Tumgik
#mitchs art trash
mitch-is-an-artist · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
genshin massive shitpost abou new character I pulled
218 notes · View notes
Text
Kaiju Weeks in Review (September 10-30, 2023)
Tumblr media
I adore Godzilla Final Wars, but it's a movie with an identity crisis, unsure whether it wants to be headlining a Toho Champion Festival or mesmerizing American teenagers at a mid-aughts multiplex. @spacehunter-m's Final Wars 2004: The Year We Make Corn-Tack gives it a strong tug in the first direction, whittling the runtime down to 77 minutes and replacing most of the music and sound effects. She was inspired by Space Warriors 2000, of all things; as she put it, both films are "largely comprised of nonstop, monotonous action." As in that bizarro Ultraman compilation film, the kaiju trash-talk each other. It makes you wonder why Ryuhei Kitamura didn't at least bring back the speech bubbles from Godzilla vs. Gigan. Kaiju fan edits are rare, and this is in a class all by itself. Download it here.
Tumblr media
Shigeru Kayama's novelizations of Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Raids Again are out—hopefully the first of many to come. My copy only arrived on Saturday, so I haven't had the chance to read the whole thing yet, but I've made it through Godzilla. It's interesting to see Kayama, who wrote the initial treatment, take another swing at the story after the film was finished. He puts back moments like Godzilla eating a cow and attacking a lighthouse, and is also more overt with the wartime allusions. There's an incredible moment where Dr. Yamane muses that studying Godzilla and learning his secrets could be Japan's way of redeeming itself after "caus[ing] a great deal of trouble to people throughout the world." Note that these are novella-length, so much less in-depth than the novelizations of American Godzilla films you might be used to (Godzilla Raids Again is less than 80 pages). The book ends with an afterword by translator Jeffrey Angles contextualizing the tales.
Tumblr media
Godzilla: War for Humanity continues to be a standout IDW miniseries. There's a new and very weird monster in the second issue, plus a no-nonsense Mothra (she tries to recruit Godzilla to fight Zoospora by shooting him in the back of the head and dragging him into the ocean in front of Minilla).
I've also got to mention the solicitation for another Godzilla Rivals installment, due December 20. Nola Pfau is writing, Megan Huang is illustrating.
Jen Onça is not excited to start her new, fast-paced fast-food career at Minilla Burger, but she'd much prefer a mundane day to the sudden return of Megalon! The monster brings destruction, trapping Jen in a forgotten lab deep beneath the restaurant with only the half-built form of Jet Jaguar to help her get out! She must repair the robotic defender to save herself and the city, but first she needs to escape the rubble trapping her in this tense adventure!
Tumblr media
Yuzo the Biggest Battle in Tokyo, Yoshikazu Ishii's follow-up to Attack of the Giant Teacher, has also been picked up by SRS Cinema. No release details yet. I can't really speak to the film either, since it screened at the same time as Yumiko Shaku's panel at G-Fest, but as you can see from the poster, it's set during the pandemic.
Tumblr media
The GAMERA -Rebirth- Gyaos has joined Godzilla Battle Line as an unusual sort of swarm unit. Your first summon of the match calls forth two sub-adults, and by the fifth summon you're sending out two sub-adults and three adults, still for four energy. They're probably the best swarm in the game, though still highly vulnerable to AOE units like Godzilla '01. I'm having fun with them in the Challenge Battles.
Tumblr media
Notzilla, one of the sharpest kaiju comedies out there, is unexpectedly getting the graphic novel treatment. Mitch Teemley is adapting his own screenplay, with art by Zumart Putra. The comic is already finished, although I'm not clear on how folks who didn't back the Kickstarter (which wrapped on September 11) will get it. Useless trivia: the terrific cover above (one of four) is by Ben Dunn, who wrote the How to Draw Manga book I poured over in middle school.
Tumblr media
After Troll shattered Netflix streaming records (according to Netflix), it's not super surprising that the company wants a sequel. Priority one: coming up with a title that's not Troll 2. Screenwriter Espen Aukan and director Roar Uthaug will both return.
Tumblr media
Toy highlights of the past few weeks:
After confusing everyone by teasing its silhouette the day before April Fools', Tamashii has fully unveiled an S.H.Monsterarts Godzilla '72, a rare Showa figure from the line. It comes with two heads, one of them bloodied (see above). Due at the end of February.
After finally running out of ways to repaint their mold of Hedorah's Perfect Stage, Bandai is making a Movie Monster Series figure of the kaiju's Landing Stage. A Godzilla Store exclusive, it'll be released October 25.
After over two years, Funko is releasing a trio of Godzilla Singular Point Pops. Hopefully they go all-out with this show—it's not like there's any other plausible way for a Satomi Kanahara figure to exist.
75 notes · View notes
Text
AITA if I pursue legal action against these prankster exterminators?
I recently bought a house there was a termite infestation that was not disclosed to me, so I called my termite extermination company.
When the exterminators arrived, they immediately asked to use my bathroom. Fine, no big deal. But what followed was over two hours of them taking turns going in and out, doing goodness knows what in there. Then they went in together, and I heard strange noises. Turns out, it was a prank - one of them pretended his foot was stuck in the toilet, and I had to rush in to help, only for them to burst into laughter because it wasn't stuck at all, he was just faking it.
Then they got really serious and said, "It's Turbo time!" and started running around my house like madmen, jumping over furniture. When I tried to join in, they yelled at me, insisting that I wasn't part of their "Turbo Team" and should walk slowly until invited. Feeling left out, I retreated to read my art books.
Now, the cherry on top – the next day, I discovered my toilet seemed to have magically shrunk. After some investigation, I found a Home Depot receipt in the trash for a similar-sized toilet but with a joke hole just for farts! Yes, they replaced my functioning toilet with a fart toilet, rendering it useless for regular business. I'm feeling sick to my stomach about the whole situation and I'm contemplating calling my lawyer, Mitch Bryant.
20 notes · View notes
tashabilities · 2 years
Text
I do still feel like maybe nobody's ever loved me because I come from a trash heap.
And maybe I'm as terrible as my narcissist father said and I just don't know it,
And that's why I've been alone ALL this time.
I hate telling men how long it's been since my divorce cause people think something's wrong with you, think you're defective, if you've not been in some 3 year, 5 year, 12 year relationship,
But I've been alone this whole time because there is NOBODY.
Has BEEN NOBODY like,
My divorce was so devastating BECAUSE after puberty and high school of nobody liking me Like That,
That One was my first everything, and i knew it was gon be years and years before I met another guy who wanted to actually date me and be with me.
And it's not that I'm not desirable cause even monoracial brownskin with 4C hair and NO ass, I got a li'l currency, I see how they look at me.
But my disability is visible and I think men don't close because of it.
All I've ever had is that one autistic and illiterate bum with the Trini mother and Jamaican father and HE got as far as he did BECAUSE I WAS STARVING.
FIFTY ONE MONTHS of celibacy and a PickMe ass bitch in my ear and posing as a friend are why he got as far as he did,
And I still couldn't tolerate his pathetic ass, broke up with him twice and he was here for less than 6 months.
All there has been outside of that bullshit are taken Black men who were not interested, yet loved to play in my naive, slow li'l face.
I used to write on this blog about these niggas and how hard I crushed on them and nothing came of ANY of it,
And the whole time, that was entirely THEIR prerogative.
From Mr. Cintas, Tony D, who was the rug and towels man at the airport Buffalo Wild Wings I worked at,
Who would be so in my face that my co-workers used to ask me what was going on between the two of us,
But he had my number and NEVER called,
Even when I told him flat out, straight up, I Wanna Sit On Your Dick, said it just like that, he made NO move to make that happen.
To Artist Nigga, artist with work in the Smithsonian and a bunch of other fine galleries, brilliant at his chosen profession,
Divorced, son of educators, a continental African father and Black American mother, Jack and Jill nigga with the fraternal twin brother,
Who had me in his studio sitting next to a portrait of his girlfriend for 5 fucking hours in December of 2017, the ONE piece of art in his studio he never said a word about, and then he never closed,
Hit me with that good ol When I'ma See You Again but afterward, still stared at me from across every art gallery we were in at the same time,
Going so far as to block my movement at ZuCot and ask me, "Youn like me no mo?"
Cause like a true narcissist, he didn't give a fuck about ME, but wanted me to want HIM.
To Mr. Body, aka Marc, who used to manage the Just Fitness where I lost that weight in 2014,
To that regular whose name I can't remember , I think it was Steve, who used to come in BDubs and sit at the bar and stare at me and make jokes, who told me Let Me Walk You Out one night and then never called,
When nigga, we in an airport so I'm not walking out into the dark of night, it's cops and TSA and all kinda feds from here to the MARTA train why you wanna Walk Me Out?
But he never called the number on my card and my Black girl coworkers tried to make me believe he's just a really nice guy and I Read Into It,
Cause surely, I don't know when someone's flirting with me.
To Michael from the UPS Store, with the beige son and the white ex wife who seemed to think I was gon come hang out at the fuckin UPS Store and talk to him because he wouldn't ask me on a real date.
To say nothing of the MARRIED men,
Like the lightskin married lawyer who is the cousin of a voiceover dude from the Mitch crew, who I would still fuck if he were to actually get a divorce
But the married ones rarely want you after they finalize their divorce and are free and clear, no,
They wanna pull you WHILE they're married cause they need to know they still got it, that they can pull you and have you on standby, waiting for his call and them few stolen moments Whitney sang about.
Or W, my former massage therapist, THE best massage therapist, who dropped me when I put a stop to the emotional affair we were bout to have,
Or that one voiceover dude in the D.C. metro with the daughters but also the day job with like, NASA or some shit who did the most with me on my birthday trip to the Black Smithsonian.
I blocked him on everything when his conscience made him cancel the lunch he asked to take me on, like,
I could be here all day talking about married niggas and their antics,
But I never have anything.
It makes no sense and it hurts.
If it weren't my life, I wouldn't believe it, cause even fat as the fuck, I still look too good for this to be true.
Nobody talks to me.
And I think my disability is part of that,
Has more to do with it than I initially understood.
Don't reblog.
1 note · View note
bejesus-nerdlord · 3 years
Text
It's Hockey Boi Summer™
Tumblr media
21 notes · View notes
thatsmyblogiguess · 5 years
Photo
Tumblr media
oh no he’s cute
182 notes · View notes
trashabilly · 6 years
Photo
Tumblr media
*rocky voice* and now for something completely cursed!
140 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Hmm? Spot the difference? 🤫
69 notes · View notes
the-owl-society · 6 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
It started off as a stupid doodle now I can’t stop......help @smokeplanet Go read this babs comic: Long Exposure! ☺️
77 notes · View notes
teeffairy · 7 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Mitch's ready to get fucked up 🍻🗡 and fuck his Joey-bean 💕 Not my characters! Long Exposure by @sm0keplanet
98 notes · View notes
mitch-is-an-artist · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
232 notes · View notes
sad-inferno · 7 years
Photo
Tumblr media
I drew Mitch loitering and thinking of Jonas. Characters of @smokeplanet
And I know its bad to self insert but I’m right next to the recycle bin thing
120 notes · View notes
patriotsnet · 3 years
Text
Why Is The Media Against Republicans
New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-is-the-media-against-republicans/
Why Is The Media Against Republicans
Tumblr media
Mcconnell And Co Are Playing As Dirty A Game As Possible In Their Quest To Fill Ginsburgs Seat Before The Election But You Wont Find That Story In Most News Coverage
Bookmark
US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell at a press conference at the US Capitol on September 22, 2020. McConnell said in a statement that the Senate would take up President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Subscribe to The Nation
Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter
Fridays
The Nation
Join the Books & the Arts Newsletter
MondaysThe Nation
The Nationlatest issue
Subscribe to The Nation
Support Progressive Journalism
The Nation
Sign up for our Wine Club today.
The Nation
The argument against confirming Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court before the inauguration is a Republican argument. They invented it, they enacted it, and they own it. That’s because it was Republicans, not Democrats, who changed the number of Supreme Court justices from nine to eight for 10 months in 2016, when a Democratic president was in the White House. It was Republicans who argued that no Supreme Court nominee should even be considered by the Senate in an election year. And it was Republicans who promised to block the confirmation of Hillary Clinton’s Supreme Court nominees in the event that she became president while Republicans retained control of the Senate.
Current Issue
View our current issue
More from Mystal
Elie Mystal
And that argument is simply untenable. We do not have a legitimate third branch of government if only one party gets to choose its members.
For Reprints and Permissions, click
Vaccine Advocacy From Hannity And Mcconnell Gets The Media Off Republicans’ Backs But Won’t Shift Public Sentiment
Sean Hannity, Mitch McConnell and Tucker Carlson
Amid a rising media furor over the steady stream of vaccine disparagement from GOP politicians and Fox News talking heads, a number of prominent Republicans spoke up in favor of vaccines early this week.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, “shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible” and asked that people “ignore all of these other voices that are giving demonstrably bad advice.” House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, got the vaccine after months of delay and then publicly said, “there shouldn’t be any hesitancy over whether or not it’s safe and effective.” And Fox News host Sean Hannity, in a widely shared video, declared, it “absolutely makes sense for many Americans to get vaccinated.” This was treated in the press as an unequivocal endorsement, even though the use of the word “many” was clearly meant to let the Fox News viewers feel like he’s talking about other people getting vaccinated. 
Is this an exciting pivot among the GOP elites?  Are they abandoning the sociopathic strategy of sabotaging President Joe Biden’s anti-pandemic plan by encouraging their own followers to get sick? Are the millions of Republicans who keep telling pollsters they will never get that Democrat shot going to change their minds now? 
Ha ha ha, no.
Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.
— Matthew Gertz July 20, 2021
The Technology 202: New Report Calls Conservative Claims Of Social Media Censorship ‘a Form Of Disinformation’
with Aaron Schaffer
A new report concludes that social networks aren’t systematically biased against conservatives, directly contradicting Republican claims that social media companies are censoring them. 
arrow-right
Recent moves by Twitter and Facebook to suspend former president Donald Trump’s accounts in the wake of the violence at the Capitol are inflaming conservatives’ attacks on Silicon Valley. But New York University researchers today released a report stating claims of anti-conservative bias are “a form of disinformation: a falsehood with no reliable evidence to support it.” 
The report found there is no trustworthy large-scale data to support these claims, and even anecdotal examples that tech companies are biased against conservatives “crumble under close examination.” The report’s authors said, for instance, the companies’ suspensions of Trump were “reasonable” given his repeated violation of their terms of service — and if anything, the companies took a hands-off approach for a long time given Trump’s position.
The report also noted several data sets underscore the prominent place conservative influencers enjoy on social media. For instance, CrowdTangle data shows that right-leaning pages dominate the list of sources providing the most engaged-with posts containing links on Facebook. Conservative commentator Dan Bongino, for instance, far out-performed most major news organizations in the run-up to the 2020 election. 
In The Past The Gop Would Be Rallying Their Voters Against This Bill Their Failure To Do So Now Is Ominous
Mitch ?McConnell, Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro
With surprising haste for the U.S. Senate, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, just after passing a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. And Democrats could not be more excited, as the blueprint covers a whole host of long-standing priorities, from fighting climate change to creating universal prekindergarten. The blueprint was largely written by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who released a statement calling it “the most consequential piece of legislation for working people, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor since FDR and the New Deal of the 1930s.”
Sanders isn’t putting that much spin on the ball.
While the bill fallls short of what is really needed to deal with climate change, it is still tremendously consequential legislation that will do a great deal not just to ameliorate economic inequalities, but, in doing so, likely reduce significant gender and racial inequality. It’s also a big political win for President Joe Biden. In other words, it is everything that Republicans hate. Worse for them, it’s packed full of benefits that boost the middle class, not just the working poor. Traditionally, such programs are much harder to claw back once Republicans gain power — as they’ve discovered in previous failed attempts to dismantle Social Security and Obamacare. 
Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.
But that’s not really happening here. 
The Actual Reason Why Republicans And Their Media Are Discouraging People From Getting Vaccinated
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Independent Media Institute
Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN Medical Analyst, said last week, “A surprising amount of death will occur soon…” But why, when the deadly Delta variant is sweeping the world, are Republicans and their media warning people not to get vaccinated?
there’s always a reason
Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN last Sunday, “I don’t have a really good reason why this is happening.”
But even if he can’t think of a reason why Republicans would trash talk vaccination and people would believe them, it’s definitely there.
Which is why it’s important to ask a couple of simple questions that all point to the actual reason why Republicans and their media are discouraging people from getting vaccinated:
1. Why did Trump get vaccinated in secret after Joe Biden won the election and his January 6th coup attempt failed?
2. Why are Fox “News” personalities discouraging people from getting vaccinated while refusing to say if they and the people they work with have been protected by vaccination?
3. Why was one of the biggest applause lines at CPAC: “They were hoping — the government was hoping — that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated and it isn’t happening!”
4. Why are Republican legislators in states around the country pushing laws that would “ban” private businesses from asking to see proof of vaccination status ?
Death is their electoral strategy.
Is there any other possible explanation?
So, what’s left?
Destroying Trust In The Media Science And Government Has Left America Vulnerable To Disaster
For America to minimize the damage from the current pandemic, the media must inform, science must innovate, and our government must administer like never before. Yet decades of politically-motivated attacks discrediting all three institutions, taken to a new level by President Trump, leave the American public in a vulnerable position.
jonmladd
Trump has consistently vilified the national media. When campaigning, he the media “absolute scum” and “totally dishonest people.” As president, he has news organizations “fake news” and “the enemy of the people” over and over. The examples are endless. Predictably, he has blamed the coronavirus crisis on the media, saying “We were very prepared. The only thing we weren’t prepared for was the media.”
Science has been another Trump target. He has gutted scientific expertise and administrative capacity in the executive branch, most notably failing to fill hundreds of vacancies in the Centers for Disease Control itself and disbanding the National Security Council’s taskforce on pandemics. During the coronavirus crisis, he has routinely disagreed with scientific experts, including, in the AP’s words, his “musing about injecting disinfectants into people .” This follows his earlier public advocacy for hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, also against leading scientists’ advice. Coupled with his flip-flopping on when to lift stay-at-home orders, the president has created confusion and endangered people.
Media Bias Against Conservatives Is Real And Part Of The Reason No One Trusts The News Now
Members of the media were shocked as he was supposedly revealed as incredibly anti-woman presidential candidate, perhaps even the most ever nominated by a major political party in the modern era. He had admitted that he reduced women to objects and the Democrats pounced, seeking to make him lose him the support of women and, in turn, the presidency.
I’m not talking about the media coverage of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and the “Access Hollywood” tape, but his predecessor, Mitt Romney.
His sin? Saying that he had “binders full of women” that he was looking at appointing to key positions were he elected president. Sure, it was an awkward way of stating a fairly innocuous fact about how elected executives begin their transition efforts — with resumes of candidates for every position under the sun —- well before an election is held. Yet, the media and commentators came for Mitt Romney and they did so with guns blazing, as he was portrayed as an anti-woman extremist… for making a concerted effort to hire women to serve in his administration as governor of Massachusetts.
There Is No Liberal Media Bias In Which News Stories Political Journalists Choose To Cover
1Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
2University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
3Brigham Young University-Idaho, Rexburg, ID 83460, USA.
?*Corresponding author. Email: hans.hassellfsu.edu ; jh5akvirginia.edu
?† These authors contributed equally to this work.
See allHide authors and affiliations
PDF
‘it’s Time To End This Forever War’ Biden Says Forces To Leave Afghanistan By 9/11
The enormous national anger generated by those attacks was also channeled by the administration toward the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which was conceived to prevent any recurrence of attacks on such a massive scale. Arguments over that legislation consumed Congress through much of 2002 and became the fodder for campaign ads in that year’s midterms.
The same anger was also directed toward a resolution to use force, if needed, in dealing with security threats from the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. That authorization passed Congress with bipartisan majorities in the fall of 2002, driven by administration claims that Saddam had “weapons of mass destruction.” It became law weeks before the midterm elections.
Once those elections were over, the Republicans in control of both chambers finally agreed to create an independent commission to seek answers about 9/11. Bush signed the legislation on Nov. 27, 2002.
The beginning was hobbled when the first chairman, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and vice chairman, former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, decided not to continue. But a new chairman, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, and vice chairman, former Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, filled the breach and performed to generally laudatory reviews.
Long memories
Top House Republican Opposes Bipartisan Commission To Investigate Capitol Riot
But McCarthy replied by opposing Katko’s product, and more than 80% of the other House Republicans did too. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., initially said he was keeping an open mind but then announced that he too was opposed. This makes it highly unlikely that 10 of McConnell’s GOP colleagues will be willing to add their votes to the Democrats’ and defeat a filibuster of the bill.
Republicans have argued that two Senate committees are already looking at the events of Jan. 6, as House panels have done as well. The Justice Department is pursuing cases against hundreds of individuals who were involved. Former President Donald Trump and others have said any commission ought to also be tasked to look at street protests and violence that took place in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd.
But with all that on the table, several Republicans have alluded to their concern about a new commission “dragging on” into 2022, the year of the next midterm elections. “A lot of our members … want to be moving forward,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 Senate Republican toMcConnell. “Anything that gets us rehashing to 2020 elections is, I think, a day lost.”
Resistance even after 9/11
The Taliban were toppled but bin Laden escaped, and U.S. forces have been engaged there ever since. The troop numbers have declined in recent years, and President Biden has indicated that all combat troops will be out by this year’s anniversary of the 2001 attacks.
Opiniontrump And His Voters Are Drawn Together By A Shared Sense Of Defiance
Americans in general have begun to catch on: 66 percent of Americans believe that the media has a hard time separating fact from opinion and, according to a recent Gallup poll, 62 percent of the country believes that the press is biased one way or the other in their reporting.
So when CNN, NBC News, Fox News, or another outlet break a hard news story, there is a good chance that a large swathe of the public won’t view it as legitimate news.
And politicians, right and left, are taking advantage of this.
The entire ordeal is part of an ever-growing list of examples in which the media seemed to be biased, whether consciously or not, against Republicans.
Before Donald Trump, there was New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who in 2014 accused the media of “dividing us” because they asked him about some protesters who had chanted “NYPD is the KKK” and . He also accused the media of McCarthyism when they dug into the personal life of an aide of his, who reportedly had a relationship with a convicted murderer. The mayor also publicly and privately accused Bloomberg News of being biased against him, since it is owned by his predecessor. However, de Blasio is not terribly popular within his own party, so Democrats in New York did not buy what he was selling.
The Media Has Entered The Republicans Pounce Stage Of Critical Race Theory
Now that polls show a majority of Americans oppose Critical Race Theory, the Democratic Party and their scribes in the legacy media have launched a rearguard action against parents — by casting them as the aggressors. As is true every time the Left misfires or overreaches, the media ignore the offense and focus on the popular backlash in a tactic popularly known as “Republicans pounce.”
Media coverage proves that CRT has entered the “Republicans pounce” stage. Witness the words of one Politico writer, who said on Thursday, “he right is hoping to capitalize on the grassroots angst over critical race theory and excite its base voters in next year’s midterms.” Chris Hayes, who has the unenviable position of competing directly with Tucker Carlson on MSNBC, agreed Thursday night that all the Republican Party’s “rhetorical fire has moved away from the deficit and on to some random, school superintendent in Maine after his district dared to denounce white supremacy after the murder of George Floyd.”
But why are grassroots Americans so filled with “angst”? Because they are intellectually deficient and, of course, racist, according to Vox.com.
“Conservatives have launched a growing disinformation campaign around the academic concept” of CRT. “It’s an attempt to push back against progress,” wrote Vox.com reporter Fabiola Cineas. The problem is that “Republicans … want to ban anti-racist teachings and trainings in classrooms and workplaces across the country.”
Trump Continues To Push Election Falsehoods Here’s Why That Matters
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Republican opposition to the commission
Rice was featured in one of the very few congressional commissions ever to receive this level of attention. Most are created and live out their mission with little notice. Indeed, Congress has created nearly 150 commissions of various kinds in just the last 30 years, roughly five a year.
Some have a highly specific purpose, such as a commemoration. Others are more administrative, such as the five-member commission overseeing the disbursement of business loans during the early months of pandemic lockdown in 2020. Others have been wide-ranging and controversial, such as the one created to investigate synthetic opioid trafficking.
In the initial weeks after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, the idea of an independent commission to probe the origins of the attack and the failures that let it happen seemed a no-brainer. It had broad support both in Congress and in public opinion polls. It still enjoys the latter, as about two-thirds of Americans indicate that they think an independent commission is needed. The idea has fared well — particularly when described as being “9/11 Commission style.”
Opiniona Guide For Frustrated Conservatives In The Age Of Trump
Conscious bias or not, such practices do not engender trust in the media amongst conservatives. They only reinforce the belief that the media seeks to defend their ideological allies on the left and persecute those on the right while claiming to be objective.
This idea that the media is made up of unselfconsciously liberal elites who don’t even recognize the biases they have against conservative policies and conservatives in general goes back decades, to when newsrooms were more or less homogenous in nearly every way. At first, conservatives fought back by founding their own magazines; after Watergate and in the midst of the Reagan administration and liberals’ contempt for him, organizations like the Media Research Center began cataloguing the myriad examples of biased coverage, both large and small.
And there was a lot to catalogue, from opinion pages heavily weighted in favor of liberals to reportage and analysis that looks a lot more like the opinion of the writers than unbiased coverage.
Despite Cries Of Censorship Conservatives Dominate Social Media
GOP-friendly voices far outweigh liberals in driving conversations on hot topics leading up to the election, a POLITICO analysis shows.
The Twitter app on a mobile phone | Matt Rourke/AP Photo
10/27/2020 01:38 PM EDT
Link Copied
Republicans have turned alleged liberal bias in Silicon Valley into a major closing theme of the election cycle, hauling tech CEOs in for virtual grillings on Capitol Hill while President Donald Trump threatens legal punishment for companies that censor his supporters.
But a POLITICO analysis of millions of social media posts shows that conservatives still rule online.
Right-wing social media influencers, conservative media outlets and other GOP supporters dominate online discussions around two of the election’s hottest issues, the Black Lives Matter movement and voter fraud, according to the review of Facebook posts, Instagram feeds, Twitter messages and conversations on two popular message boards. And their lead isn’t close.
As racial protests engulfed the nation after George Floyd’s death, users shared the most-viral right-wing social media content more than 10 times as often as the most popular liberal posts, frequently associating the Black Lives Matter movement with violence and accusing Democrats like Joe Biden of supporting riots.
Politifact Va: No Republicans Didn’t Vote To Defund The Police
Rep. Bobby Scott speaks at a 2015 criminal justice forum.
Speaker: Bobby ScottStatement: “Every Republican in Congress voted to defund the police when they voted against the American Rescue Plan.”Date: July 12Setting: Twitter
In last fall’s campaigns, Republicans thundered often inaccurate charges that Democrats wanted to defund police departments.
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., is flipping the script and saying that all congressional Republicans voted to defund police this year when they opposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan.
“Every Republican in Congress voted to defund police when they voted against the American Rescue Plan,” Scott tweeted on July 12.
Scott represents Virginia’s 3rd congressional district, stretching from Norfolk and parts of Chesapeake north through Newport News and west through Franklin.
His claim, echoing a Democratic talking point, melts under scrutiny. Here’s why.
The Facts
The term “defunding police” arose after the 2020 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Many advocates say it does not mean abolishing police, but rather reallocating some of the money and the duties that have traditionally been handled by police departments.
Scott’s explanation
Barbera sent an NBC article noting that communities in at least 10 congressional districts represented by Republicans who opposed the bill are using some of its relief funds to help their police departments.
Our ruling
We rate Scott’s statement False.
Opinion:no The Media Isnt Fair It Gives Republicans A Pass
The right-wing media, willfully ignoring the press investigations into Tara Reade’s accusations, insist that former vice president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not been treated similarly to accused conservative men . They have a point, but not the one they were trying to make.
arrow-right
Let’s start with the big picture: Right-wing groups persistently engage in conduct for which Republicans are not held to account. The latter are allowed to remain silent after instances of conduct with a strong stench of white nationalism, but pay no penalty for their quietude. Right-wing demonstrators at Michigan’s statehouse this week — angrily shouting, not social distancing, misogynistic in their message, some carrying Confederate garb — were not engaged in peaceful protest. This was a mob endangering the health of police officers and others seeking to intimidate democratic government. Some protesters compared Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to Adolf Hitler and displayed Nazi symbols. Newsweek reported:
The media has adopted the approach that a pattern of sexual harassment claims over decades is not relevant because Trump has denied them, yet they want investigated the single assault claim against Biden. Biden responded in an interview and in a lengthy ; the media insists these things have to be investigated further. They do not ask Trump’s campaign why the president does not respond to questions. They do not ask Republicans about Carroll, Zervos or others.
Social Media: Is It Really Biased Against Us Republicans
Wednesday promises to be another stressful day for Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Their chief executives will be grilled by senators about whether social media companies abuse their power.
For Republicans, this is the opportunity they’ve been waiting for.
Two weeks ago, Twitter prevented people posting links to a critical New York Post investigation into Joe Biden.
It then apologised for failing to explain its reasoning before ditching a rule it had used to justify the action.
For many Republicans, this was the final straw – incontrovertible evidence that social media is biased against conservatives.
The accusation is that Silicon Valley is at its core liberal and a bad arbiter of what’s acceptable on its platforms.
In this case, Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz believed Twitter would have acted differently if the story had been about President Donald Trump.
Sobering Report Shows Hardening Attitudes Against Media
NEW YORK — The distrust many Americans feel toward the news media, caught up like much of the nation’s problems in the partisan divide, only seems to be getting worse.
That was the conclusion of a “sobering” study of attitudes toward the press conducted by Knight Foundation and Gallup and released Tuesday.
Nearly half of all Americans describe the news media as “very biased,” the survey found.
“That’s a bad thing for democracy,” said John Sands, director of learning and impact at the Knight Foundation. “Our concern is that when half of Americans have some sort of doubt about the veracity of the news they consume, it’s going to be impossible for our democracy to function.”
The study was conducted before the coronavirus lockdown and nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd.
Eight percent of respondents — the preponderance of them politically conservative — think that news media that they distrust are trying to ruin the country.
– Deal gives Atlanta company control of Anchorage TV news
The study found that 71% of Republicans have a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of the news media, while 22% of Democrats feel the same way. Switch it around, and 54% of Democrats have a very favorable view of the media, and only 13% of Republicans feel the same way.
That divide has been documented before but only seems to be deepening, particularly among conservatives, Sands said.
In The Age Of Trump Media Bias Comes Into The Spotlight
Almost 20 years ago, after my first book, “,” came out, I made a lot of speeches, some of them to conservative organizations. The book was about liberal bias in the mainstream media. I had been a journalist at CBS News for 28 years and, so, it was a behind-the-scenes exposé about how the sausage was made, about how bias made its way into the news. 
I said that despite what many conservatives think, there was no conspiracy to slant the news in a liberal direction. I said that there were no secret meetings, no secret handshakes and salutes, that anchors such as CBS’s Dan Rather never went into a room with top lieutenants, locked the door, lowered the blinds, dimmed the lights and said, “OK, how are we going to screw those Republicans today?” 
It didn’t work that way, I said. Instead, bias was the result of groupthink. Put too many like-minded liberals in a newsroom and you’re going to get a liberal slant on the news.    
Liberal journalists, I said, live in a comfortable liberal bubble and don’t even necessarily believe their views are liberal. Instead, they believe they are moderate, mainstream and mainly reasonable views — unlike, of course, conservative views which, to them, are none of those things.
But what I wrote and spoke about then — mainly about how there was no conspiracy to inject bias into news stories — seems no longer to be true today. 
Pandering, it seems, is good for business.
Bias shows itself not only in what’s reported, but also in what’s ignored. 
Florida Republicans Move Against Social Media Companies
Tumblr media Tumblr media
TALLAHASSEE — Concerned that social media companies were conspiring against conservatives, Florida Republicans sent a measure Thursday to Gov. Ron DeSantis that would punish online platforms that lawmakers assert discriminate against conservative thought.
The governor had urged lawmakers to deliver the legislation to his desk as part of a broader effort to regulate Big Tech companies — in how they collect and use information they harvest from consumers and in how social media platforms treat their users.
Republicans in Florida and elsewhere have accused the companies of censoring conservative thought on social media platforms by removing posts they consider inflammatory or using algorithms to reduce the visibility of posts that go against the grain of mainstream ideas.
With the ubiquity of social media, the sites have become modern-day public squares — where people share in the most trivial of matters but also in ideas and information that often are unvetted.
In recent years, social media companies have acted more aggressively in controlling the information posted on their platforms. In some cases, the companies have moved to delete posts over what they see as questionable veracity or their potential to stoke violence.
DeSantis is a strong ally of the former president, and the Republican governor is supporting hefty financial penalties against social media platforms that suspend the accounts of political candidates.
America Hates The Republicans And They Dont Know Why
@jonathanchait
Americans harbor certain deep-rooted impressions of the two parties, which have held for generations. Democrats are compassionate and generous, but spendthrift, dovish, and indulgent of crime and prone to subsidize poor people who don’t want to work. Republicans are strong on defense and crime, but too friendly to business and the rich. What is striking about the Republican government is how little effort it has made to push against, or even steer around, the unflattering elements of its brand. President Trump and his legislative partners have leaned into every ingrained prejudice the voters hold against them. They have acted as if none of their liabilities even exist.
That is not the approach Democrats have taken in office. Bill Clinton famously fashioned himself as a “New Democrat,” angering his base on crime and welfare and declaring the era of big government over. Barack Obama did not position himself quite so overtly against his party’s brand — which had recovered in part because of Clinton’s success — but he did take care to avoid confirming political stereotypes. Obama frequently invoked the importance of parenting and personal responsibility. He did not slash the defense budget, and took pains to woo Republican support for criminal-justice reform. Obama tried repeatedly to get Republicans to compromise on a deal to reduce the budget deficit. Whatever the merits of these policies, they reflect a grasp of the party’s innate liabilities.
Placing Some News Sources On The Political Spectrum
Here are a few examples of major news sources and their so-called “bias” based on ratings from AllSides  and the reported level of trust from partisan audiences from the Pew Research Center survey.
Note that much of these ratings are based on surveys of personal perceptions. Consider that these may be impacted by the hostile media effect, wherein “partisans perceive media coverage as unfairly biased against their side” . A three-decade retrospective on the hostile media effect. Mass Communication and Society, 18, 701-729. ).
The Capitol Siege: The Arrested And Their Stories
It would only be logical for that memory to inform the imagination of any Republican contemplating a similar independent commission to probe what happened on Jan. 6. The commission would likely look at various right-wing groups that were involved, including the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, some members of which have already been charged. The commission might also delve into the social media presence and influence of various white supremacists.
Moreover, just as the 9/11 Commission was expected to interview the current and preceding presidents, so might a new commission pursue testimony from Trump and some of his advisers, both official and otherwise, regarding their roles in the protest that wound up chasing members of Congress from both chambers into safe holding rooms underground.
House Minority Leader McCarthy was asked last week whether he would testify if a commission were created and called on him to discuss his conversations with Trump on Jan. 6.
“Sure,” McCarthy replied. “Next question.”
All this may soon be moot. If Senate Democrats are unable to secure 60 votes to overcome an expected filibuster of the House-passed bill, the measure will die and the questions to be asked will fall to existing congressional committees, federal prosecutors and the media. To some degree, all can at least claim to have the same goals and intentions as an independent commission might have.
The difference is the level of acceptance their findings are likely to have with the public.
2 notes · View notes
thewordinstantly · 7 years
Photo
Tumblr media
I drew Mitch from @smokeplanet ‘s lovely and absolutely amazing comic Long Exposure ! I really trashed his design but i love him so much so how could I not draw him??
On DeviantArt
59 notes · View notes
ericsonclan · 3 years
Text
He Was a Skater Boy
Summary: Gabe skateboards over to Ericson High to have a pudding eating contest with his uncle when suddenly he meets someone he had never seen before.
Word Count: 2067
Read on AO3:
Gabe sprinted down the hallway of Delta High, his backpack whacking against his back as his sneakers squeaked against the tiled floor. “Shit, sorry, sorry,” Gabe dodged fellow students as he continued to run. His right hand clutched his skateboard tightly and he soon found himself outside of the school building.
Gabe tilted his head back and took a deep breath. That was it, the smell of freedom. His left hand sloppily readjusted his beanie and he set down his board to skate off to meet up with his uncle. Javi had told him that he had worked out a deal with a lunch lady at Ericson High to get them a mountain of pudding. It was finally time that they put their money where their mouths were. They were going to have the ultimate pudding eating contest.
Gabe had been sure to eat light at lunch to prepare in advance for this. His dad would be pissed if he knew that he had skimmed on lunch all in the name of a pudding eating contest. He would be furious if he knew it was to spend time with Javi. Gabe took a deep breath and shook off any negative thoughts. Placing his left foot on the skateboard he used his right to kick off and began the journey to Ericson High - the monster school.
Gabe zoomed forward and pulled his beanie down, turning his head to the side to avoid catching attention from Joey or Justin. Those two never let go of grudges and ever since Gabe had helped Violet they had always bugged him whenever they had the chance. Gabe skated forward and saw that he was reaching the staircase. As he hopped up, Gabe’s backpack lifted in the air before the board landed on the staircase bar. It screeched lightly as he slid down the bar; Gabe smiled to himself and hopped off to land with ease at the bottom of the stairs. Pushing his foot against the ground, he continued to skate forward.
Mariana was sure missing out today. It was just her luck that she got caught on a silly prank and her partner in crime had ratted her out. Usually Gabe would stay back for her and treat her to some popsicles but he really didn’t want to miss today. It was hard to find time to hang out with his uncle. Especially lately with how much his dad had grown to distrust monsters. Gabe turned his focus back on the joy of skateboarding. Today was supposed to be a fun day. He tilted his head back and let the breeze blow through his hair that stuck out of his beanie. Moments like this were when he felt truest to himself. School had always felt like an obligation and after seeing how cool Ericson High was Gabe had grown somewhat jealous of his friend Clementine. She got to go to such a cool place every day while Gabe had to deal with annoying bullies and uncaring teachers who sort of irked him.
But that was just him being jealous. He knew that monsters had to deal with way more shit from people outside of school and ever since Clementine had made it clear that she sided with the monsters she’d become a target too from some of the Delta assholes.
Gabe looked back at the sidewalk ahead of him and began to weave past the people going about their day to day lives. “Oops! Sorry!” He barely squeezed through a small opening and gave an apologetic smile back to the couple. “Have a nice day!” Gabe gave a short salute and felt his embarrassment grow as he skated on. That was really stupid. Shaking off the feeling, Gabe continued on until he saw the Ericson High building.
Monsters of all kinds were outside mingling after a long day of classes. A mummy was trying to impress her crush by showing how badass her bandages were but had got them caught up in a tree branch. It didn’t seem to make the invisible girl beside her think any less of the mummy though as she leaned forward and placed a kiss on the mummy’s cheek, leaving a large lipstick stain on her bandages. The mummy grew flustered before her joy overwhelmed her and she used the bandages that were dangling on the branches as a swing as she swung ecstatically.
Gabe smiled and continued to skate forward, doing a quick jump to spin around on his skateboard before continuing forward. His eyes scanned the area and he noticed Violet was leaning against the side of the school building with her hood up. Her wolf ears flicked this way and that as they popped out of the holes in her hood. Beside her was James who was excitedly talking about what sounded to be a double date. He held a pamphlet in his hand for an art museum. Violet nodded along and talked happily with her friend before another monster called her name.
“Violet!” Sophie crowed and waved around a stick. “Fetch!” Without warning the harpy let out a series of excited tweets and twitters as she threw the stick through the sky. Violet’s ears perked up while her tail wagged enthusiastically and she gave a hasty goodbye to the cyclops before scampering forward.
The werewolf sprinted past Mitch who was having a show of strength with Marlon. The two of them were completely lost in the arm wrestling competition but the minotaur seemed keen on showing off to a certain selkie who was busy talking with Ruby and another monster that Gabe had never seen before.
Her short black hair and warm brown eyes captivated his attention as he skated by. The pure white feathers that covered her arms enhanced her beauty and her laugh made Gabe’s heart flutter. He was completely lost in the moment as he watched the swan monster whisper happily with her friends while they watched the arm wrestling competition.
Suddenly Gabe rammed into something heavy, knocking the wind out of him and causing the skateboard to go flying out from under his feet. Gabe landed hard on his ass and hissed in pain.
“Look out!” a voice called out and Gabe’s eyes shot up to see Louis’ head falling right towards him. Gabe immediately held out his hands and caught the frankenstein’s head just in time. The two stared at each other for a moment before screaming. After an instant’s panic though, both settled down.
“Thanks, buddy! You were really thinking ahead there!” Louis grinned at his own joke and Gabe gave a small laugh.
“Yeah,” Gabe’s smile faltered for a moment as he rose to his feet. “Sorry about that - I wasn’t watching where I was skating and-” Gabe took a deep breath, letting his thoughts catch up with his words. “Sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Just gotta redirect my body towards my head,” Louis smiled brightly and tried to use his head to motion towards his body. The frankenstein’s body was failing miserably at retrieving Louis’ head as it blindly walked forward and fell faceless first into a trash can. Louis’ smile faded instantly. “Damn it, now I’m gonna smell bad in front of Clem.”
“I’m really-” Gabe was cut off when the monster he had been caught off guard by yelled something.
“Hey! Stay away from my friend!” The cygnus rushed forward and began to hiss and snort as she busked at Gabe. Her arms were outstretched and her white feathers ruffled as she tried to intimidate the human. “No Delta High bullies here!”
Gabe blinked in confusion then looked down at his letterman jacket. Shit. Of course she had thought he was trouble. Most kids at Delta High weren’t kind to monsters.
“No, Nurgul! He’s cool! He’s one of the good humans!” Louis reassured the cygnus who still seemed unsure as her chest heaved with emotion. She kept trying to have an intimidating aura but Gabe instead found the whole thing incredibly cute. Silently Gabe lifted up Louis’ head and placed it back on the frankenstein’s body. Louis’ body raised its hands to readjust his head into place. “See! A good one!” Louis exclaimed loudly.
“Yeah, I didn’t run into him on purpose or anything. My name’s Gab-” Gabe was distracted when a monster who hadn’t spotted his skateboard suddenly slipped on it. “Ooo!” Gabe winced in guilt. He had to grab that board.
Nurgul slowly lowered her arms. “If Louis says you're good you have to be. It's nice to meet you, Gaboo. My name’s Nurgul!” The swan monster smiled kindly over at the human.
“No, my name isn't Gabu, it's Gabe,” Gabe corrected and Nurgul gave an embarrassed honk at that mistake.
“I’m sorry! And I’m also sorry I thought you were a bully just because you’re a human. I actually made this mistake before with Renata, assuming she was dangerous as a huldra when she’d really a sweetheart,” Nurgul motioned over to the huldra who currently had a stick in her mouth and was shaking her butt in Violet’s general direction, flexing that she was still a better fetcher which made her a better friend. The werewolf growled lightly and seemed annoyed by Renata’s cockiness until Sophie intervened.
Nurgul didn’t look up at Gabe and instead focused on preening her feathers nervously in a mixture of embarrassment for her mistakes and nervousness at the fact that she thought Gabe looked hot. This was all too much.
Gabe glanced over her way and gave a soft smile. “It’s no big deal. It was all my fault for not paying attention to where I was going,” He awkwardly fidgeted with his beanie. He was about to continue talking with Nurgul when he suddenly heard his uncle’s voice.
“Gabe!” Javi’s tail wagged excitedly when he spotted his nephew and a happy smile pulled on the corners of his lips. Javi turned to say goodbye to Santiago who gave Javi’s hand a squeeze before stealing a quick kiss. The werewolf’s tail swayed back and forth wildly and he immediately returned the kiss which startled the mothman and made Santiago’s cheeks flush.
With a quick goodbye Santaigo walked off towards the library and Javi jogged over to greet his nephew. He immediately wrapped Gabe in a hug and his tail happily whacked against Gabe's legs. “I’m glad you made it! Ready to lose in a pudding eating contest?”
“Yeah, I can’t wait!” Gabe smiled up at his uncle then realized that Nurgul was still there and grew embarrassed. He had to get Javi away before his uncle had a chance to pick up on his little crush. Javi’s ears twitched this way and that and it seemed like it was inevitable that he would pick up on that fact when Gabe spoke up again. “Why are you stalling? Know you’re gonna lose?”
That seemed to divert the werewolf’s attention. Javi’s eyes shone with determination. “Those are big words coming from someone who’s lost the last two matches.”
“Well, I’m winning this one!” Gabe laughed as Javi swung an arm around his shoulder.
“Let's not wait then! Onward to Puddingland!” Javi’s tail wagged out of control at the thought of pudding. He began to lead the way towards the school with his nephew in tow.
“Bye, Gabe! It was nice meeting you! Sorry again!” Nurgul waved at the human who shyly waved back with a small smile.
“It's okay! Bye, Nurgul!” Gabe returned the wave.
Javi’s eyes traveled from his nephew’s face then to the cygnus then back at his nephew. A teasing smile pulled on the werewolf’s lips. “Looks like someone has a crush,”
Javi’s words received him a playful jab while Gabe tried to cover his ears which were turning red. The human guided them over to pick up his skateboard to ensure no one else slipped on it before he spoke up. “No, I don’t!”
Javi laughed and ruffled the top of Gabe’s head, causing his beanie to nearly fall off. “Good for you. Now how about you tell me all about it while I win this pudding contest?”
Gabe felt overwhelmed and tried to persuade his uncle to focus on something else but his mind was set. With a resigned sigh, Gabe prepared himself for the ultimate pudding contest which was now sure to be filled with plenty of teasing and questions.
4 notes · View notes
harrysgoldrush · 4 years
Text
chapter 2: styles v vegan contract
Tumblr media
masterlist
tag list
part 1
Y/N Y/LN.
In her final year of law school and already planning on getting her LLM in Environmental Law and Politics. A true force to be reckoned with. Tom had told him that much the moment he closed the office door behind him.
Tom’s office was one of the bigger advisor’s offices on campus, with his desk pushed up against the left wall furthest from the door with two mismatched embroidered chairs that he had stolen from the Tisch School of Arts last year. A giant bookcase covered the whole back wall with books sitting on top of each neatly organized row. The right side of his office was occupied by a worn leather couch that had only fit through the narrow door by some miracle. There was a coffee table with some of the school’s different magazines and newspapers and a small black fridge that always had sodas and Tom’s leftovers.
Harry could imagine her taking naps on that sofa, falling asleep as she plotted her next protest, asking Tom for advice while he answered emails. She wouldn’t even knock, she’d make a beeline to the fridge to grab water. Except she hated those bottles. What did she do instead? Maybe she would finish Tom’s salad for him, his wife always brought him one for lunch and he only ever ate the “exciting” parts before he tucked it away in that fridge.
“Harry, she’s in two of your classes this semester,” Tom had laughed, setting his reading glasses down on his desk as he sat back down. “Your Public and Private Governance Seminar and International Trade and Investment Law and Policy Seminar. Those are small classes, I’m surprised you two haven’t met before.”
Sinking in his chair, he held his back closely as he defended, “We have met before. Last week at Sloan Energy.” 
“Ah,” Tom hummed, clearly entertained at Harry’s reaction. Scooting his chair closer, he closed his laptop so he could look directly at him. “She’s been leading that protest for a while now, I think it will be six weeks this Friday.”
“Is there any way to stop her?”
“From protesting for Green Energy? No.” Taking a deep breath, he rubbed at his neck and added hesitantly, “I suppose you could always talk to her? She’s reasonable enough, she just switched advisors this semester because she wanted to make Mark’s workload lighter; he’s semi-retired now.”
Tom went on to check in with Harry about his internship and how his classes were going so far but Harry could hardly focus, feeling himself drift towards the question of the hour: how could he convince her to move the protest?
From the short interaction he had had with Y/N and Tom’s high praise, he was beginning to think that he was Sloan Energy’s last hope. Why else would they turn to him, an intern, when they had a whole team of more than qualified lawyers? And why had Tom thrown him to the wolves, knowing that another student was leading a whole movement against the company?
Before he could ask, Tom was standing up and shaking his hand. “You’ll have to keep me updated on Sloan Energy and the protests. I’m eager to hear what happens.”
“Yeah, Tom I will. And thanks again for telling me about the internship.”
Tom was quiet for a minute, his smile frozen and his eyes narrowing before he nodded. “Of course, Harry. Jeff Azoff is an old student of mine. When he reached out about looking to hire students, I immediately thought of you. Pays a lot more than that paralegal you’ve been working for since your first year here.”
As Harry was leaving the office, he was surprised to see a new blue bin right next to Tom’s trash can. A single plastic salad bowl sat in it, still dripping water as if it had just been rinsed clean. 
“Is this new?”
“It was a gift, actually. Just got it last week.”
The first thing Harry did after his meeting was text Sarah and Mitch, asking what they knew of Y/N Y/LN. Walking briskly down the hallway, Harry’s searches on Instagram and Facebook proved to be a waste of time. Twitter was useless, with only a few pictures of protests with faces blurred and no mention of her. As he waited for the elevator, Harry opened a new note on his phone and began to type down everything he knew.
Studies Environmental Law
No social media.
Protests when not in class
In my governance and policy seminars
Meeting tonight????
Throughout his Financial Regulation seminar, Harry could hardly focus as their guest speaker outlined the history of finance regulation in the US, wondering how he had never noticed her in his classes. In the sea of sleek and professionally dressed law students, she was like a rainbow colored rocky shore. The only thing standing between him and a guaranteed job after graduation was a strangely dressed classmate.
As soon as they were dismissed, Harry unlocked his phone, relieved to see that Mitch knew her pretty well, having dated her old roommate last year. 
She was always really weird about showers. Her and Katie got into this huge fight at the end of the year because Katie had bought a Keurig and I guess that’s bad for the environment. When Y/N got mad about it, Katie locked herself in the bathroom and ran the shower for an hour. By the time she came out of the shower, Y/N had moved out.
Definitely weird.
Sarah had had class with her before and seemed annoyed at Mitch’s response.
It’s called being environmentally friendly, Rowland. Y/N has been practicing zero-waste since high school. She’s not weird, she’s thoughtful. My first year when I was dehydrated, she took me to the hospital and went to all of my classes for me to take notes. If I wouldn’t be risking arrest and my degree, I’d be protesting with her. She’s a better person than both of you combined. If she wasn’t so busy, she’d be top of our year easily. Why are you asking about her, Harry?
Ignoring her question, Harry put his phone away and kept walking, though he wasn’t entirely sure where to go. He hadn’t been able to convince Tom to give him her schedule although he could probably ask Jeff. And what was that meeting later tonight? Was it with Sloan Energy? Was that why they weren’t expected at the office today?
He wasn’t complaining, in fact he was beyond thankful to have a night to catch up with his studies and term papers, knowing he wouldn’t be getting much sleep either way.
Deciding to get a coffee to keep him warm while he plotted, Harry ducked into the Starbucks across the street and stood in line, making awkward eye contact at an old professor of his who was sitting with a much younger woman. Looking away quickly, his eyes landed on a basket with a sign that said ‘Reusable Cups $3.99’. 
Suddenly, he felt inspired.
Pulling his phone out again, he quickly typed into his search engine ‘is coffee or tea better for earth?’ with a surprising yet logical result. Grabbing two of the reusable coffee cups, Harry smiled widely at the barista.
“Um, just one coffee black. And whatever your healthiest hot tea is.”
Soon, Harry was walking briskly towards Sloan Energy, hoping Y/N wasn’t at her meeting yet. He had only seen her a few hours ago with her bright colors and worn fabrics but as he got closer to the building, it felt like it had been years since he heard her familiar voice, thanking the small gathering around her through her red and white megaphone. The hot drinks in his hand had managed to only spill minimally on the frantic trip across The Village, surviving the packed subway and crowds of tourists.
She was easier to spot now that he knew where to look. The crowd was smaller than it had been the day before, with a few slowly easing out of the group to get somewhere warmer. As Harry made his way to her, he was glad he didn’t have his internship today; he blended in much better with his dark jeans and black zip tie shirt with NYU School of Law embroidered on the chest.
He waited as she informed the group of tomorrow’s meeting times before approaching. It was just them now. Y/N didn’t seem too surprised to see him as she lowered her megaphone and walked towards him, one eyebrow raised as she took in the two white reusable cups in his gloved hands.
“What is this?”
“Green tea,” Holding it out to her, he pulled it back just as quickly and examined the two cups before holding out the other one. “This one’s green tea. Thought you might be cold.”
“No, I meant why are you bringing me a drink?” When he didn’t respond, she asked with a cautious smile, “Did you poison it or something?”
Shaking his head, Harry glanced towards the main doors of Sloan Energy as she took the drink from him, taking a sip before humming. “It's good. Thanks. Harry, right?”
“Yeah. Harry Styles.”
Looping her free hand through the wrist strap of the horn, she wrapped her bare hands around the warm mug as she looked up at him. “Well can I help you, Harry Styles? Or do you just like to watch?”
“Do you want to maybe grab a drink?” He asked, feeling colder with every second he stood under her cautious gaze.
“Besides the one you just gave me?” Smiling, she glanced at the watch on her wrist that looked more like a piece of wood before she cleared her throat and took another sip of her tea. “I have a meeting in an hour so I probably shouldn’t be drinking yet.”
Harry could feel his shoulders droop unintentionally and watched as her eyes widen before she added quickly, “But I’m starving. Have you eaten today?”
She had taken them to a vegan place only a few minutes away, leading them to a table without hesitation, leading Harry to believe she had probably been here a few times before. He was beginning to notice how attentive Y/N was, from the corner of his eye he could see her casually observing him as he read the menu above the counter.
 “Hope you don’t mind vegan, I always come here when I’m in the area.” She suddenly apologized as she dug through her backpack, taking out a much smaller back with her name sewn into it. “Their fries are really good, they’re air fried. The salads are pretty good too.” 
They were quiet, with her eating her guacamole burger as he used the bamboo utensils she had handed him once he sat down with his salad. 
“Don’t worry, they’re clean.” She had explained when he gave her a curious look. They’re safer than actual utensils, they last long. Better for the earth than those plastic things they give out here. Don’t even get me started on the metal stuff.”
The bag she had pulled out of her backpack had turned out to be a pouch with handkerchiefs, bamboo straws and bamboo utensils. The clinking he had heard earlier in her bag turned out to be mason jars.
“So, you just bring those with you everywhere?”
“Pretty much. I’m just doing my part to lower our carbon footprint. I bring my own containers and utensils mostly. Some places around here are getting better. Chloe, the manager, uses plates that are made of recycled materials and then recycles them again when they’re used.”
Nodding, Harry stabbed at his salad thoughtfully. “So why are you protesting Sloan? No offense, but don’t you have better things to do? Like study?”
“Why do you intern there? Aren’t there less morally corrupt businesses you could work for?”
“They’re one of the most successful energy companies on the East Coast--” He began but her sharp laugh was back, cutting him off quickly.
“And one of the most environmentally harmful energy companies in the US. It’s 2019, who uses coal anymore?”
“It’s not that harmful to the environment, it’s a natural resource.” He was glad he had paid attention to his Oil and Gas seminar last week. He only hoped she hadn’t. “Mining and burning the coal doesn’t harm the surrounding earth.”
“Uh, ever heard of global warming? They’re burning fossil fuels that are destroying the atmosphere. It’s not just cows.” She had been paying attention. Finishing off her sandwich, she took her final sip of her tea and looked at him expectantly. 
“What?”
“Just say that they’re paying you a shit ton of money to intern. You don’t need to defend them to me, I’m not going to change my opinion until they change their system.”
Sighing, Harry nodded, not knowing what else to say.
“Are you going to tell me why you’re here then?” 
He set down her bamboo fork, a sign of defeat. He hadn’t prepared as much as he should have.
“I need you to move your protest.”
“Because?”
“If I get you to move your protest from their front doors, they’ll give me an actual job on their legal team once I pass the bar.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that, her voice laced with pity and uncertainty.
“Yeah.”
After an excruciatingly long pause, she nodded. “Okay.”
“What?” Harry was more than surprised as he watched her shrug and wipe at her hands with the dark red cloth she had laid over her lap when she had started eating.
“I’ll do it.”
“But?”
“I have conditions. Obviously. Do you have any paper?”
He shook his head and watched her begin to dig through her backpack. “What? Are you drawing up a contract or something?”
“Yep,” Pulling out a pen and an old flyer for one of the first protests with the words ‘recycled paper’ stamped on it, Harry watched as she began to write messily on the black back side of it. It was bright yellow and her pen ink was a dark blue, her handwriting long and looped which he found fitting. “Today’s the twenty-fifth right?”
When he hummed in agreement, she continued. “Okay. This contract is between Y/N Y/LN and Harry Styles. Y/N Y/LN has agreed to move her protest permanently from outside of Sloan Energy on the understanding that Harry Styles will educate himself on eco-friendly behavior and practices zero-waste to the best of his ability. Styles must also make an effort to change Sloan Energy from inside, beginning with recycling bins within the building. Once he is hired, Styles is expected to push for green energy. How does that sound?”
 “That sounds like I’m doing a lot more than you.”
“Do you want them to hire you or not? I’m doing you multiple favors here, Styles.”
“Can I read it over and get back to you?”
She nodded before quickly scribbling something at the bottom of the contract. After she slid it across the table, he realized it was her number.
“So we can meet outside of my protesting hours should you Don’t think your bosses would be too happy to see you fraternizing with the enemy.” She was smiling now, one full of mischief that made him feel like she was letting him in on a big secret. Harry couldn’t help but smile back, not quite sure what he might be agreeing on.
As she packed up, Harry was tempted to ask her where she was headed, but she beat him to it; it was like she could read his mind. “Don’t follow me this time, okay? Twice in one day should be enough for you, my own apartment is lucky to see me once.”
He didn’t see a point in disagreeing with the girl as she left the small café. Looking around, it was as if all of the charm of the room had vanished with her, the pink walls now looking faded, the table sticky, the chair uncomfortable cold. 
By the time he got home, it had only gotten colder. His roommate, Ed, was an aspiring musician who had decided tonight was the perfect night to hold a private concert in the shower, his only audience being the last of their cold water. Shivering, Harry simply changed into warmer clothes and sat at his desk, putting on an old rock station before he got to work.
Jeff had asked him yesterday to begin looking into Energy Law and he had a paper due in two days that he had yet to start. Choosing to begin on the latter, Harry got to work, cranking out three pages before he remembered the folded up flyer in his coat pocket. Deciding now was as good as ever to stretch his legs, he walked back to the living room to grab it from the coat rack, his eyes tracing over her handwriting that reminded him of  kindergarten teacher. 
Adding her number, he typed out a short text and paused for a moment. If he texted her, that was it. He’d be agreeing to do whatever it is she laid out in this contract of theirs. Still, if he wanted the job, he knew he had to at least try.
hey, it’s harry. how was that secret meeting of urs?
Returning to his desk, Harry was surprised when his phone pinged. He didn’t take her for a quick responder. His smile fell when he saw it was a text from Jeff. He never texts, he was an email addict. He had a template for almost anything.
What the hell did you do, Styles? Y/N Y/LN just left the office. Moving the protest to washington square.
Before he could respond, his phone pinged again, her contact name flashing at the top of the screen.
have you decided when you want to meet to sign the contract? :)
tags: @berrynarrybanana​ @brwnskin-bunnyteeth​ @harry-is-my-medicine​ @detroitkiwis​ @theresthingsthatwellneverknow @fromyourstrulyh​ @cassiopeiaskies​ @ggaayyyong @mortumnoctis
48 notes · View notes