#but it's frustrating that during weeks all we heard at the news was milton milton milton

[themostefficientwaywithwater]

it's so strange to see only spanish people talking about the natural disaster that destroyed valencia, spreading info and sharing fundraisers, while all the international people that i follow goes on with their lives as if nothing happened. when milton was menacing florida, everyone was talking about it and spreading awareness and urging to donate to those affected. even foreign media, including ours. and now i see practically nothing about what's happening in valencia? the only comment from a foreing user i saw was a twitter guy lamenting that "because what's happening in spain we're going to have food shortages :(" as if we were their personal supermarket.

people have died in valencia. people are dying in valencia. people have lost their homes, their families, their source of income. people are killing themselves because they have lost *everything*.

please have some compassion. spain is not just a vacation resort, nor a retirement home, nor a nightclub. is a country, with it's culture, and with it's people. and it's people are suffering.

please, donate what you can. and if you can't, please, please, at least spread the word.

(just as an afterword, but for comparison: hurricane milton killed 17 people in florida. valencia's cold drop has killed so far 217 people, and more than 2000 remain disappeared. think of all the attention milton got, both in america and in foreign media, and now think about how much attention valencia deserves).

[hysterialevi]

When the Devil Cries - Final Part

Fanfic summary: (NO SPOILERS IN THIS STORY) After arriving in Saint Denis, Arthur ends up falling in love with a seemingly innocent pianist, only to find himself in a battle with one of the most notorious outlaws to ever emerge from America. Now, between working for Dutch and robbing money for the gang, Arthur has to also protect the man he loves as the two of them try to find their freedom.

Pairing: Arthur Morgan/Male OC

Previous chapter

This story is also on AO3

Author’s note: Welp, this is it guys! The final chapter. Thank you so much to those of you who stuck with me during this whole story. I seriously appreciate the support you’ve given me ever since I started this fanfic, and it means the world to me to see how much you’ve enjoyed it. I’m definitely gonna miss writing about Arthur and Eddie, but I also can’t wait to show you what else I have planned in the future. Stay awesome :)

From Arthur’s POV

ONE WEEK LATER

THE BASTILLE, SAINT DENIS

“Dear, John...” I murmured to myself, readin’ my awfully-written letter out loud, “...it’s Tacitus. I hope this letter finds you on the off-chance that you’re still alive, but truth be told...I wouldn’t even know where to start looking. Last time we saw each other, we was both trying to make our way out of that god-awful shit storm, and I regret that I never got the chance to see if you survived.”

“If you’re still out there somewhere, I wish you luck. You saved my ass when hell finally broke loose, and I won’t forget it. As for me -- my partner and I have managed to stay out of trouble for a while, and we’re planning to start a new life someplace else. For your safety and mine, I cannot say where, but just know that we’re doing okay. Things ain’t easy, but we got each other. And if these following years go according to plan, who knows? Perhaps we might be able to rejoin you someday.”

“If you’re not alive though, then...I will certainly miss you. That’s for sure. We ain’t related by blood, I know, but you was always like a brother to me. We grew up together since the very beginning, and I’ll never forget the times when you used to annoy me so much that I wanted to tear my hair out. Who’d have thought I’d eventually miss those days?”

“But...as much as I’d like to keep this going, I’m afraid there’s a ship I need to catch pretty soon. It’s gonna carry me off to a civilized world where I am to live as a civilized man. I ain’t exactly ready for a life like that, but it’s where I’ve ended up. I suppose we shall see how that goes.”

“Farewell for now, John. You’ll always be in my thoughts.

Your friend and brother,

--Tacitus Kilgore.”

Placin’ the letter down on a table, I leaned back in my chair and reread some of the sentences to myself as a worn-out breath escaped me, probably because of how long I spent thinkin’ about how to word all this.

If I was bein’ honest, I didn’t even know if trying to contact John was a good idea. I mean, we was both still wanted men. Even with Agent Milton gone, the rest of the Pinkertons were still searching for us. If they knew that either of us were alive, I had no doubts that they’d do everything within their power to try and stop us from escaping...and that was a risk I couldn’t take.

I let out a frustrated sigh and balled up the piece of paper in my hands, tossin’ it into the nearby fireplace.

“...Goddammit.” I whispered to myself, solemnly watchin’ as the letter burned.

Was that the right thing to do? I wanted to see John again, of course, but...maybe it was better this way.

We both had people to take care of, after all. He had Abigail and Jack, and I had Eddie.

The less we knew about each other, the safer we’d be. We had to worry about more than just ourselves in this case, and -- with the law constantly up our ass -- perhaps it was best for everyone if John thought I was dead. Then, he’d have nothin’ to give to the Pinkertons. At least, not when it came to me.

Still though, part of me wished I could at least say goodbye to him before hightailing it to England. Out of all the people I grew up with, John was the only one left who was alive and trustworthy.

And on top of that, there was no guarantee I’d ever return to America. Apart from sentimentality, this country had nothin’ else for me. All that remained of the Van der Linde gang was a long trail of blood that civilization was already in the process of forgetting, and I certainly didn’t plan on lingering around with my wanted posters still flappin’ in the wind.

I was finally ready to be the man I aspired to be, and not the man Dutch created.

My life in the United States may have been over...but my life as a free man was just beginning.

Interrupting my thoughts, the door suddenly swung open when Eddie came wanderin’ in with a briefcase in his hand, all ready to go. He was usin’ the same cane that Hamish gave to him back at O’Creagh’s Run, and the more I saw him limpin’ around the room with a sway in his step, the more I worried about the true condition of his leg.

The pianist insisted he was fine whenever I asked him, but -- despite bein’ the dolt that I was -- I was still smart enough to assume that climbing a huge rock formation not too long after getting shot in the leg probably wasn’t the best idea.

I supposed all that commotion with Atticus finally did a number on Eddie’s injuries. He looked alright during all that drama, but with everything else that was goin’ on, I only hoped that we wouldn’t need the doctor’s services before departing for England. Things was stressful enough as is.

“Arthur,” Eddie greeted, settin’ his briefcase down on the bed for a moment. “You ready to go? The ship’s leaving in half an hour.”

“Yep. I got everything I need. What about you?”

Eddie took a seat across from me. “Me too. Just...preparing myself for the long journey now, is all. It’s been ages since I last set foot in England. I wonder what it’s like nowadays.”

“Hopefully, better than here.”

A chuckle escaped him. “Oh, I dunno about that, but at least we won’t have to worry about the Pinkertons there. I’m sick of constantly checking over my shoulder for them.”

I nodded in agreement. “I know the feeling. Milton may be dead and gone, but I doubt that the rest of them clowns will give up so easily. Perhaps, it’ll even motivate ‘em to work harder. I just hope Agent Ross doesn’t find John. That man has a family to look after.”

“Have you heard from him ever since Beaver Hollow?”

“No. I was actually plannin’ to send him a letter, but...I got rid of it just before you walked in here. Figured it’d be better if he didn’t know I was alive.”

Eddie tilted his head in an inquisitive manner. “Why? Don’t you want to see him again?”

“’Course I do. But think about it -- if John believes I’m dead, then the Pinkertons will have no reason to pester him. They might still go after him for the bounty on his own head, but interrogatin’ him for information about me would be pointless.”

The pianist glanced downwards. “Hmm. I guess so. Still, it’d be nice to thank him in person. John was always friendly to me back at camp, and he saved our lives at Beaver Hollow too. Without him, neither of us would’ve gotten away.”

“Now, ain’t that the truth.”

Eddie changed the subject. “And what of Dutch? Have you heard any news about him?”

I shook my head. “Nope. Nothing. There’s no word in the papers, no rumors circulating about him --  it’s as if he’s vanished entirely. That man could be on his way to Tahiti for all I know.”

The other man glowered. “...Or running off with Micah.”

“...That, too.” I sighed in disapproval. “Goddamn it...what the hell happened to that man? Dutch used to be so different. So full of life. So...human. But now, he’s nothin’ short of a madman. Just a tyrant who goes trigger-happy when he doesn’t get his way. I keep wonderin’ to myself where it all went wrong. Where things started to fall apart.”

The pianist frowned out of sympathy. “Well, perhaps he was always a madman. It was you who finally opened your eyes and changed.”

I rubbed my chin in thought. “...Maybe. I don’t know. Hosea used to say the same thing about himself, but to be honest...I’m not sure I care anymore. All I care about is us. You’re what matters to me now, Eddie. Not them.”

Eddie beamed warmly at the comment and gazed lovingly at me for a second, seemingly gettin’ lost in his thoughts before bringing up another topic.

“You know what...” he recalled, “that actually reminds me of something I’ve been meaning to tell you ever since we arrived in Saint Denis.”

I quirked a brow. “Oh yeah? And what would that be?”

The pianist gave me a sincere look, suddenly changing his overall demeanor. “...I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

I flicked my eyes around in confusion. “Sorry? For what?”

“For not taking your advice,” he answered. “Ever since the beginning, you warned me that vengeance was an idiot’s game. And like the idiot I was, I refused to listen to you. I was just...”

Eddie let out a conflicted sigh, shifting in his seat. “I was so consumed with this insatiable desire for revenge. No matter how much I tried to forgive him, I just couldn’t let Atticus go. There was too much anger inside me. Too much grief. I thought that killing Atticus would provide a sense of justice, or a fresh beginning, but in the end...his death only made me feel...”

The man trailed off, unable to find the right words.

“...Empty?” I finished.

The pianist nodded in response.

“Yes. Empty. But not only that. When I saw the life disappear from Atticus’ eyes, part of me even...regretted killing him so soon. I guess I had hoped there would be some sort of closure to the conflict between us, but instead...it felt like reading a story that was one chapter short. There was no resolution. No way down from the peak of the mountain. It was just...a cliff. And you know the worst part of it?”

Eddie’s expression sank with melancholy. “...I still can’t let Atticus go.”

Strugglin’ to set his thoughts in order, Eddie lowered his head in a distraught manner and stared aimlessly at the floor, causin’ me to reach across the table and lay a hand on top of his own in an attempt to comfort him.

“Hey...” I whispered softly, tryin’ to catch the disheartened man’s attention. “You made a mistake, but it ain’t the end of the world. You can still learn from this. You’re strong. Much stronger than you realize. And...if I may offer some advice...”

I scooted my chair closer to his, grippin’ his hand more firmly now. “Based on everything you’ve said to me since we first met, it sounds like that Atticus ain’t the one you can’t let go. ...I think it’s Nathaniel that you don’t want to forget.”

Takin’ my words to heart, Eddie paused at my observation and lifted his head slightly, starin’ in a way that told me I just hit the nail on the head.

I could tell from the expression plastered on his face that he ain’t never thought about it that way before, and I almost felt kinda bad for the emotional conflict that I was clearly puttin’ this poor boy through.

He blinked away some of the tears that were startin’ to gather in his eyes and gripped my hand affectionately, trying to hide how much his voice was truly trembling.

“...He is, isn’t he?”

Eddie let out a shaky breath, thinkin’ back to the day Nathaniel died.

“You know, I always blamed myself for not being able to save Nathaniel. I understand that, realistically, there was nothing I could’ve done for him, but still. The thought eats me up all the time. Even now. I just...can’t move on. I can’t sleep at night because I know that if he was alive today, he’d probably never forgive me for abandoning him.

“Nonsense,” I replied, quick to come to his defense. “If Nathaniel knew that you managed to survive that day -- that you actually made it all the way to America, started a new life for yourself, became a pianist, and killed Atticus Rose after months of fightin’ for your life as an outlaw only to become a free man -- why...” I chuckled in awe, “...he’d be so, goddamned proud of you.”

The other man gazed at me with teary eyes, not quite convinced yet. “How do you know?”

I smiled brightly at Eddie. “...Because I know I am.”

Evidently somewhat overwhelmed by my praise, the sorrow disappeared from Eddie’s face as he cracked a small grin and leaned forward, showerin’ me with his own storm of compliments.

“Thank you, Arthur, but it’s not as if I did it all by myself. You did your fair share of work too. In fact, I never would’ve made it this far if you hadn’t found me that day. Your first interaction with me was an act of kindness, and yet you still speak ill of yourself constantly. You truly are a marvel, Arthur...but I don’t think you see it.”

I sighed remorsefully, wishin’ I could say Eddie was entirely right.

“That’s ‘cause I done some real bad things in my life, Eddie. Horrible things. Before I met you, I used to rob people who didn’t deserve it, kill folks who did nothin’ except get in the way of Dutch’s plans, and I did all of it while living under some twisted sense of honor to help me sleep at night. But now...”

I looked the pianist in eye, still holdin’ on to his hand, “I wanna change, Eddie. For real this time. I don’t wanna just be some thief who happens to be kinder than the rest. I wanna be a better man. A better partner. No more crimes, no more violence...just redemption. That’s all I want.”

Eddie gently brought his hands up to my face and pulled me closer, caressing my cheek in a loving manner.

“...Then let’s do it.”

~~~~~~~~~~

TWENTY MINUTES LATER

SAINT DENIS HARBOR

Sittin’ in the stagecoach as it gently rolled over the brick roads, Eddie and I eagerly gazed outta the small windows with a newfound wonder in our hearts as we passed by the whole city, somewhat unable to comprehend that we was actually leavin’ this country.

I had to admit -- it was strange, seeing Saint Denis like this again. Over the course of the last few months, Eddie and I spent every damn day fightin’ for our lives, just trying to survive. We fought against the O’Driscolls, the Pinkertons, Atticus, and even good ol’ Dutch himself.

We had been to Hell and back while still finding the time to plant the seeds of what was now an unbreakable bond between us, and yet...Saint Denis hadn’t changed one bit.

In fact, this city looked exactly the same as when I first met Eddie. People were breezin’ through the streets without a care for the beggars on the sidewalks, activists and politicians rallied people to their campaigns, children played games in the open gardens, and everywhere, people lined up in front of all sorts of establishments, waitin’ to be entertained.

The gears of civilization kept turnin’ with not a single thought for those left behind, and somehow, it still managed to look like it hadn’t gone anywhere at all.

It was one of the many wonders of the new world, but also one of the things that made me fear it. How was it that a city could progress so much without actually changin’ anything? Or maybe it was just my nerves actin’ up? I didn’t know anymore.

Everything was just so confusing now. Instead of runnin’ away from civilized life like I normally did, I was headin’ straight towards it.

I was getting ready to do the one thing that Dutch always insisted was impossible, and to make matters even more astonishing, I had a man who loved me standin’ at my side.

All them years of wondering why I could never be good enough for Mary, or strong enough to protect Eliza...and I finally had someone who accepted me as I was, but also encouraged me to be better. It took a good three decades, but my life had finally picked itself up even though I sure as hell didn’t deserve it.

I was on the opposite side of the spectrum for the first time, but -- contrary to what I expected -- I was happy. I was ready to change. And I welcomed it.

Finally arrivin’ at the harbor, the stagecoach slowed down to a steady halt as it stopped beside the entrance, prompting me and Eddie to leave. There were already a few other stagecoaches lined up in front of us, spittin’ out passengers just the same, and without even looking, I could tell it was gonna be crowded as hell outside just based on the noise.

I picked up my briefcase, takin’ hold of the door’s handle.

“You ready?” I asked Eddie, earning a nod from him.

“Ready as ever.”

Lightly pushing the door open, the two of us were instantly greeted by a cool breeze as the sound of seagulls cryin’ and people chatting reached our ears, followed by the distinct scent of saltwater.

All around me, I could see men, women, and children pacin’ their way across the harbor as they hurried to find their ship, or simply waited for their loved ones to arrive.

There were multiple paperboys stationed throughout the place, merchants displaying their trinkets to newcomers as they came fresh off the boats, fishermen luggin’ heavy nets around, and a number of street performers offerin’ a lively mood to the otherwise mundane atmosphere of the harbor.

It was a surprisingly busy day in this part of town, and...if I was bein’ honest...I felt a tad nervous jumping into the heart of it all. There were just so many people; so many civilized folks who were unlike me that...I felt incredibly outta place here.

But I supposed I’d have to get used to it sooner or later. This was the beginning of my new life, after all...and I was old enough to know that nothin’ worthwhile ever came easy.

“Here,” I said, offering Eddie a hand as he stepped out of the stagecoach. “Lemme help.”

The pianist gave me a humorous grin. “Such a gentleman.”

I chuckled, duckin’ my head as I followed him out. “What can I say? Civilization’s gettin’ to me.”

Swiftly makin’ our way outta the confines of the stagecoach’s limited space, Eddie and I set out for our ship as we slithered through the bustling streets of the harbor, doin’ our absolute best not to crash into other people.

Unlike the serene nature of the countryside, this place was pretty much filled to the brim with commotion. Folks were movin’ around so fast that they practically made the signposts twirl, and sometimes, there’d be nothing but a tornado of leaves whirling in their wake.

It was like people couldn’t even spare two seconds to take a breath. They were just completely focused on the here and now, and didn’t even bother to take in their surroundings. It was...kinda sad to witness, in a way. Though, I guessed that was just the nature of civilization.

There was no time for the present. Only for the future.

Stickin’ to the sides of the pavements, the two of us made haste for a ship at the very end of the harbor called “The Pytheas.” It was a gargantuan thing stacked with so many massive crates and strange-lookin’ machines that it made you wonder how the hell it managed to stay afloat.

There were all sorts of people gatherin’ on the pier as well. Even from here, I could see groups of businessmen discussing deals in many different languages, professors pondering what awaited them on the other side of the sea, artists sketchin’ down the vast landscape to combat their boredom, and immigrants huddling up with their families. It was like seein’ a miniature version of the entire world stuffed onto one strip of land.

And then...there was me and Eddie.

Just a musician and an outlaw.

A pianist and a gunslinger.

Two lost souls who were once crippled by their own fears, but learned to become whole after they found each other.

We was nothin’ but a pair of ordinary men in the eyes of these people. Just two regular guys goin’ about their business on a regular day. But if they were to look a bit more closely -- I guaranteed they’d be able to see the convoluted stories hiding inside.

They were written in the lines on our faces, in the depths of our eyes, in the steps we took. It was a silent journey that spoke for itself, and I doubted that either of us would ever forget it, despite leavin’ that entire ordeal behind.

We had a plethora of memories lingering in the west, after all. Simply by gazin’ at the wilderness hiding behind the city’s skyline, I was practically able to relive every moment of my past.

From the day Dutch and Hosea found me, to our endless adventures riding across the open deserts, to the times I wasted fallin’ in love with Mary, to the many years I spent mourning Isaac and Eliza...

All the friends that I buried along the way, the anger and grief I experienced, the enemies we gunned down, the nights we spent sharin’ stories around the campfire, the days where I wondered if I’d live long enough to see the next sunrise...

It all flooded my head at once. Within the span of a few seconds, I watched my whole life unfold in front of me like a person rapidly flipping through the pages of a book, and for the first time in years, I could sense genuine tears welling up in my eyes from all the emotions that were racin’ through me.

It was just...surreal to think about how far I had come. How much I’d grown. How much things had changed.

Not too many years ago, I was nothin’ but a sad, lost, and lonely man who thought he’d die long before the age of gunslingers withered away -- but now... there was an entirely new world waitin’ for me on the other side of the ocean. As well as a new home.

And so -- with one last glance over my shoulder -- I turned around and savored the reminiscent view standin’ behind me as it slowly disappeared in the distance, waving goodbye like an old friend bidding me farewell.

I had no idea if I’d ever return to this country, or if I’d ever get the closure I desired with John and Dutch...but one thing I did know was that America would always be home to me.

No matter the amount of pain or heartache that lingered in the shadows of our gang’s actions, there was just some sort of connection between me and this place that nothing could sever.

For the sake of buildin’ a peaceful home with Eddie, I would comply and live in a civilized world away from crime, but deep down -- I knew damn well that I’d always be an outlaw for life.

It was just who I was, and it was the thing that turned me into this man today.

I was Arthur Morgan, and this was the end of my story in the Wild West.

“...Goodbye, Dutch.” I whispered softly to myself, turnin’ on my heel to follow Eddie to the ship.

There were only a few minutes left until departure now, and part of me grew weary just thinkin’ about the lengthy journey ahead -- but regardless of how long it took for us to reach England, or how tiring the trip would be, I was at peace knowing that we had finally achieved the dream we fought so long to reach.

Eddie and I were officially free men from this day forward...and we had acquired the one treasure Dutch never found. The only luxury that no amount of money could buy.

The one thing that only ever truly mattered to me.

Redemption.

[blitzkingful]

Ever After High: A Twisted Plot Ep. 2 - Broken crowns

The news of Raven Queen's escape from school had spread like an oil stain throughout the realm of Ever After, reaching the ears of Snow White herself. The Fairest Of Them All did not take it well, at all. It had been frustrating enough falling into the trap of her archnemesis like a three year old toddler (sure, she had made sure to cover it, but still...) and now her daughter too dared to stomp on her feet, finally determined to fully evade her duties regarding fairytales and Destiny. Snow thought that, despite her rebellious tendencies, Raven totally followed her mother's footsteps, when it was about driving anyone around her crazy. But the ebony-haired queen would have not allowed a troubled girl to overthrow the sacred traditions on which her entire bloodline relied since ancient times. She would've found her, no matter where she was hiding, and she would've made sure herself that the witch brat could become Apple's nemesis. She immediately seeked in the most obvious place: Raven's home. She expected for the fugitive to seek shelter in a familiar place, but, as the dwarf detectives told her once they came back from Queen Castle, there were only the Good King, a couple of orc butlers and several goblin guards. The King had stated that his daughter hadn't showed up around there, and since that man was known for his honesty (being Good with capital G), the dwarves believed him, and so did Snow White. Aside from Raven Queen's birthplace, unfortunately, it quickly turned out to be difficult to figure out where she was. And as the days passed, bringing Raven back became less and less probable. She didn't know that much about that girl, after all. Maybe she should have done more researches, not just about her popularity at school.

B.P .: On the other hand, we can find it now!

N.N: Benefits of being one thing with the story ...

B.P: ... Found her! Oh! The irony! She 's hiding in a village not too far from Queen Castle!

N.N: You know what they say, the best hiding place is the one in plain view!

Raven sat on a bench of the village's little park, sighing. She greatly appreciated Cook's hospitality, although the woman had said that there was no problem whatsoever; after all, with her work, most of the time she was at the castle, leaving the lodge abandoned. Raven, however, was grateful, and sometimes she felt guilty for taking advantage of Cook. Besides, in the end she had accepted the offer only when they had pointed out that very few people, outside of those territories, knew about the existence of that village, thus it was the best place to seek refuge. However, she was much more relaxed now, and she wanted to enjoy that quiet as much as possible. She heard someone behind her clearing the voice, and, looking behind, she saw a little man with a white receding hairline, with a gentle smile and a sweet look in his eyes. "Dad!" The girl lit up, getting up and getting close to the Good King "I didn't expect you today!" The King, who was wearing rather informal clothes for his position (he did not even have the crown), approached his daughter, digging into one of his pockets "I talked to your mom this morning," he began. "Oh," Raven said, suddenly bitter. "She came to know that you left school and ... well, she was very enthusiastic. She said that it was finally time you'd read this..." the man explained, giving her a letter. Raven didn't want to take it, and she slightly walked away. "I don't care." "Raven, I know what you think, but ..." "I stopped tolerating her delusions. I want to live my life in my own way, and if she doesn't understand that, suits herself." The Good King frowned:" ... and this is how you wanted to live it? In a village that nobody knows and which you cannot leave because otherwise all of the rulers in Ever After would chase after you? " He asked, worried. Raven sighed, lowering and shaking his head: "It's better than keep staying at Ever After High." "I understand that, believe me," the King kindly replied, "But you had friends there, and you left them behind without a second thought. The thing, I confess, unsettles me a little." The girl hesitated. His father continued: "Would've they listened to you immediately, you could have stopped your mom without problems, okay, but you have to keep in mind that Snow Whi ..." "It's not just that, Dad!" Raven interrupted him, tears starting to drop from her left eye. "You know how much I had to go through, due to my Destiny, since I was a kid. During Legacy Day I made my choice and, in the end, I knew it was the right one, but I knew I could not abandon the others. I understood that I had to consider their reasons, their point of view as well. I tried to talk to them, to seek a compromise that would make everyone happy ... all for naught." She paused, leaning on the bench and fighting the impulse to cry "After the Dragon Games, I realized that if I'd remained there, nothing would have never changed. And I don't want to waste my whole life in waiting for others to understand me. I want to live it, even if it is in this tiny village." Raven rubbed her eyes, suppressing her tears. Her father, comprehensive, approached her, taking her hands in his own: "Sorry, I didn't want to ruin your day." The young girl shook her head, trying to smile. The King caressed a cheek of his daughter: "You know what? Let's enjoy this beautiful day for now: walking around, go fishing ... about everything else, we'll talk another time, okay?" Raven finally smiled for real: "Okay."

B.P.: Poor Raven…

N.N.: See? That's exactly what I was talking about back in the prologue.

F.N.: All right, all right, you made your point.

To say that Raven's escape had shocked Ever After High was an understatement. Everyone had noticed how much the young Queen was in a bad mood recently, and when they heard the commotion coming from the room she shared with Apple, they feared for the worst. The first ones to reach the room were Madeline Hatter and Briar Beauty, and they first noticed that only Apple was present. Snow White's daughter, trembling, had told about the short but heated discussion with Raven and how at last her roomie had magically teleported herself away. Blondie Lockes, arrived in the meantime along with the three Charming brothers, had not missed the opportunity to spread the news on MagicNet. Headmaster Grimm, once he came to know, almost got a stroke. Of all the troubles caused by Raven Queen, this was the worst, no doubt. "Should the Archive come to know, we're fired for sure!" He kept repeating to Giles, who instead merely had commented about how this development should have been seen coming. Milton however didn't want to listen, and he granted Snow White the permission to conduct investigations and find the young witch. It wasn't a regular procedure, especially for a rules-fanatic like Milton Grimm, but hey, it was Snow White, so, according to the elder Grimm brother, that meant that it was okay. The younger one, however, had just shake his head and given up on any attempt to make a discussion, being sure it would've been useless. As usual. "He's on his own on this!" Giles Grimm said to himself. He would've gonna kept to doing his job: keeping an eye on the students. Nothing more.

Apple White closed the door of the room, turning her gaze towards the part that, until a couple of weeks ago, was occupied by Raven. No new roommate had been assigned to her, as the Headmaster had declared that they would've find out where the daughter of the Evil Queen was and that everything would've returned to normal. But the blonde princess did not believe it would've gone that way. Not anymore. She knew that by personal experience: after the Evil Queen had been re-mirrored, Apple was so ashamed of the part she had played in the woman's plans to pretend it was all water under the bridge, but deep inside she was very well aware that it wasn't. Raven's last tantrum had confirmed that to her, and she had made her remorse grow even more: a limit had been surpassed, and there was no way to going back. Apple believed that she had grown up and matured, after all the adventures she had experienced, and with her also her vision of the world. But, apparently, not enough to avoid freeing the Evil Queen, an unstable and genuinely criminal woman, so that she could brainwash her own daughter so that she could become wicked ... what was she thinking at that moment, again?! What made her think that unleashing the greatest danger the land ever faced would have been a good idea ?! And why did she still want Raven becoming the villain of their fairytale? Hadn't she decided that the Storybook of Legends had to be destroyed, because she'd understood the value of free choice? Back when things were more simple, any doubt would have been thrown away easily by shaking her head and smiling, but today that had stopped working. Now she felt a deep anguish, which it wouldn't have disappeared anytime soon, because she realized her huge mistake made her lose a fableous friend. The girl stopped her mourning, hearing a loud and angry chattering from outside. Looking out of the window, she discovered, much to her horror, many of her peers in the schoolyard, quarreling furiously among themselves.

Arguing between students, since they had divided themselves in Royals and Rebels, had always been a daily routine. Even after the destruction of the Storybook of Legends, which had officially put an end to the conflict, some clash of opinions still took place. It was only natural, of course. But this time it wasn't just a confrontation of ideals: the disappearence of Raven Queen had left a heavy mark, and Ever After High students had split up again, driven by rage. It was like the first times after that fateful Legacy Day, only that today the tension was, if possible, even worse. They had angrily discussed for a long time, in the previous days, about why in the end Raven had decided to abandon the school so abruptly. Those who never really liked the young witch, the most traditional Royal students, claimed that the Rebel leader had decided to follow her mother's criminal footsteps and had fully betrayed Ever After. Those who were closer to Raven, like Cedar Wood, Madeline Hatter, and Cerise Hood, had defended her, remorseful for not having noticed that something was wrong with their friend. They'd claimed that Ever After had betrayed, all of them had betrayed Raven's trust, a trust the witch had in spite of what she had to endure since childhood. "We all knew very well what the Evil Queen was capable of," Cerise had accused, "and yet you have ... we left her out, without a leash, let her to play in the Arena as if it was nothing." And it had gone on and on, between the accusations of the 'new' Rebels and those of the 'new' Royals. They didn't solve anything and everyone just got more and more nervous, and today it didn't seem to be an exception. For an unlucky coincidence (or perhaps it was intentional, and in that case it was even scarier) most of the supporters of both factions had found themselves in the same place. The usual harsh words, the usual recriminations, the usual insults... until Faybelle Thorn had spoke. It should be remembered that Faybelle's situation was very fragile, and only the presence of Raven Queen had always diverted the general attention from the fairy. Now Raven was gone, and it was enough to remind everyone of the part that Faybelle had played in recent events: "This is just another time when Raven Queen embarrasses the villains of the whole realm! " Many of the people there stared at her like their stare could've incinerated her, then unexpectedly, of all the people who could've called her out, it was ... Duchess Swan. "Shut your mouth you!" She had growled the swan princess, approaching the fairy with her usual scornful behaviour: "It's thanks to you if we nearly went poof. For real. TWICE!" Faybelle stayed silent. For a couple of seconds. "Hey, Featherbrain, what's wrong? I thought we were on the same page!" she replied, trying to play safe. Duchess didn't lose ground: "Yeah, well, not after I found out I'm not as crazy and out of control as you!" "Pfft! I was just following my villainous Destiny!" Faybelle snorted, gaining a lot of approving nods from the most thick-headed Royals. "Oooooh no, don't you think to get away so easily! " Duchess blurted, with several Rebels coming alongside her: "What you have done has nothing to do with your fairytale, and you know it! Cleaning the school? You should have been locked up like Raven's mother!" At that last accusation, every chance of a civil discussion completely faded.

Courtly Jester watched, from a short distance, the commotion that had took place there in the schoolyard. With a bored stare. Bizarre, for someone who is jolly even in name. Actually, that was her basic expression since she was attending to Ever After High. Granted, during the first days, she'd found it way more intriguing. Better than the jail, no doubt. The novelty effect had ended quickly, however: ignored, set aside, and in the rare moments when she was considered, it never was anything pleasant. Nothing too gratifying, in short. Blame yourself, you tried to steal the throne from Lizzie Hearts, someone could have told her. And maybe they would have been right, about the current situation. But even before attempting a coup d'etat in Wonderland, she wasn't treated better, and at that time she really did not have any fault! It was something he had never understood, actually. She had asked to her father an explanation, and all he had been able to tell her was that some card games didn't need the jolly. It wasn't just a meaningless situation, which was very common there, it was an unfair. Courtly had tried with all her willpower to prove her value, but not even becoming Wonderland High's principal/viceprincipal/students' body president had changed other people's mind. She was a jolly, and as such she was good only to make them laugh. Was it really so surprising that at that point she had gone crazy and wanted to take the place of a shouting fool who had the unconditional love and loyalty of the whole kingdom? The main reason Courtly didn't like Ever After was exactly this: nothing had changed from Wonderland. No matter how hard she tried, no one would've ever appreciate her.

"Such a heartbreaking story," a voice said. Courtly gasped, taken away from her thinking. Almost without realizing it, she had walked away from the mob, not in the mood to enjoy the show, as Kitty Cheshire would've put it. She didn't even have a precise destination, and looking around she noticed that ... "We are near the Book End's playground, okay? Can I talk, thank you very much?" Uh ... okaaaaay ... from the roof of a house came down, landing perfectly on his feet, the gray-skinned guy with glowing green veins that... "Yeah, yeah, I'm the lad who at the end of the previous chapter watched Raven leaving the school. It's my turn to talk, yes or no?!"

...

"Good. First of all, good morning, Courtly Jester. I guess you're confused about who I am and what I'm going to do here and a lot of other things ... I won't waste time: the name's Hiram, and I know everything about you. I know what you had to suffer in your life. I know why you wanted to steal Lizzie Hearts' Destiny. How do I know all these things? Let's say I read a lot. Know that I understand you perfectly: much like you I had to endure similar vicissitudes, and you know who are the guilty ones? Fairytale characters. Those who believe that their stories are more important than the others just because theirs are written in books. We are ignored and we are forced to be put in the dust, for this idiotic reason. Well, know that I'm going to change that. I've already collected many allies, and your contribution would be more than welcomed. I can assure you that you'll finally get the respect you wish and deserve." "... What should I do?" "I'm glad you accepted. The point is this: I'm pretty able with magic, but not even I could do much against all of the spellcasters in Ever After High, and that is our ultimate target. We must remove its thoughest guardians from the equation. And since you're already inside the school..." "Ok, I got it, but how do you think I of all people can accomplish such a mission?!" "All you have to do is stealing Milton Grimm's mirror-shaped ring. At that point, you will simply recite the spell contained on this parchment. And before you ask how you could get into the Headmaster's office... do you remember this?" "T-that card...!" "Yeah, that's the same one you used to break in the Queen of Hearts' birthday... Just a tip: now that the Evil Queen's grimoire has been assimilated by Raven, the card still has enough magic only for one more use, so be careful! " "You are really well informed..." "I told you, I read a lot."

N.N.: I'm starting to be afraid.

B.P.: Me too! He practically excluded us from the narration! But how does he do it?!

N.N.: Quick, while he's still talking to Courtly! Let's start a flashback and find out who or what Hiram Patchfield exactly is!

B.P.: Flashback activated!

Hiram Patchfield had told Raven the truth about being originary from Snow White's realm. What he hadn't told her was that he had left when he was still a child. It had happened shortly after one of the many raids of the Evil Queen, a few years before cursing Wonderland. Disappeared from one day to another, who knew him had thought he was dead during the siege. And when he had reappeared, one month after the Dragon Games incident, he had changed too much to be recognized. He had walked inside the Happy Cider, a modest tavern frequented by many of the land's inhabitants, eager to rest after an entire day of hard work. Asked for a pint of cider, he had said a couple of subtle comments about Snow White's lousy reliability as a monarch. At first, predictably, the customers had reacted hostily, but Hiram had been ready to lampshading the irresponsible behavior of the queen, who almost condemned the whole Ever After a month earlier. Then, to the increasingly weak objections of the villagers, Hiram had pointed out every unfairness that theyhad to suffer from Snow: individual opinions and individual needs were ignored, the patronizing with which the monarch mocked their intelligence, being forced to smiling 24/7. He'd made them notice that Snow White was there for them, but only when she could take advantage from it to shill herself. For instance, during the funeral for the young Pepper Pumpkins' uncle, with the excuse to say a few words about the deceased, the queen had intervened with an intentionally endless monologue to get more attention to herself; all abducted by her talking, no one followed the rest of the ceremony with the proper concentration. Pepper had'nt daredto to say anything at the time: it was Snow White, after all. But the boy's voice had given her the courage to react. Patchfield had also managed to convince some undercover spy-dwarves in the room to collaborate with him, remembering them the frustration of the fact that both the queen and the princess had never bothered to learn their names, and instead everytime they invented extremely embarrassing nicknames. Hiram had told them to not let their sugary smiles prevent them from being respected. Faster than he expected, he had conquered the entire Happy Cider, customers and staff. "We are the ones who break our backs to make Ever After propsper" Patchfield said at the end of his speech. "And should we be lead by a bunch of brats who for centuries had believed that to have a succesfull life all it takes is writing their name on a dusty book?" A chorus of noisy "NO!"s filled the entire tavern. In the following days, Hiram had been busy in organizing the revolution to defeat Snow White and company, with the collaboration of his new allies, who, thanks to the word of mouth, had grown more and more in number. However, many remained puzzled about how much time they had to wait before attacking, even after the plan was ready... When they asked him about that, the boy replied: "I had to make sure someone was left out from this story ... she was a victim like and more than us, but if everything is went smooth, there is nothing to worry about anymore."

B.P.: I can't read anything else, damn it!

N.N.: This doesn't explain much.

B.P.: Except for the fact that he comes from Snow White's kingdom ... which makes even stranger his capability of hearing us ...

F.N.: Speaking of White, did Apple try to stop the quarrel in the schoolyard?

M.N.: I don't know, she was pretty depressed ... let's check!

Sensed the hostility, Apple White rushed to the schoolyard. Even with all the problems she was facing, she couldn't let her friends beating each other. She just hoped she still had the strength to handle the situation. Her good intentions, however, didn't come to realization, because, reached the downstairs, Apple was intercepted by Headmaster Grimm. The man, followed by two strange guys, called her with her usual pretentious voice, broken by some anxiety: "Miss White! Here you are! " Apple stopped and turned her gaze to the man:"Good morning, Headmaster, sorry but whatever you need, we can talk about it later, I have to ... " Milton vigorously shook his head: "Worry not about your schoolmates, I've already disposed for All The King's Horses and All The King's Men to intervene if the tussle should turn for the worst. Rather, I have to report a very important communication to you." More important than making sure your students don't get hurt ?! The princess thought, irritated. It occurred to her that, since previous year's Thronecoming, she no longer respected Milton Grimm as she once upon a time did. At that moment the two men who followed the school principal tried to catch the attention of the Grimm. They were very old, judging by the gray long beards, and they were wearing very weird tunics: Apple vaguely remembered to have seen something similar in some book. Milton Grimm gave them an impatient gesture with his hand: "Gentlemen, we are quite busy at the moment, and we'll be it for a while. We'll talk later, I'll call you! " He concluded, far from sounding convincing. The two elders, understood that they woul've got nothing, left, resigned and irritated. Snorting, Grimm turned to Apple again: "Excuse me for the interruption, Your Highness, those two had chased me for the entire day and..." "Didn't you want to tell me something?" Apple blurted out, now visibly upset. "Oh yes, right! Ahem! ... Given the unsatisfactory results of the search for Raven Queen, Her Majesty Your Mother has decided to discuss with her allies and collaborators by restart investigations from where everything started ... that is, here at Ever After High." "So that means... my mother will come here? Again?!" "Hexactly." Apple sighed, rolling her eyes: "Spelltastic."

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 4/19/2019

Good MORNING  #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Friday April 19th 2019. Remember you can read full articles for FREE via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS) OR by purchasing by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

MIA OUTLINES TRANSPORT CHANGES – Barbadians are all for a $1 decrease in bus fare for schoolchildren, after Prime Minister Mia Mottley yesterday intervened in what had become a raging national controversy. She confirmed the reduction at an emergency meeting with all transport sector stakeholders, which lasted more than two hours at Government Headquarters. “The privately-owned public service vehicles [PSVs] have agreed that they will not charge schoolchildren more than $2.50,” Mottley told the media. The Prime Minister also explained that in the coming months several PSVs would be added under the Transport Board “brand”, which would be identified with decal stickers, on which the students would travel for free. “In the case of the Transport Board buses, that $2.50, obviously, is paid by Government. But in the case of the PSVs that are privately-owned and not working under the Transport Board brand, then the schoolchild will pay $2.50. (DN)

DE PEIZA: CHILDREN BROUGHT GOVT TO HEEL –PRESIDENT of the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) Verla De Peiza yesterday blasted the ruling Barbados Labour Party over the bus fare hike, saying it was brought to its knees by schoolchildren. She also accused the administration of being out of touch with the people after years of “rubbing shoulders” to the point where the schoolchildren protested the $3.50 bus fare introduced on Monday and it was quickly reduced to $2.50 on private service vehicles (PSVs) on Wednesday. “Where was the consideration when you were actually making the policy decision? It cannot be that you are just thinking about charts and graphs and not about people. “You had to wait for schoolchildren to stage a ‘protest’. . .  . They stood at the bus stop, would not get in the private public transport so that they would not spend the $3.50 and waited patiently for the non-existent Transport Board buses that you tell them they could ride on free. “That is ‘protest’ and it took the schoolchildren doing that to drive them to their knees,” De Peiza said.  (DN)

TOUR OF HORROR – Horrified. That is how a grim-faced Leader of the Opposition, Bishop Joseph Atherley, described the transportation system and conditions in the bus terminals. Shaking his head in disgust at what he had seen in his two-hour tour of the Constitution River and Fairchild Street bus terminals yesterday, Atherley said: “I am not pleased by what I saw here today. Actually, it really represents a horror story.” “I knew that things were very bad but it is even worse than I had imagined. Taking into account the stories I heard from commuters, people are seriously dislocated and inconvenienced in the absence of transportation.” Atherley, accompanied by members of his shadow cabinet, said the transportation system desperately needed revamping, adding that Government’s current policies were ad hoc. (DN)

FRICTION OVER NEW ROUTES – The war of words continues between the Transport Authority and the public service vehicle (PSV) sector, this time over the new routes in St George. On one hand, Morris Lee, interim chairman of the Association of Public Transport Operators, is accusing the authority of taking an ill-advised action without proper consultation. However, chairman Ian Estwick said the PSV operators had ample opportunities and disrespected the authority by not showing up to meetings, then crying foul. Lee told the Nation in an interview yesterday: “Moving operators from Silver Sands to The Glebe area was an attempt to roll out a cross-country service to take care of those people who suffer for transport . . . but the private sector cannot provide a service to an area where there is not the commuter ridership to support the viability of the venture. “Those routes rolled out by the Transport Authority have not been done with the full consultation of the private sector. If you’re going to roll out new routes, let the Transport Board gather that data, as we do not have the luxury of a subsidy,” he said.  (DN)

SUMMER SCHOOL REHAB – The Ministry of Education is gearing up to inject an estimated $2 million into repairing and refurbishing school plants, and treating to environmental issues, over the lengthy summer vacation. Word of this came from Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw who told Barbados TODAY that this past week she has been engaging in discussions with ministry officials and partners regarding plans for the ministry’s Domestic Summer Programme. She said though discussions were still ongoing, about 16 schools had been identified so far, to benefit from this year’s programme. “We have sat down over the last few days, looking at the list of concerns that we have in terms of environmental issues, in terms of termites, in terms of allocation of spaces across the school plants, and just the general problems that we are facing. There are a lot of schools that we have to deal with and if you ask every school, you would find a problem at every school. “And in an environment where there are limited resources, you would appreciate we have to budget accordingly based on the resources that we have. But what we have agreed is that we are going to be prudent,” she said. The Minister shared that one of the challenges being faced was that several of the older school plants were made of soft stone material, and as a consequence they require significant maintenance. However, she gave the assurance that all options were being looked into, to ensure there would not be any quick fixes in any particular area, space or building. “We are really trying to get an idea of what the issues are at the schools. So that when we make our decisions about the summer programme, it is against a background where we can certainly justify and defend the schools that have been selected. “The reason for the summer programme is that it is the longest period that we have to do extensive works. So the projects that fall within the summer programme are those projects, which we cannot do during the Easter vacation, we can’t do it during the Christmas period and we can’t do it during school time. “We’ve got serious issues across the schools and some of them would need to be closed for longer periods for all the work to be done. But we are really trying to prioritise the schools in densely populated areas. We had an initial list, but we are drilling down and we are asking questions and the officers are having to go back into the field to get answers to the questions that we have proposed or to reconfigure the justification in order to allow us to make the right decisions,” she said. Minister Bradshaw also stressed that the two major teachers’ unions would be involved in the discussions regarding the summer programme. She said she believes that the ministry must repair a damaged relationship with the unions. “So we intend to meet with them and have them be a part of those discussions and to be able to explain to them some of the challenges that we are having so that they can also be able to appreciate why we may not be able to in the summer programme or throughout this financial year, but to give some assurances that we understand what the problems are and we are doing our best to be able to nip some of those problems in the bud,” she said. An effective maintenance programme is also being established. Bradshaw said this was a necessary move since in the past the ministry focused on emergency repairs, and has not paid much needed attention to preventative care. She mentioned that a number of schools have been on a list for repairs, but the work kept being pushed back because of various factors. “I have made a call to get corporate entities and teachers and students on board. You are going to start to see that rolling out shortly because a couple companies and Parent Teacher Associations have responded to that call. “I believe that once we can start to champion some schools in some of these efforts it will certainly inspire other people to get on board with the ministry to get what needs to be done, interms of the environment at the schools, done,” Bradshaw said.  (BT)

MILTON LYNCH NEEDS ROLL BOOST – With extensive repairs and a clean-up of the Milton Lynch Primary School now complete, Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw is now turning her attention to getting the boys’ school’s roll back up. While unable to provide numbers at the time of an interview with Barbados TODAY, Bradshaw said she was concerned that the student population at the Water Street, Christ Church school had been falling in recent years. A meeting with education ministry officials to evaluate the school’s roll over the last two years revealed the fall off had reached a worrying level, with need for an intervention to be made, she said. The Minister said that while she was not yet in a position to pinpoint the cause of the decline, she believes that the deterioration of the school plant and unsanitary conditions may have something to do with it. Bradshaw said: “But I am looking to change this. “The number of boys coming to the institution has been dropping. I guess parents were becoming a little frustrated too with the conditions at the school and they had a number of transfers made out of the institution. I think based on the work that has been done, and the different feeling from the teachers, we are likely to see an increase in the school roll, certainly going forward. “I think it is the only boy school at the primary level that we have on the island and I think that it can serve a purpose in helping to mould young men in that type of institution. “I have spoken to the principal and some of the teachers and I know in particular the male teachers are eager to introduce programmes separate and distinct from the normal curriculum, to be able to really mold these young men and prepare them for secondary school and certainly for life.” Following a protest by parents, and complaints from teachers about the unfavourable conditions, Minister Bradshaw visited the institution to see the conditions for herself. It was then that she promised that when school resumed after the Easter vacation, most of the issues would have been fixed. When Barbados TODAY visited Milton Lynch on Tuesday’s start of the school term, students and teachers were pleased with the improved conditions. The Barbados Union of Teachers’ shop steward at the school, Mark Green, reported that teachers were pleased that the Minister kept her promise. Bradshaw said she was happy to have been able to fulfill the promise, but said that the ministry would now be looking to work with parents and teachers to develop an agriculture programme on the site. “It is something that I supported. We have removed an old prefab building and we are now going to work with them to get a programme set up for the boys to be able to engage in an agriculture project on the site,” she said. Bradshaw said minor work still to be completed at the school is to be during the summer vacation. (BT)

CANADIAN FIRMS LINING UP TO DO MEDICAL GANJA BUSINESS HERE –Barbados is moving to cash in on the growing medical marijuana industry by teaming up with a number of firms in Canada with “great interest” in setting up here, the Prime Minister has revealed. She said she has held meetings with individuals and company officials in Toronto and Montreal where the issue of medical marijuana was topic one, following the administration’s moves to legalise marijuana for medical use. Canada has fully decriminalised cannabis use, leading to a mushrooming of pharmaceutical industries tied to the herb. Mottley was giving an update on her nine-day of overseas meetings where she met with a range of officials on a number of issues ranging from the environment to financial matters. The meetings, which also saw the Prime Minister and her team going to Miami and Washington DC, was mainly to promote new product offerings in Barbados in relation to its tax rate and promote the country to investors. She told journalists at Government Headquarters that there was “great, great interest” in the establishment of a medical marijuana industry in Barbados. Attorney General Dale Marshall and the Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir are currently reviewing a regulatory framework, the Prime Minister told reporters. She said: “Many of the companies, coming out of Canada, need an opportunity to be able to ensure that if they domicile in Barbados, [they can operate] their business enterprise for the rest of the world without any difficulties.” She said medical marijuana in Barbados was “one that is likely to garner significant business”. But the prime minister cautioned that changes would have to be made to various pieces of legislation to allow for the establishment of that industry here. Mottley said:“Even to ensure that Barbadian farm workers are not prejudiced in any way,. . . we need to make sure that our workers are not exposed in anyway on the farm workers programme with respect to the wages which they receive as well. So there are issues that we have to work through and hence the face-to-face meetings in Toronto.” It was late last year that the Prime Minister announced that her administration would be putting a framework in place for medical cannabis, while a referendum would be required for the recreational use. Mottley explained that the Canadian companies lining up to take advantage of the medical cannabis industry here were due to a combination of things including that fact that some of them wanted to domicile in Barbados for that reason. “Secondly, some of them want to participate with Barbadians in Barbados to be able to be part of the medical cannabis sector and we made it very clear that yes, we welcome people, but we are also going to ensure that we create opportunities for Barbadians to invest in this new sector as well,” she said. She insisted that the development of the cannabis industry locally should be based on research and development and continuous training of participants, while avoiding past mistakes with other industries. The Prime Minister told the media: “Separate from research and development, we need to see ourselves as a domicile for persons engaged in this activity because of the global commerce and it ties into what many Canadian enterprises want to do in terms of structuring out of their businesses to engage the rest of the world. This is a natural extension of what we have been doing in the international business sector. “Thirdly, we don’t want to ever make the same mistake that was made with other agriculture products, particularly sugar in the past. That you treat to it as a bulk commodity, that if we are going to have a medical cannabis industry it needs to be a vertically integrated industry as well. Therefore, we are being very strategic about how we relate to this sector,” she promised. (BT)

‘MORE CUSTOMS OFFICERS’ AS PM UPGRADES ACTING POSTS - Prime Minister Mia Mottley has revealed that some 138 posts have been created for Customs officers, in an effort to regularise the clerical officers who have been acting in the positions at HM Customs and Excise for several years. Pointing out that some 160 posts were left vacant by the Freundel Stuart administration “under the pretense” that the department would be merging with the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA), Mottley said her administration was about to bring an end to issues that have dogged the department for several years. For 13 years, Customs’ senior management “has been in Hollywood – acting, acting, acting”, she told a media conference at Government Headquarters on Thursday, as she provided an update about her recent overseas trip. The Prime Minister told journalists: “The last Government had left 160 vacancies in the Customs Department under the pretense that it was going to the Barbados revenue authority and therefore they weren’t filling any posts. It has left us naked in the Customs and Excise Department. In addition to leaving those posts vacant, there has been no appointed Comptroller of Customs since the year 2006. “We are hoping to bring that situation to an end very shortly, but secondly, what we did was to correct a very wrong situation for which the unions have been complaining for 15 or so years, and that is a number of Clerical Officers were doing Customs Officers’ duties – but still designated as Clerical Officers in many instances they wear customs uniforms but were treated purely as a clerical officers. “As a result of that, two weeks ago, I created 138 posts for Customs Officers IV to be able to accommodate these Clerical Officers and in the instance where the officers are over the threshold they can immediately go to be qualified as Customs Offers III which was previously the lowest ranking of a Customs Officer in the Customs and Excise Department.” She said the decision was taken after she met two weeks ago with three of the island’s main labour unions representing public servants – the Barbados Workers’ Union, the National Union of Public Workers and the Unity Workers Union. The Prime Minister acknowledged that despite all the work that has been done so far, there was still a lot to be done in order to bring the department in line with international best practices and upgrade the entire public service. Stating that over the next three to four years, Government would rebuild the public service “in many different ways”, Mottley said another area of concern was that of early retirement of public servants. She said her administration had sought the assistance of “a permanent consultant” to carry out relevant research and help reform various aspects of the public service. Mottley said: “The Canadian government graciously agreed, through the [International Monetary Fund], to be able to assist us with the provision of three long-term consultants. One to work in Customs and Excise, one to work in the Barbados Revenue Authority, and one to work in the ministry of finance and economic affairs as a macro fiscal consultant”. Mottley defended that decision, saying “those three people are critical” especially because the country faced the highest rate of retirement of public officers in the last decade than at any other stage since Independence. She said: “Senior public servants choose to go home before they reach retirement age. You have to ask yourself why so many did. “The consequences of it are that persons are then forced into positions, sometimes two levels, sometimes even three levels above where they where, without having the requisite process of training and experience to prepare them for the task.” She said in addition to the full-time consultant’s work, there would be some part-time consultation “in some instances”, singling out the Barbados Statistical Services, which she said was critical to have “good data” so that “the best policies” could be developed. Mottley said two weeks ago, as Chair of the University Grants Committee, she “settled on a budget” with Cave Hill that would see that institution “putting on a strategic retraining” programme in place for various public servants. Saying it was not about equipping people with degrees but training them “for purpose”, Mottley said “we need to change how the public service works and we are working to do that”. In a related development, the Prime Minister also told reporters a revised version of the draft Customs Order Paper, intended to bring the 2013 tariff structures in line with more modern ones, was now in her office. She also gave the commitment that the administration would be pressing ahead with modernising revenue collection systems across Government. (BT)

BATTS ROCK RESIDENTS WANT END TO DISTURBANCES – Contention over access and use of another local beach has again reached boiling point. This time it is the residents of Batts Rock, St Michael who are frustrated about increased activity from the establishment of a private bar and restaurant on the public beach. The business, which recently hosted an event for the Vujuday Music Festival, has transformed the once tranquil area into a hive of activity with loud music which residents have described as an annoyance. A petition titled End the Disturbance to the Batts Rock Beach neighborhood has already attracted 20 signatures. It charges that property owners are “greatly disturbed by the levels of noise – especially live music and DJ/amplified music coming from the recently established bar/restaurant, La Cabane.” While acknowledging that the establishment has been given permission to operate, the petition argued that the noise should be confined to the restaurant. The restaurant has however strongly denied the allegations ahead of an entertainment filled Easter weekend. Kamala Kempadoo-Taitt, the wife of Andy Taitt who has lived in the area for the last 60 years told Barbados TODAY that her family was responsible for the petition and revealed it was a last ditch effort for relief after numerous requests for the business owners to scale down their activity. “What we hear in particular is a percussion bass, so any deejay amplified music with a loud bass, any drumming or percussion just sounds like BOOM BOOM BOOM. That also travels across the water and affects the people living on the cliff as well,” she said, adding that the loud music would usually last until 10 at night. “It’s not about the a time that they end, it’s about the level of the noise. But they raise the levels at that time and it echoes to the point that we can’t hear our own music here and we can’t hear the television because the music is too loud and that’s happening every Sunday night and that’s really annoying. Maybe if it only happened once a month that would be okay, but every single Sunday or two to three times a week. It begins to really work on your nerves and it’s annoying that you really can’t enjoy the natural sound of the sea and the environment,” she complained. “People are also complaining about the fact that there is limited parking for regular users of the beach because of the traffic that’s going down to the bar/restaurant. Batts Rock was a very quiet place and now it’s full of activity all the time, which is very disruptive. We often have parking going all the way up and on private properties around the neighborhood because people are excited to go to this new beach bar. But it’s very difficult for those of us who are living in this neighborhood and we would like it to change,” added Kempadoo-Taitt. The small neighborhood is made up primarily of retired Barbadians and expats who bought properties in the area and who have been calling police on numerous occasions about the challenges. “It’s generally people who come in for a quiet, peaceful beach time and live in this area and come here because its quiet,” said the elderly woman who said the demographic that frequents the bar is considerably different from those living in the area. “The bar is very upscale, it doesn’t have a happy hour and it draws a lot of people who are going to some of the more upscale bars on the west coast, so mostly upper-class Barbadians or tourists,” she added. Questions had been raised earlier this year about the construction and location the bar about the location of the bar, which has taken up significant portion of the beach. “The restaurant itself is also on an area which leads from the beach to the public changing rooms, so people are saying that their access is now also blocked. The beach takes up the pathway on the beach so it’s on a public beach and you wouldn’t quite feel comfortable just walking through. So even though they say they haven’t blocked the pathway, in theory you have your waiters walking back and forth, you’ve got tables and chairs in that area from midday to evening, so it makes the beach inaccessible for everybody actually except those frequenting the bar.” Just last week, entrepreneur Shawn Morris was moved from his three-week-old beach chair rental business at Bathsheba, St Joseph by the National Conservation Commission (NCC). Efforts to reach the NCC’s General Manager, Keith Neblett on this occasion have been unsuccessful. However Julien Guldoni, manager of La Cabane argued that the music was only from 2:00pm to 8:00pm and is not too loud and is a good vibe. “Super simple, it’s not too loud,” he said. Guldoni admitted that complaints had been made about the noise levels, but added that numerous people was attracting a large number of people. “We have 40 employees, we open for lunch and dinner. We’re starting slow food where we’re going to grow some salads and fresh herbs. We will be recycling. We clean up the beach everyday and we employ 35-40 people from the Black Rock area. “Every time you set up a business, you will always have people complaining about something but we have six to 700 people enjoying the place,” he said. In relation to issues with parking in the area, Guldoni said the restaurant was trying its best to accommodate patrons, but said the area would only be over crowded if they were having a music festival, like Vujuday.  (BT)

SPEED UP JUSTICE – With judges now facing the axe for not returning decisions within six months of the start of a case, the legal profession has sprung into action to ensure justice is not delayed for their clients. The Barbados Bar Association (BBA) has formally asked Chief Justice Sir Marston Gibson to intervene. “What I can tell you is that I have written to the Chief Justice and asked for a meeting of the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council is the body that is responsible for establishing policy and organising the business of the court,” BBA President Liesel Weekes told Barbados TODAY this afternoon. “I have asked for a meeting of that council and I have raised as an issue to be discussed, these amendments to the legislation because obviously there must be some strategy now to deal with the existing cases that are yet to be heard, the part-heard cases that are to be concluded and the cases [where] the arguments have been concluded and the judgment remains outstanding; there must be some strategy now to be devised to deal with those things,” Weekes added. Speaking in the House of Assembly three weeks ago on a series of constitutional amendments including those dealing with elements of the judicial system, Prime Minister Mia Mottley specifically addressed the delays in judgments which have plagued the court system for several years. While introducing a new provision under which judges can be dismissed from the Bench if they take more than six months to deliver a decision on any matter that comes before them, Mottley outlined once again the idea that “justice delayed is justice denied”. “The Crown is at risk for damages because the right to due process is not delivered. There are too many people in the criminal and civil realm waiting for eight to ten years for a judgment, and in personal injury cases people cannot move forward because the money is tied up.” Today, Weekes said the meeting she requested with the Judicial Council should develop a plan that brings the judges up to date so that all stakeholders would be aware they are starting with a “fresh slate” rather than from a position of having to look back to realize there is a nine or eight-year judgment outstanding. “So that strategy needs to be devised; and I have asked for the meeting to deal with that. So that is one of the methods I intend to pursue to treat to that particular issue, she told Barbados TODAY. Weekes stressed that it made sense to clear the existing slate of cases first in order to bring long sought relief to the many litigants waiting for closure. “It would make sense because those litigants would have been waiting for their judgments the longest…some of them may have died. If it is the subject of property, the property may have deteriorated…accounts, unless there was some freezing order, the accounts may have been dissipated. There are so many things that affect a judgment that is outstanding. The litigants are affected most seriously. We would want those to be dealt with first,” the spokesperson for the legal fraternity said. Asked what was the oldest case of which she knew that required a decision, the Bar Association head replied: “There are some cases that are old in the system, but they have had so many applications on them that the judgments are not outstanding. I am aware of at least one matter in which the judgment has been outstanding for seven years.”    Barbados’ judicial system has been coming under severe criticism over the years and from no less an entity than the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which has condemned the slow process to starting and concluding cases.   (BT)

CHIEF MAGISTRATE ALARMED BY VIOLENCE – The island’s Chief Magistrate Christopher Birch today expressed concern over the level of violence in the country saying it was “way too much”. He made the comments as he spoke candidly to a 45-year-old Carlos Alvin Small, of No. 69 Mangrove, St Philip who had pleaded guilty to assaulting his father’s girlfriend Christine Bannister on January 11 occasioning her actual bodily harm. “The ease in which people are resorting to violence is beginning to really scare me. Once upon a time we would stick to the verbals and then we stopped there. Now we are too fast to resort to the physical. Lives are being lost, families are being torn apart too easily,” the Chief Magistrate stated after Small issued an apology to Bannister in the District ‘C’ Magistrates’ Court. Station Sergeant Peter Barrow said that Small has a number of dogs at the house which Bannister shares with his father. On the day of the incident he visited the residence and called for Bannister who was in the kitchen. She answered but moments later heard Small hurling abusive language at her accusing her of not giving the dogs any water. She contacted Small’s father as he entered the house. According to the facts Small then approached Bannister making motions to hit her and went as far as blocking her path as she tried to move. As she attempted to walk away she suddenly felt a lash to the back of her neck, which caused her to stumble. The prosecutor said Small also slapped the complainant twice after she threw a bottle at him that missed.  The matter was reported to police. Small a first time offender admitted that he had a verbal confrontation with Bannister but claimed he did “not hit the lady  . . . I only pushed her two or three times . . . . She told me she will make sure my mother and father bury me. She bound at me. “But I was wrong. I apologise, I acted in a fit of rage and it will not happen again,” Small said to which the Chief Magistrate replied: “There is way too much violence.” Reading from a medical report Birch revealed that Bannister sustained soft tissue injury to the jaw and rib area. He ordered Small to compensate Bannister $2,500 in 90 days for the pain and injuries suffered or face 90 days in prison. No conviction will be recorded once Small pays the money. “To all of you, this is the time for peace. Make peace,” Chief Magistrate Birch said before the parties left the court.  (BT)

SECOND MAN CHARGED IN PARRIS MURDER – A second person has been charged in connection with the murder of Corrie Parris. He is 18-year-old Stephen Alvin Carrington of Kings Gap, Eagle Hall, St Michael. He was arrested yesterday and had been the subject of a wanted man notice. He is scheduled to appear in court on Saturday. Lamar Alex Hewitt of Avenue 7th New Orleans, St Michael, was previously charged with the January 23 killing.   Parris was shot and killed while in traffic at Baxter’s Road. (DN)

13 CHARGES – There was no guessing where a 30-year-old would spend his Easter weekend after he appeared in court accused of committing 13 offences in three jurisdictions. Of them Lamar Keelan Eversley, of Vauxhall, Christ Church admitted guilt to five before Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant today. They were committed in the District ‘A’ jurisdiction. The unemployed man pleaded guilty to damaging a motorcar belonging to Philip Garnes between October 29 and 30, 2018 as well as stealing a $100 ashtray and $10 cash belonging to Jamaala Fagon; a $100 ashtray and $3.50 belonging to Laura Nicholls; a $14 book and $5 cash belonging to Perry Dennis. He was also charged with loitering on the premises of Grantley Ifill with cause to suspect that he was about to commit theft. Those offences occurred between March 21 and April 6, 2019. The accused will return before Cuffy-Sargeant in the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on May 13 when he is expected to be sentenced. He is also scheduled to appear in the District ‘B’ Oistins Magistrates’ Court on April 24 where he will face five charges, which were allegedly committed between March 4 and 13, 2019. Eversley is accused of stealing a number of grocery items worth $190.74 belonging to Elbert Edey; stealing $35 cash, a $20 wallet and a $30 pair of glasses belonging to Golbourne Niles; stealing a $300 car radio belonging to Dale Lovell and robbing Frederick Gibson of $125 cash. He was not required to plead to the charges. On April 25 he will also make an appearance in the District ‘B’ Boarded Hall Magistrates’ Court on three charges.  He is alleged to have entered the I-Mart stores as a trespasser on March 9 and stealing two packages of sliced ham worth $14.40 while armed with a sword as well as stealing a number of items belonging to the same establishment on the same date worth $206. 40 Eversley is further accused of entering Aeon Bar and Grill as a trespasser on April 12 and stealing a $300 tablet and $400 cash belonging to Michael Cobham. He was also not required to enter pleas to those offences. (BT)

FISHERMEN RECALL HORROR AT SEA – The pain of being robbed and left for dead at sea is still fresh for two fishermen, even after a year. So much so that though they have returned to the ocean to ply their trade, they have not ventured too far out. Michael Hawkesworth and Kurt Watson, captain of the Pearlita, returned to Barbados last April 26 from Venezuela where they were stranded after their boat ran aground, following being robbed and briefly held as prisoners by pirates. The pair went adrift shortly after leaving Barbados on March 26 for a two week trip. (DN)

BRAVO: WINDIES READY FOR CUP – Top batsman Darren Bravo says the West Indies will not be overawed by their opposition at the upcoming ICC World Cup in England, but will be focusing on executing their unique brand of cricket. The two-time World Cup champions are not among the favourites for the May 30 to July 14 tournament largely due to their No. 9 ranking, with hosts and world No. 1 England the hot favourites. “To be honest, most other teams are quality teams, but having said that, when we played against England no one [gave] us a chance. So I think that once we concentrate on what we have to do as a team, I think that is the most important thing,” the left-hander said during the Windies training camp at 3Ws Oval.  (DN)

MATTHEWS AND KING BACK, MOHAMMED AND AGUILLEIRA OUT – Hayley Matthews and Stacy Ann King have been included by the Cricket West Indies (CWI) interim selection panel in a 14-member West Indies Women’s Squad that will tour Ireland and England from May 21- June 26. Matthews returns to the squad after damaging her MCL (medial collateral ligament) playing in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia last December. She missed the recent West Indies Women’s series against Pakistan in Karachi and Dubai. Stacy Ann King is returning to international cricket after an almost three-year absence. She last represented the West Indies Women in the home series against England in 2016.   (DN)

WORST SEASON EVER – It may not turn out to be much of a “good” Thursday or Friday for fish sales at the Oistins market. Vendors at the popular Berinda Cox Fish Market say it has been the worst season they experienced in a while, with some even suggesting that it wasn’t even a season this year. They said they could only hope that those coming for their last-minute fish, made significant purchases. When a Nation team visited the market in Christ Church yesterday, it was strangely quiet and the usual buzz associated with the season was missing. Gracelyn Moseley, operating out of Stall No. 6, pointed to the empty market and asked: “This look like a season to you? “There’s no season. No fish are coming; we can hardly get any to sell. You don’t see how dead the market is? In the past the market would never be like this, especially in a Holy Thursday week. I don’t expect things to pick up at all. This is the worst we’ve. (DN)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 254 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

[jdson]

My University Placement

Before starting this discussion, I thought you may want to know a little bit about me, who I am and why I chose the agency Cygnus as the place of work for my placement year.

So, I’m Jack, a (BA) Advertising Student at Bournemouth University, however, my hometown is Milton Keynes where I was born and currently live.

Like many students and graduates today, choosing a degree can come with a number of benefits but also a number of drawbacks, particularly those they face when seeking employment beyond their degree. The classic notion seems to linger amongst some employers, of graduates having a degree but ‘NO EXPERIENCE’, which of course after 3 years of studying and a major debt is incredibly frustrating. This leaves many students asking whether a degree is really still of benefit in today’s marketplace?

Hence when choosing my degree, I was eager to have a ‘sandwich placement year’ where part of your studies includes a year in the workplace, which the student must source and secure themselves. This is most beneficial to students for one very obvious and one less obvious reason. Firstly, they provide students with between 30-52 weeks of real work experience to add to their CV’s before even leaving university which appeals to most employers, but secondly (and less obviously) you gain skills and experience that can’t always be taught within lectures.

During this blog, I will discuss why Cygnus has been a great placement opportunity for me.

JOINING CYGNUS

I knew that I’d always wanted to go into an agency for my placement; as an aspiring creative I knew that to be able to grow and learn the most, I’d achieve this within the agency environment. In choosing a location, I aimed to stay local to see what my hometown of Milton Keynes could offer to the creative industry, where I had previously completed an internship at Saatchi & Saatchi in the summer of 2018.

I also wanted to go somewhere where teamwork was prioritised and everyone worked equally together. Somewhere I could strive to feel valued and get noticed whilst having the chance to make my mark within the workplace.

Cygnus offered me something which I prioritised when choosing my placement, real responsibilities. Here, I would lead the role as a Junior Brand Strategist, later adopting the role of a social media marketing manager sat within the creative team, which is somewhere I’d always aspired to be. I instantly felt welcomed by the team, where from day one they supported and encouraged me to grow further through, not only project work, but self-development too. I felt included where my work counted for something, enabling me to become a strong and confident team-player.

As an agency, I can proudly say that Cygnus are honest with their messaging ‘you make us’ because here it isn’t just about what the senior management do to lead the business, the resources provided or even the work itself. What Cygnus is about, is forming a team within projects, office culture and everything else completed. That’s why I chose Cygnus as a team to work with, over an agency to work for.

REAL RESPONSIBILITES

As mentioned, I wanted to feel included within the agency and that was most important when it came to my involvement within projects. Since being at Cygnus I worked on an array of campaigns, some of which I’ve been able to creatively lead from the scribbles on paper to the final output. My creative work has been delivered to clients such as Papa John’s, YMCA Milton Keynes & Northamptonshire and more, which has ranged from a pizza Halloween campaign to a charity Christmas campaign.

Working on live client briefs as a placement student is always beneficial, you can learn so much about the development of a creative concept, whilst also understanding the client relationship and how the creative will convey the brand. These projects have enabled me to further my self-confidence in sharing conceptual ideas with the team, whilst also learning how to receive and give feedback. This is something which can’t always be taught at university, but only within the workplace and Cygnus has been able to achieve that.

Being a creative, means that having your contribution heard (whether it be a foundation idea or simply a suggestion) is the most rewarding feeling as you are able to see that finalised and deployed to the audience. Since working at Cygnus, I have been fortunate enough to be recognised within the creative team and involved within a variety of projects, which has both widened my creative scope and also provided me with the appropriate skills in communicating within a creative team.

LEARNING MORE THAN EXPECTED

I joined Cygnus and saw my skillset rapidly increase and improve from being a team player as previously mentioned, to utilising software and filming apparatus – something I never expected to learn. One thing about my degree which I’d hoped to have been exposed to more, is the tools needed to execute visuals i.e. Photoshop and After Effects etc. I’d always wanted to incorporate these skills within my own creative skillset, enabling me to both craft concepts but also execute them too. 

Cygnus gave me this opportunity, and I now use these tools regularly (yes I do have creative cloud on my Mac which I experiment with most days).

Now I am no “wizard” at using these tools, but I have certainly learnt how to execute using the software. I am slowly getting there, where I am now enrolled upon a graphic design course by Shaw Academy as an additional qualification to my CV. 

As an individual I’m usually quite harsh on myself when learning new things, where I aim to know everything straight away. However, my mentor at Cygnus; Matt Hickling gave me some useful words which have resonated with me: “It’s not about learning it straight away, it’s about having a go at something and throwing yourself in there”. For me, I’ve always put any situation or task as “down to experience” whether it ends up going wrong or I haven’t particularly enjoyed it, I’m always eager to have a go. The Cygnus team definitely supported my efforts to try out unfamiliar tasks and gain new skills, which has enabled me to feel more comfortable in widening my skills.

It took a lot of trust and belief in me from the team to get me involved within design work and projects, which I may not have found at another agency. I can only thank the team for wanting to see me grow as a young creative,

But most of all for seeing me as a valued team player, over just the intern (I think sometimes myself and the team forgot I was the intern which enabled me to engage more within projects and even lead them).

OPPORTUNITIES

Whilst at Cygnus I received plenty of opportunities to grow within the agency and learn new skills. The team  made sure to include me within anything that may benefit my learning experience and so in my first week I attended the Tech XLR8 event within London at the Excel centre, exploring new technological developments. I was given a wider taste of life outside the agency, and this was also invaluable for the Cygnus team to remain relevant in all creative proposals.

Furthermore, developing may videography skills had been a major part of my learning at Cygnus where for most of our social media content, we required video content. It most enjoyable and a skill I’d never expected to learn. The team wanted to give me greater exposure to filming, so I was able to attend a two-day recording at Nikon Optical. This was most insightful where I gained an understanding on the processes behind filming on a mass scale, lighting techniques and how to effectively film subjects.

I was appointed as the YMCA Milton Keynes Marketing Manager with thanks to the Managing Director of Cygnus, Martin Carmody for offering this to me. This opportunity will allow me to grow and take my placement experience to the next level. This role enabled me to extend the charity’s growth, led by myself with the support of Senior Creative George Lah-Anyane and the Cygnus team. I had to act entrepreneurial in leading the YMCA marketing strategy, to make an impact upon the residents living at the campus whilst also implementing marketing theory and practices learnt both from University and Cygnus.

FINAL WORDS

All in all, Cygnus has been a great placement opportunity where I identified with more than just a team. With a bundle of personalities and interests at Cygnus, I am proud to have been part of a diverse agency culture where I have made friends and not just colleagues. Every team member is recognised for their identity and not just their skills, which creates a warming but also fun place to work. I have been able to thrive at Cygnus and that hasn’t just been down to the projects I’ve worked on, or the opportunities that have arisen, but I enjoyed coming to work each day and seeing what was in store.

It’s been great to have seen and been a part of the incredible work coming out of a local agency like Cygnus, where great creative talent exists outside the capital. I am now going into my final year of University well equipped with a wider range of skills & knowledge which will enable me to craft intuitive and original proposals.

Thankyou to the Cygnus team for helping me to grow as a young creative.

[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: Forever orange, purple resilience & more from Week 1

March 5, 20181:17AM EST

So this is a fact I’ve been dying to address for monthsyears two decades. A big part of my dream for what soccer is in America (and Canada – I dream of Canada too, I swear it) is “let’s be a league that not only buys the best players, but also builds the best players right here at home.”

It’s not just because I love the idea of having been on the ground floor for the beginning of MLS and then potentially get to watch it grow into something globally recognized for its quality. It’s not just because I love to see good soccer, or that I’m naturally drawn to “potential,” as are so many of you.

It’s all that, but it’s also that I literally do not see a path toward becoming the best league in the Americas if we do not first become the best developmental league in the Americas. That means buying the likes of Milton Valenzuela and Jesus Medina, both of whom had sterling debuts in big Week 1 wins. It also has to mean building our own great players via our academies and the USL/PDL partnerships that MLS teams have worked so hard to make viable and valuable over the past half-decade.

Progress has been slow:

MLS does a really bad job of playing young American players. Like really bad. Also, before you ask, no it’s not improving – has been about 2%-3% for a number of years. pic.twitter.com/oV0zfPDBpr

— Alex Olshansky (@atosoccer) January 10, 2018

Here is the good news: In Week 1, domestic players aged 21 and under played 4.11 percent of available minutes. That includes a couple of Canadians (Alphonso Davies and David Choinière) as well as Sounders Homegrown Handwalla Bwana, who’s been here a decade, has a green card and is on his way to US citizenship. You may not count him, but for all intents and purposes he’s a local.

Now, the absence of minutes for a few notable, high-upside youngsters justifiably frustrated folks in Atlanta and Dallas, and even if Paxton Pomykal and Andrew Carleton had played, the number would not be high enough yet for my liking. I’d eventually like to see MLS end up somewhere between La Liga and the Bundesliga in terms of minutes earned by the U-22s.

But progress that lasts tends to be progress that’s incremental. Week 1 was a good first step.

Road to Nowhere

We spent a good chunk of time on Saturday dissecting exactly how Atlanta were just asking to be dissected by Houston in the Dynamo’s 4-0 win. They had a d-mid but they played him at center back; their nominal Defender of the Year (that’s the Andrew Wiebe curse) played awful and then got hurt; and their midfield, which I and everybody else has been harping about all preseason, was a “c’mon just drive right through” zone.

It was bad and they were unprepared and they’ve got to move Jeff Larentowicz back to the 6 and Tata Martino has to develop Miles Robinson and even if those two things happen it may not be enough because I still don’t see how Darlington Nagbe fits.

Here, we talked about it a bunch:

But none of this matters if Houston aren’t utterly and ruthlessly prepared. They knew Atlanta were going to try to possess through the middle so they drew a nice mid-line of confrontation – this wasn’t bunker ball from the Dynamo – and forced turnovers in spots where they could get out on the break. And when they did break, they broke together, which you can see in the assist numbers: Each of their first three goals had both primary and secondary assists.

This wasn’t just “kick it out to Alberth Elis and let him run,” and anyone who characterizes it as that should be mocked, ridiculed and generally shunned from polite society.

So how did they dominate so thoroughly? By shutting off any/all outlets for the Dynamo backline:

These are all the passes by ATL’s CBs. That’s Parkhurst with the lone wolf pass into the box. Reams of turnovers for the other two guys who started. pic.twitter.com/HPRS8O4hyZ

— Matthew Tomaszewicz (@shinguardian) March 3, 2018

(Green arrows are completed passes, Red incomplete)

As my old podcastmate went on to point out, incomplete passes from the central defense are invitations to get out into transition. Houston took those invitations time and again during the first half-hour, looking remarkably like the 2017 version of Atlanta against, I don’t know, the Revs or Galaxy or something. It was eerie.

Houston aren’t, I don’t think, deep enough to be great — though they showed off some depth yesterday when Darwin Ceren came in early for the injured Juan David Cabezas at d-mid. Nonetheless they’re going to be very good because they’re smart and well-drilled, and in Elis they have at least one game-changing attacker (Mauro Manotas is knocking on the door to make it two).

As for Atlanta, I’m not about to mash the panic button. I think they’ll end up being fine because they have so much talent, but the biggest part of the next month has to be Martino making the right personnel adjustments, and Nagbe in particular being more assertive about getting into spots and being available to receive outlets.

Seen and Not Seen

If Houston’s dominance was the first story of the regular season, Orlando City’s rebuild has to claim its spot as one of, if not the biggest story of the off-season. They went out and got players young and old(ish), pulled from college and USL and NASL and the Bundesliga and North Africa and MLS and memories of MLS Cup champions past.

And then they went out in Week 1 and played without about half those guys. Sacha Kljestan was suspended and Pierre da Silva was suspended and Josue Colman was hurt and and Uri Rosell has been in the country for about 45 minutes and Lamine Sané just wasn’t quite ready to go. So Jason Kreis – who, for the second straight year kept preseason prep under wraps – had to go with a fairly makeshift XI, and just to increase the degree of difficulty had to do it a man down for the last 50 minutes.

The early returns for OCSC, who played in a diamond (praise be) with rookie Cam Lindley doing very Wil Trapp-y things at d-mid, were good. They eschewed the pointless long-balls that plagued them last year, they had a clear level of defensive buy-in from everyone who took the field (a big change), and they got a resilient and ultimately point-saving performance from Justin Meram:

(Also worth mentioning they have Joe Bendik, whose penalty save was freaking heroic in the 1-1 draw).

Part of this falls on D.C. United, who never really took advantage of their, uh, advantage. At halftime they talked about getting on the ball and spreading the Purple Lions out, but never evinced any sort of plan to do so after the break and were reduced to a bunker for the final 20ish minutes. This is not how an 11-man team punishes a 10-man team with possession:

For a team a man up and a goal up, @dcunited’s pass map for the last 20 minutes vs. @OrlandoCitySC was a cry for help (and structure).

The road point is nice but that’s a catastrophe. pic.twitter.com/EsFVzwCjrb

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 4, 2018

So neither team will leave this game entirely happy, nor will they leave entirely unhappy. OCSC did, after all, cough up two points to a conference foe at home — but did so while fighting back in dramatic fashion after playing most of the game a man down. D.C. did, after all, concede a soft, late equalizer — but still took a road point.

For now, for both, it’s enough.

A few more things to ponder…

8. 18-year-old Anthony Fontana got the game-winning goal for Philly in their 2-0 win over the visiting Revs, who had both their center backs sent off and were only spared from an embarrassing scoreline by some shoddy Union finishing.

Fontana was clever about getting into attacking spots, and C.J. Sapong was simply relentless about creating those attacking spots for everybody around him. Sapong had a goal, an assist, and drew the game-changing straight red on Antonio Mlinar Delamea. He’ll never be the most clinical of finishers, but it’s exciting to imagine what he’ll be able to do in attack this year now with more quality around him.

7. There was obvious quality on display in Toronto, with the shock being it was the visitors who put on the clinic. Federico Higuain continues to be the smartest player in the league. When he moves, it’s not just to get open, but rather to shift the entire defense:

Columbus are going to be good. The 2-0 win they took from BMO Field was not a fluke.

6. Nor was the 3-2 win San Jose took from visiting Minnesota United. The Quakes were vicious in attack through 80 minutes and fully deserved their 3-0 lead, then repeatedly fell asleep and lost track of Kevin Molino over the last 10 as they nearly surrendered it.

The Loons played a lot better once Collen Warner came on the field.

5. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Sporting KC won the expected goals battle but lost the game. It was actually fairly close on xG (1.49-1.42 as per Opta), but NYCFC finished their chances while SKC fluffed theirs in a 2-0 win for the visitors.

Sporting crossed the ball 24 times, which is a very high number that they exceeded only once last year. That’s a bad strategy for a team with no particularly gifted headers of the ball in attack, and speaks to the lack of ideas they had moving forward.

NYCFC, meanwhile, looked very good.

4. Speaking of gifted headers of the ball… Kei Kamara, goal No. 99 followed by our Face of the Week via his celebration with Davies:

The cross, the header, the dance moves!

Kei Kamara opens his account for #VWFC.#VANvMTLhttps://t.co/z9IemFerad

— Vancouver Whitecaps (@WhitecapsFC) March 5, 2018

Wakanda forever.

In general crossing is a low-percentage play, and I thought Davies (who was wonderful, and will almost certainly be on the Team of the Week) was too happy to settle for crossing the ball instead of driving into the box on the dribble and trying to combine. This is a habit of the ‘Caps, to be honest.

But there’s a difference between bending in an early ball when your target forward has found a pocket of space away from the CBs and driving in a cross against a packed-in defense. As Davies matures he’ll better understand those margins, and become even more of a weapon.

Which is freaking scary because, at 17, he was the best player on the field by a mile in Vancouver’s 2-1 win over the Impact.

3. FC Dallas played much better in their 1-1 draw vs. RSL than they had in their midweek CCL disappointment against FC Tauro. That said, they still got ripped up in transition a few times, and still had trouble finishing.

Through 270 minutes there are no signs Los Toros Tejanos have figured out what killed them in 2017.

2. The Galaxy, on the other hand, have found at least a partial cure for their suffering of the past year, picking up a 2-1 win over visiting Portland on Sunday night. It was not pretty from either team, and LA were absolutely holding on for dear life at the end. They also lost Romain Alessandrini to what appears to be a hamstring strain.

But they got Sebastian Lletget back, got three points, and got a goal from center forward Ola Kamara.

As for the Timbers, I’m going to wait to reserve final judgement, but my guess is the 4-2-3-1 is not long for this world. Based upon what we saw Sunday and during preseason, Gio Savarese is going to have to go in a different direction.

1. And finally, our Pass of the Week goes to Carlos Vela, who looked the part of a superstar in LAFC’s franchise-opening 1-0 win at Seattle:

LAFC weren’t perfect, but they were brave in how they played out of the back, they got an outstanding performance form Tyler Miller, and they got three points on the road in their debut game. Bob Bradley seems to know a thing or two about winning with expansion teams.

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Armchair Analyst: Forever orange, purple resilience & more from Week 1 was originally published on 365 Football