#I will defend these till the alleged death

[captainstevenjohnstonme]

'Hands Of Vengeance.'

The following story is about a killer who was put to death in the electric chair and then buried in the prison grounds but his hands re-emerge and go on a rampage.

Hope you like it.

'For fucks sake can you motherfuckers strap me in already, I will gladly flick the switch myself to get away from everyone on this fucked up planet.'

Robert Jenkins a huge white prison guard who has worked at San Quentin for twenty years rolls his eyes as he approaches the cell of a condemned man named Elijah Pope.

'Settle down Pope and eat your last meal or I will come in and shove it down your throat.'

'Fuck you Jenkins' Pope screams out 'I asked for a large pepperoni pizza three chicken burgers a tub of chocolate ice cream and a pint of Dr Pepper but what do I get? nothing but a couple of roast potatoes a slice of pecan pie and a can of Pepsi.'

'Go and get the warden right now or I will hang myself with my own shoelaces.'

'You aren't wearing any shoelaces you dumb fuck and you should be thankful for the small portions because come frying time you will be shitting out bricks.'

'Now shut the fuck up and finish what you got before I shove my baton up your scrawny ass.'

Pope stares back at Jenkins in contempt 'Spare me the pep talk you slimy piece of crap just let the warden know that I will see him bright and early tomorrow and when I begin to broil and bubble I will send smoke signals down to hell where all of the fuckers who put me in this goddamned cell will also feel the pain and heat.'

'I have survived this world for 28 years and after I am electrocuted I will become the master of sparks and come back and destroy anyone for has mistreated me.'

'The only person who has mistreated you Pope is yourself , all of your wounds are self inflicted, you committed all of the crimes that put you where you are today so stop your whining and take your medicine like a man.'

As he walks away Jenkin's adams apple bobs up and down in worry because of all the prisoners he has come across during his time in this hell hole Elijah Pope is by far the craziest, meanest of them all so come morning when Pope leaves this earth he will thank the lord when the evil little man is gone for good.

Pope only stands a smidge over 5' tall and weighs about the same as a teenager and who some say looks like Kevin Bacon on crack may be small in stature but don't be fooled he is one of the meanest criminals in America.

He first came under the radar of the authorities when he was only ten years of age when he attacked another boy with a knife after the victim refused to hand over his wallet.

For that crime he spent five years in juvenile detention.

After his release Pope robbed a convenience store of a measly twenty bucks and as he made his getaway he turned and shot the owner and his female assistant killing them both.

After that Pope went underground eluding the authorities , for that crime Pope entered the F.B.I.'s most wanted list.

Between 2007 till 2011 a serial killer roamed the streets of Los Angeles, in that time he murdered 20 known victims but it is believed that the total could reach as high 60.

All victims were young girls with short brown hair between the ages of 14 to 18 years old but luckily with the use of the latest DNA technology Elijah Pope was identified as the perpetrator and he was arrested without incident on 6th July 2011.

A year later despite protesting his innocence 18 year old Elijah Pope is brought to trial before judge Walter B Carruthers a man with little time for the criminals who sit in the dock under his worship.

Popes lawyer Paul Drew is a young attorney with little time spent in an actual courtroom and now here he is defending an alleged serial killer.

The prosecutor a long time trial lawyer named Daniel Hopkins who can talk the talk with the best of them begins proceedings telling the court that Elijah Pope is a predator who took the lives of a innocent shopkeeper and a member of his staff but then he went on to become one of the nations worst serial killers.

Twelve weeks later with Popes lawyer proving to be next to useless when it comes to giving his client the best advice sits next to Elijah as the prosecutor sums up proceedings, 'Your honor the evidence is overwhelming, shoe prints found at many of the crime scenes match the tread on a pair shoes owned by the defendant plus the DNA evidence proves once and for all that Elijah Pope the man sitting next to his lawyer is a murderer who should be sentenced to death.'

'I rest my case your honor.'

'Does the defense have a rebuttal for the court?'

Drew begins to stand up but than changes his mind 'No your honor the defense rests.'

Pope can't stay silent any longer and stands 'What a load of absolute crap, I am no murderer, sure I am no angel but as my lawyer if he did a proper job would have found out that I was living in South Carolina at the time that these murders occurred'

Judge Carruthers bangs his gavel in fury ; Young man you are to remain silent in my courtroom or you will be gagged do you understand?'

Elijah knowing that he is fighting for his life sizes up the judge 'I am an innocent man you old fool, the so called evidence is rubbish, anyone could have worn my shoes but it is obvious that you don't want to listen so why don't you spit on your gavel and shove it where the sun don't shine.'

'TAKE HIM AWAY' Carruthers screams at a guard who grabs Pope by an arm and begins to lead him away but Pope can't resist a parting shot at his attorney 'Thanks for nothing I will see you in hell.'

At the back of the courtroom the young man who actually committed the crimes that Elijah Pope has been found guilty of silently leaves unnoticed.

Elijah is dragged downstairs to his cell where he is joined by his attorney. 'I thought that you were supposed to represent me to the best of your ability but all you did was sit there saying nothing.'

'I am sorry Elijah I know that you are upset but the evidence against you was overwhelming there was little that I could do.'

'I am innocent I tell you, why want anyone believe me?'

'Rest assured Elijah that I will appeal the decision so just bide your time and I will do all I can.'

Despite numerous appeals Popes execution is scheduled to take place tomorrow 21 September 2023.

At precisely 4.30 am Pope is lead from his cell by six prison guards.

Fully shackled in leg irons Elijah slowly shuffles down the corridor to his final destination.

Most of the prisoners on death row call out their farewells while the more subdued remain silent thankful that they get to live another day.

Entering the small room and is strapped to the electric chair securely with leather cords.

Twelve witnesses including his parents sit a mere five yards away.

The parents Brian and Maureen Pope struggle to make eye contact with their son as he awaits his fate.

They have a secret a secret that they have kept ever since the day that Elijah was born.

A secret that they plan to keep to their dying day.

At 4.58 warden Ian Baldacci a cruel bitter man who has overseen the executions of 28 men looks over to the phone hanging on the wall half expecting it to ring but as the seconds pass by it remains silent.

A minute later the warden asks Pope if he has any last words 'I surely do warden, everybody knows that i am no angel but I am innocent of murder.'

Taking a second to compose himself Pope turns his head and stares directly into the eyes of the warden' Let me tell you now warden if you flick the switch and send me to my death I will come back from hell and kill you at the first opportunity.'

'Mark my words when I return blood will flow from the bodies of all of those responsible for my demise.'

The twelve witnesses are visibly shaken by the outburst and cower back in fright.

Even warden Baldacci is disturbed by Popes words so when the clock ticks over to 5.00 he hits the switch sending the evil fucker to hell where he belongs.

Pope is slammed back by the charge of electricity with whiffs of smoke escaping from his mouth and nostrils while his skin begins to burn and blister.

Convulsing violently Pope takes one of his last breathes, deep inside his bones crack and his marrow boils.

The leather straps bite deep into Popes wrists and when the skin and tissue melt away the restraints cut all the way through to cauterize and fall to the floor of the death chamber.

Thankfully the curtains have already been drawn so none of the witnesses saw the dismembered hands fall away in a shower of blood and steam.

At 6.07 Pope is pronounced dead by the prison doctor Marcus Clarke who despite seeing many dead prisoners is shocked by the sight of the pair of hands that still twitch on the floor near his feet.

After the smell of death dissipates Popes smoldering body is removed from the electric chair and his remains are carefully into a body bag by two prison trustees, the younger of the two has the ghastly task of picking up the hands before he gingerly places them on the chest of the condemned.

The body bag is loaded into a van and driven 500 yards to the northern corner of the prison where it is parked near to a recently dug grave.

The body bag is lowered without ceremony into the hole while up in his office Warden Baldacci watches proceedings with interest. 'You are where you belong Pope may your body rot and your soul travel to hell.'

Three months later under the cover of darkness a single human hand pokes through the surface of an unmarked grave.

Another hand suddenly appears and they scurry over to the prison wall, then using all of their strength the hands grapple up the wall slip through the razor wire and drop down onto the grass on the other side.

The pair of hands hide in the foliage for awhile than they move forward in anticipation for the arrival of the garbage where they will hitchhike a ride on the first step of a journey along the road where they will seek an overdue quest for a bloody vengeance against those who committed a wrong against Elijah Kevin Pope.

THE END.

Part Two coming soon.

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade Death of DPO: Court remands 75 Peoples in Prison custody The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded 75 persons to the Correctional Centre following alleged conspiracy in the murder of the District Police Officer (DPO) of Ahoada Police Division, SP Bako Angbashim. The suspects were arraigned on two counts of conspiracy to murder and felony. They were arrested immediately after Angbashim was killed and his body dismembered by a cult group in Ahoada East led by David Gift Okpala Okpolowu, popularly called 2baba. Among the persons arraigned and remanded were a former Chairman of Ahoada East LGA, Cassidy Ikegbidi, Eze Ekpeye Logbo and His Royal Majesty Eze, Ngozi Angwo. The defendants, who were arraigned by the Commissioner of Police, failed to take their plea. A bail application by one of the defendant’s lawyers, Dejo Lamikara, was opposed by the prosecuting lawyer, SP Eniyepere Sikpi. But the trial Judge, Justice Sika Aprioku after listening to the argument by the lawyers, ordered that the defendants be remanded in the correctional centre and adjourned the case till 21st November for plea and bail consideration. Youths and the student community in Ekpeye called for an end to the politicisation of killings in their area. Secretary-General of Ekpeye Youth Worldwide, Adokiye Oyagiri, in Port Harcourt said that some youths of the area were being used to make inciting statements against the leader of the state House of Assembly, Edison Ehie, who represents Ahoada East Constituency II. He said: “I think it is everybody’s right to talk about the insecurity but where there is an issue is when people begin to make false allegations and claims that they cannot be substantiated. “We all know that immediately after the DPO of Ahoada East was killed, the Governor placed a bounty of N100milion on the killers of the DPO, and till today we are yet to hear from the police if he has been captured or not. “And a few days ago we had some other killings and we do not have details and we do not know when it happened until we heard the news that people had been killed.”

[hardynwa]

Train attack: Court okays secret trial of Boko Haram negotiator

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, granted an application by the Federal Government to protect the identity of the witnesses lined up to testify against an alleged terrorist collaborator, Tukur Mamu. The Kaduna-based cleric and publisher is facing trial in connection with the terror attack on a Kaduna-Abuja train in March last year, leading to the death of at least eight persons with scores abducted for ransom. Mamu, who was arraigned in March this year, is facing 10 counts bordering on terrorism financing, among others. He was accused of receiving ransom payments in the sum of $120, 000 on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages of the train attack. Mamu was also accused of exchanging voice-note communications in relation to acts of terrorism with one Baba Adamu (a Boko Haram spokesperson). Furthermore, he was accused of dealing in terrorist funds in the sum of $300,000, which were allegedly found in his possession. The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Wednesday, counsel for the Attorney General of the Federation, D.E. Kaswe, took an ex parte application before Justice Inyang Ekwo for an order to protect the identity of the prosecution witnesses. In the motion sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria, the FG prayed for “an order of this honourable court shielding the physical identity of the prosecution witnesses by wearing facial masks and/or the use of screen whenever prosecution witnesses are testifying.” Furthermore, the government lawyer prayed for an order “excluding persons other than parties and their legal representatives at the hearing of the above-named charge except for members of the accredited press.” Justice Ekwo, in a ruling, granted the motion as prayed. Earlier, when the matter was called, Mamu, who was the sole defendant in the charge, was not in court. Kaswe then told the court that Mamu was still on his way with the security operatives. “I urge this honourable court to stand down this matter as they are still on their way coming,” he prayed. But the judge refused the application, quipping: “Do you think this is a stand-down court? That application is refused.” The case was subsequently adjourned till July 21 for the commencement of trial. Read the full article

[fbfh]

hoo hogwarts house hcs

I have some very hot takes on who’s in what house 

And no I’m not taking constructive criticism

So let’s get into it

Percy: hufflepuff 

His fatal flaw is loyalty for christ’s sake

He’s 100% a hufflepuff 

And he’s a little mad about it

Cares the most about winning house cup out of any other hufflepuffs

Classic “we can win this if we ban together and work hard! Let’s show them!” speeches

Literally anyone: are you sure you’re not supposed to be in gryffindor?

Percy: fuckin TELL ME ABOUT IT

Can never remember which barrel isn’t the vinegar one

Annabeth: slytherin

Her fatal flaw is thinking she can do everything better

It’s almost like she’s very

Ambitious

And i’m sorry

You think Annabeth “my mom is the goddess of battle strategy” “I survived on the streets by myself as a literal child” Chase isn’t at least a little cunning????

Also a little po’ed that she’s not in the “wise” house

“For gods’ sake, my nickname is wise girl!”

“I know, this whole thing is rigged,” -Percy, probably

Figured out the barrel trick to sneak into the hufflepuff common room to visit percy by smelling the barrels and not touching the ones that smell like vinegar

Jason: gryffindor

Anyone who is/has been a praetor is probably going to be a gryffindor

Real shit

He’s a local superman

The poster child for chivalry 

Gets offered the position of head boy/prefect almost immediately 

Graciously turns it down

Tries really hard to just fly under the radar and it actually works sometimes

Piper: hufflepuff 

This bitch is so loyal

She couldn’t choose between her dad and the friends she made two weeks ago

It would have been so easy for anyone else to be like

Y’all ugly

[sacrifices classmates to free workaholic famous dad from evil kidnappers]

But no

She found a way to save everybody 

Also taking down Drew as cabin leader bc she’s a bad leader and becoming a fair cabin head is a very hufflepuff thing to do

Helps give confidence boosts sometimes if someone needs it

Leo: ravenclaw

He has the mind of a mastermind

Fr you think an engineering protoje like that is just not gonna be in the smart house

Huge boost to his self esteem

Literally thinks it’s a mistake

Has a weird bond with Luna as the miscast ravenclaws

Also hello 

Wit has entered the chat

No one believes he’s a ravenclaw at first

Then he roasts a teacher so hard and so creatively they take a leave of absence 

Immediately accepted

Probably makes a bunch of cool shit for the common room

No one believes him when he says it’s not magic

Hazel: gryffindor

Puts the helping others in gryffindor

Mom friend of the entire house

Also simultaneously baby

Hagrid’s favorite bc she’s so good with magical creatures

Some dick tried to pick on neville in front of her once cause they thought he was an easy target and she verbally annihilated them without a moment’s hesitation

Seconds later she almost cried cause she nearly stepped on a ladybug

It was actually a red mnm

Frank: gryffindor

“Anyone who has been/is a praetor is probably a gryffindor”

Further proof

Immediately gets recruited for the quidditch team

Takes a little practice but ends up as a fucking amazing beater

He already has great aim from archery

And looks very intimidating to people outside his house

Which definitely helps lmao

Nico: ravenclaw

All the shit he’s been through has made him wise beyond his years

Has the least school spirit of literally anyone

Constantly sneaking into Will’s common room

Nothing fazes him ever

Not afraid of anyone there

To the point where some kids are afraid of him

Gets really sick of people assuming he’s a slytherin

“I don’t see it”

Will: slytherin

Ambitious and resourceful 

Best healer there

Fixed like three people during a quidditch mishap before madam pomfrey even got there

Great at herbology and potions

Also gets sick of people assuming he’s a hufflepuff

“Cause I’m nice? There’s tons of nice slytherins, what the fuck, man?”

No one even questions him in the ravenclaw common room at this point

Somehow brings out the best in his housemates

Very good influence

Thalia: gryffindor

Does not stop rubbing it in Percy’s face

He’s very salty abt it

Very pro house solidarity

Thinks dividing people into houses is kind of stupid to begin with

Doesn’t realize that’s a very gryffindor thing to say 

Practices with Frank a lot

She really just likes beating flying objects with a bat

Who can blame her

Astronomy tower is her favorite place

Tldr:

  gryffindor: jason, hazel, frank, thalia

  ravenclaw: leo, nico

  hufflepuff: percy, piper

  slytherin: annabeth, will

[miscellaneous-af]

I’m gonna defend Amber Heard till the end. Yes because the evidence supports what she alleged and because the issue I have with this whole trial is much bigger than Amber. Regardless of anything the fact remains that she is being sued by her ex for writing an op-ed about abuse, powerful men and the culture and institutes which protect them. She didn’t name Johnny as an abuser and in fact talked about her exposure to abuse from childhood to college and how she spoke out about abuse and was harassed and sent death threats (which she was). But the bigger picture to me is that there is something that feels so icky about suing a woman for vaguely writing about abuse. It feels like Amber is being punished for speaking out. The absolute witch hunt and misogynistic rhetoric that this has entailed. It has converted me I am now well an truly a misandrist. It’s like everyone decided to hang her up as an example, as a mascot for all the women whose ever lied (although her claims were actually proven in a court of law but alas) it’s like you guys want her to suffer for every woman whose ever lied meanwhile the Harvey Weinsteins of this world are a dime o dozen. Also the fact Johnny’s team is trying to weaponize a diagnosis against her just leaves me angry but also sick to my stomach. For anyone upset I’m not defending the Johnny I’m sure he won’t miss one wee person from the millions in the J*stice4J0nny brigade. #IStillBelieveAmber #YesAllWomen

[thewhumpstuff]

Flashback

Flashback - [So, this got longer than I intended. It probably needs to be cruelly edited. But, nah. I’m just going to throw it into the void!

@badthingshappenbingo​​ [Original Characters and content for - Reopening an Old Wound] Whumptober Day: No. 6 - Please -   “Get it out!” No more. “Stop, please!” [Sorta all three]   Ten Trails: Heart and Soul (2)- Repressed memories [@yuckwhump​] CW/TW: Uncomfortable invasion of the mind. References to interrogation, captivity and potential torture. Reference to implied bullying in the OC’s past. [Please let me know if I missed anything] [I don’t think there is anything triggering about the abstract art, hopefully, so its just out here. FYI-That is a man casually ‘caught up’ in his brain.]

Zach drummed an arrhythmic beat against the edge of his table, when the door to his office slid upon and the framework framed Akira like a painting, “Ah, good! You’re here. I’ve been led to believe you possess a unique set of skills and are the perfect candidate to... solve a little problem I’ve chanced upon. Shall we?”  She wasn’t given a chance to make her way into his office. Within a moment, he was already crowding her. Zach shepherded her towards a vehicle. They rode in uncomfortable silence. There weren’t too many people who could set Akira on edge, but Zach was definitely one of them. She assumed it was because she couldn’t get a read on him. And the tenebrous past he shared with Jared. The vehicle pulled up and she almost opened her side of the door into Zach’s crotch, accidentally. She stopped herself just in time, leaving the door slightly ajar. With a soft huff of disappointment and impatience, Zach opened it all the way and waited for her to step out. Akira really wasn’t accustomed to this level of archaic chivalry. The silence continued to loom as they walked past the wired fence, to the decommissioned lab. It was marked for repair and rennovation. As they rounded to the door, he went on to warn her, with feigned concern, that did fool her. “This is not going to be easy. It certainly isn’t for me, but I trust you know, that as Amity Enforcers, it's our duty to defend the goals of the Global Confederate. ”

Her brows knitted and her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. They made their way inside. Their footsteps echoed in the vacant reception area and continued to click as they walked through the lobby and the labyrinth of corridors. The first couple of floors had already been revamped and restored. From the corner of her eyes, she noted the silhouettes of wrapped equipment. She recognized them with ease, some were bots for medical procedures, others were devices typically used for research… on human subjects. They were flush against the walls haphazardly. He led her into a softly lit room, and stopped by two-sided mirror. The other side was dark. Akira stared at their reflections.  In retrospect, the sincerity in Zach’s expressions, would surprise her. Another guilty reassurance followed. It felt like he was setting her up for some kind of a climax,  “I assure you, I’ve done my due diligence, and grave apologies that I wasn’t able to get to him before the others. He’s a little roughed up. Needless to say, he’ll be fixed up. Perhaps you can help with that too…” Zach fiddled with something that looked like a keypad touch screen. Bright fluorescent lights illuminated the room beyond the mirror. Akira did a double-take and didn’t realise she was holding her breath. Jared. She didn’t need to see his face to recognize him. He didn’t have a shirt on and his pants looked scruffy. Angry, fresh bruises covered most of the skin that she could see. Cuffs cinched his wrists behind his back. His cheek sat in a small pool of blood. Crimson that leaked from a cut lip and from his nose. His chest rose and fell erratically. Jared didn’t react to the lights. He was either asleep… Or just unconscious. Zach’s little roughed up didn’t exactly do justice.

 She couldn’t tear her eyes off Jared, but she found her voice and addressed Zach in an indignant hiss, “What the fuck is this?” Zach ran gloved fingers through his silken strands, “I told you this wasn’t going to be easy. I recognize that your relationship, predisposes you to defend him. To take his side. And that’s good. Because-” Aki interrupted him through grit teeth, “Get to the point damnit. What reason do you have to hold him like this?” She found it very hard to maintain composure. Her eyes still riveted on Jared, till Zach’s fingers found Akira’s jaw. He held it to force her to turn and look at him. She did turn, but also jerked away from his hand. He didn’t press for contact. Zach’s voice darkened. It got colder and softer with a bridled rage, “I’m going to let that tone slide. Compelling evidence has surfaced, that declares him responsible for the death of my mother… and my subsequent capture. And that he either is, or was associated with SpecSyn.” His tone reminded her of the chilly one that Jared assumed, when he had reason to truly mean whatever threat he was uttering. The comparison was unsettling. Zach went on, “And I’d like very much to believe this evidence is bogus, because I don’t want it to be true. As much as you probably don’t. We grew up together, him and I. We trained in G.C.A together, served in Sector Nine together… ” She noticed a sort of hurt in Zach’s eyes. The kind of pain that screamed betrayal. For the briefest of moments it made her trust him, as he went on talking, “And I’m doing my very best to not fall prey to my anger… Akira. So please… help me. Help me wipe these allegations once and for all. You convince me, and I’ll take care of the rest.” Akira sounded hesitant, she was processing everything a little too slowly to immediately recognize what Zach wanted. So she defended Jared rather simply, “Look, I don’t know what to tell you, he never told me anything-” Zach’s voice changed to something practical and detached again, like this was just any other mission detail. This also reminded her of Jared. “No, of course he didn’t. Despite how intimate you two are, I doubt he would’ve trusted you with anything important, or too personal. He’s always been an agent first… Apparently, just not for G.C.” She could sense that he was provoking her now and instilling doubt again… Somewhat successfully.  Jared had always been rather tight-lipped. Even more so around the subject of the events that led to Azrael’s death and his missions. They’d argued about it on more than one occasion. Now was not the time to get hung up on the way the truth of his words stung. She turned her back to Jared and leaned against the two-way mirror. Zach went on, “Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t simply-” She challenged with another interruption, eager to defend the relationship he sounded so dismissive about. “What? Just read him? Relationships don’t work like that, Zach... I trust him. Still do. Always will.” Her heart sank when she finally realised what the man wanted. And he made quick work of confirming Akira’s assumptions, “Well, push has come to shove. And if you trust him so much, you shouldn’t find anything in there-” He rested one hand against the glass of the two-way mirror and tapped it. ‘-In there, that’s too alarming. I say you- and by that I mean we, because we’re running out of options. So, convince me, he truly doesn’t know anything. And I’ll make sure he’s free to go. And you.” And me? She folded her arms across her chest, “I didn’t realise I was not free to go. So what, I’m a prisoner now too?” Zach stepped in closer and placed his other hand on the surface of the mirror behind Akira. Her face was between his palms and she felt a little trapped, by the situation and literally by Zach’s proximity, but she did her best to not show it. He shrugged, “The Jared I  know, would’ve worked alone, but the others would not hesitate to assume your involvement by proxy. And it doesn’t help that you’re a Niner. But, like I’ve said before I’d like to stay on your side, on his side.” She drew in a long shaky breath, her voice fell to an uncertain whisper, “It…. My power doesn’t work like that. It’s not so perfect… I can’t just give you what you want.” He smiled, realising that she’d understood that her options were limited and was at least, considering compliance. “I know how your power works. And I’ll guide you. We’ll have to find a way, for his sake.” Nonetheless, she obviously had to check if there was in fact, any other way. She wasn’t too keen on breaking that sacrosanct trust, “What if I say no?” Zach huffed brusquely, “Then I’ll have no choice but to give the two of you up. I can only buy so much time. They’ll either force a confession false or not... or kill both of you in the process of doing so… So, Akira, I really don’t want to spend our time constantly reminding you, that I’m the only thing standing in the way of a very… very bleak future for both of you.” So, no real choice indeed. A small part of Akira rejoiced and then recoiled with guilt. The part that did want to know all of Jared’s secrets, just so they could clear the air once and for all. The part she’d leashed, with difficulty and upon his insistence- out of respect for what they shared... Another part of her curled up in fear of what she’d actually find. And how she’d hide it from Zach, if it was indeed incriminating. “How do you expect me to convince you?” Zach looked beyond her, presumably at Jared, as he laid out the plan, “To make sure you aren’t lying, I’ll first have you dredge up memories of his time with me, details that I can confirm. Things you’re unlikely to know about, at least not in all their specificity. Then we can work towards the rest. It’ll be a process… But hopefully, Jared gets out of this absolved and we all walk away unharmed. I’ll have Mark monitor your stats when we get to the important stuff. So I’ll know if you’re lying. You know Mark right, I believe you’ve worked with him? That should make all this a little easier...”

-

Carrying a glass of water, painkillers and some tissues, she walked into the cell alone. Her SmartNeura was connected to Zach’s, so he could instruct her without Jared’s knowledge. Jared was still curled on the floor. He had not moved almost at all. His knuckles were unbruised. But his wrists bore evidence of struggle. She gathered that Jared had not resisted arrest and that they’d hurt him after he was already cuffed. Presumably to get quick answers. Knowing him, he must’ve chosen silence. She assumed he was in some drug induced stupor now, she was wrong. “Jared…” He sat up so quickly, she and her heart jumped. “Shira? What the hell are you doing here?” Why did his tone sound accusative? “Z-” Before she could tell him, Zach interrupted her sharply, “No. Don’t name me. He doesn’t need to know of my involvement yet. Tell him someone else asked you for help with the interrogation-Better yet, tell him you heard and volunteered. Keep it vague.” Akira chewed the side of her lips and looked at Jared as intently as she could, she wasn’t sure if he could see truth in her eyes. She went and flopped by his side, cross-legged. And put the water beside him, along with the painkillers and tissues. He picked up the latter to wipe away the blood. She repeated Zach almost word for word, “I…  heard they caught you and volunteered to help.” She was hoping Jared would recognize the foreignness of her words. Unfortunately, given his current state, he either didn’t, or did a damn good job of hiding it. His eyes widened. She knew he was definitely closing in on her intent. And desperately hoping it wasn’t true, just like she had been, just moments ago. “Help how?” She was at a loss of words. Aki jerked her chin towards his head. She really didn’t want to spell it out, “You know… I’ll just… Read and confirm you innoc-” Jared shot up like a spring, and was on his feet. He staggered as he backed away from her. He sounded uncharacteristically flustered, his words as choppy as his faltering steps,  “Why the fuck would you- We’ve gone over this… We agreed- It’s the one thing I’ve asked for- Wait you told them about your- Just…Just… Get outta here and let them do what they want. You don’t need to get involved. Why would they believe you anyway?” He kept shuffling away as he talked, to literally stay out of her reach. Till he had nowhere left to go. Akira didn’t move towards him, she remained on the floor and stared at it. She wanted to yell. To let him know in no uncertain terms that she didn’t want any of this. That she had no choice. That it wasn’t going to be a damn walk in the park for her either. That she’d been summoned. And that she was glad that she’d been called. At least she could buy them some time to figure this out. That she couldn’t, in good faith, just… let them do what they wanted. She sat frozen, screaming internally till Zach was compelled to intervene. He sounded impatient… but Aki could swear, he also sounded mildly delirious, “Tell him, it's too late and you’re already involved. Tell him, he doesn’t have a real choice. Then ask him about Erebus at the C.T.F we did for training at G.C.A. Read the memory that comes up. I’m staring us off easy.”

In his impatience, Zach was revealing himself with every suggestion and Akira was glad that he was. Though she wasn’t sure if Jared was truly catching on, or not. She’d heard him speak of Erebus - now an Acer himself, working in the resources department- and not too fondly. She had nothing specific enough for her to fib her way through this. Akira cleared her throat and repeated Zach’s words, paraphrasing just enough to change the perspective, and couch her question as a memory-trigger, “Look, I’m already here. So this is happening, whether you like it or not. Let’s talk about Erebus. You two were in G.C.A together, right? Did both of you participate in the capture-the-flag game? Were you on the same team?” She hoped that the confusion that flitted on Jared’s face was a sign that he was starting to catch up. He had to have figured out that they were being watched by someone, if not specifically Zach. Jared asked, “Erebus? Why? I’ve barely mentioned him” She made up a lie, now improvising without Zach’s direction, “He’s... A suspect too...” She was grateful that Zach needed to confirm her compliance with… hopefully benign memories. But, with the way Jared tensed up, perhaps even this was not as benign as she was hoping. It’s just C.T.F… How bad could it be? Jared sighed, like he’d curtailed an exasperated warning, “Shira… please just...” After one last look of what she perceived to be despise- aimed either at her, or at the very least at the situation, he closed his eyes. With a dark, heart-rending resignation, he slid against the wall, till he was sitting on the floor with his knees pressed against his chest. She knew he wasn’t the sort to protest once he realised it was futile. She sat there feeling a little paralyzed. There was no going back once she crossed this line. Zach prompted her into action, “Go on! Remember we’re still time-bound. Wordlessly, she inched closer to Jared and set his hands on his exposed arms. -

Lying on the ground, stomach first. The wetness of dewdrops against the cheek. The chilly breeze against a bareback. The smell of damp earth and grass. The blurry sight of the green blades and the soil - shuffling shoes and ankles in the distance.  The recently-cracked awkward husk of a pubescent voice, “This’ll teach you to fucking play decoy for Pixie-dust!” The sound of vague, bitter and cruel jeering. Shoes sliding closer. Fingers curling around wrists and ankles, tightening with a certain envious sourness. The soles of shoes against the back of the knees… and the elbows, with the wobbling, inconsistent, but hurtful pressure. The body, contorts and twists to see the sneering face of the kid who spoke. A raspy, baleful protest, claws out of the throat, “Get your lackeys off me ‘Rebus!” An unavailing struggle that ensues. Another soul pressed against the lower back, with a pathetic finality. And then the sound of the marker, shot at point-blank range. The smarting slap of the bullet splattering between the shoulder blades. The strangled roar, interrupted by another shot… and then another. The headache-inducing grit teeth and set jaw. The metallic tang of blood and the annoying stab of a bitten tongue- completely overshadowed by the aching throb of the back. The burgeoning tenderness and the blooming bruises. Finally, after half a dozen shots, the deafening silence. The splattered, viscous paint, that felt as good as blood, rolling down the sides of the torso. And a soft, defeated whine. The vague thought that this must appear rather comical to an onlooker… but sure didn’t feel that way. -

Jared’s quieter whimper met Akira’s louder groans, they tapered to an uncomfortable silence, first him, then her. She blinked away, the tears that collected on the side of her eyes. When she let go of him, she noticed her fingers had left a print on his pale skin, blanching through a bruise. She had just experienced his memory in first person and forced him to relive it too. Aki could still hear the echo of the shots and feel her back smarting. He probably felt the same lingering effects. She knew it’d fade soon enough, but it left her heaving for air. Her emotions were mingled with young Jared’s- contempt for this Erebus kid who pressed him into the ground and shot him. Despair... that it happened. And her instinct was more violent than his, “What a fucking tool. I’d have kil-” She cut herself off when Jared opened his eyes. The dejection in them tore at her. And Zach’s voice broke the moment, “Why did you stop? Tell him you want to know what happens and go back.” Akira hesitated, till Zach made the order in no uncertain terms, “Do it, now!” She echoed his suggestion with a slight startle, like a spurred horse, “I… I want to know what happens next-” He let his fingers lace with her approaching hands. A plainative squeeze followed, “No! Stop it… Shira… Please. Please no more… Not again.”

[antihero-writings]

What They Want to Believe Ch1--Tangled Varian and Quirin Fic (Full Chapter!)

Title: What They Want to Believe

Synopsis: Quirin has to find out what Varian did eventually.

(For all those who like Varian’s canon redemption, but who are looking for some more could-be-canon angst.)

Notes:

I know this idea has probably been done by someone, or perhaps many others...but I have yet to read them, and I've really wanted to write a Varian fic for a while, and this was something I thought would be really fun to expand upon (and I've really enjoyed writing it so far)!!

This chapter is supposed to take place immediately after S3 E1-2: Rapunzel's Return.

Chapter 1:

Varian breathes deep. The city air smells sweet. Sweeter now than it ever had. He forgot how much he missed the smell of flowers, and cupcakes, and new shoes.

“It’s lovely out here, isn’t it?” Rapunzel voices his thoughts, smiling at him.

“Beats being in a cell, I’ll give you that.” Varian tries to joke, to fight the lump rising in his throat. “Anything beats Andrew’s all-natural scent, that’s for sure.”

She tries to smile too.

He looks away. He isn’t quite sure how to act around her now. She had forgiven him; they’d saved the kingdom together, even. She hadn’t sent him back to his cell afterwards…not that they’d talked about it.

Should he pretend like it never happened? That he’s always been just another law-abiding citizen, just the alchemist in Old Corona, that kid who caused a lot of little—well, sometimes big—unintentional mishaps… not the villain who tried to overthrow the kingdom…even if it’s not true?

Or should they confront it, admit that he spent the last year in a cell, because he’d done terrible things—that he’d try to kill her, her friends and family?

But if they confronted it, admitted it…what would happen? Would that remind her of all the reasons not to trust him, all the reasons she should throw him back into that cell after all?

Something moves in the corner of his eye, and he turns to see Old Lady Crowley fluffing out a sheet, giving him the evil eye all the while.

She does that to everyone, he tells the thing that pangs inside him.

As they continue their stroll through the city streets, Varian notices she isn’t the only one with less-than-cordial looks for him.

Feldspar slams his door when they walk by.

…Maybe he had a shoe-related emergency?

There’s a woman who ducks into an alley with her baby, a kid who gasps and gets out of the way.

He turns again, and Monty is at their side. He is the first to actually speak;

“You know, you’ve got some nerve to show your face around here.”

Rapunzel taps her foot impatiently. “Well excuuuse me for wanting to—!”

“No—though I’ll admit it’s a shocker—not you;” he brandishes his frosting-clad spatula from her to Varian, “him.”—the alleged ‘him’s eyes widen—“Since when are you two all cookies-and-cream again? Didn’t he try to kill you?”

“‘Kill’ is a strong word,” Rapunzel tries to laugh, looking away, her smile twisting a little.

“What word would use for it?” he folds his arms over his chest.

“Umm…” Rapunzel flicks the frosting her off her dress. “Not ‘kill’ that’s for sure...More like uhh…” She turns to the alchemist, and he doesn’t dare return her gaze, for fear of what he’ll find there.

“I was just trying to save my dad—”

“So you didn’t send a monster into the city?” A woman calls.

“Uh, well,” he rubs the back of his neck, “that was more of a diversion really—”

“A diversion so you could kidnap the Queen!” this is the first raised voice, raised fist, coming from behind him.

He turns to see they’ve accumulated something of a crowd.

“Yeah!” another voice speaks from behind them, “How can you let someone like him still walk free?! People have been killed for less!”

“Hey, listen!” Rapunzel steps in front of him, “He may have made some misguided decisions, but he’s not some monster! We all make mistakes sometimes!”

“He may not be a monster, but what do you call the thing he sent into the city?!”

“And how do you explain the automatons?!”

“Or how he stole the sun flower!”

“From the royal vault no less!”

“Or how he hurt the captain?!”

“It could have been much worse!”

“What if he had killed someone?!”

“He needs to be punished!”

“Locked up!”

“He’s a traitor!”

“Yeah, a traitor!”

“Traitor!”

“Traitor!”

“Traitor!”

“Traitor!”

The accusations blend together into some sick smoothie of sound, a dull ringing fault-line.

The clouds are rolling in too grey, too fast. His whole world is turning monochrome.

“I can’t believe you let him go, after everything he did to you.” Eugene crosses his arms, glaring at him like he’s the wrong size nose on a wanted poster.

“Eugene!” Varian tries to move towards him, to plead with him, but he bumps into Lance, whose arms are folded, face set.

“Where do you think you’re going, little man?”

“I just—”

I need to think. I need to figure this out. To do something. I need to get out of here. I need to find my dad.

“Tch, you know, if it were me,” Cassandra leans against a building, her face half hidden in shadow—Where is she now? Why didn’t she come back with them?— “I’d leave him to rot with the rest of the criminals.”

“No, Cassie…”

—Something is wrong, something is wrong, they just don’t want to tell me—

But, worse than all this, another voice breaks through the throng.

“Varian…is all this true?”

And this voice doesn’t shout. Doesn’t accuse. Doesn’t scorn. It isn’t even angry, just…disappointed. So very disappointed.

“Dad…” the word falls pitifully to the stones, like a child who dropped his ice cream, and I will make you proud rings through his head like a death knell.

At first Varian doesn’t turn to face him, just stands there, staring at the ground, trying to formulate words that will explain what happened, without neutralizing his ‘I’m so proud of you’ that he had given earlier. But words aren’t like numbers, they don’t follow rules, they twist and writhe, and never do what they’re told. So he just stands there, words failing him, mouth hanging open like a creaky door.

Then he does lift his head, and Quirin isn’t incased in amber. He’s alive, out, and safe, but Varian almost selfishly wishes he was still in the amber, because then he wouldn’t have to bear this look in his father’s eyes, the look that makes him want to shrivel up like a worm in the sun.

Rapunzel. He has to get back to Rapunzel. Rapunzel won’t judge him. Won’t say he needs to be punished. She forgave him. She’ll explain everything to them. Rapunzel, Rapunzel give me your strength. Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your defense.

Having lost her in the crowd, he casts his gaze, like a fishing line, from one side to the other. He gets a bite; his eyes land upon her, between Xavier and a Pete, her back turned.

He runs to her.

“Rapunzel!” he calls, reaching out.

But the moment he touches her, a stain starts to spread along her hair, like it’s a squid he scared. But the ink spill doesn’t stop; like the best of plagues, it keeps spreading, until she’s nothing but a blotch on the world.

As the golden strands dim to black they break their bonds, becoming a living thing with tentacles and a bone to pick with the pirates who dared cross its waters.

She turns to him, and the ink has stained her gaze too; her eyes are nothing but caverns in the surface of her face now; a layer of the sea no one dares enter, for there are things with teeth down there.

“R-Rapunzel?” his voice isn’t so sure-footed, isn’t so certain it’s the right name.

She takes a step forward, her bare foot against the stones, and he takes a step back in this dance, because she doesn’t look like she’s going to defend him, in fact, if he didn’t know better, he’d think she was going to attack him too—

“Wither and decay” her voice is not the bright, not gentle, not kind. “End this destiny”

“Rapunzel—It’s me!” and now his voice is sure, pleading.

He continues backing up, trying to get away, but he’s bumps into a wall of people, and when he looks up at their leering faces, he sees that their eyes are black too.

That sends him recoiling back into the center of the circle with the moon-struck sundrop, who continues chanting;

“Break these Earthly chains”

She doesn’t belong to the sun anymore. She’s a thing of moon and shadow.

On “chains” her blackened hair, of its own accord, snaps around his arms and torso like he’s the offending ship, and it’ll bend him till he breaks.

“Rapunzel! Please!” he shouts, “It’s me, Varian! I-I’m your friend!” but the last three words are cracking gasps, because something is infecting his lungs; something very cold is reaching into the center of his chest, a living emptiness, sucking away, feeding off, all the light and life in him. His chest is stinging, aching, burning—

“And set the spirit free.”

This is more than just heartache. Decay is eating at his body, corroding it away like acid.

And the alchemist can do nothing but watch as the black eats him alive; his lungs collapsing in on themselves, like his breath was built on sand—(but it feels like he’s breathing too much)—gripping his heart, digging in like needles—(but it feels like it’s beating too fast)—wrapping around his hands, his feet and unraveling them into strings of lifeless flesh.

He reaches out with breathless voice and lifeless hands to the only person whose voice never raised throughout this affair, who never insulted him, whose gaze has not been doused in moonless night, the one for whom all this was done:

“Dad! Dad help me!” The words are swallowed by the black in his throat.

Quirin turns away.

And as it devours him—

There’s a ceiling above him, a bed below him, a nightlight made of glowing tubes beside him.

He’s still alive—a little too alive; sitting bolt upright in bed, breath heavy and gasping on his chest, sweat dripping down his face, beneath his clothes, as if he really was in some epic sea battle, still able to taste the end of those last words on awake lips.

It takes a moment for reality to tie its strings around him, pull him back to the ground again, for his breath to deepen, and his mind to clear. For him to realize that this is, in fact, his room, not a city road, or a cell, and he is a fourteen-year-old-boy again; an alchemist, a son, a friend, a kid…not a villain, a criminal, or a prisoner. Not anymore.

He grimaces, bringing his knees up and hugging them, burying his face in them, like he always did when these sorts of things plagued him in his cell, and he had no dad to run to. He has his dad back to run to now…but he can’t go to him, not anymore, not about this.

Maybe he isn’t anymore, but he was once; all the things the dreamified versions of his friends accused him of were true. …And his half awake brain wonders if they really thought those things, beneath it all.

He had hoped, if and when he was free from prison, and better yet, forgiven, that he would be free of these villainous dreams too.

Ruddiger chitters from the bed beside him, pawing at his hand.

He must have hoped the nightmares would stop too.

“I’m okay, Ruddiger,” he says softly. “I just—”

Is he?

Because it isn’t over. Not really. Not enough.

He had his father back, yes. He was out of prison. Yes. And Rapunzel had forgiven him, and, as, it seemed, did the rest of her gang—(“Where’s Cass?” He’d asked once all the kingdom-saving was over, and he’d scanned the group, and found an empty slot in the lineup. Eugene said they’d tell him later, when everything was more settled…and Varian didn’t much like the sound of that)—Yes. But that didn’t mean everyone else did.

It didn’t mean the King and Queen did. When their memories were restored, what would they think? What would they do when they saw the kid who kidnapped the Queen, tried to kill their citizens and princess, who they’d locked up, running about? What could he say?

Oh, hi, remember me? You know, the kid who kidnapped you and threatened your daughter? The one who sent a monster and a bunch of automatons to cause havoc to your kingdom, and endanger the lives of your subjects? Yeah, that’s me. It’s all good now. Would you like a cookie?

They didn’t come into the kingdom, or the dungeon, often, so they weren’t liable to notice right away when their memories did return…but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. And when they did…what if they didn’t believe Rapunzel, or him? What if they sent him back to that cell? Would he have to spend the rest of his days sitting with Andrew and his equally-all-natural-scented cronies? Would he grow up with three walls and some bars for a teacher? Never to use alchemy again, never to see his dad again, never to eat a good meal, or smell the flowers, or kiss a girl…

And then there was the question using the back of his mind as a chew toy: What will dad think?

Varian would do everything in his power to hide it—sweep the subject under beds and rugs and opportunely-placed cabinets—but he was bound to clean up eventually.

And… what would Quirin do then? Would he look at him as he had in the dream? Would he take back the ‘I’m proud of you’ that Varian did all those horrible things just to hear? Would he hate him? Punish him? Kick him out? Send him back to that cell himself?

Of course he will. How could he ever be proud of you after he learns everything you’ve done? His mind taunts.

He had said as much to Rapunzel. “If he knew all the things I’d done, well he’d be ashamed.”

With nothing but walls, bars, and a bunch of separatists for company, he had rehearsed the words he’d say to her so many times in his head. It started with ‘I don’t need your help Princess!’ to ‘Rapunzel I…Well, it doesn’t matter.’ then ‘I…I didn’t mean it, you know that, right?’ then after a few more drafts it became something full of tears and—‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry Rapunzel…I didn’t mean to hurt you, I didn’t mean to hurt anybody…I just wanted to make my dad proud, but I know he won’t be anymore, I know he won’t, I know, I’m such an idiot, I know, I know—‘ And finally it was what he had actually said—with his heart hammering in his throat.

Her acceptance of his words, of him, had been sheer relief. Saving the kingdom never felt so good.

Yet at the same time, that idea that Quirin would be ashamed hadn’t changed just because Rapunzel had forgiven him. Just because his father was out of the amber, and Varian was out of prison, didn’t mean everything he’d done to get his father out, everything that had got him into prison, was erased. He was still going to learn all the things his screw-up-of-a-son did.

It was bad enough when his experiments failed. When Dad walked in to see acid steaming on the walls, and burns on his son’s forearms. He knew how all-too-often his dad was a having a perfectly pleasant, normal, non-stress-inducing day, when he heard explosions coming from his son’s room.

And having to tell him was almost always worse. Having to tell him how he may or may not have set the Goslicks prized chicken on fire, and well needless to say it wasn’t going to be so prized anymore… How they’d have to stay with friends for three to five days, because the gas steaming from the lab wasn’t exactly the intended effect...Or why the town’s water supply mysteriously found itself pink and tasting of croissants…Standing there with his insides writhing, awaiting his punishment, or simply having to live with the look of disappointment on his face, was always worse than how it felt to actually make the mistake.

This was more than a few accidental side effects. This was something he did on purpose. Something he actually deserved to be punished for, not just with a reprimand, or a time out, or spanking from his father, but with actual prison time from the king.

Which would be worse? Dad finding out somehow…or the thought of having to tell him himself?

How would that even go anyways?

“Well dad, while you were in the amber I…did some stuff.”

“Stuff?”

“Yeah, stuff…” and he’d cough the next few words into his sleeve “crimes, acts of treason...whatever you wanna call it. You know that sundrop flower everyone always talks about? I may or may not have uhh borrowed it.”

“Borrowed?”

“Borrowed, stolen, let’s not go into semantics here.”

“Wait,” he’d wave his hands and put one on his forehead, “You’re not actually telling me you stole from the king—” And he’d stand, all menacing.

“Yeah, you might wanna stay sitting down for this,”—Varian would look away, backing up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously—“it’s a long story, and not exactly the standing-up kind.”

“Varian—” He wouldn’t sit down, in fact he’d keep marching towards him.

“I-I thought it would help you b-break out of the amber.”Varian would stumble in both words and action, and the thought of meeting his eyes would be pure torture. “I-I thought I could if I could just get my hands on the sundrop I could—”—and he’s speaking too fast, too loud now— “I could…I-I thought…I just…”—and then, the next second too slow, too soft—“I thought…” And then the words would trail off, excuses falling limp and lifeless in his mouth as the truth caught up with him.

Even in his rehearsal he couldn’t finish the idea. Couldn’t let his father get a word in edgewise, because if he did…

Either option sounded like an evil mastermind’s best torture plan. Yeah, no matter how many times Quirin taught him it was best to tell the truth, he would never bring himself to say that to him.

His father’s pride was all that mattered, the thought of losing it…

He throws his legs over the side of the bed, letting the static in his eyes scatter before standing. He glances out the window at the navy sky injected with orange, but morningless still.

He grabs his goggles and apron, Ruddiger at his his heels as he heads downstairs to his lab, doing what he always does when he stressed…well, when he’s in any mood really: alchemy.

It was strange to see this place without the amber. It golden tower had become a permanent decoration, a reminder of how alchemy had failed him, how he had failed his father… a sort of dark promise.

He and Rapunzel hit reset…yet he couldn’t return to how things were before the storm so easily as she could.

He pulls on his gloves and goggles, his thoughts still churning.

When Dad found out…would he send him back to prison? The people of Corona could shout all they wanted, but they didn’t have the authority to send him back there.

But his dad…He could punish him, could turn him in. Varian forgot what it was, but he had once taken one of Quirin’s things and tried to experiment on it…and he quite clearly remembered sitting outside in the rain without dinner that night. What would he do when he learned he’d kidnapped the Queen, sent a monster after the citizens, and automatons after his friends? Dads should punish their kids when they steal cookies, much less kidnap queens and threaten princesses. They should teach their kids to rescue princesses from towers, and damsels in distress, without accepting so much as a kiss as payment, and always abide by, and uphold, the law.

His eyes fall upon a book on his desk.

It was funny really. Varian loved the tales of Flynn Rider; this hero who always defeated the villains and saved the day.

And here he was, the bad guy. Just like the ones who Flynn had to use his wit and sword skills to defeat.

The baddies’ motives always seemed so ridiculous in the past; taking over the world, leveling cities for the sake of scorned love, destroying kingdoms for the sake of a grudge…

The beaker he’s holding slips from his grasp. Ruddiger catches it with his tail before it hits the ground.

“Thanks buddy,” he takes it back from him.

He holds up the beaker his reflection distorted in the glass.

The villain.

The word burns like bile at the back of his brain.

The thought of his dad seeing him like that, not just with disappointment in his eyes, but as a criminal, a traitor, a villain, for all the things he did to save him…

“Varian—”

Varian gasps, fumbling again, but this time he manages to catch it, “Dad! Hey!” he sets the beaker down, turning to him, “Hi! It’s good—good to see you! Good morning!”

Quirin smiles as he walks into the lab, yawning and stretching. “I feel like I’ve been asleep for years.”

“Well, to be fair, you, uhh, almost have.” Varian pulls his goggles onto his head.

“How long was I out for, again?”

“Uhh…ehh I don’t know, I mean, it’s all kind of a blur—”

—He tries not to think of tallymarks on prison walls—

His father grunts in response, walking around the lab, looking at all the writings on these walls. The same ones left over from all those months long ago—those months when he would do anything to get him out—collecting dust, and the new ones for the Saporians. Varian sidesteps over to the worst ones, hiding them behind his back.

“You discover any new elements while I was out?” he asks, half-jokingly.

“Oh…uhh…” he rubs the back of his neck, chuckling nervously, “N-Nah. I was kinda…uhh…preoccupied…”

Quirin’s expression shifts, the smile fading. He steps up to his son—who stares at him, and for a second, something fearful in Varian wonders if he’s onto him—but then Quirin leans forward and wraps him into a bone-cracking hug.

Varian’s eyes widen in surprise, but he lifts his arms and returns the gesture, squeezing tightly, smiling.

This was the thing he missed most; not the smell of flowers and cupcakes, not good food, or alchemy, not even Rapunzel’s everlasting smiles….his dad’s hugs.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” Quirin sighs, “That must have been very difficult for you,” Quirin murmurs into his ear, “having to make it all on your own.”—Varian’s eyes widen again, but this time it doesn’t turn into a smile— “I’m so sorry you had to go through that…And I’m so proud that you made it through.” He brushes his hand through his hair.

When he releases him, Varian looks from his father to ground, smiling sheepishly, brushing the hair from his eyes, unsure what to say.

“I’m here if you ever want to talk about anything.”

“Oh—Yeah—Thanks—Well—”

“Of course—” Quirin clarifies, “you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m just saying, I’m here if you ever do.”

“Thanks.” He tries to smile.

There’s an awkward pause, then Quirin turns to leave, “I’ll let you get back to it—”

“Wait, dad,” Varian grabs his arm, “I was thinking…maybe we could spend some time together today? You know, like a father-son-day…thing?”

“I’d love to, Varian,” he puts his hand on his cheek, “but…as I have been, uhh, out of commission, for a long time, I really must get back to my duties. You know, become reacquainted with the town and what’s going on.”

“Oh…Oh! Yeah, right, of course. Psh,” he waves his hand, “It wasn’t that big a deal anyways.”

“You’re welcome to come along, if you like.”

Varian contemplates it. From experience these sorts of trips around town were pretty boring; mostly discussing how well crops were growing, and if anybody needed help repairing their house and whatnot, and Varian’s alchemical solutions were more often than not brushed aside...But he does want to spend time with his dad, not to mention the fact that there would probably be a number of things in town still in need of repairing, whose circumstances Varian wouldn’t exactly want explained to his dad…

“Sure, I’d love to.”

“Wonderful.” He smiles.

“I’ll meet you out there in just a minute.”

Quirin nods, making his way up the stairs.

Varian turns to clean up his work station but does so too quickly, accidentally knocking the beaker to the ground at last, it shattering with a puff of blue smoke, the contents spilling out, his hand hanging uselessly in the air, reaching towards it.

Ruddiger bounds over to it to help clean up. After they finish, the raccoon sits on his back legs, cocking his head to the side, chittering worriedly.

“It’s okay, buddy.” He smiles.

The Raccoon still looks worried.

“I’m okay.”

…Is he?

[popculturebuffet]

Prince of Wishful Thinking: A Tom Lucitor Retrospective and Character Study: Part 1: Firey Little Shit

Star Vs the Forces of Evil is a .. complicated subject for me. When it started it was somewhat hit and miss but the premise was intresting: Star Butterfly is a magical princess, having just got her families ancestral wand.. and a few days later, or a jumpcut in the actual episode later materials revealed the actual time span, sets everything on fire and is sent to earth. There she meets best friend and, to my delight that eventually turned into “OH GOD JUST END THIS WILL THEY OR WON’T THEY SHIT ALREADY” I haven’t seen since the likes of Ross and Rachel that warrants it’s own damn article, and gets into various shenanigans while battling a gang of “monsters”, a general term for most non-mewmans  on Mewni, lead by a spoiled king, Ludo, who wants the wand. 

Things got turned on their head quickly, as “Mewnipendance Day’ revealed that the Mewmans (Humans in all but name really) took mewni by force, using magic to cast the monsters into poverty, which as the series and “Magic Book of Spells” would reveal, caused a cycle of death and bloodshed with no defendants. It changed the show for the better, as the plot, while heavy handed is a necessary one given these prejduice filled times we live in and how well it’s crafted. And it’s into the show slowly coming into it’s own a new character was introduced: He had been announced by the crew in the show’s press junket was in the title but took most of season 1 to show up... and he’d end up being one of the sho’ws saving graces as it dived into bullshit and go through one of the most through character arcs of the show. HIs name was Tom Lucitor, Star’s obsessive demon Ex-Boyfriend, and this is his story.

THE MAGIC BOOK OF SPELLS

Before we get there though, we have to take at rip down side material mountain... this time to the Magical Book of Spells. The Book of Spells was a real life verison of a book we’d seen in the show itself that recorded the previous queens of Mewni’s spells and held Glossarcyk, a magical being who assited the queens throughout the decades. The real version was used to tell each of the Queens, even the three we see on screen’s stories.. star included. As such it not only gives us some, if sadly not enough, more of his actual relationship with star pre-series, but also the full background on his kingdom’s relationship with hers. See while the Butterflies control the majority of mewni, their Kingdom isn’t endless and there are half a dozen others, most of which aren’t really that fleshed out. But The Lucitor’s are somewhat of an exception: The Lucitors rule the underworld, basically Mewni’s hell where all sorts of skeletons, demons and ghouls exist. You know funny little ghouls. 

I had to. Anyways the Lucitor kingdom also has Mewmans, due to some demons kidnapping a bunch years ago. Whoops.

Despite you know, kidnapping a bunch of their people, the Lucitors and Butterflies ended up close allies. This is thanks to the efforts of Mewni’s ambassador, Jushtin who was supposed to be Mewni’s first King to wield the wand... but his mom was pressured into having a sister. Said sister Solaria, to not mince words, was a genocidal monster who slowly descended into madness and tried to kill all monsters declaring outright war on them, but things were tense at first and they needed allies. So the Lucitors, along with the Cloud Kingdom of the Pony Heads which are exactly what they sound like, helped turn the tide. So things were cool for a few decades, and then we get to the reign of Rhina the Riddled. Rhina, who the book all but says is aromantic and likely asexual as well, was shoved into an arranged marriage with John Roachely, a second cousin who had no impact on the Lucitor side of the Genepool whatsoever and thus Star and Tom aren’t really related at all. I bring this up only because if I don’t tackle the incest allegations, someone will try and use that against me. I’d say i’m being paranoid but i’ve seen the rabid shippers use far less to attack Tom, so no. Rhina, to make things go smoother, cast a spell to make her love him.... it didn’t work longterm and, to get him to leave her, cast a heart break spell on him.. which LITERALLY broke his heart, and thus she was left a widow and the demons were not happy about her you know, whoopsie daisy murdering one of them likely set up with her a bridge between both sides and soured things for a while. Now you may all be asking: “Kay, intresting.. but what’s all this game of thrones but with flying pony heads, so better game of thrones, stuff gotta do with tom?” Well wait no more. Luckily for me, Star has a section in the book, and thus she spills the tea on her first metting with Tom. The two met at the Silver Bell Ball, an annual ball where the royalty of Mewni gather and the princes and princesses all dance once each as a good will gesture. The reason I went through the Rhina stuff is I’m guessing Star, who attended the ball every year according to the book and likely since at least she was old enough to dance, didn’t meet Tom earlier because his parents hadn’t been on good enough terms to bring him till he was 13, and River and Moon, Star’s parents, had succeeded in winning them over. The book nor the series dosen’t outright say this but given what we see later and what we have, it’s what i’m going with. We’ll get more into Tom’s personality when we get to his first in series appearance, but being a charming young man, and the first person her age at the ball Star found remotely attractive, they quickly set up a date for the boardwalk in the underworld for Cornshakes, because Mewni loves corn as much as I love Galarian Meowth. He looks so adorably homeless. But naturally if a snowball can’t last in hell, a shake can’t either, but even melted corn can’t ruin their good time and Tom even buys star a gift. I bring this up because said gift is star’s signiture devil horn headband. (Though Star is quick to announce she isn’t one of those annoying people who comes back from a trip thinking their a local). A real steal too at 14.99 or your second born’s soul. Most demons go for the first born, it’s a classy change of pace. The two eventually end up making it official, and star even gets a helpful pamphelt about Demons’ love of mascera, their anger and their tendency to tell their mom’s everything... the latter two will actually be really important as we go. But due to Tom’s anger as we’ll find out, the two end up breaking up and frustratingly we don’t learn the exacts just star was sad.. and that said depression lead to said kingdom distruction and the rest of the series. And since I covered the premise of the series above we can basically scoot right onto Tom’s first apperance.

BLOOD MOON BALL

Before this ep, Tom made a small cameo in another ep when her magic mirror, basically portrayed as working as a person sized video phone, accidently called him when she said call Mom. As a nice little bit of foreshadowing Tom flew into a rage at her preparing to hang up on him , even though it was a wrong number and they’d been broken up for a few   months at this point. But it’d be an agonizing wait for Tom. I was curious about the character, given not much had been revealed, I missed the episode with his cameo, and the animatic for BMB’s first scene was released months before the episode came out and was really funny and intresting. Said scene has Tom making one hell of an entrance, landing from the sky in a cool carriage with a skeletal horse, floating in and catching eyes and floating up to Star’s desk in class to ask her out with the moon.

Star.. has no interest and shoves tom, hilarious as while they just cut to the front of school, she had to have been mildly shoving him all the way from her class up a hallway, and outside. And passing Jackie, marco’s crush I bring up because why not and Janna, Star’s future close friend who we’ll get to more later, since he did earlier and they now have to go from oggling tom to wondering what the hell their seeing. She also tells him to take his dead horse back, which leads to one of my faviorite gags of the series  as said horse says “Wait, I was dead” and later, mid conversation about her going to said Ball, randomly interjects with “why didn’t you tell me I was dead?” That poor poor horse. You should come live with me. I don’t have a car, I could use a skeletal horse and I would tell you if you were dead man. Hit me up. But Tom tries to convince star he’s changed, he’s got an anger managment bunny, a counselor Brian (voiced by my guy Stephen Root, who you may better know as the voice of Bill Dautrive, the mayor in Amphibia or Bud Gleeful), and he’s doing fine.. then Marco goes and Karate chops his hand off, thinkign he was a danger. Tom gets really angry, to Star’s horror, which tells me she saw this sort of thing a LOT: tom getting this level of pissed at someone and likely leveling either them or everything around them. Thankfully Brian calms him down and Star introduces them and Tom , like the gentleman he is , gives her a bell to take her to the ball and time to think. Star, impressed by him calming down and trying, takes him up on it over Marco’s objections and worries about her safety, including the amasingly radar busting line “Never go with a predator to a second location” and the dance is on. As it turned out, Tom toned things down, ,less death and murder and more prom, to try and impress her and is annoyed when Star turns down his corsage.. which is a live spider. Which i’m generous to her on because spiders scare the shit out of me unless their pokemon. Seriously look at this sweetheart:

Who could be terrified of that face? Such a sweetie. Anyways, Tom is angry about it and his anger only increases when he wants to dunk himself and star in unicorn blood.. because while on earth dumping blood on someone makes them go on a psychic rampage you brought on yourselves, in the underworld is just a teen dance thing. But since one of Star’s best friend is a unicorn, something Tom has no excuse for not knowing as Pony is close to her and a princess in her own right and he had to have met her in his months dating star, and gets pissy over.. and star catches him having to pet his therapy bunny over it and walks off annoyed to get some punch.

And it’s with this Tom’s problems become apparent: He has charm, grace.. but he isn’t really TRYING to change, nor does he see WHY Star hates his anger. Sure he has a counsler, he has coping mechanisms things that would actually HELP him get better.. if he WANTED to. He dosen’t want to control his temper, he dosen’t want to get better he just wants Star back, and that’s why it’s not working: He’s making an effort, but it’s for the wrong reasons and without trying to tackle the root of his issues. He’s just trying to take the easiest way out, which is a problem that will crop up again next time. His second one is easier to illustrate when his plan becomes clear: turns out there’s a magical binding curse thing, it was clarified more in Season 4 but I feel no reason to leave it vauge here, and tom wants to bind his and Star’s souls together forever. He later admits he assumed she knew about that going in.. but it still dosen’t excuse his actions entirely and brings us to that flaw I was building towards: He’s selfish. He changed the ball to impress star, he shoved a corsage on her she didn’t one, got ANGRY, visably angry, at her turning down something he shoudl’ve known just by having dated her before would be a non-starter and worst of all he wanted to bind her to him forever without asking, just assuming she agreed by going. Star can be selfish at this stage too, especially this early on.. but underneath it she cares about people, even if she sometimes goes about it in the same fashion tom does here, she comes from a good place. Really both of this seems to come from them being royalty: both have had privlage their entire life and been insulated from a lot of things.. and Tom being raised in an environment where anger is normal and he gets whatever he wants from two loving parents and an army of servants, probably meant he never HAD to think of anyone else and as the series goes on, never had any friends except a Dog that we never see and probably sadly died. My theroy is Little Lord Fooleroy got ran over by Deatruk, the truck what runs over people, but i’m stupid like that. This winds up costing Tom his soul binding thing as Marco in disguise, being goaded by.. something that’s never remotely explained seriously what exactly the fuck was that creepy deep voice to crash the ball, ends up dancing with her. Shippers squeed, this was probably used in a jillion AMV’s.. and Tom naturally is pissssseeeed and ready to flambe Marco... until star takes him out with zero effort. They go home, Star berates Marco for not trusting her , end of episode.. oh and they speak in unison for a quick gag but i’m sure that won’t be important. As you can probably see her Tom was origianlly supposed to be a recurring pain in the backside for our heroes, showing up to win back Star, pull some “Nice Guy” Crap and then get his ass kicked most likely.. but after the end of Season 1, it was a fairly short season, the writers for whatever reason, and for the better decided to have Tom slowly change a bit.. but since him becoming a better person would be abrubt he has to do one lass dickhole thing first...

MR CANDLE CARES

And now we’ve come to Tom’s worst act, the thing that had he not fixed it the way he had at the end, made him an outright villain. Star and Marco have meetings with the new guidance counselor, who gives eveyrone else great career trajectories but for Star and Marco? Star gets a rather overbearing lecture on how she has to be queen when she grows up and probably shoudln’t date Marco and should be picking a future husband, ewwww, and Marco gets the unitetinonally, given Tom probably knows only about enough about earth to concot this scheme, offensive career path as janitor.. for an honor roll student with a bunch of extracurriculars. Yeah but Tom’s accidental racisim aside, while what he did to Marco was petty , what he’s trying to do to Star is creepy, basically using someone else to gaslight her into trying to get back together with him. But as noted above, Tom is selfish and as I haven’t noted yet he lacks some empathy.. so instead his advice sends Star spiraling not helped by her mother, Moon, basically telling her she has no choice in being queen and being happy dosen’t matter.. because Moon was kind of a dick at this stage. So while star gets a punk makeover and prepares to do something terrible to prevent her miserable future, Marco decides to confront candle and, as I didn’t even try to hide, Tom is behind this. Granted Tom wasn’t great at hiding it either, it’s just star was understandably concerned about her future and too distracted by that to pick up on how weirdly intrested Mr.Candle was in her dating life. But no i’ts Tom who is, and Marco baits him by pretending he and star are “Smooch Buddies”.. something the trailers for Season 2, and this episode was pretty early, used as a bait and switch, but I’m okay with it as most could probably tell something was up by the delivery. Naturally this proves to be a terrible idea, and i’d say it’s the dumbest thing Marco ever did if Season 3 didn’t take a sledgehammer to his character, but that’s an essay for another day, and Tom takes Marco back to his place to murder him... but Marco stands strong and Tom challenges him to a battle to the death, with Marco choosing ping-poing. Tom naturally destroys him.. but Marco uses the game to point some things out: After calling tom out for bascially cheating, since his powers give him the upper hand, Tom talks about Star doing the same, basically making up her own rules as soon as she looses. Marco then uses this to make tom see what a butt he’s been: The ping pong thing is just another example of how Star functions, doing whatever she wants and going her own way. It’s why being forced down the path of queen scares her so much, it’s responsiblity and rules and no fun as far as she can tell with no benifits. It’s why she rebels so much.. she can’t be told what to do.. which Marco makes Tom realize means he can’t control her, nor would he want to, and that he’s made a huge mistake. Tom forgoes killing Marco, and the two rush to star who’s on the edge of cutting of a mermaid’s tail to prevent her from ever being queen.. but just can’t do it. Star can be selfish, the above cheating shows that.. but she’s a good person deep down. Tom admits what he did.. and throughly apologizes for it, agreeing basically to let Star go and stop trying to force her back with him. Star does punch him for good measure, deservedly so, but they part on good terms and Marco reassures Star when she’s Queen she can rule her way, and they hug.. and notably Tom dosen’t get the least bit upset. Mr.Candle Cares is a good second ep. I’ve made no bones about how this is the worst thing Tom did: The controlling stuff at the ball was just selfish, the blood moon thing while not GREAT was asbent minded selfishness. This... it nearly broke star and ruined her future. However it comes from the same place as Blood Moon and his reaction at the end shows he simply didn’t consider star’s feelings.. and likely realize he HADN’T been. it wasn’t Marco’s fault they weren’t together, it was Tom’. While the Apology is a minor thing, it’s still a step in the right direction. As I said had he NOT backed away here he probably never would’ve gotten better or even if he tried, gone so far in trying to get star back he couldn’t walk it back. Here he hit his lowest point.. but thanks to Marco, he had a chance to turn it around before it was too late and grow as a person. This is where Tom gets compelling: he goes from a spoiled selfish douchey rich kid, to someone who clearly WANTS to be better, but has issue, social and otherwise, that make it an uphill battle. And with that we get to tom’s penultimate apperance for Season 2, and his last full one...

Friendenemies:

Tom shows up again and while Star tries to shoo him off before she has to get the shooing broom, Tom reveals he’s not there for Star but Marco. See he feels bad about you know, trying to kill him twice and wants to take Star’s Marco out tonight he’s gonna show him what he’s all about, he’s gonna get jacked up on some cheap champagne and let the good times all roll out. Marco understandably does not want a night out with a guy who was creepy to his best friend and tried murdering him twice, so Tom uses a bribe: tickets to the Mackie Hand, a martial artist that Marco is a huge fan of, film festival that Marco failed to get tickets to. With some encouragment from Star, who while not wanting to date Tom sees he’s genuinely making an effort, Marco agrees They hang out in Tom’s carriage which goes by tardis logic, if only, and to the creator’s credit, just so, and the two soon bond, finding a shared love of both Mackie Hand and the pop band love sentence, and Marco genuinely earns tom’s respect when some shades wearing piles of smug challenge our heroes, which Tom now counts as at this point, to a race, Marco agrees... then has them do nothing while the idiots speed up and get arrested and we get the blessed image above. The good times get interrupted though when it’s time for the marathon but tom locks him inside. And no this isn’t the start of some angry makeouts, as it turns out this was part of tom’s anger management therapy, but once again his propensity for the easy way out means he fails at it and burns up the tickets.. but Marco is more upset that Tom lied to him and pretended to be his friend and like mackie hand, though the love sentence thing was real> The whole thing plays more like a breakup than the end of a blossming friendship, which ties into how this episode got people shipping Marco and Tom with each other.. and rightfully so. While I don’t really ship it myself, I can see why as it has great chemstry and a great dynamic. Tom’s behavior here is part of why I say he has social issues, something I can relate to as a cave troll living in my mother’s basement: Tom dosen’t seem to have any real friends. Oh sure he can charm people, he has servants, two loving parents, and a screeching grandpa whose on the wall of my own personal heroes along with Ric Flair, My Mother, Stan Lee, Peter David, Rebecca Sugar and many more, but he dosen’t have FRIENDS. Star seems to be his first relationship and the first thing resembling a true friend he had, so while his behavior was a tad creepy it makes sense why he clung to her. And that shows here: He tries superfically bonding with marco, faking an intrest, giving him gifts, partying.. but it’s both forming a genunine connection over something, Love Sentence, and just sharing some memories that ended up making them friends. But yeah after Marco sings a sad pop ballad, or part of one. Tom decides to do a three point grand romantic gesture and raises Mackie Hand from the dead, and when Mackie isn’t allowed into his own film festival he fights the ticket guy and tom and marco watch and while they say they hate each other, the two’s friendship is forged. Marco finally has a friend outside of two doofuses and .. does Janna count? I dunno. She’s less of a friend and more of a gremlin who steals his things constantly while being actual friends with his bestie. Before we close out this leg there’s one final episode for season 2 with Tom in it to cover and dive into: Naysaya.

Naysaya comes literally just before the mid-season finale and Tom sadly disappears for the rest of the season, though he’ll be back and in greater numbers  in Season 3. I’m not covering it full because it’s not a full on tom episode, he only has a short cameo, but he is important to it and his one brief bit shows off his  character. In short Marco is finally asking out Jackie Lynn Thomas, his crush and a great character in her own right who sadly all but vanished from the show shortly into season 3 after something we’ll get to in passing next time, but got some great closure and was revealed to be Pansexual, so good for her. Marco had been building up to this for the last two seasons: first realizing thanks to time shenanigans he never made a move, then actually talking to her, and then not only telling her how he felt but realizing he didn’t know her but he’d like to. So now he’s ready to ask her out but every time he tries, written or spoken, it comes out as his most embarrassing secrets before the little neck tumor man comes out up there and does it for him. Thanks to Janna, local roustabout mentioned above, who after teasing Marco as is her usual response to anything with him, uses her knowledge of the spooky oooky to find out what that thing is: a Naysya, a curse born creature that spills it’s target’s most embarrassing secrets at whoever they try to court. Naturally, given Tom was an insanley jealous ball of asshole until a few episodes ago, it’s his fault though showing his slow growth, while he’s entirely suprised Marco asked no one out since the ball, says the guy who did two schemes and a shenanigan trying ot get star back, he’s also sorry and assumed it’d worn off or he would’ve told him sooner, and tells him how: he has to let all his insecurities out> Marco nearly withdraws over this due to being 90% insecurity, but eventually buckles down and tells jackie every embrassing thing about  him and.. it works. Naysaya leaves and he and Jackie go out on a group date. And with that Tom is gone for a while but he, and this retrospective will be back.  I owe a huge debt of grattitude to @jess-the-vampire​, a dear friend, and wish her a happy belated birthday. She was a willing and helpful resource and worth a follow. And if you want more stuff like this, comics reviews, and what have you, feel free to follow or comisson me. Until next time, keep the home fires burning. 

[salmankhanholics]

★ Sooraj Pancholi: I have never met Disha Salian in my life. I found out about her after Sushant’s death!

Jul 4, 2020

In an interview with Bombay Times, Sooraj Pancholi rubbishes conspiracy theories that allege his involvement in Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian’s deaths. Excerpts... A lot of rumours have been doing the rounds, which, in a way, blame you for Sushant Singh Rajput’s and his former manager Disha Salian’s deaths. It’s been speculated that Disha was pregnant with your child, and Sushant, who reportedly had a scuffle with you in 2017, was aware of it and was about to expose you. It’s also been said that Salman Khan has been protecting you...

What scuffle with Sushant? I never had any argument with him, which I have clarified before as well. And, why will Salman Khan get involved in my life? Does he not have other things to do? I don’t even know who Disha is, I have never met her in my life. I found out about her after Sushant’s death, and I feel bad for the families involved. Someone has written this rubbish on their personal Facebook page, made it into a movie script and put it out there.

Taking up for you, your father (actor Aditya Pancholi) has said, “Somebody makes up a vague story, puts it online, people lap it up and make him the villain.”

It feels like it’s me against the world. First of all, it’s painful that Sushant is no more. People using his name for whatever reasons is wrong. The situation is such that anyone writes anything and it goes viral in a few minutes. People who don’t know the truth, actually believe what’s been written. I have also been getting supportive messages saying, ‘Be strong and cope with it, these are hard times and jobless people are spreading these rumours’. But, at the end of the day, I am human, too.

Are you saying that there was no hostility between Sushant and you whatsoever?

None at all. He was senior to me and way more successful. I was not in his league to even compete with him. I was nowhere a threat to him. He treated me like a younger brother. Whenever we met, we either spoke about films or my fitness training. When the article about our ‘tiff’ came out in 2017, it was Sushant who had reached out to me. He told me, ‘Bro, yeh koi faltu article aaya hai saying Salman bhai is angry with me. Can you please give a statement to clarify this?’ He thought it would be better if I stated the facts, as the story claimed that he misbehaved with me. I clarified the reports. We met for dinner at a friend’s place after that in Bandra, clicked that funny picture where we posed like we are fighting and that’s it. We had each other’s numbers. He called me for movie screenings, and I even went for Raabta screening. We must have met around four-five times. Were you in touch with Sushant in the recent past? No, I wasn’t. He was not a best friend of mine or anything. We had never been to each other’s houses. We were from the same industry, that’s all. How true are the ‘Salman Khan is defending Sooraj’ stories?

Why would he do this for me? Salman Khan is the producer of my first film (Hero, 2015). He gave us a chance, and after that, it has been my journey. He is not responsible for what we do in the future. You need to find your way. I cannot rely on Salman sir and cannot expect him to be my Godfather. I have never been dependent on him and he wouldn’t want it that way, too.

Why do you think you find yourself being dragged into controversies over and over again? Is it also fuelled by the fact that you were among the privileged to be launched by Salman Khan, and of course, the whole nepotism debate? If it was all about nepotism, I would have been on my 10th film by now. Nepotism has nothing to do with what’s happening right now. I worked from a very young age as an assistant director. First on Guzaarish (2010) and then on Ek Tha Tiger(2012). That is where I met Salman sir and he had promised me that he would give me a film because he must have seen some potential in me. He asked me whether I wanted to be an actor and I worked really hard for it. It’s not that I came out of nowhere, woke up from my sleep and went to a movie set. The first film that I auditioned for was Kai Po Che (2013), and I was rejected there. I worked on myself after that. I also auditioned for Hero (2015) and even my upcoming film Hawa Singh. My mom is 60. She has been in the industry for over 30 years and till date, she auditions for movies. It’s a myth that star kids don’t have to give auditions. You already have a case looming over your head (Jiah Khan) and now, the Sushant-Disha tragedy also has your name being dragged into it. I am very numb and hurt right now. This is affecting me a lot. I don’t know what to say. It’s been eight years and my case (Jiah) hasn’t even taken off and it’s only because Rabiya Khan(Jiah’s mother) doesn’t show up in court. I had to face the CBI since I was 21-22. I have cooperated with the police. I have done everything possible, haven’t missed a single date in court even when I was down with fever. But if the complainant (Rabiya) isn’t showing up in court, what are they looking for? Do they really seek justice or do they just want to harass me?

[darkestunderpass]

The Amityville Murders: Before the Horror House

Located at 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, NY. It was the home of Ronald DeFeo Sr.;the car salesman, his wife, two daughters and two sons who were found shot to death in 1974. Ronald DeFeo Jr., 23, was theonly surviving member of the family

On November 13, 1974 in the early hours of the morning 23-year-old Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. brutally murdered his enitre family including his parents and four siblings using a .35 caliber Marlin rifle while they were asleep (DeFeo told detectives: "Once I started, I just couldn't stop. It went so fast.”)

Ronald Jr. was the eldest child and confessed to murdering his entire family in cold blood

Dead were Louise and Ronald DeFeo Sr. (Parents), 18-year-old Dawn, 13-year-old Allison, 12-year-old Marc, and 9-year-old John Matthew. The parents were killed with two shots and all of the children were killed with one. Louise and Allison were thought to be still alive when they were murdered due to physical evidence.

Some people argue that an evil spirit already lived in the home and prompted Ronald Jr. to murder his whole family

Ronald Jr.’s childhood was momentarily content but his father was known to be an abusive man and his mother seemed to fade into the background of the picture under Ronald Sr.’s overbearing personality, Ronald Jr. became increasingly troubled into his young adulthood

He used drugs and alcohol to cope with his issues, he often lashed out very violently, often yelling and getting physical as well as threatening his father with a gun. His parents tried to resolve the issue by getting Ronald Jr. gifts weekly to try to appease him in some way or another

At 18 Ronald Jr. was heir to the family-owned car dealership but rarely showed up

On the day of the murders Ronald Jr. left the dealership early out of boredom at noon, leaving to meet his friends at Henry Bar complaining that no one would listen to him and calling the house phone multiple times and having no one answer he eventually left the bar and there are no reported sightings of him till morning

At around 6:30 a.m Ronald supposedly reentered the bar shouting “You got to help me! I think my mother and father are shot!” the bar patrons followed him back to 112 Ocean Avenue and found the site of a grisly murder

All 6 bodies were found lying on their stomachs still in their beds appearing to be shot with a high powered rifle at around 3:15 a.m

The strange thing is that there was absolutely no sign of a struggle, no report of gunshots by neighbours, only the sound of the family dog barking into the night.

Ronald Jr.’s alibi was that he was at work and then the bar, but it began to crumble when police noted that the family was dead before 6 a.m. then changed his story and repeatedly did so throughout the investigation, at one point even claiming that infamous mobster hitman Louis Falini killed his family while he was forced to watch, but to Ronald’s dismay Falini had a concrete out-of-state alibi and soon Ronald confessed to what is assumed to be the truth, that he killed his family by himself.

Ronald stood trial with his attorney William Webber on October 14, 1975 they mounted an insanity plea, they stated that the defendant (Ronald) heard voices that told him to kill his family but the prosecution said that the though drug-abusing Ronald was indeed very troubled, he knew what he was doing while he commited the murders. The jury decided to convict Ronald of six counts of second-degree-murder and sentenced him to, fittingly, six consectative life sentences.

Later Ronald claims to several other situations he alleges that his sister Dawn killed the father and then the distraught mother kills all of the siblings and then Ronald kills his mother in presumably defence He stated that he took the blame because he was afraid to say anything negative about his mother to her father, Michael Brigante Sr., and his father's uncle, out of fear that they would kill him., and in another telling Dawn shoots all the other family members in this scenario Ronald kills only Dawn.

There’s theories of a second shooter in the home

Ronald’s motives were unclear but while in custody asked when he’d be able to collect his father’s insurance policies which was then put as a possible motive of the murder other than the voices in his head telling him to do it

According to Osuna, DeFeo Jr. claimed that he had committed the murders with his sister Dawn and two friends, Augie Degenero and Bobby Kelske, "out of desperation" because his parents had plotted to kill him. Allegedly, Ronald claimed that after a fight with his father, he and his sister plotted to murder their parents and that Dawn murdered the children in order to eliminate them as witnesses. He said that he was enraged on discovering his sister's actions, knocked her unconscious on to her bed and shot her in the head. Police found traces of unburned gunpowder on Dawn's nightgown, which DeFeo proponents allege proves she discharged a firearm. However, at trial, the ballistics expert, Alfred Della Penna, testified that unburned gunpowder is discharged through the muzzle of a weapon, indicating that she was in proximity to the muzzle of the weapon when it was discharged and not that she fired the weapon.

Strange Events: The bodies were all found without evidence of a struggle and without a trace of sedative drugs, the large amount of killings in such a short period of time, no gunshots heard by neighbours, only the dog seemed to be alerted by the murders, no muffling device found on the gun or in the home to deafen the gunshots, and Ronald supposedly heard voices telling him to kill his whole family.

There are theories that Ronald was possessed by evil spirits which would place demonic presences in the home before the Amityville Horror House events occurred.

Theory 1: Ronald did kill the whole family by himself, he used a homemade muffler and snuck into each of his family members bedrooms killing each and everyone of them without mercy. He ran to the local bar because he didn’t want to be pinned as a suspect. The murders were not premeditated he just snapped.

Theory 2: Ronald was working with several other shooters who he took the fall for or they were his sister and her friends like Ronald had claimed. The other shooters left the house then Ronald ran to the bar to brush off suspicions also to act as the victim. In this version the murders were premeditated.

Theory 3: (Least likely) Ronald was possessed by a demonic presence which wanted the family dead for reasons, which would explain the strange events with demonic powers and all. After the deed was done Ronald came to and freaked out because he couldn't remember what happened, he woke up with blood all over his clothes and he’s scared and confused so he runs to the bar, but then later recollects that he did it and confesses to it.

Thank you for reading! I put alot of reasearch into this.

[hardynwa]

Train attack: Court okays secret trial of Boko Haram negotiator

The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, granted an application by the Federal Government to protect the identity of the witnesses lined up to testify against an alleged terrorist collaborator, Tukur Mamu. The Kaduna-based cleric and publisher is facing trial in connection with the terror attack on a Kaduna-Abuja train in March last year, leading to the death of at least eight persons with scores abducted for ransom. Mamu, who was arraigned in March this year, is facing 10 counts bordering on terrorism financing, among others. He was accused of receiving ransom payments in the sum of $120, 000 on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages of the train attack. Mamu was also accused of exchanging voice-note communications in relation to acts of terrorism with one Baba Adamu (a Boko Haram spokesperson). Furthermore, he was accused of dealing in terrorist funds in the sum of $300,000, which were allegedly found in his possession. The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Wednesday, counsel for the Attorney General of the Federation, D.E. Kaswe, took an ex parte application before Justice Inyang Ekwo for an order to protect the identity of the prosecution witnesses. In the motion sighted by the News Agency of Nigeria, the FG prayed for “an order of this honourable court shielding the physical identity of the prosecution witnesses by wearing facial masks and/or the use of screen whenever prosecution witnesses are testifying.” Furthermore, the government lawyer prayed for an order “excluding persons other than parties and their legal representatives at the hearing of the above-named charge except for members of the accredited press.” Justice Ekwo, in a ruling, granted the motion as prayed. Earlier, when the matter was called, Mamu, who was the sole defendant in the charge, was not in court. Kaswe then told the court that Mamu was still on his way with the security operatives. “I urge this honourable court to stand down this matter as they are still on their way coming,” he prayed. But the judge refused the application, quipping: “Do you think this is a stand-down court? That application is refused.” The case was subsequently adjourned till July 21 for the commencement of trial. Read the full article

[theculturedmarxist]

     By    Eric London    

       25 February 2019  

On February 22, the World Socialist Web Site published an article, “The Jussie Smollett controversy: Must all accusations be believed?” The commentary argued that the collapse of Smollett’s claim to have been attacked by racist thugs in Chicago exposed the right-wing character of the #MeToo campaign, which asserts that the accuser must always be believed, lack of corroborating evidence notwithstanding.

One reader, commenting on the article, wrote that the WSWS was hypocritical for calling Smollett a liar while defending his presumption of innocence in the criminal case against him.

“So Smollett is a liar but also has the right to the presumption of innocence?”, the commenter, Urfubar, wrote. “This can’t both be true. You can’t presume someone innocent of a felony you just declared guilty of a felony. Either Smollett is a liar who falsified a police report, or he’s innocent until proven guilty. Pick one.”

This comment provides the opportunity to further probe the anti-democratic rationale and reactionary implications of the #MeToo campaign.

As a preliminary matter, the WSWS opposes Smollett’s former supporters who are now rushing to condemn him just as blindly as they rushed to believe him three weeks ago. We oppose the criminal prosecution and the premature decision by Fox to write Smollett’s character out of the show “Empire” before his guilt has been proven. The efforts by the media to make an example of Smollett before he has been found guilty are hypocritical and serve to confuse, not clarify.

However, the facts that have emerged make clear that Smollett lied about the January 29 attack. He claimed that two white men he did not know hit him, poured bleach on him and put a noose around his neck.

Dozens of security cameras at or near the scene of the alleged crime failed to show any attack, and the two men seen leaving turned out to be brothers, who are friends of Smollett and of Nigerian descent. The brothers had bleach (which Smollett alleged was thrown on him) and magazines with missing pages (Smollett alleged he received a death threat with letters cut out of magazines) at their home.

Financial records also show that the brothers purchased the same piece of rope that was later found on Smollett’s neck, which the pair is shown on closed-circuit video buying at a store. Phone records show that days before the alleged attack, Smollett texted one of the brothers: “Might need your help on the low [i.e., in secret]. You around to meet up and talk face to face?”

The WSWS correctly characterized and condemned Smollett’s selfish, careerist behavior, which only feeds the growth of the extreme-right and casts doubt on future allegations of right-wing vigilante attacks.

But does this mean he forfeits the right to be presumed innocent? Does it mean he is necessarily guilty of a crime?

The answer to both questions is “no.” Smollett has the right to challenge the charges against him in court and the evidence presented. Moreover, even if the defense accepts the specific allegation—that Smollett filed a false report—a trial such as this, in the course of a vigorous defense, invariably raises issues as to the significance and context of these facts, which could lead to a verdict of not guilty.

For example, §5/26-1(5) of the Illinois criminal code penalizes anyone who “knowingly… transmits or causes to be transmitted a false report to any public safety agency without the reasonable grounds necessary to believe that transmitting the report is necessary for the safety and welfare of the public.”

Central to Smollett’s legal defense could be his state of mind. To be guilty of a crime, a defendant must have the requisite level of intent. In this case, he must “ know ” there is no “reasonable ground” to believe the report is “necessary for the safety and welfare of the public.”

This presents a complex question. Did Smollett perhaps convince himself in the present political climate that his race and sexual orientation justify his actions and make them “reasonable?” Did he think bringing attention to bigotry and right-wing attacks was “necessary” for the public welfare, even if this particular “attack” was invented?

Or, was Smollett blinded by ambition and acting under a passion and pressure that so clouded his judgment that he could not “intend,” with clear mind, to carry out a crime?

Could he argue in court that he was operating in conformity with the conventions of a sick and corrupt society that encourages professionals to use their racial and sexual identities in opportunistic ways? Could he say he was an avid reader of the New York Times, which tells him it is “reasonable” to assume accusations must be believed no matter what? Could he say that the #MeToo hysteria has made the reasonable unreasonable and the unreasonable reasonable, and that he can’t tell which way is up?

The prosecution will claim, as the proponents of #MeToo always argue, that the accused is a monster and that monsters always have evil intent.

But Smollett has the right to exercise all the rights that flow from the presumption of innocence. He is protected from the state by the Sixth Amendment, which grants him the right to present his case to a jury and cross-examine the Nigerian brothers to examine their motives. If the case goes to trial, Smollett’s attorneys will have the benefit of voir dire to keep prosecutors from loading the panel with prejudiced panelists.

The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments mean the judge may bar jurors from reading the New York Times so their ability to objectively hear testimony does not become clouded by the media hate campaign. The judge will tell jurors to ignore evidence, even if it is relevant, if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger that it is unfair, prejudicial, confusing or misleading.

How critical these protections are and yet how dangerous it is that none of them are available to the targets of the #MeToo campaign, whose lives and careers are ruined in the court of public opinion! The #MeToo proponents explicitly call for believing all accusers, having adopted the slogan “I believe.” Asking for corroborating evidence is “victim blaming.” Asking accusers about their intentions is “victim shaming.” If the accused claims innocence, it is presented as further proof of guilt.

It is precisely in such cases, however, that presumption of innocence and due process are so critical. Even in cases where everything appears clear on the surface—or, especially in such cases—it is in the course of a trial that the underlying complexities emerge.

The campaign to reject these basic democratic conceptions has been deliberately whipped up by the most powerful and profitable media corporations, working in conjunction with Democratic Party strategists and the editors of newspapers like the filthy New York Times. To advance their own money-grubbing, right-wing agendas, these powerful forces are creating a hysterical mood by playing on the prejudices, emotions, insecurities and ambitions of the affluent upper-middle class like keys on a piano.

Passionate public moods demanding vengeance have long been the vehicle for the most dangerous assaults on democratic rights. Hundreds of African Americans were lynched based on allegations by lying white women. One such woman, 85-year-old Carolyn Bryant Donham, is alive and free today. The lie she told in August 1955 was “believed” and, as a result, 14-year-old Emmett Till was tortured and killed, his mangled body dumped in the river.

Progressive politics has always fought such right-wing popular sentiments, even where the accused is clearly guilty. In the famous 1924 death penalty case of Leopold and Loeb, defense attorney Clarence Darrow argued against hanging two young men who admitted to murdering a 14-year-old boy. The newspapers were demanding the boys be hanged and attacking due process as an obstacle to justice.

In a democratic society, Darrow said, the court must ignore the clamor in the press and the reactionary hidden agendas of those braying for blood. It meant, instead, “that you must appraise every influence that moves [the defendants], the civilization where they live, their living, their society, all society which enters into the making of a child.”

The same principle was captured by Theodore Dreiser in his masterpiece An American Tragedy. Clyde Griffiths’ defense attorney, Belknap, made an appeal to jurors inundated with hysterical calls to sentence young Clyde to death:

“And I venture to say that if by some magic of the spoken word I could at this moment strip from your eye the substance of all the cruel thoughts and emotions which have been attributed to him [Clyde] by a clamorous and mistaken and I might say (if I had not been warned not to do so) politically biased prosecution, you could no more see him in the light that you do than you could rise out of that box and fly through those windows.”

Irreconcilable opposition to such witch hunts in the face of popular pressure is the trademark of principled socialist politics. Leon Trotsky insisted that socialists are socialists only insofar as they maintain “complete and absolute independence of bourgeois public opinion.”

Writing in 1922, the co-leader of the Russian Revolution described bourgeois public opinion as “composed of two parts: first, of inherited views, actions, and prejudices which represent the fossilized experience of the past, a thick layer of irrational banality and useful stupidity; and second, of the intricate machinery and clever management necessary for the mobilization of patriotic feeling and moral indignation, of national enthusiasm, altruist sentiment, and other kinds of lies and deceptions.”

These words may as well have been written about the #MeToo movement, which genuine socialists rightfully oppose.

[guilt-and-shame]

Day 9 of 60: I found out today that you reported me sending you flowers, everything I said to Gabe and the picture of my tattoo and stopping by to see Courtney. This is a bit extreme because the order says no third party contact. I didn’t have any 3rd party contact. The only thing I did that violated the order was the picture of my tattoo. Third party contact is if I told Gabe or Courtney to tell you something, I didn’t do any of that. All I wanted from Courtney (which she wouldn’t even talk to me. She kept opening her office door to see if I was still there, that was very unnecessary.) was to explain to her that I would not put up a fight and I just wanted to make this as easy as possible. And I wanted to defend that what I did wasn’t as extreme as the allegations in the DSS report. I was told that you’re afraid to come back. I don’t think you truly believe that. I’ve never done anything to you sober. Every time I’ve hurt you was on a binge. I expressed to your dad that I would leave when you return. And I swear by it. I will stay away from you and give you your space. I just need you to understand that we have to talk sooner or later. I’m sad that you’re taking this so far. You know what Gabe said I did is the truth and not even close to what this accusations are, you know I wouldn’t ever hurt you in a sound mind. I’m going to stay in a sound mind. I’m in AA every day, I’m praying every day, I’m trying to fix this every day. I’ve been told to stop trying to fix it, but I don’t know how I can do that. I love you so much. I beg for you to calm down and think about us. I beg you to get sober too. We would be amazing together if we were both sober and we talked more. Please stop this… our marriage means so much more than this. I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you in the past before we were married. I’ve made a promise that I’d never do it again, I broke that promise that Friday night. I swear to you till my death that if you forgive me and come back that I will stay in AA and use the tools I’m given to stay on track. I will stay sober and never hurt you again. You are a huge chunk of my heart and it’s missing, it’s painful. You have made me come as far as I’ve come from who I used to be. Because of you, I’ve sought mental health help, agreed to finally take medication, start any form of sobriety, start recovery from my relapse and make changes to who I am as a man. You’re the reason I’m different from who I used to be. Without you in my life I’d be the same rowdy, aggressive, violent, unfaithful, self destructive alcoholic and potentially an addict. It’s quite reasonable to assume that I’d be worse by now, perhaps in jail or dead. I can’t wait for this to stop and be over. I miss you too much. If a crystal ball existed, I’d catch this long before it even started and never let it happen. If a time machine existed I’d go back and stop the events of my relapse and ensure that I never hurt you. If there was a way that I could cause myself physical pain to make this go away, I would. I’m so sorry for this. The counselor therapist that your dad gave me called me today. We just talked briefly and they have to take my information and review it to see which therapist has the experience to help me. At the end of the conversation she asked if I had any questions. I said no, but there is something I want help with. I told her about my suicidal ideations and the pain I deal with when they surface. She was very thankful that I had told her that and she asked if we could pray on the phone. I started crying and had a hard time hearing her prayer. She kept saying my name in the prayer asking god to help me. It was so personal and I really appreciated her prayer. I might actually be finding god right now. I don’t know, because I still have reservations about creationism and I still feel the same about the Bible’s purpose and origin. But I see why, humans need a higher power and I think it’s out there. Call it god or something else, but something is out there that I think is trying to help me. I just hope I can afford the fees. I love you!

[ufuomaee]

Praise God!!! Well done sister 👏👏👏 Regrann from @pelleura - Regrann from @chanisrolem - Regrann from @ciscadichie - As a #lawyer I stand for Justice and fairness. The state v Solomon Otu. This young man was arrested since 2011 and as we know how fast our Nigerian system is, he was charged to court in 2014 for armed robbery whereas he had been arrested in a vehicle by a patrol team and the police alleged that he had 4 phones without sim in them and 2 wrist watches. This man had been coming from the East to see his sick sister in Lagos. Unfortunately he was arrested and locked up. From 2014 till 2018 the prosecution only called one witness and that witness was a police officer who testified to his arrest and not to any robbery. Take note that the purnishment for armed robbery under the Nigerian Criminal Law is death sentence. At first the dft was represented by Legal Aid then he was handed over to a senior lawyer when legal aid were not appearing in his matter. The senior lawyer also abandoned this man and luckily the man got my number. He began to call me to represent him. As a junior lawyer who had just started a career I didnt want to be burdened with any pro bono case. I told him that I didnt have the money to do his case. He pleaded with me and something in me was moved coupled with the fact that my mother also supported that I should help him. So my quest began. I took up his case on the 7th of feb 2018 after the court granted my application for change of counsel and within five months I was able to secure a discharge and acquittal for the defendant despite all odds. Today Solomon is a free man with a clean slate and no one can call him an ex-convict. I tell this story because I know that there are a lot of people like him languishing in jail because they can not pay their way through or because they dont have anyone to help them. I must say that what has happened to him is sad. A young man's life has been on a standstill for 8 years. This society makes criminals of innocent people. I really wish that I could help more people though but doing pro bono cases at this stage of my career is a lot to handle. Still I am overjoyed that I took this https://www.instagram.com/p/BnYvG8KhUAW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=und8o7dkv4v3

[dispatchesfrom2020]

2020

Week 22: May 25-31

25: In Minneapolis Minnesota, 46-year-old George Perry Floyd Jr. is killed by police while being arrested on suspicion of trying to pass a counterfeit bill. He is unarmed and black. Derek Chauvin, 20-year veteran of the police force, kneels on Floyd’s neck for 9 and a half minutes. Two other police officers assisted him, while a third stopped the public for intervening - eyewitnesses capture Floyd telling the officers he can’t breath. He calls for his mother, slips unconscious and dies. Chauvin doesn’t remove his knee from Floyd’s neck even after he has killed him. It’s gruesome and ugly and a clear repetition of the same videos we’ve been watching for years. His words “I can’t breathe” are the same uttered by Eric Garner when a New York Police officer choked him to death for selling lose cigarettes. They’re the same words as Elijah McClain who was knelt on during his arrest in Aurora, Colorado and injected with a lethal dose of ketamine. They’re the words of Javier Ambler and Byron Williams and Manuel Ellis and Derrick Scott. 

Kadir Nelson’s portrait of George Floyd “Say Their Names” includes images of other victims of police brutality including Breonna Taylor, Walter Scott, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Stephon Clark, and Michael Brown. Their likenesses are embedded alongside civil rights activists and icons - many murdered - like Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, and Emmett Till. Images of slavery, references to lynchings and historic injustices like the Tulsa Race Riots demonstrate the deep roots of racism.

26: The protests begin immediately. A powder keg years in the making is set alight. The protest start in Minneapolis but will soon expand out across the country - and beyond America’s borders to Africa, Europe, Central and South America, and Asia. The coming summer-long unrest will force people to confront hard truths about systemic racism, especially in the context of policing and justice. The Minneapolis Police Department initially defends their officers, claiming that Floyd resisted arrested. But with the video spreading virally through social media and protests picking up steam, they’re quickly forced to place the four officers on administrative leave. By the end of the day the men have been fired but it is far too little and entirely too late. People gather, marching on Minneapolis’ 3rd precinct, chanting “Black Lives Matter”, “Hands up, Don’t Shoot”, “I Can’t Breathe” and “8:46″ - the length of time the witness videos showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck, suffocating him.

Kerem Yucel/AFP

27: COVID deaths in the US top 100,000. Which would be the top story, except for the fact that protests in Minneapolis continue to build. Organizers urge protesters to stay peaceful - and, for the most part, they remain non-violent. They demand police reforms: an end to qualified immunity, the abolishment of the Minneapolis Police Department, no more choke-holds, a reallocation of funding to health care, education and affordable housing. They seek changes to hiring, emphasizing the need for police departments to hire people who live in the communities they wish to serve. They push for more diverse hiring and better police training. They demand an acknowledgement of the years of harassment and violence experienced by People of Colour - an acknowledgement that Black and Brown Lives fundamentally Matter.

“This moment felt like a culmination of all those moments of injustice that have happened in Minneapolis and Minnesota.” — Patience Zalanga/The New York Times

28: In Zimbabwe and Malawi, hundreds escape COVID-19 quarantine camps - there are real concerns they will spread the virus to others, overwhelming the countries’ fragile healthcare systems. Thousands of protests march through downtown Minneapolis - and echoing movements spring up across the United States in cities like Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland and Seattle. Preparing for violence, the National Guard is sent to Minneapolis. Later that night riots begin. An alleged white supremacist, wanting to agitate trouble and provoke looting, smashes out the windows of an AutoZone, neighbouring the protested police precinct. This spurs on a night of vandalism, arson, and violence. A Target and liquor store burn, as do the AutoZone and Police Precinct. The violence is quick to subside and the peaceful demonstrations carry on throughout the summer - despite police opposition and violence, tension with counter-protesters, and renewed attacks on Black Lives Matter protests. 

This was taken after spending about five hours photographing a lot of destruction, a lot of anger, a lot of emotion." - Julio Cortez/AP

29: Trump, meanwhile, does what he does best: makes everything worse with a set of racially loaded, dog-whistle tweets. “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”, he writes. Wish Twitter had taken his account down then, honestly. Chauvin, meanwhile, is finally arrested on charges of murder and manslaughter. At the site of the protests, reporters are targeted by the police. CNN’s Omar Jiminez is arrested while reporting, live. Ed Ou, a Canadian journalist with NBC, is maced and beaten with batons. “They literally started throwing concussive grenades in our direction, in the middle of the journalists.”��The LA Times’ Carolyn Cole temporarily loses eyesight after being pepper-sprayed at close range while a Reuters’ security advisor is shot in the face with a rubber bullet.

In San Jose, 18-year-old Khennedi Meeks kneels in front of the police line in protest - Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group

30: Cities around the US institute curfews to try and curtail violence at the George Floyd protests - some setting them as early as 4PM. In Columbus Ohio, 22-year-old protester Sarah Grossman is so heavily pepper-sprayed that she suffers respiratory and dies. In California, far-right agitators belonging to the Boogaloo boys commit a drive-by shooting on an Oakland courthouse and set off IEDs targeting local law enforcement. They want to ignite a race war and spread their white supremacist ideology - and it works, at least initially. Conservative media wrongly attribute the attacks to the Black Lives Matter movement - even after the perpetrators are captured, conservative pundits and politicians, including Mike Pence, attribute the attacks to left wing violence.

Die-in protest in Denver, May 30 - Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

31: The protesters remain largely peaceful, marching in cities across the United States. But police violence continues. In Fort Lauderdale a cop violently shoves a woman kneeling in protest, while in Jacksonville another police officer punches a demonstrator in the face. In Los Angeles and Austin, two protesters are left in serious, critical condition after being shot in the head by bean-bag rounds. Police in Denver threaten to beat demonstrators who break curfew and in New York a hospital staff walking home after dark is assaulted by law enforcement and beaten with batons.

Lucas Jackson/Reuters

[mriduldasgupta]

Sushant Singh Rajput's Death Case: Rhea Chakraborty finally released on bail, what Bollywood celebrities are saying | Latest Bollywood News |

Rhea Chakraborty was granted bail a month later in a drug case, while her brother Shauvik was not released

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted bail to actress Riya Chakraborty in a drug case in connection with the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. The bail was granted on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh. However, the High Court did not grant bail to the actress' brothers Shauvik and Abdel Basit. The High Court also granted bail to Sushant Singh Rajput's cook Deepesh Sawant and house manager Samuel Mirander. They also got bail on a personal bond of 50,000. The Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Riya on September 9 on charges of drugging Sushant. Since then, the rear seat has been in Bayakulla court.

Rhea associated with the drug syndicate

Rhea Chakraborty was in a relationship with Sushant Singh Rajput. He and his brother Shauvik are closely associated with the Mumbai drug syndicate. Shauvik was arrested by the NCB on September 4. He applied to the Bombay High Court after his special bail application was rejected by a special court. The rear jail custody was extended till October 20 on Tuesday.

Rhea Chakraborty's bail application

Rhea said in her application that based on the allegations against her, she used to buy drugs for her boyfriend Sushant, who was rescued from a flat in Bandra on June 14. However, Rhea said she was falsely implicated in the case.

Bollywood Celebrities's Comments

Tapsi Pannu's tweet

Many Bollywood celebs have also supported the High Court decision. While enjoying a holiday in the Maldives, Tapsi Pannu said on her Twitter, ‘Hopefully her time in jail has filled the ego of people with personal and professional agendas in the name of seeking justice for Sushant’s death. I pray that he does not have to face the bitter experience of life anymore. There are many injustices in life, but it does not end life. In another tweet, Tapasi said, "There is no basis for such an observation." And this girl has spent weeks in jail. Let there be a slow applause for the defenders of culture and the fighters for justice. Our court knows what dignity is

Swara Bhaskar's tweet

Director Anubhav Sinha, Hansal Mehta, writer Konika Dhillon and others welcomed the decision of the Bombay High Court. Actress Swara Bhaskar wrote, "Uriah has been granted bail relying on time." In another tweet, Swara wrote, "Now the CBI and AIIMS have also said that Sushant Singh Rajput died of suicide. Some people did not want to return the reward given by the government." '

Hansal Mehta asked Riya to rest

Director Hansal Mehta tweeted, "Go and rest for a while". Writer Kanika Dhillon tweeted, "Riya finally gets bail." The NCB has already questioned several top Bollywood actors and actresses in the case. Later some more are in the scanner of NCB.

Related News:

Sushant Singh Rajput's death case: AIIMS Doctor's Audio Tape Creates Confusion of Sushant's Death | Latest Bollywood News |

Latest Bollywood News