pouts. “Hey, you’re the veteran songwriter here. I'm still new enough to this that I have an excuse.”

“Shut up,” Alex laughs, and then he leans closer to press their lips together. Jack adjusts to cup his hand around Alex's other cheek as Alex's grip on his waist tightens. It’s not even fireworks and confetti like Alex had imagined it would be. They laugh against each other’s lips between kisses and it’s just them. When Alex pulls away and tucks his face into Jack's neck, his lips pressing lazily against the triangles inked into Jack's skin, he feels peace. Holding Jack feels like coming home or a deep breath of the cool ocean air just after sunset. He feels like what Alex always imagined love to feel like. 

*

Somehow they still beat everyone else back to the house. Their giggles echo off the halls as they kick their shoes off before heading up the stairs, one of them stopping the other every so often for another kiss.

They make it up the stairs eventually and Alex drags Jack in the direction of his room. Alex only whines for a moment when Jack pulls away because Well, you want me to brush my teeth, don’t you? When Jack returns Alex is changed and going through his own routine in the bathroom. When he glances out through the open door to the bedroom, Jack has already claimed his side of the bed and is looking at him across the room, a lazy smile pulling across his face.

“What?” Alex asks as he turns off the tap and shuffles over to lean against the doorway.

Jack shrugs. “Nothing.”

“What’s that look for then?” Alex asks. Jack sits facing towards him, his temple resting against the headboard. He’s changed into sweats and a tank Alex is pretty sure was swiped from his own closet. It’s stretched and worn enough that it’s falling off of Jack’s tattooed shoulder. If Alex could pick one image to look at for the rest of his life, this one would certainly be in the running.

“I think I’m just glad we kind of figured this out a bit,” Jack replies. 

“Well, I’m pretty sure if I went another day without saying something, Rian would have threatened to tell you himself and I think we’re just a little bit too old to be having our friends communicate our feelings for us.”

“Yeah, maybe a little bit,” Jack laughs as he slides beneath the sheets. Alex hits the light in the bathroom and pads across the room. He hears the front door open and close downstairs followed by laughter, signalling the rest of their crew has arrived home. As he listens to the quiet conversations happening on the first floor, he crawls into bed and drops his head on the pillow beside where Jack rests with his hand holding up his head. Alex drops an arm around Jack’s waist and pulls him closer.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep when I feel like I’m dreaming,” Alex says while Jack turns to shut the lamp off.

“Alex, I adore you, but that was the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said and your exhaustion is showing,” Jack says with a laugh before pressing his lips to Alex’s temple. “I’ll still be right here in the morning.”

“Will you remind me of all of the cheesy things I said tonight?”

“For as long as you’ll let me,” Jack replies. He drops his head against the pillow and smiles up at Alex.

“I’m holding you to that,” Alex says. He presses a kiss to the tattoos on Jack’s shoulder he’d been admiring from the doorway before moving to settle his head against his chest. 

As he lets his tired eyes fall shut while settling against Jack, Alex is surprised that the swirling mix of words in his head he’s become accustomed to isn’t there. He’s used to his mind still trying desperately to plan out whatever needs to come next even as he falls asleep. But as Jack tucks an arm around his waist and drifts closer to sleep, Alex decides maybe he’s alright with not knowing what comes next so long as they stay like this.

*

#jalex #jalex fic #atl fic #fun fact i had a whole crisis over whether or not to allow this to fit into this universe at first #bc they def were not in the desert yet during jack's bday in 2019 #but then i thought this would be fun so we ignored that sdklfjsldf

[felicia-cat-hardy]

My 'Pretty Little Liars' Obsession Led Me To My Best Friend

“Got a secret, can you keep it?” Well, I’ve got one: Though Pretty Little Liars ended in 2017, the seven-season mystery thriller schemed its way into being an integral part of my life for the long haul, so much so that the opening credits live in my head rent-free. To this day, each time I hear the sinister theme song — “Secret” by The Pierces — I’m brought right back to my childhood comfort show (ahem, obsession). The visuals begin with a swipe of mascara, the smear of red lipstick, and a clasp of a heel onto a porcelain doll, which makes me feel like I’m watching someone get pampered for prom. Until, of course, it cuts to four girls standing in front of a casket. It's a chilling moment, one that, until Season 6B, ended with Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) delivering her iconic “shh.” I got cast under the show’s spell the first time I saw it, and I wasn’t the only one: Pretty Little Liars led me to my best friend.

Ironically, plotlines about deceit and betrayal actually helped ignite a long-lasting friendship. In 2011, the only other person I knew to be watching PLL was my now-BFF, Taylor, who’s been by my side for over a decade. We were only about 11 and 12 when it premiered, so shout out to our parents for letting us watch a show that dealt with very adult themes like substance use disorder, assault, and grief. Unlike our classmates, who watched tween-appropriate hits like iCarly and Victorious, we became PLL stans.

As fans know, the show is loosely based on the Sara Shepard YA series of the same name, and the first book was my entry point into the PLL universe. I loved reading about blackmailers and murderers navigating high school, but I thought I was the only one who was into it. (Was this my ~I’m different~ complex showing, or were my peers just naturally more inclined to recap Dance Moms? I’ll never know.) So, Taylor first struck up a conversation with me at school because she spotted the first PLL book on my desk — you know, the one painted with porcelain wax dolls warning to “never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret” in a Gothic script. She asked if I’d watched the TV adaptation yet and we immediately exchanged phone numbers to text about upcoming episodes. We then fell into the fandom. Fast.

I’d never talked to Taylor before this interaction — we had only been in a few classes together — but I always saw her as approachable and friendly. Universally, the beginning of middle school is a big and terrifying year when kids from different elementary schools unite. Eager to meet new people, I reached for friendship at any chance I could get. Taylor made it easy. Aside from being a genuinely kind person (a rare trait for a middle schooler!), she was fangirling over the same thing as me.

Fast forward over a decade later, and the show still feels timeless, especially in its accurate depictions of how dramatic high school can get. It’s no surprise there’s a PLL HBO Max reboot on the way along with the remakes of other buzzy shows from that era (hello, 2010s nostalgia). Ah. It was a simpler time. Back then, Freeform was still ABC Family and for me, Tuesdays meant one thing: PLL is on. What first started as a solo viewing experience soon became a designated hangout time, a time slot reserved for me and Taylor to gush over how much we loved Ashley Benson. (We still do!)

The series had a vibe similar to Gossip Girl or Bridgerton in that a mysterious, unidentifiable pot-stirrer keeps fans guessing each episode, but it was arguably so much better since “A,” the anonymous villain, is out for, you know, murder. Ultimately, it was the type of whodunit that made me and Taylor (and millions of viewers) go down a couple of Reddit rabbit holes — remember the “Aria is A” suspicion? — and this is where my and Taylor’s experience with fan theories began.

Oh, and let’s not forget the location. PLL takes place in the fictional suburb of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, and for two girls from Bucks Country — aka the Philadelphia ‘burbs — we ate it up. The beloved “Welcome to the Dollhouse” episode was exceptionally creepy not only because the Liars get locked into a life-size replica of their bedrooms, but also because our real neighborhood looks extremely similar to their hometown. It operates like Rosewood, too, in that small-town gossip travels at lightning speed.

The Pennsylvania-based plotline also made it easier for us to identify with the characters, who felt like extensions of ourselves. In many ways, we got to know each other through their personalities. Taylor is studious and high-achieving, obviously a Spencer. And I owned feather earrings because I saw Lucy Hale sport them in Season 1, so obviously an Aria. Asking “Are you more of a Hanna or an Emily?” held as much weight in 2012 as asking someone their rising sign in 2021. While it might not say much, it also tells you everything you need to know about a person.

PLL got its start right before live-tweeting shows became popularized, so when we weren’t together, I used to text Taylor on my slide-out keyboard phone (only Zillennials will remember) to compare notes without stumbling upon many spoilers. They read something like this: “Caleb and Hanna are soul mates, TBH.” Like every other fan, we theorized about why A had to be Ian… and Melissa… and Jenna… and Mona… and, you get the point. When our elaborate speculations ran cold, we’d pause DVR’d episodes to gather more clues, like glimpses of Red Coat’s face in her second season introduction, or inspections of those eerie-gloved hands assembling dolls and sharpening knives at the end of each episode.

This game of Clue made room for conversations about all the things. We were in high school during the show’s peak, so it felt like the Liars had laid the groundwork for how to operate our school’s halls. Rosewood High was not traditional — uh, multiple students came back from the dead (*cough* Mona and Alison) — but it did prepare us for the stressors of college applications and first romantic relationships. In fact, Benson’s Hanna Marin would be proud of my matchmaking skills because back then, I introduced Taylor to the boyfriend she’s still with today.

As we both grew up with the show, our friendship got even deeper. The Liars weren’t the only ones to share secrets, and I found it incredibly easy to confide in Taylor. She’s trustworthy, level-headed, compassionate, and an excellent listener. She’s someone I know will always pick up on the second ring and is the type of friend to be there with advice, reassurance, and a quick-witted one-liner. She once joked about never needing a diary because we’ve transcribed the past 10 years of our lives via text.

Our bond has remained strong, especially because the most outrageous PLL-esque plotlines of our lives are ones we’ve experienced together. I love Taylor because I don’t have to provide background for my stories. I’m even so familiar with the cast of characters in her life that when someone re-enters after a long period, I like to say they Alison DiLaurentis’ed her.

And on the off-chance she’s not there to witness something meaningful happen to me IRL, she’s always ready to decipher what went down over texts or dinner and drinks — just like we did when we were teens trying to figure out who A was (minus the wine, of course).

The way she can reconstruct my way of thinking and offer up a perspective I hadn’t seen before is almost paranormal. Whether these are Taylor’s naturally given talents or traits learned from peeling back all the layers of the series, I’m not sure. But she’s always there to decode situations with me — whether they relate to a TV show or during moments when I feel lost.

I couldn’t be more thankful that Taylor entered my life and that PLL played a role in our friendship. I feel so incredibly lucky to know someone like her. Plus, now I have someone who is obligated to watch the reboot with me. Ali was right: Friends do share secrets. And she’s ~quite literally~ the reason Taylor’s got all of mine. Spencer and Aria, you’ve got some competition.

Get Relationship Advice Here

[coll2mitts]

#77 Grease (1978)

Slick your hair back and grab your team jacket, we’re hand-jiving our way through Grease, a movie about bunch of hot, self-motivated ladies with their whole futures ahead of them settling for a bunch of schmucks.

Grease is a strange experience to relive as an adult, because it was (as I suspect with a lot of people) ever-present in my childhood, and I didn’t understand the great majority of references then.  This movie was intended as an 8th birthday present from my mother; I came home from school one day and the VHS was sitting on our kitchen countertop unwrapped.  I didn’t recognize it, so when I asked my mom what it was, she feigned confusion for about 10 seconds before she gave up and said, “I bought it for your birthday, I guess you get it early now.”  She promised me I’d like it when I popped it into the VHS player, and she wasn’t wrong.  I hadn’t watched this movie in over a decade and I still could recite the majority of the dialogue.

While this movie is a toned down significantly from the stage show, it is still fairly raunchy in parts.  What is kind of hilarious to me is Grease’s gradual shift in categorization over time as a “kids musical”.  In 5th grade, my sister played Sandy in her elementary school’s production of it.  I asked if she remembered any of the lines they changed to keep things “appropriate” (the Kidz Bopification, if you will) and she responded, “No, I just thought it was weird I had to go out and buy a sexy outfit.”  Conversely, my 5th grade play was about the history of America and I dressed up like Martha Washington.  I’ll never forget the 50 Nifty United States from 13 original colonies... SHOUT ‘em, SCOUT ‘em, TELL all about 'em, ONE BY ONE till we’ve given a day to every state in the U-S-A.  AL-A-bama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, CON-NE-TI-CUT...

Anyway, do I think it’s weird that a movie about a bunch of horny teenagers has become Baby’s First Adult Musical?  Sorta.  Not really.  I mean, the dudes act like children for the majority of this, so I’m not surprised, at least.  It had, for sure, turned me off from wanting to date high school dudes when I was in high school.  The high school girls, however... we’ll get there.

It’s the first day of school, and the oldest high school seniors I’ve ever seen are poised to take on their last year at Rydell High.  The “T” Birds and their very uncool matching jackets are reunited after a summer apart and their super-senior leader Kenickie, played by the late Jeff Conaway, regales the tale of lugging boxes to earn money for a sweet ride, which you could feasibly do back in the 1950s.  Danny, played by John Travolta, spent his summer getting action at the beach, which he eloquently describes as “flippin’”.  

Frenchy and her new neighbor Sandy rendezvous with the Pink Ladies, who have very cool matching jackets and the unabashed confidence to go with them.  Stockard Channing, who plays Rizzo, is turned off by Sandy’s pure, seemingly holier-than-thou persona, and is dismayed when Sandy starts to describe her sickly sweet summer romance.  Her interest is only piqued when Sandy mentions her hunky date was notorious playboy and Rizzo’s ex, Danny Zuko.  

Sidenote: When I was a child, I thought Sonny asked if her “jugs were bigger than her nets”.  I asked my mother what “nets” were, since I surmised that jugs meant breasts, and she didn’t know, which I thought was weird.  It wasn’t until THIS MOMENT that I realized he was asking if her jugs were bigger than Annette’s.  Who the fuck is Annette?  Like the Mickey Mouseketeer Annette?!  Rizzo sings about her later and I’m just like.. this revelation has lead to more questions than answers.

Rizzo hatches a plan to call Danny out on his shit and reunite Sandy with Danny at the school pep rally, as they know her boyfriend is an asshat.  He predictably reacts maturely; Not wanting to admit his previous story of getting fresh with some cute Australian girl down in the sand was somewhat hyperbolic, he plays it off like he doesn’t give a shit about her, reducing Sandy to tears.  Frenchy comforts Sandy like the supportive queen that she is and invites her to join the Pink Ladies at a sleepover.

Honestly, a Pink Ladies sleepover looks lit as fuck.  As a kid (and now, tbh) I was Jan, I wanted to be Marty, I wanted to fuck Rizzo, and I wanted Frenchy as my best friend.  I would totally be down to drink champagne, eat Twinkies and mutilate our body parts with needles.  Sandy is a bit of a late bloomer and reacts to these series of events by puking.  Rizzo decides to be a bit of a slag and make fun of Sandy for being an inexperienced virgin before shimming down a drainpipe to get laid by some jerk with a shitty car and a 6-year-old condom.

Sandy, whose night has done nothing to alleviate her heartbreak, sings a song about being in love with a coward.  Part of the deal Oliva Newton-John signed to be cast in this movie specified she have her own solo number, so “Hopelessly Devoted” was written and filmed after the rest of the movie had been completed.  This feel pretty obvious, since it gives off a very strong 1970s pop Best Original Song vibe.  When I was a kid, I used this song as a break to use the bathroom or grab a snack, but as an adult I find myself humming it every so often.

Speaking of contract-obligated solos, we’re treated to a Travolta-led “Greased Lightning”, which I always thought was weird, cause like, who is going to sing a song about their friend getting tit in their sweet car?  Jeff Conaway played Danny on Broadway, he deserved better...  Also, I’m CONVINCED this song got the Pop-Up Video treatment, but couldn’t find it online anywhere.  Otherwise, how the hell else would the fact that they thought John Travolta putting the saran wrap on his crotch was too racy live rent free in my head for like 20 years?

After encountering Sandy on a date with a jock, Danny decides he’s going to join a sports team to prove to her he can be a motivated team player.  Instead, he just physically assaults several members of his school, but it’s fine because he’s wearing a uniform when he does it.  This is enough to impress Sandy, as she accepts Danny’s invitation to the school dance.

The other gang members are going through their own drama, as Rizzo is sick of giving it up to Kenickie without receiving a modicum of respect.  

“A hickey from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card.  When you care enough to send the very best.”

Danny regresses and continues to act like a shithead to Sandy in front of her friends.

“I don’t like tea.” “You don’t have to drink tea!” “Well, I don’t like parents.”

Jan and Putzie begin an innocent and adorable romance, which proves it’s possible to start off a relationship with mutual respect, even if your friends make fun of you for it.

“I also think there’s more to you than just fat.” “...Thanks.”

I love this scene, there’s so many good lines.

Frenchy, who had dropped out of Rydell to pursue a career in cosmetology, is also in crisis as her stint in beauty school went very poorly.  After hours, she somehow hallucinates Frankie Avalon advising her to get her high school degree.

As a child, I was so proud of myself when I realized all these women played other roles in the movie, as if facial recognition was an important skill.

The day of the big dance finally arrives, as National Bandstand comes to Rydell High with roofie-wielding predator and television host Vince Fontaine.  Rizzo arrives with the leader of the rival gang, while Kenickie has his best girl, Cha Cha, as his date, because they are both very well-adjusted teenagers that know how to work through conflict by communicating and not using desperate attempts to make each other jealous.  Danny and Sandy are cutting up a rug until Sonny attempts to physically assault Sandy, and Danny just lets it happen because another one of his exes, Cha Cha, starts to dance with him while Sandy is rebuffing Sonny’s advances.  Cha Cha and Danny subsequently win the contest.  Honestly, this is so fucked up, I would have dropped Danny after this lapse of good judgement.

But no, Sandy still allows him to take her on a date to the drive-in, and it’s not until he elbows her in the boob and then tries to cop a feel in front of everybody that she finally blows him off.  Then he has the absolute gall to act emo about it because he’s afraid people will think he’s a loser.  Jesus Christ.

Kenickie is also hurting, as he discovers that Rizzo is pregnant and she doesn’t want anything to do with him, regardless of what being an unwed mother will do to her reputation.  He decides to process these emotions by racing Greased Lighting for pink slips, as he likes to live his life a quarter mile at a time.  Unfortunately, Danny steals Kenickie’s thunder (road) yet again, as he’s forced to take his place in the race because of a car door-related closed head injury.  Sandy is impressed by Danny’s driving skillz and decides to sex herself up for an unreliable and emotionally manipulative teenager.  Danny has a similar inclination and decides to put on a nice sweater to win Sandy back, which is something, I guess.  They declare they’re the one each other needs, oh yes indeed.

The school year ends, and all the boys end up paired with the girls.  Rizzo finds out she’s not pregnant and reunites with Kenickie?!  Marty ends up with Sonny even though he’s a handsy creep.  Danny and Sandy are just an mess with incompatible expectations of each other.  But at least Jan and Putzie and Frenchy and Doodie are fairly inoffensive.  The end.

This movie is great, even all these years later.  The entire cast is fantastic, even those with smaller bit parts.  I was *living* for the school staff, Principal McGee and Coach Calhoun especially.  Grease also jump started my lifelong love for Stockard Channing.  She’s great in The West Wing, but her part as Sister Husband in Where the Heart Is may be my favorite performance of hers.  I’ve watched that movie so many times I can’t even call it a guilty pleasure, I love it so much.

Olivia Newton-John wasn’t even sure she wanted to be in this movie and requested a screen test so she could see if she was good at acting.  John Travolta was enamored with her and helped convince Olivia she was perfect for the part, and he wasn’t wrong.  She gives such a strong performance as Sandy; I bought her transformation from clean-cut cinnamon roll to sexpot completely.  John Travolta was also unbelievably charming as Danny, and I found myself giggling at his line deliveries constantly.

The songs are also unbelievably catchy (albeit somewhat annoying after you’ve heard them 700 times).  Barry Gibb, my favorite Pras-adjacent composer, wrote the theme for the movie and it just bops so hard.  As a well-documented detractor of Doo Wop music, there’s not a whole lot else here for me, but that’s not going to blind me to the excellence of this soundtrack.  There is a reason this movie is revered as much as it is.  10/10, fun for the whole family, as long as the kids don’t understand the references.

#100 best musical movies of all time rotten tomatoes #unwarranted opinion #grease

[thirdwars]

i will not apologise for choosing myself// a self para.

Featuring: Danielle Goyle. Mentions: Gregory and Cyrus Goyle, Z Diggory. Trigger warnings: abuse, gaslighting.

 When Gregory Goyle looks at his daughter’s ambition, he’s scared of it. Of course, it was part of the plan: give her drive, something to work towards, something to bring honour to the family name. But where his ambition remains surface leveled, simple, that of hers seems to be bigger than this family. Than him. A betrayal on its own, if you ask him.

And so, when he walks into her bedroom and sees her folding up clothes and sorting belongings, something hitches in his throat. “What are you doing?”

Dani freezes, hands in mid-air, a glittery top dangling from one of her hands. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go: she’s supposed to tell her parents after dinner, about her plans. She’s been preparing herself for that conversation, not for this, and her instincts leave her close to cowering. “I’m moving to London. I’ve found a place, and I thought it’d be good to be closer to work and school.”

That line, she has rehearsed, but the stage is all wrong. Wrong scene, wrong act, wrong props, wrong costume. She turns around, dropping the top at her feet, eyes meeting her father’s. She feels minuscule under his frowning gaze. She knows a negative reaction will follow: her father is a controlling man, at the very least, and when she’s gone his grasp on her will have to loosen. It’s why she wants out: not to be closer to work or school ( though that in itself is a perk ), but to be away from this house. From her mother and her endless books that she doesn’t speak about, from her father and his unforgiving eyes.

“Where will you get the money from? Merrick can’t possibly be paying you enough to afford a place in London, Danielle. And if he is, well, maybe we’ll have to have a conversation about that.” His voice is cutting, and she glances at her fingernails. “Maybe if you quit that ridiculous school ––”

“It’s not ridiculous.” She hates how small her voice sounds. How futile it seems. 

“It is. You’re wasting your best years on something useless.” He looks at her, dark brown eyes boring into green ones, winning whatever staring contest this might be. “You are losing sight of what’s important, with your singing and dancing and whatnot.”

“I’m not.” Small rebellions, small protestations. “I did what I needed to, didn’t I? At the carnival.” 

A smile, then. “Yes.” For a moment it seems like he will praise her, pat her head, tell her he’s proud of her and tell her she can go. Hope blossoms in her chest, and Gregory knows this. His smile falters and he crushes her hope under his heel. He’s always been a bully, knowing how to hit his victim’s sore spots. These last two decades, it seems like his children have become his favourites. “But it wasn’t nearly enough.”

Desperation takes a hold of Dani and she almost says that she will stay, that she will drop out, that she will do anything, but then she remembers Z’s embrace, the idea of waking up in a place that she shares with him, figuring out a new way to live that doesn’t come with fear. I deserve better than this godforsaken place, she thinks. “I’ll do better next time.” To do better, of course, is to commit murder. It’s what’s expected of her. Dani has no problem with small cruelties, with using her words as knives, with hexes and jinxes designed to maim, but to take another life – she does not know if she can do it. The role of murderess is one she’s only been able to portray on the stage so far.

“You had better.” Or else or else or else. He doesn’t lay his hands or wand on her as often as he used to, now that she’s older, but the suggestion of punishment hangs in the air nonetheless. His eyes are unforgiving and Dani thinks she might crumble underneath them. “So, what is the plan? You move out, have no way to support yourself and come back begging on your knees? You need a sounder plan than this, Danielle. Your brother has a career at the very least: I will not have a broke artist for a child. I will not have a beggar for a child.” 

The irony tastes bitter in her mouth, and she wants to point out that the Goyles have a long history of begging in their own ways. Kissing up to those that stood above them on the pureblood ladder, only to get half a step higher. “I have the money. I’ve been saving up.” Fuck.

“Oh, so this is something you’ve been planning, without talking to your parents about it? You’ve been saving up money, while we waste ours supporting you?” His words are coming quicker and quicker now and Dani shrinks as he inches closer, picking up one of her robes and judging it before looking her square in the eye, the distance between them closed. “You’re ungrateful, that’s what this is. You have a perfectly stable home to come home to every evening, a warm plate of food, a shelter. Why trade that? Why leave me?” And here it comes. His fingers curl around her upper arm and squeeze. Dani whimpers. “Are you forgetting where your loyalties lie, Danielle?”

She’s quiet. She shakes her head. “I’m not.” He can’t keep her here, that is the thought that keeps her sane. Dani can feel her bottom lip tremble, but she refuses to show him her fear, her tears. Her eyes are trained on her feet. “I won’t.”

“Look at me when I speak to you.” She looks up. She knows he sees her burning eyes and she hates herself for it. Weak, pathetic, desperate. She still wants his approval, even now. She’s sick of herself.

“This won’t change anything, I promise.” It’s a lie, but Danielle is nothing but a liar, a girl made up of untruths and pretense. “I’m moving in with Z.” That, she hopes, has some impact: Z is after all one of the more devoted younger Death Eaters, someone her father probably wants Dani to be like. On the surface, of course. He wants her to be cruel, an asset, more than pretty and twirly and sharp as a knife. “We’ll be splitting rent. I’ve got my job, my scholarship.” Dani remembers she’s an actress, and forces her eyes to grow harder. She pulls her arm free. “I won’t embarrass you. I promise, dad, I promise, I just want to be closer to school. I promise.”

#* dani. ( development. ) #* i want to be bright; i want to be free. ( dani. ) #abuse tw #child abuse tw #gaslighting tw #will i evern know HOW to end a self para ? no ! #idk i feel kind of queasy writing this but it was. very beneficiary to developing dani? as a char in my brain #moreso for me than all of u #u dont have to read it dkjfdsjkf #anyway #peace sign + kissy face

[missnmikaelson-main]

Addicted - Part 14

Fourteen weeks. It had been fourteen long weeks.

She had a thousand years under her belt and endless time in front of her, but never before in her existence had life passed by so slowly. At first she believed he would relent and speak to her, but she had underestimated his dedication. She shouldn’t have. She knew his temper. She had watched him turn on a dime during the centuries at his side and suspected the only reason he had chosen the non-violent route he did was because she was his sister; anyone else would have been violently disemboweled and strung out for the carrion.

He had kept his silence for fourteen weeks. Elijah had left him to his devices, but she seemed to be a sucker for punishment; she had stayed and tried at every turn to get him to talk to her again.

It was ironic, really, that after the events of the previous century the only sibling Klaus trusted was the one that had plotted to ‘kill’ him.

She had learned a few terms in the time since the ball that had changed everything: cold shoulder, radio silence; both were terms that could describe her current relationship with her brother.

She was used to getting what she wanted from him when she wanted it whether it was his attention or whatever trivial thing she had set her eyes on at the moment; the only thing he had ever denied her was her love because according to him nobody was good enough for her. She was the one who always gave him the ‘cold shoulder’, but the tables had been turned and she didn’t like it.

He wouldn’t talk to her. He wouldn’t acknowledge her existence.

She was sick of it.

He wouldn’t listen to her. He wouldn’t listen to Elijah. If it had anything to do with her or Elijah he wouldn’t listen to Kol.

The way she saw it she had only one way to get back in her brother’s good graces and the only chance to take it was during the time he was out of town. She knew Kol wouldn’t stop her unless she attempted to cause physical harm, the chances of which were slim since there would be a threshold between them.

She put the car in park and took a deep breath. Licking her lips she got out of the vehicle and made it three steps before taking in what she hadn’t seen before. Elena’s brother was sprawled on the swing, but the angle of his neck told her that he was not sleeping. The history teacher was a few feet away with his neck at a similar angle.

Rebekah wasn’t too worried about them because she could see the glint of blue on their hands, but the disturbed shrubbery by the stairs was troubling. She gave up the pretense for the neighbours and flashed to the barren bushes. Her stomach dropped as she pulled aside the broken branches.

She swore, closed her eyes, listened and swore again.

++++

“Would you mind explaining the circumstances that led to all of our blood being used?” Elijah glanced up. He flexed his wrist to keep the wound from closing before the small jar could fill.

“Finn vanished and got a witch to cloak him,” Kol shrugged. “It took two witches and all of the gathered blood to locate him. He could have made this easier and answered his phone.”

“Perhaps twenty-first century technology remains a mystery to him.”

“Or, like Nik, he’s ignoring all of us.”

“Niklaus is not ignoring you,” he cocked an eyebrow.

Kol closed the full jar as Elijah wiped his wrist with a pristine handkerchief. “Nik’s not ignoring me because I happen to blend in at the high school. I’m fairly certain that, and the fact that Elena happens to like me, is the only reason he’s ‘forgotten’ my ‘betrayal’ in 1913.”

“How is Elena?” He re-buttoned his cuff, straightening the sleeve.

“She’s got a gaping hole in her memory,” he scoffed, “and her head is at war with her body whenever she’s around Nik, so…”

“Not the greatest,” Elijah shook his head.

“No,” Kol sighed, tucking the blood in his pocket. He extracted his vibrating cell phone and read the caller ID.

“Are you going to answer?” Elijah nodded to the phone.

++++

“Come on, pick up,” Rebekah muttered. She held her phone between her shoulder and ear so she could drag the bodies over the non-existent threshold; she needed to get them inside before a neighbour looked over. She had very little time before the sun rose and she lost the cover of darkness that masked the recently ‘deceased’ as drunk.

“Come on, Kol,” she blew a strand of hair out of her eyes.

She would have just picked them up, but there was a slim chance that people had seen them on the porch and locating those people would have been a pain in ass.

She deposited Jeremy in an armchair and rushed back to shut the door. A growl ripped from her throat as the dial tone continued.

++++

“It’s Rebekah calling again to try and get me to play mediator,” he rolled his eyes. She had tried several times during the last few months despite knowing that Klaus wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say if it involved her name.

“That’s a new role for you.”

“And if I take it seriously I’ll be in the same position as you and Rebekah,” he shook his head, “or I’ll wind up back in a box.”

“Not necessarily an issue at the moment.”

“It will be soon.” The call ended before he could answer, and before he could call back there was an incessant buzzing from Elijah’s kitchen table.

++++

She ended the call with an angry stab and scrolled through her contacts for a brother that would answer; at least she hoped he would answer.

++++

He watched his older brother flip over the mobile and frown at the tiny screen.

“Perhaps it’s about something else,” Elijah murmured, raising the phone to his ear. “Good morning Rebekah.”

++++

“Elijah,” Rebekah sighed, closing her eyes. She opened them and cast her gaze from the armchair to the loveseat and the couch. “We have a problem.”

She flashed through the house, confirming again that it was empty and that her heart was the only one beating. She came to a stop in the undisturbed room she assumed belonged to Elena.

The sound of speeding hearts came from the living room.

“We’ve got a big problem.”

++++

Elijah hung up the phone and reached for his jacket. He ran out of the house to catch up with Kol and snatched the keys from his brother’s hand.

“I’ll drive,” he opened the car door, “you call Niklaus. He won’t pick up if it’s me.”

Kol nodded and slid into the passenger seat. He pressed the phone to his ear and gritted his teeth as a woman’s tinny voice filled the vehicle.

The number you are calling has been switched off. Please try again later.

He swore and hung up.

“Was there nobody watching her?” Elijah accelerated upon reaching the highway.

“Nik left her in her kitchen,” he tried again, getting the same message. “She was in her house. She should have been perfectly safe until morning when Caroline was going to drive her to school.”

++++

He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed thinking of a pregnant brunette when he heard the approaching footsteps. He didn’t bother straightening up, choosing instead to adopt a relaxed stance and a cocky grin.

“Hello Finn.” The exasperated look on his oldest brother’s face sent him back a thousand years to his childhood.

“Haven’t you got anything better to do than orchestrate an unwanted family reunion?” Finn focused on the task of unlocking the door.

“Personally I could go without family for a decade or two,” Klaus tilted his head, “but I need your blood before I can let you disappear into the ether. I’d rather not have mother, or any other witch, make another attempt to kill us all.”

“Personally,” Finn’s lip curled as he stepped into the rented apartment, “I’d welcome the attempt.”

“Unlike you,” Klaus shifted to stand in front of the door, “the rest of us are not suicidal.” He moved to enter and found his way blocked by the threshold. “Clever,” he nodded to the door.

“Makes closing the door on you so much easier,” he sighed. “Go away Niklaus. “I’m certain you’re pregnant mate is missing you.”

“Thanks to your actions,” his eyes narrowed, “she lacks the memory required to miss me, and can barely stand to be in my presence because of the war waged between her body and mind.”

“If you’ve come to accuse me of taking her memory…”

“I know you didn’t compel her Finn,” he clenched the doorframe, “at least not to forget, but you killed the vampire that did, and all because he was the one to kill the witch and keep you from killing yourself.”

“What do you want Niklaus?” Finn glared. He would have shut the door, but there was nothing keeping his brother from kicking it in.

“I’ve already told you,” he smirked. “I want your blood and I won’t be leaving without it.”

“Then you’ll be standing out there for the rest of eternity because I have no interest in helping you.” Finn’s jaw ticked. “You left me in a box for nine hundred long years while the rest of you went free, terrorizing anyone in your paths.”

“So angry,” Klaus shook his head, “it’s not as though you felt the years or anything at all, until waking up; they’ve said its equivalent to a dreamless sleep.”

He saw something flash in his brother’s eyes, and nearly recoiled when he spat the words at him.

“There is a difference between being daggered for decades and being daggered for years. Eventually I started to feel again; trapped in my own body, unable to breathe or move or do anything but hear the occasional snippet of conversation.” Finn’s brows lowered. He felt the door splintering beneath his hand. “Every time I close my eyes I go back there, so you’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to aid you or any of the family that abandoned me to the prison you left me in.”

He inhaled slowly and forced his fingers to uncoil from the door before he did enough damage that it wouldn’t close. Slivers of wood floated to the ground.

“What are the odds you’d accept an apology?” Klaus cleared his throat when Finn glared at him. “Right, a trade then?”

He reached into his jacket pocket, unfolding the photo paper before flipping it around. He knew precisely what Finn saw when he looked at the image with widening eyes: a tall woman with flaming red hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Very much alive,” he flipped the picture around and refolded the paper. “I have her address, as of three days ago, and I’ll hand it over on one condition.” Klaus pulled a small knife and a glass vial from his other pocket.

Ten minutes later he was tucking a full vial away as he moved back towards the rental car. His phone buzzed before he could start the vehicle and race back to the airport. He pulled it out to check the calls he had missed during the flight and felt his heart stutter.

++++

Caroline frowned when she reached the driveway. Kol’s car sat along the curb along with a red convertible she had seen around school. Stepping out of her blue Ford she heard the unmistakable sound of Kol, his sister and his brother all speaking over each other.

She found them in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Her eyes flickered from Kol to his siblings before finding the unconscious human’s in the room. The blood drained from her face when she saw the still body on the couch.

“I suppose it was too much to hope Elena was with you,” Kol sighed.

“She’s not here?” Caroline drew in a quick breath. “What happened?”

Jeremy chose that moment to wake up. His frantic eyes searched the living room before focusing on the vampires in his house; one of which he was certain had never been issued an invitation. In his peripheral vision he saw Alaric come awake.

“I think we’re about to find out,” Elijah cocked an eyebrow. Over his shoulder he heard a heart stutter before threatening to break free from its owner’s chest cavity.

++++

There was a dull ache in her head, knocking behind her eyes, pounding in her ears. She could sense that she was lying on her right side and attempted to roll over, certain that the pressure would ease if she could move onto her back, but her arms refused to go with the rest of her body.

She tugged experimentally without opening her eyes. Something thin dug into her wrists. She pulled again, half convinced she was dreaming; trapped in a nightmare that was about to turn deadly. She was only half convinced though because nothing actually hurt in a nightmare and her headache was quickly being joined by a burning sensation in her wrists.

She pushed away the welcoming darkness and its promise of slumber to force open her eyes. It took a moment to blink away the last of the sleep before she was able focus and take in the thin white lines encircling her wrists, holding her arms above her head.

She stopped tugging on her arms and used her elbows to push up as much as she could and swung her legs around so she could sit on the side of the bed.

Her heart thundered in her chest as she took in the unfamiliar room. It was sparsely furnished in dark wood with heavy curtains hanging above the window to block out the world. She had no way of knowing if it was day or night; her only hint to the outside was the steady tap-tap-tap of rain against glass.

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat and turned her attention back to the bed on which she sat. The question of how she had gotten there could wait a moment. There was a far more pressing issue at hand: the zip tie binding her hands had been threaded through the cast iron headboard. Three rungs over and she could have used the ornate fleur-de-lis to break her bonds, but whoever had deposited her in the bedroom had thought her imprisonment through.

She took a deep breath. She could get out of this. She had practiced in the past.

She distinctly remembered going over the many ways to free herself if someone ever tied her up; an event that was likely to happen given her supernatural status.

Zip ties had been lesson number one. She bent her head and twisted her fingers around to feel through her hair, quickly locating the bobby pin she had used to hold her hair from her face. She gripped it, full of determination and shifted to take the metal between her teeth, but before she could bite down she heard the door knob turning.

The pin fell into her open palm. She clenched her fists to hide her means of escape and turned to glare at the door. Part of her was hoping for a rescue, but the other part thought it was unlikely to come so soon – assuming she had been gone long enough for rescue to be considered soon.

She felt the first strains of relief when she saw the neat lines of the blue suit, but her heart dropped before she could release a sigh because the man entering the room was not Elijah. She wasn’t sure she trusted Elijah after the events following the ritual, but she knew if he had learned she was abducted he wouldn’t have hurt her; at least, she doubted he would have hurt her. The man that actually entered was a mystery.

“Who are you?” She clenched her jaw. There was something savage in the man’s eyes. He stood balanced on a precarious fence and she didn’t know which way he would sway when the wind hit.

“Have you such a short memory lass?” He strode towards her, power in each step. “Or is it merely the compulsion wearin’ off?”

Her eyes narrowed as she followed his nod to her necklace, placed with care on the nightstand. She chewed her cheek as the memory slowly crept back in.

“I do apologize for that,” he picked up her locket, “but I couldn’t run the risk of you attemptin’ to run off before I got what I needed from you.”

“Let me guess,” she breathed through her mouth, “you want some blood?” She banished the sudden image of Jeremy and Alaric, dead on the porch. They would be fine. She knew they would be fine because the man in front of her, the man she now remembered as breaking their necks, wore a lapis lazuli ring.

She tried to remember what had happened to Jenna, but couldn’t recall anything after rushing onto the porch so she could push her aunt back inside.

“What I want, Miss Gilbert, is revenge,” he turned over the locket in his large hands, “but I am not a heartless monster.”

She shuddered when he looked at her; if she had been able to she would have covered her stomach in a foolish attempt to protect the baby because she already knew who he must want vengeance against.

He lifted her chin and she felt her skin chill. His breath fanned over her face; the hint of his accent clicked when he met her eyes.

“There is every chance you are no more than a victim yourself, and until I can prove otherwise you will remain my guest.”

“Is it customary to tie up your guests in Scotland?” She pulled on her wrists.

“That would make me a terrible host,” he smirked.

She refused to look away when he stared her down. Her eyes widened a fraction of an inch when he snapped the tie holding her wrists together.

“Try anything,” he pocketed the white plastic, “and you’ll be right back here.”

She blinked at his hand when he held it out.

“The hair pin lass,” he sighed.

 Tags: @rissyrapp20 @eternityunicorn @elejah-wonderland @elejahforever @morsmornte @fandomrulesall @xanderling

#elena gilbert #jeremy gilbert #alaric saltzman #jenna sommers #rebekah mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #finn mikaelson #klaus mikaelson #kol mikaelson #caroline forbes #klena #klaus x elena #addicted fic

[caticornsrreal]

Fighting Dragons with You

After twelve years, I'm finally telling the internet why I love Taylor Swift🖤 

Hello, internet using world. I’d like to introduce myself to the few people who followed me. Hi! My name is Christa and I am a Taylor Swift fan with every fiber of my being. Full disclosure, this is a short novel so now is your chance to make an exit, but I hope you stay.

Taylor and my ridiculously furry cat, Lyle

(affectionately nicknamed “rent-free”), are the only two beings made of flesh and bone who have been consistent in my life for the last 12 years. With a close second being my son, Gauge, who just turned 10. I won’t get into the details (in this post) as to why that is, but let’s just say there were a lot of ups and downs growing up.

The last 12 years have been an evolution for Taylor,

and subsequently, for me. At (dare I say it) 

38 years old, I’ve found that a lot of things happen in a decade. Like, A LOT. Now, I don’t feel 38. I guess I owe that to humor, singing, dancing, sarcasm, and launching a successful career that didn’t exist 15 years ago —something that has made me always push harder to set new goals and stay humble. But one thing I didn’t do over these last 12 years that I deeply regret was starting a fan page for Taylor. I mean, ESPECIALLY since I’m a professional travel blogger who makes her full time living from digital content!

There’s been a lot of momentum over the last 12 years

—demands which left me with little to no free time. But I can’t blame my absence from the Swiftie family entirely on that. In fact, I’d have to say, I blame much of it on fear.

Fear,

of being misunderstood, fear of judgment or writing something lame. I’ve had over 2,000 articles published online and in print as well as countless social posts, but the thought of Taylor seeing something I wrote and thinking it’s totally weird (or cough, too long for the internet), well let’s just say I’d be less afraid of walking into a burning building.

Fear,

of being called a fake because the financial demands as a single mom left me little money to spend on myself or Taylor merchandise, much less tickets to a show. I’ve always placed my son’s needs before mine.

Fear,

that I was too old to be a Taylor Swift fan. I mean, I was 26 when she hit the music scene and she was what, 16? I’ve been afraid. Afraid I would be rejected by other Swifties who really are the only people who understand this love we have for her  —which is basically like being rejected by your own people. Also, it’s super weird to be following teens/young adults on social, much less engaging with them.

Fear.

Along with my fear, a perfect storm of entrepreneurial demands, single motherhood, failed relationships (one of which was a marriage), and family matters have served as a constant reminder that my dream of ever meeting Taylor takes residence on another planet. An actual trip to Mars seemed more attainable. 

I feel like there is a whole demographic of women, “Swiftie Moms” who echo my story,

having watched Taylor grow into the strong beautiful woman she's become. Women my age who love her from behind the wheel of their SUV, on the way to drop their kids off to school, on the way back from a milk run, in the dark hours of the mornings when they’re dancing in the kitchen with a full on hair bun singing into a coffee spoon. Unnoticed fans who haven’t had the time to dive head first into the Swiftie Universe. But here I am. After all the fear and all the years...

So, why?

This is a hard one to answer. I guess you can say that after many years of challenges, judgment from others, and doing the complete opposite of what logic and reason said I should  —divorce, single motherhood, a second degree in my late twenties... risking it all to start a blog (which by the way in 2013 wasn’t even considered a side job much less a career), I kind of got to a point where I became

fearless.

I had to be. I had this tiny living, breathing human being who was counting on me at the very least, to give him a life a notch above the shit show I had growing up. Not to mention parenting —which is basically wandless wizardry pulled directly from the asses of parents. It demands that your mini human grows up to be a better human than you.

Yeah, unpack that.

Take all your collective shit, figure it out, and then teach your mini to do it better —to BE better than you at love, kindness, respect for others (especially boys respecting girls), integrity, money, and to be fearless. All while giving them the comfort of knowing that you, mom, have it all figured out... even when that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Top that with the pressures of working in the public eye

—which, while on a microscopic level compared to a full-on celebrity such as Taylor, is still very much a juggling act with none of the entourage to lighten the workload. Add to it the demands of working with national brands, and the unwavering ability for other bloggers to tear you down at any opportunity, or even worse, try to get close to you so they can raid your success like a Black Friday sale.

I found myself at the peak of my blogging career

but I was consumed by fear, AGAIN! Fear of shady AF bloggers and publicists, and so much to lose. And fear that now, thousands of people would have an opinion of me formed by jealous bloggers, and they didn’t even know who I really was. 

That’s when letting go of toxic people in my life became essential

—when, no matter who they were, or how I was tied to them, I had to realize that surrounding myself with the ones who lifted me took precedence over the ones who dragged me down. 

After all that..... I learned to give zero f***s about what people thought, or what they said behind my back. 

And I had to start caring about what made my heart happy, what made my family and friends smile, and what inspired me to do better. BE BETTER. Be the example of fearless, with the hope that I was lucky enough to stay that way. But I'm a vulnerable human made of heart and soul and sometimes people can still take the best from me.

I had to be fearless.

In August of 2017 when "Look What You Made Me Do” blessed my ears for the first time, I felt it pierce my skin and course through my veins. And to the very bones of this young 38-year-old Swiftie mom, I was shook AF! I sang, I danced and I drowned out the haters in the blogging world. She had a very clear message,

She had zero f***s to give, Taylor broke the internet.

After watching the seemingly endless myriad of shade thrown at Taylor over the years, my heart erupted with happiness as her flawless first single from Reputation revealed one BADASS BITCH. And with every music video release of her new era, she became a mythical Goddess with bullshit evaporating superpowers. Like, I legit think she’s an actual unicorn. After all, she does ride a caticorn named Olivia.

She got harder, she got smarter in the nick of time

One single post on my Facebook page praising her new era and new single she brought with it attracted a slew of hate speech, white people bashing, claims of Taylor ripping off Beyonce... I couldn’t believe the things I was reading from fellow bloggers. I even had a GLOBAL BRAND threaten my business relationship in their ambassador program because I stood up for Taylor and spoke out about the hate speech which was placed on my own personal Facebook page. But I stood by my words.

Fearless.

Over the following months into early 2018, and to the tune of, “This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things”, I, along with a slew of about 20 other bloggers, ended up taking down said global brand’s publicist who was using his budget and power to demean and sexually harass female bloggers (which would later reveal that blacklisting me was more about not buying into that bullshit rather than my voice on hate speech).

Zero f***s given to those haters.

Mythical Goddess with bullshit evaporating superpowers level officially achieved for Taylor, and even for me. Although I wouldn’t call myself a Goddess. That's all Tay. 🖤

She found love through the noise

And so did I. In November of 2017, I had approached the year anniversary of the greatest love I'd ever known. My last stop. And as the tracks played on, my heart was full. We both found happiness through a seemingly endless sea of anguish.

Taylor is truly doing better than she ever was, and so am I.

Her resilience up against the media and the demands of the industry are perfectly fearless. And her decision to keep her beautifully growing relationship with Joe private is wise. I’ve spent the last year at home, which has been incredible. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what’s most important to me, what has shaped me into the mom, partner and entrepreneur that I am, and it all comes back to Taylor. That’s why it’s time for me to be fearless again and officially join the Swiftie universe.

I’ve spent 12 years fighting dragons with Taylor

and growing a canyon of respect and adoration for her charm, wit, business savvy, musical talent, feminism, compassion, tenacity, love for animals, and of course her lovely, lovely, words. I’ve raised my son from birth with her. There isn't a single day that is spent where Taylor doesn't exist in our lives. For 12 years straight.

That’s a long time to love someone who has no idea you exist.

I play her music videos and YouTube uploads just so I can feel like she’s with us. And so my son knows that she’s one of the finest examples of a human being in his lifetime. I use Taylor’s kindness to teach my son how to be considerate and give back to others while sharing her fearless story with him so she can be a positive role model in his life. Taylor has essentially been part of our family all along. 

My son Gauge has a running joke that Taylor is the only person that can make me cry

(which happens more than I'm willing to admit). And it’s not because I’m weak, or on the verge of a mental breakdown (although I challenge you to try parenting, you might argue that), it’s because I truly love her like a best friend. When I see her happy it makes me happy, when I feel her sadness, it makes me sad. It’s visceral.

I don't believe the human connection is meant to be one-sided.

I feel in my heart, as weird as this may sound, that we will meet Taylor one day, even against all odds. Existing in the same lifetime as Taylor without at least trying to meet her doesn't feel right. I won't look at my son and teach him to let fear and doubt win, or that defying the odds is an impossible task.

Over the years I’ve been a spectator to her outreach to fans. She’s invited them to sessions in her homes, sent them gifts, invited them backstage, surprised them in their homes, made hospital visits, and Lord knows what else she has up her sleeve. And it’s all been done with pure excitement and love for her Swifties. With each outreach she extends, tears of joy are shed for fellow Swifties, and a ray of hope inspires me.

So, I’m starting a personal blog

which tells a very personal story of all the dragons I’ve fought with Taylor over the years. From living in a car at 15 years old to getting invited to LA premieres for Walt Disney and Marvel films. And I'll have no apologies for the truths that will be told (but will change names for privacy). It will be very personal and some of it won’t be pretty. Because life isn’t always pretty.

Taylor is releasing another album this year... we hope,

and she’ll be on yet another tour in 2020. After 12 years I’m finally ready for it. I’ve given my son everything he could possibly want or need. I’ve bought him a beautiful home in Northern Georgia. He’s been able to travel the world and do things most adults haven’t even done. And I owe much of that to Taylor for giving me the strength to take major risks, the courage to face my demons, the balls to cut people out of my life who were toxic and the self-confidence to defy the odds and do things my way.

2019 is our year to show @taylorswift how much we love her.

I’ll let the universe do the rest. Till then, I’ll be fighting dragons with her as I always have and writing my journal for her and anyone else who wants to read the memoirs of an OG Swiftie mom who keeps it real AF, full-on hair bun and all.

#taylor #taylorswift #taylurking #taylornation #taylor swift #taylor13 #taylorswift13 #taylornation13 #fightingdragons #swifties #swiftie #tswift13 #deartaylor #dear taylor

[justanoutlawfic]

Open Up Your Eyes: Chapt. 6

Story Summary: A toss of a coin separated not only twin brothers, but a mother from her son. Decades later, they try to find healing and strength.

Chapter Summary: Emma reflects on the changes that have happened since she got back from New York and takes a walk with her mother to discuss her true feelings on them.

A/N: This chapter is heavily anti-C$ and sort of anti-H00k. Chapter is rated Mature for sexual content.

Also on AO3

Sometimes the farmhouse was too quiet for Emma’s taste. The loft was always noisy, even before her baby brother came along. With it’s lack of walls, you could hear every single breath a person took. The floorboards creaked and the furniture made noises when you settled down on it. (Regina hadn’t been too kind with what she cursed Snow with, they joked that was the real price of the curse.)

 The farmhouse was big, three stories high with plenty of rooms for the family and their guests. Her house as the Dark One had been quiet, but she had been completely alone in it. Here, there were people…a lot of people. Yet, when she woke up, she couldn’t hear anyone. She knew it was a necessary change. Neal was getting bigger, they had James and Ruth living with them. Henry was getting older and sharing a room with his mom when he visited wasn’t the kick it was when they were still getting to know each other.

 Still…the loft had been her first home. The place where she had been chosen by a woman who barely knew her. The kind stranger that had insisted she live there rent free, who didn’t mind if Henry came over or when she was trying to hide Nicholas and Ava until they figured out what to do. It was where they bonded, opened up with one another. It was where all of them had first lived as a family.

 Now, it belonged to Belle. Snow had bought it a little after the curse and it was one of the few properties in town not owned by Rumple, so she was renting it for the time being. It looked different when Emma went back to visit. Nice, but different.

 Mostly everything in the farmhouse was new. They had sold all the old furniture, taking advantage to finally decorate their way. Most of the house was a comfy farm style, while Emma’s room was mostly reds. It was just how she preferred things and her parents were okay with that. She loved the new house, she just wished they could hold onto the old.

 Emma knew she had issues with letting go. She had chased her boyfriend to the Underworld and for what? Well, maybe that wasn’t the best way of looking at it. They had helped so many people move on and it lead to Ruth and James being able to come back into their lives. Even so, her parents missed out on a month with Neal, she put Henry in danger. (Why had she and Regina thought it was a good idea to bring him along, again?)

 The worst of it all was, as she finally grieved, she realized that she hadn’t even loved Killian. She had loved the idea of finding her own happily ever after, but knew it wasn’t supposed to be with him. She should’ve let him go in Camelot, avoided all the pain that followed. But she was selfish and screwed up so much. She wanted to go back to the person she was before she took on the darkness and she was getting there. She was making amends, even if most people didn’t think there was anything to apologize for. They were far too easy on her, a part of her wished they’d just scream and yell.

 Yes, life was going back to normal, or as normal as it could be. Yet, she still felt empty, like a piece of her was missing. The truth was, a part of her heart was in Arendelle.

 As she got ready, her mind floated back to that night with Elsa. It was after she nearly gave up her magic, the night she could’ve died. Elsa had saved her life and she felt suddenly attracted to her.

 She could still remembered the way Elsa tasted, the way their skin rubbed against each other. The hot breath that fell on her skin, in a way it never had before. She had kissed girls before, she knew she was bisexual, Lily had helped her realize that. This was her first time sleeping with a woman, though. Elsa’s mouth went from Emma’s own, to down to her breasts, her stomach and finally, Emma’s clit. The latter hadn’t orgasmed in so many years, it was hard to keep the moans inside.

 Then, just as it started, it was over. They headed outside and realized that Ingrid had put bracelets on them. Even when they finally defeated Ingrid, Emma knew that it couldn’t last. Elsa was a queen, her life was in Arendelle. Emma was technically a princess, but she certainly act like a traditional one. To be fair, neither did her mother or Regina, but she felt different. She didn’t belong in Elsa’s world. Besides, her family was in Storybrooke. She couldn’t give up on that. Killian had preyed on her insecurities and jumped in as soon as Elsa left. It was as almost if he could tell her heart had been broken again.

 Emma had only loved, a real romantic love, with three people. Neal, Walsh…and Elsa. Two of those people, she had proven true love with and that scared the shit out of her.

 True love didn’t mean that you could be with them, though. Neal was dead, Elsa was gone.

 She had her parents, her son, her whole extended family. They had always been enough, they would always be enough. She was learning to let go and that meant letting go of Elsa.

 Letting out a deep breath, she headed downstairs and was greeted by the delicious smells of pancakes and scones. Her entire family was crowded around the table, Regina and Henry included. James was even sitting next to her father, since when did they get along?

 Ruth smiled over at her. “Good morning, take a seat, I made breakfast.”

“It smells delicious,” she said, sliding in next to her mother.

“Who do you think taught your father to make pancakes?”

David chuckled, bouncing Neal on his lap. “It’s true.”

 Snow noticed the look on her daughter’s face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

 “You okay, sweetie?”

“Fine.”

Snow tilted her head, giving her that look. “Em. Do you wanna take a walk after breakfast?”

Emma went to shake her head, but then stopped herself. “Um, that’d be great actually.”

 Snow smiled and kissed her cheek. Once they had their fill of pancakes (which Ruth made Emma way too many of, she had that whole Grandma thing down already), the two put on their jackets and slowly started walking around the block.

“We haven’t talked about how all of this has been for you.”

“We’ve talked about Killian.”

“Not him.” Snow stuck her hands her in her pockets. “I meant James and Ruth coming to live with us.”

Emma paused. “It’s fine. I love them, they’re family.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s hard. For so long, it was just us, then we added in your father and Henry, then your brother…I know change is hard on you, Emma.”

“I’m not upset that they’re here. Change is a part of life and I’m glad they’re here, I’m glad to get to know them, that dad has them again.”

“I can tell there’s more.”

“I just…I want things to slow down, to be good for us, you know? After we got back from the Underworld and Regina defeated Hades with Zelena, I thought it would. Then Grandma and James showed up and now Dad’s all upset.”

“He’s not upset, it’s just a lot for him.”

“Exactly. I already put so much on you guys this past year…”

“Hey,” Snow touched her chin. “We’ve forgiven you for that. You forgave us for our role in things.”

“Still. When can we just be a normal family with no issues?”

“Oh honey, every family has problems. Look at mine growing up. My father was a terrible person, my mother wasn’t always the greatest either. Even the best of families have problems, what’s important is that the love is there and it is. We love you, so much. That is one thing that’ll never change.”

Emma gnawed on her lip. “Really?”

“There is nothing you could do to make that go away. You’re our child.”

She nodded. “I love you too, Mom. I know I don’t say it enough, but I really do.”

“That’s okay, I feel it every time you look at me.”

 She pulled Emma into her arms and Emma let out another breath, resting her head on her chin, shutting her eyes. For the first time in a long time, she let go of the guilt and the sadness. She just wanted to focus on being happy.

 “Emma!”

 That all too familiar voice…it couldn’t be…

 Emma got out of her mother’s grasp and turned around to find Elsa heading straight for her. She was too much in shock to process as the arms were thrown around her neck.

 “You…what…how?”

“I heard about everything you went through.” Elsa pulled away, putting her hands on her shoulder. “I…I had to come here to be with you.”

“But Arendelle…”

“Anna was always meant to be queen.”

“Elsa…”

“The truth is Emma, I haven’t felt right since I left here last year. I don’t want to be apart anymore.”

 Tears filled Emma’s eyes and she felt a shallow breath escape her lips. She was still getting used to being chosen by Henry, her parents. Now here was someone choosing her again. She looked back at her mom, who was already searching for tissues and bawling herself.  She laughed and turned back to Elsa.

 Yes, this year had plenty of changes. Her grandmother and uncle coming back was the best, but this was a close second.

#open up your eyes verse #charming family #charming family au #mama snow #mama snow au #daddy charming #daddy charming au #frozen swan #frozen swan au #anti cs #anti hook

[jennielim]

[labourpress]

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speech to Labour Party Conference

John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

 ***CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY***

 I’d like to thank Ken Loach for that wonderful film and thank Ken for his incredible contribution to our movement. Can I also thank the Shadow Treasury Team: Peter Dowd our Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Anneliese Dodds; Jonathon Reynolds; Denis Tunnicliffe; Bryan Davies and my brilliant PPS Karen Lee

Only a few months ago we were 24 points behind in the polls. Our opponents and virtually every political commentator = those two groups are often interchangeable by the way - they predicted that we would be wiped out in the general election.

I said then in interview after interview that the polls would narrow and we would shock them all. Not many believed me. And let’s be honest until you saw the exit polls, most of you were pretty on edge too, weren’t you?

Before the election, I said that once we entered the election period and broadcasters were legally obliged to give us some semblance of balanced coverage, we would turn the poll ratings around.

Why? Well, first because people would be given a chance to see Jeremy Corbyn for what he is. The honest, principled and, yes, the strong and determined person and leader that he is.  And, second, because people would see in our Manifesto what we really stood for and our vision of hope.

And that is what happened.  And it’s also down to you, our members, whose overwhelming enthusiasm inspired people in their millions to come out and vote for us.  I want to thank you all.

So yes, we have proved that we are an effective campaigning Party. We now have to prove that we will be an effective governing party. A Government that can set the political agenda for a generation.

If you study the history of our Party, you will see that it’s always been the role of Labour Governments to lead our country into each new era.

It was the Attlee Labour Government that built a new society from the debris of the bomb sites, in the new era after the Second World War. Those men and women who had endured so much throughout the depression of the 1930s and who had sacrificed so much to defeat fascism, placed their trust in our party.

My Dad was a sergeant in the army and my Mum a welder by day, in a munitions factory, and an ARP warden at night. They came out of the war with that spirit of 1945, inspired in them by the election of a Labour Government.  

And the Labour Party fulfilled its promise to them and all the other families by creating the welfare state, providing free education for their children, building them a decent home ,investing in an economy based upon full employment. And, of course, creating that jewel in our crown, our NHS.  

In the 1960,s when the Tories governed this country from their gentlemen’s clubs on behalf of the privileged few and held this country back from facing the challenges of the modern era, it was the Wilson Labour Government that recognised the potential of a modern Britain, forged, as he said in “the white heat of the scientific revolution.”

For my brother and me, and so many others of our generation, new educational opportunities enabled us to challenge the barriers that had held so many working-class kids back.

And, yes, in 1997, after 18 years of Thatcherism, when whole industries and communities across our country had been destroyed by the Torie,s and our public services were on their knees, it was the Blair/Brown Government that recognised and delivered the scale of public investment that a 21st century society needed.

We should never forget that we are part of that great Labour tradition and we should be so proud of it.

So as we now enter the next, new era, the era of the fourth industrial revolution, I tell you it is a Corbyn Labour Government that will rescue our country from the long years of austerity. And it will be up to us to lay the foundations of the new world that awaits us.

That new world is being shaped already by the beginnings of the fourth industrial revolution.  Huge changes are underway in our society and economy. Technological change is accelerating. This year, Chinese scientists used quantum mechanics to teleport data to a satellite.

We can match that, we’ve got a Tory Government teleported from the 18th century.   We are determined that Britain embraces the possibilities of technological change – scary though that may be. By the middle of this century, it is possible that up to half of all the jobs we do now could be automated away.

The jobs that remain can, if we let them, be exploitative, dangerous, degrading, and dead-end. Or the jobs we create can provide good, secure employment, in work that is fulfilling and meaningful, in communities where pride and prosperity has been restored.

We have already had a foretaste of what this revolution would look like if it was left to the Tories. It is being used to vastly enrich a tiny elite, whilst creating a life for many workers of long hours, low pay, and insecure employment.

There’s a choice to be made. We can remain a low-wage economy,y specialising in zero hours contracts. Or we can use the state to help shape Britain’s future in this new world.  We know it can be done.

As the Tories waste time and energy, alienating our closest trading partners, other countries are using state direction of innovation and investment to carve out vital areas of expertise - in robotics, in electronic cars, in cleantech, in the smart city. Though the technologies are new – the British problem is old. The City is not channelling investment into high value, high productivity businesses.  Instead, it’s channelling investment into property speculation.

It’s the rentier economy, where wealth is secured not by what you produce, but by the amount of rent you can charge. So we will change that.  We’ll put taxpayers’ money into key research projects; we’ll foster the creation of networks and clusters of expertise. To reconnect the financial sector to the economy of research and development and production, we will transform our financial system.

Labour will establish a Strategic Investment Board, comprising the Chancellor, Secretary of State for Business and Governor of the Bank of England, to co-ordinate the promotion of investment, employment and real wages.

In our investment strategy, we will no longer accept the disparities between investment in London and the Home Counties and the rest of the country.

This Tory Government plans to invest in the north just one-fifth of what it will spend on transport per head in London.

We will legislate for a fair distribution of investment. We’ll devolve decision making through the Regional Development Banks, our Mayors, and regenerate the powers and resources available to local councils.

We’ll build Crossrail for the north, connecting our great northern cities from west coast to east, and extend HS2 into Scotland. We’ll deliver the funding for Midlands Connect, overhauling transport across the Midlands. And we’ll overturn decades of neglect and lack of investment in the South-West. We’ll electrify railway lines from Cornwall right through to London.

The storms and flooding sweeping the world in these last few months are yet another environmental wake up call. This country has huge natural, renewable resources. And we have an immense heritage of scientific and engineering expertise. Yet this Government has slashed the funding, the renewables industry needs to find its feet.

Labour will ensure we become world leaders in decarbonising our economy. With a publicly owned energy supply based on alternative energy sources. Where the Tories have dithered and delayed, to deliver zero-carbon electricity, we will absolutely commit for example to building projects like the Swansea Tidal Lagoon.

Ours will only become an economy for the many, if we significantly broaden ownership. That means supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses, the genuinely self-employed and massively expanding worker control and the co-operative sector.

Building an economy for the many also means bringing ownership and control of the utilities and key services into the hands of people who use and work in them. Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail- we’re taking them back.

We cannot allow this dynamic vision for our economy to be undermined by the combination of belligerence and incompetence, displayed by the Tories in the current EU negotiations. Our aim is to create a Britain for the many, not the few. Our conscience doesn’t end at the English Channel. We also want a Europe for the many, not the few.  

That’s why, whilst respecting the referendum decision, we will work with our partners across Europe to create a new European future, based upon collaboration and co-operation.

But we start with addressing the brutal treatment of EU citizens by this Government. We demand that the rights of EU citizens in this country are fully protected, just as we wish to secure the rights of UK citizens in other EU countries.

And I warn the Tories if they try to water down, or undermine protections we have secured on employment, consumer or environmental rights, we will give them the political battle of their lives.

As we go into Government, you know we will have to clear up the mess the Tories will have left us. After their long years of austerity, the Tories are leaving a society steeped in debt and scarred by low pay and insecurity, with our public services in meltdown. We will commission a thorough review of the scale, causes and responses to debt. But action is needed fast.

First, we will do what the Tories have failed to do, and bring the Government’s deficit and debt under effective control. The Tories have borrowed more than any Labour Government ever.

On arrival in office, we will set out plans to eliminate the deficit and reduce debt, based upon our Fiscal Credibility Rule. For each policy in our Manifesto, we are preparing detailed implementation plans. To pay for our public services, we will close the tax loopholes and avoidance scams used by the mega-rich, and we will make sure the rich and the giant corporations pay their way.

Many people are also forced into debt by low wages. It cannot be right that we are the only major developed economy to have grown, while wages are lower than they were before the crash ten years ago. And as inflation hits, many workers are facing yet another real-terms cut in their pay, while the pay of FTSE 100 Chief Executives is 160 times that of the average worker.

In the election campaign Theresa May was asked why nurses were being forced to resort to foodbanks and she replied that the issue was complex. It isn’t complex. It’s simple. They just aren’t being paid enough.  

That’s why we insist the pay cap is scrapped once and for all and not just for some, but for everybody. And we demand decent wages for all workers. Britain deserves a pay rise. It’s why we will introduce a real living wage of £10 an hour.  We will introduce pay ratios at the top. We will address the gender pay gap that leaves women’s wages still trailing men’s by 14%. And we will ensure every piece of legislation will be measured against its impact on women before implementation.

I am proud to support those brave young people who are campaigning for decent wages now, and those who have joined the Bakers’ Union, to take on the might of McDonalds. Be clear, we will restore basic employment rights, repeal the Tories Trade Union Act, set up a new Ministry of Labour and restore collective bargaining.

As wages have fallen behind, more and more families are being pushed deeper into debt. Household debt in this country stands at the record level of more than £1.8 trillion. We have seen with pay day loans; some companies were making massive profits from people’s financial difficulties.

Under Labour pressure, the Government was forced to cap interest payments on payday loans. But more than 3 million credit card holders are trapped by their debt. They’ve paid more in interest charges and fees than they originally borrowed. The Financial Conduct Authority has argued for action to be taken on credit card debt as on pay day loans.

I am calling upon the Government to act now and apply the same rules on payday loans to credit card debt. It means that no-one will ever pay more in interest than their original loan. If the Tories refuse to act, I can announce today that the next Labour Government will amend the law. Call it the McDonnell amendment.

Some of the heaviest debt burden has fallen on young people.The Tories tripled tuition fees and allowed the Student Loans Company to hike up interest rate charges. Young people are now leaving university with £57,000 worth of debt. That’s why we put forward our fully-costed commitment to scrap tuition fees.

And we will.

The Tories, with the connivance of the Liberal Democrats, have created a totally unsustainable situation. Three quarters of students will never fully repay their loans. So it’s not just bad for students; it’s a bad deal for the taxpayer too.

As a result of Labour pressure, the Government is now being forced into discussing reducing interest rates or raising repayment thresholds. If they bring forward effective proposals we will support them. But that won’t go nearly far enough. We can’t afford another five years of spiralling student debt.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and our independent research, writing off the Tories’ student debt now would cost £10bn by 2050. Waiting until 2022 could treble the cost of a write off. I am calling on the Chancellor to act now, before the situation becomes unmanageable.

It’s the Tories who have got young people into this mess, they should take some responsibility for getting them out of it.

It’s not just students and households with credit cards who are being ripped off.The scandal of the Private Finance Initiative, launched by John Major, has resulted in huge, long-term costs for tax payers, whilst handing out enormous profits for some companies. Profits which are coming out of the budgets of our public services.

Over the next few decades, nearly two hundred billion is scheduled to be paid out of public sector budgets in PFI deals. In the NHS alone, £831m in pre-tax profits have been made over the past six years. As early as 2002 this Conference regretted the use of PFI.

Jeremy Corbyn has made it clear that, under his leadership, never again will this waste of taxpayer money be used to subsidise the profits of shareholders, often based in offshore tax havens. The Government could intervene immediately to ensure that companies in tax havens can’t own shares in PFI companies, and their profits aren’t hidden from HMRC.

We’ll put an end to this scandal and reduce the cost to the taxpayers. How? We have already pledged that there will be no new PFI deals signed by us. But we will go further. I can tell you today, it’s what you’ve been calling for.

We’ll bring existing PFI contracts back in-house.

The Tories have tried to change people’s view of what is normal and acceptable in our society. They want us to accept that in the fifth richest country in the world it’s normal and acceptable for people to be saddled with debt; for people to have to work long, often insecure, hours, stressed out, struggling to find time with their family; for people not to have a pay rise for years no matter how dedicated you are or how hard you work; for young people to have no prospect of owning their own home; for disabled people to be pushed to the edge by the benefits system; or for carers to be struggling without support or recognition.

Let’s make it clear - we will never accept that this is normal or acceptable.

Yes we will increase GDP, close the current account deficit and increase productivity. But life is not just about statistics. As Bobby Kennedy said almost 50 years ago:

 “The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play.  It does not include the beauty of our poetry.”  (18 March 1968)

The performance of our Government will be measured by the care we show to all our people and the richness of their lives.    

We proved in the election, and we will now go on to prove in Government, our belief that:

Hope will always overcome fear.

Kindness and generosity will always overcome greedy self-interest.

And that the flame of solidarity in our society will never be extinguished.

For years we have proclaimed that “Another World is Possible.”

I tell you now, that world is not just possible, it is in sight.

Let’s create it together.

[newstfionline]

Young or Old, Saudi Women Live Under Male Relatives’ Control

AP, May 19, 2017

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--First she’s in the hands of her father, then she moves to her husband. Often, she ends up under the power of her son.

From childhood through adulthood into old age, every Saudi woman passes from the control of one legal guardian to another, a male relative whose decisions or whims can determine the course of her life.

Under Saudi law, the guardian’s permission is required for a woman to get a passport, to travel abroad or to marry. It is also often demanded whenever a woman tries to do any number of things, including rent an apartment, buy a car, undergo a medical procedure or take a job. As a result, women are consigned to the legal status of minors.

Saudi Arabia’s ban on women driving is what often grabs the most attention, but rights advocates say guardianship laws are the factor that most powerfully enshrines inequality for women. President Donald Trump heads to Saudi Arabia this weekend to cement ties with the deeply conservative kingdom.

Guardianship was a major reason for the outrage when Saudi Arabia last month was elected to a U.N. commission tasked with promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. The kingdom was nominated to the post by the Asia-Pacific region, and normally nominees are rubber-stamped automatically. In this case, the U.S. requested a secret ballot vote, a move seen as a symbolic objection, though the kingdom won with 47 out of 54 votes.

The Geneva-based rights group UN Watch denounced the acceptance of Saudi Arabia on the commission, calling it the “world’s leading oppressor of women.”

Saudi law is based on one of the most conservative interpretations of Islamic Shariah, and no other Muslim countries enforce such strict guardianship measures.

The Associated Press spoke with three generations of women from a single family about its impact on their lives:

THE GRANDMOTHER: Naila Mohammed Saleh Nasief, an outspoken 96-year-old, finds it frustrating and humorous that her son has been her guardian for the past three decades.

“I need his permission for everything,” she said. “My son, who I gave birth to and raised and made a man. Does this make sense?”

Her father, who worked in the Finance Ministry, and her husband, a doctor who at one time served as health minister, were both open-minded men and gave her freedom of choice, she said. She raised her sons and daughters as equals. Breaking with another cultural norm, Nasief has never worn the black face veil, known as the niqab, which most Saudi women don.

Since her father and husband’s deaths, her eldest son has also been accommodating.

But that doesn’t mean things are easy.

In one case, in her 60s, she went to the airport to fly to the United States. But she had forgotten the piece of paper from her son granting her permission to travel. Her brother, his children, and her son-in-law and grandchildren were all flying with her--but not her son.

So airport officials barred her from boarding the plane. She and her 18 relatives had to wait for five hours for someone to bring the document to the airport. Nowadays, guardians can give travel permissions electronically.

“I felt I am not human,” she said of the experience.

The system leaves women dependent on the goodwill of their male relatives--fathers, husbands or sons, or in some cases a brother or uncle. Guardians are free to refuse permission. Women have complained of being abused, forced to hand over salaries to their guardians, barred from marriage or forced into unwanted marriages. Women who flee abusive homes can be imprisoned or put in a shelter, requiring the consent of her guardian to leave.

Nasief said the rules aim to keep women at home and quiet. She lamented that some women support the system, seeing it as protecting them.

“I don’t think these laws will change, not even in 50 years, because people’s minds are closed,” she said. “If you hear people talking, they say it’s better for men to rule us than to be out in the wild.”

“Religion doesn’t say to do this,” she said. “There isn’t anything in the Quran that says a man rules over women.”

THE MOTHER: Sahar Nasief, Naila’s daughter, was 53 when her son became her guardian.

When she divorced her husband, her guardianship was transferred back to her father, Hassan Nasief. After he died, her three sons joked over who would be responsible for their mother, she says. In the end, she picked her middle son, then 32.

She had to get his consent when she rented an apartment and when she bought a car. The dealer even demanded he co-sign on the car, even though Nasief, a now 63-year-old retired university professor, bought the car with her money.

In 2013, when she defied the ban on women driving and got behind the wheel of car as part of a nationwide movement to push for women’s rights, she was pulled over by police, who wouldn’t release her until her son signed a pledge vowing his mother would never drive again.

When raising her three daughters, she taught them never “to take any nonsense from anyone” and made sure not to teach them “this nonsense about ‘you have to obey your husband for life’.”

“My daughters and sons were raised like this, as equals sharing and exchanging roles,” Nasief said.

Nasief says guardianship translates into “ownership” of women.

THE DAUGHTER: Lubna Jamjoom, Sahar’s daughter, is a 40-year-old interior designer with three children. But she needed her husband to accompany her to the bank in order for her to open an account for her children and she needed him to get her children passports.

“It doesn’t make sense that he can decide these things for me as an adult and the mother of his children,” she said.

Unlike many Saudi women, Jamjoom knew her husband before marrying him. That was important for her, knowing how much sway he would have over her life. “Even if the guy is kind or good, he can make a woman’s life difficult,” she said.

She has access to the family’s identity book, an official document listing the parents’ and children’s names. It is issued only to the father, and women whose husbands keep hold on it have no way to prove their relationship with their children and so, for example, can’t enroll them in school without the father’s consent. It was only last year that widowed and divorced women could receive the book.

Jamjoom said she wants her daughter to grow up and be able to make their own decisions instead of relying on a man for nearly everything.

“This is the right God gave us,” she said. “We are born free.”

#Saudi Arabia #Saudi women #male guardianship in Saudi Arabia

[hoynovoy]

My 'Pretty Little Liars' Obsession Led Me To My Best Friend

“Got a secret, can you keep it?” Well, I’ve got one: Though Pretty Little Liars ended in 2017, the seven-season mystery thriller schemed its way into being an integral part of my life for the long haul, so much so that the opening credits live in my head rent-free. To this day, each time I hear the sinister theme song — “Secret” by The Pierces — I’m brought right back to my childhood comfort show (ahem, obsession). The visuals begin with a swipe of mascara, the smear of red lipstick, and a clasp of a heel onto a porcelain doll, which makes me feel like I’m watching someone get pampered for prom. Until, of course, it cuts to four girls standing in front of a casket. It's a chilling moment, one that, until Season 6B, ended with Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale) delivering her iconic “shh.” I got cast under the show’s spell the first time I saw it, and I wasn’t the only one: Pretty Little Liars led me to my best friend.

Ironically, plotlines about deceit and betrayal actually helped ignite a long-lasting friendship. In 2011, the only other person I knew to be watching PLL was my now-BFF, Taylor, who’s been by my side for over a decade. We were only about 11 and 12 when it premiered, so shout out to our parents for letting us watch a show that dealt with very adult themes like substance use disorder, assault, and grief. Unlike our classmates, who watched tween-appropriate hits like iCarly and Victorious, we became PLL stans.

As fans know, the show is loosely based on the Sara Shepard YA series of the same name, and the first book was my entry point into the PLL universe. I loved reading about blackmailers and murderers navigating high school, but I thought I was the only one who was into it. (Was this my ~I’m different~ complex showing, or were my peers just naturally more inclined to recap Dance Moms? I’ll never know.) So, Taylor first struck up a conversation with me at school because she spotted the first PLL book on my desk — you know, the one painted with porcelain wax dolls warning to “never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret” in a Gothic script. She asked if I’d watched the TV adaptation yet and we immediately exchanged phone numbers to text about upcoming episodes. We then fell into the fandom. Fast.

I’d never talked to Taylor before this interaction — we had only been in a few classes together — but I always saw her as approachable and friendly. Universally, the beginning of middle school is a big and terrifying year when kids from different elementary schools unite. Eager to meet new people, I reached for friendship at any chance I could get. Taylor made it easy. Aside from being a genuinely kind person (a rare trait for a middle schooler!), she was fangirling over the same thing as me.

Fast forward over a decade later, and the show still feels timeless, especially in its accurate depictions of how dramatic high school can get. It’s no surprise there’s a PLL HBO Max reboot on the way along with the remakes of other buzzy shows from that era (hello, 2010s nostalgia). Ah. It was a simpler time. Back then, Freeform was still ABC Family and for me, Tuesdays meant one thing: PLL is on. What first started as a solo viewing experience soon became a designated hangout time, a time slot reserved for me and Taylor to gush over how much we loved Ashley Benson. (We still do!)

The series had a vibe similar to Gossip Girl or Bridgerton in that a mysterious, unidentifiable pot-stirrer keeps fans guessing each episode, but it was arguably so much better since “A,” the anonymous villain, is out for, you know, murder. Ultimately, it was the type of whodunit that made me and Taylor (and millions of viewers) go down a couple of Reddit rabbit holes — remember the “Aria is A” suspicion? — and this is where my and Taylor’s experience with fan theories began.

Oh, and let’s not forget the location. PLL takes place in the fictional suburb of Rosewood, Pennsylvania, and for two girls from Bucks Country — aka the Philadelphia ‘burbs — we ate it up. The beloved “Welcome to the Dollhouse” episode was exceptionally creepy not only because the Liars get locked into a life-size replica of their bedrooms, but also because our real neighborhood looks extremely similar to their hometown. It operates like Rosewood, too, in that small-town gossip travels at lightning speed.

The Pennsylvania-based plotline also made it easier for us to identify with the characters, who felt like extensions of ourselves. In many ways, we got to know each other through their personalities. Taylor is studious and high-achieving, obviously a Spencer. And I owned feather earrings because I saw Lucy Hale sport them in Season 1, so obviously an Aria. Asking “Are you more of a Hanna or an Emily?” held as much weight in 2012 as asking someone their rising sign in 2021. While it might not say much, it also tells you everything you need to know about a person.

PLL got its start right before live-tweeting shows became popularized, so when we weren’t together, I used to text Taylor on my slide-out keyboard phone (only Zillennials will remember) to compare notes without stumbling upon many spoilers. They read something like this: “Caleb and Hanna are soul mates, TBH.” Like every other fan, we theorized about why A had to be Ian… and Melissa… and Jenna… and Mona… and, you get the point. When our elaborate speculations ran cold, we’d pause DVR’d episodes to gather more clues, like glimpses of Red Coat’s face in her second season introduction, or inspections of those eerie-gloved hands assembling dolls and sharpening knives at the end of each episode.

This game of Clue made room for conversations about all the things. We were in high school during the show’s peak, so it felt like the Liars had laid the groundwork for how to operate our school’s halls. Rosewood High was not traditional — uh, multiple students came back from the dead (*cough* Mona and Alison) — but it did prepare us for the stressors of college applications and first romantic relationships. In fact, Benson’s Hanna Marin would be proud of my matchmaking skills because back then, I introduced Taylor to the boyfriend she’s still with today.

As we both grew up with the show, our friendship got even deeper. The Liars weren’t the only ones to share secrets, and I found it incredibly easy to confide in Taylor. She’s trustworthy, level-headed, compassionate, and an excellent listener. She’s someone I know will always pick up on the second ring and is the type of friend to be there with advice, reassurance, and a quick-witted one-liner. She once joked about never needing a diary because we’ve transcribed the past 10 years of our lives via text.

Our bond has remained strong, especially because the most outrageous PLL-esque plotlines of our lives are ones we’ve experienced together. I love Taylor because I don’t have to provide background for my stories. I’m even so familiar with the cast of characters in her life that when someone re-enters after a long period, I like to say they Alison DiLaurentis’ed her.

And on the off-chance she’s not there to witness something meaningful happen to me IRL, she’s always ready to decipher what went down over texts or dinner and drinks — just like we did when we were teens trying to figure out who A was (minus the wine, of course).

The way she can reconstruct my way of thinking and offer up a perspective I hadn’t seen before is almost paranormal. Whether these are Taylor’s naturally given talents or traits learned from peeling back all the layers of the series, I’m not sure. But she’s always there to decode situations with me — whether they relate to a TV show or during moments when I feel lost.

I couldn’t be more thankful that Taylor entered my life and that PLL played a role in our friendship. I feel so incredibly lucky to know someone like her. Plus, now I have someone who is obligated to watch the reboot with me. Ali was right: Friends do share secrets. And she’s ~quite literally~ the reason Taylor’s got all of mine. Spencer and Aria, you’ve got some competition.

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[day0one]

N.Y.C. Tenants Say They Were Tricked Into Appearing in R.N.C. Video  5 hrs ago

It started with an unexpected call last week from Lynne Patton, a longtime Trump associate who oversees federal housing programs in New York.

Ms. Patton told a leader of a tenants’ group at the New York City Housing Authority, the nation’s largest, that she was interested in speaking with residents about conditions in the authority’s buildings, which have long been in poor repair.

Four tenants soon assembled in front of a video camera and were interviewed for more than four hours by Ms. Patton herself. Three of the tenants were never told that their interviews would be edited into a two-minute video clip that would air prominently on Thursday night at the Republican National Convention and be used to bash Mayor Bill de Blasio, the three tenants said in interviews on Friday.

“I am not a Trump supporter,” said one of the tenants, Claudia Perez. “I am not a supporter of his racist policies on immigration. I am a first-generation Honduran. It was my people he was sending back.”

The episode represents another stark example of how President Trump has deployed government resources to further his political ambitions. Ms. Patton is head of the New York office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and under the Hatch Act is barred from using her government position to engage in political activities.

Throughout the convention, Mr. Trump has shattered the traditional boundaries between government and politics, and the video was aired on a night when the campaign took over the South Lawn of the White House, the first time that a major political convention has occurred there.

The public housing clip was the second instance of the Trump campaign’s misleading participants in an event involving the federal government that was filmed for the Republican National Convention. On Tuesday, the convention showed a video of five new American citizens being sworn in at a naturalization ceremony by Mr. Trump. Some of the five said they did not know that they were being filmed for a political event.

The four tenants in the public housing video were all interviewed on Friday by The New York Times. Three said they opposed President Trump and were misled about the video. The fourth, reached late Friday night, said she was a Trump backer and knew the purpose of the video.

In the video, the tenants raised concerns about conditions in the housing authority’s buildings, praised Mr. Trump’s record on public housing and attacked Mr. de Blasio’s. Ms. Perez, one of the tenants, said in an interview on Friday afternoon that she stood by her criticism of the authority but was furious about being tricked into appearing in a video shown at the R.N.C.

Ms. Perez said she had been called last week by another tenant leader, Carmen Quiñones, who said Ms. Patton was with her at the Frederick Douglass Houses in Manhattan and wanted to talk to residents about the housing authority’s performance.

Only after the questioning ended were the four tenants told that the interview was for the Republican Party, Ms. Perez said. But she said she was never told that it was for the convention.

Ms. Perez said she demanded to see the edited version of the clip, but no one ever showed it to her. She added that Ms. Quiñones called her minutes before the clip aired on Thursday night to say that it was about to be shown.

During the pandemic, Ms. Perez and Ms. Quiñones have helped to provide hundreds of thousands of meals to residents who would not have had food otherwise. One of the vendors who provided the food, a farming company owned by Muslims, called an associate of Ms. Perez on Friday and asked why she appeared in a video supporting Mr. Trump, Ms. Perez said.

Tim Murtagh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, defended the handling of the video. “All interview subjects were fully aware of the purpose of the interviews,” he said. “Lynne Patton was acting in her own personal capacity.”

Ms. Patton declined to be interviewed, saying that she was traveling. But she issued a statement denying that she misled the four tenants, saying that they knew that their interviews would be shown at the convention “to increase awareness of the inhumane conditions that Mayor de Blasio has allowed for far too long.”

“Each participated regardless of political party because they recognized the importance of having a voice on the national stage and the undeniable improvements that have transpired under this administration,” Ms. Patton said.

She said the video had been vetted and cleared for Hatch Act violations by the White House.

Ms. Patton said that she had spoken with all four tenants on Friday and that they were upset with the way The Times was “twisting their words.”

In a separate interview, Ms. Quiñones said she talked to Ms. Patton on Friday afternoon and was comfortable with how she was being portrayed by The Times. She said she was disappointed that her words had been twisted to make it seem as if she were a Trump supporter.

Ms. Perez and a third tenant, Manny Martinez, said they had not spoken with Ms. Patton on Friday and did not know what she was talking about.

Ms. Patton is a Trump family loyalist who before the president’s election organized tournaments on his golf courses and planned his son Eric’s wedding. She had little experience in housing policy before her appointment to HUD.

In 2019, a federal agency found that she had violated the Hatch Act by displaying a Trump campaign hat in her office and “liking” political tweets, though the agency did not recommend that she be disciplined.

Ms. Patton plays an important role in oversight of the New York City Housing Authority, which includes more than 300 properties, some with thousands of units. They have long been a lifeline for working-class tenants and have lengthy waiting lists for apartments.

But over the years, the buildings have deteriorated and have been plagued by poor maintenance.

In 2019, Mr. de Blasio agreed to accept a powerful monitor for the housing authority after a federal investigation documented squalid living conditions and mismanagement.

The one Trump supporter among the four tenants was Judy Smith, who is quoted in the video saying, “I’m grateful for the spotlight that President Trump is putting on New York City public housing.”

In the video, Ms. Smith also contended, without providing any evidence, that the de Blasio administration gave public housing preferences to undocumented immigrants.

In an interview on Friday night, Ms. Smith said she was pleased with the video. “The Republicans gave people in public housing a platform to express their grievances,” she said.

Explaining how the video came about, Ms. Quiñones, the leader of the tenants’ group, confirmed that Ms. Patton had reached out to her about assembling tenants to talk about the authority.

But Ms. Quiñones said she did not realize until the cameras started and the questions began that Ms. Patton had actually recruited the tenants for interviews for the party.

Ms. Quiñones said she wished that she had been told in advance that the clip would be shown at the convention. She said she was a lifelong Democrat who plans to vote for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in November. She was interviewed on Friday as she marched in Washington at the Get Your Knee Off Our Necks rally, sponsored by another Trump target, the Rev. Al Sharpton.

When asked whether she was concerned about being misled, Ms. Quiñones said, “It is what it is.”

She added that she decided to use the opportunity to highlight what she said were extensive problems at the housing authority under Mr. de Blasio.

“For me, this was not about party, but for us to make the national stage,” Ms. Quiñones said. “They were the only ones that offered. My own party didn’t offer.”

Ms. Quiñones said Ms. Patton had been a strong advocate for the housing authority.

[Video: Watch on YouTube.]

She said she supports the Democratic Party except for one person, Mr. de Blasio, whom she blamed for what she said were worsening conditions at the Douglass Houses in Manhattan and across the housing authority, which has 400,000 tenants.

The third tenant, Mr. Martinez, said he was asked to take part in the meeting with Ms. Patton with little notice, but took up the opportunity to air his concerns about public housing. “This was not an endorsement of Trump,” he said.

Mr. de Blasio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But on Thursday night, his press secretary, Bill Neidhardt, called the video a “cynical attempt to pit Black Americans against immigrants,” a reference to the assertion in the video by Ms. Smith that undocumented immigrants had been allowed to cut in line to get housing before American citizens.

“It’s wrong,” Mr. Neidhardt wrote on Twitter. “After decades of disinvestment, Mayor de Blasio has made historic investments in NYCHA. But at least this much is true: The Mayor lives rent-free in Trump’s head."