#George Lucas compares him to the devil for a reason

[cptsd-skywalker]

@ those people who consider Anakin to be just as bad or worse than Palpatine, are you ok? Like is everything alright up there? Got to be one of the most out there takes I’ve ever heard.

[ilummoss]

@nilhenwen​ made some nice commentary in a reblog on my Luminara post, but that post is already such a monster that I’m making new post instead xD.

I’m a big Luminara fan and I’m hoping to mine all of this wonderful analysis in my next fic.

I think she’s a badass who just knows how to get things done and CRUCIALLY, when Filoni is showing her dealing with the possible loss of Barriss it’s meant to be showing a contrast for Anakin’s entirely emotional and attached response. Luminara feels it just as much as he does, she just doesn’t succumb to it. His succumbing here means the Padawans get saved. Which could be Filoni’s way of also showing that Luminara’s attempts at avoiding attachment are also flawed and often dangerous.

Balance innit?

(💚 Fellow Luminara fans unite!! \^o^/ 💚)

I definitely think Anakin and Luminara’s reactions are meant to be contrasted and compared in this episode, and neither is perfect in their way of dealing with this.

But going off Lucas quotes I don’t get the impression that attachment is something one should strive for balance in, but rather something to avoid. Like attachment is pretty consistently connected to bad things, when Lucas is talking about it.

The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, page 213: “No human can let go,” Lucas would say of [the Yoda-Anakin scene]. “It’s very hard. Ultimately, we do let go because it’s inevitable; you do die and you do lose your loved ones. But while you’re alive, you can’t be obsessed with holding on. As Yoda says in this one, ‘You must learn to let go of everything you’re afraid to let go of.’ Because holding on is in the same category and the precursor to greed. And that’s what a Sith is. A Sith is somebody that is absolutely obsessed with gaining more and more power - but for what? Nothing, except that it becomes an obsession to get more.”

“The Jedi are trained to let go. They’re trained from birth,” he continues, “They’re not supposed to form attachments. They can love people- in fact, they should love everybody. They should love their enemies; they should love the Sith. But they can’t form attachments. So what all these movies are about is: greed. Greed is a source of pain and suffering for everybody. And the ultimate state of greed is the desire to cheat death.”

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones commentary track, George Lucas: “The fact that everything must change and that things come and go through his life and that he can’t hold onto things, which is a basic Jedi philosophy that he isn’t willing to accept emotionally and the reason that is because he was raised by his mother rather than the Jedi. If he’d have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn’t have this particular connection as strong as it is and he’d have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them.   

“But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation. And it feeds into fear of losing things, which feeds into greed, wanting to keep things, wanting to keep his possessions and things that he should be letting go of. His fear of losing her turns to anger at losing her, which ultimately turns to revenge in wiping out the village. The scene with the Tusken Raiders is the first scene that ultimately takes him on the road to the dark side. I mean he’s been prepping for this, but that’s the one where he’s sort of doing something that is completely inappropriate.“

So I don’t really vibe with the view of balance in attachment. Or rather, balance is on the non-attached end of the spectrum. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a healthy or good attachment. Attachment is when it becomes bad. “The shadow of greed” as Yoda says. (Others are of course allowed their own interpretations though.)

I know Filoni talks about attachment in a comment of his I’ve seen concerning this episode, but I also to some extent kinda disagree with his take-away there. For example, in that commentary Filoni talked about Anakin’s “way of stronger compassion”, and that’s not really something I see here. He has little compassion for Luminara after their first post-factory explosion interaction and is instead angry and lashing out at her. His tone when talking about how Ahsoka will survive is dark, almost threatening. I don’t see compassion there either, it’s about attachment, his inability to let go. Overall I don’t feel like Filoni’s comments fully matches what I see in the episode, (and as they were made years later, in a greater interview, that might not be super strange?). 

I think me and Filoni just might not fully agree in our view on Luminara, and that’s okay. The material is out there and open to different interpretations. Lucas is the only Word of God I bow to completely xD (and people don’t have to accept Lucas either).

Anakin’s refusal to let go gives him a focus here that yields results, but there are warning bells that things could have gone pretty wrong if they were unable to save the padawans. Even during the rescue he starts low-key lashing out at Luminara, and he keeps ascribing himself an agency he just doesn’t actually have when it comes to Ahsoka’s life and death: “I refuse to let Ahsoka die”. 

Now, Luminara’s way of dealing with the pain of possible loss isn’t perfect either. She seems to be without much hope for the possibility of saving them initially. 

But Luminara also only despairs as to whether save the padawans is possible in the first few moments after the weapon’s factory collapses. After Anakin insist that they still have a shot, she gets up and does this little face:

That short, soft smile of appreciation is first of all proof no. 476 in this episode that Luminara Unduli really likes Anakin Skywalker. But after this moment Luminara appears just as active in the search for the padawans as Anakin. She seems to have drawn strength from his refusal to give up. (Anakin however keeps on accusing her of having given up, an accusation she’s even angered by the second time around, and he’s all round going darker and darker as the rescue work continues.)

Luminara could use some of Anakin’s fighting spirit (a quality in both him and Ahsoka that she seems to appreciate). I don’t think what Luminara needs is to grow attached though. It might be one way of going about having that fighting spirit, but I think there are other ways as well, ones with far less risk of collateral damage or making deals with the devil himself to stop death (goddammit Anakin!!!).

Now, I usually don’t use a lot of Legends in my examples (I’m a nu!EU adherent xD), but Yoda: Dark Rendezvous has a passage that I really like and that popped into my head writing this. 

“Teach me about pain, think you can?” Yoda said softly. “Think the old Master cannot care, mmm? Forgotten who I am, have you? Old am I, yes. Mm. Loved more than you, have I, Padawan. Lost more. Hated more. Killed more.” The green eyes narrowed to gleaming slits under heavy lids. Dragon eyes, old and terrible. “Think wisdom comes at no cost? The dark side, yes - it is easier for them. The pain grows too great, and they eat the darkness to flee from it. Not Yoda. Yoda loves and suffers for it, loves and suffers.”

(...)

life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

Love and suffer. Face the risk of loss, hope in spite of it that you can save those people in danger and fully accept the loss and let go if it comes to it. Then keep hoping the next time.

[shoutatthadevil]

Watch "devils knot" on Netflix, I believe the WM3 are innocent

Thanks but I don’t need to. I’ve seen all three paradise lost documentaries and once believed they were innocent too. However like most documentaries, it was biased, and left out incredible amounts of evidence that did not go along with what they were trying to prove (their innocence). Let’s look at that evidence. This first section is taken from Reddit user luckyballandchain. Everything he posts is sourced straight from court documents and evidence:

No substantial evidence? Excuse me

Damien has never come up with an Alibi for where he was during the murders. Well, actually he has, per Damien: > “At the time the police say the murders took place I was actually on the phone with three different people. The problem was, my attorneys never called them to the stand.” - Damien Echols (source)

Really? Lets examine these three (actually four) other peoples testimony, shall we? Do they exonerate him like he suggests? In a word, no. They weren’t called because they exposed Damien’s alibi for the total lie it was.

Holly George - Damien claimed he talked to Holly George on May 5th, 1993. Holly told police she didn’t talk to Damien that evening. She said she spoke with him much earlier in the afternoon, around 3:00pm or 4:00pm. (source)

Heather Cliett - Damien claimed he spoke with Heather Cliett on the evening of May 5th, 1993. Cliett said she’d been unable to reach Echols until 10:30pm. She also mentioned that Holly George told her that Echols had been “out walking around” on May 5th, 1993. (source)

Domini Teer - Damien’s girlfriend, Domini Teer, said she last saw Damien around 5:00-5:30pm on May 5th, 1993. She said she did not speak with him again until Damien called her around 10:00pm that night. (source)

Jennifer Bearden - The one Damien misses out because it’s most damaging. Bearden told police in a 9/10/93 statement that she called Jason’s house between 4:15pm and 5:30pm on May 5th, 1993. She says Jason answered the phone and she talked to Jason and Damien for about 20 minutes. Damien told her he and Jason were “going somewhere” and to call him back at 8:00pm. When Bearden called Damien’s house at 8:00pm his grandmother answered. Damien’s grandmother told Bearden that Damien “wasn’t there.” In her police statement, Bearden says she finally reached Damien around 9:20pm. (source)

So where were Damien and co for four to five hours that happen to coincide with the time of the murders? Well we don’t know. Damien told Jennifer that Jason’s mom had driven them somewhere… which was a lie because she was at work til 11pm (source). It’s strange that he can’t come up with an alibi that holds up isn’t it? Surely if he’s innocent, he just needs to tell us where he was? So why doesn’t he?

Jessie Misskelley has no alibi either. I know, you’re about to say he was in a karate tournament, but he wasn’t. The so-called photos depict a different event a month prior, and the “witnesses” all gave conflicting testimony. This alibi only emerged after a previous alibi (he was at a party with 12 other people) fell apart (source)

And nor does Jason Baldwin, after an attempt to get his brother and a friend (Ken Watkins) to lie for him, he stopped trying to construct one; to the point that in 2008 his lawyer stood up in court and said he couldn’t find a reliable alibi witness for Jason. (source). It’s really weird that three totally innocent men all tried to fabricate alibis for the same period of time that just happens to correspond with a murder they’re suspected of. Really weird that.

Blue wax found on the bodies matched wax found in Damien’s room and a candle belonging to his girlfriend (Photo of candle taken during search)

The Knife - multiple people testified it was Damien’s knife, including his ex-girlfriend Deanna Holcomb (source). She said Damien’s knife stood out because it had a compass, and the knife manufacturer testified that the knife found was missing a compass (source)

But it doesn’t end there. The so called “bitemark” on Stevie Branch (photo) perfectly matches the diameter of the compass slot, complete with central wound for the pin (picture of knife with compass to compare). It’s shocking that an innocent man’s knife would match not just the knife wounds, but other contusions on the body too.

A necklace was found (too late to be included in trial evidence) in Damien’s possession that was covered with blood. Tests proved that the DNA on it was consistent with Damien, Jason and… Stevie Branch. (source)

The three boys were tied with three, distinct, unique knots. This usually points to three distinct killers and is almost unheard of in cases involving just one suspect (source)

Paradise Lost claims “there was no blood at the crime scene” which is… wrong. Completely. Here are the Luminol test results. “It lit up like a Christmas tree […] there was a lot of blood there”

Damien was seen, by a family that knew him very well near the crime scene on the night of the murders. The Hollingsworth Family, who correctly described Damien’s clothes, thought they saw him with his girlfriend. They have never retracted this statement and gained nothing by coming forward, except to have their credibility attacked again and again by WM3 researchers looking to discount their sighting. Despite this, one of the key reasons Narlene Hollingsworth was called to testify was her reputation for brutal honesty, even when it came to her own children. (more info on The Hollingsworth Sighting)

Green Fibres found at the crime scene matched a shirt in Damien’s home (source). Red fibres that the police suspected were from a bathrobe in Misskelley’s home but stressed that they couldn’t match them, were retested by the defense in 2008 and found not to match. It’s odd that they would retest the fibres known to not be a match, but not the ones that were a match, isn’t it? What’s even odder is that they neglected to mention that owing to evidence decay, most crime labs refused to retest for the defense, saying that after all this time they would have decayed too much and that “any findings, would be deeply suspect - no matter which side they favored”. Odd that they forgot to mention this.

Damien is a liar. Straight up. He lies to his supporters to make his innocence seem more compelling and lies to make himself seem more of a martyr. A few examples:

“I lived 15 miles away from West Memphis and the crime scene” (2010 interview, Larry King interview). He lived in a trailer park in West Memphis, less than two miles away from the crime scene.“I never went to West Memphis… Hardly at all” (2010 interview). He was known for walking around West Memphis constantly, and testified in 1994: “I walk around frequently… there’s not much to do”“I wasn’t familiar with Robin Hood Hills before the murders… it was a residential area, and I only went to West Memphis to go to Walmart and stuff” (2010). In 1994, in response to the question “how often do you go to Robin Hood Hills?” Damien responded “two, three times a week? Probably more”.He literally agreed with the prosecutor on the stand that he was moving events around depending on what time he needed to cover. You see him cover for this in Paradise Lost by saying he was “Daydreaming”In his book “Almost Home” Damien claims he “barely” knew Jessie Misskelley. The testimony of Domini Teer, Jim McNease, Jason Crosby, Deanna Holcomb, and about 15 others testifies to a friendship between the two, with everyone mentioning them walking around town together, attending events, turning up at people’s houses together and so on. It’s a total lie, and a poor one.Claimed Marc Gardner “raped” him in prison. He later retracted the whole thing after investigation proved he hadn’t. The prison at the time said he retracted the claims after he was told a report would be published that called him “a manipulative pathological liar”. He was concerned about the effect this would have on his supporters.Claims his mom and sister never visited him in prison (“maybe one or two times… but not often.. my sister only came twice and stopped coming after”). Prison records prove he’s lying and that his mother visited weekly, while his sister came fortnightly or once a month when she was busy.He told Piers Morgan that the prison forced him to “eat with his hands”. “I had to learn to use a fork again”, a claim that is demonstrably bullshit.Odd that an innocent man lies enough to be called a “manipulative pathological liar”.

Misskelley and Echols failed their polygraph tests (Echols’ results | Misskelley’s results). Not conclusive, but interesting.

It’s frequently claimed that Jodee Medford and the Softball Girls (the girls who heard Damien brag about the murders) have recanted their stories. They haven’t. It’s based on a misunderstanding of a declaration by Medford’s mother and ascribing her words to Jodee: http://callahan.8k.com/wm3/d_medford_declaration.html

The Confessions - Jessie didn’t confess “once” after hours of questioning. That’s another lie.May 6th 1993 - The day after the murders, Jessie told his friend Buddy Lucas that he’d “hurt some boys” the day before. He then cried and gave Buddy a pair of sneakers (source)May - June 1993 - Jessie is heard crying, praying and apologizing in his room. He would later be diagnosed with PTSD, after witnessing a “traumatic event” that people still think he completely made up.June 3, 1993 - Jessie arrived with his father for questioning and confesses. This is where people imply he was questioned for 12 hours. He wasn’t. He arrived at 10am and confessed at 2:20pm. Only two hours of that time was interrogation (source)June 11, 1993 - Jessie confesses to his attorneys (source)August 19, 1993 - Jessie Misskelley met with his attorney, Dan Stidham, at the Clay County Detention Center and confessed again (source)February 4, 1994 - On the day he was sentenced, Jessie confessed to the officers driving him to the prison (source)February 8, 1994- Jessie put his hand on a Bible and swore to his attorney (Dan Stidham) that he, Damien, and Jason committed the murders. As proof, he told Stidham that he was drunk on Evan Williams whiskey during the murders and the broken bottle could be found where he threw it on the ground under a bridge in West Memphis. Stidham told prosecutors he would be force to believe his client’s confession if he could find that bottle. So Stidham, WMPD, and the prosecutors drove to West Memphis to look for it. They found a broken Evan Williams bottle in the exact area that Jessie said it would be. (source)February 17, 1994 - Jessie confesses again, this time to the prosecutors. His attorneys begged him not to give this confession, but he gave it anyway (source)October 24, 1994 - Jessie’s cell mate wrote to the prosecutors begging him to keep the WM3 in prison, saying Jessie had repeatedly confessed to the crime in detail and describing it as “awful” and “cold”. He had no reason to do this, it was no benefit to him.. he was simply disturbed by the campaign to release the WM3 after what Jessie had said (source)1994 - Present Day - Jessie continued to confess, possibly to prison counselors (heavily rumored and hinted at by his own attorney and said to be the reason Damien Echols fell out with him) but definitely to fans, most notably one known as TrueRomance, who as a result of what Jessie told her switched from one of their most vocal supporters to the total opposite and her story can be read here

Oh let’s finish on my absolute favorite one: Satanic Panic.

Worried that the case would be branded an example of “Satanic Panic” the trial was moved over an hour away to Jonesboro (Echols and Baldwin) and Corning (Misskelley) in order to give the defendants a better shot at seating fair, unbiased juries. All those “damning” stories in the West Memphis papers? The jury never saw them. All those damning rumors? The jury never heard them. The jury was mostly under 30, with very little religious influence (Jonesboro is a college town, and it was thought the younger Jury pool would favor the WM3, to the point that the state was accused of bias against the prosecution…)

During his initial police interview, Echols stated that the killer probably urinated in one or more of the boys’ mouths, apropos of nothing.

Urine was later found in the stomachs of 2 of the victims, but that information was given by phone only to Gitchell, and not before May 16th, 1993. There is no possible way Damien Echols could have had case- specific information unless he was there or knew someone that was that told him what occurred, as the detective interviewing him at the time was clueless to that fact during the interview. At the time Damien mentioned this detail, no one would have known about this, except those directly involved with the crime. Damien attempted to explain this away by saying he was “thinking about what I would have done if I was the killer”.

Source: https://amp.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/4mw5nl/what_case_has_kept_you_up_at_nightdoesnt_sit_well/d41kjxq

The above link contains every source link that’s missing above, I’m just too lazy to source it myself.

Also there is this website, the owner has literally combed through every piece of evidence, read Damiens books, transcribed his interviews, etc

https://thewm3revelations.wordpress.com/author/wm3revelations/

I totally suggest looking through that website. Most people I know who think they are guilty were at one point convinced that they were innocent due to the movies and documentaries. It doesn’t have to change your opinion but you’re doing yourself an injustice by only knowing one side.

[joylee56]

Leaving to Spend More Time With His Family

For Fluffapalooza

Happy Skin Deep Anniversary

“Belle,”  Mrs Lucas shouted across the newsroom.  “Get your butt over here.”

Saving her story notes, Belle grabbed a notebook and headed toward the conference room.  'Granny' Lucas had been working the Congressional and National news beat since her days as a runner during the Nixon era.  Now editor, she tolerated fools badly, reporters who did not nail down their facts not at all, and regarded typos as the work of the devil.

As Belle always got her sources on the record, was good at grammar and made a point of running the spell checker twice, she and Granny got a long very well. Sidney Glass, who had just spent half an hour in conference with Granny and Mulan Fa, one of their investigative reporters, was not so fortunate.  

Belle had little sympathy for Sidney.  He was enraptured with Regina Mills, a high level Republican political consultant.  Which led to him accepting her statements unreservedly.  Not to mention he seemed never to have learned the difference between there, their and they're.

“Two weeks Sidney's been working on why Rumford Gold is stepping down as Senator Blanchard-Nolan's chief political adviser and this is what he turns in.”  Granny tossed some pages at Belle.

Skimming the story it was easy to see why Granny was upset.  It looked like Sidney had simply listed every scandal that might cause a political adviser to quit as possible alternatives without having anything to back up any of them aside from some snide suggestions from an 'anonymous' source who was clearly Regina Mills.  “Well, you can rule out going to work for her opponent.  Aside from the fact that he's been with Mary Margaret since her days on the Storybrooke School Board, nobody I've talked to has heard so much as a rumor about him going to work for another politician let alone that idiot running against her.  And a couple of lobbying firms apparently tried headhunting him and got turned down flat.

“Also I don't buy a sex scandal at all.”  Belle snorted.  “He's divorced.  No reason for anybody to care who he's sleeping with.”

“He's not sleeping with anybody.”  Mulan put in.  “That was the first thing I checked.  If it weren't for the way he flirts with you, I'd guess he was asexual.  But apparently he's just celibate.”

“We do not flirt!” Belle denied.  Did they?  They bantered.  Each trying to get the upper hand.  But that was just been part of the job.  

“Oh, please. There have been press briefings where the rest of us have been ready to take up a collection to get the two of you a room.”  Mulan rolled her eyes.

“We had a completely professional relationship.”  Belle told her primly. Admittedly bantering with Rum was frequently the high point of her week.  Still it was part of her job.

But there was no rule that you could not enjoy your work, right?

“Still you know him better than anyone else.”  Granny told her.  “Which is why you're taking over this story.  At the very least I want an interview with him to find out the official story.  A more in depth explanation than Senator Blanchard-Nolan's office's two sentence 'leaving to spend more time with his family, he will be missed' folderol.  Even they couldn't deliver that one with a straight face.”

“Good luck finding Gold.”  Sidney told her before stalking off to sulk. “Blanchard-Nolan's office refuses to give out any contact information for him.  And one of my sources says he's left the country.”

Mulan was at least willing to share her notes.  “It was one of <i>my</i> sources that spotted him leaving the country.  He was getting on a flight to Heathrow.  But he came back after a couple of days.  Since he's British that kind of backs up the 'spend more time with his family' excuse.  You don't suppose it's actually true for once do you?”  

“More likely he was visiting his kid.”  Belle told her.  “His ex moves around a lot, but she's British too.”

Contacting Gold proved trickery than she expected.  Mary Margaret’s office manager was apologetic, but firm.  “I'm sorry, Belle.  We have to protect Gold's privacy.  I just can't hand out his private information.  I'll pass along your message if he calls in, but we don't expect to hear from him this week.”

She did have Gold's personal cell number.  He had called her from it a couple of times. But she had learned from the comments by some other reporters that Gold did not normally give out his personal number.  Making her reluctant to take advantage of the information,

Still if he no longer had a work number this was the only way to contact him. That should make it alright shouldn't it?

She deliberately did not think about what it meant that he was willing to give her information about how to reach him outside of work when he apparently jealously guarded it from others.  

Still he did not seem put out when she called.  “What can I do for you, Belle?”

“Can't I just check up on an old friend?”  Oh, dear God.  Mulan was right.  She did flirt with him.

Which he clearly did not mind in the least.  “You can, but as you must be on deadline right now, I can't imagine that's the case.”

“My editor would like an interview with you.  The usual.  Why you left.  What you're planning to do now.  That sort of thing.”  

He sighed.  “I suppose better you than Sidney.  Or worse Fox News.  I've a full schedule today.  But I'll have some time to talk this afternoon if you can meet me.”

The address he gave her was in Chevy Chase.  A park in an up scale suburb.  The sort of place young professional families moved to raise their kids.  She located him in the bleachers overlooking the soccer field.

Sitting down next to him she asked.  “So who are we rooting for?”

“The Bears.”  He waved toward the left hand side of the field.  “They're in brown and yellow.”

That did not help a great deal.  To Belle's eye the children all appeared to be wearing either dark muddy clothes or slightly lighter muddy clothes.  “They look more like cubs than bears.”

“Aye.”  Gold chuckled.  “At this age they're lucky to remember which goal is which.  But they're having a good time which is the whole point of the exercise.”

This was much more laid back attitude than most parents of Belle's acquaintance.  Then again a children's soccer game was pretty small change compared to the level Gold usually played at.

“So why is your editor so interest in my future that you felt you had to hunt me down in the wilds of Maryland, Belle?”  Gold glanced her way but kept an eye on the players.  

Or rather a player. A small slight boy who's dark curls had long since lost any semblance of order.

Suddenly Belle was pretty sure she had the answer to the puzzle.  “He's older than in the picture on your desk.”

“I've gotten a new picture for my new office.”  Gold chuckled.  

“And where is this new office?”

“George Washington University.”  Gold leaned back on the bleacher seat behind them. “I'm going to be lecturing on Public Affairs and Campaign Finance Law.  Possibly overseeing some of the law students in some pro bono appellate work if I can shake someone down for a grant.”

“That shouldn't be a problem for you.” Not after all the campaign fund raising he had done.  “Is the small forward out there the reason for this sudden move to academia?”

“Aye.”  Gold nodded toward the boy.  “His Mum got a position with a documentary company.  She and her boyfriend are going to be traveling all over world.  Her 'dream job'.  Called me out of the blue three weeks ago and informed me I needed to pick the boy before they left for Aleppo.”

“So you dropped everything and dashed off to Maryland.”  

“I dashed off to London.”  He corrected her.  “I brought the boy back to Maryland. There's a good school here set up along the lines of the one he was going to in London and the house I found is an easy commute to GWU. He seems to be settling in alright.  So far he misses his nanny more than his Mum.  I signed him up for this football club in the hopes he'd make some friends.”

“Can I have this on the record?  That you're stepping down as Senator Blanchard-Nolan's chief political adviser to become a soccer Dad?” Sidney was going to blow a gasket when he found out his big political scandal was not only not a scandal but had no political implications what so ever.

Gold shrugged. “Mary Margaret was understanding.  I can't work sixty hours a week and look after a seven year old.  And with her as chair of the DSCC next year the hours will only get longer.

“If you're looking for a story,”  He added,  “It looks like they're going to hire Mallory Drake to replace me.”

“I'll be sure to include that.”  Belle made a note.  “But the story I'm working on is why you left Senator Blanchard-Nolan's staff.  You're at the top of your game.  Rumor is that Mary Margaret may be running for President in 2020.  You could hire a nanny like your ex did to look after...”

“Baden.”  Gold supplied.  “I could.  But why should I?  Political advisers are thick on the ground in this town.  Bae only has one Papa.

“And I only have one son.  It'd be different if I had to work those kind of hours to feed us, but I don't.  So I'm just going to enjoy being Bae's Papa for a while.  Milah got full custody because of the hours I worked. I've got a second chance with my boy.  I'm going to take full advantage.”

That was going to make a wonderful quote.  “I'm happy for you.  But I'm going to miss our sparing sessions.”

“So am I.”  Gold glanced her way.  “Uhm, it occurred to me after I took this new job that there isn't much chance of any conflict of interests coming up between a reporter and a University lecturer.”

Belle closed her notebook.  “You're right.  That does seem unlikely.”

“So there wouldn't be anything inappropriate if we were to have dinner together sometime.”  

“Not a thing.” She agreed.  “If you were to need a sitter, my editor's granddaughter, Ruby, has experience and might just be a student of yours.  She goes to George Washington.”

“I will make a point to look her up.”  Gold nodded.  “Soon.”

The game was wrapping up and the little boy ran over to the bleachers.  “Did you see my shot, Papa?  I was the only one to almost get it in the goal.”

“I did.  Very well done.”  Gold told him.

The boy had kicked the ball pretty much right into the arms of the goalkeeper.  Since none of his teammates had managed to actually kick the ball into the goal area though he had a right to be pleased with himself.  Belle had to smile at his enthusiasm.

“Ah, Belle, this mud-ball is my son Baden.”  Gold introduced the boy.  “Baden this is a friend of mine, Belle French.  She's a reporter.”

“It's nice to meet you, Ms. French.”  Baden held out a grubby hand.  Belle took it anyway.  He was just too cute not to.  “Are you writing a story about Papa?”

“I am.”  Belle told him.  “Everyone wants to know about your Papa's new job.”

“He's going to teach people to be lawyers so they can help people.”  Baden explained to her.

“He was just telling me about it.”  Belle said.  “It sounds very interesting.”

“We're going to get hamburgers.  Do you like hamburgers?  You should come with us and Papa can help you more with your story.”  Baden was bouncing up and down.

“Belle may have other things she needs to do.”  Gold cautioned his son.

“I don't actually.” Belle smiled at him.  “And you were just talking about getting together for dinner.”

“I was thinking in terms of something a little more impressive than Five Guys.” Despite his grumbling Gold smiled back at her.

“As it happens I love hamburgers.”  Her grin got larger.

“And milkshakes. You have to buy her a milkshake, Papa.”  Baden instructed.  Then he added in a failed attempt at a whisper,  “Girls like it when you buy them a drink.”

“I'm an ice tea girl, myself.”  Belle told him.

“Then ice tea it shall be.”  Gold offered her his arm as they set off toward the car park.