#But what action has August really taken? None. He's all words and sad faces | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xyfanficarchive · 6 years

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Pieced Together

Pairing: DBH Daniel x Reader

Warnings: none

Summary: Reader is an ex-Cyberlife repair technician who has been chosen to observe and help rehabilitate Daniel in the months following the successful android revolution. But first, they have to put him back together.

Word Count: 4543 (!!!!!!!!!)

Author’s Note: tHis is insane! this is bananas!!! this is fuckin bazonkers!!! 4.5k words>???>> this is a scene ive had in my brain for a bit now. thsi would be something like the prologue to a long slow burn type fic if i decide to continue it right now, but i dont think i will. ive never written anything of that magnitude before and i want to prepare for it, to make sure im ready to follow through until the end rather than dive right in immediately. I hope you guys read it and enjoy it anyways though!! BLEAS give me your opinions on this!!!

You checked your watch. 12:48 am. You stood on the sidewalk in the eerie silence of the November night; thick, fluffy snow falling around you, padding the environment and all ambient noise. You look up at the sign above the storefront, bright white illuminating the street, the snow scintillating dazzling whites and yellows in the glow of the sodium street lamps. “Cyberlife Repair Centre” it read. You take a sip of the hot coffee in your hand before walking up to the window and pressing your face to the glass, using your free hand to block the glare that would prevent you from viewing the inside.

This place was not the location you worked at before, but it was absolutely identical in every way. Cyberlife was, if anything, the absolute master of the term “cookie-cutter.” You chuckled to yourself.

The room you were looking into was only a small part of the whole building. It was wide and short. There was a reception desk stood in the exact centre against the back wall, directly in line with the door’s entrance. The room was painted in Cyberlife blue, and the walls were decked out with displays (that were currently powered down in the store’s closed state). Sleek, modern furniture sat on either side of the room, shiny, sterile white and uncomfortable. Seating for the patrons waiting for their androids to be repaired. To the left of the reception desk was a normal sized frosted glass door. That was the staff room. And to the right of the desk was a larger frosted glass door, decorated in Cyberlife’s signature hexagonal pattern. That was the repair lab, and where you needed to be.

You backed away from the window and adjusted the straps on your backpack before digging through the pocket of your puffy winter jacket for the keycard that would allow you access to the store. You slipped it out and held it in your gloved hand, just staring.

You never did think you’d ever be here again. It made you almost giddy, in a way.

But you had a job to do. There was no time to stand around reminiscing. You walked over to the door and passed the keycard over the wireless pad, hearing the beep of the lock disarming cut through the silence. You pushed the door open and stepped into the warmth of the store inside. The room whirled to life around you, lights coming on blinding to your unaccustomed eyes, the wall displays blinking on and awaiting further human instruction. You turned back and swiped the keycard over the internal lock, closing the store off to the outside world.

Smiling to yourself, you kicked your winter boots off on the rug as you unzipped your jacket. That was something you were never allowed to do, always having to put on an air of perfection and professionality for the customers. Cyberlife was clean, Cyberlife was immaculate. But, you always worked best when you were comfortable, and you weren’t a Cyberlife employee anymore. You were just using their lab you were trained to use to repair the android waiting for you inside. Your… ward now, you supposed. Although the thought felt weird.

You padded your way across the cold floor to that big square door on the right, still unlit beyond the frosted glass. Using the keycard again, you unlocked it and it slid open, and upon entering the lights automatically turned on. There was a soft electric hum coming from the computers and machinery powering up. The room was bright white and sterile looking. In one corner there was a wall of monitors and input terminals, where software repairs were effected. Against the right wall was a set of three large 3D printers, for printing simpler components like limbs, or soft external structural plates, which gave the face and body its shape. On the left wall sat another door, that led into the storeroom where more complex biocomponents that had to be manufactured externally were kept.

You shrugged off your backpack and coat, and slipped off the fingerless gloves covering your hands, setting them down onto a stainless steel table adjacent to the door. Now stripped down to only your jeans and knit sweater, you took another sip of your coffee as you walked towards the centre of the room.

There was the main focus. Another stainless steel table, equipped with sensors and other equipment, a rolling tray of tools situated nearby. Above, a rotating module fitted with assembly tools on long mechanical arms sat waiting, although you had always preferred to simply use your hands when doing your job. You padded closer, sipping your coffee with both hands and relishing the warmth on your digits.

“Fucking Christ…” you mumbled to yourself. Lying down on the table in the centre was your ward, the android you were to repair. You remembered Markus and Connor’s words telling you he was in poor shape, really, really poor shape, but you hadn’t paid it any mind. Now, actually standing in front of him, you realized that it was kind of an understatement.

The PL600 lying in front of you was surprisingly clean for his appearance. You suspected he might have been covered in thirium at some point, but his clothes and person were only now spotless because thirium degrades and becomes invisible to the naked eye. He was missing his left arm and both his legs (and you were surprised at the fact that his legs were torn off above the knee joint, when they were designed to dislocate at the knee). Gaping hole in his right shoulder, gaping hole in the left side of his face (you gently moved his mouth open and closed and cringed at the clicking sound of plastic and metal), the front of his shirt was torn open and his abdomen was scrubbed clean of artificial skin (‘What in the fuck did they do to him at the DPD?!’ you wondered.) And his eyes. Blue-grey and open, unblinking, unseeing in his state of shutdown. You took a flashlight from the rolling tray and shone it on them, and when you didn’t see any sign of damage you were relieved. With a grimace, you took your thumb and forefinger and gently closed his eyelids.

Where to even start with him? You pulled up a rolling chair and sat adjacent to the table, propping your feet up on the edge. It would be a much easier and quicker process if you could wake him and have him run his internal diagnostic program, but there was no guarantee he would even start up in his state of disrepair. Besides, you weren’t sure you wanted to wake him up to be conscious in his dilapidated body anyways.

With a resigned sigh, you spoke up. “Computer, run scan and diagnostic on PL600 model, create list of all damaged components.” The technology allowing for the contactless scan and diagnosis of androids was new, and slow. It was effective, but took time for the computer to take the images it was sensing and separate each component from the rest in a powered-down state. Running your fingers through your hair, you got up and walked over to your backpack where you retrieved the tablet you had stored within. Taking another sip of coffee, you returned to your seat with your legs propped up, and unlocked the computer. You brought up the DPD file on this android. Might as well refresh your memory.

Model PL600. Serial number 369 911 047. There was a description of his nature and his actions on that August night, but you weren’t particularly interested in whatever police officer’s interpretation of the events that were on file. Instead, you elected to view once more the raw footage, visual and audio data taken directly from Connor’s memory banks as a record of what happened. It was intense, as always. You were rather infamous for your notable empathy towards androids, and the plight deviants faced, but you managed to have conflicted feelings towards this one. On one hand, you understood him. The flight of emotions. Anger, sadness, fear, betrayal, all racing through his mind for the first time, clouding his perceptions. Emotions giving him violent impulses that he didn’t yet have the capacity to confront and control like everyone else could. On the other hand, the girl. She was so young. She couldn’t possibly have understood this whiplash change, the android who she trusted to take care of her, with whom she was so close now standing with her on the edge of a building threatening to end her life. With her every cry and plea for her life he seemed so awfully pained, so why? You were caught between the thought that he understood he was hurting her and it was wrong, and the knowledge that he couldn’t really control it, between the belief that what he did was morally incorrect, and the belief that he deserved a second chance.

You looked up to watch him resting on the table. Now, you were legally required to take care of him. One of the first talks Markus and the rest of the android revolutionaries had with the government was on the subject of android criminals. What was to be done with them? Deviation, at the start, before it was possible to wake androids up with a single touch, was an extremely traumatic experience generally brought about by horrible instances of abuse, or strong negative emotions. It wasn’t particularly uncommon for those androids to have charges of assault, theft, or even murder on their records. But it came from a place of necessity, a drive for self-preservation; just scared people acting in fear, in self defense. They ruled that any crimes committed by an android prior to November 11, 2038 would be pardoned, but since deviancy had spread so quickly by touch across the country and most if not all androids were now deviant by non-violent means, it stood to reason that they now should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.

The government’s ideal plan would have involved every android with a crime on their hands being tracked down and put into a system where their behaviour was monitored for a certain period of time. Markus and the rest of Jericho argued that not only would it be a logistical nightmare and a huge waste of resources to track down mostly peaceful people who just want to live free, but it would likely be generally frowned upon given the public’s support of androids and the United State’s unfortunate history of marginalizing people. The government settled on a compromise: all androids currently locked up in evidence stores across the country would be submitted into this system. They were, after all the ones who were unstable enough to let themselves get caught, or something to that effect. The only caveat was that the androids would get to choose who took them in and observed them, helped them reintegrate into society.

That’s where you came in, you were approached by Markus and Connor, and asked to be the one who took in this PL600. You weren’t sure at first. Sure, you were good when it came to dealing with passing deviants, a few nights stay while you pieced them back together in your living room with your limited resources, but to have one live with you? For a matter of months? One who was particularly volatile, particularly angry and difficult?

You’d had a week to think on it. You were given his file to look over. Yes, you were indeed conflicted on how to feel about him, but the more you thought the more you came around to the idea. Markus and Connor trusted that you were capable enough anyways, right? You were up for a challenge.

“Diagnosis complete. Listing all damaged biocomponents,” chimed the computer from a speaker in the ceiling. You were startled a little from your thoughts, and looked behind you at the wall of screens in the corner, where a window had now popped up and was creating a list of all damaged components. You sucked air through your teeth as you watched it keep going on and on, and you pushed off the table with your feet to propel yourself on the office chair towards the screens.

Your expression soured as you read. Nearly every biocomponent contained in his abdomen was non-functional and needed direct replacing, not just repair. There were a few damaged bones in his shoulder area (all his limbs needed replacing it seemed, even the one that looked mostly intact). He was going to need a new jaw structure, and new soft structure components on his hip, and face (‘Fuck,’ you thought, ‘face plates are a bitch to replace…’). All in all, it was looking to be a long night. You looked at the clock. 1:32 am. You sighed.

“Computer, cross reference list of damaged components with current inventory, and create a list. Begin 3D printing any biocomponents not in stock that can be printed,” you said, and after a second or two the 3D printers on the other side of the room whirred to life, and next to the existing list another window popped up detailing which components were available and their index numbers in the storeroom.

“Well, lets get going,” you mumbled to yourself and, setting your now empty coffee cup on the floor, you stood up from your seat and walked over to the storeroom door. Inside, the room was well lit, neat, and clearly labelled. Sleek, white boxes bearing the Cyberlife logo and the codes of the respective parts they contained lined the walls. A far cry from your makeshift shelving of scavenged biocomponents and scrap limbs, parts that were damaged but likely to be less damaged than whatever new deviant of the week who passed through your life was using.

You took a cart and walked through the room, picking boxes as you went. It was like your instinct came back to you in that moment, running through the catalogue of parts he needed in your brain and matching them with their respective locations, legs simply carrying you without conscious thought. Like some kind of latent memory awakened within you. It had been so long, but you fell right back into the old motions.

You took a new lung component. New thirium pump, and thirium filter. There were compatible arms and right legs, but no left legs in sight (‘What sort of left leg epidemic has been going on?!’ you wondered.) There was a replacement soft structural component #6746g in stock (the one that would cover his shoulder), and #4503y (the one that would cover his hip), but no mandible, or component #3365u (the one that would cover the left side of his face). You picked up a roll of new thirium tubing, as you figured you would need to redo the whole setup inside his abdomen too, and left the room.

As expected, you looked over to see all the components you were missing beginning to materialize on the platform of the 3D printers across the room. You wheeled the cart over to the table in the centre. Where to start? You supposed you would have to undress him. That was a thought that made you a little uncomfortable, you realized. You wouldn’t have even blinked an eye the last time you were in a lab like this, back when you repaired automata, machines obeying orders. But now you were repairing a person, fit with a sense of modesty, and you were to strip his unconscious broken body naked without even having spoken a single word to him. To make matters worse, you knew his model was, well, equipped, being programmed to function as a sexual partner if needed, and you were not equipped to deal with the weight of that –

You shook away the thought. Back when you worked for Cyberlife you’d fancied yourself some kind of doctor, spare the fact that you healed biocomponents and code rather than flesh and bone. And this was barely different from a team of nurses stripping a patient in preparation for major surgery, no? In any case, it had to be done, so you situated yourself in a position where you could hook your arms underneath his (or, what was left of them anyways) and with a whole lot more strength than you expected to use, you hefted him into a sitting position. With his dead weight still leaning on you, the corners of your eyebrows drew upwards in an expression of discomfort as you slipped your hands up the back of the Cyberlife default PL600 uniform shirt and pulled it over his head. You laid him back down a little less gently than you would have liked.

You marvelled at the unpredictable oddness of the human psyche when you removed the remaining scraps of his pants with comparative ease, and a whole lot less internal awkwardness. You had to turn around and contemplate that for a second, shaking your head and laughing to yourself in embarrassment, wondering if you were some kind of freak for that, before you once again physically shook the thought from your mind and turned back around so you could get down to business.

But you took a second to admire him first. You never could help yourself with that. You were always amazed at Cyberlife’s ability to take inorganic material and mould it into something that looked so… realistically human. Bar the fact that you could see the places where his body was ripped open to expose plastic and metal parts, the patches where he was missing artificial skin, and the fact that he wasn’t breathing, you might have looked on him and expected him to be warm to the touch, and you tasked with stitching together flesh and not putting together individually manufactured units to create a whole body. Cyberlife was rife with issues, but you had always, always regarded their creations with the same sort of reverence one would a piece of art. And it was moments like these where you were beyond proud of yourself that you knew just how to piece this fractured, mangled form together into a functional whole again.

Which is what you jumped right into doing. This was your specialty. You were one of the best of the best. Ever since you were fired from Cyberlife, you had continued to use your expertise as a repair engineer to help passing deviants, but here? In the lab? This was where you were really in your element. It took creativity to do your job outside the lab but within, you didn’t have to worry about outdated technology failing you, or working with faulty makeshift tools. All you had to focus on was the android in front of you. Being in the repair lab again was electrifying, and you entered a deeper, more exciting state of flow with every metal bone you fixed, every new biocomponent you clicked into its rightful place, every thirium tube and electrical wire you reconnected.

When the PL600 in front of you was as close to fresh off the assembly line as you could get him, it was nearly 8 in the morning, and you felt the exhaustion in your bones. In the fog of your fatigue you had managed to find a sheet (well, more of a plastic tarp used to make thirium spills easier to clean up) to cover him, and you sat in silence just trying to ward off the onset of sleep while you admired your work. After a few minutes you got to your feet and walked over to your jacket to retrieve your phone from your pocket. Only one last thing to do now. You scrolled through your contacts and when you found the name you were looking for, you tapped the call button. You pre-emptively pressed the speaker phone button and began to lazily pace the room.

After a few rings, a voice rang through: “Hello, Y/N.”

“Hello Markus. You told me to call when the – the –’’ your brain was failing you, and your voice was hoarse “ – the fuckin’… boy was repaired.”

“I – yes I did. Did you really already go in? Have you even slept?” Markus’ voice was tinged with concern.

“I left pretty much right away when you told me where he was last night. I got here at – ’’ you pushed a forceful breath through your lips as you wiped your hand down your face “ – fuck, I don’t know, nearly one in the morning? I’ve been working on ‘em ever since.”

“Oh. Well, alright. Don’t wake him up yet. It’s best that you wait until someone else is there, too. Just wait for me, I’ll head out soon,” he said.

“Wait, you’re coming? Alright, uhh – fuck, bring him some clothes, please.”

“Alright Y/N. Try not to pass out,” he sounded teasing on the end of the line, and with a click it went dead.

Well, some coffee couldn’t hurt. You ran your fingers through your hair and raised your arms above your head in a stretch that felt euphoric given your stiff focus for the past seven and a half hours. You walked out the door and into the reception area, blinking in the morning light shining in through the wide glass windows. You made your way over to the staff door and took the keycard out of the back pocket of your jeans, swiping it over the lock. The door slid open and you stepped into the room, yet another set of lights blinking on to reveal the modest staff room. There was a row of lockers on one end, a lunch table in the middle, a beat up looking couch on one wall (in stark contrast to the gleaming, polished seats just on the other side of the door) and –

God, yes. The mini-kitchen. Your focus was immediately on the coffee machine, but you eyed a loaf of bread sitting out on the counter that brought attention to the roiling emptiness in your stomach. A sandwich didn’t sound too bad. You made your way over to the kitchen and immediately opened the cupboard above, selecting a mug that said “#1 Uncle” in multicolored letters and setting it in the coffee machine. You checked whether there was water in it (there was, thank god), and selected a pod from a bin beside the machine, loading it up and pressing the button to brew it. You left it to work and made your way over to the bread, picking it up and inspecting it, and when you were satisfied it wasn’t moldy, you took two slices and laid them flat on the counter before walking over to the fridge and searching it for sandwich ingredients. You took the coffee creamer and sat it next to the coffee machine, before retrieving some sandwich ingredients – sandwich meat, sliced cheese, a tomato, a big head of leafy lettuce in a plastic container labelled “UFD”, some mustard and mayonnaise. And when you had assembled your sandwich and prepared your coffee, you exited the room to find Markus standing outside the door, holding a bag and looking exasperated.

Quickly swallowing a mouthful of sandwich, you rushed to the door as fast as you could without your coffee sloshing onto the floor and let him in.

“I’ve been trying to get in for ten minutes,” he says as you step aside and let him walk past you.

“Eeeeehhh… sorry,” you say, and flash him a smile that goes away fast when you see him look you up and down, eyebrows knitted together in concern. It was then that you looked down to see that you were absolutely covered in blue blood – both fresh and the dark, sludgy, crusty stuff that had been sitting in the PL600’s system for all those months. You looked like a goddamn android murderer with your sleeves rolled up, arms slick with azure fluid, splatters of cerulean all up your front. Not even your socks were spared. You look back up at Markus to meet his eyes.

“Uhh… I was all alone. Shit gets messy in there sometimes. Anyways, lets just get to business here,” you said. You gestured towards the lab door, and started following Markus, eating your sandwich and sipping your coffee all the way.

When you both entered the room, Markus set the bags down on the table next to the door, mentioning that those were the clothes you requested, and walked closer to observe the still form on the table.

“Wow,” he said, a breathless quality to his voice. “You… really are something, Y/N.”

“Oh, yeah?” you said, a little disbelieving tone in your voice. You were well aware you were one of the most proficient repair engineers Cyberlife had seen, but it did you no good to admit it.

“You don’t understand, we weren’t entirely sure it would even be worth trying to repair him in the state he was in, but Connor kept insisting. Kept saying that if anyone could do it, it was you. You continue to amaze me with your skills.”

“I amaze myself sometimes,” you said in a hushed tone. “This guy was in quite possibly the worst state I’ve ever seen an android in. Honestly, ‘really bad shape’ my ass, Markus.”

“Is he ready to wake up?” Markus asked.

“At any time,” you nodded at him, and he gestured towards the android on the table, telling you to do what you had to. You walked over and set your coffee and sandwich down on the rolling tray, activating an angled panel at the head of the stainless steel table he was laying on. You activated a command that would instruct the android to initiate his start up sequence and stepped back to observe beside Markus.

You waited for those few seconds with bated breath. This was the moment you would finally see your work in action, finally meet this android you were supposed to live with for the next eight months, whose insides you had become very intimately acquainted with and yet had never spoken a word to. His LED came on, first shining steady blue, and then spinning yellow as he entered the next phase of the start up sequence. All is going normally so far.

And then his eyes snapped open, he woke with a start and a gasp, LED flashing an angry red as he looked up at the intimidating rotating module on the ceiling, face contorting in fear. He looked to either side, quickly gauging his environment before bolting upright on the table and locking eyes with you and Markus. His expression twisted into one of anger and fear, and he looked about ready to bolt before you raised your hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait! You’re… completely naked under that sheet,” you blurted out, and when he looked down to confirm you were indeed correct, he seemed to revaluate his impulse to run.

It was then that Markus began to slowly step towards him, hands raised. He spoke to the android on the table in that voice of his, perpetually smooth and calm, always somehow soothing:

“Hello, Daniel.”

#dbh x reader #detroit become human x reader #dbh daniel x reader #dbh daniel #dbh #x.writing

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once-upon-a-ouat · 6 years

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OUAT Rewatch 1x19 “The Return”

OUAT has returned with another great episode. Don’t believe me? Head under the cut to find out what’s the deal of this episode and why it is so good.

The flashbacks fleshed out Rumple’s character even more (how is that even possible?). We saw how much and how quickly power had corrupted him. His total disregard for Baelfire’s pleas was just horrifying. And he killed a mute woman in oder to keep his secret. It showed very well that even despite his newly-gained power, he was still a coward, which played a major part a bit later on in the story. I, personally, loved the implication that the deal he made with Bae was the first one and it was what started his tradition of making deals. And all the deals he made subsequently were supposed to help him fix the consequences of that first deal he broke. I loved how he made it a rule not to break a deal ever again but he still used all the loop holes he could find. He also tried to do that with Bae but he was having none of it. The tragedy of that portal scene is even bigger when you know Rumple’s whole story. I love how OUAT’s characters always follow in the steps of their parents even though they’re completely different people. And I loved that we finally got to see why Rumple needed the Curse so much.

Bae was just adorable in this episode. It can’t have been easy for him to watch his father get consumed by his powers, but he still didn’t give up on him. His determination to find a way to rid Rumple of his powers and his readiness to leave everything behind if it meant he could be with his papa showed the strength of his love for Rumple. So the scene with the portal was really heartbreaking. And his lines showed very well how betrayed he felt so that we can understand him the next time we see him as Neal. “You are the part of him that keeps him human.” While that was true initially, after Rumple lost Bae, his desire to find him only made him fall deeper into darkness and lose more and more of his humanity.

I kinda liked Blue in this episode. That is not to say that she didn’t annoy me a bit because she did. “Because there is good magic and dark magic, and I’m on the right side.” Confident, aren’t you? I can think of a few instances when you were a major bitch but okay. I want to know why she didn’t deny when Rumple asked if he could get to Bae with a curse. Can’t fairies lie or did she just not want to do it? If it’s the latter, well then, good job, Blue. If you had told a little white lie, maybe none of this would’ve happened. I loved the offended look on her face when Rumple tried to hit her though. Why did they feel the need to give her the name ‘Rheul Gorm’ if they never used it again? Did that serve any purpose (because I don’t think it did)?

Morraine was a nice addition to the story. It was good to see her back. Safe and sound nonetheless. Thanks to Rumple (I have a feeling he put an end to the war because he wanted to show everyone that he wasn’t a coward anymore which the episode undid quickly). I liked the fact that she wasn’t afraid of him and believed that Baelfire would protect her from his father if necessary. She didn’t think Rumple was that big of a monster and it was nice to see a different point of view.

I absolutely loved Gold in this episode. His suspiciousness was awesome to witness. I loved the fact that he asked Emma for her opinion on August (and the little genuine moment at the beginning of their conversation). He trusted her judgment when it came to people. But it still wasn’t enough to calm his suspicious mind. Gold picking a lock is another thing I didn’t know I needed in my life but I can’t live without now. His expression when he saw the drawing of the dagger though. I think Emma should’ve taken him on a stakeout (he’s a lot more patient than Regina).

His chat with Mother Superior was awesome (I loved the mutual dislike between them). “And I don’t have to not double you rent.” Gold, you’re a dick and I love you. It was a power move on the writers’ part to make Blue a part of both Rumple and Pinocchio’s stories. That way they could lead us (and Rumple) on and make us believe August was actually Baelfire.

I loved that even when he went to Archie to seek help, Gold was still controlling the situation. “Honesty has never been the best color on me” though. I feel like he’s scared of letting people see him as who he really is because they’d be turned away which was why he kept lying and that was what turned them away. It was really sad that he thought his son might want to kill him. “Perhaps I’m just seeing what I wanna see.” You have no idea how right you are.

Gold’s apology melted my heart and the realization that he was deceived broke it. But damn, he physically overpowered August so easily. Gold doesn’t strike you as the physically strong type but he’s proven more than once that his devious mind is not the only thing you should be afraid of. It’s as if his anger gives him strength (and suddenly Gold is Hulk; well, a much finer version of Hulk but Hulk nonetheless). He managed to rein in his emotions though and made the best of the situation.

Gold’s conversation with Regina was very amusing. I love how he keeps driving her towards her defeat and gradually weakens her. First, Emma became sheriff and Regina lost control of the police force. And now Emma was out for Regina’s head and Regina also had to sacrifice Sidney if she wanted to walk out of the mess clean. “You and I, we’ve been in this. Together. From the start” means much more when you’ve watched 2x02.

I can’t believe that the writers managed to make August even more mysterious by giving us more clues as to who he is. His claims that he’s not a liar fell short here. The writers once again reinforced the idea that desperation causes us to make the biggest mistakes. August and Gold were essentially the two sides of the same coin. They were both desperate to be reunited with the ones they loved and that caused them to make mistakes. The “I was gonna make the Savior believe but that woman... “ part though. You know it’s true but it sounds horrible. Also, if he had kept his promise and taken care of her, maybe he wouldn’t have to go through all that trouble now. And can they all, please, stop using Henry. I would really appreciate that.

I absolutely loved the scene between Sidney and Emma. I liked how Emma approached the situation and tried to get him on her side. The moment when she realized why he was helping Regina was so awesome. Emma’s face was just the best. I feel like she was thinking “Not you too”. Mary Margaret already got into a big mess due to her feelings, and now Sidney was making the same mistake. Also, I hate to break it to the Swan Queen shippers, but her expression was practically screaming “How can you fall in love with someone so sick?”. It was an understandable reaction because Emma hasn’t seen Regina do anything besides ruin people’s lives (it makes me wonder what Sidney saw into Regina though). The scene also showed the contrast between Emma and Regina’s characters even though Regina wasn’t physically present (a parallel of Cora in the last episode). Emma was trying to help Sidney and get him out of trouble while Regina was only dragging him in deeper.

Emma’s chat with Gold was awesome. She was onto him but he brushed it off as if she couldn’t be farther from the truth. I loved the way she described August, and the way she ended the conversation. I also loved how she got rid of David. It was power move after power move on her part in that scene.

Talking about David, too little, too late, my dude. I am not as annoyed with him as I was in the previous episodes but I absolutely support Mary Margaret in her decision. I loved how fierce she was in that scene. She heard him out but didn’t take crap. I loved how strong she was because it can’t have been easy for her but she did it anyway. We can see how much impact the whole experience had on her and that she came out of it a little jaded, a little rougher around the edges, but also a lot stronger and with more self-esteem than before (that “It didn’t feel like that yesterday” in response to Emma’s “You have a lot of friends” though; Mary Margaret, I love you). I also loved the fact that she took into account Leroy’s words, reflected on them and accepted them as her own truth. It was awesome to see how her character has developed during those last five episodes.

Kathryn is just the sweetest, kindest human being that ever walked this earth. I was practically squealing during her scene with David because it was the cutest thing ever.

Archie was awesome in this episode even though he didn’t get that big of a part. I wish he had told Gold why everyone asked about the rent but it would’ve been a little redundant storywise.

Favorite scene: Gold and August’s ‘reconciliation’. I loved Gold’s honesty in that scene. He knew he had been in the wrong but he showed how much he regretted his choice. I loved how August couldn’t look at him. Gold interpreted it as him still being angry that he abandoned him but I think August felt guilty for using Gold’s love for his son. It made August much more likable given his course of actions. And you could tell how much he wanted to be reunited with his own father.

Least favorite scene: The last one. Regina was just the worst in that scene. Poor Sidney! I can’t help but wonder how she convinced him to take the blame. This scene really canceled out all the sympathy you could’ve felt for Regina during her scene with Gold. But I also can’t really sympathize with Emma here. She’s all out for blood which isn’t the Emma we’ve seen throughout the season. Emma was the person we were supposed to look up to. She did the right thing no matter how hard it was (think 1x08) and I feel like this scene unraveled that a little bit. And that “I’m gonna start playing an entirely different game” sounded more like “I’m gonna stoop to your level because there’s no other way to beat you” (which was exactly what she didn’t want to do). I do realize that even the best people can lose their footing when pushed (and Regina did push with all she had) but I still don’t like it. That scene made me sick to my stomach. By the way, Regina’s face in that scene is the one thing I liked because Emma just threatened to take away the thing she loved most, but her mask didn’t crack even for a second. Here we saw how well she’s mastered the theatrics she was only beginning to get into in the flashbacks of the last episode.

Favorite line:

Archie: Are you here for the rent?

Gold: Why does everyone ask that?

Maybe because that’s the only reason why you initiate interactions with people? I love how much that tells us about Gold’s cursed persona. We didn’t get to see much of him while he was under the Curse and this was a great way to give us a peek without actually doing it. They established his relationship with the entire town with just one line (that built off of two others but still).

Least favorite line: “You tried to take away someone that I love. And now... I’m gonna take away someone that you love. I’m taking my son back.” - Emma to Regina

It sounded like she was doing this as revenge and I’m sorry but I can’t support that. I love how Henry is very suddenly her son now. Newsflash, Emma, if you hadn’t given him up, you wouldn’t have to take him back now. Regina might not have been the best mother (they didn’t show any interactions of her and Henry during that specific period of time that made Emma flip out though and I feel like they should have) but she was still Henry’s mother which Emma seemed to discard completely in that scene and I just hated that.

This review was a real struggle. Why is it so much harder to pinpoint what you liked than what you didn’t? You know you liked it, you have so many thoughts about it, but you can’t put them into coherent sentences (btw, I’m sorry if this review is messy (I mean, messier than my other ones)). What I loved about this episode is that it found the perfect balance between telling its own story while also moving the main plot forward. Robert Carlyle left me speechless once again with his acting. Rumple’s character development was awesome and the mystery around August got even bigger (how did they do that?). Next time we’ll finally find out the true identity of this stranger though.

#ouat rewatch #once upon a time #ouat #season 1 #1x19 #the return #operation end

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Nature Is It Possible to Be an Anti-Abortion Democrat? One Woman Tried to Find Out.

Nature Is It Possible to Be an Anti-Abortion Democrat? One Woman Tried to Find Out. Nature Is It Possible to Be an Anti-Abortion Democrat? One Woman Tried to Find Out. https://ift.tt/2ynxY9C

Nature

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Joan Barry, at her home in St. Louis, Mo. Ms. Barry tried to broaden the Democratic Party’s platform on abortion.CreditCreditWhitney Curtis for The New York Times

ST. LOUIS — Joan Barry has been a member of the Missouri Democratic Party for 53 years. As a state legislator, she voted regularly for workers’ rights, health care, and programs for the poor.

So when the party began writing a new platform after its crushing losses in 2016, Ms. Barry, a member of its state committee, did not think it was too much to ask for a plank that welcomed people like her — Democrats who oppose abortion.

At first the party agreed and added it. Missouri’s Democratic senator, Claire McCaskill, even called Ms. Barry to praise her.

But within days, Ms. Barry began receiving angry emails and Facebook messages. People called her a dinosaur, a has-been and worse. Her children started to worry.

“My daughter called me and said, ‘Mom, your life is in danger,’ ” Ms. Barry, 77, said in her home in suburban St. Louis. “‘You’d better get some mace.’”

[Listen to The Daily episode for more.]

For most of its history, Missouri was a barometer of the American middle. For a century, it voted for the eventual winner of every presidential election except one.

But in 2008, Missouri broke with its past, voting against the winning candidate, Barack Obama. By the end of his presidency, Democratic fortunes had declined precipitously, dragged down by raw culture war battles that plagued the state. In 2016, the party lost all but one statewide office seat, including the governorship, according to Terry Jones, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Democrats hold just over a quarter of the seats in the state’s Legislature. None are in rural districts.

This has left Ms. McCaskill — one of the most endangered Democrats this fall — in a tricky spot. To win, she must woo what is left of the conservative Democrats, as well as independents and some moderate Republicans. Meanwhile, many progressive voters in Missouri say that now is not the time to compromise, especially in the aftermath of Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

Perhaps nowhere is this tension more clear in Missouri than on the issue of abortion.

“Right now it’s really important to stand for something,” said Carolyn McMahon, a creative director at an ad agency, who was lingering at an event held by the abortion rights group Naral in August at a bar in central St. Louis. “Being ambiguous is not the way to win votes.”

But older Missouri Democrats say the party cannot rely simply on the energy of a small liberal base.

“The energy of these progressive folks is a small part of the entire electoral picture,” said Jay Nixon, the Democratic former governor of Missouri. “I understand it’s easier to see and analyze and write about, but I do not see it controlling this election or future elections here in Missouri.”

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To win this fall, Senator Claire McCaskill must woo what is left of the conservative Democrats, as well as independents and some moderate Republicans.CreditBrandon Dill for The New York Times

He added of Ms. Barry, who tried to broaden the party’s platform on abortion: “I consider Joan a rational, reasonable person. She was trying to solve problems, not cause them.”

Rebuilding a Party

After the blowout loss in 2016, Democratic Party leaders and activists gathered in a Panera Bread in a Jackson County suburb to contemplate their fate. The talk was honest, and painful.

“We were just sitting there,” said Jalen Anderson, 26, chairman of the platform committee for the Missouri Democratic Party, who got his start in politics in high school volunteering for Mr. Obama. “The feeling at the time was just defeat. There wasn’t a party anymore really.”

Eventually, the party decided that the only way forward was to start from scratch, so a group of 15 party members, including Ms. Barry, began traveling the state on a listening tour. They talked to residents in community centers, libraries and union halls about what the party should stand for.

Ms. Barry thought her plank might help the party reclaim some districts that seemed hopelessly lost to Republicans.

She worried that the Democratic Party had moved too far left on abortion. Gone were the days when the party, under President Bill Clinton, called for abortion to be “safe, legal and rare.” She also noticed fellow Democrats showing contempt for her when they learned her stance on abortion.

She recalled a cocktail party conversation with a woman who asked why she was not seeking help from Naral during her run for State Senate in 2008.

“I said, ‘Oh boy, you know I don’t think that would work,’” Ms. Barry replied. When she explained that she opposed abortion, the woman “looked at me like I had the plague. She had this horrible look on her face of just disgust and she walked away from me.”

On June 30, when dozens of Democratic State Committee members gathered in a university conference room in Jefferson City to vote on the new platform, Ms. Barry nervously introduced her plank. It said that the party recognized “the diversity of views” on abortion and “we welcome into our ranks all Missourians who may hold different positions on this issue.”

To her surprise, it passed.

‘You Have to Believe in Something’

Shortly after the vote, Pamela Merritt’s cellphone started pinging with texts. An abortion rights activist who was a member of the platform committee, Ms. Merritt had not attended the vote, but started hearing about it almost immediately from angry friends demanding an explanation.

“My stomach dropped,” said Ms. Merritt, who had agreed to join the committee after the party’s steep losses of 2016, thinking she needed to do more than criticize from the sidelines.

In her view, Missouri Democrats needed more progressive politics, not less.

“I don’t understand Democrats who quote Truman and F.D.R. and then act like they are terrified to run as an actual Democrat,” said Ms. Merritt, 45, who lives in St. Louis. “You have to believe in something in order for somebody to believe in you. You can’t be such a watered-down thing.”

The fight over abortion in the party, she said, epitomized that. So she sprang into action, talking on Facebook and Twitter with hundreds of angry progressives, some of whom were threatening to stop their donations, calling her fellow committee members, and ultimately the party’s chairman.

“I felt horrified that someone would associate me with that bizarre, regressive anti-woman language,” she said.

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“I don’t understand Democrats who quote Truman and F.D.R. and then act like they are terrified to run as an actual Democrat,” said Pamela Merritt, an abortion rights activist.CreditNick Schnelle for The New York Times

The party was trying to placate people who opposed abortion at the very moment that abortion was most under threat, Ms. Merritt said. Days before the vote, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy had announced his retirement and the court had backed anti-abortion pregnancy centers. Missouri, one of the most restrictive states in the country, is now down to one abortion clinic.

“The last thing we needed was for that language to linger,” she said of the plank. “It was a foul stench that needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.”

A Senator’s Silence

As the days went by, progressives discovered that Ms. Barry had taken the language from a national anti-abortion group, Democrats for Life of America. Ms. Barry acknowledged she had, but said the words expressed exactly what she wanted to say. The wording was also similar to language in the 1996 national Democratic Party platform.

On Aug. 11, the Democratic State Committee voted to take the plank out. Ms. Barry felt sad, but she did not leave the party.

“I love the Democratic Party and I love what it stands for, but it’s like they were saying you are not part of us,” she said. “It was the final nail in the coffin.”

After praising Ms. Barry for her plank in a message on her home answering machine, Ms. McCaskill stayed silent. Throughout her campaign, she has tried to give the issue of abortion a wide berth, a stance that has infuriated progressives. When she weighed in against Mr. Kavanaugh — eight days before his explosive Senate hearing with Christine Blasey Ford — neither abortion nor treatment of women were among her reasons.

That is simply savvy politics, said Christopher Kelly, a retired judge from Columbia who served nine terms in the Legislature, several with Ms. McCaskill. He said Ms. McCaskill has a near perfect Democratic voting record on abortion, and believes the struggle points to a larger problem among young progressives.

“They operate in this fantasy,” he said, “that we’re going to have a political renaissance or enlightenment, where everyone is going to decide that their ideas — the ideas of the lefties — are now their ideas.”

He added: “You will not win seats, because even though people might agree with you on some of the issues, you will scare them away. You will seem alien to them.”

He said history does not support the claim that more anti-abortion Democrats in the Legislature translates to less abortion rights. Many of the restrictions have come more recently, he said, since Republicans have gained the majority.

“When you become contemptuous of conservative Democrats, you promote the election of their opponents,” said Mr. Kelly, who believes it was a mistake to scrap Ms. Barry’s plank. “And their opponents are 100 percent worse for the environment, 100 percent worse for working people, 100 percent worse for L.G.B.T. people, for women, for black people, for immigrants.”

Ms. Merritt admits that some districts may be difficult for Democrats to win, but that is partly because the party has not really tried to persuade people. Candidates need to seize the chance this fall to teach people why Democratic ideas are better, she said.

“I believe 110 percent that if we run on full-throated, unapologetic progressive politics, we will win,” she said.

She added: “At a certain point, when you compromise your values, you are not winning. How far are we going to bend over before we tumble and fall?”

Lynsea Garrison contributed reporting from St. Louis and Jonathan Martin from Washington