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infranscia · 7 months

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Everything Wrong with Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet (almost)

So not too long ago, Steam alerted me that a number of Sherlock Holmes games were on sale. Realizing that I wasn't really familiar with this classic, beloved icon, I figured it was about time to change that and - for now - started by buying a low-price, little bundle.

I also decided to check if the books were public domain yet, and was glad to find out that they just became public domain this year.

Turns out, Doyle had a tendency to include a lot of foreign cultures, and/or foreign persons of note, in the Holmes stories. And I'm guessing there's a fairly strong tendency to get details wrong, or at least for them to be fantasized - based on whatever stereotypes and whatnot were most available at the time, if I had to guess.

At the very least... imagine the awkwardness when I found that in the very first book, it had a HIGHLY INACCURATE - and stereotypical - portrayal of early members of my religion. 😅

So... Yeah. Here I am to debunk as many inaccuracies as I can. 😂

Feel free to take things with a grain of salt - I know a lot of the stereotypes - and flaws of members - tend to lead to people disliking us, and you probably don't have much reason to take my word about things.

...Also, I'm not the most studied when it comes to history - including my religion - so I may have some details wrong. 😅 Still, I'll try my best.

Major spoilers for A Study in Scarlet below the line - especially the second half - including some content that some people may be sensitive to (it IS a murder mystery... among other things).

Also: don't expect this to be short. There's a lot to cover, I'm VERY detail oriented, and I ramble a LOT. ...This took me days to make. (I'm not even doing any more error-checking than a spell check, and such, because I just want to get this done. 😵)

(Note: This post also exists as a Skiff document.)

Okay, I guess I'm coming out more-strongly as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints here - essentially born and raised, actually (not so much a convert). As I mentioned, there's a lot of stereotypes, bad-blood, and such where we're involved, so I haven't exactly been in a habit of being public about it. 😂 I guess I'll see how this goes.

I'll note that Doyle actually got enough of the setting accurate that I was able to guess what he was leading up to before the reveal was dropped: the description of the desert in the middle of North America, with the wagon trails, and occasional bones of both people and oxen, was more than enough to ring familiar. The average Church member - especially those who have been raised in the Church, or are otherwise longtime members - will easily recognize these as being elements of stories of what we call early Church pioneers.

And while I had to look it up, I was able to confirm that there were at least some areas where the soil and/or water was alkali. However, it doesn't look like it was anywhere near as alkali as Doyle made it out to be. (Heck, I'm not sure it'd be possible.) I'm also not sure the alkali areas were as widespread as it seems like they're being portrayed, but as far as I'm concerned, this is a relatively minor detail.

...Anyhow, I looked back over the second part of the book and tried to go over things roughly in order... so what I'm starting with may seem a little odd. 😆

For a bit of context for anyone who might not have read, this part of the story starts with a flashback, focusing on a couple weary travelers in the desert - a man, John Ferrier, dying of thirst and hunger; and a young girl, Lucy, 5 years old. They're discovered by what appears to be a very large wagon company.

Travelers seem to have knowledge of nearby wells, possible dangerous areas to avoid, etc.

Okay, maybe my lack of historical knowledge is showing, but I do wonder how much of this they could've known. Maybe a lot of the stuff originally came from Sacajawea, or something, but I also wonder how wells could've already been found and built.

The verbiage of members is generally flowery, using fancy names for God, etc.

This is hard to pick-apart without going into even more detail than I'm already going to include. But basically, we prefer to keep things simple, easy-to-understand, etc.

Going into a specific example as I bring up something else...

“He who could draw it from the rocks will not now abandon His own chosen people.” “Amen! Amen!” responded the whole party."

We don't respond to random declarations like that, esp. with the double-amen. Yes, we'll say "amen" in unison - ONCE - after the end of things like prayers, talks (sort of our version of "sermons"), testimonies, and maybe a few other things, but that's about it. And it's not a shout (no exclamation point).

Honestly, at this point, I think most of us do it mostly just out of habit and tradition than much anything else. 😅 Something we're advised against, occasionally, but it's hard not to do stuff like that.

I'll touch on the "chosen people" thing later.

There appears to be absolutely no struggles of traveling members to hold onto faith

This appears to be a common misconception with religious groups, in general. But anyhow, our stories of Church pioneers are FULL of instances of people struggling to hold onto faith that things might work out, if not faith in their religion as a whole.

They're also full of stories of how they tried to hold onto faith. My favorite, so far, involves a woman noticing flowers growing in the desert (the desert rose, IIRC). She figured that if delicate flowers could make it in the harsh desert, then she could, too. 😊

"Brother" and "Sister" used, fairly strictly, as titles/honorifics for members.

While it is part of our culture to refer to each-other as "Brother/Sister such-and-such," something about the usage portrayed feels a little too strict and formal.

The honorific (if you can call it that?) is used most-often during church-related activities (meetings, asking for help in Church-related thing, etc.). We tend to use it fairly casually in such settings - if anything, we may see it as sort of a term of endearment. Still, it's not uncommon to drop it in casual settings, esp. with close friends, or children/younger members.

It's also one of those things where, if you grow up with it, it becomes so habit and routine that it's easy to forget the reason for it. 😅 So much, that I'm finding some conflicting information on the reasons when I try to look it up. 🤔

Some of the results I'm finding are articles that do mention the interpretation of us all being 'baptized as brothers and sisters in Christ.' However, I think the interpretation I was taught, that I prefer, and that's found in the Church manual (which I consider more official that articles, which are typically written by members, rather than leaders), is that it's based on the Gospel principle that we're all (everyone, not just members) LITERAL children of God - and thus a spiritual family. 😄

As such, sometimes members will refer to non-members as "Brother/Sister," especially if they're visiting (as we call it) in a Church meeting, or in another Church-based setting.

(And I'm gonna give a side-note because I'm sure some people are going to wonder: setting aside the politics of our views on gender, it is common for Church teachers to mention, without being asked, that they don't know how it's supposed to work for intersex people [even if they don't usually use that term, or similar ones]. Giving a quick search, there don't appear to be any specific rules - only a firm recommendation to be considerate. I wouldn't be surprised if some people use "Sibling," however. ...And NGL, I haven't heard it myself, but I suspect that a lot of debate crops up... esp. in the cases where it's really relevant... 😞)

"Elder" is used, multiple times, like a title of high status.

Actually, as far as priesthood titles go, "Elder" is the lowest-ranking. I know it's confusing, but a guy can become an Elder - and is generally expected to be, and encouraged to try to be worthy in advance - at the age of 12, well before he'd be considered an adult (at least nowadays).

(TBH, I'm not sure why they're called "elders" - maybe there's some linguistic drift going on? Might be worth looking into, but I'm not focusing on that right now - it's something that, I'll admit, the average member seems to have forgotten about. 😅)

But yeah, an Elder pretty much just has the most basic level of priesthood, which comes with the authority to bless and pass the sacrament, and to help with blessings (a sort of prayer) for health and such. Maybe a few other, simpler things. That said, one does need to be an Elder before he can be other things, like a High Priest, Bishop, Stake President, etc.

John adopting Lucy is taken totally in-stride.

Not that we're against adoption or anything - in fact, the Church has its own adoption services, which focuses on helping unmarried, expecting teens find parents to potentially raise their child; and for married couples, esp. (or solely?) those who can't have their own children, to find a child/children to take in and care for.

Anyhow, still: it's not a major issue, but it still seems odd. Like everyone else, we tend to find intrigue where adopted children and the like are involved, getting curious about the birth parents, etc.

Also, we have a strong emphasis on family and genealogy (or as we prefer to call it, family history), so there's an even stronger reason to wonder where Lucy came from.

No apparent help is offered in raising Lucy - there's relatively little talk of help, in-general.

Like I mentioned, we have a strong emphasis on family. (Esp. traditional families - not looking to get political or anything, and I'm not going to try to preach; I'm trying to just be honest here about our beliefs, culture, etc. I won't argue, even if you try to start an argument. So I'd prefer if you don't bother.)

Similarly, lot of church members absolutely adore children. And on top of that, there's a lot of emphasis on service (as in helping people out) - members are particularly encouraged to help families in need, and such.

Heck, one of our most-commonly-quoted scriptures states "when ye are in the service of you fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17)

As such, I find it VERY hard to believe that a lot of the members - especially the women - would NOT immediately start to talk about how adorable Lucy is, and offer to help take care of her.

Similarly, there would probably quickly be talk of sharing water and rations with John - maybe suggesting he ride in one of the carts, to regain his strength.

The group help up the castaways up at the start, and there are some onlookers showing shock and pity... but that's about it, as far as I can tell.

“[T]here seems to be a powerful lot of ye.” “Nigh upon ten thousand [saints]” (No mention of who's in charge of this group.)

I had to look up the numbers on this one, and it took me a little while to find the right articles and sort through the details, esp. with the order I ran into the info. 😅

This Church article/infographic probably gives a good balance of info, and readability. This other article also gives some good info, and goes into a little more detail.

As the second article puts it, "It is difficult to identify an exact number of individuals who came to Utah[...]because not all the company rosters were turned in to the Church." However, numbers are estimated from 60k-70k.

This said, it's pretty common knowledge among Church members that they didn't all travel as one group, even if we don't always know the details. This said, Church pioneers were organized into 250+ companies - mostly wagon companies, with 10 handcart companies making up about 3,000 members total. The exact size of companies varied, but it looks like they averaged somewhere around 250 people, give-or-take.

Each company had a captain - some companies were known by the name of their captain. E.g. the handcart company captained by Edward Martin - the biggest of the handcart companies, according to this wiki page - was also known as the Martin (Handcart) Company. And apparently, companies were further divided into smaller and smaller groups, each group with their own captains - presumably, captains of smaller groups reported to captains of larger groups (that's how we tend to do things).

Interestingly, Church members tend to focus on the handcart companies, and not the wagon companies, to the point where I didn't know there was a distinction until until I stumbled upon this other infographic. The first thing I found with my search was actually this Church lesson guide" with a lot of info, including a map of their route. From the looks of it, I'm thinking the handcart companies probably made their own journey - it might explain a few things. 🤔 But I'm rambling...

(Still... since the infographic mentions the transcontinental railroad, I'll throw in a tidbit I think is fun: Apparently, the handcarts and wagons left such deep impressions in the ground that they were actually used when first laying down railroads. Thus, the width of railroads and trains is based on the width of those carts and wagons. 😀)

But yeah, whether going by the total numbers, or the size of a company, Doyle got something off there. 😅

“[W]e are the persecuted children of God—the chosen of the Angel Merona.”

First off, I dunno if it's a typo or what, but it's technically the angel Moroni.

Secondly - and I'm just going from how I've heard things talked about - while it's true they were persecuted a lot, along with the other hardships, I don't think it's likely that they would've focused on the fact that they were persecuted to the point that they would introduce themselves that way. More likely, they'd introduce themselves by naming their religion from the getgo - either in full or by the (now defunct) nickname of "Mormons".

Third and most important... we don't do the "chosen people" thing, and especially not chosen by an angel.

While we believe in angels, they don't have the same level of importance as in other Christian sects - esp. Catholic, I think; correct me if I'm wrong.

(And you may debate terminology, but we do consider ourselves Christian, because we believe in the same Christ that's in the Bible. The Book of Mormon even includes another version of the Sermon on the Mount.)

While we're vaguely aware of how some Christians put a lot of focus on angels, saints (as they define them - to us, any member is technically a "saint," regardless of how "saintly" they might be 😅), and specific demons in their belief systems, that's about the extent that most of us know. The average member isn't likely to be able to name any of them, esp. the saints and demons. I'm taking a guess that the list of angels includes those in the Bible (e.g. Gabriel), but if you asked the average member, odds are you'd get a blank stare, and an answer of "Uh... I dunno."

Putting the metaphorical definition aside, we see angels more as messengers and servants of God - they do His work as He directs, and like with living Church members, they won't have any authority unless He gives it to them.

The authority to choose people like that is not one of those that would be given, even if we considered it a thing, in general.

The Book of Mormon has mentions God not being "a respecter of persons" - as does the Bible, come to do a search. Or for those who don't know the term, the idea is that He doesn't favor people based on age, race, gender, level of freedom, etc. 2 Nephi 26:33 is one verse with that includes the spiel on the latter part. (I'll touch on a scripture that mentions the first part later, because of the context.)

In fact, there's actually a story in the Book of Mormon that talks about ancient missionaries (on the American continent) being shocked to discover a religion basically centered around that belief: people taking turns standing on a tower, giving an identical prayer, thanking God for letting them know that they were chosen to be saved while everyone else should perish, then departing and not even mentioning their religion until they gather again the next week...

The religion in that story is VERY MUCH used by Church members as an example of what NOT to do. 😅

In any case, if there was any choosing going on, it would be done by God - or maybe Jesus - and it would basically be choosing people who give Him respect, and already follow his teachings. NOT that He would choose a people to give teachings to for some, arbitrary reason.

“We are of those who believe in those sacred writings, drawn in Egyptian letters on plates of beaten gold, which were handed unto the holy Joseph Smith at Palmyra["]

While not that far off, for the most part, it is definitely romanticized, and feels like a very weird way for us to talk about this.

For the nitpicks, the writing wasn't drawn so much as etched or engraved - we tend to just say "written." That's the most common word in the BoM.

I don't think there's info on how the plates were made - it's not mentioned in the BoM as far as I can remember, or find, and it's hard to find a detailed description. One description I heard made them sound kind of like thick pieces of foil, though our typical portrayal is something like golden pieces of sheet metal, with D-ring bindings. And we tend to just call them "the gold(en) plates." That said, "beaten" sounds more-right than one, mistaken voiceclip I heard that called them "tablets" (which sounds WAY more heavy and impractical).

I'm having trouble remembering, or finding, the scriptural reference, but as fancy as the fact that it's gold sounds, I understand there was a practical reason: materials like paper and parchment tend to rot, and other metals tend to rust or tarnish over time. (And, of course, stone is hard to use in a space-efficient way, and tends to crack.) I understand modern science vouches for this.

Speaking of, it's odd that the mention of the style of writing is mentioned first - we usually say things like "...from (the) golden plates, translated by Joseph Smith." The bit about the kind of writing usually has less emphasis.

Still, the writings are described as reformed Egyptian. I don't know why the writing is considered "reformed," but the reason given for using reformed Egyptian (and not Hebrew) was so they could fit more writing into less space. I imagine that the fact that it was difficult to engrave words on plates - as one writer in the BoM mentions - might've been a factor.

(Speaking of Hebrew, the primary people focused on in the BoM report themselves as decendants of Joseph of Egypt, son of Jacob - the one with the fancy coat who was sold into slavery by his brothers.)

The plates weren't handed to Joseph Smith - they were revealed to him. Basically, they were buried in a (stone?) box, with a biggol rock for a lid, with some other items inside. Moroni is the one who showed the location to him (being the one who hid them in the first place - he's the last author in the BoM).

Finally, I understand this is a common misconception, but like with angels and saints, we don't worship prophets.

...Or at least, we're not supposed to. Though the way a lot of members act, I think there's a tendency to effectively worship the prophets... 😅

But no, it's not part of our doctrine to do so. We never say "holy Joseph Smith." We're likely to say "the prophet, Joseph smith," but we never put the word "holy" in there. It gives the wrong kind of impression.

"We have come to seek a refuge from the violent man and from the god-less"

I'm generally inclined to agree with the "violent man" part. But a lot of the persecuters were members of other Christian sects. We would call them FAR from "godless" - maybe a little misguided, and with a different view on the details, but we essentially believe that we worship the same God.

“We are the Mormons,” answered his companions with one voice.

First off, we don't have a hive-mind. I don't see any real reason why they'd answer in unison. It's not something we recite, or anything.

Secondly, as mentioned, the term "Mormons" has always been, at best, a nickname. It's never been an official name of the Church. We've been asked to abandon that nickname (and while we've got the biggest changes made it looks like we're still in the process of adjusting some smaller things, e.g. things on the website that aren't talking about the past). The main reason stated for this is that we want to emphasize the fact that Jesus Christ is a key part of our faith - even when we were still using the nickname, we emphasized the words Jesus Christ on our nametags, on the sides of our buildings, etc.

(Note: I'm including the word "Mormons" as a tag only because I think it'll be more-widely recognized, to help with visibility of this post. Otherwise, I'd leave it out.)

I think another major reason for abandoning the nickname is because it led to some confusion as to whether "Mormons" meant the same group. I've heard a story where some group was getting humanitarian aid, and someone apparently reported "We're getting help from two groups: the Mormons, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." (Cue laughter.)

But yeah, the term "Mormons" actually started as an insult - presumably mostly by other Christians, on account of the fact that, besides the Bible, we had another book that we believed in (the Book of Mormon, of course).

IMO, the fact that members accepted the nickname at all is a pretty good indication of our tendency to be on the doormat-y side. 😅

And just to make sure: no, the Church was never named after the Book of Mormon. Nor was the Book of Mormon named after the church. It's named after the person who did most work compiling and condensing his people's records that later became the Book of Mormon. (Mormon, of course. ...Moroni's father.)

[...]and were surrounded by crowds of the pilgrims

Technically accurate (aside from the inferred size of the crowds), but like I sort of mentioned, we prefer the word "pioneers."

(This said, as a kid, I used to mix up Church Pioneers and "Thanksgiving" Pilgrims. 😅)

[...]until they reached a waggon, which was conspicuous for its great size and for the gaudiness and smartness of its appearance. Six horses were yoked to it, whereas the others were furnished with two, or, at most, four a-piece

No.

We don't really do flashy, and the companies had to be as practical as possible, and couldn't really pack much besides probably essentials. I'm pretty sure that a bunch of smaller, standard wagons would be more practical than one, big, fancy one.

Any fancy wagons like that would more-than-likely have been sold, to afford more, smaller wagons, or more food and other supplies.

Also, the text strongly infers that the big wagon is for the leader of the group. We don't give such deference. In fact, there's a lot of emphasis in our doctrine that the leaders have to work for a living as much as any other person. We don't pay our leaders with our tithing, or anything.

“If we take you with us [...] it can only be as believers in our own creed. We shall have no wolves in our fold. Better far that your bones should bleach in this wilderness than that you should prove to be that little speck of decay which in time corrupts the whole fruit

This is one struck me as wrong in so many ways...

As mentioned earlier, we have a very service-oriented culture. We believe VERY STRONGLY in helping others in need. We're not going to abandon someone to die in the wilderness just because they're not a member. Nor withhold food and water (as is done in this story until John Ferrier agrees to join).

Similarly, at this point, I'm pretty sure a lot of members would be converts, themselves. They don't have much reason to fear people just for being non-members because, at some point, most of them were non-members - they already know that one can very well come into the fold, of their own volition. (Also, it's already established that these two were Christians, already.)

If anything, members are more likely to be afraid of physical danger, especially after all they've been through. And a dying man and a small girl are NOT going to be a physical threat. (Not to mention that, again, there's no hive-mind: more likely, if anything different members might have different ideas. This said, as kind of a side-note intra-faith politics seem to be something rarely touched on outside of of the faith in question, regardless of the religion/sect/etc.)

ALSO! We have a VERY STRONG belief in freedom of religion. In fact, one of the things we try to have members memorize - the Articles of Faith, written by Joseph Smith as a summary of our beliefs, after being asked about it - talks about it. Specifically number 11, which states:

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how, where, or what they may.

*checks* ...Only some spelling errors (corrected) and one punctuation difference (left in). Still got it! 😁

But yeah, the decision to join the Church is supposed to be a choice. Even little children aren't technically considered members - we're supposed to wait until they're old enough to decide for themselves (officially, eight years old - with possible exceptions for people with mental challenges needing more time; Lucy is actually too young at this time in the story). ...That said, I'll touch on some more stuff in the next segment...

But yeah, a more likely response would be something like giving an invitation to learn of our teachings while along the way. And even if they ended up declining in the end, the two probably be allowed to live alongside the members, or helped to find another place to live if they so chose.

I was going to go even longer with this, but I think I'll actually put those comments under the next point...

John Ferrier and Lucy appear to be considered members as soon as John agrees to it - or as soon as Brigham Young makes it official

The direct authority of the President of the Church is not required for membership. More on this, later.

Besides that, Doyle missed a very important step in the process of becoming a member:

BAPTISM!

(And the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but that comes after baptism... which tends to get more focus, anyhow, to the point where I think the gift of the Spirit is underrated...)

But yeah, the importance of baptism as a part of becoming a member is VERY MUCH emphasized in the Church.

We also note the importance of baptism by immersion - i.e. after a priesthood holder gives a prayer, he briefly dips the person into the water and pulls them back out, like John the Baptist did with Jesus. A fairly common saying is "Don't sprinkle yourself with the Gospel! Immerse yourself in it!"

There's also another important thing with baptism (which I bet some people are wondering about)...

WE DON'T DO INFANT BAPTISMS!!

Aside from the obvious safety reasons and such, and the part I mentioned earlier about how it's meant to be a choice (John shouldn't be able to make the decision for Lucy), there's another important element: while we do consider baptism an important element that has to do with "washing away sin" (or remitting it, technically), our definition of sin is to knowingly, and willfully, act against what you already know to be true.

Naturally, it takes a while for children to get a real sense of right and wrong. As such, little children are considered incapable of sinning.

Heck... there's an entire chapter in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 8) that's dedicated to this.

But yeah, like I mentioned earlier, eight years old is basically when you're officially considered old enough to decide for yourself. It's also what's known as the age of accountability - i.e. when you're old enough to have a sense of right and wrong (barring some exceptions), and are considered responsible for your actions.

Kids who die before the age of eight are basically believed to get a free pass into heaven. (No, we don't encourage trying to make this happen...)

But yeah, like mentioned, Lucy is five years old at this part of the story. She wouldn't technically be eligible.

And technically, even kids who grow up in the Church, with their parents as members, aren't considered members, themselves. (Though if their parents already had a temple marriage, the children are considered born in the covenant - basically already connected to their parents so they can potentially stay together, eternally.)

Though yeah, along with the basic Gospel principles, a big part of Primary (children's) lessons - esp. the littler children - is helping them get ready for baptism.

...Or trying to...

I'm going to go on a tangent, but I think it's an important one: baptism is really supposed to be something that a person decides to do, for themselves. However, with the way lessons are taught - and particularly, with the way the songs we sing are worded - we end up not so much helping children understand that they decide whether they want to be baptized, as we try to get them excited for baptism... like, for "when" it happens. Not "if."

(And in a way, it's not just with baptism. This type of thing is something that never really sat well with me, even as a kid.)

I don't know the ratio/percentage/whatever, but I do know that part of the end result is that at least some children end up not realizing that they're supposed to choose whether to get baptized, or not. I know that was the case for me, and I've definitely heard that I'm not the only one.

Heck, I remember being taught baptism is "a choice." But the way my teachers talked about choice, I actually didn't realize that "to choose" and "to decide" were synonyms... if anything, I perceived them as antonyms - I didn't see baptism as MY choice: I heard it as a choice that was made FOR me.

As such, I never even realized that I was supposed to be able to say "No"...

...and at the time, I REALLY would've liked to have known that. 😓

So... yeah. It's sadly very possible for children to effectively be baptized unwillingly - which actually goes against our doctrine. (I'll note that I, personally, probably would've voluntarily gone through with it at age 12, but at eight? Yeah... no. 😅)

But yeah, I can hope that things have been shifting. However, since I haven't really been involved in Primary classes since I attended, myself, I can't say what the trends are, at least for my local Ward (congregation/small geographical area).

Still, the idea that even a SINGLE child might be put through that? That the parents and teachers might fail to realize the agency involved in the process? It REALLY troubles me...

It is DEFINITELY something that I think the Church - or at LEAST Church members - need to do better on. 😢

...anyway, continuing... (And no pun intended, because of what the next one is.)

["]Forward! On, on to Zion!”

It's hard to say with the context, but for starters, this seems to be portrayed less as a rallying cry, and more as a chant. We don't do chants. (Which I guess might be part of what I've been trying to say, already.)

Regardless, this phrasing includes a common misconception: While the word "Zion" can refer to geographical locations, it's defined more as "the pure in heart." (And one of the few geographical locations mentioned in that link is in Missouri, not Utah.)

Similarly, I vaguely remember being told in Church lessons that's less of a place and more of a people.

But yeah, the more common phrasing we use is about establishing or building Zion. Sometimes we might use the word "gathering," though it's noted that while it was more literal back then, it's more metaphorical these days.

...Kind of makes it hard for members to travel onward to - even back then. 😜

And I know how cult-ish this might sound, but to me, right after this is mentioned seems like an appropriate time for the traveling members to break out into a hymn. I understand that early Church members did sing hymns along the way - not for any strict, religious reason so much as to try and keep their spirits up on the long, hard, dangerous journey.

["...]remember that now and forever you are of our religion. Brigham Young has said it, and he has spoken with the voice of Joseph Smith, which is the voice of God.”

...Well, props to Doyle for getting the names right, at least.

Whether or not this is inaccurate depends on definition, intention, and interpretation. However, given the phrasing (which we would never use), it sounds like the idea that essentially anything and everything the President of the Church says is also the Word of God.

That's not accurate. While they're authorized to speak the Word of God, they are still their own people, separate from God, and still very prone to mistakes. Heck, I know that my mom and I, at least, still like observing the occasional moment that reminds us that our Church President is still human.

Examples include:

Saying we're now going to sing a hymn we've already sung, then looking confused for a moment while one of the other Church Leaders walks up and turns the page on the program he's reading from.

Saying something (I don't remember what) and having his wife correct him. Immediately turns to wife and says "Oh, is that it?"

There's a rather comical moment where President Monson (already Church President) wiggled his ears in front of a live congregation. (And here's a link to the talk in question in case the video stops working. Linked to the paragraph in question, though there's an non-shortened video at the top.)

Heck, I've even heard a story where Joseph Smith, reportedly, gave a talk during one congregation. The week afterward, he came back and said something to the effect of "Last week was Joseph Smith talking. This week is God talking."

And then he apparently said pretty much the opposite of what he'd said the week before.

(I couldn't find a record of this story with a search of the Church website - it could be the quote I heard isn't accurate enough. Or maybe, if there IS an actual record, then it hasn't been transcribed to digital format, yet. Or both.

Still, even if just as a metaphor/analogy/allegory, I think it gets the idea across. 😉)

The area is referred to as "Utah" - mentioned as being a state

There are a number of contradictions here. Church settlers actually called the area Deseret, which is a word which the Book of Mormon lists as meaning "honey bee."

We kind of took on honey bees (and beehives) as a not-super-official symbol (i.e. not part of the doctrine, but part of the culture). The honey bee is seen as a symbol of industry - e.g. hard work. Industry is still the state motto - similarly, we're known as the Industry state - and similarly, the state emblem is still the beehive, and the state insect is still the honeybee. (Reference link.) Heck, the state flag still has a beehive on it. (Though a few years ago, someone made a proposal to remove it... go figure... Doesn't seem to have gone through, though, AFAIK.)

This said, while Deseret (the region) could be said to have been established in 1947 (I think), it wasn't made an official state until 1896. (For reference, the later particular part of the story, after a timeskip, is listed as taking place in 1860.)

Heck, the term "Deseret" is still used in some Church-related things. Examples include Deseret Industries (a Church-based thrift store/charity shop), Deseret Book (a Church-based book store, of course), and hymns such as In Our Lovely Deseret (which, IMO, is not one of our better hymns - not for musical reasons so much as the way it talks about certain things, particularly in the 2nd verse, where it addresses the Word of Wisdom* in such a negative way that that it gets kinda... contentious and prideful... heck, these days, younger members tend to have trouble getting through that verse without going quiet and laughing awkwardly).

But yeah, when it came time to make the area an official state, people apparently didn't like the idea of it being a religious reference (again...). So they suggested the name "Utah," meaning "tops of the mountains."

...We willingly accepted. 🤣

That said, importantly, as part of of the conditions for letting our area become a state, we were also forced to give up polygamy - which, predictably, is a major part of the story. More on that later.

But yeah. Again, from a number of different angles, there are contradictions on that front.

I think the story also mentioned members making trade with neighboring areas, though I'm having trouble finding the reference, assuming I didn't misremember. In any case, Nevada is mentioned a few times - not explicitly as a state, but still, Nevada wasn't established as a state until 1864. California is also mentioned once, in passing - this said, California actually WAS established as a state in 1850.

Heck, I'm actually not sure what, if any, relations we might've had at the time. 🤔 I'm not sure if we even used a real currency, at the time... I'm not having any luck finding references with a search on the Church site, and I'm not sure how I'd refine my search. 😅

*Some advice, given through Joseph Smith, with recommendations regarding diet and using (or rather, NOT using) certain substances. The part regarding stuff like drinking, tea**, and coffee is probably taken TOO seriously by members (like, a straight-up commandment), while the dietary parts tend to be forgotten (I remember another member saying "How many of us actually eat meat sparingly?" ...Heck, how do you quantify "sparingly"? 🤔)

**Herbal tea is controversial. I'll note that this type of tea was only invented in 1969, WAY after the Word of Wisdom was established. Members tend to debate whether it's the caffeine, the heat (the original wording for "tea and coffee" is technically "hot drinks" - Joseph Smith apparently had to clarify), or other details that are the issue.

Just to be safe, many members avoid even herbal teas. I'd basically decided to do the same thing (aside from trying to do a homemade, makeshift lemon-ginger tea - my family didn't have fresh lemons, OR fresh ginger 😅).

That is... until after I got prompted/impressed (basically, told by God directly, via the Holy Ghost) that I needed to get into herbal tea - starting with chamomile, to help me sleep better, and help manage my anxiety, somewhat. (I do cool it down. I prefer most of my drinks about room-temp, anyhow.)

I won't make a definitive claim on what this means for members as a whole, but I suspect that if it's okay for me, it's probably okay for the average member - most exceptions would probably be in the cases of stuff like allergies. For any members reading this, I recommend you stop trying to reason it out, and pray about it. ("Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." - Proverbs 3:5)

Anyhow, continuing with the point of this post...

All around farms were apportioned and allotted in proportion to the standing of each individual.

Again, no. We don't give deference to our leaders in that manner. Leaders aren't paid for their Church service (it's pretty much volunteer work).

If anything, farms would be allotted according to ability and/or need - e.g. bigger, and more-farm-handy families would get bigger farms, since they had the know-how, and more mouths to feed. Non-farmers would probably not get farms, instead getting something more in-line with what they already knew how to do. From what I understand, people would probably basically just do what they did best, and basically help each-other as needed.

From the great inland sea to the distant Wahsatch Mountains...

I don't know if this is a typo, but I know at least modernly, it's "Wasatch Mountains."

There's also a later mention of "Salt Lake Mountains." Personally, I never heard the term before reading this story. Looking at a few maps, it doesn't look like an official name: the character using the term is probably referring to the part of the Wasatch Mountains closest to Salt Lake City, or the Great Salt Lake, itself.

Actually, come to look, I think Doyle made another mistake, this one geographical: the story later talks about travelers heading through the mountains as they head for Nevada, but looking at it, there aren't very many mountains between Salt Lake and Nevada; definitely not as big or as dense to the ones east of Salt Lake (in the other direction). In fact, it's pretty much just desert.

Come to think, I've traveled to Nevada a few times, myself. This is pretty in-line with my own experiences: I can vouch that it's STILL mostly empty desert. 😅

Above all, the great temple which they had erected in the centre of the city grew ever taller and larger.

Even as I first read this, I felt like it gave the wrong impression: sure, the Salt Lake temple is fairly tall, and, in a way, kind of castle-like, but I consider it more wide or long. The use of "taller and larger" makes me think of the Tower of Babel (which, as you may or may not know, was supposed to be a shortcut into Heaven, which God punished people for - confounding their languages so they couldn't all communicate easily, breaking the tower down... I hear that was also when what's now known as Pangaea was separated into the different continents...).

Anyhow, I already knew there was at least one detail that probably put a kink in this description. And looking it up, I can give more detail:

In 1858, about five years into the initial construction of the Salt Lake Temple, the foundation of the temple was actually covered up, due to threat of war. (Which, I totally forgot about the war thing. And apparently, Doyle also either missed, or forgot about that detail. I think I remember the story saying something about basically having no outside threats... I either haven't found it yet, or I misremembered.)

But yeah, it wasn't until the next year that the foundation was uncovered again, and as this Primary lesson says...

After the problems with the government were resolved, President Young ordered the foundation uncovered. The workmen found that some of the mortar and small rocks used between the large foundation blocks had cracked and shifted. [...] The workers removed the small rocks and mortar and all of the sandstone blocks down to the first layer, replacing them with hard granite blocks.

In other words, starting in 1859 they had to completely dig up the foundation and start over.

A reminder that this part of the story takes place in 1860. Odds are that the temple hadn't even really reached above ground level, yet. 😅

This said, the temple also wasn't finished until 1892, over 30 years later. (The granite blocks they used had to be shipped in from distant mountains, carved out by hand... it was hard, slow work.)

So... yeah, the temple wouldn't grow tall(-ish) for some more years. And its original width was planned out from the beginning, so it wouldn't grow bigger on that front, either. 😅

Lucy remains motherless/John Ferrier remains unmarried/"celibate" (as Doyle put it)

Not inherently false, but I do think it fairly unlikely. Like I mentioned, there's a strong culture of helping each-other out, and I really do think that a lot of the members - esp. women - would've gushed over Lucy, offering to help with raising her. (It's not directly stated, but it's pretty strongly inferred that John didn't get ANY help on that front.) Women in particular are generally tasked with assisting those in need and offering relief - hence why the Church's organization of women is called the Relief Society.

So, yeah. I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be other members visiting often, helping in her upbringing. I particularly find it hard to believe there wouldn't be any women to help out... and while not impossible, I find it unlikely that at least ONE wouldn't leave a strong enough impression on Ferrier that he'd want to marry her. 😉

Again, not inherently false... but I think it pretty unlikely. 😅

This said, while I think I should comment on the subject of marriage in general, I'll do it farther down.

He had always determined, deep down in his resolute heart, that nothing would ever induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon./["]What is the thirteenth rule in the code of the sainted Joseph Smith? ‘Let every maiden of the true faith marry one of the elect; for if she wed a Gentile, she commits a grievous sin.’["]

I looked up this so-called quote and found nothing about it. (A search for an exact quote literally turns up 0 results.)

I've never heard of a "code of Joseph Smith" (and we wouldn't use the term "sainted"). My only guess on what he could mean is the Articles of Faith that I mentioned earlier, which, none of them mention marriage - not even the thirteenth and last one (which basically just talks about trying to be good people, and good to other people).

Farrier's opinion isn't inherently contradiction - given that opinions are, by nature, subjective, and this is a fictional character - it is supposed to give him a sort of conflict that sets the background of his story.

In any case, I think I should still touch on this at least briefly:

There isn't a hard-and-fast rule that says that you can't marry a non-member. It is generally seen as unwise, but not much more, I don't think. Heck, Idon't think it's technically even considered a sin. Sure, it would mean you couldn't be sealed in the temple - which basically means you'd be missing out on a number of blessings - but there's nothing that forbids it, AFAIK.

Well... maybe some parents forbid it, and people might treat you weirdly, but that's probably as close as it gets. 😅

...speaking of which...

[T]o express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in the Land of the Saints.

I can't claim to have exact knowledge of what kind of tension might've been going on, by a longshot. I'll note that, yes, I wish I could say that this is 100% false. I've definitely heard of intra-Church conflicts as far back as before the Saints even traveled to Utah/Deseret, long before reading this Holmes story. 😔

Still, the story seemed largely and dramatically exaggerated. (Which, in my non-professional opinion and observation, it seems like non-members, particularly anti-Church groups, have a tendency to do. 😅 ...Heck, on a broader scale, people who are against something tend to make up false rumors about the thing that they hate. Why wouldn't the same apply with us? 😕) In any case, the story didn't fit with what I've been taught about Gospel doctrine, or Church history.

This said, I still tried to find a specific reference, and look it up. It took me a while, because I had trouble finding it again in the story - even when looking multiple times. 😅 I did find it, eventually, and have since looked it up... even if it meant rewriting this section. 😂 (Or at least part of it.)

The story basically describes members suddenly going missing if they express controversial viewpoints and whatnot. It mentions these appearances being done by a particular group, which is given a couple names - apparently the most common name for this group is the Danites.

I, personally, had never even heard of the Danites before reading this story. (And I think it would be pretty weird if non-members knew something that the average member doesn't. 😕) BUT! That said, apparently there's a bit of truth in that they were real.

Emphasis on "were." Very, very past-tense... and apparently short-lived, among other things.

I found a couple of particularly good pages on the subject: this one gives a little information. this one goes more in-depth on general violence in the days of early Saints... both received and, sadly, caused by some earlier members. (I linked specifically to the part on Danites, if you want to check it out, but keep it short.) The article doesn't make any attempt to condone such violence, but neither does it cover it up. If anything, I'd say it looks like it goes into pretty good balance of detail. Both pages link a number of references.

But yeah, looks like the story of the Danites is wildly exaggerated. To sum up, they didn't go to kill any member who had trouble with any little part of Church doctrine: their focus was on non-member an ex-member groups who posed a potential, physical threat to members as a whole.

Also - while I still won't claim this was appropriate - they mostly focused on burning, or stealing, property from these groups, with (apparently) only a few deaths caused... which, while not mentioned in the articles, it sounds to me like their primary goal was to deter and discourage groups who might attack the Church, with killing probably being a last resort. (Or possibly meant to be avoided, altogether, but there's no accounting for the actions of individuals in ANY group. 😑)

Third, they lasted less than half a year. They more-or-less stopped being a thing by the time Brigham Young became head of the Church (as he's supposed to be in this story).

There's more, but I think those would be the main points for the sake of this post (which is running VERY long as it is... and I'm not finished 😅).

I guess I'll note real quick that we also don't really do secret societies, though I'll touch more on that in another section.

As for what I'd already written, I decided to touch more on how things are these days, modernly. I'm including most of it, with some adjustments for the new context:

Sort of like I said earlier, I've never heard of a member suddenly vanishing, just because they weren't sure about one or two points of doctrine, or anything. There are PLENTY of members who will talk about this or that multiple times, across multiple weeks. 😅

As for doctrine in general. We do still believe that murder is a bad thing (we basically still use the Ten Commandments, among other things). Things like self-defense might be another story. Heck, there's a story in the Book of Mormon where it talks about some of the people - namely the Nephites - deciding to go to war for the sake of self-defense (they were attacked first). There's a couple verses back-to-back talking about how God told them when it's okay to defend themselves.

But still, outright murder? Just for not being 100% true to the Gospel? No. That would be horrendously hypocritical, and it would be very hard to justify it.

I've mentioned that, if anything, modern Church members tend to be more of doormats. 😅 A lot of us actually tend to avoid aggression, contention, etc. (At least... in public. 😂) It's to the point where lot of us have a lot of trouble being assertive, or standing up for ourselves and our beliefs, because (like many others) we're not sure how to be assertive without being aggressive... or prideful, which we're also warned against. 😅 (Though many still struggle with it. 😔)

This is not to say that we never do anything... not-so-kind when/if someone expresses a non-Gospel opinion, or anything. Like I inferred, a number of us may express our disapproval in-private, when the person(s) in question can't hear. 😅 In public, members are more likely to be avoidant than aggressive. (I've definitely heard stories of people being shunned for one reason or another... though typically not until they'd long already moved out or something. 😔)

But yeah, we have an emphasis on bringing people (back) to God. Leaving people in wickedness is more intimidating - we tend more toward a fear that comes from not wanting someone to be tormented for denying the Gospel, and not coming back to it. 😅 Put positively, as one of our scriptures puts it, "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" - a common quote among members.

This said, one of our most-common mistakes is that we tend to try to follow that more out of fear than of love. 😂 Or even when trying to be loving, we tend to accidentally give bad advice, accidentally insult people instead of showing empathy, all the usual stuff that a lot of people are known for. 😅

Heck, I'm not sure I've heard heard of any modern stories of a member getting violent - particularly not in that sense. That said, I'm not going to claim that violence never happens. Heck, I think it would be insane to assume that it never does. We're still human, after all.

I actually remember a young guy losing his temper at a Ward barbecue, once. 🤔 He mostly just yelled and jumped on a table - maybe threw a few light punches. Thankfully, someone managed to talk him down. 😅

(This said, I have heard stories of sexual assault within the Church. 😬 So... I think that's a pretty good indicator that physical violence probably happens, at least occasionally... 😔)

But yeah, the Church doesn't condone aggression, and encourages members to work towards peace - something I, personally, would like to vy for. Any violence in members is more of an individual thing, not a group one.

And even then, again, when it comes to a member not being completely faithful, most of what I typically hear about is avoidance, less-than-empathetic comments (often meant with good intentions, but... yanno), shouting from other family members... and maybe the occasional case of someone getting disowned. 😬

I still don't think the first two are good - maybe at least the second I can sometimes find understandable, but still. I definitely don't condone the latter two... (And if Church articles including this one are any indication, neither does God. 😔)

So... no, that kind of violence is DEFINITELY not something that's advocated for. 😔

Polygamy...

Like said earlier, I am definitely NOT surprised that this is a major part of the story. Polygamy is one of the biggest points of misconception that non-members have about our Church, and we are VERY aware of the stereotypes... which this story fits to a T.

YES, early saints practiced polygamy. NO, as of this time I'm writing this, we don't currently practiced it (I've mentioned some of the reasons above). NO, we didn't practice it for the reasons, nor in the manner, that many people tend to think. (And NO, we don't try to skirt around laws regarding legal marriage age... at least, not in what I consider the real branch of the Church... some people have made offshoots that, as far as I can tell, are very much in line with the stereotypes. 😑 Not sure if they're still around - at least not the main one. Haven't heard anything in a long time. 🤔)

I mentioned before that the journey to Utah/Deseret was dangerous. Being as traditional as we are, especially back then, I understand that it was mostly the men that hunted for food, and generally worked to protect everyone from various dangers. Thus, apparently mostly men died, leaving the population a little skewed.

And when many women would be left without even the option to marry (or remarry, in many cases), what's left to do?

Near as I can tell, the whole polygamy-vs.-monogamy thing appears to be one of those things where it's less of there being only one, real way of doing things, and more of being about what's probably most appropriate for the circumstances. Jacob (father of Joseph of Egypt) is known for having multiple wives, and in his case - and some others - it appears to be appropriate, from what I can tell.

HOWEVER! The ancient Church members in the Book of Mormon (commonly known as the Nephites) were commanded by God to only have one wife per man. Also, thereas a mention that David and Solomon having many wives (and concubines) is something God considers abominable (His word).

So... it sounds like, even in cases where polygamy is considered okay, having an excessive amount of wives is still a no-no. Heck, in the Holmes story, it seems to suggest that having many wives was... typical.

I don't think the population was that skewed. And even if it was, it wouldn't be for very long. 😅

So no. I don't see how that would be possible. Even if, hypothetically, it were encouraged.

Heck, I'm kind of afraid to look it up (for numerous reasons - not sure what exactly I'd search for, for one), but I've heard that the husband needed permission from his existing wives - starting with the first/"main" wife, and working his way down - before he could take another wife. I've also heard that a common conversation was most likely something along the lines of "Sister XYZ lost her husband on our journey here. Do you mind if we take her in? Give her someplace to stay and raise her children?"

Quite a different image than the "harems" people tend to expect (and that Doyle called them), huh?

(And it's not mentioned in the story, but since I know some people will wonder about it, or have heard otherwise: no, the wives are not considered married to each-other.)

I'm not going to make any claims, nor denials, as to who had how many wives, or anything. (Other than I've heard a rumor - not a hard fact, but still - that Joseph Smith's wife wouldn't let him take in any other wives.) Those records will probably be a pain to sort through... I pretty much just take things with a grain of salt on that front, personally, regardless of the direction.

Still, just as an estimate, I'd venture that 2-3 was more common, with several happening occasionally... and just one still being very common.

But yeah, as of the time of writing this, I've basically heard only heard emphasis on the one-man-one-wife arrangement, as far as the Church goes. Heck, right now, the idea of polygamy still seems odd to most members, AFAIK.

That said... I've also heard rumors that Utah is considering making polygamy legal again. I would not be surprised if Church leaders say something about it.

(This said, there are some elements I, personally, can respect about polyamorous relationships. Namely, the idea of multiple people being in a relationship with another person - or maybe even each-other - and being open and honest about it with each-other. Less of that ridiculous drama of someone being "taken," just because they're dating.)

Related side-note... Non-members, ready to have your mind blown? The recommended guidelines for dating in the Church: first and foremost, it's recommended to hold off until the age of 16 - this is largely to help prevent early pregnancies. (Turning sweet 16 is something often looked forward to. 😂) Secondly, it's recommended to start off with "group dates" (basically hanging out, not even beginning to pair off), in order to get an idea of what kind of people you like. After a while of that, you can move into paired-up dating, but it's recommended to avoid dating one person steadily - the idea is to try and help prevent getting too attached to any one particular person until you're ready to pick someone to marry. Finally, once you are getting ready to marry, you can start steady-dating the person you're considering - basically, you can start courting at that point.

How much of that sounded weird - maybe even crazy? 😜

Not to say it always works out that way... Along with the fact that people have their agency and autonomy, and that temptation is still a thing... some of us still struggle to get dates. 😅

...or feel that the pressure makes it... more intimidating. Maybe even gets some people focused more on the social pressure - feeling a need to rush things - than on whether it's actually a good idea, in their specific, current circumstances.

(I know I've been impacted by that... indirectly... 😓)

...anyhow...

The President of the Church (too many details for a header)

TBH, the portrayal of Brigham Young is probably the part that bothers me the most.

It might not have been so bad if Doyle wasn't misrepresenting a specific, named, major figure in our history - and particularly if it wasn't so incredibly inaccurately. But nope! Doyle was probably trying to be "realistic." 😅

It'll be hard for me to get into every detail (both emotionally, and just because of what it would take to point out EVERYTHING), but basically, the portrayal includes aggression, intimidation, making a point to oversee basically everything seen as a potential issue, outright threats... The narration even explicitly mentions that getting a visit is unlikely a good sign (at least for the character in question).

Regardless of whether one believes one such as him to have actually been called of God, I'll note that I, personally, haven't really known any of our Church Presidents (and other high-ranking leaders) to be much anything other than gentle. And to me, this seems like one of the major reasons why they would end up being President of the Church in the first place. Any guidance and correction I've heard has been - again - gentle, and loving.

Since checking the thing about the Danites, I've heard that he read some warning verses from the Old Testiment with passion... but I suspect that was mostly meant as a stern warning or something, from what I can tell. Other than that, about the worst he did was make it official that war was going on - after members had been attacked - rallying militia for defensive reasons, from what I can find. 🤔 Some... fighting spirit, I suppose, but not really aggression. There's even a point where he warned against getting involved in the affairs of some others in the area, because he didn't want a fight. (Though his message was... too late... 😢)

The bit about a visit being something to be concerned about definitely struck me as odd. Normally the possibility of getting to meet a Church President is something that members are excited about. 😅 Sure, maybe if one was, well... very much a sinner. (Which, to be fair, part of the idea is that Ferrier hasn't done something that, according to the story, is considered critically important...) But even then, stories I've heard about Church Presidents talking with sinners and the like typically involve a very gentle love that really does remind me of stories of Jesus.

Speaking of which, opportunities to meet a Church President in person are fairly rare. Especially these days. But even back then, things would be organized so he wouldn't have to handle everything, himself. Like I mentioned before, things would probably be handled by a Bishop or Branch President first, then a Stake President, then maybe one or two other levels of authority (I'm unclear on the details, but maybe a member of Area 70s?), before making its way to the Church President.

Even back then - basically any time except maybe the very earlier parts with Joseph Smith - the head of the Church would've been a very busy guy. Fact is, I really doubt he'd have time to handle everything by himself.

(Fun fact: Even the President of the Church has to talk to his local Bishop for certain things. I'm uncertain on the details, but one thing I think would be a good guess would be verifying records of personal tithings and other donations. ...Yes, even our leaders pay tithing.)

One particular omission I noticed was that there was no reference to finding out what God might want for any given situation. (Even with the very cult-like portrayal, this seems odd to me - I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be a common form of coercion.) This said, I'm pretty sure an emphasis on prayer would be more likely. (Or at least, I believe that it should have been. 😅) Most likely in asking Ferrier and others to pray... though praying himself, on occasion, wouldn't necessarily be out-of-place.

But yeah, lots of portrayals of stuff that would NOT be appropriate for his station. 😅

Incidentally, here's a bonus detail that even members tend not to remember: Have you noticed that I've been using terms like "the President of the Church" instead of "the Prophet"?

Well it turns out, unlike how even most members talk about it, the President of the Church is technically not "the" p/Prophet! Not even the only living prophet.

He might be sort of the head prophet, and he definitely is granted more power and authority. BUT! At EVERY General Conference for the Church, and even in some other cases, members are asked to sustain the President of the Church, his two Counselors, AND the Quorum of the Twelve (sort of the next group of authority down - our apostles) as "prophets, seers, and revelators."

Heck, here's a link to a reference of this being done in the April 2023 General Conference - the most recent, as of this writing, though our next one is expected next week. So this is very much a current exercise in our Church.

Still, somehow, the average member seems to forget about this... 😕 ...I admit, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine. 😅 It's something I wish at least our members remembered more-clearly, if nothing else. 😑

Marriage, general; insane controversy over Lucy being unmarried

Along with the polygamy section getting too long as it was, it just seemed appropriate to touch on marriage, separately. 😅 Still, these two points seem to go well-enough together that I decided to combine them.

While there is a lot of emphasis on marriage in the Church, it's not to the degree portrayed in A Study in Scarlet. Like with basically everything else in the Church, the ability to choose who you marry and such is still pretty important - for the wives as well as the husbands.

And while I'm sure there's sometimes drama over multiple people liking the same person (not that I've been part of that, nor been part of any circles that talk about these kinds of things...), it definitely wouldn't be to the point of Church leaders giving a one-month deadline, complete with ominous death threats, hunting parties tracking down anyone who might try to escape... or anything like that. 😅

Heck, it's pretty rare for Church leaders - even as much as a local Bishop - to get involved with stuff like that. 😅 Maybe counseling for couples after marriage - that's pretty common. Maybe some advice about marriage, proposal, etc. But nah, not going to mandate anything, by a long shot.

About the worst staying single is likely to result in would be some some "encouragement" (pressure...) from other members, or members accidentally assuming all the adults in a Ward/Branch ((two types of small congregations)) are married... and accidentally making exclusionary choices, accordingly...

To quote that article:

Sometimes even those of us who think we practice inclusion can be unintentionally exclusionary. For example, when I served as a nursery leader, I often missed announcements that were shared during the second hour of Church meetings. When I told a leader about this concern, he said, “But doesn’t your wife hear the announcements in Relief Society?”

(I guess I should probably give a note that the definition I heard - likely the Church definition - of "single" is "not married." Even if you're engaged, that doesn't mean you're not single. 🤣)

But yeah, someone being single in the Church isn't going to evoke shock, gasps, or anything of the sort. Let alone ominous death threats... or people hunting you down if you try to escape... 😂 In general, it's mostly just seen as a bad idea. Or at most, maybe a "sin of omission."

This said, while non-marriage is not exactly seen as good, I'm inclined to point out that *ahem* intimacy outside of marriage is typically viewed as MUCH worse. 😅

(Side-note: Apparently this is to the point that some find it hard to wrap their heads around the idea that intimacy with their new spouse being okay. 😅)

Also, a member having been married in the Church, and then getting divorced, is more likely to bring scrutiny... 😅 One of those things where a lot of members tend to get a lot more judgmental than I believe they should be. 😑

...But yeah, it can still hard not to wonder what might've led to something like that. 😅

...Still, I've heard cases where I would say that it's completely justified. 😒 (Someone pretending to be someone they're not until the other person was "stuck with them"? Yeah. Apparently it's happened at least once. 😅)

Besides, people can change, and I prefer to reserve judgment - at least until I know more. 🙂

(That's "judgment" as in "to make an assessment" - the scripture before the semi-famous "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" comes after Jesse assumed that Eliab, soon-king David's older brother, must be the one chosen by God to be King because, apparently, Eliab's big and buff. God basically goes 'Nope, don't judge him to be morally great just because he's a tough guy.'

Similarly, John 7:24 advises to judge righteous judgment - as does, actually, the Joseph Smith Translation of Matt 7:2.)

The most important figures in the Church are strongly implied to be the Holy Four

...Never heard of them. (Well, not outside of this story, at least.)

Honestly, given the context, it's hard to tell who this "Holy Four" is supposed to be. The Godhead* + Church President...? 🤔

...And honestly? Generally speaking, we're more likely to do things in sets of three. Three members of the Godhead*; three members of a Bishopric, or Stake Presidency, or the Church Presidency (all cases of one leader + two counselors); three witnesses of the Book of Mormon...

And when not three, other common numbers are eight, twelve, and seventy. Four isn't as big of a number.

But yeah, I'm not sure where this "Holy Four" thing came from. 😅

*The Godhead is sort of like our version of the Trinity, except instead of three beings in One, it's three separate beings, working as one unit (i.e. a team).

Ferrier is shown taking the Lord's name in vain

Not sure how relevant this is supposed to be to Ferrier's relationship to the Church, but I figured I'd touch on it.

Yeah, we don't encourage swearing. There's some debate as to whether things besides the Lord's name in vain is really considered swearing - or at least, many seem to agree that the Lord's name should, at least, be considered worse than other terms (not a teir-1 swear, or whatever that one word is considered).

But yeah, that's a no-no. ...And I'm only slightly surprised that there isn't an example of a practicing member breaking the Word of Wisdom (esp. the "no smoking, drinking, etc." part).

Secret groups are seen meeting, exchanging code-phrases, etc.

Like I was refering to with the Danites thing. This is another thing that the Church is against. Groups like this are what we call secret combinations. Secret combinations are one of those things that are described as "most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God."

Any secret societies and the like would not be sanctioned by the Church.

(Also, side-note, I have no idea what their code-phrases are supposed to mean.)

Endowment House - flags flown to indicate a marriage the day before

I actually hadn't heard of this, either, until reading this story. Turns out, it was a thing (again, past-tense). It was basically used as sort of a temporary temple, until the actual temple could be finished (something I'd guessed at). It doesn't seem to be much of a thing right now.

There's no mention in that page I linked of flags being part of an official ceremony, or anything (on the endowment house, or - apparently - in the streets). It's certainly not a modern thing - strikes me as way more showy and public than we tend to prefer things to be. Heck, marriage is one of those things that's considered more private. And if anything, one of the common comments about our wedding ceremonies is how simple they are.

And besides that, weddings are one of those things common enough, and with enough of them done in one day, that I really doubt there'd be any signals used for a single marriage the day after it was performed. 😅

I'm actually half-surprised there's no mention of endowments. I'm actually not sure if Doyle even heard of an endowment in our Church. It is something that's required before getting a temple marriage... or going on an official mission, though members can get one at other times. It's the thing that's related to the garments some of us wear (as some non-members called it some years ago, "Mormon underwear"). It's also something we consider sacred enough that it's done in a special room in our temples (basically hence the need for a temporary location while the temple was under construction for so long).

This said, a since only the first wife who's probably sealed to her husband, I'm pretty she'd be the only one that'd really need an endowment for her marriage, if she didn't have one already. 🤔

And I know I'm not being specific, but it's something that's also considered sacred enough that we're not really supposed to discuss it with others who haven't had it - if not just plain not outside the appropriate room in the temple.

I actually can't give details, even if I wanted, because I haven't had one, myself. But I remember that not that long ago, it was to the point that even members couldn't really find information about it by searching the Church website. (A point of frustration for me... And when bringing that up to a couple endowed girls, I remember them getting a little awkward and telling me "It's not secret, it's sacred." ...Which didn't help my frustrations, because I'd say it was at least both!)

A few details have been released publicly now. None of the sensitive stuff, but I've caught things about it once being called 'endowment of power from god,' and something about extra protection.

It's apparently also possible to put certain principles of it together if you know what kind of reasoning to use - even if you don't realize it's connected with the endowments, somehow.

But I'm not going into any more detail, nor look for more info on for the sake of this "dissertation." 😜 (Sorry not sorry.)

But yeah, an endowment house doesn't seem to be a thing now, marriages weren't forced, and I really doubt the flags were a thing. 😅

Wives observing custom of sitting up with someone the night before their burial

If this ever was a custom, it certainly isn't now. Sure, I'd say there's a tendency to stay by the side of someone who's dying, but it's not an outright custom.

...Nor have I ever heard of staying near an already-dead body the night before burial. 😬 Ew...

-----

So... yeah. Overall, while I was surprised to see the Church in one of these books in the first place, once I noticed it was there, I wasn't really surprised of the shape the portrayal took. Like I said, we're very aware of the common stereotypes... and we're painfully used to being seen as "the bad guys" - whether as a group... or individually... 😢

Heck, I'm betting that A Study in Scarlet contributed to a lot of it, directly or indirectly. 😑 We all know how popular Sherlock Holmes is, and this is the very first book. 😬

This said! Far be it from me to try and tell people to abandon Sherlock Holmes. (I think that would be folly, anyhow. 😅) We don't have to accept every aspect of the stories... And Holmes is known for his deductive reasoning, first and foremost, which I can very much get behind (even if it's a little fantastical/romanticized), and I think he shares a lot of nuggets of wisdom. 🙂

And if the principles of reasoning and getting to the truth used in the Holmes' stories are any indication - not to mention the strawman moments *coughLestradecough* - I think that Doyle was just trying to portray things as accurately as he could, wanting to be true to them - not to add to prejudice based on falsehoods. 😂 ...Sadly, a lot of what he had to work with would've probably been misinformation, or even disinformation. And communication technology would've been a LOT less advanced - worldwide websites weren't a thing yet. 😅

...I wouldn't hold availability of resources against Doyle. Yes, mis- and disinformation is harmful... but people, as a whole, are fallible. I do think he was probably trying his best, and I'm definitely not going to hold that against him. And in general, I prefer to give people the benefit of doubt. 😌

Also? ...This might seem like a side-note, but in my latest fanfic, I've written Holmes references into chapters that haven't been posted yet, starting with the next chapter. I considered removing them, but I keep feeling impressed through the Holy Ghost to leave them - heck, I keep feeling guided on how to include them, and such.

(And to reinforce this, I plan - and feel impressed - to still stream those Holmes games I bought, on my Twitch channel. No, I'm not giving you a direct link. 😉)

And heck... not trying to brag, but to be honest? The general way that Holmes works things out - his patterns of thinking, and a lot of the principles of reasoning he stands behind? ...I actually find them very relatable. 😄 A lot of the stuff Holmes suggest is stuff I figured out/decided to do on my own (if in different words and such... and even if I disagree on occasion 😉).

I'm not going to claim to be on the same level as Holmes (this is fiction), and my strengths in knowledge and such are in different areas... but the general style feels very familiar... and I think this actually is the strongest I've ever felt a character to be a kindred spirit of sorts. 😃

Heck... I'd say Doyle must be something of a kindred spirit, to even come up with Holmes' manner of reasoning.

...Call this a bold claim, but I think he'd like me trying to correct his mistakes. Try and repair a little of the damage. 😌

So... yeah. I'm not even trying to preach or anything, I just want people to be aware of the inaccuracies in portrayals like this one, at minimum. 😅

And... I want to share that I can still fondly appreciate something that started with such a big flaw. 😌

#sherlock holmes #a study in scarlet #misinformation #latter day saints #mormons

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therandomavenger · 1 year

Text

To AI or not to AI

There’s been a lot of hubbub lately both online and in the media about the new AI tools that have been created. It started out with art, and then moved into the realm of writing, with the coming of various tools that are supposed to be able to generate original content. Reactions have been varied. Some people have embraced these tools as the wave of the future. Others have drawn a hard line in the sand and declared that no legitimate writer or artist would ever use them. As for me, I haven’t known what to think. I do not like the idea that I could be replaced by a collection of algorithms. But there are some writers I know and trust who’ve found useful applications for them that did not strike me as unethical uses of the technology.

I didn’t see myself using any of these tools in any capacity. But last week, someone in my writer’s group suggested that they could be used to generate comp titles for your books to assist in marketing. This seemed like something that could be useful, and also ethical, and since I have a new book coming out later this month, I tried it, using, specifically chatGPT.

I gave it a short summary of the book and asked for comp titles. I did this three different times, providing more details each time, and clarifying what I was asking for. Each time, it generated a list of ten titles, complete with one paragraph plot summaries. I was pleased. Here were some comp titles I could use in my marketing. Then I looked more closely at the plot summaries. They were eerily close to my book, so much so that I was a little afraid I was going to be accused of plagiarism. They also all kind of sounded the same, with minor rephrasing. I chalked that up to the format the algorithm was using.

So, I decided to check some of these books out and see how they were being marketed, what their covers looked like, that kind of thing.

None of the books actually existed. ChatGPT completely made them up. The plot summaries were all rephrasings of the prompt. Of the authors listed, only one was real, and she had no book even sort of like the book that was credited to her.

I tried again, this time stressing that the books should be real. Same result. Different details, but every book was fake. Obviously, this tool is of very limited utility for me. Other writers have done this and found actual comp titles. Maybe I am just uncomp-able?

Other people are finding utility in this tool, mostly for brainstorming ideas. I tried this too, and what it gave me was the most cliched and hackneyed of plot ideas. Seriously, nothing usable. One of my friends in my dnd group uses it to generate backstories for our characters, and God bless, you Jeff, but the text generated is, let’s say, ‘devoid of inspiration,’ and the plots are just rehashes of other things. Several short story markets have closed to submissions because they are being inundated with ai-generated submissions, all of which are badly written.

Also, people who’ve used it to do research for them have reported that you can’t trust anything it tells you. It comes up with stuff that sounds right but could be completely inaccurate. So, its usefulness as a research assistant is nil, at this point.

I fully grant that the problem could be me, but I am not finding this an even marginally useful tool. I know the technology is in its infancy, and will get better, but for now, I am not worried about being replaced.

And even if it does get better, I must wonder why it’s being used this way at all. I can see applications for AI. As a virtual personal assistant? Sure! As a way of completing complicated legal documents? You bet! Why is it being turned toward creative endeavors. Free us from drudgery, please, not the work that people actually want to do.

Now, if a writer wanted to use it to give them a rough first draft to get their ideas organized, and then rewrite it into something worthwhile, I can see the utility in that. I don’t think that’s unethical. But if you’re using it to just regurgitate a blog post or something, what is the point of that? There are enough blog posts in the world. We won’t miss yours. Also, as far as storytelling goes, for the most part, the stories generated are simple summaries of events. I haven’t seen anything ai-generated that was even close to an immersive scene, or a compelling character, or a shocking plot twist. AI can only, for now, spit back versions of what it has been fed.

This may change in the future, but even if it does, and an AI becomes capable of generating original fiction, I am not interested in reading it. Part of why I read fiction (and non-fiction too) is to gain the benefit of another human being’s perspective and experience. That is completely lacking if it’s written by an AI. Right now, AI has real ‘Yorkshire Terrier that has been taught to stand on its hind legs and pretend to talk’ vibes. Maybe it will get better, but even if it does, I probably won’t use it.

I’m going to keep an eye on how the technology develops. If I could download an AI assistant to help me organize myself, and do accurate research, that would be a godsend. I routinely use Microsoft Word’s editor feature, which is not exactly an AI but something close to it, and sometimes it has good suggestions. I am not anti-AI. But I think the creative work needs to be left to humans.

originally published on chadgrayson.com

#blog post #AI #chatgpt

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originalhomestuckscenarios · 2 years

Note

This is just a regular request, but could I do Eridan with an Autistic fem reader in a matespriteship? Wondering how he would be in a relationship like that :)

Alright so I was kinda doing extra research as I was writing and stuff so I am SO sorry if any of this is bad or inaccurate. If any of this offends anyone just let me know how I can fix it or if I should delete it as a whole. So please don't be scared to let me know I'll completely understand.

Btw I know that autism is a broad thing, so I tried to find the most common symptoms. If you'd like me to write something around a specific symptom feel free to request it separately!

Eridan with Autistic S/O

Reader here is female

He honestly doesn't know much about autism, and he probably couldn't even tell that you have it unless you tell him.

He doesn't listen to any organizations until you tell him which ones are good. Of course if he gave it any time of day he'd probably be able to tell which ones are actually good. But your opinion on the matter is the most important one.

If anyone (including you) tried to convince you that there is something wrong with you? He'd enter full rant mode. Really just because you do and feel things outside of "the norm" it doesn't mean that you're "broken" or something is "missing" or whatever the fuck people are saying. You're you: amazing, adorable, unique ray of light that makes his day better just by being in the same room.

He's really used to all of your routines and sense of order, he makes sure that he doesn't mess with it. If you'd be upset like this because of him he'd feel rather guilty... Especially if he did something on purpose during an argument.

He takes a mental note whenever you react to certain things differently. Of course if the reaction is a negative one he'll make sure you don't have to experience it again.

Avoiding eye contact did at some moments bother him. He couldn't exactly explain why was that but there was just that odd feeling whenever you avoided it. He was aware you couldn't help it, so he didn't hold it against you in any way.

Whenever you get into something he'd be eager to listen. Seeing you so excited about something makes you so adorable. His heart sometimes just can't take the fact that his girlfriend is so cute.

Your fidgeting can sometimes be distracting, but not in a bad way. It's another case of "minor detail that makes him very happy". Be it flapping your hands or bouncing or spinning, whatever you do it's just another reason why he adores you so much.

When you start to drift away and don't pay as much attention, he doesn't snap you back to reality. If it's something important he'd slowly try to get your attention (usually by placing his hand on your shoulder and gently shaking you if you didn't react to his touch immediately) and if not he'll leave you alone.

If you have any feelings of anxiety, he'd be there to ease it. He might not be the best at comforting, but he is bluntly giving you tons of words of affirmation. Is it always appropriate? Not exactly, but he tries his best.

~Mod Auvana

#hs eridan #homestuck eridan #eridan homestuck #eridan x reader #eridan ampora

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neon-junkie · 3 years

Text

Hey everyone,

This will be my final post addressing the fandom conflict that has quite frankly gotten out of hand. Although it’s very likely this post will be picked apart, no matter how well intended it is, I will no longer be addressing, interacting, or responding to any further accusations made against me. Of course, if people have questions from a genuine place of interest, I will be happy to clarify anything for you, either via DM’s or non-anon asks. I will not be answering anonymous asks on this, as I do not want anything else posted on this topic.

As a side note: For anyone tempted to wade into the debate, I sincerely ask you not to get involved. Do not make yourself a target, do not feel you need to ‘pick a side’, and please do not think you have an obligation to reason with either side. It seems to be well past the point of that, so please find people you get along with in this fandom and curate a space for yourself away from all this conflict.

Warning: This post will contain uncensored slurs, mentions of racism, paedophilia, transphobia, LGBTQ+ phobia, death threats, threats of violence, targeted harassment, and abusive language.

To start off, I want to apologise to everyone who has somehow gotten drawn into this mess by either defending me, following me, or interacting with my content. This whole situation with me began well over a year ago when I wrote a crack-smut fic featuring Javier/Micah, posted back in August 2019. A crack fic is defined as “a work of fan fiction that is absurd, surprising or ridiculous, often intentionally.” It was inspired by a camp interaction between Micah and Javier, and like many other fanfiction writers, I decided to write smut about it. The fic was titled ‘Dirty Fucking Greaser’, and if that shocks you, I’m sure you can imagine how shocked I was to be informed afterwards that ‘Greaser’ was in fact a very serious 19th century slur for a Mexican individual. My first encounter with this word as insult was via RDR2, where it was used like a very casual insult. My only prior knowledge of this term was in regards to the greasers youth subculture, so the severity was lost on me. This obviously does not excuse my ignorance, and I should have researched the term better, but this is just again to apologize for that oversight, the insensitivity, and to highlight that my use of this term was not meant maliciously. Following this being pointed out, I proceeded to make 3 separate apology posts [Unfortunately I can only find the third one: HERE], renamed the fic, and added slur warnings in both the tags and the fic description. When I continued to receive complaints and increasingly aggressive abuse (which included being told my apologies weren’t good enough and I should delete my account and even kill myself), I attempted to delete the fic and mistakenly abandoned it instead. I contacted AO3 to see if it could be removed, but they said there was nothing they could do. I contacted their DMCA takedown team, who also said they couldn't remove it. Please note that all this happened 7-8 months ago, and has been dragged on for almost a year.

So, from this one unfortunate incident, I’ve been branded a racist, and someone who attacks POC, when all I have done is tried to defend myself and correct my past mistakes. I could have done this more gracefully in the past, but frankly when you’re suddenly the target of unrelenting callout posts and nasty anons, it’s very hard to be open to criticism of this sort, but this is what I’m trying to move past.

Over the course of the year, this one mistake has spiralled, and the crusade against me has somehow coincided with moral conflicts over certain characters and ships. This has devolved into dehumanizing abuse, witch hunts, death threats, doxxing, anon hate, and much more unpleasant behaviour.

I have been in fandom for a very long time, and at the heart of all fandom circles is the fear of censorship and subsequent purges, so the ‘ship and let ship’ mentality was more or less the pinnacle of fandom philosophy. And yes, this can be problematic in some contexts. People have their right to be uncomfortable with content, have a right to be offended by content, but that is not content meant for you. This argument has devolved into ‘what material is morally right to engage with’ and that is a mentality in which fandom will not survive, because for every person who is telling me I’m an awful person for writing about Micah, there are three other people telling me how much they appreciate me making that content. For every fic in which I characterize Javier and Flaco a certain way, some people are made uncomfortable by it and others tell me they enjoy it. And this isn’t just white people, but POC too, which makes it very difficult to know whether I am genuinely in the right or the wrong, especially when it comes to the concept of ‘fetishization’ which I have been made aware I need to educate myself on. I intend to do so, but I disagree with the common accusation that finding non-white men romantically and sexually attractive is inherently fetishistic and makes me racist. It’s pushing a catch-22; don’t find POC sexually attractive? Racist. Find POC sexually attractive? Racist.

I am always willing to be (politely) approached about anything my readers may be concerned about, but if it’s something I’ve specifically tagged for (such as themes, scenarios, etc.) I’m afraid you consented to reading it and with that I cannot help you. You are just as responsible for curating your space and what you see/read just as much as I am responsible for tagging it appropriately.

On the topic of racism, I want to bring up my prior use of ‘white racism’ which has obviously been a point of contention among both white and people of colour. The (literal) black vs white concept of racism is incredibly American-centric, and as someone from Europe, which has a history of oppression against white cultures and those of people of colour, it feels inaccurate. However, this has recently been discussed with me and I came to the realization that while growing up, especially in the UK, ‘xenophobia’ and ‘racism’ were marketed as one and the same. So, with this little revelation in mind, I will no longer be using ‘white racism’ (Or ‘reverse racism’) to identify the abuse I have been receiving, but will instead call it by what it really is; dehumanizing, debasing, xenophobic, puritanical.

Very briefly, I will also touch on the NewAustin situation, which has also been dredged into this. I did not ‘chase a POC from tumblr’. NA was a minor who for some reason was on my 18+ blog and took issue with me, likely from the ongoing discourse regarding my fic and initial mistake, as well as my interest in Micah. They were subsequently harassed into deleting their account by anonymous hate following various conflicts with other users for their support of me or their ships in general. I have never encouraged my followers to target anyone, and have always asked to be blocked and blacklisted by those who do not like me or my content. When NewAustin messaged me following the deletion of their blog, I was admittedly indifferent to the point of being unkind, and accused them of sending the hate themselves. This was based on the anon hate being racially-driven without there being any prior knowledge or publication that NA was a person of colour. This aside, I should have at the time, whether I believed it was my followers or not, condemned this behaviour. Regardless of the issues I’ve had with these people, it is never ever ok to send hate to anyone, no matter the motivation behind it, and that should have been stated at the time.

All I can do at this point is acknowledged and apologize for my past mistakes, and try to improve myself going forward.

It is not my place to dictate the morals of the character/ship-aspect of this argument, and I am not interested in waging a war of opinion. This post is simply to clarify how I am involved in this, and why I am so viscerally targeted. You can draw your own conclusions, but I am no longer interested in this endless back and forth.

To my mutuals/followers, I stand by my request to not interact and to block and move on, as this is what I’ll be doing too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope it makes things from my perspective a little clearer.

-RAT <3

EDIT: Just after this post was made, the fic in question was finally removed. I had to go through a DMCA take down, which can take months, since I originally abandoned the fic, thinking that meant delete. I explain this in more detail above. Said fic is gone, and has been gone since this post has been around.

#the tea #apology #long post

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emospritelet · 3 years

Text

Heatstroke - chapter 24/24

Last time, Gold confronted Zelena over trying to frame Regina, and Lacey caught the whole show on tape. This is the final chapter! Happy endings FTW!

[AO3]

Lacey set down the camera on the shop counter, and raised an eyebrow at Gold.

“So,” she said. “What do you want to do?”

He inclined his head, lifting a hand and letting it fall.

“It appears you have a story to tell about Miss West,” he remarked. “I feel the choice is very much yours. Perhaps Mr Glass can be persuaded that running an exposé is in the public interest.”

Lacey hesitated.

“Yeah, I think he would,” she acknowledged. “It’s just - Mayor Mills doesn’t know, does she? About Zelena.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I think maybe we should tell her,” said Lacey. “Before it all comes out, I mean. That would be the decent thing to do, wouldn’t it?”

“It would,” he agreed, and let out a heavy sigh, his head rolling back. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“What is?”

He raised his head again, sending her a stern look.

“It appears I’ve discovered a conscience,” he said. “The rumour was I didn’t have one. I blame you for this outrage.”

Lacey giggled, and leaned in to kiss him.

“Does that mean you’ll come with me to break the news?” she asked, and he offered his arm.

“To the Mayor’s office,” he said. “I’m sure Regina will be just delighted to see us.”

“This can’t be true.” Regina was staring at Lacey’s phone, having watched the recording twice. “This - this is impossible!”

“This must be a hell of a shock,” said Lacey, and Regina shook her head.

“I always thought she disliked me, but Mal told me I was being paranoid,” she said. “All this time she was plotting to ruin my life because my mother abandoned her? The nerve of the woman!”

“I guess sibling rivalry’s tough to deal with,” said Lacey. “Makes me glad I’m an only child.”

“Well, she certainly has my mother’s ambition and vindictiveness,” said Regina, with a sigh. “I don’t suppose you know anything about the father?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Gold. “Did your mother ever hint that you had a half-sister?”

Regina shook her head.

“She never spoke about her youth,” she said. “Other than to tell me she had to fight for anything she could get and I should do the same.”

She handed the phone back to Lacey and frowned at Gold.

“Exactly how long have you known about this?” she demanded, and he smiled.

“I heard what you did,” he said.

“That wasn’t what I asked,” she said coldly. “I know you, Gold. Were you holding onto this information until it was of use to you?”

“You think I’m working against you?” he asked, in a mild tone.

“I think you never do anything that doesn’t benefit you.”

“Well, perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think,” he said. “Or perhaps we assess risks and benefits differently. Either way, you have Miss French to thank for the investigation of her past and this recording. I merely - encouraged a confession.”

“Quite the sleuthing team,” said Regina, in a dry tone. “Can we expect a new office in town? French Gold, Private Investigators?”

“I don’t mind investigating his privates,” said Lacey, and Gold shot her a very level look as Regina curled her lip.

“Thanks, I’m going to spend the rest of the evening trying and failing to get that image out of my head.”

“You’re welcome,” said Lacey cheerfully.

“The question for you,” said Gold, “is how are you going to handle this? Miss French has quite a scoop on her hands, but she wanted to bring it to you first before raising it with Mr Glass.”

Regina shot Lacey a grateful look before sitting back in her chair with a sigh.

“There’s supposed to be a debate,” she said. “The two of us up on stage. You think it’s her intention to reveal the whole sordid story in front of the whole town?”

“I don’t believe she wants the rest of the town to know,” said Gold. “If they did, then her whole campaign reeks of sour grapes. She’ll want to play on the image she’s created while she’s been here. However inaccurate it is.”

Regina growled under her breath.

“I can’t believe I’m having to go through this charade!” she snapped. “I’m supposed to stand there and - and debate her when she’s trying to frame me for corruption and destroy my life!”

“We don’t have any actual evidence that she’s tried to frame you,” said Lacey, and Regina nodded impatiently.

“I know, I know. Nothing court worthy on that tape, however much she hinted at it,” she said. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to hand it over to the Sheriff, get him to look into it.”

“If you agree to an exclusive interview with me after the debate, sure,” said Lacey quickly, and almost blushed as Gold shot her an approving look. Regina drummed her fingers on the desk.

“She’s far too good for you, Gold,” she said abruptly. “I hope you know that.”

He smirked at that, winking at Lacey.

“Oh, I’m well aware.”

Gold was finding it hard to stop grinning like an idiot now that he and Lacey were dating, and even found himself unexpectedly granting rent extensions, much to the surprise of nervous tenants. He made dinner for her again later in the week, and she stayed the night, Darcy curled at their feet as they drifted into sleep. It was pleasant being nuzzled awake by a purring cat and finding Lacey in his arms. It was a feeling he could get used to.

They had eventually managed to finish the interview, most of which was carried out in bed, and he had found himself telling her things he had previously had no intention of revealing. He blamed that on Lacey; it was difficult to maintain his usual cool distance when she was wearing his discarded shirt and looking at him as though he was a particularly delicious snack. She kept her word about giving him the final say on the article, however, and upon reading her draft, he noted that she had kept some of the more personal details to herself. He only felt the need to redact a couple of minor points about his early life, but was happy to let the remainder stand as it was. If the rest of Storybrooke was surprised at the intimacy of the piece and his sudden desire to be open about his life - well, they could all go and fuck themselves, as far as he was concerned.

The only opinions he cared about were those of his family, and it wasn’t too long before Neal called. Gold sighed as he looked at the number flashing on his phone. They’re gonna tease me relentlessly about this. Emma especially.

Shaking his head and smirking to himself, he picked up.

“Dad, hi,” said Neal. “Thought you might have called to let us know how your big social occasion went. You’re not avoiding the issue, right?”

“Of course not,” said Gold. “Been a busy week, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh. Emma thought you’d say that.” Neal sounded amused. “She’s been dying to find out about the dance, so I said I’d call for an update.”

“Tell her she needs a better hobby than worrying about my social life,” said Gold dryly. “How’s Henry? I was wondering what to get for his birthday.”

“Nice attempt at deflection, but I’m not done with you,” said Neal. “Come on, how did it go?”

“Uh - it was fine,” said Gold.

“Did you ask Lacey to dance, like I said?”

“Yes.” Gold hesitated. “We’re - uh - sort of dating now.”

Neal whooped, making him grin.

“Way to go! See, I knew you could do it!”

“Yes, well.” Gold scratched the back of his neck, feeling awkward. “It’s early days, I suppose. Very early days, but it’s going well.”

“I am so happy for you, really. Wait until I tell Emma.”

“She’s gonna tease me, isn’t she?” said Gold dryly.

“No more than usual.”

“A lot, then.”

“Hey, her teasing comes from a place of love.”

“Hmm.” Gold was amused. “Well, you can tell her I love her too.”

“And you can tell Lacey we can’t wait to meet her,” said Neal, and Gold’s grin widened.

“I believe the feeling’s mutual,” he said.

“Good. How about in two weeks’ time?”

Gold smirked to himself.

“Excellent timing,” he said. “It’s the Mayoral debate and election.”

“I’m almost certain we can find something better to do than listen to some crusty old politicians.”

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised,” said Gold. “It could be an interesting night.”

The evening of the debate arrived more quickly than Lacey thought possible, and she was nervous about more than just reporting the evening’s events. Gold’s son and daughter-in-law were due any minute, and there was a tiny part of her that kept whispering that they wouldn’t approve, that they would wonder why the hell Gold, with his money and power and class, was dating the likes of her. Stressing over her coverage of the election was a welcome distraction from the unwelcome internal monologue, and she concentrated on getting her things together for the debate, checking the recording equipment on Gold’s kitchen table and fretting about the sound quality.

“You’ve already checked it three times,” he said. “It’s fine.”

“I’m supposed to be writing the front page article!” she snapped. “What happens if I fuck up and don’t get anything recorded? I’m gonna look like a total idiot and Sidney won’t trust me with anything more complex than the hot dog eating contest!”

“I can record everything on my phone, if you’re worried,” he said. “Besides, don’t you do shorthand?”

“Yeah, but—”

“You’ll be fine,” he said gently, and kissed her head. “I promise.”

The doorbell rang, and Lacey started, heart thumping.

“Relax, that’ll be Neal and Emma,” said Gold, heading for the door. Lacey frowned at his back.

“Relax, my arse,” she muttered, shoving the recording equipment into its bag.

There were voices from the hall, and a sudden burst of laughter, and she closed her eyes, willing herself to calm the hell down. Footsteps from the doorway made her look up, and she was greeted by a warm smile and an outstretched hand. Gold’s son had his eyes, and curling dark hair above a ready grin.

“I’m Neal,” he said. “Really pleased to meet you.”

“Lacey,” she said, shaking his hand. “Uh - likewise.”

She was reminded vividly of the fact that she had flashed him on their first encounter, and felt a blush start to rise in her cheeks. If Neal was thinking of it too, he was better at hiding it than she was. His wife was a pretty blonde, with a kind look in her eyes and a plump baby in her arms, who was glancing around curiously at everything.

“This is Emma,” added Neal, “and that’s Henry.”

“We’ve heard a lot about you,” said Emma, shooting Gold a teasing look.

“Well, I won’t ask if it was all good, because I’m willing to bet it wasn’t,” said Lacey, and they chuckled.

“Maybe not at first,” admitted Emma. “Don’t hold it against the old bastard, though.”

“Oh, believe me, the feeling was mutual,” said Lacey.

“I’m standing right here,” said Gold evenly.

Lacey caught Emma’s eye and returned her grin. She felt herself relax a little, and leaned over to kiss Gold’s cheek.

“We got there in the end,” she said. “Uh - how hungry are you guys? I didn’t even think about dinner.”

She shot Gold a look, hoping that he would suggest something, and he nodded.

“We’ll head to Granny’s after the debate,” said Gold. “I have no doubt that Lacey will be demonstrating her excellent skill as a journalist, and I’d hate for you to miss it.”

“No pressure then,” said Lacey, and he smiled.

“You’re writing the article for the Mirror front page,” he said. “You have an exclusive with the Mayor herself after the debate. Sidney Glass clearly believes you to be as capable as I do.”

“Yeah, because I got that interview with you,” she said. “I didn’t tell him we were naked when I got most of that info.”

Neal closed his eyes with a pained expression.

“Shows ingenuity if you ask me,” said Emma abruptly. “I can usually get a ton of stuff out of Neal when we’re naked. Must run in the family.”

It was Gold’s turn to look pained. Neal put his hands over his face with a heavy sigh, and Lacey and Emma chuckled. Lacey decided that she liked both Emma and Neal very much. She zipped her bag and nodded to Gold.

“Okay,” she said. “Wish me luck.”

The town hall was filled with residents, chatting amongst themselves and casting curious glances at the empty stage. Ruby was seated next to Leroy on the third row back, and she winked at Lacey as she and Gold took their own seats. Ruby had been delighted to hear that the two of them had started seeing one another, and had only made a salacious comment to Gold on one occasion. Maybe two.

“Big turnout,” said Neal, glancing around. “I had no idea the people in this town were so into politics.”

“Usually they don’t bother,” said Gold. “The Mayor getting some competition appears to have piqued their interest.”

As though his voice had summoned her, Regina walked onto the stage, chin held high, looking calm and competent in a sharp black suit. Zelena followed, in a green dress with a soft silk scarf around her neck and gold hoops in her ears. A green folder was tucked under her arm, her hair tied up, and Lacey thought she was going for the image of a respectable school teacher. A gleam in her eye spoiled the look.

Dr Hopper was moderating the debate, and Lacey quickly checked her recording equipment and opened her laptop, rattling off a few sentences about the tense atmosphere of the hall and the opening statements from each of the candidates. Zelena gave a speech about decency and traditional values, at which Regina seemed to be stopping herself from rolling her eyes with some difficulty. Regina spoke of her record on town planning, law and order—she shot Zelena a look at that point—and prosperity.

“Thank you, ladies,” said Dr Hopper, when she was done. “Now, perhaps we’ll go to some questions from the press before we deal with those the townsfolk have submitted.”

“I have a question for Miss West,” said Lacey, in a loud, clear voice, shoving her laptop at Gold as she got to her feet.

Zelena’s mouth twisted, her smile more of a grimace.

“Of course,” she said lightly. “It’s - uh - I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”

She waved a languid hand, and Lacey felt her mouth flatten.

“Lacey French, Storybrooke Mirror,” she said evenly, and Zelena let out a tinkling laugh.

“Of course, silly me,” she trilled. “How could I forget Storybrooke’s eager young reporter? Lending the local newspaper such an air of class in that - lovely - outfit.”

There was a muttering amongst the townsfolk, and Lacey distinctly heard Ruby say ‘What a bitch!’, but she smiled sweetly as though she hadn’t understood the insult.

“Yeah, I have a question about your motivation for running for Mayor,” she said. “You said yourself you’ve never been involved in politics, so what inspired you to make this move now?”

Zelena smiled widely.

“Well, as I said, I thought about where I could do the most good,” she said. “Storybrooke is a wonderful town, with many excellent qualities, but talking to its residents has made me realise that there’s a feeling that it may be lacking direction. I sense a need for a return to the basics of community. Neighbourliness. Family values. The traditions of small-town America that we all grew up with.”

“But you grew up in England,” said Lacey. “Wasn’t your father a diplomat? How do you know this view of America is either accurate or desirable?”

Zelena’s nostrils flared as she continued to smile brightly.

“Well,” she said. “Who’s been doing her homework?”

“Yeah, it’s just that people hear politicians mention tradition and family values, and all too often it’s a smoke-screen to hide racism and homophobia,” went on Lacey. “How would you address those concerns?”

Zelena spread her hands.

“I’d say look at my record,” she said. “Since I moved here I’ve made it clear that I’m happy to work with people of all backgrounds. It’s important that no one feels left out, and my initial conversations have led me to believe that there are concerns, and that some residents feel that their interests are not - fully appreciated - by the Mayor.”

“What kind of interests?” asked Lacey quickly, before Zelena could turn away, and her mouth twisted again as she tried to keep smiling.

“As I said, some feel that traditional family values are being lost in the push for modernity,” she said. “I’d like to reassure them that I stand for everything that Storybrooke represents. Decency. Morality.”

“Does that mean you think the Mayor is immoral?” asked Lacey, and Zelena pulled a face.

“I think there have been some questionable decisions at city hall under her watch, yes,” she said. “Does anyone really think that a seedy bar called Queens of Darkness is fitting for this town?”

“It’s a jazz club,” said Regina. “And there’ll be dance lessons each week. A perfectly respectable establishment, run by three accomplished businesswomen.”

Zelena let out that insincere laugh again, and Lacey sat down, retrieving her laptop from Gold and opening it up as Zelena addressed the room.

“Well, it’s not only the company the Mayor keeps,” she said. “We’ve all heard the rumours. Missing money, accounts not holding quite as much as people thought…”

“That’s an outrageous lie,” said Regina coldly. “Where’s your evidence, Miss West?”

Zelena smirked, as though she had been waiting for that very question. She held up the green folder, showing it to the room.

“I have the evidence right here,” she announced. “A brave employee of city hall managed to smuggle this out to me. Evidence that the Mayor has been embezzling town funds!”

There was a shocked intake of breath around the room. Lacey typed furiously.

“How dare you!” snapped Regina. “That’s a lie and you know it!”

“I believe this is my allotted time to speak!” Zelena snapped back. “I think the people of Storybrooke deserve to know exactly who you really are, don’t you? They should understand the choice before them!”

The doors at the end of the hall opened, and there was the sound of heavy boots on the floor. Zelena looked surprised, and then somewhat nervous, and a low-level muttering started up in the audience. Lacey glanced over her shoulder, watching as Sheriff Graham Humbert walked towards the stage with his deputy Dorothy Gale by his side. Regina appeared to be drumming her fingers on the lectern, and Lacey couldn’t work out whether it was anxiety or impatience.

“Miss West,” said Graham. “We’d like you to come with us, please.”

“Why?” demanded Zelena. “I’m a little busy winning this election, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“It’s a matter of obstruction of justice,” said Graham. “If you could come to the station, please.”

Zelena opened and closed her mouth, a sudden flicker of fear in her eyes.

“What if I say no?”

“I’d prefer not to have to handcuff you,” said Graham.

“But we will if we have to,” added Dorothy, folding her arms.

“This is a conspiracy!” blurted Zelena, waving a finger at Regina. “Did the Mayor put you up to this? This is exactly the kind of corruption I’m talking about! The Sheriff being used as the Mayor’s enforcer!”

“Miss West…”

“Mayor Mills will do whatever it takes to silence me!” she went on. “She’s scared I’ve exposed her for what she is!”

“Miss West, I didn’t want to have to arrest you, but…”

“One hint of competition and she calls in her - her goon squad to crush it!”

“Oh, for God’s sake, I know you’re my sister!” said Regina loudly.

Silence fell, and Lacey hurriedly typed a few sentences, describing the shocked atmosphere of the town hall. Zelena was staring at Regina, eyes wide and nostrils flaring.

“I wasn’t going to mention it,” said Regina, curling her lip. “I wanted to give you a chance to be a decent person and deal with this in an honourable way. But since you’re determined to try to ruin my life for no good reason, then yes. I’m well aware we share the same mother, and frankly she’d be disappointed at this pathetic bid for attention.”

“How dare you—”

“I believe it’s my turn to speak,” interrupted Regina. “We’ve listened to enough of your rambling this evening. Since you’d been dropping hints about corruption in my office, I had Sheriff Humbert investigate. He told me earlier this evening that someone had been planting evidence to try to frame me. No doubt that’s what he wants to speak to you about.”

“This is—”

“The residents of Storybrooke know how seriously I take my duties as Mayor,” Regina went on, addressing the room as a whole now. “They know that I value their support and their trust. Of course I’d want any threat to that to be investigated. I’m just - I’m beyond disappointed that the threat comes from my half-sister.”

Her voice echoed around the silent room. Lacey was watching the townsfolk avidly, their eyes fixed on Regina as she spoke.

“I had no idea that my mother had had a daughter before me, no idea that I had another family member out there in the world,” she went on. “Her coming to Storybrooke should have been a time of joy and reunion. But instead of her reaching out to me, she tries to undermine me, to take away the most important job I have in this town.”

She looked down, shaking her head, and Gold leaned in close.

“I wonder how much of this is for the benefit of the voters and how much is genuine,” he murmured.

“Maybe fifty-fifty,” Lacey whispered back, and he nodded in agreement.

Regina raised her head, taking a deep breath, as though steeling herself for something unpleasant. Graham and Dorothy had edged towards the stage, Dorothy removing the cuffs from her belt.

“All I can do now,” said Regina, “is trust that justice will take its course.”

“You know nothing about justice!” shouted Zelena, as the Sheriff started reading her her rights. “You’ll pay for this! All of you!”

She was still yelling when Dorothy handcuffed her and marched her from the room. The sound of the doors closing was very loud in the silence that remained.

“Well,” said Regina, placing her hands on the lectern and looking around the room. “I think we can all agree that this was one of the more - eventful - political debates this town has seen.”

There was a ripple of nervous laughter, and she smiled.

“I truly hope that Miss West gets the help she so desperately needs,” she went on. “And when she has, I want her to know that she’s welcome to visit with Mallory and I. After all, we may not be able to choose our family, but that makes it all the more important to nurture the bonds we share with those around us.”

There were noises of agreement from the audience, and Gold leaned in close again.

“Ever the politician,” he murmured, and Lacey nodded.

“Storybrooke is like an extended family to me,” went on Regina, “and all families have their moments of conflict and frustration, but underneath that there is respect for one another, and a common set of values. I believe I have lived by those values for every year that I’ve served as your Mayor. I will always reach out to those in need and I will always act in the best interests of this town. Under my leadership, Storybrooke will continue to prosper. I guarantee it.”

There was applause, and a couple of cheers, and Regina nodded, looking extremely self-satisfied. She started taking questions, and Gold kissed Lacey’s cheek and whispered that he would see her in the diner when she was done. She watched him leave with his family, Emma balancing the baby on her hip and Neal pushing the stroller after them. Lacey turned back to listen to Regina field a question about the state of the town’s roads, bent her head to her laptop, and began typing up her article on the Mayoral debate.

She emailed the article over to Sidney before leaving for the diner, and walked back there with Ruby, who was chattering about the drama that had unfolded. Regina had been in her element when answering the remaining questions, and Lacey had felt a surge of satisfaction over her part in exposing a crime. Perhaps small town life offered the chance for rewarding work after all. She could see Gold and his family through the window, and his face lit up as she entered, making her stomach flip. Damn the man. I’m falling in love with him.

“Excellent job this evening,” he said, getting up to pull her chair out and kissing her cheek. “I got you a rum and coke, I hope that’s okay.”

“Perfect,” she said fervently, and took a slurp, relishing the taste on her tongue.

“How’d the Mayor look at the end of all that?” asked Emma, and Lacey pulled a face.

“The whole place gave her a round of applause, and she was looking about as satisfied as she could, I guess,” she said. “I still feel kind of sorry for her. Not every day you find out you have a half sister. Especially one that’s out to get you.”

“Well, it could have been a lot worse,” said Gold. “I very much doubt Miss West will present much of a challenge from a jail cell.”

Lacey nodded, taking another sip of her drink.

“Does this mean you and Regina are friends now?” she asked, and Gold smirked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “What’s that term the kids use these days?”

“Frenemies?”

“That’s the one.”

“Kind of like we were,” she observed, and he laughed.

“Regina would fillet me with a letter opener if I even contemplated looking at her the way I look at you.”

“No, I don’t mean that,” she said. “I just meant - well, we kind of had that thing where we poked at each other to get a reaction, right?”

Gold looked as though he was trying very hard not to laugh, and she swatted his arm.

“Stop thinking about dirty stuff! You know what I mean!”

“I do,” he acknowledged. “And I, for one, am very glad that we - er - got the reaction we wanted.”

“You’re still thinking about dirty stuff, aren’t you?” said Emma shrewdly, and Gold shrugged.

“Maybe a little.”

They ate ribs, sticky with Granny’s special sauce, licking it from their fingers and washing it down with beer and wine and rum. By the time they got out into the cool night air, Lacey felt wonderfully tipsy, and regretted putting on her high heels earlier in the evening. At least there was no one else around to see if she fell on her arse, she supposed. Neal and Emma were walking ahead, pushing the stroller and talking quietly, and Lacey let out a sigh, slipping her arm through Gold’s for support, and resting her head on his shoulder.

“I ate too much,” she said, and Gold chuckled.

“We all ate too much.”

“You didn’t throw half of it over your lap, though.”

“No, I thought I’d leave that to you.”

“Stupid gravity,” muttered Lacey, and he laughed, squeezing her arm with his.

“Tired?” he asked.

“Yeah. Long day.”

“Maybe you should have an early night.”

She glanced up at him, and he was grinning at her, his eyes twinkling.

“How’s that gonna work?” she asked flatly. “Your family’s staying over. No way I’m letting you give me screaming orgasms while they’re in the room next door.”

“In that case I could sneak over to yours,” he suggested. “You could scream to your heart’s content.”

Lacey giggled, barging him affectionately with her shoulder.

“I think I love you, Mr Gold,” she said, and Gold stopped dead, turning to face her with a stunned look on his face.

“Really?”

Lacey turned to face him, taking his hand.

“Really,” she said. “I mean I’m kind of drunk, but that’s not why I’m saying it. I think I’ve sort of been in love with you for a while now. Is that okay?”

He was staring at her, wide-eyed, and a softness seemed to spill over his features, making his eyes gleam as he smiled.

“Well,” he said. “I think I love you, too, Miss French. Is that okay?”

“More than okay.”

He seemed to hesitate for a moment, then raised his chin.

“D’you want to move in?” he asked.

“Can I bring Darcy?”

“Of course.”

“Then you got a deal.”

He was grinning, and she found herself grinning back, her heart swelling with love for him.

“Let’s wait until after Neal and Emma go before I move in, though,” she said. “I think you said something about screaming orgasms?”

Gold’s grin turned wicked, and he bent his head to kiss her.

“I’ll be over later.”

She let his lips pull at hers, leaning in to feel the warmth of his body as his arms went around her, and let out a sigh of contentment. Yes. Life in a small town could be amazing.

#fic: heatstroke #golden lace fic #rumbelle fic #golden lace #rumbelle #my fic

46 notes · View notes

mystery-star · 4 years

Text

The Biggest Compliment – Spock

Pairing: Spock (AOS) x gender-neutral reader

Warnings: none

Words: 3944

Please do not repost my work on other sites or platforms!

Of course everyone in the 23rd century knew about Starfleet. But while you were certain that you would never join them, you had not believed that you would need to work together with their Academy one day. You hadn’t known what they wanted of you, when you had been told that your designer talent was needed. First you thought they might want to have new uniforms but probably a tailor would be better for this. Then you speculated over the possibility that they wanted a new logo. Or maybe it just was something like an advertisement for new recruits or so.

The thing they needed your help with, however, turned out be a test. Well, a simulation, to be exact. They wanted to animate the whole thing new. And not just animate, as you heard also the coding hat been redone, for whatever reason. After they had shown you what the old simulation looked like, you were introduced to your co-worker; the one who had written the new coding. It was a Vulcan and you didn’t know what to think of that. Not because he was not human but because you had never seen a Vulcan ‘close-up’ but hat heard a lot of, not so good, things about their race. As it seemed, also the instructor who was showing you around didn’t seem to be a big fan of him and leant closer to you before he left you in your new office.

“Don’t mind him, he can get pretty prissy sometimes” he whispered to you before he wished you good work and then left, leaving you alone with the man you’d spend the next weeks with. You looked at him for a while and didn’t know what to say.

“May I see what you have?” he asked. It was the first time you heard his voice and you had to admit, it sounded quite good.

“What do you mean, what I have?”

“I am certain you have already prepared something” he said it with such a certainty that made you feel bad that you had, in fact, nothing.

“No?” he raised an eyebrow “Look, I literally heard what they want from me half an hour ago. Before, they only told me that they needed my as a designer and I had no idea what it was” he remained silent and you didn’t like that “All I have are a few notes. I’m sure you couldn’t have made drafts beforehand if they just called you to their office for making a new code without telling you what it was about first”

“That is not quite correct. I have asked to reprogram the test myself and therefore have arrived to the meeting sufficiently prepared” you rolled your eyes

“Well as I said, I only took a few notes during the simulation I watched”

“May I see those?” he held out his hand to you

“It’s just the basics, like what notes what it is about. Because I was told that you would tell me exactly what you need” he still didn’t move his hand, so you sighed “Fine, here you go” you pulled out your PADD and placed it on the table. Because you didn’t want to give it into his hand if he behaved like that. He had a look then pointed at the title.

“The simulation is called Kobayashi Maru, not Cobrayoshi Moru”

“Well excuse me for understanding it wrong” he didn’t reply and continued

“What do you mean by ‘good ship’?”

“The ship, this Kobayashi Maru that is in distress”

“Then please describe it accordingly

“As I said” you hissed “this are only first notes”

“Besides, I already have defined the amount of the Klingon warbirds to five, so your note that reads ‘ca. 4-5 enemy ships’ is inaccurate”

“I counted them on the screen of the simulation I watched. And apparently that wasn’t good or else you wouldn’t have reprogrammed it, right?”

“I have solely noticed inconsistencies in the coding. The animation itself was not much flawed”

“Okay” you took a deep breath “How about we sit together and you tell me exactly what you want, so that I can get working on it?”

“For now, I solely need one of the animated warbirds”

“But that’ll take hours to make. I could make a sketch in 5 minutes or so”

“I need a three-dimensional model of it”

“Well, I don’t have one right now. The only ship that I can offer you as a model of a cruise ship. Or no, maybe we also have one of a science fiction starship somewhere”

“I do not need a cruise ship or a random starship” he explained that he needed the actual ship that would be used in the simulation so that he could finetune the programmed movements with the animation.

“Good then give two hours and you’ll have a draft-model. I can still change it later on when you have calibrated it”

“Very well” he gave a nod and you sat down at the desk that had been prepared and started unpacking your stuff before you got working on some sketches. Suddenly, you noticed that someone was standing behind you and you turned around.

“Please don’t do that”

“What are you referring to?”

“Looking over my shoulder. It’s distracting. I can’t work like that” he raised an eyebrow but left you alone.

About half an hour later you were ready to present him your three drafts of the ships.

“I only requested one”

“Yes, but I made three versions. Drafts”

“I have not asked for drafts, especially multiple ones”

“Do you have any idea how design works? Obviously not or you’d have done the damn animation yourself” you muttered the last part “I always make drafts for a client after they told me what they need, which you didn’t even do, so sorry if I don’t get it quite right on the first try.”

“I have informed you that I need to have a model of a Klingon warbird”

“And here you have three drafts” you pointed at three models “Which one do you like best?”

“I do not like them” you had to bite back a sigh and a part of you just wanted to smack him right in the face.

“Good” you said, taking a deep breath and picking up your stylus “Then what would you like instead?”

“I would have preferred if you had invested all your time into one model instead of three”

“Look, I will put more work into one of them, just tell me which one is the best”

“They are all flawed” at least you now totally understood what this other man had meant with that he could get prissy.

“Well it are only drafts” you explained “Don’t Vulcans do drafts?”

“We do not prepare several different versions if only one is needed since it would be a waste of time”

“Good speaking of wasting time; just tell me which model you want me to edit and make it perfect”

“No matter how much work you will put in it, it will always stay an animated model and therefore will never be perfect”

“Which. Ship?!” you hissed gesturing at your PADD.

“This one” he pointed at the second draft “However….” You had to fight not to roll your eyes. Of course you knew there was a ‘but’ coming. You did your best to not become upset when he told you what mistakes you had made on your draft, while you made notes on the most important points. A part of you wondered how long you could take it before you just broke his nose, cut off his ears, ripped off his bangs or rammed your stylus in his eye. Or all together.

While you started to get working on the chosen model, Commander Spock took the draft to link it with his coding, while you tried to make the starship as authentic as possible which was not so easy without an accurate source or idea how it looked like except for the description you had gotten. When you left for the day, your client seemed to be a bit disappointed that you could not finish the model already. For that reason you decided to come an hour earlier the following day but to your dismay, the Vulcan was already there

“Did we not agree that you may start at 0830 hours?” you had been in the office for three seconds and already were pissed off by him again although you had tried not to be anymore.

“Yes but since I didn’t come as far as I wanted yesterday, I decided to come earlier today. The sooner I get the animation done the better” because it meant, among other, that you would be rid of him. Luckily, you didn’t need to talk to him that much today. But then he requested you to get a second model for the second ship. “Give me a second”

“I doubt you can create an accurate model in a second”

“Just watch and see” you tapped on the model you were already working on and duplicated it “there. Took me a little under two seconds”

“You cannot just duplicate the model”

“Oh but I can. I can also centuple it” you glared at him, tapped the model again, called up the settings and set the number of duplicates to 100 and when you returned, the whole screen was filled with ships “There. That should occupy you for a while”

“As I already said, there are only five ships that I need for the simulation. Besides, I cannot use these duplicates. If you wish to copy your models, you need to use a template”

“Well okay” you said “But that’ll take me a couple of minutes” he gave a nod “Why thank you, (Y/N)” you muttered to yourself “Thank you for your co-operation and withstanding my coldness”

Because he wanted all ships to be visually different, you decided to change minor details on them before you gave him the new model. Once you had prepared all ships, even the Kobayashi Maru, you needed to take care of the surroundings for which you designed the space, of course in the dimensions that Spock had told you. Then you set your models into it and adjusted their positions so that they more or less corresponded with the coordinates that Spock had programmed for them. When he had a look at the model he raised an eyebrow

“What now?” you asked, knowing that something did not please him at all.

“The positions of the Klingon warbirds one, three, four and five need to be adjusted slightly” At least he was now calling the ships by numbers and not the stupid model names he had given them in his code. It had taken you almost two days to get him do that and you had just written his model name onto the according ship in ugly red letters so that you knew which one he was talking about. “Move ship one 2.3 millimeters to the left and 1.8 millimeters down, ship two….”

“Woah wait… I never heard anyone saying decimals of millimeters. This model doesn’t even accept them. I can give you half millimeters but not point three or point eight. Besides, no one can actually know if the ship is perfectly aligned when they do the simulation. And if we align the weapons right they will still hit the ship if they enter the coordinates of the ship”

“I know but I wish that it is as accurate as possible. Speaking of accuracy” he explained that the surroundings were not accurate either because the constellations were wrong and did not look like this ad the place the simulation took place

“In other words you want me to fucking re-align every single star correctly?”

“It does not need to be completely accurate, yet I do ask you to adjust their positions so that it does have more similarities with the coordinates where the simulation occurs”

Well, in contrast to you I don’t have a fucking stellar map saved in my brain” he walked away and then handed you a PADD, explaining that it would turn into a 360° stellar map if you opened the correct program and entered the coordinates you wanted.

So you just spent the following three days on redoing the whole surroundings, this times even with micrometers as unit so that you could adjust the ships perfectly as he wanted. At times you found it easier to agree to what he wanted and have more work instead of discussing with him, which would result in you doing as he wanted anyway. You hadn’t even been able to make it clear to him that sometimes you need to be polite and say please and thank you, to which he replied that such formalities were illogical since they did not change anything about the request and that he would never say please in an order to subordinates.

Since it was a bigger project, it took up several weeks of collaboration with Spock and somehow the thing that bugged you most about working with him was the fact that you had to admit to yourself that, despite everything he did or said, your stupid, illogical heart had managed to develop romantic feelings for the Vulcan. You didn’t know if that just was because of his appearance or if it also was his almost dominating behavior that made you feel that way. One thing was for certain; the more you worked with Spock the stronger these feelings got. So, you were a little relieved when the semester started again and he wasn’t around all day but spent a great part of his time teaching classes. But at times that also brought problems because you had learnt that sometimes it was better to just ask him if he was okay with something sooner rather than later because if he wanted you to change many things about it you’d have more work later on. So you would just leave your office and go looking for him instead to show him what you had done. He had forwarded you his timetable so that you knew where to find him at which time. If you found the correct classroom, of course.

“Spock, I think I finally could make the final….”

“Can you give me three minutes?”

“Fine but then don’t complain that we’re three minutes behind in schedule” you muttered

“There is no such detailed schedule. I even do not have a fixed date on which we need to be finished but rather a time interval”

“So that means we don’t just have one more month but two in total?”

“Yes” you gave a nod

“Good then I’ll let you finish your stuff”

One thing you always loved about your work was to see it in action. In that case that was, when everything was finished so far that some test people could make the simulation to see how everything was working. It was mainly to test the simulation itself, to see if the coding worked but you had been asked to be there as well so that you could have an eye on the animation and make sure everything happened in life time and correctly. You were quite proud when you noticed that almost everything was working perfectly fine and that there only were a few details you had to change. As well as some details on the ships themselves because Spock still was not perfectly happy with them.

“And?” you asked after four goes at the simulation

“What do you wish to know?” Spock asked

“Well what you think of it”

“I have noticed that there are a few instances that you will need to go over” you crossed your arms

“What?” you couldn’t believe that this was his answer and to your dismay he started listing up some flaws. “Stop” you growled, making him raise an eyebrow “I know that there are some imperfections but I’m sorry that I’m not as perfect as you”

“I never claimed that I was perfect. I am a being and all beings are flawed”

“Wow that I got you to admit that”

“To claim that I am perfect would be a lie and highly illogical”

“You and your stupid thinking in code”

“The assumption that I think in ‘code’ is not correct”

“But logical. You think logically, as a Vulcan. Coding is pure logic”

“I see, yet the conclusion is still incorrect” you sighed

“Wow, you’re never ever gonna compliment me or my work, huh?”

“It would be illogical to point out points that do not need modification anymore. Therefore I only tell what you will need to work on again”

“Well but I’m human and we sometimes need reassurance that what we did is good!”

“As you can derive from my statement, your work can be considered as good, when there is nothing that I ask you to change about it”

“You don’t get my point, do you?”

“I do but I do not think it is necessary to point…”

“Just one compliment about my work. I stood your behavior for weeks now”

“Four weeks, five days and 3.6 hours to be exact”

“See, even worse. You have to be so precise and perfectionistic every fucking time”

“However, if you had a problem with something you would have addressed it”

“No. Because humans don’t always do that. But I am complaining now”

“Very well. What do you wish me to change?”

“Well you could make just one simple compliment or something that you like about the way I work on this project” he raised an eyebrow and was silent “Or are you just as fed up with me as I’m with your behavior?”

“You work highly focused” you let out a huff

“Well at least something”

“Besides” he added a bit more quietly and after a pause “I find your hands and fingers to be pleasingly shaped and they move gracefully”

“Okay that was hella unexpected” and even a little creepy “Did you pay that much attention to my hands?”

“When you were showing me something, yes I was at certain times” you frowned. How could he still have noticed so many flaws in your work then if he had just stared onto your hands?

“That is a little weird, don’t you think?”

“No”

“No?”

“Hands hold a different value on Vulcan” he explained that their hands were extremely sensitive and often were something like a symbol of love in their culture.

“So if you told that another Vulcan… what would happen?”

“Usually, Vulcans will only compliment their bondmate’s physiology”

“Hm okay. Are bondmates something like a spouse?”

“Or what you call fiancés”

“But back to my question, what would happen?”

“I cannot say because some might react emotionally in such a situation”

“So you’re saying that you’re not acting emotionally? Like never?”

“We are sentient being so we all will act emotionally at times, whether we want it or not”

“Okay. But what do you want to do, now that you told me how much you like my hands?”

“I have never stated that I like them” you frowned

“That sounds like something is bothering you”

“It is of no consequence”

Come on, tell me. You already told me you like, no wait you… whatever, find my hands pleasing or how you’d want to formulate it. And now something is bothering you”

“I was wondering… whether you would let me touch you”

“And you ask that?” you just took his hand in yours and ran your fingers of the other hand over the back of it. His hands were softer than you had imagined but also colder. When you looked up at him, you saw a slight green blush on his cheeks and smiled “Suddenly so flustered, huh?”

“Touching hands is something rather intimate in Vulcan culture”

“Oh” you let go of him “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know that” but maybe you could have thought about it, considering what he had told you about the meaning of hands on Vulcan.

“I did not tell you, therefore you could not know” he said “You do not need to reproach yourself” you gave a nod and were surprised when he continued “In fact, I have found it rather pleasing” you smiled. For some reason you just held out your hand to him again and he actually took it. Well not really, he more or less just traced his fore- and middle finger over your skin, making you shudder a little

“You’re right that feels nice” he raised an eyebrow and placed his other hand at your back and pulled you closer, then lifting your head and leant down until your lips were inches apart

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all” you breathed and then his lips were on yours. For some reason you could not really say what you were feeling and you wondered if it was right to do this, you were working with him after all, at least for now. Contrary to what you had imagined, he was a pretty good kisser and his fingers still were stroking yours and while you liked the feeling, you wondered if it felt even more sensual to him. When you felt him pull you closer, you thought that this probably was the case and felt yourself smiling into the kiss. You placed your free hand at the base of his neck and pressed your whole body against his. He didn’t seem to mind but some seconds later you parted, looking at each other

“Perhaps we should not have kissed”

“We should” you corrected and leant up to do it again and he responded immediately. This time, the kiss came to a more abrupt end when suddenly the door opened. You let go of each other and quickly stepped apart. While Spock turned to the visitor, one of the people that had tried out the simulation, you touched your lips which were still tingling from the kiss, making you smile

“I’m sorry, if I interrupted something or came at an inconvenient time I can just go and well… leave. We can discuss it later”

“I will be with you momentarily” Spock said and told him to go to a briefing room. You awkwardly played with the hem of your shirt, not sure what to say.

“Well, I should get working on my faulty animation then”

“It is not faulty, (Y/N)” was there a difference in how he said your name now? You had had a long time until you got him to call you (Y/N) instead of his formal for of addressing you with your surname and he had allowed you to just call him Spock in return.

“Was that just another compliment?”

“If you wish to take it as one” he replied and you gave a nod, wanting to return to your workstation, but he took hold of your wrist

“Huh?” you asked

“I do not know what humans will do after such occurrences but on Vulcan, the logical conclusion is that the two individuals will start a relationship”

“You’re asking me for a relationship?”

“If you approve of it”

“I…” you looked down but then found yourself nodding “Yes. I think so”

“Very well” you didn’t know if there was something like a tiny curl in his lip that may have been a little smile. This made you smile as well “I suppose that the discussion will take up the rest of my time at work. Would you be amendable to accompany me to dinner later?”

#spock #spock x reader #aos spock #spock imagine #spock x you

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nomadmilk · 5 years

Text

Why the God Isn’t Bored on Midgard - Loki x F!Reader Drabble - 3

Summary: With Ragnarok decimating Asgard, Thor and Loki and their people return to Earth searching for refuge. Everyone else has seemed to settle, except for Loki - the God of Mischief and Chaos - who isn’t willing to live the domesticated Midgard life, and getting utterly bored out of his mind... Until he discovered you.

Word Count: 2.2K

Warnings: Rated M/18+ Strong suggestions of sex, and flustering, flustering, flustering

Author’s Note: I wanted something calm to lead up to this part. I was really excited to write this immediately posting the previous one. So here ^-^ Hope you like, and enjoy!! And, let me know what’s up :D <3

Here are the links to the other parts of this series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 (First Half) Part 8.5 (Second Half) Part 9

“Wrong door.”

“If you gave me a heads up to all of this, Loki, I’d be less pissed off with you than I am now.”

Even after a few weeks, you weren’t used to the new layout of the apartment. Sometimes you’d try to find your oven mitts in one drawer, and you’d find the gloves hanging somewhere else. When you were cooking, you weren’t used to the stove and sometimes burnt everything. The first few times you tried working the faucet or taps in the bathroom, you weren’t sure in which direction to turn them, or what button to press, in order to get the water warmer or colder, or get any water running at all.

Loki would sometimes see you in your moments of confusion and watch you try and figure out things that he thought any normal Midgardian can understand. Your usual invisible wall, where it helped you blindside him, had crumbled a little since the shower incident. You were a little clumsier; bumping into him, and almost walking into walls. Sometimes you enter the room in surprise, as if you forgot he lived there.

After being entertained by your minor struggles, he would confront you on them.

“Are most humans this inept with cupboards?“

You face him, your cheeks beginning to burn. You continue trying to reach a high shelf. “Go away, Loki.”

“If you’d like some help-“

“No, I’m fine.”

So, this was what made you angry. Or riled up.

Every query Loki had for you was always met with a trying snide remark. And it would entertain Loki further. “Let me.”

You hear footsteps approaching you. “What are you-“

You freeze up as you find his body approaches behind you. You don’t move as you see his arm extend and reach over, and as he does so he presses against your back further. He effortlessly grabs the popcorn bag you had been hailing at for the past ten minutes.

You snatch the bag out of his hand, turning around to face him. A smile spreads on his lips as he looks down on you. “You’re welcome.”

For a moment, Loki could see it; that inkling to yell or snap at him. Your lips parted, and your cheeks flush pink; he was so close that you could feel his low voice. He continues looking into your eyes; his moss coloured irises dart slightly across your expression.

You clutch the popcorn bag tighter.

Letting out a breath, your shoulder collides with his chest, and the impact makes him stumble back. But, instead of a change of demeanour you were hoping for, he stifles a laugh as you leave the room.

Loki leaves you be once more, preparing himself with some tea for the afternoon ahead of him; the university, that Nick Fury had recommended him at, had hired him and wanted him to start immediately. After a few times of lecturing to a class, the schedule flowed, and teaching became almost second nature to him; anything that made him command the room seemed to fare well. He was sceptical of the location at first but, the more he roamed the halls and the more he took his breaks in the gardens, he began warming up to the place.

He didn’t realise that it would supply him with work to do at home. In the home office, he’d read and mark essays, writing notes on a piece of paper. He used his sorcery to map out learning plans and profiles for the students he had in his classes, and even catches a few who have been unreasonably absent.

He hears a knock on the door.

His eyebrow raises. “Come in?” It wasn’t usually like you to try and have a conversation with him, so he didn’t expect you to knock on his office door during his marking process.

You unlock the door. “Loki- Uh…“

You stop at the floating images that surround him and his desk. It didn’t look like it was being projected by anything.

Loki watches you gawk, scanning you from head-to-toe. You were wearing make-up, a black long coat, and a stunning dress; it hugged your figure, and a colour that complimented your skin tone and brightened your eyes.

You looked delicate and alluring, and Loki wanted to-

“Oh.” You blink at him. “So that explains everything.”

Loki frowns. “What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t have just some weird name for no reason.”

He frowns some more. “Excuse me?”

“Uh, an Avenger came to the apartment while you were out.”

Loki waited for more details; it’s been a while since someone did a check up on him, so he was waiting for your answer as to who it was.

“It was your brother - Thor?” You walk towards his desk. “Why didn’t you tell me he was your brother? Why didn’t you tell me you were some kind of- kind of alien- no offense.”

The god exhales. Was this how he could have gotten you to talk to him?

Loki grimaces. “It’s not like you were that bothered to know me for the past few weeks or so. Now, my brother shows up and you’re suddenly curious?”

“Yeah, because my roommate is the Prince of Asgard.”

Loki couldn’t help but smile at your acknowledgement of the reality of his status.

He swipes the holograms out with his Seidr. “What else has my oaf of a brother told you?”

“We just chatted.” You say, your eyebrows knitted at his side comment on Thor. You resume, starting to sound shy. “With everything happening lately, it was super nice. I didn’t get his number or anything, but could you let him know I said thanks?”

Sentiment; Loki was still in debate on whether he liked the word or not. He never really gave true sympathy or empathy a go, unless if it was onto his brother, and if it was a rouse to then stab him for fun later on.

So, Loki decided to give it a try. On you. “I’ll pass the message. What’s been happening with you?”

Your expression flashes; you were caught off guard. “Uh. A lot. Nothing interesting for you, really.”

He gestures to chair in the corner of the room. “Please.”

You pause. “Okay.” After a second, and still in bewilderment, you walk over and grab the chair, and sit opposite of him, a sigh escaping before saying your piece.

As briefly as you could, you explain your predicaments; your previous relationship, your sucky job, and getting fired from your sucky job. And now, you’re fed up with your life going sideways, so you were looking for a new and better job. And, also dating again.

But really, you didn’t have much confidence in your near future.

Loki passively nods, deliberating. “So, you’ve been dating? Is this a long-term thing, or is this – what do you Midgardians call it – a rebound?”

You shook your head. “I honestly don’t know, I was gonna’ leave for a date tonight, hence-“ – you indicate to your outfit. – “This. But he cancelled last minute. I’m in the middle of seeing if my friends are wanting to come out, though.”

“Right.” Loki nods some more, getting up from his chair. “And how’s job hunting now?”

“No luck, either.” You reply.

He leans against the desk in front of you, folding his arms. “Do you know why?”

“I think it’s my interviews – I always have a great application, but I think I tank all the questions they ask me... Wait-” – you look up at him. – “Your brother mentioned you have a silvertongue, like, a legit one. Do you have any tricks you could teach me? Or something that would help me out? Or like transfer your powers to me, or something?”

“Transfer my powers to you?” He repeats. “Like a legit one?”

“Hey, I read up about you after speaking to Thor – silvertongue, god of mischief, fucking foxes-“

“It was a wolf, and Midgard’s teachings of ancient Norse is incredibly inaccurate. It’s considered mythology, which is the first thing.” He says, reminding himself of the books he has to memorise for the curriculum. He needed to write his own.

“Well, are you going to teach me silvertongue, or not? Or are you rusty, or something?”

Loki hesitates, pondering the next few minutes of the conversation. He examines your body language; your arms were folded, you were getting snippy again, and your lips seemed fuller than the last time he saw you…

“What?” You begin, “Or is your silvertongue some kind of fake magic trick?”

Loki’s jaw clenches.

Magic trick?

His eyes shut close for a second, then open. Out of all the things to come out of your mouth, it was the first to ever anger him. However, he was confused; he didn’t want to hurt you, but he sure as Hel wanted to punish you.

“How about this...” His voice could cut the air. “You ask the interview questions, I’ll answer them accordingly.”

You were taken aback by the change in attitude, but you try to make your reaction unknown. “Uh, okay.”

You stand and step towards him. “Hi, I’m Y/N. I’m the department manager, and I’ll be your interviewer today.”

You present your hand to him. He takes it, and shakes it with no falter. “Hello, Miss Y/N. My name is Loki. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Your speechless look extends the handshake a little longer than you expected; friendly Loki was slightly freaking you out.

You let go, faking it as a way to wipe away a strand of hair. You clear your throat. “Please, take a seat.”

As he sits on your chair, you go behind the desk and sit on his. “So, what made you decide to apply for this job?”

“In all honesty,” he begins his response, “I heard that this department was run by you, and I’m an incredible fan of your work.”

“I assure you, Mr-“

“Odinson.”

“Mr Odinson,” you proceed, “flattery won’t help you here.”

“Well,” he glances at the floor for a second, then locks eyes with you, “it might help with something else.”

“And what would that be?”

“It might allow me to show you how valuable of an employee I can be for you.”

“Okay.” You were growing wary. “How would you prove yourself to be a valuable employee?”

He sees you look away, the familiar colour flushing your cheeks was making Loki struggle to fight back his grin. “From what I could tell from your life, you seem to be experiencing some... Frustrations. I’d like to see if I could help you with any of them, so your life becomes a little bit easier.”

“Frustrations?” The word comes out broken by the tenure of your voice and the volume it projected.

You shift as you feel your authoritative character dissolve, and he wasn’t helping with his gaze undressing you. He obviously wasn’t going to be professional about the whole thing.

“Frustrations with my job?” You try not to stutter with the redirection. “And-and that would be?”

“If you would let me, I’d like to ease these frustrations of yours any way I can.” His words flow smoothly with the timbre of his voice. “These dilemmas you have are personal - intimate. If you would allow it, I would love to have you for one night – Just one – to be close, to be intimate… To have your lips – forgive me, but they look delectable when you bite them…” He chuckles into a a devilish smile. “You have no idea what I want to do to you when I see you like that.”

You stop biting your lip. Loki’s words were temptation in poetry. His voice alone was like silk; you never realised how listening to him was like running your hands against the fabric itself. But you wanted friction. You desired more.

He chuckles, reading your mind. “I desire you. And I would happily sate you, in every way possible, to make you happy. To make you mine.”

He sees your throat gulp. Your legs, already crossed, flinch a little and tighten together. Against Loki’s cool presence and lustful gloss, your complexion was pink; the right shade Loki liked it to be.

The resonances of your words are weak. “And that’s how you’d prove yourself as a valuable employee?”

“I would hope so.” He finalizes, his cold cobalt eyes not leaving yours. “I think I’d be a perfect addition to your team.”

Your phone rings, sending a jolt for your arms to pick it up.

Loki watches you intently as you greet the person on the phone and, after a blunt chat, end the call.

“I gotta’-… I gotta’ go.” You get to your feet, placing the phone back in your pocket, your dazed fluster replacing with the smack of reality. “This wasn’t much help.”

He stands in front of you in obstruction, and innocently letting the tense moment fly by. “Why’s that?”

“Loki, none of those things are something I would – or should – say at an interview. Thanks for nothing.”

“You wanted a new relationship, and a new job. It’s hitting two birds with one stone-”

You slap him.

His face reacts late to the action, and his head slowly turns to you.

But you try to have the last word. “There was one other thing Thor wanted me to know,” you state, “you’re not as clever as you think.”

#loki #Loki Laufeyson #loki fanfic #loki (marvel)#loki odinson #loki x reader #loki x you #tom hiddleston #MCU #apartment #roommates #lemon #thor ragnarok #thor #Thor Odinson #drabble #damn these tags #Nick Fury #🐄🗂TheNomaArchives

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funkymbtifiction · 6 years

Text

My experience as an ENFP 1w9 p6w5 2w3 sp/so

SUBMITTED by filvet

[Gif: Vincent from The Originals, a 162 ENFP.]

I’ve been a fan of funkyMBTIfiction for a while now, but I’ve never submitted anything more than a few asks (maybe more than a few LOL), because… well, give me a few minutes and you’ll find out yourselves.

Let’s start with my core type: I’m a 1. Even though I’m an ENFP, and finding this out has been SO hard, for both me and some of the mods, I’ve never had any doubts about me belonging to this type since first reading its description. I ALWAYS see how the things around me could be better, I’ve got some very strong morals (1 and Fi work very much in tandem in this case) and, even if I’m a Ne-dom, I’m much more grounded and focused than your usual ENXP, which explains why, when I took those really inaccurate online tests, I always got INTJ or ISTJ for my MBTI type.

Did I mention that being a 1 is hard as heck? It is, because those two small letters that represent my instinctual variant, “sp”, mean that my inner critic is much harsher on myself than on others. Things around me could be better, sure, but I am the one whom I should really work on. I made a single mistake on that test, shame on me. I haven’t become a perfect guitarist in the two months I’ve played, better drop the instrument altogether since it’s not worth it (meaning, I’m not worth it). I even get frustrated about the fact that my blood analysis, which are those of a completely healthy young man, usually have a single value that is slightly off, even if it means nothing for my health.

And then there’s my wing, which is both a gift and a curse. 9 brings a certain warmness and peacefulness to 1 and its ever present annoyance at an imperfect world, which has helped me to not be hated by all my friends for pointing out even minor details that are off. Being a 1w9 means that when other people are involved, I’ll probably get frustrated for three seconds, then I’ll swallow the anger and be chill about it. They don’t get the full blast of 1’s critical voice, only I do. But there are two problems that come along with this wing: one is that I find myself not even trying stuff because I know I won’t be perfect at it. This usually happens with physical activities, like sports: “It’d be cool to play volleyball, it’s a nice sport” “Buuut… You know you suck at sports” “Ok, I guess I won’t play volleyball, then.” And sadly, with 9 being just a wing, it can’t override 1, so even if it would be just for fun and it wouldn’t matter if I sucked or not, I can’t bring myself to just live in the moment and enjoy it without much thought.

The other problem is one that I’ve already briefly mentioned: the 9 wing makes me swallow my anger. So we have my core type that is ashamed of anger because it doesn’t fit its idealistic world, and a wing that is too chill to get angry. So, I swallow my anger and puff, it seemingly vanishes. It would be nice if it worked like this, wouldn’t it? Instead, it becomes self-loathing and awful self-esteem, something that I’ve battled most of my life, especially after being bullied during middle school. During those times, when I probably was disintegrating to 4, I was extremely fragile, like, everything could hurt me, and hence I tried as much as I could to differentiate myself from the rest of my peers. But how did I do that? Trying to be as perfect as possible at the one thing that I was already good at: school. See? Still a 1 deep down.

Also, for all my life I’ve reckoned to be on a journey of self-improvement, which is something that is quite common in ENFPs with a core 1, apparently.

Let’s add the rest of the fixes to the mix, shall we? I’m quite sure about the second, p6w5. I debated about 5w6 for a while, but while I was a bit “brainy” and intellectual when I was younger, that was more an effect of the behavior I put forth to battle bullying than the actual way my brain works. Instead, the more time passes the more I recognize I’m quite the anxious wreck. Obviously, university and exams are stressful for anybody, but p6 brings that anxiety to another level. I’m often so anxious that I respond to stress with a wide variety of physical symptoms, which is quite unpleasant. But even as a child, I remember seeing my schoolmates play “dangerous” games like climbing on trees (I know, so dangerous) and all I could think about was them falling and getting hurt. That played perfectly into my core 1, making me all moralistic about it and turning me into the perfect child/miniature of an adult that I’ve been for practically all of my childhood. The combination of p6 and 1 makes me worry that I’ll never be able to integrate to 7 (see? I’m so anxious that I worry I’ll never not worry. Please send help).

I’m much less sure about my last fix, and I’ve debated all three of the Image types. I see parts of myself in all three of those (thanks, Ne), but ultimately I’d say I’m a 2w3. Helping others has always made me feel very accomplished, but I won’t deny that I sometimes do it not just for the pleasure of doing but to be liked and win somebody’s affection. At last, we have the minuscule 3 wing to the last fix, which is only present in my desire to look put together and accomplished and in how I use competition with those who are clearly better than me at something to motivate myself to improve and reach their level.

To sum it up, what does it mean to be an ENFP 1w9 p6w5 2w3 sp/so? It means I have a grounded and perfectionistic mind, that if necessary can focus and pay attention even to minor details, but it must be a conscious effort and as soon as I stop doing consciously I go back to being the forgetful mess I usually am; it means I’m an anxious person who thinks the situation is going to end badly and won’t know how to take that mental image out of his brain. It means I’m one of the warmest and friendliest 1s you could ever encounter, thanks to 9, 6, 2 and the second instinctual variant being so, that I’ll be fair if you ever come to me asking for advice and I’ll be extremely happy to help you. When dealing with me, respect my values, remember I can see through your lies, even those you tell yourself, keep in mind how harsh I can be with myself and soothe my anxiety without belittling it. Or don’t do any of these things, I am my own responsibility after all, and I’ll deal with my weaknesses till I fix them.

#submission #enfp #enneagram 1 #enfp x 1w9 #enfp 162 #enneagram

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the-ghost-with-no-chill · 5 years

Text

Someone like them (Impractical AU fanfic)

(I'm bored and Inkline is jumping in my head for me to write this.)

(TW: Mentions of children dying, People being out of character (Maybe.), Self-insert, Plans of killing, street fight, small swearing, me attempting to write Filipino, guns,)

It was a calm, silent night, or so the citizens thought. News reports of kidnappers taking and or Killing children and taking their organs to sell for private parties has been giving the city horrible tention. Although, even at how dangerous it seems, two heroes are still on nightly duties, making sure that no child gets killed once again. They have a future and their families are obviously sad their children are now dead and gone. But that's why the mentioned heroes are on the case. The Princely hero, Prince Charging, (or Princey.) Has been on duty for about an hour, and still, no reports or anything suspicious. His partner, Copy Cat, has been making sure that the streets were silent. And it has been for how many hours already.

"Hey, Princey... I don't seem to like this... can we please call it a night?" The cat-like hero whimpered tiredly and in fear in seeing a child die in front of his eyes. "Don't worry about this Cat. We can't call it a night yet! Reports says that it's around this time the organ stealer takes the kids from either by the streets or their bedrooms. We can't back out yet." The confident, yet stubborn prince said.

"I know, but what if they pull the gun on the both of us!? We could die! And our boyfriends will be saddened!" Copy Cat whimpered once again, remembering he's still in a relationship, and so is Princey. The Prince paused for a moment, taking in his words. His boyfriend was always the overly-anxious one. And if he found out Roman had a double live, he'd freak out more and probably follow him each night and that could kill him. He sighed in defeat.

"I suppose... you're right. And besides, things have gotten too quite ever since that crazy celebrity neighborhood got burned down. And no news of the killings were made. I guess we can call it a night." He said, taking a final glance around the place, and he's glad he did because in a nearby park, someone was still there.

"WAIT, NOT YET. SOMEONE'S STILL AT THE PARK! Come on Cat, we gotta tell her to get home!" The Prince panicked, grabbing his partner's wrist and ran to the park. They were just about to tell her to go home, when they paused.

"When I was just a little girl, I asked my momma, what will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me... que sera sera, whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see, Que Sera Sera..."

There was a girl who seemed about 18. She had an almost all black outfit, except for her shorts and a small part of her skirt, which had purple in it. She seemed like any ordinary kid, till they saw what she wore on her face. A black and purple Butterfly-shaped mask and a yellow mouth mask. And despite her unusual appearance, she seemed to be also patrolling the area. And one minor detail people would miss out: Her eyes would flash a quick blue diamond every so often.

"Hey Princey? Do you think...?" Copy Cat whispered. "Yes. She'd definitely one of us..." Princey whispered back, realizing that he and his partner aren't the only ones who has powers. They realized a while back. But before any of them can say anything, the girl suddenly looked around as if she heard something. And she's pretty sure she did because she suddenly ran out of the park.

"Where is she going?" "I don't know, but it can be serious. We need to follow her!" And soon, the two of them were following her. It wasn't too long till they saw her behind a building, and seeing a small child, about 5, getting tied up and gagged by an actual gag.

"Good job, she's an easy target." A large man with a brown leather eye patch, presumedly about 40-50 said. He inspected the child as if she was a toy or a piece of meat. "5? Perfect. Her organs should be good enough for the trade." He said evily. "Oi, boss, may namatiag ko di." His partner said in a laungue that was hard to understand. "Ano? Sure ka ha? Sige sige. Bilis mo Yan. Makikita pa ta di gani." The man said. Prince Charging and Copy Cat stayed extremely silent while the unknown girl was secretly filming it and taking pictures. The 5-year-old child squirmed and cried.

"TULONG!!!" She cried loudly, but was cut off by the gag covering her mouth again. "Keep it down girly! Do not make me kill you at this exact spot!" The partner threatened, grabbing his knife and slit her cheek, which made her squirm more. Princey tried to be silent and come up with a plan, but he was releasing too much small energy and static that it caused some of the street lights to flicker. Copy Cat, out of fear he might need it, spilt himself into two. The girl's eyes just flickered that diamond shape repeatedly. And the amount of flicking got the criminals concerned.

"Sh*t. It's gonna get dark soon. We gotta go." The 40-50 year old pedo said, grabbing the 5-year-old child and entered the car. At that point, Princey had about enough and set his electricity powers to the car, making it suddenly lose battery.

(Random person: BUT FRISKIES, GIVING OUT ENERGY MAKES THINGS COME BACK TO LIFE NOT KILL IT YOU RETA-

I know, I know! But I feel like there should be a way for him to AT LEAST stop the car. Pretend the energy he bashed out was... a negative energy. And used a lot of it to over-heat the car ok? I'm currently in "Practice" and I don't have data to research your scientific BS. Capishe?)

"DIP*TA! Ngaa nadula batteria nya!?" The man yelled, fumbling with the keys. "It's because of Negative energy!!!" Princey yelled and used his power to make an electric rope, lassoing it around the car and made attached it to a nearby pole, which was luckily metal.

(And before you say, I don't know how this works. So I'm sorry if it's inaccurate. I suck at Physics)

"WHO THE F*CK ARE YOU!?" The partner yelped, seeing the princely hero trap them. "I am Prince Charging, the Prince and hero of this town, and I will not let you take this child!" The prince said in his pose. The two men went out the car and took out their guns. "Oh yeah, try to act all tough now Princey boy because you're dead!" The mad yelled before he started shooting at the prince, who managed to dodge each of the bullets, and even creating an electric barrier in case he slipped. Copy Cat slowly entered the car and saw the small child cry.

"Shhh, it's ok. I'm here to help you. Now come on, I'm gonna get you out." He whispered, but the partner had put a gun on his head, making Copy Cat flinch. "Any last words?" The man said. Cat smirked.

"Why don't you look behind?" He said, making the man look behind and a second Copy Cat was there, hitting his head with a rock, making the man fly to the side, and groaned when he fell. "TWINS!?" He said. "Nah. More like a double. No need to exSPLIT it because we got the girl." Cat said, carrying the girl and placing her close.

"Hah, but I still have a gun!" The man said before grabbing a back-up gun and attempted to shoot Cat, but since his head was bleeding, he couldn't concentrate and kept on missing. Meanwhile, Prince Charging was trying to out-smart the old man and managed to kick the gun out of his hands and zapped it in the air, making it shatter. He smirked cockily, looking at the criminal.

"Hah! Nice try. Now surrender and we'll make it fast." The prince demanded. But the old man wasn't done yet, cause he just threw the prince a punch in the face. But all that did was made the old man jolt. "Please, have some class. This isn't a bar fight." Princey said before punching the old man's face. He was gonna take another punch when the man grabbed his fist, the prince's barrier wearing off.

"Hah! Nice try pretty boy. You need to learn some MANNERS." The man said before he punched Princey's face down to the ground. Yet, before he could give him more punches, something made him slow down. He looked down to see some type of slime, and soon, it dried off like Cement.

"What the-!?" Princey said before looking to his right and saw the girl from the park earlier with her left hand up and her right hand near her chest, clutching a box cutter. "Don't worry! I caught everything and sent it to the police! They should arrive soon!" She said, her eye still maintaining the diamond and fear. "Why you little-" The partner tried to shoot her but she ran out of the way before he could and shot out some type of slime off her hand, hitting the man's hand with the gun. It dripped but quickly dried up. Even with that the man managed to punch her to the ground, and he would've did it if Princey didn't shock him and made him pass out. The female "Hero" panted, knowing she just stopped something serious. The princely hero helped pull her up back on her feet.

"I must say, you have an incredible move." He complimented, making her blush lightly. And soon enough, the cops appeared.

"FREEZE PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" One said. The girl turned to run but Princey took her wrist. "Wait. Who are you? Why do you have this power?" He asked in a calm voice. She hesitated but said "The Anxious Hero." and went off his grip and ran off. He watched as she forcefully ran out till a cop tapped his shoulder.

"You're lucky that there's only two. There are still more around, but at least we caught some. Thank you Prince Charging." He said. "You're very much welcome officer." "PRINCEY WATCH OUT!" Copy Cat yelled before the 40-50 year old man pinned him to the ground.

"IS THERE ANY MORE OF YOU!?!?" "Wh-" "IS THERE ANY MORE OF YOU!?!?!?" The man started laughing maniacally. "I knew it! I knew that there are still more of your kind out here! The one who takes will stop you!!! HE WILL STOP YOU!!! READY CARRON!?" "SIR WAIT-" and at that moment, he and his partner shot themselves in the head. The cops, Copy Cat, Prince Charging and the small girl all froze in awe and disbelief. Who was "The one who takes"? Why did they shoot themselves? But, they were too shocked to notice the small smoke coming from the two men's mouths and disappear into the night.

(SIIIIGH INKLINE I'M DONE HAPPY???

Inkline: _Mhm! Thanks for agreeing to do it!_

You're welcome. Uhhhh, @residentanchor Uhhh, have this I guess. I dunno I'm just heccing tired but meh.)

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gotta-save-your-ass-for-a-change · 7 years

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Who Would Have Thought?: Chapter 17

Chapter Title: On the Verge of Something Wonderful Fandom: Shameless, Mickey/Ian Rating: M Summary: Mickey and Ian meet with Mickey’s former lawyer to discuss the possibilities of adoption. Notes: Here’s where suspension of disbelief is probably going to be important. Again, I know nothing about adoption beyond my limited research. I have based this chapter on the adoption guidelines I was able to find for Illinois and the conditions that might allow exceptions. However, most information I found was specific to foster licensing, so it may not be accurate for private adoption procedures, and I’m sure it’s much more complicated than I’m making it seem to get exceptions made. So, disclaimer: this is fiction, and I am sure it is wildly inaccurate. I am attempting to make it as realistic as possible within the confines of the story, though, so hopefully it’s at least vaguely believable.

Ao3 Link

“Who is she?” Ian asks again—a question he seems to be stuck on. Mickey smiles a little, taking Ian’s hand in his own and giving it a little squeeze as they approach the building that houses Lydia’s office. Ian’s anxious, his eyes darting to Mickey warily every few seconds. Mickey’s answered this same question a dozen times now, and Mickey knows Ian knows the answer. But Mickey also knows that Ian’s terrified of the outcome of this upcoming conversation, and he understands Ian’s need to confirm every detail he can.

So, gentle smile still in place, Mickey stops walking, Ian’s hand still grasped in his own. He tugs gently at Ian’s hand to stop him, and after a moment of confusion, Ian pauses and turns to Mickey. “Ian,” Mickey says softly, reaching up to cradle Ian’s chin in his hands, “she’s the reason I’m standing here with you right now. You know that, love. Lydia was the one who took on the appeal process for me and won. If anyone can help us figure this shit out, it’s her. Okay?”

After a deep, calming breath, Ian lifts his hands to clasp onto Mickey’s forearms, thumbs sweeping softly against Mickey’s skin. The motion and the contact help, and Ian manages to lock eyes with Mickey to offer a slow, measured nod, indicating his calming demeanor. “Yeah,” Ian agrees, voice still a little shaky, “yeah. Okay.”

Mickey smiles again at that and lifts up onto his toes to press a brief kiss to Ian’s mouth. Ian grins and his body language loosens immediately at that, the sweet gesture leaving him suddenly relaxed. It’s not often that Mickey allows such obvious public displays of affection, and the openness he’s showing Ian now is immediately soothing.

“Okay,” Mickey agrees as he pulls back, patting Ian’s cheek playfully before nodding toward their nearby destination. “Let’s get this shit figured out then.”

Twenty minutes later, they’re sitting in Lydia’s office, the space comfortably decorated and not quite as intimidating as Ian was expecting. Ian’s nervous, though, as Lydia takes a moment to review the paperwork in front of her. Ian looks to Mickey, worry in his eyes as his leg shakes anxiously, and Mickey can see that Ian’s terrified. Mickey’s feeling it, too, if he’s being honest. There was something comforting in not knowing, really. The idea that they might receive bad news here, today—that they might find out that they’d never be trusted to care for a child—is fucking terrifying.

After a moment, Mickey reaches out, wrapping Ian’s hand tightly in his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. Mickey wants desperately to reassure Ian that everything will be fine and they’ll be able to adopt—or that they’ll be okay even if the news is bad. But it’s not the time for such reassurances, so instead, Mickey keeps Ian’s fingers trapped in his own as they wait quietly for Lydia’s verdict.

After another handful of minutes, Lydia finally addresses them, eyes never lifting from the file in front of her. “All right,” she says, voice calm and so clear Mickey and Ian can’t read it. She pulls off her reading glasses, placing them unceremoniously at the edge of her desk. “So. You boys want to adopt a baby?”

She knows the answer, so Mickey scoffs and rolls his eyes at her in irritation, but Ian squeezes Mickey’s hand none too gently in warning as he nods enthusiastically and murmurs out “Yeah. Yeah, definitely.”

Lydia smiles and Mickey knows it’s friendly, but she’s tough to read—as Mickey knows from experience. Mickey imagines it’s the lawyer thing. “Wonderful,” she states, tone still even and ambiguous. “Let’s talk a little bit about whether that’s going to be possible for you boys.”

“Just fuckin’ get on with it!” Mickey snaps after a moment. “You’re chargin’ us too much fuckin’ money—by the hour—to be fuckin’ around with us, so just fuckin’ spit it out.”

Ian elbows Mickey and shoots him a glare, and Lydia just rolls her eyes at Mickey’s antics.

“Oh, shut it, Mikhailo. I’m not charging your ass. And you’re fucking lucky I like your husband, because otherwise I would be,” she insists, attempting unsuccessfully to put Mickey in his place. “So hush and let me talk.”

“Fine,” Mickey shoots back after a moment, eyes narrowed in her direction. “But at least fuckin’ call me Mickey.”

“No,” Lydia tells him simply, face never cracking until Ian huffs out an entertained laugh that has her lips tilting up at the corners. Mickey rolls his eyes again and glares at Ian for the betrayal. Ian just shakes his head fondly and gives Mickey’s hand a little squeeze.

Lydia watches the two of them for a moment, the tiny smile she’d let slip still firmly in place. Ian’s still a bit surprised at her demeanor. She’s younger than he was expecting—probably early thirties—but she has an air of confident swagger that seems to extend well beyond her years. Ian’s not sure whether to be intimidated or relieved. He settles on impressed, and he feels like they’re in good hands. She certainly seems to be able to keep Mickey on his toes, which Ian knows firsthand is not an easy task.

Lydia’s still eyeing Mickey challengingly, waiting for him to push the issue again, and Ian decides to break the standoff. “So,” he offers, voice trembling just a bit as he locks worried eyes with Lydia, “how does it look?”

When Lydia hears the fear in Ian’s voice, she turns warm eyes on him, her smile genuine. “Well,” she starts carefully, “It’s complicated. So, I’m going to take some time and explain the complications for you, and then we’ll talk a little about whether adoption is a viable option for the two of you, okay?”

She’s speaking carefully, voice clear and confident as she seeks permission to continue. Ian knows she can see the fear in both of them, and she’s trying to ensure that they really and truly hear everything she has to tell them.

Ian nods at her, and he can feel Mickey’s eyes on him as tears gather at the corners of his eyes. None fall, but Ian’s scared and overwhelmed, and he can’t help the way the emotion manifests. “Okay,” Ian breathes out, barely audible as he tries to contain himself.

Mickey’s thumb begins rubbing gentle circles against Ian’s skin where their hands are still joined, and he scoots his chair just a little closer to Ian’s so his thigh is pressed tightly to his husband’s, offering a grounding point of contact for the two of them. Finally, once Mickey’s comfortable that Ian’s okay, he turns to Lydia. “Go ahead,” he prompts, worried but anxious to hear what she has to tell them.

“All right,” Lydia says, voice still clear and careful. “As you boys know, your criminal and mental health histories are going to make things tough. Now, Mickey, your past is actually a little less complicated than I was expecting, since you only have two previous arrests from when you were still a juvenile—which, I still can’t figure out how the fuck you managed that, by the way—and the minor shoplifting charge shouldn’t actually cause any issues since it wasn’t a violent crime. The assault charge against the cop might be a little more difficult, but it was still a minor assault charge, and since it was over five years ago and you were still a juvenile at the time, I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble getting it waived. Now, Illinois does require a ten year record check where most states only require five, but again, I think you can make a case to get it overlooked considering the circumstances with a good adoption lawyer and some strong recommendations. You’ll also need to be completely upfront and honest about the charges we appealed, but since the conviction was overturned, that also should not cause an issue if you don’t hide it.”

Mickey lets out a sigh of relief he hadn’t even realized he was holding, smiling at the new information. At least so far, things weren’t going as badly as they’d expected. Mickey nods frantically to confirm that he understands when Lydia raises a curious eyebrow at him.

“Okay,” she nods, turning to Ian, “Now, Ian, I’m not as familiar with your situation, so I need to confirm some things with you before proceeding. Is that all right?”

Ian looks terrified, and he squeezes Mickey’s hand tightly for reassurance. “Yeah,” Ian agrees, smiling tightly to try to hide his trepidation. “Yeah, that’s fine. Whatever you need.”

Lydia takes a moment, glancing down at her paperwork again before catching Ian’s eye, a gentle, comforting smile on her lips. “First—I just need to clarify—a couple of years ago, when the incident occurred with Yevgeny, were you ever charged with any form of child endangerment?”

Ian takes a deep breath at that. He’d known, logically, that similar questions would come up, but it still jostles his nerves. After a moment, he gets himself together and manages to answer. “No,” he states confidently, shaking his head just a bit. “No, I wasn’t. I should have been, I know, but they chose not to pursue charges if I agreed to get help.”

Lydia smiles again reassuringly. “Okay. That’s good. And when that incident occurred, you had not yet been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is that correct?”

Ian nods. “That’s right. My family had an idea, but I was never officially diagnosed until after the incident with Yevgeny three years ago.”

“Also good,” Lydia reassures again, jotting down a couple of notes before lifting her eyes to Ian’s. “And since your diagnosis, have you been keeping up with your medication?”

Ian takes a deep breath at that, trying to figure out the best way to explain the answer to that question. Finally, he settles on a response. “There was a brief period of time after my diagnosis that I refused treatment and medication. It was a couple of weeks following the diagnosis, and I was having difficulty adjusting to the meds. They made me feel numb—like life wasn’t worth living. But it was just the adjustment period, and I have since learned that while properly medicated, I am stable and happy, and I have been managing my illness with both my medication and therapy since then. It has been over three years now, and I have properly kept up with my treatment since that initial adjustment period.”

“And you’re generally stable while on your medication?” she asks, searching Ian’s eyes for confirmation.

Ian nods enthusiastically. “Yes,” he insists with certainty. “Absolutely. Occasionally, my medications need adjustment when I begin experiencing the beginnings of manic or depressive episodes, but I’ve become much more accustomed to the signs of those shifts, and I have consistently been able to tackle those challenges before they get out of control. I have not had a debilitating episode since before I was diagnosed and medicated, and with the help of my husband, I have been actively and successfully working to manage my illness.”

Lydia smiles at that, kind eyes locking on Ian’s. “That’s wonderful, Ian,” she tells him honestly, and Ian can’t help but answer with a grateful smile of his own. “I’m glad to hear you’re managing so well. It sounds like you’re on the right track. Now, I just have a couple more questions for both of you.”

“Shoot,” Ian insists eagerly. He’s ready to know where they stand, and he wants to get through the questions so they can at least have a preliminary answer.

“How’s your relationship with Yevgeny?”

She asks it gently, and both Ian and Mickey can tell she’s trying not to cause any unnecessary concern. Mickey rolls his eyes at her ridiculously calm demeanor, and Ian nudges Mickey with his knee to silence any snarky remarks Mickey might be cooking up.

“It’s great,” Ian tells her honestly, trying to keep his voice from seeming overly enthusiastic. “We have him with us every few days. He has his own room at our place. We lost some time with him when Mickey was in prison, but he’s our son, and we’ve been working hard to make up for it.”

Lydia smiles brightly at the loving tone that seeps into Ian’s voice as he talks about Yevgeny. Mickey’s face melts into a sweet smile at Ian’s reaction as well, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by either Ian or Lydia.

“We love our son,” Mickey tells her confidently. “We’re working to rebuild trust with his mother, and it’s going well. We’re slowly increasing our custody responsibilities—although, we don’t have any official legal custody arrangements—and our family is flourishing.”

Lydia blinks in surprise at Mickey’s choice of words, and Ian can’t help the amused smirk that settles on his lips. It takes Mickey a second, but he realizes quickly what they’re reacting to and scoffs, directing a glare in Ian’s direction. “Fuck off,” Mickey snarks in Ian’s direction, unable to hide his own amusement. After just a moment, though, Lydia pulls them back to the task at hand.

“Okay,” she says firmly, her voice pulling both their gazes back to her, “also good. Now, can you tell me a little bit about how your current custody arrangement works? How often does Yevgeny stay with you?”

“It’s kind of complicated right now,” Ian admits honestly. “Yevgeny’s mom is still a little wary of allowing him to stay overnight with us. She’s protective, and we’re still rebuilding some of the trust we lost when everything went down a few years ago. But we spend at least a few hours with him nearly every day—all day when we can—and he does stay overnight about once a week now.”

Lydia nods, considering the response for a moment as she checks her papers again. “I have a few recommendations, then,” she tells them, pausing for a moment to be sure she has their attention. “I think it would greatly benefit you to try to work on getting your son about fifty percent of the time. If his mom’s not up for that, at the very least, I think it’s important that you have him in primarily your care for at least a few days every couple of weeks. More if you can make it happen. This will do a couple of things for you. First, it will help you show that you are successfully capable of providing a safe and loving home for a child. Second, it will force you to make childcare arrangements during times when you can’t be at home with him—which will allow you to develop a routine that will be useful for reducing stress if you add another child to your household. This will be good both for the two of you and your family, and again, it will help show that you’re capable of caring for a child and that you understand the intricacies of successful childcare.”

Mickey and Ian both nod at that. Ian feels like he’s holding his breath. He’s on the edge of his seat, worried to believe that this means good news, but desperately hoping it might.

She smiles again reassuringly before continuing. “Additionally,” she says conversationally, “you’re going to need strong references who can speak to your ability to care for a child. Ian, it will be important for you to get references from your doctors—your therapist and anyone involved in care for your bipolar disorder. Also, your employers. If they trust you to work successfully as an EMT, that means they believe you have your mental health under control. They’ll be important references for you. And, probably most importantly, you will need a glowing reference from the mother of your child. She has direct knowledge of your ability to care for your child, and that’s going to be hugely important if you’re seeking to have any potential red flags waived, since showing that you are successfully caring for a child and providing a stable home can help in those assessments. Understood?”

Both Mickey and Ian nod slowly at that, unsure, but hopeful.

At that, Lydia smiles again, genuinely, and makes a couple more notes. “Okay,” she tells them brightly. Ian’s still not sure what that means—she’s being friendly and reassuring, but she’s guarding her tone closely and she’s still unreadable.

Mickey’s getting anxious now, too, his eyes darting back and forth between Ian and Lydia. He wants answers, and Ian can see it in Mickey’s eyes. “So what the fuck does that mean, then?” Mickey finally snaps after a few too many moments of silence, his tone irritable. Ian knows that it’s just his husband’s nerves and he squeezes Mickey’s hand to calm him before flashing an apologetic smile in Lydia’s direction. She waves him off with a little shrug, though, as she turns her eyes fondly in Mickey’s direction. Ian thinks she must have been on the receiving end of quite a lot of Mickey’s snark during the appeals process a couple of years earlier—she seems to know his husband’s mannerisms rather well, and it puts Ian at ease.

“Well,” Lydia begins, watching the men across from her carefully with kind eyes, “You’ll need to find a good family lawyer—I can refer you to someone—and I can’t make any promises. But I think you’ve got a good shot at getting in with an agency.”

Mickey sucks in a breath at that, the hand still cradled in Ian’s shaking slightly. After a moment of quiet, he finally speaks softly as Ian blinks up at him, eyes trained on Mickey’s face. “That mean we can get a baby?” Mickey asks, voice trembling, still afraid to hope.

Lydia gives him a little smile, her eyes kind. “Yeah,” she nods, happiness for the couple seeping into her tone, “yeah, Mickey. I think you’ve got a good chance at adopting in the near future. It’ll take some time, and you boys will need to jump through more hoops than most with your medical and criminal backgrounds, but you’ve both made positive changes and you’ve committed to them. With good references and your history with your son on your side, I think you can get any potential hurdles assessed and waived as long as you’re both honest and upfront about your pasts and where you are now during the process. So, yes. I think you’ll be adding to your little family sooner than you think.”

Mickey sucks in a harsh breath at that, swallowing hard against the emotion that catches in his throat as he presses his fingers against his eyelids to stop the flow of the tears that gather there. Mickey feels Ian lift their joined hands to his lips to press a kiss there, and the smile Mickey feels against his skin makes Mickey happier than he’s ever been. Once Mickey believes he has his emotions under control, he lets his other hand fall from his eyes, and he turns to Ian with his own happy smile. It’s a mistake, though, Mickey realizes as soon as he sees the bright tears streaking down Ian’s happy face, because Mickey absolutely cannot control his emotions when he sees the joy in his husband’s eyes. Mickey laughs again when he meets Ian’s eyes, happy tears rushing back as Ian reaches out to cup a hand around the back of Mickey’s neck, drawing him close until he can kiss Mickey sweetly. When they pull away, they stay close, lips still brushing gently as they breath the same air and let all of the possibilities rush over them.

“We’re gonna have a baby,” Mickey whispers finally, lips catching Ian’s again as Ian nods and pulls Mickey into his arms.

Additional Notes: I know many of you mentioned you were looking forward to Mickey and Ian pursuing surrogacy in this fic. I’m going to be up front here and tell you that I have abandoned that option at this point. It was actually my original plan to have Fiona serve as their surrogate—hence the way I’ve framed her character here—but the costs of surrogacy are astronomical and there don’t seem to be many financial resources from what I’ve found. So, essentially, I just cannot imagine the Mickey and Ian I have set up here making that happen in the timeline I’ve given them. As a result, after much thought and research, I decided that adoption—even with what I’m sure are ample inaccuracies—would be the more realistic route to take here. I hope that’s not too disappointing to you all. I still have big things planned for this fic, but the surrogacy element just didn’t work out.

#mickey/ian #gallavich #gallavich fic #shameless #s7 #fluff #canon divergent #who would have thought #chapter seventeen #my writing

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jobsearchtips02 · 4 years

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Inside Pete Buttigieg’s swing through South Carolina to court black voters

Democratic governmental candidate South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg leaves after holding a campaign event at the Majestic Theater on December 29, 2019 in Centerville, Iowa.

Getty Images/Joe Raedle

The Democratic Celebration has actually been criticized over the lack of diversity amongst its staying 2020 prospects. And yet amongst the frontrunners is an openly gay guy, Pete Buttigieg

Expert followed Buttigieg’s campaign as it held occasions targeting black voters in South Carolina. For all the existing focus on identity, the fact that he’s an LGBTQ trailblazer was an afterthought.

Amongst the black advocates Expert talked with, what they liked best about Buttigieg is his message of unity, his practical centrism, and his “Douglass Strategy”– a thorough set of policy propositions taking on a host of problems impacting black Americans.

Rep. Anthony Brown, the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Buttigieg, told Insider: “Numerous of you in the media are speaking about identity, I believe that space is being filled.”

Go to Service Expert’s homepage for more stories

SOUTH CAROLINA– Identity is at the leading edge of lots of conversations about the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. The party has actually faced criticism over numerous candidates of color stopping working to acquire ballot traction, with downsides for minority prospects to raise project funds and greatly white early ballot states pointed out as possible perpetrators for the absence of variety.

And yet amongst the frontrunners is a freely gay man, previous South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg Sure, he’s white, Christian, and centrist, but he’s the first LGBTQ candidate to make a practical run for the presidency.

Buttigieg is comfortable on the path referring to his spouse, Chasten, often in the context of the significant trainee loan financial obligation they share. That’s quite much where he leaves reference of his identity as a gay guy.

He’s most likely to speak about his faith, his military service, or his mostly center-left platforms. That likewise goes for Buttigieg’s fans, who are more keen on promoting what they describe as his credibility, lack of cynicism, and his “play good” ethos as a campaigner.

Insider followed Buttigieg’s project last week as it held occasions targeting black citizens in South Carolina.

We spoke with avowed advocates, voters who think about Buttigieg a possibility, and project surrogates about what it suggests for a freely gay prospect to be campaigning in a state where gay marital relationship was supported by a simple 20%of grownups in 2004.

Buttigieg makes his pitch to black voters in South Carolina

A recent Fox News survey reveals Buttigieg putting a far-off 5th in South Carolina, pulling in simply 4%.

” In South Carolina, we do the huge rally-type occasions.

Rye asked, “In South Carolina, does that scare you?”

Buttigieg replied, “Yeah, because I more than happy for the folks who are appearing, however in order not simply to win, in order to deserve to win, I’ve got to be speaking to everybody again, especially knowing that my party has actually depended on black citizens.”

Pete Buttigieg positions with a participant at a project event in Monck’s Corner, South Carolina on January 23,2020

Anthony Fisher/Insider

Amongst the reasons political prognosticators have given for why Buttigieg surveys so terribly with black citizens in South Carolina: a string of controversies including supposed police abuses while he was mayor of South Bend, Indiana; a lack of meaningful outreach, and what some have identified as homophobia in the community.

The latter concern was enhanced by a focus group of black voters conducted by Buttigieg’s project last July, which found some of the individuals “deeply unpleasant” with even discussing Buttigieg’s sexuality.

Simply 27%of black voters nationwide say they would be satisfied with Buttigieg as the Democratic nominee, according to Insider information

First, most black citizens still do not understand who he is.

Second, Buttigieg is running as a centrist, and his main competitor in the Democrats’ center lane is former Vice President Joe Biden

Buttigieg advocates say he reminds them of Obama

Of the black voters we spoke with who explained themselves as Buttigieg fans or at least open to voting for him, nearly all cited his “ Douglass Strategy“– a detailed set of policy propositions dealing with a host of issues affecting black Americans, including criminal justice, health care, and earnings inequality– as something they discover engaging about him as a candidate.

Krystin White, 27, a black artist and Buttigieg supporter from Columbia, SC, informed Expert that having actually grown up seeing what her gay good friends in the deep south had to go through, she anticipated that Buttigieg’s sexuality would be less than warmly received.

She then recounted a story where she convinced her mother to change her allegiance from Biden to Buttigieg.

White said, “The presumption that blacks, especially blacks from the South, are against homosexuality or that they turn their nose up about it is … I wouldn’t say it’s false. It’s simply inaccurate, there’s not as a lot of us that are troubled by it than people think.”

Krystin White and Emery Benson of Columbia, South Carolina.

Anthony Fisher/Insider

A common refrain I heard from black Buttigieg advocates was that the previous mayor advised them of former President Barack Obama when he initially arrived on the nationwide political scene.

There are obvious and numerous distinctions in between the 2. But considering the fresh face, the “no drama” public persona, the beauty, the intellectual pedigree, the message of unity and modification– it does sound a little familiar.

Obama likewise took a lot of hits from the progressive flank of his party, after governing as a fairly centrist president. Buttigieg, as a presidential candidate, is taking the majority of his shots from the left flank, too.

White’s partner, Emery Benson, a 31- year-old telecoms worker, said when he’s trying to encourage people to choose Buttigieg the most common criticism he encounters is, “Pete’s a business shill. You understand, because he worked for McKinsey. That he’s not actually somebody who wanted to do what he says he’s attempting to.”

Benson included that some black citizens he’s tried to sell Buttigieg to as candidate worry he ‘d be too mild-mannered to “fight at Trump’s level.”

Everyone’s discussing identity, but it’s not winning votes

Prior to Buttigieg’s occasion at Claflin University, Insider talked with Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland, to date the only member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Buttigieg. We asked him: What’s the proper way for 2020 Democrats to speak about identity?

” Numerous of you in the media are talking about identity, I think that space is being filled,” Brown responded with a laugh.

Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) campaigning for Pete Buttigieg in Orangeburg, South Carolina on January 23,2020

Anthony Fisher/Insider

” I ran for governor of Maryland, and I was the very first African-American who was a significant celebration nominee,” Brown included.

Brown continued: “Let’s say I’m Pete talking, there’s no denying that I am a freely gay male, but this project is not about me as an openly gay guy. This has to do with you who are: gay or directly, black or white, male or woman, farmer or manufacturer, city occupant or rural. This has to do with you and your households and what I’m going to offer, what I’m going to fight for as president.”

Buttigieg probably won’t win South Carolina or the black vote.

But no matter how he puts when all the Democratic delegates are allocated, Buttigieg has actually blazed a path: He’s made being an openly gay presidential prospect no huge deal.

Pete Buttigieg South Carolina 2020 election 2020 democrats

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%%.

from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/inside-pete-buttigiegs-swing-through-south-carolina-to-court-black-voters/

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loislaneinvestigatesauthors · 6 years

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From lab science to the art of the novel: historical fantasy writer Linda McCabe

Linda McCabe speaks in Oakland, CA at 2pm at the California Writers’ Club meeting at 1204 Preservation Park Way this Sunday, October 21st. Open to the public for a $10 cash donation at the door.

More info on the Club and on Linda here.

1. What drew you in to Greek mythology and to the story of Orlando Furioso? Why do you think those stories have appealed to readers throughout time? I started reading Greek mythology as a small girl. I loved the larger than life stories and characters. The first time I ever stayed awake reading until the wee hours of the night was with D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. I adore that book. It is wonderfully illustrated and it introduces each member of the Greek pantheon with their own story. My favorite Greek goddess is Athena. She is powerful, respected and derives her strength from her intellect and not from beauty. She's not only the goddess of wisdom and victory, but also of the arts such as weaving tapestries. One of my favorite stories is of a mortal who was a gifted weaver who had boasted she was more skilled than Athena. The goddess disguised herself, tried to get the girl to take back her words. The girl, named Arachne, refused to take back the boast and instead issued a challenge to the goddess. Athena threw off her disguise and accepted the challenge. They both created incredible tapestries. While Athena's depicted the Olympian gods in all of their glory, Arachne's made fun of Zeus and his various wives. Athena's wrath brought about the destruction of the irreverent artwork and transformed the talented girl into a spider who would weave for all eternity.

Harsh, but fair punishment. Pride cometh before the fall. Hubris. Greek mythology is filled with these kinds of stories. I started reading Orlando furioso in 2003 when I was engaged in online debates regarding the Harry Potter series. This was before the series was finished, and there were many various theories floating about. One theory involved the symbolic meaning of hippogriffs. I wound up reading Ariosto's masterpiece because that was the first time a hippogriff was used as a character in literature. I became drawn to the love story between Bradamante and Ruggiero, which was considered one of many subplots in this epic poem. Bradamante reminded me of Athena. She was a respected warrior who was cool under pressure. The major difference is that Bradamante fell in love, whereas Athena never allowed herself to love a man. Bradamante was the niece of Charlemagne and was a Christian. She fell in love with an honorable warrior who was a Muslim and on the opposing side of a holy war. Their love was kept secret until they could find a way to be together with honor, and there were many, many obstacles for this couple to overcome. She was even given the Call to Adventure to rescue him when he was being held captive by a wizard. It is amazing that this incredible kick-ass heroine was created over 500 years ago, but has somehow become largely forgotten over the years.

These stories become timeless because they demonstrate heroism and perseverance as well as Karmic punishments for those without honor. 2. How do you know when you've done enough research and you're ready to write? This is a gut feeling. There's a point when I feel like I am procrastinating more than I am doing research. Sometimes I just have to shift gears and stop researching if the aspect I am trying to understand isn't "knowable" or maybe isn't all that important. I spent over a week wondering about diapering in the middle ages. This was all because I wanted to have a character do some action in a scene with her baby. I started imagining the characters in my setting and thought of where would the dirty diaper would be placed. Then I wondered how the diaper would be closed, (did they have diaper pins?) How often would they wash them? How many diapers would a noble household have for a baby? Some research suggested that babies might not have been put in diapers at all. Instead, the parents would watch them carefully and hold them at arm's length over straw to absorb urine flow. I considered this matter for too long. I was obsessing over a minor detail that did not enhance or further the plot. I decided to take it out and not "go there." Instead, I described the baby as been freshly bathed in the scene.

3. Conversely, where can you go to make sure your writing doesn't contain obvious historical errors or anachronisms? Are there 'continuity readers' or 'historical readers' available to regular authors? I have several beta readers who have looked at various passages or aspects of the story to give me this kind of feedback. Finding experts for your writing can be a challenge. I suggest during the writing process to try and identify those who may be able to provide specific feedback. I joined different list servs where I could ask experts questions that I had been unable to find answers to on my own.

There is a wonderful internet resource for a multitude of disciplines called H-Net for Humanities and Social Services. https://networks.h-net.org/ I recommend that resource for those who wish to find experts. Go to the website, explore different listings, subscribe and read back postings to get familiar with the style of discussion before posting. Most of the subscribers are university faculty members, so being an "independent scholar" will set you apart. Don't be intimidated, but try not to ask overly broad questions showing that you haven't done research on your own first. Tell them you are a writer and have a few specific questions. Or write a post stating that you are looking for beta readers for historical accuracy who will give feedback. Many of the professors read fiction in their spare time, make an appeal asking for help in identifying errors might work. Finding good 'continuity readers' is a more difficult nut to crack. You have to find close, careful readers who will notice nit-picky items that contradict earlier details in your story. This cannot be done effectively for beta readers who get a few pages here and there. You need critique group members who will read large chunks or the entire manuscript *and* will focus on minutiae. For example, someone who will pull up a calendar from the year your story takes place and notice if there really was a full moon on the night of the murder. That's the kind of thing I do for my critique group partners, and sometimes they appear annoyed prior to expressing gratitude for my corrections/feedback.

In regard to historical errors or anachronisms, I have had some instances where I balance historical accuracy versus dramatic needs. I initially try to find a way to make the historical record work, but there are times when it would lessen the drama. Or it would cause the narrative to become immensely more complicated. In those occasions, I will choose dramatic necessity over historical accuracy and write a disclaimer in my author notes to detail the reasons behind my decision. I feel that the greatest sin a writer can commit is to bore readers.

An example of this type of decision regarded the Medieval walls around the city of Paris. The poets described a complex set of ramparts that were first built by King Philippe Auguste in the 12th century. The story of Charlemagne and his knights is set in the 9th century. I considered removing the historically inaccurate walls, but quickly realized that my already complicated plot would become exponentially worse. I decided to keep the walls and mention my dilemma in my author notes. After all, I am retelling a grand story originally written to entertain one noble family in Italy and it featured wars that never took place with mostly fictional characters, magical realms and flying hippogriffs. Therefore, know that I took care in telling this tale, so please just enjoy the ride! 4. I notice you also write essays and editorials in addition to your historical fiction. Would you agree with the advice I myself heard as an aspiring novelist, to get other pieces of writing published before you go out there to agents and publishers with a first novel? While I believe that having publication credits is important to demonstrate your authority as a writer, it isn't as important to an agent as the sample pages of your completed novel. Writing an article or short story is like running a 100 yard dash while writing a novel is more like running a marathon. Perfecting the art of the query letter or verbal pitching to an agent in order to get the request to submit sample pages is a different skill set than regular writing. Once you get the go-ahead to send your manuscript and synopsis, your overall craft will be on full view. The agent and subsequent potential publishers will only green light a publishing contract based on the strength of your finished product and not because you had an op-ed published in the LA Times. Honestly, I think getting a pithy book description will do more for you with agents and publishers than having multiple credits to your name. However, it is a different matter if you are writing non-fiction. If you had publication credits in magazines or peer-reviewed journals and you were submitting a book proposal on the same topic - it might help influence the decision of the agent/publisher to sign you as a client/author.

5. How do your feel your "day job" has influenced your writing? And what is your educational background? While I love writing, my education is in the sciences. My undergraduate degree is in Laboratory Medicine and my master's degree is as an Historian of Science. I also have training in competitive public speaking from high school and acting in plays. My only creative writing classes were in screenwriting and those were taken without being applied to any degree program. Screenwriting helped me analyze scenes in movies to determine how best to distill narrative and reveal characters into scenes that further a plot. Participating in debate and drama helped me understand how to craft a strong argument and then overlay my steel girder like-logic with pathos to stir the emotional senses. As a laboratorian, over the years I have developed a keen analytical mind. One of my previous jobs, I managed the organ recipient list of over one hundred patients for a laboratory in downtown Detroit. I reviewed and monitored changes and updates to the statewide list published by the Organ Procurement Agency of Michigan. Soon after I took over that responsibility I discovered and corrected numerous errors on our list of patients . Learning to have a scope of memory to track and manage so many details helped prepare me for adapting a story of epic grandeur with a massive cast of characters.

Similarly, having been trained in historical methods of researching for my master's degree, I feel obligated in learning about the time, place, cultural practices, etc., in my story. I have done my best to ground this story in a real time and place, giving my narrative the historical details of ninth century Francia. So once I decided on doing an adaptation of Orlando furioso, I had to learn about Medieval history and the life of Charlemagne. I immersed myself in research while simultaneously trying to determine parts of the story to retain and parts to cut. After doing an intense analysis of my source material, I discovered continuity errors. One enchanted castle was located in three (!) separate and distinct locations. The narrative is immensely complicated, and I doubt the patrons noticed the discrepancies let alone raised any objections. However, I am well aware of L.O.O.N.s (the League of Obsessive Nitpickers) and so I had to fix one location for this enchanted castle and made this determination based on my plot necessities. I also moved several locations of other plot points that I felt made more logical sense.

The Carolingian legend cycle spanned several centuries in the south of France and north of Italy. The jongleurs and troubadours told and retold these legends for the nobles and the masses. By the time Ludovico Ariosto and Matteo Maria Boiardo wrote their masterpieces, these characters were popular. My contribution in this legend cycle is to transform a portion of these stories into a tale for modern day audiences using current storytelling techniques. ***side note*** The Italians do not capitalize the second word in the title of the poems. I'm not sure why, because I do not speak Italian or know the particulars of Italian grammar rules. So my use of Orlando furioso and not Orlando Furioso is not accidental, it is purposeful. If you do a quick Google search, the results for capitalization are not consistent. However, once this was pointed out to me, I have endeavored to follow the Italian convention.

More about Linda McCabe and her current works here.

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classycollectorartisanposts-blog · 6 years

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How much will my father’s insurance go up for me?

"How much will my father's insurance go up for me?

yea well i want my license and he says no because it will raise his insurance through the roof. just how much will it increase? im 18 and i live in brooklyn. the car id drive would be a 06 nissan maxima. any idea around how much it would go up?

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare quotes: : http://howmuchisinsurance.xyz/index.html?src=tumblr