#I need Greg and Tom to get in a serious fight and Greg to say ‘Okay. Hit me’

[shotbyafool]

sorry I realize it should be appropriately ironic but I think I’m turning into a Tomgreg truther. the missing ring the hotel the whole thing. I believe it

[ezlebe]

If your still up for it I'd love to see more of your take on shiv confronting greg and/or tom their relationship. And greg standing up for tom in his own greg way

It’s a pretty nice morning for Reno – or Greg thinks, anyway, since this is his first visit. He’s trying to make the most of it after a late start, a few… hours lost to a problem that turned out to be a broken email chain. He’s okay now to treat this like a vacation though, ordering a drink that looks interesting and preparing to lounge at the edge of the pool, until he can – Wait, is that –?

Yes. Shit.

He tries to look anywhere else, turning to the bartender, who’s muddling ice and peeks up at him in response with a brief frown. Their eyes abruptly sweep sideways to Greg’s shoulder, then drop just as hastily, as if scolded and made to feel awkward.

Fuck.

“Hey there, Igor. Where’s Tom?” Shiv asks, voice pitching with barely-veiled mockery. Her eyes narrow up at Greg behind coffee-colored lenses when he turns to look, smirk fixed and almost bored across her mouth. “I need to touch base with him.”

Greg shrugs weakly, making a point to pretend to look at his phone. He sort of knows where Tom is, in some quote unquote CIA-NSA-alphabet agency-level-shit planning session with other C-levels from GoJo that they’re both pretending Greg isn’t already aware is for planning of a gaming commission lobby campaign, due to the gossip vine and some overheard whispers in the lobby. It’s not worth anything to give to Shiv.

He doesn’t really know why she’s at this conference, considering she dropped her figurehead Waystar title and went back to DC; he, at least, has the excuse of nebulously assisting with goings-on. He’s holding some version of a bag.

Shiv shoves her sunglasses up, seemingly just to glare with more panache. “He’s still my husband, Greg.”

“I know?” Greg says, playing dumb but honestly a bit bemused by the reminder, and blindly grabs his drink after he hears it thunk on the bar. He also knows that she knows Tom will only be that for another nine days, anyway, as that is a fairly prominent clock ticking down at the back of his own mind. It’s Saturday now, and Tom signs Monday after next, so really, in a way, it’s basically just a week.

Shiv follows Greg when he tries to escape to the side of the pool. “You ‘know’? Anyone might think you forgot with how you're stonewalling me, not to mention you two to out here locking your talons blatantly among real people. It’s tasteless.”

Greg furrows his brow, staring now across the aquamarine water of the horseshoe pool. He’s pretty sure… that’s not a euphemism for fighting, and he wonders if Tom is even aware of Shiv’s evident drawn conclusions. “Nothing is like going on in – uh, in that direction.” He peers down his nose at her, feeling a bit catty by declining to bend in any way to her level. “He’s like pretty serious about those sorts of boundaries.”

“Boundaries,” Shiv repeats, a sneer briefly building across her mouth. She lifts her nose, as it disappears, affecting some aire of droll displeasure. “Are you trying to  –? You can’t embarrass me by reminding me Tom’s a prude.”

“I’m not,” Greg says, evenly, tilting his head with a minor lift of his shoulder. “It’s like a normal thing people do – like Uncle Logan, right? And Kerri? It’s just not Tom’s deal.”

Shiv slowly widens her eyes, jaw visibly tightening until muscle jumps in her cheek. “I do not fucking get it,” she says, rising to the bait with a pitching, defensive tone. “What is it about you that even got you at this fucking table, Cousin Greg? It can’t just be one guy wants to fuck you.”

Greg manages not to twitch so much, but he does wet his lips, glancing briefly up against the hotel windows toward the conference room. “You know your, um… issue?” He asks, blinking as he looks back down. “You’re like way too unsubtle.”

Shiv tilts her head back with a twist at the corner of her mouth. “Unsubtle?”

“I mean, I get wanting to be out front in a – a control freak way?” Greg says, taking a sip of his drink, then blinking hard with a weak cough when he realizes it has way more gin than he anticipated for roughly 11AM. “You and Tom are both like that, and like maybe it worked before you guys ever started making moves? But… thinking you’re there first doesn’t exactly mean you are, right?”

Shiv narrows her eyes, then rolls them hard in a vague answer.

“So that sort of leaves a road untaken for, you know, a little guy,” Greg says, shrugging again while tilting with his glass in a vague slither, “To, uh. To… slip in to actual first and figure it out.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

“Like, I can’t give Tom – anyone, like… power, really, but I can get him what he needs to like get it himself, so he feels like smart, you know, and then he brings me along, so we both…” Greg puts his glass down, then gestures up, then puts the freed hand up above it, in a vaguely stacking manner. “Move up. And if anything bad happens he takes it. He’s like a tank, you know, like in, uh – in EverQuest. And I’m… buffing him.”

Shiv glances between Greg’s hands and his face, twice over, expression building more with snide bewilderment than any frustration.

“Plus, you know,” Greg says, dropping his hands and recovering his drink with a pluck of crushed ice from the glass. “He doesn’t mind. A lot.”

Shiv sighs harsh and short through her nose. “What?”

“Being like… you know,” Greg gestures, vaguely, doing another slither gesture, bobbing his head a little with it. “As long as it’s just business. He thinks it’s a fun game, if you will.”

Shiv stares condescendingly for another pair of beats, then she abruptly glances at the hotel, then back to Greg again, exhaling a markedly disbelieving scoff. “Wait,” she says, wetting her lower lip which lifting a pair of fingers to sweep hair from her forehead. “Are you implying there you’ve already fucked Tom like you’ve fucked Kendall, and he didn’t even care?”

Greg rolls his head back and forth, as he nibbles at a mint sprig.

Shiv coughs out a harsh laugh. “And here I thought I had him whipped.”

“To that, uh, effect,” Greg says, all at once deciding it’s not worth pretending otherwise, anymore, not if Shiv isn’t going to politely follow suit. “…Thank you, I guess.”

“Thank you?” Shiv repeats, flatly, narrowing her eyes with a jerk upward of her chin.

“Yeah, like…” Greg pointedly glances Shiv up and down with a puff of air thinly through his lips. “You could like give him everything he could ever want, you know, but he still like could do better.”

Shiv looks briefly startled before she tilts her head while a wry, mocking sort of smirk slips across her face. “Are you trying to bully me, Cousin Greg?”

Greg blinks back widely while he takes a slow, carefully shallow sip from his glass. “I don’t believe… it’s outside the realm of possibility that you like started it?”

Shiv scoffs with an eye roll out over the pool, sweeping her hair over her shoulder. “What the fuck are you failing to drink, there, anyway?”

“A mint julep with gin,” Greg says, scraping off another piece of ice with his teeth, then crunching into it; it’s not really melting quick enough, despite the desert. “A… uh, a juniper julep, one could say.”

Shiv leans back on her heels, turning her head back seemingly just to stare for a few long beats. “I don’t care what you tell yourself, Greg, the only thing you ‘better’ me on is height.”

~

“Care to explain yourself, Prince Greg?” Tom says, cutting off the sunlight with a weirdly jaunty attempt at accusation. He shoves a phone in Greg’s face with a few affected clicks of his tongue. “Clear up why I’m getting pictures of you chatting up co-eds mid-meeting?”

Greg glances up to squint at the phone, seeing a picture of himself on this very lounger on Tom’s screen, and talking to a lady in a bikini who’d actually been asking where he got a towel. He clicks half a second later on the sender, then blinks twice. “Shiv?”

“Right?” Tom says, looking briefly down at the picture himself with a barking laugh. “I think she’s just trying to fuck with you like you’re Roman, or something, considering this – ” He scrolls down, revealing a text: total slut. “When did she start thinking of you as a person?”

“Uh…” Greg glances up and down from the phone screen. “We may have exchanged… some barbed raillery?”

“Raillery, huh?” Tom repeats, flatly amused, a brow raising high against his forehead. He drops it in the next instant, then lifts his chin to indicate for something else. “You find out anything fun?”

“Like, Shiv-wise or – ?”

Tom answers with a wide eye roll leading into a scoff. “No, buddy, you’re here for work, not playing with your cousins.”

“…Maybe? It’s um, sort of Shiv-based, because I wondered why she was here? Like, looking for you? So I… overheard there’s this guy Coonin, I guess, who is looking to run on like hardening vice laws and building it up as a family values thing, and maybe it’s going to like include a smear-campaign on Lukas’ like whole recent thing with online gaming?” Greg says, keeping his voice low, but he glances pointedly toward a trio of other pasty office-types at a table of way too many colorful drinks. “And Shiv is working on the… opposition, I assume?”

“Oh,” Tom tuts, eyes narrowing with understanding, then he drops his head in a nod. “Huh.”

“But this –” Greg wets his lips. “But... like, ATN is big enough that, you know, you can sort of bring him on and call him a hack, I think?”

Tom purses and unpurses his lips in agreement. “Sure could. Have the hack himself tank part of his voter base.”

“And it’s sort of like working with Shiv, but.” Greg bobs his head back and forth, tapping his fingers against the edge of his empty glass. “You know.”

“I know,” Tom echoes, then smirks, a familiar and toothy sort of approval. “Straddling, huh? You are a total slut.”

Greg sighs through his nose, dropping his head against the back of the lounger. He peeks down at Tom’s hand on the armrest, then lifts his own, curling his fingers between Tom’s carelessly splayed ones while hoping the heat in his face just looks like sunburn.

“What’s going on here?” Tom asks, slowly, his tone briefly losing humor to careful curiosity.

Greg glances back up, catching Tom’s eyes with a hesitant clear of his throat. “She like also said we were locking talons. You an-and I.”

Tom is quiet for a moment, then scoffs out a weak laugh, and he doesn’t even like look around before he turns his hand over to squeeze back. “You just think you’re so cute, don’t you.”

“Not really?” Greg says, as he sweeps his eyes back across the pool.

Tom hums a low, winding note, bending over the lounger and setting his mouth softly against Greg’s ear. “I know you hope she’s watching, Gregory.”

Greg shrugs smally into the attention, dragging his teeth against his lower lip and biting down to hide a smirk. It’s not the whole reason, no, but he doesn’t not.

[raskolni-kin]

i have a lot of thoughts while watching the nero-sporus scene but i didnt take note so here we go, some idea i can still remember lol

first, they’re wearing the exact same striped dress shirt

the way tom telling the story after talking to greg about *greg getting a magical castle*, it’s like he wanted to remind greg that he is still the emperor nero and greg is still his slave boi

also the fact that he (and the writers) chose the story that nero killed his wife instead of another version (his wife died from childbirth and nero used sporus to cope), i feel like they really wants to show that tom is this 👌 close to gone girl shiv right now. he looked so tired, so *i want a divorce* lol (i was even surprised to see him wearing wedding band this ep tbh)

“I’d castrate you and marry you in a heartbeat” ,,,do i even need to explain😭 it’s like tom saying he’d rather be with greg than anyone else in this situation (whether bc he thinks he can still control greg or whatever, *it’s complicated). it’s the closest thing we ever have to tom’s love confession and coming out.

then greg responded with a silly rabbit smile, thinking it was a flirtatious joke as always before he slowly realized that ‘no this is not a joke. tom is dead serious,,, shit’. he felt it. he felt something’s cooking and he was WAITING FOR IT. he even ASKED TOM FOR IT.

but then tom immediately turned to wrestling (very intricate ritual) imo it’s like his first instinct after saying something that is NOT STRAIGHT AT ALL is to conceal it with toxic masculinity, violence, anger. it reminds me of water bottle scene last season,,, internalized homophobia.

this made the next part even more heartbreaking

greg: i don’t wanna do it.

tom: *after mocking him* NEITHER DO I, GREG.

tom also doesn’t want to do it, but do what? bc there’s so many things he didn’t wanna do right now. i feel like this sentence was more of a general statement to everything he’d told before.

he doesn’t wanna go to jail.

he doesn’t wanna castrate and marry greg (= he doesn’t want his homosexuality, more equal power dynamic… not really but i hope u get the point lol)

BUT he also doesn’t wanna start this wrestling fight (= he doesn’t want to conceal his homosexuality, have power, dominance, anger)

and yet he still ended this exchange with more angry talk of business and executive blah blah blab. there’s A LOT to unpack here. tom is having a BIG big gay crisis.

im so normal and not losing my mind at all

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 24: Fragments (originally published on August 23, 2021)

AN: The end of the Alternate Future begins here! Or this story at least, I've got a few follow-ups planned after finishing this one, one of which I might set up here. But regardless, here we are at the end of Part 3 and from here on out, things will go downhill for our heroes & uphill for our villains. Can Steven be saved from both himself and Black Rutile? Who knows? Except for me that is, and a very select few as well. But I've had enough keeping you in suspense, let's get straight to the action.

Synopsis: Steven's condition gets worse and he seeks help from Jasper.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion

Ron Perlman as ?

--

"Hear me my followers and rejoice!" Black Rutile declared, with Aquamarine perched on her shoulder, as she recorded herself making a grand speech to her remaining minions in her cave lair. "Our day of revengeance is at hand! No more shall that sanctimonious half-breed tyrant enforce his iron-fisted rule over our people! Because despite claiming to be a pure-hearted child, recent intel has confirmed he is far from it."

As an example, Black Rutile played the footage of Steven crashing his father's van that her satellite had gathered. "Look at this absolutely abhorrent act." She stated. "What kind of child would ever dare murder their father without any rhyme or reason?"

"Actually, there have been a few throughout this planet's history that have done just that." White Topaz leaned into view to point out.

"SHUT IT TOPAZ!" Black Rutile angrily commanded before turning back to her viewers. "Anyways, soon he will be exposed as the monster he truly is, and with the army we have regrown from the colonies some of my subordinates have retaken, we shall lay siege to the tyrannical Crystal Gems and strike them at our weakest!"

"You sure about that my Rutile?" Black Rutile's Topaz bodyguard leaned back in, much to her master's anger. "'Cause I've gotten word from Cinnabar's faction that some of your former Black Pearls have formed, like, a little squadron to fight back against her."

"Can you not ruin my speech, you ignoramus?!" Black Rutile shoved her Topaz away. Just as she was about to make a grand conclusion to her speech, Black Rutile quickly declared "End transmission." and shut off the recording. "Now look what you did, I was making a motivational speech to my allies, but you had to keep getting in the way just like you always do!"

"Always?" White Topaz replied while making shadow puppets against the cave wall. "Look, I may spoil your plans some of the time, but your ego is just as much to blame the rest of the time."

"That is indeed true Topaz, but now I must ask," Black Rutile said. "what is with this attitude? Where's the overly polite idiot that always followed my orders without question, no matter how horrible they are?"

"I'm betting she's already having second thoughts about your plans." Aquamarine advised her superior.

"You mind if I," Eyeball suggested before making a slashing noise with her mouth and pulling her chisel from her gem. "put her to rest?"

"I'm being serious you guys!" White Topaz said. "The three of you may think you're Gems of the people, but I don't think Gems like those would ever hyperfocus on ruining the life of one person instead of just focusing on something healthier!"

"Like what, forcing ourselves to join those ingrates and deprive ourselves of our way of life in favor of becoming part of a hive-mind?" Black Rutile asked, menacingly pulling out her bowie knife to threaten her Topaz with. "I have been plotting against the Crystal Gems ever since Steven brainwashed the Diamonds, and I refuse to abandon those plans just because you don't like them! Now, are you going to be a good little bodyguard, or do you want to ditch your best friend in favor of the hypocrite?"

Although White Topaz showed tons of reluctance, she nervously got down on one knee and bowed her head to her three teammates. "No, my Rutile. I am at your beck and call, whenever you need me."

"Very good my Topaz." Black Rutile put away her knife to pat White Topaz on the head with an evil smile, before turning away to tap at her visor. "Now if we have nothing else to discuss, it seems the seeds of doubt I have planted in Steven's mind that fateful night have finally begun to grow." She stated before her visor created a holographic chessboard with pieces resembling herself & her minions on one side, and the Crystal Gems & the Diamonds on the other. "Now all we need is just one last push." On that last word, Black Rutile then spawned a chess piece resembling Jasper that she put squarely in the middle of the board.

--

Far from Black Rutile's lair in the woods, Steven and Greg had finally returned home to Beach City after a father-son outing that turned rather disastrous. Fortunately, the Crystal Gems were already home to be told of what happened and as Steven gazed out over the deck, Bismuth asked Greg what happened.

"So Steven just flew off the handle because of a song?" Bismuth asked while helping Greg put his van back together. "Frankly, I could think of weirder reasons to get angry."

"No, it wasn't because of the song." Greg admitted to the blacksmith. "It was because we drove off to my childhood home in Keystone and he learned that my upbringing wasn't too different from his mom's."

"I don't think you ever told anyone about when you were a kid." Bismuth replied.

"Not that I wanted to until now." Greg stated. "But after that crash, I don't think I ever want to bring them up again. Steven started ranting about how he wished the Gems never found Earth and he had a normal human life like I had."

"Whoa whoa whoa, where did all this come from?!" Bismuth yelled in alarm, raising her hands towards the former rock star.

"That's what I said!" Greg exclaimed before turning to his despondent son. "And now that I think about it, maybe he had good reason for those wishes after all he's been through."

Steven looked down in utter shame and regret before he walked back inside the beach house, clearly avoiding a chance to speak with his father about the incident.

--

As soon as Steven got inside, the other Crystal Gems were there to greet him, but the looks on their faces told Steven things weren't going to be good.

"Sit down on the couch Steven, we need to talk." Pearl commanded the son of her deceased lover, who did as he was told before Pearl began pacing around. "I just can't believe you, Steven! Crashing the van with Greg inside?! You know how fragile humans are, young man! These pink outbursts need to be dealt with!"

"It's not an outburst!" Steven yelled, briefly inflating himself as he turned pink.

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" Pearl exclaimed before Steven got back up and started walking away. "What is happening to you?!"

"It's nothing, just puberty, honest!" Steven cried as he struggled to keep his pink form at bay.

"Whoa no little dude, I've seen enough sitcoms to know that is not what puberty is like!" Amethyst declared. "Right, Garnet?"

"I can confirm, this is not regular puberty." Garnet nodded before Steven put up a literal wall between him and his guardians.

"Steven, drop the wall this instant!" Pearl ordered as she pressed against the pink, hexagonal dome.

"I'm sorry Pearl!" Steven gasped in apology before the wall disappeared. "I just need some space, okay? I'll be in my room." But as Steven walked upstairs, Amethyst rushed to keep him from going any further.

"Not so fast, my dude!" Amethyst declared. "You gotta tell us what's going on!"

"It seems like Steven wants to avoid a serious discussion altogether." Garnet analyzed.

"No, I'M NOT!" Steven yelled, dropping to his knees and pounding his fist on the stairs, creating a shockwave that shook the entire room.

"Steven, either you talk to us about what's going on, or you're grounded until you're able to explain." Garnet firmly declared.

"She's right man, you gotta chill!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"We need to do something about this before anyone else gets hurt!" Pearl stated as Steven continued struggling where he stood.

"Don't let these strange powers control you." Garnet tried desperately to calm the half-Gem down. "You're better than this."

"LEAVE ME ALOOONE!" Steven finally roared, causing a pink shockwave to burst from his body and seemingly force the Gems to move in slow motion. Or rather, he was moving faster than everyone else. "I'm speeding up again!" he muttered while gazing at his equally pink hands. "I gotta get out of here!"

Steven ran out of the house and far away from the Crystal Gems. There was barely anywhere he could go right now. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl kept enabling these strange new powers, yet Peridot, Lapis, and Bismuth probably barely knew what to do about things. Thus, there was only one Gem left he knew could help him in his time of need.

--

"The Gems tried to help me, but they just kept making things worse." Steven explained to Jasper later that night while the two sat around a campfire in front of her cave. "And that's why I refuse to go back."

"So what you're saying is," Jasper answered before dramatically removing the cloak she was wearing. "you want a rematch?!"

"What?! No!" Steven exclaimed. "I just told you why I came here in the first place. I think my Diamond powers are coming out, and I have no idea how to control them. I just want to be alone so I can't hurt anyone or be super toxic and controlling."

"So, you finally admitted it, eh?" Jasper rolled her eyes as she got up and walked away. "If you want to be alone, your definition of it is horribly wrong!"

"But Jasper, this is the last place anyone would look for me!" Steven explained before running after Jasper. "Wait, don't leave me here!" he begged the bigger Gem. "This thing with my powers is the real problem."

"The only problem you have is your friends." Jasper declared, much to Steven's confusion. "Just like how you keep holding everyone back, they're doing the same to you!"

"Are you sure?" Steven asked. "I definitely believe I'm getting them all worried."

"That's because they're afraid of you." Jasper responded. "And not just of your powers, but your control over others. And you are too! You came out here to hide, but I'm not one to hide myself. I don't need to hide my power or try to stifle it, I let everything out by training!"

"Like this forest?" Steven wondered, looking around the patch of destroyed trees he and Jasper have stumbled upon.

"Exactly." Jasper answered, walking up to a tree and making it fall over with a single punch. "And to control that power, I have to use it. Those so-called friends of yours don't understand because they always want to make you feel bad for being yourself!"

"Yeah, I do feel bad." Steven muttered to himself, gazing at his fist before walking over to punch another tree, turning pink as he landed a blow that created massive cracks on the bark and wounded his hand.

"Yeah, crush that weakling tree!" Jasper cheered Steven on.

"No!" Steven exclaimed before kissing the tree to fix the damage he did.

"Are you kidding me?! That's disgusting!" Jasper gagged at the sight when she looked down to discover that Steven's kiss caused some grass to grow around them. "No, the grass!" she yelled and rapidly pulled out the grass beneath her. "Get out of here!" Jasper then angrily turned to Steven and picked him up by the collar of his jacket. "Quit helping this planet's ecosystem and show me! Show me your power!"

Jasper harshly threw Steven to the ground, causing him to groan in pain. "No way Jasper!" Steven coughed as he got up from the toss. "I can handle myself!"

"Shut up!" Jasper yelled and lunged at Steven, who turned pink on reflex and created a barrier to defend himself from the Quartz's ruthless attack, but it proved ineffective as Jasper punched straight through it, causing Steven to fall to the ground. "This is it; this is all you were worried about?! What a rip-off!"

As Steven helped himself off the dirt, Jasper just kept on yelling. "I am way stronger than everyone you hold back and are holding you back in return!" she bellowed while pointing at Steven. "Because I'm not afraid of this, and you shouldn't be either!"

In response, Steven turned pink again and created another shield to launch at his opponent. "Yeah, that's more like it!" Jasper declared eagerly and prepared to defend herself, smashing the shield with just her arm. "Now tell me, was it good to let your anger out that way?"

"Y-yeah." Steven realized how good it felt to vent his rage on someone who could be a match for him, allowing Jasper to let out a loud laugh. "If I stay here, will you teach me how to control all this?"

"I won't teach you until you fight me!" Jasper refused the offer.

"Well, I won't fight you unless you teach me!" Steven replied.

"Ugh, fine!" Jasper groaned in resignation.

"Really?!" Steven smiled as he returned to his normal color.

"Here's lesson number one," Jasper responded. "No smiling."

"But I've seen you smile." Steven pointed out the goofy smile Jasper wore when he agreed to fight her not too long ago.

"Lesson two, shut up!" Jasper yelled before she kicked Steven into the air, and the boy landed far from where she could see him with a thud.

"Guess my training starts now." Steven declared to himself before he heard footsteps behind him and turned around to find who was behind him. "YOU!"

"Training with Jasper, Steven?" Black Rutile snickered disdainfully. "Wow kid, you're not just one Spinel, you're an entire circus of them!"

"What do you want with me now Black Rutile?" Steven asked his new archenemy as Black Rutile's three minions appeared behind her.

"We just came here to talk." Aquamarine answered. "As much as we would love to kidnap you and hold you for ransom, or maybe even kill you right here and now, we think hanging with a brute like her is much more fitting."

"Besides, we all know you'll just drive her away like you did to everyone else." Eyeball laughed. "Or maybe even something worse!"

"Look, what we're trying to say is that you should just give up now and get the help you really need." White Topaz cautioned Steven, unaware of how angry she made her teammates. "We only want what's best for you, so you won't get in the way of my Rutile's plan!"

"Are you seriously trying to help our enemy here?" Black Rutile growled with eyelids lowered at White Topaz. "I thought you were at my beck and call whenever I needed you!"

"If you're trying to ruin my life again, it won't work." Steven firmly declared as he got up to face the four insurgent Gems. "I know what you really are, Black Rutile. You're no hero to Homeworld, you're just a callous bully who will do anything to get her way."

"GROW UP STEVEN, GROW UP!" Black Rutile abruptly yelled at Steven's face. "Sociopath, hypocrite! Refusing to save a dying pet because of the natural order when he refuses to accept everyone is leaving him! Who's the real villain between us two, my boy, hm?"

"Still you." Steven remained resolute against the Rutile.

"You can't even begin to comprehend my current plans." Black Rutile replied just as resolutely. "Soon, everyone on this accursed rock will see you for the monster you truly are."

"Hey, where are you?!" Jasper bellowed from afar, and Black Rutile saw this as her cue to leave.

"Wouldn't want to keep a certain someone waiting." Black Rutile smirked. "But at least the three of us agree the Crystal Gems are the real problem."

"Aw, but I wanna turn Jasper against Steven too!" Eyeball complained. "Plus it would be an honor to see her in person again. The real deal, not an Amethyst shapeshifting into her."

"Oh, shut up, and let's get out of here." Aquamarine slapped her Ruby partner and dragged her away by the hand.

"Hey, no hard feelings kid?" White Topaz asked Steven, causing Black Rutile to slap her mouth shut.

"We'll see each other again Steven." Black Rutile declared. "But until then, I'll be watching you, just like I've always had since our last fight."

As the four rogue Gems left, Steven was left alone with his thoughts once more. And with those thoughts, a certain voice in his head re-emerged. "You know, she does raise a few good points."

"You again!" Steven said to the voice. "What do you want now? Are you another Gem working for Black Rutile?!"

"Well, kind of." The voice answered. "I'm not directly working for her, but it's thanks to her that I'm even speaking to you now. Remember that night while the Gems were out in Los Diego? She helped me grow."

"I thought so." Steven muttered in a moment of clarity. "But please, just leave me alone!"

"Maybe I'll just sit back and watch while you worry your so-called friends sick." The voice laughed deeply. "Don't you worry, we'll be seeing each other again very soon."

With that foreboding goodbye, the voice once again vanished from Steven's thoughts. Was it true, was that voice even haunting Steven because of what Black Rutile said to him? Or could it perhaps be even older than that?

"Are you dead or something?!" Jasper yelled for Steven. "Come back over here if you aren't, we got training to do tomorrow!"

"I'm coming!" Steven cried and raced back to Jasper's cave. As soon as he got there, Jasper threw her cloak at his face. "What was that for?"

"Think you might need this." Jasper stated while peering out from her cave. "Humans need to sleep, right?"

"Aw, you really do care for me." Steven blushed at the seemingly kind gesture, but Jasper just scoffed and retreated into the darkness of her home. Steven then just shrugged and laid down on the ground with the cloak covering him like a blanket, gazing up at the stars and wondering how the Crystal Gems must be doing.

--

The next morning, the Crystal Gems were now searching across Beach City for the missing Steven. Pearl had placed posters all over town while Greg helped Lion and Amethyst sniff around for him, but so far they found nothing that would help them.

"Whoa, easy Amethyst!" Greg yelled as he tugged on the leash of a purple-furred Dalmatian with an amethyst gemstone on her chest, which then turned into an exhausted Amethyst.

"We're getting nowhere with this!" Amethyst complained. "I mean, I learned how he could slow down time through Smoky Quartz, and even I don't have a clue!"

"I hope we find him soon, I'm getting worried." Pearl whimpered before she found Garnet walking up to them. "Anything from Little Homeworld, Garnet?"

"Nothing, Peridot and Lapis told me they didn't see Steven recently." Garnet answered. "However, Zuli said she did see a pink blur zoom past yesterday."

"That's the same one I saw with Bismuth while we were fixing the van!" Greg declared. "Could that be Steven?"

"It probably is." Pearl said before she began to break down into tears and hug Greg tightly. "I miss my baby!"

"We all do Pearl." Greg sniffed and returned the hug, followed by Garnet, Amethyst, and Lion joining in to comfort the Pearl. "We all do."

However, little did the Gems know, Steven was perfectly fine. But not the kind of fine they want him to be.

--

Far off in the woods, Steven had fallen fast asleep underneath the blanket Jasper had lent him. But his rest wouldn't last long as Jasper emerged from her cave and smashed a wall, shocking him awake.

"Rise and shine, your training begins today!" Jasper barked as she walked up to the half-Gem boy and picked him up by the neck. "Now tell me, what are you here for again?"

"Uh, to get a better control of my powers?" Steven answered.

"Not enough energy." Jasper shook her head in disdain. "Why don't we start with the only way you can talk to people?" she suggested and then cleared her throat. "So you're here because of your mother, kid? Well, whoop-de-doo!" the big Quartz began singing while circling Steven. "You still haven't realized more have suffered than just you! If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip. I got three little words for you: get a grip!"

"Shouldn't that apply to you too?" Steven asked his new mentor.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jasper growled while walking towards some boulders and picked one up.

"I mean, you're stuck here because of me." Steven continued, much to Jasper's anger. "Not to mention closets full of-"

"Do you want my help or not?!" Jasper roared.

"Yes ma'am!" Steven nervously complied before Jasper threw him a boulder.

"That's better." Jasper grinned smugly as she hoisted up more boulders on her back and walked away. "Follow me."

--

"You've been through a lot brat, but let me say something about that." Jasper began singing again as Steven followed her up the mountain with boulders in hand. "As a veteran, I've seen far messier, you should've seen the Clash at the Theater."

"I don't think I've heard of that before." Steven stated while setting the boulders down nearby.

"Doesn't matter, just giving an example." Jasper replied as she dropped her boulders too. "Now come on, throw me some shields!" Steven nodded before he turned pink and summoned multiple barriers to unleash on Jasper, who managed to break through all of them. "The fusion's all high and mighty. Amethyst can be pretty flighty. And the Pearl, wow, she's nuts, you see! They all got experience, but none like mine!"

--

"Maybe when you're done, you'll be feeling just fine." The next day, Steven continued training via splitting logs in half on a stump, while Jasper demonstrated her superior strength by knocking down a tree with just a push. In the meantime, Black Rutile whispered something into Jasper's ear without her knowing the Rutile was even there.

--

"If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip." As night began to fall, Jasper challenged Steven to a race, her spin-dash against his pink form's speed. "I got three little words for you: get a grip! Ya hear me!"

"Yeah, those three little words are 'Get a Grip!'" Steven joined in on the song as he began catching up to Jasper.

"Now we're talking!" Jasper cheered triumphantly.

--

"No time for healing!" As the training went on to the day after that, Steven had grown slightly taller and more muscular, and even began growing a beard as he threw another barrier at Jasper. "Who needs feeling?!"

--

"You're still reeling?" Steven caught a fish in the river with a more polygonal bubble that he cooked up to eat, while Black Rutile loomed behind him with another lie to tell him. "Well, my tips are quite appealing! Let's say it again!"

--

"If you wanna get tougher kid, here's a tip." Steven and Jasper harmonized while clashing fists in a forest clearing. "I got three little words for you: get a grip!"

"Yes, for everything to go as planned, get a grip." Black Rutile muttered while watching the two train with an evil smile, eager to see how far Steven has come and how far he'll fall.

--

The next day, thunder began rumbling far from Steven, who knelt in front of a campfire with a more muscular body that made him as tall as Jasper and a wildly different hairstyle.

"I found more rocks!" Jasper called out to her student while tossing over some more rocks for him to train with. "You won't believe how hard it is to find a good rock around here, especially since we broke most of them."

"I'm done with rocks Jasper." Steven declared while getting up to face Jasper. "I'm finally ready. For our rematch." He then put out the fire behind him with one stomp, showing the other Gem how serious he was.

"Took you long enough!" Jasper cackled as she cracked her knuckles and prepared for her long-awaited round 2. "Then come on, show me what you got!"

Steven responded by creating another hexagonal shield to launch at Jasper. However, Jasper jumped over the shield and attempted to punch Steven, but suddenly, she got punched instead. As Steven let out a gasp, Jasper summoned her horned crash helmet and slammed it into Steven's head, sending him tumbling backwards into the ground.

"What are you holding back for Steven?!" Jasper yelled while the resulting smoke began to clear. "You think you can't take it, that I'm just going to coddle you the whole way through, just like the Gems?! You still want to go back to them?"

"No!" Steven coughed from the smoke.

"You still afraid to be strong?!" Jasper continued taunting her foe. "Are you dull?! ARE YOU PITIFUL?!"

"I AM NOT!" Steven bellowed out loud, causing a shockwave that knocked Jasper back, and nearly shook a certain Rutile from a tree she was hiding in as he lunged at Jasper with fury in his eyes.

"Is that all?!" Jasper cackled arrogantly, forcing Steven to create more barriers to strike at her with, which finally landed a hit on Jasper and slammed her into a tree. "That's more like it!"

Steven let out a sadistic giggle before he lunged again, far faster than normal as he started repeatedly punching Jasper while the two soared through the forest and into the air.

"Come on, come on!" Jasper beckoned Steven as their brawl took to the skies. "Show your master what you can really do!"

Steven's maniacal laughter grew louder and louder with each punch before kicking Jasper to the ground. "You were right Jasper!" he declared while summoning more shields to trap Jasper with before forming an even larger one in front of him. "I HAVE BEEN HOLDING BACK!"

With a murderous smile and white diamonds in his eyes, Steven made his barrier grow razor-sharp spikes before launching it at his captive opponent. And for the first time in what felt like ages, as the spiked shield rocketed towards her, Jasper felt one emotion that she barely showed to anyone else.

Pure, unadulterated terror.

What had she done?

--

The cloudy skies gave way to a loud thunderstorm as Black Rutile climbed up to the top of another tree to watch the outcome of the fight, and she was more than happy with what she was seeing.

"Bravo Steven, I never knew you had it in you!" Black Rutile clapped loud enough for Steven to hear as he returned to his senses to realize what he had just done. "If I hadn't planned for that, she would've made a great bodyguard!"

With tears and raindrops staining his face, Steven hid whatever he was hiding in his balled-up fist while glaring at Black Rutile before he raced back to Jasper's cave. When Black Rutile decided to climb down the tree, she was greeted by the nervous look on her Topaz's face. "So, who were you betting on to win?"

"I was betting on Steven to curb his problems more healthily, and you just kept stringing him along!" White Topaz accused her superior, but her accusations were shut down by a bowie knife pointed straight at her face. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Would a shadow puppet make you feel better?!"

"No need." Black Rutile frowned, hiding behind the tree to watch as Steven, now wearing his jacket again, hid his fist in one of the pockets while running out of the woods. "Nothing makes me happier than seeing him squirm."

"Oh yeah, it's funny how pathetic he is." White Topaz laughed nervously in agreement. "Come on, let's head back to the cave. Don't wanna get wet."

"Indeed," Black Rutile agreed and strolled back to their lair with her arms behind her back. "wouldn't want anyone knowing what we did to him."

--

"I sent so many messages, but he hasn't replied!" Pearl fretted while pacing around the beach house as the storm continued. "Do you think he even had his phone when he ran away?! What if something horrible happened and it's all our fault because he wanted to stay away from us?! What if-" Pearl's panicking soon turned to hyperventilating as she curled up into a ball on the floor and began rocking back and forth when Amethyst stepped in to calm her down.

"Pearl, chill out!" Amethyst literally shook Pearl out of her traumatized state and picked her up off the floor. "Panting and sweating over everything won't bring Steven back! It's not like he's going to just barge in as soon as I finish talking!"

Just then, Steven finally returned home, much to the Crystal Gems' delight and worry. However, he had no time to tell them where he's been as he gunned for the bathroom.

"Steven, where have you been?!" Pearl cried out in fright for her surrogate son.

"No time to talk!" Steven exclaimed before ducking into the bathroom.

"Seriously man, we've been looking everywhere!" Amethyst added just as the door closed in front of her. "Hey, what was that in your hand?"

"Nothing important!" Steven replied, peeking out the door one last time before going back.

"The way he said that makes me get a bad feeling about this." Garnet declared ominously.

--

'This has been a horrible day.' Steven thought to himself while filling up the bathtub and snatching the three Diamond essence bottles from the mirror, taking a moment to find a dark shadow in the exact shape of his muscular self from earlier standing behind his reflection.

"I never knew you had it in you either." The shadow growled before Steven turned to dump all the Diamonds' essences in the bathwater and pulled his fist out of his pocket, unfolding it to reveal Jasper's shattered remains in his palms.

"Please work, you gotta work!" Steven muttered in total panic while piecing Jasper's broken gemstone the best he could and submerging it in the water. "Please Jasper, I'm sorry!" he began sobbing for the deceased Gem, his hot tears streaking against his face and dropping into the water.

"I'm sorry."

END OF PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND

TO BE CONCLUDED IN PART 4: WE WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FAMILY

--

Wow. Great googly moogly, it's all gone to shit, just the kind of shit that Black Rutile likes. Is Jasper truly gone? Okay, definitely not since next chapter after the break will be Homeworld Bound. Has Black Rutile won? Maybe. Will the voice in Steven's head take the wheel? Who knows? Find out on the epic final part of Steven Universe: Alternate Future, to perhaps begin after the usual two-month hiatus. Or maybe I should go for a shorter hiatus this time. Or maybe longer? What do you guys think? I mean, by the time I publish this, I'll be getting ready for sophomore year of college so my time will most definitely be filled up. But regardless, there are now only eight chapters left of laughs, tears and adrenaline rush, so don't even try to miss the next arc! Okay, peace!

[calzona-ga]

Krista Vernoff, fresh off a two-season renewal and new job as 'Station 19' showrunner, talks with The Hollywood Reporter about the big cliffhanger.

[This story contains spoilers from the season 15 finale of Grey's Anatomy.]

ABC's Grey's Anatomy wrapped up its "Season of Love" on Thursday with a finale that teed up a plethora of new storylines to explore in the recently announced 16th (and 17th!) seasons.

Thursday's season 15 finale featured Meredith (finally!) professing her love for Andrew (Giacomo Gianniotti) — and doing so while he was behind bars. DeLuca was arrested (and stands to risk his career) after covering for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), who committed insurance fraud to help a family who had been terrorized by immigration reform efforts. Meanwhile, Meredith, Richard (James Pickens) and Alex (Justin Chambers) wind up being fired by Bailey (Chandra Wilson) for their roles in the offense.

Elsewhere, Teddy (Kim Raver) goes into labor and finds support in an unlikely ally: Amelia (Caterina Scorsone). After Teddy gives birth (a girl, named after her best friend, Allison, who died on 9/11), Owen (finally!) professes his love to his former Army friend. It sets up a love triangle between Koracick (new series regular Greg Germann), who is back at home building baby furniture for Teddy. (Poor guy, Teddy doesn't bother to tell her boyfriend that she's in labor.) Then there's Amelia, who sees Owen moving on with Teddy and has Link (new regular Chris Carmack) waiting in the wings for something more serious at a time when she decides to work on herself.

As for Jo (Camilla Luddington), she (finally!) tells someone what triggered her depression as she turns the corner and fills in Alex (Justin Chambers) before getting treatment.

The hour ends with a cliffhanger that sees Jackson (Jesse Williams) leave Maggie (Kelly McCreary) alone after going out into the thick fog amid a multiple-car pile-up. Jackson fails to return, leaving Maggie terrified of what may have happened to him.

Below, showrunner Krista Vernoff — who hit pause on her well-earned vacation — talks with The Hollywood Reporter about the season as a whole and why she hopes viewers will be talking about Jackson all summer.

The episode ends with a cliffhanger, Jackson is nowhere to be found after going out into the fog. Why leave the finale so open-ended? Was this a contract decision or a creative one? He's coming back next season as a regular. It was a creative decision. It was a cliffhanger. I want people to come back [in the fall] and talk all summer and wonder what happens to him. We have not mapped it out. The writers come back June 3, I'm on vacation for two weeks and then we'll hit it. What I love about act six of our finale is we gave ourselves so much to play with for next season on all the storylines.

Will there be a time jump next season? I have no idea. It's unlikely that there will be much of a time jump because I really want to play through the consequences of what Meredith did. But I honestly might be lying to you because I honestly just don't know yet.

You described this as the Season of Love," and it ended with Meredith professing her love for Andrew. Is there a theme for season 16? That is a later conversation. We got through this season and then the writers went away. I'm really proud of the work we did this season but I don't have answers for next season.

You mentioned that you're excited to explore the consequences of Meredith's actions. Knowing that the series often takes on larger social issues, have you considered using Meredith's arrest for fraud to explore a bigger political storyline, perhaps around fighting for immigration reform? We have not. The very nature of what Meredith did here was an argument for reform because she was confronting and talking about a really broken system. The system was so broken and it was just enraging to her. The idea that this family is suffering this much and is now going to suffer more was more than Meredith could bear. So she made what amounts to a really stupid decision from a really noble place.

Meredith's actions felt very old-school Grey's — similar to when Izzie (Katherine Heigl) cut Denny's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) LVAD wire. And there was a reference to that famed scene in the finale as well! Was that intentional? Yes. One of the things that hasn't happened lately is Meredith Grey hasn't faced consequences for the rules that she breaks. She is a bold rule breaker and we love her for it — and she always gets away with it. We felt we had laid the groundwork to shock the audience when this time, Meredith doesn't get off so easy.

Meredith, Richard and Alex have all been fired, which will have a massive ripple effect on pretty much everyone, both at the hospital and in their respective personal lives … Indeed! It is consequential AF, as the kids say. We were excited in the writer's room about that. We couldn't stop kind of laughing like, "Holy shit, what have we done?! What are we doing?!" But when you get to 342 episodes — which is where we are — you have the right to take some bold swings, you have to take some bold swings if you want to keep the show fresh and exciting and you don't want people to get ahead of you. You have to be bold. And I feel like we were really bold here and we'll see how it all shakes out.

Jo reaches a turning point and is admitted for therapy. How much will you explore how there's no quick and easy fix for mental health and depression? I think that Jo is suffering from depression born of trauma … and the idea that her brain is telling her that she should never have existed. She's been in a horrible spiral and spirals are made more horrible when they live inside your head and you're unable to talk to anyone about them. This I know to be true: talking about things is the beginning of healing them. I was really proud of the design of that story. Episode 19 was such an exquisite episode and I hope that the writer and director and editors of that episode all get the Emmy attention they deserve. When I saw that episode, it uprooted all of my plans for Jo. There was no way in my mind that Jo could be happy and playful again this season, having just survived that. … We showed the beginning of the healing process. And the next step of the healing process is getting treatment. She needs treatment and that's what we see. So, while it makes you cry in the finale to see her and Alex say goodbye to each other, I believe that it's a happy cry because Jo is getting the help that she needs.

Let's talk about the Teddy/Koracick/Owen/Amelia/Link of it all. You really put a new spin on the love triangle in this one. Owen professes his love for Teddy, who doesn't call her boyfriend, Koracick, to tell him that she was in labor. What was exciting for you about exploring that, what, quadrangle? What do we even call that?! A love quintangle! In the end, it was a love quintangle. I was excited to take that story on because it was so complicated. I'm proud that we did that for the whole season without really ever having Amelia and Teddy go after each other, without leaning into those tropes that we have seen so often in love triangles where there are two women and one man. I'm proud that it was Amelia driving Teddy to the hospital in the end and then talking about how they could be friends and maybe they should be friends. I am very excited as a writer by the complexity of Teddy and Owen having that baby and having declared their love and then panning to find Tom alone in the nursery that he is building for Teddy and her baby. That's an exciting thing as a storyteller because it leaves just great material for next season.

Amelia's journey was terrific: she's getting over Owen and winds up meeting this Link, and they're absolutely wonderful together. And I say that as someone who has loved Amelia and Owen together since their start. Instead, Amelia says she's open to something more with Link but decides to explore who she is before committing to anything serious.

I was exceedingly proud of Amelia for her growth and for her maturity and for telling Link the truth, which is that he was a rebound and maybe he's not a rebound anymore because life is complicated and he is terrific but that she dove into him too quickly and she has to figure some things out before she can decide anything permanent. It's like, if everyone could grow up that much the world would be a better place.

The balance of power between Nico and Schmidt shifted — and Schmidt just came out to his mother, having found his confidence. Meanwhile, Nico seems truly miserable. Jake Borelli was upped to series regular but there's no word about Alex Landi. Will he be back next season? What did you enjoy most about their storylines this year? Alex Landi is going to be recurring for us again next year. I am not sure where it's all going but I thought that coming out scene was just gorgeous. I just loved them.

You're going to be showrunner on both Grey's and midseason spinoff Station 19 next season. I'd imagine that means you're shaking things up there, yes? I'm not ready to answer what I'm planning to do with it because I just took this on and I've got to study it and get inside of it. It's an exciting world and the idea of merging these two shows in a way where characters from Grey's might appear on Station 19 and vice versa. The design is that Station 19 is three blocks from Grey Sloan. When Stacy McKee [showrunner and creator] decided to go it made the most sense for me to oversee the whole thing and see how cohesive I could make it.

I loved seeing Schmidt in that world, too. Is there a specific character or two you're looking forward to writing for? I loved it, too. I need a month in a writer's room [to answer that]. I'm going to have writer's rooms that are right next door to each other and I've got great teams and I am really excited to answer that question for you in six weeks! [Laughs.]

How much pressure do you feel running both series? Maybe it's just exhaustion that's not allowing me to have the anxiety that I should probably be experiencing but I am excited. I had a conversation with Chandra Wilson when I came back to the show [two seasons ago] and we had a conversation about Bailey. The question she posed is, "We've established Bailey as being an ambitious woman. What does she do with all of her ambition now that she's the chief of the hospital?" That's where we started our conversation about Bailey and that's what I feel like applies here. It's like, "She gets two hospitals!" I feel like I came back to Grey's and it has been a joy. And I think it's been a success and now I get two shows! I get two hospitals. It's like my ambition is excited and I'm excited to challenge myself and see what I'm capable of doing with this new challenge.

Grey's was renewed for two more seasons. I hate to ask, but has there been any talk about if season 17 is the end? I've heard nothing yet. I'm under contract through season 17, that's what I can tell you.

[grimelords]

Two days after I said I’d upload it tonight, here it is! My October playlist is finished and it’s chock a block full of good music and also bad music that I love. From John Mellencamp to drone metal, from Katy B to Cassius, it’s all here and more. Deadmau5 also is here and for that I apologise.

Small Town (Acoustic) - John Mellencamp: Guess who had a legit emotional reaction to a John Mellencamp song this month, thinking deeply about what it means to be from a small town and how much this song gets right and wrong about identity and freedom in a small town versus living in a big town? This guy. I think this song works a lot better stripped down acoustically than it does in the album version. It gives the lyrics a lot more space, and really lays out just how simple the sentiment of the song is. It sets the tone of this month's playlist pretty well now that I think about it. I've been feeling like a real pea-brain hayseed this month and big chunks of this playlist really reflect that.

Katy On A Mission - Katy B: It feels like this and Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears (which was also 2011) is the moment that big american style dubstep completely crossed over into the mainstream, Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites was about six months ago and from there it was a tidal wave until oversaturation and complete death. But Katy On A Mission is different because it's at least got the credentials of dubstep pioneer Benga producing it and it doesn't go all-out on the super dirty bass, or even particularly have a big drop at all - it just uses it textually all the way through and it's better off for it.

I Only Have Eyes For You - The Flamingos: The way this song is recorded is insane. It literally sounds like they're at the bottom of a well. And it's mixed in that good early stereo hard-panned style so the lead is in the right channel and the whole harmony is in the left channel and absolutely soaked in reverb in a way that just sounds incongruous with the rest of the song. It sounds like a dream. My favourite moment is at about 2:30 when the harmony vocals get so large on the high note that they clip out and distort in a way that just sounds very, very cool.

Horses In The Sky (Live Version) - The Sound Of Animals Fighting: The Sound Of Animals Fighting was a post-hardcore prog supergroup where they were all anonymous (it was just the entirety of RX Bandits plus Anthony Green from Circa Survive) and I really wish they'd done more like this after their first album - because they still wrote very very good songs but they got lost in the mire of studio ambient interludes and being avant-garde for the sake of it which sometimes worked and most times just bored you which thankfully they only succumb in the end section of this version. Compare this to the studio version if you want to know what I mean, halfway through the guitar solo it just starts playing in reverse.

Split Wide Open - Cannibal Corpse: Here's what I mean about feeling like a pea-brain this month. Cannibal Corpse is proper troglodyte moron man music. It makes me feel dumb as fuck like a real stupid guy. There's something interesting about Cannibal Corpse's enduring ability to shock people, and that a band making such extreme music are at least a name that people know. They were in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective for god's sake. Before Marilyn Manson and that wave of cabaret shock-rock really got into the popular consciousness Cannibal Corpse were making shocking, violent music without any of the glamour and I think it's served them well in the long run. Songs like 'Hammer Smashed Face' or 'I Cum Blood', are shocking in title, artwork and content to this day are still musically shocking to the vast majority, far more than Marilyn Manson's spooky androgyny and wearing like a top hat and having fangs or whatever that's aged like milk and become just another boring cliche. The idea of the devil being charming and sly, disguised in charisma is so much more boring than the devil just tearing you apart like mince meat and eating you. Anyway I'm here to say Cannibal Corpse is good music for dum-dums like me.

Funeraloplis - Electric Wizard: Someone's edited it now but it's still in the footnote links, but the best ever piece of writing on wikipedia was the quote on Electric Wizard's page where they were explaining the origin of their name because it said "Is the name Electric Wizard made out of two Black Sabbath song titles? [smokes a big bud of weed through a can] Hahahaha, yeah it is!" which is so good and sort of all you need to know about them.

I <3 U So - Cassius: Looking back through this list it seems I'm having a real 2011 moment for some reason. I don't think I *get* Cassius. From everything I read about them they seem to be french dance royalty but they literally have two good songs and they're both in this playlist. These two songs are very good though so maybe it's just that. Anyway it's a shame what Kanye did this to song on Watch The Throne but I don't blame him, it feels like this song is just impossible to work with. It's at a weird tempo, it's incredible loose, it basically has one section. I imagine this song would have frustrated a lot of DJs when it was popular cause I really don't know how you would mix in or out of it, but fuck it while it's on it's a great song!

Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes - Cassius: This is the other good Cassius song. I'm pitching it as the theme song for when they eventually reboot Skins. I really appreciate that this song has 1 idea and basically just does every variation it can with it before bringing it to a climax. When your idea is this simple and this good that's all you need. Also the big toms that kick in after the 'just one more' but are heaven sent.

It Took The Night To Believe - Sun 0))): Sun 0))) are such morons and it's so funny that you can be so dumb and so serious about this sort of music at the same time. On this song Greg Anderson is credited as Mystik Fogg Invokator and Stephen O'Malely is credited as Taoiseach, which is the name for the Irish prime minister. Whenever I listen to Sun 0))) for the first two minutes I'm like 'lol this sucks' but then suddenly the guy is like 'cry yourself to ash' and I'm feeling the pull of the void quite heavily. Basically it's just like that meme.

Seven Angels - Earth: I remember ages ago some guy posted Earth 2: Special High Frequency edition and it was just this whole album with a high pass filter on it which is a funny joke. Anyway it interesting to think of this album in the context of when it came out. Two years after Nevermind, six months before In Utero - grunge at the absolute height of its power, stoner metal like Kyuss and Sleep huge when suddenly this guy comes out of nowhere and distills guitar music down to its essence: slower, louder, heavier than anything else by an order of magnitude.

Mutual Slump - DJ Shadow: I finally saw Xanadu this month and now I can finally relate to the weird smiling breathing out your nose noise that she makes after she says 'I'd never hailed a cab before' in this song.

Walkin' On The Sidewalks - Queens Of The Stone Age: Queens Of The Stone Age's first album is 20 years old this year and I've been thinking a lot about how it was a two person operation. Josh Homme played and sang everything on this album except the drums and it's funny to think about writing this sort of music all by yourself outside of a jam structure. He really sat down with a pad and paper and wrote down 'outro: bass riff x400' and then recorded it just like that.

Witch - Maps & Atlases: I wake up with this song in my head so often it's insane. I think a triplet groove in 4/4 like this is such a good and underused feeling and this song really deploys is perfectly. I want more of this, the good kind of math rock where it's not just guys doing midwest emo tappy riffs that all sound the same.

Down 2 Hang - Kirin J Callinan: This is what meeting up with people from the internet feels like. It's kind of a shame that this album got completely overshadowed by the Jimmy Barnes screaming meme, and that it's the first and last a lot of americans will ever hear of Jimmy Barnes but in reality it's exactly what Kirin J Callinan wanted to good for him I suppose.

Fast In My Car - Paramore: If you can't tell already I'm having an extremely basic bitch moron man month and that included listening to this Paramore album a lot and telling my girlfriend about how isn't it so interesting that the guitarist Taylor York just took over drum duties for this album after their longtime drummer quit and did such a good job playing drums AND guitar and her rightly not caring at all. I'm always impressed by songs that keep the same chords through the verse and chorus, it seems impossible but it works great here.

Don't Stop The Dance (feat. Delafleur) - Breakbot: I'm clapping my hands to stress each syllable when I tell you that Disco Will Never Die.

Oqiton - Jeremy Dutcher: I'm so glad this album won the Polaris Prize because I feel like I would never have heard of it otherwise. I absolutely love it, and I think what I love so much about it is that it doesn't fall into the trap of similar projects like this in the past of smoothing out all the jagged edges and turning it into plastic pretty music from the untouched ancient peoples - it's a real and alive reinterpretation of old music that looks toward the future and past in equal measure. Including the actual original recordings in each track is such a smart move, it gives you the context you need so this album isn't about liner notes and extra sources and it lets those old recordings seamlessly fold into these new reorchestrations.

I Remember - Deadmau5 & Kaskade: Anyway moron month continues here with the only worthwhile contribution to the planet earth that Deadmau5 ever made, I suspect by letting Kaskade do most of the work. It sounds sadistic but I really appreciate how this song is nearly ten minutes long, I'm a big fan of any song with that much confidence that actually pulls it off.

Overtime - Jessie Ware: Fucking Jessie Ware is back and she’s got Bicep producing! I think I added this song to my playlist before it was even a minute in, I just heard the bassline and my brain stem said yes.

Body - Julie Jacklin: I really think Julia Jacklin might be the best songwriter around right now and I cannot wait for her new album. I guess this keeps with the moron man theme by telling it from the other side. I keep listening to this song and then getting into a real mood for about an hour afterwards so I can't imagine the damage the album is going to do to me.

Can't Tell Me Nothing - Kanye West: Throughout the whole ongoing Kanye drama I've been thinking of this song. " I feel the pressure, under more scrutiny, and what I do? Act more stupidly" "I'm on TV talking like it's just you and me". Anyway he's had is money right for a long time but it's becoming increasingly apparent that you really really can't tell him nothing. I think it's interesting that the thing that seems to have spurred him into clarifying his beliefs and finally backtracking on anything is that Candace Owens tried to credit him for the shitty Blexit thing and it turns out the one thing you can't do to Kanye West is manipulate him into putting his name on something he doesn't believe in or didn't create. It's insane that John Legend and Mos Def and Talib Kweli reaching out didn't change anything but Candace Owens taking one too many liberties absolutely did.

Like Wolves On The Fold - Colin Stetson: I've said it one million times but I love Colin Stetson. I love how straightforward this is for a Colin Stetson song. You can sing along to it! So much writing about him focuses on the intricasies of his technique rather than his resulting very human, very primal music. I feel like his music is not very far from beating on your chest and yelling a lot of the time (especially toward the second half of this song) and the saxophone element just makes it a lot more socially acceptable.

Sack 'Em Up, Pt. I / Sack 'Em Up, Pt. II - Gwenifer Raymond: Bandcamp had a really good article about American Primitive the other day https://daily.bandcamp.com/2018/10/10/american-primitive-list/ and I found this album in it and fell completely in love instantly. I listened to it five times in a row. It's just incredible and I'm so glad that the music I love is finally being rescued from the mire of New Acoustic youtube men with their slapping and tapping and harp guitars and moving forward in new ways with artists like Sarah Louise, Marisa Anderson and Gwenifer Raymond. Women are finally allowed to play guitar now and thank fuck. One of the things I really appreciate about this album is just how written it feels. Every part, even the very swirly Part One of this song feels very purposeful, and if not totally written at least improvised in a tight framework before moving into the completely written second half. There's nothing wrong with improv but in a genre like this that's almost overrun with guys putting out hour long improv records it's refreshing to hear someone with such a clear vision execute it so expertly.

Bleeding Finger Blues - Gwenifer Raymond: Also, get a fucking load of this. An absolute powerhouse performance from a master. There's not enough solo banjo music around and it's a shame because I don't know if there's a better argument for banjo as a solo instrument than this song. The other thing I like about this album is there’s three banjo songs on it, which works well for breaking up the sequencing and making each song really distinct in a genre where albums can really blend together.

4:30 - Danger: It's a shame that Danger never really fulfilled his potential. With songs as good as this as 19:11 he seemed set. But then he took about a decade off before his debut album and I guess he lost something along the way. Anyway, doesn't matter because when you've got a song as good as this it's all you need. Also here's a good video where someone just put this song over the bar scene from Terminator which really accentuates the vibe in my opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37R39-mff8

Crybaby - Abra: I love love love the production on this. A friend sent it to me because he said it reminded him of the Call Me Mr Telephone song I was raving about and he’s absolutely right. I love how formless it is, it goes through about three different verse ideas before finally getting to the chorus at about a minute and a half in and it’s only stronger for it. I’m so glad a new generation of darkwave adjacent people are discovering freestyle because this is great.

OMG!!! - Yelle: This song is probably best experienced with the music video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoWK4rV3INY It’s fantastic on its own, especially the “oh my god!” sample and the whole chorus section, but the video - titties out, covered in glitter, very very good dance move for the rising 'ooo' part, a hamster is there. Really accentuates it.

Copacabana (At The Copa) - Barry Manilow: Was thinking about this song the other day. Woke up with it in my head actually which was strange. I feel like this song and the Pina Colada song definitely take place in the same cinematic universe.

King Of The Dead - Cirith Ungol: I've been rereading Lord Of The Rings and also a very dodgy 70s sci-fi series called Dray Prescot and so divine fate has drawn me to discover Cirith Ungol. The good kind of metal where all the album covers could also be fantasy novel covers and all the songs are about how cool it would be to slay an ancient demon with a sword. I love this song because it feels impossible to sing it without doing some very dramatic face acting and also his voice is completely insane. I feel like this is maybe just how he talks.

Sugaree 10/21/1978 - Grateful Dead: Grateful Dead are good and ever since I came to terms with that I've felt like I'm always on the precipice of buying a box of tapes, covering my car in confusing stickers and dropping completely out of society. The problem with a big chunk of live Dead recordings that I've heard is that while the playing is always on point, the vocals can vary wildly - especially when they try any kind of harmony, but this recording is just great. Fantastic vocals with a lot of feeling, ample crowd noise so it doesn't feel like just a sterile soundboard recording, and of course an incredible extended jam.

Ring De Bell - Brother Resistance: I don't fully understand what rapso music is yet, I don't have enough understanding of the culture or surrounding genres. I basically just found this Best Of compilation and have been listening to it a LOT. As I understand it it's 70s Trinidadian calypso music that got very political, which is very cool. I'm a big fan of this sort of lyric where it feels like you could just go on and on for days about all the places you should ring the bell.

Kojack - David Rudder: The crown jewel of this compilation is of course this song I've posted about before and absolutely love to death. A protest song about them taking Kojack off the TV because it's too violent when shows like Dallas and Dynasty, which are far worse, remain on the air. Miami Vice! Before youtube comments and online petitions you had to make extremely good songs about this kind of thing, and its a huge shame that we've allowed this to die.

The Power Of Love - Celine Dion: I love Celine Dion because all her songs sound like they were recorded across 5 countries and 8 different studios and cost two million dollars. They always sound too expensive for casual listening to me, like I should have an emergency mink coat on me at all times just in case The Power Of Love starts playing in a supermarket.

Airworks - J Dilla: I've been listening to Donuts a bunch this month and really thinking about what makes him so good and the vast legion of Dilla imitators on soundcloud bad and I think this song is a good example. The main sample sounds straight up ugly, it's backwards and twisted to hell, the main strings part keeps folding over itself, it's just chaos but completely controlled chaos. Every imitator is so afraid to make a total mess like he does and is too focused on the underpinning laid-backness of the beat, where Dila somehow makes the relaxed feeling easily as a result of a million clashing elements.

Anti-American Graffiti - J Dilla: I also found a playlist on Spotify where someone had put together Donuts with all of the the original tracks it sampled (or at least the ones that are available on Spotify) and it's such an illuminating new way to listen to this album. https://open.spotify.com/user/keatonkreps/playlist/1TPeWt38uceWXD1Vhyf7wx?si=NJ_jHrYqQpCt18q-W9nrag

Marvel - Solillaquists Of Sound: Every genre has good music in it. Even rappity rap conscious hip hop has good songs like this one. There’s another song on this album called Popcorn that’s basically the It’s Media picture converted to a .wav but this song is good. Especially her vocals when they come in halfway through sounding like an astrology zine except good.

Rock Island Line - Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash has around one million songs about trains, including ‘Blue Train’, ‘Train Of Love’ and a song called ‘I’ve Got A Thing About Trains’ but this is the best one because it’s about train-related fraud and doing perhaps the most outlaw country manoeuvre ever and telling the toll man that you’re carrying livestock when you are in fact carrying pig iron.

I <3 U So (Skream's Made Zdar Feel Like He Was 20 Again Remix) - Cassius: Also as a kind of coda, here's Skream's version of I <3 U So, where he's completely ironed it out and turned it into a pulsing dnb thing which is always impressive to me when people completely reverse the feel of a song in a remix.

Worms Of The Senses / Faculties Of The Skull - Refused: Stereogum had a really good article about The Shape Of Punk To Come on its 20th anniversary and whether it really did turn out to be the shape of punk to come. They asked a bunch of people whether the title seemed arrogant and the vocalist from La Dispute had a really good answer where he said "But it’s like calling your shot and then fuckin’ hitting a home run. If it was arrogant, it was justifiably so." which is so great. https://www.stereogum.com/2020358/refused-shape-of-punk-to-come-turns-20/franchises/sounding-board/​

listen here

[simplyolivers]

( ooc: so i literally put the every single one of the lyrics under the cut so if you’re trying to read this i’m so sorry also i’m too lazy to make a cover soooooo p.s. greg is what neptune call his fans k bye ) today neptune bentley, known as his youtube rap alias of ‘young face’, in a comedy ep called, [ title of album ]

i. spooky boy: ( based on neptune’s love of halloween & slightly dedicated to @elvvce & @ofcmargos‘s show ) boo bitch, you just got spooked (ayy) by a certified spooky ass dude (ayy) somebody let the monster loose in a graveyard sippin’ pumpkin juice wait (shh) do you hear that sound? every october it’s so profound all these other dudes act spooky for a month but a real spooky boy spooky all year ‘round plastic fangs on my teeth, sleeping in a coffin step up to all my cribs and all these decorations poppin’ i might go ooga booga booga boo i might just spook you and your homies too i’m just so spooky and greg is my crew (yeah) ayy, i’m a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky hands ayy, come up in your house and do a little spooky dance ayy, i’m a spooky boy, with a spooky face ayy it don’t matter i’ll spook at any time or place chillin’ with a skeleton, bitch, and a pumpkin on my head if you try to spook me you gon’ end up dead if you spook me again you gon’ end up undead (uh) that’s the life of the spooky boy better watch out if you see a full moon bitch yeah, i’ve been spooky like a mummy in a tomb bitch i don’t have a car because i fly on a broomstick pull up to the club, skrrt skrrt vroom vroom witch go to girls and they hella hella thin how thin are they? are they motherfucking skeletons?  that is not a joke about their weight, they are skeletons  Halloween music got us jigglin' like gelatin got a couch covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) got a whip covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) got a dog covered in cobwebs (cobwebs) spent way too much on cobwebs (ayy)  fake spooky dudes suck like Dracula i don’t give a damn if you a goblin you can back it up ghouls get crazy while i blow this cash, if you tryna monster smash ayy, I'm a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky knees ayy, I could teach you how to spook too for a spooky fee ayy, I'm a spooky boy ayy, with some spooky shoes ayy, and before this song is over you'll be spooky too  chillin’ with a skeleton, bitch, and a pumpkin on my head if you try to spook me you gon’ end up dead if you spook me again you gon’ end up undead (uh) that’s the life of the spooky boy

ii. beef with me: ( songs about people who start fake drama on yt for views ) ay, scrolling all day like I do (like I do) trying to see what's popping on the tube (youtube, ay) checking up on logan paul, too you know I'm not a maverick, that's true wait, what is this? jake paul, diss track logan paul, diss track ricegum, diss track all getting millions of views at first I'm like "what the fuck's up with these dudes?" 'till I saw they were getting views like cheap receipts I know that I'm an all around really nice guy but why nobody want to beef with me? I see this other guys roasting each other and raking in views the channels are flourishing so if you think I'd get mad if you roasted me I can endure it, man, I would encourage it, honestly all I want is them views original content's old news that shit makes me snooze start beef with me, you can't lose, ay  someone come beef with me someone come beef with me somebody who has a whole lot of subscribers please come and beef with me, uh someone come beef with me someone come beef with me my ego is fragile and you will destroy me if you come and beef with me I can send you a list of things I'm self-conscious about anything is fair game except for my feet ay, I could roast your vids, yeah you could roast my clothes, ay I could roast your diss track you could roast my nose you could write a whole song 'bout what I look like starting beef for views the oldest trick in the book, like trick is older than the sphynx come and roast me 'cause my content stinks I want a lot of views on YouTube I'm gonna need a long beef like sausage links I can pretend that you kidnapped my dog you can pretend that I beat up your mom we can pretend the police got involved we gon' be dropping this drama like bombs, ay  someone come beef with me someone come beef with me somebody who has a whole lot of subscribers please come and beef with me, uh someone come beef with me someone come beef with me my ego is fragile and you will destroy me if you come and beef with me  

iii. hop out the whip ( songs about people who ‘flex’ on yt ) skrtt! yeah, Tesla, Benz what do y'all know about hopping out of $300,000 cars?  hop out the whip hop back in (yeah) hop out the whip (ooh!) that's my shit (yeah!)  talk about look at the look in your eyes when I hop out of the Porsche hop out the Benz, hop out the Beamer, bitch I ain't got open the doors and I got a bad lil mama (lil mama!) she wanna go for a ride jokes on her, I'm only fourteen years old I do not know how to drive we just be sittin' in the car we just be sittin' in the whip I might hop right out right before I hop back in I've been working on my squats I've been working on my sprints I got a tramp in the garage, I bought brand new kicks so I can  hop out the whip hop back in (hop back in!) hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) that's my shit (yeah!) hop out the whip (hop out the whip y'all!) hop back in hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) ooh, that's my shit  this whippin' is serious (serious) it ain't even funny (nah) these bitches be buggin' (buggin', buggin', buggin', buggin') I just stay hopping like bunnies covered in carrots, what's up doc, can you look at my hip? I didn't take care of myself, I think I dislocated it when I hopped in the whip doin' tricks in the whip, 360 degrees in a flip going up to the highdive and diving this shit going up in a plane and skydiving in this and when I land we're highfiving I bet it did have a roof but it doesn't no more I put it away like I'm doing some chores now I can hop in and out of the whip 'til I figure out how to open the doors  hop out the whip (hop out the whip) hop back in (hop back in) hop out the whip (hop out the whip!) that's my shit, yeah hop out the whip (Hop out the whip!) hop back in (yeah, hop back in) hop out the whip (yeah, yeah) ooh, that's my shit (yuh!) can someone please tell me how to open the goddamn doors to this car game's over for y'all when I get my license, learn how to drive

iv. greg ( mostly for his fans but also for tom holland ) greg is the number one fanbase we livin' life in the fast lane we just hit 21 mil (ooh) time to pop open the champagne if you ain't Greg, that's lame greg is a beast that you can't tame greg takin' over the rap game greg is logan paul's dad's name  greg takin' off but these other dudes stalling greg full sprint but these other dudes crawling greg is hot on the court, we balling greg is hot on the web, Tom Holland number one Spiderman, hands down bitch talk about casting, such a great fit andrew Garfield still ain't shit toby maguire, you are not lit greg is a family, don't forget I would do anything for my gregs strongest army on the net fastest growing, please don't check greg is destroying, man, Greg is a winner greg is just eatin' up YouTube for dinner tom holland please, dm me on Twitter greg is a savage, man, greg is a killer haters are riding the wave (yeah) hoping that Greg will fall off (ooh) they say I got a young face (aye) just like Tom Holland, he's hot (uh) have you even seen his abs? (uh) I bet his skin is so soft (uh) greg is the realest on earth just in case all y'all forgot  I am truly greg, greg is all I need I don't fuck with craigs, they can kiss my knees we are a movement, you cannot divide us i'm Mr. Worldwide pitbull come and fight us 

v. spooky guy ( another song based on @elvvce & @ofcmargos‘s show? looks like it ) boo bitch, spooky boy's back ay, with the brand new spooky boy track waited all year for a chance to attack aside from orange I’m wearing all black not a treat but I got some tricks not a gang member but i live in crypts bright orbs in the background to all my pics you can call me drake 'cause I'm from that 6(66) (yuh) if you see me you better run outside, yeah you could be jekyll but you still couldn’t hyde, yeah spook ya then i'll eat some pumpkin pie and apple cida' hannibal lecter how i eat the track alive, yeah I'm a spooky guy I will never stop spookin' 'till the day I die I waited all year just so y'all would wanna see me now all these fake spooky guys wanna be me I ain't sippin’ lean, nah and I ain’t poppin' xans, yuh only poppin’ I do is to spook you and your friends, yuh poppin' out the casket then I do my spooky dance, yuh I do it for the spook, give a fuck if it offends ya  make spooky boys do the most, ay new whip looking like a ghost, ay new boo looking like a ghost, yuh cause she died three years ago, ohh that shit was really sad (yeahhh) and it was all over the news (spooked to death) and the only way I had to cope was a whole lotta booze (boo! boo!) spook you into a coma then I'll spook your ass out my spooking is advanced y'all still tryna learn how I can teach you how to spook for the right amount I’m dracula these witches going down for the count  'cause I'm a spooky dude and I will spook you every day, even if it's rude I waited all year just so y'all would wanna see me now all these fake spooky guys wanna be me I ain't sippin' lean, nah and I ain't poppin' xans, yuh only poppin' I do is to spook you and your friends, yuh poppin' out the casket then I do my spooky dance, yuh I do it for the spook, give a fuck if it offends ya 

[david-box]

Succession 3x06

Logan's decisions spelling his doom and Kendall's decisions spelling his doom, but its STILL a knife edge. They changed the feet positions of the intro with the kids.

Kendall about to implicate himself I bet. Kendall, dude.

Kendall needed his dad to "fight back" to have any juice both emotionally and legally. Interesting. Greg switching to Logan's side. Roman is fucking funny.

Kendall *asking* Greg if he can burn him is so funny. Logan continually refusing to be nice is sad but fun. Driving in DC? Who was the guy getting kicked out?

Love the fact that Connor can count his supporters on one hand. Panhandle Pete. The one guy in that part of Oklahoma.

Holy shit mom's getting married? I wonder is Connor knew. Wouldn't it be funny if Greg and Tom went to jail together. Just say the Wine is bad hahaha.

Shiv please listen to Tom he wants PROTECTION. Tom wants a baby so bad his metaphors are funny. Roman and Shiv both pivoting but who will convince Logan.

I can't believe Tom is meeting with Greg so they can go to jail together. Or I guess just Tom. "They can't get you if you have no hope." Ahahaha.

I can't wait to see Kendall fuck up the meeting. The man has no self control. Lisa Arthur giving him 1 chance to listen. He really could kill his dad if he wanted to.

I like this black haired skinny lady. Logan hates people asking for shit to him.

He's FIRING Lisa???? Lotta fucking sharks in the water at the end meeting. He has no idea he's listening. Jesus Christ. Shiv being disrespected left and right, aw.

Everyone just agreeing Tom gets jailtime is so sad and funny. Also, how many things has Tom eaten in the last 24 hours? Room temperature water? "I have notes" is so funny has Kendall ever had a full conversation with Tom.

Oh but Kendall, Tom is committed to jail. "My case is fine". Kendall could take down his dad if he really wanted to.

Connor coughing is so fucking funny. I can't believe Logan is serious here. No way. Please don't. Depending on the opposition. Logan is in a weird mood, almost jolly. Abajhahahahab Boyer that's funny.

Kendall what the fuck is wrong with you. Don't imply your sister will leave. Shiv uh .. wears the pants a bit. Tom is hot sometimes. What's Kendall doing taking photo? And why did Tom reveal that?

Greg getting cheered on is so funny. I can't see where Toms arc is going.

Roman listened to Shiv! Wow. He's just a fascist, okay. Why is he pitching to him? Seeing if he really will dance? I like the lady smiling at Logan I think she's smart bit I wanna know what Logan's game is.

Oh shit, Logan and Shiv actually arguing? Logan being a real bitch honestly. I think she'll be right again.

[patriotsnet]

What Other Republicans Are Running For President

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-other-republicans-are-running-for-president/

What Other Republicans Are Running For President

Next Test Of Trumps Influence On The Republican Party: A Crowded Gop Primary Fight For An Ohio House Seat

A GOP primary Tuesday to fill a congressional seat outside Columbus is shaping up to be a test of former president Donald Trump’s influence over the Republican Party, coming after his preferred candidate lost a Texas House campaign last week and some of his allies aligned with other candidates in the competitive Ohio race.

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Tuesday’s contest — in which 11 candidates are vying to replace longtime GOP congressman Rep. Steve Stivers — has caused serious consternation among the former president’s advisers and even Trump himself, according to people familiar with the private discussions.

Trump railed at aides after Susan Wright, the candidate he backed in a special Texas Congressional race to replace her late husband, Rep. Ron Wright, lost to a state Republican lawmaker last week, they said.

The defeat was an embarrassing setback for the former president, who has sought to flex his hold on the party by making a slew of endorsements since leaving the White House, inserting himself into GOP primaries and going after political enemies.

Trump has made his preference clear, issuing slashing statements in which he has complained that other candidates are suggesting to voters that he supports them rather than Carey, a close friend of Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager who advisers say helped secure the endorsement.

Collins says infrastructure bill could pass Senate by end of week with at least 10 Republicans in support

Us Election 2024: Who Are The Likely Republican Candidates To Run For President Against Joe Biden

Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump and Ted Cruz are among the rumoured candidates to become Donald Trump’s successor

The 2020 presidential race has only just finished, but the Republican candidates for 2024 are already preparing themselves for their shot at the White House.

We take a look at who may be looking to get themselves in to the race.

In Gop Poll From Hell Republicans Say They Want Donald Trump Jr To Be President In 2024

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A recurring nightmare among millions of Americans is that come 2024, Donald Trump will forget the fact that he actually hated being president, decide to run again, and win. Seriously, can you think of a more horrifying scenario, except perhaps falling through a sidewalk into a rat-filled chasm, which some people might still prefer? We maintain that you cannot. But an equally terrifying, skin-crawling situation would definitely be to turn on the TV on January 20, 2025, and see Donald Trump Jr. being sworn in as president of the United States, which a number of Republican voters apparently actually want to happen.

The poll, which was conducted between July 6 and 8, did not include Donald Trump Senior, who maintains an inexplicable grip on voters despite the mass-death stuff, an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and a mental state that suggests he should be in a home or studied by a team of Swiss doctors.

And the fact that Don Jr. came out on top is not where the scary news ends. Because apparently if Republicans can’t have Sheep Killer over here, their second-favorite choice is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the man currently responsible for this:

If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click here to subscribe.

More Great Stories FromVanity Fair

The State Is An Active Battleground For Republicans And Democrats Next Year With High

6:02 PM on Dec 9, 2019 CST

The 2020 elections will feature a broad field of Democratic and Republican candidates in a fight that will determine control of Texas.

Monday was the last day candidates could file for the March 3 primaries, the prelude to the much-anticipated general election featuring President Donald Trump’s reelection bid, high-profile congressional races in Texas and a rumble for control of the Texas House.

With former U.S. Housing secretary and former San Antonio mayor Julián Castro struggling to gain traction in most Democratic presidential polls, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will look to capitalize in Castro’s home state.

With a half-dozen Republicans retiring from Congress and a handful of others facing stiff challenges, Texas will also be an active battleground in the bigger tussle for control of the U.S. House in 2020.

But the most intense drama is expected to involve the Texas House. Democrats need nine seats to take control and have targeted at least 22 occupied by Republicans, who are trying to reclaim the 12 seats they lost in 2018. Much of the action will be in races in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties.

Here are some highlights from the races:

Eight Republican 2024 Candidates Speak In Texas Next Week But Not Trump

Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, April 30 – A Republican Party event in Texas next week will hear from eight potential candidates for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024, without former President Donald Trump, a source involved in the planning said on Friday.

The May 7 event at a hotel in Austin is being co-hosted by U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to thank donors who helped fund a voter registration drive and get-out-the-vote efforts in the state.

High-profile Republican politicians who are considering whether to seek the party’s nomination in 2024 are expected to speak to the crowd of about 200 donors.

They include former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and U.S. senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and Rick Scott, the source said.

The event comes as Republicans wrestle with whether to try to move past Trump in the next election cycle or fall in line behind him. Trump told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that he was “100%” considering another run after losing in 2020 to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump was not invited to Texas, the source said. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was invited but was unable to attend, the source said.

Many Republican insiders doubt Trump will follow through on his musings about running for president in 2024, leaving a void that other party leaders will seek to fill.

Fact Check: Trump Did Not Call Republicans The Dumbest Group Of Voters

5 Min Read

An old quote falsely attributed to Donald Trump has recently resurfaced online. The viral meme alleges Trump told People magazine in 1998 that Republicans are “the dumbest group of voters in the country”. This is false.

While the quote has been debunked several times since it apparently surfaced in 2015, users have recently been resharing it on social media. Examples can be seen here , here , here , here

The meme reads: “If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific. – Donald Trump, People Magazine, 1998”

Snopes first wrote about the false quote here in October 2015 . Since then, the quote has been debunked multiple times .

People magazine has confirmed in the past that its archive has no register of this alleged exchange.

“People looked into this exhaustively when it first surfaced back in Oct. . We combed through every Trump story in our archive. We couldn’t find anything remotely like this quote–and no interview at all in 1998.”, a magazine spokesperson told Factcheck.org that year .

In December 1987, People published a profile on Donald Trump titled “Too Darn Rich”. The article quoted him saying he was too busy to run for president .

Us Election 2020: What Are Primaries And Caucuses And How Do They Work

Four years after the world watched Donald Trump’s momentum build and build until he became the Republican nominee, America is again deciding who will run for the White House.

The nominees are being chosen through a series of primaries and caucuses in every US state and territory, that began in Iowa on 3 February and ends in Puerto Rico in early June.

The Republican nominee will be Donald Trump. Even though technically he has a challenger, he is so popular among Republicans, he has a clear run ahead of him. With that in mind, the Democratic primaries are the only ones worth watching.

It’s an unusual process, not all of which makes sense, although we’ve tried.

Trump Challengers: 10 Republicans Who Could Run For President In 2020

Ryan Sit U.S.Donald TrumpMike PenceBen SasseBob Corker

President Donald Trump faced down a crowded field of GOP presidential hopefuls in 2016 as a political outsider, but he could see a packed stage of Republican challengers again in 2020—only as an incumbent this time.

Trump made few political friends during his ascent to the White House. He made headlines making fun of his competition, doling out nicknames—”low energy Jeb Bush,” “Little Marco Rubio,” “Lyin’ Ted Cruz”—along the way. The president’s diplomatic dexterity hasn’t noticeably improved much since taking office. Senators Rubio and Cruz have improved their relationship with Trump since his inauguration, but other lawmakers from within his party have emerged as outspoken critics, fueling speculation he may face a stiff presidential primary race in 2020.

Here are 10 Republicans who may challenge Trump:

Opinion Polling For The 2020 Republican Party Presidential Primaries

e

This is a list of nationwide and statewide public opinion polls that have been conducted relating to the Republican primaries for the 2020 United States presidential election. The persons named in the polls are declared candidates or have received media speculation about their possible candidacy. The polls included are among Republicans or Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. If multiple versions of polls are provided, the version among likely voters is prioritized, then registered voters, then adults.

The Long Race For The 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination Begins

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — In the past week alone, Nikki Haley regaled activists in Iowa, Mike Pence courted donors in California and Donald Trump returned to the rally stage, teasing a third campaign for the White House.

The midterms are more than a year away, and there are 1,225 days until the next presidential election. But Republicans eyeing a White House run are wasting no time in jockeying for a strong position in what could emerge as an extremely crowded field of contenders.

The politicking will only intensify in the coming weeks, particularly in Iowa, home to the nation’s leadoff presidential caucuses and a state where conservative evangelicals play a significant role in steering the direction of the GOP. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas is slated to visit on Tuesday, and others, including Pence, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are expected to appear in July.

The flurry of activity is a sign that there is no clear frontrunner to lead the GOP if Trump opts against a 2024 campaign.

“It definitely feels early, but it doesn’t feel like it’s a bad idea based on the situation,” said Mike DuHaime, a longtime Republican strategist. “The party has changed, the voters are changing and I think the process has changed. And I think many of the candidates have realized that.”

“We won the election twice,” he said. “And it’s possible we’ll have to win it a third time.”

As for Trump?

Trumps Losing So When Are Republican Candidates Going To Abandon Him

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On Wednesday afternoon, the latest batch of polls in the Presidential campaign were released, and they showed an increasingly grim picture for Donald Trump. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey had Joe Biden up by eleven points. Fifty per cent of those surveyed said that there was “no chance” they would support Trump. The Quinnipiac University poll showed an even wider national lead for Biden, of fifteen points. Trump’s job-approval rating had sunk to thirty-six per cent, and a daunting sixty per cent of Americans disapproved of his performance in office. “There is no upside, no silver lining, no encouraging trend hidden somewhere in this survey for the President,” Tim Malloy, the Quinnipiac polling analyst who oversaw the study, said. A few hours later, Trump ousted his campaign manager, Brad Parscale—or, rather, had his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, do so. His new campaign manager is Bill Stepien, a New Jersey operative and former Trump White House political director best known for his role in former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal. “I look forward to having a big and very important second win together,” the President tweeted, shortly before 9 P.M.

Susan B. Glasser

Us Election 2020: The Other 1214 Candidates Running For President

The US has had presidents for more than 230 years, but only the first – George Washington – has ever been elected as an independent candidate.

The twin peaks of US politics, the Republican and Democratic parties, dominate media coverage and campaign donations so completely that the chances of an outsider winning are virtually nil.

What kind of person looks at those near-insurmountable odds and thinks – I’m running anyway?

Quite a range as it turns out: As of 9 October, some 1,216 candidates have filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president.

The BBC asked three of them – a concert pianist and motivational speaker, a Native American IT technician, and a crypto billionaire – what they stand for, and why they deserve the votes of Americans.

‘americans Will See The Current Two Options Are Not The Choice’

Jade Simmons is a multi-hyphenated woman. A former beauty queen, professional concert pianist, motivational speaker, rapper, mother, and ordained pastor.

As she puts it, she is an unconventional candidate, “but these are unconventional times”.

“This seemed to me to be a time when we couldn’t afford to do business as usual,” she says. “I’m the daughter of a civil rights activist, and the way my father raised me was that if you see voids, if you see injustices, you need to ask yourself if that might be you that needs to be leaning in.”

She says her goal is to create equal access to opportunity, through economic, educational and criminal justice reform. And in that spirit, she’s aiming to run “the least expensive campaign in the history of our nation”.

“We think it’s abominable that it costs now almost a billion dollars to run for president when the qualifications are that you are 35 years old, a US-born resident, and have lived here 14 years,” says Ms Simmons. “We’d rather spend that money on helping people.”

Full coverage of the US election

While the Republican and Democratic nominees will be on the ballot in all states, independents must meet an array of state deadlines and access requirements.

“I know it sounds wild, given the history of independents! We believe that if we stay standing long enough, there’s still some more disruption coming in – that most Americans are going to see that the current two options are not the choice.

Results Of The 2020 Republican Party Presidential Primaries

Republican National Convention

  First place by first-instance vote

  Donald Trump

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Below is a detailed tally of the results of the 2020 Republican Party presidential primary elections in the United States. In most U.S. states outside New Hampshire, votes for write-in candidates remain untallied.

Primary elections and caucuses can be binding or nonbinding in allocating delegates to the respective state delegations to the Republican National Convention. But the actual election of the delegates can be at a later date. Delegates are elected at conventions, from slates submitted by the candidates, selected by the party’s state chairman or at committee meetings or elected directly at the party’s caucuses and primaries. Until the delegates are apportioned, the delegate numbers are by nature projections, but it is only in the states with nonbinding caucuses where they are not allocated at the primary or caucus date.

‘we Have To Change Some Things This Nation Was Founded On’

One factor that unites independent candidates is that they haven’t had to please a party majority to get a platform – so they run as themselves, on the issues that really speak to them personally.

Mark Charles is a prime example.

Professionally he’s worked as a computer programmer and in tech support, but he’s also an ardent social justice campaigner on issues affecting Native Americans and people of colour.

His goal is to be an alternative candidate for voters who don’t feel a kinship with the Trump or Biden tickets.

Mr Charles is of Navajo heritage, an identity which has deeply shaped his candidacy and his view of what America should be.

The land upon which Washington DC was built belonged to the Piscataway people.

“These were their lands, long before Columbus got lost at sea – and they are still here. And I am humbled to be living on these lands, on their lands, and I want to honour them as the host people.”

In the early 2000s, Mr Charles chose to move his family to a remote home on a Navajo reservation, “because I wanted to experience the more traditional life”. They would stay for 11 years.

“I saw several presidential elections from that vantage point,” he says.

“We were six miles off the nearest paved road, lived in the one-room Hogan – the traditional Navajo dwelling. There was no running water, no electricity in our community, our neighbours were rug weavers and shepherds.”

“I feel myself becoming both more insecure and more angry.”

Why Donald Trump Is Republicans’ Worst Nightmare In 2024

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

Earlier this week, amid a rambling attack on the validity of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump said this: “Interesting that today a poll came out indicating I’m far in the lead for the Republican Presidential Primary and the General Election in 2024.”

this on Trump’s future political ambitions from Politico“Trump is confiding in allies that he intends to run again in 2024 with one contingency: that he still has a good bill of health, according to two sources close to the former president. That means Trump is going to hang over the Republican Party despite its attempts to rebrand during his exile and its blockade of a Trump-centric investigation into January’s insurrection.”new Quinnipiac University national pollhis growing legal and financial entanglementsAs CNN reported on Wednesday night“Manhattan prosecutors pursuing a criminal case against former President Donald Trump, his company and its executives have told at least one witness to prepare for grand jury testimony, according to a person familiar with the matter — a signal that the lengthy investigation is moving into an advanced stage.”

The Contenders Who Competed To Run Against Donald Trump

Tom MurseTom Murse

Within weeks of Donald Trump taking the oath of office as the nation’s 45th president, challengers began lining up to see who would attempt to unseat him in the 2020 presidential election. The controversial president faced early challenges from within his own party, but by and large, the focus remained on the candidates put forth by the opposing Democratic Party.

During one of the most crowded primary seasons in recent memory, several high-profile Democrats, including multiple sitting senators and rising stars in the party, competed for the party’s nomination. Ultimately, it was former vice president Joe Biden who won the party’s nomination. He selected Senator Kamala Harris, another primary candidate, as his running mate, and the ticket won the 2020 general election with 51.3% of the vote and 306 electoral votes to 46.9% and 232 electoral votes for the incumbent Trump/Pence ticket.

Here’s a look at the Democrats, and even members of Trump’s own Republican Party, who ran campaigns looking to unseat the controversial commander-in-chief.

Democratic Challengers

February 7, 2020

Former Us Ambassador To The United Nations Nikki Haley

Haley, 49, stands out in the potential pool of 2024 Republican candidates by her resume. She has experience as an executive as the former governor of South Carolina and foreign policy experience from her time as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley was a member of the Republican Party’s 2010 tea party class. A former South Carolina state representative, her long shot gubernatorial campaign saw its fortunes improve after she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Haley rocketed from fourth to first just days after the endorsement, and she went on to clinch the nomination and become her state’s first female and first Indian-American governor.

As governor, she signed a bill removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol following the white supremacist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. She left office in 2017 to join the Trump administration as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Quinnipiac poll found she was at one point the most popular member of Trump’s foreign policy team.

“I think that she’s done a pretty masterful job in filling out her resume,” said Robert Oldendick, a professor and director of graduate studies at the University of South Carolina’s department of political science.

Haley criticized Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters, saying she was “disgusted” by his conduct. Oldendick said he thought her “pretty pointed criticism of the president will potentially cause some problems.”

Republican Candidates Running For The Us 2020 Election

Bill Weld was married twice and has five children.

Weld ran for vice-president as a Libertarian on the Gary Johnson ticket in the 2016 presidential election.

As a conservative, Weld is strongly pro-choice on abortion issues.

The presidential race is on and the candidates are being whittled down to the very few. Who is running on the Republican side? Current President Donald Trump is going for re-election, and the only candidate now challenging him for election as president of the US this coming November 3rd, 2020 is Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor.

Which Republicans Are Running For Us President In 2016

With the Republican field for the 2016 nomination more crowded than ever before, here’s all you need to know about the candidates

Running

Donald Trump

The 69-year-old billionaire made a dramatic entrance into the crowded Republican field.

His outspoken comments about Mexican immigrants and Muslims have provoked fury from some, but are popular with his most ardent supporters.

Even before he announced his bid, Mr Trump’s persistence in questioning whether Barack Obama was born in the USA attracted publicity and notoriety in equal measure.

But Mr Trump’s bombastic style seems to have caught the imagination of voters with polls showing him far out ahead of the field.

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, hopes to become the third Bush to sit in the Oval Office.

Mr Bush was long seen as the Republican establishment’s favoured choice, but he has to convince the party’s powerful conservative wing.

Married to a Mexican-American and a fluent Spanish-speaker after living in Venezuela in his twenties, Mr Bush has a strong connection to key Hispanic voters.

But he is conscious that his famous surname is a burden, especially after George W Bush left office six years ago with America mired in two wars and an economy in free fall.

Marco Rubio

The 44-year-old senator from Florida excels as a public speaker and, supporters believe, has the common touch.

Ted Cruz

At one point he started reading Dr Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham to his two young daughters watching on television.

      The 2024 Republican Presidential Candidate Wild Cards

The first Democratic debate back in 2019 had 20 — TWENTY! — candidates, so don’t be surprised if the Republican field is just as large or larger. We could have some more governors or representatives run, or even other nontraditional candidates, like a Trump family member, a Fox News host or a celebrity, like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who’s said he’s “seriously considering” a run. Stranger things have happened.

Who Are The Republicans Running Against Trump In 2020

whatsapp

Mark Sanford announced on Sunday that he is running for president, making him the third Republican to go against President Trump’s reelection attempt. He joins former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld and former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh. Despite little chance of winning against Trump, here is what they represent:

Mark Sanford served as a U.S. Representative for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001 and 2013 to 2019. Sanford won the 2002 South Carolina gubernatorial election, wherein he defeated the Democratic incumbent Jim Hodges. He was re-elected in the 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election, and consequently served as Governor of South Carolina from 2003 until 2011.

Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford announced Sunday that he is running for president as a Republican, becoming the latest to challenge President Trump in the GOP primaries.

In a series of tweets, Sanford explained the reasons why he was entering the 2020 race as a republican:

“I am compelled to enter the Presidential Primary as a Republican for several reasons – the most important of which is to further and foster a national debate on our nation’s debt, deficits and spending.

We have a storm coming that we are neither talking about nor preparing for given that we, as a country, are more financially vulnerable than we have ever been since our Nation’s start and the Civil War. We are on a collision course with financial reality. We need to act now.

  For These Republicans 2024 Is Just Around The Corner

Mike Pence. Mike Pompeo. Rick Scott. They share big ambitions, but one name hovers above them all …

President Biden told reporters last month that his “plan is to run for re-election,” despite already being the oldest person to have won a presidential election. So, for now at least, the question of who will lead the Democratic ticket in 2024 has been put to rest.

On the Republican side, however, certainty is in short supply. It’s beyond early to be talking about the next presidential election — but that’s only if you aren’t planning to run. Some Republican candidates have already made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, and others are laying plans to go, in what often represents the first step in building out a campaign operation in those early-voting states.

And on Wednesday, in a conspicuously forward-looking move, former Vice President Mike Pence announced the formation of a new political organization, Advancing American Freedom, whose advisory board is stacked high with former Trump administration officials and allies. The news came on the same day Simon & Schuster announced that it would publish Pence’s autobiography as part of a two-book deal.

The G.O.P. is badly fractured, trying to hold together a dominant base of those loyal to former President Donald Trump and a stubborn minority of pro-decorum, anti-Trump conservatives. Anyone looking to grab the Republican mantle will have to find some way of satisfying both camps — and maybe even expanding upon them.

General Election Candidates On Five Or More Ballots

In addition to Biden, Hawkins, Jorgensen, and Trump, the following candidates have qualified to appear on five or more ballots:

Roque De La Fuente   Gloria La Riva   Jade Simmons   Jesse Ventura/Cynthia McKinney   Sheila Tittle   Kyle Kenley Kopitke   Ricki Sue King/Dayna Chandler  

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 158,379,904

0 states have not been called.

Here Are The Republicans To Keep An Eye On For 2024

Bradley Devlin

Republicans are paying extra attention to a number of Republican governors, senators, and former officials that might consider making a run for president in 2024.

The contenders come from various contingents of right-leaning thought, and will be fighting to capture parts of former President Donald Trump’s base. Whichever Republican hopeful prevails will not only become the Republican Party’s nominee, but also help determine the ideological trajectory of the Republican Party in the post-Trump era.

Vice President Mike Pence

It’s not uncommon for vice presidents to follow up their stint as second-in-command with a run for president. Former President John Adams, the nation’s second president, was America’s first vice president under President George Washington. More recently, President Joe Biden became the 46th president four years after he ended his eight-year tenure as former President Barack Obama’s vice president.

Vice President Mike Pence might decide to do the same, but Pence’s relationship with Trump seems to be severely tarnished after Pence did not contest the certification of the Electoral College results, as reported by The Hill.

Senator Ted Cruz

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz could run for president again come 2024 after he defended his senate seat in 2018 from Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. Cruz’s bid for the presidency in 2016 ended in failure as Trump captured the Republican Party’s nomination.

Senator Josh Hawley

Governor Ron DeSantis

If Trump Runs In 2024 Could Any Republican Beat Him

As we await the final results to come in from the decisive states, let us assume for a moment that this election ends in the way that now appears most likely. That is, Joe Biden wins, and a large number of conservatives are convinced that the only reason President Trump lost is that Democrats stole the election.

Given these circumstances, if Trump decided that he wanted to run for president again four years from now, is there a Republican politician in the country who would be able to stop him?

For sure, professional Republicans would want to move on from Trump. And many of the Republican voters who merely tolerated him because he was better than the Democratic alternative may be eager for other options. But those are the same groups of people that tried unsuccessfully to kill his candidacy in 2016.

Trump may decide that he doesn’t want to run again. Or his health may decline as he enters his late 70s. But let’s just assume he decides to run and that he’s in roughly the same mental and physical condition that he is now. How can any Republican hope to compete with him?

In defeat, Trump would be in a position unlike that of other one-term presidents. Typically, one-term presidents are written off as losers, and their parties run away from them. Think of Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter, or George H.W. Bush. After 1980, nobody ran for office claiming, “I’m a Jimmy Carter Democrat.” Bush I was never a coveted speaker in conservative circles after his loss.

[softboywriting]

Sugar, I’m Goin’ Down// Bad Boy Shawn // Chapter Six

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Chapter Five Recap:

Shawn sighs. He’s frustrated. “I’m sorry for everything that happened. I am. I can’t take it back, I can’t change it. I know this, but I can try to make amends and like I said I don’t want your forgiveness. I want another chance, no jokes, no Andrew, no one but you and me.”

You look up at Shawn and he’s got tears in his eyes. Something inside you breaks, seeing him like this, so vulnerable. “Shawn…” you sit up and he clenches his jaw and looks toward the window, eyes trained on nothing in particular. “Shawn, I’m sorry.” you don’t know why you’re apologizing, you hadn’t done anything wrong, it just felt like you had to apologize. Shawn’s nose scrunches up and his cheeks flush as he starts to cry. It’s heart wrenching, watching this guy who you’ve known to be nothing but a snarky sarcastic ‘bad boy’ fall apart right in front of you.

“Fucking shit,” he mutters and wipes at his face. “I shouldn’t have come over,” he says and heads for the door before you can say anything else.

Shawn shows up three days later in the middle of the night. You hadn’t heard from him since the morning you skipped class. You took it upon yourself to make copies of your notes and homework for him in case he needed it. After he left you had thought about everything he said. He clearly had feelings for you, feelings you didn’t know were so strong and you realized you had feelings for him too. It hurt, deep in your chest, when he had started crying. The way his nose scrunched up and he looked away, it destroyed you. Seeing him like that made you put aside the panty prank and want to hold him and protect him. He was turning out to be less of a bad boy and more of a boy in a bad situation.

So there he was, standing on your front porch and staring at you when you opened the door. You had been awake studying for a test and hadn’t realized the time until you heard the doorbell ring. Shawn looked pretty terrible even in the dim light. He looked like a man who hadn’t eaten or slept in a few days.

“I forgot to give these back,” he says, voice rough, strained. He holds out the panties he had taken from you for the prank.

“I don’t want them back. Why would I want to remember what happened every time I put them on?” you cross your arms and give him a questioning look. Was he serious? Why would he even have kept them?

Shawn shakes them toward you and says, “Just take them. I can’t take them back with me.”

“Then throw them in the trash. I do not want them.”

“I can’t just pitch them. They’re yours, it feels wrong.”

You take the panties from him and walk out of the door past him, around the side of the porch and to the trash bin holder. You lift the lid and drop them in while he watches you. “It’s easy as that. They’re just underwear, Shawn, not a diamond ring or something valuable like that.” You return to the porch and look him over, he really does look like shit. “What’s going on with you? You look terrible.”

“Thanks,” he says with a sarcastic smile.

“Come in,” you say as you step inside and he doesn’t move. You grab his arm and pull him along. He follows along like a lost puppy dog and lord make you a liar if it wasn’t the cutest thing ever. “Jacket off.”

Shawn looks at you confused and you flip your hand at him in a ‘come on let’s go’ sort of gesture as you shut and lock up the front door. He reluctantly pulls off the black denim jacket and you see his forearms are bruised as hell. He puts his jacket on the stairwell banister and you walk over to him, hands going to his arms. You hadn’t meant to get this close, you only wanted him to come and so you could talk about the other day. You look at his arms and there are huge bruises, as if he had been blocking something, and getting hit several times. “It’s fine,” he says quietly.

You take a closer look at his neck and there’s a reddish purple bruise peeking out from his collarbone on the left. You can only imagine what his chest might look like. Your stomach knots up at the thought. There is a bruise and a little cut on his eyebrow, another light bruise under his jaw on the right side. You look down and grab his hands and look them over, red and purple, raw on the knuckles. “You’ve been fighting?” It’s not so much of a question, as it’s a statement and you both know it.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Shawn, honey, what happened?”

Shawn’s eyebrows go up at “honey”. You flush, realizing how it just slipped out like that but you don’t make an attempt to correct yourself. “I had to deal with some stuff.”

“Your friends?” you ask and he looks away. “Tell me. Did they find out you helped me?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he sounds hollow, eyes blank as they stare off into the living room.

“Shawn. Is everything okay? Tell me if-”

He looks back quickly, eyes snapping to yours. He looks angry now, eyes full of hurt and you close your mouth, lips pulled into a thin line. “Don’t make me tell you. Please. I did what I had to do.”

You lead him into the living room and sit him down on the sofa. “You don’t have to tell me, not until you want to. If you want to.” You bend down and start unlacing his boots and he pulls his foot back against the sofa. You look up at him with a glare and he just gives you one back.

“I can take my own boots off,” he grumbles and pulls his foot up over his leg to unlace it.

“I’ll make something to drink then. Tea? Coffee? Water?” you move around the sofa and he reaches back, grabbing your arm and you look down.

“Do you have any alcohol?”

“Probably, Ashley usually keeps some in her room.”

“Anything is fine.”

You give him a worried look before heading to Ashley’s room to see if she still had a bottle of jack daniels on her desk. She wasn’t big into whiskey so it was only half gone when you find it next to some strawberry cream flavored vodka on her dresser. She won’t mind if you take it, you would replace it if she did.

Two hours later and Shawn’s killed the half bottle of jack. You made yourself tea and brought him a couple cokes to mix with the jack. He mixed the first two drinks and then started drinking it straight on ice. You put on the tv and the two of you started watching a Chopped marathon. An hour into the marathon, Shawn pulled you against him and you rested your head on his shoulder. An hour and a half in, he pulled you on his lap, hand around your back, tugging you until you were sitting across his lap. He wraps his arm around you and holds you against his chest, kissing your head.

You were still sitting his lap, legs stretched out across his legs and the cushions. He has his lips against your temple, hand in your hair and holding your head against his. He’d been sitting like this for a while now, watching tv over the top of your head. You didn’t mind, knowing he needed this. He needed you. You felt like maybe you gave into him too easily, but then you remember how he broke down in your bedroom and you didn’t care. You would give him anything, and you think that maybe you’ve always felt this way, even when you were angry at him.

“I got everyone caught,” he says softly. “It was you or them.”

“Hmm? Me or them?” you lean away and his hand falls from your hair. “What did you do?”

Shawn’s eyes are glassy and his cheeks are flushed. He’s pretty drunk and you think he looks like he is about to fall asleep. What a cute sleepy drunk. He looks so soft and uninhibited. “Called the cops and fought my friends. They were getting ready to do a run, a drop off for some college party.” Shawn leans his head back and laughs. “They started asking questions about Tom and Andrew. Then they were talking about you, how you got them caught. I let my mouth get the best of me though.”

“You told them you were there?”

“Yeah, told them how I laid Andrew out flat. He used to be my best friend but then he became a greedy piece of shit. I was so pissed about how they were talking about how Andrew should have taken care of you and shit. I couldn't stop myself. I should have kept my mouth shut.” Shawn rolls his eyes, trying to focus. “They came at me pretty fast, Greg and Teddy just came in swinging and Mike had a bat. I’m faster than them though. I got that bat and...” he shakes his head, a sad smile on his face. “I was swinging for the fences. Honestly, they should have known better.  I’m the one who they always used as the muscle when we did runs. There was a reason Andrew liked bringing me along.” He laughs breathily.

“You were?” you raise your eyebrows. Shawn was a big guy, tall, broad shouldered, clearly very fit. “Did you fight a lot?”

“With my friends?”

“No, when you went on runs.”

“Not a lot, but shit happened sometimes. Anyway, I got into it pretty badly with them.” He waves a hand over himself. “As you can see.” He lifts his shirt up just a little and you can see a bruise on his hip bone. “It was a mess when the cops showed up, but I had already left.” Shawn rubs his hand over his jaw and looks at you. “All I could think about was keeping you safe. I didn’t want them to come after you because they had found out you were the one that got Andrew and Tom arrested.” You get up quickly and Shawn grabs for your hand. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you. I’m upset you got yourself hurt for no reason,” you cross your arms. “If you wouldn’t have opened your big mouth then you would have been fine. You could have just slipped out and they would have been arrested. But no, you had to play the cocky bad boy and then pick a fight.” Shawn looks down. He doesn’t say anything, just stares at the coffee table. “Now you’re all beaten and bruised.”

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles and you sigh heavily. He looks like he’s barely awake now, eyes falling closed and his head nodding down against his chest.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” you ask with a little laugh.

Shawn smiles a little and looks up at you. “I dunno...make me a better person?”

“You’re already doing that by yourself,” you fluff his hair and he slumps over on the couch, face pressed into the armrest.

“I’m doin’ it for you,” he slurs before passing out. You stare down at him and put a blanket over him from the back of the sofa. You clean up your drink cups and then come back to put a pillow under his head and he grabs your arm. “I mean it. Wanna be better so you don’t hate me.”

“I don’t hate you, Shawn...don’t think I ever really did.”

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

A - Z (Fandom ‘Come At Me, Friend’ Meme)

WELL THEN *cracks knuckles* HERE WE GO 

(all 26 letters behind a cut bc this is very long)

A - Your current OTP(s)/OT3(s)/OTX(s)

As of this hour, my top OTPs are Penelope/Schneider from ODAAT and Joyce/Hopper from Stranger Things. But I have endless numbers of them, even within each fandom.

B - A pairing you initially didn’t consider but someone changed your mind

Jean/Alice from TDBM. 

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will (be nice)

Um…hmm. I’m such a multishipper, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about my NOTPs. I’ve never been onboard the Keens from The Blacklist, though. Not even a little. I only enjoyed Tom in his original villainous state.

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t (again: be nice)

A couple of my spouse’s faves, I really wish I liked too, especially Sam/Josh and Mal/Simon. I don’t like one of the characters in each very much, so I’ve never been able to get into them–even though I understand them, and have had fun writing them…I just don’t love them too.

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom, if so, what

Yeah, mostly graphics, though. I don’t think I’ve ever written crackfic. I did New York Times Minus Content edits for TDBM, a ton of those. Also Sext Message Error sets for Lizzington and for Josh/Donna. And Welcome To Nightvale sets for iZombie and Lizzington. And OTP Bot sets for Lizzington.

And this isn’t EXACTLY crack, but my original tumblr claim to fame was this Hamilton/TWW crossover that got reblogged by Lin himself.

F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom

Mm, the first time I actively joined a fandom was Buffy, and I was about 14 when that started for me…so as of this year I’ll have been in that fandom for 20 years! But I’ve been a fangirl literally my whole life, I just didn’t really join fandoms before the internet, and I started using the internet more in junior high and HS.

G - Do you remember your first OTP, if so who was in it

Lou/Joey from Brotherly Love, or Claire/Trevor from Cupid (original run), or Dharma and Greg, or Allison/Wade from CryBaby, or Idgie/Ruth from Fried Green Tomatoes. I was a shipping prodigy, and the couples I was obsessed with as a literal child blur together a bit in the timeline, so I’m not completely sure which came first.

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., tv shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.) 

TV shows.

I - Has tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why

The Aaron Tveit fandom made me uncomfortable watching BrainDead before I even had the chance to decide if I liked it or not. Most fandoms I love, though. I prefer to ignore the drama and focus on the people I actually like. 

J - Name a fandom you didn’t care/think about until you saw it all over tumblr

SO MANY. Parks and Rec, TDBM, Stranger Things…a significant portion of my watchlist comes from this hellsite by now–I have friends with good taste.

K -Say something nice about someone in any of your fandoms

@mossdonnatella is in a lot of my fandoms. She is a much better fic writer than she thinks she is!!

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves (chars you’re neutral on are fair game, as are chars you dislike)

I really ended up disliking Jacob a lot, on Grace and Frankie. But I will say that in the beginning he is very respectful of Frankie’s boundaries and tries to be patient with her, and I did like that.

M - Say something genuinely nice about a ship that you don’t ship (or its shippers, or anything related to you)

I don’t actively ship Jancy on Stranger Things after seeing S1 (I don’t really ship Steve/Nancy either, though…I think I mostly just ship Nancy x happiness) but the moment when her mom knocks on her bedroom door and they reach for each others’ hands instinctively? That is a damn fine understated sweet connection moment and I really enjoyed and believed it.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice)

Okay since a lot of my top fandoms are for shows that ended a long time ago, I’m going with One Day At A Time. In fic or in canon, I want to see a lot more of Schneider being Penelope’s BFF and her confidant. I want more serious!Schneider moments bc it turns out the actor rocks at them, and I want to see Pen really get to move on from Victor as her kids get older, I want real confirmation that she’s finally past any possibility of reconciliation with him bc she deserves SO MUCH BETTER.

O - Choose a song at random, which ship or character does it remind you of

Randomizing my music gave me “Quiet” by MiLCK feat. GW Sirens and Capital Blend. 

Sample lyrics:

Cuz no one knows me, no one ever willIf I don’t say something, take that dry blue pillThey may see a monster, they may run awayBut I have to do thisI can’t keep quiet, no A one woman riot

Despite the mature meaning behind the lyrics, and probably because I’m watching Stranger Things right now, it reminds me of Eleven, the tiny badass fighting her way to freedom.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas)

Alright, I’m gonna invent one right off the top of my head right here and now since you asked. Um… a One Day At A Time AU in which Penelope meets Schneider not as her landlord but as a patient, once she becomes an NP. Doctor/patient “okay if you won’t stop asking me out then get a new doctor so I can say yes” fluff ensues.

Q - A ship you’ve abandoned and why

Lizzington. I’m technically still writing fic for it bc I have a chapter fic to finish, but I haven’t watched the show in years, I avoid content for it, and have no interest in it anymore besides the phantom limb feeling of having been so invested in a ship for that long and making friends around it.

R - A pairing you ship that you don’t think anyone else ships

Well, since I mentioned it earlier, I think I’m the only person ever to watch the scenes Bud and Brianna have together in Grace and Frankie and think “that should really be a thing.” 

Also…Kate/Donna from The West Wing. Based entirely on one scene.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

I genuinely don’t understand this question, sorry. What’s an ‘example’ of my headcanon, and how does that relate to prompts? If somebody wants to explain this to me, I’ll answer it. 

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending, about anything at all (gender identity, sexual or romantic orientation, extended family, sexual preferences like top/bottom/switch, relationship with poetry, seriously anything)

Yep yep yep. Andy was the leak, not Toby, and that is the hill I will die on always. I’m sure I have others, but that’s the big one.

U - 5 favorite characters from 5 different fandoms

Toby Ziegler (TWW), Alice Harvey (TDBM), Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls), Jim Hopper (Stranger Things), and Spencer Hastings (from what I just saw of PLL with @actuallylukedanes). 

V - 3 OTPs from 3 different fandoms

Luke/Lorelai, Gilmore Girls. Parker/Hardison/Eliot, Leverage. Joyce/Hopper, Stranger Things.

W - 5 favorite ships and 5 kinks you like best for said ships

Josh/Donna (TWW), Donna in control. Matthew/Alice (TDBM), hurt/comfort sex. Alvareider (ODAAT), “whoops are we kissing wait do we like each other?”Jared/Miss Parker (The Pretender), conflicted kisses up against wallsI’m having trouble thinking of a 5th one but I used to really like Lizzington angry!sex bc damn that ship was angsty

X - top 5-10 characters who are yoUR PRECIOUS BABIES AND YOU WILL DIE DEFENDING THEM

Eleven, Toby Ziegler, Schneider, Lena Luthor, Logan Echolls, literally every main character on The Good Place.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)

Game of Thrones, Agents of Shield, Doctor Who (though I finally have started this one!), Jane the Virgin, The Worst Witch, and lots more…I like learning about fandoms secondhand. 

Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go (prompts optional but encouraged)

Every single one of these tiny Stranger Things children in S1 is the epitome of epic friendship and I love it. Mike jumps off a cliff to protect Dustin and Dustin’s willing to get his teeth cut out to protect Mike and Lucas offers a sincere apology when he’s wrong, something most adults still suck at, and Will tells Mike the truth even when he would benefit from lying and Eleven chooses death to save them all and they are beautiful and perfect and I love them.

[theforgottengn]

And Hope To Die

Characters: Quebec, Romeo, Mike, Lima, Oscar, November, Smith

Word Count: 2,654

Trigger Warning: Slight Swearing.

A/N: I finally figured out something to write for November and her boys! (This takes place before they get Charlie on the team.) I wanted to put the whole memory planting and activating stuff in this one to show you how that works but I couldn’t decide who to focus on for it so I didn’t do that. Also this is heavily Robec and Mima centric.

Summary: November Company gets called on a mission to track down a spy believed to be a double agent. Promises aren’t made. Arguments are had. Shots are fired in more ways than one. Fists fly. Coffee is chugged. Rubber is burnt. What more could go wrong? Click the read more if you want…

XXXXX

They exchanged the exact same conversation before every mission. Something that had started as a light-hearted joke years ago had become a staple in their lives. Neither thought that it would balloon into something so important and yet the three simple words had grown with them as they aged and matured. It had become something so much more than mouth movements and vocal sounds combining to create words. A ritual of sorts they needed to do every time they left the base or when they made a promise to one another. Today, Romeo started their mutual habit this time when he tapped Quebec on the shoulder as the team went to their briefing.

But before Quebec could turn around to talk to him Romeo snuck to his side; and they walked in perfect step with each other.

“Let’s finish this one quickly, yeah? Promise you’ll come back in one piece?”

“A promise is a promise; no matter how small.”

“Horton Hears a Who after all this time? Are you bloody serious, Q?”

Quebec shrugged; his quotes couldn’t always be winners. But the Horton quote was more than that. It was the only thing he would say when Romeo started the conversation. From the very first time the two of them exchanged the promise he half-quoted the movie. And that very first time it was in fact a small promise. One that Quebec had ended up breaking later that same day. He was only a kid after all and he was learning how to fight. Getting badly hurt was pretty much inevitable. He remembered that day as clearly as the sun that shone in the bright blue sky above their heads. The white coats weren’t allowed to touch their memories from training anyway. And even though memory wipes were a semi-constant thing movie quotes had been drilled into his head, from repeated watches and from reciting, and so they stayed.

He actually changed the quote ever so slightly but he wasn’t going to tell Romeo that.

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart,” Quebec said with a small nod as he ran a finger over his chest in an X motion. But before he could return the question to Romeo their conversation was interrupted. Not five seconds ago, or so it seemed, the others were with them and talking amongst themselves. Now the rest of the team had gotten pretty far ahead of them in a few minutes. November understood the importance of their ritual of sorts but she was not having it today. She stood with a hand on her hip and an annoyed look on her face. Mike cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled.

“Y’all coming or what?”

They jogged over to catch up with the others as they all filed into the White Room. Smith was waiting from them with a look of exasperation on her face. It was already obvious that they would be short on time for this mission so they hurried. But they didn’t get to finish so they just had to hope that everything would turn out okay.

XXXXX

“Alright team let’s get down to brass tacks.”

Smith stood at the front of the room behind a white desk. She wore a navy blue suit, with a black top, and black heels. The heels gave her a bit of added height but she still stood quite shorter than the spies in her care. A whiteboard hung on the wall directly behind her, a projector sat in the corner to her left, and a small stack of dossiers lay on the desk. Each of the six spies sat at a long black oak table and grabbed the dossiers as their handler handed one to them.

After passing out the dossiers Smith went back to the front of the room and taped a picture to the whiteboard. Then she wrote a name with dry erase marker underneath the picture in thick, blocky, handwriting. Making bullet points she jotted down a few key facts about the intended target. When she was done she turned back to the group.

“This is your target.”

The picture was of a white man with blonde hair. He looked to be about in his mid forties. Wearing a black suit in the photo it looked to be one taken for a company ID card. He had this look in his eyes that they couldn’t quite place. It was either apathy or boredom or sadness something else entirely.

“He looks like he’s been rode hard and put up wet.”

“Mike look at him,” Romeo retorted. “And I mean really look, mate. He’s obviously pretty bloody angry at someone. Most likely his boss who made him come into work early to get his photo taken.”

“We all go a little mad sometimes,” Quebec quoted to no response.

“Yer all wrong. He looks like death on a prin stick.”

“Bubba, please. He’s not sick,” Mike said loudly as he leaned over the edge of the table to talk to Lima who sat at the very far end. The two of them had got in a fight not to long before they were called over. Lima had made fun of Mike’s teeth or the way his ears stuck out a little bit and neither man had calmed down on the jog. And the way Mike was talking it looked like they might fight all over again.

“The man looks like he was just told that Chevrolet stopped making trucks. His dog probably died. Or his momma. Have a little respect for the dead, will you?”

“According to his dossier he works for the DGSE. Why do we need to go after him?” November asked loudly; bringing her teammates’ minds back to the briefing. Times like these she really loved the way HERACLES made them travel to their missions. There was no fighting or arguing of any kind. Her question quickly shut them up and allowed their handler to answer.

“We have reason to believe Alexandre Rousseau, Le L’araignee Loup to his colleagues, has changed sides and has become a double agent. But the DGSE and the CIA couldn’t bring him in. Any agents that got close to him either died or mysteriously disappeared. Now he’s in deep cover; hiding out who knows where but…”

“We’re going to France?” Oscar half asked, half yelled in excitement.

“No. Greece. Where he was seen last.”

XXXXX

Hours later, after landing and being activated, they met up at the chosen rendezvous. Daily Dose a, small and charming, coffee shop that sat in the heart of Kalamata, Greece. It was the middle of the day so Psaron Street was practically empty. Normal people would be at work, school, or home and most likely eating lunch. The small, 20 square foot, shop barely had room for the six of them. It didn’t matter much since they weren’t staying that long. November walked up to the counter and ordered for everyone.

“One large caramel macchiato, one lemon poppy seed scone, one large black coffee, one large hot cocoa, a bottle of water, and… Greg? What do you want?” she asked turning to Romeo.

“Is that why you’re calling yourself Greg?” Quebec cut in before Ro could answer. False identities were a staple of their job as spies but Greg was such a lame name. Then again Mike was going by Fred, Lima was Lee, November was Em, Oscar was Devin and he was Jack. And they had to stick the codenames regardless of how much he hated his. Quebec wanted to go by Luke or Hal or something but their handler wouldn’t let him pick his alias.

At least it wasn’t Greg.

False identities were also the reason they all wore undercover outfits. November wore a black, spaghetti-strapped crop top, a red leather jacket, light washed jeans and black Chucks. She also wore a black baseball cap backwards on her head, lipstick, eye makeup, and nail polish that complimented her outfit. Mike wore a black shirt, an unbuttoned red flannel shirt, a brown leather jacket, medium washed jeans, and tan combat boots. Romeo wore black pants, a white v-neck, a navy blue trench coat, brown Tom Fords, and a watch on his left hand. Oscar wore an olive bomber jacket with black sleeve ends, which was adorned with a few of his favorite pins, a navy dress shirt, dark washed jeans with the bottoms turned up, and brown laced dress boots. Lima wore a navy beanie, white tennis shoes, a dark gray dress shirt, a white t-shirt underneath, a dark washed jean jacket, black jeans, and gray street sneakers. Quebec wore a navy t-shirt with the Back to the Future logo, but it read I drive at 88 mph just in case instead of the movie title, with the DeLorean underneath. He also wore a pair of jeans, a white hoodie that zipped up sideways, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes.

For all intents and purposes the group looked like a bunch of tourists completely unprepared for the country’s heat.

“That’s his name ya idjit.”

Rolling his eyes Quebec turned on Mike; “They have about sixty-three kinds of coffee here with about forty-two different things to put it in and you just get a regular coffee?!”

November shot Mike a sharp look and he crossed his arms; grumbling but said nothing. None of them had any time to argue. Time was of the essence and they needed to leave. But they also needed to eat. Wasting time with stupid arguments was a complete waste of the little bit of time they had.

“A hazelnut iced coffee, love,” Romeo said when he could finally get a word in.

“Name?” the barista asked when he confirmed that he got the full order.

“Em,” the team leader said with a smile.

As the barista made their orders the group stood around making small talk. When he finished he passed the drinks over the counter. November handed the drinks to their respective recipients but left hers. Reaching into the front pocket of her duffle she pulled out a small, square-shaped, gray wallet. She paid a couple bucks over the actual cost and the barista looked at her with a confused look.

“We don’t accept… Oh,” he said with realization. “You must be Americans. Are you here on holiday?”

“Oh no. We’re here for work,” she responded with a smile.

Walking out of the coffee shop with their drinks in hand the group passed their getaway car and continued walking down the street. They passed a many homeless people sitting on the sidewalk. Many were in tattered clothes and shivering despite the heat. An old man was playing a baglamas, singing a song, and had a small, black, felt hat at his feet. The country was still sliding into a depression despite Tsipras’ attempts to fix it and his recent claims of an up-swing.

As the group walked they began to discuss the mission.

“According to what we know Rousseau might still be in the area. He was last seen at the Sfera Club a couple times only a few weeks ago. If he’s here then he’s probably staying somewhere near the nightclub. Somewhere where he could easily pay cash and not get second looks.”

“The only place that might fit his MO is Galaxy. A cheap, 2-star hotel, which will probably accept cash from anyone without double checking. And it’s only a five minute walk from the Sfera,” Romeo answered.

“He was also seen driving a jalopy. Bastard probably thought it was good cover; reckon he’s still lugging it around?”

“He could be, Fred, he could be. I say we change into uniforms and then head down there.”

“Em,” Lima said; an anxious look on his face. “You said it yourself; he was spotted weeks ago. He’s probably not even in Greece anymore.”

“Stop worrying, Lee, and let’s get going.”

XXXXX

Once they all changed the group met back up at the car, a silver Honda Odyssey, and piled in. Mike expertly pulled them out of his professional parallel parking job and then slammed his foot on the gas. Lima, who always had to call shotgun so he could try to quell Mike’s recklessness, gripped the grab-handle above his door and began yelling at the Getaway. The four who sat in the back tried their best to ignore the argument that was brewing and focus on the mission.

“One of these days you’re gonnae get us killed, Mike!”

“I haven’t done it yet, have I?” Mike replied with a smirk.

“Jist coz you hae a death wish doesn’t mean you hae tae drag us alang your reckless path. Dae you e’en know th’ chances of us dyin’ oan this mission?”

“No. I don’t. But lemme guess, Bubba, You’re gon’ tell me, ain’t cha?” Mike said very condescendingly as he gripped the steering wheel and pushed on the gas.

The speedometer made its way to 90mph when the street signs clearly read 80 kmh. Since they were in Greece, and not somewhere that used miles, Lima had to quickly do the mental math. After a few minutes he gave up since conversions weren’t something he was good at. Watching the speedometer Lima’s face got redder and his lips pursed together. Times like these, when Mike was acting more reckless than usual to stubbornly prove a point, he couldn’t comprehend why he even cared about the crazy son of a bitch.

“Ye feckin’ divit! People’s li’es ur at stake haur an’ ye want tae act loch yoo’re gonnae die the-day? Whit is wrang wi’ ye?”

Mike laughed at how thick Lima’s accent had gotten in such a short amount of time.

“I done told you a million times I can’t understand you when you’re mad. Surprised I can the rest of the time.”

Lima’s expression turned to shock and then back to anger again as he turned away to stare out the window. Stopping at a red light Mike turned to look at Lima. He understood where the worry came from and he knew he shouldn’t do and say such dumb stuff all the time. But it was hard for him to control his recklessness and it’s not like anyone else helped much in that regard. All the doctors and psychologists they were forced to see during training never helped any of them. The only person who ever tried to help him stop was Lima and all he ever did was laugh in his face.

Just like how he laughed in death’s face.

Reaching out a hand Mike was about to lay it on Lima’s shoulder but then he saw the light turn green. Turning his body back to the steering wheel Mike eased the car out of the stop. And instead of gunning down the road like the madman that he was at times he drove the exact speed limit. Seeing Oscar reach over to tap Lima on the shoulder made Mike relax a bit. Oscar was sure to calm him down and get the man to stop worrying for a little while. He sighed and wiggled his shoulders; took a gloved hand off the wheel and cracked his knuckles against his knee.

“Simplest breathing exercise, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You have to sit up as straight as you can. Now, close your eyes, and just breathe through your nose. In for eight and out for ten. Then in for four and out for six. Keep going and increasing by two until you feel better. You can listen to my calming mix if you want.”

Lima took the ear buds and began breathing like Oscar instructed. November shot Mike an angry look through the rearview mirror as the group drove on in silence. When Lima finished and re-opened his eyes Mike had parked the car in the hotel’s lot.

[gokinjeespot]

off the rack #1156

Monday, March 20, 2017

 It's the first day of spring but you would still think it's the dead of winter here in Ottawa. I hear it snowed in Vancouver recently too. I don't consider spring starting until I can't see anymore snow on the ground around our neighbourhood. I figure that will be the middle of April this year. I've already seen a robin at our house though. We put up a bird feeder last fall and it attracts many birds. Mostly house sparrows but we see finches, juncos, nuthatches, chickadee-dee-dees and our favourites the cardinals and woodpeckers. The male cardinals are bright red-orange and the females are a mocha coffee colour. We have had downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers come and feed. Watching the birds outside our window is like watching fish swim around an aquarium. Very calming. Until the undesirables show up. Starlings and squirrels snark up a lot of feed and scare away the little birdies. The squirrels have gotten so brazen now that I have to go outside to shoo them off the feeder. I used to be able to do that just by banging on the window. Stupid squirrels.

 We lost one of the greatest comic book artists on March 18 when Bernie Wrightson succumbed to cancer and passed away. I have always been a bigger fan of the art side of our hobby and Bernie's art gave me goosebumps. His pen and ink work was stunning. Rest in peace Mr. Wrightson.

 Punisher #10 - Becky Cloonan (writer) Matt Horak (art) Frank Martin with Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I'm disappointed in Matt. This whole issue takes place at a sea port in Newfoundland and he didn't put one Canadian flag in any of the panels. Even a little one would have been nice. It looks like another dire situation for Frank but the bad guys screwed themselves. You'll see the obvious giveaway, but maybe I'm wrong.

 Uncanny Avengers #21 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Kevin Libranda (art) Dono Sanchez Almara with Protobunker (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). If there's a fill-in artist who makes me just as happy to read this book as when regular artist Pepe Larraz draws it, then it's Kevin Libranda. I liked how Deadpool found a way to defeat the Red Skull's Professor X powers. I wonder if they're going to bring back old Charles.

 Batman #19 - Tom King (writer) David Finch (pencils) Danny Miki, Trevor Scott & Sandra Hope (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). The art in this issue is pretty awesome. Part 4 of "I Am Bane" has the big bad guy wading through Batman's rogues gallery one by one. Almost every Bat villain you can think of get's his licks in. odd that there are no women. I was also bothered by the fact that they're all loose inside Arkham asylum. How are they going to be get back in custody? The last page leads into the inevitable final battle between Bane and Batman and I want to see who wins. Like I couldn't guess.

 American Gods #1 - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). I started a list of books I want to read after the Snail closed because I found myself with a lot of extra time. American Gods by Neil Gaiman is on that list. I've been told what the premise of the book is so I had a bit of background going into reading this first issue of the comic book adaptation. Reading the comic book is going to enhance my reading of the novel when I get around to it because I will visualize Scott's depictions of the characters in my head and they are very nice ones. The back-up story "Somewhere in America" by P. Craig Russell (script & art) and Lovern Kindzierski (colours) was a hot piece of erotica about unsafe sex. This gets added to my "must read" list.

 Totally Awesome Hulk #17 - Greg Pak (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) Cory Petit (letters). This hasn't been a solo book for the last few issues with Amadeus hanging out with his friends but I am still enjoying it. This issue is a good place to start as the team has to figure out a way to save themselves and some civilians from being eaten by aliens. You could call these guys the Asian Avengers because what happens in this issue gives them something to avenge. If you jump on here you won't want to jump off until you read the next issue.

 Batwoman #1 - Marguerite Bennett & James Tynion IV (writers) Steve Epting (art) Jeromy Cox (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Kate chases after a mystery woman from her past after dealing with a terrorist in Istanbul. I like how she's teamed up with Julia Pennyworth.

 Kill or be Killed #7 - Ed Brubaker (writer) Sean Phillips (art) Elizabeth Breitweiser (colours). This issue features Dylan's ex-girlfriend Kira, now with purple hair instead of red. I'm glad she's still hanging around because boy does she have problems. We start off during a session with her therapist and get a lot of background. I love this kind of stuff because it makes the characters more engaging. Kira might need an emergency session after she decides to do something stupid at Dylan's place.

 Monsters Unleashed #5 - Cullen Bunn (writer) Adam Kubert (art) David Curiel & Michael Garland (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Okay, Kid Kaiju comes through to save the world from the Leviathon Mother, showing up all the Marvel super heroes. I guess that's why he's getting his own book. Look for it to hit the racks on April 19. Unless it's drawn by an artist that I really like I will take a pass. The Kid's creations are more suited to fans of action figures or Saturday morning cartoons than an old coot like me.

 Super Sons #2 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This is great. I don't know why but I love really well written comics about young super heroes like this and Champions. Maybe it's because I can't let go of being a kid. Damian and Jonathan have to deal with Super Lex in order to get a lead on Kid Amazo, the very bad boy they're after. Everything doesn't go smoothly and then, uh-oh, their dads find out about what they're doing. I can't wait to see what happens next.

 Wild Storm #2 - Warren Ellis (writer) John Davis-Hunt (art) Steve Buccellato (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). This 24 issue series is very ambitious and there are a lot of players involved. If I was a new reader I would be wondering who are these people? Some people work for International Operations (IO) and some people work for Halo. The two organisations don't like each other and they're both after Angela Spica, the Engineer. I hope that helps with getting into this story. One of my favourite things from the old series was the Door which could transport people to different places. I think we're introduced to a new Door this issue and she's a lot better looking than Lockjaw.

 Ms. Marvel #16 - G. Willow Wilson (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Ian Herring (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I like this story about a malevolent computer virus and it looks like Kamala can't defeat it. That is until she gets a clue from her old pal Bruno. I can't wait to find out how Doc.x gets deleted.

 Superman #19 - Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason (writers) Patrick Gleason (pencils) Mick Gray (inks) John Kalisz (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Part 3 of "Superman Reborn" looks like it might resurrect the pre-New 52 Lois and Clark. I hope not. That would confuse me to no end and then I would get annoyed and stop reading these amazing Superman books. Patrick draws the creepiest Mr. Mxyzptlk ever. I wonder if they're going to do the saying the imp's name backwards thing?

 Guardians of the Galaxy #18 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Richard Isanove (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I love these issues featuring one team member. Angela's up this time around and it's a beautifully drawn fight scene between her and some alien bounty hunter. The issue ends with a major threat heading for Earth. It starts with Th and rhymes with anus.

 Spider-Man #14 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Sara Pichelli (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Nothing serious between Miles and Gwen despite what the cover shows. This is one of those issues that annoy Bendis detractors because nothing really happens. The heroes hop from one dimension to another and each wind up in different ones by the end of this issue. I can easily forgive because of Sara's art.

 Mighty Thor #17 - Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The gods of Asgard and the Imperial Guard of the Shi'Ar finally come to blows in part 3 of "The Asgard/Shi'Ar War". Meanwhile Thor can't seem to win much in the challenge of the gads against the Shi'Ar gods Sharra and K'ythri. Mjolnir is sure getting a workout though. This book is not only chock full of action but it's visually stunning as well.

 Amazing Spider-Man #25 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I wish you didn't have to pay $9.99 US for this one issue starting off "The Osborn Identity" story. That's a bit much for one comic book don't you think? Sure you get a bunch of back-up stories but none of those really matter to the main story. You do get 40 pages of Stuart and Wade goodness though, so why couldn't they have printed just that and charged $4.99 US? As you can probably tell Norman Osborn is back so the Green Goblin can't be far behind. I did like the team-up with Mockingbird with a hint of Peter and Bobbi possibly becoming more than friends. Here are the other stories that pad this issue. A fight with Clash by Christos Gage (writer) Todd Nauck (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters) which has the old "it's not what you think" twist at the end. A silly Tsum-Tsum story for the younger readers by Jacob Chabot (writer) Ray-Anthony Height (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Jim Campbell (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Thank Thor that was a blessedly short 6 pages. A Parker Industries mishap at their Shanghai facility by James Asmus (writer) Tana Ford (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). A young Spider-Man story about a boy and his dog by Hannah Blumenreich (writer & pencils) Jordan Gibson (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Some Aunt May gags by Cale Atkinson which were even sillier than the Tsum-Tsum story. And finally to ease the pain of having to buy an overpriced comic book, the return of another Spider-Man nemesis. One thing that "The Clone Conspiracy" did was bring back Otto Octavius, Doc Ock. He now has a youthful body thanks to Miles Warren's cloning process. So meet The Superior Octopus by Dan Slott (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Cam Smith (inks) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). He's bad-ass now plus he's got Hydra backing. Here's a prediction: Somewhere in the future Peter and Norman have to team up to fight Otto and Hydra.

 Archie #18 - Mark Waid (writer) Pete Woods (art & colours) Jack Morelli (letters). This issue proves that love is blind. Archie and Veronica have nothing in common and should not be together. Betty and Dilton Doiley are more compatible. I wish I was Dilton Doiley.