#to vote her guilty for the past 5 months

[milgrambles]

The It's Not My Fault thumbnail is out! Gorgeous art aside, here are my thoughts:

I'm starting to think that the girl Mu killed was bullied by her in the past.

Hear me out. We get very clear shots of three of the girls who bully Mu, right?

And then we see them (I think all three of them, but it's a little hard to tell with the darker-haired girl) in the group selfie on Mu's phone. These are her ex-friends.

Mu's groupchat has four people in it. Just enough for everyone in the photo, implying that the photo is the extent of this friendgroup.

...So then, who's the bystander?

It doesn't seem like she's part of this friendgroup, nor does it seem like she's part of the bullying either (she's comimg out of the stall when she sees Mu on the floor in front of her, so it seems like she's only there by happenstance). Why would Mu kill her? What's going on in this scene?

I have two possible explanations. Either Mu is reaching out for help here and she snaps when she's denied it...or she's apologizing.

We've seen plenty of Mu's true colors, both since the beginning of Trial 2 and in her first voice drama: she's bratty, self-centered, and insistent that she always deserves what she wants. Put that kind of behavior in a school setting, and it's...not difficult to envision her being part of a posse of bullies.

Let's go back to the It's Not My Fault thumbnail:

Of course, I can only guess what's actually happening here, but the girl on the right seems to be reassuring Mu, who looks rather concerned at whatever's behind her. Remorseful, perhaps?

Here's my theory: Mu and her friends used to bully the girl who'd become her murder victim. Mu grew a conscience and eventually objected to it, which led to her either having a falling out with her friends or becoming the "butt of the joke" of the group, constantly picked on by them for being an annoying nag.

When she saw the girl she bullied walk past her, she ran up to her and tried to apologize for everything. Her victim, perhaps seeing her as ingenuine or just not having any sympathy for her, pulled away...and we all know what happened next.

It's worth noting that the girl in the back near the fence in It's Not My Fault's thumbnail doesn't look like any of Mu's established friends or her murder victim. This could be a point against this theory, but it could just as equally mean that Mu and her friends bullied multiple people.

It'd tie into the lyrics of After Pain, too: "'I'm sorry' won't reach anyone" could refer to her victim refusing her apology, the other people at school still seeing her as a bully, and, of course, her friends picking on her. Interestingly, it'd also make her story very similar to Futa's, just told in a reversed order: we saw Futa's cyber-harassment first and then his extreme remorse, so if this theory holds up by next week, we'll have seen Mu's extreme remorse first and then her involvement in harassment.

Either way, I'm excited as hell!

[fridayfirefly]

Sunrise on Gotham

Read Sunrise on Gotham on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 29 - Wait!

Gotham wasn’t Marinette’s first choice for the location of their class trip. In fact, the grim American city hadn’t even made her top ten list. Marinette wanted to go to Amsterdam, a city rich with history and culture. But when Mm. Bustier announced that a vote for the class trip location would be held, the class voted almost unanimously. After all, Lila’s long-distance boyfriend, Damian Wayne, lived in Gotham. Wouldn’t it be great for Lila to be reunited with him? And Lila traveled so frequently that she had already visited all of the other cities Mm. Bustier suggested. Would it be fair to make her go visit a city she had already been to? Marinette scoffed as she overheard the class discussion. She knew that this was just another one of Lila’s lies, perfectly designed to manipulate the people around her into doing what she wanted.

Marinette kept her mouth shut while her classmates all decided to vote for Gotham. But that didn’t stop her from putting her checkmark next to Amsterdam on the ballots Mm. Bustier passed out. Maybe that would have been the end of Marinette’s bitterness if Lila hadn’t “accidentally” glanced at the ballots on Mm. Bustier’s desk she was leaving the classroom. Marinette could still remember Lila’s sickeningly sweet voice, feigning concern for Marinette, asking why Marinette wanted to go to Amsterdam so badly.

As Marinette scrambled for an answer, Alya turned to her with cruelty in her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re trying to sabotage Lila and Damian’s reunion. You’re so selfish, Marinette.”

Marinette didn’t bother replying - it never helped. As she left the classroom that day, she could see the disappointment in Adrien’s eyes. Her crush on the blonde model had long since faded, and alongside it went the rose-colored glasses she used to see him through, back when they were both thirteen. Now, four years later, all she saw was a selfish boy who cared more about avoiding conflict than actually solving problems.

Four months later, the plane landed in Gotham just as the sun began to rise. As her class walked from the airport to the hotel, Marinette felt herself zone out. Even though it wasn’t her first choice, Marinette could still appreciate the sight that was the Gotham skyline. Looming silver skyscrapers were framed by the gray, cloudy sky. As Marinette took in her surroundings, she began to wish that she could stop and get her sketchbook out. Ideas for a Gotham-themed fashion line popped up in her mind like weeds, and she needed to stop and pick them before she could properly zone back in. Gray was a color she had never properly worked with, which would make incorporating the color a nice way to challenge herself. In her mind, shades of gray instinctively started organizing themselves into the different ways she could pair them together.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed Marinette’s arm, pulling her back. Marinette gasped as she realized that she was about to walk onto the street, straight into traffic. She whipped around to face her savior.

The first thing Marinette noticed was his height. She was used to feeling short, at 5′2″, most people were taller than her. But he seemed to dwarf her. She figured he was 6′0″ at least. The second thing she noticed was the look of concern in his eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked.

Marinette nodded jerkily, trying to control her breathing. Having a panic attack alone in the middle of downtown Gotham would be just about the worst thing for her to do. She was supposed to be Ladybug, the savior of Paris, yet she was so unaware of her surroundings in a completely foreign city that she almost got killed in traffic. “I’m okay, I was just daydreaming,” she babbled, “Usually I’d be more aware of my surroundings, but I just got off of the plane and I’m not used to jetlag.”

The stranger had a bemused smile on his face as he walked her talk. Marinette blushed as she realized how dumb she must look to the handsome stranger. “Your accent, is it French?”

Marinette nodded. “I just got here from Paris. I’m on a class trip.”

“Where’s the rest of your class?”

Marinette looked around, trying to figure out which way her class went, but they were already gone, out of sight. “I’m not sure...” She trailed off. “But I have the address for the hotel on my phone, so I’ll be able to catch up with them there.”

“Gotham is known for being difficult to navigate. I can take you there if you’d like.”

“Sure,” said Marinette, pulling her phone out to check the address. “It’s called the Gotham Grand Hotel. It's on the corner of 7th Avenue and 22nd Street.”

“That’s about twelve blocks away. It’s pretty far. Are you sure you’re up for the walk?”

Marinette nodded. “I’m sure I can make it."

His smile returned as he introduced himself. “I’m Damian, by the way.”

“I’m Marinette,” Marinette introduced herself as Damian led the way.

A moment later, Damian's phone started to ring. He answered it while still walking. "Hello.”

A brief pause, then. “I’m on 4th Avenue, by the Starbucks.” Another pause as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone conversation. “I’m not free right this moment, but I will be in a few minutes." Another pause. "I'm helping someone get around the city. She got a little lost on her school trip, and you and I both know that the city isn't exactly safe when you don't know your way around it."

Marinette was beginning to wonder who exactly Damian was talking to, but she didn't want to be rude and interrupt. Instead, she got her phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text to Alya, telling her that she would be a little late because she got disoriented on the hectic Gotham streets.

"I'll be free until five tonight. Father's insisting that I come and have dinner with the family, and I have my internship afterward, from seven to nine." Another pause, this one longer. "I suppose that would work. I was planning on going out to eat at some point, anyway. I'll just have to ask Marinette if she's okay with it."

Damian put the phone down and turned to face Marinette. "My boyfriend, Jon, offered to pick us both up and drop you off at your hotel on our way to get brunch. If you don't feel comfortable with that, I understand."

"Oh, it's perfectly fine," Marinette assured him.

Damian frowned slightly before replying to his boyfriend. Marinette knew that Damian probably thought she wasn't being cautious enough, but she didn't care. After four years as Ladybug, Marinette was confident that she was capable of taking care of herself.

A minute later, a car pulled up beside them. “This is Jon’s car,” said Damian as he grabbed the door for her.

“Thank you,” Marinette smiled in return as she pulled her suitcase in after her. "Hello, Jon. I'm Marinette."

"Welcome to Gotham, Marinette." Jon leaned past the driver's seat to shake her hand. Marinette noticed that he had a very friendly face: a nice smile and kind eyes. "How are you enjoying the city?"

"It's nicer than I expected, I suppose, but I didn't exactly have high expectations. Gotham has a reputation in Europe for being the worst tourist destination in America."

Damian nodded. "That sounds like Gotham. It'll grow on you, though."

"Like a fungus," added Jon.

"If you say so." Marinette cast a distasteful look out the window of the car at the gray streets.

"Do you have any plans for lunch?" asked Jon.

Marinette shook her head. "Not really. The hotel has a restaurant on the ground floor, but their lunch menu is pretty limited. I'm vegetarian, so my only option is a salad."

"Would you like to come to brunch with us?" offered Jon.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Marinette didn't want to be a third wheel if brunch was supposed to be a date between Jon and Damian.

"Of course," said Damian.

"Alright. I don't think I'll be missing anything if I go with you. Our itinerary keeps us pretty busy at the beginning of the trip, but we were given today to rest up, to help get rid of the jetlag. I switched my sleep schedule a week ago, though, so my body is already running on Gotham time.”

Damian nodded thoughtfully. “Do you want to check the itinerary, just to be sure?”

Marinette shrugged. “It can’t hurt to check it one more time.” She pulled the paper out of her suitcase. “Our class doesn’t have anything planned until tonight. We have dinner at a restaurant called..." Marinette consulted her itinerary, "The Coast, and then we’re seeing Wicked at one of the theaters downtown.”

“I've been to The Coast before with my family. They have very good vegetarian options. It is very expensive for a high school class trip,” Damian noted.

“I go to an accelerated school. The school has a very large budget, due to the amount of tuition, and the number of alumni who give back to the school.” Marinette shrugged, a nervous tick. She didn’t like talking about how much her tuition cost. Even with her 50% scholarship to Francois Dupont, tuition was still a struggle sometimes. Her parents didn’t make that much money from the bakery, and compared to the elite professions of some of her classmates' parents, Marinette was often considered to be poor. It left her feeling out of place, guilty every time she felt embarrassed by her working-class parents.

“That sounds-“

Marinette continued to babble. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that François Dupont gives me. Much more grateful than a lot of my classmates, anyway. Some of them only read the itinerary for the first time on the plane ride to Gotham. One of my classmates, Chloé, threw a fit because she believed that the entire trip would be a shopping spree through Gotham. Other students got mad for other reasons. One of my classmates made some promises that she had no business making - telling everyone that we would be getting way more free time than we were actually given. It’s a shame. I used to love being a part of Mme. Bustier’s class, but everything fell apart after...”

Marinette stopped half-way through her sentence and stared down at her hands as she realized that tears had sprung to her eyes. She felt the red flush of embarrassment begin to overtake her face. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. It sounds like you have a lot going on with your class at the moment."

"That's putting it mildly," said Marinette. "It's been... difficult, to say the least."

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Jon.

Marinette shook her head. "Not really. Even if Gotham wasn’t my first choice for our class trip, I still want to at least try to have a good time.”

“What was your first choice?” asked Damian, a hint of curiosity to his voice.

“Amsterdam,” said Marinette longingly. “But Lila wanted to visit her boyfriend in Gotham, Damian Wayne, so the whole class ignored the fact that Gotham is the most crime-ridden city in America, all so that Lila could visit her boyfriend.”

Damian looked shocked. “Did she say her boyfriend is Damian Wayne?“

Marinette nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Jon snorted. “I know that you like girls too, Damian, but I figured you would tell me before adding a third to our relationship.”

Damian rolled his eyes, quipping back something just as clever. Marinette was too stunned to listen, as she realized that the rich and powerful Damian Wayne whom Lila claimed to be dating was the same Damian who helped Marinette on the streets of Gotham. Marinette stuttered out, “I didn’t- I didn’t realize that you- you’re Damian Wayne.”

Damian chuckled. “I can tell. I have to admit, I’m not used to not being recognized. I'm pretty famous around Gotham."

“The Billionaire Bisexual Ice Prince of Gotham,” quoted Jon with a grin on his face. “The tabloids love Damian.”

“It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. The tabloids obsess over everything even slightly unconventional, and to them, the bisexual bastard son of billionaire Bruce Wayne is the perfect target. Even more so when he started dating another man.” Damian's voice was smooth, but there was an undercurrent of bitterness to it. Marinette got the sense that he didn't often open up about his relationship, for fear that the media would not be kind about it. Marinette sympathized. Françoise Dupont had been a progressive school: they had a GSA and a no-tolerance policy (not that the policy was ever upheld). She hadn’t been bullied, per se, for being bisexual, but she had experienced the all too familiar feeling of being othered for who she happened to love.

“Nice use of alliteration,” said Jon. His words would have lightened the mood if it wasn’t for the slight strain to his voice.

It was obvious to Marinette that this was a sore subject between the boys. “So how long have you two been dating?” asked Marinette, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Two years, but we’ve been friends since middle school,” answered Jon. “Damian was the world's most uptight twelve-year-old, so I took it upon myself to get him to loosen up. We became friends and everything since then just sort of fell into place.”

“An apt recounting, even if it omitted some pertinent details.” Damian conceded.

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that I was the one to ask you on a date, and you were so shocked that I had figured out that you were bisexual that you dropped the glass in your hand, shattering it,” teased Damian.

“I thought I was being subtle about it,” Jon defended.

Marinette giggled. If she could just spend all of her time with Jon and Damian, rather than her class, she might just have fun on her class trip.

Damian turned to Marinette. “He had a pride pin on his jacket and listened to Carly Rae Jepsen. Subtlety is not, and has never been one of Jon’s string suits.”

Marinette noted that she had a pride pin of her own attached to the front strap of her backpack. Most people never took any note of it - Marinette had quite a few pins on her backpack - but Marinette got the feeling that Damian was aware of it.

"We're here," said Jon, parking the car in front of a little café.

"Café Carlisle has good vegetarian options," Damian assured her as he opened up her car door and helped her out. "They make a superb gourmet grilled cheese sandwich and tomato basil soup. I would recommend it to anyone."

"That's pretty high praise. I get the sense you don't give false compliments."

"I don't." It was a simple answer. Marinette was beginning to get a clearer picture of Damian, who didn't waste unnecessary words but was never afraid to speak his mind.

"Then it had better live up for expectations," teased Marinette.

Damian smiled at her as he held open the door to the restaurant. "It will."

As Damian led Marinette to a booth in the back of the restaurant Marinette caught sight of the reflection of her little group in one of the windows. There was a look on Jon's face that Marinette wasn't sure how to interpret. He had a smile on his face, but it wasn't the joking smile Marinette saw a lot of in the car. It was more of an indulgent smile, giving Marinette the sensation that Jon knew something that she didn't. Marinette wanted to turn around and ask him what it meant, but part of her brain begged her not to ruin this budding friendship before it had even begun.

Marinette had only known Damian and Jon for twenty minutes but already had the strangest feeling that there was a connection between them, some sort of relationship that needed nothing more than a little bit of shown vulnerability to create a deep bond. The only thing Marinette could think to liken it to was love at first sight, but it was beyond that. This wasn't infatuation or obsession (both of which Marinette knew well from her days of crushing over Adrien). This was deeper. This was the knowledge that Damian and Jon had seen her vulnerability and had embraced it, showing vulnerability in their own way. Neither boy had said it out loud, but given that they had both closed themselves off from physical affection as soon as they were in public, Marinette made the assumption that any sort of public display of affection was off-limits to them anywhere that the tabloids could see. It put the fact that they had been incredibly open about their relationship in a new light. It reassured Marinette that she wasn't just imagining their connection. Damian and Jon must have felt similarly about her to be able to talk to her about their relationship.

"Marinette?" Damian spoke her name, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts.

Marinette blushed. "Sorry, I tend to daydream a lot."

Damian smirked. "I'm aware. You almost wandered right into traffic the last time I caught you daydreaming."

Jon stifled a laugh. "What could you possibly be thinking of that would make you so focused that you managed to ignore the traffic right in front of you?"

Marinette launched herself into a spiel about her newest design inspiration, explaining as she went that she was incredibly passionate about fashion and designs and that her designs often had her zoning out for hours at a time. Jon and Damian looked so interested in her explanation that Marinette blushed, not used to having anyone's undivided attention.

Marinette wasn't yet certain where she stood with Damian and Jon in terms of the relationship between the three of them, but she couldn't wait to find out.

@maribatmarch-2k21

[renegadewangs]

Van Zieks - the Examination, part 5

Warnings: SPOILERS for The Great Ace Attorney: Chronicles. Additional warning for racist sentiments uttered by fictional characters (and screencaps to show these sentiments).

Disclaimer: (see Part 1 for the more detailed disclaimer.) - These posts are not meant to be taken as fact. Everything I’m outlining stems from my own views and experiences. If you believe that I’ve missed or misinterpreted something, please let me know so I can edit the post accordingly. -The purpose of these posts is an analysis, nothing more. Please do not come into these posts expecting me to either defend Barok van Zieks from haters, nor expecting me to encourage the hatred. - I’m using the Western release of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles for these posts, but may refer to the original Japanese dialogue of Dai Gyakuten Saiban if needed to compare what’s said. This also means I’m using the localized names and localized romanization of the names to stay consistent. -It doesn’t matter one bit to me whether you like Barok van Zieks or dislike him. However, I will ask that everyone who comments refrains from attacking real, actual people.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

It’s time to return to the first game for case 5, The Unspeakable Story!

Episode 5: The Unspeakable Story – Part 1

Prepare yourselves, this is a big one! So big, even, that I'm going to have to split it into two parts. Fortunately, we can skip over the entire Investigation segment, because virtually none of it is relevant to Van Zieks. In fact, we don't even learn Van Zieks is the prosecutor until we enter the courtroom and see him standing there. Somehow, no one thought to ask who Ryu would be facing. What we do learn during the Investigation is confirmation that McGilded was indeed a lying scumbag who murdered Thrice-fired Mason. He asked Gina to lie for him in a court of law, too. So indeed, Ryu backed the wrong horse in The Runaway Room and Van Zieks was right to suspect the defense of deceit. He was wrong in how he worded half his arguments, though.

An extra thing worth noting is that after the conversation in which the blood is found on Gina's coat and the truth of McGilded comes out, it's revealed that Gregson was hiding nearby in the shadows. He insists he didn't eavesdrop and only just walked in, but it's implied much later in the trial that he knew about the blood on the coat. This means that Gregson is, from this point on, holding the full knowledge that McGilded was McGuilty in the omnibus murder.

So into the courtroom we go, where it is shown we're facing Van Zieks. (And nobody is surprised, because who else would it have been? Auchi?) It is now two months after the Runaway Room and the two Clouded Kokoro cases, so immediately upon starting the trial, the judge basically asks Van Zieks whether he's gone insane- in his own words, that is. First he asks how many years it's been since Van Zieks retired, to which Van Zieks replies that it's been five. The judge notes that Van Zieks resurfaced rather suddenly two months ago, (then basically handled three cases in a single week,) and showed up again today.

HAH. I love how on the nose this judge is when it comes to dissing the prosecution. He goes on to state that Van Zieks used to deal exclusively in matters concerned with 'the highest echelons of society and government', yet today he's trying 'a simple case of burglary and murder'. We already learned this from Gregson in case 1-4, but it's nice to have it repeated again.

Van Zieks replies that there's two things he cannot abide: “Wealthy scoundrels who hide behind a mask of philanthropy-” (hi McGilded!) and... “Secondly- even more loathsome... Those wily scoundrels who masquerade as allies only to effect total betrayal in the final hour.”

So that settles it then. He's specifically taken on his three most recent cases because there were Japanese people involved. He's also outright admitting that which Ryu had already guessed: Van Zieks hates Japanese people and going by his wording (“betrayal”, etc.) he has some bad experiences. Ryu wonders whether that 'torrid look of hatred' in Van Zieks's eyes is directed at him or at all Japanese people. Frankly, I think that in a subconscious sense, it's neither. The way I see it, that torrid look of hatred is directed at a man who died ten years ago. But I'll get back to this when it's time to address the backstory. The judge finds that an “alarmingly scathing explanation”, but welcomes the Reaper of the Bailey back to court all the same.

I love the implication that Van Zieks can apparently just come and go as he pleases in terms of prosecuting. Retirement can just be upturned on a whim and he's allowed to choose any case he wants. Who even is keeping him informed on which cases are happening and who the defense is? Is there a Chief Prosecutor in play we don't know about or is Stronghart slipping notes into his letterbox? Or has Van Zieks been entering the prosecutor's office every day for the past two months, demanding to hear news of 'that Nipponese attorney'?

So anyway, Van Zieks lays out the opening statement, pours himself a glass of wine, accuses Ryu of jumping to conclusions and reveals that he has witnesses. Remember when he threw aside his cloak halfway into 1-3 and it was seen as a big deal? … Yeah. It's not much anymore, now. He gets rid of it before the first witnesses have even taken the stand. The guys called forth are literal criminals who happened to break into the scene of the crime and, according to Van Zieks, “will face trial in the very near future” for their “various trespasses”. Alright, so he's acknowledging he's called forth some sketchy witnesses, but considers the murder itself far more sinister than their burglary.

Ryu manages to prove the taller Skulkin brother fired a gun at the crime scene and in doing so, struck poor innocent (S)Holmes. (Ryu presents a picture of a blood-stained calendar with a bullet in it to prove this, yet ten minutes later, he'll present the exact same picture and the entire court will act as if they'd never seen it before. Awkwaaard.) Van Zieks pours himself another glass of wine, toasts to Ryu's incompetence and later has another micro-aggression:

Scumbag points! And also possibly hilarious foreshadowing if he's referring to either Asogi Sr. or Mikotoba here. Though it's hard to say how well acquainted Van Zieks was with (S)Holmes and his partner roughly 16 to 10 years ago. Anyway, Van Zieks flings another chalice and basically admits that he already knew these two criminals gunned down (S)Holmes, but made a deal with them not to get into that. Though technically, Ryu was the one who got into it by proving it in court, so Van Zieks didn't break any unscrupulous deals. And maybe he was even expecting Ryu to do so? Maybe that's why he was pushing Ryu to present evidence? Either way, Van Zieks now owes 'his Nipponese friend' a word of gratitude, since he helpfully confirmed the two brothers couldn't possibly have shot the victim. Only one bullet was fired from their pistol, after all, and if it hit (S)Holmes it couldn't possibly have killed Windibank.

Van Zieks proceeds to “take a moment to consider the aforementioned Great Detective, Mr. Sholmes” (KEEP THIS LINE IN MIND), and brings up the security cameras (S)Holmes planted at the pawnshop so that he can present a picture of the defendant waving a pistol at the victim. Why didn't he present this evidence immediately instead of asking two shady burglars to testify? Who even knows, man. He's being erratic, just as the judge said. The jurors have seen enough and vote guilty, so it's time for a Summation Examination! Van Zieks poured himself another glass of wine before Ryu even asserted his right to that, because he knew it was coming. He has to stand in silence and so he will drink.

(Juror No 1, aka Mr. Garrideb, proceeds to piss me off by oggling the maid juror. I thought the whole point of this character was that his wife misunderstood and jumped to conclusions; that she's been punishing him wrongfully since he does indeed love her and will stand by her side no matter what, but apparently not.) Some tomfoolery later, we require the prosecution's help to prove stereoscopes are just as cool as wireless telegraphy.

I honestly think it's hilarious that he's meant to stay silent but has broken that rule several times, so now we're taunting him by asking him a direct question during the Examination. So after it's been proven the two criminals moved some stuff around inside the pawnshop, four jurors vote not-guilty and the trial continues. The two witnesses get called back to the stand and---

… Okay. So he definitely is against perjury. He seems to hate it, even. He apparently keeps giving them the evil eye as they testify, intimidating Ringo into telling the truth. But I just can't shake the memory of him feeding a lie to Shamspeare in Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro. Also, the game very much caught me off guard during this testimony when I presented a piece of evidence which wasn't correct, but instead of leading to a penalty led me to a unique set of dialogue not found when presenting other wrong evidence. That is to say, I presented a picture of Gina holding the sole gun to disprove the testimony that both she and Windibank were wielding guns, which led to:

Isn't that what we often do in these games? Van Zieks clearly hasn't been paying attention. Anyway, the judge points out that so long as I couldn't prove that Gina was still holding the only gun some time later, when Windibank was shot, the evidence wasn't relevant. So I had to present the picture of Windibank's body (not holding a gun) instead. Ryu manages to point out through that picture that the Skulkin brothers were lying and-

OKAY OKAY. I GET IT. Van Zieks hates perjury with a burning passion and Memoirs of the Clouded Kokoro messed up. The trial continues on to the point where Ryu manages to suggest that the Skulkin brothers shot Windibank and Gina then locked the door to save herself. At first Van Zieks is shocked at the notion, but after Ryu details his logic, he just puts his hands down on the desk and chuckles.

This is the first time we see something close to laughter from him, and it's not even really laughter. It's just a malicious, bitter little noise. In fact, we've never seen him smile. He's not even smiling now, as he cackles. That's a stark contrast from other prosecutors, who all smile/smirk as they gloat. Barok's facial expression barely changes at all. Are they building up to something? Anyway, the judge wonders why Van Zieks finds this amusing, as he found the argument quite persuasive himself. Van Zieks pours himself another glass of wine and says:

“But such blatantly malicious conjuring tricks amount to nothing more than inexcusable pettifoggery here. Because you see, it contains a fatal flaw!”

Scumbag points! He then proceeds to imply all the members of the jury are too dimwitted to count (as he flings his chalice). Bullets, that is. There were two bullets found at the crime scene and there were two guns recovered, each having fired one bullet. So if the Skulkin brothers had shot (S)Holmes, they couldn't possibly have shot Windibank as well.

Bye wine bottle, rip person sitting behind him. Van Zieks proceeds to slander Gina for being “far from a law-abiding citizen” and having “a past riddled with criminal misconduct”. To further illustrate his point, he presents a piece of evidence that the defendant attempted to steal the day beforehand, not with the subtlety of a pickpocket but by brute force and brazen impudence. Gregson loses it at this point, shouting out a loud “Hold it!” before losing his nerve and stammering his way through his protest. He mentions that there was a meeting with the prosecution service where it was agreed that piece of evidence wouldn't be used. Ryu is baffled and thinks this:

And now I'm baffled as well, because thinking back on it... Yes, Gregson has talked about Van Zieks before in Investigation segments and has been called in to testify, but as far as I can recall, he hasn't ever addressed Van Zieks directly. Fascinating stuff. Van Zieks says he's unaware of this meeting- probably because he found out Ryu's defending later on and snatched this case up at the last second. Perhaps even took it from the originally-assigned prosecutor with brute force and brazen impudence. Gregson insists that 'the government bigwigs' were very insistent about not using the disc as evidence, to which Van Zieks says:

Good gracious, Van Zieks is a loose cannon! … Or wait, maybe he's a reckless renegade? Or is he perhaps a prosecutor on the edge with nothing to lose? (Alright, put on a pot of coffee- we're gonna get to the bottom of this!) ...Either way, the prosecution thinks it's sufficiently made its case by establishing motive, opportunity and baseness of character.

OY! I thought you don't read third-rate detective stories! But Iris specifically wrote that line into existence, so he must have. Me thinks we've got a closet Adventures of (S)Herlock (S)Holmes fan on our hands, here. The jury buys into his slander, votes guilty, Iris accuses him of being mean and Ryu enters Summation Examination mode a second time.

Oh he knows what he's in for. He knows. Several minutes of talking about bullets later, the topic of (S)Holmes's waist pouch is brought up and Iris wonders whether perhaps the bullet hit one of the glass vials with flammable content. Van Zieks suddenly speaks up with an “If I may...”, catching the startled attention of Ryu in particular.

“I should inform the defence that I have the pouch in question in the antechamber outside the courtroom. As I understand it, when the police arrived on the scene and found Mr Sholmes injured, they removed the pouch in order to assess the wound. Since then, it has been in my safekeeping along with all other evidence relating to the case. I can personally vouch for the fact that it has not been touched since the incident occurred.”

This whole plotline cracks me up with how little sense it makes, considering the position of this pouch on (S)Holmes's outfit. But I'm not here to criticize plot-convenience of evidence, so let's move on and look at what's actually happening here. The defense is discussing possibilities with the jurors in hopes of changing their minds towards a not-guilty and instead of keeping silent, as he's supposed to during this moment, Van Zieks actively speaks up to admit he has a piece of evidence which may be of assistance. It's entirely possible that the pouch would have all three vials intact and thereby dismiss the theory that the bullet hit one of them, but... Regardless of whether he remembers seeing a broken vial with his own eyes, he's taking a risk by showing the pouch. He could've played by the Summation Examination rules, kept his mouth shut and then later when it comes out he had the pouch all along, just remind everyone he wasn't allowed to speak. That's what most prosecutors would've done. Naturally, it's revealed there was indeed a broken vial and some scorched leather, and even closer examination reveals a third bullet we can present to the jurors.

Scumbag point! So with all the confusion on the third bullet and the implication of there being a third gun, the judge does something pretty extraordinary. He doesn't wait for the jurors to change their leaning and instead actually suspends the Summation Examination until the matter is cleared up. This implies any judge has the power to overrule juror leanings, at the very least during Summation Examination, when they feel the case presented by the counsels is lacking important details. Anyway, closing argument on hold for now and the Skulkins return to the stand. Barok looks them straight in the eyes with his usual evil eye and asks them whether the third gun is one of theirs. When that's denied, he asks whether they had an accomplice, which is also denied. And it's kind of funny, because only a few minutes later when Ryu implies they had an accomplice, we get this line:

“Yet in all that time, there has been not a murmur of a third man. If this apparently wraithlike being exists...” pause for chalice crush... “The court must be shown hard evidence!”

But Van Zieks was the one who questioned the Skulkins about an accomplice earlier, so... Indeed, we don't have evidence, but the murmur was definitely already there. So now the prosecution wants two things: evidence there was a third person on the scene and their identity. The game prompts two options: Either present an answer to the prosecution's demands or, y'know, don't. Naturally I chose the latter option to see what happens and it goes about as well as you'd expect. Ryu stutters and trails off, Van Zieks notes the defense is unable to complete a sentence, let alone provide credible answers... Iris takes the place of Susato in telling Ryu off for faltering, so Ryu desperately tries to catch himself and push his argument. Van Zieks says: “So, my Nipponese friend, despite the swimming eyes you seem to think you have something to say...”

PENALTY FROM THE PROSECUTION, oh how I've missed you. Loading up the savegame and choosing the first option actually also leads to the exact same line of “so, my Nipponese friend, despite the swimming eyes you seem to think you have something to say...”, just with a slightly different posture and followed up with the words “this promises to be interesting.” Ryu presents the blood sample on the calendar once more and as I said before, the court acts as if they've never seen this picture before. Hilarious. Van Zieks asks why the blood is depicted as green and Ryu explains it's because of a new chemical (S)Holmes invented. The green blood is then linked to Eggert Benedict through the music disc. The court gets very excited, but much like the skin prints in case 2-2, this isn't admissible evidence. Van Zieks says “this has gone on long enough now. This flagrant ignorance of the mechanics of law.”

“The protagonist in a series of short stories for the vulgar classes. A god of detection or some such. And now you employ chemical substances devised by this fantastical persona in the highest court in the land? Do you expect us to take you seriously? The samples made by this plaything are not fit to be called evidence.”

These lines! I had a quick look at both Scarlet Study's and Taisa's scripts, and there Van Zieks outright accuses (S)Holmes of being a fictional character. He doesn't actually diss the stories themselves though, nor is there anything similar to that plaything line. He only says the chemical itself is 'rubbish'. What ultimately kills me is the “Yes, I’ve heard the name” as if this is the first time it’s being uttered in the courtroom. Let's be merciful here and take case 2-2 out of the equation. Yes, (S)Holmes is mentioned several times there, they establish the two have some sort of history and he even enters the courtroom at one point to address Van Zieks directly, but that case was developed after this one so accidental retcon is bound to happen. No, let's look solely at the cases in the first game. (S)Holmes has been mentioned several times throughout the course of this trial, even by Van Zieks himself. Even better, Van Zieks was the one to present photographs taken by one of (S)Holmes's playthings earlier on. OOPS.

Ryu enters despair mode because there really is no way to prove that the color green is unique to Eggert Benedict, nor would it be accepted as evidence to begin with. But that's okay, because much like the skin prints in 2-2, it was never about having it filed as official evidence. It was about influencing the jury and as Iris so smartly points out, the Summation Examination was suspended earlier. This means that technically, it's still going on. It doesn't matter what the prosecution or the judge thinks of (S)Holmes's invention, it only matters what the jurors think, as they now have the power to force the trial to continue. Naturally, the majority votes not-guilty. Van Zieks objects rather ferociously. “My lord, with all due respect, this is an outrage! The prosecution refuses to accept this decision!” (heehee, I really enjoy these lines. With all due respect, indeed.) The judge asks on what grounds the prosecution is objecting, and Van Zieks says:

“Then they are too ignorant to be trusted with the judgement of anyone's guilt!”

Gosh, he really doesn't enjoy how 'gullible' the jurors are, does he? Or rather, he gets frustrated when the jurors begin to think for themselves instead of taking the prosecution's word for it. The judge sets Van Zieks straight by basically reminding him that this is how the court works.

It is so satisfying to watch him squirm. Van Zieks wants us to play by the court's rules, so we're playing by the court's rules and now he's got no more comebacks. This is it folks, we're subpoena-ing Egg Benedict! He does indeed show up to court after a brief intermission and reveals his true name to be Ashley Graydon. Graydon expresses haughty dismay that the highest court of the land was swayed by some self-professed detective's homemade tincture. Van Zieks tells him it was the will of the jury, and their great British justice system demands that the jury's will is upheld. Graydon calls the jury members inept, as Van Zieks has done many times before, but agrees to testify. Ryu attempts to needle this guy several times by asserting he was definitely at the crime scene, but indeed, the blood sample doesn't count as evidence and Ryu doesn't really have anything else to back him up. Van Zieks oh-so-kindly reminds him that the obligation to prove the defense's assertion lies with, well, the defense. Eventually we do get there and Graydon starts making up some bullshit story about how he met McGilded in a gentlemen's club and bonded with him over unique music box music, so that's what that disc was. Van Zieks points out that Yard have indeed been gathering items believed to have been McGilded's property, presumably to aid their investigations. Gregson once again loses his composure here and tries to shut the conversation down.

Gregson and Van Zieks continue to banter back and forth about how Gregson is definitely not allowed to talk about these things and Van Zieks should also know better than to pry. Even Ryu thinks it's strange the two of them are bickering like that. Anyway, we're not allowed to discuss the McGilded stuff, so back to Graydon and his breaking and entering! Van Zieks asserts that if the police confiscated the disc beforehand and Graydon saw this happen, there was no reason for him to break into the pawnshop anymore.

Oooh, that's some tasty triumph over Van Zieks's ignorance! Ryu brings up the second item pawned by McGilded, a 'small box'. Van Zieks insists that no such thing was stolen from the pawnshop and he can prove it, since he has a picture of the shelves from before the break-in and one from after the break-in. You know, the pictures taken by that idiot detective's silly little plaything! Through the magic of stereoscopes (or the 3D Slider in the 3DS version), Ryu can see that a small box was moved.

It's absolutely hilarious that most of the court has to go cross-eyed to do the stereoscope thing and then there's Van Zieks, with a fancy stereoscope device that he just happened to have with him in a trial he couldn't possibly predict would require a stereoscope. He's so extra! Ryu asserts that if the box was moved, they have to raise the question of what was inside it and send the Yard to retrieve that thing at once. Van Zieks objects, saying that “some little box belonging to a man who died two months ago can't possibly be relevant to this trial.” The judge doesn't see it his way, though, and overrules his objection. Nice! So officers are dispatched to Baker Street to fetch the box and Van Zieks grumbles to himself about being hoodwinked by a farce.

The judge once again doesn't take kindly to Van Zieks's attitude problems and I love this. I can't wait for the prosecution to be penalized, because it feels like it's right around the corner here. Van Zieks elaborates that this whole thing is nothing but a smoke screen; a Nipponese specialty. Scumbag points for this one! I can't entirely connect this to Professor foreshadowing, I think it's just him being petty. Either way, he's going to jump through hoops now. Mere minutes ago he established that the Yard is still investigating McGilded's stuff and the 'aftermath' of his activities, but he's flipping it all over now. He begins to talk about how McGilded died two months ago, immediately after the trial in which he was found not-guilty.

“So I propose a toast. To my learned friend, and his most... insightful defense.”

So the logic being used here now is that McGilded was a fine, upstanding citizen and anything he pawned was truly innocent/ordinary, so why would someone want to steal it? The only way to prove that there's more to these items than might be apparent would be for Ryu to reveal that the acquittal was a mistake and the defense's argument was based on false information. They all suspected this two months ago, though. It was made abundantly clear that the only reason McGilded walked free was because nobody could say for certain whether the evidence was tampered with. Either way, Ryu's cornered now and wondering to himself whether Van Zieks knows the items in question are related to the omnibus murder. He probably does. He has access to the evidence, which means he has access to to the pawn tickets which hold some very specific dates on them.

The game gives Ryu an option whether or not to have Gina testify about what happened two months ago, but this option isn't real. If you choose 'leave it', Ryu still decides within two lines of dialogue that they have to uncover the truth. There's no penalty for stalling. So Ryu calls for Gina to testify and Van Zieks definitely knows what's up.

“In particular, the impact it will have on the accused's standing... And indeed your own.”

So this is a warning, clear and simple. Van Zieks knows shit will hit the fan. Or, as he later phrases it, it will bring the court down around Ryu's ears. But Ryu insists upon the testimony, the prosecution agrees and Gina is put on the stand. The judge tells Graydon he can step down, Graydon promptly sees this as an excuse to leave and bids them all a good day, but Van Zieks tells him to wait.

Oh, this... I like this. By now, Van Zieks has caught on to Ryu's little trick of watching the reactions from other witnesses during testimonies. He's purposely making Graydon stand there and listen to Gina's testimony just in case he reacts in such an overdramatic way, Ryu can pursue it. Iiinteresting! Now it seems as if he's on our side, but we're not quite there yet. Before Gina can begin her testimony, Van Zieks reminds her that if it turns out she willfully withheld information two months ago, she'll be prosecuted for perjury. That's just an intimidation technique to get her not to reveal what she withheld. … Which is weird, because you'd think Van Zieks would want her to spill those beans. Either way, with some encouragement from Ryu and Iris, Gina begins to talk about the lies she told. Aaand we're ending the essay here for now, because we're only about halfway into this disaster of a trial and the plot will only thicken from here on out. Stay tuned for part 2 of The Unspeakable Story!

[of-tatooine]

honor him. | chapter 5 - second nature

a simple assassination contract takes an unexpected turn.

This was where it all ended, but in many ways no one could fathom, where it all began.

Dunwall Tower had been where reigns started and ended, whether legendary or calm. Where calculated coup attempts took place, some successful, some condemned to death. Where the law that governed the citizens all across the Empire was made, where nobles and aristocrats and the like raced their voices during court. The gardens of the vast Tower used to be open for the general public to visit and relax in, though they were sealed off again during the late Empress’s reign - you guessed it was the Royal Protector’s order, to ensure the Empress was protected against any impromtu attempts against her life and rule.

Sadly, that had not been enough to keep the blade from killing her in the end, hence led to the new Lord Regent taking new precautions, many out of sheer paranoia, over the months.

From the rooftop you were perched up on for the last couple hours, you had a front-row view of the new installments the Regent had added to the once gleaming tower. By the Void, you were sure the entire city of Dunwall could spot the creepy-looking, steel installment of a safe chamber on the rightmost wing of the tower, along with the numerous tallboys venturing around the entire premises to spot any intruders. Being one of the very limited number of people who knew the truth behind this grand coup, seeing those additional structures made you want to tear them all down with fire and smoke. It made your blood boil to see the man guilty of all this chaos stay safe in his high-up tower while the entire city, the city he seemingly ruled, bled from their eyes.

So much had changed in the Tower District since the last time you were around. Witnessing the consequences of your actions first-hand as you roamed through the rooftops of Dunwall did nothing but deepen the crack in your pained soul. Under the purple and orange lights that the city’s pretty sunsets offered, the plague victims who sneezed and coughed and vomited in the back alleys proved to be a stark contrast. It was a city of opposites after all - across the river, a little further down the shore was a gentleman’s club, surprisingly accompanied by the close proximity of the Office of the High Overseer. A city where the poor wept under the doorsteps of the rich and noble.

And yet there you were, tasked with the mission of ending another noble life.

This would not be your first aristocrat who tasted your blade, nor would it be the last by the looks of things. Before, during your days of following your master’s orders without failure or divergence, killing anyone had been easy. A very well-trained assassin like yourself did not even bother shutting their eyelids after your target was on the floor, gargling on their own blood. Never before did you have any doubts.

This certain Pendleton, brother however, would be different.  Your fellow assassins had delivered the innocent and pure Lady Emily, only a little child, to his forsaken brothers a mere four months ago. Over the years, rumors had been spiraling around that the three Pendleton brothers,the very three banes of aristocracy, had not been getting along well - with Morgan and Custis siding off together to keep their mining business running, the number of people they have enslaved and tortured only known by the Outsider. The very same two brothers who knew the location of the little heiress.

Brothers would be brothers - they would fight, bicker and argue, but they shared secrets. You hoped Pendleton would not be so shy to let you know what he knew before you put a blade through him.

Roaming on the rooftops came as second nature to you, with so much time spent running from tacklers and stray gang members looking for their preys for the night. It was liberating, to feel the breeze ghost over your overcoat, with the muffled sounds of your stealth boots across the tiles. That night had not been different - despite the numerous plans and kill scenarios going on in your mind, it was a short-lived blessing to be able to sneak and transverse across the rooftops as the illuminated Parliament building loomed in front of you, overlooking a vast square encircled with apartment buildings - no doubt occupied by the affluent who had influence on the court.

The previous adventures you had as a Whaler had brought you over to this part of town many times, so the horizontally stretched-out architecture with many ornate windows and well-kept white stone walls did not intimidate you like it had the first time. The long, red banners draped across the exterior, with none other than the Lord Regent’s silhouette pasted on them did, however. It should have been the light blue, golden-encrusted silk adorning the walls instead, their memory still fresh and aching from that wretched day when they stopped swaying in the wind.

That beautiful blue, reminiscent of clear skies, was the fragment of your memory that kept you on the drive to reach the little Empress, somehow, sometime.

Senses in your body were awakened as you crouched at the edge of a balcony, closer to the ground level but with a clear vantage point for the huge wooden doors. There exited two figures, their clothes and faces illuminated by the ever-blinding streetlights installed by the City Watch. The thinner, slightly taller one clad in finely-tailored ivory garments you could discern a mile away - your target. The muscular one clad in uniform on his side, however, you had yet to meet. Unknown pawns and intruders in any mission had been a huge risk, and you needed to see if you could get that nobleman alone.

Other members of the Parliament, slowly yet surely, started walking out of the double doors, following the pair’s lead as they descended the stairs after the session ended.

Some would head to their homes to their wives and kids, some would head to bars to drink their woes away. Yet your attention was on the pair of men, who were headed towards a back alley, their body language rigid and somewhat eluding.

Like they had something to hide. Needed some place to talk privately.

Behind the mask, you would raise your eyebrow in intrigue. What would Pendleton have to do with some uniform for them to head over to the back of an ale house to talk? Playing court politics was not exactly your particular area of expertise, you had been a foreigner to Gristol after all, but you knew this much - if it meant a secluded and hushed talk in a dark corner, it was more than just games played to win votes.

Making your way as you followed their movements albeit on the leverage that the roof provided, you spot them stopping near a row of wooden barrels, without a soul in sight while you loomed over to eavesdrop.

“So you think he will make it out? No one’s ever done that before, Admiral... this could either make or break us,” Pendleton spoke lowly, running a hand over his face in thought.

The supposed Admiral nodded, albeit hints of worry were etched in the slow movement. “He’s our only hope. We cannot go and save her ourselves - our reputation would tatter, and we need your nobility to work in our favor,” the man spoke in a gruff voice pensively, his arms crossed as he took a couple wandering steps around. His steps were calculated and had a certain rigidness to them, his tone of speech exuding authority - everything about him screamed some sort of military training background, which made him a little more dangerous to the mission for any normal assassin, but not for someone in your caliber.

Pendleton would let out a sigh followed by a slight shrug, crossing his arms to match his companion. “We would need someone on the inside, someone to unlock his cell when the time is right. Martin would know who to bribe. The man has more connections than me and I am the noble one...” he would say, sounding somewhat willing to co-operate with the Admiral.

As a professional assassin, you could care less what crime your victim was trying to plot next, let it be a near impossible one of infiltrating Coldridge. You just needed to get him alone, slit his throat and get paid -

“Good call. Though I give Corvo a one out of five chance of escaping, it is worth our efforts.”

The silent breath got hitched in your throat. 

The mention of his name stopped you dead in your tracks, your heart starting to beat faster and faster out of your chest. So that was who they were breaking out of prison, that explained the quick and straight to the point nature of the conversation as well - his life would cease in less than two months at the hands of the prison executioner. Every single plan needed to be made in utmost haste and total precision.  

Your mind then would drift to the Royal Protector, him in those noble clothes that were no doubt tattered by then, defending the Empress moments before her death, sending your assassin friends to their demise with his pistol.

The man who had nothing to do with this conspiracy, thrown on a dishonorable road, probably tortured every single day in that hole for a crime he did not commit. Who had everything taken away from him. If given the opportunity, you knew he would make it, you knew he would live - he had always been strong, so very strong to beat any opponent.

It sparked a glimmer of hope inside you, knowing that there were men out there in high places, planning to restore the rightful order in the Empire and bring back the innocent.

It only was a big shame that you were sent to kill one of them.

Noticing the conversation ending for the time being with the Admiral parting his way from the noble, your trained senses came back into play as you furrowed your eyebrows in full concentration. Your mind worked at an impeccable pace, combinations of different plans and scenarios going in them as you settled on one. The eavesdropping had given you so much information, and you would be a fool not to use them to your advantage, so you took off your mask in a quick motion before strapping it onto your belt - you would not need to hide your identity for what you were about to do.

Following the Lord onto the street, you would see him walking into his apartment, hastily making your way to his bedroom balcony through your well-performed transversals. Like any other elite assassin, you took your time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike your target and fulfill your contract at once. There he was, without a clue of what was bound to come, of what was lurking in the shadows for him - with his back turned to you, his hands rummaging through his vast chestnut dresser in search of something.

Perfect.

With your hand on your trusted blade, your quick yet quiet feet thanks to your padded boots would carry you over through the richly-decorated master bedroom, to be positioned right behind him, sneaking up on him with such ease. A swift and expertly controlled movement later, you would feel his breath get caught in his bulging throat as your cold steel rested against his unshaven skin.

“One move and I start cutting.”

[xxjust-tiredxx]

Chapter One: You Be My Hero, And I'll Be Yours

"Full Cowling! 15%!"

A green-haired teen by the name of Izuku Midoriya was training at the U.A dormines. The current time was 9: 23 pm and he was training his body to handle the power of One For All. He had just gone through the pain of the death of the Pro Hero Nighteye, it was also the day when he decided.

"Haa!" His yell catches the attention of his peers as they look through the window to see what was happening with the greenie. He had just kicked through boulder with his 'shoot style' leaving it to bits and pieces.

"Looks like Midoriya is out training again." Commented a spiky red haired teen as he watched his friend punch a hole through a tree.

"But I'm getting worried. He's been using all his free time training. One time, Aizawa-sensei even had to restrain him." Came a voice from floating invisible clothes.

"It's not surprising...not after his death..." Muttered the redhead as the room got gloomy and tense. Not many students knew Nighteye well but they could definitely see the effect it had on Midoriya. From waking up 4:00 in the morning to 10:00 at night he would take every chance to train. He probably would've gone longer if the 'Lights out' schedule weren't at 10:00 pm.

"Maybe we should talk to him...?" Mina advised with the tone of concern escaping from her lips.

"That would be better than letting darkness consume him." Tokoyami spoke up agreeing with Mina's idea.

Everyone than began chatting on ways to cheer up Midoriya and Miriro. After all, the death of his sensei hit him pretty hard too, even if he refused show it. However a single onyx-eyed girl kept her eyes glued to the training boy outside.

Momo Yaoyorozu. Class president after Midoriya handed the position to her and made Iida class rep. She wasn't close to Midoriya. They only time they 'talked,' was with the plan of saving Katsuki Bakugou after he was kidnapped by the League Of Villains.

When she first saw Midoriya, she thought he wouldn't get far. Yes his quirk was powerful but with that recoil it was impossible to be a hero. But over the months, time and time again her option of the teen changed. USJ, risking his life to save Asui and Mineta, and even jumping in front of a Nomu to save All Might. At first she didn't know about his weak form but looking back at it now having the information about the Nomu Factory attack, Midoriya most likely new about All Mights weak form the beginning and risked his life.

On top of that there was him winning the sports festival. He beat Todoroki when he was using both ice and fire. He was pretty banged up after the fight and was almost pulled out of the fight with Bakugou but with taking extreme measures from Recovery Girl he turned out exhausted. Bakugou knew this and they decided they would end it with one attack, Midoriya ending up as the winner at the price for falling unconscious for a week.

Then there was Stain incident. The famous villain known for killing and taking out heroes out of the job labed Midoriya as a "True Hero" while she wasted time with Uwabami.

Camp, saving Bakugou, Ultimate moves, Shiketsu High, Rescue exercise, and saving Eri. Every single one Midoriya had taken control unconsciously leading everyone as everyone followed. She noticed everyone felt confront in his plans and words, including herself. Until the point she became curious.

What shocked her the most was I-Island. He was able to catch up to THE All Might. The number one hero. Sure he was most likely weakened but that is most definitely an impressive feat.

Just who was Izuku Midoriya? What was his past like? Why did he choose to become a hero? What makes him so trusting? Ever since saving Eri she found herself asking these questions. She was just too curious.

"Yaoyorozu-san?" The voice snapped the pony-tailed girl out of her trance and bringing her back to the real world. She turned her head making eye contact with Asui. "Everything alright? Kero~"

Yaoyorozu gave a reassuring nod. "There's nothing wrong. Just worried about Midoriya-san."

"Well, we have a much more important matter coming up." Iida spoke catching everyone's attention. "The school festival."

"I forgot already! Aizawa-sensei just brought it up today too!" Sero exclaimed as Koda nodded with an equally shocked expression.

"Sensei said we could vote on what we're doing tomorrow so no need to get focused on it now. Kero~"

"Honestly I'm kind of nervous! Everyone will be watching won't they?" Toru exclaimed.

Ochako nodded deep in thought. She was nervous but for a completely different reason. It was about Midoriya. Of course everyone worried about him but she had realized something.

"You're totally like him!"

Mina's words echoed inside her head as she floated into the air in embarrassment while denying her feelings. But deep down, she knew she did. At first, she thought it was a fluke, but every time she looked at him her heart raced and her face got red.

"You like him, don't you?"

She denied it when Ayoma said it as well but soon ended up agreeing with him. That's why she decided she was going to confess to him at the school festival. Ochako wanted to confess after internships but things got complicated so she had to push back to the festival. She was going to confess knowing Midoriya was in a tough spot. It made her feel guilty, but she couldn't hide her feelings any longer.

"Well someone get Midoriya, It's almost 10:00 pm." Kaminari said seeing the time was '9:45 pm' on his phone.

Ochako was about to volunteer but someone beat her to it. "I will get Midoriya. All of you get some good night's rest. We have some big planning to do tomorrow."

Todoroki was the first to get up taking a final glance at his...friend Midoriya. The friend that saved him from himself and made him realize what was his. Leaving for his room, everyone else followed him parting for their rooms and saying goodnight, leaving Yaoyorozu alone.

"SMASH!"

The sudden yell snapped her out of her thoughts. She was staring at a shirtless Midoriya. He was much more chiseled than she thought. She examined his body, his toned six-pack, defined arms and calves, his green hair whipping around as he jumped tree to tree until he was a bolt of green lightning.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out. Her warning timer had gone off telling her it was 9:50 pm. "I've been staring at him for 5 minutes!?" She thought in shock. Placing down her phone, she walked outside to confront him.

"Midoriya-san!" Yaoyorozu called getting the greenie to stop moving and turn towards her.

"Yaoyorozu-san?" Midoriya spoke wondering why she was out here.

"It's late, you need to go to sleep before Sensei comes over."

"Five more minutes! Please!"

"I'm sorry Midoriya but I don't make the rules." She bit her lip wondering if she should tell him and decided to. "We're getting worried." She blurted out.

Midoriya's eyes widen in surprise. "Nani? ( What? )"

A tint of red spreads across her face in embarrassment. "G-gomenasai.( Sorry ) I didn't mean to blurt out. But all of us are getting worried. You train every chance you get, to the point were you one day collapsed. I know his death was hard but don't push yourself too hard. We're still first years."

He smiled softly in response making Yaoyorozu’s heart flutter. "I didn't mean to make you worried."

"A bit too late for that." Yaoyorozu cut in causing both of them to laugh. "I'm sorry, continue."

"As I was saying," Midoriya spoke putting his shirt back on. "I honestly didn't mean to make you worried. But I decided. At the moment of his death, I decided on the reason why I truly want to become a hero."

A small breeze past through the trees and bushes creating rustling noises. Midoriya's green hair and Yaoyorozu's ponytail blew softly in the breeze as the leaves fly past the two.

Midoriya clenched a fist. "I want to be a hero who saves people. Not just physically but mentally. Saving people from the hurt of losing someone close to them. I felt the pain of losing Nighteye, and so did many others." He makes eye-contact with Yaoyorozu, his emerald orbs sparking a fire of determination. "So I don't want anyone else to feel this pain. That's why I train. So I'm strong enough to fight against anything that stands in front of me."

It was Yaoyorozu's turn to smile softly as Midoriya's heart raced. She had just walked up to him placing a hand on his chest. "Us. All of us Midoriya. You're not alone, you never were. I'm sure all of us feel the same way so allow us to stand with you."

"Arigatou. ( Thank you ) I needed that."

Yaoyorozu removed her hand blushing. "No problem. L-let's go inside shall we?"

"R-right." As they both walked inside the U.A. dorms.

Behind a tree, a man with black hair tied up into a bun and red bloodshot eyes smiled. "So that's your reason. Not bad problem child...not bad at all." As he walked off with a smile on his face.

                                                     ✦✧✦✧✦✧✦

Everything was on fire, building collapsing and thick smoke covered the skies. Cries of help were all faded into the darkness. A helpless Midoriya lied across the floor covered in wounds and dark laughs were heard. He looks up to see a black skull mask. "All..For...One..." Midoriya groaned trying to get up but All For One crushed him by his foot.

"How does it feel Midoriya?" He questioned gestating to his fellow peers, each and every single one of them was badly injured and inches away from death. "Your weak, your bonds only got those you swore to protect hurt. Friendship and bonds? They're just meant to be shattered."

The weight of All For One's foot got heavier on Midoriya's back causing him to grunt in pain. But that pain quickly changed to horror when he saw it. A Nomu. The same Nomu from the USJ attack.

All For One shifted himself behind Midoriya so he was holding his head up by pulling back on his hair, forcing him to look at his injured peers. The Nomu moves towards the closest person, Yaoyorozu.

"Don't touch her bastard!" Midoriya yelled beginning to struggle but remained useless as the Nomu picked her up with a chokehold. Yaoyorozu weakly clawed against it's abnormal strength but her attempts never fazed the monster.

Midoriya yells turned into begging as the Nomu opened a palm around her head, they both knew what was coming next. She turned towards him, watching as tears rolled down his face. "Gomenasai Midoriya. That I wasn't strong enough."

With those words the Nomu wrapped his hand around her head, crushing it.

"YAOYOROZU!"

Midoriya yelled reaching out his arms and almost jumped out of his bed, sweat cover his face and body, his hands were shaking in fear clawing at his face. "It was just a dream..." Midoriya repeated those words over and over until he felt his heartbeat calm down. However his hands were still shaky.

Deciding he wouldn't be able to sleep, he got out of bed and went inside of the bathroom. Cold water flowed through his hands. He cupped them allowing it to rather until he splashed it on his face. Midoriya repeated this process until his hands finally stopped shaking.

He walked downstairs into the living room seeing nobody else there. "I don't think I woke anyone else up. I'm glad." Before he walked inside the living room he had changed into his casual white shirt that read 'shirt' and green shorts. Reaching the fridge he grabbed a bowl dumping 'Cinnamon Toast Crunch' side and began pouring milk.

"Midoriya-san?" A voice called getting the greenies attention. Turning his head, he sees a half asleep Yaoyorozu in a black nightgown.

"You really don't need the '-san,' Midoriya is just fine."

"Midoriya."

"Nani?"

"The milk."

He turns back to his bowl and it was completely overfilled with milk running down the counter. He quickly stopped pouring and capped the bottle. "I wasn't paying attention. My bad."

After cleaning up the mess, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu sat next to each other on the coach as they both ate their cereal. "What are you doing up so late?" She questioned after swallowing a spoonful of her cereal.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"Couldn't sleep." The onyx eyed girl replied. "I take it that you couldn't either?" He only nodded for a response gaining an awkward silence. "You have any idea for the festival?" Another silence and then she noticed Midoriya was gripping his spoon a little too hard. "Midoriya are you oka-"

She didn't finish when Midoriya placed his bowl down and pulled her into a hug. At first she had no idea what to do with her arms but then she felt something wet sting her shoulder. That's when she understood and wrapped her arms around him rubbing his back like a mother taking care of her child.

It took sometime before Midoriya calmed down and separated from the hug. "Gomenasai. I got my tears all over you." He apologized wiping his eyes with his hand.

"It's alright Midoriya. Sometimes we all have to let off some pain." Her eyes studied him watching him wipe his eyes, it was hard to tell in the darkness of the room but he actually had bags under his eyes. "Are you okay Midoriya?"

"Heiki. ( I'm fine )"

"You remember what I told you yesterday right? Let us help. Let me help. We're all worried."

Midoriya exhaled heavily through his nose deciding what to do. Making his choice, he took a deep breath and said the two words he had been holding back his whole life.

"I'm scared."

Yaoyorozu's eyes widen but said nothing for him to continue. "I don't mean for festival or anything like that. I mean...It's true that I train because of Nighteyes death but there's more to it. There's always the chance someone stronger is out there, possibly even stronger than All For One..."

The name brought shivers down her spine remembering the skull masked man. He was currently trapped in Tartarus but he caused destruction and panic in the short time he revealed himself. And the thought someone could be possibly stronger...

"All Might said I choose one person in Class 1-A about my secret...and I think I want you to be that person."

Once again Yaoyorozu was shocked at his words. "W-what about Uraraka?"

"She'll make a scene about it."

"Iida?"

"He'll get to worried and hold me back. I respect him but I don't want to burden him."

"Todoroki...?"

"He's still finding himself. There's no way I can place this on his shoulders."

"So why me?"

Midoriya interlocked his fingers tapping his thumbs together. "We don't know enough other much but I know you're not the time to make a scene but to respect others wishes. Yet in the short time we actually talked I felt calm and didn't worry about anything. My gut is telling me I can trust you." His emerald orbs met her onyx ones. "So will you hear my story?"

She gave a smile giving her full attention to him. "Mochiron. ( Of course )"

"Then let's go somewhere else. It would be bad if someone overheard."

So from then Midoriya took Yaoyorozu to Takoba Park and told her everything. Being quirkless, the sludge incident, All Might, One For All, his fated battle with All For One, all the way to here and now. "I...don't know what to say...You have definitely faced a lot on your own."

"Yeah...but it feels good getting that off my chest."

A silence filled the air, it wasn't awkward like before but just some time to take everything in. "Arigatou."

"For what?"

"For trusting me. I've been losing confidence ever since the fight with Tokoyami barely being able to slowly build it back up."

"Guess we both need our own heroes huh?"

"In that case. How about a deal."

Midoriya turned his head towards her. "What do you mean?"

"We both have our own problems and we need someone to lean on. So I was thinking we could be there for each other at anytime. You be my hero, and I'll be yours."

"Yoshi. ( Alright then )" Midoriya agreed with a smile on his face. "I'm counting on you."

Yaoyorozu gave her own smile. "Right. I'll be counting on you too then." Just then, Yaoyorozu's morning alarm went off making her turn on her phone. "Shoot! It's 6:00 am! We gotta get back to the dorms!"

Midoriya crouched down onto the sand. "Hop on."

She got on with no hesitation. If he could trust her, she could trust him. Green lightning consumed Midoriya as he began running down the streets. Air whipped around them and Yaoyorozu smiled feeling the cool morning air rush on her face.

In seconds, they had arrived at the U.A. dorms before anyone else could arrive downstairs. "Ohaiyou! ( Good Morning! )" Yaoyorozu spoke as Kirishima groggily entered the room.

"Ohaiyou." Kirishima greeted. Then everyone else followed along saying their 'Good morning's before sitting down.

"I'll be making breakfast today." Midoriya announced putting on a green apron.

"Eh? Midori! You can cook?" Mina exclaimed.

"More importantly, your not training?" Kaminari questioned. "Don't get we wrong, I'm glad your taking a break. Just surprising."

Midoriya just smiled tying a knot behind his back. "I just took some advice is all." He replied before walking off into the kitchen.

"Finally!" Toru sighed resting on the couch. "I'm glad someone got through to him."

"But who was it through?"

Ochako's eyes slightly widen at the question. She too was glad her crush had finally stopped pushing himself to the brink of collapse. But who was it? There was only one possible answer, after all, she was the only person who stayed back while everyone else went to bed.

Her eyes drifted to an unusually beaming Yaoyorozu. She was enterectic but today she seemed a bit more than usual. It also looked like she didn't get any sleep.

"Yaoyorozu-san?" Ochako spoke up catching the beaming teen off guard.

"Oh Uraraka, did you need something?"

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

The question surprised Yaoyorozu and clattering of pans were heard from the kitchen. "Heiki!"

The class laughed at Midoriya's antics while Bakugou just shook his head grinning. However their attention went back on Yaoyorozu awaiting for her answer. "N-no I didn't get any sleep last night. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Ochako stated a bit to quickly before falling quite.

"Anyways..." Mina spoke up before the awkward silence could roll in. "What are we gonna do for the festival?"

The question instantly brought spark in Class 1-A's eyes and everyone began throwing in ideas. "Maid Cafe!" A small teen shouted.

"Hentai... ( Pervert )" Jiro said moving away from the grape haired boy.

"Honestly it's not such a bag idea. But it's worse when M*neta is the one who proposed it."

"Hey! Don't bleep my name!"

"Save it for later." Midoriya called removing the apron. "Because breakfast is ready!"

Those four words were the only words Class 1-A wanted to hear as they got up taking breakfast one by one. "This taste so manly!" Kirishima exclaimed after taking a bite.

Everyone else agreed. "Oi Nerd! You never told me you could cook!"

"You never asked." Midoriya said sitting down next to Yaoyorozu.

"When did you get close?" Mina questioned with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Midoriya sweatdropped. "I just sat down. Can you not question every action I take?"

Mina slowly picked up her fork stabbing into her food and putting it her mouth, all while never breaking eye-contact. "I'll be watching you..."

He nervously chuckled in response. "I'm in danger."

"That's it. Your no longer allowed to hang out with Kaminari or Sero." Jiro decided pointing her fork at him while Kaminari and Sero complain in the background. "Their 'memes' are dangerous."

"It can't be that bad."

"Two bros chillin' in a hot tub-" Jiro started.

"-Five feet apart cuz they're not gay." Midoriya finished shocking himself. "Yeah okay It's bad."

After the eventful breakfast everyone grabbed their stuff and walked to U.A. They arrived in their assigned seats awaiting for their Sensei to arrive. When he did, he just zipped himself up inside his sleeping bag. "Yaoyorozu and Iida. Since you both are class resprestinces, you take charge of the ideas from your peers for the festival. I will leave it up to you what you choose to do." And with that, he curls himself into a ball in the corner of the room falling asleep.

The classes spark from breakfast was instantly lit again when the topic was brought upon. "A mochi shop?" Ochako threw out.

"Ah! Something japanese!" Iida comment moving on while Yaoyorozu quickly wrote down the ideas on the board.

"Boo-" M*ineta didn't get to finish when he was suddenly gagged by Asui.

"Where can I hide the body?"

"Arm-wrestling tournament!" Kirishima yelled.

"Intense!" Iida commented once again.

"A fun house!" Toru cheered.

"Don't know what that is but let's see!"

"Crepe shop!" Sato

"A Dance!" Mina said striking a dance pose.

"Petting Zoo." Koda said nervously

"Handmade soba." Todoroki inquired.

"Even Todoroki!"

"Death match!" Bakugou roared with tensenaty flowing through him.

After a while, every idea the class had was up on the board.

O Arm-Wrestling O Fun House O Mochi O Feast of Darkness O Dance Performance O Boo? O Skit O Local History O Death Match O Hand-Made Soba O Asian Cafe O Crepes O My Twinkling Shows

"Now to eliminate those that are impossible, confusing, or inappropriate." Yaoyorozu picked up the measure imminently taking off 'Boo?' first.

O Arm-Wrestling O Fun House O Mochi O Dance Performance O Local History O Hand-Made Soba O Asian Cafe O Crepes

"Why'd you even ask!?" Bakugou yelled being a bit ingornite about 'Death Match' being erased. Then the whole class turned to argument of what they should do. Iida tried chopping motions and yelling "Quiet!" But failed gaining their attention.

However the schools ringing caught everyone's attention as it showed it was the end of the period. Aizawa slipped off his sleeping bag and walked towards the door. "You have until tomorrow to pick what you want to do. If you don't I'll make it public lecture."

Kaminari was thinking about calling him bluff but his Sensei's look told him not to test him.

                                                  ✦✧✦✧✦✧✦

Class 1A was stumped. Currently, they were surrounded Yaoyorozu looking through the remaining list of choices they had for the festival. "This is hard..." Mina complained slouching in her seat.

"We can't even do cooking! That's basically competing with the Pro Hero Lunch Rush!" Kaminari exclaimed putting his hands up in defeat.

"Thats right." Shoki agreed. "It also wouldn't be fair if it was just us that we're having fun."

"Wait a minute. I think Mina's dancing idea is a good one." Todoroki spoke up walking towards the laptop. He took the laptop opening a new tab searching 'concretes.' A video popped up with two guitarists, a drummer, and a singer while people watched and cheered.

"Wow Todoroki. Did you become one of those party people?" The graped boy asked.

"No. It's just something I remembered when Mina mentioned dance."

"But were amateurs. I doubt people would want to watch a bunch of scrubs dancing." Sero said resting his arms on his hips.

"Then I'll teach you!" Mina cheered jumping back to her hyperactive self.

"Now that we got the dancing problem down...that just leaves the music."

Everyone turned their heads towards Jiro remembering her dorm room filled with musical instruments. Toru cupped her invisible hands over Jiro's. "Can you teach us! Please! You have such a good talent with music and song writing!"

"I-It's just a hobby that I do..."

Toru moved away so Kaminari got right in Jiro's face causing her to blush. He grinned his idiotic grin. "I think it's pretty cool that you can play multiple instruments! So whatta say? Can you teach us?"

"I...I'd love to." Jiro finished causing the class to cheer.

"Here we come School Festival!" They all shouted getting pumped for the next day.

[crystallized-iron]

Fic Recs

I really don’t read as much as I should, but there have been some really great ones. MCU and X-Men recs under the read more.

I think... if I counted right, this is 25 recs here. I may have gotten carried away a little bit. Enjoy.

--- --- ---

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked by Kellyscams Rating: Explicit

Steve's just moved back to Brooklyn after spending ten years in California trying to make a life for himself as an artist right after high school. Having escaped to the other side of the country following the sudden death of his mother, Steve feels guilty about abruptly leaving all his friends for so long, unfulfilled, scared and nervous about started college at his age, and unbelievably lonely. So when he meets Bucky Barnes, a young sex-worker, at a bar the night before his first day of classes, temptations might be too high to resist.

One night paying for sex with the most sinfully gorgeous guy is nothing to brag to the papers about, huh?

S'not like he'll ever see him again anyway...

...Right?

And we pulled each other like gravity by hllfire Rating: Explicit

Erik accompanies Charles, Crown Prince of the Xavier Empire, to his first diplomatic meeting on the planet Themis, where he finds out something about the Prince and they end up talking about the past and how their paths had crossed before.

Fill for the Day 1 of Cherik Week: Space AU.

Bitter Sweet by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Teen

Bucky comes home from the war, finds out he has a daughter he never knew existed and now he must cope with life after the war while taking care of her.

Alternate timeline where Bucky's rescued after falling from the train, but Steve was never told and goes into the ice anyway.

Broken by NotEvenCloseToStraight Rating: Explicit

It took months of therapy for Bucky to break his Winter Soldier conditioning, and Steve was there for him, encouraging him to talk about his past, his fears, his time as the Soldier. And Bucky talked about everything-- except why the barest mention of an Alpha makes him panic. When Steve brings Bucky home, Alpha!Tony is ready to welcome Bucky with open arms and wings, but Bucky can't look at him, can't be in the same room without his wings flaring out to keep the Alpha away, a broken Omega panicking in the presence of a strong Alpha. But Tony is a good Alpha, and the team pulls together to help Bucky, showing him what it means to be loved, to be healthy and whole, and one day when Tony holds his hand out, Bucky trusts him enough to take it. And Bucky realizes that with a family behind him, with the safety hes found in the Omegas, the companionship from the Betas, and the unconditional love from the Alpha--HIS alpha, he isn’t broken at all. But with a team like the Avengers, tragedy is never far off, and this one rocks the family to their core. How can they fix the broken pieces of their lives when their Alpha is gone?

Close to you, I’m home by OneWithoutAName Rating: Teen

As Erik is searching the manor, he finds something strange in the attic. He knows that he needs to go to Charles, if he wants some answers. After all, why would there be a nest in a small dusty attic room, when there were countless rooms with ridiculously soft beds all around the manor?

Goodbye Brothers by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Teen

A look at Dum-e during the events of Iron Man 3 and beyond.

It’s Not What You Think... by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Teen

Bucky walks in on Tony dirty talking in the lab but it's not what he thinks.

Letters to Bucky by NotEvenCloseToStraight Rating: Explicit

Stuck in rehab after a near-fatal accident, Tony reaches out via letters to a soldier overseas, and Bucky is more than happy to write back, drawn to Tony for a reason he can't quite name. One or two letters turn into a years worth, then come the phone calls, with Tony quickly realizing that Bucky's voice, with that rolling Brooklyn accent might be his new favorite sound. When Bucky shows up unannounced at Tony's door, one thing leads to another and maybe a confession or two is made. But Bucky's tour overseas isn't over yet, not even close, and they have months more of distance between them. Then Bucky disappears, missing in action, and Tony doesn't know if he will ever get his soldier back. And if Bucky DOES make it home, will he be the same boy from Brooklyn who sent Tony love poems, or has his time away and his injuries changed him for good?

BONUS CHRISTMAS CHAPTER ADDED 12/10/18

Let your light shine by OneWithoutAName Rating: Teen

Inspired by Moomin TV series from 1990 and the episodes “The invisible friend” and “The invisible Child”. It’s the start of the summer break and Erik, a 13 year old boy living in a small house with his mother in the outskirts a small(ish) English town, is stuck in home because of the rain. The evening seems to get interesting though, when a strange man arrives with an invisible telepath boy and asks them to help him become visible again.

Loving a Vampire by Feelingsinwinter Rating: Mature

In the 19th century, Tony is a greatly appreciated and skilled inspector. His dire need to find the murderers and killers to every case he is given is well known among the people and while it doesn’t always help him to get the answers he needs, at least it makes it easier to convince people to talk to him. When Mary Ann Nichols is found dead, Tony Stark doesn’t know the investigation will put his life in harm’s way, put his marriage with one James Buchanan Barnes on shaky ground and shove him in a situation he wasn’t ready to face.

When a murderer does their best to earn the name of a monster, Tony is ready to do anything to stop them.

My beacon in a storm that is the world by OneWithoutAName Rating: Teen

Erik hated this planet. And he had seen a few along the years as a pilot of the most troublesome research team that had ever existed.

Or, they find a new alien species and Erik catches a bad case of feelings ragarding his relationship with Charles.

Of Broken Dreams and Mended Hearts by Kellyscams Rating: Explicit

When the House of Barnes is left in massive debt after the death of George Barnes, their oldest son and heir, Bucky, is forced to sacrifice his own hopes and dreams by entering an arranged married to Steve Rogers. Steve seems kind enough, has a prominent job in the government, and was even voted Society's Best Catch. But the House Rogers is significantly higher in status than Bucky's family, which means Bucky is marrying up in Society, and marrying up doesn't only come with rewards, it also comes with certain...expectations and losses--some of which Bucky might be willing to do anything to avoid. And those opportunities might come his way.

Unless, of course, he actually starts falling in love with his new husband...

Pirates Heart by NotEvenCloseToStraight Rating: Explicit

The 1700s, the Golden Age of Piracy, and Captain Steve Rogers has all he wants: a ship, a loyal crew, Bucky at his side, and the horizon offering a new adventure everyday. But an impulsive kiss gone wrong leads to a marriage between Steve and Tony Stark, and now Steve doesn't know what to do about ANYTHING. Steve loves Bucky, but something about Tony draws him in. Tony is too innocent for this life, but he picks up a sword anyway. Bucky is Steve's, but when he offers his hand to Tony and now the three of them are something new. When the truth about Steve's mission to ruin the Stark name comes out, Tony runs away, leaving Steve and Bucky behind in search of answers to the secrets hidden from him his whole life-- about his company, about Uncle Obie, about his parents death.

Steve and Bucky cant abandon their mission against Stane and Tony cant deal with the answers he finds in New York. Is this the end? Is Tony gone forever? Or will he leave his old life and return to the sea and the Pirates that hold his heart?

**BONUS CHAPTER ADDED 2/4/19!!** **BONUS CHAPTER ADDED 5/15/20!!**

Random Encounter by g33kyclassic Rating: Explicit

Charles is just a typical London commuter...until he sees the most gorgeous man on earth standing a few feet away from him.

Regret is in the past by OneWithoutAName Rating: Teen

Six years after first class, the cold war escalates and the missiles are fired, destroying the world as it was known. Those who managed to live, fight for survival against each other and against the living dead. One would think that the mutants have advantage, but Shaw was wrong in his assumption that the radiation would make them stronger. On the contrary, it made them weaker, their powers only half of what they used to be. In this world of waste land, Erik and what’s left of the brotherhood are trying to survive. It’s five years later, they are cornered by the zombies while they were trying to gather supplies in abandoned town. The situation seems hopeless, until a silver haired boy appears out of nowhere and tells them to be ready to run.

Small Indiscretions (Can Save the World) by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Teen

Captain Steve Rogers has defeated the Red Skull but lost his own life in the process, leaving behind a grieving Peggy and guilt-ridden Howard Stark. After looking to Howard for comfort following her great loss, Peggy finds herself facing the scariest mission she’s ever encountered: motherhood.

While this news is devastatingly unwanted for Peggy, Howard sees this as a golden opportunity to give his bride Maria the child she never thought she could have. With a little convincing and promises that she won’t have to be involved with the child’s life if she doesn’t want to be, Peggy agrees to keep and have the baby for the Starks, own personal comfort be damned. She wasn't planning on it being so hard, or finding someone she didn't want to lie to along the way. AKA what if Peggy Carter was more than just Tony Stark’s badass aunt?

The Consequence of Hiding by g33kyclassic Rating: Explicit

Charles is completing his PhD at Oxford when he finds himself in dire need of a new job to support himself and Raven. Erik is a grumpy Mutant Student Counsellor who has yet to fill his student assistant position. Enter Prof. MacTaggert and her matchmaking ways to bring her student and her friend together (in platonic, professional compatibility, of course). Will things stay platonic for Charles and Erik? Only time will tell.

The Funeral by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Teen

Tony attends the viewing and funeral of his parents. The other members of the company's board are not amused by his actions there.

The Risks by OneWithoutAName Rating: Teen

Inspired by post on Tumblr It takes Erik by surprise how Mystique doesn't seem to remember just how much Charles has done and risked for them, for their kind. But it seems that Erik wasn't quite aware of the risks either.

The Robot Who Could Feel Pain by slightly_salty_ace Rating: Teen

In which Tony leaves Afghanistan more machine than human. Or rather, Iron Man leaves Afghanistan. To the world, Tony Stark is dead.

Or...

Steve is convinced that Iron Man is just a robot with sass because the future is a strange place and he's stopped questioning things.

But when someone from Tony Stark's past returns, putting Iron Man in danger, Steve is forced to start asking questions. Specifically questions about his feelings towards a certain red and gold robot.

The Shared Dream by TurtleTotem Rating: Teen

Charles's cryo-pod malfunctions and wakes him up a century before everyone else. Will he spend the rest of his life alone on a ship full of sleepers? (A Passengers AU.)

The Soldier by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Explicit - Read Warning and Tags!

There's something wrong with Bucky. Something very wrong and it may have dire consequences for his friends and loved ones.

Time Falls Away by NotEvenCloseToStraight Rating: Mature

The Battle of New York: Tony flies himself and the nuke through the wormhole and when his suit shuts down and he starts to fall, he knows he's going to die. But then he wakes up in an alley in Brooklyn, two strangers staring down at him in confusion and Tony is sure he is dreaming when he shakes hands first with pre-serum Steve Rogers, and then Bucky Barnes. Trapped in 1942, Tony befriends Steve, and falls in love with Bucky but America is at war, and Bucky and Steve ship out to join the cause. Tony knows all the stories about the Howling Commandos and knows what’s coming for the soldiers, and has to live through history as first Bucky falls, and then Steve disappears. Tony is left alone in the 40's, crying himself to sleep in the house he had shared with his best friend and his lover. But then he wakes up on the pavement in New York, the Hulk roaring in his face, Steve staring down at him, and he has to wonder if it was all a hallucination. When Tony fell through the sky, did he fall through time as well? Why does Steve act so cold towards him? Were he and Bucky really that happy together?

Did it all really happen, or is Tony in love with a life he can only have in his dreams?

We want the same thing by hllfire Rating: Mature

Charles is locked up underground, where his telepathy won't be a problem, deemed too dangerous now to be kept free. Erik pays a visit.

Fill for the Day 2 of Cherik Week: Dark!Charles.

Your Love Alone Is Not Enough by LadyDarkPhoenix Rating: Explicit - Read Warning and Tags!

In an alternative post Civil War, Clint and Bucky fell in love and tried to make a life together. But then Thanos happened and Clint embraced the darkness within himself trying to cope with all his loss.

This is how after Bucky returned, Clint still can't cope with what happened and who he's become. How even though he seems to have it all, his own mind is his now his greatest enemy. Bucky tries to help but how do you help someone that doesn't believe he should be saved?

[looking-for-wisdom]

Catholic Guilt

When your mom and dad marry they decide to raise you and your siblings Catholic. Your dad is agnostic but he knows this is important to her, so he agrees to help how he can. They have three girls. Mass is attended every Sunday and you go to bible school each week. They’ve done everything right.

You fight with your siblings often during services when you’re young. An hour feels like a very long time to be still and the whole ceremony is so dull. Of course, you know it means something, but you’re r a child. When your older you see the younger you in each child misbehaving during prayers. But despite the boredom it all feels a bit like magic to you. Your faith just feels like a part of breathing. Youve never known life without it. It’s easy. It’s natural.

Being Catholic, there are all sorts of classes to attend and sacraments to receive. Your mother ensures you attend. She even makes you the little white dress you wear to your first communion. Some classes are more fun than others, but you like answering teachers questions and asking queries that stump them. Sometimes they say odd things, but it doesn’t bother you too much. You asked about a friend once, who wasn’t religious, questioning where she’d go after all this. Your teacher struggled to explain only Christians can go to heaven, but she hasn’t met your friend. Your friend is good and will obviously go to heaven too. It’s ok, teachers make mistakes sometimes. Nothing to fret about.

You get older. It starts with a disconnect. You don’t fee quite as in touch as you did as a child, but you assume this is normal. You still have so much time, and many people don’t truely understand their faith until later. You just have to wait for the moment where everything clicks. You’re patient and you don’t mind biding your time. During that time you keep going to classes and summer camps, and every time you arrive you think this will be the day you understand. The epiphanies fade, though, not long after. It’s difficult, but you can’t give up.

You don’t know what to call it until many years later, but your anxiety first starts manifesting around the age of twelve. Religion class gets harder. You don’t know anyone there and they all seem to get it on a level you just... don’t. You still go to church every week with your family. Your beginning to understand what the priests say better now and some of it... is odd. It’s hard to keep track of all the lessons and you’re worried you won’t be able to keep up with it all. If you forget one you risk salvation and that’s a fear you really don’t know how to cope with. You don’t always agree, either. Your father may support your mothers faith but you still a lot of him in you. He teaches you morals and you can’t help but feel the church teaches some things that just feel wrong— like your teacher all those years ago who said your kind friend would not go to heaven. Surely that’s not God’s plan, but then again, the priests don’t make mistakes, do they?

The disconnect grows. You have a lot of rough weeks. Months. Years. You still don’t have a name for the stuff going on in your head but you cry often and pray for a sign that life isn’t just going to be decades of hating yourself so devoutly. It feels like a punishment and you’re not sure what you did wrong. You’re mad, and you feel incredibly guilty about it but maybe God doesn’t love you. Maybe this is all on purpose. The question sprouts: whats wrong with you? It has yet to go away.

You prepare for confirmation around the same time. There’s a lot of work to go along with it and really you can’t seem to bring yourself to do it when you feel so alone. The woman who teaches your confirmation lessons enrages you. She’s so cruel, so arrogant, so condemning. You have enough fears and you don’t need her adding to the pile, but she does anyway. Your mother is sympathetic but there’s nothing to be done. You have to be confirmed. This is the only option. On the final test you get frustrated and write angry notes to her in the answer blanks. She wasn’t happy, but you didn’t see her again, so no harm done.

Your confirmed now. You expect things to change. They don’t.

The 2016 election rolls around and things get bad. Your understanding of the world is expanding and you find that your beliefs don’t always line up with what your church preaches. You believe abortion is more complicated than they present it and that people should love who they like. They tell you to vote red in the name of God, but that doesn’t feel like God to you. And your mother... sometimes you find her crying over things they say. She’s like you— she was raised on this faith but it doesn’t come easy. You can’t comfort her, you can’t even comfort yourself. You can’t help but feel like God wouldn’t make your mother sob this way.

Freshman year you come to terms with it. You aren’t straight. It’s not easy, to this day your mother doesn’t know. She doesn’t condem it but she often says she doesn’t have to like it either. If she knew she was saying she didn’t have to like you she would reconsider. You know she would, and yet you don’t want to risk it. Not over something you can hide. You can’t change who you are but the faith that no longer comes as easy as it once did feels almost like a trap now.

You switch churches not long after. Your mom hopes it will make things better. You, to put it simply, are just... scared.

Catholic family. Mom, sister, you, sister. Dad tags along and Yknow, 4/5 isn’t a bad score. Except, when your older sister comes home from college she’s found that it’s better for her health to stay away. You wish you could join her. Mom, you, sister and dad tags along. Dad isn’t home all the time though, and now that the oldest is out he sometimes decides to keep her company at home instead of going to mass. You wish you could join them. Mom, you, sister. Your younger sister has Down’s syndrome and it’s hard on mom trying to explain the faith. She just doesn’t get it. Sometimes she stays home because mom is too tired to handle her on her own. Mom, you. Mom’s got one shot left. She’ll be devastated if you fall away too, and you can’t do that to her. You want to say it hurts you but she expects you to be the one to stay with the faith she gave to you. You learn to be the strong one. Don’t complain, keep mom happy, and never let them know how hard it is on you. You know it’s for the best but you hate it sometimes.

She tells you she’s failed sometimes, in raising her kids good Catholic girls. To you it just sounds like there’s something wrong with you, but haven’t you known that for... a long time? Every other kid seemed to have a connection that you don’t.

You think to turn to your friends who aren’t religious for solace, but they judge you, call you a hypocrite for claiming to have faith when the Bible says all these things you don’t obey. If only they knew that’s what has been killing you slowly since the day you were born. They want you to give it up, stop preaching your religion at them. It’s not your intent to make them feel as if you are forcing it on them so you learn not to talk about those things at school.

A war goes on in your mind. You can’t have both your faith and your beliefs— you can’t move past your trauma while still stepping in the place that caused it. But not doing both isn’t an option.

You pick up the phone to the God you can’t help but love despite it all, and you can’t hear the answer. Everyone says to just keep ringing, youre just not listening hard enough. Everyone says to just hang up, as if this telephone line that’s been with you since birth can go away just like that. Everyone has some magic fix-it answer. No one wants to say it’s alright. Faith is difficult, and trying your best is enough sometimes. No one wants to hug you when you’re alone and confused because you can’t turn to anyone.

They don’t want to listen to what you have to say, so you learn to take this on by yourself, never quite a Catholic, but never not one either.

[theseadagiodays]

May 4, 2020

This is Not a Performance

Irving H Bolano’s incredible repurposed newspaper fashion for the Met Gala Challenge on Twitter #HFMetGala2020

May the Fourth be With You as you reach the next chapter of this current sci-fi drama we seem to be living through.   As the saying goes, reality can be stranger than fiction.   But it just happens to be a many red-eyed virus rather than an evil, black-masked father that we’re fighting as we all walk around like Storm Troopers.  

There are so many aspects of our lives, during Covid, which make it feel like we are actors in a make-believe story.   First of all, we’ve all become movie stars, with our faces, homes, and even pets showcased on our own silver screens.  As isolated as we are, our private lives now play out in the public sphere more than ever - no paparazzi required.    For some, this invasion of privacy is unwelcomed. But for many people, it satisfies a secret longing to share themselves with a wider audience.  After all, deep down, everyone wants to be seen and heard (I guess, me included, since I have this blog, after all).  It’s why TikTok and YouTube and Facebook have become multi-billion dollar companies so quickly.  And now, while this pandemic is a harsh daily reminder of the impermanence of all things, it makes sense that these digital missives are an attempt to seek immortality, in some strange way.

As someone whose work responds to human’s need to have a voice, I truly get why this is the case.  And I love that this time has turned housewives into opera stars, and health care workers into hip hop dancers, and housepets into circus performers. But, at the same time, I have become very aware of the masks that we wear, even inside our homes, to portray a certain self to the world that may stray quite far from our authentic selves.  The expression “dance like no one is watching” acknowledges the fact that we all tend to perform when we have an audience, and perhaps we’re only truly ourselves when we don’t.   I understand that the way we “perform” ourselves online gives each of us a chance to reinvent the fictions we want our stories to have.   So, while I surely take some guilty pleasure from intimate glimpses into strangers’ lives, I also do so with a certain skepticism about the veracity of what I’m seeing.  

This became particularly true for me when I received a recent link from my friend and amazing singer/songwriter, Dominique Fricot. Capitalizing on this current trend of oversharing, he cleverly asked his fans to film their morning routines for the music video of his new song, Wake Up, by his duo, Flora Falls.  Dom’s warm tenor voice blended with his partner’s breathy tones feel just like a lazy morning in bed.  But I’ll leave it up to you to decide just how accurate these portrayals of people’s idyllic daytime rituals actually are.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbsqXou5FeY

May 5, 2020

Homeschool Heroes

About twenty years ago,  I was invited to adjudicate a youth music competition in the Yukon.  Travelling to one of the northernmost inhabited spots on earth, I imagined that my greatest surprise might have been a polar bear or Northern Lights sighting.  But it turned out to be something entirely different.  Among the 25,000 residents of the thriving metropolis of Whitehorse exists a treasure trove of talent.  I could not believe the incredibly honed skills and nuanced expression with which these 11-18 year-olds played.   Wondering why, I developed a theory that I now call SLoW: Sheltered Living Wonder.  When long, dark days, cold climates or pandemics force people indoors, they tend to spend inordinate amounts of time on creative endeavors and skill development.  In other words, they slow down and take time for wonder.

This theory has surely applied during these past few months of sheltering in place.   One of the most remarkable examples has been the inventiveness that many of my friends have brought to their first attempts with homeschooling.   So, I wanted to give a few shout outs to some of these Homeschool Heroes and the highly imaginative projects they’ve done with their kids.

Stunning Easter Eggs made from natural materials and dye, by my friend Jane Cox and her kids  (Botany lesson)

Candy Covid virus, made by Amelia, my friend Jen Sanke’s daughter, as she learned about the virus’ proteins (Biology lesson)

But perhaps the prize for most complex homeschool project has to go to my architect friend, Bryn Davidson, who upon returning from Australia, in late March, had to fully quarantine for 2-weeks.  So, with his 5-year old son Bei as helper, this Physics lesson allowed him to enjoy home delivery beer while in isolation.  Just brilliant!

https://youtu.be/FF9-2dWoUtc

May 6, 2020

Living in livestream

So today, 5 million British Columbian’s awaited our “sentence” with baited breath, as word spread that our provincial prime minister would deliver the Re-Open BC plan at 3 pm.   I have to admit, it felt a bit like when you were “grounded” as an adolescent and then your parents returned certain privileges to you.  Of course, I’m well aware that our province has already been far more licentious than many places around the globe.  We’ve been fortunate to maintain reasonably low numbers of infection (just over 2,000), with counts as low as 8 new cases per day, at this point. So, while our provincial parks closed, our beaches never did.  While we were encouraged, within a reasonable range of home, to be active outdoors, we were not restricted to walks only within the 100 metre radius of our house, as my Israeli friends were.  And while we could still shop at gardening and furniture stores, to make sheltering at home more enjoyable, New Zealanders had nothing but grocery stores and pharmacies open, for two months.  

I have sensed the gratitude my fellow Vancouverites have felt about these privileges.  But that does not mean that we aren’t still anxious to return to other aspects of living which we’ve missed.  When lockdown began, ominously on the Ides of March (the 15th), I’d harboured a secret hope that certain restrictions might be lifted on my birthday (exactly two months later).  And it turns out that Phase Two of the BC ReOpen plan will commence on May 19th, just 4 days later than I’d hoped.  What I most look forward to experiencing again are small gatherings with friends, (we’ll soon be allowed to socialize in public with up to 10 people); meals inside certain restaurants and pubs (those that are able to function within WorkPlace BC’s safety regulations); visits to registered massage therapists; and hugs with select people, (”using one’s own ‘risk assessment’.”)

But in the long-range plan, the harsh reality for artists has been laid out, as Phase Four (which includes resuming large-venue concerts, conventions, and international travel) can not occur until either a vaccine has been developed, an effective treatment plan is widely available, or herd immunity is achieved.  And this is not estimated to occur until mid-2021 or later.  So, the prospects are still bleak for symphony orchestras, opera and dance companies, artists who perform in crowded bars, or musicians who travel for arena shows and festivals.  This likely means that in order to satisfy audiences’ need to access live performance, and for artists to continue to share their creativity,  livestream formats will still have to persist for some time.  Therefore, I thought I’d share a few regular weekly livestream arts events here, both from Vancouver, LA & NY.

Canadian National Live Art Champion, Dmitri Sirenko, who we featured at our non-profit’s annual benefit on February 20th, 2020

Every Monday Night at 7 pm PST (Vancouver) Poetry Slam: https://www.facebook.com/Vancouverpoetryslam/

Every Thursday at 5 pm PST (LA): LIVE Art Battles - Watch painters do their magic in just 20 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJoWGVwzGtk99nTOCib9vg

Every Thursday at 8 pm EST (NY): Spotlight on Plays - famous actors perform readings of theatre pieces, online: https://www.broadwaysbestshows.com/post/the-best-of-series/

May 7, 2020

Collateral Blessings

So many thoughtful writers are adding to the discourse, as we all strive to make meaning from what can feel like a senseliess time.  I have so appreciated the abundance with which people are sharing these missives, right now.  Every day, bursts of inspiration or flickers of insight come my way, thru texts, emails and Facebook.  Like adventurers, traveling together thru the dark of night, we shine light on guideposts, anywhere we can find them, as we collectively quench each other’s thirst for wisdom.  

One of the most profound writings I‘ve recently discovered came from a stranger’s blog.  In The Examined Family, Courtney Martin, without ever diminishing the gravity of the havoc that this virus has wreaked, writes about some of the assets that have also come out of this time.  New friendships with neighbors.  A long-neglected puzzle completed with her kids.   The time to draw and truly notice an artichoke in her back garden. My good friend Juan calls these collateral blessings.  This reference to the accidental gifts that this cruel virus has given us, is a beautiful twist on “collateral damage”, a term coined to explain accidental friendly-fire deaths during the Gulf War.  Commenting on the anticipatory nostalgia that she projects she will feel about certain things, once this time has passed, Courtney writes:

“I instantly feel overwhelmed at the prospect of schedules and stuff. I don’t want to go back to our former accumulation or frenetic pace. I don’t want to stop texting (my neighbor) my little triumphs. I don’t want to forget about the artichokes in the garden. I don’t ever want to forget this happened--the grief and the beauty of it. I’m not even sure that will be possible, but if it were, I wouldn’t want it. I don’t want to vote like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to eat like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to consume like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to schedule like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to mother or daughter or befriend or neighbor like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to sit inside this little life, noticing and appreciating and breathing, like it didn’t happen. There is unnecessary suffering all around me, and inside of me, too, but there is also necessary meaning. May we hold on to that.”      

You can read her full entry here: https://courtney.substack.com/p/unnecessary-suffering-and-necessary?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3OTg0NDcyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozNzU1NDMsIl8iOiJCTnk2VyIsImlhdCI6MTU4NzA1MjgyMCwiZXhwIjoxNTg3MDU2NDIwLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjA5MjIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.puI9NMne-783ypInpvTkJ96T237WcrTo2ItDhqlkMiY

May 8, 2020

Nostalgia

I’m rarely one prone to nostalgia.  My childhood photo albums are in storage.  I have no family heirlooms displayed in my home.  My tendency is to revel in the present or dream about the future.  But this pandemic has strangely turned me into a sentimental fool.  Perhaps this return to simpler times, where we seldom shop, where we wander mostly by foot, or where we get to know our neighbors better, makes us long for the past in certain ways.  

For me, I’ve honored this by resurrecting my daily teenage Twizzler habit - a candy I’ve rarely eaten since then, but that now feels so satisfying during my Netflix & Chill evenings (while watching films almost as old like Groundhog Day & Anchorman).  

I’m also listening a lot to Old School Hip Hop, where the explative-free rhymes of the 90’s feel so strangely innocent.  It’s refreshing to listen to these musicians spit verses that merely celebrate the joys of dance and rap, rather than ranting about gun violence and other societal ills.  Run DMC It’s Tricky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-O5IHVhWj0) and Beastie Boys Body Movin’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRBUw_Ls2o) happen to be personal favorites.  

Last month, I was tickled by an old memory while planting a lilac bush in my backyard.  I suddenly remembered a story about my college boyfriend, whom I hadn’t thought of in 30 years.  Our relationship started a bit secretively, so as not to hurt his ex’s feelings.  So, one May afternoon, we snuck away to a distant park that was hosting a Lilac Festival.  Unfortunately, our ruse was quickly spoiled when a candid photo of our picnic under the purple blooms was plastered all over the front page of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle the next morning.  

Another sweet memory returned in culinary form. Every Tuesday, for 7 years, my mother selflessly drove me an hour from home and back, for my flute lesson.  And to break up the long drive, we regularly stopped at Bickford’s Pancake House for my favorite adolescent treat: breakfast for dinner. Their specialty was the Dutch Baby Apple.  And I finally made my first homemade attempt at this deceptively easy delicacy, last Tuesday.  

This has also been a time to return to bedtime stories (some I’ve read to friends’ kids, and others for adults to hear.)  The Great Realisation by British performance artist, Tom Foolery, has been making the social media rounds. But in case you missed this touching tale that looks back on this time as if the tale is being told in a not-so-distant future, it’s a wistful story about some aspects of modern life that we may never long for in the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4

[cassiexbailey]

HOLY SHIT IS THAT [ KAT MCNAMARA ]?! Oh, wait it’s just [ CASSIOPEIA “CASSIE” BAILEY ]. Damn, [ SHE/HER ] looks good for [ 22 ], good thing that they’re [ BISEXUAL ], I might have a chance. I hear that they call them the [ NANCY DREW ] of the [ NORTH SIDE ]. I guess that’s because they’re [ INDEPENDENT ] and [ RESOURCEFUL ]. But I don’t think a lot of people know that they’re also [ SECRETIVE ] and [ STUBBORN ].

01. BASICS

Full Name: Cassiopeia Sebine Bailey

Nickname: Cassie, Cas, Teeny

Sex/Gender: Female

Birthday: November 11, 1996

Age: 22

Astrological Sign: Scorpio

Occupation: Private Investigator

Spoken Languages: English, French, Italian

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual; Heteroromantic

Birthplace: Riverdale, MA

Hometown: Port Townsend, WA // Chicago, IL

Relationship status: Single but complicated

02. PHYSICAL TRAITS

Hair Color/Style: Red-orange or blonde, depending on her mood; she was born with bright red hair, but when she was younger she used to dye it dirty blonde so that she’d look more like her mother; since she found out both of her parents were lying to her about who she was, she let her hair go back to it’s natural color. As for style, she doesn’t really style it often, but it’s usually either down, in a ponytail, or put up in a messy clip

Eye Color: Green

Face Claim: Kat McNamara

Height: 5′3″

Weight: 120 pounds

Tattoos: a large phoenix covering part of her back and left hip symbolizing her love for Greek myth but also as a means for covering up an old stab wound; a small ring of laurel leaves with ‘03/19/1980′ on one side and ‘06/12/2019′ on the other on the inside of her right arm, representing her mother { photos coming soon }

Piercings: Both her ears are pierced twice

Unique Attributes: coming soon

Defining Gestures/Movements: running a hand through her hair; bouncing her leg/knee when she’s nervous; cracking her neck and knuckles; drumming her fingers on whatever surface she’s nearby

Posture: Decent posture, but slouches from time to time

03. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Pet Peeves: { she has a lot okay? this isn’t even all of them } ignorance, lairs, cheaters, being chronically late, people who talk loudly on their phones, people chewing loudly or with their mouths open, people who walk slowly in the middle of the sidewalk or stop suddenly, line cutters, people who don’t use their turn signals, bad grammar, passive aggressive behavior (even though she’s guilty of this herself), people who refer to themselves in the third person 

Hobbies/Interests: dance, writing, photography, criminal justice, reading, cooking, hiking

Special Skills/Abilities: private investigation, adaptable, researching, staying calm under pressure

Likes: sex, coffee, tattoos, photography, hiking, swimming, astrology, astronomy, nature, traveling

Dislikes: rude people, ignorance, fake people, cigarettes/smoking in general

Insecurities: losing people she cares about, not being good enough for someone { i’ll probably add more later }

Quirks/Eccentricities: coming soon

Strengths: coming soon

Weaknesses: coming soon

Speaking Style: coming soon

Temperament: she can keep a calm head in most situations, but she does have a bad temper

04. FAMILY & HOME

Immediate Family: Edward Bailey (Anderson) { father }; Sebine Smythe { mother }; Athena Bailey { adopted mother, deceased }; Sebastian Smythe { half-brother }, Sebrina Smythe { half-sister, deceased }; Bruce Anderson { uncle }; Blaine Anderson { cousin }; Darius Anderson { cousin }

How do they feel about their family? coming soon

How does their family feel about them? coming soon

Pets: None yet

Where do they live? She lives in a small one bedroom house in the neutral zone

Description of their home: coming soon

Description of their bedroom: coming soon

05. THIS OR THAT

Introvert or Extrovert? A bit of both, depending on the situation and people

Optimist or Pessimist?

Leader or Follower?

Confident or Self-Conscious? A bit of both

Cautious or Careless?

Religious or Secular? Raised Catholic, but doesn’t practice anymore

Passionate or Apathetic?

Book Smarts or Street Smarts? Both

Compliments or Insults? Depends on the person

Pajamas or Lingerie? Neither; she sleeps in a loose-fitting tank top and short shorts

06. FAVORITES

Favorite Color: dark green

Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: coming soon

Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: coming soon

Favorite Movies: coming soon

Favorite Books: coming soon

Favorite Foods/Drinks: coffee

Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: She doesn’t necessarily have a favorite team, but she enjoys watching hockey and football

Favorite Time of Day: early evening

Favorite Weather/Season: tied between fall and winter; she loves the cold

Favorite Animal: wolf

07. MISCELLANEOUS

Fears/Superstitions: not being good enough; people finding out who she really is and blaming her for Sebrina’s death

Political Views: she doesn’t really care to be honest; she doesn’t have a party declared, she votes with who she thinks will be best at the time

Addictions: coffee, sex

Best School Subject: English, History

Worst School Subject: Math

School Clubs/Sports: dance team

How does she get money? she owns her own private investigation business

How is she with technology? very adept; not hacker-level, but she can get by

08. PAST & FUTURE

Fondest Memory: learning to cook with her mother

Deepest, Darkest Secret: coming soon

Dream Vacation: coming soon

Best thing that has ever happened to this character: coming soon

Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Losing her mother and learning that both she and Edward had been lying to her for her entire life

What do they want to be when they grow up? she is grown up, and she’s doing what she wants to do; that being said, married to someone who loves her for who she is. maybe a few kids.

Perfect Date: she doesn’t really have anything in mind for a perfect date. good food, good company. that’s all she can ask for.

09. BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

triggers: mention of presumed KIA military status, drive-by gun violence, torture, murder, death

Growing up, life for Sebine Laurent had been anything but normal. Her parents had died at a young age, leaving her growing up as an orphan on the South Side. Early in her teen years, she fell in love with a young South Sider named Edward Anderson - the youngest son of the Serpents leader. The two were together for years, but despite this relationship when the Smythes came looking for a wife for their youngest son, Sebine ended things with Edward per her new in-laws demands; they shoved a hefty prenup in her direction demanding she not bring any scandal to the family name via her relationship with the South Side boy she had been involved with for so long, and she had begrudgingly accepted it in search of a better life.

Years passed without any contact between Edward and Sebine. She gave birth to two beautiful twins, Sebastian and Sebrina, and her life seemed perfect; her marriage was far from perfect, but she loved her family regardless. A chance encounter brought Edward and Sebine back into each other's lives, and the spark quickly reignited between the two of them. The Smythes knew what was going on between their daughter-in-law and her old flame, but they let it go. They had their picture-perfect family and their beautiful grandchildren. As far as everyone else was concerned, the Alexander and Sebine Smythe had the perfect family. Problems quickly arose, though, when Sebine fell pregnant, and it was clear that Alexander wasn't the father this time.

The family threatened to leave her completely desolate if she didn't end things with the Serpent once and for all, including giving the baby to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy once Sebine had given birth. They thought they had everything under control until Edward refused to be pushed out of Sebine's life for a second time. He had secret, grand plans to sweep Sebine away from her life in the North Side so they could run away to be together, but her in-laws intercepted. They gave Edward a counter-offer that was almost too hard to refuse. Sebine would never leave with him, but he could still have a piece of her; they offered to give him a substantial amount of money to get out of the gang-life that was expected of him in the South Side as well as to leave Riverdale with the baby and never return.

After trying and failing to convince Sebine to leave with him, Edward refused the Smythe’s offer at first, though instead of leaving town like they had asked, he simply took Cassie and left the North side. He returned to the familiarity of the South Side with his daughter, but instead of pledging his loyalty to the Serpents like he was expected to - like his older brother, Bruce, had done - he joined the Ghoulies alongside his best friend, Luca Gilbert. His brother was furious at this perceived betrayal, especially since Bruce had taken over the Serpents in the wake of their father’s passing in the years before. Knowing how angry Bruce was, Edward and Luca prepared for some sort of retaliation, but after weeks of quiet on the Serpents end it seemed as if it wasn’t going to come. In retrospect, Edward should have known better.

Time passed and a relative peace between the Serpents and the Ghoulies settled in. Weeks turned into months. Months into years. It was just long enough that Edward and Luca began to let their guard down, and that was all the chance that Bruce needed. He knew attacking Edward wouldn’t work - while Bruce was brutal and merciless, his brother was worse, and he knew Bruce’s few weaknesses. Hurting Edward himself wouldn’t work, and even he wouldn’t have touched his newborn niece, though he’d never admit that particular fact to anyone. Instead, Bruce turned his rage towards Luca and Derek Gilbert; Luca was Edward’s best friend, and he’d come to see Derek as a son himself. Hurting Edward by killing his family was the best kind of revenge Bruce could have come up with; he knew it would break his baby brother.

Two years of relative quiet between the gangs on the Southside passed, and then suddenly Luca and Derek went missing. Edward had searched for his family for a few days until he got the word from fellow Ghoulies that they’d found Luca’s body beside the river that runs through Fox Forest. He’d been beaten and clearly tortured to death, but they’d been unable to find Derek; from what they could tell, though, it seemed as if he had suffered the same fate as his father. From what he’d seen of the scene himself, Edward suspected that Bruce had dumped Derek’s body in the river as a means of torturing him even further. There would be no closure without the body, and Bruce knew Edward enough to know how much that would bother him.

Losing both Luca and Derek did exactly what Bruce thought it would have done: it broke Edward. When Bruce threatened to kill Cassie if Edward didn’t leave Riverdale behind him, Edward had no choice but to take his daughter and run. He didn’t stick around long enough to learn that police found Derek wandering through the woods alone days later. Instead, he went back to the Smythes. While they wouldn’t give him as much as they had initially offered, they still gave him a hefty amount of money when he threatened to make his affair with Sebine public knowledge. Taking the hush money that they gave him, Edward changed his last name and left the small town in his rear-view mirror with his daughter in tow. Moving them all the way across the country, Edward set out to put his past in the past and start over.

Cassie spent most of her early life in Port Townsend, Washington, a small maritime town located just north of Seattle, with absolutely no recollection of her early life in Riverdale. Edward wanted to get as far away from Riverdale as possible, and a small town located literally on the other side of the country seemed like the best option to him.

Six months after moving to Port Townsend, Edward met a woman named Athena working as an emergency room resident in the local hospital. He’d been working various protection details for important people around the city and had been stabbed while protecting someone. What started as innocent flirtation between Athena and Edward quickly blossomed into something more. She looked beyond the damaged and rough exterior to the broken man inside, and it was Athena who helped him begin to heal. She knew who he was and what kind of man he had been raised to be, and she loved him anyway. She treated and raised Cassie as her own, and she is the only mother that Cassie has ever known.

Shortly after Cassie’s ninth birthday, Athena took a job at a medical center in the South Side of Chicago, and before she knew it, Cassie’s life was being uprooted and moved back east. Edward took various jobs in an attempt to keep up the semi normal life he’d been living in Port Townsend, but eventually he fell back into the only life he’d ever known, working as an enforcer for a local mob group in the city. It was the only real talent he had, and while Athena didn’t necessarily approve of it she stood by the man’s side regardless as he fell back into the familiar role. As she grew older, Cassie began following in her father’s footsteps, though Edward’s way of life was the last thing either parent wanted for Cassie. With time, though, they came to realize that there was no stopping the young woman. Much like both of her parents, once she set her mind to something there was no way she was going to budge.

Shortly after graduating from high school, Cassie literally ran into the man of her dreams. Anthony had stopped by a local diner for lunch; the same diner that Cassie was working part-time in. She had been in a hurry and not fully paying attention and slammed right into the taller man as he went to take a seat at one of the booths; luckily, his reflexes were amazing, and strong arms caught her before she could stumble backwards. He was only home on leave for a few weeks, but it only took a few short weeks for Cassie to fall head over heels in love with the Marine. Their relationship took off faster than most, but even to those around them it was as if they’d been together for years.

Cassie and Anthony were together for six months before he asked her to marry him. Her parents weren’t exactly thrilled at just how quickly the two had gotten to that point - it was one thing to approve of it, quite another to be okay with your daughter getting engaged after such a short time - but they didn’t object to it. Both Edward and Athena agreed that Anthony and Cassie were good for each other; the fact that he was going to be serving an entire deployment before they actually got married also helped Edward accept their engagement a little easier.

Tragedy struck their small family, though, when a notification party showed up on Cassie’s doorstep one morning to inform her that Anthony had officially been declared as Missing in Action, and Cassie and her family were listed as his only next of kin. Given the fact that he was a member of a Delta Force team, there wasn’t a lot that they could tell her about his disappearance, but they were certain that he had been gone missing during one of their missions. He had been presumed dead, but they hadn’t found a body so they couldn’t officially declare him Killed in Action yet. Cassie was torn apart at this news, but Edward and Athena were there to help her pick up the pieces. Even still, she hasn’t dated anyone since; there’s a part of her that hopes Anthony will show up on her doorstep one day.

Despite helping her father whenever she could, Cassie still had her own life as well. She had her own passions and interests outside of following in her father’s footsteps. Cassie had always been a curious nature, and after spending years of helping people on the South Side (of Chicago) with their own problems she decided to make a career out of it. Cassie enrolled in a local college to study criminal justice, though she dropped out just a few credits shy of graduating when another tragedy struck her family once more.

Throughout his years as an enforcer, Edward had made more than a few enemies. He never worried about it until the day that one of those enemies came after his family. Athena had been waiting outside of a local, family-owned restaurant for Edward and Cassie to meet her there for a family night out - a tradition they had started when she began college - when she was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting; Edward and Cassie had arrived moments later, and Cassie’s world began to come crashing down around her. Athena bled out in Edward’s arms while Cassie watched horrified from the sidelines.

In the months that followed, Cassie’s life was turned upside down. Not only had she lost the only mother she’d ever known, but she uncovered a truth she’d never thought possible. Edward had never hidden the fact that Athena wasn’t Cassie’s biological mother, but he had always told her that the woman who’d given birth to her had died in childbirth. Cassie had always believed him - she’d never had reason to doubt him - until the day she stumbled across letters between Sebine and Edward. She hadn’t thought anything of them at first, many of them were from when they were teenagers and before she was born, but then - as she continued to read - she realized that they continued for nearly a year after she was born. Letters in which Edward spoke about how he still loved her, but he understood her decision to stay with the Smythes, and he would continue to send her photos of Cassie as she grew. Not only had Edward lied about her mother’s death, but he’d kept an entire family from her for years.

In her anger, and after doing months worth of research on her mother and the woman’s family, Cassie left Chicago without a word to her father. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for in Riverdale or from Sebine, but she knew she had to see the woman in person.

10. HEADCANONS

Cassie absolutely loves to dance. She stopped dancing for a while, but now that she’s in Riverdale she’s started going to Jackie’s dance studio more often.

[swissmissficrecs]

Johnlock Advent Calendar, Part 2

Back in 2014, I posted a Johnlock Advent Calendar of 24 fic recs related to Christmas. There have been a lot of good ones posted since then, so it’s time for part 2! 1. a good old-fashioned happy ending (32731 words) by darcylindbergh Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: And Sherlock stands there, in the middle of a Christmas market as John hums along to Silent Night, John’s hand warm in his with fingertips a little gritty from the cinnamon-sugar doused churros they’d shared, and thinks, oh, that’s–that’s an idea, isn’t it? For Christmas this year, Sherlock wants to get John something special: something every fairytale deserves.

2. A Party on Christmas Eve (15729 words) by PoppyAlexander Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: A collection of ficlets for December, prompted by MissDavis in her 2018 Advent Ficlet Challenge. John and Sherlock first meet when John moves into 221C Baker Street. Will romance bloom before a party on Christmas eve? (spoiler alert: Yes, it will. Of course it will.) I'm going to try to cram in all our favourite holiday fic tropes here, too. Enjoy!

3. a vein of frost (58023 words) by Zingiber Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, John Watson/Original Female Character(s) Summary: As winter falls over London, Sherlock finds himself struggling to cope with a five-year-old goddaughter, a bizarre series of holiday-themed murders, and a new woman in John's life. Written for the Sherlock December Ficlet Challenge.

4. Another Auld Lang Syne (30234 words) by DiscordantWords Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Rosamund Mary "Rosie" Watson, Mrs. Hudson (Sherlock Holmes), Molly Hooper, Mycroft Holmes, Greg Lestrade Additional Tags: Christmas, Angst with a Happy Ending, Pining Sherlock, Pining John, Post-Season/Series 04, First Kiss, Holidays, Winter, Advent Calendar, Past Drug Use, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, Ficlet Collection, Drinking, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss Summary: There had been years of missed chances.

5. Breaking Christmas (18606 words) by MissDavis Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Join me in some established relationship Johnlock as I attempt to make Sherlock and John participate in some Seasonal Fucking Cheer. Chapter 18: John's New Year's Eve Appointment: In which John finally comes around to Sherlock's point of view that the pleasure derived from a bit of body piercing far outweighs any risks involved.

6. Christmas Time After Time (41543 words) by PlaidAdder Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mary Morstan/John Watson, Clara/Harry Watson Summary: John's not really big on Christmas; and this year, the first after Mary's death, he's not feeling it. Everyone's away, Sherlock's on a case--alone--and Rosie's asleep. But that's all right. He's fine. He'll just have a quiet Christmas Eve by himself, drinking in front of the telly.  Only out there in time and space, there's another Doctor who thinks that sounds like the saddest thing ever. And she's going to do something about it. Thirteen takes John on a whirlwind tour of Christmases past and future. The more he learns about this time travel thing, the more John starts to wonder how his current timeline became...what it is. Might these alternatives hold the key to a less miserable present, and maybe a brighter future?

7. Christmas With You (23081 words) by MissDavis Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Watch Sherlock, John and Rosie over the years as they celebrate the season as only they can.

8. Elementary, Actually (26526 words) by blueink3 Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Just back from the war, 26-year-old John Watson is looking for a job. Luckily, his old buddy Mike Stamford has one in mind: “Mike, you did not tell me this was a porno.” “What? It’s not!” “No? Then why the hell am I being asked to eventually take my kit off and mount some kid who barely looks like he’s out of secondary!” He expects Mike to be angry or indignant on his behalf, but what he does not expect is for the man to burst out laughing on the other end of the phone. “Mike!” “Sorry, sorry. Are you serious? Frankie told me it was an art house/independent type but I thought he meant Little Miss Sunshine, not Eyes Wide Shut!”  “Oh my God, Mike, I’m going to kill you.” Or, what happens when the author watches Love Actually with Johnlock in mind.

9. Five Christmases that went wrong and one that didn't (11685 words) by love_in_mind_palace Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John isn’t sure about most of the things in his life. Except for the fact that he loves Sherlock, Sherlock loves him back and that after years of bad luck, he is getting the Christmas he always deserved.

10. Ghost Stories (22256 words) by SwissMiss Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock's parents think he and John are a couple. They might be onto something.

11. Ghosts (14752 words) by orphan_account Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: A dead man is haunted by ghosts at Christmastime and, together, they help bring him back to life

12. Home for Christmas (19499 words) by SilentAuror Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: It's been eleven months since Eurus Holmes happened, and just one since John and Rosie moved back into Baker Street at last. With Christmas just around the corner, both Sherlock and John are slightly baffled when Mrs Hudson decides to give them a slow cooker as a "house-warming present"...

13. I Just Want You for My Own (166706 words) by cwb Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Sherlock and John head home from their respective schools for the winter break.

14. In Bed (46922 words) by Ellipsical Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: The sequel to Guilty Secrets. How do the sons of silent, bitter houses love? Like this.

15.  Johnlock Advent 2018 (47773 words) by sussexbound Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: Some of you may remember the 2017 Johnlock Advent. It was a collaboration between @honeybeelullaby, @chained-to-the-mirror, and myself. @honeybeelullaby provided the wonderful prompts, @chained-to-the-mirror drew pictures based on those, and I wrote a ficlet for each one. It was a real blessing for all three of us then, so… IT’S BACK!!

16. Let Nothing You Dismay (13326 words) by OpalJade Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: For lack of a better Christmas gift idea, John makes a booklet of redeemable coupons for Sherlock. 17. Merlot (14844 words) by Itsallfine Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: “Because you’ve been through enough. The both of you have been through so much, and it’s time to just be happy, okay?” she continued, rather more gently. “It’s time. You asked for my help, and I’m giving it. Let yourself be happy, Sherlock Holmes.” Sherlock and John work toward becoming something more as they prepare to host the Holmes parents at 221B for the holidays. Written for the 25 Days of Fic-Mas 2015 challenge on tumblr. Chapter 16 is the only explicit one and can be easily skipped. The rest of the fic is rated T.

18. Oh, my friends, it's been a long hard year (11914 words) by splix Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade, Mr. Chatterjee/Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes' Father/Mummy (Sherlock) Summary: Christmas is rubbish this year.

19. Points (53791 words) by lifeonmars Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: The little things are infinitely the most important. -- "A Case of Identity," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

20. Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Christmas Spirit (15002 words) by SilentAuror Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: John hates Christmas. So does Sherlock, but he suggests that they do Christmas "properly" this year to see if they can't track down its elusive magic and discover for themselves what Christmas is supposed to be about.

21. The Adventure of the Crossed Streams (23239 words) by mydwynter Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: I scowled, annoyed as usual by Holmes's intrusion on my privacy. I was afraid that some day he might read something more telling, something more dangerous, and that in uncovering the truth he would ruin our intimate friendship for good. "I’m not exactly feeling up to scratch this morning, Holmes." "And yet your eyebrows continue their semaphore." Christmas Eve day. Come mid-morning, Holmes and Watson find themselves with three gifts, two cases, and one mild hangover. If they're lucky, they won't be additionally burdened with a partridge in a pear tree—though with the direction everything is heading, Watson wouldn't bet against it.

22. To the Gold of Frankincense through Myrrh (10031 words) by sideris Rating: Explicit Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Summary: After Sherlock's imprisonment for the murder of Charles Augustus Magnussen, he's released on licence into Mycroft's care. It's December and when Mycroft asks him what he'd like for Christmas, there's only one answer. "John."

23. The Holiday Cycle (115450 words) by flawedamythyst Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, Sherrinford Holmes/Molly Hooper Summary: “If we vote to allow you to be an exception to the law, you will celebrate every holiday,” said Father Christmas. “With as much enthusiasm as you can." John and Sherlock made a deal so that Sherlock could come home. Now it's time for them to uphold it.

24. The Key (11689 words) by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for Rating: Mature Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson, James Sholto/John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/Victor Trevor Summary: Six months after the tarmac scene, John gives his key to 221B Baker Street back to Sherlock, deciding he needs a clean start -- but there's too much left unresolved for that to easily happen. (I wrote this purely for the feels, wondering what would happen if John walked away after all the trauma of S3... You know they can't stay apart, but what might happen in between?)

[so680]

How is being gay in poland?

ahh I have to admit it has been very rough in the past few months, and I've had a few breakdowns over it.

first of all, we literally don't have any protection from the law, so there's no such thing in poland as homophobic hate crime or hate speech. if someone hits you just because you're gay, the court will treat it as a "normal" assault. it'd be different if someone hit you just because of your nationality, ethnicity, political or religious beliefs. we don't have same sex marriages, there's not even such thing as civil union or partnership. so it definitely hurts me a lot to think that if I decide to stay in poland and will have a girlfriend I won't be able to marry her, and from a legal point of view we will be strangers to each other. same sex partners obviously can't adopt children. conversion therapy is still legal here 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ almost 5% of people who attended the voting for eu parliament this year voted for a party who discriminates lgbt people. their leaders openly say that gay people "kidnap" kids to rape and abuse them, call lgbt people "monkeys", "weirdos", "deviants". recently there was first ever pride in białystok, one of the more conservative cities, and only about 1k of people participated in it, but about 4/5k of nationalist gathered there to scream things like "fuck off f*ggots, go to gas chambers, woman and man is normal family" etc. there are literally videos of them throwing rocks, glass bottles at the people who were walking at pride. grown men were harassing and beating teenagers and burning the pride flags. on top of that local governments are adopting laws to make their region a "lgbt-free zone" (whatever it means). a big polish newspaper recently distributed an issue with "lgbt-free zone" stickers. there are trucks driving around in different cities with billboards that compare gay people to pedophiles. our far right government has an obsession that we want to destroy their families and sexualize their children. the catholic church is very guilty here too (one of the archbishop just yesterday called us a "rainbow plague"), actively discriminating us. polish people are in general quite conservative and religious, especially older ones, and most of the time they don't want to get educated on this topic, and they prefer to stay close minded in their comfort bubble.

but ending on the more positive note, a few days ago a guy started this hashtag on twitter ("jestem lgbt" which means "i am lgbt") where people post their photos and tell about their normal day, work, what they are doing in life, to show that lgbt people are not just some sort of a sick ideology and conspiracy theory, but normal people who deserve respect and equal rights, just as every other member of our society.

sorry for this along ass rant, I just couldn't stop myself because I get very angry when I think about this.

[tusharit25]

Kampy,campus life #redefined

Kampy, the all new “college networking platform” now available in the Android play store & Apple App Store.

Pune has been an education hub and will continue with imparting its quality education for decades to come. The college students here not only get a chance to define their careers/ future but also grow here as individuals to face the competitive world. To make the college campus life more interesting and fun along with education, Ineffable Mobile App LLP has come up with a unique one of its kind “campus networking platform crafted exclusively for college campus life, with mission to #Engage #Educate, Empower It will filter out your college social experience fun from the crowd of existing platform’s available in this technology driven era.

What is Kampy? What does it offer?

Kampy is networking platform which connect each & every student of your college campus on one common platform using their mobile devices, where students can interact with each other for studies, notes, group discussion, information about lectures, extra Classes, exam preparations and much more activates to enhance their academics & excel in their studies, Kampy provides them with a option to connect with seniors and students from different departments so they can take advice/notes/suggestions without having to disturbing each-others daily study schedule etc, students can also create events /group sessions among themselves & other student can join /participate

What makes it unique is that Kampy is totally different from other common platform, each college has its own separate & private account and not interlinked with other colleges, so only students from same college will have visibility to your account making it secure, what makes it more interesting is Kampy will be accessible only in the college campus, which is likely to encourage student to stay in the college campus derive more out of their academic activities, But yes, if you intend to use Kampy outside your college campus zone the premium feature is available at a very basic affordable cost

Designed with strict security measures that clearly align with the Indian cultures and values, each the student’s security and privacy is given the top priority, making it less likely to be used for unwanted activates or purposes

And be least worried about changing campuses as Kampy does give the students an option to request for a change of campus in case they decide to continue with a separate college. This specific feature is only limited to 3 times per student and these requests will be carried out within 8 days post getting approved by a backend process.

So, what are the exciting new features that you get in Kampy?

Kampanon: Go Anonymous

It's always fun to be in the dark while playing a prank and the fun continues with the Kampanon feature wherein you can keep your public identity secret and anonymously reply to posts on the app. Every Kampy user will be given the option to have two different usernames;

One with their own real identity and the other one with an anonymous identity. The Kampians can switch between these identities with a slight touch, thereby making the comments, posts and the relative anonymity an overall thrilling experience.

The usage of this anonymous feature will be subject to strict vigilance by a dedicated backend team, which ensures that no fellow kampians are harassed, threatened or hurt by any means. If found guilty of any kind of misuse by a user, their account can be banned for a month or even more.

Kampost: Post the updates

The most visible feature of Kampy is the kampost, something that you will be greeted with, the moment you login to the app. So, basically Kampost is the daily news feed that you can see or post on the app. It can be the latest lecture update or a photo or opinion poll that has been posted by your fellow Kampines. Kampost keeps you updated on all the happenings in your college campus. And what’s more interesting is, the unique anonymous post feature that allows you to post using your anonymous identity.

Things get spicier with the like or unlike reply options. You also get a set of awesome and unique emojis and gifts that you can use while replying to a post or posting a kampost.

Kampscratch: Scratch to see the hidden message hidden story

It’s something that you might not have seen anywhere else on the internet. Just like the recharge coupons from the past, where you used to scratch them to reveal the voucher code, Kampy has this interesting new feature called kamscratch. Through this, a Kampian can send hidden posts to a fellow kampian, either with his real or anonymous identity and the receiver has to “scratch” the post on the phone screen to view the message. Sounds amazing!!! Doesn’t it?

Kampoints: No other networking platform values you, like kampy

Yet another exclusive & unique feature of Kampy, as privileged user every kampanion is rewarded with kampoints for each activities on the app, be it posting on kampfeed, or liking other user's kampost, creating kampfever or even reporting post user are given points for each activity, after kampoints accumulation to certain figure, user can exchange his or her points with coupon or cash, to wallet or bank account, you not only have a fun while you learn but also earn in this new #kampy era. This feature only available in premium version of app. You can redeem your kampoints as a cash value or coupon of your favorite local or online shopping destination

Kampoll: Vote your opinion on

Confused which class to join? Want more opinions about the nearby restaurants? Well, there is one single solution to all your confusions: kampoll, a distinctive feature that lets you start a polling activity. All you have to do is, share your confusions in the form of a question and your fellow students will give you the answers you seek. The add on factor that makes this feature even more fun to use, is the fact that you can start a kampoll using your anonymous identity also.

Kamfire: Fire up the events with

Every college campus has a number of events happening across all the departments. And how do you stay updated with all these events? The answer is Kampfire , where all these events can be posted and shared with your fellow Kampians. Whether small or big; planned or tenative, be it a birthday party or a convocation function, all these events can be posted and viewed via Kampfire. You also get the option to select only a specific group of friends in kampfire, thereby making your event a completely private affair.

Kampcircle: Group up your peers on

Man is a social animal and socializing doesn’t limit you to only your peer groups. Now, using Kampcircle, you can be a part of other academic groups to view their posts and happenings or even invite other kampians to your circle.

Kampads: the kapmy way to make space for new by getting rid of the old

Is your old bike coming in the way of your plans to get a new one? Is your shelf getting overpopulated with the old books that you have read at least 5 times? Or maybe you have a fashion wear that doesn’t fit you anymore? Now Kampy comes with the most practical feature: Kampads where you post the list of your old or used things for sale. The whole campus becomes the target audience and you score a higher chance of your stuff getting sold.

Kampfever: Hashtag your trend and let fever spread .It’s not just the fashion that’s trendy. It’s also not just the wall art that’s creative. Get noticed with your own trending and creative hashtags and start a trail of fever that increases your popularity on Kampy, resulting in you, becoming a famous trendsetter on the campus

Kamp-Farewell: What happens when you graduate from your college: Yet another exclusive & unique feature of Kampy, as privileged user every #kampanion Kampy provides you with "Farewell" option you can choose at end of your academic era where every user can opt for this feature with a click of button. The user will then receive "Kampion life journey" activities which includes all your post/comment/likes etc in video format to cherish for rest of your life!

So, download the app now and enjoy your college life the all new KAMPY way

“Campus Life rEdEfInEd” #Engage #Educate #Empower yourself with Kampy today.

[tremendouspeachduck]

2 Things You Must Know About  the REPUBLICAN, AMERICAN INDIAN

No.  Really?

above car - 1933 Chevy 3-window coup w/rumble seat

Do you think Pres. Trump is a bully, I don’t.  Why?

Talking about the “War on Men” …  5 touchy subjects   …

Abortion – should the man have an opinion and be able to voice it?

Free Birth Control    HERE    and    HERE   ***   Please notice, abortion is not listed as a birth control option

Pres Trump would have never won if it weren’t for the black vote  

See Video                                  and this video too       don’t forget this one

Men seem to take it to a whole other level.  The Bible has something to reveal about name calling.  Also, the systematic criticism and self-doubt are what takes it from name calling to verbal abuse – it’s a repeated pattern that, over time, can make the victim believe the insults, making it harder for them to leave (“no one will love me because they said so”).

Beyond name calling, abusers may belittle their partner, either privately publicly, or disguise disparaging comments in jokes. This can be followed up by more judgment and criticism (“You’re too sensitive”) or acting as those what they’ve said is trivial (“I was only joking”). Other examples of name calling include putting someone down, making them feel guilty, or embarrassing and humiliating them.

Healthy relationships don’t use name calling to resolve conflict or express love. Both partners make the other one feel good about themselves. It’s relaxing and fun, and neither tries to “prove” they are the only ones that will ever love them. Instead, each partner sets boundaries on what’s acceptable behavior, including what nicknames or jokes are okay.

Can you think of a great sight to see walking in the city? Click to see it

Recognizing these early warning signs can make the difference between staying in an unhealthy relationship that worsens over time, or ending it and being in one that’s healthy.

Should men care about your makeup?  The correct answer is “yes,”  if it makes the woman happy.  Lips and the smile are what is very appealing to a man.

How to support a woman’s period?  No rude comments about what’s in the trash bin, about her being moody… no jokes, no nothing.  It’s ok to make her laugh, laughter is good medicine BUT do not joke about it being “that time of the month again”.

By knowing her cycle, you can be more aware and sensitive to her changing moods and physical discomfort. This develops a deeper trust as your woman knows you are really present with what she is experiencing. Put it in your calendar so you have a heads up.

Interestingly, having an orgasm can relieve menstrual cramps, though your attitude during the whole cycle will determine whether or not she’s willing to explore this. Again , this is probably best to bring up when she isn’t in the middle of it.

She may act like she doesn’t want you there, but remember she may actually desire some TLC. Your full presence is the best medicine. She will love you for this!

Help create a cozy environment for her, and cook her comfort food. Hugs are also great.  The main thing is to not be an ass. (closing down and or not wanting to deal is being an ass)

Finding ways to be positive is the key to building a healthy body image and positive self-esteem.  What we read and watch has a huge impact on how we feel about ourselves. Because of this, we should be very particular about the magazines and websites we will look at.  We might love reading about the interesting things that people, and women in particular, accomplish.  Shopping centers aren’t only sucking your money, they are also sink holes for body confidence. Getting caught up in a conversation about the way someone else looks, whether they have put on weight and so on, inevitably leads to thoughts on our own appearance.  Don’t participate.  Touch is an incredibly powerful way of reinforcing the way you feel about your body. And if you’re touched gently, with love and care, you will feel incredible. So, try to practice gentle love and care with yourself. Wash your hair the way the hairdresser did. Wash your face the way a beauty therapist would. Give yourself a massage when you’re applying moisturizer. It feels good. And it reinforces a positive, kind relationship with your body.  Meditation is an incredibly effective tool for clearing away unhelpful thought cycles. 10 minutes. 5 minutes. 1. Whatever. Just sit, close your eyes and breathe.

Eating respectfully means accepting and being mindful of the nutrients that your body requires to function. It means eating plenty of good food and ditching sugary and pretend foods that compromise our digestive health, our hormonal balance, our mood and energy levels.  The flip side of eating respectfully is to move past the binge-fast guilt cycle. If you eat something unhealthy, please don’t punish yourself or try to restrict caloric intake. Healthy eating and body respect is not about food deprivation. It’s about food celebration.  When you look in the mirror, try to replace any negative thoughts that are pushing their way through with an affirming thought about the way you look or feel.

People who have purpose are too busy getting stuff done to worry about how they look. In the end, creative expression, passionate parenting, effective leadership and growing the best-goddamn-tomatoes-in-the-neighborhood is far more satisfying than making sure you look good in an outfit at all times.

Positive self-image is a habit, not an attribute and your partner can be helpful.

This is an excerpt from my post: THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY: THE “SAVAGE” EMPIRE.

The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois: Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Cayuga) really cherished population stability. Being that their population was so limited and ever diminishing due to disease outbreaks and near constant conflicts, the Haudenosaunee highly preferred losing as few men as possible. They usually evaded fighting armies that outnumbered theirs as well as avoiding fortified enemy positions and fighting pitched battles. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) preferred instead to employ ambushes, strike preemptively, and launch lightning fast raids under the cover of darkness. The Haudenosaunee would travel deep into enemy territory in very large numbers to scare off potential enemies from attacking them before breaking up into smaller war parties, after which these war parties would utilize swift and stealthy attacks usually in the form of ambushes or night raids.

Closer Look by Doug Hall.

Another tactic the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) employed was after traveling by way of canoes under the cover of night they would place rocks in the canoes to weigh them down and cause them to sink out of sight They would then speedily assault the enemy in coordinated attacks, vanish back into the wilderness and return to their canoes before the enemy had enough time to recuperate, assemble and counterattack. With the deadliness of firearms introduced into the equation, the Natives learned to fire at enemies from behind the cover of trees instead of the European practice of firing coordinated volleys from fixed formations.

One Step at a Time by Doug Hall.

One disadvantage the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) had over the Euro-American colonies was that Native populations were constantly diminishing and fluctuating. The Euro-American colonies surrounding them, on he other hand, were growing and receiving a constant flow of immigrants with the occasional military reinforcement from Europe. The limited number of Natives as well as their fear of dying and becoming lost souls, urged them to retreat from battle more readily than Euro-American forces – even after just a few casualties. They used safer methods of combat like the previously mentioned ambushes, night raids, espionage, and scorched earth tactics: destroying their settlements or crops in order to retreat and deprive the enemy of shelter or resources.

A Quick Glance by Doug Hall.

The Natives that wanted to lead a proposed raid against a perceived enemy would send a messenger with tobacco tasked with expressing the purpose and details of the mission, asking them to join their cause. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) who decided to engage in said raid would first take part in the smoking of a pipe filled with tobacco. Before leaving for the raid there would be a feast and dancing, during the ‘Dog (War) Feast’ the warriors would engage in a ceremony called the ‘striking-the-warpost’ where they would sing war songs, dance, and boast about their military exploits. After each achievement is mentioned the warrior strikes a red-painted post with their weapon (club or hatchet), the young Natives that had yet to have achieved any great feats simply danced and struck the warpost once.

A Moment Away by David Wright.

If these young Natives had proven themselves to be brave warriors during their expedition they would be seen as men and accepted as a warrior by being given their first feather. These young braves could also attain higher status, honor and prestige. I read of one story of an elder who joined in but in place of dancing he performed an awe inspiring passionate reenactment of his life as a warrior, a deep performance that displayed an array of emotions as he described all that he had experienced and accomplished throughout his lifetime.

man on right - Carson Cooper is a member of the Tlingit and Haida tribes and an Alaska native. Lee Redeye (on left) is a member of the Seneca tribe and was raised on the reservation in Irving and in New Mexico. Both attorneys are relatively new to the law firm Lippes Mathias Wexler Friedman LLP , with Cooper having joined in 2017 and Redeye earlier this year.  

Another attorney, Owen Herne, branched out on his own after beginning his career in corporate counsel for a tribe. He is a member of the Mohawk tribe and runs Herne Law PLLC.

These  three local attorneys in Buffalo, NY took different paths to focus on Indian law, but they share a bond in the desire to build careers around their ancestry.

The Jogah, or Jungies, are a race of small humanoid nature spirits from Iroquois folklore, sometimes referred to in English as “dwarves” or “pygmies.” They are usually invisible but sometimes reveal themselves to humans

After nightfall, the call of the Whip-poor-will signals their arrival.  It is important to leave baskets of food, such as corn cakes and berries, or even meat in the woods for them. Those who see the Little People should not look directly at them, they think it’s rude. If they catch you staring, they might point a finger at you, rooting you to the ground, while they take your belongings. Another rule is don’t speak of them in the summer, when they are most active.

At this time of Bad Spirits, there lived a medicine woman. One night, during a terrible storm, she heard the whip-poor-will. When she looked outside, the bird wasn’t to be found, but a small boy stood in the rain on her doorstep. It turned out he was a grown Jogah, who told her to come help someone who was sick. Though the storm was fierce, he led her through the woods a long way.

Suddenly, the storm seemed to stop as they began to descend into the ground. They were in the realm of the Little People. Weegun led her to a beehive shaped chamber of rocks. Inside, a very old woman lay in bed, very ill. The Makiawisug told the medicine woman that this was Granny Squannit, who must be made well. Granny Squannit is very powerful, and she is known to cause storms when she argues with her husband. Her illness was the reason for this storm. Worse, healers often look to Granny Squannit when the need is dire for help in healing, and here she was the one who was sick. The medicine woman treated Granny Squannit for nearly a moon before she got better. In return for restoring Granny Squannit’s health, the Makiawisug gave the medicine woman a basket of gifts and told her to remember them. She was blindfolded and taken back home.

Only when she returned did she open the basket. Inside were quartz crystals, painted skins and bunches of herbs.

People in the USA have natives who are very spiritual living maybe next door.  Embrace your neighbor - let’s get back to our community roots.

Community involvement is the solution to mass murder/shootings

Close your eyes, lean head back on pillow or head-rest, take deep breaths and listen to the story unfold         Special Cherokee Nation Song video

nice fire & listen to music flute music vid   Do you want to learn the Mohawklanguage?      the sacred horse song    See  My fav horse

Please leave message below, then Go To top, nav to previous or next

[creepingsharia]

A Month of Islam in America: February 2019

A Month of Islam in America: February 2019

For those who can’t find the House Homeland Security monthly report on terror because it appears to have been deleted when Democrats took over the House, you may find our monthly reports useful.

The trend of big technology platforms aiding and abetting the jihad and imposing sharia on the world continued and was further confirmed as Facebook and Twitter consult with terror-tied CAIR over who gets banned from platforms.

Click any hyperlink below to read the full story, then share to your social media sites using the buttons on the bottom of each story. Future generations will thank you!

February 2019

Jihad & Terror

California: Muslim Gets Almost 16 Years for Plotting Jihad in The U.S. in The Name of ISIS

Amer Sinan Alhaggagi was sentenced today to 188 months for attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and identity theft charges.

Arizona: Bodycam footage shows ISIS suspect attacking police officer, then shot (VIDEO)

Sgt. Brandon Wells shot Ismail Hamed, 18, outside a police substation in Maricopa County last month after Hamed called 911, telling the operator he had a knife and rocks. “My name is Ismail Hamed,” he said. “I live in Fountain Hills, and I’m owing my allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. I just want a cop to come real quick and I want to deal with them.”

Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty to ISIS Bomb Threat on Pentagon, Govt Buildings

George Tomasack, age 47, admitted that during the calls he threatened to blow up the locations. Specifically, during the call to the Pentagon Tours Office, Tomasack stated that the call was an “ISIS threat” and “there will be a (unintelligible) at your building in five hours.” On that same day, Tomasack called a CNN news affiliate in Atlanta and stated that “he was associated with ISIS and they were going to blow up a government building.”

Bronx: Muslim Pleads Guilty to Attempting To Provide and Conspiring To Provide Material Support To ISIS

ADAM RAISHANI, a/k/a “Saddam Mohamed Raishani,” pled guilty to attempting to provide and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (“ISIS”).

Florida: Fort Pierce Resident Sentenced to Prison for ISIS Related Threats

Charlton Edward LaChase, 28, of Fort Pierce, Florida, was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release for text messages professing his support for ISIS and threatening to kill several people while committing acts of terrorism and mass murder.  A search warrant for LaChase’s Facebook account revealed several attempts by LaChase to purchase firearms, as well as threats to commit mass murder, threats to kill politicians, and statements of support for ISIS.

California: Somali Muslim Refugee Who Tried to Run Down Jews at Synagogue Charged with Attempted Murder

Mohamed Abdi Mohamed, 33,  accused of a hate crime attack after allegedly trying to run over two Jewish men outside a synagogue in Hancock Park last year is now facing attempted murder charges, officials announced Thursday.

North Carolina: Muslim gets 15 years prison for recruiting people to wage jihad on behalf of ISIS

Erick Jamal Hendricks, 38, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

New York: Man “Ready to Kill and Die in the Name of allah” Arrested at JFK Airport en Route to Join Pakistani Terror Group

Jesus Wilfredo Encarnacion, a.k.a. “Jihadistsoldgier,” “Jihadinhear,” “Jihadinheart,” “Lionofthegood,” was arrested last night at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in Queens, New York and was charged today with attempting and conspiring to provide material support to Lashkar e-Tayyiba (“LeT”), a Pakistan-based designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for multiple high-profile attacks, including the infamous Mumbai attacks in Nov. 2008.

Ohio: Muslim who planned Cleveland jihad attack indicted for threatening to behead Trump and kill family

Demetrius Nathaniel Pitts, 49, who uses the aliases Abdur Raheem Rafeeq and Salah ad-Deen Osama Waleed,  who was previously indicted on federal charges for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Cleveland last summer has now been charged with additional crimes, including threatening to kill President Donald Trump and his family.

The new indictment supersedes the previous one from January that charged with attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida.

Texas: 18-year-old charged with recruiting for Pakistani Islamic terror group LeT

Michael Kyle Sewell, of Arlington, has been charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to LeT, a Pakistani-based terrorist organization.

Ohio: Muslim convert charged with a hate crime for synagogue mass shooting jihad plot

Damon Joseph, 21, aka Abdullah Ali Yusuf, was indicted Tuesday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to ISIS and attempting to commit a hate crime.

Investigators say Joseph, who converted to Islam, talked about wanting to kill as many people as possible at a synagogue in the Toledo area.

Damon Joseph aka Abdullah Ali Yusuf

Islamic Rape & Violence Against Americans

Minnesota: Muslim Sexually Assaults 13-Year Old Girl in St. Cloud Minnesota: Rochester Muslim Convicted of Sexual Assault and False Imprisonment Ohio University Muslim student from Oman arrested for rape, stalking, kidnapping and more Oregon: Koran instructor sentenced to 4 years prison for sexual abuse of underage girls Wisconsin: Lyft driver asks to use passenger’s bathroom, sexually assaults her

Immigration Jihad in America

At least 17 Saudi students from 8 states flee after being convicted or charged with rape, manslaughter or child porn Illinois: Muslim who shot motorist near Georgetown flees U.S. to Saudi Arabia Minnesota: Muslim refugee charged with taking U.S. journalist, others hostage in Somalia New York: Diplomat’s Muslim husband has immunity revoked but avoids jail after beating wife Michigan: ICE allows Muslim to self deport with no charges after arrest in student visa fraud sting Virginia: Moroccan Immigrant Sentenced to 5 Years Prison for Assault on ICE Officers Texas: Houston getting new mega mosque for first Ismaili center in U.S.

Sharia in Your Community

Brooklyn: Muslims Form Community Patrol – Plan to Expand Citywide New York: Islamization continues – Muhammad Ali Jinnah Way inaugurated in Pakistani Muslim enclave Chicago Cubs agree to work with terror-linked CAIR over owners father’s leaked emails Minnesota: Christian Pastor Arrested at Mall of America Faces Hearing and Trial After Talking to Muslims Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum Indoctrinating Kids with Islam

Sharia Adherents in Elected Office

New York: Muslim Immigrant Who Joined ISIS Now Works With U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn Democrats Remove Monthly Terror Reports from Committee on Homeland Security Website Massachusetts Republican Gov. Baker visits terror-linked Boston mosque Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib ‘Lied’ About Residency To Run For Office, Registered To Vote At False Address Virginia: Democrat Candidate Ibraheem Samirah’s Donors Named in Terrorist Report for Hamas Links

Fraud for Jihad in America

Wisconsin: Another Anti-Muslim Hate Crime Turns Out to Be a Hoax New Jersey: Muslim Couple Charged in $4 Million Food Stamp Fraud at Paterson Store

Tennessee: Franklin man caught impersonating a U.S. Marshal

Kansas: Muslim leader who illegally stored hazardous waste costing taxpayers $760k gets probation, fine

U.S. to provide nearly $10M to Maldives – where non-Muslims can’t become citizens

Straight Out Treason:

Former U.S. Air Force and Counterintelligence Agent Converted to Islam, Gave Classified Info to Iran

Treasonous Muslim who fled Alabama to become ISIS bride & recruiter suddenly has regrets now that she wants to return to America

Florida: Muslim immigrant woman who fled U.S. with her young kids to join ISIS is killed in Syria

And the lone victory against Islam and sharia in February:

Arkansas: House passes resolution calling on law enforcement agencies to suspend contact with CAIR over terror links (VIDEO)

See all the Creeping Sharia monthly reports here or use the Category drop-down on the upper right nav bar on any page to see how sharia is creeping in your state.

2018 Year in Review,  Part I here and Part II here.

Social media censorship is real. Please share on Facebook, Twitter and other sites or copy and paste with credits and link back to Creeping Sharia to warn your fellow citizens and future generations. Thank you.

[paigenotblank]

The Age of the Wolf (5/9)

Rating: Mature overall, this chapter is teen

Pairing: Eighth Doctor x Rose Tyler

Written for @doctorroseprompts and Eight x Rose August. Prompt: Dimension hopping!Rose meets Eight / What if Rose was with Eight or met Eight during the Time War?

Read it on Tumblr: Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9

AO3  TSP

Rose’s eyes fluttered open as the light from her bedroom window blanketed over her. Whatever criticism could be made about Gallifrey, the view from her bed was not one of them.

The Citadel was nestled between the mountains of Solace and Solitude. The Doctor and Rose’s suite of rooms faced the snow-capped top of Solitude - the very same mountain where the Doctor had lived and played as a boy. He’d had dirty blond hair back then, but was just as mischievous as the man he’d grow into. It was a sight she never dreamed to see when she’d first met him, and so she kept it close to her heart for when it was gone.

She stretched and the sheets dropped below her chest. The masculine groan at her side had her rolling over. “Doctor! You’re never still here when I wake up.”

“What can I say? You wore me out last night. Besides, I was enjoying the view when I woke, though I admit I’m enjoying it even more now.” His gaze dropped to his wife’s breast.

Rose rolled her eyes, and cuddled into the Doctor’s chest. “Git.”

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her letting his fingers lightly play along her spine.

They both spent the moment lost in thought. Rose staring at the view of the mountain and thinking of her other Doctors; the Doctor staring at the top of Rose’s head also thinking of her future with him. He rested his cheek on her crown and asked, “How long were you separated from me?”

“What?” Rose looked up at him. “Why’s it matter?”

“I suppose it doesn’t. Not really. I was just curious.” He shrugged it off and went back to caressing her hip.

Rose turned to fully face him and raised her eyebrow.

He sighed. “It’s just sometimes you get this look and I can tell you’re thinking about…him.”

“You’re jealous? Of yourself?”

“No! Well, maybe. Just a bit. ”

“You’re unbelievable. No, I don’t know why I’m surprised.” Rose snickered. “You are exactly the same man.”

“I-”

She sat up and poked his chest. “No. Listen here, Doctor. I am yours. Yours. This you that I married, the first you that I met and fell in love with, the following you that I hope to one day return to, and-”

“Wait. Are you saying that you’ve known more than one of my future incarnations?”

Rose’s jaw dropped. “Yeah. Couldn’t you tell?” Rose tapped her temple.

“No. You’ve done an excellent job of shielding your past and my future. Not that I would look, even if you hadn’t.”

“Oh. I didn’t even realize…” Rose bit her lip and then tried to contain her smile as she raised her eyes to him. “Since we’re on the subject, let me tell you that springing regeneration on me while it’s happening without really explaining is not the best way to go about things.”

“Rose, I…I what?”

Rose grasped his hand. “Doctor, I love you.”

He squeezed back. “I love you too.”

“I know you do, but I need to say this. I love you. All of you. The ones I’ve known, the ones I’ve never known, and the ones I hope to know in the future. I didn’t have my first Doctor for very long, maybe about eight months and most of that was spent dancing around our feelings. Then my next Doctor...we had only a year before we were separated, and while we were more of a proper couple, there was still so much left unsaid. And to answer your earlier question, we were separated about 3 years before I found this you. That more time apart than we had together. I barely had any time with your future selves and I don’t want to feel guilty for cherishing that time with you.”

“Oh, Rose…”

“Every little moment we had was my foundation for this. What we have right now. And I need you to be okay with that.”

“Of course I am. And I’m so sorry for making you feel otherwise. My only excuse is that I’m a complete and utter git. Honestly, I’m humbled by the love you have, have had, and will have for any and all of my future selves. I promise to try harder not to be a jealous old sod.”

Rose flung herself into his arms. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you. Thank you for loving me and not giving up on me.”

“You better get used to it, ‘cos you’re stuck with me. Never gonna leave you.”

The Doctor pulled back from their embrace. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Rose wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into a brillant snog.

An incessant knocking at their door finally had them pulling apart.

The Doctor pulled Rose back to him and kissed along her neck. “Ignore it, darling.”

Rose angled her head back to give him more room. “What if it’s important?”

“Whoever it is will come back.” The Doctor reached a particularly sensitive spot that had Rose shivering.

“Mmm.” The knocking only increased in force and volume. “Sounds important.”

The Doctor sighed and stopped kissing his wife. “Can’t a man spend one leisurely morning in bed with his bondmate?”

Rose giggled as he stood - getting a nice eyeful of his bum - and pulled on his dressing gown. There was no hiding what they’d been up to last night and this morning. His hair was a mess, his lips looked well kissed, and there were a few bruises peppered along his neck and chest.

“Go answer the door, and I’ll meet you out there in a mo’.”

The Doctor leaned over to kiss Rose before striding out of the bedroom to answer the urgent knocking.

He pushed the button that would open the door with more force than was necessary.

“Leela! What are you doing here?”

The Doctor’s former companion stood leaning against the doorframe with a small smile upon her face.

“Hello, Doctor.”

The Doctor pulled her into an embrace and then dragged her into the room.

“My friend, how are you?”

“This is not a social call, Doctor.”

“Oh?”

“Romana sent me. The council voted to resurrect the Master this morning.��

“What?”

“They felt he has certain...qualities that would be beneficial to them in the fight against the Daleks.”

“They’re idiots.”

“They’re desperate.”

“He’s completely self serving. If they think he’d be a loyal soldier…”

Rose sidled up behind the Doctor and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Who’s your friend, Doctor?”

The Doctor turned and smiled. “Darling, this is Leela. She was my companion in my fourth body. Also human.”

“Oh! Another human on Gallifrey?”

“Leela, my wife, Rose.”

Leela held out her hand for Rose to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rose. I’ve heard much about you and have been looking forward to meeting you.”

She took it easily. “You too.” Rose turned to the Doctor. “What was all that about no humans on Gallifrey before we bonded?”

The Doctor ran his hands through his curls. “Ah, well generally that’s the case, but Leela is married to a Time Lord and as such has the same privileges as you.”

Rose faced Leela with a brilliant grin. “I hope we can be friends. It’ll be so nice to have another human to talk to.”

Leela was taken aback for a moment by the intensity of Rose’s smile, but found herself nodding. “It will be nice. It’s not always easy being an outsider among the Time Lords. Not that I let them push me around.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from someone the Doctor used to travel with. Told me once he only takes the best. That’s us.” Rose winked at her new friend, who caught a glance of the besotted expression on the Doctor’s face and laughed heartily.

“I think I’m going to like you very much, Rose.”

The Doctor mumbled, “I’m glad you’re going to like it, I have a feeling this will be very bad for me.”

Rose hugged his arm. “Hush you, I can’t wait to hear all her stories about your younger self.”

“That’s exactly what I mean, Rose!”

Leela looked between the two with a smirk. “Maybe we could get together later in the week for dinner. I’ll bring Andred.”

“Andred?”

“My husband.”

“Oh, wonderful.” Rose clapped her hands.

The Doctor played with the tie of his dressing gown. “Right, well, erm, when are they going through with it? Bringing the Master back?”

“In a few hours.”

“So soon?”

“Rassilon’s adamant for this to happen as soon as possible.”

“Is there the full support of the Council?”

“Well, no. There are a few that have reservations, many of whom are still upset over your accusations of leaks during your last two assignments.”

The Doctor rubbed at his temples. “Thank you, Leela, for letting me know. Tell Romana I’ll be dropping by this afternoon.”

Leela nodded and swiftly left the room. Rose rubbed the Doctor’s back. “Who’s the Master?”

The Doctor glanced at Rose in surprise. “Well, at least I know he won’t plague my future.”

Rose’s eyes widened at the slip.

“It’s all right, my dear. He may not be in my far future, but he’ll be plenty of trouble in our near future. The Master is…” The Doctor rubbed his chin. “How do I describe him?”

“Time Lord, I’m guessing?”

“Yes. Of the same age. Went to school together. Friends even. Or I thought we were, but he went mad. Or maybe he always was. Tried everything in his power to destroy me or those that mattered to me. I hadn’t seen him for ages after I left Gallifrey with the TARDIS, but he caught up with me on Earth when I was exiled there in my third body.”

Rose gasped. “Exiled?”

“I’ve never told you any of this?”

“You don’t talk much of the past. I’ve learned what little I do know because every once in a while you say something and I listen, but really, when I think of it, all I have of your past are a collection of crumbs.”

The Doctor clasped Rose’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I know it’s painful for you to…”

“Not all of my past is painful. There were wondrous and beautiful moments. As my wife, I want you to know all of me, and I’ll endeavor to do more on that score.”

Rose squeezed his hand. “And you won’t mind? I mean future you?”

“Rose, if I am, as you say, ‘the same man,’ then I can tell you nothing would please me more. I am often so lonely, even among friends, because I feel that I’m not understood. I’ve never quite fit in here. To have someone, a bondmate, that loves and accepts me for all that I am and can share that with me...well, it’s my most secret desire. So, no. I don’t think I’ll be upset if you’re that person, because I honestly can’t imagine anything I’d want more.”

“Oh, Doctor.” Rose threw herself into the Doctor’s arms and buried her head in the crook of his neck. “There’s nothing I want more than that as well.”

“I’m glad we’re in accord. Now, my darling wife, as much as it pains me to say, I think we should get ready and go find Romana. See if there is anything we can do to stop this.”

Rose kissed his cheek and nodded. “And you can tell me all about this Master bloke on the way.”

“Deal.”

--

The Doctor and Rose entered the Council chambers and were promptly surrounded by other Time Lords.

An older gentleman Rose had never seen before spoke first. “Doctor, did you hear about Narvin’s plan to resurrect the Master?”

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Narvin’s behind it?”

The old man inclined his head and pronounced, “He’s in the matrix room now. It is probably already too late.”

A Time Lord that Rose recognized from her interview with Rassilon drew their attention.  “Doctor, it seems strange that Rassilon would instruct that the Master be brought back.” Rose thought he might have been from the Doctor’s House, Lungbarrow, and slated him as ally.

A Time Lady with shrewd eyes considered them both. “Yes, gravely suspect given your accusations regarding your past few assignments and your history with him.”

The Doctor’s cousin glanced back and forth between the Doctor and the Time Lady, not quite knowing what to make of the accusatory tone to the seemingly obvious statement. He was quick to assure though. “Your claims only strengthen with this development.”

A Time Lord that Rose immediately caused hairs to rise on the back of Rose’s neck sneered at the group. “Don’t be ridiculous. The Doctor’s...colorful past had no influence on this decision. It is for the benefit of Gallifrey.”

Before Rose could open her mouth, the Doctor spoke her thoughts out loud. “How could Gallifrey benefit from a madman being brought back?”

“He’s a skilled warrior. And yes, I admit his previous behavior could be somewhat troubling, but he is cunning and savage and if that is what we need to beat the Daleks, then so be it. For the good of Gallifrey!” The man cheered. Several others in the room picked it up with gusto, others half-heartedly, and the ones that Rose could now determine to be friends of the Doctor remained silent and thoughtful.

The Doctor snorted and crossed his arms. “He would sell out his own mother if it was to further his own purposes. You’re fools to think he would serve Gallifrey, when if at any point betraying the Time Lords to the enemy benefited him, he wouldn’t hesitate.”

Rose was trying to memorize the faces of those who seemed to be antagonistic to her husband when Romana joined the group.

“Romana, you have stories to tell of the Master’s treachery.”

“You know very well, all of these people are well acquainted with the Master and his past. I’m afraid very little I say would cause anyone to change their minds on the matter. And regardless, it’s too late. He’s back and gifted with a full cycle of regenerations.”

“They wouldn’t!”

“The would and they did.”

“What’s Narvin thinking?”

“Oh, that wasn’t Narvin’s doing. That was actually voted on by the High Council-”

“What?”

“-which you would know if you ever deigned to attend a Chamber session. They felt that with the War on, he would go through them faster than normal.”

“That’s a mistake. He can’t be trusted!”

“He is our best hope!”

Rose took a step back from the squabbling and backed into her brother-in-law.

“Brax!”

He places his fingers on his lips and led her away from the small, but loud group. In a low voice he explained, “They’ve found another prophecy. Luckily this one in no way points to you or the Doctor. It mentions an old Time Lord legend, so that will take some of the doubt away from those that still suspect you. I’m afraid not all, but enough to let the two of you breathe a little easier.”

“Thanks.”

The Doctor walked up behind them and wrapped an arm around Rose. “What’s this about being able to breathe easier?”

Rose turned to him. “They found another prophecy and it doesn’t implicate either of us.”

“Thank the stars. What’s it say?”

“It mentions the Hybrid.”

“The Hybrid?”

Brax nodded. “It says, ‘On the last day of the Time War, walking through the ashes of the Time Lords, the Hybrid will stand over the ruins of Gallifrey and unravel the Web of Time, breaking a billion billion hearts to heal its own.’”

“But that’s an old Matrix prophecy. It’s been around for ages.”

“The second half of it was an old Matrix prophecy, but they found a completed scroll in the Cloisters that ties it specifically to the Time War. Luckily for you two that fact has diverted attention away from the both of you. Rassilon’s assigned a small group to scour the Cloisters and the Matrix to discover any little bit of information about the Hybrid and who or what it is. There’ve always been whispers about it being a Dalek, perhaps the Emperor, since they’re both known enemies and hybrid creatures.”

The Doctor scoffed. “As if Daleks have hearts to mend.”

Brax smiled. “Yes, well, it’s of benefit to you to keep our focus trained in that direction anyway, yes?”

The Doctor sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. “Right.”

Brax clicked his heels together and jauntily saluted Rose. “Well, I’m off. I’m going to see if anything in my collection provides clues to this newest mystery.” He pointed at the Doctor. “Behave yourself, brother.”

“Oi!”

Rose patted his chest. “He never does.”

Brax winked at Rose. “Still, I have hope he might listen one day.”

After waving Braxiatel off, the Doctor turned Rose in his embrace. “Well, there’s nothing for it. With the Master back it’s best if we try and stay out of the Capital as much as possible. Let’s find out what the Time Lords wish for us to do next.”

--

The Doctor and Rose were in their suite preparing for a trip to Marinus. “So Marinus? Anything you tell me about it? What to expect?”

The Doctor was digging through his various chests of bits and bobs or as Rose referred to it, ‘junk,’ for anything that might be useful on their latest assignment. Every so often, he’d shove something in his pockets. “Oh, hmm...was there once in my first body.”

“Was this when you traveled with your granddaughter?”

The Doctor smiled at the memory. “Yes. Susan. You know about her?”

“You mentioned her once after…” She laughed. “After dropping the bombshell on me that you’d- that you were a dad.” She gave him a crooked smile. “I was insanely jealous, but trying to hide it. I mean we were...dating isn’t really the right word, but…” She shrugged. “For all intents and purposes, we were. Considered us a proper couple anyway. You’d never mentioned a wife or family…” Rose’s eyes went wide. “Wait. If you’ve already got a wife... But-”

The Doctor dropped what he was doing and rushed over to her. “The only wife I’ve got right now is you. My first wife, and honestly she was never what you are to me, passed into the Matrix a long time ago.”

Rose’s brow furrowed.

“It’s where Time Lords go when we’ve gone past our last regeneration. We upload a part of ourselves into the Matrix so that our sum of knowledge can be accessed for the benefit of future generations. It was never a love match. Though I tried…” The Doctor shook off the memories. “We were determined to have the most compatible TNA and produced two children via the looms. That’s all she was interested in. She was a proper Time Lady and never really could understand why I couldn’t be. Even my children, who are still knocking about, don’t like to have much to do with me. I embarrass them.”

Rose hugged the Doctor. “You don’t embarrass me. I think you’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.”

The Doctor clutched her tighter. “Thank you for that.”

When they pulled apart, Rose was looking out the window and chewing her lip.

“What is it, darling?”

“Oh…” She met the Doctor’s concerned eyes. “I just never considered that your children are adult Time Lords and out there somewhere.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No. I...I was just wondering if I might meet them.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea. They don’t particularly like me and I’d hate for them to take their dislike out on you.”

“Would it be any better for me to run into them somewhere with them knowing who I am, but me in the dark about it? Because let’s face it, all the Time Lords know who and what I am.”

“You’re right of course.” The Doctor sighed. “I’ll introduce you when next we’re back.”

Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor’s neck and kissed him.

They broke apart and the Doctor looked over his shoulder and at his collection of mechanical parts. “Let’s finish packing. I’ve an idea to help the Voord.”

Rose grinned fondly at her clever husband. “Of course you do.”

--

After Marinus, the Doctor and Rose spent the next many decades fighting the Dalek’s and their allies across the galaxy. They battled the Nightmare Child, took on an Army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres, eliminated the Skaro Degradations, and in all of this did their best to prevent the Time Lords from breaking the laws of time in their efforts to win the war. They fought Technomancers and tried to prevent the return of the Great Vampires. They traveled through time to stop a plan by the Daleks to wipe out the children of Gallifrey. They became beloved to the average gallifreyans, but their sense of morality and justice caused them only trouble with the Time Lords. One by one, Rassilon called for the use of the weapons contained within the Omega Arsenal. More often than not, the Doctor and Rose stepped in to undo the damage to the fabric of time that those weapons caused or would have caused. The met many people in their travels, and equally lost many friends to the war. They gained names in both fear and respect across the cosmos, but they never stopped being the Doctor and Rose Tyler.

[allakinwande]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Pat A. Robinson

CHASING DEMOCRACY:

The attack on the American voter.

BY: JB Hanna

_______________________________________________

"Now many of our Christians have what I call the 'goo-goo syndrome.' Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

-Paul Weyrich 1968

TARRANT COUNTY TX.

In 1827, Edward E. Tarrant had established himself as a wealthy man, probably the wealthiest in all of Red River County. A veteran of the war of 1812, now a sheriff, he left his mark in Tarrant County Texas, the namesake of the former officer of the “fourth brigade.”

On September 29, 1843, Tarrant along with Texas state attorney general George Whitfield would draft The “Bird’s Fort Treaty.” Which surreptitiously states in Article XXIV, that; “The government of Texas has the right of working all mines that have been discovered or will be discovered on the territory of the Indians.”

Just as surreptitiously as the terms of Crystal Mason’s signed affidavit that stated she was not eligible to vote as a convicted felon, some hundred and seventy five years later in that same Tarrant County. Mason was on community service on November 8, 2016 for a her 2012 conviction on tax fraud. Only voting after the urging of her mother, Ms. Mason was sentenced to five years in prison on voter fraud charges, for a provisional ballet vote that was never counted.

Crystal Mason’s unfortunate miscarriage of justice is the oddity, not the model. The model being the strategy adopted by many incumbents on the right, while the left has historically supported voter registration initiatives, conservatives (since the voting rights act of 2013) have practiced down presser tactics with almost surgical precision. From good ol fashioned jerrymandring to voter caging and voter roll purges.

Stories like that of Crystal Mason, no matter how rare, are aggressively publicized and spun in efforts to paint a fanciful portrait of voter fraud gone wild. These trumped up horrors however, have never been substantiated.

Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram via Getty Images.

During the presidential campaign of 2016,

Vice President nominee, Mike Pence came under scrutiny from voter rights advocates when Indiana State police raided the voter registration office of Patriot Majority USA, in October of 2016. Indiana progressives called conspiracy on the would be VIce president.

The nonprofit Patriot Majority, had registered over 45,000 voters, mostly African American. Just one week from the voter registration deadline and 5,000 voters short of their 50,000 target at the time of the raid. Founded in 2005, PM was accused of registering voters twice, in addition to applications that had missing or unverified zip codes and addresses. This is often a problem with grassroots voter registration initiatives staffed by everyday citizens, the lack of experience, training, and in many cases, after work hours by constituents looking to supplement their income, have always bore such inconsistencies. Though well meaning, these efforts give way to questionable voter registration applications, that ones opponent will rightfully pounce.

When you open Patriot Majority’s web sight, the home page is striking. Waves of red and white stripes, the famous Washington crossing the Delaware painting emblazoned on the header. With the current political climate, rife with its suede patriotism and the far lefts deepening dive into a socialist creed, one might expect Patriot Majorities home page to spawn links to diatribes of pro gun advocacy and states rights. But PM claims to be a bipartisan movement. While it seems that the issue is the shotty work of some canvassers, Common Cause Indiana and the NAACP have filed a federal lawsuit against Marion County of Indian after the raid on charges of voter suppression by closing early voting in a sector with over 700,000 registered voters. Former Indiana governor mike Pence, now ironically, head of the Elections Integrity Commission, boasts “What is historic here is that our president-elect won 30 to 50 states. He won more counties than any candidate on our side.

The Georgia State showdown

Georgia’s Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams finds herself in a historical yet tight race in Georgia’s gubernatorial midterms. The Gulfport native faces off against opponent Brian kemp, the self proclaimed “politically incorrect conservative.” The cautionary view in mid August was that Kemp could have a strong surge in the last two months leading to the peach state showdown, much like Nathan Deal in 2014. But as of reporting, the race is still in a dead heat. Kemp has been mocked for his ads that some on the left liken to a Dave Chapelle or SNL skit. But while democrats laugh, Brian Kemp is practicing more “politics as usual” than his campaign readaric may assert. Kemp’s influence on voter registration as Secretary of State should be no laughing matter to democrats.

The heat was on as the summer closed out in Randolph County Georgia, a sort of patient zero for the National attention to suspected voter suppression. The Georgia county quickly beat back a move to close seven of nine polling places in the historically black canton. But the victory, while sweet, is little to stop the suppression of voters in the rest of the state. Like Tarrant in Texas, Randolph county is named after another slave owning statesman, Ol’ John Randolph of Roanoke. A career politician who also served as prosecutor of the associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Samuel Chase on charges of impeachment. Chase would later be acquitted by the senate. Roanoke famously stated,

“The most delicious of all privileges, spending other people’s money.” Might be proud of his states insidious politico operandi.

Several groups, including the Georgia Democratic Party, Common Cause and the NAACP, have called on Kemp to step down from his position as secretary of state while he runs for Governor.

Greg Palast, the New York based investigative journalist and author of the compelling

The best democracy money can buy, has been hunting down Kemp and also, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach for the past several months. Armed with a Federal subpoena accusing Kobach of purging hundreds of thousands of Kansans from the voting rolls. Like his counterpart in Georgia, as Secretary of State, Kobach has oversight of the states voter rolls and similar to Brian Kemp of Georgia, Kobach has also successfully closed polling stations in low income counties as well.

As Carol Anderson of the New York Times put it, “Brian Kemp is a master of voter suppression.” For example, Kemp made a statement in 2014 regarding another lawsuit his office faced regarding over 40 thousand names of voters disappearing from the Georgia voting rolls. The Secretary of State emphasized that “The lawsuit filed by 3rd sector development, is frivolous and totally without merit. The claim that there are over forty thousand unprocessed voter registration applications, are false.” Kemp went on to contravene with the 6,525 voter applications his office found had issues of no longer being with us, had no valid date of birth, where convicted felons or provided no county or address. ( some states report day of birth instead of DOB, which substantially increases the chance of two records being reported for the same person.)

Kemp also provided a Potboiler about an application filled out by, Johnny B Cool, who’s city was listed as, Yo’ Town. While this smacks of incompetence of the registrating body or the voting applicant themselves, it seems a stretch to think that a political scenic, who would name themselves Johnny B Cool who Haile’s from Yo town would be a tactical move that any well minded voter fraud conspirator would employ. But the great voter fraud conspiracy rolls on. Kemp, by the way,

Was found to be guilty of voter suppression in 2014.

GETTY IMAGES

LOCKED AND LOADED

Prior to Shelby v Holder, (2013) Texas, along with the several other Jim Crow states had coordinated a preemptive lockout of minority, elderly and millennial prospective votes in anticipation of provisions 4 & 5 of the voting rights act being overturned. The first domino to fall was that unsuspecting, overlooked little Diddy called Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, or the MUD case. The stories of out of town voters using the address of a local motel to vote illegally, harassment of MUD’s minority community and a strange cloud of mystery preceding the Shelby v. Holder decision, stains the “Municipal Utility District,” just north of Austin.

That was 2009, and four years later, Shelby county found it unconstitutional for the federal government to suppress their ability to molest the Hispanics, black, elderly and young voting populous. The Supreme Court would concede that, “voting discrimination still exists; no one doubts that.” But the 5-4 decision of the highest court in the land would contradict their own logic by wiping away the voting rights act protection of historically disenfranchised constituents, specifically articles 4 and 5.

But back in Tarrant Texas, and many other counties in the Lone star state, there’s been a battle raging to oppress voter turnout since voting became public freewill. Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke are in the mezzo of a 12 round barn burner as the country tumbles towards it’s midterms like a radioactive meteor with no direction. Could it be, the land of steers could finally be done with Ted Cruz? Or is Beto’s hype just that? Progressive turnout or conservative suffragist subterfuge may answer these questions.

And yet, one of the few cases of actual voter fraud, ironically in that same state of Texas, is more doleful than relevant. Crystal Mason began her five year sentence for voter fraud in September. After being walked through the provisional ballet process by a state appointed election official, she still stands condemned by adjudication. Alison Grinter, of Mason’s legal team explained, “the federal government has stepped over the state and found Crystal guilty of violating the law.”

In august an 11 year old child hacked a Florida electronic ballet in this years DEFCON 26,

The annual hacking convention held this year in sandy Las Vegas. Emmett Brewer and 30 other kids ranging in age from 8 - 16 years old where all able to hack Florida’s faulty system. The national association of Secretaries of State responded to DEFCON with one of many proclamations in their

(Long comment regarding a proposed Exemption under 17 U.S. code 1201)

The senate stated to ES&S, the countries largest supplier of voting machines;

“Currently there are significant barriers that prevent states from working with independent, qualified, good faith researchers to conduct cyber security on election systems.”

Now it seams, after the midterms, ES&S May have to deal with not just the Senate but the people.

But the talk is done. Bluster deflated. Red and Blue candidates enter November 6th like combatants on the world stage. Like heavyweight champions with the future of democracy on the line. I’ll be watching the fight on November 6th just like Crystal Mason.

Hoping the country does right by its future.