#op: unfortunately i am big huge and i apologize

[virtute-praeditum]

@justificatusductus​

EVADE: for one muse to pull the other into an alleyway to escape their pursuer.

    “You know that I respect your expertise in pursuits and tactical matters, Prowl,” Optimus spoke, keeping his tone just above a whisper in an effort to be stealthy (despite how difficult that was, when one happened to be a brightly hued alien semi truck).

    “But I have my doubts this will be an effective hiding place, considering I occupy half the alley.” He was trying to be small, he really was, although he was entirely unsuccessful.

[opgrandfleet]

Let’s Talk (Entry #1) Straw Hat Pirates

Welcome to the very first entry on the Grand Fleet. The topic of discussion is the Straw Hat Pirates; favorite to least favorite - brief reasons included.

Before I start, I am but one member of the Grand Fleet blog. You can view my main @likesugarandcyanide​ or @mydisenchantedeulogy�� at the links. This blog was made out of appreciation for One Piece, so the only content is obviously OP related. Let’s begin.

Number 1 favorite Straw Hat member: Monkey D. Luffy.

This was a no brainer for me. I love Luffy. He’s dense; he’s strong; he is a very determined captain. Literally his various quirky lines and actions in the series gave me goose bumps. Example: catching Doflamingo’s foot with his own before said man stepped on Law. I absolutely went crazy seeing this in the manga. 

I could go on for days about my reasons, but I’m making this post short to allow more feedback.

Number 2: Nami

She is my boo. Most were probably expecting Sanji or Zoro, but for me, it’s Nami. She’s smart and gorgeous - I won’t even go into detail about the fact her boobs are huge … and seem to get bigger throughout the series. 

From the start of the series she has been a favorite of mine. Her love of money, tangerines, and beating up Luffy when he acts up makes her my second favorite.

Number 3: Vinsmoke Sanji

Now, I normally hate perverted characters, and Sanji is certainly one. He’s also much more though; he’s a cook and a gentleman, and one of the strongest members of the Straw Hats. It’s hard to hate him. His fighting style is amazing, and throughout the series it gets much better. Lets not forget he’s incredibly hot too - no pun intended. 

Number 4: Roronoa Zoro

It was hard not to put Zoro closer to number one on my list. He made it in the top 5, so that’s something. His swordsmanship is interesting; 3 swords - not as easy as he makes it look.

Zoro is a favorite of mine because he’s also a voice of reason for the crew. When Luffy went against Usopp he stated to Luffy that he’d leave if Luffy forgave Usopp and allowed him back into the crew without apologizing. That hit home to me, because it showed that Zoro respects Luffy and he believes the crew should as well.

Number 5: Nico Robin

A classy lady, she first appeared as a villain to the Straw Hats, but much like the other villains in the show, Robin had a reason; her past. It took her a while to adjust to them, and I’m happy the series went this way with her character. It made her wish to live and continue sailing with them so much better. That scene always gives me the chills.

Aside from her past, Robin has a dark sense of humor and a one track mind when it comes to something that interests her. I adore her character for these reasons.  

Number 6: Brook

The list takes a tumble from here. I do love Brook; his music is beautiful and his back story is extremely sad, but there is still so much I hope to see from him. He hasn’t had much of a power up since the time skip, but his bone jokes still get me.

Number 7: Usopp

Like number 6, Usopp is a character I hope to see more from. His battle with Sugar proved he has much to offer, but sadly that power hasn’t been seen since then.

It was Stampede that brought Usopp up in my list. His loyalty to Luffy made me tear up. Not to mention he’s pretty funny at time.

Number 8: Tony Tony Chopper

Cuteness alone was not enough to convince me on where to rank Chopper. Yes, he is adorable, and his past is sad, but until I see more from him, he’ll remain at number 8.

Number 9: Franky

There are no Straw Hats that I hate. Each of them holds a spot in my heart, but unfortunately Franky nearly made it to last place. He’s an interesting character, and has room to grow, but I’ve yet to see anything, aside from the fight with Senor Pink to make me like him more. 

Number 10: Jimbei

New to the Straw Hat crew, I don’t know too much about him yet. His backstory has been touched on, and honestly I’m a little concerned with how much of his lifespan he gave up to Big Mom in order to leave her crew, He may not have much time left. That’s why he’s at the bottom of the list.

Let us know what your list is. We’d love to hear back from fans of the series.

[spnbaby-67]

A Love Worth Fight For

A/N:  Here is part 2, let me know how you are liking it so far, and if there is anything you want to see in future chapters, let me know. Keep in mind I don’t have a beta and I apologize for that. Please no hate on the wives I love them just the same, and don’t copy and paste on other sites without my permission. Thank you so much for the amazing responses so far. you are all awesome. 

Pairing Jensen and Samantha OFC, Cliff, other bodyguards. 

Chapter One

Chapter 2, 

I bet  your wondering why I am sitting on the floor, right? Like why didn't I just leave the hotel all together?  Well, you try dodging five or more big guys that stood  6'2" with muscles that could RIP you apart and make it look clean. Go ahead, try.  I'll sit right here while you do that. It's not easy, especially when they have your face plastered in their brains trains to kill.  Besides, my head is thinking they have every exit surrounded somehow just waiting for me to try and escape. Not so easy.

What's that saying? Shoot now and ask questions later? I'm not all about that, but damn let me tell you, you may not see Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki's full bodyguards close by, until there's a reason for them. I swear they are all huge, from the quick look I saw of them. Heck, they  maybe even taller than Jared, I dunno, but I know one thing, I gotta get out of here. But my body is so exhausted from running and hiding till I am about to admit defeat, and take the punishment regardless if I did it or not. 

You see that night I told you about, when I went to get ice cream, I ended up in jail. Because of the priors I had regardless if they were filed or not, the judge didn't care, and gave me three years in women correctional home. I had to wear an ankle bracelet at all times, and everywhere I went I had to have someone follow me to make sure I didn't leave the premises without written consent and with someone.  Sarah, my lovely so called friend had slipped a plan b into my purse apparently when I wasn't paying attention. That triggered the alarm when I was walking out, so therefore the cops came and this time a shop owner pressed charges.  See what I mean by being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Teach me to help someone again.  

Anyways, brings us back to today. I am a huge fan of the TV show called Supernatural. I discovered the show when I was in jail, and was bored one night flipping through the channels.  It was my turn to control the remote for an hour and it landed on the CW. The episode they were showing that night was Lazarus Rising.  I was captivated on a pair of green eyes that shook my core the moment I saw him escape from hell.  His hand reaching from under the ground upwards to the sky, sent chills down my spine.  I had to see who it belonged to and my heart thudded big time when I saw the handsome hunter he came to be.  Oh my gosh, the raspy sound of his voice when he tried to talk was just wow.  But ultimately I just love the dynamic of the brothers fighting the monsters and saving people and even themselves at times.  I am a big fan of Jensen and Jared, but more so Jensen.  Only because I can relate to Dean's life in a way that I feel we would hit it off if I was to ever step foot in the supernatural world.  Don't get me wrong, Jared is my heart, he saved my life a few times while I was in jail, in fact, they both did, but i will spare you the drama for now.  

After I had gotten out of jail a year ago, I had to start over. I had nothing to my name, not even the clothes on my back, they gave me those as a way of saying sorry for wrongly accusing you.  More on that later.   But my first thought was that I needed a job, and who in their right mind would hire anyone with a criminal record?  No one, well maybe Mel's diner.  And he only did that because he always pinched my ass every time he walked by me or I by him. Bleh, just thinking about that I get the Willie's, Anyways, I worked there for a year and saved up all my cash tips and managed to get into a nice apartment in walking distance to downtown Houston. All was going great, my life turned around and I even had a few friends, well I thought they were.  Let's say I know how to pick em. But it be honest, I don't know how she would turn out to be until today.  

You see, Jessie, had a wild idea to come to Nashville to volunteer to work at a supernatural convention.  I thought she was crazy,  I mean who would let people volunteer to work at a convention with huge stars like Jared and Jensen?  You gotta be crazy to do that, well apparently I was wrong, and Jessie made it so easy for me to say yes.  I am not one to question my chance meeting my one and only heart eyes of a man, but if I knew now what I knew then, I'd say no. Don't worry,  I'm getting there as to why I am sitting here on the floor.  I'm building up the excitement for you.  

I was able to score a couple of solo ops with both Jared and Jensen for that Sunday and Jessie was able to get us a duo op.   I was extremely excited and very nervous, because my anxiety was beginning to get the best of me the closer I stood to him.  He is just so beautiful, sandy blonde hair spiked to perfection, he wore ripped knee jeans and a black short sleeved shirt that hugged his body in all the right places. He had a red and black flannel on, and boots that looked worn but were comfortable. I wanted to die when we walked into the room together for our duo.  She let me hug Jensen, and we had an idea that he and Jared would stand behind us and hug us from behind then we would hold the others hand. 

Well, it turned out that Jensen had his own idea, he placed one arm around my waist and the other around my upper chest and slightly turned me like he was going to dip me. I ended up caught off guard, and my expression was real. I think that's what made the op be amazing is that it wasn't fake or planned out. Gotta love those guys for the way they take directions. I laughed back at the moment, actually it was a way to keep me from totally freaking out. I remember hearing Jensen say to me that I was beautiful and he wanted to see how our op turned out during autographs, which unfortunately never happened. You see, somehow Jessie the ever so chilled out chick, decided to pickpocket his wallet. Somewhere as we were walking out to now, I still have no idea how she did it and I didn’t even know until three gorillas came to us. 

I swear to god, I am never trusting anyone again, ever. If it's the last freaking thing I do in this world, I will never trust another soul. I always end up being the one who either gets hurt, or the one in trouble as in this case. Cliff Closterman, the boys main bodyguard came at us as we were exiting the room. 

Flashback

“That was so fucking amazing Jessie, I can’t wait to see what that is going to turn out.” I told her as i was still on cloud nine. My head was floating as we gathered our stuff that I didn’t hear the commotion behind me. 

“Yeah, that was. Now come on let’s go.” She retorted as she pushed me out the door. 

“What is wrong with you? Your acting like you did something wrong, Jess.” I stopped and turned to look at her. “What the hell did you do?” Just the look on her face proved it. 

“Nothing, just, let’s go.” She looked back at the room the boys were in and then back towards me with a scream or yelp, I dunno. I do know we were faced with Cliff. 

Now if you have not ever had an altercation with Cliff, I absolutely advise you not to do it. He is so super scary when he crosses his arms across his chest and his face means business. I felt ten inches smaller than him as he stood before us. “H-Hi?” I tread with caution, “c can I do anything for you?”

“No, but you can follow me. Both of you.” He grabbed both of our arms one on each side and walked us back into another room separate from where we were before.” 

I tried my best to wiggle free, but damn he had a hold on my wrist so tight that I knew it would bruise later. I kept looking over behind his back at Jess who kept whispering “what the hell did I do?” 

 “I do? I didn’t do shit,” I kept telling her. “Fuck,” I said under my breath, I know how this is going to fucking end for me.” I suddenly had a feeling something terrible was going to happen. 

We get to a room and Cliff pushes us into it and shuts the door behind him and stands there like a big muscled man that dared you to move or try to escape, my heart was pounding and my body was hot on the inside, it was getting to the point I couldn’t breath. Moments later, the other door opened and two other big guys like Cliff came in and walked over to us. 

“Open your bag please.” One said so sternly and with demand to his voice. 

“Why do I have to open my bag? I didn’t do anything.” I tried to sound cool, but I don’t think that helped.

“Either we can do this here, nice and quietly. Or, we can go downtown and do it there not so quiet. Either or, it’s up to you. Now, open your bag.” His voice rose an octave or two, making my knees knock with nerves. 

“Fine,” I rolled my eyes as I put my bag on the table, unzipped it to let them look at whatever is supposed to be in there. “HOLY FUCK!” I said out loud as I saw it. How the fuck did Jensen’s wallet get in my bag? My mouth dropped and my breathing picked up considerably as I stood there feeling like I was about to be sick. 

“Sam? What the hell did you do?” Jess thought she’d play the innocent child card like she had no clue what was going on while she tried to get a look. 

“I-I-I-I di didn’t do anything, honestly.” My voice trembled as tears began to form in my eyes, I could feel them pricking, teasing me as they built up. My heartbeat also picked up a few notches as well,  so much that I had to sit down or I was going to faint.  

“Yeah, that’s it. That’s Jensen’s wallet” Cliff the guard from earlier came over to look in my bag to verify it was Jensen's. 

Suddenly, I felt two strong hands on each side of my shoulders lifting me from my chair, I tried to beg with them telling them it wasn’t me, that I didn’t do that. But thanks to Jessie, she sweet talked her way out of it and they let her go because they didn’t have any evidence on her to prove she did it. She got to leave, but not me. They took me to another room with only one door this time, and I was alone in this room with three big guys trying to find my escape. Eventually, I gave up trying to find a way out. I knew they went to go find Jensen, tell him they found the person who took his wallet, and he was going to have them lock me up. I just knew this. 

Thoughts after thoughts ran through my head the longer I had to wait, that I hid my face in my hands covering my embarrassment, I didn’t want to face Jensen when he walked in, if he even walked in. My chest sunk in when I heard the door open, I was scared to look up because I knew who it was just by the smell of his amazing cologne. When I did look up, my heart broke and my spirit fell when I saw the look in his eyes. I never wanted to be the one who put sadness in those beautiful eyes, I never wanted to inflict any kind of pain to him. But here I was doing that and then some. My first thought was here I am heading back to jail. 

Jensen walked over to me, then around and behind me. I could feel the tension between us that I was so scared to even move. He then made his way to stand  before me and I dunno if he was trying to be a good cop or bad cop, but my heart beat pounded so hard inside my body that my head felt like it was going to explode. The way he stood before me with his hands spaced flat on the table that separated us, he bent over a bit and looked directly into my eyes.  I knew I was in so much trouble.

"So, your the one who took my wallet?" His stance was lethal as he looked into my eyes. If you ever want to see Dean Winchester come to life in front of you, make Jensen Ackles mad. I swore I saw Dean appear before me. 

"I, I," I tried to speak but my throat felt dry and like it was closing in on me. He stood straight up and placed his hands on his hips, his eyes still baring into mine. I wanted to be sick.  

He cleared his throat, "Look, I don't know why you took it, or what possessed you to do such an act. But, I have to press charges.  I can't let things like this slide.  I will do my best to keep this strictly between us, and out of the public eye to protect your privacy as well." 

I heard him speaking, I really did. But my brain couldn't constitute his actual words after he said press charges,  I let my tears fall and my head take over. I just kept agreeing to what he was saying, I was heading back to jail. I couldn't accept that, I worked too hard to stay out of it, that I had to do something. 

Two guards left, leaving just Jensen, me and Cliff in the room. Cliff moved away from the door to file reports, and Jensen turned his back from me to answer a call.  I knew he was pissed, I mean who in there right mind wouldn't be? I took a deep breath, said a silent prayer on hoped things would work my way. I scanned the room and took another look around, then bolted the room so fast that I left my belongings behind. 

@deans-baby-momma @impalaimagining @grnsorrow

[theliterateape]

(micro) Chips On The Shoulders of the Collective and The Increasing Problem of the Moral High Ground

by Don Hall

I’m on the Blue Line, heading downtown to get to Millennium Park. I’m tired — it’s been a long week so far — so I’m standing amongst the other commuters, my shades still on, staring blankly toward the floor. I’m not really focusing on anything at all and I’m sort of just drifting into my brain when I hear:

“They’re legs.”

Not assuming it is directed at me, I stay focused on nothing in particular.

“Hey! They’re legs! Surely you’ve seen legs before! Stop staring at me, you creep!”

I look up and she is directing it at me.

Maybe 25 years old, wearing a skirt, and she has come to the conclusion that I was giving her the once over or the long stare at her uncovered gams. I’m caught slightly off guard (and I’m fucking tired) so I mumble, “…No. Sorry. Uhm, I wasn’t…”

“Do you know what it’s like to be a woman on the train? Do you even care?”

She goes into a tirade about being harassed every day by assholes like me. For 20 minutes she drones on and on about her level of discomfort and the toxic masculinity she has to endure. Because I’ve decided to just stay quiet — I could never even come close to explaining that I wasn’t even aware of her until she started barking at me let alone convince her otherwise — she gets angrier. I turn away. 

“I’m talking to you! Don’t turn away from me!”

I turn back around to face her. “Don’t LOOK at me!” she yells. She’s now yelling. 

According to her, this is yet one more brick in her #MeToo shithouse. She calls me a stalker. She calls me predatory.

The people in the closest range are all looking into their phones as if the fucking secret recipe to Popeye’s Chicken lies within and then it’s my stop. I walk past her without saying a word and head to the street.

I get it. We’re in what we call a “corrective phase” in society. The pendulum has been stuck in the Male Gaze is Normal and Women are Fodder for the Dick for so goddamned long that we are pushing things hard to the other side. While tired and kind of checked out on the ‘L’ I’m not dense. I’m also not one of those unicorns out there who miraculously changes his behavior because I was barked at about it on a train.

On that note, I’d love for anyone reading this who is one of those unicorns to chime in and tell me how and why because I legitimately don’t know how that works for someone.

From a recent Faceborg thread:

“Republicans are going to mop the floor with us if this keeps up... valuing anger-release over effectiveness & impact is toxic.”

“Right, right, it will be our fault. Your somewhat lazily-constructed, blanket statement encouraging us all to be quiet yet somehow effective little mice, betrays your desire to cower in the corner when they finally come to knock at *your* door looking to take your last crumble of cheese.”

“Anger is like fire - we can use it to burn ourselves, or we can use it to build. Stuff like this puts it in the wrong place & doesn’t work, so it’s a question of valuing real impact vs. cathartic screeching. I prefer effectiveness.There’s a huge space between hysteria & silence.”

“Couldn't agree less with you, sir. Unfortunately I don't have the time this afternoon to give you the history lesson you seem to so dearly need. The answer is to be loud about EVERYTHING. Until he is gone, and his swine fucking base sobers up. 

Yes, be effective, but as soon as Tyranny reveals itself, there is no more discussion. Only resistance, and only at the top of your lungs. Trump has an end goal; your quiet efforts of compromise and bargaining are not only pointless, they serve him, as they divide us. There is no passive resistance to Tyranny.”

“Do what feels good or do what works - your call. And I’m happy to hear what you have to say at pretty much any time, as long as it’s well-reasoned. Even if I disagree with ideas, they can still be valuable, so feel free to write yours down at some point - I’d be curious.”

“Also, if you keep talking out your ass, I am going to embarrass you here, because people like you, that clearly don't know what the fuck they are talking about, yet act like they do, really, really get on my bad side. You clearly know nothing, or refuse to understand, the mechanics of Fascism and Tyranny. Your uneducated opinion on what our course of action should be, offered in vague platitudes I might add, are what will get us all killed.”

“hahaha ok, will do. As long as it’s not all nazi hitler nazi, it’s cool. Some hitler, ok, but maybe a Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, or something else thrown in there.”

“You're a monster, sir. Also, my apologies ahead of time, for what I may or may not say further on down this rabbit hole of a thread.”

The whole thread (rabbit hole, indeed) was like this. It reminded me of when liberals go to Ben Shapiro or Dave Rubin lectures to ask him a question as a "gotcha" and look stupid for trying because, of course, stridency in the face of calm looks stupid.

Yes, she has a valid point that is worthy of a genuine conversation but she looks like a complete asshole in her angry attempt to school him. What I'm wondering is why? Why confront him at all? It isn't like her refusal to stop talking at him is going to change his mind. It isn't as if the women chanting is going to shut him up. What's the goal? What's the strategy?

The simple answer is that there isn't a strategy. It's moral posturing and wasted energy. It's an attempt to confront someone on the opposite ideological side of the questions and goad them into admitting some sort of hypocrisy. It's people barking "you lie" at President Obama in hopes that the moment will become a rally cry. It's someone throwing a shoe at George W. Bush. It's theater without a goal. It's a photo op in a YouTube world.

I remember the eighties. I mean, that decade was my Coming of Age time so I hope I still remember them.

One aspect of the eighties and specific to Wichita, KS, was Operation Rescue. As far as I can surmise, it is an extremely rare thing for a mentally stable human to wake up and shout out “Abortion is AWESOME!” The best we can do is to say abortion is a sometimes necessary thing and should be a right for women to utilize but, even then, I can’t imagine anyone adding it to their Disneyland trip as a lark. “Honey! Let’s go to Space Mountain and then go get that abortion — if we time it right, we’ll catch the fireworks!”

The thing is, Operation Rescue (with the help of the Ultimate Warrior in creating Moral Distinctions, the Church) decided that abortion was murder in the eighties in Wichita, KS.  And they protested. And when that didn’t do the trick, they stood outside of clinics and screamed at people. And failing to effect the kind of change they sought, some took to shooting and blowing up doctors.

Can you blame them? Once you’ve assigned a legal activity as a morally reprehensible crime you don’t have a lot of wiggle room in terms of context. If you saw a government gunning down second graders like they were taking out the trash, you might protest, then scream, then get some guns and TNT.

From their ideological zealotry, that’s what they saw.

As we’ve seen, you really can’t reason or compromise with a zealot convinced they are on the moral high ground. It’s almost impossible.

From a note to a professor friend of mine:

“I felt the words you used to address me was infantilizing and I want to express my discomfort of you labeling me a “young lady” thus shaming me in front of my classmates.”

What fresh hell…?

How does someone navigate this? In order to avoid any sort of offense, the ability to read minds is required. I'm of a type of white, heterosexual male who is not looking to run around and offend random strangers in normal discourse. Yes, I believe that offense is subjective and I've spent time creating art designed to shake that tree a bit. That said, I'm not the kind of person who engages in shock value tactics (anymore) or shaming individuals because I believe shame to be a pernicious societal tool that mostly suppresses the bad shit rather than providing a pathway to change.

Catcalling guys are idiots. Stalkers and sexual predators are criminals. The 50-something professor who refers to a 20-something woman in his class as "young lady" isn't either. Infantilization is the process of assuming people are too fragile and inexperienced to handle anything but the least of what society has to offer. So, who, in this case is infantilizing her?

It is a failure of strategy.

#MeToo, that vast and disembodied and ongoing protest march, has been subject to similar dynamics: the big tent, flinging its flaps ever wider; the entropic impulse as both a matter of promise and a matter of peril. Does being about everything, though, mean that the movement runs the risk of being about nothing? Has #MeToo, reconfigured as a broad attempt to rectify a broad host of wrongs, lost the plot? Has it dilated to its detriment?

Tarana Burke says, emphatically, yes. At the Aspen Ideas Festival, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic, Burke pointed back to Milano’s October tweet—which was not, Burke noted, about pay equity, or representation in the workplace, or power dynamics in a misogynistic culture … but about sexual violence, full stop. “Part of the challenge that we have right now,” Burke said, “is everybody trying to couch everything under #MeToo.”

SOURCE

It's as if, anytime there is a large gathering of eyeballs or people in the name of any progressive cause, everyone must have some equal time and must try to shift the focus to them. It is both narcissism and desperation to be heard. #MeToo was about victims of sexual violence until it became about Hollywood actors until it became about black women in Hollywood until it became about equal pay until it became about being offended at a teacher referring to someone as "young lady."

Moral high ground and the assignation of labels like ��monster,” “human garbage,” and, with the court of public opinion’s scorched earth approach, “racist,” “Nazi,” and “misogynist,” it all starts to feel strangely like religious fervor and more in tune with Operation Rescue than Civil Rights protestors. A witch hunt, at it's core, was about scaring the shit out of anyone who decided to live a different way from the norm and was ultimately about establishing an agreed upon morality. The Puritans believed that by singling out and "trying" women who didn't fit their moral narrative (and the trial killed the innocent ones) the rest of the flock would fall in line.

The McCarthy Anti-Communist hearings were the same. Any affiliation and any lack of sincere and enthusiastic repudiation was met by wholesale destruction. And protests without strategy don't effect these sorts of cyclical trends.

Conservative witch hunts are well documented against drug users, women, gays, transgender persons, blacks, pretty much anyone not in the white male club. These witch hunts are almost always marked by the moral righteous inherent in the hunt and the moral depravity of those being hunted. As they try to weed out (and scare the shit out of) their targets, others with less patience and less to lose take up the cause and, like the extremes of Operation Rescue, turn to violence.

The protests of old that were most effective (or effective at all, arguably) were non-violent and strategic. In a time when we equate hateful words as real violence, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner in that there is no longer the possibility of non-violent protest. If calling our opponents names is violence, society is as blocked a a colon filled with cheddar cheese.

When everyone is scrambling to claim the moral high ground, there is none left to claim because morality, in order to exist, has to be founded on common understandings of behavior. We don't have that anymore.

“There is no passive resistance to Tyranny.”

So many assumptions made in seven words. That avoiding a moral argument, reasoning with those on the sidelines of the process and resisting by example rather than reaction is passive. That a legally elected asshole who has a very different worldview than you is a tyrant. That his actions will inevitably lead to Nazism. That tyranny only comes in one form. That by labeling something tyrannical makes it so and the need to demonstrate the aspects of tyranny is erased by the charge.

It makes sense, though. In the most Operation Rescue sense, if you have decided that Trump is Hitler and distrust the rest of the country so completely to not see it, of course it makes perfect sense. I mean, if you throw them in the well and they float, they’re guilty, right?

Ask a strident anti-abortion activist to defend their position. If you don’t immediately agree that it is murder, the sparks of obstinence fly, the labels of “evil” and “monster” are thrown out and the barking becomes indecipherable. 

“Let's be clear: "Innocent until proven guilty" is for a court of law to decide, if that's where this story eventually goes. The court of public opinion operates under no such constraints, and in the post-Harvey Weinstein days of 2018 we believe the accuser.”

https://mashable.com/2018/06/16/chris-hardwick-nerd-culture-conversation/#PWbjglPnJmqq

Seriously?

The internet is an extraordinary tool. It has provided us with almost limitless communicating possibilities. I can see what friends thousands of miles away are up to and call my mother face to face. We can promote our ideas to more humans in one message than at any time in history. Can you imagine what havoc would have wreaked if Faceborg had been around in the eighties in Wichita, KS? Holy fuck!

I believe we need both the Malcoms and The Martins, the Magnetos and the Professor Xs. It’s just that right now, this magnificent technology has given the truly hysterical and morally righteous a louder megaphone than ever in history. It’s difficult to hear anything else when 10% of the population is screaming their own version of bloody murder and condemnation and it's 5% of morally outraged Trump Supporters vs 5% of morally outraged Identity Politicians leaving the rest of us to run, covering our ears.

The democracy is in rough shape but it is far from over, broken, or destroyed by a single president. Our flailing about is due to the fact that those who do not believe the way we do control all three arms of the federal government and protests aren't doing anything to stop it. Like Operation Rescue, we are doubling down on escalation and it will not go well for us.

Speaking again of Operation Rescue, once it became apparent to them that their protests were wholly ineffective, they changed their strategy. They started running anti-abortion candidates for local office, then state office, then Congress. And, what do you know? Not only have many states placed unconstitutional barriers to abortion over the past ten years but it looks like they're going to get Roe v. Wade overturned.

I’m on the Blue line. Headed to the park. I’m wide awake and in a great mood. I see across from me a genuinely beautiful woman. I take a look — not a stare but a healthy look. She sees me looking and she smiles.

[roadswewalk]

T6T - my full reaction

Right I know this is super late (work project overload, apology posted preemptively), but here, finally, are my actual thoughts on second watch of T6T.  This is my first new episode since joining the fandom, so I really indulged.  This is like a live-blog meets rewatch review meets spaghetti meta.  Almost all of this is uninfluenced by others, since I missed the majority of what’s been written, but I’ve called out a few cases where popular opinion filtered through.  It probably goes without saying that to be able to write functionally about any of it, I have to make a baseline assumption that what I’m seeing has enough relationship to reality to be worth reacting to.  Doesn’t mean I believe that overall, but I’m not interested (not here, anyway) in playing mistake-lie-or-clue for every detail, so.  Grain of fish food.

Under the cut because LONG.

The hearing - uh oh.  Retcon technique crashes through the fourth wall into the fictional universe.  Or, I’m all up in ur fictional universe, redefining fiction.  Meta.  I get it: Don’t believe everything we’re about to show you, nor everything we’ve shown you before.  Or, at least, don’t take it too seriously.   And THAT is actually problematic

For starters, some of the people who abandoned ship last series complained that consequences aren’t real enough on this show.  For me, shooting Magnussen looks awfully gimmicky now that they’ve resolved it in this way; they'd never have got away with this if there hadn’t been a three-year hiatus.  Mycroft’s “oh Sherlock, what have you done?” is one of my favorite lines in the series.  Every.  Time.  Watery eyes to sobbing in 6 words.  It is utterly cheapened by not making the consequences real.  A little resistance, an impassioned appeal on the strength of Sherlock’s record of service - these would not have been out of place.  “My brother is a murderer”, sardonically, as the episode’s opening line should have been the first clue, I guess.

@ Sir Edwin shutting down the Moriarty discussion quickly and single-handedly: Has following TJLCers made me better at watching television, or was this disappointingly obvious?  @ Sherlock in this entire scene: I love it too, baby.

So the scene leaked via KBS dubbing was at the beginning, after all.  And completely not serious spoiler material, thanks for the slap on the wrist!

I like this tango they’re playing during the case montage!

Birth scene, :/  cliché.  Baby jokes - okay actually really cute.  Loving these boys with the baby, and apparently I could go for parentlock if it’s always just side-plots and comic relief.  John’s little flirtation - not so much, hope this is going somewhere plotty.  John’s backbend to ask about being godfather, though.  How flexible is that back, Dr. Watson?

Welsboroughs are pretty adorable.  Why does Mr. W. wear his ring on the pinky, though? - asked about this separately and never got a reply.  Mirror / magnifier next to Sherlock’s head - I guess this is Meaningful but it escapes me.

Noticing the Thatcher bust / pricking of my thumbs, a little difficult to accept.  But, “intuitions are not to be ignored” OKAY DADS.  A lot different from previously, though, with “dangerous to theorize without data“ etc.  “OCD - my respects”, lol.

Is Mr. Welsborough a John mirror here?  They’re wearing turquoise and defending Mrs. T’s existence together.  (Is this the same day that John goes home and texts E back?  He’s wearing the turquoise jumper?)  Wonder where Gatiss picked up this horrific story of Charlie’s death, I was in slight tears.  Relatedly (or not), Mycroft is GOLD in this episode.

On the established subject of the client-with-a-spy-wife being a John mirror: Note also, his line “I thought you’d done something clever.  But now you’ve explained it, it’s dead simple, inn’t it?” is directly from Watson on multiple occasions in ACD canon.  Also, at first I was like, “Why is Sherlock spending so much time impressing this man with his deductions?  He doesn’t know yet whether Lestrade (and arguably Hopkins) have brought him anything more interesting.“  Then I realized - he thinks John is sitting there watching him, apparently stunned into silence and charmed head-waving.  Awww. 

Lestrade saying “straße”, John saying “idée fixe”... it’s clearly Sherlock narrating.  Reliably or not, that is the question.  Sherlock noticing the scent of formaldehyde mixed with Lestrade’s usual cologne. <3 Sherstrade moment.  But why do people think Lestrade is going on a date with Hopkins?  He’s not? Sherlock said someone new from forensics; Hopkins is a DI working with Interpol.

“Slow, but sure, John.  Not dissimilar to yourself...  Well, I like you.”  I wasn’t sure I heard this right the first time!  Gratuitous compliments why.  John’s face does a nice journey after this but unfortunately Mary speaks right away.  Lovely on slo-mo.  “Having fun while I can” / “a noose for me to put my neck into” - awww, cheer up Sherlock, honey; you can’t die, you’re the star of the show.

When Craig first tells Sherlock the busts are from Tbilisi, he’s already looking up with his eyes doing their deduction dance.  The next scene implies it’s because of the Black Pearl of the Borgias case, but is it?  Lestrade’s reaction when Sherlock already knows the name of his victim - priceless.

Why does “luxury 1, 2 & 3 bed apartments” scroll across the screen when Sherlock is searching his phone about the pearl?  Graphics team: “well ads are unavoidable, it adds to the realism” lol what.  Man, it makes me a bit salty that they’re mentioning the blog so much even though we don’t get updates anymore, boo.

Sherlock: “They’re not destroying them, that’s not what’s happening.”  Lestrade: “Yes it is.”  Sherlock: “Well it *is* what’s happening but that’s not the point.  [Okay, thanks AGAIN, dads.]

Floor-to-ceiling Hokusai “Great Wave” print behind the pool - I am in lo<3!  Wearing leggings printed with Hokusai’s Phoenix as I type this and I just.  Guh.  That entire location is beautiful, thank you scouts!

All the ‘hand-waving” instead of proper switches in this house - again, I get it, thanks.

19:00 ... 22:00 flashing on screen.... so Sherlock waited 3 hours.  Am I supposed to get something from this?  (I hate not trusting anything I see on this show, nor my own ability to interpret art.  I take back one of those ‘thanks’, dads.)

Fight scene: gratuitous, fun, hard to accept.  Boys will be boys.  The people living in the house didn’t wake up?

 Why does Sherlock know what John said to forgive Mary?  Also, biggest mistake of the episode is right here, revealing he knows what that flash drive is and who had it.

The ambassador says she’s got something they would dearly love if they could get out - amo/ammo...  I’m still not sure how she fits in?  The flash drive is dangling around Ajay’s neck during the op?  So if the rescue goes wrong, AGRA are supposed to kill themselves, and what - hope the hostages are allowed to survive in captivity thereafter?

Lestrade knows about Mary’s past, seriously?  Once again the blog and the Internet fame make Sherlock & friends easy targets - though I don’t doubt Ajay could have found them easily enough without that.  Wow, shooting up the plaster bust studio must have been a good time ;)  Sherlock’s hidey-hole is... epic.  He even has a travel chemistry set and microwave (for the real experiments~), all that’s missing is a John Watson balloon, gods.  “That was quite a text you sent me” - what did it SAY?  At least he’s not giving her an easy time here. And is a different accent coming out?

“We were family.”  “Families fall out.”  [later, paraphrase] “I don’t know anything about them - happy families.”  Break my heart.  Sherlock, your mum and dad and big brother love you.  Don’t they?  Don’t they, Moftiss~?

Mary’s little smirk when Sherlock reminds her of his vow pretty much mirrors mine.  Like what can Sherlock Holmes do to protect her family better than a trained assassin?  (As we find out, nothing.)  The hubris here... it’s a huge part of what goes wrong in this episode, too.  Making the vow in the first pace was problematic and one of my least favorite things that Sherlock did, because it’s out-of-order, ridiculous, and impossible to maintain even before we knew anything about Mary and just.  Did anyone except Sherlock EVER believe that vow was worth something in reality, as opposed to some sad devotion he pledged to his best friend for wont of any more suitably dramatic exit from said friend’s wedding?  This brings me back to the awful angst-fest of a head-canon wherein Sherlock no longer places any value on his life alone, and he’s secretly longing for an excuse to start on a path that will secure his own death.  I’ve been there in depression and I’m not sure the writers realize they’re invoking it, nor that I trust them to handle it properly if they do.

Aw, PLEASE give us more of baby Holmes boys playing pirates.  Also, again, Mycroft <3.  But, Sherlock’s got a cracked rib here and he won’t go to John to get it wrapped.  “You don’t have many favors left” - apparently the only real consequence so far.  Mycroft: “What then?” - YES, THANK YOU, VOICE OF REASON!  “Not on my watch” - first from Mycroft, then from Sherlock.  But only Mycroft turns out to be able to back it up.  Score one for ice.

Why do the country names include U.S.S.R?  LMAO at Gatiss coming up with this sequence, like oh then she’ll grab a passport out of a rock in Norway, then how about a motorcycle in America?  I hope alcohol was involved, let everyone have fun with it.

She covers her head but shows her ankles?  Sherlock’s game with Karim, again, love.  It’s easy to forget why I love this show when I can’t follow the plot, but in the end, I do love it.  Sherlock’s little speech that he’s been preparing for ages to rattle off to Mary.  And then John walks in and wow, I can feel the smile slide off my face faster than Sherlock’s.  Definitely a hell of a lot faster than Mary’s!  It’s so awkward that Sherlock is there for the following conversation, especially the point he joins in, literl chills at the creep factor.  But - “couples are supposed to stay together and work things through” - as in, what John and Sherlock did while she was away?

And sorry to break in again here, but the “love” connection (lol) is tenuous enough.  Who would believe that an intelligence committee member would use a variation of her own code name as a sabotage code word?  Trying too hard to be clever, Mark, sorry.  Lady S under pressure is pretty hot, though.

Wow, John is so smooth when he’s being hit on.  Like the plot or no, really makes me want to try it, hehe.  Vampire... this screams foreshadowing but I won’t know of what until I see it, derp.

John’s bus number is 59 (159 return).  Another reference to that sonnet?

“How many more times?”  Lady S calling Mycroft on putting his brother before his other obligations.  Ouch.  When this dries up it’s going to be even more painful...  And, “you had better be right about this”, 'cept he wasn’t.  No wonder Sherlock is ready to die later.  There’s no pretty escape at this point.

“The curtain rises” - third time we’ve heard that.  He does love a touch of the dramatic.  Does it mean something else too?  The different text styles, poetry to one, usual demands to the other - I love it but i don’t know why.  Does it mean we won’t get poetry anymore from Sherlock?

Ballsy to film up in there.  I was expecting the aquarium walls to get shot up at some point.  Pity.  Well, maybe not.  Is this the entire shark analogy - “we’re like them, ghostly, living in the shadows, predators, we have to keep moving or we die”?  I guess the last one pretty well clinches it.  But it rubs up the wrong way to use the same symbol as for Magnussen, but for different reasons.

So she got involved for money, then she set up both sides of the rescue operation to get the ambassador assassinated to protect the fact that she was ever involved and hopefully make her exit?  Why didn’t she retire at that point?!

Hmm, does John call Mycroft or Lestrade from the cab?

So Sherlock going on about the wedding ring relocation here, when John is still wearing his ring on his left ring finger in the chess promo photo from TFP... I blogged some crack about it but now I’m wondering if it’s legit significant.  But anyway, Sherlock, shut up about single old ladies, alright.

Mystrade on screen together.  Maybe eye contact!  And Lestrade putting his brave on when Mrs. Norbury raises her gun.  Sherlock staring down the bullet like “I give in, I am yours” - not sure why people wondered at him not jumping out of the way, seems clear he’s ready and willing to die at this point, because he thinks it’s a solution to something.  Well, living on borrowed time, now, and with all favors called in, that’ll make for some good drama, can’t wait!

Wow, so, a woman has been on the edge of a dangerous lifestyle, but eventually she just wants a little peace.  A man with uncanny knowledge and mysterious connections to the government is on her trail.  She tries to confront him, but there are inconvenient witnesses.  Eventually she does fire her gun, but someone else gets shot, and it resolves nothing.  ...Am I describing Vivienne or Mary?

Pausing between Mary’s moment and John’s so I can appreciate the scene properly.  Oh god, I hate myself for this.   But really, Martin’s acting in TRF was perfect.  I know real primal grief is not pretty and that was probably very accurate, but I don’t come to television to see that much of reality.  You’re breaking our contract here a little by shocking me so much in a moment like this.  First watch, my tears dried right up.  This time I let them fall for awhile, and it was nice.  :/

They’re talking about proper portrayal of grief, but isn’t this transition to the anger stage a bit quick?  Mystrade and Sherlock facing off above the Watsons - this is very iconic-looking, though for the life of me I couldn’t say why Lestrade is there.  Hope it’s a backstory thing that we get to hear about later.  So many white men on this show, always coming out on top.  How can I adore them all?  Feel like I have to take a few punches out of my various identity cards for this weakness.

Roll call, who knew almost instantly that Ella was talking to Sherlock? How did you know?  I can’t decide what clued me in - I guess it was the camera angle, the transition from John to her on the same side of the frame?  By her second or third line it was obvious, but I swear I knew before that...

It just bugs me when Ella speaks in platitudes.  When my therapists weren’t as clever as me, they would do this.  It solves nothing.  Also I’m pretty sure she would have to recuse herself from Sherlock’s case if he mainly wants to talk about John, another client.  They’ve shown in THoB that they understand doctor-patient privilege, so, not sure what to make of this.

Mycroft at home is my severe kink.  Him with his lack of furniture in his kitchen, brolly has to lean against his case on the floor.  Still wearing his coat and waistcoat when he gets to the fridge (suits are cut much better this season, damn Mark), rubbing his sore neck, takeout menus, cuff links, pocket watch.

It’s hard to express the strength of my yearning to see inside Mycroft’s fridge.  Like I love that it’s mostly empty, but not seeing pitiful gaping immaculate interior is still one of the biggest disappointments of the episode, tbh.  And frankly that yearning extends a bit further, into slithering up behind and offering a neck rub territory.  People who read him as queer, are we talking zero exceptions?  Mind if I test that?   Antarctica, darling, give me a call.  That empty, listless feeling… I can help.  I hear you’re the Ice Man.  Well it may interest you to know that in certain circles, I’m known as the Ice Queen.  I realize you have incredible power and influence - probably enough to stop global warming.  Don’t do it, baby, I don’t care about that stuff.  I wanna melt with you.  (Heh, might send  that one to bbcsherlockpickuplines.)

13th in a post-it note, prompting a call to Sherrinford - at this point my money’s on drug rehab facility.  That Sherlock burns down.  Won’t that be fun.  And like season 2, I’m guessing this is setup for a plot arc that will be fully revealed in episode 3.  And that’s about the extent of my non-crack predictions for the next few episodes!

John’s balloon drooping off the table, oof.  “Work is the best antidote to sorrow” - like sorrow is poison, oh Sherlock, what would Ella say?  Not it’s not, it’s normal and it’s a thing you work through.  “Norbury” - she doesn’t know the details but she can see the significance, poor Hudders.

Mary making Moriarty jokes on the level of sensitivity that I often display (and which never fails to earn me zero notes)...   LOVE IT DON’T STOP BITCH!

“Nothing’s certain, nothing’s written” - the words that overlay John and Mary holding hands in that teaser of all teasers - a throw-away line picked up by marketers or a sign of things to come~?

“The danger was the fun part but you can’t outrun that.  You need to remember that so I’m giving you a case.”  What, retire to Sussex and stop putting John Watson in danger?  This is getting ‘danger’ously close to some of my crack theories for why a longer hiatus should follow.  MAYBE I’ll accept but only if they actually film us three episodes of retirementlock - with some quaint flashbacks or something - alright?

I’m glad Molly only says sorry the one time.  It’s not her apology to make.  Maybe best scene in the episode right here.  Reading the letter in the cab... brave.

Path locking around your feet, the demons under the street and the sharks in the river (sharks in a river?   really?), etc. - this seems to be confirmation that Sherlock is still awaiting his consequences; okay, good.  But “can Samarra be avoided?” - learned nothing, have you?  Or is it that your survival is necessary to save John Watson?

Go to Hell - not speculating, too little information.  I already know Sherlock’s going to Hell, that he takes John with him, and that they come back - my dad told me.

Summary things:

So live-Tweeting didn’t happen.  That was disappointing.  What is Joe Lidster’s new project, then?

I already knew the Samarra story really well from childhood and then a brief study in Arabic class once.  So the communication of it here felt really heavy handed.  Wish I hadn’t brushed up on it (thanks to NYT reviewer, I believe) beforehand.  I feel like Benedict’s retelling with the sharks would have been chill-inducing.

Contrasting with my complaint about weak consequences for the Magnussen incident, perhaps I’m supposed to take it that this episode was Mary’s consequences.  I wonder if we’ll see Sherlock’s consequences in episode 2 and John’s in episode 3 (or vice versa)?  Or, the ensembles (Hudders & co) in 2, and Sherlock & John’s in episode 3?  I know it’s a three-part story arc so I hope we’ll see something.  Sharks in the river, I’ll get my fishing pole!

Lastly, the “NO WAY” moment that the press reported - which even was it?

- Vivian "Ice Lolly” Norbury as the double agent?

- Mary jumping in?

- Sherlock at therapy?

I seriously couldn’t tell.  Again, does that me good at watching television, or bad?!