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psychosistr · 4 years ago

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Green-Eyed Monsters- Chapter 7

Summary: Dominic and Steelbeak need to talk through their issues after their rather tense mission. Fortunately, Steelbeak knows just the right way to start the conversation and has a trick or two up his sleeve to help smooth things over with his partner.

Notes: Alright, final chapter- time for that emotional reconciliation! xD This has been a fun piece to write and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it as much as I have :3

-First Chapter-

*knock* *knock* *knock* *knock*

Red eyes glanced up from the printed pages of the book they’d been focused on for a good hour or so. If it weren’t for the fact that the knock he heard was so familiar to him now, Dominic may have simply chosen to ignore it until he’d finished his page (though, honestly, he was tempted to do so anyway). With a reluctant sigh, the loon placed a bookmark safely within the confines of his latest novel and got up from the chair in his personal study to go answer his front door.

After getting a barely-coherent Steelbeak settled in his own apartment the previous evening, the two hadn’t seen or spoken to each other regarding their mission. Or, more specifically, Dominic had holed himself up in his apartment in an attempt to sort out his own feelings and insecurities before facing his partner again. Now, however, it seemed the other man was ready to talk, so the least the loon could do was have the courtesy to open the door and let him in.

…At least, that was Dominic’s plan until he opened the door to an empty hallway. Looking around in confusion, red eyes spotted something that could match them in color on the floor outside of his door- a pathway made of vibrant red rose petals connecting his doorway to the opened one next door.

Despite himself, a small smile found its way onto the fowl’s dark beak. He followed the path that had been so meticulously laid out for him and soon found himself in the other man’s home. The dimmable lights had been turned down as low as possible without impeding the loon’s vision, creating a rather ambient setting as the trail led him to the dining room he’d become quite familiar with after many meals shared in it with his partner. At the moment, however, it was a bit less familiar with the table and chairs missing and the only notable feature in the room being the rose petals that lined the edges of the floor.

Just as he was about to call out the other man’s name to see what he had planned, music started playing from the stereo in the living room with the volume turned up just loud enough to be properly audible from the dining room. Right on cue with the upbeat and sultry tango music that filled the air, the apartment’s prime occupant made his presence known.

Stepping in time to the beat of the music, Steelbeak entered from the dining room and winked at the other fowl. “Fancy runnin’ int’ YOU here~” The taller man was dressed in one of his usual button-up red shirts, bowtie, and black slacks, but was missing his white jacket and, instead, had donned a pair of white silk gloves- one of which held a red rose that he presented to the loon with a flourish. “Whattaya say t’ makin’ some sweet music with me, gorgeous?”

The small smile on the loon’s dark beak grew as he took the offered flower with a quiet chuckle. “What exactly are you up to, Steelbeak?”

With his hand now empty, the metal-mouthed fowl held the appendage out in a clear invitation. “Askin’ the prettiest bird here t’ dance with me, that’s what.” The invitation was accompanied by that ridiculous little eyebrow-wiggle the taller man did when he was being jokingly flirtatious.

Darn it, he knew it was hard for Dominic to stay mad when he did that. “I suppose one dance couldn’t hurt.” Carefully tucking the (thankfully dethorned) rose into his hair, one black feathered hand found its way into the white gloved one presented to him while the other rested on a broad shoulder. The thin silken barrier of the gloves was an interesting feeling in his hand and his side when the other found its mark, but he appreciated the other man’s apparent consideration for his comfort.

One dance soon turned into two. Then three. Then into so many more that it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. It all became one dizzying but pleasant rush of movement as the duo danced their way from a tango into a waltz and a litany of other dances to accompany the ever changing music.

Dancing with Steelbeak, Dominic found, was a different experience than he expected- though not an unpleasant one, by any means: Given his likely all-female list of previous dance partners, the smaller bird would have expected Steelbeak to instinctively take the lead and have his partner follow along. Instead, there was a sense of give-and-take to his movements- if Dominic let him lead, then he would lead, but if the loon moved to take charge, then the rooster would instantly follow without question. The position of their hands rarely changed- aside from when necessary for a spin or dip, of course- but it still felt obvious when they changed who was leading and who was following. It was a dance in which both parties felt equally in control and respected as the leader- a balance that wouldn’t work for all dance-partners, but was absolutely perfect for the two of them.

Several dances later, the pair found themselves swaying together calmly to the soothing melody of a piano piece. Dominic had relaxed considerably since the start of their dancing and was now far more comfortable with his partner’s hand on his waist while the thumb of the other caressed the back of his own hand in a subtle display of affection. “I wish you’d asked me to dance ages ago,” The loon admitted with a soft smile. “You’re quite good.”

The corner of the metal-mouthed fowl’s namesake quirked up in a half-smile at the compliment. “You ain’t half bad yourself, stripes.” As they swayed and slow-stepped together, Steelbeak’s smile fell slightly, turning into something a bit more serious. “Y’know, I’m pretty much a master at every dance out there.” Though he tried to make his words come off as a boast, the undertone of melancholy in his voice made it abundantly clear that was not his intention. “But, there’s still a few I don’t know…couple I’m still learnin’ the steps for..and…it’s weird for me- not knowin’ what I’m supposed t’ do..”

The metaphor was not lost on the darker bird, the other’s words causing him to give an understanding smile while squeezing the gloved hand he was holding. “Well then, you’re lucky that I’m a fairly skilled dancer as well. I’m sure I could help you learn the more complicated steps and take the lead when necessary.”

Dark grey eyes gazed down into the red ones gratefully as the soft squeeze was reciprocated. “That’d be great.” With a quiet sigh and a shake of his head, Steelbeak decided to drop the metaphors and just speak frankly with his partner. “Truth is, I’m just not used t’ this whole ‘boyfriend’ thing..”

“I know.” That made sense, Dominic figured. After all, it’s not like Steelbeak had ever dated another m-

“I’ve never been someone’s boyfriend before, y’know?” Huh…well…that wasn’t what the loon was expecting to hear, but he didn’t interrupt the rooster’s explanation. “I mean, sure, I bet there’s loads of chicks out there- and I mean LOADS of ‘em- that thought I was, but I never saw myself like that. It was dinner, drinks, a dance or two, back t’ my place, then a callback a few months later if I bothered t’ get their number t’ do it all again…not really what you’d consider a ‘boyfriend’ sorta situation..” A white-gloved thumb gently brushed over the black feathers of the hand within his grasp as he avoided eye contact with the shorter man. “This is probably the first time I’ve ever been serious ‘bout someone I dated…first time I’ve stuck around..so…I don’t know how all this ‘boyfriend’ stuff works- honestly, I just figure half of it out watchin’ you an’ followin’ your lead. If I make a mistake or do somethin’ wrong, I’m probably not gonna realize it ‘til ya TELL ME, and I know you’re embarrassed bein’ seen with me, but-”

“Stop.” Though his tone was firm, it was mostly so Dominic could make sure he had a moment to recover from the proverbial record-scratch he heard in his head accompanying his partner’s last words. Once that moment had passed, the dark hand that had previously rested on the taller man’s shoulder reached up to his face and tilted that deadly beak downward to make sure he had the rooster’s full attention. “You think I’m embarrassed to be seen with you? Why on earth would you think that?”

That thought was absolutely ludicrous. Sure, Steelbeak wasn’t perfect (who was?)- he had a destructive temper that could rival Dominic’s when things went wrong and he was pushed too far, his manipulative ways with women were aggravating (though, admittedly, he’d been getting marginally better since the loon’s discussion with him about how he treated Ammonia Pine), he was rude and bossy (with others, mostly- he now knew better than to try that with his partner), and had a sense of vanity and pride that could rival Narcissus himself- but not ONCE since the two had started dating did the thought of being embarrassed to be seen with his partner ever cross his mind. If, somehow, he’d given off that impression, then he needed to know exactly how he’d managed to do so and make sure he never repeated that behavior again.

Steelbeak seemed genuinely surprised by the sharp shooter’s questions and genuinely concerned tone, blinking down at him before recovering and explaining himself further. “Well..it’s just…ya never act like we’re dating in public, y’know?” When all he received was a questioning look prompting him for more, dark grey eyes looked around as if searching for the right words or examples to use. “How t’ put this……when it’s just the two of us, you’re okay with flirtin’, or holdin’ hands, or leanin’ on me, or-or even just sayin’ that we’re together.” The corner of his mouth tipped downwards ever so slightly. “But, if there’s anyone else around, then you avoid that sorta thing like it’s gonna get ya shot. Every dame I’ve been with was practically chompin’ at the bit t’ tell everyone I was her boyfriend after just one date, but you always make it sound like I’m your work-partner and that’s it. I’ve seen ya flirt with guys left an’ right and not have any trouble showin’ you were into ‘em; meanwhile, I’m stuck here wonderin’ if you’re not supposed t’ do that when you’re actually datin’ a guy? Is it somethin’ you’re just supposed t’ keep secret?” He shook his head before meeting the other’s gaze once more. “I’m not askin’ you t’ go throwin’ yourself at me when we’re out- think I’d be more freaked out by that than excited- but I don’t know what I’m supposed t’ do an’ it’s drivin’ me crazy.”

“That’s not…you didn’t- I never..” For a moment, Dominic was lost for words.

From the time he’d gotten his first boyfriend in high school, the loon had never been in a relationship that was anything even remotely close to public. Most of the guys the loon dated had been adamant about keeping the whole thing secret to avoid damaging either of their reputations; after many years of the same secretive charade, he’d simply gotten used to it being the status quo. Even with his fiancé, who was so very clearly proud of his relationship with his partner, Dominic had asked that they not tell anyone so that they could keep each other safe if anything happened- a request that the other man didn’t fully understand, but accepted anyway and made sure to make up for the lack of public affection the first chance he got as soon as they were alone. The idea of having a partner- of having a boyfriend- who actually wanted to be public about his relationship with the aquatic avian was new territory that was as exhilarating to explore as it was bone-chillingly terrifying.

Taking the darker fowl’s silence as hesitance, Steelbeak took a breath and sighed. “Look, if you don’t wanna tell no one, then that’s fine by me. I’ll follow your lead on this one. But- ” The hand that had been holding the loon’s so carefully until now finally let go, causing a pang of panic to jolt through the shorter man’s chest as he worried he’d upset his partner with his lack of a proper response. Before he could apologize, however, Steelbeak brought the gloved appendage to his beak and used the tip to carefully bite down on one of the fingers so he could easily pull the fabric away and free his hand. “-whatever ya want me t’ be in public, whether it’s your boyfriend or just your partner-” The glove fell carelessly to the floor as he spoke, giving him a chance to now use his beak to tug down the cuff of his sleeve just enough to fully expose his wrist. “-I’m yours. Whatever ya want that t’ mean, I’ll be fine with it, long as you still want me t’ be yours.”

Until that moment, Dominic had assumed the gloves were for his own benefit- a way to help him feel more comfortable with his partner’s hands on him while they danced. In reality, however, it seemed their purpose was to hide the still glistening dye on the lighter bird’s feathers.

On the inner side of Steelbeak’s left wrist, once blank off-white feathers had been skillfully painted and dyed with black and white ink to form a tilted image of a domino with two dots on one side and six on the other. Then, as if the iconic symbol from his hat wasn’t enough of a clue as to whom the painted feathers were referencing, the image was coupled with beautiful calligraphy on both the top and bottom in a mirrored style with the side closest to Steelbeak’s hand saying “Dominic” and the other saying “Domino”, both words accompanied by an elegantly curved underline to help them stand out as well as form a border around the domino.

To say Dominic was shocked would be an understatement, but to simply say he was touched by the gesture would be an even BIGGER one. The image was in a much harder to hide place than the rooster’s back- anyone could catch a glimpse of the loon’s name if Steelbeak’s usual long-sleeves happened to slip high enough and would be on full display anytime he wore anything even a fraction shorter. He was making it clear that he was not ashamed of his relationship with his partner- with his boyfriend- and didn’t care who happened to see the ink or question its meaning. As if that wasn’t proof enough, there was also the length of time the markings would last: Once a bird’s feathers were painted, the ink would last for at least a year barring any significant damage to the area that resulted in losing all of the feathers at once (something Steelbeak would likely go to great lengths to avoid due to his own vanity). This was a clear sign of commitment from the nearly gamophobic man; proof that he was committed to making this relationship work and planned to stick with Dominic for at least a year.

With wide eyes and slightly trembling fingers, the loon reached out and gently traced the lines of the image. It felt dry, but the sheen to it suggested that it had only just recently reached that point. Steelbeak must have gotten it done that afternoon in order for it to set properly and give him time to get everything ready. The thought brought a soft smile to the darker bird’s face- this man really, truly cared about him more than any of his previous “dates” (calling them girlfriends would be far too generous) and wanted to make sure Dominic knew it.

Looking up into the other’s dark grey eyes, Dominic’s smile grew a little more. “While this is a lovely gesture, I’m not getting your beak painted on me. Sorry.” The statement earned a laugh from the taller man, as the sharpshooter predicted, and he seized the opportunity to hook a finger under the rooster’s tie, giving him the leverage he needed to bring the metal-mouthed fowl’s namesake close enough for a kiss.

“!!!” Steelbeak made a startled sound in the back of his throat clearly not expecting the sudden contact. Still, despite the clear surprise visible in his wide-eyed stare, he made no move to pull away or put an end to the intimate connection. By the time his tie was released and the shorter bird had pulled away just enough to give him a smirk that left him red in the face, his short-circuited brain had recovered enough to form a response. “So, uh….that’s on the table now..?”

“As long as it’s not while I’m angry at you or I’ve made it clear that I need some space, then yes, that is very much ‘on the table’.” Dominic couldn’t help but laugh at the flustered expression on his boyfriend’s face. That look was a precious sight and it was for his eyes only. “What? Did you really go into this expecting that we’d never kiss?”

A softer version of the lighter fowl’s usually grating laughter was accompanied by a shake of his head, the corners of his mouth lifting into that more genuine smile that the loon adored. “T’ be honest with ya, Deedee, I had NO friggin’ idea what t’ expect goin’ int’ this….but-” An ungloved hand reached towards the darker one nearby, waiting for an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement before carefully entwining their contrasting-colored digits together. “-I knew I wanted it, whatever that meant.”

Dominic’s own smile softened a bit at the warm feeling of his boyfriend’s fingers entwined with his and the subtle thump of a pulse that wasn’t his own felt through their touching palms. Whatever this would turn into one day, he knew one thing for sure-

“I want it, too. Whatever it means.”

<--Previous Chapter

End Notes: And so we come to the end and my favorite part of any emotionally turbulent story- the communication and resolution. I always enjoy seeing characters in a loving and committed relationship, but (to me, at least) part of what makes a relationship strong is being able to fight about something and work through it so that all parties involved feel heard and understood, so I try working that into my stories whenever possible. I hope you guys enjoyed this installment of the series and I can’t wait until I have the time/energy to add to it again x3

#darkwing duck #dwd #steelbeak #Dominic Domino #steeldomino #darkwing duck oc #dwd oc #not my oc #green-eyed monsters

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rhinoswriting · 4 years ago

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A Life On The Road - Part 3 (A Luke Hemmings FanFic)

A/N: Hi, sorry it’s been a while since I posted. I’ve been busy moving home and doing all the admin shit that comes along with it. But anyway, Part 3 is here! It ends a little abruptly because I’ve got writer’s block, but I didn’t want to hold off posting for even longer. Part 4 will be here soon, I promise.

Part 2 Ending Recap: After a great gig you and the boys celebrate on the bus. It’s now the early hours of the morning and it’s just you and Luke left in the tour bus lounge chatting and getting to know each other better.

Part 1, Part 2

********************************************

My drunk get-to-know-you-better chat with Luke was really fun, sweet and eye-opening. We asked about each other’s families, dreams, fears, regrets and fondest memories. And we answered with the truth; bearing our souls drunkenly to one another to build a closer friendship.

It was nearly 5 am and we were still sat asking each other questions.

"What’s your favourite breakfast?” Luke asked.

“If we’re talking sweet, it’s banana pancakes. If we’re talking savoury, it’s anything with a poached egg on top.” I answered before firing my next question at him, “Would you rather visit the moon or Atlantis?”

“Easy! Atlantis; there’d be way more to do there. What’s your biggest fear?”

“Developing some form of memory loss. What do you miss most from your pre-fame life?”

“Not being able to form genuine connections with people.”

Luke’s answer caught me a little off guard and tugged at my heart strings. Before I could respond he spoke again,

“Right now being a much welcomed exception.” He smiled at me with eyelids heavy from a lack of sleep and his head tilted to rest on the sofa.

“Right now being a much welcome exception.” I repeated and mirrored his closed lip smile, “We should probably go get some sleep though y’know. You look shattered and it’s a press day tomorrow. And I mean that in a caring friend way, not a Lou way.”

I forced my tired, stiff body up from the sofa and put my hand out to him. He gratefully took it and used me as a counterbalance as he pulled himself up from the sofa. We kept our hands loosely held together on the short walk to the bunks.

“Goodnight, Luke. And thank you for tonight. It was really nice getting to know you a little better.” I told him as I pulled the curtain of my bunk open.

“Honestly, thank you. I look forward to more late night tour talks.” Luke admitted before pulling me into a lazy, sleepy hug, “Goodnight, Elizabeth.”

And with that we both clambered into our respective bunks for what little remained of the night. Just as I was beginning to drift off to sleep, I heard my phone double vibrate to let me know I had just received a text. I opened one eye and saw my bunk had been slightly illuminated by my phone screen. Too tired to muster enough energy to see who was messaging me gone 5 in the morning I simply flipped my phone over and allowed the mattress to absorb the annoying rectangle of light.

What felt like an hour later I woke up and instinctively reached for my phone to check the time, only to find it had actually been 10 hours since my head hit the pillow. I also saw now that the message I received just before I fell asleep was from Luke. I held my thumb on the fingerprint sensor and opened his message.

Luke Hemmy: Lets grab a coffee tomorrow after we finish up at Oui FM x

Seeing as I’d already left him hanging for 10 hours I immediately typed out my response:

Shit! Sorry! I’ve only just seen this. I’m awake and definitely down for coffee. Meet you where? X

Then I grabbed my toiletry bag from the foot of my bunk, hopped out my bunk and freshened up in the tiny tour bus bathroom. When I got back to the row of bunks I pulled on fresh underwear, my jeans, a t-shirt I’d grabbed from the batch of merch being sold on this tour and then went in search of my docs and jacket.

The tiny coat cupboard was an overflowing mess. Instead of digging around I grabbed one of the many leather jackets stuffed in there. The jacket smelt like Cal, so I knew I’d definitely be fine to borrow it. I quickly glanced in the cupboard door’s mirror. Satisfied with my outfit choice and how well Cal’s jacket added to the look, I grabbed my purse and phone off the counter before exiting the bus and locking up.

Not knowing what direction to head in I checked my phone to see if I had had a response from Luke. I had a few.

Luke Hemmy: Meet you here x Luke Hemmy has shared his location with you. Tracks done about to go in for the interview dk how long Given your name to the station so you can get in the building to wait x

Now having a destination, I made my way to the little red pin on the map.

When I arrived at the tall, plain building I saw a large group of fans patiently waiting outside the entrance on one side of some metal railing the radio station had put up. I did a lap of the block hoping for another entrance to the building. I didn’t want to have to walk right through and in front of all those fans patiently waiting. I knew I’d look like an ass and they wouldn’t like that I could just turn up, in a 5SOS t-shirt of all things, and saunter into the building. But of course there was no alternate entrance; so I made my way over to the crowd again and zipped up Cal’s leather jacket.

“Excusez moi. Excusez moi. Désolée. Excusez moi. Merci.” I said as I made my way to the slight gap between one of the rails and the building and then approached the large, silent man stood in front of the glass doors, “Excusez moi, je m’appelle Elizabeth Phillips. Je suis attendue.”

Fuck I hope I said that right. And if it is right I hope I don’t sound like a dick saying ‘I’m expected’.

I stood awkwardly and blushing before the tall man and surrounded by 5SOS fans as he checked with someone inside over his radio that I was indeed expected and not a fan trying my luck at getting in. Eventually my name was confirmed as valid and the man stepped aside and opened one of the glass doors for me.

“Merci.” I thanked him with a smile then hurried in and over to the reception desk. I’d used up about as much French as I could remember from school so tried my luck in English with the receptionist, “Hiya, is it okay for me to wait on the sofa here or is there somewhere I should go?”

“The sofas here is fine. They should be done soon, but can I get you a drink?” The man behind the desk responded, who was so surprisingly young I assumed he must be an intern.

“Oh no, I’m fine thank you. Thank you for the offer.” I told him with a smile as I sat on one of the two leather sofas and fought the urge to take my jacket off.

To distract myself and appear occupied I pulled out my phone, popped in one earphone and started scrolling through my Instagram feed. Once I was caught up with the feed I went through a couple of stories. When it got to Ash’s story I was greeted by the video he uploaded last night of me, him and Luke dancing and singing to KISS. He hadn’t put my handle on it so I couldn’t re-share it onto my story. I made a mental note to get him to send me the clip later.

I was about to go into my emails when I heard the elevator ding. I looked up from my phone and saw the guys and Lou spill out into the lobby. The portion of fans with a good view through the glass doors also noticed this by the sounds of the sudden fanatic screaming outside.

I made my way over to the guys,

“Hey, hey!” I smiled at them all.

“Nice jacket,” Cal said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a side hug, “I better be getting that back.”

“Oh you will.” I said before adding playfully, “Although it does look damn good, so maybe not.”

“Honestly I wouldn’t keep it. You don’t know where that’s been or what liquids have been spilt on it.” Michael grimaced which cracked everyone up.

We quickly wrapped up the pleasantries so the guys could go outside and meet their fans. It turns out there was an underground car park with two cars waiting, so I stayed in the lobby with Lou and we chatted about the tour, business and my KPIs. Around 40 minutes later the guys came back in and we were led to the underground car park and the two waiting cars.

“Coffee?” Luke asked as he turned to me while simultaneously putting his hand out behind him to reach for the handle of one of the car doors.

“Coffee.” I confirmed with a nod, then turned to the others to be polite and extend the invitation, “Coffee?”

“Yeah I’d be down for coffee.” Cal said with a casual shrug and began walking towards the car we were stood in front of.

“I’m still feeling a bit rough from last night. I’m gonna head back to the bus and nap, so I’ll see you guys at the restaurant for dinner.” Ashton answered.

“I’ll be honest with you, I just want to go back to the bus and play some games.” Michael said.

So with our next activities decided, Cal, Luke and I jumped in one car and Ashton, Michael and Lou got in the other. Luke asked our driver to drop us off at a coffee shop he’d recommend and with that we were on our way to a mystery coffee shop.

Much to our delight, our driver had an exceptional taste in coffee shops. He dropped us off near a narrow road, that wasn’t quite an alley, and instructed us to go down it until we came to a coffee shop on the right. He also recommended their lattes. We dutifully followed his directions and were rewarded with a small and comfortably busy coffee shop that made an excellent latte.

Lattes in hand, we made our way over to the small circular table right by window. I was sat between Cal and Luke, looking directly out onto the street with the fourth chair opposite me left empty. We chatted a lot about their afternoon at the radio station as well as the press so far on this tour in general. Then, as we were finishing up our lattes, we moved onto trying to plan something to spend the night doing after our big meal out.

“More importantly, should we not actually be on our way to the restaurant now?” I asked after glancing at my watch.

We quickly donned our jackets and headed out of the coffee shops. When we were out on the street Cal looked up directions to the restaurant on his phone and began leading the way.

I pulled out my phone to check my emails as the three of us mindlessly followed Maps. I saw a response had come in from one of the editors at ELLE. After reading the first two lines I stopped dead in my tracks and just stared at the screen I was cradling in both hands.

Luke was the first to notice I’d stopped walking alongside them both,

“You alright back there?” He asked.

I looked up to see him and Cal taking a few steps towards me to close the little distance they had gained. I beamed at them giddily,

“ELLE are interested in running two of my pieces in upcoming months!” I squealed, “They said they like the exert from the Glasgow piece I wrote. They want to publish the completed thing and they’re interested in the idea I outlined for Munich!”

“That’s amazing!” They congratulated me as I was engulfed into a group hug.

“I’m so proud of you, EP!” Cal added as the three of us pulled apart.

“It’s such a relief that this gamble might actually pay off!” I said still smiling from ear to ear, “I need to tell Drew!”

I turned my attention back to my phone and excitedly told Drew the news in all caps.

YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ELLE WANT TO RUN WITH TWO OF MY ARTICLES THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY GO WELL FOR ME ALSO HI FROM PARIS, I MISS YOU WE SHOULD FACETIME SOON XX

After hitting send I put my phone away and continued walking with the boys. After a left and two rights we found ourselves at the restaurant, and being the last to arrive, sat at the table’s remaining spaces.

#luke hemmings #luke hemmings fanfic #luke hemmings fanfiction #luke hemmings x ofc #5sos fanfiction #5sos fanfic #luke 5sos

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popculturebuffet · 5 years ago

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Star Vs the Forces of Evil Reviews: The Blood Moon Ball (1-15)

Welcome back.. though to most of you probably just joining me, welcome. I’ve been on a sorta hiatus from revewiing due to a combination of procrastination, depression, and being really busy. But I finally decided it was time to put boots to the ground and get back to doing what I love: Going on way too long about children’s television. As such, with She Ra taking a bow a few weeks back and nailing it I got to thinking about another show that just so happened to end the year before: Star Vs the Forces of Evil. Part of it was very simple: She ra ended on a trriumphant note, making a well set up romance that had been it’s backbone canon, having a wonderful final battle, tons of payoff and a throughly happy ending that satisfied all involved and got tons of well earned coverage for having a deep, meaningful relationship between two lesbians finally coming together being the thing that saves the universe. It was freaking great. Meanwhile a year prior Star Vs, after having been treated like toilet dinner by disney for no good reason by having it’s final season shoved out over a few sundays after a yearlong hiatus.. ended not with a bang, but with a wah wah trumpet. The series ending was unsatisfying, left more questions than answers, had the title character loose all likeablity and was in general miserable. I hadn’t been this pissed off at a finale since How I Met Your Mother and hadn’t seen a romance botched this badly in animation since “Merry Christmas Mordecai”. It was BADDDDD. However it did make me want to go back to the series; To revisit the good, the bad and the just plain weird to remember what made me love the series, what made me want to throw my tv into a river before reminding myself “No dude, shit’s expensive. “, and what COULD have been, what SHOULD have been and what WASN’T. So i’ll be reviewing assorted episodes.. and the best place to start for me was with the introduction of one of the series best characters, as well as at the same time the start of a ship that was a good idea at first but would slowly take the series down with it as it started to fall apart. This is Blood Moon Ball. There will be blood, and a dead horse, after the cut.

Before we get into the episode, one of the series most notable and honestly a damn good one, for those 2 of you not familiar with the series a quick refresher: Star VS is the story of Star Butterfly, a rebelious 14 year old princess from the Kingdom of Mewni. Mewni is your standard medievil fantasy kingdom.. but you know with wifi because they have magic compacts that work as phones and large sale acess to the multiverse. Their also ruled over by a long sucession of queens with great and terrible magic power, which is channeld through an increidbly powerful wand that’s passed down from generation to generation. On her 14th birthday Star gets her turn with the wand.. and not long after sets everything on fire. Not wanting the kingdom to get blown up while Star figures out thing, her parents send her to Earth, and after bribing the school principal into enroling her, that’s not a joke on my part but an actual joke from the pilot, Star soon becomes an exchange student, boarding with the Diazes and soon becoming best friends with their teenage son Marco, a saftey obessed, shy talented martial artist. The two are frequently forced to beat up the hordes of Ludo, a spoiled monster king who wants the wand for himself. Things would get way darker... like in literally two seconds as the revelation star’s people stole mewni from the monsters and Star’s hatred being revealed to be partly racisim instead of standard hero and villian stuff. But that’s for future reviews. Today we have demons, internet commentors and ship tease to get to. So with the basic premise set up let’s finally get on with it. We open on the arrival of my boy and yours, hopefully, Tom Lucitor. Tom is the prince of the underworld, basically exactly what it sounds like: fire, brimstone, demons spooky scary skeltons sending shivers up your spine. He’s also Star’s ex boyfriend. How they broke up is.. never really explained. While more details about their relationship, includign the fact Tom bought Star her iconic Devil Horn headband on their frist date, were revealed in the tie-in spellbook, and reveals that star’s arson that got her sent to mewni happened right after her and tom broke up, but never explains WHY. My guess is since the series clearly frames the breakup as Tom’s fault in this episode and on his anger, they probably didn’t want a scene of him screaming his head off at star, either to keep him sympathetic or , more likely, because a scene of a teenage girl watching her boyfriend having a rage fueld breakdown that leads to htem breaking up would be MASSIVELY uncomfortable to watch and unlike some uncomfortable to watch scenes, wouldn’t tell us anything we didn’t know already. So unlike some later things they never pulled the trigger on this one at least makes sense. Anywho, Tom arrives, parking in the handicap spot (a nice little gag as Star’s crush at the time Oskar points it out, while the dead skeletal horse pulling tom’s carriage turns around to look at him), and all the girls stop and stare.. including Janna, who would probably regret this moment once she realize tom was a bad boy because he’s socially awkard and has anger issues. Basically he’s Kylo Ren but his redemption dosen’t come straight out of JJ Abrhams ass. Tom arrives at Star’s classroom, removes his shade and damn if he dosen’t have game.. but naturally showing up unnannaounced to her school (Not that TOm probably gets what school is as Mewni dosen’t have those, but still), basically assuming she’ll go out with him, after they had a messy breakup it dosen’t go well and we get a great cut of Star shoving tom back into his carriage.. we also get the best joke of the episode. Star: So take your invitation and your fire and your dead horse and go. Dead Horse: wait.. i’m dead? Sad but hilarious. Anyways it’s quickly conved to viewers like us that Tom has anger problems, but he insists to star he’s doing better: he has an anger managment counsler he takes with him places, Brian, voiced by the wonderful and weirdly in Disney’s pocket these days Stephen Root, and a bunny he pets. Before star can pet said bunny Marco , KARATE CHOPS TOM’S HAND OFF.. I just.. until this review I hadn’t sat back to consider just how freakishly strong that boy is , that he can just accidently chop off a hand. I mean tom may have weak joints or something but even after taking far worse blows later on his hands just.. don’t come off. Tom flies itnto a rage and it becomes clear that yeah, whatever happened, it was tom’s fault, and given the kind of rage she flies into, you can see why i’d assume the writers really didn’t want the audience to see him at his worst. I certainly don’t. Star both worried and clearly having seen this sort of thing go bad before urges Marco to run but tom quickly recovers, both reuniting with his hand and having calmed down, and he and Marco are formally introduced, with star explaning the invite. We also get a great line with marco encouraging her “Star never go with a preadator to a second location”. This show was damn good at getting shit past the radar and i’m here for it. Anyways, Star isn’t quite sold despite tom clearly TRYING to get better, and Tom , in a really nice move, gives her a bell and tiny hammer to summon his carriage with if she decides to go but leaves it up to her, not pressuring her or anything. For how selfish tom is initially.. this is a spark that shows h’es not a TERRIBLE person, just one who has some growing up to do. Marco however is not convinced and wants to go with, with Star teling him no because A) he wasn’t invited and it’d be rude to ask and B), she appricates the concerns but she can handle this, and implicily, despite her reckless nature knows this is a risk but knows if the night turns she can handle Tom, and that maybe he’s changed. Marco insists Tom can’t change.. which I find hilarious given his massive character arc to the point I had as eires ofessays planned, and one don about his growth before deciding to change formats to doing each ep of his journey instead every so often, to the point where two years on in the series timeline.. we’ve gone from Marco thinking Tom is a predator to...

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But star decides to go and .. it’s clear from the subtext that while part of it is clear concern for star, Marco’s line about “it being fun here all the time” may mean that while he DOES have the best intentions.. part of him is jealousssssss. More on that in a bit. For now we go to the underworld with the second best gag of the episode as Tom is toning down the spookiness to please star, and one of the guys in the picture at the top insults him... and when tom asks which one he says me. We sadly don’t get an answer but it’s small gags like this that made me want to do this episode by episode. Star arrives.. and things quickly go south. Tom tries giving her a corsage that’s a live spider and she rejects it. This admitely looks bad on both as Tom , living in you know, a hell dimenson probably sees it as a sweet gesture, and Star is refusing it.. but star does so POLITELY, and for understandable reasons, and Tom is still clearly pissed about it. Not long after, they line up for what’s essentially a prom photo.. and to get Carried by a bucket of unicorn blood, another nice little gag. Star refuses since well her best friend is a unicorn, one of them anyway, or at least it’s head.. and yes one of the species in this series multiverse is a bunch of headless unicorns. IT’s wonderful. And star also notices tom needs his anger managment bunny and is clearly pissed about it when, having dated her for several months, clearly should’ve KNOWN this might bother her. That’s really tom’s problem here: He wants everything his way on his terms and only compromises if he thinks it’ll get star to do things with him. He’s made the PRETENSE of changing.. but he really dosen’t WANT to yet. He just wants her back and wants to change just enough to get her back so he can stop trying again. He also may , due to the underworld being diffrent and a place where being covered in a bucket of blood is a time honored tradition instead of the thing that turns a young mutant into a mass murderer, and yes I think a carrie x-men crossover would be the shit. He probably dosen’t GET that star wouldn’t like a spider corasge or bathing in her best friends blood.. but the problem isn’t that. that’s culture shock, that can be bridged with some talk.. the problem is tom dosen’t want to talk, he just wants her to do what he wants and things to be all cool and to get his way. Being a prince with two loving parents, we’ll meet them soon enough just not this episode, and tons of servants, I get the impressionf rom this and other episodes tom simply isn’t USED to not getting what he wants.He’s not USED to being told “No”, and thus has no way to deal with it healthily and isntead lashes out like an angry toddler. It dosen’t make his actions RIGHT but it does make them more understandable and makes it so Tom’s later growth FEELS natural depsite some of his sketchier actions beforehand.

Back at Marco’s house, Marco is depressed eating nachos in a sumbrero.. which if I had corn chips, cheese and a sombrero would probably be my daily life right about now. It’s then we get a WEIRD dropped bit, as Marco hears a weird piratey voice telling him the blood moon is the moon for lovers and stuff. This is IMPLIED to be his monster arm, from an earlier episode.. but it’s.. never explained. Whatever it was going to be was dropped. Which would be fine if the blood moon itself and the end of this episode didn’t get a full explination in season 4 with the writers clearly going back to it to resolve the dangling thread.. but still not explaning the spooky voice. I mean what was it? Marco’s pirate ancestor? the sea captain from the simpsons? the monster arm? terry that bastard? Burt Macklin FBI? Old Man Withers the guy who runs the amusment park? Dirk Dastardely? A sentient payphone? The alps? Tell us damn you! Okay that tangent aside Marco decides to party crash at the advice of the ominous voice.. seriously is it Flintheart Glomgold? Nevermind. Back at the ball star is bonding with a small skeletal fish int he magma punch whent his random asshole comes up and whines for a good minute,if hilariously so, about the ball being changed.

He’s feels, looks and acts like the combination of those morons who were mad adora wasn’t “as hot” in the she ra reboot and was aged down to a teenager and the threw it on the ground guy. After that interlude, tom shoos away a guy asking star to dance and the guy makes vauge comments about tom wanting his and star’s souls to be link while making kissy nosies. Before Tom can explain what he means by that, or at least lie about what he means by that, the blood moon is about the drop, the lights turn red and tom walks off because he wants the music to be perfect. And then Marco arrives in his really damn cool calevara outfit. Which fair play, I can see why, besides ship reasons, it gets a lot of art: it looks really damn neat. Speaking of shipping.. it’s time. Star, not realizing it’s marco, dances with him.. quite romantically in fact. It’s here that the show conciously starts Shipping star and marco together. Starco is born, and the scnee is really good: romantic, well animated, jsut great all around. While the ship would .. end up done rather poorly and lead to some really terrible stuff at the time.. it wasn’t abd and already shipping them I loved this and even now, even knowing what woudl come later... it’s not a bad sequence. The only bad thing is what would come later, but I can’t fault the writers of THIS EP for what they would do in a LATER ONE. That’s just not fair. The ship wasn’t bad to start and the later arc springing from it in season 2 would be good.. it just quickly went in bad directions as the series went on , then disappeared, then how it finallyc ame about was just awful. But as much as I want to.. I can’t blame the sequence on this. It didn’t create rabid shippers or poor writing, it was just good and deserves to be praised as such. Naturally tom takes this about as well as me when I found out HBO max wouldn’t be on roku at launch and prepares to murder Marco.. and promptly gets frozen by star who decides to wisely get out of there. It’s a ncie moment.. and reminder that Star is crazy powerful, as is the wand itself, because as we’ll see later, tom is no slouch himself in the power department, but even if her attack was from behind, she still stopped him in one move. So Star takes marco home and dresses him down for sneaking in, understandbly so: while it was an iffy situation, Star knew who she was dealing with and as shown at the end, was strong enough that tom was no threat to her, and given what we learn later, Tom’s parents would likely never let her come to real harm. For all her reckless decision making, Star thought this one out and Marco shoudl’ve repsectied that and didn’t for his own reasons. To his credit though he apologizes, Star admits to liking the dance, then the two speak in unison a few times, and we wont’ get followup on that till the last season! Roll credits. I don’t have the credits for this episode so enjoy this instead:

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Final Thoughts: Blood Moon Ball is a spectacular ep. A good plot, a great introduction for tom, and great animation and humor really make the episode pop and it’s nice to get our first look at the underworld and tom himself. Tom would be back, and i’ll be back to tom eventually, but on it’s own the episode is really good and it’s standout sequence still holds up even as starco ended up in the sewer quality wise. All in all a great ep and a great starting point if you haven’t watched the show yet. Coming Soon: A return to Star in the near future probably since Tom is great and his second ep deserves love too, as do several other star eps, as well as a look at the saluna episodes of the loud house because i’m in a gay mood for obvious reasons, and a loud house mood for less obvious reasons. Until then, feel free to hit me up with asks with suggestions or commisosns for future reviews, and until next time, later days.

#star vs the forces of evil #star butterfly #marco diaz #tom lucitor #startom #starco #animation #shipping #she ra #rider strong #blood moon #blood moon ball

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spiltscribbles · 5 years ago

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10 Different Characters, From 10 DifferentFandoms, And Tagging 10 Different People

I was tagged by the ever lovely soul HMS-Chill and this is so hard but like I think I got a good list? So in no particular order….

Eliza Schuyler Hamilton (Hamilton) » Like idk if we’re suppose to explain, so I’ll keep it short. She is the brightest fucking star of them all, and she is so brilliant and so beautiful and so wonderful!! And I cry every time I think about her because she went through so much hurt and heartbreak but she is an angel and she always got what she set her mind on and truly if you just looked at my tag for her you will understand fjoiaejfoiaer 2. Annabeth Chase (PJO Saga) » Honestly part of my pan awakening, i’ve been in love with her since I was an 11 year old kid LMFAO. She was so tough and her back story with her dad was so heartbreaking and she tries so hard and she loves so much even if she doesn’t show it and she loves other girls and JFC the fact she was the only one of the seven without ~magical~ powers just makes me love her all the more!!!! 3. Adam Parrish (TRC) » It would not be an over exaggeration to say that I would die a thousand painful deaths merely to know that he is happy…. I love him with my entire heart and soul and he deserves every ounce of goodness that this damn crappy world can offer! His story arc in TRC was so heart wrenchingly beautiful and him in the Dreamer trilogy is just, I can’t breathe I love him so much!!! 4. Katara (ATLA) » It’s frankly embarrassing to think about the massive crush I had on her without realizing how gay I was for her fjioajrfioajer She was beautiful and she manipulated my favorite element and she was a fucking loud feminist and she is in touch with her heritage in the tribe and she is my sunflower baby!! 5 Baz Pitch (Carry On Trilogy) » Okay just straight up, I would’ve loved him despite it all, but when Rainbow dropped in the fact he was half Arab, and I got— Representation???? Me????? Holy fuck!!! And she even brought up how his Ma was too dark for other British Wizards to trust her and just, wow I felt seen! Okay but back to my tragic baby! He is snarky and he is brilliant and he has impeccable taste— even if the love of his life is a God damn mess mjfoiaejfoierkdl And God the storyline brought up in Wayward Son, connecting with his vampire identity! I just know that’s finna fuck me up in the last book so just he is my child that I must protect and hide at all costs!!! 6. Amy March (Little Women) » Listen, she is the love of all my days and she is so fucking remarkable! I know I’ve said this about everyone— surprise surprise I’ve got a type— but she is so beautiful and so brilliant and so fucking amazing!! I’m so thankful for 2019 for giving us Florance Pugh who really just breathed her to life in such vivid and remarkable ways and that speech she gives Teddy in the art studio just forever will give me chills! I’ve always said this, I definitely embody Joe, but I am so smitten with Amy, with her shrewdness and her wit and her sense of duty. She was this lovely frivolous girl, which is good and perfect already, but then she grows up into a lady who still loves all the indulgences of life, and is well aware to her status, she wants to marry well because she wants to help her family but she’s always known she would. And she gets what she wants by working within the system, and I think that’s so fucking bad ass! But then she also gets to end up with her first love! Just JFC I’m far to emo about her fjoiarjfoa 7. Chidi Anagonye (The Good Place) » It was so fucking hard choosing between him and Eleanor, because I identified so hard with the latter— especially with some things with her parents— but Chidi is my pure angel child who I must protect at all costs! He was always the sane and truly good one and he was so neurotic and so kind and so smart and JFC him shirtless jfoiaejfuoehrugi Just love this little bean! 8. Prince Henry (RWRB) » He’s this precious and angelic academic, like how could I not be in love??? Seriously, henry just breaks my heart into a thousand little pieces and he’s so endearing and good and he has so much love to give but he also has this sadness that’s just so tragic and so interesting to look into and he deserves so much warmth and love and he got that! Him and Alex you guys JFC talk about making me weak! Okay look I just love him and I will always protect him!! 9. Amy Santiago (Brooklyn Nine Nine) » She’s my top tear sergeant princess!! She’s so funny and neurotic and strong and fearless and compassionate and good! And she can be feminine while being a bad ass and so fierce! And she’s so beautiful!! And I just adore her to bits!! 10. Alec Lightwood (Shadowhunter Chronicles) » Okay you guys know how there are some characters you just latch onto? Like he’s not always great *Cough cough original trilogy** but like he is my child okay! Every time I read about him, or he’s alluded to, or just thinking about him I just smile. That little soliloquy he gives Izzy, I think in City of fFallen Angels? Like when he’s describing the paper cuts, God I still get chills, i related so fucking hard. And he was so afraid in the first couple books but he’s learned to love himself and be open and be proud, and seeing where he is today, with his job title and his family and just all of that— JFC I’m getting chills thinking about it. I just love him so much!!!! 11. Natasha Rostova (The Great Comet) » Okay okay Linda I know! I’m cheating! It’s suppose to be ten!!! But you haven’t taken account, I DON”T CARE!!! I had to include my baby my girl my star child! She was just here to hav a good time okay!! She knows that she’s beautiful and she was horny and it’s such a simple story, but it’s so sad and tragic, like her last song with Pierre makes me cry every fucking time, when he describes her limp arms at her side and you think about he described her as the life of the party when she was younger and society didn’t get it’s clutches on her yet! That just broke me. I think so many girls can relate to this story of being “a ruined woman” and it’s disgusting that our society still has these acts, and just I love this girl so much, and I want to protect her from all of it! And god of course Denee’s heavenly voice and gorgeous face just endeared me to her even more fjoierjfoiaerjf!

Remus J Lupin » Plane and simple, he is the greatest love of my life and that’s just simply on facts and the Marauders era is the reason why I even love Harry Potter as much as I do. JFC he is so fucking wonderful.

Okay wow I went on for SOOOOO LONG!! JFC I need to learn how to shut up jfoairejfdjsoijw

But okay ready to tag some wonderful peeps!!!

•Adverbialstarlight •Tinyarmedtrex •Pastelle-Pvn •Maraudereasmut •Kirito-potter •Celiabowne •omgcmere •TedddyLupin •Saywhatjessie •Oldkingyounggod

#annabeth chase #Adam Parrish #Amy March #Baz Pitch #Henry Fox Mountchristen Windsor #Alec Lightwood #Katara Atla #Chidi Anagonye #Natasha Rostova #Amy Santiago #Len Prattles on #about me #tag game #literally my life

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mst3kproject · 5 years ago

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Miami Connection

From the title you have probably already guessed that this is an 80’s drug movie, and you are mostly right, but Miami Connection is so much more. The director was Woo-Sang ‘Richard’ Park, a South Korean film-maker who wanted to break into the Western market despite not speaking any English. Those of us who know anything about bad movies are already going oh no, because that’s how Troll 2 happened. Park’s American buddy who was gonna help him do it was Young-Kun Kim, a taekwondo-instructor-slash-motivational-speaker who decided to write, produce, and star in the movie himself because hey, he’d seen movies and it didn’t look that hard. Oh no, that’s what Hal Warren thought when he set out to make Manos! And since these guys couldn’t afford actual actors or stuntmen, they cast a bunch of Kim’s taekwondo students, who thought the movie would be great publicity for their band! Oh no!

The movie opens with a drug deal in a junkyard being interrupted by biker ninjas, who kill everybody, steal the cocaine, and run. Just a Tuesday night in 80’s Miami, really. Having thus introduced the villains, we now meet the heroes, a fantastically talentless 80’s rock band called Dragon Sound. Their newest member is Jane, the new girlfriend of lead guitarist John. Jane’s overprotective brother Jeff does not approve of John, and he hangs out with the coke-stealing ninja bikers from the opening, so he could easily make good on his threats… what he doesn’t know is that the members of Dragon Sound are all training together in taekwondo, and they’re more than ready to take on him, the entire dojo, and a rival band!

Miami Connection is the Starcrash of martial arts movies. It is completely, irredeemably terrible and yet it never stops being entertaining. The ‘plot’ is mainly a series of ass-kickings, strung together with dialogue scenes that discuss the consequences of the previous fight and set up the motivations for the next one. I am in no position to judge anybody’s skill at taekwondo, since I can’t tell Karate from Kung-Fu (of course, neither could the people who made the Karate Kid remake), but very nearly everything else in the film is absolutely awful and funny as hell. I could list hilarious moments for several pages.

The dialogue is stunningly banal, especially when it’s expository. Both Jane and keyboardist Jim narrate their own tragic backstories and both are bad but in very different ways: Jane doesn’t sound like she particularly cares about the deaths of her parents or her brother’s gang involvement, while Jim weeps like a baby while he whimpers about his mother telling him to find her lost husband. Later when Jeff is killed in a brawl, Jane doesn’t sound too cut-up about that, either. She’s certainly not nearly as upset as Ninja Biker Dojo Master Yoshida, who gets a flashback that makes it look like Jeff might have been his boyfriend. My favourite line in the whole movie is when another member of the band, Jack, complains about Jeff and “his darn gang, selling their stupid cocaine!” like a six-year-old who wants his turn on the X Box.

Because nobody can emote, the ‘acting’ in the movie mainly consists of a lot of yelling, and their favourite thing to yell is “son of a bitch!” They don’t use it as an exclamation the way Reb Brown did in Space Mutiny, it just seems to be the only insult the writers could think of. It gets funnier every time you hear it.

Costumes seem to consist of whatever everybody wore to set that day, with the exception of the black ninja pajamas (ridiculous-looking as always) and the t-shirts Dragon Sound wear when they perform. The latter feature the name of the band in ‘Vote for Pedro’ font, and nothing else. I own one of these. You can buy them at teepublic.

The plot is an absolute mess. Why does Yoshida think eliminating Dragon Sound is the key to controlling the drug trade in that area? They haven’t done any vigilante stuff at that point – they just react when Jeff attacks them. I get why the rival band, who were fired from the nightclub so Dragon Sound could play instead, would want them out of the picture, but the ninja bikers seem to have no reason to care. Meanwhile, said rival band just kind of falls out of the movie and is never seen again.

I don’t know who the main character is supposed to be. The story starts out being about John and Jane’s star-crossed relationship, which could have had a Romeo and Juliet angle with Jeff’s death but doesn’t. Then they slide out of the way as we focus on Jim’s search for his missing father, which keeps us busy a while, but then the final showdown is between Mark and Yoshida, who have so far been secondary characters. Jane isn’t even present at the ending, although Jim’s father does show up to recite some more utterly terrible dialogue as he reconciles with his son.

Jim, John, Jack, Jane, and Jeff. Did Kim just think all American names start with J?

I’m not sure how old Y. K. Kim’s character Mark is supposed to be. He and the other bandmembers are room-mates, and he dresses like them and rides around in their convertible with his feet up on the dashboard. He talks and acts like them and tells people that his bandmates are ‘like brothers’. But whereas they’re all in their twenties, Kim was forty-one when this movie was made and there is no attempt to hide that. Is he just supposed to be hip with the younger generations? Or did they actually expect us to believe he was fifteen years younger than he looks?

There are long sequences in which nothing happens. We see the band play a whole song at the club, twice, and then one of those songs is re-used for a montage sequence of characters at the beach. The latter does not further the plot but it does show us a lot of women’s butts with wet bathing suits clinging to them, as well as the world’s best-dressed nudist. There’s a sequence of taekwondo training that runs several minutes, and which does nothing but set up a single finishing move that will recur at the climax. There’s a biker company picnic like the one in The Hellcats but without the interesting parts.

Literally everybody in this movie practices some kind of martial art, including the nightclub owner and the drug dealers… but I figure that was just the 80’s. Also, this movie taught me that men in the 80’s took their sunglasses off as a sign of respect, much like removing the hat in earlier decades.

What the fuck is up with the dancing crop-top dude? Even the guy who’s about to fight him looks confused by him. He was so weird I thought he’d be a good stinger, until we arrived at Miami Connection’s ultimate stinger moment – a car turns a corner, revealing a bunch of motorcycles on a collision course with it, and John, in the driver’s seat, says, “ugh, ninjas.”

On a slightly more serious note, the movie does have an ostensible message, which is spelled out between the last shot and the closing credits: only through the elimination of violence can we achieve world peace. This is kind of a silly statement because, yeah, that’s what peace is, but also because we’ve just spent this entire movie watching people beat the shit out of each other with hands, feet, and whatever they can grab. The script is aware of this contradiction, though, and stops at several points to remind us that taekwondo and other martial arts are not merely fighting techniques but ways of life that promote discipline of the body and mind and strong bonds between people. This is the side of taekwondo that Dragon Sound plans to promote during their world peace tour, and the message seems heartfelt enough even if the delivery is lacking.

In that light its interesting to note that this disciplined martial arts lifestyle seems very much at odds with the hedonistic biker one that Yoshida and his followers also participate in. The two stereotypes conflict on every possible level, right down to ninjas being quiet while motorcycles are loud. I think this might be an attempt to paint the baddies as hypocrites, but I honestly don’t know. It’s equally possible that ‘biker ninjas’ were just the coolest-sounding thing Kim could think of.

After that list of suckage, I do have to say that there are two or three things Miami Connection does astonishingly well. Both the night shots and the gore effects are pretty good – especially the night shots. You can always see enough to tell what’s going on, but it’s not so bright that you don’t believe it’s night-time. I’ve seen way worse in movies with way higher budgets. The fight choreography is also shockingly effective sometimes. It never turns taekwondo or any of its other martial arts into some kind of artsy dance performance. The fight scenes are brutal, and you believe that the people in them are fighting for their lives. Maybe not the best thing for their message that taekwondo is the key to world peace, but pretty effective if you’re just here to enjoy the chop-socky.

Being so terrible and yet so much fun, it’s no surprise that Miami Connection showed up on Rifftrax Live in 2015. Y. K. Kim was a pretty good sport about it, too – apparently he’s happy his film has finally found an audience, even an ironic one. That puts him much higher on the dignity ladder than Joe Don Baker or Sandy Frank, and even if he seems like a bit of a huckster I have to hand it to him for that.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #miami connection #80s #magic voice recommends

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famder-news · 5 years ago

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Video Review Wednesday: Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS

Hello, everyone!!! Before we begin, I wanted to let y’all know that due to the new-ness of this video, ALL of our normal top-of-the-post chatter, including the characters in the video and the length of the video, will be under the cut in order to avoid spoilers. This post will remain not properly tagged as well; at least, it sill remain so until 2 weeks after the video’s been up to refrain from spoilers. Mobile users, just,... scroll REALLY FAST!!!

Watch the NEWEST Sanders Sides video HERE!!! (But make sure to read the warning card at the start of the video first!!! Keep yourselves safe!!!)

SO!!! To be fair, I was going to write a video review for Selfishness Vs Selflessness. BUT!!! This video is New and Exciting and we’re going to review it!!! Unlike other Sanders Sides Reviews, I’ll be writing about this one as I watch it!! I’ll be numbering my thoughts as I go under Stray Thoughts plus my random thoughts that might be wrong about the video’s content, along with the time in the video (

put in parenthesis and then italicized

) that I thought of it so that you guys can keep up. I’m really excited to watch this, so let’s go!!!

Video Length: 41:16

Characters In Order Of Appearance: Thomas, Virgil, Patton, Roman, Logan, [DATA EXPUNGED]

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Our video starts with!!!! A CONTENT WARNING!!! The first content warning placed in-video for Thomas’s content, save for possibly Accepting Anxiety because I’m not about to go and check. Then (ignoring the ad), the video opens with a LATE and TOTALLY PANICKING Thomas getting ready to film. I noticed that he looked REALLY tired, but at this point I’m pretty sure it’s Thomas and not Virgil.

Then, the intro card!!!

Thomas is... in a bath robe, obviously exhausted, and trying to film his video. He’s rambling, he’s exhausted, he looks like the emotional equivalent of getting hit by a bus, AAAND Virgil and Patton show up when Thomas is like “yeah everything has gone to SHIT.” Patton looks.... Surprisingly anxious, even for him. Virgil agrees to try and change the subject, but Virgil looks FAR more tired than normal. His eyeshadow is darker than it’s been in a long, long time.

And then Roman appears RIGHT as they’re trying to change the subject. Patton and Virgil won’t tell Roman what’s going on; weird, to be honest. BUT since they’re lying, I’m pretty sure Deceit will appear (2:10). Roman insists that he wants to know what’s going on. Thomas AND Virgil both said Ro wouldn’t want to know, and Patton’s just trying to help kep Ro distracted, and failing miserably.

AND HEEEERES LOGAN!!! Who gets IMMEDIATELY roasted because he’s pretty sure the whole Thomas Feeling Bad thing is because of Lee and Mary Lee VS The Callback. He calls Patton and Virgil’s reactions an over-reaction only to get roasted because of Logan’s self-defined state of having no feelings. Cue the falsehood screech when he gets called out, and then Roman’s STILL trying to figure out what’s going on.

AND LOGAN DAMN NEAR REVEALED IT!!! and EVERYONE starts yelling at him to SHUT HIS MOUTH!!! To be honest, I’ve never seen this happen in ANY Sanders Side video--Like, sure, we’ve had 1 side yell at another, but THIS? Dang...

HE WAS GONNA SAY INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS!!! HOT DAMN LOGAN, YOU GO!!! And NOW I know why there was so much yelling!!! Thomas wants to Not Think About It!!!

And now they’re talking about a movie (that I, Mod Wheat, have never seen), and Thomas... Spaces out. And has an Intrusive Thought. AND holy shit THERE ARE hands BEHIND rOMAN’S TV!!!!!!!

Ladies and Gents, introducing our Newest Side: Bastard Man!!! He’s got the world’s most COMICAL mustache and, honestly, his appearance is Unnerving. But, that’s probably the point!!! I had to pause the video because of my yelling about the new side, so... Back to the vid!!!

And OH WOW, Patton and Virgil are SCARED SHITLESS of him!!! And now Bastard has a staff!!! WHAT IS GOING ON!!! IT WAS A MACE NOT A STAFF HE HIT ROMAN!!! BASTARD MAN IS A DOUCHE!!!!

And NOW we can call Bastard Man Duke!!! I... Don’t know how I feel about how Roman was handled.

AND: MUSICAL NUMBER!!! Duke jumps STRAIGHT into an adam and eve comparison, and we have Virgil and Patton looking uncomfortable and nauseous. AND THEN HE STARTS SINGING ABOUT GETTING THE SCARY PIECES OF CREATIVITY!!! Which, base don the fact that Thomas canonically and IRL doesn’t like Scary Content, is... Weird. And the other sides... Can’t seem to get this New Boi to STFU. WILD.

DECEIT KIND OF APPEARS!!! MY SNAKE SON!!! STOPPED HOLDING DUKE BACK!!! Honestly, it looks like Duke took Dee venting about the whole Lee and Mary Lee situation WAY OUT OF HAND, but still!!!

and NOW we get into more interesting material!!! Duke starts running through... What I would call intrusive thoughts. Licking the blowhole of a dolphin? Wild. Best friend shut inside a coffin? ALSO Wild, but in a less good way.

And Duke just straight-up saying “YEAH you’re a BAD PERSON because you THINK these things????” Like... Holy SHIT, dude. If I had to guess, Duke is Intrusive Thoughts. We’ll see if I’m right.

Music ends, and Duke claims he’s Thomas’s Creativity. But, only a piece of it. The piece that goes to the gore and the scary and the “juicy stuff”, as Duke puts it.

And then they talk about Jeffery Dahmer... Thomas tries to get the Duke to shut up, which only succeeds in getting the Duke to... NOT shut up.

And then they get into WHAT the Duke is. He’s half of Thomas’s creativity--the half that he’s squirreled away, banished as bad imagination. This, in turn, led to the Duke being experienced as Intrusive Thoughts by Thomas. Which, at about 15 minutes into the video, shouldn’t be where they leave the defining off.

And then... Virgil says that Thomas is, inherently, NOT the good person he wants to be. Because of the intrusive thoughts caused by the Duke. Now, I don’t know much about how intrusive thoughts perpetuate, but I DO know that having them doesn’t inherently make you a bad person; it’s when you ACT on them (and by them I mean the WORST ones) that you are.

After that, Virgil tries to claim that the Duke is, well, kind of useless because some thoughts have no meaning. Which is great!!! Except that he immediately crumbles afterwards, stating that clearly they MUST have a purpose otherwise why would they have been thought? this goes on to claiming that the thoughts aren’t Thomas’s, and that therefore means Thomas is innocent. Which... doesn’t end well, since only Thomas can think Thomas’s thoughts.

I’m going to... SKIP a bunch of content here, since I’m 20 minutes in and I want to finish the post before I hit a word limit or my power goes out aka I got distracted watching the video akdfhklshd, so we’re jumping to... LOGAN!!!

Logan starts debunking the Duke, running through why the Duke exists at all as well as the fact that the Duke having as much power as he does is because of Patton and Virgil. Virgil, because the thoughts make him anxious and make the anxiety jump WAY through the roof, and Patton because Patton doesn’t want to just... leave the thoughts be and let them happen.

And with this reveal, and the use of Logic to dismantle the Duke, we are left with several things to think of; the fact that intrusive thoughts can be combated with Logic, the fact that if you just relax and let them go they can’t hurt you (very much), and the Duke’s name: Remus.

After that, Remus nyooms off to... wherever Remus goes, and Roman’s back to consciousness!!! God bless you Roman, we missed you!!! And then... Roman apologizes to Logan for calling him a name!!! Score!!! And then Thomas is feeling alright, and HE THANKS LOGAN AND CALLS LOGAN COOL!!!! AND MY GOD!!! MY SMART SON!!! LOOKS SO BAMBOOZLED BUT LIKE CONTENT!!!! HELL YEAH!!!

And Remus pops back up one more time, Roman reveals that he doesn’t LIKE Remus because Remus is all the BAD things bout creativity, and then it’s Thomas and Virgil. And BOY OH BOY does Virgil have ONE HELL OF A REVEAL!!! For the sake of those whose mobile doesn’t scroll fast enough, I won’t spoil it (even though I’ve spoiled pretty much most of the episode), since SOME things must be discovered for their own merit!!!

And then... it’s the end of the video!!! It’s confirmed that the Thomas that does the Ads in the beginning of the longer videos is the Sanders-verse canon Thomas!!! Really interesting take, honestly!!!

End Card:

Remus is the Trash Man. He eats the deodorant while watching Thomas, it’s fucking WILD!!! And then at the LAST SECOND, Remus pops up like “There’s a snake in my butt!!!” like HELL YEAH REMUS YOU GO REMUS!!!

Stray Thoughts:

(1) The music cover for the content warning is a Bop tbfh (like 4 seconds in)

(2) I know the robe is probably a bad thing but I am LIVING for the tired robe life. Reminds me of college student horse shit surrounding engineering finals (1:42)

(3) “It’s Virgil, everybody give it up for the purp man...” has me CACKLING (3:55)

(4) I do not LIKE the bastard man... But god DAMN does he look good in Green (6:22)

(5) When Duke said Thomas Lacked Imagination after knocking Roman out and then yeeted STRAIGHT into an Adam and Eve thing... Makes me wonder if he can control the Imagination too :/ (6:54)

(6) Ok as much as I don’t like the Duke he is just... a litel creatchure... he canot change this... (17:35)

(7) The duke is... Growing on me. Still doesn’t take Dee’s spot as my favorite, but he’s a Chaotic Neutral at its finest. (25-ish mins in)

Quotes:

"It’s Virgil.... Everybody give it up for the purp man...” -Thomas, un-enthused

"Roman is sort of like Netflix kids and family. He’s the option that you select if you want to--” “Block out all the juicy stuff!!!” -Logan & Duke

“Either way, you’re not my creativity.” “Yeah! That’s the brave, handsome, unbeatable ROMAN!” *Roman, still unconscious and mumbling things* -Thomas, Patton, and Roman

“There’s a snake in my butt!!!” -Remus

This was a super good episode!!! I really like Remus, even though he could, admittedly, be taken to be More Evil than Deceit currently is. I need to watch and re-watch the video to have more theories about it, but I am LOVING our newest side and I cannot WAIT for an episode with both Remus AND Dee in it. It’d be a pretty interesting episode!!!

- Mod Wheat

#Mod Wheat #ts spoilers

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alaska-riversong · 6 years ago

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FanX with David Tennant

Last weekend I had the opportunity of a lifetime; a chance to meet my idol not once, not twice, but three times. I finally have the time and opportunity to sit down and write about my experience last weekend so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I’m sitting here looking at my pictures and yes, I am drinking my “David Tennant in my Dreams” tea from Adagio Teas. It’s my process, don’t judge me.

Anyone who knows me knows that I adore David Tennant. Many people have questioned my sanity as well as my life choices regarding this, but I do have my reasons. While David doesn’t have the body of Chris Hemsworth, the dreamy sky-blue eyes of Tom Hiddleston, he does have magically majestic hair, deep soulful golden-brown eyes, a smile that lights up the darkest corners of the universe, and a very talented left eyebrow. David is also a talented actor and has an enormous range where he can play comedy, drama, and anything in between with equal ease. He has played a bouncing puppy-like world-class lover in “Cassanova”, a grumpy disgruntled lethargic detective in “Broadchurch”, everyone’s favorite Doctor in “Doctor Who”, and a truly evil narcissistic villain with no moral compass in “Jessica Jones”. But the main reason I adore David Tennant is that even though he is a successful and brilliant actor, he is genuinely nice, and a very decent human being who treats his fans with respect and dignity and is truly a humble and gracious individual. If you have the opportunity to meet him, I highly suggest that you do. You will not regret it.

Believe it or not, I have tried to find anyone who has actually met or interacted with him, that either doesn’t like him or has something negative to say about him. So far, the only negative thing I’ve heard was from his co-star Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones) in Doctor Who that complained that David and John Barrowman had farting contests in the Tardis. In the grand scheme of things, while it’s a little gross and juvenile, I don’t find that to be overly bad. He is loved by all of his co-stars, his directors, and has been known to be a man with very little ego and very easy to work with.

It would take too much time for me to write down absolutely everything that happened at FanX (the official name of the Comic-Con I attended), especially if I went over every detail of each of the 3 times I met David, so instead, I will give you an overall experience of all encounters and highlights. I had a photo-op on Thursday, an autograph signing later that afternoon, another photo-op on Friday morning, and David’s panel later that afternoon.

One of the best things about a Con is finding other people who share your passions for a particular fandom franchise. I was able to geek out about Star Wars, Firefly, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and David Tennant (who has been in 3/5 of those fandoms). Most of Thursday was spent standing in line with other fans of David Tennant, and as much as I hate standing in line I really enjoyed talking to other people who loved him as much as I did. We swapped stories about how we discovered him, our favorite role he’s played, and whether we’ve met him before. We also swapped stories of our knowledge of him and his roles, what we adored about him, and what we were looking forward to when we met him. Half of the crowd dressed up in a variety of costumes from Doctor Who or other projects David has been in, and we acknowledged each other’s efforts and creativity. It was a glorious validation of adoration for a skinny Scottish bloke. David’s lines were the largest, most crowded, and most excited lines in the entire Con. There was also quite a bit of squealing (not from me) but from others.

If you’ve read my dissertation about my first meeting with David, you’ll remember me saying something about time being one of the most precious things an individual can share with you. I have met 4 celebrities in my life, 3 of them (David, Catherine Tate, and John Barrowman) were extremely rewarding and enjoyable because the celebrities actually focused time and energy (even though it was only for a few seconds) with me as an individual fan, the other celebrity just wasn’t into it. There is a scene in “Galaxy Quest” where the actors of the show are at a Comic-Con and most of them are not happy to be there, just signing things in an assembly line, and ignoring their fans. There are some celebrities that do this, but David is not one of them.

One of my favorite things that happened while waiting in line was being able to observe David interacting with other fans to see how he treated others. How a person treats others, especially when they think no one is watching, is a great barometer for who a person truly is. Here is what I observed: David treated every fan with the same dignity, graciousness, energy, and humility. EVERY … SINGLE… ONE!!! He did not give his fans a half-hearted cookie-cutter greeting, he gave each fan (or group of fans) an excited high-pitched individualized greeting that let them know that he was just as excited to meet them as we were to meet him. He looked everyone in the eye or at least tried to as some were reduced to hysterical giggling and couldn’t bear to return his intense gaze. When it was your turn to be in his presence he was completely focused on you, even for the brief amount of time you had with him. If you made the attempt to interact with him, he made the effort to interact with you and did not let the handlers (employees at the Con whose job it is to move the crowd along) bully him or you. Every fan got their moment with David. He did not avoid contact with his fans especially in the photo booth; he shook hands, he put his arms around them, he held hands, he made funny faces and goofy poses, and genuinely looked like he was having a good time. He was game to do any crazy pose or situation as long as you requested it and it wasn’t overly inappropriate. There were only two instances when I saw his countenance fall from his jovial demeanor; both times happened when he was not interacting with anyone directly and when he thought no one was looking. The fall in countenance was not necessarily a change in mood or demeanor but rather a relaxation or break in activity. He did not seem tired, angry, or upset it was simply a pause so he could take a deep breath and continue the energy. As an actor, he is trained to react, and nobody has better facial reactions than David Tennant. He rarely has a stoic expression (unless he’s playing Detective Alec Hardy in Broadchurch), and the myriad of natural facial expressions that came across his face while dealing with several uncooperative pens was extremely entertaining. I wish I could have taken a video of it.

The Con was set up so that the celebrity guests could travel between the photo ops and autograph areas behind secured walls without having to interact or be seen by their adoring fans. David, however, chose to be seen and traveled between events amongst the unwashed masses. Other celebrities would come out behind the magic curtains and wave at their fans, but I don’t remember seeing anyone traveling in the common area between events. If you’ve ever watched him in Doctor Who or seen David move you know he tends to run and is very fast. I honestly believe David doesn’t have a slow speed. The man is 6’1 with a 7ft stride and can cover great distances quickly, he is very fast. There is always a security detail around David because of his popularity, this detail is usually made up of handlers who may or may not know much about him and aren’t exactly trained in security, they are simply human barriers to keep the fans from tackling David. I saw David, surrounded by about 6 individuals in FanX Security t-shirts traveling between venues and it was quite comical. The first time he was doing a slight jog, but moving briskly while the handlers were running to keep up with him. The second time he started off in a brisk walk that swiftly turned into a jog, that basically left the handlers scrambling behind him as they realized their charge had outrun them and he was left unprotected. As the crowd cheered, David smiled and waved acknowledging their adoration when he passed by.

My first interaction was a photo op. All I wanted in this photo was an opportunity to the nearest equivalent to a hug I could get. I wasn’t nervous, but I was excited. When it was my turn, he looked me in the eye, smiled that glorious smile and gave me a very high pitched and excited “Hiiiiiiii, how are you?” I honestly can’t remember what I said or even if I responded coherently. He held his right arm out welcoming me to stand beside him and like a moth to a flame I snuggled up to his side. David takes thousands of pictures with his fans, smiling for most of them, and he has a fake smile that he uses to save his face from going into permanent paralysis and a genuine smile. Knowing this, I wanted to say something to him that would entice him to give me a real smile. I wrapped my arm around his tiny waist (to put things into perspective I have an 18-inch reach and my arm was slack with my hand on his waist), and he put his hand on my back. I squeezed just a little to see how huggable he was and I was not disappointed. For a skinny guy he is extremely huggable and cuddly and if you take a good look at both photos, he is leaning into me. Before the picture was snapped I said something to the effect of, “I flew all the way from Alaska to see you on stage in London as Don Juan,” or at least that is what I intended to say. I honestly believe he gave me a genuine smile because of it. After the camera flashed David turned to look down at me, I also think he even squatted a little to be more on my level, touched my right forearm as he very deftly moved me in front of him to escort me out of the booth and said, “Oh wow, thank you for coming so far, I really appreciate it.” He was still looking me in the eye as I was excited and babbling something about it being the best experience and best performance I’d ever seen. All of the above was only in the first encounter. The encounter lasted maybe 10 seconds but it’s something I will never forget because he was kind, he was gracious, he was humble, and was genuine.

My second interaction was an autograph later that same day as the photo. I got in line an hour early for the very first autograph session at 4:30 but didn’t get up to the front of the line until the 7:30 session. You could purchase a $100 autograph or you could purchase a customized autograph for $130 where he would personalize an autograph on something you brought, or on one of the stock photos available on the table. I brought one of my tickets from Don Juan for him to sign. For those who don’t know how this works, when you buy your ticket for a personalized autograph you tell the person you buy your ticket from exactly what you want him to write on the item he is signing and they put it on a sticky so he can have the proper spelling and make the line go faster. I simply wanted him to dedicate it to me and sign his name. After the fact, I realized I could have had him write sooooo much more… maybe next time. My sticky note just said, “To Cindy”. When it was my turn, he looked at the sticky note and very excitedly (and again high-pitched) said, “Cindy, Hi there.” Hearing him say my name in his Scottish brogue and then look me in the eye was just unreal. I beamed like an idiot and reminded him again that I came from Alaska to see him on stage. While looking me in the eye he replied, “Oh, well thank you, I’m so glad you came…” he looked at the tickets and continued, “Great seats too. Thank you for coming Cindy.” I’m sure I babbled something about how much I enjoyed it but I was only focused on what he was saying.

I was a little disappointed in myself for not saying what I truly wanted to say to him but I knew my time was limited and I knew I wanted this experience to be positive for both of us, so I strictly kept to the topic of his stage appearance of Don Juan. What I wanted to tell him was that seeing him on stage in Don Juan in 2017 was the first time I had felt true joy since my mother and sister died in 2016. I wanted to thank him for giving me an opportunity to see him on stage and finally allowing myself to feel something other than despair. I also wanted to tell him how happy it would have made my mom to know that I got to meet him and to find out that he drinks Diet Dr. Pepper (which he happened to be drinking while signing autographs). I knew that if I even attempted to say anything like this I may not be able to hold my composure in his presence and I didn’t want to be that fan that cried. I also knew it would dampen the jovial atmosphere that David tends to generate. Maybe someday when I have more confidence or time I will tell him. But for now, I was happy for what little interaction I had. He said my name twice, he looked me in the eye, he interacted with me as an individual and gave me a gorgeous smile. All in all, it was a great experience.

Thursday was really exhausting, and it was very hot at the Con. I had brought 2 Donna Noble related outfits to wear and had worn the first one on Thursday. The second one was the long gray dress-length shirt and purple cardigan with jeans from “Silence in the Library”. Because it was so hot and because my gray dress-length shirt was long enough, I decided to go as pants-less Donna (no mas pantalones). I wore a sign on my back that read “Donna Temple Noble, Best Temp in Chiswick, Sometimes she forgets…, If found, please return to: Wilfred Mott, Sylvia, The Doctor.” I don’t think David saw it but a few other people did and even recognized my costume. I even had one brave teenaged girl tap me on the shoulder and said, “I don’t know if you know this… but there’s something on your back” (this is a reference to a Doctor Who episode “Turn Left” not the sign on my back). It totally made my day and justified my costume choice. I also added an Alaskan element of a scarf of forget-me-nots, Alaska’s state flower and something that is very integral to the storyline of Donna.

My third and final interaction with David was a photo op first thing Friday around noon. I knew I wanted a pose with my sonic screwdriver and this time I remembered to bring it in with me to the photo booth. When David saw me, he said “Hiiiiii” again in a high pitched excited voice but this time it was slightly different. The way it was pitched indicated to me that he either recognized me from yesterday or recognized that I was attempting to dress as Donna Noble. I’d like to think he recognized me from yesterday, so that is what I’m going to assume. Again, he held out his arm to welcome me to stand beside him. I held out my extended sonic screwdriver to him and he took it looking me in the eye asking, “Oh, do you want me to hold it?” I somehow blurted out the concept that I wanted us to hold it together, to which he very happily complied. He placed it in my hand and then wrapped his hand around mine, he then wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him. He was sooooooo close to me I could feel his body heat and when I realized I was close enough to kiss his neck I internally whimpered (at least I hope it was internal) and fought the urge to just nestle into the crook of his neck. You’d think that a man that tall and skinny would be hard, stiff and immovable as a tree, but you’d be wrong. He was soft, squeezable, and for the record, he snuggled into me, not that I was complaining by any means. My suspicions of him being a cuddler and a really good hugger are somewhat confirmed but I believe more research may be in order… for science. I don’t remember if I said anything after the photo but I do remember him handing back my sonic screwdriver, looking me in the eye, smiling, and thanking me for coming.

Seriously, how can anyone not love this man after an interaction like that???? Remember, he interacted with everyone he came into contact with, with the same enthusiasm, energy, humility, graciousness, and kindness. He is a human being worthy of the adoration and passion his fans give him. You cannot say that about all celebrities, but David is worthy of the time, effort, and money that so many people eagerly spend on him.

No, I did not have the forethought to smell him. I was too busy trying to remember to hold my stomach in, look him in the eye, breathe, and try not to say something stupid to remember to inhale his presence. After the pictures were taken I do remember feeling the sense that he probably smells of sunshine, joy, and the wishes made upon shooting stars. Sorry, I really wished I had taken a big whiff of his essence, but I do know he was very pleasant to be around. Maybe next time I will get to sniff him. Rest assured, there will be a next time.

#David Tennant #fanx SLC #this was posted for my friends on facebook #who don't know a lot about DT #so sorry for some of the obvious narrative #I was too lazy to rewrite the story for tumblr #if you ever have the opportunity to see him #do it #so totally worth it #no wonder so many people love this man #he had his hand in my hair #I wish I could have done the same to him

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lightsandlostbells · 6 years ago

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Druck episode 8 reaction

just making my way through the tumultuous lives of German youth! some of this is outdated since I fell way behind

Episode 8

Clip 1 - Hanna and Mia = so happy together

Hanna resting her head against Mia’s shoulder = awwwwww. Also cute is Mia hyping up her musical taste and getting Hanna to join in.

Here comes Alexander to ruin the moment!

For some reason it’s hilarious that he offers to sing with them. What if Mia was like yeah, let’s harmonize, show me what you got?

AHAHAHA OK, I know people want there to be a hint of ~flirtation and ~attraction on Mia’s part but you know, I fucking live for her just tearing into him and telling him off and that she’ll report him for harassment. Resounding applause!

On the other hand I cannot buy her falling for him in the slightest. By making her so firmly against him they’re making it an uphill battle convincing me that they’ll get together, especially since Mia seems perhaps the most outspokenly feminist remake Noora.

Hanna smiling and being like, “You’re so cool, Mia,” and Mia all like, “Thanks, I read this thing in an article about pickup artists using the wrong names for women to make them feel submissive!” And then the two of them happily go back to singing? This version of the scene is incredible.

Like Mia read some PUA bullshit about men trying to make women feel small, and she turned it back on a shitty man who treats women like crap! How can you not appreciate that?

Also I take back what I said previously about Mia and Hanna not being flirty compared to this pairing in other Skams. The end of this scene was total girlfriend goals.

Clip 2 - Nein, Kiki

Amira and Sam - the cutest. I would pay to see them operating that canine squad.

Well, I kinda hate Kiki again. That was a hell of a segue from her Amy Santiago-ing the party security setup to talking shit about Hanna.

I do love Hanna telling Kiki to drop it. I feel like we’ve begun to see more of a backbone on her. And Mia coming to Hanna’s defense, of course.

The reveal of the Hanna and Leonie friendship breakup is underwhelming compared to some other versions. It’s more focused on Kiki being an asshole than Hanna’s internal anguish. However, they did throw in one detail, about Hanna snagging Jonas at Sarah’s birthday party which I liked, because I’ve always wanted even more details about how they got together. I can’t remember, but did we ever hear about Leonie crying on Hanna’s shoulder while Hanna and Jonas were sneaking around behind Leonie’s back? Or is the implication that they hooked up at the birthday party and Leonie found out pretty soon, and that was that?

“Honestly, Hanna, you shouldn’t be surprised that everyone’s calling you a slut.” What the hell, Kiki. She delivers it so smugly.

Mia and Amira defending Hanna, I sure love these girls. And while Sam’s comment about “slut” being a compliment is not really the best thing to say considering the context, she was trying to be nice.

Mia also points out that it takes two to tango, it’s not just Hanna’s fault, and then Kiki says something spot-on despite her general unpleasantness in this scene - she mentions Jonas (not just Toilet Sam) for being a “slut” too, which I don’t think anyone in any of the Skams has yet done. I think it’s usually focused on the P-Chris character also being slutty? Not that I agree with the “slut” terminology specifically, more than I don’t think anyone ever singled out Jonas as a cheater, and I mean, I love him but it’s true. It’s not fair at all that the Evas have to bear the burden of the homewrecker label alone, especially when Jonas was the one already in a relationship.

Sam’s comment about “I don’t care about Jule, and Leonie is a bitch. And Jonas and Hanna are way cuter together” almost feels like commentary about the audience. Because that’s how it would be - we know almost nothing about Jule except she attacked Hanna, so who cares about her, and we’ve seen Leonie only through Hanna’s POV as an aggressive mean girl. And well, Jonas and Hanna are twelve kinds of cute. But of course that’s only one side of the story. Jule and Leonie are both wronged parties here and feeling hurt and betrayed for valid reasons even if they don’t express it in the best way. Kiki is right, Leonie is the victim here, whatever her other faults.

And again, Sam says this to help Hanna, it’s just not that helpful.

“In your Muslim gangster world, wouldn’t she have been attacked by acid by now or something?” WOW WOW. I sorta liked Kiki, but I’m definitely wanting to retract that statement.

Really, she unleashed that on Amira for absolutely no reason! Amira was just sitting there, not saying anything!

I think Kiki is lashing out like a wounded animal though. She’s trashing her friends with a viciousness that I don’t think Vilde had.

I love love love Amira though. Really, I would love to see S4 about her (with heavy rewrites, heh). You can tell that she’s really hurt by what Kiki has just said and needed a moment to compose herself.

Amira’s prayer alarm going off right then was a good clincher to that moment, a reminder of Amira’s Muslim-ness just to rub it in for Kiki, and probably to twist the knife a little for Amira, tbh. People will always judge her on her religion.

Also, great moment from Sam asking Kiki why she always needs to fight. It’s a big difference from Chris just sitting out this scene in awkward silence and trying to avoid conflict. But you can tell that Sam was trying to help out Hanna and perhaps neutralize the tension in this scene, she just doesn’t always know the right thing to say. I think it’s consistent characterization for her to ask why Kiki needs to be confrontational.

Lol, Kiki left her stuff behind when she marched out.

Clip 3 - Hanna and Jonas being sad together

Ahhh, it’s Jonas playing the guitar! Is that an existing song or just a tune he made up?

There’s a slight shift in context to having them sit in a bedroom (an intimate location) but far apart at first when they have this discussion, rather than in a public place like a skate park, but with seemingly less distance between them. The skate park is more like a neutral ground for them to meet. This is Hanna going into Jonas’ private space and being unwelcome. She knew it and started off putting space between them. It felt kinda uncomfortable.

Also, major props to the Druck team for making Jonas play the guitar, which is clearly something the actor does in real life, and not a skater just because original Jonas/Marlon Langeland was a skater. I like when they can adapt the characters to the actors’ strengths.

The Jonas actor is doing a great job of conveying his hurt, and not just because he has a guitar to air out his sads and to use whenever words aren’t enough. Hanna too - she looks still and like a shell of herself as he questions her entire character.

Nice detail about Hanna suddenly being into the bands Jonas likes, as a way to add support to the “she doesn’t have her own opinions” line of development.

This scene really got across the theeeeme/message and showed how hurt they both were - of course it’s not nice for Jonas to say that, but you can tell he’s genuinely confused and torn about what she’s doing and he’s not just saying it to lash out at her, and of course Hanna is devastated because it always hurts to be told you don;t have your own personality, plus Jonas just laid out the reasoning in front of her.

Clip 4 - Menstrual message

Lol, not that this is funny in context, but I think Hanna’s the only Eva who throws the note in the trash instead of dropping it on the floor? Good for her, that way no hapless janitor or other student has to come across someone’s period blood in the hallway. Though I certainly get the instinct to drop it, I mean ... ewww.

(By the way, am I the only one who has questioned whether this letter, in any/all iterations, was really written in menstrual blood? Not that I would interact with the letter long enough to find out, if it were me, but is it possible it’s just paint or something and was called “period blood” just to get some extra intimidation for Hanna?)

They kept in this conversation with Kiki which is good, though she doesn’t clarify that she’s left the party because she thinks the girls hate her. I think if you didn’t know the plot, you could assume even worse of Kiki and think that maybe she quit to rid herself of the girls, the school slut and the scary Muslim. Her departing lines to Hanna do feel rather brusque.

Clip 5 - Matteo trying to do damage control

The music sounded a little upbeat for what’s supposed to be a low moment for Hanna, though the lyrics are melancholy. But it cracked me up that Matteo’s presence was announced by what sounded like a skateboard and yet Matteo did not appear to have a skateboard.

I love that they have this conversation in person, though. Matteo sought her out to sit down and tell her that it’s unfair everyone hates her so much. Even though, you know … he caused it. But I think it’s a mark of how much he regrets his actions already.

I noticed he did the trademark Isak reptilian lip-licking at one point. Common enough gesture but I am always gonna associate it with that duplicitous Norwegian.

Matteo’s message didn’t seem to sink in during the conversation as much, with Hanna getting frustrated more than anything, but it’s great that he tells her it’d be a pity if she left right before he leaves.

Clip 6 - Hanna, Leonie, and Jule

We didn’t get the scene with the older girls, or with Mia/Amira telling Hanna that it was Leonie who hooked up with Sam. I guess because Leonie didn’t actually hook up with Sam in this version. Actually, it’s great that Hanna confronts Leonie without using the knowledge that Leonie made out with Sam as leverage; she just does it on her own in order to make her school situation more bearable.

Also, there’s no incentive for how the situation will impact the other girls, neither Hanna nor the other girls think the rest of the school is retaliating against them all for their association with Hanna. It’s just Hanna acting independently. Kudos.

As with the Jonas scene, we have Leonie sitting down against the wall closed off to what Hanna’s going to say, and Hanna at first puts distance between them but later tries to lessen it. This time a little more successfully.

Hanna talks about how at her old school she was the “fat girl that everyone bullied” - that adds a lot of pain to her backstory. In OG it was that when Eva switched schools, no one wanted to talk to her because of her accent and Ingrid was nice to her, I don’t recall any talk of bullying prior to that. This detail makes Hanna’s situation even worse. Especially if you think about she was planning to switch schools again this episode, and that this would be the second time she has switched schools due to bullying. At least I think that’s implied although she could have switched schools the first time due to a mundane reason, like moving. But it would also add some extra weight to Matteo’s talk about running away when things get difficult, and support why she would choose to confront Leonie on her own like this.

This is a pretty stark conversation with the lack of accompanying emotional music and the echo from the mostly empty room. Everything comes from Hanna baring her soul, basically.

Lol, Leonie just gets up and leaves at the end, which is fine, I guess. She’s not chased out by Jule about to beat her ass. Hanna discovers on her own that it was Jule who sent the threat letter, so good for her for connecting the dots.

Unfortunately they rushed this conversation with Jule, although at least they got the right points, with Hanna saying that she didn’t know Samuel had a girlfriend but apologizing for it anyway, and pointing out that it isn’t fair for Jule to be mad at her but not him. It was definitely disappointing that Jule wasn’t humanized that much, though, and that she walks away still having a chip on her shoulder, plus the reveal that it was Matteo felt forced.

I do love this closing song (”Devil’s Whisper” by Raury). A great RUN BOY RUN song to lead into Hanna realizing she needs to throttle Matteo.

General Comments

It’s too bad that they left out some very strong parts of the source material. For example, the older girls giving their wisdom to Hanna aren’t there at all, though I can see how with the changed context why it might have been hard (why would the older girls give a shit about ostracizing the kids working security at their party). Also Jule just doesn’t get the amount of time necessary to make us feel better about her. I think Druck has done a decent job of some of the Girl Power moments and those probably would have been executed well if giving the right amount of time.

Tbh this episode is full of material where that lays out for me why it’s good to have younger actors in these roles. They make so many mistakes and there are such little moments of hurt and frustration, and it just seems more real when you can fully absorb that these are kids.

I don’t speak German, so if I misunderstood something, feel free to correct me.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#druck reactions

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smokeybrand · 4 years ago

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The Tragedy of The Thirteenth

Looks like Jodie Whittaker has gotten bullied out of Doc Who. That sh*t is unfortunate. I thought Whittaker had a real opportunity to do something different, to be great, but cats never gave her a chance. Of course there were you requisite man-children complaining about the fact that the Thirteenth had a polly instead of a peepee but all you really have to do to win those assholes over is write a great character. Starbuck from Battlestar is a great example of that. That character was originally a dude in a series as beloved by it’s fans as Who, but no one gave Katee Sackhoff sh*t when she took over the role because the writers wrote a dope ass character. The people who developed this iteration of Doctor Who did not do that. The fact that Who is so bad wasn't Whittaker’s fault. There are a myriad of people to blame, from BBC, itself, to episode directors, to the props department for never really hammering down a look for Thirteen. The thing is, that’s all part of the show and, especially for BBC productions, there is singular person in charge of all that; The Showrunner.

For those of us here in the States that don’t know what a Showrunner is, think Kevin Feige and the MCU. Sure, you can bring in directors to create your films and you have writers crafting the narratives, but the buck stops with Feige. He’s the big picture man. It’s his vision, his playground. Sure, he let’s other people into his sandbox to collaborate, sometimes even letting them do their own thing, but the games they play are always structured by Feige beforehand because it’s his f*ckng playground. If you don’t want to play by his rules, you can get the f*ck out of there. This is why the DCEU is so bad. They don’t have a Feige. In fact, Warner Bros. refuses to install a proper Feige because Marvel did it an they don’t want to be seen copying the competition but you need a Feige to build what Feige built. Star Wars is another franchise that needs a Feige. It used to have one George Lucas was the Feige of that franchise for decades. He was the Feige before the Feige. However, when he sold to Disney, the Feige they installed was a very bad Feige. Kathleen Kennedy had an ego because she was genius adjacent for most of her career. While she was getting coffee for Lucas and Spielberg, they were creating Indiana Jones and the Star Wars trilogy. She felt some kind of way and had opinions, opinions that immediately went into destroying everything George built after lying to him about being the gatekeeper for the worst of the ideas for his characters and worlds. Kennedy is the worst kind of Feige and that’s the Feige the BBC put in charge of Who.

The direct line of responsibility for Doctor Who being so bad ends with the Showrunner, the Feige, and Whittaker’s run, unfortunately, was saddled with the worst Showrunner in Modern Who history. Chris Chibnall is a hack and has been a hack since he was just a writer on the show from way back. His episodes were some of the worst. They always seem to have a ticking clock; Artificial pathos created with the most mundane tropes in writing. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is a perfect example of this. What the f*ck was even going on in that episode? It’s bad, man, and makes next to no sense. But that’s Chibnall. That’s who he believes Who is. He’s on record, years ago, as a fan, stating as such. Even then, there as this possessive pretentious, this Know-it-all assurance about what makes the character work. For him. That arrogance never left. He carried it with him into writing for the Revival’s first Showrunner, Russell T. Davies, who immediately recognized the lack of ability and never brought him back. Chibnall’s first episode for Who was 42 and guess what the whole thing centered around? A ticking f*cking clock. Chinballs didn’t write another episode of Who until Steven Moffat took over. His first episode? A two-parter, The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood. Guess what the primary conflict in those episodes was? A f*cking ticking clock. That’s who Chibnall is. That’s how he thinks Who should be. Dude’s writer is pedestrian, his creativity is fraudulent, and his passion is misplaced. He has a sense of entitlement to the character he’s carried with him since he was a child and it’s not a sense of community but possession. And, on top of all that, he’s got ideas and options. Just like Kathleen Kennedy.

I’m not a fan of Identity Politics. The second you attach “politics” to something, it becomes divisive, controversial. I do believe that, anytime anyone creates art, you install a little bit of yourself into it, even if you don’t know it. Your experiences and beliefs always find a way to bubble up toward the surface. The key is to guide that bias in a way that it benefits the narrative. Mask it so that your perspective comes across but in an organic, subtle, manner. People don;t like to be told how to think, even if what your saying is the obvious and unassailable truth. Someone is always going to be willfully obtuse. I mean, we live in a world of racism. That’s literally someone being obtuse to your existence, because the color of your skin is different. Of course there’s going to be every vocal portion of any fandom when you change a character they love so much, so dramatically, especially with absolutely no transitional period in between. The Doctor is a women now? Fine. Take you time and build the character. Shape her into something that not even the most egregious incel fanboy can attack without fervent rebuttal from the rest of the fandom. Chibnall did not do this. Instead, he f*cking double-downed on the identity bullsh*t and forced just SO much nondescript, ideology, into every episode of his run so far, while objectively neglecting character development, plotting, and motivation. Dude’s whole run with Whittaker has been an exercise in SJW gaslighting, defended by the BBC themselves because they’re in the business of fake Wokeness.

Thirteen fund herself in the unenviable position that Rey Palatine was in before her. The idea of Thirteen, juts like the idea of Rey, was exceptional. There was a ton of potential there, so much that could have been organically grown and nurtured. Jodie Whittaker is a great actress from what I've seen of her. The Doctor had never been female before. This was a real opportunity for Whittaker to really carve out her position in BBC history. But, just like Rey Palpatine, Who’s Feige had other plans. Just like Kathleen Kennedy, Chibnall was more concerned with tearing down everything that made Who what it was, in favor of sh*t he wanted to see, sh*t that would secure his legacy. F*ck the, what? Seventy years that came before, this is MY sandbox now and no one get s to play with any of my toys! That was mad as clear as day when The Timeless Children aired. What the actual f*ck was that episode? Look, i was on board with that one Black Lady Doctor because the War Doctor is a thing, but this episodes, man? This spat in the face of decades upon decades of Who lore. F*ck The Doctor having a cooter, this episode and the one following it, dismantles everything w know about who and what The Doctor character even is. Also, there’s a ticking clock.

It’s a goddamn shame that Jodie Whittaker never got a fair shot at The Doctor. I was on board the second she was announced. I loved her in Broadchurch. I can’t say the show was good, but she was in it. Honestly, Chibnall probably should have stayed with Police serials like that. A ticking clock works in those episodes because the pathos is more intimate. Someone is going to die. That sh*t doesn’t work as the direct focus of a Doctor Who episode, especially when you have a fully realized Doctor to play with. Even worse, you can’t have The Doctor just trumping though The Civil Rights Movement for no f*cking point other than to say something every person with a shred of humanity already knows. “Racism bad.” No sh*t, clown. What even as that episode, man? It’s so disingenuous, so goddamn disrespectful, and then you go nowhere with the villain in that sh*t. What the f*ck was the point? How did that enrich your Doctor? How did that do Jodie any favors for developing HER version of The Doctor. It was a non-episode, a showcase for Chinballs’ politics and that’s the entirety of his run so far. It’s not fair to blame Whittaker for the failure of her Doctor. She never had a chance to be great. She was set up for failure from the jump and, even after she’s gone, nothing will change. Whoever is up next for The Doctor is still going to have to deal with Chinballs and his creative bankruptcy.

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mutantdatingproblems · 7 years ago

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We Got Tagged

Hey everyone, we got tagged by @localmutantlesbian in this mutant ask thing so here we go (as always Z will be using bolded font and Vex will use italics and if we’re both saying it it’ll be both bolded and in italics, just so ya know who’s who in our answers if ya don’t wanna read our names every time). Here we go!

1. What’s your codename/mutant name?

Z: I can’t decide honestly, I’ve considered something simple like “Shifter” and crazy shit like “Dragon Queen” but they’ve all been shot down so far either by me or by Prof.X or one of the other Profs or my friends for being lame

V: This is a question I hate because I totally would’ve gone with like “Multiple Girl” but Multiple Man has that and they won’t let me pick something in a dead or nerd language (even though I think it’d be super cool) so I also don’t have one. We don;t go into the field much yet though so it doesn’t really matter yet.

2. Age?

Z: 19 going on 20, birthday is in May

V: Same except my birthday is in June

3. Gender and pronouns?

Z: Genderfluid with a current lean towards nonbinary so they/them or she/her or he/him all work for me, I don’t really care

V: Genderqueer, They/Them or She/Her please

4. What is your mutation(s)?

Z: Shapeshifting and mild hydrokinesis and is ADHD a mutation? Cause I swear it gives me superpowers

V: Creating multiples of myself and enhanced strength, speed, and senses. And yeah ADHD should definitely count as a power.

5. Are you a member of any mutant group (X-Men, The Mutant Underground, The Brotherhood of Mutants, Morlocks, etc)?

Z: X-Men in training at Xavier's (But I have friends in The Brotherhood)

V: Ditto

6. Got any physical mutations?

Z: Yeah, although mine are mostly by choice seeing as I’m a shapeshifter. I’m fond of my claws and fangs and tails and scales and horns and freaky eyes for everyday use

V: Nope, not really.

7. When did your powers manifest?

Z: Around 13

V: 12 and a half

8. What is your favourite thing about your powers?

Z: Everything. I love my powers, I love that I can be anything and do anything if I put my mind to it. It makes me who I am honestly, I don’t know who I’d be without my powers. Hell I’d probably have killed myself if my powers hadn’t manifested when they did I hated myself so much back then. Of course being at Xavier’s and meeting V and my other friends helped too. But yeah I love my powers and how they make me feel.

V: Ditto honestly, my powers help me learn so much and so much faster than I used to be able to, the focus I gain from my clones alone is a life saver when I have to do anything I find boring (which is a lot because Inattentive ADHD sucks royally). The enhanced senses and stuff are pretty awesome too, nothing better than losing your favorite pen under a couch and being able to lift the couch over your head ta get it back. I wouldn’t trade my powers for anything in the world.

9. Biggest pet peeve related to being a mutant?

Z: Assholes being assholes to us, assholes who only approve of human-passing mutants who think we should be grateful they even tolerate that much, not being able to find good shapeshifter friendly clothing that still looks cool and comes in plus sizes, and uppity fuckwad mutants who judge others on powers or looks or anything else because god dammit we need to stick together and support each other. I could go on because I have a lot but I won’t or this’ll take forever.

V: The asshole issues that Z pointed out but also when my powers go outta control cause I lose my cool or something and I have ta calm down ta find control again and it’s really hard, or when I sneeze cause of allergies and I accidentally sneeze a clone out...it’s embarrassing. Also accidentally hurting people with my enhanced strength....I hate that too

10. Ever been to space or another dimension?

Z: Yeah by accident.....it involved tequila....lots of tequila....

V: Nope

11. Do you wear a costume (BE HONEST)

Z: Sorta? I have ta make a lot of my own clothes cause of my physical mutations and shapeshifting so sometimes they come out looking very costumey and I am fond of leather which doesn’t help. I guess my battle gear counts? Loose black cargo pants (need all the pockets for gadgets and snacks cause shapeshifting requires a fuckton of calories and effort), black tank top (lightweight body armor actually but designed ta look like a tank top), arm warmers (again armor, they cover from my wrists to halfway up my upper arm, they’re also black). black leather fingerless gloves, combat boots (with knives hidden in the toes, also black except I change the laces all the time cause I like making them funky colors and designs), and a black leather weapons belt that holds at least one stun gun, two daggers/medium sized knives, and in some cases a sword because I like it. All of it’s like....well for lack of a better term...enchanted ta survive my shifts (including into dragon form) so it doesn’t rip or tear or anything. Apparently when I shift it kinda just disappears into a pocket dimension and then reappears on me when I shift back...I dunno how it works, ask Scarlet Witch she hooked me up. And by the way the weapons are because sometimes if I’m too drained ta shift I gotta go hand-to hand.

V: Yeah kinda, it’s my battle gear too. Navy cargo pants (I keep extra snacks for Z), black t-shirt, black wrist guards, black boots with purple laces and skulls and stuff painted on them, purple weapons belt holding a stun gun, throwing knives (like a frick ton, I also store more in my pants), more knives of varying sizes, smoke bombs (great for sneak attacks, just throw to confuse enemy and then attack from all sides with clones. I have flash bombs too), and a couple different versions of brass knuckles, and then I wear opaque black sunglasses too because I like them. Oh and yes my shirt is body armor like Z’s is of course, and my boots are steel toe.

12. Are you a minority in another way (race, gender, disability, etc)?

Z: Genderfluid Panromantic Demisexual who’s got mad depression, anxiety, ADHD, and fainting spells and I’m Polyamorous

V: Genderqueer, Queer in general, demisexual and polyamorous also with severe anxiety as well as dsycalculia and ADHD

13. Coolest power you’ve seen?

Z: I love Storm’s powers, but Scarlet Witch is pretty cool too

V: I concur with Storm but I’m also fond of Z’s powers cause watching your friend turn into a dragion is really cool

14. Favourite mutant artist?

Z: Dunno

V: Ditto

15. How would your friends describe you?

Z: Loud, proud, queer as fuck, angry, musical, a water baby, a literal and metaphorical dragon, bad influence, pun queen, kind of insane, kinky, and V’s shoulder devil/inner crazy bitch.

V: Quiet, secretly vindictive, punk af, dorky, wordy, easily distracted, helpful, accidental group therapist, mom friend, and Z’s conscience/shoulder angel.

16. Enhanced/powered person you most want to meet?

Z: Deadpool, I always miss him when he visits and it sucks

V: Spiderman......I just think he seem really cool

17. Feelings about mutant registration?

Z: No, just no. That’s how they end up rounding us up and killing us all. If it’s an operation run by us mutants ourselves as a way to work together and support each other and offer aid to mutants and help mutant youth who’ve been kicked out of their homes and stuff like that then sure. But not some government list of us all, fuck no.

V: Yeah ditto on that.

18. #MutantandProud or #WeWantACure?

Z&V: #MutantandProud

Z&V: Again unless it’s something regulated by mutants for mutants, no. Because it should be a mutants choice whether or not they want their powers because some people get royally screwed and end up with powers they hate because they are dangerous or something like that. It shouldn’t be something the government or anyone else can decide, it should always be the mutants individual choice.

19. How did you choose your codename?

Z: Don’t have one yet but when I do choose it’ll probably be like...by throwing darts at a bunch of names I like or a coin flip or something

V: Don’t have one yet, I’ll tell you how I chose it when I figure one out.

20. OPTIONAL: what caused your powers to manifest?

Z: Got mad, grew talons and fangs and scales cause I was reading about mythological creatures earlier, was not pretty. It happened when I was alone though so that was a plus. (I was mad because of a text from my boyfriend at the time). The hydrokinesis thing I figured out after I got to Xavier’s...was outside in the courtyard....got catcalled by some asshole student....wished I could dump water on his head....fountain water flew up and over and dumped gallons on his head....it was awesome.

V: I sneezed at the dinner table and three clones shot out of me....the strength and speed stuff I figured out at school in gym class when suddenly I was kicking ass at track and field after always sucking at it my whole life....The senses I figured out when I could hear waaaayyyyy too much noise everywhere and everything smelled waaayyy too strong and suddenly I could see without my glasses (yeah I used ta have and need glasses, I don’t anymore but if I did they’d be cats-eye style like a vintage librarian because reasons).

Tagging: We’re not really sure who ta tag so if you wanna do it then feel free ta do it and tag us!

(And thank you again to @localmutantlesbian for tagging us! We loved doing this!)

~Mod Z

~Mod Vex

P.S Wanna know more about us? Check out our previous “Meet the Mods” posts or check out our “Meet the Mods” page on the blog!

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stylo-xx · 7 years ago

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Eyes Closed (M)

G-Dragon: Angst/Small amount of fluff/Eventual smut

PART 2-A: The One About The Night Before

A/N: Crap sorry it’s so late you guys, I was trying to edit as fast as I could I swear! But if there are typos my bad lmao Anyway I feel like this one is a bit short but I hope you enjoy nonetheless!

P.S. Part 2-B should be out some time tomorrow.

(Part One)||(Part Two-B)

I woke up with a jolt and a cold sweat, feeling like the entire room was still spinning; physically feeling like I got hit by an eighteen wheeler. I brushed some of the mess of hair from my face and through half lidded eyes I tried to look around the room to make sure I didn't end up in some stranger’s place; thankfully for my dignity I wasn’t but unfortunately for my ego, I wasn’t.

“Ugh what time is it?” I groaned reaching for my phone on the nightstand. Fumbling around the nightstand the only thing my hand was met with was the touch activated lamp that blinded me with a bombardment of light. “Argh no!” I threw my arm across my face. I frantically hurried to shut off the lamp that felt like it was emitting the rays from the sun. Only managing to open one eye I looked around for my phone and discovered it was strewn on the floor with a mess of clothes and shoes. I groaned again not wanting to leave the comfort of the bed, I outstretched my hand nearly falling off the bed and quickly nabbed my phone and hauling myself back into my previous position under the covers. Pressing the home button to my phone I again was greeted with a flash bomb of light and covered my face with my hand; slapping myself in the process. Still adjusting to the light I peeked through my fingers desperately looking to find the time. ‘2:00 p.m. fuck’ With my phone unlocked I went wide eyed, ‘Shit, shit, shiiiit’ I thought; I had 17 missed calls and 10 voicemails from Saige. Looking for some kind of answer I scrolled through her text messages that only seemed to get more and more aggressive the further I scrolled along.

‘Alex where the hell did you go?’ <received 1:44 am>

‘Itsf o k im with djsaho’ <sent 1:52 am>

‘Ok bitch you are waaaaaaay too fucked up, where are you?’ <received 1:52 am>

‘Urd th e bitc yo bcht’ <sent 1:55 am>

‘I’m being serious Alex, if the paparazzi or some douche bag from the internet get a picture of you like this we are royally screwed’ <received 1:55 am>

‘Dnt wrry Gbe okie’ <sent 1:56 am>

‘Dont do this to me McMahon, WHERE ARE YOU????’ <received 1:56 am>

‘Byiii cee yu ntx wek’ <sent 1:57 am>

‘Wtf do you mean see you next week???’ <received 1:57 am>

‘Alex?’ <received 1:59 am>

‘HELLO?!’ <received 2:01 am>

‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE I KNOW YOU KEEP DECLINING THE CALL’ <received 2:05 am>

‘I swear to God when I see you I am going to kick your ass’ <received 2:06 am>

‘AND WHO TF IS DJ SAHO?! YOU SAID YOU WERE DONE WITH DATING DJS’ <received 2:06 am>

‘Oh my God Alexandra PLEASE JUST ANSWER YOUR PHONE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE’ <received 2:10 am>

‘Ok somebody told me you went home with someone, for your sake I hope it was Jesus and not that DJ Saho or whatever’ <received 2:15 am>

‘Open the door! You know I can hear you and DJ what's his face laughing!’ <received 2:30 am>

‘I don't care that we are staying at the Palace Hotel Alexandra. I WILL break down this door if you don’t open up!’ <received 2:32 am>

‘OPEN THE DOOR’ <received 2:33 am>

‘No oo itd coolr ift yo u berki t don’ <sent 2:33 am>

‘I SWEAR TO GOD’ <received 2:34 am>

‘Fine see if I care when you end up on the cover of some Korean tabloid and Ji-Yong finds out you're here’ <received 2:36>

‘wh att’ <sent 2:36>

‘Good night Alex :)))’ <received 2:37>

Re-reading the last exchanges between us my heart felt like it started beating so fast that it was bound to burst right out of my chest any second. ‘Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuuuuuuck. How could I have been so stupid?!’ I thought to myself. Normally I’d say I don't care but that is far from where I am mentally. Suddenly I was brought out of my thoughts by a loud knocking on my door. Still paranoid with the thought of J-him seeing me I climbed out of bed and approached the door carefully. The closer I got to the door the more anxious I became; that mixed with the killer hangover that hit me like a ton of bricks was quite possibly the worst combination of things that could happen at a time like this. The knocking started to feel like the noise was pounding against my skull, wanting to rid myself of this monstrous beating on my brain I opened the door without hesitation. Only to be met with the last person I would ever think would show up at my door.

“Alex?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Tim?” I reciprocated.

“Jesus H--no offence but Saige wasn’t kidding when she said you might look like you crawled out of Hell this morning”

I clenched my jaw “Just come in before anyone else has to endure my ugly” I slammed the door shut behind him causing myself to wince at what sounded like an explosion went off in my brain.

Trailing behind him I watched him maneuver his way over the mess that was all over the floor; just clothes and shoes in different piles scattered in every square inch of the room.

“Jeez, you didn’t want to clean up first?” he said finally making it to the bed.

Too exhausted to argue I rolled my eyes and plopped back on the bed beside him.

“Man, guess you had a good night last night?” he smiled leaning back on his elbows.

“Ugh, if this is what this hangover from Hell is indicating...I wish I hadn’t” I covered my eyes with my arm “When did you get in by the way? I thought you were going to be in Japan until tomorrow? And not that I don’t love you but why are you here in the first place?”

He chuckled “To answer your questions: I got in about three hours ago, I had a change of plans aaand Saige sent me on a recon mission”

“Why?”

“She said and I quote ‘Dear God Tim would deal with her because I can’t take her after last night’ end quote” He chuckled again “Also seeing as two of my best friends just got here the night before and one of them was already causing trouble I decided that spending time with that girl in Japan was not really worth it…”

I uncovered my eyes with a gasp “Oh my God, you are such a jerk--”

“Relax” he put up his hand “whatever we had between us wasn’t really going anywhere anyway. I think she really just wanted to be with me so she could say she was with me. Seeing as who I hang out with nowadays, it's getting harder and harder to figure out who wants to hang out with me for me and not for ‘Tim Drake, the DJ who so happens to be signed to Seungri’s music label so that must mean he is friends with BigBang’. I mean they’re not wrong, I am friends with them but still it the principle of the thing” he rolled his eyes.

Merely looking at his face I could tell he was genuinely hurt, he was one of the nicest and most sincere people I have ever met and just knowing that my selfish wish somewhat came true made my heart hurt.

“I mean I guess that’s what you get for being such a hot shot DJ with an attractive everything to match” I said trying to make light of the situation.

“Shut up” he laughed “By the way, are you just gonna chill in your underwear the entire time or are you gonna put on a robe?”

I looked down at my bra “Tim it’s not like it's the first time you've seen me in my underwear. I think we are past that point in our friendship”

“I mean I don’t have a problem, I just don’t want you to think I’m being a perv” he said sincerely.

“I would never” I jokingly gasped and placed a hand on his shoulder “Anyway, tell me about your new life here: How do you like it? How’s it been? Besides that girl, how is your love life here? You know all that good stuff” I rolled over on my side to face him.

“Its been..good?”

“That doesn’t sound too convincing Timmoth” I squinted my eyes at him.

He let out a small laugh “No I’m serious! Everything's been great so far, minus the whole ‘love life’ thing” he air quoted.

“So does that mean you and Chaerin still haven’t talked?” I rested my head on my arm.

“Yes, that means I still haven’t talked to Chaerin. Honestly I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I mean I invited her to my party so the only thing I can do now is wait and see if she decides to show up. But I’m not going to be completely heartbroken if she doesn't, at this point I’m used to getting the short end of the stick with her” he sighed.

“She’ll show I’m sure of it, if there is one thing that sticks with you after breaking up with your boyfriend no matter how long ago it was you always remember those tiny details about them. She, I’m sure, is no different”

“Don’t even get my hopes up” he playfully pushed my shoulder “Alright enough about my lackluster love life, what about you huh? I’ve only heard about your rendezvous through what people tag me in on twitter”

I rolled on to my back again staring up at the ceiling “Ugh. I’ll just say it’s slim pickins in LA. I seriously feel like I’ve about dated everyone in Hollywood at this point. I’m just so bored with everyone there, Saige suggested we move to Manhattan for a while to get a change of scenery and...men”

He let out another small laugh “Orrr”

“Or what?” I turned my head to face him.

“Or you could come move here and not only would have a complete change of scenery but you’d get to be with me and also an entire new buffet of men to choose from” he wiggled his eyebrows “Ya know” he cleared his throat “I happen to know one or two, single, billionaire musical geniuses that--”

“Ha-ha very funny” I interjected “don’t even go there Tim”

“Oh come on Alex!” he put a hand on my shoulder “You’re gonna see him this weekend anyway, why prolong the inevitable?!”

I brushed his hand off my shoulder.

“Okay, okay I take it you’re still mad at me about me not telling you that he was coming until you were on your flight over here, but what was I supposed to do? If i had told you earlier you would have either A) not come at all or B) run out of the airport and go AWOL again!” he scrunched up his eyebrows.

I took and deep breath and looked away from him.

“And I couldn’t just not invite him when all of the other guys were going to be there, that would have looked super shady on my part. Besides I know you two have your issues, that you still refuse to tell anyone why you guys broke up about in the first place, but he’s also a homie”

I turned back to glare at him “Okay well then why don’t you marry him then if he such a good homie?”

“Very mature” he stuck out his tongue “look you and I both know I love you more than anyone in the entire universe, but you also gotta understand he and I are still cool. He’s also one of the biggest musical influences here and I’d really rather not get on his shit list”

“Are you just doing this because you want me to talk to him?” I raised an eyebrow “What about girl code? If I hate someone you hate them right back, you don’t just hang out with them like it’s nothing and twiddle your thumbs up each other's asses!”

“First off, ouch how dare you say I broke girl code ” he pretended to act hurt “And secondly, I didn’t just do this because I wanted you two to talk...well actually that’s partially it...but that’s not the point! What matters is that we all enjoy ourselves this weekend and celebrate not only my day of birth but also my first album finally dropping; all while making sure it is completely drama free for everyone involved” he smiled.

I crossed my arms and let out a big sigh.

“Besides, I think after last night you don’t need anymore drama to be broadcasted out for the world to see”

I sat up quickly “W-what do you mean?”

“Oh, you haven’t seen?” he sat up with a concerned look on his face “Well ummm...here let me show you”

‘Oh God, Saige was right why didn’t my drunk ass just listen to her?!’ I thought to myself. ‘Oh man she really is gonna kick my ass when she sees me…’

Tim, taking out his phone pulled up some news article that held embarrassing pictures of my drunk self with some guy. Thankfully most all of them were grainy and the pictures were kind of dark, all except for one.

“What.the.f--” I let out a blood curdling scream.

“Hyung, don’t get me wrong I just don’t think this is a good idea” Seungri tried for the thousandth time to pull Young-Bae back by his arm. “I already told you, we at least have to make sure he’s alive” Young-Bae said undeterred by the maknae’s actions “What are you so afraid of?” “And I already told you, if Ji-Yong Hyung is even possible of being conscious he is going to be pissed that we woke him up just to see if he’s still living and have us maimed!” the younger man pulled on his Hyung’s shoulder.

The older man simply smiled “Not me”

“Oh must be nice being the golden star best friend! In case you haven’t noticed, Ji-Yong Hyung loves to show me gestures of his affection by inflicting nothing but pain on me and therefore gaining some kind of sick pleasure from hurting me!”

The older man stopped in his tracks causing the maknae to slightly bump into him “Seungri we’ve all been friends for longer than ten years, don’t you think if he actually wanted you dead he would have done it by now?” he smiled and continued walking.

Seungri stuck in the spot that he stood thought before he spoke “You know that’s not actually very reassuring!” he called after his Hyung.

Young-Bae now at the end of the hallway shot Seungri another smile but this one evoking an eye smile along with it. The maknae picked up his pace and swifty jogged to the older man’s position. Both now staring down the door to Ji-Yong’s condo they both were thinking about the repercussions of actually waking the dragon. Young-Bae not wanting to take the first blow pushed the younger man in front of him.

“Well go ahead, knock on the door” he gestured with his hand.

Seungri dramatically pointed to himself “Me? You want me to knock on the door?”

The older man nodded.

“Hyung were you not listening to anything I was saying back there?” he stared at Young-bae incredulously “Wow. you all must really want me out of BigBang, well it was nice knowing you”

“Yah” the older man smacked him behind the head “Don’t be so melodramatic and knock on the door would you? And besides we can't afford to lose you. You're too important”

The younger man rubbed the back of his head “Wah. do you mean that Hyung?”

“Yea if we lose you then who else are we going to pick on? Dae-Sung? Not on your life” he said with a smug smile on his face.

The maknae looked to the heavens and closed his eyes, cursing at his Hyungs in his head; the only place he was safe to do so.

“Yah!” another smack to the back of the head “Quit being a dick in your thoughts and knock on the damn door!”

Seungri went wide eyed; guess he wasn’t so safe in his own mind after all. He shakily raised his fist in the air toward the ever menacing black door. What laid beyond that threshold could either be a nice Ji-Yong welcoming them into his home or the actual Ji-Yong who was going to rip Seungri a new one for waking him. The maknae took a deep breath before he gave three small knocks.

“Hyung?” he whispered.

Young-Bae side eyed him “What human being in your right mind is going to be able to hear that?” The older man grabbed a hold of the maknae’s fist and raised it to pound on the door.

“No, Hyung wait!”

With not even a full knock, the door swung wide open. As if it were some cartoon, the two stuck both their heads over the threshold and looked inside.

“Hello?” they said in unison.

The two stood up straight and began to walk over the threshold at the same time only to get halted by squashing into each other. The older man glared at the maknae and shoved his shoulder to get by. Seungri merely rubbed his shoulder and closed the door behind him. Looking around the living room gave no impression of anyone actually living there, everything was perfectly in its place making it look like it was some kind of eerie museum. “Ji-Yong-ah?” Young-Bae called out peeking into every doorway. Seungri having already accepted his fate decided to go rifle around his Hyung’s things in his living room; picking up a sculpture here, touching a nicknack there, leaving fingerprints on his vinyl records...whoops, breaking off a piece of said sculpture. “Yah” Young-Bae called out to him. The maknae quickly put down the abstract sculpture and shoved the broken piece behind some books on the bookshelf. He looked to his Hyung who was whispering ‘he’s in there’ and pointing to the door that was left ajar. Again as if the two were in some Scooby-Doo cartoon, they carefully tiptoed into the sleeping man’s room. There sprawled out all over the bed, with half of the sheets and comforter dangling off the bed, was the sleeping form of their best friend. With his mouth parted and a slight trail of drool coming out of his mouth Ji-Yong let out a loud snore that startled the maknae causing him to step back onto a squeaky cat toy; Young-Bae slapped him on his shoulder. “Yah! Are you trying to to get us killed?!” he whispered loudly. “I thought you said you had nothing to worry about!” Seungri loudly whispered back. “I don’t! I’m just worried about you” the two of them continued their whisper argument only to be startled again. “Yah! If you two are done pretending like I can’t hear you, you can both kindly get the fuck out” Ji-Yong lifted his head up sleepily. “Sorry” the other two said in unison. “What do you even want at this hour?” he said plopping his head back into his sea of pillows and tangled bed sheets. “It’s three in the afternoon” they said again in unison. Ji-Yong dazedly lifted his head again looking toward his window “No it's not there’s no sun” Walking to the window Young-Bae pulled the curtains back “that's because you live like a vampire and have black out curtains “ “Yah!” Ji-Yong struggled to bury himself under his sheets “What are you trying to kill me?!” “Ok enough” the dreaded man walked to his bedside “we dealt with your drunk ass last night, it's all been fun and games but now it’s time to wake the fuck up” he pulled him by the only foot that was sticking out of the covers. Ji-Yong clawing at his bed like a cat protested. “Come on man just get up!” “Do we have a photoshoot?” he asked in a muffled voice with his face firmly planted onto the mattress. “No?” “Music video shoot?” “No?” “An interview?”

“No?”

“A record to write?”

“No, Ji-Yong why--” “Then I have no good reason be even be conscious” he said taking his foot back “ “Seriously man come on, Seungri and I--” “Seungri?” Ji-Yong quickly lifted his head and snapped it in in their direction. “Yea Seungri, who the hell else did you think I was arguing with?” “I don’t know Young-Bae, I’ve stopped questioning the voices” The other two glanced at each other raising an eyebrow. The dazed man rubbed his face with his hand “Ok I’ll bite, why the fuck are you here?” “Because you can’t keep living like this! I hardly get to see you when we’re not on tour or doing some kind of press junket or variety show, even then we pretend like everything is all ok when it’s not. All you do is drink yourself stupid, complain while you're drunk, smoke so much that I swear one of these days you’re going to need an iron lung support or something! It’s like the Kwon Ji-Yong I grew up with doesn’t even exist anymore!” Ji-Yong pursed his lips “Tsk. What are you my girlfriend all of a sudden? Get in line you're not the only one who noticed. Any other complaints or can I just go back to sleep?” The dreaded man let out a heavy sigh “Pfft. yea right we’d all know where that would go real fast…” he said under his breath. “What was that?” he threw off the covers hopping off the bed and walking to square up to his best friend. Seungri, having been silent the entire time, noticed this was going to take a turn for the worse and intervened before any fists went flying. “Ji-Yong Hyung” He turned to glare at him. “Young-bae Hyung” he held up his hands between the two “Why don’t we just go to the kitchen and get some food and some coffee in you guys huh? We can eat a little, talk a little...not using harsh words...and just get rid of the bad energy from last night” The two older men glanced at each other “fine..” they said in unison and headed out toward the kitchen. “Hey Hyung” the maknae trailing behind the two spoke up again “Don’t you wanna maybe change out of your clothes from last night?” Ji-Yong stopped in his tracks to glare at him. “N-nevermind…” Along the way Ji-Yong stopped to boot up his laptop that was sitting on the kitchen island then made a b-line for the coffee maker and his pack of cigarettes. Young-Bae simply leaned against the furthest wall and looked down at his feet, still fuming about his little spat with his best friend. Seungri, even in everyday situations, made his way into the kitchen last. He caught a glimpse of his Hyung’s laptop screen and immediately stopped mid-step. Ji-Yong raised an eyebrow “what did some porn pop up or something?” he asked lighting his cigarette “N-no. just a picture of” he cleared his throat “Kim Tae-Hee popped up” he gave a weak smile.

The older man gave him a questioning look “Ahh ok?” and turned to ash his cigarette in the ashtray before him. His fingers slightly trembling from the actions of the previous night caused him to accidentally drop his cigarette into the sink. “Aish!” he hollered as he threw his now soggy cigarette into the bin and turned away from the other two to light another one. The maknae, wide eyed, looked to his other Hyung as a plea for help. Trying to subtly beg the dreaded man with his eyes that he needed him to distract Ji-Yong while he closes out of the webpage on the laptop’s screen; needless to say his actions were lost in translation. Young-Bae not understanding what the younger man was trying to tell him raised an eyebrow and mouthed ‘what?’, Seungri balled his fists in silent frustration and turned the screen toward his oblivious Hyung and emphatically pointed to the news article that blatantly held pictures of ‘DO NOT CALL HER’ in the arms of a man that wasn’t Ji-Yong and at the same exact club they were at the night before no less! Young-Bae went wide eyed and quickly dashed in the direction of the unsuspecting man before he could turn back around; he put his arm around his shoulder. Ji-Yong feeling suspicious about his two friend’s actions wasn't sure what to think; truthfully he didn’t want to think at all he’d much rather be back in bed ignoring everyone. The maknae glanced as his two Hyungs talked it out and as Young-Bae took it upon himself to have a death grip on Ji-Yong’s shoulder forcing him to look out the window as he poetically described the meaning of their friendship to him. Seungri acting quickly turned the laptop back toward him and carefully closed the article but not before looking at all the pictures and reading the headline. ‘Alexandra McMahon Out Partying in Seoul With Mystery Man: Keep reading for pictures below’. Oh shit he was really going to be in trouble now.

#bigbang scenarios #bigbang fanfiction #bigbang imagines #bigbang angst #gdragon scenarios #gdragon imagines #gdragon angst #gdragon smut #gdragon fanfiction #g dragon imagines #g dragon scenarios #g dragon angst #g dragon smut #g dragon fluff #jiyong scenarios #jiyong smut #jiyong angst #jiyong fluff

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stylesdimplefeelings · 8 years ago

Photo

Whipped…boyfriend!!!

“Boo!”

Y/N isn’t expecting for Harry to be surprised much, at least not for sneaking up on him.

“Y/N, love! I’ve missed ye’ so much, kitten!”

He tucks his phone into his back pocket before wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up, a grin so wide and a feeling so comforting that nothing in the world could ruin the moment.

“Missed you loads, too, H!” She whispers into his hair, the feeling of his breath on her neck soothing her instantly.

Harry pecks at her neck before setting her back down, his eyes scanning over her every feature. His heart melts at the way she looks up at him, and when he sees her stand on her tip toes, he leans down to press his lips to hers.

It’s a playful exchange of kisses, with Y/N’s hands gripping at the sides of his printed shirt, and Harry’s large hands cupping her face. Kisses with open eyes and big stupid smiles. Kisses that don’t last longer than three second before their lips separate only to press together again. And in between them, Harry whispers ‘missed ye’ too much’ and 'I love you’ in broken phrases.

Missed. Kiss. Ye’. Kiss. Too. Kiss. Much. Kiss.

He nudges his nose against hers lightly before pressing one last kiss to her forehead and wrapping an arm around her neck so it dangles over her shoulder as they begin to walk.

“Didn’t tell me ye’ were comin’ for a visit, love.”

Not that Harry minds, at all. He just would’ve liked to have been the first person she saw, not some random cabbie or whoever picked her up at the airport.

“Thought it’d be fun to pop by unannounced. Jeff pitched the idea after he overheard Mer talking to me over the phone. Said you could use a little company in that empty hotel room of yours.”

She bumps his hip with hers, giggling for a moment at the famous half smirk he gives her.

“Hm, well if tha’s why ye’ came here then I reckon we should get t’ tha’ empty hotel room, ehh?”

He’s stopped dead in his tracks, moving to stand in front of Y/N to look at her directly. And Harry can visibly see her tense up, the playful look she’d been sporting a few seconds ago gone.

“Y/N-” he begins, eyebrows furrowed into concern, only to be cut off.

“I’m sorry, H. I know it’s taking forever, but it’s just-” and she’s trying so hard not to disappoint him. She knows they’ve been dating far too long for intimacy not to be part of the relationship already, and it makes her mad that she can’t let herself love him in that way. Not because she doesn’t want to, she knows they’re meant to be together, she just doesn’t feel ready yet.

“No. No, kitten, you’ve got nothing t’ apologise for,” Harry’s hands rub at her upper arms soothingly, hoping to assure her that he’s okay with it, “m'not ever g'na rush this. I want ye’ t’ be sure when the time comes that you want it as much as I do.”

“But I know that it’s frustrating and-”

“-and m'g'na wait as long as I’ve got t’. M'not g'na love ye’ less b'cos of it. Jus’ wan’ ye’ t’ be sure, love.”

He gives her that smile. That toothy smile that can make all their problems fade into nothing. And so she smiles, too.

“Tha’s m'girl.”

***

“Well would ye’ look at this lovely picture.”

A 'wuh-PSSSH’ sound follows the comment, a voice too familiar not to notice.

“Still whipped, mate?”

Harry just smiles, unwrapping his arm from around Y/N to stand up and greet his friend in a proper hug.

“Oh, look at this,” Y/N can hear Harry coo before she’s even got the chance to slip out of the booth they’re currently sat at, “Freddie’s here!”

And to say he completely disregarded Louis at this point would be an understatement, he might as well be invisible now.

Harry stretches his arms out, and Louis complies at letting him hold his one year old.

“Nice t’ see ye’ too, Harry. I’ve been great, thanks mate.”

Harry pays the sarcasm no mind as he sets the baby on his hip, and instead smiles and coos at Freddie who looks up at him with happy eyes.

“Don’t worry, did the same to me earlier.” Y/N laughs at the thought of Harry having left her side with out a second thought to hold who she came to find out was an adorable little baby girl named Ruby.

Louis welcomes her into a hug, whispering a low 'outta have kids then’ in her ear.

And that warms her heart. To think that one day, she’ll be lucky enough to welcome a lovely little human that’ll be a mix of her and Harry, she honestly can’t wait. But now she feels even more guilty.

But Harry smiles at her adoringly, baby Freddie in his arms chuckling and trying to grab at Harry’s short but now longer hair.

“I see you two are still disgustingly sweet as usual,” Louis comments.

Just the way Harry looks at you, it’s unreal and anyone who knew you both would swear you were meant for each other, even before either of you realised it. And that’s exactly what your friends thought. Seeing Harry look at you the way he did at the many dinners and house parties everyone would gather for definitely added to those thoughts.

And you two have been practically inseparable ever since New York. You were glad Harry had gathered up the courage to find you that night, don’t know if you’d be in this position if he hadn’t. You were glad he was hell bent on not leaving that hotel room until things were cleared up because “really miss m'best friend. Tell me wha’ I did so I can fix it, kit'en.” And you were glad he’d said those three words that solidified the fact that he was there to make sure you were his, even though you had been all along.

“Will be. So long as this one will have me,” the press of Harry’s lips to Y/N’s has Louis grunting in pretend distaste.

“Better get going, don’ wanna interrupt Harry still being whipped.”

Harry hands Freddie over with a pout.

“Still no complaints though.”

***

To say everything is going perfect would be an understatement. Harry’s music is being praised and appreciated and Y/N can’t explain how happy it makes her that Harry’s happy. His performances are nothing short of amazing, and she loves seeing him gush over “they were singing along, babe! Just a great feelin’!”

She’s been flying back and forth along his side during all this. New York, London, Paris, and then back to New York. And Harry loves sharing this with her. He loves having her watching him from the side lines, singing along as she claps and gives him thumbs up and blows kisses at him for support. He loves getting off stage with so much adrenaline and kissing her so hard because Harry doesn’t take anything for granted, no. He’s thankful he’s getting to do what he loves and even more with his better half by his side.

“A'right. How do I look?” His jazz hands and that big smile plastered on his face are indication of just how hyped he is for this.

“I’ve never seen anyone pull off black better than you, H!”

And it’s true. Harry can pull off any colour. Blue, red, yellow, pink; you name it! But black. Black gives him a sexy sort of mysterious sophistication.

“Think so?” He looks himself over in the mirror, content at his choice.

Y/N looks at him through the mirror from where she’s sat on the couch of his dressing room, nodding a yes as she gets up to stand on the furniture.

“Please no stage diving today?” She’d be all for it, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s already tried it and it didn’t go as planned. She really doesn’t want him or any of the fans getting injured.

Harry only chuckles and nods in embarrassment as he strides over to stand in front of her, his head tilting up just a bit to look at her since she’s standing on the cushions.

“M'serious, Harry!” But she smiles anyway, arms lazily slung over his shoulders and around his neck. She brings a hand to tug at the hairs at the nape of it as Harry sets his at either side on her hips, thumbs rubbing at her hipbones.

It’s the last listening party before the album is released, and Harry’s pretty sure the second he mentions stage diving, Jeff will have him pulled off stage. Or carried because it is Jeff after all.

“I’ll try not to, kit'en.” Harry doesn’t know why it was a good idea to do it in the first place. But he had all that adrenaline and he was just so excited. Y/N of course had scolded him and slapped his arm after he got off stage because, “you could’ve broken something Harry!!” But he’d kissed the small amount of anger away.

“I’ll be watching from the sides?” Every time before a performance or an interview she says that, and every time she does Harry smiles just as big.

***

“Congrats, Ni!!!!!”

Finally, after a few months of all the boys doing their own thing, everyone’s finally got a chance to gather up at a small venue for Harry’s pre-launch party. Jeff had asked Y/N for help in terms of invitees, and it’d be outrageous not to have Liam, Niall, and Louis attend.

And so Niall is the last to arrive, and the moment he walks through the door, a very tipsy Y/N can’t contain her excitement at finally reuniting with another one of her friends.

“Oí, have enough drinks for the rest of us have ya?” Niall just about tumbles back with the sudden weight of her body as she throws herself at him, but he catches her in his arms and steadies her.

“You’re late mister,” she’s slurring just a bit, words somewhat coherent.

“Does 'arry know you’re drunk??”

He wraps an arm around her waist for support, in fear that she might be too over her head to even walk with out tripping and falling.

“Drunk? M'not drunk,” she pokes at his chest, and Niall only now notices the red cup in her hand threatening to spill over his shirt, “you’re just sober.”

He lets out a lively laugh. Drunk Y/N is something else, and he’s only ever seen her like this when Harry’s not really paying attention to her.

She hiccups and continues with a pout, “he’s over somewhere. With some girl,” she motions her hand around and nowhere in particular, again, the drink sploshing around in the red cup.

Harry hadn’t meant to leave her alone, he’d been pulled away from her side by someone he can’t even recall the name of, because that’s how out of it he is. So he’s been handed drink left and right, downing them with out retaliation because he doesn’t wanna seem like a downer. And although he really should go find his Y/N, he doesn’t think she’d mind if she’s having fun too.

But she’s not. At least not as much as she’d like. All she wants is for Harry to kiss her and hold her hand, because they’re both affectionate drunks, and it’s always a plus to annoy their friends in that way. But she hasn’t seen him in a while. Last she caught a glimpse was about an hour or so ago, when he was being led over to a group of people she doesn’t really recognise, and it made her notice how out of it she is. She doesn’t remember inviting half the people in the room, but the little attention Harry seems to be giving her has her drinking with out a purpose.

It reminds her of when they were only friends. In the same circumstance, she’d drink the night away in hopes of erasing the image of Harry smiling wide, eyes crinkled because some girl was whispering god knows what in his ear. He’d be hunched over just a bit to give the girl better access as she mumbled and giggled. And Harry would nod slightly before moving to whisper something back, face too close to her liking. But it, too, was always nothing, because shortly after she would have to turn away. Try to hide the fact that yes, she might have been staring at Harry for much longer than she’d ever admit to. And when he’d catch a glimpse of her doing just the same with a guy, giggling and whispering and smiling like crazy, he’d make his way over. Weaving his way around dancing bodies to get to her. And he’d smile that drink infused crooked smile of his before whispering something like “let’s get ye’ home, pet,” and leading her out of the place with his palm to her lower back.

So yeah, this sort of reminds her of old times. Only this time, they’re actually dating and he’s nowhere to be found.

***

Harry doesn’t remember getting home. He doesn’t remember taking off his clothes either.

In fact, the last thing he remembers is Y/N kissing at his neck and tugging at his pants.

And..oh no. If that’s how…if they were both drunk and-ah shit! Neither of them were suppose to be drunk when it finally happened. Harry wanted to make sure she would be okay with everything going on. He would have wanted to whisper how good she was taking him. Wanted to assure her that he was there with her, that all he wanted was to make her feel good. Harry just wanted to make love to her the right way.

And now he doesn’t even remember half the night.

So he brings his hand over his face, because not only does he not remember, he also doesn’t recognise the room he’s woken up in.

And then he looks beside him at the body under the white sheets.

He doesn’t recognise the person he’s woken up next to.

That’s not his Y/N.

Whipped...Boyfriend!!! Pt.2

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles story #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles blog #harry styles preferences #harry styles one shot #harry fluff #harry smut #harry blog #harry imagine #whipped friends #whipped boyfriend #whipped series #harry writing

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crookedmediatranscripts · 7 years ago

Text

Pod Save America - Episode 79

09.14.2017 “Amnesty Don”

“The Democrats reach a tentative deal on DACA with Trump, and 16 Democratic Senators sign on to Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-All plan. Then New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins Jon and Dan to talk about health care and the future of the Democratic Party, and Ana Marie Cox discusses Trump’s voter fraud commission.”

[MUSIC]

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Jon Favreau: The presenting sponsor of Pod Save America is Blue Apron.

Jon Lovett: Blue Apron.

JF: Which now offers 30 minutes meals. In parentheses, that's meals every week that take 30 minutes or less to cook.

JL: I don't if you- if you didn't understand 30 minute meals, you shouldn't be operating a fucking stove.

[Laughter]

JF: But keep listening. Which are designed with your busy schedules in mind and made with some flavor and farm fresh ingredients you know and love. Get 30 dollars off your first meal, with free shipping by going to blueapron.com/crooked. Blue apron is a better way to…

JL: Trump is Rubio now.

JF: Cook.

[Laughter]

0:00:35

[MUSIC]

0:00:42

JF: Welcome to Pod Save America. I’m Jon Favreau.

Dan Pfeiffer: I’m Dan Pfeiffer.

JF: On the pod today, we have New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. And later the host of Crooked Media’s With Friends Like These, Ana Marie Cox. Also, this week on Pod Save the World, Tommy talks to Representative Will Hurd, Republican from Texas. First elected Republican on the show- on a Crooked Media show.

DP: Probably not great for him in the long run, is my guess.

JF: [Laughs] Poor Will Hurd. Career was going well until he joined a Crooked Media podcast. And Lovett or Leave it is on tomorrow. I actually don't even know who his guests are. So, sorry Lovett, didn't send me your guests.

[Laughter]

JF: Okay, so where should we start today, Dan? Let's start with- what did you think of the Hillary Clinton interview?

DP: You guys did a great job.

JF: Sweet.

DP: I’m not just blowing smoke up your ass.

JF: I’m just looking- I asked that, I was just fishing for compliments, really.

DP: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys did do a great job. I knew you were taking it seriously when I saw the photo, and you and Tommy both had collared shirts on [JF: laughs] and Lovett was not, as far as I could tell, wearing a logo t shirt.

JF: No, Lovett was wearing his Senator Sweater. That's what he... [laughs]

DP: Yeah, you look like actual serious- you look like interns on your first day of work. No, I thought that was great.

JF: [Laughs] Yeah, no. It was- I thought it was good. Have you read the book yet?

DP: I am probably...50 pages in. I started last night, or the day- yesterday I started. It's- there is a great -- and you guys sort of hit on this in the interview, and you can see it- and you can hear it in her voice. And this is probably a microcosm of the entire Hillary Clinton experience in politics -- is there is great diversions between the book itself and the way the book is covered and talked about.

JF: Right. Completely symbolic.

DP: You know. And if you were to read- yeah, if you were to read the coverage you would think it was this bitter diatribe of casting blame on other people and... refusing to accept any responsibility at all for her loss. And it's pretty much...the opposite of that. And I- like, it's not an easy read. Because it's like, those are really dark times for everyone and, like reliving election day or Hillary Clinton's speech, which I watched in a gift shop in Dulles airport [JF: chuckles] with people crying all around me-

JF: Yeah, it was so awful.

DP: Those were hard things to think about. Or inauguration day, and putting yourself in her shoes. That's- it's honest, it's an honest- the parts I’ve read are, like an honest, very open, raw take on an absolutely brutal experience.

JF: Well yeah, I mean- and she does plenty of taking responsibility for her own mistakes. But it makes you- reading the book makes you realize, again, that we all made mistakes- we're all responsible for this. And I don’t know, I thought it was interesting that, you know- basically the point of the book is- or one use of the book is to learn from 2016 so we that don't repeat 2016. And, you know I think some of that is grappling with challenges that no candidate- no one candidate or campaign can control. Propaganda, whether that's Russia or Breitbart or Fox, like, you know political media that's obsessed with scandal more than policy, and sexism, racism, voter suppression and all that. And I think she does a great job of laying all that out. Some of what we need to learn is obviously grappling with challenges that candidates and campaigns can control. And that's your message, your policy, sort of like the career and life decisions you make prior to the campaign. Making sure your messages break through. And I think she's- in the book she does a really good job of acknowledging all those. I think she has less to say about how to change those things going forward. Because I think she honestly is not sure, you know? And neither are we clearly.

[Laughter]

DP: Exactly. Anyone who listens to this podcast knows those answers aren't clear. And it's not clear how applicable those lessons are to...any other situation other than Hillary Clinton v. Donald Trump. Because-

JF: Right.

DP: You know, like- I was talking to someone this morning about the book and I was saying how open and honest it felt, and raw, right, as I said, in the early pages. And the person said to me - if that Hillary Clinton had shown up in the campaign, would she have won? And your initial thought is, “Yes, of course.” Which is the- just the greatest trope of post-election coverage.

JF: I know.

DP: If the Al Gore who gave his final press conf-speech had shown up, then he would have won. It's- the thing about Hillary Clinton, though, is it's impossible. If she had- in- been sort of that casual and honest and human-like on the campaign, it would've been covered and treated as if it was a cynical political play to be in authentically more authentic. Like it's not- like there are- because of the way Hillary Clinton is covered and treated in the political conversation is just fundamentally different than anyone I can think of in my time in politics. It's just- you know you thought about this in the -- like when the book was coming out. My initial take was, “[Groan] I do not wanna relive the 2016 primary.”

JF: Yeah.

DP: And then there's this huge debate over, should Hillary Clinton write a book? Why is she writing a book? Why is she distracting us from 2018? It's like, that conversation only happens about Hillary Clinton, no one else.

JF: Right.

DP: Right, like, Bernie Sanders wrote a book.

JF: Yeah.

DP: No one said that about Bernie Sanders. [Laughs] So- John Kerry stayed on the political stage after he lost, no one complained about that. And it's just, just there is something about Hillary Clinton -- not herself. Not the person Hillary Clinton. The incorrectly wrongly unfairly vilified political persona of Hillary Clinton - which is, automatically turns every political conversation stupid. And I think that that- you sort of can understand- when you see the reaction to the book, it also helps you understand why the task before her in running for President was- not that she didn't make some mistakes, she certainly did - but the task before her was more challenging in reality than it probably was on paper. Because of- just the things that certain politicians have available to them are not available to her because people do not give- the political conversation does not give her the permission structure to actually do those things.

JF: Yeah, and I think the challenge was somewhat obscured by the fact that...she leaves the State Department with like a 60 something percent approval rating. Very well liked, higher approval rating that Barack Obama at the time, you know? And so, you think, “Okay, maybe all the problems that we've had in the past are in the past.” And they certainly were not. What'd you think about the Sanders stuff? The Bernie Sanders stuff? That was another...cause- I mean, look, it's funny when I said that- when I asked her the question about Sanders, I specifically phrased it so that she wouldn't have to talk about Bernie or attack Bernie. I wanted to know about this going forward as a party, are we a party that needs fundamental reform or change in our policy and our message? Or are we a party that almost won and needs some tweaking? So, I thought she would answer that and she used the occasion to go back and take a few shots at Bernie again.

[Laughter]

DP: Yeah. I mean, that was as aggressive as I have seen- well I mean, that's not fair. I don't wanna say it that way. But- I’m even hesitant to answer this question because...

JF: It's so scary, isn't it?

[Laughter]

DP: Yeah. we're- well, we're just- I mean it's scary for whoever- whatever side of the debate is going to, just, go right up in our mentions.

JF: Yeah.

DP: But, it- but even beyond that, it's just there- it is important and that this book and Hillary in the interview and in her larger press tour -- all of which is less consequential than her Pod Save America interview -- is in some part about learning the lessons, right? And it's the lessons about specific Democratic strategies. It's the lessons about...that America’s not exactly, in some ways, what we thought it was coming out of the Obama era. That sexism is, and I wanna get to that in a minute, is more- is a bigger force in politics than I think a lot of people imagined. Hillary Clinton was probably not one of those people who imagined that, given what she's been through in her life, and a lot of women, like Senator Gillibrand, have experienced.

JF: Right.

DP: But- so there's a whole host about it that are important for us to just understand what happened because it is a... seminal moment in American history. And hopefully we recover from it. But, the Bernie part- I understand her raw feelings and I...as I said to you earlier, I can only imagine how we would've felt, if we had gone through that long, bitter primary with Hillary Clinton, and then lost to John McCain.

JF: Hm.

DP: I can imagine that we would have hat- carried- had a lot of grudges about that. So, I am sympathetic to the emotions behind that. And I do believe that many of Sanders' attacks on Hillary Clinton were unfair. And they were at their heart, pretty deep character attacks. But that also, that- he was not wrong- he had a case to make, he was running for President, he can make that. They weren't out of bounds, but they were tough. But I am not sure that Clinton’s assessment of Sanders' role post-primary is fair. He- I was in the convention when- hall when he put her name in a nomination. I-

JF: Which is interesting because she mentions that in the book. She's actually a bit more charitable to him in the book than she was during our interview and has been covered in the press. And she did not choose to emphasize those more charitable moments that she wrote about.

DP: You know- cause when she says, he should have argued with his supporters...I think what that- I don't- that doesn't mean -- I could be wrong -- but I don't think that means, like his prominent elected official endorsers or his former campaign staff, like Jeff Weaver or Tad Devine or some of the people we came to know on the campaign. Cause in my recollection they followed Bernie Sanders' endorsement and did what they could to help Sanders get out there and campaign for her. I think she means the quote-unquote “Bernie Bros” on Twitter. I’m just not sure...I’m not sure how he would have achieved that goal.

JF: I don't think he could have. I also think it's like- yeah, I mean...look to me this- what matters more than sort of the personal animosity that lingers between them is, you know, the policy message implications going forward. And it's interesting, in the book, and this was Ezra Klein’s first question to her, which I figured it would be. You know at one point in the book she talks about Democrats needing to bolder on their policies. And she starts talking about how they almost proposed universal basic income that was paid for with, you know, some tax on any company that makes money from natural resources -- so oil companies, and some telecom companies. And it's this extremely progressive policy. She talks about taxing net worth instead of income and all these things that, you know, I didn't even hear Bernie talk a lot about during the race and you can sort of imagine a race where she decided that she didn't want him to outflank her on the left and she started proposing these policies. But then again, you know, as she said to us, she has this responsibility gene and she always expects that once you get into the general election someone says, “How do you pay for all this?” And she felt like she couldn't make the numbers work. And you know that's just a very, it's a very Clinton thing.

DP: And I think it is- it's both, she has a responsibility gene and I have no doubt, having worked on campaigns and that the internal view was, we are probably gonna win this primary. It may be tougher than we thought but, you know you look at the delegate math and they were in pretty good shape, Super Tuesday on. Just a question of when they were gonna close it out, and there was also I’m sure, political fear about running in the general and some of these left-wing- these more progressive policies. Left-wing was the wrong term. I don't agree with that political analysis. I think the more progressive populist approach would have worked, but- I understand that. But I also understand her calculus in the primary is- let's say she went to, you know, “x” tax rate on the wealthy. Sanders- there's no world in which she can outflank Sanders.

JF: Yeah.

DP: He can always go to the left of her. Because he did not feel as compelled as she did to make the math work. And she- he was not running, at least until the- he did not think he was gonna be President so he was not- he was running an issues-based campaign to move the Democratic agenda and the political conversation of the country to the left. And he succeeded in that, and which we'll get to in a minute, with- he had great success in that. Hillary Clinton was worried that she was- you were accountable- we know this, you are accountable for your campaign promises when you get there. So, she gets elected and it’s like, “Where's your universal basic income plan? How are you gonna get it passed? What- is it gonna be in your first budget? Talk about it in the State of the Union-“ Like, she was thinking through governing and if you're thinking through governing it can be limiting principle in what can do in the campaign. And someone who does not feel limited by that reality can always get, always outflank you.

JF: Yeah. I mean look- I think if there's one silver lining to 2016, it is that both the primary and the general showed us that we all need to rethink what is- what does electable mean? What does politically feasible mean? And sort of expand the boundaries of what's possible and not be caught up in, you know, being too cautious or worrying about the politics of something. You know, try to go with the biggest, boldest policy goal that you can and then, you know don't make it too unreasonable and don't lie to people, but, you know set a big goal. And don't worry so much about, oh well this isn't politically possible. Well we'll get into this too when we get into our single payer conversation. Before we get to that, we should talk about what happened last night. So, during the campaign, Donald Trump said that young, undocumented Americans known as Dreamers, quote “Have to go.” And last week Jeff Sessions announced Trump would be ending the Obama-era program designed to protect these Dreamers from deportation. A few weeks before that, Trump threatened to shut down the government unless Congress funded his border wall. Last night at the White House, over Chinese food, President Trump reached a tentative deal with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi to offer about 800 thousand young, undocumented Americans a pathway to citizenship in exchange for more border security, but no border wall. Art. Of. The. Deal. And of course, this morning he tweeted that no deal was made. But then he tweeted that Dreamers shouldn't be deported and that the wall would come later. Which is essentially the deal. Dan, what d'you think caused the change?

DP: He said no deal and then laid out all the provisions of the deal that Schumer and Pelosi announced last night. Once again rendering his press secretary, who tweeted there was no deal, looking like a fool in- out the world.

JF: Yep. That's right. So, what d'you think changed here? What do you make of this?

DP: I... I think...you asked me last week why Trump agreed to the debt ceiling deal with the Democrats. And my answer was, “He's dumb.” That is also still my answer today. [JF: laughs] And I- like when Trump talked during the campaign in an interview with Chuck Todd about the Dreamers and when you read the answer that he gives, it's entirely clear that he has no idea who the Dreamers are, what DACA is, what a change in policy means. He's just erring on the side of fewer brown people in America, which is like his default position.

JF: Yeah.

DP: Without thinking about it or anything else. And now- so he goes- this is a pretty simple Pavlovian response, I think. Which is- let's do all the pieces of this. Trump has enjoyed the press coverage that he has received from the world since his fairly minor deal with the Democrats a week or so ago. Trump still remains mad at Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell for screwing up health care and just being terrible at their jobs. And three, he was offered a way out of a problem and he took it without thinking about it. When you really boil this down, Trump is bad at deal making. Which I get the irony that the guy who ran as a great deal maker and wrote- had a book ghost written for him called “The Art of the Deal” is bad at deal making. But he's taking- like we said last week, he's buying his cars at sticker price. It is- he's taking the first offer and not even using a negotiating tactic where you're gonna demand the wall, and then you're gonna trade the wall for this other thing the Democrats wouldn't otherwise give you. So-

JF: Yeah.

DP: I say all that. I will add that I think this is good for the world. And I’m glad it's happening -- if it proceeds on the path that we hope it does.

JF: I think it is great. It is great all around. I mean, most importantly, it is good for the world and it is good for these young undocumented Americans. This is a win for actual people if- if it happens. We don't know. I mean, we have a long way to go, we should say, before this becomes law. You know, Paul Ryan has said before he's not doing any immigration measure in the House unless he gets a majority of Republicans on board. Now, he has also in the last couple days, he's spoken favorably about protecting Dreamers. So, you know unless there's a revolt in the House that sort of threatens Paul Ryan’s job, you know you could see him cobble together enough Republican votes. Then you know you get of course, just about every Democrat in the House will vote for this so you don't need a ton of Republicans, but he probably needs a good chunk of his caucus in order to save face. So, you can see this getting done but we're not there yet. But if it gets done it is, you know a huge policy win. It's a win for the Dreamers. Also- the other thing that’s a win is that Trump's base is so angry right now. [Laughter] So, some of media reaction last night, we're gonna actually- it- basically the MAGA media reaction is split here. Breitbart ran a headline that just said, “Amnesty Don.” Which is awesome. Ann Coulter said, “At this point who doesn't want Trump impeached.” Laura Ingraham was critical and Steve King, renowned racist from Iowa, said, quote “Trump base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair.” It's just- I couldn't get enough of these tweets last night. It was so enjoyable to read these. The only people who are still with him of course are the biggest fucking lackeys in the whole universe, the crew on Fox and Friends and Sean Hannity. Those are the only people who stuck by him. Sean Hannity said, “McConnell failed so miserably with health care that now POTUS has to deal with Dem leaders.” So, he went with the “look what Mitch made him do” line of attack. [Laughter]

DP: I mean he's not wrong.

JF: Right. [Laughter]

DP: I mean, sort of. First and last time I’ll say that about Sean Hannity.

JF: But to twist this around like Donald Trump makes a deal with Democrats. And some of his support- the Fox team, who are basically just White House employees who aren't getting paid by the government - are like, “he's not- it's not his problem he made a deal to this amnesty deal. It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault because he didn't pass health care.” It is a little bit of a bank shot, there.

DP: [Giggles] Yeah. They are twisting themselves into a pretzel to- to stick with Trump. Look, I do not like it when Trump gets good headlines. Like, that makes me unhappy. But if Donald Trump is going to do the exact same thing that President Hillary Clinton was gonna do, I’m cool with that. Because this is the exact deal that Hillary Clinton would have struck with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell -- presuming they stayed in the- Republicans stayed in control of Congress -- to pass the DREAM Act.

JF: Yeah.

DP: It's been sitting there- this is a deal that's been out there for a long time. Republicans did not wanna do it with Obama because...they don't like to do things- because they were gonna- they were hoping they would win an election and get to do something about it and end the program and now...Trump is gonna do Hillary’s bidding. Which is...fucking wonderful.

JF: Yeah, I mean- look, Trump is a- a clear and present to the globe. [Laugh] And we need to, you know, elect him out of office or get him out of office as soon as we can, but while we're waiting for that moment, it's great if he will do things that we agree with. It's very simple to me. It's not like this is something that needs to like twist Democrats in a knot, you know, like “Should we be happy for Trump or not?” It's not about Trump. You're right that he's gonna- he will get some good headlines from traditional media and all the people in DC and the DC pundits and stuff like that. And it'll drive some of us crazy cause it'll be like, you know “Trump, the bipartisan independent deal maker blah, blah, blah.” But, like I said, it's both- substantively this is good, but also politically, I think- you know, one thing we missed a lot of during the campaign is how much conservative media sort of drives that base. And, I’ll say something else pretty crazy, Steve Bannon- what Steve Bannon said on 60 minutes is right, in that this DACA decision, if it goes forward and they enshrine DACA into law, it will cause a civil war in the Republican party and you're seeing it already. Like, Breitbart and Coulter and some folks lining up on one side, very much against this decision, and then the Fox and Friends and Hannitys of the world still favoring Trump. I mean, this is gonna cause a huge political problem in their party which is also good for us. So, I think this is excellent.

DP: In the last 7 minutes or so, we have applauded something Donald Trump’s done, [JF: laughs] agreed with Sean Hannity, and affirmed a statement of Steve Bannon.

JF: What is-

DP: Our iTunes rankings are about to go in the toilet.

JF: [Laughs] What is happening today? Anyway, so, we'll see. I mean, look, I- the other question is, you know, how long does this new Trump last? Do we trust him? You know...I don't know.

DP: Approximately 7 minutes because immediately after the deal was announced, Trump went on a tweet storm against Hillary Clinton criticizing her for her book. So...

JF: Yeah, no. He's playing the hits there, you know...

DP: We are not- the independent, bipartisan, new, freshly pivoted Trump is bullshit. We will take this deal, presuming it comes to conclusion, any day of the week and twice on Sundays, but let's not pretend we have a new President. I will say one thing after having listening to you guys on Monday, as you know I shared your outrage about all of the ridiculous coverage overselling a- the simple moving of a debt ceiling vote as some sort of...Reagan-Tip O’Neil style tax reform-

JF: Yeah.

DP: Deal. But this is- and the argument was, he gave- there was no progressive principle- conservative principle that he sacrificed in order to do that deal. This is actually one where you can say he gave Democrats something they wanted, even if he also somewhat agreed with it, in exchange for almost nothing. But you know, we'll see. But there is an actual subst- this in an actual substantive bipartisan deal if it comes together. And the other thing was...good for Democrats but stupid.

JF: Well, yeah. I just don't wanna separate intention from result here. Like, the result is that he- he stumbled ass backwards into a great partisan deal. It certainly was not some strategy or intention or- you know, he just- everything is impulse. Like you said, he likes coverage when it's good for him, he doesn't like it when it's bad for him. He makes decisions about life and death and the country based on, you know, Fox and Friends versus Morning Joe. And also, he has some personal grudge with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell now so he thought he'd piss them off by having Chuck and Nancy over for Chinese. And suddenly we have a deal! [Laughter] So it's like...you know.

DP: That's- that is the best part of the whole thing-

[Laughter]

DP: Is that someone reported that...Trump believes that the policy issue on which he and Senator Schumer are closest is Chinese trade. So, they served Chinese food.

JF: It's problematic on so many levels. So many levels.

DP: It's just it's so...simplistic that it is just mind boggling. Like I would like to know what they'd serve for dinner if, like, Medicare reform was their closest issue. Or, I mean- it's just, it's so good. It’s so good.

JF: It's pretty great. Okay let's talk about health care. Speaking of health care. Two bills introduced yesterday. Let's actually start with the last-ditch attempt by the Republicans to repeal and replace ObamaCare. This is a piece of legislation from Lindsay Graham, Bill Cassidy, Dean Heller -- dirty Dean Heller -- and Ron Johnson. In some ways, this is actually the worst of all Republican health care plans, this last one standing. It hasn't gotten a lot of attention, but...basically this plan cuts the Affordable Care Act by 20 billion dollars and then it gives the rest of the money to the states to spend on whatever health care programs they want. But 20 states, mostly large populated states, also blue states, will lose anywhere from 35 to 60% of the funding they currently get from the Affordable Care Act because of a formula in the bill that gives sparsely populated red states more money. States could also get waivers that let insurers charge sick patients higher premiums and stop covering essential benefits like maternity care, prescription drugs. The estimate here is that 32 million people lose their coverage in 10 years, including 11 million on Medicaid, and premiums spiking 20%. So, no one thinks they ha- the good news is no one thinks they have the votes right now. McConnell didn't promise to bring it up. He told them to go find 50 votes on their own. Cornyn, who's the whip, the vote counter, said he didn't see the votes. Ted Cruz said they have about 44, 45 votes right now. We got Rand Paul as a no. And then the big thing is their deadline on this is September 30th. Once we pass September 30th, they go back to needing 60 votes to pass any kind of ObamaCare repeal and replace. And they can't do the reconciliation that only allows them- that only gives them 50 votes. What do you think of this, Dan? How worried should we be?

DP: Because I am not worried, we should probably be very worried.

JF: Cool, cool.

DP: Like, I think we should- the odds are long for them and there doesn't seem to be a ton of appetite for it, but we thought the same thing the first time the House took it up. We thought the same thing when Dean Heller and others killed health care, then health care came back, then it was killed again, then it became finally killed- like, up until the clock strikes midnight on September 30th, we should maintain a healthy level of paranoia about the Republicans’ desire and ability to snatch health care away from people so they can give tax cuts to millionaires. Like, that's not gonna go away.

JF: Yeah. We're favored by the calendar here. And it seems like from Trump to McConnell to Ryan to all the rest of the Republicans, except the ones who introduced this bill, more of them are focused on tax reform and getting that done than they are on one more attempt at ObamaCare- at repealing ObamaCare. But, you know, once you get to a deadline suddenly all kinds of deal making starts happening. So, you know, everyone should be on the lookout.

DP: Yeah, I would say a not encouraging sign for the Republicans on this is when they had their press conference, they invited Rick Santorum, who-

JF: Why did they do that?

DP: Left the Senate a decade ago. No idea. I think they were like, short a Senator and they were like, “This guy was once a Senator, let's bring him along and maybe people forgot.” He got his ass kicked by Bob Casey in 2006.

JF: Yeah, here we are with former Senator Rick Santorum. He's gonna really- he's gonna juice this proposal. Alright, let's talk about single payer. So, Bernie Sanders introduced his Medicare-for-all bill yesterday, which is co-sponsored by 16 Democratic Senators. That's about a third of the caucus, including Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Al Franken, and our guest for today, Kirsten Gillibrand.

DP: Quick question, Jon, what do all of those people have in common?

JF: They may, possibly, be running for President in 2020, Dan.

DP: I was gonna say, other than Bernie Sanders, they are- have all been on the podcast.

JF: Oh! Good for us, huh? [Laughs] Yeah, by the way Bernie Sanders, come on the podcast.

JL: It's Lovett.

JF: [Chuckles] He’s here right now

JL: I think that there was something wrong with my email to the Bernie Sanders people. I think it's my fault. I think that I was try- in my attempt at raproshma, I think that I may have...not been the best person to reach out

JF: [Snickers]

DP: Did you send it to [email protected]?

JL: I did.

[Laughter]

JL: Was that not right? That's how people get us here.

DP: That's how Michael Cohen reaches the Kremlin, so it'll work for you, too.

[Laughter]

JF: Okay, so within 4 years, under this plan everyone in America would transition to a universal health care plan run by the government, just like Medicare is now. This is an extremely generous plan. More so than any single payer plan in the world right now- than other countries, more generous than Medicare itself. You would pay no premiums, no deductibles, no copays, no nothing. It would cover hospital visits, primary care, medical devices, medical lab services, maternity care, prescription drugs, vision, dental, the whole shebang. Also, importantly, it would aim to bring down costs, the cost of health care overall. We know now that the Medicare program is currently cheaper than private insurance. The government helps hold costs down. We have this screwed up system in America where we pay doctors and hospitals based on how much care they provide, and not necessarily the quality of the care they provide and the outcomes that we get. That's something that the Affordable Care Act tried to change. Medicare obviously has a lot more power to change this because of their bargaining power because of how many people are insured there. The deal with Bernie’s plan is, everyone would get about 4 years to transition from their current insurance plan to this new plan. How much? Hugely expensive. Sanders did not lay out the details on that. He did have a separate white paper that offered some possibilities for paying for it, including higher tax rates on high income people, a 1% federal wealth tax on the net worth of the wealthiest one tenth of 1%. All of these tax options add up to about 16.9 trillion dollars over a decade and... still not sure if that would be enough to pay for this. One thing I should say that's important is, higher taxes- you know, don't have to mean higher health care spending since no one would be paying premiums or copays anymore, so. Dan, what d'you think about this? How big is this?

DP: I mean, it's hard to overstate how fast...the politics have shifted on this. In 2009 when we were trying to pass the Affordable Care Act… two things. One, Max Baucus, who was a Senator from Montana who was in charge of the finance committee that was writing the bill, refused to hold a single hearing on single-payer on the belief that it was too politically toxic and would endanger passage of the Affordable Care Act. In the Affordable Care Act was a public option, which is a bridge to something like Medicare-for-all or single payer. And... conservative Democrats- there were not 60 votes in a time which Democrats had 60 votes to include that in the bill and it was stripped out, to the objection of many people -- including President Obama and the people on this podcast. And to go from that to the world in which every Democrat who is thinking about running for President believes that it is- that are willing to put their name on this bill, is a pretty stunning- stunningly quick change in the political firmament. What d'you think of the politics of it?

JF: It's interesting, I think that the politics of it are...good. I mean, you can start with, you know something like 64, 65% of Democrats now believe we should have a single payer plan. I think overall the politics are pretty good. I think telling people that instead of, you know, spending all this money in this country on you know, insurance companies and insurance CEOs, and prescription drug companies, and instead we're gonna spend care on people and people aren't gonna have to pay for care and we're gonna hold down the cost of health care. I think those are all good messages. I do think that...if you're an advocate of single-payer, if you're an advocate of this bill, which I am, you do need to think through how you're gonna pay for it and be honest with people about how you're gonna pay for it. And not take questions about how you're going to pay for it as... “Oh, well you're against this and you just must be in the pocket of insurance industry and you know, you're a shill and blah, blah, blah.” Like, we have a responsibility that if we're gonna put forward this plan, to tell people, “We want this. This is the best way to go. This is the best way to have health care in America. This is the best way to insure everyone and here's the way we pay for it and we're not afraid to talk about that.” So, that's what I think.

DP: So, if you were running the campaign of a 2020 candidate, would you tell them to put all the details out? In the course of a campaign, I’m not saying they have to do it in the run-up. So, you're out there, you're gonna give your, you know mandatory speech rolling out your healthcare plan, you think you gotta do the pay force?

JF: I think you gotta give the, some options for the pay- I think what Bernie did, which was a have a separate white paper that had a bunch of options for pay force, is a good idea. I would probably, like, if I was running a campaign, narrow those down, pick some, and go around and- and that would be the message, you know. I mean, at least you wanna get in the ballpark. I don't think you have to have this fucking scored, like the CBO would score it, while you're running for President. But I do think you need-I mean it's just part of the message, you know. It's one thing to just have ads that talk about this, it's one thing to go out there on the stump. At some point, you're gonna get in a debate, or you’re gonna get an attack and someone's gonna say, “Well, how do you plan to pay for this?” And you know you need to be able to give a reasonably good answer that's believable and you need to have a follow up when someone gives you a follow up. I think that's- that's all you need. And I think that's doable.

DP: Do you think you'd do that even if you're running against Trump?

JF: Oh, I think you do that especially if you're running against Trump. I think that's- I mean it's so funny. This is what we talked about with Hillary Clinton and she had this...like, I think it's mistaken to think that you need to have every detail worked out. But I think if you're running against Trump, it is an equally good message to say that you're going to pay for this by raising taxes the richest people on this country.

JL: Dan, it's Lovett.

JF: I knew he wasn't gonna be able to fucking...sit quiet for 5 minutes.

JL: It's 10! it's time for ads!

DP: The danger of moving the studio within 10 feet of his desk.

JF: The master of single payer over here.

JL: First of all- first of all, it's 10 o clock. I’d be talking at the studio too. This is how it goes. Isn't this one of the lessons though, that Republicans have spent a long time separating politics from policy, you know. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney can run around talking about all the things they're gonna do to cut taxes. But when it comes time to paying for it, they're extremely vague or they just lie about it. Trump’s even worse. I mean isn’t one of the lessons of 2016 that-

JF: That we should be extremely vague and lie about it?

JL: No! Not that we should lie about it! But that- that we can- we can simply go back to you know, as a country we spend “x” on healthcare. We can make up for this by cutting what we spent on health care and by making people pay their fair share and leave it at that.

JF: Do you have numbers that make that work?

JL: What I’m saying, isn't what Hillary Clinton told us is, she was like, “I was waiting for the point where someone asked me do you have the numbers to make that work and in 2016 it didn't happen.”

JF: But she wasn't afraid about putting out the numbers. She was afraid about the political consequence about what the numbers would mean.

JL: But no, I’m not just talking about single payer. I’m saying that she put out all the numbers for her policies and she found that no one ever gave a shit.

JF: Well, if she didn't put out the numbers she certainly would've gave- don't you think the press would've been even tougher on her, if she didn't have any numbers to back up her policies? My thing is like- look-

JL: I don't know.

JF: If we're gonna advocate single payer, we have to be ready to defend the cost of it. And be proud of that.

DP: Let me say a couple things about this. One - the question is, do you wanna just win? And have no chance of passing single payer? Or do you wanna win and try to pass single payer? If you wanna win and try to pass single payer, you have to put enough details out that it is a reasonable proposal. If you were just gonna run on a vague notion of Medicare-for-all and just take the win and let the next President deal with it, then the more Bernie in the primary, Trump in the general election approach makes sense. I think on the larger politics of this, we shouldn't pretend that these politics are easy. Because you are at the end of the day, gonna move 90% of Americans off their current health insurance plan and onto another one. And convincing them, as we know from the Affordable Care Act, that even if people don't love their health insurance, the fear of the unknown exceeds their discomfort with the known.

JL: It's also true, Dan, that the- that you know we are watching a cautionary tale of this right now which is- they spent 8 years campaigning on a lie about health care but when it came time to govern, it's another matter.

JF: Yeah.

DP: That's right. I also think- I think the politics on this are tough. If you can't pass single payer in California or Vermont, passing it nationally is gonna be very challenging. But Democrats are 100% right to do this. It's the right thing to do. If we're ever going to get it done, people have to run on it and try to convince the nation it's the right thing to do. No one has- other than Bernie Sanders in the primary, no one has run on single-payer in decades, or made it the centerpiece of a presidential campaign.

JF: Yeah.

DP: We were able to shift the- one of the reasons why Trump feels compelled -- besides just enjoying Morning Joe commentary -- to do this DACA deal, is that we ran on immigration reform in 2012 and moved the political conversation from being largely anti-immigrant to looking for a comprehensive solution. And if Democrats wanna actually solve this problem, they have to run on it. And so, there's risks to it. But -- to the point you made earlier, Jon -- the traditional ideas of what we think about electability and how policy plays into electability and how resume and biography play into electability are out the window. And so, doing the right thing and being authentic and being bold about it is as best- as good an idea to win an election as we have out there.

JF: Yeah. I also think...the reason I like what Bernie did is it is an opening bid. And the opening bid is far to the left, so that you can sort of move back. And one of my lessons from the Obama years is, you know, the stimulus package, right? We started off with a stimulus package that we thought we could- that was not just the right policy but that we thought we could pass. And we also thought we needed a third of it to be tax cuts because we thought that would get Republicans and blah, blah, blah. And if we had to do it over again, I wonder, it's like- if we put out the stimulus package that we wanted -- that was the biggest, boldest, stimulus package possible, and then we negotiate it down to what we ended up with at our opening bid. Like if we- if we end up with instead of the extremely generous single payer plan that Bernie Sanders has laid out yesterday, if what we end up with is a robust public option that ultimately so many people choose because it's much better than private insurance, and the private insurance industry eventually just goes away because the public option is so popular-

JL: [Murmuring] Which we're not gonna say when we get behind that.

JF: Well- what we got behind yesterday says we're gonna eliminate the private insurance company- industry together all at once, so- you know, we gotta be comfortable with the rhetoric here. Then- you know, then that's pretty great, right? I think the important here is the goal at the end of the day is to get every single person covered, to bring down costs, and to make sure people can pay for health care in America. And we're saying, “This is the north star. This is what we wanna get to and let's figure out how to get there.”

DP: I think, to sort of boil this down, when you don't- when the politics for the things you want to do are not good- go change the politics, right.

JF: Right.

DP: The Democratic Party and the presidential candidates have agency here. They can make a- they can go to the country and convince them to do this and... that is the better way to do it than- it's better to decide what the right thing to do is and convince the country of that than...ask the country what they want and then just give that to them, right. So, you shouldn't dumb down your proposals to do the most politically expedient thing.

JL: Can I ask you both a question about this, which- so Chris Murphy has his version of a public option. It's a strong, public option where companies and individuals could buy into Medicare. Do you- I mean I- I wonder if that's not where we would ultimately land, right? It's kind of a more- it gives people the option and people can stay in their current health care if they want it. Do you think that we're sort of making these things too far apart, rhetorically? We've sort of made Medicare-for-all one thing, and the public option another. But part of me wonders if we can just say, we're for Medicare for all, whether it's a Bernie plan where everybody has- everybody is in it, or a Chris Murphy plan where everybody can buy into it or have access to it with a subsidy if they want. I mean, do you- like I’m just wondering if we've kind of made these things too far apart.

JF: I don't even know if we have made them far apart. When you dig into Bernie’s plan yesterday, it's a four-year transition. The first year just starts with the lowering the age to 55, which is like-

JL: Which Joe Lieberman stopped.

JF: Which is Sherrod Brown's plan. The second year is, you know, raising the age for young people and it kind of goes and meets them in the middle at the final year where it's like 35 or 45, right? And so even Bernie’s plan has this transition. And so, it is- I don't wanna exaggerate the differences as long as you're someone who's proposing, you know, a robust public Medicare plan that more and more and more and more Americans can buy into.

JL: Right.

DP: I mean the ultimate solution here is probably a transition period. Right? Where it's like, we're gonna do the public option and Medicare buy in that will transition into Medicare for all. As opposed to- it seems unlikely that we're gonna pass a bill and we’re gonna- two years later everyone's gonna be on Medicare and private insurance will be eliminated in this country. You will need to transition into it and -- because of what we tried to do with the public option and what we tried to do with the Medicare buy in that Liebermann killed -- we sort of know what the interim steps are. And every one of those steps is a huge benefit to the individuals who would take part in that program and the overall- and reducing costs and quality- and improving quality of care across the health care system.

JF: Yeah. Okay. When we come back, we will talk with New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

0:45:33

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0:45:38

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JL: Sonos.

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JL: I mean, where to begin.

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[Laughter]

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JF: Capital P-S-A one zero at sonos.com to receive this exclusive offer. Lovett, it's sad that you don't have the Wi-Fi password so you can't control the Sonos in our new house anymore.

JL: Did you change the Wi-Fi password?

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0:48:49

[MUSIC]

0:48:53

JF: On the pod today, we are very lucky to have with us New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Senator Gillibrand, thanks for coming on the pod!

KG: You're welcome. I’m really excited to be on.

JF: We're glad to have you. So, yesterday you signed on to Bernie Sanders' Medicare for all act. And you've actually been a proponent of Medicare for all since your first Congressional race back in 2006. So, it seems like there are two big challenges here with this bill- with this legislation. One is figuring out how to pay for it. And two, just something- you know, we all worried about during the Affordable Care Act debate, persuading the 90% of Americans who have health insurance that we can transition them to a Medicare plan with, you know, little to no disruption in their lives. So, how do we meet these challenges?

KG: Well, I think the most important thing is to give people the opportunity to buy into a not for profit public option. I think it's really important to recognize that so much of the cost in health care today is the fact that we have these middle men called insurance companies that are for profit companies that have very high profit margins, fat CEO salaries, and quarterly obligations to their shareholders. And their goal in life is to make money, as they should be. That's what they are. They're for profit companies. We need someone who's running this that actually cares about people and puts people before profits and puts the health and well-being of Americans first. And so, you need at least a not for profit public option. And so over the 4 years under our bill -- and this is the part that I worked on to write – is, let people buy into Medicare at a price they can afford. And do it over 4 years so people can be eligible each year to buy in. And it lets people see how much less it costs if you're not guaranteeing fat CEO pay and profits for these insurance companies. Over time I think people will then begin to see it's not only less expensive, but it's higher quality care. And so, the reason why Medicare for all is so important is because you have to move away from a for profit system into a not for profit system. You cannot get, in my opinion, to universal coverage and affordability at the same time. And that's why states that have one or two providers are struggling. Because they might have a low population, they might have an older population, they might have a sick population. And so, those insurance companies can't make enough money and that's why they're not there. So, while ObamaCare did a lot to get us in the right direction, it protected kids up until 26, it said you can't be dropped coverage because of preexisting conditions. It made all these changes that really matter. It's still based on a for profit system and so it's still too expensive for a lot of middle class families, for a lot of small businesses. It's still too expensive. And so, to really get cost down you need to be able to take the insurance companies out of the equation and you need to be able to negotiate in bulk for the lowest cost for drugs. You have to be able to take on the drug companies and say, we deserve to be able to buy in bulk through Medicare or Medicaid and get lower prices for people.

JF: So- it's interesting, you mentioned adding a nonprofit- a not for profit public option. That was actually the plan that Hillary Clinton proposed in the 2016 election, adding a public option. And even though her and Bernie fought quite a bit over her plan versus his single payer plan, do you think those differences were over blown? Because, you know, you're talking about adding a public option and then ultimately transitioning to a Medicare for all single payer plan. Do you think this is just sort of a- a difference in how we transition, how fast we transition – what do you think about that?

KG: Well I think our goal has to be single payer. We have to get to a place where all Americans are covered no matter what, and that health care is a right and not a privilege. And that has to be the goal for all of us. But I think the buy in is the best way to transition because honestly if you give people a chance to have Medicare -- I can't tell you how many people when I’ve traveled around the state who've said to me, you know, “I’m 55 years old, I just got laid off, I don’t know why, you know I have to be in poverty to be eligible for Medicaid, it's not fair. Why can't I be eligible now for Medicare or Medicaid?” And it's just- it's what people want and it's not partisan. And as you mentioned, when I ran in 2006 I ran on Medicare for all. I said you need at least one not for profit public option. I said people should be able to buy in. And people liked it and that was a very Republican district. And so, it makes sense. It's really common sense. And it's all about where the money goes and the money should be going entirely towards health care, not to overhead, not to profits, not to CEO pay. And to your question of paying for it. People are gonna buy into this and it's going to be less than they're paying their insurance company. So, people are gonna save money and America’s gonna spend less money on healthcare and you're gonna get to the fundamental cost that's driving the fact that we spend so much more on health care in this country than other countries that have universal health care.

DP: Senator, like all things, this is a question of both policy and politics. What lessons, or- do you take, or concerns do you have about the fact that two of our most progressive states, Vermont and California -- where Jon and I live -- have tried to do single payer and run into great struggles politically? What lessons do you take from that as you think about how to do this nationally? In, you know, obviously a much different environment than California and Vermont?

KG: I think people just have to understand what it's about. When you really simplify it and say, should money be going to insurance company CEOs or insurance company profits, or should money be spent directly on your health care? It's really obvious to most voters. And so, when you present it like that, they say, of course I’d rather the money go to health care. I don’t need to fund insurance company profits. And so, it's- it's simplifying the system and then it's making all health care available to all people. And that's why having single payer, that's why having Medicare for all is really a very elegant solution that solves our greatest problem that too many people are priced out of health care today. It's really, in some circumstances for the most privileged among us, and it's just not right. It's morally wrong. So, I think if you talk about it in that way around the country, they're gonna support this. You know the debate sometimes becomes very toxic and misleading. And so if you really just speak truth to power, I think it's gonna work. And I think people want to have Medicare for all. I think they really- they know their grandparents or their parents are on Medicare. They know they generally like things. They'd like drug prices to be cheaper. We need to deal with that as a cost measure. And then you can begin to create a healthcare system that's not focused on fee for service, but is actually focused on well-being of patients.

JF: So, we interviewed Hillary Clinton on Monday and -- you know, you've been a strong supporter of her and you were in 2016 -- I asked her if she had any advice for women who are interested in politics, who are running for politics now- running for office now, on how to grapple with the kind of sexism she faced in the campaign. What kind of advice would you give to women who are running for office for the very first time? The thousands who have signed up to run since 2016.

KG: Well the first thing I would tell them is to believe in themselves and to make sure they know that their voice will make a difference. I started “Off the Sidelines” about 6 years ago to create a call to action to ask women to do exactly this. To run for office. If they didn't want to run for office, then to support another woman who shared your values, to vote, to become advocates, to be heard. And what we’ve seen since this President was elected is a resurgence of women who desperately want to be heard. And it all started in the Women's March. I mean, I don't know if you participated in any of the marches around the globe, but-

JF: Oh yeah, right here in LA.

KG: Millions- yeah millions of people came out and said, “I want to be heard.” And what was so brilliant about the March was its intersectionality, the fact that it didn't matter what you marched for. You could certainly march for women's reproductive freedom, but you could also march for Black Lives Matter, or you could march for immigration reform, or clean air clean water, or LGBT equality. It didn't matter. It was the first time for a lot of people to just put what they felt most strongly about and put it on a sign and carry the sign. And it was an action that I think really was a process in democratizing democracy in a way that was powerful and certainly meaningful for me and really inspiring. So, for all the women who are thinking about running, please run! We need you! And we need your voice. We need your perspective. You have a very different life experience than most people serving in government. As you know, we only have 20% in the Senate, 18% in the House. And it's not enough. It's just not enough. And so, issues that overwhelmingly impact women and families sometimes don't even get on the top 10 list. It's outrageous that we don't have national paid leave in this day and age, when every other industrialized country has it. We don't even have equal pay for equal work yet. And other things that, you know, perhaps because women see the world differently, having affordable day care or universal pre-k. These kinds of changes would make a difference. So, I just- I believe that we need women. We need the diversity of our country representing our country. And we just don't have it. We need more women of color, we need more African American and Hispanic, Latinas. We need more people running who are different than what we have today. And so, I’m hoping that women really feel this, intensely, that not only are they qualified but they're differences in life experience is what makes them more effective, more powerful, and more relevant for some of the problems we need to face today.

DP: Senator, I wanted to ask you about the deal -- or alleged deal -- that Senator Schumer and Leader Pelosi struck with Trump. And not- I guess I’m curious, not necessarily about the details of the deal, but how you think about Democrats working with Trump, while at the same time believing that he is an existential threat to a lot in this country. Is there a danger that he gets normalized by this? Or we're helping him out politically in ways that Senator McConnell certainly was not willing to do for President Obama?

KG: I don't think some of President Trump's hateful policies will ever be normalized and can never be allowed to be normalized. So, when he's objectifying and discriminating against transgender troops, you stand boldly against him and you say, why? That's immoral. When he wants to say that kids that are here under DACA can't stay, you stand up against him. But if he wants to do something good and his desire is to actually help people, there’s no reason you shouldn't do it. And in fact, it would be immoral if you didn't do it. If he wants to make sure we pass the DREAM Act tomorrow, I will be the first one to say, I will work with you to pass the DREAM Act tomorrow. So, we have to do both. When he does something that’s toxic, wrong, and immoral, we have to stand strong and fight hard. And if he wants to do something that helps people, that is our job- to work with him to help people. That is why we are here. We are public servants first. And if people let politics get in the way of helping people, they're not doing their jobs.

JF: So, you're someone who used to have a more conservative position on immigration when you first ran for Congress. Now, you know, you're one of the strongest advocates for a path to citizenship for undocumented Americans. Talk a little bit about your evolution on this issue, and also, you know, how you think Democrats should approach immigration policy going forward.

KG: Well, as an upstate House member, I just didn't have enough experience understanding the traumas that families face who are dealing with immigration in this country. My district was maybe 98% white and I didn't take the time to understand why this issue was so important and how harmful anti-immigration policies are. And so, when I was appointed to the Senate and was given the job of representing the whole state, I spent time with families all across the state to hear from them about what their lives were actually like. And I have to say I was horrified that I hadn't been sensitive enough, that I hadn't understood how difficult and challenging some of these hateful politics can be for a family. And I can't imagine what it's like to be a child whose parents could be shipped away at any moment. Like, I can't imagine the anxiety that they feel. And so, I feel so strongly now that we have to work much, much harder to protect these kids, to protect these families, and to really make the case about how important the history of immigration is in our country. I mean, we are a country founded by immigrants. Part of the strength of our democracy is because of our diversity. Part of the strength of our economy is because of our diversity. And I’ve met with refugee populations, with immigration populations, across our state who, when they come here all they do is grow the economy. They start businesses, they start families, they invest. And so, we need comprehensive immigration in this country. We need pathways to citizenship. We have to protect the kids who are under DACA and who are Dreamers. So, I just feel like our country- it's not about tolerating diversity, it's about the strength the diversity caused. Our country is stronger because of our diversity.

DP: Senator, we wanted to ask you about the amendment you're working on with Senator Collins, about protecting transgender troops. What would that do to address the situation of the new Trump policy? And what are the prospects, do you think?

KG: The prospects are very strong that we can actually pass our amendment. Senator Collins and I have worked on issues that affect military personnel for many years now. She and I worked together on repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And we, you know, nobody thought we could repeal that policy. Even the advocacy groups were afraid to vote on that. But we did. And we pushed it because it was the right thing to do and goodness prevailed on that day. I think the same is true here. We don’t know how many votes we have, but we've just convince Senator McCain to support our amendment. Which is fantastic because he's seen by many Republicans as the leader on all things military. And so, what our bill will do is protect any transgender troops who are serving today and make sure that they cannot be discriminated against because of their gender identity.

JF: Senator, one thing we learned this week after interviewing Hillary on Monday is, you know from some of the responses, here's still a lot of deep divisions within the party between Bernie supporters, Hillary supporters. What are your thoughts on a message and policies that might unite the Democratic party in 2018, 2020, and beyond?

KG: Well certainly policies that really affect people deeply. Like Medicare for all. I think being willing to take on the drug companies and getting health care costs down is one of the biggest drivers of economic insecurity in this country today. I think focusing on rewarding work. Just listening to the challenges workers face across this country and then working so much harder to meet their needs. So, focusing on ways that reward work, such as obviously raising the minimum wage. But also investing in manufacturing, seeing ‘Made in America’ again. Making sure we invest in the kind of training and education that gets people right into the jobs that are available today. Having structural changes like paid family leave. I can't tell you how many people are forced to leave the work force because of an urgent family crisis, if they can even afford to do so. So being bold, being aggressive, speak about the vision for the party. I think free education is something we should absolutely fight for. Especially for these worker training issues. Like if you get laid off and your mid-career and you just need 6 months of training to get that job at that manufacturer, you know five miles away, that should be available at any community college, any local state school, for free. And so, the kinds of things we could do to level the playing field for workers and restructure the economy to reward work again. I mean this is a long conversation but, you know we have had an economy that is overwhelmingly dominated by shareholder value. It's overwhelmingly dominated by who owns things. And so, if we wanna refocus it towards who works in the economy, who actually are the people that build things, it's gonna take some really structural challenges. And I think if you incentivize companies to do things like profit sharing or employee ownership or creating a workplace policy that support workers first. Really investing in B corps and saying, if you're gonna focus on sustainability and have pro worker, workplace policies, you're gonna get a tax advantage, you know. If we're gonna do tax reform, let's increase tax benefits for companies that create their companies this way. And then support our unions. Our unions are our greatest voices for workplace fairness and to get higher pay for workers. And really help communities understand that if they have someone negotiating for them, they're gonna be more powerful. So really renew our commitment to helping unions be strong. Cause they- they put people first. And so, it's just this question of what do you do first, people or profits? And we are a capitalist country, we believe in capitalism, but we don't believe in greed. And that is the difference. That has been the divergence for the last several decades. And so, we have to reward good companies that wanna create jobs, reinvest in the middle class, and reinvest in their workers. And make it more profitable for those kinds of companies to succeed by investing in them.

JF: Awesome. Thank you so much, Senator Gillibrand for joining us. And please come back again.

KG: Thank you guys so much! I really appreciate you including me.

JF: Oh, absolutely. Take care!

KG: Take care, bye!

JF: Bye.

1:06:34

[MUSIC]

1:06:39

JF: Pod Save America is brought to you by Parachute.

JL: Parachute.

JF: What do you think?

[Laughter]

JL: I think Parachute is just terrific. We are back to using Parachute as the giveaway at Lovett or Leave It, for people who win the games. Sadly, we've not had a lot of people lose the games and I’m trying to figure out how to make them harder.

JF: Yeah. I could win any of those games.

JL: Well that's because you're a news junkie. That's because you’re a fiend. A Twitter fiend.

JF: Yeah. I’m gonna help you come up with the fake- the- you know how it's '”too fake to be true” or whatever that game is that you guys play? I’m a casual listener.

[Laughter]

JL: Too stupid to be-

JF: Two truths and a false?

JL: Too stupid to- don't- it's called “too Stupid to be true.”

JF: Too stupid to be true. I think- [giggles]

JL: Parachute.

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[Laughter]

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[Laughter]

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[Laughter]

JL: We like Parachute. We need to take a trip. We need to do a Sunday trip-

JF: [While laughing hysterically] Sultan of Brunei!

JL: I don't where that- I don’t even know anything about the Sultan of Brunei. Maybe they sleep on a- maybe they sleep on very low count thread sheets that are uncomfortable.

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[Laughter]

JL: It's like the pool on the roof at the start of Weekend at Bernie’s.

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Both: Parachute!

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JL: No questions asked!

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1:08:30

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JF: Yes!

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JL: And it is nobody's business. It's my business.

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1:09:31

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1:10:07

[MUSIC]

1:10:11

JF: On the pod today, we have the host of Crooked Media's with Friends Like These, Ana Marie Cox. Welcome!

Ana Marie Cox: Hello, guys.

JF: Hi, there. You just did an interview with our pal, Rembert Browne, right?

AMC: I did and if I do say so myself, it was fantastic. It was good for me. I hope it was good for him. I hope listeners appreciate it as well. We did a really deep dive into the piece that came out this week that he wrote that is a profile of Colin Kaepernick with a missing piece. Which is an actual interview with Colin Kaepernick, but in a way- like, just as a magazine nerd and as a writing nerd, I’m sure you guys appreciated this about the piece as well, which is that one of the things it's about is that it's not Colin Kaepernick's job to be a celebrity and be in profiles. And it's not his job to be interrogated by people about his beliefs.

JF: That is true.

AMC: He has a job. And he's doing it. Which is that he's an activist now, you know. He's not at the beck and call of reporters or other people that- that want to question him. Like he's doing what he needs to do.

JF: That's an interesting angle on it. I like that.

AMC: And it's just a great piece and obviously it's really current right now. Not just because we are, you know, in the middle of one of the most politically charged football seasons that we've seen in a while. But obviously, Jemele Hill at ESPN tweeted some truths about Donald Trump, including the fact he's a white supremacist. And not only did ESPN discipline her in some unspecified way, but Sarah Huckabee Sanders asked ESPN to fire her. From the podium of the White House. What's your guys' take on that -- as far as like, using the White House podium to ask for people to get fired?

JF: I mean it's fucking absurd, you know.

[Laughter]

JF: When- when reality television star Donald Trump ran around calling Barack Obama and others racist, we didn't call for his firing from the White House podium. But we could've.

AMC: Yeah.

DP: Perhaps we should have.

AMC: Yeah, you guys could've really nipped this in the bud. I think that's actually the real lesson here, right?

DP: Seriously. This is the- this is the baby Hitler question as relates to Trump.

[Laughter]

AMC: So, that's super ugly in, you know, race news this week. Other stuff too, what did you guys wanna talk about? What do you got left on the list?

JF: What we have left on the list is...we didn't talk about the antics- the Kris Kobach antics this week with Trump’s voter fraud commission. Kobach wrote a piece in Breitbart where he said that Hillary Clinton and Maggie Hassan won in New Hampshire because of illegal voting by out-of-state residents. This is, of course, false. Most of these are out-of-state college students who had every legal right to vote in New Hampshire. What's the deal with this dog and pony show here?

AMC: Well, in a way it encapsulates- it's a microcosm of everything that's wrong with the Trump administration. Which is to say that it's a poorly formulated idea that was poorly executed, that will have very few real-world ramifications beyond just re-solidifying bad ideas.

JF: Yeah.

AMC: Like Kris Kobach himself has said that he's not sure if anything is gonna come from this commission. But as you guys know, propping up the idea that voter fraud is something that is a real thing that we need to do something about, is itself a powerful idea. You know, that's a powerful tool to broadcast to the nation, that there is such a thing as massive voter fraud and that it's done on behalf of Democrats. The thing itself was almost literally a joke. Like, at one point they brought out antique New Hampshire voting machines to demonstrate? Like...like you would not pay a nickel to go see in a museum, you know?

JF: Yeah. What do you think about some Democrats who are calling on the Democratic members of this commission to resign? And they refused, saying, you know “We need to be here to sort of watch Kobach's antics.” What do you think about that?

AMC: I’m torn. I think that the main reason I would say that they should be there, is that one of the members of the commission - Hans Spakovsky, do you guys know how to pronounce his last name? It's just like one of those complicated-

JF: No, I’m not even gonna try. I have pronunciation issues on the podcast, so-

AMC: You know, eastern European sounding names, I don't know. He's one of the main architects of this voter fraud, fraud. He asked that Democrats not be a part of the commission. So therefore, I think that they should be. If one of the main perpetrators of this lie doesn’t want Democrats there, then I think Democrats should be there. I mean, I’m curious about- you know this is a question for a lot of people on the left right now, is how much you should be working with the other side. I’m sure you guys dived into the DACA thing, you know, should Democrats at all work with Trump or work with Republicans? I mean I think it's probably a case by case basis.

JF: Totally, yeah, I think it's case by case. I think on DACA it's our policy outcome so yeah, of course.

AMC: Yeah, right.

JF: It's not like- we gave up almost nothing. Or it looks like we're gonna give up almost nothing.

AMC: And I do think the Democrats being on Kobach's commission means that there's probably a little bit more transparency there. Like they'll fight for people to be able to come and see the commission’s hearings, at least. And see that they're a joke.

JF: Yeah, well okay, this is- you know I’ve been very critical of some of these folks who are in the Trump administration who are claiming they're there to like save America. And, you know, they're serving for that reason and I think that at this point they should absolutely resign and tell the country what's going on in the Trump administration and that would have a greater impact than them staying in there. Aside from some of those in national security roles like McMaster. But on this one, on the voting commission, I like that there are Democrats on the commission because it's a public commission. And I think that if you have Democrats there, they can speak out and call out Kobach's lies in- you know, to the public while it's going on. And I would imagine that if this commission comes to a conclusion that's insane and wrong, they will certainly not sign on to that and they can use that position to speak out.

AMC: And they will have some weight behind not signed on, right.

JF: Right.

AMC: They'll be able to say, “And this is why we're not signing on.” Rather than speaking from the outside. I do wanna- I mean people who are listening to-

JF: And they're speaking out now and they're not waiting, even. Which is nice.

AMC: Right, right. And I know people listening to this show know this, that voter fraud is not a problem. It doesn't really exist. But this is one of the most pernicious, like, urban legends that exists in America.

JF: Yeah.

AMC: My- my Trump supporting in-laws, you know, again are good example here. Like they earnestly believe that there's some kind of conspiracy around this. And they refuse to be shaken from it. So, the more that we can do to combat this and like just the- you know, the popular narrative, I mean, the better. And the best, the best way to combat it, though, I think is just continuing to fight against the, you know, unfair gerrymandering and just continue to just register people to vote and do voter turnout. There's no, unfortunately, like just make- make the evidence- put the evidence in the votes, if that makes sense.

JF: Yeah, and publicize some of these battles on the local and state level which our friend Jason Kander is doing so well. So, I think- I think that's an important thing to keep in mind.

DP: I think it's worth nothing that Hans van whatever, he was on the FEC. He was recess appointed because the junior Senator from Illinois, to much controversy, put a hold on his nomination. So, real prescient move there, Barack Obama.

JF: There you go. Alright guys, well. So, everyone should tune in- so, With Friends like These, your interview with Rembert Browne drops tomorrow-

AMC: Yeah.

JF: So, everyone, make sure you download.

AMC: It'll probably be a little long. I’m just gonna -gonna toss that out there I know people probably- I know some people don’t like when we do those, kind of bonus episode length stuff. But I think it's worth it. I think it's a really good piece.

JL: Ana, hey, it's Lovett. I wanna talk a little bit about salesmanship.

[Laughter]

JL: I would say that there are probable other qualities besides the length of it that people might enjoy. The interesting qualities of the conversation, the fascinating insights the Rembert brought to the table. Perhaps- perhaps long is a better thing because you'll be so engrossed in it you won't want to stop listening. Maybe you'll-

AMC: I think time will fly. I think people won’t even realize.

JL: Maybe you'll sit in your car-

AMC: I’m not even gonna say how long it's gonna be. Because people aren’t gonna know. Cause they’ll- they're sense of time will be warped by the investment that they'll have while they're listening

DP: I don’t know if you've been in a McDonalds recently but Americans like more.

[Laughter]

DP: More podcasts, less- same price.

JF: Guys, I think, I think we've bled right into the outro here.

[MUSIC BEGINS]

JL: We're in the outro.

JF: We're- it's here. Now we are. Because this episode is now long.

JL: And, music!

[Laughter]

JF: Also, guys-

DP: Can I add- can I add two minutes to this intro before we go?

JF: Sure.

DP: So, I was on a podcast last week called The Rights to Ricky Sanchez, which is the premiere Philadelphia of 76ers podcast.

JF: Oh yeah, I saw that.

JL: That's my favorite Philadelphia of 76ers podcast!

DP: And the host- well- good, because you came up in the podcast. One of the hosts-

JF: Now you've got his attention.

DP: One of the hosts -- yeah, now he's excited -- is a TV writer in LA- in Hollywood. And many years ago, he interviewed to be your assistant on 1600 Penn.

JL: Cool.

JF: Whoa. And now-

JL: How'd it go?

DP: You did not hire him.

JF: [Laughing]How'd it go?

DP: You did not hire him, but you did tell him the main part of the job was to- was to get you French fries whenever you wanted them.

JL: No!

[Laughter]

JL: No! That's exactly wrong!

JF: Yes!

JL: That's exactly backwards and now I’m glad I didn't hire this person-

JF: Elijah, this is the clip that we wanna use on social media.

JL: You can use this clip all you want because I vividly remember what I said, because I ended every interview by saying the same thing: “I am not kidding. If anyone brings me French fries, they're fired.”

[Laughter]

JL: And I’m gonna ask for them.

JF: Seems like there was a lot of firing.

JL: Yeah, we went through- I went through 40 people.

[Laughter]

JF: Alright guys, well that's all we have for today. We still have tickets to Pod Save America, which- which?

JL: Ann arbor.

JF: Ann arbor!

JL: What kind of operation is this?

AMC: That's where I’m gonna be! That's the show I’m in.

JF: Where Ana’s joining us.

JL: Where Ana is.

AMC: Yeah!

JF: It's crooked.com/tour. Also, you know Santa Barbara still in December, but that's a couple months away. But Ann Arbor! Ann Arbor's gonna be in October and we have a second show, so we still have tickets to the second show. Excellent. All your friends will be there.

AMC: Come see us, guys.

JF: We'll all be here. Alright guys, we will- we'll talk to you all on Monday. Take it easy.

JL: Take it easy?

DP: Bye, guys.

JL: End of show.

JF: Good night and good luck.

DP: Just mixing it up on the outro.

[Laughter]

JF: And that's the way it is!

[Laughter]

JL: Courage.

[Laughter]

1:20:53

#podsa #September 2017 #podsa transcripts

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