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kissinginkitchens · 3 years ago

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You Bring Me Home — Chapter One: Flightless Bird, American Mouth

a/n: I've been working on this story for mooonths now and I'm so excited to finally share it with the world! It's heavily inspired by Harry's Behind the Album mini doc, except I changed the setting to Hawai'i because I've personally spent some time there and as they say, write what you know! YBMH takes place in the period between One Direction's hiatus and Harry's first album/tour, but with that being said, this is entirely a work of fiction and some events don't follow the true timeline. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my little story, I hope you love it as much as I do! It will be updated every Friday at 5 PM PST. My inbox is open, so feel free to talk to me once you've finished reading! I'd love to hear from you :) Much love, Mel <3

Pairing: Hawai'i!Harry x Original Character

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 5.5k

May, 2016

Harry watches LAX get smaller through the airplane window and visualizes all of his worries stuck at the terminal gate, their magnitude also diminishing as he takes flight. He sinks lower in his seat and skims through playlists on his phone when a nagging feeling at the back of his mind pulls his attention away from the screen. Looking up from the song choices, he spots a cell phone quickly lowered from his line of vision and a girl with flushed cheeks who quickly averts her gaze. Harry shoots a tight-lipped smile in her direction and goes back to his phone with a sigh. The days when he could roam the streets freely without fear of recognition—or worse, harassment—feel like an entirely different lifetime. He sometimes imagines that he’ll wake up back in his childhood bed as if the past five years had all been a dream, but he never does. In fact, his privacy and anonymity seem to dwindle with each minute of radio play that One Direction receives. It’s a bittersweet pill to swallow, but one he hopes will go down easier with some time in the Hawaiian sun.

His close friend and new manager, Jeff Azoff, had suggested the vacation as soon as the band privately agreed to take a hiatus.

“You’ll go home for a few weeks,” his voice had crackled through the speakers of Harry’s phone. “Visit your mom and Gem, lay low for a while until the smoke blows over,”

Harry mulled it over in his mind, eyes flickering over the rolling landscape outside of the tour bus window.

“Then what?”

“Then you go for a little vacation. The label offered to cover a house in Hawaii so you can start working on the album,”

“Alone?”

Jeff chuckled lightly on the other end before responding. “I mean, if that’s what you want,”

“No,” Harry corrected. “You and Tom should come. Mitch and Bhasker, too,”

“The dream team,”

“And there’ll be a studio there?”

“Yes,” Jeff started, almost hesitant. “But I don’t want you to think about that too much,”

“But you said the label—"

“I also said vacation. Look, Rob said ‘it will all happen in due time,' did he not?”

Harry twisted the rose ring around his finger, tracing over the silver petals and thinking back to his conversation with the CEO of Sony Music, Rob Stringer. Upon the proposal of his debut solo album, Rob had told him that the most important ingredient for a successful debut would be patience. The singer had agreed in the moment, but every day not spent in the studio felt like a test he hadn’t studied hard enough for.

“Yeah.”

“So you take the free vacation,” Jeff suggested. “You go out, live, get some writing material. Maybe mess around with some tunes. And then we come back to L.A. and get to work. But until then, I just want you to focus on taking it easy.”

So take it easy he had. Or at least he had tried to when he was back home in England. Harry quickly grew restless after what felt like the millionth awkward conversation with past friends and acquaintances, all of which eventually led to the topic of One Direction and it’s unexpected hiatus. After one month at home, his mind and journal were full of ideas for songs, things that he wanted to say before he lost his nerve. One night as he tossed and turned in bed, he shot Jeff a text, just two words that would kick off a three month getaway to the Big Island of Hawai'i:

I’m ready.

********

“Sounds great, I'll go put in your order.” Alani offers sweetly, trying not to overdo it with the customer service voice. After waiting on the family at her designated table, she heads back to the kitchen and finds her younger sister, Pua, crouched in the corner taking what appears to be a serious phone call.

“I don’t know, I just saw it!” Her sister cries in a hushed tone. “Where do you think he’s going?”

“Is everything okay?” Alani cuts in with concern.

Pua whispers into the speaker before bringing the phone to her shoulder.

“Harry Styles was just spotted on a plane this morning,”

“Who?”

“The guy from One Direction,” her sister explains with a hint of irritation in her voice. “The band who sings that song you secretly like, ‘Fireproof,'”

Alani vaguely recalls the melody, but she waits expectantly for Pua to elaborate. “And this is news because…”

“Because the band just broke up, so where could he possibly be going?”

"The unemployment office?”

Pua rolls her eyes and returns to her phone call while Alani envelops her in a tight hug.

“I’m just kidding!” Alani apologizes, squeezing tighter despite her sister’s attempts to break free. “I’m sure he’ll be living off of royalty checks until he’s, like, eighty,”

“Get off me, freak!” Pua cries out, finally breaking the embrace.

Alani clutches her chest and pulls out an invisible knife. “Ouch. I’m telling Harry you said that,”

“This is exactly why I don’t tell you things.” the younger sister huffs, storming out of the kitchen through the employee entrance where Alani’s best friend, Maleah, has just arrived.

“Looks like someone forgot to eat their Cheerios today,” she remarks, tying her curls into a high ponytail.

Alani shrugs and leans against the counter. “She’s going through something. Just discovered that boys in pop bands are, in fact, just regular boys.”

“Poor thing,” Maleah frowns. “We all have to learn eventually.”

********

The sky is a blend of cotton candy pink and burnt orange when Alani returns home from the café with a strawberry smoothie in tow. She empties the mailbox and sorts through the various bills and advertisements, but her stomach drops when she sees a familiar return address label. After a quick greeting to her excited dog who waits at the door, Alani bolts up the stairs and quietly shuts the bedroom door behind her. Breathe, she reminds herself before tearing into the envelope and discarding it onto the wooden floor.

Dear Ms. Hale,

We are very grateful to have received your submission to Rolling Stone magazine. However, we regret to inform you—

She doesn’t read the rest, slumping to the floor in defeat. The sixth rejection letter from Rolling Stone lies crumpled at Alani’s feet and she kicks it across the room with a frustrated grunt. She had worked for over two months perfecting her analysis of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and its allusions to the environmental impact of urban development in Hawaii. As part of her initial research, Alani had even traveled to both the Royal Hawaiian hotel in Honolulu, which is the famous Pink Hotel mentioned in the song, and Foster Botanical Garden that Mitchell referred to as “the tree museum.” She was certain that her effort and persistence would result in at least a consideration. The second third time's the charm! Maleah had joked watching Alani submit the piece. Six articles in the span of two years, each one facing the same rejection despite the increased effort Alani had put in over time. The fact that the rejection letter hadn’t changed over the course of the two years brings an incredulous smile to her face, and her stomach turns when she considers that the editors probably hadn’t even read her work, anyway. All that effort, she thinks to herself, all that time, for nothing.

“It will take time,” her favorite professor, Dr. Hudson, had reassured her three months after the Joni Mitchell article was submitted. “Every great writer faced countless rejection until that one piece. Yours will come. Keep your eyes open and your pen ready.”

Alani sighs and lifts herself off the floor, choosing to crawl into her unmade bed instead of slumping onto the hardwood. She hears a soft scratching at the door before her King Charles Spaniel, Freddie, pads into the room.

“Come here, bubs,” Alani whispers. He obeys and burrows into the duvet, giving her temple a gentle lick before nuzzling into the nape of her neck.

“You still love me, right?” she asks, voice cracking. “Even if I’m a failure?”

Freddie sniffs her ear in response.

********

“Right,” Harry says, his tongue peeking from the corner of his mouth as he reads the map. “No, left, sorry,”

“Do you actually know how to read a map?” Jeff teases, correcting the turn.

Harry pouts in response, his brows furrowing. “In my defense, we’re literally in the middle of fucking nowhere,”

“There are worse places to be,” Mitch pipes up from the back seat. “England, for example, where they say things like ‘litchrally’,”

“Very well said, Mitchell,” Jeff Bhasker adds with a fake British accent of his own.

Harry turns to his friends in the back seat with a finger pointed like an agitated mother. “If you lot don’t shut up, I’m gonna lead us to a volcano and push you in,”

“Where are we even going? I forgot,” Tom complains.

“To get food,” his manager responds from the driver’s seat. “I think,”

“Why can’t we just stop there?” Mitch asks pointing to a café pulling up on their right.

Jeff merges into the turning lane quickly without a second thought. “Good enough for me, I’m starving.”

“Sorry, H.” Mitch pats his friend on the shoulder.

Harry scoffs. “You’re the one who wanted poke.”

The Aloha Nui Loa Café is much more spacious than the exterior suggests, yet it still feels cozy. The walls are painted sage green and adorned with various local art pieces, as described by the plaques that accompany them. A skylight fills the center of the room with plenty of warm lighting, leaving the space along the walls in a bit more shade for an intimate feel. In one corner, a hanging disco ball leaves freckles of sparkling light along the walls where the sunlight hits, making the whole image very idyllic in Harry’s mind. As if he couldn’t enjoy the setting more, he hears the beginning of an Otis Redding song that he’s had stuck in his head drift through the restaurant speakers.

“Welcome in!” a voice calls, which pulls him from his survey of the room. His head whips to the source—a girl around his age with wavy, dark hair and honey skin. “For here or to go?”

Harry takes a hesitant step up to the counter. “For here,”

She smiles warmly and pulls some menus from under the counter. “How many in your party?”

“Five.”

“Great, follow me.”

Harry and his friends follow the waitress to the corner of the room under the disco ball and take their seats at the round table.

“My name is Alani,” she introduces herself, setting the menus down. “I’ll be serving you today. Can I get you started with some drinks?”

Harry continues scanning the restaurant while his group orders. His eyes land on the shirt that Alani is wearing, a white tee with the words “Enjoy Health, Eat Your Honey” in blue lettering that surrounds a picture of a cartoon bee.

“Harry,” Jeff says gently, catching his drifting attention.

The singer turns to his manager, who nods to Alani waiting with a pen pressed to her notepad. Harry feels a rush of embarrassment creep across his cheeks and he clears his throat to cover it.

“Just water,” he says, eyes glued to the menu. “Thanks.”

“You got it.” Alani nods, flashing a toothy grin at the rest of the group before turning back to the kitchen. Harry. Her mind repeats, finding a hint of familiarity, though she doesn’t know why.

When Alani arrives at the drink station, she finds her sister staring at her, mouth agape, while Maleah unsuccessfully conceals her laughter.

“What?” she questions, checking herself for any embarrassing stains or smells.

“You were—and he—” Pua stammers. “He was—and then he—”

“That’s Harry Styles,” Maleah translates, her voice hushed as she peers over her friend's shoulder.

Alani turns to steal a glance at the table she just seated, but Pua and Maleah latch onto her and shake their heads frantically.

“Don’t look!” her sister hisses.

Alani smirks, amused at their reactions. “No shit. That’s One Direction?”

Maleah snorts, clasping a hand over her mouth as Pua huffs. “No, dumbass! It’s just Harry. I don’t know who the other guys are,”

“But the blonde guy? That’s not—?”

“No!” Pua and Maleah giggle in unison.

“Okay, geez,” Alani relents. She manages to steal a quick glance at the table over her shoulder, immediately searching for Harry. Her eyes scan over the long, curly hair kept out of his face by a pair of white sunglasses that she had seen on Kurt Cobain once. All of his features are sharp and striking, from his pointed nose and defined jawline to the bright blue eyes. Or maybe they were grey? Alani wonders, trying to remember the exact shade. He doesn’t look anything like the fresh-faced teeny bopper she’d had in mind, the one from a music video her sister had shown her a long time ago. She would have never guessed that the What Makes You Beautiful singer had so much dark ink trailing down his bicep and forearm, though her knowledge of One Direction was very limited.

“What did he order?” Pua questions, her eyes wide.

Alani quickly snaps back to reality and resumes filling the drinks. “A water,”

“Oh my god,” Maleah swoons. “I’m never drinking anything else ever again,”

“I didn’t even know you liked him,” Alani teases with an eyebrow raised.

Maleah sneaks another peek at the table and catches her lower lip between her teeth. “I mean, I didn’t really think so either but look at him. What a fucking dream,”

Harry was objectively handsome, this Alani could admit, but she personally didn’t see the appeal and had a strong feeling that he was just like every other male celebrity. The fact that he hadn’t even bothered to make eye contact with her only served as further proof of what she knew to be true.

“Okay, well, your dreamboat is waiting for his water. So excuse me,” Alani winks, making her way back to the table.

The singer spots Alani returning out of the corner of his eye and the sight of her causes a strange flutter in the pit of his stomach that makes him want to duck for cover. Instead, he pulls his phone from his back pocket and pretends to be occupied with something on the screen.

“Okay,” she greets, setting the drink tray down. “I have a Blue Hawaii, a Mango Mama, two Loco Cocos, and a water,”

The group graciously accepts their drinks with a chorus of “thank you," but the only one under Alani’s scrutiny is Harry. He still doesn’t meet her almond eyes, and though she figured he wouldn’t, she can’t help the inkling of disappointment that washes over her. After taking their meal orders, Alani heads back to the kitchen, checking on her other customers along the way. Harry’s eyes follow her and he observes the way customers light up at her presence, indulging her conversation with laughter. He watches as she lingers by the jukebox in one corner of the room, a detail he had missed in his initial scan, and waits anxiously to see what song she chooses. Baby I’m-a Want You begins softly and Harry feels the corner of his lip curl ever so slightly. Good choice, he thinks.

********

“He’s still here,” Pua muses, peering through the tiny window in the kitchen door. It had been nearly two hours and the five men were still seated around their table cracking jokes and doing a lot of talking with their hands.

Alani doesn’t look up from her bowl of sliced kiwis, offering a hum in response. “And what do you want me to do about that?”

“Nothing,” Pua shoots back. “Don’t bother him,”

“What kind of girls do you think he’s into?” Maleah asks, attempting to peek through the window.

Alani shrugs, bored of the conversation and of thinking about Harry. “I don’t know, but I’ll bet he’s a real sucker for the ones who stalk him while he’s eating,”

“How does he make eating a salad look hot?”

“Can we talk about something else now?” Alani whines, poking holes in a lone kiwi with her fork.

Pua tosses a wet dish rag in her sister’s direction and cheers when it lands in her face. “Go see if he wants more water, he looks thirsty.”

“I already refilled it,” Alani defends. “Twenty minutes ago. I’ve refilled it a hundred times, I’m surprised he hasn’t peed his pants.”

I’m gonna piss myself. Harry thinks, his right leg bouncing to distract himself. He really wasn’t all that thirsty, but he couldn’t stop himself from finishing each glass of water that Alani placed in front of him. He really wasn’t all that thirsty, but he couldn’t stop himself from finishing each glass of water that Alani placed in front of him. Like clockwork, she would return to fill his glass almost as soon as the last drop had been drained, and so what began as a little experiment slowly turned into a bladder hazard. But if the trend was to be trusted, she would be back any minute and he wasn’t going to miss it; afterall, there were only so many ways to casually linger in a small café without making it weird. Unable to bear it any longer, he heads to the restroom and hopes that Alani doesn’t clear their table before he has a chance to see her again.

Harry pads down the back hallway with his eyes cast down at the floor, which proves to be a mistake when he walks directly into another person.

“Sorry!” they both apologize quickly, Harry’s palm taking purchase on the other person’s upper arm.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” he offers, finally meeting the dark, mocha eyes already looking back at him.

Alani presses her lips into a tight smile. “Me either,”

Harry’s heartbeat picks up when he realizes it’s her, and he isn’t aware of how close they’re standing until he detects the faint scent of kiwi on her breath. He takes a step back and rakes a hand through his hair.

“So I guess I’ll just—”

“Yeah, sure.”

Green. Alani notes to herself. His eyes are green.

********

Shortly after Harry returned from the restroom, him and his friends settled their bill and headed out. Alani cleared their table and her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw the hefty tip left behind. The word mahalo was also left behind on the receipt, underlined twice, and she wondered if it was his handwriting.

Later that night, she settled into bed with her laptop and hesitantly typed his name into Google. As she expected, countless articles about the split of One Direction emerged, most of them speculating what was next for each member. To her surprise, however, Harry’s name seemed to be mentioned more than his fellow bandmates as various sources labeled him “the next Justin Timberlake” and rising star of the group. Upon further investigation, she learned that the demand for information about the elusive Harry Styles was high, especially concerning any possible solo music. No news had yet been confirmed by Styles himself, nor anyone claiming to represent him, but she still wondered if his presence in Hawaii had anything to do with a possible solo project. Almost as soon as she thought it, Alani dismissed the theory in favor of the idea that he was most likely just taking a vacation. And from the buzz that she saw surrounding the news about One Direction, she couldn’t blame him.

The more Alani read, the more she wanted to know, and something deep down told her that his was a story worth telling. Of course, the only problem was that she had hardly talked to him, and there were only so many things she could say about the fifteen glasses of water he downed. There was no way of knowing if she would ever see him again, either, or if he was merely stopping in Hilo on his way to another island or somewhere else entirely. Alani sighed, thinking back to her most recent rejection from Rolling Stone. She knew that there was no possible way she would ever see or talk to Harry ever again, and even if she did, why would he bare his entire soul to a stranger? Still, she let her mind wander through the possibility.

Dear Ms. Hale, the letter would read, we are very grateful to have received your submission to Rolling Stone magazine and are pleased to inform you that your piece on Harry Styles will be featured in next month’s issue. Additionally, we would be honored to have you on staff, effective immediately.

It was far-fetched, Alani knew this, but she dozed off that night with endless ideas swimming in her head.

********

By the third day after his visit, the only trace of Harry is in Alani’s search history. She would have completely forgotten about him if it weren’t for her sister’s constant reminiscing and multiple attempts to rename the house salad to the “Harry Special.” As a result, a part of Alani’s thoughts periodically linger back to that day and the subsequent hours spent on Google that she’d rationalized as research instead of stalking. Somehow the knowledge that she’ll never see him again only adds fuel to the questions still burning in her mind, but a customer clearing their throat while she sorts menus below the hostess podium interrupts her thoughts.

“Welcome in!” She calls, standing. “What can I—”

She stops in her tracks, unable to believe her eyes. Harry blinks and waits for her to continue.

“What can I get started for you?” Alani tries again, hoping that he hadn’t noticed her shock. Luckily for her, Harry had been too focused on choosing his next words to register her mistake.

“What’s in the Honu smoothie?” he asks, mentally kicking himself for asking such a stupid question when the menu just inches above her head clearly spells it out.

Alani hums, thinking back to the times she had made the smoothie herself. “Kiwis, spinach, mango, avocado, and a hint of lime,”

“I’ll take one of those,” Harry says, reaching for his wallet.

Alani punches in the order with trembling fingers and nods. “For here or to go?”

“To go,”

Disappointment fills her chest. Sure, she hadn’t planned on seeing him ever again, but the fact that she did felt like a sign. If she wanted to take the chance, she’d have to do it fast.

“Anything else?” she asks, weighing her options while he skims the menu.

“No thanks.”

Alani makes the smoothie quickly, head spinning. She had spent most of the night after their initial meeting planning out exactly the type of questions she hoped to ask him and what kind of article she would write. She was used to writing about what she knew—artists and music she’d admired for years— but she figured that starting fresh with someone she hardly knew would be a good challenge. Not to mention that it seemed like just the thing Rolling Stone would jump for. Alani finally works up the courage as she finishes his smoothie, but when she returns to hand it to him and hopefully strike up a conversation, his ear is pressed to his cell phone. She holds out the drink and he graciously accepts, giving her a small nod as a “thank you” and rushing out of the restaurant.

Two days later he returns and is seated at the counter, typing away on his phone. Alani feels both a rush of optimism and annoyance at the universe for dangling his presence so unexpectedly. She starts heading over to him, but Maleah cuts in.

“Trade me?” she proposes, eyes wide.

Alani blinks. “Oh, I would but I—”

“Please,” her best friend pouts. “I’m leaving to see my grandparents in stupid California for two months. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to see him again?”

Alani sighs, but gives in, reluctantly exchanging Harry for the family of four seated by the window. A strange feeling settles into the pit of his stomach when he sees that she heads in the opposite direction after a hushed conversation with another waitress. He doesn’t know why she traded him for a different customer, but he takes the hint.

A week goes by without another sighting of Harry and Alani has permanently taken on the role of greeting hostess in hopes of seeing him again. Her heartbeat temporarily speeds up when she sees a long haired customer approach the door, but her spirits quickly fall when the face doesn’t match his.

Another week brings another disappointing realization that Harry might be gone for good. One rainy morning when the restaurant is quiet and only two customers huddle together in a booth near the back, Alani hunches over the hostess podium and doodles on a stray receipt— a sunflower, a crescent moon, and two hearts. The bell above the door jingles but she doesn’t look up, too absorbed in her scribbles.

“Do you serve coffee?”

The familiar accented voice stops Alani’s pen dead in its tracks. She lifts her eyes first to confirm, and then straightens up when she sees that her ears haven’t deceived her.

“Yes,” she swallows.

“Great. I’ll take it to go,”

She slightly deflates, but Harry thinks he’s reading too much into it.

“Actually,” he corrects anyway, just in case he isn’t. “I think I’ll stay for a while,”

Alani flashes a warm smile and nods in the direction of the counter. “Right this way,”

Harry sheds his windbreaker onto the back of the seat, revealing a black and white Rolling Stones t-shirt that makes Alani’s blood pressure rise. A sign, she thinks.

“What do you want in your coffee?” she questions carefully.

“Nothing,” he responds, shaking out his damp hair gently. “Or actually, uh, butter...if you have some,”

Alani blinks, not sure if she’d heard correctly or if there had been some transatlantic miscommunication.

“Butter?”

“Yeah,”

“Like the—”

“Spread, yeah,” Harry confirms. “It’s weird, I know,”

She lets out a light-hearted laugh and nods. “It’s a...unique request,”

“I thought the same thing at first,” Harry confides. “It’s not bad, actually. But maybe I’ve just been in L.A. for too long.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

She offers a polite smile and heads to the kitchen where the cook and two other waiters talk amongst each other. Alani is grateful that the restaurant is slow this morning because she knows that it means minimal interruptions to her time with Harry. To ensure this, though, she asks one of the other waiters to cover the podium and returns to Harry with his coffee.

“One butter coffee, free of judgement,” the waitress announces, setting it down.

Harry grins softly, stirring the drink with the spoon Alani provided. “You can judge, it’s alright,”

“I just wanna know why,”

The coffee had been part of a fad diet while on tour in order to boost Harry’s energy on stage and stay trim for the hundreds of photo-ops he would be a part of. He doesn’t know how to communicate all of this to Alani, however, not sure how much she knows about that part of him, so he shrugs and tells a simplified version of the truth.

“I read about this trend a while back, it's called bulletproof coffee. Supposed to get your energy up and I needed it for my job,”

“Which is…” Alani trails off, downplaying the knowledge that she had acquired from Google.

“I make music,” is all Harry says and he takes a sip of the drink to avoid elaborating.

“Anything I would have heard?”

He swallows hard and listens to the faint rumbling of thunder outside before replying. “Possibly,”

“Try me,” Alani challenges.

He narrows his eyes and takes another sip of coffee. “Why don’t you tell me something about yourself first?”

“What do you wanna know?”

Everything, Harry responds internally, though he reigns it in. “How you got into waitressing,”

Alani sighs, resting her elbows on the counter across from him. “There’s not much to tell, it’s a family business. What I really wanna do is write,”

“Music?”

“Articles. I’m studying Journalism at UH,”

Harry hums in response, filing the detail away in the back of his mind. “Sounds interesting. You ever publish anything?”

“Not yet,” Alani shakes her head gently, toying with the sleeves of her green University of Hawaii crewneck. “Hopefully soon, though,”

Harry racks his brain for something else to say, but before he can, Alani speaks up again.

“Is it my turn to ask something now?”

He offers a curt nod and stirs his coffee.

“What kind of music do you write?”

Harry chooses to be vague again. “Different stuff. Pop, usually. Been messing with some classic rock, though,”

“Explains the shirt,”

He peers down at the design on his tee and agrees. “Yeah, I guess so,”

“Do you like it?” Alani asks, her eyes begging to make contact with his again. “Writing music, I mean,”

“Yeah,” Harry confirms, tapping his spoon against the rim of the mug. “I really do,”

Alani’s heart pounds. This is her chance, a moment to finally secure her breakthrough piece. She doesn’t know how to approach it, so she opts to dive right in without looking back. The worst he can say is no.

“Can I ask you something else?”

“That’s cheating,” Harry teases lightly. “It's my turn,”

She pouts playfully, but obliges. “Fire away,”

Harry doesn’t know which question to ask first, but when he glances down at the crescent moon inked on her wrist, he decides to start there.

“What’s with the moon tattoo?”

Alani isn’t sure what she expected him to ask and wonders what purpose such a detail could possibly serve him, but she answers anyway.

“Oh, well,” she begins, tracing her index finger over the outline. “It’s kinda the meaning of my full name. It’s Mahealani, Hawaiian for ‘heavenly moon,'”

Fitting, Harry comments to himself. Every detail he learns about her makes him want to learn that much more, from her favorite foods to the last thing she thinks about before falling asleep. Studying her expectant eyes, he suddenly remembers that it’s his turn to respond.

“That’s cool,” is all he says.

Alani doesn’t know what to make of the faraway look in his eye, but she decides to pose her most burning question while he appears to be in good spirits.

“I know this is gonna sound totally out of the blue,” she starts, working past the lump in her throat. “But when you mentioned how you write music, I was just reminded of this assignment I’m working on in my class,”

Harry waits for her to continue, nursing his now lukewarm coffee.

“I’m supposed to write a piece about someone who I don’t know that well,” she continues. “You know, to practice our interviewing skills. And, well, I was just kind of wondering if you might be interested in helping me out—being the subject, I mean,”

Alani had every intention of telling Harry the truth, about how she really planned to submit the article to Rolling Stone in hopes of securing an internship before her college graduation next Spring. But as she started speaking, she quickly realized how it would come off: a complete stranger asking for personal information to submit to a well-known publication. She knew that there was a chance he would shut down and never return, so she lowered the stakes and hoped that this route would be less risky. Was it ethical? Alani hadn’t decided yet, but she would work out the details later. After six failed articles and two years of rejection, she saw a ray of hope and wasn’t going to let it slip away.

Harry ponders her offer for a moment, which confirms that she had recognized him. Normally he would be off-put by such a request, and to a certain extent he is, but there is something sincere in her voice that he trusts deep down. Before he agrees, however, he decides to fish around a bit to test her reaction.

“You know who I am,” he says gently. “Don’t you?”

Alani’s heart drops into the pit of her stomach, not sure what to say next. She hopes with every fiber of her being that she hasn’t upset him, or worse, ruined her chances, so she decides to offer some truth to throw him off her scent.

“My sister recognized you,” she explains. “That day you came in with your friends. I thought they were your bandmates at first,”

This lets Harry know that she isn’t a total stalker, which is comforting, but he wouldn’t have been minded if she were a fan simply engaging in conversation.

“Oh,” he laughs weakly.

“I totally understand if you say no,” Alani offers quickly, trying to smooth things over. “I just thought it was worth a shot. And that it might be more interesting than interviewing our produce guy,”

Harry decides to give her one last scan for any sign of insincerity. He’d always felt that his gut instinct was strong and it hadn’t led him astray thus far.

“An interview?” he clarifies.

“Just one,” Alani promises. “An hour, tops. And you can proofread all of it once I’ve finished, too.”

Harry waits a beat, already knowing his reply, but he wants to see how she will react to his silence. She doesn’t budge, almond eyes set and determined.

“Okay.”

next chapter

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles x oc #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #ybmh #she's here she's here she's here!!!!!

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rosecorcoranwrites · 5 years ago

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Heroes and Villains are Not the Same

That's right, I hold the controversial opinion that heroes and villains are, in fact, not the same thing. Crazy, I know, but I stand by it. Let's step back a bit. Recently, I've come across a few writers and commentators saying something along the lines of "who the hero or villain is depends on who's telling the story". This sounds provocative, I guess, but it disregards a lot of standard terminology surrounding storytelling

Let’s talk about four types of character.

First, you have your protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist, obviously, is the main character. The antagonist is the character who works against the main character. Wikipedia puts it rather eloquently: "The protagonist is at the center of the story, makes the key decisions, and experiences the consequences of those decisions. The protagonist is the primary agent propelling the story forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles," while "an antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist".

It is true that who the protagonist and the antagonist are depends on who’s telling the story. If Les Miserables were from Javert's perspective, then Valjean and all the revolutionaries would be antagonists. If there were a book series starring Draco Malfoy and his two cronies, then Harry, Ron, and Hermione would be the antagonists. And, yes, in these two instances, I think you could call Javert and Draco heroes; the first has a classic Greek heroic flaw, while the second goes through a long redemption arc.

Let's look at another example. If L were telling the story of Death Note, he would be the protagonist. And yes, the hero. Unlike in the other examples, he already was the hero. If you're unfamiliar with Death Note, it features a high school student, Light Yagami, who obtains the book of a Grim Reaper. If you write the name of an individual in that notebook, that person will die. Light, deciding to rid the world of horrible criminals, goes to town with it. But lest the audience see him as some tragic hero who goes down a dark path, it's made clear early on that he has a god complex—assuming the name "Kira"/"Killer"—and is willing to murder anyone who gets in his way, including the famous detective, L, who has been brought on to catch Kira. L is the antagonist to Light's protagonist, specifically, his villain protagonist.

That's why the idea that the villain and the hero are just the same thing from different perspectives is so confusing to me. We have villain protagonists. That is the other perspective. Though I feel like the insistence on heroes and villains being the same stems from our relativist culture, I think it also comes from a misunderstanding of what "hero" and "villain" mean.

A hero is a character who, generally speaking, struggles with some flaw or conflict. Their main arc deals with either overcoming this conflict or eventually capitulating to it. Greek tragedies are built around a "heroic flaw" that undoes the hero no matter how much they struggle against it. Modern superhero stories do the opposite, where the hero fights against internal vices or external foes, eventually winning the day, proving that virtue wins out over vice.

And that is the important thing about heroes: virtue. Whether or not a hero follows the path of virtue to its conclusion or ends up failing and falling off it at the end, they are at least seeking it. They are trying to be good. This is why you can essentially say that a hero is the Good Guy. The Good Guy might fail at the end, but that doesn't mean he wasn't trying his hardest until that point.

What makes a hero different from a villain? Well, obviously, the villain is the Bad Guy. No, really. A villain is "a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot", “a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot". While a hero concerns himself with trying to lead a virtuous life, even if they fail, the villain doesn't. Maybe they actively pursue selfish and evil ends. Maybe they just don't care. Maybe they do think they're the hero (a popular idea in writing circles that will get its own blog post later), but are willing to do evil actions to achieve those good ends. The point is, while the hero pursues the good, a villain pursues evil.

So, with these as our criteria, let's look at a recent example: the 2019 film, Joker. Is this protagonist a hero or a villain?

I'll go ahead and say spoilers, but I actually don't think spoilers matter for this movie. I watched about two dozen reviews of the film before seeing it myself—to see if it would be too intense for me—so I knew every plot point going in. It was still amazing! The way those plot points were presented made them intriguing and fresh. Nevertheless, if you want no spoilers, I would bow out now.

Joker is the story of a man beaten down by society and circumstance. Arthur Fleck, as he is named at the beginning of the story, is a mentally ill man working a low-paying job at a clown-for-hire agency. His life is pretty awful: he gets beat up by teenagers, his coworkers don't respect him and even fear him due to his illness, he lives in a somewhat shabby apartment with his elderly mother, his therapist doesn't listen to him, and so on. All this pressure and anxiety finally come to a head when three jerk businessmen on a subway start assaulting Arthur while he is still in his clown costume. He shoots two of them in self-defense, then runs down the final one and shoots him in the heat of the moment.

Due to the swirling unrest in the city—there's a garbage strike going on, the social service budget has been cut, businesses are closing down, and so on—this nameless clown striking out against three rich men starts a movement. The unhappy masses don clown masks. Then they start protesting. Then they start rioting. While all this is happening, Arthur soaks it in. Though he states that he’s not political and doesn't believe in anything, he clearly likes seeing people imitate his look. He likes seeing the story of the killings in the news.

Eventually, through several more dark turns in the plot, he learns that his mother has lied to him about who his father is (maybe? The story kind of suggests that maybe his birth certificate is forged? And there's the writing on the back of that photograph? I don't know...), and that she allowed him to be mercilessly abused as a child. He makes a speech here, about how he has never in his life been happy, but that he realizes his life is not a tragedy, but a comedy. Then he smothers his mother with a pillow.

This is truly the moment he throws away "Arthur Fleck" and becomes the Joker, underlined by him dyeing his hair green and donning an orange and purple three-piece suit. He kills again, on television nonetheless, then basks in the rioting and burning he has caused. He thinks it's funny. Now, we not only have Arthur Fleck turned into the iconic Joker, but we have the city turned from an admittedly grimy and unjust place into the mask-clad-murderer infested burning hell hole that is the Gotham we know.

So, is the Joker a hero or a villain? Does it matter how you look at it?

One of the reasons this movie was so popular—aside from being about the most famous comic book villain ever—was that different sides could see what they wanted in it. Those in favor of movements like Antifa could point out the economic injustice that led to the riots; the movie makes no attempt to hide how unjust the society in Gotham is. People who see such movements as dangerous can say that, even if there were reasons for the protesting, at the end of the movie innocent people were murdered and the city is literally on fire, which the film also presents as a pretty bad thing. Maybe if Arthur was helped to get proper medication and counseling, he wouldn't have felt so hopeless, and thus wouldn't have become the Joker. True. Maybe if Thomas Wayne or child protective services had stepped in—since they both apparently knew Arthur was being abused as a child—and removed him from his mother, his life would have had a totally different trajectory. Yep.

No matter what particular political message you want to take from it, the fact is that Joker, the movie, is about the failure of society to address wrongs and about the chaos that comes when no one does anything about it. Remember, at this time in Gotham, there is no masked vigilante looking out for the little guy. Not yet, at least.

It's also a movie about one of the most iconic villains ever. The fact is, Arthur does not care about starting a movement. He likes that he did, because at least people are noticing him, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care that people are rioting and that the city is on fire, but he likes that the rioters look up to him. He doesn't care that he killed three businessmen on a train, or smothered his mother, or hacked up a colleague and got covered in the guy's blood, or that he shot a talk show host on live TV, or murdered his doctor at the end of the movie, because he liked doing it.

Yes, he does have a motive beyond that: revenge, for being lied to, or made to take the fall, or for being made fun of. As he says: What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a system that treats him like garbage? You get what you deserve. He has a point, and he's bitter, but he also really likes killing people. Throughout the movie, he laughs uncontrollably at inappropriate times— almost always when he is nervous or uncomfortable with the situation. But what does he do after he kills? He dances. Because he likes it. He may not be happy, but he still thinks he's in a comedy.

And that is why we can say that he is not the hero of his own story nor the hero of a Batman movie where it's told from the Joker's perspective. Because as sad as Arthur Fleck's story is, he's never trying to be virtuous, he's just trying to get by. In the end, the way he chooses to get by is through murder. It's tragic, but, as he himself says, it's not a tragedy. He's not a tragic hero. He's a comic villain. The only thing that depends on who’s telling the story is whether or not you get the joke.

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claimingtheflame · 4 years ago

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Lincoln Trail Mental Health Facility Part 1

Once again I want to reiterate that a lot of these posts are diaries I wrote never finished. Some of them jump around in my life. The story is about something that took place several years after D left

I remember the moment I turned in the paper. It was nothing. The last question asked my thoughts on the final death of Juliet. I sympathize. To this day I do. Many people probably do. She ended her life because she was in the grip of a mythic tragedy. Who could walk away from such a fate?

Except. Even though this is exactly how I felt, my teenage brain did not yet have the skills to articulate this. I ended up writing something like "I feel what juliet did was right. The world is ugly and filthy and who wants to live in it without someone you love." Because I was an edgy goth kid.

This would send me into the clutches of my own sort of tragedy. A brutal, destructive storm began churning that friday that would completely knock me out of my stupid unlaced combat boots on monday.

It happened like this. I walked into first period, Biology. I sat next to Adam, my closest friend. A knock came shortly after the period started and it turned out to be a senior girl who wanted me to be escorted to Mrs Mudds office. I did not know who that was. It turned out she was a counselor. She had coppery hair and a long, perky, somewhat simian face.

In this story, there is a long list of incompetant people who should not have had their jobs, and possibly should have been in prison. Mrs Mudd is not one of them. As much as I dislike her to this day. Maybe she did really mean well. Maybe she was just swept away by the drama of the whole situation. This is Elizabethtown KY after all.

We talked for a few hours. Looking back, I really don't think I said anything to her that should have been construed that I was depressed or suicidal. We talked about a secret place I visited in the woods behind my neighborhood. We talked about various religious beliefs and about music I listened to. Either way, my mom picked me up from school and I was somewhat excited for the break-in monotony.

We have drove to Lincoln Trail Behavioral Health Center , and I really didn't know what was happening. I had friends who had gone, but I didn't really believe that's why we were there until I saw the look on my mom's face as we walked in. There was a serious feeling of betrayal then. Like God woman haven't you put me through enough. This was an unfair thought. My mother is the second person blameless in the story. I would find out later that basically everybody from my school was telling her I was planning on killing myself quite literally. Mrs. Mudd had apparently told them that the place in the woods was my planned spot to die. I had self-harmed in the past. It was all pleasure related though and I thought it had nothing to do with my mental health. Either way it had been months prior to this, but it added to the Snowball Effect.

I'll admit that I didn't really understand my own mental health at this age. I had just been released from D's clutches only a few precious years earlier. I had no clue what was going on. I was going through a suspended childhood in many ways. All that said, Lincoln Trail Behavioral Health System did not help or address any my mental health issues. Let me reiterate. Aside from some experimental self harm 6 months prior(I received counseling, was evauted, etc), at age 15 I was pretty well behaved. I rarely got in trouble. I certainly never acted disturbed. Lincoln helped nobody who actually went there. In fact I barely escaped with my life and sanity. This is not a dramatic statement. This was a terrible place, as you will learn.

I was obviously scared the moment I walked into this place, all the stories I heard. We were buzzed through a security door after a few accusatory last looks at my mother when I went in quietly. I heard if you resisted or yelled that they gave you a shot in your ass of some kind of sedative. I did not want to give anybody the satisfaction roughing up the goth kid and shooting them in the ass. This was a short-lived Triumph. I would learn quickly that this place was not for me and that there was some horrible mistake pretty early on . I was led to a room and told to take off my clothes down to my underwear. I was told to turn around in front of this guy, who nodded with approval after watching and told me to put back on my clothes. I was wearing really baggy SpongeBob boxers. I guess I could have gotten away with hiding something into the facility. That's the thing. I wasn't a f****** delinquent. Not yet or not anymore depending on how you look at the chronology of things I did as a teenager. Anyway I do remember a kind moment here. The guard escorted me down a hallway and a girl smiled at me brightly. "It's really not that bad here." She said. I smiled and shrugged. This was more of a kind gesture than I realized, I would find this out later.

I was then led to the office of the first real fuckup in this story. This would be my counselor. I don't remember her name. She was somewhat nice to begin with. I'll call her mrs. Wannabe because later she would read a bunch of poems about her Native American ancestry. This extremely blond, blue-eyed woman with a square German face and freckles. Me and Wannabe would talk for about 30 minutes and she would send me on to my actual psychiatrist. I do remember this man's name. I will never forget it. His name was dr. Kodali. We can call him King fuckup. Fuckup prime.

He was a small man, with a small mustache, and skin the color between a beet and a russet potato. He spoke in broken English. He asked me why I thought I was there. I told him about the paper I wrote. He smiled and said " yes we all say things we don't mean. " he asked me if I follow the rules at home. I said yes as long as they are within reason. He laughed at me and said " my own daughter thinks several of my rules are not within reason. Children come to learn to obey. " we did not talk about depression, and this statement would turn out to be significant in many ways. It would come to outline the failure of this institution to children who actually suffered depression. Which I will admit that back then I might have been suffering from. Certainly anxiety. But who doesnt, to some degree?

Let us frame our Shit Pit King with what I didnt know about him before I explain my own experiences. He received kickbacks for pushing certain medicines. This is an important detail. He had been accused on several occasions of over-prescribing meds. He was widely hated as a doctor, and I can't believe he still has a job.

During my first visit, he was mostly dismissive. Interrupted me and laughed at me often. He was mostly interested in my behavior. If I acted up. If I respected authority. Literally nothing about suicide was discussed. So why did this guy prescribe meds at the end of our conversation? He picked up the phone, called my mother, and gave her the dosage information. I narrowly escaped this medicine, whatever it was, due to a surprising hero figure in the story who we will discuss later.

He dismissed me and I was sent to "group" for the first time. This is nothing like "support groups" you see in Lifetime movies. It was a huge room, an obnoxious amount of desk chairs crammed in a circle. Boys on one side. Girls on the other.

I immediately dislike this. It feels tense, and I feel scrutinized. I try to ask a girl near me if I can use one of her pencils. She folds her arms and rolls her eyes. " I can't talk to him." She says to the ceiling. This gets the attention of the counselor of the group, who is actually just an early 20-somethings aide of some kind, there are a few of these. This one I call Nick neckbeard. He says " we are here to work on our problems, not to date. " I am immediately embarrassed. I definitely wasn't trying to date anybody. I let it go but it does set the tone.

Since I am the new kid, a round of introductions is done. Not a lot of these people are notable other than the fact that a lot of them are in here for drugs. Some are in here as an in-between stage between Juvenile Detention and Society. I get the distinct feeling that most of the boys are here for drugs and violent crime. I reflect bitterly that I am in here for writing a stupid paper.

There are several thug wannabe types, maybe two or three other white guys that aren't like that. One obvious skinhead as well. It's split in half racially. Five white Boys & 5 black. There was a round of introductions. Most were there for, as mentioned, substance abuse and violent behavior. The skinhead boasted of being in because he stuck foreign objects in his body. He stabbed himself with pens and various utensils. Another boy was in for desecrating graves. The girls were almost exclusively substance abuse. There was one Arab girl that was in there, and though she talked much I never quite understood why except that I knew she definitely needed to be in there. She either talked incessantly of sex or repeatedly told this story about a "bad doll" that lived in her house- all in broken english.

So this was the introduction to the place. Honestly yes, I would have problems with the other patients. That's really out of the scope of the story though. They are mental patients. What do you expect?

The true problem with Lincoln trail was its staff and overall structure. Such a problem was this structure that it would break me down to that kernel of a child you see on all the other stories on this blog. Such that Lincoln trail would reduce me again to that boy child whispering a question to the darkness: "Why am I being punished?" It would make me know, through recognition and reinforcement of abusive themes I was already familiar with, that I was not in a safe place.

The first night I felt this first blow through humiliation and guilt. It was a simple thing really. We were sent to bed. A corridor with a small basket on the outside of each door. A female counselor was pointing each of us down the hall to our rooms. When my time came, she pointed vaguely down the hall to the right side. I tried to ask for clarification and she shouted "Right there!" And my immediate reaction to being chastised like this was to go to one of the rooms with my belongings. She did not stop me.

I noticed one of the wooden bed frames(they were double rooms with single bathrooms) had no mattress. My roommate was a boy my age. He had close-buzzed haircut. He seemed politely surprised. I shrugged and got in the shower. When I turned the water off, I heard yelling on the other side of the door.

The boy was yelling angrily that he did not know who I was and that he had nothing to do with me. He was explaining that I came into his room unbidden and to no fault of his own. I dressed quickly and came out of the bathroom as soon as possible. A middle-aged blond woman grabs me by the arm and began leading me out of the room. When I asked her where we were going she did not say anything but tightened her grip and sat me down in a chair. This woman becomes important later. Five minutes later Dr kodali came into the office with my other counselor, both looking at me sternly.

I apologize for not knowing the exact words of the conversation. Basically the boy was supposed to have his room to his self. He was gay and had been known to have had sexual contact with other patients. They grilled me hard about whether or not I was gay and deciding whether I should be disciplined. Dr kodali somehow remembers that that my girlfriend had given testimony(positively) over my mental health and he seemed to leave it at that. The blonde lady didnt seem convinced.

When she led me back to my(actual) room, she took the liberty of going through my clothes and belongings. She confiscated basically all of my clothing, saying that it would distract patients(black jeans and tees...none of my flashier stuff). She confiscated my copy of Cannery Row, all my homework, and my shampoo. She really let off on me while doing this. Talking about how sneaky I was and if I was planning anything with Chester(the gay guy) that she would know.

This was Day 1. I would kneel beside the bed that night and pray(I just prayed to 'the goddess' back then), just to feel peace inside. I was so put-upon about the stupid clothes. They were my armor, in a way.

The next day would be a lot worse. I'd learn a lot.

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thebiblesalesman · 6 years ago

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Storm Rising Plot Threads

I wanted to write about Mercy but I needed to clear my head of all this stuff first. These are plotlines and characters that Storm Rising either intersected or introduced for the first time.

1) Reinhardt’s Retirement

Although Reinhardt’s hero profile always implied that his retirement was due to his age, his character comic Dragonslayer centers on him suffering from hallucinations, what Brigitte calls an “active imagination”. That concept was echoed by Chris Metzen in the 2014 Overwatch Unveiled panel, where he indicated Reinhardt “is not always together there after all these years”.

Storm Rising does not describe what Reinhardt did to earn his mandatory retirement, but Reinhardt’s end with Overwatch has been mentioned more frequently since the release of Brigitte. Brigitte has an interaction with Pharah where she says she had no interest in joining Overwatch after how they treated Reinhardt. Storm Rising has an interaction between Tracer and Mercy about how badly Reinhardt has taken everything.

Bastet mentions a mission in Prague that went awry because Commander Morrison thought Reinhardt could be stealthy, but I don’t think it was “the” mission that led to the forced retirement because it involved Jack and Ana personally rather than the Strike Team.

2) Dr. Chao and the Space Station

Presumably Dr. Chao is the current head of Lucheng Interstellar and began work on a new space station 6 years ago. A headline on the Lijiang Tower map indicates that in the present day the Lucheng Interstellar Space Station “Journey” has suffered an emergency failure.

Lucheng does not have very good luck with its space projects. This interaction also tells us Dr. Chao probably suffers some physical detriment after her time on the Moon. That’s a fair amount of detail for a random person who has never been mentioned before. Surely not important in any way!

3) Blackwatch - Out of Action (But Not Really)

There are two mentions of Blackwatch in Storm Rising and they at first appear contradictory. It’s not clear if Blackwatch is still under suspension or not. It is possible that they are continuing to operate without official sanction, ala Retribution and Uprising. There are also multiple interactions regarding Commander Morrison being under pressure to disband the Strike Team (this might have stemmed from the incident with Reinhardt) and the possible reassignment of Overwatch, so it’s safe to say the entire organization is under threat at this time.

Storm Rising is also the culmination of gray area events started when Morrison first allowed Blackwatch Commander Reyes to undertake Retribution without official sanction. During Uprising, Morrison finds out that Reyes is still utilizing Blackwatch agents without official sanction and while under suspension. Storm Rising is the first mission during which Morrison and Reyes are arguing about the fate of Overwatch, but notably the Overwatch Strike Team is still happy to use Blackwatch intel.

4) Humanitarian Crisis in Egypt

The Bastet short story was the most recent touch on the issues in Egypt, but they have been previously mentioned in Mission Statement, Are You With Us, and Uprising.

Let’s recap our Egypt timeline real quick:

2066: Overwatch intervenes in Cairo, Egypt and shuts down the Anubis Project, quarantining the A.I. This intervention ultimately decimates Egypt’s population, suggesting Anubis’s original purpose was infrastructure-related.

2069: Mercy mentions the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Egypt. At the same time, Director Petras orders an investigation into an incident in Cairo (it’s not exactly clear what the incident is, but directly above the headline about the investigation there are some Widowmaker scope views and another headline that says “Overwatch official murdered”).

2070 - Storm Rising: Overwatch requests a medical assessment from Mercy on the Egyptian crisis.

2070 - Doomfist Origin Story: The Strike Team, minus Mercy, deploys to capture Doomfist in Singapore.

It seems likely that Mercy was deployed to Egypt while the rest of the Strike Team went to Singapore. This may also explain why Mercy survived the destruction of the Overwatch HQ in Switzerland. When Mercy appears in Recall years later, her location is near Egypt in the Middle East. Ana notes Mercy’s proximity in Bastet, and if the follow-up animation Bastet Rises is to be believed, Ana ultimately brings Soldier 76 to Mercy.

Where does this put us in terms of future story? I’m not sure. Maybe the dialogue in Storm Rising was just ensuring all the Egypt threads are connected, but why develop it at all if there is no payoff? There is one other point about Egypt that’s notable: it’s the location of the meeting between Doomfist and the Mystery Omnic in Storm Rising.

5) Mystery Omnic

I already wrote a whole post about this guy so I’ll just link that - https://thebiblesalesman.tumblr.com/post/184262814469/3-popular-storm-rising-mystery-omnic-mo-theories

I would be surprised if MO turned out to be something other than a Null Sector operative, though him meeting Doomfist in Egypt with all the emphasis on Egypt in other recent media is making me shake in my boots a little...

6) Sojourn

Sojourn is a veteran Overwatch official with the rank of Captain. She has an extensively modified cyborg body. Michael Chu cited her as existing in a historical photo where only her arms appear mechanical, but additional modification happened between then and the time of Storm Rising (McCree, Mercy, and Pharah are all in the photo as well, so the additional mods must have taken place in the latter part of Overwatch’s history). Sojourn is the one who had the idea to target Maximilien in the first place. While we know quite a bit about her personality from various mission interactions, we don’t know much about her history at this point. She appears on one of the agent IDs in Recall.

7) Maximilien

The Storm Rising teaser sees Sojourn refer to Maximilien as “Doomfist’s accountant”. In Retribution, Commander Reyes could barely think of Maximilien’s name when asked about known Talon operatives. In Masquerade Max told Doomfist “we have history”, so it may be that he was literally Doomfist’s personal accountant before entering Talon. Doomfist is the heir to a prosthetic technologies company, so he does have finances to manage (I wonder if his company provided parts or technical guidance for any of Overwatch’s cyborgs?).

Maximilien sold out his boss at the end of Storm Rising, leading to Doomfist being jailed and his plans being put on hold for 6 years. When the two of them meet again in Masquerade, Doomfist notes he doesn’t trust anyone, but Maximilien’s betrayal isn’t specifically addressed. A few pages of Masquerade are dedicated to rooting out Talon members who have strayed from Doomfist’s ideals, but Maximilien is left with a spot at the table.

One of Doomfist’s targets is Vialli, who became obsessed with profit over the organization’s larger goals. In Storm Rising Maximilien certainly seems like the same archetype as Vialli- even the Strike Team members note his “expensive tastes”. But apparently money is not the only thing on his mind. Maximilien notes in the comic that he respects Doomfist as “a man with vision”. What he hopes to gain out of Doomfist’s human-omnic war still isn’t particularly clear.

It would be very poor of me to go through Maximilien’s section and not mention again that he has Twelfth Night fanfiction (or maybe it’s a chat roleplay?) on his computer in Don Rumbotico. It’s still there in the modern Havana map, so feel free to go ogle if you wish.

#overwatch #stormrising #sojourn #maximilien #myrestxt

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bts-fantasy · 6 years ago

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Danger

previous -- next

Taekook AU

This town is not big enough for two gangs. Jungkook doesn’t even know who V is but one thing for sure: he wants him dead. But little does he know what he‘s gotten himself into...

Chapter Eight

The wine tasted sweet on Jimin‘s lips as he downed his third glass that evening. He closed his eyes and smiled at the peaceful silence surrounding him. Yoongi had always been a quiet company, he listens and observes and is not someone to share a lot about himself. Jimin had immediately felt comfortable around him from the moment they started hanging out.

They ate the takeaway Yoongi had bought, in his small living room and were now quietly sitting across from each other drinking one glass after another.

„You look good when you smile.“ Yoongi suddenly broke the silence. Jimin opened his eyes to find the elder staring right at him. „I should smile more often then.“ Jimin sighed and looked away before Yoongi could stare directly into his soul and read his mind. Jimin couldn‘t really remember the last time he was genuinely happy without any worries or doubts. „There‘s always a reason to smile...“ Jimin wanted to argue but the moment he looked at Yoongi, he knew he was right. He had his eyes closed and was humming an unfamiliar melody to himself with a wineglass in his right hand.

The small voice inside of Jimin was telling him to stop. He should stop staring at him like that, he should stop drinking, he should stop smiling like an idiot and most definitely he should stop doing what he was about to do. But the voice faded into nothing with another sip of the red liquid and Jimin leaned over the small dining table to put his lips on Yoongi‘s.

Suddenly everything went super fast. The humming stopped, the wineglass shattered next to them, Yoongi opened his eyes widely to stare at Jimin who was too shocked to even breathe. „Why did you kiss me?“ Jimin was brought back to reality by Yoongi‘s calm but angry voice. There was something in his eyes that terrified Jimin to the core. „I- I... I‘m sorry!“ He moved away from Yoongi and looked around the living room frantically as if he could find the answer written somewhere on the walls. „I think it‘s better if you leave“, he said with a stern voice which made Jimin shiver from his head to his feet. He nodded weakly and ran out of the house as fast as he could leaving Yoongi behind without another word.

Jungkook had it all planned. He was sitting at his desk in his office with documents scattered all over it, trying to gather information for his client about, well, himself. After all, he had to pretend to be an actual investigator and if he didn‘t deliver something to V he would get suspicious rather quickly. Judging from his first meeting with him he knew V wasn‘t one to joke around but Jungkook didn‘t think of giving him any important information about himself. That‘s why he spent the evening at his office trying to find something he could deliver.

He messaged V to let him know that he was ready to meet up. The reply came an hour later telling him to meet him at the bar outside of town. Jungkook was about to leave his house when he saw Hoseok sleeping tightly in one of the guest rooms. He had allowed him to stay with him for a while until he had found a new place. But the story about how exactly he ended up here still remained a mystery to everyone but Jungkook respected that completely.

Half an hour later he was surrounded by loud music and people in a bar trying to locate V. After what felt like an eternity he found him sitting in the VIP corner with some guys. Jungkook recognized one of them as his bodyguard from last time. V‘s eyes were scanning the room with a stern expression on his face. Suddenly his eyes fell on Jungkook and had him rooted on his spot. There was a tingling feeling all over Jungkook‘s body but he didn‘t break eye contact even once. Jungkook‘s eyes traced down the young man, his dark brown hair styled perfectly to a mullet, his big brown eyes fixed on Jungkook and his lips pressed to a thin line. A short nod addressed Jungkook to come closer so he crossed the room and made his way up to the VIP lounge. Standing tall in front of V he could feel the power he held but didn‘t feel threatened at all. „I have something for you“, Jungkook shouted to be heard over the music. V raised his eyebrows and looked at his bodyguard. „Sehun, I think I can handle this on my own.“ He stood up and told Jungkook to follow him ignoring the protest of his bodyguard.

He led them to a separate room with only a table and some chairs. V sat across Jungkook folding his hands and looking expectantly at Jungkook. „Let‘s see what you got here...“

Jungkook sighed leaning forward to look directly into V‘s dark eyes. „I couldn‘t find out that much but did you ever wonder about how exactly Jungkook landed on the streets?“

Even though Jungkook didn‘t like the idea of sharing his story with a stranger and especially not with him he decided that it was the only safe thing to tell without having to fear any consequences. „I guess I‘ll find out soon.“ V‘s deep voice interrupted his thoughts and he nodded.

Jungkook inhaled deeply still ringing with himself if he should just quit but with a feeling of uncertainty he began talking. „So...“

Flashback

It was dark and dusty under his bed and Jungkook was hoping it would swallow him completely so he wouldn‘t have to be there anymore. He could still hear the loud noises downstairs even though he had both of his hands pressed against his ears. He knew he should be used to it by now but the panic he felt only got worse as time passed. The worst thing was they had completely forgotten about their 15-year-old son. The didn’t notice how bad his grades were getting, how he started hanging out with some shady people he met on the street the other day and they didn’t notice how late he’d been coming home late. There was only one explanation: they didn‘t care, at all.

Suddenly the noises stopped and the whole house got eerily quiet. Jungkook removed his hands to listen if his parents were still there. He slowly crawled out from under his bed and moved towards the staircase. Still no sound. Just when he was about to enter the kitchen he heard his mom’s annoyed voice.

„Where is that failure of a son we have?“ Then he could hear his dad answer in an equally pissed tone. „If I‘d known he‘d turn out to be this much of a headache I wouldn‘t have agreed to adopt him in the first place.“ Jungkook stopped dead in his tracks eyes wide open waiting for them to say something else. Anything to let him know that they were joking and that they still loved him as their son. But they only started to argue about whose fault it was to have adopted him. Jungkook couldn‘t hear them anymore. He slowly backed away almost tripping over his own feet his mind still spinning around the words he had just heard.

„They are not my parents. They don’t want me.“ He kept repeating the words over and over again. Jungkook ran upstairs threw everything he needed into a sports bag and grabbed his piggy bank with the money he had saved for years. He didn‘t know where exactly he would go but he knew he had to disappear for good. He looked around his room one last time trying to fight back the tears. Quietly he made his way downstairs walking past the kitchen to the front door, his parents still too busy screaming at each other to notice anything. He closed the door behind him and ran away into the night...

Once he finished explaining the story in a few sentences he waited for a reaction from V. But he was still sitting there with his hands folded in his lap and the same cold expression he always had. Jungkook wondered if there was anything that could make V let his guard down even for a split second. „Good job, Kook. But how did you get this information? I‘ve been trying for so long to find something useful.“ Jungkook leaned back with a smug expression on his face. „That‘s professional secrecy. Sorry, but I can‘t tell you that.“ V smiled lightly at Jungkook who almost choked at the sight. It was the first time V showed he had emotions too like every other human being. „I‘d like to keep you around, you could be of great use for my team.“

MASTERLIST

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ourloveisforthelovely · 6 years ago

Text

Forbidden

A/n: So I am on a grand rewrite fest! I am redoing another OFC story and turning this into a reader insert. This is next part of my Animals series. The OFC series is called Things Forbidden. Both stories links are listed if you want to check those out. I recommend reading Animals so more stuff can make sense but you can read Forbidden and be okay. As far as original characters for this story, Zoe is the only one.

Summary: This is an alternate plot line for my Animals story. Luna is the daughter of Rosalie and a mortal man. After her mother’s death, Luna is taken in by Zoe and Cas. Growing up Luna was used to always being in danger and having to be careful. All of that gets thrown aside when a certain Trickster shows up in her life…

Words: 6, 179

Pairings: Gabriel x Reader

_____

Mistakes....that seemed to be the words that most adequately summed up Gabriel's life! He could only count on one hand the number of decisions that he made that turned out to be good. The main one, yawned in his arms before going back to sleep. Gabriel sighed, before looking down at you sleeping face with a smile. You were his one good accomplishment! However, at the same time one of his biggest failures for one of two reasons....First, you had no idea who he really was! From the time that the two of you had gotten together, you were under the impression that he was really Loki. Gabriel never mentioned that he was really an archangel to you. Second, you were the daughter of his ex lover, Rosalie.

Gabriel felt slightly guilty about not telling you the truth from the get go but he had his reasons. He didn't want to lose you. From moment one, he was hooked. If you knew that he was your mother's ex lover that would be a can of worms that he didn't want to face! The last thing that Gabriel wanted was for you to think that you were some make up for Rosalie? Also there was the fact that Gabriel had severed his bond with Rose because he didn't want a mate at that moment? That information probably wouldn't put him in high regard with you! How was he supposed to say that being a man whore was more appealing than settling down with an angel that actually wanted him? Again, DISASTER in the making! In Gabriel's mind, protecting you from the truth was better than letting you walk out.

The moment that Gabriel saw you, he was enchanted. For a moment a moment he thought that you were Rosalie standing before him in that abandoned shopping mall. However, the more that he looked at you it became apparent that you were someone else. It wasn't his Rose at all. Gabriel had mentally chided himself on calling Rosalie his. Part of him still loved Rosalie and he always would. No matter what anyone said, it was hard throwing away something that was meant to be.

Looking down at you, however, Gabriel knew there was something about you that made you perfect for him. There was feeling with you that he felt that he never felt with your mother. Now the greatest task was to keep you feeling the same way about him!

Gabriel sighed feeling frustrated. He knew that he should have told you the truth from day one but he didn't. Gabriel had dismissed it as keeping himself safe. Deep down, he was really doing it to keep himself safe from having something else to run from.

The abandoned shopping mall was the perfect place to lay low in. All it needed was a bit of sprucing up and it would be the perfect hideout! That last thing that Gabriel wanted was to have to go find a new place to make his own! If he ran into some trouble with you, he would again loose everything!

He looked down at you again before letting his mind go back to the first time that he met you....

Gabriel had been relaxing in his newest address. He had just come back from pranking some random person and was ready to kick back a bit. Hearing a faint crash a few stores down made Gabriel jump up. He had been used to faint pops and other noises in the abandoned building but this noise was new.

“Time to trick someone. Nosy bastard.”

Gabriel thought coldly . He was expecting some idiot who explored creepy buildings for YouTube videos that needed a little fear of god put into them! As he walked through the corridor the sound of footsteps stopped him. Gabriel slid behind a wall waiting to see what exactly h would be dealing with.

He frowned the moment a girl stepped in front of him. A girl alone in this place was odd. Gabriel tilted his head looking at said girl carefully. He couldn't see your face at this particular moment but the rest of you seemed nice. You didn't seem like one of those video making YouTube kids. Your long blond hair was draped over her shoulder as you looked around.

“What are you doing here?”

You spun around and Gabriel's mouth dropped. Your face....he knew that face! You looked as clearly shocked to see another person in that building as well.

“I should as you the same question.”

You replied in a calm voice. Gabriel titled his head.

“Rosalie?”

Gabriel knew you wasn't Rosalie and he wasn't quiet sure why her name left his lips. You meanwhile, frowned.

“That's my mother. How do you know her?”

Gabriel's mouth had fallen at that. He never expected that one!

“Uh...we've met before. Where is she?”

Gabriel quickly came back. You had begun to rub your left upper arm with your left hand while looking down.

“She's dead.

Gabriel felt his sense of hope plummet even faster. He didn't respond for a moment or two.

“I'm sorry.”

You gave him a sympathetic expression.

“She's been gone a long time. You're a trickster aren't you?”

Gabriel golden eyes went right back to you as he walked closer. With a smile, he began to circle you while breathing in your scent. That was a that he could get used to!

“So that makes you a nephilim? Tell me gumdrop, how did you come into being? What's your secret sugar? Better yet, what is your name? I want to know all about you.”

Gabriel liked the way that your breathing increased as he got closer. Flirting with the girl was wrong and Gabriel knew it. Did he care. No! Gabriel knew that he should have gone in another direction and let you be but he didn't. Those eyes of yours were entrancing him second by second.

“My name is Y/n. My mother had her grace torn out by an archangel named Michael. How I was born a nephilim with powers is still a mystery.

Gabriel had crossed his arms over his chest as he continued to pace. On the outside, he kept his cool flirtatious manor. However, on the inside he was screaming and mentally cursing his older brother.

“So do you have a name or is it just trickster?”

You asked, pulling the archangel from his thoughts. Gabriel had stopped walking and batted his eyes at you.

“Loki...just Loki.”

Gabriel's memory of their meeting was interrupted when you started to move in his arms. He sighed knowing it would be almost time for you to go back to your family. This whole keeping things hush/hush was becoming more difficult by the day! Watching you leave was becoming more of a chore and Gabriel was tired of being a good boy to appease you! When it came time for him to see you it was always the same routine. Gabriel would cast an illusion spell to make your family think that you were being a good girl and was asleep in your own bed. They had no dead that you were underneath an archangel having the time of your life. The last thing that they needed to know was just how ravaged you had been when you walked down the stairs the next morning.

“Wake up, sugar.”

Gabriel cooed pressing a kiss to your forehead. Your eyes fluttered open and right away you were annoyed.

“You let me fall asleep again!”

You whined. Falling asleep when you were with Loki was the last thing that you wanted to be doing! When you were together you wanted to be awake and enjoy every second.

Sitting up, you ran a hand through your messy sexed up hair. Looking over at your lover, Loki's eyes were locked on you with a satisfied smirk. You knew that he was satisfied. The knowledge of knowing what he did to you was always a plus. There was also the fact that he sent you home just the way he left you. This led to some awkward conversations with your family as to what was going on with your sleep cycles.

“Sorry sugar. You were so exhausted after I made you come for however many times I was. I couldn't help letting you go to sleep. Half angel or not you need to rest baby. We have plenty of time for me to have my way with you.”

You rolled your eyes before looking down at your phone.

“Its 8 am. I have to go home. Will you still come to meet my family tonight?”

Loki nodded, looking not at all enthused. After seeing you in secret for so many months he still knew next to nothing about your family. You had dubiously been taken care of since the time you were a child. It was never a conversation that had come up.

He did feel kind of shitty for never taking the time to ask about your childhood. It seemed as soon as the two of you got together it was always bed time.

The idea of meeting a girl's family didn't sound to fun. This put together another interesting question. What would they tell the family when his “true” identity came out?

If that's what you want sugar. I promise no tricks and I will be on my best behavior.”

You nodded with an approving smile.

“Its really important to e seeing as we have been getting a little more serious.”

Loki's golden eyes sparkled as he rolled them to the side. He situated himself on top of you pressing tender kisses to your collarbone before moving his way to your lips. You sighed happily against his mouth as he gave you candy flavored kisses.

“If that's what you want princess.”

You were satisfied. This is what you needed to hear! You knew well how Loki could be when he was annoyed or wasn't pleased with something someone was doing! Also there was the fact that explaining Loki to your family would be a task in itself. Explaining to Zoe, Cas, and Dean that you was dating a trickster would be a battle. You could already hear Dean yelling about how you were dating a demi god.

“You're dating things that we kill!”

Part of you knew that telling them you was in love and happy wouldn't be enough! Zoe would be freaking out in general! She was so protective that it was scary!”

“I want it more than anything.”

You said against Loki's lips before pressing another tender kiss to him. He looked at you with a satisfied smile.

“I'll come to you tonight then Better get you home before Aunty has a fit.”

You looked down sadly as he snapped his fingers leaving you sitting alone in your bedroom. Thank goodness this time he at least sent you home with clothes on. You took a deep breath before looking around your room. It was like this almost every morning. You would wake up nuzzled in Loki's arms, they would have a morning make out session, then he would send you home with eyes full of guilt.

A knock on the door pulled you from her thoughts.

“Honey bee are you awake?” Sam has go your breakfast down. I know you don't like your pancakes soggy. However, I do believe that Sam's cooking skills doesn't match his brother's.”

You chuckled hearing Cas on the other side of the door. You could see the look of parental pride that he got in his eyes every time he dealt with you. To you, Cas was Dad number one and Dean was Dad number 2. Zoe was your make up mom and Sam was your favorite uncle. All three took their roles seriously!

“I am Cas. I'll be out in a moment.”

You slowly got out of bed still smiling like Loki's cologne. Quickly you snapped your fingers hiding any trace of his scent as well as the soreness that had been radiating from your lower body. Zoe had a nose like a doberman and she would immediately smell him. You wanted to try to keep this meeting as civil as possible and showing up smelling like him wouldn't be a great way to start it.

Changing into fresh clothes, you quickly walked into the kitchen where Dean stood hugging Zoe. Both broke apart instantly when you walked in.

You shook your head at them.

“Don't worry about it. I've seen the three of you do it for years.”

You said with a satisfied smile as Dean blushed. You were quiet for a few moments as you considered your parents. Dean, Cas, and Zoe had been together long before you were born and were perfectly happy. If two angels and a human could be happy then you could be happy with Loki forever, right?

“Zoe, Dean, can I talk to you two and Cas?”

Dean nodded getting his coffee and coming to join you at the table as Cas went to stand by Zoe.

“What's up butter cup?”

Dean asked with a smile as you took a breath.

“I met someone....a guy and I'm going to bring him here to meet you all tonight.”

Cas tilted his head to the side and Dean about choked on his coffee.

“A guy? Where did you find him? How long has this been going on? Why haven't you told us?”

Dean grumbled, looking beyond annoyed. You groaned.

“Yes, a guy. I really like him too. I met him when I was checking out that abandoned mall a few months ago. I haven't told you because of this right here.”

Dean looked even more shocked.

“I'm already concerned if you met this joker in that mall.”

Zoe frowned.

“I'm a little annoyed that you have been hiding this from us, Y?n. You know how dangerous everything is.”

Cas meanwhile, was the one that stopped his partners in their tracks.

“Zoe, Dean, why don't we give this person a chance? He may be decent enough even though she met him in an abandoned shopping mall. We would love to meet him, honey bee. These two will be on their best behavior as well.”

Both Dean and Zoe exchanged less than pleased expressions as you stood. You turned and walked from the room with satisfied smile on your face. Cas really was a prince! You were glad that you weren't in the room for the conversation that was about to happen between the three.

Later that evening you stood in the kitchen waiting for Loki to show up. When Zoe and Dean walked into the room with Sam behind them, Dean froze looking at you. You knew exactly what Dean was doing. He was checking for anything to critique on your outfit. You stood looking at him in a form fitting black shirt, pink ballerina skirt, and matching black flats. The flames in Dean and Zoe's eyes were present.

“She looks too pretty. Go put some more clothes on!”

Dean snapped. It was Sam that stepped in this time.

“Jesus Dean. Her tits are covered and the skirt goes well to her knees. She even has her toes covered. Will you get over yourself!?”

You smiled, silently thanking Sam.”

At least you had Sam and Cas on your side! You understood Zoe's overprotective attitude of you. Zoe had been distraught when Rosalie had been killed. Its hard to go from having your best friend alive and well to having your best friend dead and raising her child as your own! There was also the fact that Zoe knew that you could be a little too innocent and naive for your own good.

Earlier that afternoon Zoe had come into your room while you sat playing your piano for a chat.

“I think we need to talk, Y/n.”

You stopped playing looking up at your aunt. Zoe had sat down watching your fingers that were still on the keys. You had been playing the piano since you had come to them. It was the only way that Dean, Cas, and Zoe found any success in getting you out of your traumatized state!

“Yes?”

You replied softly as Zoe began to talk.

“I wanted to apologize about earlier. I'm sorry that I got so upset. It's just since you came to us and your mother died...you've been everything to us. I look at you and see your mother. You're so much like her! You see good in people that no one else can see. I just want you to realize there are really bad things and people out there. If Michael hurt you, I would be crushed! I already feel guilty that I wasn't there to keep your mother safe when she needed me. If something happened to you....I would let her down even more.”

You smiled squeezing Zoe's hand.

“I understand Zoe. I know that kind of danger that I am in but I don't think he is one of those people. I just want you to trust me here. He is a good man.”

A knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts. With a smile you quickly peaked into the living room where Dean and Zoe were standing up like storm troopers from Star Wars. Cas was still casually sitting. You gave him a smile before walking up the steps to the door of the bunker.

You smiled seeing Loki on the other side.

“Hello sugar. You look beyond stunning.”

He glanced over your shoulder making sure no one was standing on the other side before pulling you outside. Once the door was shut, he pushed you against the door and crammed his lips to yours. He kissed you hungrily as though it had been months since the two of you had seen one and other.

“The things I do for you, kid.”

He growled against your lips. You reached up twirling his golden curls around your finger. The knowledge of your family waiting to meet your new lover was what made you pull away.

“We can continue this later, I promise.”

Loki sighed, giving you sad puppy dog eyes.

“We better, I deserve some loving after this!”

You reached down interlocking your hands together. Taking a deep breath, you led him down the stairs. Instead of a happy and supportive family, they all looked shocked and horrified. Tilting you head to the side, you looked back at Loki. He hadn't moved and was mirroring the same expression.

It was Zoe who spoke. Her vivid green eyes looked at your and Loki's hands before she couldn't handle it anymore!

“Aw hell no! Christ on a cracker you gotta be shitting me?”

Loki's voice as eerily calm coming from behind you.

“Nice to see you too, Zoe.”

Zoe's frown hardened.

“Not nice to see you, Gabriel.”

You turned looking at Loki. His face was pale and eyes were wide as he looked between Zoe and yourself. Zoe looked beyond disgusted.

“You haven't told her the truth?! You lying angelic asshole! You have lied to my niece to get her to love you!”

You watched as his golden eyes looked coldly at Zoe and for a moment you were afraid that he was going to attack her! As quickly as possible you moved to stand between them.

“Okay, what is going on here?”

You asked. It was in the moment that Gabriel wished that you would have yelled. The look of confusion and disappointment on your face was something that he couldn't handle! For some reason, he had lost the ability to speak as well. Every time he would think of something legitimately good to say it immediately sounded idiotic! Zoe meanwhile, could talk just fine!

“Y/n, you aren't with some trickster. This is the archangel Gabriel, who apparently hasn't grown up one bit!”

You put your hands over your mouth as Zoe glared between the two of you.

“Yes sweetie, that Gabriel.”

Sam, who had came into the room looked slightly confused himself.

“Zoe, I think you should let them talk.”

Zoe shook her head as did Dean.

“He isn't going anywhere with her!”

Dean said icily. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother before running a hand through his hair.

“You're treating her just like you did me when I was in love with Ruby.”

Dean looked even more disgusted!

“Apparently you two just made really bad relationship choices and need to remain single the rest of your lives.”

You had finally regained the ability to speak, came in.

“Enough! What I do with my life is my business. You all are my family and I love each of you! But who are you all to tell me who I should and shouldn't love? You're relationship isn't very orthodox either!”

Cas looked up finally.

“We don't lie to each other though.”

Zoe nodded seconding her boyfriends comment.

“Twat waffle there has been lying to you for ages.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“That's original. Did you come up with that yourself?”

You turned looking at Lo...Gabriel.

“Stop it! I mean it! All off you stop acting like children. Gabriel, we do need to talk. Come on!”

You reached out grabbing his hand pulling the archangel toward your car. Zoe was quickly walking behind you.

“No! You tow are not going off together!”

Sam quickly walked forward wrapping his arms around the angel pulling her back.

“He'll bring her back! Calm down! You can't tell her what to do forever!”

Zoe growled.

“Like hell I can!”

She snapped as Sam gently shook her.

“Zoe listen to yourself! Let them talk this out! Gabriel, like it or not, is a good match for Y/n. I get why you are pissed but you can't order Y/n around all of her life. Come inside and relax. When she gets home we will sit down like the adults that we are and talk.”

Meanwhile,

Gabriel sat silently beside you as you sped down a dark Kansas road. Neither had said anything for a few moments. This was the most silent moment that either of you shared.

“Sugar, where are we going?”

Gabriel asked gently. You didn't even advert your eyes from the road.

“What does it matter?”

You said coldly. Gabriel sighed.

“Getting in cars with mad girls is a bad idea.”

You pursed your lips.

“You lied to me. Was all of this, everything that we had, a lie?”

Gabriel shook his head before looking down at his lap.

“No, Y/n, I love you.”

You didn't say it back for once instead you sat making no facial expressions. Gabriel sighed realizing that may have just fucked everything up beyond repair. He wanted to get out of the car and disappear again. You would forget him soon enough and could find a better lover!

Gabriel hated everything about himself at the moment. Everything that was right was wrong! Just like Gabriel had envisioned all the good had came crashing down in a gigantic heap of destruction!

He tired to think of anything to get himself out of of head! Nothing was working! All he could think of was the pain that was going through him! Everything was like a gigantic kick to the balls!

You're hand wrapping around his pulled Gabriel from his thoughts. He looked down to see your tiny hand intertwined with his. This time it wasn't a figment of his imagination!

“I love you, you stubborn archangel! I just want the truth. Why did you lie to me?”

Gabriel sighed.

“Various reasons. I have been hiding who I am for a very long time. I also didn't want you to think that I was with you because I wanted your mother. I wanted you to see that I wanted you. If that meant me being someone else I was willing to do it. Damn I sound like a creeper, huh?”

You chuckled at that.

“I can buy those reasons. I want to know what happened with my mother though. You owe me the truth.”

Gabriel nodded to a parking.

“Pull over baby.”

You pulled into the parking lot of an empty shopping center. Shutting off the car she turned to face the archangel beside her. Gabriel took a breath before taking her hand in his.

“I didn't used to be the nicest of guys, sugar. When I was paired with your mother. The last thing that I did was remain faithful. Rosalie and I just weren't a good match. Friend wise we were fine. Husband and wife was a big hell no. She had enough of my behavior, which I don't' blame her on now. She wanted to be free from me and have the bond severed. I did it because I thought it was was best. I wanted her to be happy. I blame myself for a lot of what happened to her. Just because you are not with someone anymore doesn't meant that you stop caring. When I heard that Michael was after her I begged her to take you and run. That's right. I remember you as a baby. You were a toddler then and that was the last time that I saw you until a few months ago. I even tried to get Rose to let me keep the two of you and your tax accountant of a father safe. Y/n, your mother was so damn stubborn. She said it wasn't my responsibility anymore. I was so mad after that I just stopped talking to her. I ran, just like I'm good at. I found out later that she was dead and I haven't stopped blaming myself. Zoe thinks that I am some asshole that abandoned your mother. She doesn't know half of it. There was a lot that happened. There is more to the story that is hard to explain. I was also playing double agent with Lucifer. Zoe and the others don't know that. You mother only found out when new ran into each a few years after the fact. At this point she was married to your father. She understood everything and kept it secret. We kept everything after our separation secret. I don't love her like I love you. I've never loved anyone like I love you, Y/n. Whether you believe that or not is on you. If you don't want to see me again, I get it.”

Gabriel looked away from you and stared out the window. He didn't want to look at your face. If you said no, he was going to vanish and never return! You meanwhile, sat motionless a moment before undoing your seat-belt and climbing onto Gabriel's lap

“You are a stubborn archangel! I still want you! All of this is just a shock!”

Gabriel's golden eyes rolled to yours.

“Sugar, I...”

Your lips were on his stopping Gabriel from completing his sentence. This kiss as different from any other that you shared. In ways it felt almost like a first kiss and quickly escalated into a long hungry passion fueled make out session. You fingers were tangled in Gabriel's hair tugging. You were thankful to see that all of his triggers when it came to passion were still the same!

“Gabriel, I need you!”

The archangel moaned as pushed your skirt up enough to undo his jeans. He stopped looking at you carefully. If you were any other woman, he would have been tearing into her.

“Are you sure that you want that? I mean like now? Aren't you going to ground me from sex or something else lame and I have to be a miserable whinny bastard for a few days?”

You pressed a series of kisses to his jaw line, giggling. Your fingers traced down his chest stopping as they came in contact the the tip of his now noticeable erection. Gabriel hissed as you fingers stroked over his length a few times.

“Yes, I want you! You've explained what happened. There is no point in dragging this out. You said sorry. This is where we have make up sex and go about our business.”

Gabriel chuckled as he snapped his fingers, making your panties disappear.

“That's my girl!”

He cooed before reaching down and leaning the seat back slightly. Gabriel's hands cupped your breasts pressing kisses to the exposed parts of your chest.

“This shirt has been teasing me since you opened that door. It will look better on the floor of the bedroom later.”

You pressed your hips harder into Gabriel's making the archangel moan.

“Easy on the goods, gumdrop.”

You pulled him back into another hungry kiss.

“Don't leave me tonight, Gabriel. I am afraid that Zoe and Cas will find a way to block you from finding me if you leave.”

He shook his head.

“I'm not leaving you again. I don't care what your lovely family has to say either. They need to get used to seeing me or get over it. I could always just throw you over my shoulder and take you with me.”

You looked pleased enough with that as the two of you continued to kiss not caring that the car windows were fogging up. Gabriel's lips on your neck made you whimper and rock your hips against his. As you tried to get situated so Gabriel could push in easily, you banged your head on the ceiling.

“Ow!”

You whimpered holding your head. Gabriel chuckled and reached up to heal the forming bruise. He leaned back the seat a little further trying to find some form of leverage.

“Boy the movies make this look easy. Good thing I am not some tall mother fucker to this would be really difficult!”

Gabriel said as he tried to pull his tight jeans down.

“I picked a hell of a day to wear tight jeans.”

Gabriel mumbled. He tugged a little harder, this time however however, his elbow went back too far and cracked the window. The two of you froze a moment before bursting into giggles.

“Well damn, how are we going to explain that? Sorry we were just trying to fuck each other and this happened or bats man....a bat hit the window?”

Gabriel said sheepishly. You laughed hard and pressed your face into his neck.

“Stop making me laugh. Neither of us will be getting off at this rate. We'll go with the bats.”

“Bats it is.”

Gabriel said happily.

“I have a better idea that could have made this easier. Stupid me, you were rubbing my cock and I went all crazy.”

He snapped his fingers again leaving the two of you naked. Gabriel looked at you before giving you an eyebrow wiggle. He ran his hands over his cock a few times watching you bite your lip in anticipation.

“Now sugar?”

He asked with those pouty puppy dog eyes. You quickly raised your hips and took Gabriel like a band-aid from tip to base in one motion. Gabriel moaned fighting the urge to yank you down and pound in mercilessly. Instead, he gave you gentle thrusts making sure not to break anymore windows or cause any damage. You wrapped your arms around his neck. The sound of you panting in his ear made Gabriel want to come.

It was at this moment that Gabriel couldn't understand why his brother's despised humans so much! The feeling of making love was one of the most pleasurable feeling that Gabriel had ever experienced. Having a girl that was crazy about you made it even better! Gabriel had quit caring about how many angel rules he was breaking a long time ago. Now he was sully focused on enjoying himself and making sure that you were coming apart in his arms.

“I'll give you a proper fucking later. We can sound proof that room of yours and I'll make you scream! Damn it sugar this is a little difficult. Only good part is being totally balls deep in that tight little pussy of yours.”

You whimpered, knowing that Gabriel was trying to make you come. The car sex was definitely a lot more more difficult than planned.

“Y/n, sugar, I can't...”

You reached out biting down on Gabriel's ear, earning yourself a low growl. Gabriel came the moment that you kissed down his neck ad bit down on his pulse point. You knew his kinks well by now and biting was one of his favorite. Gabriel wouldn't care one bit to walk around with love bites littering his neck and body.

You gasped when Gabriel pushed down on your clit using his grace. He continued to thrust into you harshly.

“Come for me, princess. I know you felt me come inside of you. You're all mine, Y/n. No one is going to touch you like I do. Come now.”

He growled in your ear. You didn't need anymore encouragement than that! Coming hard you set in a sweaty heap not ready to move for a few moments.

“So that was making love to an archangel?”

You asked, still pressing gentle kisses to Gabriel's collarbone. He chuckled.

“You haven't see anything yet sugar. Come on baby, lets get you something for dinner.”

Gabriel snapped his fingers, leaving the two of you dressed and in your original positions.

30 minutes later, the two of you sat at a quiet diner.

“I have to say fucking in a car was almost a disaster. The made it look way too easy in Titanic.”

You said with a smirk. Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

“I didn't hear you complaining when you were screaming my name.”

You blushed looking down at your again intertwined hands. Gabriel meanwhile, was busy watching you blush. He was so lost in the moment that he didn't hear the diner door open. Gabriel didn't give a damn about any of the other patrons. Tonight his eyes were only on his princess.

The happy moment changed when your face went from happy to sheer horror.

“Gabriel, its him...the angel that killed my parents.”

Gabriel’s golden eyes went wide before he resumed his cool composure. He turned slightly in the bench seeing none other than Michael standing in the doorway. Gabriel quickly turned knowing his brother could sense him.

“Get under the table Y/n. I’ll keep you safe. Don’t make a sound.”

You nodded with a petrified expression. As you slid down into the floor huddling yourself beside Gabriel’s legs. You trembled as a pair of legs approached their table. It was like reliving the most awful night of your life when the fancy dress shoes stopped and faced your direction. Hearing his voice made your heart pound.

“Gabriel.”

You slightly jumped when you felt Gabriel's hand soothingly rub your shoulder. From where you sat you could see his face clearly and he didn't look amused.

“Michael.”

Gabriel kept his voice even as his older brother gave him a cold grimace.

“I didn't know that you were back. Looking for anything interesting?”

Gabriel shook his head using an illusion to keep you hidden. If Michael looked under the table, he would only see his brother's feet.

“Nah, just enjoying my freedom. You should try it sometime.”

You meanwhile, was taking deep even breaths. Gabriel's voice sounded almost foreign you. Michael meanwhile, laughed bitterly.

“Enjoy it while you can little brother. Soon you'll be back in heaven taking your place where you are meant to be.”

Gabriel frowned before raising an eyebrow. He made sure to say his next sentence as sassy as possible.

““Beside your psycho ass? I’ll take a rain check on that.”

Michael looked less than pleased as Gabe knew he would

“I’ll cash in on that soon Gabriel. Remember that Lucifer isn’t here to keep you safe anymore. If you see Y/n it will be in your best interest to inform me of the girl’s whereabouts.”

Michael was no fool. He knew that the two of you were an item. He could smell your scent all of his brother. The fiery look in his younger brother’s eyes told him everything that he needed to know.

“I’ll tell you nothing.”

Gabriel growled. Michael raised an eyebrow as he turned to walk toward the door.

“We’ll see Gabriel. You aren’t the spoiled protected child that you used to be. Also it will be Raphael and myself against you. Two against one isn’t a good number. See you soon brother.”

____

@itty-bitty-obessesions (I’m tagging you so you can check this out since you liked my other stuff)

@greenappleeyes

@tas898

@li0nh34rt

@authoressskr

@everyjourneylove

@sherala007

@everyjourneylove

#Gabriel #gabriel x reader #Supernatural Fan Fiction #story rewrite #Dean Winchester #sam winchester x ofc #Cas #castiel #Dean x Cas x OFC #reader instert #Supernatural reader insert #Gabriel fan fiction

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theonewiththefanfics · 7 years ago

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The One That Got Away (part 5)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Part 11

Part 12- END

Pairing: Cassian x Reader; Platonic!Poe x Reader

Genre: omg there is so much angst I can’t oh god

Warnings: some sexual implications, but I don’t think anything else

Word count: 4164 (strap in lads, this is a long one)

Y/N had her back turned towards the entrance. She vaguely heard Bodhi switch on the comms and tell Mon Mothma, that their system had gone haywire, but now should be working just fine. All her senses were tuned on the footsteps of the man coming her way. Clank, clank, clank, they echoed through the room and around her. The girl couldn’t believe what she was about to do. All the pain that she’d gone through and for nothing. She did acknowledge the fact that somehow she hadn’t been successful in making Cassian hate her, but the thought swirling in her mind, of what she was going to do to him, Y/N wished Kylo had killed her. He had stopped a few feet away from the girl and allowed Y/N to dictate the pace. She knew his approach to her was that of a wild animal's, that could flee any second. Cassian was terrified he’d lose her once again because he knew Y/N better than she thought. Cassian recognised her fight-or-flight instincts as he'd observed her in battle, when they’d gone on missions together. He’d looked after her in the aftermath of a mission gone wrong. Even though Y/N put on a smile, while back home she didn’t talk about the failures, didn’t mention how it made her fell. And at nights he could feel her being awake. He’d even caught her sneaking out to the nearby lake, but he never made Y/N talk about it. Maker knows, Cassian himself was one closed-off person, but he had never imagined that something so bad could happen, that Y/N would flee for good and disappear like smoke in the wind. Her Y/E/C eyes finally turned towards him. She had crossed her arms, despite the protests of the injured shoulder. For a second they stood there looking at each other. Two people completely and utterly in love, yet with goals set at the opposite ends of spectrum- Cassian had never been as determined to get his one and only back by his side while Y/N turned her mind to completely eradicating any feelings of love Cassian could have towards the girl, even if it meant using the Force to bend his mind…

“I want you to know, that nothing I will tell you, will change who we are to each other.” Her tone was cold and calculated. “Okay,” Cassian thought to himself, “two can play this game,” as he set his mind to make Y/N remember how much they love one another. He didn’t reply, just nodded for her to continue. He’d let Y/N give him finally the reason she left, the reason she’d given away their possible future and then he’d fight nail and tooth to prove nothing she’d done could ever make him stop loving the girl. “We are two rebels fighting for the survival of the Resistance and nothing more. Whatever we had is in the past. And so is Y/N. My name is Naili and from now on you will address me as that or commander Delaqour.” She had rehearsed this because Y/N knew without making her stance clear, after saying the true reason she left, her whole facade would crumble. In all honesty, she wished nothing more than to shed the persona of Naili and leap into Cassian’s arms. Guilt twitched in her gut because she knew he’d open them up and catch her without hesitation. She could still see how much Cassian cared for her and she had to will away tears. “Do you remember my last mission?” her voice had softened as she let her mind slip to a time even the Force couldn’t scrape out of her brain. “Of course,” Cassian’s tone had levelled with hers, “it had gotten compromised right away and you were left without a way back on that planet. Those two weeks were a nightmare.” She hated the sincerity in his voice. “Well, that is what I made Mon Mothma tell the base. Truthfully when she found out what was happening I’m almost a hundred percent sure she would have come to the same conclusion without me trying to coax her into it.” Cassian wasn’t surprised by the fellow rebel’s involvement. He’d known of Mon Mothma’s importance as she assigned the missions and oversaw the most integral ones. She had told the Captain that a rescue team had already been sent your way and that Cassian had nothing to worry about. She’d warned him because of the high First Order activity it would take a bit longer and your comms had been completely destroyed. And Cassian had been a mess. Two weeks with almost no sleep filled with worry. He knew you were tough and would push through but still, his mind went to the worst thing imaginable- that you were dead. But what came out of your mouth chilled him to the core. “Instead of me being unable to finish the mission because my ship was shot down and there was no way of communicating with the base,” the girl shuddered at the memory and let out a strangled sight, “I got captured by the First Order, more specifically Kylo Ren.” That possibility hadn’t even crossed Cassian’s mind. Yes, of course, people got taken, tortured, killed by the First Order, but he’d never allowed himself to think that could’ve happened to you. Y/N, the strongest woman he’d ever known and the smartest one at that. The girl had moved to sit down on one of the long metal benches lining the ship’s wall. Y/N could barely contain herself as she let her mind plummet into the horrors that had happened to her while being a captive of Kylo Ren himself. “My ship, it got intercepted by the Order. I couldn’t do anything, somehow they had overwritten the commands and nothing on my control panel worked. I knew what was going to happen. Best scenario was torture then death. So in that second I told Mon Mothma what was happening and made the decision for her not to send out anyone after me. I knew I was a goner regardless of how many squadrons came after me. It was no use to sacrifice the lives of others for one person. So I made it my last wish, which I made sure she followed through as I made her give an oath to me,” she looked up to see that Cassian had moved to the opposite bench, “and I made her tell you the story you know. After I wouldn’t come back, she was instructed to say that the planet had been blown up by the Order and the rescue squadron hadn’t gotten there in time.” He couldn’t move or speak. It felt like not only led had been poured into his body, but also ice as she marched on with the story. “I expected to be brought to a prison or something. Most to see that ginger bastard of Hux, but,” she couldn’t help the bile that rose in her throat as she said the name, “Kylo Ren decided to visit me.” “At first it went exactly as I knew it would. He pulled apart my mind piece by piece, memory by memory for almost a week without stopping. It felt like it was a week, I’m not too sure about it. At some point time just ceased to exist.” “But then something changed. He-he became different. He had found something in my brain that got his undivided attention and even I didn’t know what it was. Not a memory or a forgotten dream, something else.” “He kept tugging at it, prodding and while doing all of that the only words he kept repeating were “you are stronger than you know, stop fighting it.” I mean what kind of encouragement would a captor give to his prisoner, like it doesn’t make any sense.” There were silent tears now slipping down Y/N’s cheeks as a dry laugh escaped her. “And then he finally unravelled the coil. The reason Kylo had stopped his search for anything dealing with Resistance and focused on the small part in my mind is that he had unlocked the Force in me.” She didn't dare look up at the captain. “I didn’t know I had it. I had never felt it calling to me, had never felt it be disturbed, there was nothing, but Kylo had somehow found that tether and pulled it free.” “I had never felt so much power before and I had never been more afraid in my life. I had no idea what to do with it, how to control it but more importantly how to resist it. With Kylo being inside my mind constantly I didn’t have any free will but to allow him to pull the string more and more and more…. and the more he pulled the longer it got and we realised it was endless. You couldn’t cut it, you couldn't rip it and it just kept going.” “I wasn’t stupid, I knew what that entailed for me. With the amount of power Kylo and even I sensed in myself, he’d make sure I could never leave. At first, he promised to train me, to help me harness it, but we both knew I’d never give in. He’d seen it enough in my brain, so he slowly started to drain it from me…” “It’s pain that no one can ever understand. I’ve-I’ve never been one to believe in souls, but the only way I can describe it is like your being, the core of you, being shredded to pieces. Ripped out of you piece by piece, tendrils hanging off and then those are cut into even smaller ribbons.” Now Y/N was letting the tears fall freely, she didn’t hold them back. “I have never wanted to die more in my life than I did in that second.” Cassian was too stunned to move. His girlfriend, the love of his light, the one that gave meaning to everything was Force-sensitive, incredibly powerful one too. And Kylo Ren had tried to take away that part form her. Cassian could almost feel the pain radiate from Y/N as her mind went back to those moments. His blood was boiling. Now he’d added a second goal- to kill Kylo Ren with his bare hands for what he’d done to Y/N and for taking her away from him. “Then he stopped. I didn’t believe it at first when I heard it, my brain was so fuzzy I thought I misheard the fire-crotch Hux, but they’d found a piece of the map to Luke Skywalker. Kylo immediately switched his attention to that, but he made a promise to come back.” “I didn’t wait. The second he was gone I gathered all strength that I had left in me and it wasn't much. He had unravelled the Force so I used it. I made one of the troopers guarding release me and give me his uniform. The other I compelled to strap the man in my place and give me his gun. Then I erased their memories.” “It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done. To hold ones mind in your palm like that… I could feel them, their memories. With one swipe I could have made turned them into complete blank pages, they wouldn’t be able to remember how to breathe let alone their names. And I wanted to do it so bad. I wanted to hurt them and render them useless, but that is what Kylo did to me, or almost did…” “Without dwelling much on it, because I could feel he grip on reality slipping I found a Tie-fighter and whizzed away. I did the usual- disabled comms, tracking systems and so on. I found a planet that supported the Order and ditched the ship and clothing there. The rest… you can figure out on your own.” Cassian though that it was the end of the story as he stood up, but Y/N piped up again. “I didn’t realise it at first. Because of the Force now being awake in me, I thought it was normal, but I started to have these dreams, or at least I thought they were. I saw Kylo, never the place where he was or heard who he was with, only him. And one night we spoke. He had made a connection while trying to take the Force away from me.” “We could talk, communicate with each other. Never know where we are or who is right beside one another, it was just the two of us…” While saying this last part Y/N had lowered her gaze to her boots. They were worn out, stitches of the soles coming apart, the tongue flapping over the lacing. “I’m the reason Kylo Ren destroyed D’Qar and now have put Yavin4 and possibly the whole Resistance in danger. He’s coming after me.” She whispered the last sentence. Cassian finally knew and in a way, Y/N felt this large block roll off her chest, for the first time in little over than two years she was able to, take a breath of relief. There were still the secrets she’d vowed to never tell a living soul, especially of how Kylo had given the large scar, that adorned her chest, but this one had been the hardest. It had started her downward spiral and what had prompted her to make the rash decision to break Cassian’s heart in order to protect him. Y/N didn’t try and play dumb. She knew that with this Force connection Kylo would find her sooner or later, which meant finding Cassian. And she’d never let that happen, even if it meant sacrificing the only good thing in her life. So she had initiated fights. Tried to play herself off as the jealous fiancée, made herself be assigned to as many missions possible, so Cassian would start arguments of her not being there. Everything and anything to diminish what he felt for her so that when she left he would feel nothing but relief. Of course, she found out her efforts had been futile only a month in after she’d left when Y/N had overheard someone in a cantina she had visited talk about a handsome man with a beautiful accent looking for a girl fitting her description. When she’d gotten to her “home” the first thing in her hands was a pair of scissors and she’d chopped all her hair off. She changed her stance, how she walked, even some speech patterns, but time and time again Cassian had found some breadcrumbs, Y/N hadn’t been able to sweep away. A year in her hiding he had found her, he had seen her face and had recognised who it was. She had been hiding on the Ring of Kafrene when Cassian and the Rogue One team had landed. But so had the First Order, Kylo leading them in tow. She hadn’t learned fully how to repress the Force and when Kylo looked at Cassian he could feel the importance of the man to the girl. Without thinking she had ran to the captain and pushed him out of the lightsabers way. The searing hot pain started from her neck, it travelled down her collarbones, slicing them in half and trailed a path in between her breasts. Face first she had fallen to the ground and Cassian’s panicked gaze would have been the last thing she’d see if a girl hadn’t disarmed Kylo. Later on Y/N would find out the name of the woman was Rey and she’d come along with her friends on the Millennium Falcon with none other than the handsome smuggler Han Solo himself. With her last bits of strength as Cassian had pulled her to his chest, she willed all the Force in her, the thing that had made her hurt the man she was in love with, to make Cassian forget. Forget that she was on Kafrene, forget that he had seen her, but most importantly forget that she’d almost died saving him. There would be no chance of his safety if Cassian knew. Moments later she had succumbed to the pain. Six months Y/N had spent in a coma and when she’d awoken the smiling face of the best pilot in the Resistance was what greeted her. In that moment Naili Delaqour was born, but even with this new identity and the past she’d created, Y/N could never truly become someone else. Her hand moved to her neck, right where the long slash started, only to find Cassian’s rugged palm already pressed there. “You know you could have told me. I would have helped you, I woul-“ “You would’ve what?” she snapped. “What would you have done, Cassian? Helped me learn how to control it or helped and hid me from that psychopath?” His grip tightened moving to cup her cheek. “I don’t know, but we would’ve figured it out, we always did. And we will now.” “No,” Y/N stood up and shook his hand off. “You won’t. But I will. I have sacrificed enough for you and I won’t let you throw away everything I’ve done to keep you safe.” She didn’t mean for the truth to escape like that, but deep in her gut Y/N knew that Cassian had never believed her. “I know you were lying to me. That you weren’t okay and that every single thing you said before leaving was nothing more that one big lie.” He affirmed her suspicions. “I didn’t press on, didn’t want to make you even more uncomfortable. But if I had known that you would disappear like that, I would have made you talk to me and we would have figured it out.” “Y/N,” he had once again cupped her cheeks. She averted her gaze but didn’t pull away. His touch felt too good, and her self-control was slipping. “Don’t call me that,” she whispered. “But that is your name. Not Naili or commander Delaqour, but Y/N L/N. Mi Alma…” The girl’s breath hitched at the nickname. Cassian always called her by some sweet name in a language she didn’t know, but that one was special. That one he whispered in her ears as they both were tangled together under the sheets, succumbing to pleasure. He called her that when Cassian was terrified for her when something went wrong and she got injured, praying for Y/N to pull through it. The sweet name rolled off of his lips when their happiness had hit the highest point. It was hers and no one else's. He was so close, his nose brushed against Y/N’s. She felt his breath fan over her while the brown eyes looked at her with such intensity she felt like he already knew the deep secrets she’s been hiding, rendering her bare before him. When Cassian leaned in the part of her brain that had still retained some control screamed for her to pull away, push him away, but she didn’t. His lips were still just as soft, if not even softer. Her body almost turned into a puddle as her knees gave out, but Cassian’s other hand had found its place on the small of Y/N back and pulled her impossibly closer. Her fingers wove through his hair and pulled at it slightly eliciting a groan from the man. She had never felt as complete in these two years than now. She never wanted for this to stop. Cassian’s tongue found its way into her mouth and she didn’t even fight for dominance. Her brain was mush and her heart had never beaten so fast she feared it would break, yet been so whole at the same time. It wasn’t until both of them needed to come up for air Y/N saw the errors of her actions, what repercussions this would cause. “Well figure this out, mi Alma, I promise. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you.” “I know,” silent tears slipped down her cheeks as her Y/E/C met Cassian’s chocolate ones, “that is why I hope that one day, whether I’m alive or not you can forgive me.” “What?” Cassian’s brows furrowed in confusion. Y/N took his cheeks in both of her hands, closing her eyes. And then she slowly let the tendril that had been encased inside her for almost a year slowly unroll. She felt the Force grow through her body almost like it’d been waiting to be unleashed. It encased her from the inside, moulding to every crevice an nook. It traced her laugh lines and the ridges of her fingerprints. On and on it went until there was nothing the Force wasn’t touching. There was a stronger tug in the back of her mind, that connection she shared with Kylo Ren, but immediately she wrapped a chain around it and sealed it behind a wall. Cassian was panicking as he wiped away her tears when their eyes met once again. “Corazon, please, what is going on?” “You won’t remember that I did this.” “No,” he breathed, “stop, we can figure it out.” “You will remember what I told you. You will remember that I’m the reason Kylo Ren destroyed D'Qar and now will be probably coming to Yavin4. I’m the reason for all the pain and suffering. And when you'll look at me,” Y/N wished to have Kylo’s lightsaber in her hand so she could push it through her heart and end her life, “you will look at me with nothing but hatred and disgust. You will allow me to tell the rest of ou-your friends this story on my own because I can’t protect you.” “This is the only way I can make sure you’re safe because as long as you love me, I know you will never stop fighting for us, but I need you to. I won’t survive without you. The only thing that kept me going these two years is the fact I knew you were alive, but with Kylo coming after me… I will do anything to keep you safe,” she was choking back sobs. It had been so foolish to kiss Cassian. That moment had mended all the broken pieces, but what she was doing now, Y/N wasn’t sure there would be dust left for the wind to sweep away. “Because I know you would go to the ends of the galaxy to save me. And I can’t have that. You mean too much to me. So now any time you think of a memory of us it will make you hate me. You’ll feel the pain I wanted to cause you, you’ll despise who I am as a person and what I’ve done to you and Jyn, Bodhi, Baze and Chirrut and even K-2. I will be nothing more than a deserter to you…” No physical pain could amount to that of what Y/N was feeling in that moment. They both stood like that for a moment longer until Cassian pulled back from her grip. When she looked at the love of her life she was relieved to see it had worked. His eyes were so cold and full of hatred it felt like a knife twisting in her already shambled heart. “Good to know that you’ve kept such important information to yourself for this long,” he spat at her, words laced with venom, “it’s not like you are endangering me and my team with just your presence.” He moved to go back to the main part of the ship before looking back at the girl. “After this war is over and the Resistance’s survival is not in peril anymore, I never wish to see your face on Yavin4 again.” Cassian squared his shoulders and exited the weaponry. “I’m so sorry, Cassian,” she whispered into the air, “I love you so much…” And Y/N let her heart bleed out.

Tags: @irreplaceable-spacexual @thechandlerbingdance @paulinka97 @chunkymonky11

A/N: so this was faster than expected and boy did it hurt to write that last bit, I can’t take making my space husband go through so much pain, damn it! in any case, the story has switched where I’m going with it, but I like it :)

not too sure when I’ll be uploading the next part as I have only 10 days left home before going back to uni, but hopefuly part 6 will be up tomorrow :))

P.S. feedback is always nice :) if you wanna be tagged message me :)

P.S.S. please don’t repost without asking :)

P.S.S.S. if you have any requests feel free to send them in :)

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nageshchandramishra · 3 years ago

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Most Urgent: A Reminder to Hon. Prime Minister of India after 7 Years of Swachh Bharat Mission. Have we really succeeded self - retrospecting ourselves in front of Gandhi Ji , today on 02/10/2021 on Gandhi Jayanti Day 🇮🇳💐🕉Jai Hind 🕉💐🇮🇳👏❗️

"SWACHH BHARAT MISSION" ie Clean Revolution ?

( *Nagesh Chandra Mishra )

Subject : Can India's Dream of an "Open Defecation Free Country" Be Realized within 5 Years Time ? An Open Letter To the Honorable Prime Minister, Shree Narendra Modi.

Hon. Prime Minister Sir ,

Kindly, refer to my earlier letter dated 29-07-2014 written in Hindi on the above noted subject . ( Copy Enclosed )

Many of my friends requested to provide an English Transliteration of the Hindi Text that I knowingly delayed as was very keen to hear the PM's Independence Day Address to the Nation from the ramparts of Lalquila on August 15, 2014 .

Your excellent address has touched billion hearts dreaming of SWACHH BHARAT . Hence, this updating exercise .

Warm Congratulations , Sir, once again !

There is a sense of great admiration in the country & abroad on your Government's firm resolution as stated in the Address of the Hon. President of India during the first Joint Session of the Parliament :

"We must not tolerate the indignity of homes without toilets and public spaces littered with garbage. For ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the nation a “Swachh Bharat Mission” will be launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019."

( Para 15 of the Presidential Address on June 9, 2014 )

The above commitment has been reaffirmed both by you & the Nation's Finance Minister in the Parliament ; as such , none of us are taking these lines lightly ; everyone , be your supporter or adversary, knows it vey well that when you "commit" something to yourself - not even you can defy it !

Like "Green Revolution", or "White Revolution" , is it the turn of "CLEAN REVOLUTION" in the country now ?

Is it easy to bring a Clean Revolution in our nation ?

The answer is ... both "YES" & "NO" !

Today's 'wise men' would just rush to begin with, 'it's not any Rocket Science' ?

It's easier to draw zig zag lines than to draw a straight line !

According to Bapu, who believed "SANITATION IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN INDEPENDENCE" , had said :

" The instruments for the quest of truth are as simple as they are difficult.

They may appear quite impossible to an arrogant person, and quite possible to an innocent child.

The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust. The world crushes the dust under its feet, but the seeker after truth should be so humble himself that even the dust could crush him. Only then, and not till then, will he have a glimpse of truth. The dialogue between Vasishtha and Vishvamitra makes this abundantly clear. Christianity and Islam also amply bear it out."

( Courtesy : " My Experiments With Truth " by M.K. Gandhi )

Resp. Prime Minister Sir !

Does Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan ( the erstwhile Total Sanitation Campaign ) being implemented by the Central & State Governments justify the 'skill,scale & speed' of your commitment ? It was during the first NDA Govt. led by Sri Atal Bihari Bajpayee when Sanitation sector was given due importance almost after five decades since independence & accordingly , the Department of Drinking Water Supply ( & Sanitation, ) launched Total Sanitation Campaign in 1998-99 with great fanfare . The seriousness with which it began , the initial 5-6 years gave the impression as if the Millennium Development Goals pertaining to Environmental Sustainability ( No. 7 of MDG ) indicators would be achieved at faster growth so that India would be an 'Open Defecation Free' Country by 2015 ; but, as the time rolled on, the steam started simmering & we lost the 'meaning' - now, it has completely gone in 'Slip Back Mode' like any other Water program of the Govt., though with a difference - prior to 1998-99, the allotment in the Sanitation sector was negligible , but during the last 15 years till date approx. 15 Billion Rupees of allocations have been pumped through by the govt. most of which has either been wasted or swindled by unscrupulous elements - If immediate remedial measures are not taken, it would open the pandora box of one more serious scam than what we saw during the execution of Ganga Action Plan some decades ago !

I won't like to indulge in citing numerous statistical data to drive home the point - Census of India 2011( Houses, Household Amenities & Assets 'LATRINE FACILITIES', Table 1 & 2 ) &

Day-to-day Progress Report hosted on the official website of the Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation are testimonies to the paradoxical vast gap between the Truth & the Hype , ie % of Toilet Usage vs. % of Toilets constructed ( Barring some exceptions in a few performing states like Kerela , Sikkim, Tripura etc. )

It is high time when we must 'revisit' the entire Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan afresh so that Swachh Bharat Mission can be achieved in a perfect 'mission mode' within the stipulated time frame .

This requires a clean 'bottoms up' of our own mindset ( Courtesy : Ashtavakra Geeta ) - something unique that can be emulated from one such simple example :

Once during my childhood, I told my mother ,

Ma, "KACHARAWALA" has come ;

My mother replied ,

' My son! in fact , we are KACHARAWALA -

& He is SAFAIWALA '

( courtesy : Sri Narendra Modi )

Summing up , in the words of PG Wodehouse ,

" We need dynamite to dislodge an idea that has set in public mind ."

Taking cue from Kenopanishad's Shlokas , "Yasya Matam Tasya Matam..." , meaning thereby , "

' He who thinks he knows It not, knows It. He who thinks he knows

It, knows It not. The true knowers think they can never know It

(because of Its infinitude), while the ignorant think they know '

- in all humility, I would suggest some remedial measures after learning from failures -some are of generic nature & some specific ones that can't be viewed in isolation .

1) AN IMMEDIATE NEED OF INTEGRATED PLANNING :

" Conceive Optimistically ;

Plan Pessimistically ;

Execute Optimistically ."

( Courtesy : Kazuo Inamori - ' A Compass to Fulfillment ' )

As per Millennium Development Goals ( MDG ) , we have set a

Goal to Ensure Environmental Sustainability; &

accordingly, our Target is ,

" Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources." ( Courtesy : MDG Goal No. 7 & Target 9 )

But , alas ! our Country's main Planning Institutions have converted themselves into Kubla Khan's Pleasure Domes ( courtesy : ST Coleridge's famous Poem, Kubla Khan ) ! These "Think Tanks" need immediate revamping (as the newspaper reports suggest , probably, you too are thinking on the same lines & now is evident also from your Address to the Nation on India's 67th Independence day Anniversary .

These days, an advertisement of a branded diamond catches

my imagination in which an old man presents a diamond ring to his old loving wife on her anniversary - on this, the old lady quips smilingly & asks, why such costly ring at the sunset of her life ... & the husband replies, " Diamond Knows Not one's Age " ! Accordingly, our Land, Water, Habitat etc. , all our inexhaustible resources , need an 'ageless integrated planning diamond ring' of Environmental Sustainability .

Focusing on various Development Programs of our country, whether Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan,National Rural Health Mission, Integrated Child Development Schemes, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, MNREGA, JnURM, so on & so forth , every Program preach Community Participation, Inter-sectoral Coordination & Convergence as per Govt. Guidelines , but that happens on papers only ... the ground reality is quite different . As such unless we drastically combine them together into an Integrated Planning System without compartmentalizing & dissecting them into urban, rural etc. etc. - no oasis of 'smart cities ' can sustain & coexist in harmony to hold 'SAB KA SAATH SAB KA VIKAS' ?

( the story of MATSYAVATAAR can be an eye opener for we Indians )

Prime Minister Sir, during every morning stroll , when I breathe the rotten smell coming out from the heaps of garbage littered on lanes & roads of my city , I am reminded of your high thinking mother's words : from your imagination of 'High Speed Bullet Trains' , one small ray of hope starts beaming in the eyes of we 'chhote Log with chhoti si aasha' ( ordinary people having very small aspirations ) ... dreaming of a network of low speed mini trains or mini trams too that may help in disposing off all our daily garbage to some appropriate safe sanitary landfills ! Covering up of our deep environmental wounds with populist 'silken bands' cannot heal the real ailment .

Alvin Toffler , the great thinker & writer , in the foreword of Nobel Prize Winners' Ilya Prigogine & Stangers masterpiece , " Order Out of Chaos " , has said:

" One of the most highly developed skills in contemporary Western civilization is dissection: the split-up of problems into their smallest possible components . We are good at it . So good, we often forget to put the pieces back together again . " The Britishers have gone back , but the British Colonial Administrative System still rules the Nation . Perhaps, that's why , Lord Curzon , had once said, "Indian Bureaucracy is the strongest bureaucratic machine in the world that cannot be corrected or controlled even by viceroys" !

For 'Vote Bank' Politics ,every Govt. of the day remains silent on 'demographic avalanche' ( an idiom coined by Alduous Huxley ) with full knowledge that such ad hoc bureaucratic development balloons , in no time , would turn the entire country into millions of "slum dog habitats" - in spite of all that our endless misadventure goes on & on like a Hindi song : "Manzil kahan le jayegi ... Maaloom Nahin..... ? "

After results of LOK SABHA 2014 , when the moment of Truth came & the nation with bated breadth was expecting a huge smooth transitional change breaking from the past on the eve of the first Budget Speech itself of the newly formed govt. , the Finance Minister, Sri Arun Jaitley ji seemed too ordinary & cautious to change , probably, due to 'Law of Mental Inertia' . Optimists like us haven't been disheartened though & would wait till Feb.28, 2015 .

Later than this may be too late to change the 'colonial mindset' of this new Govt.

I don't understand why our great planners overlook "Vedic Thumb Rule of Developmental Life Cycle based on the sound principles of Environmental Sustainability" as depicted in the following Sutras of Atharva Veda :

PASHYEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have VISION for Hundred Years ) ।।1।।

JEEVEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have LIFE for Hundred Years ) ।।2।।

BUDDHYEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have INTELLECT for Hundred Years ) ।।3।।

ROHEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have GROWTH for Hundred Years ) ।।4।।

PUSHEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have NOURISHMENT for Hundred Years)।।5।।

BHOOYEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have PURITY forHundred Years)।।6।

BHAVEM SHARADAH SHATAM ( May we have SUSTAINABILITY for Hundred Years ) ।।7।।

BHOOYASEE SHARADAH SHATAAT ( May , then, we SURVIVE till Eternity ) ।।8।।

In short : VISION, LIFE, INTELLECT, GROWTH, NOURISHMENT, PURITY & then SUSTAINABILITY - all for 100 Years lead to the Ultimate SURVIVAL till Eternity !

( * Atharva Veda , Section 19, Sukta 67 )

Swami Vivekananda's concept of SANAATAN DHARMA's Soul ( or, Universal Religion ) dwells in the above Sutras . And, perhaps, it also reflects Maharshi Aurobindo's vision of Supra-mental Consciousness .

Vedas, Upanishads & our Epics are testimony to the fact that India's Civilization & Ancient Education System prior to the advent of British Rule was amongst the best in the world . ( courtesy : Lord Macaulay's Address to the British Parliament on 2nd February, 1835 )

But , alas.... ! India's Five Year Plan that fails to foresee even 20 - Span "Life Cycle" ( 100 Years ) of Sustainable Development , can we expect from them to wipe out 20- fathom deep tears of the Nation through the hallucinations of 20-point Program ?

Now, coming back on the topic of Health, Hygiene & Sanitation related responsibilities , even if we go back to the India's civilization prevailing during Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro (2600 B.C. - 1900 B.C.) periods , there is evidence of wet toilets prevailing even during those times - which were connected to underground drainage system lined with burnt clay bricks . ( Courtesy : Wikipedia ) .

Since the last 2500 years , Kautilya's Arthashastra have been speaking volumes of our commitment to Hygiene & Cleanliness ,but we have chosen to overlook & ignore them. Severe punishments for defiling Environment have been prescribed , some of such glaring examples , are as follows :

Hygiene & Sanitation

related Offences Punishment as per Kautilya's

Arthashastra

Not having adequate rain water drainage 12 panas ( 3.8.23 )

Causing damage by letting urine or dung collect 24 panas ( 3.8.22. )

Throwing dirt on the road 1/8 pana ( 2.36.26 )

Blocking it with mud & water 1/4 pana

Throwing dirt on the highway 1/4 pana (2.36.27 )

Blocking it with mud & water 1/2 pana

For using as a urinal/ latrine As urinal As latrine ( 2.36.28 )

A holy place 1/2 pana 1 pana

A water reservoir 1 pana 2 panas

A temple 1& 1/2 p 2 panas

A royal building 2 panas 4 panas

Likewise, strict regulations are provided in Kautilya's Arthashastra not only for the protection of environment , but for an all round development of the Nation .

When we compare 2500 Years old these Laws ( a glimpse of which is prescribed above in Kautilya's Arthashastra ) with the latest Legal provisions prevailing today even in some of the most developed parts of the world ( from Britain to USA to Singapore ) , we may come to the conclusion that India doesn't need to blindly follow any imported self- derogatory "Sectoral Reform" lessons ; what we need is a mass upsurge of self- belief in ourselves to recreate "Cultural Renaissance based on Swami Vivekanand's concept of universal religion" keeping pace with the modern times . It is generally believed that Nation's Pride & Honor of Kautilyan Era didn't deteriorate so fast even during later centuries prior to the advent of Lord Macaulay's British India that systematically sapped our Self-esteem breaking the Psyche of the Nation into two unequal pieces viz. Rulers & Ruled ; they also created 'Indian cronies' to align with them - lethal combination of this elite class having less than 10% in numbers 'who ate Angreziyat , played Angreziyat & slept Angreziyat' - called as "Sahebs" ( or, Huzoor Mai-Baap ) ruled over the rest 90% common people known as "Raiyats" .

Comparing their Hygiene-related habits , while the first category had natural access to their choices of Toilets & Restrooms , the rest were left to practice "Call of Nature" ( perhaps, to amply prove " Habit is Second Nature "). I tried my best to find how the word, "Call of Nature" originated - I couldn't find , but the dictionary.com suggests , this idiom originated during 1850-55 - the same period when Lord Macaulay 's prescription of breaking the backbone of India's spiritual heritage was at its best !

( Only the Psychological Aspects have been touched here - as regards the Sociological & Technological Aspects, the readers may refer to other sources )

Sadly, the same "Huzoor Mai-Baap" culture rules over more than a billion souls even after 67 years since independence - Govt. is , now, in the changed role of "DAATA" ( in disguise of 'Facilitator' ) who perceive the People as "PAATA" ( Beneficiaries ) keeping Lord Macaulay still alive in the form of "SARKAR" downsizing the rest as 'BHIKHAARI' ( Beggars ) !

Can we ever get back our Self-Esteem as 'One Nation'?

Can we recreate the competitive crowning glory of India's Cultural Renaissance ??

Can we have 'ACHHE DIN' or Tipping Point ???

Yes, we can !!!

2) ACHHE DIN or Tipping Point :

How little things can bring Big Changes & how efforts of a handful of exceptional people can create History is not an unknown subject . But , how effective that can be - was known to me in details after reading Malcolm Gladwell's masterpiece "Tipping Point" .

The Tipping Point is the biography of an idea that may bring mysterious changes in everyday life spreading as fast as Social Epidemics . Malcolm Gladwell has described about some Rules of the Tipping Point viz. Law of the Few, Stickiness Factor & Power of Context, or Broken Window Theory that may be effective for bringing out rapid Behavioral Changes .

I won't quote examples cited in Malcolm Gladwell's 'Tipping Point' except one that caught my imagination ,

" ..... If you peed in the street , you were going to jail ...."

- this was told by New York City Administration in 1994 when the brilliant team of Rudolf Giuliani as Mayor & Bratton , the Police Chief applied the strategy to crack down on QUALITY OF LIFE Crimes to step up enforcement of the laws . Minor, seemingly insignificant Quality of Life related crimes brought dramatic improvement in the Law & Order of the City .

Prime Minister Sir !

Who can forget the mind blowing sad incident of ' 27 October 2013 Gandhi Maidan,Patna Blast ' when the first culprit of Terrorists' Gang was captured from a Toilet Complex situated at a Platform of Patna Jn. Railway Station that led to solve the mystery of larger conspiracy ? ( isn't it a symbolic Providence from DEVAALAYA to SHAUCHALAYA )

I want to emphasize that :

Improving "Quality Of Life" is Exponentially proportional to the improvement in Law & Order Situation' .

There are some 'defining moments' in History when such small changes led to Big movements ; to cite few such examples :

---- "No Mosquitoes , No Flys ..." -like Cultural Revolution & " 2 Children, or 1 Child Norm.." etc. in China may have some own drawbacks , but who can deny how these changes contributed to dramatic development of China as one of the strongest nations of the world.

---- Ideas of Dr. Norman Borlaug & Dr. Swaminathan with help of other eminent agricultural scientists brought "Green Revolution" in India .

---- Brilliance of Dr. Kurien's Team contributed to the success of cooperative movement in milk production known as "White Revolution" .

---- It would not be out of place to cite a recent such example of BJP's 'Mission 272+' for LOK SABHA 2014 led by a "CHAI WALA" s able team that contributed to an unexpected success during this 'coalition politics era' that stunned all political pundits !

Prime Minister Sir,

Since day 1 of the new NDA Govt. , your every action is under scanner - may it be your commitment to a corruption-free government , India's foreign policy , legislative businesses , appointment of honest persons ( like Sri Nripendra Mishra etc. ) at key positions even after facing so many odds .

All these welcome moves raise a hope of a Better Work Culture carved in 'Mission Mode' Time Frame .

But , it also poses some valid questions in our 'ignited minds' viz.

IN WHAT WAY THIS NEW "SWACHH BHARAT MISSION" SHALL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE ONGOING 'NIRMAL BHARAT ABHIYAN', NBA ( or the erstwhile, Sampoorn Swachhata Abhiyan , TSC ) ?

Shall it be 'the same wine in a new bottle' ??

Shall 'Making Undue Haste' Prove 'Another Waste' like ' LAMHON NE KHATAA KI THI , SADIYON NE SAZA PAAI' ???

Suffixing or Prefixing the word, "MISSION" to a Great idea or organization is not sufficient to realize a Mission .

In what way Thousands of existing "Sanitation & Water Missions" ( & Committees ) known as "PRAKALP " since decades right from the Centre to States to Districts to Villages across the country from Top to Bottom eg Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission; State Water & Sanitation Mission ( SWSM & SWSC ) ;District Water & Sanitation Mission ( DWSM & DWSC ) ; Village Water & Sanitation Mission ( VWSM & VWSC ) - all carrying out a 'tireless mission' to make India an "Open Defecation Free" Country since 1998 - in 'slipping & sliding back mode' -

Shall Do Something Very Different This Time in 2014 to complete "SWACHH BHARAT MISSION" by October 2 , 2019 ????

To achieve such missions within a definite time frame, we need some 'Non- Negotiable Instruments' like ,

"AMANTRAM AKSHARAM NAASTI,

NAASTI MOOLAM NA AUSHADHAM ।

AYOGYAH PURUSHO NAASTI -

YOJAKSTEN DURBHALAM ।।"

ie , " No Alphabet is without some capability to form a mantra ( every alphabet contributes in making Shlokas ) , No root or shrub is without some medicinal qualities ( every root & shrub has some medicinal quality ) ; likewise, NO PERSON IS INCOMPETENT - but,

RARE IS A CO-ORDINATOR WHO KNOWS EXACTLY HOW TO MIX THEM PROPERLY ". ( Courtesy : From some Sanskrit Text taught by my elder brother ) .

This is the Basics of all Missions & Managements .

How to work in a "Mission Mode' ? Mother Teresa , in an inter-personal communication during my early days in Govt. , had advised ,

" Always try to be Truthful ; & Do Not Conceal Truth while on a Mission even at the stake of inviting undesired personal hazards - the Almighty is there to save such truthful persons".

Clean Revolution without the means of 'SWACHH TAN- SWACHH MAN- SWACHH DHAN' ( purest Mix of Mind, Body & Soul ) cannot justify the ends of SWACHH BHARAT MISSION .

" SWACHH BHARAT MISSION ", therefore, is in need of a fresh 'Revisit' incorporating :-

----- An Integrated " RURBAN ( Rural + Urban ) Planning for 20-Span "Life Cycle" of Five Year Plan ( ie the Next 100 Years )

incorporating 8-fold Mantra ( " PASHYEM SHARADAH SHATAM ........" ) as described above ( *Atharva Veda, Section 19, Sukta 67 ) .

The New envisaged Apex Planning Institution ( which is likely to be replaced by the existing Planning Commission ) may kindly think to have a LOGO of the ' Vision ' conceived on this 8- fold Atharva Ved Mantra for fulfilling all the "Missions" based on the principles of An Integrated Sustainable Development ;

----- Immediate Legislation through extending & restructuring the scope of

PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT AS MANUAL SCAVENGERS AND THEIR REHABILITATION ACT, 2013

Through the Rehabilitation of a huge network of Lakhs of Manual Scavengers as "SAFAI SAINIKS" !

For realizing SWACHH BHARAT MISSION within the stipulated time . 'SAFAI SAINIKS '

must be an integral part of all the Missions to be constituted from Centre to Villages ( no intermediary or NGOs should be allowed to represent them ) ;

----- "If you peed on the road, you are either going to jail or / and fine or / and 3 months compulsory deployment as "Open SWACHHATA Prisoners " like legislation a must ;

Such an integrated Swachh Bharat Mission may prove 'Cutting Edge' for an exponentially improved Law & Order Situation not only in cities, towns & villages but even in & around disturbed Border/ Naxal-inflected areas of our country . This may create an effective 'community policing' consisting of Rag Pickers, Destitute 'Slum Dog Arjun Baghmares' ( the chaiwala child hero of the Hindi film, 'HAWA-HAWAII' ) .

The country is in dire need of some very effective "Radical Pragmatism" ( courtesy : J. Roth )

------- GoI Guidelines on Water & Sanitation pose more "Problems" than "Appropriate Solutions " . The List of Habitations & Problem Villages for water sector are based on imaginary & fuzzy ground realities being 'top owed' since Seventies by GoI & States . They are neither Truthful , nor have any scientifically measurable indicators to match Census Data of Revenue Villages .

Ongoing Practice of furnishing Component - wise Progress Reports of NBA or TSC ( Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan or Total Sanitation Campaign ) in numbers or percentage must be done away immediately as they lack accountability & transparency - in their place an effective monitoring & evaluation system based on 'Binary Scale of 0 & 1' ( 0 even if all components constructed -but not in proper use on consistent basis ; & 1 only when these assets created are in actual use & have been been adopted as consistent way of life by users ) - proper & effective such verification mechanism must be evolved for SWACHH BHARAT MISSION without losing precious time .

Now, when every household has got to be covered with proper sanitation & water facilities , simple scientifically measurable methodology needs to be put in place that may "cross check" water coverage with sanitation coverage for better monitoring & evaluation & also for curbing rampant corruption & manipulation . Govt. may think to avail of the services of international bodies like Water Integrity Network ( Transparency International etc. ) in consultation with Comptroller & Auditor General of India ( CAG ) for such purposes .

------ Some 40 years ago , one of my senior colleagues used to mock all Govt. Engineers with sarcasm by calling them "4 feet into 4 feet" creature - he meant our narrow minds - even till today I fail to understand why only 4 ft. by 4 ft. size toilets & other such narrow technological options are there for NBA or TSC ?

And, if so due to lack of space -- then,why not inventing "VACCUM FLUSHING TOILETS" like we find in aero planes & AIRBUS " ??

Likewise, I am never convinced by 'SULABH' Concept of "RURAL PAN" ! "Rural Pan" word irks me ; Can Pan India's 'Bumpkins' have no right to aspire for "Glamour rooms" - is it reserved only for Urbanized Antilias ?

And, if so for 'wise water policy', why not 'Wash Basin on the Top of Flush Tank as in Japan' to save wastage of water ??

There are many such small unsolved 'Rubrics Cubes' being overlooked by GoI's blue eyed Idea Crushers viz. "Bosses", "Big Mouths" & "The Subject Matter Experts" unless they are put together in a "Quarantine Group" by some Divine Charmer's 'Brain Steering' like that of yours !

( Courtesy : BRAIN STEERING : A Better Approach To Breakthrough Ideas, By

Kevin P. Coyne & Shawn T. Coyne )

Hon. Prime Minister , Sir !

The organizational structure , duties & assignments of Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation, Govt. of India "ARE PROGRAMMED" in such a way that ministers & bureaucrats would be coming & going , they shall never do things differently - they would continue to do the same set of things till eternity .

( The Agenda Notes for the Review Meetings of State Secretaries are testimony to these facts )

By & large, the situation in the States are no different .

The abstract of all these Review Meetings are focused on very limited purposes, "How much Allotment - How much Expenditure - How much Requirement- Give the Time Frame" etc. etc.

As such, I earnestly appeal you to monitor all the Review Meetings related to SWACHH BHARAT MISSION yourself - only then,you can fulfill Bapu's dreams of Clean India . Otherwise , Days, Months , Years & Decades Would continue to be wasted in playing such "ANTAKSHARI"s ( time pass ) as we have seen during the implementation of NBA/TSC .

( Here, it is worth mentioning that you , in your Independence Day speech , have urged all MPs to 'donate' their one year's allotted funds for School Sanitation . As the Records would speak for themselves - Department of Drinking Water Supply & Department of Human Resources Development had already allotted FULL FUNDS 'Dovetailing' Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan with School Sanitation , then why these MP's Funds again ? It raises suspicion that Funds Allotted for the purpose of School Sanitation previously have either been wasted,looted or plundered .

It's another matter how these 'public funds' have copyright of 'MP's Funds' - thanks to the then PM, PV Narasimha Rao's brilliance to 'allure MPs' through institutionalizing Bribe in disguise for saving Govt. in Power ! )

------ Nirmal Gram Puraskar - like great incentives have already boomeranged on us & have failed to serve the basic purpose of encouraging PRIs & NGOs to boost Nirmal BHARAT Abhiyan . Most of these Villages & Panchayats have 'Slipped back' from 'NGP's Awardees' to 'Back to Square Ones' Photoshops .

This reminds me a prophetic word by an eminent 'futurologist' friend from Maharashtra who had cautioned a decade ago at the very outset, " Very soon, you shall find 'Many more Merchants of Wastes minting 'Gold' from Human Excreta through the 'Paras Mani' ( The Touchstone ) of Nirmal Gram Puraskars ! Any such allurement , in my view , may prove too dangerous .

You could have integrated your "JAN-DHAN " Yojna into "SWACHH TAN-MAN-DHAN YOJNA" to promote "PURE HEALTH-WEALTH-EDUCATION" with a single stroke of your mighty pen to awake "JAN GAN MAN " of India for a Clean Revolution !

Can you do it , Sir , even now ?

-------- All GOI & State Guidelines Preach Community Participation & Behavioral Change but seldom Practice at their own Workplace . Charity must Begin , at least, in all Govt. Offices first, right from PMO to BDO's Offices .

Usually, most offices of developed nations ( With an exception of India's Govt. Offices ) have ultra modern Toilet Blocks for Men & Women ( like we find at Airports,or other such work places of WHO, Unicef, World Bank etc. ) ...... but India's "Sahebs" , right from PMO to BDOs have their own 'Private Toilets situated adjacent to their Office Cabins'. These 'Sahebs' have their own 'private doors' who seldom like to participate along with their subordinate staffs to use 'Commoner's Toilet Blocks' - such 'superiority complexes' Must Go at once !

Therefore, SWACHH BHARAT MISSION Must Have Mandatory Provision that "No Saheb - Big or Small, Shall Have the luxury of having access to any Private Toilet attached to their Office Chamber" - all such existing 'Saheb's Toilets' must be done away immediately converting those spaces for other meaningful purposes & suitable ultramodern toilet blocks for 'He' & 'Her' should be put in place to start & practice 'Community Fissions' in every 'Saheb's mindset !!

This one small change of Habit amongst all the Govt. high ups at their Workplaces ( including Legislative, Executive & Judiciary ) shall 'Kickstart' them to practice Mahatma Gandhi's ethos of 'Be the Change You Want to Change' inspiring Billion Souls for a Clean Revolution through out the Nation .

And, if the Govt. shirks, laughs , raises eyebrows & summarily reject to come forward leading from front, no God on Earth can come to make happen SWACHH BHARAT even in 100 Years more time ie. by 2nd October, 2119 !

------- Journey is a way of Learning. While on journey in trains during morning hours , we may always enchant ourselves by enjoying picturesque scenes of vast open fields surrounded by moving trees, bushes & 'Open Defecators ' across the lengths & breadths of India's vast railway network . Bigger the ailway junction, Greater the density of Open Defecators near the Outer Signals all along the railway tracks !

If 'Repulsion is the surer test of magnetism' , the Magnitude of Open Defecation near the outer signals of railway tracks can be "Remote Sensors" for SWACHH BHARAT MISSION .

So far, several Railway Journeys during morning hours from Pallakad to Thiru Anananthapuram seldom could find 'open Defecators ' unlike we find in many other regions .

Utilizing 'Outer Signals' , TV & Mobile Towers, High Mast Lamp posts etc. fitted with ultramodern electronic gadgets & CCTV Cameras to track & control Quality of Life related crimes in synergy with SWACHH BHARAT MISSION may prove very beneficial .

Similar Ideas of developing Innovative Monitoring Systems through utilizing the vast infrastructure across the Lanes , Roads & Highways, Waterways & Airways can bring about revolutionary changes in improving the precarious Quality of Life related problems .

------- HRD/ IEC / Capacity Building funds meant for Nirmal BHARAT Abhiyan ( or, TSC ) are being misused blatantly by the ministers, bureaucrats & other govt. functionaries etc. to serve their one selfish purposes ( we have seen some exceptions also like Raghuvansh Babu, the then Minister of Rural Development , GoI who always used to discourage the bad practice of spending huge funds on govt. advertisements with Ministers' photos etc. ) .

Outsourcing professionals & NGOs to carry out NBA/ TSC tasks in unscrupulous manners have created cartels of 'Babus, Netas, Dadas, Jholas & Thailas' ( names coined by the former Central Vigilance Commissioner , Sri N Vittal who described 'Five Elements of Corruption' consisting mainly of Bureaucrats, Politicians, Criminals, NGOs & Businessmen )

in a big way right from top to bottom of the system .

------- Reputed international bodies like Unicef, WSP , World Bank , DFID , SIDA , DANIDA, WHO, Global Sanitation Fund, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation etc. have always been keen to work as 'catalysts' for achieving the common goals of MDG . UNICEF has been working with Govt. since inception of all our water & sanitation programs - their excellent professional inputs used to be the focal point 'once upon a time' , which , in recent years have deteriorated , perhaps , due to growing 'bureaucratization' of their own system .

There is lack of coordination amongst these 'good Samaritans' with Govt. departments - 'too many cooks spoil the pot' like such situations create great chaos & confusion to achieve our goals .

There are many such areas having tremendous scope for improvement .

3) "MINIMUM GOVERNMENT , MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE" :-

Prime Minister, Sir !

Your catchy slogan of "Minimum Govt. , Maximum Governance' has inspired all of us . It has aroused hope that you are determined to curb huge colossal 'Tragedy of Waste'. If we sum up in late Nani Palkhivala's words,

" The tragedy of India today is is the tragedy of waste - waste of manpower , waste of industrial capacity , waste of talent & experience which can be harnessed to great national purposes . More than half of our laws & national policies seem to be well calculated to ensure the perpetuation of such waste . "

( Courtesy : "We, the People " by N. A. Palkhivala )

We do have full faith in your 'ignited innovative mind' but a Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world surrounded by people with the maxim of "MERA KYA , MUJHE KYA"- monsters are always muscling like KALIYA NAAGS ( Cobras ) in today's coalition era & 'vote bank' politics . As such, you need such divine power of Lord Krishna's calibre to curb & minimize such evils for a longer period of time . May the Almighty bless you to overpower such 'RAKT BEEZ' ( Cancerous Corrupt System ) sooner than we are imagining !

According to Dr. Vimal Jalan , the great economist & former RBI Governor, it requires an expenditure of Rs. 3.35 for Govt. to reach Rs. 1.00 in rural sector .

This reminded us of the ground realities studied by Dr. NC Saxena , the renowned administrator & former Secretary , Ministry of Rural Development , GoI :

" The Government of India transfers close to 6.5 lakh crore every year to the States. If even half of it was to be sent to the seven crore poor families directly by money order, they would receive more than 130 a day! "

( Courtesy : "Administrative Reforms for Better Governance" by Dr. NC Saxena )

Likewise , when we think in objectivity how much govt. money have been allocated in water & sanitation sector & how judiciously the expenditures have been made by the Govt. Functionaries , one can very well conclude that by this time , all BPL families would have been fully covered with proper water & sanitation facilities in a sustainable way by themselves had all those allocations would have transferred directly to the individual households in cash for labour & material components viz. pipes, hand pumps , bricks, cement , water closets etc. with the ' minimum facilitation ' by the government as being done by private mobile operators !

Can such arrangements be 'implementable' in a smooth manner by cutting govt. expenditure without inviting much ire from the existing corrupt & inefficient chain of bureaucratic system of governance ? Such 'Chicken & Egg' - like Catch 22 syndrome has got to be solved for the sake of 'Bottom of the Pyramid'

( it's though another matter that such 'divine wisdom' come to govt. servants only after their retirement )

"The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" is a revolutionary idea invented by Dr. C.K. Prahalad & seems fulfilling the ethos of 'Minimum Government , Maximum Governance" .

It is an important and insightful work showing persuasively how the private sector can be put at the center of development , not as a rhetorical flourish but as a real engine of jobs & services for the poor .

It is an idea of Inclusive Capitalism . Lokmanya Tilak , in Geeta Rahasya , has articulated how necessary it is for every citizen to prosper by earning white money - only then, the whole nation can be strong . According to Dr. CK Prahalad, 80% Poor people who are at the Bottom of the Pyramid are NOT WARDS OF THE STATE as generally perceived by Politicians , Bureaucrats & Handful of Effluent Society - DON'T SHOWER PITY ON THEM - THEY ARE "CO-CREATORS" . The four to five billion people at the Bottom of the Pyramid can help redefine what "GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE " is . The poor must become active , informed, Poverty reduction can result from co-creating market around the needs of the poor.

The Process must start with respect for Bottom of the Pyramid consumers as individuals . The process of co-creation assumes that consumers are equally important joint problem solvers - actually , they are Mahatma Gandhi's 'TALISMAN' !

New and creative approaches are needed to convert poverty into an opportunity for all concerned . This challenge must begin in all developmental programs including SWACHH BHARAT MISSION .

All barriers & bottlenecks of APL-BPL- CASTE - CREEED -COMMUNITY-MEN-WOMEN -URBAN- RURAL etc. Must be Unshackled without losing even a moment & "An United Partnership of CO-CREATORS " should be put in place to realize our Mission .

Market Principles of the Success Story in Mobile Telephony etc. are to be replicated in the areas of SWACHH BHARAT MISSION also .

As W. B. Yeats wrote, "There's more enterprise in walking naked" - let Aamir Khan's "PK"-suspense ends with the learning morals of an 'Open Defecation Free' India !

With all these words , I earnestly request & appeal you to kindly look into the matter as stated in this open letter addressed to you .

It is my personal request that this letter posted on your website may kindly be treated as "REGISTERED POST" so that a senior ordinary citizen like me may truly believe in "DIGITAL INDIA" .

For any inadvertent mistake in this letter , you may kindly forgive me .

Finally , With All the Best Wishes , I pray to the Almighty for your perfect health, happiness & prosperity ,

May Swami Vivekananda's Kathopanishada Blessings of

"UTTISHTHATA JAAGRAT PRAAPYA VARAN NIBODHATA"

( Arise , Awake , Reach Out .......till you find your Goal ) Be Always With You !

ENCLOSURE : My Letter in Hindi dated 29-07-2014

With Esteemed Regards ,

Sincerely Yours,

Nagesh Chandra Mishra

Former Engineer-in-Chief ,

Drinking Water & Sanitation Department , Jharkhand

Present Address : "SYAMANTAK" , Adarsh Colony

West Patel Nagar , PATNA - 800023

Email : [email protected]

Sent from my iPad

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wazafam · 3 years ago

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The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had several interconnected story arcs and bad guys, but hid its real villain in plain sight. That's because the guiding principle behind its various narrative strands was fealty - a pledge of service or membership - being failed or betrayed. The defeat of the nominal villains - the Flag-Smashers - is not triumphant but melancholic, and Captain America's speech in the final episode decries the failures and betrayals that led to the Flag-Smashers' extremes. The Flag-Smashers were failed by the GRC (which the United States was taking a leading role in), in much the same way that Isaiah Bradley, John Walker, Sharon Carter, and Sam Wilson were failed by their respective branches of service.

Traditionally, fealty has to be answered with loyalty - a pledge to serve the interests of a group or government which has obligations on behalf of the group being pledged to. When this does not happen, the wronged party may seek redress, or pursue other options - like Sharon Carter, becoming the Power Broker. They may also fear future treatment along the same lines, like Isaiah Bradley pretending to be dead, or respond with anger, like John Walker facing his court marshal and other-than-honorable discharge. Even if they still wish to serve, such a betrayal is not easily forgotten; both Bucky and Sam show that they're very aware of what the government had done and was willing to do.

Related: Isaiah Bradley Created A S.H.I.E.L.D. & Winter Soldier Plot Hole

The characters in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier often come to odds; what they share in common is that most of them are case studies of what happens when fealty goes unrecognized and unreturned. This furthers a theme introduced in Captain America: Civil War, where consequences arise from sweeping government action overlooking the importance of individuals. This once again sets up the government (or government bodies such as the GRC) as a form of villain that can't be defeated through violence.

Isaiah Bradley's opinion changed about Sam Wilson becoming Captain America, but the fate that befell him following his service to his country was unfair and unjust. Sharon Cater might be scorned for putting her espionage skills to use as a thief, fence, and Power Broker, but it's also easy to see the source of her indignation. After all, "Team Captain America" was awarded pardons and forgiveness for resisting the Sokovia Accords, and she was not. John Walker wasn't wrong when he said that he was what the government had made him - and if that wasn't what they wanted Captain America to be, their choice reflected poorly on them.

As early as Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the idea that government systems did not interact well with superheroes was an underlying theme. The government might have set up a PR campaign for people to like John Walker as Captain America, but did not account for the differences between a good soldier and a superhero. In burning him - rather than showing compassion for both his loss and his difficulty in coping with it - they betrayed the promise that went beyond his status as a soldier. The government failed to acknowledge their own culpability of putting someone who was still dealing with psychiatric issues following his deployment into a high-stakes, high-risk environment, and then blamed him when things went wrong.

The Flag-Smashers were made up of displaced persons and refugees that had created homes and lives for themselves. When a humanitarian crisis loomed, these people were not merely displaced, but dismissed - for all that their actions hurt the people returning, their grievance was against the governments that had made them welcome. They would reasonably have expected to be treated as citizens in their new countries. Instead, the Flag-Smashers ended up as enemies to the places that they had called home for years, and where they had previously been members of communities and of a society.

Related: Civil War Set Up (& Explained) Bucky’s List In Falcon & Winter Soldier

Although the story of the Flag-Smashers got inexorably intertwined with the Super Soldier Serum that they stole, their complaint was legitimate. It is generally considered among the highest priorities of a government to protect the people that it serves and represents. In failing to do so, it created its own antagonist, and while the Global Repatriation Council was ostensibly trying to seek a middle ground, it cannot be denied that it did so in favor of the people who vanished in the Blip. It was by no means an easy task to complete, but that does little to assuage the feeling of betrayal that someone who had been so displaced would experience.

Some of the betrayals of trust that government bodies caused were active, like jailing Isaiah Bradley for actions that mirrored Steve Rogers'. More subversive, however, were the betrayals of trust that came from a simple lack of action. It was not spite that led to Sharon Carter not receiving a pardon for assisting Captain America and the Falcon - there is no indication that she was thought of at all. When Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson received pardons and tacit forgiveness for standing up against the government, she was simply forgotten. John Walker, as mentioned before, was a victim of a government more interested in his appearance as Captain America than his fitness for the role. Even Sam and Bucky simply fell between the cracks, with Sam not having any kind of financial history to support his family, and Bucky receiving well-meaning but insufficient mental health treatment.

The anarchy that followed the Blip at the end of Endgame set off a world crisis that affected the lives of billions. As the most pressing problem being addressed by any national or world government organization, it should be the primary priority of every such body. Captain America notes the ease with which they can accomplish monumental feats; the ability to rally aid and support on a global scale should make even the daunting task of addressing this humanitarian crisis manageable. Nevertheless, there is no sense that there was any intention to do so prior to Captain America's speech and intervention.

The actions that were taken by major characters throughout the series reflect a sense of disillusionment. With their expectations of support betrayed, they don't know who they are or what they should be doing. John Walker received a pardon, but only knew being a soldier; Sharon Carter didn't receive a pardon, and had other uses for her abilities as a spy. Sam and Bucky were both adrift following the battle with Thanos, and the Flag-Smashers enacted violence against a world that told them that they had no place in it. While there was no shortage of antagonists in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, by betraying the fealty that was shown to them, the government councils and forces ended up as the villains.

Next: Sam Wilson's Shield Throwing Is More Impressive Than Steve Rogers

How Falcon & Winter Soldier Hid Its Real Villain In Plain Sight from https://ift.tt/3fFqXWP

#Blogger

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thatsonemorbidcorvid · 3 years ago

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The Royal Academy of Arts has apologised to artist Jess de Wahls after her work was withdrawn from its gift shop following comments she previously made about sex and gender in 2019.

Textile artist De Wahls, who is originally from Berlin creates intricate embroideries and, according to her official website, “tackles subjects as wide ranging as feminism, misogyny & fetishism combined with creative textile recycling in her prolific output”.

In a statement to the PA news agency, the Royal Academy said: “There has been a great deal of debate around the RA’s recent communication about no longer stocking the work of Jess de Wahls in the Royal Academy shop. We have thought long and hard since then about this and the wider issues it raises.

“One thing is clear to us now – we should have handled this better. We have apologised to Jess de Wahls for the way we have treated her and do so again publicly now. We had no right to judge her views on our social media. This betrayed our most important core value – the protection of free speech.

“There was also a failure of communications internally which resulted in Jess de Wahls first hearing via social media that we would no longer stock her product in the RA shop. We will now reopen discussions with her regarding the restocking of her work.

“Plurality of voices, tolerance and free thinking are at the core of what we stand for and seek to protect. These events raise some fundamental issues. Freedom of expression can open up debate, create empathy or respect for difference, it can also at times cause hurt and outrage. This has confirmed to us our commitment to freedom of expression and to addressing complex issues through engagement and debate.

“We will continue to reflect on this and to look at our internal processes to ensure we learn from it. We want to make sure we navigate this better in future”.

It comes after the artist said earlier this week that she had noticed “a mob” being “mounted against” her on social media following a blog published in 2019.

The comments led to accusations of transphobia, which the artist denied.

Her embroidery work was removed from the Royal Academy gift shop, with the artist saying she was contacted by officials from the academy, who told her they were investigating, and she had responded.

The Royal Academy had posted a message on its Instagram stories saying: “Thank you to all those for bringing an item in the RA shop by an artist expressing transphobic views to our attention.”

Earlier this week, De Wahls told BBC Radio 4: “They contacted me the day after they posted it on social media. There was no point to that conversation… I don’t know what they were looking for.”

In the blog post on her website, written in 2019 and headlined ‘Somewhere over the rainbow, something went terribly wrong…’, the artist wrote she wanted to “articulate my personal beliefs, so that I can defend and advocate for them.

“I feel no animosity towards people who hold different beliefs to me, be they religious, gender identity ideology or any other kind of faith, and I hope you can extend the same courtesy to me”.

In the lengthy post, she explained: “I have no issue with somebody who feels more comfortable expressing themselves as if they are the other sex (or in whatever way they please for that matter).

“However, I cannot accept people’s unsubstantiated assertions that they are in fact the opposite sex to when they were born and deserve to be extended the same rights as if they were born as such.”

An artist whose work was withdrawn from the gift shop at the Royal Academy of Arts in London has said she wants an apology and may pursue legal action over the decision.

Jess De Wahls said she noticed “a mob” being “mounted against” her on social media following comments she made about sex and gender in 2019.

In a blog post on her website, she wrote: “I have no issue with somebody who feels more comfortable expressing themselves as if they are the other sex (or in whatever way they please for that matter).

Following the backlash, she said she was contacted by officials from the Academy, who told her they were investigating, and she had responded.

However, De Wahls claimed she found out the following day that her work would no longer be stocked after friends sent her screenshots posted on the Academy’s Instagram stories, which announced the decision, and only received a call from the institution after that.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said she would like an apology.

“They frantically tried to call me the day they realised that was a really bad PR decision,” she said. “They contacted me the day after they posted it on social media. There was no point to that conversation… I don’t know what they were looking for.”

Asked if she would pursue a recourse in law if she did not get an apology, she said: “I might do. But, to be honest with you, right now, I have the feeling that there is a hope within that institution, which is mind-boggling to me, that this just will go away… my inbox and the feedback I’ve been getting from the general public is quite the opposite.

“This isn’t going away. This is a conversation that needs to happen, it needs to happen in public. They will have to talk eventually.”

Discussing her views further, she said: “The only thing I can say to that is I have compassion for the journey they’re going through, but I can’t make myself believe something I don’t believe to be true.

“I find it interesting that in this entire conversation we now talk about the nature of biological sex, that there’s only two sexes, as an opinion. When has that become an opinion? This is the bit where it doesn’t remove my compassion from that person, but I don’t exist to validate other people’s idea of themselves.”

De Wahls specialises in textile pieces and often features designs involving women, ovaries and flowers.

The Royal Academy has been contacted for comment.

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averyscarlet-blog · 4 years ago

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Percy’s Story Pt. 1

The Naive Knight

Warning: Slightly R-18

Theme(s): Coming of Age, Power & Corruption

Type: Original Story

Featured Original Character(s): Perseus/Percy and Rei

Other Character(s): Rayner, Jankin, Tybaut

Inspiration: The Tale of King Arthur

Summary: Not everyone gets the chance to obtain what others have sought for for years. In Perseus's case, he was able to obtain everything he was looking for. But at what cost? Was there truly no other way to obtain one's knighthood? That's what he asked himself. By the time he had obtained what he sought for, many of his closest friends had died in his place, backstabbed by someone he almost viewed as a brother.

Since I was a child, my grandfather had always wanted me to achieve great things. Far greater than my father, him, and his father before him. There was only one thing I could think of that could place my name in history, and that's by taking over Camelot. The Saxons failed because of the lack of proper equipment to fight against the Britons strong defense. The only reason the King fell was because his failure to properly maintain his important bonds, especially with his own queen and his most trusted Knight. I could rule the land King Arthur and his Knights had sacrificed their lives in protecting, bring the peace they dreamed of. With the recent loss of their monarch, the kingdom is open for the taking, anyone could claim the throne if they want. Aside from that, there is another issue to be dealt with, the remaining knights of the round table.

Without their King to guide them, they became a flock of lost little sheep. I’m not even certain if they are willing to allow anyone, let alone an outsider, take the throne. In order to gain their trust, I need the very reason they followed King Arthur.

All I needed to do was tearch for the weapon that once acted as a beacon of light, the weapon that made many kneel before its bearer and slew those that went against them. Excalibur. The magical blade which was lost after the Battle of Camlann. I’ve heard stories of where it was left, but the only person that I know is still breathing and out in the open that could tell me. And that person is the former Queen of Camelot, Guinevere. Last I heard, she was taking up residence in a convunt. If all else fails, I have to locate the so-called powerful wizard himself, Merlin.

He disappeared into the magical forest, Brocéliande, after the King's death. In order to start my journey, to test if I'm truly strong enough to face such trials, I had to fight and kill my grandfather. I didn't want to, but he was right, I'll be facing foes far stronger than him on my journey, and if I want to prepare for such encounters, I have face of someone that I'm on the same level as. And that's my grandfather. Before we started, he told me to put a blindfold on. I didn't understand why I needed one, especially since I have long since passed that part of my training, but I did as I was told. My grandfather wasn’t as young as anyone initially believed him to be, though I can understand why.

Despite being in his eighties, his platinum blonde hair never turned gray, the skin of his was almost absent of any age lines, and most curious of all, remained just as strong after all those years. Honestly, whenever I compare myself to him, appearance and personality-wise, I had some difficulty believing that we were of the same blood. Hell, I even questioned his age. He was rambunctious, a flirt, short tempered man that rarely acted as an adult when around strangers. The fact he could hardly hold his alcohol after two cups reminded me of myself when I was younger. I could hardly drink through half a cup on my first try. I could hardly get through half a cup.

Still, despite his flaws, people were always drawn to him. I could never tell if they were attracted to his personality, that large grin he wears even in battle, or both. An oddly youthful-looking elderly man who held the valor and pride of a knight; and is also one of the strongest swordsman in all the land.

That’s how I always viewed him as, until my sword pierced through his armor. It was only a split second, but when he accidentally sliced the cloth from my face, the same mysterious eye color we both shared was filled with grief. By the time I realized what I had just done, I had already plunged my sword in his heart. I can still recall the surge of emotions I felt that day. My only issue was I didn’t know how to express them all at the same time. The one thing I could stare down at his bleeding corpse with expressionless eyes.

My entire body felt numb. My mind was clouded, only his face appeared in my thoughts on repeat. I don’t even know how long I’d been standing there, watching as the pool of blood began to reach my feet.

Only my eyes knew how to react, and that was by crying the same tears as my grandfather. Despite dying with a smile, for the first time since my father’s death, he cried. Not because he was going to die, he cried because he was going to leave me by myself. That when I realized the true purpose behind my blindfold. It was to hide the fact that he was holding back by using his non-dominant arm. It was to keep me from seeing his true feelings, preventing from feeling any remorse for pointing my blade at him. He wanted me to be free of such feelings, to walk the path he had laid out for me.

He wasn’t the strongest knight. He was a simple man that, rather than wasting his life by serving under a crown, chose to use his strength to protect others, use his charm to lift the spirits of many. Upon performing the burial rites, I raised my sword and vowed to follow his example. I may not be successful, I may even scare off several people for trying too hard to be like him, but I will in memory of him. Although I do not know what has happened in Camelot since King Arthur’s passing, but I had hoped the Knights of the Round table were able to maintain some form of stability when I arrive.

Sadly, it wasn’t the case. When I arrived, everything was in a disarray. Poverty riddled the land as far as the eye can see. Homes appeared as it they would crumble from even the slightest touch. Shops were either abandoned, destroyed, or had little to no customers inside. I had hoped to encounter at least one patrolling soldier that could point me in the right direction, but all I met were apprehensive stares and fearful cries when approached. I can understand if the Knights of the Round table had some difficulty maintaining certain parts of the kingdom, but never in my dreams did I imagine things to turn out like this. As I wondered around what I assume was the marketplace, I ran into a girl, an exotic one at that.

She had partially dark skin, silky brown hair and... Yellow eyes. The same color as mine and my grandfather. I didn’t have the chance to approach her as I was taken by her striking beauty. Her outlandish appearance did help me chase after her, but when I was so close to reaching her, she disappeared. I’ve never seen anyone with such an appearance before in my life. Could I be a descendant of her people? I hope that once I obtain my sword I am able to find her.

As I resumed my search for answers, I stumbled upon a church. It was the only structure that was properly maintained. In hopes of receiving a point in the right direction, I met with the priest and prodded as much as I was allowed. And ironically, the woman I was hoping to meet enters the church. Despite no longer adorning the attire of a noble and only wearing black clothing, she carried herself with high regard as she walked into the room. The way she moved, the way she maintained a neutral face, it’s no wonder she was chosen as Queen. Her beauty was not as well described from the stories I heard.

From what I know, many had approached King Arthur, begging, hoping they’d look their way. The only one that was able to capture his attention was Guinevere, whom he met after helping King Leodegrance defeat a rival king. When I approached her, I had recalled her past; her affair with Sir Lancelot. I felt ashamed to approach her with the sole intent of finding her deceased husband’s sword. She was clearly still grieving, hence the pulled back veil and the black dress. While I do not know the details that led to the end of the affair, I am certain that many still hold some malice towards the former Queen for her ‘betrayal’ towards the King’s feelings.

Still, with a nervous breath through the nostrils, I greeted, “How fair thee Your Majesty.”

Taken aback at the formal address, she merely laughs. “Your Majesty... it’s been quite a long time since I was called such a title.”

“Ah... I’m sorry...” I apologized and bowed my head.

“There’s no need to apologize. I’m simply merely pleased to know there are still others that hold me in such high regard.” Her smile, although real, held a hidden sadness. “I see you’re a swordsman,” she noted.

“Y-Yes!” I stammer, failing to hide the two weapons which hung from my hip.

“May I see them?” Guinevere requests.

I do so without objection. At first, I felt a surge of pride when I handed her my blade. I made it myself when grandfather had me become an apprentice of a blacksmith, hoping it would put some muscle in my previously thin arms. The sword had a basket-shaped guard with a blade almost similar to a rapier.

“My, what an interesting sword... I can tell just how much love was put into its creation.”

I felt a little bashful at the comment. When I was about to reach for the other, I hesitated. My grandfather’s broadsword. Even if he was holding back, it’s a wonder how I was able to fight against him. After exchanging weapons, I panicked when she suddenly began to cry.

“This is.... Rayner’s weapon.”

Realizing that she knew my grandfather, I bitterly took advantage of the situation and told her of my heritage and my purpose for travelling to Camelot. She wasn’t upset as I had anticipated nor was she disappointed. Rather, she seemed relatively calm to learn someone was searching for her husband’s blade with the sole intention of taking the throne. I could have lied to her, but I felt I had an obligation to be truthful towards her after learning she had known my grandfather. She was saddened to learn of his recent passing, but she understood his reasons.

Guinevere admitted that while she doesn’t know what had happened to the sword, she knows who was the person present for when he drew his last breath. Sir Bedivere. That was all I wanted to know. Not wanting to linger any longer, I said my farewells and took my leave.

Before I did, she called out, “If you happen to encounter Lancelet during your journey, please tell him... I’m sorry.”

I stopped midway from the door. I told her, “I may not know what had happened between you three nor do I want to know the reasons. As a man inexperienced in love, I may yet understand what had led you to make the decisions to did back then, or I may never will. I do know this, if you truly love someone, you do not give up on them and wait. I’m certain Lancelot is waiting for you somewhere, so rather than having a stranger pass on the message, please face him yourself.”

My search for Sir Bedivere was far more challenging that locating the former Queen; his whereabouts were unknown. Everywhere I went, no one knew exactly where he is. They didn't even know where he lives. All I heard were rumors; rumors that did not match up or make any logical sense. The most outrageous one I heard was that he had travelled across the neverending sea to fight against mythical creatures in honor of the king. On my way, I met various people along my travels. While many still saw me as a mere boy, they respected my skills with the sword during combat.

Eventually, I made several friends along the way, some of them agreeing to join my journey. Jankin, born from a line of knights, was the oldest but not the wisest man. He always picked fights left and right, even when sober. That’s how we met, inside a tavern completely before we ended up butting heads for no particular reason. Even now, I still have no idea how I invited him to join, he just approached me after my hangover and told me he was ready for the quest. Tybaut was a well-known thief of the next village I visited. He attempted to steal mine and Jankin’s swords, but the man, just as quick as he is in drinking a mug of beer, snatches back longsword before he got far. He was a surpisingly lean man for someone that could move so swiftly.

Instead of arresting him, I offered him to join our party. Since I had unknowingly invited Jankin while drunk, I thought it’d make sense to expand our numbers. Plus, I saw what happened to criminals when caught, they lose their hands. While I understand the reasons, I found no justice in such a cruel act. I promised to provide all of his needs so long as he swears to never steal for himself ever again. He was uncertain at first, especially since I was still a teen, but he agrees and joins us. The last two were siblings, brothers in fact.

One of them would become my long time best friend, as well as one of my greatest foes.

#Original story #long post #Original Character #Backstory #coming of age

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cutsliceddiced · 5 years ago

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New top story from Time: ‘Our Work Is Not Finished.’ Nancy Pelosi Is Trying to Save America’s Economy—Again

Nancy Pelosi was getting impatient. It was mid-March, and the House Speaker and her staff were working around the clock to draft urgent legislation to address the coronavirus pandemic. But the White House was dragging its feet: she hadn’t heard back from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, her negotiating partner, in more than 12 hours.

Pelosi told Mnuchin the delay was unacceptable, and he got the message. The next morning, he boasted to Pelosi that his staff had been up until 4 a.m. putting the finishing touches on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, providing funding for free testing, paid leave and expanded food stamps.

“I’m not impressed,” Pelosi replied. “We do it all the time.”

As the pandemic takes tens of thousands of lives and tens of millions of jobs, a Congress known for dysfunction has kicked into gear. Four massive bills with a price tag of nearly $3 trillion have sought to aid the sick, shore up the health care system, and ease the burden on workers and businesses. It’s the biggest federal outlay in history, dwarfing the response to the 2008 financial crisis, and as Speaker, Pelosi is naturally at the center of it. Before the ink was dry on the latest $484 billion small-business rescue package, she was on the phone trying to make the next deal to aid state and local governments whose budgets have been ravaged by the crisis. As Representative Karen Bass, a California Democrat, told Politico recently, “Quiet as it’s kept, she’s the one leading the country right now.”

Precisely because it required a frozen government to act, the pandemic has put Pelosi’s legislative talents on urgent display. It’s a fitting capstone to her historic three-decade career. Many congressional scholars consider Pelosi the most adept lawmaker of the past half-century, measuring her record of society-shaping legislation against the backdrop of the most partisan and gridlocked Congress in decades. While Republicans accuse her of obstruction, and some on the left accuse her of giving away the store, Pelosi believes she’s maximized her leverage at a time when inaction is not an option.

The legislative prowess Pelosi has exhibited during the crisis was honed in years of negotiations, often with the fate of the economy hanging in the balance. As Speaker from 2007 to 2011, she was instrumental in the U.S. response to the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. As minority leader from 2011 to 2017, she forged deals in the high-stakes budget battles between President Obama and congressional Republicans.

For my new biography, Pelosi, I spent more than two years researching the Speaker’s life and career. I conducted more than 100 interviews with critics and supporters, activists and operatives, current and former staff, and dozens of current and former members of Congress from across the political spectrum. It’s the first biography the Speaker has cooperated with, offering extensive access to Pelosi and her inner circle. I found her to be someone everybody has an opinion about but few really know. Republicans have spent tens of millions of dollars over the past decade caricaturing her as a “San Francisco liberal,” while Democrats who once fought for her ouster have embraced her as a Resistance queen.

The woman who ripped up Trump’s State of the Union speech and led the most partisan impeachment in history is a loyal Democrat, but deep down she’s a dealmaker–an old-school legislator whose primary focus is getting things done through negotiation and compromise. Pelosi’s lodestar is securing the votes to deliver results. “Who would have thought Congress could pass four major pieces of legislation in the span of a month with overwhelming bipartisan support?” says former Representative Donna Edwards of Maryland, a onetime Pelosi lieutenant. “You can see it both in her command of the substance and also her command of the process. She’s not a politician; she’s a lawmaker.”

Since Pelosi arrived in Congress in 1987, America has embraced and endured massive change. But no one has ever dealt with anything quite like this–a double-barreled public-health and economic crisis of unprecedented proportions. In what’s likely the twilight of Pelosi’s historic career, a lot is riding on her ability to deliver the votes once again.

Sarah Silbiger—Bloomberg/Getty Images Pelosi, addressing the media on March 27, has been at the center of a rare burst of bipartisan legislation

This is not the first time Nancy Pelosi has been called on to help a Republican President save the U.S. economy from collapse. On Sept. 18, 2008, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson called Pelosi with panic in his voice. “A very serious situation is developing,” he said. The investment bank Lehman Brothers had declared the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The Federal Reserve and the Administration had done all they could, Paulson said. They needed help from Congress–fast.

The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) would allow the Fed to buy up banks’ “toxic assets,” stabilizing their debt loads so they wouldn’t go broke. The plan would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. It was odious to both parties: Republicans hated the idea of government meddling so drastically in the economy (and spending so much taxpayer money to do it), while Democrats were loath to clean up the mess they blamed President George W. Bush for causing.

Over a week of intense negotiations, Congress and the Administration hammered out a bill. Pelosi and her GOP counterpart, John Boehner, made a deal: Boehner would come up with 100 Republican votes, and the Democrats would make up the rest–at least 118. Pelosi did her part: 140 of the 235 Democrats voted yes. But on the Republican side, just 65 of 198 were in favor, and the bill went down. The Dow’s 778-point fall was the biggest one-day loss in history at the time, wiping out $1.2 trillion in wealth.

A week later, Pelosi brought a new bill to the floor, a compromise worked out in the Senate. It passed, 263-71, with 172 Democrats and 91 Republicans in favor. She had played a pivotal role in saving the U.S. economy from catastrophe–and bailed Bush out, for the good of the country, at enormous political risk.

After Barack Obama won the election a few weeks later, the economy was still reeling, shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs every month. Obama wanted the House to put together a stimulus bill he could sign on his very first day in office. The price tag would be huge. The White House sought about $800 billion in stimulus–bigger than TARP. As a share of GDP, it would be the largest public investment in U.S. history.

Obama tried to reach out to the GOP, even though Pelosi warned he was being naive. Charlie Dent, a moderate from Pennsylvania, was among the Republicans invited to watch the Super Bowl at the White House, where his wife chatted with Michelle and his kids played with Sasha and Malia Obama. In the end, Dent voted against the bill–and blamed Pelosi. “I believe the President was absolutely sincere in looking for a bipartisan outcome,” he told Newsweek. “But the White House lost control of the process when the bill was outsourced to Pelosi.”

Every single House Republican voted against the stimulus, as did 11 Democrats. But it still passed by a healthy margin. The key to Obama’s triumph had been not his ability to reach across the aisle, but Pelosi’s skill at holding her caucus together.

Over the ensuing two years, Pelosi helped Obama pass the Affordable Care Act, providing universal access to health insurance–something Democrats had been trying and failing to achieve for the better part of a century. In the 2010 midterms, Republicans cast her as the villain, spending $70 million on ads that tied Democratic candidates to her. The chairman of the Republican National Committee embarked on a 117-city “Fire Pelosi” bus tour. It worked: in November, the GOP won 63 seats and the majority.

Pelosi stayed on as minority leader as Obama and the new Speaker, Boehner, tried to figure out a way to strike a grand bargain to balance the country’s books and restore Americans’ trust in government. When Pelosi found out about the talks, she was publicly critical of Obama’s willingness to cut entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, totemic achievements of past Democratic administrations that had rescued millions from penury and sickness. Privately, she assured Obama that if he needed her, she would be there. But who, she wanted to know, was counting votes? Republicans, she suspected, were just going through the motions, waiting to blame it on the President when the deal fell apart. Within a couple of weeks, that was exactly what happened.

On the eve of a national default that could have shaken the market and sent the fragile economy spiraling, Congress took over the talks. The solution congressional leaders came up with wasn’t pretty: no entitlement reform, no new taxes, but the formation of a bipartisan “supercommittee” that would have 10 weeks to come up with more than a trillion dollars in cuts and revenue. Failure to do so would trigger automatic across-the-board cuts to the entire federal budget. Pelosi, now at the table, secured important concessions: the trigger would hit defense spending just as hard as domestic spending, and there would be no changes to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. Democrats hated the deal–Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a pastor from Kansas City, Mo., called it a “sugar-coated Satan sandwich”–but the bill passed with 95 Democratic votes.

This pattern would define the remainder of the Obama presidency: a cycle of crisis, featuring marginalized Democrats, recalcitrant Republicans, a White House unwilling or unable to strategize around them, and a government that could barely keep the lights on, much less solve any of the nation’s pressing problems. Another recurring feature of this depressing cycle: Pelosi, the congressional leader with the longest track record of reaching across the aisle, was routinely cast aside. When she forced her way into the room, problems generally got solved. But it didn’t seem to occur to the men in charge to invite her in the next time.

Pelosi’s current efforts have a political goal: as the November election nears, she wants to show that Democrats are focused on governing responsibly. It’s why she’s urged the party’s candidates to focus on kitchen-table issues and realistic plans; it’s also why she resisted impeachment for the better part of a year, then pushed for a short and simple process.

“The message has to be one that is not menacing,” she told me in December, when both impeachment and the presidential primary were in full swing. “People love change, but they also are menaced by it.” The liberal platform that resonates in her San Francisco district, she said, may not go over as well in swing states like Michigan that Democrats need to win the Electoral College. She cited single-payer health care as an example: “I think it’s menacing to say to people, in order to get this tomorrow, we’re taking away your private insurance.”

Pelosi’s political future isn’t something she talks about–when I mentioned the idea of the “twilight” of her career, she snapped at me–but in 2018, she accepted a term-limit agreement that would force her to step down in 2022. Privately, as I reveal for the first time in the book, she told confidants at the time that she expected the current term to be her last.

The legacy she leaves will be a complex one. As the first female Speaker, she shattered the “marble ceiling,” but her dreams of a woman President were dashed in 2016 and 2020, and she leaves no obvious female successor. She cites the Affordable Care Act as her greatest achievement, but Republicans have succeeded in undermining it and Democrats argue it doesn’t go far enough. Despite her willingness to deal, Congress is a gridlocked mess with dismally low approval ratings.

When I asked Pelosi what she still wants to accomplish, she pointed to the problem of income inequality and the “existential threat” of climate change. Pelosi’s House passed a cap-and-trade bill in 2009, but it never advanced in the Senate; save for a resolution last year in favor of the Paris Agreement, it remains the only major climate legislation ever to pass a house of Congress.

“Our work is not finished,” she said, “when it comes to improving the lives of the American people.”

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

#Time #top stories #IFTTT #news

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thechasefiles · 5 years ago

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 14/2/2020

Good Morning #realdreamchasers ! Here is your daily news cap for Friday February 14th, 2020. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Weekend Nation Newspaper (WN).

EDUCATION MINISTRY WARNED ABOUT IGNORING UNION – The “stench of physical rot and infrastructural decay” at Vauxhall Primary is bad. But it’s not the worst case of environmental issues affecting learning institutions across the island, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) has warned. In the wake of a rat infestation problem, substandard bathroom facilities and other environmental issues which have captured public attention, the union has condemned the Ministry of Education’s attitude and approach as “untenable and unacceptable”. And, unless “proactive changes” are made in “short order”, the union is threatening to bring a slew of other unhealthy and unsafe existing situations to the public’s attention. “We are most keenly aware that the conditions at Vauxhall recently made known to Barbadians, do not represent the worst conditions we can identify,” the union said Thursday in a statement. But despite the Education Minister, Santia Bradshaw’s visit yesterday at Vauxhall during a planned “silent protest” by teachers, the union accuses the ministry of ignoring several pieces of correspondence outlining numerous cases of unhealthy environment in schools. The BUT warned: “We will be forced to make the unhealthy, unsafe and unsecured school plants known in the absence of the ministry’s repeated failure to engage the union as requested. “These developments are not consistent with “a talking government”, what is deemed “fit for purpose” or the best managerial practices. There must be dialogue and feedback forms a critical part in dialogue. Without dialogue, conditions will not be satisfactorily addressed in a meaningful manner,” the statement charged. Looking back on issues which resulted in the 2006 closure of Louis Lynch Secondary as well as Society Primary and Chalky Mount Primary being condemned, the BUT complained that signs of decay at a number of schools built in the 1990’s like All Saints Primary, Lester Vaughn and Queen’s College continue to be affected by “systemic neglect”. “This continues today, unchecked, given there is little evidence of guidelines in terms of the maintenance or inspection of the physical infrastructure of public schools; whether older or newer; structures be wooden, coral stone or wall; nursery, primary, secondary or tertiary; in town or the country; or housing a large or small roll,” said the union. “Certain schools have endured the brunt of extreme neglect while others have been better maintained where parents possess the wherewithal. Some businesses have also supported these efforts from time to time and they must be commended,” the statement said. But given Government’s mandate to oversee the health and safety of stakeholders at all public schools, the union has been disappointed with recommendations made to the Prime Minister and the Social Partnership, which appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Zeroing in on issues of safety, the union indicated it is still awaiting a promised increase in “psychosocial support staff” in the form of guidance counsellors, which the union agreed to introduce after extended meetings with education stakeholders last May. The statement acknowledged that agitation by the BUT led to a summer maintenance programme by the Ministry of Education which resulted in physical issues at 40 primary schools and 10 secondary schools being addressed. However, that number, and more particularly the quantum and quality of the repairs undertaken, represent a mere drop of water in the ocean of unsecured, unsafe and unhealthy schools,” the statement complained. On Wednesday, the Education Minister revealed that 300 children would be away from school for the remainder of the week while issues at Vauxhall Primary are addressed. (BT)

FORDE INCEST A BIG WORRY – There seems to be an increase in incest. So said Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Cynthia Forde who, while not having any empirical data, has drawn her conclusion from increased reports about the matter. Speaking to the media after a seminar entitled Communities Make A Difference at the Savannah Hotel Wednesday and hosted in collaboration with the National Assistance Board, Forde said too few young people were educated about protecting themselves. “You can’t have young children, 13 or 14 years old, whose bodies are developing and they know little or nothing about AIDS,” she cautioned. “I believe the statistics in this country on incest, of persons taking advantage of young girls and boys, is climbing. I do not have the statistics, but from the stories you hear, from the little snippets you see in the newspaper where men get charged with having relationships with young girls or underaged girls and women getting charged with having relationships with younger boys, it says to me no sensitisation or little sensitisation is there.” (WN)

GENDER IDENITY WRONGFUL DISMISSAL - For the first time on record, the Employment Rights Tribunal (ERT) is being asked to address an allegation of unfair termination on the basis of gender identity. The development follows failed attempts by the Labour Department to resolve a dispute between Alexa Hoffmann and her former employer, Court Caribbean Law Practice over Hoffmann’s decision to change her name as a reflection of her gender identity. The legal firm has refused to place its legal position on the matter in the public domain. If successful, Hoffmann hopes the decision will set a precedent for the local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The outspoken activist declined to disclose her given name at birth, which was used in August 2015 when she was hired as a legal assistant. Hoffman explained the issues came to a head when she was attacked in February 2018 and her supervisor, lawyer, Nigel Bennett asked her why she was being referred to as Alexa in the public domain. In response, the trans woman said she explained that although her name had not yet been changed, persons referred to her as Alexa as a courtesy. But it was only in October of the same year when her name was officially changed at the national registry that Hoffman claims she was asked to stay home from work. Weeks later, the trans woman said she emailed her employer to inquire about her status and was informed that she had been placed on leave while the company engaged in consultations on the matter. This eventually resulted in a meeting at the labour department on February 7, 2019 where the two parties were unable to resolve the matter “amicably”. When contacted, Attorney Nigel Bennett refused to comment extensively while the tribunal addresses the matter but admitted the law firm was challenging the basis of Hoffmann’s claims. “We have no issues at all, but as a matter of propriety, the matter is before the ERT and we are simply going to put forward our position to the ERT and let them make a determination. Once they have made a decision in that regard we could make a comment, but it would be highly inappropriate of us to do that before,” Bennett told Barbados TODAY. Asked what legal remedies she would be seeking, Hoffmann doubted the practicality of reinstatement but said she is pursuing damages. Even more important she explained, is the need to set a definitive precedent for “marginalised and downtrodden” persons in the LGBT community. “Outside of the compensation, I am looking to send a message that regardless of an employer’s consternation about the diversity of his staff, as long as that diversity does not have a direct impact on the work they are employed to do…it should not be cause to suspend them,” Hoffman said. “If you have an employee whether they are gay, straight, bisexual, trans, disabled, HIV positive or whatever the situation is…let them do their work in peace, and if I have to go through the Employment Rights Tribunal process to let employers know that I have the right to be left alone to do the work that I have been hired to do, then so be it,” the trans woman added. It is still unclear when the tribunal will hear the matter, and while Hoffman is willing to be patient, she has not ruled out the possibility of approaching the civil courts to adjudicate on the case. The trans activist meanwhile added that she was hoping to empower transgender Barbadians to pursue careers outside the traditional areas of beauty and cosmetology, if that is their desire. “I keep realising there are a lot of people who go through what I go through as well but many of them feel so beaten and downtrodden that they can’t seem to muster up the fight to get up and stand up for themselves…but I keep thinking that if I don’t make this move, I don’t know who else will make it,” Hoffmann said. “It’s not just about me anymore, because I am thinking about other people who may want to become professionals in whatever field they want. (BT)

EX-NURSE 39 YEAR OLD CASE DRAGS ON - Former Government-paid nurse Coral Wilkinson says she has had enough of her attorney-at-law Sir Richard Cheltenham,QC, claiming he has been tardy in completing her injury settlement case with the State, almost 40 years after her fall on the job. Wilkinson, who fell and injured her back while on duty at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in April 1981, said today she is fed up with how long it has been taking to bring closure to the matter. “I can’t take this any longer,” said Wilkinson. She recalled an occasion in which she said she was being blamed for not getting in touch with Sir Richard. “I said, ‘but you see why I planned that I wasn’t calling back you because every time I call, all I am hearing is that, it doesn’t mean because I am not hearing from you all that nothing isn’t happening. So I said nobody hasn’t called me so I figure nothing is happening,’” Wilkinson stated. Thirty six years old at the time of her spinal injury, the ex-Government health care provider told Barbados TODAY she desperately needs the final payment so she can finish her medical procedures overseas and bring some ease to her deteriorating physical condition where she can no longer bathe herself or touch water with her bare hands. Wilkinson said that last year, her attorney told her he was ready to submit her final claim. “Every time he keeps telling me the same thing over and over,” she declared. While admitting that Sir Richard was able to obtain an initial pay out in 2017 of some $300,000 to allow her to travel to the United Kingdom for one phase of corrective surgery, Wilkinson contended that that money was not even sufficient to cover all her medical bills and stay in the UK. She said she had to pull her pocket to avoid embarrassment when she needed transportation to attend therapy or get around generally. She also revealed that in October last year, another offer of just over half million dollars was made to her as a final settlement, which she rejected. “You know how much he offered me that day as a final settlement? Make a guess…$550,000…after 1981 until now and I can’t even help myself. I said ‘no, no, no.’ No way am I going to accept it. That can’t even cover the hospital fees in England,” Wilkinson said with a chuckle. She said that after numerous telephone calls to Sir Richard’s office and hearing “excuse after excuse” she has decided to stop calling. She told Barbados TODAY that Sir Richard has no valid reason for not submitting her final claim to the Government because she had furnished him with all of the documents he requested since 2017. “I went up to [the UK] and when I was ready to come back down, I told the doctors I was going home on August 3. When I went to see the doctors for physiotherapy and so on, all of the doctors’ reports were there waiting for me to be collected. I came back down here on August 3 [2017], and in a week’s time, I had everything photocopied and sent to him [Sir Richard],” Wilkinson stated. She explained that in the same year, her attorney requested an additional medical report, this time from her local specialist which Wilkinson said was provided outlining the condition of her back and her mental state as well. “That wasn’t enough. In March last year I talked to him. He still had not done anything yet. Nothing he had not done yet,” the former nurse complained, adding that the spinal injury has resulted in such serious neurological problems, she cannot tolerate water on her bare hands “When I go in the bath on mornings and the water comes down and hit my fingers, I would get electric-like current going through my body and I am now bathing in gloves. Can you imagine?” Wilkinson asked with a tremble in her voice. When Barbados TODAY reached out to Sir Richard, he contended that his client’s case was being advanced and more progress was expected in the coming week when his secretary returned from a week-long break. “Her case is being advanced. She got an interim [payout] up to a few years ago. Went off to London and all the rest,” he said “The last thing that Coral told me, bearing in mind that it is a few years and more since she went to London, that she had seen the surgeon specialist here. So I wrote him and asked him, since we can’t get anything from the surgeon specialist in England, to send me a summary of when he last saw her, because you can’t submit a claim with a report two or more years old,” Sir Richard recalled, adding that he required an updated one. He said it was only after his client called him just before Christmas last year and he told her he was waiting on the report from the specialist here, that there must have been a misunderstanding on his part. “Because although I told you [Wilkinson] I had been to him [the doctor], I did not mean for you to get an update from him. But that only happened a few days before Christmas; so the matter is on my desk and I am working. The secretary is off for a week, so that when she comes back we could start doing some business,” Sir Richard told Barbados TODAY.Responding to his client’s complaint that she had been trying to get an audience with him but gets the run-around when she called, the prominent Queen’s Counsel said Wilkinson was always in his office, and had not asked for any audience with him since before Christmas last year. “So as soon as my secretary comes back, which is next week, I will reach out to Coral and give her a new appointment, so that I could review with her what I have written; so that once she says okay that it is accurate, we can go,” Sir Richard promised. “I could understand that she is also troubled and her situation is deteriorating and she has carried her burden for many, many years…except that some three years ago I did get an appreciable interim for her and she went off to London. This is now time to bring closure to it. But there was a misunderstanding about the doctor here, the surgeon specialist…and she did go to see him. I thought since the report from England is dated, that I should write him. But she said she didn’t understand or expected me to do that,” he said.Meanwhile, the former QEH nurse said she presently has six discs out of place in her back and screws implanted in her back from a surgery in 1998 intended to stabilize a shaky spine due to constantly falling at home. Wilkinson, who said she has been seeing a psychiatrist for the past 19 years, will also require a battery to be surgically placed in her back to stimulate the nerve to produce feeling, physiotherapy until the day of her death and a care giver considering she is now unable to bath and dress herself. She revealed that once she got her final payout to assist with further surgery in the UK, she would have to return to England for critical follow up treatment every six months.Wilkinson said her physical disability which has forced her to use a walker continues to cause unbearable pain. (BT)

LABANE CASE THROWN OUT – The year-old La Cabane on Batts Rock beach will get its liquor licence renewed. But the renewal came after three residents from nearby neighbourhoods expressed strong objection to the operation of the restaurant in the Bridgetown Traffic Court yesterday.Queen’s Counsel Clyde Turney, who lives at Batts Rock, along with two residents from Prospect, St James, had filed an objection to the renewal of La Cabane’s liquor licence which expired yesterday. The three residents, whose case was put by Queen’s Counsel Leslie Haynes, argued that the noise coming from the bar and restaurant, on Tuesdays to Sundays, was so annoyingly loud that it prevented them from sleeping and from hearing their televisions. They especially complained about drumming which emanated from the restaurant on Sundays and continued until 9 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Mondays. (WN)

GROOM REMANDED – A young Barbadian who does contract work in Canada and goes between that northern country and home, may have to put his planned wedding on hold. Despite his pleas for a second chance and an opportunity to proceed with his wedding arrangements, 24-year-old Winslow Ricardo Bonnett of no fixed place of abode, heard Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant say: ”remanded for sentencing”. Bonnett appeared before Cuffy-Sargeant today charged with entering the apartment of Canadian visitor Ethel Marley and her husband on January 13 with the intention to steal. He is also accused of loitering on the premises of Yellow Bird Hotel on February 3 when it was suspected he was about to commit theft. According to the facts read by the police prosecutor, Marley, who owns the apartment, complained that she and her husband were awakened by a noise coming from the kitchen. The court was told the complainant observed the sliding glass door being opened and saw a man whom she could not identify at the time. However, police investigators were later led to the accused based on finger prints and palm prints taken from the door. This afternoon when the magistrate asked Bonnett if he had anything to say, he replied “I apologize to you, the owner of the apartment. I would like a chance…I would like to proceed with being married.” Bonnett, who pleaded guilty to both charges, will now have to wait until March 12 to know his fate. (BT)

CHOO DOE SERVICE FOR $12 IN POT – One hundred and twenty hours of community service was the sentence today handed down by the District “A” Criminal Court No 2 magistrate on a first-time drug offender. Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant informed Benjamin Richard Choo, a self-employed man of #26 Walkers Terrace, St George that he had to complete the service for having $12 worth of cannabis in his possession yesterday. Twenty-seven-year-old Choo pleaded guilty to the offence and was granted $1,500 bail with instructions that he had to reappear in court on June 26. (BT)

FORDE TO REAPPEAR IN COURT – Twenty-one-year-old Rico Radarah Reneal Forde of Salters, St George, was remanded to HMP Dodds after appearing at District ‘A’ Criminal Court Number 2 this morning. He was not required to plead to any of the offences and Magistrate Christie Cuffy-Sergeant remanded him to reappear at District B on February 19 and District ‘A’ Criminal Court Number 1 on March 12. Forde is charged with having one .9mm Smith and Wesson pistol and nine rounds of ammunition on February 7 without the relevant permits from the Commissioner of Police. On January 26, he “recklessly or without lawful authority or excuse, discharged a firearm in a public place”, namely the Sol Service Station at Charles Rowe Bridge, St George, placing Jianne Douglas in danger of death or serious bodily harm. On the same day, he is alleged to have caused serious bodily harm to Shaquille Callender with intent to main, disfigure or disable him, or to do some serious bodily harm to him and used a firearm without a valid licence during the same incident at the gas station. The final incident occurred on January 4 where he is alleged to have discharged a firearm at Government Hill, St Michael, placing Rashad Massiah in danger of death and serious bodily harm. (BT)

DRUG ACCUSED ON BAIL – A 40-year-old unemployed man this afternoon denied four drug-related charges brought against him by the police for the alleged offences which occurred yesterday. When Sherman Danny Green of 3rd Avenue, Harts Gap, Christ Church went before District “A” Magistrate Kristie Cuff-Sargeant, he pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession of cannabis, unlawful possession of cocaine; unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to supply and trafficking of the same drug. After the prosecution did not object to bail, the Magistrate released Green on $1,500 bail when she took into consideration that the value of the cocaine was estimated at $1,050 and the cannabis $60. Cuffy-Sargeant also placed conditions on the bail which require the accused to report to the Hastings Police Station every Wednesday before noon with a form of identification. The case was adjourned until May 6, but has been transferred to the District “A” Criminal Court No 2. (BT)

PRIEST VIOLENCE NOT THE WAY – Barbados cannot continue to turn a blind eye to gun violence, especially when it happens in front of children, warned an Anglican cleric yesterday. Reverend Trevor O’Neale issued the caution in his sermon during the funeral service for 37-year-old Marlon Jermaine Holder at St Philip’s Parish Church. Holder, the second man to be gunned down for the year, was shot and killed outside St Alban’s Primary School in St James, where he had just pulled up to drop off his six-year-old son on January 17. He was shot through the car window. The priest said such acts of violence could have lasting effects on children. “The sad thing about it is, it is being done in the presence of our children. Do you know that a child experiencing violence is going to be scarred? That it is going to lead to behavioural problems? It is going to lead to mental challenges sometimes,” he said. (WN)

FREE CITY WIFI SOMETIME AFTER MARCH – The Smart Bridgetown project, which includes free public WiFi, has been delayed another three months, the Government’s information technology chief has told Barbados TODAY. The free WiFi, which is the first phase of the project, was originally scheduled to begin by the end of last year. But a delay in obtaining a vendor to offer the service has forced officials to set a new implementation date of the second quarter of this year, said Rodney Taylor, the director of the Data Processing Department in the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology. He said the tendering process was now closed and officials were in the process of choosing a suitable provider. About a dozen domestic and overseas IT firms submitted bids to provide the service for the community WiFi phase of the project. Taylor told Barbados TODAY: “There were some delays with respect to the public tender. “The tender has closed and we are in the stages of evaluating the tenders we received. “And we hope that by the end of the financial year, which is March, we are able to sign off on a vendor and start with the implementation of that.” Under phase one, free broadband internet access being extended from the Bridgetown Port to Independence Square. And with officials now considering adding new areas including the planned Fairchild Street market, the free Wi-Fi could stretch from the Jewish Synagogue in Magazine Lane to Golden Square in Jordans Lane.The next phase of Smart Bridgetown is “smart parking” which will use a smartphone app to locate available spaces in Bridgetown and pay for parking electronically, said Taylor. Smart Bridgetown was allocated about $1 million to get it started. (BT)

There are 323 days left in the year Shalom! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

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wazafam · 4 years ago

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Now streaming on Netflix, The Ripper leaves out significant information about its titular subject. In an attempt not to glamorize serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, directors Jesse Vile and Ellena Wood inadvertently enhance the man's cultural persona, if only by making him a looming, mysterious figure through the four episodes. Whereas the 2021 serial killer doc Night Stalker arguably shows too much, The Ripper doesn't provide the audience with enough biographical information about Sutcliffe, details that are crucial when trying to understand his motivations.

Since releasing in December 2020, The Ripper has been accused of capitalizing upon serial killer tropes in pop culture. Specifically, family members of victims and survivors have expressed frustration about the title, which was originally supposed to be "Once Upon a Time in Yorkshire." It's certainly understandable that some folks aren't pleased with the sensationalized title, "The Ripper," but that was indeed how the subject was branded by the media during his late-'70s killing spree. Overall, the Netflix show mostly focuses on the Yorkshire Ripper investigation, and how the failures of law enforcement resulted in numerous deaths that could've been prevented.

Related: The Ripper: Does Netflix's True Crime Series Glorify Serial Killers?

The Ripper plays out like a procedural during the first three episodes, as investigators and survivors recall their experiences. Much attention is paid to the female victims, along with how the police mistakenly believed that the Yorkshire Ripper only targeted prostitutes. As a whole, The Ripper is an especially unique serial killer Netflix documentary because of its societal commentaries about life in late '70s West Yorkshire. By the end, however, there's little insight provided about the killer himself, presumably because Vile and Wood didn't want to humanize Sutcliffe, and thus upset survivors and family members of victims. With serial killer docs, though, it's always important to meet the audience in the middle with objective analysis, so that viewers can better understand why the tragedies happened in the first place.

Who was Peter Sutcliffe? For many people, he was simply the Yorkshire Ripper, and that's the end of the story. But since Sutcliffe is the titular subject of The Ripper, it's crucial to present the audience with a full portrait of the man. For storytelling and dramatic purposes, Sutcliffe's image doesn't even appear in the Netflix docuseries until the fourth and final episode. From there, only a few images are shown of him while interviewees provide their opinions about his life and crimes. By nearly eliminating Sutcliffe entirely from The Ripper, the filmmakers do indeed keep the focus on the victims and the societal commentary. However, they also don't allow the audience to better understand the killer's personality and motivations. Was Sutcliffe charismatic like Ted Bundy? Or was he socially awkward like Richard Ramirez?

There's no video of Sutcliffe actually speaking in The Ripper, so that negatively affects the psychological aspect of the docuseries. The filmmakers don't provide any footage of the subject to analyze and interpret, aside from the arrest video when Sutcliffe walks with his head covered. A serial killer like Bundy used his intellect to manipulate people, but footage of him reveals his arrogance and self-delusion. So, what were Sutcliffe's defining personality traits? Unfortunately, The Ripper relies on a steady dose of "sinister" commentaries, just as Night Stalker relies on the "evil" factor when depicting Ramirez (a man who clearly wanted to manipulate the media to his advantage). For curious streamers, it always beneficial when biographical information is complemented with real-life footage. With The Ripper, the audience is led to believe that Sutcliffe's story doesn't necessarily matter, when in fact it very much does, at least according to psychology-themed serial killer documentaries like Crazy, Not Insane.

In The Ripper episode 2, "Between Now and Dawn," an interviewee named Bruce Jones recalls finding the body of 20-year-old Jean Jordan in 1977. His commentary is incredibly graphic, and the man himself appears visibly upset when remembering the specifics. It's a heartbreaking sequence, as it further underlines the Yorkshire Ripper's brutal methods while also showing the long-term consequences of his crimes. Jones' appearance is rather brief in The Ripper, but fans of the English soap opera Coronation Street may immediately recognize him as the man who portrayed Les Battersby. What The Ripper doesn't reveal is that Jones was initially targeted as a suspect and that his association with the case nearly resulted in him being fired from Coronation Street upon being cast in 1997. Jones survived a media scandal and ultimately remained on the show through 2007.

Related: Night Stalker: What REALLY Prompted Richard Ramirez to Kill

The Ripper surprisingly doesn't offer much insight about Peter Sutcliffe's 1974 marriage to Sonia Szurma, which, again, is relevant when assessing the serial killer's frame of mind. A detective named Andy Laptew recalls the moment he found out that Sutcliffe was the Yorkshire Ripper, and discusses his interview with the man years prior. Sutcliffe told Laptew that he didn't have a need to meet with prostitutes, as he'd recently been married. In reality, though, Sutcliffe had indeed been killing women since 1975, and reportedly even assaulted a prostitute all the way back in 1969 (which isn't mentioned in The Ripper).

What were the dynamics of Sutcliffe's marriage to Sonia? The Netflix docuseries implies that the killer pretended to be a paranoid schizophrenic in court, presumably because his wife had the same condition, and thus allowed him to effectively mimic her behavior. But if Sutcliffe hated women so much, then why did he marry one? It could be argued that he needed a cover to present himself as a family man, but it's also important to explore other possibilities. For example, the Netflix doc Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes shows that the subject was able to maintain a romantic relationship with a woman while killing others. The Ripper offers zero insight into Sonia's attraction to Peter and doesn't clarify if there was indeed a genuine connection. Incidentally, important questions about the subject's motives go unaddressed. For example, Peter killed prostitutes but didn't have sex with them. So did he murder women because of sexual inadequacy issues? Or did Sutcliffe have a somewhat healthy relationship with Sonia? This information is important, but it all goes unexplored in The Ripper.

Since The Ripper doesn't spend much time focusing on the subject's marriage, it's not a huge surprise that Sonia's later years aren't documented. Because of the lack of information, though, some Netflix viewers may be left wondering if she was somehow complicit in her husband's crimes. Sonia remained married to Peter all throughout the '80s and was later accused of trying to financially capitalize upon her involvement in the Yorkshire Ripper case. In 1997, she wed hairdresser Michael Woodward, and later stopped visiting her ex-husband around 2015, reportedly because he was "jealous and insecure" about her second marriage. Journalist Barbara Jones once described Sonia as "the most irritating, strangest and coldest person I've ever met." Sonia is currently 70 years old and reportedly (via Daily Mail) arranged for her ex-husband's 2020 funeral.

Unlike Night Stalker, The Ripper actually attempts to deconstruct the motivations of its subject. However, the psychoanalysis is relatively thin, and mostly comes from The Sunday Times' Joan Smith, who theorizes that Sutcliffe was raised in a misogynistic environment and learned to despise women because of masculinity issues. Based on Smith's opinion, along with commentaries from psychiatrist Dorothy Otnow Lewis in Crazy, Not Insane, it seems that Sutcliffe's inner demons resulted from childhood teasing and witnessing domestic violence. So, if the future serial killer was raised in a culture that prioritized masculinity over empathy, then that may partially explain his murderous behavior as an adult; Sutcliffe may have killed women because he was unable to properly cope with childhood trauma. Of course, his true motivations are probably much more complex.

The Yorkshire Ripper's modus operandi, along with the biographical information presented in the Netflix docuseries, suggests that he killed because of sexual inadequacy and personal insecurity issues. Sutcliffe would strike women from behind with a hammer, torture them, and then pose their bodies for people to find. Importantly, in The Ripper, the filmmakers do indeed make it clear that Sutcliffe didn't specifically seek out prostitutes but rather women of all ages who seemed to be easy targets in Red Light District areas. What the Netflix series doesn't fully address, however, is the possibility that Sutcliffe suffered from an Oedipal Complex, and that his marriage to Sonia was more about motherly protection and less about true romance.

Next: Crazy, Not Insane: What Movies & TV Shows Get Wrong About Serial Killers

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