#judgments brings along harsh severe consequences

[mc-critical]

1.04 / 1.05

[xisadorapurlowx]

Bloodstained Lilium: Chapter 2

The mental hospital that Leo was sent to was a new establishment, far away from the city. It was a sixteenth century manor house that had been converted into a hospital for those who are unfit for prison and became more of a secure mental health hospital specializing in people under the age of twenty-five.

Out in the back garden of this large looming manor house sat Leo, squatted down in what was his regular attire: A brown tweed blazer and matching trousers with black oxfords and mustard yellow turtleneck. Compared to him everyone was severely under dressed. Leo felt slightly self-conscious when he’d first entered, after seeing staff walk around in white coats and other patients in hoodies and jeans, he’d regretted only bringing turtlenecks, blazers, smart trousers along with other essential items.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been at the manor house, all the days seemed to bleed into one as he had adjusted to the new environment.

A few rules had been lifted for Leo and so he could do a lot and get away with it without consequence, such as having a phone.

He scrolled through his phone as a gust of wind picked up, Leo pushed his overgrown hair back behind his ear as he read through the sea of comments on a social media website. The comments were all about him; These people whom he didn’t even know making the most unfair judgments on him, Leo wasn’t frightened by what these people said and or threatened anymore. They would all say similar things:

Leonard should be in jail!!

Leonard was a coward who chooses to hide away and-

I was court-ordered here, he thought and rolled his eyes. These people have no idea what they’re talking about. One of the only reasons why people knew of his existence was because of his mother.

There was a weight on Leo’s shoulders that he found impossible to shift. The weight of Charity’s death, the weight of his father’s reputation of having a mad son, the secret his father had forced him to keep from a very young age and to have the public condemn him for what was an act of self-defense that resulted in murder because of his actions.

Leo shivered slightly and looked to his right at Lucifer who was chuckling to himself. Lucifer’s transformation into a real demon was nearly completed, charcoal black nails had grown out of his fingers, now pointed and sharp like cat claws, along with the horns on his head which were now the same color as his fingernails. His greasy hair had parted way for the black horns that stuck out of his head like a bull.

“Care to remind me why you’re stalking me everywhere?” Leo asked the demon coldly.

Lucifer ran a finger under his eyelid to stop the tears of laughter from falling, “I want to stick around.” Lucifer pushed himself up from where he was squatted next to Leo and hung over him, “Your misery is so entertaining and as long as I’m here, I’m going to remind you every day of what you did to Charity until you go batshit crazy from it.”

Lucifer had changed a lot personality-wise. He was once fun to joke around with and it was good to have a conversation about all he’d seen over the time he had lived. But now he’s bitter and cruel, not hesitating to spit harsh words Leo’s way at any time of the day. One could argue that the weight on Leo’s shoulders was Lucifer.

When Lucifer left him alone, Leo felt somber, a friend turned enemy and someone who he would never win back. Remembering the times before the Crypt happened was sour now and Leo could no longer look back on them with fondness. Everything was discontent and tart.

Other times it would be harsher things, Leo’s nightmares consumed him with ghastly events and images of Hell.

Leo’s eyes widened and as he got up to rush away from Lucifer he collided with another patient.

“Addy!” Leo jerked away from her as he heard Lucifer’s burst of laughter from behind him, “What do you want?!”

The ginger woman rubbed her nose and pushed back her long unruly locks, “Dr Harold said he’d like to talk to you. He’s asked me to escort you.” She said, her thick Scottish accent emphasizing the last few words. She ran her nose along the sleeve of her faded hoodie, “C’mon then.” She said, jerking her head for him to follow her as she scratched her neck.

“I hate going to see him.” He muttered before he started to trudge after Adairia.

“Well, it must be irritating since you get into fights with him every time he opens his mouth,” Adairia said, who skipped next to him. “Did you hear about those two guards?”

“Yeah, all too well.” Leo looked over his shoulder at Lucifer, “They both got killed right?”

“Well, one stabbed another guard to death and then took a shit ton of pills.” Adairia explained, “Scary when you think about it, isn’t it? It’s stupidly ironic that this is a mental hospital and that they end up killing themselves here.”

“How did you know that?” Leo asked her.

“Doctor Harold was talking about it to a nurse.” Adairia explained, “Again, ironic considering he’s a mental health professional.”

“I guess a little bit.” Leo murmured. He checked over his shoulder, “And maybe mildly concerning.” Lucifer probably did this and here he was, following behind them.

It was strange to see Lucifer walk, Leo thought to himself. The fallen Angel would only ever fly around or hover a few inches of the ground before the incident.

“Are you going to talk today?” Adairia asked Leo, “To the doctor I mean. And no, I don’t mean you yelling at him. They can send you to prison for it.”

“No, they won’t. I know they won’t.” Leo answered confidently, “And, I don’t like talking about my problems. They normally all just go away when I tell dad that I have an issue.” He said, stubbornly.

The only thing that was keeping him here was his father really. Leo had heard the nurses discussing the fact that his reports keep on getting ‘lost in the post’ or vanishing and that’s why he hadn’t been kicked out and sent to prison yet.

While Leo hated and feared his father, he would not hesitate to jump behind him for defense had an attack of anything came his way. He was the only one who knew of his father’s sway and had used it to his advantage a couple of times; Getting into bars when he was under aged (Which was a rare event nonetheless), when in secondary school, getting his bullies to ‘move abroad’ when they beat him up for the millionth time (Which was one time and after that everyone left him alone.) If you’ve got power or someone you know has power, why don’t you use it to your advantage? Leo had thought. That being said, it was always a last resort if he was desperate.

And desperate times, call for desperate measures.

“You keep on about your father Leo, but he’s not going to be around forever.” Adairia turned around to face him as they made their way past the dining hall and up a flight of mahogany, red-carpeted stairs, “You have to face your problems on your own. You can’t be reliant on your dad all the time.” Her eyes were filled with concern as she spoke again, “I’m seriously worried about you Leo. It can’t be healthy keeping all that locked up. Your dad gives me some bad vibes. I don’t want to bring your mum up but…”

Leo looked at her and narrowed his eyes, annoyed, as Lucifer spoke.

“If only she knew.” Lucifer moaned, mocking a woeful tone behind Leo, throwing a hand over his forehead and leaning backwards.

Leo turned around and scowled at Lucifer who then grinned at him, sticking his tongue between his teeth and lower lip.

“What are you looking at?” Adairia asked him.

“Nothing important.” Leo said. He was severely aware that he and Charity were the only ones who were able to see Lucifer. Which was great for the latter, who could batter and bully Leo to the point of tears. With no hope of getting rid of Lucifer, Leo had just settled on ignoring him, unless he said something that agitated him to no end. Which was most of the time.

“I’m fine, Addy, really.” Leo said, going back to the previous topic of conversation, “Really, I’m alright.”

Adairia pursed her lips and sighed, “Okay… I apologize in advance.”

Leo frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, “What are you talking about?”

Adairia opened the door and jerked her head to the room in front of her.

Leo looked at her, then looked into the room and stepped inside.

Inside stood, Kyung-Mo, Jai and the head practitioner, Dr Harold. He was a tall man with combed-back hair, wearing a white lab coat and suit underneath.

“What is this?” Leo asked as Adairia shut the door behind them. Confusion stirred in him as he looked around the room.

“An intervention.” Jai said, with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

“We thought that maybe, this would help you with going into treatment since you’re struggling a lot.” Kyung-Mo explained.

Kyung-Mo, in Leo’s opinion, was probably one of the best-looking men he’d seen in a long time and his heart would do back flips in his rib cage whenever Kyung-Mo was in the same room as him.

Kyung-Mo was the first person to also talk to Leo when he first arrived and in the first few days, Leo stuck to the man like super glue.

“I don’t understand why you’re all doing this? I’m not a drug addict.” Leo looked around at Adairia.

She rolled her eyes at him, “As I said earlier, I’m worried about you. And so are the others!”

Leo sighed, exasperated at the whole situation they’d put him in, “Look, I’m fine. I don’t need any more help than I’ve already got.”

Hot breath passed Leo’s ear and he jumped at Lucifer’s words, “Well, I’m not doing my job properly then, am I?”

“But you don’t show up to therapy sessions.” Dr Harold said, oblivious to Leo’s reaction, “You avoid them. And you yell at me when I confront you about it.”

“Yeah, but I feel like time away from society has helped me a lot!” Leo lied, putting on a fake smile, “And…”

“We’re going to go around the room and have your friends explain why they’re concerned about you and why they think you should have more treatment.” Dr Harold said, unconvinced by Leo’s fib, “We’ll start with Kyung-Mo.”

Kyung-Mo cleared his throat, “Well, I’d just like to start by saying that I understand why you’re upset Leo. But you got sent here for a reason. And particularly with the circumstances behind why you’re here…” Kyung-Mo bit his lip nervously, looking Leo up and down, watching his reaction carefully before he continued, “I fought the treatment too when I got here so I understand that feeling of not trusting the people here. But they all do have good intentions and we do too.” Kyung-Mo looked at the Doctor, “And we’d all like to see you get better and move on with your life because no one should have to dwell on what they did in a moment of panic.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes and fake gagged onto his fingers as if he was making himself throw up, “Yuck, that was a bit too optimistic. Once a killer, always a killer.” Lucifer grinned at Leo, who shot him a death glare.

Dr Harold gave a stiff nod, deaf to Lucifer, “Well said Kyung-Mo. Jai, you next.”

Jai crossed his arms and spoke, “Y’know, I’m confused by you, really Leo,” Jai began, “I think you’re an okay person, nicer and kinder than most people. But when you come here, a place where these people,” He gestured to Dr Harold, “Are willing to help you and you completely dismiss their attempts to help you. You claim that you’re fine, when really, I think you’re in denial. I find it insulting.”

“Denial!?” Leo repeated angrily, “I’m not in denial!”

“That just proves it!” Jai threw his arms out at Leo, “You don’t think you need help, murdering three people has got to mess someone up mentally.” He rubbed his face in irritation, “I want you to be happy, I’ve already said you’re one of the better people of the world. And a part of me thinks that you think you’re beyond help, which I know is not true.”

“Well, someone thinks he is.” Lucifer chimed in.

Leo looked down at the ground, trying to ignore what the demon had said about him, to a room that very clearly was never going to reach the ears of the others.

Maybe Jai was right, or that Lucifer had finally gotten to him. Perhaps he was beyond help and that’s why he wasn’t giving in. His subconscious knew he didn’t deserve it. Killing his best friend was unforgivable.

“Look I’m grateful that you want to help me even more, but I think Jai’s right. I think that some people are just naturally bad and that that’s who I am. That’s where my whole life has been building up to.” Leo thought about his father, the business his father was in and the dark secret.

He could still smell the gun smoke in the air even now and he hated that he could remember it. His stomach churned uncomfortably.

“And now I’m here and I’m getting sick and tired of people thinking that I can move on in my life.” Leo’s eyes felt hot and angry as tears clouded his vision as a cold silence swept the room.

Lucifer whispered to him, “Finally, it’s about time you realized how bad of a person you are. This is all you are and all you’ll ever be.”

‘This is all you are and all you’ll ever be’, The words rang through Leo like a gong from a church bell.

“You’re pathetic.” Jai snapped.

Leo’s head shot up and looked at Jai, “Excuse me?”

“Look at you, so fucking privileged.” Jai was glowering at Leo like Leo had just pulled a million pounds from his pocket and waved it in front of Jai and the others mockingly, “I can’t believe you. I held back because I knew that this wasn’t the way to go but now, I see it’s not that you’re guilty.” Jai gritted his teeth as he spoke, “You’re just lazy.”

There was silence again before Jai continued, “You can’t be bothered to fix your mental health. You’ve lost all faith in yourself to try and get better. What’s the point of trying to cover up your problems and hiding them away if they’re just going to get worse and nothing will change in the end? You might as well just go to prison.”

Jai walked past Leo, crashing into his shoulder and heading for the door and past Adairia.

He opened the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Silence swept the room.

Leo looked around at the Doctor, Kyung-Mo and then at Adairia.

“I don’t know if we handled that in the best way.” Adairia said in a disappointed tone.

[tsarinastorm]

Stare Blankly-Adam Sackler/Reader- Part 1, Chapter 4

Part 1:

Chapter 1     Chapter 2    Chapter 3 

Adam can’t remember the last time he had an enjoyable argument. Or if he had ever had an enjoyable argument. God, he felt so damn alive. Y/N was frustrating, intelligent, beautiful, and stubborn. He knew those traits would spell the end of him. He watches the sway of her hips as she walks away. He can’t take his eyes of her, though he knows that she more than likely hates him after that exchange. He should have played it cool after the yuppie comment, maybe he took it too far, and scared her away already. Why couldn’t he be normal and just accept her initial compliment. Adam can’t help but wonder how he could approach her if he ever sees her again. He’s so lost in his thoughts of Y/N that he doesn’t even notice that Jessa’s moved in close to him.

“You know, you should totally fuck her,” Jessa says in her typical accent. Adam’s not sure if he’s heard her correctly so he crooks his head to watch her face to see if she’s serious or being an asshole.

“What are you saying, Jessa?”

“You obviously want to fuck her. Get it out of your system. Go for it, she’s hot, you’re hot.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that, I think she’d more likely to push me in front of a train than fuck me.”

“You don’t know that. That argument you just had was full of passion. Something will happen between you, I’d be willing to bet on that.”

Adam laughs and shakes his head. Jessa offers him a cigarette and he follows her out for a smoke. But he can’t help but think of how much enjoyed that conversation with Y/N even if he was arguing with her.  He couldn’t wait to find more about her. He didn’t think he could feel that way again and here he is. He feels hopeful, invigorated, and almost giddy. Jessa is standing close to him, and she’s looking at him with heavy lidded eyes. He finishes the cigarette then realizes that he needs to get away from Jessa. He knows her and he knows that look, she’ll try to go home with him again, or pry into his thoughts on Y/N, so she can find a way to destroy that too. He makes up an excuse to leave, and emphasizes that he needs to be alone. Jessa takes the hint, and doesn’t follow him. Half way back to his new place, Adam remembers that he didn’t even ask for Y/N’s number, he’ll just have to get it some other way.

Several days had passed since Marnie’s gig, and you were going shopping with her. You finished paying for your coffee as the two of you walk. She takes a sip of her coffee as you finally ask, “So what’s the deal with Adam, Hannah, and Jessa?”

Marnie takes a deep breath before recounting to you the whole Adam saga. She talks about how he was there for Hannah, then moved on, then came back to her. Then he moved on with Jessa, but they didn’t even tell Hannah, she had to find out a theater event. She goes off on a sidetrack by adding what a shit friend Jessa is, and according to her, that was even before the Adam thing. You listen contently as you process the information you’re getting and let her vent. Marnie finishes by adding, “I don’t understand his appeal at all. He’s into a lot of weird stuff sexually, and I found him drinking milk while on the toilet. Drinking milk on the toilet, Y/N!”

“That is pretty weird, he never gave me weird vibes. He’s definitely different though. What do you mean weird stuff sexually?” You do your best to hide your interest in that topic, but you were incredibly curious to find out what she meant by that. You could see him being the kinky type, maybe into BDSM or something. She says, “He was always doing intense dirty talk according to Hannah, and when he made a movie about his relationship with Hannah, he included a big part with a whole scene where he spanks her before they fuck.”

I knew it, you think to yourself. You could see him as the dominant type. You were going to have track that movie down and watch it for yourself. While making a movie about a past relationship didn’t sit well with you, you were more than interested in observing that one scene. You can’t help but smile as you and Marnie continue on your walk. Marnie keeps complaining about her studio apartment and how she needs to look for a new place but hasn’t found the time, or a roommate. You needed to move out your apartment too, and you would prefer a roommate because you got lonely and combined incomes could help you both afford a nicer neighborhood. You were successful as an author but you only allotted yourself so much of your income to live on so you wouldn’t fly through it. And money was easy to fly through in New York City. You told Marnie your big idea, “Marnie, we should be roommates. I need to move out of my apartment because the lease expires soon and I want to live somewhere else. Roommates are normal in the city, we get along, so why not?”

“That’s such a good idea! We could probably get a nicer place with both of our incomes combined than we could get on our own too.”

“What neighborhoods are you thinking?” You ask her and hope she doesn’t choose somewhere like the Upper Eastside, or Staten Island. She says, “Let’s look at Greenwich Village. I have an old friend who may be able to help. I mean I used to hook up with him, so he owes me.”

“Sounds great. We’ll see what happens.”

You’re sitting at one of your favorite bookstores working on outlining your next novel. You’ve had three cups of a coffee and a raspberry scone already but you can’t seem to concentrate. When you’re about to get up to walk around, hoping that some exercise may help you focus. Upon standing, you lock eyes with none other than Adam Sackler. What is he doing here, you think to yourself. Continuing in your direction, he stops and gets himself a coffee, before sitting across from you. You watch him with curious eyes, he must be able to read the surprise on your face, because he answers your question without you having to ask it out loud.

“A friend of a friend of a friend told me you’d likely be here. I just wanted to say that I hope I didn’t take our ‘discussion’ too far.” He says while making the air quotes gesture when pronouncing discussion.

“Oh no, it was fine. I went to law school so an intense argument doesn’t scare me or offend me.” He raises his eyebrows at your last comments and snickers, “I should have known. You are very opinionated and argumentative.”

“Want to share more of your controversial opinions?” You say as you laugh at his reaction. Somehow you’re able to tell that he has plenty of controversial, or unique opinions, and you’re not getting any work done anyway. He smiles before he starts babbling on about how he hates ice cream. You can’t believe that!

BING! BING! Your phone goes off in the middle of your heated conversation, and Adam stops talking when he realizes that you’re reading the text you received from Marnie instead of listening to his point.

“It’s Marnie. We’re looking for a place, she got a lead on a great place.” You say as Adam hisses in response.  He looks around nervously before he finally says, “You need to find a new friend group.”

“Really? I think it’s pretty clear that you liked at least half of that friend group.” You snort.

“You’re bringing that up? You weren’t even around when that happened.” Adam says with a slight bit of venom in his voice.

“I wasn’t but I am here now to see the results of it. If it makes you feel better it probably won’t be a friend group for much longer.” You say as you internally debate changing the conversation or talking it out. This could be a difficult topic to discuss but you were genuinely interested in what his feelings were about it. He dated two friends, what was he thinking? He had to know the risks and consequences.

“It was always fucked up. Even before me. Tell me what you think, I can tell you’re holding something back.”

“I think it was a dick move. It seems like you went for Jessa because you knew it would hurt Hannah the most, then when it was convenient for you, you went back to Hannah knowing it would hurt Jessa.”

“Unbelievable. You’re being a judgmental bitch about a situation that you know nothing about.”

“Probably so, but you’re still an asshole who pulled a dick move.” You say as he walks away this time. Damn, he was frustrating. He had to know how that love triangle looked and seemed. He provoked the conversation then got offended when you told him what you thought. Luckily, it was a big city and you’d likely never see him again.

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

Adam sits there with his face in a frown, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. He was what may be the worst blind date of his life. The redhead named Leah (at least he thinks that was her name) continues to ramble on about something on her social media account, and how annoying it was to have so many followers. Adam tries to come up with some plan of escape. He wonders why he agreed to this date, but he wanted to find someone else and move on like everyone else has. He’s moved on in every other way but his love life. And that clearly wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

               He scans the room as the waiter approaches and asks if there’s anything else he can do. Adam tries to get the check but that is destroyed when Leah orders dessert. Then his eyes catch Y/N heading over to the bar. Of course she’s here, it’s the worst date of his life, there are eight million people in this city and he runs into her again. She looks amazing, as she has the other times he’s saw her. She doesn’t take his shit, she doesn’t coddle him, or even pretend to, which is a breath of fresh air from Jessa and Hannah. Though, her harshness does anger him, but he knows that she’s right. He is enraged by, intoxicated by, and aroused by her all at the same time; it’s a frustrating mix of emotions.

               Y/N locks eyes with him and nods her head to acknowledge that she sees him. He moves his head in response, trying not to look miserable, but she must notice it because she watches him and his date and throws her head back to laugh. Great, if he ever sees her again, she’ll definitely bring it up. Then he notices his phone is ringing, and his date is too busy dining on her cheesecake to notice what’s going on. He answers and is surprised by the voice that talks to him, “Use this as a way to leave the date. Say it’s some kind of emergency or something.”

               Adam had forgotten that he had exchanged numbers with Y/N at their last encounter before they argued and he stormed away. Here she was bailing him out, he never would have guessed that she’d try to help him out. He assumed she’d like watching him squirm, yet she found ways to surprise him and keep him on his toes. He looks to Leah and tells her it’s an emergency so he’ll have to leave soon, but he’ll get the check before he goes. Leah has no problem gathering her bag and heading out, and mercifully doesn’t mention ever seeing him again. He lets out a sigh of relief, then after paying the bill he heads over to where Y/N is perched at the bar. Taking a seat beside her, he says to her, “Thank you for that, I appreciate it. I was about to crawl under the table or fake an injury.”

“No problem, I’m a humane person. I can’t stand to see any other human or animal suffer. And that looked like the kind of torture that violates human rights treaties.” She says and takes a sip of her drink through a straw. Adam feels a rush come over him by talking to her again, and likes her sense of humor and sarcasm. He has a strange sense of humor and a lot of weird habits so he can appreciate them in someone else, especially in a beautiful woman.

“That was a terrible blind date.” He says in a mater-of-fact way, but he’s sure she noticed that it was an arranged date already.

“You should never talk to whoever set you up on that date again. They obviously hate you.” She says with a hint of laughter in her voice this time. She makes eye contact with him again, and turns her seat so she’s facing him. His eyes wander over her body from her long legs hanging over the chair up to her chest that’s rising with her breath. He remembers that he’s been glancing at her chest long enough that he fears she’ll notice so he pulls his eyes back to her face.

“Our talks are bad, but still not that bad. That was a ring of hell not mentioned by Dante.” He says, and she laughs at his response. He’s happy that he finally made her laugh, though he’s sure that he’ll soon say something and ruin the moment.

“Though, I do understand her horror at realizing that she had to socialize with you. You’re an acquired taste.” She smiles at him. He really notices how perfect her smile is: her teeth are straight and white, but don’t look like the fake perfect smiles that people buy. Her red lips are plump and practically mocking him. Fuck, I’m getting too deep, he thinks to himself.

“Like a fine wine or aged cheese.” He says in a voice that shows nothing but pride. He likes this banter between them, it’s not typical flirting, but it’s them and it’s pleasant.

“Look I don’t particularly care for you and you don’t particularly care for me, we’ve established that already. But do you want a drink?” She gestures to the bartender and he turns to head their way.

“No I don’t drink, I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

“Oh well, that’s good for you. I mean that seriously, that’s good you’re sober and got help. But I’ll see ya around, my guest has arrived.” She smiles at him and he saunters off to the door. This was the first of hopefully more pleasant exchanges between them. Adam thinks that his blind date may not have gone as planned but something good did come out of it.

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

“What else can I get you, Miss?” The bartender (or mixologist) asks you, jerking you out of your trance, Adam seemed to have that effect on you even when you were arguing with him, and you seemed to be in your own little world. You go choose something different, a Manhattan, rather than your normal drink of choice: vodka tonic. The restaurant has great classic foods and a great bar, so you chose it to meet up with Marc. You hadn’t told Marnie about your past as a sugar baby and you wanted to ask Marc not to mention it to her. You’d like to keep that aspect of your past as discreet as possible. You never did anything morally wrong but it wasn’t something you were proud of because of the stigma that came with it. Marnie was excited that she got the job, apparently it went both ways because Marc was also impressed with her, and actually thanked you for recommending her. When he’d thanked you, you suggested grabbing a drink just to catch up.

               You took an opportunity to take in the rest of the restaurant and saw a number of people ordering drinks, getting food, or otherwise engaged. Then you saw Marc walking your way, and you were glad that he was as punctual as usual because you didn’t appreciate the nerves that came with waiting around. Marc sits next to you and he orders a whiskey sour. He breaks the silence, “It’s good to see you, Y/N. You look beautiful.”

“Hi, Marc, good to see you too. I hope all is well.” You say back as you try to hide your nerves and take another drink.

“I can’t thank you enough for sending Marnie my way, she’s perfect for the position. I think it’s going to go well.” He says and the way he’s watching you reminds you that you need to get to the point of this meeting.

“Look Marc, can you please not tell Marnie about how we met? She’s my friend and I haven’t told her about that part of my past.” He shakes his head in agreement and tells you, “Yeah, of course. I understand and I wouldn’t want to overstep my place. Can I tell her that we dated?”

“Feel free to tell her that, that won’t be an issue.” You say as you realize that you’ve finished your drink and that you need another.

[kurtty-drabbles]

Amalgaverse au(part 1?)

N/A: What am I doing? this is a huge AU of another AU that is canon(lol) anyway, Kitty in this au is a mix of Constantine and the questioner or maybe not this is a huge au after all, bottom line, Kitty is a magical detective.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling

The Justice League X is in peril, in fact, the New Gotham is in peril. Wavelengths of magic are changing bits of reality in the city and the heroes are powerless to stop. Dark Claw and the others know who is to blame, Crimson Witcher, but, a woman who can´t delete or rechange reality is hardly someone that can be easily defeated.

Nightcreeper is the only one who is not in despair. Giggling madly as the others mentioned that the Statue of New Gotham now is alive and talking, to Nightcreeper this seems more exciting than a bored statue.

"We must kill the witch, maybe...Jean, you can throw a firebomb in their hideout? She is a reality wrapped but she is still human if we nuke the place, she´ll die" Scott suggested and people are considering this solution carefully, a bomb made by Jean will cost part of the city.

"Hey! who is talking about nuke the city?" a voice echoes in the headquarters. A figure wearing a trench coat and a fedora. No one can make the face of the person, is a blur and the voice is too unisexual to pinpoint if belongs to a male or female.

The others are in a mix, Dark Claw and Scott seem to reconize the figure as they are the oldest members, however, others are not familiar. Sparrow is confused by who is the intruder and Nightcreeper is upside down trying to see the face of the new welcome.

"I thought we had this conversation before, we deal with magic sources, not the JLX, got it?" the person points to Logan and then to Scott ignoring the others.

Nightcreeper is still upside down and Sparrow is regretting to the side to him at the moment as the man is almost completely naked.

"Who are you?" Sparrow asked as Nightcreeper is now sit normally or as closer it can be.

"I´m the magical guardian of this confuse city, I´m the Constantine" the figure replied not looking at any members.

"Crimson witcher is destroying the city, what you can do?" Dark Claw speaks in a barbed tone.

"My job, now, don´t worse your case by nuke the city," the person said leaving the JLX behind.

___________________________

The crimson witcher is in her headquarters, an improvised one in the last minute, to complete her spell, the woman forgets about the world. Completely.

The man in front of her opens his eyes once again and starts to breathing. In and out. In and out. Until the man roses from the ground looking at his new hand and at the woman in front of him, who in turn in ashamed and gleefully.

" Wanda? You brought me back?" the man replied in awe and careful. "How are you?" his tone is full worried as this type of spell has consequences "how is the rest of the world?"

"I don´t know...I didn´t care, not now, I just wanted to bring you back, I´m that selfish" Wanda replied as she holds Vision´s hand looking down.

"Hey!" the magical guardian phases through her spells and walls "there are you Crimson Witcher and hello to you Vision" the figure take the fedora and show her round face and brown eyes.

"Kitty" Vision and Wanda greet back nervous. The reality of what brings someone back means is now looming above their heads.

"Wanda, you know the rules, I have to report this and you need to know the damage you inflicted on the city, people are scared" Kitty respond and Wanda swallow and nods her head now looking at the vision, her husband.

"Wanda, I know reality can be harsh, I know how it can be tempting to just stay in our bubble, however, we can´t live like that, you´re a powerful heroine, a woman many admire."Vision holds her face with his hands "I know this will be an obstacle we´ll face together, ok?"

Wanda smiles grateful and nods one more time now looking at Kitty.

"I did something incredibly selfish and I don´t want to get off the hooker because of my name, so, please, I want to make amends, I can´t control their fears, but, I can control mines" Wanda respond.

"Thanks to the right answer, now, there´s an alive statue that is talking you need to fix"  Kitty replied smiling in relief now, deciding to not tell how the JLX was ready to nuke them.

_______________________

As the Crimson Witcher starts to fix her mistakes and apologise for the confusion along with her now alive husband, something Dark Claw does not need the gore details, the heroes feel relief at the situation be under control once again.

All thanks to that Constantine person.

Nightcreeper and Dark Claw watch as Constantine is helping Wanda and Vision, scowling and helping at the same time, and how the famous Crimson Witcher take the figure´s words as is sacred.

"Once again, Constantine saved our butts and we know nothing about him" Dark Claw drink a beer, they are inspecting the restoration, not only to make the citizen feel secure but also to try to understand the situation and Constantine.

Nightcreeper giggles madly and adds.

"We don´t know the gender of this person, so I´ll use them, anyway, this person is new. They are nervous " Nightcreeper speaks and Dark Claw stops drinking his beer to look at his friend, Constantine has no face to be seen how can someone tell if they are nervous or not." their hands" Nightcreeper smilies like a lunatic and Logan sighs tiredly.

" Always opening and closing, as they only direct to Scott and Logan, the oldest members of the league, asserting their dominance" Nightcreeper adds on "they seem to be new in the city as I saw back then Constantine looking lost in the Central Park of New Gotham as Crimson witcher and Vision had to guide them"

Oh, Logan didn´t notice that.

"They also feel more comfortable dealing with Vision and Crimson than us, we can speculate that this Constantine or they know the couple well enough or they are comfortable dealing with magical people than regular people"

Logan would like to point out that Nightcreeper is nothing come close to regular people.

"My guess? They got this title recently and they are unsure on how to proceed. As magical accidents happen in New Gotham all the time, but this Constantine talks as if this is the first time"

"You realized all that because of their hands?"

Nightcreeper responds by giggling madly once again and mentioned he is a really good reporter.

____________________________

Kurt Ryder is called by his superiors to an important reunion. J.J. Perry decides to hire, out of the blue, a new person to assist Ryder with his show, You´re Wrong, is not a bizarre occurrence. Is just a bit too soon, as J.J.Perry already hired this person quicker.

Arriving in the room, people are a bit confused as well as how fast the process was, normally, J.J.Perry is way too meticulous, but then again, is not an abnormal situation.

Vera Sweet and J.J.Perry are holding a purple paper, explaining is the resumé of the new candidate and now an employee.

"Ryder, she´ll be great to your show, she used to work for the Canadian show called You´re right" Vera speaks amused with herself. Kurt Ryder never heard of this show, sure, he never is in tune with Canadians shows, but this one seems fishy.

"I never heard of this show, who is this person?" Kurt asked and is glad that Cord is agreeing with his question and feelings. The door is open and a smiling woman wearing jeans and a white shirt with sunglasses(it was a really hot day) put away reveals herself.

"My name is Kitty Pryde and I´ll work here now" Kitty speaks with confidence but Ryder saw her hands open and close way too similar to Constantine.

Cord takes Kurt´s plight as his own and makes several questions to the new employee(Kurt suspect the man´s ego is hurt as it did take a lot to make Cord be hired and this woman was hired in the first go) while saying how cute she is.

Her only reply?

"Look at my resumé" the woman answers crossing her arms and looking affronted but Ryder still sees her fingers flex as her eyes look away. Cord looks at the purple resumé and suddenly has no more questions.

"I´ve never heard of your show. What´s about?" Ryder asked refusing to see the resumé saying he trusts on Vera and J.J.Perry judgment(and also, following his guts here)

"A wholesome show about how you are right" Kitty explained and Ryder nods still looking at her and her fingers. Her body language. Her eyes still avert looking at him, instead, watching the window.

"Good, I like it, welcome aboard, Miss Pryde" Ryder shakes her hand and notice how petite the woman truly is. Cute indeed, but, Kurt Ryder is also looking at the bigger picture here.

Some from the meeting also make themselves noticed by asking why they should hire her if she only works in one show in Canada. The sentiment change once looking at the purple resumé.

"Because I work in a Canadian and Australian show" Kitty replied.

"I never heard of this show" confessed Ryder smiling at her.

"Because is a Canadian and Australian show" Kitty wits back.

"Well, I need help, so, Miss Pryde, help me with the show" Ryder smiles not wanting to sound too intimidating as he is next to the petite woman "I look forward to seeing your experience in my show"

"Me too, say, how about we go first see that famous anonymous line?" Kitty asked trying not to seem too interested but in Ryder´s eyes failing.

"No, first we have many things to do" Kurt Ryder holds her hand and guide her to the studio. Not looking to the purple resumé as the others are sure Kitty Pryde is the new asset to the New Gotham´s News.

Kurt Ryder loves a mystery.

Nightcreeper found a pastime.

And Kitty Pryde has no idea what she put herself into.

[anonthenullifier]

Considering how many times Thomas gets called to detention, it would probably come as a huge shock to their parents if William was the one they had to come talk about.

You really have a knack for giving me prompts that lead to a sudden word dump of ideas. Here’s how it could go down, in my mind.

Wanda steps a foot back, arms held up and steady as her fingers weave a scarlet net to contain a cluster of the floating blobs - or, as Scott has lovingly named them, Snot Aliens. Slowly she hovers the imprisoned beings towards the containment unit Stark finally set up, inching the aliens closer while ensuring she is out of range in case they drop to the ground. She’s already seen almost all of her teammates fall prey to the fatal error of directly engaging with these things, Steve’s shield is still stuck to the ground with an, as Vision explained, impressively structured natural adhesive compound. Wanda figures she has paid her penance in the realm of encountering mucous, raising twin boys who caught every single cold that was passed at daycare, school, between friends, and even just people passing on the street, and instead of blowing their noses (kleenex were a sure way to cause a tantrum), the boys would find ways to wipe it on her. The net tightens with a scrunch of her fingers, only two more feet before she can let go.

A buzzing fills her ear, not the typical two note burst that indicates someone on the team is about to talk, but a constant, unwelcome ringing. Wanda straightens her pinky enough to send a flash of red to accept the call. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Maximoff,” the voice is perky, the polite smile clear in the hyperactive spewing of her name, “this is Jody from the Principal’s office.”

One hand pulls away from holding the aliens long enough to rub her face in exasperation, Jody is never who she wants to find on the other end and yet even her phone recognizes the frequency of their conversations enough to label Jody as a favorite in the contacts. Wanda tries to imbue her response with friendliness while also hoping the woman can pick up on the fact it is not a good time. “Hi Jody, everything okay?”

“We have your son at the office,” it’s an innocuous enough statement, minus the judgmental harshness of the unspoken again.

Wanda glances at the scarlet net and then at the numerous official news cameras and the even more multitudinous amateur videographers filming the entire attack. “Can we come in some other time, we’re a bit,” one of the aliens starts to ooze through the net, a sickening sight that will haunt her dreams for the week, “busy right now.”

A well-oiled sigh, one that has likely taken years to perfect, judges her through the communicator, “At the Academy we truly believe the children are the pinnacle of existence, no one should ever be too busy for their child.”

Which is a statement that, though true on the face of it, really doesn’t apply, in Wanda’s opinion, to dropping a net full of noxious Snot Aliens just to be lectured for a sixth time on why Tommy is apparently doomed to fail in life because he wore the wrong khakis.“Have you seen the news?”

“I have a job to do, Mrs. Maximoff.”

The correct answer here is that Wanda also has a job, a very interesting one that is also important and that some things can wait, yet she gives in, not wanting to risk losing their spots at the one school so far that the boys seem to mostly enjoy. “Fine, we’ll be there shortly.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Maximoff.”

The line dies in her ear and Wanda shakes her head, wrists snapping flippantly as she tosses the aliens towards the containment unit, ignoring the Watch it! from Tony, and finds her husband, who is currently flickering in and out of existence. “Maximoff?”

His body solidifies long enough to showcase a sheepish roundness to his eyes and the neon green patch of slime that covers the entirety of his chest. “Wanda?” The phasing resumes, likely his foolhardy attempt to get the substance off of him.

“Jody called.”

Vision stops, head cocked to the side as his cape floats regally down behind him, “Tommy?”

“I assume so.”

His shoulders cave and he might, though it could just be a trick of the shadows caused by the buildings, rolls his eyes. “What is it this time?”

Wanda shrugs, “She didn’t say.” Her hand sneaks between his arm and torso, coming to rest on the inside of his elbow, careful to stay away from the slime, and tugs him into action, “Let’s just get this over with.”

The hallways are empty as they follow the memorized path, their feet moving automatically as their hands take turns gesticulating their concerns. “I believe we need to rethink our forms of punishment.”

Wanda agrees, the continued disobedience at school an undeniable signal that Tommy isn’t learning much from their lectures and grounding. “I don’t even know what else is left, Vizh.”

“I believe you do.” A reluctant, grave foreboding drips from his sentence and she immediately knows the next logical step, one they’ve tiptoed towards but can never seem to justify actually going that far, particularly because the offenses are usually so small. Vision, if she tried to argue that now, would point out that, though small, the conglomeration of all the offenses is actually enormous, especially if they look beyond just this school and at the others, some of Tommy’s behaviors the impetus for them no longer welcomed at those institutions.

Regardless of the rationale, Wanda can’t bring herself to agree. “The Young Avengers is literally the only thing that keeps him somewhat manageable.” The number of offenses and backtalk at home have greatly decreased in the time the Young Avengers Initiative has been active, and the peace from that is hard to willinging give up. “It could lead to worse behavior.”

“Or,” Vision draws it out, allowing her to interpret his disagreement before directly going against her, “it could show him that he needs to act in accordance to certain standards if he wants to be part of it.” A hand to her arm stops her right before they reach the glass walls of the office, turning her to face his sympathetic, swirling eyes. “We cannot always protect him from himself, at some point we have to let him face the full consequences.”

It was easy to shrug off this statement three years ago, five years ago, and especially twelve, when they were still just rambunctious toddlers, yet the closer the reality of them becoming adults, of forging their own paths in the world gets, the greater the panic that rises in Wanda. She knows they’ll be fine, both are strong (and strong-headed), fiercely independent, compassionate boys, but they are still her boys and she isn’t sure she’ll ever let go of needing to protect them. Neither will Vision, based on his confessions in the middle of the night whenever the twins are out on a mission, or the way she has to talk him down from following along and watching them or from immediately correcting them on all of their social mishaps. “Let’s just see what it is this time, okay?”

“That is reasonable.” Vision leans forward, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, an understanding smile on his face when he pulls back. “Should I change?”

They’re both still in uniform, the after effects of the battle untouched. “No,” Wanda doesn’t have the luxury of phasing into new clothes and has no desire to be singled out even more by Vision changing, “they think we don’t work, so let them experience it,” she pats his shoulder, steering clear of the gunk still clinging to his chest, “nasty smell and all.”

“Shall we?”

Wanda leads the way, opening the door with a forced smile at Jody before turning towards the chair with a, “Tommy what did–” except the face she meets doesn’t have the cocky I-can-get-away-with-anything grin nor is his hair white or his feet and hands tapping with pent up energy. No, instead she is staring into terrified, ashamed doe-like eyes, “Billy?”

“Um,” he swallows, fingers lacing together in nervousness, mirroring the exact grasp Vision uses when faced with something overwhelming and incomprehensible. “Hi mom, dad.”

“Will-” her husband stutters out the name, which makes her feel better to not be alone in this shock, “William, what is wrong?”

A curt, invasive “Ahem,” comes from the woman barricaded behind the sleek lines of the oak and glass desk, “You know the rules.” Jody follows it up with a cheerily malevolent smile, “I’ll buzz Dr. Bennett to let her know you’re finally here.”

The wait is just over five minutes before the door opens, a promising sign given Vision has provided graphs tracking the data of these visits, analyzing it to confirm a significantly positive correlation between the severity of the offense and the time they have to wait before seeing the principal. Wanda turns towards Billy, who is still wilting in his chair, trying to keep her voice sympathetic but also firm, “We’ll be back.”

Vision places his hand on Wanda’s lower back as she enters the office in front of him, their bodies easing into the familiar and uncomfortable chairs where they will encounter unwarranted levels of scrutiny from the vaguely concerned face across from them. “Dr. Bennett.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Maximoff,” the woman scrunches her nose, hand rising delicately to her face in disgust, “What is that smell?”

Wanda holds in her snigger at the flare of humiliation from her husband’s mind, his body squirming slightly under the disgusted gaze of the Principal. “I am,” he coughs, eyes turning to Wanda for help but she just smiles, hand patting his arm. “My apologies, we were battling lifeforms today with a very different chemical composition, one that is quite unappealing to our own senses. I-” Dr. Bennett’s face only becomes more troubled the longer the explanation lasts, “could not get the residue off.”

“I see,” her attention turns away from the smell and to the papers on her desk, ones that are always splayed out just enough to require her to sift them back together with three precise taps to the desk. “I’m happy to let you know that William has already accepted his actions and the required afternoon of detention.”

This is not usually how their talks with her go. “Then why are we here?”

“Because, Mrs. Maximoff,” the now aligned stack of papers is laid gingerly on the desk where the woman steeples her fingers over them, “we believe it is vital to apprise parents of misbehavior in person and in a timely manner. From our experience, even the most well-intentioned students do not convey the full truth if we allow them to be the messenger.”

Vision tenses beside her, never comfortable with the roundabout, deeply layered insinuations people insist on issuing in meetings, far preferring straightforward approaches. “We understand, what precisely did he do?”

A single paper is moved from the stack on the desk as the reads off of it, “Truancy during the lunch period.”

This isn’t what Wanda expected, nor did Vision, if his confused side stare towards her is an indication. “Did he say why he left?”

“The teacher who reported it said she saw him get into a car with another young gentleman and then not return until the end of the lunch period.” Dr. Bennett’s face informs them that this offense is just as severe as the soccer goal Tommy vaporized the other month. “We have very strict rules concerning students remaining on the campus during the school day.”

“I see,” Wanda doesn’t doubt the actions, her own suspicions quite strong on the motivation, and she most certainly has no desire to remain in the office since Billy already agreed to the punishment. “Thank you for letting us know.” She stands, a movement instantly mimicked by Vision and the principal, “have a good day.”

A wave of her hand encourages Vision out of the office, a long, unwavering stare at Billy let’s him know to follow them, and then Wanda leads the two men to a small alcove. She turns to Billy, the crossing of her arms causing him to shrink in stature just a bit more. “So how’s Teddy?”

Vision’s surprise is palpable and adorably naive, particularly from a man who turned off his communicator to sneak away with Wanda. Billy’s surprise is feigned, nervous and instantly shifts into a weak defensiveness. “You know it’s ridiculous we aren’t allowed to leave at lunch. I was back on time.”

“There are rules though,” the thing about being a parent is that even when you agree with your child’s rationale, sometimes you have to recognize that your agreement is not as important as the lesson. “You could just wait until after school.”

Billy nods, eyes not quite meeting hers, “Yeah, but he had a flex day and-“

“Being in a relationship,” Vision’s intrusion quiets the explanation, his face set in an empathetic softness, “is very exciting, especially at the onset. But it is imperative to learn when it is appropriate to embrace that excitement and when you can delay the gratification until a better time.”

“I’m sorry, won’t happen again.” Vision smiles, proud of figuring out how to handle the situation, Billy far more receptive to his logic than Tommy. This however tends to blind him to the fact that Billy still has a lot of Wanda too, the grin inching up his face a trademark Maximoff I’m-about-to-sass-you-with-my-defiance look. “You do know there are entire blogs dedicated to all the times you and mom make out during missions, right?”

“I-“ if flustered Vision wasn’t so damn cute, Wanda would counter back, but watching him flounder in the face of resistance is quality entertainment. “I um, there are?”

Billy nods, torn between enthusiasm and disdain, “Cassie likes to send them to us.”

“I see.”

“Let’s just agree for now,” Wanda does her best to contain her amusement at watching the two of them, “that context matters and in this context the school has rules that should be followed so you can deal with their punishment and we’ll call it good.”

Billy sighs, resigned to the illogic of the moment, “Fine.” The lesson presumably learned (or at least accepted for now), Wanda laces her arm through Vision’s, about to say goodbye until Billy sniffs three times, “Dad, you smell worse than Tommy’s socks.”

Vision’s body sinks in her grasp, an exasperated, “I am aware” dispelling any last defiance or negative feelings from their talk.

[brain-garden-blog]

Settlement Reached in C.I.A. Torture Case

A settlement in the lawsuit against two psychologists who helped devise the Central Intelligence Agency’s brutal interrogation program was announced on Thursday, bringing to an end an unusual effort to hold individuals accountable for the techniques the agency adopted after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Lawyers for the three plaintiffs in the suit, filed in 2015 in Federal District Court in Spokane, Wash., said the former prisoners were tortured at secret C.I.A. detention sites. The settlement with the psychologists, Dr. Bruce Jessen and Dr. James Mitchell, came after a judge last month urged resolving the case before it headed to a jury trial in early September.

The plaintiffs — two former detainees and the family of a third who died in custody — had sought unspecified punitive and compensatory damages. The terms of the settlement are confidential, and it is unclear whether a financial payout was involved. The parties agreed to a joint statement in which the psychologists said that they had advised the C.I.A. and that the plaintiffs had suffered abuses, but that they were not responsible.

In a phone interview, one of the plaintiffs, Mohamed Ben Soud, said through a translator: “I feel that justice has been served. Our goal from the beginning was justice and for the people to know what happened in this black hole that was run by the C.I.A.’s offices.”

Dror Ladin, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which helped bring the suit, called the case “a historic victory for our clients and for the rule of law.”

The plaintiffs said that Drs. Jessen and Mitchell, former military psychologists, profited from their work as contractors for the C.I.A. The men received up to $1,800 a day and later formed a company that was paid about $81 million to help operate the interrogation program over several years.

The United States government also agreed to indemnify the men and their company, including paying legal fees, judgments and settlements up to $5 million. Some of those funds were used to cover legal bills during Justice Department investigations. As of November 2011, there was close to $4 million left, according to a document made public in the lawsuit.

James T. Smith, the psychologists’ lead counsel, said in a statement that his clients were “public servants whose actions in regard to the interrogation of suspected terrorists were authorized by the U.S. government, legal and done in an effort to protect innocent lives.”

In an interview, Dr. Mitchell said he found it “regrettable that one guy died and those other guys were treated badly,” adding: “We had nothing to do with it. We’re not responsible for it. They say we are, but in my view they’re wrong.”

The psychologists produced a memo in 2002 proposing harsh techniques to be used on terrorism suspects thought to be resisting interrogations. The C.I.A. adopted nearly all of these methods, including waterboarding, stuffing prisoners into small boxes, forcing them to hold painful positions for hours and slamming them into plywood walls.

The so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were based on those used in military survival schools to simulate what service members might undergo if captured by regimes violating the laws of war. They were later condemned as illegal under United States and international law and were ultimately banned. The American Psychological Association consequently prohibited its members from participating in national security interrogations.

As a candidate, President Trump said he would bring back waterboarding “and a hell of a lot worse,” but later said he would defer to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s strong opposition — widespread in the military — to torture and prisoner mistreatment.

The case against the psychologists proceeded despite multiple attempts by their lawyers to have it dismissed. They argued that the men acted solely under the authority of the government and were entitled to the same immunity as government officials. The judge, Justin L. Quackenbush, also denied motions by both sides requesting that he rule summarily in their favor before a trial.

Although there will be no public trial, the case — over its nearly two-year course — expanded public knowledge about the C.I.A.’s torture program. Previously secret documents were declassified, including C.I.A. cables from the covert prisons known as black sites. And the two psychologists, along with the former C.I.A. officials Jose Rodriguez and John Rizzo, were subjected to lengthy questioning by opposing lawyers in video depositions. Their sometimes sterile description of the techniques contrasted with the emotional accounts, in separate depositions, of the men who underwent them.

The plaintiffs and some of their experiences are described in the executive summary of the 6,700-page Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture. The report, published in December 2014 and based on a five-year review of over six million pages of documents, lists 38 men known to have been subjected to the techniques in C.I.A. prisons. It denounced the methods as brutal and criticized the C.I.A. for providing false and misleading information to federal officials about the interrogation program’s effectiveness.

The psychologists came into direct contact with only one of the three detainees, Gul Rahman, who died in C.I.A. custody in Afghanistan in 2002, probably of hypothermia, according to an agency investigation into his death.

The judge ruled last week that a trial could also proceed on behalf of the two other former prisoners — Mr. Ben Soud and Suleiman Salim — whose lawyers argued that the psychologists had aided and abetted their torture.

Mr. Ben Soud, a Libyan detained by the C.I.A. in 2003 and held in Afghanistan, was locked in small boxes, slammed against a wall and doused with buckets of ice water while naked and shackled. Mr. Salim, a Tanzanian also captured in 2003 and held by the C.I.A. in Afghanistan, was beaten, isolated in a dark cell for months, doused with water and deprived of sleep.

The A.C.L.U. and the Gibbons law firm of Newark brought the lawsuit under the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreign citizens to seek justice in United States courts for violations of their rights under international law or United States treaties.

[woodworkingpastor]

The Kingdom of Heaven is like... Matthew 13:24-33 February 17, 2019

Call to Worship

Come and worship, proclaim God's ways of faithfulness and steadfast love.

We will tell of God's love, which unfolds in our lives.

Come and worship, for we are God's people, rejoicing in his graciousness.

God is always with us, there is nothing which can keep us apart.

Come to the One who tells stories; worship our God who keeps promises.

We rejoice with God who is with us always.

Several weeks ago, we invited some new neighbors over to our home for supper. Part of our delightful conversation that evening included learning to know their two-year old identical twin girls.  We had the same conversation with their parents that parents of twins have all the time.  The parents told us how the girls are alike, how they are different (one prefers bows in her hair), how they dislike being treated as if they’re the same, but also how they will occasionally try to trick their parents by pretending to be the other.

Our conversation eventually came to the inevitable question: so how do you tell them apart?

The girls’ mother answered that question by saying, “They don’t look alike to me.”  She also said, “I can see that they are identical twins and that they really do look alike.  But even though I can’t explain it, I just know who is who.”

Part of the parable of the weeds among the wheat involves realizing that the weed, darnel, looks a lot like the wheat that was growing up along side of it, and that it might not be easy for everyone to tell the two apart.  But the servants and the landowner know the difference. And for a farmer, it makes logical sense to remove weeds from the field—not only will they compete for the nutrients the wheat needs, they will also come back in even greater amounts next year.

But this isn’t a lesson on crop yields; it’s a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven. The farmer knows that sometimes our efforts to do good inadvertently do evil; that in spite of our best intentions, doing good by force causes all the harm that evil intended in the first place.

So the farmer says “Let both of them grow together until the harvest.” There will come a day when God will deal with evil.  The weeds will be harvested and burned. In the meantime, our task is to “let both of them grow together.”  The word “let” may be the most important word in the entire parable.  The Greek word is a very functional word—it shows up in all sorts of places, including the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

When you forgive someone, you are making a very definite choice about how to deal with a very specific wrong. You’re choosing not to seek revenge, to not hate, to not kill them, instead allowing God time to bring about a new reality.

Whether we’re “letting” or “forgiving,” this parable teaches us to allow the Kingdom of God to grow and have its influence in God’s time.  We are sorely tempted to believe that our job is to rush in and remove evil from among us, because not doing anything to punish evil (which is what forgiveness often feels like) seems wrong.  But we forget that the wheat is not powerless—it’s still growing, too. This is not an excuse to be passive; it is an invitation to be patient, to keep working, to keep influencing, to trust that Jesus knows what he is talking about.  Our opportunity as disciples of Jesus is to know deep within our beings how to respond to the evil that is among us.

And so if the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field, but while everyone was asleep an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, then maybe the Kingdom of Heaven is like the mother of identical twin girls, who on a deep level knows that her daughters are different, even though they look alike to everyone else, and understands deeply how to respond to each one, according to her unique circumstances and needs.

Samuel Garber, from Preaching in a Tavern, # 22

The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a Brethren pastor preaching an Abolitionist sermon in Tennessee.

Sometime in 1858, Samuel Garber was invited to preach at a Presbyterian church in Tennessee.  His assigned text was Isaiah 58:6:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Garber, who had once lived in Tennessee, but was visiting this congregation from his home in Illinois, described the events in The Gospel Visitor the following April:

“I attended at the time appointed and found a large concourse assembled. I took the…text and delivered a discourse. I spoke of the yoke and the bondage of sin in general terms, and of temperance, justice, and judgment to come, and particularly against oppression in every shape and form. I held forth the law of love, mercy, and truth; showed that there was a time coming when every yoke of sin would be broken, intemperance banished from our sphere, oppression   cease, contention, strife and wars would be at an end; love, peace, good-will, union and fellowship would universally prevail throughout the whole earth, etc.

    “About the close of my discourse, I said that among the yokes and oppressions might be named that of slavery…”

Here was the beginning of Samuel Garber’s troubles—the application of his text to slavery. Immediately another minister announced that he would show that the text had no reference to African slavery. A newspaper article accused Garber of having the audacity to deliver an abolition sermon in the presence of master and slave. Garber was confronted with threats of lynch law, of being tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. A few weeks later he was arrested with a state warrant for preaching an abolition sermon. Garber refused to appear on a Sunday, but the next day he was set free on $500 bail “to appear in the next term of court.” Brethren in the area persuaded Garber to leave the state, because they feared further agitation might lead to violence. They paid Garber’s forfeited bail money.

Though Garber learned later that many in his audience supported his stand, he eventually had to pay court costs and lawyer’s fees amounting to $234. He commented, “A pretty good sum to be paid for preaching the gospel! Where is the boasted liberty of the pulpit and the press?”

The Gospel Visitor not only told his story but encouraged readers to share the expense of his trial.

Ralph and Mary Smeltzer, ministering to Japanese-Americans after US Government required them to be interned, The Brethren During the Age of World War, pp. 266-267.

The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man and a woman ministering to persons experiencing a grave injustice.

Ralph and Mary Smeltzer were public school teachers and members of the La Verne Church of the Brethren. In February 1942, the Smeltzer’s learned of the number of Japanese-Americans in their community who had been given forty-eight hours to dispose of their property and relocate to internment camps.

“Ralph took a day off from school to help. He had already been demoted from a regular to a substitute teacher in the Los Angeles schools because he expressed his conscientious objection to selling defense stamps. He was shocked at seeing army jeeps with machine guns patrolling the streets while looters were raiding houses from the alleys.  The Quakers rented an abandoned school near our home to use as a temporary hostel for many Terminal Island refugees and their belongings. Within a few weeks all Japanese Americans in the Los Angeles area were evacuated, usually early in the mornings. We helped serve them breakfast at the train and bus stations, getting up at five o’clock, helping at the stations, then hurrying off to school.

The Smeltzer’s efforts, however, were not universally appreciated. In the face of ongoing internment decrees, they organized a group of sixty-five people, including Methodists, Friends, Nazarenes, Baptists, Presbyterians, thirteen Brethren work campers, and local Brethren, to provide assistance to the evacuees.  They were met with significant opposition by persons who made their objections known in harsh, racist terms:

“[A Mr.] Bandy threatened the pastors with “the consequences” if they went through with the plans. He said, “We won’t bother you at the station today, but you will be sorry for what you are doing. You prefer to have the friendship of 500 of these people and incur the animosity of 4,000 residents of this town.  And if you don’t believe it, just ask any man on the street. At that he called a man off the street…and asked him fairly and impartially what he thought of the churches feeding these people that afternoon.  The answer was obvious. Parrot-like he repeated Bandy’s point of view.”

The Smeltzers and others were sobered, but undeterred.  In time Ralph and Mary Smeltzer secured teaching positions in an internment camp.  After that they helped Japanese-Americans relocate to new homes in Brooklyn.

A 96-day worship service in the Netherlands

The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a worship service that lasts 96 days.

Bethel Church��located in the Netherlands—had a close relationship with the Tamrazyan family. The Tamrazyan’s migrated to the Netherlands nine years ago, because their home in Armenia had become unsafe to them.  Despite working their way through the legal process, their application for permanent residency had been denied, even though the circumstances that caused them to flee remained unchanged.  

With the Tamrazyan family living in their church, leadership of Bethel Church took advantage of a Dutch law that prohibits police from entering a house of worship while a service is in progress. They began a worship service on October 26 and did not conclude while the case of the over 700 Armenian immigrants worked their way again through the Dutch immigration system.  Joined by over 1,000 pastors and Christians throughout the region, the worship service inside Bethel Church lasted 24 hours a day for 96 days.  

The ultimate fate of these families has not yet been determined, but for now they imminent threat of deportation has been removed while their cases are reconsidered, all because of a church who took the Bible’s command to “pray without ceasing” seriously for 96 straight days.

Conclusion/Call to Giving

You’ve heard stories about Christians proclaiming the Kingdom of heaven through their words and through their actions.  But what about you? Based on what we’ve heard here today, how would you describe the Kingdom of Heaven?

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Age: Sixteen Occupation: Junior at St. Judes Location: Upper East Side Faceclaim: Michael Trevino + Athletic, Determined, Strategic   - Aggressive, Egotistical, Rude

If there is one thing everyone knows about Tyler, it’s that he wasn’t born a Waldorf. His biological father was nowhere to be found, and his mother had an addiction to drugs that would get in the way of raising her son. He risked growing up in as a foster child his entire life, had it not been for the Waldorf’s dire need for a son. Adopting a child certainly wasn’t a common thing to commit to on the Upper East Side, but it was Mr Waldorf’s persistence on the matter that landed a six month old Tyler a place in one of the most wealthy families in all of New York. Growing up, however, Tyler soon learned that being the “odd one out” in his family would impact his entire life. After all, when you have Blair Waldorf for a sister, falling to the back is already a given. That, along with being adopted into the world of the Upper East Side, rendered harsh judgments from many elite’s — most of which completely disregarded Tyler upon every occasion. When people heard his name, they often responded with “Tyler who?”. Most of the time, Tyler was accustomed to the way the world around him worked.. but when he saw his older sister getting all the attention and adoration and praise from families around them, it sparked a hatred and anger within Tyler that would continue to grow into his teenage years. Blair was the star of the family, the true Waldorf. She was the one who was most talked about, she was the one who had a following as though she were royalty. And that she was, in the eyes of New York. Each time Tyler was picked on, ignored, or accused of having a homosexual father, the anger within him boiled a little hotter. Throughout his late childhood and into his teenage years, Tyler would pick fights and find himself acting aggressively toward everyone around him. Even more so once the Waldorf family not only had to deal with divorce, but his mother remarried and his father moved to France with his boyfriend. His anger was spiralling out of control, and he no longer found it easy to hold back anymore. What was he to care of his reputation? He wasn’t a real Waldorf. He was a Rodriguez at heart, and he would never stop being reminded of it. His anger escalated past verbal abuse, to physically fighting others every time they said even a word about him. He was always the first to throw a punch, the first to shove someone he didn’t like.. physical violence had suddenly become the one thing he resorted to to gain some sort of control. Not even his best friend Matt Donovan could help him. However, after countless times of ending up in the principle’s office, several teachers and the principle of St Judes came up with a plan. There was a way to use his aggression for positive. He was encouraged to join the school’s football team to let off the steam that was clearly infiltrating his core. At first, he was opposed to he idea — but when it clicked that football was a contact sport, Tyler finally agreed. This was the one way he was able to get his anger out without consequences, at least in the teachers’ eyes. It was a place where hurting people didn’t matter, because it was all a part of the game. When tackling and making passes, all Tyler had to do was envision those that angered him, and with this Tyler soon became the best player on the team. Once you think you have a solution, however, life throws obstacles your way. Problems always arise, no matter how much you try to fix them. And Tyler’s sudden obsession with being the best conveyed just that. Now, people had started noticing him, praising him, giving him the attention he had lacked for the majority of his life. This is when he made the choice to do something extremely illegal, knowing it would be the only thing to maintain his newfound fame. He keeps it on the down low, not even telling his older and more mature girlfriend Vicki Donovan. Then again, that’s not the only thing he’s been keeping from Vicki. Like how he cheated on her one night with Bonnie Bennett. It wasn’t that he wanted to, especially considering Tyler is best friends with Vicki’s younger brother. But he couldn’t help himself. Tyler was drunk, so was Bonnie, and one thing led to another. Of course, he acts like nothing happened, because a part of him somewhere regrets his actions and cares for Vicki. But he’s a mess. He’s so caught up in his need for being important, so consumed in his inner anger and turmoil, that he’s losing sight of what is right and what is wrong. If he keeps it up, he will really spiral out of control and lose himself, and can kiss any chance at having a positive reputation goodbye.

Everyone knows Tyler Waldorf’s name, not just for his pure talent on the field, not just for the fact that he is the adopted Waldorf — he’s landed himself the title of being the greatest jerk of St Judes. Having some sort of secret really isn’t a shocker. His need to be the best falls in line with Waldorf tradition, however. He will do whatever it takes to make it to the top, — and stay there. And if that means taking steroids and performance enhancing drugs, then he will do it. He finds himself injecting steroids before major work outs, taking drugs before important games. He has no time for sleep or wasting time. He needs to be the best on the team and ensure nothing threatens that. But if anyone learns of his secret, Tyler will have to say goodbye to any chance of a football career. Along with this secret, he harbours the one he shares with Bonnie. Their one night stand being known could cost Tyler so much, and the notion of losing Vicki is unbearable. He doesn’t treat her well, but he certainly doesn’t want to lose the one thing that is constant in his life. He does love her—at least, he thinks he does. He just can’t lose what he has with her, which is why keeping secrets has to be the only option. There is too much on the line, and if he loses what’s important to him.. who knows what will happen to this ticking time bomb.

✘  Matt Donovan: Sometimes it’s hard to believe that Tyler has a friend that has stuck by him no matter what.. However, these two have been bound by the hip since elementary school. Tyler deems himself the head of the duo, of course, often the one to call the shots and decide what to do. They don’t always get along, and they don’t always see eye to eye, but Matt is the one thing that balances out the aggressive, arrogant side of Tyler. Simultaneously, Tyler brings out a more daredevil side of Matt. Once Tyler started dating his older sister, things were strange for a while.. but who better than someone Matt cares about to date his sister? This way, he can keep an eye on Tyler and his sister, and ensure she is being treated okay. Tyler never wants to lose his friendship with Matt, being the only one who’s ever stuck by him. He doesn’t care about their status differences, with Tyler being elite and Matt simply being a Brooklynite. Nothing matters except his all time constant to stick around. ✘  Vicki Donovan & Bonnie Bennett: Someone like Tyler isn’t usually considered the type to do relationships, he never even thought so himself. But when Vicki Donovan came along, he couldn’t resist. She was gorgeous, charming, older. Growing up, he’d always crushed on her.. and the second she started noticing him as they entered their later teenage years, they had been inseparable ever since. Tyler is an asshole at heart, and doesn’t always treat Vicki the way she deserves to be treated.. he’s mean, and often feels embarrassed he’s dating someone from Brooklyn. But somewhere, deep down, he cares for her and would do anything to ensure she sticks around. That’s why Tyler lies to Vicki and keeps the secret of his indiscretions a secret from her. Sleeping with Bonnie whilst they were dating was just a mistake. It just happened, and he will do anything to ensure Vicki doesn’t find out. ✘  Jeremy Gilbert: It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Jeremy Gilbert is in love with Vicki.. and because of this, Tyler hates the new kid. He cringes at the idea of Vicki and Jeremy hanging out. Every time he spots them together, around school or the city, anger boils within his core. Knowing they are close, he often refrains from stepping in.. but as soon as he touches Vicki, or he sees him flirting with her, Tyler has him by the throat in a moment’s notice. He thinks it’s crazy and isn’t sure if Vicki notices the small comments Jeremy makes or the moves he tries to pull. However, Tyler tries his best not to make a big deal out of it.. Especially seeing as though Tyler isn’t the most faithful boyfriend. But that doesn’t stop him from shoving into Jeremy every time he sees him, or trying to pick a fight with him. He wants to make it clear that Vicki is his, and that Jeremy better keep his distance — or real trouble will ensue. ✘  Blair Waldorf: Often living in the shadow of his older sister, Tyler feels some resentment toward Blair. In public, they act appropriately. Behind the scenes, they’re a little less kind to one another. Blair has thrown comments his way about his adoption, comments that have sparked hate within him. Blair was New York’s princess. His jealousy of her has never subsided, always being second best to his sister. However, if it came down to it, Tyler would do absolutely anything for Blair. If something were to happen to her, he’d be there to help out of hurt the soul who hurt her. He just won’t tell her that — because to Tyler, it’s just easier to act like he doesn’t like his sister and get her off of his back.