Orvis mens patchwork pants

I posted about this awhile ago: I'm transitioning from solo to a big firm.
When I was my own boss, I wore basically suit separates to court: dress pants, blazer or suit jacket and button down. Well the new gig requires suits for court. I'm actually having trouble finding them! Brick and mortar stores seem to be dying out, and the inventory is pathetic.
Buying online seems risky, but I'm willing to buy and return if necessary. ( I don't envy men having to wear ties, but I do envy the ubiquitous-ness of men's suits-- they seem to be everywhere)
Any suggestions?

This is a rant about my stuff.
I took everything to my ex's place, was rushed, and one bin of stuff never fully dried and I opened the bin, today. Now I have to rewash everything inside and see what's salvageable.
I want to properly do the Kon Mari method, but clothes have been such a sore issue and I'm waiting to actually fit into stuff again. I have alot of hangups around clothes I am trying to work through first while trying to consolidate my stuff from 3 locations into mainly 1 location. Also, I am in a program with personal property restrictions that I could only bring a couple of bins at a time, and the Kon Mari method says to make a pile of all of your clothes, pick your favorite things and use that as a guide to figure out what does or doesn't bring joy.
I have gotten rid of mediums and larges because I never liked how I looked in adult six small clothing and up. I was always children's sized, gained a bunch of weight (And not in a good way), then gained more weight, then gained more weigh. I know for a fact that nothing above a size small brings me joy except for 2 items worn as a set which I want to try on again and will likely give away within a year from now.
The only adult clothes above an adult small I am keeping besides maybe the 2 named items are 1 shirt which is otherwise the same as 1 I have for regular wear and can be used for crafting matching items; and I have video game swag I imagined being given away at a need event I used to attend that the host used to give away things from a friend who used to hoard as prizes, or I can sell them now that some of this stuff is limited videogame stuff you can only get if you attended a certain convention, and that's been separate this whole time.
I gained a ton of weight and lost a ton of muscle simultaneously during the pandemic which sucked. Was eating really shittily, and am finally eating 3x a day from a meal provider and I calculate about 2 lbs of weight loss per month between my work commute and work assuming my body gets used to the eating every day and makes that my baseline. Unfortunately it could take me 4 to 16 lbs to go down to my prepandemic dimensions, and I have bin of clothes I can add to mg every day wardrobe and more clothes I can try on.
All in all, I have 6 bins of clothes. 1 is work clothes, 1 is half crafting and half winter clothes I am waiting until October to give away to unhoused people (This city is sweep heavy, so it is better to hold onto the clothes and give them out when it is needed.). I regret not going through go my clothes for like months after putting stuff back in storage because I could have given the winter clothes out. Someone who does food distribution has to see people shivering with blue lips. The current season clothes I am ready to give away fit in a damaged backpack which is OK for someone to use in their tent to keep things together or separated afrer a rain, just not aesthetically pleasing. The every day clothes I have right now fit in 1 bin.
1 bin is regular casual clothes I can wear. Another is winteseasonal. 1 is adult venue suitable, and another is in a similar vein. We're at 2% positivity right now which is almost 100k total cases in my city since the only data being provided right now is the test positivity rate in the hospitals. I am waiting for the test positivity rate to go below 0.1% which is 100 cases per 100k.
Going through my stuff today, I see summer and fall stuff I am currently ready to give away, however I am waiting for the season to approach so I am giving things away when people actually want/are looking for those items. For example, I have several pool floats and I have 1 July themed 1. I don't get to swim, I don't like being around top less men cis or not, and I'm probably never going to get to go to a pool party. I have 1 pool float I am probably going to hold onto, and 2 which still hurt because I am a fighting fetishist and they make for blow up weapons.
I looked through my craft supplies and brought out a bunch of stuff I didn't know if I would never use up because I recently found myself making a bunch of pet toys put of supplies left over from last holiday season. There are alot of unhoused people with baby animals right now, and pet toys are something people can use but cannot budget for if they are poor, so I am making suff and then giving them away. And I am glad to say that I won't be hoarding ribbon and faux suede indefinitely, that much of it is actually going to get used.
Over the next year, I will probably start using up my beads in different crafts and I have a couple of specific projects coming up.
Bad news, I still have 2 full bins worth of papers I need to digitize. I am trying to NOT bother with the ex anymore because I just can't, and I have a giant box of papers in his place from when I made a huge effort to downsize my storage unit. Maybe this weekend, but I don't want to see his face or hear from him.
The good thing about spending time at his place was it allowed me to wear things I would wear for him but wouldn't wear at mine, and it allowed me to get rid of a bunch of things I would have otherwise kept holding onto. It took wearing those items regularly to realize I didn't like them after all. And one item I didn't like wound up fitting me better over time and matches something as did keep, but I might still get rid of it in a year.
I would have liked to bring more items over to wear while there, but I am finding I would much rather stay at my place now that I have an ESA and the food situation has gotten better (I am in an interim housing program which is supposed to provide 3 meals a day and accommodate my dietary restrictions. They switched food providers and now I am generally able to get 3 meals a day, but there is still no laundry services on site which is an issue.). I habe exactly 1 outfit at their place which is specifically to wear at their place because I don't mind wearing it there but would never wear it where I currently live.
Once I go down in size to prepandemic clothes, I'll have more shirts, pants, and under clothes I can wear from the bin of casual wear (Which is really like a half bin worth of clothes), but I would rather get down to the lower end of my prepandemic employed weight as those pants are not as comfortable until they're in the oversized due to sensory issues.
Good news, I went through my electronics box and I found a bunch of stuff which is his. Bad news, I still have project items for him to fix along with holiday lights which went out. Good news is he might teach me how to fix the holiday lights. Bad news, he's a dick about working on electronics and had been promising me since 2015 to work on electronics together only to never actually show me anything and get angry.
Oh, and I still have my sentimental iPad which he broke. He promised me he would replace the screen. Also, a laptop screen. I might be picking up work this year which will allow me to purchase replacement screens and get him to fix it as I seem to keep breaking my devices further when I try to fix them myself. I have a phone which is simpler to fix and breaks alot. It's enough for me to know how to fix that, I guess. Even if I tried to do the iPad and laptop repairs myself, the good thing about not being complete 0 contact right now, is I don't have to spend hundreds on repair plus parts if I fuck up.
There was more, but that's about it. My holiday stuff year round is 2 bins worth of stuff and I only have 1 designated bin. ☹️ Did I say I really like Halloween? I guess I have to wait for this holiday season to do what I can while also holding back on supplies. It ultimately comes out to a bin and a bag worth of potential keeps past this winter, though.
I have a a whole foods bags of pom poms I tried to make last holiday season, and it looks like I will be finishing and giving away pom pom garlands and/or ornaments this year because I ultimately ran out of time last year except for what I finished for a community mural. And 1 bag is technically things I will be selling. So theoretically I have a bin and a bag worth of potential keeps past this winter, so that's less daunting than it sounds.
I think I might be ready to give away my felt Halloween bags, and I am ready to give away a bunch of smaller fall items I didn't think I could let go of last year, but I am waiting for Fall when people actually want that stuff. I'm sad that St. Patrick's Day passed and I had a supplies I wanted to use but didn't because my stuff was somewhere in storage. Same with Easter stuff. Now everything is consolidated.
Also, I found a pickle plush I have been stuck with because the ex bought it for me almost a decade ago and was a huge dick. My main memory from that night was us sitting in some carnival ride feeling like crap because he was belittling me and I was wondering to myself what the point of being there was while he treated me like shit. I could wash it and give it away, or I can wash it and give it to him because he loves food themed stuff. And he can be simultaneously sentimental and cruel when it comes to objects. I don't want to see the pickle at his place, and I don't want to think about him holding onto it in some weird way for years, but I don't want to look at it, and he has a ton of food themed stuffed animals. Idk. But Mr. Pickle has to go.

Me 31M and my girl 33F We love each other a lot It's been 10 months. We've had our ups and downs.
She's elder. Earns more. Is the sole bread winner of her house. Takes care of her mum and overall is an amazing person.
The whole thing about our relationship is lack of respect and trust.
I doubt she sees me as the man she'd have liked to end up with because I've always sensed that she underestimates me and doesn't see me as an equal.
In the early days of the relationship I used to walk away thinking this is to good to be true. And in the recent months, she's been willing to walk away as my belief in making this work has grown stronger.
I'll address a few problems here - she has her DMs open and constantly gets approached by men. Some she cuts of. Some she allows (for professional reasons apparently). Some of those conversations seem more than friendly and she actively engages with some men that are obviously hitting on her. - she's compared me to multiple people in the past (including calling me a 2.0 of an ex-fuckbuddy she was madly in love with) - Once, after one breakup that I initiated. She came to my terrace to make up. We did. I took her home cause I had to wear pants before I dropped her home. My cousin was there and she didn't hesitate to make it obvious she was being overly friendly with him. "Accidently" flashed her panites his way. - she's slapped me in public during a heated fight. Just to come back home and try having sex like nothing happened. - she fights with me about her way of dressing . As a boyfriend, I just highlight that revealing clothes attract the wrong attention, which I don't like if it's my girlfriend. Never stopped her from wearing anything, anywhere, anytime. She still seems to think I want her behind a curtain. - most recently, at a party together she called a male friend of mine 'baby' (accidently) right in front me. Just to justify it in front of him by saying she calls other men baby too. Post this party, there wass an outburst in front of my mother where we both misbehaved.
She has a tendency to at times bring up being a 'crazy' 'badass' chick and also at times says her misbehaviour is due to her 'daddy issues'.
Currently due to our last fight, she's going to stay mad at me for the next few days cause I responded to a statement she mad in a very wrong way I want to trust her blindly, and be with her confidently, but situations arise and make it difficult. Speaking to her about it usually makes it worse for me.
I'm reaching out to the reddit community to get an opinion on whether, from an outsiders perspective, I'm being played or, just misunderstanding her. There's ofcourse two sides of the story, but.. I need you guys to give me perspective. Tell me how much of a pathetic simp I'm being? I used to be okay with letting go of this love stuff. I'm suddenly finding it hard in this situation.
I love her and want this to work, but maybe I/we are not seeing something. What should I do here?

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My boyfriend (M23) and I (F21) have been together for almost 2 years at the end of this month. He’s a great guy for the most part, but I can’t help but feel like I’m settling. I see other people’s relationships and how their partner treats them and I get envious. He’s changed a lot compared to who I originally fell in love with. I know that I can’t hold that against him; people are bound to change. But I’m not so sure that this change was for the better. Now, I’ve been in a very unhealthy relationship before this relationship. So I pride myself on taking some time to better myself and heal before I jumped into this relationship. So, in my eyes, I feel as though I have been a good partner. I would hope that I didn’t play a part in this negative change in him. He lost a lot—if not the majority—of his confidence. He’s very emotional. Which isn’t to say that men cannot show emotions. I’m glad that he’s able to express his. However, I feel as though I’m not even able to express my feelings without the fear of making him cry. Over anything and everything. I feel like I can no longer be “soft” and “feminine” when I’m with him. I’ve been told by my friends and family that I’m the one “wearing the pants in the relationship”. It’s getting to be exhausting. I can’t process my own emotions because I’m constantly trying to protect his. He used to be so fun to be around. We have the same friend group, and every time all of us would hang out, it would be so fun. Now, it’s a hassle to get him off of the xbox and out of our room. I can understand wanting to relax after a day of work, but it’s every. Single. Day. Without fail. On the off chance that he does decide to join everyone upstairs (our friend group lives together, our room is downstairs), he’s moody and snaps at everyone over the stupidest things. Quite frankly, I’m ashamed and embarrassed by his behavior because I’m worried that it’s a reflection on me. I’m not a touchy-feely person. I’m also not a very emotional person. I’ve laid this boundary about touching multiple times. He has repeatedly chosen to ignore that boundary, and then makes me feel bad for not wanting to be touched because it’s his “love language”. He is very close with his sister, she practically raised him, which is fine. But it’s gotten to the point that he can’t make any big “adult” decisions without consulting with his sister. And it’s not just asking for advice—he does whatever she tells him to do. He kept her on his bank account until he was 22. He lets her walk all over him, screaming at him to the point of tears. She has said multiple times, “If you would stop buying [me] everything she wants, you would be saving more money.” I do not ask for anything. Money was part of the problem in my last relationship. My ex would offer to buy me something, he would buy it, and then he would use it against me later on. Again, I do not ask my current boyfriend to buy me anything. He offers. He doesn’t hang it over my head, but his sister is apparently not a fan of his spending. I have talked to him about this, and he always defends his sister, never me. Yes, they’re family. But I personally feel like this has gone too far. I’ve talked to him about all of this and more, over and over again. I’m tired of hearing “I’m sorry,” and “I’ll do better.” I’m tired of having the same conversation with no positive outcome. I know that this kind of change doesn’t happen overnight, but this has been an ongoing argument for the past year. Do I risk ending a relationship when I’m scared that I won’t find better? He practically worships the ground I walk on in the times when he’s not moody. But I don’t like the way he treats my friends. I din’t like the way that he’s quick to defend his sister, but will throw me under the bus at the first opportunity. But I’ve also never been treated better.
To make matters worse, I’ve had a crush on my best friend’s (F21) boyfriend (M20) of almost 3 years since before the beginning of their relationship. I never said anything because it was obvious that she had a thing for him. But they’ve been having issues in their relationship, much like I am, so we’ve (the boyfriend and I) found a solace in venting to each other about it. We found a kind of comfort with each other. Let me make this clear: I know that I’m the lowest scum of the earth for this. But let it be known that I would NEVER do anything to jeopardize my friendship or their relationship. It just hurts, seeing them together.
I feel so lost and alone. I don’t know what to do. AITAH?

I know this has probably already been said but it’s frustrating! Whenever I’m in the stores or browsing online I’ll find a really cute top, only to realize that it’s a crop top. It seems 75% of women’s tops are. I have no interest in bearing my midriff. Even if I didn’t have a muffin top, I would feel awkward and uncomfortable. Most of the shirts that cover everything are super plain or give grandma vibes. And don’t even get me started on pants. I’d love to have deep pockets like the guys get.
As a matter of fact, I wear men’s clothing for the most part because the quality and durability is so much better. It’s conflicting because I’d like to look like a woman sometimes. Even the pink Nike hoodies are usually cropped. Wtf is the purpose of a cropped hoodie anyway?
Ok rant over. Thanks for listening lol.

I wish I had a pretty face, skinny body and blonde hair like her. It's always going to be what men prefer, no matter how much they claim that's not their type.
If you're just the boring, safe girlfriend at home and this girl works along side him, she is going to shine 100 times brighter than you, that boring, miserable girlfriend ever will. She is exciting, pretty, fun. She laughs at his jokes while you sit at home, sad, knowing that he has a shift with her that day. You cry your eyes out while he fantasizes about her, looks her up on social media, jokes around with her. She's funny. She's pretty and she's funny. And here I am at the end of the day to hear all about his new friend. Here I am to bear the brunt of his frustration after she only sees him at his best. Here I am, eyes red and puffy, hair a mess, sad and distant while he sees her with her cute smile, pretty blonde hair and her yoga pants that fit her so perfectly.
I will never be that girl. I'm good but not good enough to make a man forget about the other women in the room. Not enough for a man to give up on finding the next best thing. I'm the safe choice to come home to because I won't stand up for myself and I'll let it happen time and time again.

I think I am even a bit unreasonable about this and it is why I will never get married or make it work long-term with a man. I HATE being sexualized. I don't want to get dry humped when I lean over to pick something up. I don't want a guy to grab my butt as I am washing the dishes. I don't want a guy that is gonna grab my boob or inspect my tonsils every time we kiss. I know couples where the ONLY time the guy looks at the woman is when he wants to hump her or grab something on her basically using her as a doll anytime he wants never giving her any affection that isn't him trying to get some. My ex was like that, and he made me feel like nothing. Like he literally wouldn't even hold my hand unless it was to pull my hand onto his crotch. I hated his guts because he clearly saw me as nothing but something to use. I hear all these stories and have seen it myself where a wife will die and within months the man is remarried and everyone says "how could he remarried so soon!" I think that is because to a lot of guys a wife isn't an important person. She's just a cum dump. I truely believe that some guys only care about women as something they can use to get off.
And every time I express this, I get the same brain broke responses that have totally convinced me that dating sucks "Oh wow you will die alone" "sounds like you don't want a boyfriend" "I hope he cheats on you" Like asking for a guy to hug me around the waste without sticking his hands down my pants is a BIG ASK. Or like asking for a kiss on the cheek not follow by marathon humping is too much to ask for. Like GOD FORBID a woman wants some affection that isn't centered around a guy getting laid. But if you even suggest you want a hug that isn't attached to a marathon dickin and you get framed as a unreasonable person.
I blame Disney and movies like Pride and Prejudice for selling this stupid lie that a guy would want to treat a girl with kindness and love. It seems like most of them only operate on "I gotta get laid" and only want to offer physical affection with the goal of getting it. It has just killed my desire and respect for men.

Wondering where everyone is going these days if in need of some formal men’s wear.
For context, I am attending a wedding in August and am hoping to get a lightweight suit or jacket/pants combo so I’m not dying when it’s inevitably 86F and 90% humidity.
I’ve been to Men’s Warehouse in the past and that was not a great experience. I’m in Chittenden County but willing to drive up to like 2-3 hours if I could get a summer suit that would last a while.
Appreciate any info!

Great feedback history so buy with confidence. Ship to lower48 states (open to shipping internationally and to AK & HI, please ask). Paypal friends & family preferred or add 3% for Paypal goods & services fee. Just let me know which items you’d like and I’ll check the least expensive UPS and USPS tracked shipping. All sales are final. Thanks for looking!
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5) Hillsound Super Armadillo Nano Gaiter, Small, New, $79 (Regularly $104.95 + shipping) - Top-notch gaiter with thermoregulation and self-cleaning embedded in the upper section. Material adjusts to your temperature - keeps you warm or cools you off as needed and no water or dirt gets absorbed by the material. Lower section which is abrasion and slash/puncture-resistant. Both sections are waterproof and breathable. Keep out snow, slush, rain, mud, scree, rocks, debris and dust and save your lower legs from brushy conditions. For mountaineering, backpacking, snowshoeing and hunting. Built to last and covered by a limited lifetime warranty. Photos: https://imgur.com/a/9gIO1QG https://hillsound.com/products/super-armadillo-nano
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7) COAST FL75R Rechargeable Headlamp Kit, New $45 (Regularly $59.99 + tax and shipping) - Up to 530 lumens brightness, 511 ft range, with adjustable focusing beam from bulls-eye spot to wide flood. Comes with both rechargeable battery up to 500 charges and 3 Duracells AAA. Note that though this is new in the plastic see-through package, I can see that one of the included duracells in the plastic package leaked (these are in a separate compartment in the plastic blister package, not in the headlamp, and do not affect the headlamp at all). https://coastportland.com/collections/headlamps/products/fl75r
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Thanks for stopping by!

Evangelical Egalitarian Christians: "Men and woman are equal, so women don't need to adhere to gender stereotypes to be a biblical woman". So women can wear pants, not wear make up, work "male" jobs, be strong and independent etc...
Me: Why then isn't the opposite true? Why can't I wear dresses and be pretty and be the submissive partner and still be okay Biblically?
(This post isn't meant as an argument- it's just my internal struggle. If you can speak to this in any fashion, I appreciate it. I know many will say just do what you want, and may not hold a Christian worldview. I do have Faith in Jesus and want to follow Him- and I have these desires and this question. This is an actual tension for me.

Evangelical Egalitarian Christians: "Yes, men and woman are equal, women don't need to adhere to gender stereotypes to be a biblical woman". So women can wear pants, not wear make up, work "male" jobs, be strong and independent etc...
Me: Then why isn't the opposite true? Why can't I wear dresses and be the submissive partner and still be okay Biblically?
(This post isn't meant as an argument- it's just my internal struggle. If you can speak to this in any fashion, I appreciate it. I know many will say just do what you want, and don't hold a Christian worldview. I do have Faith in Jesus and want to follow Him- and I have these desires and this question. This is an actual tension for me.

Evangelical Egalitarian Christians: "Yes, men and woman are equal, women don't need to adhere to gender stereotypes to be a biblical woman". So women can wear pants, not wear make up, work "male" jobs, be strong and independent etc...
Me: Then why isn't the opposite true? Why can't I wear dresses and be the submissive partner and still be okay Biblically?
(This post isn't meant as an argument- it's just my internal struggle. If you can speak to this in any fashion, I appreciate it. I know many will say just do what you want, and don't hold a Christian worldview. I do have Faith in Jesus and want to follow Him- and I have these desires and this question. This is an actual tension for me.

This dates back 20 years or so since the last I saw him. In case you don't know him but may have seen him, He looks like he came out of a timewarp from the Civil War Era. Long gray hair and big bushy gray beard, old tattered navy blue work pants, and walking around with work boots with the laces undone. He is prone to ask strangers to spare a 420 and has a camp on the forrested hill above Greyhound rock. I used to pack his little 70s metal pipe for him and talk with him from time to time and shoot the shit with him. He told me he used to be an actor and years later I watched the movie "Jeremiah Johnson" and I swear he was one of the men who rode up on the woman's home in the movie. I checked the movie credits but couldnt find a Benny or Benjamin. He was probably at least 60 years old or so 20 years ago so I'm guessing he may not be around anymore. I was just curious if anyone knows who I'm talking about.

Hi! I was dating a guy, and we had an incredible chemistry! On the fifth date we started having sleepovers! Cooking, kissing, watching movies and cuddling.... I brought all the things I needed to spend the weekend at his house but the first night I slept over with him, he lent me his clothes to sleep in and I will never forget the look on his face when he saw me wearing his clothes! And I must admit I looked super cool in his t shirt and sport pants.
So from the first time I never wore my pjs to sleep! Even the next day, he would ask me not to wear my clothes until we had to leave, so while I was waiting for him to cook breakfast and then we would eat I was still wearing his clothes!
My question is for men, why do you like girls to wear your clothes? My personality is very sweet, and as I told you before, I wore his overalls so I don't think it was because I looked sexy bc I wasn't showing any skin hahaha but yeah, I will never forget his face when he saw me wearing his clothes, it was so cute!
Unfortunately we broke up because I moved to another city and he didn't want to continue the long distance, but I've always had that doubt...
(I'm a girl Btw)

As much as I don’t want to share this sort of information, mainly for personal reasons, and perhaps for my own safety, I think it’s best everyone deserves to know what’s coming.
“They” said it would happen in 2030, or perhaps much sooner or later than that.
I’m talking about the great merger.
No, it’s not a merging of all nations into a globalized civilization. It’s much worse than that. I’m talking about the merging of the material plane with the spiritual planes. The astral, mental, and ethereal plane for example, will become directly interactive with our physical plane. This would seem like ‘good’ news or even exciting news to some people, particularly new-agers and others wishing to see their deceased loved ones, or even those who wish for the coming of Cthulhu. It may surprise you of me to say that Cthulhu does exist, just not in the way you’d think. Let’s just say he's a thought-form created by the mind of Lovecraft and those who are fans of his work.
However, I’m about to tell you that this is something we shouldn’t be happy about. While many of you will be seeing deceased loved ones with the naked eye, and even seeing angels, there are things which exist in these non-corporeal planes which many of you don’t have the courage nor capacity to deal with. I sure as hell didn’t have much capacity for the job, given that I couldn’t comprehend some of the things which existed from the minds of the most fucked up humans.
The worlds and other horrors beyond all human comprehension exist there and given the fact our world is filled with much turmoil, war, hatred, and destruction, it no longer surprises me that the astral and ethereal planes surrounding earth are filled with so much ‘negative’ energies, thoughts, and emotions.
Before I continue, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dean Zenk. It’s an alias I like to use from time to time. I was a former soldier for a paranormal military operation which is top-secret. I’m well aware that our own military wouldn’t associate themselves with what may be considered ‘subjective’ belief, given that there’s no objective proof. However, even I’m aware that absence of proof is not proof of absence. Even God does exist, but he’s not this sky-daddy from religious beliefs. He’s Consciousness. Immaterial. Immeasurable. Just because we can’t perceive his existence with the naked eye, doesn’t mean he isn’t there.
Going back to what happened, I was stationed at a military facility deep underground. It was a facility whom the location I was not aware of, other than seeing a vast, flat desert. They called this place ‘Base 42’ and according to the science nerds I overheard at the place, this wasn’t on earth. They weren’t wrong, since I was told to go outside, only to be met with that desert, and this world’s sun was blue in color. How I got here was an odd-looking jet that had no windows on any of its sides. Instead, there was only a glass windshield in the front.
My guess was we were on another planet, or perhaps, another universe.
It wasn’t until I finally got an answer and explanation from our drill instructor.
“Welcome to Ganymede, team!” he said, putting me in a state of shock and awe.
“I’m sergeant Genghis, your senior drill instructor. Most of you don’t know this, but you were selected by our organization for a specific purpose! You’re here because to them, you have the capacity and cohesiveness to deal with forces outside human understanding! Do you maggots understand that!?”
“Sir yes sir!” everyone said, except for me. I was caught up in shock to even say a word, and without realizing it, I caught the drill sergeant’s attention.
“What is your major malfunction, deaf ears!? You need hearing aids!?” he yelled.
“Sir no sir!” I responded.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you answer my question, deaf ears!?” he asked.
“Sir, I’m sorry for not paying attention to you, sir! I was shocked and thinking about how we ended up in Ganymede, sir!”
Then just like that, he gave me a hard slap in the face.
“Let that slap be an imprint, a reminder to fucking pay attention! Understand, deaf ears!?”
“Sir yes sir!” I responded.
“Good! But from now on, your name is private deaf ears!” he told me before he continued.
After our initial introduction, we were told training would begin with Sergeant Genghis in 4 hours’ time. So, for the moment, I decided to wander around the facility, trying to get a sense of familiarity with the place. That’s when I noticed a woman sitting at one of the desks behind an oval table. Of course, I felt guilty about what had come to mind next when I saw her. Why? It’s because it got her attention and she looked at me and smiled with a slight blush.
“Nice to meet you, young man. I’m called colonel shapeshifter. I’d appreciate it if you’d kindly stop thinking such things about me in your little fantasy and keep your dick in your pants at all times. What is your name?” Colonel Shapeshifter told me.
“Sorry about that. I get a bad habit of that sometimes. I’m called Private Deaf Ears. That’s what Sergeant Genghis called me.” I explained, feeling calm but also embarrassed for my thoughts.
“Private deaf ears, huh? Of course, I can tell you’re not lying, and asking was simply a formality of mine to tell whether you’re lying or not. It seems you’re concerned about Ganymede, right? I should tell you that’s exactly what you think it is.” she told me.
That shook me to my core. I believed that Ganymede was supposed to be a moon, an icy moon at that too. However, what I’m seeing is nothing like the Ganymede I learned about, and I received an explanation as to why.
“We’re in the astral realm, private.” Colonel Shapeshifter.
“The astral realm? But, how?” I asked her.
“That jet plane you boarded under orders, is not just an ordinary plane. That plane is designed with the capacity to travel into the astral and ethereal realms. Your bodies de-materialize even without you realizing or noticing it. Then you were brought to Ganymede. Yes, the moon is as icy and cold as seen with the naked eye from NASA’s pictures. However, in the astral realms, the moon would appear different than what you’d expect. Even gas giants, ice giants and stars are teeming with life, yet that life is non-corporeal. There does exist planets and stars that are non-corporeal as well.” she then explained.
“I see. Well, it might make perfect sense.” I said, thinking about that mythical planet we call, Nibiru. She laughed. “Nibiru is there, but non-corporeal in nature. Also, I know what else you are thinking. I’m called Colonel Shapeshifter, and no, this is not my false appearance. It’s my real appearance. I’m human like you. I received the title because I can shapeshift into anyone anytime I wish.” she explained before shapeshifting to look exactly like me. “Even you.” she said, with her voice now matching mine. This left me shocked and flabbergasted. She started laughing. “You stopped having those fantasies now. I guess I should look like you from now on.” she explained with a smirk.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about those thoughts. I guess it’s something a guy like me does at times.” I said, embarrassed again. “Your concern is unwarranted. There are worse men out there.” she explained. She then lifted a finger up and emitted a small orb above her fingertip.
If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it.
A song emitted from that orb. It was a small snippet from one of Beyonce’s songs. Then she laughed and remarked how her husband put a ring on her first before the other guys fantasize about being with her. “Just don’t get frisky or touchy with me, or I’ll kick your ass.” she then told me before chuckling. Then, her chuckle was cut short. That’s when she looked up at the skies. “They’re here.” she said and then ordered me to go outside and meet up with Genghis.
She and I both went outside to greet what was coming. When I went outside, I noticed small, triangular-shaped crafts heading towards our location. There were four of them from what I could tell. One of them landed, and when I got closer to get a better look, the ship itself was smaller than it looked. It was about the size of a mini cooper. This is when things got really interesting.
From the craft, there appeared to be a small, white light, emitting from the top. Following it, multiple large figures materialized in front of us. There appeared to be 30 of them, with two figures being humans wearing black suits, while the others resembled small gray aliens with large heads and large eyes.
I began to wonder if they all came from those crafts, and then I got my answer.
“No, just that one that landed.” Colonel Shapeshifter told me.
First, I land on a supposedly icy moon that seems to have a desert with a blue sun, now I see about 30 figures coming from that small craft? It didn’t make sense. How?
Even to this day, it still doesn’t make sense to me, even though it should. I guess I’m just hard-headed to understand how things in the astral work, compared to the material plane we live in.
When the beings came from the craft, one of the humans approached Colonel Shapeshifter to give her a message. I looked at her, wanting to see if she was smiling or calm. However, as I looked at her face, she actually looked anxious, as if something bad happened. Her eyes met mine after that.
“Yes, it’s a bad sign that they’re here.”
I realized she spoke to me telepathically, not moving her lips.
The man finally came face to face with her.
“Since you’re here, that means the mission was a failure, yes? How’s the situation?” she then asked.
That’s when he replied:
“Yes, and the situation is worse. Much worse. They’ve taken over our moon.”
I then heard her breathing rapidly and sounding terrified. I noticed her eyes widened in fear. Then, I heard Genghis utter three words.
“God help us.”

Before going into it, I want to mention how this post was inspired by three things. One was user u/HastyvonFuego2 and their post on going down the rabbit hole on the Kendrick sub last week. It was also inspired by Childish Gambino’s first album release in nearly 6 years where I have been sitting on this idea for a while but he inspired me to finally post this week like he did (never posted on Reddit at all before so be gentle if I am not doing it right)! I was also inspired by an interview Bino gave to GQ about breaking down his most iconic characters. In this interview he says how This is America started out as a Drake diss but then he realized the song was too hard for just Drake so he kept working on it. He also talks in this interview about how all culture is about compression. Which means that yes, This is America is about the gun violence and police issues in America, but compressed in this video is also more about where that culture comes from which he shows is from a small handful of rap moguls, namely Drake, Diddy and Jay-Z (bear with me on this long post, I think/hope it will be worth it). At the end I talk briefly about how Little Foot Big Foot might be in this same vein of cultural compression.
[Intro: Choir]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, go, go away
The beginning of this song has no background music yet, which really gives it an ‘in the beginning’ feel. Then Gambino starts doing his dances with weird facial expressions. I will explain as we go through his video how those expressions and dance moves represent different famous rap moguls. One easy look to pick out right away is Jay-Z’s famous lip curl/growl look that Gambino gives with a head nod repeatedly. The colonial pants have been a hot topic, but since it’s only the pants that are colonial, Gambino is saying the bottom or basis for this violent culture in America is ultimately colonialism. The lyrics ‘Go Away’, are likely foreshadowing the rap moguls wanting other popular rap rivals to ‘go away’ or they will make them (aka murder them) for profit.
[Bridge: Childish Gambino & Young Thug]
We just wanna party
Party just for you
We just want the money
Money just for you (Yeah)
Usually you want money for yourself and to party for yourself, so this is a bit odd. But what Gambino is referring to is similar to these Diddy ‘freakoff parties’ we are hearing about where people who want to be famous are really partying for these rap moguls so they can get close to them. Where they suck up to them saying that they want to earn the mogul money from their songs.
I know you wanna party
Party just for free
Girl, you got me dancin' (Girl, you got me dancin')
Dance and shake the frame (Yeah)
Then this almost feels like the Diddy rebuttal where he’s like ya I know you want to party and you want to do it for free. Like Katt Williams says, “you gotta tell Diddy no”, it is never free to go to those parties. There are always consequences. When you are partying you are dancing, but shaking the frame could refer to how those boundaries/edges are being crossed, lines are blurred, etc.
Then in the video, the fellow who was playing the guitar gets shot and things turn dark from happy music. I believe that this guitar tune is meant to represent 2Pac and Nas’s song Thugz Mansion. It’s one of the original greats from ‘in the beginning’. Nas famously has always had major issues with Jay-Z too (More on why 2Pac and Nas later). It also represents how it was these moguls who murdered 2Pac like Jaguar Wright and Katt Williams keep saying. Where these murders only lead to more money and fame for the killers when the dead artists’ and their music are exploited more easily.
Also note that the gun gets taken away by a school kid after the shooting, more on this later as well.
[Verse 1: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Blocboy JB & 21 Savage]
This is America (Skrrt, skrrt, woo)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy)
Look how I'm livin' now
Police be trippin' now (Woo)
Yeah, this is America (Woo, ayy)
Guns in my area (Word, my area)
There is a song called Guns in My Area by Lil Weiner and Baby Chapox that paints a vivid picture of the everyday struggles and conflicts faced by those living in communities affected by gun violence. More compression of other songs and the American gun culture.
I got the strap (Ayy, ayy)
I gotta carry 'em
I am almost certain this line is referring to 2Pac’s song Changes. Throughout This is America, Gambino takes lines from Pac’s song: “They get jealous when they see you with your mobile phone” (referred to later in this a Celly, that’s tool) “That's the sound of my tool, you say it ain't cool, My mama didn't raise no fool”
“And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay strapped, And I never get to lay back” It seems like Gambino broke up these lyrics and scattered them throughout his song. This plays into the theme that everyone is using 2Pac and enriching themselves off of his image and music. I show below how this particular section of the video represents Diddy meaning that Diddy himself is exploiting his music (and alleging that Diddy killed Pac?). We could see this exploitation play out at length with how much Diddy milked the death of Biggie like in Every Breath You Take.
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go into this (Ugh)
Yeah, yeah, this is guerilla (Woo)
Yeah, yeah, I'ma go get the bag
The song Gorilla War by $uicideboy$ and Ramirez talks about getting a bag repeatedly in the course. Also in Otis with Kanye and Jay-Z their lyrics talk about going gorilla (I talk about this song more further down), so it could be referring to this as well. It seems like Gambino is trying to pull out lyrics from all across the rap culture and embed them in his song to highlight the ‘cultural compression’.
Yeah, yeah, I'm so cold like, yeah (Yeah)
I'm so dope like, yeah (Woo)
We gon' blow like, yeah (Straight up, uh)
I think that all of the school kids in the video represent all of the rappers that are signed with these big labels. Which is interesting because they are the ones facilitating the guns for the moguls in the video. You can see that the mogul is really focused on the kids and gets agitated and directs them to follow him whenever they stray off a bit like they are his pupils, or like he owns them. Then all of a sudden the camera comes into a scene where you can see more kids shooting a rap video and all shooting money from a Supreme gun. The camera zooms out almost to show you that this is the mogul’s whole rap empire they are looking over, all of their kids in one place (this empire already includes some chaos in the background). It’s subtle but hilarious, Gambino puts fricken chickens on the ground where the kids are filming the rap video. He is directly calling all of these rappers complete chickens for playing up this lifestyle and being the cause of so much chaos rather than coming out and telling somebody what’s really going on. Trying to get their money over everything else.
[Refrain: Choir & Childish Gambino]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
You go tell somebody
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (Get your— Black man)
This is where things start to get interesting. Gambino is literally saying, go tell somebody about this! We all know what’s happening, why don’t you go let people know how bad it is? But like Jaguar Wright said, who do you tell when these moguls have the cops and feds paid off? This video is literally Gambino putting it all out there in this extremely popular song for everyone to see but yet we still just see the dancing and the violent chaos of people and police in the streets and not the root cause that is hidden in plain sight.
The vast majority of those who reviewed this video until now think this scene represents the tragic church shooting in Charleston in 2015. I think it does, but we also have to look at this from an angle of compression.
The people in the choir are all of the people who are currently singing the rap mogul’s praises and who are focused on going and getting what’s owed to them, get their money (who are also profiting off of the dead fellows music since it goes back to the original tune). You can see that each choir member has a distinct look to them. Think about who you are hearing about now who is about to be implicated in these freak offs and evil deeds. Is that Will Smith in the back left corner!? The short bald fellow in the front left maybe Kevin Hart? Rick Ross or TD Jakes maybe the bigger guy towards the back right? When the camera zooms in on the choir right at first to show their faces, doesn’t the guy in the bottom middle look like an uncanny version of Jordan Peele? Or is that meant to be Cuba Gooding Jr? Then just like the guitar fellow at the beginning, bang. You may be singing Diddy’s praises now, but he will cut you down whenever he suddenly feels like it.
I think almost for sure this initial section of the music video is Gambino acting as Diddy, because right after he shoots the choir, he does the elbow pump/chicken dance. At 3:14 in Diddy’s video for P.E. 2000 he does the chicken dance (he is up first in the video and I think Gambino is trying to say here I first present to you the first public enemy of 3 in this song). That elbow dance signals that it was Diddy and this is the end of his section.
[Chorus: Childish Gambino, Young Thug, Slim Jxmmi & Quavo]
This is America (Woo, ayy)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Woo, woo, don't catch you slippin' now)
Don't catch you slippin' now (Ayy, woah)
Look what I'm whippin' now (Slime!)
There have been many accounts of celebrities being given fancy cars after suffering abuse at the hands of these moguls. So these lyrics are saying that you better not slip up and tell people what’s really going on. And if you don’t look at this sweet carecord deal/movie contract I am going to give you. Beiber told this story about Diddy wanting to give him a luxury car.
Now suddenly, the dance switches from the chicken dance to a sudden bicep flex to signal us that we have now moved on from Gambino representing Diddy to our next mogul.
[Verse 2: Childish Gambino, Quavo, Young Thug, 21 Savage & BlocBoy JB]
This next chunk of the video is all about Jay-Z. I think this is the case because he throws his arms up in a bicep flex just like Jay does in the Otis music video at 2:38. And it makes sense Gambino would pick a dance move from a video with a huge American flag in the background to fit the ‘This is America’ theme. Gambino is mocking him saying, who are you really, the pretty guy or this hard gangster like Gambino shows in his dancing. Also right before they pan to the kids on the balcony, Bino also does Jay-Z’s signature lip curl look a couple times so we know it’s him and to signal the end of his section.
Look how I'm geekin' out (Hey)
I'm so fitted (I'm so fitted, woo)
Jay-Z is famous for making the fitted Yankees cap famous, it’s his signature look. More signs this verse is about Jay.
I'm on Gucci (I'm on Gucci)
Jay-Z has been seen in full wallpaper Gucci sweat suits but could also be referring to Gucci Mane who he hung out with at Beyonce’s tour around the time this song was released.
I'm so pretty (Yeah, yeah, woo)
I'm gon' get it (Ayy, I'm gon' get it)
Watch me move (Blaow)
These lines are probably referring to Jay-Z having a hidden preference for men, especially with the way Gambino flicks his wrist in the video when he says I’m so pretty.
This a celly (Ha)
That's a tool (Yeah)
On my Kodak (Woo) Black
I think that “this a celly, that’s a tool” harkens back to 2Pac’s lyrics in Changes where he sings, “They get jealous when they see ya with your mobile phone” then shortly after that he sings about the sound of his tool, referring to shooting a gun. But Childish flips these lyrics on their head. He is saying that it’s really the phone that’s a tool to be using, not a gun. And pans up and shows (the school kids specifically) on the balcony filming everything going on below. He’s telling the kids/other rappers, use your phone as a tool, you can record these bad deeds when you get blackmailed into being at the freak off. That’s how you can kill them and their career, not with a gun. Go tell somebody! There is also the reference to Kodak which plays into the picture taking theme, but also because Kodak Black has been accused of assaulting a teenage girl in a hotel room. So we have a good idea of what Gambino suggests all the kids start filming and collecting evidence of.
Ooh, know that (Yeah, know that, hold on)
Get it (Woo, get it, get it)
Ooh, work it (21)
Now we are onto Drake’s part. In the video Gambino starts doing the BlocBoy JB dance called Shoot. Drake is known for doing these little viral dance moves like in Hotline Bling. But not only that, this dance is also used in the song that both BlocBoy JB and Drake collaborate on for their video Look Alive. It starts at 2:07 in the Look Alive video. So this is Drake’s dance to signal his part is now starting.
Note this is where the pale horse rides by also potentially saying that Drake is one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Interestingly, Drake’s collab with BlocBoy JB was pretty much the apocalypse for BlocBoy’s career, who hasn’t had a hit since.
Hunnid bands, hunnid bands, hunnid bands (Hunnid bands)
Contraband, contraband, contraband (Contraband)
I got the plug in Oaxaca (Woah)
They gonna find you like "blocka" (Blaow)
Again, we know this is Drake’s section because his song 10 bands starts out by saying “10 bands, 50 bands, 100 bands” almost identical to Bino’s lyrics here. Also Blocka was famously used by Biggie in his song Gimme the Loot which could be referring to Biggie's demise like Pac’s and making money from his death. Everything in this industry originates from pushing drugs, which has been alleged through the trafficking that Diddy, Jay-Z and Drake do through their private jets likely connected to their bosses, the Clive Davises and Lucian Grainges of the world. This escalates rap beefs and the whole culture to the next level where murder is often a consequence for young rappers in their prime when international drug lord money is involved.
An interesting point is this is the only time where Childish was about to shoot someone in the video, but where he didn’t have a school kid either handing him the gun or taking it away carefully from him. (Maybe also a diss at Drake that even though he acts hard he doesn’t shoot, he gets his horseman of the apocalypse to do his dirty deeds for him instead perhaps?). This is the beginning of the end for the rap mogul as he no longer has his kids doing his bidding for him. A simple message to show how the violence can be stopped, that these shootings can end when the kids stop enabling them. So then as soon as he can’t react in that moment and shoot someone his anger is forced to chill out, as shown by smoking a J, and to go back to exploiting the dead man’s music instead. If you don’t put a gun in someone’s hand when they are heated, those feelings too shall pass - kinda feel.
[Refrain: Choir, Childish Gambino, & Young Thug]
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, tell somebody
America, I just checked my following list, and
You mothafuckas owe me
Whose voice does that sound like!? It sounds a lot like Diddy to me, public enemy #1. This is basically saying that the moguls are the ones who we all owe it to for all of this glorified gun violence in America. That we owe them way more follows and likes for what a massive influence they have had on the violence and chaos we see in America today.
Grandma told me
Get your money, Black man (Black man)
(1, 2, 3—get down)
In Moneybagg Yo’s song 1, 2, 3, he also has a line that says “1, 2, 3, let’s go!” in a similar vein.
But something interesting I came across was Nas’s song Get Down where they use a sample from James Brown's “The Boss” that sounds extremely similar to the way Gambino screams “Get Down!” Which would fit well if the guitar singer from the beginning is meant to be Nas and Pac doing Thugz Mansion.
Also make sure you check out Nas’s song Get Down so that you can hear how much Jay-Z outright copied this song for The Story of OJ. From the musical structure with the piano and interwoven samples right down to the theme reiterated by the sample at the end of Nas’s song: “If that’s how our people are gonna get down, how are we ever gonna get up?”
SZA
Finally to wrap up the video, I have been stumped for a long time as to why SZA is randomly at the end of this video sitting on one of the cars. But I think I finally know why and it reconfirms that this last scene is all about Drake. If you watch Drake’s music video for Worst Behavior (not very Canadian of him to spell behaviour that way I might add) you will see Drake rapping and dancing with a few cars surrounding him and one of those cars has other rappers making cameos in it. In Gambino’s video SZA represents that car with a famous cameo. I think this is further confirmed when the black edges of the video start closing inwards at the end of This is America, the exact same way that Worst Behavior ends. So why SZA as the cameo then? Cause it reminds people that Drake is a p*do.
This is from an article in the Rolling Stone: In 2020, Drake revealed publicly that he and SZA had dated over a decade ago, well before she was an established artist (her earliest music goes back to around 2012; her critical breakthrough, Ctrl, came in 2017). On 21 Savage’s “Mr. Right Now,” Drake rapped about a newer fling who was a fan of SZA’s: “Yeah, said she wanna fuck to some SZA, wait / ‘Cause I used to date SZA back in ’08 / If you cool with it, baby, she can still play.” A few days later, SZA responded, corroborating Drake’s claim with a slight correction: they dated in 2009, when both would have been over 18. Since SZA would not have turned 18 until late 2008, she wanted to set the record straight. “in this case a year of poetic rap license mattered 🥴lol I think he jus innocently rhymed 08 w wait [sic],” she tweeted. “I just didn’t want anybody thinking anything underage or creepy was happening . Completely innocent . Lifetimes ago . [sic]”
If you have to specifically say something isn’t creepy and distance yourself from it being lifetimes ago, it usually is creepy. Drake would’ve been 22 when she was 17. Metro Boomin also happens to be on the Mr. Right Now track. He is currently in trouble for resurfaced old tweets showing how Metro used to tweet disgusting things about what he wanted to do to underage girls. Interestingly, Metro Boomin is also now beefing with Drake.
Drake doing his dance on the car of the original musician’s music seems to be accusing Drake directly of stealing 2Pac’s music. Orlando Brown recently said the cryptic statement that “Drake is Pac” which likely means he stole 2Pac’s approach/style/audience after his death. Gambino did some good foreshadowing here too with the recent AI release Drake put out of 2Pac.
This dance scene also signals that the Drake section is now over.
[Outro: Young Thug]
You just a black man in this world
You just a barcode, ayy
You just a black man in this world
Drivin' expensive foreigns, ayy
You just a big dawg, yeah
I kenneled him in the backyard
No, probably ain't life to a dog
For a big dog
The outro lyrics speak to how these gatekeepers keep black men down and control them with things like being forced to wear a dress to become famous or to submit to homosexual/p*do acts.. In the video, as I mentioned above, the black edges close in on Drake’s dancing scene in This is America. But they don’t completely close and end things like they do in the Worst Behavior video. Instead, in Gambino’s video, the camera pans to show the mogul running for his life with Young Thug’s lyrics almost like a quiet echo in the background. He isn’t running from the cops though, he’s running from the kids and from the public. When I mentioned earlier that the kids not handing over the last gun before Drake’s scene signalled the beginning of the end for the moguls, this is that conclusion. Where it is showing that if all the kids come together to stop enabling and rather expose the moguls, people will be chasing these bastards down once we realize what has been going on behind the curtain. Then the song that Young Thug is singing can just be a quiet echo of the way things were in the past.
If you don’t think Gambino would be this deep and that I went too far down the rabbit hole, do a Google search on the calculations that he came up with for why he sings about loving until 3005 in his song. He seems to go real deep with his lyrics. So a big question this leaves us with is, what did Childish Gambino witness in the rap industry? His whole rap career plays out like he is trying to avoid industry norms.
Even in Sweatpants, he has lyrics like:
No hands like soccer teams and y'all fuck boys like Socrates
You niggas ain't coppin' these, niggas ain't lookin' like me (Nah)
Nah, I ain't checkin' I.D. (Nah), but I bounce 'em with no problem
Seems like he is trying to make it really clear across his catalogue of music that he isn’t a p*do but that other rappers are. Where he is saying that he doesn’t need to ID his potential partners because he can tell they are obviously too young and that’s not hard to do.
Tell 'em, Problem (Problem!)
I'm winnin', yeah, yeah, I'm winnin' (What?)...
Rich kid, asshole, paint me as a villain
So who was trying to paint him as a villain, Drake? And that’s why the diss was originally meant for him?
Don't be mad 'cause I'm doing me better than you doing you…
Better than you doing you
Fuck it, what you gon' do? (What?!)
He’s taunting the other rappers cause he knows they can’t say shit if they are creeps. He has the same sentiment in Bonfire “It’s a bonfire, turn the lights out, I’m burning everything you mother fuckers talk about.”
Childish Gambino has always refrained from talking about the meaning of This is America whenever he is asked, and I can only assume that all of this is why.
Little Foot Big Foot
Now with his new release, Little Foot Big Foot and applying cultural compression to it, it has me wondering if he is referring to Megan Thee Stallion and the Nicki beef? People like Nicki (calling Megan Big Foot) have been claiming for some time she wasn’t even shot in the foot by Tory Lanez. There were many people laughing and making fun of Megan over getting shot. Which could be an interesting story for Childish to tell to represent how crazy this violent culture has gotten that people just laugh and blame the victim now when you get shot. Also a good metaphor for things like ‘shooting yourself in the foot’ for not having a lawyer look over potentially predatory industry contracts like in the beginning of his video. That you want to get in the cool kids club so bad you overlook it. Not as sure on this one though since the song just came out and I have only heard it a few times.
One last thing that is really interesting, there have been tons of artists on podcasts like Shay Shay talking about the strings these ultra rich moguls can pull. Like buying awards or gatekeeping people from being in the industry at all. There was even a story, I think maybe it was Gene Deal who told it, that when Killer Mike won at the grammys that Jay-Z was so angry he made sure to mess up his night by getting him locked up as soon as he left the awards stage. These moguls are extremely powerful and have an incredible amount of sway in the world/industry. If you check out Gambino’s profile on Youtube, his old music videos keep getting taken down, like Bonfire for example is just gone. Fans have been having to upload the videos themselves. There is a reply to a comment, on one of the fan uploaded vids, from Gambino’s account himself when someone asks why the videos are being taken down. His account just replies “Noone knows why :(“ Seems a bit odd all things considered and like maybe he has been at the mercy of these gatekeepers for going against the system.
I am so curious to know what the rest of you think about all of this!

I (21F) am part of a very religious and traditionally strict family. When my sister (40, Alice) got married her husband (40, Stephen) and his brother (mid 40s, Joseph) moved into the house next door (my dad helped them get it and their jobs since they emigrated from a different country). Stephen and Joseph came to our house at mealtimes to eat (since they're men and obvs can't cook /s).
One day Joseph came to eat and he had a helium balloon to give me (i was 5 at the time), I was in the bathroom and instead of leaving it there or giving it to one of my many family members, he decided to take it back with him. After he'd left, someone told me about the balloon so I went to get it with my brother (34 now, 18 then, Simon), my brother went to park his car from the driveway into the garage and told me to quickly go and get it. I went in and I couldn't reach it since it was stuck to the ceiling so asked Joseph to get it down for me to, which he said "take your pants off first".
Even at that age I knew I shouldn't do this because not only did it feel wrong but my mom had also repeatedly told me to be careful, modest and stay away from boys (religious and all, she instilled these beliefs in me from back then and I have older sisters who were thought they same things but more strictly so I was the same). So I didn't do anything and was like "no, give it to me". He kept insisting but by that point my brother had also come in and he got it down for me and we went home. Idk if my brother heard but he never mentioned it.
Stephen on the other hand seemed like a nice guy, was good to my sister and all of us siblings and treated us nicely. Throughout the years he somehow flipped, around the time that their sister (Tammy) married my brother. Now, my sister and Stephen can't stand each other but stay together for the sake of their kids and because they know that if they divorce the same will happen to their respective siblings.
A similar thing has already happened in their family, basically their other brother (Cameron) and sister (Sammy) are also married to a pair of siblings. Cameron was caught fucking a random other girl in a field so his wife's brother who is married to Sammy openly dated and had a mistress while still being married. They basically want to avoid another situation like this, our culture is very family oriented and one couple cannot break up and the other stay together.
So basically my sister Alice is scared of her husband and his brothers doing stuff to her children because she lived with them for a decade and they were physically abusive to the kids and also weird in a pedo way. Although they didn't do anything sexual during this time (that I know of; me being so much younger means they don't tell me some stuff) I don't have any doubts about why she thinks that because I know they have these kind of tendencies and wouldn't put it past them to try on their little children.
I believe this because Stephen recently told his 9 year old son about how to "feel good" and get a "warm reaction" when rubbing his private parts. Now his son is 10, and Stephen took him to his bedroom and "laid on top of [my nephew] and jumped and pressed into" in my nephews words. I have nothing against secual education, or masturbation, but 9 years old is too young and humping your son is also a unacceptable.
On the other hand, my sister in law Tammy has a habit of watching porn on our TV, which is in the living room and used by everyone (mostly for the children to watch cartoons on or for family movie nights, ironically). Additionally, she was caught by my brother chatting up my other brother in law (35, Elias). Elias was my brother Simon's best friend since they were toddlers and he strongly denied anything happening between him and Tammy, but his wife (my sister Felice, 32) has previously caught Tammy doing this thing and told my brother Simon. He didn't believe her until we were all vacationing together 2 years ago and he saw it happen first hand. Since then Simon and Elias haven't talked to each other and their wives are basically no contact with each other (Simon and Felice still talk tho, although its more of a small talk kinda relationship so not very close).
Another thing I hate is that Tammy is hateful towards me and my all my sisters, but I will focus on Alice. Alice lives in a one bedroom with her 6 kids, she relies on her husband Stephen for money and everything else, he has control of all the banks and all the government benefits they receive for the kids. He recently sent 20000 back to his family in a different country and sends an additional 1000 every month. His family bought 4 houses in the past 2/3 years, while Alice's kids literally get bullied because they dont have the right equipment for school, their lunches, their clothes and other such reasons.
One of these was when their washing machine broke when Alice was 7 months pregnant and she had to wash the clothes by hand. She tried to talk to my parents and brother Simon and his wife Tammy to persuade Stephen to buy a new one cuz she physically couldn't anymore, to which Tammy responded with "whatever happens, whether something breaks or not, he's not gonna fix it and we're not gonna get you a new one. If you wanna stay here stay otherwise fuck off". My brother shouted at her and then her crocodile tears came out, but in the end my brother had to buy a washing machine for my sister Alice. Stephen also has a habit of leaving his wife with their 6 kids for months on end when he goes to his home country, this happened when she was pregnant twice.
When I was 14, they also tried to arrange a meeting for me to get married to their younger brother who is 7-8 years older than me. My parents and I both rejected this thought without hesitation.
I feel like their whole family is sexually fucked up and I hate them so much, I'm scared for all their kids and feel like either they will rape them or teach them that these things are normal, so they will grow up to be like them. Naturally I want neither of these things, I love my siblings and wish we could just get rid of Tammy and Stephen, but in our culture divorce is frowned upon and people make a really big deal out of it. Idk if I should report Stephen or how to help Alice, pls lmk if there's something I could do, if not pls help me sort out my thoughts and thank you for listening to my rant.

do you have recommendations for brands that make good summer shorts?
for reference, I’m a size 17 (ish) in women’s pants & I’m shopping in the US
I shop in the men’s & women’s section and I usually like mid or high rise shorts with 5-8” length

I (21F) am part of a very religious and traditionally strict family. When my sister (40, Alice) got married her husband (40, Stephen) and his brother (mid 40s, Joseph) moved into the house next door (my dad helped them get it and their jobs since they emigrated from a different country). Stephen and Joseph came to our house at mealtimes to eat (since they're men and obvs can't cook /s).
One day Joseph came to eat and he had a helium balloon to give me (i was 5 at the time), I was in the bathroom and instead of leaving it there or giving it to one of my many family members, he decided to take it back with him. After he'd left, someone told me about the balloon so I went to get it with my brother (34 now, 18 then, Simon), my brother went to park his car from the driveway into the garage and told me to quickly go and get it. I went in and I couldn't reach it since it was stuck to the ceiling so asked Joseph to get it down for me to, which he said "take your pants off first".
Even at that age I knew I shouldn't do this because not only did it feel wrong but my mom had also repeatedly told me to be careful, modest and stay away from boys (religious and all, she instilled these beliefs in me from back then and I have older sisters who were thought they same things but more strictly so I was the same). So I didn't do anything and was like "no, give it to me". He kept insisting but by that point my brother had also come in and he got it down for me and we went home. Idk if my brother heard but he never mentioned it.
Stephen on the other hand seemed like a nice guy, was good to my sister and all of us siblings and treated us nicely. Throughout the years he somehow flipped, around the time that their sister (Tammy) married my brother. Now, my sister and Stephen can't stand each other but stay together for the sake of their kids and because they know that if they divorce the same will happen to their respective siblings.
A similar thing has already happened in their family, basically their other brother (Cameron) and sister (Sammy) are also married to a pair of siblings. Cameron was caught fucking a random other girl in a field so his wife's brother who is married to Sammy openly dated and had a mistress while still being married. They basically want to avoid another situation like this, our culture is very family oriented and one couple cannot break up and the other stay together.
So basically my sister Alice is scared of her husband and his brothers doing stuff to her children because she lived with them for a decade and they were physically abusive to the kids and also weird in a pedo way. Although they didn't do anything sexual during this time (that I know of; me being so much younger means they don't tell me some stuff) I don't have any doubts about why she thinks that because I know they have these kind of tendencies and wouldn't put it past them to try on their little children.
I believe this because Stephen recently told his 9 year old son about how to "feel good" and get a "warm reaction" when rubbing his private parts. Now his son is 10, and Stephen took him to his bedroom and "laid on top of [my nephew] and jumped and pressed into" in my nephews words. I have nothing against secual education, or masturbation, but 9 years old is too young and humping your son is also a unacceptable.
On the other hand, my sister in law Tammy has a habit of watching porn on our TV, which is in the living room and used by everyone (mostly for the children to watch cartoons on or for family movie nights, ironically). Additionally, she was caught by my brother chatting up my other brother in law (35, Elias). Elias was my brother Simon's best friend since they were toddlers and he strongly denied anything happening between him and Tammy, but his wife (my sister Felice, 32) has previously caught Tammy doing this thing and told my brother Simon. He didn't believe her until we were all vacationing together 2 years ago and he saw it happen first hand. Since then Simon and Elias haven't talked to each other and their wives are basically no contact with each other (Simon and Felice still talk tho, although its more of a small talk kinda relationship so not very close).
Another thing I hate is that Tammy is hateful towards me and my all my sisters, but I will focus on Alice. Alice lives in a one bedroom with her 6 kids, she relies on her husband Stephen for money and everything else, he has control of all the banks and all the government benefits they receive for the kids. He recently sent 20000 back to his family in a different country and sends an additional 1000 every month. His family bought 4 houses in the past 2/3 years, while Alice's kids literally get bullied because they dont have the right equipment for school, their lunches, their clothes and other such reasons.
One of these was when their washing machine broke when Alice was 7 months pregnant and she had to wash the clothes by hand. She tried to talk to my parents and brother Simon and his wife Tammy to persuade Stephen to buy a new one cuz she physically couldn't anymore, to which Tammy responded with "whatever happens, whether something breaks or not, he's not gonna fix it and we're not gonna get you a new one. If you wanna stay here stay otherwise fuck off". My brother shouted at her and then her crocodile tears came out, but in the end my brother had to buy a washing machine for my sister Alice. Stephen also has a habit of leaving his wife with their 6 kids for months on end when he goes to his home country, this happened when she was pregnant twice.
When I was 14, they also tried to arrange a meeting for me to get married to their younger brother who is 7-8 years older than me. My parents and I both rejected this thought without hesitation.
I feel like their whole family is sexually fucked up and I hate them so much, I'm scared for all their kids and feel like either they will rape them or teach them that these things are normal, so they will grow up to be like them. Naturally I want neither of these things, I love my niblings and wish we could just get rid of Tammy and Stephen, but in our culture divorce is frowned upon and people make a really big deal out of it. Plus both Alice and Simon love their kids, and one of them would have to probably give up on them if the divorces took place.
Idk if I should report Stephen or how to help Alice, pls lmk if there's something I could do, if not pls help me sort out my thoughts and thank you for listening to my rant.