#mary: leaving the boys as soon as possible and it's a major conflict between her and them

[kerryweaverlesbian]

The thing about Supernatural is it's like Buffy if Wilow was missing from 60% of the episodes and Xander was missing from a different 60%. It's like if on Deep Space Nine someone went to Quarks and he just wasn't there for no discernable reason. It's like if Norm regularly wasn't at the bar in Cheers for 6 episode spans but everyone still acts as if he's always there.

They keep building really good dynamic ensembles but they don't have the budget(?) to have them in most episodes and (most) seasons are a few episodes longer than they need to be so they have to say Mary is off with the BMoL and Kevin is busy doing tablet work and Cas is watching The Wire. The only people the in-and-out nature of their alliance really works for are Bobby, Crowley and Rowena because they legitimately DO have their own stuff going on that doesn't really need to be explored onscreen.

It's just crazy. Supernatural clearly WANTED to be an ensemble show, but it couldn't be. The practical outside force of "we can't have Castiel on the show that often and stay in budget" (validity of this idea is up for debate) influences the interior facts of the show, "Castiel frequently just isn't there and when he is there's very high emotional stakes because we don't have him long and need to make the most of it", which influences the interior character motivations and feelings, "Castiel isn't there because he's easily manipulated, headstrong, and wants to solve things by himself. The emotions are high when he is back because Dean LOVES him and feels deeply hurt when he's gone but he can never stop him leaving as long as the show is airing." And then those interior character feelings inform the plot of the show.

[melohax]

I’ve seen some people who finished Omori talking about how they don’t understand the game’s plot, what happens in the good ending or why the protagonist even decided to change his ways. So then, here’s my thoughts on Omori’s story.

Warning: SPOILERS AHOY. Only read this if you’ve already finished the game and seen the good or true ending. Or if you don’t plan on playing the game at all but still want to know the whole story.

I’ve seen some people around the internet talk about how Sunny’s character isn’t clear to them or how they feel Sunny doesn’t deserve a good ending. Here’s some thoughts I have on why I think Sunny’s growth was well depicted.

There’s two main routes you can go through in the game: the “Reality” route and the “Hikikomori” route.

In the “Hikikomori” route, Sunny stays in Headspace forever and we get to learn many additional details about him. Sunny’s parents are implied to have known what Sunny did to Mari all along. It’s also implied that Sunny’s mother covered the whole thing up and chose to present it as a suicide as well cus, in her own words, she can’t bear the thought of losing both of her kids.

Sunny’s mother insinuates her son isn’t a “good boy” even though she begs him to be good but she still sees him as her little boy (as seen by the overly-sweet and positive messages she leaves around the house and her voice mails) and needs him alive so she can survive her own grief. Sunny’s father is shown cutting down the hanging tree and telling Sunny he isn’t his son, presumably disowning Sunny. The father keeps being absent forever afterwards.

Fast forward to the present and the “Reality” route, Sunny’s moving in 3 days. He knows his time is up in the real world and the biggest catalyst for his personal growth is that he’s finally seeing his old friends in the REAL world after 4 years of only seeing their loving, idealized child version in dreams. For the first time, he gets to witness the collateral consequences of what he did to Mari in his now teenaged friends: Aubrey spirals into delinquency after feeling like she was thrown aside by everyone she loved. Hero is guilt ridden, can’t even go near Mari’s grave and gives up on his dreams of being a chef. Kel wants to make things better but feels powerless, useless and like a screwup. Basil lives in a miserable state of almost constant fear and psychosis.

Sunny finally gets to see the huge toll his lie took on his friends’ entire lives as they keep blaming themselves for not knowing about Mari’s supposed suicidal ideations. He’s finally forced to face reality and he still tries to hide in dreamworld but he can’t. The inhabitants of Headspace are all people or fictional characters he knows or likes in real life (that he changed in his dreams, like how Kim’s brother is a sweet gentle giant and Sweetheart looks just like the candy shop owner at the supermarket) and their quests end up leading him to events where he’s reminded over and over again his dreams will end soon (the end of the underwater highway, the tree near the whale, the shadows of Mari and Basil) and that he needs to delve into Blackspace.

This shows how his own subconscious mind knows well what needs to be done; he’s putting the mental and emotional effort of making himself face what he’s done, shown through the contrast between the whimsical nature of Headspace and the dark surrealism of Blackspace.

As this happens in Sunny’s psyche, in the real world he can try to “atone” a bit by doing good things for his little community like completing requests people around him have. He still has a lot of trouble being near Basil in the real world but considering his entire subconscious mainly revolves around finding and rescuing Basil, he wants and needs to face Basil sincerely before he runs out of time.

We’re shown through memories that Sunny’s personality was always quiet, wary, a bit distant and very bad at dealing with pressure. Some people even describe him as cowardly or mediocre but he was just a small kid who’s entire world ended when he was 12. Since then, he never left his house, spending most of his days asleep rather than awake. It’s no wonder his personality isn’t as developed as his friends. His friends, although they were also in immense pain, at least still continued to live beyond Mari’s death. Sunny didn’t. He only lived through sleep.

Subconsciously, it’s shown Sunny both loves and hates Basil. This is seen in Blackspace with the dialogue he has with the “strangers” walking in the void. They talk about how Sunny (as Omori) does horrible things to Basil in the darkness of Blackspace because he struggles with facing the truth of his own actions. It’s also revealed through datamine of Blackspace’s metaphorical photo album that Basil, in his attempts to save Sunny from the judgement of others and to get him to come out of catatonia, was the one who come up with the plan to hang Mari.

Sunny describes Mari as looking as if calmly asleep when he drags her up the stairs. Her eyes remained peacefully closed until Sunny and Basil hung her. Then, Sunny turned back to look at Mari’s corpse, her previously closed eyes were wide open. She might have even been still alive, might have opened her eyes during or after the noose was tied to her neck. Or the belief he saw her eyes open could have been a manifestation of Sunny’s guilt, instead.

Either way, the horrifying possibilities surrounding Mari’s death lead to Sunny handling his emotional pain by subconsciously taking it out on Basil. It’s why Basil in Blackspace is shown constantly suffering and dying in many different ways. It’s the only way Sunny has been able to deal with himself; by forcing Basil into the darkest corners of his mind, his perfect colorful dreamworld can’t be ruined by the ugly reality Basil’s mere presence represents. It’s less painful to try to forget Basil and to forever blame him for both of their sins.

Still, even with all these conflicted feelings, Sunny’s tried to come to terms with love he still feels for Basil many times before. The shadows point out how this isn’t the first time he’s tried to save the Flower Boy; how all the previous times before ended in Sunny failing to find redemption and so his mind turns back to torturing the Basil of his dreams instead.

However, one of the Blackspace shadows also mentions a very important detail that changes almost everything this time around: his time is almost up in the real world. Whether this means he’ll commit suicide or move away, it’s almost time for him to leave the friends he’s always loved so much behind.

Sunny is forced to do a lot of internal work and self-reflection in what little time he has left. It’s shown through his dream actions, the surreal imagery surrounding him and the characters with all the sub plots his subconscious makes up.

In the route to the good ending, he traverses Blackspace and manages to listen to every harsh truth Basil’s shadow has to tell him. His attempts to save Basil mean he’s fighting his own mind, forcing himself to accept the truth.

To achieve redemption for his greatest mistake, Sunny needs to start with accepting Basil entirely; he has to stop making Basil take the brunt of their combined regrets. It means being willing to finally face the REAL Basil instead of permanently burying him in the most painful place within Sunny’s mind.

So basically, it’s obvious to me that Sunny is forced out of his “comfortable” hikikomori misery the moment he opens the door to meet the REAL Kel.

Sunny and Basil have a confrontation in the real world. When Sunny entera Basil’s room, we see poor Basil suicidal and at his limit. He’s clearly in the throes of a psychotic episode and at the mercy of hallucinations and delusions he can’t escape from (“There’s no way out of this is there, Sunny?”). Basil attacks you in an attempt to save you by killing the “thing behind you” but as we know, there isn’t actually something behind you.

There was never any monster to take the blame for Basil’s regrets, nor yours. It’s always been just you.

Meanwhile, Sunny is trying his best not to completely lose his shit so he can save Basil and stop him from potentially killing the both of them. Sunny likely loses an eye in the fight, shown by the blood coming from your socket and the bandage over it in the hospital.

Incidentally, the eye you lose is on the same side as the eye that can be seen peeking through the hair of Mari’s face as she’s hanging from the tree.

In the good ending, the song at the end talks about how even after confessing the truth, Sunny is alone once again, so it’s not actually clear if Aubrey, Kel and Hero actually forgave him. I feel like this is deliberately left up to interpretation by the writers. The lyrics then continue on to say Sunny still finds it hard to wake up, still finds himself plagued some days with lingering regret, but that he still tries to take it all one step at a time to carry on living.

With the song’s lyrics in mind, the end scene that shows Basil and Sunny smiling at each other while Mari’s shadow leaves them doesn’t mean they’re completely fine all of a sudden. Whether their friends forgave them or not, they at least finally have the relief of honesty. The burden of their unbearable shared secret is now off their shoulders. It’s finally out in the open, which means they both can now start healing and working to find the redemption Sunny was looking for in Blackspace. It also means they can go back to loving each other again without the crushing pain they both felt in each other’s presence.

I agree that Aubrey and the gang get pretty left out in the good ending, though. I wish there was more of them and their reactions to the truth BUT I think it’s sadly a deliberate choice by the writers to leave their reaction up to the player’s interpretation. This can feel extremely unfulfilling to many people (me included, I hate when authors do that tbh) but also to many others that’s a good thing cus they get to apply their own personal meaning and feelings.

I personally feel like the friends forgiving Sunny and Basil right off the bat would be incredibly unrealistic. I think they would need a lot of time (especially Aubrey) for them to forgive the lie that wrecked their lives for years. Forgiveness isn’t impossible but it would probably come in the form of a slow, difficult, heartbreaking process. Bittersweet.

Redemption isn’t just about forgiveness, anyway.

Even if a person is never forgiven by the people they’ve hurt, they can still find redemption for their actions through doing good for the people around them and the world at large. An example of this is shown through what Sunny can do on his last days in his neighborhood. The gratitude and additional flowers he receives in the hospital from each person he’s helped are proof he can still do good for others even after something as horrible and unforgivable as accidental murder. In a way, it’s proof that his life is still worth living.

But ultimately that’s just my own interpretation of the ending and I understand other people would interpret it all differently. Some see forgiveness as a given in the story while there’s also others who think Sunny doesn’t deserve forgiveness or those who think Sunny is a sociopath/psychopath or that Basil is the true villain of the game. I think this is why the ending was left so open, to favor all the different interpretations people have of it.

ETA: Here’s a different take on Sunny’s parents. This post argues that, despite the initial implications, they actually didn’t know about the attempted coverup. It’s a really good writeup explaining the whys and hows and has me reconsidering that part of the story!

https://www.reddit.com/r/OMORI/comments/kr9nvx/major_spoilers_regarding_sunny_his_parents_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

[wolfcha1k]

An analysis on Guy, Eep and Grug NOBODY asked for in Croods - A New Age but tough shit

help

So its theory time :U Since this trailer seems to finally go into Guy’s perspective over things happening in the story. It seems like though Guy has been accepted into the Croods family, its not peaches and cream as one would think. Guy is used to having personal space, basically being able to have peace and quiet. Now after a lifetime of solitude [srsly, how long has he been alone??], this is a big adjustment for him. I don’t doubt he doesn’t care and love the Croods like family because they are his family now, he gave up a lot for them and Eep. There’s something of a culture difference between the family and him, with the Croods being used to being jam packed together and Guy who is more used to personal space.

Look how excited he gets over having his own space once they get to the Betterman Farm!

This also translates into his relationship with Eep. If you notice in a lot of the teasers so far, they’re never alone together. Grug is usually looming in the background or the family is there, they’re even using Chunky of all things to try getting away from them.

[also judging by the weave work here on the wood she’s probably in one of the spare rooms at the farm and the fact the clip launched with ‘World’s First Crush’, it might be safe to say even Eep starts to enjoy having privacy since this means you know, more Guy time but I’ll get more into Eep and what I think their ‘conflict’ will be later!] 

but ofc Grug is still there getting in their way, and if you’re a teenage boy in love with a girl, it bites hard that you can’t just enjoy one on one time alone with her. They keep getting interrupted whether it be by animals, the family, Grug or nature itself; that would cause tension for anyone’s relationship. Guy even needs to explain to Eep what privacy is and knowing how she lived, ofc this is a real weird and exciting concept for someone so used to having other people breathing down her neck.  

This translates into his relationship with Grug because I personally feel this has nothing to do with Eep herself and Guy doesn’t hold that against her. Grug is mentioned in interviews that he’s “not ready to accept Eep is all grown up and has her relationship with Guy” and that “she’s ready to leave the pack”, as Grug calls it. 

They survived the end of the world, but dynamics change, and I love continuing with where do Eep (Emma Stone’s character) and Guy (Ryan Reynolds) leave off (with their romantic relationship) and how does Grug (Nicolas Cage) accept the change that his daughter is now grown up? So we definitely further those themes of a father not wanting his daughter to leave “the pack” – as they call it – but she’s ready, and her relationship with Guy starts off where it ended in the first film.

Guy even causes what seems will be quite a fight when he tells Grug to chill out after Grug mentions “the pack is stronger together”. 

Grug probably wouldn’t be having this kind of fear if there was nothing to fear. It might be safe to say Guy and Eep are planning to leave the nest to be on their own. They’re both young adults and in love, its a natural step in a relationship to want to fly the coop. This snippet here really gives me those “engagement/promise ring” vibes with how Guy is holding the rock drawing and Eep is reacting. 

Just what did he say before this? They’re also huddling away and discussing privacy, perhaps it was the lead up into “Hey Eep, let’s move out”, or whatever the caveman version of it is.

and Grug is watching them very worriedly. 

There is something up going on with them now, and though Grug has accepted Guy and Eep, this isn’t a step he’s ready for as a father [and honestly probably after surviving The End/repaired his relationship with Eep, didn’t think would be coming this soon]

This segment in the interview really heavily implies these sort of things too:

The world is always changing, and families also change. As a father, Grug’s maybe not ready for the next step of his daughter leaving home. And with Eep and Guy I thought, “This is a great opportunity to now hand it off to them.” In the first movie it’s like puppy love between Eep and Guy. They meet each other, and they’re in love. But they’re the only two teenagers in the world, so of course they love each other. This story answers the question of why they actually belong to each other. Through the course of this story, we challenge what their relationship means, and why they should spend their future together.

You don’t talk about challenging what a relationship means and what their future will be without planning something surrounding that. They are planning and its freaking Grug out.

I also think in Grug’s own way he doesn’t want to see Guy go either, since it must say a lot about how different the dynamic of Guy and Grug’s relationship as a son and father figue have shifted if Guy feels he can tell Grug to calm down and also flirt/court Eep with protective daddy vision on him all hours of the day. When the Betterman’s show up, I am convinced Grug is going to get defensive over Guy bc he’s now as good as his son.

There’s also these little moments which seem pretty small but:

[as sour as Guy looks here, it probably means a lot for Grug to actually let Guy be in their sleep pile]

[also look how pure and excited Guy is to share about the shower with Eep and Grug]

I feel Grug does care for Guy but being how Grug is has unintentionally made Guy feel like an outsider in the Croods clan.

Now, back to the Bettermans and Guy. The lifestyle they live is clean, modernized and has routine, things Guy is probably craving with an inventive mind such as his. He’s just in heaven rn. These people are more like him than the Croods are, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. The Croods are still important to him but it probably feels invigorating to meet likeminded people.

You can already tell in the trailers Guy is going to form a bond with them. Part of me doubts they’re actually related to Guy like as parents and a sister but I won’t rule out the possibility, considering how invested Phil seems to be with Guy in a lot of the teasers and trailers. Perhaps they’re extended family or old family friends who knew Guy’s, we won’t know yet.

This bond I feel will be the prime focus of the film and conflict as well. [and no, not in the love triangle way concerning Dawn, there’s already an interview disproving that!]

“It seems from the trailer that Kelly Marie Tran’s Dawn and Emma Stone’s Eep hit it off immediately…” There’s definitely a lane that is driven a lot in romantic comedy type things where the new girl is the cause of jealousy. With Eep and Guy, when this other girl comes into the picture it would have been easy to go, “Oh, she could be the romantic rival.” We made the purposeful decision to not go down that lane.

However I do think his friendship with Dawn will be something as a compare/contrast with how Eep treats her. Both are doing what they feel is better and right for the sheltered girl, with Eep wanting to take Dawn outside the wall and Guy getting upset when he finds out Eep took her out.

He’s obviously going to catch them and lecture Eep about this. Now, how does Eep feel about Guy’s shift?

At first, I really think she supports him on connecting with the Bettermans and all the stuff he wants to do. Guy is quirky, he’s inventive, and likes to push the mold in what he can change to make life easier on himself and the people he loves. This place is his Utopia and considering the exchange she has with Grug over “a little change isn’t the end of the world”, she probably is willing to give the farm a chance because she knows Guy has been feeling lost and probably the butt of the joke lately [least where Grug is involved]

We also know Eep loves to try new things, she just in general loves new. Its what attracted her to Guy and even after it all, still loves Guy. 

However, this is what I believe is going to be the start of the conflict between Eep and Guy too. Guy starts to change too much and Guy being Guy probably doesn’t realize it. She starts seeing the farm as another cave, another place to hide and seeing Guy thriving here probably makes her feel worried about what this means for them as a couple. That wall like Eep said is Dawn’s cave, and Guy probably doesn’t think of it that way after a lifetime of danger and being on the run from The End. Also the private bedroom probably helps

Anyway, what was I saying?

also something I noticed was when they first arraive in the elevator you got Guy looking at Eep to see her reaction to this place. He’s obviously hoping she’s finding the Bettermans has amazing as he is.

and just look how happy he looks seeing Eep isn’t going to freak out at Dawn I guess??? lol 

Just “these two worlds are melding nicely”

However something I think is going to happen as the premises of the movie is both families settling their différences aside/celebrating them, is that somewhere along the line as Eep and Guy get closer to Dawn, there’s going to be a shift. The Bettermans perhaps act uppity with the Croods since they are cavemen and deemed less intelligent, so you got Guy stuck in the middle with his two found families trying to co-exist [also Eep too, bc her friendship with Dawn is obviously a major plot thread of the film]

Eep takes Dawn out for a joyride and the two bring in danger that followed them there.

“What’s on the other side of the wall?”

also totally predicting some kind of reveal that makes Guy have a temporary fall out with Phil, I don’t know why but its just a vibe I’m getting. Phil looks scared and Guy looks pretty pissed off while asking about the wall. That or he says something about the Croods themselves he feels is too far, I mean, Guy looks rather uncomfortable here as Phil says “We’re an evolved people” pretty smugly. 

“Phil those are my future in-laws, stop”

He’s also seated on their side of the table, keep note of that with the Croods on the other. There’s going to be a sense torn between both worlds going on for Guy in this film, at least I think so. And its going to challenge him and how he cares for Eep and the Croods. 

Leading into Eep and the Croods.

The big bad shows up, wrecks some shit and abducts everyone, at least it seems like it here.

“The only way to survive is if the pack stays together”, this whole adventure reminds Guy of his place in the Croods family and gives Eep and Grug a better understanding of what Guy is feeling/going through.

People loved The Croods, and they’d been trying to make another one… but it’s a high bar. I can say this because I didn’t work on [the first film], it’s a beautiful movie. It’s funny, and it’s about family. I was like, “I want to see the continuation of where we left off with these characters.” Especially with the father/daughter aspect of the first one, and going, “Now that Grug has accepted Guy into his pack, and has this great relationship with his daughter, where do they go from there?”

Something tells me Guy and Eep have their big blow up somewhere around Rafikzilla shows up, and after getting separated, Guy has a heart to heart with Grug about Eep and just their strained relationship in general. They patch things up, and together with Phil go forth to kick some monkey ass. And they reunite and things are okay again. Blah, blah, blah. Wow this got weak near the end, um but this interview sums it up pretty good for me tho.

“Was it always the idea to introduce a second family?” Yeah, that was there in my first pitch. You have the Croods come across another family, the Bettermans, who are a more evolved family, and these two families couldn’t be more different. The Croods lead with their heart, and the Bettermans lead with their brain. Of course, there’s conflict, they face challenges, but they learn to appreciate each other’s differences – not just to live with each other’s differences but to almost celebrate them. There’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of characters in this one. There’s a lot of wonderful, powerful themes. But it’s a ridiculous comedy too.

Basically, Guy is having a midlife crisis at the age of 19 and gets his shit together, Eep gets a better understanding of her boyfriend, and Grug finally backs tf off so we can get Croods 3 where Eep and Guy have a kid :U also I’ve been calling A New Age the “Shrek 2″ of the Croods in terms of how the story seems to be shaping up with Guy, Eep and the two families, I’m hoping I’m right because that would be some delicious development to see.

[sxveme-2]

blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

MASTERLIST

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Thirteen: The One With the Aftermath

Warnings: N/A

Word Count: 1937

    "He did what!?" Gen and Rose's high-pitched squeals vibrated through the cellphone, resulting in Lily dropping it from her hands in surprise. Lily had broken the news to the two about the actions taken by Mr. James Buchanan Barnes just hours before in her kitchen. The way his calloused hand and cool prosthetic rested against her pale cheeks, holding her face as though it were a fine piece of china that would break if he applied too much pressure. Followed by the pressing of his petal-soft lips to her own, creating undeniable friction between the two not even Lily's deflective tendencies could deny. All over a cup of coffee.

"Okay woah, let's relax there," Lily sighed while finishing zipping up the flower-patterned muted coral skirt she had slid on above her white lace tank top. Her hand gripped onto a cropped red cardigan that hit just below the waist of the high-cut skirt. A cute and simple outfit that encompassed the true aesthetic of Lily Osborne. One that the girls on the phone disapproved of. Speaking of which, "It was just a kiss...it doesn't mean anything, right?"

Two conflicting parts of Lily seemed to have been raging war in her mind. On one hand, she prayed and hoped that the kiss meant nothing to him. That it was simply a heat of the moment sort of thing. The tension and adrenaline of the night had welled to a head in Bucky and he made an impulsive decision that didn't mean anything. It was just a kiss. Nothing more. Nothing less. But on the other hand, Lily secretly wished that the kiss was out of some sort of romantic feeling. That he had kissed her because the slight crush that Lily had on the man out of time was reciprocated. And that he felt the same way that she did. But honestly, she wouldn't believe that if someone wrote it in the sky out of the smoke from a plane. Mostly because she herself didn't believe it was even remotely possible. A guy like that liking a girl like her? It was a cliche trope but she never thought in her wildest dreams he would even look at her in a way like that.

"You should totally ask him," Rose chimed in, seemingly shooing someone away. Lily had figured the two were sitting in the kitchen at Gen's cafe, munching on pastries as they awaited even more juicy gossip from Lily. But they would be sadly disappointed because the kiss was really the only news that Lily had. But it wouldn't stop them from hoping, "He seems like an honest guy. He already kissed you and you kissed back, what's the worst that could happen?"

After a few more minutes of back and forth between the three girls, Lily hung up her phone to focus on fixing the mop of golden hair atop her head. It was only 9 o'clock in the morning, and after the events that had transpired the night before, Lily didn't expect to see Hunter come in to her room or down to the main floor for another while. Bucky, however, Lily didn't know if he was wandering around her home, or if he had taken off somehow. If the avengers sent someone to pick him up or something. But, after leaving the soft curls be and dancing across her shoulders, Lily would soon come to learn that answer to her confusion before.

Sitting at the birchwood dinner table sat Bucky Barnes and Lily's son plowing down on some frosted flakes while laughing over something. Lily stood on the landing of the stairs, heart growing even larger than it already was. It felt as though the beating organ inside of her may explode at the drop of a hat if she kept staring at the beautiful moment in front of her. A beaming smile on her son’s youthful face and a mirrored one on the stubble-covered and worn face of the Winter Soldier. Neither boy had spotted the blonde staring longingly at them from the staircase, and she prayed silently that they didn't. Instead, she slid her phone out of her skirt pocket and took a quick picture, wanting to relive the moment a million times over if she could.

"Mom!" Hunter exclaimed when Lily's feet hit the bottom of the stairs finally. He shot from his chair and curled his slim arms around the waist of his mother. Lily smiled gently as she bent down to rest a kiss on his forehead before turning to the older man who too seemed to watch in bliss at the interaction. A similar expression to the one Lily wore just moments ago.

"Morning buddy, didn't expect to see you awake right now." the blonde smiled after Hunter released her from his grip and returned to his seat. She bent down to pick up Joey's dish, the dog's ears perking up from the mat in front of the door to the backyard. After she filled up the dog’s food and gave him his morning kisses, Lily found herself sitting at the table across from the brunette man that had stayed in her guest bedroom the night before, "Frosted flakes this morning, hm? I thought these were only for Saturday breakfasts and your birthday?"

"I pulled them out, they were the first thing I saw when I opened the pantry, I hope that's okay." His timid voice radiated across the table towards Lily, causing her eyes to shift from her son over to the rugged man that sat across from her at the table. A faint grin spread along her slightly puffed features caused by her morning rise. For a second, their eyes met and the world melted away as it always seemed to do when they met iris's. Something that Lily was sure she wouldn't be able to get used to.

-----

Not too long after all three had completed their breakfast, Lily had to excuse herself. She had a duty to call her lawyer today and set up a review of her and Scott's custody agreement. There was no way in hell after that stunt occurred, Scott would be keeping partial custody of their son. He left Hunter home alone with a clearly lousy babysitter, as well as he had lied to mary about who her child was left in the hands of. Everything about the situation was already unnerving for Lily. One part in particular that just stuck in her mind like it had been superglued, was the fact Hunter had said that the person attempting to break into Scott's apartment, or at least get his attention, was there specifically for Scott. Not just to play a heinous joke or commit a petty crime. No, they were looking for Scott Harvey specifically. And that one part did not sit well with Lily.

But instead, she had a New York-level lawyer to handle.

"Lily! it's been ages since you've called. what can I do for you today love?" the man's raspy voice echoed through the phone she held to her ear.

Carter Evanson was the man that helped Lily through the roughest parts of her divorce. Kept her sane through the entire process alongside Rose and Gen. She had been so thankful for his kind words of encouragement as she would recount the numerous emotional trauma stories she had faced in her marriage to Scott. How he hadn't touched her in ages. How whenever he came home he was drunk and always smelled of another woman's perfume. But Lily never decided to look further into these things back then. He had made her believe that nothing she did would ever make her good enough. He was the best she would get. No other man would want a woman who already had a kid and a divorce under her belt. Scott Harvey had manipulated Lily into believing she was less worthy of just about anything in the world, and she continued to believe it to this day.

But Carter's kind voice created a sense of comfort throughout the whole divorce process. Always encouraging her and remind her how good of an idea this was. That everything would work out for her. How she was strong enough to get through it without chickening out like she always seemed to do. Whether it was his warm and energetic voice that would constantly play in the back of her mind when sitting down at Scott's lawyer’s table, writing out their custody agreement as well as their splitting of assets. And because of him, the divorce became final and the majority of assets and custody landed in the a-line skirt-covered lap of Lily Osborne.

"Hey Carter, I need to set up an appointment with Scott to redo the entire custody agreement. Something happened and Hunter cannot go back there- oh I'm getting another call," Lily continued, clearing her throat after placing the lawyer on hold and answering the call, "Doctor Lily Osborne."

"Ms. Osborne? This is sergeant Harrison, we just interviewed the man who attempted to break into your ex-husband's apartment last night and uh...we need you to come into the station. Right now if possible." the police officer explained, his voice reverberating through the front of her mind, setting off her heart into a mile a minute race.

-----

Arriving at the LAPD station, or more specifically, the 88th precinct, Lily rushed through and up the elevator and up towards where they had instructed Lily to go. She had to apparently see the culprit, so after convincing Bucky to watch the young boy that is Hunter Osborne, she arrived at the precinct in a rush. The moment she heard the elevator ding, she ran out in a rush and past the small gate that blocked off the desks from the public. She saw the Sergeant she spoke to on the phone and let her ballet flat-clad feet rush forward.

"Ms. Osborne, thank you for getting here so fast." the large man sighed, neck-craning down to look at the small blonde that had rushed through, "here, come with me." Sergeant Harrison sighed softly while leading the young doctor towards the interview room.

He walked her through the doors that kept them separate from the criminal that sat in front of the two-way mirror. The moment that Lily spotted the man in front of her, the young girl had to furrow her eyebrows together. The mop of blonde hair atop the man’s head screamed at Lily in a violent signal that there was something very wrong here. The way his shoulder slouched and the fact that she was unable to see his face because of his hunched posture. She figured he was too embarrassed or ashamed to even look at himself in the mirror that the police officer and Lily looked through. But his body type, his hair, the bracelet that sat on his hand looked so familiar to Lily.

"Alright sir please state your name quickly so we can get this show started." a woman's voice sighed as she entered the room that was blocked off from Lily's presence. She was a breathtaking beauty and it almost took Lily back before she reminded herself that was not exactly what she was here for. To be honest, she wasn't 100% sure why she was actually here.

A screeching behind her caught the blonde’s attention. The Sergeant that had brought her in had pushed a chair up behind her, gesturing her to sit. Saying a quick remark about how she may need to with what she was about to learn. It caused her heart to set off into such a quick beat that she was worried it may explode inside of her chest. Whatever was about to happen clearly wasn't good news for Lily. So she sat and waited. And almost threw up.

"My name is Cedar Osborne."

[medea10]

My Review of Rose of Versailles

[stephaniefchase]

Bajan Newscap 5/20/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers Here is your daily news cap for Saturday 20th May 2017. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS).  

OUTRAGE – She could have been killed! President of Barbados National Council of Parent Teacher Association (BNCPTA) Shone Gibbs said that was the chilling thought that went through his mind as he watched a video of a student being repeatedly kicked by fellow pupils. In the video, which went viral on social media, a Lester Vaughan Secondary School student is seen being chased down by an angry mob –– some of whom could be heard hurling loud expletives –– before she fell to the ground and was repeatedly kicked in the head by some of her peers. The attack was allegedly over an argument about a $15 bottle of hair spritz. President of the Lester Vaughan Secondary School Parent Teachers Association Donna Sealy expressed similar sentiments, telling Barbados TODAY she was horrified by what she saw. She said the PTA and the principal were committed to resolving the issue, adding: “I don’t think that our girls and children should be fighting, and we need to get to the root of the anger,” Sealy said. Former head of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA) George Griffith believes he knows the where the blame lies. The social activist told Barbados TODAY it is cultivated at home, where children are introduced to violence through flogging, and bears fruit at school. “We really should not be surprised at this level of violence simply because . . . a considerable amount of our children are socialized in very hostile and aggressive environments, whether it be home or in the community. Griffith said it was time parents stopped beating children “into submission”, and he argued that Barbadians needed to decide what was necessary to create a violence-free environment in which to raise children. Earlier this month President of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU) Mary Redman warned the Ronald Jones-led Ministry of Education not to allow cell phones in schools, saying these devices would only exacerbate the problem of gang activity and pose a major security threat to schools. Redman had told Barbados TODAY a troubling trend had emerged where students affiliated with gangs from various communities were using their mobile devices to call for backup whenever there was conflict with other students. She also said then there were many examples on social media of students engaging in brutal and barbaric fights, spurred on by their classmates, in a bid to garner likes. “Cell phone use is contributing to the ill-discipline because as soon as there is a fight now children whip out the cell phones and the ones who are fighting know they are being recorded and they are performing as well,” the BSTU head said at the time. (BT)

HELP POURS IN FOR BEATEN GIRL – In an outpouring of compassion, several Barbadians yesterday rushed to help the Lester Vaughn teenager who was the victim of a savage beating by her schoolmates. Some who had witnessed the stomach-churning video of Wednesday’s assault and others who read the mother’s account of the unfolding events, were moved to donate towards her medical bills. On Thursday, the viral video of the student fleeing her attackers before she was cornered and pummelled with blows to the body and head, was picked up by the NATION team. When her mother, Marcia Carrington, was contacted, she gave a painful account of her daughter’s ordeal along with the injuries and revealed to the WEEKEND NATION that she was struggling to get the money for an all-important CAT scan. She had already paid out around $500 in medical bills that included x-rays, medication and doctor’s visit. (SS)

CRISIS MEETING - The key stakeholders in education and those who work with children will be going into a huddle to come up with a plan to deal with the escalating violence among schoolchildren. The move comes after videos making the rounds show girls from the Lester Vaughan School and the Grantley Adams Memorial School unmercifully beating one of their own. There were also reports of flare-ups at other secondary schools and at least one City primary school. Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, who has oversight of the Boys’ and Girls’ Government Industrial Schools, says he is willing to help convene such a meeting because the extent of the problem needs an “overarching plan”. Brathwaite, who spoke to the SATURDAY SUN after officially reopening the Arch Hall Fire Station and Fire Academy yesterday, said there was a memorandum of understanding with the ministries of Education and Home Affairs, the Government Industrial Schools, the Probation Department and other like departments. (SS)

BSTU CALLS FOR UNITED STAND – Shocked, upset, scared at the possibilities but not surprised. That was the reaction of president of the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU), Mary-Ann Redman, to the two videos showing several schoolgirls brawling and beating down one of their colleagues. She has invited the Barbados National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (BNCPTA) to meet with the union, possibly next Friday, to devise a united position on the violence in schools and make recommendations for its solution. “We need to have a group comprised of all the teachers’ unions, the two principals’ unions, the NCPTA. We need to have the Barbados Police Force. We need to have the Ministry of Education and the Child Care Board,” she said.  (SS)

THUGS ROBBING STUDENTS – A number of schoolchildren are being targeted by a gang of teenaged thugs from the Gall Hill area who are robbing and in some instances beating them after school. To make matters even worse, it seems the gang is getting the inside scoop on who to rob from children within the school itself. Yesterday, a parent of a student who was robbed told the SATURDAY SUN that on Thursday evening around 2:40 p.m., her 13-year-old son was walking home from the Deighton Griffith Secondary School with a friend when the incident took place. The mother said that when her son had reached the spot of the old Montrose Supermarket on Kingsland main road he noticed two boys walking behind him. (SS)

THEIF TO SPEND 18 MONTHS IN JAIL - A 38-year-old man who admitted to a string of robbery and drug charges will spend the next 18 months in prison. Justin Wayne Jackman, of no fixed place of abode, recently pleaded guilty before Magistrate Douglas Frederick to stealing two stethoscopes worth $480, a spectrophotometer worth $450 and a flashlight belonging to Shaka Jordan on June 12, 2015. He was slapped with a nine-month jail term for that offence after police prosecutor Sergeant Martin Rock revealed that the items belonged to an Emergency Medical Technician who was attached to an ambulance service. Jordan left the items in his medical bag in the ambulance but realized it missing when he returned. Jackman will also serve a nine-month sentence which will run consecutively to any other sentence he is currently serving at HMP Dodds, for entering the home of D’orsus Barker as a trespasser and stealing a cellular phone worth $400 and a phone case worth $30 belonging to Marion Martin, as well as a purse worth $150 and $596 cash belonging to Linora Barker. These offences were committed on February 12. The magistrate heard that Jackman walked near the side of Barker’s house to a rear bedroom and placed his hand through a window. He removed some bags that were on a chair and left. He told police he used the money to gamble and buy drinks. The thief also admitted that on March 29 this year, he stole a printer worth $1,200, a computer tablet worth $225, a haversack worth $100, a multimeter worth $91, a knife worth $8 and four pens, belonging to David Grant. Jackman also admitted to entering S.P Musson as a trespasser on April 11 and stealing a jigsaw worth $150 and a bolt cutter worth $150, belonging to Frank Armstrong. Nine-month sentences were also imposed on him for each of those offences; however, they will run concurrently to the previous prison terms. For possession of cannabis and having two pieces of apparatus in his possession intended for the use of cocaine, Jackman was convicted reprimanded and discharged. (BT)

I CONFESS – He has been on remand at HMP Dodds since December last year, and today Henderson Ricardo Austin was sentenced by a Bridgetown magistrate to more time at the St Philip prison. The 24-year-old of Clapham Heights, St Michael recently pleaded guilty to burglary in the District ‘A’ Criminal Court, before Magistrate Douglas Frederick. When he appeared before the magistrate today, he was sentenced to a year in prison for his crime. Austin admitted that he entered the home of Adrian Husbands sometime between November 6 and 13, 2016, and stole two bottles of fabric softener; 12 packs of soap; six bottles of moisturizing lotion; two bottles of Lysol spray; a mop; five packs of tea bags; four packs of sugar; six bottles of seasoning; two bottles of shampoo; two bottles of conditioner; 20 boxes of toothpaste; eight packs of deodorant; two shower curtains; six towels; two packs of curtains; six packs of ketchup; a can of non-stick spray; a bottle of capsules; a box of panty shields; two tins of drinks and two air fresheners belonging to Gail Hinds, costing $1,540. The facts read by police prosecutor Sergeant Martin Rock revealed that Hinds secured the residence on November 6, leaving the items in two barrels in the laundry room. However, it was not until she made a check seven days later that she realized the property was gone and that some panes were missing from the louvre windows. The burglary was not reported to the police. However, Austin, who was in police custody, admitted to committing the offence, gave a written statement and identified the residence from which the items – which were never recovered – were taken. Austin also confessed that he entered Husbands’ house twice and told police he sold the property on Villa Road, The Ivy, to persons walking along the road. He also disclosed that he had used the money to buy drugs and food. (BT)

DON’T SPEND ALL IN U.S MALLS - A government minister wants Barbadians to stop spending the country’s hard-earned and scarce foreign exchange in the shopping malls of the United States. Speaking on Thursday night at the launch of new financial services company Carilend, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Donville Inniss veered from his prepared text to offer the word of caution. The new company, which is based at Welches, St Thomas, takes money from investors and uses it to lend to borrowers in a state-of-the art electronic platform. In his address at the company’s official launch at Limegrove Lifestyle Centre in Holetown, St James, Inniss encouraged borrowers to use the money for “productive purposes” such as launching small businesses. (SS)

COCONUT BUY-IN - Some coconut vendors are lining up behind the suggestion that they need to improve their business habits to create a more professional look when they deal with the public. This is their consensus after suggestions by officials in the coconut industry during a Barbados coconut stakeholders forum about providing training for vendors held on Wednesday. WEEKEND NATION spoke to vendors who plied their trade along the highway between the Everton Weekes Roundabout and D’Arcy Scott Roundabout about their thoughts on the matter yesterday. Rushena Prescod, who recently got into the business, said training was a positive idea and the suggestion to have a uniform would appeal to her customers. Andy ‘Boy Blue’ Andrew, her workmate and who has been vending coconuts for over 18 years, was in agreement. He added that training would give the public a different outlook of the job. (SS)

NO PROMOTION WITHOUT TRAINING - The days of fire officers being promoted based strictly on years of service are coming to an end, according to Attorney General Adriel Braithwaite. And the island’s top legal adviser warned at Friday afternoon’s reopening of the Arch Hall Fire Station and Barbados Fire Academy that seniority would not guarantee a rise through the ranks. The Attorney General explained that modern advancements within the service were moving at a rapid rate and the role of a firefighter must evolve to keep up with the changing demands. However in order to take advantage of the innovations there must be a willingness by all officer to retool their skillset, Brathwaite stressed. Government in 2009 decided to extend the Arch Hall Fire Station to provide training facilities for recruits, as well as continuous in-service training of staff in the Fire Service Department. Work on the project commenced in 2014. (BT)

UWI TO INTRODUCE MINO IN CHINESE – The Cave Hill campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) is to offer an academic minor in Chinese beginning in the second semester of the 2017-2018 academic year, Principal Eudine Barriteau has announced. Barriteau last night told the official opening of the Confucius Institute’s (CI) new building at Cave Hill that the non-profit public educational organization “has been working with the Department of Languages, Literature and Linguistics to develop a minor in Chinese to be taught within the Faculty of Humanities and Education”. The Cave Hill institute was approved last year as a Caribbean HSK –– Chinese Proficiency Test –– testing centre for Chinese language, meaning it would be allowed to confer students with internationally recognized certification in Chinese. (BT)

GLITCH IN CXC MATH PAPER LEAVES STUDENTS ON EDGE – An administrative glitch in the May/June Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Mathematics paper has left some students and parents on edge. However, the Barbados-based examination body said there was no need for concern, as the problem would not affect their grades. Barbados TODAY understands that students were flustered after realizing that the Mathematics papers in this year’s CXC were incorrectly stapled. One parent who complained that her son was “distraught” when he came out of the examination room, said he did not complete the paper because it was “numbered incorrectly” In an emailed response to queries from Barbados TODAY, CXC acknowledged that there have been “some issues” with the administration of some of its examinations during the May/June 2017 sitting. However, it assured “all concerned that no candidate will be disadvantaged as a result of any issue with the administration of any of the CXC examinations”. The regional institution said the procedure for reporting challenges encountered during examinations was for the supervisor of the examination centre to file a report to the local registrar, who forwards it to the examination body. The CXC said it remained committed to providing the region with examinations of the highest quality that withstand international scrutiny. There was also anxiety among some private candidates who sat the May 10 examination at the New Dimensions Ministries, where a shortage of desks caused a late start. The Ministry of Education apologized to the candidates, saying it had sought “another suitable alternative in the Springer Memorial Secondary School that would accommodate the excess candidates”. The ministry explained that “no candidate was disadvantaged in any way” and that they were given the two hours and 40 minutes to write the exam. (BT)

FREE DIVER COMES UP BIG IN HOLE – Barbados-based ALEX DAVIS grabbed five records in the recently concluded tenth Vertical Blue Free-diving Competition held at Dean’s Blue Hole in Long Island, Bahamas. Known as the crème de la crème of free diving, the competition attracted 15 women and 28 men, representing 19 countries. Divers endured nine days of competition, with six dives a piece. The English national, a first-time competitor, placed ninth overall in the competition, which garnered three world records and 47 national records. “One of my dives I got halfway down and turned around and came back up. I wasn’t feeling in a good mood that day. I got to 40 feet and turned around on the second to last dive,” he told the SATURDAY SUN. (SS)

HOLDER RESTED, TAYLOR RECALLED – Fast bowling seemed to have been uppermost in the minds of the West Indies selection panel, when they chose the 13-member squad for their upcoming three Twenty20 Internationals against Afghanistan next month in St Kitts. They have chosen to rest Jason Holder, sought to give the attack an edge with the recall of Jerome Taylor to international duty, and cast an eye to the future with the choice of Ronsford Beaton as the only newcomer in the squad to be led by Carlos Brathwaite. The matches are scheduled for June 2, 3 and 5 at Warner’s Park. Holder has been a regular member of the T20I squad since his debut three years ago, but Courtney Browne, the chairman of the West Indies selection panel, said the lanky Test and one-day international captain has been given a break with a view to having him recharged and ready for significant ODI contests in the next two months.  (SS)

GLUE KEY IN HOCKEY FIX – When it’s not one thing it’s another. The laying of the new hockey turf has experienced yet another hiccup, albeit minor, as the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) is acquiring new adhesive to get the sand-based surface in place for the August Barbados Hockey Festival. BOA director Cammie Burke disclosed the latest progress after revealing that Barbados had already received the 240-tonne shipment of sand needed to complete the laying of the turf. “They sent the turf two years ago and that glue has expired now, so we have to purchase some fresh glue over the weekend, and that should take about ten days coming out of Scotland,” said Burke. (SS)

LOCAL, REGIONAL PRODUCTS FOR CARIFESTA - OVER 3 000 participants are expected in Barbados for CARIFESTA 13 being hosted from Thursday, August 17 to Sunday, August 27. And the National Cultural Foundation has reported widespread interest in the premier Caribbean cultural festival and appealed to Barbadians to volunteer their services to assist in making it a success. The foundation anticipates it will need the assistance of about 400 volunteers to pull off the event. Despite the small turnout at the first festival town hall meeting at the Queen’s Park Steel shed Tuesday evening, the questions were many from the interested parties eager to participate. Concerns about their particular area of engagement were raised by literary artistes, vendors, and other stakeholders as festival director Andrea Wells fielded an extensive range of questions. (SS)

REGGAE SINGER FRANKIE PAUL IS DEAD - Jamaican Reggae artiste Frankie Paul died at the University Hospital of West Indies (UHWI) last night. Paul was born in 1965. He was 52 years old. According to his sister, Trish Clarke, he died shortly after 10 p.m. He had been suffering from kidney problems and was on dialysis two days per week. Friends, including dancehall artiste/producer Wayne Lonesome were assisting him in meeting a huge hospital bill of some $1.5 million when he died. He had been admitted to the hospital since April. Paul, who had moved to the African nation, The Gambia in 1994, was a major dancehall/reggae star of the 1980s and 1990s with hits like Worries In the Dance, Pass the Ku Shung Peng, Tidal Wave, Cassanova and Sarah. Born in Jamaica in 1965, Paul, whose real name was Paul Blake, was blind from birth and spent his early life at the Salvation Army School for the Blind. While there he met American RnB singer Stevie Wonder, who was in Kingston for a show at the National Stadium in the 1970s. Wonder urged him to become a professional singer. Like Wonder, Paul also played a number of instruments including the keyboard. "He will be sadly missed by us, his friends, his colleagues in the music business, his family and thousands of fans around the world who loved his music," Lonesome told the OBSERVER ONLINE this morning. (SS)

BETTY WELCOMES THE WORLD - GRAND KADOOMENT bandleader, designer and masquerader Betty West is inviting visitors to Barbados for Crop Over. And everyone is invited to be part of her 400-strong Grand Kadooment band called Welcome To My Island. West, known for her sexy yet tastefully laid out costumes, will be concentrating solely this year on an adult band because of sponsorship limitations but there will be no cheating on the revellers’ experience on the road come Grand Kadooment Day, August 7. “This is 26 years for Betty. I love the culture, but there will be no junior band this year. I am very sad about that. I love my kiddies but because of the financial problems . . . ,” she said. West said that she did not want to give away too many details at this stage but her band will feature seven sections depicting the cultural attractions of seven countries – United States, England, Canada, Germany, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana. “People were coming to Barbados for the sea and sun, but now they are coming for Crop Over to participate. Last year 40 per cent of my people [revellers] were from overseas . . . . I have a very strong theme and we are going to market it very strongly,” said West. (SS)

That’s all for today folks. There are 225 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase