#the fact Tom and Joe are gone

[rhysjoejoshtomfarisblog]

Portrait by Tom Beard

[feedists4progress]

Food is one of the most universally beloved things on planet Earth. Aligning a presidential campaign with it is smart for all the obvious reasons, but for the Harris-Walz ticket, it’s also a signal. The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know. [...] In foregrounding food, Harris and Walz are making theirs the candidacy of terrestrial pleasure and straightforward abundance.

The governor of Minnesota and possible future vice president’s hotdish recipe is, uh, a lot. It involves, among other things, whole milk, half-and-half, two types of meat, three cups of cheese (specifically Kraft), nearly a stick of butter, and a full package of Tater Tots. It is gluttonous, deeply midwestern, and, I am sure, delicious. Indeed, Walz won the Minnesota Congressional Delegation’s hotdish cook-off in 2013, 2014, and 2016.

Tim Walz loves food. He loves corn dogs, and the all-you-can-drink milk booth at the Minnesota state fair, and—I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this—dunking cinnamon rolls in chili. He gets excited about soda. He posts pictures of his sandwiches.  He loves to eat so much that people on X are already writing short-form fan fiction about it. Throughout his political career, but especially recently, he has gone out of his way to talk about food, the fattier and folksier the better. Last week, in a discussion with CNN’s Jake Tapper that was ostensibly about Joe Biden’s mental fitness, Walz recounted receiving a call from the president while eating the Minnesota delicacy Juicy Lucy, a hamburger stuffed with cheese. The next day, he posted on X about a different award-winning hotdish recipe of his, this one involving two separate kinds of canned soup.

We are witnessing what might be the most food-centric presidential campaign in American history. Kamala Harris is, by all accounts, an exceptional and enthusiastic home cook, and has made cooking part of her political brand—surely an intentional calculation, given the negative connotations that might arise when the potential first woman president openly embraces domesticity. In 2019, she offered an off-the-cuff lesson in turkey brining while getting mic’d up to go on television: “Just lather that baby up,” she said, eyes bright. The next year, she started an amateur cooking show; on it, she cracks an egg with one hand and bonds with Mindy Kaling over the fact that their parents both stored spices in old Taster’s Choice jars. She laughs a lot in the kitchen.

Unlike her running mate, Harris seems unlikely to throw four kinds of dairy in the oven for dinner—she’s a Californian, and she cooks like one: swordfish with toasted cardamom for her pescatarian stepdaughter, herb-flecked Mediterranean meatballs on an Instagram Live with the celebrity chef Tom Colicchio. But she’s not immune to the humble charms of ice cream, gumbo, Popeye’s chicken, red-velvet cupcakes, or bacon, which she describes as a “spice” in her household. She comes off as sincere in her love of food but discerning in her tastes. When a 10-year-old recently asked her at an event what her favorite taco filling was, she answered with the kind of absorbed expression that she might otherwise display when explaining foreign policy on the debate stage: carnitas with cilantro and lime, no raw onions.

Invoking food on the campaign trail is a cliché for a reason: Eating is an easy and extremely literal way to prove that you are a human being. But the Democratic Party has not always been great at it. In 2003, John Kerry visited the Philadelphia cheesesteak institution Pat’s and asked for a sandwich not with the traditional Whiz, American, or Provolone, but with Swiss. If voters needed proof that he was something other than the eggheady elitist they thought he was, this wasn’t it: In Philly, Swiss is “an alternative lifestyle,” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s food critic, Craig LaBan, said at the time. One does not get the sense that Walz or Harris would stride into Pat’s and ask for Swiss—not because they’re self-consciously avoiding a gaffe, but because they have deep respect for America’s foodways and are interested in enjoying food however it is meant to be enjoyed.

Their approach makes a marked departure both from the Obama era—what with its well-meaning but not entirely fun focus on childhood obesity, and its notorious seven almonds—and from the current leaders of the Republican Party. Donald Trump doesn’t really talk about liking eating; he does, famously, consume a lot of fast food, but that is reportedly because he’s afraid of being poisoned, not because fast food tastes amazing. His most well-known food tweet—“Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”—reads like an obligatory plug rather than an earnest celebration of the way the taco bowl itself looks, smells, and tastes: all business, no pleasure. Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, J. D. Vance, says he loves Diet Mountain Dew, but he seems mostly to be mad about it. To the degree that he has gotten specific about why he likes the beverage, the praise is purely functional: “high caffeine, low calorie.” The primary message here is that food is the site not of delight and togetherness but of anxiety and alienation, or utilitarianism at best. It’s all a little, well, weird.

Food is one of the most universally beloved things on planet Earth. Aligning a presidential campaign with it is smart for all the obvious reasons, but for the Harris-Walz ticket, it’s also a signal. The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know. I find it telling that Walz keeps using the word joy when he talks about the campaign and about his running mate. It’s an uncomplicated message, one that’s even more concrete than Barack Obama’s hope: Hope is the future, but joy is the present. It’s cold milk on a hot day; a perfectly cracked egg; a steaming casserole dish full of God knows what, enjoyed at a crowded table. In foregrounding food, Harris and Walz are making theirs the candidacy of terrestrial pleasure and straightforward abundance. It’s simple, really. —Ellen Cushing

[wcfieldsimpersonator]

here's how i imagine the plane ride home from hawaii after shooting the finale went: gregg refusing to talk to or even look at tim. and tim tries to talk to him initially, but he stops. gregg is just staring at the movie playing in the plane, barely moving a muscle. and then tim falls asleep and then all gregg can do is stare at tim bc hes thinking that this will be the last time he sees tim. bc he never wants to see him again, but he also doesnt want to forget his face.

gregg probably like immediately left the apartment (maybe he didnt even go in). since that was like his whole collection that was burnt right? so he has nothing there that he cares about. he can buy new clothes and a new vcr. he just goes to his car and drives away. he wants to get as far away from tim as possible. and only stops to watch movies, where he probably like only eats popcorn. maybe he falls asleep at the theater some nights and has to get waken up by ushers. and then people on twitter are worried about him so he makes up some other movie challenge (#50moviesin50states) to justify this. to distance himself from the truth.

(he started the #500moviesin500days like i think the same week ayaka and tim supposedly started dating. tim tweets at gregg after he announces the #500moviesin500days calling them "reVIEWS Brothers" and saying he would love to be a part of history.... and gregg tweets after that that he will need to cut out any extraneous movie watching. tim stops going to carrabas and movies with gregg and gregg makes up a reason for why he doesnt need to as well.)

tim wins back his trust with decker after the violation with the first one. and then he gets him so close. only to stab him in the back again. its so crazy. like you were so happy tim. why did you have to hurt gregg? he had every chance not to shoot that scene, bc maybe he wrote it in a fit of anger after gregg spoiled the ending that he loved (he considered joes character to be like evil, so decker becoming president is the best way to tie up that plotline to him). and they were so sleep deprived and tom cruise jr was just getting sick (the fact that they get ayakas mom to come over means it was like really bad- and yknow. he did die.). constant phone calls with doctors that tim probably didnt understand.

but they seemed completely fine and like more rested in the episode before the season finale. and they already shot like the actual ending before the burning of the tapes. they didnt even need to go back. its like getting close to gregg is too much for him so he has to push him away and make sure he stays gone. but even when he succeeds in doing that (oscar special 8) he works so hard to get gregg to come back.

[palestinegenocide]

Biden is ‘pristine’ on Israel, says megadonor Haim Saban

We’ve reached the point where Everything that Joe Biden and his mouthpieces say about the Gaza war is a lie.

They say that they deplore civilian deaths in Gaza, and yet they send more money for Israeli munitions and block any effort to hold Israel back, “casting international humanitarian law to the winds.” And when they are pressed about this, Biden’s surrogate Nancy Pelosi says that no American arms have gone to kill Palestinian civilians.

They say that Israel has a strategy to defeat Hamas. It has no strategy. (Even the liberal Zionists admit.) It has only rage and anguish, at the highest level.

They say that this war has given hope to the two-state solution. This is the talking point from Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, Chris Coons, Martin Indyk, Tom Friedman, J Street and the State Department. But Netanyahu is dead set against a Palestinian state.

So they say that the problem is Netanyahu – he’s the “pinchpoint,” Senator Coons says — but the Israeli Knesset voted overwhelmingly this week to oppose a Palestinian state.

They say that Biden has argued with Netanyahu about the embarrassing fact that Israel is wantonly killing 10s of thousands of Palestinian civilians. But there is actually No diversity in Israeli leadership over collective punishment, smashing Gaza to bits and mass murder and ethnic cleansing. Over 2/3 of Jewish Israelis oppose humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The State Department and Tom Friedman declare we are just trying to keep alive the dream of normalizing Israel with Arab autocracies so as to spread peace through the bad neighborhood of the Middle East. But Saudi Arabia says it won’t dream of such a thing till Palestinians have sovereignty. And everyone knows that a chief cause of the horrific Hamas attacks on Israeli families in their homes was that the international community was taking Palestinians for granted.

It’s all lies, because Biden knows that the truth will just hurt him. All of America, even evangelicals, are for a ceasefire. Michigan progressives are deserting Biden. The rage is “unprecedented,” even the NY Times says. “The chorus of voices from foreign capitals has grown thunderous in recent days… “

Biden and his friends tell these lies for a simple reason that I talk about to the point of boredom (because so few talk about it). He needs the Israel lobby on his side, way more than he thinks he needs Michigan progressives.

This week Biden had a fundraiser in L.A. co-hosted by Haim Saban – whose only issue is Israel – and a vice-chairman of the ADL— which says that to oppose Zionism makes you an antisemite. Ticket prices, $3,000 to $250,000.

And as Saban told TheWrap, Biden is “pristine” on Israel in these “dire times.”

He’s paying a political price… There’s never been a president as supportive in facts, not only in words, of Israel… [M]ost specifically, in these dire times for Israel, he’s been pristine.

Without the U.S., Israel would be fighting with “sticks and stones.”

These lines from the leading Democratic donor should have been on our airwaves and leading papers. But no, this is a scandal in plain sight because it would just feed the claim that pro-Israel Jews have outsize political influence in the U.S., which everyone knows anyway. And by the way, a PR firm with close links to the White House is an attack dog against journalists who say a kind word about Palestinians.

Biden is pristine because the American Jewish community and Israel are deluded about Israel.

They believe Israel is a robust democracy. No, it is a robust apartheid state– all the human rights organizations affirm– a Jewish supremacist state in which Palestinians have second-class and no-class rights– an order that Palestinians will reject, by any means.

So today Israel perpetrates a likely genocide against those people, killing nearly 30,000 Palestinians, most of them trapped civilians.

And Biden is pristine in his support of this slaughter because he needs political backing in the U.S.

Back in 2015, Obama said that only Israel in all the world was against the Iran deal and it would be an “abrogation” of his constitutional duty if he went with Israel.

Today all the world but Israel wants the slaughter to end, and Biden is abrogating his constitutional duty so as to be pristine in support of Israel.

The difference between Obama and Biden is that Obama was in his second term and could take a stand against the tail wagging the dog. Biden is in his first and cannot. So he and everyone around him just lies.

Thanks for reading,

[solarzilla]

Guess it hasn't been shared here but the covers of the unpublished Collision Course which was suppose to be idw's last title but it was already too late. What I found most interesting is that Starscreams shown on the two covers are his Regeneration One self as that universe was cutt off from the rest of multiverse. There's also how multiversal travel would've been harder to do now as a result of the Shroud in the Fun Publication stories. Apparently there couldn't be any Bayverse stuff as Milne said they needed Paramount's permission which sounds unfair and the fact that a lot lore involving the Multiversal Thirteen was rooted in there. Apparently other stuff couldn't be used as I see no Unicron Trilogy stuff besides Armada Megatron and no 2001 RID. I guess Gobots are also included even though they are canonically Transformers in their realities

The Grimlock vs BW Megatron cover could've tied back to the idw beast wars comic as the Dinobots had gone missing over there and Megatron was next to a protoform x that was seemingly Grimlock. Optimus is in some kind of "Energon Universe" in both one of the covers and a page by Tom Scioli along with Megatron from the 2014-2016 tf vs Gi joe comic returning from Dream Valley from mlp

Least Milne described it as the tf equivalent to Infinite Crisis though at the time of the tf multiverse, there isn't really an equivalent to the anti-monitor besides Unicron but Unicron hasn't a multiversal singular being in almost a decade so not his death was causing the death of the multiverse like with the Black Hole in Cybertron. Most multiversal threats had already been dealt with by Vector Prime and something like the Hytherion only eats dying worlds so their decay doesn't spread to others

[cyarskaren52]

Right-wingers finding out that Greenday hates them is like when they found out that Rage Against The Machine hates them, which was like when they found out that Neil Young & Bruce Springsteen hate them, which was like when they found out that their wives & kids hate them, which w-

Speaking of Rage Against the Machine, remember during the week of the 2020 election Trump supporters were dancing to this song in one of their rallies to keep trump in power for another four years.

Should we remind them of the lyrics or no?

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TOM MORELLO REACTS TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS DANCING TO RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’S ‘KILLING IN THE NAME’

Joe DiVita

Joe DiVitaPublished: November 7, 2020

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A video taken in Philadelphia, Penn. has gone viral as it showcases supporters of President Trump gathering outside while dancing to Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name," a song written with the express purpose of protesting police brutality. The clip even caught the eyes of Tom Morello and the rest of the band, who lamented that those seen dancing and reciting the lyrics do not seem to understand the message behind the song.

"Not exactly what we had in mind," wrote Morello on Twitter in response to the video, which he also shared.

In the clip, one woman is seen wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat and American flag tank top with a "Thin Blue Line" adaptation of the American flag, which represents support for law enforcement officers.

Elsewhere in the video is one person outfitted with a Donald Trump mask and American flag cowboy hat while a man on the right side of the clip twirls a blue Trump flag, dancing along to Rage Against the Machine's anthem.

Trump's supporters were outside in Philadelphia, which has become the fixation of those following the results of the U.S. presidential election as a final counting of the votes is awaited in Penn., along with confirmation of the victor. The President has alleged voter fraud within the state despite submitting no evidence to support these claims, prompting supporters to line the streets to rally behind these baseless remarks.

Rage Against the Machine tweeted same video and wondered aloud, "They just don't GET IT do they?"

The irony present in the clip is that the message behind "Killing in the Name," which underscores white supremacists' penetration of the police force with the iconic lyric, "Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses," has been echoed immensely in 2020.

Protests against police brutality were largely led by the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been vehemently opposed and scorned by the Trump administration and, in turn, many of the President's supporters.

This adds to an already bewildering year where Rage Against the Machine fans begged Morello to stop talking about politics on social media, seemingly unaware that Rage have always been a politically-oriented band throughout their entire career. One fan even mocked the guitarist, asking what made him a political expert without being privy to the fact that Morello has is an honors graduate from Harvard University with a degree in political science.

Read More: Morello Reacts: Trump Backers Dance to RATM 'Killing in the Name' | https://loudwire.com/trump-supporters-dance-rage-against-the-machine-killing-in-the-name/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

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[whatstruthgottodowithit]

Love In Trouble [Part Five]

Fandom: Elvis Presley, American Musician, RPF

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Original Female Character, Austin Butler x Original Female Character

Characters: Elvis Presley, Original Female Character, Austin Butler, Red West, Sonny West, Jerry Schilling Colonel Tom Parker, Minnie Presley, Vernon Presley, Dee Presley, Joanie Esposito, Joe Esposito, Pat West

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 5041

Summary: Lori Presley lives the high life. She has a lovely home, a elegant wardrobe and her parties are the most sought after ticket in town. Not to mention her husband is the King of Memphis. But what if she no longer wants to be the Queen?

Tags/Warnings: This is a mafia au with detective austin butler entering the chat, Memphis Mafia, Detective Austin Butler, Adultery, Infidelity, Love, Angst, Unhappy Marriage, Murder, Court Room Drama in the loosest possible way, AU, Set in the 70s

Notes: I've had a shit few weeks but we're carrying on and thank god cos our Boys have finally met <3

LINK TO ALL PARTS // LINK TO AO3 // LINK TO PINTEREST

‘Are you ready?’ Austin asked, swapping the receiver of the phone to his other ear so that he didn’t miss her answer.

‘I think so,’ Lori replied quietly

‘It can't be think, Lori. It’s got to be a yes or no,’ he said trying to keep the frustration out of his voice but remain firm. Because it had to be yes or no, preferably yes. Otherwise he'd gone to bat for nothing. He had pissed off his captain and sheriff and made a stink amongst the precinct for nothing. He’d be the new guy swooping in from California and ruining the delicate Memphian ecosystem of bribes and looking the other way. Even the district attorney, who had backed him, had done so on the promise of bringing down the entire operation. He wasn’t bothered about Presley or Tony for that matter. He wanted to be the one to oust key players from the city’s underbelly. For morality or glory Austin didn’t know but it was the reason he kept himself from sounding too agitated. If they were going to bring down anything they needed her. She had even been the one to point out that they had cause to arrest Presley as he was sure to have a ten card from previous, something Austin hadn’t even considered.

‘No, I am,’ she said, her breath a little shaky which didn’t fill him with confidence but he accepted her words nonetheless. It wasn’t as though he had a choice not to. He could hear her shift, hesitance in her breathing that insinuated she was going to ask him something and so he waited for it, ‘do you know when?’

‘Tomorrow,’ he replied, ‘early morning. The DA wants to make sure no news gets out, that they don’t get to alert one another, so we’re hitting every house at once.’

‘How many?’ she asked quietly.

‘Just the names you gave me,’ he said. It had felt odd to have followed her to a chapel of rest but getting a hold of her without someone watching he was fast learning was an art. Even having her on the phone had taken a handful of calls until she and she alone had picked up. Fortunately no one in the Presley enterprise seemed keen to accompany her in staring at a closed casket. There had been no service and no attendees other than him and her which had been fortunate for him even if it had made him feel a little dirty.

‘Right,’ she muttered, ‘are you coming?’

‘Yes.’

‘Like you’ll arrest him?’ she asked

‘Yes it’s my case,’ he replied, his frustration growing at the hitch in her breathing, ‘is that a problem?’

‘No,’ she said quietly though her tone was not reassuring furthering his nerves which prompted him to ask, ‘if you don’t think you can act-’

‘Honey I’ve been acting my entire life,’ she whispered, ‘I’ll be ready.’

✵✵✵

Lori didn’t sleep most of that night. She didn’t do much but potter around her bedroom fretting. In fact she only stopped when she heard the rumble of a car pulling into the driveway signalling that Elvis was home. At that she’d leapt into bed and turned the light off, turning herself to face the wall as she listened to him stumble in and strip off his clothes before he clambered into bed. Fortunately he had fallen asleep quickly, far away on the other side of the bed which meant she wasn’t forced to face him. Instead she spent her night watching him. He looked younger when asleep, more innocent. That was when the uncertainty had crept back in. When Austin had asked her if she was ready she had thought she was but looking at him like that made her doubt herself.

She knew it was selfish. That her only doubts were on her own behalf but she couldn’t help but feel them. Those doubts had been the soundtrack she had fallen asleep to and they were interrupted as she was brought back to the realm of consciousness by a dull thud, the padded door of her bedroom hitting the wall at a pace.

‘Boss! Boss you gotta get up!’ she heard Charlie’s voice call before she came to and when she did he was already pulling clothes out of their closet ready for Elvis who had yet to stir.

‘Elvis,’ she said groggily, a limp hand shaking his shoulder as she tried her best to rouse him, ‘Elvis wake up.’

‘Boss you gotta come quick,’ Charlie said, throwing an outfit on the bed as he too tried to shake her husband awake. He came to the moment Charlie touched him.

‘What is it?’ he asked crankily.

‘Cops,’ Charlie said, ‘they’re askin’ to come in. Say they’ve got a warrant or something.

‘What?’ Lori gasped.

‘What are you talkin’ about?’ Elvis said, forcing himself up in bed quickly and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

‘They want you and they’re not takin’ no for an answer,’ Charlie said, offering the clothing to Elvis who started to dress without care his friend was in the room.

‘What do you mean?’ Lori asked but her question was ignored by both men.

‘Go and tell ‘em I’ll be down in a minute,’ Elvis said, rubbing his tired face as he tried to wrap his head around what was going on. As Charlie nodded and scurried out of sight Lori moved a little closer, keeping her tone as worried as possible as she asked, ‘El what’s happening?’

‘How the fuck do I know?’ Elvis grunted as he slipped on his pants, donning a pale blue shirt over his tanned torso a moment later. At that she fell quiet fearing too much questioning would cause too much scrutiny on her end.

Yet she couldn’t help but watch him. He was clearly disgruntled by the whole thing. His jaw was set and his gorgeous blue eyes though tired burned bright with indignation. A sentiment that was confirmed as they left the bedroom. She could hear people downstairs, worried chatter carrying up from kitchen stairs and the muttering of men in her hallway. But he didn’t turn the corner, he lingered on the landing, almost forcing her to walk into the back of him, before he straightened his shirt and then sauntered down the stairs without a care in the world. Lori followed behind in trepidation.

When they got down there Austin was standing on their front stoop, in amongst a gang of officers who seemed wholly unenthused to be there. In fact the only one who didn’t seem entirely put out was his fellow plain clothed officer who nudged him as he noted Elvis stride into view. Lori kept close behind, smiling weakly as Charlie threw her a reassuring smile and trying to ignore how Elvis’ grandma’s eyes bore into the back of her skull from her chair in the living room as she watched on.

As they got to the front step the chattering amongst the officers grew quiet, all eyes on them as Elvis surveyed the party before he said, ‘someone wanna tell me what the fuck’s goin on?

‘Mr Presley?’ Austin asked, his eyes flitting to Lori behind him for half a second.

‘Yeah,’ Elvis grunted.

‘We’re here to serve a warrant,’ Austin said as he produced a stack of papers from his suit jacket and handed them across where Elvis could snatch them out of his hand. He read quickly, his eyes scanning the pages before they narrowed and he asked, ‘in relation to a murder?’

‘Yes,’ Austin replied.

‘The fuck this have to do with me?’

‘Well that’s what we’d like to ask you about,’ Austin’s partner said.

‘Down at the station,’ Austin added. Lori kept her eyes trained on her husband watching as his jaw clenched in indignation.

‘I already told you I don’t know nuthin’ about that,’ Elvis said.

‘Yeah well we have new evidence that states otherwise,’ Astin said, with a tight smile, ‘so if you’d come with us. These boys can get to serving their warrant.’

‘What evidence?’ Elvis spat.

‘Like I said we can talk about it down at the station,’ Austin replied.

‘Like hell,’ Elvis baulked throwing the warrant so that it hit Austin square in the chest, fluttering to the floor onto white concrete. Austin sighed and stepped forward. He was looking up at Elvis, the step to the portico meaning they were on uneven footing but he was standing tall with a look of warning mirth on his face as he said, ‘that’s not a request so unless you want cuffing you need to come with us.’

Elvis narrowed his eyes. Everyone was watching him which admittedly wasn’t a new phenomenon but he normally didn’t care what those around him saw. Now however he seemed aware that he needed to play this carefully and though his words sounded like a consent there was an air of contempt woven through his demeanour as he turned away and looked to Charlie as he said, ‘get me jacket will ya.’

‘Elvis what do we do?’ Lori asked as he moved inside the hall checking his appearance in the mirror as if he was going out for a leisurely stroll and not being arrested. Austin pulled back and loitered with his partner who was tucking the dropped warrant back in his pocket.

‘Call the colonel,’ Elvis said, quaffing his hair before he took the jacket from Charlie who had now reappeared. He continued as he slipped it on, ‘call daddy and tell ‘em what happened.’

‘Right, okay the colonel,’ Lori said, watching as he walked out onto the front stoop ready to move along. Lori came to stand at the door unsure of how to part from him. A kiss felt too familiar especially in the presence of so many officers and yet not to do so felt off. Everything felt wrong which was no surprise given that her stomach had been doing somersaults since the moment her eyes had snapped open.

‘Tell ‘em not to worry,’ he said, glancing at Austin and a uniformed officer who were striding out ahead of him to a car sitting by the bottom of the steps before leaning in to press a kiss on her cheek. She should’ve known an audience wouldn't deter Elvis Presley from showing especially considering he didn’t sound at all worried as he said, ‘I’ll be home before breakfast. You’ll see.’

And then he was gone. Lori watched as he walked to the car and climbed through the door being held open for him which closed with a squeak and a slam. He was in shadow in the back seat so she couldn’t see him properly but nevertheless she watched as the car drove down the winding drive before embarking onto the street.

When she moved from the door the uniformed officers entered and by the time she’d left the hall they were already going through cabinets and cupboards with no rhyme or reason. Her belongings spilled from drawers onto carpets and tables. Her couch cushions littered the floor around Grandma Dodger. Gladys’ finest China clinked as it was pushed around the cupboard without care. As she wandered through to the kitchen she tried to remind herself she had asked for this. She had tossed the grenade herself and that she couldn’t be reluctant for things to feel a little messy. Messy would prevail in justice for Tony. Punishing Elvis would punish her in return which was what she deserved. Even if she was feeling all out of sorts because of it. In a way she supposed that was better, if she’d been cool and collected Elvis would’ve sniffed her out she was sure of it. At least a nervous mess she was playing the game.

Finally she made it to the kitchen, unhooking the receiver of the phone from the latch as the staff whispered from a huddle in the corner as they tried to stay out of the way of the officers. However she didn’t get very far in dialling before she heard her name called and swivelled around to find the other plainclothes officer, what she suspected to be Austin’s partner watching her intently.

‘Yes?’ she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

‘What's this?’ he asked, gesturing to the TV unit on the kitchen worktop that displayed a picture of the gate.

‘Our security system,’ she said.

‘Is it just on the gate?’ he asked just as Charlie came in looking harried.

‘Yep,’ she said, her throat dry and sticking with now two pairs of eyes on her.

‘And it’s on twenty-four hours a day?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, we don’t shut it off,’ she confirmed.

‘Does it record?’ he asked.

‘Uh, yeah,’ she said, ‘I think so.’

‘Great thanks,’ he said, donning his glasses as he moved to inspect the bulky contraption. Lori turned to restart her phone call, the dial tone now missing given her prolonged absence but as she did she felt a hand on her elbow and a set of lips by the shell of her ear as Charlie whispered, ‘what did you tell him that for?’ before moving past her towards his room.

Lori watched him go, glancing at the detective who was still scrutinising the camera system. It looked as though her acting wasn’t the only thing that was going to need to withstand scrutiny.

✵✵✵

Elvis Presley was not a patient man. He never had been, being an only child and the apple of his mother’s eye hadn’t helped him with his temperament, but notoriety and twenty or so years of bossing everyone around had meant he hadn’t got used to waiting around. He certainly was not used to being given as little information as possible other than being read his rights before he was stuffed into an interview room on his own. Not even his lawyer, a nervous, sweaty man called Hank, arriving had hurried the process up. Which was why he was still sitting in an uncomfortable metal chair, glaring at an older detective as his lawyer flicked through a thin file and tried to ignore the way Elvis’ leg rattled against his as it bounced against the tile floor.

He only broke his gaze as the door unlatched, the blonde detective, the one who’d been stirring the pot since day dot, sauntered in, case file in hand. Elvis watched as he closed the door quietly and unable to stop the irritation from bubbling inside him he found a snarky, ‘by all means take your damn time,’ fall from his lips without warning.

Austin threw him a glance but didn’t respond, electing to remain silent as he dropped into the seat opposite. Because he knew Elvis Presley wasn’t a patient man. No man who had half of Memphis cower to his every want and whim could possibly be patient. He was too well catered to and more importantly too used to everyone bending over backwards to accommodate him, it was why he’d left him in here for the longest time. It was why he’d interviewed all his cronies first. It was why he didn’t say anything as he got settled, allowing the other man to shift in his seat as he muttered, ‘ain’t bad enough you hauled my ass down here on some bullshit charge.’

Again Austin ignored him, gesturing for his partner to flip the switch on the large tape player in between both parties which he did, shifting awkwardly as he realised Austin was allowing him some input. Of course John did not know his partner that well but he’d been in enough interview rooms to know the dynamic his colleague was aiming for. And so he cleared his throat and prepared his most polite tone as he said, ‘interview commenced at nine fifteen am on June twelfth. Detectives Butler and Melling present along with the appropriate counsel. Sir, could you please state and spell your name for the record?’

John was watching Elvis as he spoke, everyone was, but the man’s gaze remained locked on Austin, his blue eyes narrowed and a distinct curl on his lip in contempt even though it wasn’t him asking. Austin didn’t react.

‘Uh, Mr Presley,’ John said, clearing his throat again awkwardly when he failed to answer, ‘could you please-’

‘Elvis Presley,’ Elvis replied, his eyes still on Austin, ‘E-L-V-I-S P-R-E-S-L-E-Y.’

‘Thank you,’ John replied, an awkward but thankful smile on his lips that Austin resisted the urge to roll his eyes to. It hadn’t been easy to get everyone on board and though John had backed him but less out of the belief Austin had a good case and more out of some archaic duty to support his partner when he was under fire. Still it hadn't meant he was entirely on board and even he wasn't immune to trying to make Elvis Presley feel comfortable.

‘Now you gonna tell me why the hell you dragged my ass down here?’ Elvis challenged, not bothering to respond to the officer who had been speaking to him. There wasn’t much point, it wasn’t as if he’d stopped staring at Austin throughout the entire conversation.

‘I assumed that was clear in the warrant you were served,’ Austin said. Elvis’ glare deepened and his jaw tightened at the whiff of snark but Austin merely smiled and said, ‘but we can get to it anyway.’

Elvis watched as he shifted in his seat, opening up a manila folder and scanning through it as he produced a pen from his pocket. He moved slow, as if he was doing paperwork at his desk and not interrogating a suspect and Elvis watched him angrily waiting for him to speak.

‘Can you tell me where you were on May thirtieth?’ he said once he’d finally settled himself.

‘Ain’t I already told you?’ Elvis sneered.

‘I’m asking again,’ Austin said, tight but firm.

‘That dead kid ain’t nuthin’ to do with Kings,’ Elvis sneered.

‘That’s not what I asked,’ Austin replied, again his tone teetering on the edge of snark. Elvis glared at him but glanced towards his lawyer who had remained quiet through the entire thing, no doubt wanting Elvis to take charge before he made any decisions as everyone else seemed to do.

‘If you could provide some information that’s probably for the best,’ Hank muttered into Elvis’ ear, making his jaw tighten further.

‘At home,’ he said, his voice tight and low.

‘All day?’ Austin asked.

‘I went to the club,’ Elvis said.

‘That’s Kings night club, correct?’ Austin said.

‘Yes,’ Elvis replied, his tone dripping with resentment at having every little detail pulled from him. His irritation was also mounting at the way the detective was scribbling notes every time he spoke as though his word wasn’t trustworthy enough. It may have been a long time since anyone didn’t bend to his whim but it had been even longer since someone had failed to take his word as gospel.

‘And what time was that?’ Austin asked.

‘About eight, eight thirty,’ Elvis replied.

‘What did you do when you got there?’ Austin probed.

‘What I always do,’ Elvis said, sighing as Austin said nothing but raised an eyebrow, ‘it was a Friday right? So I watched the new acts, had some drinks and then went into my office to do some paperwork and calls.’

‘And someone can verify that?’ Austin challenged.

‘Just about everyone who was in the damn club,’ Elvis snapped, heaving a sigh as Austin merely looked at him as if waiting for specifics, ‘Sam, Sam Thomspon, my bartender. He was on that night so I guess he can verify I was there.’

‘What time did you leave?’ Austin said, jotting another note on his piece of paper.

‘About one am,’ Elvis said.

‘Alone?’ Austin challenged.

‘No,’ Elvis said with contempt, ‘I have drivers. And bodyguards.’

‘And their names?’ Austin asked.

‘Haven't you already spoken to my entire staff?’ Elvis scoffed, rolling his eyes as Austin failed to bite once more, ‘Jerry Schilling, Red West, Sonny West.’

‘And they left with you?’ Austin asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Where did you go?’ Austin asked.

‘Home,’ Elvis replied, his eyes flicking to the pen that had stalled, curious as to why his answer was not immediately being jotted down in the file in front like all the others.

‘You didn’t drop them off first?’ he asked. Elvis scoffed, ‘they wouldn't be good bodyguards if they left me on my own now would they.’

‘Guess not,’ Austin smiled, with a glint in his eye that Elvis didn’t care for. Neither was the way he added another layer of suspicion as he asked, ‘and they’ll verify this?’

‘Yes,’ Elvis grunted.

Austin nodded, flicking through his file for a second before he looked at his colleague, the lawyer and then back at Elvis as if he was checking they were all listening before he started, whatever question he wanted to ask appearing significant though Elvis didn’t know why as it was only, ‘how long did it take you?’

‘What?’ Elvis asked. The questions had been trivial enough but this seemed to border on the edge of banality. Like he wanted Elvis to spell every single detail out for him. He could tell by the accent that this Butler guy was not a native Memphian and so he might not know the streets well enough to guess but he was getting sick of having to hold the guy’s hand through this entire process. Whenever he’d dealt with Memphis’ boys in blue before it had never been this formal. Over the years there’d been cursory visits but it was normally uniforms who took his word at face value. Anything else was usually dealt with by the Colonel who normally spared him facing the inside of a police station unless it was being angled as a publicity stunt. Now he was starting to sweat, beads of perspiration forming between his shirt and his hairline as piercing blue eyes watched him.

‘That time of night it's got to be ten, fifteen minutes max to get from the club to your house right?’ Austin asked.

‘I guess,’ Elvis said, trying to keep his wariness from his tone.

‘But you left the club at one ten am, we got that from your CCTV, yet your gate camera only clocked you getting back home at two fifty-three am. Where were you for an hour and forty-three minutes?’ Austin asked, his eyes set on Elvis’ face. But it wasn’t just him watching him. Everyone was and he suddenly realised this was not what he’d thought it was. He wasn’t holding this guy’s hand; this guy was laying the foundations to trip Elvis up.

He didn’t know why he’d been so stupid. Annoyed sure but that was because trouble never usually hung around this long. Problems in Elvis Presley's world were dealt with the moment they raised their head. Sure people asked questions but they usually knew it wasn’t worth digging any deeper than the surface level. Of course he had heard this Butler guy had been digging but he had figured it was just because he was too green to know better. Too ambitious, he’d had lower-level guys in the club like it before. They just needed to be put in their place. Now it was too late because he’d got him boxed into a corner. And both of them knew it.

It was why he didn’t probe. He just sat there, allowing the silence to fester until one of them got uncomfortable enough to speak. Only it was Elvis’ lawyer who hesitated first, mumbling to his client, ‘if you could explain that it’d help.’

Elvis cleared his throat and sniffed, trying to maintain an air of nonchalance as he shrugged and said, ‘we went for burgers.’

‘Where?’ Austin asked pointedly.

‘Louie’s.’

‘And your friends, sorry bodyguards, will confirm that?’ Austin asked.

‘Yes,’ Elvis said.

‘Hmm,’ Austin said dismissively and though he was trying to remain cool Elvis couldn’t help but bite, grunting a ‘what?’ before he could stop himself.

‘Nothing,’ Austin said casually, ‘it's just I don’t see how you had the time.’

‘An hour is plenty of time to get a burger,’ Hank the lawyer protested.

‘Maybe but it's not enough time when you’re across town murdering someone,’ Ausitn challenged.

‘You think I murdered the kid?’ Elvis scoffed.

‘I’m sure you did,’ Austin said, leaning forward in his seat, ‘in fact I think you saw Tony leave his shift at one and you followed him home. Now admittedly he stopped for a pizza so whether you headed back to his place and waited or sat outside the pizza parlour I’m not sure but I’m sure you showed up at his apartment. And when you knocked on the door and he opened it and saw his boss, well, who wouldn’t invite them in. He even gave you a drink.’

‘Speculation,’ Hank protested.

‘Not exactly,’ Austin corrected, ‘you see we have your fingerprints on a half-drunk glass of scotch in Tony's apartment and considering it wasn’t moved it’s safe to assume it was being used just before he died.’

Again the silence festered, a satisfied Austin not bothering to prod as the blows landed better than he’d anticipated. But John must’ve been feeling uncomfortable which prompted him to ask, ‘can you explain that?’

‘Maybe he doesn’t clean his glasses very often,’ Elvis said.

‘So you were there at some point?’ Austin challenged, suppressing a smirk at the irritated grunt Elvis made, ‘or am I to believe that he left two glasses of whiskey on the side for what a week? A month? That he never touched or moved them leaving your prints perfectly unsmudged? The same way I’m supposed to believe that he left his freshly bought pizza on the side or left his mail unopened. No, I think the two of you had a drink and a conversation and then for some reason you blew his brains out, which is crazy considering you didn’t even know the kid ten minutes ago.’

Elvis said nothing.

‘So come on, what happened?’ Austin probed. Elvis glared at him but Austin didn’t relent. He stared back, challenging him to say something, anything though he didn’t see what he could say that wouldn’t muddy his defence even more. After a moment Elvis muttered, ‘no comment.’

‘Oh come on!’ Austin laughed, ‘you’ve been happy to run your mouth up to now what’s the matter? Afraid you’re going to tell the truth for once? Or are you going to tell me that your prints being in the apartment of a dead guy you don’t know is all coincidence?’

Elvis stayed silent.

‘Just like you leaving right after him must be. Just like your alibi not matching all your little friends is,’ Austin smirked, leaning closer as Elvis’ gaze snapped up at the mention of an alibi. Of course he’d known that all this mounted to an alibi but he hadn't anticipated he’d be one step ahead, ‘you know we asked your pals where you were that night. And they confirmed you left together and that you went straight home. No burgers. No stopping. No nothing. Is that coincidence too?’

The room was deathly quiet and all of a sudden Elvis was feeling rueful he was such an impatient man. He hated that everyone tried to bend to his will or that no one felt as though they could make decisions for him. If he wasn't maybe they would have found a lawyer who wasn’t too scared to jump in and fix this mess. If he wasn’t maybe he wouldn’t have friends so eager to defend him in their haste they’d landed him in hot water. If he wasn’t maybe he wouldn’t have been so relaxed about this whole thing being pushed under the carpet. He wouldn’t have underestimated this detective. He wasn’t fool enough to think that the whole justice system would bend to the will of the king of Memphis but it had been so long he had become acclimatised to expecting it.

And this guy was a force to be reckoned with. No one had spoken but he kept pushing as if he could niggle something out of the other man if he kept needling, ‘let me guess it’s a coincidence the type of gun used was the same make and model of one you own.’

‘Have you got the gun?’ his lawyer asked, finally making some traction in ‘defence’.

‘No,’ Detective Melling admitted, ‘we don’t…the gun box at your house was empty.’’

‘Then I don’t see how that incriminates my client,’ Hank replied.

‘You don’t think it’s odd that the week we come looking around your clients house for a gun he owns is the same week said gun up and vanishes from your clients possession,’ Austin challenged.

‘I own a lot of guns,’ Elvis said, trying to keep his voice confident though it lacked conviction.

‘And?’ Austin asked, ‘let me guess someone else used the type of gun you have and shot a guy you don’t know after you'd been in his apartment? That sound plausible to you?’

‘I think you’ve got scraps of evidence and you’re adding them together hoping for a good story,’ Elvis spat.

‘Elvis,’ Hank warned.

‘Scraps?’ Austin rebuffed, ‘we’ve got proof you were there, the last one to see him, and he was shot with a gun just like one you own which coincidentally is missing now. Not to mention how you’ve tried to throw off the scent by being cagey as hell and yet you still haven’t managed to coordinate a decent alibi. That’s more than a good story.

‘Oh yeah and what’s the reason?’ Elvis growled, leaning forward in his seat threateningly though Austin matched him, their faces not so far apart as the tension rose, ‘why would I kill some punk kid who works for me?’

‘You tell me why you wouldn’t.’

They remained looking at one another, the ire rolling off them both until finally Austin sloped back in his chair as he looked to John awaiting him to do the rest. His partner sighed and looked to Elvis, ‘Elvis Presley I am charging you with the murder of Anthony Bowen…’

ELVIS TAGS

@girlblogger2002@sania562@caitlin1996@literally-just-elvis-fics@notstefaniepresley @18lkpeters @velvetelvis @jaqueline19997 @elvispresleyxoxo @amydarcimarie @everythingelvispresley @elvispresleywife @lillypink @richardslady121 @louisejoy86 @ccab @i-r-i-n-a-a @lettersfromvenus @artlesson8892 @presleyenterprise

AUSTIN TAGS

@purejasmine @caitlin1996

[sorin-sunchild]

Ok ok, one more, because it really gets my brain stirring. More Lovecraft in the style of a TMA statement.

Statement of Joe Czanek, regarding a terrible old man. Original statement given April 12th, 1948. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London.

Statement begins.

'My name is Joe Czanek. I am or I was in the business of crime. Thievery, nothing heavier. You might find it hard to believe but I'm an empathetic man by nature and I don't like business too sordid. In fact I often urged my collegues - Angelo Ricci and Manuel Silva - to do their duty as gently as possible.

We were looking for easy marks in Kingsport, Massachusetts, when information of the Terrible Old Man came to us. That's what everyone called him, by the way, not just myself. He was an old sea captain and had been there in his house longer than many of the buildings around him had been around. Nobody seemed to know his true name but they did know many others things about him.

Two of these facts held no great interest to us, it was the last which did. The first fact was that he had, in his garden of gnarled trees, painted idols of origins unknown. They could have been gods or daemons, but they were painted in great and fearsome detail and scared away most of the young boys who dared each other to knock on the door or throw rocks at the windows.

The older and nosier amoungst them reported peeking in the windows and spying several glass bottles upon the ground, hanging inside of which were pendulums of lead suspended by string. The Terrible Old Man would talk to them, addressing them by names such as Jack, Scar-face, Long Tom, Spanish Joe, Peters and Mate Eliss. Supposedly the pendulum would vibrate in response as if talking back to him.

'Superstitious nonsense', Angelo said, 'they've been reading too much about witches and daemons'. I believed him then. Now, I'm not so sure.

The last and most important fact for us was that the Terrible Old Man had no bank account and instead paid all of his bills with Spanish silver and gold coins. If that were so then he must have it in his house with him.

Angelo and Manuel were to gain entry to the home and persuade the Terrible Old Man to reveal the location of his wealth. He was so old and feeble it was sure to be easy to...convince him and stiffle any cries that might occur during the...conversation.

I was to be the getaway driver. I pulled the van up close to the Terrible Old Man's back door, that would be on Ship Street, if that matters. I heard them knock on the front door and their voices and that of the Terrible Old Man briefly before the door was closed again.

After a while I heard pained screams and cries rise up into the air. They were almost inhuman and made me shiver but also, cross. I had asked them to not bother him too hard. A feeble old man like that did not need us to hurry him on to his grave. Eventually the cries grew silent and I waited, watching the back door.

It felt like aeons that I waited there. I wondered if they had gone too far and ended the Terrible Old Man's life before he could reveal the location of the coins, thus necessitating a full search of the house. I didn't like waiting here so long, with the moonlight casting strange shadows through those gnarled trees.

Finally I heard the sound of bolts being drawn and sat up a little straighter, readying the engine. It was not my fellows who stood at the door though. It was the Terrible Old Man. He smiled at me with a mouthful of sharp crooked teeth and in the light of the lamp he held I saw that his eyes were a bright and hideous yellow.

I drove away as quickly as I could. I heard they, Angelo and Manuel that is, were found horribly mutilated, but I didn't stick around after that night. It's been years since I felt brave enough to talk about it. I don't know if it's done any good to do so. But it's out and I feel better for it. After all, the Terrible Old Man is long in his grave by now...hopefully.'

Statement ends.

Mr Czanek's tale is simple and not very informative. I had Tim look up the town and he couldn't find a Kingsport Massachusetts in modern day, though there is one in Tennessee. Ancient newspaper archives revealed that there was once one in Massachusetts however, long since swallowed by the sea. One article in particular references Mr Czanek's partners.

It is dated January 28th, 1920. In it we hear that their bodies were found washed up on the shore, horribly slashed as if by some large beast. Residents also report hearing inhuman screams the night before their bodies were found. There is no mention of this 'Terrible Old Man' however, and no culprit was ever charged with the murders.

So, it is impossible to tell if anything truly supernatural happened to Mr Czanek and his partners, but they did at least exist and something happened which resulted in their grusome deaths. Perhaps there is more to this story but given it's age it's unlikely we'll get a follow up.

End recording.

[bisluthq]

See I’m was you I don’t like Kelly one bit, I legit find it fascinating that Taylor invited her to the studio and probably played her some of TTPD before it was released, what makes it even more fascinating is that she continued to fuel joe hate, to me she screams I want clout from swifties and the fact that swifties can’t see that is insane to me

Me too lol. I think Taylor likes her because she’s totally unthreatening and sucks Taylor’s dick real good. Like I think Taylor’s real friends also don’t call out a lot of her bullshit tbh but Keileigh (is that now right? I’m legit trying???) is like 🤩😍😘 at the expense of her OWN FUCKING HUSBAND lol which is the part that 🤯 makes my brain explode. Literally *I* would be embarrassed to act the way she did at the Globes because I’ve been to Cannes as a journalist (which obviously wasn’t the same but I was there physically lol) and my boyfriend works in film. I’ve never been and I’d be really excited to dress up and go like ngl it’d be cool af but *I* wouldn’t act like a fucking stan who won a competition? Literally that woman was more excited than Make A Wish kids ever are lol. She was more excited than the fans who got Swiftmas gifts. It was intense. And I like could get behind it if that were idk a random girl Taylor had accidentally befriended - like if a Frostie girlfriend had ever gone with Taylor to an event and acted like that I’d be like “okay one minute you’re working a normal 9-5 in the City and dating… let’s say the architect… and the next you’re walking the Red Carpet with Taylor Swift lmfao okay pop off girlie embarrass yourself you’ll regret it in the morning but yolo” but the problem is Kelly (I give up) is married to a full on A lister, has presumably been to Tom Cruise’s house (that’s like celeb experience wise as cool as Taylor imho) and did not regret it in the morning? Unless Miles is v embarrassed of her and treats her badly as a result idk and maybe she’s projecting her distaste for Miles onto Joe???

[teenidleadultgirl]

The person is stupid you can write song happily and still being sad at other time, she can write things about privacy, want privacy at a time of her life and then change her mind, she's human lol ( and they're are still very private we don't know every detail)

( and she can have heard the chorus from Joe and imagined from that a love triangle, there is no big contradiction)

( and I think she said in some date of the eras tour that she was drinking too much wine during the pandemic but I might be wrong)

This is exactly my train of thought, anon.

Like, that's exactly it. Taylor is a human and that means she's imperfect and dynamic. She is not a static thing, she can change her mind the more she experiences the specific things that she has experienced. Like, I can see taylor having an extreme reaction to the harry, karlie, calvin, tom situations and wanting to be extremely private as a defense mechanism against the trauma of those relationships being so public. it doesn't mean that just because her last relationship was private, all the rest of relationships will be in the future.

and like literally nothing taylor has said about folklore is contradicatory and the fact that she made that little "making sourdough bread or whatever" snide remark on tour is proof to me that she really did write that shit with Joe. Like, instead of seeing her as being petty and hurt in that moment, some gaylors would rather see her as being conniving and lying ????? she could have written cardigan and then heard the basic ass lyrics to betty's chorus and decided to make it a whole Thing. it's perfectly fine and plausible to assume joe wrote the shit with her and he, *gasp* even inspired her to write some really good, sad shit.

and finally, taylor saying she 'drank too much wine' is not her saying she is a lonely drunk and the fact that you are putting those words in her mouth is further proof that you don't like who taylor swift is as a person. She has her flaws, she is not a beacon of sainthood, she will engage in self-destructive behavior and lash out and be petty and hurt in public and still try to put on a brave face and instead of giving her compassion and empathy, you're calling her a "Drunk" like what the actual fuck is wrong with you, yanno?

but like the thing that gets me the most is that she started off with "if you bothered to listen to the lyrics" like babe, have YOU listened to the lyrics? "how long could we be a sad song until we were too far gone to bring back to life" if that's not confirmation she wrote folklore with joe, what is? her lyrics don't add up to lesbianism, the queer imagery in her work is still valid even if she dates men. you can be queer with a preference for men and still be queer.

[nycmade1999]

Other then the fact Tomdayas are on this app daily speculating about two people the don’t know them the fact you guys also over analyze Tom and Z’s actions especially Z is also telling Joe much you guys lack a social life and definitely have no love life. Like her singing one of the most popular R&B songs of the 90s and you guys must be weird and make it about Tom and her relationship. “OMG she’s so gone” or “we’ve lost her”. Like do y’all not hear how stupid you all sound like she can’t even sing a popular song without y’all making it about her relationship. Like y’all are really deranged

[bllsbailey]

Not Taking It Lying Down: WH Reminds Selena Gomez of All the Victims She DIDN'T Cry for on Social Media

You may have seen the video that went viral Monday of pop star/actress Selena Gomez bawling uncontrollably because she was concerned that the Trump administration was actually carrying out their campaign promise to repatriate illegal aliens to their home countries. This after former president Joe Biden welcomed in untold millions of illegals during his failed one term in office.

Let me just say, I have no personal animosity toward Ms. Gomez; my daughters watched her Disney show back in the day; her pop songs are catchy enough if that’s your jam; I enjoyed the show “Only Murders in the Building” where she starred alongside funnymen Steven Martin and Martin Short; and although she’s had her share of personal drama like most stars who hit it big when they were just kids, she seems like a nice enough person.

That being said, the video is cringeworthy to watch – and in full disclosure, I stopped just a few seconds in because it was that uncomfortable. Who would want the world to see themselves in that condition, much less go out of their way to blast it out over the interwebs?

Cue the Violins: Selena Gomez Cries Uncontrollably Over Trump's Repatriations: 'The Children!'

But the problem isn’t just that it’s hard to watch; it’s that it represents much of what has gone wrong with so many Hollywood celebrities: they spout off in highly emotional diatribes when they have no idea what they’re talking about. On Saturday, the White House communications team decided to educate Gomez and remind her of all the terrible tragedies that she and so many others in her world have been noticeably silent about in the past.

The reality that Selena seems unable to grasp can be summed up with three names: Kayla Hamilton, Jocelyn Nungaray, and Rachel Morin.

Powerful stuff. Watch the mothers of the three victims who were brutally murdered by illegal aliens and ask yourself where you can find Selena’s crying video about them. Hint: you can’t, because it doesn’t exist.

The president’s appointee to solve the crisis that Biden left had a similar response as the White House’s to the infamous video, see below; meanwhile, RedState’s Brandon Morse opines about how the episode exposes a “disgusting” side of the left:

Trump Border Czar Tom Homan Responds Accordingly to Viral Selena Gomez Crying Video

Selena Gomez's Meltdown Really Highlights One of the Left's Most Disgusting Issues

As a mother's son, a husband, and a proud #GirlDad (I'm equally proud of being dad to a cool young dude), I take no joy in watching a young woman sobbing uncontrollably, nor do I feel like eviscerating her in the manner that I would someone like, say, the odious Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA). I don’t think she’s evil; I think she’s… [searches for a nice way to say it]… just not very well informed.

I come to two conclusions about the entire affair: 1) Hollywood celebrities have been regularly jumping the shark with their hyper-emotional hot takes on subjects they know almost nothing about (but nevertheless will, in knee-jerk reaction, almost always side with the clueless progressive take). People are tuning them out, and we know this for a fact because dozens of big-name music and Tinseltown stars, from Bruce Springsteen to Oprah Winfrey to George Clooney to Taylor Swift to LeBron James, stumped for the Harris team—to no avail.

No one cares what they have to say anymore because, frankly, so many of them are idiots.

2) Trump has taken the lessons of his first term to heart. He will not sit idly by while taking incoming. The new administration will clap back at every BS narrative thrown at them, and they will do so effectively.

Just like they did here. This ain't 2016.

[yourreddancer]

Resistance HQ Bulletin 7, 11/18/24

Resistance HQ Bulletin 7, 11/18/24 Ron Filipkowski Nov 19 ∙ … Joe and Mika from MSNBC’s Morning Joe inexplicably traveled to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to patch things up with Trump and “restart my communications with Trump.” Trump repeatedly accused Scarborough of murdering a staffer in his district office to possibly cover up an affair, and has called Mika dumb and ridiculed her plastic surgery. Gross. I guess legacy media feels they have to humiliate themselves for access and ratings, because that’s what this is. Count me out.

… Trump told Fox: “I received a call from Joe Scarborough requesting a meeting from him and Mika, and I agreed. We met at Mar-a-Lago on Friday morning. Many things were discussed and I very much appreciated the fact that they wanted to have an open communication. In many ways, it’s too bad that wasn’t done long ago.”

… More from Trump on the meeting: “They congratulated me on running a great and flawless campaign - one for the history books.” How sweet. He went from Hitler to Lincoln.

… Right-wing media and social media influencers all mocking Joe and Mika for “kissing the ring” and “surrendering” to Trump. They are getting trashed from both sides. I think many people were willing to accept the “he fooled us” narrative after 2016 with much skepticism, but the willingness for viewers to leave that in the past is likely gone forever now.

… The spin they put on it was also pretty pathetic - especially Mika comparing it to her dad meeting with foreign leaders as NSA. They are completely out of touch with the mood of their shrinking audience - it will be interesting to watch the ratings this week.

… Fox was having a field day with the clips of Joe & Mika, mocking them for being phonies and frauds for calling Trump every name in the book then flying down to kiss the ring. It just undermines any credibility they had, and Fox is using it to discredit all Dems by suggesting that their criticisms of Trump was all contrived.

… Some of us meant every word of every one. Obviously not all of us.

… Of course, it doesn’t help also that Chuck Schumer was laughing and joking with Trump at the Al Smith dinner and Joe Biden was smiling and shaking hands with him in a two hour meeting in the Oval Office. I’m a big civility guy, this isn’t that. It goes way beyond that.

… Even Nikki Haley was mocking Joe and Mika, saying that they are frauds and sellouts and are just doing this because their ratings are so bad. When Nikki is calling you a fraud and a sellout, that’s when you know it’s really bad.

… Daily Beast is reporting that a source close to Morning Joe said the meeting “was f_ing worth it” since it caused Trump to tell Fox afterwards that he was going to try to be more cooperative with the press. Are these people really that stupid, or are they just screwing with us?

… Conflicts of interest is concept that Donald Trump has never recognized or concerned himself with - either for himself or his appointees, but this term is going to make his last one look ethically pristine. Trump has now nominated Brendan Carr for FCC Chair. Carr is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Starlink, and he will now head up the agency that controls space communications.

… Carr also just happen to write the section on the FCC for Project 2025. Just as Tom Homan wrote the section for Project 2025 on the border. But Trump has no connection to Project 2025. Doesn’t even know what it is. Never heard of it. According to Trump.

… Carr made the following statement after the nomination was announced: “Broadcast media have the privilege of using a scarce and valuable resource - our airwaves. In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest. When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation.” (IF THAT WERE TRUE, FUX NOISE WOULD'VE BEEN YANKED OFF THE AIR AFTER THE DOMINION LAWSUIT!!!!)

… Axios is reporting that there was a “massive blowup” between long-time Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn and Elon Musk over Cabinet picks and leaks to the press. Boris has been in the inner circle for a long time, took an indictment for Trump, and is tight with a lot of key players. Musk reportedly accused Epshteyn of leaking stories to the press about appointments he didn’t like.

… The Vanity Fair story about Pete Hegseth’s 2017 affair was sourced from a “Transition team member,” - obviously someone looking to tank Hegseth’s nomination.

… The Hegseth sex assault / NDA story was also leaked to WaPo by a Trump insider.

… What could be happening here is OG MAGAs like Epshteyn are hacked off that people like Musk and RFK Jr have supplanted them, and appointments are going to a new batch of sycophants while they are being passed over twiddling their thumbs on their podcasts waiting for the phone to ring.

… Mitch McConnell put a marker down and said “there will be no recess appointments.” If he was still Majority Leader that would certainly carry more weight. But his trusted lieutenant John Thune is, so maybe this will stick. The best thing for the country and the constitution is for each Trump nominee to go through the vetting and confirmation process. McConnell realizes that after seeing the first several, hopefully he’s speaking for Thune as well.

… Mike Johnson was asked about recess appointments: “There might be a function for that.” He’s such a worm. He’s the kid in 3rd grade who rats you out to the teacher for chewing gum in school because he things it will help him get an A.

… Constantly seeking attention, Rep. Nancy Mace has introduced a House Resolution to ban transgender people from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol. This clearly comes in response to the first transgender getting elected to Congress, Democrat Sarah McBride. Mace: “Never thought this would have to happen … Protecting biological women starts here and it starts now.”

… That Resolution will get Mace 5 Fox appearances and 6 Newsmax appearances and will do absolutely nothing to help her constituents. Which sums up Mace’s entire career in Congress. She already got a big write up on the Fox website.

… Mike Johnson, Tony Gonzales, Tom Homan and other Republicans spent the weekend on cable news shows assuring America that Trump was going to carry out deportations in a “measured” fashion and was going to focus initially on deporting those with criminal records (the vast majority of which are for driving without licenses because they can’t get them). Then Trump contradicted that at 4:03 AM with a post that he was going to declare a national emergency and use the military to begin mass deportations immediately. … Sarah Palin is getting frustrated that as “The Mother of MAGA” she has not gotten a call from Trump since the election for an appointment to his Cabinet: “Funny how politics work” she responded to her fans expressing disappointment on her social media page that she has been left out so far.

… Another name conspicuously absent from Trump’s appointments so far is Ric Grenell, who many in MAGA World wanted to be Secretary of State.

… Grenell was able to serve as Trump token gay appointee in his last Admin, so expect him to get a call soon to be his DEI hire.

[frontproofmedia]

JOSH TAYLOR VS. JACK CATTERALL 2 MANCHESTER PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

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Published: February 20, 2024

JOSH TAYLOR VS. JACK CATTERALL 2 MANCHESTER PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES

  Eddie Hearn, Matchroom Sport Chairman:   "Welcome to Manchester for part two of a slightly lively press conference ahead of the British fight of the year, the rematch between Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall, April 27 in Leeds. We have a night that you are not going to forget.    "The controversy of the first fight will be settled in an unbelievable night live and exclusive on DAZN around the world, part of your subscription on the global home of boxing."

  Josh Taylor:   "I’m looking forward to getting this fight done. The first one is done, he couldn’t beat me the first time and he certainly won't beat me this time, so I’m looking forward to it. "It’s been a long two years coming. We tried to get the fight done straight away and it never happened, the mandatory then came in. But we’re here now, there’s no point in keeping on talking about what happened, we’re going to settle the score on April 27.You need to have a word with your man, that’s three times he’s tried to put his hands on me, he’s meant to be a professional athlete. Keep your hands to yourself you little rat.    "It is must-win, it’s a crossroads fight for us both, when I beat him this time again, he’s got nowhere to go. His biggest night is me and when I beat him again, he’ll have nowhere to go and he’ll retire without a prime, with no belts and he’ll never be a World champion.    "You’re in the wrong game if you don’t believe in yourself, so of course he’ll think that, but he’s never knocked anyone out in his life, not anyone credible.     "On April 27, I end Jack Catterall’s career, one that he never got going, and he’ll never be a World champion."    Joe McNally:    "I’m 100 per cent confident in Josh. the first fight was a cracker and I just hope that we get the opportunity for Josh to showcase his skills, Jack with his counter-punching and we have the right official, so there’s no holding and clinching and they let the fight flow. If we get that, we’ll get a good fight and we’ll be in for a good night.    "We’re in professional boxing, small gloves, anyone can be knocked out, but Jack isn’t a knockout puncher and that’s a fact. He couldn’t get an old, shot Jorge Linares out of there, so to think he’s going to get Josh out of there? Not a chance. I just hope he performs and he’s ready because he’s with a fantastic team, because Josh will be ready, may the best man win and we’re really confident.    "There were a few things that needed addressing in the camp with Teofimo, I personally think we shouldn’t have gone ahead with the fight off the injury that he had. But it was one of those fights that a round here or there, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now, he’d be fighting a Devin Haney or Gervonta Davis. We never got the decision so we’re sitting here because of Josh, not Jack, that’s a fact. I’m excited for it and to go into this one all guns blazing."   Tom Grant:    "This is what it’s about, these domestic dust-up are what the fans come out for. All that matters is what happens on April 27 now, and that is that Josh Taylor is going to beat Jack Catterall on April 27 and all these people are going to struggle watching it."      Jack Catterall:   "I want to thank everybody that has come out today. It’s an exciting fights, it gets the juices flowing, it’s been talked about for the last two years and it’s the same for Josh, everyone always asking when the rematch is, so it’s good to have the rematch locked in, and I’m ready to settle it.    "You know what it is, they’ve said it’s the England vs. Scotland heritage, but it’s more of me just fighting a pr*ck. He’s just not a nice person. That’s it.    "I know what lies ahead of me. As much as we have the press conferences and the weigh-ins, I have a job to do on April 27. I’m preparing for the best of Josh Taylor, so when I beat him and do it convincingly, I can move on with my career.     "I think he’s there to be beaten and I’ve got his number, and it’s only a matter of time before he touches the canvas again. Can we get some more tickets for the fight Eddie, please? We’ve had a great response and that’s expected with a big domestic fight, so I’m very grateful for everyone’s support. "Josh, you are finished after this fight. In nine weeks' time, we get to put him to bed." Jamie Moore:    "I’ve always been a big believer in Jack, I’ve always said the day that he came into our gym that he would be a World champion. I’ve just done loads of interviews and basically said the same thing, this is such a good fight because it’s been created by that narrative. It was a controversial decision in the first fight, and the vast majority thought Jack won. The two years in between has created a better story and made people more interested in it now than when it first should have taken place six months afterwards.    "You have kept Jack busy, he’s active and that’s the main thing that’s not been good for him over the last five years. He’s always in the gym. Josh has had that one loss, but I don’t buy into the fact that he’s on the slide because he’s lost to Teofimo Lopez because he’s an unbelievable fighter. So, we’re going into the fight knowing we’re going to get the best version of Josh Taylor because it’s such a grudge match and we’re going to train hard for it.    "The first fight is irrelevant now, all that matters is what happens on April 27."   Sam Jones:   "Yesterday we were in the great city of Edinburgh, and it is a great city, but it’s not a patch on Chorley. I didn’t hear what Tom said yesterday, he mentioned Ben Shalom for some reason, but they have a bit in common, they both got the charisma of the weather outside.     "It’s a fantastic fight, we’ve got two of the best trainers in the country up here today, all I want is for Josh not to make any excuses. He demanded it to be at 140lbs, I think that is a ready-made excuse right there, but it’s just a fantastic fight, British boxing needs rivalries like this, with two great fighter, one former undisputed champion and one guy that should have been undisputed, and it’s going to be a great fight, and as I said yesterday, Jack Catterall is going to whoop Josh Taylor on April 27."

(Featured Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

[atomicjock]

Stu and Tom had gone to bed the night before as typical construction workers — just your average Joes, doing a job, paying the bills.

They’d woken up today completely unaware of their altered reality, along with every other construction guy on the planet. The AI had seen to it, in fact; it had been programmed to “maximize human happiness”, and through a weird quirky of logic, had concluded that the optimal route toward that goal was to reform ever construction worker into a cross of an adult film star and hunky fun guy. Stu and Tom were still coworkers, but in a reality where their uniforms and behaviors toward each other was more than flirtatious, and where more than looking was the norm. Whatever their former selves might have thought about their new situation was completely erased, replaced with the joys and happiness of a strong bond and love for fellow mankind.

Ever seen a construction site this ‘constructive’? 🚧 Our BrawnyAi hunks are sporting yellow and blue hard hats, rocking the jockstrap uniform with a smile that could light up the entire site. 🥰 #BreakTimeRomance. They say couples who build together, stay together! Factoid: The world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, stands tall at 828 meters. But it’s got nothing on the towering love of our hunky couple, right? 😉

[love-takes-work]

Notes on SU Commentary Tracks

I watched the commentary tracks on the Complete Steven Universe DVD Set and I took some nerd notes.

The episodes with commentary tracks are “Reunited,” “Change Your Mind,” and “The Future.”

I’ll bold stuff that was maybe bigger news or more surprising for easier reading. And yes, some of this was already known from podcasts, other Q&As, or interviews, but I listed it if they said it again here.

Read on after the jump to read these and other highlights:

Steven’s original wedding speech

Older ideas on dialogue for Lapis when she came back to the beach

Scrapped concepts for the scene that ultimately included Steven communicating with the others in a mindscape

Discussions of earlier concepts for White Diamond having a power to “freeze” Gems into statues to make them perfect and having a gallery of them on Homeworld

Pink Pearl’s original fate

The translation of the writing on Obsidian’s sword

The origin of Pink Steven’s design

What Rebecca did to pitch the “SHE’S GONE” scene

Earlier plans to include Shep in “Change Your Mind”

An unused concept of how Steven feels about Biggs

The inspiration for the Heaven and Earth Beetles’ healed design

How Volleyball/Pink Pearl was almost a mini-villain

Discussion of how they did not get to share the origin of the Diamonds

Jasper’s scrapped participation in the movie

“Reunited” - 

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

In 2015, an episode idea called “If You Love Yourself So Much” was discussed but rejected. It included some early ideas that ended up getting incorporated into “Reunited,” most notably Garnet marrying herself and putting rings on both hands.

The idea of the Cluster arm wrestling was planned for a long time. A scrapped idea of Steven banging his fist on a vending machine to get some Chaaaaps was supposed to visually parallel some of that scene, but it was axed.

When they got pushback on the wedding idea, they kept adding more and more “high entertainment value” items like a big musical number so the episode would be absolutely unmissable and appealing to everyone.

The song at the beginning of the episode was meant to check in with the entire cast and sort of remind you they exist and what their state of mind is going into the wedding.

Ian made a comment joking about “All 15 people in Beach City” being in the audience.

Just about everyone on the Crew touched this episode, despite that there are four main storyboarders credited for “Reunited.”

In 2016 Ian Jones-Quartey proposed marriage to Rebecca Sugar. They felt like the characters based on them (Sapphire and Ruby) HAD to get married in the show now because otherwise it wouldn’t be honest. But then their characters got married before they did.

They really love the idea of having characters get married who have known each other for a really long time, versus the fairy tale trope of movies ending with weddings between people who have met very recently.

Steven’s speech as officiator at the wedding used to be longer in its first draft--it was described as being weird and full of jokes, and there would have been a scene with Pearl getting weepy and pulling tissues out of her pearl.

Ian mentions loving a joke Jeff came up with having Greg play one chord to make Steven fall asleep--it’s sort of a “dream” chord you hear in cartoons a lot before a dream sequence.

The Crew discussed what it might be like if someone had never seen the show before and started with this episode.

Ian really wanted Steven’s psychic powers to figure into the episode.

Blue using a sadness wave to attack the Gems was a very old idea they’d planned for a long time. So was Lapis’s arrival.

There was a discussion of having Lisa Hannigan performing her lines as Blue VERY early in the morning.

Ian was happy the sword got broken because it was so momentous but it was just a sword. And later appeared on a shelf in the house as an artifact.

Miki had drawn a torn dress for Garnet at one point so she could be shown fighting and moving around more accurately, and this led to a long discussion of whether Gem clothing can even actually get torn the way human clothes can. They concluded that no, it shouldn’t be torn, so they backed up and gave Garnet an open-front dress from the beginning so the fighting version would make more sense.

Lapis originally might have had a longer speech upon arriving back on the beach. They eventually decided to just have her say “Hey.”

The barn falling on Blue Diamond was an intentional Wizard of Oz reference.

They point out that Steven even once said “drop the barn on the beach” (in a previous episode, “Can’t Go Back,” which was also a Miki episode).

Destroying the house was a big deal, and they always thought they’d end up doing it but backed away from it until “Reunited.” They almost even did it back in “Coach Steven”! But it just ended up with a little damage to the porch.

The Crew thinks Miki is really good at drawing ensemble shots.

Rebecca was always overwhelmed whenever she got to have Patti LuPone record for Yellow.

Originally the giant figures of everyone’s statue bodies in the mindscape were too dark and had to be revamped so they could be seen.

An earlier idea of Steven’s “psychic-ghost-situation” had him as a ghost actually trying to interact with the other characters during fighting action, but it was pulled back to this mindscape so there wouldn’t be as much confusing action to keep track of and more focus on what Steven was doing to encourage his teammates and contact the Diamonds.

Hilary was glad not to have to block out a fight.

Ian mentions loving having Bismuth back in the group.

They originally wanted the��“Diamonds sensing Pink’s energy” plot to happen when Steven was in the palace somehow, but everything got moved to this scene--which the Crew all agrees turned out incredible, like how cool it was to have Steven essentially reminding each character why they fight and summing up their whole arc in a sentence.

“Change Your Mind”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Ben Levin, Matt Burnett, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, Ian Jones-Quartey, and Kat Morris.

They like to refer to this episode as “The movie before the movie.”

They loved incorporating “princess tropes” into Steven’s time on Homeworld, which is why there were so many references to “mice” (well, Pebbles) making clothes, being locked in a tower, being reminded of his manners, loving animals and freeing imprisoned pets, etc. 

Deedee did the voice of the rainbow worm pet. She apparently didn’t find it memorable and was surprised when she was reminded she did the voice.

Rebecca was super excited for the confrontation with Blue.

There was some discussion of how Steven would have died of starvation if he didn’t have someone practical like Connie to remember to bring food.

They love working with the huge scale the Diamonds present.

The Crew always wanted to put someone in Blue’s hair loop. Originally they wanted Blue to tuck Greg in there when she kidnapped him, but they didn’t end up being able to do any hair-loop-carrying until this episode.

The Crew bantered back and forth about what the heck those Pebbles’ names were and how hard it was to track them.

They agreed that Paul draws the best Yellow Diamond, which makes sense since he also drew the first episode with Yellow (and her stink face). 

The scene where Yellow asks Blue to stop using her powers on her and then realizing she’s crying on her own was one of Rebecca’s favorite scenes to get to finally.

Steven Sugar thought Gems would spend a lot of time in their own chambers/rooms just not really doing much of anything unless they had to fulfill their purpose.

Some of the Homeworld ideas were based on a Soviet artist’s concepts, Boris Artzybasheff, and also many ideas were inspired by Busby Berkeley regarding how people were objects and furniture.

The mech was an old idea. Once they had the hand ship from “Jailbreak,” they knew there had to be bodies somewhere.

They focused a lot about what could be the coolest and funniest way for something to happen. The concept of the yellow and blue spaceship arms appearing out of the sky to smack the White Diamond mech around was one of those.

Rebecca really wanted things to look more and more cartoony and bizarre as you get deeper into Homeworld.

They spent a very long time trying to decide on characters’ new outfits.

The trash can lid is said to be a reference to “a flying bear cartoon” and they dance around speaking a direct reference because they’re not sure they’re allowed to say its name.

In discussing the powers of the Diamonds, there were debates on what White’s power would be; with Yellow being physicality-based and Blue being emotion-based, they thought White as identity-based made the most sense.

Different ways to express this were played with before settling on the idea that she thinks she’s perfect and others’ colors make them less like her and less perfect. But then she becomes a hostage to her own beliefs about herself because if she does anything that reflects on everyone else, so it’s best to do nothing.

They had some cool earlier ideas of White’s powers making statues out of other Gems and having a gallery full of frozen Gems, frozen by White to make them perfect.

They also weren’t sure what fate befell the original Pink Pearl and discussed whether she might have been destroyed. 

Rebecca discussed how creepy it was to have White Pearl speaking in Christine’s voice and not Deedee’s--that we should find it fundamentally disturbing at this point.

Tom Herpich came up with the crack on White Pearl’s face.

In real life, pink diamonds aren’t understood as well as yellows and blues. It’s more known what makes a diamond yellow or blue, and some of those facts Rebecca researched were originally woven into the speech White gave about their “impurities.” But it turned out to be too dry and most of it got cut.

Rebecca loves having Lapis with pants and sandals for easier cosplay.

Ian had to draw the scene where Steven is falling and fusing with inert characters--he wasn’t able to properly explain it to Rebecca so she had him draw it.

They really wanted Rainbow Quartz 2.0 to have a scarf, but they couldn’t figure out how to get that into Pearl’s design. They miss the scarf.

It was really important to have these Fusions display call-forwards of the Gems’ new outfits which we hadn’t yet seen.

Rebecca points out that Sunstone’s design breaks a design rule and she feels like Sunstone should have Garnet’s pant leg colors on their legs, but at the same time she understands the rule of cool and likes it like this.

It’s discussed how none of Steven’s fusion weapons are exclusively offensive weapons either.

Rebecca still really wants a suction cup Sunstone toy.

Sunstone’s ability to transcend reality and break the fourth wall was a joke that exploded in the discussion room among the Crew. As soon as the idea was pitched everyone kept coming up with ideas. Sardonyx’s fourth-wall-breaking is more snarky, but Sunstone’s is helpful.

Rebecca was disappointed that the rule about Steven’s clothes wasn’t always followed with having his clothes appear on Obsidian’s hand, but she was delighted that you could see them in one scene.

They spent a lot of discussion time on making sure Steven-Obsidian was different somehow from Rose-Obsidian. The hair is different.

Old versions of Obsidian were drawn with wrapped-together Twizzlers legs, which sort of is reflected in the present design.

The sword had been planned forever--and it first appeared in “Bubble Buddies.”

Miki worked on the Ninja Turtles show so Rebecca was really excited to see her depictions of Bismuth and Sunstone.

An early plan to have Obsidian draw the sword from their mouth was complicated because fusion weapons should be combinations, so they finally reached the solution of having them combine to make the hilt, then get the blade out of Obsidian’s mouth.

The blade of the sword is thought to say “We’ll always save the day,” but you’d have to ask Steven Sugar.

Another really old idea was climbing into the White Diamond mech eye.

Rebecca was disappointed that some of the merch made of White Diamond did not feature her cape sparkles.

There were many debates early on about where Rose might “actually” be. There were tons of references to this fundamental question throughout the show--introducing Lapis as a Gem trapped in an object, having Pearl ponder pulling Steven’s Gem out as a baby, straight-up wondering what would happen to him in “Bubbled” when Eyeball was trying to take his Gem, etc. They all decided Rose was definitely gone but that the idea of her possibly being inside him should be on his mind a lot, leading to disturbing images like dreaming about coughing up her hair.

Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond both challenged Steven about things he was very confident about, but White’s question of his identity got to him because he in fact is not confident about that.

The black and white eeriness of the fuzzy background and the other characters having their colors washed out helped make the scene in White Diamond’s head so disturbing and creepy.

The split screen showing Steven’s two perspectives was exciting to Rebecca, and was a pretty old idea. And she points out it sort of “breaks the show.”

The Gem Steven, Pink Steven, was represented by a slightly modified version of his model sheet. Everyone laughed when they saw what was getting used.

They decided that an earlier idea of Pink Steven looking angry should be replaced by an emotionless version of him. All the emotion should be with Organic Steven.

In the pitch meeting for this episode, Rebecca herself screamed “SHE’S GONE!!” and shocked the hell out of everyone. She pointed out how no one expected this of her because she’s pretty quiet, but she just wanted to shock everyone the way Steven would in the show.

They point out this is the first appearance of the geometric shield that got so much use in Future.

The fact that Steven is Steven is the ultimate reveal of the show. Usually in fantasy shows there’s some other kind of revelation, but Steven just being amazingly human and amazingly Gem and amazingly himself is wonderful here.

They like having the pilot reference with “What’s your excuse?”

If Rose had somehow still been alive in him, all of this would have been cheapened.

Ian loves that you can faintly hear Sadie’s concert from way out in space as the camera approaches Earth.

They got a lot more use out of the Beach-A-Palooza stage than they thought they would when it had to be designed for “Steven and the Stevens.” There was a joke about how at one of the conventions a real Beach-A-Palooza stage was constructed and they had a thought about how oh good, it’s getting reused.

Sadie having green hair in the finale was a late change but they liked showing her progression. 

They had originally kicked around the idea of Sadie already having her new partner Shep at this point, but decided to develop that in Future instead.

They compare White Diamond’s stepping gingerly into the fountain to skeptically getting into a public pool.

Some silliness they didn’t get to use was that Biggs would be “beloved by everyone” except Steven. They never got to cover it, but originally Steven was just going to not really understand why everyone loves her so much and doesn’t personally much care for her.

The Heaven and Earth Beetles are based on the Mothra Ladies.

The healed Gems’ horns are supposed to be side effects of the corruption that they continue to bear in the present.

Larimar and Orange Spodumene ended up different in the ending scene than they became in Future. Many of the designs were retroactively pulled into this scene after being designed for the movie.

Rebecca wrote “Change Your Mind” as a personal song to express her feelings surrounding her fight for the wedding.

“The Future”

Commentary with Rebecca Sugar, Kat Morris, Alonso Ramirez Ramos, Hilary Florido, Joe Johnston, and Ian Jones-Quartey.

The animatic for this episode ran SO long--they’re supposed to be just over 11 minutes but this one was 17 minutes.

Steven’s calisthenics routine, a callback to “Future Vision,” was on the chopping block to make the episode shorter but Rebecca wouldn’t allow it to be cut because she wanted to show that Steven’s been taking care of himself.

They were very excited to get a chance to cover some of the things in Future that they couldn’t squeeze into the original show, like the unbubbled Rose Quartzes, Volleyball, etc.

The new writers on the show also helped bring forward the idea of Steven finally making some of his OWN mistakes to fix.

This also helped construct the idea of Steven essentially being the “final boss” of his own battle.

Usually stories that involve someone being in a fight and winning don’t explore the effect just being in a fight has on a person, regardless of whether you won. 

Rebecca really wanted to play Ocarina of Time after beating it so she could go back to all the places and see how people were doing. She wanted this epilogue series to explore that a little too.

Little Homeschool is sort of a Tiny Toons reference--older cartoons teach younger cartoons how to be cartoons, and this is Gems teaching other Gems how to be Gems on Earth. 

Lamar came up with the silly joke about receiving that art set with all the different media types in it--the one artists are always getting from a well-meaning relative at holiday time.

A scrapped plot idea involved Volleyball/Pink Pearl as a sort of “mini-villain,” with a focus on her activating the un-activated Pearls.

There’s discussion of how victimization turns people into villains sometimes. But since showing that happening with Volleyball wouldn’t have served the interests of Steven’s arc, they couldn’t fit it in.

There was also a “very specific” Gem origin and Diamond origin story that’s quasi-religious in nature--it’s very cool and complicated. But they do not tell us what it is.

Ian and Joe both really wanted to have Jasper living alone in the woods and stacking rocks. They’re glad they got this series to do that with her.

There was originally an idea for a B-plot involving Jasper in the movie. They don’t discuss the specifics.

There were many ideas they didn’t get to work on because they would have started new arcs and Future was not about kicking new plots into gear.

“Mr. Universe” was the last episode they wrote/finished.

Miki really wanted to include a kiss between Connie and Steven to show their relationship was okay. Among the Crew everyone knew their relationship was basically eternal but Miki wanted to make sure WE knew that.

Steven driving conveyed momentum for Future; in the original show, we always came back to the laundry hand, back to home, but in Future that’s changed and home isn’t what it was. 

They were really excited that a gourd family made it to the crowd scene in Future.

Thanks for reading!

Note: The movie had some commentary tracks too, but the one on this DVD set is the same as the one released on the original standalone movie DVD, so I did not outline it here. Here is my post about the DVD commentary from the movie.