#but right now...

[thelastbraincellofthehive]

So... They really went ahead and did that... Again

[eidetictelekinetic]

So, basically, my primary choices are now a guy whose policies I'm not a big fan of (though still better than more Trump) who I think is likelier to be able to actually implement them, or a guy whose policies I like better but who I don't think can effectively get things done in office when he has to actually compromise.

(And, unfair as it is, the second guy's militant section of his base leaves me very disturbed, though I know that's not really his fault.)

Yay. Hopefully deep dive research will change one of these opinions, though with the luck I've had this primary I'm doubtful.

[seyaryminamoto]

Hi. Any updates on Venezuela? I was reading some news earlier, but most of it is from a couple days ago. The news cycle here moves on after 12 hours, if that much. :/

Sadly, there’s not a lot to say right now. Things aren’t looking too promising because Guaido’s military support seems to not have been as stable as it looked originally, and Maduro’s still largely in control of the armed forces.

On the other hand, USA seems to be talking about intervention a lot more seriously now. Back when I wrote my response to your first post, it still didn’t look too likely. Right now, though… going by Bolton and Pompeo meeting in the Pentagon, both Russia and Cuba being in talks with USA and Canada respectively about their positions in Venezuela, things are starting to look like USA is finally attacking the true sources of Venezuela’s support and, unless Maduro walks out NOW, this really may lead to a full-on military intervention by USA, without Russia or Cuba to save them.

According to Bolton and Pompeo, Maduro was ready to jump ship earlier this week, but Russia pressured him to stay. Allegedly, there are highly ranked officials of Maduro’s regime who were negotiating terms to give him up and turn against him. There are apparently documents that confirm these talks happened (I, personally, haven’t seen them), but of course the Maduro regime says it’s all lies.

I guess it boils down to who’s more likely to be lying? Which, frankly, is impossible to say. Trump’s cabinet is hardly the most honest, but believing Maduro is more honest than them? Maduro once claimed Chavez’s spirit came to him as a bird and spoke to him. He got hit by a mango in the face in the middle of one of his speeches and later on claimed the mango merely had an innocent message written across it by one of his supporters, who was only asking him for food (who the hell throws food away when asking for food?). When a drone blew up in the middle of some dumbass military event he was holding, he made a huge deal about this being a ploy by the opposition to kill him (imprisoned a few people for it, even): the lie there resides in the fact that Maduro’s regime has outlawed all drone flights outside of their own, meaning, the damn thing most likely malfunctioned and it belonged to his own people, but why admit that when you can just play martyr and torture a few opposition politicians in the process?

Long story short, it’s impossible to know if those talks were real or not unless those documents truly are shown to the public, or the military officials in question do turn on Maduro. But as things stand, unless they do, we may really be looking at a military intervention sooner than I had thought we would.

[sieben9]

“a tale of two sisters” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

New season! [insert very tempting Galavant joke]

Some good, some meh, some excellent; overall a very fun episode, I'd say. For me, I mean; not many other people seemed to have fun.

Starting with her. That "villain reveal" kind of fizzled, didn't it? Not that I mind all that much, but now I'm worried about who is going to do the actual villain-ing. Hans doesn't seem to be around, at least.

Some thoughts and speculations under the cut.

So, while the Frozen-flashbacks and the giant monster-snowman were obviously in focus for most of the episode, all of that seems more like buildup than anything else. OK, Else came out of the urn from the past, and she doesn't know where Anna is, but Rumple has Anna's necklace, which Else knew to look for in his shop. Oh, and she clearly knows him on sight, presumably as the Dark One.

they already sneak off into the woods in the middle of the night and somehow the press still notices

Though again, Rumple, I do have to ask: why do you keep women in urns in your basement? Is this something we should talk about? Anyway, now she's here and creating murder-snowmen left right and centre. Let's hope they do find Anna; she seems to be good at handling that.

Meanwhile, Emma may have decided not to run away from her family, but she's very much still running from Hook. Seems like that passionate kiss last time was in fact too much, too soon. Good. I'd have liked it better if the framing wasn't pushing the "ha ha, silly woman cannot admit that she likes him" angle, but still good.

Honestly, the real drama in her life seems to be happening somewhere else, anyway.

...OK. So, I have rules in place for this arc. One of them is that I do not get more then one Frozen-joke per three episodes. Believe me, I know myself and it's better this way. So, with that said:

"do you wanna build a snowman?"

"ok, bye."

(And yes, that scene in the first picture is a very good one, and I have some more thoughts on that, but short version: I’m very interested to see where the Emma/Regina relationship goes this season.)

So. Regina is not taking Marian's return well. I'm... still kind of "?" about her reaction towards Emma. She saved someone's life. This had nothing to do with you, friend. Can you please stop acting like this was some malicious ploy to ruin your life

...no, not like that. Wrong way, please turn around when possible.

::sigh:: Goddamnit, Regina.

I'll have to say: I was really glad when she decided not to go the Zelena route of travelling back in time to kill the person who stands in her way. And that scene with the mirror (hi, Sidney, by the way, sorry to see where you've been all this time) was heartbreaking and very to the point. She didn't even have to say anything. Just her face while watching her old self ("I'm not that person anymore") gleefully condemning Marian to death was enough. Yes, she really did work hard not to be the Evil Queen any longer. She no longer plays the part of the villain--and that's why she goes and saves Marian, later on.

Good. Because I have vivid memories of a certain speech in a certain barn, and let's say I'm glad I didn't have to drag that up. Well done. Mostly.

And then, slightly to the left of all the other fairly interconnected stories, you have the Rumbelle plot. Now, some of you may be worried that after the wedding-freakout last time, you'll have to endure a honeymoon-freakout on my part this time around. And you're right. But that's for later. First is a scene that I at once really wanted, but also really feared.

wow, weird, it's raining over my desk again.

Yeah. Man stands at the grave of his only child. There's... really no way to make this less bleak, especially since I'm still quietly angry that Neal died in the first place. But I'm glad that we have this scene. I'm glad he's allowed to grieve in peace, and that it gives us a glimpse into Rumple's thoughts at this time. He really does want to do this right, and he presumably took the dagger to "tie up" that one loose end (read: Zelena) before turning over a new leaf. And even if he will always feel the loss of his son (really, how could he not), I got at least the impression that he was going to try and live a life beyond that. (I really wish there had been more of a time jump between seasons, because all of this is still incredibly soon and fresh and uncomfortably close together, but I'll just have to accept that TV time is not like real time)

OK, heavy stuff over. Have a giggly Belle in a car.

look at these ridiculous dorky would-be housebreaker...

And now, the freakout:

!!!

Look at them! Look at these poor idiots who have been through so much hell, and now they get to be just happy for once! They are so giddy and in love and it was wonderful. ::happy shipper sigh::

I'm just deeply worried that Rumple will, well, Rumple it all up again because of that stupid hat in the living room. ::sigh:: Look, buddy, just tell her. Whatever is going on with the Galaxy Hat there, I'm sure you can talk about it.

...yeah, I don't think that's what's going to happen.

[cyansolsirin]

I really want to change my name to Francesca (ah, this topic again!) but then I have to change my personal tags...

[jacksxabbot]

it's 6am and obviously i should be asleep but ive just wrote one paragraph and im lay here staring at it like how has THAT just come out of my brain????

[ex-textura]

What is Ciaran's area of camp like? Does he have a tent or just a bedroll? Does he do anything to personalize it at all? Is he generally messy or tidy?

Y'know what? That's a very good question!

Ciaran's area of camp has been incredibly...what's the word. Transitory? It's the equivalent of someone who moved into their apartment some time ago but still lives mostly out of cardboard boxes. He spends more time awake and pacing than he does sleeping so he'd never put any importance on a tent or even a permanent place by the fire and with his growing collection of knick-knacks his bags have begun sort of...overtaking the place.

Mostly, he's got an empty bedroll that he lays out near the fire and he often drops his packs around it in a sort of attempt at organized chaos. He's been a bit secretive about all the things he's taken to collecting so he keeps them tucked away and that helps with the tidiness a bit.

There was a short time (very short. Depressingly short) that he'd moved himself to Gale's tent to sleep by his side. But that long horrible night he spent hogtied quickly put an end to that and he's since separated himself from the group almost entirely. At least if he puts some distance between them, the others might have time to react if the dreams come calling again...