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the-desolated-quill · 5 years

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We Need To Talk About James Gunn - Quill’s Scribbles

This could prove to be the most controversial Scribble I’ve ever written on this blog, and the sad thing is it really shouldn’t be, in my opinion.

First off, a couple of disclaimers because I know some people are going to accuse me of ‘bias’. I’ve never been very fond of James Gunn as a filmmaker, it’s true. I thought the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie was okay at best and I absolutely hated the sequel, but I confess that’s less to do with any inherent flaws in the films themselves and more to do with the fact that I just don’t like Gunn’s style of humour. Oh don’t get me wrong. There are still legitimate problems, which I’ll go into later when they become relevant, but I’m big enough to admit that my dislike for his brand of comedy and storytelling is merely due to my own subjective tastes (the same is true of Taika Waititi and Thor: Ragnarok).

Okay. So. Let’s talk about James Gunn.

As I’m sure most of you know, in July 2018, an alt-right conspiracy theorist called Mike Cernovich unearthed tweets made by Gunn between 2008 and 2012 where he made offensive jokes and remarks about sensitive topics such as rape, child abuse and paedophilia. While James Gunn did apologise and vowed to ‘do better,’ Disney, fearing the public backlash, fired Gunn as director of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 and dismissed him from any role in producing and expanding Marvel’s planned ‘Cosmic Universe.’ The result was the public backlash Disney were trying to avoid in the first place. They received a lot of criticism from various entertainers and filmmakers, as well as many media outlets such as Collider and The Independent, the cast of Guardians wrote a letter urging Disney to reconsider their decision with Dave Bautista in particular being very vocal in his criticism, and there was a massive outcry from fans who petitioned for Gunn to be rehired. Guy Lodge, writing for The Guardian, asked the question ‘Was James Gunn the first undeserving victim of Hollywood’s new zero tolerance policy?’ Now I’d argue the answer to that question is a definitive no, but apparently, and surprisingly, that’s not a very popular opinion among liberals. So I’d very much like to challenge them as we explore James Gunn’s moral character and ask ourselves why he’s being defended so passionately.

Before we go any further, I think it would be a good idea for me to show you some of the tweets that we’re talking about, just to remind everyone what we’re dealing with here.

Now I hope we can all agree that this is objectively disgusting. Only an amoral, depraved and utterly moronic individual would find offensive tweets like these even remotely funny. But I should make it clear that, by James Gunn’s own admission, these tweets represent who he was rather than who he is. In his apology, he described himself as a ‘provocateur’ during the early days of his career, making shocking statements for the purposes of ‘satire.’ But it’s okay because he’s a better person who has grown and matured fully and will never do this again. Fair enough, you’d think. He admitted what he did was wrong and apologised profusely. That was a very honourable and decent thing to do.

Except we’ve seen this song and dance before.

In 2012, roundabout when Marvel announced they were making a Guardians Of The Galaxy movie with James Gunn directing, an old blog post of Gunn’s resurfaced entitled ‘The 50 Superheroes You Most Want To Have Sex With.’ The original post has since been deleted, but cached versions still exist here and there around the internet if you know where to look. Here are a few quotes from said blog:

[on natasha romanoff, the highest ~debut] “considering she’s fucked half the guys in the marvel universe, that’s quite a feat”

[on batwoman] “i’m hoping for a dc-marvel crossover so that tony stark can turn her; she could also have sex with nightwing and still be a lesbian”

”Many of the people who voted for the Flash were gay men. I have no idea why this is. But I do know if I was going to get fucked in the butt I too would want it to be by someone who would get it over with quick.”

Needless to say, this was quite offensive and causing bad PR, so James Gunn issued an apology:

“A couple of years ago I wrote a blog that was meant to be satirical and funny. In rereading it over the past day I don’t think it’s funny. The attempted humor in the blog does not represent my actual feelings. However, I can see where statements were poorly worded and offensive to many. I’m sorry and regret making them at all.

People who are familiar with me as evidenced by my Facebook page and other mediums know that I’m an outspoken proponent for the rights of the gay and lesbian community, women and anyone who feels disenfranchised, and it kills me that some other outsider like myself, despite his or her gender or sexuality, might feel hurt or attacked by something I said. We’re all in the same camp, and I want to do my best to make this world a better place for all of us. I’m learning all the time. I promise to be more careful with my words in the future. And I will do my best to be funnier as well. Much love to all – James”

Sound familiar?

Now of course it’s unfair to judge the man based on past actions that he himself apologised for. What matters is the present. Whether or not he has demonstrated to a reasonable standard that his work has grown and matured and that his offensive idiocy is a thing of the past. So let’s look at the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies.

While the first movie received critical acclaim, a few people (particularly fans of the source material) complained about how Gamora was treated. The so called ‘most powerful woman in the galaxy’ was reduced to a love interest, an occasional damsel in distress and there were a few odd occasions where she was objectified and degraded based on her sexual history. The most prominent example of which is when Drax describes her as ‘a green whore.’ The context being that he was ignorant of how offensive he was being despite trying to compliment her and call her a friend, and this was played for laughs in the movie. The second movie has more examples. Gamora’s role still paled in comparison to the role she played in the comics, and a new female character called Mantis was introduced whose power level from the comics was also significantly reduced for the movie and whose character was effectively reduced to be a punchline/punching bag. There’s also a scene involving Drax where he frequently describes her as ugly, saying that "when you're ugly and someone loves you, you know they love you for who you are. Beautiful people never know who to trust." Again this is played for laughs. Except I’d argue that an adult man constantly fixating on a woman’s appearance isn’t even remotely funny.

Another disturbing aspect of the Guardians 2 was the way it seemed to romanticise and excuse abusive relationships. Obviously there’s Drax and Mantis, but the biggest example is Star Lord and Yondu. The first movie did a reasonably good job establishing what drew Star Lord and Gamora together. They were both trying to escape from abusive father figures. The second film does a complete U-turn, calling Yondu Star Lord’s ‘David Hasselhoff’ and giving him a gratuitous and overly sentimental funeral as though he were a noble hero. While I’m sure the death of Yondu would emotionally impact Star Lord to a certain extent (he did raise the kid after all), to say that he’s like ‘David Hasselhoff’ because he’s a better dad than Ego the Living Planet was seems like a very low bar to clear. By that logic, Hitler was a good person because he didn’t kill as many people as Stalin did. It’s tone deaf, lacking in nuance and just a little bit insulting.

Bearing all this in mind, has James Gunn grown and matured since the period between 2008 and 2012? That’s for you to judge. I’d personally argue he hasn’t. Sure he’s no longer as extreme or provocative as he once was, but that’s not necessarily proof that he’s matured. Rather he’s just gotten better at hiding his immaturity. And in my own subjective opinion, based on his work, I think Disney made the right decision in sacking him. Now let me be clear, I don’t think Disney sacked him in order to take a moral stand as a lot of the problematic elements in the Guardians films have carried over into other MCU films. Gamora is still treated like shit in Avengers: Infinity War, and Thanos, who, like Yondu, was clearly established in the first Guardians movie as an abusive father figure, has been woobified and turned into a kind of sympathetic anti villain who actually cared about his daughter and only killed her because he had no other choice (as opposed to, you know, because he is a maniacal despot who’s a few Oompa Loompas short of a chocolate factory). The reason Gunn was fired was because of bad PR. Disney had dealt with this shit before in 2012 and they weren’t prepared to deal with it again, so they dropped the baggage, as it were. It’s a very common occurrence in Hollywood. Which is what makes the public backlash against this decision so puzzling to me.

I can understand being upset that the director of your favourite franchise has been fired, but can we try to get some perspective here? What happened to Gunn is nothing unique. This kind of thing happens all the time. A filmmaker does something controversial or has been revealed to have done something controversial in the past, the studio sacks them in an attempt to save face and everyone gets on with their lives. The situation with James Gunn is no different. The only reason I can see why people are so passionately against this is because of how these tweets were unearthed in the first place. Because the discoverer of the tweets, Mike Cernovich, is a member of the alt-right, the liberal community seem predisposed to dismiss this out of hand, which I think is incredibly dangerous. Okay, yes, Cernovich is a Nazi and almost certainly didn’t do this out of the goodness of his heart, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. It doesn’t change the fact that the tweets still exist and that they’re still incredibly offensive. And all the things I’ve heard people say in defence of James Gunn sound very similar to things the right would say about the likes of Brett Cavanaugh and Donald Trump. ‘It was x number of years ago.’ ‘It’s not relevant to who he is now.’ ‘He’s changed.’ ‘You can’t judge someone based on their past mistakes.’ I mean... come on guys! Either everyone should be held to the same standard or nobody should be held to standards at all. You can’t just change tact just because the person in question has the same political ideals as you. What are we saying? It’s okay for liberals to hold conservatives accountable for past actions and behaviour, but the right can’t do it to the left because apparently it’s not as funny when they do it? It’s classic ‘them and us’ mentality and it’s got to stop.

So, why am I bringing all this up, you may be asking? This happened over six months ago Quill. Aren’t you a little late to the party? Well a couple of days ago, it was announced that Warner Bros and DC Films had hired James Gunn to write and direct a sequel to Suicide Squad.

Well... sequel isn’t quite the right word. Apparently it’s more along the lines of a reimagining. Titled ‘The Suicide Squad’, the film is going to follow a whole new cast of characters and effectively start from scratch. No doubt this is part of WB and DC’s attempts to salvage the DC Extended Universe after the critical and financial disaster that was Justice League, as well as a response to people’s criticisms of the previous Suicide Squad film.

Writer/director David Ayer’s version of Suicide Squad was... let’s be charitable and call it problematic. Many people criticised the film for being misogynistic, borderline racist due to the one dimensional characterisation, and particular outrage was directed toward Ayer’s attempts to romanticise the relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn. So it’s quite ironic that WB and DC are relying on James Gunn - James Gunn?!?! - to fix Suicide Squad when similar criticisms have been made toward the Guardians Of The Galaxy movies. That’s like hiring Harvey Weinstein to investigate sexual harassment claims.

And do you know what the funny thing is? We’ve been in this exact same situation before. In February 2017, news media started to report that WB and DC were eyeing Mel Gibson, the Oscar nominated director of Hawksaw Ridge and professional arsehole, to direct Suicide Squad 2. I even wrote a Scribble on it then. I heavily criticised WB and DC for caring more about snagging an Oscar nominated director to bolster their failing franchise than about holding certain ethical standards of decency within the industry. Oh, sure, Gibson has said many sexist, homophobic and antisemitic comments for years and has never at any point showed any hint of remorse for the amount of offence he’s caused, but he just made a good movie about Spider-Man fighting in World War II, so it all balances out, doesn’t it? We’re good, right? We’re cool. Gibson’s cool now. Yeah?

And now here we are seeing this play out again. James Gunn, a man who has said some incredibly offensive things over the years, is being hired by WB and DC to helm a new Suicide Squad movie and conveniently ignoring all the problematic shit surrounding him because he’s the guy that made those sci-fi films about the talking raccoon. People love those films. Let’s get him on board.

I’m getting so sick to death of actors and filmmakers getting away with shit and avoiding the consequences of their actions. James Gunn and his offensive tweets, Mel Gibson and his shitty behaviour, Kevin Hart and his temper tantrum when he was expected to apologise for being a homophobic prick. And the few times there are consequences for said actions, people of influence within the industry end up undermining it. WB and DC hiring James Gunn so soon after he was sacked by Disney, and Ellen fucking Degeneres ringing the Academy and persuading them to let Kevin Hart host the Oscars. Thankfully, and to his genuine credit, Hart turned it down, but seriously, what the actual fuck Ellen?! You’re LGBT, aren’t you? Why are you giving him a free pass? Do you have short term memory loss like the fish you voice in Finding fucking Nemo? Jesus Christ!

Finally, to people saying that Disney treated James Gunn too harshly for the tweets, may I remind you that when ‘The 50 Superheroes You Most Want To Have Sex With’ resurfaced in 2012, Disney still kept him on! He still got to write and direct two Marvel movies before finally getting the sack. And he was in talks to lead production in all future ‘Cosmic’ Marvel movies going forward before the resurfaced tweets made that impossible. Too harshly? I think he got off extremely lightly, frankly. I think he’s grotesquely lucky he’s still got a job at all. Let alone a job where he continues to direct tentpole blockbusters. For someone who was treated ‘too harshly’, he’s sure done alright for himself, hasn’t he? He’s not Oliver Twist begging movie studios to give him a film, cap in hand, ‘please sir, may I have some more?’ His position hasn’t changed one iota. That’s what we should be pissed off at. Not that he’s being unfairly punished. That he’s not being punished enough roughly seven years after the fact.

So what should we take away from all this? That we need to hold everyone accountable for their past actions and behaviour, regardless of whether they share our political beliefs or whether they were involved in films we actually like, and that the industry needs to do a better job of upholding the consequences of said actions. And regardless of whether you thought Disney were right to sack James Gunn, it cannot be denied that WB and DC handing the keys of another profitable franchise over to him so soon after this controversy is an incredibly irresponsible thing to do.

#anti james gunn #suicide squad #the suicide squad #guardians of the galaxy #dc extended universe #marvel cinematic universe #disney #quill's scribbles

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i-writeandread-blog · 6 years

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Wonderland - Chapter 7

'What the hell just happened?' I wonder to myself. I know he didn't have my apartment number but I also know he is Jared Leto, he is very resourceful. I was certain that writing that note would be an indication to him that I was not willing to pursue a... a what? A relationship, a friends with benefits, a friendship... I wasn't sure what this was, but I didn't want it to be anything. And here he was breaking all the rules of a one time fantasy being lived. I stare at him incredulously.

"You lived your fantasy, now I want to live mine." He says with a smug grin.

"Jared, you shouldn't be here. What just happened can't happen again."

I grab my shirt and pull it back on. I can't bring myself to look at him, so I hang my head down and wait for him to leave. Except he doesn't make any move to do so. He stands there and huffs loudly instead.

"And why exactly is that Ali?"

"Because I am in my thirties and I don't want to play games anymore. We are much too old to do that. I'm at a point where my next relationship is going to be my last relationship. You're a perpetual bachelor. You can't offer what I need."

"You're putting words in my mouth here. Did I ever say I don't want those things?"

"Not exactly, Jared. But actions speak louder than words. What you and Jamie did the other day was something I'd expect from college frat boys. And even still your lack of relationships and even being seen with the same girls more than once in the media speaks volumes."

"Ali, I am a private person. I have dated. If you're not seeing these people in the press it is because I don't want anyone to see it. Besides, I haven't dated much recently because no one has excited me. You, Ali, excite me. For four months I've thought about you. I'm not even sure why, but I know there is a reason for it."

"How could I ever trust you? Jared, you go out on the road and women throw themselves at you. I couldn't live with the idea that someone I'm seeing is tempted like that. I know men can only handle so much temptation before they give in. I like you. Hell I love the idea of you. You're absolutely right that I've fantasized about you. You've been the object of my daydreams for a long time, but I can't handle a broken heart. Not again."

"What happened to you Ali? Whoever hurt you is not me. I'm not that guy."

I laugh a little louder than I should have when he says that. He is exactly like every man. The fact that he doesn't realize that is comical. Am I to believe that Jared Leto is the one man out there that is completely honest, never cheats, doesn't emotionally abuse, etc? I don't buy it.

"You should go." I tell him.

Instead of leaving he walks over and plants himself onto my couch and continues to stare at me. After a few minutes I can't take it anymore and I start fidgeting with my hands. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. I make sure I grab one bottle of water and crack the seal. I am not offering him one because to do so would say he is welcome here and he is not. I walk back into the living room and take a sip of water.

"All I am asking is for a chance here. Open up to me and we can see if this is something that can work for us." He finally says.

I'm not one to shy away from communication so I decide he is right. He's also not giving me any reason to not at least hear him out. I should feel lucky as hell that I have him in my apartment, that he is adamant about being with me. I'm still not sure in what capacity, but I'm curious enough to find out. If I don't like what he says I can still kick him out.

"Alright, I'll listen to what you have to say."

"Thanks. First I want you to know that you're right to be concerned about my intentions. What Jamie and I did, didn't seem all that bad at the time, but to lead you into thinking there was another guy wanting to meet you was a lie. I'm not sure what has happened to you, but I do understand honesty is a must in any relationship."

"So then what do you want from me? What kind of relationship?"

"I want to get to know you, I want to take you out to dinner, to have low key nights watching movies and eating popcorn, to go hiking, maybe even climbing." She tenses. "If those are things you'd like to do or try."

"What about the Echelon?"

"What about them? Look Ali, you know as well as I do that majority of them will be supportive. Yeah sure there will be a few that will be upset or jealous. That's only if you wanted them to know about you. If we decide to let them know about us."

"Ok so if we decide to see where this goes, what about the paparazzi? You said yourself that you're a private person. What if I don't want to be tucked away and hidden?"

"You'd have to be comfortable going out with me if that were to be a part of our relationship. The paps will always be around, it's a fact of my life that I cannot change. I chose this life. People who are my friends or family did not. I mostly let them dictate how and when they're seen, if ever. The important thing is to not care about what is said."

"Speaking of... I saw a video online from last night. People have been really cruel."

"I figured something would pop up. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I only read three comments and then closed my computer. I've avoided social media all day."

"That's understandable, but you gotta understand that the negative comments are just words on a screen and have no bearing on us and how we feel about each other."

"What did you mean by you living your fantasy now?"

"Ali my fantasy is having you be mine."

I smile at those words. I'm still unsure of what to do with his self proclaimed need to have me in his life. He saw me from the stage at a show, he saw me around camp, he's had one night with me, and he is so sure I am the one for him? It all seems so odd.

"Why me?"

"I don't know. I feel connected to you."

"Can you actually promise to be honest with me? Do you honestly think you're capable of that?"

——————

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'll prove it to you now. I'm not even sure I'd have ever admitted what I'm about to tell you to anyone before. I was really hurt when I woke up to a note this morning. I couldn't get a song to go the way I wanted, so I took it out on my friends this morning."

I search her face to make sure she's still following what I'm telling her.

"Ali, this isn't my finer moment here, but I wanted to call you, I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I was going to text. Then when I clicked on your number, your picture from last night was there." She gasps.

"I hadn't realized it was still on my phone. You saw me delete it." She nods.

"Well here's the really disgusting and private thing I am going to tell you. Full disclosure and all."

"Oh... my... God, Jared! You didn't?"

I can still turn this in my favor. I am really good at talking about sex and desire. If I'm playful, maybe my charm will reward me.

"I couldn't help it, Ali. You're so fucking sexy. I want you even now."

I wink and run my hands to my crotch. Her eyes light up as they follow my hands. I grab my dick through my pants and squeeze. Her body reacts in awe striking ways.

"Okay, Okay. Stop! You've made your point, pervert!"

She playfully swats me and I grab her arm and tug her closer. I can feel the heat of her breath on my lips. I kiss her softly and then let her go.

"Alright, get up and go get dressed. We are going to go somewhere."

She doesn't ask questions or make it seem like she's confused or upset. She takes the order and leaves the room. I wait a few minutes and then follow her. When I enter the room I see chaos.

"Ali, what's going on in here? Did your closet explode?"

"Yes, no. Ugh. I don't know what I'm changing into because I don't know where we are going!"

I walk over and grab a pink tank top laying on the floor. I see a pair of white shorts on the bed and point to them. She takes the cue and picks them up. She looks at me and twirls her fingers showing me I need to turn around.

"I think we are past the point of modesty, babe. I'll play along, but I may take a peek."

I turn around and after 5 Seconds I can't take it anymore. I spin back to face her and proudly gawk at her petite figure. She grumbles but isn't really mad. She dresses quickly and puts on a pair of flip flops.

I take her hand and guide her out of the apartment. Once we are outside I let her know that I didn't drive. She guides us to her car. It's nothing special, but it's nice never the less.

"Sorry, my Ferrari is being serviced at the moment." She guffaws loudly, which is really adorable.

"Okay well I guess I can be seen in this. Hand me the keys."

"Oh no no Leto, this is my baby. She doesn't let just anyone drive her."

I wonder for a minute if there's gonna be a back and forth or tug of war for the keys, but she relents quickly and gets in on the passenger side.

"I have one of them new fangled cars you see. Don't need to stick a key into an ignition. It's real smart." She says with a thick southern accent.

"Oh one of them there fancy smancy cars, eh?" I return with my own southern twang.

It takes me a minute to adjust since this is a manual transmission and I haven't driven one in a long time. I put the car into reverse and back out of the lot. Within seconds I am speeding down Cahuenga towards the 101.

After 25 minutes has passed Ali realizes where we are and lights up. She even perks up in the seat beside me. Her eyes glisten with tears. I reach for her hand but come up short when I have to downshift to make the turn onto Dorothy Drive.

"Jared, you brought me back to camp!"

"It's where our story should have began." I say with a hint of sadness.

"Doesn't matter, the past is just that. We are here now making new memories. AND, we are here alone!” The excitement is evident on her face.

"Probably not alone, I'm sure there are staff members floating around here and there."

"That's okay." She says defeatedly.

I come to a stop and park the car. I'm overjoyed to be back here with her, and I can also scope out the possibility of having Camp next year even though I had said we wouldn't. I sometimes do that. I recently said this next album would be our last, but it probably won't be. I love making music too much and we have hundreds of songs that could still make it onto a sixth album.

We get out and walk to the entrance. There's a lightness to our steps. I can tell Alice is giddy. It's the reason I started the Camp in the first place. Adults want to be kids again and this gives us that chance.

"Well let's go have some fun, shall we?" I ask rhetorically.

Before she steps too far away, I spin her around and plant my lips upon hers. And because I can't help myself, I give her a smack on her ass. And because she can't help herself, she moans softly.

@nikkitasevoli @msroxyblog @burritoverload @lolainblue @lady-grinning-soul-k @snewsome756 @branded-with-a-j @llfd1977

#jared leto smut #jared leto fanfic #jared leto fic #jared leto fiction #jared leto #jared leto fan fiction #jared leto fanfics #jaredandali #wonderland chapter 7

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philanddanxreader · 7 years

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Hungover

Hello, Love bugs.

Dan X Reader

Warnings- swears

Could I send in a cheeky request if you’re not too busy for a fluffy fic of being hungover with Dan?? Also, You’re absolutely beautiful. X -Anon

How is it birds can be too loud? Because they seemed to manage it pretty easily this morning outside Dan’s big window. You gave a loud moan of disapproval as Dan Pulled the blankets around him tighter. He was always terrible at sharing the blankets on a good day. Let alone a day where the two of you had drunk your faces off the night before. Dan had hit another million subscribers on YouTube and you insisted that he needed to celebrate. He said it was weird to celebrate hitting another million and that he would rather stay home and watch a movie. After a lot of persuading and promise of a celebration blowjob after going out Dan agreed to go and have a drink with you. Well once at the bar one drink turned into a few shots and a few shots turned into the two of you going to a club. The club wouldn’t have been that big of a deal if it wasn’t for the lads who were making people open up as they poured shots straight from the bottle into your mouth. In all honestly, you were just glad the two of you made it home because you weren’t sure how the two of you got here.

You decided you should assess the damage that was done over the course of the evening. Reaching over you found your sticky phone on the charger beside the bed. You had to make a mental note to thank drunk you for that later. Unlocking it you decided Instagram would be a good jumping off point the damage. You were stupid but you weren’t that stupid so you decided to type in Dan’s insta first. Nothing. It was still aesthetic as fuck as always. No photographic evidence that you were both shit faced last night. Your turn. You were already regretting looking and you hadn’t even seen it yet. You were sure you were having a flashback of you uploading something on Instagram last night. You closed your eyes quickly before clicking on your profile. There sat only three photos from the evening. Number one was a selfie the two of you took last night as you were going to the bar. The two of you looked good and it even had a cute caption about how proud you were of your man. That one was safe. Next was a photo of the two of you making out. Not classy. Not even all that cute as Dan totally had his tongue in your mouth as obviously, a random person took the photo for you. That was a club photo so you were just lucky you actually got your phone back from the person who took that. The only caption you put was an emoji with heart eyes so you were clearly in the I am fucking in love with you stage of drunkenness. You didn’t know why but you decided to scroll down to read some of the comments. There was a lot that said #Goals but the comment that said ‘nice hands Howell’ made you look back up to the photo to see Dan’s hands cupping your ass as yours were wrapped around his neck. You couldn’t help the audible eww that left your lips making Dan mumble something in his sleep to you.

“Yes, you are in trouble.” Dan didn’t seem to hear that as he was letting out little breaths that were tickling your hand. The two of you were never much for pda so seeing this photo of you making out in public was bad enough let alone you decided to post it on Instagram. Even if you deleted it the internet would have the photo forever already. It was time to see the last one. God only knows what could have been posted last night in your drunken state. Scrolling up you find something surprising. It was an old photo. One Phil took of the two of you cuddling on the couch with Dan resting on the top of your chest as you played with his hair. It was always one of your favourite photos of the two of you. You had never shared it before because it was always just your photo for you. Until now. You couldn’t care less about what people were saying in the comments but you really did want to know what you captioned it as. Under the photo, you had to hit the read more button to see what you had put.

‘This is the guy of my dreams. I never figured I deserved anyone as amazing as him but here he is. He’s mine and I have never been happier. I know I’m being sappy but I can’t imagine my life without him. Love you, Daniel. Hope you’re not going to be too angry that I made you go out and get wasted with me. But I had loads of fun so that all that really matters. Thanks for letting me share him with you guys. He really does make me feel complete.’

You really were always a big sap at the end of an evening of drinking. You tossed your phone back on the table before scooting closer to Dan so his face would be closer to yours. Dan gave you a little smile as you brushed the big curl out of his face. You kissed his little smile before reaching your arm around his back under the blankets so you can rub little circles under his shirt.

“Morning, how are you feeling this morning? Because I feel like a piece of crap that was run over by a truck.” You giggled placing long kisses to his jaw before kissing his lips once more.

“I feel about the same. I can’t decide if I want to shower or brush my teeth first. Maybe I will do them at the same time.” Dan cracked one eye open at you before opening the other one so he could roll both of his eyes at you.

“A little birdy told me that shampoo doesn’t taste all that good.” Dan reached up from under the blankets to give a little stretch before yawning in your face.

“I think anything would help our breath right now.” You said pushing against his cheek to make him turn his head. “Speaking of that little birdy. Can we petition to have the ambience birds turned down this morning? They are so loud.” Dan wasn’t listening much as he had re-snuggled his way into the crook of your neck.

“I think we should petition for you to stop talking and to try and convince Phil to get us some tea and maybe even something to eat.” Dan’s face was still smushed into your skin as he mumbled to you but you knew what he wanted.

“I don’t think it’s fair to make Phil be our saviours. How about we both go have a nice long bath, then I will go and get us something to eat.” Dan agreed to let you crawl out of bed first. As you left the warmth you looked down at your outfit to see not only your pyjama pants but also one of Dan’s old shirts on the top. “Like my look? I’m calling it found on the floor boho” Dan looked at you with a smirk as he attempted to get out of bed.

“I think this will be a three-day hangover. I don’t remember much other than shots and pinching your butt all night.” You thought for a second before remembering how horny he really was last night.

“Did you every get your celebration blowy?” You said shedding your clothing down to your underwear.

“To be honest you very well could have and I don’t remember. So, let’s say no so you can still be in debt with me.” You tossed your borrowed shirt at Dan before walking into the bathroom that was connected to his room. After starting the water, you found one of Dan’s black like his soul bath bombs to toss into the water. Dan had joined you in the room reaching around you to give you a big hug before stripping his boxer briefs and slipping into the hot water. Once in he held his hand out to you so you could get in and sit in his lap. You took his hand letting the hot water run over your somewhat stiff body as the bath finished filling. Once full the two of you let the silence fall over the two of you letting the water help with not only the stickiness from having liquor spilt all over you but also help relieve your headaches and muscles calm.

#danisnotonfire #danisnotonfire imagine #danisnotonfire x reader #dan howell #dan howell imagine #dan howell x reader #daniel howell #daniel howell x reader

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nancydhooper · 5 years

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Rhode Island Supreme Court Allows Unfairly Shut Down Strip Club to Reopen

Providence's licensing board, we argue, violated the club's rights when it was shut down based solely on allegations of solicitation of prostitution.

Imagine a symphony orchestra barred by the state from performing again because a musician was found to have sold marijuana to a colleague backstage. Imagine a bookstore being shuttered by the government because peace activists planned acts of civil disobedience in a backroom. Imagine a movie theater permanently closed because an employee assaulted a patron.

In Providence, Rhode Island, you don’t have to imagine it, because it happened to a strip club called the Foxy Lady. On Dec. 19, the Providence Board of Licenses voted to permanently shut down the adult entertainment venue, which has been in operation for decades, after police arrested three employees for allegedly soliciting sex from undercover police officers earlier in the month. By doing so, the board threw more than 200 people out of work less than a week before Christmas.

Within days, the state Department of Business Regulation quickly restored the club’s liquor license, but the Foxy Lady’s owners were required by law to petition the state Supreme Court to regain its entertainment license. On Monday, the ACLU of Rhode Island submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to that court arguing that it should grant a stay of the board’s revocation of the Foxy Lady’s license on the grounds that the board violated the due process and First Amendment rights of the establishment. Yesterday, the state Supreme Court agreed to issue a stay, allowing the club to reopen for now, but the threat of future closure remains.

To understand the incredible severity of the punishment, a few things are worth noting. The Foxy Lady has been around for 38 years, and this is the first time it was hauled before the board for any violation. The board has a long-standing policy of progressive discipline for license violations, something it completely ignored in this case. In issuing the draconian penalty of permanent license revocation to the Foxy Lady, it concluded that having three women supposedly solicit sex from men who were patronizing a strip club constituted “a danger to the health, welfare and quality of life of the public” and posed a “severe” “harm to the community.”

But compare that to some of the board’s other recent punishments meted out against license violators: a four-day suspension to a club where a double stabbing occurred, a 30-day suspension to a club found not to have in place required security plans when a patron fired a gun inside the establishment, and a 90-day reduction in hours to a club where a shooting took place right outside and the manager was found to have ordered the deletion of that night’s surveillance footage.

The unfairness is compounded when one learns that the sting operation at the club was supposedly initiated because a female employee had, a few weeks earlier, been the victim of a sexual assault by a customer, and the club sought the police department’s help. Yet thanks to the police and the Board of Licenses, it’s women who have borne the brunt of the punishment. Three of them face criminal charges and have had their names and photos splashed across the media for a victimless crime, and dozens more were put out of work for weeks and without a paycheck — all under the guise of “protecting” women.

The Foxy Lady provides entertainment protected by the First Amendment. The Cirque de Soleil it may not be, but before the government should be able to completely shutter an establishment engaged in free speech activity, a much stronger showing than the flimsy grounds presented here must be demanded.

In addition to ensuring that the Board of Licenses acts with some consistency in penalizing violators, it is essential that clear, objective, and narrow standards are in place before any government agency should be able to decide whether an establishment engaged in First Amendment activity can be punished, much less completely shut down. As our brief noted:

“The ordinance governing the Board’s revocation decision grants it authority to revoke a license ‘for any reason which the board may deem to be in the public interest.’ … That standard exemplifies the ‘unbridled discretion’ that the Supreme Court has repeatedly found to be inconsistent with the requirements of the First Amendment.”

The precedent created by the board’s decision is unsettling. Just as unsettling is the board’s hypocrisy in being more concerned about the possibility of solicitation of consensual sex taking place in licensed establishments than the occurrence of actual violence. This puritanical obsession — the notion that sex deserves more condemnation than violence — may be a constant in American culture, but it deserves to be challenged when a government agency engages in it and tramples upon the First Amendment.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/rhode-island-supreme-court-allows-unfairly-shut-down-strip-club-reopen via http://www.rssmix.com/

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nancydhooper · 5 years

Text

Rhode Island Supreme Court Allows Unfairly Shutdown Strip Club to Reopen

Providence's licensing board, we argue, violated the club's rights when it was shut down based solely on allegations of solicitation of prostitution.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8247012 https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech/rhode-island-supreme-court-allows-unfairly-shutdown-strip-club-reopen via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes