#-he's a fraud and that has never EVER not been the case with him so STOP ACTING LIKE HE WAS SOME PERFECT ANGEL AT SOME POINT HE WASN'T

[starlyte-writes]

Guys can we please stop writing Wilbur during his presidency like he was some composed posh motherfucker, man never knew what he was doing a day in his life stop giving him the privilege of pretending he was competent PLS

[chr0llossexygf]

IN RUINS 2

PAIRING: spencer reid x fem reader

SUMMARY: spencer reid has always had something against you. during a particular case, spencer snaps and says something he shouldn’t have said leaving you in ruins. but what happens when your in danger and he still hasn’t explained why he reacted the way he did. will he have the time?

IMPORTANT COMMENT!!!!: hi my pumpkin cupcake stinky wonky pookie bears. IM SO SORRY IVE BEEN A FRAUD! 💔💔 jokes but I’m rlly sorry I haven’t been writing for the past months ive been to the hospital multiple times and also had someone close to me pull a ‘I’m dead’ card on me and then I was oh! BUT I think I’m okay I think I’m better and I’ll start posting more I have a lot of ideas but tbh this one was a draft before allat happened so it’s shit but and I wanted to get rid of it cus it js reminded me of everything that happened before 😭 BUT I’m rlly rlly sorry ITS SO LATE

" why is your mom calling you she hasn't called you in 7 months " scott anderson says rubbing his face repeatedly his fingers shaking, his other hand is in a fist digging his nails in the palm of his hand. he walks away from jj who's tied up on the floor with her feet and hands wrapped in rope. the grip on your phone tightens.

" she's calling me because it was my aunts birthday scott." you say looking at scott in the eyes. he stands up biting his nails. " your lying to me." he says walking to you, his eyes dark. you wish his eyes at-least looked like they had nothing behind them, but his eyes definitely have something behind them.

his eyes look determined. they looked commited. and he’s looking at you. your eyes widen. your hands become sweaty. you take a step back. “ i’m not lying to you scott.” you respond back gently shaking your head. you raise your eyebrows softly smiling at him. “ i wouldn’t lie to you scott.” you say the grip on your hand tightening to the point where your hand is shaking.

his gaze softens for a second, his eyes aren't so dark now. his eyebrows soften. " you wouldn't lie to me y/ n?" he whispers gently walking up to you. you nod gulping, " ¡ wouldn't lie to you scotty" you whisper smiling. he smiles. taking another step towards you. you take a deep breath in.

"y-your doing a great job y/n" spencer's shaky voice speaks into the phone. it's the only thing keeping you sane right now. he sounds nervous. you can hear him gulp repeatedly. he's stuttering a lot right now. he's probably blinking a lot. a habit he has when he's nervous. a habit you've absorbed from afar. " your doing a really really great job y/n. i'm so proud of you." no he shouldn't have said that. he should not have said that. he shouldn't have said that. you tear up. why are you tearing up? you can't tear up right now. not right now. please not right now.

your throat feels heavy. your heart feels heavy. a part of you feels funny. your ears feel funny, never having heard those words before. your brain is trying to process the words. it can't process them. it's funny though. no matter how much insane messed up stuff you've heard on the job none of it really ever seemed to take a toll on you. but hearing those 5 words. it's taking a toll on you. and it's not the right time. why are they so triggering. what are they triggering? the inner child inside of you who never got to hear those words? the teen inside of you who never got to hear those words? or is it adult you who still hadn't heard those words up until now? it's too much. why are you tearing up?

“ why are you crying.” scott says. something in his eyes has changed. oh god. his eyes darken. his eyebrows tighten. he’s shaking his head smiling. “ what is your mom saying? why is she making you cry? do you want me to kill her?” he says with pleading eyes smiling. he’s taking a step towards you. “ or are you not talking to your mom right now…” he mumbles. your eyes widen. you shake your head. “ or…your not calling your mom you bitch!” he shouts taking another step towards you. you don’t have time to react. he grabs you by the neck slamming you against the wall. his hand tightens around your neck.

you choke on your words. the tears that gathered up finally start to fall. your free hand wraps around scott's arm thats choking you. you repeatedly hit his arm. " please stop." you plead shaking your head. his grip tightens on your neck. " your a liar. your just like him." he spits his gaze darkening. he grabs your phone throwing it across the room. it knocks over a glass vase.

"¡'m not like him." you choke out shaking your head. " shut up! yes you are!" he shouts in your voice, spit getting on your face.

" let her go!" ji shouts from the floor. her voice cracks mid sentence. probably due to fear. watching you struggle is affecting her. just watching you struggle makes her feel as though she is the one struggling.

scott turns his head around. " what did you just say?" he says slowly releasing you. you take a deep breath in. you look at scott. another wave of fear hits you. what's he gonna say to jj? what's he gonna do to jj? she shouldn't have said anything. she should've kept quiet. he can't hurt her. you have to do something.

" i said let her go. you can't hurt her. she's what you want right? you can't hurt her. why would you hurt someone you love?" jj says her eyes darting between you and scott. to scott she looks desperate, to you. you know what jj's trying to say with her eyes.' we will be fine. seeing ji look at you like that. a rush of adrenaline hit you. you have got to do something. why are your hands so weak. why do you feel as though you don't have control of your body. why do you feel as though you can't control anything. damn it.

" you show love by hurting the ones you love." he whispers. you slowly reach for the gun in your pocket, trying not to alert him. and god is it hard " y/ n would know." he says chuckling. your so close to the gun. " isn't that right y/n?" he turns around to look at you. he sees your hand. he sees the hand thats reaching for the gun. he grabs your gun. your hand immediately forms into a fist, you punch him in the jaw. he falls back. holding his jaw. " you bitch!" he shouts.

you run to jj. you drop down to your knees. your shaky hands immediately start to undo the knots of the rope. "jj you need to get out." you say out of breathe. your trembling hands making it harder to undo the rope quickly. " no- what. y/n dont. i'm not leaving without you. the team is coming t-they're on their way y/n. ji says shaking her head in denial. her hands are untied. " god jj! i always follow your orders! just follow mine! just this once." you snap back moving onto her legs. you untie her. " get out of here now jj! he wont hurt me jj. hes obsessed with me he wont. trust me." you say nodding.

jj hasn't been a profiler for a long time. anyone else on the team would've called you out for your bullshit right now. if he wanted to hurt you. he definitely would. he would do anything to get you to be obedient. he could probably kill you if he wanted to. but jj doesn't know that. she thinks he's just a stalker who's obsessed with you and probably wouldn't seriously harm you. but you know unsubs like him all too well.

ji stands up running to the door. she opens the door. she turns to look at you again. you look at her and smile. " just go." you mouth. she quickly nods running out and closing the door. a wave of relief washes over you. jj is fine. jj is okay. jj is safe. he can't hurt jj anymore.

your not fine. your not okay. your not safe. he can keep hurting you. you turn around. he's standing right behind you. he's looking down at you. he's standing tall. his eyes are on you. his expression is dark. his eyes are empty. not a single thought behind his eyes. you were wrong. his eyes without a single thought behind them is scarier. because now you know, there's nothing really stopping him. there's no determination. there's no commitment. there's absolutely nothing behind those eyes. those eyes that are just about to do you harm.

“ me looking down on you…does this remind you of anything?” he says tilting his head to the side smiling. you shake your head. but oh boy do you know exactly what he’s talking about. your dad. “ oh right sorry. let me do something that will surely make you remember.” he says chuckling. he crouches down. he punches you right in the eye, your left eye. the one with the healed over stitches. you stiffen at his touch. not just because your scared of him. yeah of course your scared of him. but also because you’ve never had someone touch you in such an intimate place. you’ve never had someone grab your cheek and gently caress your scars.

he starts laughing. " oh my god let me see that" he gently grabs your cheek. tilting your head up towards him. he runs his finger on the scar. " he did that didnt he?" he whispers gently rubbing the scar. " he gave you this scar didnt he? i read it.. in one of your hospital records. he gave you this 2 weeks before he left right?" he whispers gently caressing the scar. your shaky hands reaches for his cheek.

he stiffens at your touch. he's just like you. " he gave this to you..right?" you whisper, gently caressing the cut on his lips. scott nods. " you and me.we are the same y/n. we both grew up in the same households. we both put up the same abuse. we..we are meant for each other y/n. your meant for me. and i'm meant for you." he whispers caressing your cheek gently. you nod.

" yeah.yeah we belong together." you mumble nodding gently.

i thought so too..until i saw a picture of you and your co worker spencer reid together." he whispers softly still smiling. your eyes widen. " w-what." you mumble. he chuckles, " yeah.i saw a picture of you two together. it was when you and your team were working that case in chicago." he whispers tightening his grip on your cheek. you shake your head.

" s-spencer? spencer reid? he-he means absolutely nothing to me." you say gently reaching for his hand. " don't lie to me." he whispers tearing up. " i'm not lying to you scott." you whisper rubbing your thumb gently against his arm. " your lying to

me. all you do is lie. your just like him." he whispers tears rolling down his cheeks. " i'm not like him scott." you whisper shaking your head, trying to calm him.

" your just like him.you lying bitch." he shakes his head standing up, forcefully pulling you up with him. his fingers dig deeply into your cheeks, surely 100% going to leave a mark. but who cares at this point.

" scott just listen to me-' he cuts your desperate cries with a punch to the mouth. you fall down to the floor, on purpose however. you want him to think your weak. your worn out. he can easily control you. he can easily throw you around like a rag doll. so he can feel some sense of confidence and have a sense of control. something he probably never experienced.

"i'm not listening to you. now you listen to me. you... you listen to me y/n. we are both the same person. we deserve absolutely nothing. we deserve everything our fathers did to us-"

" you know that's not true scott." someone speaks up from behind scott. their voice is strong and stern. it brings you comfort. never would you have thought, laying on the floor with blood dripping down your chin that the sound of someone's voice would bring you comfort. your heart feels warm. you can feel the familiarity of having control over your body come back. you smile. how could you be smiling at a time like this? your smiling. really hard while looking down at the floor. you refused to look up at scott. you refuse to do so.

because deep down you know you would be staring at the version of yourself that's buried deep inside you. that part inside you that keeps you wondering everyday, if you didn't take the path you took would you be like that. would you have done the same thing he had done? what makes him so different from you. just because you carry an id that gives you power over any normal civilian and a gun that's supposed to protect you and others. that doesn't make you any different though. because even though you have those things, you still think like scott. what if you truly don't deserve anyone in this world that would treat you with respect? what if you truly deserve someone as messed up as fucked up ad you are? because then they wouldn't understand right? they wouldn't understand how your mind works. but..like scott said. you probably deserve someone like scott, someone so sick and twisted-

why are you like this. why are you taking his words to heart. are you really that desperate and pathetic that you start taking an unsubs words to heart just because he shared an intimate moment with you. why? is it because you never in your life had experienced something like that and now you yearn for it? you start to believe every word he's said. your so naive. and your so vain. how can you be so gullible. why are you the way that you are. none of what scott said is true. none of it, absolutely none of it.

your too preoccupied with your brain breaking you down too notice two people coming over to you. your zoning out. your thinking hard. really hard. something like this requires a lot of thinking. but it shouldn't though. your supposed to just shrug off his words. not pay any mind to them. he's a mentally ill unsub who's murdered 5 women. nothing he says should make you reason with his thinking. there's nothing to reason with. he's insane. your not insane. your not insane. your just a girl who's seen some insane things.

" hey. your okay. i got you." morgan says gently grabbing you by the arms. "i got you y/n." he whispers picking you up gently. you stand up looking at the wall infront of you still zoned out. " hey y/n." emily pats your shoulder gently tilting her head to the side looking at you with such pain. you shake your head and look at both of them. " hi emily." you respond looking at emily blinking repeatedly. " hey you." she says smiling. " we've gotta get you to the ambulance come on y/n." morgan says wrapping his arms around you, pushing you into him.

" j-i don't need medical care morgan." you say trying to push your heavy head away but finding it way too hard. he feels too comfortable. too comforting. he feels too nice. his cologne smells masculine. really masculine. why is it comforting? why does it bring you comfort? you close your tired eyes for a second. " hey hey don't close your eyes on me I/n." morgan says tilting his head around to take a look at you, you shake your head softly. " i'm not dying morgan." you groan.

emily chuckles. " morgan's probably enjoying this." emily says wrapping up arm around her shoulder helping you walk, " cant have derek enjoying himself too much we all know how cocky he'll get and how high his ego will sky rocket." emily adds on looking at you smiling. her words make you chuckle. a painful chuckle. when your lips curve to let out a laugh a wave of pain washes over your face. "ow ow." you chuckle closing your eyes. morgan shakes his head,

"yeah you wish you can have a bit of this ego." morgan replies.

rossi opens the house door. his eyes immediately look to you. " it's alright i've got her." he says running to you. " derek go take care of reid he's in the ambulance." rossi says putting his gun away. morgan slowly and gently lets you go. rossi quickly replaces morgan. your head immediately shoots up. that hurt. you didn't even know you could do that. why did your head shoot up so quickly? just a second ago you were leaning into morgan for support because you couldn't bare to hold your head up and now suddenly you have all the energy in the world to shoot your head up.

"w-wait whys reid in the ambulance?" you ask your eyes wide, your pretty sure your eyes are half closed though. you can't bare to hold them open. you can already feel your left eye bruising. you can taste blood in your mouth. and you know there's blood dripping down from your eyebrows, from the healed over stitch. rossi and emily push you forward helping you walk. why aren't they answering you? what happened to reid? whys he in an ambulance? is he injured? what's wrong with spencer? what happened to spence? " i think that's a question he should answer." rossi says. what does that mean?

your quickly brought out of the house, thank god. you feel like if you spent another second in there you would go ballistic and break down crying. your heads down, your too tired. you see a pair of shoes infront of you. who's shoes are those? who is that? and why did they stop right infront of you? it's not spencer. spence would never wear those shoes. he was wearing converse earlier. dark blue converse. why do you remember all of this? don't you have some sort of concussion? how do you remember what pair of shoes spencer wore? god...

you feel emily and rossi's grip weaken around you. the unfamiliar person infront of you reaches forward and takes you. they lead you away from rossi and emily. your too tired to even care. they lean you against them. " where's...what's wrong with dr spencer reid?" you mumble stumbling in their hood barely having the energy to hold yourself up. " it's alright i°ve got you. here." they sit you down on something. there's bright red lights flashing around you. an ambulance.

" ma'am i'm gonna get an IV bag started is that alright with you?" the medic asks opening a cabinet. you nod your head hazily. you lean your head against the walls of the ambulance. he takes your arm rolling your sleeve up. you feel the soft pinch. your thankful for it though. it's stopping you from dissociating and falling asleep. you don't wanna fall asleep until someone tells you why spencer is in an ambulance. why do you care for him? why do you care for him after everything's he said- oh right. after what he's said. why do you care for him after he just publicly embarrassed you? that's so stupid. why are you so pathetic and desperate. did he publicly embarrass you? half of the team probably already knew. it's not that hard to figure out. it’s probably why you are the way that you are. they’re profilers. of course they would figure that out. what he said was true. they all probably agree. oh god..

" let me go! let me go! i don't need medical attention she needs it more than me! let me see her!" you hear a voice shout from the distance, you recognise it. your heartbeat quickens. not like earlier though. not in the way your heartbeat quickened earlier. that was in fear. no. this. this is in relief. your stomach starts to stir. in nervousness. your still leaning your head against the wall, but your looking down. your hair covering your face. you stop hearing his voice.

" ma'am i need you to lift your head up." the medic says gently placing a tray next to you, a tray your guessing is full of medical supplies and alcohol. you softly nod your head sitting up. the medic grabs one of the medical instrument opening the wrapping. he moves to the side to quickly put on gloves.

“ oh my god y/n..” you hear him say your name, in so so much pain. he sounds so upset. is he in pain? why does he sound so upset. what happened to him. is he okay. you look up. you see him. you look into his eyes. and suddenly all the words he’s said earlier rush buck into your clouded messy mind. but they don’t hurt as much. your so used to men blurting out hurtful words to you and you having to get over them, what else do you do? ask them to apologise? expect them to apologise?

no. they don’t do that. they’ve never done that. best thing to do is just get over it, because you probably deserve it right? that’s what you were taught.

he looks tired. his eye bags look darker than what they usually would look like. his hair is messier then usual. the two buttons on his dark blue vest are unbuttoned. he’s wearing his fbi vest. his dark blue pants have wet stains on the side of them. your guessing because he would repeatedly wipe his sweaty hands on them. a habit he has when he��s nervous.

he looks into your eyes. he sees the bruise that's already forming in your eye. the trail of blood rolling down your eyebrow from what he can see, that scar you have. you have blood rolling down the side of your face. your neck is red. an imprint of a hand already appearing. his heart hurts. it hurts so much. seeing you like this. but how dare he right?

how dare he feel pain in his heart? the pain your feeling physically and mentally is probably 10x worse than what he’s feeling. he wishes he was feeling it though, he wishes that right in this second all your pain would be transferred to him. add it on to his pain. he feels so guilty. you don’t deserve this. this is his fault. this is his fault. this is all his fault. your never gonna look him in the eye again. whenever you do your gonna remember this day. and how much pain he put you through. he hates it. he hates it so much. he hates himself so much.

"y-y/n." he's out of breath. he doesn't know where to start. he didn't have time to think of an apology, spending the entire car ride panicking nervous about you and wether you were safe or not. but now he can't think of anything.

he can't think of anything when looking into your eyes, the only thing he's thinking of is how badly he wishes he can go back in time and prevent all of this from happening. or make all of this happen but only put himself in your shoes. make him go through all this pain instead of you. You don't deserve this. you don't deserve him. you don't deserve his stupid apology that's about to come, that is if he can even muster up an apology right now. you deserve so much better than him.

"y/n i'm so sorry." spencer starts shaking his head his eyes wide. he can't think of anything. his iq of 187 has suddenly dropped down to 20. spencer who seemed to never stop his rambling suddenly can't think of a single thing to ramble on. you just made him stupid. and not in the way it's supposed to be. you make him stupid when you smile at him. not like this. he can't think of anything. he doesn't know where to start. he shakes his head.

" god can't you do your job!" spencer snaps grabbing a medical wipe and pouring saline solution on it. he stands infront of you. his angry demeanour quickly vanishes once his infront of you. something just hit him. he freezes infront of you. it's like all the color, the little color he already had in his face has drained.

you look at him in confusion. all though your upset at him it doesn't stop you from caring and growing concerned. " w-what?" you say blinking repeatedly looking at him. hes still looking at you. his lips part. he blinks repeatedly. he shakes his head.

"i-i'm just..i got scared." he stutters his voice cracking. " why?" you ask tilting your head to the side. " i'm scared your gonna flinch once i touch you." he replies quickly. really quickly. any normal person wouldn't catch it. but you did. vou've learnt to keep up with spencer's quick rambling. oh. oh. whys he so considerate? y/n stop. you can think that. you look down at your thighs. unable to think of anything to say. if he did touch you. would you have flinched? would you have reacted? you don't know. but spencer's not him. right?

" i'm not gonna flinch spencer." you say looking up at him. he nods his head gulping, "a-alright." he says. he lifts his shaky hand up. he gently dabs the medical wipe on your cut. disinfecting it. ouch it burns. your nails dig into the palm of your hand. his eyes are stuck on the cut. the scar. he knows where it's from. he might've been with garcia when she did her usual background snooping on new members of the team 2 years ago. he remembers how guilty he felt after it. finding out about such a dark part of your life without your knowledge or permission.

but that guilt doesn't compare to the guilt he's feeling right now. he feels tremendously guilty, he caused the scar to re open. all because of his foolishness. if he just shut his mouth earlier and wasn't such a smart ass. if he maybe was the one to go with you to scott anderson's house and not jj he would've been able to protect you. he probably would've shot scott anderson the second he would've laid his hands on vou.

he doesn't trust himself aorund vou. atleast not from the harm of unsubs and has the need to shoot any of them if they ever did you harm. he would probably lose his job. if he was there he probably would've lost his job. but he doesn't care. for your safety. he doesn't care.

" i'm so sorry y/n-" you can feel the medical wipe shake on your eyebrow, from spencer's shaky hands.

" it's fine spencer." you mumble looking into his eyes. is it fine though? is it really fine? whys he apologising? he's not supposed to be apologising right? this is new. this is so very new. they never apologise after hurting you. this is so unfamiliar? how are you supposed to react? do you tell them how you really feel? do you immediately accept their apology? they never apologised to you when they hurt you. whys spencers apologising? what do you say?

" it's not fine y/n. i-i hurt you. i c-caused this." he says spitting his words out in a shaky manner. what do you say or do? you've never made it this far whenever something similar to this happened in the past.

" spencer it's fine. i shouldn't have egged you on earlier anyways-" why are you taking the blame. y/ n stop. it's not your fault. it never is your fault when something like this happens. y/n please. it's not your fault. stop taking the blame. his heart aches even more. his throat feels heavy. who hurt you like this? who broke your heart like this? who messed up your image of love like this? who hurt you this bad. he hates them. he hates them for making you like this.

" y/n i know you have the personal need to justify everything i've said but y/n stop, just stop. i hurt you okay. and even though saying that out loud and accepting the fact that i said that it thr worst thing i've ever done in my entire life it's nothing compared to what you felt when i said that. i don't wanna be like him y/n. i don't wanna be him. i don't want you to think i can be him. i don't want you to see him everytime you see me y/n. because that would kill me even more. y-you don't have to talk to me anymore y/n i just don't want you to flinch or have this horrible feeling of rememberence whenever you see me. please just.. just don't take the blame for this because it's my fault. this entire thing was my fault and i put you through this y/n. you don't deserve this. i'm really sorry.”

spencer rambles. trying to push the heavy feeling in his throat away. he can't cry. he doesn't deserve to cry right now. he's nervous though. he's nervous about what your gonna say. he doesn’t have the right to feel nervous though. he should accept whatever it is. he did this to himself. whatever the outcome is. he just hopes you don’t have a sense of fear wash over you whenever you look at him and get memories of this day. that is if you ever look at him after this day.

no one's ever said that to you. you feel your tired eyes tear up. your about to cry. oh no. spencer panics. does he comfort you? do you even want his comfort? he doesn't deserve to touch you, he thinks. he drops the medical wipe.

" n-no please don't cry. ill go call

over emily or jj or morgan or hotch just p-please dont cry. i'll go-" it physically aches him to leave you like this. but he has to. he doesn't want you to feel uncomfortable. he just made you cry. you must really hate him. he understands though. he just wishes you understand how sorry he is. but you probably will never know. because you probably don't expect him to feel sorry, you probably think he's faking it. he just needs you to understand that he's not him. he's not your dad. spencer actually feels sorry. he feels so so sorry for everything he's done and said. but you had to put up with years of your dad taking apologises you probably don't believe his. he hates himself.

you stand up. you barely have room to think clearly before a tear rolls down your cheek. spencer immediately removes his fbi vest, you bury your head against spencer's chest. you wrap your hands against his chest. he doesn't wrap his hands around you though. he's scared to touch you. your not sobbing. your too tired to sob. you just let tears slowly roll down your cheeks. " your not him spencer." you say out loud. spencer's heart skips a beat. he slowly wraps his hands around you. " i'm still mad at you. you shouldn't have said that earlier. b-but i forgive you spence." you mumble against his chest. he shakes his head, " you shouldn't forgive me y/n. your supposed to be mad at me. your supposed to be yelling at me. or-or hitting me." he says.

" i am mad at you spencer." you say pulling your head away wiping the tears.

"alright. good." he says

looking down at you. " oh god- im sorry that was stupid i shouldn't have hugged you-" you immediately start apologising shaking your head. you immediately sit back down. oh god your so stupid. why did you just hug him? your so embarrasing oh god. did you feel the need to hug spencer because you just needed to make sure that spencer wasn't him.

not that you would know what your dads embrace would feel like. but you just needed to make sure.

" no please don't apologise. d-do you mind if i sit next to you?" spencer asks pointing at the space next to you. you look at him and slowly nod your heart. he sits next to you. " once ive healed i'm yelling at you spencer." you say looking down at your legs, your tired eyes aching. " alright." spencer says nodding. you should yell at him. and you will. he had no right. but your too tired right now. you just hope. you really really hope that spencer doesn't spiral once your back in quantico and probably will forcefully be taken into the hospital by emily and jj. you really hope he doesn't drown himself in guilt and spiral. why are you so caring? does spencer care about you the way you care about him? that's foolish right? he wouldn't right? does he feel his heart quicken when he sees you? does he care the way you care? that's stupid god y/n you probably have a concussion just shut up.

yeah how stupid y/n. because if you knew the way spencer cared about you or the way his heart quickens when he sees you. you wouldn't believe it. it will take time though. it will take time for you to believe it. he's willing to work hard during that time. he just hopes you know even the slightest bit. but he wont say anything right now. you've already been through enough. he wont say anything for a while. though when the time is right. maybe you'll finally know how much he cares about you. for now, he'll settle for this just for now. until he can gain your trust back and make his feelings known. he'll settle for this. because just being next to you makes him happy.

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[robertreich]

5 Facts About Trump’s Indictments

Trump’s defenders are still lying about his indictments. Here are 5 crucial facts you can share with whoever in your life needs to hear them.

1. President Biden did not indict Trump.

Four different grand juries — made up of ordinary citizens — indicted Trump after being presented with evidence they found compelling enough to warrant criminal prosecution.

The reason we have grand juries is specifically to help make sure no one gets prosecuted out of a personal vendetta.

2. This isn’t about “free speech”

In all four cases, Trump has been indicted because of what he allegedly did, not what he said. Lots of crimes involve speech, but that doesn’t stop them from being crimes. Even Trump’s hand-picked attorney general, Bill Barr, recognizes this defense is nonsense.

3. It doesn’t matter whether Trump believed the election was stolen

There’s plenty of evidence that Trump knew he lost the election fair and square. His claims of massive fraud were rejected by his own campaign manager, White House lawyers, and his hand-picked Justice Department officials. 

And privately, Trump seemed to admit that he either knew or didn’t care that his claims were false, allegedly criticizing VP Pence for being “too honest,” and allegedly admitting to his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that he lost and wanted to cover it up.

But even if Trump really did believe the election was stolen, that doesn’t give him the right to allegedly commit a criminal conspiracy to try to steal it back.

4. Trump has received preferential treatment because of who he is.

Trump’s defenders complain about a two-tiered justice system.

They’re right about that, but not in the way they claim. Trump has been given special privileges most criminal defendants would never get.

In all four criminal cases, he has been released without bail. He has repeatedly been spared the indignity of a mugshot. He has not had his passport suspended or had limits placed on his ability to travel — even though two of his criminal cases involve direct threats to national security, and even though he has used social media to issue insults and threats against potential witnesses, behavior that would cause many criminal defendants to be held without bail pending trial.

5. Trump was in legal trouble long before entering politics

Some of Trump’s defenders claim the sheer number of criminal charges and civil suits he’s now facing is proof that he’s being targeted for political reasons. But you have to remember that Trump was the subject of about 4,000 legal actions before ever running for president. From his fraudulent Trump University scam to federal lawsuits over racist housing discrimination, Trump has spent his life in court because of his own shady behavior.

Trump is being prosecuted now because, as four grand juries have found, the strength of the evidence against him merits it. If we fail to hold him fully accountable under the law, the precedent will embolden future presidents to break the law, jeopardize national security, incite insurrections, and possibly even overturn an election.

The principle that no one is above the law is only true if we make it so.

[scorpiussage]

The Lost Footage of You | Part 1 (Tom Buckley/OC)

Pairing: Tom Buckley (Red Lights)/OC

Summary: Tom gets called to a review a very odd case involving a young woman and some unexplainable found footage. 

Warnings: Violence, very dark themes

i.

Tom hates dealing with cops and he’s certain they hate him just as much. They watch him with open disdain as he gets buzzed through the locked security check points that keep the patients at Creekwood Sanitarium in and the regulars of society out. 

A nurse with the look of someone exhausted down to their soul meets him once he’s completely through security. She holds out a laminated visitors pass and he barely gets the chance to grab it and fix it to his clothes before she’s marching away from him down the main entrance corridor. 

“You’ll get thirty minutes to talk to her, so make it count,” the woman utters boredly, her gait surprisingly fast given her overall disposition and it causes Tom to have to power walk in order to keep up with her.  

“Er— right,” Tom replies weakly, trying to get his thoughts in order, “Has she said anything since being admitted?”

The nurse shoots him a sharp eyed, pursed lip look, “No.” 

Tom mentally adds “Nurses” to his ever growing list of things and people he hates. 

This entire case is sort of an unconventional one for Tom. Usually he’s exposing supposed psychics and tarot readers as fraudulent— never has he been asked by law enforcement to work on a case. 

Two weeks ago, six people were found brutally murdered at what appeared to be some sort of séance. A seventh person was found unconscious at the scene, a one Y/F/N Y/L/N, and with her a camcorder and a purse full of tapes. Now, Tom hasn’t seen the tapes yet, (he’s still waiting for clearance from the county judge to be allowed to watch them) but he’s been told roughly what they consist of. Whatever is on those tapes has law enforcement quaking in their boots. 

Tom has been called in to not only determine the validity of the tapes, but to also see if the young woman involved has some sort of supernatural ability. The police certainly think that the tapes are supernatural in nature. 

For a psychiatric facility, the living quarters of the patients and the inmates are actually pretty nice compared to the standard. Y/N has her own room and it has a few furnishings like a desk and a cushioned chair near the barred window. She’s sitting in said chair, starring out into the gray gloom of the facility grounds and the forest beyond them. 

This is the first look that Tom is getting of her and while they told him she was young, he’s still surprised. She can’t be older than 25 and she’s shockingly beautiful too. He sort of freezes in place when their eyes meet for the first time. He feels all too like the skinny weird kid he used to be and being faced with the local hottie. 

“Remember Mr. Buckley, 30 minutes,” the nurse says, shocking Tom out of his trance as she leaves the two of them alone, locking the door behind herself. 

Tom clears his throat awkwardly and takes a seat on the edge of Y/N’s desk, realizing too late that it probably makes him look like a middle school teacher trying to seem down to earth. 

“Hello,” he says with a weak smile, “I’m Dr. Tom Buckley.” 

“You don’t look like a doctor,” Y/N replies with a voice so soft that Tom has to lean forward to hear her better. 

“Er— I’m not a medical doctor, actually I’m a physicist.” 

Trying to grasp onto what to say next, Tom pulls the desk chair out and brings it over to where she’s sitting, placing himself in front of her, “I’m sort of a specialist in my particular field.” 

The woman stares at him blankly and it prompts him to start info dumping, “I deal with uncovering frauds who claim to be psychic or to have supernatural abilities. Not to say that that’s what you are, but that’s why I’m here.” 

The woman nods, “The police think I killed all those people.” 

Tom winces, “Um, yeah, they do.” 

Sinking into her chair she regards him with those piercing eyes of hers, almost making him feel like he’s being dissected. 

“Sometimes things happen around me that don’t make sense,” she says after a while, cutting off Tom who was about to start asking questions if only to fill the silence, “I carry around a videocamera to document everything.” 

“Have you? Documented these weird happenings?”

Y/N fidgets, her eyes darting to look back out the window, “A friend of a friend of a friend heard about me and requested me to do this séance? Like with a ouija board and stuff? I didn’t really want to do it but he said he’d pay me for my time.”

She takes a deep breath here, seemingly struggling to say out loud what occurred, “I told them it was a bad idea. The weird things that happen around me? The energies don’t like being taunted and I told those people that but they didn’t listen to me.” 

Tom quickly pulls out a notebook and pen, ready to take notes, “Can you tell me a bit more about these ‘energies’? What do they do?” 

“I— I wouldn’t call them ghosts, that seems too simple to what they are. They just— they’re always there, following me around? They get mad if I ignore them too long or if I try to provoke them.” 

“What do they do if you ignore them?” He asks. 

Y/N bites her lip nervously, eyeing him like she’s trying to decide if he’s trustworthy or not. She must come to the conclusion that he is, because she turns around in her chair and lifts up the back of her shirt. 

Tom’s notebook and pen go clattering to the floor, his shock audible in the horrified gasp he lets out. Big ugly bruises and weeping claw marks mar her back, in locations and styles that she would not be able to do to herself. 

Tom thinks that this case is going to end up being more than he bargained for. 

ii.

Tom isn’t sure what to expect when he finally gets approval to view the video tapes. He’s left alone in an unused interrogation room with a small box TV and a larger-than-he-expected stack of tapes. None of them are labeled and the cop that escorted him to the room fucked off without saying anything. 

With a deep sigh, Tom grabs the first tape on the top and pushes it into the VCR. It starts off how all home made videos are want to do, with jumbled, unfocused images before they finally settle.

It’s Y/N filming herself through the reflection of a bathroom mirror. She’s breathing heavily and the camera is shaking with her unsteady hands. Gulping audibly, she starts talking, “It’s— uh— Tuesday, August the 5th. The noises are back.” 

She jumps when a loud thump echoes in the background. She swings the camera to face a closed door— either the door to the bathroom or a closet, Tom can’t tell. Everything is still and quiet before another bang visibly rattles the door in its frame. Like someone slammed their fist into it. 

Y/N drops the camera in fright, the visual becoming that of her feet and the bottom of the door. 

Tom is both captivated and horrified, this whole thing is playing out like a real life horror movie.

“Don’t do it, don’t open the door,” he mutters to himself, both literally and figuratively on the edge of his seat. He holds his breath when she cracks the door.

She stands there for a moment before reaching down and picking up the camera. The door is now open to show a tightly packed linen closet. There’s absolutely no where a person could hide in that. 

Tom turns off the TV. 

iii.

The next time Tom goes to visit her, it’s during the patients’ outside recreational time. She’s sat off by herself under the shade of a large tree and she’s ripping up fistfuls of grass boredly. Tom rubs his sweaty palms on his pants before taking a seat near her. 

“Hey,” he greets awkwardly, “How are you?”

She shrugs and he tries to figure out what to say next. 

“How long have weird things been happening to you?” He eventually lands on, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

“Since I was a kid, I guess? My mom kept making us move because she was convinced the houses we lived in were haunted.” 

The ‘but it’s actually me’ goes unsaid. Tom feels a lot of sympathy for her, he can’t imagine being terrorized by unseen forces for years. He doesn’t really know how to express that sentiment to her though without flat out saying her life is a fucking horror movie. 

Deciding to change trajectory of the conversation, he asks, “Can you tell me more about that night?”

“It was supposed to be a seance,” she tells him and then after a long pause adds, “I think.” 

He frowns, “You think?”

She brushes the loose grass off of her palms, “The set up was really weird. Everyone was in a circle and they made me sit in the middle.”

“You were in the middle?”

She nods, “I brought my camera, but they told me I wasn’t allowed to film. I lied about turning it off and left it recording inside my bag. I just felt weird about the whole thing.” 

Tom bites at his thumb as he thinks. He hasn’t made it to the video of that night yet and this conversation is creating more questions than answers. 

“What happened next?” He finally asks. 

“That’s the thing. I can’t remember.” 

iv

Tom doesn’t know how many more of the tapes he can watch. Each one is more horrifying than the last and if it were him, he would’ve taken a swan dive off a building out of sheer terror. 

For not the first time, he wishes Margaret was still alive to give him some guidance on what to do. Part of him feels relief that there’s another with strange abilities, but not at the suffering of this poor woman. 

He’s only halfway through the stack and he feels like this entire experience has aged him 10 years. With an exhausted sigh, he pops the next one into the VCR and hits play. 

The video starts off with a visual of the end of her bed before she turns the camera around to show her face. The lighting is poor, coming only from the faint glow of her bedside lamp. 

“It’s 2:38 am,” her voice is in a hushed whisper like she’s afraid of being overheard, “There’s something under my bed.” 

She peeks the camera over the edge of her bed to show her wooden floors. Nothing happens for a long moment before the camera jolts as the bed is shaken in its frame. She lets out a scream and buries herself under the covers like a child would, bringing the camera with her. The video goes on with a close up of her panicked face until eventually she falls asleep. 

Tom feels like he’s the only one who’s capable of protecting her. 

to be continued...

Part 2

[tomorrowusa]

Right now is the time to get involved in the defeat of America's most dangerous enemy since the Cold War.

The traditional election season, starting on Labor Day, is a thing of the distant political past. And considering the magnitude of the threat to democracy, even waiting for the end of the primary season may be too late.

The worst president in our history is, arguably, stronger within the leadership ranks of the Republican Party than he has ever been. He is now the most dangerous presidential candidate in U.S. history. As a consequence, the great question before the rest of us is whether enough of us are ready to do whatever is necessary to defeat this threat as we have all those that have come before. Sadly, there is reason to believe that this time we may not meet the challenge. Right now, Donald Trump is one of two people who could be our next president. The race, at the moment, between him and President Joe Biden, is too close to call.

The people with their heads up their ass over Biden's age are either hypocrites or dissemblers. On Inauguration Day 2025, Donald Trump will be 95.66% of Joe Biden's age. And Trump will also be older in January of 2025 than Biden was upon assuming office in 2021. Biden may have a lifelong stutter but he is still grounded in reality in a way the narcissistic nepo baby Donald Trump never was.

Joe Biden by any objective metric has been one of the most successful presidents in modern U.S. history. He has led the creation of more major legislative initiatives benefiting the American people than any president in 60 years. He oversaw the creation of more than 14 million jobs during his first three years in office. He has brought down inflation and reduced the prices of vital medicines to affordable levels. He has restored American leadership worldwide, expanded our vital alliances like NATO, and stood up to our enemies. All presidents face challenges and make missteps. But it is hard to deny that in the wake of the U.S. economic recovery, the passage of the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, the CHIPs and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, the expansion of NATO, and the creation of new Indo-Pacific alliances, Biden’s record is formidable. That a president with this record is in a horse race with a candidate who is a menace to the country, who led an insurrection, who is a pathological liar whom courts have found to be a fraud and a rapist, and who has no real ideas, no credible policy proposals, no record of actually ever achieving anything for the American people is chilling.

In normal times, over 40% of US voters would NOT pick a notorious sex offender for president. But these are not normal times.

You would have thought that the sight of mobs carrying Trump flags and weapons and chanting for the death of Vice President Mike Pence on January 6, 2021, would have been alarm enough. You would have thought the same of Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, in which he confessed his impulse to abuse women. You would have thought the two dozen women who accused him of abuse would have had that effect. Even if none of those things were quite warning enough, you would have thought the findings in the E. Jean Carroll case would have been enough. After all, respected federal judge Lew Kaplan wrote, “The fact that Mr. Trump sexually abused—indeed, raped—Ms. Carroll has been conclusively established and is binding in this case.” It should have been enough. But so far, it has not been.

And who would have thought that the party of Ronald Reagan is now led by a stooge of the Evil Empire?

You would have thought that Trump reaching out on national television to our Russian adversaries for aid during the 2016 campaign would have been enough. You would have thought the conclusive findings of every major U.S. intelligence agency that Russia sought to aid Trump’s campaign would have been enough. You would have thought that Robert Mueller’s finding 10 instances of possible obstruction of justice by Trump would have been enough. You would have thought Trump kowtowing to Vladimir Putin and taking his word over that of our intelligence and law enforcement communities would have been enough. You would have thought his illegally withholding aid to Ukraine to seek dirt on Joe Biden would have been enough. You would have thought his impeachment for that would have been enough.

Are you willing to spend more time and money than in previous election cycles to end a major threat to Western democracy and to undermine homegrown fascism for at least the rest of this decade?

So, ask yourself, is that enough to make you do more than you have done? Is that enough to commit for the next 10 months to do more than you have ever done during an election year? To give more? To canvas more? To spread the word more? To help get voters to the polls? To ensure every member of your family, your friends, your co-workers do the same? The stakes are too high to do less than everything you can.

I rarely quote Margaret Thatcher and would probably disagree with at least 90% of her views. But she did know something about winning elections and combating the USSR. If she was good for just one thing, it's for this observation in a speech made in her retirement.

[N]o battles are ever finally won; you have to go on winning them by example and by being prepared to defend your way of life against those who would attack it.

If we learn just one thing from the Trump threat, it's that we can never rest on our past laurels. A slacker democracy is one which will not outlast a determined demagogue.

Civic involvement by pro-democracy citizens is absolutely necessary to maintain freedom.

[canonsinthehead]

Naruto Modern AU/Hollywood pt.6 - More Basketball Info & The IBL Finale

KONOHA'S BASKETBALL TEAM:

Name: The Red Leaves of Konoha

Asuma Sarutobi took over 3 years ago when the previous coach Genma resigned without warning. At first, he was a controversial choice because his father Hiruzen got arrested and demoted from his high-ranking position as a Minister of Finances of the country of Fire for fraud, mishandling of funds, and abuse of power. Asuma was met with a lot of resistance but overturned the public opinion in his favor as he “built the team back up” leading it to a new path of constant victories.

The team has been secured with being #2 behind Kumo. They’ve accepted being their natural enemy because Kumo is undefeatable, and it is what it is. Their position maintained itself for years until Kiri’s team's emergence. Konoha’s team then dropped to third position in the world rankings. There is no need to worry because they are still above average and are promised to maintain their position for years, but Konoha started putting their bet on other sports anyway.

Regardless, with Asuma’s efforts and the Hyuuga clan's generous donations, they formed a strong and determined basketball team made of diverse players:

Konohamaru Sarutobi:

the star of the team

highest stats

Fastest

Basketball has been a passion for him since high school

As suggested by his surname, he is not a nobody

 Comes from a family/background involved in politics. Asuma broke away from it by marrying a woman from a different clan, Kurenai, and ending the generational curse of corruption who ran in the Sarutobi’s bloodline for decades.

Kawaki:

Most recent recruit

Youngest member

He has an amateur basketball background

He was recruited after getting in a fight with Kiba during a friendly match in an urban area

Most red cards/accidents are linked to him

He is a fan favorite, especially with the girlies for his looks and edgy personality

Kiba Inuzuka:

All bark, No bite. Loves to run his mouth while being the least skilled

His specialty is the element of surprise

Friendly extroverted butterfly

Loves to drink and always found himself with insta model grade “groupies” along with Torune

It is often awkward for him and his sense of humor because of the wide age range of the team

Torune Aburame:

Oldest, tallest and most muscular (Do your thing Wonho!)

Bestie with Kiba for their unhinged antics

He must be the one who spent the most time at Konoha’s basketball academy. Before getting drafted, either he never gave up or was killing time in a sport/hobby since he is a trust fund kid of the Aburame clan.

His specialty is long-distance shots and he rarely misses

Unfortunately, he often acts like he is the only player on the court.

Iwabe Yuino

Shortest

Same age as Kawaki

One of the few people who will proudly defend the position of “defense”. He takes it seriously.

Was drafted the month he joined the basketball academy. Something about him spoke to Asuma without formally introducing himself

His playing style melts into Konohamaru’s hence why they get along so well.

Star Players: Knohamaru, Kawaki, and Torune. Konohamaru and Kawaki receive the most brand deals. The young Sarutobi benefits from the image of being “Mr. National Hero/Konoha’s Pride” which opened doors for him in all areas of life; documentaries, variety shows, and TV series cameos. Meanwhile, Kawaki is a teen magazine favorite. Torune is receiving as many opportunities but is busy participating in every athletic competition or sport -based tv show known to man. The Aburame has a secured spot in men’s magazines for his strong and defined physique.  

KUMO’S BASKETBALL TEAM:

Team’s name: The Lightnings of Kumo

The greatest & undefeatable. It has been the case forever and ever since the team has been under the management and coaching of Mabui.  She is a businesswoman by profession but took over as a coach after Killer Bee’s relentless begging (he is an investor).

The team is made of 5 players going along like ingredients of a cake recipe;

Omoi:

“Either you’re gonna crank that Soulja Boy or that Soulja Boy is going to crank you”

The star of the team

His devious game tactics became the trademark of Kumo’s team

Him, Atsui, and Darui are the same age and were drafted at the same time

He is a professional prankster and is heavily present on social media

In his free time, he likes to play video games (he plays 2k lol)

His studies in advanced mathematics allowed him to tweak the team’s tactics on the court, hence why Kumo has a million techniques and ways revolving around strategically passing the ball (THIS IS SCIENCE YALL!). Their training is way more calculated than it seems. It is so hard to intercept the ball after they put their hands on it

Like street fashion and has a PhD in dunking.

Atsui:

Dynamic duo with Omoi. They do everything together

He seamlessly integrated the team even if he stands out like a sore thumb. It doesn’t bother him since he easily adapts to different situations and environments.

He never thought he would play professionally and sent his application to Kumo’s basketball academy after losing a bet.

He mastered the art of crossovers

Darui:

Becoming a basketball player was not the direction he expected his life to take

Omoi got him drafted by referral saying “Hey, I know this dude and he’s not bad”

Darui is the introverted quiet type of guy living the extroverted life

Being so composed and quiet allows him to sneak on his opponents without warning

Thanks to his immunity to stress, he often chimes in and organizes his coach’s commands on the court ending in endless arguments with Omoi

Kakui:

He is not that old, please stop calling him Unc.

Marui:

Youngest member.

Designated photographer

Star players: Darui, Atsui & Omoi. The Raikage himself supports all team members financially. Atsui receives the most brand deals while Darui is backed by few major companies and is content with it (because they don’t go against his personal values). Omoi found a new avenue that fits his personality which is MC-ing. He became a permanent member of Killer Bee’s Showtime variety show cast and makes a good living out of it.

CHEERLEADERS AND THE TRADITION OF THE FINALE:

Cheerleaders and mascots are important parts of each team, especially during the finale of the IBL (International Basketball League). It has gained a reputation for putting on a show along with the hottest artists of each nation making the finale such an event every year. Each nation has a different way of operating (including the important celebrities/public figures attending the match.

KONOHA Their mascot is named Kurama and is a nine-tail Firefox. Its theme song is “Fire Burning”.

For the finale, it will perform along with the largest cheerleader team in the world of basketball and a marching band. They carry the performance and hype the crowd until introducing the team’s members into the arena.

In recent years only and imitating other nations, they invited top artists to perform. Unfortunately, last year Konoha did not participate to the finals since it was Kumo vs Kiri but the new pop singer Mirai performed her most popular single as an opening act since the finale took place in Konoha.

She is Asuma Sarutobi’s daughter and Mizuki blamed nepotism as a reason for her being included in the event which doesn’t matter since her song is an international success and had undeniable popularity with the public.

KUMO

It’s a show! Some think their pre-game introduction is a mess while others can’t wait to see it. Kumo never sleeps on the gas when it comes to their basketball team. Knowing they have been dominating the sport for the longest and haven’t yet met a “worthy opponent” in decades, the finale is just a big ole party for them. As follows their tradition, Killer Bee introduces the performance with one of his songs along with the team’s mascot Gyuki also known as The Anpanman. On last year's finale, he performed his most popular hit and the mascot’s theme song.

Due to the circumstance of going against a brand-new team instead of Konoha. They went all out with large street dance/breakdancing crews and as expected the basketball players joined them on the dancefloor to introduce themselves. It’s a tradition with them to always participate with the dancers. To add oil to the fire, the most popular singer Samui and the most awarded rapper Karui offered a special performance together.

KIRI: Being a new team and recently entered the world scene, it was THE opportunity to formally introduce themselves not only as a team, but as a nation. Saying “Kiri, we are here. Modernized and our dark past is behind us.” Hence why they decided to introduce the team along with a large group of musicians performing traditional percussion-based music belonging to each players' respective ethnicities.

Having a smaller cheerleader team and no mascot, they were represented by the country of water’s current gem, the singer Sera. Her background as a professional dancer allowed her to put on a show by herself as much as whole cheerleading teams from other nations.

Her production team came up with a catchy song for the basketball finale that she performed along with her most popular single. Zabuza performed another song with her meanwhile the rest of the team performed along Utakata, the new pop singer making waves in Kiri these days.

NEXT PART

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BACK TO PART.1   

[bestworstcase]

…….. So not the same anon. But. I personally think the nature of Jacques getting in trouble by having evidence of his wrongdoings brought to light….is the biggest punishment for him and the best way for Weiss (and Winter and Whitley and Willow) to start healing from all that.

Sure there could’ve been some super cool back door hack for Weiss to find. Why not.

But what is satisfying in this content is a man who has been able to skirt the law and abuse it and use it to his advantage….getting caught up in the most lawful way. Which is having irrefutable proof that he is guilty.

Also it WAS a Sneaky back door way. Why? Because Willow installed security cameras in her own damn house Just In Case. She didn’t trust that man. She wanted to have proof if he ever did anything that could get him Legally in trouble. He knew nothing about this. His own wife did not trust him and so he brought Watts into his home where surely nobody would ever find out bc he has complete control of his wife and son who would never disturb him or go into his study.

So no. It wasn’t a super grand and elaborate plan. Because it didn’t need to be. Jacques Schnee being arrested in the most normal law breaking way is cathartic and narratively impactful bc it was Normal. He was doing typical shitty CEO greedy madness. And he got caught in 4K.

Chef’s Kiss.

(Also Cinder and Rhodes is a whole can of worms but No massive fraud and triple murder after being kept in an abusive home for five years with the only adult you can trust not helping you get out are Not the same crime or same circumstances. Like at all.)

^ the whole point is that he was careful to stay within the boundaries of the law, or at least to not get caught, until he went for a position where (in his mind) he would be above the law and free to do whatever he wants in atlas just as he does whatever he wants with the SDC. and then he immediately started committing fraud to get there. as soon as he felt he could do whatever he wanted with total impunity, he got caught and slammed back down to reality. because no one should be above justice, and that’s the idea team rwby represents and brings with them to atlas. lol

[anamericangirl]

What do you think about trump possibly getting arrested for fraud?

If he does get arrested it’s nothing more than a maliciously motivated political ploy to keep him from being voted in as the next president. If you’ve paid attention at all to anything since 2016 you will know they’ve been saying they will “get Trump” since he won the election but they never had anything to get him for.

And they still don’t. There’s no real evidence of any crimes and the case against him is so weak it can’t be anything but political. Even anti-trump prosecutors have refused to take it in the past because it’s simply too weak to prosecute. Even the illegal things he supposedly has done were so minimal that the statute of limitations has passed for even the most serious charge they could realistically put against him. Which means they would have to create a crime, read through the lines and misapply the law, all of which they are willing to do to “get Trump.”

Take 5 seconds to research DA Alvin Bragg and it’s obvious he’s doing this for political points. Look at the crime he’s been ignoring in his own district and then ask yourself why. And ask yourself why he’s ignoring those crimes but going after a decades old flimsy case against Trump that there’s next to no evidence for. Even if he gets prosecuted no reasonable jury would ever convict him on such a weak case.

Why are actual serious known crimes committed by the Biden family not being prosecuted but hypothetical crimes by Trump are?

Where is the indictment for Hillary Clinton whom there is a much stronger case against for similar and more serious crimes?

The whole Stormy Daniels case is bs and there’s nothing to prosecute there because while paying hush money is shady and less than decent it’s not illegal. It’s not a crime. Which means if they try him for anything in regards to that they will have to make up a crime and charge him for it.

And anyone who understands what is happening here, even if you hate Trump to your core, should be furious. Because even if you want Trump locked up or whatever, the way this is happening is a disgrace to our country. The way it’s supposed to work is a crime is found and then they find the person who did the crime and in this case what they are doing is finding the person they want to prosecute and then trying to find a crime. And right now people might not care because it’s Trump and Orange Man Bad but forget that it’s Trump. Maybe next time it’s you. Or your mom. Or the kid down the street. The fact that they are doing it to Trump means they are willing to do it and if they get away with it they will do it again.

Another reason this should infuriate people is because it’s an attempt to keep him from being the president. And that should upset you even if you don’t want him to be the president because what they are doing is trying to override the voice of the people. They are trying to choose the next president when it’s not up to them. It’s up to the voters. They want to keep us from being able to vote for or against Trump because they don’t want him to win. We should not allow this because this time it’s Trump but next time it won’t be. We can’t let the establishment pick the candidates and keep us from voting for people just because they don’t want them to be the president. That is not a choice they get to make. That is up to us, the voters.

This is actual election interference.

I know you might not have been looking for that much but that’s how I’m feeling about it right now.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jay Kuo at The Big Picture:

In 2020, Trump launched his Big Lie about a stolen U.S. election. Through a conspiracy among Democrats, foreign countries, and nefarious, shadowy bad actors including innocent voting machine and voting software companies, so the theory went, Joe Biden had managed to switch millions of votes and win his election illegally, making him an illegitimate president. It was such an audacious, almost laughable lie that historians and political scientists dubbed it Trump’s “Big Lie”—one so outrageous and so stunning in its implications that it somehow has to be true, at least in the minds of his followers. Now, in 2024, Trump is back at it again. On top of his original Big Lie, Trump is now pushing a 2024 version for the upcoming election: that illegal immigrants will be voting in numbers by the millions, rendering any result other than a Trump victory yet another fraud upon the American people.

Undocumented migrants aren’t allowed to vote in this country, and there are already laws on the books covering that. And there have been very few documented cases of non-citizens voting, certainly not enough to change the outcome of a national election. Nevertheless, recently House Speaker Mike Johnson made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to stand beside Donald Trump and proclaim that they were united in their resolve to pass a new law to prevent non-citizens from voting, never mind that there’s already such a law on the books and that such fraud rarely ever happens. Their actions are of course performative, meant to plant dangerous seeds that could grow into even more dangerous lies. In today’s piece, I’ll explore this newest attack and how Trump is hoping to spin it into The Big Lie 2024 style.

Existing law already outlaws non-citizen voting

Last week, when Speaker Mike Johnson traveled to Mar-a-Lago to seek Trump’s support, it felt eerily familiar. It’s become a rite of passage for GOP House Speakers to make the journey to bend the knee to Trump. We all remember the photo of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy standing supportively by Trump just months after the deadly attack on the Capitol that Trump helped incite. Like McCarthy, Johnson’s speakership hangs by a thread these days, with the far right ready to decapitate yet another GOP leader for having failed to toe the line, this time for Russia by denying critical aid to Ukraine. Trump’s support of Johnson came with a price, of course, because Trump is always transactional in his dealings. In this case, it was a pledge by Johnson to support a bill to clamp down on the alleged crisis in non-citizen voting. [...]

What the right claims about “illegal” immigrant voting

The idea that millions of undocumented migrants will cast ballots in 2024 and help steal the election for Biden is objectively far-fetched. But it taps into far deeper fears of brown- and black-skinned people taking over America in something broadly known as the Great Replacement Theory. The Great Replacement Theory is a racist ideology that falsely warns that migrants who don’t speak our language and don’t share our values are deliberately being let into the U.S. so that Jews and other Democrats can turn them into millions of future voters. This process will allegedly displace “white” Americans politically and economically. Right-wing amplifiers of this include Tucker Carlson (formerly of Fox News) and Elon Musk, owner of the X platform. This is by no means a recent theory. Waves of immigrants from Ireland, Italy and Eastern Europe sparked the same unfounded fears and conspiracies in the 19th and 20th centuries with respect to the “replacement” of more established “Northern European” Americans. But recent conspiracies around migrants have shortened the timeline of the Great Replacement and are warning that the hordes of desperate asylum seekers crossing into America now will be deployed this November to unlawfully tip the election to Biden. 

[...]

It’s crucial to call this out and push back

When Trump began attacking mail-in voting in 2020, claiming falsely and without evidence that mailed ballots were vulnerable, easily tampered with, and unreliable, it should have clued us in that he would reject the results of the 2020 election if they were unfavorable to him. We also should have known that Trump would exploit the “red mirage” created when Election Day ballots, which would favor the GOP, were counted before the mailed ballots, which would favor the Democrats. Trump would go on to demand that the vote counting stop while he was still ahead, even though millions of mailed ballots remained to be counted. We now already know that a main attack by Trump and the MAGA GOP will be upon the ballot counts, particularly in battleground states with high numbers of migrants whom he will claim voted illegally by the millions. This necessitates preemptive action.

Donald Trump, GOP politicians, and right-wing media commentators are pushing the lie that noncitizen voters will get Joe Biden re-elected, never mind the fact that noncitizens aren’t allowed to vote in federal elections. This is part of the right-wing’s white nationalist “great replacement” theory shtick.

See Also:

MMFA: Right-wing media figures are citing a Spanish-language flyer of dubious origin as evidence that Democrats are importing new voters to “rig” elections

[lisbeth-kk]

Continuing the May prompts with a letter story. Thanks for the tag @calaisreno

Healing letters

After grieving Sherlock for months, John decides to write down his feelings, just like his therapist, Ella, advised him to. First he tries to actually write. Physically. It’s too strenuous. He’s not used to writing by hand anymore. Besides the pages more often than not, gets soaked from his dripping tears, and the ink gets smeared all over the paper.

He'll use the blog, but he’ll disable comments. Although he does it for his own sanity, it may help the few friends he’s got to understand what he’s going through. He hasn’t exactly been socialising since Sherlock jumped off that roof, and he rarely answers his phone. 

He wants it to be a system to this. Each blog post will have its own topic. If not, John’s confident it’ll be just him babbling, not even making sense to himself. Today he feels a bit less depressed, and he can start with the anger.

I’m so angry with you, Sherlock. How could you kill yourself in front of me? Making me witness my best friend jump off a building to his death. Did you think I wouldn’t mind? That I wouldn’t grieve you just because I was pissed with you when I left you? You, the most observant man who’s ever walked the earth. How could you not know, you meant the world to me? What do you think it was like talking to you when you stood up there? I heard the tears in your voice, and you must’ve heard my despair as well. When I saw you lying at the pavement, my life ended too, you know. My whole world shattered. You were taken away before I could say a proper goodbye. How do you think that made me feel, Sherlock? Damn, you!

John’s mentally exhausted after posting the entry. He’s shaking with anger against Sherlock. Without giving it a second thought, he grabs his jacket and heads out to get some air. He walks quickly wherever his feet carries him. He doesn’t care much, and he must look quite intimidating, because other pedestrians are clearly avoiding him.

He makes tea and toast when he gets back. The anger has dissipated a bit. It’s actually liberating to feel something again. For weeks he’s just been numb. Haven’t cared about anything. He startles when his phone buzzes. A text from Molly. He deletes it without looking. She has most likely read the blog entry and wants to comfort him or something. Mike and Greg texts him a few hours later. John deletes those texts too. 

***

A few days later the anger is long gone. Another feeling has emerged in his mind the last couple of hours. His faith in Sherlock. It’s always been there, but never as strong as it is now. Curious, that.

From the first day I met you, I had faith in you, Sherlock. That drug bust at 221B told you that much. Perhaps I put you on a pedestal for a while, come to think of it. Nevertheless, despite all your odd habits, sulks and annoying behaviour, I always believed in who you were. The core of you. Not to flatter myself, but I think I knew you quite well. Perhaps not as well as Mycroft, although he once said that I knew you best of all. All that’s been said about you after you died, makes me believe in you even more. Because I know, Sherlock, that you never were a fraud. You may have shammed and tricked people for a case, but you were never a fake. To the day I die myself, I’ll deny that with everything I’ve got.

Again, John’s mentally exhausted after posting the new entry, but in another sort of way. The adrenaline doesn’t zing through his veins. It’s more like he’s poured out his soul. And in a way he has. He’s never uttered those words to anyone. 

Before the day is over, his phone buzzes with texts from Molly, Greg and Mike. He deletes all of them without reading. This quest is something he wants to execute without input from anyone.

***

A week passes without the urge to write. When the familiar nightmare appears one night, John knows it’s time for another blog post. He had waked screaming Sherlock’s name, seeing him fall from that roof again. His heart pounded like he’d run a marathon and his face was wet from crying, sobbing really.

How did I fail to see that something was amiss, Sherlock? I loathe myself for not observing you more thoroughly. Moriarty clouded my vision. You were so absorbed in his endeavours to get your attention. Flattered maybe, that another genius wanted to play with you. I should’ve seen that his only goal was to destroy you. He said so the first time. At the pool. “I’ll burn the heart out of you.” Whatever he meant by that. He certainly burned the heart out of me, if he had anything to do with your suicide. It must’ve been that. You would never do what you did unless you had no other choice. Am I right, Sherlock? I think I am, which makes it even harder to bear. The thought that if I’d been just a little bit smarter, more alert, less stubborn and angry with you....I might’ve saved you.

John shuts his phone off and drinks half a bottle of whisky after posting that entry, or letter as he’s started to call them. 

***

This will be his last letter. John knows that this also will be the hardest one, and maybe it’ll be the one that starts his healing properly. His grief’s still raw. Some days are better, other worse. This one tip more in favour of the latter.

How much can a man grieve before it destroys him, Sherlock? All I know is that I’ve grieved enough to last a lifetime. That said, I’ll never stop grieving you. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. Being in your orbit, saved my life. I was so lost back then, and now I’m even more lost. Because now I know what it’s like to be whole, to have a purpose, to wake every day, feeling excited about what may await me. A new case, a severed head in the fridge, listening to beautiful music from your violin, having takeaway from our favourite places, or dinner at Angelo’s, bantering with you about the lack of milk, or nagging you to eat something. There are so many things that vanished from my life when you died, Sherlock. Are you aware of that? I’m just existing nowadays. The amount of tears I’ve shed could fill the pond in Regent’s Park. I’ve hid them here at Baker Street. Out and about I put on a mask. Motionless. Stony. Speaking of. I’ve only been to your grave once since the funeral. The stone fits you. Polished, black with golden letters. Only your name. No dates or quotes. I talked to you when I stood in front of that stone. Asked you for a favour. To do one last magic trick. For me.

For an unknown reason, John enables comments after this entry, but hours go by, and the comment sections are still empty. Maybe he’d miscalculated people’s interest in him. After all, the readers of his blog were all interested in Sherlock, not in him, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

He takes a shower and heads for the bedroom when he hears a sound he hasn’t heard for ages. Someone’s commented on the blog. Probably Molly or Mike. His curiosity gets the better of him, though. The comment is on the last entry.

I heard you. SH

A bit angsty. I can reveal that I shed my share of tears throughout alongside with John...

@totallysilvergirl @notjustamumj @raina-at @meetinginsamarra @topsyturvy-turtely @peanitbear

[hello-nichya-here]

Do you think Lula might try to patch things up with Israel considering the rally that just happened in Brazil?

Let's make one thing clear here: the rally was not pro-Israel. Not really. The flags had a pentagram instead of the star of David, and people in said rally were saying shit like "We support Israel because they're CHRISTIANS like us."

The rally was really about a bunch of useful idiots that sympathize with fascism and straight up neo-nazis (some of which were friends with or direct descendents of the actual nazis that fled to Brazil after WWII, including the monster JOSEF MENGELE himself) who support the wanna-be dictator, and sadly Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, PRETENDING to give a shit about the Israel situation solely because Lula finally grew a pair of balls and called out the genocide against palestinians - and thus the supporters of Bozo the clown are now trying to use that as an excuse to impeach him, as yet ANOTHER attempt to ignore the results of the elections in which Lula defeated the fucker in 2022.

There's video recording of Bolsonaro (who has never been shy about wanting to turn Brazil into a dictatorship again and actually said the words "I'm pro torture, and this country won't be fixed until at least 40.000 people are dead") full on saying "We can't allow the elections to happen, otherwise I'm gonna lose."

The police tried to prevent people in the northeast region of Brazil (where nearly everyone is pro-Lula) from voting, to try and tip the escala in Bolsonaro's favor. They STILL claim Lula's victory was a fraud.

Finally, on January 8, 2023, his supporters tried staging a coup, fully inspired by the shitshow the USA had when Trump lost (and something that Bozo the clown had ALREADY said he wanted his supporters to do were he to ever lose an election) by invading government buildings. They stole and destroyed lots of valluable art-pieces - lots of which were from jewish people that either fled from nazi Germany before they were sent to concentration camps, and some that actually BEEN in said concentration camps.

And this was not a case of "Maybe they just didn't know what it was", not fully at least, because like I said, Bolsonaro's supporters have VERY strong ties to the nazis. They have done the sieg heil in his homage, say Brazil should have a nazi party, and have tried to make schools say the holocaust never happened. Some of Bolsonaro's ministers have also said shit like "Brazil's economy won't get better until we get rid of all the jews" and a fucker actually copied one of Hitler's speeches, on camera, wearing a nazi-inspired uniform, with one of Hitler's favorite classical pieces being played in the background.

As for Bolsonaro, the slogan he chose for himself "God above everything, Brazil above everyone" is clearly inspired by "Deutschland über alles" (Germany over everything). After his victory in 2018, SBT, one of the TV channels that supported him the most, used the slogan "Brazil - love it or leave it" which the dictatorship Brazil was under used for 21 years as a not so subtle threat to exile people who opposed them (and exile was the KIND fate they could be given, considering the people tortured daily in prison, or full on murdered).

So no, I don't see Lula trying to patch things up with Israel to try and win the support of these people, because they don't actually care about Israel. This was an anti-democracy rally, filled with nazis, and if they were to rise to power again, and not destroy themselves from the inside like they did during the pandemic, it would be the worst case scenario as it'd mean one less government calling Israel's genocide against palestinians AND a bunch of antisemites in power trying to make their own reich, putting all the jewish communities of Brazil in danger.

Remember folks: Israel does not represent all the jews in the world, no matter how much it desperately tries to pretend that it does. Calling it out for commiting genocide is not antisemitic, and supporting it does NOT mean making sure jewish communities will be safe - as you could see, in my country's case, it could mean nothing but a stepping-stone in making said communities the targets of actual nazis, pushing them to exile or something way, way, way worse.

[abybweisse]

I like your idea about Druitt and Unny still in cahoots. It fits well with them both involved in what occurred at Weston. Redmond called on uncle Druitt so he knows the secrets of the Music Hall and the school. And of course none of it would've been possible w/o Unny, and there they both are on the Campania. I never did buy Undertaker's excuse for refusing to reap Druitt or let him be killed. Your idea makes much more sense. Toboso makes us laugh at Druitt so we won't suspect him 2 much, right?

⚠️ long post ⚠️

Undertaker and Druitt connections

I suspect that -- unless they are somehow related, and they might be -- Undertaker first became interested in what Druitt was up to when the viscount began selling off children and young women at auctions, if not sooner (and I'll get to that later in this reply).

If Undertaker was called upon to remove remains from any of the buyers, or from Druitt's estate, he'd want to know what they were doing to those victims/bodies. We know he's picked up remains from Phantomhive Manor on numerous occasions; Sebastian has the other servants pile up the remains from the circus troupe attack and cart them to some back or side gate for Undertaker to collect them. Most likely, this was done whenever there was a failed attack at the manor, even before our "Ciel" became earl and master. The Phantomhives, going back however far they go, would have been common targets to anyone who wanted to get rid of the queen's watchdog. And we know that before other servants were even hired by Sebastian and our earl, assassins and thieves were showing up on a nearly nightly basis. Somewhat regularly, in any case.

We now know quite a bit about how our earl ended up with his current servants, but we've learned very little about how he ended up with his various connections; we don't even know how he connected with Vincent's old, remaining network. I imagine that one of the first reconnections he made (besides Madam Red and Tanaka, of course) would be Undertaker. People would show up to the manor, Sebastian would kill them, and then what? Sebastian would have asked his young master how he wants to dispose of the bodies. At first, our earl might have suggested to bury them on the vast estate. But, as the numbers mounted, this would have taken more time and space, plus it could open them up for investigation, if remains were found (by others) that weren't proper burials in the family cemetery. Another option would be to dump them off the grounds, as far away as possible. This could still become a problem. Our earl would remember the creepy undertaker that popped up around the manor (and possibly also the estate grounds) from time to time, back when his predecessor was in charge. During the instruction both boys received about being earl and watchdog, Vincent might have already explained why he has Undertaker in his network... at least the professional reason, though definitely not the personal reason.

I don't know whether Druitt was ever in Vincent's circle, a member of the evil nobles. They probably attended Weston together, but we don't know if he's the Scarlet House prefect. Either way, Druitt might have actually become a subject for investigation before. There's even a scene during the curry arc that could be a hint to that. The jeweled lady that Druitt recalls might actually be Vincent in drag, at some event years ago, there to investigate Druitt or someone else in attendance.

We have no idea how long ago Druitt started trafficking humans, so perhaps it was related to that... and he just got away to do it again and again... much like we've seen him get away with the things he does while our earl is watchdog. Even when Druitt is arrested, he goes free. Probably bribery to corrupt officials. Some of the higher-up ones might be clients/buyers. Yana-san really drives home how much corruption and fraud and abuse there is in her Victorian England. Sadly, it's not too far from reality.

Doctors were largely detested during the era because of some shady practices that many engaged in. Practitioners would be hired to have people committed to asylums... or even to examine girls to see if they were still virgins, so their families could prostitute them out and charge more for their first assignations. Surgeons (for practice) and anatomists got their human dissection subjects through various means; some were acceptable and others were downright despicable. They prescribed dangerous substances as medicines; sometimes the "cures" really were worse than the conditions.

Though Druitt doesn't have a medical practice, he has a medical license. Before he even got into selling live humans, I wouldn't be surprised if he was involved with supplying and/or buying corpses for study. It would be interesting if Druitt cut out the grave robbers by going straight to undertakers for a supply, because he seems like the sort of person who would do a lot of studying on his own, particularly since he's an aristocrat with no intention of opening a public medical practice. Druitt's connections to Undertaker might go back quite a long way, maybe even back to Druitt's Weston years... when Undertaker would have likely re-entered Vincent's life. Who knows, but I'd be very interested to find out.

When Sebastian investigates all the people with events for the social season, narrowing down the ones that might line up with Jack the Ripper, we don't know where he gets all of his information. It's entirely possible that some of it comes from Undertaker, particularly about people like Druitt. Which supports the idea that Undertaker might already have a history of dealing with the remains of people who have passed through Druitt's doors.

Well, they definitely meet before the events of the Campania, since they already have some sort of dealings with each other, including the Aurora Society. Druitt could easily be the one who introduces Undertaker to Stoker. I very much doubt it would be the other way around, with Stoker making introductions between Undertaker and Druitt.

I'm sure there was more I wanted to get to here, but this reply has been sitting in draft for ages, and I've forgotten whatever else I'd wanted to say. 😬

But Druitt has got to supply more to Undertaker than simply laughter. Knowledge and/or experimentation that leads to medical technology would be very helpful for his current activities.

And we can't ignore the possibility they are also related. Particularly if Undertaker ends up being Cedric K. Rosewood, Rosenthal, Rosedale or any other last name that would make him sound right at home in Scarlet House....

[bopinion]

2023 / 39

Aperçu of the Week:

"I would like to ask you what language the Palestinians speak? Was there a Palestinian coin at some point in history? Is there a Palestinian history or a Palestinian culture? There isn't. There is no such thing as a Palestinian people."

(Bezalel Joel Smotrich, Finance Minister of Israel and Chairman of the right-wing "Religious Zionism" party)

Bad News of the Week:

Serbia and Kosovo. Sadly, proof that the tensions that led to the Yugoslav Wars in the Balkans from 1991 to 2001 are far from over. The conflict over Kosovo is centuries old. The area has special significance for Serbia because it is home to numerous medieval Serbian Orthodox monasteries. Serbian nationalists also see a symbol of their independence in a battle against Ottoman Turks in 1389 in Kosovo. However, the majority - then and now - are ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo. They are mostly Muslims. They regard the area as their country and accuse the Serbs of having oppressed them for decades. Formerly granted special rights have been revoked, for example. In February 2008, Kosovo declared itself independent, and since then the region has been up in the air, with NATO stationing KFOR protection troops there.

Now the situation is escalating again. Already last April, there were clashes when Serbs boycotted local elections in the region. In the process, 30 NATO peacekeepers and more than 50 Serb protesters were injured. The fuse has been smoldering ever since. Last weekend, a conflict broke out between armed Serbs and Kosovar police, ending in deaths. Allegedly, however, this was not an official Serbian military unit, but the private militia of a Serbian businessman. What nobody believes.

Now for days Serbia has been pulling together an unprecedented amount of infantry, tanks and artillery - at 48 points directly on the border. Of course Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, speaking to the Financial Times, denied that his country was planning military action. But John Kirby, the usually well-informed spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, confirmed it. "We are seeing a large Serbian military presence along the border with Kosovo," he said. This includes "an unprecedented deployment of Serbian artillery, tanks, and mechanized infantry units."

It is with some trepidation that I currently pay attention when a "news alert" goes ping. For once again, a cold war may become a hot one. In the middle of Europe. Because of the imperialistic claim to power of one nation against another. Geostrategy and testosterone. Frustrating.

Good News of the Week:

"Judge's ruling on Trump financial empire poses existential threat." was a headline on CNN last Wednesday. Donald Trump and his Trump organization had committed "financial fraud for years." Is that a surprise? No. At least not to Europeans. Who never understood that a windbag like Donald Jessica Trump could get away with such obvious lies for so long in a state of law. And then also leads the forecasts for the upcoming US presidential elections. Excuse me?

Finally, on Friday, Trumpist Scott Hall pleaded guilty to multiple counts of attempted election fraud in the Georgia trial. Trump is among the other 18 co-accused. I can't believe anyone could be so naive as to believe a bail bondsman would have completely independently committed the exact acts that were in Trump's playbook - "I want you to find the votes!"

The GOP seems to be unable to break with the 45th president in U.S. history. Various potential opponents, but especially the powerful super PACs in the background, are increasingly disillusioned that the candidacy is unlikely to be taken away from him. His approval ratings seem rock solid. But slowly I'm getting the sense (or the hope) - from across the ocean - that the legal manifestation of his constant misbehavior is having an effect on the American (voting) people. I've lost track of how many cases Trump is currently charged with in which court anyway. And it's all there: Fraud, Porn Star, bribery, Rudy Giuliani, rape, defamation, fixer, tax evasion - you name it. Seriously, a guy like that couldn't even get himself nominated for the Recording Secretary of a flower growers club anywhere in the world. And yet could become president for the second time in the Land of unlimited opportunities? The supposedly most powerful man in the world?

I fundamentally believe in the good in people. But there are exceptions. Trump is one of them. When I think about which personality would put the greater good above personal ego, I certainly can't think of him. So when there are again and again brave prosecutors and special investigators who stand up to Mar-A-Lago, the Proud Boys and Matt Gaetz, I pay them my respect. And in the end this guy is simply unelectable. Now all we need is for enough hockey moms in the suburbs and used car salesmen in the rust belt to realize that. He's not one of you. He's not anti-establishment. He's a notorious egomaniac. He doesn't have your best interests at heart. But only his own.

Personal happy moment of the week:

Hello again! The coronavirus is back: as soon as it gets cooler, the variant BA.2.86, called "Pirola", starts to spread. With new symptoms, an extensive resistance to the previous vaccines and practically without monitoring - because a test regime or even a data collection does not take place (anymore). The shock was correspondingly great when a colleague first called in sick at the beginning of the week and then submitted the information "COVID infection". I am one of the three colleagues who had the most intensive contact with him in the preceding days. Immediately, a colleague got rapid tests, all of which were negative. A follow-up test two days later also confirms that I got away with it once again. Lucky me.

I couldn't care less...

...about the political future of Rishi Sunak. The British prime minister, in office for less than a year, looks pale and erratic. There is no sign of leadership or vision. There are plenty of headwinds at the current Tory party conference: the Conservatives are 20% behind the Social Democrats in polls. The economy is not recovering, there is no normalization after the Brexit chaos. The migration issue is inflated and not solved. Climate targets are being softened, climate measures put on hold. Rail infrastructure measures are being cut, mobility with automobiles is being supported. His party's populism is becoming more and more right-wing, and increasing radicalism is dividing the country. Soon, Labour may adopt the old Brexiteer slogan "taking back control."

As I write this...

...I am glad that a deal was brokered between the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Lasting 148 days, the strike was one of the longest in the history of writers for television and cinema in the USA. So my much liked late night show hosts will soon be able to entertain me with their monologues again.

Post Scriptum

For 40 years there should have been a worldwide holiday on September 26. Because the Russian Stanislav Petrov prevented the third world war in 1983. The computer in a Soviet control center reported an American nuclear attack. However, the responsible officer Petrov believed in a false alarm (in the end, a spy satellite was irritated by reflections of the sun), refused to trigger the nuclear counterattack and thus saved mankind.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Trump is a loser. Tell a friend.

January 11, 2024

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

Readers frequently comment on my newsletters by writing, “You used word X; you should have used word Y.” Sometimes the comments are well-taken, but much of the time, my (silent) reaction is, “We aren’t going to change the course of history through vocabulary.” But Trump's effort to return to power may be the exception.

Trump is a loser. A spectacular one. He is the living embodiment of the punchline to the joke, “How do you make a small fortune in New York real estate?” Answer: “Start out with a large one.” His companies have been through half-a-dozen bankruptcies. The failure of his Taj Mahal Casino helped turn Atlantic City into a “ghost town.” He is such an unreliable credit risk that American banks stopped dealing with him in the 1990s.

Trump is a loser. He is the only president ever to be impeached twice. He is the only major presidential candidate to lose the popular vote twice. He is the only major presidential candidate to be indicted once—let alone four times. He is the first president in nearly a century to lose the House, the Senate, and re-election. He is the only major presidential candidate who has been adjudged (in a civil case) to have raped a woman.

Trump is a loser. When he traveled internationally as president, foreign leaders laughed at him behind his back. When he addressed the UN Assembly, world leaders laughed at him to his face. He has made some of the most ignorant comments ever by a US president, suggesting that Covid victims “inject bleach” and that they “shine a light inside their bodies.” And during an eclipse visible from Washington, D.C., Trump did the one thing that observers of eclipses are NEVER supposed to do—he removed his protective eye gear to look directly at the sun.

Despite the fact that Trump is a historic loser, he has somehow convinced tens of millions of Americans that he is “a stable genius” who would defeat a combined presidential ticket of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We should not add to Trump's false mythology by unintentionally ascribing stature or influence he does not have.

Two days ago, readers of this newsletter posted a link in the Comment section to an article by Jason Sattler published on the Substack blog, Framelab. The article is entitled, Why Trump wants you to compare him to Hitler | Because then you’re not calling him a loser.

Sattler’s article is brilliant, and I highly recommend it. But in case you don’t get around to reading the article, the gist of Sattler’s argument is that Trump wants us to compare him to Hitler—because that comparison normalizes the notion that Trump will regain power as an autocratic strongman.

Sattler writes:

Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an expert on authoritarianism, seems to think the Hitler stuff is a trial balloon. Trump is seeking to “dehumanize immigrants now so the public will accept your repression of them when you return to office.” [T]hat thought gets us talking about exactly what Trump wants on our minds — him in power. He’s preemptively framing himself — as a strongman, an agent of revenge, and the ultimate enforcer of unsustainable hierarchies.

Sattler goes further, asserting that we are doing a favor for Trump by calling him Hitler:

When you’re calling Trump a dictator, think about what you’re not calling him. You’re not calling him a loser who never has and never will win the popular vote. A fraud. A traitor. Instead, you’re repeating his slander of immigrants and propping up his stature. You’re doing him a huge favor. Basically, we’re getting fooled again.

There is wisdom in Sattler’s analysis—to a point. We should not fall into the trap of assuming that Trump will succeed in becoming a Hitler-like dictator who will impose martial law on “day one” of his second term in office. If we do that, we make it more likely that Trump will succeed in his effort to be re-elected.

In other words, we should not grant Trump superpowers he does not possess. The man is a loser and a miserable human being who is disliked by almost everyone who has the misfortune of dealing directly with him.

But Trump is not only a small, insecure, petulant loser; he also exercises outsized influence over tens of millions of Americans. It would be foolish to stop talking about the existential danger that Trump presents to our democracy. For example, we know that Trump asked his former Secretary of Defense why federal troops couldn’t “shoot protestors” on the National Mall protesting the murder of George Floyd.

Two things are simultaneously true—and they are not in contradiction: Trump is a loser and he is a dangerous threat to our democracy. We can prevent him from becoming Hitler’s protege by reminding voters that he is a loser who has lost more than any other presidential candidate in history—and that he will lose again in 2024.

Don’t build an aura of inevitable victory around Trump. Instead, build an aura of inevitable defeat around Trump. He is a loser. He has always been a loser. And he will always be a loser.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[defiedlife]

HC: AVENTURINE ; BEGINNINGS OF A STONEHEART.

Alright, buckle up. This is a post I've been meaning to make for the last several days; alluded to here and here.

"I came from the wastelands of Sigonia. For just sixty red copper coins, people paid to brand me, put me in chains, place me in the gallows, and bury me in the golden sands... But the sun could not kill me, and the quicksand sent me back to the embrace of the Guild and IPC. Bear in mind, my victory wasn't just a stroke of luck — I've never been defeated."

As much as I deeply adore Aventurine's little monologue just prior to his boss fight, that part in particular has stuck out to me because truly, even with his ridiculous level of luck, it baffles me that he was fully hung and buried and yet somehow still lived to tell the tale. Then, while I was rewatching his scenes yet again (don't ask how many times I've done so), I got to his trial scene, and Jade's phrasing here struck a chord with me:

"Kakavasha... A good name, but unfortunately destined to be buried in the dirt. You though, you deserve to live, to create even more wealth for us."

At the point in time of his trial, the IPC had taken him prisoner because he orchestrated a massive case of fraud to get their attention. He did his homework; he knew there was at least one department that would likely take him in, but he had to prove his capabilities first. And so he did, fooling multiple departments and the Intelligensia Guild too, incurring massive losses across the board. As usual for him, it was an extremely high-stakes gamble—would they simply arrest and jail or kill him for his crimes, or would a certain someone high enough up the chain of command see value in him beyond the losses he caused?

As his luck would have it, he made just enough noise in the Strategic Investment Department's direction that specifically Diamond took custody of him while he was a prisoner.

What followed was his trial before Jade, and although it wasn't explicitly stated, it would be awfully odd for there to be a trial, yet no sentence other than freedom and a new identity after all the crimes he'd committed at that point. He'd already made the news at the time of his capture. The IPC couldn't just casually let him off the hook and merely reward him for pulling the wool over their eyes. Multiple departments were bereft of resources and demanding reparations, the scholars of the Guild made to look like utter fools—he had to pay, and no doubt many of them wanted him to pay in blood.

And so he did.

The sentence was passed down, and thus the stage was oh so carefully set soon after. Another announcement was made over the IPC's Broadcasting Network, and within days, he was sent directly to the gallows, a show of an execution for all who wished to see. To the untrained eye, it was a textbook spectacle of death; a prisoner led to the gallows, a loop of rope placed around his neck with the sun high in the sky, and the trapdoor beneath his feet opened soon after.

Except although his neck ached and he strained to breathe, he did not die. The drop lacked the proper force to kill him, and his feet just barely came to rest on the edge of a board sticking out at the right height to allow him shallow breaths. In this way, he remained there for an uncertain amount of time, clinging to life by a thread—minutes, hours? To this day, he can't say.

Eventually, he was pronounced dead and cut down, his body falling convincingly limp with ease after the struggle to keep himself alive. It was at this point that he wavered in and out of consciousness, and he owed it to his uncanny luck that when his body was tossed into a grave, a shield of glimmering gold manifested to create a pocket of air around him and prevent the sand which filled his grave from crushing him.

When he next opened his eyes in an IPC infirmary with Jade proudly watching nearby, as far as most of the universe knew, "Kakavasha" was dead and buried. Only elites within the Corporation would ever know otherwise.

[blorbocedes]

toto wolff pisses me off so much “max is driving driving circles around everyone” shut up and go give lewis a good contract! you think he appreciates it when you go around claiming one of his biggest rivals ever in the sport is faster than him right now?? not even the first time he’s said this. i don’t have much stock in the toto vs. horner debate but at least horner would never be caught dead saying any other driver (but especially lewis) is better. it’s so frustrating :/

I really do think max is toto's great white whale, the one that got away etc, and if lewis retires in 2026 and the rbr ford engine sucks ass I genuinely believe toto wouldn't hesitate getting max in a merc. (this is because toto is a fraud who can't build a car and his only strategy that worked is getting the best driver) so he's keeping it sweet in case max ever changes his mind 🤞 that being said I do like it when other tps praise drivers that aren't their own, like I think every tp (including horner) except guenther has publicly rated charles etc

re: horner you're right he's been calling max the best driver on the grid while he was p4 in championship and lewis was winning circles over everyone 😭