#she blocked me after i sent an ask requesting that she clarify whether she was indeed behind the T*RF blog

[snowdrop-yoongi]

i'm seeing a spate of her ads again (she somehow always has money for ads despite constantly begging for rent money) so reminder that kate havekost, currently @/mod-mig-i-maneskin, is a violent T*RF and scam artist and you should not buy her paintings or donate. she changes her blog name whenever people bring up her T*RF blog or raise suspicions about her financial situation, but you'll know it's her bc her v*nmo is kate-havekost and her p*ypal is havekatart@gmail.com

[alpha-imagines]

8th Grade Valentine’s- Billy Hargrove

A/N: Aw this was such a cute idea thank you to whoever suggested it!! Another part of New Boy should be up tomorrow but i wanted to post this on Valentine’s day so here ya go! Hope you’re all having a fun day no matter what you’re doing!

Requested by Anonymous:  so i saw that you wanted some ideas for billy, and i thought of something v-day related. so what i was thinking was like reader is the partys babysitter and dustin is "in love" w her and he asks her to be his valentine before billiam couldve asked her and hes lowkey pissed about it bc he cant spend time w his girl bc some fucking 8th grader asked her first???

The first time you properly met Billy Hargrove was at Joanna Cleeves’ Christmas party. Her parents were away and Carol had convinced her that she had to host a festive gathering which slowly turned into a house party for what felt like the entire school.

You and your best friend had arrived, got unequivocally drunk before you had encouragingly pushed her into the arms of Craig Lawson who she’d been crushing on for pretty much her entire life.

“Hey Angel” You heard from behind you and although your reflexes were pretty out of sync you slowly turned your head and saw that Billy Hargrove was leant against the counter behind you, red cup to his lips that partly masked his brimming smirk.

“Uh Hi” You mumbled, confused as to whether or not Billy Hargrove was actually talking to you or maybe someone behind you.

“You look to die for” He smirked and sent a wink your way, despite the alcohol that was spinning his brain he didn’t miss the blush that covered your cheeks.

“Thanks” You replied sceptically only for you to realise you were being pulled further away from Billy by someone who had a grip on your elbow

“Hey!” You exclaimed before your vision caught up with you “Oh hey Steve” You smiled pulling him into a drunken embrace

You didn’t really know Steve all that well, you shared a couple of classes with him but recently you saw more of him thanks to Dustin Henderson. When your parents separated your mom wanted to downsize, so you stayed with her and moved to a smaller house a few doors down from the Henderson’s.

It started out with the odd bit of housesitting when they were out of town for the weekend and gradually you started to babysit whenever Claudia went out and eventually you occasionally took Dustin to school or his friends. You got on really well with Dustin and got to know the other boys pretty well, and when Dustin started spending time with Steve it was inevitable that your paths would cross at some point.

You couldn’t really remember much of that night apart from sitting on the front lawn and drunkenly spilling secrets with Billy who’d followed you out there only to be snatched up and driven home by Steve who announced that you were “too drunk” and “too nice” to be alone with Billy Hargrove.

But that was the first time you’d spoken to Billy and the pair of you had hit it off after that. Winks in the corridor and at basketball game, him stopping by your locker before walking you to history so he could miss 5 minutes of maths. You two were friends but he flirted furiously and you didn’t mind it at all, much to Steve’s disapproval.

“Dustin said you were sitting for him tonight?” Steve asked as the pair of you walked away from the gymnasium after Hawkins High had thrashed the other team at a basketball game.

“Oh yeah” You remembered “I’m going for 6 if you had plans with him first”

“No, no plans” Steve said and scratched the back of his neck nervously “I just have a favour to ask you”

“Sure” You smiled as you approached his car and slid into the passenger seat.

“So are you like around on Valentine’s Day?” He asked, turning in his seat to face you

“What?” You stammered “Oh um Steve…”

“No no no” He quickly interjected, holding his hands up innocently “Not for me, but maybe for Dustin?”

It took you a moment to think, and you were about to respond with a somewhat hesitant “ok” when Steve interrupted you

“Don’t tell Dustin I told you this, because he’ll kill me” He laughed “But he kinda has this big crush on you and he didn’t want to go to the valentines dance alone and I figured..”

“Sure” You smiled reassuringly at Steve who then released a breath that he didn’t even realise he was holding.

You liked Dustin, he was a sweet kid, a little weird but he was always sweet. You didn’t mind giving up your valentines to help him out, but you had a feeling that perhaps Billy would.

“So what film do you wanna watch?” You asked Dustin, your legs stretched out on the sofa as you flicked absently through the channels

“Hey what’s up?” You asked when he didn’t respond, you scooted off the couch and sat next to him on the carpet, your back resting up against the sofa.

You knew something was up with him, his shoulders were slumped and he wasn’t rambling on about some physics theory or how to win at the arcade games.

“So are you going to the valentine’s dance?” You asked, bumping his shoulder with your own to prompt him to look at you

“No” He sighed “Lucas is taking Max so I don’t wanna be there”

“Ahh” You sighed sympathetically, he’d told you about how he liked Max and he also told you how she liked Lucas, it was no one’s fault but the boy was clearly still upset by it all

“Well I’ve got no plans either” You shrugged “Maybe we could do something?”

“What?” His head whipped round to look at you which only made you crack a smile

“Yeah I could take you out” You clarified “If you wanted?”

His vigorous nod told you all you needed to know, making the pair of you smile. He seemed happier after that, picking out a movie and chatting the whole way through it like he normally did, it made you smile to know you’d made him happier.

“Morning angel” You heard from behind your ear as a pair of arms snaked their way around your waist

“Billy” You laughed, trying to sound serious but ultimately failing “Not here”

“Why not?” He asked with a smirk “Afraid your good girl act might falter?”

“Not funny” You replied and turned around to give him a light smack on the chest “But I’ve got to get to chemistry so I’ll see you at break” You said and pulled away from him to start heading to your classroom

“You know where to find me” He smirked, his hand still entwined with yours but you let him go as the final bell rung and the corridors began to clear.

As you had said, you met him at his car at the start of lunch, he was leant against the driver’s side, clouds of smoke falling from his lips, his brows drawn into their usual frown from the sunlight as he watched you walk closer to him.

“So” He began as you got close enough to him for him to wrap his arms around you once more

“So” You repeated looking up at him and brushing the speck of dust off of his cheek

You and Billy weren’t officially dating but you’d be heartbroken if he was with anyone else the way he was with you and secretly you hoped he’d be the same if it were you.

“So I was thinking” He started

“Uh oh that could be dangerous” You smirked up at him which earnt you an unimpressed glare

“I was thinking maybe once Susan and my dad are back from whatever stupid adult thing their doing, and Max’s is at her lame dance, maybe we could do something, you know on Valentine’s Day”

Your heart swelled at what Billy was saying, initially he told you that he wasn’t about because he had to look after Max but now he was actually putting in an effort to show he cared, except you already had plans.

“I didn’t think we were doing anything?” You frowned up at him

“Well we are now” He smiled and brushed your hair back behind your ear

“Unless you don’t want to” He stammered after you stood there silently chewing the inside of your cheek

“No no I do want to” You clarified and forced a smile onto your face

“Then what’s the problem?” He asked, he was starting to sound angry and the last thing you wanted was for him to cause a scene

“Billy” You began only to be immediately cut off

“What? You seeing someone else now is that it?” He said pushing you lightly away from him to create some space

“Not like that” You tried to explain “I said I’d take Dustin out on Valentine’s Day”

“Dustin?” Billy spat “As in my little sister’s nerdy friend, 8th grader, ‘son of a bitch’ Dustin?”

“I didn’t want him to be alone on Valentine’s Billy” You pleaded, stepping an inch closer to him

“So you’re gonna ditch me for an 8th grader?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, hoping that you were joking with him

“Billy we can hang out afterwards ok” You tried to reason

“You’re actually going on a date with an 8th grader over me?”

“What difference does it make when you’re already acting like an 8th grader” You quipped back before turning on your heels and heading back towards the cafeteria

“Hey Handsome” You smiled as you spoke through your open car window as Dustin came towards you “So I thought maybe we could go catch a movie then go for food, how’s that sound?”

“Good” He smiled “Great”

“Good” You smiled back triumphantly and sent a quick wave to Mrs Henderson who was stood on the doorstep, cat in her arms, waving at the pair of you.

You’d finished the movie and surprisingly you’d only had to tell Dustin to shut up three times throughout the whole film which seemed like an achievement in itself.

The pair of you then walked a few blocks to go and grab something to eat, you shared a booth and both silently deliberated over the menu before an unenthusiastic waitress came to take your order.

“Hey angel” You heard and instantly you whipped your head around to see Billy stood by your booth and a bunch of flowers that looked a little worse for wears in his hand

“Billy?” You asked with raised eyebrows

“Well I couldn’t not give my girl a valentine’s present could I?” He smiled and motioned for you to slide along, which you did.

“Billy what are you doing here?” You whispered harshly

“I came to see my girl on Valentine’s” He smiled and placed the bouquet of flowers in your hand “Sorry they’re crappy it’s all they had”

“Thanks Billy” You smiled sincerely

“Sorry to steal your date kid” He said, leaning back in his seat “She’s just too hard to resist”

Although you failed at hiding the smirk on your lips you smacked him lightly on the shoulder

“Well if you’re going to gate crash at least go and get me some ketchup” You ordered and prodded him with your finger until he got up and did what you’d told him

“Sorry Dustin” You said with an apologetic smile

“Steve never said he was your boyfriend?” Dustin said confusedly just as the waitress brought over your fries and milkshakes

“He’s not really my boyfriend” You began “It’s complicated” You shrugged

“Steve says he’s a psycho” Dustin said somewhat hesitantly as he took a sip of his milkshake

“I can tell him to go” You said, ignoring his previous comment “I’ll tell him to go”

You slid out from your seat and walked over to where Billy was wrestling with the ketchup bottle

“Do you think maybe this is the best idea?” You asked as your hand rested on his back as he turned to look at you

“Whatta you mean?” He asked, his brows furrowing at your question

“Well you know” You began, averting your gaze from his broken expression “You tried to beat up his best friend, he’s kinda scared of you”

He swallowed hard at the realisation that you somehow knew what had happened before Christmas, and all of a sudden he felt guilty for ruining your date.

“I’m not going to hurt him” He said, his tone was confused as if you were suggesting that he might

“I know you wouldn’t” You smiled, rubbing your thumb across his knuckles “It’s just- I don’t know maybe three’s a crowd?” You cringed expecting some sort of angry response about you putting some kid before him but to your surprise he slowly nodded and placed the ketchup bottle back down on the side

“I promise I’ll make it up to you” You smiled and leant in for a quick kiss

“You better” He smirked once you’d parted lips “You better get her home safe Henderson!” He called out into the diner and Dustin’s eyes were suddenly wild with fear

You laughed and slapped his chest playfully, shaking your head at his comment

“Thank you Billy” You said, your hand pulling him back as he began to head for the exit “and Happy Valentine’s Day”

“Don’t have too much fun” He smiled but you could sense some serious in his tone, he hated the idea of you having fun with someone that wasn’t him, even if it was with an 8th grader

“Not without you” You smiled before letting his hand fall out of yours and watching him walk towards his blue Camaro.

“So how was your date?” He asked, his fingers combing through your hair as your head laid on his chest

“It was nice” You smiled “Thank you for not throwing a tantrum” You said, turning to put your chin on his chest to look at his face

“A tantrum?” He asked, propping himself up slightly “You tryna say I throw tantrums?”

“You know you do” You laughed and Billy couldn’t help but smile back at you

“Well maybe I’ve shown I could be boyfriend material” He said but it came out more like a question

“Maybe you have” You smiled and leant in for another kiss.

You had to admit it had turned out to be a pretty successful Valentine’s Day for all of you.

[searchingforaplacetocallhome]

Everything About You - (Kandomere x OFC - Pt2)

Setting: Bright movie-verse

Characters: Kandomere & Topaz Bennett (OFC)

Warnings: strong language possibly

Background: Topaz Bennett was the brightest student of her class, always the hardest worker in the room and it finally landed her a much coveted spot on the FBI’s Magic Task Force. By a cruel twist of fate, her new ‘partner’ turns out to be an elf named Kandomere, who seems to think it is his task not only to train her as the new agent on the task force, but educate her on pretty much anything else as well.

Word count: 1898

Pt 1

Part 2 – Learn Things

“Do you have a moment, sir?”

Looking around like she was waiting for someone to pop up out of nowhere, Topaz quickly slipped in the door when she was ushered inside. Closing the door behind her made her feel a little better, but she knew it wouldn’t stop him from barging in. He was in a meeting though, which was exactly what she had waited for.

“Something I can help you with, agent Bennett?”

“No. I mean yes. Did I do something wrong, sir?” Oh great, she was fumbling her words now, looking like an absolute idiot.

“Excuse me?” The pen in his hand tapped impatiently against his desk.

“Did I offend you in some way? Were you not satisfied with my work?” she asked quickly, trying her best to get to the point before he lost his patience with her.

A deep sigh, the pen was laid down, so the captain could clasp his hands together on the desk and lean back. A frown creased his forehead. Patience was being lost, quickly. “What are you on about, Bennett?”

Looking around there was no sign of her personal blue haired, pointy eared devil, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still lurking around somewhere, waiting for the perfect moment to barge in and scare her into another audible reaction. “Well, I just thought. I worked really hard to be here, and that was why you chose me.”

“Is that why you are here, Bennett? I have no time for hand holding today.”

“Oh no, sir. That’s not it at all.”

“Point, now.”

“It’s Kandomere, sir.” There, it was out. For a moment panic attempted to get a grip on her, and once again her eyes darted around to try and spy even the smallest hint of blue hair. The sound of laughter brought her attention back to the captain. Why was he laughing? What was so funny?

“I was wondering when you would come to me about that.”

“You were? So this was a test?”

The laughing stopped and the man turned deadly serious. “No. You have potential, agent Bennett, and I place my agents where I think they can live up to the maximum of that potential. You wanted to learn from the best, Kandomere is the best at what he does.”

“He’s a bit of an acquired taste though, sir.” He’s a jerk, a bastard, asshole.  

“This is not kindergarten, Bennett. Learn to get along.”

“Sir...”

A short rap of knuckles against the door was immediately followed by the door opening. “There you are. You done, sir?”

“Yes. Go learn things, agent Bennett.”

Goddamnit.

Looking from the captain to Kandomere she wanted to wipe the triumphant look off his face. She didn’t have to duck, but still did as she walked under the arm that was holding the door open for her. Ducking his aura, if Elves even had such a thing. Everything about him was aggravating her today, from the amused look on his face and the penetrating smell of his expensive cologne, to the heel click of his hand crafted Italian leather shoes against the marble floors.

“Everything alright?”

“Peachy.” Holding up both her thumbs, she gave him the biggest fake smile she could muster. If only she could punch him in the face just once. It would be so satisfying.

“Good. Grab your jacket.”

“Where are we going?” Far as she could think there was nothing currently going on that required their attention in any way outside the office and she still had a mountain of research to go through, as evidenced by the files spread out all over her desk. Kandomere glanced over the mess, but a glare from her stopped him from commenting this time. Searching under the stacks of papers, she found her phone and grabbed her jacket, slipping it on as she followed him to the elevators.

“We are going to learn things, agent Bennett.” A smirk tugged on the corners of his lips.

Oh, just one punch. It would be so satisfying.

“That really clarifies things, thanks.” She couldn’t hit him and she definitely couldn’t shoot him, so that left her with her only other weapon; sarcasm.  It kept her from losing the last shred of sanity she had left. Stopping a few steps from the door, she gestured over her shoulder at the front office desk. “Hold on, I need to get the keys.”

“We’re taking my car.” Holding the door open once again, he waited for her to follow him outside, gesturing in the direction of where his car was parked.

What on earth was going on? He hadn’t driven, let alone used his own car for work related things before. She assumed since he mentioned she was going to learn things they were about to do work related things. Of course his car had to be expensive looking, brand new and shiny, probably fast too. The doors unlocked and the smell of new leather wafted her way. Peering in she looked around.

“Problem, Bennett?”

“Nope.” Slipping into the passenger seat she wanted so badly for the seat to be uncomfortable so she had something to complain about. There was nothing about the car she could complain about, which only left one thing to comment about. “Was just looking for the chauffeur.”

Her comment actually got an eye roll and a sigh. Double score!

“I am capable of driving my own car.” Pulling out of the parking lot, he stepped on the gas. One hand rested on the steering wheel, the other on the stick, looking completely at ease and at the same time exuding an arrogance like she ought to be impressed by him and his car.

“So are you going to tell me where we are going or is ‘to learn things’ the extent of the explanation I am getting?”

“You’ll see.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she physically prevented herself from reaching out to slap the smug look from his face. Turning her head away, she stared out the window. The silence that fell between them got on her nerves quickly. Normally she would turn on the radio, but this was not a car from the pool, and she had no idea how any of the buttons worked.

“Kandomere...”

“Topaz.”

Her head turned so fast she heard her neck pop. He had never bothered to use her first name before. It was ‘agent’, ‘Bennett’ or both, but never Topaz. Her eyes narrowed as she studied his face. What was he up to? “Where are we going?”

He sighed in answer, glancing over his shoulder and changing lanes. “I am taking you to lunch.”

She blinked. Her mouth opened to say something only to close again. Her brain had trouble processing his answer, so she sat back in the leather seat that was way too comfortable and stared out the window, though not really focusing on anything. Lunch? The man that criticized every food choice she made was taking her to lunch?

“How is that learning things?!” she blurted out when something finally clicked. His laugh rang out in response. Was there a more frightening sight than a laughing elf?

“We are going to learn to get along.”

Eyes narrowed. That was exactly what the captain had told her. Had he been listening in on their conversation? Unless he had been crouched down by the door or had the office bugged, she didn’t think it was possible and while she was sure he did very dubious things, she didn’t think he would go that far.

“Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”

“I was afraid of that… sorry.” The glare he sent her way made her bite the inside of her cheek to keep her from making more comments.

“I requested you to be assigned to my team. You’re a hot mess, but you work hard, and you have talent. If I am going to turn that talent into a great asset for my team, we need to find a way to get along… So I am taking you to lunch.”

Nothing. Try as she might, she had no smartass reply to that. Pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth she made a noise as she thought it over. “To learn things?”

“About each other.”

“Over lunch… away from the office. If you weren’t an elf this would be borderline HR worthy.” Feeling better after pointing that out, she turned her attention to the road finally and realized they were about to hit a traffic jam. Just what she needed, being stuck in traffic in a car with her least favorite person in the world. Today was turning out great.

“I am not hitting on you.”

Head rolled to the left. “I’ve thought about hitting you. At least five times already... today. Three times in the last thirty minutes.”

An eyebrow rose as he finally tore his attention away from the road to look at her. They were stopped behind a black SUV that was blocking her view from seeing just how far this traffic jam stretched.

“Oh sorry, I thought we making confessions. Carry on.”

A deep breath released in a heavy sigh. “Topaz...”

Her nose crinkled. “Yeah, no… let’s not call me that. That’s not gonna work for me.”

“It’s your name. What’s wrong with your name?”

“Aside from the fact I could never find any mugs, pens and other fun stuff with my name on it? Just about everything. It’s a hippie name.”

“Your parents were hippies?”

“No, they were junkies with about half a brain between them.”

“You’re a very hostile woman.”

“What can I say, you bring out the best in me.”

“I’ve been trying, but I seem to be failing.”

Making a clicking noise she shook her head a little. “I would really like to punch you in the mouth.”

“That would be worthy of HR.”

Her jaw dropped, and her head slowly turned to look at him. Did he just really use her own sarcasm against her? She needed a moment to process it, which got a half smirk from him, exposing pointy teeth briefly. Looking away, she could finally see the road signs and knew they were headed for elf town. As soon as she figured that out though, Kandomere’s arm hooked around the head rest of the passenger seat as he looked back for an opening. As soon as he found one in the slow moving traffic, he hit the gas, and with practiced ease, maneuvered the car out of traffic to the exit.

“Changed your mind already?”

His fingers tapped against the steering wheel. “Just getting out of a traffic jam. I know a place not too far away that actually serves decent food.”

She gasped in mock shock. He had criticized every restaurant she loved, giving her the impression that everything outside elf town was a germ infested dump. He actually knew a place? He had tried a place outside elf town? This just begged to be made fun of after all the criticism.

“Topaz.” His tone was one of warning and stopped the retort from leaving her lips. “Shut up.”

“Only if you stop calling me Topaz.”

Tilting his head, he seemed to contemplate it for a moment, then shook his head. “Don’t think I will.”

“May I punch you in the face?”

“You may not.”

“Damn...”

[rynne311]

For Better or Worse

Request: Hello! Can I have a Bruce Wayne x reader? Y/N and Bruce attend this charity ball thingy and lots of girls are all over Bruce making you feel self conscious? (You can write the rest the way you want too :) ) thank you!!!

Requested by: @thegreatfallout

Word Count: 1,355

Requests are Open HERE.

You had long ago accepted that gala events with the social elite would forever be a part of your life.  You didn’t particularly care for them, but the charitable contributions they garnered mostly made the experiences worth it. Tonight was different; tonight was for your charity work with one of Gotham’s women’s centers.  You were the one pressing your peers for donations in order to implement the advancement and support programs, which meant the tables had turned and you were now the one leaving your husband to wait around while you schmoozed everyone into prying their checkbooks open.

You were making your way back after this round of purposeful socializing when you spotted it.  The modelesque socialites had once again descended upon your husband in your brief absence, and heaven help him, you could see him trying to gracefully excuse himself from them.  This seemed to happen any time you two got separated at one of these events; it didn’t mean you liked it, it just meant you were unfortunately used to it.  You weren’t, however, used to some of those older society women, who had undoubtedly sent their daughters over to lure your husband, not hushing their voices when they made snide remarks about you and how unfit you were to carry the Wayne name as you walked passed them.

“I don’t know what he’s doing with that Bleeding Heart; all she does is spend his money on the sob story of the week.” You swore you could hear the eyeroll that accompanied the insult.

“I know! You’d think if she wanted to put his money to good use, she’d go under the knife to get everything fixed and actually look like someone worthy of a man like that,” one of the other women in the group added that really made you feel like that girl you were in high school who always seemed to be forgotten until it was time to ridicule someone.

One of the women, one who looked like she could still own a catwalk, took the opportunity to make a dig at you, ”One would think, and I don’t know how he can even stand to let her out of the house in that god awful dress she keeps wearing.  It shows too much of her back and went out of style at least four galas ago.”

“She’s clearly holding him back from what he deserves: a decent woman of good breeding, like my Elizabeth.”

You weren’t sure when you had stopped trying to get back over to Bruce, but now you felt stuck in place.  You could do nothing but listen to the snide comments about you appearance and ambitions as you watched gorgeous women throw themselves at your husband.  Without ever meaning to, you began to agree with the not so hushed whispers that you would never be good enough to be the one on Bruce Wayne’s arm.

You were drawn back out of your musings by the concerned approach of your son, on of those “Bleeding Heart Sob Stories” you spent Bruce’s money on.

“Ma, you look like you need a drink,” Jason offered in an attempt to distract you while he figured out what was bothering you.

“That won’t change anything,” you refused, shaking your head with the most defeated voice Jason had ever heard from you.  It surprised him even more when you turned around and left the ballroom without another room.

Your sudden departure caught Bruce’s attention as he was finally able to separate himself from the small crowd of women surrounding him.  Making his way to the hall and foyer outside the ballroom, Bruce had no trouble seeing that you were now barely holding yourself together.  You were so wrapped up in your own thoughts to realize Bruce had guided you into an empty room until you heard the lock click and found yourself face to face with a very concerned looking husband.

One of the reasons you and Bruce worked so well together was that not only were you both creatures of defense mechanisms to push others away, but also that you both looked right through it every time.  Bruce was one to push everyone away by closing himself off and brooding; you knew just the right amount of space to give him and just how to project his own needs back to him through you.  However, you were one to push people away through anger, especially when you were made to feel like less than enough.  As hard as it may be, Bruce took the anger head on without taking it to heart - you were only trying to protect yourself from hurting more than you already were.

“What’s going on with you tonight?” He tried to ask, but was met with silence.  The World’s Greatest Detective shouldn’t have asked a question he didn’t already know the answer to, especially when it came to his wife and hurt feelings.  Bruce thought back to the ballroom in an effort to piece together what had changed your mood so suddenly.  After a moment of thought, Bruce tried again, “You don’t need to be jealous, sweetheart, I want those women around me even less than you do.”

Knowing that Bruce thought that this was only jealousy only made you more upset, and as soon as he the statement left his lips, he could see that clear as day.  For such an intelligent man, he sure could be dense.

“Well you should,” you venomously spat at him, earning another confused look from Bruce. “They’re all perfect for you! Tall, pretty, good breeding, modelesque society women,” you continued with tears brimming your eyes, “Not the working class, short, keeps wearing the same dress because it’s comfy with no zipper to fight with and is apparently the only design to realize that hips are a thing, and spends your money on sobs stories mess that I am!”

As much as you wanted to, you couldn’t stop it; the floodgates had opened and the tears were going to fall whether you liked it or not.  Bruce realized just how much you were hurting when you threw your hands up to block him as he tried to pull you in for a comforting hug.  As you lowered your hands to wrap around yourself, he settled for the next best physical comfort he could think to offer you.

“No, you’re perfect for me,” Bruce argued. “Their smiles don’t even reach their eyes, let alone their whole bodies like yours does.  They only think of themselves, when in the same position you always put everybody else before yourself.

“You’re perfect for me because you love with your whole being, not with your wallet,” he paused to collect himself. “You see through the masks and you love me despite my flaws-”

“Because of your flaws,” you interrupted, unwrapping your arms from yourself and stepping into Bruce’s fallen arms.  You leaned your head against his chest and tilted your head to look up at your husband, clarifying, “I love you because of your flaws, not in spite of them.  They’re part of what makes you ‘you,’ so I love you because of your flaws.”

“Fine, you love me because of my flaws,” Bruce conceded with a chuckle. “And I love you because of any flaw that you think you have.  That’s why, my beautiful in every imaginable way wife, I always choose you to be the one at my side.”

You were both content to stay like that - wrapped up in each other's arms, gently swaying to the muffled sounds of the music from the ballroom - for the rest of the gala, until you could go home and get wrapped up together all over again.

You didn’t have to be that ridiculed, insecure girl you were in high school again, but you didn’t have to completely lever her behind and forgotten either.  It was those flaws and experiences that led you here today - happy, fulfilled, loved and in love, and making a difference to help people.

For better or worse, flaws and all you and Bruce were in it together for the long haul.

[seekandfindgod-blog]

Trump impeachment witnesses leave a trail of tantalizing clues

They showed up, offered prepared remarks and answered hours of questions to lay out their side of the Ukraine-related impeachment inquiry now engulfing President Donald Trump.

But the current and former U.S. officials — several of them experienced diplomats accustomed to documenting almost everything — also left a trail of clues for investigators to follow. The breadcrumbs — word of a cable here, mention of a meeting there — are scattered across what’s been made public from the testimonies.

Given the secrecy involved, it’s not clear how many of the relevant materials Capitol Hill staffers already have managed to get. And the Trump administration has warned that it will resist cooperating with the probe. Still, what is known has set off a scramble across Washington to find a smoking gun, or pieces of one.

“Neither government nor conspiracies can operate without a paper trail,” said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, a watchdog group suing the Trump administration for Ukraine-linked documents. “These are busy people. They live by emails, texts and calendars.”

POLITICO spoke with former U.S. officials and oversight experts and scoured publicly available information from the testimonies. The following are just some of the key clues that witnesses have shared:

Trump’s aid-freeze ‘directive’

Of all the testimonies so far, that of William Taylor, the U.S. diplomat now leading the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, appears most fruitful for investigators seeking a roadmap to documents they need — documents the State Department is resisting sharing for now.

One clue in particular stood out: a “directive” Trump is said to have given freezing U.S. military aid to Ukraine. House Democrats are trying to establish whether Trump froze the aid to pressure Ukraine’s government to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival, and Biden’s son Hunter.

According to Taylor’s opening statement, he learned of the directive while participating in a July 18 National Security Council secure video-conference call. A person Taylor described as a staff member of the Office of Management and Budget mentioned it.

“All that the OMB staff person said was that the directive had come from the president to the (acting) chief of staff (Mick Mulvaney) to OMB,” Taylor said.

A great deal will depend on whether the directive was in writing, and if so, whether Trump spelled out why he wanted the aid frozen. But even if it was not written down, there likely are other ways to establish the existence of Trump’s order, from call logs to notes taken by others of various officials’ interactions with the president.

Taylor noted that after the OMB staffer’s explanation, a series of NSC-led interagency meetings followed in which participants concluded the security aid should be resumed. Staffers likely kept notes of those meetings, too. Taylor also mentioned that the Pentagon crafted an analysis of the aid’s effectiveness, another potential document.

The cable to Pompeo

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s role has been an enduring mystery throughout the impeachment inquiry. But both Taylor and Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine that Pompeo pulled out early from her post, offered leads on that front.

Taylor said that on Aug. 29, before he’d personally realized that the U.S. aid to Ukraine might have been frozen to help Trump’s political ambitions, he sent a cable to Pompeo conveying his concern about withholding the aid. Pompeo did not respond, Taylor said.

The cable itself could prove interesting, but Taylor also added that he’d heard that soon after receiving it, Pompeo took the cable with him to a meeting at the White House focused on security assistance for Ukraine. The notes from that meeting could prove significant, especially if there was any discussion of exactly why the aid was being withheld, or whether Pompeo spoke with the president about it.

In describing her removal, Yovanovitch mentioned a few tidbits that could shed light on Pompeo’s actions. She said that the State Department had asked her in early March to extend her tour in Ukraine until 2020; a document with that request is likely to exist, and would be evidence of her good standing in the role.

She also said that in late April she was told to fly back to Washington. That’s when Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told her she was being recalled early. According to Yovanovitch, Sulivan told her that she had “done nothing wrong” and that “the department had been under pressure from the president to remove me since the summer of 2018.”

That is nearly a year’s worth of time for such “pressure from the president.” Investigators will likely want to obtain emails, meeting notes and other materials linking the State Department, the White House and Yovanovitch. While Pompeo’s own communications could prove vital, those of his top aides and assistants – including Sullivan – could be just as enlightening.

The administration will likely try to block the release of any document that was generated from the White House, even if it was sent to State, citing executive privilege. Odds are, though, that there are “intra-State” documents that wouldn’t be subject to such a claim. That’s true not just for what happened to Yovanovitch but also for the broader questions about Ukraine policy.

The “intra-State” conversations could include communications between Pompeo and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union who was heavily involved in Ukraine policy through what Taylor described as the “irregular channel.” In his testimony, Sondland made a point of repeatedly suggesting Pompeo was in the loop. “I understand that all my actions involving Ukraine had the blessing of Secretary Pompeo as my work was consistent with long-standing U.S. foreign policy objectives,” he said.

Conversations with Ukrainians

U.S. diplomats who have interactions of any substance with a foreign official typically document them, often through a cable or an email to others at the State Department so that they are up to date. According to the testimonies, there were many such interactions.

For instance, Bill Taylor referred to an odd June 28 conference call that first included him, Sondland, and others, and which was later broadened to include the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Prior to Zelensky joining, there were cryptic mentions of Trump’s desire to see Ukrainian investigations. Among those mentioning them was Kurt Volker, at the time the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine negotiations. Taylor said he “reported on this call” to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and also wrote a “memo for the record” dated June 30 summarizing the conversation with Zelensky.

While Taylor, a veteran diplomat with 50 years of government service, has indicated he rigorously documented interactions with the Ukrainians — as well as those with other State Department officials — it's less clear how much Sondland and Volker did the same.

Their record-keeping could help establish the basics of what was discussed during two critical meetings: A July 10 one in the White House between U.S. and Ukrainian officials; and a July 26 meeting in Kyiv between U.S. and Ukrainian officials. According to Taylor and Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, the July 10 meeting was especially explosive as then-national security adviser John Bolton grew livid at Sondland when he realized Trump’s political calculations might be playing a role in shaping Ukraine policy. In Sondland’s opening statement, however, he either leaves out or glosses over that aspect of the meeting.

Volker, a former Foreign Service officer, has already handed over a batch of text messages to investigators. He quit as special envoy and has been largely cooperative. Sondland had no diplomatic experience but was given an ambassadorship after donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. He has said the State Department has his relevant documents, but the department has been slow to respond to congressional subpoenas for the material.

But Sondland indicated in his testimony that he prefers to communicate orally when possible, although he insisted that’s not because he wants to avoid creating a record. Attempting to clarify why in some text message exchanges with others he used phrases like “Call me” or otherwise suggested stopping texting, he said, “In my view, diplomacy is best handled through back-and-forth conversation.”

Outreach to Giuliani

One potentially valuable avenue for investigators is finding any and all communications between U.S. officials and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

Giuliani was part of what Hill and Taylor depicted as a shadow foreign policy aimed at pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; Trump directed some of his diplomats to deal with Giuliani on aspects of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, according to the testimonies, and according to an interview outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry gave the Wall Street Journal.

Because Giuliani is not a U.S. government official, communications with him by U.S. officials — including texts or emails — should, in theory, be easier to obtain because they are unlikely to contain classified material. Giuliani may try to shield his communications by referring to attorney-client privilege, but legal experts insist that argument can be used only in a narrow manner.

American Oversight’s records request to the administration includes senior U.S. officials’ communications with Giuliani; this past week, a judge ordered the State Department to start sending over documents to the watchdog group within 30 days.

The unnamed

For every big name brought up in the inquiry, there are lower-level government officials whose own records may prove critical to piecing together the puzzle.

Who was the unnamed OMB staffer Taylor mentioned? Who put Ukraine-related calls and meetings on the president’s calendar? Who wrote up the summaries of conclusions of Ukraine-related meetings at the National Security Council? Who took contemporaneous notes that match those summaries?

In a sense, the White House already has given Congress the most damning breadcrumb yet: the detailed readout of a July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky, in which the U.S. president repeatedly urges his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Biden.

For an airtight case proving a “quid pro quo,” though, it might come down to the word of an administrative assistant. Did any White House aides, for instance, take contemporaneous notes of the president linking the military aid directly to political favors?

For now, the House committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry have put in broadly worded requests and subpoenas for documents. For instance, they’ve demanded “any and all records generated or received by the State Department in connection with or that refer, or relate in any way to the July 25 call.”

Thanks to the clues offered so far in the various testimonies, the president’s own advisers may have made that task far simpler.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine

source https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/28/trump-impeachment-witnesses-diplomats-congress-059622

[harrysbbby]

Blame- Bucky Barnes- Part 12

a/n: this will probably be the last update for a while but to make sure it’s not too long…. Reblog & tag a friend to help get a new part uploaded :)

Also, we’re nearing the end of this… so please send me requests as this story only has about another 3 or 4 parts to go!

part-1

part-2

part-3

part-4

part-5

part-6

part-7

part-8

part-9

part-10

part-11

You were taken to the Super Max prison in the middle of the ocean. Wanda had been straight-jacketed, and you had all been put in separate cells. You had gotten some medical attention for your eye, but you found out you had nearly lost complete sight in it. You weren’t sure if it was your lack of sleep, or your anxiousness caused by Steve and Bucky’s unknown whereabouts or status, or your loss of blood but you had become unstable in the medical room. You thrashed out on the doctors and they had to sedate you to calm you down. They took you back to your cell in handcuffs, not trusting you anymore.

You had no idea of time or day, but Tony had come to the prison and came into your block of cells.

Clint clapped sarcastically as he entered, “The futurist, gentlemen! The futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what’s best for you, whether your like it or not.”

“Give me a break, Barton.” Tony replied moving up to Clint’s cell and speaking to him through the glass, “I had no idea they’d put you in here, come on.”

“Yeah, well, you knew they’ll put us somewhere, Tony.”

“Yeah. But, not some super max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for…”

“Criminals?” Clint suggested. He stood up and moved towards the glass, talking directly to him, “Criminals, Tony. I think that’s the word you’re looking for. Right? It didn’t used to mean me, or Sam, or (Y/n) or Wanda. But, here we are.”

“'Cause you broke the law.” Tony counted

“Yeah.’ Clint sighed

“I didn’t make you.”

“The law. The law.” Clint began pacing back and forth.

“You read it, you broke it.”

“The law. The law,” Clint continued, “the law.”

“Alright, you’re all grown up. You got a wife and kids. I don’t understand why didn’t you think about them before you choose the wrong side?” Tony finished, moving away from his cell as Clint stood up angrily.

“You better watch your back on this guy. Chances are he’s going to break it.” He said as he banged his hands against the glass.

“Hank Pym always said, you never can trust a Stark.” Scott said as Tony walked past

“Who are you?”

“Come on, man.” Scott exasperated.

Tony reached your cell and your back was turn towards him but you heard his footsteps and eyes burning into your back.

“An eye for an eye… that’s the saying, right, Tony?” you snapped as you turned around, revealing the grotesque flesh which held your severed eye. “I believe you owe me one.”

“You did this to yourself.” He said. You laughed,

“I did this to me? No, you did this to me. You did this to all of us when you initiated those damn Accords.” You huffed.

“Listen, about Barnes..” he tried to say before you cut him off angrily.

“No! Don’t you dare speak to me about him. Not after what you have done. Tony it wasn’t Steve who tore the Avengers apart, it was you.” You glared at him fuming, “Get out of my sight.” You said wiping around as to not look at him, “or so I should say if I had both my eyes.”

Tony walked over to Sam’s cell and you heard the start of their conversation.

“How’s Rhodes?”

“We’re flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow. So… Fingers cross.” Tony replied, “What do you need? They feed you yet?”

“Oh so what, you’re the good cop now?” Sam questioned before the rest of their conversation was too hushed to be heard.

Soon enough, Tony was leaving. You huffed back over to your hard metal bed, attempting to get some sleep. Your dreams were horrible nightmares of the battle, from what horrors actually happened, mixed with scenarios your brain imagined. One in particular that spooked you was the feeling of a metal hand on your neck and haunting eyes glaring into you. Without fail, it woke you up every time. You were terrified for Steve and Bucky and in the prison, you were almost certain you’d never hear from them again.

But low and behold, a few days later, Steve came walking through the doors of the super max prison. He walked up to Sam, who wore a smirk on his face.

“Oh welcome,” he said sarcastically. The keys Steve carried clanged as he worked to unlock Sam’s door.

“Well, thanks for having me,” he shot back, smiling up at him.

As he got to your cell he pointed at the eye-patch you had so kindly received from Secretary Ross, note the sarcasm

“How’s your eye?” he asked concerned. You just shrugged,

“Tingles every now and then but it’s not so bad.”

He eventually got all of you out of your cells. You helped Wanda out of her straight jacket. She groaned and stretched her arms,

“That thing was horrible,” she complained, moving her head side to side, a couple of cracks heard from her stiff neck

You all, meaning yourself, Sam, Scott, Clint and Wanda, followed Steve towards the jet he had waiting.

“How did you get in here?” Wanda asked, “there were so many guards.”

“I had some help,” Steve answered as the jet door opened, revealing T’Challa in his Blank Panther gear holding his helmet in his hand. He helped usher the rest of you into the jet as it set off for Wakanda. On the journey Steve explained how he had sent a letter to Tony, apologizing and telling him that if he truly needed us, we would all be there.

“T’Challa has kindly accepted to hide us in Wakanda until this blows over,” Steve clarified, “Bucky’s there waiting for..”

“Bucky?” you interrupted loudly, perking up the sound of his name, “Is he okay?”

Steve was taken-a-back by your outburst and blinked a few times before nodding. Sam’s cackle travelled through your ears from beside you,

“Smooth, (Y/N),” he threw his head back, eyes squinted shut, “you’re in deep”

“Oh shut up Sam! It’s not like that..” but before you could finish defending yourself Wanda rolled her eyes,

“Sure it isn’t,” She smiled.

“You’re all impossible,” you grumbled, slumping back in your seat. Steve laughed lightly,

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Bucky will be ecstatic to see you.”

 You arrived at the compound in Wakanda, all of you eager to get off the jet and be able to enjoy yourselves without the threat of guards or tazers every second of every day. You walked into the building with everyone else, it was large and immaculate.

“Thank you, T’Challa, for letting us stay here” You said, looking up at the high ceilings and out the windows that overlooked the Wakandan jungle.

“It’s my pleasure, (Y/N),” he spoke softly, “we are all victim’s here and if I can help one of you in the slightest….” he trailed off tilting his head. You smiled at him as you the corner into the large living area.

Into your view came the back of Bucky’s head. He sat on the couch, reading some kind of tablet, a confused look on his face, but of course none of you could see that. He was actually reading an article of the Top 10 Biggest Events of the 1900’s, trying to catch up on what he missed. The invention of the internet was very interesting to him that he nearly didn’t hear all the footsteps enter the room. But, he is a super soldier, so with his enhanced hearing he heard the mass of feet travelling his way. He swiveled in his place to see the entirety of Team Cap walking towards him and he smiled. He was so glad to see the people who were becoming his friends, slowly but surely. His heart fluttered when he saw you, but he was determined to keep his butterflies at bay.

He stood up and met you guys in the open area by the staircase. Steve came up to Bucky and clasp a hand on his shoulder before looking at him seriously,

“You all good, Buck?” he asked

“I’m fine, just catching up on some stuff,” he lifted up the tablet still poised in his hand, he looked up to sweep his eyes across the many people standing in front of him and he felt nervous. He didn’t know if he could trust himself not to lash out, so he began to cower back. However, before he could dainty arms wrapped around his neck and he could smell the faint scent of your shampoo.

Bucky tensed under you grip and for a millisecond you thought you had made a wrong decision but he loosened slightly and wrapped cautious arms around your waist.

“I’m sorry..” you stuttered as you stepped back, “that was overstepping the lin-“

“(Y/N),” he interrupted, “I don’t mind.”

You relaxed and smiled lightly. That’s when Bucky realized only one of your gorgeous (his choice of adjective) eyes were staring back at him.

“Your… your eye.” He stated sadly. You automatically moved to cover the eyepatch  but he grabbed your hand. You knew as soon as you were aware of the damage that you would be self-conscious about the wound- so ugly and gross- but Bucky seemed to make it worse. You actually really cared what he thought of you.

“I’m fine, Bucky, please..” but your plea didn’t help. He lifted up the patch to assess the damaged before placing it back on your eye, jaw clenched

“I’m going to kill Stark,”

“Oh puh-lease, you are not! If anyone gets the honours for this, I do!”

“C’mon,”

“No, absolutely not, I’m not letting you go to prison- for MURDER”

Everyone stood around as you and Bucky interacted. To the two of you it was almost as if you were the only two in the room. They were amazed at how your conversation flowed so easily in a matter of seconds. No one had seen either of you so bubbly in a long time. Sam stepped closer to Steve and whispered into his ear,

“What the hell are we going to do with these two?” he half joked, the other half a tone of annoyance at the thought of having to watch them do this, every day.

“Nothing, they’re perfect for each other.” He smiled watching his best friend smile at you genuinely. It looked painful but it was one of his first smiles since leaving the winter soldier behind.

“How about we show everyone to their rooms,” T’Challa suggested. You and Bucky had yet to stray from one another. Without looking away from you he spoke,

“I’ll show you yours, it’s across from me,” he said, grabbing your wrist and pulling you with him up the stairs, happily chatting about the article he’d been reading.

“Oh my god,” Wanda said, motioning to T’Challa for him to lead the way, “it’s as if we don’t even exist” she rolled her eyes as your’s and Bucky’s laughter echoed down the hallway

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[thisdaynews]

Trump impeachment witnesses leave a trail of tantalizing clues

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/trump-impeachment-witnesses-leave-a-trail-of-tantalizing-clues/

Trump impeachment witnesses leave a trail of tantalizing clues

“Neither government nor conspiracies can operate without a paper trail,” said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, a watchdog group suing the Trump administration for Ukraine-linked documents. “These are busy people. They live by emails, texts and calendars.”

POLITICO spoke with former U.S. officials and oversight experts and scoured publicly available information from the testimonies. The following are just some of the key clues that witnesses have shared:

Trump’s aid-freeze ‘directive’

Of all the testimonies so far, that of William Taylor, the U.S. diplomat now leading the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, appears most fruitful for investigators seeking a roadmap to documents they need — documents the State Department is resisting sharing for now.

One clue in particular stood out: a “directive” Trump is said to have given freezing U.S. military aid to Ukraine. House Democrats are trying to establish whether Trump froze the aid to pressure Ukraine’s government to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a political rival, and Biden’s son Hunter.

According to Taylor’s opening statement, he learned of the directive while participating in a July 18 National Security Council secure video-conference call. A person Taylor described as a staff member of the Office of Management and Budget mentioned it.

“All that the OMB staff person said was that the directive had come from the president to the (acting) chief of staff (Mick Mulvaney) to OMB,” Taylor said.

A great deal will depend on whether the directive was in writing, and if so, whether Trump spelled out why he wanted the aid frozen. But even if it was not written down, there likely are other ways to establish the existence of Trump’s order, from call logs to notes taken by others of various officials’ interactions with the president.

Taylor noted that after the OMB staffer’s explanation, a series of NSC-led interagency meetings followed in which participants concluded the security aid should be resumed. Staffers likely kept notes of those meetings, too. Taylor also mentioned that the Pentagon crafted an analysis of the aid’s effectiveness, another potential document.

The cable to Pompeo

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s role has been an enduring mystery throughout the impeachment inquiry. But both Taylor and Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine that Pompeo pulled out early from her post, offered leads on that front.

Taylor said that on Aug. 29, before he’d personally realized that the U.S. aid to Ukraine might have been frozen to help Trump’s political ambitions, he sent a cable to Pompeo conveying his concern about withholding the aid. Pompeo did not respond, Taylor said.

The cable itself could prove interesting, but Taylor also added that he’d heard that soon after receiving it, Pompeo took the cable with him to a meeting at the White House focused on security assistance for Ukraine. The notes from that meeting could prove significant, especially if there was any discussion of exactly why the aid was being withheld, or whether Pompeo spoke with the president about it.

In describing her removal, Yovanovitch mentioned a few tidbits that could shed light on Pompeo’s actions. She said that the State Department had asked her in early March to extend her tour in Ukraine until 2020; a document with that request is likely to exist, and would be evidence of her good standing in the role.

She also said that in late April she was told to fly back to Washington. That’s when Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan told her she was being recalled early. According to Yovanovitch, Sulivan told her that she had “done nothing wrong” and that “the department had been under pressure from the president to remove me since the summer of 2018.”

That is nearly a year’s worth of time for such “pressure from the president.” Investigators will likely want to obtain emails, meeting notes and other materials linking the State Department, the White House and Yovanovitch. While Pompeo’s own communications could prove vital, those of his top aides and assistants – including Sullivan – could be just as enlightening.

The administration will likely try to block the release of any document that was generated from the White House, even if it was sent to State, citing executive privilege. Odds are, though, that there are “intra-State” documents that wouldn’t be subject to such a claim. That’s true not just for what happened to Yovanovitch but also for the broader questions about Ukraine policy.

The “intra-State” conversations could include communications between Pompeo and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union who was heavily involved in Ukraine policy through what Taylor described as the “irregular channel.” In his testimony, Sondland made a point of repeatedly suggesting Pompeo was in the loop. “I understand that all my actions involving Ukraine had the blessing of Secretary Pompeo as my work was consistent with long-standing U.S. foreign policy objectives,” he said.

Conversations with Ukrainians

U.S. diplomats who have interactions of any substance with a foreign official typically document them, often through a cable or an email to others at the State Department so that they are up to date. According to the testimonies, there were many such interactions.

For instance, Bill Taylor referred to an odd June 28 conference call that first included him, Sondland, and others, and which was later broadened to include the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Prior to Zelensky joining, there were cryptic mentions of Trump’s desire to see Ukrainian investigations. Among those mentioning them was Kurt Volker, at the time the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine negotiations. Taylor said he “reported on this call” to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and also wrote a “memo for the record” dated June 30 summarizing the conversation with Zelensky.

While Taylor, a veteran diplomat with 50 years of government service, has indicated he rigorously documented interactions with the Ukrainians — as well as those with other State Department officials — it’s less clear how much Sondland and Volker did the same.

Their record-keeping could help establish the basics of what was discussed during two critical meetings: A July 10 one in the White House between U.S. and Ukrainian officials; and a July 26 meeting in Kyiv between U.S. and Ukrainian officials. According to Taylor and Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council official, the July 10 meeting was especially explosive as then-national security adviser John Bolton grew livid at Sondland when he realized Trump’s political calculations might be playing a role in shaping Ukraine policy. In Sondland’s opening statement, however, he either leaves out or glosses over that aspect of the meeting.

Volker, a former Foreign Service officer, has already handed over a batch of text messages to investigators. He quit as special envoy and has been largely cooperative. Sondland had no diplomatic experience but was given an ambassadorship after donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. He has said the State Department has his relevant documents, but the department has been slow to respond to congressional subpoenas for the material.

But Sondland indicated in his testimony that he prefers to communicate orally when possible, although he insisted that’s not because he wants to avoid creating a record. Attempting to clarify why in some text message exchanges with others he used phrases like “Call me” or otherwise suggested stopping texting, he said, “In my view, diplomacy is best handled through back-and-forth conversation.”

Outreach to Giuliani

One potentially valuable avenue for investigators is finding any and all communications between U.S. officials and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer.

Giuliani was part of what Hill and Taylor depicted as a shadow foreign policy aimed at pressuring Ukraine to investigate the Bidens; Trump directed some of his diplomats to deal with Giuliani on aspects of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, according to the testimonies, and according to an interview outgoing Energy Secretary Rick Perry gave the Wall Street Journal.

Because Giuliani is not a U.S. government official, communications with him by U.S. officials — including texts or emails — should, in theory, be easier to obtain because they are unlikely to contain classified material. Giuliani may try to shield his communications by referring to attorney-client privilege, but legal experts insist that argument can be used only in a narrow manner.

American Oversight’s records request to the administration includes senior U.S. officials’ communications with Giuliani; this past week, a judge ordered the State Department to start sending over documents to the watchdog group within 30 days.

The unnamed

For every big name brought up in the inquiry, there are lower-level government officials whose own records may prove critical to piecing together the puzzle.

Who was the unnamed OMB staffer Taylor mentioned? Who put Ukraine-related calls and meetings on the president’s calendar? Who wrote up the summaries of conclusions of Ukraine-related meetings at the National Security Council? Who took contemporaneous notes that match those summaries?

In a sense, the White House already has given Congress the most damning breadcrumb yet: the detailed readout of a July 25 phone call between Trump and Zelensky, in which the U.S. president repeatedly urges his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Biden.

For an airtight case proving a “quid pro quo,” though, it might come down to the word of an administrative assistant. Did any White House aides, for instance, take contemporaneous notes of the president linking the military aid directly to political favors?

For now, the House committees overseeing the impeachment inquiry have put in broadly worded requests and subpoenas for documents. For instance, they’ve demanded “any and all records generated or received by the State Department in connection with or that refer, or relate in any way to the July 25 call.”

Thanks to the clues offered so far in the various testimonies, the president’s own advisers may have made that task far simpler.

Read More

[terrordave1]

Would you believe something as simple as a friend’s Christmas list could help sweep away the holiday blues? It did for me, though not in a syrupy Hallmark Channel sort of way, but rather with a nostalgic boost of horror that was like reconnecting with an old pal; one you never should have lost touch with in the first place. It all started a few weeks back while doing some online shopping. I was looking over the other Terror Dave’s Amazon “Wish list” hoping to fill in a few gaps when one of his requests seized my attention. It was a new book (written about older ones) titled “Paperbacks from Hell” and written by Grady Hendrix. The adventure that followed would not only melt this Winter Warlock’s heart but likely impact his coming year as well. Before I explain, I’d like to clarify this is NOT a book review. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a phenomenal book; loaded with enough illustrations to merit your coffee table and absolutely worth buying. However, in keeping with the spirit of season, I’d rather spotlight its Sin-spirational subject matter instead.

Whether onscreen or in written form, I couldn’t get enough horror back in the mid/late ‘80s when I was in high school. This inspired constant trips to the local Homewood Video while frequenting our now extinct Crown Book Store in search of paperbacks. I remember bypassing all the best-selling hardcovers displayed in the center aisle and making a sharp left to the appropriate section marked “Horror.” There, I’d plant myself for the better part of an hour rifling through titles while deciding which ones to take home. Considering the abundant selection, this was no easy feat and often required breaking the universal rule of not judging books by their covers. And talk about eye candy! The art featured on these books were usually gruesome, unintentionally hilarious, and often successful in their goal of inspiring a purchase.

“Nightscape” Stephen R. George (1992)

“Evil Eye” Ehren M. Ehly (1989)

“Spawn” Shaun Hutson (1983)

“Toy Cemetery” William W. Johnstone (1987)

“Evilway” Ryan O. Moses (1990)

“Deadly Nature” V.M. Thompson (1988)

“Goblins” Vincent Courtney (1994)

Despite routinely passing its old location, I’d forgotten all about the store and its grisly offerings. Just one glance at “Paperbacks from Hell” brought it all back to me; wiping away my doldrums like a pulpy hit of Prozac. I quickly ordered TWO copies, one for David and one for myself, while contemplating a fun way to gift it. Then it hit me; why not embellish this book with a few of those old ones? Naturally, the first step was searching the Internet but this quickly evolved into visiting used book stores on foot. As a lifelong collector of everything from comic books to dinosaur models, I know full well that despite the ease of online shopping there’s still something to be said for the good, old-fashioned thrill of the hunt! Not to mention there were so many offerings during their golden age (early ‘70s through early ‘90s), I’d stand a much better chance of spotting something obscure on a store shelf anyway. The trick was finding the right shelf.

Pilson Community Books Chicago

My first stop was in Schererville, Indiana at a place called “The Cat’s Tale.” Figuring I couldn’t go wrong with a cozy little moniker like that, I walked inside full of anticipation. It looked so quaint from the outside I had visions of seeing a stone fireplace behind a wise, old sage blowing the dust off an ancient classic before guiding me to the treasures I sought . This fantasy quickly dissolved after walking inside and witnessing what can only be described as a tornado hitting a library. Books were strewn about pell-mell with many covering the floor and blocking the aisles. As for my “wise old sage,” she was in her mid-thirties and so focused on her laptop, she barely glanced when I triggered the welcome chimes. After an hour of tripping over books I was disappointed to discover there wasn’t much in the way of horror. I was about to leave when I spotted the familiar Zebra Books logo. In terms of ‘80s trash novels, Zebra and Leisure Books were pretty much at the top of the heap! Best of all, it was written by one of my favorite, forgotten authors.

“The Uninvited” William W. Johnstone (1988)

At an age when everyone was talking about King and Koontz, the far more ambiguous William W. Johnstone was no less active. He’d pen over two-hundred books, mostly westerns, along with twenty-five horror titles including this one, “The Uninvited” (1988). It’s about an army of mutant cockroaches terrorizing a small Louisiana town and I remember thinking at the time, “David, ole ‘bug guy,’ ole buddy, ole pal…I’m sorry but this one stays with me!” And in the blink of an eye, my new horror paperback collection was born.

As soon as I got home I opened the cover and was inundated by that glorious “old book” smell. I do love those musty fumes despite their denoting chemical breakdown and the novel’s decay. Regardless of its fragility, this one was in fairly good shape with relatively few creases. I’ve always been gentle with my paperbacks and never understood folks opening theirs so widely they crack the hell out of the spines. Unfortunately, this would prove more the rule than the exception.

My next purchase was via eBay and featured another popular Zebra Book author, Ruby Jean Jensen. I haven’t read this one yet, but what made the transaction so memorable was its seller.

“Jump Rope” Ruby Jean Jensen (1988)

She sent me a message thanking me for my purchase along with a Wiccan blessing. I told her I appreciated it, as I could use all the White Magic I could get these days. Later, after the book arrived, I discovered she’d added a small bag of charms, a personal prayer, and medallion featuring a figure eight (symbol for overcoming obstacles). Once again, those old paperbacks inadvertently brought joy.

I finished reading “The Uninvited” in less than 24 hours and decided my next one would be “Incubus” by Ray Russell. This was another online purchase and caught my attention due to my familiarity with the 1982 film. Though the movie is pretty dull, the same can’t be said for it’s source. “Incubus” would be the second novel I’d finish inside a day, and to think I’d been having trouble finishing books this past year on account of getting too sleepy. Who knew the answer to my short attention span was simply finding material with a lot more sex and violence? And this tale, featuring a medieval demon murdering women with his enormous penis while leaving gallons of semen in his wake, had plenty of both! (Hey, I warned you this wasn’t gonna be like the Hallmark Channel)

“Incubus” Ray Russell (1976)

Now that my new horror paperback collection was underway, I needed to get back to my original mission of David’s gift. Unfortunately, after visiting several bookstores and thrift shops, I’d consistently come up empty. This would all change with the discovery of “Bucket O’ Blood Books and Records” which would not only be a random find (and with Christmas just over a week away), but prove a one-stop-shop! This Chicago store specifically caters to horror and sci-fi and had a large large selection of used books! Talk about a holiday miracle!

Thankfully, they were affordable enough for me to send multiples with David’s gifts as planned. I may not have been able to bring him with me on this adventure, but was determined to send him a bit of my own Used Bookstore instead.

For around $50 I got a large brown bag full; plenty for both of us Daves. Most weren’t in collectible condition but fine for reading purposes. When I’m done, I figure I can always go back and trade them in for more!

I asked the owner how often they replenish their stock and he suggested I visit every couple months or so. He also admitted it’s been a challenge keeping used horror books on the shelves these days .

“Why is that?” I asked.

The man rolled his eyes. “There’s this book that came out called ‘Paperbacks from Hell,” he said. “Now everyone’s out looking for these damn things. Drives me crazy how impressionable people are.”

“Really?” I said blankly. “Never heard of it.”

Dave Fuentes~

“Paperbacks from Hell” Conjures Pulpy Pleasure! Would you believe something as simple as a friend's Christmas list could help sweep away the holiday blues?

[wavenetinfo]

GRETNA, Neb. — Lanyard Burgett sits uncomfortably outside a coffee shop in an outlet mall, occasionally craning his neck to see whether someone is behind him. Burgett says he served in the Air Force in Saudi Arabia in the 1990s, but was never as afraid there as he is right now.

His angst is over the events of a youth soccer tournament in Nebraska last weekend.

Burgett says his life has been threatened, and his phone has been bombarded with numerous intimidating calls from blocked numbers. He has filed a report with the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office. Burgett is not normally a paranoid man, but he was awoken Tuesday night to what he believes was the sound of someone trying to break into his house. He’d been asleep for three hours at that point. It was one of the longest nights he has slept since all this started five days ago.

His body language is a contorted mess of anger, fear and resignation. Burgett has been a ref and a coach and a soccer dad, but right now, the volunteer director of the Ray Heimes Springfield Soccer Invitational never wants to be involved in a soccer tournament again. He is seated across from a public relations person named Gina Pappas, and has come with a stapled packet of soccer rules and a roster — evidence, if you will. Less than a week ago, Burgett’s world was grandkids and making sure he had enough medals for his tournament — a simple life in the small town of Springfield, Nebraska, population 1,600. Now Burgett has a P.R. person.

About 30 minutes away, in Omaha, an 8-year-old girl is being flooded with media requests. Mili Hernandez had two TV interviews on Tuesday night, and she was late because her father, Gerardo, couldn’t find her. She was out playing with a friend, oblivious to the fact that she has become the face of a debate over sports and gender rights. Mili doesn’t have Barbie dolls; she has soccer balls. On Sunday, when her Azzurri Cachorros Chicas team was disqualified from the tournament in Springfield, reportedly because tournament officials were convinced the short-haired Mili was a boy, the story took off, thrusting her into international prominence.

U.S. Soccer legends Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach sent their support to young Mili, whose full name is Milagros, which in Spanish means “miracles.”

“You’re inspiring,” Wambach told Mili in a video. “You’re a natural-born leader, honey, and I’m so proud of you.”

But like most scenarios involving parents, youth sports and about 1,000 kids running around a grassy patch of land, this story is far from simple.

Burgett tugs on his plastic water bottle. At least twice in the conversation, he looks as if he’s going to cry. He was torn when he heard about Hamm and Wambach reaching out to Mili. He’s happy that the little girl might get to meet them, and upset that he, in this equation, is portrayed as the monster who created the controversy.

He thumbs through his packet of soccer papers, which are marked in yellow highlighter. Two decades in the military taught him to be regimented, even in chaos. It taught him to follow the rules.

“I would like to have the opportunity to maybe sit down with the parents and talk to them and apologize to her,” he says. “Because I want her to know it wasn’t about her. I’ve got grandkids. I wouldn’t want somebody to do it to them when they play soccer.

“I’d like to give them my side. They might understand; they might not. At least then they’d know from my side why I did what I did.”

Many sides to the story

Where do we begin? With the coach who complained about a rule that has nothing to do with gender confusion? With the anonymous parents who asked why a boy was playing on a girls’ team?

Burgett contends that young Mili had nothing to do with the Azzurri girls’ team being kicked out of the Springfield tournament Saturday night. He says he disqualified three Azzurri teams, not just Mili’s. Yes, there was a dispute over whether Mili was a girl that became even more confusing when the team’s roster, a list that has been used for months, had an “M” for male next to her name. There are 14 girls on that roster, and the only one who fell victim to the typo is the kid who just happens to have short hair. How that happened remains unclear.

But Burgett says the teams were disqualified because they violated another rule. Azzurri played kids on multiple teams in the tournament. Burgett presents a piece of paper that Mo Farivari, the director of the Azzurri soccer club, signed at check-in. Six lines above his signature, in caps, is a sentence that says if illegal players are caught, they face possible removal from the tournament. Then Burgett shows a highlighted page that explains the rule, that a kid can’t play on two teams.

Farivari doesn’t deny that the club had players competing on multiple teams during the tournament. Three girls on Mili’s team also played for Azzurri’s 11/12 boys’ team during the tournament. So did a few players on the club’s 10-and-under boys’ team. But Farivari says they’ve done this before, it’s legal at his tournament, and he was never told that it was against Springfield’s rules. Farivari is also convinced Mili’s team was disqualified because of the gender controversy.

“The only reason he disqualified them,” Farivari says, “is because Mili looks like a boy and is listed [with] a typo on the roster. I went over this to clarify, but he didn’t want to listen.”

The gender flap, in and of itself, is confusing. Soccer clubs have a registrar who types in the names of each player, along with information such as date of birth and gender. Months ago, when Azzurri’s registrar was inputting the 300-plus club names into the Nebraska State Soccer Association system, Farivari says, the registrar accidentally hit “male” instead of “female” for Mili. That error apparently was never corrected.

So for months, Mili played soccer games with the wrong gender attached to her name, and heard nary a peep about it. Even a rules-stickler like Burgett didn’t notice during registration as he pored through hundreds of names last week.

Tournament officials first noticed it Saturday. Burgett was gone for a few hours to attend a wedding, leaving duties to his assistants. That morning, Mili’s team was scheduled to play the Norris Titans Blue team after 11 o’clock. Norris had played earlier that morning, and members of the team were watching a boys’ game before warm-ups.

When three girls who played on that Azzurri boys’ team took the field for warm-ups before the Titans’ girls’ game against Mili’s team, Norris coach Brad Kester took notice. It bothered him a bit. “If that was legal,” Kester says, “I would’ve had two teams in the tournament if I could’ve shared players.”

There are reasons for that rule, Kester says. Temperatures climbed into the 90s in Eastern Nebraska this past weekend, and he says safety is an issue when a kid is possibly playing eight games over the course of three days.

Kester alerted a referee about the rules infraction, but he did not protest the game, which he says Norris won 4-0. It was the Chicas’ first loss of the tournament. During the game, Kester says that his players could hear parents yelling for Azzurri to “pass HIM the ball.” That puzzled Kester. He says the shouts were coming from Azzurri parents.

“It didn’t really matter to me,” Kester says. “We didn’t complain about Mili’s role in the game. It had no impact on the game. It’s not like we saw Mili before the game and we’re like, ‘Hey, that player looks like a boy.'”

After the game, when Kester was talking to a tournament official about the player-swapping infraction, he said at least one parent from Norris chimed in and asked, “Why do they have a boy on the team?” Kester declined to identify the parent. Burgett says multiple parents asked that question.

By late Saturday, Burgett and his staff were investigating both issues. Burgett went through the roster and saw the “M” for male. He says he did not actually see what Mili looked like until Monday night, when he finally turned on a television and saw her on the news. (He says he intentionally avoided TV and the internet before that.) Burgett says it didn’t matter what documentation Mili’s family, or the club, presented. His official document, the roster, said she was a boy. And in his mind, the point was moot anyway, because her team, along with two other Azzurri squads, were being disqualified for the player-sharing infraction.

At 11:12 p.m. on Saturday night, he sent Farivari an email informing him that the teams were disqualified. In detail, he listed four infractions. Three of them were about sharing players. But the first one on the list dealt with Mili.

She was not named — Burgett says he made a point throughout the whole process not to single her out — but the paragraph said the Chicas’ first infraction was having a male play three games on a female team.

“I am sorry to inform of this decision,” Burgett wrote about the infractions, “but cheating is not taken lightly and they will forfeit their remaining games.”

Mili back on the field; Burgett not so quick to return

Gerardo Hernandez’s phone has been ringing nonstop. When he got word Sunday morning that his daughter’s team was being disqualified from the tournament, he rushed from his home in midtown Omaha to Springfield, desperately — and unthinkably — trying to prove that Mili was a girl.

Gerardo was angry, but he had to get there so Mili’s team could play. He brought with him an insurance card to prove his daughter’s gender. He was ready to recite any information they needed.

“I said I have something in my wallet I want to show him,” Gerardo says. “He didn’t even take it. He didn’t care. He said somebody was a boy on the team, and there’s nothing we can do.”

Mili went with him to Springfield. Gerardo says she felt like the whole team got kicked out because of her, and she felt terrible. She cried the whole ride home, he says.

“She went to sleep thinking she was going to play … ” Gerardo says. “Early morning, they told her she was out.”

The Nebraska State Soccer Association did not respond to questions from espnW.com, but said in an email that Springfield tournament officials disqualified an all-girls team for incorrectly listing a member as “male” on its roster in violation of tournament rules. The NSSA said that despite initial media reports, team officials said the squad was not disqualified because of physical appearances but because of incorrect paperwork submitted. The NSSA said it was suspending the sanctioning of the Springfield Invitational until a detailed review took place.

In a statement, executive director Casey Mann said Nebraska State Soccer “was founded on the values of teamwork and inclusion.”

Mili hasn’t had to worry about exclusion in the days since her story went viral. Hamm has invited her to her camp this summer, and Mili plans to go. Farivari says he got a call from Columbus, Nebraska, offering the team a chance to play in a tournament there this weekend, free of charge.

Thursday night, according to Azzurri coach Mario Torres, Mili’s teammates plan to cut their hair after practice as a sign of support for her.

Mili is kicking a soccer ball around again and playing with her friends. She seems ready for things to go back to normal. “I want to forget about all this,” she told Omaha ABC affiliate KETV.

Burgett isn’t sure when things will be normal again, but he has no plans to help out with soccer anymore. “I don’t have the passion for it right now,” he says.

For years, when he handed out medals at the tournament, he choked up with emotion. He’s not quite sure why a strict military man would do that, almost cry when a kid received a medal. He just did.

“I’ve had angry parents, angry coaches when I’ve refereed,” he says. “But I’ve never felt that I had to protect myself.

“My wife and daughter are worried right now. They’re just worried because we’ve never been in this situation.”

9 June 2017 | 10:25 am

Source : ABC News

>>>Click Here To View Original Press Release>>>

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