#she will accept no substitutes as a son-in-law at this point

[scottishaccentsareawesome]

Imagine Kate trying to date other guys after joining the Tornado Wranglers, but the one time she brings home a nice guy to meet her mom, Cathy is immediately like

"...Wait, where's Tyler? This isn't Tyler. Does Tyler know about this guy?"

"Steve's a nice guy, Mom. Please just give him a chance."

"Why? Is he sweet and charming, and does he adore you, and will he give me a dorky-looking t-shirt with a cartoon of his face on it?"

"MOM." "Don't 'Mom' me, missy. I've spent too long filling up Pinterest boards with ideas for you and Tyler's wedding for you to waste your time on somebody else. Seriously, Kate, who are you kidding...?"

[holylulusworld]

Her substitute (4) - Back Home

Summary: Once you were her best friend. Now her widower seeks shelter in your arms. 

Square Filled: Bonham Walker for @walker-bingo​​

Ship: Cordell Walker x fem!Reader, Cordell Walker x Emily Walker (widowed)

Characters: Bonham Walker, Stella Walker, August Walker, Abeline Walker

Rating: Mature

Warnings: angst, language, mentions of loss of a loved one, remorse, awkward situations, idiots in love, Walkers family is the best, arguments, implied smut

Word Count: 1,6 k

Her substitute masterlist

2021 Walker Bingo masterlist

Divider by @firefly-graphics​​

<< Part 3

“Y/N,” Stella clings to you, refuses to let go of you. The moment you got out of your old truck she jumped at you, crying as you came back. “You’re back.”

“Yeah,” you swallow thickly when Stella tells you how much she has missed you. For now, you will hide you still don’t know if you will stay or go back to New York. “How have you been? I know my departure was—sudden.”

“It was his fault, wasn’t it?” she chokes out, looking up at you. “Why can’t he just admit he wants to go out with you? Dad should stop being so stubborn.”

“Your father and I, we are friends and partners. It’s complicated, you know. Maybe it would be easier if I wasn’t your mom’s best friend. I think Cor—I mean your dad doesn’t know how to express his feelings. And I don’t know if it’s a good idea that I stay here.”

“Why? You are family, Y/N. Please don’t leave us again. August, he doesn’t show it but he’s missing you too. He’s as stubborn as dad,” Stella sighs when you run your hand over her hair. “Dad is an idiot for not seeing how much you care about him.”

“There she is, the long-lost daughter,” Bonham smirks when you walk toward the house, Stella hot on your heels. She refused to leave your side since you are back in town, even followed you home when you tried to change clothing.

“Hi,” you let Cordell’s father wrap you in a hug. “How have things been since I’ve been gone? Do you still drive your wife crazy?” he snickers at your words.

“So, you’ve become an important FBI agent now?” he looks at you, searching your face while hoping you will come back. “I heard about Cordell and you. Why didn’t you tell me you are about to become our new daughter-in-law?”

“Bonham,” you sigh, shaking your head lightly, “this is all a misunderstanding. Cordell and I are only friends and partners.”

“Do you want to tell me you left your home, your family for a job you don’t want out of the blue? I know about the blind date and that you left town right after you canceled, the party,” he slings one arm around your shoulders to lead you into the house. “I am an old man, not blind nor stupid.”

“Love is out of the question for Cordell and me,” Bonham doesn’t say a word. He guides you into the house, biting his tongue. “Emily was the woman he loved, and it will always be her for him. I don’t think he will be able to open his heart for someone else.”

“How about we save the heavy topics for later and have dinner? Abeline made your favorite, and she made a pie to die for, Y/N,” you hate to say no to Bonham, so you nod silently, swallowing the lump in your throat. “You know, if he doesn’t man up and asks you out, I’ll handle this for him.”

“Bonham,” he laughs when you try to stop him from playing the matchmaker for you and his son. “Please don’t try to change his mind. Cordell is—”

“A stubborn man, but he has feelings for you, my dear. He’s like his old man,” Bonham ends your sentence. “Y/N, he’s a good man, with a broken heart. He just needs a little push. Let me push him if I must.”

“That’s delicious Abeline,” you try to break the awkward tension in the dining room. While Stella and August won’t stop asking questions about New York, the FBI and your training Cordell sits opposite you, frowning anytime you say something, “as always.”

“Thank you, Y/N,” Cordell’s mother gives you a soft smile, offering another slice of the pie to you. “You are always welcome to join us for dinner. Cordell should invite you more often.”

“Mom,” Cordell clears his throat, eyes drifting toward you again. Tonight, he sticks to water, doesn’t even touch the beer his father offered to him. “Y/N will come around when she finds the time. She has her own life…maybe even in New York.”

“Dad,” Stella drops her fork. She grimaces, pointing her finger at you. “Do you want her to leave town again? Why don’t you ask her out? If you can go out with that other woman, you can go out with Y/N!”

“Stella,” August tries to spare you another hurtful scene. He’s grown for his age, and you give him a weak smile. “We talked about this, didn’t we?”

“Fine,” grasping for her water Stella glares at her father. “If she leaves all of us because of you, I will never forgive you.”

“I think that is enough,” Bonham speaks up. “Y/N doesn’t owe you anything, Stella. She is important to all of us, but this doesn’t mean she must stay in town and work as a Texas Ranger, not when she has the chance to become an FBI agent.”

“Grandpa,” Stella sniffs, looking at him, pleadingly. “Please. I don’t want to lose her too. He can’t ruin everything for us. Mom died because—”

“Enough,” this time you drop the fork. “It was my fault too. We arrested that man together. I was the one not wanting to give up and your mom and Jason paid the price. The guilt almost ate me up and your father was the one catching my fall,” you admit, pushing the tears away.

“What?” Stella inhales sharply. She always believed you are like Wonder Woman. Invincible and strong-willed. “But—but you seem so strong and…”

“Even the mightest people fall sometimes. It’s no shame to accept help from someone,” you clear your throat, eyes drifting toward Cordell. You know he’s ashamed Geri called you and that you saw him drunk once again. “Some people might say you are even stronger for accepting help.”

“Hi—erm, can I help you?” watching you clean the dishes Cordell awkwardly stands in the kitchen. “Mom said the dishwasher needs fixing. Let me lend you a hand.” He stands behind you to subtle sniff at your hair.

You can feel his chest press against your back when he tries to take the first plate out of your hand. “I—I can do this,” voice a little shaky you try to focus on the warm water soaking your hands, not the heat coming out of Cordell’s body. “How about you go back and chat a little or something.”

“Y/N, will it always be like that from now on? I want you to look at me the way you did before you left for New York,” he begins. “Please at least look at me. Even if you give me a dirty look. Just talk to me.”

“Do you think you are the only person thinking about shit all the time,” you place the plate back into the sink. “I think about Jason and Emily all the fucking time,” you turn around to jab your finger into his chest.

“Baby girl,” you whimper at the pet name. “I’m sorry—” he runs his large hands up and down your arms to calm you. “I should have stayed away from you, but I can’t. Y/N, I feel guilt too.” You huff at his words, not believing he feels sorry at all.

“Oh, you feel guilty for fucking me?” you retort, letting out a frustrated huff. “Do you know why I feel guilty, huh?” he shakes his head, swallowing thickly when tears well up to your eyes. “I feel guilty for getting them killed. I feel guilty for fucking my best friend’s husband. I feel guilty for hiding whatever we have from our families and friends. And I feel guilty for wanting you so bad that I can’t think straight when you are close to me.”

“Baby girl,” he gently cups your face, stroking your skin with his thumbs, “I’m so sorry for being an insensitive asshole. I should’ve told you how I feel a long time ago.” His lips softly press against your forehead, and you sigh deeply, hating he makes you feel weak all over again. “Please, give me a chance to show you I can be better.”

“I need to…I need to go,” you duck under his arm to escape the painful situation. Before you flee out of the house you look back over your shoulder to give Cordell one last glance. “Give me a few days to sort my thoughts, Cord. I just can’t be with you right now.”

“Hey, Ems,” you sit in front of your friend’s grave. “Do you think I should go back to New York? I-I know it’s wrong to love your husband, but I can’t stop my heart from beating only for him.” you sniff, wiping your eyes. “Shit, I can still feel his hands on me. He’s just—fuck. Cordell gets under my skin, Emily.”

Silence is a good friend tonight, so you sit there in front of her grave, drinking your favorite beer. “Do you remember when we first met? I thought you hate me, and you believed I am too cool to hang out with you. But the truth is, back then, I thought you are the coolest girl I ever met.”

“Shit, I wish you were here with me, Emily. I swear, nothing would’ve happened between me and Cordell if you were here. I could’ve never done such a shady thing,” you sip at your beer, sighing deeply.

“...and even now, I think about him and his fucking hands. God, his hands all over me and his lips against my throat. I love when he calls me baby girl. It drives me crazy, and I believe that I will lose my mind.”

“Coming,” Cordell grumbles, reluctantly opening the door to his house. “Y/N?” he gasps when you grab his shirt to bring him down for a messy kiss. “Baby girl.”

“Just shut up,” cupping the back of his neck, you kiss him again, this time slow and gentle. “I-I don’t know what to do. I only know that I want you.”

“I want you too—” you find yourself in his arms, your legs around his waist as he carries you inside his house. “Let me show you how much, baby girl…”

>> Part 5

Walker Tags

@mimzy1994, @rach-12, @jaredpadaleckisbride, @jessiebean00​

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@shikshinkwon​

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@i-love-superhero​

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@novawillowbarnes

[op-sheepy]

ok so I'm particularly interested in

Bellamy Law

Law and Bible stuff

Law is a substitute kindergarten teacher

shichibukai applications

reverse hanahaki disease (?? do u spit out flowers when your nemesis walks by?)

if you feel like elaborating on any of these!

This is gonna get long and I actually contemplated posting them separately but would that have been more work? Yeah, that felt like more work so for anyone interested, check under the cut. :D

---------------------------------o

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Bellamy Law

Hm… This would be an attempt to explore the parallels and contrasts between Bellamy and Law. I've always found it fascinating that the former was a foil to the latter.

They both come from well-off  towns in the North Blue.

Bellamy left because of boredom. Law had no choice because Flevance.

Both ended up seeking Doflamingo  because of  his notoriety as a pirate. Both admired him initially

Doffy favored one over the other though. Bellamy always sought his approval but was never really part of the inner circle Doflamingo cared about.

Law got the dubious privilege of being part of the family despite being absent for so long. Even offered one of the highest seats by Doffy's side for seemingly nothing.

Law had no trouble turning his back on Doffy once he realized the man's nature. Bellamy tried to stick to his principles until the end despite admitting that he new he was wrong.

Bellamy can (and did) quit piracy after his ordeal with Doflamingo. Having the option to live peacefully, perhaps a return to his previous life (the one he considered boring). Law can't do that quite as easily what with his Devil fruit and his reputation.

I thought it would be interesting trying to explore what Bellamy was thinking. Did he hear the Donquixote Pirates talk about their missing 'family'? Did he get to see Doffy be amused at Law's rise as a Supernova while he kept being reminded of his own status? Did Law save Bellamy partially because he also saw what he could have been had Corazon not saved him?

On principle, Bellamy should have hated Trafalgar Law. Does. Bastard even saved him without him wanting it. But there was something about the shadows haunting those eyes and Bellamy started to wonder.

He had heard the family talk about Law before. The child personally taught by Doflamingo, chosen to be his right hand. Never was he compared to the man because Law was just obviously better. Smarter. Stronger. Bellamy was ever just an uncouth thug.

He was allowed to 'borrow' Doflamingo's symbol while Law had an empty seat waiting for his return–a seat Bellamy had wanted enough to risk everything for.

Maybe he had resented, Trafalgar Law for carelessly rejecting the things he had that Bellamy had always desired. In the end too, Trafalgar Law did prove to be better. He'd done as a child what Bellamy had trouble doing even as he was now.

But having been given the chance to observe the other man as they all recovered, he wondered, perhaps for the first time, whether despite Law being better than Bellamy, Bellamy had had it better–barring the poor life choices.

---------------------------------o

---------------------------------o

Law and Bible stuff

This is just me wanting to know how many biblical parallels and themes I can draw from Law, the Donquixote brothers, the characters associated with them, and his backstory. Honestly not sure whether this would become a fic and in what style or I'm gonna give up and just make it a post.

Not gonna elaborate on them much but here are the ideas in more bullet points (yay):

Law gets familiar with all four horsemen of the apocalypse: conquest, war, famine, and death. He even survives them.

Law is like the son in the parable of the prodigal son to the Donquixote pirates. Except the themes are inverted.

Doflamingo and Rocinante -> Cain and Abel

Ope Ope no Mi -> Granting eternal life by sacrificing one's own life

Gods descending or living among humans. Also, Homing and his family being prosecuted for other people's sins.

That scene where they were hanged by their arms outstretched looks like a crucifixion. Also, Rocinante was on the right while Doflamingo was on the left. Similar to how the penitent thief was on the right and the unrepentant one to the left.

Flevance being considered a paradise with walls/fences/gates and somewhere Law cannot return to.

In the panel where the Donquixote pirates are seated at the table, there were thirteen of them with Doffy at the center. Same as The Last Supper

There are a lot more of these (David and Goliath, Solomon, Jonah, Job, etc.) but I kinda lost the notes and some are more visual so I can't really explain it too well. This would is a drabble series to emphasize or highlight the parallels so no proper snippet for this one.

---------------------------------o

---------------------------------o

Law is a substitute kindergarten teacher

Originally an idea to get around most of the Heart Pirates being nameless but evolved to include other characters as kids. Chopper is a kindergarten teacher and he convinces Law to take over his class for a week because somehow Law has the qualifications to and free time. Naturally, he wasn't able to say no.

Unfortunately, despite not being terrible at handling children, Chopper's class is filled with menaces. Also, despite not being terrible, Law can still be awkward so...

"Mr. Trofao–fargar—"

"Trafalgar."

The kid—which one was this one again? Shit, he should really get them name plates or something—scrunched up his face and tried harder, "Tar-pal—"

"Law. Just call me Law."

"Mr. Low"—eh, close enough—"can I go to the bathroom?" Wide imploring eyes stared up at him.

"Sure, go ahead." Law gestured towards the exit of the classroom with his head.

The kid just stared expectantly at him and he tried to suppress the need to narrow his eyes.

"Is there… anything else?"

"Mr. Chopper always comes with me to hold my hand."

Really?

"Mr. Chopper isn't here. You should practice doing it on your own now." He said after a deep inhale.

"But the monsters might get me…"

"No, they won't."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Before the kid could open his mouth again to argue, he added, "Besides, children taste terrible so you're safe."

The kid looked stricken and took a step back from him. Uh oh. Glistening eyes, wobbling lower lip… "Alright! I'll go with you." The kid did not look reassured. In fact he looked like going alone with Law was the last thing he wanted to do. Guess, he kinda implied that he ate children didn't he? Oops.

Well, the kid needs to go and he's not going to be cleaning up after him if he wets himself.

Law glanced at the rest of the children. It was Arts and Craft time and they seemed preoccupied enough. Still, Law doubted Chopper ever left these kids alone–already he could see some of them glancing up at him, waiting for him to leave no doubt to cause trouble. That Monkey kid in particular looked extremely suspicious.

He stood up from his crouch and clapped twice to get everyone's attention.

"Alright. Fall in line. Single file."

There was some grumbling and questioning directed at him. "What's going on?"

Law shrugged. "You're all going to the bathroom."

---------------------------------o

---------------------------------o

Shichibukai Application Forms

Crackfic where the World Government and relevant parties review various Shichbukai Applications. Most submitted by the pirates applying themselves, some produced by their own staff. They discuss and debate. As well as judge pirate resumes.

She scanned the document. Terrible format, really. If you fail to impress within the first page, you've failed entirely. There just wasn't anyone promising enough in this batch of applications or any of the other ones before. The last one had been that clown. "Apprentice to the Pirate King," was a pretty hefty credential.

"Oh, how about this one? Three years experience pillaging, and they even listed all the towns they looted." One of the newly transferred administrative staff said.

"None of these are worth considering at all. You know, when Mihawk was asked to submit his application, he hadn't bothered with all of this. He just sent us a card with his name on it and the title "World's Strongest Swordsman," underneath."

The staff perked up. "Oh, there was an application like that." There was scramble and some shuffling before a plain white card was produced. "Here."

"'From Trafalgar Law'. What does this even mean?"

"Well, it did come with a big box..."

---------------------------------o

---------------------------------o

Reverse Hanahaki Disease

(?? do u spit out flowers when your nemesis walks by?)

Haha. At first it was going to be that way (because it is hilarious) but the inflicted would probably choke to death too soon. Or if both enemies had it, they'd end up just coughing flowers at each other until they stopped being enemies.

The version I ended up going with was that this variant of Hanahaki, instead of afflicting those with unrequited love, affected those in denial instead. The reverse part comes from the original idea that this would usually happen if you somehow fell in love with your nemesis (someone you originally hated). So it's not the thought that the other person can't love you, it's that you can't accept that you love that other person. You get cured by confessing to the person sincerely.

This is actually another KidLaw (surprise!). And the flower coughed up directly represents the person they're in love with (I went with Oda's flower representation for them because I found it funny for plot)

So the idea is that, you get sick but you don't automatically know (maybe) who it is because that's part of being in denial. Kid and Law have many enemies after all. In this story they both get it though not exactly at the same time and not known to the other.

He survived Amber Lead Syndrome only to be killed off by a stupid flower disease that apparently knows more about his own feelings than he does.

He glared at the petals. Tulips. Red.

An image of a cocky grin and a shock of red hair flashed through his mind and—nope. That's not right.

He coughed harder, tears stinging his eyes with the effort. More flowers. Now he has enough for a bouquet.

Alright, he was a doctor. He could do this. Differential time.

First, which variant does he have. He doesn't particularly feel unloved or hopeless. There wasn't anyone he wanted in particular to love him. Ok, nothing. It was maybe safe to say he had that other variant.

Which was stupid because Law had many enemies and he hated all of them.

And cue the racking coughs. More red. He was very familiar with that particular shade.

New theory. This was a new variant that somehow makes you sick when you think of the person you hated the most.

Yes, that had to be it. He thought as he all but collapsed on the floor from the sudden paroxysm.

I knew this was gonna get long. :) Oh well...

Thank you for playing. :D

[littleeyesofpallas]

The Visored had this whole tortured souls, trapped between two worlds kind of thing going for them at the start that Kubo just kinda left behind and never really got back to... (you can see how this series of posts went from clearing up mistranslations to just full on spotlighting lost plot threads...)  There were parts that he sort of half-salvaged late in the arc (and I’m actually still convinced that he took the overall plot for them that he lost in the Arrancar Arc and used that as the backbone of the Fullbringer arc) but let’s look at some of the foundations of the Visored that he set up at the start of the arc...

禁術を使って虚(ホロウ)の能力を手にしようとした元死神の無法集団 所��も思想も一切不明 厄介だぜ

A lawless group of former-Shinigami who tried to get the powers of Hollows using forbidden arts. Whereabouts and ideologies both entirely unclear. It's troublesome

This is the first real description of the Visored we get, other than the obvious visual explanation that they’ve got zanpakutou and hollow masks like Ichigo.  It sets up their basic profile as a mysterious group, known broadly to Urahara and Isshin but with no specific details.  Other bits of that scene also establish that Urahara and Isshin had expected them to show up and approach Ichigo, as well as implies that they’ve discussed it specifically.  Considering the timeline of events in which Isshin has only just seen his son again after the whole Rukia rescue arc that started with Ichigo having to train to get his powers back, the fact that Isshin knew about Ichigo’s mask means he knew what Urahara had done to Ichigo, possibly from the moment Ichigo left to go train.

What I think is interesting is that for one, they’re called “lawless” which is a little vague given how little is really being said here; the word 無法 would most commonly mean “Lawlessness”/”Injustice”/”Wrong” and such as a noun, and as an adj. it can mean the same BUT it can also mean “Disorderly” or even just “Outrageous.”  The reason being that the word 法 can mean both a formal structure of law, as well as just a general system of organization.  It might be that they’re just calling them disorderly because they aren’t part of the Gotei 13 or Soul Society at large, or don’t have formal ranks like they do; as opposed to accusing them of some distinct immoral quality.  On the other hand it’s also possible that this is just calling them “outlaws” in the sense that by being Visorsed, they have broken the law of Soul Society.

It also establishes, albeit in slightly odd terms, that no one knows what the Visored want.  This is actually a really solid mystery hook and one I’ll revisit as we go through some more scenes...

Here’s a good line that every English translation I’ve seen totally botched!

オレは"仮面の軍勢"(ヴァイザード) オマエの同類や そっち側に居るべき 人間やない—————

I'M a VISORED. I'm the same as YOU. A human shouldn't be over there on that side—————

In particular every English translation I’ve seen goes with something like, “you don’t belong with them” and completely neglects that Kubo very specifically uses the word 人間: “Human.”  The side he’s saying Ichigo doesn’t belong with, are the Shinigami.  It was always kind of implied by the way the Visored were living in the human world, but Shinji is in fact calling the Visored more Human than Shinigami: He JUST told Ichigo they were the same, and then called Ichigo Human.  And this idea gets followed up a few scenes later when Hiyori is introduced...

Jinxed myself... I just realized I totally flubbed this translation.  I forgot I set aside bits of this line with Shinji’s dialect because I knew I’d have to work around those, but in this case I forgot to substitute the standard Japanese back in.  The phrase, 人間やない: “ningen yanai” is an accented way of saying 人間じゃない: “ningen janai.”  As in a “not-Human.”  So the translation should actually read as,

I'M a VISORED. I'm the same as YOU. You should be over on the sidewith your own kind, Not-Humans—————

...うちキライや人間

わかっとる

...死神も... ...キライや...

...わかっとる

HIYORI: ...I hate humans

SHINJI: I know (said in agreement)

HIYORI: ...Shinigami too... ...I hate them...

SHINJI: I know (said in agreement)

It’s a little clunky to translate but the phrase, わかっとる: “wakaru” has some specific usage that I tried to clarify above.  Actually in looking for the grammatical term to explain this better, I just found an all around better explanation:

Usage notes: The verb “wakaru” is most often glossed as “to understand.” However, “wakaru” is intransitive, and it takes the thing that is understood as the subject, and not the object. Strictly speaking, “wakaru” is thus closer to English “to be understandable,” as the verb “wakaru“ describes the thing itself, unlike English “to understand,” which describes the action of the person doing the understanding.

So when Shinji replies to the effect of “I get it...” every time Hiyori says she hates Humans/Shinigami, he’s not just affirming that he’s listening, he’s agreeing with the sentiment.  He also hates humans.  He also hates the shinigami.  This implicitly carries over to the Visored as a whole, and it implies that they’ve had a whole history and drama of not being accepted by human society.... although we never get any elaboration on that...

But let’s back up a bit to Shinji’s encounter with Ichigo again, because the Visored have a lot of factional drama going for them at the start here...

...もう遅いねん仮面の軍勢(ヴァイザード)は一遍発症したら二度と元には戻られへん  オマエが どう思おうが オマエはもうこっち側やねん一護

It's too late. It's all over. When VISORED symptoms appear, you can never go back.   No matter what YOU think, YOU are already on this side

Of note here, 発症: “outbreak of an illness;” “onset of an illness;” “appearance of symptoms;” “for signs of an illness to appear.”  Which is super interesting and suggests a few things about the nature of the Visored as hybrids, their own perspective on their condition, and the implied backstory they have at this juncture...

...織姫チャンも デクいのも メガネも 他のいろんな 死神達も みんな仲間やと思てるやろオマエ? 違うで  仲間でおれんのは今だけや

Orihime-CHAN, BLOCKHEAD, GLASSES, and the other Shinigami (referred to as a collective group)  Do you think they're your friends/comrades?  That's wrong. They're friends/comrades only for now

今のまま死神でおり続けたらオマエはいずれ必ず内なる虚(ホロウ)に呑まれて正気を失う そうなったら終いや  オマエの力は全てを壊です仲間も未来も お前自身も ぜんぶ巻き込んでコナゴナのォ

As it is, if you continue to be a Shinigami, YOU will eventually lose your sanity by being swallowed by the inner HOLLOW. Then it's the end.  YOUR power will destroy everything: Friends/Comrades, future, you yourself, all involved, every little bi~t, swallowed up.

...ホンマはもう 気ィ付いてんのと違うか?  お前自身の内なる虚(ホロウ)がもう手ェつけろられんぐらい巨かなっとるゆうことに...

THE TRUTH, by now you re~alize it, don't you? In other words, you can't ha~ndle your own inner HOLLOW it's gotten so huge.

So part of what was really intriguing about all this, back in the day when this information was just whatever we could scrape out of one chapter at a time each week, was that Shinji talks about inner Hollows, talks about them like they’re a disease, and talks about how there’s no reversing the Hollowization.  He suggests that he can teach Ichigo how to deal with the inner Hollow in such a way that he won’t destroy everything/one around him.  But he doesn’t specify what that method really is, even vaguely.  So, when Ichigo does go to them, there’s a nebulous sense of not knowing what he’s actually signing up for..  Even when he begins undergoing his training and faces down his inner Hollow, we don’t actually know if the goal is for him to destroy the hollow, to beat it into submission, to make peace with it, etc...

This all also HIGHLY suggests that every Visored also has an inner Hollow; they’re aware of it as a concept, they have a method specifically built for dealing with it, they have the obviously parallels with Ichigo that suggest their powers work similarly, and the arc overall eventually sets up the idea that Arrancar, Shinigami, and Visored all have a kind of true self or manifested soul that defines their unique sword/mask/release form.  But here’s the fun part,

When Ichigo is in the middle of his training, we get a matching pair of chapter covers (217 and 220) following Kubo’s formula established back during the Soul Society arc, with the cast of Shinigami, of having a bold written name of a character behind a portrait.  Ichigo’s inner Hollow’s “name” is just Ichigo’s name mirrored, which is exactly how Hirako wrote his name on the chalkboard when he showed up in Karakura High.  (Also keep in mind that Sakanade was hundreds of chapters away from being introduced at that point, and very likely not even a real idea for Hirako’s sword power yet.)  In the context of the early arc, the suggestion here was that Shinji never “conquered” his inner Hollow, he was his inner Hollow --or in the very least the two were at peace in a way that allowed Shinji to incorporate it into his own personality.

It’s a round about way to try to point it out, but really it just looks like the original concept for the whole inner Hollow conflict was just Ichigo learning to accept his negative character traits as a part of himself, rather than deny and repress them. (It’s basically what wound up being the exact dynamic of Person 4′s shadows actually...)

But this all is why I’ve always had the distinct feeling that Kubo’s original plan for the Visored wasn’t for them to be a bunch of captains and lieutenants at all; I think they were supposed to be a bunch of humans who got Shinigami powers by surviving being Hollowified, just like Ichigo did.  I think their secret motive was going to be two-fold: firstly they’d claim their goal was to gain the Hougyoku to use it’s distortion powers to mend the wall between their two forms to rid them of their Hollows, as the general descriptions of the Hollow symptoms and Ichigo’s personal motives would suggest --and for which they’d be willing to fight Aizen and the Arrancar-- but then the twist reveal would be that they really wanted to Hougyoku to further their transformations rather than revert them, and that their villainous motives would be in part facilitated by the fact that they were basically Hollows in human bodies...  And you might notice parts of that sound an awful lot like what the Fullbringer plot wound up being...

I also have a theory that there was something else going on with the Arrancar/Hollows, specifically the Vastlords, but that’ll have to wait for another post...

[leserrurierdauphin]

Les Restes

The news from France, when it arrived at Schoenbrunn, was grim. Sweet Archduchess Maria Josepha had departed a year and a half ago to seal the rather sudden and shaky alliance between her native Austria and France. She had been sad to go, but as always had obeyed her mother’s wishes with a smile and only a few tears while her two little sisters, Charlotte and Antonia, wept in each other’s arms as if foreign marriages didn’t await them both as well.

Josepha had, at eighteen, been thrust into a gilded and venomous world when she arrived at the court of Versailles. Her new husband was a tall, shy fourteen-year-old boy who blushed when their eyes met. The young dauphin had kissed his bride’s cheek at the wedding ceremony and then again every night afterwards, but he never did anything else. Since Josepha was very pretty and as sweet as a bonbon, nobody at the French court bothered to lower their voices when they wondered aloud: why isn’t the dauphine with child yet?

From there, their eyes would turn to Louis. Though he was more of a child than Josepha and knew nothing at all about girls, always shut away instead with his books or in his makeshift smithy, tongues wagged about the poor boy. Josepha’s mother had so many children. Surely she, too, was fertile. The problem must be elsewhere.

What kind of king will he make? He can’t even do his duty to the dauphine!

Even the obedient and pleasant Josepha despaired of ever providing an heir in her letters home, though she knew no more about how to set about doing so than her inexperienced husband.

Unfortunately, when the next letter regarding her daughter’s marriage reached Maria Theresa, it had nothing to do with the royal bedchamber. The empress, rather than discovering that she would soon be a grandmother to a future French monarch--or at least that there was reason to hope--learned that she had lost yet another child.

The letter was dated 26 March 1771, just days after Josepha’s twentieth birthday. Her Highness the dauphine died this morning after being stricken with smallpox, it stated. Josepha had like her beloved older sister Johanna fallen victim, even far away in France, to her worst fear: death by pox. She had left no children, only a sixteen-year-old widower, and thus her death threatened the already-fragile French alliance.

It didn’t take long for the wily old King Louis and Josepha’s grieving but ever-practical mother to arrive at a solution, though. Maria Theresa had one remaining unmarried daughter for whom no betrothal had yet been made. She was only a year younger than her French brother-in-law Louis-Auguste. Her mother was happy to report that, though she was a late bloomer, at fifteen she no longer looked like an undeveloped child. Would Maria Antonia be an acceptable substitute for the late dauphine?

“You, my little Antoine, will be Queen of France,” Maria Theresa informed her youngest daughter with confidence, as if the same hadn’t been expected of Josepha.

Before Antonia rode off into the late summer heat to leave her Austrian life behind and adopt her sister’s French one, the empress hugged her close and said: “I am sending France an angel. Remember that you represent Austria. Remember your duty.” She patted the girl’s cheek for good measure. “And your prayers. God bless you, child.”

Her mother’s final point was hardly oblique: whatever troubles the last dauphine had had with her husband, Antonia needed to overcome them and bear French children to make sure Austria and France were bound by ties of blood. Where Josepha had failed, she must succeed.

•   •   •

Louis-Auguste shifted from one foot to another as the royal party waited to catch sight of the carriage carrying their newest Austrian import. It didn’t seem fair to the memory of poor Marie Josèphe to replace her so quickly, as if she had never been, nor to do so with one of her own sisters. Not that Louis had gotten a say in the matter--to hear his grandfather talk about it, you’d have thought he, Louis, had killed Josèphe himself.

“This time, my boy, I expect you to do your duty by this girl,” the king had said, and his duty was of course to provide heirs to the French throne.

No matter, he thought, that he had two younger brothers. His grandfather knew that heirs could be in short and fleeting supply. He was himself a great-grandson of the Sun King and had seen his eldest sons and grandsons--Louis’ brothers--in the grave while he was still living life to the fullest. At Louis’ age, the king had also married a girl older than himself and had felt no sympathy or understanding regarding the boy’s complete disinterest--or, for that matter, his lack of knowledge and experience.

He may not have been much of a husband to her, Louis thought, but he had been grieved by Josèphe’s death. She had been very kind and patient, feigning interest in his locks and keys and books as best she could, and despite his incompetence in bed, she had been quite pretty.

At least he had known her. This new archduchess was a wild card. She could be everything or nothing like her sister, but either way, she’d be a stranger. Louis dreaded the meeting with another girl, dreaming of being Queen of France someday only to be utterly disappointed by her quiet and reserved future king.

She’s my age, if nothing else, he thought glumly, or closer to it. In a few weeks he would turn seventeen, and if failing to consummate a marriage as a clumsy fourteen-year-old boy was somewhat understandable, no one had sympathy for him anymore.

Everyone stopped chattering and their heads lifted at the sound of carriage wheels through the woods at last. Louis took a shuddering breath. It was hellishly hot today, and as pessimistic as he was about the whole affair, he hoped he hadn’t sweated all the way through his suit. That would be a terrible way to make a first impression on the girl with whom he would (he hoped--he didn’t wish anything ill on her) spend the rest of his days.

When the door to the carriage opened, it revealed a petite young woman clad in silk. That young woman would see a colorfully-attired and rather portly older man with a fabulous hat and sash across his broad chest. This must be the king. Beside him stood Louis, her former brother-in-law and new husband. He was, even from a distance, obviously quite tall. He wore a dark blue silk suit with a band of black around the right arm in honor of Antonia's lost sister. Though his expression was very somber, as if he was still in mourning, he had an attractive if distinctively Bourbon face (in that one could see at a glance that he was related to the king).

One of the girl's attendants stepped forward as they approached. Bowing, the lady announced: "Votre Majesté, may I present Madame la Dauphine."

[laryna6]

Once Upon A Time universe where when Mr. Gold obtains Henry for Regina some kind of shenanigans involving his love for Bae makes him instantly fall for the baby despite not being awake - it’s attributed to the curse memories of losing a son.

So he convinces Regina that it’d be easier to do the adoption if she had a husband, and she’s amused by the thought of Rumple in her power, so they get non-romantically fake married. And Rumple spins the yarn to make baby blankets and clothes and all kind of things for Henry, and Regina is just vastly amused by how Rumple is goo and willing to do anything for the baby and also pretty grateful to have someone to sit up with the baby in the middle of the night and also cook breakfast. She gets to have power over Rumple and that makes her accept him as part of this family.

She does keep poking at him, asking about his curse memories to check that his real ones haven’t come back, and an incident involving putting the moves on him to see if that was part of his motivation for this family thing leads to her eventually figuring out that his ex-wife was abusive, although she’d not quite sure if this is a fabrication of the curse to make him miserable or some curse version of Cora? Mr. Gold also tells her about losing his son and blaming himself, which she figures is why Henry gives her such a handle on him.

When Henry gets the book, he’s able to figure out that Papa is Rumple because of the spinning - he gets new sweaters every year. It’s impossible to see him as evil though. When Regina sends him to therapy she also sends her husband, telling herself it’s because it’s hilarious to think of proud Rumple spilling his deepest darkest secrets to some bug.

When Henry brings Emma, Mr. Gold has a conversation with Regina begging her to let Emma stay, because Henry wanted this and it’s better for him to feel wanted by his birth mother - a child shouldn’t have to think that any of their parents didn’t want him. Regina is mollified by Emma not buying into the curse idea, and it touches some issues about ‘if only Cora had a heart and started to love her the way Emma is learning to love Regina’s son (as Henry deserves).’

Awake!Rumple steers the therapy sessions towards asking Jiminy how to reconnect with an estranged son, since he has this resource here, and also how to be a better person because experienced prosthetic conscience. He also lets Henry know he’s awake because he doesn’t want Henry to have to think he might be crazy. So there’s father-son bonding as well as Henry-Emma bonding about the Operation. Regina and Emma bond over Henry, there are moms-son outings.

Because Regina has two additional morality chains and Graham is Emma’s friend, she locks him beneath the hospital instead of killing him. Rumple tells Henry about Baelfire and gets hugs and someone telling him it’ll be alright.

Emma gets an offer to move in with Regina, Mr. Gold, and Henry, but she’s kind of starting to develop feelings for Regina and Regina is married (they tell her later that it’s just for adoption purposes) so she lives with Mary Margeret instead. So Regina gets to hear that Snow feels terrible for pining over a married man etc. and plans out letting them go on some dates so that it will be more of a wrench when David gets his memories back and goes back to Kathryn etc.

Mr. Gold still loses his temper with Moe French, but this makes Regina get paranoid that he’s awake, made more intense/near panic because she doesn’t want to lose the relationship they’ve had for years, where she’s had him always there for her and her son, and she doesn’t want to hear him mock her for it/use it against her/hurt Henry by leaving them/any number of things. Also, if he finds out about Belle...

Jefferson releases Belle to motivate Gold to make the savior hurry the hell up and break the curse/turn him against Regina. Rumple is just so hurt that Regina, who he’s come to care for platonically as the mother of the second child he’s raised, hates him enough to do this to Belle just to hurt him.

Before that Rumple wasn’t pushing for the curse to be broken, telling himself it’s because it’s fated to happen but also because the therapy is preparation for finding Bae (and also happy), but now he needs to get Belle her memories back.

He brings Emma to Belle and tells her Regina did this, and then sends her down under the library to confront her with a dragon/make her believe.

Emma, who by this point has really started to love Regina for giving her son the childhood she wishes she could have had, among other things, is just like... it’s not healthy for Regina to be like this, so secretly miserable and full of hate. She kisses Regina wishing to break the curse to free Regina from all this, from having to be the villain, and the curse breaks.

Rumple immediately moves out of the house and files for divorce, but tells Emma and Henry he’s giving Emma his blessings and also when a mob shows up for Regina he threatens to kick their asses. He books a lot of sessions with Dr. Hopper because finding Belle and everything really threw him for a loop and he wants to have it together when he finds Baelfire to minimize the odds of fucking it up.

Family session with Henry, Rumple, Regina, Emma and Belle. Henry meeting Belle and saying that two moms is great, three is even better!

Rumple still nearly has a panic attack at the airport because Baelfire is just that stressful to him, but Belle, Emma and Henry are all there, he’s surrounded by family. Rumple doesn’t practically lead with casting magic on Baelfire thanks to Dr. Hopper’s advice, and Baelfire finds out about Henry but that’s really not the only reason he comes to Storybrooke.

Henry meets Tamara and is ‘sweet, four moms!’

Snow’s opinion of Rumple is shaped by the town having gossiped about the scary Mr. Gold transforming into a doting father who is sometimes seen knitting in his shop or waiting to pick Henry up.

Emma is very fond of Rumple because he adores her son/she’s seen the cinnamon roll he was at home with Henry and Regina and he’s also badass, good protector for her son, 10/10 would recommend as babysitter. So she accepts magic lessons from Rumple because he wants to learn how to protect Henry and Regina goes with her and Rumple teaches her stuff he didn’t before and apologizes for manipulating her and says he’ll try to make sure she gets her happy ending to make up for it. So magic bonding and Belle is also there listening and learning about magic and seeing Rumple being happy. 

Rumple and Regina are able to joke about Snow being Regina’s mother in law. 

Once Baelfire is in Storybrook he’s convinced to do sessions with Gold and Hopper so he doesn’t have to talk to his father without someone there? Rumple is happy with that because someone to keep him from fucking up. Baelfire ends up bonding with the Charmings in the Badass Normal group and opens up to them more because they’re not on Rumple’s side like everyone else is. He asks them about their interactions with Rumple and the three of them talk re. how they feel about him being so close to Emma/Henry. Baelfire gets to feel like someone is on his side. 

Baelfire starts going to Dr. Hopper for solo sessions because he doesn’t want to fuck up with his son the way he got fucked up. He’s also been talking to Henry, who’s been trying to convince him that Rumple is the dad he knew. When Tamara betrays him, Rumple doesn’t kill her and he has a large found family to show him that he’s still loved/make him feel a little less like he’ll inevitably lose every relationship he has. 

Baelfire also gets to feel listened to bc. Hook - Emma seeing how different Rumple is about him, and Baelfire telling her about the kind father Emma tells him she’s seen with Henry, versus what the curse turned him into. 

Rumple promising he will let Belle break the curse now that he’s found Baelfire, but then they need to rescue Henry from Pan and Baelfire finding out that Rumple also got abandoned by his father for power.

Hook coming on to now adult Baelfire instead of Emma because he can see the resemblance to Milah, and Baelfire knowing that Milah was not a good person (and Regina possibly getting annoyed with something Baelfire says about Rumple and telling him she originally sent Rumple to Dr. Hopper because he was a victim if spousal abuse). Baelfire and Hook taking a long time to actually get together because of Baelfire not liking the guy and not wanting to be a substitute for the mom who ditched him, but adventures keep happening and they gradually grow closer once Hook stops wanting to kill Baelfire’s papa/there is UST. 

So eventually Henry gets three dads, three moms, grandma Snow and grandpa Charming. 

Uncursed!Rumple and Belle being research and potions people, which Henry can help out with; Snow, Charming and Baelfire being Heroes - with Hook also being a direct combat type; Emma and Regina being light and dark direct/combat magicians. Rumple has access to a lot of sources of True Love, so he brews more potions and can use one for a power-up if someone comes to attack Belle and Henry. 

Snow and Charming + Belle and Rumple have babies, and during threats those babies are of course left with Rumple and Belle and Rumple is the one to primarily take care of them while Belle looks up from whatever she’s working on and smiles to see him so happy.

Regina can’t have kids, but Emma can and Regina kept Daniel’s body, so eventually Rumple brews up something and Emma gets pregnant with a baby with Daniel’s genes, a child of two of the people Regina loves most. After that they adopt older children, who have been in the system awhile, and a lot of those kids end up bonding with Baelfire and Hook more but that’s fine, it’s all one family.

[salvctions]

oh boy, did you get gemma chan for an eight a.m. ? wait no, that’s ELENE KEO. i heard the thirty two year old is a professor who gives a pretty tough lecture in history. she tries to be passionate and spirited but on the stressful days, they are blunt and evasive. when they get a chance to relax, catch them at the local bar listening to kiss it better by rihanna.

— RUNDOWN

name: elene chanmony keo.

date of birth: november 4, 1986

place of birth: tianjin, china ( raised in london, england )

age: thirty two

occupation: professor of history

spoken languages: english ( first ), chinese ( fluent ), khmer ( intermediate ), french ( intermediate )

star sign: scorpio sun, sagittarius moon, rising in capricorn

alignment: lawful good

mbti: enfp

— FAMILY

father: mr keo ( deceased )

mother: mrs keo ( alive )

siblings: raina keo ( older sister, thirty eight, alive ), theodore keo ( older, alive )

children: none.

— AESTHETICS

height/weight: 175cm ( 5′8″ ), 58kg ( 127 lb ), naturally slender physique

hair: shoulder-length black hair, cut into layers and often worn curled and out, or clipped in a twist.

eye color: dark brown.

accent/voice: speaks with a received pronunciation british accent, though her years living in america have americanised different words. her accent is usually stronger if she’s come home from london. her voice is usually soft, though it grows sharper and harsher if she’s angry or upset. 

scars: two chickenpox scars, one on her hip and the other on her left shoulder. 

— BACKGROUND

originally elene was born in tianjin, china. however, her birth parents had wanted a boy - an heir to her birth father’s successful shipping company. due china’s one-child policy she was put up for adoption as soon as she was born. 

this lead to her being adopted by the keos, a wealthy british couple, when she was a couple of months old, something elene would always be eternally grateful for. 

very much the baby of the family, elene idolized her siblings, wanting to always be just like them. if raina had to wear a dress, elene would want to match. if theo got the crusts cut off his sandwhiches, elene would refuse to eat them until she had it done the same way. 

despite wanting to be a mini-me to her siblings, she was easy to please as a child. elene always attended her mother’s high teas with a smile on her face, admiring all the fancy dresses, playing the part of the perfect daughter. in reality, she was more fascinated with her dads work, and used to love all his stories, remaining fascinated by them as she grew up.

she always wanted to make people happy, keep them smiling and laughing. even as a child she hated any kind of confrontation, usually crying until people would stop. 

when raina left elene was completely heartbroken. twelve at the time, she cried for a long time. raina had been her idol and she had no idea why raina would want to leave --- had she done something wrong? 

her sister leaving was a big turning point in elene’s life and as she grew older she wanted to learn more about her birth parents. however after some research, she found them happy in shanghai with the son that they’d always wanted. between this and raina, it left her with abandonment issues she never fully addressed.

with raina leaving, elene felt like she had to become the perfect daughter for her parents. she wanted them to feel proud of her, to fill whatever hole she felt that raina had left. she wanted to make them feel like they hadn’t made a mistake in adopting her.

elene chose to following in her father’s humanitarian footsteps, attending oxford and majoring in history. personally, she preferred the classics, always having been fascinated by ancient china. however, she wanted to make her parents proud.

during her first few years, she developed a reputation as a party girl. she had too many unresolved issues under the surface --- the pressure of being the substitute daughter, to be perfect, the fear of what would happened if she failed --- the only way she coped was to drink and dance her issues away. but she always made sure she’d be home on sunday for family dinner. 

her mother desperately wanted her to settle down, but she only seemed to jump from relationship to relationship. she’s spent so much of her life trying to keep people happy, trying to mould herself to please someone else that she didn’t know who she was without someone there to tell her what they wanted.

despite jumping from relationship to relationship, none tended to last very long, elene often ending things as soon as they fought. she never got too close to anybody, more content with leaving others before they could leave her. 

eventually, she chose to channel her anger into her humanitarian work. on her breaks for university she would accompany her father, trying to raise awareness for causes she was passionate about --- particularly china, somewhere close to home, and her father’s native cambodia. she tried to drown herself in work, involved in education programmes about both countries and arranging fundraising galas with her mother.

she continued at oxford, completing her masters and soon went on to begin her phd, while continuing humanitarian work on behalf of her father. much of her work included travel, specifically travelling to other universities and giving guest lectures, or awareness talks when she was invited.

it was this that first brought her to riverbank --- doing a guest lecture on behalf of her father. though initially nervous to accept, elene was aware that raina had moved here. since her sister had left, much resentment had built for what it meant for her. the shoes she had to fill. but, she soon fell in love with the school, and the particularly cute guy that had shown her around. against her better judgement ( london would always remain one of her great loves ) she transferred to continue her post grad studies at riverbank.

tyrese was her first major relationship. she’d dated around plenty, but she’d never been in love before. and she truly did love him, long before she ever admitted it. he had given her a chance to truly be herself, away from whatever pressures she’s built up at home.

when ty proposed, elene was ecstatic. it was when ty started to bring up raising a family with her that panic started to seep in. she didn’t know what she wanted. she didn’t know if she wanted kids. her whole life had been shaped by other people. elene started to freak out, afraid that she couldn’t meet what ty wanted and that he’d leave her.

so, she did what she did best --- left. right before summer break. she tried to fly around the world in an attempt to find herself, what she wanted. maybe try to confront her birth parents, deal with some of her abandonment issues head on. but the only thing she realised was that all she really wanted was ty. 

on her return to riverbank, she was barely able to stomach seeing ty after what she did and it only lead to more pent up rage at raina. unfairly blaming raina for leaving a hole she felt so desperately that she had to fill. 

elene turned to alcohol once more to try and solve her issues, to no avail. after finally facing ty, she realised she had to move on and is currently exploring other employment options. 

[romancatholicreflections]

17th November >> Daily Reflection on Today’s Saint of the Day for Roman Catholics: Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Memorial).

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Memorial)

Elizabeth was born in 1207 at Pressburg and was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary. She was brought up in Thuringia and in 1221 was married to the saintly Louis IV, its landgrave, at the age of 13. (A landgrave was a feudal lord who was directly and only accountable to the Holy Roman Emperor.) Out of jealousy, her mother-in-law tried to prevent the wedding and constantly mocked Elizabeth for her charity and humility and said she was totally unfitted to be consort.

Elizabeth had the reputation of being lively, passionate and good-looking. She enjoyed an extremely happy family life and had four children. She spent large amounts on alms, setting up hospitals and taking care of needy children and orphans. She wore the simplest of clothes and ate sparingly. She refused to wear a jewelled crown, when Christ’s was one of thorns. When not actively engaged in government she spent her time either in prayer or visiting the poor and the sick.

In 1227 her husband Louis went on a Crusade under King Frederick II but just three months later died of the plague. After her husband’s death, his family accused her of squandering his money on beggars. Elizabeth found it difficult to accept the news of her husband’s death, which upset her greatly but it would become the turning point in her life.

She was evicted from the palace with her four children while Henry, her brother-in-law declared himself regent. He forbade any citizen to give Elizabeth hospitality and she had to spend the first few days in a pigsty. She declined the hospitality offered by her father but then agreed to stay with her uncle, the bishop of Bamberg.

Some people urged her to remarry but she refused. In 1228 she settled at Marburg and lived under the spiritual guidance of her confessor, Conrad of Marburg, whom she had known since 1225. He was a severe and unpopular pursuer of heretics. Elizabeth placed herself unreservedly under his direction, which was so severe as to be deemed sadistic. He banished her ladies in waiting and substituted two ugly and unpleasant women in their stead. If she did not follow his instructions he would beat her, even for trivial matters. In spite of this, she refused an offer to return to her native Hungary, preferring to live out her days in exile, while maintaining her good humour.

She joined the Third Order of St Francis as an expression of her desire for a simple life and devoted herself to the relief of the sick, the poor, and the elderly. She did this by building and then working in a hospital which was close to her simple residence. She also arranged for other people to bring up her children.

She busied herself with simple tasks like spinning and carding, or cleaning the homes of the poor and catching fish to help feed them.

On their return from the Crusades, her husband’s friends had been entrusted with the duty of protecting Elizabeth. But then Henry the self-appointed regent, changed his attitude and recognised the rights of her son as heir. She had only a few more years of life left but she spent them in constant prayer and in helping the needy. She was universally loved and respected.

She died on 19 November 1231 and – an indication of her reputation – was canonized only four years later, in 1235, by Pope Gregory IX.

In the following year, her relics were brought to the church of St. Elizabeth at Marburg where they remained the object of popular pilgrimage until 1539, when they were removed to an unknown location by the Lutheran Philip of Hesse.

St Elizabeth is traditionally represented as dressed in rich clothes, bearing in her skirt – which is gathered up at the front to form an apron – a profusion of red roses, while behind her back she holds a loaf of bread. These are the symbols of her life, her inherited position as Queen of Hungary, and the life she elected for herself of penance and asceticism.

[pamphletstoinspire]

THE ROMAN RITUAL - PART 3

CHAPTER III: BLESSINGS OF PERSONS

1. BLESSING OF AN EXPECTANT MOTHER

at the approach of confinement

{In the Middle Ages it was customary for a pastor to announce from the pulpit on Sundays the names of women whose time of childbirth was close at hand, and to ask the people's prayers for them. But his solicitude did not stop there. He also visited the homes of such women, first said prayers outside the home, and then entered and administered the sacraments and the sacramentals of the Church. Without going quite to these lengths today, an occasional word of instruction about this very fine blessing would encourage some women to present themselves for it.}

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.

All: Who made heaven and earth.

P: Save your servant.

All: Who trusts in you, my God.

P: Let her find in you, Lord, a tower of strength.

All: In the face of the enemy.

P: Let the enemy have no power over her.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm her.

P: Lord, send her aid from your holy place.

All: And watch over her from Sion.

P: Lord, heed my prayer.

All: And let my cry be heard by you.

P: The Lord be with you.

All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, who enable us, your servants, in our profession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the three Persons in the eternal Godhead, and to adore their oneness of nature, their co-equal majesty; grant, we pray, that by steadfastness in that faith this servant of yours, N., may ever be guarded against all adversity; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord God, Creator of all things, mighty and awesome, just and forgiving, you alone are good and kind. You saved Israel from all manner of plagues, making our forefathers your chosen people, and hallowing them by the touch of your Spirit. You, by the co-operation of the Holy Spirit, prepared the body and soul of the glorious Virgin Mary to be a worthy dwelling for your Son. You filled John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit, causing him to leap with joy in his mother's womb. Accept the offering of a humble spirit, and grant the heartfelt desire of your servant, N. who pleads for the safety of the child you allowed her to conceive. Guard the life that is yours; defend it from all the craft and spite of the pitiless foe. Let your gentle hand, like that of a skilled physician, aid her delivery, bringing her offspring safe and sound to the light of day. May her child live to be reborn in holy baptism, and continuing always in your service, be found worthy of attaining everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The priest sprinkles the woman with holy water and then adds the following:

Psalm 66

P: May God have pity on us and bless us; * may He let His face shine upon us.

All: So may His way be known upon earth; * among all nations, His salvation.

P: May the peoples praise you, O God; * may all the peoples praise you.

All: May all the nations be glad and exult because you rule the peoples in equity; * you guide the nations on earth.

P: May the peoples praise you, O God; * may all the peoples praise you.

All: The earth has yielded its fruits; * God, our God, has blessed us.

P: May God bless us, * and may all the ends of the earth fear him.

All: Glory be to the Father.

P: As it was in the beginning.

P: Let us bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All: Let us praise and glorify Him forever.

P: God has given His angels charge over you.

All: To guard you in all your paths.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord, we beg you to visit this dwelling, and to drive away from it and from this servant of yours, N, all the enemy's wiles. Let your holy angels be appointed here to keep her and her offspring in peace; and let your blessing + ever rest upon her. Save them, almighty God, and grant them your everlasting light; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come on you and your child, and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

2. BLESSING OF A MOTHER AFTER CHILDBIRTH

{This blessing is often referred to as the churching of women, but the Roman Ritual more appropriately calls it simply the blessing of a woman after childbirth. The practice of "churching a woman" developed out of a related practice in the Old Testament (cf. Lev 12.1-8). According to the Mosaic Law a woman incurred legal uncleanness in childbirth and remained unclean until her legal purification. This view, that a woman incurs some kind of defilement in childbirth, persisted even in Christian times, especially in the East, but in the West too, despite the opposition of Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604). The sufferings of childbirth were looked upon as part of the penalty imposed on Eve and on all her daughters. Yet it must be understood clearly that the Jews did not say there was actually any stain of sin on the mother in consequence of giving birth to a child, but merely a restriction imposed by law. With Christ's coming womankind was elevated and ennobled, and motherhood too was more clearly seen as something honorable, deserving a blessing rather than a purification. The exact time of origin of this sacramental is not known, except that it is very ancient, and dates possibly from the first half of the fourth century.}

1. After giving birth to a child a mother may wish to give thanks to God in church for a safe delivery, and to obtain the Church's blessing. This has long been a devout and praiseworthy practice. The priest, vested in surplice and white stole (assisted by a server who carries the aspersory), goes to the threshold of the church. The woman kneels there, holding a lighted candle.

{The very fact that the priest goes to meet her and escort her into the church is in itself a mark of respect for the mother, and puts one in mind of a bishop who meets a royal personage or anyone of high rank when the latter comes to a cathedral to attend a solemn function. The rest of the rite speaks for itself; but it may be pointed out that psalm 23, which the priest recites over the woman, is a psalm of majesty, praise, and gratitude.}

The priest sprinkles her with holy water, saying:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth.

He then says the following antiphon and psalm 23:

Antiphon: This woman shall receive a blessing from the Lord and mercy from God, her Savior; for she is one of the people who seek the Lord.

Psalm 23

(for this psalm see Rite for Burial of Children)

After psalm 23 the above antiphon is repeated.

{In the "Collectio Rituum," both for Germany and the U. S. A., the antiphon and the psalm are omitted; and according to the same ritual the priest says first "Peace be with you"; then "Come into the temple of God"; and then the "Magnificat." If the priest wishes he may substitute the "Magnificat" for psalm 23.}

2. Then the priest places the end of the stole hanging from his left shoulder in the hand of the woman and leads her into the church, saying:

Come into God's house. Adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, and thank God who has given you the grace of motherhood.

3. The woman kneels before the altar, giving thanks to God for the benefits He has bestowed on her. The priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Save your servant.

All: Who trusts in you, my God.

P: Lord, send her aid from your holy place.

All: And watch over her from Sion.

P: Let the enemy have no power over her.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm her.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, who by means of the blessed Virgin Mary's childbearing has given every Christian mother joy, even in her pains of bringing forth her child; look kindly on this servant of yours who has come in gladness to your holy dwelling to offer her thanks. And grant that after this life, through the merits and prayers of that same blessed Mary, she and her child may be deemed worthy of attaining the happiness of everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

The "Collectio Rituum," both for Germany and the U. S. A., provide the following blessing for the child:

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, begotten before time was, yet willing to be an infant within time; who love childhood innocence; who deigned to tenderly embrace and to bless the little ones when they were brought to you; be ready with your dearest blessings for this child as he (she) journeys through life, and let no evil ways corrupt his (her) understanding. May he (she) advance in wisdom and grace with the years, and be enabled ever to please you, who are God, living and reigning with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

4. The priest again sprinkles her with holy water, saying:

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

5. The blessing of a woman after childbirth ought to be given by the pastor, if he is requested to do so. But any priest may impart it in any church or public oratory, in which case he should notify the superior.

3. BLESSING OF A WOMAN AFTER CHILDBIRTH

in a case where the child was stillborn

or died after birth

{The "Collectio Rituum," both of Germany and the U. S., give the following blessing of a mother whose child was stillborn or died after birth.}

The priest meets the woman at the threshold of the church, sprinkles her with holy water, and says:

God's peace be with you. Come into God's house. Adore the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, and ask God to console and comfort you.

Then he leads her and those who accompany her to the altar. They kneel before the altar; whereas the priest goes up to the altar predella, turns to them, and says the following:

Psalm 120

P: I lift up my eyes toward the mountains; * whence shall help come to me?

All: My help is from the Lord, * who made heaven and earth.

P: May He not suffer your foot to slip; * may He who guards you not slumber;

All: Indeed He neither slumbers nor sleeps, * the guardian of Israel.

P: The Lord is your guardian; * the Lord is your shade; He is beside you at your right hand.

All: The sun shall not harm you by day, * nor the moon by night.

P: The Lord will guard you from all evil; * He will guard your life.

All: The Lord will guard your coming and your going, * both now and forever.

P: Glory be to the Father.

All: As it was in the beginning.

After the psalm the priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation. All: But deliver us from evil. P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Almighty everlasting God, lover of holy purity, who chose in your wisdom and goodness to call this woman's child to your heavenly kingdom; be pleased also, O Lord, to show your mercy to this servant of yours, comforting her with your love, helping her to accept bravely your holy will. Thus comforted by the merits of your sacred passion, and aided by the intercession of blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, and of all the saints, may she be united at last with her child for all eternity in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.

All: Amen.

As he sprinkles her with holy water in the form of a cross, the priest concludes:

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

4. BLESSING OF AN INFANT OR LITTLE CHILD

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: Our God is merciful. All: He is the Lord who watches over little children. P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, begotten before time was, yet willing to be an infant within time; who love childhood innocence; who deigned to tenderly embrace and to bless the little ones when they were brought to you; be ready with your dearest blessings for this child (these children) as he (she) (they) journey(s) through life, and let no evil ways corrupt his (her) (their) understanding. May he (she) (they) advance in wisdom and grace with the years, and be enabled ever to please you, who are God, living and reigning with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Then the priest sprinkles the infant (or infants) with holy water, saying:

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

5. BLESSING OF A CHILD

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these," pour out the power of your blessing + on this child, and consider the faith and devotion of the Church and of its parents. Advancing in virtue and wisdom before God and men, may he (she) reach a blessed old age and finally attain everlasting salvation. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Psalm 112

After the psalm the priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

6. BLESSING OF CHILDREN

when on some special occasion they are assembled in church for this purpose

At the appointed time the children assemble in church under the tutelage of parents or teachers to ensure quiet and order. When they are properly placed, boys and girls separate, the priest approaches and speaks to them very briefly and simply on a suitable topic. Then standing and facing them he says:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth.

After this the following antiphon and psalm are sung (for the music see the music supplement):

Antiphon: Praise, you children of the Lord, * praise the name of the Lord.

Psalm 112

(for this psalm see Rite for Burial of Children)

At the end of the psalm the antiphon is repeated. This psalm and its antiphon may be omitted if the blessing is imparted less solemnly or only to a few. Next the priest says:

P: Let the little children come to me.

All: The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

P: Their angels.

All: Ever see the face of the heavenly Father.

P: Let the enemy have no power over them.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm them.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, who embraced the little children when they came or were brought to you, and laying your hands on them blessed them and said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these; and their angels ever see the face of my Father;" we beg you to look with favor on the innocence of these children here present and on the devotion of their parents, and to bless + them today through our ministry. Let them ever advance in your grace and goodness, the better to know you, love you, fear you, and serve you, and happily reach their blessed destiny. We ask this of you, Savior of the world, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

We beg you, Lord, through the intercession of the blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, to defend this family of yours from every kind of adversity; and as they offer their hearts to you, protect them in your kindness and mercy from all wiles of the enemy; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

God, who by your wondrous providence gave us your holy angels as our guardians, grant that we, your suppliants, may ever be shielded by their protection, and finally enjoy their fellowship in heaven; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Making the sign of the cross over them, he blesses them, saying:

May God bless you, and may He be the guardian of your hearts and your understanding, the Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

He then sprinkles the children with holy water.

7. BLESSING OF CHILDREN

on Feastdays of the Holy Childhood Association

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

We implore you, almighty God, to bless + these children, and we ask that you keep them in your love. Strengthen their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, sanctify their lives, foster their innocence. Keep their minds intent on good, help them to prosper, give them peace, health, and charity. By your might and protection shield them always from every temptation of men or demons. And in your mercy may they finally attain the happiness and rest of Paradise; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, who embraced the little children when they came or were brought to you (here the priest extends his hands over them), and laying your hands on them blessed them and said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them. The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these; and their angels ever see the face of my Father;" we beg you to look with favor on the devotion of these boys and girls here present, and let your blessing come on them in fullest measure. Let them ever advance in your grace and goodness, the better to know you, love you, fear you, and serve you, and happily reach their blessed destiny. We ask this of you, Savior of the world, who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever.

All: Amen.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you, keep and direct you, and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

They are sprinkled with holy water.

8. BLESSING OF PILGRIMS

before they set out for the holy shrines

In accord with ancient ecclesiastical discipline, pilgrims who are to visit the holy shrines should obtain a letter of recommendation from their Ordinary or pastor before they set out. Having put their affairs in order, they prepare themselves with sacramental confession, assist at Mass and receive holy communion. In this Mass the Collect for pilgrims (pro re gravi) is said. After Mass they kneel before the priest who says the following (for the music see the music supplement):

Antiphon: May the almighty and merciful Lord lead you in the way of peace and prosperity. May the Angel Raphael be your companion on the journey and bring you back to your homes in peace, health, and happiness.

Then the Canticle of Zachary is said; and after the canticle the above antiphon is repeated. Then the priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Save your servants.

All: Who trust in you, my God.

P: Lord, send them aid from your holy place.

All: And watch over them from Sion.

P: Let them find in you, Lord, a fortified tower.

All: In the face of the enemy.

P: Let the enemy have no power over them.

All: And the son of iniquity be powerless to harm them.

P: May the Lord be praised at all times.

All: May God, our helper, grant us a happy journey.

P: Lord, shows us your ways.

All: And lead us along your paths.

P: Oh, that our life be bent.

All: On keeping your precepts.

P: For the crooked ways will be made straight.

All: And the rough places plain.

P: God has given His angels charge over you.

All: To guard you in all your undertakings.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

God, who led the children of Israel dry-shod through the sea, and showed the way to the three Magi by the guidance of a star; grant these pilgrims, we pray, a happy journey and peaceful days, so that, with your holy angel as a guide, they may safely reach their destination and finally come to the haven of everlasting salvation.

God, who led your servant, Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and kept him safe in all his wanderings; may it please you, we pray, also to watch over these servants of yours. Be to them, Lord, a help in their preparations, comfort on the way, shade in the heat, shelter in the rain and cold, a carriage in tiredness, a shield in adversity, a staff in insecurity, a haven in shipwreck; so that under your guidance they may happily reach their destination, and finally return safe to their homes.

Lord, we beg you to hear our request that you guide the steps of your servants along the path of well-being that comes from you, and that in the midst of this fickle world they may always live under your protection.

Grant, we pray, O almighty God, that your family of pilgrims find a safe route; and heeding the admonitions of blessed John, the precursor, come finally to Him whom John foretold, your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hear, Lord, our prayers, and kindly accompany your servants on their journey; and as you are present everywhere lend them your aid at all times, so that with you as their shield they will be defended from all dangers and pay you their homage of gratitude; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

They are sprinkled with holy water.

If there is only one pilgrim the prayers are said in the singular; but if the priest who bestows the blessing is a member of the pilgrimage they are said in the plural.

9. BLESSING OF PILGRIMS

on their return

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth.

Next the following antiphon and psalm are sung (for the music see the music supplement):

Antiphon: See, thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.

Psalm 127

(for this psalm see Rite for Marriage within Mass)

After the psalm the above antiphon is repeated. Then the priest continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Blessed are they who come in the name of the Lord.

All: Blessed be you by the Lord who made heaven and earth.

P: Look with favor, Lord, on your servants and their works.

All: And keep them in the way of your precepts.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

We beg you, Lord, be appeased, and lavish on your servants pardon and peace, so that being cleansed of all their transgressions they may serve you with tranquil hearts.

Almighty everlasting God, the ruler of our lives and destinies, grant to your servants continual and abundant peace, so that those whom you have brought back safely to their various occupations may bask in the security of your protection.

God, the support of the lowly, you who console us by the love of our brethren; bestow your grace on our brotherhood, so that we may always see your presence in those in whom you live by your grace; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

May the peace and blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

They are sprinkled with holy water.

PRAYER OF POPE PAUL VI FOR PRISONERS

{This prayer was composed by Pope Paul VI for the inmates of Rome's Regina Coeli prison, which he visited on April 9, 1964. It deserves a place in the Ritual; and we are grateful to the N.C.W.C. News Service for its permission to print it.}

Lord, they tell me I must pray; but how can I pray when I am so unhappy? How can I speak to you in the conditions in which I find myself? I am sad; I am angry. Sometimes I am desperate. I would like to curse rather than pray. I suffer deeply because everyone is against me and criticizes me because I am here, away from my own family and from my activities. I am without peace, and how can I pray, O Lord?

I know you were good, you were wise, you were innocent. Yet they slandered you, they dishonored you, they tried you, they beat you, they crucified you, they put you to death? But why? Where is justice? And you were able to forgive those who treated you so unjustly and so cruelly. You were able to pray for them. Indeed, they tell me that you allowed yourself to be put to death in that manner in order to save your executioners, to save all us sinful men. And also to save me?

If this is so, Lord, it means that one may be good at heart even though the condemnation of the courts of men weighs on one's shoulders. I too, Lord, feel at the bottom of my heart that I am better than others would believe. I know what justice is, what honesty is, what honor is, and what goodness is. Before you, these thoughts stir in me. Do you see them? Do you see how disgusted I am with my miseries? Do you see that I would like to cry out and weep? Do you understand me, Lord? Is this my prayer?

Yes, this is my prayer. From the depths of my bitterness I raise my voice to you. Do not reject it. You at least, who have suffered as I have, more than I have, you at least, Lord, listen to me. I have so many things to ask of you. Give me, Lord, peace of heart. Give me a tranquil conscience, a new conscience capable of good thoughts.

Indeed, Lord, to you I say it. If I have been remiss, forgive me. We all have need of forgiveness and mercy. I am praying to you for myself. And then, Lord, I pray to you for my loved ones, who are still so dear to me. Lord, assist them. Lord, console them. Lord, tell them to remember me and to love me still. I have so much need to know that somebody is still thinking of me and loves me. And also on these companions in misfortune and affliction, together here in this prison, Lord, have mercy. Mercy on everyone. Yes, also on those who make me suffer, on all. We are all men of this unhappy world. But we are, Lord, your creatures, your likeness, your brothers, O Christ. Have pity on us.

To our poor voice we add the sweet and innocent voice of the Madonna, of the most blessed Mary, who is your Mother, and who is for us also a Mother of intercession and consolation. Lord, give us your peace; give us hope. Amen.

11. BLESSING OF SICK PILGRIMS

The priest, vested in surplice and white stole, places the end of the stole on the head of the sick person, and reads the following passage from the Gospel. If he blesses more than one he holds the stole above them with his right hand.

P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you. P: A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. All: Glory be to you, O Lord.

Matthew 13.44-52

At that time Jesus said to His disciples: "The kingdom of heaven reminds me of a treasure buried in the field; as soon as a person discovers it, he hides it again, and off he goes in his joy and sells all his possessions and buys that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven reminds me of a merchant in quest of beautiful pearls; as soon as he discovers one pearl of great value, off he goes and promptly sells all his possessions and buys it.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven reminds me of a dragnet thrown into the sea and taking in fish of every description; when it is filled, the crew haul it on the beach and settle down to sorting what is usable into receptacles, and throwing away what is worthless. So it will be at the end of the world. The angels will go forth and separate the sinners from among the saints and consign them to the blazing furnace. There it is that weeping and gnashing of teeth will really be heard.

"Do you understand all these lessons?" "Yes," they replied. "Therefore," He continued, "every teacher initiated in the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who produces from his store new things and old."

After the Gospel he blesses the sick person, saying:

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

Then he presents the end of the stole to the sick to be kissed, and sprinkles him with holy water, saying:

May God sprinkle you with the dew of His grace and bring you to everlasting life.

All: Amen.

12. BLESSING OF A SICK ADULT

The priest on entering the sick-room says:

P: God's peace be in this home. All: And in all who live here.

Then he goes up to the sick person and continues:

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, as I, in all humility, enter this home, let there enter with me your peace and your mercy. Let all wiles of the devil be driven far from here, and let your angels of peace take over and put down all wicked strife. Teach us, O Lord, to recognize the majesty of your holy name, and bless what we are about to do; you who are holy, you who are kind, you who abide with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

We entreat you, Lord, to look with favor on your servant who is weak and failing, and revive the soul you have created. Chastened by suffering may he (she) know that he (she) has been saved by your healing; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

Merciful Lord, consoler of all who believe in you, we appeal to your boundless compassion that at my humble visit you will also visit this servant of yours, lying on his (her) bed of pain, as you visited the mother-in-law of Simon Peter. Graciously stand by him (her), Lord, so that he (she) may recover his (her) lost strength, and join with your Church in returning thanks to you, who are God, living and reigning forever and ever.

All: Amen.

Then he holds his hand outstretched over the sick person and says:

May our Lord Jesus Christ be with you to guard you, within you to preserve you, before you to lead you, behind you to protect you, above you to bless you; He who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.

All: Amen.

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

He sprinkles the sick person with holy water.

13. BLESSING OF SICK CHILDREN

If children who are ill are old enough to receive the sacrament of anointing of the sick, the same prayers and ceremonies are used as given in the chapter dealing with the visitation and care of the sick, depending on circumstances of time and illness. But for younger children the following can be used:

On entering the room of the sick child the priest says:

P: God's peace be in this home. All: And in all who live here.

Next he sprinkles the sick child, the bed, and the room without saying anything. Then he says psalm 112; and after the psalm he continues:

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)

P: And lead us not into temptation.

All: But deliver us from evil.

P: Our God is merciful.

All: He is the Lord who watches over little children.

P: Let the little children come to me.

All: The kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

P: Lord, heed my prayer. All: And let my cry be heard by you. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Let us pray.

God, by whose power all things grow to maturity, and once mature retain their strength, reach out your right hand to this boy (girl) who is afflicted at this tender age. Let him (her) regain health, grow up to manhood (womanhood), and serve you in gratitude and fidelity all the days of his (her) life; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

Merciful God and Father, our unalloyed comfort, who, having the interests of your creatures at heart, are inclined in your goodness to bestow the grace of healing not only on the soul but on the body as well; be pleased to raise up this sick child from his (her) bed of suffering, and to return him (her) in full health to your Church and to his (her) parents. May he (she) then throughout the days of his (her) life, as he (she) advances in favor and knowledge in your sight and that of men, serve you in righteousness and holiness, and render you due thanks for your goodness; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Let us pray.

God, who in a marvelous way have disposed the ministries of angels and of men, mercifully grant that the life on earth of this boy (girl) may be under the protection of those who minister to you in heaven; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

After this prayer the priest puts his right hand on the head of the child and says:

They shall lay their hands upon the sick and all will be well with them. May Jesus, Son of Mary, Lord and Savior of the world, through the merits and intercession of His holy apostles Peter and Paul and all His saints, show you favor and mercy.

If he wishes, the priest may add the following passage from the Gospel, depending on the child's condition and the desire of the parents:

P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you. P: + The beginning of the holy Gospel according to St. John. All: Glory be to you, O Lord.

As the priest says "The beginning," etc., he signs himself on the brow, mouth, and breast in the usual way; and signs the sick child in the same way, if the child cannot do so himself.

For this passage from the Gospel see John 1.1-14.

Lastly he blesses the child, saying:

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

He sprinkles him (her) (them) with holy water.

If there are several sick children in the room the prayers given above are said in the plural.

14. RITE FOR IMPARTING THE PAPAL BLESSING TO THE PEOPLE

The rite to be used by those priests to whom this faculty has been granted by the Holy See

(According to a decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites,March 12, 1940)

1. The people are to be informed of the day, the time, and the church where the papal blessing will be given. When they are assembled in church a short and edifying instruction should be delivered to them in order to arouse a spirit of devotion and compunction. After this the priest, vested in surplice and white stole, kneels at the altar and implores God's help as follows (he is not assisted by anyone):

P: Our help is in the name of the Lord. All: Who made heaven and earth. P: Lord, save your people. All: And bless your inheritance. P: The Lord be with you. All: May He also be with you.

Then he stands and says this oration:

Let us pray.

Almighty and merciful God, grant us your aid from your holy place, and graciously hear the prayers of these people who humbly ask for pardon of their sins, and look for your blessing and your grace. Kindly reach out your right hand over them, and pour out your blessing in fullest measure, that fortified with your gifts they may come to everlasting life and happiness; through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

2. He then goes to the corner of the altar-steps at the epistle side, and blesses the people with one sign of the cross, saying in a clear voice:

May the almighty God bless you, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit.All: Amen.

3. Priests who enjoy the faculty of imparting the papal blessing are obliged to observe the prescribed form, and may use this faculty only in the church designated. They may not use it on the same day or in the same city or place on and in which a bishop imparts it.

15. THE PAPAL BLESSING

With Plenary Indulgence at the end of a Sermon, Mission, or Retreat

(Approved by the Congregation of Sacred Rites, May 11, 1911)

If the Brief states that the papal blessing with plenary indulgence at the end of a sermon is to be given with a crucifix -- i.e., according to the rite prescribed here--a single sign of the cross is made with a crucifix, using the form:

May the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, + and Holy Spirit, come upon you and remain with you forever.

All: Amen.

[jackiedablade]

Jashi Week 2018 Entry #5

May 10th - Royal Blood (Thursday)

(focusing on jack and ashi’s powerful lineage)

Rebuilding took highest priority when Jack returned home to the past, so the Emperor’s many questions about his son’s new companion were given only vague answers, and he barely wrapped his head around this “time travel” concept. Half a day had passed since the two last saw each other, but his son claimed fifty years had happened within this short span? How is that possible? He looked no different than before, just disheveled from battle. He was close, perhaps too close, to this strange woman. Jack did not yet give voice to his intentions with her, but the Emperor feared marriage. A prince did not have the luxury to marry just anyone. His bride must be a political match first and foremost, and love would hopefully come soon after.

His wife had no such reservations about this strange woman, accepting her as soon as their son made it clear she was important to him. So when the four of them were able to share their first evening meal together, the Emperor requested to hear the full story of how the two met. Jack and Ashi stiffened for a moment, and then his hand comfortably engulfed hers for support. Ashi confessed all, holding nothing back. The others remained silent: Jack was supportive, the Empress shocked, and the Emperor’s frowned deepened. A simple peasant girl he could abide as a daughter-in-law, a future empress of his land, but a trained assassin raised to worship evil incarnate? “If you were raised by an all-female cult, do you know who your father is?”

She didn’t hesitate, looking him directly in the eyes. “Aku.”

“Hell spawn!” The Emperor spat, rising to his feet as quickly as his aged body would allow, leaning heavily on his cane as he pointed a shaky finger at her. “I will not tolerate a monster in my house. Away with you, demon, and never seek the company of my son again!”

“Husband, she could not help the circumstances of her birth. She has proven herself a worthy ally and is clearly devoted to our son.” The Empress defended, putting her hands on the woman’s shoulders.

He shook his head, her words had no effect on him. “I know you wanted many children, and I regret only giving you one, but you cannot seek a substitute daughter in this abomination.”

“You’re wrong, Father,” Jack said, moving between him and his love. His voice was calm but his eyes remained stern. “Ashi is pure of heart. She does not retain the marks of her heritage. She would never betray me or the principles this land stands for.”

My son, how could you do this? The Emperor returned his son’s gaze, both unwavering in their beliefs. He dreamed of his son returning a hero, a man well versed in the art of war, tempered by mercy and justice. The ideal leader to lead his people to an age of peace and prosperity. But to defend an unholy abomination… surely there was only one reason for it. “Do not let your base needs cloud your mind.”

In an instant, the mood changed. Ashi’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two, looking for any subtle movement as the two men glared each other down. Time seemed to slow and her heart raced as her lover’s eyes narrowed dangerously, a common sight in battle. A soft gasp escaped her lips as his hand moved to rest on the handle of his katana. Jack adored his father, kept the man high on a mental pedestal. Would they come to blows because of her?

“Husband!” The Empress shouted, breaking the men’s concentration, as they both turned to watch her grab the Emperor’s arm and gently pull him out of the room. “Come with me.” If Jack wasn’t so furious, he would have found it an amusing sight, his great father being disciplined like a child. The door slid shut, and Ashi moved to stand next to him, her hand slipping into his. He didn’t move or even acknowledge her presence until the echoes of the lecture his mother gave disappeared.

“Ashi, forgive me,” he begged, surprising her. He turned to face her, his shoulders sagging as the tension dropped, and his handsome features were marred with worry. “I thought he would understand. I thought he could see how far you’ve come.”

She blushed slightly from his praise, but a slight smile quickly disappeared. “Jack, you didn’t even flinch when Aku confirmed I was his daughter, why?”

He dropped her hands and cupped her face, flashing her a reassuring smile as their eyes met. “Because I know you,” he said matter of factly, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her eyes. “Because I gave you the chance to choose your allegiance for yourself, and you chose to be Aku’s enemy and fight to end his tyrannical reign.”

“What if your father never sees that?” She timidly asked, scared of his answer, but she had to know the truth. “You’re the prince of this land. Everyone looks to you to rebuild the country and restore their way of life. You won’t keep their loyalty long if they know you associate with me.” Allowing the Emperor to enforce his threat would hurt worse than the white hot pain from the sword cutting her demon form, but she would never stand in his way and prevent him from doing his duty.

“I do not feel comfortable hiding anything from my parents, but the rest of the kingdom does not need to know about your lineage. Let them see the proud, strong, beautiful woman that I do, and they will accept you for who you are. If my father remains blinded by his hate…” It was hard to give voice to such a horrible declaration, and he prayed that cooler heads would prevail, but she had to know. “Then he will lose a son, and an heir to the throne if necessary.”

Ashi took a step backward, hands covering her gaping jaw. Did she really hear him correctly? “Jack, you can’t! Your birthright is everything you’ve ever fought for. You can’t deny it because of me!”

“My goal was to destroy Aku, restore my kingdom to its former glory, and let the world grow and evolve without his evil influence,” he corrected. “The monster is dead, and the country is well on its way to being rebuilt. It will survive without me, but I would not without you by my side.”

Words of protest died in her throat as she looked up at his sincere face. He means every word. She knew he loved her dearly, but this went far beyond what she expected. He leaned down and kissed away the tears she didn’t know she had shed, and fell into his arms, holding him tightly. “I don’t deserve you, Jack.”

“And I don’t deserve you, but I thank the gods morning, noon, and night that you are here with me all the same,” Jack returned her embrace, kissing the top of her head.

The young lovers conversed easily as they walked the corridors the next morning, but Jack went silent when he caught sight of his parents up ahead, and protectively stood in front of Ashi. Last night wasn’t forgiven or forgotten so easily.

Feeling the pressure from his wife’s gaze, the Emperor approached his son. “Ashi, I wish to apologize my words last night. As much as I despise your heritage, for now, I simply reserve my judgement. Your actions will speak of your true nature, and then we shall see if you are a good fit for my son and this kingdom.”

“I will not disappoint you, your highness,” she bowed deeply to him.

[paulinedorchester]

I can’t say that I really enjoyed Juliet Gardiner’s book Wartime: Britain 1939-1945, which I read a couple of years ago. Particularly coming right after Norman Longmate’s How We Lived Then, it left a sour taste in my mouth. (In a nutshell: Longmate, a veteran of the war, wrote a book about courage and sacrifice; Gardiner, born a few weeks after V-E Day, wrote one about fear and suffering.)

However, Gardiner does introduce the reader to several eyewitnesses to the war about whom I immediately wanted to know more, particularly an American expatriate who when the war broke out was living with her family in an apartment in St. John’s Wood, London. Gardiner, who refers to this woman as Margaret Cotton, quotes several times from her wartime journal. She really could write. A litany-like summary of the damage caused by a V-2 attack is particularly powerful:

The act of destruction and death took a few seconds. The rescue of victims took a few days. The billeting of the homeless will take a few weeks. The healing of the injured will take an indefinite time. The clearing of the bombed and burned site will take months. The rebuilding will take years. The dead are dead.

In her back-matter Gardiner credits these excerpts to an Imperial War Museums file with the assigned title Private Papers of Mrs E H Cotton. (”Mrs,” let’s remember, has traditionally meant “the wife of,” so I simply assumed that those were her husband’s initials.) Since my chances of being able to examine those papers - Mrs. Cotton’s wartime journal, and an apparently unpublished memoir derived from it - any time soon are just about nil, I decided to see whether I could find any more excerpts online. Searching for <”margaret cotton”> didn’t turn anything up, but <“mrs e h cotton”> led me to several books published since 2000. Some of what I found there has turned out to be false: it turns out that she was neither married to a British businessman nor “a young mother at the time of the war,” as certain self-described historians would have it. And one book asserted that her name was Ernestine - not Margaret. Hmm.

Somewhere, I picked up the information that Mrs. Cotton wrote the memoir for the benefit of her grand-daughter, whose name was Penelope. So I searched for <penelope cotton> (not as a phrase) and, to my great surprise, hit the jackpot.

Cotton, Ernestine Hunt.1 Journal for Penelope. New York: Vantage Press, 2005. 

Ernestine Hunt Cotton - nicknamed Peg, which may explain Gardiner’s confusion - and her husband, Dick, both Mayflower descendants,2 relocated from the suburbs of Boston to London during the winter of 1934-35, when he became the managing director of British Rola, an offshoot of an American electronics manufacturer. When the war began they had two daughters in their twenties, Alix and Martha, and an adolescent son, Gerry. Alix was engaged to a Fleet Air Arm pilot; as commonly happened during the war, the wedding took place earlier than originally planned, and it gives very little away to say that Alix soon found herself a widow with a small child. Martha was training as a speech pathologist, possibly after a year in medical school. (Mrs. Cotton doesn’t make this clear, and may have conflated the two.) Regardless, Martha had to give up her studies in 1940 when her training school closed for the duration. She joined the British Red Cross.

Mrs. Cotton writes that the family’s move came about as a result of the Depression, but I am skeptical. The Cottons were clearly very well-off: Gerry attended La Châtaigneraie, near Geneva, before the war; when this became impractical he was sent instead to Bryanston, in Dorset. The growing unavailability of household help during the war - the Cottons were accustomed to employing a cook, a housekeeper, and a maid - was a recurring problem. For the  last year or so of the war they had homes in both city and country. All of this, along with Martha’s post-secondary studies, whatever they were, had to be paid for somehow.

No, my hunch is that Dick Cotton was doing some sort of classified government service. His initial mandate at British Rola seems to have been to shift its output from loudspeakers and make it “a main artery for pumping life blood into the R.A.F. - literally, for the factory produces a certain type of mechanical pump, built into the planes,” Mrs. Cotton wrote in 1940. Throughout the war he dealt with people at very high levels of the war effort, in both the U.K. and the U.S. He made several return trips during the war, sometimes traveling under very difficult conditions and spending a good deal of time in Washington, D.C., and was one of the organizers of The American Committee for the Defense of British Homes, which donated weapons to the Home Guard. He also appears to have been aware of the existence of the V-weapons, and of precisely how dangerous they would be, several months before they came into use. At one point his wife writes of him talking “in the usual cryptic way of men nowadays - men who are doing a job a bit on the hush-hush.”

In any case, the British Rola factory was located in Acton until October 1940, when severe bombing in that area led the Ministry of Defence to approve (in the form of an order, mind you) its immediate evacuation to a pre-selected site in Bideford, Devon. The entire Cotton family followed suit, and the memoir becomes in part a story of adjustment to country life. With some difficulty, they found a place to live in Instow, three miles from Bideford: Springfield, a nine-bedroom Georgian mansion in a questionable state of repair. While they lived there, the house became a center of hospitality for Allied service personnel generally and, beginning in 1942, for Americans in particular. (At one point the household realize with alarm that they’re sheltering some AWOL sergeants.)

Mostly, though, this book is about the day-to-dayness of the war as it affected one family whose circumstances were a tad unusual. It is clearly the memoir part of the IWM’s papers, and the only clue as to when Mrs. Cotton wrote it is her observation that

This type of fog - a “pea-souper” - is now practically non-existent in London. New buildings have central heating, and there is a law prohibiting the use of any coal save that which has been rendered almost smokeless.  

Some passages seem to be lifted directly from the wartime journal, so that we get dizzying transitions between events in progress and those that have occurred some time in the past. And Mrs. Cotton herself can be a bit dizzy at times. After leaving Bryanston, Gerry made multiple attempts to join first the American and then the British armed forces, but was foiled by his susceptibility to what his mother persists in referring to as “anti-philatic shock.” I can only assume that she means anaphylactic shock. (Gerry ended up on the assembly line at British Rola; Alix was a V.A.D. at Bideford Hospital.)

There is also the matter of the book’s production. Vantage Press, which went out of business in 2012, was one of the original vanity publishing operations. Authors’ typescripts - this one was created with word-processing software that was already out-of-date in 2005, and was apparently produced on a dot-matrix printer - were treated as camera-ready copy and were not subjected to any editing whatsoever. The result in this case is a book riddled with typographical errors. The substitution of it’s for the possessive its is so consistent that it becomes annoying all by itself.

Journal for Penelope is nevertheless worth reading. A Republican (of an era long before ours) married to a Democrat, deeply generous in her impulses, a mistress of the vivid simile (”My stomach curled up like a caterpillar”), Ernestine Cotton is very good company. I’d still like to read the original journal - something tells me there’s a good miniseries lurking there! - but this book is an acceptable, and welcome, substitute.

1For anyone unfamiliar with this usage, which as far as I know is purely North American and which seems to be fading away, Mrs. Cotton took her husband’s surname while using her maiden name as a middle (second) name to be included or not as the occasion required. My mother did the same thing; likewise Mercy Otis Warren, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Florence Prag Kahn, Oveta Culp Hobby, Marian Wright Edelman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and many others.

2The Mayflower was the first ship to bring non-Native settlers to the region now known as New England, arriving from Plymouth in November 1620. Stereotypically at least, descendants of its passengers are wealthy, entitled, clannish, repressed, highly conscious of their status, and found primarily on the Atlantic seaboard.

[princeescaluswords]

Scott violating Derek’s boundaries, bodily autonomy and consent is a crime and just as gross and as disgusting as Kate raping Derek

I really want to point out that this is the drawback of the Internet’s culture of anonymity.  It protects us, but it also lets people like this make statements such as this one.  When people can detach what they say from the public’s perception of themselves, they will allow all sorts of ugly sentiments out in the open that manners, common sense, and ethics usually persuade them to keep inside.   

In this instance, Derek being forced to Bite Gerard is nowhere near as vile a crime as Kate abusing her position as substitute teacher, raping Derek, and using that information to kill his family.  The anon knows that this statement is a brazen exaggeration that they would never ever make if their name was attached to it, not even their Tumblr pseudonym.    

On the other hand, part of the statement I happen to agree with.  What happened to Derek is a crime, a gross and disgusting crime (though still not as bad as Kate’s seduction of him).  It just happens to be Gerard’s crime.  

Everyone knows -- including the anon -- that Gerard was plotting to get Derek to Bite him from the moment he got into town.   Everyone knows -- including the anon -- that Gerard stabbed Scott and threatened his mother to get Scott’s assistance.  Everyone knows -- including the anon -- that Gerard made a surprise appearance in Scott’s house because Scott was being uncooperative.  Everyone knows -- including the anon -- that Gerard threatened to kill Allison in front of him if he didn’t do as he commanded.  

It was Gerard’s will and plan behind this action.  Everyone knows that.  So I have some questions for this anon and the people who believe as they do.

1.  Do you believe that Gerard who literally had his kanima slave attack both his son and his granddaughter, who pushed for his daughter-in-law’s suicide so she couldn’t interfere with his plans, wouldn’t have had the kanima murder Allison and then everyone else and force the kanima to make Derek bite him?

2. Do you believe that Scott should have chosen to let Allison -- his ally, lover, and friend -- die rather than force Derek to Bite Gerard, knowing the Bite would disable Gerard, saving Derek and his pack?  

3. Do you understand the principle of duress in terms of justice?  That you can’t hold a person guilty of a crime if they were being forced to commit by the threat of death to them or another innocent party?

4. If the neck-grab Bite is a heinous crime equal to rape, what about Derek and Peter cornering Scott in Co-Captain?  Is that as ‘gross and disgusting a crime’ as Kate’s rape of Derek?

5.  What about Derek slashing Scott open and stepping on his neck because he tried to talk Boyd out of accepting the Bite?  How gross and disgusting is that?

We already know their answer to these questions.  Their ‘question’ above was not made in good faith, and it never has been.  They would never argue that Derek was an accessory to something as bad as rape because he stood aside while Peter forced memories of being burned alive into Scott’s skull, because it’s not about what happened on the screen, it is about who it was happening to.

You know why it’s racism?   Because they don’t hate Stiles, who literally argued that Scott should leave Derek in the hands of Kate, the person who actually raped him.  If it doesn’t matter to them that Scott didn’t know about Kate’s predatory behavior towards Derek, it shouldn’t matter to them that Stiles didn’t know either. Yet they want Scott deprived of his status as protagonist, so they magnify this into something of the same degree as sexual assault, but turn around and want Stiles and Derek to grow old together.

[gothamcityneedsme]

Elijah, G0T0, and Pete White, if you feel like doing any or all of them for the headcanon thing!

Sorry for making you wait on these, I took my time to think!  I hope you like my answers :D

Send a character’s name to receive four different headcanons.

Elijah Baley

Headcanon A:  realistic:  He pushes for Earth to accept robots alongside the movement to get humans from Earth to start colonizing, so much so that both movements become synonymous in people’s minds.  Even though colonization is something people take to quicker, the concept of accepting robots and considering creating more advanced ones starts to spread.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious:  Gets really gushy whenever he talks about Daneel and the people who have seen the movies based on his adventures SUPER SHIP IT and send him fanmail.  His son makes fun of him for this.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends:  Never fully accepts just how much in love with Daneel he is, mostly because he already adjusts and changes so much that going that far is a bit much.  And, I don’t really think he’d ever be that confident in himself.  Perhaps one day he realizes that his affections exceed the platonic, but even if he realizes that, he won’t do anything about them.  Not when he’s already worried about how badly his death will affect Daneel.  TLDR:  the gay will never be real, not even in fandom.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own:  See, the issue here is that I like canon too much.  So you’d expect me to have a ‘Elijah doesn’t die’ headcanon but…nah……so uh.  I don’t remember if him divorcing with his wife is canon or not?  But uh, if it isn’t.  Elijah divorces his wife and lives the rest of his life single.  Maybe going on a few dates with girls who don’t turn out murderous alsfjskdlkfjd (Gladia….tho……………)

G0-T0 AKA THE ROBOT HUSBAND

Headcanon A:  realistic:  He watches the Star Wars equivalent of the Godfather more often than he will ever admit, and it isn’t always to reinforce his mob-boss persona.  Sometimes it’s just because he finds the movies calming.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious:  He has blown himself up before just to prove a point and moved himself to another body.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends:  He’s a broken robot and constantly suffers due to his conflicting programming, despite the fact that he has made a choice as to how to organize his priorities.  Sometimes he makes conflicting choices that fuck up his master plans because the ‘Preserve the laws of  the Republic’ programming accidentally kicks in.  This makes him incredibly bitter, although he will literally never talk to anyone about his problems.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own:  HK-47′s fascinating and violent charm makes G0-T0 admit defeat, and so he allows HK to stop him at the end, but then G0-T0 finds a way to keep himself alive through being useful in some way that none of the other droids present can.  Post-game he continues to control the underworld, keeping his plans moving for the ultimate greater good, even though he low-key still thinks that saving the Republic is impossible.  He witnesses the fall of the Republic as it turns into the new Empire and that is the moment when he truly does give up.  He never witnesses the Rebels.

Uh…that headcanon that was supposed to be happier because of him at least living post-game got, uh, bad………oops

My other unrealistic ignore canon headcanon is that he’s my robot husband and i love him and help him be less broken and also less of a fuck.

Pete White (I was not expecting this one at all!)

Headcanon A:  realistic:  Billy’s mom ships him and Billy and subtly starts pushing him to do something about it.  She’s really nice about it tho and even tho he gets a bit embarrassed, Pete finds her charming.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious:  He makes Billy buy the sunscreen and whines if he doesn’t.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends:  It’s been awhile since I’ve rewatched the show, so uh, sorry if I’m wrong here, but IIRC Pete still has a FUCK TON of secrets from Billy so, uh, I’m low-key afraid that Billy would get pissed in response to some of these.  I don’t see it making Billy break ties with him completely, but I think it…wouldn’t be good.  Yet, I also don’t see Pete ever telling him some of these things, so there will just…always be secrets between them, for their relationship to go well.  And that’s sad to me.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own:  Gay.  They’ve been actually gay for like 5 seasons and it just isn’t on screen yet.  Fight me.

Thanks again for sending these, it was really fun!  Sorry for the wait lol!

[back-and-totheleft]

Rider on the Storm

Oliver Stone--Hollywood outlaw, cinematic high priest of the lost generation, America’s reigning Angry Young Man--has dismissed the haplessly out-of-touch: those within earshot as well as those not in sync with his favorite decade.

“Get out there! Take a chance! That’s what the ‘60s were--the cutting edge! Ride the snake! Now! Now ! Remember that? Go to the limits! Challenge authority! Challenge your parents! See for yourself! Get in touch with your senses!”

That fusillade is being delivered by arguably Hollywood’s most successful protester. Yale dropout, drug-taking, decorated Vietnam vet turned auteur , Stone has delivered take after take on the ‘60s and their children--"Salvador,” “Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Talk Radio,” “Born on the Fourth of July"--coming at his theme every which way. Drugs! War! Money! Politics! Stone has made movies to exorcise his and his generation’s demons, annoying the industry with his excesses, filmic and personal, earning a round of grudging respect for ballyhooing a 20-year-old Zeitgeist all the way to the bank. He is even a producer these days, taking home a nice percentage of the gross. The Outsider has become Establishment. Hey, Oliver, what’s that sound, everything going round and round?

After nearly two decades in the business--writing or directing about a dozen films, earning five Oscar nominations, including two awards for Best Director--Stone has mastered the art of turning the counterculture into a mainstream, bankable product. Today he is Hollywood’s most consistent practitioner of point-of-view filmmaking, yet one who just as consistently falls on his own sword.

His films, lofty in their intent to capture the New Left values of the ‘60s, frequently come up short with undistinguished if competent craftsmanship and an in-your-face moralizing. Critics regularly fault his work. The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael wondered in a review of “Platoon” whether Stone was “using filmmaking as a substitute for drugs. . . . There are too many scenes,” she went on to write, “where you think, It’s a bit much. The movie crowds you; it doesn’t give you room to have an honest emotion.” If Stone disdains such caviling as aesthetic elitism--"Critics say that; audiences don’t. I won’t ever make boring movies, ever!"--he nonetheless has his sharpshooter’s eye trained on his place in American film history. Stone still hungers for the imprimatur of artist.

“We don’t practice repression in this country, we practice triviality,” the director says, standing in a Hollywood sound stage on an early winter afternoon. “I try to make films that are bold and on the cutting edge, with ideas that are greater than me--and I try to serve those ideas.”

Now, Stone is set to unveil his latest homage to his generation--"The Doors,” the much-anticipated movie about the legendary ‘60s band, starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison, the band’s charismatic lead singer and lyricist. It is Stone’s first film since “Born on the Fourth of July” won him his third Oscar three years ago, and at $30 million it’s his most expensive production to date. It is also his least overtly political--something of a first for this filmmaker who is regularly accused of being anti-American--but one that is not without risks.

With few exceptions--such as “The Buddy Holly Story"--movies about the music industry are notoriously poor box office. And with “The Doors,” Stone is bringing to market a glossy tale of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll come round again in a new age of conservatism. It is a film for the ‘90s, with a controversial protagonist who practiced a particularly lethal brand of hedonistic nihilism; Morrison died of an apparent heart attack in Paris 20 years ago at the age of 27. Stone has taken a calculated risk in opening “The Doors” in today’s sexually nervous and unexpectedly jingoistic climate--the AIDS crisis and the country embroiled in its first real war since Vietnam. “I think we all feel on the edge of imminent disaster,” says Stone about his film’s upcoming release. “One always has that feeling.”

Even by the ‘60s’ break-the-mold musical standards, the Doors were considered sui generis--a home-grown Los Angeles band whose organ-rich, Eastern-sounding melodies, combined with Morrison’s vicious but poetic lyrics and undeniable stage presence, captured the growing alienation of an entire generation. From their first album--"The Doors” in 1967--to their last--"L.A. Woman” four years later--the band’s raspy mysticism and intellectual lyricism embodied the dark side of the ‘60s.

At the center of the band’s appeal was Morrison, the pouty, drug-ingesting “Lizard King” who became something of the Prince of Darkness in an era that did not lack for antiheroes--a figure extolling themes of undeniable attraction for Stone. “Look, I’m in my 40s,” the director says. “So I suppose this film is about the formation of our generation--the values we shared. People were out there, experiencing things, changing things. There were no limits, no laws. . . .”

Brian Grazer, an executive producer of “The Doors,” perceived two outlaws well-matched. “Oliver was my first choice as the director,” Grazer says. “He does what nobody else does--he takes dark, difficult subjects and turns them into hits.”

But hit making, as Stone likes to maintain, is not his goal. Rather, he single-mindedly goes after what he thinks of as the truths of his generation, wherever that search takes him: Vietnam, Wall Street, rock ‘n’ roll, even the Kennedy assassination. He describes the J.F.K. murder, the subject of his next film, which he will begin shooting this spring, as “the most covered-up crime of our era.” Although risk-taking and possibly radical in their intent, Stone’s films are increasingly mainstream, made with ever-larger budgets and more prestigious producers--Hemdale, Carolco and now, with the Kennedy film, Warner Bros. Success, for Stone, is a double-edged sword.

“Success?” asks the director, slightly startled. “That didn’t become popular as a concept until the ‘70s. Yeah, I have much more freedom to make the subjects that I want, but I don’t see myself as Darryl Zanuck. I would feel bad if I got indulgent. All good films come from people with an independent spirit, those who push. But the power of perception in the world is such that fringe ideas, when they are accepted, become mainstream--that because of their success they become a cliche.

“ ‘Platoon’ was a major innovation in our perception of what that war was. I thought ‘Born’ was a fairly radical statement; it took 10 years to make that picture--everybody passed on it. Once it was made and got eight Oscar nominations, it became a successful Hollywood movie. If it had not been successful, it would have been considered an outlaw film. Now, with the Kennedy film--why haven’t they made that already? Because people were fearful that it was uncommercial. I hope I was destined to make that picture.”

Those who know him suggest that Stone is indeed struggling to reconcile his renegade past with his current role as emerging power broker. “Oliver is conflicted about his success,” says one industry executive. “He hasn’t allowed his political sensibilities to get in the way of taking large amounts of money, and he struggles with that.”

“It isn’t about getting successful and having a career,” Stone says. “Going against success as a formula and embracing failure, like Morrison, where death becomes the last limit. . . . You mustn’t let money or power corrupt. I don’t feel in any way that I have compromised. I want to stay truthful to my era.”

STANDING HERE IN THE CAVERNOUS SOUND STAGE, Stone is putting the finishing touches on “The Doors.” While ostensibly another ‘60s film, “The Doors,” colleagues say, is actually a further cinematic echo of the director’s own persona as self-exiled prodigal son. As one actor puts it, “Although Oliver’s films seem to be about social issues, they are really about him.”

In conversation, Stone is by turns boyish, combative, thoughtful and overheated, one who seems to delight in spewing hyperbole as much in person as he does in his films. A husband and a father, he insists that his one regret is, “I didn’t sleep with all the women I could have.” A former drug user once busted in Mexico, he now calls cocaine “the biggest killer I know” but still salutes hallucinogenics as “fascinating.” A relentless advocate of the ‘60s, he disparages Woodstock as “a bunch of Boy Scouts getting together.” A most famous veteran, he is nonetheless disdained by some members of his old unit as a self-righteous blowhard with little sense of humor and a skewed perspective. (“He is very opinionated, over-generalizes the facts and bad-mouths people who have different points of view,” says Monte Newcombe, who served with Stone in Vietnam.)

As is well known, Stone made his mark as a movie maker five years ago when he turned his own life into film--"Platoon,” the 1986 Oscar-winning Vietnam War film that chronicled the director’s 1967-68 tour of duty. The movie won Best Picture and Best Director and grossed more than $160 million. Stone has made similar connections in his other less overtly biographical films. James Woods in “Salvador,” Charlie Sheen in “Wall Street,” Eric Bogosian in “Talk Radio,” Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July,” all played characters close to the director’s “male, Type-A personality,” says Bogosian. “Oliver makes movies about men under pressure.”

In “The Doors,” Stone evinces a similar fealty to Morrison, a contemporary of the director’s and a man also known for not tempering his excesses. “Jim had a thing where he went to the limits--women, drugs, alcohol, the law,” says Stone, who plays down some of Morrison’s excesses and recut parts of the film to make Kilmer’s character more likable. “His lyrics were earthy--snakes, fire, earth, death, fear, eros, sexuality. But he was also close to the French symbolist poets--Apollinaire, Rimbaud and a little Dylan Thomas. That combination--the high end and low end, black and white, vulgar and refined--I liked that contrast.”

It is a marriage of opposites that also fits Stone, who is described by those who know him as intense, passionate and smart, a prodigious director and writer whose early reputation for womanizing and drug taking never hindered an equally relentless work ethic. “He has the curiosity of a child and an incredible drive,” says Kenneth Lipper, an investment banker, author and consultant on “Wall Street.” “Oliver uses his films as an excuse to search out the facts--the truth--of a situation.”

Others who have worked for him say Stone is a masterful taskmaster who will manipulate, taunt and pressure cast and crew into sharing his commitment to the subject at hand. “He likes to do a lot of sparring to challenge you,” says actor Willem Dafoe, who starred in “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” Adds Bogosian: “He expects you to be a self-starter and thick-skinned when it comes to criticism. And if he senses you can’t take it, he will move away from you fast. Being on a set with him can be very punishing. But at the end of the day, everyone wants to be around him.” Kyle MacLachlan, an actor best known as FBI man Dale Cooper in television’s “Twin Peaks,” who co-stars in “The Doors,” says simply, “I miss working with Oliver.”

With so many of the director’s oft-related demons so readily on the surface, so out there, it is a challenge to sift through the rhetoric. Ask Stone what he is looking for in his self-inflicted Sturm und Drang , and he scorns the question as “so obvious. OK, the 49ers to win.” But in the next breath he turns philosophical, cribbing from Milan Kundera, the celebrated Czech novelist: “the ‘Lightness of Being.’ We’re all looking for equanimity of our souls.”

HE IS TALL, ABOUT 6 FEET AND JUST SHORT OF formidable, with an arresting collision of cultures--French-American, Jewish-Roman Catholic--etched into a face that is all but haggard from years of hard living and late hours. Bleary-eyed, dressed totally in black, Stone is sandwiching in an interview in the midst of back-to-back editing sessions for Friday’s release of “The Doors.”

Surrounded by his editing crew, he holds court in a room that seems the extension of himself as both polemical filmmaker and erstwhile Peck’s Bad Boy--everything state-of-the-art and bigger-than-life. Extra-large leather sofas, screen the size of a football field, giant neon clock ticking off the frames. The sequence being edited this day is quintessential Stone. On screen, Morrison, played by Kilmer, heaves a television set at the head of Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek: MacLachlan in flowing locks. The result--exploding glass and screamed epithets.

Stone flashes his signature gap-toothed grin. “There was a sound vacuum, and it’s making me crazy,” he says about the morning spent laying down extra decibels of breaking glass. “Sound abuse. I’m accused of that all the time,” he says. “But this is the noisiest film I’ve ever made. I have to gauge how much the audience can take after two hours and 15 minutes.” In Stone’s hands, “The Doors” is less an illustrated history of the band’s genesis or Morrison’s peculiarly tortured life than a visceral recreation of the world of ‘60s music. The approach is similar to the sensuous verisimilitude the director achieved in “Platoon,” the first Vietnam War film made by someone who had served. “I don’t want to reduce the ‘60s to a formula or say this is all-inclusive,” Stone says, “but it is about the texture of the ‘60s . . . how music was the big common denominator.”

Producer Grazer says the film is less linear and narrative than “a film made from a real rock-music point of view. Oliver has made a movie that shows that world as dangerous and erotic. It has a real feel for the period.”

Much of that feel comes from the director’s personal affinity for The Doors’ music, which he first encountered in Vietnam. He found the band “visceral and mystical,” Stone says. “The Doors were not a mainstream band like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. Jim hated that whole teeny-bopper thing. There were decency rallies held against him.”

That Morrison’s grave site in Paris still has the faithful trekking to touch the headstone has only burnished the mystique of the tortured songwriter with the Kennedyesque jaw and the black leather pants that would, on occasion, not stay zipped. A well-known abuser of alcohol, drugs and women, Morrison was arrested in 1969 on obscenity charges after exposing himself during a Miami concert. “He was a pirate, a free soul, an anarchist,” Stone says. “I loved his spirit--a combination of James Dean and Brando, sexiness combined with sensitivity and rawness.”

Morrison’s persona transcended not only his performances but also his death in 1971, which Stone recalls as “like the day Kennedy died.” The revival of so-called Doorsmania, as Rolling Stone magazine referred to it, began 12 years ago when director Francis Ford Coppola used the band’s Oedipal song, “The End,” in his 1979 Vietnam film, “Apocalypse Now.” In 1981, the lurid, controversial Morrison biography, “No One Here Gets Out Alive” by Jerry Hopkins and Danny Sugerman, the singer’s manager, was published. That same year, “The Doors’ Greatest Hits” was released and made it into Billboard’s Top 10. By 1981, Rolling Stone had Morrison on its cover with the headline, “He’s Hot, He’s Sexy . . . He’s Dead.”

Hollywood chased the Morrison story for nearly a decade while the Morrison estate and the surviving members of the band battled over the movie rights. Eventually, Grazer’s Imagine Productions held all the cards--a hefty $2-million development package--largely through the assistance of veteran rock producer Bill Graham, who shares production credit on the film. Grazer took the project to Stone--who had just passed on the on-again, off-again “Evita"--and Mario Kossar’s Carolco Productions, which had signed the director to a two-picture deal.

For Stone, directing “The Doors” brought several new challenges. “It was a very complicated screenplay to write,” says Stone, who shares screenwriting credit with J. Randal Johnson, who had done an earlier draft. Using his usual reporter’s approach, Stone plowed through “250 transcripts from people who had known Jim. It was like ‘Citizen Kane’ in a way--everyone had a different point of view.” Stone shot the film last spring with 30,000 extras for concert scenes in San Francisco, New York, Paris and Los Angeles, including the L. A. clubs Whisky a Go-Go and The Central, which doubled as the old London Fog.

Recreating The Doors’ sound on film proved more difficult. Kilmer, a baritone like Morrison, was cast after Stone interviewed hundreds of actors. Perhaps best known as Ice Man, Tom Cruise’s nemesis in the film “Top Gun,” Kilmer had been so eager to land the role that he recorded an entire Doors album, substituting his own vocals for Morrison’s. In a similar move, Stone decided to obtain the rights to The Doors’ master tapes minus Morrison’s lead vocals. He then spliced the original soundtracks with performances by the actors--Kilmer, MacLachlan, Kevin Dillon and Frank Whaley, who learned to play instruments for the film. The film’s final cut contains 25 Doors songs, including such classic hits as “L. A. Woman,” “Crystal Ship,” “Light My Fire” and “The End.” The music was recorded with “a little bit of Jim Morrison’s vocals--and in the concert scenes I have mixed in the actors’ voices, and I defy you to find the difference,” Stone says.

Kilmer describes Stone as “a person of vision and integrity. He has lived triumph and horrors. And I can tell you his life does not pass unexamined. Look at his body of work. It pulls from his introspection, knowledge and vast intuition.”

Indeed, ask Stone what he hopes the reception for his film will be, and he launches into another paternalistic eulogy for the ‘60s. “A lot of people will want to see this the way they wanted to see Tom Cruise in ‘Born,’ so they can be given an alternative way of looking at things,” he says. “These kids have grown up with Travolta and disco, the high-tech world of the ‘80s, and maybe they have never even seen that there is a different, an alternative, lifestyle, a world we’ve lost touch with.”

“WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BAND OF THE ‘60s?”

Stone is asking this over lunch of Thai soup--hot as napalm--set out for him and his guest in an upstairs conference room. With Stone, that isn’t an idle question; it’s a password, a test of character, sort of like the soup he’s ordered--beyond an ordinary mortal’s standards. “Come on, it’s good for you,” he says laughing at his guest’s discomfort. “It puts hair on your chest.”

Shying away from risks is the ultimate sin with Stone, the only child of a privileged Manhattan couple, a stockbroker father and socialite mother. Stone wore a coat and tie every day to prep school, wrote weekly essays for his father--who paid him 25 cents each--and embarked on his well-documented fall from grace as soon as he was able. Says one old friend: “Oliver grew up with a lot of contradictions in his life--Jewish father, French Roman Catholic mother who was this semi-Regine-type character. Oliver led this sort of Eurotrash jet-setter’s life--even after his parents were divorced--where nothing was normal.”

“My mother was never in bed before 3 in the morning,” Stone recalls. “She used to take me to France in the summers, and she was a great fan of movies, took me out of school to go to double and triple features. She was this kind of Auntie Mame person. ‘Evita’ would have been my homage to her.”

His parents’ divorce when he was 16 years old, Stone says, “was like parting the curtains of a stage play and seeing what was really there. I found out about a whole lot of things--affairs--I had been blind to. After that, I felt I was really on my own.”

The divorce also coincided with a larger rupture--Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the de facto starting gun of the ‘60s. “I had no faith in my parents’ generation after that,” Stone says. “By 1965, I was in Vietnam"--first as a teacher and a merchant marine, later as an Army enlistee.

He briefly attended Yale University, his father’s alma mater, which he says he “hated, especially since it was before women were admitted.” Stone dropped out and headed for Vietnam.

He was wounded twice and earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart in a tour of duty that was later chronicled in “Platoon.” “He was never a regular GI Joe,” recalls Crutcher Patterson, a former member of Stone’s platoon. “He was pretty green, a loner and moody, always writing things. Whenever we got a break, he would stop and write a little descriptive story about it.”

During his brief Army career, Stone abandoned the idea of being a writer--he had written a novel at 18--to become a filmmaker. “Being there was a very sensual experience, and I started thinking in visual terms,” Stone says. “In Vietnam, all your senses were awakened. You had to see better, smell better, hear better. It was very sensual, with the jungle six inches in front of your face. You couldn’t think along abstract lines--you had to become more animalistic or you wouldn’t survive.”

He bought a still camera and started taking pictures even before he left for home. Once Stone returned to New York, “I got a super-8 right away and started making home movies.” He enrolled at New York University’s film school, where he studied under director Martin Scorsese, drove a cab, married Najwa Sarkis--an official at the Moroccan mission to the United Nations--and made “short, crude 16-millimeter films that were really screwed up,” Stone says. “They were arty, kind of abstract poems with a touch of Orson Welles and the French New Wave filmmakers--Goddard, Resnais, Bunuel. I was trying to get away from a normal narrative line.”

He was also pursuing a similar line in his personal life. Arrested for marijuana possession in Mexico 10 days after his return from Vietnam, Stone became well known for using drugs, an experience that later informed his screenplay for Brian DePalma’s “Scarface.”

“I started smoking cigarettes on the plane going over to Vietnam,” says Stone. “Once I got there, the guys I liked best had been around drugs for ages, and I started doing acid and marijuana. I also got into the music. I had never heard Motown before then. Jefferson Airplane and the Doors. Jim was the acid king. It was all part of the Zeitgeist. “

It was a taste for substance abuse, topped off with an appetite for pursuing women, that Stone, newly divorced, took with him to Los Angeles in the mid-1970s as an aspiring screenwriter. He soon had a reputation notable even by Hollywood’s standards. “He always had a million women in his life,” says one female former friend. “I don’t think he missed too many.”

In Hollywood, Stone wrote “Platoon,” and although it would be more than 10 years before he would get it made, the script earned him attention as a writer of unusual force.

“I was looking for a writer for ‘Conan’ ” recalls Ed Pressman, an independent film producer who worked with Stone on “Conan the Barbarian” and several films since, including “Born.” “His agent showed me ‘Platoon,’ and I was very taken with it. His script for ‘Conan’ was a great screenplay. Like Dante’s ‘Inferno.’ ”

The success of that film led to other screenwriting assignments--"Midnight Express,” “Scarface,” “Year of the Dragon” among others--all white-hot, unsubtle stories, the type that increasingly became Stone’s signature. He won his first Oscar for “Midnight Express,” which led to his first directing opportunity--"The Hand,” a marginal thriller starring Michael Caine that failed at the box office and temporarily stalled Stone’s directing career. Eventually, he was able to make the low-budget “Salvador” through Hemdale Productions, followed by “Platoon,” a $6-million film that Orion picked up from Hemdale and that saw grosses in the hundreds of millions. After that, Stone was admitted to the big leagues--directing Michael Douglas in “Wall Street” and Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July.” The latter film, based on Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic’s life story, won Stone his second Best Director award but lost out for Best Picture to the crowd pleaser “Driving Miss Daisy"--a loss that Stone took particularly hard. “We made over $60 million with that film--an incredible success. I guess it was just not meant to be.”

Today, Stone has remarried and divides his time among homes in Santa Monica, Montecito and Colorado with his wife, Elizabeth, a former nurse, and their 6-year-old son, Sean, who plays young Morrison in “The Doors.” Stone hasn’t lost his concern for current events: “I’m praying for our soldiers, who are making the ultimate sacrifice in the Gulf War, but I don’t think Bush ever intended to negotiate. There was a military-industrial complex that pushed us into this.” Friends add that the director’s only real interest these days, in addition to making films, “is trying to set up other films.”

Have Stone’s demons finally gone AWOL? “I didn’t say I didn’t miss my old life,” he says with a half-smile. “I love the concept of suburbia, but I also love going to New York and Europe and Asia, meeting new people. My wife and I are different that way. I have a restlessness that never stops.”

Indeed, as soon as “The Doors” opens, Stone is off to Dallas to begin shooting his version of the Kennedy assassination, a film that Stone describes as “the untold story of a murder that occurred at the dawn of our adulthood. It’s a bit like ‘Hamlet.’ You know, the real king was killed, and a fake king put on the throne.” Suggest to Stone that some of Camelot’s luster has tarnished since 1963, and the director says quietly, “There has been an incredible disinformation campaign put out about him. A lot of misinformation. I am using everything I have to get this film made.”

Ask Stone if he likes where he is positioned now in the industry and he laughs. “Oh, this is the part where you’re going to quote me, right? The outlaw director.”

If Stone is cagey about self-definition these days, friends seem equally divided. Some, such as Pressman, who produced “Blue Steel” and “Reversal of Fortune” with Stone, say the director “is at the top of his game. I was always mesmerized and excited by his personality, but now he is much more comfortable with himself and a lot easier to work with.”

But another Hollywood executive suggests that “Oliver has not changed much. He really hasn’t mellowed. He is conflicted about his ‘financial’ success. But that’s how Hollywood respects you--they pay for what they respect, and his movies now make money.”

Stone does seem to be a man with his eye fixed perpetually over his shoulder, one who keeps a daily diary and who describes the art of filmmaking as giving vent to “that other person that is in you. The shadow self, the one that is always walking behind you. The real you, the deeper you.

“I’m not going to say I’m a lone soul here, wandering through my own soundtrack,” he says. “I enjoy the community of people who love movies. And I like using the power that I have to make things happen. But will I be doing this forever? Maybe I’ll be working in Eritrea or the Sudan, or maybe I’ll become a journalist for Rolling Stone.”

Stone has spent several hours over lunch, repeatedly waving off his crew, but now his impatience is tangible. “I still don’t like the answer I gave you about the ‘60s, how this film relates to this current generation. I felt stupid. I was doing a lot of ‘ums’ and ‘ahs,’ ” he says, suddenly obsessed with his image.

“I don’t want to believe in generation conflict, but it’s there. I feel distant from my own generation, out of step with the people my age who went to college. I always identified more with the Charlie Sheen generation, that younger group who came up, because it gave me new life. I was able to act out my own history through them, skip a generation and go back to it again. Believe me, that’s exciting, and I’m grateful for that chance because our tribal rituals are the same. It doesn’t have to be Jim Morrison or Vietnam; it’s about going out there and finding yourself.”

-Hilary de Vries, “RIDER ON THE STORM : With ‘The Doors,’ Director Oliver Stone Exhumes the ‘60s in All Their Lurid Excess,” Los Angeles Times, Feb 24 1991 [x]

[michaelsongrace]

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[lilacmoon83]

Dreaming Out Loud

Dreaming Out Loud

Chapter 28: Trial By Fire, Pt. 1

The past couple weeks since Miner's Day and David's proposal had been surreal for Mary Margaret. Surreal in the best way possible. Even with the trial looming over them, it hadn't dampened her joy or happiness. Even with the morning of the trial upon them. Just waking up in David's arms lessened her trepidation a bit. And they all had done their best to distract her the last couple weeks.

Stephanie was all over helping her with planning the wedding and seemed really excited. Mary had already asked Emma to be her maid of honor and Stephanie a bridesmaid. And while Emma was excited for the wedding, she gladly handed many of the duties of a maid of honor over to Stephanie, for Emma didn't pretend to know much about planning a wedding.

But first, that morning, they faced the beginning of the trial that with any luck would put Damon Tromera in prison

Mary and Stephanie both had substitutes covering their classes for the week and Emma had the station's phone forwarded to her cell. Mary was almost too nervous to eat, but nevertheless, they found themselves at the diner for breakfast that morning.

"I know you're probably nervous, but I have hot chocolates with cinnamon and pancakes for the future Mr. and Mrs. Nolan," Ruby said, as she set the plates and cups down for them.

"Thanks Ruby," Mary replied, as the waitress put plates and cups in front of Emma and Stephanie as well.

As they finished breakfast, Albert Spencer waltzed into the diner with Mitchell Herman and Damon Tromera.

"Waitress…we need three coffees to go," Spencer bellowed, while Mitchell Herman was silent with a glare fixed on them. That had little to do with the trial though. He blamed them when Sean moved out a few weeks ago and in with Ashley. It was hard and they didn't have much, but they were happy. Mitchell was upset his son was working at the cannery and had enrolled only part time in night classes online, instead of going full time to law school. David suspected that when the curse broke and his memories were returned, King Christopher would feel ashamed for his actions. Back in their land, he had loved Ella and his son dearly. A grandchild was something the King would have been overjoyed to have. For now, they all would remain on the receiving end of his scrutiny, as he defended Damon Tromera's deplorable acts.

Mary focused her attention away from their steely gazes. She was determined not to let any of her fear show and fortunately, with David's arms around her, that was a little easier.

They left with their coffee and David paid their check, before they left for the courthouse as well. They only hoped that even in a town run by Regina and these same cronies they were going against, that justice would prevail.

Henry sat alone at a table per usual during recess. None of the other kids ever wanted anything to do with him. He was the Mayor's kid, which didn't help, but it was mostly because he was the weird kid that believed fairy tales were real. He lived on the tales in his book and often imagined what it might be like to live in the land his grandparents came from. He imagined him and Emma living in their castle with them, but at this point, he would have settled for getting to live with them at the loft.

"Hey kid…" August said, as he approached.

"Oh...hi August," Henry replied.

"Do you always sit and mope during recess?" he asked. Henry shrugged.

"Not really...Miss Blanchard usually talks to me," he replied.

"Ah...and you miss her today," August surmised.

"Yeah...Jim is nice but it's not the same," he said.

"None of the other kids will play with you?" August asked.

"Would you play with the kid that thought fairy tales were real?" Henry asked incredulously and August chuckled.

"I guess not...I used to lie to myself and pretend they weren't real just to fit in with the crowd," he admitted. Henry cocked his head to the side.

"How do you know so much about my book?" Henry asked suspiciously. August shrugged.

"I'm a writer...I make it my business to know a lot about books," he said vaguely.

"My Mom says you can't be trusted," Henry replied bluntly. August allowed himself a small, amused smile.

"She is probably right, but you and I have one thing in common," he stated.

"What's that?" Henry asked.

"We want the curse to be broken," August answered, as he stood up and walked away, leaving Henry to ponder their conversation.

With the judge seated, the rest of the courtroom sat as well. Mitchell Herman stood and approached the jury of twelve to make his opening statement. David recognized Marco and Tom Clark among the jurors, so he was confident that was two in their favor. However, the other ten were not people he recognized and knew it was possible they could go either way. Emma had warned him if the jury became deadlocked, then the judge could declare a mistrial, meaning Damon would walk. Gold had reluctantly admitted that this was probably what Mitchell Herman was striving for and he was worried about that. But he didn't let it show, for he knew Mary was already worried enough.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury…" he started off.

"We are here today, not to determine whether my client's actions were wrong, but rather if he should pay the steep penalty that is being sought by the prosecution," Mitchell began.

"I don't think I have to tell you how unprecedented it is to try a case that does not have the full support of the district attorney. In fact, it is unheard of. But Mr. Gold has proceeded to supersede Mr. Spencer and is funding his client's witch hunt," Mitchell continued.

"He's got to be kidding," David hissed, ready to jump out of his seat. But Gold held his hand up to halt him.

"Is my client perfect? I should say not, but I think by the end of this trial, you will be unable to convict him of these heinous charges and realize that in the heat of the moment, scorned by years of rejection by Mr. Gold's client, he acted rashly," Mitchell added.

My client is an upstanding member of this community and I believe the punishment of life in prison is too much. It is my belief that you will agree with me by the end of this trial," Mitchell concluded, as he sat down.

"That's a crazy, bull crap defense if I've ever heard one," Emma muttered.

"And one easily ripped to shreds," Gold agreed, as he stood and approached the jury, walking with his cane.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Herman would have you believe that all this is just a misunderstanding between my clients and Mr. Tromera," Gold began.

"He would, if he thought he could pull it off, have you believe Mr. Tromera is the victim in all this. But even he knows that is ludicrous," Gold continued.

"Mr. Herman's client is undeniably a predator, who has stalked one of my client's for years. He is unwilling to accept that Miss Blanchard has no romantic interest in him. And when she began to date another man, he snapped and tried to kill that man. And when this trial is over, you will see Mr. Tromera as my clients see him. A monster. A monster that must be locked away for the protection of all," Gold finished, as he took a seat.

"Opening arguments have been heard. Mr. Gold, since you are acting as the prosecution in this case, you will call the first witness," the judge stated.

"Thank you, Your Honor. The prosecution calls Sheriff Emma Swan to the stand," he said. Emma squeezed Mary's hand and then took her place on the witness bench where the Bailiff swore her in.

"Ms. Swan...can you describe the events on the evening of November eighteenth for the jury?" he asked.

"It was the night of the election. Mary Margaret and David went missing and I went to investigate," Emma stated.

"How did you know where to look?" Gold asked.

"They walk their dog almost every evening out by the Toll Bridge," Emma replied.

"Is it well known by many that they frequent the Toll Bridge in the evenings?" he questioned.

"Yes," she replied.

"Objection! Speculation," Mitchell interjected.

"Your honor, I can find several witnesses that will say this is common knowledge," Gold countered.

"Overruled...I'll allow it," the judge answered.

"What did you discover when you reached the Toll Bridge that night?" Gold asked, as Emma began to recount the events.

Despite the rain, they made it out to the Toll Bridge and Pongo took off across the bridge and started barking, as Archie hurried after him.

"Emma! It's Wilby...we found him!" Archie called, as the blonde hurried across the bridge.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"He's breathing, so I think so," Archie replied. With a gloved hand, Emma picked up the small dart next to him.

"Tranq dart," she said, as she bagged it.

"Can you take Wilby back and put him in my car?" she asked. The ginger haired man nodded.

"Take Pongo," Archie offered, as he lifted Wilby and carried him back to Emma's car.

"So the dog had been tranquilized?" Gold asked.

"Yes...the lab later determined it was a tranquilizer dart," Emma confirmed.

"At this time, I'd like to enter the dart into evidence as prosecution evidence exhibit A," Gold stated, as the dark in the bag was held up for the jury to see.

"So noted...please continue, Mr. Gold," the judge stated.

"Thank you, Your Honor. Sheriff Swan, can you continue recounting the events of that evening for the jury?" he asked. Emma nodded and began to tell what had happened when she arrived at the burning cabin.

"You're going to pay...I was going to make it quick, but now I'm going to torture you until you beg me to kill you and I'm going to make that little bitch watch!" he screamed psychotically, as he trudged toward them, as Mary started to stir.

"David…" she murmured, as he knelt down in the mud and held her close. He knew he had to keep going, despite the pain and his weakened state. Mary gasped at the horrifying sight that was Damon and buried her face in David's shirt.

"Time to suffer, pretty boy," he hissed, until he heard the cocking of a gun.

"Give me a reason, asshole, because I'd love to blow your brains out," Emma growled, as she held her gun on him. Damon clenched his teeth and put his hands up reluctantly.

"You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent," she said, as she holstered her weapon and cuffed him.

"He set me on fire...you should arrest him!" Damon growled.

"Oh yeah? And I suppose your fists just accidentally landed on David," she growled back.

"You set the fire, you bastard. After you chased us through the woods. You hit Mary too...you're lucky you're still breathing," David shouted.

"He's right. That alone makes me wish you had given me that reason to shoot you," Emma added.

"David...Mary...we've got an ambulance waiting. It's a bit of a trek. Do you think you can make it?" Archie asked.

"We'll be okay," David replied, as they were both helped along by Ruby, Leroy, and Archie.

"We found Wilby and put him in Emma's car," Archie said.

"Thank you," David said gratefully.

When they got closer, the paramedics met them halfway. A handcuffed Damon was put into one, while David and Mary were put in the other and rushed to the hospital.

"So when you arrived, you observed injuries to the victims, Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan," Gold stated. Emma nodded.

"Mary's were minor, but she was absolutely terrified and David's were more serious," Emma stated.

"Thank you Sheriff Swan, no further questions," Gold stated, as he sat down.

"Your witness, Mr. Mitchell," the judge declared.

"Sheriff Swan...on the night in question, did Mr. Tromera suffer any injuries?" Mitchell asked.

"Yes...he had second and third degree burns on a third of his body," Emma replied.

"So you could say that Mr. Tromera suffered even more severe injuries than Mr. Nolan," he stated.

"Yes...but," Emma started to say.

"A simple yes or no is sufficient, Sheriff," Mitchell stated, as he picked up the medical report.

"According to Dr. Whale's findings, Mr. Tromera suffered more than just burns. He suffered from several blows to the chest and face, caused by David Nolan's fists, yet Mr. Gold would have you believe Mr. Nolan is the victim," Mitchell stated.

"Objection! Mr. Tromera's injuries inflicted by David Nolan were in self defense!" Gold protested.

"That's pure speculation, your honor. None of us were present during this altercation. It's Mr. Tromera's word against Mr. Nolan's," Mitchell stated.

"Sustained...tread lightly, Mr. Herman and either ask a question or move on," the judge warned.

"Of course. Sheriff Swan, is it possible that Mr. Nolan used unnecessary force when trying subdue Mr. Tromera?" he asked.

"No," Emma answered sternly.

"How do you know? You did not witness their fight," Mitchell reminded.

"Because I know David. He sustained those injuries defending himself and Mary Margaret," Emma said. Mitchell smirked.

"So you "know" David. That's hardly a convincing argument, Sheriff," Mitchell stated.

"Objection, Your Honor. That is for the jury to decide," Gold protested.

"Sustained. Ask a question, Mr. Mitchell or move on," the judge warned.

"The defense has no more questions for this witness," he relented, as he took a seat.

"Sheriff...you may step down," the judge stated, as Emma returned to her seat.

"The prosecution may call its next witness," the judge continued.

"I call Deputy David Nolan to the stand," Gold stated. He squeezed Mary's hand and took to the stand where he was sworn in.

"Mr. Nolan, as one of the victims of the evening in question, please tell us how you sustained your injuries," Gold requested. David thought back to that night and began to recall what had happened.

"We were taking a walk with our dog, Wilby, out by the Toll Bridge as we do most evenings. We noticed that storm clouds were rolling in though, so we were about to head back to town. It was getting close to the time for the debate and we didn't want to miss Emma's speech," he began.

Suddenly a rumble of thunder boomed above them.

"Uh oh...we should probably head back," she mentioned, as they watched the dark storm clouds swirl in the sky.

"Yeah...it will be time for the debate soon anyway," he replied, as Wilby barked and took off.

"Wilby!" David called, as he took her hand and they chased after him. But when they found him, he was laying unconscious on the ground.

"Wilby!" David cried, as they knelt beside him. David pulled out a dark from his fur and Mary gasped.

"What is that?" she asked.

"Mary...you need to run," he said, as rain started to pelt them.

"What? I'm not leaving you," she protested.

"I have to carry Wilby back. I'll slow you down. Go back to town and find Emma. I'll be right behind you," he insisted.

"David…" she protested.

"Mary please…" he pleaded. Reluctantly, she turned to leave, but gasped, as Damon Tromera stood on the bridge in her path.

"You won't be going anywhere, Miss Blanchard, except for back to my club with me. After I get rid of him, of course," Damon said coldly.

"What did you do to Wilby?" she demanded to know.

"The mutt will be fine. The same won't be said for your lover in a few moments though," Damon replied, as he approached. David put Wilby under a tree to shelter him somewhat from the rain, before he got in front of her.

"Mary...run…" he commanded.

"I am not leaving you with this monster!" she cried, as rain now poured down on them.

Damon kept approaching and David still stood defiantly in his way. The dark haired man raised his fist and threw the first punch. David ducked and tackled him to the ground, delivering a punch himself. This one connected and Damon growled, as he punched in return. David felt pain explode in his head, as he briefly saw the shiny metal on Damon's knuckles. He was dazed, allowing Damon to get in another punch and he threw David off, as Mary screamed for him. The blonde tasted blood and his vision blurred.

"Mary...run…" he pleaded. But instead, she spied a large stick and picked it up. David's head swam in pain after another punch and Damon backed away. He turned his attention toward Mary Margaret and was beamed across the face with a stick. He growled in pain and held his face, as she scrambled to help David to his feet.

"Mary...you need to run! I'll just slow you down," he groaned.

"David...I am not leaving you behind," she repeated, as they trudged through the muddy forest. It was dark now and rain was coming down in sheet. They could barely see anything and she yelped when David cried out, as Damon hit him from behind.

"No!" she cried, as they went rolling to the ground. David saw black spots in his vision, as Damon buried a fist in his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

"At this time, the prosecution would like to introduce prosecution evidence exhibit B. The brass knuckles Damon Tromera was wearing that evening. You'll find that they come with a lab report confirming that they are stained with David Nolan's blood," Gold stated.

"This evidence is accepted by the court," the judge agreed.

"Mr. Nolan, please continue recounting the events that evening," Gold urged.

"I blacked out for a bit, but then found Mary. She told me Damon had run off, because a wolf attacked him. We kept moving to try to get out of the rain and that's when we found our way to the cabin," David explained.

"And what happened once you reached the cabin?" Gold asked.

"We built a fire and tried to get warm and dry. Mary found a first aid kit and started to treat my injuries," David replied.

"And then?" Gold prompted.

"She didn't get very far, because Damon found us. He broke down the door and I grabbed the fireplace poker to defend us," David said, recalling those frightening moments.

David gripped the poker and raised it before them.

"Do yourself a favor and step aside and maybe you'll live to see another day," Damon threatened.

"Like hell I will. If you think I'll let you hurt Mary, then you have another thing coming," David threatened back.

"Mary...unless you'd like to have his blood on your hands, then you should save yourself that pain and come with me," Damon said.

"She's not going anywhere with you," David growled. He smirked and made a show of his considerable strength by breaking a wooden chair over his knee so he could use one of the legs as a weapon.

"Had he hit me with that, I probably wouldn't have made it. But Mary saved me by hitting him over the head. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him," David stated.

"Objection...Mr. Nolan is speculating about things he does not know. It cannot be determined if he would have died or not," Mitchell objected.

"Sustained...the jury will disregard Mr. Nolan's speculation," the judge agreed.

"What happened then?" Gold questioned.

"He lit the leg of the chair on fire and tossed it onto the rug. He backhanded Mary and I tackled him. We fought each other and I managed to push him off. Then Mary and I escaped the cabin. Emma showed up not long after that," David stated.

"Thank you Mr. Nolan, no further questions," Gold stated, as Mitchell stood up and approached.

"Mr. Nolan...when you pushed Mr. Tromera off you, where did he fall?" Mitchell asked. David gave him an icy glare.

"Into the fire," he answered.

"So...you're the one that pushed Mr. Tromera into the fire," Mitchell stated.

"Objection! The witness was fighting for his life," Gold interjected.

"I'm merely making sure the jury is aware of all the facts, Your Honor," Mitchell stated.

"Overruled," the judge agreed.

"You were angry, weren't you Mr. Nolan?" Mitchell asked.

"Of course I was angry. He attacked us!" David replied hotly.

"So you pushed him into the fire," Mitchell responded.

"He hit the woman I love! He planned to trap me in that burning cabin!" David exclaimed.

"Mr. Nolan...you will reign in your temper or you will be removed from the courtroom," the judge warned and Mitchell smirked smugly.

"Or perhaps with that fire, you saw an opportunity to eliminate my client and thus end his pursuit of your girlfriend...and any competition he presented," Mitchell goaded.

"Objection! Mr. Nolan is not the one on trial here!" Gold exclaimed.

"Withdrawn, no further questions," Mitchell said smugly, as he returned to his seat.

"The court will recess for one hour for lunch. Dismissed," the judge said, as he slammed his gavel down. David seethed, as he returned to his seat and Mary hugged him tightly. She saw Damon glaring smugly at them and quickly averted her eyes away from the monster. She knew that after lunch it would be her turn to testify and she was admittedly terrified, but anxious to tell the jury exactly what Damon had done and said to her on that night...