#I AM SO AFRAID PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE ME SINCE I WAS ACTIVE IN *SOME* CRIMINAL CASE SERVERS BYEEEEE

[anincurabledisease]

hello criminal case fandom heh heh heh..guess who's returning..

i can feel @ellovett & @pagtingin-pagibiglang rapidly approaching me

[enderbot-magic]

Welp I have gotten a general “yes post the brawl stars fanfic” so here it is. Forgive me for the gaps I am on mobile.

Description, I guess: A criminal wakes up in a very, very unfamiliar place. He’s not sure of many things, he doesn’t know many things, but he feels like he shouldn’t be caught. And that he should stay awake.

Warnings for touching on unreality.

Colt panted, holding the bag as close to himself as he could, as if he could drop it at my second. He didn’t know why, but he was sure he was going to be caught. Or maybe this was just his paranoia? They hadn’t seen him yet, which was probably good – he was still on foot and trying not to look suspiciously like some run down vagrant.

A red jumper, a mask, gloves, boots. It looked like he was dressed in a costume, which made sense considering all of that stuff was in there too. Money sticking out of the bag, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t cram it in so nobody would see. His hand was hurting from gripping so tight, and he kept glancing over his shoulder, making sure they wouldn’t catch him when he ran.

He heard footsteps behind him then, but ignored them for now and kept running. If these guys were the police or something, he should just try to get away as fast as possible. Maybe he could lose them and then find shelter somewhere. Where could he go though? He didn’t want to get caught, something inside of him screamed that would be the worst case scenario right now and he didn’t even know what he was doing here! But… but he was here, wasn’t he? And he had to have done it somehow right? He wasn’t sure how he got here or even when, but if he thought about that too hard, it felt like he might throw up or pass out again.

Again. He had done something like this before, right? But he didn’t-

He rounded another bend – his head was spinning again – his vision blurring. The only thing in front of him was a wall. It was too far away. He could almost feel his fingers touching the bricks, himself attempting to scale the wall to no avail. It wasn’t enough.

He turned around and threw himself flat against the wall, putting his hands over his ears and squeezing his eyes closed and hoping he would wake up back in his room, safe under his blankets with an alarm waking him up any second now. Anything to keep from getting sick.

“If you are experiencing awakenings, don’t.” A speaker he didn’t notice was there crackled suddenly. “The experience is not pleasurable, but if your body rejects the awakening or has other physiological effects it is not worth pursuing. You will be forced back into the waking world eventually. Until then, stay put and rest until we are able to contact you.”

“What?”

There was a click and silence followed. A chill ran through him as he realized that voice sounded familiar. Was that what he said? Who was he talking to? Why did he sound familiar? What had happened?

His mind raced, trying desperately to remember anything – anything! - that might give him clues on what to do next.

“What are awakenings-“ He mumbled to himself, holding the bag closer. This felt real, more solid than anything else he knew, even if it wasn’t much. “Is this an awakening-“

“Do you find yourself questioning your station in life? Having flashes of another plane of existence? Experiencing occasional bouts of sudden realness?” The speaker spoke again, whining slightly as a new voice rung out. “If you’re suffering from these things or more, you may be experiencing a rare but serious condition called ‘Awakenings’.”

Colt opened one eye. Wait, did the speakers say ‘awakenings’? That didn’t make any sense… did it? There wasn’t much time to think about that though. He needed to move. Now. He scrambled away from the wall.

“These temporal existential interferences disrupt your permitted activities, and threaten your permanence. But now there’s help.” The voice sounded like it was from a commercial, advertising a medicine. He saw those - he heard those - before, but when? “Introducing: Please Stop. Please Stop is the only hourly pill perfectly engineered to quell awakenings. Just one pill an hour keeps all these disruptions where they belong; elsewhere. Awaken no more with Please Stop. Please, just Stop.”

Was that supposed to be comforting? How was it supposed to be helping him, help anyone? Colt groaned, putting a hand to his head – his whole body ached and throbbed. He didn’t know what to do. Where to go. How to get away.

“Ask your doctor today if Please Stop is right for you.” Colt could swear he could hear a smile in the speaker’s voice. “We already know; they’ll say yes.”

Then the speaker hung up and was silent again.

Colt took a deep breath, letting it slowly out. He had gotten out okay, that was true. For now. As long as he hid and stayed put, everything would be fine.

But, what about his mom? Was she okay? Had she woken up yet? Wait, mom, why was he concerned about her? He didn’t even remember her, at least not to his knowledge. But he knew he was concerned about her.

“I want…” He clung to the bag, trying to take deep breaths. “…my mom.”

God, he sounded pathetic. A grown man wanting his mom, like some kid. Like he was scared.

Okay. No. He wasn’t afraid. He was terrified. But he wasn’t going to let that show. So he took another breath and tried again to calm his racing heart. Calm his breathing. Calm the tremors wracking his small frame and shaking his arms from their hold on the bag. Calm his racing thoughts. Calm himself. He took another deep breath and tried to breathe calmly again. Okay. Okay.

He was just going to get out, that was all. Get out of… whatever this place was. He didn’t know. But he was going to leave, so he wasn’t going to stay here longer than necessary, no matter how scared he was.

So, so scared.

He pulled the bag towards himself, wrapping it tightly around his chest. The material muffling his own sounds to some degree but not entirely, especially since it kept him warm. Was the park always this cold, or was it just him?

The park.

He was in a park. A park with alleys, buildings, sidewalks… He tried to think of a park like that. Maybe that would give him a clue of how to get out of here. Maybe. He couldn’t think of a park like that though, parks had grass and trees and maybe a playground. Sidewalks, maybe a few buildings, but nothing like a city or a town.

…unless that was the playground.

Theme park. He was in a theme park. With rides and food and games, and… people. People who talked and acted funny and wore weird clothes, people who played pretend. And kids and families and dogs and… he could be someone like that. He didn’t know who he could be though. A character?

A character.

…was Colt even his name? He hadn’t put much thought in it before, but part of him responded to the name even though it felt… off. Like he was conditioned to it, not like he grew up with it. Like it wasn’t his name by birth but rather something that belonged to a character. Something made up. It didn’t fit him at all, but, what was his name?

His head hurt. It was pounding. Everything felt so strange, so unreal – but it all seemed so real at the same time. It was all so wrong, but how? How could he explain it? There didn’t seem to be a single way he could describe how he could feel this way.

“Colt’s not real.” He spoke to himself, trying to ground himself, trying to focus only on what mattered – that was easy enough – to understand. His name didn’t fit him – it was his character. There was no point dwelling on it. “He’s not.”

It wasn’t his name though and it definitely wouldn’t be using it, even if he didn’t remember any other. It probably didn’t matter. What mattered as that Colt, whoever or whatever he was, wasn’t real.

“I’m real. I’m awake.” He could hear his own voice. Could hear the words coming out of his mouth. “I’m in an alley in a theme park, holding a bag.”

He was in a park – not like one in a town, but somewhere new. Not sure exactly where but somewhere. He wasn’t sure how he got here. But he was. He really was. Whether he liked it or not, it was real.

“I’m not Colt, I’m in an alleyway in a theme park, and I’m holding a bag.” He eased slightly, opening his eyes. “I’m wearing a red jumpsuit and - and a mask?”

He moved the hand on his head, feeling a cheaply made mask, and pulling it off. He flipped it around - a cutout of a man with red hair and a scar on his chin - he felt like he should recognize him. It seemed familiar. Like something important…

But he still wasn’t sure. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t right.

That connected the mask to him though, in the back of his mind, something he couldn’t quite pinpoint. Something he couldn’t see. But he couldn’t shake off a creeping fear.

“I’m holding a bag,” He said, finally deciding on saying it, “And a mask.”

Okay. He felt better now. He felt more awake now, even if tired. A little bit less alone, and a little bit less confused. Still, the fear remained.

How did he end up in this situation?

[thatringboy]

Behold: my fourth Genshin OC; George the Fontaine Fashionista who may or may not be running a mafia as a side hustle…👀

Steel Cold Style

”Finding one’s personal style should be a primary goal in life! If you have no confidence in your appearance, then how can you hope to have confidence in your abilities?”

An entrepreneur in the Fontaine Fashion Industry who’s cold, hard and carefully crafted exterior is only challenged by their equally ornate and austere heart.

General Information

Name: George Glacfleur

Age: 24

Affiliation: Glacfleur Fashion House

Birthdate: October 31

Starsign: Scorpio

Constellation: Flos Glacies

Weapon: Catalyst

Vision: Cryo

Voice Claims

CVA: Din Mukhammed Kudaibergen

JVA: Suwabe Junichi

EVA: Yagami Yato’s deep voice that can make a grown ass hetero man quiver you know I had to have at least one OC with this VA claim

Voice Lines

Good Morning: Good day, Traveler, how shall I dress you today?

Good Afternoon: *Yawn* Is it tea time yet?

Good Evening: If you really want to stay out later, then we can stop by this one great bakery I know

Good Night: Sweet dreams… I hope you dream about me

When It Rains: Huh… it’s a good thing my shoes are waterproof

When It Snows: Quickly! Snap a photo with your kamera! The lighting is just perfect!

When It’s Sunny: Oh dear… look, if I get any dust on my clothing, then you’ll understand why I break down into tears

Favorite Food: Not to be crude but I become a completely different and more… loose person when I drink. To counter this, I always have my wine with the finest cheese and chocolates I can get my hands on!

Least Favorite Food: I’m highly allergic to all types of nuts. Almonds are the worst of them all!

About: Vision: Oh, this little trinket? I found it at a Flea market a few years ago. The old bloke selling it said that it appeared for him, but never awakened. I thought to myself: “eh what the heck” and purchased it. Voila! It awakened just like that! And that’s the day I discovered that blue is really my color!

About: Interests: My special interest is going from shop to shop in Fontaine and recycling my Mora back into our wonderful economy! Yes… I partake heavily in shopping, but not just for personal reasons! I hand pick all of the fabrics and materials used in the Fashion House myself! And why can’t a person just enjoy shopping without getting judged?

About Kaeya: Kaeya Alberich and I have met once during a trip I made to Mondstat… we were so much alike that we haven’t met since out of respect for our companions’ sanity

About Lyney & Lynette: The twins? I’m afraid I don’t know much about them besides whispers from my father’s colleagues, which often contradict each other. All I can say for sure is watch your back around them. I may not be able to help you if you fall into their traps and schemes

About Xinyan: She’s that rockstar from Liyue, right? I went to a few of her shows the last time I was in the Harbor and I am still so impressed how she took a Fontaine music genre and completely made it her own! She’s got major potential and I love her style

About: Family: My family… we’re not close for a few reasons that I won’t bore you with the details of. Lots of “he said”, “she said”, “they said”, you know how families are! Mine happen to be more conservative than most, which is fine, but their ideas of how I should live clash with my personal ideologies and it just became one large mess. *Sigh* I just wish that they would stop wanting me to follow in my father’s footsteps. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy and is one of the top legal advisers in Fontaine, but my calling has always been fashion. Is that so hard for my family to understand? I could never take part in a legal system that actively oppresses the little people and for some reason that’s even worse than simply wanting to leave the family business behind. Oh well…

About: Cryo: I once heard a tale that the Tsaritsa of Sneznhaya was the god of love at one point and that Cryo Visions represent that in some way. To me, there is no greater type of love than self love and confidence in one’s body. The message that all people are beautiful when they love themselves is one I wish that a younger version of myself was exposed to, so it is my duty to share it with everyone I meet. Of course, there are those who seek to snuff out certain types of beauty they don’t agree with and to that, I have a large icicle and I know exactly where I want to shove it

About: Hydro: The element of justice and the element that corresponds with our reigning Archon. You know what would be justice? Not taxing the life out of the people and shoving the Mora into the pockets of the rich! You know what would be justice? A legal system that doesn’t keep “criminals” awaiting a fair and public trial when the mood strikes our “Divine Judge”! You know what would be justice? Not making bail so high for the incarcerated that it becomes impossible for them to ever be set free! She is wasting her life away in a prison awaiting a trial that will most certainly be unfair for a crime she did not commit and there’s no way in the legal system for me to help her! Who is she? … someone who I couldn’t save. Iris, my closest companion, got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and I wasn’t available to be her alibi before she was taken away in shackles. Our benevolent Archon talks long and hard about how water can carve canyons and reshape the earth through erosion, but all I’m seeing from her is the tranquility of a small creek and the laziness of waves licking the shore

About: Fontaine Legal System: If you thought the legal systems in Liyue and Inazuma were ridged then… phew you have a LOT to learn about Fontaine! That’s why I dedicate a lot of my free time to helping those who get swept up in the chaos! However… some small businesses have started paying my employees to keep watch over them when our wonderful Archon’s police come knocking and then one thing led to another and now I have an entire underground establishment that works against the legal system and is fighting for reform. Look, I didn’t mean to start all of this, but it’s what I work with now

About: Lochfolk: Ocianid… oh you mean the Lochfolk! I’ve never seen one before, I thought they all left Fontaine. You’ve met a few? I’m impressed, it seems you truly are as well traveled as you claim to be

About: Glacfleur Fashion House: That’s my boutique! Built it from the ground up! We cater to all patrons from all walks of life! We have fashion from Inazuma, Sneznhaya, Liyue, Sumeru; you name it, we have it! And if not, we also make clothing and jewelry to order! To know everything we sell is authentic, look for the Iris Emblem embroidered or engraved on all of our pieces

About: Technology: The best part of Fontaine besides the culture has to be the technology! We’re no where nearly as advanced as Sneznhaya, but we have plumping, lights, refrigerators, kameras, music boxes… it makes life so much easier! Just waiting for the rest of Teyvat to catch up…

About: Scars: You want to know how I got these scars? It was a bad run-in with some bandits during one of my first ever deliveries to the countryside. Ended up with an explosive bottle to the face that shattered on impact and almost took off my entire cheek. I’m glad I have such an attractive face, otherwise I might have never recovered! That experience is also why I wear glasses… I’m lucky to not have gone blind from the shards of glass that ended up in my eyes

About: The Steambird: I have a subscription to that paper. I’m very interested in the astrology column they published and often the Glacfleur Fashion House makes an appearance in a few articles concerning the culture and fashion of Fontaine! I’m glad my work is being recognized

About: “Iris”: I already told you that the emblem of the Glacfleur Fashion House is an iris blossom, what else did you want to know? … You’ve been seeing the symbol scratched onto certain walls and alleys? Well… hehehe… sometimes I do more work than just running the boutique. N-Nothing illegal if that’s what you’re thinking! I just… uh… promise not to tell anyone? Okay… recently, the court system of Fontaine has started cracking down with more taxes for the people and as such, the Glacfleur Fashion House has been graciously supporting small businesses and giving protection to people in less than fortunate financial circumstances. It’s not a mafia!!! Why does everyone keep saying that?!

[toysoldiers-rwby]

[CS] 5. Solutions

5. Solutions

Cutting Strings

Characters: Penny, Ciel Word Count: 5k

Penny’s first obstacle in the real world.

Read on Ao3

PREV - NEXT

Conflicts detect. Source: Unknown. Solutions: Debugging.

The General’s office in the Polendina Facility was nothing compared to his office in the Academy, according to Winter and the information Penny was created with. Similarly Xanthic was unimpressed, but that cold impassive face might be from the cuffs pinning her wrist together. Winter was quickly reading the file Ironwood handed her while he sat at his desk, eyes on the hacker.  

The silence ticked by and Xanthic growled. “I already told you, your system locked me out before I could get any real information.” The hacker explained, “You want me, Glade, and an undecided third member to go to play babysitter for Penny at the Vytal Festival.”  

Penny frowned and cast her gaze down. Ciel… was not confirmed? Was Xanthic planning to hack the system to make sure she was chosen for the Vytal Festival?  

“So you don’t know anything about Floating Array?” Winter asked. She handed the confidential information to Penny. The young women hesitated. Only after verification from General Ironwood did Penny take it and look it over.  

“I know it’s an ugly monstrosity.” Xanthic answered once but the words kept repeating in Penny’s processors. Her hands shook. Power output fluxed violently, sending more energy into her hardware. Software quickly adjusted but Penny couldn’t stop the small tremors. Xanthic’s eyes fixed on it. Penny curled up, stepping back as Winter stepped forward to shield her again. “It’s not me you should be protecting her from,” Xanthic’s cybernetic eyes cut to General Ironwood.  

"People of Atlas," Xanthic repeated. The Aura in Penny’s power core twisted again. She tried to remember her father’s words just a few hours before. She was his daughter not a- “Is that why Ironwood twisted her body before making her an official citizen?” What? The shock from Winter was heavy, the worried and guilty eyes Penny looked up into even heavier.  

One of the smartest and biggest threat made her own red herring. Xanthic thought Penny was a human experiment. General Ironwood was calm, a corner of his mouth quirking up in a satisfied smile. Penny’s sharp cybernetic eyes saw it.  

And Xanthic’s older model picked it up as well.“How much of her body is metal!?” Xanthic screamed. Penny’s head snapped up. Rage. The hacker’s face was twisted and red, body ready to lung at the man that could tear her a part with his hands.It wasn’t an emotion Penny was familiar with, wasn’t aware it could be a… a protective emotion. The hacker was angry for Penny.  

“How dare you. This isn’t-”  

“Schnee, enough.” General Ironwood raised his hand. Winter immediately stopped, hand grasping for the hilt of her sword. When she realized her weapon wasn’t on her Winter calmed down a little. Ironwood slowly sat back in his chair, “What do you think you know?”  

“I know Floating Array can only be used by people like you,” Xanthic lifted her bound hands, pointing to her forehead. The spot where Ironwood’s transmitter controlled his cybernetics. “Glade and me,” Next she pointed to the back of her head and neck. Penny had to squint, focusing her artificial eyes. She couldn’t see what Xanthic was referring to but she could faintly make out the cybernetic glow reflecting off her hair. “Unless she’s a telekinetic, those swords are controlled through neural cybernetics and augmentation.”  

She wasn’t wrong… Penny looked down at the file to study what lies General Ironwood tied her too. The goal was to send a team to test a weapon in the Vytal Festival. The weapon’s name was Floating Array, not P.E.N.N.Y- She took a deep breath and focused back on the conversation. Penny wasn’t a weapon. Another SDC orphan. How much of her body is metal!? Did Xan think she was wounded in the fake report that killed her supposed parents?  

Penny gently held Winter’s arm and slowly stepped out from behind her. If Xanthic’s outburst was a result of protectiveness and injustive… then surely Xanthic must be kind too? “He didn’t…” Experiment on the experiment? “I’m-”  

“The level of Penny’s augmentation is classified,” His order was directed to everyone in the room. His eyes and words ended with Penny who flinched. Somehow she managed to resist hiding behind Winter again. She was Dr. Pietro’s daughter. Winter saw her as someone to protect and in her own way so did Xanthic. She had an identity beyond a tool, Penny repeated this over and over even if she nodded to Ironwood.  

Winter gently pulled Penny’s hand off her but she gave a comforting squeeze, eyes lingering on their hands. There was a small knit between her brows, the line of her tight lips curved down so softly. Penny gave a tight and determined squeeze back. She was so tired of seeing that look of concern. Dr. Peitro was her father, he was allowed to worry but Penny was determined never to see Winter or anyone else give her that look again.  

Xanthic watched curiously. Her bright eyes returned to Ironwood who seemed indifferent to the heavy air and accusations of using a little girl for experiments. It irritated the hacker for a moment, “… Me and Glade will figure it out sooner or later.” Xanthic said relaxing as much as she could. “You’re assigning two genius to babysit her after all.”  

“So you agree to take on this mission?” Ironwood asked.  

“Don’t insult me by acting like I have a choice,” Xanthic scowled holding up the gravity cuffs. “Besides, if anything goes wrong with that spliced tech you’ll need me and Glade.”  

… Goes wrong?  

“Which is why I choose you for this mission but… There has been some resistance from Glade and difficulties with your potential partner.”  

“A-Aro?!” Resistance? She doesn’t want-  

Winter quickly set a hand on Penny’s shoulder. Her mind was stretching thing, a thousand thought running a thousand miles a second but somehow Winter’s voice broke through, “She’s probably being difficult to annoy you, sir. I know for a fact that she’s quite attached to Penny.”  

Penny took a deep breath and calmed down, literally pushing the cold Solitas air through her flash heated systems. Her memory wasn’t corrupted but her processors fired up simulations without proper information. Even before they met, Aro jumped in front of a Spider Droid to protect her. Why does her programming assume the worst? Penny opened her eyes at Ironwood’s loud frustrated sigh. He was rubbing his temples, jaw clenched tight.  

“I am well aware. She’s in a position to make demands and is already making them.”  

“… Sir.” Winter’s voice was tired and dry, “What did you expect from a Faunus women who runs one of the few independent Dust shops since she was 18?” Ironwood seemed to wince under that statement. It was all public facts but Penny could barely grasp the weight of that statement. The irony of a successful individual being used as an icon for blatant discrimination- Penny finally recognized that sad smile Aro had on during APCX’s first gathering.  

It was resignation.  

“What’s her demand?” Winter asked.  

Ironwood took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. “She wants Penny to choose the last member. Though to make sure she doesn’t influence Penny’s decision I get to narrow down the list.”  

“Oh!” Xanthic sneered wearing down Ironwood’s patience. His jaw tensed, grinding a little. “So the Iron part of your name stands for irony?”  

The General glared at Xanthic then at Winter. His second-in-command straightened out and awaited her orders. “Take this criminal to her quarters.”  

“Yeah, take me to bed, Mistress.”  

At that Winter’s face turned a little red but it wasn’t a blush. She ripped her tie from her neck and shoved it into Xanthic’s mouth in a near punch. Xanthic groaned but it only turned to a biting laughter. Despite Penny’s concerns Winter shoved the hacker out of the room. She winked… It didn’t make Penny didn’t feel any better. Her protocols told her to intervene, but another told her to stand by as the subject was handled by Military Authority. It didn’t seem right.  

A few seconds after the door hissed closed Ironwood’s stoic image crumbled a little. His elbows rested on the desk. “I’m afraid dealing with her will be your toughest challenge.”  

“I’m… I’m sure I’ll adapt.” Penny said quietly. She traced the mend on her finger. There was no evidence of it except for her memory. Xanthic was a challenge but… Penny wasn’t sure if she enjoyed it or not. “If Xanthic is such a concern why assign her to my team?”  

“Besides her technical capabilities?” Ironwood asked. He slumped further at his desk, a tired smile on his face. “She fits the average profile for students and competitors attending the Vytal Festival. Ms. Xanthic won’t be able to infiltrate Atlesian property all the way in Vale. The distance and extra security will make it harder for her to hack our systems. Additional her rivalry with Ms. Glade and activities during the Vytal Festival will preoccupy her time.”  

“And what will happen to her after?” Penny asked despite the fear of the answer.  

Ironwood closed his eyes for a moment. “I’d consider this mission a community service and shorten her punishment.” That was not a satisfactory answer but Penny did not have a chance to continue the conversation. Penny’s Scroll pinged. She accepted the file transfers. “Ms. Glade would like you to meet these five candidates and choose one of them when she returns.”  

“Yes, sir.”  

Penny left feeling drained, as if she fought more than a Spider Droid. Was this her equivalent to mental exhaustion? Xanthic had triggered multiple conflicts and she had to constantly suppress some protocols. Then the glitches with her Aura… Penny returned to her room, hand over her power unit. The reasonable thing would be inform her father but the thought of seeing him worry exhausted her further.  

She didn’t want to think about it. Instead Penny focused her processors on the files General Ironwood gave her. All of the candidates are top students at the Police Academy… Ciel was not on the list!  

Penny nearly rushed out of her room but stopped. Xanthic was a criminal, her area would be heavily monitored in every way: visual, audio, and transmitted data if Winter didn’t confiscate her Scroll. Xanthic told them not to contact each other but…  

She bounced in place systems flooded with energy and threatening to overheat her with no action to burn it off. Why isn’t Ciel on the list? Every candidate looked capable but Xanthic was right. Penny didn’t actually have a choice. She already knew Ciel- why isn’t she on the list- and everyone seemed to get along during their first meeting… well enough, after some comparison with Winter and May.  

Suddenly Penny’s recorded memory brought up Ciel’s audio, If the General of our Kingdom has a directive for us we’d best follow it, Did she decline the offer? “Ugh…” Penny found herself sitting on her bed, head in her hands. “What do I do?” She didn’t want Ironwood’s candidates, she wanted Ciel or to at least ask her… “Ask her what?” Penny huffed at herself. Ask Ciel if she declined, if she wants to be a part of a team with two anarchist?  

Penny stood up and walked out of her room. Her aura was causing another glitch in her power unit. Too much energy for her processes to handle, she’d start one simulation and started another in a few seconds after, trying to come up with reasons why Ciel wasn’t on the list. She needed to do something and she needed information…  

Penny found herself sneaking out of the facility and on a transport to Mantle.  

Ciel’s home was vastly different than what Penny was used to. Aro and Xanthic owned a building and house respectively. Ciel lived in an apartment building in a cramped area close to the Police Academy. Penny rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds. She had enough time to wonder if normal humans would be sleeping at this time when the door opened. Ciel didn’t look surprised to see her. If anything she was a little annoyed.  

“Hello!” Penny greeted her with a smile. Her father was right, fresh air did help her systems but now her processors were sluggish. All those ideas she had vanished. It never worked on Xanthic but Ciel did relax a little. That was a good sign, right? “Should I… Should I come back later?” Penny asked tilting her head a little. Penny’s internal clock told her it was almost midnight but Ciel was still dressed. “I’m not sure what time you rest and recharge.”  

“It’s the last month of the semester, I’m constantly running on empty.” Ciel said with a shrug. “Hold on,” Penny’s hopefully-future-teammate disappeared into the dark apartment for a moment. Penny peeked in. It was cramped, optimizing space for multiple people. Switching to night vison her cybernetic eyes saw several photos on the fridge and walls. Ciel was in a few of them at different stages of life, with what appeared to be blood relatives. Penny quickly turned her enhanced vision off and stepped out of the doorway when Ciel returned with a coat around her body. She presented a jacket and box to Penny, “Glade dropped this off with me before she left. Said it was for Xanthic.”  

She wasn’t in Mantle? Penny took the jacket first and carefully put it on. Ciel and Penny were about the same height and built so it was a perfectly snug fit. It felt… odd, being compressed by a soft warmth all around her. It was like a hug. Penny snuggled into it.  

Again her simulations and programming predicted the worse and caused unnecessary stress. There was no immediately solution so Penny adjusted her priotities.  

She gave Ciel a bright smile, “So you do want to join our team?”  

Ciel locked her apartment and lead Penny down the stairs. “Once I calmed down and thought about it… maybe?” She muttered. She was digging herself into her thick coat. They walked in silence for a few minutes. Ciel’s feet dragged a little. It made Penny feel like her processors were burning out. There was so much to adjust too. From near completely solitude to Xanthic’s brash attitude, especially Xanthic’s attitude. An entire day of tension, conflicting code and-  

“Penny, do you have any idea what you’re getting into?” Ciel wondered softly. Almost timid and scared, but Penny didn’t know her well enough to make that assessment. “With Glade, Xanthic, the Vytal Festival?”  

“… No.” The question and realization cause a falter in Penny’s stride.  

Ciel let out a short laugh. Penny stared at her and Ciel quickly tried to hide it with a cough. A tired smile peeked out from her hand, “Sorry. Low energy. A little delirious. And a little relieved.” She clarified. Ciel paused for a moment, then a moment longer before speaking. Human’s didn’t perform well when insufficiently charged. “You and the others seemed so confident. I felt like I was the only one fumbling in the dark.”  

“You were studying.”  

“Got the best marks in class.” Ciel said, some energy returning with pride. They turned another corner and the officer-in-training walked up to a lit up basement entrance. Penny faltered surprised to see some people hang around it. They were all Academy students, most in Police uniform but some from Atlas Academy. They nodded at Ciel with a sense of familiartiy between them.  

Penny jogged, catching up to Ciel as she walked down into the cellar. The width and length was as big as the building above it. It was rather empty with isolated groups scattered around. Half the floor was a lounge with a mini café.  

“May! Drink’s ready!” The barista yelled out to the small number of patreons.  

The other half was cleared with the exception of sparing dummies, weights, or targets against the walls. The students sat in the lounge, studying, chatting some individuals even sleeping. The sparing side was currently in use by officers in uniform and a few without. The only Huntresses were in the far corner. Penny could tell from their Aura, it was far more refined than those from the Police Force. One was even familiar but Penny couldn’t place it.  

“What is this place?”  

Ciel glanced back at her, tired feet still dragging to the barista’s counter. “A gym for Officers and trainees. We don’t have the resources Atlas Academy has but we make do. Most of the Atlas students here are Mantle-born.”  

“You can take the miners out of Mantle but you can’t take the Mantle out of the miners!” The barista was that rainbow semblance Faunus Penny saw a few days ago. She skated to the counter and perched her head atop it with a grin, “Hiya, Ciel! I didn’t expect you to be friends with the mysterious cutie too!”  

“Neon.” Ciel sighed, “Three things. One, that’s a horrible saying and you should stop using it. Two, her name is Penny, don’t be rude. Three, my usual thai latte.”  

“And you Penny?”  

“No thanks-” A heavy hand dropped onto her head and a hand suddenly appeared to reach around her to grab the drink. Penny jumped, gasping out a noise and turning around. May Marigold smiled down at her and ruffled her hair a little. Towering over even May was Joanna Greenleaf and Elm Ederne. All three was in just their mid layer clothing just thick and dark enough to avoid being translucent from their sweat.  

“Chocolate mint. I’ll pay for her friend’s drink too,” May said. Her hand stopped ruffling Penny’s hair and dropped a few lien onto the counter.  

“Sweets for the sweetie! And a blackest latte for bore,” Neon sang sticking her tongue out at Ciel. The trainee didn’t acknowledge it. Instead she slumped in the bar stool and laid her head on the counter, her barrette used as a pillow.  

“So you must be Penny Polendina! Me and Herriet saw you at the Military Tech Show!” Special Operative Elm Ederne yelled. Perhaps Xanthic’s fustrations were not misplaced… Penny found herself needing to lean back a little to look up at her. Then suddenly she was looking down when the women picked her up. Penny gasped, holding down her dress and pressing Aro’s mysterious box to her chest. “A pleasure to meet you! We’re looking forward to what you can do!”  

“Pleasure… Please set me down.” Penny squeaked. Her system was confused, the chances of encountering people who could lift her was very small but everyone who tried did so with ease. Elm laughed, throwing her head back and echoing it off the quiet cellar. Ciel let out a tired groan, eyes still closed while several other students yelled for some silence.  

“Elm,” Huntress Joanna Greenleaf elbowed the fellow giant’s arm. They must have been sparing hard because it caused a small Aura flicker. “Inside voice.”  

“And don’t just pick up people! You and Aro…” May’s scolding drifted off. She angrily huffed, then threw her head back taking large gulps of her drink. “Fuck, now I’m pissed off again!”  

“Maybe you should stand outside and cool off?” Joanna offered.  

“Nonsense, I’m ready for another round!” Elm said, fist slamming into a palm so loud it echoed. Elm winced, her Aura finally flickering out. “Or not…”  

“I don’t understand…” Penny mumbled looking at May. Last she remembered they were happily getting along, the fighting wasn’t a real fight but playing. “Why would you-”  

“No, nope!” Joanna stepped in, physically crossing her arms. "We’re here work out our anger, not to build it up even more," She gave a hard glare at May who scoffed and rolled her eyes.  

“She deserves a good slap to that arrogant, pretty face!”  

Did they have an argument? Close friends can have arguments? Penny wondered. She really wanted to call Aro but Xanthic’s no communications-on-Atlas-owned-servers was becoming more and more reasonable.  

“Then do it when she gets back.” Joanna clasp a hand around May’s shoulder. The weight and power making her flinch and sloshing her drink a little. “Shooting range. Let’s go.”  

“Ugh,” May groaned and grumbled, swearing a storm under her breath and directing it at Aro’s absence. Elm followed, giving the Ciel and Penny a big wave.  

“Death latte and a chocolate mint to warm you two up,” Neon said back to the pair and setting the drinks on the counter. She was about to settle for a chat when two more people entered the ceiler. “Reese! Nadir!” She vaulted over, tackling her friends to the ground. Their laughter helped muffled the yelling Huntresses in the corner and the groaning students trying to sleep or study.  

Penny watched it all from her seat next to an exhausted Ciel. Her potential teammate groaned and finally sat up, unceremoniously dropping her barrette back onto her head. Penny giggled and fixed it.  

“Welcome to Mantle,” Ciel muttered into her drink. “Where everyone is loud and rude, and not even the scholarship students can afford to sleep.”  

“I would add compassionate and strong willed,” Penny added. Ciel stared at her for a moment and quietly agreed, trying to hide a smile behind her cup.  

Neither of them talked for a few minutes. Ciel was slowly waking up, nursing her hot latte with both hands. Penny took small sips of her own drink. The atmosphere and seeing people alive was worth the trials General Ironwood put her through and more. Her recordings and simulations were flat and predictable. Penny at the center of every problem and the solution to every scenario but in Mantle she was just a person, a stranger in someone else’s life.  

“Ciel?”  

“Hm?”  

“You state you were still unsure about accepting General Ironwood’s request. Why is that?” Penny asked softly.  

The answer was nearly immediate, either she was thinking about this for a while or the caffeine was recharging her. “Who’s going to help take care of my family?” Ciel asked. “General Ironwood says the Military will pay for all expenses but my family is losing a source of income, even if it is small.”  

Penny frowned and looked at Ciel. The answer was much more practical than expected. She didn’t have to worry about the daily human needs. Her father was well respected scientist living in a military facility, he didn’t need to spend to survive. Penny did not need to eat. She had other forms of maintenance but that was weekly, monthly if need be. Her robust power unit and Aura mean that Penny needed little rest and Dust could be used in emergencies. Her material consumption was part of the military’s budget.  

“I thought it would be fear and danger,” Penny admitted. It was the only things her father and General Ironwood emphasized.  

“Police Officers may not be fighting Grimm but people can get pretty horrible too. Worse… even,” Ciel added softly. There was another comfortable pause. Ciel enjoying her drink. Penny watched the life around her. “You don’t seem like the Huntress type. So why become one?”  

Penny looked back at Neon playing around with her friends and then at May. Somehow shooting at the practice range dissolved into yelling and wrestling. Penny suppressed the urge to intervene. It wasn’t as playful as she witnessed during her drinks with Winter but it was still between good friends. And Elm was cheering them on with a laugh so it was nothing serious. It was pleasantly lively.  

So different from the quiet of the facility and the calm work with her father, or the stoic order of General Ironwood.  

“I want to protect this.”  

"But why a Huntress?" Ciel pressed. “Glade and your father helps with their inventions.”  

“Because they can’t fight like I can.”  

Ciel only raised a brow. “Again. Don’t look the part.” Penny pouted, lips pressed and a hard look that only made Ciel smile. The officer-in-training nodded to the practice shooting range then to the traiining dummies at the far end of the gym. Penny’s programming told her Ciel was asking her to pick a trial.  

Penny took a deep breath. She passed her Combat Test. She is combat ready. “Shooting range.”  

“Alright,” Ciel said a little relieved. In her state Ciel probably wouldn’t do well in a spar and Penny didn’t want to deal with trying to restrain her robotic strength. “Nadir!” Ciel called over, “Gun. 10 minutes.”  

“Magic words?”  

“Now.” It took a few seconds of staring but Nadir eventually relented with a small whine. Ciel lead Penny to the back, tapping away at her Scroll. The gym had its own app for the range and as a regular she was had one set up before they got there. The hard-light targets were both human and Grimm shape, some popping up others striding left to right. There was even small Nevermores flying about. From the edges of her peripheral, Penny saw Elm focus on them but the other two Huntresses were still yelling at each other.  

“Just talk to her!”  

“It’s not that easy!”  

Penny looked back at Ciel who held up her Scroll as she gave an overview of the information, “3 minutes, best out of three. Smaller targets, more points. Humans are negative. Shoot any target to start.” Ciel said. She handed her Scroll off to Penny and stepped up to the firing line.  

Ciel checked Nadir’s submachine, the magazine and felt the weight. She held it to her shoulder and fired. Penny watched a little fascinated. Most of her pre-installed knowledge was about Huntsmen and Huntresses. She only had the basics about the Police Force. They were trained to deal with humans. They focused on nonviolent take downs and weapon accuracy because they worked in residential areas. Many of their guns weren’t lethal but they were still dangerous if their aim was off.  

But accuracy didn’t add to the points. Still Ciel aimed for lethal areas, the chest and head. She only aimed at targets that she knew would land and did it fast. She manage one last shot milliseconds before Ciel’s phone buzzed, the timer hitting zero.  

“5th place! Not bad!” Neon yelled from behind the counter.  

Ciel stepped away from the firing line and held out Nadir’s gun. Penny gave a wide smile. Her backpack opened, Floating Array sweeping with a motion of her hand. The blades folded back, several barrels pointed down the range. Elm let out a low and impressive whistle.  

“Yooo!!!” Reese screamed from the lounge. “Good thing you’re an officer cuz you got CONNED!” There was a soft chuckling and sounds of agreement from all over the gym. Ciel blinked, taking everything in strides. She took a slow sip of her thai latte.  

“That’s cheating,” The office-in-training said. There was no frustration, just tired resignation and amusement. Maybe relief? Penny tried to stop her smile but it only grew when she noticed May sprawled under Joanna. Both Huntress was in an awkward position, mid grapple and their mouths open in amazement. With a small motion of her other hand, most of Floating Array folded and retreated into her pack, only two were left floating above her.  

“And we’re never mentioning this to Xanthic.” Ciel added.  

“I’m sure Xanthic will discover this eventually,” Penny said innocently. With a flex of her hand Floating Array started firing. After the Combat Trial it was easy, so she pushed herself to focus on the smaller Nevermores. The pattern was predictable, but restraint was a challenge. All shots landed with dead accuracy but there was some damage to the walls. Luckily everyone was too amazed to notice or to even speak. The buzzing was loud to Penny’s augmented hearing.  

“Holy shit,” May muttered softly.  

"Finally! That name has been on top for years!" Neon yelled. Reese and Nadir was also cheering from the lounge. This time the students or trying to sleep didn’t complain and just stared quietly. One even took a picture.  

“On the board for three minutes and 23 seconds. New record for me.” Ciel drawled handing Penny her Scroll. Penny grinned and entered ‘P. Polendina’. It blinked on the top row above the alias Silver Wat.  

Conflicts detected. Source: Stress. Solutions: Fun.

[fedeipox]

The Way of Time (Rdr2 fanfic) - Chapter 5 (3/3)

Happy New Year!! Hoping this one will be better than the last... Generally to say a year has been good or bad is a very personal consideration. This could be the first time that all people around the world agree in saying that 2020 sucked. 

Part 1 here: https://fedeipox.tumblr.com/post/638598893496631296/the-way-of-time-rdr2-fanfic-chapter-5-13

Part 2 here: https://fedeipox.tumblr.com/post/638776947069059072/the-way-of-time-rdr2-fanfic-chapter-5-23

Chapter 5 (3/3) - Valentine

Words: 1,9 k

Valentine was quieter that day. There were definitely fewer people wandering in the big muddy street and that was perfect according to Javier: fewer people meant fewer possibilities to be recognized, targeted or disturbed. They left the wagon where they could keep an eye on it while they had a look around and then they split: Charles went with Karen and Tilly at the saloon, while Javier, Mary-Beth and Emily walked past it.

“I need to stop by the Gunsmith. You want to wait here or…” he said as he saw the big sign painted on the top of the building.

“No, no, we come with you. I’m here for this” replied the new girl.

They crossed the street and entered the blu house. The store was poorly stocked with gun’s variety, but Javier didn’t mind it, he was there for a problem with one of his pistols and wasted no time in asking the shop-owner.

“Do you clean your weapon regularly?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Then, it can be due to the wear. You can buy a single piece or if you are interested we have a fine supply of new Cattleman Revolvers, sir. They came the other day directly from Saint Denis.”

“I’ll take the single piece.”

“As you wish, sir.”

While the shop-owner walked in the other room, Javier turned around to watch the new girl admiring a display cabinet full of Lancasters.

“I thought you was scared of guns” he said making her turn around.

“I am, when someone holds one. Here displayed and closed up, no.”

“Is there something else I can provide for you, sir? A new rifle maybe? A shotgun?” asked the owner coming back with the new piece in his hand.

“What’s the difference between a rifle and a shotgun?” asked Emily walking closer to the counter.

“Well, there are plenty of differences, Miss. The most important is that a rifle can shoot farther and with more precision than a shotgun, thanks to the little grooves of the bore.”

“Wow, it’s fascinating. What’s the most accurate rifle you’ve got?” she asked laying her elbows on the counter.

“The Carcano Sniper Rifle. This one” he replied pointing to a big firearm inside a cabinet. w“It can hit a target at a great distance without making the bullet lose it’s power.”

“For being afraid of guns you’re quite interested” joked Javier taking out his money to pay the man.

“Hey, I’m just curious. It’s always good to learn something new. Thank you, Mister. Have a good day” she said to the man before she followed Javier outside.

“So, what you want to do now?” he asked as soon as the three of them walked out of the store.

“I don’t know. Just let’s look inside the other stores, I’m really curious to know how they’re like.”

Javier sighed thinking that that trip to town was going to be useless, but he followed her anyway when she crossed the road and aimed for the doctor. They walked inside and just like before the new girl started looking around with that admiring expression of hers, just like she had never seen an apothecary before. She watched carefully all the ingredients, medicines and tools displayed in the cabinet behind the counter and from now and then she asked something to the doctor.

“Is this real laudanum?”

“Yes, Miss.”

“You know it is addictive, don’t you? It’s like a drug.”

“Yes, Miss, but with a proper dosage the addiction can be avoided.”

“If you say so” Javier heard her murmur and it made him chuckle. 

They were waiting patiently for her to finish her little tour when the door behind them opened and made the little bell above it jingle. Two men came inside, and from their look Javier was sure they weren’t there for some laudanum. And in fact, they exchanged a look with the doctor who excused himself and went to the other room followed by the two. 

Javier took a couple of steps towards the door, acting indifferent but studying the two figures and the doctor as they reached another heavy iron door in the back of the other room. The doctor knocked and a couple of eyes showed up from a little window. Then, from the other side they opened and let the two men inside. Javier turned around and pretended to look at something on the table as the doctor came back.

“Hey, what do you think he has back there?” whispered the new girl walking closer to him.

Javier narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. She had noticed the two men, too. How could it be? She was clumsy and distracted, she wasn’t paying attention and she had no idea how to find an illegal activity, and that one was clearly some kind of illegal practice the doctor was running.

“I don’t know. Something illegal, it seems. There could be some money. Maybe we’ll take a look” he replied.

“Do you want to do it now?”

“No, not now. Let’s go.”

...

They walked out of the building and decided to go to the saloon to meet the others. Charles was drinking at the bar, Karen was upstairs trying to fool a poor idiot to steal from him, Tilly was at the general store to buy something. 

“So, have you found something interesting?” asked Emily reaching Charles’s side.

“No, you?”

Since she had seen those two men walking inside the apothecary and she had understood something shady was going on there, she was thrilled to bits and couldn’t wait to tell it to someone else. 

“We found an illegal activity or something like that. Javier says we can try to rob it.”

“We?” asked Charles frowning. “Since when you’ve become a criminal?”

“Well, technically speaking, the doctor is doing something against the law, so… if we rob him, we’re doing something good. Right?”

“I guess” murmured Charles and he drank from the little glass he had in his hands.

Emily had no idea why she had said that. She didn’t believe in what she had said: illegal activity or not, robbing him was wrong. The right thing to do was go to the police… no, the sheriff, and tell him about what they had found out. But robbing him could get them some money, which they needed so desperately. 

“What are you drinking?” she asked to Charles.

“Whiskey.”

“Can I try?” she asked and looked at the man behind the bar who with a nod of his head turned around to take a bottle.

“You never had whiskey?” asked Charles

“I generally drink beer or cocktails at the parties, but never tried whiskey, no.”

“Get me one too, while you’re here, buddy” said Javier throwing a coin on the bar.

“Do you want something, Mary-Beth?” asked Emily.

“No, thank you. I’m going to check on Karen” she answered and walked towards the stairs that leaded upstairs.

The barman poured two glasses of amber liquid and served one to Emily and one to Javier who didn’t even look at it before he swallowed it. 

“Are you sure about the job thing?” she asked at the man behind the counter.

He looked at her in a way that made her understand there was no possibility to get a job there, at least not the job she wanted to get. 

“Okay, okay, sorry. I won’t ask again.”

Then, she took the little glass and just like she had seen people doing in the movies, put all the content in her mouth and down her throat. Needless to say, Charles had to pat her back and ask her if she was okay when she started coughing hard.

“Y-yes, I’m fine. Shit, this thing is strong. How can you drink it all the time?”

“We’re used to it” answered Javier.

“Hey!”

The three of them turned around to look at the man approaching the counter.

“You were here the other day, weren’t you? With the big man with the cowboy hat” he said to Emily.

“Yes, I was here, why?”

“Weren’t you looking for a job?”

Emily exchanged a look with Charles before she answered.

“Yes.”

“I’ve got a job for you, honey.”

“Really?” she asked naively.

“Right here” he said and he brought a hand to his… private parts.

Emily was used to stupid boys who played silly with her at school or at work, but no-one, no-one, had ever done something like that. She felt outraged, insulted, shameful and she had to look away as the man started to laugh with his friends.

“Hey, watch yourself, cabrón” said Javier.

“What, she’s yours? Sorry, partner, but I don’t believe such a delicate flower can go with someone like you.”

“Listen, why don’t you go back to your friends and leave us alone” replied Charles taking a step forward.

“Easy, big fella. I don’t want no problems. I just want to try the little thing here” he said with a nod towards Emily, who in the meantime had lowered her head so much that she was looking at the tip of her boots.

The men in the room laughed again and she felt her eyes sting and the shame running through her body. Then, Charles took her by her shoulders and pushed her away. 

“We wait for you by the wagon” she heard him saying to Javier.

Just like Arthur had done the day before, he led her out of the saloon and from there they reached the wagon.

“Are you okay?” asked Charles very kindly.

Emily nodded, but she dried a tear from her eye and Charles didn’t miss it.

“Don’t listen to them. There are always people like that in the world. You have to be strong and don’t mind what they say.”

Emily nodded again, as the tears started running uncontrollably. She din’t want to cry, to appear weak, but yet she couldn’t stop herself from doing it. Charles patted her on the shoulder and for her that was the go-ahead: she rounded his waist with her arms and hided her face in his chest.

Charles was surprised by the contact, but he didn’t withdraw. How could she be like that? He had never met someone so naive. Life was hard, the world was cruel and there was no escape for anyone from becoming cold, mean and heartless. So either she had lived all her life closed inside a room, or she was… Charles felt bad by thinking that, but she was a little dumb.

Tilly was the first who came back from the store and she helped Emily in recovering from the bad experience. Then, the others showed up and they all got on the wagon and rode back to camp. 

That was the second trip to Valentine and again Emily couldn’t not think that she didn’t like that place. It stank of shit, it was full of assholes and there was nothing interesting.

When they arrived, she decided to take something sweet from the kitchen to cheer herself up a little and reached Mr. Pearson who, noticing her sad face, decided to give her a chocolate bar.

She thanked him and giving it a bite she walked towards the rest of the camp passing in front of Hosea and Arthur seated at the same round table.

“So, how was Valentine?” asked the former.

Emily, looked first at him and then at Arthur.

“You were right” she said, fixing her eyes on Mr. Morgan’s face. “That saloon is no place for me.”

[ultraclops]

Semi-Live Blogging: Finale Time!

With reaction images this time!

Adoradad

TRAINING EXERCIIISE

Adorabat's practicing her screaming! Bet that's gonna come in handy later.

"Fneh!" Wow what an introduction Eugene

His design is like? Really cool?? He looks practically nothing like Adorabat tho. And why does he have a spade on his stomach instead of a heart??

Badgerclops drew him with a giant ass mustache lol.

Adorabat takes banjo lessons? More importantly, Eugene thought she was at a banjo lesson FOR 8 MONTHS?!

"She scares me" lol

Adorabat ran away from home? Why?

"I thought you were a ward of the state!" Remember when everyone thought Adorabat was an orphan? Yea.

"I thought you were my conscience!" Badgerclops...you've lived with Adorabat for a year...went to her school...AND YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS A PIECE OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS?!

...why did Badgerclops use Adorabat as monster bait...

I expected to hate Eugene but he's actually really cute and interesting?? Aside from the fact he thinks Mao Mao & Badgerclops are criminals. Love to see him again sometime!

Wow her dad has a whole badass mansion!! Why doesn't she just stay there...

Oh...her mom died...that's why he's so protective of her and was so upset when she left. Also her mom looks amazing & I wanna see a flashback episode with her. For some reason I can imagine her sounding like a deeper version of Scoops?

Aww Adorabat's room is super cool! Also Eugene cracking the door for her asfgjkl

"Do you think that monsters attacking the city are gonna - wait, does that have peanut butter in it? " (Cuts to MM & BC eating ice cream while crying) That's a perfectly rational reaction to losing your adoptive daughter

"I can keep it together!" (Cut to Mao Mao trying and failing to shovel ice cream in his mouth with his helmet on) NSADGEDHAMADH

Wait a second. Mao's eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. ISN'T CHOCOLATE TOXIC TO CATS?!

"But you said I was part of the team!!" "Then you're...off the team."

Adorabat crying while showing Eugene the picture OUCH MY HEART...

"I used to go exploring in those caves with Mom all the time..." I'm guessing those are the caves from the promo?

"She wasn't afraid of anything!" " Well Adorabat definitely takes after her mother...

"And then one day, Sonara didn't come back with you." Ooh her name's Sonara!! Pretty!! I can't tell if they chose it cuz it sounds like Sonar or because it means "pleasant sounding"

Glad to see Adorabat's still a die-hard metal fan, even with Eugene

Oof Mao isn't taking this well at ALL if he's pretending Adorabat's molt is her...

OOH SHIT ADORABAT RAN OFF TO THE CAVES - wait a minute no she didn't. OH NO EUGENE WENT TO THE CAVES

Ooh there's Sonara's looking glass, bet that's gonna be important

Yay Adorabat saved her dad!

Damn Adorabat must be super traumatized after basically watching her mother die. No wonder she tried to murder Boba-Chan!

Oh the only way to stop the monster is by screaming!

(Mao Mao hears Adorabat scream) "ADORABAT?!" ADOPTIVE DAD POWERS ACTIVATE

Ooh her mother's figure appears over her when she says she's not afraid of anyone...maybe her spirit's inside of her or something?

REVENGE TIME BAYBEY

HOLY SHIT ADORABAT FUCKING MURDERED THAT THING

Eugene & Adorabat both apologized to each other I...

"You can't just leave without the most fearless member of the group!" YAAY ADORABAT'S BACK (Also how are we gonna explain to Eugene Adorabat's scared of the dark?)

"I'll mess 'em up real good! So good, their mommies and daddies won't be able to recognize them when I'm done..." Daaammmnnn...

"She scares me :)"

I wonder...is Sonara really dead? Or are they gonna pull a Kipo & have her still be alive but in a different form?

Badge-A-Fire explosion

Uhh...where is Badgerclops? And why is Mao Mao on the top bunk?!

Of course Badgerclops is petty enough to install a fake monster alarm on his laptop to wake Mao Mao and Adorabat up.

"This is a super-serious work meeting, as you can see by the fact that I haven't provided any snacks!" No snacks?! This must be a serious issue!! /s

"As you know, I am a creative genius. Sometimes there's so much natural creative genius that my brain overloads, and I enter a heightened state that I call 'Ultra Focus'..." Oh so basically like hyperfixation?

"...where I break into a creative sprint, inventing super-advanced technology at supernatural speeds, unparalleled by anyone in the entire field of science." Okay maybe only a LITTLE bit like hyperfixation...wait a second, IS THAT WHY BADGERCLOPS IS SO TIRED ALL THE TIME?!

Uhh did he get his arm stuck in the front door? HE TOOK THE AEROCYCLE?!

"...I forget everything the next morning." Remember my headcanon that Badgerclops represses his memories? Yea...

"Which is why it's not my fault and I don't think I should be criticized :D" TBH I screamed with laughter at this scene solely because of the expression he made

...HE GAVE THE SKY PIRATES THE GEM CELL?! I mean he clearly wasn't thinking right when he did it BUT STILL?!

"Oh hey, I told you I'd use that weird elevator thing!" Dude you LITERALLY used it in Ultraclops. What are you talking about.

"If the Sky Pirates had the Gem Cell, they would've used it already!" That is a fair point ngl.

Umm...did Badgerclops give Adorabat a BOMB?!

Tbh if my friend woke me up in the middle of the night with weird-looking eyes and handed me a timer while saying something about an explosion I would DEFINITELY not go back to sleep afterwards...

I'm sorry, IS THE WHOLE VALLEY GONNA BLOW UP?! WHAT THE HELL DID HE MAKE?!

Mao wiping Badgerclops' tears I'm

A paper towel dispenser? Well that's not that bad - IS THAT A GIANT PAIR OF PANTS?!

Ooh it's not a shock collar it's a translator!! That makes a bit more sense... "I HAVE NO REMORSE OR CONCEPT OF EMPATHY!" ...if the monster doesn't have remorse or empathy how does it know what those words mean...

Badgerclops keeps telling Mao Mao & Adorabat not to criticize him...hmm...I wonder who criticized his inventions that made him that way...*cough* HIS MOM *cough*

"Are all your inventions this weird?!" "YOU'RE WEIRD!!"

IM SORRY DID BADGERCLOPS BUILD A DANCING MACHINE INTO MAO MAO'S BONES?! HIS BONES?! AND HE MADE ADORABAT A SECOND MEGAPEG?!

What in the absolute hell is going on dgaadhdagdadga

Okay but when Badgerclops clutched his head and started shaking when Mao Mao asked why he made those things...I FELT THAT IN MY HEART I FELT THAT IN MY SOUL

Ngl this scene really hit home for me cuz that's how I act when I have a breakdown...

The timer went off but nothing blew up - WAIT, IS THAT A REPLICA OF MECHA HOSSORAFFASNAKEARANG?!

"Initializing Totally Humane Knockout Procedure." (Proceeds to slam the Sheriff's Dept. into the ground) ajdajdgdad

Ooh...ohh they're on some sort of water park...ride...thing??

"And if I didn't want us to get out, then I made sure we couldn't...with super-strong shoe things." But there isn't any on Adorabat, can't she just squeeze herself out?

Ooh I'm getting Pirates of the Caribbean vibes

There's the Gem Cell, it must be powering the ride! Also the robotic arm slaps Mao's hand the same way Mao slaps Badgerclops' hand in Flyaway skkkk

"My amazing creativity is finally gonna destroy us all..." "Hey, at least we'll be destroyed together!" Fair point, fair point

The shoosh returneth

"I always loved inventing." So he was an inventor ever since he was little? Daww.

YOUNG BC IS SO ADORABLE!! He has a lil medical patch instead of an eyepatch which is def more accurate to real life...but what's the vest for? Protection in case he falls? A pressure stim?

That figure's def his mom since they rejected his ideas & he mentions she was mean to him. Also the theory that his mom's a villain seems a bit stronger since they straight-up hand him a tool kid + a set of blueprints with no regard to his safety...

"Also there was a bunch of other kids at school and some other people throughout my life who mocked me relentlessly." THEN WHY'D YOU TELL ADORABAT YOU COULDN'T RELATE TO HER WHEN SHE SAID NO ONE WANTED TO BE HER FRIEND?! (Also I noticed literally all the kids are other badgers, so I'm assuming Badgerclops grew up sheltered like Mao Mao did.)

So the Ultra Focus is basically a really weird coping mechanism to deal with all the abuse and bullying he went through? Holy fuckkk

"They only made fun of you because they were jealous. Happened to me my whole life!" Umm...

"Even the dance chip I surgically implanted in your brain?" Excuse me the dance chip that you WHAT

"I love you-" HE SAID IT 💗💓💗💓

"I'm finally around people who love and understand me..."

Wait did the cannon misfire? DID IT BLOW A HOLE IN THE GROUND?!

OH HE ACTUALLY DID CREATE AN ANIMATRONIC BAND?! I THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE!!

"Take it away, Boss Hosstritch!" (Distorted garbling)

Oof Mao caught all the water

"We hope you all enjoyed being Badgerclops' friend." 💞💕💞💕

Not that anyone cares but I noticed there's a picture of some of the Sweetypies on the monitors, meaning 1. Badgerclops tested it out using them first, or 2. Badgerclops just likes those Sweetypies for whatever reason. Tho that makes me wonder why he'd choose Pinky of all people...

THE SKY PIRATES WERE INSIDE THE ANIMATRONICS THE WHOLE TIME?! THE MAN BEHIND THE SLAUGHTE

Zing Your Heart Out

Why are they giving out rotten sushi??

"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME EATING SOMETHING GROSSLY?!"

Ooh god Chester's gonna be super freaking annoying in this episode, I can feel it.

"What's blue and smells like red paint? Blue paint!" BAYBEY

Jesus what a prick. GET HIM MAO MAO

Ngl that background's really pretty...

Oooh no the Ruby Pure Heart's being weird again. Ooh no.

FUCK YEA ROAST HIM BABY - Did Adorabat's eyes turn purple because the Ruby Pure Heart gave her powers?

Oh so the siren in Badgerclops' robo-arm is a backup monster alarm?

More Sky Pirates - and the Pure Heart's being weird again...

"I'd tell you but despite your height it'd go right over your HEAD!" Asdfgghjjk

"For someone with two brains, you're not very BRIGHT!" EVEN BETTER

Kevin said he was raising money for a school trip, then for a trip to the hospital...which one is he raising money for?!

"SILENCE PANCAKE, LEST YE BE BUTTERED"

OOH NO SHE ATTACKED MAO AND BC

"IT FEELS LIKE THE WEIGHT OF ONE THOUSAND PLANETS!!"

"One second, I'm getting mad, and the next thing you know-" Is she freaking possessed??

Wait, is the Pure Heart TALKING to Adorabat?! How?!

Cluckins you don't ask people what's wrong with their eyeballs...even if there is something wrong with their eyeballs

"I CAN'T FEEL MY SELF-RESPECT!!"

The pure 'oh shit' on Marion's face when Adorabat turns to her

Half of the people she insulted showed up to her party! Didn't that mean she loved them?!

Oh god not this bitch again - nvm, thanks Adorabat

"Taking over the castle and ruling Pure Heart Valley forever does sound nice..." This is starting to remind me of that one AU where Adorabat turns evil, becomes the ruler of the Sky Pirates, then convinces them to kill Snugglemagne and becomes the queen of Pure Heart...she isn't gonna kill Snugglemagne, is she?

What did Adorabat tell Snugglemagne?! I WANNA KNO

Why is Pinky stealing teeth...reminds me of this

NO BC DON'T EAT THE TEETH

"I...hate myself! Therefore, I'm invincible!" So the trick to not getting your ego destroyed...is to not have an ego. Sounds reasonable.

"Your bug platter, my king?" Genderfluid Adorabat rights

"Mao Mao, your head looks like a CROW!" (Mao Mao caws) IT WAS A LIE HE ISN'T A CAT HE WAS A CROW THIS WHOLE TIME-

"It looks like a half-melted ice cream cone!!" That is...a strange way to describe your own neck...

"Well, I'm...bad (◡‿◡)" Kinda weird that the canonically depressed character can't even cleverly insult himself

...why does Adorabat's skin smell like old cantaloupe

OH SHE IS POSSESSED!!

HOLY SHIT MAO WAS GONNA FUCKING MURDER ADORABAT TO SAVE THE KINGDOM?! THANK GOD HE SAW HER JOKE BOOK, HOLY SHIT

Positivity outweighs negativity!

"WHERE DOES A 800 POUND GORILLA SIT?!" "Where ever it wants!◝(⁰▿⁰)◜" Curse you for making me laugh...

OOH NO THE JOKEBOOK! - Wait nvm Mao remembers Adorabat's jokes!

I think the reason they used that joke is because it represents Mao Mao and Adorabat - Adorabat is blue, and she wants to be like Mao Mao, who wears red. What is BLUE, and smells like (is similar to) RED paint?

YAAAY HE BROKE HER FREE FROM MIND CONTROL!! And did BC get Thanos snapped in the background?

"Thank goodness you're alright! We almost..." Fucking murdered you? Yea

"Might we have our crown and kingdom back, yes?"

"Sorry for being such a monster today." "You're a monster everyday." Is that a joke because she was today's villain, a reference to Sleeper Sofa or foreshadowing?

I hope Mao Mao and Badgerclops decide to investigate what's up with the Heart in Season Two, cause I highly doubt they'll let Adorabat getting fucking possessed go under the radar.

The visual gag of Mao trying to stomp out his ice cream cone like a cigarette is perfect. This is peak comedy everyone else go home

WHOOP CHESTER'S ASS GUYS

Strange Bedfellows

"So, your name is Boss Hosstrich, but you're not actually the boss?" How long did it take him to realize that

JFC Mao & Orangusnake are REALLY hellbent on killing each other huh...at least the deputies and the other Sky Pirates have common sense.

Hahaha nice Dragon Ball Z reference - and they both got crushed by the monster! Lovely.

...did Mao seriously think he died and went to heaven?

So does Orangusnake breathe through Tanner or do they both breathe independently & Coby can feel when Tanner can't?

Dang those skeletons remind me of the Steven Universe Future episode Growing Pains. And why is Lucky inside of Orangusnake? "THAT WAS MY LUNCH, JERK!" Ooh that's why.

"They're full of these tiny, little cracks or, as they're known in the medical field, 'whoopsie-boo-boos'." AGSADGASGADGDASG

Damn their skeletons are just gonna freaking evaporate huh...

"The doctor said I was very brave :D"

Ooh shit the Deputies and the other Sky Pirates met at the same elevator, are they gonna fight - nevermind, they're still calling time.

JESUS CHRIST ARE MAO & ORANGUSNAKE EVER GONNA STOP?!

"You don't have the guts!" "I have a million guts." That is...mildly concerning

"Yeah, I wanted to be a baker, before I realized I liked hurting people so much." Then why doesn't she just like, help Muffins or something?

Tbh I thought Ratarang was holding a gun and I'm glad it was just a weirdly wrapped banana

CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME.

"Aww, y'all shouldn't have - this is empty." "Just like my heart when you injure yourself!!" He loves him sm...💓💓

"Why didn't you bring me weapons?!" "Because this is a hospital, and I'm a good boy (◡‿◡ )"

"I really feel like this could be a turning point in their relationship." (Mao and Orangusnake proceed to try and kill each other again) *sigh*

Ngl Mao & Orangusnake constantly repeating themselves is getting super annoying.

That hospital bed beeping is giving me flashbacks to all the times I went to the hospital for seizures...

"You know y'all could live like this, like, all the time if you didn't go around hurting people, right?" "Pssh! Tsk-tsk, boy. You know I gots to hurt people." Uhh you guys should really listen to Badgerclops he knows what tf he's talking about

UUhh, whose egg is that? "MAMA" ASGagddahDh

Of course they had to land in freaking CEMENT to realize that maybe they shouldn't kill each other

Did Mao just deflate like a ballo- oh nvm there he go.

Boneless Mao. Boneless Mao.

And Mao saved Orangusnake!! By...breaking every bone in his body somehow.

"I'm the kind of hero who wants to save you so I can fight you later...at the right time and place." Just gonna file this along with the credit score scene from Perfect Couple in the 'Orangumao' folder.

Is Badgerclops duct taping Mao to the stretcher? I mean, at least he won't move & hurt himself again but geez

Tbh Zing would’ve made a better finale than this ep. At least it had a sequel hook

[m00nslippers]

Why as a Jason Todd fan, I don’t talk about ‘punishing’ Jason.

I wrote this as a response on one of my other posts but I think it needs to be it’s own post.

I’ve been seeing a lot of ‘discourse’ about Jason fans not talking about the things Jason has done like shooting Damian (twice) and beating up Tim (twice) or railing on Bruce or Dick or whoever. They are annoyed that I and others are not calling for the pitchforks and continue to be sympathetic. I’ve seen some unreasonable people who seem to think no Jason fan will admit (at least to their satisfaction) that Jason has done bad things. Some seem to want me to admit that Jason is a bad person, which I think is unreasonable and untrue. They also think it’s unreasonable for me to hold the bat family responsible for not giving Jason adequate psychiatric care and emotional support.

So here. I’ll explain why I think the way I do.

Do I, as a Jason fan not talk about Jason’s violence that much or hold him as accountable as you apparently do? Maybe not, I don’t know, but if that’s the case then I’ll tell you why.

Jason-Antis see Jason’s violence as something he chose to do with full knowledge, presumably because he just likes hurting people or because he’s so selfish that he’s willing to hurt people to get something that benefits him and only him.

But that’s not how I see it. I see Jason’s violence as a symptom of abuse. The vast majority of the time, Jason’s violence is a reaction out of fear, to escape or prevent himself from being hurt or abused, or prevent the hurt or abuse of others.

Honestly the vast majority of time in society in general crime or abuse is a result of past abuse or other issues like poverty or the person’s needs otherwise being met. You meet the need, you treat the root, the unwanted behavior goes away.

Jason has been conditioned to violence for his entire life, by his upbringing in Crime Alley, by the abuse from his father, by Bruce training him to be Robin, by Talia training him to kill people. Jason’s entire life has taught him to use violence to meet his needs and solve his problems. It’s not his nature, it’s just  all he knows how to do. He’s like a dog who has been hit and beat and starved and thrown into dog fights. Of course he’s going to attack people the moment he thinks he needs to. Is that the fault of the dog? No, it’s the fault of the human who trained him that way. So if it’s not the dog’s fault then should it still be punished? No, it should be re-conditioned in a place where it can’t hurt anyone until it’s safe to enter society.

But Jason is not a dog, he’s a human with logic and reason and empathy, you say. Yes, but the kind of systematic abuse and conditioning that someone like Jason has undergone will literally warp your view or reality, will interfere with your ability to use reason and logic and if you are afraid or desperate enough it will overcome your ability to empathize with others too.

But Jason’s actions often seem systematic and manipulative, you say, so doesn’t that mean he’s just hurting people for selfish reasons because he wants something? Not necessarily, Jason is highly trained and clearly makes decisions in a very systematic way. He’s highly intelligent and has a lot of self control, so he channels his fear into planning and strategy, which have been taught to him by others. Most times when he’s been really violent he’s actually been trying to get away/escape capture. Other times when he’s been violent he’s been very emotionally distraught. And still other times it’s in service of his goal to kill criminals–which is born out of his fear and pain of them continuing to hurt him or others. He might seem in control, but that’s only because of his training, and his constant planning and goal in itself is mostly a response to his constant anxiety and fear. He channels it into his revenge/execution plans.

So you look at me and you say, well fine, let’s say for arguments sake all Jason’s actions all stem from his untreated mental illness. But there still needs to be a punishment because what he did was wrong.

But I’m telling you that, logically speaking, no. He actually shouldn’t be, not if your goal is to prevent the behavior–which for Jason absolutely needs to be the goal because clearly punishing him is impossible if you aren’t going to kill him since he keeps escaping prison (which is part of his point, that punishment is either impossible or doesn’t work for some criminals. He is a walking case of his own point.). Punishing him isn’t going to stop him from killing people, it’s not going to stop him from hurting people, it’s not going to stop anything it’s mostly just going to make it worse. Because nothing the bats are willing to do is worse than what he’s already been through, what he’s already built up in his head as the consequence of not killing/hurting people. At this point every criminal he sees is just the Joker and he’s terrified at the thought of him/them walking free to hurt him or hurt others.

The bats tried to punish Jason multiple times, they’ve tried fighting him, they’ve tried imprisoning him, they’ve tried yelling at him, they’ve tried ‘reasoning with him’ (he’s sick, he’s not reasonable). But none of it worked. Jason kept killing, kept ‘acting out’.

But you know what curbed Jason from killing? Roy and Kori. Once he got friends who weren’t telling him every moment ‘you’re a killer, stop killing, you’re crazy’, who were emotionally supportive, who made him feel safe–low and behold he stopped or at least significantly calmed down. That’s honestly how I know that most of his behavior is anxiety/fear based.

And sure you can say, ‘well different people wrote different things it’s just different writers writing him differently you can’t read anything into it.’ Well maybe, but I can and I am. The more I read about him the less I actually want to throw out, the more cohesive it actually feels to me in a lot of ways. And If you are going to hold Jason responsible for everything he’s been written as doing, then you have to take his New 52 change too. You can’t have the first and not the second. Either he beat up Tim and shot Damian and calmed down as soon as he got friends, or neither count because they are both writers writing him ‘out of character’ and there’s not point even bringing those things up.

So to my mind at least, talking about punishing Jason is stupid, it’s pointless, and it’s pointless talking about it. That’s honestly why as a Jason fan I don’t and why I don’t dwell on the fact he’s done “messed up things to his family.”Yeah, I identify with him but I don’t identify with his ‘need for validation’. I identify with his need for psychiatric treatment that he can’t get because his family will not treat it as the disease it is, with the care he deserves. Because that’s been me before, and it’s a reality for a lot of people in the country I live in.

And yes, asking his family to recognize his illness and bring him in, to accept him and help him even though he’s actively hurting them is a lot to ask for the average family. But the bat-family is not the average family. They are geniuses and they have all been trained in psychology and victim treatment, and they are trained physical fighters who can protect themselves against him. If anyone can handle it, it’s them. They know better, they can do better. In a world with non-shitty DC writers they probably would do better. But if we’re taking all of Jason’s shitty writing, then we are taking all of theirs too. And I don’t think they are doing as much as they are capable of.

So that’s a problem which a lot of the anti-Jason arguments that I see. They are solely focused on the bad things he’s done, and saying his fans are ignoring them. They say ‘yeah he’s traumatized, but that doesn’t excuse him hurting people’. And from my perspective that’s missing the point.

And I don’t want to call anyone out or make assumptions about anyone, but this kind of thinking, that people with mental illness and people who commit crimes are responsible for their own actions and no one else is culpable even though their action or inaction resulted in their behavior–feels like the same kind of bullshit I see everywhere in society. This person steals–let’s not address the fact that they can’t afford to eat because they aren’t paid a living wage, let’s just throw them in jail. It’s the same mentality.

Punish the symptom instead of treating the illness. It’s just laziness, in my opinion.

[alteridolriley]

67 - When One Stops The Kiss To Whisper “I’m Sorry, Are You Sure You-” And They Answer By Kissing Them More - (Human/High School AU - Patton (sophomore) is captain of the dance team and virgil (freshman) is a new transfer student who has rumors going around that he hurt someone bc he was expelled from his previous school)

Words: 1,705 - Virgil knew it was wrong. Getting a crush on the kindest, sweetest boy in school while also having a criminal record and rumors tied to your name was a terrible idea. Virgil knew Patton would never give him the time of day since he was always so busy with the dance team. But seeing Patton leading the group of dancers during pep rallies made the rally itself so much more bearable. Patton was so adorable. He always had on the biggest smile, showcasing his dimples. His bright blue eyes seemed to pierce straight into Virgil's heart. Everyone loved Patton. He was always surrounded by friends at school. Even when Virgil would run into him in the bathroom, Patton had at least one person waiting for him. Virgil wondered what that was like. Being the transfer student, with the rumors going on around him, people tended to avoid him. Didn't help he had the emo look to help him look quote on quote "dangerous". Virgil got lost in his thoughts as he walked back to his class from a locker visit. Without even looking up from his phone, something suddenly slammed into him, causing virgil to fall back, slamming his head onto the tile floor. "Its what you deserve." Someone scoffed loudly. Virgil rubbed his head as he sat up, feeling lightheaded. He looked up to see a student he didn't recognize staring daggers down at him. If looks could kill, he'd be dead. "You should apologize for running into me, Mr. Violent. Who knows what the school might do if I tell them you're harassing me?" The bully said. Virgil ignored them, choosing to pick up his scattered papers and binders. "Excuse me, are you listening?" The bully snarled, kicking Virgil in his waist, knocking him back onto the ground. Virgil coughed as the air was pushed out of his stomach. He clutched his torso in pain. "Hey!" Another voice called. Virgil opened his eyes to see Patton standing just outside the restroom door across the hall. "What are you doing, Luke?" He asked hotly. Virgil had never heard Patton so mad before. "Nothing coach." Luke said, shrugging his shoulders. Virgil noticed in that moment that Luke and Patton were similarly dressed. Dance team sweats. "This asshole bumped into me and then refused to apologize." "You can cut the lying, Luke. I saw it all." Patton retorted, pushing past Luke and over to Virgil. Patton helped Virgil to stand after gathering his things off the floor. "I suggest apologizing to Virgil. He didn't do anything to you." Luke glared. "You can't prove he didn't." "Maybe I can't. But that newly installed camera over there can." Patton explained as he pointed to a nearby exit. The camera hung down from the middle and pointing right at them. "If you had listened during the pep rally maybe you would've remembered when Mrs. Chambers told us about the new motion detected and voice activated camera systems." Patton smirked as the color drained from Luke's face. Without a word, the bully pushed past them and down the hall, vanishing from sight. "Hey... you okay?" Patton asked, during all of his attention back to Virgil. Virgil felt a bit dazed but overall felt okay. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Really. Um... thank you, Patton." He felt his face growing hot. "Are you sure?" Patton asked. "Your face is really red--" he reached out to feel Virgil's forehead, but Virgil pulled back just out of reach. "No! No..." Virgil coughed. "I'm fine. I am. Sorry you had to help me. Uh..." he fiddled with his papers, not really looking at Patton. "How did you know my name?" Patton raised his eyebrows a bit as he bit his lip. "Well, I hear the rumor mill a lot being the dance team captain." Virgil's heart sank. "Oh... yeah-- of course you would. Hey um... I'm gonna go." He turned to leave, only to have Patton grab his wrist. "I don't believe what they say about you. I truly don't." Patton said softly. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm here, okay?" Virgil shook his head. "You don't want to hang out with me. It'll ruin your reputation around here right?" Patton shrugged. "I don't really care if it does or doesn't." He said simply. "Virgil, being honest, I've been interested in you since you first arrived." It was Patton's turn to blush. "I wanted to say something earlier, but I didn't want to overwhelm you and I tend to be followed around a lot. I don't have many friends." Virgil suddenly felt terrible. All those times he could've said something to Patton and all that time, Patton wanted to say something to him too? "Meet me behind the bleachers in the gym today?" Patton asked. "Our practice starts at 4:30. So I have some time." Virgil nodded. "Okay." Patton smiled brightly and Virgil felt his face grow hot again. "Yay! See you then!" Patton waved and took off down a nearby hallway, his sneakers scooting sound echoing loudly. 

Virgil sat there and stared at the clock on the wall. It was 2:55pm. Classes ended in 20 minutes. In 20 minutes he would be alone with Patton Foster behind the gym bleachers. 

As the blood rushed to his face even worse, Virgil turned on his heel back to his class. 

Focusing was, luckily, unnecessary as when Virgil arrived back in class, all of the students were talking. Virgil snuck back into his desk, quickly taking down the few notes he had missed in the notebook he had gone to his locker to get. 

"Virgil."

Virgil looked up to his teacher, Mr. Picani, waving at him to come up to his desk. Virgil took the long way around his classmates but eventually arrived at the desk.

"Yes sir?" Virgil asked. He held his hands together nervously. 

"I passed out a homework assignment while you were going to your locker. Here you go." Mr. Picani said with a smile. Virgil glanced at the math packet and released a breath. Good. He wasn't in trouble. "Also, I just wanted to let you know, all of the teachers are aware of the rumors going around about you. We will take care of it soon. There's only so much we can do unfortunately. But just know we are on your side, okay?" Mr. Picani placed his hand on Virgil's shoulder and squeezed. 

Virgil bowed slightly to his teacher. "Thank you sir..." he turned and walked back to his seat only for the bell to chime as he arrived. 

All of his classmates clambered out of the classroom quickly. Virgil felt his heart start to race as he packed up his last book into his backpack.

He walked out of the class and towards the center of the school to the gym. Upon walking inside, Virgil saw all of the dance team member stretching and getting ready. 

"Pssssst."

Virgil looked towards the bleachers to see Patton waving at him. Virgil quickly walked over and slipped into the small opening between the two sets of bleachers. It was an obvious hangout spot as there was trash laying all over the floor and discarded drinks and bags. 

"I'm glad you came." Patton started as he sat down on his varsity jacket. "I kinda wondered if you were actually going to." He scratched his head. 

Virgil shrugged. "I mean... it's not like I can tell the most popular kid in school "no"?" He meant it as a joke but Patton's eyes drooped.

"Yeah I guess not..." Patton leaned over, grabbed a light blue water bottle and took a swig. "But I'm honestly just a figurehead for it all." Virgil sat down across from him. "I'm the captain because I'm good at what I do. That part is true. But I'm far from being the most popular. Most people say I'm just a goody two shoes, walking around buddy buddy with the teachers so I can get what I want." Patton took another drink. "I'm not Patton to them. I'm Foster, the top dance team member, honor roll, probably will be valedictorian." 

Virgil could see a gloss look cover Patton's eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but Patton continued. 

"When you started at school, you were the first person to talk to me like I was just another student. You didnt talk to me to get anything out of me..." Patton smiled. "I admired you for that." He fiddled with his bottle. "Then I heard the rumor. The rumor that you had assaulted someone and had a criminal record." Virgil felt his body tense up. "I'll be upfront with you. I did some digging online and I found what actually happened...and I'm so sorry." 

Patton reached his hand out and Virgil gently took it into his own. "Thank you Patton." Virgil said softly. He felt his hands trembling but he was powerless to stop it. Patton took his other hand and Virgil's, holding Virgil's in between his own. "I-- I have wanted to speak to you for awhile now, Patton. But I... I was afraid." Virgil felt his face grow hot. "But it's great to know you're just as kind as you look."

Patton blinked, his own face flushing a bit. It was in that moment both boys realized how close they were sitting to each other. Their eyes met and without any words, both leaned forward and their lips touched. It was soft and dry. Minty and sweet. 

"I'm sorry." Patton pulled away. "Are you sure you--"

Virgil cut him off by crossing the gap between them and kissing Patton again. This time it was passionate and messy as Virgil held onto Patton's cheeks gently. Patton ran his hands through Virgil's hair. It was quiet as the two parted lips, leaning back and smiling sheepishly at each other. 

"I like you, Patton. Your smile, your laugh, your kind heart." Virgil explained. "I hope... I hope that's okay."

Patton smiled, showing off his cute dimples. "I like you too, Virgil. A lot. Your understanding, strength, and your resilience." 

The boy's leaned together, touching foreheads and laughing. This was their moment and it was just the start of many more moments to come.

(Prompts are closed!)

[thegayfromrulid]

A request in my DMs <3 from a lovely friend. My head is swimming right now I have such a bad head cold but. Whoo. I got this done today and I’m happy I did. One-shot below the cut.

           “We need your help to restore Kirigaya. That’s the most basic way to put it.”

           There was static for a moment, and then a voice responded, sounding wary and possibly frightened.

           “I-I’m not sure I follow…who’s Kirigaya?”

            He straightened up in his chair. So far, so good.

           “Kirigaya Kazuto. Our data indicates that you were nearby when damage happened to his Fluctlight. Ah, but you don’t know what a Fluctlight is.”

           A man in a kimono placed his hand on his seated coworker’s shoulder.

           “Higa, wait.”

           The voice spoke up again, this time clearly afraid.

           “I can’t…I can’t see anything…who’s Kirigaya? Where am I?”

           The man in the kimono frowned up at the big screen in front of him. It had taken a lot of work on Higa’s part to harvest this data—the data of someone very close to Kazuto’s heart. He felt a slight bit of guilt for putting this artificial Fluctlight in such a situation, where he had no body and no sensory input other than sound. It must have been horrifying.

           “Try to stay calm. You probably might know Kirigaya by a different name. Sometimes he goes by ‘Kirito.’ Is that name familiar to you?”

           It should be, he hoped. Their data had revealed that they’d messed up Kirigaya’s dive. He was completely aware of himself inside of the Soul Translator. But that wasn’t important. What was important was that this Fluctlight, a reconstruction of a deceased Fluctlight known as Eugeo based off of stray data left behind, recognized Kirigaya in some format still.

           The voice hummed in thought.

           “How do you know Kirito?”

           He smiled.

           “Wow, you knew the right keyword, didn’t you, Kikuoka?”

           Higa gave him a thumbs’ up. He turned his attention back to the screen.

           “Kirito is from our world. Does this make sense?”

           The voice hummed again.

           “I think…I think so. Administrator mentioned Kirito being from a different world. I’m confused. I can’t see anything.”

           Kikuoka tried his best to sound reassuring.

           “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to see soon enough. I don’t know that you’ll understand all of this, but my interest is in saving Kirito’s life. If you agree to comply, we will transfer your Fluctlight—your soul, so to speak—into one of our administrative accounts. The account’s name is Vector. With the account, you’ll have certain privileges that will hopefully allow you to find Kirito and restore his Fluctlight. Are you following?”

           There was a pause.

           “I don’t quite understand,” he said. “But I’ll do anything to help Kirito. Just tell me what I need to do.”

           Kikuoka and Higa shared a grin. This just might work.

           “When you come to, you’re going to be in the Dark Territory. Since you will be in command of the Vector ID, the residents will likely obey you. I can’t give too much of a guarantee on that, but you’ll have more power than them. Kirito is presently in Rulid. You’ll have to reenter the Human Empire through the gate in the east.”

           He gave a huff.

           “Gate in the east? I’m following so far.”

           Kikuoka nodded.

           “Good, good. This is going to kickstart a Final Stress Test. Basically, the Human Empire will think you’re attacking. You might have to fight through them to get to Kirito.”

           Eugeo didn’t seem to be wavered by the thought.

           “We’re already criminals in the eyes of the church. I would have run away to the Dark Territory with him because of our rebellion. Fighting through the Integrity Knights won’t be any different this time.”

           Laughing, Kikuoka crossed his arms, shook his head, and smirked up at the screen.

           “How bold of you.”

           The boy wasn’t done.

           “Once I reach Kirito, what do I have to do? I don’t know anything about…Fluct…”

           Kikuoka drew in a deep breath.

           “For the ease of your lack of understanding for how our world works, Kirito’s soul is damaged. All you have to do is fix what was damaged—soul data. Something like a touch might be sufficient. In fact, a touch might be best. His mind is blocked off, but his body is still receiving sensory input. Touching him is sure to stimulate him.”

           He could almost feel the artificial Fluctlight nodding at him.

           “That sounds simple enough.”

           Kikuoka huffed.

           “So, you’ll accept this mission?”

           There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in the young man’s voice.

           “Without question.”

           Higa started to furiously type on the keypad in front of him.

           “Best of luck to you, then,” he said, casting a nervous glance up at the screen. “I’m going to transfer your Fluctlight into the Vector ID now. Please remain calm.”

           The audio line went dead. Kikuoka looked down at Higa and waited. After a few minutes, Higa looked up to meet his gaze and gave him a curt nod.

           “His Fluctlight safely was logged into the Vector super-account. Here’s hoping he is able to help Kirigaya.”

           Kikuoka smiled and patted his colleague on the shoulder.

           “He’ll do just fine. I know it.”

             The sensation of regaining a physical form was difficult for him to place. When talking to the two people he couldn’t see, his only active sense had been sound. His senses seemed to turn on one by one following a high-pitched sound. He only knew, when his sight returned to him at last, that he was in the Dark Territory. Where within it was anyone’s guess. The strange, faceless men hadn’t been all-too specific.

           A woman dressed too scantily for her to be Axiom church clergy slowly approached him. The way she held herself might suggest that she intended to seduce him to get what she wanted. He didn’t care about that. He was back in this world to find Kirito and save him. The woman bowed to him slowly.

           “Emperor…Vector…I presume?” she said. “I anticipated your arrival.”

           She must be someone important to Vector. Eugeo had never thought of Vector as more than a god; here, he seemed to just be the ruler of the Dark Territory, based on the way this woman approached him so casually. He picked himself up. He’d been sitting, it seemed. He took a glance down at his body. Strange clothes, the likes of which he couldn’t easily describe—they were nothing like the clothing of the Human Empire. They were dark colors and draped him like robes. Somehow, he found himself laughing.

           Darker colors always suited Kirito better, he thought.

           “Does something amuse you, my lord?” the woman asked.

           Eugeo straightened up. He didn’t know how to talk to her. “With authority” was the obvious answer here. But Eugeo’s only experience with being a figure of authority extended to mentoring his page, Tiese. This woman clearly wasn’t a swordswoman-in-training of powerless noble background. The way she held herself suggested that she, too, held authority over someone. He just had to assert himself as the superior here. Otherwise, she might walk all over him.

           “There’s someone I need to reach in the Human Empire.”

           The woman’s eyes widened.

           “Are you suggesting an attack, Emperor Vector?”

           He didn’t like that name. It reminded him of darkness. No, that wasn’t quite it. That’s what he’d called Kirito when he’d first met him, not realizing that his friend wasn’t really someone with no memory—a lost child of Vector. Funny, that a darkness god’s name should bring Kirito to mind. Kirito wasn’t someone filled with darkness.

           Or was he?

           Those men had spoken of saving his Fluctlight—they’d used that term to refer to the human soul. A funny, foreign-sounding word to Eugeo’s ears. Something was wrong with Kirito’s soul. What else could that be but darkness? He had the key to fixing it. His own touch. He gazed down at his hand for a brief moment, feeling devastated that he couldn’t just appear before him now and brush his fingers against Kirito’s skin. How could he explain this situation—this need to reach out and touch Kirito and save him from the darkness—to this woman, whose name he didn’t even know?

           Their eyes met. She was testing him. Her words indicated that she knew him to be her leader, but her body language tipped him off that he needed to be wary. She wanted an attack. And according to the men he’d spoken with before, an attack would have to happen in order for him to reach Kirito. What other choice did he have, then? He gave her a curt nod.

           “I don’t see any other way of getting to him,” Eugeo said. “Integrity Knights will likely stand in our way. They’re guarding him in the north.”

           The woman shifted her weight.

           “Our only way to attack is through the gate on the eastern border of the mountains,” she said. “You plan to fight your way into the north?”

           Eugeo nodded once more, this time with more feeling.

           “I do.”

           He turned to fully face her, making sure to stand at his full height.

           “What is your name?”

           Her lips curled up into a smile. She bowed again.

           “D.I.L., Emperor Vector,” she said. “The leader of the Dark Arts guild.”

           He had to keep himself from shuddering at the thought of dark arts. They were likely the Dark Territory’s answer to sacred arts. He might not be able to get away with using sacred arts around her, although he hoped he wouldn’t have to delve into that.

           “Well, then, D.I.L.,” he said. “We shouldn’t wait around here. We have an empire to invade.”

           If he kept his eye on the goal, then, and only then, would he be redeemed.

             All of this chaos for the sake of one man. The burning feeling that used to throb in his eye when he went against the Taboo Index was long gone—now, he just felt guilt as he stared at the battle before him. He’d caused this. He was only acting this way for his mission, and he kept telling himself that he couldn’t distract himself from the goal. This was no different than going against the Axiom Church, after all.

           The further he plowed through the battlefield, the more his desire to reach out and touch Kirito grew. He barely understood this feeling. At what point had he lost sight of saving his soul? He barely thought of that. The thought of his hand grasping Kirito’s once more drove him onwards. The thought gnawed at his consciousness, impeding his thoughts.

           A knight he wasn’t familiar with flew at him, tossing what looked like a throwing knife at him. Eugeo lifted his sword and deflected it. This Vector account or whatever those men had called it proved its worth in battle. His strength might have been more in this instance than it when he himself was converted into an Integrity Knight. He was grateful that it would likely keep him alive until he reached Kirito.

           The knight wasn’t finished with him after that, though. He, a young boy who had to be physically a handful of years younger than Eugeo, threw a second knife out. The first one glided back to his hand. He reached out and plucked it out of the air expertly. If not for the obvious flinch in his eyes, Eugeo might have thought he didn’t fear such a sharp, deadly weapon at all. Eugeo slowly approached the boy.

           “I don’t want to kill you,” he said. “Kirito wouldn’t like that.”

           The boy’s eyes widened just a little bit.

           “Kiri…to?”

           Eugeo pointed his sword at the young knight. He couldn’t hurt him. Even if he was wrong. Whatever they’d done to Kirito, he knew, deep down, that Kirito would protest killing even a single one of these knights.

           “They’re fighting for what they think is right, too.”

           His fingers gripped the sword tightly.

           “Please. Let me pass.”

           The boy stared at him, wide-eyed and unsure of what to do. Eugeo’s sword wavered uncertainly. This boy could strike him down here and now. His hesitation was all the knight needed in order to slay him. But the boy was frozen, as if Eugeo cast a spell on him. He stood there, still as a stone, until finally, his lips moved.

           “What do you want with Kirito?”

           “RENRI!”

           Before Eugeo could respond to the boy, another knight flew at him from his left. He thrust his sword up to block the incoming blow. Blonde hair whipped in the wind and golden armor glinted at him, both wrapped around a woman whose deep, blue eyes were filled with righteous anger. He did his best not to falter when he recognized her. He had to defend himself. This wasn’t about her anymore. This was about Kirito! Kirito was the one he wanted to hold!

           “Let…me…PASS!” he shouted, digging his heels into the ground.

           He shoved her sword back, putting his full strength into pushing against her brute force. She glared into his eyes. He glared back. Her scowl deepened for a moment, but then, to his surprise, her brow softened.

           “Please…let me pass…” he whispered.

           There was no way she could hear him. His words had been too quiet. His plea had been tossed to the wind—a selfish desire that only he could care about. There was no way Alice, the woman standing between him and Kirito, would understand this. He prepared himself for an attack when he felt her pull back, but she just dropped her sword and stared at him in disbelief.

           Eugeo’s chance was now. He had both of their attention.

           “I don’t want to hurt either of you.”

           Alice took a step forward. Eugeo lifted his sword, aiming it at her neck.

           “But I will if you force me to.”

           She took another step forward.

           “Your eyes…” she breathed.

           He winced. He lowered his sword just a bit. She stopped about an arm’s length away from him. Her mouth was open in shock.

           “Eu…Eugeo?”

[skyechaser]

Silence in Atlas 3/? (Bumbleby)

DISCLAIMER: This is a dark take on volume 7. It includes graphic violence and could be triggering for some people. For other chapters look for #Silence in Atlas

--------

Yang had probably seen the video of Blake getting kidnaped about one hundred times. She had identified the exact moment when they shot what Yang believed to be tranquilizer at the faunus and had estimated the angle from when it came. Since there was nothing registered in the cameras around the park the blonde assumed it had come from one of the houses nearby. Now she stood at that exact same street looking at every possible place from where the shot could have come from. There were several windows that might have allowed the shooter to aim perfectly but there was something about one of them that caught her attention: there had been absolutely no movement in the hour she had been there.

“I think I have the place” she said into her scroll.  

“Want backup?” Ruby asked.

“No. Its okay. You go deal with the relic” she replied. The team was having a hard time dealing with the authorities in Atlas and since Ozpin was still pretty much locked inside Oscar they had to do recognizance on their own. “I’ll tell you if I find anything”

“Take care”

“You too” she put away her scroll and started making her way towards the darkened window. It was on the second floor of a seemingly abandoned house. She wanted to break through the door but decided otherwise. She didn’t want to make a scene and alter The Traders. She wanted to surprise them. She wanted to punch every single one of them to the brink of dead and let them rot in Atlas prison for the rest of their existences. It wasn’t really hard to enter through one of the first floor’s back windows. The place was trashed. Probably had been abandoned for a long time and had been used by drifters and criminals. She went up the stairs slowly, not really knowing if she was alone in the house.

The second floor was mostly empty. She entered the front room and clearly recognized it as the one she could see from the street. From the open window she could see the spot were Blake was taken. She looked around the room, using her scroll to light up the floor. It seemed pretty spotless. Yang didn’t rush. She looked at every single spot inside the room. It took her about forty five minutes before she actually found something. Under a broken piece of furniture she found a dart. A fucking dart.

Someone in that same room had shot Blake with a tranquilizer gun of some sort and they had taken her. They had taken her to sell her in the black market. Yang saw her tears hit the floor under the light of her scroll before she actually realized she was crying. It had already been four days. What was Blake going through? Why couldn’t she just calm herself and walk back to the house together? Why, Yang? She clenched her fists and took a deep breath. It was not time to break down. She had to get this dart to Ironwood’s specialists. Whatever information they gave her was one step closer to finding Blake.

-------   

The world was made of pain. Blake didn’t even know how much time had passed since they had taken her. It could have been a day. It could have been a week. Time lost sense when everything was taken by darkness. She was locked in that room with nothing but a bucket and, sometimes, a piece of hard bread. She had started to drink the water that dripped from a corner in the roof.

There was no way she was getting out of that place by herself. There were some sort of sensors, she had learned, that detected if she moved too close to the door and activated the collar. She thought maybe she would get used to being electrocuted and it would hurt less every time. That didn’t happen. Every single time she felt like life was being drained out of her. Even when the man did a warning click, or whatever he called them, she could feel all of body convulse.

“Kitten” the creepy man said as he entered the room. Her body tensed at the sound of his voice. “We are getting closer to your big day so I need to make sure you are in your best behavior, okay?”

Click. Nothing.

“So we are going to go through all our training”.

Click. Nothing.

“And make sure you are a good kitty”.  

Click. Nothing.  

“So come here and sit” he said, pointing to floor in front of him. Blake did as he told her, too afraid of being electrocuted again. Those warning clicks had really made a number on her without the actual electricity and she wasn’t looking forward to the world exploding in pain again.

“Good bitch” he said as he patted her on the head. She wanted to vomit. “Now look at me” She did.

Click. She fell to the ground, her body shaking uncontrollably from the pain. Then it stopped and she could hear the man laughing.

“Oops” he said “I’m sorry. My hand slipped” she sat buck up, not wanting to feel that agony ever again in her life. She looked at the man, her eyes puffy and red. “Very good. You are behaving pretty well, kitten. I am proud”

He patted her head twice and then proceed to hold one of her ears with his thumb and index finger. It was not painful but Blake felt it like a violation. No one touched her ears. She started shivering. She wanted to attack him but she knew he would just press that fucking button before she could do anything. He always seemed to know when she was even thinking about attacking him. The faunus girl thought it had something to do with his semblance. The man stroke her ear lightly and then held her chin with the same hand, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

“That’s a nice faunus” he whispered. He was always so creepy but in that particular moment Blake was absolutely terrified of him. It would turn out, of course, that there was a reason for that.

[sassylavellen]

Retribution: Chapter 3

Story: Dragon Age Retribution

A short(?) story by Sam Shenberger

Words: 1,637 (a shorter chapter but still)

The Annual Grand Tourney was once again approaching in a few short days, and the marketplace was even busier than normal. The Ostwick marketplace was known all throughout the Free Marches as a sort of melting pot of culture, merchants from all corners of Thedas would travel to pedal their wares in this, one of the greatest cities in the world. No matter the time of day, it was always bustling with activity.

Evelyn sat on the edge of a large fountain, eating an Orlesian style fruit tart and watching all the people in the market as they went about their business. She was making up a little game as she watched, inventing little scenarios and dialogues between them. Today had been a good day for the game, so far she had already come up with stories how an Ostwick noble was offended by the price of a farmer’s eggs, how two barmaids were giggling about how large their lovers’ manhoods were, and how the butcher was secretly having an affair with the baker’s husband.

Evelyn was once again dressed in a hooded cloak and wearing makeup to conceal her elven features. She rarely left the Trevelyan estate grounds without hiding them, especially with the tourney coming up again. It had only been a year since her public disgrace of a failure, and while most Ostwegians wouldn’t look twice at a lowly elf like her, she didn’t want to take any chances. Holli could protect her, but why make her if she could avoid it?

The glint off the cart of a smith caught her eye. Shoving the last bite of the tart in her mouth, she hopped off the fountain and hurried to catch up with the smith.

“Oi! Fletcher!” she called out to him. The smith glanced over his shoulder at her, but rolled his eyes when he saw her.

“Maker’s breath, you again?” he mumbled.

Evelyn stepped in front of him to stop him from continuing away from her. Fletcher was not the most trustworthy of merchants, but he had connections and could get things normal merchants couldn’t. “Always an honor seeing you too, Fletcher.” She said sarcastically. “Do you have what I need for my sword yet?”

Fletcher looked up at Evelyn. He was almost a head shorter than her. “No.” he said.

“No.” repeated Evelyn, disappointed. She crossed her arms, making sure to show him her muscles.

“That supposed to scare me?” he asked.

“You’re supposed to be…” she mumbled. Fletcher snorted.

“No one will ever be afraid of you the way you’re going about it.”

“Just tell me why you don’t have my stuff.” She said, annoyed.

“Do you know how hard it is to find bleed’n neverrite in these parts?”

“You said you could get it when I asked, that was over five months ago.”

“Well, things change. Buyers change.” He said.

“Then what do you want, more sovereigns? My coin is good.” Said Evelyn.

“Maybe it ain’t about the coin anymore.” He said. “Maybe I don’t feel comfortable selling to knife-ears”

Evelyn could have sworn she somehow felt her heart simultaneously drop and leap to her throat. She cleared her throat quickly, trying to keep herself composed.

“How dare you accuse me of being-” she began, but before she could finish, Fletcher whipped the hood off her head, exposing her pointed ears. She quickly put her hood back up, glaring at him. Suddenly he reached out and ripped her whole cloak off, throwing it onto the muddy ground. Several patrons in the square were now watching, a few began laughing as Evelyn fell to her knees to pick up her cloak, her face bright red.

“Thought you could fool ol’ Fletcher, eh?” he said, leering at Evelyn as she tried desperately to recompose herself. “I sees all, I do. You know what else I sees?” He shoved Evelyn back down to the ground and knelt down next to her. “I know who you are.” He said softly. “You’re that bitch who mucked over Damien in the Tourney.” Evelyn’s body physically hurt from all the raging emotions she was feeling. Anger. Fear. Embarrassment. Panic. Slowly, she stood back up. She towered over Fletcher, yet he stared right back at her in defiance.

“Alright, break it up.” Called a voice from behind Evelyn. She turned to see the crowd parting as a man came through. It was Stephen.

“My Lord!” Fletcher began, bowing to Stephen. “My lord, I have apprehended a criminal, and not just any criminal, the one that’s cheated in last year’s tourney! She should be reported to the guard! Nay, to the Templars!”

Stephen looked Evelyn in the eye for a good long moment, before stepping forward and addressing Fletcher.

“I’m afraid you must be mistaken.” He said. Stephen crossed his arms and spoke loud enough for the crowd to hear “The elf who cheated in last year’s Grand Tournament fled Ostwick and was arrested for thievery in Markham. And besides, I was there in the Tourney. This is not her.”

Evelyn said nothing, but her stomach knots began to loosen. Fletcher stammered in confusion. “Furthermore,” Stephen continued “If it’s cheats we wish to discuss, let us discuss you, Fletcher.”

“Me, my lord?” he said, visibly nervous.

“Yes, you. Is it not true that not three weeks ago, you sold a sword you claimed was made of silverite to the Delvay family? The sword in question was made Iron, with a mere thin coating of sliverite melted onto the blade, not forged as you swore from silverite.”

Fletcher took a step back. “My lord, I did not know…”

Stephen took a step closer. “The Delvey family are good friends with my family. I take this insult upon them very personally.”

Fletcher threw himself on the ground before Stephen. “A thousand apologies my lord!” he cried.

“I am not the one you need apologize to.” Replied Stephen. “You can begin with this young lady here.”

Fletcher shot Evelyn a sideways glance. The crowd gathered began whispering to one another, some were now laughing at Fletcher as he groveled. Finally, he stood back up and cleared his throat. “Sorry.” He mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?” said Stephen, the hint of a smile crossing his face. He was enjoying this.

“I’m sorry.” Said Fletcher louder.

“Good.” Stephen nodded. “Now I want you to provide the sword that was promised and paid for to the Delveys. I shall know if you don’t.”

Fletcher bowed once more. “Right away my lord!” He took his cart and hurried away.

Stephen turned and addressed the crowd. “The show is over, my good folk.” Like clockwork, the people gathered turned and continued about their business. Stephen turned to Evelyn.

“I had it under control.” She said with a shrug.

“I’m sure you did.” Stephen retorted with a slight smile. “You are lucky I was taking Charlie back to his mum earlier or I wouldn’t have passed this way.”

“Charlie?” asked Evelyn.

“One of my nephews.” He said.

“Oh… I didn’t know you had nephews. Holli never mentioned him.”

“Yeah, well… Amanda doesn’t really trust Holli with him.”

“Fair enough.” Evelyn laughed. It took her a second before what Stephen said really sank in. “Wait, did you say Amanda has kids?”

“Yes. Two boys and a baby girl.”

Evelyn shook her head. “Hard to imagine her as a mother. Then again, hard to imagine her as having a partner at all.”

Stephen chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”

After a pause, Stephen cleared his throat again. “You may want to lie low for a while. I don’t think anything more will come of what happened, but it’s better to be safe.”

Evelyn sighed. “Fine. It’s not like I’m going to get that sword I came to get… That’s 250 sovereigns I’m never getting back.”

“250 sovereigns? What sort of sword does that much coin buy?”

“One with a neverrite blade.”

“Neverrite?" asked Stephen with a slight laugh. "No one ever uses that for blades.”

“Exactly. It would be one-of-a kind, just like me.” She said as she crossed her arms.

“It’s purple.”

“My favorite color.” she said with a shrug.

They slowly became aware of a commotion happening in the square behind them. Several people were milling about frantically and there were several panicked voices.

"What in Andraste's name...?" started Stephen before he ran off to see what was happening. Evelyn quickly picked her cloaked back up and hurried to catch up with him.

As they approached the square, the commotion became so loud that she could barely make anything out. She quickly lost sight of Stephen and as was walking. Whatever was going on was certainly serious. A woman bumped into her as she hurried away.

"What's happening?" Evelyn tried to ask her, but she was gone in the blink of an eye. She stood up on her tip-toes and looked around. After a moment of looking she found Stephen again standing with a woman and made her way over to him. As she approached she noticed the woman he was standing with was Amanda, who was holding the hand of a terrified young boy she assumed must be Charlie. "Stephen, what's going on?" Evelyn shouted over the din.

"Who is this woman, Stephen?" asked Amanda, who clearly didn't quite recognize Evelyn in her disguise.

"She's a friend." said Stephen shortly "Amanda, are you certain?"

"Certain of what?" shouted Evelyn.

"The Circle has fallen." replied Amanda.

"Fallen? What do you mean 'fallen'? What happened?"

"There was an attack, some mages were taken."

"And Alyssa?" asked Stephen

Amanda shook her head. "Uncle Markus says they haven't found her. Her phylactery is missing too."

Evelyn looked from Stephen to Amanda, not sure of what to say. Evelyn never met Alyssa but Holli had talked about her a lot.

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

[sweetredcherryblossomtree]

Snowsnowsnow. An incredibly long overdue post/maybe essay that I’m going to try and not delete. 

Snow, thank you for giving me three days off because I am absolutely calling out of work tomorrow.

My mind has been everywhere. It’s been giving me a headache. For a while, I was having doubts about what I’ve been planning. Mostly just intrusive thoughts but also I can overthink. But after a few conversations with loving people, my mind is more at ease now. What I’m doing is selfish but I deserve it. It is fine. It is alright. It is human to want things and to go for them. I have to keep reminding myself that I am allowed to do things that will make me happy and that are good for me. 

Things don’t last forever. Relationships with other people don’t last forever. But I am with myself forever. I’m lucky in comparison to so many people. I have depression but at the same time, I have a great relationship with myself. I am happy with who I am and who I want to be. I rarely think awful things about myself. I know I’m not stupid. I can be ignorant but I’m pretty good with cutting myself slack as long as I educate myself after. The only thing I’m upset with myself for is how badly my social anxiety affects me. 

The semester before I graduated high school, I experienced more freedom than what I had been used to. My dad wasn’t home as much so he couldn’t keep control of what we did. I think my mom took pity on me because I had been so depressed and heartbroken.  I had really great friends and my mom let me spend a lot of time with them. it was probably the best thing that could have been done for me. I remember New Years, I was allowed to spend the night at a friend’s! I was never allowed to sleep over anywhere but my mom trusted the parents. Everyone was “roasting” each other for their personality flaws. Not in a mean way or anything. I begged them to tell me what my flaw was and after some consideration, one of them just said

“You’re too nice.”

“...That’s it?”

“Yeah, you are just really nice.” And everyone nodded in agreement.

And that moment resonates with me. 

*****I want to preface this with: I am not a nice person. I am not a mean person. I am a person.

I have lots of flaws. Being nice is a performance I have to go through to ensure I can somewhat survive socially. If I have ever said anything that generally is not “nice” to you, if I ever revealed a judgmental thought that I had (there are plenty), if I ever had an attitude with you and didn’t try to hide it, etc., then congratulations. I absolutely trust you and see you as a close friend. 

Nice can be used to describe me but it isn’t who I am as a person because I think plenty of not nice things. I do and say very not nice things sometimes. I am working on it, because I want to be a better person but just know that in general, I’m just a person who is nice to avoid conflict.******

Even though I have really bad social anxiety, it’s pretty hard to tell if you see me at work. Every day, I’m complimented on how nice I am. How I’m the nicest person they’ve encountered that day. I have customers who adore me and it’s made the experience so much easier than when I first started last year. A few weeks ago, a lady came in and after helping her out, she told me that I have such a peaceful and calm presence. She said she felt at such ease with me and that was rare for her to feel and to never change. I’m not going to lie, that made me feel really great about myself and it still does. 

Up until recently, I hadn’t understood why it was so bad to be so nice. I can’t help being nice. It’s not like it’s some switch I can turn on and off. I think it’s part of my social anxiety. If I’m nice, people can’t hate me and that has been programmed into me since I was a child. My niceness has worked in my favor  except in cases of men and that is where an issue has started to develop. 

I could handle the weird and creepy boys in high school and college. I could be nice to them but as long as I kept my distance, I was always fine. I was fortunate that the ones who did try to get closer to me stopped after I made very obvious hints. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I ghosted a lot of guys in college after realizing I wanted nothing to do with them. Like the guy who kept a newt under his dorm bed, poked her with a plastic fork, and then kept saying how much I looked like Lilo from Lilo and Stitch (a movie he was obsessed with). 

But I’m having an issue with adult men. Men who have stalked me at work. Men who took my trust and tried to twist it. Men that my coworkers recognize and when they see them coming into the store, I’m the first one alerted so that I can go into the stockroom until given the all clear. This isn’t an every day thing fortunately, but it’s bothersome nonetheless. 

A little over a month ago, I was groped on the sales floor by an older man who was a regular customer of mine. I was too in shock to really say or do anything at the time. It was too busy, his daughter and granddaughter were there. I wasn’t even sure if it had really happened. 

He asked for a hug and because I am “nice”, I reluctantly gave one to him. It was a half hug because that’s all I’m comfortable with when it comes to most people. As he let go of me, his hands slipped downward and I felt him..cupping me. It was a very quick moment, I wasn’t sure what had happened at first, just that I felt very weird and uncomfortable. After I checked him out, he slid a ten dollar bill to me and walked away quickly before I could even say anything. 

I haven’t seen him since, and I’m very okay with that. But every weekend when I’m working alone, I’m scared. I’m scared that he’ll come back when it’s busy and I’m on the floor alone. I’m scared that the other man who has a violent criminal record will come and demand to know why I blocked his number. I’m scared of the man who likes to hold my hand for too long when asking for a handshake as he looks me up and down. 

Before this incident, the only people who have ever touched my body without my consent were boyfriends. I don’t even know the name of the man who touched me. All I know is that he is a veteran and likes to buy gifts for his daughter and her kids. I didn’t think I’d be too affected by it and I guess in a way, I’m not. But it obviously does affect me if I still continue to think about it. 

I know it’s more than just me being “too nice.” It’s about how men easily prey on women like me who are nice, especially when it’s our job to be nice. Like, I’m at work. I can’t leave the situation or cause a huge commotion. I could, but they would know where to find me again. 

And this goes for all the shitty relationships I let myself go through. That deserves a post all on its own. It’s taken me years to come to this conclusion, but every single relationship that I had in high school was very unhealthy and at least one was touching the line of being abusive. I spent most of my high school years being emotionally manipulated by three different guys. I don’t think they even realized what they were doing at the time but I’m still affected by it years later.  

Do you know what is worse? I think that is a common experience for tons of teenage girls. I didn’t realize that I was being manipulated. I didn’t know any better. I thought these relationships were the real deal and would last forever but I had to do everything I could to keep them around or something must have been wrong with me. 

There are so many times with one particular ex, where I’d go home and try not to cry about what had happened because I didn’t want to say no. I wanted him to be pleased with me and to not leave me again. This relationship absolutely fucked with me and the sense of control I wish I knew I had over my own body. It’s been over six years. I can still remember the physical pain I was put through because he was so fucking rough and never took a moment to consider what I was going through. I’m not even talking about actual intercourse. We never had sex. But I was too afraid to let him know I was in pain because I didn’t want to be broken up with, again. He had me do so many things that I never ever wanted to do and still hate doing to this very day. And that doesn’t even begin with how badly he emotionally manipulated me. He messed with my feelings and emotions well into my first year of college because I was stupid enough to follow him there.  And we weren’t even dating anymore. His friendship alone fucked with me as well. 

College was so different though. In such a good way. Imagine my surprise when for the first time ever, I was asked “Is this okay?” and “Is this fine?” or “Are you okay with doing this?”

Blew my fucking mind. 

The people I’ve dated after high school are in general just better people. People who have for the most part, respected my opinion, my body, and boundaries. 

I’m still flawed though. I still struggle a lot with full consent and active vocalization. I let so much slide. However, it’s been building up in me and every time something happens, I get a little bit angrier on the inside. Angry at myself for letting it happen. Angry at the person for not understanding why I’m upset though it’s my fault because I still can’t get around to saying it so how would they know why I’m upset? And it absolutely is no where near as bad as it was in high school. Not even close. But that doesn’t give me a reason to justify it.I want it to stop completely and if I can’t get it to stop in this relationship then I swear to myself that in my next relationship that I WILL DO BETTER. For myself. Gone will be the days where I just let things go because it’s “no big deal.” 

I think I’m just venting about all of this because today I did say “No.” And I said it very sternly and it was obvious that I was highly annoyed. BUT I WASN’T TAKEN SERIOUSLY. At least not until I had to shove his hands away from me because I was so angry. If you hear someone say no to anything that you are doing, you should absolutely stop. Even if it isn’t sexual. Even if you are just teasing or messing with someone. You better fucking stop. And maybe it’s because I never let my no’s stand their ground in the past, maybe it’s because I usually just let so much go, but now, I’m a different person and I am so done with unwanted touching. 

But I am so mad that my NO wasn’t taken seriously. I am so mad that he didn’t stop until I had to resort to something physical. I am so mad that this has become a problem and has been a problem that I’ve ignored until now. 

Is my boyfriend a bad person? No. He is not. 

Does my boyfriend ask for consent for most things like sex? Yes, absolutely.

But it seems like my body has an open invitation for being groped lately, and I’m finally fed up with it. 

[olive-the-olive]

AA Secret Santa Gift!

Hey y’all! I wrote a fic for @loopsies as part of the Ace Attorney Secret Santa @aasecretsanta2017! You can read it here on Ao3, or below the cut.

Christmas Eve, 2019

When Edgeworth called Detective Gumshoe to inform him that he would be back in the country shortly before Christmas, he expected the detective to offer to pick him up at the airport, as he'd done every other time Edgeworth had a flight.

He was not expecting Gumshoe to say, “Are you sure about flying so close to the holidays, sir?”

The detective had never been the most observant man Miles Edgeworth had known, but he supposed that certain things were obvious after a while. Gumshoe certainly knew more about his personal history than most people. Perhaps more than anyone, at this point. He would know turbulence could trigger an episode, and he was aware that things got worse around Christmas.

“I'll be fine,” said Edgeworth, perhaps more brusquely than he had intended.

“The airport just gets real crowded that time of year!” said Gumshoe, as if that had been his only concern all along. “When do you get in? I can give you a ride home!”

-

Flying the day before Christmas was perhaps more difficult than he had maintained. The crowd and the noise were endurable, barely, but the other passengers got to him, a little.

It wasn't the lone traveler that affected him. It was the families, flying to visit grandparents probably, or perhaps some other member of their extended family. There was something about seeing a couple explain patiently to their daughter what the seatbelt light signified that reminded him, painfully, of his last Christmas with his father.

Thankfully, there was no turbulence.

-

It was 6:02 pm on Christmas Eve when Edgeworth recognized Detective Gumshoe's very secondhand car (which was still somehow nicer than the one he'd crashed during State vs. Engarde) pull up in front of the terminal. The detective helped him with his bags without him saying anything, and was infectiously enthusiastic to see him.

“You sure are a sight for sore eyes, Mr Edgeworth. It's just a shame that you being here doesn't automatically make my job easier anymore.”

“It is good to see you too, Detective. How are things down at Criminal Affairs?” asked Edgeworth, mildly interested in keeping up. Gumshoe did tell him these sorts of things over the phone, but it had been a good month since he'd last asked.

“Pretty busy! They're handing out new cases instead of bonuses this year.”

“And the Prosecutor's Office?”

“Well, they're managing. They don't have the kind of win record they do when you're around though, sir. It was a shame to lose you.”

“Hm.” Edgeworth was quite sure the courts here were a mess without him. Wright's recent disbarment had been proof of that. They'd gotten nowhere on that, and whatever clout Edgeworth had he'd shot to hell with the stunts he'd pulled with the Prosecutorial Investigation Committee. It probably didn't help that he'd slowly moved his career overseas as well.

“On that subject, detective, I appreciate you doing me the favor of picking me up, given that I'm not actively working here and it's not part of your job. It isn't taking you away from your actual duties, is it?”

“No sir! And uh, it technically wasn't part of my job before either, sir,” mumbled the detective,

“My point is that this was not a professional obligation, on your part,” said Edgeworth, frustrated with how the words were coming out. “I'm not on a business trip.” Although technically, the trip wasn't exactly for pleasure either. He was here to do research; he wasn't one to hop on planes needlessly, despite what certain people might say about him.

“Well, I guess I never saw it as a professional thing or an obligation or anything,” said Gumshoe, as if he was thinking of this for the first time. “I mean I guess you were kinda hard on me sometimes, but I wouldn't do this kinda stuff for my boss in the actual police department, even if he was a real hard-ass about it.”

“I find that hard to believe,” said Edgeworth.

Gumshoe was just the sort of person who lived to please, and even when he was trying to not do something for someone, he was often easily manipulated into whatever had been asked of him in the first place. Edgeworth had personally witnessed Wright talk Gumshoe into handing over the entire contents of an investigation in under five minutes.

“I'm just saying, I care about you,” said Gumshoe thoughtfully, eyes forward but maybe not as focused on the road as a passenger would want them to be. “Always have.”

“Ah,” said Edgeworth, not knowing precisely what to say. Gumshoe was usually an easy person to talk to, but he felt tense, like anything he said would likely be wrong. “You have... done a lot for me over the years. And you are right that I was hard on you. I am probably not the easiest person to work with. But I appreciate what you have done. I...” He hesitated. “I owe you a lot, I suppose.”

“I owe you too, pal!” insisted Gumshoe. “I mighta been falsely convicted of a double homicide if it weren't for you!”

Edgeworth scoffed. “Oh please. Any competent investigator would've dragged the truth out of you before long.”

“I don't know about that, I was prepared to take the secret of that Swiss roll to my grave.”

They were strangely silent the rest of the drive. Gumshoe pulled into his driveway, and started unloading the luggage for him before Edgeworth could get to it. He held out his hand for his bag, but Gumshoe held on to it, and Edgeworth did not insist.

Edgeworth walked up to his front door, and noticed several things as he unlocked it and entered. One, there was a severe yet festive wreath on the door. Two, the surface of the small table just inside the entrance was completely free of dust. And three, the house was much warmer than the brisk December air outside.

“Have you been cleaning my house?” He'd almost forgotten that Gumshoe had a key.

Gumshoe carefully placed the bags in the hall, so that they would be on the way to the bedroom. “Well, yeah. Didn't want it to be all dusty when you got home. You're always sneezing in the records room.”

Then clean the records room, thought Edgeworth. “And decorating for the holidays?” he asked, although he already had an idea who was responsible for that.

Gumshoe hemmed and hawed a little, but Edgeworth heard a familiar female voice coming from his kitchen. Two of them, in fact. He made his way towards the kitchen.

“-and that is how I apprehended the foolish fool. I secured his extradition and he'll be facing trial in his home country,” Franziska was sitting at the counter, telling Kay something suitably impressive about her adventures as an international prosecutor, no doubt. The two of them had cups and saucers in front of them, and the kitchen smelled slightly of a tea Edgeworth was certain had cost him a lot of money.

“Franziska? Kay? What are you doing in my house?”

Franziska greeted him with her usual bravado, as if to ask him what he could possible be doing in his house. “Miles Edgeworth! It took you long enough to show up. I'll have you know I am apprehending a thief I caught breaking into your home. Do let me know if you will be pressing charges.”

“Aww, he wouldn't!” said Kay, grinning.

“It looks to me like you are having tea with the thief,” said Edgeworth. “And I will not be pressing charges, but I may ask you to replace the tea.”

“Told you!”  Kay got up and nearly knocked him over with a rib crushing hug. He was certain he would die of suffocation, but soon she released him to hug Gumshoe instead. “What took you and Gummy so long?”

“Well the airport's pretty busy around now, pal.”

“Yes,” agreed Franziska. “I myself had a flight less than a week ago and it was quite packed. So many sentimental fools falling over themselves to visit their families.”

“And yet here you are,” said Edgeworth, matching her self-satisfied smirk. It was essential to make it clear that they were each one-upping each other with every exchange. It was the only way they knew how to communicate.

“Apprehending thieves, as I told you. Although I did think that you, being a sentimental fool yourself, might be happy to see me. I hope you weren't expecting presents under a tree?”

Edgeworth could have laughed. He hadn't gotten presents under a tree on Christmas since he was a child. He was fairly certain the only gifts he'd ever received in the Von Karma household were legal texts, and those had not been wrapped.

“Then the wreath on my door in the shape of a prosecutor's badge was not your doing?”

“That is not a gift, Miles Edgeworth. It is a reminder of what you stand for, and of what I expect you to live up to in the coming year. You cannot let me leave you too far behind. Or, at least make an attempt to try and keep up. It will make it all the more satisfying when I leave you in the dust.”

He noted that she had taken to wearing her own badge, although he knew they had both been taught it was more fashionable to keep it in one's pocket. In truth, Edgeworth didn't really care whether Franziska had “surpassed” him. He was quite happy that her career had taken off. She had closed some very high profile international cases in just the last few months (and kept him abreast of all she had accomplished as soon as it was no longer confidential). But she cared about their supposed rivalry, and was likely still worried he might abandon his profession entirely, despite his resolution to remain a prosecutor.

“Thank you, Franziska. I appreciate the reminder. But I'm afraid I haven't gotten you anything.” Looking back at Gumshoe and Kay he said, “I'm afraid I haven't done any gift shopping at all.”

He wanted to say he hadn't been thinking of the holiday season, but of course that would have been a lie. There were few things that weighed on his mind more heavily.

“Aw, that's okay,” said Kay. “You can just buy me something later!”

“Don't count on it,” he replied, knowing perfectly well that he would absolutely buy her whatever poorly made piece of Jammin' Ninja merch she asked for.

He made some more tea for himself and for Gumshoe, and for a while he just caught up on what everyone else was doing with their lives, and they asked him about his research into foreign legal systems. Kay liked to proclaim that this was extremely boring conversational material, but he could tell she was listening closely.

And he realized after a while that there was a sense of peace, in sitting here with people who were important to him, drinking tea and just talking. He knew the next few days would be bad. He might have nightmares. He could even have a flashback while he was awake. Those were rare for him but it had happened before. And it could happen this week. But in this moment and in this place, he felt peace, and none of his usual bitterness towards the impending holiday or the days ahead.

For the first time in 18 years, he had a family to celebrate with.

[vinayv224]

5 activists on how they’re carrying Rep. John Lewis’s legacy forward

5 activists on how they’re carrying Rep. John Lewis’s legacy forward

Rep. John Lewis amid supporters at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in March 2020. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Lewis often encouraged other activists to make “good trouble” — these 5 reflect on continuing to do just that.

Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and icon of the civil rights movement, died Friday at the age of 80.

Throughout his decades-long career, Lewis was known for his activism — from his roots as a Freedom Rider and firebrand organizer of the March on Washington, to the many times he was arrested, some as a member of the US House of Representatives. In his time as a lawmaker, he became an advocate for LGBTQ rights, expanded freedoms for immigrants and refugees, and supported gun reform measures. He continued this work in his final weeks — just a month before he died of pancreatic cancer, he visited Washington, DC’s Black Lives Matter Plaza, one of many places reflecting the current wave of anti-racism protests sweeping the world.

He was known for encouraging people to become activists themselves, saying they should not hesitate to get in “good trouble.” And he inspired many to do just that.

Here, five activists reflect on what Lewis’s legacy meant to them, and how it may be carried forward. Their responses, edited for clarity and length, are below.

Tanya Washington, professor of law at Georgia State University and former director of the John Lewis Fellowship Program

At 21, he was one of the first Freedom Riders; at 23, he was the chairperson of SNCC, and helped organize the March on Washington, and at 25, he was at the Selma protests. I think it’s empowering for young people to recognize that their energy, their perspective is necessary. It’s young people who moved the needle in the civil rights movement. They were college students, high school students. Some were even younger than that — the kids who integrated schools after Brown v. Board were little school kids. I think younger activists will draw from his legacy a sense of power and responsibility: Their contribution can begin right now.

Everyone quotes him saying, “Get in good trouble.” I think what that really has meant to me is to not be afraid to make decisions that are unpopular. What other people might call trouble, through a historical lens will be called progress. It’s inspired me to take risks when I’m guided by my moral compass.

I definitely see [his influence] when I look at the Black Lives Matter movement, and I see the young people in the streets, risking their lives and their health to enforce democracy, to make sure that we have justice as part of our criminal legal system, and that we eradicate racism. I see the same spirit that motivated John Lewis as a young person to get involved. He decides while he’s in college to sign up to be a Freedom Rider, which is not going to end well, just in terms of the risk to life and limb that it entails. But it was something he was willing to die for. And I’m seeing that same commitment made by young people who have been protesting in opposition to the issues, racism, and xenophobia that are all too prevalent in society today. I see that same spirit of youth activism, and that dedication and commitment.

One of the things that I really loved about John Lewis is that he understood that equality is not divisible. He wasn’t just fighting for equality and just for Black people, but for everyone. Unless everyone can enjoy equality, equality doesn’t exist. … I hope we will continue to see people working across intersectionality. It’s not just Black people, it’s trans Black women, it’s poor Indigenous men, it’s people from the LGBTQ community. All across the spectrum, until all of us are treated equally, none of us are treated equally. When he talked about the “beloved community,” he meant everybody.

He lived a life that set the example for how human beings can have an impact. From very humble beginnings, he became an American hero. I am so honored and humbled to have had a chance to work with him and to be inspired by his legacy. And I’ll miss him.

Janai Nelson, associate director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF)

[Lewis] really underscored for me the power and the strength that it takes to do civil rights [work], and really crystallized the role of Black people in shaping this nation on an ongoing basis, and forcing this country to live up to its ideals and to deliver on its promises. It is truly by force that it happens — it’s by the force of will and stamina and strategy, on the part of people who have largely been nonviolent.

There’s a strength and power in that that is just immeasurable, and he embodied that completely. He was the epitome of that strength and power that could move mountains and destroy systems and force political hands, just through his tenacity and resolve and strategy. And brilliance — he was absolutely brilliant.

When I look at the faces of protesters on the street today, I see John Lewis. I see the Freedom Riders. … When I see young people going up against police, in military gear, who will wantonly attack them, even though they are only exercising their constitutional right of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, I see the bravery of people like John Lewis all over again. He set an example of what it means to speak truth to power, to look evil in the face and not blink.

One [way to carry forward his legacy] is to continue the unfinished business of building this democracy by securing and protecting the right to vote on an equal basis for all people, and that requires the passage of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the legislation that he put his life on the line for (the Voting Rights Act of 1965), and protect the right to vote during a period of history when it is under severe and pernicious attack.

And the other policy area is the protection of protesters: Ensuring that the methodology that he used to great success is one that continues to be among the tools and the arsenal of people who want transformative change. If we cannot protect protesters — if we allow law enforcement and white supremacists to attack and interfere with peaceful protest — then we haven’t learned anything from the history of people like John Lewis.

It’s just remarkable to me how loving and upbeat and kind he remained, even toward his worst enemies. … Every American owes a debt to John Lewis for his sacrifice and his lifetime of service. He never seemed embittered by the fact that, even at 80, he still had to struggle for the rights that he fought for 55 years ago. He didn’t throw up his hands. He just encouraged others to keep up the fight, and stood right there with them and helped to lead it.

To face those struggles, to still be so generous of spirit and optimistic, it’s remarkable, and it’s the true marker of a whole person, of someone who is so self-possessed and is too strong to have their character marred by the external frailties of this country.

Kamau Chege, manager of the Washington Census Alliance

In 2013, I graduated high school, and shortly afterward, [worked as] an affiliate leader [with] United We Dream. That summer was the big summer for pushing the comprehensive immigration reform bill. We did a whole bunch of actions, but near the fall, as we’re wanting to escalate, members of Congress were demonstrating outside the Capitol, and Rep. John Lewis was arrested.

A couple weeks before that, I had gone down to DC, and we were strategizing how people were going to push [for the bill]. I went to talk to the Congressional Black Caucus, and was able to catch Rep. Lewis as he was walking. He was a fast walker! He was running late to a vote. I was explaining the bill, and asked, “Can we count on you?” He said, “You can count on me,” and gave the thumbs up.

I was young in 2013 — I was 18 years old — and this was somebody who was in our history and AP Gov classes, with the PBS Eyes on the Prize series. This is how the younger millennials understood him.

It wasn’t ’til the action where he was arrested, and I was watching that ... from afar, [where I] got this sense of, ‘This is his life’s work, in some ways: getting arrested for racial justice.’ He’s been doing this since he was my age; he joined SNCC when he was young.

I'm not the first to make this observation, but it's remarkable that for decades we had a sitting member of congress from the civil rights movement who regularly encouraged the public to break laws for the cause of racial justice. 10 days ago today: https://t.co/C5yT9pdH9O RIP. https://t.co/nKCjq1kKhg

— ☂️Kamau (@Kamaumaumau) July 18, 2020

After news came down that he had passed, one of the things I was thinking about, and I’ve been thinking about the past few years — my family has been here for 20 years, and we’ve been undocumented for 17 — is what kind of country my parents thought they were immigrating to.

They were probably trying to come to a country where everyone was guaranteed a dignified life. Jobs and justice. That’s a country that John Lewis probably did not see when he was young ... but it’s one that he got to see the beginnings of by the time I met him, in 2013, in the House, pushing for and alongside the new currents of movements.

[In 2013,] we’d be training for civil disobedience. Part of that would include reading about SNCC, what did they do, what kind of actions did they use, how were they able to push things forward and build a movement that a lot of people could see themselves in.

You run into a lot of John Lewis’s work, and how he ran SNCC at the time, and that’s still common. There’s still people from SNCC that advise young organizers now. And that meant that we saw ourselves as not starting something new, but in a lineage and a tradition of young people in general, and young Black and brown organizers, protesting and pushing to make sure that we grow up in the kind of country that John Lewis, C.T. Vivian, and the rest were shaping.

LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund

He deeply believed in democracy. There were American founders who believed in creating this new nation, and they had some ideas, and explored a philosophy with democracy, but their actions show that they didn’t believe in the fullness of American democracy. They were the founders of the country, but not of democracy. They didn’t have the foresight to see John Lewis as a member of Congress, or to even see him as human enough to be able to vote.

John Lewis is one of the forefathers in this country of true democracy, who really internalized and believed in the expansion of the vote, not just for Black people but for all citizens. He believed in equality for all people. The forefathers didn’t believe that. He believed that.

I think he had an acute awareness of the work of young people, and of when young people are [being] marginalized in the movement. He provided a lot of grace and space for young people, which is why one of the last things he did was go out to [Washington, DC’s] Black Lives Matter Plaza. That was a message of, ‘I’m in solidarity with you.’ He was able to bridge this political world and this activist world, and understand the evolution of how movements take place.

The last time I saw him was this year in the Selma-Montgomery march [at the Edmund Pettus Bridge]. I didn’t think he was going to come this year, because of his cancer. … As we get to the top of the bridge, I’m standing there, the crowd stops. … He walks up to the crowd, like Moses parting the sea. I’m directly in front of him. I knew that was his last speech. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew.

“We were beaten, we were tear gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and someway, God Almighty helped me here.” This would be the last time John Lewis would visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 55 years after Bloody Sunday pic.twitter.com/BXqHyO0CQl

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 18, 2020

As an activist, the weeks prior to that had been really tough. … I was really feeling overwhelmed. I’m looking at this man who is literally battling cancer, to actually have the courage, to actually get the strength, and you could tell he was weak. He speaks to us, and it was just what I needed to feel affirmed. Even in that moment, I knew that I couldn’t ever stop this work. There’s a song, “Sweet Honey in the Rock:” “We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”

Here’s this 80-year-old man who is in Congress, who could literally just go sit at home and do what he wants and just be loved. He knew the importance of that moment, but he also knew the importance of that work. I felt that I, along with millions of others, were knighted. I felt affirmed and knighted in that moment, that our work was necessary.

I think it is not good enough to go back to the place from which we came. We are in a relay. We’ve got to take it forward. There’s a fragility [to] American democracy. … When you ever have your citizens in a place where they can fully participate, fully engage, that’s where you build patriotism. You don’t build patriotism by forcing people to acknowledge a flag that has been a symbol of hatred and racism. You build patriotism by creating the space for American citizens to engage, to be affirmed, and demonstrate their God-given agency.

Raquel Willis, director of communications of Ms. Foundation for Women; founder of Black Trans Circles

I met the congressman in 2016. He met with a group of organizers in Atlanta who were part of the Black Lives Matter movement. It was a powerful experience. He talked about his experiences and really gave us encouragement around the activism and the organizing work that we were already doing.

His lifelong commitment to liberation work is inspiring, I think particularly at the beginning of his organizing career. It’s important to understand that, no matter what age you are, you can get into the fight, and this is really, like it was for him, a lifelong commitment. So, we can’t expect there to be quick, flash-in-the-pan fixes for these systems of oppression. We have to be invested in the future.

Congressman John Lewis will forever be an example of a lifelong commitment to liberation. I will never forget the time he took to share his insights and encouragement with Atlanta #BlackLivesMatter organizers in 2016. His contributions are simply innumerable. #RIP, Sir. pic.twitter.com/7R7mXSGgtb

— Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) July 18, 2020

The movement that is happening now is just the continuation of Black liberation work that has happened for centuries. We like to have this idea that these movements are completely separate, but really, a lot of what has fueled [activists today] has come from the movements before. There’s a direct line to the civil rights movement from where we are now in the movement for Black lives.

Particularly in this election year, I think his work around strengthening folks’ access to electoral power is important, but I also think that sometimes what’s more important is the organizing that happens on the ground amongst the people, just getting people involved, beyond voting. There’s so many different ways that people can transform society, and I think we often only, or mostly, focus on electoral power.

When it comes to organizing, you can organize around so many different things, that what’s important is stretching the muscle. I think of organizing as a creative endeavor, so we have to be thinking about ways that we can expand access in whatever instances or spaces that we’re in.

I think it’s important when any figure dies that we hold the honor that we have for them, but that we hold the hard critiques that we may have about their decisions or some of their rhetoric while they were here. We do a disservice in trying to paint anyone as perfect. I think we can hold complicated feelings about figures without throwing out their legacy.

We should certainly be grateful for the strides that a figure like the congressman made, and we can also think about the ways that we can hold those critiques, honor those critiques and make a commitment to grow in our own work and be better figures for generations to come. I think a lot of what we can learn from any figure’s life is there’s so much more work to do, and there’s so many more ways to open doors for generations to come.

I hope that folks will continue to be invested in the organizers who are doing work on the ground today. We have a society that loves to look at our history of organizing with rose-colored glasses. Folks talk about the “civil rights movement” now, but at the time [those activists] were very maligned, and there wasn’t a genuine support for the work that they were doing, and that still continues today. I think we have to be reflective on the ways that we may critique current movements without really engaging with what they’re saying or what they’re fighting for.

Support Vox’s explanatory journalism

Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today.

from Vox - All https://ift.tt/2ZLhGFU from Blogger https://ift.tt/3hfPnVH via IFTTT

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: Green Lantern

(Originally posted on Deviantart May 8, 2018)

Before Man of steel Warner Bros tried to get the DC comics`s cinematic universe started with Green Lantern in 2011. I liked that they aimed the spotlight at someone who wasn`t Superman or Batman for a change. To bad it didn`t work. Mediocre CGI, dialogue that felt like it was written so that it wouldn`t go over the head of the average seven-year old and a bad guy that was so powerful that they should have saved him for the sequels did not help this movie. At first I was gonna write this CC as if it was meant for the freestanding movie that Green Lantern ended up as. But I wondered: Could I fit it into my own hypothetical DCEU? I preferred putting him in the first Justice League movie rather than postpone his League-joining to a much, much later one. So... if I could run so fast that I could screw the laws of physics, travel backwards in time and change these movies, Where in the movie-order would I have put it? How about... after Wonder Woman but before Batman v Superman?

Here`s how I would do it. The CGI suit I can see what they were thinking, it was supposed to look artificial. But it didn`t look good. Don`t make it completely CGI, make it a practical suit, but the Green Lantern symbol on the chest can be done with CGI. I like the idea of at least some part of the suit generating light.

The Plot: Outter space: Abin Sur is on a desolate planet, cutting off a piece of a meteorite. (He`s on a mission to take it to his home planet so scientists can analyze it.) He realizes that he`s not alone. He gets attacked by an old enemy who wounds him. He takes the meteorite-piece, flees to his ship and gets the hell outta there. The wound is serious, he fears he may not survive and flies to the nearest planet.

Earth: Hal Jordan wakes up, realizes he`s late, drives like a madman to the military base where he and Carol tests how well the two of them can handle the new A.I. planes. On his way to the locker room he bumps into his friend Tom Kalmaku and a scientist named Hector Hammond who are talking about the destruction of Metropolis. (Continuity!) Unlike Hal in the movie, my version does not freeze up because of stress or when he sees his dad`s photo. Hal is a guy with strong willpower (Why else did the ring choose him?). Like in the movie he puts himself in a dangerous situation, becomes afraid but with a little effort overcomes that fear and takes care of the A.I. planes. He still gets yelled at by his superiors because he takes unnecessary risks just to prove a point. They don`t fire him but they give him a warning. On his way out he gets a half-hearted but well-meaning pat on the shoulder by Hector Hammond. A little later, at the end of the day he gets abducted by Abin Sur`s green light. It takes him to the dying alien pilot who gives the GL ring to him. After Hal has buried Abin Sur, gotten back to the base (thanks to his buddy Tom Kalmaku) and had a little talk with Carol, the ring activates and takes him to Oa where he meets Tomar-Re, Arisia and Sinestro and is introduced to the Green Lantern Corps. He is told, by Sinestro, that millennia ago, one of the guardians (Krona) tried to harness the yellow light of fear but it backfired horribly and he is believed to be dead. He also finds out why Abin Sur was flying around in a spaceship, despite the GL ring making such form of transportation unnecessary: An Oracle told him that one day, when he would need it the most, the ring would fail him. Abin Sur decided to use the spaceship as a precaution. Without realizing that by doing so he helped the prophecy to come true. His ring was working perfectly, it failed him because he let fear get the better of him. Sinestro laments Abin Sur`s passing and reveals that he was his friend. Meanwhile on Earth: government-people have found Abin Sur and his spaceship. They take Abin Sur`s body and the meteorite to a lab under the military base where Hector Hammond gets to analyze them. Hal is trained to be a Lantern by Kilowog who is a tough, relentless teacher. Hal thinks about quitting but Sinestro convinces him to continue his training with a "the ring chose you for a reason" speech. While making this speech he uses his ring to show Hal holographic images of his own planet Korugar as a way of telling him "This is what I fight for, this is what`s important." Hal continues, survives Kilowog`s training and has finished the first step in becoming a Green Lantern. Next: Hal gets to go on a mission. Since he`s still green (pun intended) he gets assisted by a more experienced GL: Sinestro. They travel to a planet where their job is to take down an escaped criminal. As they are searching for him Sinestro starts talking about the power that the Green Lanterns have and what amazing things they could do with it if they weren`t limited by the old, dogmatic rules of the Guardians.

Sinestro: "We could do more with the power we have, so much more."

Then they are attacked by the criminal. They fight him only to realize that he is the same guy that killed Abin Sur. Sinestro lets rage take over him and wants to kill the criminal. Hal manages to stop him, calm him down and convince him to put the criminal in prison instead. Later Hal needs to return to Earth to tell his friends that he`s still alive after having been missing for more than a day. He asks Sinestro if he will be OK, Sinestro says that he`ll be fine but when Hal flies away we see that Sinestro is not fine. Back on earth, Hal is working on what to say to his friends who are probably worried sick about him. Meanwhile: Hammond is analyzing the meteorite piece, it starts to glow and explodes. The explosion causes parts of the military base to collapse. Carol saves a couple of people but puts her own life in jeopardy. She`s about to get crushed by the debris... but is saved, by a green forcefield. A forcefield that seems to come from a mysterious man in an alien, green costume. Knowing that Carol and everyone else is safe he leaves without saying a word. (Everyone else may be safe but Hammond is in a coma.) Later that evening Carol is visited by the mysterious man in the green suit. She goes up to thank him but notices something. Carol: "Hal?"

Hal: "Miss?"  

Carol: "Hal? Oh, my G...! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Hal!"  

Hal: "How did you know it was me?"

Carol: "What do you mean? I've known you my whole life! I've seen you naked! You don't think I would recognize you because I can't see your cheekbones? What is this? Why the green suit? What the hell is with that mask?"  

Hal: "It came with the outfit. Cool, huh?" (Yes, I`m keeping that scene in my version because that scene is gold!) So Hal tells her everything, about him becoming a Lantern and that his new job will involve a lot galactic travelling. As Carol processes what she`s just heard Hal gets a signal from his ring. The Guardians are calling him, must be important. Hal travels to Oa and is (for the first time in this movie) allowed to meet and talk to the Guardians. He finds out that Sinestro has used his GL ring to take control of his own planet Korugar. Hal, Kilowog and Arisia travel to Korugar to take care of Sinestro. They arrive on Korugar and try to reason with Sinestro, but he doesn`t want to listen and instead talks about how the Green Lanterns are garbage collectors.

Sinestro: "The only way to operate out here is by fear. They hit, I hit harder. They attack, I annihilate. I am the one constant, unassailable force against their chaos! Look at the universe the Guardians have created. We have the greatest power in the cosmos and what have they made us? Garbage collectors! We pick up the trash!" "A thief here, a killer there. Scum, dirt, filth! There's no end to it, but there could be. It's my dream that one day all of the rot will be wiped away. A new order will prevail, one that will end the chaos. But it won't be built by the faint of heart!" Then they fight. Sinestro is defeated and stands trial before the Guardians. They banish him to the planet Qward. Even if what Sinestro did was wrong Hal defends the point that he was trying (and failing) to make: that the laws that the Guardians expect the Lanterns to follow are too rigid. Some of them could be changed, like: at least allow each sector to have two Green Lanterns patrolling it. (The sectors are very big, it`s a lot of work for just one Green Lantern.) Hal expects the Guardians to fire him from the Green Lantern Corps. But all they do is say: "We will consider it." Hal returns to Earth were he talks a little to Carol, gives her a good-bye hug and kiss and flies away. Mid-credit scene: Planet Qward: Sinestro is visited by a mysterious, levitating hooded figure. We can`t see his face because it is hidden in the shadow of his hood, but we can see his glowing, yellow eyes. The figure tells Sinestro that millennia ago he tried to harness the yellow light of fear. It backfired but he survived and learned from his mistake. He met a Master who showed him the way: The only way to bring order to the universe is to strike fear into the hearts of others. Something Sinestro understands.The figure gives Sinestro a Yellow Lantern ring.

(Dun-dun dunn! It`s Krona! And the master he speaks of is Parallax!)

End credit Scene: Dr Hector Hammond wakes up from his coma and has developed telekinetic abilities. The reason why Hal was absent during the events of Batman v Superman, Flash and Aquaman was because he was busy patrolling in space.        

[aheartbrokenmind]

04-29-2020

Amy,

As time goes on and I attempt to process all of what has happened between us, I keep coming back to the feeling that trouble in your mind may have led you to this decision, more than the actual reality of our situation. That's not to say that reality didn't play a role. Trust me, I know how difficult our relationship has been, and I have some idea of how difficult the past couple years have been for you. I just feel like sometimes your mind tends to amplify these things almost to a point of hopelessness, or to where you feel like there is no escape. I think maybe this time the panoply of troubles, the duration of which some have haunted you, and worry about the future may have all added up to a wicked cocktail of mental misery that pushed you to snap. Of course I'm no psychologist, so this could all be completely wrong, maybe you've just changed or your feelings for me changed, or perhaps I'm just selfishly attempting to project the blame on you rather than myself. I'm just going to try to organize my thoughts a bit below and list things that I know have been troubling you or that I’m suspicious may have led us to where we are now.

First is the distance. I know first hand how difficult this can be at times. It certainly didn't get any easier with you being in Japan. I know this one especially has been bothering you for a long time, as it has me. I know how sometimes it felt like no matter how hard we tried we would be forever half a world away from each other and living our relationship two weeks at a time when we got to be together. I also know that me telling you "we'll figure it out" when discussing how we were going to end up living in the same country probably didn't help. That's not an acceptable answer, especially for you. 

Next is the debt. This is an obvious one which I know has been stressing you for a long time. I also know that stress was amplified when I finally told you the total amount recently. Again, my answers for this were not helpful and I'm sure my dark jokes about "paying it off until I'm dead" didn't help either. I feel like there were probably people that you discussed this situation with who had no idea of the whole situation or how I have been, and plan to handle it, and yet gave their advice anyway. I would imagine that many of these “advice givers” probably never have or never will have to deal with such a situation themselves. That is partially my fault for not including you in this sooner and advising you myself on what I planned to do. I should have actively involved you in my plans and kept you informed about the situation. I'm sorry.

You've also been worried about your future as an individual. I think you are extremely torn on this one as there are many things that you are very good at that you would love to pursue, but are probably afraid they don't seem realistic or rational. Whether it be your art, writing, or something else, I would imagine you're very worried about what people (especially your dad) may think of that choice. I'm sure you're probably even questioning it yourself. Whether those are viable goals to pursue to achieve the life you're hoping for. I think this also applies to some of the women's activism roles you've told me about. Those paths certainly seem present possibly more of a financial challenge than something like  criminal law when it comes to pursuing your life goals. I think you have probably stressed yourself to the breaking point about this as you don't want to make the wrong decision.

Next is working and living in Japan. As I've said before I think this has brought loads of amazing things, people, and opportunities in your life. In all reality it is your first serious full time job and you've had to jump into that in an unfamiliar country where you don't speak the language. I can't imagine the amount of stress that has caused you. You have taken on lots of extra responsibilities there as well which again, brought much goof, but also piled on more pressure and stress. You have met some very amazing people while there and have made some lifelong friends, there is no doubt. But I would imagine that the time difference and distance has made you feel separated and out of touch with your friends back home and even with me. The worries, concerns, plans, activities, meals, work, everything, it's just all so different I can imagine it is easy to slip into a sense of isolation from anything outside your direct sphere of influence. I think this isolated or distant feeling led you to keep in touch less with those outside and withdraw in more, which in turn probably led to more stress as you considered the health of your relationships with those back home and me.

Then there is your body image. This is something that you have struggled with since I met you and I have always tried to be very careful when discussing it, especially after learning the true extent of it. I know you have been struggling with it more than usual over the past couple years. I have dealt with some similar issues myself, but I'm sure I will never fully understand the extent that it's tortured you. I think this got worse when you went to Japan as the stress, busy schedule, and just generally being on your own for the first time caused you to gain weight. Yes I noticed and you mentioned it to me over and over. Yes I still thought you were the most beautiful woman on the planet. That was never a lie. I think the weight gain and the feeling of hopelessness in changing it led you to care even about things such as grooming and you carried it over into our relationship. You seemed unable to believe that I could find you attractive when you felt so unattractive. I don't ever remember you stressing so much about outfits, or you asking me how you looked as much as you did this last time we were together. I think this affected you very deeply in how you viewed yourself and our relationship. 

I’m sure there were also thoughts of our future. I think you probably worried greatly whether our hopes and dreams matched up anymore. Your thoughts on marriage and children seemed to change almost daily at times. I’m sure the anxiety of those thoughts was only amplified by the ring and the whole situation in which you found out about it, though that was never my intention. I hope you know that no matter what you would have decided on either of those massive life decisions, I would have been happy with you, but I realise that you may have thought I for sure wanted marriage and a family and felt pressured by that. I’m sure there were comments from my family about grandkids or weddings that, though their intent was innocent, also added to the stress immensely.

I think there was probably also some stress from your own family. I think the death of your niece probably affected you more than you ever talked about, at least with me. I also know you were becoming increasingly worried about your Dad’s health and how far away you were if something were to happen. I know this also led to you being concerned about your Mom as well if something were to happen to your Dad. I think there are also probably some mental health genes that you inherited from your family that have been adding to all of this. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, we all have them. In my family unfortunately a lot of them are physical health, and in yours they seem to be mental health. You were always fairly open with me about your family’s mental health and I am grateful for that. It allowed me to try to help as much as I possibly could. I just can’t help but think now that all of these things or at least part of why we aren’t together now has to do with depression. It’s possible that you don’t even recognize it as depression. I know how hard it is for me to determine right now if I am just sad or depressed. 

Last I think there were still some things about me that concerned you, especially when presented with the prospect of being with me forever. I know I annoyed the hell out of you sometimes when we were drinking because sometimes I tend to start acting a lot like my Dad. I just want to assure you that it has not left my mind since you pointed it out to me and I’ve been trying very hard to change it. I’m guessing that maybe you were worried whether or not I would be open to the same sort of travelling nomad life you seem to desire, and again, I can assure you I was completely ready to join you in such a life. There may have been some concern too about what seemed to be an increasing distance between our individual lifestyles. You increasingly becoming the artsy, free-spirited, hipster, and me increasingly becoming whatever the hell it is that I am. Maybe that seemed like a problem to you, I don’t really know. Personally that was something that I always loved about us as a couple. That we could be so drastically different on the surface and yet, at our core, so very similar. 

Like I said, I may be completely wrong about all of this and the answer to why you couldn’t see a future for us anymore may be as simple as you not loving me anymore. I hope this doesn’t sound like a lecture or like I am trying to blame you completely. I know I have more issues than I can count, many of which seem to be rearing their ugly heads even more now with you gone. I guess I just wish we could have tried to talk through this even a little and maybe we could have found a solution. At times I think of this as you walking into a dark, unknown, forest. At first you’re following the path but before long you’ve strayed from it. You can barely see through the tangle of dark trees that no light can seem to penetrate and eventually you have completely lost any sense of direction. You wander aimlessly in the dark, sometimes in what seems like circles, just hoping to find the path or some brief glimpse of light. Finally you’ve given up hope. You sit and just cry in the dark, accepting that there’s no way out. Amy, there is hope. I know you can find the path. I promise you I will be waiting for you there when the path leaves the trees and winds back into the warm sunshine. I will be there.

Love you always,

Brian