#fuck wallace but he did the thing in 2016

[ourlittlesister2015]

The rio olympics were such a highlight of my life. It was the year I lost my aunt and the worst of my life so far. I remember going to bed the night the night brasil played France because I knew I’d throw up if i watched it. Brazil was out if they lost that game and my family already had the ticket for the finals and they won. I managed to watch the rest of the games and I particularly remember watching the one against Russia and calm. They were playing well so I was ready to lose with my head high but then they won and I was going to see them in the finals and I watched them win!!!!!!! I lost my voice that day and nothing was ever the same for me.

[roseworth]

How do you feel about Slade Wilson?

I personally could never get myself to like him strictly for what he did for Tera like I can excuse a lot of things but what he did to her is not one of them. I don’t know, I can never get myself to like him. Am I missing out?

I don’t know much about him beyond his titans cameos so is there an extra layer to his character that makes him likable?

Or is he just unlikable? How do you feel about him and him as a parent?

i think slade can be such a compelling character when hes written well. but the problem is that he is rarely written well

like. he's interesting to me BECAUSE he's such a terrible person and i hate him so much. he's a pedophile and an abuser and just an unapologetically horrible person and i LOVE it when writers don't ignore that. one of the reasons i love deathstroke 2016 is because priest doesnt pretend that slade is a good guy deep down, he is written like an asshole and does awful things throughout the entire book. because hes an asshole.

i dont like it when he works With the titans because. they should hate his ass!!! ESPECIALLY for what he did to terra. but he can be so good as a titans villain because hes a loser predator that routinely gets his ass kicked by teenagers that hate him on a personal level.

another reason hes interesting to me is because he genuinely DOES love the people in his life (derogatory). i hate it when people act like he hates his children because thats not true at all!! unfortunately he loves them so much but his version of love is abusing them and/or pushing them away. hes a terrible father and a terrible person but that doesnt mean he doesnt love his family. its just that his love is toxic and awful and him loving someone is always a bad thing

one (of many) thing that i hated about the movie deathstroke knights & dragons is that they tried to make him a good person. they treated it like his children were being irrational for hating him, his mercenary work was actually "noble" (he gave up a job because it came from a dictator; he would not fucking do that), and they even treated him cheating on adeline as "aw poor slade was so upset and he cheated on his wife because he was sad 🥺" and thats just. so boring to me. the reason he can be an interesting character is because hes such an awful person who does terrible things because hes selfish and doesnt care about other people, and even when he does care about other people hes doing it in a way that doesnt hurt him

thats also one of the reasons i HATED that one arc with respawn. i forget the name of it but it was the one crossover with batman & robin & deathstroke inc (<- this is driving me crazy what the fuck was it called.... it was the one where ra's died.... do u know what im talking about (EDIT: its Shadow War!! i forgor)) because suddenly slade was acting like he was a good father and that he loved his children and was acting Better than batman. which is so fucking stupid because hes a shithead and he knows it! but for some reason slade was like "im embracing my son i love being a family man ☺️ you wouldnt know what thats like would you batman ☺️" like since when do YOU know what thats like. at the very least he shouldve been pushing respawn away that entire time and it pisses me off that he was treated like the good guy in that story. and thats not even mentioning how bad rose's reaction pissed me off in this & dark crisis. williamson i am begging you to learn literally anything about the characters you write.

but going back to deathstroke 2016. that one is sooo good because christopher priest completely understands that slade is the worst. what i love about it is that he actually has "pure" motivations for a lot of the things he does (ie hiring a hitman on rose because he wants to spend time with her, stealing wallace's speedforce powers because he wants to save grant, etc) but it is very clear in the story that his motivations dont matter because hes doing a shitty thing! it doesnt matter that his intentions were good because he was hurting people on purpose!!!! he can try to be "good" all he wants but he is basically incapable of being good without hurting and/or manipulating someone. which is why hes such a compelling character to me. hes a shitty person with relatively good intentions. cool motive, still murder.

thats ALSO why i really like seeing him as a father (derogatory). because the shitty things he does are once again always well-intended but he fucks up his kids BAD. like just looking at his relationship with rose pre52, he pushes her away when he first meets her because hes afraid she'll be in danger if he brings her into his life. then he decides he DOES want her in his life so he hires someone to murder the people looking after her but lets her get her revenge on the person that killed her family. then he drugs her because hes a fucked up person that wants to keep her with him because shes the only family he has left (grant, adeline, wintergreen, and joey are all more or less dead at this point), then later after she leaves he fights her & joey (who is alive again) because he wants them to see that the titans to be a better family to them than he could be, THEN he fights them again because he wants them back in his life. its a back and forth of "i have to push them away to keep them safe" and "i have to go to extreme measures to keep them in my life"

hes a shitty father but hes a shitty father BECAUSE he loves his family. and he fucks them up because he doesnt know how to show them he loves them so he just makes it worse on purpose. he doesnt think that he can get any better so he pushes them away OR manipulates them and forces them to be close to him.

anyways. all this to say i find him interesting as a character BECAUSE he's unlikable and i dont trust anyone that actually likes him. if he was real i would throw rocks at him in the street because hes a piece of shit. but because hes not real i can enjoy his books as long as they dont shy away from the fact that hes a piece of shit

[garmonboziasworld]

Danni Winchester has left her brothers in 2006 after the death of their father, John Winchester. The siblings haven't spoken in years but when the Darkness is released, Danni reunites with her brothers. If she had known what turn her life would take from that moment on, maybe she wouldn't have come back at all. But you can't run from destiny, can you? A Supernatural Lucifer x OC Corruption Arc/Soulmate Trope

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Chapter 13: I'm the joke of the century, aren't I?

~ Early December 2016 ~

“Can't believe you actually let her come along,” Sam said to Dean. They were sitting in the kitchen, talking to each other.

Dean sighed and looked at Sam. “You wanna know the truth, Sammy? I'm just taking her with us because she's the best devil bait that we have.”

“You …? Dean, you're using her to lurk Lucifer out? Seriously?”

“Hey, if this fucked up soulmate thing can help us finding the devil and sending his ass back to the cage then I will make use of it.”

“Dean, you're presenting Danni to him on a silver plate. Our own sister. I thought you were scared of exactly that?”

“I was. But things have changed, alright?”

“I don't like this. At all.”

“Yeah well, neither do I. But if we want to find him, we have to do it.”

“And besides,” Sam said, “you heard her, she won't let us send him back to the cage.”

“As if I care about that, Sam. He's going back there. We both know it. And once he's finally gone for good, Danni will be fine again as well.”

“Why, because your feelings for Amara magically disappeared after she was gone?” Sam sighed deeply and shook his head. “She will be furious, Dean.”

“Well, I don't know about you, Sam, but I'll take a pissed sister over the devil walking freely any time.”

When Danni entered the kitchen, both of her brothers quickly fell silent.

“Hey,” she said. “Found something. Wallace Parker, powerful and rich CEO of almost everything. His body was heavily damaged by what the police is calling some kind of explosion. A rather mysterious death of a person with a high position.”

“Sounds like him,” Dean said. “Alright, let's go searching for the devil.”

They made their way to the coroner's office that had Parker's body. Dressed as FBI agents, like they had done so often, they walked inside.

“Agent Gore?” Dean asked, looking at Danni's badge.

“I thought Agent Gahan was a little bit too obvious, Agent Bongiovi.”

They walked around the corner and saw the coroner standing in front of the morgue.

“Your colleagues are already inside,” he said and simply left.

“Colleagues?” Danni asked and as they stepped inside the morgue, they knew what, or rather who, the coroner had been talking about.

Castiel and Crowley were already standing next to the body.

“Okay,” Dean said, “this has got to stop, alright?”

Sam pulled back the sheet from the body and they all looked at it. Mainly at his burned out eyes.

“This was Wallace Parker,” Castiel said. “And apparently, Lucifer's latest vessel.”

“And apparently not strong enough to hold him,” Sam said and put the sheet back over the body's face.

“Lucifer's not content with slutting it from one random vessel to the next,” Crowley stated. “He's moving on to the big fish. He's getting more dangerous.”

“Alright,” Dean said. “Then let's concentrate on recently deceased members of the rich and famous.”

Back in their motel room, Sam was sitting in front of his laptop, checking the internet.

“Found something yet?” Dean asked.

“Well, this is pretty interesting. Wallace Parker was a good friend of the archbishop of St. Louis, actually he was one of their biggest donors. Here's a picture of the two of them three days ago and here,” he said and showed them another picture of the bishop, “you see him last night at the opening of a food kitchen.”

“Wow, where did his cross around his neck go?” Danni asked. “Wherever it went, it took the smile on his face with it.”

“Exactly,” Sam said. “And this morning, his office cancelled all future public appearances without comment.”

“So you're saying that Lucifer is possessing an archbishop now?” Dean asked. “Isn't that kind of … blasphemous?”

“He has a unique sense of humour,” Danni replied.

“Well, whatever it is, it's worth a shot,” Sam said.

But when they checked out the archdiocese, the lights and electricity were off. It's like they were entering a crime scene. They had found a dying bishop who had told them about an exorcism they were trying to perform on the archbishop since they noticed something was not right with him. But it failed and Lucifer slaughtered all the members of the archdiocese. They also found the body of the archbishop, but it was already too late, Lucifer had left this vessel already.

Back in the bunker, Castiel looked at the pictures from the archdiocese.

“The level of violence is completely unnecessary,” he said.

“Lucifer doesn't like being messed with,” Sam said. “I guess when they found out he was possessed, they tried an exorcism and of course it didn't work. Lucifer fled, but not before he slaughtered the entire staff. We are on the right trail, but where does it go now?”

Dean came back from getting food and placed the bag on the table. “Hey Danni, can't you just turn on your Lucifer radar and find him?”

“It doesn't work like that,” she said. “Last time he suffered, he needed help, that I could feel. And besides, I told you that he probably shielded me off. For exactly that, not being trackable by you.”

“Okay so what good does your connection actually do if you can't find him?”

“Maybe we would have found out if I had been in LA with you instead of wasting away in the bunker.”

Dean just rolled his eyes and Danni sighed.

“I prayed to him several times now. But I guess he doesn't care, otherwise he would have answered somehow.”

“So he ignores you? The only person he knows who cares about him? Great,” Dean said and picked up his ringing phone. “Crowley? … Okay, gotcha. See you.”

“What did he say?” Sam asked.

“He said he has some big news about Lucifer. He'll drop by any second.”

“Great,” Sam said ironically. “You know, I'd rather keep Crowley at a distance. Like, long distance.”

“Not very charitable.” Crowley was standing in the library with them. “Especially, since once again I'm the one who's saving your asses. So, let's get straight to the matter. I got a little tip on Lucifer's current vessel.” He stole Sam's laptop and typed until a picture appeared on the screen. “Lady and gentlemen, I give you one Jefferson Rooney, President of the United States.”

“Okay, we're fucked,” Dean said. “I mean I know Lucifer's a megalomaniac but president?”

“So what do we do now?” Sam asked.

“Well, as much as I hate it, but I will reach out to my good old mother,” Crowley said. “After all, she offered her help in sending him back, should we find him.”

“Then what are you waiting for, Crowley?” Dean snapped at him and in the next second, he was gone.

“Even if Crowley does bring in Rowena,” Castiel said, “the problem remains. Lucifer can't be returned to the cage inside his vessel. His essence has to be extracted.”

“Why are they still talking about sending him to the cage?” Danni asked and gave her brothers a questioning look. “I thought we talked about this?”

“Yeah,” Sam answered quickly before Dean could say anything. “We just haven't found the time yet to tell Cas and Crowley about it.”

“About what?” Castiel asked, but Dean immediately put him off.

“We'll explain it to you later, okay? Let's focus on getting close to Lucifer.”

“Yeah,” Sam sighed, “and that will be tough because he's perfectly safe. I mean how are we supposed to get close to the president?”

“At least he's not in D.C.,” Dean said. “Rooney is actually on a fund-raising swing through the midwest. Right now, his whole party is staying at an estate owned by Ron Forester, right outside Indianapolis. But still, it's completely surrounded by walls, security, military, cameras. Everything. So, plan B?”

“If he's out there fund-raising,” Danni said, “then he must have a tight schedule. You know, event after event. Means that he's outside of this highly guarded mansion.”

“Yeah, but still highly guarded,” Sam added. “Plan C?”

They all looked at each other in silence. Suddenly, Castiel shuddered. He groaned and touched his head, as if he was in pain. In severe pain.

“Cas? Hey!” Dean hurried at his side, so did Sam and Danni. 

“Something's happened,” he said, “something … It's the angel radio, so many voices.”

“What are they saying?” Dean asked.

“There's been a massive surge in celestial energy. A Nephilim has come into being. It's the offspring of an angel and a human. But the power that produced this is immense. It's much, much greater than a typical angel.”

Sam looked at Castiel. Then it slowly dawned on him. “… Lucifer.”

“Lucifer?” Dean repeated, in shock.

“Must be,” Castiel said and they all turned to look at Danni. She was just simply looking at them, clearly in shock.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “No, that's … that's impossible. Right?”

Castiel sighed and he looked for the right words. “Danni, I-”

“You must be wrong,” she cut him off. “The angels must be wrong.”

“Danni, they're not.”

“They have to!” Her pleading eyes met Castiel's, but the apologising look on his face didn't leave any doubt. “No,” she said once more, shaking her head again. “No, he … he can't. I mean, he's … Why would he? I thought …”

Sam approached her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, come on, sit down.”

“I don't want to sit down!” She pushed his hand away.

“Danni, I …” Again, Castiel was looking for the right words. “I'm … sorry. I know this must be hard for you.”

“Oh, do you, Cas?”

He sighed deeply. “No, I don't.”

“No, you don't,” she repeated. “Because it's not your soulmate rejecting and humiliating you.”

“It's not right,” Castiel said. “This is not how it's supposed to be. He's not supposed to hurt you like this.”

“He said he'll find other ways to do so if he can't hurt me physically.” She shook her head and let out a desperate scoff. “I'm the joke of the century, aren't I? You know what, Dean? You were right. I defended him and cared about him and I mean nothing to him. I'm standing right in front of him and he doesn't see me. He's my soulmate, he is supposed to care about me but all he does is not giving a shit. What was I thinking, it's so pathetic.”

“Hey …” Sam wanted to comfort her, hug her, but Danni backed away.

“Let's just … go, okay?” Danni hurried up the stairs to get out of the bunker. It was Dean who huffed and looked at Sam and Castiel.

“Problem solved, huh? Didn't I tell you that he's going to mess it up sooner or later? Now she finally realised what a backstabbing asshole he truly is.”

“Dean,” Castiel said, “you have no idea what just happened.”

“I do, Cas. Our sister is on our side again.”

“At what cost? It's a soulmate connection we're talking about that just got violated.”

“Hey, it was him who didn't stick to the rules so his punishment is the cage.”

“And what if it starts all over again?” Sam asked. “I mean the dreams and all that?”

“Danni learned her lesson, Sam,” Dean answered. “I guess there's nothing we need to worry about.”

Castiel sighed. “You don't understand the importance of this bond. It's meant to be. It's not going to simply stop existing. This is going to be very emotionally painful for her. It's already bad enough when you've been betrayed but by your soulmate?”

“She'll get over it. She's stronger than you can think. Alright?” Dean patted Castiel's shoulder. “Now let's go, we should seize the moment.”

Moments later, they were sitting in the Impala on their way to Indianapolis. Sam was on the passenger seat, talking to Crowley. Castiel shared the backseat with Danni who was just silently looking out of the window.

“Okay,” Sam said, “Crowley and Rowena will meet us in Indianapolis. Do we have a plan?”

“Impeach LOTUS and find Rosemary’s baby,” Dean answered.

They were driving down the road until they heard a siren from a car behind them.

“Oh crap,” Dean grunted. “Cops.”

The car passed them and Dean pulled over, stopping the car.

“Alright,” he said to Castiel and Danni in the backseat, “stay here, we got this.”

Sam and Dean got out of the car. As Danni watched them, Castiel looked at her.

“Listen, Danni,” Castiel started, “if you want to talk-”

“No, Cas, I don't. Not now.”

“Alright. But if you want to, I'm here for you.”

“I'm just … Not that I doomed myself by allowing myself to fall for the connection I have with the devil, which is bad enough already, no, it even got worse because I thought he might care about me as well but he's doing everything to rub it in my face that he doesn't. Why was I so stupid and naive?”

“I can only imagine how painful it must be for you. One-sided feelings are always unpleasant but between soulmates? It's against everything the concept stands for.”

“Cas, this whole soulmate thing between him and myself was against everything the concept stands for. This supposed magical bond brought me nothing but pain.” Danni just shook her head and looked out of the window. Suddenly, Dean and Sam attacked the other men who had pulled them over and a fight broke out.

“Shit,” Danni hissed and as quickly as she could, she left the car, but her brothers were already threatened with a gun by the other agents. The way they had fought? Those weren't simple cops.

“Stop! Don't move!” One of them yelled at her and Castiel and pointed a gun at them as both of them got out of the car.

“He only said something about two,” one of the agents said. “He didn't mention a third one or a woman. What do we do now?”

Before his colleague could answer, another car approached the scenery. Dave Brubeck's Take Five was playing in the car. A man stepped out of it and without further warning, he used a grenade launcher to attack the agents. Dean, Sam and Danni were quickly hiding behind the Impala, only Castiel didn't move. As the other car exploded, the agents were lying on the street, hit by the explosion. The foreign saviour slowly walked over to the agents and kicked their guns away.

“You, angel. Wipe their memories,” he said to Castiel. Then he looked at the car he had just blown up. “US government plates. Elite dogcatcher level. Someone special wants you.”

“I'm sorry, who the hell are you?” Dean asked, irritated.

“Oh, where are my manners,” the man said with a british accent. “Arthur Ketch. British Man of Letters.”

As it turned out, Sam had called Mick Davies, another member of the British Men of Letters, for help. Unknown to Dean, Danni or Castiel. And Arthur Ketch had come to their rescue. As a sign of good will. After what Toni Bevell had done to Sam. Ketch told them that the British Men of Letters wanted to work with them and that they could provide them with anything necessary. And to prove his point, he showed them the weapons he was carrying around. Some highly technical devices which made hunting easier. He also showed them a device that he called a hyperbolic pulse generator. A device which could drive a possessing demon out of its vessel. Sam asked him if it could also drive out a possessing angel.

And now, they were meeting with Crowley and Rowena in their motel in Indianapolis. Crowley eyed the egg-shaped device in Dean's hands.

“And you want to pop Lucifer out of the president with that?”

“I hope so,” Dean said. “If it works, Rowena zaps him back to the Cage. Of course we gotta get him here first.”

Sam nodded. “We need to get a grip on this secret girlfriend Crowley found out about, this Kelly. Of course she's in the mansion, guarded. Only one of us can get inside there.”

They all looked at Crowley and he sighed. “Bollocks.”

Then he was gone and they waited for his return. Danni was sitting on one of the beds, just looking out of the window as Sam came over to her.

“Hey. You alright?”

“No,” she said and looked up to him. “I'm not.”

“Look, you don't have to be here, okay? We can do this alone.”

“I know. But I want to be here. I have to.”

Sam nodded. “Okay, but if you change your mind, no one blames you. Just so you know.”

She nodded in response as well. “So Dean was right all this time, hm?”

“You better don't tell him. You know how he is, he'll rub it into your face for days,” Sam said and tried to cheer her up with a smile. But it failed.

“I should have known.” Danni sounded defeated. “Since he's back, Lucifer warded himself against me, ignored me and my prayers. He didn't even bother to come and get me and use our connection to his advantage. He could have, but he didn't.”

“I won't complain about that.”

“Sam, you don't understand what that feels like,” Danni said softly. “Being rejected by the one who you're meant to be with.”

“No, I don't. But at least he won't be able to hurt you even more once he's gone again.”

Before Danni could answer, Crowley was back. And with him, Kelly Kline. The secret lover of the president. And now pregnant with Lucifer's child. Danni looked at her as Kelly was sitting on the couch of the motel. An attractive brunette, styled, and dressed in clothes which were as far from Danni's leather jacket and black clothes as possible. That woman was probably everything Danni thought she wasn't and would never be. No wonder Lucifer picked her. Compared to Kelly, Danni felt like the ugly duckling.

“No,” Kelly said, as she was sitting on the couch of the motel room. “No, you're making it up. It's impossible.”

“So is teleporting but here you are,” Dean said.

“Who are you people?” Kelly asked and Rowena stepped forward.

“Well, dear, I'm a witch, he's an angel, and he's the King of Hell,” she said as she pointed at Castiel and Crowley. “And these three over there are the Winchesters. Hunters. For monsters and such.”

“And the president is the devil,” Crowley said.

“Jeff’s been under a lot of stress lately, he-”

“No,” Crowley said, “he is the devil.”

Sam sighed. “Listen, we know what we're talking about here. We've been on Lucifer's trail for a long time. And we know that you're pregnant. With his child.”

“That's not … You're lying.”

“Oh, I wish we were,” Danni said.

Castiel grabbed a bible from the nightstand. “The thing inside you, it's unholy. It's an abomination. Place your hand here,” he said and made her put her hand on the bible which set the book on fire.

“No. No, no,” Kelly repeated.

“Does he know?” Dean asked and Kelly nodded.

“He said he was thrilled. He said it was the only time he ever created anything.”

Sam sighed and looked at his siblings before he looked back at Kelly. “We need your help. You have to call him and tell him to meet you here. Can you do that?”

She just nodded and did as she was told. It didn't take long and they saw the government vehicles arriving at the motel. Kelly was waiting in the motel room while the rest of them were hiding. Some men of the secret service were searching the room, but they quickly left again. It was quiet until they heard someone else entering the room, talking to Kelly.

“That must be him,” Dean whispered. “Get ready, guys.”

Sam nodded and left his hiding spot, using Ketch’s device to get Lucifer out of the president's body. Then, Rowena casted a spell to assist until Lucifer had finally left Jeff's body. The whole thing didn't even last a minute. A minute Danni had stayed hidden in the other room. She listened to Lucifer being cast out of the president but she couldn't watch it. As the room fell quiet, she was waiting to feel the relief, feel the burden being lifted, at least a little bit. But it didn't come. Quite the opposite. She stepped out of her hiding place and watched Castiel walking up to the unconscious president on the floor. 

“He's alive,” he said and looked up at the others. “He won't remember a thing.”

“We got him,” Dean said. “We got Lucifer.”

Sam sighed, relieved. Then he looked at Kelly. “Cas? Danni? Get her out of here.”

“What?” Danni asked. “Why me?”

“Me and Dean are going to take care of the president, you'll help Cas.”

Of course she wasn't thrilled to be anywhere near this woman. But she followed Castiel as he was guarding Kelly outside. They disappeared behind the motel before Danni hijacked one of the cars standing there and they drove away. When they were out of reach and safe, they stopped at a little café. They were sitting at a table and Kelly shook her head.

“I can't do it. I can't … remove it. I can feel it inside me. I'm its mother.”

“Kelly, listen,” Castiel said. “This is not a baby. This is the spawn of Lucifer.”

“It's my child,” she said and looked at Danni. “What would you do? If you were in my situation, wouldn't you do the same? Saving your child?”

Danni gritted her teeth. This whole situation was so surreal. Sitting at a table with the woman who was expecting Lucifer's child. What did Kelly have that Danni didn't? Why did Lucifer choose her? Why did he get intimate with her? Kelly was a human as well, wasn't she? A flawed and dirty and useless human. Just like Danni. So why? Why did he do the human things that disgust him so much with Kelly? There were so many questions running through her head and the more she thought about them, the more it hurt. She felt so stupid. “I'm going to call Sam and Dean again,” she said without answering Kelly's question. Danni got up and went outside. She took a deep breath standing in front of the café.

Lucifer was gone, back in the cage, and all that was left of him was this baby inside that woman. She sighed and grabbed her phone. She called Sam first but he didn't pick up. Then she tried to call Dean but he didn't respond either. She tried every single number she had but she didn't have luck with any of them. “Great …” she whispered and wanted to walk back inside when Castiel came out. 

“Have you seen Kelly?”

“No? I thought you're watching her?”

“I was, but … she needed to go to the restroom.”

“Oh for fucks sake, Cas, the oldest trick in the world and you fell for it?”

“She escaped,” he said. “And she called and told me that she'll have the child.”

“Fantastic,” Danni said. “Absolutely fantastic. She ran away and I can't reach Sam or Dean, this day is just getting better and better.” She got out her phone again and dialled a number.

“Who are you calling?” Castiel asked.

“We need help, Cas. And there's only one person I know who can.” She heard the phone being picked up on the other side. “Mom?”

“You left them?”

“We didn't leave them, Mom, they sent us away.”

Danni was watching Mary as she was pacing around in the library.

“To protect the woman you lost?”

“Actually, I lost her,” Castiel said.

“Stop making excuses,” Mary told them.

Danni pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to hold back her tears. Lucifer was gone, she couldn't reach her brothers and now her mother was mad at her as well. Castiel noticed her discomfort and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Everything's going to be fine, Danni.”

Mary looked at her daughter and sighed. “If you needed help why didn't you call earlier?”

“You needed your time and space, Mom. And we respected that.”

Mary exhaled deeply. “How did we let that happen?”

“The more important question is what are we going to do about it?” Castiel asked.

“Can't believe I'm doing this,” Danni said and sighed, putting on her leather jacket again.

“Doing what?” Castiel asked.

“Crowley resides in the abandoned asylum, right?”

“Danni, don't.”

“Do you have any other ideas, Cas? He found out that Lucifer possessed the president, so he has high ranking friends. Maybe he can help us finding Sam and Dean. I'll talk to him.”

“Then call him. That will suffice.”

“It would, you're right. But we're talking about Crowley. And his big ego. I'll show him some respect by showing up and talking to him personally. Maybe it will satisfy him, put him into a good mood and he's more willing to help us.”

“Then I'm coming with you.”

“Cas, I can do this alone.”

“Fine,” Castiel said. “But watch out. He's Crowley after all.”

So Danni went to the abandoned asylum and demanded to speak to Crowley. After demons had searched her for weapons or anything that could harm the Ruler of Hell, she was escorted into the throne room. She had to wait a while because he was supposedly busy with more important matters. After what felt like an eternity, Crowley finally stepped into the throne room from a side door. With a wink of his hand, he sent his demons out so they were alone.

“Danni. Hello, dear. Pleasure to see you. A sweet change to the ugly face I had to deal with earlier. Sorry I kept you waiting. May I offer you a drink? I got Tequila, just for you.”

“I thankfully decline,” she said.

“Oh come on, darling, do me the honour.”

Danni sighed. “Fine.”

Crowley walked to what was supposedly his bar and poured her a drink. He handed her a glass with two fingers of tequila.

“It's not spiked, is it?” She asked.

“Even if it was, would I tell you?”

Danni scoffed and emptied her drink.

“Brave girl,” Crowley said and sat down on his throne. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“I need a deal.”

“A deal? Wow. You really are the smartest of the three Stooges, aren't you? Your brothers always ask me for a favour.”

“Yeah, Moe and Curly may not understand but Larry knows how this works. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Metaphorically, not literally. Just to mention that.”

“Alright, Larry. What do you want? Visiting hours for Lucifer's cage? Like some condemned criminal's wife?”

“... Would that be possible?”

“Absolutely not. I don’t want you anywhere near him.”

“Do you think I’d free him? After everything he did?”

“I think all it takes for you to forget about everything he did is one look into his manifested vessel’s baby-blue eyes. You’d be like putty in his hands then. And the disappointment and the hate and the humiliation you felt when you learned about him and another woman when you were there all this time, ready and willing and his to take, ripe for the picking, would vanish into thin air. Ready to do everything he asks of you. And I’m not going to take that risk.”

Danni nodded silently and looked into the empty glass in her hand. “You're right. Truth is, I already regret that I allowed all of you to send him back to the cage. I shouldn't have done that.”

“And let me guess, you're already thinking about getting him out of there again.”

She stayed silent for a few seconds. “I’d need Rowena, the Book of the Damned, and a vessel. It's impossible.”

Crowley huffed. “So you're still riding the Lucifer train, huh?”

“First class.”

Crowley couldn't hide the hint of a cynical smile. “How long did your Lucifer absence last?”

“I can't help it, Crowley. Okay?”

“Does it hurt to have the devil's claws so deep inside of you?”

“It does.”

“And? Do you enjoy the pain?”

“No.”

“He surely does.”

Danni looked up at Crowley. Then she sighed and put away her glass. “This deal I'm offering you … My brothers. They're gone. Missing since the incident with the president. We assume the secret service took them. We don't know where they are or how to get them out wherever they are. But you can, can't you? You have the connections we need.”

Crowley was quiet for a few seconds. “Listen darling, as much as I'd like to make a deal with you, and not just because of the kiss to seal it, I can't help you.”

“What? Come on, Crowley, the secret service probably took them and you have spies in the government.”

“I do. But whatever happened to your brothers, it's above their pay grade. And yours too. Unfortunately. Oh, and besides. Whenever you think Sam and Dean are gone, they're coming back. Your brothers have always come back so far. No matter what. Like herpes. So, wherever they are and whoever has them, I pity the fool. But I appreciate your goodwill, Danni. I'll remember it.”

“Come on, Crowley. I offered you a deal. You can have whatever you want from me.”

“Be careful speaking those words, love, you don't know what you're saying.”

“All I know is that I want my brothers back. I lost Lucifer, I can't lose them as well. Help me and I will stay here, or in hell, as your prisoner.”

“Two Winchesters for one? Not quite fair, is it?”

“I don't want to sound arrogant, but I'm rather valuable.”

“As Lucifer's soulmate? True. I have seen countless souls during my time as King of the Crossroads and as King of Hell but I have never seen one like yours, my darling. It's unique, it holds immense power and I don't want to be around if it should ever be unleashed. I'm not surprised that God didn't want your soul to be part of the bomb against Amara, that would have caused a soulish fallout. You can't even imagine your soul's worth. There are a lot of people out there who'd pay me everything for it. If you were an item at one of those auctions, I'd get everything I ever wanted and more.”

“And you still don't want it?”

“Not worth the wrath and lust for revenge of your brothers.”

Danni took a deep breath. “Just tell me what you want.”

“From you? Nothing. Because I already have all I want.”

“You're our only hope, Crowley.”

“Flattering. Really. But still, the answer is no.”

“Alright. Well, anyway, thanks for your time.” Danni sighed and turned around, ready to leave.

“Oh, and Danni?”

She turned around once more and looked at him.

“The next time you want to visit me, and I do hope there is a next time, be a dear and give me a call ahead. I'm a rather busy man at the moment.”

Without responding, she turned around and left. She went back to the bunker and as she walked down the stairs, she was already awaited by Castiel and Mary.

“How did it go?” Mary asked.

“Crowley won't help us,” she said.

“What now?” Mary asked and Danni sighed.

“I don't know. I mean this is government level. Crowley said Sam and Dean will find a way themselves, that they'll come back, but I'm not so sure about that.”

“He's not wrong, you know,” Castiel said. “Sam and Dean did come back from everything so far.”

“So you want me to do nothing, Cas? Put my feet up and wait? I can't, I have to do something.”

“Danni, let's just … I don't know, do our best, okay? Let's continue our work,” Mary said. “We'll find a way to get them back.”

Danni nodded and looked over to Castiel. “Any better ideas?”

“No. I'll make my way, maybe I'll find something,” he said. “And I'll watch out for Kelly as well.”

“Alright, give me a call when you find anything, okay?” Danni asked and Castiel nodded. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an encouraging look. “We'll find them.” Then, he turned around and left the bunker.

The time passed by. And after more than six weeks, they still didn't know anything about Sam or Dean. One day, Danni came back to the bunker from a hunt and threw her bag onto the table in the library. Mary and Castiel walked in, coming from the kitchen.

“Hey. I heard you coming back. Everything alright?” Mary asked.

“Yeah. Just ghouls. Gosh, I hate them.” Danni looked at her mother and Castiel. “Did you hear anything?”

“No,” Mary said. “Nothing.”

Danni sighed and leaned on the table. “What if … what if they're dead?”

“We don't know that,” Mary said. “So don't you even think about it.”

“We don't know if they're alive either, so why shouldn't I?” Danni stroked over her face as her phone started ringing. She looked at the display and frowned.

“Unknown number,” she mumbled and picked up. “Hello?”

“Danni?”

It took her a while to recognise the scruff voice. “Dean?!”

“Hey, Sis. Long time.”

“What happened? Where are you? Are you okay?”

“You wouldn't believe me, I have no clue and we're fine. Okay, Sam found a map, listen, we're in Colorado. Rocky mountain national park. We can make it to the state route 34, meet us there. And Danni? The sooner the better, we're not having much time here.”

“Dean, the state route 34 is long as hell, how am I supposed to find you?”

“I’m sure you'll think of something.”

“Alright. Already on my way,” she said and hung up.

“Was that Dean?” Castiel asked.

“Yes. I'll tell you everything on the way, come on.”

They quickly got into the car and made their way to the state route Dean had told them. They were driving into a parking bay and Danni looked at the map.

“I have no idea how to find them.”

“Yeah, about that …” Castiel said, sitting next to her in the passenger seat. “I thought we could use some help so I made a call.”

Danni wanted to respond but another car was slowly driving down the road until it stopped behind their car in the parking bay.

“What the hell?” Danni said and grabbed her gun but Castiel stopped her.

“It's alright. I called them.”

“Called who?” Danni asked. As she looked into the rearview mirror, she saw Mick Davies and Arthur Ketch leaving the car. “Seriously Cas? You called them?”

“They were helping us with Lucifer, weren't they? We don't know where exactly Sam and Dean are or what we're running into. We need the backup.”

“Fine,” she sighed.

“I'll talk to them, okay?”

They all left the car and met with the british men. Castiel told them what happened to Sam and Dean and they were willing to help. Since that's what they came for anyway. Helping the american hunters and gaining their trust. So they helped them to find the exact location of Sam and Dean with a satellite. They drove there, and they waited. Hours passed but finally, they saw Sam and Dean walking out of the forest. Danni came to meet them and hugged them tight.

“It's so good to have you back. I missed you.”

Sam and Dean were also greeted by Castiel and Mary before they headed back to the car. 

“How did you even find us?” Sam asked.

“Well,” Mary said, “they helped.”

As they were back on the road, they saw Mick and Ketch waiting for them.

“Hello, lads.”

“Well, I guess that's where we are supposed to thank you,” Dean said.

“No need,” Mick said. “Happy to be of service.”

“Alright, okay then,” Sam said. “Let's just go.”

They all got back into the car and made their way home. But as they were crossing a bridge, the car suddenly stopped.

“What the …?” Danni tried to start the engine again, but nothing happened.

“It's time,” Sam said.

“Time for what?” As Danni looked out of the front window, she saw Billie standing in front of the car. “Oh what did you two idiots do this time?”

They got out of the car and Billie looked at them.

“I'm here to collect my prize.”

“Dean? Sam? What is she talking about?” Castiel asked.

“We made a deal,” Dean said. “There was no way to leave this facility alive. So we died and came back once more but this time, at midnight, a Winchester needs to die. Permanently.”

“What were you thinking?” Mary asked.

“Like this, at least one of us gets to survive and can go on,” Sam said.

“So,” Billie said, “who's it going to be?”

Billie was looking at them and Danni sighed.

“Take me.”

“What? Danni, no,” Sam disagreed.

“She said it has to be a Winchester, right? I am one. It's fine, Sammy.”

“No it's not,” Dean said. “We made the deal, not you.”

“Honestly, Dean, after everything that has happened, I'd be glad if I was gone.”

“I appreciate the gesture,” Billie said, “but I can't take your soul. It's out of my jurisdiction.”

“What?” Danni asked. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Only God can come and get you. I think you know why.”

“Then take me,” Mary said.

Dean stepped forward. “Mom, no!”

“Works for me,” Billie said. “You shouldn't be alive anyway.” But before she could get Mary's soul, an angel blade stabbed her from behind. She died and fell onto the ground. Castiel was standing in front of them with the blade in his hands.

“Cas, what have you done?” Dean exhaled.

“What had to be done. This world, this sad, doomed little world needs every last Winchester it can get and I won't let any of you die. And I won't let any of you sacrifice yourself. You mean too much to me.”

Danni slowly stepped forward and hugged the angel. She simply hugged him without saying a word.

When they finally arrived at the bunker again, all they wanted to do was get a shower and sleep. Danni slowly walked away until she heard Dean's voice which made her stop in her tracks again.

“Danni? What you said back there … Anything you want to tell us?”

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Can we please talk about it tomorrow?”

“No. No, we're talking about it now.”

She turned around and looked at him. “I tried to, Dean. I really tried. But …” She fought against the tears welling up in her eyes. “I miss him. Okay? Hate me, call me stupid, naive, I don't know. But you were gone for over six weeks and every day I wished he was here to help me. But he wasn't. And it is my fault, because I let it happen. I prayed to him and asked him for forgiveness. But I don't even know if he can hear me in the cage. Every night I went to sleep I was hoping to see him again. My bad conscience is torturing me every day, I failed him and I can't even tell him that I …” She stopped and shook her head. As the tears were finally running down her face, Dean stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

“Hey, come here, it's okay. You hear me? It's okay. You've been through a lot lately, you're emotionally exhausted, it's okay.”

“I feel so stupid, Dean …”

“Don't. It's not your fault. None of this. He's a douche, okay?”

“Why can't he feel the same?”

“Hey, don't beat yourself up over this thing. He's not worth it.”

“I'm the one who's not worth anything.”

“That's not true,” Dean said and hugged her tighter, resting his chin on the top of her head. Danni silently cried into his chest. After a few minutes she pulled back and wiped over her teary cheeks.

“I'm going to bed,” she said quietly and walked away, retreating into her room.

On the next morning, Sam came into the war room and saw Dean standing in front of some poster boards with all the information they had about Kelly and her whereabouts.

“Hey, I have seen Mom and Danni in the kitchen. What are they doing?” Sam asked as he stepped next to his brother.

“Talking,” Dean answered. “I guess she's telling Mom everything about Lucifer.”

“He's gone and she's telling her now? Isn't it a bit too late for that?”

“Mom is not stupid, Sam, she saw that something wasn't right with her yesterday.”

Sam just nodded and looked at the information they had on Kelly. Meanwhile, Mary and Danni were sitting at the table in the kitchen and Mary was holding Danni's hand as she listened to her daughter.

“Now you know,” she said and sighed. “But don't worry, Mom, he's gone, locked away in his cage again. Nothing will happen.”

Mary stroked over Danni's hand with her thumb. “I don't understand, Danni. I mean … why did you say yes in the first place?”

“I had no choice, Mom. My soul was aching. To an extent that you cannot imagine. And it's only natural. Usually soulmates want to be together and both agree to their bond. It's not supposed to hurt, you know? It's supposed to feel good. I just happen to get matched with someone who doesn't understand human nature and its feelings. Who doesn't even have a soul.”

“And I was hoping for a nice son-in-law,” Mary said with a crooked smile.

“Not with me,” Danni answered. “But hey, you still have Dean and Sam to bet on.”

Mary just smiled at her. “I remember how I felt when I met your father. It was … I don't know. I just felt that he was the man of my dreams. The one I wanted to be with. The father of my children. He meant everything to me. I know he felt the same. We, our family, that meant the world to us. And I still miss him so much. Every day.”

“See, I'll never know what that feels like. I mean … I did feel something for him, I won't lie about that, I still do but … I don't know,” she sighed. 

“You don't have to know. As you said, he's gone. Right?”

“Right,” Danni said quietly.

Mary eyed her daughter. “You don't like that, do you?”

“It's complicated. My head knows it's the best for everyone. But my heart and soul? They don't. It's so stupid, Mom, after everything he's done I'm still sitting here missing him, thinking that it's not right to just lock him away.”

“It's not stupid, it's what you were made to feel.”

Danni sighed and stroked over her forehead. “I can't stop thinking about it. Him in the cage, all alone, left with nothing but his anger and disappointment. And I let that happen. And because of what?”

“Because of a totally normal human reaction. You were hurt.”

“And that's exactly the problem. I'm human. He's not. He doesn't understand human feelings, I shouldn't have acted so … human.”

“Your human nature is not to blame for anything,” Mary said and placed her hand on Danni's cheek. “Okay?”

Danni just nodded. Although she wasn't so sure about her mother being right.

“Hey,” Mary said, “I got a call earlier. Shapeshifter hunt. What do you say, are you coming along? Just us girls, how does that sound?”

“I appreciate the offer, Mom, but I think Sam and Dean need more help than you do.”

Mary just smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I think you're right.”

When Mary had left for her solo hunt, Danni joined her brothers in the war room.

“Hey,” Sam said and pulled an arm around her shoulders as she was stepping next to him, hugging her close. “You okay?”

“I guess not,” she said and leaned against his chest. “But we got other problems, don't we?”

“Danni, we're sorry we weren't here for you,” Dean said.

“That wouldn't have changed anything, would it?”

“No, probably not. But at least you hadn't been alone with this weight.”

“I wasn't alone. I had Mom and Cas. I could have talked to them, but I didn't.”

“Yeah because Mom did not know and Cas is, well, Cas.”

Danni huffed quietly. As often as she and Dean may have had their arguments, in the end he always was nothing but her bigger brother who loved her. “So,” she said, “any news about Dr. Kimble?”

“No, nothing,” Dean said. “It's like she disappeared. So no sign of Lucifer Jr., if I may say so.”

“That’s what this child is,” Danni said and shrugged. 

“Well, Cas is out there, tracking her down. Or at least trying to,” Sam said.

“And until we find any leads on her, it's business as usual, right?” Dean asked.

“Right,” Danni agreed. Because after all, Dean was right.

[weaselandfriends]

I strongly disagree with the assessment of the Epilogues here. The Epilogues end the story conclusively. Sure, Dirk has conducted a clockmaster series of insane little bits and pieces crashing down Cascade style to manufacture a "The Story Continues" ending, because as the most powerful arbiter of irony, cynicism, and disillusionment within Homestuck, Dirk cannot allow the story to end. But the story is over. John's final conversation in Candy with Roxy is the powerful, final note of catharsis that conclusively ends what Homestuck is about, even if the "plot" continues. Plot versus catharsis, that's the underlying tension of the Epilogues, inherent in the Meat/Candy split. It's why the Epilogues deal so much with John's "removal from canon." That's what I mean in my original post about metamodernism taking the innovations of postmodernism and using them to posit new meaning.

Much of the dissatisfaction I see people express regarding the Epilogues is rooted in concerns of fandom: Characters are treated with disrespect. The humor is irreverent. The tone is darker and cruder. These are the things I think time will wash away as unimportant to the Epilogues as art. New readers engaging with Homestuck aren't going to become "attached" to characters like Jake and Jade and Jane the way serial readers steeped in the fandom's intricate mythos and headcanons did, and subsequently won't become emotionally hurt by how those characters act in the Epilogues.

As an example of what I mean, one of the replies to my original post has a long discussion about Dirk that goes like this:

You know why I think Dirk is as mean as he is in the epilogues? It's because this fandom is fucking mean about Dirk, WAS mean about Dirk consistently and enthusiastically for the span of 2016-2019 in between the end of the comic and the release of the epilogues, and the epilogues were a reflection of us in the first place.

If you see the Epilogues as a mirror, it distorts your reading of them. The way the characters act is a reflection of you or someone you know, and you're going to have a personal reaction to that. But somebody reading Homestuck for the first time today or 20 years from now won't have that experience, or that reading.

Going back to the original discussion of all the -modernisms, I wonder if a story must conclusively reject cynicism to be avant garde. When David Foster Wallace brought New Sincerity to the fore, he was waging a holy war against "irony poisoned" authors like Bret Easton Ellis who were the logical intellectual outcome of postmodernism. But Infinite Jest is a bizarrely structured book that, at first glance, seems to end abruptly and without resolution to any of its plotlines: the classic postmodern ending. Only someone who rereads the book, i.e. sincerely grapples with it and tries to understand it, rather than consuming it once and spitting it out (Infinite Jest itself being a scathing critique of single-use consumerist culture), will see the somewhat facile trick DFW has played: The beginning of the book is actually its ending, with answers to all the major questions; you simply didn't realize that the first time you read.

DFW would eventually become the most postmodern creature of all by leaving his final book, The Pale King, an unfinished uneditable monstrosity after his death. Bret Easton Ellis, and fuck even Thomas Pynchon, are still alive; BEE dropped a new novel this year. The thorn of postmodernism is not so easily extracted. Is there not something innately meaningful in the fact that Hussie, after succumbing to disillusion and crapping out a rushed, lousy ending to Homestuck proper, came back for the Epilogues to truly grapple with it once more?

Post-postmodernism in Pop Culture: Homestuck’s Revenge

I recently saw an excellent video essay titled Why Do Movies Feel So Different Now? by Thomas Flight. Though the title is opaque clickbait, the video is actually about major artistic zeitgeists, or movements, in film history. Flight describes three major movements:

Modernism, encompassing much of classic cinema, in which an earnest belief in universal truths led to straightforward narratives that unironically supported certain values (rationalism, civic duty, democracy, etc.)

Postmodernism, in which disillusionment with the values of modernism led to films that played with cinematic structure, metafiction, and the core language of film, often with more unclear narratives that lacked straightforward resolutions, and that were skeptical or even suspicious of the idea of universal truth 

Metamodernism, the current artistic zeitgeist, which takes the structural and metafictional innovations of postmodernism but uses them not to reject meaning, but point to some new kind of meaning or sincerity.

Flight associates metamodernism with the “multiverse” narratives that are popular in contemporary film, both in blockbuster superhero films and Oscar darlings like Everything Everywhere All at Once. He argues that the multiverse conceptually represents a fragmented, metafictional lack of universal truth, but that lack of truth is then subverted with a narrative that ultimately reaffirms universal truth. In short, rather than rejecting postmodernism entirely, metamodernism takes the fragmented rubble of its technique and themes and builds something new out of that fragmentation.

Longtime readers of this blog may find some of these concepts familiar. Indeed, I was talking about them many years ago in my Hymnstoke posts, even using the terms “modernism” and “postmodernism,” though what Flight calls metamodernism I tended to call “post-postmodernism” (another term used for it is New Sincerity). Years before EEAAO, years before Spider-verse, years before the current zeitgeist in pop cultural film and television, there was an avant garde work pioneering all the techniques and themes of metamodernism. A work that took the structural techniques of postmodernism–the ironic detachment, the temporal desynchronization, the metafiction–and used them not to posit a fundamental lack of universal truth but rather imbue a chaotic, maximalist world of cultural detritus with new meaning, new truth, new sincerity. That work was:

Homestuck.

That’s right! Everyone’s favorite web comic. Of course, I’m not the first person to realize the thematic and structural similarities between Homestuck and the current popular trend in film. Just take a look at this tweet someone made yesterday:

This tweet did some numbers.

As you might expect if you’re at all aware of the current cultural feeling toward Homestuck, many of the replies and quotes are incredibly vitriolic over this comparison. Here’s one of my favorites:

It’s actually quite striking how many elements of the new Spider-verse are similar to Homestuck; aspects of doomed timelines, a multiversal network that seems to demand certain structure, and even “mandatory death of parental figure as an impetus for mandated personal growth” are repeated across both works. The recycling and revitalization of ancient, seemingly useless cultural artifacts (in Homestuck’s case, films like Con Air; in Spider-verse, irrelevant gimmick Spider-men from spinoffs past) are also common thematic threads.

As this new post-postmodern or metamodern trend becomes increasingly mainstream, and as time heals all and allows people to look back at Homestuck with more objectivity, I believe there will one day be a rehabilitation of Homestuck’s image. It’ll be seen as an important and influential work, with a place inside the cultural canon. Perhaps, like Infinite Jest, it’ll continue to have some subset of commentators who cannot get past their perception of the people who read the work rather than the work itself even thirty years after its publication, but eventually it’ll be recognized for innovations that precipitated a change in the way people think about stories and their meaning.

Until that day, enjoy eating raw sewage directly from a sewer pipe.

(Side note: I think Umineko no naku koro ni, which was published around the same time as Homestuck and which deals with many similar themes and then-novel ideas, will also one day receive recognition as a masterpiece. Check it out if you haven’t already!)

[beardedmrbean]

Problem is sometimes euthanasia can be the best option for some people

But y'know, everything depends on the situation

There was a young man from the UK, his girlfriend had tossed battery acid in his face.

I'm just going to do this, sticks with me since I think it was the first thing like this I ever really interacted with. Link

A woman threw acid over her former partner in an attack that left him with such "grotesque" injuries Belgian doctors agreed to end his life.

Berlinah Wallace, 49, is accused of murder and applying a corrosive fluid to Dutch engineer Mark van Dongen in Bristol in 2015.

Mr van Dongen ran screaming into the street in his boxer shorts with "horrific" injuries before being taken to hospital, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Ms Wallace denies both charges.

The attack on 23 September left Mr van Dongen, 29, paralysed from the neck down, unrecognisable and all but blinded, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Ms Wallace allegedly laughed and told him "if I can't have you, no-one else can" before throwing a glass of sulphuric acid into his face.

Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingam QC said the defendant "deliberately threw acid at Mr van Dongen, intending to cause him serious harm".

"She admits throwing it but denies any intent to cause him harm. She says that she believed that what she was throwing over him was a glass of water."

(oh yes people often mistake acid for water I'm sure)

Mr Vaitilingam said Mr van Dongen's "physical and mental suffering" drove him to euthanasia.

"Put simply, he could not bear to live in that condition. If that is right, we say, then she is guilty of murder," he added.

The court was told Mr van Dongen suffered 15 months of pain before being granted euthanasia in Belgium, where it is legal and where his family lives, in January 2017.

"He was examined by three consultants, who confirmed that this was, in their terms, a case of unbearable physical and psychological suffering despite maximum medical support," Mr Vaitilingam added.

"They agreed that the test for euthanasia was met, and on 2 January 2017 they inserted a catheter into his heart, which brought about his immediate death." ___________

Not really a fan of euthanasia, but as reasons go, I wouldn't fight anyone over this I don't think.

Now let's go to Canada.

Canada's Veterans Affairs office offered to assist a Paralympian and veteran to commit suicide when she sought to have a wheelchair lift installed in her home, the woman told lawmakers last week.

Christine Gauthier, a 52-year-old retired corporal who competed in the 2016 Paralympics at Rio De Janeiro, testified to lawmakers that a VA official had offered — in writing — to provide her with a medically-assisted suicide kit. The case officer remains unnamed but reportedly made similar offers to at least three other veterans, according to the Independent.

"I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying," Gauthier said in a hearing before the House of Commons veterans affairs committee.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the incident in a public statement on Friday after Gauthier said she personally wrote him a letter on the issue.

(I don't believe for a moment trudeau is displeased with anything about this other than the press it's getting is making him look bad)

This woman here

Wanted one of these

And was given the option of ending her own life instead.

So ya, you're right and I'm showing here 2 fairly extreme ends of the spectrum when it comes to this kind of thing, there should be some dignity allowed out there and you shouldn't be forced to live in excruciating pain where every moment after the morphine wears off leaves you in agony.

He went and made the decision for himself to do what he did and several doctors signed off on it saying, ya dude's fucked and baring a miracle will be beyond miserable for the foreseeable future so we're gonna ok this request, coup de grace, mercy killing.

Then we have a mostly fit veteran, paralympian, athlete that would like to be able to go upstairs in the home they live in and the doctor hands them a brochure that says have you considered suicide. (probably far more tastefully put than that, but still)

So while you are right there are situations that call for it, having EDS shouldn't be one of them, neither should having OCD, Borderline, Schizophrenia or Bipolar,

and being poor should not be a factor included either

OCD, Borderline, Schizophrenia and Bipolar I haven't actually seen if they're offering it to them but with the fact that they are offering to people with mental issues I wouldn't be surprised.

This is not mercy, mercy is helping people heal that can be helped heal, it's a chairlift for someone. it's not a needle so they don't have to fuss with it

Canada's standards for this are already too loose and they're about to get looser, doctors that don't want to treat someone might start pointing folks towards this too.

It's wrong,

[theoriesontheory]

Can Your Heart Be on Your Sleeve while Your Tongue is In Your Cheek?

Irony, Sincerity and the Internet

In their video essay “David Foster Wallace – The Problem with Irony” Schoder breaks down David Foster Wallace’s views on the downfall of entertainment, namely tv due to a saturation of irony. (2016) After introducing the problem of an overly ironic, snake devouring itself, media landscape, the solution seems to be proposed, a tonal shift towards sincerity. (ibid) Shows like The Office and Community and Parks and Recreation in some cases maintain post-modern traits in order to subvert them but more and more, mainstream media is focusing less on the deconstruction of the meta narrative and more focused on the micro-relationships. (ibid.)

In August of 2017 Kirin J. Callinan uploaded the music video for his latest single “Big Enough” featuring Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis and Jimmy Barnes. In September of 2017 a tumblr page posted a clip from the video, which was later uploaded to youtube and went viral as “Screaming Cowboy” (knowyourmeme, 2018)

The remixes and overdubs spread like wildfire and to this day, through apps like tik tok and Instagram the song and meme is heard around the world by listeners who potentially could never have heard anything else the artists have done or anything beyond the 43 second clip. In interviews on the piece featured artist Alex Cameron explains that the piece came out of the idea that people would constantly compare himself and Callinan in the relatively small Sydney Pop scene and thinking about how the world is so often divided. They wanted to remind people that everything wasn’t all about conflict but there can be unity. (Fluffy, 2018) Callinan himself describes the song as “sincere.” (Gaca, 2017) Beyond being a song about unity, represented by the two artists coming together but it also represents a deconstruction of genre boundaries for the artist. When first experimenting with making EDM, a genre he did not care for Callinan describes making something “aesthetically displeasing and pretty unexciting as an idea,” with “a euphoria that’s just infectious.” (ibid.) He continues, detailing how after hearing Sweedish House Mafia’s ‘Don’t You Worry Child’ that he was able to get past his own preconceived and taught notions of genre and boundaries between high and low art and understand that the heart of the work was important. (ibid.) This is immediately shown in this piece, bringing together the unique blend of two underground pop artists from Sydney, a world famous whistler and an Australian Rock icon. This song is the perfect representation of the idea of synthesis, it feels like a creative artist having fun while telling a sincere and genuine story about unity, not only in the lyrics but in the production of the song and the incorporation of a diverse range of cultural touchstones, the work is an intellectual masterpiece!

… But it’s still a meme and I didn’t actually listen to the whole song until around two years after it came out when I finally heard it through a bad Bluetooth speaker in a backyard somewhere. The question then stands, does the fact that something is a meme make it any less valuable as art? Looking back at the Schoder video, the first wave thinking of post modern media, the thinking that spawned shows like Seinfeld and Always Sunny, (2016) would say that this song was brilliant and funny. It’s a deconstruction of the notions of pop and using all kinds of semiotic messages that are understood by the knowledgeable and reference soaked internet generation, it did exactly what it was meant to do clearly, it’s making fun of the entertainment industry. And while it is all of those things I don’t think that is all the song is. I think this song is an example of an Office type TV show as described by Schoder. (2016) this song and the video does all of those things but still feels very human and genuine. It doesn’t stop at the deconstruction but also works on focusing to the right thing, connection and community.

Despite this wholesome message at the song’s core, some argue that the last refrain takes the song into parody

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Big Enough’ from Genius.com

But if you think about songs that have called for peace and unity before,

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Imagine’ from Genius.com

 I think that ‘gen z’ who was raised in cynicism would see both sentiments as equally as realistic. Meaning the only differences between the two songs are the choice of instrumentation and who’s singing it. Toward the end of the Gaca interview Callinan says, “I’d like to write more songs that are emotional and real and not full of so much fucking bullshit. But at the same time, it’s the bullshit that makes it fun. No one’s interested in listening to an acoustic singer-songwriter.” And I think that this song is a move in that direction for him.

To insert some of my own romantic thinking, in a way the fact that this song is being shared to so many different people in so many different contexts as humour, shows that the message of unity is being spread through comedy.

While the internet took this song and video and gave them a life of their own, at their core still stands an artist with a message. While a majority of people might know the song as humour, Callinan was able to achieve his artistic goal and make a song that he enjoys, as well as collaborating with a friend in Alex Cameron, an interesting and unique person in Molly Lewis and a childhood hero in Jimmy Barnes. It was funny, it was serious, it was entertaining, it is art.  

References:

Gaca, A. (2017, November 8). What Exactly Is Going On With Kirin J. Callinan? Spin. https://www.spin.com/featured/kirin-j-callinan-bravado-interview/

Fluffy. (2018, January 18). Interview: Alex Cameron Talks Style and Substance. Under the Radar. https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/news/13758/Interview-Alex-Cameron-Talks-Style-And-Substance.utr

Knowyourmeme, (2018). Big Enough. https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/big-enough

Schoder, W. [Will Schoder]. (2016 October 7). David Foster Wallace – The Problem With Irony [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doZROwdte4

Other media in order:

Kirin J Callinan. (2017 August 17). Kirin J Callinan - Big Enough (Official Video) ft. Alex Cameron, Molly Lewis, Jimmy Barnes [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrZJ5C_Nwg

CarrierBK (2017 September 9) AHHHHH [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBLdQ1a4-JI

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Big Enough’ from Genius.com Captured 07/07/2021 https://genius.com/Kirin-j-callinan-big-enough-lyrics

Image: Screenshot of Lyrics to ‘Imagine’ from Genius.com Captured 07/07/21 https://genius.com/John-lennon-imagine-lyrics

Red Lama (2017 October 5) Dank Meme Compilation – Big Enough [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWc-7Q8NbVA

[amillioninprizes]

An entirely too long post on how to fix Veronica Mars

So, anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time knows: 1) What a massive Veronica Mars fan I was and 2) how distraught I’ve been over the most recent season that debuted on Hulu in July. I’ve been pretty angry about it since it dropped, but the first month after I was pretty occupied with real life stuff. Now that I’m more settled, I’ve found myself getting sadder and angrier over time with just how terrible S4 was and what an obvious fuck you to longtime fans it was. It feels dumb to be so upset over a tv show, but this show got me through a lot over the past 8 years, and I feel like it’s been taken away from me.

 It’s anyone’s guess as to whether there will be a new season. Ideally it would end here with maybe an alternate ending filmed to avoid alienating fans further. On the one hand, the botched release, overwhelmingly negative response, and silence from the creators after initial interviews don’t look good for renewal chances. On the other hand, Hulu doesn’t have a lot of streaming hits, it probably did relatively decent numbers, and there are rumors floating around that its pickup chances look good. On a personal level, I hate the idea that this is where the legacy of Veronica Mars ends, while at the same time being extremely wary of what the creators have planned. I think a big part of the disappointment with S4 was that the movie and books set up what could have been some really interesting storylines and situations, all of which RT and co. squandered for cheap drama and to apparently turn the show into an entirely new vehicle; additionally I had hope that S4 would be a chance to rectify some problems the show has long had, but again, S4 exacerbated them. At this point I don’t expect anyone higher up in the creative process or at Hulu to give a fuck about the fans or making the show better as long as they hit streaming targets, but here are some suggestions:

Fire Rob Thomas

 While he created the show, it’s become clear that not only has he lost touch with the audience and the original spirit of the character, he doesn’t seem too keen on putting much effort into writing the show (as I will discuss below). Then you have his clear misogyny: his views that women in relationships can’t be interesting, that what makes Veronica interesting as a character is her trauma and how much she can endure, and the fact that basically every female character in the history of the show has a history of sexual victimization. He thought that making the Mexican cartel hitmen “philosophical” was subverting expectations (which says a lot of what his expectations of Latinx characters are). Then this is the way he essentially exploited his long term fan base to earn a new season of the show, only to turn around and tell us that we don’t matter. From a business perspective alone keeping him doesn’t make sense; selling a streaming platform on your loyal fanbase and then proceeding to purposefully piss ~80% of them off would be pretty questionable to me as someone in charge. The sheer cruelty with which he treated not only the fans who have supported him for 15 years (I fucking used to liveblog iZombie y’all. iZombie!), as well as how he callously dismissed long time cast members in favor of celebrity guest stars should not be rewarded. He’s admitted in interviews that he would be ok with younger writers doing a reboot many years in the future; why not just let him have a producer credit and then hand the show over to someone who’s invested in making it good?

Put a woman in charge and diversify the writing staff

A big problem with a) Veronica’s characterization in S4 b) RT’s ideas about what makes female characters interesting c) the show’s long history of problematic treatment of sexual assault is that it comes from a man’s conception of the female experience. The Veronica showcased in S4 and that RT wants to write in the future is very much a male fantasy: hates marriage and children, traumatized, DTF, and is too cool for other women. RT stated in interviews that he wanted to show Veronica at a “crossroads” this season in a way he claimed had been shown for men but not women; many female viewers found this depiction to ring false (few women are spending their time fretting about how committing to marriage after five years in an established relationship will bar us from strange sex going forward). In addition to having RT at the helm, most of the show’s writing staff for the majority of its run has been white dudes, which doesn’t bode well for telling the story of a female PI in a diverse community in today’s political climate. Putting a woman in charge would hopefully help rectify these issues to make the character feel more true to life and put a damper on the misogynistic storytelling. The show has a natural candidate in RT’s second-in-command Diane Ruggiero-Wright (despite her problematic history, never forget #KeisterEggGate), who has admitted to not being able to watch the last episode. Jennifer Graham, who wrote both of the books, would also be a worthy addition to the writing staff; while the books had a mixed reception, most fans agree that she got Veronica’s character right. And with the show’s problematic historical treatment of minority characters, adding more POC writers going forward is also necessary.

Bring back Logan (alive)

You don’t have to be a LoVe shipper to recognize just how integral Logan has been since the inception of the show, not just as Veronica’s partner but as a character is his own right. Logan’s journey in many ways parallels Veronica’s, and shows a contrast in how different characters respond to similar trauma. The most critical plot line in the show’s history, the mystery of who killed Lilly Kane, simply doesn’t work without Logan’s importance to Veronica. RT and his defenders like to claim that Logan was holding her back from true growth, which is frankly bizarre as he is the only character to consistently challenge her, like when he tells her that she obviously isn’t happy this season. Additionally, Logan’s scenes this season were the lone highlight of what was otherwise a painful slog of a season. Of the people who have said they would watch a potential S5, a good portion are only interested because they believe that the ambiguity of the last 10 minutes of the season means he’s not really dead (despite what RT has said in interviews). Then there’s what Logan’s death does to Veronica’s character, effectively cutting off what would have been an interesting character arc and stagnating her forever. No matter how much they try to shove Leo the pedo creep and other milquetoast RT self-insert love interests on us, no one else can possible measure up to Logan’s level in terms of being able to match Veronica as a character, intellectually or as a result of shared history.

Plus, the fact that we haven’t had a Weevil/Logan interaction since S3 is a goddamn travesty and should be rectified immediately.

Bring back Veronica

As sad as I am about Logan’s death, for me the most upsetting aspect of S4 was the assassination of Veronica’s character. For many viewers (including myself), the character we saw Kristen Bell portray in S4 wasn’t Veronica Mars but a different character with the same name. Between her abusive behavior towards Logan, her general indifference to her father’s medical condition, her dismissal of Wallace, and her racism towards Latinx characters (using a kid’s lawyer to threaten deportation: not a good look!), she was lacking the marshmallow-y center that always balanced out the pricklier aspects of her character and made her compelling. This change in characterization was especially jarring given that she was not this way when we last saw her in the books, where she mused about having children and sent her half-brother Hunter to summer camp (side note, but does he even exist anymore?). Many of us who had grown up with Veronica were hoping to see her grow with us as a character; instead we got an extreme regression lower than we’ve ever seen her. It would be one thing if they were trying to depict a PTSD storyline, which would make sense given her background, but since her change in behavior is never addressed by the narrative, it just makes her look like a cruel asshole and makes it impossible to root for her. This is exacerbated by the fact that RT has made it clear he has no interest in portraying her inner life, as shown by his wanting to avoid showing her grief over Logan’s death because it would be a real downer compared to the entertaining but ultimately hollow banter and quips he wants to focus on. Veronica this season was also just plain dumb: you mean to tell me that the girl who nearly got killed by Aaron Echolls in her back seat wouldn’t think to check her backseat every time she gets in a car?  (And let’s not even start with RT’s bizarre assertion in an interview that she apparently votes Republican). Not helping matters was Kristen Bell’s performance, which felt very flat for me this season compared to S1-3 and the movie; I don’t know if this was due to personal limitations or a reflection of the bad writing. Writers of future installments and KB herself would be wise to revisit S1, the movie, and the books to figure out what makes sense for Veronica’s character, leading me to my next point:

Get reacquainted with canon, develop a show bible, and hire a continuity director

This show has long had a problem with dropped plots, timelines, and continuity issues. Shelly Pomroy’s party has two happened either in the summer, or the fall. Then we have the movie paradox: Veronica graduated high school in 2006, which means her 10 year reunion should have taken place in 2016. The movie was released in 2014 and the books seem to keep to 2014 dates. Then S4 states that Keith’s movie accident took place in 2013, and mysteriously ages Veronica up to 35 when she should be 32 in 2019. Logan mentions an Aunt Naomi in S4--why didn’t she take care of him after Aaron was arrested (and what happened to Trina)? How the hell is Leo working as an FBI agent when he presided over the disappearance of the Lilly/Aaron tapes? Veronica is shown to be tentatively forgiving of Weevil taking the settlement from the sheriff’s department in Mr. Kiss and Tell, but is then shown to be extremely angry towards him for it in S4. This is just a small selection of the inconsistencies within the show. Plus there is the problem of repeated plot lines: Veronica rejects Leo in favor of Logan in S1, then rejects Leo in favor of Logan in Mr. Kiss and Tell, only for her to...reject Leo in favor of Logan in S4 (and RT says he wants to leave the high school plots behind). This sloppiness doesn’t bode well for a series that is supposed to be about mysteries, which require tight plotting. It would behove TPTB going forward to once and for all determine a timeline of Veronica’s life, keep a detailed record of past plot and character points, and have at least one person on staff who thinks to remember this stuff (RT notoriously has only a “solid, not spectacular” memory of the show, no matter what Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says).

Make an effort (and do your fucking research) 

Moving on from continuity issues to more general problems with the laziness of RT’s writing. He has basically admitted that he doesn’t care much about facts or characterization when writing plots--he shoehorns details to fit the plot rather than have it evolve organically from the characters and prior canon. I know that when writing it’s often impossible to make every story detail 100% accurate, but the extent of RT’s sloppiness is alarming. This excellent Reddit thread details a lot of the problems with S4 in particular, but this has been a problem since S2. Did anyone ever understand exactly why the Fitzpatricks were invested in framing Logan for Felix’s death? In the movie, it makes no sense that if Cobb and co. wanted Carrie silenced, they would add the complication of framing Logan for her murder--given her history, it would have been a lot easier just to make it look like she had accidentally overdosed. Given his previous patterns of villain writing fans were able to guess the identity of the S4 bomber based on casting alone. The mysteries in both Mr. Kiss and Tell and S4 are both ripped from the headlines, which indicates that RT wants to turn VM into the next Law and Order. Meanwhile, he complained about how hard including Logan in the story in S4 was, while Logan arguably had the best lines and most interesting scenes this season--apparently when you put an effort into things, they work out! This laziness extends past storyline issues and into factual problems that detract from the quality of the plot. Longtime fandom pals are probably tired about hearing me go on and on about how there’s no way Aaron’s lawyers could have gotten Veronica’s medical records due to HIPAA laws. Logan’s career change from naval aviator to intelligence is highly unlikely (and unnecessary, given that they changed it only to fridge him at the end of the season). Meanwhile, I know fanfic writers who have spent hours on the phone with strangers in order to research what type of firearm would cause a specific type of bullet injury. It’s very puzzling to me that RT wants to take the show in the direction of being mystery-only when apart from that one time he is piss poor at writing mysteries and puts no effort into them. I shouldn’t have to tell television writers to, you know, do their job but this is what we’ve come to in 2019.

Know your audience

A majorly annoying thing about the promo for this season is how in every single interview Rob Thomas did he was always talking about how he wanted VM to be like other shows and movies: Fargo, True Detective, Game of Thrones, Chinatown (which is apparently the only noir movie he’s ever seen). The thing is, if I wanted to watch those shows, I would; I watched Veronica Mars specifically because I enjoyed its unique qualities, and I would say most fans agree. The general perception within the fandom is that with this season Rob Thomas seems to have been aiming to dump the old, majority female, CW fanbase in order to achieve what he perceives as a cooler prestigious male fanbase; the issue is, new people aren’t going to take up a show in its fourth season if they didn’t watch or didn’t like earlier seasons. Also, trying to write a prestigious show doesn’t make your show prestigious. Considering that based on anecdotal evidence most of the people who like S4 seem to be male, he may have succeeded in the first part of his aim. However, this majority female fanbase he was so willing to cast aside are the ones who have run fansites and rewatches during fallow times (i.e. between S3 and the movie and then between the books and S4), so drumming up interest among fans (and therefore streaming views) in the future may be a challenge. Plus, women are a better advertising demographic since they are more likely to be in charge of household purchasing decisions, so maintaining us as a fanbase makes business sense as well. He may have tricked enough people into watching S4 that S5 is given a go, but I wouldn’t be surprised if streams are weak beyond that. If the show is to succeed as a commercial endeavor, better to go with appealing to a known quantity than trying to make a generic show that very few people have expressed interest in watching.

Bring back the mystery of the week

This is a more minor thing I felt was missing from S4. I think after the criticism of S3 not having a season-long arc RT overcorrected in focusing on one mystery. However, the mystery of the week had the following benefits: 1) giving chances for the characters to interact and telling us more about them 2) helping to modulate the pace of the season-long arc. With better writing a season-long standalone mystery could maybe work, but in the case of S4 specifically the mystery was kind of dull and repetitive and could have stood to include a couple of diversions in the form of a smaller case here and there.

Re-evaluate the creators’ interpretation of the word “adult”

Much of the promo and reviews for this season noted the more “adult” content to be expected this season now that Veronica’s grown. Many fans hoped that meant seeing Veronica act like, you know, an adult with adult problems rather than a teenager less mature than the actual teenager she was. Unfortunately, the show’s interpretation of the word seems to be more in keeping with a television rating sense of the word--meaning sex, drugs, and gratuitous violence (But apparently not the word “fuck.”). Look, it was expected that as the show moved to a streaming service and given the overall dramatic scope that there would be an upgrade in some of this sort of content (and I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t looking forward to steamier LoVe moments, which were sorely overpromised), but the way it was included this season felt like RT and co. included this stuff just because they could and not to serve the storyline. For me, personally, the biggest example of this was Veronica’s drug use, which I know didn’t necessarily bother everyone. Given her history as the daughter of an alcoholic as well as someone who had been the victim of two roofie attacks, not to mention the fact that her character never seemed to be into partying, I found it very out of character (and book writer Jennifer Graham agrees). It felt like RT included this just bc they thought it would be funny to see Veronica on drugs without considering whether it made sense for her character. Also, were the beheadings strictly necessary? Plus there’s RT’s little temper tantrum over not being able to use curse words this season--they weren’t present in the original show, no one was going to miss them now, and the “cuss” thing was just annoying and reminiscent of The Good Place. 

Dealing with a parent who maybe has dementia--that’s an adult storyline. Too bad RT ended it with a dumb excuse about “mixing meds” (another factual error! Pharmacy software would have caught it!) rather than actually exploring what it would mean for Veronica to see her father in decline and take over the family business (and give Rico Colantoni the exit he appears to want). This is the kind of adult content I would hope to see in future seasons.

Adult is not a synonym for “unrelentingly bleak” either. The original show, while dark, always had an element of hope that was completely removed from S4 (no matter what KB might claim). And would it have killed the writers to show Veronica wearing disguises and going undercover like she used to? There was nothing fun about this season (and no, I don’t count the multiple partying scenes as fun, more like sad).

Kill your darlings

It’s cliche, but it’s true. Another issue the show has long had is the writers keeping around characters or inserting jokes and references for their own personal amusement rather than for the story. The most notable example of this is the continued presence of Dick, a highly problematic character considering he pushed Beaver into the room with Veronica the night of Shelly Pomroy’s party, among a whole host of other racist, sexist, and generally obnoxious actions over the years. But because Ryan Hansen is so widely beloved among the cast and crew, so he stays. Then there’s the matter of the infamous Keister egg in 3x08, which the writers and KB have all expressed love for, despite the fact that said Keister egg is an example of sexual assault--which, even if the victim is a douchey fraternity president, is never funny. 

Also the constant Big Lebowski references are tiring. Watch a new movie.

Improve Neptune’s gender ratio

Veronica Mars, despite having a female lead, has always been a male-dominated show; other than Veronica herself, the only consistent female character over the original show was Mac (and she didn’t even come back this season). This is unacceptable in 2019, for any show. The books introduced promising female characters in the form of Marcia Langdon and Petra Landros, but Marcia’s character was was watered down for S4 and Petra was nowhere to be found. Additionally, Veronica and Mac have always been written as “cool girls” who looked down on other women for their femininity, which isn’t a great message. Almost every other female character, even the innocuous Parker, is portrayed as somehow bad or incompetent. I would love nothing more than a season centered on the women of Neptune and their interactions with each other. While we’re at it, stop giving every woman on this show a background of sexual victimization.

Treat VM as an ensemble show, not a Kristen Bell vanity project 

A major complaint from Burnt Marshmallows and S4 defenders alike was how little time was given over to the original core cast this season. While Veronica may be the protagonist, a large part of how the show became so beloved was her relationships with the other characters. Yet RT has decided that going forward VM will be a KB solo project, with her traveling town to town quipping and sleeping with strangers. This seems strange, given Kristen’s recent interviews talking about how difficult it is to shoot VM and how she never wants to be first on a call sheet ever again, not to mention how she asked for less screen time all the way back in S2, which resulted in the Weevil-Logan storyline, which was way more interesting than Veronica’s storylines during the first half of that season. (The traveling detective thing also seems weird considering that KB is pretty insistent on shooting in LA to be near her family.) Additionally, if this is truly the last season of VM with all the original characters, then no one got a proper sendoff. 

I’m not sure how willing much of the cast will be to return for future iterations, given how uncomfortable many of them seemed during promo as well RT and KB’s treatment of them (insensitive at best, deliberately mean at worst) this season (shout out to Tina Majorino for recognizing what a shit show this was going to be), but bringing back all the original characters into the fold and giving them significant storylines would go a long way to mending fences with fans, improving the show from a character arc perspective, and would also give KB the break she apparently wants. 

Recourt the fanbase

What has VM always been renowned for above all else? It’s incredibly loyal fandom which not only got it renewed twice during its original run but also put up their own money to get the movie made--I know many people who donated when they really couldn’t afford to. RT basically owes the last 6 years of his career to VM fans--the success of the Kickstarter arguably got him the iZombie show running gig, and the fourth season likely wouldn’t have even happened if not for it. Thus, the blatant cruelty and disregard with which RT and KB have treated fans during the promotion of S4 has been incredibly insulting and hurtful; I still can’t fathom what in the world possessed RT to think that throwing away this 15-year relationship was a good idea. It’s not a good sign when the 2 fansites most active during the post-movie period (VMHQ and VM Confessions) cease operations in the wake of S4, and when at least 3 out of 8 board members of the oldest running fan group, Neptune Rising (who were dormant during the post-movie period but played a critical role during earlier fan campaigns and in the S4 promo) resign. A fandom this loyal that was betrayed will not stand idly by if the S5 RT wants to make goes ahead; given the number of tweets the official Hulu VM account has had to delete in the wake of S4 due to the overwhelmingly negative response as well as the controversy over editing out Logan from S4 promos, I imagine that S5 will be a PR nightmare. Even if future seasons are amazing the trust can probably never be fully repaired, but it would be helpful for RT (or fingers crossed, a new show runner) and KB (as star and EP) to go overboard in reaching out to fans and at least admitting they made a misstep with the entirety of S4. Back in the day, the old Mars Investigation fansite was invited to set to conduct interviews; maybe do that again. Also someone should get KB some sort of VM fandom-fluent media trainer because I don’t think she has conducted a single interview during her entire stint on the show that didn’t anger fans (it might help if she actually bothered to watch the show).

Map out an endgame

Look, this can’t go on forever. As long as RT keeps leaving every installment open ended with the hopes of maybe getting renewed again five years down the line, the story is going to keep running into the issues the movie and S4 faced with having to shoehorn the characters into nonsensical plot lines to reconcile those endings and deal with actor availability issues. Either plot another 2-3 seasons to wrap the show up with a satisfying conclusion, or map out a greater timeline of Veronica’s life with spots where a mini series or movie here and there could fit in.

[prep4goth]

I wrote a little thing about Alex "Trash Goblin" Torini based off a prompt I saw online. It's finished, though the ending is rushed and I'm bad at grammar so. I wasn't creative enough to come up with a title lmao

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Fandom: They're Watching (2016)

Characters: Alex Torini

Content Warning: swearing, light depictions of violence/gore, mentions of trauma

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Alex began the day similarly to how he’d start each and everyday for the past several months; heart thumping wildly and a cry dying in his throat. The details of the nightmare were unclear. As his heart rate declined, the fucked up imagery would fade into obscured whisps. He can’t remember the last time he woke up in the comfort of his bed. Every morning without fail, Alex came to face down on his couch. Fortunately, it was the largest piece of furniture he owned. He could easily stretch out without even bumping the other end. Sometimes having short legs wasn’t a complete curse. 

Alex, convinced that his bones were made up of 40% calcium and 60% lead, fought the urge to remain in his current position. He felt like a boulder sinking into his sofa. Rolling onto his back, something that should be elementary, required a tremendous amount of effort. His eyes focused on the ugly popcorn ceiling. There was a crack- water damage from his pissbags neighbors above him-  that ran from the furthest corner to the fan. The longer he concentrated, the wider the crack appeared. While he envisioned the crack splitting open and dumping gallons of water on his head, the rational part of Alex’s brain demanded that his body move. 

With an Earth shattering sigh, he dragged himself into a sitting position. Alex rubbed his sore eyes. He couldn’t massage away the dry heaviness that seemed to permanently settle behind his eyelids.  What time did he pass out last night? A glance at his still opened laptop and half empty coffee mug told him it had been an unplanned slumber. He’d probably intended to only rest his tired eyes for a moment and slipped into unconsciousness. Just as he had done the previous night. And the night before that. And so on and so forth. His couch had transformed into his office/bedroom/dining area. 

Alex’s left arm was stiff from being tucked under his skull; a makeshift pillow. The tips of his fingers buzzed. Though, whether or not it was from holding that particular position or the dog bite, Alex had no clue. He curled his fingers into a fist. He watched the muscles in his forearm tense. With a slight grimace, he noted the rippling of the angry, pink marks embedded into his skin. Alex dimly recalled the searing pain of canines sinking into his flesh. He remembered the clink of teeth against bone and the ungodly amount of blood. Alex flinched as if the memory had physically burned him. But no matter how violently he jerked his head, the gruesome images were still imprinted in his mind’s eye. Hand cramping, Alex slowly unfurled his fist. With his fingers fanning out, he shook his hand until the cramping dissipated. It made no difference what he did. Numbness spread from the pads of fingers to his wrist, but feeling would eventually creep back. It always did. 

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Alex mentally prepared himself for another day of pacing his cramped apartment, slowly deteriorating his vision via computer screen, and consuming unhealthy amounts of coffee. That last one, however, was only achievable by getting his ass off the couch. As sizable as the couch was, it was destroying his back. Alex braced his hands against his lower back as he hefted himself onto his feet. He twisted side to side, spine popping obscenely loud in the quiet apartment. 

Alex scooped up his phone from the coffee table, thumb pressing the home button. Though, the screen remained black. Well, fuck me. I forgot to charge this bitch. He realized with a weak chuckle. Not that he really cared that his phone died in the middle of the night. He hardly used it aside from emailing clients and mindless mobile games. Alex reflected on how he unintentionally severed ties with most if not all his friends while he plugged his phone in to charge. Occasionally, a film buddy would reach out, but responding to pointless texts was rather taxing. His friends had eventually gotten the memo. They figured he was pretty much useless. 

Once, Alex was convinced the flame of desire he had for creating would never flicker out. He was determined to make a name for himself in the film industry. Being a sound guy for some home improvement show made for middle aged and hobbieless parents was not the end goal, but a starting point. Fresh out of highschool and hardly scraping by, Alex thought it was an incredible gig to dip his feet in. The plan was to save up enough money to move out of his parent’s place and gain some behind-the-scenes experience. He’d graduate to bigger and better things; directing. Plans change and aspirations are grated into something more realistic. Alex had not minded flying from country to country, slinging a boom mike over his shoulder. The fact that his boss wasn’t pleasant, to say the least, or that he could only afford a shitty apartment with cracks in the foundation hardly phased him because at least he had Greg. That bastard was the only thing keeping Alex from jumping ship and enrolling in law school like Alex’s dad begged him to. Then they visited fucking Moldova. 

Moldova was a pair of bloodshot eyes that tracked his every move and reeked of smoke. Alex could feel its glare sorching his back every time the memories began to fade. The smoke burnt his lungs, choking him with shame if he ever attempted to forget it. Meeting the accusing eyes meant addressing the unbridled guilt eating away at his stomach whenever he so much as breathed. The weight of its scrutinous gaze left Alex wondering why he was the one left to poorly recite the witch’s tale. According to the witch possessing Becky, Alex was destined to capture the chaos that unfolded that night. Why him, out of every other person, she failed to clarify. 

The witch’s carnage was the last thing Alex filmed. Everytime he picked up a camera, his stomach churned. He feared he’d lift the camera to his face and see Becky’s warped grin on the other side. Wallace, unfortunately the only other person alive, had kindly kicked Alex to the curb. The footage would never see the light of day. People didn’t seem to question the show’s new host, or even Kate’s whereabouts. Greg and Sarah, nameless crew behind the cameras, hardly hurt Wallace’s pockets to replace with other nameless crew. That soulless, corporate prick didn’t even blink upon hearing that his own niece had met the business end of an axe. 

There was no hazard’s pay, not even after a 300 hundred pound man nearly strangled Alex to death. Alex needed to find another source of income to keep his lights on. So, he started editing other people’s work. The majority of his clientele were grown men screaming at video games and indie artists. Humorously enough, Alex favored editing the least. He was equipped with basics, but found it skull- splittingly tedious. It required sitting in one place for too long and extreme focus- something Alex had to shut his mouth for more than five minutes to accomplish. After watching his closest friends die horribly, however, Alex found it was much easier to be silent. A chatter box to a complete mute in months. Now, Alex slipped into the monotonous mechanics without complaint. The simple repetitiveness of splicing clips and adjusting audio levels allowed him to drift through the week without thought. It was slightly pathetic. He willingly chose to rot his brain on a day to day basis for the convenience of not having to think. 

Clearing his throat, Alex realized he’d been standing next to his charging phone for several minutes. He frequently caught himself falling down a rabbit hole of damaging thoughts. His forehead creased, fingers twitching against his phone. He ignored the throbbing pulse where the scar from the dog bite was. Powering his phone on, Alex didn’t expect anything exciting. Maybe an email asking for an update or a notification from one of his various games. He was unpleasantly caught off guard by the blinking ‘missed call’ icon. Upon further inspection, it was a missed call from Bernadette- an old friend Greg introduced Alex to. 

Apparently, Greg had played gigs at some dive bar frequently enough to earn some “street cred”as he often bragged about. Bernadette, when she wasn’t lugging camera equipment around archaic buildings, was bussing tables at that very same dive bar. With similar senses of humor,  which consisted of constantly taunting poor, outnumbered Greg, Alex and Bernadette were instant pals. They were too eerily similar for Alex to develop any feelings beyond platonic, despite Greg’s occasional teasing. Bernadette was the only person left in Alex’s life that was too damn stubborn to let go. Desperate for some form of human reaction, Alex craved reaching out. He tried almost daily. Alex had typed out several messages to Bernadette but erased every single one. Of all people, Bernadette deserved to know what happened; she was practically a sister to them. Except Alex had no clue how to tell her. Whether it was guilt or fear of her not believing him, his basic vocab always disintegrated. There were literally no words to express the dread and sorrow that hollowed out his chest. Better to not have a conversation period.

Tucked away in the dusty corner of Alex’s brain, was a locked chest of traumatic souvenirs. It was splitting at the seams, yet Alex continuously stapled the cracks closed. He ignored the splintering wood. Any day, the chest would finally collapse under the weight and Alex would be flooded with blood tinged memories. He concluded a conference with Bernadette over the phone would be the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Or, in this case, the very thing that protected Alex from the shitshow that was himself. Alex had spent months building that damn chest. He’d lost friends and proper vitamin D, but was still clinging onto a microscopic amount of sanity. He was alive at least. Breathing stuffy apartment air and with the diet of a broke college student, granted. But that was more than Greg and Sarah could say. 

His phone screen dimmed as he internally battled himself. He needed to talk to Bernadette, yes, but he was terrified. There was no danger in listening to his voicemail. Alex inhaled sharply as if he were about to be held under water as he tapped the message icon. He tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder. 

“What’s up, assclown! “ Bernadette’s recorded voice shouted into the receiver. Alex winced at her sharp volume, but chuckled regardless. 

“I know you’ve been avoiding me since you got back from where-ever-the-fuck, but that ends today. No more hiding out in that closet you call an apartment- time to get rolling, babbbby!” Alex shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Hearing her voice was a breath of fresh air. That feeling of lonely claustrophobia pressing on his chest faded slightly. Though, he was nervous for where this was heading. He pressed his lips into an anxious line.

“I don’t know what all went down over there, but it’s been months, man. You can’t keep this agoraphobe act up forever. That goes for that sonova bitch, Greg too.” Her laugh was soft, but still audible. Alex felt that familiar pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach. God, she thought Greg was alive and avoiding her. Throat tightening around a baseball sized lump, Alex pressed his knuckles against his mouth. His knuckles were flushed hard enough that his teeth dug into his lower lip. 

“Did you guys decide you’re bigshots now? Cause, newsflash- that’s utter bullshit.” Bernadette must have meant for her tone to sound teasing, but the hurt was evident in her voice

“I’ve left Greg a fuckton of messages, but he hasn’t even opened my texts. If I didn’t know better, I’d be worried. But regardless, I know you’re back from Europe, so no excuses. Remember that show I do, the fuckin, uh, ghost hunting crap? Well, we’re down a camera and I thought you’d might be interested. Last time we spoke- which was, like, a century ago- , you said you needed a job, so… Here ya go, bud. It’s better pay than whatever you’re probably doing right now. Even if you don’t need a job, the least you could do is call me and tell me yourself. Just so I at least know you’re still breathing.” There was a beat where Bernadette paused to inhale quietly. She was right, though. Their last conversation was brief and impersonal. He offered the simplest explationations; the shoot was canceled due to creative differences and Alex was out of a job. As for what he yarn he spun for Greg, Alex didn’t recall. Probably some bullshit timeline where Greg was backpacking through Europe. 

Bernadette wrapped up her message with a final jab at Alex’s lack of communication skills. In a poor attempt to center his roaring thoughts, Alex rested his phone against his forehead. The guilt that was slowly swirling in his gut developed into a full on Tsunami. For a moment, he wondered if it was possible to drown in it. Alex no longer had the option. Bernadette deserved the truth, no matter how painful. 

More than that, Alex needed to get the fuck out of this place. His apartment had lost its safe haven appeal and felt more like a cage closing in on him. Whether or not he was prepared to handle a camera again was a different story. He didn’t resent the aspect of working with people again either. At one point, Alex very nearly achieved his dreams. It was still camera work, but he was more than likely rusty from his months-long hiatus anyway. He would have stood in his living room all day if he tried to debate why he should or shouldn’t take the job. This meant, on the other hand, calling Bernadette back. And eventually, he’d have to tell her that Greg was dead. How the fuck was he supposed to do that? Alex had survived an encounter with an actual blood-hungry witch, but his heart shuddered at the thought of Bernadette labeling Alex a lying ass and cutting him off completely. 

Finally, Alex worked up the nerve to press the ‘call back’ option. His eyes stung with unshed tears as his heart nearly beat out of his ribcage. Alex tightly squeezed his eyes shut. The third ring droned obnoxiously loud and Alex silently hoped she wouldn’t pick up. But when did Alex ever get what he wanted? There was a soft click, followed by Bernadette exclaiming that Alex was a fucker. 

“Good to hear your voice too, Bernie.” He shot for humor, but the tremble in his voice betrayed his bravado. Bernadette either failed to notice or was feeling generous. 

Before she had the chance to strike up small talk, Alex launched into action. “Is that job offer still on the table?”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[phantomijoker]

Power rangers 2017 review

so the other day me and my friend watched the 2017 movie. I’m just gonna let this out right now I do not like it so if your just gonna read this to get mad I won’t waste your time. 

so I’ll start with the plot. it starts with Zordon and Rita fighting on earth which is stupid because what would you rather watch and epic space war with a moon witch conquering many planet or a scene on an earth so grey and drab it makes the post apocalypse cry. well Zordon tells Rita shes a shit power ranger and she kills him and goes into the ocean or something. we flash forward. 10,000 year ooo big surprise. And we go right to suggested  cow molestation! what an opener!  then Billy from stranger things gets hit by a car and should probably be dead and he just gets detention despite he later seen with an ankle monitor you don’t get those for braking into a school with a cow you get them for being on probation with the law and if hes on probation with the law THEY WOULDN’T LET HIM IN SCHOOL! Here where we go into what I call movie number 1 the breakfast club remake that was to short. we meet Other Billy and he gets beat up by who me and my friend like to call Canadian Ed Sheeran name Corn Wallace or just Bully even though there were bullies in MMPR named Bulk and Skull couldn’t even be Corn Bulkmire. then we meet my least favorite character Trimberly and just send nude pictures of a teenager without concent like a sexual predator maybe she should have the ankle monitor... Then she pulls sissors out of a wall that another girl shoved into the wall but how fucking strong are these damn teens then she used to give herself the most wild can I speak to the manger bob cut. After school Billy from Stranger things goes to Other Billy house and his mom kinda wild but still more personality then any other character. so Other Billy teaches up how to disabled an ankle monitor. Thanks Other Billy! Then they go to the one location close to actual power rangers ABANDON QUARRY! there we meet Kini and Zack their introductions aren’t to dramatic. So we switch over to Billy from stranger things watching Trimberly trying to kill herself but diving into dirty quarry water hoping either the water isn’t deep enough or the leeches would get her. Sadly doesn’t work. Then Other Billy blows up a mountain with probably illegal dynaminte. apparently everyone has a criminal record. In the mountain they find some geodes pretending to be Power coin. Then like the amazing role models are they run from the police in their wood panel 2016 model mini van.But remember kids if you out run police you go to hell before you die and get hit by a train. Then we switch over to the REAL power rangers hanging out with the family at the juice bar while the new shows a report of the others dying... I WISH! okay so they wake up and find out they have powers? Uh when did the power rangers ever have actual powers in MMPR I mean before they got the ninja powers in the later season but Ninjor wasn’t in this movie. Then Ed Sheeran tries to brake Other Billys hand and the way he tries to brake it makes me assume he also has powers and they go to  Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters so the rangers aint special. They go back to the mountains and all try to kill themselves jumping off a cliff and call into MORE QUARRY WATER!!! Then swim and find a.. A space ship??? where did this come from and in it we meet Micky from Bobs burgers pretending to be a robot alien and Hal from Malcolm in the middle with his head in a pin toy. Zordon shows them a weird sexual vision don’t worry this isn’t the last one. I think at this point they pull Rita out of the ocean and put her dead body on a pile of fish they expect people to eat. and Alpha brings them TO THE PIT! They train Rita pretend to be in Lord of the rings Generic pop music plays. Then Rita Kid naps them and kills other billy not to upset bout that and instead of maybe tellin his mother while playing genric sad music they throw him in the quarry and find a new Billy. Just kidding they go to the space ship an bring him back to life meaning this movie officially has no stakes. THHEN FINALLY THEY MORPH! And they all look like Master Chief from Halo. The MMPR movie version of the theme plays for 5 seconds their zords like shit then they fight putties that look like literal shit a fight happens.Then you think they send her to the moon setting up a squeal... nope she dies in space?? DESPITE BEING FROM SPACE!!! then the movie ends when the Megazord sexy dances and I kill my self by jumping into a dirty Quarry.Also they okay I got the power at the end just like MMPR the movie does it was very weird.

Okay now to talk about my least favorite part the characters. HAHAHAHAHA THEY HAVE NO CHARACTER! These are the most bland unoriginal uninspiring characters I ever seen in a movie they have so little personality Dr.K as a computer screen puts them to shame. Jason just the main guy character Trini and Kimberly are so interchangable I though they were played by the same actress Billy is okay hes fine I don’t really want to be offensive but did antone kinda catch after getting super powers he wasn’t autistic anymore. Zack probably the only character I like because hes the only one with character but I kinda wonder being hes Chinese and his mom only speaks Chinese why does she call him zack. 

Rita okay shes kinda the only reason to watch the ,movie she chews the scenery so much so eats it at some points

Alpha 5 and Zordon arent even worth meantioning their okay maybe Alpha could been less like a drug uncle but whatever. 

I’m not a big super hero fan and this movie kinda shows everything I hate about the heros journey plot its so generic and bland they couldn’t even Try making it even resemble the show maybe if these were oringal characters I’d be fine with it but their not its trying to make character who were built 24 years ago at the time into all new one but made them worse. maybe when hasbro makes the new one it’ll not be about MMPR or at least be more like the show or even the comics honest  I’d watch a shatter grid movie. Thats all I can really say can’t wait for the hate comments.Bye - Dr.K

[thelillykane]

something so magic about you, don’t you agree?

LOGAN/VERONICA AU WEEK. Day 3: Beloved Tropes 

featuring the tropes: found family, friends to lovers, mutual pining, the start of SECRET DATING, and whichever trope it is where their bedrooms are right next to each other and they share a bathroom and begin to fall in love. 

(These three excerpts are from a fic i’ve been slowly, slowly writing for my babe @jessicajoned since 2016, in which Keith becomes Logan’s legal guardian & Logan and Veronica, are, you know, epic. eventually.) 

1. 

Veronica panics and runs away as soon as they’re done kissing. 

Logan’s confident she’s running away from the situation and not from the kissing itself because those kisses were amazing, and his hands feel strangely incomplete and disconnected from his body without the feel of her warm, solid skin beneath them. 

He’d run away from the situation too if he wasn’t still recovering from the fact that Veronica Mars kissed him. That she’d stretched onto her tippy-toes, gotten a firm grip on his neck, and pressed her lips against his lips. That she hadn’t pulled away when he’d deepened the kiss, instead opting for twisting her hands into the fabric of his jacket, brushing her hands through his hair, ensuring that their bodies were completely flush against one another, every inch of him pressed up against every inch of her. 

They’d kissed each other so desperate too, unable to keep their hands or their mouths still, wanting to devour each other– well, at least, Logan had definitely wanted to be devoured by her. Veronica had tasted like marshmallows and promises and her lips had been so soft, too soft and oh, god, he’s getting hard just at the fucking thought. 

He needs to do that – kiss Veronica and be kissed by Veronica – again. 

And that, the fact that all he can see in the future, all he wants from the future, is for them to slow-mo run at each other on the beach and then make out naked while the waves crash over them scares him beyond belief. 

It’s not until he’s halfway home, slamming on the breaks to avoiding running another red light – and yes, he knows, his elaborate daydreaming has gotten out of hand, not that he cares – that Logan realizes he has a much better reason to be scared. Because home, nowadays, is a two story house with Keith and Lianne and their pitbull and his bedroom is nestled into the corner of the house right alongside Veronica’s and they share a fucking bathroom, for fucks sake, and so Logan can’t exactly go home because if he does Keith will know, somehow, what Logan’s been fantasizing about doing to his daughter, and he’ll know that they kissed and that it gave Logan an erection like he was a goddamn middle-schooler, and then Keith will peel all the skin off of Logan’s body and set him on fire.  

Logan’s not ready to die, not without kissing Veronica a couple more thousand times first. Not without tangling his fingers in her hair and kissing at the hollow of her neck and making her come apart with his fingers. 

Fuck. 

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. 

He’s fucked. 

2. 

Veronica makes a beeline for Wallace’s room, grabbing a pillow off of his bed and screaming into it. 

That doesn’t make her feel better, so instead she throws the pillow across Wallace’s room where it lands on the floor with an unsatisfactory thud. 

“I just made out with Logan,” she says, as justification for her behavior. 

“Yeah, we aren’t gonna talk about that,” Wallace responds quickly. 

“I kissed him,” Veronica continues anyway. “We were just talking and then I reached up and kissed him. He’s a good kisser.” 

Wallace sighs, long-suffering, and settles onto the bed next to her, looping his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s make this quick, okay, supafly?” 

“I want to kiss him again, Wallace,” she blurts, burying her face into her hands from shame. 

And isn’t that a scary thing to be admitting to her best friend, that this…incident with Logan can’t be brushed aside as a fluke or rogue, one-time impulse. Truthfully, Veronica’s been thinking about kissing Logan for a while, years, embarrassingly. Always curious to know if his lips would feel the way Lilly  always described them, if he would be as good as Lilly claimed, and in the beginning Veronica could brush it off as that– curiosity. It wasn’t that she wanted to kiss Logan, specifically, but that she was curious about kissing in general. 

But then she’d started kissing other boys and she would still catch herself thinking about it, and once he moved in she found herself transfixed by his mouth constantly, watching him chew on his pencils while they did homework together, watching him put chapstick on, watching the shapes his lips made while he mouthed off to her dad and got himself grounded. 

Veronica was never supposed to act on this fixation, though. She was never supposed to actual kiss Logan, and he sure as fuck was never supposed to kiss her back. 

But she had. And he did. 

“Well,” Wallace says finally. “What are you going to do about it?” 

And that was the kicker. Veronica doesn’t have any fucking clue what to do now. 

3. 

Logan’s got the perfect plan for how to avoid Veronica and Keith (at least for tonight, his plan for how to avoid being alone with either of them or having to make direct eye contact with either of them until he’s already on death’s door still needs work), he’s coming home seconds before curfew, and then he’s going to immediately excuse himself and go straight to bed (and hopefully die in his sleep so that he doesn’t have to fucking go through this shit ever again). 

The problem is that, of-fucking-course, Veronica’s got the same plan, which is how they end up trapped in the foyer together with thirty seconds to spare before curfew and each loudly saying, “I’m tired and going to bed.” 

Keith’s got them pinned under his patented I’m-The-Sheriff-And-I-Know-All-Your-Sins stare in a heartbeat. “Anything I should know about?” 

“Nope,” Veronica answers quickly, her voice too perky for someone who’s pretending to be tired. “Everything’s great!” 

Keith’s attention shifts focus to Veronica and Logan takes full advantage of this momentary distraction to bolt up the stairs and disappear in the sanctuary of his bedroom. 

Logan gets into bed, not because he’s tired, but because he knows Keith will be poking his head in at some point to make sure that Logan’s where he’s supposed to be, and even though lying there and listening to Veronica climb into bed and – sure enough – Keith checking up on him before turning in for the night is dull as dirt Logan can’t fall asleep. 

He watches the clock change from eleven to twelve to one to two in agony, trying valiantly not to think about Veronica, if she wore her pale pink sleep shorts to bed tonight with the matching tank top that showed off her delicate collarbone. If her lips are still tingling and her hands are still burning just like his lips and hands are. 

Then, at half past two: “I can’t sleep,” Veronica whispers, padding into his room with the lightest footsteps possible. 

“Me either,” he whispers back, rolling over to look at her. One glance and he knows she’s as affected by what happened earlier as he is– she’s dressed in these awful flannel pajamas that look like they were made out of some old, tasteless grandma’s carpet. 

Worst part? Logan’s fucking into it. 

“I want to do what we did earlier, again,” Veronica says, foregoing any sort of preamble because of course she is. 

“Me too,” he responds quickly, abandoning any last hope of trying to be collected about this. 

They move towards each other as if hypnotized, and this time, when they kiss, they kiss open-mouthed and together. 

“We have to keep this a secret,” Veronica murmurs in-between exploring every crevice of his mouth with her tongue. 

“Don’t worry,” Logan says, bending at the knees to ensure their bodies were aligned in all the right places, his breath trailing cool and promising across her neck. “I’m good at being sneaky.” 

[notjoebiden]

Ok but the Turnip Day Congress was just humongous dick energy.

I recognize nobody knows what I'm talking about so here's a synopsis of an actual thing Truman did and why the 1948 election might be one of the most batshit moments in American political history.

So, to set the scene - it's 1948. Harry Truman is running for re-election, and the popular consensus is that he's doomed. I'm talking like, the way people thought Donald Trump was going to lose circe September 2016. There was simply no way an incumbent polling as far underwater as Truman was could win. The Republicans were unified behind a middle-of-the-road popular governor, Thomas Dewey of New York. The Democrats were split into THREE SEPARATE TICKETS - Harry Truman won renomination from his party, but he had pushed for a civil rights plank at the convention, so southern segregationists walked out and formed the States' Rights Party. Governor Strom Thurmond (if that name is familiar, it's because he was in the US Senate until 2002. Gerontocracy, folks.) was leading the charge from Truman's right in an era where the south was solidly a one-party region. On the other side was former Vice President Henry Wallace, who can best be quantified as a democratic socialist. He was running to Truman's left as the Progressive Party's nominee, criticizing the Truman administration's hawkishness and redbaiting. So nobody thought Truman could win - Thurmond would take southern states and Wallace northern minority/union votes, sinking him and allowing Dewey to win pluralities. Tom Dewey believed this, so he followed his advisors and ran a campaign full of platitudes about unity. He stayed far from concrete commitments, letting old-school "repeal the New Deal" conservatives believe he was with them, upper-class liberals believe he was their guy, and so on and so forth. However, this meant that Dewey was functionally providing no plan beyond the actual quote he said "you know that your future is still ahead of you." As such, Truman, the only person who believed Truman would win, took it on the offensive. He tried to brand Dewey as a pawn of the ultra-conservative congress, saying things like the GOP stands for "Gluttons of Privilege." Of course, Dewey tried to stay above the fray, but it was increasingly difficult as every day yielded a new attack from the president. If he responded to Truman's attacks, he would look like he was a pawn of the conservatives, even though he was a modestly liberal guy and desperately trying to portray himself as above the fray. If he kept ignoring it, he would anger those same conservatives by not sticking up for them. One man noticed this rift - Harry S. Truman. Truman realized that, if he could challenge the congressional conservatives directly, he could expose this rift and make sure his biggest opponents hated their candidate. Fortunately, he had an idea.

Now, despite this getting used very little in the modern day, the president has the authority to call a special joint session of Congress in the event of a national emergency. Truman decided to do just that, heavily stretching the definition of national emergency. He called a special two-week session for the middle of the summer, ending the 25th of July ("Turnip Day" in Missouri folklore). He challenged the Republican Congress to live up to their party's platform of expanded social security, national health insurance, and civil rights legislation. Yes, these were things being promised by the Republicans in the 1940s because neither party really had a coherent ideology then. The immediate response of said conservative Congressional leadership was approximately "FUCK YOU HARRY!" However, that was the goal. Truman knew old-school conservatives who wanted to repeal everything passed since 1933 would never agree to do any of these things, even if their liberal counterparts wanted it. If they passed nothing, his attacks on the GOP congress as a do-nothing institution solely designed to oppose him would be validated. They only had spite for him at heart, not the best interests of the people! While conservative media screeched at there being no pressing emergency (which, yeah, the only emergency was Truman's need for a second term), the trick had still worked. The public viewed the Republicans as mindless oppositionists who would undo a whole New Deal's worth of progress if given the chance. Harry Truman had won, and in November he won the greatest upset in American history (at least at the time).

Look, if we're going to have an imperial presidency, we might as well swing that shit around.

YER A PRESIDENT, HARRY

[bookofdan]

The Trump-Biden Debate

via Wait But Why (waitbutwhy.com)

In case you missed it, here’s a transcript of the first Trump-Biden Debate:

Chris Wallace: Good evening. I’m Chris Wallace and I welcome you to what I predict will be a very bad personal experience for me. There will be six 15-minute segments, each on a different topic. At the beginning of each segment, both candidates will get two uninterrupted minutes to respond. The remainder of the segment will be open discussion. The audience has agreed not to be trashy. Both campaigns have signed off on these rules, so for sure nothing will go wrong. And with that, let’s welcome the candidates.

[CANDIDATES ENTER]

Wallace: Let’s start with the Supreme Court. President Trump, you nominated Amy Coney Barrett to succeed the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court. You say the Constitution is clear about your obligation to nominate someone to the court. Vice President Biden, you’ve called this an abuse of power. To start, why don’t you both explain your positions.

Trump: Amy Coney Barrett is a perfect nominee. Conservatives love her. Liberals love her. Chris Wallace loves her.

Biden: Amy Barrett would repeal the Affordable Care Act. And besides, the new thing is that you have to wait until after the election to nominate someone.

Trump: Not sure what you’re talking about, because last I checked a presidential term is four years, not three. You want to instate Communist medicine.

Biden: I don’t want to instate Communist medicine. I want to expand Obamacare.

Trump: Your party wants to instate Communist medicine, and you’re scared of them.

Biden: I may be scared of them but I am the Democrat Party now, so even if I was and still am scared of them, I’m not anymore. They’ll do what I say now. And how about Covid? The president killed 200,000 people. Roe v. Wade.

Trump: You would have killed 2 million people by not banning China. Not Roe v. Wade.

Wallace: K let’s go back to healthcare for a minute. Mr. President, over the past four years you have promised to replace and repeal Obamacare, but you have never in these four years come up—

Trump: Yes I have.

Wallace: with a plan—

Trump: Of course I have.

Wallace: to—

Trump: Of course I have.

Wallace: replace—

Trump: I got rid of the individual mandate.

Wallace: Oba—

Trump: The individual mandate was a joke.

Wallace: macare.

Trump: The individual mandate was the worst part of Obamacare.

Wallace: I am the moder—

Trump: The individual mandate sucks dick.

Wallace: I AM THE MODERATOR of this debate and I would like to be treated as such. You have never come up with a plan to replace Obamacare. So what is the Trump healthcare plan?

Trump: I’m cutting drug prices. Insulin is like water.

Wallace: Uh huh. How about you Joe? Why do you want to end private insurance?

Biden: I don’t want to end private insurance.

Trump: You’re literally friends with Bernie Sanders.

Biden: No I’m not. I want to—

Trump: You’re a piece of shit Joe.

Biden: I want to make sure—

Trump: A sad little man.

Wallace: Stop picking on Joe, Mr. President.

Trump: You care deeply about Bernie Sanders. You like Communist medicine. Anyway I asked the doctors and they said Obamacare is a disaster.

Biden: He doesn’t have a plan.

Wallace: Changing gears, Joe some of your colleagues are talking about ending the filibuster and packing the court. What’s your stance on that?

Biden: My stance is that voting is good. Americans should vote. It’s easy. You just go to the polling place, you wait in line, and then you go into the booth, and you push the little switch down for the candidate you want to vote for. Sometimes it’s not a switch.

Trump: You gonna pack the court, Joe? Tell us about how you’re gonna pack the court, Joe. The radical Left is pulling your puppet strings Joe. You and I both know it Joe.

Biden: Shut up, man.

Wallace: This is going well. Okay next segment. Covid-19. There have been more than 7 million cases in the United States and more than 200,000 have died. The question is, why should people trust you more than your opponent to handle this public health crisis?

Biden: 40,000 people a day contracting Covid. 200,000 people dead. He has no plan. He knew in February. He lied. He panicked. He complimented China. He has no plan. He’s playing golf.

Trump: I saved lives. It’s China’s fault. You wanted to let Chinese people come here. Dr. Fauci and all the Democrat governors said, “President Trump did a phenomenal job.” And they’re not the only ones. All of the other people said it too. “President Trump did a phenomenal job,” they all said. I did a phenomenal job. The gowns, the masks, the ventilators, you don’t know how to make a ventilator, the vaccine is here, any week now. You could never have done the job I did because you’re a random old man. You couldn’t even do swine flu. Swine flu is a disaster.

Biden: He panicked. People died. And more people are gonna die unless he gets a lot smarter—

Trump: Did you just use the word smart? You lied about going to college at Delaware State. You were the worst student at Delaware State. You’re a dumb fuck Joe. I know it. Chris Wallace knows it don’t you Chris.

Wallace:

Trump:

Biden:

Wallace: Mr. President, you have begun to increasingly question the effectiveness of masks. Are you not in favor of masks?

Trump: Masks are tremendous. I have a mask right here in my pocket. I wear masks when needed. Masks have said I’ve done a phenomenal job. Joe wears masks even when it makes no sense. He wears them when he’s 200 feet away from me. He wears a mask when he’s sleeping.

Wallace: Mr. Vice President, is that true?

Biden: If you wanna open a business, you gotta have a plan.

Wallace: Sir, I was asking about masks.

Biden: Oh masks? Sure, you gotta have a mask.

Wallace: Alright next segment. The economy. Mr. Trump, you go first.

Trump: It’s a big dick economy.

Biden: No.

Wallace: Okay how about taxes. Mr. President, apparently you pay $750 a year in taxes. There’s a girl my daughter knows who’s 15 and she works in a movie theater on Sundays and sells the candy. And she pays more than $750 a year in taxes. So is this true, Mr. President? How much did you pay in taxes in 2016 and 2017?

Trump: Miyyons.

Wallace: Miyyons, sir?

Trump: Miyyons and Biyyons. I don’t pay taxes because the Obama administration said I didn’t have to.

Wallace: Joe, what’s your plan for taxes?

Biden: I’m gonna build this economy. I’m gonna make jobs. We’re gonna buy American. We’re gonna buy American ships. American steel. American buildings. We handed him a booming economy and he blew it.

Wallace: But did you actually hand him a booming economy and did he actually blow it?

Biden: Sure, whatever. He talks about the art of the deal. China has perfected the art of the steal.

Trump: China buttered your son’s belly.

Biden: China did no such thing.

Trump: And then, Joe? You know what happened after that? Your son went to Moscow. And you know what happened there Joe? Moscow buttered your son’s belly.

Biden: Nothing happened there.

Trump: Sure did Joe. The mayor of Moscow’s wife. She buttered his belly slick.

Biden: You wanna talk about families Trump? How about your family. With their grease and their shoes. It’s not about families. It’s about the American people. It’s about families.

Trump: Oh and how about Ukraine?

Wallace: You know what? Time to move on to—

Trump: Ukraine buttered the shit out of—

Wallace: Mr. President.

Trump: Ukraine buttered him up real good.

Wallace: Mr. President.

Trump: Shut your mouth Chris. What about Ukraine Joe?

Wallace: VAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH

Trump:

Wallace: Now I’m gonna say something and I want you to listen right to me, Mr. President. I have had it up to here with you. Any more misbehaving and I will put you in timeout.

Trump: And you know what else—

Wallace: I will put you right in timeout, Mr. President. And then you’ll be sorry. Now I want you to stop being a bad boy, is that clear?

Trump: How about him? He should get timeout too.

Wallace: Well frankly, Mr. President, you’ve been the badder boy.

Trump: He’s been plenty bad.

Wallace: For the next segment, we’ll be talking about race. Why should voters trust you to deal with the race issues facing this country? Mr. Vice President, we’ll start with you.

Biden: I’m all for race. It’s about equity. About equality. About equanimity. Equilibrium. Equinox. We need to fix the systemic equity of racism and fragility in this country. And this president has done none of that. He wants to fix the systemic equity of the Nazis.

Trump: The blacks love me. Everyone knows that the blacks love me. I have blacks come up to me on the street all the time and tell me they love me. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass and I have done more for the blacks than Joe could ever dream of. Joe won’t say law enforcement. Why won’t you say it Joe? Why are you such a puppet Joe? You’re the radical Left’s toy. You’re a yo-yo. The radical Left won’t let you say law enforcement because they bounce you like a yo-yo, Joe.

Wallace: I want to turn to the subject of protests. In many cities, things have turned violent. Portland, for instance, is a certifiable madhouse. Mr. Biden, have you ever called the mayor of Portland or the governor of Oregon and been like, “wtf?”

Biden: I don’t have their numbers. Otherwise I would have. Do you have their numbers Chris? If you do, text them to me. And besides, they’re taking care of things just fine.

Trump: Yeah Joe? They’re fine? They’re literally murdering people in the streets, which is a disaster, and no one in Portland cares.

Wallace: Mr. President do you like or not like white supremacists?

Trump: No of course not. I don’t not like, or don’t not not like any of the people.

Wallace:

Trump:

Wallace: Mr. President, what is your message to white supremacists?

Trump: Get your guns but don’t fire till I give the word. Anyway the Left is committing 99% of the violence right now.

Biden: Oh baloney. Antifa is an idea, not an organization. I heard it means anti-fascist, in which case heck, sign me up. And anyhow who hasn’t thrown urine at an old lady on a bad day? The Antifas are just like you and me.

Wallace: I’m having an awful time here. I’m really upset and I want to leave and I’m having a bad, bad time. For the next segment, let’s just go with “why should you be president over your opponent?”

Trump: There has never been a leader who has done more than I’ve done. And I don’t mean just U.S. presidents. Mandela. Attila the Hun. Caesar. King Tut. None of them did as much as I’ve done. I unified this country. For the first time in U.S. history, I ended division. I have the first 100% approval rating. And how about judges. I have 300 judges. I have judges up the ass, Chris. You know why? Because Obama and crazy Uncle Joe forgot to fill the seats. Who does that. No one does that. You forget your keys, sure I’ve forgotten my keys, I’m human, we all forget our keys, sometimes I leave my keys. But leaving judges is a disaster.

Biden: This man has made the country weaker, sicker, poorer, fatter, sloppier, and slipperier. When I was Vice President I went head-to-head with Putin, but Trump is Putin’s little puppy. His cuddle-bunny. His bushy-bushy-boo-boo.

Trump: At least Putin’s not my sugar daddy, like he is to your son.

Biden: K speaking of that, fuck off. Second, you talk about the military being losers—my son was in Iraq and he was no loser, he was a patriot.

Trump: Which son, the loser or the dead one?

Biden:

Wallace:

Trump: I don’t know the dead one, but if I recall, the loser got thrown out of the military, dishonorably discharged for having a nice time with his cocaine, only to then head off on his famous belly-buttering tour.

Biden: His belly is dry!

Wallace: Oh for fuck’s sake. Let’s move on to climate change. Mr. President, what do you believe about the science of climate change, and what is your plan to confront it?

Trump: I want clean water and air. As far as the California fires are concerned, the forest floors are full of dead trees and leaves.

Wallace: Okay but what do you believe about the science of climate change?

Trump: I want clean water and air. I’ve planted a biyyon trees. We’ve got to pick the leaves up in the forest in California. Every year I get the call. California’s burning again. Because again they didn’t pick up the fucking leaves. You know in Europe, they pick up leaves.

Wallace: Joe?

Biden: I want to get rid of fossil fuel plants and invest in renewable energy. I want to transition to electric cars and make green buildings and create millions of new jobs.

Trump: He’s talking about the Green New Deal. The 55 quadrillion dollar Green New Deal.

Biden: The Green New Deal is a plan that’ll pay for itself. It’ll work great.

Wallace: Do you support the Green New Deal?

Biden: Of course not. I’m talking about the Biden Plan. Who said anything about the Green New Deal?

Wallace: Mercifully, we’ve reached the final segment of my extremely awful night. Election integrity. How confident should we be that this will be a fair election?

Biden: There is no evidence that mail-in ballots are problematic. Trump is trying to convince people not to vote. Listen to me America. Get out there and vote. If I get enough votes, this whole thing is over and the bad man can’t hurt you. It doesn’t matter what he says, if I get enough votes he’s legit not in power anymore, how rad is that.

Wallace: Mr. President?

Trump: A squirrel’s ass, Chris. That’s where someone found a ballot the other day. A squirrel shit out a ballot in a park in Philadelphia and a man picked it up and guess what? It said Trump on the ballot. Big shocker there. This is what happens with mail-in ballots. They end up in a trash can in a river in the woods in the backcountry and then eventually the trash can gets caught up in an eddy, we both know how eddies work Chris, and it washes up on the bank, and then a squirrel gets into it and eats the ballots. Half the country’s ballots have already been found in eddies and in squirrels, and all of them were votes for me. Mail-in ballots are a fraud.

Wallace: One thing we all know for sure is that this election is going to be a shitshow. Will you accept the results of the shitshow and tell your supporters to accept the results peacefully?

Trump: If there’s no fraud, yes.

Wallace: Is there any foreseeable outcome where you lose and you don’t say it’s fraud?

Trump: No. I’ve already talked about the squirrels. If I lose, we’ll need to end the country.

Wallace: Biden?

Biden: The country can go on if I lose.

Wallace: And that concludes what will end up as a stain on my career even though it clearly wasn’t my fault. Thank you, and goodnight.

[topmixtrends]

PATTERSON HOOD has been leading the Drive-By Truckers — a country-rock band with a hip-hop attitude — for more than two decades. Along the way, the Alabama native has become, in song and in prose, one of the sharpest observers of Southern culture and society since C. Vann Woodward, W. J. Cash, and the Southern novelists he read as a kid.

The Truckers’ latest album, 2016’s American Band, was widely hailed as one of the year’s best and as the group’s most directly political: its songs took on the killing of Trayvon Martin, the worship of the Confederate flag, the nation’s madness for handguns, and the role of the band’s native region in the whole mess. Hood, like fellow Trucker Mike Cooley, grew up near Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and his father, David Hood, is the longtime bassist for the R&B studio’s famous rhythm section. 

For many years based in Athens, Georgia, Hood moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2015. The Drive-By Truckers have just launched a US tour that brings them to Los Angeles’s El Rey Theatre on February 9.

¤

SCOTT TIMBERG: Let me start at the obvious place. In your writing, you often look at the South, at the complexity of the region’s history. And there’s a whole bunch of writers who’ve done this before: Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor. I’m just wondering what, if anything, these people have meant for you?

PATTERSON HOOD: I probably first became aware of that type of thing, as a genre of literature, when I was assigned To Kill a Mockingbird in high school. That was the first book I was forced to read at school that I actually loved and connected with. I fell in love with it, and the character of Atticus Finch reminded me of a very beloved relative of mine, who was kind of like a second father to me — so I really connected hard with that. And then later, in high school or in college, I read Faulkner a bit … I was too young to really get it. But it was a short story, “Barn Burning,” that I first read, and that was a good entry point, because I totally dug it, and got it, although I don’t think I would have been ready to read As I Lay Dying or anything. I love reading. I’m a fanatical reader.

And that goes back to childhood for you?

Maybe off and on. I remember times in childhood when I read a lot. I loved Old Yeller as a child — I really loved that book. And like everyone, I read Charlotte’s Web, although I don’t think I liked it as a kid. I read it to my son, actually, a couple of years ago, and fell in love with it. But I don’t think as a kid I was able to get past the fact that it was romanticizing a fucking spider. I have arachnophobia, so it was a bit of a leap on that one. So yeah, I went through periods of reading and not reading, I guess because it reminded me too much of school, and I hated school and everything about school at that time. I had to get past rebelling against it in order to enjoy it.

Yeah, I think a lot of us, especially boys, go through that phase, even if they become serious readers later. So when you were reading Harper Lee and the Faulkner story, and maybe some other stuff, what did you respond to, what made you want to go back to it, besides the fact that it was about the part of the country you live in? Did you feel it helped you make sense of the South?

Yeah, I probably just responded to the dialect, because that’s the way my people talked. And I responded to some of the manners — you know, the manners that everybody had, even the villains, who were these kind of ignorant, white trash, really terrible people in To Kill a Mockingbird. They still had a certain amount of decorum about them. When they weren’t spitting in Atticus’s face, there was still a certain amount of “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” involved. And that was beat into me as a kid, you know.

So even though terrible things were happening, in a way, you felt like you were home?

Sure, sure. And I had a similar thing with R.E.M., early R.E.M., I fell in love with them really early. About two weeks before Murmur came out, I got turned on to Chronic Town, and in the press in those days, people talked about, “Oh, you can’t understand the lyrics, you can’t decipher what he’s saying.” But these things tended to be colloquialisms, which I could decipher. There’s a song by a side project called The Golden Palominos, and I remember reading a review by someone who couldn’t decipher what Stipe kept saying, like the hook. And it’s “fixin’ to go” — that’s all he’s saying is “fixin’ to go,” he’s fixin’ to go!

Of course, there’s more to being Southern than just a manner of speech. When did you get a sense that a key element of Southern literature was the question of race? How did Southern literature change the way you understood black people or the racial rift in the region?

Yeah, I can’t remember a time that I wasn’t aware of race, and the South’s role in that story. I don’t think there was ever a point in my life that I wasn’t, at some level, aware of it, because of what my dad did. He made his living playing on Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett records, when they literally weren’t allowed to go out to dinner with him, and so he brought that home, you know — the anger over that came home with him. And we’d see George Wallace on the television screen and my dad would just start frothing at the mouth. But we have family members who I’m sure voted for Wallace, and whom I love dearly.

So there was always that disconnect. I was also aware of the generation gap, of the ’60s, the cultural revolution that was playing out in my family too. My parents came of age in the ’60s, and my dad smoked pot, and rode a motorcycle, and had a beard and long hair, and my mom wore go-go boots and hot pants … And I spent an enormous amount of time with my grandparents and my great-uncle, who were from the Depression generation. And so I kind of viewed the counter-culture, the culture clash, from a front-row seat as I was growing up, and I think that’s probably part of my attraction to dualities in my writing and the stuff I do.

It sounds like you didn’t need Harper Lee to show you that race was an obsession in the South — you were seeing and living that every day.

Absolutely. And it’s funny, because I haven’t read the other book of hers that came out. I own it, and I plan to — it’s really just a matter of time … I’m aware of its flaws, but I do want to read it, because I’m interested in that. I’ve actually written a piece, a song that kind of deals with that, because when a New York Times critic actually reviewed the book, it was the week after I moved to Portland. I read that piece in The New York Times, and I literally broke down and cried. I got so upset at Atticus Finch. I got really, really mad for a couple of days.

And then I had this epiphany that it’s absolutely right, that it was important. I believe that she was of sound mind in deciding to put that out, because I think it was important — not to disillusion everybody of their hero, or to make everybody that named their kid Atticus wince — but because that’s how it was. That is the truth.

We’re talking about the fact that Atticus, who’d been this hero of racial justice, became sort of a segregationist, a racist …

It made me mad and upset, but once I got past that, it totally rang true to me.

In the ’30s he was defending this man who was wrongly accused. It offended him on a human level that Tom Robinson was accused of a rape he obviously didn’t commit, but that don’t mean Calpurnia could sit at the table with Atticus at dinnertime. That’s a different line. When African Americans were demanding equality, that crossed a different line, and all of a sudden Harper Lee saw her father, her beloved father figure — who to her represented the side of right and justice — all of a sudden she saw him as a hypocrite. And she wrote this thing first, in anger, and then she went back and wrote, from the view of her childhood, the book that everyone knows and loves.

That rang so true to me, and I wrote a song that, at this point, has never been recorded. I’m still hoping to do something with it. It’s called “At a Safe Distance.” When you look a little closer, not at a safe distance, you tend to see things that aren’t so pleasant — you see the cracks. It really rang true to me; I wish it didn’t.

I guess you could say this about all literature, but it seems that, more than any other, Southern literature is based on history. I wonder if you ever went back and read any Southern history, journalism about the South, about the Civil Rights movement, or any of that? You’re kind of born into the middle of the Civil Rights era — ’64, right?

1964, yeah. I was born either at the last moment of the Baby Boom, or at the first moment of Generation X. I’m right on the cusp, as was my mother, who was born the day before the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, which is the official start of the Baby Boom. Her birthday’s August 5, so with the time change, she was probably born about the exact moment that the Baby Boom started.

So yeah, all of that fascinates me. I’m obsessed with the Robert Caro books on Lyndon B. Johnson, which goes back to the duality thing, because he was the ultimate dual president. I mean, he was the best and the worst, and sometimes at the exact same moment. Sometimes he would say the worst thing possible when doing something amazing, and vice versa. He could be surprisingly eloquent as he’s just fucking you. He’s a never-ending source of fascination to me, and the fact that such a gifted writer has literally spent 50 years of his life chronicling this guy — I get off on that too. I’ve read all four books that have appeared so far, and I’m eagerly awaiting the fifth and final one.

Was Johnson a sort of Texas racist who grew up and saw racial reality? Or was he an opportunist?

He was all of the above. Caro’s take on it, I think, is that he is all those things, and more, at the exact same time.

When people say, “Oh, he didn’t really mean that — he just did the Civil Rights thing because he knew it would be good for his historical legacy.” Well, sure, he knew it would be good for his legacy, but he very well knew that it meant the South wouldn’t vote Democrat again for 50 years, which it hasn’t. It was the beginning of the great migration of Southern Democrats to the GOP. And when he did those things, he purposefully fucked over people who had helped him his entire career.

And yet, he was absolutely a Jim Crow guy for most of his career. And all of those things coexisted within him at the same time, and I think all along. He did have some awakenings at a young age, he did know extreme poverty, and he taught at a school that was pretty much all Latino students. And I think he was very moved by their plight, and he took that with him forever. And yet he was willing to put that in a box and not deal with it for many, many years, building a career as the LBJ that the Kennedys hated so much.

Your dad’s music, and the music you play with the Truckers, it’s all grounded in the blues and R&B. And the Truckers were founded, in some ways, as an homage to hip-hop …

Sure, sure. Though none of us would have tried to rap. But we were immersed in it. I really responded to how hip-hop seemed to be telling you the news — what was going on right now. Modern-day country was more about retro things. I wanted to sing about what was happening now, but in a country style.

Did any of this lead you into African-American literature, especially essays, from the South or elsewhere?

I got into it really late, really recently. Through reading Ta-Nehisi Coates I tried to learn more about James Baldwin, and then I Am Not Your Negro came out last year, which was so amazing. There are so many books; I’ve only scratched the surface. I can spend the rest of my life reading every day, and not even read a fraction of the things I’m really interested in.

Anything you’ve gone back to and loved the second time?

I love Mark Twain. I made it a point to reread Huckleberry Finn at a much older age, after loving it as a kid. Reading it in my 40s was great. What a remarkable piece of work. I do like reading the classics. I was turned on to Hemingway really late. I responded to the style — it’s like the opposite of Faulkner, whom I also love. Instead of long sentences, reall short, concise ones. I respond to both forms. Hemingway’s stories are so devastating; there’s no way to improve them. I loved A Farewell to Arms. I stumbled upon it accidentally. I was at my in-laws’ house and may’ve been sick, was cooped up, it was a rainy day. They had the book; I picked it up, read the first chapter, and couldn’t put it down. I read the whole thing in like a day and a half.

Your old bandmate, Jason Isbell, is reputed to be a very literary cat. Did you guys turn each other on to books and writers when you were in the Truckers together?

We probably have more since we quit playing together. When we were playing together, we were in the eye of the storm. That was a crazy time. He turned me onto Peter Matthiessen, a trilogy of books that he rewrote as one book, Shadow Country, set in Florida in the Everglades, post–Civil War, when they were first settling that part of the country. It was kind of the last frontier. All of these outlaws that had been put out of business in the West being ended up down there. It was riveting — and one of Jason’s favorite books. He’s very well read, and a great writer in his own right.

Your last record, American Band, was your most explicitly topical. You wrote about racial violence and social tensions that were exploding around you. Did your reading of essayists, novelists, or anything else help shape that album?

I was reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me when I was in the midst of writing that record. I had already written “What It Means,” and I was going through a period of questioning: Did I have a right to write such a thing? Reading his book, I kept asking, “What can I do?” Maybe this is a small part of what I can do. Maybe there does need to be a goofy white dude, in a rock ’n’ roll band, with the following that it has, that can say Black Lives Matter. Maybe that is important. I didn’t write that song from the perspective of a black man being shot by police — I wrote it from the perspective of a goofy white dude, like me. Seeing this happening around me and saying, “This is wrong. Why are we at this place in 2017? Why is this still a thing?” And unfortunately, the song doesn’t have answers, it’s just questions. But at least questioning is a start, a beginning.

¤

Scott Timberg is the editor of The Misread City: New Literary Los Angeles and author of Culture Crash: The Killing of the Creative Class.

The post All the Poets (Musicians on Writing): Patterson Hood appeared first on Los Angeles Review of Books.

from Los Angeles Review of Books http://ift.tt/2nwKRsu

[d2kvirus]

Dickheads of the Month: August 2019

As it seems that there are people who say or do things that are remarkably dickheaded yet somehow people try to make excuses for them or pretend it never happened, here is a collection of some of the dickheaded actions we saw in the month of August 2019 to make sure that they are never forgotten. 

When there was the possibility of the parliamentary sovereignty that Leavers harp on about, off sprinted proven liar Boris Johnson to Balmoral to beg the Queen to suspend parliament in order to force through a No Deal Britait - but of course, everyone but him are the “traitors” in this sordid affair, even after Ben Wallace apparently forgot that cameras and microphones exist when blabbing about how Johnson did this due to fearing that his working majority of one wouldn't survive a No Confidence vote

It was so nice of Michael Coudrey to post a blatantly faked screenshot of El Paso shooter Patrick Crusias’ MyLife profile page to try and claim that Crusas was a left-wing extremist rather than, oh I don’t know, a white supremacist who happened to parrot several of Trump’s soundbites about Hispanics, let alone consider that maybe mass shootings are something that shouldn’t happen with alarming frequency

Meanwhile it was equally predictable that Paul Joseph Watson was jumping up and down yelling “See!  See!  A leftist went on a killing spree!” which not only made it obvious he was trying to divert attention from the El Paso shooter, but also drew attention to the fact that while the alt right were tripping over one another to make excuses for Patrick Crusas as he’s some poor innocent victim of society, as soon as it emerged that Connor Betts isn’t one of them the excuses evaporated

So naturally, peak twattery followed when Dmitriy Andreychenko walked into his local Missouri branch of Walmart toting a tactical rifle and handgun while wearing body armor, and when he was arrested for being such a monumental fuckwit he bleated something about testing to see if Walmart respected his Second Amendment rights

Yet somehow the UK couldn’t laugh at Americans trying to blame video games for mass shootings thanks to Priti Patel trying to create a direct link between stabbings and fried chicken

Of course Jo Swinson has taken it upon herself to say she and only she can stop Britait, which was obvious by her rejecting Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal of an interim government out of hand without any reason in spite of the fact that, as Leader of the Opposition, of a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson does get through the Commons it will be Corbyn who is asked to put together an interim government - but Jo Swinson instead suggested the first tow backbenchers she could think of because she cannot countenance the idea of Labour stopping Britait, as at that point what is she other than somebody who lies about her voting record?

This month it was Arron Banks who wanted to sound triggered to a sociopathic degree by Greta Thunberg with his lovely response to her yachting across the Atlantic by tweeting that freak yachting accidents tend to happen at this time of year, while Julia Halfwit Hartley-Brewer posted some lame tweet gloating about she and her family would be flying across the Atlantic instead, meanwhile Roger Helmer resorted to calling her a “Swedish pixie” during one of the rare occasions he remained awake when in public and Paul Joseph Watson talked about how an autistic girl was being “exploited” - but because Arron Banks has to be Arron Banks, he had to have the most cuntish last word and said it was just a joke...like saying women wearing burqas look like letterboxes

As if proven liar Boris Johnson hadn’t used the NHS as a platform for his outright lies enough in the past three years, he pledged an increase in funding...that was actually funding that NHS providers had been saving up for the past three years, but had been unable to spend in that time as the Tory government banned them from spending it...until it became convenient enough to allow them to spend their own money

If only somebody suggested to Lou Dobbs that, if you see a group of protesters sat in the road outside the ICE facility that employs you, driving your truck just inches from their faces is guaranteed to piss them off - and then using that as an excuse to plow through the pissed off crowd is guaranteed to cost you your job and piss off everyone bar the weirdos who believe it’s not vehicular assault if you run into people with differing opinions to you

It clearly did not occur to Steve King when trying to find a logical reason to say abortions should be banned that saying the human race may not exist if not for cases of rape and incest tens of thousands of years ago doesn’t in any way defend his position, instead make it sound uncannily like he’s on the side of those who raped and pillaged

It didn’t take long before Boris Johnson started reading from the Bannon playbook, stating that he would not take interviews with the press as they’re all biased against him - yes, even the BBC, the Murdoch Empire, the Daily Mail and Daily Express, all of whom have been churning out unthinkingly slanted headlines in his favour

It was so nice that James Cleverly repeatedly wanted to talk about how the Tory MP  William Wilberforce fought to end slavery...even after it was pointed out to him the first time he made that statement that Wilberforce stood as an independent and not a Tory, no matter how many times Cleverly tries to rewrite history

Let’s see if I’ve got this straight: the Lib Dems state that they will do everything in their power to stop Britait...yet Jo Swinson has ruled out going into coalition with either Labour or the SNP, in spite the fact they both have far more MPs than the Lib Dems and just so happen to also be opposing Britait

Similarly, the best idea Caroline Lucas had for solving Britait was for an all-woman cabinet that just so happened to include her, Jo Swinson, Heidi Allen, Justine Greening, Yvette Cooper and Anna Soubry among others - and seemed confused when it was mentioned that not only did her dream cabinet exclude all men but it didn’t include a single non-white MP either, and appears to have forgotten that a woman spent between 2016-19 fucking the process up at every turn

In the latest Priti Patel brainfart, she suggested that migrants earning less than £36,000 a year are no longer welcome in the UK...clearly failing to comprehend that arbitrary figure is higher than the basic salary of any member of NHS staff, any teacher or any police officer - you know, something a Home Secretary should be able to understand...

Walking proof that nominative determinism isn't really a thing James Cleverley could only try and claim that the leaked Operation Yellowhammer dossier was “out of date” and was no remotely relevant to any discussion about what would happen if the UK leaves the EU without a deal...even though the dossier was dated 1st August 2019

There was something deeply sinister about how the BBC described Owen Jones as a “Labour activist” after he was assaulted, as opposed to...oh I don’t know?  A journalist?

With the Leave hardcore now lionising chlorinated chicken of all things, it;s not surprise that Darren Grimes tried to say there’s no issue because we also have chlorinated water...somehow spectacularly missing the point

I have no idea how the Entertainment Software Association managed to bungle so badly that they managed to release the personal information of thousands of people who attended this year’s E3, including games journalists and Youtubers/Twitch streamers, but they managed it nonetheless

In a quite remarkable turn of events there was a controversy regarding Borderlands 3 that didn’t involve Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, instead it was Take Two Interactive sending private investigators to the doorstep of Youtuber SupMatto to harass him into keeping quiet, and because he wasn’t keeping quiet they abused Youtube’s copyright system on an industrial scale with over 100 copyright strikes to force him off the platform because of reasons

For a documentarian Stacey Dooley makes an awful lot of factual blunders, the latest of which being a Panorama documentary where she described a Muslim prayer gesture as an “ISIS salute”, leading to the BBC removing the clip from the documentary...on the iPlayer, but leaving it in unchallenged for its initial broadcast

You would think that Microsoft wouldn’t be so dense as to release an update that cripples the computers of everyone using Windows 7 due to somebody typing a 2 instead of a 1 in one line of code, but that’s exactly what happened with the KB4512506 update that was coded by someone who assumed everyone has Windows 10

As it was time for Suzanne Moore to vomit another opinion piece into the pages of the Guardian, she took it upon herself to write a piece that managed to insinuate that Shilpa Shetty somehow deserved the racial abuse she received from Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd on Celebrity Big Brother back in 2007 because...hold on a minute...because Shetty had servants at home while the others didn’t which apparently makes it alright

The outraged howls from Manchester City fans and football pundits alike all because VAR rightly disallowed what would have been a last-minute winner for City was truly a sight to behold, because apparently VAR exists to make things easier for a small kabal of teams and everyone else can get fucked

...and demonstrated by Mike Dean using The Wenger Defence of “I didn’t see it guv” a week later to overrule VAR stating that Tottenham should have been awarded a penalty

...and yet the depths were truly plumbed when Ian Holloway blamed the EU for the fact he doesn’t understand the offside law, even though as a football pundit (and former manager) he’s literally paid to understand it

Ooblets developers Glumberland decided to double down on their dickheadishness which began with their smug and condescending blog post explaining why they decided to make their game an Epic Games Store exclusive, but they followed that up by acting like complete bellends on their Discord that culminated with them responding to somebody asking when they could buy the game with their own currency by telling them that nobody owed them the game

With both Bury and Bolton facing extinction, trust Sky Sports News to cover this by having a clock ticking down in the corner of the screen all day, as if the possibility (and, in Bury’s case, eventuality) of a club being kicked out of the league was the same thing as Deadline Day

Britain’s most triggered man Piers Moron Morgan was predictably irked by the Meghan Markle guest-editing Vogue because obviously somebody doing that is only after the publicity...a sentiment he neglected to express when Kate Middleton did the exact same thing a few years previously

The sensible thing that Bethesda should have done after the have done after the humiliation conga line that was Fallout 76 was try not to do anything that would irritate gamers further.  So instead they decided that, when releasing Doom - that’s the 1993 original, not the 2016 reboot - it would require players to use their Bethesda account to play the actual game 

I know it’s a cheapshot, but did UKIP really elect somebody named Dick Braine as their new leader?

How the hell did Apple develop a credit card that gets discoloured if it touches materials such as denim or leather, or to put it another way if it’s in somebody’s pocket or wallet?  What are they supposed to do?  Carry it around in their hand at maximum reach?

If you have a name like Michael Buerk it isn’t a good idea to make your name fair game, but that’s exactly what he did when he suggested that it’s potentially a good thing for obese people to die early as it would save the NHS money

And of course, it wouldn't be a month without Donald Trump being a colossal cockhead, and he certainly disappoint with his prioritising schmoozing with guests at Mar A Lago while people in Dayton and El Paso were experiencing the aftermath of their respective mass shootings, and when the Orange Overlord deigned to make a statement he not only demonstrated he couldn’t give a toss by talking about the mass shootings in Toledo and El Paso, but his response to it being plain for all to see that white nationalism was the catalyst for both was to blame video games for all of society’s ills

[sm4selfdefense]

Donald Trump might not be sitting in the White House today. At first glance, that might sound odd. The six-term Republican senator, who passed away Saturday, has been hailed as an outspoken opponent of the president, while Trump himself despised McCain and famously claimed the former prisoner of the Vietcong was “not a war hero.” McCain has also been held up, by both right and left alike, as an exemplar of political civility, integrity, and decency; a nonracist Republican; the anti-Trump. Bernie Sanders called him “a man of decency and honor;” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised him as an “unparalleled example of human decency.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Even if you discount the fact that McCain once publicly dismissed his wife as a “cunt.” Or that he referred to two of his fellow Republican senators as a “fucking jerk” and an “asshole.” Or that he mocked Chelsea Clinton, then a teenager, as “ugly.” Or that he refused to apologize for calling his Vietnamese captors “gooks.” Or that he slammed anti-war protesters as “low-life scum.” Ignore all of that and you’re still left with his hate-mongering, race-baiting, Trump-precursing 2008 presidential campaign — against the first black Democratic nominee for the White House. How have the vitriol and smears of a decade ago been so easily forgotten by his eulogizers? So casually consigned to the media memory hole? Remember: McCain introduced the loathsome Palin to the world in August 2008, when he plucked her from Alaskan obscurity and made her his running mate. In doing so, he granted prestige, influence, and credibility to a know-nothing demagogue and conspiracy theorist; a woman who thrived on racial and cultural resentment and would later become a leading figure in both the tea party and the “birther” movement. Sound familiar? Palin, as the Washington Post’s Dana Milbank wrote in 2016, was “politically, the Mother of Trump.” As even Nicolle Wallace, MSNBC host and former adviser to McCain, conceded during the 2016 campaign: “Mr. Trump is riding the wave of anxiety that Ms. Palin first gave voice to as Senator John McCain’s running mate. Mr. Trump has now usurped and vastly expanded upon Ms. Palin’s constituency, but the connection between the two movements is undeniable.” Is it any wonder then that the New York Times’s Jonathan Martin, in an otherwise fawning piece on the late Arizona senator in May, observed how “many in Mr. McCain’s own party believe that, by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, he bears at least a small measure of blame for unleashing the forces of grievance politics and nativism within the Republican Party”? Remember also: McCain has never apologized for picking Palin. As Martin reported in his piece, McCain did express regret that he hadn’t selected his friend and fellow Sen. Joe Lieberman as his 2008 running mate, but “he continues to defend Ms. Palin’s performance.” Yes, her racist and conspiratorial performance. That performance. It’s easy, though, to blame all of the Trumpish campaign of 2008 on the former governor of Alaska. It was McCain, however, who unleashed and empowered her — and failed to restrain or rebuke her as she incited angry crowds against Obama. “The growing furor in the Republican Party was something that we, as a campaign, failed to address,” admitted Wallace. And, while it was Palin who shamelessly accused Obama of “palling around with terrorists” and dog-whistled to rally-goers that the black Democrat wasn’t “a man who sees America the way you and I see America,” it was McCain who spent much of the days and weeks before the election trying to tie Obama to his former acquaintance, Bill Ayers, the co-founder of a Vietnam War-era militant group. It was McCain who authorized his campaign spokesperson to remind reporters of “Barack Obama’s long association with a domestic terrorist.” The spokesperson added, “The American people know radical when they hear it, and John McCain is not the candidate in this election they should be concerned about.” You think shouting “lock her up” and “CNN sucks” at Trump rallies is bad? McCain-Palin rallies in 2008 featured Republican supporters in the audience shouting “Traitor!”, “Terrorist!”, “Off with his head!”, and “Kill him!” at the mere mention of Obama’s name. “Watch the tape of the guy screaming, ‘He’s a terrorist!’ McCain seems to shudder at that, he rolls his eyes … and I thought for a moment he’d admonish the man. But he didn’t,” wrote Joe Klein in Time magazine on October 9, 2008. “True enough: he no longer has his honor. But we are on the edge of some real serious craziness here and it would be nice if McCain did the right thing and told his more bloodthirsty supporters to go home and take a cold shower. But McCain hasn’t done the right thing all year.” On October 11, 2008, Democratic congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis lambasted both McCain and Palin for “sowing the seeds of hatred and division” and even compared their dangerous campaign rhetoric to that of arch-segregationist George Wallace. Some conservatives expressed outrage with McCain, too. David Frum accused him of “whipping Republicans and conservatives into a fury that is going to be very hard to calm after November.” Andrew Sullivan urged the Arizona senator to desist from dangerous and inflammatory attacks on a young, black Democrat: “For God’s sake, McCain, stop it. For once in this campaign, put your country first.” Republican activist and former McCain ally Frank Schaeffer denounced the GOP presidential candidate for “playing with fire,” unleashing a “monster of American hate and prejudice,” and holding rallies that “are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.” Yet, astonishingly, all of this has been whitewashed from McCain’s political record. None of it makes an appearance in the raft of unctuous obituaries that have been published since Saturday. Instead, a single moment from that campaign — in which a woman at a town hall accused Obama of being “an Arab” and McCain replied by saying, “No ma’am, he’s a decent family man” — has become the only thing anyone seems to remember from it. Over the past couple of days, the clip of that exchange has gone viral on Twitter, with everyone from former Bush administration official Fran Townsend to liberal author Stephen King, citing it as proof of the late senator’s “character and integrity” and his “finest moment.” Sorry, what? I have never understood how this was a badge of honor for McCain — nor do many Arab-Americans, for that matter. Actor Ben Affleck summed up the problem on “Real Time with Bill Maher” a few days after the incident. “What if someone said, ‘I heard he’s a Jew.’ ‘No, no, he’s not a Jew, he’s alright … he’s a decent guy’?” Affleck asked the audience. “‘Arab’ and ‘good person’ are not antithetical to one another. … We’ve allowed this idea where denying … that Obama is not an Arab, nor is he a Muslim, we’ve allowed that denial to turn into the acceptance of both of those things as a legitimate slur.” In 2008, McCain could have pushed back against this idea, expressed by the increasingly Trumpish GOP rank and file, that there was something wrong with being Arab or Muslim; after all, his fellow Republican and Vietnam veteran Colin Powell did so rather eloquently on television around the same time. But, no, McCain, whether wittingly or unwittingly, allowed a distinction to be drawn between being an Arab and being a decent family man. Some suggest he should be given the benefit of the doubt on that remark because it was a spur-of-the-moment, off-the-cuff response to a rambling and racist questioner; his intent, they say, was noble. Maybe. But context matters. How do you explain the rest of his shoddy election campaign? Shamefully, he ran for president while repeatedly claiming his black opponent was a friend of terrorists. Embarrassingly, he chose to give the nativist Palin a national platform she didn’t deserve. Disgracefully, he stayed silent as his own supporters called for the killing and beheading of Obama. So the reality is this: if you were drawing up a list of Americans who share blame for the rise of Donald Trump, John McCain’s name would have to be somewhere near the top of it. With the noxious Palin at his side, the Arizona senator ran a nasty, bigoted, and desperate presidential campaign in 2008 that paved the way for Trump and Trumpism in 2016. And you don’t have to take my word for it. It’s been reported that McCain requested for Obama to speak at his funeral. Perhaps the former president can start his eulogy by repeating aloud what he told New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait in October 2016: “I see a straight line from the announcement of Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential nominee to what we see today in Donald Trump … and the shift in the center of gravity for the Republican Party.” Thanks, John McCain. Thanks a lot. https://theintercept.com/2018/08/27/hold-the-plaudits-john-mccains-2008-campaign-paved-the-way-for-donald-trump/

[crisscolferfanforever]

Milwaukee Law 1.2

Milwaukee Law

1.2

 Terminate to Affair

 Written by smoothie smith

 Base on The Case against smoothie smith

                     The following story is true all the players in the script are base in some way to the crime that happen on Feb 9th, 2016 at Green Bay East High School in Green Bay Wisconsin

This is that story

We see a basketball game Shorewood playing Milwaukee PIUS IX the score is 59-42 at the end of the game we see both coaches shaking hands we see coach Jackson going to the office we see two parents come in

Scott Wallace

“hey, you Son of Bitch put my son in the game “

They punch him

Kurt

“you idiot “

The crowd booing

Cut to the next day  

Shorewood High school Feb 10rd 2018 AD office 9am we see Coach Jackson getting ready for his morning rounds as an Dean of Students at the school he checks his mail as a lady walks in

Amber

“wow didn’t you get the news “

Another man walks in

Tom

“your being suspend for what happen last night get out of here “

Jackson leaves the office

We cut to the 29 in Milwaukee police department we see Ray and Coach Jackson talking about what happen

Ray

“tell me what happen “

Jackson

“we are playing against Pius IX in a conference game we get are ass kick by 17 we were shaking hands and one of the parents comes running by us and started to verbal abuse me saying words like fag and you’re a psycho coach then after I left the hand he still countie to verbal assault me and then he punch me “

Ray

“did you say anything at all “

Kurt

“I am being suspend for doing nothing “

Ray

“I know, I will consider it “

 We see the office of the Leader of the school district we see Chris and Jerry walking in

Jerry

“Dec Briscoe Dec Logan, we need to see your school leaders right now “

Sally

“about what “

Jerry looks at Chris

Jerry

“what do you see my face does it say idiot “

Sally

“what do you want “

Jerry

“coach Jackson was Assault last night after shaking hands “

Sally

“we know and we are siding with the parents”

Chris

“I am going to give you one more chance to tell us where is you district leader “

Sally

“they are both off today sorry now leave”

They walk out

Jerry

“let’s talk to the Associate head coach “

We see the Shorewood high school locker room Jerry and Chris are waiting outside

Adam

“Can I help you “

Chris

“are you Adam smith”

Adam stops

Adam

“yes, I am “

Jerry

“can we have a word about the assault “

Adam

“so what do you want “

Jerry

“what is your role “

Adam

“I am trying to help the investgativon “

Chris

“who is also on the staff “

Adam

“Jay Peterson ,Troy Pieper “

Jerry

“who’s this Smoothie smith “

Adam

“he left to work on his schooling at UW-Milwaukee “

Chris

“was he there “

Adam

“I doubt it  we rarely see him at the games “

Jerry

“Austin’s got a Learning  disorder in college he needs to focus on it more “

Chris

“last thing do you know the coach at Milwaukee Pius “

Adam

“yes Joel Classmen “

Jerry

“thank you “

  We see the two Dec. talking to Coach Classmen

Jerry

“coach Classmen “

Joel

“yes “

Jerry

“I am dec Jerry Briscoe this my partner Chris Logan we have a couple of questions about the aftermath of your game against Shorewood “

Joel

“please my office “

They go in

Joel

“I coached against Kurt Jackson when he was at Milwaukee Marquette  so his mod of coaching a team is no difference “

Chris

“can you describe what that is “

Joel

“in your face for 36 mins he wanted the best out of his players “

Jerry

“can you tell me if there was anything about what Coach did “

Joel

“we have it on tape we hand it over to the WIAA we should hand it over to you but we didn’t know it would be a criminal matter “

Jerry

“can we get a copy ,last thing what do you know about Coach Austin Smith Involment  “

Joel

“coach smoothie smith is one of the best young coaches out there he took over shorewood freshmen started 3-8 and changed dhis D and went 9-1 in the second half the team he had made it to the sectional finals when they where seniors losing to Cathoilc memorial so he can coach and I offer him a job if he call but he dosen’t want to go to a Pravtie school”

Jerry

“thank you “

We see Austin Smith who is a student at UW-Milwaukee coming into the 29

Austin

“what do you need “

Ray

“we need to know what you were doing the night in question “

Austin

“I was in my dorm studying “

Jerry

“well scott wallace said that you were there “

Austin

“I am telling you I wasn’t “

We see Jerry and Chris screaming at Scott Wallace

Jerry

“if you are lying that is Perjury “

Chris

“We already got you down for Assult “

Scott

“what do you mean”

Jerry

“you punch Kurt jackson “

Scott

“that guy deserve it “

Chris

“I prominse you we will be back with the cuff and a serach warrant for both you and Gary Ressimann  “

We see a man coming into the office of walley Lepairt he sees two people kissing taking off each other’s shirts

He shuts the door

John Paul

“wow “

We see the 25 we see Jerry and Chris working on the case against Austin Smith when John Paul comes in

John

“Dec. “

Ray

“coach Paul what’s up”

John

“this is my Lawyer Victor Greene and Austin Smith Lawyer Andrew Soto we need to talk “

Jerry

“how about in here “

They go into the office of Ray Curtis

Victor

“I want to make a deal “

Ray

“call Ryan and peter”

Cut to back of the room we see Ryan and peter entering

Ryan

“what do you need”

Rey looks at him

Ray

“Adam smith did tamper with investigation at the school calling coach Jackson asking for advice “

Jerry

“and walley wants Austin Smith arrested as well “

Ryan

“for what “

Ray

“for the same thing “

 Peter

“so, arrest Adam smith and why are we talking about a guy who left the coaching staff last year due to his future “

Jerry

“because John Paul has an idea “

Jerry eye rolls

They enter the room

Jerry

“this is Milwaukee County DA Ryan Matheson and EDA Peter Stone I don’t have a lot time for a pope counsel and his story”

Ryan

“hold on please talk about your so call idea “

John

“smoothie called me asking me what he should do about next year he wants to return to coaching then I talk to him about what happen to Kurt Jackson he said, “wow if they nail me I’ll sue them” Scott Wallace and the higher up of the school district want everyone to suffer “

Peter

“Why “

John

“they told me that they didn’t play his son in the entire game they would order the higher up to fire him”

Ryan

“so, what are your suggestion us to do “

Soto

“arrested my client to talk but make it look like the real thing but you’re playing a game on walley and Michelle “

They look at each other

Ryan

“Soto what do you want us to charge your client with “

Soto

“Tampering with an investigation “

Music beginning

Ryan

“pick up Austin and Adam and charge them both, then get a statement from smoothie then send him home “

Soto

“hold on “

Peter

“what”

Soto

“my client doesn’t know about this he wants to help “

Ryan

“call him”

They see him make the call

Soto drops the phone

Soto

“he’s on bored “

Ryan

“go get them and Arrest the parents  they will be charge after Smoothie is free to go “

 They go get him

    We see the dorms of Sandburg halls of Unvieristy of Wisconsin Milwaukee we go to room E1720 Jerry and Ken knock on the door one of the guys opens the door he’s a black man on the basketball team

Jerry

“hello, where looking for Austin Smith “

Dave

“yes sure, hey smoothie the DA is here “

smoothie smith

“now what “

Jerry

“listen we can do this the hard way or the easy way you talk with the DA you’re going be on Probe and we keep this quiet to UWM”

Smoothie nods

Ray

“Austin Smith you’re Under arrest for Tampering with an Investigation you have the right to remain silent “

They walk out the door fade out

We go to room 1 of the 25 we see Peter and Bethany with smoothie smith Lawyer Andrew Soto with a tape recorded In the room

Ryan

“ray make sure you get everything sent to my office “

Ray

“will do “

 Soto

“Peter why did you do this do you want this man coaching career to end because of nothing “

Peter

“Scott Wallace place him at the crime “

Soto

“he hates my Client “

Bethany

“why “

Soto

“do you want me to tell them or do you want to “

Smoothie looks on as he starts to talk to help his case

smoothie smith

“put this on the record, on Tuesday I was studying for an upcoming test I had no plans to go to game because I was focus on doing something for the world please I will do anything I am telling you I swear I have nothing to do with helping out Kurt Jackson to keep his job after I found out Scott said your ass is next you are fucking Retard I hope you go to prison “

Peter

“all right we will drop the charges if you can tell us why Wallace Signal you out “

Soto

“I want something added “

Bethany

“what”

Soto

“I want you two and myself to talk to the UWM Dean “

Peter

“why”

Soto

“Austin is facing Removal from school cause of the Arrest “

Peter

“Deal “

The floor is all his

 Smoothie begins to talk as the music begins

smoothie smith

“Scott Wallace came up to me one day  said “we are going to get you for anything involving Kurt Jackson “ and this all because I am Hard of hearing and I have a learning Disorder that’s why he filed the complaint  because I have a Learning Disorder I have work my tail off Mr. Stone for the past 4 years and this man end my high school head coach  career  because he didn’t put his son  in the game when it was over but he wants everyone to take share of the blame “

Peter and Bethany look at each other

Peter

“do you think anyone else is invold with case”

smoothie

“of course, that SOB Lepairt and his fucking Lover who is cheating on her Husband with they wanted him gone ever since they came into office “

Music loud  

Peter

“tell Briscoe and Curtis to Arrest both dads for lying under oath “

We see Bethany and James walking into the office of Adam smith who is waiting a court date for his charges against him

Bethany

“the charge is one count of impeding the investigation “

Adam

“what do I have to do “

Bethany

“a fine of 1,000 and you will not be allowed to coach in the Shorewood school district “

Adam

“deal, what do you want in return”

Ryan

“you testify against Scott, Gary, Michelle, and wally “

Adam

“deal”

Ryan gets on the phone to Ray Curtis  

Ryan

“pick them up”

We see Jerry and Chris at a school they park the cars in front of the car

Jerry

“Scott Wallace and Gary Ressimann you’re under Arrest for the Assault of Kurt Jackson and Tampering with witness you have the right to remine silent you have a right to an attorney if you can’t afford one, one will be appointing to you “

Austin and Scottie and Matthew come out

Austin

“dad “

 We approach the court room for bail hearing

Officer

“People v Wallace and Ressimann charges are assault in the first degree tampering with a wittiness and tampering with an investigation and lying under oath in the second degree”

judge gets the chart

Judge

“what’s the plea”

Lawyer for both men come forward

Dwight Johnson

“Not guilty for both”

Judge

“100,000 dollars for bond seems reasonable “

Bethany

“no Objection “

They leave for their offices

We see Scottie and his father along with Mr. Ressimann in peter stone office with their lawyers

Gary

“why am I here “

Peter

“you lied “

Scott

“how “

Bethany comes into the picture with Jerry and Ray with DA Ryan

Bethany

“we have a statement from the Sandburg Halls SS to Austin smith himself he was not at PIUS field house the night in question nor do we see a reason to charge him with anything this is personal hatearge against him isn’t “

Scott looks mad

Scott

“he’s a fucking Retard “

Peter

“wow all for what being himself “

Gary

“well he hates our son’s he is so passion towards coach Jackson don’t take his side”

Ryan gets angry

Ryan

“this office is going to charge you both with Perjury, Conspiracy to commit a crime that carries the max of 10 years in prison and citing   a false report to the police no matter what all we are here is to discuss who put you up to this you two are going to prison for a long time “

Scottie talks up

Scottie

“it was walley Lepairt idea they told my dad to get coach agony cause of the losing record “

Scott

“Shut up”

Peter

“your under-arrest Mr. Wallace “

Scottie counties

Scottie

“they order my dad to get him mad so it would make their jobs easier “

Bethany

“do you believe there has been an affair going on “

Scottie

“yes, in fact we knew that this was happing the whole school did Coach Jackson didn’t say anything to my dad or anyone else “

Music fades in as Jerry and Chris comes into the office of the district office

Chris

“hello, you two we have a warrant for your arrest for the charge of Perjury, conspiracy to commit a crime and witness tampering and conspiracy to commit witness tampering you have the right to remind silent “

They take them out the room

We see Peter and Bethany in Ryan office

Peter

“I can’t believe they are going to prison for 3 years”

Bethany

“we still got the assault charges against Ressimann and Wallace “

Ryan

“take it to court”

Peter

“we will “

He gets bags and his papers to Ryan

Peter

“that’s our job “

We see Peter walking into the office of UWM where he is approach by Mark Erich

Mark

“what can I do for you “

Peter sits down

Peter

“our office charged one of your students with charges related to an assault that happen at Shorewood High school “

Mark

“yes, I know “

Peter

“I want to know what his stance is “

Mark

“you mean is he back “

Peter

“yes “

Mark

“we followed the recomdating from your office “

Peter

“good “

Mark

“we also agree with the fact that Wally lepairt  is behind all of this and we believe that he will be order to pay fines towards Mr. Smith Tuition cost “

Peter

“do you think 20,000 is a good amount”

Mark

“yes”

Peter

“last thing did Austin say anything about a being forced to do anything by anyone “

Mark

“Mr. Smith works with the Deaf and hard of hearing community he’s also an out and proud gay man very popular we are going to protect the interst of him making sure that outside of the school nobody goes after him”

 Peter

“thank you “

 Dwight comes in

Dwight

“I though you would drop the lying under oath charges “

Peter

“then give us a reason “

Dwight

“he didn’t lie about anything “

Peter

“every time you come in with this bull shit I am going to recommend more charges “

Dwight

“why are you like this your father wasn’t “

Peter walks over to Dwight

Peter

“YOU DARE STRIKE ME! my father has nothing to do with this case I swear to god if you don’t help me out I will Turn you over to disciplinary committee and they will yank your license so my advice to you IS GET OUT OF MY WAY”

Peter walks out to Ryan office

 We see court room number 200 we see Bethany cross examing a wittiness while watching a tape of the game against

Bethany turns the television on

Bethany

“this is people 12 your honor “

Judge

“granted “

Bethany

“Coach Classmen please tell the court what you see in the video “

Joel

“both Shorewood and Pius IX shaking hands after we beat them 59-42 “

Bethany

“do you have a rule against interaction with parents “

Joel

“you are forced to resign if you are found guilty of it “

Bethany

“is that what this is “

They watch the video as the deffaant hits coach Jackson with

Joel

“no it’s not “

Bethany

“what do you call this “

Joel

“a parent beating shit out of a coach “

Dwight

“Objection here say”

Judge

“what are you hearing over rule”

Bethany

“no further questions “

We see Austin Smith exam by Peter on the stand

Peter

“where were you the night in question “

Austin

“I was in my dorm room studying for an upcoming exam for American Sign language “

Peter

“why did you leave Shorewood high school in July of last year”

Austin

“I need a break I wanted to go to school full time for a couple of years before getting back in the game “

Peter

“thank you nothing further your”

Dwight gets out

Dwight

“do you have a hate towards my client “

Austin

“I do not “

Dwight

“what’s your role in the investigation “

Austin

“I would like to plead the fifth “

Dwight

“wow, so can I ask you a question did my clients or their son ever scare you off during the investigation “

Austin

“they told me if I don’t talk I get killed “

Dwight

“because you’re a retard “

Peter

“objection “

Judge

“I want all that thrown out “

Dwight

“your honor “

Judge

“you gave me no choice “

Dwight goes to his bench and slams his fist on the table

Dwight

“speak up your honor there’s some people in the Shorewood district that didn’t hear you “

Judge

“you just watch me, I find your case flawed your mention is deny and you Mr. Clark are fined 5,000 dollars for citing a riot courts in recesses and we don’t take checks “

“court ends “

 Dwight

“we will help meet me in a half an hour”

Peter

“NO let sweat “

Dwight

“come on peter”

Peter

“I will yank your License “

Dwight

“what I am trying to say is that we should not be in court “

Peter

“but we actually are “

 They walk away

We see Ryan and Bethany working on their cases during lunch break Dwight comes

Dwight

“stop insulting us “

Ryan

“you want to talk about it “

Amy comes in

Amy

“we want to talk “

Ryan starts talking before peter comes in the picture

Peter

“your plea to Assault 1, Tampering with an investigation, and lying under oath 2 this office will recommend a 4-year prison term without a fine given to both Coach Jackson and Coach smith and you help us nab Walley Lepairt and Michelle Janke for the charges that your client is facing “

Ryan looks at Dwight

Ryan

“do we have a deal”

Dwight nods

Peter

“I will call the judge meet us in 30 mins for a conference I want everything”

Dwight goes out

Conference room Feb 27th

We see peter walking to his desk

Peter

“the offer is one count of Conspiracy to commit a crime, one count of lying under oath and one count of tampering with a wittiness “

Walter

“Mr. Stone we Fired him based on his actions that is not a crime “

Peter walks over to desk as he brings his lab top

Peter

“look what is he doing oh there he got punched in the face wow. he didn’t say a word “

Michelle

“yes, he did “

Bethany

“we have witness that said nothing happen “

Ryan opens the door he puts his hands in the pockets

Ryan

“I heard all this screaming from my office, now I going to save Mr. Stone some time here I will charge you with the original charges and an add charge “

John Gaskins

“and what would that be “

Ryan

“Assault of Kurt Jackson “

John

“You’re crazy “

He gets over to the table

Ryan

“then you listen to me Walley lepairt and Michelle Janke will be charge with that unless you pled guilty to the counts that Mr. Stone stated with the added pension “

John

“what would that be”

Peter

“We are asking that you pay fines towards Austin Smith Tuition and other expenses “

Ryan

“and you will also let him coach again at any school that he wants including Whitefish Bay, Milwaukee King, Milwaukee Riverside, or Nicolet “

Michelle

“but we made a rulling that go against that “

Ryan

“I am telling you right now I will take you to court rip up this deal and you will get 25 years to life for all crimes “

Wally

“ok what do you want “

Peter

“what we want is your clients to spend 5 years in prison in addition to that you will pay 20,000 towards Austin smith Tution until its paid off and you will remove your liencsce for life “

 John

“how much in fines “

Ryan

“20,000 a year “

John

“you have a deal “

Peter

“do you want to say something “

Bethany

“and, when you get out prison don’t bother getting a job in Education again “

Peter comes in with edvice of the scandal that leads to the conspiericy charges

Peter

“and we found this “

Michelle

“you can’t uses these “

Bethany

“we can’t but we are sending it the family court lawyers “

They look at each other

 They look at each other

Peter

“take these two out of here “

We see the office of peter as an Austin and Scottie come in

Peter

“I can’t talk with you “

Austin

“please Mr. stone I hate my father I never wanted this to happen “

Peter

“deal with it now get out of my office “

We see Kurt Jackson return to work we see him get on the phone  

Kurt

“I am going to make a statement at 12”

He drops the phone

We see Austin smith in his class we see Alec and Elijah coming into the room we see Austin Cartoonist nod to him

Austin (sign)

“I will be right back “

He goes outside

Austin

“what do you guys need something happen “

Alec

“do you need anything “

Austin

“why are you asking “

Alec

“because we just saw the news “

Austin

“thank you guys I will see you when I get home “

They hug

 End of 1.2

 The original story

 This case is inspired by the actual case that happens in  Merrill Wisconsin in the time period of feb 9th to march 3rd of 2016 Austin Smith was cleared of all charges against him  he  is now an Associate head Coach at Whitefish Bay High School he is still haunted by what happens , Kurt Soderberg is now the High School Principal at St. Croix Central High school in St. Croix Wisconsin, Adam Smith was charged with impeding the investigation he has not been a coach since feb 20th , Walley lepairt and Michelle Janke have  been employed at another  school district in Wisconsin  and although they were not ordered to pay Austin’s  tuition they were forced to apologize to him Scottie Wallace would be ban from attending any High School Games for life   ,Merrill high school boys basketball  is now Lead By Jake Schalow  

     Next episode: an upcoming actresses on a hit tv show is stalk and murder