#5 sentence challenge failed SPECTACULARLY

[puckingdisaster]

how about raffl/kahun + brötchen? :D

this is set right after the plastiktüte debacle btw, like, same day-ish or a day or two later. also doing this in the other perspective now because why not xD also idk if i have to put a disclaimer for that but the dialogue is just in german now. because ultimately it's about the german/austrian dialect barriers xD

They had sunday off, so Michael made sure to keep their fridge stocked for a good breakfast beforehand. He'd also made sure to get some baked goods because even though nothing beat the smell of freshly baked bread. He set out two snack boards for them and got some cutlery as well. Dominik was still asleep, and probably would continue to stay in the bedroom until Michael eventually managed to drag him out of bed, but that was just fine with him. That way he had the time to make some coffee for both of them and set out some spreads, fresh vegetables and fruit, as well as his pretty bread basket he only ever used when he had company. He turned back to the kitchen counter to wipe them down quickly, just for him to almost get a heart attack when his boyfriend just started speaking from right behind him.

"Morgen. Wenn ich gewusst hätte, dass du Frühstück machst, wär ich vielleicht früher aufgestanden."

Michael just laughed slightly, not believing it for a second.

"Setz dich einfach hin."

They both went to sit at Michael's dining room table, Dominik making appreciative noises about the breakfast spread out in front of them.

It was still pretty early, so Michael consciously put an effort into speaking as dialect free as possible because Dominik didn't want to decipher carinthian dialect at 8am and Michael himself didn't want to repeat his sentences three times either. But sometimes, it just slipped out.

"Kannst du mir bitte ein Semmerl geben?", he asked, pointing to the bread basket on Dominik's side of the table.

His boyfriend just looked at him with a slightly distraught expression.

"Was bitte? Das ist ein Brötchen. Warum habt ihr so viele unglaublich komische Wörter? Erst Sackerl, dann Semmerl? Und warum klingen die so gleich?", he whined, handing him the bread basket nonetheless.

Michael laughed, grabbing the offending item so Dominik could put the basket down again.

"Keine Ahnung. Aber wenn du dich darüber so aufregst, sollte ich dir lieber nicht sagen wie grüne Bohnen bei uns heißen."

[natigail]

PEDIA is complete!

I have been ranting and ranting about this writing challenge all month but now I will finally stop posting about it because PEDIA is officially over! I posted for 31 days straight - 5 one shots and 6 chaptered works. We have landed on a total of 289.1k words posted in August, which is 9.2k posted daily on average. It is insanity but I am so proud of myself.

My table is all green now! Look at all those green squares! I’m so happy with myself. And here below a little more neat version of all the words posted.

Now onto the fics! If you have read or read any of these in the future thank you so much. This writing project has been very dear to my heart and I’m very proud of these 11 fics and I look forward fo continue to work on the WIPs. 

Phan:

Strictly Come Dancing but make it GAY | Chaptered, +36k, slow burn, strangers to friends to lovers, internet personality!Dan and dancer!Phil, dance AU (WIP)

Dan Howell calls Strictly out on Twitter for not allowing any same-sex couples and accidentally volunteers himself to be one of the contestants if they were to change that. It was a joke. It had so clearly been a joke. Why did they take him up on it?! He’s sure he’ll trip over his own feet and hate every second, but then he meets his partner, the endearingly clumsy dancer Phil Lester.

to all the people i’ve loved before (and the one who actually made me fall in love) | Chaptered, 64k, slow burn, fake dating, demisexuality, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before AU (COMPLETED)

Phil doesn’t crush on people often, but when he does the emotions seem to overwhelm him. The only way he knows how to deal is to write love letters. They were never meant to be read. The most recent letter threatens to ruin his relationship with his big brother Martyn, so in a fit of panic, Phil finds himself turning to the boy who was the recipient of the very first love letter for help. Even if he is Dan Howell, the school heartthrob.

clumsy, not creepy | One shot, 5k, humour, ghost AU (COMPLETED)

Prompt: just clumsy ghosts who can’t help but push a vase off a table because they’re that clumsy. why do ghosts have to be creepy? Enter Philip Michael Lester – the clumsiest ghost in the world. And Daniel James Howell – the guy who didn’t believe in ghosts. Well, until he met one.

candles are how we keep fires as pets | One shot, 3.7k, established relationship, magical AU (COMPLETED)

Dan tries to convince Phil that no, they absolutely cannot adopt the fire sprite that comes to visit their flat every day. Spoiler: He fails spectacularly.

they grew up so nicely, didn’t they? | One shot, 15k, outsider point of view from Cornelia, 2009-2020, reality (COMPLETED)

Cornelia doesn’t just get a boyfriend when she starts dating Martyn, she gets a whole second family too. Kath and Nigel welcome her with open arms and she becomes a pseudo older sister to Phil.She is there watching from the sidelines as a boy bolts right into Phil’s heart and sets up camp. She gets to watch as Dan and Phil build careers and an internet community and all the trials and tribulations, as well as the pride and happiness, it brings along.

BTS:

Innocent despite proven guilty | Chaptered, +40k, namkook, enemies to friends to lovers, wrongfully imprisoned, prison AU (WIP)

Jungkook’s life falls apart when he’s sentenced to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He expects to see the worst of humanity in his fellow inmates, and he is sure he will be torn apart and broken on the first night. He’s not sure how to feel when he ends up with Kim Namjoon as his cellmate. Coldblooded killer, assumed psychopath, and someone Jungkook used to admire. After all, prison snuffs out every speck of kindness and demands that you will either eat or be eaten.

Happy Hopeful Heartbeat | One shot, 16.7k, nephilim!Hoseok, found family, fantasy AU (COMPLETED)

Hoseok knew the seven of them were standing in front of a practically insurmountable task in getting the druids to accept other species inside of their sacred forest. Even so, they had to persevere for the sake of their two youngest in the group. If a nephilim, two witches, a human, a fairy and two druids could find each other and come together in love and friendship, there was always hope for overcoming differences.

would it be alright if i pulled you closer? | Chaptered, +26k, vmin, strangers to friends to lovers, singer!Taehyung and dancer!Jimin, Idol AU (WIP)

Taehyung had always just let himself get pulled along in life. He just knew that he was good in front of a camera. First, it was acting in TV shows and later it’s throwing himself into the idol machine. He could deal with the loneliness of it, he thought, until one back-up dancer caught his eye and he suddenly saw his first chance at a real friend. He finds that and so much more in Jimin but life isn’t always easy.

Undertale:

Isn’t It Our Responsibility To Do The Right Thing? | Chaptered, +34k, sans/reader, post pacifist route, sequel to You Can Determine The Future Of Our World (WIP)

There has been established a tentative peace between the monsters and the humans since the treaty and New New Home has grown and adapted to allow a more diverse population. Everything still seemed to indicate that they were in a good timeline, until Sans starts acting weird and secretive. Something is up and it’s not good news. It’s never good news if it concerns the void. Or rather, who might come out of it.

Sanders Sides:

shy like a kurinji flower | Chaptered, LAMP, witches, polyamory, magical AU (COMPLETED)

Virgil wanders. He wanders and he wanders and he never lets himself put roots down anywhere. He is sure no one would want someone like him around. Not only is he a witch in hiding but he’s gay on top of it. Two things that the world largely disapproves of. But then one day, he wanders into a town that sends him on an errand to a little witch village and into the home and hearts of three other witches. Virgil both wants to run away and stay forever.

Merlin:

Merlin’s Mercy | One shot, enemies working together, canon divergence, different first meeting AU (COMPLETED)

Camelot is in peril and the knights can do little to stop the raging dragon determined to burn it all to the ground. They need help, even if Uther is seething at the mere mention of seeking help from a sorcerer. But not a regular sorcerer won’t do, they need a Dragonlord and Arthur sets off to find one at most haste. He is not prepared to meet Merlin, not at all.

[green-eyeddragonfanfiction]

A Bump in the Road: Chapter 5

Summary:  Your life was turned upside down, but you’ve managed to make the most you could out of the wreckage that is your life, getting a new job with the Avengers... and discovering the identity of your mystery gentleman! The meddling of your friends gets you into a sticky situation. Pairing: Bucky x Female!Reader Warnings: Swearing (as always), fluff, violence Word Count: ~4,858 A/N: @just-some-drabbles This is for JSD’s Rom-Com challenge. Should I have written and posted this earlier today? Probably. Did I feel like it? Ha. Hahaha. No. Sorry this took so long to get out, but I think it’s worth the wait. Thank you everyone for coming on this journey with me! It was a joy to write and I hope it was a joy to read.

Masterlist // Previous Chapter

He looked down at you, surprised. You sought comfort from him, afraid of the heroes in front of you? Today must be opposite day, but he decided not to question it.

“Ready to meet ‘em?” he asked gently, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze.

You looked up at him, wide-eyed, trepidation clear on your face, and nodded.

Your first few weeks working at the base was a whirlwind of activity and you, somehow, seemed to find yourself around Bucky more often than not.

You had a sneaking suspicion the other Avengers were to blame, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. You were enjoying your time with him so much it was almost scary. Your first impression of him had been correct; he was just as kind and compassionate as he appeared, maybe even more so because of his past.

Natasha had subtly interrogated you under the guise of having a fun meal together, and Wanda kept trying to ask you about your (recently explosive) love life in the form of asking for relationship advice. Steve simply gave you suspiciously encouraging smiles whenever he saw the two of you together.

If Bucky noticed their actions, he didn’t say anything (except for once when he’d told Steve to buzz off when he’d gotten too obvious about eavesdropping).

Besides all the attempted match making and not-so-subtle prying into your thoughts on Bucky, your first couple weeks at the compound went smoothly. 

So, of course, leave it to the universe to throw you a curve ball.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” Nat called to you from across the office, earning her a few dirty glares from your coworkers. A few of them gave her friendly waves which she returned with a wave of her own accompanied by a smirk.

“Hey, Nat. I was just finishing up,” you said at a much more reasonable volume than hers, closing out the spreadsheets and reports from your most recent case.

“Perfect timing, then. Wanna go get dinner together? This new place just opened up downtown and I’ve been dying to try it. Got a table reserved and everything,” she said, winking at you conspiratorially.

“What, like a gal pal date?” you asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Well it sounds lame when you put it like that. I was thinking more along the lines of: Two strong independent women experiencing new haute cuisine as they get to know each other better, paid for unknowingly by a rich playboy philanthropist,” she said, smiling.

“That sounds like the plot to a porno. A bad one,” you said, crossing your arms.

She groaned and rested her forehead against your cubicle’s wall. “Will you come eat delicious sushi with me or not?” she asked, devoid of all emotion except annoyance.

“You should have just led with ‘free sushi.’ Would have saved you some time,” you said, grinning.

“So that’s a yes? I don’t have to give the table away?” she asked, eyeing you expectantly.

“Yeah, Nat. We can get sushi together. What time and where?” you asked as you turned your computer off and packed up your work bag.

“I’ll text it to you!” she promised, grinning as she quickly retreated back out of your office, giving you a wave as she disappeared out the door and around the corner.

You sighed as you grabbed your bag and followed in her wake, heading back to the residential building.

You were halfway back when you ran straight into a wall and barely kept yourself from falling over. You winced, rubbing your nose tenderly. That really hurt. You looked up and realized it wasn’t a wall, but a person.

You thought that had felt familiar.

Bucky looked mortified, hands up in uncertainty as he searched you for any injuries.

“We’ve got to stop running into each other like this, Soldier,” you said playfully, giving him a small smile.

Realizing you were alright, he broke out into a smile, too. “That was a horrible joke,” he chastised, smile betraying his words.

“I thought it was pretty funny,” you countered, smiling mischievously.

“I could come up with better material and I’m practically a fossil,” he said crossing his arms. “Anyway, where are you headed? Back to RB?” he asked, pointing over his shoulder to it with his thumb.

“Yeah,” you said, glancing at it warily over his shoulder. You shuffled your feet a little, not wanting to leave his company just yet.

He must’ve been having similar thoughts. “I can walk you back, if you’d like?” he asked hesitantly.

You tried not to smile like an idiot at his offer and failed spectacularly. “Yeah, that would be nice,” you said pleasantly, trying to rein in your excitement.

He reached his hand out towards your bag expectantly and you raised an eyebrow at him. Was he always the perfect gentleman? Probably. “Allow me,” he said easily, earnest smile on his lips. His blue eyes were so soft when he looked at you, you thought you were going to melt.

“Thank you,” you said shyly, handing him the bag, which he slung over the shoulder opposite you.

“You’re welcome,” he said genially, looking away, not quite able to hide the pink dusting his cheeks.

You both wordlessly turned towards the residential building and began walking towards it (much, much slower than you had to).

“Got any plans tonight?” he asked suddenly, breaking the silence between the two of you.

You looked at him, startled. You couldn’t even begin to fathom why he was asking you about your evening plans. Maybe he was just making polite small talk? That would be the gentlemanly thing to do, wouldn’t it?

“Nat’s dragging me downtown to go to a new restaurant,” you said, slightly forced smile on your lips. You’d rather spend the evening in Bucky’s company, but you’d never tell him that. There was no way he felt the same way about you.

You were so preoccupied with your own thoughts you missed the flash of disappointment on Bucky’s face. “Yeah, Steve’s dragging me out tonight, too.” He’d hoped he could cancel with Steve and spend the evening with you, but it seemed you had other plans.

“Oh? Where to?” you asked as the two of you entered the residential building. He, of course, held the door open for you.

“I wasn’t listening too closely. Something about some new art exhibit or something?” he said sheepishly.

“Oh, I heard about that! Its opening tonight, I think! They have an exhibit featuring pieces from people who’re from countries torn apart by war! It’s amazing, compelling, and intense, from what I hear,” you said excitedly. One of the families you’d helped had a son who had a piece in the gallery, and you’d wanted to go and see it but hadn’t had the time to get yourself a ticket.

“I could take you some time, if you wanted,” his mouth blurted out before his brain had time to process the sentence. His eyes widened, terrified, as his gaze snapped to yours, but you were smiling widely.

“That would be amazing!” you said eagerly. You seemed to realize how excited you were because you glanced away, eyes trained on the wall as you pressed the button for the elevator. “I mean, uh. That would be fun. I think I would enjoy that,” you said more evenly, heat creeping into your cheeks. You needed to calm down before he thought you were a weirdo.

He frowned as both of you stepped onto the elevator. He pressed the button for your floor (he’d memorized your floor level and room number the first time you told him, but he’d never admit that to anyone). You were so hard to read sometimes. One minute you seemed thrilled to be around him, the next you seemed indifferent to his presence. He wondered if he’d just lost all ability to read women between now and the 40′s. It was entirely possible and the thought made him nauseous.

“Me too,” he said sincerely, smiling at you.

“How did your last mission go?” you asked as the elevator made its way downwards.

“For once, it actually went perfectly. Everyone got their tasks done at exactly the right time, and all hostages were recovered unharmed... Well, mostly unharmed. One guy tripped over his own two feet and gave himself a bloody nose on the ground, but I’m not counting that,” he said, snorting at the memory. The elevator doors opened and the two of you exited and headed towards your room.

You smirked at the man in the story. “Well, I suppose he should be thankful to only have a bloody nose. I know I would be. Good job, Bucky,” you said, smiling earnestly at him.

“Well, as some pretty amazing people once told me, it’s the right thing to do,” he said, winking slyly at you.

You gulped probably a bit too loudly. Bucky thought you were amazing? You couldn’t stop the excited grin that lit up your features.

A moment later you were at your room’s door. You punched the pin number into the number pad (Bucky averted his eyes) and the door swung open easily. Bucky handed you your bag and, if you didn’t know any better, seemed reluctant to do so.

“I’ll see you later?” he asked as casually as he could manage.

You smiled at him. “Yeah, see you later,” you agreed. You paused, torn, and, before you could stop yourself, you threw your arms around his waist and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you for walking me back!” you squeaked. You released him quickly and retreated back into your room, glancing over your shoulder at the last second before the door closed.

He was standing there, looking confused, hand raised slightly to wave goodbye, though he seemed frozen in place. He couldn’t even get his thoughts together enough to wish you a good night.

Your heart was pounding in your chest. Oh god, why did I hug him? That was so weird! He was looking at me like I had two heads. Oh, hell, I’m not going to be able to look him in the face tomorrow. Probably never again, for that matter, you lamented.

Your phone vibrated and you dug it out of your pocket. It was a text from Nat, detailing where and when you’d be going for dinner tonight. It said she had business in town so she’d be going ahead of you and that you should meet her there. You sent a quick text to Wanda, asking to borrow her car, to which she happily responded that you could.

The time for the reservation was looming closer, so you got changed. You settled on wearing the blouse Bucky had bought you and a nice pair of navy pants and followed it up with your favorite pair of flat-heeled boots. You refreshed your makeup, and, with a satisfied look in the mirror, grabbed your purse and headed out the door.

Wanda was in a great mood as she handed off her keys to you, making you promise to have fun and be safe. You’d agreed, but her enthusiasm was suspiciously high for lending someone her car. You decided to ignore it and made your way to the garage.

Half an hour later you were pulling into the parking garage next to the restaurant. You locked the car up and headed to the elevator, pulling out your phone as you went.

You dialed Nat’s number and she picked up as you were exiting the elevator.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” She said, sounding distracted.

“Hey, Nat. I’m here, are you inside already?” you asked, making your way towards the restaurant.

“Oh, perfect! Just make your way inside, tell them you have a reservation under the name ‘Stark,’” Natasha said. You could hear some people talking in the background, meaning she must have been inside already.

“Alright, see you in a sec,” you said, then ended the call.

You gave the maitre d’ the name Stark.

He nodded, “Ah, yes, the other member of your party has already arrived. Right this way,” he said, gesturing for you to follow a different server, who started walking into the restaurant.

You had to hand it to them, this restaurant was beautiful. Sleek, elegant, and modern but somehow still capturing the beauty of ancient Japan. If the food was even half as nice as the decor, you’d have to come back again.

You were so distracted that you nearly ran into the server when he stopped, mumbling an apology as you looked over at Nat, smile on your face.

Only, it wasn’t Nat sitting at the table. It was Bucky, and he looked just as surprised as you.

The smile slid straight off of your face. Had you given the wrong name? Were you hallucinating? Suddenly, your mind flashed back to talking to Wanda and Natasha today. They’d both been too excited and too insistent that you go out tonight. Recalling the phone call... hadn’t that been Sam and Wanda talking in the background?

They’d set this up.

“Are you alright, miss?” the server asked, looking at you with concern.

“Ah, uh. Yes. I’m just fine,” you said, smile returning in earnest. Damn those two. They’d pay for this... but until then, you’d enjoy tonight.

“Here, allow me,” Bucky said quickly, standing to pull your chair out for you. He’d seemed just as shocked as you had a moment ago, but he was already regaining his composure.

“Thank you,” you said, heat dusting your cheeks as you took your seat and he pushed it in for you. He sat back down in his chair, a knowing smile on his face.

The waiter took your drink orders down, promising to return in a few minutes for your orders.

“Let me guess, you had no idea I’d be here,” Bucky said casually.

“And you had no idea I’d be here,” you countered, peeking at him over the menu.

“Natasha, right?” he asked knowingly.

“And Wanda,” you said, grinning. “Steve?”

He nodded. “Told me he got a mission last minute, but he’s a rotten liar. Didn’t feel like puttin’ this reservation to waste, though.”

“What about your tickets to the opening of the art museum?” you asked, remembering the conversation from earlier.

“Still have ‘em. Would you.. still feel like going? With me?” he asked shyly.

Your heart fluttered in your chest. This was just like... a date? “Yeah, I’d like to go. With you,” you said awkwardly. You hid your face in your menu, unable to look at him.

If you had, though, you would have seen the dazzling smile on his face.

“Are you ready to order?” the server asked, returning with notepad in hand.

You glanced at each other, both nodding that you were ready.

“Ladies first,” Bucky said, nodding his head politely towards you.

An hour later you were leaving the restaurant, full of sushi and miso soup. Now that you’d calmed down enough to finally get a look at him, you had to admit he looked amazing- well, even more amazing than normal. He was wearing a tight-fitting leather jacket that he’d taken off in the restaurant, and it left little to the imagination. His muscles were defined under the supple-looking leather, but the jacket had nothing on the pants. You had to consciously avoid looking at his ass, for fear of looking like a complete creep. It was difficult. Altogether it looked like a-

“Wanna ride with me to the gallery?” he asked jerking his thumb at an impressive black motorcycle behind him.

-a motorcycle suit.

You looked from him to the motorcycle and back. He grabbed the helmet, which had been strapped to the front of the bike, and offered it to you.

“You’re serious?” you asked hesitantly.

His face fell, hand dropping slightly. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine, I just-”

“I want to!” you said hurriedly, grabbing the helmet. He smiled, relieved, and you felt your heart flutter a bit.

Oh, god, is this really happening? you thought excitedly to yourself. He swung his leg easily over the massive bike while you put the helmet on. He looked over at you and chuckled, beckoning you over to him with a wave. You stepped forward, confused.

He reached up and brushed your hair out of the way gently before carefully buckling the helmet.

“Won’t do you much good if it flies off,” he said, smiling.

“I trust your ability to not get us into a situation where that would even happen,” you said cheekily as you clambered on the bike behind him. “Don’t you need one?” you asked curiously.

“Legally? Yes. Physically? Not so much,” he said, grinning. “You should hold on,” he warned as the machine roared to life.

You panicked for a half second. Hold on? Hold on where? When he kicked the stand up and the bike righted itself completely you lurched forward, wrapping your arms around his waist. Satisfied that you weren’t about to fall off he pulled easily away from the curb and, like that, you were off to the art museum on the back of Bucky’s motorcycle. You thanked your lucky stars you’d chosen to wear pants.

As you got more used to being on the bike, you relaxed a bit, but you still kept a firm hold on Bucky. It was hard to ignore the hard planes of muscles you felt underneath his jacket, or the way your body felt tucked against his. You tried to fight down your impure thoughts by enjoying the scenery speeding past, but your thoughts kept going back to Bucky every time you felt the subtle shift of his muscles and limbs as he expertly wove in and out of New York traffic.

Too soon for your liking, you arrived at the gallery. Bucky parked the bike outside, and you stepped off first. What you hadn’t been expecting was for your legs nearly giving out underneath you. Your hand flew to his shoulder to steady yourself, but he’d already caught you around the waist with his right arm.

“First time on a motorcycle?” he asked kindly.

“Yeah,” you said breathlessly as you took the helmet off. You hoped you didn’t have helmet hair. You took a few deep breaths and stood up straight, a little more confident in your legs’ ability to hold you up now that you’d calmed down a bit. He slowly let you go and you missed the warmth and comfort his arm had provided you.

“Did you like it, at least?” he asked, putting the helmet back on the bike as he stepped off, trepidation clear on his face.

“Are you kidding me? That was amazing!” you said excitedly, smiling brightly.

He smiled back. “Glad you liked it,” he said, shoving his keys in his pocket. “Now, I think we have some art to appreciate?” he asked, holding his elbow out for you to take. You smiled bashfully and took it, and the two of you walked towards the exhibit.

You should have known tonight was too good. You didn’t have luck like that.

“(Y/N)?” a voice asked from behind you. You knew that voice-

Both you and Bucky turned to its source, and you felt your blood freeze in your veins.

“I thought that was you!” Austin said excitedly as he trotted up to you like a lost puppy. “You haven’t been answering my calls or texts! You left some of your things at my place-”

Not wanting to create a scene, you grabbed Bucky’s arm and quickly began dragging him towards the door. He looked confused, but you couldn’t explain what was happening just then. Maybe, just maybe, if you got out of there right then you could pretend this never happened; like you’d never seen your bastard ex.

You were stopped by him grabbing your wrist. “Wait, (Y/N)! I wasn’t done talking to you!” he said testily, forcing you to turn and look at him with a hard tug on your arm.

You tried to wrench your wrist from his grasp, but his grip was like iron. 

“I know things between us got a little messy, but I’ve changed! I haven’t seen that woman since things blew up that day. I cut her out of my life. I realized how much I love you and-“

“Let her go,” Bucky said, tone deadly. He’d stepped between you and Austin, towering over him by at least half a foot. He had to be about twice as wide, too.

“Who the hell are you, pal?” Austin asked, eyeing the way you placed a hand on Bucky’s back, seeking comfort.

“James Barnes, but most people call me Bucky,” he said, holding his left hand out for Austin to shake, metal shining in the fluorescent lights.

Austin blanched almost comically as he looked down at Bucky’s hand then back up at his face, but, to his credit, stood his ground, ignoring the outstretched hand. He did, however, let go of your wrist, which you rubbed tenderly.

“I was talking to (Y/N), not you,” he said, jutting his chin out as he glared up at Bucky.

“I don’t think she wants to talk to you, pal,” Bucky said, warning clear in his voice.

He turned his attention from Bucky to you, eyes softening immediately. “Baby, please. We can talk about this. I miss you. I love you,” he said, simpering smile on his face. How had you ever loved this man?

“Piss off,” you said, glaring angrily at him, turning on your heel. You grabbed Bucky’s hand and dragged him behind you. He gave you a reassuring squeeze as he followed you towards the door, acknowledging you needed to get out of there without asking questions you didn’t want to answer just then.

When Austin opened his mouth again you’d only made it a few steps. His words made your blood boil in a way it hadn’t when he’d been talking about you.

“You sure replaced me quick, baby. And with that fucking monster, too,” he spat loudly enough for most of the patrons in the exhibit to turn and watch the scene playing out in front of them.

You turned to look at him slowly, face murderous. “What did you just say?” you hissed venomously.

“Doll, we should just go-” Bucky said. You’d caught the way his face had darkened at Austin’s words. It seemed like he, too, wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, but you just couldn’t.

“I said you’re with a goddamned monster!” Austin yelled, loving the attention. “Do you even know how many people he’s killed? The bastard has a metal arm, for chrissake!”

You dropped Bucky’s hand and closed the distance between you and Austin in a few long strides. Austin was so preoccupied looking at the audience he’d gathered, he didn’t see your fist flying straight for his face. It connected to his jaw with a satisfying smack, and his head flew to the side. He lost his balance and nearly fell over. You grabbed his designer tie and tugged him forward, pulling him down to your eye level.

“You don’t know the first thing about him, you cheating sack of shit!” You yelled, kneeing him in the groin. He doubled over, clutching at his manhood, a choice string of expletives leaving his lips in a hiss. “He’s a kind, good man who’s served his country for longer than you’ve been alive. He couldn’t control what those fucks in Hydra made him do, and you sure as hell don’t get to sit there and judge him while he takes back control of his life, you pathetic fucking excuse for a human being,” you said, releasing his tie and shoving him backwards. “If you talk to me ever again, you’ll regret it,” you said dangerously, giving him one last glare before you spun on your heel. You heard him mutter angrily under his breath, but he had the good sense to stop talking to you.

Bucky was standing there, a mixture of awe and shock on his face.

“Let’s get out of here,” you muttered, suddenly embarrassed, and grabbed his hand as you made a hasty retreat towards the door before security could make an appearance.

Once you were out on the street and halfway down the block, you stopped, the tears that had been threatening to spill flowing freely down your face.

You thought you’d gotten past it; Gotten through those ugly feelings, buried them inside yourself, but you were wrong. Seeing that bastard again had drudged it all up again, leaving you as raw, exposed, and hurt as the day it happened.

You were surprised when Bucky’s arms closed around you, pulling you gently to his chest. That was all it took for you to start sobbing in earnest, makeup likely ruining his shirt. He held you, stroking your hair gently, murmuring comforting words into your hair, for who knew how long. Time didn’t seem to have any meaning while you were falling apart at the seams.

When you’d finally calmed down a little bit, tears mostly dried, he spoke up, his voice a deep rumble in his chest. “You were amazing in there, Doll,” he mumbled, leaning back a little to peek down at you, his blue eyes studying you closely.

You hummed noncommittally, burying your face in his chest in embarrassment.

“Did you really mean all that? About me?” he asked tentatively, rubbing your back comfortingly.

Without removing your face from his chest, you nodded slowly, heat creeping up from your neck to your cheeks.

You missed the look of stunned happiness on his face, too scared to look up at him as you were.

“Hey, Doll?” he asked, smile clear in his voice. You pulled back enough to peek up at him hesitantly, eyes widening when you saw the look on his face.

If you had to assign a word to it, it would be... adoration, maybe?

“Would you like to go on a date with me?” he asked bravely, bolstered by your earlier words.

You jaw dropped. He was asking you out, even after everything that just happened? He... didn’t care about your emotional outburst just now? Or the baggage you obviously came with? You realized he was waiting for an answer, and closed your gaping mouth with a snap.

“You mean... this wasn’t a date?” you asked, unsure. It sure had felt like one.

“I mean... I want to go on a date with you, where I ask you out myself- and we decide what to do... without the meddling of our well-meaning friends,” he explained, smile unsure.

“So this was a date?” you teased, eyebrow raised, small smile on your lips.

“If you want it to be, definitely,” he said, hope clear in his voice.

Ah, you’d been an oblivious fool, hadn’t you? Feeling brave, you pulled him down by the collar of his jacket while you stood on your tip toes and placed a gentle, chaste kiss to his lips. You pulled back before he could even process what had happened. He stared at you as though you were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and cupped your cheek with his hand, stroking it gently with his thumb.

“Yes,” you said simply, leaning into his touch as you beamed up at him.

“Yes?” he asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.

“Yes, I want this to be a date, and I’d love to go on another one with you,” you said, chuckling a little at his dumbfounded expression.

Suddenly, you found yourself lifted in the air and your hands flew to his shoulders as he spun you around, holding you by the back of your legs, laughing happily. The world stopped spinning as he set you down gently and leaned down until he was about eye level with you.

“May I kiss you?” he asked, tone clearly saying he thought he was overstepping, but you smiled shyly and nodded.

He beamed at you, closing his eyes as he closed the small distance between you, his soft lips crashing against yours. You kissed back eagerly, wrapping your arms around his neck as his snaked around your waist, pulling you to his chest. The world fell away around you until there was only Bucky and the way his lips felt against yours; the way you fit perfectly against him. You decided you liked the feeling very much and never wanted it to stop. You needed to come up for air eventually, though, and he broke the kiss, the both of you panting slightly, eyes filled with emotion. He leaned his forehead against yours, smiling widely, and you returned it, your smile lighting up your face.

Yes, you thought to yourself. I could get used to this.

The End

This series is finished, but if you want to be tagged in my other fics, check out this post! Sorry, but responses to this post asking to be tagged will be ignored, so send me an ask or like one of the taglist posts!

☕ Buy Me a Coffee! ☕

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 11/10/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Friday, October 11th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

DEMS SAY GOVT FAILING THE PEOPLE – The Democratic Labour Party (DLP) has slammed the Mia Amor Mottley Administration for painting an image on the international stage that all was well at home, while ordinary Barbadians suffer. DLP president Verla De Peiza, speaking yesterday at a press conference at Charlton Chambers, Whitepark Road, St Michael, gave the Government a failing grade, adding it was not meeting the social needs of Barbadians. “The people of Barbados have to be at the core of whatever policies are being made,” she said. “You cannot have policies that take the country somewhere internationally but leave your people behind. It is a recipe for anarchy and dissension. “When you have conversations overseas about climate change and how it will impact people and environmental policy, but at home you are pumping sewage into the sea, garbage is piling up everywhere, with rodents and flies on the increase, and diseases in the offing, how can you give anything other than a failing grade?” she asked. (WN)

CALL TO BE ON GUARD – The Ministry of Health is warning Barbadians to be on their guard as the island experiences a “significant” upsurge in cases of viral illnesses. The caution came yesterday from both acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Anton Best and senior medical officer of health (North) Dr Leslie Rollock. Best reported that after investigations, specifically in the area of disease surveillance, the ministry had determined there was an increase in rhino (cold) viruses, as well as some flu viruses. The response came in the wake of yesterday’s Front Page story in the DAILY NATION which highlighted the concerns of parents about a large number of children falling ill at Harrison College with flu-like symptoms. Since then, other schools have reported students and some teachers being sick with similar symptoms, including sore throat, vomiting and headache along with feelings of lethargy. (WN)

COMPTROLLER: UP TO WAREHOUSES – The onus is now on warehouse operators to upload their stock into the new Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) World system. And if they don’t, there will be no activity, causing their own bottleneck. That was revealed by Comptroller of Customs Owen Holder, who was speaking following a marathon meeting on Tuesday with stakeholders in the customs industry. “The warehouse owners were asked to submit their stock to Customs on August 23, and add the opening stock in the system. To date, some organisations are still trying to ascertain what their stock is. “The issuance of a licence to operate a warehouse is conditioned by many things, including the operation of a system that they can easily determine the stock levels within the warehouse at any time,” he explained.   (BT)

$7,500 COMPENSATION – A local High Court has ordered a 38-year-old woman to pay $7,500 in compensation for injuries she inflicted on another woman with a hammer. The order was handed down yesterday by Justice Randall Worrell in the No. 2 Supreme Court against Tracy Alicia Layne of Skeete’s Road, Clapham, Christ Church. Justice Worrell told Layne she must pay $2,500 forthwith, which was paid. She  must pay another $2,500 by November 29 this year and the final installment of a similar sum by January 31 next year. He also informed her he will deliver the court’s sentencing on the same day as the final payment. Layne went on trial last year on two charges: that on March 29, 2005 she wounded Esther Moore with intent to maim, disfigure or disable her or to do her some serious bodily harm and unlawfully and maliciously wounding her. On October 16, 2018, the accused was found not guilty of wounding with intent, but guilty of the lesser charge. Layne is being represented by attorney-at-law Arthur Holder. (BT)

TRIDENTS BOOK SPOT IN CPL FINAL – Ashley Nurse and Raymon Reifer starred with both bat and ball as Barbados Tridents knocked out defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders to set up a 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League(CPL) final against the all-conquering Guyana Amazon Warriors. Nurse’s intervention was crucial in both innings, first when blasting an unbeaten 24 from nine balls to propel a stuttering Tridents innings up to 160 for 6 and then taking two key wickets to help strangle the Knight Riders’ run-chase.  Having been put into bat, the Tridents looked set to make an under-par total for the majority of their innings until Nurse and Raymon Reifer – who later also played his part with the ball, bowling a nerveless final over that included the vital wicket of Seekkuge Prasanna for a 27-ball 51 and the match-clinching one of Khary Pierre – plundered an unbroken 48 runs for the seventh wicket from the final 14 balls. With the Knight Riders ultimately coming up 12 runs short, the final two overs when the Tridents batted were the difference between going to Saturday’s final and going home. Johnson Charles could have been dismissed twice early in his 35, dropped by Denesh Ramdin in the first over of the night and then seeing a skied shot land safe after Lendl Simmons and Chris Jordan left it for each other. While never quite at his fluent best, Charles’ effort was crucial in holding things together during a fraught first half of the Tridents innings in which Hales and Shakib fell to Pierre and JP Duminy was forced to hobble off retired hurt after injuring his leg while hitting a six. The Tridents will be desperate to have him available on Saturday. Charles followed Duminy straight off the field, skying Ali Khan to Jordan at mid-off to leave the Tridents in bother at 74 for 3 – effectively four down – in the 12th over. Things got worse for them two overs later when Jonathan Carter was spectacularly caught and bowled by Jordan, who flung himself to his left in his follow-through to pluck the ball from the air inches above the grass. When Jason Holder picked out Colin Munro at deep midwicket in the same over, the Tridents were 92 for 5 with time running out and the innings in real danger of falling away completely. That didn’t happen. Shai Hope played nicely for his 23 from 18 with two fours and a six, before Reifer and Nurse gave the innings its all-important explosive finish. Both men finished 24 not out, with five Hero Maximums between them. Even then, 160 for 6 was no more than a par score in tricky conditions for bowlers coping with a wet ball. Seekkuge Prasanna of Trinbago Knight Riders almost brought it home for his team with 51 off 27 balls.   (WN)

HELPING ONE OF THEIR OWN – A group of former St James Secondary School (now Frederick Smith Secondary) students have joined hands to raise funds to assist cancer victim Ruth Quintyne with medical expenses. This morning, during a brief ceremony at the Ministry of Labour, Quintyne received a $10, 000 cheque from the Trents 95 Alumni. Trents 95 Alumni which was born out of an immediate need to help Quintyne, has as its mission to socially connect with Trents Class of ‘95 old scholars and to provide relief to those in need, by reason of ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantages. The funds were raised through a fish fry held at the Bay Street Esplanade on September 7, and also from donations from corporate Barbados and other kind-hearted citizens. Almost a year ago, Quintyne was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the blood. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment and is unable to work. Quintyne has no health insurance coverage and her focus right now is on winning with cancer and having a much-needed hip replacement surgery. “It has been a challenging year mentally, and it’s only through God’s grace and mercy that I am here today and I am overwhelmed. I want to thank the Trents alumni, my schoolmates. “It warms my heart to see that they really stepped out for me. I have seen the hard work that you guys put in, and I have seen the challenges that you had and I am sincerely grateful from the bottom of my heart to each and everyone of you,” said Quintyne. (BT)

MEKKING SPORT – The string of Caribbean comedians and one comedienne kept a packed audience at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in fits of laughter at the third annual Let Muh Laugh comedy show last Saturday night. In a show that could be deemed moderately comical, Barbadians Rickardo Reid Jr, Nadia Phillips, Rum and Koke alongside Jamaican Chris Johnny Daley and Trinidadian Allan D Entertainer shared stories that were not only hilarious but absurd to the point that you could not help but laugh. The Market Vendor made a special guest appearance. While taking jabs at politicians and celebrities, the line-up also shared comical family and village stories along with other life experiences. As expected, issues affecting the Caribbean both economically and socially including horning, homosexuality and violence were up for discussion. The first half of the show saw Reid and Phillips take the stage with Reid speaking of mishaps at funerals, the exploits of his family – especially his uncle – who got him involved in entertainment. The NIFCA bronze, silver and gold medal winner and Daphne Joseph and Alfred Pragnell Awardee got a good response. Meanwhile, Phillips, the lone female didn’t connect with the audience and she got very little response. She spoke of how the tough economic times were impacting on daily life before descending into the realm of bowel movements and nose picking. The topics did not resonate with some audience members who started clapping during her performance.    However, Emcee Mac Fingall who from the start of the show kept the laughs coming also held the show together between performances telling his stories in his usual hilarious manner and engaging in banter with the audience. Of note was an interview of the Market Vendor, done by Rebecca Fernandes of Corridor News Network. The wide-ranging interview revealed what he would do if he were Prime Minister including changing the names of several government agencies and his views on the most dangerous weapon in Barbados, which incidentally was a cutlass. The Market Vendor who had his bucket said it contained notes of things he would not like to forget and a wealth of other information. Representing Trinidad, Allan D Entertainer who would amend some of the Ten Commandments if he could, said they would come with serious consequences if not adhered to. He said if he could change the commandments, individuals who lie would fart, for those who steal their arms would get shorter and those who commit adultery would walk with bow legs; he envisioned how some politicians would look if it were so. He was joined by Chris Johnny Daley who told stories of his homeland Jamaica and the dancehall scene there. Entertainer Ding Dong’s one word songs bore the brunt of his assault while the many tales of his interactions with his wife were well received. Local talent Rum and Koke gave commentary of a game of the Caribbean Political League (CPL), a version of the cricket league. They noted how the former captain was extremely quiet during his stint but how the new captain was leading from the front, at times bowling and batting at the same time. The receptive and almost full to capacity audience cheered and laughed loudly with almost everyone remaining seated until the curtain closed on the show around midnight.   (BT)

BEAUTY, TALENT AND SMARTS – Give her the mace, the crown and throne. Kyla Ward deserved to be crowned on the night of the Barbados Talented Teen category amongst females. She pulled out all the stops as she performed amazingly with guitar in hand and splendid voice to match. With a mash up remix to Lana Del Rey’s Young and Beautiful fused with End of the World by Rob Dickinson, Queen Kyla was stunning as she sat poised on the stage at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St Michael on Saturday. She was simply amazing. Her gown was another show stopper as she came out bedecked in a golden mesh and sequined piece which showed her curves and pieces of chocolate skin. The question: “Who do you find as a phenomenal woman?” did not trip her up either as she carved that one out by naming young environmentalist, Greta Thunberg, who made headlines as an activist for the earth and green living. Ward said that she was not expecting to win, but she was relieved nonetheless. First runner-up, Naticia Eugene, pointed out the humility of Michelle Obama when asked about a woman who made a significant impact on her and she too was graceful in her pink gown. Eugene, also a vocalist, rocked the hall as she sang Titanium. She won Miss Congeniality, Best Project and Best Project Interview. Lauryn Small, who played steel pan, commanded the stage and that earned her enough points as second runner-up. She came out gowned in a sweet sliver set which flowed from waist to floor. Small hailed her mother for making a significant impact in her life. Other participants included Hope Thomas, Azaria Sealy and Grace Pooler who did an interesting act of archery mixed with gymnastics. Manager of Barbados Talented Teens Kofi Branch said that the programme is in its sixth year. (BT)

HEAVY ROLLERS FOR SOCA FOR SIGHT – The sounds of sweet soca filled the atmosphere at The Barbados Yacht Club Saturday night when patrons gathered for the Soca For Sight charitable event. Some top local entertainers performed at the worthy cause which is one of two activities intended to raise $500, 000 for the Lion’s Eye Care Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There was food and drink on sale throughout the night as well as a silent auction which all formed part of the fund-raising initiative. As for the show, it was a top-notch production from start to finish. MC Ronnie Clarke did an excellent job complementing what the artistes delivered on stage. The backing band, De Red Boyz, were in fine musical form for the entire night. The brass section was superb. Two sweet singing vocalists in Betty B and Biggie Irie added to the band. They started the night out with some hip hop classics such as Dancing Queen, Oh What A Night and Happy, among others. A fitting member to the performing cast was newly crowned Blind Soca King Mr DJwho sang It Got Me. When the six-time champ was done performing, he was spotted in the crowd enjoying the night’s entertainment. The Soca General, Edwin Yearwood, was the first main act to grace the stage to the sounds of the 1997 hit song All Aboard, a song he had penned for Trinidadian band Atlantik. His was a full groovy set which appeared to please the party crowd and included such hits as Good Time, Carnival On My Mind, Feels Like Home Again, Pump Me Up and Wet Me. Edwin ended with Sak Pase and as has become the norm, the massive were rocking from side to side as they loudly  proclaimed: “De Road is Mine…” Biggie Irie returned to the stage, this time for a solo set which included: Country Girl, Pankatang, Need Ah Riddim, Magic and Nah Going Home. He went way back in time to sing an old time favourite Splash Band’s Get Busy. King of the Road Mighty Grynner upped the pace a bit, and the crowd loved it. With a set filled with classics, the “old dawg” sang Mr T, We Want More Grynner, Turn Up De Speaker and Leggo I Hand and had the crowd rocking. Repeatedly saying he could sing all night long, Grynner got an encore as the crowd chanted: “more Grynner” to which he obliged. He came back on stage and sang Leggo I Hand one more time. RPB got the honour of closing the show. His performance saw the crowd enjoying songs such as Once Upon A Wine, Wrong Gal, Ragga Ragga and Something’s Happening. He ended with the 2017 hit song Boat Ride at which time 75-year-old Bill Tempro, who is legally blind, made his way to the stage. RPB said the song was in tribute to Bill who will set out to sail around the island on October 13, the second fund-raising event called Sail for Sight. The entertainer asked everyone to give Bill their support as he embarked on the activity which is for a worthy cause. (BT)

RIHANNA IN NEW LIGHT – She has already sold millions of albums, tons of lingerie, and is making a name for herself in high-fashion. And Rihanna’s next venture is in the publishing world. The 31-year-old mogul announced on Monday morning that she will be releasing her first ever “visual autobiography” – simply titled Rihanna – through publisher Phaidon. Perhaps the most interesting part of the release is that there will be three-limited editions including the most luxe option which features a 2, 000-pound hand-carved marble pedestal from Portugal which has already sold out. There are only ten in the world and last month Cardi B bid on and won the Ultra Luxury Supreme Edition – titled Stoner – for $111, 000. There is also the Luxury Supreme version which includes a gold custom bookstand created in collaboration with artists the Haas Brothers which retails at a mere $5, 500. There is also a limited edition Fenty x Phaidon version for $175 featuring a steel bookstand also designed by the Haas Brothers and a standard version for $150. No matter what format the book is in, it will contain more than 1, 000 photos documenting the pop star and her life including many snaps which have never been seen. Additional features include three paper stocks, seven single and double page gatefolds, nine bound-in booklets, one tip-in sheet, and a double-sided removable poster. Of the project, Rihanna said: “I am so excited to share this collection of incredible images. I’m very grateful to the talented photographers and artists who contributed. We’ve been working on the book for over five years and I’m really happy to be able to finally share it with everybody.” A press statement read: “From her childhood in Barbados to her worldwide tours, from quintessential fashion moments to private time with friends and family, the book showcases intimate photographs of her life as a musician, performer, designer, and entrepreneur.” Rihanna and Phaidon are hosting a pre-publication ticketed book party at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City this Friday. (BT)

There are 82 days left in the year Shalom!  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

[flameclaw22]

Book Review: The Crown’s Game

Spoilers ahead!

Rating: 1 star out of 5

I'd been contemplating reading Circle of Shadows, the newest Evelyn Skye novel, but I wanted to test the waters by reading another of her books first. I found The Crown's Game on sale in the NOOK store for $1.99, so I snapped it up. In a way, I'm glad I did, because reading The Crown's Game ultimately prevented me from wasting considerably more money on Circle of Shadows.

I could use the phrase “dumpster fire” to describe this book, but that's really not fitting: Dumpster fires at least entail vaguely interesting events. The Crown’s Game is easily one of the dullest books I’ve ever read - even duller than any novel in the Twilight series. It’s no compliment to say that Stephanie Meyer did a better job world-building. Evelyn Skye exerted such negligible effort on world-building that her tale barely squeaks into the historical fantasy genre, giving more of the feel of historical fanfiction with magic tossed in for shits and giggles. The magic originates from some spring or fountain or some bullshit that apparently pays attention to arbitrary geopolitical boundaries and nationality. And excluding faith healers and a couple of magical creatures, the latter of whom are only mentioned in passing, there are only four known characters in Russia with the magic, and two of them monopolize most of it. Since both competitors possess gargantuan supplies of the magic, the result is a pair of stupidly overly-powerful heroes.

Skye is just as bad at inventing plots as she is at world-building. Expect no real action or intrigue from Crown’s Game. The game itself is nothing more than an unstructured magical pissing contest, and Skye fails to leave enough to the imagination to keep readers hooked. There’s no nefarious plot running beneath the surface, there’s no tension or suspense; it’s just a fight for who gets to be the tsar’s chief suck-up and who gets to die, and the two competitors falling in love.

The characters are breathtakingly boring. If you played the Wii Fit obstacle course game, you probably remember what a pain in the ass it was to avoid those logs, lest your Mii be comically flattened. Clearly The Crown’s Game’s characters played this game and lost spectacularly, because damn, are they dimensionally challenged. Though it’s not Vika’s fault that Pasha worshipfully describes her in a manner that is utterly vomit-inducing, it is Vika’s fault for failing to demonstrate that she is anything more than an insipid, gorgeous magical girl anime reject. She has pretty red hair with a black streak in it and can generate an entire island with her mind. She misses her dad. She’s pretty. She’s powerful. Did I mention she’s pretty? The way Vika blathers on about how attractive Nikolai is implies that she’s never seen a boy before (even though that’s probably not true). Spare me the agony.

Scarcely surpassing the sentience of a doorknob, Nikolai might as well have been a giant Russian Ken doll. His thoughts mostly consist of dreamily imagining banging Vika, hawing over not wanting to kill her, and attempting to concoct a contest-winning plan. When a woman in a semi-zombified state shows up out of the blue - alleging to be his mother, no less - Nikolai is relatively unperturbed. His strongest reaction is his revulsion over how dreadful Aizhana smells. Come on. Even if you live in a world steeped in magic, if a shambling, malodorous corpse lady appears and claims to be your dead mommy, you should shit yourself, at least a little bit. If all you can do is complain about is the foul stench, you desperately need help. When he walks into the Enchanted Hollow, a goddam cave, his thought is, “So this is why it’s called the Enchanted Hollow.” You’re a little slow on the uptake, pal. Reading this particular line evokes thoughts of that iCarly scene where Kurt, the cute but dumb (fired) intern, rides the elevator and then breathes in awe, “This is an elevator.” And really, that captures Nikolai’s essence - the hot but moronic guy who should be fired before he ruins the world. I half-expected him to pop into a scene with a plastic bag of lemonade.

Pasha isn’t much better. Like Nikolai, he too obsesses over Vika to a degree that seriously annoyed me, as a reader stuck in his head. (What I can say is that Pasha, as nauseatingly pesky as his crush-related thoughts are, isn’t a complete creep. For instance, he refrains from kissing Vika while she is asleep because he does not want to disrespect/violate her.) Unlike Nikolai, however, he exhibits some intellectual curiosity and later undergoes a considerable personality change; unfortunately, this shift is such an about-face that its effect comes off less as character development and more as a rancorous temper tantrum.

There’s little to say for the remaining characters. Renata merely serves to upgrade the love triangle to a love web. Ludmila is Vika’s plump, middle-aged sidekick, who effectively fills the role of a lame-ass Molly Weasley: a source of tasty baked goodies and motherly love, minus the tough fierceness that makes Molly so endearing. Pasha’s sister, Yuliana, functions as the impetus behind the Crown’s Game, urging her father to commence the contest, but Tsar Alexander is such an unpleasant dickbag that no other scapegoat for starting the game is truly required, rendering Yuliana obsolete. At virtually every given opportunity, he goes out of his way to be rude, condescending, or snappish. During his spiel about the rules of the game, Vika interrupts him as respectfully as possible to inquire about why one Enchanter must die at the end of the game, and Alexander acts as if she’s expressed the desire to hit him in the testicles repeatedly with a large stick. He can’t even muster the patience or sympathy to answer a valid question posed by a competitor - a teenager, mind you - in a fatal contest to be the tsar’s magical toady. When Vika arrives at the ball in her fabulous dress, the tsar snidely remarks that she should “take care not to become too enamored of the tsarevich” because “it will require more than a showy gown to be worthy.” Damn it, dude, she just told you that she fashioned her clothes herself. Would it kill you to just toss out some platitude or another? Honestly, I pity Tsarina Elizabeth - she deserves so much better than Alexander. Sergei’s role is just being Vika’s mentor/father figure and an eventual sacrifice; Sergei’s bitchy sister, Galina, is a fucking psychopath who forces Nikolai to kill animals that she put in his bedroom and doesn’t miss a chance to remind him of his “low birth”. And if you’re holding out for a decent villain, don’t bother: Despite being one of the more interesting characters, Aizhana is just a vengeful zombie who boasts a typhus-riddled black tongue (I kid you not), long fingernails, and a festering grudge. That’s pretty much it.

And just what the fuck is this sentence structure?! The writing is clunky, awkward, and the cause of many an eye-roll. For example: “Nikolai shook his head at the beauty of Bolshebnoie Duplo.” This is an actual sentence in a published book not written for fourth-graders. This is an actual sentence in a published book that is presumably not written by a fourth-grader. I have read and enjoyed books with similar writing flaws, but the other elements of the book compensated for them. Obviously, nothing in The Crown's Game does.

This clumsy delivery pervades the romance of the book too. In yet another nightmare sentence, Pasha gushes about this gorgeous girl (Vika), whom he spotted from a distance the other day:

“She has red hair, like the most hypnotizing part of a flickering flame, and her voice is both melodic and unflinching.”

Ew, gross, no, stop. You’re embarrassing yourself, Pasha. You heard her speak but three sentences from a distance and now you can describe her voice like that? Not only does this further paint Vika as a Mary Sue, but it also just makes Pasha look like a pompous ass. This sort of florid diction is typically reserved for Lord Byron’s poetry. And then, when Pasha hops back on the boat back to St. Petersburg, Skye writes, “He murmured, ‘Vika,’ to himself, more than once.” Oh. My. God. By this point, I can safely say that Pasha acts like Ron Weasley under the influence of Romilda Vane’s love potion. J.K. Rowling at least had the courtesy to cure Ron of his sorry state by within the chapter; Skye’s characters, on the other hand, continue this behavior throughout Crown’s Game. I can’t pick on just Pasha, not when Vika serves up internal monologues like this one:

“It was as if the attempts to kill her faded into the background, and now she saw the truth at the core of it all: Nikolai’s magic was gorgeous and powerful and... and... Her lungs faltered. Even the mere memory of his magic was so strong. And touching Nikolai, even through her gloves and his sleeve, was like being pummeled by a stampede of wild horses. No, wild unicorns. Beautiful, wild unicorns.”

He’s the other enchanter, and she’s just now figured out that he’s powerful? Also, does she want to fuck him or his magic? If you think Nikolai contributes nothing to this travesty of romance, you’re quite wrong:

“He had thought, during the mazurka, that they’d had something. Their touch had both frenzied and frozen the ballroom. Their breathing had synchronized, heatedly.”

I could find more examples but I really don’t want to, since I prefer not vomiting.

Skye spends so much time on saccharine pseudo-poetry that she skimps on meaningful interactions between characters, particularly those involved in the two pairings we the readers are supposed to choose between. One carriage ride and a ballroom dance with Vika, whom he’s only known for a couple of weeks, and he thinks he’s so in love with her that when he discovers Nikolai's identity as the second enchanter and that Nikolai is "in love" with Vika too, he feels betrayed enough to pit the two of them - his best friend and the girl he supposedly loves - against each other in a battle to the death. Nikolai and Vika's encounters consist of either one attempting to murder the other, often with a crowd of bystanders within view, or gazing longingly into each other's eyes. Although Vika does have a sweet mother-daughter scene with Ludmila, and Sergei and Galina seem to reach some kind of reconciliation before the former dies, character-to-character interactions are generally superficial and unanimated.

In the end, whether you subject yourself to the agony of reading this book is up to you. Personally, I think it might be less time-consuming to purchase a bottle of high fructose corn syrup from the grocery store, go home, and drink the entire fucker in one sitting. You'd get the same bland, over-sweet experience from whichever one you choose. As for me, I won't be reading another book of Evelyn Skye's. I've had enough literary corn syrup to last me a lifetime.

You can also read this review on my website: <https://thebookishhawk.home.blog/2019/02/25/the-crowns-game-book-review/>.

[healthserv]

Trump’s Brain: What’s Going On?

BY STEVEN FINDLAY

In late May the science and health news site STAT ran a provocative article titled: “Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?”

Not surprisingly, the piece went viral.   After all, aren’t most of us wondering whether something is up with the President’s—how shall I say it—state of mind, psychological status, character, personality, and yes, mental health?

For over a year, there’s been speculation about this. Most of the talk is loose and politically inflected. But substantive reflections by mental health professionals and serious commentators are on the rise.

At first, media outlets were very careful. They didn’t want to say the president was “lying” let alone possibly crazy.   Their caution was grounded mostly in journalistic ethics and policies. But that caution was also attributable to a thing called the “Goldwater Rule,” which warrants explaining because it infuses this whole issue.

Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for president in 1964, successfully sued a now-defunct magazine called FACT (for $50,000) after the magazine ran a pre-election special issue titled “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A Special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater.”

The two main articles in the magazine contended that Goldwater was mentally unfit to be president.   According to Wikipedia, the magazine “supported this claim with the results of a poll of board-certified psychiatrists. FACT had mailed questionnaires to 12,356 psychiatrists, receiving responses from 2,417, of whom 1,189 said Goldwater was mentally incapable of holding the office of president.”

The other 1,228 psychiatrists declined to render a judgment. Most of them cited a de facto rule among mental health professionals that speculating about the mental health status or diagnosis of people not in their own care—and especially public figures—was unethical and very unwise.

Though it took a few more years, the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 codified this practice by adding what is now called the Goldwater Rule to its ethics guidelines.

So, to be clear, the Goldwater Rule applies to mental health professionals, but because of the successful lawsuit came to apply to media as well. Idle chatter or speculation about the mental health of public figures was to be generally avoided.   And it was, for many years.

Fast forward to spring 2016. The presidential campaign is in full swing and Trump is saying and doing some very strange, unconventional things. In response, a small band of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, under the banner of an ad hoc group called “Duty to Warn,” decided to violate the Goldwater Rule.

In articles and blogs, the group claimed that Donald Trump displays “an assortment of personality problems, including grandiosity, a lack of empathy, and ‘malignant narcissism.’” Separately, the group’s leader, psychologist John Gartner, said Trump “has a dangerous mental illness.”

The media and social media, of course, picked up on this, and commentaries begin to appear. Most were online but some found their way into the mainstream media. Most notably, on March 7, 2016 The New York Times publishes an essay titled, “Should Therapists Analyze Presidential Candidates?” by Robert Klitzman, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.

Klitzman’s conclusion: mental health professionals and the media should stand firm on the Goldwater Rule and not speculate on the mental health of presidential candidates, including Trump. Four days later, on March 11, 2016, in letter to the Times, the president of the American Psychological Association agreed.

As Trump’s chances of electoral success seemed remote to everyone, the discussion subsided. Then, surprisingly, Trump wins the Republican nomination and the presidency.

And much of the nation is in shock.

The issue of whether Trump is mentally (clinically) afflicted in some way is no longer academic, or a fun pastime subject.   Millions of people – the vast majority of them Democrats, of course—think something is seriously wrong with the man. And they talk about it all the time. At home and around the proverbial water cooler, in bars, and on the web.

Indeed, Trump commentary and jokes quickly becomes a national pastime, as the president-elect and then president fails spectacularly to honor his pledge to “become really presidential, so presidential” or conform to behavioral norms. Much of the commentary and humor is tinged with the implicit or explicit talk of Trump’s mental stability. This become a meme, if you will.

As the months go by, idle chat becomes more formal and liberal op-ed columnists—especially those affiliated with the Times and The Washington Post—are less and less restrained in suggesting President Trump suffers from a clinical disorder.

The words narcissism and “instability” are invoked over and over. But there’s also reference to the president’s erratic behavior, aggression, malevolence, lying, paranoia, impulsiveness, inconsistency, poor judgment, and self-destructive behavior.  And, of course, there’s that painful-to-watch inability to form coherent thoughts when not scripted. (Yes, we are getting back to that and the STAT story in just a minute.)

But first, fast forward again to Feb. 13, 2017 when in response to a column in the Times by Charles Blow, Dr. Lance Dodes and 34 other psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers publish a letter in the Times. http://ift.tt/2l39zhR   It said:

“Silence from the country’s mental health organizations…. has resulted in a failure to lend our expertise to worried journalists and members of Congress at this critical time. We fear that too much is at stake to be silent any longer.   Mr. Trump’s speech and actions demonstrate an inability to tolerate views different from his own, leading to rage reactions. His words and behavior suggest a profound inability to empathize. Individuals with these traits distort reality to suit their psychological state, attacking facts and those who convey them (journalists, scientists).

In a powerful leader, these attacks are likely to increase, as his personal myth of greatness appears to be confirmed. We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.”

Following that, on April 5, 2017, Rolling Stone magazine (which has had its troubles lately) bucked the Goldwater Rule with an article by Alex Morris titled “Why Trump Is Not Mentally Fit to Be President” and the subtitle “Diagnosing the president was off-limits to experts – until a textbook case entered the White House.”

The article concludes that Trump fits all the criteria for “narcissistic personality disorder,” a formal diagnostic entity in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

In May, psychologist John Gartner, Duty to Warn’s founder, re-entered the fray with an op-ed in USA TODAY.   I guess you could say USA TODAY entered the fray, too.

Mincing no words, Gartner said Trump was “psychotic” and suffered from “malignant narcissism.”   He claimed that more than 53,000 people, including thousands of mental health professionals, had signed a petition stating Trump should be removed under the 25th Amendment because he is “too mentally ill to competently serve.” (Of note: Gartner is the author of In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography.)

One politician is also not mincing words about Trump. And he’s a doctor. Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist, at campaign events and in TV ads routinely calls Trump a “narcissistic maniac.”

“We want to be medically correct,” he recently quipped in a radio interview, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The STAT Analysis

Now, back to the STAT analysis of Trump’s speech patterns and communication style. Veteran science and medical journalist Sharon Begley and her colleagues gathered decades of Trump’s old unscripted on-air interviews and compared them to interviews and unscripted speeches and media Q&A sessions since his inauguration. They then asked experts in neuro-linguistics and cognitive scientists, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists, to carefully compare the clips and samples.

“The differences are striking and unmistakable,” Begley writes. The experts she tapped, from both political parties, agreed there was marked deterioration.

In interviews, even lengthy ones, from the 1980s and 1990s, Begley says Trump more often than not “spoke articulately, used sophisticated vocabulary, inserted dependent clauses into his sentences without losing his train of thought, and strung together sentences into a polished paragraph, which — and this is no mean feat — would have scanned just fine in print.”

By comparison, Trump’s speech in recent interviews is fragmented, even incoherent or disoriented at times, and uses much simpler words. In addition, he frequently repeats the same point, words or phrases and routinely strays into tangential points or unrelated topics.

Begley cites several examples, including this one from an interview with the Associated Press in April 2017:

“People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage. … The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.”

We have all noticed this. Some of us are bothered by it, others not so much. What Begley then brings to the table is a solid discussion of the possible causes of this particular Trump impairment, if indeed it is one. To her credit, she doesn’t speculate on whether this impairment is linked to Trump’s overall mental health, or other possible diagnoses.

Her experts—some clearly with the Goldwater Rule in mind—agreed that the changes in Trump’s speech patterns and language likely reflect cognitive decline. But they differed on the key point of whether that decline is due to “normal aging” or something more serious, even the beginnings of dementia or other neurodegenerative disease.   Some also noted that linguistic decline is commonly triggered by stress, anxiety, frustration, anger, or just plain fatigue and lack of sleep.

As I was writing this piece I happened upon a Q&A interview in TIME magazine with Sir Harold Evans (June 12, 2017 issue, page 60).   An esteemed editor and writer for decades, Evans has written a new book titled Do I Make Myself Clear.   http://ift.tt/1OrsBFx

The interview has this interesting exchange (edited slightly for length):

Q: Which presidents have been the least clear in their writing, and where does Donald Trump rank?

A: Donald Trump can actually be very clear. But the thought is zero, virtually.   The real problem with him not the clarity of language.

Q: You talk about the seduction of Trump’s “insistent certainty”….

A: Exactly, It’s very seductive…..Trump has an ability to be clear when he wants to be and is aware surely of the immortality of falsehoods. “We’re going to stop immigration” We’re going to have a wall.”

Evans is not the first to suggest that Trump’s simplistic rhetoric and repetitive speech is quite intentional.   That brings to mind H.L. Mencken’s quip: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

Summing up

The Goldwater Rule makes all kinds of sense—morally, ethically, and legally. But we are in uncharted waters with President Trump on so many levels. At the very least, the mental health community, ethicists, philosophers, media professionals, and legal scholars should engage in a wider discussion of the points raised by the Duty to Warn folks.

At the same time, a serious public debate seems warranted about (a) whether candidates for president should receive a more formal vetting as to their health, including mental health, and (b) whether an age cut-off should be imposed for the presidency.

Yes, I know, both those suggestions may appear shocking, even laughable. But we’ve had two presidents in the past 50 years—Nixon and now Trump—whose mental health (or character, forged in part by possibly unsound mental health, in the case of Nixon) has been called into serious question.

And we’ve had one president—Reagan—who was very likely cognitively impaired in his final years in office.

Research is clear on cognitive decline with age. We may be wiser at 70 or 75 but none of us are as sharp, mentally agile or energetic at that age as we are at 50 or 60. And, recent studies suggest, for a growing number of seniors that decline lies somewhere between the minor deterioration associated with “normal aging” and the more-serious decline of dementia.

Neurologists call this mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. Online sources define MCI as “problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.”

Of course, none of this means that seniors—with or without MCI—can’t be productive members of society, or continue working. Maybe just not as President of the United States.

Both areas—mental health status and age—together and apart, are tough and fraught subjects. I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to what public opinion polls would reveal on these subjects, or where a robust public debate would end up.

In fact, it’s quite feasible we’d end up with this tacit or default approach: there’ll always be a risk we’ll get mental and character-challenged bad apples as presidents (or members of Congress or governors) because there’s no way to prevent that in an open democracy like ours, and/or because we think such bad apples reflect society as much as good apples do.

For now, I’m just saying we ought to be having the discussion.

[Addendum: STAT also published a “reporter’s notebook piece by Sharon Begley on May 25 about how her piece on Trump came about.

  Trump’s Brain: What’s Going On? published first on http://ift.tt/2sUuvu3

[isaacscrawford]

Trump’s Brain: What’s Going On?

BY STEVEN FINDLAY

In late May the science and health news site STAT ran a provocative article titled: “Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?”

Not surprisingly, the piece went viral.   After all, aren’t most of us wondering whether something is up with the President’s—how shall I say it—state of mind, psychological status, character, personality, and yes, mental health?

For over a year, there’s been speculation about this. Most of the talk is loose and politically inflected. But substantive reflections by mental health professionals and serious commentators are on the rise.

At first, media outlets were very careful. They didn’t want to say the president was “lying” let alone possibly crazy.   Their caution was grounded mostly in journalistic ethics and policies. But that caution was also attributable to a thing called the “Goldwater Rule,” which warrants explaining because it infuses this whole issue.

Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for president in 1964, successfully sued a now-defunct magazine called FACT (for $50,000) after the magazine ran a pre-election special issue titled “The Unconscious of a Conservative: A Special Issue on the Mind of Barry Goldwater.”

The two main articles in the magazine contended that Goldwater was mentally unfit to be president.   According to Wikipedia, the magazine “supported this claim with the results of a poll of board-certified psychiatrists. FACT had mailed questionnaires to 12,356 psychiatrists, receiving responses from 2,417, of whom 1,189 said Goldwater was mentally incapable of holding the office of president.”

The other 1,228 psychiatrists declined to render a judgment. Most of them cited a de facto rule among mental health professionals that speculating about the mental health status or diagnosis of people not in their own care—and especially public figures—was unethical and very unwise.

Though it took a few more years, the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 codified this practice by adding what is now called the Goldwater Rule to its ethics guidelines.

So, to be clear, the Goldwater Rule applies to mental health professionals, but because of the successful lawsuit came to apply to media as well. Idle chatter or speculation about the mental health of public figures was to be generally avoided.   And it was, for many years.

Fast forward to spring 2016. The presidential campaign is in full swing and Trump is saying and doing some very strange, unconventional things. In response, a small band of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, under the banner of an ad hoc group called “Duty to Warn,” decided to violate the Goldwater Rule.

In articles and blogs, the group claimed that Donald Trump displays “an assortment of personality problems, including grandiosity, a lack of empathy, and ‘malignant narcissism.’” Separately, the group’s leader, psychologist John Gartner, said Trump “has a dangerous mental illness.”

The media and social media, of course, picked up on this, and commentaries begin to appear. Most were online but some found their way into the mainstream media. Most notably, on March 7, 2016 The New York Times publishes an essay titled, “Should Therapists Analyze Presidential Candidates?” by Robert Klitzman, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.

Klitzman’s conclusion: mental health professionals and the media should stand firm on the Goldwater Rule and not speculate on the mental health of presidential candidates, including Trump. Four days later, on March 11, 2016, in letter to the Times, the president of the American Psychological Association agreed.

As Trump’s chances of electoral success seemed remote to everyone, the discussion subsided. Then, surprisingly, Trump wins the Republican nomination and the presidency.

And much of the nation is in shock.

The issue of whether Trump is mentally (clinically) afflicted in some way is no longer academic, or a fun pastime subject.   Millions of people – the vast majority of them Democrats, of course—think something is seriously wrong with the man. And they talk about it all the time. At home and around the proverbial water cooler, in bars, and on the web.

Indeed, Trump commentary and jokes quickly becomes a national pastime, as the president-elect and then president fails spectacularly to honor his pledge to “become really presidential, so presidential” or conform to behavioral norms. Much of the commentary and humor is tinged with the implicit or explicit talk of Trump’s mental stability. This become a meme, if you will.

As the months go by, idle chat becomes more formal and liberal op-ed columnists—especially those affiliated with the Times and The Washington Post—are less and less restrained in suggesting President Trump suffers from a clinical disorder.

The words narcissism and “instability” are invoked over and over. But there’s also reference to the president’s erratic behavior, aggression, malevolence, lying, paranoia, impulsiveness, inconsistency, poor judgment, and self-destructive behavior.  And, of course, there’s that painful-to-watch inability to form coherent thoughts when not scripted. (Yes, we are getting back to that and the STAT story in just a minute.)

But first, fast forward again to Feb. 13, 2017 when in response to a column in the Times by Charles Blow, Dr. Lance Dodes and 34 other psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers publish a letter in the Times. http://www.lancedodes.com/new-york-times-letter   It said:

“Silence from the country’s mental health organizations…. has resulted in a failure to lend our expertise to worried journalists and members of Congress at this critical time. We fear that too much is at stake to be silent any longer.   Mr. Trump’s speech and actions demonstrate an inability to tolerate views different from his own, leading to rage reactions. His words and behavior suggest a profound inability to empathize. Individuals with these traits distort reality to suit their psychological state, attacking facts and those who convey them (journalists, scientists).

In a powerful leader, these attacks are likely to increase, as his personal myth of greatness appears to be confirmed. We believe that the grave emotional instability indicated by Mr. Trump’s speech and actions makes him incapable of serving safely as president.”

Following that, on April 5, 2017, Rolling Stone magazine (which has had its troubles lately) bucked the Goldwater Rule with an article by Alex Morris titled “Why Trump Is Not Mentally Fit to Be President” and the subtitle “Diagnosing the president was off-limits to experts – until a textbook case entered the White House.”

The article concludes that Trump fits all the criteria for “narcissistic personality disorder,” a formal diagnostic entity in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

In May, psychologist John Gartner, Duty to Warn’s founder, re-entered the fray with an op-ed in USA TODAY.   I guess you could say USA TODAY entered the fray, too.

Mincing no words, Gartner said Trump was “psychotic” and suffered from “malignant narcissism.”   He claimed that more than 53,000 people, including thousands of mental health professionals, had signed a petition stating Trump should be removed under the 25th Amendment because he is “too mentally ill to competently serve.” (Of note: Gartner is the author of In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography.)

One politician is also not mincing words about Trump. And he’s a doctor. Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam, a pediatric neurologist, at campaign events and in TV ads routinely calls Trump a “narcissistic maniac.”

“We want to be medically correct,” he recently quipped in a radio interview, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The STAT Analysis

Now, back to the STAT analysis of Trump’s speech patterns and communication style. Veteran science and medical journalist Sharon Begley and her colleagues gathered decades of Trump’s old unscripted on-air interviews and compared them to interviews and unscripted speeches and media Q&A sessions since his inauguration. They then asked experts in neuro-linguistics and cognitive scientists, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists, to carefully compare the clips and samples.

“The differences are striking and unmistakable,” Begley writes. The experts she tapped, from both political parties, agreed there was marked deterioration.

In interviews, even lengthy ones, from the 1980s and 1990s, Begley says Trump more often than not “spoke articulately, used sophisticated vocabulary, inserted dependent clauses into his sentences without losing his train of thought, and strung together sentences into a polished paragraph, which — and this is no mean feat — would have scanned just fine in print.”

By comparison, Trump’s speech in recent interviews is fragmented, even incoherent or disoriented at times, and uses much simpler words. In addition, he frequently repeats the same point, words or phrases and routinely strays into tangential points or unrelated topics.

Begley cites several examples, including this one from an interview with the Associated Press in April 2017:

“People want the border wall. My base definitely wants the border wall, my base really wants it — you’ve been to many of the rallies. OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall. My base, which is a big base; I think my base is 45 percent. You know, it’s funny. The Democrats, they have a big advantage in the Electoral College. Big, big, big advantage. … The Electoral College is very difficult for a Republican to win, and I will tell you, the people want to see it. They want to see the wall.”

We have all noticed this. Some of us are bothered by it, others not so much. What Begley then brings to the table is a solid discussion of the possible causes of this particular Trump impairment, if indeed it is one. To her credit, she doesn’t speculate on whether this impairment is linked to Trump’s overall mental health, or other possible diagnoses.

Her experts—some clearly with the Goldwater Rule in mind—agreed that the changes in Trump’s speech patterns and language likely reflect cognitive decline. But they differed on the key point of whether that decline is due to “normal aging” or something more serious, even the beginnings of dementia or other neurodegenerative disease.   Some also noted that linguistic decline is commonly triggered by stress, anxiety, frustration, anger, or just plain fatigue and lack of sleep.

As I was writing this piece I happened upon a Q&A interview in TIME magazine with Sir Harold Evans (June 12, 2017 issue, page 60).   An esteemed editor and writer for decades, Evans has written a new book titled Do I Make Myself Clear.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Evans

The interview has this interesting exchange (edited slightly for length):

Q: Which presidents have been the least clear in their writing, and where does Donald Trump rank?

A: Donald Trump can actually be very clear. But the thought is zero, virtually.   The real problem with him not the clarity of language.

Q: You talk about the seduction of Trump’s “insistent certainty”….

A: Exactly, It’s very seductive…..Trump has an ability to be clear when he wants to be and is aware surely of the immortality of falsehoods. “We’re going to stop immigration” We’re going to have a wall.”

Evans is not the first to suggest that Trump’s simplistic rhetoric and repetitive speech is quite intentional.   That brings to mind H.L. Mencken’s quip: “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”

Summing up

The Goldwater Rule makes all kinds of sense—morally, ethically, and legally. But we are in uncharted waters with President Trump on so many levels. At the very least, the mental health community, ethicists, philosophers, media professionals, and legal scholars should engage in a wider discussion of the points raised by the Duty to Warn folks.

At the same time, a serious public debate seems warranted about (a) whether candidates for president should receive a more formal vetting as to their health, including mental health, and (b) whether an age cut-off should be imposed for the presidency.

Yes, I know, both those suggestions may appear shocking, even laughable. But we’ve had two presidents in the past 50 years—Nixon and now Trump—whose mental health (or character, forged in part by possibly unsound mental health, in the case of Nixon) has been called into serious question.

And we’ve had one president—Reagan—who was very likely cognitively impaired in his final years in office.

Research is clear on cognitive decline with age. We may be wiser at 70 or 75 but none of us are as sharp, mentally agile or energetic at that age as we are at 50 or 60. And, recent studies suggest, for a growing number of seniors that decline lies somewhere between the minor deterioration associated with “normal aging” and the more-serious decline of dementia.

Neurologists call this mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. Online sources define MCI as “problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.”

Of course, none of this means that seniors—with or without MCI—can’t be productive members of society, or continue working. Maybe just not as President of the United States.

Both areas—mental health status and age—together and apart, are tough and fraught subjects. I wouldn’t even hazard a guess as to what public opinion polls would reveal on these subjects, or where a robust public debate would end up.

In fact, it’s quite feasible we’d end up with this tacit or default approach: there’ll always be a risk we’ll get mental and character-challenged bad apples as presidents (or members of Congress or governors) because there’s no way to prevent that in an open democracy like ours, and/or because we think such bad apples reflect society as much as good apples do.

For now, I’m just saying we ought to be having the discussion.

[Addendum: STAT also published a “reporter’s notebook piece by Sharon Begley on May 25 about how her piece on Trump came about.

  Article source:The Health Care Blog