#you can’t tell me he wouldn’t have had an undercut at some point before committing to the ponytails | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fandoms-are-my-lifestyle · 3 years

Text

I got it all (but I don’t ever wanna grow up)

The Bright Sessions • Adam Hayes / Caleb Michaels, Mark Bryant / Oliver Ritz Rating: T • ~5.2k words • AO3 For @staystrange tw: description of panic attacks

He fills Mark in on everything that happened. It seems like so long ago now, before everything with Sodalis Eximius and Adam and Oliver, and yet it’s still so fresh in his mind - the horror of influencing someone else’s emotions now amplified by the knowledge of what it looks like when someone does use that ability for evil. He will never be like Blackwell - Adam certainly spends enough time trying to remind him of that, and though he will never truly believe him, it helps - but the knowledge of what he could do still leaves him waking up in a cold sweat. His nightmares place him in Blackwell’s stead, the book a constant murmur of emotions telling him how to feel. It’s overwhelming and terrifying and -

“Caleb?” Mark says after a moment. “Have you considered taking off for a year?”

Or: Caleb struggles with his powers, his life decisions, and what he wants after the events of The College Tapes.

The day Adam gets into Yale's English graduate program begins one of the worst mental breakdowns of Caleb Michaels’s life.

It's late Friday morning; they're lying on Adam's bed in his apartment, still under the covers. Adam's hair tickles Caleb's chin and they probably both have an awful case of morning breath, but Caleb wouldn't move for all the money in the world. He finally has this again, has Adam again, and even three months after everything he hasn't stopped marveling at his luck.

Adam's blue mixes Caleb’s yellow satisfaction, they're green with contentment, and Caleb relishes in it, delighting in the quiet of -

BANG.

"Adam?!" A voice shouts from outside. Caitlin. "Adam, did you check?! Did you-"

Adam goes from warm-comfort-blue to black-anxious-sludge in a manner of seconds, eyes and hands anxiously darting everywhere.

"Phone... phone... Caleb, where's my-"

Caleb wordlessly hands him his phone, the screen already unlocked to show Adam’s home screen, but Adam barely spares him a glance. Caleb can hear Adam’s heart racing, and his own heartbeat picks up the pace to match it. There are four awful, agonizing beats of silence, before -

“I GOT IN!”

The exhilaration hits Caleb in a rush of blue, flooding his core with exhilaration, and they’re screaming, jumping on Adam’s bed, and dancing around; Caitlin joins them, and the three dance around like fools until they all flop to the floor.

“What do you say, Adam?” Caitlin says, the light in her eyes mirroring the happy bubbles in her lavender excitement. “Three more years at Yale?”

“As if you could drag me away,” Adam says, and god, he sounds so happy, so relieved, and Caleb wants to sink into that feeling and hold onto it forever. “You’re the deserter here, not me.”

“Hey!” Caitlin shrieks, reaching over Caleb to shove at Adam. “Desert this, motherfuck-”

“Okay, okay, okay, Caitlin,” Caleb chuckles, shoving her off his chest with a grunt. “Not our fault you chose Duke over Yale Law!”

“They offered me more financial aid,” Caitlin pouts for the thousandth time since she’d chosen where to commit. “It’s not my fault Yale doesn’t want to keep me!”

“We get it, Caitlin, don’t worry.” Adam chuckles, then turns to Caleb. “By the way, babe, did you ever look into the clinical psych program like you said you would? I know the application isn’t due for a bit, but it’s never too early to start researching, right?”

“Uhm…” Caleb says, and the happy blue glow is still there but now Caleb’s own sickly yellow dread is there, taking over everything, and he needs to get out of here before he ruins everything again. He breathes in deep, as Dr. Bright had taught him, and contains his dread within his own chest before it can come leaking out like water through a sieve. “Yeah, I, uh- I-”

“Caleb?” Adam asks, dark navy worry seeping into cyan happiness and making Caleb feel even worse. “Are you-”

“Ihavetogo!” Caleb jolts up. His heart is pounding in his ears and he can’t see can’t breathe he needs to leave he needs to go needs to - “Fuck, um, I’m gonna. Gonna go for a. Run, I’m gonna go run.” He grabs a pair of shorts from his drawer in Adam’s dresser, socks and shoes thrown on before Caitlin and Adam blink, and then he’s gone.

His feet hit the pavement hard, sending shockwaves through his body, and for a moment Caleb wishes Ben was beside him. They’re the perfect running partner, surprisingly good at knowing when Caleb needs to talk and when he needs to be silent, and right now Caleb wishes he could talk to Ben, or Sadie, or Frankie, but he also doesn’t want to worry them, and he knows that it’s stupid but -

His phone is in his hand.

You’ve reached Mark, for some reason. It’s 2017, last I checked - just text me. Or, you know, leave a message if you must.

“Mark,” Caleb gasps out, and he’s breathless from running but also from panic. “Mark, I- I- fuck, this was stupid. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called, it’s just, you said- I mean- fuck-”

He breaks off and takes a breath, wishing for Dr. Bright (Call me Joan, Caleb, I think we’ve been through enough at this point) and her calm beige professionalism, or Frankie’s bubbly orange happiness, or Adam’s easy blue to fill his lungs and let him breathe again.

“I just- You remember when I asked you, you know… if you knew… I mean. I guess you are grown up now, right? But. How did you- I mean- God this is stupid.”

He hangs up, hands shaking, and there’s no one around him but he’s still so filled with emotion he feels like he could burst. The run isn’t helping, and he kinda wants to scream, because the thought of graduating and having to choose what happens next is -

His phone rings.

“H-Hello?”

“Caleb? Oh god, Caleb.” Mark. He sounds… worried? Relieved? All of the above? “Caleb, are you okay? I just got your message - you’re so lucky I emptied my voicemail recently, by the way, I can’t believe - but that’s beside the point, Caleb, what happened?”

“Adam,” Caleb starts, and then gulps in a breath and starts again. “Adam got into Yale English, which, like, we fucking knew was gonna happen, because they would have had to be fucking stupid not to take him, but-”

“Okay, okay, Caleb, deep breath,” Mark instructs, and Caleb is so glad Mark’s the person he called. Mark is no Joan Bright, but some of his sister’s instincts have clearly leaked through.

“Come on, breathe with me Caleb… In for four… One… Two…”

Caleb listens to the sound of Mark’s voice and breathes and breathes, trying to focus on the feeling of the grass under his hands and - when did he end up on the ground? But he’s breathing and the emotions have stopped leaking out of him like a cracked dam, panic-worry-anxiety giving way to calm.

God, he’s lucky New Haven is pretty much dead right now - leaking emotions like this, his influence on other people could have gotten very bad very quickly. Just the thought makes his breathing pick up again, but he tries his best to focus on Mark’s voice instead.

Mark has switched from counting to a steady monologue about his latest date with Oliver, during which Mark had taken Oliver to the MIT Museum of Science so that Oliver could show off how much smarter he is than the MIT scientists. Mark’s pretending to have been annoyed by it, using a nasal voice to imitate Oliver’s insults, but Caleb can feel the lightness behind Mark’s voice even over the phone. He focuses on that lightness, on the cool grass under his legs, and lets himself come down.

“Hey, Mark?” He says finally, cutting off Mark’s explanation of the diner they’d gone to after the museum.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Thanks,” Caleb says, and he’s not sure what he’s even thanking Mark for - calling him back, calming him down, or just being there - but the words resonate with everything he doesn’t have the words to say.

“Anytime,” Mark answers gently. “Are you ready to talk about it?”

“Yeah…” Caleb takes a deep breath. “I just… Fuck, Mark, I don’t know if I can do psych anymore.”

“What? Caleb, you… Why not? What happened?”

Caleb exhales and lets his head loll back, hitting the tree trunk he’s leaning against with a soft thump. “So… remember that internship I had last summer?”

“Caleb?” Mark says after a moment. “Have you considered taking off for a year?”

“Taking… off?”

“Well, I mean, don’t pull an Oliver and go gallivanting through Europe for a year without telling anyone, but… maybe a break from school would do you good? You could, I don’t know, get a job or something. You’re planning on moving in with Adam in New Haven after you graduate anyway, aren’t you?”

“Uh, yeah, I mean we were definitely thinking about it, but-”

“Caleb.” Mark’s voice is soft but firm, anchoring Caleb to the present. “What’s stopping you? Take a year, figure out what you want. Life doesn’t stop after college, remember?”

“Yeah…” Caleb breathes, shaky but getting calmer. “Yeah, I…”

“You okay, buddy?”

(Caleb loves it when Mark calls him buddy. He pretends to hate it, pretends to hate how childish it is as a nickname, but Mark is the older brother he never got to have and Caleb loves him.)

“Yeah, I think… I think I have to talk to Adam. And my parents.”

“You do that, Caleb.” The amusement in Mark’s voice is undercut by the softness of it, and Caleb loves his brother so much. “And hey, Caleb?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, little bro.”

Caleb laughs, low and breathy. “I love you too, Mark. Say hi to Oliver and Joan for me?”

“Of course. Everything's going to be okay, Caleb, I promise. Oh, also, Joanie said to call her when you get a sec. Something about what you talked about last time?”

“Yeah. I will. Thanks again, Mark. Bye.”

“Bye!”

Mark hangs up, and Caleb closes his eyes for a moment before heaving himself to his feet and pointing himself back the way he came.

Back home.

Back to Adam.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me for this twig,” Sadie jokes over the last of his boxes. “Who’s going to hit the gym with you now, Michaels?”

“He doesn’t need you anymore, Sadie!” Adam sasses back, cerulean playfulness resting lightly in Caleb’s chest. Adam’s rifling through boxes, trying to find their bottle opener (“I know it’s in one of the kitchen boxes, Caleb, but which one?”) and Caleb is sitting on the floor because they still only have like two chairs, and one is being taken up by Caitlin and the other has been commandeered by Ben. Frankie’s flitting from one room to the next, keeping up a constant commentary of thoughts, and underlying it all is green contentment.

If Caleb could freeze any moment in time to live in forever, he thinks this would be it - surrounded by friends, in this tiny shoebox apartment he and Adam now live in. Together.

It doesn’t get more official than that.

“Michaels!” Sadie yells, effectively snapping Caleb out of his reverie. “This one says he’s your new gym partner!”

“Wait wait wait, hold up, I never said anything of the sort,” Adam defends himself, gesturing wildly with the now-located bottle opener. “All I said was that now that you got this job at the gym, you didn’t need Sadie to be your partner anymore! You’re gonna be training other people or whatever one does in a gym, I don’t fucking know, but I never signed up for any gym-going of my own, thank you very much.”

“Objection, your honor-” Sadie starts, giggling. “I-”

“Overruled!” Caitlin yells, pulling Frankie down on top of her. “On the grounds of my hunger! And we’re waiting for that bottle opener, Adam, so if you wouldn’t mind...”

“You got it, Cait,” Caleb laughs. They’d ordered takeout from a place down the road and for a while there’s no sound other than chewing and the occasional “can someone pass me a napkin?” Someone eventually turns on Caleb’s laptop, and they dig out Adam’s clunky old projector to watch Mamma Mia! for the ten-thousandth time.

“So Caleb,” Ben says somewhere in between “Lay All Your Love On Me” and “Super Trouper,” “What’s this new job you’ve got anyways?”

Caleb turns to look up at them from the floor. Ben, in true queer fashion, is lying with their feet propped on the top of the chair and their head hanging upside down off the seat, and Caleb feels his heart fill with love. Ben’s come so far in the past year, and Caleb… well, Ben will never not be his kid sibling, after all that.

“It’s a Physical Trainer position at Yale New Haven Health’s gym,” he answers finally. “They offered to pay for my training and everything. I guess they really liked me or something.”

“Of course they did,” Adam mumbles. He’s resting somewhere between sleep and awake, head tucked into the crook of Caleb’s neck, which Caleb would absolutely be teasing Adam for if Caleb wasn’t so completely besotted by the sight. God, he loves this man. “They'd be stupid not to.”

Adam looks up at Caleb, eyes soft with sleep as “Super Trouper” plays from Caleb’s laptop, and Caleb can feel himself falling in love with Adam all over again. He thinks back to what Mark had said on the phone all those weeks ago - Life doesn’t stop after college, remember? - and knows in his gut that he’s made the right choice. He doesn’t need grad school to be happy; doesn’t need a fancy degree like a PsyD.

All he needs is this family he’s made for himself, and Adam beside him for as long as Adam’s willing to stay.

With these people around him, he knows he can do anything.

<<From the Voicemail Box of Dr. Joan Bright.>>

Please record your message after the tone. When you are finished recording, press 1 for more options

>> Hey, Dr. Brig- uh, I mean, Joan. Right. Sorry, I know you said I could call you Joan after graduation, since I'm, like, no longer your patient and like an adult now or whatever, but… fuck. That's weird. Um. It's Caleb.

>> Anyways, just calling to let you know that I met with that Atypical therapist you recommended to me today… uh, Alene Orwell? Yeah, her. She's pretty cool, and it's good to know I have someone I can talk to if I need here in New Haven, but… She's not you. Is it weird of me to say I miss you? Fuck. Probably. Sorry, I made it weird.

>> So, um, yeah. I was just calling to keep you updated. Adam says hi, by the way. Oh, and Ben was wondering if you knew anyone who could help them talk to their parents about the Atypical thing in New York? I guess they finally decided to clue in their parents, but like. I don't really have any advice for them there, so I told them I'd ask.

>> Yeah. That's all. Um, say hi to Mark and Sam and Jackson for me. I'll talk to you later. Bye!

End of Final Message.

Working at YNHH’s gym fits Caleb better than he ever thought it would.

It’s not that he hasn’t been a gym rat since high school - the 2.7 pound jar of protein powder Adam teases him about schlepping up the three flights of stairs to their apartment at least once a month definitely defines him as a “meathead,” as Adam would say - it’s that the focused emotions of everyone around him sit warmly in his chest like a clean sweat after a good workout. People come to the gym with one plan in mind - get in, work out, get out - and the focus behind their drive pushes Caleb to heights he never thought he’d reach.

He loves it.

His coworkers are great too - Jen with her stick-straight black hair tied in a bun so tight it looks like it probably hurts; her girlfriend Amora, who can lift more than Caleb and will never let him forget it; Greg and Jake, frat bros turned personal trainers and roommates who are constantly bemoaning their singleness and don’t make it weird when Caleb brings up his boyfriend; Caleb’s manager, Tommy, who gives out warm cozy hugs like handshakes and lets the trainers pretty much do what they want as long as they’re not bothering patrons. There’s always a good rapport going between them.

Caleb teaches a weights class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and trains clients on other days. He’s got favorites already, people who come in with single handed focus to be better-faster-stronger, and the rush of adrenaline and joy that he feels whenever they succeed in something leaves him buoyant. Caleb is good at this; he’s a good trainer and a good coworker and he loves what he does.

He loves it… but he’s not passionate about it.

He remembers being passionate about psychology, before his ability went haywire and he stopped being able to control it. He still runs through all the parts of the brain and their uses when he gets anxious as a method of distraction, still finds himself reading psych research journals in his spare time and accidentally psychoanalyzing clients like they’re patients.

He’s still not ready to go back, though.

Dr. Alene Orwell - Dr. Bright’s recommendation for an Atypical therapist here in New Haven, a tall white woman with flyaway black curls and kind eyes - tells him it’s okay not to be ready. She reminds him that he’s still working on control, still working on trusting himself again, and that it’ll take time to get back to where he was before. She tells him to talk to Adam.

It’s just - it’s hard, sometimes, to tell Adam about this part of him. Not because Adam wouldn’t understand - he would, he definitely would - but because Adam is so happy as a graduate student at Yale, writing his dissertation on Shakespeare and his influence on queer literature, and Caleb is so, so afraid that he’s going to ruin it. He’s terrified that showing Adam how much he wants to go back to psych - and how much he can’t trust himself to do so ethically - will scare him away from academia, from Caleb, forever.

Logically, he knows his fears are silly. Adam isn’t driven away by superpowers or time ghosts or the way Caleb’s sneakers smell after he gets home from a long day at the gym; he wouldn’t be scared off by Caleb’s stupid insecurities.

Practically, though…

Caleb couldn’t stand to feel Adam’s love for him turn to pity. He refuses.

It’s not like it matters, anyway. He likes his job, likes where he’s at, and his family - both blood and found - is only a phone call or a roadtrip away.

He just… wasn’t cut out for psych the way he’d thought he was. Maybe helping people work out would replace the way helping people in therapy had once made him feel.

It would have to be enough.

“I have to commend you, Caleb,” Dr. Orwell says during their next session. “You’ve come a long way with controlling your ability and not having it affect other people. I’m impressed.”

Caleb blushes down at his hands, staring anywhere but at Dr. Orwell. He knows she’s right, knows he’s gotten better at learning when the tendrils of emotion are snaking out of him like pit vipers and that he’s finally gotten the hang of pulling them back. It’s an odd feeling, feeling tendrils of emotions leaking from his body like a sieve, but he’s gotten used to it. He can control it now.

He’s not as afraid anymore. He’s gotten better at differentiating between his emotions and everyone else’s; he’s learned what it feels like when he forces someone to feel what he feels.

(Adam had volunteered to be a test subject for that one; they’d gone into Dr. Orwell’s office together, hand in hand, and Caleb had made him happy, then sad, angry, then calm. Caleb had nearly run out of the room crying afterwards, had nearly vomited all over Dr. Orwell’s carpet, but she’d insisted that it was important for him to know what it felt like and, well, Adam had offered. That didn’t really make him feel better, but Adam’s willingness to kiss him and comfort him afterwards while Caleb cried did help.)

He leaves Dr. Orwell’s office feeling lighter than he has in years, since before his Pokémon evolution occurred, and actually finds himself whistling on his way to work. The tune is from some indie band Adam’s gotten him into recently - The Amazing something? Apparently the male singer was in a show that Adam watched on Netflix the other week, and he’s pretty decent. The songs are pretty catchy, that’s for sure.

He’s still whistling as he clocks in and starts to prepare the weights room for his class, wiping down the surfaces and sweeping the floor clean, when he feels it.

PanicDreadShockFearOhShitICan’tBreathePanicDreadICan’t-

The panic comes on so fast it nearly drops Caleb to the floor. He’s hyperventilating, heart pounding in his ears and he can’t breathe but -

It’s not his panic.

The realization hits Caleb almost as fast as the panic had; it’s swift and makes his blood run cold, turning his veins to ice as he tries to isolate his feelings from this intrusion. He breathes in deep, the way Dr. Bright and Dr. Orwell always instructed him to do, and focuses on the churning panic that’s settled just to the right of his rib cage.

It’s not his, he knows that for certain; it’s a particular shade of red he would never ascribe to himself, but it’s there, and it's definitely bad.

Caleb doesn’t hesitate. He drops everything and runs towards the feeling.

The panic grows stronger the closer he gets to it and Caleb kind of wants to give up, kind of wants to drop to the ground and hyperventilate, but he knows that whoever is feeling this way needs help. There’s barely anyone else around the gym right now. If anyone is going to help this person, it’s going to have to be him.

The source of the panic ends up being a young girl, probably only a little bit younger than Caleb himself - maybe twenty? She’s sitting on the floor of an abandoned workout room, and it only takes a second for Caleb to realize that everything not attached to the floor is levitating.

Atypical. This woman is Atypical.

For a moment, Caleb is frozen. There’s iron in his veins and his feet are made of lead; this woman is panicking, is making things levitate, and Caleb isn’t doing anything to help her. He can’t do anything to help her.

Except… that’s not true, is it?

He’s trained for this, he knows how to help people who are panicking. Knows how to help Atypicals who are panicking. He doesn’t even need his powers to do it.

It’s that thought that spurs him on, forcing one foot in front of another until he’s in front of the woman. She’s breathing harshly, eyes unfocused, and doesn’t seem to notice him even when Caleb kneels down in front of her.

“Hey,” he says softly, and her eyes snap to him. She tries to move away from him, burrowing farther into the corner she’s placed herself in, and Caleb frowns. He moves away from her slightly, doing his best to make himself seem less imposing if he can. It’s not exactly easy to make a jacked 6’2” former football player seem small, but Caleb tries his best.

“Hey,” he says again calmly, as if he’s talking to a wounded animal. “My name is Caleb Michaels, I’m a personal trainer here at the gym. You’re at the YNHH gym, in an equipment room. It’s Thursday, about 1:30 pm…”

He keeps talking, reminding the woman where she is, and interspersing his own name and identity often so she doesn’t come to and immediately panic again.

Slowly, slowly, he can feel the woman start to come back to herself. She’s still shaking, body trembling with every breath, but the various pieces of gym equipment have stopped floating around their heads and her emotions have stopped feeling like sludge in Caleb’s chest, which he definitely considers a win. “That’s it,” he says encouragingly. “Can you tell me your name?”

“... Emily,” She says finally. “Emily Harris.”

“Nice to meet you, Emily,” Caleb says. He’s keeping his voice soft, almost whispering, but inwardly he’s smiling like a fool. She’s going to be okay. “I’m Caleb. Can you tell me where you are?”

“At the… the gym. I was- I- I wanted to get in a, a workout before c-class… it’s…what time is it?”

“About 1:45,” Caleb tells her. Her face sags in relief. “Can you tell me what happened, Emily?”

“I- um, I-” she starts, and suddenly her breathing catches. “Oh my god, you saw- I mean- you- I- ohmigod nononononono you-”

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, Emily,” Caleb soothes. “Here, um, what are five things you can see right now? Just list them.”

“You, the mirror, the weights… my water bottle… the cabinets…”

“Good,” Caleb says encouragingly. He can almost feel Dr. Bright’s presence over his shoulder and tries his best to emulate her calm collectedness. “Now four things you can feel.”

He leads her through the exercise until her breathing starts to calm down again. She’s fisted a hand in her own hair, pulling like the pain will keep her centered in reality, and Caleb reaches toward it. When she doesn’t flinch, he gently untangles her fingers from her hair and they instantly grasp his own, as if letting go would mean becoming untethered from her own tentative calm.

“You’re alright,” he tells her again, gently running his thumb over her knuckles. Obviously in training he was never to touch a patient, and Caleb knows better than to do so, but he figures he can chalk this one up to extenuating circumstances. “Are you ready to tell me what made you panic?”

“Why aren’t you freaking out right now?” she says finally, suspicious. “You just walked into a room where some freak girl was making everything levitate because of a panic-c attack. H-How are you so calm?”

Caleb smiles at her softly. “You’re Atypical, right?”

“You know what a-atypicals are?”

“Yeah,” he says, taking a deep breath. “I’m Atypical too. I’m an empath, it’s how I knew to come looking for you. I felt you panic.”

“Sorry,” Emily says after a beat. “I- Just- Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Caleb says. “Are you ready to talk about it now?”

“It’s stupid.” Emily blushes, eyes fixed firmly on the floor in front of her. “I… um. I’m normally in control, I promise, you know, I did one of those programs that-”

“The AM?”

“Yeah, and, you know, I normally am really good at controlling it, but, um, my partner, they, um. They were in a car accident? Yesterday? And, like, they’re fine, and I’m super relieved, but I got, I mean, they texted me they were coming to get me from- from here, actually, and then I didn’t hear from them for like, three hours, because they were dealing with it and then I guess I never stopped to process it but now I’m back and they’re fine, but I- I-”

She stops, shuddering out a breath, and starts to cry. “I was just so worried, and then I came back today, and it was like- like-”

“Like it suddenly hit you all over again?” Caleb says. “I know how that feels. Sometimes, especially when you’re focused on other people, you forget to process events for yourself, until it suddenly all comes back and hits you like a ton of bricks. Your body was so focused on your partner that it probably forgot to focus on you too, and once it remembers, it’s like you’re experiencing everything all over again. It’s like the fight or flight instinct, kind of.”

“H-How do you know… so much?” Emily laughs wetly. “You really sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“I… studied psychology in school, actually,” Caleb admits. “I was going to be a therapist. For Atypicals, actually.”

“What happened?” Emily asks curiously. Her breathing has evened out and she’s stopped crying; the ball of panic in Caleb’s chest has started to give way to calm curiosity. “Why didn’t you? You… Seems like you’d be really good at it. And you… you said you were an e-empath, right?”

Caleb laughs darkly. “Yeah, um, let’s just say I got… scared. Of my ability. And my own abilities, I guess. I, uh, wasn’t sure psychology was the right path for me anymore, so I, um, took a year off.”

It’s hard to talk about this, and Caleb isn’t quite sure why he’s telling Emily this, but after talking her down from a full-on Atypical panic attack, he figures they’re not really strangers anymore.

“You loved it,” Emily says suddenly with conviction. “I don’t… I don’t need to be an empath to know that. You like helping people.”

“Yeah,” Caleb admits softly. Emily’s words ring in his ears. She’s right, he knows - he had loved psychology, loved therapy, loved working with people to make them feel better. He…

He missed it.

Maybe he was finally ready to admit that it was time to go back.

“Come on,” Caleb says after a beat. He stands and holds out his hand to Emily, who takes it. “I’ll cancel my class, Tommy will understand. I’ll buy you a coffee, you can tell me more about this partner of yours.”

Emily smiles gratefully, and they leave the gym together.

The day Caleb gets into the University of Hartford’s PsyD program brings about the best decision of Caleb’s life.

He and Adam are sitting on their couch in their pajamas; it’s almost ten pm, and Adam’s just started the next episode of the sitcom he and Caleb have been making their way through when he gets the email.

“Adam,” he says, and he thinks his heart stops beating. “Adam, I got in.”

Adam’s eyes light up, tiny suns boring into Caleb’s heart, and when Adam kisses him Caleb almost cries. It’s all coming to fruition. It’s all going to be okay.

Adam looks so soft, face alight with happiness, wearing Caleb's old football sweatshirt and ratty old pajama pants, and Caleb honestly can't help himself. It's all going to work out. He's gotten into the University of Hartford's Clinical Psychology program, Adam is working his way through Yale's English program to get a doctorate in Shakespeare study because he's cool like that, and they're together and in love and everything is finally going well for them.

"Marry me," he breathes, and Adam's breath leaves his body. "God, fuck, this wasn't how I wanted to do this, fuck, I have a ring and everything upstairs, I was going to do this properly, but… fuck, Adam, I love you. I never want to spend another moment without you. I know we can't live in a world of our own, just the two of us, but I want to create one with you. I want you, all of you, and I- fuck."

He gets down on one knee, looking at Adam, and it's like he can't breathe. He feels like he might cry.

"Adam Hayes, will you marry me?"

"Caleb…" Adam breathes, and there are tears in his eyes. "Yes, Caleb, yes!"

He pulls Caleb back to his feet, and when Adam kisses him, Caleb feels hope bloom in his chest.

Right now, everything is perfect.

#the bright sessions #adam hayes #caleb michaels #adam x caleb #the college tapes #mark bryant #oliver ritz #joan bright #caitlin park #frankie meeks #sadie greenwood #ben bernard #Leo writes

11 notes · View notes

mediaeval-muse · 4 years

Text

Book Review

Paladin’s Grace. By T. Kingfisher. Dallas: Argyll, 2020.

Rating: 2/5 stars

Genre: romantic fantasy

Part of a Series? No

Summary: Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year… Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…

***Full review under the cut.***

Trigger/Content Warnings: sexual content, violence

Overview: I think I came across this book while browsing Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, but I don’t remember for sure. Regardless, I decided to pick it up because the story of a paladin whose god has died intrigued me. I’m a sucker for stories about crises of faith, and I was in the mood for a fun adventure with a little angst thrown in. While the premise was very much my jam, the prose style ultimately prevented me from connecting with this book. In my opinion, it felt like the book was aimed at readers with arrested emotional development: everything felt sanitized for a younger audience (as in, there was a lot of awkward, quirky humor while nothing felt particularly threatening) yet there were also graphic sexual scenes, reminding me of a lot of New Adult stereotypes. It prevented the story from delving deep into things like what a crisis of faith might look like and how someone might navigate it, and undercut the thrill of the political intrigue. As a result, I personally couldn’t give this book a higher rating.

Writing: Kingfisher’s prose is fairly simple - simple sentences, simple images, etc. It’s pretty easy to get through, and readers can skim, if that’s what they’re into. It’s also full of “quirky humor” so that the mood is fairly light throughout. While sometimes the humor would get a chuckle from me, most of the time, it completely destroyed the mood. The best way I can think to describe it is that it resembles a lot of stereotypes I associate with New Adult fantasy books: the book feels like it’s written for younger readers, but the sexual humor/graphic sex scenes prove otherwise. Characters will make childish jokes, despite most of them being in their 30s (for example, “I wonder if you can stab someone with an ice sculpture”), or stumble over their words in what seems like an attempt to make them seem awkward (”I... um...” or “I... er... what?”). Things like “Gnnnrggzzz” and “Ohmyfuckingshitfuckshitgaaaaaaah” are written out, further making me feel like I was reading something meant to make younger readers smile. Characters rarely act their age and situations were rarely treated with the level of seriousness one would expect in reality. I personally wasn’t a fan; it made the book (and characters) feel somewhat juvenile. To be clear, I’m not against a little humor - I think humor could have been used effectively in this book, perhaps to show how Grace is a bright spot in Stephen’s otherwise gloomy life. I’m also not against light, “fluffy” romances, but I do think there’s a difference between fluff and a lack of emotional maturity.

Kingfisher also had a tendency to repeat certain things, which became irritating. Every other page, it seemed like Grace said something about how Stephen smelled like gingerbread, and it got old really fast. I also noticed that constructions like “He’s a paladin, so he...” and the like were used frequently, which did less to show me what Stephen was like and more to tell me what stereotypes are associated with paladins.

Plot: This book mainly follows Stephen and Grace as they become entangled in two main problems: 1. there is a serial killer on the loose, and his modus operandi is leaving behind severed heads, sans bodies; 2. there is a mysterious assassination plot aimed at the Crown Prince of a neighboring kingdom. To be honest, I found the serial killer plot underwhelming. It only seemed to be present to give Stephen an excuse to escort Grace places, and even when we found out who the killer was, I didn’t feel the rush of excitement or a sense of closure. I think perhaps this was because the serial killer plot wasn’t one that readers could try to piece together with the characters - at most, there was a single clue, and then it was solved (but readers can’t even predict the twist, so I didn’t feel any sense of suspense).

As for the assassination plot, I also found it underwhelming. Although it builds better than the serial killer plot, characters started acting in nonsensical - and even idiodic - ways once Grace was personally caught up the drama. I got the sense that characters were acting out of emotion and not reason, which is ok sometimes, but not ALL THE TIME. In general, I didn’t find that this assassination plot was clever, and there wasn’t much that differentiated it from other political intrigues that I’ve read in some YA fantasy.

Characters: Stephen, our hero, is paladin who previously served a warrior god, the Saint of Steel. At the beginning of the book, Stephen’s god dies (we don’t know how), and three years later, he is still struggling to find his purpose. At first, I thought I would like Stephen. He seemed like a gentleman, and he had some non-stereotypical hobbies, like knitting. I also liked that much of his personal turmoil involved some anxiety over how people would perceive him and his Order. The fear that he would succumb to a berserker rage, in particular, was an interesting bit of lore, and I thought this berserker rage could have been used to prompt further exploration of things like violence and hypermasculinity. However, as the book continued, Stephen became more and more bland. For the first half or two-thirds of the book, he resembles a 14 year old’s idea of a safe love interest in that he was perfectly chivalrous and without serious flaws. As time went on and he became more infatuated with Grace, he started getting somewhat possessive. Any man who so much as looked at grace would be subject to murderous fantasies, and while this was probably meant to show that Stephen was jealous and therefore devoted to Grace, I found it ridiculous and childish.

Grace, our heroine, is also rather bland. She’s a perfumer, which itself could have been fun, but her personality is mainly defined by her awkwardness. She also resembles a lot of YA/New Adult heroines in that she insists that she’s not attractive and that no man could be interested in her, despite at least two male characters flirting with her. It was frustrating being in her head, at times, because she would constantly say things like “normal people don’t do this,” making her seem even more awkward and “not like other people.” Her insistence on her mousiness and rather bland characterization made me wonder why anyone was in love with her at all. She moreover didn’t seem to be at qualified to handle the serial killer or assassination mysteries - in fact, I don’t think she ever uses her unique skillset (identifying scents) to help solve either mystery at all.

Marguerite, Grace’s best friend, is a bit more interesting in that she’s a spy with mysterious motivations. Marguerite is better equipped to deal with the assassination plot, as she has various contacts that feed her information and let her into places people wouldn’t normally be able to access. I liked that Marguerite was a good friend to Grace, but she, too, was a bit emotionally stunted.

Other supporting characters were interesting on paper, but because of the writing style, didn’t seem to be as compelling as they could have been. I liked Zale, the gender-neutral (or nonbinary? agender?) lawyer-priest who seemed committed to their calling to defend the helpless in court. Stephen’s fellow paladins also seemed like a supportive group of friends, and the Bishop of the White Rat was an admirable woman of force and personality. I would have liked to see more of them.

Other:

Worldbuilding: This book doesn’t have a lot of heavy worldbuilding, and it honestly didn’t need it. I appreciated the fact that I wasn’t overwhelmed with lore or facts about the kingdom - Kingfisher mostly stuck to what details were important to the plot, and for that, I was grateful.

Romance: Stephen and Grace’s romance was a little lackluster for my tastes. The main barrier to them being together stemmed from Stephen thinking he was too broken and that he might accidentally hurt her by going into a berserker rage (which... how does that still happen if his god is dead?), and Grace thinking that she is so bad at being a lover that it turns men off. Honestly, I don’t find the “I’m so broken and dangerous” angle to be very compelling. I prefer there to be other barriers to characters being together than just emotions - barriers that force some kind of character development and plot progression. In this case, Stephen and Grace don’t seem to grow much. They just get over their reservations, in part because they thought they were going to die at one point.

There were also minor scenes that made me uncomfortable. I love romance stories and don’t mind sex scenes (when they’re warranted, not when they’re gratuitous), but I hate scenes where one person has to avoid detection (by some king of city guard or something), so the other person covers them with their body and they pretend to be a person and prostitute (or something), miming sex to make it seem like they saw nothing. I just find it awkward, not funny or the basis for mutual attraction. The fact that Stephen and Grace meet this way made it all the more awkward for me to read. I guess that was the point, since Grace is a little awkward herself, but I still hate these types of scenes.

I also personally dislike when male characters are described as noticing or thinking about a female character’s bosom. Like, I get it - straight men like breasts. But I don’t want the basis of a relationship to be physical attraction. Do something else. Though I didn’t get the impression that Stephen was a creep, I didn’t like how often the author would mention that Stephen noticed Grace’s body. Grace’s breasts were mentioned a number of times, and it made me uncomfortable every time.

Overall, I felt let down by this book. While I was drawn in by the premise of a crisis of faith and a thrilling web of lies and secrecy, I was met with a formulaic romance that relied on awkwardness to make emotionally arrested characters seem relatable.

#book reviews

4 notes · View notes

k-scourgestrike · 4 years

Text

Innocent or Guilty

A smirk curves the dried, cracked edges of the undead elf’s lips as she runs through the questions. She begins in a tone as dry as burnt toast, deeming that whoever made up the list well and truly deserves what she is going to answer.

Asked someone to marry you? — “No. My husband in life - and also in death, since he was the one who killed me and offered us both to the Scourge - did the asking.”

Kissed one of your friends? — “I might have, when I was spry, young, and living. Who really remembers that far into their youth, especially after death?”

Danced on a table in a bar / tavern? — “Everyday. Corvus our Grandmaster Siegesmith enjoys his off duty bartendering, and we death knights enjoy a tipple, as the humans call it.” Does she say this with a straight face? Yes, she does.

Ever told a lie? — “Never.” A beat, as she stares at you emptily. “Do you believe me?”

Had feelings for someone you can’t have? — “I don’t recall such a thing.”

Ever kissed someone of the same sex? — “I don’t recall this either. Does the sex of the individual matter, truly?”

Kissed a picture? — “I suppose Thearys is as dead as one. Take it in what sense you will.”

Slept until 5pm? — Her undead blue stare is cold as she leans on her ghastly runeblade. “I sleep too much in general. Can you not tell?” Her reverberating voice is deadpan, and may be dripping with sarcasm.

Worked at a fast food chain / restaurant — “I have no idea what that is. I have fed scraps of rotting flesh to the ghouls sometimes. Does that count?”

Stolen something? — “Souls. Lives. Bodies. Other undead minions. Saronite. It is routine by now, you do understand this, don’t you?”

Been fired from a job? — “No. I have, in both cases, resigned.” Her smirk widens, cruel and cutting.

Done something you regret? — "Would I be Ebon Blade if I hadn’t?”

Laughed until something you were drinking came out of your nose? — “Not that I recall. I don’t actually need to drink, you know?”

Caught a snowflake on your tongue? — “Probably. I spent much time in Northrend. Everyone ended up with snow or snowflakes somewhere somehow.”

Sat on a roof top? — "Certainly. We do fly on our skeletal gryphons, or reanimated drakes, or even horses - do not ask me how the last one works. At some point we might have had to land on battlements, and do more than battle. Sitting and waiting? Quite possible.”

Kissed someone you shouldn’t have? — “Mister Bigglesworth. As a form of mockery back on Naxxramas.”

Sang in the shower? — “Maybe when I was alive. I did more than sing in the shower, I am sure. Including actually washing myself.”

Been pushed into a body of water with all your clothes on? — “Again when I was alive, probably. These are minor details that are no longer relevant. Nobody pushes me into any body of water now.”

Shaved your head? — “No, though I can see the appeal of what they call an ‘undercut’.”

Made a boyfriend / girlfriend cry? — “Likely someone else’s. All it takes is a look, or just being there.”

Shot a gun? — "No. We did not have guns in Quel’Thalas before the Fall, and I never had to reach for one since then.”

Still loved someone you shouldn’t? — The smirk of her lips turns into a derisive sneer. “I had that capability erased from me a long time ago. Even if it hasn’t been eradicated, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Have / had a tattoo? — “Yes. Can’t see why it is something to be guilty about, however.”

Liked someone, but will never tell who? — “Nonsense. I openly admire Tirion Fordring. The man had guts. A shame the Deathlord failed to retrieve his body.”

Been too honest? — “My brain is not yet so rotten, but I am supremely capable of overly honest honesty, if that is what you like.”

Ruined a surprise? — “I might have. Who knows, at this juncture.”

Been told that you’re beautiful by someone who totally meant what they said? — “I was married for a millennium, to someone who wanted me to share undeath with him. I’ll let you work out the complicated logic that is the answer to this question, yes?”

Stalked someone? — “Of course. Not that I am guilty of it. It is simply what I am required to do sometimes.”

Thought about murder? — “Have you heard of something called the Eternal Hunger?”

How about mass murder? — “See my previous answer.”

Cheated on someone? — “I betrayed Arthas at Light’s Hope. Does that count?”

Gotten so angry that you cried? — “I might have when I was alive. These days, I don’t become so angry that I cry. I commit mass murder instead. Against enemies of course.”

Tried to stay away from someone for their own good? — For the first time in the entirety of answering this banal questionnaire, the death knight’s eyes narrow, sadistic humour gone. “Yes.”

Thoughts about suicide? — “I might have, but I am not telling you.”

Had a girlfriend / boyfriend? — “Never.” The deadpan expression and tone are returned, though without its previous edge.

Gotten totally drunk during a holiday? - “I don’t remember. I was probably too young anyway.”

Tagged by @gravekeeper-anna -- muchas gracias <3

Tagging @duraxxor @dorylory @malvina-mortimer @asharinhun @roselyn-ravenblade @rykhafirehand @silvertonguedaggermaw @unabashedrebel @selinasong @monster-of-master @camsyn @arcane-fire and anyone who wants to do this!

#memes #about k #lol #she is a massive shitlord sometimes

7 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 4 years

Text

Talkin’ ‘Bout Star Wars

I just realized someone might see this title and think it’s a review of Episode IX, which I kind of forgot about. Actually, I was gonna talk about this Count Dooku audiobook I bought, but I guess I only got back into Star Wars books because of Episode IX, so maybe I should back up.

I liked Rise of Skywalker. I went in unsure of what to expect, because a lot of people hated Episode VIII, and I thought it was awesome, so when I saw scathing criticism of IX, I had no idea whether to take that seriously. “Man if you thought VIII was bad, IX’s even worse.” Stuff like that where I didn’t know how to interpret it.

The fundamental problem with IX is that they were going to do a Leia-centric movie and Carrie Fisher died before they could get started. I’m pretty sure this had a lot to do with why Darth Sidious is all over the movie, but maybe he would have been in it regardless. He definitely brings a lot of star power to the movie. He makes it feel more important than it would have been if it was just Kylo Ren horsing around as the main bad guy. And while I enjoyed Carrie Fisher as the hardboiled-but-sensitive General Leia, she never seemed quite as comfortable on-screen in the sequel movies as Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. I mean, she was in VIII, but she spent most of it in a coma, and Laura Dern seemed to be her understudy. Maybe Carrie was just waiting for the spotlight of Episode IX, and maybe she would have risen to the occasion, but if not, they would have done well to have the Emperor in the same movie, just to carry some of the load.

I’ve seen complaints about how fast-paced Episode IX is, and how ridiculous some of the revelations are, but you know, Episode IV realllly drags for the first half-hour, so I’m happy they made a new one that caters to six-year-old me’s desire to get on with things. As for the whole Rey Palpatine thing, I don’t know, was that any less absurd than whatever fan-theories were floating around in 2016?

I liked Rey’s character arc in this movie, where she goes from having no family to being terrified of her pedigree, to declaring herself to be “Rey Skywalker”. Also, I dig her yellow lightsaber, even if she never got a chance to use it in the movie. In fact, let me get a picture of that up here....

Niiiice. Whenever I look this up, I see all these links to fan theories about what this means, or how it’s a callback to eight other characters from the comics who had yellow lightsabers, but I’m pretty sure she only ended up with this color because they wanted to give her something different and uniquely her own. If she had a blue or green blade, fans would think she took the crystal out of one of Luke’s old lightsabers, but this indicates that she built her own from scratch. Also, Rey even having a lightsaber is probably intended to demonstrate that she still has a mission in the galaxy, even after the First Order and Sidious are defeated.

Anyway, the main issue I have with the movie is that it does play fast and loose sometimes. It felt like they had a plan for Finn and a plan for Poe, but both plans sort of got lost in the shuffle, and we sort of have to take their big victory as newly minted generals to serve as a finish to their character arcs. Leia’s big moment is basically her lying down to take a nap, and I get it, that was probably the best they could do, but still. I read Nein Numb got killed in the movie, and that kind of pisses me off.

Mostly, it just doesn’t hold up as well as “The Last Jedi”. I think part of the reason “Revenge of the Sith” is the most popular prequel movie is because it pays off the thing everyone wanted to see: Anakin becoming Darth Vader. I remember the first time I saw “Attack of the Clones”, and I was kind of surprised to see Anakin kill all the Sand People, like they were turning him evil a little too early, so that had me wondering if he might turn to the dark side in that movie, which sort of distracted me from what was actually happening on the screen. With Episode III, you knew exactly what you were getting, because they couldn’t save any big moments for “Revenge of the Sith, Part 2.” In a similar vein, I think the big thing audiences wanted from the sequel trilogy was to find out whatever happened to Luke, and Episode VIII answered that question completely. It sort of undercut Episode IX, and I guess that was what J.J. Abrams was complaining about.

Darth Sidious’ whole comeback is kind of a problem. I love the character, and it makes sense that he could somehow survive and come back. In the movie, he just quotes his line about “unnatural” abilities and that’s the only explanation we get for how he survived Endor, built his new fleet, and made Snoke. People call it a cop out and they’re not wrong, but he’s the one character who can get away with it. That said, his return raises far more questions than answers, and somehow he’s even stronger than he was before, which raises even further questions. I mean, if he could just go to this secret planet and build a fleet of planet-destroying ships, why did he bother running for public office?

I’m sure there’ll be a novel that tries to tackle some of those issues, but the bigger problem here is that Episode IX made me realize that I missed the more vulnerable Darth Sidious from the prequels. What I love about Episode I is how you’ve got the Sith, looking very similar to the Emperor and Vader in Episode VI, except they don’t have the might of the Empire behind them. In Episode I, Sidious can’t just force choke his subordinates when they displease him, because he needs those guys. Darth Maul can’t send a legion of troops to capture Queen Amidala; he has to do it by himself. They have to be sneakier and trickier than they are in the original trilogy, because they’re still trying to get the Empire set up, and that’s really fascinating to me. Even in the original trilogy, Palpatine is supreme, but still vulnerable. He dissolves the Senate, but only once the Death Star is available as an alternative. He worries that Luke Skywalker “could destroy us.”

In Episode IX, he seems to have no worries at all, I guess because he’s counting on Rey to murder him for whatever essence transfer he was planning. I suppose this was why he finally died to his own Force Lightning, with Rey deflecting it with two lightsabers. Critics ask why he didn’t just stop shooting lightning, but that’s kind of his deal. He kept shooting at Mace Windu, even when it wrecked his face, and he kept shooting when Darth Vader turned on him. I mean, if he stopped shooting lighting at Rey, what then? His fleet would lose the battle, and Rey would refuse to kill him, and he’d just be stuck. The Sith crave power, and power only matters when you exercise it, so it makes sense that all the Sith characters get wrecked because they bit off more than they could chew. If you asked Sidious why he didn’t just turn off his lightning, he probably wouldn’t even understand the question.

I think it might have been cooler if Darth Sidious had been a ghost, or maybe an electronic backup of his brain, or something like that. He looked pretty cool hooked up to that life support system, and I liked the idea that he was reduced to a shell of his former self, but even that would still be a grave threat to the heroes, especially if he got Rey or Kylo Ren to take orders from him. Maybe he should have actually gotten to possess Rey, and then he would finally get all the gonzo powers he displayed in the movie, and Rey would have to kick him out of her body. I dunno, maybe that’s not so different from what we actually got.

I see fans talking about all these alternative versions of Episode IX, like that leaked script, or the concept art, etc. They lament “Why didn’t we get this movie?” and I think that misses the point. Maybe one version or another would be better, but in the end you really only get one movie, one shot at telling the story. At some point, someone has to make the decision as to what makes the cut and what doesn’t. The problem with writing a story is that the version in your head always looks better than it does in print, because in your head it’s this nebulous, ever-changing thing. When you sit down to write it, you have to commit to one version, and decide whether to do this or that. In this day and age, it’s a lot easier to find out about alternate versions and unused drafts. You can watch the “This” version of a movie, and then go on the internet and see details about the “That” version they didn’t use. And it’s easy to complain that they made the wrong call. “Justice League” fans are convinced that there’s a secret “Snyder Cut” of the movie that would somehow be better than the version that actually made it to theaters. That’s kind of sad, because they clearly must have enjoyed the theatrical cut to some extent, or they wouldn’t care about some other version of the same movie. But instead of appreciating what they got, they obsess over a supposedly better version that may not even exist.

I’m probably no better, because I sort of went into Episode IX figuring that it didn’t matter if it was good or bad, because there would be comics or novels that might expand on the stuff I wanted to see. I think what I really want is a story of how Sidious survived Endor, and how he got set up on Exegul or however you spell it. That, and Rey buckling some swashes with that yellow lightsaber. Everyone’s mad about Rose Tico getting a small part in Episode IX, but to me it almost doesn’t matter, because she can be in whatever Rey comic series they make after this. I mean, that doesn’t do Kelly Marie Tran any good, but I think she’s got a good career ahead of her, with or without Rose Tico.

I don’t know, maybe this is why I don’t watch movies very much. I’m mostly into franchises, where the movies themselves are just tentpoles for all the other media. They don’t really need to be good, so long as some good lore comes out of them that someone else can use. I was thinking the other day about how Episode II is widely considered one of the weakest Star Wars movies, but every Clone Wars story that came after it was directly inspired by that film. And there’s a lot of good Clone Wars stuff out there. It just makes me wonder if Episode II can really be as bad as they say it is. Then again, it probably doesn’t make sense to say that spinoffs can retroactively fix what should be a standalone work.

Anyway, I started this post because I wanted to talk about how YouTube keeps recommending me Star Wars meta videos, mainly about the Sith, because that’s what I’m into, and they’re usually covering stuff I already knew. There’s at least three channels devoted to recapping stories from comics and books, or just straight up repeating information that was directly stated in the movies. “Did you know Palpatine wanted to KILL Darth Vader?” Yes, I’ve known since 1983. He told Luke to kill him and he wouldn’t do it. Then he and Vader killed each other. It’s not complicated. The funny thing is that I watch all these different Star Wars videos, and I can tell they’re narrated by different people, but they all sound like the Burger King Foot Lettuce guy.

I got bored with these, so I started listening to the Dooku audiobook that came out last year. It’s been pretty decent, but I was hoping for more Sith lore, and this book seems mostly focused on Asajj Ventress learning about Dooku’s Jedi career. I’ve only got a half hour left in the book, and Dooku hasn’t even resigned from the order yet, so I don’t think I’ll see much of what he was up to between Episodes I and II.

#/#//#///#////#/////#star wars

2 notes · View notes

courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years

Text

Rolled out one tag. I got pretty far behind, so I’ll catch up in the next few posts.

Uchitama 1

Ume and Shirai here.

I would assume this kid with the tiger on his shirt is called Tora, because I vaguely remember a “Tora” in the promotional material.

The sakura aesthetic is nice.

This switch between boy and cat forms is a bit…”weird” is the first word that came to mind, but “random” was the next.

Tora = Shirai and Ume is a character called Kuro, who we haven’t seen yet. (Had to google which roles they had.)

LOL, I like Beh already. A sleepyhead like him is perfect!

I just noticed, but Beh sometimes has a cleft palate (that little dent in the mouth).

Ume’s character isn’t too bad-looking, y’know. He’s a clumsy one though, so he doesn’t quite seem like the sort of character I’d gravitate to.

Seeing boys and girls act like cats and dogs makes me LOL.

Huh? Is cat-dog romance like your standard opposites attract romance…?

Hmm…thank goodness the mother cat wasn’t “made human”…

I’m used to Nora being a woman (see Noragami plus the Western general usage of the name “Nora”)…so this one being a guy (with nice eyes, to boot) is a bit disorienting.

Turns out the Tosa is a huge dog with a face like a pitbull.

I find this Momo-Bull romance just a bit weird still.

I got spoilt on this from the reviews, but Waiha = Hawaii.

That flash of Nora’s owner (?) was interesting!

Other notes: The narration seems to be done by the voice of Tama. Ume sounds like Ume, but it doesn’t feel like Ume because he’s playing against his normal type of character. Shirai doesn’t sound like Shirai though…it’s a completely different character to the types I’ve heard him do before (Ramuda and Io don’t sound like Tora, but Vino sounds similar to En because a lot of Ume characters are done in his usual, suave voice…Ramuda is Shirai doing a falsetto though so he’s hard to compare).

Hatena 1

This one got alright reviews, but I get the feeling I’m not going to like it, so lt’s get this over and done with.

Why is Kana the only one with the black hair…?

This OP is rather low budget compared to the others…

I fully expect Kana to go “It’s bitter…” and make a face when drinking the coff-yep. Thought so. Why do people think black coffee is the mark of a distinguished adult anyway? I don’t even like coffee, so I don’t get it at all.

The sentence in Japanese went something like “Makoto’s always been good”, so I don’t get why the word “egg” had to be introduced into the subs.

There’s an onigiri sale in the back, LOL.

The gates were fairly CGId…

The butler’s name is literally Jeeves Wodehouse, LOL.

Oh, Yumemi is blonde because of Maeve and Kana is brunette/black (?) haired because of Mamoru. Yumemi = dream seeing and Mamoru = protect.

Kana’s voice is annoying! That’s why I thought I wouldn’t like this.

Kana’s such a tsundere now that she knows Makoto is a boy, it’s annoying. I already knew such a detail from the reviews, so I’m not miffed at all.

I find it vaguely amusing that there were 3 different types of animation of a person popping their head into the attic.

Ema’s just a bit evil…Update: Nup, she just ships Kana x Makoto, that’s all.

The hardsubs weren’t encoded correctly on this episode, so they’re all blurry now. Still readable but blurry.

The pun is that the ka in Kana can be read hate in other cases.

More CG doors.

Why is Kana wearing the scarf, even after her bath in a towel???

This reminds me of Hayate the Combat Butler…

Maeve is foreign...that’s why she’s blonde. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (<- partially sarcastic)

Hmm…the fact you can’t tell what is and isn’t real is an interesting factor. However, the production values and the bog-standard romance being set up undercut that.

Magical girl transformation, eh? Reminds me of DN Angel or Magic Kaito, but also Phantom Thief Jeanne or something of the sort.

Hatena 2

I’m still trying to see if this is something to kick out…

This “scarf punches guy” business is getting old…I never got used to it in the old-school harems. I don’t know why it’s become a “classic” thing in anime.

This is meant to be for a boy’s perspective, so…I don’t get it. Okay, I’m dropping this.

Infinite Dendrogram 1

An isekai…oh, goody. (sarcastic) Then again, if I liked this I could try a new publisher out, so it’s win-win for me and the companies I go through to get there.

*the exposition rolls in about virtual reality* Oh great (sarcastic)…this is SAO all over again, isn’t it???

I saw HOTZIPANG in the credits list…now I’m really wary. HOTZIPANG were in the credits for Africa Salaryman and their animation production isn’t the best.

1st person cam…you suck, you know that?!

No. 13 (unlucky number)…Cheshire (Alice in Wonderland)…

Ray for Reiji makes sense, but…(consults Google-sensei) mukudori does mean “starling”, after all.

Yo…does Ray have to be blonde…? Is this some commentary on how having blonde hair is better than black hair, or am I thinking about this too much? (It’s my belief that Asians want to look European and vice versa – just look at their beauty standards! - so that’s where that comes from.)

Box? Looks like a bag to me.

Welp, just grabbing the kanji for mukudori via Wikipedia revealed the Embryo is a sword to me…*shrugs* No surprise there – as TV Tropes would say, heroes love swords (and redheads!).

So you can commit murder in Infinite Dendrogram??? (I’m joking partially, but Cheshire did say “you can do anything”…right?)

…and of course Ray drops into Altea from the sky. It’s been a cliché since No Game No Life.

“This is a game?” – Actually, I thought the same thing when I entered the website and game of TERA. Then again, this is basically trying to be SAO through and through, so I guess spouting that line is a prerequisite here.

How does anyone break both arms from running into someone…?

Well, at least this show looks nice. It’s doing its job on that front.

I was going to ask what a tian was, but the show answered it for me. Good job, show!

*Googles “dendrogram”* - “a tree diagram, especially one showing taxonomic relationships.” – Oh, so that’s why it’s called Infinite Dendrogram! (Y’know, it reminds me of studying about dendrites, which have the same appearance as a dendrogram...hence the shared origins of the words.)

Normally characters don’t jump into virtual worlds with thir brother…they’d do it with their cousin or crush or something…Hmm.

I was about to think you die in real life if you die in the game, but thank goodness this one is nowhere near as bad.

CGI bugs…of course…

That one still shot revealed a crack in this show’s visuals. I almost thought I could select it on the basis of the excellent visuals alone, but nope.

“…that…leaves a bad taste in my mouth!” – Not again, Ray…stop saying that line…

Again? I just told you in the last note not to!

Of course Ray gets the girl. I should’ve known…well she’s a sword but also a girl…?

The sentence ending -grizz is –kuma in Japanese.

I felt something special in my gut when the sword appeared, even though I’m complaining about this being like SAO, so I think it’s worth continuing.

A3 1

A3 is based on a mobile game so it looks a lot like those idol games, but it’s actually about acting according to the full name of Act! Addict! Actors!.

This kid’s eyes freak me out!

Considering this involves – according to the synopsis – a Mankai (full bloom) Company and this is called “spring and summer”, plus the metaphors from earlier, it makes sense the kiddo’s jumper says “spring” on it.

I thought the kid was singing, but turns out he’s reciting Shakespeare. I don’t know how popular the ol’ Shakie is in Japan, but I’ll take it.

Veludo Way = Broadway, apparently.

It should be Biro-do or Verodo, but not “Vedulo” like the subs say.

*sees a woman* - Oh great, so now this turns into an otome game…or, like i7’s Tsumugi, she’s an audience insert.

Someone encoded the video funny again…*sigh*

I bet the demolition guy is going to join the theatre, based on his looks. Update: According to the wiki, yes he does (as part of the Autumn troupe)! One of his hobbies is bubble wrap, which I can relate to immensely…and apparently he’s a yakuza…?

Masumi’s voice…is that Kaito Ishikawa? Update: No! It’s Shirai! I’m so surprised…it’s a very Io-sounding voice, though, so I guess I shouldn’t.

Masumi is one of those needy types who could easily fall into yandere territory…I don’t like him. I don’t like Sakuya either, though…

I know this from my recent experience, but hard work hardly works, Sakuya. Staying somewhere one year or ten years does diddly squat if you don’t have what other people are looking for. *tries not to cry*

I’m sorry guys, but even with the attack to the heart, I don’t give a s*** about you all. The troupe was just arguing to delay their deadlines and Furuichi (the demolition guy) has a point – the guys didn’t really prove themselves outside a brief but unimpressive stint from Sakuya.

ARP Backstage Pass 1

Hopefully this show is actually good, y’know? A3 just bombed…

Okayyyyyyyyyyy…from the one minute or so that I’ve seen, it looks like a Coldplay concert but with bishonen (good) and bad music (which is…uh, bad). That does not bode well for this show…also, the stage names are pretty obviously that. I mean, who cals their kid “Rage”? It’s probably Reiji (again, considring Infinite Dendrogram).

The cars from above almost look like Frogger…LOL.

Oh f*** me and my on-the-ball instincts! I guessed correctly again (Rage = Reiji)…and that’s bad news.

Wait, why is Shinji staring into space…?

There’s a kettle noisily going on in the background, so I can’t really tell what’s so awesome about this show without the music…I guess I’ll have to abort this mission until later…

Okay, so I listened to the piano bit thrice and couldn’t tell if there was a piano noise…That’s bad news. Update: Yep, listened to it again and there is no piano sound during the piano scene.

The rock music was…unexpected.

Wait, you mean the dude’s name is actually Daiya??? What???

Oh my gosh, these guys are hilarious! I know that’s dark considering they’re starving, but…LOL.

Idolmaster Side M taught me that career changes are actually pretty interesting when combined with idol anime and…this may be a band or something, but it sure works the same way.

That transition to Leon was terrible.

This appears to be Yokohama (Chinatown) and Hakone (the pirate ship).

Well, the show’s case would be helped if they had music in the right places, rather than music videos interspersed throughout.

Geesh this one is tough…some of the music is actually pretty good and the episode does get better when Rebel Cross appear (but Shinji is kinda boring, even though I thought I’d like him the most, and Leon’s singing was downright terrible), but the animation is terrible and I found myself going “But why should I care?!” multiple times in my head during the first half. The group do seem to have quite good synergy at the end and are generally entertaining, too.

Ankoku Hakaishin 1

I’ve ben calling this “Destructive God” or “Ankoku Haishin”, so this is A Destructive God Sits Next to Me. Update: It should be Hakaishin…actually.

Ooh, Natsuko Takahashi. This show’s in good hands.

Very Seki-kun.

Black Mouse Land, LOL.

“This is war!” – The word here is shoubu, which literally means “victory or defeat”, so it makes sense to change it to a more commonly used phrase.

“RIP Koyuki” – The grave said “Koyuki’s grave”…which isn’t that funny to be honest, so again, I get the decision to change it.

Hanadori still had the dog…?

“Things I Want to Forget” – Literally, the words on the page mean “black history”, which I think is funnier.

Oh, I bet Koyuki will plan the class trip…

“[T]he jerk in the next class over” – Does he have a name…?

I bet Koyuki has the worst grades in math of the trio.

Koyuki is deliberately designed like a cat, it seems.

You can see the broken window from earlier…LOL.

It’s Animal Crossing! On DS! (But what’s up with that rabbit with the fishnet stockings…?) Update: Do Japanese kids even use DSs these days? DSs must be cheap in comparison to their newfangled gaming laptops and Switches…

Is Tsukimiya Mamoru Miyano or something…? Update: Nup, Kimura. I seem to get those two confused quite a bit.

The “Muney” (sic) thing is because he (Hanadori) wrote the hyou in mokuhyou (aim, goal) wrong. By the way, Hanadori put an eyepatch on one of his banknotes.

That ending was actually kind of cute. I always prefer heartwarming comedies like these over mean-spirited ones (Osomatsu-san, Konosuba), so…yep, it’s in my wheelhouse!

I predicted the ending but the galactic reaction I got was…awesome!

In/Spectre 1

Why does this have so many names? In/Spectre, Kyokou Suiri , Inverted Reasoning (or was it Inverted Interface)…? Update: Inverted Inference. That’s the name on the manga covers.

Ooh, Saki is pretty classy-looking.

This is being framed like a romance, huh? I know this series is supernatural, but I’m not really here for the romance.

What’s the age gap? 17 (Kotoko) – 23 (Kuro)?

Lel, Harlequin novels. Those seem to be exclusive to the Western world (specifically the USA and its English-speaking country buddies), so it’s probably just romance novels in the original words. Update: I found Harlequin novels for Japan, but still, they’d be nowhere near as ubiquitous as they are elsewhere. Update 2: I kept thinking about it, so now I have an entire post with my findings. Turns out Japan does have and know about Harlequin novels (which do look like the one the samurai was holding), but they probably couldn’t state the name because of potential lawsuits or something.

Oh gosh, Potato-kun (Kuro) – yes, I think of him much like a normal harem lead – getting your hand chomped off to the arm is a bit stupid, y’know?

Whoa! Wht a crazy cliffhanger!

Whoo! This OP (? Or is this an ED?) is crazy cool. Kinda like low-budget Kekkai Sensen.

Well, this show is kinda losing me with the romance elements, but the supernatural part is great.

Hanako-kun 2

What’s Hakujoudai? Those will o wisps? Update: Seems so.

The explanation of Yousei-san has a voice like it’s coming across a radio…interesting.

The towel…I bet it’s the one from Senpai one of the students mntioned earlier.

The subbers spelt “brooch” wrong.

This new boy – which I thought was Minamoto at first (LOL?)…he has a traffic omamori as an earring and a staff/umbrella, so he’s probably an exorcist. Either that or a massive chuunibyou.

LOL, Castle in the Sky much? (Or is that Nausicaa?)

Nene is reading from a magazine called G Cinema.

The comedy is this is slowly getting better. That’s a good sign for this, but bad for Ankoku Hakaishin…

Seagull High????? (Kamome = seagull.)

Wait, Minamoto??? You mean Nene’s former love is an exorcist??? Update: Oops, that’s (Nene’s crush is) Kou’s older bro…but that’s spoilers.

“Kou” is written with the character for hikari, or in this case “Yorimitsu”.

The action scenes are pretty good in this…I guess I kind of took them for granted in ep. 1.

Oh, I guess I should’ve known that seal on Hanako’s face…there were more of them in his possession. Also, there’s an extra V in the subs for some reason.

The stairs remind me of Muzan’s “universe” near the end of Demon Slayer’s first season.

Oh, the events of this episode tell you why Nene does the next episode stuff.

The ED visuals remind me of Ranpo Kitan’s, and I love Ranpo Kitan’s.

Ankoku Hakaishin 2

Why is Koyuki eating with his teacher anyway? I thought he was the guy from the class next door until he started talking about kids.

“Miguel Whatever” makes me laugh every time.

The cat ears on Koyuki’s phone are cute.

Sumiso reminds me of Aikatsu girls…

Uchitama 2

Bull is an “ore-sama”, huh?

I didn’t think they would continue with the “Solitary King of Destruction” thing.

Bull as a chuunibyou ham is so entertaining, but when they try to play the Momo romance hand again…I start to lose my patience...

LOL, Petstagram…

…and now it’s a (reverse) HAREM!

“[M]ad dog”, LOL, what a turn of phrase.

Okayyyyyyyyy subbers, own up! Who put a dog pun in Bull’s talk?! (I’m referring to the “doggone it!”.)

*points at dog puns*- You didn’t, subbers! You’re still adding dog puns!

Wait, Bull’s singing?! This I didn’t expect!

Well…this decision is hard. Bull’s become greater than ever…but only in relation to his romance with Momo!

Aww…seeing Bull dejected makes me sad inside too.

Oh yeah! There we go! That intro landed its gag purrfectly…to use an intentional cat pun.

Why did I take to Bull so much? Well, if he weren’t a dog, I’d find him completely romanceable, even if he were a massive chuuni.

Oh, the pun is ippai (full). Then you unintentionally switch it to oppai (boobs).

What? Wow, I never thought I’d get Ume talking about cat and dog nipples. (That’s not a sentence I’m going to be able to match any time soon.)

Okayyyyyyyyy…that one segment was a massive weird non-sequitur. I have no idea how they’d represent that with cat and dog forms.

Oh, Petstagram! We actually get to see it!

This series is more prone to “mood swings” than Ankoku Hakaishin or even Hanako-kun…yikes.

No, no, no! Who is this guy??? Haven’t you heard of “stranger danger”?!

…Oh, so the guy was Tome, huh?

The ED! This aesthetic is too good!

ARGH! Okay, okay, Uchitama! You win! I was going to pick Ankoku Hakaishin because that’s more consistent in landing its laughs and Hanako-kun would’ve been a better choice because its aesthetic is more consistently there plus it has interesting ideas with its apparitions, but Ankoku Hakaishin is fairly interchangeable with Iruma-kun…basically, if Eizouken or Magia Record don’t work out, I can loo forward to switching in one or the other, but I’m going to stick with Uchitama because *gestures wildly at screen* just look at this manservice! Even if it’s actually for a dog, I cannot deny the manservice!

#simulcast commentary #uchitama #boku no tonari ni ankoku hakaishin ga imasu #a destructive god sits next to me #Hatena Illusion #In/Spectre #Inverted Inference #Kyokou Suiri #toilet-bound hanako-kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #a3! season spring & summer #arp backstage pass #infinite dendrogram #Uchitama?! Uchi no Tama Shirimasenka?#uchitama?! have you seen my tama?#Chesarka watches Uchitama

1 note · View note

jcashe · 5 years

Text

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 2 Rant

SPOILERS

I wanted to talk about Joel & Midge’s relationship, & how I am conflicted on whether or not Joel & Midge getting back together (or just kissing) will hurt the show. I think a lot of Season One building the audience up on disliking Joel. Even when Joel & Midge get back together in Season One the writers again make us (or at least me) dislike Joel again because of his reaction to Midge being a comedian. But, the writers got me to change my mind because I began to like Joel since he was so supportive of Midge. Also, I liked the juxtaposition between Abe/Rose’s marriage to Joel/Midge’s marriage. When Midge is angry with her Mother & talks about honoring commitment & having to go back to NYC because Abe’s her husband. I loved the response Rose gave to Midge before leaving. I also thought it would be a good theme for the series which I would’ve wanted to be is Joel & Midge aren’t supposed to work. They’re a product of that eras social expectations. Even if they did love each other is it what they really dreamed of. Especially, since it’s based in the 1950s & how so many couples were forced into marriage because of society. I think it would’ve been better to continue & see Midge battle society with being a single/divorced woman.

Legit when Rose is having that conversation w/ her classmates in art school she tells them that the reason they sent Midge to college & she wanted to go was to find a husband. Which is like many other women in the 1950s were taught to do as well. Like the 1950s is the era where the 2.5 White Pickett fence American Dream thing started & grew from. So, on paper Midge & Joel are perfect together & even if they did love each-other they don’t have to get back together. Like I think it undermines Midge’s character a little bit by making her always crawl back to Joel. I understand it’s the era which is why I understood why they got another love interest so quick (i.e. Benjamin). Because it wouldn’t be out of character or the era for her parents to hurry & try to find Midge with another man. Since eventually when they die all that money goes to her brother Noah & she can’t support herself. So, the default is that the man is suppose to take care of her & the children. But, what defines midge’s character is the fact that she is a single independent woman who suffered from being cheated on & left by her husband. I hope it was just a goodbye kiss & that’s it & Midge stays single the rest of the series.

I’m not saying Joel would have to continue & be the villain. But, to change the “ex husband” narrative which they were doing which was Joel & Midge still have a love for each other but an understanding that the marriage won’t work. Not make a complete 180 degree change with Joel who is now somehow accepted Midge’s comedy. I understand people can change & maybe Joel learned he loves Midge more than he hates being the butt of the joke. However, I think his character development could’ve still happened without them getting back together. Since Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is bend the gender roles & stereotypes especially in that decade. Now them getting back together plays on the stereotypes that either divorced people either hate each other & cant be civil or they have to eventually get back together. When we could’ve had a nice example of a divorced couple who are still supportive, still good friends, & want their significant others to be happy.

I actually liked Benjamin. Do I think Midge should’ve got engaged so early in the season? No. Even if they broke up & Midge stayed single for the entire series or got with another man I wouldn’t complain. Just not Joel. I’m not saying their loving scenes especially at Catskills wasn’t cute. I get why they put the proposal in the beginning of the last episode to show how much Joel knew her & loved her. But, Midge could’ve forgave Joel for walking out on her because it changed both of their lives for the better without getting back together with him. I would’ve loved to see Midge trying to date again (i.e. Benjamin) & realizing that she needs to focus on her kids & herself. Then finally deciding to see someone & settle down or stay single by the end of the series.

Because either Joel & Midge break-up once again & officially get divorced or they get back together. So, basically the same loop we’ve been going through. I hope that kiss becomes a goodbye kiss because I can’t handle a whole other season of Joel/Midge will they won’t they. Especially, if they end up getting back together. To me that seems like it defeats the whole point of the show. I understand it’s called “Marvelous MRS. MAISEL”, but I always took that as being ironic since it’s still her last name but she won’t be a Mrs anymore if Joel & her got divorced. I just think if the plan was to get Joel & Midge back together they didn’t need to introduce Benjamin or have them be apart all of Season 2. It was a waste of screen time.

Anyways, the season was good not as good as Season 1 but I still enjoyed watching it. Especially, the dynamic between Rose, Abe, & Midge. Even though my one complaint is that majority of Midge’s parents character development was pushed back once the Catskill episodes started. I would’ve loved to see Abe & Rose still working on their marriage with Abe continue to try & listen to his family. I understand one of the gags in the show is how stereotypically Jewish Abe is who is the Jewish Husband that doesn’t listen, always yells, & is cheap (I’m Jewish lol my father is like Abe). But, I think you could’ve still kept some of the stereotypes without making Abe push away all the character development that they got from France. If that’s the case then there was no need for the Paris episodes too.

My thing is the way they ended the season undercuts a lot of the things they built up to last season & even built up in the first half of season 2. Overall 8/10.

#marvelous mrs maisel #spoilers #season two #midge maisel

8 notes · View notes

goldenchildkatsuki · 6 years

Text

MY FINGERS ARE PINK

a kacchako drabble

Summary: It's July, the villains have stayed put, they're bored, why not dye their hair and shave their heads?

Writers note: As I have stated on Tumblr I was taking a slight break from writing since I'm in the middle of exam period. It's been two weeks since I said that and boy have I missed writing about these two. Though my exams aren't over yet I decided to write this drabble about them that I came up with months ago. I was watching Jenna and Julien on Youtube, back on their usual beauty salon bullshit and I thought "Huh, this is cute." So here we are.Hope you enjoy, I'll be back with more uploads soon.

Word count: 2.390

AO3 link: (x)

He had been looking at the kit for a while but reading it over and over made him even more confused. The longer he stared at the small white letters on the black box the more he regretted even buying the damn high end product.

“This is going to be a nightmare.” Bakugou mumbled as he scratched his ear that got tickled by the strands of hair brushing it when falling to the ground.

Uraraka didn’t respond.

The buzzing sound was too loud, and she didn’t hear quite well to begin with.

Bakugou scraped his throat and repeated his sentence, this time louder.

He felt the clippers coming of his scalp and she poked her head over his shoulder.

“You said something?”

“I said this is going to be a fucking nightmare.” Bakugou repeated for the third time.

He hung his head and felt the air of the fan blowing against his head. It felt strange, it sent chills down his spine. Bakugou didn’t feel that anxious when he saw all his hair on the ground but now that he could feel that it was gone, it was a different story.

Bakugou had no idea how he was going to look, he could go and feel the back of his head, but he was sure Uraraka would tap it away. She herself had been almost completely silent the entire time she was doing his hair. Not the slightest squeal or hitch in breath could show how she thought about how he looked right now.

Maybe she didn’t feel anything. Bakugou had been moaning about doing it for so long and every time he did Uraraka stated she was certain it would suit him. He never ended up doing it, even though he kept complaining about how untamable it was getting and how hot it was. Maybe she saw what she expected and couldn’t get out a notable reaction.

“You’re not the one having to do it.” Uraraka laughed as she gently pushed his head a little more upwards.

“But I’m going to be the one helping, which in our case is basically the same as doing it by myself.”

“It’s your fault then for wanting to take things over all the time!”

“Is not!”

Bakugou could feel Uraraka smiling above him and he couldn’t help but to crack one himself. Though he was determined it was indeed going to be one hell of a paint job, he was determined Uraraka was going to look good with pink ends. At first, he was not feeling it at all. He had fallen in love and gotten so used to her chestnut colored hair, that he could barely even imagine it. Not only that but Bakugou was convinced it was just one of the impulses that came with Uraraka’s current mood.

Since they moved to a different area, a more rural one, it had been quiet. Quieter than they expected. Even when they went to their agencies in town they were disappointed by how little there was to do. It may have been the wave of new and upcoming heroes fresh out of high school or it may just be that villains also couldn’t be bothered to commit crimes in this scorching heat. Whatever the reason was, it left both of them with too much free time on their hands.

And whilst Bakugou seemed to be filling that up redesigning his costume and looking through applicants for his agency, Uraraka had got bored with redecorating their new apartment and had been doing things on impulse.

They now had three guppies.

There was a half-deflated children’s pool with snorkeling gear at the bottom on their balcony.

And Bakugou’s white sneakers now had drawings on them.

Bakugou had tried to not get angry at her, he kind of understood her after all. It was frustration that laid deep and it just managed to express itself in that way.

But really, his white sneakers?

This time he had fallen victim to her impulse and he was getting and undercut done by Uraraka. He couldn’t really say he fell victim, he wanted this done for a long time after all. The thing was that Uraraka had never shaved heads before. She never dyed her hair either.

At this point it was whatever and he just hoped that after this Uraraka would have peaked and look through the applicants with him or something. Something he had asked her to do from the moment he brought the insanely high stacks of paper into their home. He valued Uraraka’s opinion a lot and knew she saw things he easily overlooked. Believe it or not she was even stricter than he was when it came to that sort of thing. But Uraraka decided that naming their guppies in that moment was evidently more important than paper work.

Uraraka turned off the clippers for a minute and took a deep breath. Bakugou took the opportunity to stand up and stretch his limbs out. He watched Uraraka walk to the kitchen and open the fridge to bring out a giant jug of lemonade. She poured two cups of them, added sugar to one and pushed the other closer to the edge of the kitchen counter.

Bakugou walked up to the glass and downed it in one go. He poured himself another glass and leaned against the fridge, sighing as it barely cooled his sticky back. He looked at Uraraka who looked very gleeful.

“What?” Bakugou scowled.

“Nothing.” Uraraka turned her head away from him.

“Don’t do that, you know I hate that.”

Bakugou reached out his hand to take her face and turn it back to him. The girl waved it away and took another sip of her lemonade before speaking.

“You just look really handsome like that.” She exhaled.

Bakugou shook his head and rolled his eyes at her. “Fuck off.”

The girl pointed her nose in the air. “That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. You can’t take a compliment!”

He gently kicked her shin with his foot. “You should know by now that that’s how I take compliments.”

Uraraka chuckled, put her glass down and walked back to the living area. “By telling people to fuck off?”

Bakugou wiped the sweat of his forehead with his t-shirt and followed Uraraka. “Yes!”

He sat back down in the chair and pressed down the sappy feeling that was starting to emerge. Though he was more than allowed to feel flustered when his girlfriend complimented him, he would rather avoid becoming that ‘soft’. Preferably by sampling thinking;

Of course, he looks handsome.

What did she expect?

He could rock a purple wig if he wanted to.

No doubt in his mind.

Though it was good to know still, that she thought that.

Uraraka turned on the clippers and quickly cleaned him up. When she turned off the clippers for the last time she immediately went to the bathroom to fetch him a mirror. She went to stand before him and handed him the hand mirror.

Bakugou slightly jumped when seeing the new version of himself. Was it even a new version of himself? He had a hard time recognizing the person in the mirror to be honest. He was still incredibly satisfied with the result though. Bakugou knew that he didn’t have to doubt Uraraka too much. She wouldn’t have sat him down if she knew she really couldn’t pull it off.

He felt the back and the side of his head and the tiny hairs pricked his hands. A quick ruffle through the bush of hair at the front and it looked exactly like he wanted it to look.

“This is some barber’s shit right here.” Bakugou grinned.

“Better pay me the barber’s fees then.”

“How about I hand you my pillow if you’re out of cool sides on yours.”

Uraraka hummed as she disconnected the clippers.

“That’s probably worth more than what I was about to ask for.” She said.

Bakugou threw the mirror on the carpet and grabbed the box of pink hair dye off the coffee table. He waved it in front of Uraraka.

“Your turn.”

She took the box out of his hands and took her hair out of a bun. The ends fell over her shoulders and Bakugou noticed it had started growing over her clavicles. He liked that it had got long. He had always wondered what she would look like with longer hair since they were still in high school.

He followed her into the bathroom and sat her down in front of the big mirror. She threw her hair back, handed Bakugou her hair brush. He took a handful of hair and carefully brushed all the knots now.

If his sixteen-year-old self would see him now he would be stunned to the core.

But what could he say. She was shit at combing out her knots, and he already said he was going to help her at some point.

Bakugou heard her mumbling the instructions beneath him and she also seemed to be as confused as he was. It was likely that they were just going to give it a go and see where it ended up. Like most things nowadays. He was still angry at every single adult that didn’t tell him how hard this type of shit was.

Buying furniture? Taxes? Dyeing your girlfriends hair?

Yeah, it was more difficult than he expected.

Uraraka opened the box and wore the black gloves, secured them with hair ties that she left in the sink. She handed Bakugou the second pair of spare gloves she had taken out of the kitchen drawer after he was just about done.

They stared in the mirror and couldn’t help but laugh at themselves.

What in the world where they doing?

Trying, he guessed.

Trying to pass time as the responsible and serious adults they were.

His girlfriend fanned her face and tried to calm herself down. She bent forwards to take a bowl and brush she had bought in a beauty salon.

She lifted the two items to either side of her face “So what now?”

“Not a single fucking clue.”

“It tells me how to dye my whole head pink but nothing about just parts so I’m saying we just go in there.”

Uraraka threw the brush on the ground and took a tube of paint, which she started squirting the contents of in the bowl and lifted it above her head.

Bakugou quickly took a towel from the edge of the tub and put it around her shoulders. Then he proceeded to dip his fingers in the paint and stared at her in the mirror with an unsure look on his face.

She nodded at him, dipped her own fingers in paint and started massaging pink into her brown locks.

This could not be right at all. Hairdressers probably couldn’t help but panic if they saw what they were doing but on the other hand, he had no idea how else they were supposed to do it. So, he continued to do the same as Uraraka and helped her dye the back of her head.

He could feel tiny splashes of paint on his face and prayed that this wouldn’t leave his face as pink as Uraraka’s cheeks by the end of it. But he just had to make sure every single hair was properly dyed, so he continued to lightly splatter himself.

The activity wasn’t as time-consuming as he thought it would be and it didn’t take long for them to use both tubes of paint on Uraraka’s ends.

Now the waiting, that seemed to last forever. Bakugou knew he was impatient but forty minutes seemed to last a lifetime. Neither of them could touch anything. He couldn’t hold her face and squish her red and puffy cheeks for entertainment purposes, he couldn’t even get them any drinks seeing as they couldn’t take the gloves off just yet.

They just had to hang in the bathroom. Uraraka lying over the sink and Bakugou lying on the bathroom floor, both cooking in the bathroom that was one of the hottest spaces in the apartment, almost equal to a sauna, with conveniently one of the tiniest windows, that could only be cracked open slightly.

At least they had time to decide on what to eat for dinner that night.

After they decided that, they complained about how unreal the amount they were sweating was until, finally, the forty minutes were over.

Uraraka stood up and Bakugou kicked the chair until in turned all the way around. She sat down again, and he turned on the faucet with the palm off his hand. He thoroughly washed out the hair dye and was careful not to splash any water over the ridge.

“This better not stain the sink.”

“Don’t worry.”

Bakugou probably washed it out more times than needed and just when he was about to turn off the faucet, Uraraka opened her eyes.

“I’ll finish up.”

She wanted to surprise him of course. Even though he wasn’t a big fan of surprises at all, he let her do her thing. He left the bathroom, peeled of his gloves to throw them away in the trashcan in the kitchen.

Bakugou looked at his hands.

Well, their sink was definitely fucked.

He tried to wash his hands and tried to cool himself down by letting the cold water run over his wrists. Nothing helped. He kept listening to the sound of the hairdryer and kept scrubbing and soaking his writs until it fell silent.

“You can come back now!” he heard her chirp.

Bakugou speed walked back to the bathroom and opened the door that was shut to a creek. He saw her standing in the middle of the bathroom with a hair tie between her rosy lips and brushing the ends of her hair. The ends were colored like the punch at prom. Or more like the bubblegum she loved to chew. Whatever the color was, it looked stunning on her. He didn’t think it was possible for her to look even more bad ass than she already did. He didn’t think it was possible for him to adore her even more.

Bakugou rubbed his chin. “Well shit.”

“Is that a good kind of ‘shit’?”

“Oh very.”

#kacchako #bakuraka #bnha #bakugou x uraraka #uraraka x bakugou #kacchako fic #kacchako fanfic #kacchako fanfiction #bakugou #bakugou katsuki #uraraka #uraraka ochako #boku no hero #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #jj writes

27 notes · View notes

backstorywithdanalewis · 4 years

Text

Biden vs Trump Foreign Policy

podcast link here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/5747836

Trump: (00:00) Yeah, Trump: (00:00) I learned a lot about covid I learned it by really going to school. Trump: (00:04) This is the real school. Dana Lewis / Host : (00:10) Hi everyone. And welcome to this backstory on America and its presidency. I'm Dana Lewis. We want to focus as much as we can on foreign policy, as Biden and Trump five for the presidency in November. What will change America and NATO, the U S and the Paris climate Accords, Syria, Afghanistan, China, but perhaps nothing is more troubling than Trump undercutting American democracy. And how does that play in places like fellow routes where thousands are being arrested and freedom is in a choke hold by a dictator. Oh yes. And we can't forget Russia on this backstory us foreign policy and how it could look completely Joseph Williams: (00:52) In just a few months. Dana Lewis / Host : (00:59) Joseph Williams is in Washington, a reporter with us news and world report. He covers the white house national politics. Hi Joseph. Thanks for doing it. Joseph Williams: (01:07) Hi, good to see you, Donald Trump ridingin in a hermetically sealed car, pumped up on on steroids Dana Lewis / Host : (01:13) Exposing secret service agents and others. Uh, you know, to just to say hi to people and campaign a little bit Outside Walter Reed medical center. I mean, everybody's head is spinning at this point. It's, it's pretty remarkable. Uh, and I think from a medical point of view, it's pretty outrageous, at least the way we see it from here in London. Um, well, it's, there are a couple of things that, uh, take the outreach view. Joseph Williams: (01:36) The first and foremost is the fact that we're here at all, right. I mean, this is a president who abjectly denied the fact that this virus was harmful, took great pains to, to avoid wearing masks and saw anyone who wore a mask as somebody, uh, evidencing weakness. Right? So number one, you know, the fact that we're here in the first place is just, uh, it's, it's even hard to overstate how absurd and ridiculous that is. So that's number one, number two. Uh, this man has the best medical advice and medical teams at his disposal yet for years. Joseph Williams: (02:10) Well, not years, but ever since the virus took place, uh, six months ago, he is refused. He feels like, yeah, don't want, feels like you're exactly, but he's refused the advice of medical professionals and had tried to downplay the virus, even though in private, he admitted how horrible and how deadly this potentially deadly this virus is. So that's, that's the second part that has people's heads spinning. But third part is that we can't get a straight answer from the white house about what his condition was, how bad it was. What's his condition. Now what the general prognosis he's on steroids. Now, the steroids are good. He's on an experimental drug. He's on another drug that they're using only for the most extreme patients, but he could walk out of here tomorrow. You know, we think he's doing so well, that, that he could he's half, he's got the strength of 10 minutes. Joseph Williams: (02:57) So there's there, there's a bunch of factors at work here that lead us to question whether or not we as Americans being told the whole truth, whether or not the president has actually learned a lesson here and whether or not, uh, this is going to be a, a situation of bears watching if he's going to relapse because the virus, the virus happens very suddenly a lot of times. And if he's going to be in the clear, and if he's going to be able to exercise the judgment that a president of the United States needs to exercise. Dana Lewis / Host : (03:24) Well, I can tell you, after living through prime minister, Boris Johnson's experience here, because he got COVID-19 after being pretty casual about the whole thing and Britain as a result had the worst number of deaths in Europe. I mean, he, he originally got it. And then, uh, he didn't go into hospital for about nine days and then it became very serious. And then he was that close to being put on a ventilator, but he wasn't, he was on oxygen. And he said, he came very close to losing his life there. So, I mean, there is, there is still a road to, to pay for your, in terms of Trump's recovery back. Maybe he goes home now, maybe he doesn't, but has it shifted the election debate now completely back probably to where it should be to COVID-19 and his handling of it. Joseph Williams: (04:10) There is no doubt that it has. I mean, before then we were talking about Supreme court justices before then we were talking about whether or not, uh, our tough guy president has what it takes to get the country back to where it was, uh, before he took office. Uh, but now COVID-19 is, is his word one, uh, you can't have a sitting president who was running for reelection hospitalized and not talk about that. So certainly the, the, the virus has, has reclaimed center state. The open question is whether or not his message is going to remain the same, that this is all in the past and that the worst of it is behind us. And that I am strong and I am in control, even though I got a virus that, that I was trying to tell everybody didn't exist and didn't matter. So his messaging on that almost certainly has to change Dana Lewis / Host : (04:57) Over the weekend. He said he learned a lot. He's learned more about the virus and he's going to be sharing some of that. Any idea what on earth to learn that he wouldn't already know? Joseph Williams: (05:06) You know, it's hard to tell because if you learn a lot about the virus, that means his, his starting place was really not in a good place to begin with. If, if the leader of the free world, the leader of the country, that's leading the world in the number of Corona virus, cases and deaths. If he is only now learning about the virus that speaks very ill of him, the second thing is, did he really learn a lesson? Because he's out parading around in his car gathering, you know, soaking up some love from some of his fans, putting secret service agents at risk unnecessarily. There was no need for him to do that. Yeah, granted they're wearing hazmat suits. Granted they were wearing masks, but still, why do this, why do this Dana Lewis / Host : (05:44) We're of the same mind here? We both, I think we both considered a pretty dumb thing to do, but there are probably his followers who think that that was a great thing to do that he came out and thanked people and showed that he's strong and that he's with them. And it plays very differently to Republicans. Joseph Williams: (06:01) Well, it plays very differently. Republicans and also plays very well in States like Argentina States like Venezuela, where you have a strong man leader and we're the United States. We're not supposed to be that way. And if the Republicans are cheered by this, that says something very simple, it's very significant. I believe about their party and where it is in the United States, body politics. I mean, Dana Lewis / Host : (06:22) You just helped me switch a little bit to foreign affairs in a, in a, an American foreign policy when you start talking about overseas, because when you talk about countries like Belarus, which are right now, you know, ignited in accusations of fraudulent elections, and there are sanctions against the strong man, president Lucas, Shanko, who is jailing his opposition, and, you know, America is one of those, not one of those countries. It is the country that normally wades in here and speaks with moral authority about democracy and freedom of speech and free and fair elections. But how can you expect America to do that? Now when Donald Trump is undermining the democratic process in November saying that he may accept the result, or he may not, he may, it's, it's full of these mail in ballots. He's saying that that that's, that that's a stacked election. Um, and he's not committing themselves to a peaceful transition of power. It's difficult Joseph Williams: (07:23) [inaudible] to have any moral authority when we're that way. And you might've noticed that we have not talked all that much. At least he hasn't talked all that much publicly about Bellaruse about Argentina, about Venezuela, and about all the, uh, States around the world that are struggling to maintain democracy. Uh, he is an on the contrary, he's cozied up to people like, uh, deter Duterte in the Philippines. He's talked admiringly of Vladimir Putin. He's talked a lot about how he wishes. He were able to throw a military parade like, uh, like, uh, McCrone biz and France, because these are all signals. These are all, all indications in his mind of strong authority and, and bold leadership, but it plays very differently in the United States. And, and it's very question is very puzzling why he's gotten as far as he has with this kind of a underlying tone to his message. Dana Lewis / Host : (08:12) And he didn't speak out on, I mean, it's shocking that he didn't speak out in Nevada County, the main opposition member who was poisoned with nerve agent in Russia. But, you know, again, that's an example if I'm not willing to criticize Putin in any way or criticize the Kremlin, um, can you, can you talk to me about Biden? I mean, his Biden on foreign policy, like Russia, for instance, since we're talking about that, do you expect him to be much tougher than Trump has been, Joseph Williams: (08:37) Expect him to be much tougher than Trump has been on Russia? Um, are we going to head towards the brink of war? No. Is he going to be fondly, uh, talking about, uh, his pal Vladimir? No, I don't think he is. We're going to go back to a conventional foreign policy, I believe, uh, trying to maintain and enhance democracy, the world, uh, doing a few things that people don't really notice that might raise the hackles of some human rights, uh, advocates, uh, but it's going to be very much more conventional, very much in the mold of Obama. However, there are things where a Biden split with Obama, uh, including, uh, Iraq, uh, very famously, uh, Joe Biden wanted Iraq to be divvied up into three States, uh, and, uh, not have the U S may be, uh, maintain a presence there for long. Uh, people said, well, no, that's insane. Joseph Williams: (09:24) We can't do that. There'll be ethnic violence, you know, from here to kingdom come, and his view did not prevail, but there were some who remind us of that. Uh, and there are some of us who remind us that, that Joe Biden knows a lot of the world leaders, but his is a very centrist foreign policy. So I would not expect anything beyond a boilerplate United States, uh, talking points about human rights and about, uh, advancing democracy, which while turning a blind eye to some abuses, uh, among allies like the Saudis and, uh, uh, the, uh, middle East and the, uh, uh, not Iranians, but the, um, Israelis. Um, we're probably have a more hawkish stance on Iran, although we'll probably go back into the nuclear deal because that only makes sense, but it's going to Trump. It has less hawkish than Trump, but it is going to raise some hackles on the right. There are going to be some, some complaints about him, a seeding tour ran when everybody, including the Iranians believe that this field makes sense. Dana Lewis / Host : (10:24) Carbon emissions, the Paris Accords, I mean, Biden is basically articulated that would America resign. Joseph Williams: (10:30) I believe they would. Um, mainly because, uh, he is being forced to recognize he's his, his left flank is forcing him to recognize that, uh, climate change is a thing. Uh, and the wildfires in California only underscore that we've had significant weather events. We've had significant fires that speak to the need to get back into the Paris accord and the Paris accord might not be enough. We might be there too late. So, uh, we're definitely going to be hearing more about climate change in a post Trump presidency. But the question is whether or not we're able to do anything about it in time to save lives and property Dana Lewis / Host : (11:06) Afghanistan really quickly, Donald Trump has tweeted among many tweets from the hospital, peace through strength, bring our soldiers home. Now he didn't say home from where, uh, but I, he's probably talking about Afghanistan and there's not very many left. Anyway. I think there's 5,500. They were going to bring them down to 3,500 by the November election. There are peace negotiations with the Taliban fat chance in my personal opinion, that that's going to bring about real peace in Afghanistan. But again on Afghanistan, he's probably wants to get out. And Joseph Williams: (11:38) Yeah, absolutely. Um, Biden probably will maintain some kind of a presence mainly because it is in our best interest to do that. I mean, the Taliban negotiations with the Afghan government, they haven't been going really very well. And as soon as the U S leaves all hell could potentially break loose. So I don't think he's going to hit the exit ramp quite as quickly as, as Trump is. Uh, but I do think there's going to be some discussion about maintaining a minimal footprint in the U S because this is the longest war that the us has ever had. So I would expect if Biden continues on the centrist track, I would expect him to talk about removing fruits. I just don't think that he would do it abjectly and do it in a way that could cause a very fragile government to collapse. Dana Lewis / Host : (12:21) The biggest one I left for last and that's China. So, I mean, it's really been Trump's punching bag on everything from trade to, to security Taiwan. I mean, they've been overtly supportive of Taiwan. What do you think the Biden is going to change on, on China? Should he become the next presence? Joseph Williams: (12:39) Interestingly, I don't think that much will change as least as far as, uh, as far as, uh, uh, Taiwan and Hong Kong are concerned. I think that they will keep a very close watch on what happens over there. I think the Biden ministration will do that. Uh, we're probably going to see a Susan Rice as, uh, secretary of state. She very much is in the mold of, of Obama and, uh, the Obama years where there will be some, a lot of talk about, uh, democracy. There'll be a lot of talk about protection from the Chinese, but Biden himself has also been using the Chinese. The Chinese is a punching bag. Uh, as a matter of fact on the debate, one of those points that Trump tried to score is maintaining that China has eaten Biden's lunch. Uh, we don't necessarily think that that's true. We do know that Obama was not, uh, conciliatory towards China, but nor was he declaring them as a fear ally. As a matter of fact, on Obama's watch the South China sea, uh, basis started popping up. So expect Biden to, to draw a stricter line on China. He's probably not going to go hard at least not to the brink of war, but he certainly will not let them, uh, go unchecked, uh, in their request to expand power, Dana Lewis / Host : (13:45) Shifting back to the U S I want to leave it there with you, but do you think election night, a lot of people predicting chaos, a lot of people predicting that Trump will call his people to the street and to polling stations. And they'll say, don't allow those ballots, those, those mailing ballots to be counted, that there could be violence. I mean, depending on where you stack up on this, you think you're going to have a result on election night. Are you going to have months of court battles Joseph Williams: (14:11) And maybe well, I mean, the, the, the, um, I think that what will happen is going to be determined by how the vote goes early. I mean, so far early votes have been at record numbers in order to avoid that thing, uh, to avoid any kind of unrest or questions there's going to have to be a decisive victory or a decisive defeat by either one of the candidates. That's the only way I think that there will be a unrest not taking place. I think that the violence, the, the potential for violence seems to be a lot more, uh, a lot more likely on the right, mainly because, uh, they are pro gun they're pro uh, second amendment, and we've seen, uh, people on the right Dana Lewis / Host : (14:52) Bring guns to peaceful rallies. So I think that that's going, uh, that's more likely in that instance, however, I don't think you could argue in because he's called them out. He is, I was going to say that he has actually called them out and has issued a Clarion call and he's kind of walked it back, but not especially vigorously. So I think that if we have a decisive result, he may try to challenge it in the court, but there may be some people will talk them out of it. If it's a divided election with many votes left on, counted through the mail, I think that will, that will hike the potential for chaos. And I think that if it's anything but a decisive victory, there will be potential for unrest, at least violence add most Joe Williams, a reporter with us news and world report. Joe. Thanks a lot. My pleasure. Alright. Anar Bata, is also in London where I am and she's with the U S and America's program at Chatham house, a think tank in London. Hi, Anar , how are you? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (15:50) Hi, Dana. Thanks so much for having me today. I'm good. How are you? Dana Lewis / Host : (15:53) My head is spinning today because I'm watching drive by a coverage of Donald Trump who left the hospital at the Walter Reed medical center. And then, uh, you know, in a hermetically sealed vehicle, uh, you know, drove around with secret service agents, uh, waving at his supporters outside the hospital. And I'm just, I'm like everybody else, a little breathless over it. I can't believe that he did it. And, uh, so many medical people are condemning him for it. Um, how do you feel about it? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (16:25) Yeah, I mean, I think you you've raised some really good points. I think at this point in time, it's hard to be surprised by what Trump will do next. Um, as you say, you know, yesterday on, on the 4th of October, he took, um, a joy ride outside of his hospital. Um, he's gotten a lot of criticism for that recently for endangering the secret service agents that were in the car with him, apparently the way that the car was sealed, made it even more likely for the coated particles to get passed to secret service agents. But I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that, you know, Trump, he likes the unfair, he likes the attention. Um, you know, he's very concerned about his image and I think he wants to show voters that he's very tough. Um, he's not getting get overcome by this virus. Um, you know, we're less than a month to go until the election. So engaging with voters, especially in swing States is very essential right now. Um, and he's not going to have the opportunity to meet with them in person anymore, or to stage, you know, his big rallies that were so popular in 2016. So I think that was his attempt at engaging with the voters, however, reckless it was. And, you know, the backlash that he's he's facing his core supporters are, are still there defending him. So I'm not sure despite the criticism, whether or not that move really hurt him. Dana Lewis / Host : (17:40) Well, blame it on the steroids, the view from overseas on, on America's handling of COVID, um, and specifically Trump's handling of it. I mean, when you're sitting here in London, the, the, the view is a lot different than when you're in the U S I think. And so how do Europeans, and even here in Britain where, you know, there's been some, maybe 65,000 excess deaths due to COVID-19 Britain has been hit hardest in Europe. Um, how do you think people view what's going on in America? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (18:12) So I think America's global image has really suffered quite dramatically, especially with coronavirus. I think, you know, that was already starting to take a hit when Trump became president in 2017 and it has just dropped significantly since, uh, the COVID pandemic has had started. I do think there is a difference between how it's perceived on the ground here and how it's perceived in America. So, you know, his handling a bit over here seems very chaotic, very mismanaged, um, you know, not listening to science, not listening to PACS, ignoring his advisers. I think, you know, the European partners definitely will, are hoping for a change in administration. Dana Lewis / Host : (18:54) Let's be honest about it. Do you think that people look at Trump? I mean, we've seen world leaders from Trudeau to Macron, to Merkel. I mean, rolling their eyes when they're around him. I mean, is he, is he laughed at, in Europe, do you think? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (19:11) I definitely don't think he's taken as seriously as a presidential candidate should be. Um, I don't know if they're laughing so much as, you know, recoiling fear because the U S does play a very important role as you know, the leader of democracy and the defender of freedom. And I think European partners are getting a bit worried by recent U S actions that seem to be undermining, uh, these values that the U S custard for and European partners stand for. So I think, you know, there is criticism of Trump interpret whether or not he is a capable leader, but it's more so what does this mean for our region? How does this impact our interests? Another four years? Dana Lewis / Host : (19:52) I know a lot of different nuts and people based in different countries for the U S who have worked on human rights, who have worked on free speech. Um, and I think that they are, you know, deeply alarmed that America has either withdrawn internationally, um, or just as lost a lot of credibility. So, you know, how does this play internationally, uh, when you have Trump, um, on issues like the election where he's undermining the, the American election, where he's saying that the mail in ballots, uh, amount to election fraud, um, that maybe he's not going to accept the result. Maybe there's not going to be a peaceful transition of power. I mean, and how does that play when you're watching things in Eastern Europe like Belarus right now, where there are demonstrators out every weekend demonstrating against widespread election fraud carried out by the, the ex president, uh, Lucas Shenko. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (20:48) Yeah, I mean, it's very concerning. I think, you know, European partners definitely want to see America as a defender of democracy. Um, as you've mentioned, the peaceful transition of power, that's a cornerstone of any democratic nation. Trump has already made it very clear that he's not going to accept whatever results come out, if they're not in his super, um, you know, he's are the stroking flames of, of directions and voter fraud and things like that. So, I mean, I think there are a number of different tactics that Trump has used to undermine different democratic institutions within the States and internationally, um, which is very concerning as populism. And our authoritarianism is on the right. And, you know, by being distracted with these internal divisions that gaze external actors like Russia, more leverage in terms of manipulating what's happening in Bella ruse in their own favor. So it is worrying about what the future of democracies globally will be like if Trump gets reelected, Dana Lewis / Host : (21:44) I think it sends a message. Anything goes, I mean, if you could, if it can go on in American, it can go on anywhere. And leaders like Lucas Shanko. And I mean, Putin does what he wants anyway, but I mean leaders like Lucas Schenkel, think, you know, if Trump's doing and I can do what I want and not only is America distracted, uh, but their president is not going to stand up and criticize me, look what he's doing in his own country. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (22:06) Yeah. I mean, I definitely think it emboldens authoritarian actors, you know, in the past the U S would be considered the bulwark against these nefarious influences or these negative influences. I don't think that's going to be the case anymore. Trump has, you know, CoSIDA to authoritarians leaders, he as a, uh, reportedly very close relationship with Erewhon and Turkey, um, he's, you know, not taking very aggressive measures against Russia. He didn't impose sanctions after reports came out that the bounties on us soldiers heads in Afghanistan. So there are a lot of different factors. Um, Dana Lewis / Host : (22:42) Probably the poisoning Novotny. They may not position candidate in Russia where he's asked to over Trump was asked over and over again about it. And he, I mean, basically danced around it and avoided answering. And we'll see about that later. And he didn't condemn it. I mean, there are other members of the government that have condemned it, but Trump specifically has not come out and condemned it. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (23:04) Yeah. And that's, you know, also worrying for European partners who want to have a United Western front against Russia. So we're seeing Germany and France is very critical of Russia over the Navalny poisoning. Um, you know, but they don't have the backing of, of the U S and they might not trust the U S to partner with them. Dana Lewis / Host : (23:20) Do you think Joe, Biden's going to be a tiger. Do you think Joe, Biden's going to be a tiger for Putin to deal with that? I mean, Biden will be much tougher. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (23:29) I think Biden will definitely be much tougher. Um, he's already opened the called, uh, Russia and opponent. He's already said that P's elected president in 2020, and there is evidence of, um, Russia interfering in U S election, which there is that he would take a much harder line of action against them than Trump data. Um, so, you know, I think, uh, Trump a second Trump term, um, bit of a tongue twister, sorry about that. A second Trump term would be, um, in Putin's favor very much. So, um, Trump has, you know, caused a lot of divisions within his European partners. He's constantly undervalue the role of NATO. He has given Russia a huge strategic victory within the middle East. Um, Brighton has also said that he would have been much tougher in that area. He would not have abandoned the Kurdish allies as an and pulled out the U S troops as Trump did. So there are multiple different areas where we can see that Biden would operate a much tougher stance against Russia, including imposing sanctions and working with like my department. Dana Lewis / Host : (24:32) Generally, when you take a look at his report card at the end of his term, a lot of people thought he was soft in foreign policy areas. You think Biden will be tougher? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (24:43) I do think so. I think the fact that Obama was soft kind of empowered poop into, you know, go a little bit further in terms of information campaigns that we were seeing in 2016 had Obama been a bit tougher on Russia. He might not have been as willing to do that. So I think, you know, the Democrats have learned their lesson in a certain way and know that they now need to be a little bit tougher. The digital era has given Russia a lot more powers than they had before. A lot more influence than, you know, they would have had 20 years ago. And those factors really need to be accounted for. Dana Lewis / Host : (25:15) Talk to me about Biden and his, uh, you know, the Paris Accords and the reduction of carbon emissions. I mean, Trump basically is a, is a global warming denier. And, uh, Barb Biden has, has articulated some pretty clear goals, including, uh, you know, carbon neutrality by 2050, which is like 10 years before China has come up with its plan. Now for 2060, do you need Biden right away in the Paris Accords will reassign America up and realign America with a lot of the, you know, countries who believe that global warming is, is rapidly taking place. Uh, and then America's got to get on board. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (25:52) Yeah, I definitely think, um, Trump will resign up to the Paris accord. I think that will send a very clear signal to European partners that the last four years were just an aberration of, of us policy and us global leadership, um, you know, Biden. I think it's very important for him to commit to a multilateral agenda to combat these major challenges that are affecting the entire world. Um, you know, one country can't go at it alone, but you do need major power in order to facilitate cooperation amongst other nations and what they're not that symbolic or actually hard power. Um, either way Biden's commitment to the Paris Accords will show the U S commitment to climate change and influence other powers to take them seriously as well. Dana Lewis / Host : (26:36) You want to take a run at Iranian American foreign policy with regard to Iran. I'm not familiar Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (26:44) With Iran. I'm, I'm being entirely honest. Um, my assumption would be that Biden would attempt to come negotiate with Iran and convince them to rejoin the JCPO way. Um, I'm not sure how successful he would be. It would be hard to convince them that, um, you know, something stock going to happen again with, with Biden's predecessor in terms of the U S pulling out of the agreement. Um, there have been claims that Iran has also been involved in misinformation campaigns within the U S uh, in favor of Biden. Dana Lewis / Host : (27:15) Yeah. And then they're pretty substantial claims including from intelligence agencies. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (27:22) Yes, yes, exactly. And, you know, I do think Iranians are concerned about what a second Trump term of maximum pressure would do to their economy in terms of how Biden would proceed, uh, for China Dana Lewis / Host : (27:35) And is going to be softer. I mean, Trump always accuses him of being softer on China. Do you think that that's fair? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (27:43) I don't think that's fair. I do think that Biden will probably operate on a very tough on China approach, similar to Trump. I think he will attempt, um, more engagement and more cooperation. Now, China, with certain issues, for example, potentially working with them to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 or, you know, sharing resources for, for something like a global pandemic. Um, but he has made clear that his main priority is recurrent infrastructure at home. Um, so it's not likely that he would take a softer approach. I think from what we saw in the debates foreign policy, wasn't a topic of the debate, but trying to continue to come up as a punching bag that each opponent would use. Um, so it's become very politicized and there has been a clear shift in the way the American public views, China. I do think they see it more as a threat, um, in terms of economically and technologically. Um, so I, I think by and recognizes that, and while understanding need for engagement and cooperation on search Jews will obtain a test stance, um, on things like trade and intellectual property theft, Dana Lewis / Host : (28:50) You know, coming back to Europe for a moment. I mean, do you think there's been a lot of nervousness over Trump? I mean, including a NATO, you know, would Trump withdraw from NATO and was it just a, was it just a good bargaining position that he took with trying to get NATO countries to come up to the 2% of GDP contributions or was he serious? And then I've talked to other people that said, actually he's been more pro NATO now than, than maybe earlier on in his term, but in general, there is a sense in Europe, would you say, uh, with, with the big countries, certainly in the cornerstones of NATO, uh, that Trump has just not been a reliable partner and that they've had to take their own leadership, like Merkel has said, we've got to lead from Europe. We can't just rely on America to do it. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (29:37) Yeah. I mean, I definitely think this, um, idea that Europe needs to take more responsibility for its own defense is becoming more popular over here. Um, I think Trump's, you know, claims about defending NATO are somewhat empty threats. I don't think he would actually, you know, effectively abolish the Alliance, but he has, you know, announced that he's going to be removing, I think 38,000 shoots from Germany. I wouldn't need to double check that figure, but something along those lines, um, 6,000, Dana Lewis / Host : (30:09) Because he doesn't like Merkel. And I'll tell you this, I've talked to a lot of people in NATO and the former American commander of us forces in Europe. And it makes no sense because they've just restructured and upgraded a lot of their bases in Germany. And they say, essentially it is because of the tension he has had with Angela Merkel and that, you know, they're going to move some of those troops to Poland. So it's not, I don't want to create the impression that they're, they're bringing them all back, but a lot of it just comes down to Trump's personality and the way he engaged with Merkel. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (30:36) Yeah. I mean, I definitely agree with that. I think Trump puts a lot of value into his personal relationship with leaders and that really does impact his, his relationship and his policy, um, rightly or wrongly. Um, you know, as we discussed earlier, he has a, you know, not, I wouldn't say close relationship with Putin, but my excite seem, uh, see a like minded figure and Dana Lewis / Host : (30:58) I have a serious relationship with Putin at the very least. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (31:01) Yes, exactly, exactly. And that, you know, definitely influences some of his decisions in that respect, um, likely that his, you know, not so good relationship with Merkel encouraged him to relocate many of the troops that were stationed there. Dana Lewis / Host : (31:18) You know, he's been doing a series of tweets out of the hospital, the LA vote. One of them was peace through strength, bring our soldiers home vote. I have no idea what he's talking about there. I assume it's Afghanistan where, you know, the U S has been there since nine 11, uh, and there are peace negotiations. So-called peace negotiations that are going on with the Taliban, but in general, there aren't very many troops left there. Anyway, there's about 5,000. I think they're going to, they're done or they're down to 3,500 by the election time. And he wants to bring the rest home. A lot of people worry that Afghanistan is just going to turn around, put the Taliban back into power in those 20 years of fighting 19 years of fighting brought us what I, I don't know. I mean, w we, the U S deconstructed bases that were being used by Al Qaeda, but where does that take us in terms of security in Afghanistan, if he's just trying to do these slogans for the election, bring troops home. Do you want to comment on that? Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (32:16) Yeah. I mean, I think that there have been, there have been claims where that Trump has spoken very negatively about military families. He's been, you know, he's called them skirts and things like that. So I'm assuming that's his attempt at regaining that, that vote, um, in terms of making it clear that he does care about, you know, the troops and the families of the troops, um, whether or not that's in the U S as best strategic interest, I don't think is, but Trump has operated in the past based on impulse and not on what his advisors are telling him. So for example, um, pulling out troops from Syria in such a hasty manner, um, what's really not encouraged. And he did so anyways, Russia, a huge yes, in, in Syria, um, giving Russia huge strategic victory, and really under mining, uh, the U S has influence in the region. So like good or bad. I, I don't think that it's unlikely that Trump would do that in Afghanistan as well. Dana Lewis / Host : (33:15) I mean, it's very interesting what's happening because you take a look at some of the international vacuums that have been left under the Trump administration, Libya, where you now have Turkey and Syria backing different warlords and potentially being adversaries and Syria. And then now also with Azerbaijan and Armenia in the caucuses. And there, there are a lot of vacuums that are left by a lack of, of American leadership. And I don't know if that will return with, with Biden. Um, you know, let's re let's leave it there. Do you think that Biden will, will refill some of those gaps and put America's presence back? Or do you think that we're giving him too much credit without really understanding, uh, you know, his stated foreign policy in those areas? Cause he hasn't said a lot and frankly, the last debate didn't really deal with any of it. Anar Bata/ Chatham House : (34:03) It didn't buy policy, wasn't wet at the Bay topics, but it is quite interesting to look out where different countries did come up. It was around very politicized, partisan issues within the States in terms of what was discussed at the debate. I do think Biden will make an attempt to repair relationships with allies, especially European allies and to reassert America's role as a global leader, um, by, you know, resigning up to the Paris Accords as we discussed earlier, um, by recommitting funding to the world health organizations. So doing different things along those lines, which strengthen international institutions. Um, I do think that Europe will need to do more, to come show Biden and the States that they are willing to carry their own weight. So meeting that minimum, spend for NATO taking on more of their defense capabilities, you know, I think the U S is getting increasingly more concerned about the rise of China and that will continue to be one of the major things that the next president, whoever it is, will focus on. And so, you know, Europe needs to decide if they're, they're willing to work with us on those issues or if they would prefer to, you know, just take a back seat and do their, their own thing Dana Lewis / Host : (35:16) And our better. Thank you so much as the coordinator of the U S and America's program at Chatham house. Thank you enough. Thank you so much for having good job. Thank you so much. And that's our backstory on us foreign policy. Please subscribe to this podcast and share I'm Dana Lewis, the host and creator. And I'll talk to you again soon.

#@anarbata backstorywithdanalewis @josephwilliams biden trump

0 notes

420forward · 4 years

Photo

For as long as I can remember I’ve been going shopping with my mom. Our mother-daughter activity has been taking a walk to the mall, strolling around the stores and sometime in between having a fika. It was our time to bond and connect over a common interest. With my dad it wad always sport - clothes with my mom (at some point my dad too but it wasn’t the same since he only insisted on going to the Gant store). Clothes, shoes and style in general has always been an interest of mine. Especially in my later teen years and I started listening to rock music and looked up to Dave Grohl. Suddenly the clothes and style my mom was encouraging me to buy, was not as attractive anymore. I felt so cool when I bought grey pants and a flannel shirt the first time. Well, don’t get me wrong though because although it was the grungy style I aimed for, it wasn’t what I got. Nah it was tight-fitting clothes with sort of expensive brands, but if you compared it to what I wore before it as an improvement. I wanted to show my music style through my clothing style. Later in gymnasium when I dared to show myself more for who I truly was, I got myself maroon colored Doc Martens and a black Fjällräven backpack and felt super rad. The people I had gone to school with as young was snobby and judgemental. Not a prime time for young people with insecurities to show themselves for who they really are I’d say, and it really wasn’t until the point when high school ended and gymnasium started that I committed to the proper change. In my second year of high school, I saw this one girl who dared to stand out. She was emo and she got a lot of shit for it, and I thought she was the coolest one of them all. A friend of mine showed me her blog (god the blog times, I had a few too) and it was incredibly depressive. She had borderline and was more bullied than I thought she was, and it was really hard to read some of her posts. And yet she continued being who she was. She wouldn’t let any of them change her because she was different. She dared to do what I didn’t. When I found out that she was editing themes of blogs I contacted her. I knew how to do it myself to some extent but I really wanted to have a reason to talk to her, so I wrote her. It was the start of a beautiful friendship although we never got too close. Years later I knew that Eloise, or Elly as I came to call her, was going in and out from the mental hospital. She had tried to commit suicide several times. Ran into her outside my regular bar once, and she was jumping in happiness towards me and said she’d get married to this girl and that she wanted me to be her bridesmaid. That was the last time I saw her. I’ve tried to find her online a few time, also since I moved to Berlin, but she is no where to be found. I desperately hope she’s fine. I would love to tell her about the real reason to why I contacted her in school; for her to know that she was a true inspiration to people, without even knowing it herself. By the time I moved to Berlin, May 2015, my hiphop era had started since a few months and I remember that the first item I bought here was a pair of baggy, grey pants. It didn’t take long until I pierced my nose and spontaneously made an undercut. It’s safe to say I didn’t care what people was thinking about me anymore. I was ready to embrace myself for who I wanted to be, and with the support of Berlin itself, I could. The 15 year old Philippa would be proud of the person I’ve grown to become, now 10 years later. Can’t help but smile a bit thinking about that fact, because it’s all thanks to myself. I am so genuinely happy for the person I am, and I wouldn’t wish to be anyone else.

0 notes

thesinglesjukebox · 7 years

Video

youtube

KESHA - PRAYING [8.50] We've got the number one slot ready for her...

Leah Isobel: "I hope you're somewhere/praying" is one of the most perfectly manicured fuck-yous I've ever heard, and I've heard -- and written, and thought, and sung -- a lot. (He deserves them.) The music nods at large-scale drama but, rather than letting the drum and piano echo into space, the thuds stay close to the ear, like Kesha's singing to her own heartbeat. (I'm still alive.) She fakes forgiveness but knows that, ultimately, it's not hers to give. (Do I want to forgive him?) I can't imagine how humiliating these past few years have been for her, to have a such a profoundly horrifying experience made public knowledge; I can't express how happy I am that she pulled through, stayed herself, and seems more enthusiastic about life than ever. I missed her. (I once knew someone who probably hated her music, and probably would hate this song too. I hope he's somewhere praying.) [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: "Praying" begins with a lie that was spoken to Kesha. What follows, though, is multiple truths. Truths about the pain inflicted upon her ("You brought the flames and you put me through hell"), truths about her struggle to overcome ("I had to learn how to fight for myself"), and truths about her self-worth ("You said that I was done/well you were wrong and now the best is yet to come"). The second verse features a particularly beautiful line: "When I'm finished, they won't even know your name." That's a reality Kesha believes in not because of private details she'll divulge to the world but because of a confidence in self and the art she'll create. "Praying" is a huge middle finger to her perpetrator, make no mistake, but everything always points towards Kesha and how strong she is. In the chorus, her decision to be forgiving becomes clear, and we're forced to recognize the peace she's come to know. In showing this grace, she unburdens herself and is positioned above her transgressor. As a result, she comes out the undeniable victor. For those who have been abused, there is hope. And Kesha will be the first to tell you that that's an irrefutable, certain truth. [9]

Mo Kim: I didn't so much cut ties with the Christian church as I drifted away over time, leaving behind a sea of small miseries too heavy to float over. The pastor who preached peace with one hand and wielded a belt with the other. The retreat where sneering youth leaders baptized their unwilling siblings in rundown pools. The room of worshipers nodding vigorously to a man who wanted to cleanse the earth of fags like me. What can I say? It's not always one event we salvage out of our unspoken histories, never just one moment at which we learned how much pain a person can inflict on us. And maybe that's the frustrating thing about trauma: that it slips out of your hands the moment you try to name it, even as it worms into our being in ways that transcend its details on paper. I wonder how much of Kesha's story we will never know; how much of what she endured at the hands of Dr. Luke has been lost in the shuffle of testimonies and court statements. But I listen to "Praying," and the music says everything that words cannot. I lose myself the way I once wished I could in worship, in soaring piano lines and drums that sync themselves to my pulse and vocals so sharp I fear they'll leave chapel wood splinters in my fingers. These sensations feel grounded not only in what Kesha has survived, but also what she has salvaged, building a holy place that can bear the weight of both her pain and her strength. And even as I cannot claim either as my own, I still find myself on the floor every time this plays, knees bruised, hands clasped together. [10]

Joshua Copperman: I'll talk about the note first; a shout into the insurmountably toxic void, the climax of a harrowing vocal performance that nonetheless feels fully in control, refusing to truly be angry. It's the song in miniature, which never becomes a kiss-off and remains empathetic despite everything that's happened to her. Indeed, "Praying" is not just about forgiveness, it's about the perhaps vain hope that she can forgive at all. The F6 is empowering, symbolically taking back control over her own voice, but it is also despairing. As Kesha says herself right before, "some things, only God can forgive." On the production side of things, Ryan Lewis properly uses the power that usually just propels Macklemore's indulgences, wisely choosing to accentuate the already clear dynamics of the song instead of going over the top. There's the way the drums come in without so much as a warning swell, the haunting counter-melody in the bridge, and the vocal distortion when Kesha finally belts on "the best is yet to come." It's not Ryan's song though; he's only there to accentuate Kesha's intensity. [9]

Alfred Soto: In a singer less powerful and committed than Kesha, the piano melody would send me under the covers. In any other song than "Praying," I wouldn't give a shit about autobiographical details. [7]

William John: Release a ballad promoting empowerment and the need to remember one's worth, include some big notes, and set yourself for the throngs of pale imitators on music reality television. That's the conventional narrative. But courtrooms have availed us of specifics in this case, and in such context, "Praying" carries with it so much more catharsis, so much more voltage than other songs of similar denomination. There's also an unusual contrast between the go-for-broke-ness of the F6, the way the drum thuds enter with all the momentum of an avalanche, the rasp and ferocity of "they won't even know your name!!!", and the unexpected chivalry of wishing nothing but the best for that person who has wronged you. One would think that sentiment would undercut the song's clout; that the message should be "fuck it all and go to hell," and that's the end of it. But "Praying"'s potency is all the more extraordinary for its positing of the perpetrator as the true repository of shame and humiliation. "Praying" is evidently personal and critical to Kesha's own healing, but if that scream is enough to allow one victim of abuse to realise that their internalised shame is their perpetrator's cross to bear, and not their own, then the song has served its purpose. [10]

Alex Clifton: I first heard this song at 8:45 on a Thursday morning; I wept openly in my cubicle. I can't actually listen to this song without crying. This is a song that's more than Just a Song: it's emblematic of Kesha's entire fight with Dr. Luke, and it shows her finally able to control her life again. It's soaring, glorious, chilling. It's exactly what she needed to put out, and it's perfect. [10]

Stephen Eisermann: I have a hard time listening to this song. The rawness in Kesha's voice, the honesty in the lyrics, the piano melody, and the choral backing make for an atomic bomb in music form. Every time this song comes on I hear a new vocal tic or I hear a lyric differently, and every time I just want to sit with, cry with, and hug Kesha. Here she both takes on her assailant (fuck you, Dr. Luke) head on and with restraint; she is both vengeful and forgiving, or at least she's trying to be the latter. Best of all, though, is Kesha's decision to sing her truth. None of this is "pretty," "beautiful," or "inspiring;" no, instead, Kesha gives us the ugly truth of rebuilding yourself after relentless sexual abuse. I haven't ever suffered from it, but I always struggle with hearing songs about bouncing back from serious issues like Kesha's -- it feels as though in an effort to be inspiring, most songs ends up trivializing major issues. Picking up the pieces in the aftermath of such abuse isn't easy, and it's about damn time someone plainly said so in a song about one of the worst things that can happen to any human being. [10]

Will Adams: The choir and the big drums and the strings and the triple-forte piano chords don't mean shit -- all the force comes from Kesha herself. Growing steadily from simmering to explosive, her resolve while staring a monster in the face remains intact. No matter any of the song's weaknesses; this is a triumph. [7]

Edward Okulicz: This track is such a sensational strategic coup, a flat-out fuck you to her abuser that he has no hope of responding to without losing the battle, that it's beside the point whether it's a great pop song for anyone else. I find it vocally impressive, emotionally vivid, and extremely believable, but also something of a chore to listen to, and the preying type may not be the praying type. But it's not me who needs to hear this song. I can only applaud Kesha for grabbing the upper hand in her fight in such brilliant, brutal fashion. May her detractors be tarred and feathered and her album be stuffed with bangers. [5]

Maxwell Cavaseno: The inherent wrath of Kesha's last few years makes the strengths of the ballad undiminishable and its weaknesses forgivable. The tragic note is that all of her talent in show as a weapon is now a trapping of redemption. Many will look at the early material in a light of disgust given it's tragic associations with Dr. Luke, ignoring that the only way it had succeeded in the first place was her talents. "Praying" ends up discarding humor and a certain kind of visual excess in order to become someone who can be given the respect she's always deserved. All the same, it's not her fault that people need the most obvious of metaphors for how hard she's struggled. [7]

Katie Gill: The most common refrain you hear about Kesha is people not realizing she can sing. Someone'll pull up a video of her performing "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and the comments are inevitably something along the lines of "this is the 'Tik Tok' girl?" With "Praying," Kesha firmly puts those doubts to rest. It's an amazing single that straight-up yanks on your heart, especially when you consider the real world struggles that poor Kesha's had to go through in the past few years. Everybody'll talk about that amazingly high note after the bridge or how Kesha pushes her voice to new heights and strong, powerful levels, but the soft moments in "Praying" are just as touching. That brief moment at the start of the second verse where she sings "I'm proud of who I am" makes my heart flutter every time. Welcome back, Kesha. We've really, really missed you. [9]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#Kesha #Praying #TSJ Best of 2017

16 notes · View notes

yeahwesaidthat · 7 years

Text

TWWS: The Best of D&D

Ladiiiiiiiies and gentlemeeeeeeeeeeen! Welcome to the ultimate showdown: THE BEST OF D&D!

This post contains the best of the best of the D&D/RPG posts over the years of TWWS, all the way from the beginning. At the end of the post, there will be a link to a survey where you can vote for your favourites in each category (other/3.5e, 4e, and 5e) and nominate MVPs for each category. If the person you want to vote MVP has only been referenced as “Player,” just note down what quote they’re responsible for. A week from today (or until enough of you fill out the survey), Round 2 of the competition begins.

Everybody roll for initiative!

Overheard During Other RPGs

During Hackmaster, about a bottle label: SB: “It says ‘Thou shalt not question the DM over inane shit!’”

Overheard During D&D 3.5e

Unarmed damage?: MM: “It’s the difference between a slap and a bitch-slap.”

So wrong it's right: MM (IC): “I like your spunk.” KH (OOC): “So does [gay player].”

Rogue equipment: KB (IC): “I need [boots] that are…soft-sounding.” MM (IC): “We have socks.”

Describing a character: SO: “She is built like a brick shithouse.” DM: “She shits brick houses.” Bubbles: “She makes brick houses shit bricks.”

When the party has two rogues: KH (IC): “I can find it!” KB (IC): “I can find it better.”

RD (IC): “[Wizard], if you do not stop right now, I will arrest you for terminal stupidity, and I can assure you, I will find a law against it!”

A discount on services rendered: SO: “What’s 75% off of ‘I run and do whatever you ask without question’?”

Calling for divine help in very specific situations: MM: “Please state your current medical emergency.” KB: “Head-splosion.” SO: “If you have been stabbed, press one. If you are currently being stabbed, press two.” MM: “If your head’s detonated and you’ve launched into a wall, press three.” RD: “Why did you press three? We never expected anyone to press three!” SO: “We don’t know what to do in this medical emergency! Please dial again!”

IO: “[Wizard] is going to say - ” KB: “Can I tell you why this is a bad idea?” IO: “No.”

Proper procedure when everything goes to hell: RD: “[Cleric] goes outside and makes a magic circle, sits in it, and cries.”

KH (IC): “That stupid fucking son of a flea-ridden bitch cunt wizard - ” MM (IC): “Oh, him.”

How to pray to the god Ao: KB, KH, and MM: “I throw my hands up in the air sometimes sayin’ heeeeey-oh! I worship Aaaaaaa-o!” Bubbles: “[The wizard’s] gaaaaaaaay-o!"

Overheard During D&D 4e

SIDE NOTE: A Quiplash commentary on D&D 4e: A more environment-friendly alternative to toilet paper - 4th ed character sheets

What we think we saw - again?: Player: “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and weighs the same as a duck, it must be a witch.” KH: “It’s a witch.” RJ: “Build a bridge out of 'er!”

Healing needed: Player: “I have a mess kit, will that help?” WS: “Only if you want to make a mess.”

Captain: “Neverwinter ho!” Dwarf: “Hos? Where?”

SB: “Eventually you end up at the most popular stall in the market.” Player: “Porn?”

About attacking a character that may or may not be good: SB: “Wait, what’s your alignment?” Player: “Lawful Paranoid.”

Taunting the kraken: Player: “Your tentacles are so short even an anime girl wouldn’t take 'em!”

Questioning the legitimacy of an NPC: SB (IC as Priest): “I have a degree in polytheism from the University of Phoenix Online!”

Making sure it’s really dead: SB: "You kick the head and it goes sailing through the open door of the tomb. You hear a voice in the darkness go ’Gooooooooal!’”

Killing the undead: SB: “Congratulations, you choked something to death that doesn’t breathe.”

Mass undead murder: Player: “We made a ghoul-ash. An evil gumbo, really.”

Architecture: Player: “I like big buttresses and I cannot lie.”

Interesting kills: SB: “You decapitated him with a bludgeoning weapon.”

About flying books: Player 1: “The window opens in! How do they fly out?” Player 2: “They’re paperbacks."

Player: “Thank God I decided to engage the dragon in melee.” MW: “You’ll never hear that in any other D&D campaign ever again.”

Player: “Is the food still on the table?” Three Of Us: “DON’T EAT IT!!!”

Overheard During D&D 5e

Annoying Teen: (about his character) “Would he still hate me?” AD: (not about his character) “I think everyone hates you.”

Don’t mess with a dire bear: JI: “There’s one inside who attacks the bear…" (rolls) "...and misses horribly ‘cause he shits his pants.”

JI: “He doesn’t have 100 hit points. He has 95.”

Demonic insight: KH: “I say in Infernal, ‘Peace! We mean you no harm!’” JI: “There’s no word in Infernal for ‘peace.’” Retroactive Edit: Demons actually speak Abyssal. Devils speak Infernal.

Animal form disadvantages: AD: “I’m going to bite [the zombie].” Everyone Else: (mass noise of disgust)

JI: “You feel a pinch in your mind as if she’s flipping through your yellow pages.” AD: “That��s got to be a euphemism for something.” ST: “Oh, yeah, baby, turn my yellow pages.” JB: “Turn to ‘F’ for fun.”

What happens in every religious venue in every D&D campaign ever: JB: “Here is the church, here is the steeple,” KH: “Open the door, and here are the zombies.”

KH: “Did you sneak off to her house in the middle of the night?” ST: “Does that sound like something I would do?” KH, AD, and CD: “Yes.”

JI: “You guys came in here - ” AD: “ - like a wrecking ball - ”

Post-adventure considerations: KH: “[Rogue] wouldn’t know what to do with her life.” AD: “She can bail herself out of jail.”

Switching to melee for a change: CD: “Let’s see if this ‘offense’ thing you do all the time really works.” (rolls a critical hit)

The logistics of being swallowed by a sea monster: ST: “Am I going to take damage if I move further along his digestive tract?”

EC: “If you had leprosy and your ears fell off would you be a deaf leper?”

Identifying mysterious cults: KH: “What’s the Cult of Howling Hatred?” EC: “The Westboro Baptist Church, obviously.”

DR: “Apparently your god has personally intervened due to your badassery.”

A Mass Effect cameo on a dexterity check for dancing: EC: “If you roll a one, you dance like Shepard.”

EC (IC): “So what you’re saying is that it’s very dangerous and we shouldn’t go in. I’ll take point.”

Things to worry about in combat: KH: “You don’t have enough hit points to take it like a man, honey.”

The ends justify the means?: Bubbles: “Did you have fun role-playing an interrogation?” DR: “You guys are fucked up.”

KH: “How do you stun-lock a Terrasque?!?” JB: “Fourth Edition.”

ST: “Do we have to kill them before we eat? I hate murdering on an empty stomach.”

About a revenant and a possible lover: EC: “Well the beast is committing necrophilia and the necro is committing bestiality…” DR: “What happens in Faerun, et cetera.”

Rolling high on a seduction check: DR: “Frankly, I didn’t think you’d go down this road.” KH: “Oh, I went down all right.”

More on the seduction roll: Bubbles: “Try to convince her to come with us. The way she came with you last night.”

About a nonviolent kua-toa: Player: “He’s a paci-fish.”

About dealing with face-hugging enemies: CD: “You swung at yourself and missed?” AD: “I swung at myself and missed.”

ST (IC): “I’ll be staying in the boat unless you have need of my specific skills.” CD (OOC): “Dying first is not a skill.”

About cultists: DM (IC): “They are water people. Maybe they’re just going with the flow.”

About a minotaur who keeps missing: DM: “At least when you put a bull in a china shop he’ll break shit.”

About bottles of brandy: EC: “I have two questions: how many of them are there and how many of them can I carry?”

Ideas so bad they’re good: KH: “We’re gonna blow up the temple with the distillery.” F: “The temple, the lich, half the plot…”

About going forward: KH: “Against our better judgment.” DM: “What better judgment?” KH: “Good point.”

About shooting arrows: KH: “'Nock’ yourself out.”

About using a lot of magic: JS: “We’re blowing a big load here right now.”

JS: “You wanna go up the shaft?” ST and T: “That’s what he said.”

About flirting with an efreet: JI: “Below her waist is a trailing cloud of black smoke, so you’re not getting anything.”

Questioning the guardian imp: Player (IC): “What happens if someone disturbs the sarcophagus before your time is up?” WS (IC): “There’ll be six more weeks of winter.”

MR (IC): “Trying to undercut me on my quest to restore my former glory?” KH (IC): “You have no glory to restore.” Other Players: “Oooooooh!” SW: “Quick, someone cast heal!”

When talking with a spirit: MR (IC): “You can’t just ask someone if they’re dead! That’s incredibly rude! The correct term is ‘mortally challenged’!”

After a petrifying encounter with some basilisks: BC: “I always thought she was stone-hearted.” KT: “I dunno, I thought she rocked.” JS: “I am going to kill all of you.”

What to do with windmills: KH: “If we had a lance, we could go tilting.” MR: “Cavalier idea.”

Quest priorities: Player 1: “No one’s going to pay us to do it right now. It’s not worth the attention.”

JF: “Roll to see if you hit me by accident.” KH: “Oh, I’d hit you on purpose.”

K’s paladin chastising A’s paladin about her sex habits: A (IC): “I thought you were the paladin of joy!” K (IC): “Not that kind of joy!”

About a previous edition of D&D: KH: “[What] the hell couldn’t you do in 3.5?” SW: “Win.”

KH: “Technically you’re underage.” ST: “That’s never stopped me before.” AD: “You or your character?” ST: “Do I have to answer that?”

D: “We’re gonna make the Underdark great again!” ST: “We’re gonna build a wall - a really big wall in the Underdark, and we’re gonna make the gnomes pay for it.” A: “We pay for everything already! Screw you!”

About a character who caught fire: T: “He’s not rolling initiative; he’s rolling on the ground.”

T (IC): “Let’s go before the men’s egos get us killed.”

JB (IC): “My god believes in good opportunities. Not dying is a good opportunity.”

Passing on some bad news: JI (IC): “[Chief] not sick!” AD (IC): “He was when we were done with him.”

To a healer: KH (IC): “I don’t suppose you have a cure for the common cold?” JI (IC): “I’m not a miracle worker.”

Reassuring a woman scorned: AA (IC): “Go tell her - all men dogs.” JI (OOC): “Says the cat.”

To the tune of “Like a G6”: ST and KH: “Roll a d6, roll a d6!”

KH: “Of course it’s always about dirty sex - I’m a bard!” AD: “The hell are you two talking about down there?!”

To a mindflayer, about a stupid character: KH (IC): “I’d offer you his brain to eat, but I don’t think he has one.” JS (IC as mindflayer): “I don’t eat junk food.”

MGW: “It’s Tza…Zsa…his name is Jasper.”

Saying goodbye to the barkeep: MR (IC): “I’ll be back visiting the northern parts soon.” KH (OOC): “And then you can visit her southern parts.”

About a questionable NPC: ST (IC): “I would never dream of hurting you!” KH (IC): “I would.”

About prison visitations: JB (IC): “How often is it that a [gypsy] walks in here voluntarily?”

Failing a romance/persuasion check: AA: “Ooh, she cast Zone of Friend!”

Preparing for a swamp adventure: CD: “I want to buy some insect repellant.” AD: “What, your personality doesn’t drive them away?”

About a magic boat: JB (IC): “I saw it grow!” ST (IC): “Are you sure you didn’t rub it? That sometimes happens with wood.” JB (IC): “You would know.” ST (IC): “You wouldn’t.” JB (IC): “Tell that to my two children.”

About an injured drow: MGW (IC): “Look at that poor girl! She has a black eye! You can’t see it, ‘cause her skin is black, but still!”

Last-minute aliases: RD (IC): “Unfortunately, no, my name is Dick Ballsenshaft.”

To a half-orc and Sir Bearington, regarding weirdness: MGW (IC): “…but for me to assume you’re in a loving relationship with a talking bear is where we draw the line?!”

Wisdom for stealing magic items: KC: “Anything that glows goes.”

About fleeing: RD: “I’m going to run like an Amazon employee during the holidays.”

MGW: “You were doing so well until everybody died.” JF: “D&D in a summary.”

Once more about fleeing: RD: “A smart man knows when to run like a little bitch.” J: “Why do you think that’s the first thing I did?”

Recapping the previous session: A: “There was a shitshow, but we got away with it.” S: “So the usual, then.”

About creature size: MR: “Is an ettin large or huge?” MGW: “I think he’s just large.” A: “He’s probably large but pretends he’s huge.” AS: “Typical guy.”

When a pervy character is disgusted by a perv: RD: “Dear Kettle, I have an issue with your current hue. Signed, the Pot.”

A: “He told us to send a message.” KH: “A sword in the stomach is a message.” SW: “The Lannisters send their regards.”

The pervy paladin: A: “I used Lay On Hands. I healed him.” KH: “Yeah, but where did you lay your hands?” MGW: “Wherever she wanted.”

About our tactics: SW: “We put the 'fun’ in 'dysfunctional.’”

About possible activities: MGW (IC): “I know you’re a tiefling, but we’re all the same color in the dark, right?”

Interesting weapon material: MGW: “You all take a moment of reflective silence.” JB: “Nah, I’m just cleaning my bone.” KH: “Technically that’s a moment of reflective silence.” KC: “Not if you’ve seen the barbarian do it.”

Scrying like bad cell reception: KH: “Switch to AD&D.” JB: “Can you scry me now?”

About the taste of human: SW: “You would know.” A: “Nah, I don’t swallow.” MR: “This conversation is making me uncomfortable.”

Wrestling prep: MR (IC): “I want a good, clean fight.” A (IC): “No we don’t.” JB (IC): “What’s a clean fight?” A (IC): “It means you have to take a bath first.” JB (IC): “What’s a bath?”

MGW: “There’s a bridge that looks like it may have collapsed at some point.” JB: “Is it a-bridged?”

Beautiful references (read in Rorschach’s voice): AA: “I’m not grappled with YOU,” ST, AA, and KH: “YOU’RE grappled with ME!”

About remaining spells: KH: “I have three 1st-level slots and one 2nd-level slot.” CD: “Those are 'keeping people alive’ slots.”

Dealing with extra-limbed gorillas: ST: “Uh-oh! They must have been forewarned!” AD: “What makes you say that?” ST: “Forewarned is four-armed.” AD: -_-

Negotiation skills: AD: “It’s just me trying to bullshit him.” JI: “Why don’t you make a bullshit check?”

Trying to figure out if the staff is necromantic: CD: “We could kill a mouse in front of the staff. We could kill a mouse with the staff. How much is it to buy a mouse?”

JB: “Anyone die while I was gone?” SW: “Not on the outside.”

Wizarding limits: JS: “You may not polymorph your zombies into t-rexes.”

Zombies aren’t too smart: BC (IC): “Bobs, attack the closest gnoll!” Bobs: (run at gnoll party member) KH (OOC): “Et tu, Bob?” JS (OOC): “If this doesn’t belong in your blog, I dunno what does.”

Far too relatable: JS: “Twenty psychic damage.” BC: “I’ve taken more psychic damage from my mother.”

Worst-laid plans: KH (IC): “I have a very bad feeling about this.” MR (IC): “You should.”

Our go-to combat tactic: MR: “Are we going to stupid the guy to death?”

Zing!: MGW (IC): “If you join me, I can make you the greatest dwarf who ever lived.” TP (IC): “I am the greatest dwarf who ever lived.” Whole Table (OOC): “Ooooohhhhh!!!”

Another verbal duel with a sea god/character class limitations: KH: “I would say 'what is a god to a nonbeliever,’ but I’m a cleric.”

Activating the mysterious device: BC (IC): “We did it! I wonder what we did?”

Business as usual: KH: “This seems like a bad idea, but go ahead.”

Old adages: MR: “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” (IC) “But then, no enemy has survived contact with us!” (OOC) “Was that quote-worthy?” KH: “Yes.”

KC: “She can ride me. I don’t care.” KH: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) KC: “…I’M A BEAR IN ARMOR.”

Advantageous druidic inanity: KC: “Are you still riding the flying bear?” MR: “It’s flying now?” KC: “Yeah, he flew up to unlock the door.” AS: “…So he’s a flying bear with armor…”

Spell modifications for humourous purposes: MR: “Using a Dex[terity] save for Zone of Truth means they’re literally dodging the question.”

About a wild, crazy, out-of-left-field hypothesis: RD (IC): “I figured if you pulled something that big our of your ass there’d be bleeding involved.” MR (IC): “…That’s between me and my proctologist.” SW (OOC): “Did you take fire damage for that? That’s like Taco Bell levels of burn.”

As is per usual: MR: “We may have once again survived this by the skin of bullshit.”

Take the survey and vote for your favourites!

#twws #that's what we said #d&d

3 notes · View notes

anchorarcade · 7 years

Text

Trump finds golf isn't the way to Congress' heart

https://ryanguillory.com/trump-finds-golf-isnt-the-way-to-congress-heart/

Trump finds golf isn't the way to Congress' heart

One weekend in early June, President Donald Trump tested out his golf course diplomacy with Sen. Bob Corker, making the Tennessee Republican one of his first congressional partners at his Northern Virginia country club.

The pair shared a cart and partnered up in a match that included former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning. They discussed both politics and policy – “a little of it all,” Corker recalled in an interview earlier this week – and there wasn’t much in the way of the trash talking that Trump is known for on the green.

Story Continued Below

“Honestly, it was enjoyable,” Corker told POLITICO. “You learn a lot about him personally.”

But that springtime round hasn’t stopped Corker from undercutting Trump since then, firing off a series of blistering attacks in media interviews and Twitter against a president who he characterized as in need of “adult daycare.”

Trump also didn’t have much luck with another recent golfing partner: Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. Just days after the former 2016 GOP presidential primary rivals played at the president’s members-only Virginia golf course, Paul sided against Trump on a critical budget resolution vote that the president hopes can pave the way for a wider measure cutting taxes.

Playbook Power Briefing

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The president found some early success using golf to his advantage in office, inviting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to play with him at two of his South Florida courses in February to cement their personal relationship – a favor Abe is planning to repay by hosting a golf game when Trump visits Tokyo next weekend. But it has worked less well in Washington, where the president hasn’t been able to leverage his nearby golf club into close relationships on Capitol Hill.

Trump’s other recent golfing partner has been South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said in an interview that his two rounds with the president over back-to-back October weekends have helped pave the way for him to be critical of the White House in a way that can ultimately advance his agenda.

“I said I want to beat you on the golf course,” Graham said in an interview. “But the best thing I can do for you is tell you what I think and be respectful about it. Here’s the one thing about playing golf, and you’re getting to know someone, you’re far less likely to take gratuitous shots because you’ve spent time with them.”

Graham hasn’t missed a beat in playing this role. He recently praised Trump for assembling a strong national security team that’s “good for the Republican party.” And after a recent visit to South Carolina together aboard Air Force One, Graham jumped at the president’s offer of a helicopter ride back to the White House.

But Graham remains a critic on one of the biggest White House sore spots: the Russia investigations. The senator a few weeks before his first golf outing with Trump issued a scathing warning to the president over the notion of firing special counsel Robert Mueller, saying it “could be the beginning of the end” of his administration. Last weekend on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Graham said Trump continues to have “a blind spot on Russia I still can’t figure out.”

Missouri GOP Sen. Roy Blunt – a member of GOP leadership who cautioned that he’s “not in the club championship ranks” of golfing ability – said it wasn’t clear whether the president’s recent overtures on the golf course have been productive in building support for Republican policies.

“I don’t think it hurts,” Blunt said. “Anything that builds relationships is generally helpful, though I’d like to see…more specific votes that respond to the investment of time.”

Trump is likely at the tail end of his weekend golf trips this year to his Washington-area course. He leaves on Friday for a 12-day, five-nation Asia trip, and he won’t have many warm weekends left in 2017 by the time he returns to the capital.

Meantime, the president’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach beckons. It will open again for the season around Halloween, and Trump has his pick of three South Florida golf courses with his name on them, including one that’s a short motorcade ride from his beach home.

Trump’s bid to connect with lawmakers through golf is limited in no small part by a lack of people who play at his level. Former House Speaker John Boehner was the last congressional leader known to seriously golf. But he retired two years ago, and the current ranks of House and Senate leadership are bare when it comes to the type of quality player Trump prefers. The field of good golfers among rank-and-file members is small, too.

“I would not call it widespread at all,” said Rep. John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat who is both a member and property owner at the president’s semi-private golf club in Ireland.

By all accounts, Trump is a top-notch player. Golf Digest in January ranked him No. 1, ahead of John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford among the 16 most recent presidents who played the game. But his skills – and desire to keep a round moving – also can work against him when it comes to finding playing companions from the political ranks.

“It’s almost that he’s too good,” said Mike Sommers, a former Boehner chief of staff. “You can’t see him driving through the rough helping someone find their ball.”

Chris Ruddy, a Trump friend and Mar-a-Lago member, said Trump only likes golfing with people around his same skill level. “He doesn’t enjoy playing with real amateurs. He likes to move around quick. Someone who isn’t great is slower,” said Ruddy, the CEO of the conservative website Newsmax.

Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a conservative Freedom Caucus founder, said he plays golf on some weekends back home with his brother-in-law. But he said he’d fall into the category of amateur golfer who would suggest that Trump – should he ever offer an invitation – try looking elsewhere.

“He wouldn’t enjoy playing with me because I’m nowhere near that handicap level,” Jordan said. “If the president asks you to do something you’d consider that. But I’d also tell him, ‘Mr. President, I’m not very good. You might want to play with someone else.’”

Another obstacle for Trump to forge golfing connections in Washington: his schedule. Playing as often as he does on Saturdays and Sundays doesn’t match up well with members of Congress who make it a point to go back to their states and districts on the weekends.

Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican ranked by Golf Digest last year as the best golfer among members of Congress, said he had just discussed playing 18 holes with Trump when the president visited the Capitol for a GOP luncheon earlier this week.

“I’ve been invited for sure,” Perdue said. But Perdue said that finding a date in recent weeks has been challenging because of his commitments back in Georgia.

While Perdue said he expected to talk political shop when he does finally play golf with Trump, he also expected the round to be heavy on the social side.

“I’m not sure he’s using it as a tool,” Perdue said. “It’s a personal thing to do. This man has friends and uses it that way. He uses it to get relaxation. He uses it to think.”

Ruddy said he also didn’t see Trump as trying to use golf to win allies or policy converts. “The idea that somehow you get an inside track just because you play golf is just a nonstarter,” he said. “Trump uses it as a good way to understand people and hear them out.”

Trump repeatedly disparaged President Barack Obama for golfing as much as he did during eight years in office. But Trump has ended up playing even more golf than his Democratic predecessor.

In his first 40 weeks in office in 2009, Obama played 23 rounds of golf. Trump, during that same period of time this year, has played at least 32 rounds that have been confirmed by either the White House, social media reports or journalists traveling with the president. There have also been another 28 times where Trump was known to be at one of his country clubs and seen as likely playing golf, according to data compiled by the website Trump Golf Count.

Trump and Obama have also followed similar paths in eschewing fellow politicians as their playing partners. Obama often filled out his golfing foursome with longtime staffers and close friends. In fact, just 5 of the 333 rounds that the Democratic president played over his two terms were with members of Congress, according to a tally kept by CBS News reporter Mark Knoller. Obama only played golf three times with foreign leaders.

For Trump, the playing partners he’s had who have been publicly named have included longtime friends like New York real estate executive Richard Levine and professional athletes, including Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins and PGA professional Rory McIlroy.

Golf during Trump’s life prior to politics – and Washington — was all about making money. He frequented the links with his fellow golf-obsessed Manhattan billionaires and CEOs. His name is also attached to 12 courses in the U.S., including the iconic “Blue Monster” Doral in Miami, and five more abroad in Dubai, Ireland and Scotland.

Partisanship also wasn’t a factor in who Trump teed off with. In 2012, for example, former President Bill Clinton in a CNN interview – conducted by guest host Harvey Weinstein, standing in for Piers Morgan – volunteered this about Trump: “I love playing golf with him.”

But 2012 is not 2016. And the idea of hitting the links with the president is hardly seen as a smart career move for a Trump critic – especially in the smart phone era where club members and guests frequently post video and pictures of Trump whenever he’s at one of his courses.

“I’m not sure there’s a lot of Democrats who’d want to go out and spend four hours with him,” said Yarmuth, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee and a serious golfer who plays at about the same level as the president.

Asked if he’d entertain playing golf with Trump, Yarmuth hedged. He waited nearly six years before finally getting out on a course with Obama — at Joint Base Andrews in suburban Washington in 2015.

“That’d be a very tough call for me,” Yarmuth said. “I say it because I so cherish my one presidential golf experience. I don’t want to necessarily tarnish it. I’d like to keep it as my only presidential golf memory because it was so good.”

Burgess Everett contributed to this report.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Source link

0 notes

awesomefelicitylewis-blog · 7 years