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storiesofsvu · 2 years ago

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Brazen Qualities Ch 11

Warnings: language, political bullshit, some angst.

The next morning you felt like you could use about eight more espressos before you were ready to tackle your day. You were certainly off your game and prayed that work wise, nothing major came across your desk, you had enough mess on your hands as is. Punctual as ever, Heather was at your office right at nine, you were incredibly thankful for the extra coffee in her hand, groaning as the liquid soothed through your body.

“You look like crap.” She greeted, half teasing, half concerned.

“I didn’t get much sleep.” You couldn’t help but softly sigh, leaning into her palm as she stroked your cheek.

“You should duck out early today then, take some personal time.” Heather settled into a chair across from your desk.

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question.” Crossing your arms infront of you, you leant onto the desk, “do you remember what the definition of extortion is Heather?”

“What is this about?”

“Whatever the fuck was in that journal! I really wish you’d bothered to enlighten me that you were planning on blackmailing the President!”

“I knew you wouldn’t approve. I took matters into my own hands.”

“When did you go to him?”

“It doesn’t mater I-“

“WHEN!?”

“Thurday night.” She huffed in defeat.

“For fucks sake.” You muttered.

“Why?”

“If there was any chance that he came threatening to me first, I could pursue a case of first degree extortion, get him kicked out of the running if not completely out of office. But you swung first…and now I can’t.”

“He threatened you?” She felt her blood start to boil, why did Underwood need to use you to get to her instead of just coming straight to the source, he could easily leave you out of this.

“Technically both of us. He wants you to drop out of the running.”

“Absolutely not.” Heather shook her head and you sighed in annoyance, “it’s his word against mine, and half the world already doesn’t trust him.”

“Oh he’s got more than enough leverage.”

“He’s lying then. So what if he has the recording from the office, we claim the audio was altered somehow, that it wasn’t actually me saying it, or that it didn’t come from our office at all. Wost thing that happens, I lose out on a few votes, mainly republicans.”

“This isn’t about the votes Heather! Don’t you get that? There is so much more riding on this.”

“What are you talking about?” Sighing heavily you plucked the thumb drive from your purse, clicking it into your computer, crooking your finger at Heather.

“C’mere. I wanna show you something.” She paused briefly as she stood, concerned at your sudden change of demeanour, as if you were teasing her now instead of berating her. Once she was on your side of the desk, you hit play on the video.

“Motherfucker.”

“I don’t know how they got it, but they have it. There’s also footage of the hot tub from a security camera.”

“You’re sure this came from Underwood.”

“He showed up at my door last night.” You grimaced at the memory, “he’s also watched the tape in its entirety.” That made Heather’s skin absolutely crawl, the thought of anyone seeing such an intimate evening was bad, but Underwood himself? Felt like a whole new level of violation

“This is bad.” She pushed off your desk, beginning to pace slowly through your office, “fuck. I’ve got to get that journal.”

“You don’t even HAVE the journal?! Jesus, is the politics rotting your brain?”

“It’s fine! Doug probably feels betrayed by Underwood, we’ll get the journal and fire back. If this leaks then at least something will leak on the Underwood’s too.”

“Heather…” you warned, “you don’t want this getting out.”

“Fuck needing the republican votes, I still have a chance at this! He can’t bully me into dropping out of the race.”

“This isn’t about the election anymore Heather!! Jesus! This cannot get out! Published or leaked!”

“You’re worried about your career.”

“I’m worried about your family! You think you want your seventeen year old son to find it while he’s surfing some porn site? You want all your kids friends to know about it, probably have watched it? Talk about a load of bullying! Not to mention your husband! This will fucking destroy you Heather! You think you’ll be able to take office while you’re in the middle of a disastrous divorce? Hell you just made a speech about the sanctity of marriage last week at the Underwood rumours!”

“He can try to destroy me all he wants but like hell if he thinks he can take you down as collateral damage.”

“I can still be a special prosecutor with a sex tape. You can’t be you. Much less the President. You need to drop out of the race and pray for the best.”

“If we don’t have leverage on him what’s his motivation to destroy the tape?”

Your phone pinged with a notification before you could open your mouth, you swiped the notification that pulled open an app, glancing at the screen before you closed your phone again.

“Anything important?” Heather asked.

“No, just an Amazon package delivery.” Then you froze, the wheels in your head spinning faster, pulling strings together with grace, “do you agree to drop out?” Heather sighed heavily, running a hand over her face, she knew at this point, even if she had the journal, she really didn’t have another choice, ruining her entire families lives wasn’t something she wanted to do.

“Yes.”

“Okay.” You hastily started gathering your things, “call Cynthia, start working on your speech, set up a live appearance for later this week. I’ll call you later.”

“Where are you going?”

“To save your ass! Again! You owe me a raise Dunbar!”

“How about I just up your benefits?” God, this woman had literally no chill sometimes you could hear the smirk in her voice, stuttering in the doorway,

“Okay now is not the time…”

“Ms Vanderbilt, it is so lovely to see you again. And so soon. I suppose you’re here to tell me Ms Dunbar’s dropping out?” Underwood was ever the sly piece of crap. It disgusted you the way his eyes seemed to be able to see right through your suit, knowing what was hidden beneath it.

“I’m here to make a deal.”

“You lawyers always think you can save some trouble by making deals. What do you want?”

“Solicitor General. Ms Dunbar takes a seat on the bench. We all know Justice Jacobs is refusing anyone else’s nomination. The tape gets destroyed.”

“And what do I get out of it?”

“Ms Dunbar steps down from the presidential running. On her terms.” You flipped your iPad open, “and this doesn’tget leaked to the press.”

When your phone pinged earlier, it was a notification from your doorbell camera, motion activiated, recording both video and audio. Underwood thought he was being smart by going to your house instead of tracking you down at your office, less cameras, less chance of being seen. In turn, he’d screwed himself over.

“This alone is enough evidence to indict you, and impeachment doesn’t look good on anyone.”

“You little bitch.” He murmured. To be completely honest, he was impressed, you had more fire in you than he’d originally realized, it was a shame he didn’t have you working for him in the first place.

“I didn’t go out of my way to unlawfully survey anyone. That’s another charge I can lay on you. A doorbell cam is nothing out of the ordinary these days.”

“And the journal?”

“Never left Doug’s possession. I don’t even know what’s in it, Dunbar’s the only one who’s read it.”

Underwood cursed under his breath, retreating to his desk, pulling out a flash drive. He made a show of dropping it to the floor before stomping on it, crushing it to pieces.

“The copy on your iPad?” He pulled that out from a shelf on the wall, handing the device to you. You knew how to permanently delete things, triple checking it hadn’t been in any cloud storage, feeling a light sense of relief. Sure, there was still a chance there was a copy out there somewhere, but Underwood seemed to be fully agreeing to the deal. The threat of impeachment was a big one he didn’t want to risk.

“You really care about your reputation this much?” He questioned as you handed the tablet back to him.

“No.” You stated simply, “it’s more about the fact that you’re threatening to destroy Dunbar’s entire family for the sake of your campaign.”

“Oh sweetheart, I think you did that when you decided to get in bed with her.”

“She’s announcing Tuesday at ten thirty. I expect our contracts drawn up and on my desk no later than eleven.”

You didn’t wait for a dismissal, turning and leaving the Oval without a second look back.

It was a surprise to you when you arrived in your office Tuesday to find the Manila envelopes containing your and Heather’s new job offers first thing in the morning. You looked over both of them with a fine toothed comb, expecting Underwood to have weaseled some kind of loophole into them, but everything was by the book. You signed yours, sliding it back into the envelope and put Heather’s into your bag to give to her later. Letting out a heavy sigh, you felt the relief coursing through your body, finally, this was all goddamn behind you. You made a mental note to not work on a campaign ever again.

Ten thirty came and went, Heather’s main team by her side as she announced that she was dropping out of the race. She’d come up with some statement that she had chosen to take on the Justice position instead, securing her a guaranteed career for life instead of one with an expiry date. You were on your way out of the building, falling in step beside Heather in the alley as you walked to the car.

“You fucking bitch.”

Fucking Doug. What the fuck was he doing here.

“You bail on me, and then get me fired. Publicy. I’ll never work again, it’s completely humiliating.” He was slurring his words, already teetering more on his feet than normal.

“Doug you need to leave.” You stated firmly, knowing he was drunk, and that he probably knew what was on the destoryed tape. There were still reporters inside the building, the last thing you needed was for your secret to come out after doing everything you could to make sure it was safe.

“Oh fuck you.” He spat.

You saw the flash of movement and knew instantly what was about to happen, the panic in your chest rising at the glint of metal pointed toward Heather. Your instincts took over without even thinking, shoving her behind you, out of range of the bullet right as the shot went off.

The sound of the gun, and the scream from Heather gained more than enough attention from inside the building, and in his state, Doug definitely wasn’t getting away with this. You collapsed into the side of the car, hands clutching at your abdomen where blood was seeping through your shirt at an alarming rate.

“No..no, no, no…you’re gonna be fine, look at me, you’re gonna be fine.” Heather ripped off her jacket, pressing the fabric against your skin. You knew her words were trying to reassure you, but it was getting more painful to breathe each second that went by. Glassy tears flooding her eyes was the last thing you remembered before it all went black.

#heather dunbar #heather dunbar x reader #house of cards #brazen qualities

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tardistimes · 4 years ago

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Change: Chapter 3

Summary: In the aftermath of X-Men: First Class, Moira MacTaggert struggles to regain her memories but perhaps with the help of Nick Fury she may come closer to discovering the truth.

Fandoms: X-Men (Prequels), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel (Comics), Agent Carter

Word Count: 2,200

Mr Stark (Howard, as he kept insisting), Dr Wilkes, and Dr Samberly had taken more scans than Moira could count, more blood than she would have thought possible to live without, and asked more questions than she could recollect. When they were done, she was shepherded into one of the standard bunks for on-site personnel members, after being told it was too late – or more accurately too early – to travel home. It was also wise not to drive back to the city given the last test had involved Samberly shining lights into her eyes for several minutes. Bright spots still flashed behind her eyelids when she blinked.

Thankful to have a room to herself, Moira dropped onto the bottom bunk and leaned her head back against the smooth stone wall. There was a short thrill when the situation stirred a feeling of familiarity but it quickly disappeared, offering no flashes of forgotten memories.

Moira took a deep breath as she contemplated the day ahead. She was going to be an agent again. Going through another induction and more training. Hopefully, unlike last time, the new S.H.I.E.L.D recruits wouldn’t spend the whole course at the academy tormenting her for having her reproductive organs on the inside. In response to their jibes that the closest she would ever get to agent status was to sleep with one of them, she went and got one of the highest scores on record. Much to her team’s displeasure.

She stood up to take off her suit before settling under the covers. Dr Wilkes had offered to find her some clothes for tomorrow but, in case he forgot, it wouldn’t do for it to get wrinkled. As her mother always said, first impressions are the most lasting. Agent Carter had told her on the journey down to the labs that if she was willing she would need to go through an induction tomorrow, originally scheduled for some entry-level scientists, which she would need to complete before she could be assigned to a superior officer.

“It’s nothing too complicated.” Carter had explained. “Just some routine history on the organisation, an explanation of the various divisions and what to expect during your training.”

“How long will my training last?”

“Given your experience with the CIA there should be some areas you are already adept at – but you should be prepared for it to last a while. We’ll make sure it’s worked around whatever the doctors come up with. I’m sure if we gave them their way you’d be down there all the time. They do love their tests.” She sighed, well familiar with their antics. “I’ve worked with Howard since the war and when he’s confronted by something of a conundrum he really does devote himself to it. He’ll have you in the lab fairly regularly until he’s found a solution.”

Lucky me, Moira had thought idly. She’d had her fair run of physical examinations, both at the academy and during her time as an agent; despite the regularity, she had never grown to like them.

“What does S.H.I.E.L.D training entail?” Moira asked as they turned into a maintenance stairwell and proceeded downstairs.

“For a field agent you’ll receive relative strength training, language tuition – although Fury informed me you already speak proficient Russian, so that may not be necessary – then there’s instruction in weapons handling, martial arts or boxing are also common options. Although that really all depends on your superior officer and what they advise. Your test scores from the CIA prove you’re already efficiently trained in the basics so, personally, I’d move you straight into more specialised fighting styles.”

“Being a field agent involves a lot of action then?” She inferred.

Carter stopped at the entrance to the laboratories. “If that’s something you’re opposed to, we could move you into reconnaissance or into a team, something less physically demanding?”

“No, no I’m not opposed to that. And I’m glad of the opportunity to learn more, I just...” Moira breathed, “I’m just wondering how peaceful an organisation you are if your standard training programme involves martial arts or boxing?”

“The CIA offers boxing electives.” Carter defended.

“Yes, but they are elective.” And something she wasn’t given access to as a female agent.

“S.H.I.E.L.D will never force you to do something you don’t want to. But we do want to ensure that you are prepared and capable of keeping yourself, and those around you, safe.”

Carter held the door open for her and ushered her into a lab that must have spanned half the length of the first floor.

“I suppose boxing could be interesting,” Moira admitted.

Tossing onto her side, Moira took a deep breath before flipping the light switch by her head off. It didn’t make much of a difference to the brightness of the room; the yellow streetlights outside the barracks streamed through the uncovered window. She turned over to face the wall. Her eyes were closed for half a minute before they opened again.

As ridiculous as it sounded, she felt like it was the first day before school. Except, instead of school, she had signed up to work for yet another intelligence agency. An agency where she would be working on more cases like the Hellfire Club. Encountering, what? More mutants, more people with powers – natural or manmade?

She was effectively forced out of the Mutants Division. For what, her humanity? At least S.H.I.E.L.D was run by and populated by her own species who didn’t expect her to have powers and fight psychopaths determined to start a new world order by killing all humans. Well, she might still be expected to fight psychopaths.

Carter made it sound like she would have the opportunity to learn some incredible things. Moira had always been jealous at the academy by the men who went into the boxing club. Her superiors had argued she couldn’t partake as there were no other women for her to fight, and it would be unfair to pit her against a man. Now she could learn it. Maybe another language too, something she had long wanted to do.

Yet there was still something that didn’t sit right with her. A feeling that worried away at her, twisting in her gut. A feeling, much like she had experienced when she’d entered the bunks and had experienced a moment of familiarity with the situation. Was it possible a ghost of memory was enough to make her feel this way? That, despite missing the memory, something about her time in the Mutants Division was enough to leave her apprehensive about joining S.H.I.E.L.D?

Another question she would have to leave unanswered until – if – she got her memories back.

She tried to think rationally. What was it about S.H.I.E.L.D that worried her? There was the fact that she still didn’t really understand much about the organisation or what her part in it would be. Was it also possible that even without her memories she still felt a loyalty to Xavier and the other mutants? And was that loyalty even her own or something that had been implanted in there when he’d rooted through her mind? To stop her from doing what she potentially would. To inform an intelligence agency about the mutants. To give away their secrets.

Shuffling until she was on her back, Moira’s eyes clenched shut as the yellow light crossed her face again.

She could still walk away.

“Moira?”

Eyes snapping open, the yellow light had been replaced by soft sunlight, slightly shadowed by Agent Carter who was hovering next to her bed.

“I did try to wake you by knocking. You’re due in the conference hall in half an hour.” She apologised.

“I don’t even remember falling asleep.” Moira murmured, sitting up.

“I guess we should put alarm clocks in here. I’ll just leave you to get dressed. There are some toiletries in the drawers if you need it. Meet me in the hall when you’re ready.” Carter said before taking her leave.

Wilkes hadn’t lived up to his promise to get her some fresh clothes. Evidently, Carter was right. Give scientists a puzzle to crack and everything else falls by the wayside. Thankfully after brushing her hair through and putting her suit back on she still looked presentable, if a little ruffled.

Carter passed her a bagel when she opened the door. “Howard had them flown in from New York.”

“Thank you,” Moira said. Agent Carter didn’t seem to find that strange, so such luxury must be fairly commonplace which she found quite amusing.

“Are you giving the induction?” She asked. Moira found it rather strange that the co-founder of the entire organisation was not only escorting her to a routine induction for new recruits but was also waking her up and giving her breakfast.

“No, someone else will.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure I can find the room if you have something else to...” she trailed off under Carter’s scrutinising gaze. “Is something the matter?”

“Once the session is over Howard wants you in the lab again. Apparently, he had some equipment brought in from Stark Industries to run more tests with.” She replied, looking forward again.

“All right,” Moira said unsurely, making quick work of her bagel to fill the rest of their silent walk. Despite her offer, she doubted she could get to the conference room alone after the number of corridors they turned down to get to there. Without Carter, Moira was positive she would have lost her way. The S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters were impressively large. It really was incredible their organisation managed to remain secret.

“Pay close attention,” Carter said as means of goodbye, leaving her at the door. “I’ll be testing you later.”

Eventually, eleven other recruits joined her. As promised they were all scientists but the induction was generalised and covered the scope of the organisation. Specialists – which, after hearing the outline of training Carter had provided, appeared to be Moira’s career trajectory – were entry-level three. According to this structure, there were six levels in total, although, given the command structure Moira had seen so far, she was positive there had to be higher clearance levels. Evidently so high no one could know that they existed.

The lecture involved a loose history about the S.S.R, Super Soldier’s Initiative and Hydra before progressing onto the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D and the roles played by Stark, Carter and Phillips in its foundation and current operations. The director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Rick Stoner, was touched on but there was no mention of Agent Fury. If he were a simple liaison as claimed, it would make sense no references were made to him, but Moira felt that his responsibilities in the organisation were more complicated than that, given his role among the other powerful players during her interview yesterday.

Carter’s role in the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D surprised her immensely as the speaker went into depth about her role with the S.S.R, Howling Commandos and working alongside Captain America – who was real, with a picture to prove it – to defeat Hydra. By all accounts, she was a highly skilled field operative who did the majority of the groundwork in building the organisation after Stark and Phillips came up with the novel concept. The three of them quickly promoted S.H.I.E.L.D from a U.S. to an international agency, coming under the authority of the United Nations, giving it near global authority. Frankly, it was a complete wonder how she, an ex-CIA agent, had never heard of it. To function on that scale, the operation must be enormous.

By the time the lecturer had finished, Moira was feeling that her reaction when entering the meeting yesterday was decidedly inadequate.

Letting the scientists, who were already discussing their upcoming work, pass before her she found herself sharing half smiles with the other female recruits who walked past her. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D was the place for her after all.

Agent Carter was sitting primly in one of the armchairs outside in the waiting area. Moira almost felt star-struck and, judging by the double-takes from the other recruits, she wasn’t the only one.

“Now then,” Carter began, a wry grin crossing her face, “what does S.H.I.E.L.D stand for?”

“Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division.” Moira replied slowly, doubting her answer the entire time she gave it. It really was a ridiculously long name.

“Who created the Super-Soldier Serum?”

“Dr Erskine.”

“Who was the first person to take the serum?”

“Johann Schmidt… also known as Red Skull.” She added, trying to score extra points.

Carter pursed her lips, satisfied with Moira’s answers. “Be warned, I’ll keep testing you.” She said, rising from her seat.

“Are you here to take me to the lab?”

“No, I will let you find your own way today. I dare say you need to get familiar with this building, you’ll be spending a lot of time here. What I am here to tell you is that I expect you to meet me at the training facilities, that’s just beside the eastern gate, at 0800 hours tomorrow. I would make it earlier but you need time to commute from home. Just be sure to set an alarm, I won’t tolerate tardiness.”

Moira frowned and hastened to follow her as she started marching ahead. “I don’t understand. You’re training me?”

“Yes. As of right now, I’m your superior officer. Do not let me down.” She said, her warm tone undermining the strictness of her words. “I don’t undertake personal training of new recruits often so I expect the best you can give me, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Not ma’am. Agent.” Carter corrected.

“Of course, Agent Carter.” Moira said, her lips twitching into a slight smile before she hastily corrected it.

#moira mactaggert #moira mactaggert x charles xavier #moira x charles #x-men first class #marvel cinematic universe #agent carter #peggy carter #nick fury #s.h.i.e.l.d #formerly abandoned fic #editing old chapters

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thesportssoundoff · 5 years ago

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Playoff Droughts And Who Can Break Theirs

Joey

Baseball season is approaching and in the interest of breaking up the monotony of what figures to be a LONG and painful spring training, I wanted to take a peek whimsically while looking backwards. There's no more enjoyable story than when a team that's been excluded from the postseason dance for quite some time gets their invite. Sometimes it's years of hard work and team building and other years its due to ownership just throwing money around and sometimes? It's just a fluke luck circumstance not to be repeated for quite some time. For the sake of doing something of a bit of a project, I decided to take a brief look at teams that have not made the playoffs in over five years. I chose five years arbitrarily I suppose because to me five years or more without a playoff run is a genuine drought whereas four or less just feels like a lull regardless of expectations. Yankees fans may consider three years without the playoffs to be a drought whereas that's if anything a lull or a break in tradition. Teams that have been out of it for five years or more are teams that are either mired in long term BAD baseball or embracing mediocrity at best and so five years just felt right. Also I wanted to do it since the invent of the two game wild card but then it would be literally just three teams and nobody wants that.

Of the eight teams who have missed the playoffs for five years straight or longer, who are most likely to break that streak and join the dance? Well...

1- Philadelphia Phillies Last Playoff Appearance: 2011

Last year's darling picks, the Phillies have been out of the playoffs since 2011. For fun facts, 2011 was also the first year of the Chromebook, snapchat and the release of Elder Scrolls: Skryim. If you read this space for MMA? 2011 was the year Jon Jones beat Shogun for the LHW title, the Strikeforce HW Grand Prix started and Alistair Overeem's UFC debut. It's been a while and to the credit of Philadelphia, they've tried a multitude of ways from riding out the final years of aging veterans to rehauling their farm system to spending and spending big. It's not for a lack of trying they haven't made it back to the playoffs! Last year they seemed armed to roll through a perceived weak NL East with big names and big money across the board. Of course little did we know the Nationals would be better without Bryce Harper and the Phillies wouldn't even crack the top two of the division. Out goes Gabe Kapler and in comes Joe Girardi who will be tasked with VETERAN MANAGING his way through this ultra talented and underachieving roster that has added the likes of Zach Wheeler, Didi Gregorious as well as Andrew McCutchen who was lost early into 2019 with a torn ACL. The Phillies boast an insane line up as if Didi and Cutch are healthy and productive then you've got a core of Jean Segura, JT Realmuto, Didi, McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper. The rotation is pretty damn spiffy (health permitting) with Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin and Jake Arrieta plus flostam as a fifth if need be. The Phillies are always going to be a team that has slumps magnified and streaks glorified (such is life with Bryce Harper) but I can't see them not cracking the playoffs in some form or fashion this year. If they don't make the playoffs, we may need to try and discuss if there's some kind of a curse out there on the Phanatic.

2- Cincinnati Reds Last Playoff Appearance: 2013

Gotta admit I had no idea the Reds had a playoff cameo back in 2013. Guess that's just one of those years lost to time. Fun facts of 2013? Grand Theft Auto 5 came out that year, Yahoo purchased this hell site and the UFC brought women into the organization for the first time ever. The Reds spoke openly about wanting to spend a bit in the offseason and so they did, flexing some financial muscle with deals for Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos to help out a lineup featuring the likes of Joey Votto, Nick Senzel and Eugenio Suarez. If the Reds are going to make a serious run of things, it'll likely be on the arms of a rejuvenated Sonny Gray, mercurial Trevor Bauer and the league's best kept secret to casual fans Luis Castillo. There's obviously going to be concerns about a team that hits a lot of dingers but strikes out a bunch and a somewhat unheralded bullpen but the Reds have power, they've gotten better and they've got a cadre of arms to flex at any time. Also? The NL Central figures to be up in the air as the Cubs seem to coast with the core they have until the rebuild comes around, the Cardinals and Brewers underwent massive changes and the Pirates figure to be flat out bad. There's never been a more clear path for the Reds to make some October noise.

3- Los Angeles Angels Last Playoff Appearance: 2014

The year is 2014. In the real world, Colorado legalizes the purchase of wacky tobacky, selfies became "a thing" in need of forever going away and the occulus rift creates a youtube grift genre. Sports wise? The MLB struggles through record rating woes, the Cowboys finally break through in the Jason Garrett tenure with a 12-4 record, the UFC is undergoing massive upheaval as stars retire or are suspended for PEDs, Bellator hosts its first PPV which in turn leads to the ousting of Bjorn Rebney for Scott Coker and LeBron James leaves Miami to go back where it all began in Cleveland. That's the last time the Angels saw a playoff game and it's been beaten to death at this point. "WHY DON'T THE ANGELS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS DURING MIKE TROUT'S PRIME?!" is tired and done to death but for those of you who feel the same way, 2020 marks the BEST chance for that to become a fad question (or perhaps just morph into "WHY CAN'T THE BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL WIN THE WORLD SERIES ON HIS OWN?!") since the Angels are pretty damn loaded for bare. With the Astros about to endure a pretty weird season and the A's always lurking, the Angels will roll into the year with three bonafide superstars in Anthony Rendon, Shohei Otani and Mike Trout. The pieces around them aren't bad shakes either as Andrelton Simmons is a defensive whiz, David Fletcher is one of those solid under the radar types and the rotation isn't flashy but it should be competent with minor league depth to make moves if they see a big fish out there. The Angels would've been higher up had they gotten Ross Stripling and Joc Pedersen in a deal but since that fell off, I feel like 3rd behind the Reds and Phillies is a fine spot to put them in.

4- Chicago White Sox Last Playoff Appearance: 2008

2008 will probably best be known as the year of change headlined by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. It was the year Fidel Castro stepped down in Cuba. China got the olympics in Beijing and people were TOTALLY cool about that with nary any controversy whatsoever. Beyond that? 2008 was the year I got into MMA and that was a special time, dudes. It was also the year where the White Sox saw their last real sustained succeed with its last postseason appearance. The White Sox feel like they've been in a rebuild since pretty much the end of the Ozzie Guillen tenure and despite multiple managers, multiple attempts to figure it out, rebuilds aplenty and some damn good talent coming through the organization, it's been a rough go of it for the majority of 2010 to 2019. Put it this way, the LAST time the White Sox made the playoffs, Chris Sale was a 22 year old rookie and Paul Konerko was still an active player. They've got a chance to kick off this next decade as a bit of a sleeper team in the Central. This team can hit and one can assume that another year of development for phenom talents like Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jiminez can only help. Tim Anderson for better or worse has a style and swagger that generates attention but it is fair to remember that for at least one half a season, he was a phenomenal player worthy of the acclaim. The White Sox have tried hard to secure elite free agents (Manny Machado and Zack Wheeler) but it's been a bust so at this point it's going to be up to them to draft, develop and trade for it. It would not surprise me if the White Sox are good enough in June and July to make a big deal to try and push them over the hump and chase for the second wild card.

5- San Diego Padres Last Playoff Appearance: 2006

The Padres last made the playoffs in the year of the Nintendo Wii. Floyd Mayweather hadn't even come up with his Money Mayweather gimmick yet! Lost to baseball obscurity, the Padres had at the very least an interesting team out west. The likes of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr, arguably the worst defensive outfield in the history of the universe and freakishly good young arms like Chris Paddack and Joey Luchessi at least made them fun to watch. They weren't "good" but this is a team that was still struggling to balance expensive veterans with clout (Machado, Eric Hosmer, Will Meyers) with really good young talent trying to figure things out. The Padres figure to be better with a full season of Tatis Jr, more production from guys like Hosmer and Machado plus improvements in the outfield with Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham (hold your jokes, Nats fans) figure to give this team a chance. There's a pretty good bullpen (Emilio Pagan is a sneaky nice pick up) and plenty of talent in their 26 man roster. The NL West has so much legit top talent with the D-Backs and Dodgers figuring to be really good that it's hard to make an argument for the Padres to be a playoff contender but they figure to try and trying is truly half the battle.

6- Miami Marlins Last Playoff Appearance: 2003

It's kind of a bummer that we didn't get our decennial Marlins "The fuck?" World Series win but they made up for it by giving us Jeffrey Loria and David Samson fucking things up for most of the decade leading to Derek FUCKING Jeter opting to get into the management game much to the chagrin of most folks on all sides. The Marlins are in the midst of rebuilding....again. Don't expect them to compete but they've got some good talent to at least want to see play. Brian Anderson, Caleb Smith, Jorge Alfaro and a bundle of veteran signings that will at the very least make the Marlins a fun trade partner in July will keep this team relevant. Wouldn't surprise me if the Marlins flirt with a 20 win swing from where they were last year.

7- Seattle Mariners Last Playoff Appearance: 2001

My god man. The Mariners were SO close in 2018, winning 89 games and finishing a few spots out of a Wild Card spot. As if they decided that this core couldn't do it, the Mariners went to work tearing their team apart and were rewarded with a pretty blegh squad that was once again picked apart at the deadline. To their credit they have some spiffy talent worth watching, namely the infield duo of JP Crawford and Shed Long. They’ve also got some fun young arms who might take the next step. Just don't expect them to win many games.

8- Detroit Tigers Last Playoff Appearance: 2014

The Tigers are aways away from being contenders. They're not trying to be contenders. They're in the midst of what could best be described as a multiple year rebuild after riding out the end days of the core from the start of the 2010's. They will be bad but god bless 'em for embracing it.

#MLB #playoffs #baseball

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familyvisionis2020 · 5 years ago

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Day 1 - Asheville (1 of 2)

“Top 3 Guitar Players of My Life:

Rick

Jeff

Jason”

-Jeremy, Family Vision bassist

Today is day one of the 2020 Family Vision band tour. I, Nebraska, am a freelance journalist working on a podcast series about false crime. In the meantime, I negotiated with the post-punk/no-wave band Family Vision, and they allowed me to interview them over the course of 16 days, on the single stipulation that I first join the band learn all the songs practice once a week for eight months and then go on a national tour with them. That was eight months ago.

At this moment I’m sitting up straight, comfortably nestled in a modestly upholstered burgundy 2002 Ford Econoline Van. All but one of the rear bench seats have been removed to accommodate the combo amps, drum hardware, duffel bags and other pieces of kit. Jeremy, copper coif glossy and pert behind gold aviators, handles the van with calm confidence, signaling attentively and passing on the left with aplomb. John, rhythm guitarist, and Kabir, lead guitarist and vocalist, puzzle over charger hookups in the back before passing around a Lush Botanicals fresh rose water spray bottle. We all spray it directly into our faces. The boys take L-Theanine capsules and pop multivitamin gummies. Jeremy sips his Joe Van Gogh cold brew slowly, rationing for the drive west. Tonight we play The Mothlight in Asheville, a small club venue that employs friend of the band who booked the show and another friend who makes memes on Instagram.

“True beauty should shock, not comfort,” says Jeremy, before deftly avoiding a skein if debris on the highway and negotiating the FM band knob onto a country station. Most of what comes through is sibilants; the boys do a brief by about melodic post-hardcore.

I learn that the band name Family Vision came about as a result of a Facebook game in which people would make nonsense lists of the top 3 local establishments or experts in a given field. Jeremy did a generic guitar guy one. Kabir listed the top restaurants in Carrboro as all the same moderately priced Italian restaurant. Then a friend suggested local optometrist Carrboro Family Vision be included among the top restaurants. Labor responded that that would make a good band name, and that was it.

What do four young men mean to a world growing ever more isolated, alienated? On the precipice of a global pandemic, what can be said about casual travelers other than ‘you charlatans are hedonistic disease vector-chumps’? As markets crash and an election looms, where does No Wave fit in? As values crumble and the nuclear family is more frequently identified as a site of horror and trauma, what does it mean to have a band name that includes the word ‘Family’?

In Raleigh last night, the police shot a young man in the back. A religious scholar in Chicago proclaims that for those among you whose life path has been derailed by crisis or whose hearts are hardened by trauma, simply remaining alive is an act of piety. In a church basement in Durham, an old woman explains that God does not love her because she is good, rather, God loves her because God is good. She hedges dyspeptic spirituality by suggesting her ‘god’ is just shorthand for a way to treat people better. Or Good Orderly Direction, Or Gift of Desperation, take your pick.

Meanwhile, this journalist pays the bills answering telephones and selling legal representation to the speeders and other highly mobile reprobates that haunt the concrete corridors of the Carolinas. The opportunity cost of two and a half weeks without pay is a steep one. The story I’m invited to tell is familiar, common, anodyne one. The Pulitzer committee will overlook the story. The opportunity to feel present, a part of, of a moment, present, sharing, belonging, with purpose—the opportunity to play may be a superior award.

Pearl Jam thrums over the wooshing din of I-40 rushing by my window. I pass the Greensboro exit that leads to my high school job, the DMV where I was first permitted to drive, a stretch of guardrail decorated with a grave marker I remember. All is well from the passenger seat of the Econoline.

Kabir will move to New York City with his girlfriend this summer after tour, he says. Jeremy already lives in Ridgewood. John and I will stay in Orange County for the foreseeable future. Gusts of manueur and diesel, but I taste 5 spearmint. AC/DC now, NC Weighted plates, pedal electronics and microtones and Peters Creek Parkway.

Freelance journalism lets me write without rigor. I wonder what my words are for, what compels me. I have felt as loved as anything when I felt seen on the page, when I felt parsed. I left town with a knot of something like love tied on my heart. If it frays or freezes I’m happy I can hold it like something precious and tidy in my palms for now. Jeremy will move in with the woman he loves, he thinks; Kabir too; John already has. I worry my inbox like a stone.

The band will play tonight, they expect peanuts for pay, hope for good floorspace to sleep, plan to plug in the hotpot and straight feast on homemade hummus. They say Asheville is built on a giant crystal. I’m unbound by fact checkers. I bought the same pair of white Reebok Classics I saw my sister wear in NYC. After some fearful hand wringing, I have cut and cuffed my pant legs.

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bohemianrhapsody86 · 6 years ago

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200 Things About Me (originally 200 Things You Can Put In My Ask)

I got this off of @rami-malek-trash - don’t know who the original poster was, sorry if it’s you. I’m bored and cramping and no one usually sends me asks anyway, so I’m just going to answer all of these myself

200: My crush’s name is: Drew (Now boyfriend, but he was my middle school crush) 199: I was born in: 1986 198: I am really: cool 197: My cellphone company is: T-Mobile 196: My eye color is: green 195: My shoe size is: 9.5/10 194: My ring size is: 9/10 193: My height is: 5′6″ 192: I am allergic to: Nothing 191: My 1st car was: 2001 PT Cruiser 190: My 1st job was: Server at a local pizzeria 189: Last book you read: Startalk: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Space Travel, Sci-Fi, the Human Race, the Universe, and Beyond by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 188: My bed is: Not very comfortable. I need a new mattress, but I need a job first. 187: My pet: A siamese cat named Chico. 186: My best friend: Amanda 185: My favorite shampoo is: I like using Aussie 2-in-1, I also like using Shimmer Lights occasionally so I can keep my gray hairs nice and shiny. 184: Xbox or ps3: PS3 183: Piggy banks are: Cool. I have one that counts my change lol 182: In my pockets: Nothing because they hate putting usable pockets in women’s pants. 181: On my calendar: I marked where I started my period yesterday, and my boyfriends 32nd birthday is next Tuesday. 180: Marriage is: Something I want everyone to have the option for if they want it. 179: Spongebob can: use his imagination 178: My mom: is amazing! 177: The last three songs I bought were? Cool and Sucker by The Jonas Brothers, Don’t really buy many singles, just albums if I’m interested and their cheap. 176: Last YouTube video watched: Brooke Candy - Paper or Plastic 175: How many cousins do you have? Too many to remember 174: Do you have any siblings? Yes, an older brother and older half-sister. 173: Are your parents divorced? Yes, they divorced back in 1999 172: Are you taller than your mom? Yes. We used to be the same height, but gravity has taken a hold of her and squashed her down. 171: Do you play an instrument? I used to play the trombone in middle school, but that was 20 years ago. I’m sure if I ever got my hands on one again, I might remember a scale or two. 170: What did you do yesterday? Went around town job hunting and then bought a maxi dress at a local craft store. [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight:Yes 168: Luck: Yes 167: Fate: Yes 166: Yourself: Sometimes 165: Aliens: Yes 164: Heaven: Yes and No 163: Hell: We live there now. 162: God: No 161: Horoscopes: Yes 160: Soul mates: Yes 159: Ghosts: Yes 158: Gay Marriage: Yes 157: War: No 156: Orbs: Yes/No 155: Magic: Yes [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: Kisses 153: Drunk or High: High 152: Phone or Online: Online 151: Red heads or Black haired: Black haired 150: Blondes or Brunettes: Brunette 149: Hot or cold: Cold 148: Summer or winter: Winter 147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn 146: Chocolate or vanilla:Chocolate 145: Night or Day: Night 144: Oranges or Apples: Apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: Curly 142: McDonalds or Burger King: McDonalds 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk Chocolate 140: Mac or PC: PC 139: Flip flops or high heals: Flip Flops 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and Poor 137: Coke or Pepsi: Always been a Pepsi girl 136: Hillary or Obama: Obama 135: Burried or cremated: Cremated and turned into a tree or my ashes made into a vinyl 134: Singing or Dancing: Singing 133: Coach or Chanel: Neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Katherine McPhee 131: Small town or Big city: Small Town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller 128: Manicure or Pedicure: Mani 127: East Coast or West Coast: East Coast - never been to the West Coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Birthday because it sometimes falls on Thanksgiving. 125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate 124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Neither, Cubbies til the day I die. [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: Pointless 121: George Bush: Better than the asshat in office now. 120: Gay Marriage: If I can get married to my boyfriend, the my friend Jerry should be able to get married to his boyfriend, Josh. 119: The presidential election: I hate that orange buffoon. 118: Abortion: I’m pro-choice. 117: MySpace: Always had trouble figuring out my Top 8 and what background I wanted to use. 116: Reality TV: Only thing I really watch are cooking competitions. Those are the only ones that matter. Not a fan of the Kardashians or the Bachelor/ette bullcrap. 115: Parents: My mom is amazing, my ‘dad’ was never really there. 114: Back stabbers: Asshats 113: Ebay: Hardly use it. 112: Facebook: Good to stay in touch with people you want to/some of the groups on there are awesome. 111: Work: Don’t have a job as of yet. *keeps fingers crossed I hear back from someone soon* 110: My Neighbors: Loud AF and nasty. I live in an apartment and the neighbors upstairs have so many kids and animals up there it’s ridiculous. I wish they’d leave. 109: Gas Prices: Ridiculous, but not as bad as I’ve seen it before. 108: Designer Clothes: Meh, not my style unless I find something in my size at Goodwill. 107: College: Been there, done that. Not really for me. Never graduated. 106: Sports: I like watching them, mainly baseball and basketball. The NFL can go fuck themselves. 105: My family: Love my blood relatives and my chosen family. 104: The future: It’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: last night when my boyfriend came over and brought me my phone charger. 102: Last time you ate: An hour ago. 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: At my bestie’s baby shower. 100: Cried in front of someone: Sometime last week 99: Went to a movie theater: When Endgame came out 98: Took a vacation: 2010 97: Swam in a pool: A few summers ago 96: Changed a diaper: 2007? 95: Got my nails done: 2007? 94: Went to a wedding: 1999 93: Broke a bone: Never *keeps fingers crossed* 92: Got a peircing: 2012? 91: Broke the law: I probably broke the speed limit yesterday at some point. 90: Texted: about 2am this morning. [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: My bestie Amanda and boyfriend Drew 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my cat. 87: The last movie I saw: Ant-Man 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: getting a job 85: The thing im not looking forward to: Interviewing for a job 84: People call me: loyal 83: The most difficult thing to do is: finding a job 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Yep, 77 in a 55. 81: My zodiac sign is: Sun - Sagittarius, Moon - Leo

80: The first person i talked to today was: If you count texting my boyfriend at 2am, then him. 79: First time you had a crush: Sometime in Elemetary School. 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: my mom 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: yesterday 76: Right now I am talking to: myself 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I have no clue 74: I have/will get a job: soon 73: Tomorrow: Never Comes 72: Today: Is the day 71: Next Summer: Not here 70: Next Weekend: I have no clue 69: I have these pets: 12 year old 17 lb cat named Striper. 68: The worst sound in the world: My cat hacking up a hairball. 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: myself 66: People that make you happy: my mom, brother, sister-in-law, boyfriend, best friend. 65: Last time I cried: sometime last week 64: My friends are: amazing 63: My computer is: pretty cool and loaded up with Sims stuff. 62: My School: I don’t go to school anymore. 61: My Car: gets me there. 60: I lose all respect for people who: disrespect me or my loved one. 59: The movie I cried at was: Endgame 58: Your hair color is: salt & pepper 57: TV shows you watch: Legends of Tomorrow, Worst Cooks in America, Any cooking show really. 56: Favorite web site: Tumblr 55: Your dream vacation: Somewhere away from my town 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: when I had that ovarian cyst. 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium 52: My room is: messy 51: My favorite celebrity is: too many to list 50: Where would you like to be: in bed 49: Do you want children: nope 48: Ever been in love: yes 47: Who’s your best friend: Amanda 46: More guy friends or girl friends: About the same. 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: music 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: my grandma 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: I don’t even have a 5 minute plan 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: Kinda, not really 41: Have you pre-named your children: Nope 40: Last person I got mad at: The Dump, but that’s a daily thing. 39: I would like to move to: out of the US 38: I wish I was a professional: crocheter/crafter [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: Butterfinger Cups 36: Vehicle: Don’t really have one 35: President: Barack Obama 34: State visited: Pennsylvania 33: Cellphone provider: Always been with T-Mobile 32: Athlete: Anthony Rizzo 31: Actor: Tom Hanks 30: Actress: Sandra Bullock 29: Singer: Freddie Mercury 28: Band: Queen 27: Clothing store: Lane Bryant 26: Grocery store: Aldi 25: TV show: Don’t really have one 24: Movie: Too many to count 23: Website: This black hole of a site 22: Animal: Cat 21: Theme park: Don’t really have one. I did enjoy Six Flags over Georgia when I went back in 2002. Dollywood is always fun but it’s been even longer than that since I’ve been there. 20: Holiday: Halloween 19: Sport to watch: Baseball 18: Sport to play: Nothing. 17: Magazine: Entertainment Weekly 16: Book: Harry Potter 15: Day of the week: Thursday 14: Beach: Virginia Beach 13: Concert attended: Jonas Brothers in VA Beach 12: Thing to cook: bacon 11: Food: bacon 10: Restaurant: Hmmm....don’t know that one. 9: Radio station: Classic Hits 102.7...hardly any commercials and they tell you the artist and song title after every song. 70s, 80s, and 90s songs. 8: Yankee candle scent: Don’t have one 7: Perfume: The scented oils from a local curiosity shop have some of my fave scents. 6: Flower: Iris 5: Color: Blue 4: Talk show host: Jimmy Fallon 3: Comedian: I’ve got several 2: Dog breed: Corgi 1: Did you answer all these truthfully? Yes.

#personal #200 things about me #bored #cramping #I need some sleep but can't sleep #period brain

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sseizonsha · 6 years ago

Note

five times kissed ~

Disclaimer: this drabble features a lot of triggers. You’ve been warned.

one.

Physics demands that moving objects remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. When he’s not in the thick of everything, it often feels like the sheer force of will alone keeps him going.

The return flight from Greece makes a long and uneventful thirteen hours, but after the riots and discourse that saw him fetching the Economic Officer from a compromised location, doing absolutely nothing at all beats getting punched in the back by an M84. Turns out a bruised kidney and a number of fractured fingers are actually enough to earn a leave of absence.

Mister Diplomat exits the plane first, all smiles and PR-worthy waves for the waiting cameras, and Leon steps gingerly out after him as the first of several protective agents in detail. It burns the question to know how the press would’ve played the narrative differently, were it public information that the rescued man pissed himself after a firebomb detonated close enough to ignite his jacket. But Leon’s lips are sealed: a matter-of-fact promise offered to soothe the hysterics out of a stumbling man coming up at twice his weight.

“You live to fight the good fight another day, Sir. There’s no shame in that.” Pretty words for the sole benefit of a man who’d only ever been caught in the crossfire. Leon holds no truth in them for himself.

It’s not a sizeable envoy of congratulations and well-wishes that greets him off the tarmac’s edge, but she’s more than a welcome sight. He sees her coming: spots the worry lining her brow and the red denim jacket that’s almost faded to pink in its age, and his pace quickens faster than is probably recommended. Rushing into a reunion hug is a pipedream when his back screams the way it does, but Claire shoulders that burden by meeting him more than halfway. She folds herself into his edges, mindful, and Leon groans in relief as she tugs his backpack from a white-knuckled hand.

“You’ve gotten scruffy,” she says.

He flashes a smile laced with aching and shoots back the reminder that ladies love the stubble. He’s gotten too old, too rough around the edges, to keep the boyish charm of a baby face. As for a full-on beard? Well. It’s not for lack of trying. “How do you like it?”

Claire’s smile twists, unceremoniously flirtatious. “You’re a dreamboat. Who could possibly resist that jawline? Now give me a proper hug so we can get out of here, and maybe I’ll wax poetic on the drive back.”

It’s an opportunity if he ever got one, and Leon seizes it—hungrily and with both hands. He slides his touch from her wrists and higher: along her bare forearms and up proud shoulders, to both sides of her neck.

Claire’s hair trickles between his fingers, splashes over his knuckles. Her pulse ticks just this side of wild, and if he could he’d gather the rhythm in his palms and carry the memory of her back to a drab, empty apartment. She feels real. She feels warm. She feels here, welcoming, open—anything but mindless or hostile, and when he tips her head back to lay his mouth against her brow, Leon closes his eyes.

And he breathes in a lungful of home.

two.

Sometimes the force thrust upon an object is violent and sudden and out of anyone’s control, and the only thing left to do is rediscover ground zero, pick up the pieces, and heave it all straight into a fucking fire.

Ten years to the day of Raccoon City’s destruction, the US government and subsequent do-gooders publicly announce the plans to construct a memorial site outside the quarantine zone. When Claire sends a resentful text about the entire thing sounding like a capitalization on “lessons learned” and “better tomorrows” before the upcoming election, Leon agrees in half as many words: that’s exactly what it is.

Leon’s position as a government agent guarantees a secure place out of the spotlight, but Claire’s rising influence through TerraSave lands her right under the hottest beam of it. Tell us about the gravity of it all, Miss Redfield. What was it like, surviving Raccoon? “It was…a nightmare,” she says at first, reluctantly agreeing to answer touch-and-go questions between public appearances. “I wouldn’t want to wish the experience on anyone. It doesn’t make a good story.”

The buzzards disagree. Demands for exclusive interviews swoop in every time she changes location and when one particularly chaotic pursuit resulted in a broken camera, Claire calls him mid-way through an anxiety attack. He’s on a plane within the hour.

Adam grants him an official order to accompany her to and from every PR function that month. Press conferences called to discuss TerraSave’s latest global and local community cleanup projects derail off topic once Claire Redfield opens the floor. It’s all about Raccoon City and the final hours before the fire. Did anyone else escape? Did you find help any children? Did you have to kill—? Claire stops answering questions after that.

She takes a vacation. Leon’s orders still stand, but they’re nothing more than a letterhead: a favor granted with the knowledge that he wouldn’t have left her side—authorized or not.

Despite the invitations, they don’t attend the ribbon cutting ceremony. Or agree to promote any of the sensationalized media plugs in the weeks following. Leon would’ve preferred to keep the tv off, but Claire insists they watch it beginning to end. Maybe she thought the anger would be easier to mute with a screen and several hundred miles of distance between.

It doesn’t. She watches the tv, he watches her, and for the first time in a long time he worries that ghosts have finally clawed their way in to make a home.

The program fades out on a sober but hopeful note that carries on as the shot pans into a cloudless sky and one lasting message: We survive. We remember. We endure. Remote in hand, Leon sends a picture of the American flag collapsing in on itself, and his chest pangs with the dread that she might end up doing the same.

Wordlessly, Claire unfolds from the couch and slips into the other room. Her silhouette spills across the floor when the bathroom light flicks on, and as the door closes, the light wanes into a needle-thin sliver. Then even that piece of her is gone.

Five minutes pass. He checks his watch. Ten. Pushing a hand through his hair, Leon stands and paces to the kitchen twice and checks his watch again. He paces. Spins on his heel. He paces right up to the closed bathroom door, lifts a knuckle, and raps gently upon the wood.

“Claire?”

“Leon.”

He lets himself in. Thick, warm air fills his mouth as he takes in a deep breath and glances about the room. Nothing looks out of the ordinary for a woman taking a bubble bath. He worried, God, but he worried—and that’s something he doesn’t apologize for. Even if he does feel like an idiot. “I thought you were…”

“Making a break for it out the back window?” Claire smiles without teeth, and she tips her head back onto the water-speckled tile. Her hair, though damp and dark at the ends, sits in a messy knot at the top of her head. One stray piece falls loose along her collarbone. “No. I haven’t done that since I was fifteen.”

Leon shakes his head and strides farther into the room. He tries again. “I thought you’d—”

“Drowned in the tub?” Claire hums, thoughtful. When she inhales in preparation for a long, cathartic sigh, the bubbles froth and hiss around her bare shoulders. “Sometimes I think that might be easier. I’m doing what I can to keep my head above…everything.”

Leon nods. He turns, sinks down to press his back up against the cool porcelain, and balances both arms on either knee. A splash and a trickle of wet heat spreads down the back of his shirt before Claire’s fingers curl into his hair. He turns into the touch—and freezes when her mouth brushes against his jaw.

The idea of Claire floundering as she sinks into a place he can’t reach twists something ugly in his belly. It grabs and twists so hard that his dinner lurches and burns on its way up and gets stuck at the back of his throat. “You aren’t alone here.”

“No,” she agrees, moving to settle her chin against his shoulder. “It’s just you, me, and all the demons we forgot to burn.”

three.

Real survival stories don’t nicely wrap up with ribbons and foiled edges trimmed in sunrise gold, and the people in them don’t walk into the horizon so much as into a space free of the darkness where monsters liked to hide.

There’s always something to wear by the end of it: a smile for the picture, a medal for the commendation, a splint or two for the fractured bones. He never remembers how he gets there—only that the smile is the always first of those things to go.

Smiles insinuate there’s something to celebrate; and living when others have died in his place never gave him much cause to pop the champagne. But guilt? Relief? One feels like being drawn and quartered, and the other like the release after waking up from that god-awful fucking dream, only to realize—no, no, it wasn’t. None of it was.

It feels like being frayed at every seam and that smile is the last thing that needs stitching. At least the pieces that are left aren’t not sloughing off so badly that it’ll take a well-placed warhead to fix.

For the first time in ten years, they drive to Raccoon City, and it feels like everything’s come leading up to this return—this inevitability. Only it doesn’t feel like they’re coming home; it feels like they’re walking back into the graveyard they’d crawled out of. If it wasn’t for the chain-link fence and the quarantine wall rising up behind that, maybe the city would’ve opened a hundred thousand pairs of fire-glassed eyes, gnashed a hundred thousand sets of teeth, and finally succeeded in swallowing them both whole.

He parks his Jeep a few dozen yards from the memorial site. Kills the gas with a sharp turn of his wrist. Beside him, Claire releases a shaky breath.

In the distance, a rainbow of sun-faded ribbons snaps and waves along the chain-link fence. The flowers planted there have already wilted and died in a cracked plot; nothing grows around the edges anymore.

He wants to blast the whole granite slab from its base and tear it out of existence. He wants to smother this shining fucking beacon of hope—and the government’s greatest theatrical excuse for an apology along with it. He wants to crush each and every fucking one of those ribbons under his shoes and cut his hands on that rusted chain-link fence. That’s what the city wanted, right? Blood? Maybe then the ground would drink. Maybe then it’d take its fill and finally leave him—and Claire—alone.

“We’re here.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to get out?”

“No.”

Slender fingers slide across his hand, and it’s only then that he realizes it’s been closed into a fist this entire time. He lets go. Color bleeds back into his knuckles, and feeling too, and then his seams are torn, ripped open. His eyes are burning—he’s blind, all but for the warm splash of red that turns him bodily and rises up to shoulder his brow.

I’m sorry, he says, I’m sorry.

Claire thanks him for the apology. She combs her fingers through his hair and presses her lips to his crown, and when she hums a soft, mindless tune, it reverberates behind his ribcage like she’s found all his cracks and poured herself between them. When he quiets, gradual and sputtering like the last dregs of a heavy storm, Leon wraps his arms around her, tightening his grip in a hungry, silent squeeze.

Monsters aren’t the only ones who refuse to let him go.

four.

Two objects can only gravitate closer and closer so many times before collision becomes the inevitable result. Leon counts his lucky stars for a well-recorded history of crashing into things, and for a while he believes it’s his experience in avoiding the pitfalls that keeps their relationship from steering off course.

By the time Claire careens into him, welcome and without warning, Leon quickly realizes she’s been the one at the wheel from the start.

Uninterrupted furloughs are so rare that when opportunity presents itself, it takes everything in his power not to board up the windows, uncork a bottle, and unplug the phone. The only variable stopping him from doing just that is respect to his councilor to get out there, get busy, get lost anywhere else but his own idle headspace. But when Claire visits? When Claire visits, having a quiet, uneventful evening is the best thing he could hope for.

Hope never feels more within reach than when he’s with her, and reach he does—mindlessly and often. When Claire curls up beside him on the couch, Leon frames his palm around the nape of her neck and works his fingers into the tenseness he finds. It bleeds out of her posture like ink across water, quietly bubbles up from her mouth in what he dares to call a sigh of pleasure.

His mouth quirks up at one corner. “You need a massage.” Before she has a chance to point out the technicality, Leon adds, “A real one. From a professional.”

She reaches up to pinch his chin between thumb and forefinger, and Claire gives him a little shake. “And you need more than one good of sleep. You’re starting to get eye bags.”

“We could just call it a night right now.”

She hums an insinuating note that twists up in question, and the sound draws his attention like the slide of a fingertip across his jaw. In the cool light spilling out from the tv, Leon fixes his gaze on her expression. Somewhere quiet, nestled between his breath and the allowance of a shrug, he hears himself say, “You make it easier.”

Claire softens. Her mouth sets into the thoughtful, stubborn line he’s seen a million times before, but then she leans close—really close. Her breath warms his mouth, her lips are soft, and where her palm slides up against his chest, it feels like he’s taken a nosedive off a cliff and made a break for water. Except there is no water at the bottom; she keeps kissing him and he keeps falling, and it’s getting more goddamn difficult by the minute not to drag her over the edge with him.

When she pushes up and mounts his lap, Leon hisses in a breath between clenched teeth. He’s excited and they both can feel it, and fuck, he can’t decide if the worst thing to do right now would be to stop her or let her continue.

“Claire—”

“I’m here,” she says. “Aren’t you?”

He wonders if this is what feels like, coming alive a second time. His arms wind around her waist, and it’s all he can do not to tangle her hair between his fingers and tighten them into a fist. Claire rolls her weight down into him. Again. A firebomb goes off in his chest. Flames spread, licking up and over his eyes, in his mouth, across his tongue.

I’m here, she told him. No. She isn’t—she’s not just here. She’s above him, on top of him, in his lungs every time he comes up for air. She’s shaking in his hands and arching against his chest, and her gasp shudders in his ears more than even his own pulse. She says his name to warn of the head-on collision, and when he doesn’t get out of the way, Claire shatters—

Everywhere.

five.

Physics demands that objects at rest remain at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced, outside force. Given who they are: one rescuer, one fighter—two survivors trying to do more than just exist again? Leon suspects none of this ever will truly stop. Not until they do.

He’s never liked the big cities; they serve too great a reminder that there are innocent people waiting to be trapped like rats in a goddamn science experiment—that there are too many variables and too many wild cards for one man to account for twice. But when he’s with Claire? When he’s with Claire, her smile lights up like a clear horizon free of nooks and crannies.

When he’s with Claire, those skyscrapers look less like rows of jagged teeth and more like the fingers of an outstretched hand.

She takes him to a cafe that’s got a good view of the cityscape before it wakes up. Claire corrects him on that note, reminds him around a mug of tea that New York never truly sleeps—in fact, it’s almost as restless as he is.

Restless. A good word for a man who never stops moving long enough to enjoy a coffee on the government’s watch. His phone rings. Right on time.

Claire turns her face toward the window and smiles into the sun, and something about that expression feels like surrender, like acceptance. Leon’s chest pangs. She never did like the finality of goodbye, and so they never say it, content to substitute it with temporary noncommittals. Call me later. Don’t be a stranger.

“Gotta go,” he says. Leon dips his head into the unfolded frame of his sunglasses, chair scraping as he gets to his feet. Claire doesn’t rise to meet him. He doesn’t mind.

Her mouth is warm where he presses a kiss to the corner of it, and Claire’s exhale quakes at the touch. She won’t cry. He doesn’t either. Tears are for the couch and for the car—you don’t pour them over coffee when it’s there’s already one bitter taste on your tongue.

“Try not to get killed.”

“You, too.”

#sls60 #cleon #tw ptsd #tw drowning #tw death #tw riots #tw body horror #nsfw.#One week. This took me. A whole week. To write.#sls-60 #drabble.

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kylorenpunk · 5 years ago

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Well I challenged @masonjar828 to do this ask meme like 200 years ago and he challenged me back but I’ve been busy so here we are.

200: My crush’s name is: don’t have one. men suck. 199: I was born in: Mickey Mouse’s lair aka Orlando 198: I am really: trying not to make a self deprecating joke rn 197: My cellphone company is: Not being disclosed bc I don’t need stalkers 196: My eye color is: brown 195: My shoe size is: 8. I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to be taller than I am bc of that shoe size 194: My ring size is: Uh no idea. Maybe 9? 193: My height is: Five foot three inches 192: I am allergic to: A couple of antibiotics but that’s it 191: My 1st car was: 1995 Honda Accord. RIP Goldeen. 190: My 1st job was: Technically I was an assistant for an occupational therapy clinic that paid me under the table. My first paid job was a pool attendant for a hotel. 189: Last book you read: My professor’s shitty textbook. 188: My bed is: currently unmade. 187: My pet: doesn’t exist. Bro is allergic to the entire animal kingdom 186: My best friend: I have multiple and love them all very much 185: My favorite shampoo is: Just recently bought a new shampoo from OGX (coconut curls I think?) 184: Xbox or ps3: xbox 183: Piggy banks are: Not a bad concept. I have upgraded to using mason jars to save money 182: In my pockets: Not wearing pockets atm. Usually I only carry my phone tho 181: On my calendar: Is a bunch of doctor’s appointments 180: Marriage is: Fantastic with the right person 179: Spongebob can: ??? do whatever he wants? idk what op was thinking 178: My mom: is great and shouldn’t have to deal with my shit 177: The last three songs I bought were? I haven’t bought music in over two years. Spotify is my life. 176: Last YouTube video watched: I watch so many a day that I forgot what I last watched. 175: How many cousins do you have? 5 on paternal side. 3 on maternal. But I’m hispanic so it’s def more than immediate family 174: Do you have any siblings? 1 and he’s a pain but I love him 173: Are your parents divorced? nope. fun fact. I used to think divorce was normal as a child and wondered when I would get a second set of parents. 172: Are you taller than your mom? No I’m like 4 inches shorter 171: Do you play an instrument? is mayonnaise an instrument 170: What did you do yesterday? future job training and watched my brother [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight: Lust at first sight 168: Luck: kinda 167: Fate: sure 166: Yourself: a lot more than I used to 165: Aliens: why not 164: Heaven: in a way 163: Hell: sure 162: God: the catholic in me says yes 161: Horoscopes: yes and no 160: Soul mates: tough question. 21 year old me would have said yes. 23 me is on the fence. Maybe for other people but I don’t really believe it for myself. 159: Ghosts: I love ghost walks so I hope they’re real 158: Gay Marriage: Of fucking course 157: War: No 156: Orbs: Isn’t this the same as ghosts? 155: Magic: No [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: Either one has it’s benefits 153: Drunk or High: Never been high so I guess drunk 152: Phone or Online: they mean the same thing now 151: Red heads or Black haired: dark hair 150: Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes 149: Hot or cold: hot 148: Summer or winter: summer 147: Autumn or Spring: spring 146: Chocolate or vanilla: depends. rn I want vanilla 145: Night or Day: day 144: Oranges or Apples: oranges 143: Curly or Straight hair: doesn’t matter. I feel more myself with straight hair tho 142: McDonalds or Burger King: mcdonald’s 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: milk 140: Mac or PC: pc. Apple is a peice of shit. 139: Flip flops or high heals: heals 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: this is a weird question 137: Coke or Pepsi: depends on whether it’s a can, glass or on ice 136: Hillary or Obama: lol was this made in 2008 135: Burried or cremated: not sure. i wanna say burried tho 134: Singing or Dancing: I’m bad at both 133: Coach or Chanel: neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: who 131: Small town or Big city: small town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: ben stiller 128: Manicure or Pedicure: pedicure. my hands never last 127: East Coast or West Coast: east 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: christmas bc I can see my family 125: Chocolate or Flowers: flowers 124: Disney or Six Flags: six flags despite the fact that i’ve never been 123: Yankees or Red Sox: I don’t give a shit about sports [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: dumb 121: George Bush: dumb 120: Gay Marriage: I’m hoping for a day where the LGBTQ+ community is no longer discrimated against 119: The presidential election: dumb 118: Abortion: No woman should be denied a right to abortion 117: MySpace: yeah this was made in 2008 116: Reality TV: dumb 115: Parents: great wonderful 114: Back stabbers: dumb 113: Ebay: useful 112: Facebook: kinda useful 111: Work: a necessity 110: My Neighbors: I don’t talk to them 109: Gas Prices: could be lower 108: Designer Clothes: I don’t care 107: College: a scam but education is worth it 106: Sports: depends on the sport 105: My family: great wonderful 104: The future: idk [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: yesterday 102: Last time you ate: when I started this thing 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: last month 100: Cried in front of someone: Two weeks ago 99: Went to a movie theater: going tonight 98: Took a vacation: three years ago. going soon tho 97: Swam in a pool: I don’t even remember. 96: Changed a diaper: never 95: Got my nails done: a year and a half ago 94: Went to a wedding: a year and a half ago 93: Broke a bone: never 92: Got a peircing: three years ago 91: Broke the law: probs when I was underage drinking 90: Texted: yesterday [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: all of my friends 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: free food and family 87: The last movie I saw: toy story 4 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: starting my career job 85: The thing im not looking forward to: taxes being taken out of my paycheck 84: People call me: Karina, Kari or Rina 83: The most difficult thing to do is: let go of someone in your life 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: nope 81: My zodiac sign is: cancer 80: The first person i talked to today was: no one. Update my boss just called lol 79: First time you had a crush: 1st grade lmao 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: myself 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: uh recently I think 76: Right now I am talking to: Romantic? no one Normally? No one lmao 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I’m grown but I’m not disclosing my job on here 74: I have/will get a job: already have one 73: Tomorrow: I’m working 72: Today: I’m cleaning 71: Next Summer: No idea 70: Next Weekend: no idea 69: I have these pets: no I don’t 68: The worst sound in the world: styrofoam 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: my mother 66: People that make you happy: family and friends 65: Last time I cried: Thursday 64: My friends are: cool great wonderful 63: My computer is: working 62: My School: I’m graduated 61: My Car: I need to wash today 60: I lose all respect for people who: have no respect 59: The movie I cried at was: toy story 4 58: Your hair color is: brown 57: TV shows you watch: Sabrina, jane the virgin 56: Favorite web site: twitter 55: Your dream vacation: new york 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: wisdom teeth 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium rare 52: My room is: a mess 51: My favorite celebrity is: chris evans 50: Where would you like to be: on vacation 49: Do you want children: yes 48: Ever been in love: three times. Ironically only one was with someone I actually dated 47: Who’s your best friend: I have multiple 46: More guy friends or girl friends: good mixture of both 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: makeup 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: a few 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: hell no 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: not a physical list 41: Have you pre-named your children: kinda 40: Last person I got mad at: no disclosing 39: I would like to move to: the smokey mountains 38: I wish I was a professional: MUA [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: lifesaver gummies 36: Vehicle: hondas 35: President: obama 34: State visited: TN 33: Cellphone provider: ATT 32: Athlete: n/a 31: Actor: i can’t choose 30: Actress: cant choose 29: Singer: can’t choose 28: Band: currently little mix 27: Clothing store: rip charolette russe 26: Grocery store: publix is the only acceptable floridian answer 25: TV show: jane the virgin 24: Movie: high school musical 23: Website: twitter 22: Animal: meerkat 21: Theme park: busch gardens 20: Holiday: halloween 19: Sport to watch: soccer 18: Sport to play: none 17: Magazine: n/a 16: Book: eragon 15: Day of the week: friday 14: Beach: n/a 13: Concert attended: hannah montana? 12: Thing to cook: beans 11: Food: rice 10: Restaurant: taco bell 9: Radio station: n/a 8: Yankee candle scent: n/a 7: Perfume: anything fruity 6: Flower: rose? 5: Color: pink or blue 4: Talk show host: ellen 3: Comedian: n/a 2: Dog breed: black lab 1: Did you answer all these truthfully? wouldn’t you like to know

#ask meme #personal shit #why do i curse myself with these #sorry mason

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anexplanationofunfortunateevents · 6 years ago

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buzzfeeding frenzy

THERE WAS SOME WEIRD DRAMA WITH BUZZFEED NEWS LAST WEEK but the upshot of it is: Donald Trump is a criminal, and that is finally starting to sink in for a critical mass of people.

While this one article didn’t dramatically change what we know about Individual-1′s ties to the Kremlin, it’s worth unpacking because it demonstrated a lot of what’s been hard to absorb about this story.

Most of us come across BuzzFeed as, you know, the website with all the “choose your favorite stadium food and we’ll tell you which Disney princess you’re most like” quizzes. Nothing wrong with that! But it can overshadow their often excellent longform reporting. Over the last couple of years they have been almost uniquely relentless about the Russian government’s years-long crime spree in western countries, from the mysterious deaths of Russians living in the UK to its apparent compromise of the US Treasury Department before the 2016 election.

BuzzFeed’s first big mainstream breakthrough in the Trump-Russia story came a little more than two years ago when they published former MI-6 agent Christopher Steele’s memos about Individual-1’s many ties to the Russian government. They emphasized that they couldn’t verify everything in the dossier, and justified the decision to publish it anyway with the fact that the memos had been circulating around the US government for months. Readers ate it up, understandably: people were confused and frightened by what had happened during the election and what would happen when President Obama turned over the keys to Individual-1, and they were frustrated about having been in the dark about the story until it was too late.

The mainstream press lost its fucking mind jumping all over each other to condemn BuzzFeed, and you didn’t exactly have to be a hardened cynic to question their motives. Mainstream political media bends over backwards to placate bad-faith Republican allegations of “liberal media bias.” After collectively donating billions of dollars in free ad time to the Trump campaign, they were eager for the opportunity to prove that they were not biased against him. Scapegoating BuzzFeed – an upstart competitor with an unserious reputation – was both useful and easy.

Even worse, the performance had an unmissable stench of guilt about it. As it turns out, the memos had been widely distributed around media circles. Steele – an established expert – had flown in from London during the election to plead with them to take the situation seriously. They ignored him and rewarded the attackers. The same people who spent October of 2016 transcribing John Podesta’s risotto recipe had passed on the story of a century, and they were SUPER mad when someone broke the omertà. (Or maybe it was #ACTUALLY ABOUT ETHICS IN JOURNALISM????!? hahahaha, no.)

There were reasonable concerns about BuzzFeed’s decision to publish Steele’s memos. Major reporting on a legitimate national security issue – not bureaucratic posturing or bad faith partisan garbage, but something that could pose a genuine threat – almost categorically can’t be an easy call, right? If something is actually serious, and someone is bothering to keep it a secret, there’s usually a good reason for it. Even if the dossier itself was already out there, somebody leaked the fact that it was in a presidential briefing; we don’t know who they were or why they did it. Anything that gets as much attention as this did as quickly as it did should probably be treated with skepticism, because bad actors are so good at gaming the algorithms that capture attention. And there were questions about its accuracy.

On balance, though, I think BuzzFeed’s decision to publish the Steele dossier has been vindicated. A lot of the allegations have been verified. Repeated attempts to disprove any of it have failed; Congressional Republicans’ desperation to do so suggests that it’s even more credible than we realize. It goaded the rest of the media into reporting on the story, which has exponentially increased the understanding of the problem we all have on our hands. Most importantly, it helped people wrap their minds around a nebulous, intimidating story which was largely derided as a Trump-like conspiracy theory. The pee tape is the least worrying thing in those memos, and unlike a lot of the more serious allegations it hasn’t been confirmed yet – but you know exactly what I’m talking about.

That’s a long wind-up, but it’s generally useful to remember that most of the people who frame this story for us are unreliable narrators, and worth recalling the specific context for the news BuzzFeed has been breaking. Last year, they reported that Michael Cohen, who was Individual-1’s personal lawyer and is now a convicted felon, had been representing Individual-1 in negotiations with high-ranking Kremlin officials to build a Trump Tower Moscow until well into the 2016 general election. Cohen had lied to Congress about this, and then told the press what he had told the committee, which of course gave anyone else who would be questioned the chance to get their stories straight. This report was confirmed at Michael Cohen’s sentencing.

So when they dropped another Cohen story late last week, people were inclined to listen. This time, they reported “sources [plural] in law enforcement” claimed that Trump had explicitly and directly asked Michael Cohen to lie in his Congressional testimony, he did it in writing, and that the special counsel’s office had “internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents” to prove it.

It’s that last part that shook the world. Even if you’re paying just tangential attention to this story, you know that Trump has been directing his people to lie to law enforcement, Congress, and the public. But the claim that there was cold, hard, proof for the thing we all know, that even Senate Republicans would not even be able to feign denial about it, that would have changed everything – if true.

Late the next night, the special counsel’s office issued an extremely rare statement, saying that BuzzFeed had mischaracterized the evidence and testimony they had received. This was weird. Mueller’s office has never bothered to correct a news story before, nor have they ever waved a journalist off a story that they know is untrue. The statement isn’t even that the core allegation that Individual-1 suborned perjury (meaning, he encouraged or ordered someone to lie under oath) is wrong, just that they don’t necessarily have texts AND emails AND Google docs AND testimony to that effect.

So why did they bother? We don’t know exactly. The most optimistic interpretation is that it was a good faith reaction to the public response to the report. Members of Congress came out and said, basically, “if this is true, we need to know now.” That was reasonable, because committing or suborning perjury is just about the only thing everyone agrees counts as a high crime or misdemeanor. Mueller’s office, also quite reasonably, didn’t want Congress starting impeachment proceedings based on a report that wasn’t 100% rock-solid, so they issued this very narrow statement to cool things down. Then there’s the suggestion that Mueller’s office thought that the report made it look like they had started leaking after running a famously airtight ship for a year and a half. (Cohen was convicted in the Southern District of New York, which is of course where Individual-1 did “business” for decades. Personally, I tend to think BuzzFeed’s sources are in New York federal law enforcement.) The most alarming theory is that the Department of Justice leaned on the special counsel’s office to push back on the story. The special counsel’s office specifically exists to protect an investigation from interference by political appointees at DOJ.

Regardless of why it was issued, that statement did not calm the waters.

The BuzzFeed report prompted a round of press appearances by Individual-1’s “lawyer” Rudy Giuliani, who claimed that Trump had in fact been negotiating with Moscow to build his Russian Trump Tower at least throughout the election. He also claimed that he knew the BuzzFeed story, on which he could not comment, was not true, which he knew because he had “been through all the tapes” that he says do not exist. These aren’t lies calculated to make Individual-1 look less guilty. It is a bunch of nonsense cushioning the blow of an overt admission that Individual-1 lied a lot during the campaign about something that his previous lawyer lied to Congress to hide.

Then, as if to drive the point home, BuzzFeed posted the actual 2015 plans and letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow. They were working with a local developer. They had picked out the site. They had a business plan and a building design, all ready to go.

Individual-1 appears undeterred. Michael Cohen had agreed to testify publicly for the three relevant House of Representatives early in February, but he backed out this week after Individual-1, over Twitter and in live interviews, started threatening to have Cohen’s father-in-law investigated. I don’t know if Trump wants to open that can of worms, since Cohen’s father-in-law is actually an old business associate of Trump’s, but the point was clear: Individual-1 is willing to throw around the power of the United States government to shut this guy up. We just went through the WHOLE THING about whether or not he acted illegally to control what Michael Cohen said to Congress, and he responded by illegally attempting to control whether or not Michael Cohen speaks to Congress!

Since Individual-1 and his Senate Republican accomplices have ignored all House Democrats’ attempts to reopen the government, House Democrats have nothing to do all day but sit around and be mad at the Puppet-in-Chief. The chairs of the committees that planned to interview Cohen issued a joint press release saying that Michael Cohen will testify whether he likes it or not because they’re not going to reward these, and this is a real quote, “textbook mob tactics.”

Look. I’m not saying my opinion is worth any more than you’re paying for it. But this episode made me think a couple things:

1. Reputable media outlets have to cut it out with the anonymous sources on this story. “Sources familiar with the matter” is not enough. Sources on Capitol Hill? Sources at the DOJ? Sources in New York? Sources meaning somebody’s defense attorney? This is infuriating.

2. Television news shows have to stop interviewing Rudy Giuliani live. He is using their air time for a disinformation blitzkrieg. By all means, they should keep him yakking away on camera. Give him all the rope you got, say I. But they should do it ON TAPE, in advance, so that they can pause the interview to fact-check him, and air his current lies back-to-back with last month’s lies so even casual viewers will grasp that he lies constantly.

3. It is appropriate that Robert Mueller is a professional who knows how to shut his piehole, unlike certain other 21st-century former FBI directors who shall remain nameless. It is also appropriate that public interest in this story is intense and unrelenting. And despite my many gripes about the media’s performance, it is absolutely appropriate that the press keep putting attention and resources toward this story. This is not a sustainable dynamic. It is unfair to keep the public in the dark. This happened to us as a country and as individuals, and we have an existential stake in the matter. As long as we want to know, we will be leaning on the American political media, which is an institution dominated by bullies whose vanity is outweighed only by their willful ignorance. Like Trumps and small children, they cannot focus long without a great deal more help than the special prosecutor’s office is equipped to provide. Our justifiable frustration is becoming an issue for the special prosecutor’s ability to the best job he can.

Fortunately, there is a way to break that loop: the Democratic House's real investigations. Subpoenas. Not just issued, but announced, publicly. Open hearings. Regular reports. Individual-1 has dug in his heels on the shutdown at least in part to obstruct the Democrats’ ability to do that, so it’s great that they have stopped giving him what he wants.

Something is happening on this story. Even hearing people talk about it is different – they speak faster and louder. This guy is on the ropes. That’s not just Mueller, it’s not just the Democratic House. It’s people, it’s you, responding to an attack on our democracy, remembering Individual-1’s illegitimacy, refusing to pretend any of this is normal, insisting that we all deserve better.

#donald trump #trump russia #special prosecutor #mueller investigation #steele dossier #michael cohen #rudy giuliani #mainstream media

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inkofamethyst · 3 years ago

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February 17, 2022

Today on Nina’s Sliding Scale of Aromaticism: I think I have fallen hard and fast for Vaughn from the New York Times’ cooking channel. I don’t know what his sexuality is (...he is not exactly giving me straight man vibes, I must say), but he’s so charismatic on camera, and as someone who tends to be too busy to cook for oneself but when I do cook for myself (and I mean like, cookin forreal, not no chicken nuggets) I like to go all out,,,,, I find this man to be incredibly relatable (aside from the fact that he lives in NYC and has a job and, well, everything else). He’s also very pretty. These were NOT the feelings I was expecting to have upon watching a youtube video about cooking for one but they truly came out of nowhere (note for clarity: yea he’s good lookin n charismatic n knows things (aka he’s showing up at a solid 2.5/3 by my attraction standards (normally I look for a hint of passion wrapped up in the “knows things” category for a perfect score)) but my reaction is purely hyperbolic I promise; I’m not about to start a parasocial relationship with nobody, calm down).

Key changes are out. Time signature changes are in. Dr. Sunshine is Dead hit me with that change from an even meter (probably 4/4) to an odd one (almost definitely 5/4) and it scratches my brain every time. And that half time bit toward the end? Oh yeah. You know what else works? Sun Spat, where technically the time signature stays the same, but the listener has a false sense of confidence about where the downbeat is at the beginning until the rest of the band comes in.

I haven’t done a covid update for Future!Nina in a while, and I think we’re coming to an interesting point. I’ve been hearing about this here and there over the past week or so and just read a Washington Post article on it: mask mandates are being removed again. Why is this an interesting point? Well, the omicron variant ran, like, really wild over the holiday season, from about October to the present, seriously peaking somewhere around the beginning of January. Perhaps you’ll recall, during finals week last semester, there were a ton of extra precautions taken at my uni, and that was because Omicron, a more transmissible but generally less deadly variant compared to Delta, the previously-leading variant in the States, was flying around everywhere (check out this cool site on covid strain phylogenies). Cases went way up real quick (”flattening the curve,” sure, but along the y-axis). Anyway, public health measures were reinstated then. And now, cases are falling super fast (deaths not so much, however), and people are seeing that, and elections are coming up this fall, and people are exhausted of living this way, and governors are loosening mandates.

To summarize the W.P., there really are about three schools of thought right now toward the pandemic. There are the people who have been anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-restriction etc. since the beginning of the pandemic, generally comprised of Republicans (and Libertarians, apparently). Then there are those who were initially very supportive of public health measures, but are now ready to throw out all restrictions and return to normal. Finally, there are individuals who are prepared to hold on “a little longer” to get the virus thoroughly under control, and this group is made mostly of, well, scientists (and myself, actually). This group is receiving a lot of backlash, being labeled “covid dead-enders” and things like that. No one wants to keep living like this, and we’ve been hearing the “just a little longer” ever since the beginning. Remember the “two weeks to stop the spread” commercials? We thought this was going to be two weeks. Then we thought it would die out in that first summer. We even thought we’d almost gotten close to stamping it out for good a year later.

Everyone’s tired. I’m tired. I can’t even wear masks that match my outfits anymore because fabric ones are apparently not effective ~at all~ (yes, I’m still butthurt that I spent so much money and time on making so many and they’re not even useful) so there’s really nothing in it for me now at all. Except, you know, the hope that maybe, just maybe, we can stamp it out. And that’s what I’m clinging to. Desperately. (Part of me wonders whether my introversion plays a role in my response. That could be an interesting study.) I’m afraid we’re going to end up like England-- loosening our restrictions early as the peak is falling fast, only then to have to reengage some of them because the fall begins to taper off. Or worse, another dominant variant arises.

Today I’m thankful that I have tomorrow morning completely free so I can use it to get in some last minute biochem review. I have a decent amount of the stuff down for tomorrow’s biochem exam at the moment. Two more mechanisms to memorize, a few more things to review, and two practice exams to look at before I head off to bed. Reasonable. I intend to be in bed in two and a half hours.

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 4 years ago

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 29, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today marks the hundredth day of the Biden-Harris administration. In many ways, the hundred-day mark is arbitrary, a holdover from the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who worked with Congress to pass 76 new laws by the end of his first 100 days, setting a high bar for a consequential presidency. A hundred days is not an entirely useless metric, though, because by that time, a modern president has generally set the tone of the administration. Crucial to the success of that tone is having scored a major win. That, in turn, sets the tone for public reaction to a presidency, which then feeds the administration’s momentum.

When President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office on January 20, 2021, they were facing crises that rivaled the ones faced by FDR and even by President Abraham Lincoln, who took office after a number of southern states had declared they were leaving the United States to form their own confederacy.

Biden and Harris took office after the former president had supported an insurrection to overturn the results of the election and seize power. Trump denied the legitimacy of their election (and continues to deny it) despite more than 60 lawsuit outcomes that upheld it, while 147 members of Congress sided with the former president, challenging at least one of the official state-certified ballots that made Biden president. The actions of the former president were unprecedented, breaking our previous history of peaceful transitions of power, and on January 20, Washington, D.C., was patrolled by troops stationed there to protect the incoming government.

When Biden took office, the novel coronavirus was ravaging the country. More than 24 million of us had been infected with the virus, and more than 400,000 Americans had died of Covid-19, including 2727 deaths the day before Biden was sworn in. New variants were spreading, and while the previous administration had begun vaccinations, reaching about 4% of the population, it had not arranged for distribution of them, planning simply to get them to states and let the states handle the process from there.

The economy was under water. More than ten million people were out of work and another 3.9 million had stopped even looking. Economic growth before the pandemic was modest—2.2%—but the economy contracted during the crisis. Biden also inherited the biggest federal debt since World War II, standing at over $21.6 trillion. That debt was not simply a product of the coronavirus recession: Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, passed without a single Democratic vote, cost almost $230 billion, helping to create a federal deficit of $984 billion even before the pandemic hit.

The first tweet Biden sent as president made a marked contrast from what Americans had seen for the previous four years. “There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face,” Biden wrote. “That’s why today, I am heading to the Oval Office to get right to work delivering bold action and immediate relief for American families.”

And he did.

After he was sworn in and the ceremonies were over, Biden went to the Oval Office and began the process of signing more than a dozen executive actions that either addressed the pandemic or rolled back some of the policies of the previous administration.

During the campaign, Biden had promised to hit 100 million vaccine doses delivered in his first 100 days; on January 25, he increased that number to 200 million. By February, the administration had bought enough vaccines to inoculate all Americans and had begun to open mass vaccination sites. By April 22, the United States had met Biden’s goal of 200 million vaccinations, a week ahead of time.

On January 20, Biden announced the American Rescue Plan to rebuild the nation after the ravages of the pandemic. It appropriated $1.9 trillion to expand unemployment benefits, make direct payments to individuals, increase food security, fund housing, move children out of poverty, support small businesses, and fund support for healthcare and Covid vaccines. The plan passed Congress, and Biden signed it into law on March 11, less than two months after he took office, a major win.

The job market is rebounding. For the third straight week, initial jobless claims—which are a way to look at layoffs-- have dropped below 600,000, the lowest they’ve been in a year. At the same time, U.S. employers added more than 900,000 jobs in March, and economists expect to see more than a half a million new jobs a month for the next year. That will not end the economic crisis of the past year—we are still down 8.4 million jobs from the beginning of the pandemic—but numbers are moving in the right direction. In the first quarter of 2021, the economy grew at an annual rate of 6.4%

A problem for the administration that did not show up in the media last January was the budding crisis at our southern border, where numbers of refugees were about to surge both with seasonal migration and with those held at the border by the former administration. The administration adhered to Covid protocols, turning away from admission all but unaccompanied children. This initially created a surge of children in Border Patrol and Health and Human Services facilities, but the administration has worked to get the situation under control. The number of children in the custody of Border Patrol has dropped 82% in the past month, leaving fewer than 1000 still in custody. The problem is not solved—the children still need to be moved out of Health and Human Services facilities—but it seems to be getting into order.

But Biden has done more than address the coronavirus crisis, the economy, or the refugee crisis. He is reclaiming the nation from the policies of the Reagan Revolution, rejecting the idea central to that revolution, that government is bad by nature and that the country works best when we turn it over to individual actors. He is doing so by working around the Republican lawmakers who are determined to obstruct him at every turn, appealing instead to ordinary Republican voters, who actually want many of the same things ordinary Democratic voters do. The American Rescue Plan, for example, was popular with 77% of Americans, although it received not a single Republican vote.

Biden is reasserting the idea that government can address problems that can only be fixed at a national scale—problems like a pandemic and the economy—but he is not resurrecting the idea of using the government to protect the ability of men to support their families, as FDR did. He is adapting the idea of an active government to the civil rights movements after World War II, defending the rights of Americans as individuals, rather than as members of nuclear families. His administration is centering children and those who take care of them, rather than shoring up any particular family structure.

His revision of the American dream shows in his appointment of the most diverse cabinet in American history: 58% of his political appointees are women while half identify as non-white, 15% were the first in their families to go to college, and 32% are naturalized citizens or first-generation Americans. He chose the first female vice president, the first female Treasury Secretary, the first Indigenous American to lead the Interior Department, and the first Black head of the Pentagon.

One thing, though, about what sure seems to be a very strong start from the Biden administration…. Never forget that what made the American Rescue Plan possible was the election of Democratic Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Had the Democrats not held 50 seats in the Senate, enabling them to enact the American Rescue Plan through reconciliation, Biden would be able to maneuver only through executive orders, since Republicans in the Senate would have stopped all legislation.

Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, traveled today to Plains, Georgia, to visit former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. “We owe a special thanks to the people of Georgia. Because of you, the rest of America was able to get help,” Biden said to reporters while he was there. “If you ever wonder if elections make a difference, just remember what you did here in Georgia.... You changed America.”

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

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