#Yes she's competent and a super spy and saves his life constantly but I Want More And She Deserves Better

[strawberry-miiiiiiiiiiiilk]

sitting in my room for a half hour thinking about how if we lived in a better world Ada Wong would be the Ilsa Faust of Resident Evil (primarily in how she's introduced in Rogue Nation), with a dynamic to leon not unlike Fujiko Mine's and Lupin's in which they are both extremely competent and in situations in which they may have to work against and occasionally with each other on a mission, but ultimately are forced to stay apart and while they may be apart and even have different love interests from each other, ultimately still care deeply for one another. They are compelled to go after each other in part because it's so difficult and they are so often in circumstances in which they can't be with each other. The thrill of the chase and all that.

Ada being only tangentially related to the other character's stories because the world is simply larger than them and she has her own concerns and problems to deal with, and to have that be given any care or weight in a story, let alone focus. That she can be cunning and even manipulative but because she needs to and will still choose not to when the chips are down because she is genuinely caring--which I know none of that is new ground for her but I wish it was done in a more interesting way and *without leon at all*. She chooses to show mercy in a key point not because she's in love with that other character.

And also that she has more personality. I dig the subdued nature of her in 4r and her subtle sarcasm but it's just crumbs. I want her to be silly on occasion and say dumb jokes because she's alone like in 2r. I want her to shed a bit of that seriousness when she's on the clock because she's confident in herself as a professional and again has no one to put up a façade to.

It's honestly kinda embarrassing reading this back as I realize most of what I'm writing is not only already present in the games but incredibly tropey in and of itself, and wouldn't improve the character much. Dear god I think too much of my view of the character has been marred by shallow fanworks depicting her. I think if anything it's a sign that:

I'm a shit writer and need to do way more than watch movies and gesture vaguely at them to come up w a decent story or character (that being said as much as I prefer Fallout as a film, I stand by my earlier statement of Ilsa Faust being the ideal spy woman as she's depicted in Rogue Nation as she has a distinct set of goals and needs that are complex and developed largely tangentially to the protagonist's, at least initially).

It's going to take a completely new approach to her character to get something remotely interesting and that takes advantage of her potential.

For as mired in tropes as she and every other character and story in Resident Evil is, Ada could be far more memorable and enjoyable if only there was more care and effort to giver at least some interests and goals (perhaps even...characterization) on her own other than being a sexy love interest and potentially traitorous (as so many femme fatales already are).

#I mean she basically already is Fujiko I just wish it was more fun and gave her shit to do that didn't exclusively revolve around leon #I have a lot of thoughts about leon as a character and as much as I enjoy their over-the-top mr & mrs smith romance also fuck leon #Sighs....I know I'm asking too much from a franchise that has famously bad writing and largely archetypal characters but it's maddening #Mostly to me personally because I love spy shit and femme fatales for how messy and misogynistic the archetype is it's my favorite #So it kills me that a cool femme fatale like Ada who has so much potential as a character is relentlessly squandered #And it's the most annoying thing in the world to me to complain about fandoms/fans but I'll be a hypocrite and vent that it bugs me #How much fan media revolves around a*on and coming up with idealized domestic fantasies for them which can be chopped up to misogyny #And how tropey fan shit is but still it's so dull and often bends Ada into an ideal wife/gf for leon but not explore Anything Else At All #Not every romance has to end in marriage and kids like what about the inherent drama of them being forced apart isn't #Compelling to fans? What I'm trying to say is I want them to have a painfully messy divorce and a game or movie exclusively about Ada #*and I mean like they never marry just break up but emotionally it's a messy divorce that's ultimately for the best given their jobs #Also I am far too out of my depth to go into it but many have pointed out how her characterization often falls into pretty #nasty tropes that Asian women often fall into in Hollywood films which considering how much US blockbusters influence re it's not surprisin #But it's unfortunate and I'd be remised to at least mention that it feels at best dicey to have the only recurring Asian woman be mostly #reduced to a love interest of the white protagonist and sexualized with little else to go off of as a character #Yes she's competent and a super spy and saves his life constantly but I Want More And She Deserves Better #And yes everyone is super tropey and flat and the women in general often take a back seat to male charas but like I said #this whole franchise is badly written and honestly it kills me how women are written in general in re but I was thinking too hard about Ada #And maybe a sign that this series needs an even bigger overhaul than the remakes are doing character writing-wise #Or just don't and jettison the bloated lore once and for all and be episodic and silly b-horror idk if I can care about established charas #Coming back if they're in such dull forms. Maybe the mercy kill option is ideal and have re9 and all new installments be different #Ugh why can't I care about something useful like computers or cooking or job applications

[not-close-to-straight]

A Blushing Bet (Natasha/Tony/ Pepper)

This commission is for @enchantingpearlcollector and honestly its just me writing shamelessly about pretty girls. I’m not even sorry. 

Enjoy!

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

“Oh hello, my love.” Pepper leaned over the kitchen table and placed a soft kiss on Natasha’s cheek. “How are you today?”

“I’m bored and feeling vicious.” Natasha answered, using the tip of a wicked looking knife to clean under her nails. “So watch out.”

“Yes, well you certainly look vicious.” Pepper plucked the knife from her girlfriends hand and tossed it away with a sigh, dropping into one of the chairs to start rifling through her mail. “Why aren’t you out training with Clint? I thought you were going to mess around on that obstacle course Tony had put in.” 

“Clint’s still pouting because of that slight bump on the head I gave him last week.” Natasha leaned her chair back and plonked her feet on the table. “You know, I think he’s getting whinier the older he gets. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

“To be fair, wasn’t a slight bump.” Pepper corrected. “it was a concussion--

“-- a slight concussion.”

“--and he has every right to be sore at you for it, it was tag-football Tasha, not tackle football.” She tossed Natasha a magazine and went back to opening bills. “What about Steve or Bucky? You couldn’t give those two concussions if you tried and they have no problem kicking your butt if you’re feeling vicious.”

“Steve is teaching an art class and Bucky volunteered to be his model--” Pepper’s jaw dropped and Natasha nodded. “I know, I have a million questions about it too. But they are busy, and Clint’s being a whiner and Tony barricaded himself in his lab to work on something devious--”

“--he’s one bad lab accident from a super villain.” Pepper confirmed, her lips twitching in a smile. “But he’s so gosh darn cute in those big goggles and that ridiculous white coat Bruce makes him wear, it’s almost worth it.”

“Anyway, Tony’s busy so I can’t drag him off for sex and you threatened me with bodily harm if I disturbed you today--”

“I did no such thing!” Pepper protested and when Natasha just looked at her, she protested again-- “I’m busy today, Nat! This is the only free time I have today and you should be glad I’m spending it with you and not our boyfriend because let’s face it, it’s been so long since he’s actually come to bed at a decent hour I’m starting to think he broke up with us and just didn’t say anything.”

“Tony would never break up with us.” Nat said confidently. “He thinks it's too funny to constantly remind Sam that there are exactly two beautiful women in this compound and we both sleep in his bed.”

“Yes, well we are rather beautiful, aren’t we?” Pepper’s cheeks tinted a soft pink and first Natasha smiled over it and then her eyes flew open wide and--

“What if we have a contest!” she cried. “That would take care of my boredom and my viciousness!” 

When Pepper narrowed her eyes suspiciously, Nat hurried to add, “Not like the ultimate hide and go seek one from last month, don’t worry. But what if we had a contest just you and Tony and I?”

“Okay.” Pepper scanned through her last piece of mail. “What sort of contest would this be then? And remember, it can’t be naked. Bucky almost had a heart attack the last time Tony lost a bet and had to cook breakfast in nothing but an apron and a thong. Those sorts of bets are off limits now.”

“No aprons and thongs required for this one.” Nat assured her. “What if-- and hear me out-- what if we see who can make which of the three of us blush the hardest?”

“I think you’re more excited by that prospect than I am.” Pepper said dryly. “Because I’m so pale I blush if my heart rate picks up at all, whereas you walked in on Steve and Bucky watching porn last week and didn’t so much as blink. I think the odds are unfairly skewed in your favor.” 

“In my defense--” Nat held up her hand when Pepper started laughing. “It was some terrible super hero parody porn and no one would ever think that was sexy, much less blush worthy. And second of all--” she raised her voice when Pepper only laughed harder. “-- second of all, what if only you and I knew about the contest?”

“Only you and I?” Pepper repeated. “So what, we’d just be competing to try and make each other blush and Tony would have no idea what’s going on? Where’s the fun in that?”

“The fun--” Natasha emphasized. “Would be when Tony can’t keep his hands off us because I know for a fact he has a complete kink for seeing me do something that makes you blush.”

“Oh he does no--”

“New Years Eve.” Natasha challenged. “You were wearing a silver dress and I used your braid to yank you down so we could kiss and you turned tomato red and Tony--”

“--locked us both in the bedroom all night and then instead of breakfast in bed we had--” Predictably, Pepper turned bright pink. “Oh my. He does have a little bit of a kink for that doesn’t he?”

“So if I’m going to be making you blush all the time, and you’re going to be acting bold and scandalous to make me blush….?” Natasha let the question hang there as Pepper’s eyes widened. “Yep. Could be fun, right?”

“Well then, how do we know who wins?” The discarded mail went into the trash and Pepper dusted off her hands. “If the point is to just get Tony into bed, how do we keep score?”

“Whichever one breaks him first.” Natasha patted her thighs, and Pepper came willingly, folding her tall frame onto the smaller redheads lap. “We’ll judge his reactions based on how red he turns, how much he stammers and whoever does something that gets him to drag us both to bed first, wins.”

“Tasha, I do love when your vicious moods play out and no one gets hurt.” Pepper looked her arms around Natasha’s neck and kissed her square on the lips. “Though I suppose I love you when you’re stabby too.”

“Well I’m glad to hear it.” Natasha grinned and kissed her back. “Game starts tomorrow, okay?”

“Get ready to lose, Romanov.” Pepper threatened playfully, and Natasha retaliated with a -- “Your ass is mine, Potts!”

“What a shame.” Pepper giggled and Natasha blew her a kiss. “Tomorrow then. Be ready.” 

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

Most people assumed Tony Stark was full of himself, focused only what he wanted and oblivious to anything or anyone else. He was never anywhere he needed to be on time, he couldn’t be bothered to remember birthdays or important dates, and despite constant assurances to the negative, the press was sure that he was playing both Natasha and Pepper because that’s the only thing that possibly made sense. No way he loved them both, not billionaire playboy Tony Stark. One day the tabloids announced that he was only dating Ms. Potts because she was his boss, the next everyone was sure that Natasha was blackmailing him somehow-- on and on it went.

Of course anyone who knew Tony in the slightest was well aware that he was head over heels for both the always put together Pepper Potts and femme fatale Natasha Romanov. And he never remembered birthdays, but he never forgot anyone’s favorite coffee and ordered the specific sheets that Clint liked and had the sensors in the Tower set to change anytime Bucky was in a room since he still had triggers after his Winter Soldier time. Tony noticed everything and was oblivious to nothing--

--But boy howdy was he caught off guard when Natasha walked into the living room wearing a white crop top that showed off her stomach and little flashes of-- eep! Under bosoms!-- and snake skin pants riding low enough to show her thong, swaggered up to Pepper and brought her in for a long, filthy kiss.

“What--What-- hnnnngh!” Tony gaped at the scene-- his prim proper Pepper palming over Natasha’s rear, the snakeskin pants hanging on for dear life, in immediate peril of exposing much more cheek than the spy had intended. “Natasha! Clothes!”

“Why do you mean, clothes?” Nat asked lazily, wiping a smudge of lipstick off Pepper’s face and smirking when she saw the tell tale streak of red on Pepper’s cheek. “I’m wearing clothes.”

“Not--not many of them!” Tony stammered. “I haven’t heard the term ‘whale tail’ since like, 2002 but good Christ!”

“Calm down, Tony.” Natasha snapped the unbelievably skimpy line of her thong and winked at their boyfriend. “You’ve see me in less.”

“I-- You-- urgh--” Tony kept stammering as Natasha sauntered right back out, and he had no idea why she pulled out a notebook and made a mark in it, just like he had no idea why Pepper cursed and also pulled out a notebook and made a mark in it, but he didn’t really care.

Natasha in snakeskin pants?

Heaven save him.

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

Pepper Potts was practically perfect in every way, the best dressed in any room she walked into, somehow stylish in nothing more than a pair of Nat’s cut off shorties and one of Tony’s white button down, and a literal goddess in a floor length gown.

Natasha had seen the woman in everything from pin striped pant suits to fishnet lingerie and anything in between, but she had not seen Pepper in a black skirt just a hint too tight and a hint too short and a blouse unbuttoned just on this side too low.

“Oh fuck me.” Natasha interrupted the briefing when she swore out loud, staring opened mouth at her girlfriend as Pepper sat that adorable ass upon the conference table and crossed long long legs one over the other, showing off the thigh high slit in that damnable black skirt and--

“Ms. Potts!” Tony sounded like he really might be choking to death when he caught sight of the color inked high up on Pepper’s thigh, bright flowers and flowing vines wrapping around her leg and disappearing out of eye sight further beyond the cut to whoo skirt. “Is that-- are you--”

“No fair.” Natasha breathed, face flushing a dull red, green eyes glowing with something altogether wicked, and Pepper simply tossed her hair over her shoulder and handed Tony something else to sign, smiling prettily into his shell shocked expression.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” She cooed when Tony handed her back the file, and with a little more swing in her hips than strictly necessary, Pepper left the room so the briefing could resume.

Not that Steve could remember what the hell he’d been briefing anyone on, and not that Bucky was thinking about anything else but the situation in his jeans and Clint and Sam weren’t doing much better. Tony’s jaw was still somewhere near the vicinity of the floor and Natasha was muttering curses under her breath as she dug out her notebook again and made another mark.

Briefly, Tony wondered which god he’d pleased so much to have not one but two redheads who seemed intent on making him explode, and then he pulled out his phone and texted Thor:

From Iron Man: Hey God of Fertility, you are awesome

From Thor: I AM AWARE

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

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

Natasha had a scar on her abdomen, the result of a bullet that had gone through her and into someone else, and she tended to wear camisoles and shorty shorts to the beach or pool just to avoid stares and the smattering of freckles she accumulated after just a few minutes in the sun.

Pepper freckled too, in the sort of sophisticated way she did everything, so she was one for sun hats and cover ups as she lounged on deck chairs at the poolside cabana and sipped at her no- doubt low fat drink.

But when Tony went out to the pool to swim a few laps, he found not just one but two women in bathing suits that were nothing more than strategically placed bits of cloth held together by a smattering of strings and the occasional buckle.

Pepper in a plunging white monokini that was more like a no-kini and Natasha in what might have passed for a bikini in certain sketchy circles, but was really a collection of sparkles and tassels that somehow stayed put as she chased Pepper around, tackling her girlfriend into the grass and smearing sun tan lotion in a graceless, completely Tony approved way until Pepper had enough and rolled them over a few feet to dunk in the pool.

Then there were screams and giggles and-- “Oh look at that.” Tony gulped. “The suits are just about see through.” -- and playful kisses and greedy hands and-- “Ho-ho-holy shit--” Tony had to suddenly sit down, towel held over his lap when they both bounced jiggled walked out of the pool and dried each other off, teasing and laughing at each other.

“You’re pretty red, my love.” Pepper rubbed a towel through her long hair. “I think I win this round.”

“I dunno, I made you blush hard enough you got spontaneous freckles.” Natasha pointed out, brushing her fingers over Pepper’s collarbone. “I think I win this round.”

“Well to be fair,” Pepper inclined her head towards Tony. “I think we might have broken our boyfriend. There’s no way he’s going to be able to walk for a while, and that towel isn’t hiding as much as he thinks it is, so maybe we call this round a tie.”

“Should we have pity on him and take him to bed?” Natasha reached out and tugged at an errant strap, correcting it before Pepper’s entire top came off, and trying not to laugh when Tony made a high pitched noise behind them.

“No no, the bet was that he has to break and take us to bed.” Pepper adjusted a tassel that wasn’t quite doing it’s job anymore. “So. This one is a tie?”

“I suppose so.” Natasha’s eyes sparked. “But I can take you to bed, right?”

“Ms. Romanov, I think you should.”

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

There was nothing heinous nor distracting nor naked -- or any combination of the three-- planned on Thursday morning, so Pepper and Natasha cuddled up together in their fluffiest robes and shared a cup of coffee while reading through the paper and waiting for Tony to come down for breakfast.

“Are we still tied?” Natasha asked absentmindedly, weaving their fingers together, and Pepper hummed a response, adding, “Five to five darling. We’ll have to step it up if Tony is going to break soon. I’ll tell you, I was his assistant for years and never saw a single ounce on impulse control from that man, but all the sudden he’s a picture of restraint. It’s baffling.”

“What’s baffling, beautiful?” Tony made his appearance for the day, swooping down to kiss both of them good morning and getting himself a cup of coffee. “You’re so smart, I can’t imagine there’s anything that really baffles you.”

“No, of course not.” Pepper answered cheekily and Natasha kicked her foot under the table. “How are you this morning, love?”

“Still a genius.” Tony winked and pushed two identical sized boxes towards them. “I got you something.”

“Presents!” Pepper cried and while Natasha wasn’t as outwardly excited, she still snatched her box as fast as she could and tore off the wrapping paper.

“You-- you bought me a gun?” She hefted the handgun in her palm, admiring the weight and feel, the way it fit her fingers perfectly, then turned it over and-- “Why is there sparkly things on my gun, Tony? That’s not the proper place for sparkly things.”

“Sweetheart, this is lovely.” Pepper admired her necklace, the way it shone against the velvet box, the uniquely green stones gleaming in the light. “What design is this, I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“This is a journey design.”  Tony touched Pepper’s necklace, then drew a line along the matching design on the grip of Natasha’s gun. “It looks like a river, and represents the journey of life-- where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are going together.”

“Oh.” Pepper turned light pink, her breath hitching. “This is so thoughtful.”

“Nat.” Tony tapped at the stones. “I had these created specifically for you. They are the exact shade of your eyes, lighter here for when you laugh, darker here for when you’re--” he cleared his throat meaningfully, and it was Natasha’s turn to flush. “There is no other gemstone in the world the same color as these ones right here, because there’s no one else in the world like you.”

“And Pepper--” he turned back to the necklace. “These are the same color as your eyes, too, and some of them have white cut through like lightning because when your eyes flash in laughter or anger or anything I--” Pepper bit her lip and Tony grinned. “-- I love it every time. Different from Nat’s in every way, but equally as stunning. It’s one of a kind, just like you.” 

“Christ.” Natasha choked out, red from her collar clear to the tips of her ears and Pepper wasn’t doing much better, her pale skin nearly crimson. “Tony, this is--”

“Tony, I don’t even know what to--” Pepper shook his head. “Why--” 

“And because I know Pepper is way more dangerous than she looks, and Natasha loves pretty things too--” Tony handed them two more boxes, and Pepper laughed when she opened a handgun with her design on the grip, and Natasha sighed happily when she held up a journey stone necklace as well. “Loving you two is a journey I don’t want to ever end.” 

He smecked a kiss onto both their cheeks. “If you two decide you want to spend some time together--” 

“Get you ass upstairs.” Natasha demanded and Pepper echoed-- “And you should be naked when we get there.” 

Tony saluted them teasingly and headed out the door, leaving them to smile and blush, oohing and ahhing over each others gems.

“Are you gonna tell them you knew about the bet?” Steve asked under his breath as Tony passed him in the dining room.

“Nope.” Tony shook his head. “But let’s be honest, I definitely won.”

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

SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE FIC!

A KO-FI WOULD MAKE ME BLUSH!

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

@bethy-sue @thesmollestgay @babypinkbunny @lilwitchybee @kloudbby @shipeveryonetogether @shadowrayven @deppfan16 @hausoffro @plutoisstillsalty @thereaderandwriterwithin @thecat-theparrot-theonion @zerokrox-blog @zuretha-metal @hurricanesass @tstilcr @ulnusilmukka @kahowl-knight @oswolfpack @larissaloki @stuckony-stank @blackhearted @iona-laia @itsallyd @youarenewformetoo @megahuffledor @starks-avengers @tabziecat @stitchinaride @ceealaina @cwar1864 @trinidaddee @emogoddess24 @my-drowning-in-time @pidgist @yukina64 @words-aremy-weapons @psychobitchgonepsycho @little-big-mac2 @multishippinglife @susana0 @paranormalmoonlight5 @lullilt

#ncts fics #commissions #tony stark #pepper potts #natasha romanov

[redspiderling]

MCU Breakdown: Trying to forget Age of Ultron is something that happened Part 2 of 3

And I’m back for the 2nd level of Hell. And yes, I broke it into 3 parts, because I was venting for so long, tumblr couldn’t catch up with me. 

I’m terribly sorry it took me so long to wrap my head around writing this but honestly, this movie makes me so mad.

I will point out once again that this post is Brutasha-critical. Again, not because I have anything against that particular ship -or any ship in general- it’s just that as a Black Widow fan, I am of the opinion that the way the relationship developed in Age of Ultron was not believable, and it was unfair and out of character for both Natasha and Bruce, which is why I don’t like it.

Is anyone ready for this? No? Doesn’t matter, I’m here, you’re here, lets get this show on the road.

So, last time we saw Natasha, Marvel would have us think she is reconsidering her right to be an Avenger, because of what was done to her when she was young, and because of what she did as a child assassin and as a brainwashed  spy for USSR. 

Marvel also had us think that Natasha was seeking to get into a relationship with Bruce Banner, because she thought that loving another “monster” was the kind of love that she deserved, the kind of love she could reach for. 

To be fair, considering the note the film ended on, I’d bet good money they were not sure exactly where they were going with the relationship.

In any case, I call bullshit on both those accounts btw, and I will explain why in excruciating detail. 

Bruce -according to the MCU- was experimenting with gamma radiation, in an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum.He experimented on himself, and was turned into a creature that has no control over its actions and represented his inner anger and helplessness, feelings he carried into adulthood because of the abuse he suffered through as a child.

He still struggles to deal with the aftermath of his actions, and with his control over the beast that is the Hulk. He is out of balance and -quite naturally- is unsure, paranoid, volatile and vulnerable. He chooses to stay out of fights because he is not always in control of himself and his actions.

Natasha, after years of being under the control of others, has finally gained her freedom. She is not obliged to follow anyone's orders, and yet she chooses to be the hero and save the day, under a sense of obligation to the world, in an attempt to redeem herself for her actions. 

She is aware of her weaknesses and strengths, has control over her feelings and actions, and yet while she knowingly chose to be who she is, after reliving those painful memories she is made to think herself unworthy of her position in a team of superheroes.

Can someone please point out the similarities between the two? Can someone tell me why a competent and stable individual who is following a long road of redemption like Natasha, would think she only deserves the love of a man who -while a perfectly good person- is unstable and has a lot of issues to resolve, just to get to a point where he is ok with himself?

And don’t misunderstand me, I would have no objection if it was a I fell in love with you while we were pulling a prank on Stark one lazy Sunday morning kind of thing. It is the whole “we are both monsters so we should be together” mentality I firmly object over. Natasha and Bruce are not alike. 

The fact that this film draws parallels between Natasha and Bruce is an unfair, sexist and out of character treatment of Natasha, and the fact that the scriptwriters thought her as such, and wrote her as thinking of herself as such, without ever rectifying that statement during the course of the film is fucking sexist.

You don’t believe me? You think calling this treatment sexist is extreme? Let me get a bit out of subject and I will give you another example. 

When Tony talked Bruce into making Ultron, does anyone remember what he said to him?

And yet, what is the outcome of their science? They create a murder bot, kill thousands of people and they almost destroy the planet.

Lets talk now about the repercussions of their actions. 

Tony, a white, male, multi-billionaire, is never prosecuted. Even after the Accords are in place, even after Iron Man breaks the rules he put in place time and again, Tony Stark is never prosecuted. NEVER.

On  the other hand:

> When Natasha lets Steve go after the airport fight, she is considered an enemy of state and she becomes an outlaw. 

> When Natasha released all her secrets on the internet in order to destroy the nazi HYDRA/SHIELD, the work of another powered white male, she is put on trial.

What were people saying about Marvel not being sexist?

And lets not forget Bruce. Bruce has issues to work through, which is understandable, but what I get from all this, is that Bruce actually did run away, he did hide so deep in himself, Hulk was allowed to roam free for years, and Bruce had 0 control over him.

AoU isn’t fair on him either, because his character had a much different journey to go through, one of self-acceptance, and mixing it up with Natasha’s damaged both of their story-lines.

I find Bruce’s journey of self-discovery admirable, and it was satisfying to see him slowly working it out at the end of Thor: Ragnarok, and I liked the Infinity War Bruce a lot. 

He let go of a lot of the burden he carried around, but the point is, Bruce never paid for his mistakes, and in the end he wasn’t able to do the heroic thing during the Age of Ultron story-line, he wanted to run.

(Why we had to go through an entire movie just for them to realize that hey, we are in different phases in life and we want different things is beyond me.)

Case in point: Natasha -unlike her male counterparts- is constantly called into account for everything that happens, and she has paid dearly for things out of her control, and she still chooses to be the hero time and again. Natasha has an endless supply of courage and inner-strength, she knows who she is, what she can do, and she puts all these things to good use. She deserves better than to be made to think that she is a monster, or that she doesn’t deserve to be an Avenger. Especially not when Iron Man gets to kill without repercussions and I will say this now: 

If today’s Natasha, our self-assured master assassin, the heroic individual she has always been, who has achieved inner peace and has created deep connections of friendship and camaraderie with various characters, is pushed back to the Age of Ultron lovesick puppy story-line in Infinity War 2, I’m done, done, with the MCU.

Fucking sexists.

To get over this fucking scene, ok, I understand that the whole female reproduction system failure/I am a monster narrative was actually not written in parallel. Natasha’s point was that the people who tortured her were so sick, they actually took away a part of herself in order to achieve their goals. That doesn’t mean that said scene is not controversial, and it also doesn’t eradicate the fact that Age of Ultron tells us that the only thing that would make a woman run away from a life of abuse and crime would be a child, which is a sexist and immoral assumption, not to mention erroneous in so many ways, it is a completely separate discussion. 

Stay tuned for the next part!

Links:

AoU Breakdown Part 3

AoU Breakdown Part 1

Civil War Breakdown 

#black widow #natasha romanoff #character analysis #chauvinistic shit #MCU breakdown #MCU Black Widow #bruce banner #captain america #hawkeye #no matter what you think about the ships or the characters #this movie was a mess #honest to god #it was like an emergency mashup #such a disappointment

[irish-urn]

The MCUC - Iron Man

Alright. So me and @cracklepopme are participating in what I’m calling the MCU Challenge (or, as @cracklepopme (who shall henceforth be named “Crackle”) called it, The MCUC), which is that thing the internet posted about watching one MCU movie a week to bring us to Infinity Wars (see here). And, since it is me, I have made notes, especially considering how they flow together and thematic elements of characters and movie arcs. And so:

Week One of The MCUC: Iron Man

First, I think it’s important for me to explain how I was introduced to the MCU, which was with this movie... 8? years ago... So I guess 2009. My high school had Spirit Week (if I remember correctly), and we went to see Iron Man as part of it. I had never heard of it, and so I asked my friends if they knew what it was about. And one of my acquaintances (because I don’t really consider him a friend) told me it was about an engineer who built a suit.

...In hindsight, he wasn’t wrong, but still. I went in with extremely low expectations, and came out with a heart full of excitement. And I have been hooked on the MCU ever since.

So! Iron Man. WHAT A GREAT MOVIE and what an excellent way to introduce us to the MCU, which, I think does an amazing job of trying to make superheroes real to us. And starting it off with a “civilian” in a war-zone, for me at least, always gave me a sense of reality even with all the... “outlandish and fantastic” (to quote Tony Stark) of their world. Something that will probably come up again when we reach The Avengers, is how I have always appreciated their efforts to make these heroes *human*. They get tired, they have flaws, they aren’t perfect, but they are always trying and always moving forward. And I think Tony Stark is perhaps the best example of this: because he is so imperfect but keeps trying and trying and trying.

Thoughts during the movie:

Why does Rhodey call Tony a mentor? What the hell has Tony mentored him? I want backstory and explanation, especially since the rest of the movie is mostly Rhodey trying to wrangle Tony. Honestly, Rhodes, were you just being kind for the award?

Forward to the torture scene, where Tony hears Pepper call his name. “You’re all I have, you know.” I mean, you see it in every one of their interactions, their honest care and affection for each other, but Pepper calling Tony by his name (and how often has she called him Tony at this point? What has he done before to warrant her calling him in this way?) at his lowest point really drives it home. Pepper asks Tony to keep going, even if it’s just the Pepper Potts in his mind, and so he does. Man, like. That’s love there, you guys.

Yinsen: so much more sarcastic and challenging then I remember him being. I always thought of him as being soft-spoken and gentle, and while he is certainly gentle at heart, he is no pushover. He is constantly challenging Tony -- if not always mentally (although he certainly holds his own there), then morally and ethically. He questions Tony’s motives, his purpose, his rationale -- which is exactly what Tony needs to survive in this environment!! It’s also a push out of his comfort level -- and I mean that from an emotional and moral standpoint -- and makes him think.

There are also very clear parallels between Tony/Yinsen and Steve/Erskine. Both older men challenge the younger to rise to another level by seeing the potential in these men -- Tony is a moral rising whereas Steve is more of a physical rising -- but both heroes spend the rest of the movie (and arguably, their arc so far in the MCU) trying to be the men that their mentors have challenged them to be. “Don’t waste it; don’t waste your life,” Yinsen tells Tony; and so Tony will spend the rest of making sure it’s a life worth living. That he leaves a legacy worth remembering.

(”Legacy; what is a legacy?” Lin Manuel-Miranda asks us in Hamilton; and it’s for sure something Tony struggles with over and over and over again.)

OFF TOPIC: But that scene where the Ten Rings are watching Yinsen and Tony in the workshop making Iron Man Mach 1 and trying to figure out what they’re doing is my favourite scene in the whole movie. I laugh every time.

I also can’t believe that Tony was in those caves for 3 months. I wanna know what he and Yinsen were doing for that whole time. Honestly, I would have believed they were there for a couple of weeks; they did not do a good job marking time passing. That’s all.

Gentle, gentle Yinsen: even when he runs out with a blaring gun to buy Tony time, he still refuses to kill anyone. Poor, gentle, strong Yinsen.

“Thank you for saving me.” -- How many times before this has Tony said thank you? I doubt he’s said it often...

RHODEY’S FACE WHEN HE FINDS TONY is so so soft. I also appreciate how Rhodey, Pepper, and even Obadiah (even if he is awful) know that the best way to comfort Tony is to tease him. Make sure he knows -- especially Rhodey and Pepper -- that their friendship hasn’t changed while he was gone, that things can continue on as they always have, that their love for him and the way they express that affection has not changed and will be constant.

“Cheeseburger first.” Bless you, Tony Stark.

COULSON. I FORGOT ABOUT COULSON. Like, there are so many things I realize that they used this movie for, including testing to see if the MCU would work while setting up the MCU. They did a marvellous job of balancing the two.

When Pepper is changing the arc reactor in Tony’s chest and asks what to do with the old one, and Tony waves his hand and says it’s “irrelevant.” For some reason that just hit something with me. The dismissal -- was it real or put on? For someone with so much focus and passion, where did Tony learn dismissal from?

Anybody else wonder if Sam Wilson ever went on that air force tour that Colonel James Rhodes does? Because I can see it happening.

LET’S TALK ABOUT RHODEY FOR A SECOND: Rhodey, who believes in the US government and their military, that they are doing the right thing, and that questioning their authority is wrong. I was watching him and going, ‘Rhodey. Dude. How can you not question them?’ and got super flashbacks to Civil War (which is hilarious because one came out in 2009 and the other in 2016), when he doesn’t fight the Accords. He says something about the government knowing what to do; and it’s this... blind faith and honest trust in them that is so weird to me. Rhodey’s faith in his government is probably what everyone expected from Captain America (and I am so sorry for all the Cap meta, but I expect I’ll be bouncing between them all as I go), and they got Steve Rogers instead: “This isn’t freedom; this is fear.” Whereas Rhodey trusts his government. There’s something very honourable about that even as it doesn’t sit well with us, because, well, if there’s one thing the MCU has taught us, it’s that governments and monarchies are made up of people and people have flaws and ulterior motives. 

Tony’s workshop is a true gesture of love and a real delight. Bless the minds behind it.

Iron Man/Tony Stark themes: Legacy and responsibility. It’s something that comes up over and over again -- legacy especially in regards to Howard Stark, and responsibility in regards to Stark Industries. Tony wants to make his father proud and leave an honourable legacy, but keeps finding how gray the world really is -- and there’s something almost naive about Tony, and how he slowly learns that things are far more complex than a machine is -- and he is trying to learn responsibility, but he hasn’t been taught it. He’s still struggling with that in Civil War ( and although I haven’t seen it yet, I suspect in Spiderman: Homecoming as well).

JARVIS: “What was I thinking? You’re usually so austere.” and “A brilliant observation, Sir.”

“Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.” MY HEART.

HE HAS SCRIBBLED EQUATIONS ON HIS IRON MAN HELMET. It’s such a simple touch, but oh my gosh so so so fitting.

Pepper is a true gem, even when she is awkward and hopeful and buzzed and unsure.

I’m like 90% Obadiah Stane was HYDRA. Look: it fits. His mindset with weaponry and selling under the table and double dealing is so HYDRA -- giving weapons to certain parties in order to keep up the chaos and bring in the money -- just... Wow.

Pepper is actually the worst spy. I hope Natasha gave her lessons afterwards.

When Tony is struggling to get to his workshop and his heartbeat gets more and more erratic in the background... Good touch.

I know there are issues with Coulson in Agents of SHIELD, but he is A+ in this movie. The whole way he blows up the door is total mild-mannered competency and I am here for it.

Pepper Potts can run in heels. That makes her a true hero in my books.

Rhodey was given one job (”Keep the skies clear.”) and he did it well. Good job, Rhodey. We salute you.

“You made your father proud.” WOW OBI. HOW RUDE. As if the only way Tony can ever measure up to Howard is to be a mercenary of death. RUDE.

The final fight: How did Tony survive and Obadiah did not? Solution according to my sister (who watched the last quarter with us): “Tony’s a good guy and Stane is a bad guy. That’s it.”

Crackle adds: “Plot armour is stronger than anything Obadiah can build.

Pepper’s response to Tony’s “do you ever think about that night?” is pure gold. Excellent job. He still has some work to do, and it’s good that he knows it.

“Outlandish... and fantastic.” “Laundry lists of character flaws.” -- HE WANTS TO BE A HERO SO BAD. HE WANTS TO DO RIGHT AND BE BETTER and so he sees the chance and grabs it with both hands. Will it be hard? Yes. I don’t think he has any idea of how hard. But he knows “in [his] heart that it’s the right thing to do” and that’s beautiful.

ANYWAYS. Iron Man is excellent and Tony is so imperfect but still so lovely because he tries so so so hard. And he keeps trying. He wants to protect people -- and while that may be from a place of fear, it is also from a source of care and love for people and his world, and that’s a beautiful thing. It’s a scary and dangerous way to care for people, to fear for them, but it’s better than not caring at all.

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WATCH IRON MAN 2.

#cracklepopme #MCUChallenge #Iron Man #tony stark #pepper potts: she can run in heels #rhodey

[theliterateape]

American Shithole #11 — Scott Pruitt: Ambien From Oklahoma

By Eric Wilson

“I don’t want to write about these bloviating, Machiavellian fuckfaces this week!” I raged, as Monday morning slid unproductively into Monday afternoon. I nervously plucked at my guitar while watching the news cycle blitzkrieg on my monitor a few feet away — a now daily ritual.  

Mostly, I love writing this column. Some days though…

Later, from underneath the covers, I howled the muffled words “I don’t want to write about these soul-sucking servants of the shitgibbon every seven days for seven more years!” as I buried myself under a mountain of pillows.

On Wednesday I cried, “I’m staring into the void!” as I fumbled around my closet looking for a comfortable pair of pants. There was no reply from the darkness within.

“You’re fine,” I finally thought to myself, “you’re just reading too much about that conniving motherfucker, Scott Pruitt.”

Ugh, Scott Pruitt — bane of the Environmental Protection Agency. I never would have imagined that someone could actually bore me to death. Is this how he's killing the environment? Is he boring it to death?

He is a slow internet connection personified.  

I’ve read nearly 50 articles about the head of the EPA over the last few days, along with ingesting and digesting a fair amount of CNN coverage about the man — and I was uncharacteristically disinterested with all of it.

Even writers for the New Yorker and the New York Times were unable to capture my attention, as they, too, failed to bring color and life to a man will all the charm and allure of an abandoned Porta Potty.

It was the most painful slog so far, and I’ve already spent a week reading about Stephen Miller!

Never has there been a more boring villain in the Trump rogue’s gallery, than this litigious Jesus freak. Reading a bio piece on Scott Pruitt is like reading a 40-page white paper on the chemical properties of Vaseline.

I have been distracted this past week; I admit that could be part of it. A week dominated by the dangerous surgery my father was forced to undertake. (I love you, dad! Get well soon.)

But this Pruitt goon is just such an ordinary, run-of-the-mill bad guy that he can’t compete with the hyperbolic carnival barkers and legitimately terrifying shadow figures that have all come out of the woodwork. I fell asleep reading about him two nights in a row, and I’ve successfully read Moby Dick!

Okay, I haven’t. Fuck that tome. But you get the point.

In the age of comic supervillains, Pruitt comes off less like an evil genius, and more like a creepy office temp — the kind of guy that’s always looking at you when you happen to glance in their general direction.

Stop creeping on me Pruitt!

Conversely, if Pruitt were a superhero, you would find yourself constantly asking what his powers were. He’s just sort of, there. If the Trump administration were the Avengers, Pruitt would be Hawkeye.

I can just imagine eavesdropping on the conversations about Trump’s Avengers at Comic-Con:

“So what’s this Pruitt character do again?”

“He furthers the conservative agenda from within his department, he abuses housing, finance and travel privileges on the tax payer’s dime, and in general he behaves like a bought and paid for horse’s ass, born of the cronyism era of political yore.”

“So basically, he’s just a republican.”

“Yes. One that can skewer libruls with a nifty composite bow, and also turn invisible.”

“C’mon now, he can’t turn invisible, he’s just really, really boring.”

“Yes, but if his boringness results in what would effectively be invisibility, then that should be considered a power.”

“I disagree. That would be like saying…”

Ah, Comic-Con. How I long for your Nerdspeak. Someday I shall find you as crowded, overpriced and befouled by virgin body odor as I imagine you to be…

I managed to read enough about Pruitt — through caffeine-assisted focus — to understand that he is clearly another incompetent and grossly overconfident fool within this administration. They are all terrible fools, but some of them are so spectacularly inept in their villainy. Following the lead of Trump’s almost laughable bungling of everything he touches, I suppose.

What kind of fucking idiot disobeys this White House when they expressly forbid you to give lavish salary increases to friends in your department? What kind of numbskull defies this president by circumventing the law with an obscure loophole via the Safe Drinking Water Act to get two buddies roughly an extra 70K a year?

What kind of muttonhead lies about a private email account used for communications with his ties to the oil and gas industry, during the Senate confirmation hearings on his appointment to the EPA? – a crime itself.

What kind of fool perfectly positioned to dismantle Obama era EPA initiatives and regulations — something he’s worked years to accomplish — breaks the law by accepting the gift of cheap D.C. housing as quid pro quo for awarding a lucrative pipeline contract?

The boring, invisible kind of fool, apparently.

“So what’s his origin story?”

I’ll handle this, Comic-Con nerds.

Scott Pruitt is a lawyer (J.D.) and politician from Oklahoma, so his origin story is that he’s a good ol’ boy. I lived in Oklahoma for four miserable years in my youth, and if there’s a barren and lifeless place filled with more wingnuts and whackadoodles, I have not seen it.

I do not wish to ever visit such a place.

Here is a brief aside offering insight into the mindset of Oklahoma’s educational system. When I was in sixth grade in Oklahoma, they gave the incoming class various aptitude tests, and then separated the exceptionally high-scoring kids from the herd, to be educated elsewhere, along with the children exhibiting behavioral problems. I have always found it interesting that the troublemakers and the intellectually gifted were considered the same in that cultural backwater.

That was 40 years ago. I couldn’t possibly imagine what Oklahoma’s public schools have devolved into today. Oh wait, yes I can imagine, as the teachers for the entire state are on strike, due to the gross undervaluing of their services, among other indecencies and injustice.

Pruitt wasn’t formally educated in Oklahoma, he grew up in Kentucky, but you couldn’t possibly care about that, dear reader. I certainly didn’t. He moved to Tulsa in the early '90s, but no one really cares about that either. Or that he was a State Senator and then Oklahoma’s Attorney General. Zzzzzzz. Boring. He’s the Benadryl of Evil.

His whole life story is boring as shit.

I hope he gets fired so that at the very least, I never have to read about him again. Reading about this stone-faced conservative boor actually made me care less about the environment he so desperately wants to destroy; so please universe, no more Pruitt.

Unless I have insomnia, then get me that bio, pronto.

He is dangerous though, and he certainly seemed devious from the get-go. Not only did he spend several thousand dollars sweeping his new offices for bugs, he also built a super-spy silent phone booth in his office with 43K of tax payer funds.

I’ll save you all the usual links; trust me on this one, I did the fucking reading for you, and I am a less-interesting man for the effort.

There is a lot of conjecture over whether or not Pruitt is next on the chopping block. Opinions are all over the place on this one, so I’ll throw in my two cents. If he were from a family of billionaires, I would say no, he stays. This is one of the reasons DeVos will be around for a while. Pruitt is not from upper-crust wealth though. Trump ultimately sees the Pruitt types of the world as lesser, and therefore expendable; and considering the amount of bad press he’s generating for the administration, well, Trump has gotten rid of people for far less.

So, unless the heat dies down, its adios, you boring motherfucker!

Breaking News: Pruitt on the controversial pay raises for his staff: My staff did it, not me!

Here's Pruitt hammering nails into his own coffin Wednesday evening, and in an environment you would expect to be simpatico. This is a FOX News interview with Ed Henry, no less. My new prediction is he is gone by the time this posts Thursday.

B.S. Report

In case you missed it, another conservative talking head looked to belittle one of the Parkland survivors in the digital arena — this time it was Laura Ingraham gunning for David Hogg. She was outmatched. She came damn close to losing her show.

These assholes are dropping out of elections, losing advertisers — losing their jobs — every damn time they say some evil shit about these kids. THAT is power. That is their own beloved capitalism biting them in the fucking ass. Taking out a good chunk. How’d you like them apples, Laura Ingraham? I’d wager you shit your spanks when those advertisers started dropping like flies. I bet your knees were shaking like twigs in the breeze when the boys from the FOX News home office called to inform you if you still had a job.

So this goes out to all of the Fox News family, and their ilk.

Enjoy scrutinizing and fretting over every miserable fucking thing you used to be able to say with impunity — for the rest of your miserable lives — you overvalued, right-wing, shitgibbon-blowing, squawk-box media whores.

You sold out our country for ratings, and eventually America is going to make you pay for that, dearly.  

#Scott Pruitt #Oklahoma Teachers Strike #Laura Ingraham #David Hogg

[literateape]

American Shithole #11 — Scott Pruitt: Ambien From Oklahoma

By Eric Wilson

“I don’t want to write about these bloviating, Machiavellian fuckfaces this week!” I raged, as Monday morning slid unproductively into Monday afternoon. I nervously plucked at my guitar while watching the news cycle blitzkrieg on my monitor a few feet away — a now daily ritual.  

Mostly, I love writing this column. Some days though…

Later, from underneath the covers, I howled the muffled words “I don’t want to write about these soul-sucking servants of the shitgibbon every seven days for seven more years!” as I buried myself under a mountain of pillows.

On Wednesday I cried, “I’m staring into the void!” as I fumbled around my closet looking for a comfortable pair of pants. There was no reply from the darkness within.

“You’re fine,” I finally thought to myself, “you’re just reading too much about that conniving motherfucker, Scott Pruitt.”

Ugh, Scott Pruitt — bane of the Environmental Protection Agency. I never would have imagined that someone could actually bore me to death. Is this how he's killing the environment? Is he boring it to death?

He is a slow internet connection personified.  

I’ve read nearly 50 articles about the head of the EPA over the last few days, along with ingesting and digesting a fair amount of CNN coverage about the man — and I was uncharacteristically disinterested with all of it.

Even writers for the New Yorker and the New York Times were unable to capture my attention, as they, too, failed to bring color and life to a man will all the charm and allure of an abandoned Porta Potty.

It was the most painful slog so far, and I’ve already spent a week reading about Stephen Miller!

Never has there been a more boring villain in the Trump rogue’s gallery, than this litigious Jesus freak. Reading a bio piece on Scott Pruitt is like reading a 40-page white paper on the chemical properties of Vaseline.

I have been distracted this past week; I admit that could be part of it. A week dominated by the dangerous surgery my father was forced to undertake. (I love you, dad! Get well soon.)

But this Pruitt goon is just such an ordinary, run-of-the-mill bad guy that he can’t compete with the hyperbolic carnival barkers and legitimately terrifying shadow figures that have all come out of the woodwork. I fell asleep reading about him two nights in a row, and I’ve successfully read Moby Dick!

Okay, I haven’t. Fuck that tome. But you get the point.

In the age of comic supervillains, Pruitt comes off less like an evil genius, and more like a creepy office temp — the kind of guy that’s always looking at you when you happen to glance in their general direction.

Stop creeping on me Pruitt!

Conversely, if Pruitt were a superhero, you would find yourself constantly asking what his powers were. He’s just sort of, there. If the Trump administration were the Avengers, Pruitt would be Hawkeye.

I can just imagine eavesdropping on the conversations about Trump’s Avengers at Comic-Con:

“So what’s this Pruitt character do again?”

“He furthers the conservative agenda from within his department, he abuses housing, finance and travel privileges on the tax payer’s dime, and in general he behaves like a bought and paid for horse’s ass, born of the cronyism era of political yore.”

“So basically, he’s just a republican.”

“Yes. One that can skewer libruls with a nifty composite bow, and also turn invisible.”

“C’mon now, he can’t turn invisible, he’s just really, really boring.”

“Yes, but if his boringness results in what would effectively be invisibility, then that should be considered a power.”

“I disagree. That would be like saying…”

Ah, Comic-Con. How I long for your Nerdspeak. Someday I shall find you as crowded, overpriced and befouled by virgin body odor as I imagine you to be…

I managed to read enough about Pruitt — through caffeine-assisted focus — to understand that he is clearly another incompetent and grossly overconfident fool within this administration. They are all terrible fools, but some of them are so spectacularly inept in their villainy. Following the lead of Trump’s almost laughable bungling of everything he touches, I suppose.

What kind of fucking idiot disobeys this White House when they expressly forbid you to give lavish salary increases to friends in your department? What kind of numbskull defies this president by circumventing the law with an obscure loophole via the Safe Drinking Water Act to get two buddies roughly an extra 70K a year?

What kind of muttonhead lies about a private email account used for communications with his ties to the oil and gas industry, during the Senate confirmation hearings on his appointment to the EPA? – a crime itself.

What kind of fool perfectly positioned to dismantle Obama era EPA initiatives and regulations — something he’s worked years to accomplish — breaks the law by accepting the gift of cheap D.C. housing as quid pro quo for awarding a lucrative pipeline contract?

The boring, invisible kind of fool, apparently.

“So what’s his origin story?”

I’ll handle this, Comic-Con nerds.

Scott Pruitt is a lawyer (J.D.) and politician from Oklahoma, so his origin story is that he’s a good ol’ boy. I lived in Oklahoma for four miserable years in my youth, and if there’s a barren and lifeless place filled with more wingnuts and whackadoodles, I have not seen it.

I do not wish to ever visit such a place.

Here is a brief aside offering insight into the mindset of Oklahoma’s educational system. When I was in sixth grade in Oklahoma, they gave the incoming class various aptitude tests, and then separated the exceptionally high-scoring kids from the herd, to be educated elsewhere, along with the children exhibiting behavioral problems. I have always found it interesting that the troublemakers and the intellectually gifted were considered the same in that cultural backwater.

That was 40 years ago. I couldn’t possibly imagine what Oklahoma’s public schools have devolved into today. Oh wait, yes I can imagine, as the teachers for the entire state are on strike, due to the gross undervaluing of their services, among other indecencies and injustice.

Pruitt wasn’t formally educated in Oklahoma, he grew up in Kentucky, but you couldn’t possibly care about that, dear reader. I certainly didn’t. He moved to Tulsa in the early '90s, but no one really cares about that either. Or that he was a State Senator and then Oklahoma’s Attorney General. Zzzzzzz. Boring. He’s the Benadryl of Evil.

His whole life story is boring as shit.

I hope he gets fired so that at the very least, I never have to read about him again. Reading about this stone-faced conservative boor actually made me care less about the environment he so desperately wants to destroy; so please universe, no more Pruitt.

Unless I have insomnia, then get me that bio, pronto.

He is dangerous though, and he certainly seemed devious from the get-go. Not only did he spend several thousand dollars sweeping his new offices for bugs, he also built a super-spy silent phone booth in his office with 43K of tax payer funds.

I’ll save you all the usual links; trust me on this one, I did the fucking reading for you, and I am a less-interesting man for the effort.

There is a lot of conjecture over whether or not Pruitt is next on the chopping block. Opinions are all over the place on this one, so I’ll throw in my two cents. If he were from a family of billionaires, I would say no, he stays. This is one of the reasons DeVos will be around for a while. Pruitt is not from upper-crust wealth though. Trump ultimately sees the Pruitt types of the world as lesser, and therefore expendable; and considering the amount of bad press he’s generating for the administration, well, Trump has gotten rid of people for far less.

So, unless the heat dies down, its adios, you boring motherfucker!

Breaking News: Pruitt on the controversial pay raises for his staff: My staff did it, not me!

Here's Pruitt hammering nails into his own coffin Wednesday evening, and in an environment you would expect to be simpatico. This is a FOX News interview with Ed Henry, no less. My new prediction is he is gone by the time this posts Thursday.

B.S. Report

In case you missed it, another conservative talking head looked to belittle one of the Parkland survivors in the digital arena — this time it was Laura Ingraham gunning for David Hogg. She was outmatched. She came damn close to losing her show.

These assholes are dropping out of elections, losing advertisers — losing their jobs — every damn time they say some evil shit about these kids. THAT is power. That is their own beloved capitalism biting them in the fucking ass. Taking out a good chunk. How’d you like them apples, Laura Ingraham? I’d wager you shit your spanks when those advertisers started dropping like flies. I bet your knees were shaking like twigs in the breeze when the boys from the FOX News home office called to inform you if you still had a job.

So this goes out to all of the Fox News family, and their ilk.

Enjoy scrutinizing and fretting over every miserable fucking thing you used to be able to say with impunity — for the rest of your miserable lives — you overvalued, right-wing, shitgibbon-blowing, squawk-box media whores.

You sold out our country for ratings, and eventually America is going to make you pay for that, dearly.  

#Scott Pruitt #Oklahoma Teachers Strike #Laura Ingraham #David Hogg