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patton-croc-agenda · 6 years ago

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A Dragon’s Treasure (WIP/Unfinshed)

A/N: Hey gang! So I made a poll about this and those who answered seemed to be interested in seeing this wip! I can’t guarantee I’ll finish it, but I got so much done I wanted to share at least what I had finished for now! Maybe I’ll pick it back up, but from the fact I don’t really have the motivation right now, to the fact I’m struggling to nail down an ending, to the fact some scenes I have planned kinda give me fae-t vibes idk how likely it is. I hope you enjoy what I have done?? It hasn’t been betaed or anything so sorry for any weirdness oops

Summary: Patton knew stealing from a dragon was a bad idea, but when he destroys said dragon’s crown jewel by mistake, he finds that he’ll have to pay the price.

Pairings (all heavily implied, but not stated): Logicality, past pining royality, prinxiety

Words: 10,424

Warnings: Illness, thievery, threats to one’s life, yelling

Patton’s hands ached from where they dug into the cliffside. The sharp stones dug into his palms, but that was better than reaching up and having his fingers touch nothing but smooth, unclimbable stone.

His arms quivered with effort as he reached his hand up for what felt like the millionth time, only now he felt the edge of a cliff. His pulse pounded in his throat as he shakily pulled himself onto the ledge, gasping for breath as he laid on his back and stared at the sky. It had been sunrise when he had first begun climbing, and now streaks of sunset were bleeding across his vision. He waited until his breathing finally evened out before he got onto jelly legs to face the yawning cave in front of him.

Wind whipped around him, pulling at his curls and clothes as he threw one last look over his shoulder. He could see the tiny dot of his village below, a patchwork of green fields and brown houses. If he looked a little further, he could see the King’s castle. He wondered if his old friend Prince Roman was doing well. Wondered if he’d ever see him again. Patton shook the thoughts from his head and inhaled deeply through his nose as he headed inside.

The darkness slowly encased him as he moved forward, footsteps echoing around him as he walked. He paused, pulling his boots off and setting them to the side. The stone under his bare feet felt unnaturally smooth- as if someone (or something) had gone through great pains to remove any sharp stones or bumps along the path. The thought made Patton’s throat dry, but he shoved it away in favor of a more positive outlook. Now he could be quiet, and not worry about his footsteps giving him away!

As he continued, the entrance disappeared completely- the light of the fading sun swallowed up by the darkness of the cave. Patton tried to ignore the feeling of being trapped as his breath echoed back at him. Instead, he thought about why he was doing this. Who he was doing this for. He almost laughed to himself, already hearing Virgil’s lecture in his mind. ‘Patton, you idiot! You can’t steal from a dragon, it’s a death sentence.’

It would be worth it, though. Patton would be able to use whatever he...borrowed...to help pay for Virgil’s medicine. The expensive kind; the kind only sold at the kingdom’s capital. Patton needed to get it, because Virgil’s condition was getting worse. It was a magical illness, and when Virgil had moved in with him all those years ago, he had warned Patton that this day would come. That he’d slowly wither away in his own body, with the only cure too expensive to ever truly be in reach. Patton had considered begging Roman for money, but he doubted the crown prince would recall a simple commoner such as himself.

After what felt like hours of walking, Patton saw a light at the end of the tunnel; quite literally. Golden light reflected off the stone walls and floor. Patton nearly broke into a giddy run, but restrained himself. He didn't want to get caught now, not when he was so close

Patton slunk into the light, peering ahead cautiously. He could finally see what was causing the glow, and it nearly caused his jaw to drop. Hundreds upon thousands of golden coins, jewels, and pearls. Patton entered the room on the same cautious feet as he had the entire way down the tunnel. He scanned the entire expansive area, but there was no dragon in sight. He couldn't believe his luck! He'd made it inside while the dragon was away. Patton hopped over a puddle that was forming by the entrance due to a steady drip drip dipping of a stalactite.

Actually breaking into a run, Patton laughed and grabbed fistfuls of coins, throwing them into the air. They showered down like drops of sunlight, though they did smack his head rather painfully on the way down. He grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head, soothing the bump that was bound to grow there.

Patton clambered up on of the hills of gold, slipping and sliding as he did. He paused a moment as he noticed something strange. A book poked out from the pile of treasure, and when Patton pulled it free he was able to read looping golden words that marked the cover.

A Guide to Human Anatomy. Not what Patton imagined a dragon to choose as reading material, but who was he to judge? He gently set the book back down in the pile and continued to climb up and over. As he made it to the other side, he lost his footing and half slipped, half rolled, down the slope.

He let out an “Oof!” as he landed at the bottom on his back. He could see a few more stalactites, but what was more curious was a large, gaping hole in the ceiling. In through it shone bright sunlight, which must’ve been the source of the coins’ glow. Patton frowned thoughtfully to himself, trying to figure out if he’d been here long enough for the start of evening to already reach midday.

After a good moment of pondering, Patton decided that no- it didn’t make any sense, and he got to his feet, looking around. He seemed to have landed in a small indent in the treasure, as if the dragon had carefully scooped out the spot. Something shiny caught Patton’s eye, and he stared wide-eyed at the giant diamond that was on the other end of the indent. Patton looked around quickly, as if expecting the dragon to appear at any moment, and hurried over to scoop up the precious gem.

While walking, Patton accidentally kicked something. Another book, by the looks of it. Patton picked it up and looked at the cover, which read Logan and the Lonely Dragon. Patton hummed, his interest piqued, and placed the book under one arm until the diamond was safely procured and snugly placed into his bag.

Holding the book once more, Patton opened to the first page. The paper was decorated with beautiful, delicate watercolors. A dragon sat on a cliff overlooking a human village with smoke billowing from its nose. Patton read the text as he stumbled back up the hill of gold and jewels.

“Once there lived a dragon- who despite having all the riches he could ever want protected in his cave, still felt loneliness fluttering in his heart. He would watch the humans who lived below him with envy in his heart, and longing pressing onto his winged shoulders.”

Patton stopped at the top of the pile, sitting down and holding the book in his lap as he turned the page. The dragon had fury painted into his gaze, and Patton ran his finger across the careful details.

“I can not be lonely,” the dragon would say, “for I am a dragon, and am my own companion. I need only my horde to keep my heart content.” Despite his own self-assurances, the dragon did admit that perhaps a companion would be ideal. Perhaps another dragon to mate with, or a chick that he could care for?

Patton was about to turn the page once more when he heard the loud, whooshing sound of air. He froze, eyes darting to the hole in the ceiling as he watched a shadow pass over. Patton scrambled to his feet, sliding down the pile of treasure. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten distracted! He stumbled over his feet, the book tumbling from his hands and landing in the center of a puddle formed on the floor. Patton covered his mouth, pulse racing.

As the shadow passed over once more, Patton made a mad dash for the exit. However, as he felt the air around him whip with the movement of wingbeats, Patton realized he wouldn’t make it, so he did the next best thing. He flung himself behind a pile of gold and curled in on himself, trying to be as small as humanly possible.

There was the clinking of coins as the dragon landed heavily in the center of the room. Patton hardly let out a breath, not wanting to be heard. The dragon was rumbling to itself, but that rumble soon became a roar. Patton swallowed nervously and peaked out.

Brown eyes made contact with gold, and Patton knew he was (for lack of a better word) fucked.

A talon cast a shadow over the quivering young man as the dragon’s claws pinched the back of his tunic and yanked him up into the air. Patton squeaked, covering his face with his arms.

“PLEASE DON’T EAT ME,” Patton wailed desperately. The dragon growled low in its throat.

“Do not be ridiculous, humans taste appalling,” the dragon said. Patton peaked out hopefully from behind one arm, but upon seeing the angry fire in the dragon’s eyes, the hope dropped out of Patton like a stone.

“While I do not intend to eat you,” the dragon released Pattom causing him to tumble through the air and land painfully in a small pile of jewels, “you have stolen something that belongs to me.”

Patton laughed sheepishly and bit his lip to hide how it was shaking with fear as he slowly pulled the diamond from his bag. The dragon stared at it a moment before giving Patton an incredulous look. To Patton’s surprise, he batted the gemstone from his grasp and Patton watched it shatter across the cave floor.

“I couldn’t give a damn about that thing,” the dragon snarled, leaning in close. Patton wanted to back up, but couldn’t really gain a hold on the pile he was dropped into. “Now, where is my centerpiece- my book?” Patton felt his heart plument internally as he externally laughed the question off.

“There, uh, there are lot- lots of books here,” Patton babbled, but the dragon wasn’t buying it.

“Where. Is. It?” the dragon huffed, and a cloud of smoke overtook Patton’s senses momentarily. He coughed, blinking rapidly to stop the stinging in his eyes.

“I am- I am so, so, sorry it was an accident! I didn’t mean to drop it I was, I was just reading it and you surprised me so Idroppeditintoapuddle, and oh I’m so, so sorry. I wouldn’t have touched it if I knew it was your centerpiece,” Patton said, and it was true. Patton didn’t want to steal something the dragon would care about missing. He just needed something to help Virgil.

The dragon’s gaze went wide and it turned, seeing the once beautiful book soaking in a puddle. It tenderly lifted the damp thing up, flipping through its pages. A dark look crossed its face, and Patton tried to escape once more.

“I can no longer read the words, nor see the images. This book...it is completely ruined,” the dragon’s voice was even, but had a deadly edge and Patton swallowed nervously.

“I...I really am sorry.”

“Oh? Why should I believe that?” the dragon asked. “You broke into my home, stole my most valued treasure, ruined it, and were about to make off with another piece of my collection. Do all humans act so horridly, then tack on an ‘I’m sorry’ and expect things to work out?” Patton shrunk in on himself, feeling as if his mother were lecturing him.

“I didn't mean to ruin your book,” Patton said sadly, “I just needed something I could sell to afford medicine for my friend. He is...He’s really sick, sir- er...oh great dragon. It’s a magical illness, and all the medicine is too expensive for us to affor-”

“Enough grovelling,” the dragon growled, and Patton flinched. “I care not of you humans, nor your painfully short lifespans. You ruined the treasure that meant most to me, and for that you must pay. Any last words before I snuff out your miserable existence?” Patton gulped and peeked past the dragon’s now passive face at the sky. He wasn’t quite sure why- or how, but the words that came out were calm, curious.

“Why is it light outside when I came in at sunset?” The passive expression the dragon’s face flickered to one of curiosity as well as he faced the entrance in the cave ceiling.

“Really? Your final words in this world are you expressing curiosity about the cave you will die in?” The dragon was scanning Patton over with yellow eyes, practically slicing him open with his gaze. Patton swallowed past the lump in his throat.

“Um...yes?”

“Fascinating,” the dragon leaned in closer, and Patton tried to lean back and away from those golden eyes. Suddenly, the dragon’s tail wrapped around Patton’s middle and squeezed.

‘Welp, this is it. You had a good run Patton,’ Patton closed his eyes as his body lifted from the pile of jewels and the grip around him tightened even more. He felt his body turn in the air, which caused his spectacles to fall from where they were perched on his nose and for his eyes to pop back open. He was hanging upside down suspended in the air, the only thing stopping him from plummeting to his death was the dragon’s tail. The creature climbed over his piles of gold to the center, curling his tail with Patton still in it and lowering it close to the indent in the pile of jewels Patton had stolen the book and diamond from. The dragon released Patton, and he hit the gold and jewels. It hurt, but he was alive. More than he’d expected, honestly.

“Dragons are not inherently immortal creatures,” the dragon spoke, tail curling around Patton again, but not squeezing or lifting- more of a guard. To stop Patton from running, but not hurting him yet. Patton decided to play along. Though, this game might cost him his life.

“You aren’t?” Despite the urgency, the question was genuine. From what Patton had heard, all dragons were immortal unless slayed.

“No. We do possess a sort of magic that can stop time, though constantly generating it is tiring, Because of that, dragons typically cast their time magic across their nest and hoard, making them stuck in time. Anyone or anything will stop aging for as long as they remain within the confines of a dragon’s nest.” Patton stared at the dragon in awe, who looked wildly pleased with himself.

“So it was noon when you...set your nest?” Patton asked. The dragon nodded sagely.

“Indeed, though that was thousands of years ago…” The dragon trailed off, and silence filled the cave again. Patton knew he was going to run out of time at this rate, and the dragon would kill him. However, the dragon seemed to be interested in Patton’s curiosity (a trait many found annoying in him, oddly enough), so perhaps-

“So,” Patton said slowly, sliding slowly up into a crouch, “you like to collect books? I thought dragons only liked shiny things.” The dragon snorted, turning his snout up towards the ceiling.

“Many do, however there are also many dragons who collect things that pique their interest in other ways.” Patton slowly stood up straight. The dragon didn’t spare him a glance, and Patton slowly moved across the small circle of the dragon’s tail, trying not to shuffle the gold beneath his feet. “I, personally, have always found interest in books. While I usually do not care for humans, there are occasionally some that catch my interest. Whether it be them, or something they have created. Granted, the ones that often find their way into my nest are not interesting, nor accomplished in a way I find impressive.” The dragon huffed, a puff of smoke coiling from his nose.

Patton paused his escape attempt to turn and face the dragon. He was staring up at the sunlight with a thoughtful, almost human expression. Patton had always been good at reading expressions, but he wondered if the loneliness he read there was simply a miscommunication between species, or perhaps the slight blur the lack of spectacles caused. The dragon turned to look at him then, flicking golden eyes up and down Patton. His throat went dry as he realized he had one foot placed just outside the coil surrounding him- having found the tip thin enough to get a foot over.

“You, however,” the tail twined around one of his legs, and he was upside down in the air again. “You had a chance to run, just then, yet you did not take it. I threatened your life, and you asked me about mine. You are a strange, strange human being.”

“What can you say,” Patton laughed nervously, “guess curiosity really kills the Pat.” The dragon stared at him blankly.

“I am afraid I do not...understand your tone.” Patton grinned despite himself.

“I’m going out with a self-referential pun! My name is Patton, and my curiosity seems to be what’s gonna kill me,” his voice wavered a bit at the end, and the dragon stared at him.

“Well, as atrocious as that attempt at wordplay was, I think your curiosity has, in fact, saved you, Patton.” Patton felt his heartbeat nearly stop in his chest, rendering the entire conversation pointless.

“What?” A low, rumbling chuckle coursed through the dragon’s body, echoing across the walls of the cave. He lowered Patton to the ground and released him once more, not bothering to wrap his tail around Patton to guard him from leaving this time.

“I need a new centerpiece- a crown jewel if you will, for my horde. The dragon looked at Patton from the corner of his eyes. “It has been many, many years since I have interacted with man, and as much as I hate to admit it, you humans adapt and grow quite quickly. I’ll need a guide, and while my intentions were to kill you, I think you are my best option available. Do this for me, and I will not only consider the debt for your mistakes paid...but I will help you pay for the medication your friend requires.”

Patton’s heartbeat was in his throat as he stared up at the dragon. He suddenly launched forward, wrapping his arms around the creature’s foreleg. “Really? Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He didn’t notice the dragon tense, but he did feel the claws pinch the back of his tunic again, tugging him back. “Uh, but how will I show you around...exactly? I can’t exactly bring a dragon around when I go home. The dragon smirked.

Suddenly, his body shifted and changed: wings and horns retreated, scales welded together and turned from deep blue to tan, chestnut hair grew rapidly from his skull, sharp talons turned to delicate fingers. Patton gaped as what had once been a towering dragon was now a fairly average- if rather tall and handsome- man.

“I assume this form will suffice, yes?” Patton’s tried to shut his jaw, but it just fell open again. He hoped his face wasn’t as red as it appeared as the dragon flexed his new fingers before running them through his hair, smoothing it into place. “I attempted to make this human form appealing, though most of your species is quite hideous, so I am not sure how much I succeeded in that aspect,” the dragon shrugged.

“Yeah, that looks good- your disguise, that is!” Patton squeaked, faced flushed. He turned away from the dragon and began to climb up the blurry hills of gold. “Can we find my spectacles before we go, though? I kinda need them to see good.”

“Well,” the dragon replied, climbing after Patton with far more grace. “You need them to see well. But yes, I can help you find them.” Patton nodded, ignoring the ruthless grammar correction in favor of heading over to the spot the dragon had originally picked him up. He began pushing around jewels and coins, searching for his precious spectacles.

“Are these yours?” Patton looked up from his searching as the dragon dangled a pair of spectacles from one finger. Patton put them on and frowned.

“No, these are the type made for when you need to see things close up. Mine help me see far away.” He handed them back to the dragon, who squinted at them before sliding them onto his own nose.

“Oh, these are helpful,” the dragon stated as Patton finally found his (luckily undamaged) spectacles. His slide them on his own nose, and the distant blurriness came slightly more into focus. He giggled at the dragon as he blinked and adjusted his own spectacles with a slightly awed expression.

“Who woulda thunk it? A dragon who needs spectacles!” Patton laughed.

“Who would have thought,” the dragon huffed, pointing his nose up in the air dramatically. Patton snickered to himself a bit at the overreaction to his bad grammar, but bounced on his toes all the same.

“Well, let’s go then!” Patton was about to race out, but the dragon snagged the back of his tunic again, causing the poor man to tumble back into the dragon’s arms.

“Two more topics to discuss before we head out,” he rumbled, either not seeing Patton turning red, or not caring. “The first, we should probably collect some of my treasure to use as currency. Larger jewels and gold would be ideal, I assume.”

“Are you sure?” Patton hesitated. “I don’t wanna take your stuff, uh, minus- minus the one I was going to steal.” The dragon sighed and nodded. That was all it took for Patton to eagerly collect jewels and gold into his satchel until it was a nearly unbearably heavy weight at his side. The dragon was staring at him with now hazel eyes, but if you took a moment to really look, you would be able to see the bright golden fire of his true eyes. Perhaps his disguise was not as flawless as it seemed from the outside. Perhaps, despite trying to hold it together with all his might, cracks and fissures were flitting across that carefully crafted human skin.

“What was the other thing?” Patton shook himself from staring into those eyes. Wow, could he ever stop being distracted at the most inconvenient times? Probably not. The dragon rubbed the back of his head, flicking his eyes away. Almost as if he were nervous.

“I will need a...human alias,” the dragon admitted. “However, despite extensive reading, I am not sure what, or how, humans typically chose names…” Patton let out an excited gasp, clapping his hands in front of himself. The dragon winced, looking as if he already regretted all of the choices leading up to this moment. Patton ignored that look so hard (he got it enough from Virgil).

“You want me to help you choose a name?” Patton asked, eyes sparkling. The dragon closed his eyes and took a deep inhale through his nose.

“Yes…”

“Oh! This will be so fun,” Patton squealed. “I’ve always wanted a kid someday, so I’ve got tons of names!”

“Goodie,” the dragon deadpanned as Patton mentally pulled out a list.

“Nate?”

“No.”

“Steve?”

“Terrible.”

“Emile?”

“A good name, though I feel it does not...fit me.”

“Hm, fair,” Patton bit his lip thoughtfully, “Thomas?”

“No.”

“Okay, I have a friend named Thomas anyway, so that might be weird. Sparrow?”

“That is a bird.”

“Ugh fineeeee. Jack?” The dragon shuddered.

“No, no...that name sets me on edge for some reason.”

“Huh, me too. Weird,” Patton tapped his chin. He was running out of ideas, his mental list of names growing shorter and shorter. An idea suddenly popped into his head, and he prayed the dragon was going to keep his word and not kill Patton quite yet.

“...what about Logan?” The dragon looked at him with wide eyes and took a step back. “In honor of your treasure that uh, that’s gone.” Patton winced. The dragon looked a Patton with those too-yellow-hazel eyes, and Patton felt like he may very well be crushed under their scrutiny.

“Did you finish the book?” The dragon’s voice had an edge to it, not exactly dangerous, but not soothing either. Patton swallowed nervously.

“...no?” Patton could honestly tell that time did not truly move in that cave, for at that moment the dragon went incredibly still, and Patton swore he felt his heartbeat halt, felt his breathing catch. Everything was still.

Finally, the dragon moved forward, towards Patton, and the world was in motion again. Patton stumbled back- half expecting to be attacked, but instead the dragon strode past him into the entrance of the cave.

“Logan will be adequate,” he said.

Patton watched as he slunk down, getting swallowed up in the darkness of the cave’s exit.

“Logan it is then,” Patton said brightly as he headed after him. His bright voice echoed across the walls before hitting their mark. And Logan smiled.

“The sun appears to have risen roughly an hour ago, so it is best we hurry down as fast as possible. I want to try and find my new crown jewel as fast as possible,” Logan informed Patton as he left the cave and squinted at the bright, early morning light. He looked at Logan, then looked down at the soft blanket of his village. He wondered if anyone was awake other then the farmers going out to harvest their crops. He wondered if Virgil was up yet. Wondered if he saw the note left of their kitchen table. He secretly hoped he’d get back in time to remove it and tear it into tiny pieces to throw in the fire as kindling, so Virgil would never know of his stunt.

“It took me an entire day to get up here. I don’t know if we can climb down any faster, either,” Patton admitted, looking down at the cliff. He’d climbed enough in his life to know that going down was always worse then going up.

“Climbing?” Logan snorted. Patton turned to him, confusion clear in his expression.

“Yeah? How else do you expect us to get down, silly?” Patton laughed, getting down onto his stomach and shimmying backwards, finding those tiny foot and handholds so he could begin his journey. The sound Logan made radiated concern.

“You are going to get yourself killed that way.”

“That’s what I told myself when I went to try and take treasure from a dragon!” Patton said brightly. He began to oh-so slowly inch his way down the cliff-face. However, his bag now heavy with treasure, he miscalculated how much he needed to lean to the left and missed a handhold, tumbling left with a shriek. He held on with the very tips of his fingers, staring up at Logan with utter terror.

The dragon peered down at him, his expression exasperated. “I told you.”

“You sure did, now, you wanna give me a hand?” Patton’s laugh was shrill with fear. Logan smirked and raised an eyebrow. Patton’s fingers began to slip, and he shot his panicked gaze from his hand to Logan.

“Logan, I’m slipping! I’m,” the tips of his fingers lost their hold, and Patton fell backwards through the air. The wind whipped around him, and he watched as the top of the cliff grew rapidly smaller and smaller. For the second time that day, Patton was ready to embrace death. He turned his gaze to watch the clouds as he continued to drop like a stone. The sky was a soft blue, his favorite color, and covered in tiny dots of puffy white clouds. Not the worst thing to die looking at.

There were hands gripping his shoulders, and his body jerked into an upright position as his he stopped falling. There as a loud whooshing sound next to his ears, and when Patton tilted his head back, he could see Logan looking at him with a neutral expression. His eyes were bright yellow once more, and, if the fact they were still airborne was any indication, his wings were back out. Patton let out a hysterical laugh, and the grip on his arms tightened.

“Careful, Patton. Humans are fragile creatures. A fall from that height would have shattered every bone in your pathetic body. Honestly, how did you even make it up to my cave without dying?” Logan’s voice had an almost concerned edge to it, despite his impassive exterior. Patton tried to shrug helplessly, but the grip on his arms was too tight. Logan sighed.

“Let us just land then, shall we?” Patton beamed at the dragon.

“Sounds good!” Patton looked down at his feet as trees passed under them, watching as the shadow of their combined forms (it looked like a weird blob with wings, honestly) got bigger the closer they got to the tree line. Patton laughed again, though this time out of giddiness more then hysteria.

“What?” Patton swore he could hear a smile in Logan’s voice. Patton shook his head.

“I’ve always wondered what it was like to fly,” Patton admitted. Logan didn’t reply, just approached the ground near the trees and lightly placing him down. Patton managed to put his feet under himself, but the second Logan released him, he collapsed onto his butt. Logan landed gracefully and folded his wings. Patton watched, mesmerized, as they seemed to melt into his tunic.

“Right, your village is that way, correct? I believe that would be the ideal place to start. We will retrieve your friend, then go purchase the medicine he requires before searching for a new crown jewel for my horde,” Logan said smoothly. Patton nodded slowly.

“Okay, but what are we gonna tell Virgil- my friend. Like, about you?” Logan snorted.

“Simply inform him you met me in the market and I offered to help you pay for his medication after hearing your pleas.”

“But,” Patton bit his lip nervously, “but that’s lying.” Logan scoffed and glanced at Patton before striding in the direction of the village.

“You are sneaking a dragon into your village in disguise, Patton. Yes, you will be required to lie.” Patton winced and followed close at Logan’s heels.

“But...lying is wrong! Especially lying to your friends,” Patton protested. Logan didn’t turn around or reply, simply kept moving. “Logan!”

“What do you want to tell him then? The truth? That the dragon you tried to steal from if accompanying you into a village- that is terrified of dragons, might I add- because you angered it and need to help find it a new centerpiece for its horde?” Patton took a step back as Logan ranted. The dragon-man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tell him what you like, Patton...but if push comes to shove and I am unable to find a crown jewel soon, then I will punish you for destroying my original one. And well- I can’t exactly let your friend tell anyone what I am in that scenario,” he fingers twitched, and Patton swallowed dryly at the implication.

“O-okay,” Patton stammered. Logan nodded once, sharply, then turned on his heel to continue their walk. Patton stumbled after, wondering what on earth he was going to tell Virgil.

~~~

Patton led Logan up to his and Virgil’s tiny cottage at the very end of the village. Behind it were sprawling fields of green, occasionally dotted with colorful splotches of wildflowers. Patton looked at Logan hopefully, “Would you consider a nice flower as your jewel?”

“Absolutely not,” he deadpanned. Patton huffed and crossed his arms. The door swung open suddenly with a loud BANG! Patton may have jumped into Logan’s arms, who looked at him unimpressed.

“PATTON WHAT THE FUCK?!” The shout was followed by a rapid series of coughs, and Patton looked at Virgil as he hunched over, wheezing.

“Oh, Patton, you were correct in telling me he was, ahem, ‘really sick’,” Logan said, setting Patton back on his feet. Virgil looked away from Patton, shoving to stand in front of his friend as if to guard him as he glared at Logan.

“And who the fuck are you?!” He attempted a snarl, but it was rather weak. Logan offered his hand smoothly.

“Logan Drake. I found Patton on his way and, after hearing about your condition, I agreed to supply funds so you may purchase proper medication. You’re welcome.” Virgil stared at Logan’s hand in shock a moment before slowly shaking his hand. Logan met Patton’s gaze, daring him to challenge the lie. Patton bit his tongue and looked at his feet.

“So he...didn’t end up stealing from a dragon?” Virgil asked cautiously. Logan looked away from Patton, nodding.

“Yes. Obviously to attempt such a task would be suicidal, so I persuaded him to seek out other means in order to gain money,” Virgil nodded slowly.

“Fine. You can come in,” he held open the door, and Logan slipped inside easily. Patton moved to follow, but Virgil gripped the back of his tunic.

“Oh no, I still have some very strong words for you, bud. Patton smiled sheepishly as Virgil closed the door and folded his arms, a glare that could kill more men painted onto his features. A breeze ruffled their hair, spreading gossip throughout the trees and lush meadow grass.

Virgil lunged forward suddenly, pulling Patton into a tight hug. Patton startled, wrapping his arms to rest loosely around Virgil in return.

“You idiot. Gods, do you know how scared I was when I saw your note? I thought I’d never see you again. You’re so stupid, I love you.” Patton laughed softly and cupped Virgil’s face, pressing a kiss to his forehead and wiping away a tear that trickled down with his thumb.

“I’m okay, Virge. Lo talked me out of going. I’m safe- and hopefully soon, you will be too. Okay?” Virgil nodded sniffing loudly and rubbing his nose on his sleeve.

“Okay. But if you pull this kinda shit again I might have to lock you in your room forever,” Patton laughed at Virgil’s attempt at a threat.

“Are you two done?” The pair whipped around in surprise to see Logan leaning against the doorframe. Virgil scowled, and Patton’s laugh turned nervous.

“For a guy generous to pay for expensive medicine for a stranger, you sure are rude,” Virgil snapped, but he did head inside. Patton followed, seeing Logan roll his eyes at the young man’s attitude. He made sure to elbow Logan in the ribs, which made a very dragon-like growl escape him. Virgil startled and turned back to look at them, and the pair jumped apart hurriedly.

Their cottage was small and cozy, decorated with a multitude of flowers and stones that Patton found pretty and would collect on his way home from the market. Sun shone through the window in their tiny kitchen as Virgil pulled out a chair for Logan. The dragon sat down carefully, folding his hands in his lap, and Virgil sat across from him. Patton hurried to set water on the stove to make tea. Virgil coughed, and spoke carefully.

“So...you’re going to pay for life-saving, expensive medicine,” Virgil said slowly, Logan nodded along, “for a stranger...because you, what, want to bribe me for Patton’s hand in marriage? Because buddy do I have news for you.” Patton was glad he had yet to put the kettle on the stove, because he dropped it and water splashed all over. Logan simply raised an eyebrow.

“Trust me, if I were interested in such a thing, I would not be seeking permission from you,” Patton crouched down and picked up the kettle, refilling it and setting it on the stove. “I am simply decided I need to try and be a more generous person. I am a wealthy merchant, and needn’t all the money I own.” Virgil eyed Logan suspiciously, and Patton held his breath.

Seconds ticked by, but Virgil finally let out a loud sigh. “Fine. When should we leave?” The kettle began to hiss and Patton took it off, grinning wildly and interrupting before Logan could speak.

“Right after we have tea,” He set down the cups and poured with a wild flourish. Logan actually leaned away, as if he were afraid Patton would splash him with scalding tea. Which, to be fair, nearly did happen. The three enjoyed their tea in tense silence- no one quite trusting anyone. Except Patton, who trusted Virgil knew he was lying, but that didn’t exactly help things.

When tea was done, Virgil pulled on his cloak- his sickness often gave him a chill, and along with that he liked to stay hidden from view, and the trio set out. The village itself was not particularly busy, just a few people here and there chatting or doing chores if they were not the type to work on the farm. They headed past the center of town, and began to follow the dusty path that would lead to the capital- where the most gracious and benevolent Queen Dani lived with her son Roman. The marketplace there had the finest goods in the kingdom, and Patton had seen multiple vendors there who sold medicines that claimed to heal magic-borne illness. Patton told Logan all of this as they walked, the sun climbing ever higher.

“You know,” Virgil quipped, “you’d think a merchant would already know about how the marketplace system works.” He sounded suspicious, and Patton and Logan shared a look.

“I’m a foreign merchant,” Logan said smoothly, slapping a hand over Patton’s mouth as he was about to give a rather poor excuse. Patton huffed and licked Logan’s hand, making him squawk indignantly. He wiped his hand on his trousers, glaring as Virgil and Patton snickered.

“I despise you both in equal measures,” he said- yet the malice in his voice was nearly nonexistent.

“Aw, you love us,” Patton teased. Logan scoffed at that.

“I’ve only just met you. Besides d- I can not feel ‘love’,” he hunched in on himself. Virgil snorted, earning him another glare.

“If you can feel contempt, you can feel love, buddy,” Virgil informed him. Logan snorted.

“Debatable.”

“Then let’s debate,” Virgil shot back.

And thus began the three hour debate between the two. Patton lost interest about halfway through, and began to look around as they continued their journey. They passed through a thin forest, in which Patton noticed Logan took a few steps closer to him for whatever reason, and then walked through a lush field. Only disturbed by the path worn out by travelers who walked before them for years. Virgil’s arguments got quieter and his coughing got louder, which was when Patton decided to call for a pitstop.

The trio sat down by a crystal stream, where Virgil drank as much as he could, as if he hadn’t seen water in decades. Logan watched with an expression Patton could only describe as concerned.

“Is he alright?” Logan rumbled in a whisper. Patton sighed and shook his head.

“He can’t do a lot of physical labor without straining himself. He says when he was little, before the illness set in, he loved to run and play with the other children. Now though…” Patton trailed off, and he and Logan watched Virgil take deep, gasping breaths before he sat up.

“So, who wants lunch?” Patton asked brightly, much different from the somber tone from a few moments prior. Logan looked surprised at how quick the change was, but his own expression smoothed out quickly.

“Very well.”

~~~

At last, the dirt path under their feet made way to cobblestone. Virgil and Logan had finally truced on their debate, having half forgotten what they were even debating, and instead were discussing their interest in stars and constellations. Patton didn’t really understand the fascination, but he was glad they were getting along. They began to pass more and more people, until they were practically swallowed up by a crowd. The marketplace. Patton grinned and took Virgil’s hand in his own, grabbing Logan’s with the other. Logan jolted in surprise.

“What are you doing?” He asked. Patton smiled at him, and the dragon’s brow became even more furrowed.

“It’s crowded. Don’t wanna lose either of you two,” Patton said. The confusion mostly dropped from Logan’s face, though a tiny bit remained. Patton considered asking, but decided not to. Instead, he temporarily released Logan’s hand and stood on his toes so he could try and smooth the wrinkles out with his thumb.

“Smile, it’s easier,” Patton said, taking his hand again and pulling the pair along before either could argue again- either with Patton or one another.

The crowd swallowed them, and Virgil instinctively ducked closer to Patton, hiding under his arm. Logan’s grip on Patton’s hand grew a bit tighter than was comfortable, but other then that he showed no open signs of discomfort. They wandered around for a bit, getting lost in the scents and the sounds and the bustling energy of the market, before Patton finally spotted something that got his hope up.

“Over here!” He said, bustling his boys over to the merchant. He smiled coyly at the trio, indicating his wares with the sweep of an arm. Crystals and shimmering vials and bottles hung from the top of his cart, and they chimed together whenever he moved. The sweet scent of lavender wafted from the cart. A good sign if Patton ever saw one. Logan and Virgil hung back suspiciously, as Patton bounded forward.

“Hello there!” Patton chirped as he ran his hands across the smooth, wooden edge of the cart. The salesman leaned forward on his elbows and arched his brow.

“Greetings, traveler,” he smoothly replied, “what ails you this day?” Patton’s face lit up even more, and he pulled Virgil forward. He tugged his hood further down his face.

“My friend has been struggling with a magical illness since he was five,” Patton explained. “It started out not too bad, but now he has trouble with moving too much without getting worn, and he has a constant cough and chill.” The man leaned closer to inspect Virgil, who shrank behind Patton.

“I have just the thing,” the man said, voice smooth as honey. He reached down into the depths of his cart and pulled forth a shimmering crystal bottle. The liquid inside swirled deep violet.

“One sip of this, and your illness will fall away within a week’s time,” the man assured. “Though the cost is hefty. Can you pay the fee?” He indicated the price inked onto a parchment hanging from his cart. Patton bit his lip and nodded, opening his bag and pulling out the gold and jewels. He placed them in front of the merchant, who eyed them greedily.

Suddenly, Patton felt Logan loom up behind him, he turned as the dragon lightly pushed Patton behind him. He snatched the vial from the merchant, who squawked in offense as Logan adjusted his spectacles and squinted at the vial. He uncorked it and smelled it, recoiling in disgust and throwing it. The liquid shimmered, in the light before it splattered against the merchant’s clothes like drops of rain.

“Logan!” Patton gasped in horror. Logan turned to Patton and snorted.

“It was fake.”

“Wh-what?” The merchant stammered, “I’ll have you know-”

“I’ll have you know,” Logan leaned forward “that I know a thing or two about magic. That was just water and dye mixed with a bit of lavender. You’re more likely to poison this poor man then heal him.”

Patton and Virgil turned their gazes on the merchant, who was quick to defend himself. “This is simply untrue!” He hissed, “My father was a mage, and he taught me everything he knows about magical medicine.”

“Magic in your blood or not, that doesn’t change the fact you attempted to sell us a scam,” Logan growled. Patton put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down. His eyes were going yellow.

“What’s going on here?” A loud, booming voice asked. The group all turned to see a guard walking towards them. The merchant lit up gleefully for a moment, before his expression melted into one of faux fear.

“Good sir!” He cried, “This man is destroying my wares and scaring off my customers!” Logan looked annoyed as he turned towards the guard.

“I did no such thing. Granted, I did throw his own product in his face, but that is because he was trying to sell me a faulty remedy for my very ill companion.” The guard turned to Patton, and something about those warm brown eyes was...familiar; like the soft, cool fertilized soil he’d dig his fingers into as a child on hot days while he helped his family farm.

“Logan was just trying to help,” Patton said. The guard nodded and turned to Logan.

“What makes you say it was fake?” He asked. Logan scoffed and folded his hands to rest behind his back.

“I have magical origins myself. Along with that, I have spent many years reading about the subject, and know for a fact that all that was in that so called ‘potion’ was lavender, water, and dye- which, might I add, could potentially harm my companion.” The guard nodded thoughtfully and turned to the merchant.

“Sad, your innocence can not be proven nor denied unless you find a previous customer to backup your claims. I suggest you let them take their business, and their money, elsewhere.” The merchant’s face twisted into a scowl.

“But he destroyed-”

“He destroyed one of your wares. If I find you truly are selling products that are harmful, I think you’ll have bigger things to worry about,” the guard’s voice was low and threatening. The merchant’s face paled, and he scowled, glaring at Logan with a heat that could make the gods jealous.

“You’ve seen the last of me, Logan,” the merchant spat, taking the handles of his cart and wheeling it away to relocate. There was silence among them momentarily, before Patton turned to the guard.

“Tha-thank you for your help,” Patton said, finding himself getting lost in those eyes again as they met his own in sheer delight. The guard winked.

“No problem, Patton my perfect padre,” the guard winked. Patton blinked, and Logan stepped in front of Patton again, holding an arm out suspiciously.

“I do not believe we introduced ourselves. You would only have been able to pick up my name from what you overheard,” he accused. Patton saw mischief light up in those soft eyes and it suddenly hit him like a crashing wave. It hit him, why those eyes reminded him of childhood and warmth and protection and love.

“PRINCE ROMAN!?” Patton shrieked. Roman stiffened, ducking behind a wall as people looked over at him. Patton slapped a hand over his mouth, cheeks burning. “I mean, ah, sorry.” People quickly lost interest and went back about their business, and Roman returned from where he had hidden. He opened his arms, and Patton slipped from behind where Logan was still trying to shield him and lunged into Roman’s grasp. The prince picked him up and spun him, and they laughed together as Virgil padded up to stand next to Logan.

“I can’t believe you remember who I am,” Patton said as Roman placed him back down on his feet. Roman held a hand to his chest, offended, while one arm was still looped around Patton’s waist.

“How could you think so low of me? Not remembering my dearest childhood friend? In fact, it was you who did not recognize me- and I’m famous!” Patton giggled, and Virgil let out a very obviously fake cough- which shortly morphed into a real cough. Patton pulled away and gently rubbed soothing circles across his shoulders. Roman huffed in protest.

“Yes, well, now that all our happy introductions have been made- we still have a dying Virgil on our hands,” Logan said. He sounded almost bitter, and was glaring at Roman like he had personally offended him.

Roman turned to Virgil, who stiffened under the attention. He shrank away as Roman leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at Virgil. He ended up ducking behind Logan. “You said it was a magical illness?”

“Yeah,” Virgil’s voice sounded annoyed, but Patton could detect the tiniest hint of a waver; he was unsure of Roman.

“Well, I think I know someone who can help, then. Follow me!” Roman took off, and Patton and Logan shared a look before they followed. Virgil trailed behind with a hesitant grumbling.

The prince led the trio into the forest, veering off the path into the trees. Logan and Virgil grew a bit more hesitant, while Patton continued to follow valiantly. They ducked under branches and dodges around thorny plants until they came across a small clearing. Virgil sucked in wheezing breaths, and Logan awkwardly rubbed his back in a manner Patton had previously.

“Is that a cottage?” Patton asked. The other two looked up.

Indeed, in the center of the clearing was a delicate looking cottage surrounded by a vibrant garden. Roman smirked and swept an arm grandly.

“Welcome! To the home of-”

“Hi, Roman,” Roman shrieked and jumped into Logan’s arms as a teenager appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He had bright golden eyes and a smug smirk. Roman grunted as Logan dropped him.

“Oh, it’s you. Is Remy around?” Roman asked. The teenager shrugged indifferently.

“I dunno.”

“How do you not know?! He’s your mentor you stupid lizard!” Logan perked up at that, and looked from the teenager to Patton and back again.

“Yeah, but he’s also Remy. I’m gonna jet, though. I think he might be passed out on the floor, but no promises,” with that, the teenager waved and seemingly vanished into thin air once again. Roman grumbled in annoyance.

“Uh, who was that?” Virgil asked. Roman wrinkled his nose.

“Remy’s apprentice.”

“Aaaaand who’s Remy?” Virgil asked. Roman rolled his eyes.

“He’s the royal mage. You’ve never heard of him?” Patton lightly patted Roman’s arm.

“Not everyone has heard of your staff, Roman. Virgil and I live two towns away.” Roman flushed in embarrassment.

“Oh…” Virgil snorted and Roman rounded on him.

“What are you laughing at Lord Snorington?” Roman asked.

“You,” Virgil shot back. The two started to bicker fiercely while Logan took Patton by the hand and dragged him towards the cottage door. He shoved Patton in front of him and nodded towards the door.

“Knock,” he told Patton. Patton looked at him, confused, but shrugged and knocked. The door creaked open a crack, and the pair looked at each other before stepping inside. Dust danced in the light that streamed through dirty windows. The floor was a mess of dirty dishes, crumpled leaves, and a man who was laying facedown on the wood.

“Is he dead?” Patton squeaked. Logan walked over and nudged the man in the side. He groaned and rolled over.

“No,” Logan said. He proceeded to step on the man’s leg hard- and far too close to a certain area for Patton to be comfortable. The man shouted and jolted up. He had dark goggles covering his eyes, and what looked like grease stains all over. It was actually kind of disgusting.

“Are you Remy?” Logan asked. The man wheezed and sat up, rolling his shoulders.

“Bitch I might be, who’s askin?” He asked. Patton and Logan shared a look, and Patton gracefully took over.

“Friends of Prince Roman, sir,” Patton said politely.

“Sir? Mmmm no- no ma’am, not in my good magic cottage. Rem will do fine gurl,” Remy stood and kissed the back of Patton’s hand. Patton blushed and pulled his hand away, while Logan tensed. “How can I help y’all? And where is the royal brat anyway?”

“Don’t call him a brat!” Patton said.

“He is a bit of a brat, Patton,” Logan admitted, though he shut his mouth when Patton shot him a deathly glare- apparently forgetting he could literally kill Patton in one fell swoop if he wanted to; it was the power of the dad glare.

“Either way, he’s outside with our friend Virgil, the reason we came,” Patton explained, “You see, Virgil is sick- magically sick, and we need a magical cure. We were going to purchase one from the merchants in town-”

“But those honeys are faker than Roman’s confidence I gotchu babe,” Remy nodded sagely. He brushed off his shirt and readjusted his cloak before marching over to his desk. Patton watched in awe as Remy skillfully crushed leaves and poured liquids until he was holding a tiny vial full of green liquid. He held it up to the light, gave it a couple shakes, and then grinned and tossed the vial to Patton. The man stumbled, but did catch it.

“One sip of that a day until it’s gone and your man should be cleared up in no time,” Remy assured. Patton took the vial in his hands, cradling it like he might a bird. Logan snatched it up, much less kindly, and uncorked it to sniff at the liquid. His eyes narrowed, but instead of throwing it in Remy’s face like he had the merchant originally, he recorked the vial and set it back into Patton’s hands.

“It seems legit enough,” he said, almost bitterly. He took Patton’s bag and dumped the gold onto the desk. “Would this suffice as payment?” He asked, arching his eyebrow. Remy snorted.

“That should work, yeah,” he peered thoughtfully at a diamond. “Why not go give him that now, cutie?” Remy waved Patton towards the door. Patton nodded, and Logan moved to follow, but Remy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Wait a sec, babe, I wanna talk to you real quick. Patty can handle himself, right?” Remy slipped an arm over Logan’s shoulders, making him tense. Patton looked at the pair of them worriedly before he nodded and slipped out the door. It shut with a firm click behind the man, and Logan immediately pushed Remy off with a glare.

“What is it you require of me?” Logan asked, his voice almost cold. Remy sighed, and motioned for Logan to follow him as he slipped into another room. Logan hesitated before he followed the mage into what appeared to be a living area. There was a cauldron hanging over the fire.

“Potions?” Logan asked, nodding to it. Remy snorted.

“Soup,” he picked up a poker to revive the dying embers before giving the soup a stir with his ladle. He took a long, obnoxious slurp and smirked at Logan, holding the ladle out to him as an offering. Logan politely declined.

“I know you’re a dragon,” Remy finally said, dipping the ladle back into the soup and stirring it slowly. Logan tensed again, feeling his fingers twitch and change until they were pointed claws.

“Relax, dragon boy,” Remy said, not looking up from his stirring, “my apprentice is part dragon.” Logan stared at his talons as he willed them to melt back into soft, human skin.

“Roman did call him a lizard,” Logan noted softly. “What is the story behind that? If you do not mind my asking?” Remy smiled almost fondly.

“Actually, that’s why I wanted to talk to you,” Remy set the ladle on the side of the cauldron and turned to walk over to a plush armchair. Logan sat across from him in an equally nice chair. “I’m gonna tell you a story, Sweetheart, so shut your pretty yapper and listen, m’kay?” Logan huffed, but didn’t protest.

“Gold from dragon hordes tend to have higher magical energy then regular gold. Probably due to the magical protection that freezes their nests in time or somethin,” Remy said, fiddling with his goggles. “So often times us magic folk will pay high prices for gold specifically from dragon nests. Usually we send knights or warriors to try and get it for us, since we’d rather not get fried to a crisp, y’know?”

“One day, though, a young witch decided to sneak into a dragon cave to gather her own materials for a rather complex spell. The dragon caught her, obviously, but he found her so beautiful that he decided to keep her as a piece of his horde.” Remy’s voice grew quiet, so all Logan could hear was the crackling of fire in the fireplace.

“Surprisingly enough, she loved the dragon just as much as he loved her. He took a human form, much like how you have now, temporarily so they could- ahem,” Remy made a particular hand gesture, and Logan nodded in understanding.

“Long story short, she got pregnant. However, her family wasn’t exactly happy with her being essentially kidnapped by a dragon- no ma’am. They came with a slew of castle guards and attacked the dragon. He was unable to fight back upon realizing they were the family of his love...so he was slain.” Remy pulled his goggles off to clean them with the bottom of his tunic.

“The witch realized that if her family found out the child’s origins, they’d be at risk of the same fate as their father. So she got in contact with an old friend- the royal mage,” Remy slipped his goggles back on, “and he agreed to take on the half dragon, half witch child as his apprentice. Didn’t expect him to be such a lil shit, but I guess he takes after me, huh?” Remy grinned, though there was a sadness in it. Logan was silent for a moment, resting his chin on folded hands.

“I recognize I asked, but you mentioned this is why you asked me to stay behind. Is there a particular reason you felt the need to tell me this story?” Logan inquired. Remy sighed loudly and flung himself into a much more dramatic position in his chair.

“Yooooou needa take a page from the book of dragoning. Y’know?”

“...No. I don’t follow,” Logan admitted, narrowing his eyes. Remy flailed his arms.

“You can’t get attached to a human is what I’m sayin!” Logan tensed at that, staring Remy down.

“I won’t. I don’t understand what gives you the idea that I would,” he said, voice almost dangerous. Remy didn’t take the warning- instead rolling his eyes and standing up.

“You got awful defensive over Patton when I flirted with him. Y’know, considering you aren’t at all attached to him,” Logan growled.

“I need him to help my find a new centerpiece for my horde, seeing as he destroyed my last one. Of course I’ll be defensive over your possible distractions!” He fired back, standing as well. He loomed over the other man, though he simply scoffed.

“Well sorry for tryin to look out for ya, babe. Don’t come crying to me when you’re tail over talons for him,” he folded his arms as Logan’s hands curled into fists.

“I won’t. Because I won’t fall in love with him! Or any human, for that matter!” He snarled. There was a tense silence, only broken by the door being thrown open.

“REMY HOLY FUCK!” His apprentice leaned in, “Those guys outside are freaking out because they think you stole their friend. I thought I told you to stop doing that.” Remy snorted and ruffled his hair affectionately.

“What can I say, babe, I just have that effect on people,” he winked and turned back to Logan, “Well, you heard him,” Remy said, making a shooing motion. His apprentice grinned with sharp teeth.

“See ya soon, Logan.” Logan nodded and headed for the door, stepping outside. He paused and turned back.

“Wait...What do you mean soon?” The house was gone. Logan blinked and rubbed at his eyes, but the clearing stayed empty. Well, empty aside from Patton sprinting towards him. Logan froze as Patton threw his arms around his shoulders.

“There you are! I knew Remy wanted to talk to you, but I got worried after a while.” Patton fretted. Logan pushed Patton away.

“Yes, well- I am here now. Did Virgil take the potion?” Logan asked. Patton nodded.

“I made sure of it,” Roman agreed loudly. Virgil elbowed him in the ribs, and Roman squawked in surprise. Logan nodded.

“Right. Then I suppose we should take Virgil home, then,” Logan said, looking towards Patton.

“Yeah, sounds good to me!” Patton chimed in. He turned to Roman and gave a small bow. “It was...it was really great to see you again. Even if it was only for a while.” His gaze flicked back to Logan, who had gone to stand next to Virgil. “You guys ready?”

“W-wait!” Roman called, just as the three began to leave. They paused and turned to face the prince once more. He kicked at the grass almost sheepishly. “I don’t know if you know, but relations with the kingdom south of us are tense...so to help with relations my mother is hosting a ball. Citizens from both kingdoms are welcome to attend so...would you like to come?” Roman was looking directly at Patton, but he added “All of you- of course.”

“I would love to Roman! But…” Patton began. However, he didn’t get to finish, as Logan quickly cut in.

“But nothing. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we most certainly wish to join you, Roman.” Patton and Virgil both looked at Logan with surprise. Virgil tugged on the front of his hood and bit his lip.

“I dunno, Lo,” he commented softly. “Big crowds? Fancy clothes? Not really my scene.” Logan shook his head and placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

“Trust me, Virgil, I think it will be fun,” he said smoothly. Patton noticed his eyes flash gold briefly, and the tension in Virgil’s shoulders seemed to melt away.

“Okay…” Virgil sighed hesitantly. Logan nodded.

“Excellent. Patton?” He turned to face the man.

“...Sure,” Patton said. Roman smiled warmly.

“Well then, come along! The ball isn’t until tomorrow, but you can all stay the night- there’s plenty of room!” Roman chattered excitedly as the other three followed. “Oh I’m so glad you agreed, my mother will be thrilled to see you, Patton. She was always quite fond of you,” Roman laughed. “So always urged me to snatch you up before you were taken by someone else.” Logan’s stride faltered for but a moment before it returned to normal. Patton wondered what that was about…

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #wip #sanders sides fic #jack writes #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #catch me cramming my friends into this fic #too bad we didnt get to queen elena damb #oh well #yes break is the dragon witch no i feel no shame

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the-writerly-night-owl · 6 years ago

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Sister Bonding

The Elementalists/ MC x Atlas sister bonding

Summary: My last poll option! It was D: MC and Atlas bonding together as Atlas is getting prepared to have kids of her own.

Authors Note: This is more of a short then anything. Contrary to popular belief I do write characters that’s not just Beckett and MC lol. I’ll be opening requests soon too.

Tags!: @flyawayboo @queen-among-writers @cosigottahavefaith @am-i-invisible777 @countrymusicandncis-blog @fluffy-cat-whisper @melodyofgraves @symonde @feartheendlesssummer @paisleylovergirl

From her spot in the sand box at the park Ellie watched her kids play. Well Cassia at least with Beckett as Seth was sitting in the sandbox with her. He had a habit of tossing it in his hair for some reason. Next to her sat what looked like a heavily pregnant Atlas, but really, she was only five months along. She looked just as comfortable as the next pregnant woman.

“Soooo, what are you naming your babies?” asked Ellie as she turned her attention to her sister.

“Why is it that you can make these one at a time and I can’t?” asked Atlas as she grumbled helping Seth with his sandcastle.

“Twins are genetic and it just happened to be you? Think about it this way, if you want two kids. Consider this a one and done deal, you don’t have to do it twice.”

Yes, Atlas was having twins and it honestly surprised her to hear that. It wasn’t very surprising to both girls when they heard that news. After all they were twins themselves. It was quiet between them as Ellie suddenly burst into laughter.

“I could just see them switching places,” she said through her giggles. “I can’t help it but see you catching them all the time and encouraging it.”

“You know I would,” said Atlas she put a hand on her own belly. “I can imagine Shreya would be really mad at me.”

Both laughed as they could picture her face if the twins tried to switch on Shreya and she wouldn’t catch it right away. Maybe she’d play along though, thought Ellie. She was really happy for them though. Atlas and Shreya started to develop some feelings during their final year at college and decided to tie the knot. It was wonderful how they got along together now versus the beginning.

“I don’t mean to be too sappy when I say this,” said Atlas with a pause before shaking her head. “I’m glad that I’m able to give my kids the childhood I didn’t fully have. I mean with you around and everything. They’ll have more than each other with cousins and a pretty cool aunt.”

“Aww,” she started to say before her son poked her.

“I made a castle,” he said proudly, “and I’m king of it.” Then proceeded to take his bucket and put it on his head as she saw the sand fall out of it. This happened nearly every single time she never bothered to stop it before, why now? Sighing Ellie shook her head, she was going to be cleaning sand out of his hair tonight.

“Anyway, I have a present for you,” said Ellie as she handed Atlas the gift from her bag. She looked a bit suspicious before unwrapping it and pulling out a long blue blanket. “I recreated our original baby blanket for your kids, whatever the gender might be.”

Atlas didn’t say anything before proceeding to hug her twin. Ellie grinned as she hugged back, they didn’t have to say anything at this point. They had each other and that’s what mattered.

#te atlas #mc ellie #sister bonding #not really sure how to tag this #choices: the elementalists #the elementalists #the elementalist #playchoices fanfiction #choices you play #playchoices #choices: stories you play #choices stories you play #choices

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neoblogcrying · 6 years ago

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Here is the next part! This will be up on AO3 as well very soon!

The System Temp chose ‘I was thinking about the other Peak Lords’!

“You sure struggled with this one.”

“Kept going between that one or giving the neutral answer. Looks like the Peak Lords won by a very thin margin.”

“Really kept #1 on her feet for this one!”

“I was actually hoping for the other option to win out in the end, to be honest.”

Unfamiliar voices could be heard this time around as more System Moderators came to watch ‘the show.’

It seemed with every passing poll question, the other System Moderators were becoming more and more involved with this game. At first, they acted as though they hadn’t a care and they were only there to keep System Moderator #1 in check, but they were slowly jumping on board with this game she created.

How many Moderators were on active duty? This wasn’t something that the Temp was allowed to know, but they wouldn’t be punished for guessing.

“Hey hey, focus. Let’s get started already, alright?”

Beep!

Shen Yuan blurted the first thing that came to mind, “I was thinking about the Peak Lords.”

“The Peak Lords?” Shen Jiu repeated with a look of suspicion on his face. For what reason did his brother have to think about those people? He would never say that he liked any of them (private or not), so hearing that his brother was thinking about them… it left a bad taste in his mouth, to be frank. “Why?”

Without skipping a beat, Shen Yuan answered with ease as if he was used to pulling answers out of nowhere—which he was. If you asked him, he’d tell you that he was a professional at making up answers.

“Sooner or later, the other peak lords will learn the truth about ‘Shen Qingqiu’. Our Peak disciples have learned the truth already, so we can’t keep it a secret forever.”

Yue Qingyuan promised to keep their secret safe for as long as he was able, and Mu QingFang sworn to secrecy (Yes, he was threatened to it). With the recent incident of Shen Yuan fainting, it resulted in their Peak disciples learning the surprising fact that there were two of their master.

Identical twins!

It was only a matter of time before the secret was revealed to the rest of the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect.

“And?”

If the matter gets revealed, that’s the end of what. What need is there to think about people who don’t even matter? Shen Jiu had an inferiority complex and he seemed to have a strong distaste over being around men.

Shocking as it may be, there was a barrier that not even Shen Yuan could cross, even if the two of them were close.

Not that Shen Yuan minded, because he wasn’t particularly the sort to be overly affectionate towards others anyways. If anything, Shen Jiu did lower his guard somewhat when the they were the only two in a room, but even that took years to build up.

Shen Yuan worked very hard to build their relationship up to this point, he’ll have you know.

Neither of the two brothers knew about the other’s past in detail, because they never asked each other for details. If you asked for details, you would have to offer details about your own life, and neither wanted that.

Shen Jiu loathed thinking about his days in the Qiu household, while Shen Yuan couldn’t tell Shen Jiu about his ‘true past’ for obvious reasons.

Over the many years since they’ve found each other, they’ve come to learn how to trust each other to a certain extent. (Shen Yuan trusted his brother, but Shen Jiu still had some reservations).

“I just wondered how they’d react. I haven’t been around them as much as you have, but I think they’re good people.” Shen Yuan truly appreciated all the Peak Lords as he knew about all of them from the original novel, and many of them were interesting characters.

It wasn’t like he could explain this fact to his brother, however.

Shen Jiu, looked unconvinced. Who of the Peak Lords were good people? None of them were. He didn’t like any of them! Rather, none of them liked him, and the feeling was mutual. (Yes, he was ignoring Yue Qingyuan’s existence here.)

“The Sect leader already knows about us so there is no wondering about how he’d react. Still, he’s a nice person, I think. He treats us well. I can tell you both have history with each other, but it seems strained. I won’t ask you about what kind of history you both have, but I hope you can resolve your issues one day.” If you do, maybe he won’t die in the future?

He was under the impression that since they’ve already changed the story so much by making Shen Qingqiu into a pair of twins, they should have the freedom to change other things as well?

[System: Be mindful to not stray too far from your character. If the readers are happy, we will not deduct points from you.]

Shen Yuan mentally rolled his eyes as he cursed the fact that he had no privacy even in his own mind. The System was always monitoring his thoughts and popping in to comment randomly.

“No matter how you treat him, he takes your abuse with stride, and I think he genuinely cares about my well-being. He’s--- … So how about Qi Qingqi? Don’t you like her?” Shen Yuan suddenly changed the topic because he noticed how Shen Jiu’s mood was turning for the worse.

Talking about the Sect leader was borderline taboo between the two of them, and it was like a ticking time bomb. “What’s there to like? What do YOU like about her?” Shen Jiu’s eyes narrowed, wondering how his younger twin would answer this. Was it a superficial reason like her looks?

Do you want your older brother to start flirting with her in your stead?

From what Shen Yuan remembered reading from the novel, Qi Qingqi had a frank personality, and she was very headstrong. He personally liked that in characters, especially female characters. Women weren’t only wall flowers that were to be admired. He appreciated a good, strong, female character who could take charge!

“Don’t you admire her strong personality? She’s very admirable, I believe. I appreciate her frankness. I think she’ll be upset about it and have a fit over how we kept it a secret, but I think she’ll accept it easily after the fact. If we do our job properly, she’ll accept us, I think.”

Shen Jiu’s response was to wave his hand, signifying that he should move onto the next person.

Going through a mental list in his head, he went to talk about the next person. “Mu QingFan doesn’t count as he already knows our secret… but… you really need to stop calling him so often. He’s already so busy and you keep calling him to check up on me. I worry he’ll collapse from overworking one day.” These were his honest thoughts, because not only would Shen Jiu call for him often, so would Yue Qingyuan!

Give the guy a break, will you? What will you do if you make him overwork so much, he dies? Who will you count on to look after you then?

He’s not that weak, really! The two of them were like worried mother hens.

“That’s his problem to deal with, not ours.” Shen Jiu rolled his eyes, showing how he truly didn’t care about how tired Mu Qingfang was. If Shen Yuan was ill, he was going to have the best tending to him. “You have any complaints over him looking over you?”

“No, not at all. He’s a great conversational partner. We talk about various things, and he will occasionally visit with fruits. He cuts them for me as I’m resting. He tells me stories about what goes on beyond this room, and it’s pleasant.”

Even though Shen Yuan was trying to help build up Mu Qingfang’s image in Shen Jiu’s mind… his words had the opposite effect. Instead of feeling thankful for how well he took care of Shen Yuan, Shen Jiu was suspicious. Why was he so kind to Shen Yuan?

What reason was there? Was it that he was trying to steal Shen Yuan away from him? Trying to lure him away with sweet words and feeding him fruits?

A shiver ran down Shen Yuan’s spine as it felt like the temperature of the room dropped.

‘Brother, why are you so angry!?’

[System: Shen Jiu’s distrust for Mu Qingfang has grown by 50 pts. He believes Mu Qingfang is trying to steal his younger twin brother from him.]

EXCUSE ME!? Hello, system!? Let’s talk!?

How can I make Shen Jiu hate the other Peak Lords so much if he’s so irrational!? Is he jealous? Is that what it is? You damn bro-con! Let over people spoil your younger brother too!

Ugh… being spoiled by another man though… is there anyone more pitiful than Shen Yuan? OTL||||

Shen Yuan lamented in his head over how irrational this was. How did it come to this? What could have possibly made his brother dislike Mu Qingfang?? The doctor was being kind to him like an actual doctor should! Are you trying to say that cutting fruit is too domestic, and therefore, he’s flirting with him!?

Shen Jiu, is your IQ really that low?

“There’s Shang Qinghua—”

“Pass on him. He’s a useless pack mule.”

“…”

While it’s true that the peak is well known for constantly working for the rest of their lives, it’s not nice to call your fellow Peak Lord a pack mule, right? Though, knowing how he betrays their sect for the demon-kind, Shen Yuan buried his complaints in his heart.

“Liu Qingge—”

“Don’t talk about him. I’ll kill him one day.” Shen Jiu hissed, his irritation levels peaking to a new height. He was tapping his fan against his knee in annoyance, waiting for this topic to finish already. What good was it to talk about other Peak Lords?

They may be twins, but the way they thought about things were so different! Shen Yuan really was the ‘good twin’ here, and he was the ‘bad twin.’ He was the villainous type, while Shen Yuan was more of a saint who could only see the good in others.

The fact that he couldn’t see the world the way his brother did, it secretly made him nervous. Would their dissonance in their world views cause them to split apart? His brother was the only family he had left, and he didn’t want to lose that—the only good thing he had left in life.

If he really were to think deeply on his feelings, he’d realize the reason why he was so upset about this, was because of his insecurity and his feelings of jealousy. He didn’t want his brother to see how the other Peak Lords were better company than him and leave his side because of it.

No one liked him, and everyone betrayed his trust. His brother would be no different—but he wanted to put his faith in his brother. The one who found him, against all odds.

“Ge, Liu Qingge has great character. If you treat him well, he’ll return the favor. He’s Bai Zhan’s strong peak lord! If you ever come across any problems, he would protect you. He will never let a favor go unreturned. He has an honorable character and that’s hard to find. I’m willing to bet that he’d be mad, but after one punch, he’ll forgive us for lying!” Maybe instead of a punch it would be a stab? No no, that hurts more! Shen Yuan implores Liu Qingge to let them go with a punch instead!

Shen Jiu was mulling over Shen Yuan’s words about Liu Qingge:

He’s honorable (the exact opposite of the shameless Shen Jiu).

He had a great character (unlike the scummy Shen Jiu).

He will never let a favor go unreturned (while Shen Jiu would let no disservice so unreturned).

His self-loathing weighed heavy on his shoulders, and this heavy feeling transmitted through their emotional link and made Shen Yuan’s shoulders sink involuntarily. It became harder to breathe as Shen Jiu’s deep, dark feelings started to overwhelm him.

“Ge, don’t… you like any of the Peak Lords?” He hesitantly probed for an answer.

“None.” Shen Jiu’s curt reply was enough for Shen Yuan to know that Shen Jiu was reaching the limits of his patience.

Silence enveloped the two of them awkwardly and Shen Yuan found it hard to speak up again. From what emotions were being transmitted to him (which he mistakenly thought was him reading the mood of the room), Shen Jiu was mad, hurt, insecure, afraid, and frustrated.

It was hard to stop someone from being insecure or afraid, but he could only try his best. Don’t you know how hard he’s been trying to help Shen Jiu heal his heart? Do you think he enjoys acting like a child?

Really, how old is he to be hiding under the covers to avoid medicine? Shen Jiu enjoys the feeling of superiority, so he purposefully does this to give him a sense of superiority over him as the ‘elder brother’. He gives into Shen Jiu on many things to build his confidence, and to have him understand that Shen Yuan was loyal towards him.

No matter how much you distrust him or hurt him, he will always be by your side.

That’s what Shen Yuan wanted Shen Jiu to learn.

Slowly, he reached out to tug on Shen Jiu’s sleeve. “Want to guess who my favorite Peak Lord is?”

“Who? Perhaps you like Mu Qingfang the most as he spoils you? Liu Qingge is the HONORABLE one, unlike your brother. The Sect leader is powerful, well mannered, good-natured, and he treats you well. What is there about him to dislike? Go join their peaks if you like them so much!” As per usual, Shen Jiu snapped at Shen Yuan, but he always took it with stride. His scathing tone was hard to stomach in proximity.

A gentle smile snuck onto his face and he shook his head.

“My favorite Peak Lord is Shen Qingqiu, the one you play. You are the perfect model for what an immortal cultivator should look like. You diligently work and study for hours on end, cramming millions of pages worth of information into your head. No one pampers me and spoils me more than my favorite brother. You may have some personality flaws, but you balance me out. No one is perfect and that’s okay. Is it not enough that I love you? Even if the world turns against you, I, Shen Yuan, will always be by your side. If I ever annoy you, toss me aside. I won’t hate you for it.”

Admittedly, Shen Yuan hated Shen Jiu as a reader. He was the major contributor to the ‘castrate Shen Qingqiu’ driving force in the comments. Really, he apologizes for that. Don’t take his words to heart, dear Author!

However, once he transmigrated into the novel, he’d learned some things about his brother. He wasn’t a mindless canon fodder bent on chaos like everyone thought he was. He had depth, and he had his own fair share of insecurities. He was ambitious, but practical. He cared about others in his own way, and he simply wasn’t honest about his feelings.

He was human, like everyone else.

Even if he had his character flaws, Shen Jiu did try to treat Shen Yuan well in his own way. It showed in the way he would force Mu Qingfang to come watch over Shen Jiu. He’d always check up on him any chance he got.

He’d personally see to it that he ate good food, and he always gave Shen Yuan the comfier of the two pillows. It was small things like that helped Shen Yuan know that he was properly being considered by his brother.

“Ow!” Shen Jiu’s fan came crashing down onto the crown of Shen Yuan’s head. The older twin immediately turned away to face the opposite wall after he’d hit Shen Yuan’s head with his fan.

“Don’t talk nonsense and go to bed.”

“Okay…good night.” Shen Yuan faked a defeated attitude as he slowly slipped into his bed, hunched over in disappointment.

HA, you thought!

Everyone and their mother know that Shen Jiu felt embarrassed and so he forced Shen Yuan to go to bed!

Quiet graced them once more as Shen Yuan attempted to fall asleep, and Shen Jiu lost himself in his thoughts. It was so painfully obvious that Shen Yuan was trying to cheer him up, but it still warmed his heart to hear those words coming from his brother.

Knowing that Shen Yuan wanted to stay by his side until he was tossed away… not that it would ever happen, was heartwarming. Is this what familial love was like? Sticking with each other through thick or thin?

Shen Jiu is very protective of his things, and he takes good care of all his belongings. Shen Yuan, was his precious younger twin, and he wouldn’t give him up to anyone. Not without a fight, anyways.

Hear that, Mu Qingfang!?

He had to protect his brother from that man with evil intentions. Should he stick by his brother’s side more often? Was there anyone he could trust to watch over Shen Yuan?

‘If you ever come across any problems, he would protect you. He will never let a favor go unreturned.’

Maybe… there is a good reason to keep him alive… but it won’t stop him from trying to get in his way at any given moment! You never gave him face during the tournament all those years ago, so he will make sure you suffer for that transgression!

[System: Shen Jiu’s impression of Liu Qingge has increased by +10 points!]

Shen Yuan secretly smiled to himself. He didn’t know what happened to make this happen, but it’s a step in the right direction!

It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but enough went by for Shen Yuan to have truly fallen asleep. Shen Jiu gazed at the peaceful sleeping expression of his younger brother.

“Your Shen Qingqiu is my favorite too. Hurry up and get better so I can watch you play the part.”

It was amusing to see how his good-natured brother could act the part as the scummy Shen Qingqiu. Even if their personalities were nothing alike, they both shared an impeccable acting ability.

DING!

The screen stilled as someone pressed pause, freezing the characters in the game.

“Ah, did we forget to mention? …Whoops~! Sometimes we go for coffee breaks! Since we don’t want to miss a thing, we paused the game for you~! That said, wait until we come back. You’re okay with that, right? You are? Good!”

Obviously, they weren’t giving the System Temp a choice in the matter.

What else can they do if they weren’t in control of the TV? All that can be done is nod and wait until they come back.

“Oh, if you haven’t noticed already, there are refreshments and snacks for you to eat over there. Do help yourself.” Another voice spoke as lights turned on, to illuminate a room full of snacks and drinks to enjoy during the wait.

Don’t say they weren’t fair to you.

“Pssttt, you’ll want to be extra vigilant with the next segment! Don’t forget that we won’t tell you which of the Shen brothers is acting as Shen Qingqiu. You’ll have to figure that out on your own! Good luck! Take this break time to gather your thoughts!”

A helpful moderator graciously gave a warning to the System Temp, telling them to be prepared for the next segment.

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#Scum Villain #SVSSSLifeSimProject #Neo Writes Drabbles #((Phew i'm tired now))

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canchewread · 6 years ago

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Editor’s note: Originally, I was going to save this quote until Bernie Sanders declared he was running for President in 2020, but I think there’s enough evidence that he’ll eventually declare now to confidently proceed with this write up - if he chickens out, I guess I’ll just have to deal with this post being thrown in my face for a while.

Today’s quotation comes from Matt Taibbi’s 2016 US Presidential election campaign book, “Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus” - a volume that mostly consists of essays Taibbi released over the course of the entire campaign (Primaries and General Election) with some glue in the introduction and concluding portions of the book, to tie the whole thing together.

As those of you who regularly read my work here on Can’t You Read are no doubt already aware, I’m a big fan of Matt Taibbi’s writing - both in terms of style and the value of the content he provides. While nobody who can effectively work in mainstream media for over a decade should be trusted completely, I think it’s fair to say that Taibbi is, by the comparatively poor standards of his industry, an honest, rational observer of an institution (U.S. politics) that is anything but honest and rational. He is also, despite the numerous attempts to smear him, a fundamentally decent human being and that still matters a little bit in the world of American politics - although, maybe not as much as it should.

As for the book itself - Insane Clown President is ultimately a frustrating collection of writing; while two thirds of the book represents Taibbi at the absolutely height of his powers and easily ranks among his best work, the remaining third feels like a bunch of social media posts and fan mail cobbled into something resembling a narrative, then inserted into the book to fill out the page count. For example, while hashing out the rules of the GOP debate drinking game and conducting unofficial primary polls was probably a lot of fun for Taibbi’s followers on Twitter, it simply doesn’t translate into an enjoyable experience when transported onto the written page - the effect is actually quite jarring and somehow manages to detract from the rest of the extremely high-quality analysis Matt brings to the table.

The upshot here, are of course passages like the one quoted above, from a chapter appropriately and presciently titled - “June 9th, 2016: Democrats Will Learn All the Wrong Lessons from Their Brush with Bernie.” It is in moments like these that Taibbi seems to have his finger directly on the pulse of the class conflict between the voting public and the political elite (of which the mainstream media is effectively a public relations arm) in the United States. Unfortunately, despite Matt’s incisive analysis of the problems that would eventually define the entire 2016 election, the author’s (somewhat myopic) attachment to a liberalized ideal of previous editions of the Democratic Party, ultimately prevents him from drawing the obvious conclusion his own writing exposes throughout the book - that Trump is going to win, because American politics and its political media, are both fundamentally broken.

Despite these issues however, Insane Clown President’s most important contribution to understanding the current US political environment is Taibbi’s ability to recognize both swine emperor Trump and Bernie Sanders as symptoms of a populist insurgency waged not against internal factions within the normal framework of U.S. politics, but in opposition to the entire elite American ruling class and its institutions - our “establishment” if you will.

Before I go any further into what this means for the 2020 Democratic Party nomination race however, I’d like to talk a little bit about the false media narrative that the left wing populist movement behind Bernie Sanders is somehow “the same” as the revanchist, reactionary right wing movement that propelled Herr Donald to the White House in 2016 - a narrative which is, in a word, bullsh*t. While both political phenomenon are motivated to some degree by a mistrust of, alienation from and even outright loathing of the U.S. establishment and its institutions, the reasons for that mistrust, the overall end goals and the origin point of these respective insurgencies are totally different.

The far right “populist” movement that Trump was able to usurp during the 2016 Republican primaries, has its roots in Paleoconservatism and the largely AstroTurf, billionaire-funded conservative “Tea Party movement.” It is a fundamentally reactionary movement, created by the rich to blame America’s ills not on deregulated capitalism and an absurdly greedy ruling class, but instead on the proverbial “other” - brown-skinned immigrants, Muslims, the gay and transgender community, women, African Americans, the Jewish left, political correctness, big government and most of all, the dreaded “socialists, communists and liberals.” At its core, what we now call “Trumpism” is a revanchist Frankenstein’s Monster; the result of decades of weaponized and fetishistic worship of American exceptionalism, white supremacy and the absolute rule of capital - the only problem for the architects of this movement is that Trump managed to hack the code and establish his own mini-cult of personality by being more explicitly fascist and hateful than they were.

The movement propelling Sanders to the forefront of American politics by contrast is a genuine, grass roots endeavor. Although it’s easy enough to make the argument that the anti-globalization movement, Occupy Wall Street, anti-fracking activists, and the Black Lives Matter protests have all provided inspiration and ideological underpinnings for this democratic socialist wave, the fact is that there is no unseen hand at work here; no billionaire backers, no guerrilla marketing wunderkinds, and no AstroTurf corporate media campaigns can claim responsibility for the phenomenon Sanders has helped embody in American politics. I say helped, because this too represents a key difference between the DemSoc wave and Trumpism; as a policy-focused movement, this new American left isn’t just about Bernie Sanders and already we’ve seen inspiring young leaders like Lee Carter, Rashida Tlaib, and especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez step to the front with their own democratic socialist message.

Finally, unlike Trumpism, this Sanders-inspired DemSoc insurgency is a movement whose policy proposals match their rhetoric; striving for economic equality, environmental protections, universal health coverage, increased educational opportunities for all, a restoration of democratic rights, better jobs with improved working conditions, the right to collectively bargain, affordable housing, ending mass incarceration, women’s rights, civil rights, and yes, despite what you’ve heard in corporate media owned by rich white people - ending racism and injustice against all marginalized people. Indeed, particularly on the issues of supporting Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid and ending American imperialism abroad, the movement Sanders helped to inspire appears to be driving him further to the left on the political spectrum; although not as much as some, myself included, would like.

In short, if Trumpism is about dragging the country back to a more explicitly white supremacist era, the movement Sanders helps represent is about establishing a fairer, more compassionate and more democratic America than the world has ever known - even under FDR.

There is however, one potential analogue between these two insurgencies and this is where I think the above quote from Taibbi’s book comes in; while there are no real similarities between Trumpism and the Sanders movement, there are a great deal of similarities between the ways both established U.S. political factions and their media minions have responded to an insurgent voter’s revolt.

In 2012, and fresh off the heels of a traumatizing insurgent Tea Party revolt within the party, the Republican establishment put all its chips down on making Barrack Obama a one term president. Expending what would turn out to be the last of their political capital, the GOP establishment managed to force through the Butcher of Bain Capital, “center-right” candidate Mitt Romney during the GOP primary process - a choice distinctly divorced from the anti-elite sentiment (if not reality) of a Tea-Party base now openly indulging in Birtherism and starting to warm up to, you guessed it, Donald Trump. It was the type of calculated bet the party elite would only have been prepared to make if they were sure Romney would win the 2012 presidential election, because they were essentially gambling that deposing the hated Obama would quell the rage their reactionary base felt at being betrayed by the GOP elite, embodied in the form of Romney.

In retrospect, it seems obvious now that when (despite all of Karl Rove’s rosy projections) Romney went down in flames, the GOP establishment was fatally fractured; having demonized Obama as literally an enemy of the American people, when the Republican brain trust failed to deliver his head on a platter that morning in 2012, they effectively lost the revanchist right who’d powered their surge back to political relevance only two years before.

From the outside however, this was not immediately apparent; the Republican leadership quickly announced an election autopsy and soon enough the same people who’d failed Republican voters in 2012 were offering their prescriptions for how to win the next one in 2016. Putting their mighty heads together, these elite GOP power brokers came back with arguably the only candidate more Republican establishment than Romney, Jeb Bush.

It was as we now know, a drastic miscalculation but one that should have been recognized long before Trump won the GOP nomination. When Party leaders lacked the ability to preemptively weed a wild and opportunistic seventeen candidate Republican nomination field, including, incredibly, a credible “center-right” candidate from anointed establishment GOP champion Jeb Bush’s *own* state - the writing was already on the wall for a party leadership group that was only keeping up appearances after exiting 2012 essentially politically bankrupt and broken.

Moving the timeline forward four years, it’s extremely difficult not to see strong parallels on the Democratic side of the ledger. Here too we see a party that barely staved off a radical insurgency by expending an enormous amount of political capital to ram through a highly-unpopular candidate, all the while dismissing the growing outrage from the left wing portion of their base as irrelevant because Hillary Clinton would definitely be the next President of the United States. After losing the 2016 election, the Democratic establishment quickly conducted an autopsy, made some vague platitudes about listening to the angry left-wingers that backed Bernie Sanders and ultimately decided to keep doing the same things they’ve always done before; just like the Republican Party in 2012. Yet, as the 2020 Democratic Party race opens, it is clear that the liberal establishment no longer has enough control over the party to weed the field, and prevent more than a dozen nearly-identical centrist candidates from splitting a vote that would otherwise be united under one candidate, preordained to fight off Bernie Sanders once again.

Can a broken, politically bankrupt Democratic Party hold off Sanders a second time doing essentially the exact same things that failed to hold off Trumpism on the GOP side of aisle?

I wouldn’t bet on it - as beloved American author Samuel Clemens is often (and perhaps falsely) reputed to have said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

- nina illingworth

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patriotsnet · 3 years ago

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What Do Republicans Think Of Trump Now

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/what-do-republicans-think-of-trump-now/

What Do Republicans Think Of Trump Now

Republicans Think Democrats Always Cheat

What do majority of Americans think of Donald Trump after the recent U.S capitol siege ? | WION

The Republican strategy has several sources of motivation, but the most important is a widely shared belief that Democrats in large cities i.e., racial minorities engage in systematic vote fraud, election after election. We win because of our ideas, we lose elections because they cheat us, insisted Senator Lindsey Graham on Fox News last night. The Bush administration pursued phantasmal vote fraud allegations, firing prosecutors for failing to uncover evidence of the schemes Republicans insisted were happening under their noses. In 2008, even a Republican as civic-minded as John McCain accused ACORN, a voter-registration group, of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy.

The persistent failure to produce evidence of mass-scale vote fraud has not discouraged Republicans from believing in its existence. The failure to expose it merely proves how well-hidden the conspiracy is. Republicans may despair of their chances of proving Trumps vote-fraud charges in open court, but many of them believe his wild lies reflect a deeper truth.

One In Five Republicans Say They Think Donald Trump Will Be Reinstated As President This Year

President Joe Biden faces significant and unusual threats to his presidency, which previous presidents have not had to deal with. The most striking is the degree to which many Americans do not recognize his fair electoral victory.;

In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, a sizable percentage of the public and nearly three in four Republicans say they do not accept his election and believe he was not legitimately elected president. The size of GOP doubt about President Bidens election has not changed appreciably since his inauguration. Overall, more than a third of the public today are election doubters.;

For some who reject the election outcome, there is even an expectation that the results will be altered. One in six overall and one in four Republicans now believe it is likely that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated in the White House by the end of the year. One in five Trump supporters believe the same.;

Supporters have falsely claimed that Trump would be reinstated on multiple dates and have changed the expected date each time it does not happen.

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow had said the reinstatement would take place this Friday, but he has now extended the timeline. Lindell is popular with those with those who think there will soon be a change at the White House.; By more than two to one, those who expect Trump will be reinstated have a favorable opinion of him. Among all Americans, unfavorable views exceed favorable ones narrowly .;

Image: Getty;

How Early Trump Supporters Feel Now

The former presidents 2015 backers, in their own words

About the author: Conor Friedersdorf is a California-based staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs. He is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction.

Now that Donald Trumps presidency is over, how do the Americans who supported him at the beginning of his political run feel about his performance in the Oval Office? I put that question to 30 men and women who wrote to me in August 2015 to explain their reasons for backing his insurgent candidacy.

Among the eight who replied, all in the second week of January, after the storming of the Capitol, some persist in supporting Trump; others have turned against him; still others have lost faith in the whole political system. They do not constitute a representative sample of Trump voters. But their views, rendered in their own words, offer more texture than polls that tell us an approval rating.

As I did in 2015, Ill let the Trump voters have their say. But this time Ill conclude with some thoughts of my own, in my capacity as a Trump critic who knows that Americans have no choice but to coexist, as best we can, because our political and ideological differences are never going away.

And now?

The third correspondent told me in 2015 that hed vote for Trump, despite knowing that he would do a terrible job:

His assessment today:

Read Also: What Are The Basic Differences Between Democrats And Republicans

‘nobody Is Afraid Of Their Grandfather’

Many Republicans expect Americans will become dissatisfied with record levels of government spending and debt, an increasingly crowded U.S.-Mexican border;and new rules and regulations promulgated by the Democratic Congress and the Biden administration.

Pledging to work with the Biden administration on an infrastructure bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he is “hopeful” that “we may be able to do some things on a bipartisan basis; but they got off to a pretty hard left-wing start.”

“We don’t intend to participate in turning America into a left-wing,;kind of Bernie Sanders vision of what this country ought to be like,” McConnell told Fox News after the meeting between Biden and congressional leaders.

Fiscally conservative groups are stepping up campaigns against Biden and his spending proposals.

The organization Americans For Prosperity is preparing ads for competitive House districts in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia. Biden wrested those states from Trump in the 2020 election, providing him his margin of victory in the Electoral College.

Some Republican criticism plays off Biden’s age and his occasionally mangled syntax, but that strategy has met limited success. Some of the attacks mirror the ones Trump made in 2020 against “Sleepy Joe.”

“Trump never found a salient way to brand Biden, and Republicans continue to struggle after the election,” Republican strategist Alex Conant said.

Inside The Republicans Bunker

Its hard to be worried when you dont really like the guy. Thats what one senior Republican Senate aide had to say when I asked how concerned conservatives are about Donald Trumps fate.

The truth is, Trump fatigue is a condition that knows no party, and many Republicans are as tired of this shit as anybody else. Thats not to say theyre outraged, or motivated to Make a Difference. Theyre just tired. You can live inside the right-wing bubble in a state of depression, resigned to the fact that, yeah, every five minutes or so, the president is probably going to do something norm-shattering or potentially impeachable, and no, you probably wont or cant do anything to change that. Sad!

Im totally bored by the story, one person who speaks regularly with the president told me. Theres nothing to it. I already know all the details. This person is bored more generally, too with the topic of Donald Trump. When we talk about what it would take for the presidents defenders to turn on him, this crucial piece is missing: You cant feel outraged if you can no longer feel anything at all.

If you were to turn on Fox News, this is what you would hear. I called up Newt Gingrich the other day, and it was like he was just reading directly from these emails, which suggest a strategy of partisan bullying and obfuscation. In other words, no real counterargument or legal defense to speak of.

*This article appears in the October 14, 2019, issue of;New York Magazine.

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Republicans And Their Declared Positions On Donald Trump

Elected officials’ positions on Donald Trump Federal:Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump Republicans supporting Donald Trump Republicans opposing Donald Trump State and local: Republican reactions to 2005 Trump tape

In a typical general election year, elected officials readily line up behind their party’s presidential nominee. In 2012, for example, The Hill reported that only four Republican members of Congress had declined to endorse Mitt Romney by mid-September of that year. “All other House and Senate Republicans” had already endorsed the Republican nominee.

But 2016 was not a typical general election year.

Controversial comments from the GOP’s 2016 nominee, Donald Trump, about women, Muslims, Hispanics, and veterans who were prisoners of war caused some Republican lawmakers to distance themselves from the businessman, while others outright denounced him.

This page tracked the stances of Republican lawmakers on Trump throughout the 2016 presidential election: Did they support him? Did they oppose him? Or were they somewhere in between? The focus of this page is on Republican members of Congress and Republican governors, but we also have included some information on influential Republicans who have served in Republican presidential administrations.

Republicans Cant Understand Democrats

Only one in four Republican voters felt that most or almost all Democratic voters sincerely believed they were;voting in the best interests of the country.;;Rather, many Republicans told us that Democratic voters were brainwashed by the propaganda of the mainstream media, or voting solely in their self-interest to preserve undeserved welfare and food stamp benefits.

We asked every Republican in the sample to do their best to imagine that they were a Democrat and sincerely believed that the Democratic Party was best for the country.;;We asked them to explain their support for the Democratic Party as an actual Democratic voter might.;;For example, a 64-year-old strong Republican man from Illinois surmised that Democrats want to help the poor, save Social Security, and tax the rich.;;;

But most had trouble looking at the world through Democratic eyes. Typical was a a 59-year-old Floridian who wrote I dont want to work and I want cradle to grave assistance. In other words, Mommy!;Indeed, roughly one in six Republican voters answered in the persona of a Democratic voter who is motivated free college, free health care, free welfare, and so on.;;They see Democrats as voting in order to get free stuff without having to work for it was extremely common roughly one in six Republican voters used the word free in the their answers, whereas no real Democratic voters in our sample answered this way.;

Also Check: What Major Cities Are Run By Republicans

Government Is Not The Solution To Domestic Social Problems

This is pretty universal among Republicans. Government should not be providing solutions to problems that confront people . Those problems should be solved by the people themselves. A Republican would say that relying on the government to solve problems is a crutch that makes people lazy and feel entitled to receive things without working for them.

Republican Allies Break With Trump Say Take Time To Count All The Votes

What do California GOP voters think of Trump?

WASHINGTON Some Republicans are not falling in line behind President Donald Trump’s attempts to falsely declare victory and seek to halt some vote-counting in the presidential race, with several GOP leaders expressing rare public rebukes of the president.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a Trump ally who usually avoids criticizing the president in public, told reporters Wednesday that “claiming you’ve won the election is different from finishing the counting.”

With millions of votes still uncounted, Trump in a 2:35 a.m. Wednesday speech at the White House baselessly claimed he had defeated Democrat Joe Biden and alleged “major fraud on our nation” as election officials work through a massive surge in mail-in ballots, which they had long warned would take extra time to count. The president called for a halt in “all voting.”

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The Real Reason Trump Is Not A Republican

John C. Danforth was a Republican U.S. senator from Missouri from 1976 to 1995.

Many have said that President Trump isnt a Republican. They are correct, but for a reason more fundamental than those usually given. Some focus on Trumps differences from mainstream GOP policies, but the party is broad enough to embrace different views, and Trump agrees with most Republicans on many issues. Others point to the insults he regularly directs at party members and leaders, but Trump is not the first to promote self above party. The fundamental reason Trump isnt a Republican is far bigger than words or policies. He stands in opposition to the founding principle of our party that of a united country.

We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, and our founding principle is our commitment to holding the nation together. This brought us into being just before the Civil War. The first resolution of the platform at the partys first national convention states in part that the union of the States must and shall be preserved. The issue then was whether we were one nation called the United States or an assortment of sovereign states, each free to go its own way. Lincoln believed that we were one nation, and he led us in a war to preserve the Union.

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My EX boyfriend went behind mine and my moms back and illegal put insurance on his car in my mothers name. I guess he knows a employee at a insurance automotive and illegally put it in her name without her consent. His friend who was driving the car hit some car today and called my mom and told her everything and now she wants to claim fraud. Who gets in trouble? My ex boyfriend for doing it illegally? The employee who let it happen? His friend who hit the car? Or my mom because they may not believe he did it illegally? BTW; my ex boyfriend owes money to his insurance thats why he couldnt put it in his name

How can you find out a property owner's insurance company?

Can you sue the owner for violent acts of a minor who lives on their property as well as the violent act physically occuring on their property? My daughter was jumped from behind and beat violently in the head. The girl recieved a ticket yet my daughter had to go to the hospital. Now she is afraid to go to school. The attacker is in her class.

Why is car insurance expensive for young male drivers than female drivers?

What's the best company to get individual health insurance? What organizations offer group health plan?

I am talking about health insurance that covers doctors, prescriptions, and hospital expenses.""

How do life insurance companies get medical records?

I've heard that insurance claims can be denied based on conflicting or misreported medical records. Let's say I take out a life insurance policy, and don't report a specialist who I saw out of my network prior to the event. Would the insurance company be able to deny the claim for that? How would they find out?""

What are insurance company for?

My car was a total loss the insurance company paid what the car was worth but not the finance charges. How do this work? I thought your insurance paid everthing and everything was a lump sum

On average how much does it cost to insure an apartment building?

I am looking into purchasing 2 triplex apartment buildings. They are both brick buildings built in 1990. Both have been maintained fairly well and have a really good price on them. Now I am trying to find out on average what the cost of insurance would be. Just wanna be sure that it will be well worth my investment and not a sink Hole I have already checked taxes, utilities, and of course viewed the apartments. Now I just need some figures on Insurance. Thanks for any and all help.""

Question about car insurance and car shop.. Need help.?

I just got into an accident my whole front bumper is totally gone. Im wondering is it possible for the shop and the insurance to put a new bumper but not the oem bumper i want a new body kit? I have full coverage my car is a 2009 toyota corolla S.

Is medicaid a very low cost insurance? does medicaid pretty much stink !?

im just wondering becouse a couple of therapist have turned me down becouse of my medicaid insurance.

How much car insurance will rise after an aciddent?

I'm 23 years old, and currently paying $100 per month on my car insurance. But earlier today I crash into the guard rail by mistake. I have a clean driving (no ticket ever) record with only 4 other accident prior to it. I guess my car would take maybe $1000 to fix but I'm not sure how much my insurance rate will increase. I'm thinking that if I were to pay for the entire damage instead of paying a $500 deduction would not increase my rate.""

Do I need to have insurance to take/have a drivers licence in North Carolina?

So I'm 18 and live in NC and I'm moving back to Europe next summer but before that I want to take my licence here because its way cheaper. Do I need to have insurance if I do NOT have a car I just want a licence for when I get back to Europe. Also, can I drive a car thats not mine if I dont have insurance.??""

Can any body give me the defination of national health insurance?

I want the defination of national health insurance, benefit, coverage and objectives of national health insurance. plz quick.""

How much is insurance on a Oldsmobile Alero or a Toyota Echo???

I am currently looking for a new car, and I'm trying to find a car with a good safety rating, dependable and low insurance. Can anyone help me in my search?""

Where can I find affordable Homeowners Insurance in South Florida?Mine filed for bankruptcy.Someone reputable?

Looking to find a reputable and affordable Homeowners Insurance Policy in South Florida. I dont have any claims pending and it seems that nobody is offering Homeowners in South Florida due to the hurricanes.I am covered until Dec 2006,then I need to find a new company as mine filed for bankruptcy.Thanks!!""

Insurance Cost for a 1966 mustang convertible in mint condition?

I'm curious how much, on average, would insurance cost for an 18 year old male driving a 1966 mustang convertible in mint condition be? And if you could explain why too that'd be awesome thanks! :)""

Can someone recommend affordable health insurance?

I lost my job. COBRA is too expensive. Are there any high deductible plans? I really only want coverage in the event of a serious illness. I live in NJ.

north carolina insurance agent lookup

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/could-anyone-recommend-decent-car-insurer-17yr-old-female-richmond/"

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years ago

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For Spring Season, Young Athletes Get Back in the Game Despite Covid Risk

This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free.

This spring, high school senior Nathan Kassis will play baseball in the shadow of covid-19 — wearing a neck gaiter under his catcher’s mask, sitting 6 feet from teammates in the dugout and trading elbow bumps for hugs after wins.

“We’re looking forward to having a season,” said the 18-year-old catcher for Dublin Coffman High School, outside Columbus, Ohio. “This game is something we really love.”

Kassis, whose team has started practices, is one of the millions of young people getting back onto ballfields, tennis courts and golf courses amid a decline in covid cases as spring approaches. But pandemic precautions portend a very different season this year, and some school districts still are delaying play — spurring spats among parents, coaches and public health experts across the nation.

Since fall, many parents have rallied for their kids to be allowed to play sports and objected to some safety policies, such as limits on spectators. Doctors, meanwhile, haven’t reached a consensus on whether contact sports are safe enough, especially indoors. While children are less likely than adults to become seriously ill from covid, they can still spread it, and those under 16 can’t be vaccinated yet.

Less was known about the virus early in the pandemic, so high school sports basically stopped last spring, starting up again in fits and spurts over the fall and winter in some places. Some kids turned to recreational leagues when their school teams weren’t an option.

But now, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, public high school sports are underway in every state, though not every district. Schedules in many places are being changed and condensed to allow as many sports as possible, including those not usually played in the spring, to make up for earlier cancellations.

Coaches and doctors agree that playing sports during a pandemic requires balancing the risk of covid with benefits such as improved cardiovascular fitness, strength and mental health. School sports can lead to college scholarships for the most elite student athletes, but even for those who end competitive athletics with high school, the rewards of playing can be extensive. Decisions about resuming sports, however, involve weighing the importance of academics against athletics, since adding covid risks from sports could jeopardize in-person learning during the pandemic.

Tim Saunders, executive director of the National High School Baseball Coaches Association and coach at Dublin Coffman, said the pandemic has taken a significant mental and social toll on players. In a May survey of more than 3,000 teen athletes in Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin researchers found that about two-thirds reported symptoms of anxiety and the same portion reported symptoms of depression. Other studies have shown similar problems for students generally.

“You have to look at the kids and their depression,” Saunders said. “They need to be outside. They need to be with their friends.”

Before letting kids play sports, though, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, coaches and school administrators should consider things like students’ underlying health conditions, the physical closeness of players in the specific sport and how widely covid is spreading locally.

Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the high school federation, has argued that spring sports should be available to all students after last year’s cancellations. She said covid spread among student athletes — and the adults who live and work with them — is correlated to transmission rates in the community.

“Sports themselves are not spreaders when proper precautions are in place,” she said.

Still, outbreaks have occurred. A January report by CDC researchers pointed to a high school wrestling tournament in Florida after which 38 of 130 participants were diagnosed with covid. (Fewer than half were tested.) The report’s authors said outbreaks linked to youth sports suggest that close contact during practices, competitions and related social gatherings all raise the risk of the disease and “could jeopardize the safe operation of in-person education.”

Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, an infection control expert in Kentucky who runs the national patient safety group Health Watch USA, said contact sports are “very problematic,” especially those played indoors. He said heavy breathing during exertion could raise the risk of covid even if students wear cloth masks. Ideally, he said, indoor contact sports should not be played until after the pandemic.

“These are not professional athletes,” Kavanagh said. “They’re children.”

A study released in January by University of Wisconsin researchers, who surveyed high school athletic directors representing more than 150,000 athletes nationally, bolsters the idea that indoor contact sports carry greater risks, finding a lower incidence of covid among athletes playing outdoor, non-contact sports such as golf and tennis.

Overall, “there’s not much evidence of transmission between players outdoors,” said Dr. Andrew Watson, lead author of the study, which he is submitting for peer-reviewed publication.

Dr. Jason Newland, a pediatrics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said all sorts of youth sports, including indoor contact sports such as basketball, can be safe with the right prevention measures. He supported his daughter playing basketball while wearing a mask at her Kirkwood, Missouri, high school.

Doctors also pointed to other safety measures, such as forgoing locker rooms, keeping kids 6 feet apart when they’re not playing and requiring kids to bring their own water to games.

“The reality is, from a safety standpoint, sports can be played,” Newland said. “It’s the team dinner, the sleepover with the team — that’s where the issue shows up. It’s not the actual games.”

In Nevada’s Clark County School District, administrators said they’d restart sports only after students in grades 6-12 trickle back for in-person instruction as part of a hybrid model starting in late March. Cases in the county have dropped precipitously in recent weeks, from a seven-day average of 1,924 cases a day on Jan. 10 to about 64 on March 3.

In early April, practices for spring sports such as track, swimming, golf and volleyball are scheduled to begin, with intramural fall sports held in April and May. No spectators will be allowed.

Parents who wanted sports to start much earlier created Let Them Play Nevada, one of many groups that popped up to protest the suspension of youth athletics. The Nevada group rallied late last month outside the Clark County school district’s offices shortly before the superintendent announced the reopening of schools to in-person learning.

Let Them Play Nevada organizer Dennis Goughnour said his son, Trey, a senior football player who also runs track, was “very, very distraught” this fall and winter about not playing.

With the reopening, he said, Trey will be able to run track, but the intramural football that will soon be allowed is “a joke,” essentially just practice with a scrimmage game.

“Basically, his senior year of football is a done deal. We are fighting for maybe one game, like a bowl game for the varsity squad at least,” he said. “They have done something, but too little, too late.”

Goughnour said Let Them Play is also fighting to have spectators at games. Limits on the numbers of spectators have riled parents across the nation, provoking “a ton of pushback,” said Niehoff, of the high school federation.

Parents have also objected to travel restrictions, quarantine rules and differing mask requirements. In Orange County, Florida, hundreds of parents signed a petition last fall against mandatory covid testing for football players.

Students, for their part, have quickly adjusted to pandemic requirements, including rules about masks, distancing and locker rooms, said Matt Troha, assistant executive director of the Illinois High School Association.

Kassis, the Ohio baseball player, said doing what’s required to stay safe is a small price to pay to get back in the game.

“We didn’t get to play at all last spring. I didn’t touch a baseball this summer,” he said. “It’s my senior year. I want to have a season and I’ll be devastated if we don’t.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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This story can be republished for free (details).

For Spring Season, Young Athletes Get Back in the Game Despite Covid Risk published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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newstechreviews · 4 years ago

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Forty-five days before the announcement of the first suspected case of what would become known as COVID-19, the Global Health Security Index was published. The project–led by the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security–assessed 195 countries on their perceived ability to handle a major disease outbreak. The U.S. ranked first.

It’s clear the report was wildly overconfident in the U.S., failing to account for social ills that had accumulated in the country over the past few years, rendering it unprepared for what was about to hit. At some point in mid-September–perhaps by the time you are reading this–the number of confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. will have passed 200,000, more than in any other country by far.

If, early in the spring, the U.S. had mobilized its ample resources and expertise in a coherent national effort to prepare for the virus, things might have turned out differently. If, in midsummer, the country had doubled down on the measures (masks, social-distancing rules, restricted indoor activities and public gatherings) that seemed to be working, instead of prematurely declaring victory, things might have turned out differently. The tragedy is that if science and common sense solutions were united in a national, coordinated response, the U.S. could have avoided many thousands of more deaths this summer.

Indeed, many other countries in similar situations were able to face this challenge where the U.S. apparently could not. Italy, for example, had a similar per capita case rate as the U.S. in April. By emerging slowly from lockdowns, limiting domestic and foreign travel, and allowing its government response to be largely guided by scientists, Italy has kept COVID-19 almost entirely at bay. In that same time period, U.S. daily cases doubled, before they started to fall in late summer.

Among the world’s wealthy nations, only the U.S. has an outbreak that continues to spin out of control. Of the 10 worst-hit countries, the U.S. has the seventh-highest number of deaths per 100,000 population; the other nine countries in the top 10 have an average per capita GDP of $10,195, compared to $65,281 for the U.S. Some countries, like New Zealand, have even come close to eradicating COVID-19 entirely. Vietnam, where officials implemented particularly intense lockdown measures, didn’t record a single virus-related death until July 31.

There is nothing auspicious about watching the summer turn to autumn; all the new season brings are more hard choices. At every level–from elected officials responsible for the lives of millions to parents responsible for the lives of one or two children–Americans will continue to have to make nearly impossible decisions, despite the fact that after months of watching their country fail, many are now profoundly distrustful, uneasy and confused.

John Moore—Getty ImagesFriends and family mourn the death of Conrad Coleman Jr. on July 3 in New Rochelle, N.Y. Coleman, 39, died of COVID-19 on June 20, just over two months after his father also died of the disease

At this point, we can start to see why the U.S. foundered: a failure of leadership at many levels and across parties; a distrust of scientists, the media and expertise in general; and deeply ingrained cultural attitudes about individuality and how we value human lives have all combined to result in a horrifically inadequate pandemic response. COVID-19 has weakened the U.S. and exposed the systemic fractures in the country, and the gulf between what this nation promises its citizens and what it actually delivers.

Although America’s problems were widespread, they start at the top. A complete catalog of President Donald Trump’s failures to address the pandemic will be fodder for history books. There were weeks wasted early on stubbornly clinging to a fantastical belief that the virus would simply “disappear”; testing and contact tracing programs were inadequate; states were encouraged to reopen ahead of his own Administration’s guidelines; and statistics were repeatedly cherry-picked to make the U.S. situation look far better than it was, while undermining scientists who said otherwise. “I wanted to always play it down,” Trump told the journalist Bob Woodward on March 19 in a newly revealed conversation. “I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.”

Common-sense solutions like face masks were undercut or ignored. Research shows that wearing a facial covering significantly reduces the spread of COVID-19, and a pre-existing culture of mask wearing in East Asia is often cited as one reason countries in that region were able to control their outbreaks. In the U.S., Trump did not wear a mask in public until July 11, more than three months after the CDC recommended facial coverings, transforming what ought to have been a scientific issue into a partisan one. A Pew Research Center survey published on June 25 found that 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said masks should always be worn in public, compared with 29% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.

By far the government’s most glaring failure was a lack of adequate testing infrastructure from the beginning. Testing is key to a pandemic response–the more data officials have about an outbreak, the better equipped they are to respond. Rather than call for more testing, Trump has instead suggested that maybe the U.S. should be testing less. He has repeatedly, and incorrectly, blamed increases in new cases on more testing. “If we didn’t do testing, we’d have no cases,” the President said in June, later suggesting he was being sarcastic. But less testing only means fewer cases are detected, not that they don’t exist. In the U.S. the percentage of tests coming back positive increased from about 4.5% in mid-June to about 5.7% as of early September, evidence the virus was spreading regardless of whether we tested for it. (By comparison, Germany’s overall daily positivity rate is under 3% and in Italy it’s about 2%.)

Testing in the U.S. peaked in July, at about 820,000 new tests administered per day, according to the COVID Tracking Project, but as of this writing has fallen to about 740,000. Some Americans now say they are waiting more than two weeks for their test results, a delay that makes the outcome all but worthless, as people can be infected in the window between when they get tested and when they receive their results.

Most experts believe that early on, we did not understand the full scale of the spread of the virus because we were testing only those who got sick. But now we know 30% to 45% of infected people who contract the virus show no symptoms whatsoever and can pass it on. When there’s a robust and accessible testing system, even asymptomatic cases can be discovered and isolated. But as soon as testing becomes inaccessible again, we’re back to where we were before: probably missing many cases.

Tod Seelie—The GuardianPeople sleeping in a parking lot in Las Vegas after a homeless shelter shut down because of COVID-19

Seven months after the coronavirus was found on American soil, we’re still suffering hundreds, sometimes more than a thousand, deaths every day. An American Nurses Association survey from late July and early August found that of 21,000 U.S. nurses polled, 42% reported either widespread or intermittent shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks, gloves and medical gowns. Schools and colleges are attempting to open for in-person learning only to suffer major outbreaks and send students home; some of them will likely spread the virus in their communities. More than 13 million Americans remain unemployed as of August, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Sept. 4.

U.S. leaders have largely eschewed short- and medium-term unflashy solutions in favor of perceived silver bullets, like a vaccine–hence the Administration’s “Operation Warp Speed,” an effort to accelerate vaccine development. The logic of focusing so heavily on magic-wand solutions fails to account for the many people who will suffer and die in the meantime even while effective strategies to fight COVID-19 already exist.

We’re also struggling because of the U.S. health care system. The country spends nearly 17% of annual GDP on health care–far more than any other nation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Yet it has one of the lowest life expectancies, at 78.6 years, comparable to those in countries like Estonia and Turkey, which spend only 6.4% and 4.2% of their GDP on health care, respectively. Even the government’s decision to cover coronavirus-related treatment costs has ended up in confusion and fear among lower income patients thanks to our dysfunctional medical billing system.

The coronavirus has laid bare the inequalities of American public health. Black Americans are nearly three times as likely as white Americans to get COVID-19, nearly five times as likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to die. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, being Black in the U.S. is a marker of risk for underlying conditions that make COVID-19 more dangerous, “including socioeconomic status, access to health care and increased exposure to the virus due to occupation (e.g., frontline, essential and critical infrastructure workers).” In other words, COVID-19 is more dangerous for Black Americans because of generations of systemic racism and discrimination. The same is true to a lesser extent for Native American and Latino communities, according to CDC data.

COVID-19, like any virus, is mindless; it doesn’t discriminate based on the color of a person’s skin or the figure in their checking account. But precisely because it attacks blindly, the virus has given further evidence for the truth that was made clear this summer in response to another of the country’s epidemics, racially motivated police violence: the U.S. has not adequately addressed its legacy of racism.

Neil Blake—The Grand Rapids Press/APThe line for a drive-through food pantry in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Americans today tend to value the individual over the collective. A 2011 Pew survey found that 58% of Americans said “freedom to pursue life’s goals without interference from the state” is more important than the state guaranteeing “nobody is in need.” It’s easy to view that trait as a root cause of the country’s struggles with COVID-19; a pandemic requires people to make temporary sacrifices for the benefit of the group, whether it’s wearing a mask or skipping a visit to their local bar.

Americans have banded together in times of crisis before, but we need to be led there. “We take our cues from leaders,” says Dr. David Rosner, a professor at Columbia University. Trump and other leaders on the right, including Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi, respectively, have disparaged public-health officials, criticizing their calls for shutting down businesses and other drastic but necessary measures. Many public-health experts, meanwhile, are concerned that the White House is pressuring agencies like the Food and Drug Administration to approve treatments such as convalescent plasma despite a lack of supportive data. Governors, left largely on their own, have been a mixed bag, and even those who’ve been praised, like New York’s Andrew Cuomo, could likely have taken more aggressive action to protect public health.

Absent adequate leadership, it’s been up to everyday Americans to band together in the fight against COVID-19. To some extent, that’s been happening–doctors, nurses, bus drivers and other essential workers have been rightfully celebrated as heroes, and many have paid a price for their bravery. But at least some Americans still refuse to take such a simple step as wearing a mask.

Why? Because we’re also in the midst of an epistemic crisis. Republicans and Democrats today don’t just disagree on issues; they disagree on the basic truths that structure their respective realities. Half the country gets its news from places that parrot whatever the Administration says, true or not; half does not. This politicization manifests in myriad ways, but the most vital is this: in early June (at which point more than 100,000 Americans had already died of COVID-19), fewer than half of Republican voters polled said the outbreak was a major threat to the health of the U.S. population as a whole. Throughout July and August, the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force was sending private messages to states about the severity of the outbreak, while President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence publicly stated that everything was under control.

Some incredulity about the virus and public-health recommendations is understandable given the reality that scientific understanding of the newly emergent virus is evolving in real time. The ever shifting advice from health officials doesn’t instill public confidence, especially in those already primed to be skeptical of experts. “Because this is a new infectious disease, a new virus, we don’t have all the answers scientifically,” says Colleen Barry, chair of the department of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “I think that creates an environment that could potentially erode trust even further over time.” But the trust fractures on partisan lines. While 43% of Democrats told Pew in 2019 that they had a “great deal” of trust in scientists, only 27% of Republicans said the same.

Truly worrying are the numbers of Americans who already say they are hesitant to receive an eventual COVID-19 vaccination. Mass vaccination will work only with enough buy-in from the public; the damage the President and others are doing to Americans’ trust in science could have significant consequences for the country’s ability to get past this pandemic.

There’s another disturbing undercurrent to Americans’ attitude toward the pandemic thus far: a seeming willingness to accept mass death. As a nation we may have become dull to horrors that come our way as news, from gun violence to the seemingly never-ending incidents of police brutality to the water crises in Flint, Mich., and elsewhere. Americans seem to have already been inured to the idea that other Americans will die regularly, when they do not need to.

It is difficult to quantify apathy. But what else could explain that nearly half a year in, we still haven’t figured out how to equip the frontline workers who, in trying to save the lives of others, are putting their own lives at risk? What else could explain why 66% of Americans–roughly 217.5 million people–still aren’t always wearing masks in public?

Despite all that, it seems the U.S. is finally beginning to make some progress again: daily cases have fallen from a high of 20.5 per capita in July to around 12 in early September. But we’re still well above the springtime numbers–the curve may be flattening, but it’s leveling out at a point that’s pretty frightening. Furthermore, experts worry that yet another wave could come this winter, exacerbated by the annual flu season.

Jae C. Hong—APCardboard cutout “fans” at an L.A. Angels baseball game

There are reasons for optimism. Efforts to create a vaccine continue at breakneck speed; it’s possible at least one will be available by the end of the year. Doctors are getting better at treating severe cases, in part because of new research on treatments like steroids (although some patients are suffering far longer than expected, a phenomenon known as “long-haul COVID”). As the virus rages, perhaps more Americans will follow public-health measures.

But there is plenty of room for improvement. At the very least, every American should have access to adequate PPE–especially those in health care, education, food service and other high-risk fields. We need a major investment in testing and tracing, as other countries have done. Our leaders need to listen to experts and let policy be driven by science. And for the time being, all of us need to accept that there are certain things we cannot, or should not, do, like go to the movies or host an indoor wedding.

“Americans [may] start to say, ‘If everyone’s not wearing masks, if everyone’s not social distancing, if people are having family parties inside with lots of people together, if we’re flouting the public-health recommendations, we’re going to keep seeing transmission,'” says Ann Keller, an associate professor at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.

The U.S. is no longer the epicenter of the global pandemic; that unfortunate torch has been passed to countries like India, Argentina and Brazil. And in the coming months there might yet be a vaccine, or more likely a cadre of vaccines, that finally halts the march of COVID-19 through the country. But even so, some 200,000 Americans have already died, and many more may do so before a vaccine emerges unless America starts to implement and invest in the science-based solutions already available to us. Each one of those lives lost represents an entire world, not only of those individuals but also of their family, friends, colleagues and loved ones. This is humbling–and it should be. The only path forward is one of humility, of recognition that if America is exceptional with regard to COVID-19, it’s in a way most people would not celebrate.

–With reporting by Emily Barone and Julia Zorthian/New York

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