#he probably did call him stan more times. but whatever! i still think its significant to call stan his full name

[marsupials-of-mars]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the only time Bill calls stan "stan" is in his first appearance "wait...stan pines..." and after Ford was revealed he always calls him Stanley. I like to think if the show didn't need to keep a secret bill would always call him Stanley. Because it differentiates him the most from Stanford. And bill doesnt like him, doesn't respect him, doesn't want to equate him with the better twin. Which makes his final word that much more significant. Same with his final word to the reader in tbob.

[musette22]

Drunk in Boston

Pairing: Chris Evans x Sebastian Stan (Evanstan)

Word count: 2.4k

A/N: A week or so ago, I saw this post. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I decided to write a ficlet, a little Evanstan AU. It’s a bit late maybe, since Christmas has already been and gone, but it’s still technically the holidays so just indulge me? :p 

Also, I hit 3k followers this week, so this is also a sort of thank you to all you amazing, wonderful, beautiful people for getting me here. Love you all as much as I love these boys as much as they love each other 💘 Hope you enjoy!

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It’s 3 p.m. on 17 December, and Chris is a little bit drunk. Maybe even a lotta bit.

In his defense, he is currently in Boston for a bachelor party and they did just do a tour of the Samuel Adams Brewery. It’s not like he makes a habit of daytime drinking. Not this much, anyway.

Chris stumbles out of the bar that’s attached to the brewery, surrounded by a dozen or so old school friends, all of whom are in a similar state of inebriation, when they pass the gift shop and a familiar image catches his eye. Chris stops in his tracks. On closer inspection, what he saw turns out to be a photo, displayed in a stand outside the shop, of a park in Concord near where Chris grew up.

No, not a photo.

A postcard.

He plucks the card from the stand, swaying on his feet a little as he peers at it. In the image, the park is covered in snow, much like it would be right now, and stamped across it in a red, gothic font are the words ‘Happy Holidays’.

Instantly, Chris is hit by a wave of nostalgia. No doubt the feeling is heightened by the alcohol – he always tends to get a little sentimental when he’s drunk – but it’s not just that. It’s also the fact that Chris and his friends have been reminiscing about the good old days all afternoon as well as the sudden, depressing realization that despite all he’s achieved in the past decade or so, his happiest memories are probably those of childhood Christmases spent in Concord.

These days, Chris lives in on the West Coast. He’s kind of a superstar now, after all, and superstars live in LA – everybody knows that. Chris doesn’t usually let himself dwell too much on how lonely he is there, or how he misses the comforting accents and the real winters of the East Coast. Tonight, though, whether because of the booze in his system or the ghosts of Christmas past, he allows himself to feel the stab of homesickness.

Without conscious input from his brain, Chris finds himself buying the postcard. When the cashier asks him if he’ll be needing he stamp, too, he hesitates. “Yeah, why not,” he decides, on a whim. It’s a Christmas card, after all, and Christmas cards are supposed to be sent.

There’s just one slight issue with his plan, Chris realizes as soon as he puts the borrowed pen to the card.

He’ll need an address to send the card to.

Frowning, he taps the pen against the counter, thinking as hard as his beer-addled brain will allow him, but the only address he can think of off the top of his head is that of his childhood home, back in Concord. But… that would be weird, right? He has no idea who’s been living there, since his parents sold the house after the divorce. Then again, Chris tells himself, this could be his good Christmas deed. Sending a postcard to a total stranger just to wish them happy holidays, that’s totally in the Christmas spirit, isn’t it?

With a decisive nod of his head, Chris puts his pen to paper and starts to write. It’s just a few lines, because there’s only so much you can say to a total stranger, but when he signs off with his initials, he feels good about it. He asks the cashier for the nearest post box, which happens to be just outside the building, so he thanks the guy and heads outside.

Pulling his pea coat tighter around him against the glacial December air, Chris spares the card one last look, and drops into the post box. It feels significant, somehow.

He doesn’t get time to dwell on it though, because the moment his friends spot him, he’s immediately and enthusiastically subsumed back into the group and dragged on to the next boozy destination.

Three drinks on, Chris has forgotten all about the postcard.

***

On the morning of 18 December, Sebastian Stan opens his postbox to find a postcard with a photo of the park near his house on the front, and a hastily scribbled message on the back:

Hey,

I used to live in your house.

I’m drunk in Boston, and it’s the only address I know.

Happy Holidays,

C.E.

Even after re-reading the message three times, Sebastian is none the wiser as to who sent it.

It makes sense other people used to live in the house Sebastian’s been renting, but unsurprisingly, he has no clue who they were. It was only last year that he’d decided to relocate from New York to Concord, craving a change of pace and more peace and quiet than the Big Apple had been able to offer. He’d visited Concord on a research trip for his third novel the year before and had immediately taken a liking to it. So when, after asking his estate agent to put out some feelers in the area, the guy had found him this beautiful place to rent within a day, Sebastian had taken it as a sign.

It’s a big old house – more appropriate for a family than a man living alone, perhaps – but Sebastian can afford it, and it has a lived-in vibe that makes it feel intimate, somehow. Its location on the edge of a large park, peaceful apart from the joggers and young families that frequent it, suits his needs perfectly, too. Despite being a successful author, Sebastian prefers to keep himself to himself. He’s not one for ostentatious book tours or photoshoots, doesn’t believe in social media beyond its promotional potential, and he’s found that he blends in perfectly in this picturesque little town.

In addition to being a private person, however, Sebastian is an inherently curious one.

It’s why he became a writer in the first place, and it’s also why the random, slightly mysterious postcard instantly fascinates him. Someone who decides to send a Christmas card to the stranger living in their childhood home has got to be an interesting person, Sebastian figures.

Unable to resist the temptation, he finds the landlord’s number and presses call.

“The initials C.E.?”

“C.E., that’s right,” Sebastian repeats patiently. “I received a postcard from someone with those initials who said they used to live in this house and wished me Happy Holidays. I’d like to thank them for the card, maybe tell them they’re free to come by the house anytime, if that’s something they’d like.”

“Well,” the landlord says, clear hesitation in his tone. “I wouldn’t usually give out this kind of information, especially not about this particular person. But seeing as he approached you first, I guess it should be alright…”

Chris Evans.

Famous Hollywood actor Chris Evans used to live in Sebastian’s house. The house he’s renting. Whatever.

The point is, Chris Evans sent him a postcard. Sebastian would be lying if he said that knowledge didn’t make his heart beat a little faster. He isn’t one to get star-struck, normally, knowing full well the rich and famous are people just like anyone else, only with an added layer of expensive, sparkly veneer.

Chris Evans, though. Well, let’s just say Chris’s blue eyes, his dazzling smile, and his chest – god, that chest – had helped along Sebastian’s gay awakening considerably, all those years ago.

So even though he realizes what he’s about to do could be considered slightly unethical, the next number Sebastian dials is that of his agent. There’s no harm in asking if there’s any chance she could use her industry connections to pass on a message to Chris Evans, surely?

“Chris Evans?” his agent repeats blankly. “The British radio DJ or the actor?”

Sebastian huffs out a laugh. “Actor. Definitely the actor. Why would I want to send a message to a British radio DJ?”

“Why would you want to send a message to the actor?” she shoots back. “Apart from the obvious, of course.” 

Touché.

Once he’s explained the situation to her, his agent hums thoughtfully. “Alright, I’ll admit that’s pretty amazing,” she says. “As it happens, I know someone at CAA who owes me a favor. I’ll see what I can do.”

Sebastian thanks her warmly, and then he waits.

***

That afternoon, Chris gets a phone call from his agent.

“Thank you for the postcard,” she reads aloud. “If you're ever in the neighborhood, you’re welcome to stop by the house and have a look around, for old time’s sake. Happy Holidays, Sebastian Stan.”

“Sebastian Stan?” Chris asks, eyebrows shooting up. “The author?”

“Oh, you know him?”

“Well, no. Not exactly. I’ve read one of his books, though, the one that’s shortlisted for the Pulitzer price, I think? He’s very good.”

His agent hums. “If you say so. Do you want me to pass a message back to him?”

Chris opens his mouth to say yes, then closes it again. “Actually,” he says, making a spur-of-the-moment decision, “I’m still in the area so I think I’ll just pay him a visit. Do you think you could you cancel my flight back to LA this afternoon?”

His agent grumbles at him for a bit but eventually concedes, though not before she’s made Chris promise he’ll be back in LA on Tuesday, for the Christmas special he’s due to appear in. Fun.

For a few moments after he’s ended the call, Chris stares out of the window of his hotel room. It’s snowing again, big flakes fluttering down from the sky, slowly turning the grey, slushy roads white again. He wonders if Pulitzer-finalist Sebastian Stan likes to make snow angels in the backyard too, like Chris used to do.

Putting his phone between his shoulder and his ear, Chris starts to put his things in his overnight bag, and calls an Uber.

It’s almost twilight, by the time the cab come to a stop in front of the house. Chris thanks the driver and steps out, booted feet sinking into the freshly fallen snow. It’s piling up quickly, he notices distantly.

It’s odd, being back here, after everything that’s happened since he moved away, so Chris gives himself a moment to just stand there, in the middle of the deserted street, taking in the sight of house he grew up in.

The house that holds countless memories, many of them good, some of them not so much. His first dog and his first kiss. Scraped knees and snowball fights. Raucous laughter and hissed arguments.

The house looks the same but different.

Chris walks up to the front door, snow crunching under his boots, and rings the doorbell.

***

Chris Evans is on Sebastian’s doorstep.

All blue-eyed, bearded, gloriously muscled, six-foot-something of him.

“Uh,” Chris says, blinking at him in something like surprise before his gaze sweeps up and down Sebastian’s body in a blatant once-over. “Sebastian Stan?”

“Oh wow, you actually came,” Sebastian blurts by way of reply.

Chris’s eyes widen. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just thought- ‘cause you said-”  

“No, no, it’s fine,” Sebastian interrupts. “I did say that. I just- I guess I wasn’t expecting you to really turn up – or not this soon, at least. But it’s no trouble at all, I live alone so it’s nice to have a visitor. Especially, y’know. You.” Forcing himself to stop talking, Sebastian runs a hand through his messy hair and wishes he’d worn something better suited to meeting one’s celebrity crush. “Sorry,” he says, smiling sheepishly. “Let’s try that again. Hi, I’m Sebastian Stan.”

“Chris Evans.” Chris smiles back warmly as he shakes Sebastian’s extended hand. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Lovely,” Sebastian repeats, holding Chris’s gaze. There are tiny flecks of green mixed in with the blue of his eyes, and his lashes would put any Maybelline model to shame. It takes Sebastian longer than it should to remember to let go of Chris’s hand, but fortunately, Chris doesn’t seem to be in any rush either. Huh. Sebastian clears his throat. “Would you- would you like to come in?”

“I’d love to, if you’re putting out,” Chris replies. There’s a beat, and then he freezes, eyes widening in horror. “If I’m not putting you out – not- not if you’re- I wasn’t, I didn’t mean- oh my god, Chris, stop talking you meatball,” Chris groans covering his face with a large hand. His next words come out a little muffled. “I am so sorry. Just ignore me. I have a horrible hangover, I promise I’m not usually this much of a disaster.”

Sebastian laughs, equally charmed by Chris’s helpless chattering as he is by the blush coloring his cheeks, just visible above the line of Chris’s well-groomed beard.

“You’re fine, I’m not easily offended,” he assures him, stepping aside to let Chris into the hallway. “I can take a lot.”

Oh.

This time, it’s Sebastian’s turn to wince at his choice of words, but when he tentatively glances back at his visitor to see if he noticed, he stills. The look on Chris’s face instantly makes him forget all about feeling embarrassed.

Still standing by the door, melting snow forming puddles around his feet, Chris is watching him intently. There’s something curious in his gaze, something sharp and searching.

It makes Sebastian’s breath catch in his throat. He swallows, resisting the impulse to avert his gaze, play it off as a joke. Instead, he makes himself stare right back. Lets the tension build, lets it simmer and crackle as it stretches out between them, growing stronger with every second they spend looking at each other in heavy silence.

“That right?” Chris asks finally, his voice a low rumble that settles in Sebastian’s bones like smoldering embers. Chris takes a careful step forward, slowly, giving him every chance to back away.

Sebastian stays where he is. 

“Mmm,” he hums, catching his bottom lip between his teeth and biting down lightly, experimentally, on the soft, plump flesh. When Chris’s eyes flick down to his mouth instantly, homing in on it like an eagle on its prey, Sebastian decides to take a chance.

“Tell you what,” Sebastian says huskily, stepping closer under Chris’s dark, watchful gaze. “Why don’t you give me a tour and show me which bedroom used to be yours-” he comes to a halt right in front of Chris, looking up at him through his eyelashes, “and maybe you’ll find out just how much I can take, hm?”

For a moment, Sebastian holds his breath, praying he read this thing right and didn’t accidentally sexually harass a virtual stranger – but then Chris growls and surges forward, and Sebastian knows his gamble is about to pay off.

Big time.

Merry Christmas to me, Sebastian thinks wildly, just before Chris claims his mouth in a searing kiss. After that, he stops thinking altogether.

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[bigskydreaming]

Hoo boy. Actually using a cut on this one because it got long even by my standards, so....yikes. LOL. Umm, it started out salty but then it got angsty and then it got salty again and then maybe salt-angsty? Idk, whatever, its about Tim and also Damian and also BFTC and also Ric and its a freaking mess but also probably more coherent than I’m advertising it as here? I don’t fucking know, man, my baseline for this stuff is so fucked, never take my word for it. Okay, anyway!

So I’m probably always gonna be more salty about Tim and the reactions to the Robin/Red Robin thing and to Dick not believing him about Bruce, than I am even about people giving Dick shit for being a bad brother to Jason.

Because with the latter, even though I shout a lot about how there’s no real canon basis for the “Dick was an asshole to Jason before his death” stuff, it is true that most of their interactions had to happen offpanel, where we didn’t see them....so even though I’ll always be like umm, guys, why do you insist on headcanoning Dick as Douche of the Year when you could just as easily headcanon him and Jason getting along....I mean, I do still understand that we didn’t see either of those things really, so its dealer’s choice.

But its different with Tim, because we DID see Dick build a relationship with him, practically every step of the way. For years and YEARS, both in real time and comic book time, Dick made Tim a huge fucking priority in his life. Called him his brother long before Bruce adopted him. Took him places to train, and tried to make training fun too at times. Checked in on him, came running when he needed help. Dick DID THE WORK of building their bond. We saw it happen, in canon. It didn’t just magically appear fully formed, no more than Dick’s bond with Damian did....yeah Tim wasn’t as resistant as Damian was, but that doesn’t change the fact that Dick made an effort to show up in this kid’s life as often as he realistically could. Dick was a rock solid presence for Tim that he could count on, knew he could count on, he’d witnessed with his own eyes how damn much Dick cared about him and worried about him. Dick DOTED on this guy.

And then pretty much the first time Dick does something that Tim and his stans didn’t like - not even because he WANTED to, but because he literally felt like it was the choice he HAD to make, to extend some kind of meaningful gesture that this ten year old assassin who pretty much ONLY saw value in things like symbols and legacies and mantles at that particular point in his life would actually see as a reason to stay - the second Dick prioritized someone else over Tim, not because he didn’t want to be there for Tim, but because he had to make an actual CHOICE, he was just one person, he literally could not be all things to all people all at the same time....

Like, Tim and a lot of his fandom act like this was Dick abandoning Tim as a brother. Rejecting him. What????

And for the record, if we’re gonna talk about how dare Dick choose this kid he barely knows over Tim, his brother of years, not even mentioning what Damian did to Tim already.....like, let’s not forget that its not like Damian was some random stranger who held no possible emotional significance to Dick whatsoever. Like, Tim was fixated on his conviction that Bruce was alive, but Dick didn’t disbelieve him just to be an asshole, he just genuinely believed that he’d buried his father....and here was this prickly little ten year old who was the LAST possible piece of Bruce left in the world. Like, screw the idea that Dick was more drawn to Damian from the start because Damian was ‘the blood son’ and Bruce’s heir more than Tim was, that makes zero sense without Dick devaluing his own equally adoptive connection to Bruce himself. 

Nah, instead try the take that for Dick, Bruce wasn’t just the source of his family in the sense that Bruce was a second father to him....it was also because time and time again, Bruce added to Dick’s family, grew it by yet one more sibling, gave him more family than he’d ever have had without Bruce....and here comes Damian. One last addition to Dick’s family, via Bruce....and he’s not especially significant for the reason that he’s Bruce’s biological son unlike the rest of them, and this somehow elevates him over Dick’s other brothers from the start.....nope, its just as likely a read that Damian’s significant for Dick, he’s someone Dick HAS to take a chance on, HAS to bring into their family one way or another, has to get to ACCEPT them as family, to BE family, no matter what it takes.....because Damian is the last new sibling they’ll ever have, as far as Dick knows at that point. 

Bruce is dead, he thinks. There will be no more new brothers and sisters from that point on, whether biological or adopted....because Bruce isn’t there to be the one to widen their family again, one more time. No, Dick thinks, that falls to him now, he’s the only one who can do that.....he’s the only one who can make this one last gift from their dad, this prickly assassin child who so clearly is desperate for love and affection and approval and the very same things so many of them struggled with, its up to Dick to make sure he doesn’t LEAVE, that he doesn’t reject THEM, that he stays, stays family even without Bruce to be the connection...because anything less than that, anything other than making this one last potential brother, because he’s already connected to Bruce, the actual basis of that connection being shared biology not really that relevant, just that this connection EXISTS even without Bruce’s presence....failing to make him their brother in REALITY, in FULLNESS, rather than just a tangential association that benefits none of them, adds nothing to their family...to Dick, the very idea of that must be like it’d be failing Bruce one last time, squandering his last gift to their family, when his greatest gifts have always been the siblings he added to their number. 

So Dick had to get Damian to stay, to see that he had family here, by any means necessary, and so of course Dick did the only thing he knew would work, the only thing that has EVER worked except for in the case of Cass who is an outlier and should not be cited in reference to any of her brothers’ emotional obstinancy ever...he gave Robin to Damian....the only thing that has ever bonded him and his brothers, the only thing Dick has that didn’t come straight from Bruce and that he could offer on his own, the only thing that all his brothers value so highly, and thus in that they’re all connected.

And its like, so the first time Dick does something that Tim actually doesn’t like, that’s proof that Dick doesn’t really care about him, like all those years of bending himself into a pretzel to try and show up for his little brother every chance he could, no matter what else was going on in his life....like suddenly they mean nothing. Like Dick was only ever actually a good brother...so long as he was doing what Tim wanted. So long as he was prioritizing Tim properly.

And people compare it to Bruce and what happened between he and Dick years earlier, when Bruce fired Dick as Robin, when first off, there’s the fact that Robin is and was Dick’s and never Bruce’s, but I’ve gone over that to death, but secondly, there was no FIRING Tim as Robin, like there was no scene ever where Dick took Robin AWAY from Tim. I realize that might be parsing semantics to a degree, as by making Damian Robin, there was the implicit assumption that Tim now would no longer be Robin, but my point is that....there was NO scene where Dick did or said anything that can reasonably be construed as him thinking Tim wasn’t good enough to be Robin, wasn’t cutting it, was a liability, or that he wasn’t his brother. Could it have been written better, the exact how and when of making Damian Robin, that took Tim’s feelings more into account? Sure. 

But I maintain there is no version of that scenario that was ever going to satisfy fans who simply wanted Tim and only Tim to be Robin and weren’t interested in this newest one....which is ENTIRELY different from what happened between Bruce and Dick, no matter WHICH version of that story you go with....because there WAS no one else to be Robin at that particular time. It wasn’t happening because Bruce felt someone else needed it more than Dick. The ONLY conclusions there, were always going to be that....Bruce’s motivations or thoughts there were about Dick, in some way or another.

With Tim and Damian.....it wasn’t that at all, because it wasn’t like Dick just out of the blue said hey, Bruce dying has made me decide its too dangerous out there, I’m going to be Batman but I’m going to do it alone, I don’t want you being Robin anymore. No, he only did it to GIVE Damian something, to bring in MORE family, make that circle WIDER and try and build a connection that at the time was non existent. That’s an entirely different motivation than just wanting to TAKE AWAY Robin from Tim, purely because of something to do or not to do with Tim and nobody else.

And Dick literally told Tim it was because he felt Tim was too GOOD to be Robin anymore? Because he viewed Tim as an equal and wouldn’t be comfortable ordering him around in the field, the way Batman and Robin’s dynamic has always worked? And that just....didn’t mean anything to either Tim or most of his fans, because it wasn’t what they WANTED to hear, it wasn’t ‘oh I realized I made a mistake, Tim please be Robin again’ so it might as well have never been said, I guess.

But another huge component of Dick’s angst when he was fired as Robin was because no matter how close he and Bruce had been before that, Bruce had never actually taken the initiative and clarified what their relationship was without Batman and Robin in the picture, what Dick was to him, if and when Dick was no longer Robin. And even after he fired Dick, its not like he stepped up then either to offer an alternative view of how he saw Dick....he was perfectly willing to let Dick just go off and become Nightwing and at no point take the initiative to reach out to Dick and clarify hey, just because I thought it was too dangerous for you to be Robin, that doesn’t mean I stopped viewing you as my family, as my son. No, he waited for Dick to come back to HIM before he could even manage to utter that he’d missed Dick at all.

And that is not Dick and Tim’s dynamic and never was??? Because Dick CONSTANTLY told Tim he was family, he was his brother, long before all of that went down in RR #1. Dick expresses affection openly and often, so much so that the joke has long been that he can be smothering with that. And at the time, Tim was very much legally a Wayne, as was Dick, so....where on earth in any of that was the implication that Dick was in any way trying to reject Tim as a brother? That whatever Dick did with the mantle of Robin could at that point have anything to do with their status as brothers....which had for a long time by that point existed entirely independent of what they both did or didn’t do as vigilantes?

Not to mention the fact that unlike with Bruce and him, where Bruce had shown no effort to reach out to Dick in the literally-according-to-canon EIGHTEEN MONTHS between firing Dick after the Joker shot him and Dick coming back to the cave to confront Bruce about adopting Jason and making him Robin....

Again, not remotely accurate in comparison to Dick and Tim, because even when Tim left, pissed off and hurt....Dick still tried to check up on him constantly, worried about him? Asked others to look after him when Tim kept rejecting his attempts to reach out? Where the fuck does all this stuff about Dick making no effort to hang on to Tim and keep him in his life come from, I would def love to know.

Because if its just about the fact that Dick didn’t believe him about Bruce being alive at first.....I’m just gonna say it. That’s a really fucking shitty thing to hold against someone. LOLOL, yeah, he sucks because he ‘refused’ to believe Tim that the father he’d just buried and whose life he essentially now was living - raising his son, running his company, wearing his mantle, protecting his city, all of which is despite the fact that Dick’s ONLY wish for himself for years, as Tim well knew, had simply been to be his own man, live his own life, not just a pale imitation of Bruce’s....

Like basically, that whole thing there is Tim and/or his fandom resenting Dick for.....being too emotionally fragile at that point in time to deal with the possibility Bruce might actually be alive, might be able to be brought back, brought home....since what goes hand in fucking hand with that is the CRUSHING EMOTIONAL DEATHBLOW that’s the inevitable fallout of THAT if Tim turned out not to be right.

We of course know that Tim was right in the end, and we knew it even then too, those of us reading back at the time....because its comics, and its Bruce, and of course he wasn’t going to stay dead forever, which meant yeah duh, Tim is probably right, even without any evidence yet we can say that.

But without that awareness, without any kind of GUARANTEE....can you imagine being told hey, I know it literally sounds too good to be true, too good to be believed, but that thing you’re probably wishing like hell could happen, your dad could come back, maybe he’s not even really dead at all....guess what, it can! And like....you wouldn’t at all be hesitant about that, afraid to trust it, afraid to believe....because that means finding out later that he really was dead and not coming back would be like losing him all over again? Even though you never actually even got him back, just the idea, the hope of it, but that’s still enough to make you start to dream of how much better things could be, if and when you find him and bring it home....except nope, now you have to wake up again, dream’s over, time to face reality....your dad is still dead and he’s always going to be.

And then can you imagine being RESENTED for that, for not believing that because you’re literally just trying to protect yourself from losing anything else when you feel like you’ve already lost everything you can possibly bear to lose and anything else could break you.....to have this thrown in your face and cited as further proof you don’t really love your little brother, you’re rejecting him....when it has absolutely nothing to do with his credibility and everything to do with the freaking emotional toll that’s demanded of asking a twice orphaned guy to just take it on faith because its you that hey, our dad isn’t really dead, we can get him back?!

Not to mention the fact that Tim had almost gone some VERY fucking dark roads in the not too distant past because he had trouble dealing with Kon’s death, and those of his other friends, not to mention his other dad, Jack....all things that fandom cite for why Dick was so brutal to basically pile on to all of Tim’s other losses by taking Robin away too....but Dick KNEW all this and that’s literally a huge part of WHY he was so worried about Tim, because being aware that your little brother canonically has trouble dealing with major losses and was still reeling from a shit ton of major losses when he lost Bruce too and oh god, I know I made it worse by making Damian Robin instead but I didn’t know what else to do there and its not like I can take it back or change things when I didn’t see an alternative in the first place.....like...are these not legitimate freaking reasons for thinking that said little brother insisting that Bruce wasn’t dead and they could get him back the same way he refused to accept there was no way to bring Kon back....miiiight be more to do with explantions other than...oh yeah our Dad is actually totes alive and just time traveling because that’s what happens when magic god energy kills you, duh, everyone knows that?

Like, its not really that much of a stretch even to take practically everything Dick says to Tim about Tim’s possible mental state as just Dick projecting like hell about his OWN mental state and how much he’d fucking love to take a break and take some time to get his head sorted out before diving right back into the chaotic mess that is their day to day lives.

But like, both Tim and many of his fandom STILL really just don’t even hold back about not caring about any of the time Dick put into building and nurturing the fuck out of a happy, healthy, wholesome relationship with his little brother, not when he then turned around and ruined it by hurting Tim by.....reluctantly prioritizing someone else at a time that Tim really could have used him in the specific way and dynamic they were used to....and not being willing to believe him about Bruce, and in doing so open himself up to the possibility of losing Bruce all over again.

Like???? So many of the mistakes Dick is most vilified for in Batfandom as a whole are in reality actually just....times when he did something people don’t like, because it didn’t center or prioritize their personal favorite SPECIFICALLY, as in above all others. Even though in almost all of these specifics, Dick is actually asked to CHOOSE between two different loved ones or siblings, both equally demanding his attention and focus and efforts....and he’s only allowed to prioritize one, because that innately creates conflict with the other.

Like I know when we stan, its pretty natural for us to get blinded by our biases and not look at the whole picture, like of course we all inevitably tend to think our personal faves were most right or most valid or most hurt, but like just look at that for a second....

Look at how many of the occasions when Dick is considered to have made a mistake and really done wrong by one of his family as a result....how many of those situations are literally a catch-22, where the ONLY way for Dick to have made the ‘right choice’ in the eyes of one particular character’s fans....is for him to have chosen to prioritize that character over the one he actually prioritized in canon....which simply means that even if Dick had taken the road not taken there in canon, he STILL would be just as resented....just by the other’s fans now instead. 

Or when its not about fans at all, but characters, like in the Forever Evil aftermath....the ONLY way for Dick to have made the ‘right choice’ in the eyes of all the characters who give him crap for it later....would have been for him to look his father in the eye, while he himself is at absolute rock bottom, an emotional wreck, and in response to Bruce’s blatant manipulation of Dick’s guilt complex there, say “no, I’m not going to do what you’re asking me to do, even if it costs me your trust and affection?” Like can you imagine being pissed at a guy for NOT being able to say that to their dad when their dad is currently trying to pull the mother of all guilt trips...as if that’s an easy thing to do even when someone’s calm and at their peak emotional health....and not like, recovering from having been tortured and killed and revived just the day before?

Like ahflshglashfa. Srsly? C’MON!

And my question is okay, so when have ANY of the others ever been DEMANDED to make a choice, to pick either Dick or someone else to make their priority...and they chose Dick over that someone else? The CLOSEST I can actually come up with is the end of Under the Red Hood, when Jason taunts Bruce by telling him he better go check on Dick.....BECAUSE THEY BOTH SAW THE SKY TURN GREEN FROM GOTHAM CUZ SOMEONE JUST DROPPED A NUKE ON DICK’S CITY.

(And for the record, I ABSOLUTELY have read stories that bring that up as a point of resentment for Jason, that Bruce was willing to leave their confrontation....because he was worried about Dick....who was in the city that was just leveled by a nuke. Like...that’s not him running to kiss Dick’s boo boo all better because he skinned his knee maybe, lmfao.)

But srsly, its easy not to get blamed for making the ‘wrong’ choice in an impossible ask that doesn’t ALLOW for you to ever make an actually ‘right’ choice...when YOU’RE not the character who is constantly put in that lose/lose situation, specifically in regards to your family. Which is not really a situation that Jason, Tim, Cass, Damian, Duke, are really ever often in, you gotta admit?

AND DICK CONSTANTLY IS.

But yeah, I’m especially cranky about this today, hence the epic rant even by my standards lol, because I’ve been stewing about the Ric storyline still, and what I was saying there about how nobody’s ever really asked to put forth effort that actually COSTS them something, for Dick’s sake specifically...

Because that’s what made me think of the Red Robin stuff, after BOTC. Because just like the Batfamily apparently has no big issues with leaving Ric alone, per his wishes....it would have been SO much easier for Dick to just take the hint when Tim basically was like I’m mad at you, looking to stay that way, so leave me alone unless you’re ready to help me do what I think needs to be done. But Dick DIDN’T stop trying, even though Tim was PISSED at him, and making no effort to hide it, Dick was still like....fuck it, I’ll send Steph to try and look out for you if you won’t let me do it, and yeah maybe that’s less than fucking ideal too but I’m not making good decisions here for a reason like OH YEAH MY LIFE WENT DOWN THE CRAPPER WHEN DAD DIED TOO, and just because you’re mad at me doesn’t mean I can stop worrying about you.

So Ric was mean to the Batfamily, and because of that, I should give a shit what this has to do with them and whether or not they owe it to DICK, their brother, friend, son, to still show up and keep TRYING anyway, no matter what Ric says, because they’re not here for him anyway, they’re here for Dick Grayson, who they all know and believe is still in there somewhere, and they’re not going to let him get hurt anymore than he has been just because the guy in the driver’s seat right now insists he’s not him and doesn’t want to be?

Nope, I’m more like, WELCOME TO THE CLUB, BATFAMILY, FOUNDING PRESIDENT: DICK GRAYSON. Now you too get to for once share in the joys and delights of having to ask more than once for your brother to let you so much as freaking HUG him, without him insulting you or throwing that in your face or bringing up all the times you did stuff he didn’t like and that’s why he doesn’t want you around.

Except.....*searches high and low* no Batfam currently demonstrating levels of give a shit and/or remorse in regards to Dick, shock, woe, how can this be, what a mystery, much befuddlement.

[constantlyirksome]

For Pose’s Second Season Activism is in Vogue (2x01 Review.)

The most impressive element for Pose’s second season premier is the importance given to accurately portraying some truly harrowing realities for the LGBT community and people of color during the AIDs crisis. The show has jumped forward in time to 1990, where the body count has reached an unacceptable amount, and the community is fed up. Fed up with the state, the church, and with everyone else just willing to sit and watch their chosen families and friends die. The balls are just as fabulous, camp and fun, they are the shows most joyous moments, as you watch contestants prance, preen, and get read to filth by Pray Tell, you just wanna be there. But everyone in the ballroom feels the urgency and the sorrow of the times they live in. While the main characters snatched trophies a lot of interesting, real history was covered, and it made what is already an incredible show into something cultural essential.

The first scene opens with Pray and mother Blanca taking a trip to the very real and very horrendous Hart Island to pay their respects to a deceased friend. Hart island was essentially a mass grave on an island in the Bronx, where unclaimed bodies from city morgues, and those whose loved ones couldn’t afford proper ceremonies were buried. It became a dumping ground for victims of the AIDS epidemic, their bodies separated from everyone else, lest they give the disease to other dead people, makes sense right?

The disinterested worker who Blanca and Pray encounter just makes the place sound all the more horrible with how totally nonchalantly she describes the layout and the rules. The duo is deservedly mystified. It sort of drives home the disinterest, the total dismissal of those who died by the straight communities, by those unaffected. The actual scene they encounter after is something from a nightmare. Big diggers carve out mass graves, stacked with wooden crates, each with a body inside, with nothing but a number spray-painted on top to indicate who the poor souls inside were. Knowing that Blanca and Pray both have HIV, you can see the heartbreak and terror as Billy Porter and MJ Rodriguez give a tearful goodbye to their friend.

Jump forward to the world listening to Madonna’s Vogue, that has just been released, and the people in the ballroom scene have a reason to celebrate again, believing the exposure to their world will bring positive change. Blanca, in particular, sings queen Madonnas praises the whole episode, believing blindly that the song will change their lives. Now nearly thirty years on, we know the song didn’t do that. Madonna sort of sanitized the movement and no one outside the LGBT cared to wonder where it came from. But it’s hope; hope that drives Blanca to push herself and her children to do better.

She pushes Angel, who’s been taking cute photos with Lil Papi, to pursue modeling. She has the talent and the beauty, winning the season’s first ball looking rich AF (can we talk about that titty bounce??) Indya Moore is breathtaking both in beauty and performance. Her optimism, and then her deep shame when a photographer takes advantage of her is a thing to see. The close up shot on her face, while he takes nudes of her for his “personal collection” is so sad, you don’t need to see her body to feel her shame, and feel totally pissed at the photographer, who deservedly gets beaten half to death.

Lil Papi is her guardian angel this season, the two having become inseparable in the most adorable way ever. Their chemistry is out of this world as they flirt, and he looks at her like she’s a star in the sky, and she is! Seeing him smash that guys face in, or throwing his jacket in a rage over how she was treated is amazing. He’s everything Stanley from season one wasn’t. Stan saw her outward beauty, used her to explore whatever he was feeling with little regard to how that made her feel. Papi sees her beauty and then beyond, into how special she is inside. I personally cannot wait to see that relationship bloom, long live Papangel.

Just like I hope to see more of Papi/Angel Curiel-Bismark this season, so to do I want more of Sandra Bernhard as nurse Judy. Her compassion and patience with the people she treats, coupled with her fire at rallies is incredible, and Sandra B just brings something iconic to it that’s uniquely her. She brings Pray to his first rally with ACT UP (Aids Coalition to Unleash Power), is probably going to be one of the most significant incidents of the season. ACT UP is another real element Pose creators have added, including one of their Stop the Church protests, a passive lie in at a new york church led by Judy and the Evangelistas. The shots taken and interspersed that looked like real life VHS footage drew you back to the idea that while these are actors in a show, these protests were very real. Act Up was and is still an amazing group that works to fight Aids politically, religiously and medically. Pose’s decision to include these things is going to bring a lot of attention to the warriors on the front line of the AIDs crisis just like it did with ballroom, and that’s epic.

Pray Tell learns that liberation and change won’t come from a song but in radically tearing shit down and building it back up again, and he ends up screaming this message at Elektra, who decides to stay away from anything political this episode. Her time is spent planning an elaborate ballroom presentation so spectacular and choreographed Pray rips into her for misusing her time when her family needed her. He throws her trophy at her feet with the applause of everyone in the ballroom. I don’t believe Elektra is a bad person. I think there is a reason she is the way she is, and hopefully, we see more of that as she walks for the house of Ferocity, who sorely need her help.

Pray Tells call to arms is as fitting today now as it was back then, as people in the LGBT and trans women of colour are still being subjugated, murdered and treated like shit. Pose isn’t just shining a spotlight on the amazing ballroom scene, it’s also using its platform to integrate essential messages into its story, and hopefully it continues to teach in the same awesome ways as in the premier.

“We better start caring for ourselves. Show up for your lives, Wake up!”

Best Look: Elektra’s over the top, let them eat cake cotour, complete with spinning skirt and working guillotine. 

Best Read: Substitute ballroom announcer Jack (played by real ballroom icon Jack Mizrahi, “Trash bag realness darling, sponsored by GLAD. Hefty hefty hefty, wimpy wimpy wimpy!”

[greywindys]

It’s that time of year again! I, and possibly a good number of you reading this, just spent the whole of 2018 in the Gorillaz fandom. Congratulations! You made it! Because this year...kinda sucked. Not just for the Gorillaz fandom but, if this Washington Post article is any indication, for the rest of the world too. Maybe on an individual level there were moments of light. Maybe Gorillaz was your moment of light. If it was I’m genuinely happy because that means you probably found a way to avoid or ignore all the chaos that went down this year. But overall? Fandom was rife with disappointments, confusion and conflict with some good parts (for me, at least) sprinkled in here and there. Below is a personal reflection on the top 10 significant events in fandom of 2018.

1. Murdoc Goes to Prison

2018 started out peacefully for fandom. We were just finishing up sharing our scans of G-Magazine and theorizing over the next album when we’re treated with this - a nineteen second mocap of a frantic Murdoc accepting a Brit Award with an “oh by the way I’m going to prison.” We didn’t know why or for how long, and, though fans were confused and Murdoc going to prison is a tired, overplayed storyline at this point, it was cherished as any new Gorillaz content, especially animation, is cherished. Memes were made, most notably the #FreeMurdoc hashtag complete with a petition which was acknowledged by creators and caused the first big outburst in fandom for its messy tag. I did what I always do with Murdoc videos and went through the entire thing frame by frame to collect screenshots. Little did I know that this would be the only time I would get to indulge in this beloved past time. Little did I know that I would be wearing the same expression as Murdoc is in this screencap this entire phase.

2. Murdoc hate

Murdoc hate has always existed. It’s also generally accepted. However, when it was confirmed that Murdoc was going to be in prison for an undetermined amount of time and that he may not even speak this phase (thanks a lot, phase 5 plot!) it reached unprecedented levels of viciousness. Some fans took every opportunity to drag him in the main tag, start debates with anyone who might mention one positive thing about him and expressed how they genuinely wanted him to die and/or never come back. It kinda reminded me of this season of MTV’s The Challenge when everyone ganged up on Johnny Bananas. Like, yes he’s an asshole and yes this was probably long overdue but also omg when is there and end point? Is there an end point? It was like some people hated Murdoc more than they liked Gorillaz. For some additional context - this tense environment was born out of an astoundingly severe conflict that happened in spring where three separate fandom storms that had been brewing since late 2017 collided into one huge mess. Discords were raided, friendships were lost, the police were called (I’m not even exaggerating). I won’t go into it more but if you were there, you know what i’m talking about. Murdoc wasn’t the cause of this, but his character was at the center of one of those storms and the canon sending him to prison only reignited the ire towards him. For awhile Murdoc fans weren’t sure were exactly they stood with the greater fandom, and new fans were confused as to why this one green character was the source of so much grief for haters and fans alike. This continued for most of the year (and still continues today), hence why it’s getting a mention now.

3. Ace

Believe it or not Murdoc and Ace are confirmed #friends. You wouldn’t know that from all the Murdoc vs Ace content that sprung out of this year but Ace was the one who joined Murdoc for hot chocolate after he got out of prison, “they go way back” etc etc. Ace was a big deal because it was probably the only time the fandom guessed something correctly this entire year. Jamie began posting cryptic pictures of Noodle with this unidentified man, then another with only the Ace card visible. “It a Powerpuff Girls crossover!” Some people claimed. But that seemed so random? Really? A B-list cartoon villain from a cartoon targeting an entirely different demographic? More likely than you think! Ace never spoke a word and he wasn’t allowed to smoke or have sex. People obsessed over him anyways. To this day I still have no idea who he is or what kind of personality he has or really anything. But he wasn’t a bad guy (more on that later) and he was Murdoc’s friend so he’s alright with me.

4. Messaging Denholm

By now the fandom was fraught with distress on so many levels. We were lost. We needed someone to guide us, to show us the way, to show us the #truth. I don’t know exactly who started this trend but it soon spread around Reddit and other social media sites that Jamie’s son Denholm was replying to dm’s on Instagram and soon, he was graced with a deluge of of inquiries from casual fans and Murdoc stans alike. The thing is though - he actually *did* answer them. Many of us had spoilers re: Murdoc and Ace’s friendship, Murdoc getting out of prison, etc. MONTHS before they happened. I believe he even told us that 2D was fine back in like, June or something. Denholm knew! Eventually we pissed him off but it didn’t stop him from answering. He just answered angrier. It also caused fans to argue more because people started accusing others of photoshopping his responses and nothing can ever be done peacefully here. I haven’t followed up on this story singe the end of summer but I think fans have finally scaled back on the messaging. But I hear he’s working on a Gorillaz documentary for 2019 so...I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon.

5. Noodle

I want to take a moment here to also acknowledge the struggle AMA Gorillaz hosted on, of all places, Youtube. Thankfully, diligent redditors compiled a google doc of all the answers otherwise they would lost thanks to Youtube’s confusing interface. ANYHOW. The answer that stirred up the biggest milieu of debate and confusion came from Noodle. This isn’t exactly my lane - I don’t wade into Noodle issues and I don’t id as part of the LGBT community - so I’m not going to say much here other than, at the very least, this was the second or third time she has officially denied any interest in dating her bandmates.

6. 2D’s journal/2Doc

Okay first of all: 2DOC...jk, jk...jk? But no, honestly, this actually did become a big story this year, much bigger than expected. The release of 2D’s journal was the catalyst here, revealing a number of drawings and images of Murdoc. “Souk Eye,” a song that came with visuals featuring close ups of Murdoc’s face and vaguely romantic lyrics was depicted in 2D’s journal next to yet another drawing of Murdoc. We were confused! 2D didn’t care that Murdoc was gone, right? 2Doc shippers were intrigued. I was hesitant. We were all called delusional. However, “Souk Eye” was later confirmed to be a love song by Damon Albarn, and Murdoc and 2D have both claimed their relationship is “better” since the end of phase 5 (hhMmMmM). Obvi, take this with a grain of salt because it’s Gorillaz but the journal was instrumental in confirming how closely The Now Now (and the entire plot of phase 5, really) was tied to Murdoc and 2D’s relationship, particularly what 2D thinks of Murdoc. Think of it as platonic if you want but they share a closeness on SOME level and the content of 2018, from interviews to the Murdoc chats to the album itself, supports this. I rest my case.

7. Lost theories

Pour one out for all the lost theories. If you were a new fan this year you probably came up with a theory, or you got really invested in a theory. Some examples: HIM from PPG orchestrating the destruction of Gorillaz by possessing 2D and getting Murdoc framed with Ace as a double agent, or Murdoc’s imprisonment being tied to his trouble with EMI from phase 4, or phase 5 being about time travel, or Murdoc crashing Demon Dayz fest and fighting El Mierda on stage, or 2D being the one to frame Murdoc or Murdoc’s inmate number (24602) being a Les Mis reference implying that he’d get a character arc similar to Jean Valjean...you get the idea. But there are dreams that cannot beeee, and there are storms we cannot weather. You can argue about the budget or G-Shock or whatever but the truth is Gorillaz is just disorganized. This is their Brand™.

8. The Murdoc Chatbot

Gorillaz did an interesting thing this year - it let us talk to Murdoc! Sometime around June, he writers decided that the plot of phase 5 would be best spent, not on exploring the band’s dynamic with Murdoc gone or developing Ace’s personality, but on Murdoc! Fandom spent most of the summer following Murdoc’s experience in prison and helping to “free” him via a chatbot you could access through Kik, Instagram or Facebook. Basically, Murdoc was Paddington from Paddington 2, and we the fans were supposed to be the Browns trying to break him out and prove his innocence. Other fans begrudgingly used the chatbot to make fun of him or tell him to die and follow along with the story (it was the only place you could get plot updates). It was a neat idea as well as a funny experience to pretend to be talking to him, and the plot was very engaging at times. It was the chatbot that revealed the very dissatisfying (albeit happy) conclusion that Murdoc is no Paddington and had lied about everything - being framed, El Mierda etc. - but felt really bad about it. His apology was basically this. I’m going to also tag the #FreeMurdoc merchandise debacle, how overpriced it was and how it ended up being pointless anyways because Murdoc wasn’t framed and didn’t need to be “freed” onto this, because it all falls under the same event. Oh, and you got to talk to Noodle sometimes, too. 

9. G-shock ends phase 5

I put “ends phase 5″ in strikethrough because G-Shock on its own is actually pretty cool, and made up for the lack of videos (2 in total) that were released this year. The now Murdoc inclusive band goes to space and starts an alien war! That’s fun! Completely removed from whatever phase 5 was, but fun! (And I say that genuinely) What was messy about G-shock was that it came out of nowhere. The final Murdoc chat, that was SUPPOSED to reveal the ending to the prison arc, hadn’t even happened but suddenly, Murdoc was back to sell watches to aliens with the rest of the band and Ace was gone. But the final chat was delayed by a month and G-Shock came out anyways. Out of this came memes about how phase 5 ended so Gorillaz could try to sell us watches.

10. Cass Browne Tells us the True Plastic Beach Ending

We ended 2018 with not one but two major interviews from the fancast, Hallelujah Monkeyz but I’m choosing to cover their latest interview with Cass Browne, writer of Rise of the Ogre. If you were new this year you probably heard older fans mention ad nauseam how much they missed this guy name Cass. Well, Cass came back and dropped actual bombs about the true ending of phase 3, Murdoc’s lost backstory and the Plastic Beach book he found AND that a sequel to ROTO was planned and dropped. Understandably, this sparked a lot of discussion and also revealed just how important Cass was to the continuity of the Gorillaz storyline. Back then, we had ROTO and Plastic Beach. Today, we have “Murdoc drowns in poop and reunites with the band offscreen”

And that’s the year! And look I’m not saying this because I’m a stan but this was a Murdoc year. He was at the center of like, at least 80% of the angst and joy of fandom and I could make separate “top 10 Murdoc moments” or  “top 10 2Doc moments.” I guess for me, on an individual level, it was an alright year. For one, I actually talked to more people this year and met some really great friends (something I don’t typically do in fandom). I also get to check “write a fanfic” off my bucket list (it’s still a WIP but it’s the first WIP I’ve ever had so I’m counting it). And personally, my life has changed and without getting into too many details I’ve overcome a lot, grown professionally and...I think I can be kinda proud of myself for that. I expect 2019 to be a slower year than this one, and, I think the fandom needs that. Hopefully I’ll still see some of you around because I’m going to be here for at least the next few months while I finish up you know what. 

Honorable mentions: 2D “Dies” of Ligma and other 2D memes, 2D writes The Now Now, Benjamin Clementine says he regrets working with Gorillaz, Noodles old VA confirms Jamie ghosted her and recast Noodle without telling her, Gorillaz delay the final Murdoc chat by a month, Demon Dayz doesn’t get streamed, Music video releases - “Humilty” and “Tranz”, Cyborg Noodle returns with boobs and causes debate, the “Let Ace Speak” petition,

[ah-maa-zing]

The Longbow Hunters (Arrow 7.02)

I’d like to start off this review by stating the freaking obvious: I love Felicity Smoak. 

I mean, I’ve always loved her, even when the writing has failed her, and even when I haven’t loved her choices or her actions. But when she’s written with the kind of agency she deserves, the determination, the drive and the steely-eyed focus as she has been in ‘The Longbow Hunters’, well, nothing could be better. 

Two episodes in, and I’m really enjoying Beth and her team’s style. The show is as dark as ever, but there’s an intensity - particularly in the prison scenes - that feels like the characters’ actions have real stakes that won’t randomly disappear into the ether because “reasons”. Many (most?) of the complaints about 6B were that characters were contorted, pretzel-like, into unrecognisable caricatures of themselves - previously decent characters turning into assholes overnight. And yes, while in some cases it may feel like a bit of a stretch to develop a speedy redemption, I can certainly appreciate the new writing team’s attempts to course correct as quickly as humanly possible. 

One of the things that appears to be gone for good is “Team Arrow”, in whatever iteration it has taken over the years. Which makes sense, given that the Arrow part of the equation is off the grid for now. Still, it’s somewhat unsettling as a viewer (especially seeing it from Felicity’s perspective) to come into a new status quo where there are new rules and restrictions, and where Felicity no longer has free rein over information and intelligence gathering, which has typically been her domain. Even if she weren’t already desperate for personal reasons, I’d expect her to be feeling pretty unempowered by the whole set-up. 

Curtis doesn’t seem to be having that same problem, and if I can just get on my soap box for a second (I really hope I don’t spend the entire season complaining about him) - what exactly is his role on the show anymore? There are already, in my view, far too many ‘regular’ characters at the moment and it does at times feel a little crowded. But of all of these characters, for me Curtis is the one that seems to have no unique utility at all. There are better vigilantes than him, and there are better hackers than him. So far all I see as his purpose is continuously whinging about how hard his life is (when he’s the one who’s suffered the least), and for other characters to crack “grab your balls” jokes (which, while funny, aren’t exactly essential). Like I say, I hope I don’t keep repeating myself on this point as the season goes on, so if Curtis could just take a job in a neighbouring city or disappear into a hole or whatever, that’d be grand (sadly I think the opposite is probably going to be the case). 

Anyway...I really enjoyed the conflict between Felicity and Diggle, which feels both warranted but also really sad. I said last week that all the characters barring Oliver, Felicity and William have found a way to move forward with their lives over the last five months, and none more so than John, who has a new sense of order and purpose within ARGUS. Setting aside that brief insanity of last season, this has always been his MO -- finding a place for himself within an established structure, be that the Army or Team Arrow or ARGUS, and do his job really, really well. 

All that to say that I do understand where he’s coming from on the Diaz front. He’s got the ARGUS Deputy Director on his back, which again is a realistic situation (a black ops organisation as regimented as ARGUS would never allow the Director’s husband to run amok with its resources), and he feels the need to maintain order and colour within the lines, if you will, so that he and his family don’t face the blowback. I get it. 

That said, I’m still incredibly disappointed in him, which I think is partly the point and is definitely a great source of angst. His explanation to Felicity about not wanting to sacrifice his family makes sense, but at the same time, Felicity and Oliver are (or were) also his family, and her point about the last six years actually meaning something to her is such a gut-wrenching moment. I think this is the point that Felicity realises she’s all alone in this. It’s not that John doesn’t love Oliver or that the others won’t help (though “whatever you need” seems to have its limitations), but the way she sees it - Oliver just doesn’t matter as much to them as to her. So he went to prison to sacrifice himself for them - so what? None of them are willing to go the extra mile to save him like he would them. As for John, when he was in prison, and Lyla went to Oliver for help in breaking him out, he didn’t even hesitate. Against all odds he went in and broke his brother out, and while that might not be possible in this case, Felicity must still feel the sting at the lack of reciprocity from John. 

Which is why I enjoyed her being at odds with John on this, even if they came to an understanding by the end of it, and which is also why I loved her move at the end of the episode. Going to Samanda Watson, not to break Oliver out but to fulfil the terms of his imprisonment, is such a baller move, and I am really looking forward to them working together. 

I’m excited about Felicity’s arc in the upcoming episodes, especially while Oliver’s in prison and she’s essentially on her own. If the trajectory continues the way it has been, I think we’re in for a ride. 

Speaking of prison, Oliver is finding his footing a little bit now, though how long that lasts remains to be seen. This storyline continues to excite me because it is so unlike anything we’ve seen before and the possibilities are endless. Oliver ‘found another way’ this time (I’m glad he didn’t kill Yorke. I know he’s an asshole but I kind of liked him), but will he be able to do so again? At a certain point, the net will tighten and there won’t be any more loopholes to find. And that’ll be an interesting place for Oliver to be. 

I still think Stan the Fan is a Diaz plant; he’s too shifty by half. But I am temporarily enjoying the dynamic between him and Oliver, esp. because it gives Oliver a chance to roll his eyes and be the straight man to someone else’s banter - a role that Oliver has always excelled at. I loved that he fashioned a makeshift slingshot from a broken pencil (of course he did), and it reminded me of him making a bow and arrows out of curtain rods in ‘Corto Maltese’. Oh Oliver, you are such a McGyver. 

Like Felicity, Oliver’s entire focus now is getting Diaz off the board in order to protect his family. The fact that they are on parallel paths towards the same goal frames their individual storylines incredibly well, and makes anything else in between almost superfluous. 

I don’t know quite what to make of the Dinah Double Act™, and I’m not sure I entirely buy both of their seemingly easy acceptance of each other. Why Dinah feels the need to protect Laurel from Diaz is beyond me - surely they would be using her as bait if anything? - especially since, from what I can tell, Diaz doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to hunt her down. Still, I can buy that Laurel feels something towards Quentin and his death at Diaz’s hands, and I can live with that fuelling her motivation to live the way Quentin would want her to. I also think that this episode allows all of the women who appear in it to maintain their own agency and motivations, however complex (or unearned), and that can only be a good thing. It’s no surprise, given this episode was written and directed by women, but it does feel a long time coming. 

I do think that the fight against Silencer was pretty effective - man, that is an interesting power. In fact, all of the Longbow Hunters seem to be pretty formidable in their own right. Kodiak, the guy with the shield, broke John’s assault rifle IN. HALF. Goddamn, it’s about time we had some menacing villains. The Longbow Hunters present a significant threat to no-longer-Team-Arrow, and it doesn’t pass me by that the only way Silencer was defeated was by Laurel and Dinah sonic-crying her together. Methinks no-longer-Team-Arrow may need to re-form again in some way soon enough. 

I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface here on many of these plot points, but there is so much going on (in a way that it all seems to hold together) that it’s fascinating to see how it will all come together. Especially given the apparently bleak future our characters have in store for them. 

To which -- Future William. I find it hard to believe that Oliver and Felicity would just abandon William, unless “leave” is a euphemism for something more sinister, which it appears might be the case. Otherwise, why would Felicity install a tracker in the hozen (called it!) and set the coordinates to Lian Yu? Furthermore, did she set those coordinates in 2018 when she gave him the hozen the first time? Did she want him to go to Lian Yu in some interim time before the 20 years? What on earth did she expect him to find there? And why was Oliver’s bow buried in a box? Who buried it? What did that note say? Why did Roy burn it up? Why are they heading back to Star City? Why did Roy and Thea break up (or what happened that he ran to Lian Yu to forget about it?)? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. Isn’t that exciting? So many things we have yet to learn, so many mysteries, big and small. I’ve missed this. 

I continue to enjoy Future William and Old Man Roy’s dynamic; William is such a passive-aggressive asshole and it’s hilarious. I find it interesting also that he states he doesn’t even know how to use a bow and arrow, but he is a tech genius. Guess we know which parent he takes after. One question I have is whether the future we are seeing is ‘fixed’ or immutable, or whether whatever has happened in the interim 20 years can be undone or redone in a way. I still wonder whether William is the “new Green Arrow”, back to correct whatever went wrong in the intervening years that caused Oliver and Felicity to disappear from his life. The framing shot of him holding the bow hints towards that, but given that he claims he doesn’t know how to use it suggests that either he’s trained by Roy in upcoming episodes, or the wielder of the bow is someone else. Intrigue. Also intriguing is the question of when in time William is abandoned by his parents; if we expect to see young William in the present-day timeline (as I hope we will), then when exactly is it that their paths diverge? Time will tell. 

“My wife taught me a thing or two” - HIS. WIFE. TAUGHT. HIM. A. THING. OR. TWO. Ask me when the day will come when I stop reacting like a crazy person to every mention of Felicity as his wife and Oliver as her husband. Answer: NEVER. THAT DAY WILL NEVER COME. Bless.

“What’s an Overwatch?” made me laugh. Especially since Oliver doesn’t bother answering. 

“My wife and son were attacked. I’d do anything to protect them.” - a) I love the intensity of the way he says that, and b) isn’t it great that he then uses Yorke’s love for his wife and son against him? 

Speaking of, Oliver stabbing himself and pinning it on Yorke is THE most Oliver thing he’s ever done. LMAO. I definitely laughed at him overplaying the “you stabbed me! HE STABBED ME!!!” dramatic writhing. Even Brick looked amused. 

“There’s only one Green Arrow, and he’s in prison” - you tell ‘em, Felicity. 

The dialogue feels a lot tighter this season, and as I’ve mentioned before, characters’ motivations make much more sense. Long may it all continue. 

Okay, but I really do enjoy snarky Laurel. I’d rather that than a fully redeemed member of Team Arrow. I think she plays better as a (semi-)villain.

I miss Felicity’s pink hair. Sob. 

Diaz’s flamethrower gun was cool, but John giving him a well-deserved beatdown was cooler. 

All this ARGUS focus makes me miss Lyla. Bring her back, show. 

Felicity needs some actual friends like, right now. GIVE HER SOME FRIENDS WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HER MORE THAN THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR STUPID JOBS. 

Nice thrown in mention about William being gay. 

Also, does Old Man Roy just wear his Arsenal suit all day and night? Doesn’t that get...itchy? And smelly? And uncomfortable? And unnecessary? Oh Roy! 

Felicity is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more forgiving than I would have been. I’d have told everyone to fuck off and firebombed the place as I walked out (not so much on that last part, but ya know). 

I’m glad the show knows that Quentin wasn’t really Laurel’s father, even if they can’t seem to make that distinction in interviews. 

Honestly, Beth is just about the best thing that could have happened to this show right now. Imagine this team two years ago?!

Felicity and Oliver are each other’s ride or die, and I cannot wait for their reunion. 

[spectorbarnes]

If You Leave Me Now | Part 3

summary: you realized your marriage with your husband Henry had run its course when you discovered his various love affairs. you wanted to leave him but not without giving Henry a little taste of his own medicine involving his preferred mechanic Sebastian.

pairings: mechanic!sebastian stan x reader, husband!henry cavill x reader

masterlist

You stopped the car on the side of the road and turned off the engine, resting your forehead on the top part of the steering wheel.  You only had a few hours of sleep in bed with Henry’s arm around you. Only this time, it didn’t feel like Henry was holding you in bed, it was some complete stranger, someone who you hadn’t married. He wasn’t your Henry. Cold tears slid down your cheeks onto the pillowcase below your head. You couldn’t believe your suspicions were true, you thought Henry was happy with your marriage.

You spent most of your day driving around the city, trying to get your mind off of things. Of course, you went shopping, maybe you unconsciously shopped a little to much to hurt your husband's wallet. 

The phone began to ring in the cupholder on the console and you picked it up. Henry’s name was plastered on the screen. You sighed and leaned your head against the headrest of the seat as you stared at the screen, debating if you answered or not. Just as you were about to press the green button, the call went to voicemail. You missed it.

You took it as a sign that you shouldn’t answer your husband. But then the phone rung again, this time it was a text message. Henry was desperate to ask where you were after he arrived from a meeting. He was worried sick.

Henry knew there was something wrong with you, you had been acting weird for the past two days. Avoiding his touches, not laughing at his jokes. Over dinner last night he asked if there was something wrong and you wanted to scream at him and tell him you knew he was a stupid cheater. But you didn’t. Part of you knew that screaming wouldn’t do anything. He would probably deny it and go back to whatever woman he was cheating on you with.

It had crossed your mind to get back at him, maybe place a recording camera in your bedroom if that is where they did their act and post it somewhere on the internet or give it to her significant other if she had one. The thought of Henry with another woman in your bed made your stomach turn. 

You held back tears of rage as you read the message, asking if you were okay and why you weren’t home. You texted back that you were out meeting some old friends and that you would be home in a few hours, you were just having too much fun.

After you threw the phone into your purse, your eye caught a glance of something you had forgotten about. You reached inside and pulled out Sebastian’s business card. You looked up the address on your phone and realized you were just a few miles north of where it was. 

Maybe Sebastian could help you calm down before going home to Henry just how he did at the party. You couldn’t risk blowing everything off tonight. You needed time to think, find a way to make Henry feel the same way you felt since that night at Ben’s party. 

You pulled up in front of Sebastian’s auto shop, you saw Sebastian waving goodbye to one of his employees as he began to close the carport of his shop. Your car pulling in caught his eye as he froze his steps. You rolled your window down and peeked your head out, a smile formed on Sebastian’s lips.

“Is it too late to stop by?” You asked.

“Not for you.” He smiled, he opened the carport and waved for you to drive in. You slowly parked inside and Sebastian opened the car door for you as you got out. 

“Thank you.” You said. 

“What can I help you with?” He asked, nudging the door to close.

At that moment you froze, you didn’t come up with an excuse for stopping by or visiting so late. Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest making the grey t-shirt stretch around his biceps as he waited for an answer.

“The check engine light turned on as I was driving home and I wanted to see if you could check it out.” You lied. Sebastian eyed the car quickly and nodded. 

“Alright, let’s have a look at it,” He proceeded to open the hood of the car and look around. You stepped to the side and saw him hover over the engine. Your foot patiently tapped against the floor as you waited for Sebastian to finish inspecting the car. 

This did not go unnoticed by him. He observed you from the corner of his eye as he tried to figure out why your engine light went on, everything looked normal. 

“Let’s see.” He muttered as he closed the hood and walked over to open the door to start the car. The engine roared to life and Sebastian looked at the dashboard. “Huh, the engine light is off.”

“Just my luck,” You pouted. You had just arrived and you were tired of pretending, you felt bad lying to Sebastian. You walked towards him. “Of course, it would turn off once I got here. I am so sorry for making you stay later.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sebastian looked at you suspiciously. “You can leave the car and I’ll make sure the engine is alright, maybe do a more thorough check. I could drop you off at your house with my truck.”

“That won’t be necessary.” You shook your head, thinking of a way to get out of the mess of lies. 

“Next time, instead of lying about your engine just tell me you need to talk to a friend,” Sebastian smirked.

“I-I,” You didn’t know what to say, all you could do was simply be frozen stiff in front of him.

“You can go to my office, I’ll close the carport door to make sure no one else gets in.” Sebastian quickly jogged behind the car and lowered the metal door. 

You pressed your mouth to form a thin line and walked into the small area with only two chairs, a clean desk and an old television with an antenna in the corner. Sebastian walked back and smiled at you apologetically.

“Sorry, it’s not comfortable, but take a seat.” He took the seat across from you.

“Oh, no. It’s fine.” You took a seat in the chair in front of his desk. 

“So, what’s up?” He bent behind the desk to pull open the lower drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of scotch and two small glasses. You stared at the liquor falling on the glass. 

“Look,” you sighed and met his eyes, “I really apologize for coming, I didn’t know where to go. I just wanted to get out of the house and I got tired of driving around town.”

“Oh,” Sebastian slid the glass across the table. The tone of his ‘Oh’ made you regret your choice of words.

“But I did need to see a friend.” You added, bringing the glass to your lips.

“What’s going on?” He asked. You crossed your legs and rested your wrist on your knee. Just as you were about to tell Sebastian the truth when he spoke at the same time as you. “Henry is-”

“You hate your Ferrari,” He laughed and leaned back in his office chair. “I’m sorry, go on. What’s up with Henry?” 

You were surprised by his laugh, it made you think when was the last time you had laughed. You quickly recalled it was that time you met Sebastian, but before that, you didn’t remember. You didn’t want to bring your problems to the table, not when your friendship had just begun.

“Henry spends too much time in his office, my old friends have busy schedules and I can’t make new friends in the neighborhood. Everyone thinks I’m just a trophy wife.”

“Oh no, come on,” Sebastian shook his head in disbelief, “You’re not a trophy wife. Henry is not that much older than you.”

“He’s not, just a few years, but anyone my age in that neighborhood is a trophy wife.” You said. Sebastian chuckled. 

“You’re still not one of them, you’re different.” He said.

“How do you know? You don’t know me well enough yet.” You said.

“Well, this bottle of scotch should help us get to know each other in an hour or so.” He cocked his head to the side as his eyes scanned you, “And I can tell you are a woman of many attributes. ”

“You’re not far off,” You jokingly said. “What are your attributes?” You asked as you slid closer to him and placed your forearms down on the desk.

“I’m a simple mechanic who loves what he does. Of course, I don’t have much money but I like the life I’m living now and that’s all that matters.” 

You liked what he said but it struck deep when you realized you didn’t feel the same way about yours. You cleared your throat and finished the last drop of scotch in your glass before sliding it over for him to give you more.

Sebastian noticed the look in your eye as your gaze dropped to the desk in front of you. He wanted to ask what was bothering you, but he knew that reminding you of your problems would only make things worse, so he simply filled your cup and took your mind off reality.

You burst into a fit of laughter as you listened to Sebastian tell you the nightmare his prom night was.

“You’re telling me she went off with some other guy and forgot about you?” You asked amazed. 

“Yep,” Sebastian nodded and smiled, “and that wasn’t as funny as you make it sound. I think I’ve given you too much to drink.” He looked over at the now empty bottle of scotch. He knew his limit but you didn’t know yours.

“No, no. I’m sorry. ” You said. “You’re right all this alcohol is making me feel weird. If it makes you feel any better, I can’t remember anything the day after I get drunk. I shouldn’t be able to remember most of this tomorrow. It’s late I should really go.”

“Let me walk you out.” He walked around the table just as you stood up quickly, immediately regretting it after you began to feel a wave of vertigo take over you. 

Sebastian saw you sway to the side and placed his hands on your waist without thinking. You fell against his chest, your face now just a few inches away from him. You didn’t realize how blue his eyes were until you were that close. You thought he was going to pull away but he didn’t instead he placed a hand on your cheek.

“I’m going to take your word on not remembering all of this and tell you I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind since I met you.” He murmured. 

You felt your heart beat flutter against your chest and Sebastian felt it too. You bit your bottom lip and that only made Sebastian do what he had dreamed of doing that night of the party.

His lips crashed against yours as you opened your mouth to let his tongue collide with yours. He pushed you against the desk as you lifted your leg around his waist. Your hands roamed his body through the thin grey fabric of his shirt as you grabbed a fistful of with your hands and pulled it over his shoulder.

His hands roamed from your back to your waist and up to your neck as he tasted your mouth, tugging at your bottom lip occasionally to make you whimper. Your sweet sounds only made him want to hear more. Your hands sliding up and down his chest as you let his lips play with yours setting your nerves on fire.

His mouth moved to your jaw and down to your neck to find the sweet spot under your ear. Sebastian wanted to whisper all the dirty things he’d been wanting to do to you, the thoughts that kept him up various nights but all he could let out was his breath and the sudden realization of what he was doing.

Sebastian grabbed your wrists, pulling your hands off his body and pulled away to look at you.

“I’m so sorry.” He said, his eyes wide and chest quickly rising up and down. He let go of you and turned around, running his fingers through his hair. You stayed still on the desk as you stared at his bare back.  He muttered more apologies as he turned back around and reached to grab the shirt beside you. “I am taking you home in your car.”

He walked out of the office, leaving you with no other option but to follow him and get in the passenger's seat.

Sebastian pulled out of the shop and steered towards the road. You were still trying to catch your breath from the steamy kiss but the alcohol in your veins refused to let your mouth cooperate with your mind.

"But how are you going to come back?" You managed to ask. Of course, what you really wanted to talk about was that kiss.

"I'll call a cab don't worry." He said looking straight at the road. Not bothering to turn around or say anything else. His hands would tighten around the steering wheel throughout the ride, more frequently as you approached the house.

You wanted to burst into tears, or at least the scotch wanted you to. You looked out the window and crossed your arms. If Sebastian didn't want to talk about it, then you didn't want to talk about it.

But once you were looking elsewhere, Sebastian did look at you and made sure you were okay. He couldn't believe he kissed his client's wife. If Henry found out he would be a dead man.

He pulled into the driveway and you got out quickly. Sebastian turned the engine off and handed you the keys before muttering a small 'goodnight' and walking down the block.

You stared at him in shock. He just put his hands in his pockets and walked. Furious, you groaned and walked to the door and fumbled with your keys before Henry opened the door in his pajamas.

"What took you so long? I've been worried sick!" He said as you stormed past him. "What's wrong? Did you drink?" He asked now in a calmer tone.

"I'm going to bed." You snapped before running up the stairs and falling on the bed ready to forget this whole night.

[alexboehm55144]

Alex Final Wars 2: Dark Alex, Chapter 4 - Old & New Friends

Before we get into the story I want to say one thing: I would like to dedicate this chapter to Stan Lee, the father of Marvel comics. Thank you for making us all true believers, and for touching so many people with your work. You will forever live on in our hearts.

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After arriving in Zootopia, the typhoon landed in a large, designated landing zone within the city. Alex, Toothdee, Kion, and Jasiri were going to be getting in a car, and Alex would take them to a location of significance regarding the wolf everyone was confused about. Right now Alex was waiting outside, getting some fresh air, while his companions were using the bathroom or doing other things before leaving.

As Alex waited, he spotted a figure, a snow leopard, walking up to him.

"Excuse me, Alex Boehm?" The snow leopard asked.

"Yeah, who's asking?" Alex responded, noticing that the snow leopard seems oddly familiar to him.

"I'm Fabienne Growley, from Zootopia News Network"

"Oh yeah! Now I remember you!"

"Anyway ZNN wants frontline coverage of this war with China, and I was assigned to be stationed on a US warship to report on its operations, and I was hoping that ship could be the typhoon"

"Really? Hmm..." Alex looked back towards the ship "I mean I hope you know that we aren't going to be in the background doing a support role. The typhoon is a purpose-built warship, it's gonna be right in the thick of the action"

"I understand the dangers, that's why ZNN sent me, due to my experience. I've reported on wars and conflict before and been in dangerous situations. Besides, your warship is probably the safest place in this entire war"

"Well, then I think we have an open bunk you can use. Frankly, I must say it's an honor that you chose the typhoon"

"Well, I'm honored that you said yes. Thank you so much" Fabienne said, shaking Alex's hand.

"You won't find a safer or more interesting warship to be stationed on, so good choice. Now if you have any equipment or personal effects you need to gather up, I suggest getting them and moving in"

"Of course, thanks again" the snow leopard started walking away, presumably heading back to her car so she could drive home and gather up things like reporting equipment and clothes.

"Who was that?" Toothdee said as her, Kion and Jasiri joined Alex.

"Fabienne Growley, from ZNN. She wats to be stationed on the typhoon so she can report on this war"

"Really?" Jasiri asked "That's amazing"

"Get ready to see yourselves on the news a lot" Alex laughed "Now then, let's get going"

"I still don't know where the heck you're taking us," Kion said with a quizzical look. "Or what this has to do with the gray wolf we encountered"

"You'll see, just be patient"

The team got into a bright red and sporty looking car before Alex began driving them to an unspecified location. No one asked any questions, trusting Alex knew what he was doing, but they didn't exactly like being in the dark.

Soon the car pulled up outside a building with a large pink neon sign that said "Howlers Moon"

The group got out and Alex walked right up to an old man who was standing near the door. The doorman had a neatly combed head of hair, along with a name tag sporting the initials 'S. L.'. He scanned over at the group through his tinted aviator sunglasses, before waving them into the building. It was loud inside, with music blaring and bright lights flashing. Mammals of all sizes were drinking and chatting with others.

"And the reason you've brought us to a Zootopian club is...?" Toothdee asked, not understanding the significance of this endeavor.

"You'll see" Alex responded, gesturing for the group to follow him to the dance floor.

Alex scanned the crowd of mammals on the dance floor before his eyes lit up as he spotted what, or rather who he was looking for. The group drew closer to their target, who was a female wolf in her early 20s, with long flowing hair that was dyed a light pink, along with her fur that was dyed blue. She was dressed in a bright red dress that appeared to be ripped at the bottom as part of a stylistic choice. She moved at a rapid speed around the dance floor, all while singing along to the music.

"There's the wolf I know!" Alex said cheerfully.

The blue wolf's tail shot up straight in surprise before she turned around and saw who had called to her.

"ALEX!" The blue wolf yelled, jumping into Alex's arms.

Alex picked her up and spun her in a circle while the pair laughed, before setting her down and turning towards Toothdee, Kion, and Jasiri.

"Guys, this is Jay Burdell, but you can call her JayJay. Jay, this is Toothdee, Kion, and Jasiri" Alex said, pointing out the individuals as he spoke their names.

"Nice to meet you," JayJay said, shaking Toothdee's hand, before doing the same with Kion and Jasiri.

"Nice to meet you too," Toothdee said, before looking at Alex and asking something. "How long have you known her?"

"A while" Alex responded, while JayJay complemented Jasiri on something she did with her hair.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Alex shrugged "there was no reason to. And no one ever asked"

In Toothdee's mind that wasn't really the best reason for not telling anyone about a new friend, but at least the secret had eventually made its way out.

"Now, onto important business..." Alex said, gesturing for the group to follow him outside so they could talk about sensitive matters.

000

"Dark counterparts?" JayJay said in total disbelief after seeing the footage captured from Chima, as well as some explanation from those who were there when the footage was recorded.

"That's what they said they were, and we have no real reason to suspect otherwise," Alex said.

"Wha... I don't... how is this possible?!"

"You know as much as we do. We're totally in the dark, we have no clue who they are, where they come from, or how they are tied to China"

JayJay looked at the footage again, paying particular attention to the gray wolf, which was her dark counterpart.

"Darn," The wolf said, pointing to her counterpart, "I think she wears the color gray better than me"

"Well technically that person is you, so it would be impossible for her to wear that color better than you" Toothdee explained.

"Yeah, but it might go better with her personality. If what you say is true, they have more of a 'darker side' than I do. As such the color gray goes better with them because their personality is more sinister than mine. Also, I don't really wear gray that much."

"Ok, enough about fashion," Alex said, "what matters is that whoever or whatever these people, they still have to be stopped"

There were murmurs and nods of agreement from the rest of the group.

"Then it looks like I'm joining you," JayJay said, handing Alex back his phone, which had the footage on it.

"Joining us?" Toothdee questioned.

"Yeah, she has a dark counterpart as well, so I think she has as much stake in this as we do," Alex said, coming to Jay's defense.

"Eh, that's fair," Toothdee said.

"And don't worry," Jay said with a slick smile "I can handle myself"

000

While the team, now including JayJay, were heading back to the typhoon, Alex got a call from Eris.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Alex where are you?"

"We're just a few minutes away from the typhoon, why do you ask?"

"Because this black car pulled up, and a striped bunny and an arctic fox got out, and they're saying they're from the Zootopia Intelligence Agency. Laval is currently outside talking with them"

"Ok, well just hold on, we'll be there momentarily"

A few minutes later the group pulled into the designated landing zone and spotted the strange characters Eris had described. The rabbit was dressed in a formal suit, and the fox a formal suit with a skirt, and both of them spotted sunglasses.

"Can I help you?" Alex asked.

The striped rabbit took off his sunglasses and flashed a badge that said ZIA on it before speaking. "I'm Jack Savage, this is Skye Winter, we're from the Zootopia Intelligence Agency"

"Oh yeah," Toothdee said "I forgot Zootopia had an intelligence agency, it's like a city-state"

"Anyway..." Jack began "...the ZIA wants to make sure Zootopia stays safe during this war. They want us to join you on your ship, to help you fight the Chinese, and make sure Zootopia stays safe. We will act as an arm of the ZIA working with you"

"Ok..." Alex thought over this for a moment, before a familiar looking car pulled up.

"Give me a sec," Alex said, walking over to the car as a gray rabbit in a pink shirt and jeans got out of the driver's side door, and a red fox in a green Hawaiian shirt exited the passenger side door.

"Nick! Judy! What are you guys doing here?"

Alex bent down so he could hug the pair.

"Well..." Judy said, Toothdee texted us and said you were here in the city, and what's been going on with you guys lately. I'll be straight with you Alex, we want to help."

"Help?"

"Yes, we fought alongside you against the meterex, we want to fight alongside you again, only this time against the Chinese. Sometimes protecting Zootopia means doing more than patrolling the streets"

"Don't you 2 have to go into work though?"

"We have a lot of vacation days saved up, and we were hoping you could put it in a good word with Bogo that we're doing our part to make the world a better place"

"Well, you know I'm never one to refuse help. If you want to join us again, then move back into your rooms on the typhoon. I'll put in a word with Bogo"

"Should me and Skye also find a room to bunk in?" Jack asked.

"Jack? Skye?" Nick said, just now noticing the 2 mammals.

"You know each other?" Alex said.

"Yeah, we're great friends!" Judy said as she embraced Skye "Nick, you've known Jack since you two were kits, right?"

"Correct" Nick said as he exchanged a friendly greeting with Jack.

"Why does everyone have some sort of secret friends?" Toothdee said.

"Well, Jack and Skye want to be stationed on the typhoon, acting as an arm of the ZIA to make sure Zootopia is safe during the war," Alex said.

"You should definitely invite them on board. You won't find mammals more determined and experienced than Jack and Skye" Judy said, making Skye smile as her friend praised her.

"Well then, Jack, Skye. Judy has put in a good word for you, so gather up your belongings and move into some rooms. I'll give you a tour of the ship later so you know where everything is"

"We only need one room," Jack said "but thank you for bringing us onboard"

The 2 fox and bunny pairs began to remove suitcases from their cars, presumably filled with items they'd need for their stay on the typhoon. Fabienne Growly also pulled up in her car with a suitcase and camera equipment and began to move onto the ship.

"Look at all these great people," Alex said to Toothdee "Seeing all these faces, all these mammals that are going to be working together, I don't think the Chinese stand a chance"

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I would like to thank Vivziepop for giving me permission to use her character JayJay. I hope everyone liked the addition of so many new characters to this story! In the next chapter, things heat up again as the team enters another battlefield! See all of you next week! Excelsior!

[apathetic-revenant]

Consider this ask as a request to get that rant on Roadside Attraction STARTED!

Hoo boy. 

Okay, first of all, I sincerely apologize for leaving this unanswered so long. Things…happened. 

Disclaimer: I haven’t watched Roadside Attraction in a while so I might be slightly misremembering some of it. (It’d probably be a good idea to rewatch it first, but honestly just writing all this has got me riled up enough already. (look emotions are hard okay)

Disclaimer 2: I critique because I love, I swear. 

So when it comes down to it, I guess my problems with RA basically boil down to two big things:

1. The overall ‘message’ and how it treats the characters.

2. The weirdness of it existing at that point in the show in the first place.

First things first: look, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for media messages about not being a skeevy jerk and treating women as objects, but the way it was done in this episode was, honestly, just…weird. It basically introduces a character trait for Dipper (and, to a lesser extent, Stan; I mean I know Stan is…Stan, but did anyone really get ‘sleazy pickup artist’ as the vibe from any of his interactions with women that we saw before this episode?) that he was never shown to remotely have before or after (though admittedly there’s not a lot of ‘after’ to begin with), just so he could be taught a lesson about it that he never should have needed in the first place. 

Dipper’s problem has always been that’s he’s obsessed with one girl, and he certainly got plenty of embarrassment and woe out of that general experience, but ultimately that was good for him: he loosened up (somewhat), became more understanding and accepting of Wendy’s autonomy, and moved towards being able to deal with rejection while still being friends with her. That’s a satisfying arc and it makes no sense to me that they would suddenly partway reverse it and then use that as a reason to try and take Dipper down this weird incredibly short character arc that he didn’t need.

Is it realistic that you don’t just immediately get over someone even if intellectually accept that you’re not going to be together? Absolutely. But frankly, this is a weirdass time for Gravity Falls to be invoking realism. And regardless, realism does not automatically make for a better story, especially when that story has to be told in 22 minute intervals.

So it’s already weird that the show is portraying Dipper that way, but then what he does is really not all that heinous to begin with. The thing is, Stan is right. Dipper does need practice talking to-well, everyone, really, but especially girls. For God’s sake, the poor guy needed a massively oversized list, a bunch of clones, and a Rube Goldberg-esque plot just to ask Wendy to dance with him, a task he ultimately failed at anyway. (Which, honestly, even aside from intent, makes the whole idea of him successfully managing to actually lead any girls on to any degree pretty dang unbelievable.) And that’s really all he does with any of them, is talk. He doesn’t promise them anything except maybe to stay in touch, which we don’t really have any evidence he wasn’t planning on doing. Hell, even Stan, for all that we’re supposed to see his behavior as Not Good (which, to be fair, it usually is) doesn’t really do anything more than flirt with an apparently receptive woman and then take a walk with her, which is honestly way more honorable than most of Stan’s interactions with people. We’ve certainly seen him treat people way worse than that without getting condemned for it.

And then there’s the whole thing with Candy, which is…really frustrating. She puts Dipper in a situation he’s very, very obviously not comfortable with, demands something of him he never gave her an indication that he was interested in, and then when she doesn’t get what she wants…he has to apologize to her? By ‘admitting’ that he was being an idiot? What? 

Like, I know they were going for ‘don’t be a pickup artist’, basically, but what it came off as was more like ‘never interact with women because if you do they’ll immediately start acting like you’re in a relationship with them and expect you to act the same way and sometimes they might do that even if you don’t interact with them (also sometimes they might turn out to be spider women who will eat you)’. 

Basically, any time you set out to give the message ‘treat women with respect’ and instead wind up with ‘women are strange, irrational and sometimes horrifying’, I think you’ve really got to step back and reconsider things for a minute. 

But what’s especially weird to me is the contrast between this and the way the show treats Mabel’s behavior. Mabel’s been spending pretty much the whole show doing what this episode punishes Dipper for doing. We see her hitting on three boys in rapid succession within the first ten minutes of the show, her desire for a relationship and rather aggressive pursuit of that is the formation of a lot of plots during the show, and she’s only called on it when it gets to the point of hurting her friendships or literally imprisoning boys in her room.

I mean, I’m not trying to pick on Mabel here, or say that the show should have been calling her on that except when it got extreme (like, say, literally imprisoning boys in her room), at which point the show did call her on it. But it’s weird to me that the show then goes out of its way to condemn Dipper for doing basically the same thing except to a lesser degree. I guess you could argue that Mabel was looking for a relationship and Dipper was looking for ‘practice’, but that still doesn’t really work for me; in both instances they have a goal in mind for which the specific other person involved is basically a variable. Why is Mabel wanting an Epic Summer Romance with more or less any boy worse than Dipper wanting to just talk to more or less any girl? And at any rate, Dipper’s attitude in RA hardly seems any worse towards the girls than the attitude Mabel, Grenda and Candy went into the Northwest party with towards the boys, but we’re supposed to take one as being terrible and the other as being perfectly normal girl behavior. 

So yeah, there’s that. Now, part two. (Still with me?)

The pacing. This episode makes absolutely no sense to me where it is. You spend 3/4s of the show building up to this big reveal that completely alters the atmosphere, plot, and character dynamics, and now you have all of five episodes to explore all the ramifications of that while ramping up the tension towards the big finale…why would you make one of those a filler episode that has no impact on the plot at all and is so disconnected to anything that it could have been stuck pretty much anywhere else in the show without next to no changes? 

Like, okay, I’ll admit, part of why I don’t like this episode is because it doesn’t have Ford in it. And hey, that’s a personal thing. But it’s not just about me wanting MOAR FORD. The thing is, regardless of whether you like him or loathe him or whatever, Ford is, objectively, an incredibly important character. He’s the catalyst for the central plot and driving mystery of the show and the principle catalyst for the oncoming confrontation, his appearance changes pretty much everything that we took for granted about the show before, and just by existing he has a huge impact directly on Stan and Dipper and indirectly on Mabel (in that his interactions with Dipper in turn impact Mabel’s relationship with him). And, again, you have five episodes to explore all this. In one of them Ford’s barely there at all and then in this one he doesn’t even get mentioned. We don’t even get an explanation for why he’s suddenly absent. (I know we do in the Journal, but not in the show itself.) I just…that doesn’t make any sense to me. I mean, maybe I’m showing favoritism here, but-no offense to Candy-I really don’t get why she gets more character focus in this episode than, y’know. The long-lost close family member with massive unresolved issues and a huge amount of secrets. 

And it doesn’t make any sense to me to have a light-hearted filler episode with nothing to do with the plot so very close to the finale when the tension is so high and the last episode literally ended with a very ominous threat. It certainly doesn’t make sense in plot terms that they spent so much time last episode working to protect the Shack so they had a sanctuary from Bill, and then everyone runs away from the Shack. I just. What.

And, this is a lesser point, but it doesn’t really make sense to me for them to leave Gravity Falls itself at that point in the show. Just, sure, we know weird stuff exists in plenty of other places, but there’s a lot of focus on there being something especially weird and significant about Gravity Falls specifically. And that’s something that gets really dialed up in this last part of the show-Ford specifically seeking the town out to study, the significance of the Mystery Shack and all its secrets, the connection Bill has to the area, the crashed UFO, and of course it all builds up to a big plot point in the finale that Bill’s confined to Gravity Falls. But then right smack in the middle of all that we briefly detour to some pretty much unrelated location for…what reason? It’s like MYSTERY OF GRAVITY FALLS MYSTERY OF GRAVITY FALLS MYSTERY OF GRAVITY FALLS oh by the way there’s some spider people over here too MYSTERY OF GRAVITY FALLS. It’s not a huge deal but it feels weird to me, especially since the show had hardly been going on so long that that they had worn out the setting. 

I know I’m committing the great sin of claiming to know better than the writers, but since we’ve come this far anyway, you know what I think would have worked better than Roadside Attraction?

You’ve already got this idea of the other tourist trap owners annually pranking Stan, so why not just go with that? Have them come to him like they apparently usually do. That way:

-You can keep the focus on Gravity Falls and all the plot points therein.

-You don’t have the problem of everyone inexplicably leaving their sanctuary; in fact, that adds to the plot, because now they have even more motivation to protect the Mystery Shack.

-You’ve got a lot of opportunity for character interplay as the family has to deal with all this (imagine the opportunity for conflict between Ford and Stan over the house, and how much you could build up the oncoming tension of Stan having to leave the Shack by showing how much he had really made it his home over the years).

-You can still hint at the existence of weirdness outside Gravity Falls without taking the focus away from it.

-You could expand on Stan’s past a little-because God knows we all wanted it-by referencing what was going on with him and these other rivals for all these years, and show a bit more about how the Shack actually operates as a tourist trap, which I, at least, would have liked to see.

-You could continue the ongoing character arc of Dipper’s relationship with Ford and how that was impacting his relationship with Mabel, instead of dropping it for something completely out of the blue.

-You could still have a bit of a breather episode before the finale (since that was evidently the reason we got this one here in the first place) without having to completely drop the plot and derail all the building tension to do so. 

-Tell me you wouldn’t want to see a full-scale Pines family prank war unleashed, because I sure as hell would. 

But anyway, in conclusion:

I don’t like Roadside Attraction much. 

[pan-xichen]

What The Heckin Heck Is Gonna Happen To Keith: a meta I guess

OKAY SO I, like every other Keith stan, am wondering what the heck they’re gonna do with Keith. Post s4 he is no longer a paladin and is a member of the Blade of Marmora, but due to the events of the finale I’m still unsure as to how long that will last. Will the team find out he almost sacrificed himself for them without them knowing? Also something to note: Voltron has not used its sword (I think I’m sorry if I forgot I haven’t watched the season since the day it came out lmao) since Keith has stopped being a paladin. The fact that the sword is basically Voltron’s signature weapon leads me to believe that Keith very likely will end up as a paladin again (unless they did form it without him I can’t honestly remember for sure), but then he’d no longer be able to work with the Blade of Marmora, and one of the current paladins would have to lose their position for Keith to return to a lion.

The scenarios I could see happening are: 

- Keith somehow becomes the leader of the Blade of Marmora and does not return to being a paladin 

-Keith does return to being a paladin, causing either Allura or Shiro to not be a paladin anymore and him to likely have to leave the Blade

- Keith and Shiro co-pilot the black lion when he is not off on missions for the Blade

- the extra lion in the carving of Voltron in s3 ends up becoming Keith’s new lion, forming a powerful extra but non-essential part of Voltron meaning it won’t hurt the team if he has to go off on Marmora missions from time to time 

- the extra lion calls to Allura and Lance returns to the blue lion, allowing Keith to return to Red and Shiro to remain the black paladin (probably also meaning that Keith can no longer run off with the Blade of Marmora)

- the extra lion wants Shiro as its paladin and Keith returns to being the black paladin (less grumpily now that he knows Shiro still has a lion)

(I’m gonna put the rest of this under a cut because it accidentally became 7000 words long oops)

Out of all of these outcomes I have a feeling that the writers will end up going for something that doesn’t make season 3/4′s development for Keith obsolete while at the same time allowing him to still contribute to the story directly. I personally can see scenarios three and four being the most plausible because they would allow for more aspects of his character to be present (blade and paladin) instead of eliminating one or the other. Although, the first one is definitely plausible in terms of Keith’s character and could even be combined with number four. We see him demonstrate time and again that he is a natural leader, despite not believing himself worthy to be one. I do feel as though eventually he will end up (willingly, this time) in a leadership role again after acknowledging that he is worthy of that position.

Scenario three would however feel like they’re just putting him back in for the sake of having him in and likely not really be meaningful (kinda like having Shiro come back so soon screwed up the story a bit for them because they planned to have him gone for much longer), as much as I like the idea of Keith and Shiro as co-leaders. That doesn’t necessarily mean though that they couldn’t be if they were not both the black paladins. I’ve seen a lot of theory about that extra lion in the Voltron carving at the beginning of season 3 being the white lion, which has been an actual canon thing in the past reincarnations of the series. Most of these theories involve Shiro as the white paladin, which I really do like but it feels like he really is meant to pilot Black (even if this might not actually be Shiro at the moment). His struggle to break her from Zarkon’s control was a great plot point from season 2 and both of them starting to heal from their respective trauma together would make for a nice aspect of Shiro’s character arc.

You do also have that Keith was bonded closely enough with Red to have her actually fly out into the middle of space and rescue him, and almost destroy an entire base to save his life. I love Keith as the red paladin, but if the writers still wanted to have him as an active member of the BOM it wouldn’t make much sense to put him back as the literal right arm of Voltron unless the lion switching is a thing that could happen more than once, (Lance moving back to Blue and Keith to Red but when Keith isn’t around Lance pilots Red and Allura pilots Blue) but that would be weird because they’ve put extra emphasis in the past on how important a paladin’s bond with their lion is, and having them be able to do this swap out thing all the time makes that point kinda meaningless. I think maybe the reason why Keith was able to connect with Red from so far away and have her respond when he was in danger might be the same reason why he could feel the blue lion’s energy months before Lance was even there to awaken her, and how he could pilot the black lion in that moment of desperation to save Shiro in s2 ep1. He’s connected to all of the lions in a strange way-- whether the answer to that is simply “he’s an alien” or there’s something else there, (which is what I suspect) remains to be seen, but I believe that his strong bond with Red may have been due to his connection with all of the lions. It still makes me kinda sad to see him not be her paladin anymore because he totally fits as the ‘guardian spirit of fire’, but as of right now the solution to the dilemma of “where are they gonna put keith without cutting him out of the main cast like they did in s4″ is a bit of a narrative corner the writers have backed themselves into that doesn’t logically involve him going back to being the red paladin without sacrificing the new development of him as a Blade of Marmora.

That being said, as much as I like white paladin Shiro (or whatever colour this hypothetical extra lion could be), having Keith be the white paladin would make more sense in my opinion. Voltron already has all of its essential components with five lions, but perhaps an extra lion would turn into a kind of upgrade for the robot. With the lore of the white lion from previous reboots, it might make sense to have that lion allow Voltron to create its own wormholes or even tear into other realities to pass through them, but maybe it just amplifies the robot’s powers. This would give Keith a place on the team while allowing him to still go off on Marmora missions if he is needed with them and not automatically jeopardize the team’s ability to form Voltron. It would also make for an interesting character development in him, as I imagine him seeing that Voltron can still be formed without him might make him feel less needed, but learning that his lion allows Voltron to do more than it could with only five would lift his spirit and make him feel like he belongs again. Maybe it could even include that the black and white paladins were meant to be co-leaders before something happened to the white lion, allowing both Keith and Shiro to donate their strengths as leaders to each other and cancel out some of their weaknesses (Shiro’s ability to remain level-headed under pressure and more diplomatic tendencies mixed with Keith’s passion and quick, creative thinking both at the head of Voltron would make the team an even more unstoppable force and I will fight anyone on this I could write a whole post dedicated to why Keith and Shiro as co-leaders would be beneficial and maybe even crucial to team Voltron’s success).

Technically I could end this here but I have a hypothetical scenario on how Keith becoming the paladin of the extra lion could go down so here have a pseudo-fic:

Keith’s near-death in season four is only foreshadowing to him actually dying... sort of. In the next season, Keith really does sacrifice himself for the greater good, allowing the team to succeed in their mission and deal a significant blow to the Galra empire. Before the battle during which he dies, they discover that there was a sixth lion initially built, but never used, as when it gained sentience it refused to awaken for any paladin. Perhaps this other lion foresaw the events that kickstarted the war with the Galra in the first place, and wanted no part in it, or maybe even wanted to avoid the pain of losing a paladin it knew was going to die. So it refused to function, maybe even flying away to some remote place in the universe (or even a different reality) to wait until its true paladin would arrive. The paladins find the white lion, but predictably it refuses to awaken for anyone-- that is, anyone who is present. Keith is off on another mission for the Blade when they find the lion.

Keith has been having strange dreams about the lion, not knowing exactly what it is. The lion has been trying to communicate with him, but to no avail. His own personal turmoil and lack of self-worth are clogging his thoughts, making it difficult for the white lion to reach him. The lion is brought to the castleship to prevent the Galra from finding it, and they start trying to do literally anything they can to wake it up, but the lion remains silent. It won’t even communicate with the other lions, as without a paladin and after having been gone for so long, it feels as though it doesn’t have the right to do so. Similarly to Keith, who feels as though he has no place on team Voltron.

In the last few episodes of the season, everyone goes into some epic battle again. Keith sacrifices himself so that Voltron can be victorious in a similar way to his near-sacrifice in season four, except the team knows what he’s doing this time. Shiro freezes up when they realize Keith is gone, before screaming and practically rampaging with his lion, cutting down hundreds of enemy ships at once. The white lion roars in frustration, sensing the death of a paladin it never got to bond with, and decides “nope, fuck you, you’re alive”. It launches itself out of the castle, collecting Keith’s broken body from where it’s floating out in space. The initial explosion didn’t end up killing Keith, but it did damage his suit, meaning he could no longer breathe. The lion shows up and uses its own pure quintessence to revive him. The process turns Keith’s hair white, and his irises a golden yellow, but does not corrupt him in the way that Zarkon was, due to the quintessence being pure. He is essentially reborn, like team Voltron’s very own phoenix. 

The loss of Keith has caused the team to get distracted from their goal in their distress, and they’re fighting a losing battle. The white lion suddenly springs up out of nowhere and joins the fray, confusing everyone as they have no idea who is piloting the lion. They win the battle and all return to safety, practically jumping out of their lions and crowding around the white one to see who this mysterious new paladin is. Shiro is lingering behind everyone but still trying to show interest. Everyone has this irrational hope at the back of their minds that somehow it’s Keith, and he didn’t really die, even though they watched his craft explode. A slender figure clad in white paladin armor steps out of the lion, still wearing their helmet. Everyone is holding their breath as the figure slowly approaches them and moves to remove their helmet. Nobody recognizes him at first now that his hair is white and his eyes are yellow, until Shiro finally looks up from where he’d been somberly looking down and says “Keith?” in the smallest, quietest voice he’s ever had. Keith smiles softly as he’s recognized and everyone runs to group hug him. As the others pull away, leaving Keith and Shiro still holding each other, the scene fades out. 

[essayofthoughts]

I've seen a lot a hate for the ship but not a thorough explanation of why. I wanted to see the pros and cons of them. The effect it has on Wanda in the comics and in MCU, same for Vision. In which scene in the movies made people dislike it and which part in the comics made people explicitly hate. . . I don't think I'm doing a good job explaining why I want a Meta on it. My reasoning looks all over the place to me.

Yeah, I’m not entirely sure what you mean with some of this but as for why people don’t like and why they do, I can do that. I haven’t read enough comics to have a firm idea of the impact in comics, or what scene in the films makes people hate it (though if I had to bet it would probably be Wanda putting Vision through the floor, or like. Generalised fan hate for Wanda due to goddamn fandom misogyny and fucking Tony stans) or what scene in comics made people hate. A lot of those things are seriously subjective and personal and the hate for WandaVision is not just limited to the personal. Anyway.

Main reasons I’ve seen people say they don’t like ScarletVision:

They feel Marvel is pushing it too hard with all their nods to the comics.

They didn’t like the relationship in the comics in the first place.

They think Wanda’s abusive because she shoved (the practically indestructible) Vision through the floor and…

They find it squicky because Vision is technically a year old in CACW.

Now, I don’t mind the nods to the comics too much [1], and sure you can dislike the relationship in the comics, but it was very significant, producing the first incarnations of Wiccan and Speed (before the death, time-jump rebirth and other shit) which drove the House of M plotline, which has had a huge impact on the Maximoffs in general [2], and so… I can see why they’d want to reference so enduring a relationship. You can dislike it if you want, but I don’t especially think there’s a need to hate on it. Find it personally obnoxious, sure. Want to desperately avoid it, sure. But honestly, fandom’s need to try to justify their hatred of something or to be incredibly judgy is something I find deeply grating these days (hence the vagueblog the other day) so I think people need to tone shit down some.

As to the “Wanda’s abusive thing”… Vision did literally lie by omission to her regarding keeping her under house arrest. Let’s look at two other cases where she was lied to.

Strucker and List! They recruited the twins in This Scepter’d Isle tie in prelude comic, and claimed to be SHIELD by speaking of “our Avengers, our Iron Man”. But they weren’t and, as you see, the twins readily abandon them when the fight comes to the castle.

Ultron! “You were supposed to make a better world!” “It will be better!” “When everyone is dead?” And what happened then? She set Helen free from the sceptre’s control, she and Pietro got the hell out… only to return to fight Ultron alongside the Avengers.

Wanda, simply, does not like being lied to. If she offers trust then to betray it is one of the worst crimes you can commit against her. The same holds true of Pietro in comics, it’s the reason for the end of his relationship with Crystal Amaquelin. To break their trust is a surefire way to earn their ire and Vision is clearly very close to Wanda by the time of CACW… and he lied to her. 

Besides which, he’s indestructible. From their conversation we see that they’re both very much regarded as Other by the other Avengers and by the public - the android and the witch - and they seem to understand one another’s capabilities. Vision begs Wanda to not leave not to refrain from putting him through the floor. Being put through the floor is easily survivable for him. He is literally made from Vibranium. He can phase through solid matter! He can alter his own density! He’s also an android who doesn’t think like we do, he’s genuinely surprised that he can be distracted because his way of thinking is very very alien to that of a human.

So if Wanda’s abusive, so is Vision. But given their conversation at Leipzig Airport when Wanda finally stops fighting, it seems like they’re generally quite open with their emotions and their thoughts. They each understand why they responded as they did and don’t seem to hold it too much against it each other. So, honestly, I’d say they have a healthier relationship than some (Pepper/Tony has a few problems, so I actually Do Not Judge Pepper taking a break from him in CACW) especially given that Wanda comes out of a codependent bond with her brother because her brother dies. The fact she’s not an emotional wreck and is capable of healthy relationships is amazing. Given a lot of factors… look the relationship - whatever it may be - between Wanda and Vision needs work, but all relationships do. And both of them clearly put a lot of thought into their discussions, with Vision’s awkward hamfisted attempts to make Wanda feel better, and Wanda’s willingness to talk openly to Vision in turn. It’s clearly a relationship based on communication and intellectual exercise, which I think is a decently solid basis? But then again, I’m ace, and of the few relationships I’ve had, one of them involved a hugely manipulative dickhead, so what do I know.

Honestly the squickiness is the one reason I can really see and get behind [3] even though it doesn’t squick me out personally. Vision is literally a year old by the time of CACW. That’s not hyperbole, you can check the MCU timelines on the wikia. He’s very young, he’s still very naive, he still lacks a solid understanding of human nature because he’s very logical and so emotion and ulterior motives sometimes - heck, often - pass him by. He’s seriously lacking in life experience and that makes forming relationships with him of any kind to be very weird.

The way that I find it easier to handle is… well, look at Ultron. Emotionally immature, yes, but intellectually he had a great understanding of things, even if he was an omnicidal maniac. Then, look at JARVIS. We don’t know when JARVIS was made, but he’s existed in MCU canon as a whole and intact thing for years, he’s had plenty of time to mature as a half AI half natural language UI, and then being merged with what there is of the part-sceptre brain of Ultron…. physically he’s a year old, but he’s got more going on in his skull than just that. He may lack a lot of experience and understanding - of course he does, part of him comes from an omnicidal maniac, the other part is a bodyless AI that acted as Tony Stark’s nanny, minder, adviser, best friend and general helping hand. His understanding of a lot of things is very off.

But he isn’t just a year old. He’s also got a lot of other stuff going on.

Honestly, if you don’t like ScarletVision, that’s fine. Its your business, it’s your preference. I don’t get ClintCoulson or Stony or… hell a lot of slash ships these days, if I’m honest, partially due to how they dismiss female characters even when written by female fans, but I’m not going to shit on them. If ScarletVision is your NOTP just block it. There’s no need to go shitting all over it, or trying to justify your hatred, distaste or squicked-out-ness by it. Just say “I don’t like this,” or “It makes me uncomfortable” and leave it at that. You don’t have to justify your personal feelings to other people. You’re allowed to dislike things just because you dislike things. You’re allowed to like things that are ProblematicTM [7] just because they scratch your id.

But yeah. People have their own reasons for not liking ScarletVision and that’s justified. Seeing it pushed in their faces, I can see why someone who doesn’t care for it would come to hate it - I didn’t care about Tony Stark but his stans have made me detest him on principle. But, you don’t need to spew hate everywhere about it, and that isn’t necessarily a personal issue.

That’s a fandom issue, largely due to the purity police, problematic TM thing, the callout brigade and people trying to prove that they are ideologically pure to try to prevent such callouts happening to them. The solution? For people to stop calling out other people or to stop giving a shit if they get called out. For people to stop overusing or misusing callouts to get back at people they don’t like. For people to stop lying with callouts. For people to stop uncritically reblogging callout posts without checking facts for themselves.

This probably isn’t going to happen, not for a while at least. Not before fandom has almost entirely burned itself out, burned itself to the ground and had to rebuild itself from the ground up.

But hey. I guess chewing up and spitting out your friends and companions only to team up again for the sequel is in right now - it’s what’s going in in the MCU.

[1] And hey, if it was nods for BuckyNat you know people would be practically cheering, so I find it kind of weird that this specifically is an issue while people are almost panting for a reference to BuckyNat, just as I find it annoying that people spent ages begging JKR for more information only to turn around and go “why won’t she stop!?” Answer: Because y’all spent years begging her for more. Don’t be bitter because your wish got answered.

[2] Yes there are issues with House of M, yes I know you may dislike it, no, I don’t care right now. Like what you like, dislike what you like, whether house of M was good is not the question, the question is if it was significant and it was. 

 [3] Being sick of Marvel pushing something via nods to the comics sure, that can be irritating, but there’s a bit of a double standard there because no one minds it for other characters and, indeed, they seem to be begging for it for BuckyNat. They ignore the nod to Ultimates that Clint’s family is [4] just to spit on it because it’s not Clintasha like they wanted or ClintCoulson (how did that ship start, honestly? IT MAKES ZERO SENSE), they hate on the nod to comics for WandaVision, but they seem to keep their eyes peeled for every other Easter egg opportunity, draw wildly out of proportion parallels between comics and MCU [5] and practically beg for BuckyNat [6].

[4] As is like… Clint’s character in this, he’s much more brutal than 616 Clint. MCU Clint is more disaster to humans than human disaster, and that is very Ultimates.

[5] People saying how much of a slap in the face the Raft is in MCU are WRONG because the Raft is new in MCU and has never been used to imprison anyone, let alone villains or heroes, so the slap to the face that it is in comics does not apply here.

[6] I get it, BuckyNat is really interesting and features two people dealing with their differing yet similar traumas from the same source. I’m a sucker for that kind of thing, I get it. But guys, it’s not what’s happening.

[7] Kylux feat. blood and force choking for example. Look I have issues with the shipping of Kylo and Hux but those fics are AMAZING and HORRIBLE and I LOVE THEM, for the simple reason that they are very id-scratchy. Sometimes I like to read about deeply unhealthy bloody relationships or just like. Straight up healthy BDSM. We all have likes and dislikes, but those don’t have to be due to an ideological basis. All things are flawed, some things more than others, but just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that everyone should dislike the thing [8].

[8] There are, of course, exceptions to this. Nazis and Neo-Nazis, for example, should be universally hated and vilified because they wish to commit fucking genocide. White nationalists should be universally hated and vilified because they want to destroy anyone they don’t see as white, when race is a completely arbitrary construct entirely designed to create social divisions in the first place.  But, some things can be problematic without being The Worst And Most Awful Thing Ever and that’s what this post is about.

[oldguardaudio]

Daily Dose of FAKE NEWS -> Teflon Trump gets blamed less by base for Obamacare fail than Senate GOP

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Teflon Trump gets blamed less by base for Obamacare fail than Senate GOP

Donald Trump prepares to swing a Marucci bat, from Baton Rouge, during a “Made in America” product showcase at the White House on Monday. (Alex Brandon/AP)

BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve

THE BIG IDEA: President Trump has a funny way of talking about Republicans as if he’s not one of them, let alone the leader of the party.

Maybe it’s because he was a registered Democrat until as recently as 2009.

Or maybe he still sees himself as the outsider who hijacked the GOP from the establishment in a nominating contest that no one but him thought he could win.

Or maybe it’s because, until late in life, he was an outspoken advocate of universal health care. Trump heaped praise on Canada’s single-payer system and said the United States should emulate it in a book he wrote called “The America We Deserve” in 2000.

Another plausible explanation for why Trump doesn’t want his own brand too closely associated with Republicanism is that he likes to have scapegoats handy if things go poorly. He will happily take credit for legislative victories and run away from defeats.

As the Senate GOP all but admits defeat in its seven-year quest to overturn the Affordable Care Act, Trump’s reaction gives credence to this theory. “I’m not going to own it,” the president told reporters in the Roosevelt Room yesterday. “I can tell you the Republicans are not going to own it. We’ll let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us.”

— Whatever the reason, Trump has often talked about Republicans in the third person since taking office. Consider these examples specific to the health-care debate:

“I say to the Republicans, if you really want to do politically something good, don’t do anything,” Trump said in a speech to the National Governors Association meeting in February. “Sit back for a period of two years, because ’17 is going to be a disaster—a disaster!—for Obamacare if we don’t do something.”

“Action is not a choice, it is a necessity,” he said the very next day in his address to a joint session of Congress. “So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster. … On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country.”

“The Republicans, frankly, are putting themselves in a very bad position — I tell this to Tom Price all the time—by repealing Obamacare, because people aren’t going to see the truly devastating effects of Obamacare,” Trump said in March after a “listening session” with “Obamacare victims.”

In an interview with the Fox Business Network to reflect on his first 100 days in office, Trump explained that he had been unable to accomplish as much as he promised partly because of the Republicans. “You have certain factions,” he told Maria Bartiromo. “You have the conservative Republicans. You have the moderate Republicans. So you have to get them together, and we need close to a hundred percent. That’s a pretty hard thing to get.”

After the House passed its health bill in May, Trump predicted it would quickly get through the Senate. “The Republicans are very united like seldom before,” he said. “The Republicans came together all of a sudden two days ago, and it was like magic. They just came together. They are very, very united. Every group from the Freedom Caucus to the Tuesday Group to every single group.”

He’s also tweeted about congressional Republicans as if they are a very distinct entity:

After holding a premature celebration in the Rose Garden when the House passed its bill, Trump privately complained that their measure (which he had publicly endorsed) was “mean.” He then complained to Fox News when Barack Obama called the bill mean, on the grounds that he had actually been the first to use that word. You really can’t make that up:

Trump admits he called GOP health bill ‘mean’

— Across the mainstream media, this morning’s press clips are brutal for Trump. Ahead of his six-month anniversary in office Thursday, there are hundreds of stories out there about how the president is not living up to his promises and has shown himself unable to make big deals.

But, but, but: That is not the vibe you get at all when you check out the right-wing sites where many of the president’s supporters consume their news. Many conservative outlets are pinning the blame on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and moderate Republican senators, just as they blamed Speaker Paul Ryan when the health-care bill ran into speed bumps in the House.

Here is a taste of what Trump’s base is seeing:

“Why the GOP Congress will be the most unproductive in 164 years,” by The Week’s David Faris: “It turns out that the GOP-controlled Congress can’t seem to pass any meaningful laws at all. Either they have forgotten how, or the divisions in their own increasingly radicalized caucus are proving too difficult to surmount. Whatever the explanation, thus far these GOP legislators are on track to be the least productive group since at least the Civil War.”

“The ObamaCare Republicans,” by the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board: “This self-inflicted fiasco is one of the great political failures in recent U.S. history, and the damage will echo for years. … If the ObamaCare Republicans now get primary opponents, they have earned them. … If Republicans can’t be trusted to fulfill a core commitment to voters — whether repeal and replace, or simply to reduce the burden of government — then what is the point of electing Republicans?”

“The GOP’s Arrogance Was Thinking That 52 Votes Is A Majority,” by Forbes’ Stan Collender: “The GOP’s numerical majority is not an ideological majority, and the collapse of the health care debate shows definitively that Senate (and probably House) Republicans are anything but ideologically aligned on major issues.”

— On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh launched a gendered attack against the three moderate senators who announced that they would not vote for full repeal of Obamacare: Susan Collins (Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). “Now we find out the Republican caucus in the Senate is infected with essentially leftist members,” Limbaugh said on his program, which attracts millions of listeners each afternoon. “Collins, Murkowski, Capito – these three female leftists in the Republican caucus are running the Senate, not Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell is not running the Senate! These three women are running the Senate. The conservative Republicans in the Senate are not running the Senate. Three liberal women who call themselves Republicans are running the Senate!”

A favorable write-up of Limbaugh’s comments is getting played high on Breitbart.com this morning.

— “Behind the scenes, White House officials were pointing fingers at Republican leadership,” Politico reports.

Washington reacts after collapse of GOP health-care bill

— Because the meltdown of the repeal effort just happened, there is no current polling on who will get blamed most. But a good indicator is probably how people reacted when the House bill failed the first time. In a poll conducted during the first week of April, the Kaiser Family Foundation asked: “Who do you think is to blame for the fact that the health care bill did not pass?” Among GOP voters, only 10 percent blamed Trump while 27 percent blamed Republicans in Congress. (The rest either blamed Democrats or said they didn’t know.) Among people who approved of Trump’s job performance at the time, slightly more blamed the House GOP and even fewer blamed Trump.

Relatedly, despite all evidence to the contrary, 74 percent of Republicans in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll said Trump was making significant progress on his agenda.

Senate health-care bill collapses under opposition

A FLAWED STRATEGY:

— “Senators pushed Trump to the sidelines. He happily stayed there. Republicans are paying the price,” by senior congressional reporter Paul Kane: “Behind closed doors, the thinking went, GOP senators would reach the consensus … without the din of Trump’s tweetstorms getting in the way. This week, however, brought a painful reminder for Republicans of how difficult major legislative undertakings can be with a president who is doing other things, picking fights with TV news hosts and devoting an inordinate amount of time to a mounting scandal about his 2016 presidential campaign. … Overall, the effort to shore up support for the proposal really lacked a central salesman.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Trump’s onetime primary rival who has been backing him up on health care, reflected candidly on McConnell’s theory of the case after things fell apart: “Let us work through the process and allow it to work its way through the system, and then you can come in at the end and close it. That’s the advice (Trump) took. … The flip side is it’s very difficult to do big things without the involvement of the president. So it’s kind of a Catch-22. … The bottom line is there are members here who understood the president’s preference and were willing to vote against it anyway. … This is the Senate. Leadership sets the agenda, but senators vote in the interests of their states. … Republics are certainly interesting systems of government, but certainly (it’s) better than dictatorship.”

— “The failed promise to repeal and replace Obamacare surely will affect the mood and enthusiasm of the Republican base heading toward 2018,” writes Dan Balz, The Post’s chief correspondent. “When the Gallup organization asked Americans about the future of Obamacare recently, 30 percent of Americans said they favored ‘repeal and replace,’ but 70 percent of Republicans picked that option. GOP lawmakers will have left them empty-handed, perhaps disillusioned. … In normal times, a party would look to its president to hasten the healing process and pick up the pieces. But these are not normal times. Trump operates by his own standards. And this is a Republican Party that has yet to come to terms what is has become and what is expected of a majority party.”

— Congressional Republicans, not Trump, are on the ballot next November. If the midterm elections are bad for the GOP, can you imagine him taking responsibility the day after or seeing it as a repudiation of his leadership? Of course not.

Trump says he’s ‘very surprised’ by Lee and Moran’s opposition to health-care bill

— Trump is not behaving like someone who believes he’s in a foxhole with Senate Republicans.

The White House has been not-so-quietly trying to recruit a Trumpist primary challenger to principled conservative Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona. Trump himself has been encouraging people to take on the incumbent next year. “Kelli Ward, who has already launched her campaign, and Robert Graham, a former state GOP chair and Trump adviser who is considering it, both told CNN on Monday they have had multiple conversations with White House officials about opposing Flake in the Senate primary,” Eric Bradner reports. “Another potential candidate — state treasurer Jeff DeWit — has had multiple conversations with Trump… Trump was furious at Flake last fall when the Arizona senator called on Trump to withdraw from the presidential race after the emergence of the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape. He told a small group of Arizona Republicans last fall — including Graham — that he would spend $10 million on defeating Flake in the 2018 Senate primary…” (Politico’s Alex Isenstadt also had some great reporting on this earlier in the week.)

— “Trump made explicit what Republicans had been hoping since the repeal fight started — that whatever happened, voters would blame the Democrats for their health-care costs,” David Weigel reports. “It’s an audacious strategy that flies against current polling and electoral history. It counts on messaging, distracted voters and a built-in electoral advantage to guide the party past the rocks. …

“In interviews Tuesday, Democrats who face re-election in 2018 expressed disbelief at the idea that they, not Trump, would be held accountable for problems with the health-care system. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), who may be challenged by longtime ACA opponent Gov. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), said that he was eager to work with Republicans on shoring up the subsidies. Voters back home, he said, clearly saw the Trump administration as the impediment to fixing the law. ‘Let me tell you, people are coming out of the woodwork,’ said Nelson. ‘I go to the Tampa Bay Rays game, I throw out the first pitch, and people are begging: Don’t let them take away my health care. People are onto this.’ Nelson is one of 10 Democrats up for reelection in states won by Trump last year, a factor that Republicans once thought would scare incumbents into making deals. Instead, Democrats have grown more confident about their 2018 chances, with few top-tier candidates jumping into ‘Trump state’ races, and credible Democrats running for seats in Nevada and Texas.”

Graham on health care: ‘I’d like to see a bill that people actually liked’

WHAT’S NEXT?

— “At the heart of the failed Senate effort to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act were irreconcilable differences over the proper role of entitlements and how far the party should go to pursue its small government mantra,” Damian Paletta writes. “Both wings of the GOP revolted — senators who rejected steep cuts to Medicaid, a health program for low-income Americans, and others who felt the cuts were not deep enough. Now, with the split unresolved, the party is struggling to find a way to govern despite controlling the White House and Congress. And that may leave it at risk of failing to pass any landmark legislation. … With the Republican Party divided, these fights are expected to continue, and potentially intensify. Trump has shown an ideological openness to support most any GOP bill that has a chance of passage, hoping to notch a legislative victory after experiencing numerous defeats.”

— With Obamacare intact (for now), the 10 million Americans who buy insurance on the ACA marketplaces still face lingering uncertainty. Amy Goldstein and Paige Winfield Cunningham report: “These consumers could face a rocky few months at the least, as the insurers on which they rely decide how to respond to the political chaos. Some companies could become more skittish about staying in the marketplaces for 2018, while others could try to ratchet up their prices depending on how events in Washington unfold. … Most immediately, the administration has the power to decide whether to halt the billions of dollars in payments to health plans that help their lower-income ACA customers afford deductibles and other coverage expenses. Those cost-sharing subsidies benefit 7 million Americans. … The other decision is whether to ease off enforcement of the ACA’s penalty for Americans who shirk the coverage mandate.”

— Trump has repeatedly toyed with the idea of ending the subsidies, the next round of which are supposed to go out to insurers by tomorrow. Politico’s Paul Demko and Josh Dawsey report: “Trump has repeatedly told aides and advisers that he wants to end the subsidy payments, and he has not changed his position, according to several people who have spoken with him. … ‘My advice to the plans this morning was, “If you get it, cash the check quickly,’ one health care lobbyist who represents insurers said Tuesday. Two White House officials said a final decision on the subsidies had not been made. One person said various aides and advisers had issued conflicting opinions in recent days. Asked whether Trump would actually pull the plug, a different administration official said this time is ‘different’ — and that administration officials had begun looking at how they would end the payments. ‘But no decision has been made,’ the official said.”

— McConnell announced last night that, at Trump’s request, he will hold a vote on the motion to proceed to debate on the bill early next week. Axios’s Caitlin Owens reports: “[Collins, Murkowski and Capito] are being encouraged to vote yes on the first vote, which begins debate on the bill … There would then be debate and an opportunity to amend the bill while it’s on the floor. So while [McConnell] has told members the vote will be on the 2015 repeal bill, the final bill voted on could end up being something else. … But two of the three holdouts would have to agree to vote yes on the motion to proceed if the vote is held before Sen. John McCain returns from surgery. That’s a big if, and some are skeptical: ‘No one believes a deal can be made at this point. The three ladies are waaaay smarter than that,’ a third senior aide told me.”

— With little hope among Republicans for a one-party solution, Chuck Schumer is repeating his offer to work with his GOP colleagues to reach a bipartisan solution. (Ed O’Keefe and Sean Sullivan)

— Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), whose state expanded Medicaid under the ACA, wrote a New York Times op-ed urging the Senate GOP to work on fixing the current law: “In the uncertainty created by the Senate plan’s collapse, Congress should guard against a hasty next step. Just taking up the fatally flawed House plan is not an answer, and this idea should be immediately rejected for the same reasons senators rejected the Senate’s own proposal. Also, simply repealing Obamacare without having a workable replacement is just as bad. Both would simply yank health coverage out from under millions of Americans who have no other alternative. After two failed attempts at reform, the next step is clear: Congress should first focus on fixing the Obamacare exchanges before it takes on Medicaid.”

Cory Gardner, John Barrasso, Mitch McConnell, Roy Blunt, and John Cornyn speak to reporters yersterday after a Senate Republican lunch. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

HOW IT’S PLAYING:

— “Tuesday brought more tension,” Robert Costa, Kelsey Snell and Sean Sullivan report in a detailed tick tock. “There was finger-pointing and faction-forming as (Vice President) Pence and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus worked to repair relationships with senators … During a Senate lunch, when McConnell broached voting Wednesday on a bill that would simply repeal Obamacare, he was met with resistance … McConnell had speakers lined up to support his plan, but a number of senators, fuming over the Monday drama and other issues, asked for a pause rather than quick legislative action.”

— “Republicans, ignore Trump’s call to ‘let Obamacare fail.’ Do this instead,” by The Post’s Editorial Board: “Mr. Trump is apparently indifferent to the pain that sabotaging the individual health insurance market would cause millions of Americans. Congress must therefore act responsibly. … [Chuck Schumer] on Tuesday morning endorsed bipartisan cooperation to stabilize insurance markets. If Mr. Schumer is serious, he should appoint a panel of Democrats who are willing to cooperate to serve as his side’s negotiators.”

— “Trump Finds That Demolishing Obama’s Legacy Is Not So Simple,” by the New York Times’ Peter Baker: “Determined to dismantle his predecessor’s legacy, Mr. Trump in the space of a couple of hours this week reluctantly agreed to preserve President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and failed in his effort to repeal Mr. Obama’s health care program. The back-to-back events highlighted the challenge for a career developer whose main goal since taking office six months ago has been to raze what he sees as the poorly constructed edifices he inherited.”

— “Why repeal-and-replace was doomed from the start,” by Post columnist Kathleen Parker: “During almost a decade of writing sporadically about health care in its various iterations, I’ve interviewed dozens of people from a mix of related fields — medical, business, legislative and political. Not once have I found a single person who thought the GOP could pull off a repeal-and-replace.”

— “Trump Seems Much Better at Branding Opponents Than Marketing Policies,” by the Times’s Emily Badger and Kevin Quealy: “He has promised ‘great healthcare,’ ‘truly great healthcare,’ ‘a great plan’ and health care that ‘will soon be great.’ But for a politician who has shown remarkable skill distilling his arguments into compact slogans — ‘fake news,’ ‘witch hunt,’ ‘Crooked Hillary’ — those health care pitches have fallen far short of the kind of sharp, memorable refrain that can influence how millions of Americans interpret news in Washington.”

— “Health care collapse a blow to McConnell,” by Politico’s John Bresnahan and Burgess Everett: “It’s a serious defeat for McConnell, and one that leaves deep bitterness among rank-and-file GOP senators, as moderates and conservatives blamed each other over who is at fault for the setback.”

— “Why Obamacare Passed but the GOP Health Bill Failed,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Naftali Bendavid: “Democrats entered the 2008 election expecting to win and planning to push health care as a top priority. In contrast, many Republicans didn’t expect to capture the presidency in 2016, and the GOP didn’t have a health proposal ready.”

— “The Health Bill’s Failure: Resistance Works,” by the Times’s David Leonhardt: “[Sen. Jerry Moran] clearly felt political pressure to oppose the bill, and his recent meetings with constituents were a big part of that pressure.”

— “Trump Is Showing The World What A Weak American Presidency Looks Like,” by BuzzFeed’s Tarini Parti, Adrian Carrasquillo and John Hudson: “Trump’s struggles go beyond health care. More than six months into Trump’s presidency, Republicans have no legislative accomplishments other than the confirmation of (Gorsuch), a confusing foreign policy, and a White House that is perpetually in damage control mode. From lawmakers and governors to donors and foreign policy experts, a certain realization is sinking in within the party, based on more than a dozen interviews in recent days: Donald Trump has been a historically weak and ineffective president.”

— “Medicaid shows its political clout,” by Politico’s Rachana Pradhan: “Medicaid may be the next “third rail” in American politics. Resistance to cutting the health care program for the poor has emerged as a big stumbling block to Obamacare repeal, and Republicans touch it at their political peril.”

— “Trumpcare Collapsed Because the Republican Party Cannot Govern,” by New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait: “The cohesion Republicans possessed in opposition disintegrated once they had power, because their ideology left them unable to pass legislation that was not cruel, horrific, and repugnant to their own constituents.”

— “GOP may not be punished if it can’t pass repeal,” by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Drew Altman: “When you look at the polling, the idea that the base will rise up and punish Republicans if they don’t repeal the ACA appears to be exaggerated, and possibly even a political fiction.”

— “Murkowski, Sullivan hope for a path forward on failed health care bill,” from Alaska Dispatch News’ Erica Martinson: “Alaska’s Republican U.S. senators are not ready to give up on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, though they have differing viewpoints about how to get there amid a failing process in Congress. … Murkowski called for Republicans to start over, run the bill through an open and bipartisan committee process and leave Medicaid reform at a later date. Sullivan urged his Republican colleagues to continue negotiating among themselves on the draft that was on the table. … At the Senate GOP policy meeting Tuesday afternoon, both Murkowski and Sullivan said they spoke up among their colleagues. Murkowski made clear why she wasn’t willing to vote for a repeal without a replacement plan. Sullivan offered a plea for continued negotiations.”

— “Capito, Manchin oppose repealing ACA without replacement plan,” by Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Jake Zuckerman: “In 2015, Capito voted in favor of an Obamacare repeal bill that then-President Barack Obama vetoed. Ashley Berrang, a spokeswoman for Capito, said the senator needs a working replacement before she votes for a repeal, and the most recent versions are not up to snuff. … Manchin said he questions whether a repeal vote will go the distance, and that he’s planning to work with the other senators who used to serve their states as governors to find an approach to reform the ACA with people who are used to working in a bipartisan fashion. … He said he had not spoken to Capito yet on the new tactic but that she is invited in on the brainstorming sessions.”

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

Trump speaks to Vladimir Putin during their second conversation at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg. (Evan Vucci/AP)

THERE’S A BEAR IN THE WOODS:

— Trump had an undisclosed hour-long meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month, the White House confirmed last night. The informal session came after the leaders met for more than two hours that same day.Karen DeYoung and Philip Rucker report: “[The second meeting] took place at a dinner for G-20 leaders, a senior administration official said. Halfway through the meal, Trump left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. Trump was alone, and Putin was attended only by his official interpreter. … Trump’s newly disclosed conversation with Putin at the G-20 dinner is likely to stoke further criticism, including perhaps from some fellow Republicans in Congress, that he is too cozy with the leader of a major U.S. adversary. The only version of the conversation provided to White House aides was that given by Trump himself, the official said. Reporters traveling with the White House were not informed, and there was no formal readout of the chat …

“[The session was first reported by] Ian Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, in a newsletter to group clients. Bremmer said in a telephone interview that he was told by two participants who witnessed it at the dinner, which was attended only by leaders attending the summit and some of their spouses. Leaders who reported the meeting to him, Bremmer said, were ‘bemused, nonplussed, befuddled’ by the animated conversation, held in full view — but not listening distance — of others present.”

— “Russia specialists said such an encounter — even on an informal basis at a social event — raised red flags because of its length, which suggests a substantive exchange, and the fact that there was no American interpreter, note taker or national security or foreign policy aide present,” the New York Times’ Julie Hirschfeld Davis reports. “If I was in the Kremlin, my recommendation to Putin would be, ‘See if you can get this guy alone,’ and that’s what it sounds like he was able to do,” said Stephen Pifer, a Russia specialist and the former ambassador to Ukraine.

— Trump called the reports of the meeting “sick:”

Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah, speaks at a clean energy summit in Las Vegas. (David Becker/Getty Images)

WAITING ON THE KREMLIN:

— White House aides said in early March that Trump planned to nominate Jon Huntsman to become the U.S. ambassador to Russia, but they didn’t formally make the announcement until last night. “The White House had delayed formally naming Huntsman and sending the nomination to the Senate for confirmation as the United States waited for the Kremlin to approve his selection,” Abby Phillip and Lisa Rein report. “Huntsman’s nomination was announced one day after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov met at the State Department with Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon. The Kremlin approved Huntsman’s appointment Monday night about the same time that the United States approved Russian politician Anatoly Antonov to serve as Russia’s ambassador in Washington.” Huntsman, the former Utah governor, was U.S. ambassador to China and then ran for president in 2012.

Untangling the web of Donald Trump Jr.

THE EIGHTH MAN:

— A U.S.-based employee of a Russian real estate company attended the meeting last summer between a Russian lawyer and members of the Trump campaign, including Donald Trump Jr. — bringing to eight the number of known participants at the session. Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger report: “Ike Kaveladze’s presence was confirmed by Scott Balber, an attorney for Emin and Aras Agalarov, the Russian developers who hosted the Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant in 2013. Balber said Kaveladze works for the Agalarovs’ company and attended as their representative. Balber said Tuesday that he received a phone call from a representative of [special counsel Robert Mueller] over the weekend requesting the identity of the Agalarov representative. … The request is the first public indication that Mueller’s team is investigating the meeting. … Balber said Kaveladze works as a vice president focusing on real estate and finance for the Agalarovs’ company, the Crocus Group.”

— The chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is requesting more information about another one of the meeting’s attendees. Politico’s Austin Wright reports: “Chuck Grassley is demanding more information from the Trump administration on Rinat Akhmetshin, the pro-Russian lobbyist who attended a controversial meeting last year with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort. … Grassley said the request is part of a committee investigation into agents of the Russian government who lobbied against the Magnitsky Act but have not registered as foreign lobbyists under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”

— Grassley’s vice chair also shared the committee’s plans to request that Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort testify at an open hearing in the coming weeks. Karoun Demirjian reports: “The special counsel in charge of the FBI’s investigation, Robert Mueller, has given the committee the go-ahead to publicly interview Trump Jr. and Manafort, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said, although it remains unclear if either will appear. Feinstein said she expects the testimony to be scheduled for sometime before Congress departs for the August recess — a break that has now been delayed until the middle of the month. … Manafort and Trump, Jr. may not be invited to appear before the committee alone. According to Feinstein, [Grassley] wants to merge their testimony with an examination of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA — something the committee had scheduled for Wednesday, but has now been postponed.”

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert reports to the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn., last year. (Andrew Link/The Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP, File)

GET SMART FAST:​​

House Speaker Dennis Hastert was released from federal prison in Minnesota on Tuesday and placed into a halfway house in Chicago. Hastert, who served nearly 13 months in prison, pleaded guilty last year to violating anti-money laundering laws, which stemmed from hush money payouts to conceal his sexual abuse of teenage boys. He now serves two years of supervised release with limited travel, drug screenings and psychological testing to determine whether he is still a threat to repeat his offenses. (Chicago Tribune)

A former House staff member pleaded not guilty to charges connected to the circulation of nude images and video of his former employer, Virgin Islands U.S. House Del. Stacey Plaskett, and her husband. Juan McCullum, who formerly worked as a legislative counsel in Plaskett’s office, was one of two staffers charged in the case. (Spencer S. Hsu)

More than 540 former members of Germany’s most storied Catholic choir for boys were physically or sexually abused, a new report found. The latest revelation about the Domspatzen choir, which was led for many years by the brother of Pope Benedict XVI, comes amid mounting charges the Catholic Church turned a blind eye to the mistreatment of young boys. (Isaac Stanley-Becker)

Investigators said that the Minneapolis police officers who shot and killed Justine Damond were “startled by a loud sound.” The account provides the first information on what happened in the moments before the Australian woman died on Saturday. (Mark Berman)

A Turkish court ordered the formal arrest of an Amnesty International director and five other human-rights workers on terrorism charges. Rights advocates have characterized the arrests as “politically motivated persecution” that has increased in the wake of a failed coup attempt last summer. (Kareem Fahim)

A Chipotle franchise in Virginia was temporarily closed after it received multiple reports from customers who said they got sick after eating there. The incident drew comparisons to another string of foodborne illnesses that plagued the chain in 2015 — and already sent the chain’s stock plummeting six percent. (Caitlin Dewey)

An international group of researchers tasked with reviewing dozens of studies about artificial sweeteners has found that the sugar substitutes are “significantly associated with modest long-term increases” in body weight, BMI and waist circumference. (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.)

An Australian lawmaker who earned international attention after breast-feeding her baby in parliament in May has resigned because she has dual citizenship, which is banned for lawmakers in that country. (New York Times)

A Florida state attorney voiced alarm after a 10-year-old boy died with both heroin and fentanyl in his system — a highly dangerous opioid mixture that made him one of the youngest victims of the state’s drug epidemic. Investigators do not believe the boy was exposed at home, and said he began vomiting shortly after returning from a community pool. (Lindsey Bever)

Tragedy struck in New Hampshire this week after a father attempted to teach his youngest daughter how to water ski — but ended up running his boat over the 12-year-old girl, killing her. Authorities said the boat was in neutral at the time. (Avi Selk)

The remains of a Swiss couple that disappeared over 70 years ago in the Alps were likely discovered. Two bodies were found as a glacier melted in the area where they disappeared. (CBS News)

An Audi commercial in China compared women to used cars. (Amy B Wang)

Netflix said it will aim to release 40 original films by the end of the year — an ambitious goal from the streaming giant, and one that analysts say could pose a big challenge to the traditional Hollywood model of moviemaking. (Hamza Shaban)

Chris Christie was booed by Mets fans after he caught a foul ball at Citi Field. A TV announcer added to the jeers by commenting, “Nice to see him get from the beach here to the ballpark.” (Des Bieler)

A golden retriever is being hailed as a hero after it rescued a baby deer from drowning off the coast of Long Island. Dramatic video shows the dog paddling furiously toward the three-month-old deer, before grabbing it by the neck and swimming with it back to shore. (Lindsey Bever)

What we know about Trump’s voter fraud commission

TRUMP’S AGENDA:

— Trump’s controversial voter commission will meet today for the first time – but even ahead of that sit-down, the panel has already gotten off to a rough start. John Wagner and Sari Horwitz report:  “[The commission to advise Trump] on ‘election integrity’ includes the publisher of ‘Alien Invasion II,’ a report on undocumented immigrants who mysteriously showed up on the voter rolls in Virginia. Another championed some of the strictest voter identification laws in the country during her days in the Indiana legislature. And yet another warned nearly a decade ago of the ‘possibility for voter fraud on a scale never seen before in this country.’ During his tenure as Ohio secretary of state, the Social Security numbers of 1.2 million state voters were accidentally posted on the agency’s website. Even before this panel of 12 holds its first official meeting … it has sparked more controversy — and more questions about its competency — than any presidential advisory commission in memory.”

On Tuesday, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a federal lawsuit against Trump’s voter commission, alleging that it was “formed with the intent to discriminate against voters of color in violation of the Constitution.” They are at least the seventh party to file a federal lawsuit against the commission in the past month.  (Christopher Ingraham)

“In states where data requests have been rebuffed, the commission is contemplating filing public-records requests to obtain what it wants,” our colleagues write. “In other instances, members said, they are willing to comply with procedures that require payment for the data. … The commission includes no members who live west of Kansas — meaning the nation’s most populous state, California, is not represented, nor is the rapidly growing Southwest. The only Latino named to the panel … has already resigned. [And] the commission’s only African American member is former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell, a Republican who was accused of voter suppression during his tenure by ordering county clerks not accept voter registrations on anything less than 80-pound stock paper, the thickness of a postcard.”

What you need to know about the House GOP budget plan

— “House GOP leaders are resorting to Plan B on their spending strategy after falling woefully short of the support needed to pass a massive government funding package without Democratic votes,” Politico’s Jennifer Scholtes, Sarah Ferris and Rachael Bade report. “Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday night that the House will vote next week on a measure that includes just four of the 12 bills needed to fund the federal government. … After launching a whipping operation Monday night to gauge interest in voting on the full spate of spending bills, GOP leaders walked away with a tally of dozens of Republican lawmakers who said they couldn’t commit — as well as several hard ‘no’s’ — to voting for the partisan bundle of 12 bills, according to Republican lawmakers and aides. The survey underscored GOP leadership’s ongoing difficulty in appeasing the party’s most fiscally conservative wing while still holding onto support from moderates.”

— A member of the Freedom Caucus is threatening to torpedo Paul Ryan’s tax reform proposal during a budget markup today. Politico’s Rachael Bade reports: “Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) is considering an amendment to the fiscal 2018 budget that would hasten the death of the so-called border adjustment tax. While the exact language is not finalized — indeed Sanford is not even sure he’ll pull the trigger — the proposal would be aimed at preventing the Ways and Means Committee from using the controversial tax increase on imports to finance tax cuts, a Ryan brainchild. … The amendment could cause a ruckus in the budget markup. While multiple budget sources say the committee is expected to easily pass the fiscal blueprint, they acknowledged the amendment could easily create havoc.”

— In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, Democratic and Republican lawmakers argued that too many women are being incarcerated for low-level offenses. Vanessa Williams reports: “From Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Tex.) to Republican Rep. Mia Love (Utah) and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R), there was bipartisan agreement that most of the women in jails and prison would be better served by drug rehabilitation and mental health services, rather than harsher sentences. They noted that most women in the criminal-justice system are victims of domestic abuse or sexual violence. And because most incarcerated women have small children, locking them away can destroy an already fragile family. The discussion came during a day-long conference called ‘Women Unshackled.’”

— House members are considering a new GI Bill expansion that would remove a 15-year-cap on education benefits for military veterans and their families – offering a “lifetime window” for college-tuition assistance. The expansion would also make eligible reservists who deploy on active duty, and surviving spouses and dependents of veterans who die during their service. (T. Rees Shapiro)

— The administration will have their first formal economic talks with China today in D.C. The Wall Street Journal’s Jacob M. Schlesinger reports: “After Donald Trump’s November election, ‘many kept their fingers crossed, worrying that China-U.S. trade relations would enter a stormy…winter and even run the risk of a trade war,’ Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang told a luncheon of business executives here Tuesday. But Mr. Trump has since dropped his threats to impose drastic penalties against Chinese imports—an across-the-board tariff, or a formal charge of currency manipulation—and has so far focused on small market-opening agreements, instead. … U.S. business groups, which had originally braced for the hostilities Mr. Wang referred to, are now growing worried the Trump administration may not press China hard enough for broad reforms they consider necessary to pry China’s economy open.”

A hiker stands at the Glacier National Park in Montana. (family photo)

— Mark Zuckerberg visited Montana’s Glacier National Park last weekend to learn about climate change firsthand – but while he was there, he was unable to meet with the area’s resident climate scientist. Lisa Rein reports: “Three days before the tech leader’s July 15 visit to Glacier, research ecologist Daniel Fagre said he was told that his scheduled tour with Zuckerberg of Logan Pass on the Continental Divide was off. ‘I literally was told I would no longer be participating,’ Fagre, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey, said in an interview Tuesday … He said he asked the public-affairs officer who notified him why the briefing was being canceled. ‘I’ve gotten nothing back,’ he said. ‘We’ve definitely been left in the dark.’ Zuckerberg did meet with park rangers … But with the park a ground zero of sorts for the unmistakable signs that warming and melting of glaciers is speeding up, the decision to keep a visitor — and a celebrity at that — from meeting with a scientist-in-residence … struck some observers as a deliberate effort by the Trump administration to minimize climate issues.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes Jared Kushner during his June visit. (EPA/Amos Ben Gershom)

THE NEW WORLD ORDER:

— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday that he was “skeptical” about the peace efforts being brokered by Trump’s administration. Haaretz’s Barak Ravid reports. “During the meeting in Paris, Macron told Netanyahu that he supports Trump’s efforts and that the settlement-building plans that Israel has advanced in the past six months have made an already complicated situation that much harder, the sources said.”

— A day after certifying that Iran has been complying with the nuclear deal brokered under the Obama administration, Trump’s White House added 18 more entities and individuals to its sanctions list for Tehran. Karen DeYoung reports: “Senior administration officials had made clear that the certification was grudging and indicated that new sanctions would closely follow for Iran’s ‘malign activities’ in nonnuclear areas, such as ballistic missile development and support for terrorism. … The last certification of Iranian compliance, in April, was also followed by new sanctions on Iranian individuals and companies that the administration said played a role in ballistic missile tests not covered by the nuclear agreement.”

— “A high-stakes power struggle between Iran’s moderate president, [Hassan Rouhani], and his hard-line opponents in the judiciary appeared to escalate with the arrest of the president’s brother and the conviction of an American student for espionage this weekend — rulings that seemed timed to embarrass the Iranian leader at home and abroad,” Erin Cunningham reports: “[The] moves by Iran’s judiciary … also undermine Rouhani’s attempts to build better relations with the West, which more-reactionary Iranian institutions such as the judiciary oppose. And they suggest an effort by ruling clerics to pressure the president to back down from confrontation on the domestic front, particularly ahead of the official inauguration of his second term next month, when Rouhani will pick his new cabinet.”

— Rex Tillerson is considering closing the State Department’s cybersecurity office or merging it with another office, Politico’s Tim Starks reports. The news came less than a day after it was reported that Christopher Painter, the Trump administration’s top cyber diplomat, will leave his State Department job at the end of the month. “’It’s a step back from everything done over the last ten years,’ said [a source familiar with the meeting], who added that Tillerson was also considering ‘limiting the number of people who work on cybersecurity’ at State. ‘They basically gave [Painter] two weeks notice,’ the source [said]. “’It’s clear they’re thinking about reorganizing it. … Clearly they don’t think it’s that important.’”

— Americans’ fear of a major war in the near future is increasing at a rapid clip. NBC News’s Andrew Arenge, Hannah Hartig And Stephanie Perry report: “An overwhelming majority of Americans — 76 percent — are worried that the United States will become engaged in a major war in the next four years, according to a new NBC News/SurveyMonkey National Security Poll out Tuesday. The number has jumped 10 points since February, when 66 percent of Americans said they were worried about military conflict. Although Americans are concerned about a number of national security threats, a strong plurality (41 percent) believe that North Korea currently poses the greatest immediate danger to the United States, emerging as a more urgent concern than ISIS (28 percent) or Russia (18 percent), according to the poll[.]”

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

Some greeted the president’s suggestion to “let Obamacare fail” with skepticism:

From two House Democrats:

The criticism extended way beyond Washington:

Others literally ran from the discussion:

From one of our congressional reporters:

Or they hid behind trash cans:

From Obama’s former top adviser:

In light of his recent comments about Democrats owning Obamacare, this Trump tweet was circulating again:

From NBC’s Capitol Hill correspondent:

From the Boston Globe’s chief national correspondent:

For those keeping score:

From one of Time’s D.C. editors:

An old Nixon-era column made the rounds again:

A Wall Street Journal reporter reacted:

From a New York Magazine writer:

Once again, the White House’s theme of the week got sidelined:

A Democratic member of the House ribbed Trump’s Made in America week:

Trump stepped up to the plate:

The White House misspelled–again:

And the Internet had more fun with Tropical Storm Don:

Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE:

— Politico Magazine, “How the GOP Became the Party of Putin,” by James Kirchick: “I was no fan of Barack Obama’s foreign policy. I criticized his Russian ‘reset,’ his Iran nuclear deal, his opening to Cuba, even his handling of political conflict in Honduras. … What I never expected was that the Republican Party—which once stood for a muscular, moralistic approach to the world, and which helped bring down the Soviet Union—would become a willing accomplice of what the previous Republican presidential nominee rightly called our No. 1 geopolitical foe: Vladimir Putin’s Russia. My message for today’s GOP is to paraphrase Barack Obama when he mocked Romney for saying precisely that: 2012 called—it wants its foreign policy back.”

— New York Times, “Bathroom Bill Tests Clout of Rare Moderate in Increasingly Conservative Texas,” by Manny Fernandez and David Montgomery: “When Texas lawmakers gather here for the start of a 30-day special legislative session on Tuesday morning, they will most likely decide the fate of the Texas version of North Carolina’s bitterly divisive legislation regulating the access of transgender people to public bathrooms. But something else will be on the line, too: whether moderate Republicans have a role to play in a state party increasingly dominated by far-right Christian conservatives, and whether the last powerful moderate Republican in Texas[, State Representative Joe Straus, the speaker of the Texas House,] can keep his job and his influence. … Pro-business, Bush-style, country-club Republicans no longer set the agenda in Texas. What happens in the session … will provide the clearest signal of whether there is any effective brake left on social-conservative Republicans in Texas.”

— Politico Magazine, “Is the President Fit?” by Ben Strauss: “In the modern history of American presidents, no occupant of the Oval Office has evinced less interest in his own health. He does not smoke or drink, but his fast-food, red meat-heavy diet, his aversion to exercise and a tendency to gorge on television for hours at a time put him at odds with his predecessors. … And on the campaign trail, he made a point of mentioning his taste for fast foods like Kentucky Fried Chicken[.] … This may make the president more relatable to the average American, who scarfs down some $1,200 worth of fast food each year, but it’s an unusual habit for someone holding down one of the world’s most demanding jobs. … By any measure, America’s president is overweight, and medical experts say it could be affecting his health and his job.”

— New York Magazine, “There Aren’t Very Many Democratic Governors. That Could Change in 2018,” by Ed Kilgore: “The most underappreciated (in Washington, anyway) aspect of the 2018 midterm elections is the fact that 36 governorships will be up for grabs. And the partisan landscape for these contests will be nearly as skewed toward Democrats as the Senate landscape is skewed toward Republicans, with the GOP defending 26 seats and Democrats just 9 (one, in Alaska, is held by an independent). What really makes the gubernatorial races different from others, however, are term limits: Fully 13 Republican governors and 4 Democrats are either term-limited or have already announced their retirements.”

— The Atlantic, “South Korea’s President May Be Just the Man to Solve the North Korea Crisis,” by S. Nathan Park: “Just as only the conservative Richard Nixon could thaw U.S.-China relations, the supposedly dovish Moon Jae In could defuse tensions with the Kim regime.”

HOT ON THE LEFT

“Arizona Senate candidate under attack for being Muslim,” from the Arizona Republic:“She’s the other challenger to Sen. Jeff Flake. A native of Little Rock, Ark. A Phoenix attorney and civil rights activist. An independent-turned-Democrat. A 19-year resident of Arizona who wants to represent ‘the state where I found my home, family and dreams.’ And, as it turns out, a few nightmares. Deedra Abboud is also Muslim. … The response over the last 24 hours to … some of her other posts and videos have ranged from disturbing to just plain scary.”

HOT ON THE RIGHT:

“An article called for John McCain to ‘just … die already.’ A GOP official responded: ‘Amen,’” from Kristine Phillips: “A member of the Republican National Committee in Nevada apologized after retweeting an article that begged for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to die. Diana Orrock, a national committeewoman for the Nevada GOP, shared a story headlined ‘Please Just [expletive] Die Already.’ In retweeting the piece, which was published on Medium, Orrock wrote ‘Amen.’ Several hours after posting the now-deleted tweet, Orrock apologized to McCain and to the Nevada and national GOP, calling the ailing senator ‘an American hero’ — and her own post ‘disrespectful.’”

  In a true show of bipartisanship, Sen. Jeff Flake offered reassurance to his Democratic challenger Abboud:

DAYBOOK:

Trump will have an NSC briefing and a meeting with Terry Branstad, the U.S. ambassador to China, in the morning before his lunch with Republican lawmakers to discuss health-care in the afternoon. He will then lead a Made in America roundtable.

Pence will participate in the first meeting of the voter fraud commission and then join the health-care lunch and Made in America roundtable. He also has a meeting with the governor of Indiana, Eric Holcomb.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 

Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) on his tenure, three months after resigning amid a sex scandal and pleading guilty to criminal charges: “I’m the best governor Alabama’s ever had by far.” 

  NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

— It’s hot today in D.C., but it’ll be even worse over the weekend. The Capital Weather Gang forecasts: “But with partly to mostly sunny skies, highs reaching the mid-90s aren’t exactly refreshing either. Add in the high humidity, and we’ll see the afternoon heat index near 100, with the possibility of an isolated afternoon storm.”

— The Nationals beat the Angels 4-3. (Chelsea Janes)

— Even before Mitch McConnell’s bill to repeal Obamacare failed due to three senators’ opposition, the governors of Maryland and Virginia voiced their own opposition. Josh Hicks reports: “Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on Tuesday joined nine other governors to urge Congress to ‘immediately reject’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and focus instead on stabilizing insurance markets.”

— Maya Rockeymoore, a policy consultant and the wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), is weighing a bid for Maryland governor in 2018. The 46-year-old would be the first woman to join what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic primary field, with five contenders already battling for a chance to challenge incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan in the general election. (Josh Hicks and Ovetta Wiggins)

— “Democrat Danica Roem, the transgender ex-journalist who is challenging Del. Robert G. Marshall in Prince William County, far outpaced the conservative Republican in fundraising last month, an early indication that her campaign is drawing significant interest from inside and outside Virginia.” (Antonio Olivo)

  VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Keegan-Michael Key reprised his role as Barack Obama’s anger translator:

Keegan-Michael Key Brings Luther, Obama’s Anger Translator, Out Of Retirement

Seth Meyers checked in on the EPA:

The Check In: The Environmental Protection Agency

A Saudi woman has been arrested for a viral video showing her wearing a miniskirt in a conservative province in the kingdom:

Young woman arrested in Saudi Arabia for wearing ‘suggestive clothing’

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lamented the pain that comes with being a Cleveland Indians fan:

Rooting for the Cleveland Indians is a lifetime of pain, even for senators

Parisians swam in three new swimming areas in a canal, part of the city’s push to clean its waterways for its Olympics bid:

Swimmers go for a dip in a Paris canal

And scientists at the University of Manchester discovered that the T. rex could not run:

Simulation of T. rex reveals the dinosaur couldn’t run

Daily Dose of FAKE NEWS -> Teflon Trump gets blamed less by base for Obamacare fail than Senate GOP Daily Dose of FAKE NEWS -> Teflon Trump gets blamed less by base for Obamacare fail than Senate GOP…