#ANYWAY. goes to show how good it was that the stakes were *objectively* lower than previous movies

[sillayangel]

wait. was "The Galaxy" even in any direct danger in gotg vol 3? was that actually the LOWEST stakes out of the three guardians movies??

[ceterisparibus116]

Daredevil scenes / plot points you would have done differently? (I get a suspicion a lot of them have to do with the law stuff, Frank Castle's trial especially. 😉 )

Aaaaa I love this question! Warning: VERY long response:

DEFINITELY the Frank Castle trial. Man, it could’ve been SO GOOD. I have a lot of issues with it, obviously, but the main one is that Matt treating Frank as a hostile witness could’ve been amazing (character-driven, emotionally-charged, also at times hilarious), and we were ROBBED.

 I also wish Matt could’ve been involved in more trial prep. The show makes it seem almost like Matt’s skill is limited to courtroom antics, but charisma and the ability to think on your feet in the courtroom mean next to nothing if you haven’t laid a foundation with good legal research and legal writing. I would’ve loved it if the legal plotlines showed us more of that. Like, you know Matt and Karen’s date night in S2 where she helps him come up with witness questions? I would’ve loved it if: a) they’d gotten, like, ANY part of that scene correct from a legal standpoint, and b) if we could’ve gotten MORE. I know that kind of thing might seem boring, but I don’t think it would be. You can really show off characters’ personalities in that kind of environment, and then the audience gets the reward of seeing that hard work pay off at trial.

 Speaking of, I know we’ve talked before about S3 splitting everyone up. I still think that could’ve maybe been worth it if we’d gotten a S4 where we could see how everyone learned from how disastrous the S3 isolation was, but without S4, everyone’s isolation in S3 is really unfortunate. I would’ve loved to see Nelson, Murdock, and Page working together for at least half of the season, instead of just the last 3-ish episodes. It would’ve been fascinating to watch, since Matt would still not be in a great headspace, and Karen would still be hurt, and Foggy would be just Trying To Deal with his idiot best friends. (But since we don’t have that, at least we have my S3 canon-divergent retelling thing: Take A Deep Breath – shameless plug.)

 I also would’ve generally kept the stakes lower in S2 and S3. I think you agree with me that both seasons would’ve been more powerful if we’d had more lower-level villains. But one of my favorite things about S1 is that we get to know the people who are at stake. Unlike in the Avengers where it’s just “the world” or “New York” or something, S1 showed us a little boy who wanted to go back to his dad, and Elena, and that one juror who was being exploited, and Melvin, and even a bad guy like Vladimir, and they’re ALL sympathetic. We really understand who Matt’s fighting for, but with the exception of Grotto, Jasper Evans, and Julie Barnes, I don’t feel like we really get that in S2 and S3.

 Related: our S2 ninjas needed a clearer motivation. (That goes for Defenders, too.) Imo, they needed personal stakes. Fisk’s mission to clean up Hell’s Kitchen was personal. Frank’s mission to take out bad guys was personal. Everything about Elektra was personal. Dex’s desperate attempt to find a place for himself and find people who care about him was VERY personal. But the Hand? Not personal at all.

 With Elektra…I’m torn. Part of me really wishes Matt could’ve told her no and maintained his boundaries all along, because a) I hate love-triangle-type drama and drama that could be resolved if people just stopped keeping secrets, and b) it would’ve been so refreshing to see the femme fatal trope subverted, and c) it would’ve given Elektra more agency. That being said…that might be veering too far away from comics canon. Matt is canonically a disaster with relationships, and he and Elektra have this whole…epic…magnetic…thing. I personally would argue that the show isn’t beholden to the canon in this specific way, but I can see how people would be upset if Matt and Elektra hadn’t turned out the way they did in S2.

 I would’ve liked Marci to have a smidge more character development. She was so sweet and supportive in S3and I don’t…quite…know where that came from? Oh, well.

 Speaking of character development: I wish Matt and Foggy could’ve had some real conversations. Aside from when Foggy found Matt at the gym in S1 and they talked about moving forward, I don’t feel like they had deep conversations that weren’t arguments. Matt’s S3 apology is good, but I would’ve loved to see Foggy apologize for how he contributed to the problems in their friendship. I also wish we could’ve seen Foggy explicitly thank Matt for, y’know…SAVING HIS LIFE.

 As for Karen, I wish her revelation scene to Matt had been more about HER. It says a lot about how selfless she is that she used her own pain to try to convince Matt not to kill Fisk. But even though I know Matt’s super depressed and everything, I would’ve loved to see him put his own angsty issues aside for a sec and just be there for his friend and the woman he loves. Even the fact that she is the one who crosses the room to be close to him is telling; he should’ve gone over to her when she started crying and been there for her.

 Although if I’m talking about Matt’s romantic relationships, I wouldn’t have minded if the show went a Clairedevil route. Although that would require A LOT. I do wish, if I’m being really fanciful, that we could’ve seen Claire in S3. Or, at minimum, seen Matt and Claire interact in Defenders.

 FATHER LANTOM TELLING MATT THAT GUILT IS A SIGN THAT HIS WORK IS NOT DONE. I cannot with that scene. I love Father Lantom, but that? Really? I mean, I get it. That’s a common way that Catholic doctrine is interpreted, and it’s what Matt basically wants to hear anyway, but it is SUCH a dangerous thing to tell Matt (and I feel like Father Lantom should’ve known that???) and it’s also, as I understand it, not even the technically correct Catholic interpretation of guilt. Like, that’s literally not what guilt is or how it’s supposed to work. (Although who knows. I’m not Catholic, and as I understand it, Catholics themselves vary a lot in their interpretations of doctrine. So idk.) If I were writing that scene, I would definitely not have written Father Lantom to say that.

 On the religious theme, I wish S3 had circled back to Matt’s original objections related to the book of Job. He gets quite a few things wrong in his recap, and I’m not sure if Maggie didn’t correct him because she didn’t know better, or because she didn’t think a Biblical literacy lecture was what he needed at the moment, OR because the writers couldn’t be bothered to read the book. (In fairness…it’s a long and complicated book. But they couldn’t have been bothered to read a commentary on it?) I wish S3 had not stopped at giving Matt an abstract tapestry analogy to heal his faith when it also should’ve addressed his specific complaints.

I wish we’d had more time to see Matt and Maggie repair their relationship, or start to. And I wish she’d hugged him at Literally Any Point.

I wish the whole Matt-hallucinating thing had been clearer. Was he actually hallucinating? Or was that just his internal monologue manifested through other characters? If he was hallucinating, did he just...stop? Is he not freaked out about that? What was going on????

Oh, and if only they could’ve gotten Dex’s psychological diagnosis right.

 Other than that, there are a couple scenes that I feel like drag on way too long (S3 especially has an odd amount of monologues that generally strike me as OOC anyway—except with Fisk; he’s just Like That) but I don’t want to go into all of them. It would be hypocritical, given how long this reply is. :P

 So yeah, I think I’ll stop there, although I’m sure there’s more, haha. Thank you again for the ask and the excuse to ramble about Daredevil! I look forward to your thoughts as well.

[shinneth]

Gem Ascension Tropes (General: A - B)

Full, Superior Alternative on Google Docs.

So, I’ve been on the fence as to whether or not to publicly share this. In the end, it’s really nothing more than a project of self-indulgence. However, it is 100k+ words of self-indulgence and it does involve a story at least a decent number of my followers have read and liked. I also talk about a lot about Stevidot and all the characters in general for this project. Considering I haven’t written anything since the end of August (and real life interference is finally affecting my ability to reliably produce anything of substance since then), I figured it was only fair to offer something. I do still have the itch to write; I just really don’t feel comfortable doing it if I myself am not in a good state mentally or emotionally.

Why did I make this? Well, I’ve mentioned in the past that my other super-huge, much-more-popular story Travels of the Trifecta! eventually gained enough notoriety to not only make it to the Fanfic Rec list on TV Tropes, but a few readers were even gracious enough to make an actual trope page for the story itself. However, despite great temptations, I never once contributed to the page myself, for fear I’d never get the story done because of how addictive and time-consuming that site is. 

I was naively hoping Gem Ascension (or at least Bottled Up, which is easily my most popular story outside the main GA series) might get the same honors. But back then, I was also new to the fanbase and didn’t realize just how badly Stevidot as a ship was wrongfully considered an immoral ship... and still is. So that’ll probably never happen for real. 

That said, so long as I completed my initial 3-act series for GA, I considered it fair game to play around with tropes that I could associate with it. And I finished that sucker in record time. So, since the early months of Summer, I’ve slowly compiled a list of tropes for my GA continuity - so far for general coverage and character-specifics only. 

They’re similar to my GA Reference Tour posts in that aspect. Like I said, though, the entire document is over 100k in length, so no way is that all going up at once. The general listing is big enough to make me think it won’t fit in one post, either (especially as I continue to waste space rambling here). As the length alone proves, I was right to avoid doing this for Trifecta.

I wouldn’t consider it a complete (or even entirely accurate) listing; the character sections are very lop-sided in terms of content, but that’s a little justified, at least. Anyway, I did make some new art for certain character sections in future posts, so I figured this would at least be a neat way to share them. I’ve linked said tropes and everything. It’s really only worth a read if you’re that interested in getting some more in-depth details to the GAverse that I haven’t really covered here properly yet. But it does technically count as Stevidot content, so there’s the grab.

Beyond the spoiler cut, there are no marked spoilers. I’m not savvy enough to go THAT far with the style... plus, the main series has been complete since early March and it’s now October. Just... if you recently found the story, haven’t finished it, but actually intend to do so, look on at your own risk, I guess. 

Well, let’s see how much I can actually fit in here. And whether or not it’ll format properly. 

Edit: Turns out, only up to the K Tropes. Loooooovely~. Looks like I’m gonna play it safe and cut this after the Bs.

Edit II: As a bonus, I see the links being retained when I edit this post, but they won’t appear on the post itself. Just. Awesome. I may just put this up on Google Docs as an alternative if anyone cares that much about having the hyperlink access. That link is up. I’ll need to neuter these things something fierce so the hyperlinks will appear again.

GEM ASCENSION CONTINUITY TROPES

 GENERAL

 A Day in the Limelight: Act II as a whole functions somewhat like this; Hero Protagonist Peridot, save for the short final scene at the end of the act, is completely absent. She is frequently talked about and is featured in prerecorded Video Wills, but the 8 chapters Act II is comprised of are dedicated to the 8 remaining members of the main cast. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Connie, and Steven – characters who had much less time to feature in Act I due to being captured during the first half – all have chapters entirely dedicated to them. Greg, despite being part of GA from the start, also had limited time to feature in Act I past Chapter 3 due to being a Non-Action Guy. His chapter is one of the longest; Greg is also involved in a subplot with Bismuth and Lapis, and as of Chapter 7, he receives a Rank Up and officially becomes a legit member of the Crystal Gems.

A Fate Worse than Death: Pallification. Not only worse than a gem’s shattering, but even corruption. It’s similar to corruption in that a gem is technically still alive, but their consciousnesses are greatly compromised. While a corrupted gem is more akin to a mutated rabid animal until a cure is found, a pallified gem’s body – while usually maintaining the integrity of its physical form – has been rendered soulless. Once White Diamond supplants their conscious minds with her own, she boots them out to parts unknown (she doesn’t even care enough for her own subjects to figure out what exactly she’s doing to their conscious minds) with no way for them to find their way back to their original body. It’s not even made clear whether or not a gem’s consciousness is killed off outright the moment White infects them. So, a pallified gem is basically condemned to eternal purgatory. Naturally, even after the events of GA, there are still millions of gems afflicted with this condition with no known cure to ail them. With White Diamond herself shattered at this point, these victims are little more than vegetables at best.

A Friend in Need: It must be stressed that the objective from the start of Gem Ascension was not to overthrow the Diamond Authority (and certainly not to destroy Homeworld itself): it was to rescue friends who were in trouble. Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie were all imprisoned on Homeworld with no means to truly escape, so Steven resorted to sending an SOS to the Crystal Gems on standby on Earth. After taking charge of this mission, Peridot greatly emphasized their objective being a quick in-and-out after rescuing their friends as quietly as possible. Then the mission escalated with much higher stakes, but the objective remained the same. Act I concluded with all of the Crystal Gems safely escaping Homeworld and returning to Earth… save for Peridot. The follow-up mission, consequently, had the same objective: rescue Peridot, then escape. It was later amended to rescue all of Homeworld’s native gems once it was discovered that Homeworld itself was going to fall apart very soon. The revolution that came about with Homeworld’s destruction and the fall of the Diamonds were merely byproducts of the rescue mission. Only Pearl seemed to anticipate this kind of result, but none of the Crystal Gems were prepared to be responsible for keeping Era 3 going on Earth in Homeworld’s absence (as well as the Diamonds’). 

Acceptable Targets: In-Universe, the lower you are in the caste system on Homeworld, the more you’re expected to take abuse of any kind from any gem of a higher class. This is Who I Am goes further into depth on this topic; it’s revealed Peridots have no rights when it comes to being mistreated by gems above their class. Even worse, it’s illegal for a Peridot to antagonize a gem of a higher caste for any reason – yet it’s perfectly legal for elite gems, such as quartzes, to do whatever they wish to a Peridot so long as it doesn’t permanently damage them or compromise whatever mission they’re assigned together on. Yes, even if a low-caste gem is raped (like Peridot almost was), it’s legal and the victimized gem is fully expected to suck it up and deal with it.

Adaptation Expansion: Not only does the GA series serve as an alternative to Change Your Mind, but it frequently brings up events from past canon episodes. This isn’t done for nostalgia’s sake, but rather to expand on said scenes and observe them with a different lens. Through this, scenes in the show readers have seen multiple times can yield some new discoveries with the additional details and questions posed within the GA narrative.

Adaptational Alternate Ending: Takes place shortly after Escapism in the show. The first few minutes of Change Your Mind are canon to the fic (mainly Blue Diamond’s Heel-Face Turn), but it’s completely off the rails from there on out. So, it’s basically an alternative ending to Season 5.

After-Action Healing Drama: In Chapter 5 of Act I, after Peridot got caught in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with 9FC and sustained severe injuries in the previous chapter, the recently-rescued Steven uses Lion to take himself and Peridot somewhere private so he can heal her many injuries.

All For Nothing: The battle with White Diamond in Chapter 6 of Act III is this, as that wasn’t the real White Diamond to begin with. The Crystal Gems just wasted a load of time and energy on a proxy, and it’s the realization of this trope that causes said battle to abruptly turn in White’s favor, ending in a Curb-Stomp Battle with the Crystal Gems on the losing end.

Due to this aspect of the battle, it means Rainbow Quartz 2.0’s scheme to siphon off some of White Diamond’s essence (to later use for a cure for corruption and pallification when they return to Earth, knowing White’s never going to help willfully) was also a waste, and what Pearl and Steven gained was just the essence of a bunch of dead gems. Pearl has a bit of a minor Heroic BSoD in Chapter 7 over this, but Garnet pulls her out of it and encourages her to not give up on the endeavor.

All Up to You: The premise of Gem Ascension: Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, and Greg step up to rescue their A-Team friends against all odds. 

Alternate Continuity: This story takes place shortly after Escapism. Beyond the first few minutes of Change Your Mind, it becomes canon divergent from there.

Anachronic Order: After Gem Ascension’s completion, a set of stories was released throughout the month of May that all took place in Gem Asension’s continuity (save for one, technically, which took place a while before GA starts and has no connections to said continuity outside of being referenced in a few of the other stories) for Stevidot Month. Justified, somewhat, as they were only released out of order due to representing at least one of three prompts assigned for the five weeks of Stevidot Month, and Word of God planned much of this on the fly. A couple of stories were pre-prepared (Plans Change and This is Who I Am’s first chapter), but didn’t fit any prompts other than the ones assigned to the final two weeks. Since May’s conclusion, all stories (in their AO3 incarnations) have been put in a collection and are arranged in chronological order.

Bottled Up is the only story that averts this, as it chronologically occurs before all the others listed here and was also the first one released in May. However, since it does take place a good amount of time before GA’s starting point, it can easily be read as a standalone. The same cannot be said for the stories following it.

My Time is Now, which properly introduces Sphalerite (who only got an unnamed, featureless cameo in Act III and spoke the very last lines of the story), takes place no more than half an hour after Act III’s conclusion, but it was also the last story released in May. 

Second-to-last was Plans Change, which took place only a few hours after the aforementioned story. 

This is Who I Am chronologically falls roughly half a week after that, but its first chapter was released in the middle of the month.

Peri-dise: The Capitalist Anarchy takes place about 1-2 months after GA Act III, making it currently second-to-last in GA’s overall continuity, but was the third story released overall during May’s second week.

It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is takes place in late August, making it the furthest-removed from GA’s timeline by 3-4 months (until the release of Our Tomorrow – a direct sequel to this story taking place exactly one year later, but won’t be listed here as it was made long after Stevidot Month ended). It was the second story released for Stevidot Month. 

Anyone Can Die: The moment White Pearl and Blue Diamond die (relatively close to the same time) by Chapter 6 of Act I makes it apparent no punches will be pulled in this story; especially after it’s made clear how much of a Complete Monster White Diamond is in this continuity. Yellow Diamond falls two chapters later, and at least for a short while it’s presumed Peridot met a similar fate. There’s also the concept of pallification, which renders several hundred gems functionally dead in Act I alone. The majority of the gems left on the planet end up pallified by the time the Crystal Gems return to Homeworld in Act III. By the climax of said act, White Diamond self-destructs. On a smaller scale, almost every original character introduced in GA either dies or is already dead upon introduction. 5XF is the only one so far who averts this.

Astral Projection: An aspect of Steven’s developing powers in Act III. During Chapter 4, an all-pink astral projection of Steven travels into Peridot’s subconscious to find out what White Diamond did to fragment her mind. A bit later in Chapter 8, astral projections of Steven and Peridot are seen superimposed over the corporeal forms of Pink Diamond 2.0 and Chartreuse Diamond to signify both coming to terms with their Alter Egos becoming part of them and becoming whole.

Autodoc: The restoration machines that are abundant and scattered across Homeworld, which the Crystal Gems use to speed up the recovery process for Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl at the end of Chapter 6 of Act I.

Badasses in Distress: All of the imperiled Crystal Gems at the start of the story qualify. After Act I, Peridot takes their place.\

The Big Damn Kiss: Steven gives Peridot a pretty significant one in Act I’s final chapter right in the middle of a large and busy battlefield before they split ways to help their friends. Punctuated with a deliberate Shout-Out to Gem Drill.

Big Damn Reunion: Chapters 6 and 7 of Act I is this, as is Chapter 5 of Act III for the follow-up rescue mission.

Birthday Episode: It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is serves as one for Peridot. It also loosely applies to Steven, as his birthday is less than two weeks before hers and is frequently referenced (the pair’s chronological ages are 14 and 15 respectively by this point). Our Tomorrow is a direct sequel to the aforementioned story taking place exactly a year later, making Peridot 15 and Steven 16.

Bittersweet Ending: GA’s conclusion in a nutshell. The Diamond Authority is no longer a threat to anyone, but Homeworld is destroyed, meaning the Crystal Gems have to directly deal with the fallout of this particular revolution while ensuring Earth’s safety. Now they have thousands, if not millions of gems to help adapt to life on Earth and teach the concept of independence and free thought. Homeworld’s colony planets are doomed to civil disorder and collapse unless the heroes directly help, but that also presents a risk if they don’t play their cards right. Peridot and Steven’s lives are irrevocably shaken in their own right, and they’re the ones who’ll have to be the most involved in helping the Homeworld refugees. And there’s still the matter of curing not only the corrupted gems, but now the pallids as well. While GA ended the best way it possibly could, given the circumstances, there’s still a lot of work ahead for the Crystal Gems… and a lot of it will be unpleasant/awkward at best and outright life-threatening at worst. 

Blank White Void: The nature of the Pocket Dimensions featured in Act III, save for the one Steven is initially imprisoned in at the end of Chapter 3.

[patriotsnet]

Are There Any Republicans Running For President Besides Trump

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/are-there-any-republicans-running-for-president-besides-trump/

Are There Any Republicans Running For President Besides Trump

Justices Prepare For Major Lgbt Rights Case As Trump Threatens To Bring Election To Supreme Court

Trump Rallies Republicans For Ex-Rival ‘Beautiful Ted’ Cruz In Texas

Justice Amy Coney Barrett is due to confront her first major arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, even as President Donald Trump is threatening to bring a case over the previous nights election to the panel.

Trump said in an early morning address to supporters that well be going to the U.S. Supreme Court, we want all voting to stop. The president did not provide more details, and the nature of such a possible case was unclear. The top court generally hears appeals of lower court decisions.

Trump had for weeks suggested he would contest any outcome that was not a victory and pressed to get Barrett, his third Supreme Court nominee, confirmed before Election Day. NBC News has not called the race, and votes continue to be tabulated.

Despite the prospect of a contested election, the court has a normal if important day of business scheduled. At 10 a.m. ET, the justices will hear arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a major LGBT rights case.

The dispute concerns a Roman Catholic adoption agency that is arguing that Philadelphias decision to exclude it from the citys foster care system because it will not work with same-sex households is unconstitutional. Philadelphia has said it is simply enforcing its laws against discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

Tucker Higgins

Sen Ted Cruz Of Texas

Cruz, 50, could start out a 2024 election campaign in a much stronger position than his first run in 2016, when he came in second. Its not uncommon for Republicans to select the recent runner up to later be their nominee which is what happened to Mitt Romney, John McCain, Bob Dole and Ronald Reagan.

A lot has happened to Cruz since 2016. For one, he became an ardent Trump supporter and grew a beard. But Cruz has also learned lessons from his first presidential run. Should he run again in the 2024 election, hed be a much more experienced campaigner with a more finely tuned message, higher name ID, and a carefully maintained donor base, one Republican strategist said.

Cruz has also faced backlash for objecting to President Joe Bidens Electoral College win. Following the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, seven Democrats asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for amplifying claims of election fraud that led to violence. In Texas, the Republican Accountability Project paid for 100 billboards calling on Cruz to resign. Cruz also angered some close to him, like a longtime friend and former campaign chair who denounced him, and his chief spokesperson, who resigned, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Why Are Republicans So Afraid Of Voters

There is no both sides do it when it comes to intentionally keeping Americans away from the polls.

By The Editorial Board

The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain longstandingvalues. It is separate from the newsroom.

As of Sunday afternoon, more than 93 million Americans had cast a ballot in the November elections. Thats about two-thirds of the total number of people who voted in 2016, and there are still two days until Election Day.

This is excellent news. In the middle of a global pandemic that has taken the lives of nearly a quarter of a million Americans, upended the national economy and thrown state election procedures into turmoil, there were reasonable concerns that many people would not vote at all. The numbers to date suggest that 2020 could see record turnout.

While celebrating this renewed citizen involvement in Americas political process, dont lose sight of the bigger, and darker, picture. For decades, Americans have voted at depressingly low rates for a modern democracy. Even in a good year, more than one-third of all eligible voters dont cast a ballot. In a bad year, that number can approach two-thirds.

Why are so many Americans consistently missing in action on Election Day?

For many, its a choice. They are disillusioned with government, or they feel their vote doesnt matter because politicians dont listen to them anyway.

Also Check: Republican Shutdown

Tight Election Adds To Retailers Uncertainty During Already Uncertain Holidays

Retailers have faced nothing short of whiplash this year. And now, one day after Election Day, they face another threat during the all-important holiday season: Americans who may be distracted or anxious as they await results. That could deal a blow to consumer confidence, when retailers would rather shoppers to be centered around gift-giving and decking their homes with holiday decor.

Greg Portell, lead partner in the global consumer practice of Kearney, a strategy and management consulting firm, said the delayed results will absolutely pause consumer spending.

Consumers have been on a great run of spending coming out of the lockdowns, he said. We were looking at a great holiday season. All of that is on pause until we see some clarity on who is going to win.

If history is a guide, at least a temporary drop in spending is likely, according to a recent survey from Adobe Analytics. Adobe found online sales dropped 14% the day after the 2016 election, when Donald Trump;was elected to office. They dropped 6% the day after the 2018 midterms, the firms research showed.

Lauren Thomas and Melissa Repko

Will Texas Republicans Ever Fight For Limited Government

Sometimes when I look around at what Republicans are doing, I dont really know what to do with myself.

Just think about how Republicans were in charge of the U.S. Senate and House and the White House for two years of the first two years of President Trumps term. What did they accomplish? Not much.

Then, what about the last, what is it now, 17 years of Republicans being in charge of all Texas government; the Texas Senate, the Texas House, the Texas Supreme Court, the governors office, all the state agencies? I mean, it is all Republicans running the state yet the accomplishments that have taken place are just not where they ought to be. And you have to ask yourself why.

I think we can find a partial answer to this in an article I ran across the other day about the threatened veto by President Trump on the defense bill. He has said hes going to veto the defense appropriations bill unless Congress puts a provision in it taking away the liability shield from all these high tech companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, that have been seeking to undermine our elections, laws, and democracy.

They lobbied for this provision in law because they said they were going to be neutral providers of content. They were just going to be platforms that people could use and put out whatever information they wanted to.

Recommended Reading: What Did Republicans Gain From The Compromise Of 1877?

In Georgia Runoffs Dems Are Running Hard On Health Care Republicans Not So Much

Why are these elections so important?

In determining control of the Senate, the results will put one party or the other in charge of the legislative agenda. A Democratic sweep would result in a 50-50 Senate with soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaking vote in the chamber.

While there still is a 60-vote threshold to get legislation through, it would be much easier to confirm Bidens Cabinet picks and judicial appointments than if Democrats were in the minority.

Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who would be presumed to be Senate majority leader if Democrats took control of the chamber, would be in charge of what goes to the floor, including, if it came to it, items like doing away with the filibuster entirely or adding justices to the Supreme Court.

If Republicans won, though, GOP leader Mitch McConnell would be able to largely thwart much of Bidens agenda.

Former Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo

If the 2024 election turns into a foreign policy debate, the 57-year-old Pompeo is in a strong position with his background as former secretary of state and CIA director.

During Pompeos recent speech at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa, he gave a preview of some of the lines that might end up in his presidential stump speech. He said hes spent more time with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un than any other American, including basketball star Dennis Rodman, and talked about the threat he sees from China. His mention of the U.S. moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem during his tenure was met with applause.

Before serving in Trumps Cabinet, Pompeo blasted then-candidate Trump as an authoritarian. Pompeo made the remarks the day of the Kansas caucus in 2016, quoting Trump saying that if he told a soldier to commit a war crime, they would go and do it. Pompeo said the U.S. had spent 7½ years with an authoritarian president who ignored the Constitution, referencing former President Barack Obama, and we dont need four more years of that.

Pompeo served three full terms representing Kansas in the U.S. House before joining the Trump administration. He and his wife, Susan, have one child. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy and Harvard Law and served in the U.S. Army.

Don’t Miss: Who Taxes More Republicans Or Democrats

Trump Campaign Seeks To Get Involved In Supreme Court Fight Over Pennsylvania Ballots

President Donald Trumps reelection campaign asked the Supreme Court to let it join the fight at the court over Pennsylvanias absentee ballot deadlines.

Jay Sekulow, an attorney for the president, wrote in a filing submitted to the justices that Trump has a direct, concrete stake in the outcome of the case that was distinct from the interests of the state lawmakers and Republican Party of Pennsylvania that initiated the suit.

In the case, Republicans are suing over the Pennsylvania Supreme Courts extension of the deadline for elections officials to receive absentee ballots in order for them to be counted. The state court extended the deadline to Nov. 6 from the previous deadline of Tuesday.

The Supreme Court rejected the Republican challenge in a 4-4 split on Oct. 19. On Oct. 28, the justices refused to decide a second GOP challenge before Election Day but left open the possibility of a ruling favoring Republicans after Nov. 3.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed onto the bench too late to weigh in on either decision but her presence on the court is thought to favor the Republican challenge moving forward.

The case at the Supreme Court is just one of the many legal battles that the Trump campaign is pursuing in the wake of Tuesdays election.

Trump has claimed for weeks that he might not accept defeat and would challenge a loss in court regardless of the circumstances.

Tucker Higgins

Consider Candidates Track Record And Party Service In Allocating Debate Slots

2020 Election – 5 Republicans Who Might Run For President (Why Donald Trump will be the GOP Nominee)

For a variety of legal and political reasons, the parties authority over their own debates is constrained.44 Yet debates are very important for introducing voters to the partys candidates. They are an essential aspect of the winnowing process. Selecting invitees is particularly challenging when the candidate field is large, as became evident in the Republican nominating cycle four years ago, when the candidates were so numerous that those who fell below a national poll threshold of 3.5% had to attend an undercard debate instead of the main attraction. One consequence was to favor a reality-television celebrity over veterans like Sen. Lindsey Graham, an expert on foreign affairs who had served South Carolina in the Congress since 1993. That seemed shortsighted and unreasonable at the time, and it seems all the more so in hindsight.

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Abraham Lincoln: Campaigns And Elections

The Campaign and Election of 1860:

Going into the presidential election of 1860, the issue of slavery had heated the nation to the boiling point. How were the political parties going to maintain unity in the midst of such intense sectional conflict?

Winning Republican Support

After Abraham Lincoln’s defeat in the race for the U.S. Senate, he spent the next sixteen months speaking and traveling all over the North making campaign speeches for numerous Republican candidates. His style avoided the wordy moral rhetoric of the abolitionists in favor of clear and simple logic. Lincoln was successful in laying the groundwork for his candidacy, since by the spring of 1860, many politicians were indebted to Lincoln for his support. Furthermore, because he was out of office and new to national prominence, he had offended no one in particular within the party. Most importantly, Lincoln had established a solid group of campaign managers and supporters who came to the Republican convention prepared to deal, maneuver, and line up votes for Lincoln. His chief opponent, and the man who was sure that he had the nomination in his pocket, was William H. Seward of New York. However, his front-runner status proved to be his greatest obstacle in that it opened him to political criticism even before the convention delegates had met.

Democratic Disunity

Constitutional Union Party

White-Hot Campaign Trail

Impact of 1860 Election

The Campaign and Election of 1864

Vicious Campaign

Political Realities

Confidence Interval: Republicans Will Win Back Congress In 2022

natesilver: Good pick.

nrakich: Yeah, Pence has led almost every 2024 poll so far that hasnt included Trump. It goes back to what I said earlier about name recognition a lot of the time, the early front-runner wins and you dont have to overthink it.;;

geoffrey.skelley: Pence was my No. 2 pick for these reasons. Plus, vice presidents who run for the presidency have a pretty good history of winning nominations! Think of Joe Biden, Al Gore, George H.W. Bush, Walter Mondale. As Nathaniel wrote back in 2019, its often been a successful stepping stone to the presidency.

alex: Not bad, Sarah! But to play devils advocate: If Trump doesnt run, but the GOP is still the party of Trump in 2022 or 2024, would someone who didnt overturn the election go far?

sarah: Excellent point, Alex, which brings me to my second pick. Pence isnt the most charismatic, and as has been pointed out, the idea that the GOP moves in a more moderate direction might not be the direction the party is interested in heading in. And while I know some like Geoffrey are convinced that Trump is gonna pull a Cleveland and run again as I said up top, I dont buy it I think Republicans are going to be OK with someone else at the top of the ticket as long as they stick to Trumps agenda. And if Im right, who better than Trumps eldest son, the heir apparent?

Its grievance politics 2.0 that maybe has the potential to win back Republicans in the suburbs.

geoffrey.skelley: Oh man. DJTJ?

Also Check: What Percentage Of Republicans Are White

Dire Rhetoric Used To Describe Democratic Political Opponents Whats At Stake In Country

During the second impeachment trial, the core of the House impeachment managersâ case was this: Trumpâs extreme rhetoric about the presidential election being âriggedâ incited a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Every Democratic senator and seven Republican senators bought the argument, voting to convict Trump. In both the House and Senate, even Republicans who did not vote to impeach or convict Trump, respectively, criticized his rhetoric and actions surrounding the election.

But at CPAC, while there were few mentions of Jan. 6, several speakersâ rhetoric was similarly inflammatory as they described political opponents in extreme terms and painted a dire picture of a nation led by Democrats.

During his speech, freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., delivered a line eerily similar to one Trump gave on Jan. 6, when the former president said, âIf you donât fight like hell, youâre not going to have a country anymore.â

âIf we sit on the sidelines, we will not have a country to inherit. If we do not get involved and say that it is our duty to make sure that our country is responsible, that our country doesnât take away our liberties, then my friends, we will lose this nation,â Cawthorn said. âThe Democrats, my opponents and adversaries on the other side are brutal and vicious and they are trying to take away all of our rights.â

Democrats Weigh Next Options As Senate Republicans Filibuster Voting Rights Bill

They dont even want to debate it because theyre afraid. They want to deny the right to vote, make it harder to vote for so many Americans, and they dont want to talk about it, Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Tuesday. There is a rot a rot at the center of the modern Republican party. Donald Trumps big lie has spread like a cancer and threatens to envelop one of Americas major political parties.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been tasked by the White House to work on voting rights, presided over the Tuesday debate in the Senate.

The legislation is cosponsored by 49 Democratic members of the Senate. The one holdout, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said Tuesday hed vote to begin debate after receiving assurances that the Senate would consider a compromise version that he has said he can support.

Today I will vote YES to move to debate this updated voting legislation as a substitute amendment to ensure every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and participate in our great democracy, Manchin said in a statement, while adding that he doesnt support the bill as written.

Well keep talking, he said after the vote. You cant give up. You really cant.

Schumer said the vote was the starting gun, not the finish line in the battle over ballot access and vowed that Democrats will not let it die.

He told reporters on Tuesday that the state-led system held up well in the 2020 election.

It has been rejected by top Republicans as a nonstarter.

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[wipdfic]

Crystal’s Call (Revision)

So a loooong time ago, I did the Paper Legends Merlin Big Bang and started this series. I participated for two years and then decided I could finish the third and final part of the story without the aid of a timed challenge. Ah, how young and naive I was. Anyway, I basically never got around to it, but keep creeping towards the goal in the form of editing the existing story hoping to get back into it. I kind of fell off the Merlin fandom after that series ending. 

Anyway, I’ve managed to edit the first story and post it successfully. That was like…2 years ago. I’ve finished most of the edit for the second story and once that’s done I’m going to start on the last part. That’s the plan anyway. The first part is posted to AO3 here. The second part is also posted, but I’ll be posting the cleaned up revised chapters to this blog until it’s all done. Weee!

Chapter 1

“Fang Two to Fang Leader. We have visual. Target is on second level with three others. AE levels positive on all spectra ranging from red to amber.”

Arthur’s jaw clenched as he heard the confirmation, pulse increasing in anticipation. He sat monitoring communications from their make-shift command center in a van a couple of blocks away from the building they were surveilling. This could finally be the break they’d been waiting for. The man they were tracking, Alvarr, was a known associate of Morgause Gorlois, and the closest thing they had to a lead on Morgana’s whereabouts. Six months had passed since the two women had vanished from the grounds of Arthur’s university. Six months of searching and praying, knowing that every moment that Morgana was missing made it all the more likely that she would never be found. Morgause had gone to ground, and she was not making herself easy to find.

Arthur quickly took note of the information that had been given, mind working on the best way to approach the situation. They would be dealing with four sorcerers. Four relatively powerful sorcerers if the Arcane Energy levels were accurate. It was rare enough to find sorcerers with enough magic to even register on their aurameters anymore, and those who did were usually in the weaker end of the spectrum; red, occasionally orange, but almost never anything brighter. Before meeting Merlin, Arthur hadn’t even known that sorcerers could register in the white-gold range reserved for magic in its purest form, and he was pretty sure that Merlin was the only living soul who had come by that much power through natural means.

In the wake of the continued depletion of magic in the world, seeing an AE reading of amber or brighter meant augmentation of some kind. For the general public, PendraCor enhancers were becoming more and more common, the public unaware of their sinister origins. But on the streets, in darker circles that would rather avoid supporting the likes of Uther Pendragon, another form of augmentation had begun cropping up. Tales of magic theft were becoming more and more common, and with four sorcerers with that much power, Arthur had a sinking suspicion that they were in for more than just a snatch and grab on this one.

Arthur shared a look with Leon and knew that his commanding officer had drawn the same conclusion. They were more likely than not looking at a ‘Charging Station’, the euphemism used to describe the places were magic was stolen from some in order to “charge up” others. This meant not only facing stronger sorcerers, but also the likelihood of civilians in peril. They’d come across places like this a couple of times before and learned some valuable lessons. Like the fact that stolen magic was more unstable, less predictable, and generally harder for its wielder to control. Between this and the potential victims underfoot, they would have to tread very carefully.

“Signs of shields or wards?” Leon asked Lance over the comm.

“Affirmative. Can’t get a read on how strong, but the building schematics show that there is a basement and subbasement level, and I can’t get anything from those areas. Only one of our sensors is picking up anything at all.”

Translation: Their standard issue equipment wasn’t cutting it so Lance had pulled out the “trick” equipment that Arthur had provided him; equipment that had appeared in Arthur’s room one morning with no indication of where it had come from, but had a warm familiar tingle that pulled at his heart and a spot just beyond his navel. That feeling had been answer enough and reason enough for Arthur to know the equipment could be trusted.

He’d received a few such deliveries over the past several months, all with the same familiar warmth. But despite knowing that Merlin was the source, he’d never heard from the man himself. He didn’t know how Merlin knew that his team would need the help; didn’t know why the other man made no attempts to contact him, but he was grateful. Especially now when it looked like Merlin’s gifts would make all the difference in whether or not they’d be able to attain their objective and get one step closer to getting Morgana back.

The van that was serving as their command center was silent as Leon considered their options. As much as he hated to admit it, Arthur was glad that it was not up to him to make the decision in this situation. It had been one thing to lead a team through drills and mock combat scenarios, even some of the simpler recon missions, but this was different. Lives were at stake. His team’s lives, the lives of the people who were likely held prisoner in that building. Morgana’s. Much as there was part of him that wanted to be the one to bring these bastards to justice, he lacked the proper experience to pull off an operation of this magnitude. He was man enough to admit that.

“Alright Arthur, break it down. What are our considerations?” Arthur started slightly at being addressed. Leon did this often, but he wasn’t expecting a command drill on a mission like this. He wasted a precious few seconds blinking in confusion.

“You have less than a minute, soldier. Considerations!” That snapped Arthur’s brain and mouth into gear.

“Four sorcerers on the second level. Heavy shielding on the lower levels. Target is in sight, but we don’t know what reinforcements might be in the lower levels. If we go in, we’ll be going in blind. The entire building is probably shielded so we’ll have to find a way through the shield first. We need this target alive and there are likely civilians. We don’t want to use lethal force. Stun charges, shock grenades. Inhibitor rounds if we have to.”

“Suggested course of action?”

Arthur paused at this. What would be the best way to get in and out with as little risk as possible? Surprise was their best advantage at this point. There was no indication that the people in the building were at all aware that their location had been compromised. But with shields and wards, anyone with magic in the building would be alerted as soon as the team got close enough. They had to be careful how they played this.

“We need to get past the shields. We have a couple of tricks for shield cracking, but the target will be alerted as soon as we use them. We’d have to move fast.”

“Strike points?”

“We split the team. Half goes high, half goes low. We hit both the upper and lower levels at the same time. Break the shields and break in. Speed and surprise will be our edge.”

“Good, Arthur. You’re getting better at calling these things. You matched my thoughts almost exactly with the exception of a few details.”

Rather than explaining further, Leon puled his facemask down hiding all features and activating the AE goggles built into the mask. That was Arthur’s cue to do the same. He followed Leon out of the van even as the older man began issuing orders to the team.

“Listen up Dragons, here’s the play. We’re going in fast and hard. Bravo and Charlie will take the high ground. Alpha and Delta go low. Delta, you’re out back, Fang One and I will come in through the front. Echo will split and take Over-watch. Make sure no one gets out of that building. Fang Three, I know you’ve got some tricks up your sleeve. You’re to hit the second level shield first, long distance, and get in the moment the shield is down. We’ll wait for your signal before attacking the shield on the first level. With any luck, anyone downstairs will be distracted enough from the first attack that they won’t see us coming. Confirm.”

Arthur listened as each member of the team checked in to confirm that they understood their role in the mission, counting down from Fang Nine. Arthur was last to add his confirmation after which Leon gave a firm nod.

“Alright then gentlemen. Take your positions. We go live in five.”

Even as the order was being given, Arthur was reaching into one of the many pockets in his strike gear to find the small satchel of Merlin’s gifts. There were not many; a few very special bullets, a personal shielding device, a few emergency teleportation beads, a pair of spelled handcuffs that could bind magic, and some very special coins designed as protection for sorcerers who might need to hide. And, of course the shield-cracker. He’d received four in total, little glass marbles that had a core of light at their center when closely observed. He handed three out to his men from Camelot University; the junior division of the Dragon Corps that he had been responsible for training. They were friends and brothers all, and though he did keep some of the special item for himself, he did his best to make sure the advantage was shared out to the entire unit. Well…almost the entire until.

Although there had only been rare occasions when the trick tech came into play, the other members of the Dragon Corps, those who had trained under Leon away from the university and had never been under Arthur’s command, were aware that Arthur had some slightly different tools at his disposal, but he’d never shared the source of said tools. They assumed that he had access to improved technomancy through his father, and Arthur never made any attempt to dissuade them of that assumption. Leon was the only one he had told, as his commanding officer and someone who was like a brother to him, and Leon had made the call to keep the origin of the enhanced devices under wraps for the time being.

Arthur palmed the little ball of light in preparation for their attack. Most of the team had already checked in that they were in position. There was only a bit of roof hopping to be made for most of the unit, the biggest shift probably being for the two men of Echo Team to get into Over-watch positions. Arthur was with Leon, moving out of the covered alley where their van was hidden, sticking to the shadows as they made their way to the building on foot. It was only a block away and took them seconds to get into position in an alley across the street. Final checks came in. The team was in position. Leon gave the order, (“Fang Three, if you would”) and everything went, immediately, sideways.

The moment the shield cracker made contact with the shield, Arthur knew. He and Leon were already rushing forwards, but even as they did he could tell that something was wrong. It was a feeling that he recognized, had experienced a few times. Magic building too fast with unpredictable and often disastrous results. He was never sure why it was that he could feel it the way he could. It hadn’t taken him long when growing up to understand that it wasn’t something that everyone could feel, especially those without magic, but he had learned to use it as a tool; was particularly grateful for it in times like this.

“Brace!” he shouted over the comm, grabbing Leon and pulling him to the ground just before the power broke. Arthur felt it as a steadily growing pressure in the air, tingling over his nerves. But with this kind of power, there were other effects on their surroundings. He could feel a low thrum moving through the ground, almost a sound, but not quite. The world went silent just before a brilliant flash of light as the shield shattered, taking every window in the building with it.

“Fucking shite!” someone shouted over the comm as the blast receded. Glass was raining down into the street and Arthur was grateful, not for the first time, for the thick material that protected every inch of his body. Leon was shouting over the comm for the team to Go! Go! Go! He heard the confirmation that Bravo and Charlie were in. He and Leon were steps away from the main entrance, the doors looking as though they were barely hanging on. Arthur pocketed the other shield cracker seeing as they wouldn’t need it after all, took hold of his assault rifle and prepared as best he could for what was to come.

He sprinted for the entrance, hot on Leon’s heels as the team fed terse updates over their channel. The sorcerers had scattered the moment they saw the team of masked men swing through the shattered windows. As Arthur and Leon neared the main door, Owaine’s cheery voice offered over the comm: “Allow me, lads” just before the lock on the door was shot clean through. That was all it took for the doors to finally give in and fall completely from their hinges. Impressed as he was, Arthur kept it to himself, instead focusing on getting in and making sure their target didn’t escape.

He entered the building behind Leon, eyes and gun scanning the area for threats. There were a couple of figures on the floor, dazed from the unleashing of power and making little effort to get back to their feet. From the looks of them, they were in no shape to be putting up much of a defense; bodies thin and clothes tattered. He wasn’t picking up any AE fields from them through his goggles, but he could see Marks on at least one other, the seals of magic that formed when a sorcerer came of age, indicating that there were other sorcerers amongst the people hiding in this building other than the four on the upper levels.

“Stay down and do not move,” Leon commanded, sweeping the room with his weapon. “The authorities will be here shortly. We have no desire to harm you.”

Even as the words were spoken, there was the sound of heavy footsteps from above, loud thumps and sounds of magic and weapons fire being exchanged. Arthur could hear what was happening over his comm. The sorcerers had scattered. The team had lost track of one of them, but their primary target was still in sight. Percival had taken a hit, two of the sorcerers were down. Alvarr was trying to make his escape.

All of this had happened in a matter of seconds. Delta Team was just making it into the front section of the building when Arthur felt a familiar tingle which was the only warning they got before they were attacked from above.

“Down!” Arthur shouted, just as a barrage of glass shards peppered the space where he and Leon had been standing. Tristan and Gareth fell back into a rear room and he knew that they were seeking out the attackers, same as he was, same as Leon. The woman was making her way across a landing that would lead to the stairs to the front exit. Arthur knew that even if she made it that far, Owain would see to it that she didn’t get any further, but Arthur had no intention of allowing her even that much. He rolled to a kneeling position, ignoring the sting of cuts from glass that had made it through his armor as he raised his rifle, loaded with shock-charge rounds; bullets augmented by magic to disintegrate once ignited and stun a target without inflicting a wound. They had the added bonus of temporarily scrambling a sorcerer’s magic.

He didn’t have a chance to even attempt a shot, however, because the moment he moved, the woman was on him, raising a had with fingers curled into a claw. He felt the hold of her magic as it lifted him and flung him across the room. He managed to turn his body midair to prevent a head-first impact with a wall, but he knew that his shoulder would be smarting for a while after taking the brunt of his weight when he crashed. There was a small battle waged against the woman in the front of the building, magic buzzing through the air. She was clearly a formidable opponent, but the outcome was clear. Even she had to know that she was hopelessly outnumbered.

There was something wrong with this picture.

Arthur chose not to make his way into the fray, staying down for a moment as he tried to figure out what it was he was missing. The outcome of this mission was clearly falling in their favor. They would be shutting down another magic-theft facility and taking in a group of criminals. That was what they were here for wasn’t it? To take down a circle of…

…the slight brush of magic tingling over his skin was what gave it away. Arthur would have completely missed it if not for the advantage his sensitivity gave him and the fact that he had a good amount of experience with just the spell that was at play. He thought of it as the “Ignore Me” spell, because that is essentially what it was. Subtle, careful magic that relied largely on misdirection and only marginally on magic at all.

In this case, it was allowing their target to make his escape. It was at this point that Arthur realized that the comm had been silent for far too long.

“Does anyone have eyes on the target?” he snapped into his receiver. He was greeted by silence. Great. Something had taken down their comms. Radio silence would make this operation much easier.

He pulled himself to his feet as carefully and quietly as he could, thinking through the schematics of the building that he had memorized and trying to predict where Alvarr would go if he were attempting to make a quiet escape. The two main entrances were blocked, and there weren’t any other easy ways out, unless he planned to climb through jagged windows.

Arthur was a bit stumped until he realized something else. The sounds of fighting were moving closer and closer to the front of the building, leaving the back door largely ignored. He could not have asked for a more blatant declaration of intent. Making his way to the back of the building, he reached a small kitchen with a door leading to an alley behind the building where the dumpsters were kept. It was here that Arthur confronted Alvarr Quaid strolling towards the exit, calm as could be.

Arthur didn’t bother will calling out a warning to the man. He had no delusions that the sorcerer would surrender to him willingly, so he took the only logical course of action. He fired. Of course, as it turned out, Alvarr was the most powerful of the sorcerers present, made clear when he lifted a hand and deflected the stun-charge away with a shield that shone amber through the eyes of his AE goggles. Arthur dropped his rifle and pulled his handgun instead. It was loaded with inhibitor rounds; bullets for binding.

Static sounded in his ear for a moment before the radio chatter returned. Arthur could only assume that Alvarr had been the source of the disruption and had dropped the spell in favor of defending himself. He was a wise man. He would need all the help he could get if he thought Arthur would let him walk away from this.

“Step away from the door,” he ordered with a steady voice and steady hand.

“Or what?” Alvarr sneered. “You’ll shoot me? Go ahead. I’d rather die than become further fuel for Uther’s war against my kind.”

He didn’t bother repeating himself, choosing to fire instead. The command had been more for his team’s benefit anyway, informing the others that they were being misled. Alvarr returned the attack in kind, raising a shield and sending a blast of magic at him as the bullet deflected. Arthur dodged, diving to the left and rolling into a kneeled position, gun up and firing. He could hear the others responding, footfalls coming his way, but they were not coming fast enough. He wasn’t counting on the others however. He was counting on their Over-watch doing their job. All Arthur needed to do was keep Alvarr’s attention focused on what was happening inside the house to keep him from thinking about what was outside. He fired a couple more rounds at the man as he made his way for the door again, and just as Leon and Gwaine came rushing into the kitchen, a single shot was fired and Alvarr hit the ground with a startled cry. Arthur was there not a moment later with his binding cuffs, ensuring that there would be no further use of magic from the sorcerer.

“Target acquired,” Arthur announced over the comm. “Nice shot, Fang Nine.”

“Easy pickings, your highness.”

Arthur scowled at the nickname but kept his focus on the task at hand. Now that they had Alvarr, they needed to get him back to their transport and then get out of there. Fast.

“Dragon’s rendezvous at the back exit on level one. We’re getting out of–”

Before Leon could complete the command, there it was again, the feel of magic charging the air. Arthur didn’t have a chance to issue a warning before they were hit by a wall of power that shoved them all down and away. Arthur pulled his rifle up and fired a round in the direction the attack had come from, quick to pursue when he heard the sound of stumbling coming from the hall.

“Fang Three, cover!” Leon snapped, sending Gwaine after Arthur as they chased their assailant. It had taken maybe five minutes or less for the operation from start to finish, though with all that had happened, it felt like hours. In the aftermath of so much violence it was almost disturbing how quiet the building was now. The stumbling sounds that Arthur had been following seemed to be absorbed by the silence, leaving the lower level of the building dark and too quiet for his liking.

Arthur could hear his own breathing, and the oh-so-quiet shift of his feet as he took another step, but there was something else. He stepped forward, Gwaine at his back, moving along a wall towards what appeared to be a hallway. He pulled a small torch from his pocket and positioned it high while crouching low. He turned the corner and flipped the torch on in one swift movement, only to find an empty hallway and several doors to greet him. But wait… There was that sound again. Just for a brief moment. Like…shifting or breathing. He couldn’t quite place it.

There was something there, though. He could feel it as a slight tingle in the air. Someone was hiding. Someone with magic they had recently used.

“Fang One, report,” Leon’s voice spoke in his ear. It had been a good chunk of radio silence since he’d set off to follow the potential threat, but they were low on time. They needed to vanish very soon.

“Standby,” he returned, taking a couple of strides to the second door in the hallway. He felt Gwaine come up behind him as he reached the door, a reassuring presence at his back. He glanced over his shoulder, and wordlessly, the other man pulled out a torch of his own and raised his weapon at the door. Arthur lifted a hand with three fingers raise, and began counting down. When he got to one, he yanked the door open, aiming his light, along with Gwaine’s, into the opening.

There was a scream, a tangle of dirty limbs, then broken sobbing mixed with pleas.

“He didn’t mean it! Please! He didn’t know! He was just trying to protect me; to get us out! Just let us go! Please…”

The door had led to a supply closet of sorts, filled with buckets and towels and other cleaning tools. But huddled on the floor of the closet was a girl, pale with long dark hair, no older than sixteen. She was clutching the largely unresponsive body of a boy, similarly pale and dark-haired but several years younger, maybe twelve or thirteen. Children. Both thin and filthy, and the girl at least, was clearly terrified. Arthur was left reeling and feeling more than a little ill. Children. He’d fired on children.

Arthur turned to Gwaine. He could imagine the look on the other man’s face under the mask. Things just got a bit more complicated.

“We should go,” Gwaine said into the quiet of the building. It was the obvious course of action. They didn’t have much time before the local fuzz arrived, and every moment wasted was one moment closer to ruining their mission. Arthur didn’t know these children, had no obligation to do anything for them. But he had fired on children who, while not defenseless, were clearly terrified. He’d seen what was done to others with magic in places like these; the sick depravity of those so desperate to hold on to what was being lost that they turned to the most vulnerable of their kind to take what did not belong to them. Arthur would not abandon these children to that fate. He couldn’t.

Without another thought, he knelt beside the hysterical girl, puling off a glove and touching her hair in a calming manner.

“Fang One,” Gwaine warned.

“Join the others,” Arthur hissed at him. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Like hell I will,” came the predictable response, leaving Arthur with even less time to do what he wanted to do.

“Hey,” he said in a soothing voice to the girl who had finally calmed some. “Hey, we’re not going to hurt you. We’re here to help.”

“You’re taking them away?”

Arthur assumed she was referring to the other sorcerers who were likely responsible for the theft of magic that was clearly taking place.

“We are. They can’t hurt you anymore. What’re your names?” Arthur gestured at the still-dazed boy.

“I’m Freya,” she said. “And he’s Mordred.”

Arthur nodded and reached into another pocket of his gear.

“We haven’t all day, Fang One.” Leon’s voice was insistent in his ear. “What’s the bloody hold up?!”

“Copy Fang Leader. We’ll rejoin you shortly.” He switched the receiver off again so that his voice didn’t carry to the entire unit.

“Freya, I’m going to give you something, okay? It’s a gift from a friend of mine, designed for people like you and Mordred; to keep you safe.”

He held out his hand and offered her two gold coins. She eyed him warily as she took them, examining each closely in the dim light from their torches.

“Feed a bit of your power into the charm and it will conceal your magic from anyone looking to take it from you.”

Freya looked doubtful, but she closed her hands around the coins before looking up at him. “Why are you helping us? Why would you care?”

Arthur was caught a bit flatfooted by the question. The situation was far more complicated than he even wanted to think about, let alone attempt to explain to a scared teen. “I have a very good friend who would be cross with me if I left you two without helping,” he said, smiling behind the mask at the thought of what Merlin would actually do to him if he’d turned his back on these children. ‘Cross’ was a bit of an understatement.

He also pulled a card from his pocket, handing it to her.

“If you need a safe place to stay, go to this address. You’ll find friends there.”

“We really have to go now,” Gwaine was pulling on his shoulder firmly and Arthur finally gave in. He could hear the sirens approaching. He was halted suddenly by an icy grip clamping onto his bare wrist and holding him in place. The boy’s magic was like orange mist through the goggles and it crawled over Arthur’s skin like a current of electricity, immediately calling Arthur’s attention to Mordred. Mordred, with eyes far older than his physical age, watching and seeing and knowing Arthur in ways that were too disturbing to think on properly.

“She said you would come,” he said; voice a whisper, a breath. “She said you would come, and that you would know. Follow the snake that circles the world. It will lead you to her. She will be waiting.”

The grip released and Arthur stumbled. If his nerves had been crawling before, they were full well sprinting now, climbing over each other in an attempt to escape the feeling of the boy’s magic as it lifted from him, fading like mist in the wind. Mordred lay still in Freya’s arms, as if the encounter had not happened at all. Arthur was beginning to think that he had imagined the whole thing. Then Mordred’s eyes opened and locked with his, a single word forcing its way into his thoughts.

Go.

Gwaine was pulling him and Arthur was running. The sorcerers had already been bound and loaded into the team’s vans, and the rest of the Dragons were loaded and waiting. As they hurried towards the exit, something caught Arthur’s eye in the debris left after their operation. A bit of stone that was giving off strange readings through his goggles. He wasn’t sure why he paused to grab it. It was likely just a bit of masonry laced with residual power from the explosion. Nothing unheard of. But something about it…

He pocketed the stone and joined the rest of his team in the command van. They pulled smoothly into the back alleys as sirens finally screeched to halt at the front of the building. There would be no trace of the Dragons left, aside from the chaos and missing sorcerers. Their target had been acquired, and Arthur was fairly certain that he’d received a message from Morgana through young Mordred. All things considered, he felt that their evening had gone rather well.

Wait for me, Morgana, he thought, working his thumb over the odd bit of stone. I’m coming. I’ll find you.