#just adding it to the pile of lesbian flags
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I made a lesbian flag
I wanted to make my own lesbian flag for fun, and because I have complicated feelings on Emily Gwen. I don't intend to replace their flag but I felt like making one so here it is!
[Image ID: A 7 stripe flag. The stripe colors, in descending order, are: purple; violet-magenta; pink white; reddish salmon; pale orange; pale golden yellow. The second image is the same flag with the assigned stripe meanings, in descending order: gender nonconformity; queer love of women; femininity; unity; lesbian history and diversity; masculinity and those tied to it; nonbinary lesbians and NBLW/WLNB love. End ID.]
Since Emily's is already called the sunset lesbian flag, perhaps this could be the sunrise lesbian flag or dawn lesbian flag. Yeah I like that. Dawn lesbian flag.
Stripe meaning explanations:
1. Gender nonconformity: lesbian history is rich in gender nonconformity. This obviously includes butches and futches, as well as pronoun nonconforming lesbians, trans lesbians, and nonbinary or genderqueer lesbians, but it also includes all lesbians who simply see loving women as nonconformity to traditional roles, something it was seen as historically before it was more normalized
2. Queer love of women: no matter what lesbian definition you use, a lesbian's love of women is queer. Purple is a color often seen in QLW terms, and as such I chose it to represent our love of women
3. Femininity: whether you're a femme or a trans man lesbian who feels a connection to femininity and through his AGAB, the femininity stripe represents all lesbians who feel a whole or partial connection to femininity, or simply have a deep love for femininity and feminine people
4. Unity: despite the fact that the lesbian label has so many different ways to be experienced, we're all united by the fact that we're lesbians. We are a community, united together.
5. Lesbian history and diversity: the lesbian label has a lot of diversity in it. Some lesbians are women who exclusively love women, and some lesbians are bigender boygirls who have split attractions between loving all genders and loving feminine genders. This diversity is backed by the history of the lesbian community and label. But on top of that, this stripe also pays homage to the significance of lesbians in queer history, especially how lesbians played an important role during the AIDS crisis.
6. Masculinity and those tied to it: This stripe is for the butches, the he/him lesbians, the transmasc and trans man lesbians, the lesboys, and all the other lesbians who feel connected to masculinity.
7. Nonbinary Lesbians and NBLW/WLNB love: Nonbinary lesbians have always existed and continue to exist to this day. They are a beautiful part of the lesbian label, and both nonbinary lesbians and lesbians who love nonbinary people are highlighted with this stripe.
I tried to make a 5 stripe variation but it didn't look as nice. This flag is inclusive of anyone who considers themselves a lesbian. All lesbians belong under this flag, and all lesbians may use it, even if I don't personally align with all your beliefs.
Tagging @queer-love-4-women for visibility, if they choose to reblog it.
#lesbian#lesbian flag#new lesbian flag#flag design#alternate flag#alt flag#alternative flag#flag redesign#pride flag redesign#except I don't want to replace any others#just adding it to the pile of lesbian flags
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“Hi, my name’s Chrissy.” A small blond girl said as she walked into the dorm room Robin was in, unpacking her own things onto her own side of the room.
"I'm Robin. Can I take this side, seeing as I'm already here?" She asked.
"Sure! Makes no difference to me." Chrissy answered. "Errmm I heard them saying something about a floor orientation in a couple hours as I was walking in by the way" she added.
"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about that but thank you anyway." Robin smiled at her.
The girls made idle chitchat until it was time to head to orientation. They walked to it together and sat together whilst a teacher talked them through the rules around being in each other's rooms and what time they had to be on the building for and what time they had to be in their room by. They were also given timetables for the coming week of orientation for the rest of the school.
As the week went on the girls realised that they had a lot of the same classes and lunch times. Not every class but most of them they shared. They spent any free periods during that first week wandering around the grounds exploring the parts they hadn’t yet been shown.
The end of the first week came quickly and the two girls were already very close. Robin had tried to avoid all talk of relationships or love interests and Chrissy seemed perfectly content to not talk about them either, just mentioning an ex called Jason everynow and then. On Friday morning it was slightly cooler than on the other days and a jacket was needed to walk around. On Chrissy’s jacket Robin noticed there was a little pin in the Bisexual colours.
“Erm, not to like make this a big thing or anything, and please tell me to shut up if i'm overstepping, because I really don't want to do that but ermmmm”
“Robin, what's the matter? What do you want to ask me?” Chrissy interrupted, already used to Robin’s rambling when she was nervous.
“Your badge.” Robin said, pointing at the lapel on Chrissy’s jacket. “Are the colours meant to be like the bisexual flag or is that a coincidence?”
“Yeah, they are. I’m bi, I’ve not wanted to say anything because I didn't want to make anything weird between us. I really like you, like as a person, so I didn't want to potentially ruin that.” Chrissy replied.
“As a lesbian it would be pretty hypocritical for me to be against you being bi really, other than men, ewww.” Robin giggled.
“Urg i know right” Chrissy laughed back. “Shall we head to breakfast? I’ll grab coffee if you grab pancakes?”
“Sure!” Robin said, grabbing her bag and following Chrissy out of the door.
Chrissy grabbed coffee, made just right as she had done the last couple of mornings, and Robin piled a plate up with pancakes and grabbed two further plates as well as syrups that would be needed.
They sat and ate breakfast and chatted about how they felt the first week had gone and how they thought they may enjoy being there when classes started up.
“Do you want to watch a movie together on my laptop tonight?” Robin asked shyly as they walked to class.
“Sure, sounds fun” Chrissy replied, sounding just as shy. “Anyway this is me, see you for lunch?”
“Yeah, see you at lunch, have a good morning,” Robin said, continuing to walk to her class.
Chrissy and Robin met up for lunch before having separate schedules for the afternoon. They always ate together, something they had done since the very first day. Something they both hoped would continue the whole time they were at school together.
After their evening meal they headed back to their room.
“What shall we watch?” Robin asked.
“Ok, so don’t judge me but I’ve been wanting to watch Emperors New Groove for so long! Can we?” Chrissy replied, her cheeks flushing as she did so.
“Of course we can. Let me find it and we can watch it.” Robin smiled.
Robin found the film and Chrissy rounded up all the pillows and blankets ready for getting comfy and watching.
They sat close on Robin's bed and both ended up under the same duvet and sat touching arms.
After the first film they watched the first Iron Man movie and both became very sleepy during it.
Robin opened her eyes slowly, aware very quickly that she wasn’t in her bed alone. Light was streaming in through the window. They had forgotten to close the curtains last night apparently.
Looking straight ahead all she could see was a mass of strawberry blonde hair. Oh shit. Chrissy had slept in her bed!
“Mmm morning” came a very sleepy voice from beside her. Then a much more awake “Oh,”
#fanfic#ficlet#au fic#au gust#au gust 2023#steve harrington#chrissy x robin#robin x chrissy#robin buckley#chrissy cunningham#buckingham ficlet#buckingham
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What do you mean with the first post you made this month? What did he do to sh*romi with the LGBQT+ Thing?
i'm sorry, this got a little longer than i intended so i'm putting it under a cut
A while ago he posted an answer on the reddit stating that Shiromi would date any student council member which led to a lot of people declaring her as lgbt+ rep in yansim
Probably also worth mentioning is that the only other possible rep we have - male!Ayano, plus Taeko and the rivals in her timeline - is currently locked behind the crowdfunding campaign. Imo this is very much a situation of dev trying to milk the lgbt+ community's wallets by promising us rep if and only if we fork over money to him, not to mention that he goes to lengths to make sure we know that the rivals are only bisexual in the Taeko timeline and their sexuality is "unknown" if Taro is male. All of this makes Shiromi the only rep we have right now
The biggest issue I have is that Shiromi's only character trait is being abnormal and disturbing. Almost everything we know about her so far ties back to how ~strange and quirky~ she is (which is a problem all on its own but I'm not going to get into that right now). Other students either see her as a joke or hate/fear/are disgusted and annoyed by her. And she is a horrible and disgusting person in canon: she grabs stray dogs off the street and grooms them only to kick them back out, she looks up skirts, collects belly button lint, etc. With all of this, it feels as though him adding the trait that she likes girls is just meant to be another thing on the "gross weirdo" pile
I also feel like she's almost definitely heading in the direction of the predatory lesbian stereotype, with the looking up skirts thing + the fact that the other sc members she would apparently date are all canonically uncomfortable around her
When answering another question about lgbt+ characters, he said that Shiromi "isn't bound to our mortal labels", which to me feels like he's using it as a punchline. And again, all of this was only brought up on reddit - Shiromi doesn't count as representation if it's not even in the actual source material
I have a lot of general issues with how this game and its developer have treated the lgbt+ community, but even putting all that aside, I think Shiromi is a big red flag for how representation in this game will look going forward. That's why I'm not getting my hopes up for this supposed character in the next build
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Janus, did you follow up with Remus on that invitation? Or are you too giddy with your new boyfriend?👀👀
(Words: 2578)
Janus: “Oh yes Remus....I had totally not forgotten because I have been too busy being giddy about Logan. Totally not. I am afraid if I meet up with Remus right now I will simply be so giddy with so much love I will actually explode and die on the spot. But that is a risk I am willing to take!
Janus took a deep breathe. This was the third deep breathe he’d taken in a row and yet he kept being just as nervous. He’d hung out with Remus twice already, simply knocking on his door shouldn’t be making him this anxious. It was stupid. He was stupid.
He gave up on trying to calm down and knocked on the door.
The door opened. His breath hitched and he subconsciously straightened his back to look more alright.
To his surprise it wasn’t Remus that opened. At first glance he could have mistaken it for him. The person- the woman opening looked nearly identical to him after all. Same dark brown hair color, same brown nearly red eyes seeming to pierce into his soul, even the same birthmark above their lip.
Only difference being that her hair was longer, reaching her waist, and she wasn’t as skinny, in turn making her figure more full.
“Who are you?” She asked in a cold tone, it sounded more like a snarl.
“Janus” He reached out his hand “I’m Janus”
She slammed the door shut.
Janus let out a sigh. He’d spent the entire bus ride worrying about how badly Remus would react to seeing him but wow this was even worse. He was just about to go home and sulk when the door swung open again.
“Okay come in” The woman said while dragging him into the living room.
“t-thank you” Janus stammered out.
His cheeks heated up when he locked eyes with Remus who was sitting on the sofa. His friend quickly glanced away and crossed his arms over his chest.
The sofa had been made into a makeshift bed and suitcases laid littered over the floor. The lady sat him down on the couch before slumping over in a newly bought fainting cough. She had on a red robe while Remus had on a pyjamas with an octopus pattern on.
“So my dear eh demented Remus I am here to inform you that there is a giant seamonster in my bathtub so I had to go somewhere else...And I happened to choose this place...for tactical battle reasons!” Janus blurted out.
A weight lifted off his shoulders when Remus shone up into a smile at his made up story. Janus couldn’t help but stare at his sharp teeth. He knew him being obsessed with vampires as a teenager would bite him in the neck one day.
“Want me to kill it?”
Janus looked up from his mouth “What? The uh monster?” He put on his usual charming smile “Well of course darling. You only have to be ready to be eaten to death”
“OH I am ALways ready to be eaten to death. Trust me!”
“He got voted most likely to have a cannibalism kink in 10th grade” The woman added on. She was extravagantly fanning herself with a deliciously decorated fan.
“I was!” Remus exclaimed with a proud smile.
“Who- Who are you?” Janus tried to say in the nicest tone possible.
“She’s my frankenstein monster which I created just to bitch around and annoy me” “Life saw what kind of fuck up he was and made me out of diamonds and a lion’s pride to be the better version of him!” They said at the same time.
They glanced at each other before looking back at Janus.
“She’s my twin” “He’s my twin” They continued on at the same time again.
The lightbulb inside Janus’ brain finally lit up “Oh you’re Rowan aren’t you? I have heard many atrocious tales about you”
“The one and only” She moved her arms into some sort of regal pose while saying it “I’ve heard stories of you too you pitiful Janus. Re-re has told me he hates you and finds you awfully boring but you seems so lonely and sad he doesn’t want to tell you!”
Remus’ eyes widened into panic as he shook his head “I never said that!! Lies!!! Defimation!!!!”
“Re-Re I was joking”
“Oh............ok”
He kept fiddling with his oversized shirt. He looked over at his sister while moving further away from Janus. Rowan nodded back at him.
“Sibling meeting!” She exclaimed as she abruptly stood up while dropping the fan. She grabbed onto Remus and dragged him into the bedroom.
Janus stayed with his hands awkwardly clasped between his thighs. He hadn’t known he would walk into his greatest weakness: Meeting new peopel!!!
He looked around the room and slowly realized that the suitcases weren’t even unpacked. Meaning Rowan must have just arrived. Meaning Janus had inserted himself into a sibling reunion.
Holy shit. He was a piece of shit.
He slumped down on the green covers of the makeshift sofa bed....wait....Remus’ stuffed octopus laid on the pillow. Meaning it was his bed.....so Rowan was using the bedroom.
It all clicked at once. The cheerful disney posters. The white fluffy pillows everywhere. The walls being painted gold and red. THE LESBIAN FLAG HANGING ON THE WALL.
This wasn’t Remus’ apartement. This was Rowan’s apartement which Remus had weasled himself into.
Holy shit. Janus wasn’t just a piece of shit. He was a stupid piece of shit. Remus was never going to love him back!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH-
Meanwhile Remus was looking around in the heaps of dirty clothes and trash that had piled up in the bedroom while Rowan had been away. His sister was standing over him with her hands clasped in front of her chest.
“Soooo Re-Re do you have a cruuush on him?” She had an extremly smug smile on her face.
“I would rather eat a burning stone than have a crush” He muttered back.
“He’s not even pretty”
“Ro-Ro you don’t think any guy is pretty”
“That’s not true!” She disagreed. She began to count on her fingers. “Tarzan” That was it.
“He’s animated!”
“He still counts!”
Remus took a deep breathe “We shall savor this battle for another day and it shall be glorious”
“It sure will brother!” Rowan tightened her fist.
They made angry grimaces at each other for a few seconds before going back to being normal. Remus tried looking under the bed.
“He’s a total dork you realize that right? He isn’t good at hiding it either” She stated “So I guess he isn’t the worst guy to have a crush on”
“I don’t have a crush on him!”
She sent him another smug look “Oh really? I’m not so sure about that!”
“I’M NOT INTERESTED IN HIM!”
She held up her hands “Alright. Alright. I hear you”
Rowan patted him on the shoulder. He took a shaky breathe to calm down. He held up a binder. The reason he had been searching the bedroom in the first place.
“Could you help-”
“Yep”
“I don’t want him seeing me without it”
“Got it”
He took off his shirt and forced the binder down around his shoulders. Rowan made sure to only touch the binder as she pulled it down so it sat properly.
“I saw that my money has been getting sent to a therapist” Rowan said while leaning her chin on his shoulder “Proud of you”
“OHOHO It is not at all what you think it is. It’s as much therapy as you having that spiritual guide living here for a while was actually spiritual in any way and not you just your girlfriend”
She sighed “Still an idiot I see................ANd we did burn candles when we shared baths so it was really spiritual actually!!!”
Remus shrugged “I don’t need therapy anyway” She did a facepalm “Hey it’s true!! You let me live all on my own and look! I’m not dead in a ditch or addicted to ketamine or whatever you thought was gonna happen the moment you turned your back”
Rowan rolled her eyes “Sure dukey”
She went back out into the living room while he stayed to put on his shirt again. Janus sat still in nearly the exact same place they’d left him. As if he was afraid doing anything would ruin everything.
He looked at her with almost fear. It turned into definitive fear when Rowan walked up to him and grabbed onto him to shove his back against the couch. She towered over him and pierced her eyes right into his.
“Listen here you swept together ball of dirt” She snarled out “If you ever hurt my brother, in any way, I will make sure you have nightmares from what I did to you every single night for the rest of your miserable life! You’ll never feel peace ever again!”
Janus gulped “Yes ma’am”
Rowan let go of him and shone up into a smile “Good! If you need me I’ll be in my room putting on a face mask!”
She walked off at the same time Remus came back. Janus sat even stiller on the couch. His crush slumped down next to him and rolled his thumbs.
“So whatcha wanna do?” Rem asked.
Janus shook his head to relax “Whatever you want to do dear”
Remus shone up into a grin and dashed to pick something up “UNO!”
“Ah yes. I am of course a feared master of...uno”
He snorted while sorting the cards between his fingers “Please say that again”
“Uno?”
The snort turned into a laugh “It’s just cute to hear non spanish speakers saying uno. That’s your whole vibe. Cute. Dorky. Smart dumbass. You’re like...the decaying corpse of a chipmunk!”
Janus took a moment “.....thanks. Best compliment I’ve ever gotten”
“No problem! Now I’ll make up for it by beating you in uno!”
It was a heated battle. Remus apparently had incredibly luck in all card games. Janus used the technique of distraction (!) and started talking about obscure conspiracy theories. It failed as his crush already knew the conspiracies. Which then started an even more heated debate about which conspiracy was the best all while the battle of cards continued.
Finally it came down to Janus having 1 card and Remus having 2. The snake let out a villanous laugh. After his crush’s turn the victory would be his!
But then Remus laid the card equivalent of slapping him across the face with both a sword And a dick. He laid a skip card! Janus fell back on the couch in exasperated horror as his crush laid his last card.
“WOOHOO FUCKER! GET KICKED IN THE BALLS BITCHASS!!” Remus yelled while getting up and running a few victory laps around the couch.
Janus laid in stunned silence. few times had he been beated this good.
“I’ll destroy you in the next round” Jan shook his fist to be extra extra.
“Oh really now. You dare challenge the great Buttmaster420!? IN uNO? Truly brave” Remus replied with a cocky grin.
Another fierce match began. As did their conspiracy theory debate. 1 win for Janus. 1 for Remus. Somewhere along the line they made popcorn. A second win for the snake boy.
2 wins vs 2 wins. This was it. Remus looked his friend up and down like he was a comboy about to shoot him in the heart as he laid a pick up 4 cards card. Janus gasped. The tension in the air could be cut with a butter knife.
The final card landed. Remus won. Janus pretended to faint.
They shook hands and exchanged looks of respect before bursting out into laughter.
“Alright alright” Remus chuckled out “Snakey since I won I get to decide what we do next!”
“Please not a satanic ritual. I already have that planned for Monday”
“Oh nonono! Much better! Y’know those ghost hunting videos on youtube??? Yeah I love finding really badly made ones and laughing at them!”
“Ah yes, because if there is one thing I am known to do it is laugh at others”
They sat on opposite ends of the couch while Rem searched deeply after the best trash. He found a 15 minute one where they were apparently being chased by slenderman.
They exhanged jokes and giggles over it but to be honest most of what Janus focused on was just being in his crush’ apartement. He tried to sneakily look around to aww at the drawings and storyboards pinned onto the walls. The small sculptures made out of trash laying in droves on the floor. It all made his heart flutter. His entire body yearned to make out until his lips hurt.
Meanwhile Remus was sneaking looks at Janus. His eyes was filled with the ace equivalent of lust.
“...Can...Are...Can I use you as a pillow?” He quietly asked. “You look soft”
Janus’ cheeks went red from blushing in an instant “...sure”
Remus moved closer and carefully leaned his head onto his friend’s stomach. He hadn’t cuddled a person who wasn’t his sister for over a year. Holy shit. This was comfy!
“You’re very doughy!....THAt’s a compliment!” Remus said.
“You really are pulling out your A game compliments today huh”
“Better than pulling out my massive dick!! No but seriously this” He pointed at them both in their cuddly positions “fucks!”
“Oh trust me darling the last thing I am doing right now is fucking”
Remus burst out into a cackle and flapped his hands “You’re gold snakey!!”
“I try my best”
While they continued to watch videos Janus gently moved his hand down to stroke his fingers through his crush’s hair. At first Remus flinched but then he relaxed into it and told him to keep going.
The popcorn bowl got emptied. They laughed at the videos until their stomaches hurt. Remus playfully moved his hands up to cover his friend’s eyes every time a jumpscare happened. Jan pretended to try and bite his’ fingers every time.
Eventually Remus let out a yawn. For a moment he relaxed and cuddled closer. He even let his eyes close. Before he suddenly flinched. His eyes were wide open as he sat straight up.
“I’m tired. You should go” He choked out.
Janus thought before deciding to not question his strange reaction. He sent him a warm smile “You’re right. It’s late. I can text you about meeting up later”
“For sure!”
A silence hung around them as they went over to the entrance door. Remus leaned against the door frame. Janus took a step outside the apartement as he put his jacket on.
They glanced at each other. Neither said goodbye. Remus picked at his skin.
“...I....Janny...I...Okay this might seem weird with me wanting you to leave and most of the time not wanting you to touch me....But I...I kind of trust you... More than most people. I mean it’s rare for me to trust anyone in any way....so yeah...I just wanted you to know that”
Janus fumbled after what to say “Thank you. That’s- I’m flattered....I trust you too....I wouldn’t let you see me when I wasn’t perfect if I didn’t”
Remus smiled at him. A small but genuine smile. “I’ll see you then”
“Yeah” Janus’ chest warmed “Don’t die when I’m not looking!”
“Oh nonono. If I die I’ll make it so dramatic you won’t be able to miss it!” His voice softened “Stay safe..please”
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I posted 4,283 times in 2021
71 posts created (2%)
4212 posts reblogged (98%)
For every post I created, I reblogged 59.3 posts.
I added 160 tags in 2021
#august rants - 116 posts
#ask games - 7 posts
#supernatural - 6 posts
#spn - 6 posts
#destiel - 5 posts
#anti religion - 5 posts
#q slur - 5 posts
#don't reblog - 4 posts
#books - 3 posts
#to read - 3 posts
Longest Tag: 132 characters
#reblogging this bc u were just so gosh darn sweet to take the time to rec all these!!! all of these are going in my country playlist
My Top Posts in 2021
#5
I'm just gonna say it once... Lil Nas X's video is not good for the fight for homosexual rights. It paints gay men as overly sexual, wearing make up and heels as if those are good, freeing things. He is also "reclaiming" the connection between being gay and being satanic/evil/sinful which... Are we really up for that, especially in a "serious"/unironic context? I sure am not willing to have my homosexuality connected with antigod/sinful shit, bc I don't even believe in god, let alone this Christian god... And this is still very much used against us (homosexuals), as we are seen as evil, sexually perverse, sinful.
I also follow mostly supposed radfems or gender critical feminists or lesbian feminists... And it's tiresome to only see uncritical praise. This video was not good for women, it was not good for lesbians, like I said it isn't even good for gay men... So I don't understand.
Men trivializing make up and heels, tools which are used against women, to keep us uncomfortable within ourselves, is not a service, even if it were a fully positive message in the gay rights front (which, as established, it isn't).
I think it's amazing that Lil Nas X is open and outspoken about being gay, that is clearly awesome, especially since there's not nearly enough out black gay men in the public light.
That being said not every action he takes, no matter how he himself perceives it, is politically positive to gay people (let alone to women, though I understand that only matters to feminists, and is a separate issue from gay rights). Take off your rose colored glasses. If you are a feminist you should be analysing this from a different perspective. I'm not saying cancel him, I'm just saying he is not exempt from criticism. Or at least he shouldn't be. My dash lately has been disappointingly blind to the negative connotations of this video.
49 notes • Posted 2021-04-01 14:58:46 GMT
#4
I imagine that pride month and rainbow flags were meant to be fun. I will never know that experience. We were supposed to be allowed to enjoy bright colors and celebrations of our lives as same sex attracted individuals.
Capitalism and post modernism have made the world such a shit pile that to me rainbows are literally symbols of the homophobic heterosexuals who go around telling lesbians they should be available to date men. They've twisted the actual concept of oppression and homophobia to such an extent they literally are able to overlay other flags over the rainbow flag and call that progress. They erase the lesbian flag (and by that I mean the labrys flag), and call it a "TERF" flag.
I'm honestly just tired of seeing homophobes and misogynists being centered during "pride". Pride month and pride parades have no meaning anymore, and I know too many lesbians who don't feel welcome or happy during these times that were supposed to be about community and joy among other same sex attracted individuals, among homosexual people.
Pride is now a celebration of heterosexuality, of medically abusing children, of fetishes, and of males in power. Words mean nothing among self-proclaimed qu**r people (aka heterosexuals with a desire to be special) and at the end of the day pride was coopted as no more than a marketing strategy centered on upkeeping the status quo.
65 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 00:51:20 GMT
#3
Random request..... Is there anyone out here who listens to country music and could make some recs? Looking for female artists only
177 notes • Posted 2021-07-08 03:16:28 GMT
#2
youtube
Let's take feminist action. This video is about a project to get cloth pads to teen girls in Eastern Kenema Sierra Leone. You can help by creating a Hygiene Kit yourself and shipping it by September 1st 2021 (more info on the video), or by donating [here]. Their goal is £5k, and they are at only 39% of that goal as of right now (June 8th 2021).
251 notes • Posted 2021-06-08 09:29:08 GMT
#1
Hi! I saw your comment about “new radfems” not reading radfem theory and I was wondering if you could list some resources or tell me where to find some? I’ve only recently started to read radfem blogs and I really want to get into it more, and not just read posts about it. Thank you so much, I appreciate your blog!
Hey! I'm really glad you want to do your research, it is heartwarming to know the newbies out there actually want to study the theory.
I think The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir is probably one of the most important and complete books in the path to understanding Radical Feminism. It is also super long and daunting, so while I do think it should be a read-in-progress for all of us, I think it's important to have more "beginner friendly" books, in order to avoid burn out. [link to pdf]
I've been into radical feminism since 2017 now, and I'm not a great reader, so for those of us who find it hard to focus for too long, I think Andrea Dworkin is also a good place to start. Her books are filled with rage – and important analysis. I find her language easier to keep up with, more approachable if you will. Woman Hating was my first [pdf]. You can find all of her other works [here] as well.
The book that made me want to really read more and get educated is honestly A Politically Incorrect Feminist: Creating a Movement with Bitches, Lunatics, Dykes, Prodigies, Warriors, and Wonder Women, by Phyllis Chesler. It's an autobiography, and gives some great insight on what it was like to be involved directly in the Second Wave, and also why sisterhood is powerful and needed, but also not easy to achieve. It gave me hope, and helped me to see radical feminism in a new refreshed light. You can get the audiobook for free as an [Audible trial].
[Radfem.org] has some other books handy as well
And [here] is a post with some other feminist books.
My current to-read list, as offered by a dear friend who's been involved with radical feminism for the past 10+ years, is as follows:
> The Second Sex - Simone de Beauvoir (a current read-in-progress for me)
> Lesbian Nation - Jill Johnston [borrow]
> For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology - Sarah Lucia Hoagland, Julia Penelope [borrow]
> Sappho was a Right-on Woman: A Liberated View of Lesbianism [borrow]
> The Lesbian Revolution: Lesbian Feminism in the UK 1970-1990 - Sheila Jeffreys
> The Wanderground - Sally Miller Gearhart [borrow]
> Woman Hating - Andrea Dworkin
> Intercourse - Andrea Dworkin [pdf]
> SCUM Manifesto - Valerie Solanas [pdf]
> Lesbian origins - Susan Cavin [borrow]
> Sisterhood is Powerful - Robin Morgan [pdf]
> Like There's No Tomorrow - Carolyn Cage [pdf]
> The Lesbian Heresy: A Feminist Perspective on the Lesbian Sexual Revolution - Sheila Jeffrey [pdf]
> Gyn/Ecology - Mary Daly [pdf]
Okay so now I flooded you with reading material... What next? How do you even get started, how do you tackle this?
I think first of all it's really important to find community. There are discord servers out there for radical feminists and gender critical women, communities which are open to you, and were made for women just like you. Surround yourself with women, build yourself up with them. Don't just say your politics are woman centric, but actually make your life woman centric. And read up. Study. Trade notes, ask questions, question... Everything. Be critical. Not just of your past beliefs, but of this new information. Where is it coming from? Who wrote it? What do they gain from it? Who loses if they win?
Be aware that radical feminism is a political movement. It can be heavy. Unfortunately, we deal with the knowledge that the world is ugly, especially ugly towards women. Part of radical feminism is addressing borrow such as human trafficking, pedophilia, incest, and the likes. Have positive things to balance this out, take breaks, take your time. Work against overwhelming yourself. You can do this.
Apply the same kindness you'd offer other women to yourself, and treat yourself with respect. Reach out! To me, to others. We're here for you. We have space for you. We'll make time, we'll try our best. I just spent an hour finding these links for you. Not because you owe me anything, or vice versa. But because I care that you have a good experience of it. We are stronger together.
Anyway, take care. Good luck!
2776 notes • Posted 2021-02-12 01:58:10 GMT
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Tree House Kisses, Chapter 21 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica
A/N: I am very excited to post this chapter, especially because I get to include this outstanding artwork by my HERO, @grinder-lector-art. It’s the banner on my own blog and every time I look at it, I get a bit weepy-eyed. -V
Also, this seems like a good a time as any to plug the wonderful moodboards that Scorpio made to go along with this story (including a few specifically inspired by this chapter). If you’re looking for previous chapters, click here! Xoxo!
Chapter Summary: Everything falls apart. But it’s Courtney’s party, and she’ll cry if she wants to…
Chapter 21: It’s Raining on Prom Night
“Hello party guests!” Darienne called over the mic. “We are now serving dinner! Please help yourself to the lovely Mexican spread, over by the garden. It is all vegetarian and the trays marked with a pink heart are vegan. Don’t make that face, Adrian, you’ll be fine,” she chastised Adore’s brother. “Anyway, after you have your plate, the birthday girl has requested for you all to take your seats, as we have some entertainment, produced by Courtney and Thorgy and starring some people here tonight...I wonder who?!”
She stepped away from the mic, trying to help usher people towards the food, especially the slower-moving adults and the cheerleaders who were still on the dance floor fooling around.
“Mrs. Del Rio!” she beckoned Roy’s mom over. “Look, only a few people know this, but there’s a secret tray of chicken under the veggie skewers. For VIP carnivore guests only. Tell your husband.”
Aida laughed, giving her a hug. “Thank you, honey. Courtney already tipped us off, but we appreciate you looking out for us.”
“I do my best,” Darienne said, winking. She walked over to the main table where Courtney had a confused and mildly irritated look on her face. “Dari, there’s one too many seats here. Is it because of Raja? Didn’t we fix this? I don’t want an empty chair right up front, it’ll look weird--”
“Calm down, it won’t be empty.”
“Well, who’s sitting here?” Courtney put her hands on her hips.
Darienne imitated her pose, hands on her own hips, and leaned in. “It’s a surprise. Go get yourself some dinner, Miss Sweet Sixteen, and don’t worry about it!”
Courtney narrowed her eyes, and after a beat, backed down, pulling Adore and Roy with her over to the food. “I’ve got my eye on you, Darienne!”
Darienne laughed, shaking her head, and pulled out her phone.
-
“Courtney, everything is set up if you want to start the video,” Thorgy said.
“Okay…” she glanced down at her phone again. Still no answer from her dad. “Let’s just wait one more minute, until everyone is sitting.”
“Cool. Tell me when to hit the lights and then--”
“Shut up, Thorgy.” Darienne shoved him out of the way and stood behind Courtney’s chair, covering her eyes.
“Hey!”
“I told you there was a surprise, right? Well...it’s a little late due to flight delays and other extenuating circumstances, but...come on out!”
There were few delighted gasps and squeals from the table, and Courtney exclaimed, “What? What?!”
Darienne uncovered Courtney’s eyes and turned her chair around and standing there, in a black and white checkered dress, was Dela.
Courtney let out an ear-piercing shriek, jumping up and throwing her arms around her old friend. “DELA! OMIGOD! I can’t believe you’re here! How are you?! How’s Seattle?! I miss you! Oh my god!!” Courtney jumped up and down, hugging her tightly.
Dela laughed and hugged her back. “Happy Birthday, sweetie. I missed you too! Sorry I’m late…”
Courtney pulled away, teary-eyed, and sat Dela down beside her. Darienne laughingly moved the place card that had been there (Roy’s) and soon everyone was chattering excitedly and catching up, hearing about Dela’s new school in Seattle. Courtney promised to tell Dela the story in detail of how she and Roy became an official couple after the video.
“And we finally learned the truth of why Adore never liked me,” Bob joked, causing Adore to roll her eyes.
“Is it because you were so annoying?” Dela smiled.
“Absolutely,” Adore said.
“Not,” Bob added.
Courtney filled her in about the family that had moved into her house.
“See the pretty blonde over there next to Gia? Her name is Pearl. She’s really nice, actually. Adore tried to fuck her but that didn’t work out.”
Dela’s eyes widened and then she looked over at Bob, who made an “I told you so” face.
Adore scoffed, offended. “That is not how it went down.”
Courtney shrugged, smirking, and replied with a teasing, “Whatever you say,” and a hair toss.
Dela giggled. “So, I heard there’s about to be some intense walk down memory lane video? Is that true, because I love those, it’s my favorite part of every wedding, every Bat Mitzvah…”
“Yeah, we were about to play it.”
“Go for it! I better be in it though.”
Courtney grinned. “Oh, trust me. You are.”
-
As Adore suspected, the video was incredibly long and cheesy, filled with tons of photos of Courtney, Courtney with her family, Courtney with friends. There were also a lot more video clips than Adore anticipated - from recitals, home movies, including a gem from Courtney’s first day of kindergarten that she’d never seen.
“Courtney, love, please come out! Bob is waiting so nicely!” Karen cajoled.
“NO!” Courtney shouted, stomping her feet, refusing to come out the front door,
Bob, already tall and lanky at five years old, sat down on the front steps, head in his hands, clearly over Courtney and her temper tantrum.
“Courtney, why don’t you want to come out? You love school...” Karen wheedled.
She opened the door a crack and shouted, “I love PRESCHOOL! I don’t want to go to kindergarten! I’m too small! Everyone is going to be mean to me!” She slammed the door with a loud bang, continuing, “NO NO NO NO NO!”
Bob shook his head at the camera, rolling his eyes.
“Roy! Vanessa!” The camera flipped around to catch the Del Rio kids walking down the block, Karen at her wit’s end, begging them to help convince Courtney how much she’d love kindergarten.
Roy scampered inside and emerged 20 seconds later, holding Courtney’s hand, a big smile on her face.
“Roy’s gonna beat up anyone who’s mean to me!” Courtney announced happily, skipping down the steps.
Everyone at the party let out a collective “Awwwwww…”
Roy shook his head. “I was so full of shit. You think I was about to get in trouble by starting a fight my first day of school? That goes on your permanent record. Luckily for me, no one was mean to her.”
Courtney laughed and kissed him. “It was a comforting lie.”
On the screen, young Roy put his arm around Bob and led him and Courtney down the block towards the elementary school. “Kindergarten is great. You get to play all day and sing songs and do lots of fun stuff.”
“Did you like it, Roy?” Courtney asked, gazing up at him.
“I thought it was kind of boring, but I was already reading books. You’ll love it.”
Adore shook her head, chuckling, as the video faded back into photos. Even in first grade, Roy was a patronizing know-it-all.
-
Willam and Pearl dug into their food, plates piled high with enchiladas, Spanish rice, beans, grilled chicken that they’d begged off Adore’s mom, veggie skewers, salad, taquitos, and mini quesadillas, amused grins on both of their faces as they watched Courtney’s baby videos.
A video of Courtney and Adore learning to rollerblade played across the screen. A young Adore was pretty good, compared to a falling and pouting Courtney.
“Attagirl, Lesbian!” Willam cheered, earning a glare from Adore, three tables away.
Pearl leaned over and murmured, “Why does this feel like a wedding more than a birthday party?” Pearl glanced down into Willam’s lap to see him texting someone.
“Or a funeral,” Willam mumbled back, causing Pearl to laugh which was covered up by the chuckles from the crowd laughing at Adore having to hold Courtney’s hands to help her skate.
Willam slid his phone over to Pearl, to show her the texts he had been sending Adore all night. Most of them had been him insulting Adore on her horrible fashion choices during her preteen years. Pearl shook her head, snickering to herself as she shoved another mouthful of rice into her mouth.
“What y’all laughing at?” Alyssa whispered leaning forward on the table.
The screen started off black, a few girls could be heard talking. The camera shook, before a round face framed with red hair in pigtails popped into view.
“Okay, it’s on,” Darienne said before she ran off screen.
“Turn the music on!” someone hissed. Seconds later the music started and Adore ran into view, hair teased huge, in an animal print top and pleather pants. Followed by Courtney, in white gogo boots and a British flag dress.
“Ohhhh, shit!” Willam began cackling with glee.
And then the rest of the girls. April wore a black dress and stilettos, hair ironed flat. Dela was in track pants and a sports bra, and Darienne was in a little pink dress with white sketchers, sucking on a lollipop.
Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
Pearl’s mouth dropped open and Willam covered his mouth to hold in his laughter as they watched the girls prance around the room.
Darienne was a beat behind the rest of the girls, obviously missing steps, and clearly uncomfortable as Baby, comically overplaying the cutesy little girl thing to the point where it was nearly creepy. Dela and Courtney were the most enthusiastic, and seemed to know all the moves (with Courtney as a nearly manic Ginger and Dela really trying to sell Sporty’s “tomboy” vibe).
Watching a younger Adore, who was apparently Scary, prance around the room trying to keep up with Courtney and Dela was absolutely hilarious. Every time they had to turn, she would go the wrong way, at one point crashing into Dela and nearly knocking her over. And April’s imitation of Posh Spice, barely doing the moves at all, an air of “too cool” apathy only added to the overall disorganized vibe.
“This is soooo embarrassing,” Gia whispered to no one in particular, but everyone at the table heard her.
“Gurl,” Alyssa nodded.
WILLAM: Nice moves, you guys could have replaced the real spice girls
ADORE: Fuck off
PEARL: Was this professionally choreographed?
ADORE: Fuck. Offffff!
Adore glared at Willam and Pearl as they doubled over laughing, flipping her phone closed and crossing her arms. She watched them prance around on the screen and couldn’t help, but remember the arguments that took place just for this video to happen.
April, Adore, Courtney, Darienne and Dela had gathered at Courtney’s house and as they sat around the living room listening to the Spice Girls, Courtney suggested that they should make their own Wannabe video.
“Oh! That’ll be so fun,” Bendela said, the other girls nodded excited about Courtney’s idea.
“I’ll go get the camera!” Courtney ran off.
“I’m Posh,” April said.
“I’m Ginger,” Adore quickly called.
“Don’t you think I should be Ginger? I mean I have red hair,” Darienne suggested and Adore made a face.
“You can be Scary,” Adore suggested.
“If we’re doing this, I think I should be Ginger, I have red hair, I’m the oldest. April should be Posh, Courtney should be Baby-”
“No, I wanna be Ginger,” Courtney rushed back into the living room with her Dad’s camera, interrupting Darienne. “I’m the biggest Spice Girls fan, and I love Geri, I--”
“Too late! I already called Ginger,” Adore said smugly.
Courtney’s mouth twisted up in anger, gripping the camera tightly; steam was practically shooting out of her ears. “Adore Delano you know I waited FIVE HOURS at the Glendale Galleria to get Geri Halliwell’s autograph, and I have the British flag dress, and I--”
“Blah blah blah, whatever Baby!”
Five minutes later and Adore and Courtney were still in a heated argument over who got to be Ginger.
April watched on in amusement, happy that no one was trying to take Posh away from her, Dela just wanted the arguing to be over and Darienne didn’t understand why they thought they were more Ginger Spice than her.
“It’s! Not! Fair!” Courtney stomped her foot, crossing her arms and pouting at Adore.
“Yes! It! Is!” Adore mocked Courtney stomping her foot and crossing her arms, “I called it first. So I’m Ginger.”
“If you’re anyone, you’re Sporty,” Courtney rolled her eyes.
Adore took a step back from Courtney, fuming, looking around the room to see the other girls’ reactions. Dela sat down next to Darienne, silently offering her snack to her.
Adore leaned to Courtney whispering, “I should have been Ginger and you know it.”
Courtney stuck her tongue out in response, before shaking her head, “I think you made a good Scary. And you’d have been good as Sporty, too.”
“What?! Now that I think about it, that was a totally homophobic suggestion,” Adore said.
“Hey, if it looks like a duck, and walks like a...well...”
Adore’s eyes bulged and her mouth opened in mock offense, and Courtney laughed, leaning over and kissing her forehead.
“I’m pretty sure I’d be the best choice for Ginger,” Darienne whispered to Dela, who nodded in agreement.
“Well, you’re the obvious Baby, Courtney! Come on!” Adore cajoled desperately.
“Ugh!!” Courtney screeched, then cried, “You know what? We don’t have to make the video at all.” She turned around and tried to run off before Adore stopped her.
“Okay, okay, fine. I’ll be Scary because she has the coolest hair and you can be Ginger,” Adore huffed out in annoyance.
“Yay!” Courtney cheered, wrapping her arms around Adore, planting a wet kiss on her cheek, “You can be Ginger next time, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Adore said, knowing full well that Courtney was lying and that she’d pull the same shenanigans next time, if there ever even was a next time.
“So, that means April’s Posh, Adore is Scary, I’m Ginger, Dela you can be Sporty and Darienne can be Baby,” Courtney turned to the other girls. Darienne frowned, not really on board with the casting.
“Courtney, are you sure you don’t want to be Baby. I mean you’re blonde and cute and would make the perfect Baby,” she tried to convince her one last time.
Courtney frowned, “Do you want to be Sporty?” the tremor in her voice and the look on her face told Darienne that they would be in for another tantrum if she kept arguing, and she didn’t think she could deal with it.
“Fine, I’ll be Baby,” Darienne sighed.
-
“I’m never gonna forgive you for dredging up that Spice Girls video…” Adore grumbled.
Courtney laughed half-heartedly, shrugging. “Sorry boo, it’s my favorite.”
“I loooooved it!” Dela cried happily. “I think we should do it again, like a reunion tour. There's totally room on the dance floor.”
“Uh, how about no fucking way?” Adore retorted, a look of horror on her face. She looked to the others for support, but Courtney was distracted by her phone.
COURTNEY: Where are you? It’s almost 9…
Darienne looked at Adore and cleared her throat. “You know what I think we need? Presents.”
Adore nodded. “Yes!” she exclaimed as Courtney’s eyes lit up happily.
“Great idea!” Roy jumped up to help Darienne grab the gifts and Adore mouthed ‘THANK YOU’ at both of them. Roy smiled and gave her a wink.
-
Courtney sat in a decorated chair, ankles crossed demurely like the princess she was, everyone gathered around her wanting their present to be opened first.
“I’m only going to open a few presents for now,” Courtney announced knowing that she wouldn’t make it through everyone’s presents quick enough. “So, who wants to go first,” she sang, closing her eyes and holding her hands out, making grabbing motions.
Her dad’s parents, Grammy and Papa were the first to pass Courtney her gift, which consisted of a card and birthday money.
“Thank you, so much,” she squealed at the hundred dollars, giving both her grandparents a kiss.
Darienne decided to be the brave soul to go next. “Here you go, Courtney.”
“I wonder what it is,” Courtney shook the wrapped present causing everyone to laugh. She tore the paper off to reveal a beautifully carved frame, painted pink and white. The picture in the frame was taken at Courtney’s 13th birthday party. Courtney started to tear up at the memories that the picture brought.
Courtney stood in the center of the picture, brows furrowed cutely, with icing on her nose, a laughing Adore beside her. Roy was trying to stop Bob from digging his fingers into his slice of cake. Darienne was the only one posed for the camera with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face while April, Dela, Thorgy and Jamin were captured in the background, oblivious to the picture being taken.
“Thank you, Dari!” Courtney sniffed, pulling Darienne into a tight hug.
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Darienne squeezed her back, “I made it the frame and painted it myself.”
Courtney grabbed the picture frame and stared at it for another moment before sitting it aside carefully, “Thank you so much.”
After Courtney sat back in her chair, Roy stepped forward with his present. “Here you go, princess.”
Courtney took the big bag from him, dramatically weighing it to see how heavy it was. Pulling out and tossing the pink tissue paper behind her, Courtney pulled out the card first. Ripping it opened, her mouth dropped at the season passes to Six Flags Magic Mountain.
“Oh my gosh! Thank you, babe,” she pulled him down her a quick kiss on the cheek, “This summer is going to be sooo fun,” she shimmied her shoulders excitedly at the thought of going to the amusement park all summer, especially since the new rides were supposed to be amazingly death-defying.
“Told you,” Adore cracked. “Whore for danger.”
“Yeah, I’m counting on it,” Roy joked quietly, and Adore made a face at him.
Courtney laughed, setting the envelope to the side, her face lighting up when she dug into the bag pulling out what looked to be lotion and bubble bath.
“Oooh,” she bounced in her seat as she unscrewed the top on the lotion to get a good whiff, “My favorite. You remembered.” She looked up at him with adoring eyes.
“Of course. Keep digging,” Roy urged.
Courtney set the lotion and bubble bath aside, reaching into the bag and pulling out a rolled-up t-shirt. She shot Roy a skeptical look before opening the shirt to get a good look at it.
“A Destiny’s Child shirt,” Courtney turned it around, holding it up for everyone else to see.
“Yes, because you’ll need it for the concert-”
“CONCERT!?” Courtney screamed, scooting to the edge of her seat looking at Roy with huge eyes.
“Yep, my cousin Monica is a dancer on the tour and she hooked us up with some dope seats when they come here in September--” Roy said.
“Ahhh!” she screeched, hopping up out of her seat to show her mom, sister and grandparents what her boyfriend had gotten her (even though they saw the whole thing) and they smiled and gasped in excitement for Courtney. Roy slid into Courtney’s seat, glancing around the room, momentarily catching Adore’s eye and smirking. She smiled back sweetly, letting him have his little moment of glory.
“Omigod, thank you!” Courtney leaped into Roy’s lap, covering his face with kisses.
“You’re really happy? I figured like, jewelry or something...you know, it would be kind of predictable. But this is something we can do together.”
She pressed their foreheads together. “You’re the best boyfriend ever, and we’re going to have the most amazing summer.” Courtney wrapped her arms around Roy’s neck, whispering, “I love you so much…”
“I love you more. Even though you’ve been a real pain in the ass…”
“Hey!” Courtney exclaimed, pulling away, but Roy pulled her back, capturing her lips in a sweet, tender kiss, hands circling her waist.
Dela looked at Adore. “Are they always like this?” she asked quietly, wrinkling her nose.
Adore stuck her tongue out, nodding. “Always. Gross, huh?”
Dela nodded, then poked Courtney on the shoulder. “Hey, birthday princess…” she sang.
“Yeahhh?” Courtney lifted her head, leaning against Roy’s shoulder, slightly glassy-eyed.
“Want another present?”
“Yes!”
Dela handed her a shiny turquoise bag.
“Wait, you really got me a present?! But you came all the way here, you didn’t need to also buy me something!”
“Awww, I love you, and you’re so full of shit!” Dela laughed.
Courtney giggled.
She opened the turquoise bag and found it stuffed to the brim with glittery nail polishes, lip glosses, and a pair of super chic retro sunglasses, which she immediately tried on, pursing her lips in a model-esque pose.
“Gorgeous! See, I knew they were you!” Dela exclaimed.
“Aw, thank you Dela,” Courtney pulled her into a hug, “I've missed you so much.”
Courtney was about to get up, when Adore asked, “Time for one more?”
“I think we can manage that,” Courtney grinned.
“Here you go.” Adore handed Courtney a long, narrow box, wrapped in black glittery paper. The tag said “2005.” “I hope it satisfies your demands.”
Courtney giggled, remembering how she’d made Adore promise that her present would make everyone jealous. She unwrapped the box, opening the velvet lid slowly. Inside was a rose gold charm bracelet.
The first charm Courtney saw was a tiny little bow. She bit her lip, holding back tears, studying at all the other charms. There were some sweet ones that represented them and their friendship, like music notes and drama masks and a little heart, and then a bunch like the bow that seemed to go with the presents she’d gotten over the last two weeks...a tree, a roller coaster, tiny little crutches, a lollipop, a microphone, a hairbrush, a ladder, the British flag.
She laughed at the skull and crossbones, then touched the one beside it, looking up at Adore’s expectant face. “What’s this one?”
“The eternity symbol. Best friends forever.” Adore’s voice was soft.
Courtney lunged forward, wrapping her into a hug, tears dripping down her face, sobbing into her neck.
“So you like it?” Adore whispered teasingly into her hair, holding back tears of her own, trying to keep things light.
“It’s perfect.” Courtney pulled away, tears still falling. “Can you help me put it on?” she asked.
“It doesn’t match your other jewelry--”
“I don’t care,” Courtney sniffled, wiping her eyes with a gloved hand.
“Okay, then.” Adore took her wrist and fastened the bracelet.
Courtney hugged her again, clinging to her tightly.
“Come on, let’s finish dinner so we can dig into that ridiculous pink cake over there,” Adore murmured.
She slung an arm around Courtney’s waist and led her back to their table, glancing at Roy on the way, who had his eyes narrowed at her. She shrugged and grinned at him, feeling a little petty, but knowing her victory was bittersweet. She may have won this round, but he was still the boyfriend.
-
DAD: Hiya kiddo. Hope you’re having a blast. I hate to be a bummer but I’m not gonna make it tonight. I’m sure you’d rather spend the night with your friends anyway. Have a fantastic birthday, I love you loads, and I promise that Katya and I will take you out to dinner real soon to celebrate.
Courtney snapped her phone closed and put it down on the table, straightening out her skirt.
Roy put his hands on her shoulder. “Did he say when he’s--”
“He’s not coming,” Courtney said flatly, clearing her throat.
Adore swallowed, trying to think of something to say that would make her feel better, and coming up dreadfully short. She looked up into Courtney’s eyes, could see how crushed her best friend was, and knew that nothing she could do would fix it.
Courtney looked away from Adore’s sympathetic expression, those hazel eyes so full of concern that they’d make her burst into tears if she looked at them a second longer, took a deep breath and turned towards the dance floor, sighing. “Why are those lights out?”
“What lights?” Roy asked.
“Those!” Courtney pointed to a string of fairy lights that were out, near the dance floor.
“They probably came unplugged. I’ll go check.”
Courtney followed him over to the dance floor, looking around, tapping her foot. “Nobody is dancing. Tomas, can’t you play something more fun? Where’s the playlist I gave you?” She crossed her arms.
“Yeah, sure. I was just trying to keep it kind of chill while people finished dinner. We can kick things up.” The DJ winked at her and opened his laptop.
Darienne walked up and asked, “Hey, babe, do you still want to try and save some of the enchiladas, ‘cause they’re almost gone…”
“WHAT?! We were supposed to save a whole tray in the kitchen to bring to the shelter tomorrow! Who put it out?!” Courtney demanded.
“I don’t know, I’m sure it was an innocent--oh, no...”
“What?”
“It looks like you’re missing an earring,” Darienne said, touching her cheek softly.
“What?!” Courtney cried, panicking.
“Yeah, hold still, it’s probably just somewhere on your dress. Dela, come here, help me for a sec.”
Courtney stood, wringing her hands, as the two girls searched the folds of her skirt. “I can’t lose that earring, I borrowed it from my mom, it belonged to my great-grandmother, oh god, you have to find it, please hurry.” She began to whimper, covering her face, as Grandma Muriel approached.
“Why do you look so distressed, dear?”
“Grandma, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” she wailed, grasping the older woman’s hands. “I think I lost Nana’s earring, it must be around here somewhere but I don’t know if we can find it and--”
“Courtney, for heaven’s sake, get ahold of yourself.” Muriel shook her head, walking away.
“Just stop, it’s no use…” Courtney shook Dela off her skirt. “It’s too dark. We’ll never find it.”
“But maybe we can--”
“I said leave it!”
“Okay, sorry.” Dela exchanged a look with Darienne and backed off. “I’m gonna go get some more punch…”
“Uh, Court, I think one of the bulbs in that string burned out, they aren’t working,” Roy said.
“Ugh! Great!”
Suddenly, the cheerleaders stormed the dance floor as Missy Elliott’s “I’m Really Hot” began blasting.
Courtney nodded at Tomas, who winked, and then was pulled into a group of squealing girls by Laganja. That’s when she noticed the red flower on Alyssa’s dress. “Really, Alyssa? You of all people can’t follow a dress code?”
“Step off, Jenek.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m one of the few people here who doesn’t find your diva nonsense charming. I’m not the one. So step. Off. If you know what’s good for you.”
Some of the cheerleaders paused, taking notice of the two girls standing in the middle of the dance floor.
Bob's hand tightened around April’s as he tried to subtly nod in Alyssa and Courtney's direction.
“Five bucks on Alyssa,” he whispered, causing April to snort.
“You're terrible. Alyssa won't do anything but make her run extra laps at cheer practice or something. She's all talk,” April murmured, eyes watching the two girls.
“I don't know, Alyssa has about 20 pounds on Courtney. She could definitely take her.” Bob shrugged his shoulders, pulling April closer as he waited to see what would happen, April’s cheeks reddening.
After staring each other down, Courtney turned on her heel and flounced away, nearly bumping into her mother.
“Hey, love, did you want to do the cake now, or wait a little?” Karen said. “I think people are mostly done with dinner, so--”
“I don’t care!” Courtney snapped. “Whatever.”
“Well, it’s your party, Courtney, so I think you should--”
“Fine! Do it now! It’s not like it fucking matters, mom, it’s just a stupid cake!” Tears burned in her eyes.
Karen looked at her like she was debating whether to smack her across the face or give her a hug. After a few moments, she spoke in a quiet voice. “I’ll go get the candles.”
“Great.” Courtney bit her lip, holding back tears.
Roy took a step towards her. “Courtney, everyone is doing their best, okay? I mean, I know you’re upset about your dad, but that’s no reason to act like a bitch to everyone who’s here, who’s trying to--.”
Courtney narrowed her eyes at him, pushing him away. “This is not about my fucking dad, Roy!”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, babe, whatever you say.”
“Go fuck yourself!” Courtney screeched, shoving him out of the way and storming off the dance floor.
Roy stood for a moment, helpless, knowing he’d done the wrong thing, as “1, 2 Step” began blaring over the speakers, the bass pumping, the dance floor filling up even more, suddenly feeling stifling.
“Good work, bro,” Adore said, thumping him on the shoulder.
“Fuck. I don’t know where she went…” He shook his head.
“I know where she went,” Adore assured him. “Maybe let’s not light any candles yet, though?”
Roy nodded.
-
Adore climbed the ladder, hoisting herself into the tree house and sitting cross-legged on the floor. “Hey.”
Courtney wiped some tears from her cheeks.
“Hi.” She was curled in the corner, in a beanbag chair. Her tiara was askew and her gown was wrinkled, the tulle bunched up around her like a glittery fuchsia cloud.
“Planning to hide in here for the rest of the night?”
Sniffling, Courtney shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Alright.” Adore shoved the second beanbag chair over to her and stretched out. “In that case, I’m sort of bummed I didn’t bring any snacks, but I guess we’ll live.”
Courtney giggled a little in spite of herself, then sniffled as her tears continued to fall.
“I know I’m being awful. Roy was right.”
“Yeah, well, Roy’s always right, isn’t he? That doesn’t mean he needed to say it.”
Courtney closed her eyes.
“I hate that I care this much. I feel like such a stupid fucking baby. But...it’s my first birthday without him, you know?”
Adore nodded, silently taking her hand.
“I just really thought he’d come. I really thought, even though things have been weird and everything, that when it came down to it, I’d still be able to count on him. That he still gave half a shit. I’m so dumb.” She shook her head, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Adore brushed the tears away gently with her fingers, whispering. “You’re not dumb.”
Courtney leaned on Adore’s shoulder. “I even had a song picked out for us to dance to.”
“What song?”
“You Are My Sunshine.”
“Dude. That is so cheesy.”
“I know! That’s the point!” Courtney laughed, fresh tears falling.
“Well...it’s his loss, because you are sunshine. And you’ve never looked prettier.”
Courtney smiled, knowing that she was, at the moment, a tear-stained mess. “Thank you for lying.”
Adore took the edge of a blanket and dried Courtney’s cheeks, then opened her handbag and pulled out a compact, eyeliner, and lip gloss. She got to work fixing Courtney’s makeup and within two minutes, leaned back, pleased with her work. “There,” Adore said, adjusting the tiara on her head, rearranging her blonde curls. “Beautiful.”
“You are, too,” Courtney said softly, gazing up at her.
Adore looked at Courtney and, for a moment, it was if she could really see her. Every insecurity, every desire. She took Courtney’s face in her hands and tilted her chin up. She leaned in slowly and brushed their lips together.
Courtney’s heart raced as she savored the sweet softness of Adore’s mouth. She gripped the tulle fabric of her skirt in her hands, and then before she could blink, the kiss was over and Adore was pulling away again, still looking at her but not in the same way. The walls were back up and it felt as if a chasm had opened up between them.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have--” Adore’s voice was hoarse and distant.
“No, it’s alr--”
“We should go back.”
“Okay.” Courtney felt like crying again, and she wasn’t sure why. She just followed Adore, out of the tree house and back to the party.
-
The good news was, the DJ had managed to keep the party going. It seemed like most people hadn’t even noticed that Courtney left, from how much fun they were having on the dance floor. Except Roy, of course, sitting at their table, sipping forlornly out of a pink sparkly cup.
She approached him, nervously biting her lip, adjusting her elbow-length gloves. “Hey.”
He looked up. “Hi.”
“I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a monster all day, and you’ve been really great, like you always are, just the best, and, and you were right, I was upset about my dad, and I’m just...I’m sorry.” Courtney pressed her lips together, trying to hold in her tears. “Please don’t be mad.”
Roy stood up and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to upset you. But like, this is a birthday party and you’ve been so stressed and irritated, and I just thought--”
“I know, I know.”
“This is probably a totally insane idea, but what if we...keep an open mind here, this is crazy, but...what if we try to have fun for the rest of the night?” He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “Huh...huh?”
Courtney laughed, pulling him in for another hug. “You’re so lame. I love you.”
“Me too, baby.”
“Do you wanna dance?”
Roy put his hand over his heart. “I would love to, but I don’t know that Spice Girls choreography.”
Courtney giggled and pulled him onto the dance floor. “Don’t taunt me, Del Rio, or I’ll make you learn. Dela’s leaving again Monday, and I think you’d be a really cute Sporty.”
“She is the butch one.”
“Good point. Maybe you should be Posh.”
Roy laughed and put his arms around her as the DJ switched to Usher and Alicia Keys singing “My Boo.” Courtney leaned her head on his shoulder, and sighed, glancing around the dance floor. She caught Adore’s eye and smiled at her. Adore raised a pink sparkly cup at her, holding her gaze for a long moment until Willam thumped her on the shoulder to get her attention back.
Courtney looked back at Roy, who flashed his dimples at her and kissed her softly. She felt a stab of guilt, remembering the other kiss she’d gotten that night. But, it didn’t mean anything, right? It was just a friendly kiss, her best friend trying to make her feel better.
She closed her eyes, insides twisting, stomach in knots. Because if she was really honest with herself, it wasn’t the kiss that she felt guilty about. It was that feeling, the moment Adore pulled away, of regret. She dug her fingers into Roy’s shoulders, and he held her tighter around the waist.
Suddenly, she couldn’t stop the tears and she was crying again. Roy cupped her face and kissed her cheeks. “What’s the matter, babe?”
Courtney shook her head.
“One of those ‘it’s my party, I’ll cry if I want to’ moments? Should I just leave it alone?” Roy asked.
Courtney nodded as Roy swiped a napkin from the dessert table and dried her eyes.
“Alright. Come here.” He pulled her close and she fell into his arms, unable to tear her eyes away from where Adore stood with Willam and Pearl, deep in thought.
Adore stirred her punch with a straw as she half-listened to whatever Willam was running his mouth about. She couldn’t believe that she had kissed Courtney, especially in the emotional state that the blonde had been in, but in that moment it had felt so right and that’s what made it all the more wrong.
Adore was a slave to her feelings, and it felt like the more she tried to run from them, the more intense and reckless they became when they caught up to her.
That’s the moment when the lights suddenly cut out and Karen wheeled in the giant birthday cake, decorated with a huge fuchsia bow, black and white stripes, and shiny silver stars. Everyone gathered around the birthday girl to sing, and Adore focused on the sparkler candles, glittering in the darkness.
Goosebumps rose on the back of her neck, the feeling of someone’s eyes on her pulling Adore from her thoughts.
Hazel eyes looked up to find bright green eyes staring back at her. Adore grew anxious, unable to interrupt the emotions behind Courtney’s piercing stare.
Adore wondered if she had fucked up and Courtney was mad at her or even worse, if Courtney knew Adore had feelings for her that she shouldn’t have.
Adore looked away, her chest growing tight as a million thoughts ran through her head.
Courtney continued to gaze at her best friend, unable to focus on the crowd, on her mother and everyone urging her to blow out the candles.
“Babe, make a wish…” Roy said, kissing her temple.
Courtney bit her lip, eyes falling closed as she blew out the candles, not daring to let herself form a coherent thought in that moment. Because if she did, she was afraid of what she might wish for. She opened her eyes back up, and everyone was cheering, while Kimmy began to slice up the cake.
Roy swept her up into his arms again while the lights turned back on and Tomas turned up the music, Beyoncé‘s “Baby Boy.”
Pearl handed a piece of cake to Adore, taking one for herself too. “Dude, let’s go ask the DJ to play ‘American Life.’”
“That song where Madonna raps about her household staff?” Willam asked skeptically.
“Yeah! It’s so good!”
“That’s fucking embarrassing, New Girl.”
“Adore, come on, back me up here! I mean, or ‘Hollywood’ is good too…” she mused.
“I think I’m gonna take off,” Adore murmured, setting her cup down and pulling her phone out of her back pocket, sending a text to Raja asking if she could get a ride so that they could hang out.
-
As the song finished, Courtney lifted her head from Roy’s shoulder, smiling at him. “Thank you,” she said, reaching up and touching his cheek with her gloved hand.
“Anytime,” he replied, flashing those killer dimples at her.
Courtney glanced over to where Adore had been standing, feeling an urge to clear the air, just to make sure everything was okay, but she was gone. She excused herself from Roy, leaving him with Darienne and Dela, and hurried over. To her dismay, Willam and Pearl both reported that they thought Adore had left, and so she tore through the backyard to Adore’s house, shouting her name, finding her leaning on the side of her garage.
Her pounding heart began to slow down as she caught her breath.
“Hi...sorry for yelling, I just…”
“No, it’s okay. Are you alright?” Adore asked.
“Yeah. Um…” Courtney licked her lips, adjusting her gloves awkwardly. “Willam said you left, and I just wanted to find you so I could...I wanted to say thank you. For...for the bracelet. And...everything.” Courtney took another step towards her, eyes soft and misty.
“You’re welcome. Happy birthday.” Adore’s own eyes still had the same inscrutable, slightly guarded expression they’d had earlier. But her smile was genuine.
Courtney wrapped her arms around Adore’s shoulders, burying her face into her friend’s neck and hugging her tightly.
“I love you, Dory.”
Adore closed her eyes, holding her close, trying not to be hyper-aware of the warm breath against her skin, the scent of her silky hair, the all too recent memory of the taste of her.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly. As if by some miracle, they were suddenly blinded by headlights as Raja’s car pulled into the driveway. Adore broke away from the hug, waving gratefully to her.
“Um, that’s my...I gotta go,” she told Courtney, who simply nodded. “Goodnight. The party was awesome. And I love you too!” She blew a kiss as she slipped into the car.
Raja tossed a cigarette out the window as she pulled out of the driveway.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“Glad you texted.”
“Me too. I had to get out of there.”
“Not into the quinceanera fantasy?” Raja laughed.
Adore shook her head. “Been a long day.”
“Stressful?”
Adore looked over to Raja, the streetlights illuminating her features.
“Yeah,” Adore said, voice only slightly above a whisper, eyes flickering to Raja’s lips.
Pulling up to the stop sign at the end of the street Raja put the car in park, turning to face Adore.
“Well, we all do it. Have a big princess-like party; if we don’t want it our mom’s ‘ll make us,” Raja said lowly, leaning on the armrest.
“Really?” Adore asked, leaning on towards Raja, “Did you?”
“Mhm,” Raja smirked, eyes flickering to Adore’s lips, “My ma made sure that I had an extraaaavagant birthday party. I had a big turquoise dress, my hair done up, the works.”
Adore let out a breathy giggle, “You don’t look the type.”
“No?” Raja raised her eyebrows, slightly tilting her head and Raja’s warm breath hitting Adore’s face made Adore notice that they were closer than she realized. Lips inches apart.
“No.”
“Maybe when we get to my place…” Raja placed a sweet kiss on Adore’s lips-- that had her chasing Raja’s lips as she pulled away, “I can show you some pictures.”
Raja smiled innocently, but Adore wouldn’t let her get away. She needed to forget what happened earlier; she needed to forget her mistake, the way nothing seemed to matter, but them in the tree house. Adore leaned over the armrest, pulling Raja back towards her, pressing her lips into Raja’s harder than the first kiss, desperate to erase the way Courtney’s lips felt against hers. Raja could do that, Raja could make her forget and when the older girl nipped at her lip, Adore let her in.
The position was awkward with the armrest pressed between them, but the feel of Raja’s hands on her, tugging her closer was worth it. Adore gripped at Raja’s jacket, when they broke for air, Raja leaving kisses along Adore’s jaw before Adore guided Raja’s lips back to hers.
Before the kiss could deepen again the girls were scared apart by a horn beeping behind them. They looked up, both startled, as a car sped around them, the driver tossing them the finger.
“Damn, bro, calm down,” Raja said, and Adore giggled, arms sliding back around her neck.
“Come back here…”
#rpdr fanfiction#tree house kisses#scorpio#veronica#adorney#adore delano#courtney act#bitney#rajadore#bianca del rio#darienne lake#raja gemini#bob the drag queen#ben delacreme#april carrion#alyssa edwards#willam belli#pearl liaison#high school au#lesbian au#angst#fluff
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Not the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (fanfic)
Lydia prepares to celebrate her first Christmas without her mother.
This..this is pretty angsty but also fluffy? It has a happy ending I swear.
Lydia had never been one of those people that were obsessed with Christmas and the Christman season. She didn’t dislike the holiday by any means, but it wasn’t her favorite, nobody in her family got super into it besides her uber-religious grandparents. Her mom and dad would take her to church on Christmas eve with the rest of the extended family but the rest of the holiday with filled with littler traditions they came up with as a family. As Lydia got older she learned that her mom didn’t have the most loving and affectionate family growing up and that’s why she tried to hard to get everything right for Lydia. She would make her own traditions and set her own standards, she was creating a family that not only supported Lydia growing up but made up for the crappy childhood Emily had. The Santa lie was quickly dropped when a seven-year-old Lydia displayed disgust at the prospect of this strange man with questionable business ethics sneaking into her house in the middle of the night, but the family still had their own unique way of making the holiday special.
Emily died in the middle of December the previous year, she had been sick for almost two years by that point and her body couldn’t fight anymore. She slipped away on the eighteenth of December and everything had been such a blur of emotions and funeral preparations and a parade of semi sympathetic family members that Christmas was thrown to the wayside. Charles still tried to get a smile out of his broken-hearted daughter but the feeble attempts to recreate the old traditions did nothing but further upset Lydia who spent the day locked in her room sobbing as she stared at photographs and in the mirror at her newly short and black hair wondering if she was even worthy enough to look like her mother. Though that day was technically her first Christmas without her mom it had been such a blur that she hadn’t even had time to process the loss. As the days grew closer this year it started to dawn on her that she would never run downstairs again to find her parents sitting down on the couch in their living room in front of their chaotically decorated tree, she’d never see her mom bury her face in her mug when Lydia went to open the present that her parents said she wouldn’t be getting, she’d never spend another Christmas morning having a gingerbread house decorating contest, she’d never have another Christmas eve where her parents would still have her leave out milk and cookies for Santa even though Lydia was much too old for Santa. Sure she had lots to distract her from her all-consuming thoughts with everyone in the house and celebrating Hanukkah with Wendy, but nothing could change the fact that on Christmas Eve Lydia was sitting alone on her bed, clutching a photograph from many Christmas’s ago in her shaking hands, unsure if she wanted to cry, scream, or throw the picture frame at the wall and watch the glass shatter around on the floor.
The whole month had been an emotional rollercoaster for her bouncing from having a panic attack at school, to the isolating loneliness that came with the anniversary of Emily’s death, to the heartwarming celebration of a new culture when she spent the first night of Hanukkah with Wendy and her family, and now the numbness she was overwhelmed with now. It was a strange sensation to be overwhelmed with numbness, it somehow both felt like everything and nothing at all. Filled with so many conflicting emotions that they all canceled each other out, leaving her feeling empty inside. There were so many other months that had less going on, Lydia couldn’t help but feel as though she was being punished with her mother’s death occurring right before Christmas. She knew that was a stupid thing to be annoyed by but now every single Christmas or Hanukkah from this point forward would always compete with the sadness Lydia felt when she thought about the loss of her mother. December Eighteenth. Every holiday would feel as though it was missing something, no matter how many people she added, no matter the friends she made or the family she found. Nothing would replace the hole where Emily Deetz once existed.
Though her therapist told her that keeping all these feelings boxed up inside of her was not good for her mental health she didn’t want to ruin anyone else’s holiday. The Maitland’s seemed so excited to have people to buy presents for, Delia was big into decorating, and though he was never crazy about it when she was little even her dad was getting into the Christmas spirit, making Lydia groan whenever he would kiss Delia underneath the mistletoe. The only person Lydia could pretend the holiday didn’t exist with was Beetlejuice, but now even with the day getting closer, he was constantly asking Lydia questions about Christmas. They were often stupid and funny questions so they were a welcome distraction but tonight she was alone. Everyone was sleeping or pretending to sleep in the Maitland’s case. She knew they were just upstairs in the attic and she could spend the night with them is she wanted to, but she couldn’t bring herself to get up. Even her cats noticed the difference in her demeanor, the usually distant Kraken was snuggled up with her on one side, and the always cuddly Cation on the other.
The clock on her dresser glowed midnight, and though she was exhausted she slid out of bed and went back over to the pile of presents she had accumulated in her room for all the family members. She remembered how happy she was at the beginning of the month, spending hours online and out shopping with Wendy trying to find the perfect presents for the wonderful people she got to call her family. She didn’t make a ton of money babysitting Skye but she wanted to splurge on them, they had done so much for her in the past few months, she wanted to let them know how much she appreciated it. She ran her fingers on the nicely curled bows and perfectly wrapped gifts knowing that she had to admit defeat and ask Barbara and Delia for help. It worked out really well because she didn’t want them to know what she got them so she just had the other person wrap it. One present she wrapped for herself though, and she debated on if she was going to put it under the tree. Her mother couldn’t open it anyway, she wasn’t exactly sure why she spent her money on it but she couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling in her heart until she had a gift for Emily. She told her therapist how stupid it made her feel, and while she knew her family wouldn’t tease her for it she still worried they would think the same thing she was. It was dumb, she was dumb for doing it, she...she shook her head and went back to her bed just wishing the holiday was over already and she could move on with her life.
She eventually passed out around two in the morning and woke up around ten in the morning. Christmas morning was a lot more casual now that Lydia was older, no more running downstairs at seven in the morning to see if Santa had come, it was now whenever Lydia rolled out of bed. She stood in the mirror ruffling her hair, noting that her blonde roots were starting to show and she was going to have to decide if she was going to go back to being blonde or dye her hair again. She straightened out her fuzzy pajamas and carried the armload of presents down the stairs to find the whole family hanging around the living room, Delia, her dad, and the Maitland’s talking about dinner that night and making sure there were kosher options for Wendy, though she wasn’t super strict about it. Beetlejuice was nursing some eggnog and glaring at her cat. While she was staring at her family, they hadn’t yet noticed she was standing behind them, Lydia decided that she wasn’t going to completely ruin her holiday by lamenting over things she couldn’t change. No matter how hard she wished it, nothing would change the family that the holidays would never have her mother in them again. Blinking away a tear in her eye she greeted everyone warmly and joined them around the Christmas tree.
“Merry Christmas Lydia!” Barbara wrapped her in a warm hug, Barbara was practically bouncing up and down in excitement to give Lydia her present. Charles grumbled a little teasingly because he also wanted to give Lydia her present, but knowing Barbara he let her go first. Lydia tore through the cat pattern wrapping paper and revealed a beautiful hand-painted portrait of her two cats. She couldn’t hold back a grin and she threw herself into a tight hug with the ghost profusely thanking her and how much she loved it. She got everything right from Cation’s grey and green eyes to Kraken’s cheeky smile. While it wasn’t a contest she didn’t know if anything could quite beat that, and it seemed like Barbara knew it because she was beaming.
Next, her father handed her a small package, and a larger package all wrapped in spare silver paper that Lydia had used for Wendy’s Hanukkah present, he smiled when handing it to her and said, “Open the small one first, I wasn’t sure if it’s your style but I hope you like it.”
Lydia carefully ripped the wrapping and opened the jewelry box to see a heart-shaped pendant with pink, white, and orange stripes. Lydia leaned her head against her father’s chest, “Aw dad thank you so much! I love it!”
“I know you have a lot of the rainbow pride things, and I wasn’t sure if you had any of the lesbian pride flag.” He blushed, “I know there’s a lot of controversy over the flag so I hope I got the right one.”
“It’s perfect dad, I love it.” She hugged him tightly extremely proud of the progress he’s made when it came to her identity. He was always accepting, he never once wavered in his love for her but he had gaps of knowledge when it came to it, but instead of remaining ignorant he was constantly learning and working to support his daughter. She teased him a lot but he really did try very hard to be a good father, and she appreciated everything. She must have been looking at the necklace for too long because her father was eagerly pushing the larger box towards her, she opened it up and was stunned to see the camera she had been begging for all year but her father swore he wasn’t going to be able to get because it was out of stock. She hung the strap around her neck and started taking pictures of everything going on throughout the rest of Christmas morning. Adam got her a set of new tea flavors that she had been wanting to try, Delia got her sweaters for her cats that Lydia instantly put them in and threw a mini photoshoot, and finally Beeteljucie tossed her a present wrapped only in tissue paper and scotch tape. She carefully unwrapped and laughed when she saw he got her “Cards Against Humanity” and fuzzy cat socks. He pretended not to smile when Lydia thanked him announcing he knew all along what to get her because he’s just that intuned to her interests, but secretly he was relieved she liked it. He spent hours trying to figure out what to get his best friend.
Lydia excitedly gave her presents to everyone: a new paint set for Barbara, a set of crystals for Delia, a model train starter kit for Adam, and a DNA kit for her father because he always talked about wanting to know about where he came from. They were all very thankful and they all lounged around in the torn-up wrapping paper while enjoying each other’s company. Lydia bit back a grimace when her father suggested a gingerbread house decorating contest, but seeing how excited everyone else got she couldn’t bring herself to say no. For the next two hours they kitchen turned from clean to a frosting, sprinkles, and gumdrop disastrous mess. In the end, Lydia’s house came in second just behind Delia’s who shockingly had a very impressive house. Lydia had never known how good her stepmother was at design, while her and her father had decorated the house it was always too outlandish for Lydia’s taste. The gingerbread house looked perfect though, the cookie ceiling had frosting icicle. It broke Lydia’s heart that Beetlejuice started eating it before she got a good photo of it.
She had been doing a good job of distracting herself, any time she caught herself slipping in her happy facade she threw herself into another mindnumbing task knowing it would keep her mind occupied until Wendy arrived. She was midway cutting up the potatoes for the side dish when there was a knocking at the door. Lydia quickly brushed her hands clean on a dish towel next to her and ran over to the door, almost slipping on the hardwood. She straightened up her red and green Santa hat and opened up the door. Wendy smiled warmly and Lydia pulled her in for a welcoming hug. Charles and Delia greeted Wendy as they walked into the kitchen, Barbara and Adam hugged her, and Beetlejuice shot her finger guns from the distance saying, “Happy holidays Weslie.”
“At least he’s getting closer,” Wendy whispered to Lydia
She simply rolled her eyes, “He knows your name he’s just trying to be a prick and pretend that he doesn’t care about my life. Honestly, the funny part is hearing what W name he’s going to use next to describe you, there’s only so many.”
“Last week I heard him call me Walter when we were talking on the phone.”
“Yeah that’s just BJ.”
The dinner went smoothly, Lydia felt bad that the traditional Christmas dinner was ham and Wendy couldn’t have it, but they did make a small turkey for her to eat. Once dinner was over they cleaned up the dishes and had a monstrous amount of cookies for dessert. Lydia didn’t realize how into baking Barbara was until the kitchen tables and counters were covered with what must have been hundreds if not a thousand cookies. They were all starting to get stuffed and tired from the long day, everyone was relaxing on the couch, Lydia and Wendy trying to hide the fact that they were holding hands underneath the blankets when Beetlejuice began to loudly and incorrectly sing Christmas carols. The snow was peacefully falling outside the window, making the evening almost as cheesy as a Christmas card. Everything looked so perfect, and Lydia tried to hard to push away the uncomfortableness she felt brewing within her. She wanted so desperately to be happy, to just feel happy, she should be happy. Everyone around her looks so happy, she is surrounded by family, and friends, and loved ones. She thought this should be enough, she should be satisfied. She halfheartedly laughed whenever BJ started screeching the wrong words to “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and smiled when he pulled up Wendy from the couch to dance with him and the Maitlands.
After preparing a large plate of cookies and other goodies for Wendy to take home to her family in exchange for the delicious Hanukkah treats they sent with Lydia the two girls were left alone to say goodbye for the night. It was almost the exact same as it was three nights ago when they were celebrating Hanukkah but this time it was Wendy handing Lydia a small wrapped gift. Opening it carefully she smiled gratefully when she opened another small jewelry box to find a bracelet with charms on it signifying inside jokes they had. They spent a good five minutes just reminiscing in their jokes, Lydia’s personal favorite the serotonin molecule from when she was hanging out at Wendy’s house and said she could really go for some serotonin and Wendy went up to go look for some, forgetting what it actually was. Lydia pulled her girlfriend into a loving hug, leaning her head on the crook between Wendy’s neck and shoulder.
“Get a room.” Beetlejuice teased, leaning against the doorway, “Ya know doing this kind of stuff in front of your ex-husband isn’t very becoming Lydia. I just want you to know I’m not the jealous type, I don’t care what you do with Winston-”
“Wendy,” Lydia corrected sarcastically, “One, I’m literally a lesbian. Two you died so technically you’re not my ex-husband I’m your widow. And third, that wedding was a green card thing and YOU KNOW IT!”
Beetlejuice raised his hands up defensively, “I’m joking, I’m joking! You gotta relax kid, I have literally never been interested in you. I’m more interested in Sexy and Babs.”
“Then PLEASE go bother the Maitlands.” Lydia pleaded as she held onto Wendy’s hand while trying to give Beetlejuice a look explaining that she’s trying to have a moment and he’s ruining it. He supposedly got the hint because he went to turn around but not before snapping his fingers and pointing upwards above Lydia and Wendy’s head.
“Looks like mistletoe to me Scarecrow.”
Lydia glanced up and her face tinted pink when she saw the green and red plant hanging above their heads. Wendy snickered, her nose scrunching up like a bunny which Lydia thought was incredibly adorable. She started t stutter out some excuse that they didn’t have to do it, and that Beetlejuice was being an annoying brother figure again, and that mistletoe was stupid in the first place but Wendy was having none of that. She leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the lips before hugging her goodbye once more and running out to her parents’ car. Lydia stood there with a dumb-happy grin on her face for a solid minute before Beetlejuice reappeared in the room making kissy noises at her. She threw the closest thing within grabbing distance, which unfortunately happened to be one of Delia’s strange rocks. Beetlejuice simply caught it and tossed it around in his hands before telling Lydia to not be so easy to pick on so he doesn’t have to keep bugging her. She rolled her eyes at him again as she walked back into the living room. For the rest of the evening, they sat and watched cheesy Christmas movies and drank hot chocolate, deciding that a new tradition they would adopt would be to guess how much liquor BJ put in the eggnog. Charles took one sip and instantly spit it out it burned of alcohol so much. Beetlejuice tried to sneak some spiked eggnog to Lydia but was stopped almost instantly as literally everyone was watching him and even Lydia refused the absurdly strong drink.
Everyone had gone to bed around eleven at night, and Beetlejuice went...whereever it is Beetlejuice goes when nobody else is around. Lydia was about to head up to her bedroom and edit some of the photos she had taken in order to keep herself distracted from the growing pit of dread in her stomach. She wished everyone a Merry Christmas and was about to go into her room when her father pulled her aside and gestured for her to follow him into his room. She sat down on his one chair while he went to grab something from the closet. He returned with a nicely done gift bag, stuffed with white and glittery tissue paper and the two handles tied up in a neat bow.
“Dad you already got me more than everything I wanted, you really didn’t have to.” She smiled sweetly
He fiddled with his hands, taking in a deep breath, “This isn’t from me.”
“Who’s it from?”
“Your mother. She bought it for you last year before...I don’t know what it is. Remember all those Christmas mornings when I’d have no clue what she got you?” He handed her a card that came with the gift and Lydia stared down shocked to see her mother’s familiar scrawl on the envelope. She always looped her Ls weird, something Lydia had copied into writing her own name, but seeing it again, writing that came from a pen that her mother had held...it was resurfacing all the feelings she had been trying so hard to keep pushed down just for today. She kept repeating to herself in her mind that she was fine, she was okay, her mom was gone, there was nothing she could do about it, don’t cry it’s Christmas, don’t ruin everyone else’s good time, don’t don’t don’t.
She curled her fists into her hair, almost dropping the gift bag onto the floor. Charles pulled Lydia into a hug and everything she had been holding in came flooding out. She started sobbing against her father’s chest, her tiny body shaking with such violence that Charles gripped onto her tighter in an attempt to calm her. She wanted to stop, she wanted to stop crying and just go back to how it had been during the day but she couldn’t help herself. She missed her mother. She missed her mother so much, and it wasn’t fair that she couldn’t see her again. She’d never have another Christmas, or New Years, or Halloween with her. Never. She knew she was soaking her father’s shirt with her tears but he didn’t move away, he just stroked her hair, and told it that it was okay.
“It’s not okay dad. It’s not okay, it’s not ever going to be okay. She’s dead, she’s never coming back, and this is the last present she ever got me. I tried really hard, I tried really hard to be okay today. Everyone else is so fucking happy and I didn’t want to ruin it for everyone else. I screwed it all up, I’m ruining your day, you tried to do this really nice and sweet thing for me and I’m a goddamn mess!” She gasped out between her hiccuping-sobs
“Lydia, Lydia sweetheart it’s okay! You’re not ruining anybody’s Christmas. I’m so sorry you felt like you had to keep this all from us because you thought it would upset us. Honey, I’ve been missing her a lot today too. I was holed up in my office all last night flipping through old photo albums of our Christmases wishing we had gotten just one more. That’s when I remembered this present. I packed it away last year, I thought it would be too hard for you back then but I shouldn’t have hidden it from you.”
Lydia sniffled a little, still clutching the present in her hands unsure if she was ready to see what was inside. Lydia set the present down gently on the floor, grabbed her father’s hand and slumped down on his bed. She knew she was getting too big for this, but she really just wanted to be close to someone right now. He laid on his back and she rested her head on his stomach while he gently rubbed the back of her shirt. She was still crying, “I feel so broken. It’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year and the whole month I’ve been a trainwreck with one crisis after another”
“It’s okay for it to not be “the most wonderful time of the year.” a lot of people have struggles around Christmas and this is going to be one of yours. I wish it didn’t have to be, I want so badly for her to still be here with you but we can’t rewind the clock. You don’t have to pretend you’re alright though, it is okay for you to be sad, for you to miss her. We can talk about her, we can still keep her alive in our traditions and everything else.”
She nodded her head, “I know it probably sounds stupid but I got her a present, I know she can’t open it but I got it for her because I couldn’t bring myself not to.”
“It’s not stupid at all honey. It’s incredibly sweet, you should have put in under the tree this morning.”
“Why? There’s nobody to open it.”
“I think it would have made you feel a lot better,” he tried to explain, “I think you would have not been holding all this in all day.”
Lydia thought about it, wondering if all of this could have been avoided if she just talked about it. She was always on her dad’s case for never wanting to talk about things but here she was hiding her feelings from her family. She did it all the time, now that she thought about it. Ever since she moved to Connecticut she had been so preoccupied trying to not ruin the happiness everyone was supposedly experiencing that she just buried down her own problems, only talking about them when they boiled over and she had a breakdown. She laid with her father in a peaceful silence for a few minutes before she sat up and crawled over to where the present was laying. She debated opening it alone but she knew whatever it was it was going to make her cry, she didn’t want to be alone anymore.
She undid the ribbon and slowly removed the tissue paper. She held the gift in her hands, mesmerized by the object in her hands. It was a snowglobe. When she first pulled it out of the bag she was kind of confused, she had never collected snowglobes but when she turned it around she saw that inside the glass was two photographs of their family. One when Lydia was just a baby, the other a photo they had taken just a few weeks before Emily had died. She grazed her thumb over the glass and showed it to her father who smiled bittersweetly at the gift. She noticed there was a turn-key on the bottom and when she wound it up she couldn’t help but smile when it started to play that song her mother always sang when they were cleaning up. It was strange to hear “Jump in the Line” in a music box tune. She knew there were tears in her eyes but they weren’t as urgent feeling as the ones from just a few minutes ago. It felt alright to cry, she wasn’t exactly sad but she wasn’t happy. It was strange.
She and her father sat on the bed listening to the snowglobe play it’s tune over and over again while looking at old photos from Christmas’s of long ago and not so long ago. Her dad must have texted Delia because she never came into the bedroom that night, she felt bad about it especially because she was fifteen years old now, she shouldn’t need to fall asleep in her daddy’s room but he assured her that Delia completely understood. She snuggled under his blankets, he kissed her goodnight on her forehead. It did not take long for her dad to fall asleep, his loud snoring quickly filling the room but Lydia didn’t mind. For the first time all day she didn’t have this crippling tension building up in her body, she was relaxed and she knew that her father was right. It was okay if it wasn’t the most wonderful time of the year.
#lydia deetz#delia deetz#adam maitland#barbara maitland#charles deetz#lawrence beetlejuice shoggoth#presley ryan#sophia anne caruso#dana steingold#leslie kritzer#kerry butler#rob mcclure#alex brightman#beetlejuice#incorrect beetlejuice quotes#beetlegeuse#beetlejuice the musical#beetlejuice fanfic#beetlejuice fanfiction
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Occupational no-homo: the military
Back in 1942, the U.S. had to get a bunch of young men and some young women to join the military. BUT NOT THE GAYS. Gay men were presumed to effeminate, weaker, and incapable of emotionally or physically handling arduous tasks--like women. However, military officials immediately encountered two issues: 1. What about gay men who were not effeminate or “overt homosexuals”? Inevitably, a decent a amount of “covert homosexuals” will enter the military and exist unnoticed among the normals. 2. How do you prevent homosexual activities from surfacing among “straight” men or deal with the sexual anxiety the same-sex environment may induce? At one point, the military had to admit that homosexuals could be useful in some aspects of the war, (in non-combative roles), but the truth is, you could not tell who was gay merely by their gender performance or other indicators, or track the services of gay men. And straight men did struggle with homosexual desires in the military. How else could they deal with all that pent up sexual frustration, surrounded by all these buff, naked young men 24/7? Same for the small women’s forces. Seriously? Let’s play a game to find out!
Welcome to how-to-no-homo-world-war-two-game show-mo
Round 1: Guess the no-homo job out of a list homo jobs that are sure to get you disqualified from serving your country (men)
A. beautician
B. bookkeeping
C. actor
D. music teacher
E. mailman
F. window dresser
G. interior designer
H. Dancer
IT was E, because I just added that and made that up.
Round 2: What should you say if you’re a woman entering the Women’s forces?
A. you’d rather be a boy and join the army
B. the great uniform
C. to make friends with the other girls
D. to put your skills to serving the country so that our boys can come home. I really can’t wait for my Johnny to come home. I don’t even have a Johnny, yet, but I will.
E. to make long lasting companionship and bonds with patriotic women
Obviously the answer is D. ABC&E raise lesbian flags.
Round 3: Choose a gal to look at before you go to sleep (men)
A. If you chose Judy Garland, you’re not fooling anybody, the icon she is.
B. Betty Grable- a safe, all-American, common, choice. Congratulations.
C. You chose your wife you married no more than 10 months before the war started/ your girl you’ve been steady with since senior prom. A good place to reinforce your heterosexuality and channel your sexual anxiety--via the promise of fidelity.
D. A steamy pin up for sure, to reinforce your masculinity. Hopefully this will get you through the war, but secretly, this picture doesn't mean you’re so much more hetero or masculine than the other guy.
4. YOU WERE STARING AT A NAKED MAN IN THE SHOWER A LITTLE TOO LONG AND HE CALLED YOU A cocksucker. How do you respond?
1. Yell “cocksucker” back, and make sure to point out that he “had his ass reamed” the next time he gets reprimanded.
2. Don’t be defensive--call him sweetheart right back, and sashay out. This week, you’re playing the “company queer.”
3. Avoid as much physical contact as possible with other men....that is, until you can find privacy with your buddy in a bunk, sleeping car, or tent.
There isn’t a right or wrong answer here, but I was giving you historical options from Coming out Under Fire, by Allan Berube. Notice how all of these options work whether you identified as straight or gay or questioning. A condition with homosexual pressures when it is illegal to homosexual, brings out a culture in which anti-gay joking and behavior is cultivated and homosexual responses are kept secretive and private.
5. Let’s do one more for the women. What’s the LEAST reliable way to identify a lesbian in WACS?
A. You and your girlfriend--who looks and acts distinctly more tomboy or butch than you--are always seen together on walking dates arm and arm, often casually embracing each other.
B. You’re sometimes seen lightly kissing, embracing and piling up on bed (publicly in the barracks) with your girlfriend or girlfriend(s).
C. You’re caught giving your girlfriend a long, affectionate smooch, and sharing the same cigarette.
D. You take your “darling” or “sweetheart” behind closed doors.
It will depend on the exact context, but you’re most likely to get away with B, as this behavior was so common, you couldn’t really police it as being cause for suspicion. “A” Points to how gender indicators was still the foundation for homosexual suspicion. Along with that, any behavior between women that resembled (hetero) romantic relationship behavior called attention and suspicion.
Well, thanks for playing this game. I hope it was educational and thought-provoking.
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A Rainbow Obsession
“Aengus.” Fafnir, the faerie Prince, sighed. His eyes made the short trip down the length of the leprechaun before him. Standard for a leprechaun, redheaded, a sickly taste for the color green. Angry looking. (Then again, he might have been legitimately angry. Fafnir couldn’t bother himself with the details.) “The humans are not after your gold or anyone else’s. It’s Pride Month.”
“Sire, with all due respect,” Aengus insisted, “they’re unnaturally obsessed with rainbows recently! You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence!” Ugh. He’d have to sit up, wouldn’t he? Grudgingly, he propped himself up on one elbow, and, still on his stomach, turned to address his agitated subject. “It’s Pride Month.” Fafnir spoke slowly as to be more easily understood. “It’s a celebration.”
“Of what?”
Fafnir rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. Affection? Bright colors? Marching and carrying signs? Simple creatures, humans.”
“I’d bet they’re celebrating,” mumbled Aengus. “Celebrating all that gold they’ve illegally obtained...”
Fafnir turned over to lie on his back. “How did you obtain it?”
Aengus ignored him. “Won’t you just investigate this? You know, they already have stories about the gold at the ends of rainbows, and they’re disturbingly correct.”
“And?”
“And,” Aengus huffed, irritated by the Prince’s half lidded eyes and silky nonchalant tone. It was almost like he didn’t care! “If they find out that their little stories are true, they might discover us! They’ll want wishes!” he spat.
“That’s always hilarious,” Fafnir laughed to himself. “Especially when they say vague things like, ‘I want to live forever.’” he said louder. “Eventually they’ll be a pile of dust with a very angry conscience. Or a very ugly old man. Not to mention the many downfalls of immortali—”
“Fafnir!”
“What?”
“I will not grant any more wishes! It was always terrible!”
“Yes, for you.” Fafnir shrugged, a half-arsed twitch of his shoulders. “If it bothers you so much, you investigate it.” at that, Fafnir turned to face the opposite wall, signifying the end of this conversation.
“Fine! I will!”
Aengus wasted no time reaching the mortal world. After all, he had an unguarded rainbow...somewhere in Indiana. He liked it there, all of its farms and fields, and large population of less than open minded people, who were, happily, not looking for anything at the ends of rainbows.
He manifested in a soybean field, and cast a look around. The sky overhead was cloudy, but the air was warm and uncomfortable all the same. Looking then at their odd little poles and brightly colored signs, he decided he felt rather...short. Or did humans have to crane their necks to see? They must not, or else they’d have made them shorter. He willed himself to grow taller, and at about 5’6, he decided he could see, and so it must be an acceptable height. Now then. Do human men have facial hair? Not that he could remember from his last visit.
Better not.
Hats? Never inside. Not that he cared for them much. The other leprechauns insisted he try them, but he had to refuse hat hair. Anyway, it wasn’t raining yet.
Arranging for himself an outfit of a pressed white shirt, suit jacket, dress pants and nice shoes, he felt he was ready to go. Or, rather, he thought Bonnie (a sweet little girl he’d met on his last visit) would think he was.
Not discouraged by dirt and dust, Aengus walked on the side of the road, determined to find his rainbow and beat anyone sniffing around it. He’d conjured himself an umbrella on his walk just for such an occasion.
Unfortunately, the clouds were blocking the light that would have exposed the rainbow. This might still be a problem if he knew where he’d put it...right?
Of course it would be, this wasn’t his fault at all.
He walked for a few more miles, and yelped as a strange looking machine that may have been an automobile thundered past, adding to his collection of filth. But where there were automobiles, (no matter how strange, ugly or frightening) there would certainly be humans. Hoping it was coming toward and not going away from civilization, he decided to follow it.
It seemed that perhaps the luck of his past captors had rubbed off on him, as he was able to follow the automobile a small town. Ought to make myself presentable, he thought, and willed the dirt from his clothes and hair. Afterward, he approached the driver he’d followed. “Excuse me, miss.” she said nothing. “Miss?” after a minute or two, she turned and jumped with a sort of yelp. With her right hand, she removed a sort of plug on a string from her ear.
“Sorry,” she apologized, “I didn’t see you.”
“That’s alright.”
She seemed uncomfortable, as if she were waiting for him to attack her here in the parking lot. “By any chance, have you seen a rainbow in this area?” Her eyebrows, strangely dark in comparison to her bright red hair, knitted together.
“A rainbow?” she echoed. “What do you mean, r—oh, are you gay?” she seemed comforted by this idea.
“More confused, really,” he said. Were humans always so concerned as to whether others were happy or not? They’d never seemed the type.
“We don’t have many Pride events around here.” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “State’s so red and all.”
“Red?” on his walk, he hadn’t seen any spot of land that was particularly red. Green, grey, and brown more like.
“Yeah,” she replied, apparently just as confused as he was. “Republican, as opposed to Democrat? You are talking about Pride Month, June? You know, with the rainbow flag?”
He stared at her as blankly as possible, and then asked slowly, “Do any of these things enjoy gold?”
“Um. What? No. Pride Month isn’t about...no. It...it’s not alive. It celebrates the LGBTQ community?”
“Why are only these letters included?”
“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning?”
“What?”
“Um...” the poor thing seemed to be in distress at his misunderstanding. “Like...girls dating girls, and guys dating guys...that sorta thing?” Did humans always celebrate such common occurrences? They did seem the type for that.
“So....” he paused. “You’re not after my gold?”
#original fiction#pride month#lgbtq pride#fantasy#am writing#short fiction#magical characters#magicalcreatures#fairyland#faries
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Bloomberg Comes Under Scathing Attack at First Democratic Presidential Debate in Nevada
Michael Bloomberg faced a barrage of attacks at his first Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday, as his rivals assailed the free-spending and fast-rising billionaire over his record on race, history of sexist comments and the use of his massive fortune to muscle his way into the contest.
In a rough debate debut that gave voters their first unscripted look at the media mogul and self-funding former New York mayor, Bloomberg seemed uncomfortable and hesitant as he defended his record and argued that he is Democrats’ best chance of beating Republican President Donald Trump in November.
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg all lined up to go after Bloomberg, who has surged in polls helped by an unprecedented advertising blitz. But they also heaped personal attacks on one another in the most contentious of the nine Democratic White House debates.
All of the contenders on the Las Vegas debate stage accused Bloomberg of trying to buy his way into the White House and said his record as mayor and businessman was not good enough to beat Trump.
“We’re running against a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians,” said Warren, a senator from Massachusetts. “And, no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”
“Democrats take a huge risk if we just substitute one arrogant billionaire for another,” she added.
Bloomberg has been accused over the years of many sexist and misogynistic comments, and several lawsuits have been filed alleging that women were discriminated against at his media company.
He did not respond to Warren’s comments about his alleged remarks about women, taken from a booklet given to him in 1990 that was said to be a compilation of his sayings over the years. A campaign spokesman has said Bloomberg “simply did not say the things somebody wrote in this gag gift.”
Bloomberg, who entered the race in November and is skipping the first four early voting states in February to focus on later nominating contests in March, has risen to No. 2 among Democrats behind Sanders, according to a Reuters/Ipsos national poll released on Tuesday.
Bloomberg said at the debate that he was using his money for an important cause.
“I’m spending that money to get rid of Donald Trump – the worst president we’ve ever had. And if I can get that done, it will be a great contribution to America and to my kids,” he said.
Trump was happy to inject himself into the debate pile-on of Bloomberg, telling supporters at a rally in Phoenix: “I hear he’s getting pounded tonight.”
SCORCHING EXCHANGES
The debate came at a pivotal time, three days before Nevada’s presidential caucuses, the third contest in the state-by-state race to find a challenger to Trump in the Nov. 3 election.
The high stakes were evident in the intensity of the exchanges, with Biden and Warren, in particular, facing the do-or-die task of reigniting their campaigns after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month.
Both Warren and Biden, the former vice president and onetime front-runner who lost ground to Sanders and Bloomberg in recent weeks, criticized Bloomberg for his treatment of women, and asked him to commit to releasing women who had signed nondisclosure agreements to settle lawsuits.
Bloomberg refused, saying they were made “consensually” with the expectation they would stay private.
“We are not going to beat Donald Trump with a man who has who knows how many nondisclosure agreements, and the drip, drip, drip of stories of women saying they have been harassed and discriminated against,” said Warren, who had her most aggressive debate.
Bloomberg said there were “very few” nondisclosure agreements. “None of them accuse me of anything,” he said. “Maybe they didn’t like the jokes I told.”
‘WELCOME TO THE PARTY, MAN’
Sanders, a progressive senator who has surged to the top of polls, criticized Bloomberg’s support for “stop-and-frisk” police policies as mayor that “went after African-American and Latino people in an outrageous way.”
Bloomberg has long struggled with the legacy of the divisive tactic, which encouraged police to stop and search pedestrians and ensnared disproportionate numbers of blacks and Latinos.
Biden, who is banking on his support among African Americans to revive his flagging candidacy, said stop and frisk had thrown “close to 5 million young black men up against the wall.”
Bloomberg said he was “worried” and “embarrassed” about his past support for stop-and-frisk and that he had apologized for supporting it.
But his rivals were not willing to let him off the hook.
“It’s not whether you apologize or not, it’s the policy… And it was in fact a violation of every right people have,” Biden said.
After a discussion of Sanders’ economic proposals, such as requiring that a share of large companies is owned by employees, Bloomberg said he could not think of an easier way to get Trump re-elected.
“It’s ridiculous. We’re not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that, other countries tried – it was called communism and just didn’t work,” he said. Sanders called it “a cheap shot.”
Bloomberg fired back. “The best-known socialist in the country happens to be a millionaire with three houses,” he said, referring to Sanders.
Buttigieg, the moderate former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who edged Sanders in Iowa and narrowly lost to him in New Hampshire, attacked both Sanders and Bloomberg.
“Most Americans don’t see where they fit if they have to choose between a socialist who thinks money is the root of all evil and a billionaire who thinks that money ought to be the root of all power,” Buttigieg said.
In an apparent jab at Bloomberg, formerly a Republican, he said: “Let’s put forward somebody who’s actually a Democrat.”
Biden said on MSNBC that he told Bloomberg as they left the debate stage: “Welcome to the party, man.”
(Reporting by Simon Lewis and Tim Reid in Las Vegas and John Whitesides, Ginger Gibson and Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Soyoung Kim, Peter Cooney and Sonya Hepinstall)
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