#cb progressing stuff

[cb-writes-stuff]

Guess what? I wrote. 310 words. That's a 160 more than I had to write for repeating note milestone! And it adds up to a total of 11,838 words.

And guess what? You're gonna get to read all of them. That's below the cut, if you're interested!

What I Wrote Today:

Finally, it was second long-shadows, on the first day of the weekend. He sat at a table in the Fox and Rabbit, stretching his arms. His shift ended early, as it did every year on the day before Wyrd’s Watch.

Lynn approached, carrying two small mugs in her hands, and took the seat across from him. He thanked her as she handed him one. “Is Ven not joining us?” she asked.

Nauth shook his head as he took a sip of the wine. It wasn’t the best wine, no, but it was certainly better than ale. “He’s already left.”

“Left? For what?”

“The lost sons thing,” Nauth told her, waving his hand. Everyone knew this.

Apparently, that didn’t include Lynn. She nodded along expectantly. He sighed. “For Wyrd’s Watch.” She nodded again. More, then.

“Every family sends out a son to the oasis north of the city. They get there around noon, have their own festivities, and leave for the city. They usually get back early the next morning.”

Lynn thought for a moment. “Huh.” Her scrunched eyebrows told Nauth she still didn’t get it. “So... So, what does everyone else do?”

Nauth took another sip of the wine. He always tried his best to be patient, but... Well, he shouldn’t have assumed anything. “Tomorrow night, every house will have dinner, there’ll be dancing, and then the oldest woman in the family will realize the son is ‘missing’ and keep vigil at the North Gate until he returns. Then there’s more feasting, more dancing, all throughout the day.”

She stared at him, squinting. “Okay.” She looked into her mug, as if there were answers in there. “Why?”

“‘Why?’” he repeated. “What do you mean, why?”

“I mean, what’s the meaning of it?” She took a very dainty sip from her mug. “Usually, holidays like this have some sort of story behind them.”

He shrugged. “I’m no historian,” he said. “If you wanna know so bad, you can ask Ven.”

“Ven isn’t here,” she replied, smirking.

He grinned snidely. “Well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?” They both laughed. Lynn had a good sense of ir-Vandeth humor.

This was originally indented, like my usual "favorite thing I wrote today"s. But it was hard to read. Also, if you count it, it's more than 310 words. That's because I also grabbed a little bit from before what I wrote.

[himbo-in-limbo]

More containment breach AU stuff! TW BLOOD N CREEPY STUFF

[AU belongs to @/teefsintheweb!! ✨] But first CB fronnie bc I love ❤️

My self-inserts lore has been updated!

After becoming “possessed” by subject 1230

researcher [REDACTED] would undergo many changes, the most significant being their body suddenly changing in gender/muscle density/even hair color. They appear to have all memories of their “former” self but they act uninterested to talk about them. They constantly look like their in a dazed state [the music incantations seem to be working in keeping them calm]

Next was their personality, going from a once anxious person to a more eerily calm and confident individual. Personal say that when subject 1230 would make eye contact, it felt like they were staring at their soul. Their presence in a room feels heavy and unnerving.

[note: we constantly find subject 1230 in their bathtub filled with what appears to be…blood, upon asking why they keep doing this they gave only one answer “it feels like home” subject 1230 will be moved to a newly made cell for them that mimics this sensation]

Before Researcher Fazbear was hired,not much progress was being done in regard to subject 1230, for reasons unknown they have slowly started to share information about themselves and finally allow certain personnel into their cell.

Old scientists that used to monitor them swore they could see subject 1230 in their rooms or in their dreams.

[buckets-and-trees]

Field Guide to Forestry

We just hit another follower milestone, so since there are way too many of you around for me to put this off any longer, how about I officially let everyone know who I am and what you'll find around here...

CHIEF FORESTER: ASPEN Elder Millennial/upper 30s, she/her

THINGS ASPEN KNOWS WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT Trader Joe's, Disney Parks, the Great British Bake Off, CBS Survivor, Houseplants

IN THIS FIELD GUIDE YOU WILL FIND:

↠ Maps & Masterlists: my writing ↠ Forest Rules & Regulations: my guidelines and boundaries ↠ Visitors to the Forest: my approach to asks, requests, and tagging ↠ Upcoming Expeditions: projects I'm working on ↠ Tree Classification: my current tags ↠ Tales of the Teller: more about me and my writing

↠ THE FOREST OF FICS IN UPSTATE NEW YORK The MCU realm of my writing

↠ I do not interact with minors. It's not safe for anyone under 18 in these woods, and I'm honestly more comfortable knowing folks are over 21 because of the nature of things around here.

↠ I do not consent to having my works translated or posted to other platforms. If I wanted to, I would.

↠ I will block at my own discretion. This is my forest, and I set the boundaries. Underage? Blocked. Pornbot pigeon? Blocked. Bigotted? Blocked. Rude? Blocked. Just be a reasonable human over the age of 18, and you'll be free to roam the woods.

↠ ASKS Always open. I adore asks! Send thoughts, thots, questions, gifs, pics... Asks are NEVER a bother and you can ask about anything - questions about my existing works, stuff I'm working on, fandom things, my life... I'll answer within reason (no spoilers, I'm semi-open about my life but do keep some things private, etc). FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm not always prompt with answering them. Some have inspired fic or drabble ideas, and sometimes that writing goes fast, sometimes it goes slow, and there are a few that are sitting in my box that are "future" parts of current WIPs. But the hope is to always get to everything eventually.

↠ REQUESTS The only thing I'm actively entertaining requests for is my Cedar Trees Royal AU collection - but even these will be fulfilled subjectively and only as I have time and muse cooperation. Periodically I may host a request fest (as I did for my 300 follower celebration or for other occasions in the future).

↠ TAGLIST At this point in the growing season, I'm not maintaining an official taglist. In the future I will probably set up a secondary/library blog as many other authors have done where you can follow and turn on the notifications. There are only so many hours in the day, explorers.

↠ HOT BUCKY SUMMER 2024: thirteen weeks of prompts ↠ BUILD-A-BUCKY BINGO: twelve months of prompts ↠ THE GREAT BUCKY BAKE OFF: a Bucky x Reader episodic story with a Great British Bake Off format (coming fall 2024) ↠ ASPEN'S HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA 2024: eight days of fics followed by one day of many, many fics (coming December 2024)

↠ FOREST NAVIGATION: field guide, masterlists, story collections ↠ AN ASPEN THING: when I post something more to do with me than anything fandom ↠ ASPEN MILESTONES: ONLY YOU CAN CREATE THESE FOREST FIRES ↠ ASKpen: responses to things from my ask box ↠ ASPEN IS WRITING: any commentary, sneak peaks, progress posts ↠ ASPEN WROTE SOMETHING: new writing post (fic, drabble, chapter) ↠ WRITER COMMENTARY: commentary either as a response to an ask or in a reblog ↠ OMG REBLOGGED THANK YOU: responding to or thanking people for reblogging my fics ↠ READING: my reblogs of other people's fics ↠ MY MOOTS: flailing about or responding to one of my mutual friends

↠ HISTORY OF ASPEN I grew up in a family that was steeped in all things stories: grandparents, aunts and uncles always telling stories at family gatherings; parents read to me before bed; watching too many movies and cartoons; staying up way past my bedtime trying to sneakily keep the light on to read and read and read; playing elaborate imagination games after school with my best friends (house, princesses, orphans, dance coaches, etc). I wrote my first story in my eighth grade English class where one day in the computer lab we were assigned to write a mystery that was at least one page. I loved it. My teacher said it was good...

That summer our family moved - mere days before I started my freshman year of high school - so that fall before I made friend friends, I read a lot and I started writing. I was desperate for the next Harry Potter book to come out, so I started writing my own... the next year I learned about fan fiction on the internet and that it was a thing. I was drawn into Lord of the Rings fanfic, then I wrote a Pirates of the Caribbean fanfic, and then I went back to Harry Potter and actively wrote in that fandom for around six years.

In college I majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing because while I was writing fan fiction, I was also occasionally dabbling with original fiction... the dream was to be a famous writer.

↠ WHY BUCKETS-AND-TREES Buckets because I thought I'd be writing almost exclusively Bucky and Trees because Aspen. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

↠ ASPEN NOW In summer of 2022 I aggressively reclaimed HAVING hobbies in an effort to re-establish Aspen having a life outside of work. I love my career and I've worked incredibly hard to establish myself in the professional world, but... I needed to be more than just my work again.

So, again I write.

Throughout 2023 I started venturing out and participated in A LOT of challenges, which was so much fun in pushing my creative boat out into new waters. In 2024 I plan to DO THE DAMN THING and write a novel. I've always intended to, but 2024 will be the year. ↠ MY WORK Primarily I'm writing MCU fan fiction - typically Bucky Barnes or Steve Rogers; I have written some pieces with Sam, Natasha, Matt Murdock, Namor, and Wanda; I have some ideas for Thor, Carol, and M'Baku that I may or may not get around to. I've written for a slew of Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans characters and that's mostly where my muse lives.

I write a range of fluff, smut, and dark. Nearly all of my work has mature elements whether that's stronger language, sexual situations, or mature themes. HEED THE WARNINGS FOR EACH WORK AND DO NOT READ IT IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T LIKE. If I miss tagging something properly in the content warnings, please send me a message or an anonymous ask and let me know.

Most of my stories feature a reader insert. Reader is typically female, but when the reader is gender neutral I will designate accordingly! Striving to write an inclusive reader as much as possible, but if I stumble, please send me a message or an anonymous ask and let me know how I can grow.

[ink4blotches]

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/spiderman/images/c/cb/Spider-Woman_Vol_7_1_Variante_Chew_Sin_texto.png/revision/latest?cb=20200722230535&path-prefix=es Sorry if this request is kinda long but could I please request a Pavitr Prabhakar dating shy reader who’s from the same dimension as Miles, even best friends with Gwen Stacy & is (blonde) Peter Parker & Mj adopted daughter, well known superhero spider person who had a blood transfusion along with venom blasts from her dad, maybe showing him her dad base or hanging out one of their dimensions, just fluff

YOU ALREADY KNOW IT!!!! I gotchu anon ;))

Synopsis/Feels: SO BASICALLY, THE GIST OF IT IS....SHYISH AWKWARD FEM READER SHOWING PAV AROUND HER SECRET BASE, AND THEYRE TWO PARTNERS IN A ROOM AND THEY MIGHT KISS....THEN MJ WALKS IN AND IS LIKE '🧍‍♀️'

IF IT DIDNT COME OUT THE WAY YOU WANTED, PLS LET ME KNOW!!

Word Ct.:898

Without further ado...

JEALOUS?(Pavitr Prabhakar x Reader)

•

•

"So, did you really make all this stuff?" He asks as he continues to walk around.

"Yeah...I did." I smile a bit at Pav's amazement. He's way smarter than me, yet he's so amazed by the simplest stuff..

"This is seriously cool, Y/N. These web grenades..." He picks one up and before I can warn him it explodes in his face.

Yeah, those were still in progress.

"....are awesome. I need some of these in my life!" Pav excitedly yells, shaking the webbing off his face.

"They're not THAT impressive..." I voice to him as I walk over, rubbing off some of the web that he missed.

He suddenly grabs my hand.

"Are you kidding?! I mean, web grenades with rainbow webs?! What have we been doing all these years!" He shakes my hand in both of his as he smiles.

"Yeah...those were actually Miles' idea. Couldn't have done it without him." I say, and it's true. Despite Pav being my literal boyfriend, the boy that's been in my lab the most is actually Miles.

Crazy, right? "Okay, but seriously. How come you didn't show me any of this sooner?!" Pav fanboys over a bunch of the stuff in my lab.

"Uh...I dunno, it's not that cool." I say, living at nothing on the ground. I invited him here so we could hang out, free of..prying eyes.(she means Miles).

But the entire time he's been here, all he's done is fanboy over stupid spider gadgets.

Maybe I should just venom strike him-

"You okay Y/N? You're quiet..." Pav raises an eyebrow at me, setting down one of my prototypes and walking over.

"Huh? Oh- no I'm fine- I'm okay!" I mentally slap myself for being so awkward. He stares at me for a second while I try to hide my panic.

"Ohhhh, I get it. You're jealous!" Pav wiggles his eyebrows at me. "Um, what?" I ask with the most blank face I've ever mustered.

"I've been spending too much time worshipping your inventions and not enough time worshipping you!" Pav concludes.

I bring a hand up to cover my face.

"Jealous?" I ask with a sigh, knowing he's right but not wanting to straight up admit it.

"I mean, I would be jealous too if I was you. Don't worry, I'll leave your stuff alone!" He smiles at me, taking one of my hands in his.

"Thanks!" I try not to look like a complete idiot in front of him.

"Pft, I'm sorry. It's just so obvious that you're trying not to freak out and it's so cute!" He exclaims, laughing lightly.

Once he stops, we just stand next to each other in awkward silence.

"You know, it's nice being with you." Pav admits. I swear my heart is literally about to explode. But don't freak, it's cool. Say something cool Y/N.

"Really?" Totally blew it.

"Yeah, really. You're like a breath of fresh air from my universe. I love Mumbattan, but there's always..." He trails off, seemingly searching for a word.

"Traffic?" I guess. He lets out a laugh. "Yeah, traffic. But spending time with you takes my mind off the...traffic." Pav shrugs, hiding a small grin that plays onto his face.

"Uh....spending time with you makes my traffic go away too." I mumble.

I want to jump off a building without my web shooters.

"...I'll take it." Pav laughs with a little shake of his head.

After another moment of silence, we both try to speak at once.

"Sorry fo-/I love y-."

"Wait what did you say?" I ask, my eyebrows almost shooting off my face.

"Huh? Nothing. What did you say?" Pav asks, looking equally shocked.

There's a brief silence before we both start laughing.

•

•

•

•

"You don't have to say it back or anything, I just thought I should tell you." Pav finally says as we're seated next to each other on a blanket.

"I...loveyoutoo." I blurt out. He sits up, looking at me with comically large eyes.

It's almost like he's a fictional character sometimes with those wonky expressions..

"What was that? Didn't hear you!" Pav smiles, urging me to say it again.

"...nope." I shake my head at him while he begs me to say it again.

Suddenly, he places his hand on my cheek lightly and I almost have a whole heart attack.

"You had...your earring almost fell off-." Pav stutters a bit, handing me the earring I was wearing. Meanwhile, his other hand is still resting with no rent on my cheek.

"Yeah, okay." I smile at him, putting my hand on top of his. He leans in slightly and panic mode instantly reactivates.

IS HE GONNA FRICKING KISS ME?!

No, that's crazy! We've only been dating fr 7 months- or do couples usually kiss within the first 7 months?!

This is some marriage type behavior!

But do I want to kiss Pav? Yes! Obviously, is that even a question?! I mean seriously- but what if I'm bad at kissing?

Does my breath smell?

I realize he's getting closer, a little bit TOO close.

Suddenly I hear a loud knock before the door to my lab flies open.

Pav and I back away from each other at lightning speed.

MJ stands there with a hand on her hip.

"Well...dinners ready..."

[katiekatdragon27]

[TW FOR EYESTRAIN]

Oooooo villian Chocolate Bar ooooooooo~

This was supposed to be a simple doodle what happened 💀?

Meet the big bad of my Superhero AU. Just imagine Titan from Megamind but he was always malicious and controlling to begin with (and he actually has a wife and isn’t a massive incel).

Progress pieces and lore under cut:

Since I'm still working out this part of the AU, I'll just provide some vague stuff to chew on.

Choclate Bar was just some guy who on one really liked. He didn't really have a good personality either, but he did want to be liked. Somehow, he found out about a powerful piece of alien tech in its testing phase and decided to take it for himself. Long story short, the tech corrupted his mind a ton, leading to him kidnaping some of the scientists (the Gummy Bears and English Muffin) and the alien whose power was in the device (Click). Then, he gaslights a fellow criminal with future vision and mind-reading (Moonstone) into working for him or he'd kill their "close friend" (Diary). Then he helped a failing celebrity (Cracker) back on his feet with artificial super powers and a new fit in exchange for all his monetary gain and loyalty.

Overall, CB’s a manipulative piece of shit who kidnaps and gaslights people lol. What a guy, but his wife's sorta hates him now as a result </3.

He is the boyfailure of all time I'm sure nothing bad happens to him ever. Also the lyrics are from Will Wood's 2econd 2ight 2eer (that was fun, goodbye.). It's a great song please listen to it, it's basically his whole character.

Have a nice day fellas, I have homework to do :)

[sshbpodcast]

Character Spotlight: Nog

By Ames

After some great blogposts on Quark and Rom, we’ve got one Ferengi left to shine the spotlight on, and that’s another of our fan favorites: Nog! Similarly to his father, Nog’s character arc over the seasons of Deep Space Nine is captivating to watch, as he grows from a little punk ne’er-do-well into a fully realized, complex person full of nuance and opportunities to learn. Which is pretty much DS9 in a nutshell.

So get prepared for some character whiplash, as we’ve got both childish pranks and severe post-traumatic stress disorder to explore in our blogpost below as we applaud the impressive versatility and range of the late Aron Eisenberg. Check out what your A Star to Steer Her By hosts have assembled as some of the young Ferengi’s best and worst moments, and check out our discussion on this week’s podcast episode (jump to 1:15:10 for Nog!). And there’ll be no running on the promenade!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

Best moments

Vulcans stole my homework As usual, we’re starting off with the good moments, and early on in “The Nagus” we see Nog get pulled from Keiko’s school out of Rom’s sheer racism. But what’s most commendable in the young Ferengi is that he sticks with it, secretly learning to read in the cargo bay with Jake and entirely subverting Sisko’s expectations and systematic racism against the Ferengi!

Maybe this isn’t a problem. Maybe it’s an opportunity. While we gripe about how the Ferengi can be cartoonishly one-dimensional at times, there are times when their obsession with profit makes for good character and plot moments. When Nog encourages Varis Sul, Tetrarch of the Paqu, to view her land-rights situation in “The Storyteller” as a business negotiation, she finds a compromise everyone enjoys!

Say that five times fast Speaking of Nog’s business acumen, he’s clearly still learning some of the basics in “Progress” but we still enjoy watching as he and Jake create their own Milo Minderbinder–like syndicate to sell yamok sauce and self-sealing stem bolts for what will turn out to be great running gags for years to come… not to mention tongue-twisters that frequently plague us on the podcast.

Because I don’t want to end up like my father From what we know about Nog by the midpoint of season three (including some of the bad moments you’ll see below), it seems entirely random for him to want to join Starfleet as he says in “Heart of Stone.” But when he exposes to Sisko that he has dreams outside of making profit, of being something greater than his father, you really root for the guy and know he’s really going to do it!

Best friends in subspace When old man Jake Sisko is ready to embark on some outlandish quest to find his father, lost in subspace for decades, in “The Visitor,” there is absolutely no surprise that Nog is right there at his side in the Defiant, ready to do whatever it takes for his old friend. Sure, it’s an alternate future version of Nog, but the connection he has with Jake is as real as ever.

On Wednesday we wear red Of course, Starfleet Academy is a challenge for Nog, who has set his sights on getting into the elite and extremely cliquey Red Squad to make a name for himself. But when it turns out that Red Squad is just a bunch of cadets being used by Admiral Leyton for his coup in “Paradise Lost,” Nog helps Sisko to find the truth of the matter, even if it is reluctantly at first.

Not quite a Vulcan Hello The B-plot in “Blaze of Glory” may not entirely gel with the A-plot of watching Eddington’s sacrifice, but it’s still some cute stuff for Nog. When he stands up to Martok after a whole episode of getting walked all over by the Klingons, you’ve got to respect the guy. As Martok says, “Courage comes in all sizes,” and it’s great to watch Nog tackle his problems head on.

Have a good day! There’s just something about “In the Cards” that makes you feel good. Nog, being the best friend a kid could ask for, agrees to help Jake win his dad a baseball card, going so far as to loan all his money to Jake (I can hear every Ferengi screaming at that). And then the rest of the episode is them going around the station, making everyone have a genuinely nice day. It’s so cute!

Boogie woogie woogie Okay, Nog might only have one line in all of “You Are Cordially Invited,” but I just find him dancing with Jadzia at her bachelorette party just so endearing that I had to include it. Aron Eisenberg came up with the little Ferengi frog dance himself, and when Terry Farrell joins in, I find myself smiling every time. Thank you, Aron, for creating this adorable moment.

Have faith in the Great Material Continuum So the whole Rube Goldberg device that is the chain events of schemes in “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River” may be kind of a repeat of the deals from “Progress” but it’s still very clever. After he joined Starfleet, you could almost forget that Nog is a Ferengi under the ensign uniform, but he pulls off deal after deal after deal to get the chief the stabilizer he needs.

We have a casino to build While it is painful to watch Nog struggle with PTSD in “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” the way he knuckles down to assist Vic with his finances and to work on expanding the lounge into a casino is simply fascinating. It’s helping him cope, so that by the end of a brilliantly acted episode, he doesn’t even realize that he’s put himself on the road to recovery that is right for him.

He’s not just a hologram, he’s my friend Speaking of Vic’s casino, Nog is quick to pay back his holographic crooner friend for helping him recover by participating in the big heist in “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.” Nog’s part is to crack the safe in the countroom, and when he learns that it has an auto-relock tumbler that no one was expecting, he keeps his cool, gets to work, and helps the whole crew save the day!

—

Worst moments

You never get a second chance to make a first impression The very first glimpse we get of Nog in “Emissary” is him stealing shit (almost certainly at Quark’s bidding) and getting locked in the brig by Odo. He has all of two lines in the episode – “Hurry up!” and “Now!” –  but he is immediately cemented as a bad seed under the thumb of his uncle. The show literally starts Nog off with such a bad reputation there’s nowhere to go but up!

What this place needs is a school Nog’s delinquent behavior doesn’t stop there. When he and Jake strike up a friendship in “A Man Alone,” it’s by sharing the experience of pranking a couple of civilians on the promenade with some Garanian bolites, which cause them to itch terribly and turn colors in a scene that legitimately looks like torture. It’s no wonder Keiko steps in by starting up her little school.

Buckets of fun! We see another of Nog’s juvenile pranks in “The Storyteller” when he fills Odo’s bucket with oatmeal and dumps it on Jake who, utterly mortified, believes for a second that they’ve somehow killed Odo. It’s a little funny in hindsight, but at the moment it just seems cruel. Jake’s reaction of terror certainly helps that along, cementing Nog’s station status as a nuisance.

No running on the promenade! There’s one more Nog prank to make the list! When he sprays some foul-smelling fluid on Tumak in “Sanctuary,” it causes a big fight to break out with the various Skrrean kids. Nog just can’t help himself. As if these refugee kids haven’t been through enough, they have this short, big-eared, froglike nuisance wreaking havoc for them. What a brat.

No one’s asking you to think, my dear As we’ve discussed in Quark’s and Rom’s respective spotlight posts before, Ferengi culture is garbage, especially how they treat females. We see some of that come through in Nog in “Life Support” when he goes on a double date with Jake and acts like a complete asshole to Riska. He’s demeaning to her, he requests she cuts his food for him, and somehow Jake’s the one apologizing!

I’ve been looking for it for two years Even when Nog has matured and joined Starfleet Academy, we get little reminders of the miscreant that he was from the start. At his coming-of-age yardsale, Kira discovers that Nog has had her lost springball racket all along and was attempting to sell it in “Little Green Men.” Sure, that was two-years-ago Nog, but he could have returned it in all that time!

Could you massage it some more? Across so many of these posts, every time oo-mox comes up it automatically makes the worst moments lists. So when Nog tricks Faith Garland into giving him oo-mox in “Little Green Men,” and not for the first time evidently, I find it abhorrent. Here’s hoping I don’t have to bring up such rapey behavior again for a while (at least until that one Ferengi episode of Enterprise).

Healthy body, healthy mind After a season or so at Starfleet Academy, Nog suddenly becomes a tightass. The conflict with Jake, now his roommate, in “The Ascent” is manufactured and trite – the kind of odd-couple antics of eponymous sitcoms. Nog is now a neatfreak. He constantly works out. He corrects Jake’s stories without permission. It’s like his character has been rewritten to fit a punchline, and an old one at that.

I won’t turn my back on you again This one’s just a little silly peeve. After the events of “Empok Nor” when Garak’s little murder spree on the titular station, Nog vows to never turn his back on Garak when they’re out searching for supplies in “Rocks and Shoals.” But then after they get hostage-handoff’ed, he immediately turns his back on Garak as they cross the levy. Dude! What did you just say?

Red Squad, Red Squad, Red Squad! Nog got tempted by the allure of the corrupt Red Squad in “Homefront” and “Paradise Lost,” but it’s in “Valiant” that he gets thoroughly taken in. Acting Captain Watters offers Nog everything he’s ever wanted: respect, rank, and some semblance of power, in exchange for his unquestioning obedience when the utterly impossible plan goes swiftly sideways. Gee, who’da thunk?

And you find that impressive? The Dominion War sure brings out the worst in a lot of people. Sisko commits some war crimes. O’Brien is typically racist about the Jem’Hadar. And Nog starts to fancy himself a soldier, bent on killing the enemy. In “The Siege of AR-558,” he blatantly admires the Ketracel-white tubes that Reese has collected as war trophies, and Quark is all of us, displaying utter disgust at this.

You don’t come into my club and start hitting customers While we totally get that recovery from the loss of his leg is a struggle, that’s no excuse for how Nog treats his friends in “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” Living in a holodeck starts off as a way to not only avoid the people he thinks are staring at him, but to avoid helping himself get better through therapy and rehabilitation. And when Jake visits, Nog is rude to Jake’s date, and then outright attacks Jake in the middle of Vic’s set. Pally!

— You’ve got a deal! That’s the end of the Ferengi spotlights (for now?), but we’ve got more great DS9 recurring characters to examine for the next couple weeks, so make sure you’re following along here. We’re also still plodding through the Xindi arc over on our watchthrough of Enterprise, so join us on SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts, and hail us over on Facebook and Twitter. Now say it with me: self-stealing stem– dammit!

[linesonscreens]

Let's Read Peanuts (Yes, all of it) – December 1953

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

Dec 4, 1953

Schulz loves to put random stuff in 'quotation marks' in these early comics. I have no idea if it was a personal quirk or the standard practice of the time.

Dec 11, 1953

That's actually a good look.

Dec 13, 1953

Good perspective work on that piano. He really captured the effect of the keys going back into space. It's a harder effect to make work than you'd think.

Also, LMAO.

Dec 14, 1953

Lucy's early interactions with Linus come across as fairly mean-spirited to me and I can't say I'm a fan. It does explain a lot about how Linus ends up though.

Dec 20, 1953

I mean, this town has sentient trees and classrooms (oh shit, spoilers, sorry), so this snowman being both alive and dangerous is completely within the realm of possibility.

Dec 23, 1953

Fun fact: Schulz has actually been keeping the number of games they've played consistent this whole time.

Good job Lucy, you did it.

#goals

Dec 29, 1953

Marking the occasion because Violet failing to get CB to feel jealous (usually by way of comparing dads) becomes a recurring thing for quite a while.

Thoughts:

And that's 1953! Let's see how the art has progressed, shall we?

Charlie Brown

(October) 1950

(December) 1950

1951

1952

1953

Snoopy

(October) 1950

(December) 1950

1951

1952

1953

Shermy

(October) 1950

(December) 1950

1951

1952

1953

Lucy

(March) 1952

(December) 1952

1953

We're not seeing the massive changes that we saw between previous years, but the art is definitely still evolving. In addition to the heads continuing to shrink and the characters slowly aging up, the general design aesthetic seems to be getting more strongly defined while the line-work itself becomes a bit more loose and expressive. A pretty decent upgrade if you ask me.

We're also seeing a lot of experimentation in terms of format and character dynamics. Snoopy has started mugging for the camera, Lucy has started stalking Schroeder, Shermy got a new haircut, etc. The Sunday strips in particular seem to be getting a lot of love this year with increasingly detailed and dynamic background art and lots of different joke structures being played with. We even saw what felt like a trial balloon for longer for stories at one point.

Good stuff! Looking forward to 1954!

[television-overload]

Fanfiction Masterlist

It's been a long time coming but it's high time I put all the fanfic I've written in one place. Let's see if I can remember to keep this post updated this time.

I have written for: NCIS, X-Files, Star Wars, and Harry Potter

***This list is in progress, and I am working on putting all my work on Archive of Our Own, be on the lookout for additions***

-.-.-.-.-

NCIS

...and next thing i knew [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Silly little ficlet inspired by Tony's beard in Past Present Future. Takes place sometime after season 17.

A Place Called Home [AO3]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

The fear that there would be no place for her in their lives fills her with immeasurable dread. Is there space enough for three in their apartment? Is there space in their hearts? Post-"In the Wind."

Back to You [AO3]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

A year after leaving Ziva on the tarmac, Tony can't stand being without her anymore, so he books a flight straight to Israel to see her again. However, he has more than a few surprises waiting for him when he gets there.

Between Friends [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Because there was a deleted kiss from season 10 that almost made it into Family First... and I wanted to know what that would have looked like (please, CBS, release the kiss!)

blood is the life [AO3]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

October 2018. Stuff happens. It gets kind of dark. TW: blood, depictions of violence

Code Z [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Almost 9 months after Tony leaves Ziva in Israel, McGee and Bishop answer Tony's desk phone to a surprise caller, a very distressed and fearful Ziva. Can Tony make it in time to witness one of the most important moments in his life?

Count to a Million [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Sniper? What sniper? Count to a million, Tony is on his way to Israel to be with Ziva. And she's looking forward to it just as much as he is.

Diving In [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres)

While investigating a case at a beach, Bishop and Torres take a moment to themselves--facing their fears, and facing each other. Sometime around season 16.

Gotta Be Love [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Tony and Ziva are having fun babysitting Kayla and Jared Vance, but apparently kids are more perceptive than they'd thought. Kayla sees something in Tony and Ziva that they, themselves, do not see.

heartache [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Ziva David & Tali DiNozzo; Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Facing imminent separation from her daughter, Ziva ponders the prospect of sending her heart across the ocean without her.

heartstrings [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo & Tali DiNozzo; Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Face to face with his daughter for the first time, Tony wonders how he's been getting along all these years with his heart on the other side of the planet.

How Does a Moment Last Forever [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo & Tali DiNozzo; Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

How a shared love of movies helped Tony and Tali through their grief.

I Saw My Friend [AO3 *TBA*] [Tumblr]

(General; Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

After discovering Ziva's private shed and journals, Agent Bishop ponders the impact of her predecessor and what she went through.

I Will [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David; Tony DiNozzo & Tali DiNozzo)

Post-17x11 - “Who knows how long I’ve loved you? You know I love you still. Will I wait a lonely lifetime? If you want me to, I will.” -The Beatles

Not Alone [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Delving into Tony's thoughts during the scene at the end of "Shiva" in season 10.

Phantoms [AO3] [Tumblr]

(General)

Gibbs has always had conversations with the dead. Diane dropping by years after her death is no surprise. But a few other people make their own appearances, helping Gibbs to cope with his current situation and the uncertainty of the future.

Precious Cargo [AO3 *TBA*] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

On the flight back from rescuing Ziva in Somalia, Tony thinks about just how close he came to losing her.

Promise Me [AO3 *TBA*] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

What if a confession of feelings followed the scene in the elevator? Swan Song AU.

Puzzle Pieces [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Short season 13 ficlet, Tony musing on the missing other half of his heart.

Seen It All Before [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres; implied Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Torres and Bishop are starting to remind Tim of two other agents he used to know... They're not as good at hiding it as they think they are. He's seen this all before.

Someday [AO3 *TBA*] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

After Tony and Ziva spend the evening babysitting Vance's kids, they have a little talk about Tony's apparent fear of children, and what they see in regards to a family in their own future.

Tiva in Every Episode [AO3]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David; Tony DiNozzo & Ziva David)

A Tiva-centric, episode-by-episode fic marathon filling in gaps, peeking behind curtains, and reading Tiva into episodes with little or no Tiva... This should be a fun ride. Each season will be one fic, a chapter per episode. Currently on Season 4!

To Those Who Wait [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Following the events of 17x11 "In the Wind," Tony and Tali get the best kind of surprise on the streets of Paris.

ville de l'amour [AO3]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Tony, Ziva, and Tali spend a special summer day together in the beautiful City of Love.

The Walls That Tell Our Stories [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

What I think we all want to imagine happened after the doors closed on that elevator at the end of Ducky's farewell episode.

What Really Happened [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

September 2024. Tali has some questions about her parents' trip to Paris nearly fifteen years prior, and she's determined to get the details.

White Christmas [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David; Timothy McGee/Delilah Fielding; Jimmy Palmer/Jessica Knight)

For Christmas 2023, the NCIS family makes their way to Alaska to celebrate all together for the first time in years.

Worth It [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Tony DiNozzo/Ziva David)

Tag to 09x13 "A Desperate Man." Ziva tells Tony about Ray standing her up at dinner the night before, and Tony has a "what if" moment. What if Tony had been there for Ziva when Ray was not?

-.-.-.-.-

X-Files

beautiful [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully; Fox Mulder & Maggie Scully)

Weakened by her latest round of chemotherapy, Scully doesn't feel much like herself. Mulder helps her find the strength to keep fighting.

chance encounter [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

Six months after becoming fugitives from the US government, Mulder and Scully have a chance encounter with someone that is very important to them.

fate is the handspike [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder & Dana Scully)

Starting on February 23, 1964, Teena Mulder begins to worry about her young son. At first, she thinks maybe he's wishing for a little sister, a wish that will be granted very soon. But he insists the little girl he talks to is called Dana, and she's too little to play, but she likes when he reads his books to her.

Field of Dreams [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

Mulder's favorite movie inspires him to fill his seemingly endless free time with a special project shortly after moving into the Unremarkable House. Second chapter takes place Fall 2024.

Meet Cute [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

I guess it could be considered a fic. Revival Mulder and Scully are stopped on the street by a popular street interviewer from social media. Mulder takes the opportunity to brag about his beautiful partner.

The Most Popular Man in D.C. [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully; Melissa Scully)

After Scully returns from her abduction, Mulder starts noticing that he gets an unusual amount of attention from the women of Washington, D.C.

neither snow nor rain [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

It looks like a certain niche magazine is publishing again.

of our own making [AO3]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

After the events of Amor Fati, Mulder isn't quite ready to give up on a miracle. It just might take a little extra work to get there. (a.k.a. the msr adoption fic)

rain [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

Two agents, caught in the rain again. Mulder does what he's always wanted to do.

sh-boom [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Fox Mulder/Dana Scully)

In his defense, the dreams he constantly has of Scully are extremely vivid. Where does the boundary between dream and reality lie? Takes place sometime in February 1998, during Season 5.

-.-.-.-.-

Star Wars

a dozen roses [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

Some thoughts in the last moments of Duchess Satine Kryze's reign. Told from both Obi-Wan and Satine's perspectives.

a lily etched in armor [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Korkie Kryze & Ahsoka Tano)

After the excitement of exposing the corruption on Mandalore, Korkie Kryze shows his new friend Ahsoka something that once belonged to his father.

concordia [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Qui-Gon Jinn & Obi-Wan Kenobi; Qui-Gon Jinn & Satine Kryze)

The year on the run lasts a little longer than expected, and the group of three fugitives turns into four.

Dancing in the Dark [AO3]

(Ben Solo/Rey)

Just a whole lotta touch-starved, lonely Ben Solo feeling a lot of feels when the Force decides to connect him to Rey. Completely self-indulgent angst and fluff.

hope like the sun [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker; Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker)

Obi-Wan wakes in a world where Anakin Skywalker never became Darth Vader, where instead of everything going wrong, everything went right. Is that too much for him to ask for?

i found gravity [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Padmé Amidala & Satine Kryze; Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Padmé thinks she's introducing two of her good friends at a Senate gala on Coruscant. Turns out, they already seem to know each other. And they promptly forget she exists once they're in each other's orbit again.

Life Force [AO3]

(Ben Solo/Rey)

The force was not ready for the Skywalker bloodline to end. As Rey stands before the twin sunset of Tatooine, a special visitor stops by that reignites her hope for the future.

like a lily among the thorns [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

Utterly destroyed and ravaged by war, Satine wonders if she'll ever see that glimmer of light that she always hoped to see on Mandalore.

Like Life Itself [AO3]

(Ben Solo/Rey)

Rey senses a new presence in the Force after settling on Tatooine. It's not entirely Ben, and it's not entirely her. Can Ben come back to her? After all, their bond IS a power like life itself.

Mother [AO3]

(Satine Kryze & Anakin Skywalker; Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker; Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker)

Two times Anakin really needed a mother, and Duchess Satine Kryze went above and beyond to help him.

shadows [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

When Satine's plan to acquire proof that Deputy Minister Jerec's testimony was tampered with falls through, she must seek another way to clear her own name and reestablish faith in her Mandalorian government. She may need help from a friend.

The Sound of Mandalore [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

Uncertain what to do with a Jedi Master who is overly attached to his former Padawan, the Jedi Council decides to send Obi-Wan Kenobi to tutor Force-sensitive Mandalorian foundlings on Mandalore in the early days of the Clone Wars. The Sound of Music except Star Wars.

this could be such a dream [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

In the stillness of night during their year on the run, Satine and Obi-Wan dare to imagine a life without the responsibilities they've sworn themselves to.

to live is enough [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

When Obi-Wan Kenobi sets out to rescue someone he loves, failure isn't an option. Your typical Lawless Satine lives canon divergence, with a dash of angst.

what they grow beyond [AO3] [Tumblr]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze; Satine Kryze & Korkie Kryze)

On a rare day off, Satine reflects on her legacy.

what was once a garden [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

Fifteen years after losing Satine to Darth Maul, a time-worn Obi-Wan Kenobi makes a trip to Mandalore to pay his respects.

your future, my fate [AO3]

(Obi-Wan Kenobi & Qui-Gonn Jinn; Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze)

While traveling through hyperspace on their first mission as master and apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn sees visions of his new padawan's future.

-.-.-.-.-

Harry Potter

Family Day at Hogwarts [AO3]

(Harry Potter & Dudley Dursley)

Hogwarts is inviting families to its first ever Family Day at Hogwarts! Against Harry's wishes, the Dursley's are sent an invitation, but only one of them is actually interested in going. A "Dudley visits Hogwarts" story.

In Loving Memory [AO3]

(Harry Potter & Severus Snape)

Harry has never really liked Halloween… for obvious reasons. A certain professor isn't really a fan either. Perhaps some healing is in the cards for both of them, after a trip out to a small village in southwest England.

[storiesofsvu]

Hi! CM anon here. It's been a while since my last message, but I'm back. I'm now in season 8 (I'll be watching the season finale tonight). These past seasons had been quite a journey, the Lauren episode destroyed me, and Garcia's voicemail broke my heart.

I knew that season 8 would be an uphill struggle for me without Prentiss, but I enjoyed it more than I expected, especially with the replicator storyline.

Now, I've seen a lot of ships in the fandom, like everyone with anyone. Since I'm pretty much new in the fandom, I wanted to give it a chance to most of them and I think I have a few favorites already. But I wonder, which ones are yours?

oh hiii!!!!

glad you're back!

omg, the lauren arc is literally what i'll watch when i'm in the mood for cm but also in the mood to cry LOL.

season 8/9 get a lot of flack from people because there is no emily, and i totally understand that. HOWEVER, you get Alex Blake, which is an extremely good addition (i only wish we got to actually see her and emily like, solve a full case together or share time on the team cause that would be incredible). I also found s 8/9 to have a lot of good storylines and episodes. I think they're likely the seasons i've watched the most on repeat since watching cm. If Alex wasn't your cup of tea at first i also find that she grows on you, she's just so soft. i love her so much.

the replicator storyline is so good! i love those eps!!

oooo fun!!

TBH, i don't heavily ship anyone from the show. LOL, i know that's weird, but hear me out, i'll go through the big ones here:

Jemily: incredible potential when it comes to the early seasons, they have this chemistry and unspoken bits that scream more than friends (it's very similar to Cabenson imo, if you're an svu fan). Even like, s6/7 there are still moments of pining, but once they made the choice to write in AJ's pregnancy and have JJ settle down with Will, they ended Jemily. (and dont get me started on the s17/18/evolution jemily cause i literally have to log off twitter over how batshit the fandom is going rn).

I like them, i see the appeal. if Paget hadn't been leaving at the end of s7 and they had gone through and killed Will like they planned (and cbs weren't cowards) i could have seen the natural progression for Jemily to start then (slowly and over the years lol) but otherwise, it's a no for me (CANON) (i do still enjoy it in fics, even if i don't particularly read straight up jemily. if that makes sense).

Hotchniss: i completely and totally understand the appeal and why people ship them, but i simply cannot get behind them. Like, i want them both to run me over but ONLY ever individually. people often are all "but you write hotch and you write emily, why not a hotchniss threesome?" and i simply cannot answer that. I get the bestie, watching out for each other, willing to die on their sword for the other to protect them/their family, supporting each other vibes, and platonic love but i cannot see past that. Part of it is the shitty background writing for characters on this show and Emily's background/history not making a single lick of sense cause he apparently worked for her mother, sometimes its said he knew em when she was a teenager and he was an adult and that makes things super weird. but yeah... i get it, but its not my cup of tea. ESP in fandom when people write them married and dilute emily down to being this shell of a woman who is just a wife/mother and needs his support and protection to survive. like.. what... lol

Morcia: LOVE THEM. i absolutely love the vibe they give and i do think that they were always meant to be best friends. I love the teasing, the flirting with no harm, how much they truly love each other and protect each other.

Willifer: i swap back and fourth a lot on these two. I didn't see any huge issues then i rewatched the earlier stuff. 1: the writers threw them together so fast (again, because of aj's pregnancy) and the first time i didn't even remember him from his original ep by the time he showed up again. My second watch, it was the way he outed her for being pregnant and turning down his proposal in front of the entire team and said she shouldn't be out in the field that made me want to kill him. overall we see them making a happy family together so, in the long run, whatever, but that moment really gave me the ick.

I know you're not there yet, but:

Temily: basically the only ship that i REALLY like. they've got these little moments, tara is someone who comes into em's life later and isn't fully knowledgeable about emily's past, it becomes emily's choice when to reveal those little things, ya know? And i think that would make emily that much more comfortable and confident around her. i *personally* also think that this would be a much more logical step (as of the end of s16 at least lol) in canon than jemily but that's all i'll say to not spoil shit lol.

It's also not really a big ship, or much of one, but you cannot deny JJ/Alex had chemistry over their time together. If we completely ignore Will during those years, it's totally feasible they had a little fling. LOL.

SO.... yeah... i like the little undertones of a lot of ships while watching the show, i wish some of them had been developed a little bit more, like just give us crumbs pls. Others i absolutely despise. Others i have literally zero opinions on. It also very much can and does differ between canon and fanon.

have a great day!! <3

[queer-whatchamacallit]

I’ just finished CBS Ghosts, and I wanted to give my two cents on the CBS vs BBC ghosts

CBS

I feel like it explores the rules of ghosts a lot more. It introduced the concept of possession and how things like burning sage have no effect on ghosts (even if I would have found it really funny if Hetty or Trevor (certified evil businessmen) found the sage disgusting). I feel like the longer seasons shorter episodes works better to explore these little plots for an episode.

It also feels like they’re making more progress on the house and that there’s more triumph to even just getting the chance to host stuff. And it feels more realistic that even with the ghosts, they’d hire someone to help run an entire b&b. While I don’t really know how their incomes are covering so many repairs, I like seeing that they’re doing well. You generally get to see a lot more of Sam and Jay’s lives in it too. I don’t think they ever even said what Alison was doing before she started dedicating her time to the house.

The more present possibility of the house ghosts getting sucked off is introduced really early, and I find that super interesting. The ghosts have pretty clear things that they feel like if they can just fix that then they’ll be gone, so it feels like the ghosts really have a chance of leaving at anytime.

Because of Sam being more extroverted and her feeling like an even greater focus than Alison in BBC, we get to see how she interacts with ghosts in different places. The world feels fuller than BBC. This also means we get to see a wider variety of ghost powers, so it’s fun to see all the creative powers they came up with

Something that I don’t really like is how because of its comedy status, it feels afraid to go dark and sad. Any time they explore ideas like Hetty desperate for more life while possessing Jay or Trevor online dating Bela, it might be that they tell more than they show or maybe it’s the score but I’m really not sure what makes it not hit as hard as the BBC.

Like seemingly all the big American comedies, it takes a little while to get a handle on its sense of humor. I think a lot of the earlier episodes will leave it feeling dated pretty fast, but it grows out of that more and more as time goes on. There’s even some moments that made me laugh plenty harder than the BBC ever did (I am American, and I do indeed laugh at show with ‘funnier to Americans’ slapped on the label)

I’ve already seen this talked about a lot, but I very much don’t like the plague ghosts’ ugly=bad person message even if I did really like Nancy.

I haven’t gotten how their time as ghosts have affected them. I haven’t gotten Fanny’s passion for math, Robin’s love for the moon, or the fact that Mary was starting to learn how to read. I guess it makes sense because neither of these characters really share their struggles a lot, but I want living for hundreds of years to have noticeable effects on them instead of it just them having a mix of their original time and the modern one and calling it a day. I didn’t like the way this plot was done at all, but it was interesting to see Sass become annoyed by Pete’s unwavering love of life

Sure, we get Thorfinn’s LANDSHIP and Hetty’s encouraging Sam to try some cocaine, but they feel like they aren’t very stuck in their own time. They change and adapt to modern day surprisingly easily, even if sometimes the stuff they get interested in doesn’t really make sense to me. (This is fully stolen from another post) but Thorfinn and Sassapis’ dating show vs Fanny’s Murder She Wrote or Mary’s Loose Women

We get some of the ghosts being around for younger ones’ lives, and I love it immensely. Thorfinn being Hetty’s imaginary friend and singing her to sleep is one of my favorite parts of the show. For BBC, we kinda only see the ghosts gathering around for the possibility of a new ghost

I loved seeing how Pete’s direction brought some much needed stability to the other ghosts. Without him, they’re all too self-serving, and they need him to tell them what they’re supposed to act like. He is the leader of a bunch of children!!

The fact that they have hell is so funny to me. They get hell privileges. And it’s Hetty that gave it to them by sending her shitty husband straight down, and I’m starting to like Hetty more by the day

There’s something about the little plots of the episodes that can feel kinda uncreative compared to BBC. Of course I think that it can go into really interesting territory, specifically in exploring ghosts rules, but the way things play out can feel predictable at times. Like, in the BBC, the plot of ‘a ghost wanted to give a mysterious letter to someone he was obviously in love with but backed out, and oh no! He‘ll never get to share what was in the letter with the person because they’re both dead!’ Isn’t the most creative plot in the world, but bring in the fact that he hid it in a bomb in the backyard, and it’s a lot less clear how that’s going to play out.

I think my feeling that the episodes were a little more predictable helped contribute to my not being as invested. BBC’s fun, creative plots make them feel like people whereas CBS’s plots make them feel like good sitcom characters. So when I do get interesting details that flesh them out, it’s harder to notice because I already don’t care about their character as much

CBS leaned into the shipping angle hard, and it can be really fun. Just to get it out of the way, some of it feels like it includes canned sitcom plots like Sass being scared that the Car Ghost is cheating or Pete/Alberta and Isaac/Nigel having the exact same plot for a good second. But Thor/Flower is so adorable and I would do unimaginable things for them and every single scene with Hetty/Trevor is pure comedy gold to me like oh my god (also I do want them to fuck, I think they deserve it)

BBC

The spectrum of emotion it gets is a lot better. I personally like the humor a lot more, but I think the more noticeable bit is how devastatingly beautiful some storylines are. From Thomas’ or Humphrey’s death to Cap’s love to Fanny’s life, it’s all done so well. These stories are told in fascinating ways that have loads of hilarious bits to lighten them up, but by the end of it, their lives were perfectly written tragedies.

Alison and Mike feel more real. Alison realistically gets frustrated with the ghosts, but you can see how they’re starting to grow as people and how they rub off on her. It’s really interesting to see how the ghosts have affected their lives with Alison not really finding work outside of the house and Mike desperately trying to connect to this part of Alison’s life.

While they definitely haven’t explored it a lot, I think I like how they deal with Gone Gone more than how CBS does sucking off. It feels more true to the nature of death in real life. No one got to say what they needed to say to Mary like Sam did with her mom, she just went, and it wasn’t right after she had the big revelatory fight with Alison. Sure, there were signs pointing to Mary being finally satisfied in death, but you’re not going to jump right to that conclusion. It was unexpected and there wasn’t simple closure, and I love that.

Having longer episodes lets every ghost get their turn. For every episode there’s like four different plots, so it never feels like any ghosts just spectates for an episode like I sometimes feel the CBS does. You never have to wonder what everyone was doing and thinking while the main plot’s going on

I love Pat’s role in the group and how the dynamic is a little different from CBS.’ They still have his clubs because it’s Pat’s whole reason for not getting sucked off that he will cling to routine no matter what, even if their whole way of life now includes much easier access to the internet’s worth of entertainment. Also, while Pete is the nice, normal one of the group, Pat is normal enough compared to everyone else to be passed off as that, but he also asked Alison to kill his wife and the whole ‘dip it again’ bit

There’s a near perpetual silliness about the show that makes it so fun to watch. Everything in this show from the plots to character’s movements to their decisions down to the facial expressions are just silly and goofy at the exact right times, and they know when to get serious too. The goofiness is one of the main reasons I love the show so much.

I’m sure you can tell I’m definitely biased toward BBC, but I will say that the bit with Elias going down on them had me laughing harder than BBC ever did

[thepuffinoverlord]

Your Name Core Tag Game

Type your name + core on Pinterest and post 6 pics!

Thanks for the tag @cb-writes-stuff! I'm not doing this one on my writing blog so this is my first non-writing tag game!

hm. these images get progressively more and more creepy. I'd say the first two and maybe the skeletons fit my aesthetic but the rest are totally out of my lane. I'm more into naturey and rustic stuff than I am creepy or supernatural. I also found a lot of pictures of this french piano company and also this thing

I'll just tag @starkidweirdo for now but if you're a mutual of mine who likes tag games feel free to hop on and I'll tag you in the future! also, anyone who sees this post is free to join in if they like~

[cb-writes-stuff]

Finally got back to writing after an unintended four-day break! Put down 304 words, adding up to a total of 11,527 words. It’s also the day before the conflict finally starts, so that’s exciting.

I also split what I have so far into two chapters, so Chapter 1 is 7,682 words, and Chapter 2 is (thus far) 2,908 words.

Favorite thing I wrote today:

He walked down the street, most in thought. Dodging the occasional passerby was second nature to him. A copper every hour. If half the shift is noon to second short-shadows… then that’s… He muttered the calculations under his breath and gasped. Almost eight hours. Wyrd, that’s almost twice what I make already.

He walked a little slower, dazed by the thought. Making that much, he could do a little more than just get by. He could start saving up. It’d only be a copper a day, but he would be saving up.

All the things he’d be able to do swirled around in his head. Replace his old, worn-out rugs. Mend his old cups and plates—or better yet, replace them. Replace his pillow, his blanket… He didn’t dare to think of the new things he could buy, worrying the very idea might knock him over and render him useless.

This bit really shows just how poor Nauth is. His financial fantasies are replacing his old things. Never buying new things. I think it’s kinda sad, but he’s happy about it, so.

[landrysg]

In a just-released CBS News poll, only 23 percent say their overall financial situation has gotten better in the last few years. Asked how the policies of the presidential candidates might affect them financially, a mere 16 percent think Biden’s policies would make them better off in a second term, compared to 48 percent who expect those policies to make them worse off. ...

Students of public opinion such as Ruy Teixeira and Patrick Ruffini have observed that a broad, multiracial group of working-class voters have grown increasingly misaligned with the legacy interests of both parties. They are skeptical of progressive social positions, especially on social order questions like crime and immigration. But they also are uncomfortable with economic globalization, supportive of social insurance, and longing for economic opportunity to be available beyond superstar coastal cities. They are skeptical of professionals and public sector unions, but they also need police, schools, universities, and infrastructure that work—they lack the resources that the wealthier can use to get around public sector dysfunction. ... A focus on addressing the cost of living by driving down the underlying cost of goods like housing, transportation, and energy is attractive to [these] voters who are economically pinched but skeptical of redistribution. Such voters will also be attracted by the idea that the work of government is important but that actually getting it done requires a willingness to pick fights with public sector producer interests like unions and social service professionals (which they assume, with reason, control the Democratic Party).

One could sum all this up by saying: “It’s too damn hard to build stuff” in this country. ...

(HT Ann Althouse)

[ncisfranchise-source]

The world of NCIS keeps growing, with two shows currently airing new seasons (the mothership and Hawai’i), one already set to return for another (Sydney), and two more ordered to series for some time in 2024-2025. One of those new ones is NCIS: Origins, a prequel story about Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ early years, picking up in 1991. (The other is a spinoff about Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo’s characters.) Mark Harmon serves as narrator and executive producer, and Austin Stowell will play the young version of the character he starred as for 19 seasons on NCIS.

“I was aware of it before it got going. I knew about the initial ideas of it and stuff, but NCIS: Origins sounds to me something that could be very, very cool,” NCIS star Sean Murray (who has played Timothy McGee since Season 1) tells TV Insider. “I mean, Gibbs in the early days of NIS and back when it was called NIS and not NCIS, I think that will be really interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

He continues, “I’ve talked to Mark a little bit about it, and I know he’s excited about it. I’m sure the quality control on that one is going to be—I think they’re going to hold on to that one pretty good. I think it’s going to be done really well. I really do.”

Cliff Lipson/CBS

One of the most shocking moments of NCIS came when Harmon exited in the 19th season, with Gibbs staying behind in Alaska in the fourth episode. Gibbs’ farewell to McGee, whom he’d watched grow from probie to senior field agent. “You’re getting there. You just gotta find your rhythm,” Gibbs told him, referring to more than the fishing they were doing. “Be patient. It’s about progress, not perfection. Once you know the basics, the rest just comes from inside.”

For Murray, “that’s one of my favorite scenes I’ve done, the goodbye with Mark. As hard as that was, at the same time my character saying goodbye to Mark, we had an incredible time.”

They did film that in Alaska. “We actually went and did the real fly fishing in Alaska, and it was amazing. And actually doing that sequence is one of my best memories of this show,” he shares. “Also, when we were out in that water filming, knee-deep, fly fishing, we got a steady cam operator out there, and at one point, we’re doing the scene where we’re basically saying goodbye to each other. And I look around, all of our crew is crying, so I felt like we were doing something right.”

[faceglitchsworld]

At the end, I've finally caught up with all the CBs that came out this week.

I want to start with Kingdom since I was very hyped for the album despite the high white wash I saw for the concept pics and honestly, I really wish we'll never see something like that in the next albums...

It will happen again, I know, I know.

Speaking of the MV, I know that everyone is planning the theories about how the story is progressing but, if you want my honest and humble opinion, I think that at least the next two albums will be focused on the Kings awakening their memories. I say two but they might become three if the story will progress with two kings awakening their memories of each album going.

I think everyone will agree that Louis is the first one awakening his memories since he's the only one who knows what's going on. In the case of Hwon being the second one, I think it's connected to the fact that he "inherited" Chiwoo's kingdom and powers. I'm still a little confused about how this inheritance works...

I'm sincerely starting to believe that Chiwoo is a sort of Rose Quartz for Hwon aka he's gone, like truly gone but he gave him the powers AND the memories and he's having a mental breakdown about it

But on the other hand, that explains why Hwon is easily the second one. And Dann clearly is discovering something since he looks at Hwon with suspect, maybe he'll be the next one to awaken his memories along with Mujin.

Yeah, I don't have much to say about the last scene. I think he might have met his doppelganger at the end OR...Louis.

I don't understand the change in clothes at the end but it's the most plausible one. My mind leaves the room to the possibility that the hooded figures might be the kings from another universe who are trying to awaken the current ones we have...since we don't know who throws the coin at the beginning of the video but...eh, it would be boring, I hope to be fooled and thinking that the doppelgangers are a physical manifestation of their memories.

Ok, onto the album.

I liked it.

If my theory is correct and Kevin D will keep producing the next albums it means we will get good stuff and not necessarily atrocious songs. Sure, I confess that now their sound is a little less "unique" without the epic sound but on the other hand...I mean, I think now Kevin should try to experiment a little more imo. At the end the only track that I didn't like is Together (weakest ballad they made imo), all the other ones are honestly good and I think both RusHush and Gundam will end up in my playlist. I'm a little unsure about Energy tho...it looks like a song from OOO's seOul cOllectiOn 🤣 The noisy ones 🤣

Now onto XH.

I don't think I need to do a super duper analysis like... they're sad. They're sad they're not rookies anymore. The scene where they get out of the basement is pretty explanatory itself.

The important conversation is for the album.

And I hate to be the prophet for myself actually. I said it like since DAY 1 that this time the TT would have been one of my favourites. And they did it. MFs did it fr. But for a good TT they gave me one (1) b-side I was so hyped that it turned into a complete disappointment to me aka Moneyball. I got fooled they could have gone into a metalcore route FOR ONCE and it didn't happen. Shame on me for hoping for something heavy every time I guess.

But I keep saying what I said the first time, this is still the most heavy album they did and the presence of Money On My Mind proves that. Last thing I was expecting was them taking a classic rock sound. And yes I think you got which is my favourite track overall by writing this. But at least I like that they took an Emo Trinity approach this time and in full, except maybe for the ballads.

And now, onto E'last.

I confess that I didn't see anything so I went full blind with them.

Now, the MV...ok I wasn't expecting the post apocalyptic shift after Kiss Me Baby. Or the fact that the two MVs are somehow connected. Maybe they are coming back to their fantasy roots? Who knows... surely they're stuck into some storyline and now we need to figure out what will happen next? Maybe with all the members there this time 😅

But the song...I'm sorry but it's the most generic thing I've heard. Like, it's not even atrocious it's just bland and that weird transition at the MV's end didn't help. But, to be fair, it added something interesting, since, when you listen to the album, you don't hear this transition AT ALL. Like, wtf? Why? Why putting it there?! They could have added minutes of silence at this point, it would have been better, at least we knew that this time we would have got a bland song and that's it.

Yeah, b-sides for the win this time, sorry not sorry.

[talkingpointsusa]

The profound laziness of Dave Rubin

No, but you posting a video about it for clicks is. (source: Rubin Report on YouTube)

Dave Rubin is a pretty regular source of truly insane and stupid takes and today is no exception. This was the episode he put out on January 31st and as usual it breaks new ground in the realm of stupidity. Lets get into it.

Dave starts off by declaring the theme of todays episode, or lack thereof.

01:24, Dave Rubin: "The theme of todays show is there's an awful lot happening in the world right now. This WW3 situation seems like it's ramping up a bit. I'm gonna try to cool the jets as everyone loves talking about 'Oh my god WW3 is happening and oh my god the civil war is happening and oh my god the alien invasion is happening.' Sometimes, maybe we can have some calmer heads prevail so we'll do a little bit of that. But what I wanted to start with that'll kind of prime everything is that Jon Stewart-"

Brief pause, so what's the theme? If the theme is WW3 related stuff, how on earth is Jon Stewart even remotely related to that?

01:51, Dave Rubin: "Jon Stewart, I guess former comedian. I don't know what we call him at this point, he's basically a progressive activist now."

"Yeah, imagine being a former comedian who became a political activist. Man, I can't even imagine. That's so sick."

First of all, the sheer lack of self awareness is stunning. Second of all, watch that video in full if you want to get an idea of the sheer lack of talent that Dave brings to the table. It's three minutes of Dave being a complete moron constantly trying to do crowd work and getting absolutely no laughs out of anyone.

02:18, Dave Rubin: "Jon Stewart left the Daily Show, what was it? About six years or so ago. Ends up bringing a new show, The Problem With Jon Stewart onto Apple TV and he just goes all in on the crazy leftism."

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily Show for a limited time and Dave Rubin isn't gonna take it! He's only hosting on Monday nights to cover things related to the election cycle.

Jon Stewart was always a pretty big leftist. Here's him absolutely demolishing fellow blog favorite Tucker Carlson all the way back in 2004. I can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy in Dave's coverage of Jon. Jon also stood up for his free speech, something that Dave should love, by walking away from his show on Apple TV when they told him he couldn't talk about AI and China.

Dave doesn't even understand the most basic facts about this story...like the fact that Jon isn't the only person hosting the Daily Show or the fact that they are making more than the Monday episode.

02:30, Dave Rubin: "But the machine is bringing him back now, putting him back at the Daily Show at the chair on a weekly show not a daily show. So the Daily Show's going to weekly, alright they're going to struggle with that."

Here's what happened, Dave read some headline somewhere about Jon Stewart returning to the Daily Show and instead of trying to learn the facts about the story that he's trying to cover, he just barged in and started talking about it on his show.

If Dave actually read about what he's trying to talk about the subject he's talking about, he'd know that Jon is only hosting on Monday’s and that other people are hosting the show on all the other days of the week. It's also only for the election cycle.

Dave plays some clips of CBS for him to react to.

03:36, Dave Rubin: "We're doing PR, we're owned by the same people and we have to tell you he's really great. Yeah, ok! So you guys get how the whole machine works, right? There's no reason for CBS News to be covering that on their nightly news program."

At the end of the clip he plays, the reporter discloses that CBS and Comedy Central are both owned by Paramount, in short disclosing the conflict of interest. Should they have maybe not covered this? Yeah, I wouldn't have because it's a conflict of interest. But they did disclose it.

03:51, Dave Rubin: "And the damn shame about Jon Stewart and we'll illustrate this in just a moment is that at least for the first couple of years at the Daily Show he was doing something kind of new and poking and prodding at the media the way I kinda do on this show."

Dave Rubin and Jon Stewart have one key difference; Jon is funny and insightful and Dave is well....Dave.

04:07, Dave Rubin: "He's sort of gone off the deep end, or I don't even need to qualify that, he has completely gone off the deep end when it comes to progressive politics and I would say become everything that he probably once despised."

Just to recap some of Dave's career; Dave started off at the Young Turks, a progressive news outlet, and ended up starting a conservative news show after leaving the Young Turks. His sudden pivot to conservativism coincidentally dovetailed with receiving money from the Koch Brothers.

So who has became everything they once despised here?

Dave plays a clip of Jon confronting a Republican attorney general about gender affirming care for minors. If I were Dave I really wouldn't have played that clip as Jon does a really good job dismantling the Attorney Generals arguments. Dave does cut the clip and this was his takeaway.

06:51, Dave Rubin: "And it goes on and on, what an absolutely smug unlikeable person he became for the cool one million plus per episode he was making on that now defunct show."

More of Dave describing himself. Seriously, take some time to watch a Dave Rubin episode if you have time. He talks in this really slow and condescending way that's near unbearable to listen to.

07:10, Dave Rubin: "Jon Stewart, if you are watching this you might want to read Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier, thank you, who wrote an incredible book about how so much of what's happening to our children is a social contagion. Particularly when it comes to young girls thinking they can transition and become young boys."

Abigail Shrier is one of those right-wing grifters who has made a cottage industry of spreading misinformation about transgender youth. Blog favorite and professional sociopath Matt Walsh is another example of that. Shriers book is filled with massive amounts of misinformation and outright falsehoods.

Also, the idea of Jon Stewart even knowing of Dave Rubin's existence is laughable. You just know if Jon stepped foot on Dave's set, Dave would be tripping over himself to get Jon a beer and a pillow for his feet.

08:04, Dave Rubin: "No you cannot take a boy and actually make them a girl, that's just not reality."

Say it with me; absolutely nobody is giving transgender surgeries to small children. Dave's entire framework is simply denying the existence of transgender people.

I've said this before but I find the fact that Dave is a member of the LGBTQ community and still has hopped onto the right-wing transphobia bandwagon really infuriating. Years ago his ilk would be trying to make his marriage illegal and guess what? They still want that! It's so frustrating to watch this guy run defense for guys who hate who he is.

And talk about "smug and unlikeable". Dave hasn't even bothered to meet up with the families of trans youth like Jon has and is handwaving legitimate medical treatments because "my billionaire sponsors don't like it".

Anyway, lets move on before my head explodes. Dave plays another Jon Stewart clip, this time him interviewing Gavin Newsom. Dave then plays some clips from the Daily Show when Trevor Noah was hosting it. Dave proceeds to call a transwoman a "creature" and I want to throw my laptop out the window. I'll elaborate on this in the conclusion, but I'm starting to realize that Dave Rubin is a profoundly lazy content creator.

14:22, Dave Rubin: "Now the reason I'm showing you all this and starting the show with this Jon Stewart thing and everything else is because the Daily Show became this cultural touchpoint. 'More young people get their news from the Daily Show than anywhere else.' So when you wonder how did this all happen? That so many kids are confused about their gender. How did it happen that being not racist made you racist? It's because this is the crap that Hollywood pushes on us."

"The Daily Show is turning people trans" is an argument that I never thought I would hear and yet here we are. The median viewership age of the Daily Show in 2024 is 63 years old by the way so this argument makes even less sense in this day and age.

Dave plays another Daily Show clip. This time it's one of the guest hosts talking about migrants.

15:54, Dave Rubin: "Illegal people are here illegally. Even if there are jobs for them then what you do is you have them come legally and you figure it out."

Except that the pathways to legal immigration are borderline impossible to fulfill. If Dave is saying that we should loosen those pathways, I agree. But that's not what he's saying so this is just him being an obtuse idiot.

Dave does an ad for Tax Network USA and then he expands on his broader point.

18:10, Dave Rubin: "What I'm trying to lay out to you, and that's all well and good, is that all the ideas that we just talked about there are the things that get into the culture and you wonder why everything is wrong, why our politicians suck, why we don't know up is down and up is up and down is down and all these things."

Dave Rubin: Master Orator strikes again.

"Up is down and up is up and down is down", truly profound stuff right there. Seriously, who the hell watches this unironically?! How does this guy have 2.14M subscribers?! At least guys like Ben Shapiro have certain airs around them that make them seem like intellectuals to people who don't know any better.

18:25, Dave Rubin: "But now I want to drive this a little further into the cultural piece of this because Law & Order where a white woman is raped by a black man but doesn't want him to go to jail. Take a look at this."

Dave then plays the clip from Law & Order. Again, this a ridiculously stupid thing to talk about, especially since Dick Wolf seems like a pretty conservative guy from what I can tell.

19:40, Dave Rubin: "Could we do a road trip after the show? Would you guys be interested in doing a road trip after the show? Drive cross-country, go to Hollywood, bomb the place?"

Law & Order has been filmed in New York for a million years.

Also, the episode ends with the rape victim testifying against the rapist so this whole story is a complete load of nothing even if we follow the parameters that Dave laid out.

20:11, Dave Rubin: "The messaging that they are sending to the brains of young people and I guess middle age people who watch Law & Order, everything is freaking backwards. They have taken art and made it activism."

Does....does Dave not realize that art and film has been a form of activism since its inception. Also, I love how he realized in the middle of his sentence that young people tend not to watch Law & Order and threw that "middle aged people" in there at the last second. Nice save.

Dave talks about the Disney Snow White remake. This is such an insanely old story. Ben Shapiro even announced a "competitor" version that will be hosted on the Daily Wire what feels like a century ago. Old news and an immediate skip.

21:21, Dave Rubin: "I do wanna back up for just a second. I don't condone or call for terrorism in Hollywood or anywhere else. I didn't mean bomb the place, I meant like glitterbomb it, you know what I mean? Just go there and pour glitter all over these people, that is what I meant. Lets be clear about that because Media Matters I'm sure is watching every moment of this 'Rubin just called to bomb Hollywood.'"

I've got bad news for Dave, he's not even important enough to get clipped by Media Matters. He's been mentioned by them in passing but the last time he got clipped was February of 2023. Really the only people criticizing him are a Twitter account called "Dave Rubin Clips" on Twitter, his own subreddit, and me.

Dave plays a clip from SNL. He does an ad for the Wellness Company, it's the same company that makes those emergency kits that Charlie Kirk was hawking in our last episode.

Now, its time to get serious. Dave wants to talk about the news...it involves playing more stupid freaking clips. He plays an MSNBC clip and here are his thoughts.

26:11, Dave Rubin: "Ok, I'm only showing you that because these people that they put on there, they just offer them the red meat. And of course their kind of brain damaged progressive audience eats it up."

"And then I play a clip of it so that my audience can eat up my commentary on it"

Also, the brain damaged comment was stupid as all hell. Anyway, Trump lost the defamation suit against E. Jean Carroll and Dave comments on it the only way he can...by commenting on a clip he plays from The View.

28:13, Dave Rubin: "It really, it's so horrible. And watching the women applaud. If they all felt like this woman really got raped, again rape is pretty bad, they wouldn't be celebrating today, right? Like, it wouldn't be a day of celebration. It would be kind of a somber like, 'Oh there was a verdict in the defamation thing related to the rape and Donald Trumps gonna have to pay up.' But they know it's all bullshit, it's all a show."

"Woah, a rape victim celebrating finally getting justice?! That makes no sense!"

This argument makes absolutely zero sense. Imagine if you got raped and the court forces your rapist to pay you millions of dollars. You'd be pretty damn happy. Does Dave think that after you get raped you are incapable of feeling anything outside of sadness?! And what's more, if you manage to score a win against your rapist you are still going to be sad.

Lets play a game. Do you think that Dave is going to;

A): Offer insightful and nuanced commentary on the verdict that considers the evidence and leads to an informed conclusion.

B): Play another stupid clip and then say something stupid.

The answer is A....just kidding! This is Dave Rubin we're talking about, of course it's going to be B! Dave rolls a CNN clip and mumbles about some stupid shit.

30:20, Dave Rubin: "If she got raped, which Donald Trump was not convicted of, would you want to make a show of all of this?"

The guy was extremely wealthy and that was before he became president. She's celebrating getting a form of justice against an extremely powerful adversary.

Also, Trump was found liable of sexually abusing Carroll which is commonly understood as rape. So he didn't even get that part right. Again, laziness.

Dave comments on a joke Carroll made to Rachel Maddow that she would "buy her a penthouse". It was a joke and apparently Dave is pissed about it. Whatever. Dave plays more clips of Carroll and then plays a Megyn Kelly clip. Again, letting others make his arguments for him.

35:16, Dave Rubin: "This is why Megyn is just so consistently great. I don't know what happened, you don't know what happened, Megyn Kelly doesn't know what happened."

So the bar for trusting a rape victim is if you know for sure what happened? That's ridiculous! Plus the evidence was clearly compelling enough that Trump was found liable for sexual abuse.

Also, wasn't the theme for today supposed to be about WW3? "Cooler heads shall prevail" and all that?

37:03, Dave Rubin: "But now I wanna connect that to something that's happening in the world and show you Trump at his absolute best. Because these are the moments that we could use a real leader in this country and I think he has an interesting opportunity. And as I've been telling you for the last two weeks, I wanna nudge him to be the best Donald Trump if possible."

Oh yeah, that's gonna happen. I can just see Trump now;

"I was gonna make this decision but Dave Rubin said that would be a bad idea! Guess I'm not gonna do that!"

Anyway, Dave's next story is about the drone-strike in Jordan that took the lives of 3 US soldiers. He reads some stuff from the Daily Wires website (and here I thought he was going to play a clip of Ben Shapiro, he's evolving!) and then launches into his take;

38:44, Dave Rubin: "So now you might be wondering 'Dave, what does this have to do with the E. Jean Carroll thing?' Well, Donald Trump issued a statement on this and I think he nailed it."

Dave reads out a Donald Trump post that he very clearly didn't write (not enough random all caps). Again, Dave can't really make content of his own capably and just relies on everybody else to do the heavy lifting. Also, I love how quickly he switched over from being a Ronnie D simp to being a MAGA moron. Those boots need a lickin'!

40:20, Dave Rubin: "Look, I don't know if Donald Trump wrote that himself. It's obviously irrelevant, they have speechwriters and everything else."

It's relevant when you spent the past four minutes hyping this post up as "the Trump we need" and "Trump at his absolute best". If Trump didn't write it then it isn't Trump. Unless you are saying that Trump is at his best when he isn't in control, in which case me and Dave might have more common ground than I thought.

40:26, Dave Rubin: "But the clarity, the moral clarity, 'peace through strength'. The reality of the fact that three, four years ago, when Donald Trump was still president, especially pre-COVID, that the world was peaceful and Middle East peace deals were being signed left and right. The Iranians were doing absolutely nothing."

It may have seemed more peaceful compared to right now but it's important to remember that the conflict between Israel and Palestine has been going on for way longer than October 7th. The Abraham Accords, which I assume is what Dave is talking about when he mentions about peace deals, was brokered between countries that weren't engaged in conflict and did nothing to impact Israel and Palestine. Also, nothing happened with Iran? Remember the assassination of General Suleimani that nearly pushed the US and Iran to the brink of war? That certainly didn't help peace in Iran.

41:30, Dave Rubin: "The first thing that Donald Trump did when he got into office was drop the mother of all bombs, the MOAB, the mother of all bombs, dropped it. People didn't even know why he dropped it but it made it seem like he was kinda crazy so don't mess with this guy."

So Dave's brilliant foreign policy strategy is acting like a complete lunatic?

41:43, Dave Rubin: "He killed Suleimani, right? And everyone was like 'this is gonna start World War Three', actually it caused Iran to not do much of anything while he was president."

The reason we are seeing so much action from Iran is because of Israel/Palestine, a conflict which finally boiled over after decades. Blaming Irans increased action on Biden is stupid.

Again, I don't think Biden is faultless. His continued funding of the genocide in Palestine is awful and I fundamentally disagree with it. But criticizing him for stupid made up reasons is well...stupid.

Conclusion:

Ok, so Dave playing a lot of clips and not adding a lot of original ideas to his commentary took me off guard the last time that I talked about him but this time I was ready for it. This episode didn't break a lot of new ground but I felt that it would be a good opportunity to talk about something about Dave that needs to be said and it's that his content is so deeply lazy.

Think about it. Your average Dave Rubin episode is just him playing television clips completely out of context and then saying a two second conservative culture war related soundbite after it. Dave Rubin basically gets mad at TV for a living.

Even when he's trying to make an argument, he just mumbles something that doesn't really make any sense and then lets someone more articulate like Megyn Kelly pick up the pieces. It's to the point where I would be willing to wager that a good 50% of his show is just clips of other people talking.

This is because Dave Rubin is a grifter who doesn't really bring any new ideas to the table outside of "I'm gay and I'm also conservative". I feel like a big part of him realizes that when he talks for long periods of time he usually ends up making a fool of himself.

And it's not just the clips either, he barely researches what he's talking about. Take for example, the Daily Show coverage. With a five second Google search I knew more about the story than Dave did and as a result was able to point out his inaccuracies and make him look like a complete idiot. Same thing with him not realizing that Trump was found liable for sexual abuse. This is basic shit that you need to know when you are trying to act like the authority on a subject. But Dave doesn't even look into it because he's too busy clipping NBC and being deeply lazy.

Anyway, cheers and I'll see you in the next one.