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lilacmoon83 · 5 years ago

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Dreaming Out Loud

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Chapter 109: The Summons, Pt. 1

One Day Ago

The tan colored Sedan drove through the backwoods of Maine. The man in the driver's seat was known in his home city of Boston as Detective Landon Griffin, or he was, before he took early retirement due to a botched investigation a few years ago. But something very intriguing had brought him back into the game, unofficially, of course.

He had received an e-mail from an old friend; a reporter by the name of Derek Jefferies. He had distanced himself from Derek over the years, as his friend had his own career missteps, but they maintained casual contact. So when he received a suspicious e-mail that stated if he didn't hear from his friend within three days to suspect foul play, Landon had naturally wondered what trouble his friend had found himself in this time.

He decided to investigate himself first by coming to the longitude and latitude coordinates provided to him by his friend to check things out. He wasn't sure the e-mail alone was enough evidence to get the authorities involved yet, especially since his friend had a history of erratic behavior. He also had no family or ties to any communities, so he needed actual evidence to present a missing person's case. So here he was, literally in the middle of nowhere, and cursing Derek to high heaven. It seemed that his supposed friend had either provided the wrong location or had sent him on a wild goose chase. He sighed and parked the car on the side of the road before getting out and casually looking around.

"Should have known...damn fool always was a bit off," the retired detective cursed, as he got back into the car. Then suddenly, right before his eyes, the trees and woods began to move and recede. He blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating and his mouth dropped ajar, as a town popped up literally out of no where. And if he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was high or drunk. He stumbled out of the car and stared up at a clock tower, which his car was now parked in front of. He scarcely could believe his eyes, as people appeared around him and more fantastically, castles popped up amid the trees in the distance. He turned in circles, examining his new surroundings and truly wondered if he had somehow stumbled into the freaking Twilight Zone. He swallowed thickly and stared at everything that was now before him.

"What the hell is going on?"

~*~

As they appeared back in the shop, Belle and Rumple looked around in confusion.

"Weren't we just on the beach?" she asked.

"Yes…" Rumple replied, as he searched his memories and realized the gap.

"Then how...I don't even remember coming back here," she said.

"Pan…" Rumple growled.

"But we didn't even see him," Belle admonished.

"Oh yes we did...and he wiped our memories, I'm certain of it," Rumple hissed.

"He's...he's that powerful?" Belle asked with trepidation.

"Oh yes...which means if he did that, then there is something he doesn't want us to know," Rumple replied.

"Then we should go back there and confront him," Belle stated.

"No...he'll just wipe our memories again and send us back here. This is his game...he loves to play games," he responded.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"We play along with his game. He obviously wants to make some grand entrance and will probably do it tonight at the summons," he replied.

"You can't keep this from the others though," she warned.

"And I'm still waiting for you to tell me how you know so much about Pan," she added. He cursed inwardly. He didn't want anyone to know about his connection to that demon...but telling them would probably take some wind out of Pan's sails so to speak.

"I'll tell you...everyone. Let's convene with them at the hospital," he agreed.

"Oh, Snow texted me and they're home already. Persephone healed her so she'd be able to attend tonight. We can go to the loft," Belle replied. He nodded.

"Why on Earth are they still living at the loft? They have a castle now," he mentioned. She smirked.

"So do you...but we still stayed at the mansion last night. Storybrooke is truly home...for all of us," she reminded. He couldn't refute that.

"Agreed," he relented, as they locked the shop up and began the short trek to the loft.

~*~

Snow stretched sleepily and heard the baby whimper from his bassinet beside their bed. It had only been a couple hours since he had last been up, but she didn't care. Neither of them could get enough of him and even though she told him he didn't have to, David had gotten up with her each time.

"I'll bring him to you, my love," he whispered, as he kissed her cheek and she smiled warmly at him. It was never lost on her how lucky she was to have a man like him. David's face lit up, as he peered down at their newborn, whom they still had to name.

"Come on little man...let's go see Mommy," he cooed, as he carried him over to her and then helped Snow shrug out of her nightgown. She took him in her arms with a giddy smile and put him to her breast. He showed no trouble in latching at the hospital and with Artemis' ability to be there instantly, they felt comfortable in taking him home.

Though they weren't sure how much longer the loft was going to be home. They loved their little loft and would be sad to leave it behind. But they knew they needed more room and Snow's father had insisted they come live in his palace now that it was an option. Snow had one set of very fond memories of growing up there, even if there were times her former step-mother Ravenna and her father's court made it difficult. But no matter what any of them had ever said, she had very fond memories of Eli always being there and with him doting on her. And not in the creepy way that she realized Leopold did. She still had that set of memories, but could no longer look upon them with much fondness. She still recalled fondness for the memories she had of Eva as her mother, but ultimately, growing up with her real mother, real father, and step-father were the memories that were now dominate. She also still had many memories of growing up with Regina as her step-mother and could still think about those fondly, even though she now knew that Regina had secretly loathed her. Still...Regina was clearly changing before their eyes. It was slow, but she was seeing glimpses of the woman she used to be coming through and she hoped with all her heart that she could become that woman again.

Snow gazed down at him, as he nursed and she looked at her husband fondly, who was just as mesmerized by their baby as she was.

"We still need to give him a name," she mentioned.

"I know...I was looking through this name book that Belle gave us earlier. I'm just not sure any of them are right for him," he replied.

"We'll find the one," she assured.

"Are you ready for this? I mean tonight?" he asked curiously. She scoffed.

"I'm not sure how all this is even happening. I mean...all the realms are here now...and just as they are," she replied. He sighed.

"I know...it's a bit hard to wrap my head around too," he said, as he looked around.

"And as much as I know we'll enjoy having a bedroom door again, I'll miss this little place," he added. She smiled.

"Me too...it's where I fell in love and my new husband moved in with me," she said fondly.

"You know, when I was just Mary Margaret," she added. He smiled and kissed her hair.

"I love that you have your memories back, but I'll admit, those seem like such simple times now," he admitted.

"Mmm...I think I'll miss Storybrooke just being Storybrooke," she agreed.

"Snow...if you want to live in Storybrooke, I'm sure your father will understand. I mean, obviously we need to look for a bigger place, but if a castle isn't what you want...then we don't have to go," he said. She nodded.

"I know...I know Daddy would understand, but I actually do. Despite Ravenna and the horrible people in my father's court, I have a set of memories that is very good living there and when we took back the Kingdom, I dreamed of living there with my husband and raising our baby," she replied. He smiled fondly.

"We may not be raising Emma there, but we can raise this little one there," she said. He smiled.

"Then I guess this family is moving, after we get through tonight, that is," he said. She sighed.

"Like things weren't complicated enough before," she replied and he couldn't disagree.

"We have a lot to figure out for sure, but we have a lot of family there to do it with us," he reminded. She smiled and nodded, as he kissed her tenderly again. The baby was asleep again, so after they put him down, they too went back to sleep, hoping for a few more hours before it was time to attend that evening's summons.

~*~

Henry looked around his mother's castle with wonder later that day, as he walked beside her. Emma and Neal followed them and shared a smile at the look on his face. Even Regina smiled back at them, enjoying his mirth as much as they were. Slowly but surely, they were figuring out this co-parent thing and calmer tempers were prevailing over all the hurt and pain there had been. And it was all because one little boy had brought them together.

"So...is this where I'm gonna live now?" Henry asked.

"Well...that's up to you, sweetheart," Regina answered, though there was a catch in her throat. It was her worst fear that he was going to decide that he wouldn't want to live with her anymore.

"What about Mom Emma and Dad?" he asked. They exchanged a glance.

"Uh well...we'll be as close by as you want us, kid," Neal replied.

"They'll be here...if they want to be," Regina responded, as she looked at them and they smiled.

"Yeah...a room in a palace is probably better than Granny's" Neal agreed.

"Yeah and I will probably split my time between here and Mom and Dad's new castle. I'm sure we'll all have rooms there too," Emma said, looking at Regina when she said it. And Regina couldn't be unhappy about that now. As she was slowly letting go of her hate and idea of revenge, she was finding that family was replacing that and filling the void. And though she was loathe to admit it at times, she liked it. Which was about to become very important, as she learned upon stepping into her Throne room and finding Leopold sitting upon it.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Emma asked, the first to voice her disgust at him.

"This is my castle...I am alive, which means I am still King. Alas, it appears that my wife Cora is still deceased and my other ex-wife has no claim to this Throne any longer," Leopold replied.

"That is my Throne...I earned it," Regina hissed.

"No...you murdered me to get it," he corrected.

"So...you're going to play King again? Maybe find another child bride to ruin?" Emma growled.

"I am a King...and without an heir. The one I had really isn't mine, now is she?" he questioned.

"No...and she'll never be anything to you. Even you're smart enough to know that if you come near my mother...you'll get a one way trip straight back to the Underworld," Emma warned.

"Duly noted...now get out of my castle," he snapped, as a few guards closed in on them. Neal pulled Henry back and held his hand up.

"We'll go peacefully…" Neal assured.

"The hell we will…" Regina hissed.

"For now...we will. This isn't the time to discuss any kind of action," Neal insisted, as she glanced at their son and relaxed. They turned and left peacefully, but it was clear that this was far from over.

~*~

Evening came and carriages began to arrive at King Eli's palace. Persephone looked down into the night and then turned back to her husband. She was garbed in an elaborate lavender gown that was sleeveless and a diamond necklace, earrings, and tiara completed her ensemble.

"You look beautiful…" Hades mentioned, as he looked very smart and dashing in his formal black velvet tunic, which had light blue embroidery and black formal pants and boots to complete his dress wear.

"Hmm?" she asked, obviously too nervous to hear his compliment and he gently put his hands on her bare shoulders.

"It's going to be fine," he assured.

"You don't know that. This entire night could be a complete nightmare. We really have no idea what attitudes everyone is walking in here with. And need I remind you that Cronus' ball was not a smashing success at all," she replied. He chuckled.

"Cronus couldn't throw a good party if his life depended upon it. I mean, he didn't even have a chocolate fountain and we do. It's going to make the party," he joked, but she was too worked up to appreciate his usual quips.

"Listen...I have a contingency plan. I am ready at a moment's notice to snap my fingers and get our family out of here if it comes to that. And Hephaestus is now waiting in the wings, at your command, with a completed supply of forged lightning bolts on full display," he reminded. She relaxed slightly at that. Even Frollo would be careful about making any rash moves tonight with her so directly ready to smite him down. Even the Chernabog had limits and her powers were definitely among those limits. She took a deep breath and he put his arm around her waist.

"After tonight, everyone will know why they are now here and how they can move forward. Most will adapt and we will be ready for the troublemakers," he assured.

"I hope you're right, my love," she lamented, as they exited their chambers and readied themselves for this summons to commence.

~*~

David stood by the window in their new chambers in Eli's palace. Their chambers was twice the size of the loft's lower level and there was a large adjoining room that Persephone and Demeter had somehow found time to magical turn into a warm, inviting nursery. He held their son and gazed out from the balcony. It would be the same balcony that they would present their son from to all the Kingdoms. It would have been what they had done with Emma had it been an option. And they were still wrapping their minds around the fact that it actually was an option. They thought they would be introducing their son at a low key event held at Granny's. And to be honest, they would have probably preferred that to this, for they could have never predicted this turn of events. It was surreal looking out at the landscape before him now. From this vantage point, they could see the clock tower. Their palace was probably the closest to Storybrooke, which they liked. Regina's palace was fairly close as well. He looked out toward the Harbor and saw the glimmering Emerald City in the distance, as well as the island of Neverland, which they had been warned about. Castles of all the other Kingdoms now dotted the landscape in their hidden bubble of Maine. They were still waiting on word on whether or not there was a barrier again, but even if there was, they still had a problem with Circe's outsiders in town. In a way, it was amazing, but he knew it opened up a whole new host of dangers as well.

"Well, little man, this may be a very new world, but I promise you're not going to be in alone. I couldn't promise that to your sister...but I'm going to keep that promise to you," he whispered.

"And we'll keep that promise together," he heard Snow say and he turned to find her in a gorgeous, shimmering silver gown. It was sleeveless and she wore elbow length satin silver gloves. The entire ensemble was completed with her tiara.

"Wow…" he uttered. It never ceased to amaze him how she could always take his breath away, no matter what she was wearing. But this particular gown was spectacular.

"It's a bit showy, isn't it?" she asked uncertainly.

"No...you look incredible," he answered, still in awe of her.

"Mom said that in an event like this that elaborate is better and I must say I'll never get tired of seeing you in this," she replied, as she admired his outfit. It was his formal red coat and the same ensemble he had been wearing when he awakened her with true love's kiss. In both realities.

"That's definitely something we'll have to get used to," she mentioned, as she looked out at their new view.

"I know...as incredible as it is, it comes with a lot of unknowns that we don't need," he said wearily, as she cuddled against him and peered down at their tiny son.

"But...like you said, we'll do it together," he added, as he pressed a kiss to her hair, which was back to being short, but not as short as it once was. When the original curse had broken, she had started to grow it out again and it was currently styled in a short bob that was just below her ears. They heard a knock at their door and turned, as Persephone came in.

"It's time," she told them. They nodded and followed her and Hades, as they began the short trek to the winding stairway that would lead them down into the atrium.

"We have a problem...and I haven't been able to find you," Regina said immediately, as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"We were getting ready and I had to nurse the baby," Snow replied. The former Queen sighed.

"I know and that's why I was looking for you and your husband," Regina said, directing her attention to Persephone.

"What's going on?" the Goddess asked.

"We went to Regina's castle earlier with Henry to show him around and apparently, Leopold has decided that it's his Throne again," Emma replied.

"That makes sense. He is technically alive again," Hades stated, receiving a glare from Regina.

"I didn't say I agree with it. He's not fit for the Throne, but technically, it's his. There's not really rules for coming back from the head since it shouldn't be possible, but here we are," he added.

"He's right...there are no rules for that. He's alive again and can take the Throne. He can choose to keep you as his Queen or absolve your marriage. I'm guessing he'll do the latter," Persephone agreed.

"He can't do that! I married into that Throne and I suffered through being married to him, at least in one reality, and I earned my place on that Throne," Regina growled.

"And technically he did die, at least in one reality. Right there, that invalidates your marriage and knowing his crooked court, they'll choose to go that route so he can remarry some poor child to produce a viable heir," Hades added.

"He's right, but we will sort this out. Perhaps a different Throne is right for you," Persephone proposed.

"A different Throne?" Emma asked.

"In one reality, you were step-mother to my daughter. That technically makes you Queen Mother to her," Persephone replied.

"No...that would be you. You're her real mother," Regina corrected. Persephone nodded.

"I am...but I already have another Throne to rule from," she reminded. Hades smirked.

"The highest Throne, my wife...Goddess of the heavens," Hades boasted.

"Stop," she chided.

"So Leopold is coming here tonight?" Snow asked. Emma nodded.

"Yeah...but don't worry, I think I put the fear in him if he tries anything," she replied.

"Oh he won't be that bold. Slinking like a snake in the grass is more his style. He knows if he were to make a move tonight, he'd be ash like that," Hades said, snapping his fingers for effect.

"He's sneaky...he used to impart his "wisdom" to me all the time, until Persephone's mother finally clued me in on what he was really after. He may come here tonight, but then he will be explicitly banned from my castle," Eli added.

"Seeing you two agree on anything is still uber weird," Emma commented, making Hades chuckle.

"We don't always see eye to eye, but we both love our family and want them protected," he said.

"And for that reason, I can tolerate you, but don't get the idea that I actually like you," Eli retorted.

"Perish the thought," Hades quipped in return.

"Sweetie...are you okay?" Persephone asked her daughter, as she noticed the pensive look on her face. Snow forced a smile.

"I'm fine," she assured, as she held her newborn close.

"Honey...if this is too much too soon, say the word. I know we can handle all of this if you want a quiet evening," Persephone soothed.

"A quiet evening sounds nice, but no, I want to do this. I need to be here. We're ushering in a brand new era with a lot of unknowns and I am going to be here to see it," Snow assured. Eli smiled and put his hands on her shoulders.

"You are my heir, sweet pea, but more importantly, the greatest thing in my life," he said, making Snow start to tear up.

"I know that there is a version of me that you didn't know and that was a very angry man," he began.

"But you were changing, even before all this. And then I got the chance for you to be my Daddy," she said. He smiled.

"And despite the fact that it was a spell that probably shouldn't have happened, I have never been so grateful for it," he replied. Snow smiled at that.

"Me either. There were a lot of great things during that spell," she agreed.

"I just wish that I had been stronger and had the courage I needed to dismiss that horrible court and have my marriage to Ravenna absolved. I'm sorry for the way you were treated," he said.

"Daddy...that's not your fault and you were in a terrible position. You were trying to keep the peace and prevent war. And despite how they treated me, I never doubted how much you love me," Snow assured, as she hugged him and Eli nearly began sobbing at that.

"Do you want to hold your grandson again?" she asked.

"You know I do," he replied, as he cradled him. With that, they began to receive the arriving Kingdoms, just as Rumple and Belle arrived.

"Snow…" Belle said, as they shared a hug.

"You look beautiful," Snow said, admiring her golden dress.

"So do you...I love this color on you," she agreed. Rumple rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Belle…" he said.

"Oh right, we have something to tell all of you," she said.

"What is it?" Persephone asked.

"It's Pan…" Rumple answered.

"You mean dear old dad?" Hades asked.

"Dammit…" Rumple cursed.

"Say what now?!" Neal exclaimed.

"Never mind that for now...I planned to explain all that. But I think I've already run into him," Rumple admonished.

"Well, you're still alive so it couldn't have gone that bad," Hades quipped.

"Except that we don't remember and Rumple thinks he wiped our memories," Belle corrected.

"Which means he's up to something," Rumple added.

"Whatever it is...he'll get a lightning bolt thrown at him if he comes near this family," Persephone assured, as the processional began. Thomas, Ella, and Thomas' father Mitchell were first in, having also regained their Kingdom. Midas, Frederick, and Abigail were next as well. Eric and Ariel arrived, since the Maritime Kingdom was among the realms united. Next, they saw a blonde woman garbed in a pinkish silver gown, with a wand walk down the aisle next. She bowed respectfully.

"I am Glinda...the good witch of the North and ruler of the Emerald City. And this is my apprentice...Dorothy," she introduced.

"Welcome Glinda," Persephone greeted, as the two women moved off to the side and the next guests approached. An older man in golden robes and a tall hat approached, with a man in blue robes flanking him on one side and a person garbed in armor on the other side. They bowed to Persephone.

"I am the Emperor of China. This is my adviser, Chi-Fu, and my most valiant warrior...Mulan," he said, as the warrior removed her helmet.

"Cool...Mulan is real too…" Henry whispered to his father and Neal couldn't help but chuckle. Following them, was an older man in white robes, with a white turban and a young woman, with long dark hair, dressed in a blue cropped top and harem pants.

"I am the Sultan of Agrabah and this is my daughter, Princess Jasmine," he announced.

"This is so cool…" Henry gushed, as Emma and Regina smiled at him. Next, it was David's turn to be surprised, as he saw people that he knew.

"Your Majesties...I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. This is my sister Princess Anna and my brother-in-law, Kristoff, Prince Consort," the blonde introduced.

"Kristoff…" David said in surprise.

"David…" Kristoff called, also in surprise.

"You know him?" Snow asked.

"Old friend...but I also know her, but obviously not who she really was. Princess Anna," he said slyly. Anna smiled.

"Nice to see you too, just a shepherd, David," she teased, as they moved along, but he was certain they would be able to catch up later.

Next, another couple approached and bowed respectfully.

"Your Majesties, I am King Arthur of Camelot and this is my Queen, Guinevere," he introduced, as Persephone nodded curtly and the man caught Hades' stare boring into him, which made him suddenly very nervous, as they moved off to the side.

Cronus was next, along with Deimos and Phobos.

"Why is he here?" Hades growled.

"At ease, son...Deimos will be on his best behavior this evening," Cronus assured, as he turned his attention to Snow and David.

"Congratulations to you both on the arrival of your tiny Prince," he offered, as they acknowledged his pleasantries.

"If he steps even an inch toward Snow…" Hades warned.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, Your Highness. I would not betray the orders of my Lord Cronus," Deimos quipped, as they dispersed with the others that had arrived. But if Cronus wasn't bad enough already, Leopold waltzed into the castle, followed by Frollo.

"Neither of you are welcome here. Get out," Eli spat.

"I am once again King of my Kingdom and I believe all the heads of state were summoned," Leopold countered, as he made his way to join the other royals.

"And I have taken over as head of my state as well. The Cathedral is mine now," Frollo announced.

"One wrong move, Chernabog and you'll see a test of my full power," Persephone warned. Frollo smirked.

"Do not worry, Your Majesty...I, too, am on my best behavior this evening," he replied, as his eyes rested on Snow.

"Congratulations on your new arrival," he said, as she held the baby close to her chest. They received a few more Kingdoms and soon, everyone was decidedly present.

"Now that everyone is here...I can explain everything and answer all the questions anyone may have," Persephone announced. But, as she prepared to go on, the castle doors slammed open again and there were gasps of surprise. Rumple was expecting Pan...but it wasn't him.

"It can't be…" Eli uttered, as he stared at the person that had interrupted.

"But she's dead…" Snow said.

"Apparently not," Hades replied, as Queen Ravenna strolled into the castle, her beautiful face marred with an evil smirk.

"Sorry I'm late…" she announced, as shock rippled through the entire chamber...

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Charming family #Swanfire #Rumbelle #Regina Mills #Henry Mills #HadesXPersephone #greek mythology meets farytales #romance #family #adventure #AU #dreaming out loud

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darling-clemmy · 6 years ago

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Summer Dreams: One (ClemxLouis FanFiction)

Summary: Louis arrives at Ericson’s Camp for Troubled Youth for the third summer in a row. Most everything is exactly the same, except for the new, pretty, junior counselor with curly hair.

Warnings: Swearing and in later chapters some mature-ish themes (NOT smut though!)

Word Count: 2,218

A/N: I have altered some of the reasons for the Ericson’s kids presences (mostly Violet) because I felt like their backstories were too intense/serious to only result in going to a summer camp. Also, this is going to be a multi-part series, but I’m not sure how many yet!

The late June heat seeped into Louis’ mom’s car despite the air conditioner being on high. It was only 9:30 in the morning, and already 89 degrees, which was alarming since it was a cool 60 earlier that morning when they left. It was about an hour and a half drive from their relatively large house to the summer camp which Louis dreaded going to. To him, the only good part about it was seeing his long-distance friends, like Marlon and Violet. And maybe Aasim, too.

Every summer, his father decided he needed time away from his son, still not fully forgiving him for the mischievous frauds committed by Louis years ago. He also believed that since they were so well off financially, it’d be good for him to experience some authentic outdoor time in the blistering heat. This was really just an attempt to humble Louis a little, but everyone at Ericson’s felt he was always going to be a little spoiled. They still loved him, though, and knew he was a genuinely good person under all of his designer clothes and expensive rings.

Lost in thought, Louis barely noticed when his mom returns to the car, jiggling the locked handle outside vigorously. He reached over to the driver’s side door and pulled the handle for her. She smiled at him and slided into her seat, placing the bulk of requisite paperwork in her lap.

Louis groaned and slumped his head and shoulders back. “Really? Paperwork, again? They should know I’m a regular now, especially after last year because of the whole laundry detergent accident.”

“It isn’t an accident if you meant to do it,” his mother reminded him. “And don’t get all fired up, I already filled it all out for you.”

“You know, I bet we’re the only family that has to fill out all of that crap every year.” He turned to face his mom, prematurely smiling at what he was about to say. “I bet we only have to because Mr. Ericson totally has a thing for you.”

She rolled her eyes while trying to repress a smirk. Light-heartedly, she said, “You’re crazy. He probably has a lovely wife and four amazing kids and maybe, like, a golden retriever, or something.”

“Mm, nope, he has some kind of pit bull. Her name’s Rosie—she bit some kid in that area last year.”

“Anyway,” she replied after chucking a bit. “I’m sure if your dad was the one to drop you off he’d have to fill out all the same stuff.”

Louis adverted his eyes and became quiet for a moment before mumbling, “As if he’d ever want to drop me off.”

He didn’t mean for it to come out so bitter, since he really was more sad about it than anything else. A good relationship with his dad was something he had wished for every year as he blew out birthday candles. He prayed that somehow everything would change. Of course, it never really did.

His mom sighed and placed a hand against his arm. “He does love you, Louis. You’re his son, his only child. Nothing can break that, even millions of mistakes.”

He nodded, still not meeting her dark brown eyes.

“I love you, sweetheart. You should start heading into the main building. I think I saw Marlon and his mother earlier.” She said, making Louis perk up a bit in hopes of seeing his friend.

“I love you, too, Mom. I’ll try to call as soon as I can,” Louis scrambled, stepping out of the car. Quickly, he grabbed his two suitcases out of the trunk and headed towards the front court yard, smiling back once at his mom.

+++

The dining hall was a familiar place to Louis. He had spent nearly every night in there for the past two summers, playing juvenile card games and eating the same bland food. The chatter of dozens of voices, the occasional clang of pots in the kitchen, and the long oak benches had become comforting to him. It was always a place of good memories, with more to be made in the upcoming weeks. Every camp season’s orientation was in here as a meeting place for new and old camp members and counselors.

Louis and his large group of friends sat together, taking up most of a section in the back. To his left was Marlon, sent to camp for extreme anger issues and fits of violence. On his right was Violet, who was sent for “not having any emotions,” according to her mother.

“So, Violet,” Louis starts. “I see Minnie and Sophie aren’t here. Do you know why?”

She blushed a pale rose at the mention of her annual summer-time girlfriend. “No idea. Maybe they did some acts of good service or some shit and their mom let them stay home.”

“That’d be a real shame, wouldn’t it?” Marlon teased, poking his head into their conversation.

“Fuck off,” Vi replied. “Why don’t you and Brody go get a heads start on sucking face in the bathrooms?”

Louis chucked, “And probably other parts of their bodies—“

He was cut off by the shrilling sound of an older man’s voice—Mr. Ericson’s voice, in the introduction of the same bullshit speech he gave every year about their mission to help each individual personally.

“While we stick with the same foundation to Ericson’s,” he went on. “This year, we have decided to make a change considering our counselors.”

Everybody started chatting once again, most in hopes that they finally fired Larry, the oldest and strictest counselor at Ericson’s.

“Settle down, everyone,” the old man interrupted. “No, we have not fired anybody, though Larry has retired. This year, we have hired some junior counselors to tag along with a senior one. They’re all teenagers, like yourselves, so that you can really see examples of responsible, well-rounded young adults.”

Marlon shifted towards Louis. “You think any of them will be hot?”

Louis shook his head. “Nah. Even if, they’re ‘well-rounded young adults.’ They wouldn’t go for us.”

“Well, if there are any, I call dibs.” Marlon stated, forcing a laugh out of Louis.

“We’ll see about that.”

Marlon roller his eyes subtly before turning back to face the front.

“Alright, everybody! Start heading to your assigned cabins and get rested for the first day of activities tomorrow. If you see a new counselor, make sure to introduce yourself! They won’t bite!” Mr. Ericson said, making only himself laugh.

+++

Later that night, once the moon was at its peak and everyone else was asleep, Louis crept out out of the cabin he shared with three others—Marlon, Mitch, and Justin. It was still moderately warm outside, but thankfully accompanied by a brisk wind which would pass by every so often. Clad in just sweatpants and an old provided green camp t-shirt, Louis made his best attempt to rush over to the music and arts hall as quick as he could. Dirt crunched beneath his shoes, making him worry he’d awaken somebody in his pursuit.

Finally, he made it to the small building which held his favorite past-time at camp, the grand piano. He had always loved music, although most nobody took him seriously when they heard him play, except for his mom. Even Marlon couldn’t hold a straight face when Louis played him Für Elise, which he had finally mastered after three straight weeks of learning it. Louis kept playing, though, even if it had to be in the dead of night.

He tip-toed up the rickety stairs to the front door, grabbing the rusted door knob once reaching the top. It didn’t budge.

“Dammit,” he whispered.

Suddenly, a nearby door creaked open, allowing dim light from inside to drain out onto the ground. Louis pressed his back against the door, still peaking his head to see in front of a pillar. All he could really make out was the silhouette of a girl, appearing to be carrying a small plastic bag out to a trash can. She clearly wasn’t a senior counselor, leaving her only to be a new camper or one of the new, dearly beloved junior counselors. Louis figured he wouldn’t get in too much of trouble if he just started walking back to his cabin then. And he may get to meet somebody new while doing it.

He started making his way towards the group of trash cans where the mysterious girl stood, pushing down whatever she just placed in. As he got closer, he was able to discern more characteristics of the figure, like her curly hair tied into two full pigtails. While this was expected to make someone seem child-like, Louis could already tell from the back of her that she could pull it off.

Once he got a few feet away from her, he greeted in a muted shout, “Hey!”

She jumped a bit in her place, instinctively turning around, curly tendrils hitting against her jaw.

The first thing Louis noticed about her were her eyes—bright even in the darkness and the color of ancient amber. They startled him, but he still found them beautiful, enchanting, even. She was on the shorter side, yet still held herself as if she was tall. She wore a pair of black exercise shorts and a baby blue t-shirt, signifying that she was in fact a junior counselor.

He supposed he was wrong earlier that there wouldn’t be any attractive ones. This girl was so much more than attractive, though.

“Hello?” She responded, curiously and dragging out her word.

“Sorry to disrupt your nightly chores. I’m Louis,” he apologized before holding out his hand.

She grasped it and shook it, suspiciously. “Clementine.”

“Well, I guess I should cut to the chase. See, the music hall is locked, preventing me from becoming the world’s next best pianist. Now, I know I’m not supposed to be awake, but neither are you most likely. So I was wondering if maybe you could unlock it for me?” He rushed out, flashing a toothy grin at the end in hopes his charm would woo her.

Clementine sighed before looking at him quizzically. After a moment, she gave in and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do. You’re lucky I have the keys to it.”

Louis pumped his fist in the air, really not expecting her to say yes. “Booyah! Thank you, Clementine.”

She smiled kindly at him and started walking towards the music hall. Louis followed behind her, jogging to catch up. He looked over at her and realized her eyebrows were now furrowed together as she reached up to her lanyard to grab the set of keys, fingering one silver one over the others.

Once they reached the cabin, she swiftly jabbed it in and unlocked it. As soon as the door opened, Louis could smell the scent of waxed floors and oak. In the back left corner lay his favorite piano, tempting his fingers to spread across the white notes. He cooly walked over to it and sat down, trying not to let Clementine see him get too giddy.

��How long have you been playing?” She asked, leaning against the cover.

“A few years, I mostly play when I come here, though,” he explained.

“So you’re a regular camper? That must suck.”

“It has its pros,” Louis shrugged. “You clearly aren’t the biggest fan of this place. Why’d you wanna’ work here?”

Clementine walked around the piano, sitting down next to him on the stool. “It pays well and seemed easy, but I don’t know if I’ll have this job for too much longer if anyone finds out about this.” She looked around the room.

“You really aren’t being that good of an influence on me, but don’t worry, I won’t tell.” He said, winking and splaying his fingers across the board.

He started playing a song from memory, not remembering which one it was. His palms felt sweaty with Clementine sitting right next to him, observing each melody played. She sat quietly, and from Louis’ peripheral vision, she was grinning loosely.

“You’re quite good, you know,” she complimented. “I’m not sure why you feel the need to do this at one in the morning, though.”

He played one more chord before stopping and meeting his eyes to her’s. “Maybe this was all just a master plan to talk to a pretty girl like yourself.”

She blushed, glancing down at the floor before standing up. “I should probably start getting back to my cabin. Need to be up early tomorrow.”

“Right. So do I, I don’t want Marlon to wake up and call for, like, a rescue team,” Louis joked, raising up next to her. “Let me walk you back to your cabin. It’s the least I can do.”

“It’s only like a hundred feet from here. I can handle myself, but thank you.” Clementine ticked her hair behind an ear before pacing over to the front door. “See you around, I hope.”

He raised his hand and waved. “Goodnight, Clementine.”

“Goodnight, Louis.”

She closed the door behind her as she left, leaving Louis alone, standing amidst the dying candle light.

He could feel his heart beating the whole walk back as he thought about the way she’d said his name when she wished him goodnight.

#clouis #clementine #louis #louisentine #the walking dead game #twdg #clem #lou #twdg louis #twdg clem #fanfiction #summer au #highschool au

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sailor-cresselia · 6 years ago

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Zi-O 21; both raw AND subbed~!

Advance Warning: I have never seen Ryuki, and it’s probably going to show. A lot, if only because I have no connection to whoever the Guest Characters are, and what any issues they bring in could mean. I’ve seen Marcosatsu’s History Of Ryuki though, so that should help a little. (three links, because he wound up doing it in three parts)

Starting off with watching the Raw!

BlackWoz’s Storytime Vault doesn’t have much to offer, aside from a worrying angle at the end.

I’m impressed by Uhr’s control with reversing the damage he’s doing to that mirror. Of course, he’s paying almost zero attention to Schwartz in the process, but there’s a method to his being a little brat this time.

He’s trying to get the attention of some guy in Ryuki’s mirror world.

Sounds like his idea is “So, my new candidate? He’s from another world. Remember how that Tsukasa guy traveled? It’s kinda like that, but not.”

(What was going on in Ryuki?! Also, how many endings is this going to make for that season? Because I seem to remember hearing that there’s like, five? At least?)

I like the touch with Another Ryuga’s name and year – they’re backwards, like you’d see in a mirror.

Sougo’s DEFINITELY using Gun Mode a lot more recently. I like it’s finisher with Double, though – it’s basically a smaller scale version of the CycloneTrigger Memory Break. … What was that one called? Ah, there it is. Trigger Aerobuster.

Names are important. I’m doing my best to get them right.

But it’s basically that, with purple shots in the center of the wind bursts.

… of course, it gets reflected right back at them, because MIRRORS, but still. Points for fighting at a distance, especially with that dragon arm – that was doing some damage, it looked like.

Geiz’s Drive armor is back! (I’ve missed the shift cars, so it’s nice to at least see Max Flare, Funky Spike, and Midnight Shadow’s tires again.)

But again, mirrors.

Tsukuyomi: So, you lost him?

Sougo: Well, yes, but also we had to help the injured construction worker.

Geiz: And everything got sent back at us, so…

blah blah, ‘whats the deal with the time jackers’ blah…

“What IS this Day of Oma you mentioned, anyway?” Good question, bud.

“Well, in our history, it’s the day that Oma Zi-O took over the world.” Geiz, I get that you’re upset. But. Um. What did you just do to that chessboard?

As far as I know, you’re not able to cause shockwaves. Not just by symbolically slamming a chess piece down. ...I don’t know anything about chess, but I’m assuming that piece is the Black King. Wiping out all of his opposition in one strike… along with all of his allies.

Sougo retaliates with “And the one WhiteWoz is from, says that you stopped that from happening.” He uses the White Knight to knock down the Black King, leaving the Knight alone on the board.

And then we have the Time Jackers, trying to get someone else altogether in charge. Black Bishop takes out the White Knight. The Time Jackers are from the same timeline as Tsukuyomi and Geiz, after all.

That day is when the world’s future is decided… ooh, ominous.

… drat, have to skip the next bit of exposition, but while they’re outside talking about… victims? I think?

I hear that same sound that heralded Geiz’s Time Mazine arriving back in Episode one.

Okay, so the victims are all connected to the magazine/journal/website from Ryuki? Makes sense.

Oh man, Shinji’s already dead?! Welp, that’s it, arc over, time to go home. (dusts off hands)

Hm. He covered up all the reflective surfaces – which would include windows and vents. Because Mirror World.

Of course, that poses a problem when you use a gas heater.

Okay, so at this point, while I was watching, Over-Time posted their subs. So I just got the script, went back to the beginning, and started over.

Well, at least BlackWoz is going along with the nicknames for now. I guess he understands the need for the distinction.

Hm. Schwartz seems to think that Geiz is going to be trying for the throne on the Day of Oma. But, sir, have you met this kid? Yes, yes you have, we’ve seen you interact with him. There is nearly no way that Geiz would ever want to be in charge.

...I say nearly, because time travel and predestination and all of that jazz. WhiteWoz is screwing with the kids head.

HUH. Uhr’s logic isn’t even “it’s kinda like that Decade guy”, he was specifically told about the Mirror World by Tsukasa. (insert a certain 10-year-old meme here.)

And what’s even more interesting than that… is that Schwartz didn’t know about the Mirror World.

And we’ve already seen that Schwartz can go to other timelines, as per when he created the Another Shinobi Watch.

Hm, looks like we’re in for another variation of ‘not the Another Rider you think he is’, aren’t we? Another Ryuga has the last portion of his name covered by what appear to be burnmarks. Much like how Another OOO’s year was cracked, so it could appear to be 2016 while actually being 2010.

Oh dear GOD they’ve been fighting Another Ryuga for a WEEK. He just keeps showing up and disappearing. (Because mirrors, not that they know that.)

“Why do they keep getting harder to fight?” Well, Sougo, it’s probably largely because we’re about out of Phase Twos, and the Earlier Heisei Riders were pretty brutal, from what I’ve heard. Plus, you keep getting teleporters involved, so that doesn’t help in the slightest.

Thank you for finally asking what the Day of Oma is, though.

(Low INT, high-ish WIS.)

“Well, what future do the two of you want?” Asks the noodle with a pretty decent Charisma stat. And neither Geiz or Tsukuyomi actually have an answer for him.

(Ow, my heart.)

Okay, all the victims followed Ore Journal online, but it has since gone completely under, since it just couldn’t keep up with the times.

I was right on the money about Shinji, though, he clearly knows full well about the reflection teleportation, and now so do The Kids.

GEIZ I UNDERSTAND YOUR LOGIC. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I HAVE TO LIKE IT.

“Beat him in the time before the attack returns.” Because there’s a lag before the mirror shield shows up, so there’s a brief window of time. But an attack that would take it out that quickly would return just as powerful… directly at where it came from. Also known as the Rider who launched it.

And also also known as Geiz, if he gets his way.

Because a soldier who can’t defeat his enemies isn’t much of a soldier, now is he?

(Thanks a lot, eps 15 and 16. Thanks.)

Aaaand Uncle Tokiwa doesn’t actually know Woz’s name! All he could do for the Watch was clean it up… oooooh...

Sougo’s next powerup has an awful lot of that burnished gold on it. The same, or almost the same, tone as Oma Zi-O’s.

“Hello, my overlord~!” “Not. Now.”

Good boy, Sougo. And you even met this weeks tribute, and didn’t realize it!

I still don’t buy the “he doesn’t remember” thing, by the way, especially given the mirrored surfaces – how would he have known without having been Ryuki? Does he know about all the other victims? I don’t think you’ve actually talked to him yet. But I’ll let the memory ‘detail’ slide for now, since it looks like BlackWoz is actually being straightforward at the moment…

Aaand Sougo’s desperately trying to ignore him. Fair. Since that second Zi-O watch is tied to him becoming evil and all. Decent WIS stat, and also BlackWoz’s idea of ‘subtle’ is very much not so.

Meanwhile, with Geiz and Tsukuyomi… Yeah. He doesn’t plan to come out of this fight. Because what good is a soldier who can’t win?

And also, he, too, knows he is being stalked by his own personal Woz.

“What’s your end goal? If I come out on top, what’s your future like?”

“Just like this, a peace as if time has stopped.”

… Hi, yeah, not here for that phrasing at all, actually. Having just come out of HUGtto! Precure, wherein ‘stopping time so that despair can’t happen’ was kind of the villians whole thing, I’m trusting you even less than before.

Nothing can disturb the peace if nothing moves again, now can it?

But for Geiz and Tsukuyomi, literal veterans who have seen armies destroyed in the wave of an arm… they don’t have that frame of reference, now do they? They might just hear the “a time not unlike the one here” aspect.

“Hey, think I can use that notebook?”

“Nope, nuh-uh, OP reality warper powers are mine and mine alone.”

OOF. Right. Uhr contracted Mirror World Shinji, didn’t he? Which, of course, means that his existence is tied to Regular World Shinji’s existence. Can’t defeat the Another Rider? Take out his other link to living.

WhiteWoz and his “Obstacles are for killing” attitude does not sit well with Geiz.

“Hey, other me! You want revenge on that guy, right? The one who attacked you? Of course ya do! Why not!”

Meanwhile, Regular Shinji looks like he’s having thoughts along the lines of “I’m not going back to the belt! I’m out, man! I finished! I’ve finished like FIVE times already! Let me retire!”

Huh. The smudge over ‘Ryuga’ is gone. Neat. (aaand at which point I realized i’ve probably been spelling it wrong, and went back to fix all the places I used two ‘u’s on instinct.)

Clever, clever Uhr. “You can’t get a watch from a person who never existed, from a world that no longer ever was.”

...well, Schwartz could go to alternate timelines, so… Hey, Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Sougo, did any of you happen to get Tsukasa’s contact info?

Also, Tsukasa, did you have to clue the Time Jackers in on the ‘other worlds’ thing? I’m just saying, that might come back to bite you.

You are coming back, right? You don’t get to drop cryptic ‘I’m destroying this world first’ comments, and give tips to the assorted groups, and then just never come back.

It’s rude.

We need some sort of follow-through on this stuff, at least.

Geiz attempts his suicide attack… but Sougo knocks him out of the kick before he can gain momentum…

“I’m not letting you die, damnit! You still need to make sure I don’t go evil, and I’m definitely tempted by this watch right now...”

and then said watch doesn’t even try to activate.

Aaaand then Sougo gets wrestled into the Mirror World.

(Isn’t that place supposed to be super fatal if you don’t have an Advent Deck?)

Aaaah! The backwards writing, and the fact that some of it is glitching is bad enough. But the lack of sound? Nope, I’m not here for that at all. That’s never a good sign.

Although Kudos to O-T for getting the subtitles for some of those signs. Well done.

So, yeah, sorry Sougo, it’s not 3-Days-From-Now You this time. (But seriously, what happened to him?) This time it’s Evil You.

Not even 50-Years-From-Now Bad-Ending Evil You.

We’re talking a “Terran Empire Enterprise” type of Evil You. … well, at least he doesn’t have a goatee.

OH GOD AAAAGH GO BACK TO SILENCE PLEASE

Distorted belt effects are not okay! Agh! NononoNO!

Oh, and uh... Hey! Remember literally yesterday? When I said I’m loving the ‘parallel self’ juxtapositions that Zi-O’s been doing?

I should probably have remembered that the Ryuki tribute was next, and that I’ve seen the preview screenshots with Mirror Sougo being super creepy.

I may have changed my mind a bit on that juxtaposition love.

MISTAKES WERE MADE.

#kamen rider zi o #kamen rider ryuki #sailorcressy says #...i'm probably going to be making an Updated Faction List after 22 #aren't I?

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omgfbj · 6 years ago

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Rev Kevin Nelson greets members at FBJ in the aftermath of the Jeffersontown Hate-Crime Shootings. (William DeShazer for The Washington Post)

“IN KENTUCKY, SHOOTINGS LEAVE A BLACK CHURCH AND THE WHITE COMMUNITY AROUND IT SHAKEN”

- DeNeen L Brown, The Washington Post, November 11, 2018

- https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/we-are-armed-now-in-kentucky-an-alleged-hate-crime-shakes-a-black-church-and-a-white-community/2018/11/11/baef5126-e239-11e8-b759-3d88a5ce9e19_story.html?utm_term=.20be25477b2e

JEFFERSONTOWN, Ky. — He came here first, to the front door of this historically black church 15 miles east of Louisville.

A white man tried to enter the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown on a fall afternoon, not long after its Wednesday noonday Bible study had ended.

Surveillance video showed the man — later identified by police as Gregory Alan Bush — banging on the doors, which have been kept locked ever since a white supremacist killed nine black people at a church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015.

First Baptist administrator Billy Williams still shudders to think what might have happened if he had heard Bush, 51, knocking. “I would have welcomed him in,” Williams said.

Instead, Bush, who had a black ex-wife and a history of domestic violence, left the church and drove to a nearby Kroger supermarket, where police say he gunned down two African-American shoppers.

The Oct. 24 Kroger shooting was quickly overshadowed by the discovery of pipe bombs mailed to more than a dozen critics of President Trump and a rampage at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead. But the burst of racial violence in Jeffersontown has left this church and the predominantly white community around it deeply shaken.

That dread was still palpable on a November Sunday, as more than 200 church members arrived for the 11 a.m. service. A security guard waited outside, atop the steps to the brick church, which was founded 185 years ago by free blacks and freed slaves.

Inside, light streamed through the stained-glass windows as worshipers held hands and prayed. “Please don’t let the spirit of fear dominate our lives, but have a spirit of love that conquers fear,” the minister intoned.

Ushers smiled and greeted visitors. The choir sang. The minister preached. But there was one chilling difference about this Sunday service.

Before the Kroger shooting, which is being investigated by the FBI as a possible hate crime, church officials had been opposed to any of their 1,600 members bringing firearms into the sanctuary. But after it, Williams sought permission from First Baptist’s pastor, the Rev. Kevin L. Nelson, to ask members who work in law enforcement or have permits to carry weapons to bring their guns inside the church during services and Bible study.

“They used to leave them in the car,” Williams said. “No longer are they leaving them in the car.

“We are armed now.”

'It was so deliberate'

On the day of the shooting, Maurice Stallard was in the school supplies aisle with his 12-year-old grandson when Bush entered the Kroger at 2:46 p.m., according to Jeffersontown police.

He walked past dozens of white shoppers in the 50-aisle supermarket, police said, before he spotted Stallard kneeling in the rear of the store.

Stallard, a 69-year-old retiree, was shot in the back of the head as his horrified grandson watched. The boy was able to escape into the parking lot.

Pam King, who is white, was two aisles away buying Halloween candy when she heard the gunfire. She had no idea that it was Stallard, her longtime neighbor, being targeted.

“I couldn’t believe I was hearing gunshots because I was in a grocery store,” said King, who lives down the street from Stallard. “I was expecting the store to make an announcement to disregard the noise.”

Then she heard three more shots. “It was so deliberate,” she said. “It wasn’t bang, bang, bang. He stood there and looked at that man and shot him three more times with his grandson standing there.”

Police said Bush holstered his semiautomatic handgun and walked out of the store, where he fatally shot Vickie Lee Jones, a 67-year-old black woman, in the back of the head.

Bush walked by more white customers in the parking lot — allegedly telling one, “Whites don’t shoot whites” — before allegedly shooting at a black couple. Dominic Rozier and his wife, Kiera Rozier, had just arrived at the store to buy cupcakes for their son’s birthday.

Dominic Rozier, who police said has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, drew his gun and shot back at Bush.

The two exchanged gunfire in the parking lot, with bullets shattering car windows, before Bush fled in his car, police said. Neither Bush nor Rozier was injured in the shootout. Minutes later, Bush was stopped by police and arrested on a street adjacent to the shopping center.

Inside the store, King ran to a stockroom and called her husband, who works as a meat cutter at a different Kroger and happened to be off that day. “Her voice cracked,” Tim King, 59, recalled. “She said, ‘There is somebody shooting up here.’ ”

He raced to the store. It took hours for his wife and the other customers inside to file out, as police checked to see what each had witnessed.

“The lady was laying in the parking lot the whole time,” Tim King said. “It was so long you could see the blood soaking through the sheet.”

'No Guns!'

On Nov. 2, relatives of Stallard and Jones gathered in the back of a Jefferson County Circuit courtroom, where Bush was being arraigned.

He had been indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder, one count of criminal attempt to murder and two counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. Prosecutors said Kentucky could not charge Bush with a hate crime because the state’s limited statute does not apply to murder. But the FBI may bring federal hate crime charges against Bush.

FBI data shows hate crimes are on the rise. In 2016, there were 6,121 crimes motivated by bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender — the highest number since 2012.

When Bush walked into the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, with his hands and feet shackled, a man seated in the back stood up and yelled, “You piece of [expletive].”

In a hearing that took fewer than three minutes, Bush did not speak. His public defender, Andrew H. daMota, entered Bush’s plea of not guilty. The judge accepted the plea and continued Bush’s $5 million bond. Then Bush walked out of the courtroom surrounded by guards.

According to court records, Bush has a history of domestic violence against his parents, his brother and his ex-wife, who is African American.

Sheryl Bush married Gregory Bush in 1997, according to court records. They had a son in 1998, before separating in 1999. According to divorce records, Gregory Bush attempted suicide in 2000 while his 2-year-old son slept in a bed in the next room.

In 2001, Sheryl Bush filed a domestic violence petition, telling a court that when she went to pick up her son from Bush’s home, he threatened her and called her the n-word.

In 2009, Gregory Bush’s father, William Bush, filed a restraining order against his son, telling a court that Gregory Bush “put his hands around my wife’s neck and picked her up by her neck and put her down.”

The court ordered Bush to comply with mental health treatment and prohibited him from possessing a weapon. A judge wrote on the order, “No Guns!”

'Vickie's last song'

Mourners wearing pink and white walked earlier this month into the Church of the Living God Temple #45, where a sign outside declared: “Rest in Peace Vickie Jones. Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.”

A police car sat guarding the intersection.

Inside, bouquets of white and pink carnations decorated the casket, where Jones lay. The words “Trust in the Lord” were pinned inside the casket — as well as a pink ribbon, signifying that she was a breast cancer survivor.

Jones, who was born in Louisville in 1951 and grew up amid segregation and the civil rights movement, had one daughter and two sons and 12 grandchildren. Her husband, George Lee, to whom she was married for 36 years, died in 2010.

Jones, who was a member of the Church of the Living God all her life, was one of the sponsors of the church’s annual breast cancer awareness program.

“Vickie loved everybody. She touched everybody in a positive way. She loved her family. She loved the Lord. She loved the church,” the Rev. A. Keith Smith told mourners.

In a sermon titled “Vickie’s last song,” Smith told the congregation that hate had “struck the city of Louisville, Kentucky, in a major way — Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby and the home of Muhammad Ali.”

Amid a chorus of “Amens,” Smith continued: “This is not the 1940s, this is not the 1950s, this is not the 1960s, this is not the Jim Crow law days. These are the days where people of all races, all nationalities, all religions stand up together. We will not tolerate hate crimes anywhere.”

'Our neighbor, our friend'

In the integrated Louisville neighborhood where Stallard lived, the streets are lined with orange ribbons tied to mailboxes with notes that read: “We will miss you Maurice, our neighbor, our friend.”

Stallard used to stand in his driveway and greet neighbors — black and white.

“When we moved in 20 years ago, Maurice and Charlotte were one of the first families in the subdivision,” said the Rev. Charlie Davis, pastor of Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church. Stallard’s wife, Charlotte, “was our kids’ school counselor,” said Mendy Davis, who is married to the pastor.

Stallard retired from General Electric more than a decade ago. “He cared about his family, all his kids, and grand kids, and nieces and nephews,” Charlie Davis said. One nephew played basketball at Morehead State, a two-hour drive from Louisville.

Stallard “was at every game,” Davis said.

Pam King sat at her kitchen table last week, still horrified that she had heard her neighbor being gunned down — the beginning of a week of hate-fueled violence.

“I don’t recall anything like it in my lifetime: The [pipe] bombs. The Jewish center,” King said. “It was a 1-2-3 punch.”

Stallard and Jones, she said, “were killed because they were black. Someone goes to the grocery, and a family is planning a funeral because of the color of his skin.”

#Hate Crime #Rev Kevin Nelson #Billy Williams #Vickie Lee Jones #Maurice E Stallard

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futureteacher · 4 years ago

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The Write Teacher

Blog #1

27 February, 2021

Classroom Events

For my Practicum Observations, I have three teachers I get to observe. Between them, I have been able to observe about fifteen and a half hours so far. I am really enjoying it, but I wish I could be in the classroom. Because of the current pandemic, schools in my district are not allowing any outside people into their school, so all of my observations are through Zoom. It isn’t the best, but it is enjoyable nonetheless.

Ms. R.G. teaches a Pre-AP English 10 Inclusion class. This means sophomore AP English, in class and remote. She has specific rules for her remote learners to help make sure they are actually in class. She gives them participation points if they keep their cameras on the entire class. Some of them still point the camera to the ceiling or wall instead of their faces, but the majority of them keep it on. Everyday their bell ringer is to read independently for ten minutes. Ms. R.G. keeps track of which books they are reading and how many pages they are. Next, they go over vocabulary. They have a new set of vocab words each week and a test on Fridays. She has them all do worksheets as homework with a variety of fill in the blank activities. The remote kids are told they can print it off, fill it out, and scan it in, or they can write on it as a PDF then turn it in online. She goes over all of the answers with the class, allowing them to shout out the answers if they know it. Next, they go over the book they are reading as a class. Currently, they are reading Book Thief. They have had great discussions about parallels between the novel characters and Nazi Germany as a whole. In my second week of observations, we had bad weather, so everyone was remote for a day. Ms. R.G. had everyone get into breakout groups and answer textual question, with each group having their own question. I noticed the groups were all broken up so they each had one or two students who really understood the material and would talk, and a couple of students who spoke very little, but seemed to understand by the end of the group.

Ms. A.A. teaches Special Education English 10 Inclusion. She has a great personality that really reflects her passion for teaching. She is much more likely to joke around with her students, when it is appropriate, than either of the other teachers. She has the smallest class I observe with just seven students, three of which are online. However, her students are more likely to answer her questions right away than the other classes. In most classes, the students hesitate. Her class was also the first one to notice I had joined them and they tell me ‘good morning’ each day. Ms. A.A.’s class is reading Unwind, and then contrasting it with the Hunger Games. To make the students’ lives a little easier, she has an audio book version so they can all be read to and read along. After the chapters are done for the day, she always asks them questions to make sure they were paying attention and thinking critically. She also gives them the opportunity to ask her questions. Lastly, she has them do discussions on their Canvas page at the end of class to wind down.

Ms. W.G. teaches English 10 Inclusion. The first thing they do is vocabulary, just like in Ms. R.G.’s class. They get a new list each week and test over it on Fridays. They also go over it in a similar way. Ms. W.G. has a para, so her para will type the words into the group chat for the remote learners, which seems to help everyone be able to follow along a little better. Ms. W.G. will share her screen most days so the remote learners can see where she is pulling the assignments from, and then they can find it easier. Her class read Julius Caesar, so they tied it into their semester long discussion of Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and Kairos. She had them read a more modern version of it, but still stops to explain the material any time she needs to. She will also reference previous lessons they have done in order to tie what they are learning now in with what they have learned before. Ms. W.G. likes to play games with her students so she knows what information they are picking up. She uses the online Kahoot gaming platform to make her own games. For two of my observations with her, the students did the same Kahoot. She had them play to see how well they were doing on recognizing who in Julius Caesar was a conspirator and who was not. The first time, they got about half of the answers wrong. After each one, she would remind them who that character was, then quickly move on. The next week, they did a great job and got most of the answers right. You can tell she had been working with them to prepare them for the test after they finished reading.

Between the classes, there are a few things I have noticed. Having inclusion classes is hard on teachers. Having to basically hold two classes at the same time, making sure all of your students knows what is going on. Some of the remote learners are obviously not paying attention; cameras are off or pointed at the ceiling. Some students don’t log off when the teacher dismisses them, so you can tell they weren’t paying attention. I spoke with all of my teachers about the challenges they have seen. They are all having to learn new technology, keep their classes sanitized, and basically teach two classes at once. Ms. W.G. told me there is a teacher at her school that has 60 students in one of her classes because half of them are remote learners. That is twice as much as the other teachers have. The teachers are doing their best, but some students are definitely being left behind. Ms. R.G. tends to lean toward her classroom, looking away from her computer for long periods at a time, then will ask the remote learners if they understood, and look back to the class. For two of the classes, all questions go in the chat and will be answered later. At least Ms. W.G. has a para, who stays on top of it and tries to make sure everyone in remote hears and sees everything. She also has two computers for her classroom in the Zoom class. One is at her desk so she can talk to everyone, share her screen, and do most of her lesson. The other one is pointed toward the front of the class so you can see the other classmates and see the teacher if she is teaching at the board. I also spoke with my teachers about what would happen if they needed a substitute. Ms. W.G. told me she was sick earlier in the year and the school couldn’t find a sub, so she taught remotely from home while she was sick. With this type of teaching, they are all having to do about two days’ worth of work if they have to be off for one day. Then the subs forget to turn on Zoom, they have questions, they aren’t trained for this. The teachers end up spending their time away from school answering emails from students and the sub about what to do. The students who go from remote to in class are having a hard time transitioning. They are awkward, like they don’t know what to do with themselves. The teachers are given very little support from parents, even after repeated emails. This inclusion class setup is not benefiting the remote learners or the teachers.

Compare and contrast the classroom behaviors you notice between the boys and the girls.

The roles of boys and girls in the classroom is pretty stereotypical. If there is someone who is going to shout out or joke around, it is usually a boy. If there is someone the teacher is going to rely on for zone of proximal development, it is a girl. In Ms. R.G.’s class, Agnes will often speak up in breakout groups. She thinks critically and has good ideas. She tries to give the other students time to answer to, but they seem to rely on her for understanding. On the other hand, Isaac tends to turn off his camera, and has to be reminded at least once each class to turn it on. He does also speak up, knowing the answer more often than he would like to admit. This stereotype is not always the case. In Ms. A.A.’s class, Demaje is a remote learner that logs on, turns off her camera, then doesn’t seem to pay attention at all. The day we were all remote, Ms. A.A. had to tell her several times she could log off. It took several minutes after all the other students logged off before she noticed and logged off too. Stereotypes are sometimes true, but the truth is all students have the potential to be good students or bad students.

Pause and Reflect: Are you concerned about your ability to establish and maintain a productive classroom environment? If so, what particularly concerns you?

I really want to be able to teach my students a subject that I am passionate about. That is why I have chosen English. However, after seeing my Practicum teachers being pulled in so many different directions, I am worried I will lose my passion. Having a teacher who is not passionate about what she is teaching is not going to have a productive classroom environment. On the other hand, Ms. R.G. is retiring next year, and she has really embraced technology and the use of learning games in order to make her class fun. Even though she has been teaching for a long time, you can still tell she is passionate and knowledgeable about her lessons. Ms. A.A. is young, but is a teacher who jokes with her students, giving them the confidence to speak up, even when they don’t know the answer. They even talk to me. Neither of the other classes does that. I truly hope I can maintain a productive classroom environment, and I believe the good example I am observing will help me find ways to do that.

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vagrantblvrd · 7 years ago

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what about 'the good life' for the titke meme?

Spy AU where Gavin becomes friendly rivals with Ryan and the others when they end up running into one another on missions over and over again.

(There were the usual misunderstandings here and there, accidentally shooting each other – non-lethally! - a time or two before everything was cleared up, the usual.)

Dan mocks Gavin endlessly when Gavin comes back from a mission and is like, “I ran into the Americans again.”

Lindsay and Trevor holding their heads in their hands when one of the others come back and area like, “So about that report. Might want to leave Gavin out of it again.”

Every so often they work together when there’s some ~dire crisis, and aside from a few shenanigans, everything go amazingly well. (Better success rate and all that, and it’s enough to get Lindsay and Trevor plotting, but how do you steal a British spy?)

And then shit goes wrong.

Gavin’s on a mission with Dan, and their intel is bad or they get double-crossed and they get separated. There’s Dan over the comms, gunfire and Dan telling Gavin to go on ahead, that he’s right behind him seconds before there’s an explosion and the comms cut out.

Gavin has no idea what to do because Dan, so he moves on autopilot. Goes back to the safe house they were supposed to meet their handler at and someone tries to kill him, so e runs.

He runs and runs and runs, and everywhere that should be safe isn’t. After several close calls his brain finally kicks back into gear (little voice in his head sounding suspiciously like Dan) and he realizes his someone in his agency (he tries not to think that it might be the agency itself, but doesn’t dismiss the idea out of hand) is trying to kill him.

He’s in some scuzzy motel somewhere and someone comes after him, so he runs again –

- and there’s Ryan.

There’s a horrible moment where Ryan’s pointing his gun at Gavin (and vice versa) that Gavin thinks Ryan and the others are art of this. They’re with whoever got Dan killed (some part of Gavin insisting he’s the one who did it, really, because he’s thee reason Dan was still with the agency, still in the game) and this is where they deal with Gavin -

“Gavin?”

But it’s not, it’s not because Ryan sounds genuinely surprised to see him. (And why not, they’re in the states, and Gavin must look like an utter madman. Strung out from lack of sleep and he hasn’t eaten in who knows how long, has been on the run for the better part of a week and he’s just about at his limits, but he can’t be because Dan.)

They’re not really friends, the two of them. Gavin gets along well with Geoff and Michael. Has an interesting relationship with Jack, and he doesn’t really know Jeremy all that well yet because he’s new, but Ryan?

Gavin didn’t quite avoid him before this, but he was definitely more. Distant, something along those line, but Ryan’s not a monster.

Gets all intent on getting Gavin back to the others in one piece so they can figure out what the hell is going on.

Awkwardness as the two of them avoid being horribly murdered by the people after Gavin. Road trip games, truth or dare. Other things like that. Telling edited versions of events on about past missions – leaving out sensitive information for national security reasons – and so on and so on.

Many, many close calls later they somehow manage it.

(There’s definitely one where they end up squished together in a tight space that may or may not be a tiny closet hiding from baddies. Another where they’re on a subway car or train where it stops suddenly and Gavin gets thrown into Ryan and that awkward awareness of their situation and both of them freaking out because hands! Where are their hands? Wouldn’t want to make this weird, you know???)

Gavin and Ryan smushed together at one end of Geoff’s couch wrapped up in blankets and slowly falling asleep while the others try to figure out what the hell is going on. (There was a dip into freezing water earlier and Geoff’s got the heat cranked up and they’re finally somewhere safe.)

A day or so later Gavin’s still at Geoff’s.

Ryan’s asleep thanks to some painkillers because he got shot or stabbed or both along the way and thy finally have the time/resources to deal with it. Matt’s set up in the kitchen doing hacking things to help, and Gavin -

He gets a phone call.

Gavin freezes when it rings because it’s a burner phone and the only person with the number is Ryan.

When he answers whoever is on the other end is using a voice modulator, and Gavin’s angry, frustrated, because of course they are.

And then he hears a very familiar voice.

Dan.

Angry. Tired. Hurting.

Yelling at whoever has him that he’s going to fucking well kill them when he gets loose, and Gavin doesn’t believe it at first, and then Dan starts yelling things not appropriate for all ages and he does.

Agrees to meet with the baddies for what it clearly an ambush disguised as an exchange – Dan for the files, and don’t tell anyone about this or the meeting or Dan dies. (Gavin has no idea what they’re talking about, starts to realize this whole damn mess is due to a damn misunderstanding. That the baddies think Gavin and Dan know something they don’t. Have been all too willing to kill for whatever secrets are in those files.)

He steals Matt’s car and heads off to the meet, armed with borrowed weapons – Americans and their guns – and leaves a note for Ryan and the others.

Tells the everything he knows, was able to glean from the phone conversation and leaves the burner phone behind. (Won’t need it for this, will he.)

When he gets to the agreed upon place – cliché abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere – he finds Dan tied to a chair in the middle of the warehouse, spotlight on him and pissed as hell.

Dan glares at where he thinks Gavin is and yells at him for coming here alone, telling him what an idiot he is for doing this, my God.

And then the baddie makes his entrance, does a little monologue about Gavin and Dan coming too close to figuring things out and needed to be stopped before they ruined everything. (At this point, neither of them know what the hell the baddie’s talking about but manage to get them to spill EVVERYTHING through the power of bickering with each other and being annoying and frustrating the baddie into divulging everything.)

And then the shooting starts, Gavin having gotten close enough to Dan to slip a knife or something sharp, and they make a run for it. End up being chased through the warehouse and surrounding area by the baddies, picking them off when they can.

Just when it looks like they’re going to get killed, Ryan and the others pull a big damn heroes moment and save the day.

Michael and Geoff stalk over to Gavin and start yelling at him while Dan stands by bemused and bleeding a little (flesh wound, because of course), and Ryan sidles up to him to take at look at his injuries.

“Not going to give him a piece of your mind too?” Dan asks, because he knows all about Gavin and Ryan and how sickeningly flirty they are.

Ryan shrugs, says Michael and Geoff have that part covered, that he’ll get to pull the quiet disappointment that Gavin clearly didn’t trust him enough to tell him about the phone call, and Dan is in awe of Ryan’s ~evil plan.

Lindsay and Trevor swoop in with other agents to clean everything up and bully everyone into getting looked over at the hospital.

A few days later when everyone’s got a clean bill of health and Ryan is still milking the “I thought you trusted me after everything we went through,” bit and Gavin is just, “For God’s sake, Ryan, we’ve been over this! I’ve apologized a dozen times already!” and Ryan is like, “:(((((((((((((((((((((((“ they go to American spy HQ where Lindsay and Trevor are waiting with some British spy people.

There it’s revealed that the head baddie was selling British secrets to their enemies, and thought Gavin and Dan found something they shouldn’t have. (They hadn’t, but another week or so and they would have, so really, it all works out in the end, right??? - Gavin and Dan and the others are not amused.)

More talking from the spy bosses, something about impressive cooperation between their two agencies, back-handed compliments for the Americans and really, Ryan and Gavin don’t need to be here for this bit, so they slip out of the room and find some quiet little spot.

One that just happens to overlook a lovely little courtyard and then there’s the “I’m glad you didn’t die” and “I, too, am glad for that” awkwardness and they’re slowly, painfully inching towards what may or may not be a kiss – awkward spies, who are usually so smooth on a mission, and yet when actual feelings are involved they’re worse than teenagers with their first crush – when a door down the hall slams open and the moment is ~ruined.

The British spy bosses expect Gavin and Dan are going to stick with their agency, but they are super, super wrong.

Lindsay and Trevor get Burnie to pull strings and suddenly they are the proud bosses of a new British spy in Gavin.

Dan retires because he’s had enough of the spy game, and besides, looks to him like Gavin’s in good hands with the Americans. (Especially Ryan’s, eh? *wink*)

The others sending Gavin and Ryan on missions together until they flipping do something about all the mutual pining – HOW. HOW ARE THEY THIS DUMB?

When they finally do they don’t tell anyone until Michael walks in on them making out in a storage closet at HQ and starts yelling at them because his virgin fucking eyes, you fucks.

After the others get find out when Gavin and Ryan stopped being stupid about their soft squish feelings for each other, they pull up the betting pool spreadsheets thy realize DAN won the whole thing.

Comes in smug as anything a few days later to collect his winnings and just shrugs when they ask how he knew because Gavin is kind of an idiot and he figured Ryan must be too, if Gavin liked him so much, which.

True.

(And THEN happily ever after.)

#anonymous #made-up fic title meme #freewood #technically not a fic #vagrant fic #prompt fills

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iishipallthethings · 7 years ago

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Three is (Not) a Crowd

Story Summary: Two months after Kuvira was defeated, things have finally settled down in Republic City. For better or for worse, Avatar Korra is ready to talk to Asami about the Unspoken Thing between them, however there's something Asami had been hiding from her friends. And that something is Lin Beifong.

Chapter 17: Packing Up Memories

Korra’s arms ached from metalbending several crates from Lin’s home office to her living room. She took a small breather after she gently stacked her crate on top of another. Her arms rose high in the air and Korra hummed at the cracking of her joints. Who knew Lin had so much police stuff? She looked behind her to where Lin was metalbending the last crate which contained her police uniform. It was a sad sight to see. That uniform fit Lin so well.

“Done,” Lin huffed as the crate thumped to the ground. She wiped the sweat off her forehead and grinned at Korra. “Someone from the precinct will come over tomorrow and pick up all this crap.” Lin sat down on the couch and picked up the morning’s newspaper.

From where Korra was standing, she could see Lin in her police uniform on the front page with bold letters ‘RETIRED’ printed above the picture. Korra didn’t comment on the headline as she joined Lin, throwing an arm over the older woman’s shoulders. She metalbended the blob of meteorite that she had gifted Lin what seemed like so long ago and made it into different shapes. Korra could feel Lin’s eyes drift from the article she was reading to watch Korra create intricate shapes, a smile playing at her lips each time. Knowing that she had Lin’s approval in her metalbending made Korra heart beat faster every time she caught the smile.

Soft jazz music filled the room as the two women relaxed. Korra made the meteorite into the shape of an officer’s badge and quickly turned it into a crude Pabu.

“I’m fine, you know,” Lin commented, seeing the badge being created. She nimbly grabbed the meteorite from where it floated in Korra’s hands. With precise movements, the Chief’s badge was molded once more. Lin studied it for a moment with a frown. “You know why I became the Chief of Republic City, don’t you?”

“Opal told me,” Korra admitted. “You wanted to follow in Toph’s footsteps.”

Lin’s eyes narrowed, they both knew there was more to that story and Korra pretending to be ignorant about it wasn’t going to help anything in the long run. “I became the Chief of Police because I thought that by doing so, I would gain my mother’s approval. It didn’t work but by the time I figured that out, it was too late. I stayed as Chief of Police; I made the bed so I might as well sleep in it,” Lin finished with a shrug.

“You could have unmade it,” Korra said in a somewhat joking manner. She couldn’t imagine coming to Republic City without Lin being the Chief of Police.

Lin considered the thought for a bit and finally shrugged again. “I don’t know if I could or if I even want to. I helped a lot of people by being the Chief and I threw some nasty people behind bars.” She handed the meteorite back to Korra. “But that’s neither here nor there. It’s in the past and in any case I’m officially retired.”

Korra nodded as she resumed playing with the meteorite. The paperwork for Lin’s retirement had gone through earlier that day, despite the process having been started a month prior. A lot of people were publically upset or downright refused to believe that Lin Beifong was retiring and was naming Mako, someone who grew up on the streets and had past ties with the Triple Threat Triad, as her successor. Even President Raiko had paid a visit to Lin’s house a week ago to express his own distress at her retiring. Korra shuddered at the memory of Lin calling her and Asami over to listen to her rant about how ‘the fucker only came so he could tell the presses he was pro gay. He was talking down to me the entire time. He didn’t even realize I’m pan!’

Korra snuggled against Lin’s side and an arm pulled her closer in response. Retirement, or the process of retirement at least, had a notable effect on Lin’s behavior. The older woman was much more forthcoming with her affections for her two lovers, even in public. More than once she had pulled off a possessive stunt when a passerby had looked at Asami or Korra in a way that was remotely unacceptable. It mostly consisted of Lin pulling the women closer and glaring daggers at the victim, clearly staking her claim for Asami and Korra. It shocked the two when it first occurred but they quickly grew to relish the outward displays of affection. They would still chastise Lin for being so needlessly jealous but they all knew that the words held no real conviction. Besides, Lin had no qualms doing it again when someone else looked over Asami and Korra.

The retirement also had a pleasant change on Lin’s usual attire. Instead of wearing her uniform, Lin had taken to wearing dark green slacks and a white tank top. Just seeing Lin in those clothes early in the morning had caused Asami to be late for work and Korra tardy for training. And Lin knew exactly what she was doing.

Korra flushed at the memory. She turned her thoughts towards the mechanic. Asami was currently at work doing important business lady stuff and wouldn’t be able to come over to Lin’s for another half hour. She had been busy for the entire month. Korra recalled the determination on Asami’s face when she told Korra to burn the newspaper that bore the two pictures and spouted lies about their relationship. Korra did as she was asked and suggested for Asami to take the day off as the scandalous article shriveled and blacken to ash. Asami had declined with her eyes gleaming intensely in the way they did whenever Asami faced a challenge and she couldn’t wait to tackle it.

‘I’m not going to let those assholes bully me out of my own company,’ Asami had said. She explained that the best way to overcome this scandal was to make Future Industries as profitable as she could and wallowing in self pity wasn’t going to accomplish that.

The clever business owner did just that. With Varrick and several other popular figureheads, like Bolin once again putting on his Nuktuk persona, openly supporting the relationship, Asami was able to keep her head high and make Future Industries more well-known to the world, although she wouldn’t tell the other women if it was good or bad publicity. Either way, Future Industries was bigger than it ever was before. And the cherry on top was that the ‘leaked’ news of the Satostation trying to be implemented to the Fire Nation helped overshadow the scandal. Asami was fiercely against it but Varrick and Zhu Li overruled her.

Korra and Lin couldn’t be prouder of their lover. They stuck through everything together and came out with their relationship stronger than it was when it first started. Korra was afraid of what the news would do to Asami’s and Lin’s careers but she was also concerned with how her friends would react to the news once they read the newspaper and saw the pictures. She was never so glad to be proven foolish in her worrying.

The first person to contact Korra after they were outed was Bolin. He had apparently gotten the first ferry boat to Air Temple Island that morning but when he was told Korra hadn’t come home that night, he went straight to Asami’s mansion. Bolin was ambushed by the paparazzi but he managed to wrestle his way out and the guards that admitted him in once they got sight of him. He saluted Lin when she had opened the door and was quickly reprimanded for doing so, she wasn’t the Chief anymore. Bolin stuttered out an apology and Korra and Asami had made their way to the door by then.

Bolin had pulled the two into a tight hug once he slipped past Lin. He told the three that he was happy for them. It was apparent that Bolin wasn’t aware of the complications that their relationship had caused. Maybe he only looked at the pictures before starting his search for the three women. Bolin tried to get the three to go on a double with him and Opal.

Korra was quick to decline the invitation as politely as she could. She didn’t think Opal would be too thrilled with the idea of her and Asami dating her aunt. She hadn’t had the opportunity to ask Opal how she felt about the entire situation since the airbender was still traveling the Earth Kingdom. Korra didn’t know if the Opal was even aware of her and Asami’s relationship with Lin, although knowing Bolin she probably found out from him before half of Republic City saw the article.

She felt Lin shift next to her. Korra noticed the scowl on Lin’s lips and her eyes glaring at the radio.

“-o has given his full cooperation and released the records concerning former Chief Beifong’s leadership on the Sato case for review. Some people have raised questions if there was foul play involved in the investigations and whether the shocking news of Ms. Beifong’s involvement with both Future Industries CEO and daughter of known equalist Hiroshi Sato’s Asami Sato and Avatar Korra had any effect on then Chief of Police performance in her duties.”

“It’s just like you said,” Korra muttered.

Lin hummed as she continued to listen to the ridiculous accusations against her conduct during her time as the Chief of Police. She did nothing wrong and the records will show in time that she performed her duties to her utmost capability. If Lin had been dating Asami and found that the younger woman was involved in the equalist movement, Lin would have done her job and arrested her lover. It might leave a bitter taste in her mouth, but the law was the law, nobody was exempt from it. “People do love juicy gossip. But I’m fifty five, not sixty five.”

Korra wasn’t paying attention at the time to hear that inaccuracy from the radio’s report. “You are?”

“Yes, Korra, I’m more than twice than your age,” Lin said, crossing her arms and moving slightly away from the younger woman. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

“No!” Korra closed the space that had grew between them and rested a hand on Lin’s thigh. She rubbed her thumb down and grinned as the crease in between Lin’s eyes went away. “Age never really meant much to me. I mean, as the Avatar I’m technically thousands of years old.” Lin’s eyes softened but there was still a guarded look about them. Korra leaned forward and kissed Lin’s lips, pulling the older woman closer and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. She felt Lin’s hands find her hips and smiled crookedly into the kiss. “I think you’re the hottest woman I ever met. Well Asami too but that’s a given.” She resumed the kiss and allowed herself to be pulled on top of Lin. Korra moved her lips to Lin’s neck, smirking at the fading mark Asami had left there from their last date. Another bonus of being outed was that they didn’t have to be careful not to leave love bites on each other.

Three quick knocks on the front door made Korra jump and Lin groan under her breath. Korra untangled herself from Lin and went about fixing her sash. Somehow it had become undone during their kissing. She walked to the door and opened it slightly before opening it fully when she saw Asami on the other side.

Asami gave Korra a quick kiss, taking note of the cheeks that were darker than usual. She let her satchel slide off her shoulder to fall to the floor with a thud. “Today has been exhausting. Productive, but exhausting,” Asami said as she took Korra’s spot of laying on top of Lin. The older woman chuckled and held her close with one arm as she kissed the top of Asami’s head.

Korra sat in front of the couch where one of Lin’s legs were dangling over the side. She started to massage the foot and took glee from the murmur of content that came from the older woman. Korra glanced away from her task to look at Asami. “Hey, did you know Lin’s fifty five?”

Asami nodded against Lin’s chest. One of Lin’s hands found its way to her hair and she relaxed more and more against the older woman as Lin’s fingers brushed through her hair. “Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to force Lin to celebrate her birthday if I didn’t know when it was.” She turned her head to grin at Lin. “It took quite a lot of persuading before she told me.”

Lin raised an eyebrow, her fingers stilling in Asami’s hair. “You wouldn’t let me climax until I told you.”

The reply only made Asami’s grin spread wider as her eyes took on a mischievous glint. “But it worked.” Asami turned her attention back to the Avatar at the foot of the couch. “It did surprise me however. I thought that Lin was in her late thirties at the most.” Korra nodded in agreement.

Lin grumbled in response but both Asami and Korra knew that Lin secretly loved the praise. They shared a quick look. Korra subtly moved up from Lin’s foot to massage her calf. Lin gave another content sound that was muffled by a chaste kiss from Asami. It didn’t take long for Korra’s fingers to travel up to Lin’s thigh and for Asami to lick Lin’s bottom lip. The older woman opened her mouth with a groan, her grip on Asami’s hair tightening and giving it a tug, earning a gasp from the woman above her. “You two are greedy.”

“We know,” Korra said with a nonchalant shrug. “But you love it.”

#linorrasami #three is (not) a crowd #linorra #linsami #korrasami #lok #tlok #legend of korra #the legend of korra #korra #avatar korra #lin #lin beifong #chief lin beifong #asami #asami sato

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longforgottenunofficial · 7 years ago

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Here Comes the Bride, Part Four: Constance, Hat Boxes, and the Meaning of The Attic

(Photo by Jeff Fillmore)

Warning label. We're going to get pretty heavy here before we get light, but you'll get no apologies from me. I happen to believe that people always and everywhere keep talking about the same old things, whether they're writing big, thick theology books or scripts for situation comedies. Stupid jokes or philosophical systems—it doesn't matter. We are all natural born theologians and moralists, and darn it, we just can't help ourselves; everything we discuss with each other echoes into and out from something vast and serious. No matter how trivial and superficial we think we are being, Deep calls to Deep (Ps 42:7). Connie will show up some paragraphs down, but if what goes first is not your cup of tea...well, no doubt there's a blog out there dedicated to hidden Mickeys in the Haunted Mansions. Google, and go in peace. Rest assured that there will be another installment of "Here Comes the Bride" to deal with some of the interesting inspirations for Constance and even some intimations of her future. It's all good. The current incarnation of the attic bride is a unique and ambitious attempt to swell the Mansion's cast of characters and expand and solidify its backstory. No longer is the HM simply a retirement home for ghosts from all over the world, brought here by invitation but getting stuck in the fabric of the house itself until Madame Leota fixes the snag so that they can materialize and start schmoozin' and boozin'. Until now, this basic plot has been the only backstory to the HM that could claim official sanction, and indeed it accords with what the Ghost Host tells you and accounts for most of what you see. But it has never completely covered the phenomena presented. For example, the Ghost Host has a further tie to the house. (The other end is tied to his neck.) What's with that? Was he an owner at one point? That would explain why the hosting duties fell to him, and perhaps the retirement home idea was his, but it suggests that the house had its own haunted history before that. The other thing that suggests a previous history is the attic. Attics are places of concealment, of hidden horrible secrets. Moreover, the attic has always functioned as the asterisk on the big Marc Davis joke. The first thing to do is make it clear what that joke is, because that joke accounts for 90% of the HM. That joke is the broad, firm base from which other, smaller things may deviate. As we saw in an earlier post, at first you think the ghosts are malevolent and out to get you, but it turns out that "they pretend to terrorize" and really don't care about you at all; they just want to get to a state of comfortable materialization so that they can enjoy themselves. Ha ha, the joke's on you: you thought they were hostile, and you were wrong. The point of the joke, the moral of the story, the message of the Mansion, is that fear of death is overblown. That's it in a nutshell. I mean, you really don't know if it's a chamber of horrors on the other side of the veil, do you? No one really knows, right? Perhaps the scary hauntings you hear about are just naughty pranks, perhaps all is forgiven and all is well and everyone's having a jolly good time over there. So long as you don't know which is the case, you might as well take the optimistic view. That's the vision presented to you by Mr. Davis. In his portrait of the afterlife, the executioner and the knight he dispatched are now best buds. There is no revenge, no bitterness, not even any residual hierarchy of power on the other side of the grave—kings and queens are playing like children! Yeah, there are those two duelists still going at it, but it's more a matter of both of them being humorously stuck in a cycle of irresolvable earthly business than a tragic vision of implacable hatred. You almost suspect that they're doing it as a game now. After all, what happens when a ghost shoots a ghost? Is he going to die or something? See? Joke! Ever'body laugh. Without going even deeper than we need to, we might briefly note that there is a certain resonance between this joke and traditional Christian theology, wherein Death is defeated and rendered harmless ("where is thy sting?"), and ultimately the story of the universe is told as a comedy and not a tragedy. In this sense, the Haunted Mansion is simply expressing an optimistic hope firmly rooted in Western culture. "All shall be well." Okay, now the asterisk, now the "yes, but." Equally part of the Western and Christian worldview is the notion that the afterlife is also the place where justice is finally served (it sure as hell ain't on this side of the veil, in case you hadn't noticed). Justice implies judgment, and judgment is bad news for the bad. That happy optimistic vision hopes that enough mitigating circumstances will ultimately be found so that everybody, or almost everybody, gets off, but if the wisdom of the ages is given any weight, there remains a residual pool of those who choose evil without any possible excuse for it and put themselves beyond the reach of even the most generous of post-mortem visions. Disney traffics heavily in traditional fairy tales, correct? You'll note that the villains in fairy tales are often very villainous indeed. It might sometimes be possible to understand them, but you cannot excuse them. They have made their alliance with Death. You cannot redeem them; what you do is, you kill them. In truth, the world of traditional fairy tales is pretty stark and grim, and Disney has always faithfully represented this fact. Fairy tales are also a good place to check out the aforementioned wisdom of the ages. It's not surprising that Davis's warm bath of good feeling has a sober asterisk attached. The HM is just complex enough to give a nodding acknowledgment to this darker truth while celebrating the rosier vision. This could have been accomplished in a number of ways, but the route the Imagineers chose (by intuition—don't ever think I'm claiming that they sat around and thought about all of this consciously), is the detective mystery. What is it that motivates the sleuth in all of those whodunnits? Bringing the criminal to justice. Making sure the guilty party doesn't get away with it. You don't associate Sherlock Holmes with forgiveness, do you? Now ordinarily, writers of detective fiction banish the supernatural from their pages. That's because the readers are supposed to be able to figure out who did it based on clues dropped along the way. If you throw angels and demons and ghosts in there, it spoils the whole thing. No one can reasonably be expected to anticipate a deux ex machina resolution to a mystery. But the reverse is not true: crime and detection are not absent from ghost lore. Too many ghosts busy themselves with revealing where the body is hidden, or where the knife was buried, or by terrorizing the guilty into confessing their crime. These ghosts, at any rate, are not in a forgiving mood. They want justice. In our discussion of the Hat Box Ghost, we showed that the whole attic scene originally was held together by the head-in-a-hatbox symbol, which hails from the world of crime mystery. You're in the attic, which is one of the two places in an old house where horrible secrets and crimes are hidden (the other is the cellar, of course). You see that hatbox, and you have a dreadful suspicion that there's a severed head in it, and when your suspicion is confirmed, you realize you're looking at a murder, and you wonder what happened and who did it. Like a good murder mystery, the attic gives you just enough clues to conclude that the bride is the guilty party, as we saw. What's the Hat Box Ghost up to, anyway? He'sshowing you what happened. Got his noggin whacked off and hidden in a hatbox. The murderer evidently got away with it, but now the victim's ghost has come back to reveal the awful truth to the world. The crime is illustrated before your eyes and it is linked to the bride via the synchronized heartbeat. Very efficient storytelling—this all takes about a second and a half. These guys are GOOD. Note that the question of justice enters in here—you wonder who committed the crime—whereas when you see the knight in the graveyard, who is just as beheaded as the HBG is, you don't ask any such questions. The perp is right there, after all, and neither of them care any more, and you don't even know which was in the right and which was in the wrong. And you don't care either. You regard the two beheading victims in completely different ways. Creepy atmosphere + a hatbox in the attic = bingo, you're in murder mystery land. Oh, all right, I hear those fingers drumming on the tabletop. You've been good, so here. Here's a few more Connie shots by Jeff Fillmore (aka ~Life by the Drop~ at flickr). She's miserably hard to photograph, and I don't know how he does it, but IMO Mr. F. has got the best Connie shots on the Web.

From beginning to end, the attic scene has never been free of the grisly-hatbox symbol. It is just as fundamental as the bride herself. We noted how the two blast-up ghosts were skullish heads popping from hatboxes. They were there from 1969 until 2006. You can go back earlier. Here again is a shot of the scale model, which we've seen before:

Let's pan to the right and see what got cropped out. Well looky there. I see two hatboxes, and one of them is suspiciously isolated. You look inside, I just had dinner.

Next up, some Claude Coats concept art for the attic:

Well, I'm not so sure that it isn't an innocent hatbox in this case. But this is an attic. No doubt something horrid is hidden there. Any guesses where the body is? Possibly the trunk, but if you didn't think, "Maybe walled up in the brickwork of that chimney," you really need to read more books and see more movies. See how it works? They know that you just know these things. When they were kicking around ideas for a New Bride in the mid-2000's, there was a range of ideas put out there for consideration. One widely-reproduced sketch that passes as "concept art for Constance" actually stayed very close to the then-current bride. Still has the candle, still has the beating heart, still has the bouquet, and still has the blank white eyes. Just a coked-up version of the "middle bride," really.

Oh, and if you come across a less-severely cropped version...well whaddya know:

Here's the Frank tableau in the finished make-over at Disneyland:

Nice. And here's a piece of concept art for it. (Nudge nudge: lower left, atbox-hay on the oor-flay).

Just in case you think I'm imagining things, some concept art for Constance throws subtlety to the wind and takes us directly back to Hat Box Ghost territory. Oh, and notice how close this Connie is to the finished character:

Ewww. That'll put you off your Eggs Benedict.

Reportedly, there were plans to put a stack of five hatboxes across from Constance in the HBG's old spot, with the names of her five husbands on them. Hatbox city. One report even suggested that they would light up and glow from within. That didn't happen, but they did put a hat-rack there, with hats on it matching Connie's hubbies in the portraits. Heh heh. When they put Constance into the WDW attic in 2007, they too got a hat-rack, but they also got the stack of hatboxes. No name tags or lights though.

Wouldn't want to be in there on a warm day. Notice the swords laying around. You don't suppose that means anything, do you?

With the grisly-hatbox symbol, you've got CRIME looking for PUNISHMENT. You've uncovered something deliberately hidden. There's a murderer out there somewhere, a score to settle, a vengeance yet denied. Question: How has the attic bride always been different from most of the other ghosts you see? Answer: She's not happy. No socializing for her. Even Constance is only experiencing the lunatic glee of the criminally insane. If you insist on calling it "happy," then it's kind of a Charles Manson happy, you know? I wouldn't say she's happy. She's not forgiven or forgiving, not within the embrace of any resolution. But is justice being served? Well, if she wasn't so utterly wacked-out, she'd realize that she's exposing herself and being exposed. Hattie with his damning heart-beat box is gone, but now we've got five haunted wedding portraits with the husbands' heads disappearing. Those portraits are five ghostly fingers from beyond the grave laying accusation. And yet, those guys aren't happy either, and they don't even get the relief of being too crazy to care. You don't see forgiveness, but you don't see just deserts either. The ghostly revelations inspire no remorse in Connie, and she's suffering no reprisal. Her madness has taken her to a place without punishment, but also without love.

This is a very sour note in the HM, and it may well be a thematic blunder. The Connie addition is seriously flawed. Unlike the knight and executioner, there has not been any post-mortem reconciliation in this case. They're grim ghosts without the grinning part. If there were a way to show the husbands yukking it up with Connie, all of them laughing at the silly fuss their earthly crime drama stirred up, then they'd be part of the Marc Davis all-is-now-well joke. Or, alternately, if the hubbies were allowed to show some sense of satisfaction that at last the murderer has been caught out, putting their spirits to rest, avenging them, giving them something to grin about like the old Hat Box Ghost, then they would fit into the traditional role of the attic as the "justice must be satisfied" asterisk added to the otherwise merry universalism of the Haunted Mansion. As things stand, the message of the attic is, "the Devil wins," however lightly and humorously expressed. Yes, you will survive death and live forever; but no, there is no guarantee that you will find either justice or forgiveness on the other side. That's a common enough stance in modern horror, of course, but it is utterly foreign to the Mansions. Or it was, until May 2006.

Originally Posted: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 Original Link: [x]

#long forgotten #haunted mansion #hatbox ghost #attic bride #constance

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