#and I hope they get convicted in a trial that's done so by the books it's beyond reproach

[medicinemane]

Just to be clear, I think that what Israel is doing to Gaza is horrific, that doing things like targeting hospitals is always wrong... the death toll is sickening and it's impossible to look at the way the IDF conducts operations and think that it's justified

Like you don't kettle people in Rafah and then bomb it, that's just not remotely acceptable to be directing civilians to a place only to strike it. Counter insurgency is hard, but that doesn't mean any of this is ok

But I'm also not deeply informed on the situation and I think that I just kinda add uninformed noise... I'm frankly a liability that might spread misinformation

Ukraine I know stuff about, Ukraine I can offer actually worthwhile analysis and insight on... I can't with Palestine

I don't know, just kinda wanted to make it clear where my feelings lay on all this, but also why you'll pretty much never hear me talk about it... cause I'm not effected and I'm not informed enough. It's got my support but there's better people to be acting as the voice for it

The correct number of bombed civilians is zero, and the IDF legit reminds me of the russian military, and let me tell you there's really no greater insult in my book than comparing someone to the fucking russian butchers (surovikin is literally know as The Butcher of Syria, they're fucking monsters who the UN stopped giving hospital coordinates to in Syria cause instead of avoiding them, the second they had the location they'd strike it... it's sick)

So yeah, fuck Netanyahu (and fuck mush brains for telling Israel it shouldn't prosecute him for corruption, deeply troubling to meddle in other countries internal affairs like that). Absolute monster who I think is actively fueling conflicts just to hold power

But again, I have thoughts... just... not that useful of thoughts. I can tell you useful stuff about Ukraine, Gaza all I can say is it's sick and it's wrong and no one should suffer like that

(I can also say I feel like not enough fingers get pointed at Egypt for the role they play in all this... that's the one thing I know enough about to have an opinion on, they're one of the borders that's keeping Gazan's trapped, they could do more. Doesn't make Israel or the US less culpable, but they shouldn't be let off either)

Whole situation is fucking sick

[drconstellation]

The Passion of Jimbriel

Part 3: Resurrection

Part 1: The Entry to Soho

Part 2: Trials and Denials

The story of events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, and the days following, until his ascension to Heaven, are collectively known as the Passion narratives. It comes from the Latin "to suffer," or "to endure."

In Part 1 of this series we looked at the three temptations in the wilderness during the 40 days of fasting, before the entry to Jerusalem on donkey. Then there was the Cleansing of the Temple and the Anointing of Jesus. I matched up the various scenes in S2 that mirrored these parts of the narratives.

In Part 2 we had the Last Supper, before moving to the Garden of Gethsemane and predicting the Three Denials. The burden of other's sin was taken on, the kiss of Judas was received and Jesus was arrested. Then there was a trial, the first of two, before the Three Denials actually happened. Now we are off to the palace to meet the Roman Governor of Judea.

Just a note: Part 3 isn't any easier than Part 2. Now is the time to save it to read for later, if you aren't in a safe place.

The Court of Pontius Pilate

Jesus is taken to Pilate to be judged again, as the priests want this troublemaker executed, but on questioning Jesus Pilate can find no fault with him. Pilate asks Jesus if he is King of the Jews, and Jesus replies "You have said so," which is not really an answer. Pilate is not sure what to do.

AZIRAPHALE: ...So, you don't know who you are? GABRIEL: Oh, yes. AZIRAPHALE: Ah. GABRIEL: I'm me. I just don't know who me is. AZIRAPHALE: I see. GABRIEL: But you know me. You recognized me. AZIRAPHALE: Well, I ah… know someone who looks like you. GABRIEL: That's probably me then. I think that's one of the main ways you can tell.

Pilate can't see any reason to convict Jesus, since he does not lay claim to any earthly kingdom, only a spiritual one, so he sends him off to King Herod.

Herod questions Jesus as well, hoping to observe one the miracles he has heard about. He gets the same non-responses from Jesus, so sends him back to Pilate.

Hey, it's me! King of the Jews! Gabriel! Don't you recognize me?

It's also worth noting Jimbriel's actual pose as he exits the book shop and how he holds his fingers. He holds his pointer and middle fingers out, and curls his ring and little fingers in on both hands (and this is not the only time he does this in the series.) This is a classic "preaching" pose, and he is mimicking an iconic pose of Jesus here.

There is a small question about whether at this point in the narratives whether it is the soldiers of Herod that dress Jesus in the robes of a king to mock him at this point, or its done a little later, after the release of Barabbas, so lets just mention it here, as it seems to happen twice in our story.

It also might be worth taking a small digression about the performer Liberace here, who inspired the ostrich feather coat, and who reigned as a king of entertainers in the post-WWII era. He was famous not only for his over-the-top flamboyance (as well as being queer) but also for his signature candelabra. You know, one of these:

The Release of Barabbas

Pilate was in a bit of pickle now. He really didn't want to condemn Jesus to death, but the priests were still pushing him to condemn Jesus to execution, so he decided he would give the people the choice instead. He offered them the choice of releasing Jesus or a prisoner called Barabbas. Whether they were stirred up by the priests or not they had only one choice.

They chose...

Actually, I think there are two choices for the release of Barabbas here - one is Gabriel, as I will explain below, and the other one -

Release Bwian!

Er, release Barabbas Mr Brown!

Pick a card, Mutt? While you're dressed in robes that are a throw-back to biblical times? What kind of ineffable games are being played here by the Almighty?

The Way of Sorrows

(Also known as: The Stations of the Cross, The Way of the Cross)

Oh, yes, its this bit. And you thought it was just a bit of silliness.

Lead the way, soldier!

Some of the narratives have the Roman soldiers who take him from Pilates court strip him and robe him in either red or purple, give him a crown of thorns and call him "King of the Jews!" again in mockery before he is forced to walk to his place of execution.

Wait, who's execution are we walking towards again?

Crown of Thorns. ✅ Mocking garb.✅

I had already mused in the past that Crowley had dressed like this to mock the Archangels in my big colour meta (under silver,) and I have also bumped into pre-release comments that thought he was doing that as well, so I 'm glad to see I'm not the only one on this train of thought! He's gone a bit over-the-top with his outfit, which is similar to Saraqael's (a hint to the connection there) plus he has a tactical turtle neck on to go with his master spy work he's undertaking (but so does Saraqael!) It also tells us its a level of rank he's quite familiar with.

Oh, hang on. Gabriel didn't get away from doing anything here.

The Three Stations of Gabriel's Cross Bearing: The first in 1827, when Crowley shows it to Aziraphale on a midnight date, the second when Aziraphale comes across it again in the present - and tells Crowley "I think I've found some clues," and the third when we see Gabriel showing it off to Beelzebub.

OK, one more bit of mocking...

The Crucifixion

On arriving at the top of Golgotha, Jesus was stripped of his clothes and nailed to the cross. A sign was placed above his head declaring him the king of the Jews. On either side two other criminals were also crucified that day.

This is the one part of the narratives that did not fit into S2, so it got given to us separately.

In S1 we had the scene at Golgotha in S1E3 Hard Times, where we are shown Aziraphale and Crowley meeting to witness the event. Aziraphale remarks that he is "not consulted on policy decisions," while Crowley relates that he carried out the Third Temptation on Jesus not long before this.

A red cloth draped on the ground symbolizes blood in S1. In S2 we have red tomatoes spilling across the road as Gabriel walks past on his way to the bookshop. They take us back to S1 and tell us its repeating again. I would expect another iteration in S3.

Then we have the two classic poses that were given to us, that are not in any scene from S2. When these were first released a number of ops posted about the similarity to the iconography of the Madonna and Jesus on the Cross.

On the left, is Aziraphale, posing as mother Mary, in the "Stabat Mater" pose, or "the mother was standing." This is Mary standing at the base of the cross, and she is traditionally shown on the left hand side. She is but a spectator to the scene.

On the right, is Crowley, posing as Jesus nailed to the cross. He is a sacrifice of one, to save many, in his present day costume.

What intrigues me is they chose to have Aziraphale wear his Job minisode costume for this shot. The angels were dressed in white and gold to show their "divine majesty," to fit in with the vivid 1950's style colouring. But it was also where he had to chose very carefully what he said, and he chose to lie to save lives.

A scene from the Job minisode, A Companion to Owls: Sitis and Job on the left - Sitis is Aziraphale-coded and Job is Crowley-coded. on the right are the divinely-glowing angels. Gabriel stands on the demonic-sided left of them, but Aziraphale is on the far left, the most demonic angel there. He was lying, after all, and that's what demons do, isn't it?

While Jesus is often called the Lamb of God, as sheep were considered more respectable to Christian ideals, and Jesus is said to have gone willingly to his death, it is perhaps a better way to consider what happened as the scapegoat ritual - where two goats are chosen, one is burdened with the sins of the group and released into the wilderness to take those sins with them and die, and the other to be sacrificed to God. In the Passion, it was Barabbas that was set free, and Jesus that was sacrificed.

The question then becomes how to view this through the lens of the Good Omens story. If we didn't get a crucifixion scene in S2, when is this occurring in the story? If Crowley is Jesus, who is Barabbas? If Aziraphale is Mary, just witnessing the execution, and not able to intervene...what could be the long term implications of that?

This is where I feel like I've done a Crowley on myself, spreading a field of sharp tacks across that shiny clean aisle in Heaven I was sauntering blithely down and stabbed myself unexpectedly in the foot.

Because the answer to the second question there is Barabbas is Gabriel. (hey, wot, didn't you say Mr Brown was Barabbas??) S2 spent quite a bit of time trying to tell us how similar Crowley was to Gabriel, and the two characters appear to be acting as "foils" to each other this season. Indeed, they have been interchangeable in their roles as Jesus throughout this three-part meta (thinking about another meta to expand on this.) And right at the end Gabriel gets to run away into the interstellar wilderness to ostensibly never be seen again - and Crowley stays to be emotionally slaughtered.

Which still leaves us with the first and third questions.

When did happen? The problem is, as already stated - this scene did not fit into S2, so we were given it separately. I know one could argue that the end of the above scene, and the following moments, could count as the crucifixion, as Aziraphale was bound seemingly helplessly by the manipulations of the Metatron to leave Crowley behind, and in doing so to sacrifice him for a greater good. This goes someway towards leaving Aziraphale as the witnessing Mary, but he is still far too involved for my liking here. And we've already put the label of Judas on him in Part 2 of this meta. He had to betray Crowley to get him to stay behind for his own safety.

The more likely scenario is then it happened in the past. I'm going to quote a passage from @vidavalor's meta "The *Original* Original Sin Theory as they say it best, really:

Aziraphale doesn’t need to see Heaven’s files to find out what happened to Crowley when Crowley fell because he was there. S3 is going to be about preventing the Second Coming and so plot allusions to the crucifixion (which had its own Crowley & Aziraphale scene in S1) will likely abound. Aziraphale was there when Lucifer and The Gang were tossed out of Heaven. To be fair to Aziraphale, there is basically nothing he could have done to prevent this and the best possible situation is that he didn’t even have the chance to. The worst possible situation is that he’s literally Judas and sold Crowley out, out of fear of being tossed out of Heaven himself. I tend to think it’s more that he just didn’t stand up and say anything in support of Crowley to prevent himself from being seen as on the side of the eventual demons. Still, just as Crowley thinks the punishment for Adam and Eve was harsh, Aziraphale thought that asking questions and being curious wasn’t enough to send Lucifer and everyone around him to Hell to be damned for all of eternity but it caused an obvious existential crisis in him that he still struggles to totally resolve.

And that is basically how I see it, too. Heaven (the Jewish priests), through the Metatron, wanted the inquisitive, questioning angel!Crowley gone, possibly because he'd found something he shouldn't have seen. Lucifer and the guys (Rome) didn't care much for angel!Crowley either, as I showed back in this meta, and were happy for him to be the scapegoat that got made an example of for punishment. And Aziraphale, as Mary, kept his mouth shut and just watched, because he wanted to be a good angel and not get thrown out of Heaven himself. Maybe he did know something that could have absolved angel!Crowley, maybe he lied to escape being thrown out himself, but what ever happened, he's been carrying a sense of guilt about it ever since.

As for Crowley, he was not a willing lamb at all. We see him question God about his fall, about testing Earth to the point of destruction and he gives the goats in the Job minisode a soliloquy about their impending doom that seems an obvious reflection of his own experience as a scapegoat.

Now we have the Second Coming in S3. Jesus will be back. So will mention of the crucifixion. There is still plenty of dirt to be dug up and aired on this yet.

Maybe someone did die, after all...of embarrassment!

Burial of Jesus

Joseph of Arimathea was given permission by Pilate to remove Jesus' body from the cross, wrap it in white linen, and place it in a tomb. Even though Jesus was considered a criminal, he should still be buried before sunrise the next day.

I'm going to admit, this is the one bit of the narratives I'm not sure about. Was it the burying of Gabriel's essence in the fly? Or the burying of Gabriel's location under the 25 lazurii miracle?

There also a section called the Harrowing of Hell here, where Jesus was said to have descended to the Underworld, or Hell (because that is what Hell means, after all, the Underworld - that's why it's in the basement of the celestial corporate building!) and liberated those caught in Hell up until that time.

This could be why we get the scenes with Beelzebub stressing over the disappearance of Gabriel and lack an any sign of where he has gone. They look more "harrowed" as the days go on.

Resurrection

After three days, Jesus rose from the dead. This act is seen as a guarantee that all the dead (on the "right side" or those whose names are in the Book of Life) will be also resurrected when the Second Coming occurs. It is also known as The Parousia, which we see mentioned inside the cinema on the wall during the opening sequence in S2.

After three days, some women approached the tomb to finish preparing the body, because they had not been able to earlier due to the sabbath day occurring. As they approached, they found the stone that should have blocked the entrance rolled back, and an angel clad in white sitting there telling them not to be afraid, but to go tell others what had happened.

Well, Gabriel had left the building, but the last thing was they were going to do was tell everyone about it!

SARAQUEL: I don't trust him. Can we begin the memory wipe now? MICHAEL: What, without him here? [nods] Good idea. SARAQUEL: Right. I can't… I can't find his memory anywhere. In fact, I can't find him in the building. He's left Heaven. Should I sound an alert? METATRON: Oh, don't be so wet. No, you're all just going to have to find him. That's all.

Humph. You're being the wet blanket, Metatron.

On one side of The Resurrectionist sign for the pub in Edinburgh we have Jesus standing outside his tomb. He is dressed in red and blue. The red represents his connection to humanity but he is wrapped in the blue of divinity. It looks like we are looking out of the tomb into the world. The entrance is supposed to match the "gate" of Eden that Aziraphale sent Adam and Eve through, so if it looks familiar, that's why.

We something similar when Gabriel regains his memories from the fly. We start out with a red transition, then move towards blue as he regains his angelic divinity, then he is finally back as his lilac royal smugness self on the last.

I did take a very long look at @embracing-the-ineffable's The Ineffable Detective Agency's presents: Gabriel's Memory and the quick transition sections, but didn't come to any firm conclusions, other than the colours. Although this may be why Death appears four times.

Ascension to Heaven

Accounts vary - some say it was the same day, some say after forty days - Jesus ascends to Heaven.

See you later, guys!

You know you can never return, right? Right?

Um, so, what about this little thing called the Second Coming, then?

Wait and see? nngggkk...

Here endeth our journey through the Passion narratives.

[zanniscaramouche]

Zanni WIPs of 2024

See what I'm working on under the cut ♡

Star Trek

❄️️ Fathom - Star Trek AOS - Jim Kirk/Spock + Jim Kirk/Bones

Jim raises his head and tries to stay on track of the conversation. “Always?”  And what he means is, ‘In every reality?’ Spock inclines his head in a subdued nod. “All that is, is yours.”  Est. 30k

❄️️ Wonderful Boy - Star Trek AOS - Jim Kirk/Spock + Jim Kirk/Bones

Jim wakes up in the new version of reality and he’s trying to find his place. Meanwhile, his relationships with Bones and Spock are strained as he works to reconcile the shift in status quo. Bones doesn’t stroke his hair back at night just to see his eyes better. Spock stands a little too close and keeps making abortive movements like he’s about to reach out. Jim can sympathise, but it’s still weird to have affection cut off from everyone but the one person who’s always given him a cold shoulder. OR AOS Jim wakes up in a world where his father didn't die on the Kelvin, his crew are polite but not personal, and he's never stepped foot on Tarsus IV. Oh, and he's got the wrong size science blues hanging up next to his gold shirts. Est. 60k

❄️️ Untitled - Star Trek AOS - Jim Kirk/Spock

A military AU set throughout the Bell Riots, Second Civil War, Eugenics War, and WWIII. Est. 200k

One Direction

❄️️ Cherry - One Direction- OT5 (starts off Nouis-centric) - ABO

Louis Tomlinson is probably the bureau's least impressive employee (and that's including janitor Stan 'the Man') but when an anonymous hook-up leaves him the best person to infiltrate a crime ring, he's forced into the field with a fake identity. Can he seduce the members of The Pack well enough to bring them down? And by the time he uncovers more than just their secrets, will he want to? Est. 45k

❄️️ If I Could Fly- Larry - Spiderman!Louis + Uni AU

Louis is busy coming to terms with being a superhero, but that doesn’t mean all the other responsibilities that come with being human are suddenly put on hold. The sanctuary of the education system won't last forever, and with Harry-- his lovely, beautiful, sex-god of a boyfriend-- a week from graduating with Masters, it's time to start thinking about the future. Their future. If only Louis could get his past to stay in the past. How long can Louis keep spinning lies until he’s caught in his own web? He's hoping at least a week. Est. 25k

❄️️ The Goodbye Scene- Larry - Authors AU + Enemies to Lovers

Louis and Harry are in the midst of co-writing a novel. Everything is fine, except for how they kind of can’t stand each other right now. Harry’s a romantic, wants everything to be perfect with the glossy sheen of pornography. Louis hates that. Things aren’t always perfect, and he wants to show how sex in reality can actually be kind of lack luster and awkward. He might be a bit sour since he’s still getting over his ex, but so sue him. He’s right on this, okay? It culminates in a heated debate as Harry insists the extravagant can be sexy and romantic when done right. Louis doesn’t believe him, and he’s not putting it in the book until Harry proves it to him. Which means Harry decides to prove it. Thus begins their trials to see who’s right: can sex be just as sexy and lust filled as the most harlequin romance novel out there, or will these grand ideas fall flat and lead more to injury than ecstacy? Est. 20k

❄️️ Black Silk - One Direction - Larry - ABO + Crime Thriller

Louis is a drug mule for designer narcotics that gets caught in a messy drop-off that leaves him on the wrong side of a corrupt deal. With nowhere to go and a city full of gang-lords and millionaires on his tail for the lost product, Louis seeks haven with the last person he even remembers having a conversation with. Only Niall the friendly omega is out of town, and in his place is a grumpy cat-sitter who doesn’t appreciate convicts bleeding on the rug. Est. 30k

❄️️ Ride or Die, Sweetheart - Larry - Bike Racer AU + Exes to Lovers

Harry bleeds diesel. He exhales red desert dirt and sweats motor oil. After twenty-six years he’s discovered two truths of life: He was born to race. He will love Louis Tomlinson until the day he dies. A case could be made to say there's a third fact: Louis’s hate for him burns hotter than an engine in the sun Est. 40k

❄️️ Who Hung the Moon - Larry - Time Travel + Exes to Lovers

After the second worst day of his life, Harry is sent back in time to the most horrible-terrible-no-good-very-bad week of his existence: The week Louis Tomlinson shattered every dream he had and broke his heart. Est. 25k

❄️️ Broken Wishbones - Larry + Narry - ABO + Accidental Bonding

It was Louis who spent Christmas morning with Harry, and it was Louis who received birthday blowjobs, and it was always going to be Louis who got on one knee with a ring. Niall didn’t have a part in any of that. Which is why it’s so fucked up that the teeth marks on Harry’s neck don’t match Louis’s mouth. Est. 20k

❄️️ Honeybee - Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll during glamorous 70's. Est. 200k

Teen Wolf

❄️️ Hope You Get This Message - Teen Wolf - Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale

Had anyone actually seen him recently? When was the last time you spoke to him? Did any of us really know him?  When the man known as Peter Hale disappears, Stiles is just one of a group of strangers that come together during the investigation. Pretty quickly it's clear that things don't quite match up to what everyone thought they knew about him. The one thing they can agree on is that everything they know about Peter might have been false, but there’s no way he’s guilty of what he’s being accused of. Right? The longer the case goes on, the more apparent it is that Peter wasn’t the only one with secrets. Est. 60k

See something you like? Want to read it sooner? Please send all encouragements and inquiries to my ask box! ♡ xoxo

[yesthatssadirichardslove]

'Manhunt,' about hunt for John Wilkes Booth, may make you wish you paid attention in history class

NEW YORK

A new series transforms the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln into a true crime thriller that goes deeper into the story than most textbooks.

Most who studied Lincoln in school learn he was assassinated by a man named John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln was watching a play with his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, at Ford's Theatre when Booth came from behind and shot him.

What isn't as widely remembered is that Booth killed the president just five days after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee effectively ended the Civil War. It was a pre-planned, coordinated attack on the president, Vice President Andrew Johnson and the Secretary of State. Only Booth was successful.

A Confederate sympathizer, Booth relied on a network of supporters to help him hide. Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War, led the search by the Army to track Lincoln's killer down. He was found 12 days later hiding in a barn where he was shot and killed.

“ Manhunt," debuting Friday on Apple TV+, dramatizes the hunt for Booth and the trial that followed. It’s based on the book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chance for Lincoln’s Killer” by James L. Swanson. Tobias Menzies stars as Stanton, who also helped convict Booth's conspirators.

“Most no one knows the details of this story unless they’ve done a Ph.D or it’s a special interest of theirs,” said creator- showrunner Monica Beletsky in a recent interview.

Bringing Stanton to life is exciting, said Menzies, because he had a close, respected relationship with Lincoln.

“A big part of Stanton’s journey is both a political loss and also a personal loss. He loses a friend. ... I studied very little American history, and I certainly didn’t do this period of history,” said Menzies. “As an actor, I’ve done quite a lot of period stuff and I find it enjoyable to get the chance to find out about a new part of these stories and this is a really good example of that.

"Truth is stranger than fiction.”

Anthony Boyle plays Booth and his awareness of the man began with an episode of “The Simpsons” where Bart portrayed him in a school play. He knew his research needed to dig deeper to understand Booth's psyche and read letters he had written between the ages of 15 until his death at 26. Boyle describes them as a ��descent into madness.”

Beletsky hopes “Manhunt” underscores how Lincoln's killing was especially shocking at the time.

“That kind of murder was so uncommon,” she said. “Lincoln famously left the White House door unlocked during the Civil War, even though he had piles of death threats. It wasn’t even imagined that kind of crime could happen in our culture. My costume designer told me that Booth, wearing all black that night, is the origin of villains wearing all black in our storytelling.”

There was a boldness and conceit to the way Booth decided to kill Lincoln so publicly in front of an audience that fit his desire for attention.

“The theater was absolutely jammed,” said Menzies, a British actor who's starred in “The Crown" and “Outlander.” “And then to run out and disappear into the night and then take 12 days to find this man, you couldn't make it up.”

Booth was an actor in a family of actors, but lived in the shadow of his older brother Edwin, who was well-respected for his talent. “I'm gonna be the most famous man in the whole world,” Booth says on the show, prior to the assassination. While on the run, he reads newspaper articles about himself and loves the attention.

“It was like, Leonardo DiCaprio’s brother killed the president," said Hamish Linklater, who plays Lincoln. "I mean, (Edwin) was the biggest celebrity of his time," he said.

“This was before the internet and before television, this was word of mouth," added Boyle. "People were hearing about it (asking), ”John Wilkes Booth, the actor, killed the President? Was this some sort of farce?”

Besides telling Stanton's story, Beletsky introduces viewers to Mary Simms, a slave belonging to a physician named Dr. Samuel Mudd, (played by Matt Walsh), who treated Booth while he was on the run. She was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. The series depicts Simms — played by Lovie Simone— as interacting with Booth when he shows up at Mudd's house to hide, but in reality, she never met him.

Simms went on to testify in the trial of Booth's conspirators — which included Mudd — and confirmed his allegiance to the Confederacy. Because there is not a lot of information available on Simms, she was written as a composite of a number of people who helped to convict Booth's co-conspirators.

“It was a real opportunity to bring some of these heroes to light, like Stanton and Simms, and also to sort of set the record straight in some ways of what happened in our past and how that still continues to affect us," said Beletsky.

“It feels like a good time to be telling this story. You know, there is a big election coming up in November. Our story is partly a story about the fragility of democracy to some extent," Menzies said. “I think that’s as true now as it was then. It has a relevance and a resonance which feels kind of rich to be telling now.”

[neopet-euthanization]

Okay first off I’ve looked into this case a bit and it’s fucking vile and I really hope some of the true crimers pick up on this because this man’s story should be talked about and he deserves justice.

That being said, I love taking these opportunities to educate on the legal system a bit. It’s really fucking confusing and it’s taken me years of watching trials and listening to lawyers to get this perspective. And for what it’s worth it’s not perfect nor am I a lawyer but I think I may be able to help shed some light on this.

first thing a lot of lawyers will say is the law isn’t the same as “morals.” It’s really great when they line up, but since we’re talking about the justice system they HAVE to just go by the laws and not by their own morals.

Second thing is that cops have zero to do with what charges are actually brought and pursued. The cops do the arrest, they find probable cause (I explain the standards of proof in law here if you’re curious) and then prosecutors see what they can do with that. As charges move through the legal system the standard they have to prove the charges to gets higher and higher, and the burden is on the state/government/commonwealth/“the people” (different states will use different terminology) to prove the charges they bring beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury or judge.

Next let’s look at the standards in New York, where I understand this occurred.

This is pretty standard stuff to start with - laws/legal things NEED to be spelled out painfully because that’s just how the law is - it’s all about words and what they mean.

The next part also makes sense, I think it really fits with what most of us imagine a hate crime is.

This next part is where it gets really important. We can all know in our hearts this happened because he was a POC trans man, but the law that prosecutors have to follow, the law that will be given to the jury if this ever goes there, is that just the status of minority/oppressed group alone is not enough to charge with a hate crime. There HAS to be some kind of evidence, and it gets really hard to prove unless one of the offenders has like written out that this is why they did this crime, or if someone heard them shouting slurs while they were engaged in the crime or something like that.

I can’t claim to know all the evidence here - we have to keep in mind though, hearsay is not allowed in court. So even if evidence may exist it doesn’t mean it will be allowed in at trial. There are some exceptions - “statements by party opponents” are allowed, and this is how the defendant’s statements can make it into evidence over the hearsay rule.

Finally I want to remind everyone that while things can seem fucked up (this is not a gaslight - they are at times indeed very fucked up) but laws are not morals, and they are general blankets not specific remedies. These laws have to be able to apply to slightly different/varying scenarios. I heard a lawyer say that it’s like bricks. The first brick you put down absolutely impacts how the rest of the bricks stack up. So, just to give a wild example in order to demonstrate my point, let’s just say there is a case with a hate crime - we all know it’s a hate crime but there’s not enough legal evidence to bring to court. Prosecutor says fuck it and charges them with a hate crime, for some reason judge okays it and it goes to a jury and they convict. Now, that’s a decision on the books. Set aside for this example that appeals can happen and decisions can be reversed (because this would totally be reversed on appeal the way NY law is written) - this would become case law. When lawyers want to have the court/judge do something that seems like it hasn’t been done, they’ll cite precedent or case law. So, let’s just say we have a drunken bar dispute where both parties are piss drunk and guy A (a black guy) hits on guy B (a white guy)’s girlfriend. Guy B punches guy A and says “fuck you that’s my girlfriend.” The bartender steps in and separates them. The cops are called and guy B is arrested for assault. A prosecutor could then cite the case where a hate crime was charged ONLY on the basis that the victim was of another race, has a disability, etc etc, and because judges really don’t like to set new precedent, the chances that this would allow the hate crime charges to stick when they have no right to is really high.

Let me give you one more example before I wrap this up. A woman has committed a crime and it’s on video. They take it to trial, and they find out the cops/prosecutors don’t turn over a piece of information that could tend to point towards the defendant’s innocence. The case should be thrown out for misconduct. It’s not about the individual case that “she’s guilty, so what” it’s about that blanket coverage and it protects innocent people from getting railroaded as well. Another common phrase I’ll hear is “it’s better to let a hundred guilty men go free than to punish a single innocent man” or something like that and I think it’s kind of an important sentiment. It could be any of us getting arrested and railroaded with a crime. We want these protections to exist. We want there to be rules.

All of this long post rant is to say. Shits not perfect but from my perspective it gets a little less frustrating just understanding some of it

(image source)

In all my research of transgender history and violence against transgender people, I have never come across a case of one of our own so on par with the conspiracy, prolonged torture and murders of Junko Furuta (a teen girl) and Sylvia Likens (a child).

I also find it hard to believe that a bunch of cis white people did all of that to a black transgender man with no hatred in their shriveled hearts towards his blackness and/or his transness.

I’m not sure what the best call to action is, but we must stay vigilant against concern trolls who gaslight transgender people that there is no threat being posed to them by individuals or institutions- these people either know damn well what they are doing or are willfully ignorant, and I don’t know which is worse. We have trans remembrance for a reason, look at these peoples names, their stories, and fight for them and the living on individual and institutional levels.

Rest in Power, Sam Nordquist

[msigaf]

Totem of Undying

gn!reader

person: c!technoblade

word count: 1,852

warnings: blood, yelling, cursing, failed execution (art not mine, SAD-ist on youtube)

One day, you were pacing across Techno’s floor, wearing out the carpet, wondering were he was. He was gone for 9 days, and normally he isn’t out for that long.

He specifically said before his little expedition, “I won’t be gone long, I just got to get something for Phil.” “Ok, have fun honey.” you said, not looking up at him from your book. “You’re sure you don’t need anything?” he asked, trying to find a way to spend a little more time with you before he left. “Yeah, I’m sure, just tell Phil that I said hi.”

“Ok, bye my Aphrodite.”

Ever since, you haven’t gotten any messages on the comms, no messenger birds from him, or any sign of communication between the piglin hybrid and you.

“If he was going to Phil, then I should call Phil.” you murmured under your breath. How could you forget, he said he was going to get something for Phil, so he must be with him.

You looked for you phone, and called Phil’s number. “Hello, who is this?” replied on the other side of the phone. “Phil, is this you, I need to talk to you.”

“Oh hey Y/n, how are you doing?” “Not particularly well, um I have a question, is Techno there, he isn’t answering my calls.”

"Umm, well, he isn't here right now." he states, regret lacing his words. "Well where is he, it's urg-" Phil cut you off, "Y/n, you don't know?"

"What do you mean Phil?"

"I don't wanna say this, but he got captured by the Butcher Army." "Are you fucking kidding me, when he get caught?" you questioned. "IThey came to your house a few days ago, didn't you see them?" "No, I don't think so."

Then you suddenly remembered, “I think they might have came to our house. I was on a trip to get some spider eyes, so I guess that’s when they came over and got Techno.”

“Yeah, they haven’t come back yet, they tried to interrogate me, but I said no, and then they put an ankle monitior on me.” “They decided that if I wasn’t going to tell them anything, they would confine me to my house.”

You apologized to him, “I’m sorry Phil, hopefully you get that off soon enough.” “It’s fine Y/n/n, right now, what I’m concerned about is Techno. The Butcher Army built something, it’s a little cage with an anvil, I watched them build it, but it was kinda vague to me.” "I'm coming to L'Manberg Phil, I'll be there in a hour or so." "Ok, be safe."

-

You arrived in L'Manberg, looking for Phil's house. "Hey Y/n." he spoke. "Right back at you Phil, how are you doing today?" "I'm doing eh, I'm just worrying about Techno." "Me too, hopefully he turns up soon."

So then you stayed with Phil for a while, drinking tea and talking about random stuff. You were trying to buy your time until Techno popped up somewhere, preferably unharmed.

“Yeah Phil, there was-” Hooves stomped on grass, triumphant talking covering every sound outside. The people that cut you off was the Butcher Army, who was boasting their victory over their fight with Technoblade.

Techno, blood all over his skin, bruises on his face, barely showing any sign of his true skin tone. Chains rapping all over his body so he wouldn't escape. You felt devastated, what had they done to him? Behind them was Quackity riding Carl, holding him hostage so Techno couldn't escape on his steed. "What did they do to you?" you whispered under your breath.

They led Techno to the stage, when he looked up at you and Phil, suprise basking his face. "PHIL, PHIL, WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU PHIL, Y/N, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he yelled from under you guys. "I'M FINE TECHNO, THEY PUT AN ANKLE MONITOR ON ME." Phil screamed back.

They dragged him away from the house, bringing him onto the stage. "LEAVE PHIL AND Y/N ALONE YOU HEAR ME, LEAVE THEM ALONE." he retaliated. They locked him in the cage, where he was waiting his impending doom.

"Technoblade, this is actually not a trial, if you look up, you can see an anvil hanging down. When we press that lever down there, what it's going to do is drop on you and it's going to fucking kill you."

After Quackity's little statement, he demanded Tubbo to explain to everyone what was happening, but what they didn't know was that there was an ally, or friend of Techno's that would help him sooner or later.

After Tubbo spoke about how Techno betrayed the country, and how he had to pay for his wrongdoings, Punz swooped in, throwing snowballs to distract the Butcher Army. With his armor clad self, he started to attack them, momentarily trying to buy time for Techno. He splashed potions all around himself and the Butcher Army.

Then he started to load up the stage with unlit TnT, sending a warning to the Butcher Army not to fuck with him. Quackity yelled in scaredness, hoping that Punz wouldn't light the TnT. "PUNZ, PUNZ, CHILL THE FUCK OUT PUNZ, CALM DOWN." Quackity begged. He didn't stop, and that lead to the whole Butcher Army attacking him with their axes.

While they were chasing Punz, they didn't realize that he slipped Techno a totem of undying. That's right, one of the only things that can prevent death if someone was to kill someone else. So when Punz left the scene, and Ghostbur came to the stage to secretly tell Techno that he named his sheep "Friend", they started to prepare for execution.

"Ok, no more, I'm pulling this fucking lever." Quackity stated. And there is was, he pulled the lever, and the anvil went crashing down on Techno's head. But Quackity didn't know that he had a totem of undying in his hand, so when the anvil came down on Techno, there was a flurry of green and yellow sparks all around him, protecting him from his death.

During the little show, Techno escaped the iron cage, and ran for his life. The Butcher Army was confused, why did Technoblade die, he was supposed to perish, right?

He ran to the little hole in the ground, and was meet by Dream, riding Carl. Dream started to block up the hole, while Techno rode Carl to victory. As he rode Carl, he reached a control room, where there was chests filled with stuff for specific people. There was Eret's, Tubbo's, his, and many others.

He looted his chest, put iron armor on, and started to prepare for his journey. He splashed potions onto his body, giving him strength for a few minutes, and swiftness. When he realized that the pathway wasn't large enough for both him and Carl, he started to break blocks so he and Carl wouldn't suffocate in the walls.

While he was doing that, Quackity sneaked up behind him, taking him by suprise. “Techno, you’re not leaving this place, how didn’t you die?”

“None of your business Quackity, how about you leave me alone.”

“You’re my business Techno, and as long as you’re alive, this server is going to go to shit.” And this the fight began, Techno only donning a pick axe for a weapons, and iron armor, and Quackity, with full netherite and all the tools you could ever need for a fight.

Their weapons clashed together into a disgusting sound. “I’M GOING TO DEFEAT YOU TODAY TECHNOBLADE.” shouted Quackity, thinking he was going to win. “NOT A CHANCE.” Techno answered.

Quackity was clearly arrogant in this matter, even though he had the good stuff, and Techno had the shitty stuff that would be easily broken, he forget something. He forgot that he didn’t have technique, and Techno was the great night Blood God. Technoblade could’ve easily, if he wanted to, take down an entire village.

But he didn’t, and that’s what Quackity didn’t realize. Yes, Techno did some shitty things in the past, but he declared that he was going to retire from the fighting, from everything that related to violence. It wasn’t necessary to try to execute him.

So when the final swing hit, Quackity with his ego to a high capacity, at almost half a heart, Techbo easily defeated and killed Quackity, taking one of his canon lives.

-

You paced across the wooden floor for 10 minutes. “Phil, is Techno ok, where is he, why isn’t he here right now, Phil-” you cut yourself off, “Phil, is he dead?” “No he isn’t Y/n/n, I know Techno, he’s still alive, trust me.” he assured you, trying to comfort your thoughts, but it wasn’t getting to you.

Techno had to be dead, an anvil fell on him. “But what was the green and yellow sparks, what was the reason for that?” you thought. Was that a distraction, or was it something more significant.

“Phil, are you sure he’s-” he interrupted you with a shush. “Do you hear that?” he asked, not sure what’s was happening outside of his home. “No, I don’t, what’s wrong?” “Stay here Y/n.” he ignored your question.

He sneaked toward the door, trying to quiet his footsteps. He slowly opened the door, looked around, and saw Techno standing there, covered in bloody armor. “Holy shit Techno, what are you doing here, they could come any minute.”

“I need Y/n for a second.” he calmly said, trying to ease Phil’s nerves. “Mate, what about the Butcher-”

“I killed their leader.” “Heh?” “I killed Quackity, unfortunately it isn’t permanent.” he sighed. “Ok, first of all, weirdchamp, and secondly, please come inside, you’re worrying me right now.”

Phil let Techno in, and offered him a cup of tea. “No thanks Phil, so back to what I was saying, where is Y/n?” “Oh, they’re in the back, I thought you were someone else.” “Thanks.”

He stepped towards the direction you were in, and opened the door to find a frantic, worried Y/n. He put his body on the doorframe nonchalantly, “You missed me?” You turned around from your pacing, and looked at Techno, relief coating your eyes, “TECHNO.”

“Y/n.” he replied. You hurriedly walked to Techno, and gave him a bone-crushing hug. “Oh my goodness I’ve missed you so much, why did you have to leave, I don’t want you to die, fuck Quackity and the rest of them...” You rambled on and on about how the Butcher Army should be convicted, and a whole bunch of other things, when Techno cut you off, “Calm down my Aphrodite, I’m back, and that’s all that matters.”

"Ok, well are you hurt anywhere, Phil has some healing pots as well as some bandages." "I'm fine, but are you ok, did they hurt you?" he put his hand on your shoulders. "I'm ok, they didn't acknowledge me."

"Well, I'm glad that was the case."

You severely hugged him again, "Please never leave without me, I don't want this happening again."

"Never Y/n, never."

[female-buckets]

Playing with Brittney Griner in mind

There were constant reminders of Griner's absence and trials everywhere the Mercury turned this season. 

Support for Griner was appreciated by the team, but it was also mentally taxing. From Griner's detention being extended at the beginning of the season, to her conviction on drug charges and subsequent nine-year prison sentence, the Mercury were constantly checking updates while also preparing for games.

For those who came to the Mercury during the season, the daily obstacles the team went through became their own reality quickly. Kaela Davis, who first joined the team on July 21, didn't fully understand the impact of Griner's absence until she saw how much her teammates were affected.

“It’s what you would expect coming from a situation where there’s so many things you can’t control. You can’t control this BG situation, I think that’s the most frustrating part. You want to do something, but there’s nothing we can really do," Davis said. "At the same time, we still have practices, we still have games, we still have to focus in on all these aspects. It’s frustrating, but that’s why it’s hats off to them to be able to go through a whole season and make playoffs and have a season they did.” 

On the court, Turner had to play in Griner's place instead of continuing the chemistry the two had built over the years. Playing without Griner was hard on Turner, but it was made even harder when she would receive continued criticism on social media about Griner.

“It was definitely hard, but it was good to see BG’s name out there with all the courts saying BG 42 and a lot of teams wearing her shirts," Turner said. "It was good to see her name was trending as it should be. It was sometimes hard when we’d get asked questions, different people were giving their opinions on social media, they might not necessarily be accurate. I’m glad that her name is out there and attention she can get in the media and us wearing shirts is good, even if it is tough, it needs to be done and said."

(continue reading)

[plaidbooks]

“When will you be back?" With Barba when he leaves pleaseeee? Just shatter my heart and soul

The last few months had been hell

Rafael was spiraling

And all you could do was be there for him

To slowly move his empty scotch glass away from him

And to hold him when he sobbed

His trial was going...decently

But you were ignorant of the legal system

And though you sat in the gallery, just behind the defense's table

You couldn't tell if he'd be found guilty or not

One night, while you cuddled with him in bed, he muttered into the darkness

"Why are you still here?"

Confused, you asked, "what?"

He repeated himself, adding, "I...I killed a baby. I don't know how you can stand to look at me"

"Raf, babe. You did the right thing. You showed the only mercy that Drew had ever received"

He was silent for so long, you assumed he fell asleep

"And if I'm found guilty of murder?"

You pulled him closer to you, pressing a kiss to his spine

"I love you, Rafael Barba. Nothing is going to change that. You know I'll visit you, and eagerly wait for your release"

"If I don't get life"

You kissed his spine again

"You won't. You'll be found innocent"

You hoped with all your heart that you were right

It took a few more weeks, but you let out a sigh of relief, along with a few tears, as Rafael was found innocent

You took him home, making him his favorite meal

Ever since the jury read out their conviction, however, Rafael's had a thousand yard stare

He hardly said a word to you--outside of a thank you for dinner

You woke up the next morning to an empty bed

But you could hear noises in your loft

Pulling on sweats, you hurried to the living room

Only to find Rafael packing things

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know yet"

You watched him for a moment, considering books on the shelf, plucking them at random

"What does that mean?"

He sighed

"I'm leaving New York"

"What?"

Finally, he turned to look at you

"I can't stay here, not after what I've done"

"...when will you be back?"

You had already told him you'd wait for him in jail

And you'd wait for him here, too

"I...don't know if I ever will come back"

Tears filled your eyes, your heart dropping

"What does that mean for us?"

Rafael turned away from you, continuing his packing

"Well, I was hoping that you'd come with me?"

You were silent for so long that he had to turn to look at you again

All he saw was shock on your face

"I-I want to go with you, Raf. But what about my job? Our loft? Your mami?"

"We leave them. Start over new.... I'm not going to force you to come with me, amor. I understand if you can't"

He said it with a straight face, but you knew him well enough that you could see how the very thought was shattering his heart

"Okay...okay. We start over new. We can do that"

"...really? You'll come with me?"

You smiled at him, ignoring how terrified you were of the unknown

"Of course. I love you, Raf. I'd follow you anywhere"

[maybe-your-left]

Window Panes - Forever

We made it! 

Here is the Window Panes Masterlist and my Masterlist for all my other fics. 

Summary: A cool breeze nipped at your exposed legs, causing goosebumps to erupt over your skin. You were curled into your comforter, comfy and safe, your cheek pressed against your pillow. Lips pursed and a small amount of drool seeping into the fabric. A creak came from the corner of your room, slightly rousing you from your slumber. You glanced around, your drooping eyelids barely taking in the scene. In your sleep riddled state, you didn't see him, his large figure stalking towards you. The whites of his eyes shining in the moonlight, it wasn't until you felt a palm slide up your side. Following the natural contours of your body, the warmth emanating from it lulling you to sleep once again. A dip in the mattress, the springs creaking under the weight. 

Hot breath fanned over your neck, soft lips pressing onto the back of your ear. A deep hum filling your senses, you sighed. Cuddling back into the figure, wanting to get closer to the warm entity. A low chuckle sounded behind you, and then... 

Nothing. 

TW/CW: This is dark shit, like explicitly horrible shit happens in this. However, I enjoy reading dark fics, and I super loved Stalker Clyde by @clumsycopy​ & was inspired by the oneshot EOS by @thetorturerwrites and I wanted to write something with the sameish tone for Halloween. NSFW, Violence, Murder, Non-con elements, Domestic Violence, Surgery, Explicit sex, oral sex, anal sex, sex toys, miscarriage, mental manipulation, stockholm syndrome, waterboarding, forced feeding, Animal abuse (just a brief mention, I do not go into any detail). 

“Is it-Are we rolling?” 

“Yeah, we’re rolling.” 

“Okay, great,” a sigh of relief. 

You shifted in your chair, smoothing back your hair and itching the microphone that was attached to your shirt collar. Crossing and recrossing your legs, you should’ve worn pants, a skirt was a stupid idea with these boots. You gave a weak smile to the woman across from you, her white teeth flashing the cameras all around the sound stage. 

“Okay,” she looked into the lens, “We are here tonight with one of the victims of the famous 2020 murder trial from New York. She went through over five years of repeated abuse at the hands of her kidnapper, all while he was out killing people around the city.” She turned to you, nodding her head as a show for you to react to the TV. “It’s so nice to have you here, Miss (Y/N).” 

You cleared your throat, shifting once more, “Thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here.” 

“How are you doing?” 

You bit back a scoff, what a stupid thing to ask. After that introduction, what was she expecting you to say, ‘oh I’m fucking fantastic, I’ve been running since the day he was sent to prison and going through intense psycho-therapy to rid myself of Stockholm syndrome.’. 

“I’m great,” you faked a smile, “Always nice to visit New York again.” 

“I’m sure,” she smiled once more, all you could think about were the wrinkles on her face, the crows feet on the corner of her eyes. She must get botox for working at a news station, there’s no way her skin is on with just natural confidence. 

“When was the last time you visited?” 

You had to stop yourself from blurting out an answer, knowing that this would be on national television. Which you knew federal prisons watched, you wouldn’t want to give away any of your whereabouts since the incident. “Uh-it’s been a few years, I haven’t had much reason to be back. My life has shifted to another part of the world.” 

“That’s fantastic! So you’ve been doing well for yourself the past six years?” 

“Yeah,” you gave a genuine smile, “It’s been tough, no off days really. Trying to gain some normalcy from it all, but I’ve done well. I live relatively fearless, of everything.” 

“We have you here because of a break in your case, as I’m sure you know.” 

You gave a grim nod. 

It’s all anyone wanted to talk about since the story flashed on the news last week. Leaving your once quiet home filled with reporters. You weren’t even home when it happened, out getting groceries, gripping your sons’ hands firmly as you walked the aisles. Letting him pick out some snacks for his lunchbox, like any mother would, when your phone blew up. 

Dozens of messages, calls, articles, you name it. 

All with his face plastered on it. 

Convicted murderer and kidnapper, Kylo Ren, has requested the death penalty. After being found attempting to escape federal prison for the 6th time in the past five years. The convict claims that he ‘would rather die than live another day rotting in his cell’. Dropping all the appeals cases that his lawyers have been pushing since his initial sentencing. 

The former New York state governor was on trial for murderering and disemboweling 9 separate victims and kidnapping an 18-year-old girl. He kept her in his basement as his sex slave for close to 3 years before he married her, the young girl escaping into the streets when she was just 22 years old. Covered from head to toe in gashes, blood, and bruises. Claiming that her husband had beaten her within an inch of her life. 

The subsequent trial lasted three months after his arrest. Leading to him being convicted of first-degree murder, rape, and domestic assault. He was sentenced to life in prison, his then-wife was placed under medical care for an undetermined time. 

Mr. Ren has tried to get his charges appealed since the initial sentencing, claiming that his wife was mentally insane and an unfit witness. Along with other claims that include bribing members of the jury to change their verdicts. The whereabouts of Mr. Ren’s ex-wife is unknown, but he claims that he has kept tabs on her even from ‘the inside’. 

“Your kidnapper is being put on death row, which isn’t allowed in the state of New York. Which means he is being transferred over state lines to another prison. However, it hasn’t been revealed where he is being brought because of people interfering with the swap. How do you feel about that?” 

You chewed your cheek, thinking for a moment. There was no way he did this willingly, Ren was never someone to take the easy way out. The last time you heard from him was three years ago, on your son’s birthday. 

Receiving a call from the prison, the only one you had gotten since the sentencing. 

You remember picking up the phone, throat going dry as you whispered that you accepted the charges. Waiting for the operator to connect you to him, after three long years without his voice. 

“Hello, love.” 

“What,” you whispered, stepping away from the living room of screaming toddlers. Your boyfriend gave you a weird look when your face went white as a ghost. “What do you want, Ren?” 

“How are you? Doing well I hope?” 

You huffed, moving into your kitchen and ripping a bottle of wine out of the fridge. Taking a drink as you snarled, “Just tell me what shitty thing you have to say so I can go back to my family.” 

“Oh, yes. Your family.” he sighed, “And what a sweet family it is… little Luke is how old now? I would think he would be about… three.” 

“How do you know about my son?” 

“Hm.” 

“I don’t think he’s just yours.” 

“You shut your mouth, Luke is not your son. I’m going to hang up if you don’t get to the point.” 

“He’s growing up so well. Hairs getting longer, but I know you like to keep it short. But he complained about his ears last time-so big.” 

You took a deep breath, peaking into the living room. Just in time to see your baby boy, smiling and laughing with his friends. Sitting in your boyfriends’ lap, tearing into presents. His big eyes shone with tears of joy when he ripped through a gift that was his favorite color, red. A squeal so loud it could’ve shattered a window, pulling out a giant plush toy. It was like a penguin-mixed with a little dog, no nose, and some sharp fangs. From one of his favorite TV shows, along with a card and some other little toys. 

“Tell me, love,” he chuckled, “Does he like his present? He sounds over the moon about it through the speaker. What I wouldn’t give to be there to run my fingers through his dark hair, look him in the eyes and tell him how much his father loves him.” 

You made Luke sleep in bed with you that night, holding his small body flush with yours. Running your fingers through his curls as he snored into your chest, small tracks of drool seeping into your nightshirt. Trembling as you stared at the shadows, dancing across the bedroom from the window. Full moon shining, you could’ve sworn the floor was creaking downstairs, the sound of footsteps climbing towards your room rang in your ears. 

You didn’t sleep that night, staring into your son’s face as he woke. Blinking awake to smile as you, his grin reaching across his face. All the way to his ears, large ears, covered by his almost black waves. His long lashes fluttering as he greeted you, “Hi mama.” 

His eyes. 

Fuck. 

One of them your eye color, shining back at you. But the other, it was his. 

Deep auburn, shining in the sunlight. Daring you to challenge him, defy him, prove him wrong, anything that would allow him to unleash whatever hell lived under his skin. Flowed through his blood, tainting every corner of your psyche. His child, the one you hid from the world. Moving as far away as you could, claiming it was your boyfriends’ child. 

But he knew. 

And Luke was starting to notice. 

“I feel,” you looked at your hands, forcing them into fists to stop them from shaking, “Just fine, he’s not in my life anymore. Just a small chapter in the book of my story, I hope that he finds peace. Wherever he goes.” 

“Peace? For a man that almost killed you multiple times?” 

You nodded, “Yeah, I do. I can’t change who he is, or what he’s done. I can just try as hard as I can to move on. And if being on death row will help him find what he’s looking for then I wish him the best of luck.” 

She gave you a weird look, shifting in her seat, “Do you think it says anything about his guilt?” 

“Guilt?” 

“Yes, for the past six years he has never acknowledged that he was guilty. Claiming that the jury and witnesses were bought and that you were mentally unstable-making up half the accusations against him. Do you think that him asking for the death penalty is a way of admitting that he was guilty?” 

“Hell no,” you blurted out, eyes going wide at the camera, “Oh-can I swear? I’m so sorry.” 

She laughed you off, “You’re fine, we can blur it out. But you sound so confident? Do you think he believes that he’s done nothing wrong?” 

Now it was your turn to laugh, “Not to repeat myself but, hell no. That man knows, he’s very conscious of his decisions. Everything has a purpose, everything is done for a reason, Ren doesn’t waste his energy on doing something for no benefit.” 

“What would be the benefit of being put on death row?” 

You sighed, thinking about Ren, trying to get into his mindset to see how he could angle the sentencing changing. Letting out a sharp laugh as you rubbed your eyes, “Well-you said it earlier.” 

She looked at you confused. 

“New York doesn’t have the death penalty.” 

New York doesn’t have the death penalty. 

New York doesn’t have the death penalty. 

New York doesn’t have the death penalty. 

“Oh my god,” you whispered, looking around the room frantically. “Oh my god-oh my god-oh my GOD-New York doesn’t have the death penalty!” you screamed, shooting out of the chair. Grasping the reporter by her shoulders and shaking her violently, “He knew! He knew I was coming here! He’s gonna take him!” 

“Miss (Y/N),” the reporters and security officers yelled. Trying to calm you down, but no, she had said it. 

New York doesn’t have the death penalty. 

You ran from the TV station, hailing a cab on the packed streets. Frantically calling your boyfriend over and over, he was at home. Back in Nevada… where the death penalty is legal, with Luke. He wouldn’t pick up, the dial tone ringing three times before his voice sang through the speaker. 

You wailed in the back of the cab, calling everyone you knew back at home. Asking if they could go get Luke from school, if they had seen him that day. Anything to try prove false the sick feeling in your stomach you knew was true. 

Running through airport security as fast as you could, taking the first flight back home. You prayed on the way that your boyfriend had Luke, safe and sound, back at home. Hopefully, curled in his red blanket, snuggling the stuffed animal he got that faithful birthday. 

Even though no one knew where it came from. 

Luke wouldn’t let you get rid of it. 

Claiming his daddy gave it to him. 

You just let him have it, he was three there was no way he would let you take his toy away once he had held it to his chest. Kissing it with his full lips, dragging it around the house every fucking day. It was his best friend, from the moment he saw it. 

You cried on the plane, realizing too late that the gift was from him. 

His real father. 

Watching after his miracle child. 

When you touched down in Las Vegas, your phone blew up. Your stomach flipping as you read through the messages from your boyfriend, explaining that he let your friend pick Luke up from school. The same friend claimed that your boyfriend had picked him up, Luke’s teacher calling to let you know someone in a black Porsche picked him up. 

Whisking away his child from under your nose. 

You choked on your tears as you read the message from his teacher, telling you how happy Luke was when he left. How he ran into your new boyfriend's arms, like he had known him for his entire life. She told you that he had introduced himself, Ben was just the most amazing father figure she had ever met. Stowing away Luke, surrounded by toys and chocolate when she waved them off. 

After you gathered your luggage you walked towards the cabs out front. Stopping cold in your tracks when you saw a chauffeur holding a sign that said your old name. 

Mrs. Ren. 

You climbed in, body feeling numb. 

Your phone dinged, a picture being sent to you from an unknown number. 

A picture of Luke, held tightly against his real father’s chest. Drifting off to sleep in his strong arms that once choked you to death. 

See you at home love, we miss you. 

-----

I wanted baby luke to say something like ‘my daddy visits me at night’ but it was too on the nose. 

TAGLIST: @finn-ray-nal-beads @millenialcatlady @ohdamnadamm  @daydreamsofren @candycanes19 @caelum-phyriina-vermillon @millenialcatlady @safarigirlsp  @caillea @roanniom @insufferablelust @mrs-zimmerman​ 

[sirescumbag]

AA7 thoughts

So I just finished Spirit of Justice and then I heard about Ace Attorney 7 apparently in the works, so my brain decided this is the time to make up potential plot twists to be excited about that don’t actually exist. I know this is divergent from my usual fanart posting but here’s a very long text dump of some new stuff I’d be interested in seeing but will probably not happen because it is all very specific and caters to my own desires, probably not the fandom’s in general:

Phoenix is still there, but not as active as an acting defense attorney, though he’s still key to the plot (as a mentor, or to be used as emotional blackmail). He’s not playable (or if he is, it’s not for long), but more there as a plot point in a Maya sort of way (oh the turntables). This time, he’s the one under threat or danger. Instead of switching around from lawyer to lawyer, I think that Athena should undergo some more development as a main character this time around since Phoenix and Apollo have had their time to shine. The removal of Phoenix and being all alone, I think, would also be interesting in her character development

On that note, bring on the major character angst!! Having a big tragedy occur, with a fairly major character. Usually the tragedy pulled is a murder/death, but how about a different sort of tragedy-- a fate worse than death/on par with it to someone who is still alive? Someone is severely incapacitated, a psychological injury (classic old memory loss, or perhaps a genius who is reduced to a very limited mental capacity), coma, or even a temporary death (like with Petenshy, Edgeworth), or perhaps a kidnapping (not Maya this time, please). If it happens to a major character, it’ll have greater impact, BUT there’ll be fan riots if it’s not reversible. So have the tragedy with the character get resolved, but not in a deus ex machina way-- recovery is slow and angsty but filled with hope.

There’s often a focus on the past haunting you-- let’s try shifting this to the present! Building suspense on a case that is happening in real time-- I am fond of the idea of a serial killer on the loose in the present and the dread of suspense in present time throughout trials as they continue to kill and hinder key advances in solving the mystery.

Very often, there are personal ties in court-- both the prosecution and defense are tied together in some way in the past, resolving their own personal backstory. Instead of oneself, maybe let’s have some focus on a client instead? It might be interesting to see a lawyer get so deep into protecting a single client-- instead of a new client for every case, protecting a single person over multiple cases-- that they get roped into an outsider’s story instead. A little idea in my head is of playing around with maybe witness protection, or say (off the serial killer idea) someone is expected to be the next target for a murder and you are tasked with trying to protect them in real time (and then a tragedy happens to them that moves plot forward, bonus if players gets to build an emotional connection between you and the client).

In SOJ and DGS, the stakes were big on “saving the masses” and government reform-- the stakes can still be high, but instead of something lofty like reforming the world or community, instead it could focus on the relationships with the people immediately around you, protecting them, or just some good old self-preservation.

Newer characters like Athena being really fleshed out! Whether there are new or old characters, really build and explore the depth of their character beyond that of a plot point. Not just slapping on relationship labels that immediately trigger emotion but have no context beyond it (like the killing off “my best friend” Clay in DD, or the classic parental death). I thought the fleshing out of Dhurke and building an emotional relation to him in SOJ was a lot more effective in making it really feel like a tragedy than with Clay in DD.

For introducing any old characters, please show some personality changes due to age. Or, maybe! Even a 180 change from the personality from the original trilogy for intrigue-- what happened to the old person I knew (and have it be integral to the plot)? I know I griped about the old “ah That Event 5/7/10 years ago” past plot thing being used but I wouldn’t mind this being used as a part of plot development either

Maybe try to bridge the feeling of separation between the old trilogy and newer characters’ worlds by, instead of kind of sequestering them into their separate spheres of interaction to preserve nostalgia (like in Turnabout Time Traveler, where the old gang is all together in the same dynamic, Maya and Phoenix and Edgeworth, etc), have old trilogy characters interact with newer ones in significant ways and build their own unique bond. So, not just a passing mention where the old encounters the new, having the old interact with the new and build a bond through going through significant conflicts together (for example, this has already been mentioned but if Athena is the main focus of the next game, there could be an opportunity to explore this if she confronts Franziska in court!).

I know there’s already so many gimmicks added (Apollo’s perceive, Athena’s widget) but if there has to be something new added, instead of making it individual-specific, maybe have be similar to spirit channeling as a concept-- have it be a broad phenomenon in the world that plays a key part in causing a case, rather than a tool for discerning the truth of a case.

Or, if we’re sticking with the same gadgets/tricks, instead choosing to tamper more with the tools of the trade that were supposed to never lead you astray-- this has already been seen in DD, where Apollo’s bracelet led him to the wrong conclusion about Athena, and AA4, where evidence was tampered with. Perhaps instead of adding new gadgets, let’s manipulate, tamper with, lose, have it used against them in new ways!

The use of a civil case in SOJ was very much unexpected but in my opinion a very interesting one! Would be very interesting to see more in-fighting among the prosecutor group or within the defense attorney group and see how that moves the plot along. Messing more with the court system instead of adding new gadgets would also be interesting.

More threats during investigation, not just in court! Remember when von Karma tased you in the evidence room? Let’s have suspense in AND out of the courtroom.

I’m sure there’s plenty of interesting psychological phenomena that could be used to complicate court cases (for example, that use of Justice Minister Inga’s cognitive disorder in recognizing faces coming into play)!

Different approaches for moral ambiguity for clients using psychology-- we’ve seen this with defending clients who are actually guilty, or being blackmailed. I’d be interested in seeing a Jekyll and Hyde situation where 2 different sides of one person commit a crime, but one side is unaware of it-- and how a defense lawyer would handle this!

Exploring the plea for insanity in court! Double jeopardy! Escaped convicts! A murder whose trial to find a good jury has been delayed for a long time and is forced to find its resolution outside of court due to the murderer striking again!

Also, to pull in some stuff I read about elsewhere, after reading about moral psychology in Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind and moral triggers that typically pull strong reactions (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity), I was also thinking about how ace attorney manages to build emotionally compelling cases in relation to this model. Ace Attorney imo so far has done pretty alright at hitting most of these triggers at some point to hype the emotion, but for the final case, it ends up being played in what I see as generally the same way (ex: character development starts from from my duty as a lawyer is my role as the defense/prosecutor into that of my duty is to find the truth, authority corrupt and that is bad, justice should be served fairly, I am loyal to my group of prosecutor/defense, also played with loyalty and betrayal in DD with Apollo and Athena splitting, also triggered sanctity a bit in SOJ with the religion, lots of other examples probably but that’s a few). I’d be interested in seeing these same moral triggers played upon in different manner for some variety! Maybe even pursuing some different themes than justice and truth and duty and all that jazz, but idk what else could be alright to explore cause the courts kinda embody all that and deviating to make a statement about other themes might not fit as well in the courts hmm

Also part 2, I wonder if there’ll be romantic undertone somewhere (or heavily implied) for any new or old major characters. Romantic love isn’t usually used with major characters as a plot point (usually platonic stuff, friendship, family, or duty to the truth is instead) but I’d think it’d be interesting if romance was used this time around as an emotional motivator to drive the plot

[thebluelemontree]

I know GRRM has previously stated that ADwD!Tyrion is at his lowest point, but I find it very hard to see how he will ever redeem himself given what he has done and what he has participated in. Do you believe readers gloss over the tragedies he faces i.e. slavery, the Tysha revelation, and do you see path for redemption?

I think with the fandom in general there does seem to be a proportional relationship to the amount of careful consideration people give their problematic favs versus how little they give to a character that is decidedly not their fav. Full disclosure: Tyrion is not one of my favs. There are moments I don’t like him and I don’t personally connect with him. He’s deliberately written to be someone most readers will wrestle with. Out of all the POVs, he’s probably the most psychologically complex and fraught with a minefield of trauma-induced hot buttons. As we know, profound trauma and horrific family dynamics rarely produce saintly victims who suffer beautifully, quietly, and always behave magnanimously. I am by no means an expert on Tyrion; however, I do know he definitely started out as a good person. Early AGOT Tyrion is a pretty decent fellow who validated Jon’s feelings of anger and resentment and designed a saddle to accommodate Bran’s disability for no other reason than he just empathized with them both. Even later on, he does stand up for Sansa against Joffrey’s cruelty, even though their marriage was a miserable farce and act of war against her family. Sansa seems to bear no personal ill-will toward him despite it. I think we should leave room for the possibility the impression he made with small kindnesses in the beginning could come back around to foster peace and mutual forgiveness between the Starks and Lannisters toward the end. 

But before that he was a sweet, loving kid until he was brutally disabused of the notion that anyone could possibly love him. I can’t imagine anything worse than your own father violently raping by proxy two innocent kids for the crime of his son being happy and believing for one single second that he was loved for himself. He’s experienced a lifetime of continuous physical, sexual, mental, and verbal abuse on top of ableist bigotry and repeated scapegoating that nearly cost him his life more than once. For all his dark gray, unlikable moments, it’s actually kind of a miracle that Tyrion still retains what goodness he does have when he could have been totally fucked up beyond repair, without any pity or compassion left in him, and hating all of humanity with every fiber of his being.   

GRRM does a good job of delivering blow after intensifying blow leading up to the moment he snaps and murders Tywin and Shae.There’s the overwhelming stress of the trial for the regicide he was framed for, one where his guilt and conviction is a foregone conclusion. The public humiliation and betrayal of Shae’s false testimony where his sexuality is served up for mockery. The people of KL are literally bloodthirsty and cheering for his death. There’s the momentary hope and crushing defeat of Oberyn Martell championing him in the trial by combat. Then finally Jaime drops the Tysha bomb. I mean, wow... it’s a lot. It’s totally understandable why he goes to the Hand’s tower to confront his father instead of escaping immediately. Personally, I don’t think he has to be sorry about killing Tywin at all. That pile of excrement had it coming and deserved a painful, ignoble death on the shitter at minimum. Shae is the only one there that has enough mitigating factors to say she definitely didn’t deserve to be strangled to death, though I get how it happened in the heat of the moment under intense mental duress. I think he needs to atone for that one, and I say that as someone who thinks Shae is a callous, conniving, greedy, low-level bloodsucker without any redeeming qualities. Yet, killing either of them, especially Tywin, didn’t bring Tyrion any peace or satisfaction whatsoever. Kinslaying is still up there with the most cursed of transgressions. It’s major part of his spiral into the tormented abyss we see in ADWD.  

It’s been a long time since I read ADWD as it’s not my favorite part of the series, so my memory of all the details is not the best. And like I said, I am not an expert on Tyrion. The general impression I get is that Tyrion thinks that he thinks he hates humanity and he’s finally become the monster everyone believed him to be. So he rages against practically everything and everyone. He certainly harbors a hatred for the people of KL and the sister sitting on the throne. There is a high probability he acts upon those feelings and helps usher in a catastrophic tragedy out of vengeance. Just as an example, he is aware of the wildfire cache sitting under KL and that knowledge can be used in a really bad way. Might be that crossing a point of no return, which may feel glorious in the moment, is ironically the thing that causes him to recoil in horror and regret after the dust settles. Consider Tyrion’s dream about the duality of himself: 

That night Tyrion Lannister dreamed of a battle that turned the hills of Westeros as red as blood. He was in the midst of it, dealing death with an axe as big as he was, fighting side by side with Barristan the Bold and Bittersteel as dragons wheeled across the sky above them. In the dream he had two heads, both noseless. His father led the enemy, so he slew him once again. Then he killed his brother, Jaime, hacking at his face until it was a red ruin, laughing every time he struck a blow. Only when the fight was finished did he realize that his second head was weeping.

If the two heads are both noseless, then they are both present day Tyrion. There are two sides of him right now that are equally capable of reveling in bloody vengeance and weeping for someone he still loves even though they wounded him deeply. 

Then what? Well, the thing about hitting your lowest point is that you can either dwell there until you fatally self-destruct or you can find your way back up. Granted, ADWD Tyrion is in a dark place, but there’s still space to get even darker for at least a little while in TWOW. It is possible Tyrion spends the rest of his life atoning for his worst actions during this period, using his intellectual gifts (even the parts that are Tywin writ small) to serve the needs of the people he has harmed. And it does make good story sense for someone who grew to hate humanity for very understandable reasons still found it in himself to care about it enough to save it. Even sacrifice himself for it if necessary since there’s a strong possibility he is a dragon rider. Since all signs seem to point to him ultimately playing a heroic role against the Others, we can rule out the idea that he just says good riddance to bad rubbish and laughs while the world ends. That has to mean something, right? 

There is always a path for redemption for anyone who sees the wrong of what they’ve done, has heartfelt remorse, and commits themselves to meaningful and lasting change. It’s not really about forgiveness at all, although that sometimes happens alongside redemption and it’s certainly easier for people to forgive once they see change. Redemption is work the character must do themselves for the right reasons. It’s not a status granted to them by other people. In fact, it’s probably more sincere when someone decides to do right anyway even if no one ever thinks better of them. If Tyrion (or any other character) is unforgivable to you, then the best worst thing that could happen is that they have to live a long life and spend all of it repaying their karmic debt. Even if he’s not my fav or your fav, a lot of people out there still do relate to him and the things he’s been through. A lot of people are not okay and not good victims from the trauma they’ve suffered. Fiction with redemption that is possible for anyone gives people hope that they could be better too, and there’s no other instance in the books that makes me think GRRM is cynical about redemption. The only way redemption isn’t happening for Tyrion is if he choses not pursue it. 

[nyerus]

His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of XianLe -- Xie Lian

I wanted to do a little meta for Xie Lian to celebrate his birthday, about why he’s an incredible and unique character! One of my absolute faves. Happy Birthday Lianlian! ヽ(o´∀`)ﾉ♪♬

(Spoiler Warning!!!) (Also: massive length warning--get snacks!)

Xie Lian and The Hero’s Journey

One of the most interesting things about Xie Lian is that his personal arc starts near the end. Meaning that he is already nearly fully-realized by the time we meet him in book 1. He has only a few steps left in his classical Hero’s Journey, since TGCF starts in media res. A lot of his growth has been completed--which we witness more first-hand in books 2 and 4--so by the time we meet Xie Lian, he is already endured the most painful of his trials. It leaves him with the traits readers first pick up on: calm, confident, humble, and kind.

The main steps he has left to complete in his journey are the quintessential “atonement with the Father” and his “return home.” These stages of the Hero’s Journey are actually played somewhat straight in TGCF, and the former stage is actually the main plot of the novel. The stages are not meant to be literal, but metaphorical tools for literary analysis, as most books we read employ them in one way or another. TGCF does so as well, just out of order. So Xie Lian’s confrontation with Jun Wu (atonement), then getting his happy ending with Hua Cheng (return home) are the respective stages we see play out in the “present” narrative.

(However, he does have a “call to action stage” nestled within the present-time plotline. One can almost think of this as one Hero’s Journey nestled inside another.)

Xie Lian and The Heaven’s Will

The Heavens shook spectacularly when Xie Lian ascended. Each ascension, the Heavens greeted him with grandeur, even on what he considered his “fluke” of a second. And on his third ascension, the Heavens announced his return in a way that no one had ever seen before--by astonishing all its residents; bringing down the gilded palaces of other gods, and having the ancient clock sound off so fervently that it broke free of its hinges.

There is a lot of symbolism in this alone.

While Xie Lian’s narration (and the reactions of the other heavenly officials, including Ling Wen) paints his third ascension as a mix of comedic and tragic, we can interpret this scene differently. Xie Lian is the only one to have ascended thrice. He is the only one for whom the Heavens shook so powerfully. It isn’t because he’s a disgraced laughing stock--it’s because the Heaven know his true character, and his true strength.

(As an aside--see this post of mine about Heaven as an entity, separate from the Heavenly Capital and gods therein.)

It isn’t a big stretch to conclude that the Heavens show Xie Lian a particular amount of favoritism that it doesn’t to anyone else. One of the explanations for this could be that Xie Lian is the closest thing to the physical representation of the Heaven’s Will™.

This isn’t to say that Xie Lian is perfect. He isn’t, by any means. But he doesn’t have to be. Further thinking of the Heavens along the classic Taoist principles that TGCF draws from, the point is that Xie Lian tries. He works hard with what he has, embraces his fate and destiny, and makes the best of it as much as he can. Xie Lian himself doesn’t set out to be perfect. That is not his goal. His goal is to be a good person who is able to help people. He is morally upright, sincere, and humble. He seeks to maintain balance. These are treasured qualities.

Ultimately, he is human. He makes grievous mistakes, he makes bad decisions, and so on. But at the end of the day, Xie Lian lacks no conviction about his ideology. Even though he endured hell, and very nearly succumbed to darkness, there was always a part of him that held onto that notion that people were worth saving. Even at his worst, he still hesitated before causing harm. And when the man with the bamboo hat helped him--just a single gesture--it was enough for Xie Lian to rediscover that part of himself. His beliefs were re-affirmed, and he found the strength he needed to carry them.

The Heavens did not penalize Xie Lian for needing help. In fact, they rewarded him with ascension itself. When Xie Lian accepted his grief, he began to overcome it. He refused to fall into total despair--and while the actual nature of his second ascension are ambiguous, it’s probable that this is why he ascended. Not because he fought against Bai Wuxiang (because he wasn’t even the one to “win” that battle physically), but because he stood against him in the first place. Xie Lian’s grief, subsequent resolve, and decision to ultimately oppose everything Bai Wuxiang represented--THAT was his Heavenly Tribulation. And he passed with flying colors (much to Jun Wu’s intense fury).

[CONTINUED UNDER CUT DUE TO LENGTH.]

What it fundamentally comes down to, is that Xie Lian chooses to be compassionate. He does so even and especially in the face of adversity. Choosing to be kind when it is the hardest path of all is the mark of true courage and strength. It can’t be said it enough: Xie Lian very consciously makes the choice to do good even when it is hard for him. Even when he doesn’t want to. Because being a good and moral person doesn’t mean that you never have negative thoughts, and for sure Xie Lian gets frustrated and upse. It doesn’t mean you never make mistakes or never hurt people, because Xie Lian has done all those things before as well. After all, he is human, god or not. Things are not black-and-white, and never will be. But staying true to one’s ideals is what matters.

When Xie Lian made the decision to help Yong’An during the drought, for example, he knew it may be futile. He knew that he was breaking rules, going against what everyone else was saying. But he knew in his heart that it was the morally responsible thing to do. He is not the type of person to sit by quietly when there are people in need. He cannot see injustice and despair, and turn a blind eye to it. It also isn’t necessary (or even possible) for him to help literally everyone--as he learns the hard way. But doing what he can, where he can--that’s more than enough for Heaven to favor him. Because that’s the sign of someone who is genuinely compassionate and just.

So it’s no wonder that the Heavens favored him more than others. With a pure heart and strong sense of justice, while still being humble and patient--that’s all the Heavens need.

It’s even ironic that Xie Lian spoke out against the very “Heavens” themselves in book 2, at the height of his pride. But he was actually speaking out against the institution of heaven, and the overly-conservative beliefs that the gods (Heavenly Officials) held. Xie Lian has an extremely non-traditional view of looking at things.

His ideas go against the grain of what has been held true to the people of the world for centuries, but are actually in line with many modern philosophies--that one should not give much importance to idol worship, and instead focus on doing good deeds. That gods, being immortal ascended humans, should display the same humility and temperance; that they not hold themselves in higher regard or expect others to be subservient or fearful. This could very much be in line with what the Heaven’s will actually may be. Why the Heavens favor him so--because Xie Lian understands, in every sense, that gods are only human.

Xie Lian’s Character Growth

“I WON’T CHANGE! EVEN IF IT’S PAINFUL, I WON’T CHANGE. EVEN IF I DIE, I WON’T CHANGE. I WILL NEVER CHANGE!” (ch.239)

That’s the big thing about Xie Lian. It’s what sets him apart from many other characters. From the beginning to the end of his journey, his motivations and beliefs do not change. Only the nature of his motivations, and the basis of his beliefs change. That is to say, he believed that helping others was the right thing to do when he was 17 years old. 800 years later, he still feels this way. It’s just that he approaches the concept differently.

As a teenager, he was naive and coming from a place of high privilege. He was unable to understand the true plights of the common man, and his concepts of helping them--while still noble and morally just--were often somewhat patronizing. His heart was in the right place, but he was simply too young and too sheltered. He also fundamentally overestimated his own capability to help others, while underestimating the negative forces at play that would actively work against him. But 800 years later, Xie Lian has gone through hell and back. He knows better than anyone what it means to struggle, to suffer, to hope, to persevere. He still wants to help the common man, but now it comes from a place of understanding and humility. (The tragedy is, if he were allowed to grow up “normally,” he very much may have grown out of his naiveté and youthful arrogance anyway, after gaining more worldly experience. He was robbed of that chance.)

So Xie Lian chooses to be optimistic about life in general. He knows that he will get hurt by doing this. That people will take advantage of him. He knows, and yet, he continues to hold true to his principles. He neither asks nor expects people to thank him for it, or even understand him (as many people simply don’t). He does it because what other people think or even deserve is not his concern. It comes down to what he believes. That’s just the type of character he is--which is to say: fantastic.

TLDR; Xie Lian Best Boi!!!

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

September 8, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford granted “a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.” Ford said he was issuing the pardon to keep from roiling the “tranquility” the nation had begun to enjoy since Nixon stepped down. If Nixon were indicted and brought to trial, the trial would “cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States.”

Ford later said that he issued the pardon with the understanding that accepting a pardon was an admission of guilt. But Nixon refused to accept responsibility for the events surrounding the break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C.’s fashionable Watergate office building. He continued to maintain that he had done nothing wrong but was hounded from office by a “liberal” media.

Rather than being chastised by Watergate and the political fallout from it, a faction of Republicans continued to support the idea that Nixon had done nothing wrong when he covered up an attack on the Democrats before the 1972 election. Those Republicans followed Nixon’s strategy of dividing Americans. Part of that polarization was an increasing conviction that Republicans were justified in undercutting Democrats, who were somehow anti-American, even if it meant breaking laws.

In the 1980s, members of the Reagan administration did just that. They were so determined to provide funds for the Nicaraguan Contras, who were fighting the leftist Sandinista government, that they ignored a law passed by a Democratic Congress against such aid. In a terribly complicated plan, administration officials, led by National Security Adviser John Poindexter and his deputy Oliver North, secretly sold arms to Iran, which was on the U.S. terror list and thus ineligible for such a purchase, to try to put pressure on Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorists who were holding U.S. hostages. The other side of the deal was that they illegally funneled the money from the sales to the Contras.

Although Poindexter, North, and North’s secretary, Fawn Hall, destroyed crucial documents, enough evidence remained to indict more than a dozen participants, including Poindexter, North, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, and four CIA officials. But when he became president himself, Reagan’s vice president George H.W. Bush, himself a former CIA director and implicated in the scandal, pardoned those convicted or likely to be. He was advised to do so by his attorney general, William Barr (who later became attorney general for President Donald Trump).

With his attempt to use foreign policy to get himself reelected, Trump took attacks on democracy to a new level. In July 2019, he withheld congressionally appropriated money from Ukraine in order to force the country’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to announce he was opening an investigation into the son of then–Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden. That is, Trump used the weight of the U.S. government and its enormous power in foreign affairs to try to hamstring his Democratic opponent. When the story broke, Democrats in the House of Representatives called this attack on our democracy for what it was and impeached him, but Republicans voted to acquit.

It was a straight line from 2019’s attack to that of the weeks after the 2020 election, when the former president did all he could to stop the certification of the vote for Democrat Joe Biden. By January 6, though, Trump’s disdain for the law had spread to his supporters, who had learned over a generation to believe that Democrats were not legitimate leaders. Urged by Trump and other loyalists, they refused to accept the results of the election and stormed the Capitol to install the leader they wanted.

The injection of ordinary Americans into the political mix has changed the equation. While Ford recoiled from the prospect of putting a former president on trial, prosecutors today have seen no reason not to charge the people who stormed the Capitol. More than 570 have been charged so far.

Yesterday, a 67-year-old Idaho man, Duke Edward Wilson, pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers. He faces up to 8 years and a $250,000 fine for assaulting the law enforcement officers. And he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for obstruction of an official proceeding.

This law was originally put in place in 1871 to stop members of the Ku Klux Klan from crushing state and local governments during Reconstruction.

If Wilson is facing such a punishment for his foot soldier part in obstructing an official proceeding in January, what will that mean for those higher up the ladder? Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has sued Trump; Donald Trump, Jr.; Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL), who wore a bullet-proof vest to his speech at the January 6 rally; and Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who also spoke at the rally, for exactly that: obstructing an official proceeding.

Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) launched a similar lawsuit against Trump, Giuliani, the Proud Boys, and the Oath Keepers, but withdrew from it when he became chair of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Ten other Democratic House members are carrying the lawsuit forward: Representatives Karen R. Bass (CA), Stephen I. Cohen (TN), Veronica Escobar (TX), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Henry C. Johnson, Jr. (GA), Marcia C. Kaptur (OH), Barbara J. Lee (CA), Jerrold Nadler (NY), Maxine Waters (CA), and Bonnie M. Watson Coleman (NJ).

Lawyer and political observer Teri Kanefield writes on Just Security that there is “a considerable amount of publicly available information supporting an allegation that Trump and members of his inner circle intended the rallygoers to impede or delay the counting of electoral votes and certification of the election.” She points out that the rally was timed to spur attendees to go to the Capitol just as the counting of the electoral votes was scheduled to take place, and that in the midst of the attack, Giuliani left a voicemail for a senator asking him to slow down the proceedings into the next day.

At the end of the Civil War, General U.S. Grant and President Abraham Lincoln made a decision similar to Ford’s in 1974. They reasoned that being lenient with former Confederates, rather than punishing any of them for their attempt to destroy American democracy, would make them loyal to the Union and willing to embrace the new conditions of Black freedom. Instead, just as Nixon did, white southerners chose to interpret the government’s leniency as proof that they, the Confederates, had been right. Rather than dying in southern defeat, their conviction that some men were better than others, and that hierarchies should be written into American law, survived.

By the 1890s, the Confederate soldier had come to symbolize an individual standing firm against a socialist government controlled by workers and minorities; he was the eastern version of the western cowboy. Statues of Confederates began to sprout up around the country, although most of them were in the South. On what would become Monument Avenue, the white people of Richmond, Virginia, erected a statue to General Robert E. Lee in 1890, the same year the Mississippi Constitution officially suppressed the Black vote. Black leaders objected to the statue, but in vain.

Today, 131 years later, that statue came down.

Notes:

https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/speeches/740061.asp

https://www.cfr.org/blog/orlando-massacre-and-global-terrorism

https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/prosecutions.php

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/swalwell-lawsuit-trump/6d4926e63b9a8fcd/full.pdf

https://www.justsecurity.org/75032/litigation-tracker-pending-criminal-and-civil-cases-against-donald-trump/#Thompson

https://www.justsecurity.org/78035/why-a-trump-lawsuit-to-protect-executive-privilege-could-backfire/

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/idaho-man-pleads-guilty-assault-law-enforcement-and-obstruction-during-jan-6-capitol?s=03

Dr. Hilary Green @HilaryGreen77With Lee Monument coming down, I know that this site will be filled with apologists decrying the process. As someone who wrote about Richmond in book 1 and currently in book two, Black Richmonders rejected the Lost Cause monuments and routinely vocalized their discontent. 1/8

278 Retweets1,076 Likes

September 8th 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/robert-e-lee-statue-removal/2021/09/08/1d9564ee-103d-11ec-9cb6-bf9351a25799_story.html

Sha

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[rivetwrites]

//hello!! it's here!! it's my first fic, so it's not at my full potential yet! i had a lot of trouble with toko and syo. i tried my best to...at least remove the sneezing thing, but i know it's not perfect and i'm hoping to improve in the future! the ending is sort of rushed, as i was milking the last of motivation and ideas!! definitely not proof-read BAHHAHA

Byakuya Togami's Trial

Chihiro was dead. It was almost surreal, everyone promised not to kill anyone else. Yet it was in such a gruesome way. He was found in the girl’s locker room, which is strange, since he discovered to be a boy. Surely Monokuma knew about it, he knew practically everything about them.

Everyone was seated in their respectful places in the trial room. Kiyotaka looked the most nervous, but everyone looked the same. Who wouldn’t be? Chihiro was found strung up by his wrists and neck, “bloodlust” written in his own blood on the wall. And someone took the time to do that. Who would even want to hurt Chihiro? Sure, he’s an easy target, he wouldn’t have fought back, but he was the nicest one here.

“Let’s go over the rules once mo-” Monokuma had started, the bear sitting in his “judge seat.” But he was quickly interrupted by Byakuya, “Shut it. We’re starting.” That wasn’t unlike him, but he had a small smile on his face, almost like he was excited to start the trial. Who the hell would be excited to discuss one of our dead friend’s death? And convict someone and send them to their own death. “Very well! Since Togami thinks that he’s the judge, we shall start!!”

Of course the discussion went to how Chihiro even got to the girl’s locker room. Monokuma had stated that he did know that he was a boy, so it would’ve been impossible for him to get into the room on his own. “Obviously he was dead before he even went into the girl’s locker room,” Byakuya started, “then strung him up onto the wall. Doesn’t the position of his body look familiar, Makoto?” He looked over at the small boy, who perked up at his name.

Yes, it did look familiar. Makoto had seen similar positioning in the book that Byakuya showed him in the library. The cases with Genocide Jack. But Genocide Jack wasn’t here. He couldn’t be. As soon as Makoto mentioned his name, Byakuya looked over at Toko, who seemed to have almost burst a blood vessel.

“Genocide Jack is a lot closer than we think, Makoto,” he hummed, his hand resting on his chin. Toko looked like she wanted to jump over her table to kick his ass, but she was starting to panic. “Y-you promised n-not to tell anyone, B-Byakuya!” It had only hardened the case that Toko was Genocide Jack. On cue, from the sudden conviction and stress that she had been forced to endure, her eyes rolled back as she fell onto the floor.

Makoto had jolted up to help her up, which Togami gripped his arm tightly. Toko had started to stand back up, but she looked so different. This wasn’t Toko, it couldn’t be. She had flashes of both anger and slight arousal as she started laughing hysterically. Her voice radiated throughout the trial room, high pitched and unnerving. Her laughter soon died down to small chuckles and giggles, her wild eyes looking at Makoto. Well, it looked like she was looking at him, but her eyes seem to not have acknowledged him. “You caaaallled? Master has called me! Ooooh!! I’m guessing it was about me, huh huh huh?” Her voice sounded completely different compared to Toko’s quiet, stuttering voice.

Once Byakuya started explaining how he found out about Genocide Jack, she seemed confused. “That’s what they call me? I’m not some guy! Genocide Jill, or Syo would do for me!!” Her sentence followed with her cackling laughter. Tok- Syo, was definitely confused when everyone started to convict her of being the murderer. “Whaaat? No way! Makoto! You should see a pattern of my kills!” Of course she went to Makoto. But she was right. She only killed boys. But once Byakuya stated that Chihiro was yes, indeed a boy, she almost looked disappointed. “Awhh!! Now I wish I killed him! But I didn’t! I don’t use those weapons! Plus, an electrical cord?” Again, she was right. All the pictures consisted of the boys being pinned up by scissors.

Makoto was about to state that she didn’t have any, but it was shot down when she already had two scissors in her hands. Well, now the suspicion went to Byakuya. He was the only one to know of Genocide Jack, besides Makoto, who had an alibi. Togami looked like he was about to snap, but clicked his tongue. “Obviously I couldn’t have done it. I saw Mondo leaving the girl’s locker room,” that sentence brought Mondo’s attention. “You fucking strung Chihiro up?!” Thankfully Sakura was within arms reach of Mondo, because he was about to fucking kill Byakuya.

“I simply wanted to make things interesting. You wouldn’t want a boring trial, now would you?” He still had a cool smile on his face, but his back was tensing from the sudden threat of Mondo actually getting to him. “Why the fuck would you do that?!” Owada’s voice started getting furious and loud. Kyoko put one of her gloved hands up, her eyes glaring at Byakuya with clear disgust before saying that we should continue the trial before times up.

Now everyone looked over at Mondo, who looked extremely guilty. Before people even began to shoot questions at him, Kiyotaka’s voice triumphed over theirs. “N-no way! Mondo would never! We’re bros, he’s not that kind of person!! What kind of people are you?!” Mondo looked just as astonished at Taka defending him, especially in such an aggressive manner. It was very unlike him. Mondo wanted to confess so badly, but something inside him, anxiety and fear prevented him from doing so. But all the evidence started pointing to him. Celeste said she saw Chihiro late at night with a workout bag, how Mondo said the correct colour of the tracksuit, how he was strong enough to swing that weight at him. It was all clicking into place, and now looking horrible for Mondo.

But it didn’t make sense. Would Chihiro be able to die from one swing? There was only one head wound, quite a bit of blood, but would he be able to die? Or simply be knocked out. Mondo wasn’t the...brightest of the bunch, so would be able to know that he didn’t actually kill him? Kyoko had the same thought, her eyes scanning Mondo’s face as she spoke up, “Were you sure that Chihiro was dead?” Straight to the point. Owada looked confused, his brows furrowing, “...Yeah. I carried him to the girl’s locker room. He wasn’t breathing.” Which is understandable, but if you get knocked out, especially by such a big guy like Mondo, your body can seem dead.

“Obviously he was dead. I checked beforehand.” Byakuya tapped his glasses, his voice speaking matter of factly, but it still didn’t make sense. “Togami, your breathing stops and your pulse goes faint when someone knocks you out,” Makoto piped up. He wasn’t trying to accuse him, but he was looking at every option. Their lives are on the line. “What’re you saying, Makoto? That I killed him? I’m telling you, he was already dead!” His voice started to falter, like he was starting to believe it himself. He didn’t properly check Chihiro before he hung him up, but he didn’t want to admit it.

Byakuya turned to Monokuma, “Bear! Tell them that I didn’t kill him! There’s no way!” The smile that he held had fallen as soon as he was being suspected. Monokuma didn’t respond, only a soft “puhuhu” coming from him. Sweat started to bead on Togami’s forehead, looking back at the students, “There’s no way. I didn’t!” No one was defending him, well, except Syo, but even then, she wasn’t taking it seriously. “When I was checking his body,” Sakura finally said, crossing her arms across her chest, “his lips and fingertips were blue. Which I’m pretty sure wouldn’t happen if he was already dead.” In which, Kyoko confirmed that it’s true.

Now everyone’s eyes were on Byakuya, who looked disheveled and anxious. He looked like he was at his breaking point, the reality hitting him that he, Byakuya Togami, had killed Chihiro by accident. He didn’t mean to in the slightest, but the chance that he did was eating him up.

Though, the one who looked the least anxious and sad now, was Taka. The weight of grief was lifted off of his chest, that maybe, just maybe, his bro was safe!! Mondo, not so much. He felt a weight of guilt on his own shoulders. He caused Chihiro’s death. It’s his fault. All his fault. He never felt worse. The boy trusted him, and he just- Mondo was thrown out of his thoughts at Monokuma’s voice. “All right!! Time to cast your votes! I will change this a bit!! Whoever has the most votes between Togami and Owada, will be chosen! Now it’s just luck! Puhuhuhu!!”

There wasn’t enough time to actually get a confession. But even they don’t know. Guess it was just luck. The voting time was a lot longer, which they couldn’t choose to be thankful over, or to be fucking terrified. Finally, the votes were in.

Byakuya had the most votes.

The look of horror on Togami’s face was...almost priceless. When Monokuma pulled the slot game to reveal his sprite, they were correct. Byakuya did kill Chihiro. It felt like fiction. Actually, this entire fucking game felt like fiction to them, but it was all real. All the deaths were real. Sayaka, Junko, Leon, and Chihiro were all gone, and Byakuya was next. The tall boy didn’t even want to believe it, his jaw opening and closing as he tried to think of a rebuttal. But it was already decided. Byakuya killed Chihiro, it was over.

They all left their stands, off the court to discuss, but Byakuya was near unresponsive. It was...strange. He always had something sarcastic to say, just like he said to Leon before his execution. It was...quiet. Probably out of shock, no one expected Byakuya to kill someone. Byakuya being a victim, yes, but not him being a murderer. Mondo seemed to have calmed down, well, as much as he could during the situation. Sakura still had to hold him back by the arm so he didn’t commit his own murder right in that trial room.

“Puhuhuu! What a twist!! I do love surprises, isn’t that right Togami?” Monokuma looked down at the man from his seat, “I mean, you do love surprises!” The words were almost taunting Byakuya, beads of sweat trailing down the side of his face. He looked...defeated. Togami didn’t even care that he was going to die, just to be found out, just to be wrong, really hit him like a truck.

No one wanted to say anything, the only words to be heard was Mondo’s hisses of rage and Taka’s reassuring words to his bro. Makoto was the first to say something, “Chihiro would be alive if you didn’t do that stunt, Byakuya.” It caused the taller man to snap his neck to look at Naegi, his gaze being a split of sorrow and...almost anger. Before Byakuya could even respond, Kyoko piped up, “it was stupid of you. I didn’t expect something that disgusting to come from you.” It was harsh, probably the harshest that Kirigiri has been up to that point, but no one could really blame her.

Byakuya felt like he should...apologize, but pride inside of him refrained it. They weren’t good enough to hear an apology, so he stayed silent. It only displeased everyone, Sakura now having to hold back Aoi from smacking him as well. Since the conversation was going nowhere, Monokuma decided to end it himself, “Huh! I thought we were going to get, ‘oooo, I’m so sorry! Forgive me, don’t do this! I need to be there for the Togami’s!” His words were mocking, draping the side of his body over the arm of his chair dramatically before laughing, “buuuut, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you! P-p-p-punishment time!!”

It was almost ceremonial to see Byakuya being dragged off with little to no resistance. He didn’t want to look like a fool, especially the last time they ever get to see him. Kiyotaka would usually look away, hating seeing the death of people who, in his opinion, ultimately didn’t deserve it. But he was the one in the front, watching everything unfold. Mondo tried to get him away, not really wanting Taka to get sad again, but he refused, pulling away from his bro’s touches.

Instead of watching it first hand, they looked up on the big screen. It flickered on, the colours warping to what...seemed to be Byakuya. He was wearing very beat up clothing, filthy with dirt. He was looking down at his attire, a look of pure disgust on his face. He was...a “commoner.” Monokuma popped into the scene, wearing an elementary student uniform. He had a huge pile of rocks, ranging from small pebbles, to near huge stones that he could barely hold. The name of the execution finally appeared on the screen:

Human Disqualification

The music playing in the background was almost somber. Until Monokuma started pelting the stones at Byakuya. Look of pain of agony appeared on Togami’s face as he was forced to endure the hard rocks hitting his skin. Welts and bruises started to appear as time went on.

Stoning someone to death took ages, especially from only one person doing it. But everyone sat in watch. Not like they had other things to do, they weren’t allowed to leave. But people were allowed in. Everyone was so distracted, Aoi cringing every time the stones hit a more sensitive place on Togami. No one spoke a word, but they didn’t have anything to say anyway.

Until they heard the courtroom door open.

It was so sudden, even causing Sakura to jolt slightly from the sudden change of noise. Everyone’s head whipped around to see what has caused it. Definitely not one of them, since they were too entranced by Byakuya’s execution, which was still happening slowly. Small footsteps seemed to have been getting closer, and they were very uneven and tended to scrape on the floor ever so often.

...Chihiro?

The small boy looked rather...sullen. His blood was stained on his clothes and the right side of his face, his neck and wrists bruised from the blood rushing to them. It was...strange. Why was he here? Was this some kind of sick trick that Monokuma was playing? That thought was immediately debunked as Chihiro spoke,

“D-did I...miss something?”

He seemed so confused and...understandably upset. He had woken up in a small pool of his own blood, his neck and wrists sore from the constant pressure of the electrical cord on them, no one around the entire school. He had assumed there was another murder and that he just wasn’t told, so he went there himself.

But everyone was staring at him. It was starting to make him nervous, having so many eyes on him, Byakuya’s execution in the background. Huh, Chihiro didn’t expect him to be able to kill someone. Kyoko was the first to speak up, of course, but even she had a look of shock on her face, “You’re...supposed to be dead. Byakuya killed you,” her voice was still as calm as ever. It was sort of hard to hear her over Yasuhiro’s shrieks of terror at the boy’s “ghost.”

A look of terror appeared on Chihiro, tears filling his big eyes as he looked up at the huge screen, “B-but, I’m not! I-I promise!” It was obvious that he wasn’t dead, but it was mostly to soothe Hiro. But if Chihiro is alive, then Byakuya has no reason to die. Makoto was able to shout loud enough, “M-Monokuma! Chihiro is alive!!” It caused the Monokuma on the screen to turn to the camera, an obvious look of confusion on his face. The robot paused for a moment, not responding, almost like he was...checking that what they were saying was true. He quickly returned, a loud sigh of...annoyance emitting from him as he was forced to stop the execution.

After all, he wasn’t allowed to break his own rules.

Byakuya was quickly let back into the trial room, bruises and cuts all over his body as he was still wearing the “commoner” clothes. He fell to his knees in front of a very confused Chihiro, which caused the small boy to back up a few steps. Togami reached for the boy’s tiny hand, pressing small kisses to his fingers as he apologized. His voice sounded broken and saddened. His ego was just crushed to death. He didn’t even care who was looking, nor how he even looked like in that moment.

Chihiro looked visibly uncomfortable, trying to tell him that it was okay - though it kind of wasn’t - and that he shouldn’t apologize like that. It took Sakura and Aoi to drag Byakuya away by the shoulders, forcing him to let go of the boy’s hand. He didn’t speak to anyone else, still spewing apologies at Fujisaki. It was almost laughable. Surely, Mondo would’ve been laughing straight at his face at it, but the total shock to see Chihiro alive really hit him. He had pulled the small boy close to his chest, his own apologies leaving his lips. The boy welcomed this one a bit more, his cheek resting on his shoulder. Though, Mondo felt like he shouldn’t be forgiven. He had almost killed the boy.

But it was okay for now, they were alive, and somehow Byakuya was able to survive another day. Mondo promised not to beat him alive...yet, as long as Chihiro and Kiyotaka was alive, he was going to be okay.

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 12

Douxie x fem reader

Chapter 1

Masterlist in bio!

Series Summary: You are Jim’s older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures.

Chapter 12 summary: Jim has stood his trial and you're devistated. On top of that Usurna is out to kill you. You're too weak to defend yourself, so you go to Douxie for help.

Warnings: Illness and Angst

The week had started out good. A few weeks ago you had gone on a picnic with your mom and Jim and you had had fun. Everyday after that you and Jim went out for brief walks so you could get some fresh air and talk, it was great to spend time together.

Then Monday rolled around and Jim had been convicted. You hadn’t seen him since and you were getting more and more sick. You couldn’t go to Trollmarket because you couldn’t get out of bed.

So, you had to wait for Claire or Toby to text you about what was going on. You hated not being able to do anything, you hated Kanjigar for giving you that awfull spell, and you hated that the spell had actually helped you. The spell had distracted the gumm-gumms and they hadn’t fought back, but it had given you your illness.

You checked your phone for the billionth time and saw a text from Claire: We are gonna prove Jim’s innocence, we found a changeling spy.

The text filled you with hope, but seconds later your hope deflated with Toby's text: The trial’s not going well, any chance you’ve been hiding a law degree somewhere?

You replied: I wish.

You continued to stare at your phone. It was dead silent in your room and you had given up on trying to do anything else. At first you had gone through website after website, watched video after video, and read book after trollish book on law, texting Toby notes. Apparently that hadn’t done much good.

You didn’t know what else to do other than worry.

Eventually your phone lit up with Toby calling you. “Please let these be good,” you begged, answering.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry. We lost the trial Jim’s been sentenced to exile in the Deep.”

“Not the Deep,” you mumbled, you had read about the deep and how no troll had ever come back. You faced your greatest fear down there. You didn’t know what Jim’s was, but you hoped he could overcome it.

“Y/n? Are you there?” Toby asked.

You felt a tear slip down your face. “I’m coming to Trollmarket.”

“Are you sure you’re up for that?” Toby asked. “No offense, but you haven’t been able to leave bed since Jim went on trial.”

“I’m coming,” you repeated. Your decision was made, so you carefully made your way downstairs, summoning your sword to use as support. You almost collapsed by the time you got to your car, but you made it.

One coughing fit later you were driving towards the bridge. It was a miracle you didn’t get into an accident. You used your Horngazel, and made your way down the stairs. It took you forever, and you hoped they would wait long enough for you to say goodbye to Jim.

You burst into the room and saw Toby and Claire with tear stained faces. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh were there as well, with somber expressions. The only person who wasn’t there was the one you wanted to see the most. They hadn’t waited for you.

“Y/n—” Blinky started with a pity etched on his face. You cut him off.

“No, those...they...no, no, no. This can’t be happening! They didn’t even let me say goodbye!” You barely noticed your feet leave the ground as you wailed.

“Y/n,” Claire said, putting her hand on your shoulder. You were about to push it away when your eyes cleared and you saw you were levitating everyone around you.

It was such a strong show of magic, when you realized what you were doing you collapsed immediately. Your friends yelped as they dropped to the ground. Thankfully they hadn’t been more than a few feet up in the air.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized as you struggled to push yourself into a sitting position.

“It’s fine, y/n/n,” Toby reassured. “They took Jim from us. You have every right to be angry.

You sniffed. “How did this happen? I thought you two found evidence?” You asked Claire and Blinky.

“We did, and we told Vendel, but he never showed up at the hearing,” Claire explained.

“Speaking of Vendel, I’m going to go find him,” Blinky announced.

You pushed yourself to your feet, determination giving you strength. “I’m coming too.”

Blinky helped you to the Heartstone and you arrived to silence, Vendel was nowhere to be seen.

“Vendel? Vendel where are you, you old goat?” Blinky called.

You froze when you saw a pile of rocks “Vendel!” Blinky screamed and you felt a new bout of tears come. He ran towards the pile, leaving you to stand on your own.

“Why?” You asked. This was not fair.

“No! Not you too,” Blinky mumbled and you fell to the floor in a sobbing heap. You were losing everybody. Vendel had been like a father figure to you just as Blinky had been one to Jim. It felt like all you had left in the world was your mom.

Oh! What were you going to tell your mom? She would have to know the truth even if it would break her. She deserved to know the truth and the two of you could heal together. At least you had each other.

You slowly got up from the floor. Having another coughing fit, you leaned on Vendel’s desk and saw a note with your name on it. You picked it up and began to read:

Ms. Lake,

I only write this as a last resort. I hope you never have to read this letter, but these are uncertain times.

I want you to know that you have been a fantastic student. Though you have much to learn until you get your staff, I want you to have the piece of the Heartstone inside the box on my desk. I wish you the best of luck in your life and I hope you grow to become a fantastic sorceress.

Best Wishes,

Vendel

Tears soaked the paper as you read it over and over again. Eventually you stopped and went over to the box. Opening it you saw a small piece of orange Heartstone, it was as big as your hand and you knew it would be the perfect gem for when you were ready.

You looked over to Blinky. Holding the stone close to your heart, you saw he was holding his own stone. You tilted your head at him and saw that it was an Anamnesis Stone.

“You crafty old goat,” Blinky whispered.

“I’ll call the others,” you said, your voice thick with sadness.

Soon after you hung up your phone, your friends arrived and you and Claire immediately hugged.

“First Jim, now this,” Toby said, wiping away a tear.

“Why did you leave us?” Blinky asked and his question broke your heart even more. “It was not your time.”

“Let’s use the stone, I don’t want to put it off any longer,” you announced, handing Blinky the player.

“What?” Toby asked.

Claire tilted her head. “What is it?”

“He was holding an Anamnesis stone,” Blinky explained excitedly. He put the stone in it’s player and a yellow sphere bloomed out of it.

You watched as a yellow outline of Vendel walked over to his desk. “What did you want to show us?” Blinky asked.

Suddenly Usurna appeared behind him. “There are only two agents of Gunmar, the changeling and the changeling’s master.”

Usurna held up a dagger. “How do you know this?” Vendel asked, turning around.

“Because I’m the master,” Userna grunted, stabbing Vendel. You watched in horror as he began to slowly turn to stone. It was a horrible thing to watch.

“Vendel!” Blinky exclaimed, grasping at air, unable to do anything.

You sobbed harder. “I’m sorry Vendel. I was hoping you’d live long enough to see Gunmar’s glorious return,” Userna apologized and you scowled through your tears.

Vendel groaned and fell to the floor. “Userna.”

“He used his last moments to warn us,” Blinky whispered, his voice filled with grief and gratitude.

You fell to the ground once again, but this time was different. Earlier it had just been you over exerting yourself, but this time you were beyond exhausted, emotionally and physically. You barely even had the energy to cover your mouth as you coughed.

You tried getting up again, but you couldn’t, you just fell again.

“Y/n, I believe you need to go home soon, but I fear for your life. Userna may be out to kill you as well,” Blinky said and you nodded, finally getting off the ground.

“I know a place,” you rasped. You were breathing heavily and Aaarrrgghh picked you up. “Just get me up the stairs and I’ll call someone for help.”

“Very well,” Blinky said. “Just be safe, I can't lose you, Master Jim, and Vendel all in one day.”

You nodded. “I’ll get some rest.”

“We’ll figure everything out,” Toby promised as Aaarrrgghh walked to the door.

“Stay safe guys,” you said with a cough.

Aaarrrgghh carried you up the stairs and as far out of Trollmarket as he could without getting burnt. “Thanks Aaarrrgghh, I can take it from here.”

“Y/n stay safe,” he replied and you nodded, holding in a cough.

Once he was gone you called Douxie.

“Hello darling,” Douxie said, making your face grow warm, well warmer than your fever was making it.

“I need somewhere safe to stay and you and I need to talk,” you coughed, urgency, exhaustion and grief filling your voice.

“I’ll be right there,” Douxie said. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the bridge, by my car. I can’t drive.”

“How did you drive to the canal? I thought you were sick. Are you okay?”

“I’ll explain everything later. Just come, please.”

~~~~

You were sitting on the ground, lying against your car when Douxie arrived. During the time you were waiting you had only begun to feel worse.

“Oh! Y/n, are you alright?” Douxie asked, helping you to your feet.

You coughed. “No, but I can explain later.”

“Alright,” Douxie said, and you handed him your keys. He helped you into the car and started driving.

“So...I didn’t get to hear the story before, but what happened? That girl who got me, Mindy, said that you had been looking for me.”

���Oh?” You took a drink of some water that you had in your car. Douxie seemed to sense that you weren’t ready to talk, so the rest of the ride was silent.

“Here.” Douxie offered you his hand after he parked the car. You took it gratefully and he helped you inside the bookstore. You fell into one of the chairs and made yourself comfortable.

“I’m all ears,” Douxie said, taking a seat across from you.

“I-It’s a long story and you probably already know a bit, but a couple months ago my brother Jim came across this amulet. The night he found it some trolls visited our home and I discovered I have m-magic. I-I began training with-with...an elder.” You began to sob. “Now he’s gone, murdered. I-I don’t know what to do. My brother’s gone too, they sent him to his death because he went into the Darklands a few weeks ago!”

“Oh, Y/n, it’s gonna be just fine,” Douxie consoled, patting your back.

Archie nuzzled you. “Yes, Y/n, Douxie is right.”

Your head snapped up when you heard his voice. “Archie?” You asked, looking at the cat. You hadn’t known he could talk even if you knew he was a framilier.

“He’s my framilier,” Douxie explained and you nodded, going back to crying.

“What do you need?” Douxie asked.

“I-I don’t know. I feel awful, I got sick the other night because I used dark magic to save Jim and I’m still sick and losing both my brother and my teacher on the same day hasn’t helped,” you cried, putting your face into your hands.

“Um...why don’t I get you some tea?” Douxie suggested. You felt him leave, but you continued sobbing while Archie sat by you.

Suddenly a crash snapped you back into reality. “Douxie?” Archie called and the two of you looked around the now dark book shop.

“What was that?” You wiped your eyes, trying to clear the tears away so you could see better.

“I’ll get the lights,” Archie offered and you slowly stood up. You almost collapsed back into the chair when your legs gave out, but you caught yourself on the table. You summoned your sword and once again used it as a cane.

You only took a few steps away from the table when you felt someone’s hand on your shoulder.

You screamed, twirling around you held your sword at the person’s throat. Your hand was shaking and you hoped whoever it was couldn’t see how weak you were.

“Calm down, Y/n. It’s just me,” the person said and you realized it was Douxie.

The lights flickered on and you immediately collapsed to the floor, unable to support yourself for any longer.

“Are you alright?” Douxie asked and you shook your head.

“Personally no, but we didn’t make the crash,” You explained as Archie settled into your lap. You began stroking him and it actually helped calm you down, at least a little bit. You still felt horrible, inside and out.

“Well, I didn’t make it either so something must be in here,” Douxie theorized.

You scooted closer to Douxie, holding your sword out as you heard footsteps come down the stairs. Only problem was you couldn’t actually see anybody walking.

Archie leapt out of your lap and into the air where he all of a sudden had wings and looked more dragon than cat.

“Huh,” you mumbled. You were surprised that Archie was a dragon, but reassured that he was on your side.

“Y/n, stay behind me,” Douxie said, stepping between you and the staircase. You were too tired to even bother protesting.

Douxie stood in front of you with Archie hovering by his side. The three of you stayed still, waiting for whatever had broken in to come down the stairs.  

It was dead silent in the store and you wondered why you couldn’t hear the footsteps coming down anymore.

You didn’t want to break the silence, but a coughing spell was calling you so you gave in. Your coughing turned into screams as you felt tiny claws grip your shoulder. You turned your head to look and saw a goblin.

“Waka Chaka,” it said and you flinched out of its grasp. Your fear gave you the energy to stand up and you swung your sword at the little beast, killing it. Douxie turned around to see the goblin mess on the rug and the goblins that were staring at it. You had just killed their leader.

They had probably been sent to kill you and now they had their own reasons to want you dead. This day was just getting better and better.

The goblins roared as Douxie’s wrist glowed blue and he began firing spells at them. You retreated behind the wizard, aware that you weren’t fit to battle it out with a ton of bloodthirsty goblins.

You felt horrible for not being able to do anything, but you tried your best to help. Three goblins ganged up on Archie and you managed to muster up enough energy to blast them off the framilier.

You didn’t have to help Douxie though, he was handling himself perfectly. You watched as he took down goblin after goblin, not tiring once.

Soon, the shop was covered in green and there wasn’t a goblin in sight. You fell to the floor, exhausted even though you had only killed a couple. Douxie and Archie were the real heroes of that battle.

Douxie helped you to your feet, putting your arm over his shoulder he helped you sit down again.

“I’m sorry for the mess, and the trouble,” you apologized, looking guiltily around the room.

“I’m just glad I could help,” Douxie said. “You stay here and I’ll get that tea.”

You watched as Douxie went up the stairs. “How long have you known?” Archie asked.

“Since I last came in with Enrique. I noticed that Douxie’s aura was intertwined with magic,” you explained, coughing. “How long have you known?”

“Since before, Douxie gave you that book a few months ago.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“We didn’t know if you were ready to talk about it yet,” Archie explained and you nodded. It was probably for the best that they waited til you found out.

You settled into a comfortable;e silence as you waited for Douxie, who was back in record time with the tea. “Here, it should make you feel better,” Douxie said, setting the cup in front of you. You took a drink and you immediately felt better. The sore throat and migraine you had had since you used the dark magic faded to the back of your mind, as did the other symptoms.

“Thank you, that is some tea.”

“It should help with your dark magic related illness,” Douxie informed and you smiled up at him. You noticed he was covered in scratches.

“Well, it only seems fit I should do something for you,” you said, taking his face into your hands you began to chant a healing spell. Your foreheads touched and you squeezed your eyes shut, focusing on the orange magic that was flowing from you to Douxie. After what felt like forever, you finally let go and fell back into your chair. Maybe using that much healing magic just as you were getting better wasn’t a good idea.

You took another, long, sip of tea.

Relaxing you looked back to Douxie and saw that he was blushing a bit. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Just, doing what I can to pay you back for saving my life,” you responded.

“Do you think you're well enough to finish your story?” Douxie asked and you nodded solemnly.

Tears slipped down your face as you began to recount everything that had happened since you discovered your magic. You described how you and your friends found the Killahead bridge and destroyed it and Bular. Then you told Douxie about how Strickler was a changeling who had sent Angor Rot after Jim.

Continuing on with your story you talked about how you had defeated Angor Rot losing Aaarrrgghh in the process. Then you told Archie and Douxie about how your brother had gone into the Darklands, alone, to rescue Enrique because he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.

Fearful that if you slowed down your story you wouldn’t be able to finish it, you began to talk faster.

You described your trip to the Darklands to save Jim and how Kanjigar had given you the spell. Then you described everything else, bringing Douxie and Archie up to the present.

“That is quite the tale,” Douxie said, “I don’t know what I would do if I lost Merlin or Archie.”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Wait Merlin is your master? I thought he was dead.”

“Nope, he’s just asleep,” Douxie explained, you laid your head on the table.

“I want to be asleep,” you mumbled.

~~~~

You didn’t know where you were, but it had a nice aura. You panicked for a bit then looked for other auras. Eventually you found Douxie’s and then everything came back to you.

You had gone to Douxie for help after your brother and Vendel had died. You felt your eyes well with tears. You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself down.

Sitting up you reached for your phone. The home screen was filled with notifications of missed calls and texts.

You unlocked your phone to read them, but you were interrupted by your phone ringing.

It was Jim.

You answered the phone, “Hello?”

“Y/n? It’s me, it’s Jim. I’m alive. Blinky and Aaarrrgghh said you left right before I got to the Heartstone yesterday. How are you feeling? Are you safe?” Jim asked, pushing out questions before you could answer them.

“Oh! I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am to hear you’re okay,” you cried. “I-I’m safe and I'm actually feeling much better.”

“Good,” Jim said, sounding relieved.

Now it was your turn to smother him with questions. “Are you okay? How’d you make it out of the Deep? What’s going on?”

“So to sum it up, I faced my fear and got out of the deep where I saw Usura and she said I killed Vendel. After I listened to her I went to find everyone. Blinky, Claire, and Toby were in the Heartstone and you and Aaarrrgghh had just left. After that we went to the Janus Order to find Gunmar and we battled Otto who was pretending to be Gunmar. When we found out he wasn’t Gunmar we realized Gunmar was now in Trollmarket and we would have to evacuate everyone,” Jim ranted.

“Do you need my help?” You immediately asked.

“Only if you are up for it.”

“I am.”

“Okay, I’ll text you a location. Steve and Eli are on their way to help the trolls get across a clearing.”

“I’ll be right there.” You hung up and smiled brightly at Douxie who was coming down the stairs. He was carrying a muffin and another cup of tea.

“Good news?” He asked, handing the food to you.

You nodded enthusiastically. “The best news. Why don’t I tell you about it over Coffee tomorrow?”

“It’s a da-plan,” Douxie said, smiling.

~~~~

It felt amazing to be out of the house again and the woods had so much fresh air. It was the perfect place for your first mission after your illness. The tea had healed you greatly, but the fresh air would help you even more.

You  pulled your car over and made your way to the clearing. Steve and Eli had already arrived with a bunch of yellow umbrellas.

“Hey,” you greeted and Steve turned to you.

“Who are you?” He asked, glaring.

“I’m Jim’s sister,” you stated, taking an umbrella.

“Oh, so you know all about the creepers?” The other kid asked and you recalled his name was Eli.

“Yep.”

“Cool,” Eli whispered and you smiled.

“So are you some kind of Trollhunter too?” Steve asked and you laughed at his hostile attitude.

“Actually no, I’m a sorceress,” you explained. The three of you chatted as the sun set and you managed to get all the trolls hidden in the woods. Afterwards you sat and talked while you waited for Jim.

Suddenly a bunch of trolls appeared in the clearing and you jumped up, immediately beginning to look for your brother.

You pushed past the crowd of trolls and you found him with Claire. Yo noticed she looked weak, almost how you had when you first used dark magic.

“Thanks guys I owe you,” Jim said as Steve and Eli pushed past you.

Steve smirked. “Yeah, Big time.”

“Maybe you can start by answering a few thousand questions,” Eli prompted.

Jim shook his head. “We’ll talk, later.”

“Yes!”—Eli exclaimed and he and Steve fist bumped.

You turned to Claire. “What happened?”

“We opened a portal,” She explained, coughing.

“What you did was over exert yourself. I’ll bring you some tea tomorrow. It should help.”

“Thank you, Y/n.”

“Of course Claire.” You gave an exhausted smile and then turned to Blinky.

Blinky sighed, devastated. “Our home is gone. Vendel is dead. Who will lead us now?”

“His Staff?” Blinky asked after Jim held it out to him.

“Your staff,” Jim corrected.

“Master Jim,” Blinky mumbled, shying away. He glanced around the clearing and all the trolls kneeled. When he looked at you, you nodded encouragingly.

Aaarrrgghh gently nudged Blinky. “Don’t make it weird.”

Blinky took the staff. “What now Blink?”Toby asked.

Blinky turned to face everyone. “We survived another day. But these forests are not secure. We will wait until midnight and seek safe haven. Gunmar will not give up. And he’ll have an army. But we will do our best to win this fight!”

Everyone cheered and you hugged Jim. Things were still bad and your grief was overwhelming, but you were hopeful for the future.

****

Voila, I hope you like it and I’m sorry for so much angst, but the next few chapters are going to be happy. I’m really excited to write the next two chapters and I have been for a really long time. Anyways, there will be a half chapter out tomorrow and I’m gonna try to post chapter 13 Friday! Have a great night/day and stay safe!

P.S. if you want to be on the taglist feel free to ask. I hope it works and please message me if it doesn’t.

[ishouldreallybeelsewhere]

okay so that loki video essay thing was going well, and then like a day into writing it i lost the hyperfixation so it's never gonna be finished. i still think it's alright, completely unedited, entirely a train of thought, i hope you like commas and pacific rim, it's only 2.8k

btw if something doesn't make sense, i was writing this while watching some video essays, and also haven't read it

Introduction

Loki is a show, well you know that, but a show that does everything right, until it doesn’t (crazy, I know). If you’re here, I assume you’ll already know a fair bit about it, but if you don’t, here’s a quick refresher. Spoilers for everything MCU.

Loki begins in 2012, technically, just after the Avengers go back through time from Endgame to meet themselves and grab the infinity stones. Unfortunately, the plan goes awri, and Loki ends up in possession of the Tesseract, the mind stone. With this, he teleports to a desert in [a place] and is quickly arrested and apprehended by the Time Keepers for ‘Crimes Against the Sacred Timeline.’ Sounds a bit cult-y if you ask me, and given that you’re stuck here, you will ask me. Essentially, his actions (taking the tesseract) were not supposed to happen. They created a branch, a new timeline, and, according to the TVA, if left unchecked, the timeline could cause a multiversal war that would result in the end of time. This is, to put it simply, a very interesting premise, and the first two episodes do a wonderful job of exploring the TVA and searching for the mysterious Loki variant who causes chaos and mischief, all while evading the time cops.

What is the TVA? Well, it’s the Time Variance Authority, which clears up nothing to those who haven’t seen the show. I would let a clip explaining it play, but I think I’d get a copyright strike, even though I’m fairly sure it’s within fair use. Regardless, the TVA is an organisation supposedly created by the Time Keepers, space lizards who brought together all of time into a singular sacred timeline. Had they not done this, time itself would have ended, how they did this is unexplained, and likely either impossible, or they are greater than gods in their power. Loki is immediately doubtful, but can’t deny that they must hold some power, because not only does his magic not work in the TVA, but infinity stones are useless too. Time is also stranger there too, more an idea as opposed to a set part of their reality. Many theorise that they reside within the quantum realm, which makes sense, as that is how one travels through time, at least in the marvel universe, but we can’t be sure until we get an explanation. Of course, I’m writing this long before I’ll see the finale, so who knows, perhaps I’ll have to rewrite it.

Now I’ve said all that without explaining what the TVA actually does. It’s pretty simple, similar to Stephen Hawking’s (???) ideas of the multiverse, every decision you make has the ability to make another timeline, one that is not part of the sacred way of time, and therefore must be pruned by the TVA before it grows enough to cause another multiversal war, despite multiverses being well-established in the MCU, but I know that’s different. Or perhaps the Time Keepers are lying (spoiler, they are, just not exactly in that way). Anyway, when someone makes a decision or takes an action that creates a new timeline, the TVA arrives. Minutemen arrest the ‘Variant’ responsible, despite their lack of intentional crime, and prune the new timeline, which we are told destroys it. Then Variants must stand trial for their crimes, in which they can either plead guilty or not, but really, that doesn’t make much difference, as they’re unable to make a case, let alone get away as innocent. Before they reach the court, however, Variants are dressed in TVA jumpsuits, have to sign off every word they’ve ever said, and a snapshot of their temporal aura is taken, for some reason. Yeah, it’s not really ever explained why they have to go through all that, like, why don’t they just prune them all, or just send them straight to court. It seems like they’re putting on a big show for nothing. Of course, if you have to go through all that, you probably won’t have time to think about the whys of your situation, which I’m sure the TVA uses to their advantage.

Now, we’re heading into real spoiler-y stuff, just in case anyone here hasn't watched episode three. If you haven’t, why are you here? Go, finish the whole series, and then come back. Alrighty. Now that everyone’s seen it all (apart from me at this point) we can continue.

Everyone working at the TVA is a Variant, and they don’t know it. The Time Keepers are said to have created everything within the TVA, every analyst, Minuteman, and whatever the other roles are. But that’s not true. They’re all variants who’ve been taken from their own timelines and had their memories wiped. This gives an explanation for the courtrooms, and the process to get into them. Robots will be melted from the inside out if they go through the temporal aura machine thingy, and I have a feeling it’s harder to reset a robot’s memories. Living beings are let through, and their actions in the courtroom could give a good overview of their strengths and intelligence, so it can be decided whether they’ll be pruned or ‘reset’ which we are told is killed, but with the information of them all being variants now available, is more likely having all their memories hidden, replaced with the idea that they’ve been at the TVA their whole lives, and that they were created by the timekeepers. Though why would space lizards create workers in the image of humans instead of like their own lizard-y selves. The TVA as a whole, as we are introduced to it, feels very cult-y. Things such as the videos Variants are shown upon being arrested, the whole ‘Sacred Timeline’ thing, the Time Keepers being viewed as almost gods, and that when one of the TVA’s own minutemen is told the truth (C-20) she is, well, removed. The TVA views Variants as criminals of the highest order. How dare they violate the sacred timeline?!!? Only, no variant knew that what they were doing was wrong, or that it even mattered, but if you’re late to work on a day where you weren’t supposed to be, then you’re removed from your timeline and charged. The sentence? Essentially death, or removal of all your memories and being lied to about everything, which might be worse depending on your stance on that kind of thing.

Anyway, the minutemen themselves are another issue that the TVA has. They respond with violence at every available opportunity, like when a young french child from the 1500s walks into a church, the first thing a minuteman does is reach for his weapon. This is also the scene where we’re introduced to my favourite character, Mobius, but more on him later. For now, I need to stay on track and keep in mind this part of the view has to remain consistent. All I can think of are the nerds I split. It seems I have an inability to stay on topic, however, I’m gonna try so you have fun keeping up with that.

Loki stood trial for crimes against the Sacred Timeline and, like any logical person may in that situation, relentlessly questions the validity of his conviction. The answers he’s provided with he just,, kind of,, disagrees with, which is fair. The concept of the TVA and the sacred timeline as a whole is absurd to him, as who would a god serve?

Part one: Glorious Purpose

Loki, in his own words, it ‘Burdened With Glorious Purpose.’ I’m so glad no one but me is gonna read this draft cuz I managed to spell many of those words wrong. His glorious purpose, in his eyes, is becoming the ruler of all, removing free will and choice from those beneath him, in a twisted attempt to make it easy for all living things. He believes in free will, at least, the free will of himself, and also believes that, out of everyone in the universe, he is the one who is right, the one who can make the world better, that is his burden. Now, you may look at that and think, ‘hey, for a god of mischief, that doesn’t seem very mischievous,’ and you’d be right. It isn’t. He’s evil, like, without a doubt, an evil person in his ideals and views of the universe, however, the change from mischief to villainy was rapid, as it’s shown that he was D.B. Cooper, and, when asked, said it was because he was ‘young and lost a bet to Thor’, which, like, okay, but that was the 60s or something. 50 years aren’t a lot in the face of 1,500, but a lot can happen then

Part something: ethics

So, as you’ve probably gathered by now, I’m a pretentious asshole, and with that comes three years of philosophy classes and a superiority complex, though perhaps that comes from the whole leftist thing. Anyway, as per usual, I got sidetracked. I’m watching a really good video atm, so lots of things are happening in my head right now. Back to being pretentious, I’m going to be talking about ethics, fun, and how that relates to the TVA, the sacred timeline, Kang, sorry, he who remains. Regarding the whole Kang thing, I haven’t read a single Marvel comic since I was a member of the comic book club 4(???) years ago. Gods, I’m so old. Yup Percy Jackson took up too much of my childhood. Sidetracked again! I apologise, anyway, everything I know about Kang the Conqueror comes from Tumblr, so I’m not going to spend any time talking about any parts of the character that aren’t shown in the show. I really want to be writing about Doctor Who right now but I have my notes up so I’m gonna do this. Okay, right. Ethics. I hope I don’t go into free will right now because I will never stop going on about that. Anyway, let's look at the TVA, ignoring Kang, not for simplicity, but to see if the ends do in fact justify the means as Mobius said. And by that I mean, if what employees of the TVA think is true, are their actions justified? Finally got to the point, after how many words? Too many, anyway, let’s start from the start (kinda).

In an actual, proper, organised essay, I think that whole last paragraph was supposed to be 1 (one) sentence long, maybe. I have been writing year nine level essays for many years, despite not being in year nine for many, many years, so, be glad you’re reading something I’m interested in. Back to the topic at hand, please. Sorry I just got distracted again. I shouldn’t have Tumblr open atm. Anyway, what are the TVA’s means? So, I’ve already explained what the TVA is, and what it does, but let’s use a fun example to show what they really do. Imagine you’re a kid (or maybe you are a kid, so imagine you’re a younger one) and you just got home from school. You just made an awesome new friend who believes in you and loves your art. This sparks your interest in art, leading to countless pieces, days and days spent drawing and painting and having a great time. Your art begins to take hold on the world, speaking to people, letting them believe in themselves, thousands upon thousands of people inspired to start their own art, to rebel against the system of capitalism and teach people that there’s more to life than a job. This begins the global radicalisation of the working class, and with that, rebellion and the downfall of capitalism. I’m in a good mood rn, feeling optimistic, so don’t worry about what’s happening. Anyway, with the downfall of human exploitation and eradication of poverty comes a branch in the Sacred Timeline, and as the root of it is you as a child making a friend, your 5-year-old self just committed a crime that, according to the TVA, is worthy of what they believe to be actual death, like, being pruned.

Now, this was a very umm, off-the-top-of-my-head example, and entirely makes no sense, but give me two seconds and I’ll remember my original point. Right. The risk of allowing the downfall of capitalism is the end of all time. Always. Maybe? But, in the eyes of the TVA, kidnapping a 5-year-old, putting them through a dehumanising process to be shoved in a courtroom and being accused of crimes against the sacred timeline, and what was the crime? Making a goddamn friend. As a child. Being supported in art. Doing what you enjoy, destroying oppressive systems that will eventually be the downfall of us all and so entwined with all the problems in the world that any chance of saving it revolves around its deconstruction. I’ve been hunched over too long and my back is really starting to hurt, but the essay must go on. And remember, the domino effect of that friendship never actually happened. The timeline was pruned before it could happen, so the crime is literally making a friend. Very extreme example sorry, but shock makes your point go across faster, and also sparks outrage, which I don’t want to happen, but with doing literally anything comes backlash, like stepping on the wrong leaf, or a butterfly. I hope you guys know that this is unplanned and probably unedited. Okay I need to watch Pacific Rim again. Okay imagine now they kill the child. Right. That’s likely what would happen. Children are weak (usually, Sylvie is just on another level of awesome) [author’s note, Crimson Peak is a horror movie and I’m very upset by that cuz now I won’t be able to watch it]. Alright, so, kill a child, or destroy all of time. Always. Maybe. The way we see the TVA in the first two episodes is through Loki’s eyes, as a cult-like lie with a cool retro/futuristic aesthetic (like Doctor Who, but more on that later). I have been sitting here for 4 hours and I can confidently say my cat is an asshole whose sole purpose in life is to want to come in right when I’m in the middle of a point only to not want to come in but allow me to lose exactly what I was about to say, meaning I’ve gotten next to nothing done. Hi, I'm back. I got distracted by My Little Pony and Pacific Rim. And checkers. Issues with pacing? I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Okay, so, I’m going to say something possibly controversial. When the stakes are the endings of the entirety of time, it’s okay to let a child die, and technically they might not die they’d just be sent to be either devoured the void or saved by a ragtag team of loki variants. Which is not great. That might sound like I agree with the TVA, but trust me, I do not. Not in the slightest. I hate the slimy bastards. (I do love every single character though, like all of them are awesome) The prickly pricks will bury us all!!! I don’t agree with them because I think there is a better way to handle the multiversal problem and the issue that arises regarding the particular cause of the multiversal war. That made no sense. You’re really just gonna have to guess at this point, however, for the solution, we must look into the finale and the reasoning behind He Who Remains’ plan. I said I wasn’t going to talk about him, but I lied (rule number one). Basically, from what I understood of his plan (which wasn’t much, I’m pretty stupid) was that there were two options; option number one was to leave him there, looking over all of time, preventing free will, so that the infinite variants of him that would come from timelines wouldn’t once again attempt to conquer all of the timelines (though if there are infinite ones, how would that work? Just kidding, you’re not allowed to question this). He dictates all. There’s no such thing as free will, and if you dare veer off the path, you will be pruned, and your timeline destroyed. His plan is to hand that power over to Loki and Sylvie, because he’s getting old and has lived long enough. The other option (and the one that’s taken in the show) is to allow Sylvie to kill He Who Remains and let the multiverse unfold, allow free will and chaos to reign, with the possibility and established likelihood of the destruction of time itself. Now, just putting this out here, what if there was a third option? My proposition is based of knowing next to nothing and not having seen Loki in a while, and that is,