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authorialarcanist · 4 years ago

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Monster Collector (Tales of Symphonia)

Summary: When Lloyd and Colette drag the party off to complete the Monster Book, Raine can't help but wonder about what her students are thinking.

Written for Colloyd Week 2021 Day 2: Sidequest.

Gen, crack.

—

“Lloyd, watch out!”

“Right!” Lloyd leapt out of the way of a hammer blow from a massive bear, forewarned just in time by Colette’s shout. “It’ll take more than that to beat me, you know! Hurricane Thrust!” Air burst out from his sword in every direction as he jabbed back at the bear, sending it stumbling away. “Thanks, Colette! It’s open now!”

“Right!” Colette darted forward, multicolored wings carrying her to her target before it could regain its balance, and plowed headfirst into its fuzzy stomach. Nonplussed by the impact, the monster closed its arms to catch the girl in a painful bear hug, only for Colette to raise one of her chakrams in celebration, leaving a deep gash in its face where it had leaned in. “Yay, I got something! Okay, Lloyd, that’s everything I can get from this one!”

Lloyd pumped his fist, and shouted “You two can finish it off now!”

Raine Sage, half-elf teacher and current world-saving tagalong, raised an eyebrow at her compatriot. Zelos shrugged back.

“I don’t get it any more than you do, but I guess we’re doing this! Get ready!”

“I suppose it’s just as well… Now!” Raine raised her staff above her, and light gathered around Tethe’Alla’s Chosen.

“Plasma Blade!” With a shout, Zelos charged at the bear sword-first. Raine’s magic propelled him easily into and past his target, causing it to collapse to the ground in pain. To add insult to injury, a bolt of lightning struck its prone form a moment later, bringing the battle to an end.

“Annnd… there we go! Colette, what did you get from it?” By the time Raine looked back at her students, Lloyd had already pulled out a red book and a pen, and was examining some sort of herb Colette was holding out to him. “Alright! That’s one more down!”

“That’s great, Lloyd!” Genis, Raine’s younger brother, ran up to Lloyd from where he’d been waiting in the back line. “Only… Does that mean you’re going to tell us what we’re actually doing here, now?”

“Hm?” Lloyd looked up from putting the finishing touches on the book. “What do you mean?”

“I mean here, Lloyd!” Genis splayed his arms wide, and gestured at the mountainous terrain around the group. “You dragged us to this random patch of mountain, and never told us why!”

“Oh! Right! Whoops, I forgot about that!” Lloyd scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Well… Colette, why don’t you tell them?”

“Uh-huh!” Colette stepped forward with a wide smile. “See, when we were in Izoold the other day, I heard a rumor that there’ve been sightings of a reeeaaaally big doggy up in these mountains! Apparently it’s been scaring goatherds and stuff! And there’s only one more entry we haven’t filled up in the Monster List, so I thought maybe it was the one we’re missing!” Lloyd nodded along beside her, and held up the empty page in demonstration.

Raine gave her two students a flat look. “…Lloyd. Is that really why we’re here?”

“Yeah! I mean, it’s really close to done, so we wanted to fill in that last slot!”

Raine sighed. “I’m loath to say this, since you’re apparently invested in your schoolwork for once, but… is this really the time? Aren’t there more important things we should be doing right now?”

“Eh. Kratos can wait!” Lloyd waved his left hand dismissively. “I mean, he’s like a thousand years old or something, right? A couple days should be like a minute to him! We can go and break Origin’s Seal once we’ve finished up with this!”

Suddenly, everybody jumped at a loud crashing sound. They turned to the source, to see Presea standing over a felled tree. The trunk was now bridging a gap that led to the path further up the mountain. “…Getting the Eternal Sword, and reuniting the worlds. Is less urgent than filling an empty page…?”

“I mean, yeah!” Lloyd nodded without a trace of irony. “Who knows what this place’ll look like once we’ve reunited the worlds, right?”

“Uh-huh!” Colette quickly backed him up. “And anyways, once we go to meet Kratos, we’ll have to deal with—mmmph!” Lloyd quickly covered her mouth. The two shared a meaningful look before he let go. “…Um, whoops! Ignore that, hehe!”

“Alright, what are you two hiding from us? Annnd… yoink!” Taking advantage of the brief distraction, Zelos leaned over and snatched the Monster List out of Lloyd’s free hand.

“Wh- hey! Give that back!” Lloyd dove at Zelos, trying to grapple for the purloined book, but his face met the ground instead as the Chosen leapt out of the way.

“Let’s see, here… No. 234, Meredy… No. 235, Abyssion, man that guy was an asshole… No. 236, Z—“ Zelos cut off with a choking sound, all the blood draining from his face.

“Hmm? What is it, Zelos?” Raine walked to Zelos, intending to check the list herself.

“…Hey, Lloyd? Hunny? Bud?”

Lloyd gulped. “Y…yeah?”

“Why do Ihave an entry in the Monster List?”

“Ehe…heh…”

Raine leaned over Zelos’ shoulder. Sure enough, there it was: a little, surprisingly well-drawn, sketch of Zelos facing the reader with orange wings spread behind him. Located at the Final Seal… Strong against lightning and light elements… Drops… “Zelos, were you hiding a Mystic Symbol from us?”

“What? No!” Zelos dropped the book in a panic. “I haven’t got anything like that, promise!”

“Hrm. Nevertheless, this is certainly odd. Lloyd…” Raine wheeled on her student, the righteous fury of a scorned teacher at her fingertips ready to be called. “Have you been writing fake entries to fill space…?”

“Wait! Hold on, Professor!” Colette stepped in front of Raine, shielding Lloyd from her wrath. “Lloyd hasn’t been cheating, I promise! It’s just… a reeeally long story, okay?”

Raine held Colette’s gaze for several long moments, but the girl didn’t seem to just be covering for Lloyd. Raine sighed. “Fine. But we’d better get an explanation once this is over, alright?”

“Ehehe…” Colette wilted and gave a sheepish smile. “A-anyways, let’s just keep going. We still need to find that doggy, right Lloyd?”

“R-right!” Lloyd, climbed back to his feet, and grabbed the Monster List from where it lay. “Come on, everybody! I’m pretty sure we’re almost there!”

Raine watched with a pensive expression as he clambered over the felled tree. Her students had changed a lot over the course of their journey, but… she wondered if they’d changed faster than she’d realized.

———

The group was resting at the peak of the mountain. After much searching, they’d at last found their errant beast; now, they were just waiting for Genis to prepare a meal to restore their energy.

Raine watched as Lloyd and Colette dance around, twirling each other by both hands and singing “Hun-dred per-cent! Hun-dred per-cent!”

Regal sat down next to her. “They certainly seem to be enjoying themselves.”

“Yes.” Raine nodded absent-mindedly. “For all that they’ve grown, I suppose they arestill children.”

“Hm.” The two sat and watched in silence for a moment before Regal spoke again. “You’re still thinking about what happened earlier, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Raine replied. “Did you notice? Those two are incredibly in sync when they fight, like they’ve been fighting together for years instead of months. And… Every so often, I’ve noticed them looking at each other and giggling, like there’s some secret that only they are privy to.”

“…” Regal raised his eyebrow. “…Are you certain they’re not just—“

“I thought that at first, too! But now, I’m not so certain. I just… I’m their teacher. It’s my job to notice and step in if they’ve gotten involved in something strange.”

“It’s a good impulse, Raine.” Regal awkwardly shifted his handcuffs so he could pat her on the shoulder. “But… those two have proven themselves time and again, right? That’s why we’re following them.” He met Raine’s eyes, a serious expression on his face. “As adults, it’s our shared responsibility to be there for them, yes. But it’s also our responsibility to recognize when they’re starting to spread their wings and fly without our help. It’s our responsibility to trust them, and give them space, when that time comes. Whatever those two know, I don’t believe they would ever use it for ill.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” Raine watched as the two in question grabbed Sheena and pulled her merrily into their dance. Whatever was going on there, they clearly still cared about all of their friends being happy. Maybe it was time to sit back, and simply have faith in them.

…Lloyd’s face, grinning sheepishly every time he’d gotten wrapped up in some prank or work-avoiding scheme gone awry, flashed in front of her eyes.

Alas. It seemed that the habits of a teacher would not so easily fade. “…And if they areusing the power of the Eternal Sword to transcend time and space in order to turn their homework in on time?”

Regal coughed. “Then that sounds like it would be a disciplinary question for their instructor to deal with. Mirage!”

Raine’s jaw dropped as Regal’s form rapidly vanished into the distance. What happened to their shared responsibility as adults? “Regal Bryant, you get back here this instant!”

#tales of symphonia #colloydweek2021 #lloyd irving #colette brunel #raine sage

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dangerouscommiesubversive · 5 years ago

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Ikari Gai (and other Gokaigers) meeting some of his kouhai, V or Z?

V is for vibrant

Ahim is pursing her lips in disapproval, and when Gai finally asks her what’s wrong, she nods slowly and then says, “These children seem very young to be Super Sentai.”

Gai wants to argue, but--he can’t, quite. The ToQgers are children. They’re splitting a package of strawberry Pocky and talking about their homework. One of them is playing with a kendama. “I mean, you’re right, they’re very young. It’s not unknown, though. Kou, Kiba Ranger of the Dairangers, he started as a Sentai when he was nine.”

“Gai, this is not reassuring. And who is that man there? Is he their babysitter?”

“I think he’s their sixth, I haven’t actually had the chance to meet them properly yet.”

At this point, of course, one of the children, the one with the kendama, says, very audibly, “You guys noticed that we’re being watched, right?” and as one, they all turn to look up at the ridge on which Ahim and Gai are sitting.

The boy in the red jacket waves enthusiastically. “Hi! Why are you watching us?”

Ahim makes another disapproving noise, but Gai waves back. “We’re the Gokaigers! We’re here to meet you! Conductor told you we were coming, right?”

“Oh, yeah! You’re the pirate guys! King told us about you!”

Once Gai and Ahim have made their way down from the ridge there’s a round of introductions. Ahim continues to look concerned and disapproving, but visibly softens at each enthusiastic greeting she receives, until by the time she gets to the last child, Kagura, she’s actually smiling. “You must be your team’s Pink,” she says, shaking the little girl’s hand. “You have exactly that sort of look.”

Kagura beams at her and strikes a pose. “ToQ Gogou! At your service!”

Ahim nods slowly, the frown coming back. “You’re numbered? You don’t go by color?”

“Oh, no! It’d be too confusing.”

“It would be--how in the world would it be confusing?”

Gai, meanwhile, has descended on the one adult of the group, who looks mildly alarmed by the grin on his face. “You must be ToQ Rokugou, then! I’m Ikari Gai! Gokai Silver!”

The man eyes him uncertainly and then says, “Akira,” visibly confused as he shakes hands. “Conductor said you needed our help?”

“Well, yes, we’re dealing with an alien invasion force that has psychic powers, the Cognitons, and according to the research I’ve done, your team’s imagination-based combat should be just the thing to counter them.”

Akira makes a non-committal noise. “If you say so. The kids will definitely be excited, I just go where they go. Otherwise they might get into trouble. They’re not adults anymore, you know.”

Gai blinks. “I...I see.”

The children are, reasonably, incredibly excited when the Galleon shows up to pick them up, and the short trip to the incipient battlefield is spent in an absolute riot of talking and games as the other Gokaigers get to meet their third-generation juniors. Doc in particular immediately bonds with the anxious boy with glasses, Tokacchi, and spend fifteen minutes talking about the maintenance the Galleon requires while Tokacchi takes furious notes.

Joe meets them when they anchor and says, shortly, “The Cogniton commander is very interested in our so-called secret weapon, Gai, these kids had better be worth it.”

“I have full faith in them!” Gai beams at him as nearby the five children scramble to get their changers out of their backpacks. “I think they’re exactly the help we need today.”

And the thing is, they are. The Cognitons are suitably bowled over by the overwhelming imaginative might of the ToQgers, their psychic powers no match for the sheer mental energy of children furiously making things up as they go along. The first few ranks of enemies fall in moments.

Then, though, something very strange happens.

ToQ Sangou, Mio, bounds across the field to Tokacchi, something switches hands between them, and--she changes.

She turns into a Blue. And Tokacchi turns into a Yellow.

Back-to-back with Gai, Ahim makes an alarmed noise and shouts, “Did they just swap colors?”

“They did.” Gai only has a moment to gape before he has to duck a blast from a Cogniton soldier. “Actually, that seems like a really interesting way of doing things. Tokacchi’s very good with that hammer, isn’t he?”

“That’s unheard of!”

“I mean, you want to talk about unheard of, Rokugou over there is an Orange!”

The ToQgers continue to swap colors as they fight, a dizzying rainbow whirl as they bounce back and forth across the battlefield. When Right goes from Red to Pink, Ahim actually lets out a tiny shriek of outrage. “That little boy does not have the character to be a Pink!”

“I mean, he seems like he’s doing fine.”

“That’s not what I mean, Gai, he doesn’t seem like the emotional support of his team at all! There is a legacy to uphold!”

"All of us have turned into Pinks before, that never bothered you."

"Well, of course, but you didn't turn into me! You changed into other Pinks. He became his own team's Pink, and I’m sure he’s far too reckless for the position."

"It was only for a minute, though."

He can practically see her worried expression through her helmet. "Still!"

By the time the battle’s over Ahim’s calmed down, softening again as she watches the young ToQgers de-transform and immediately lapse into excited chatter about everything they did, and how cool the Gokaigers were. Nearby, Gai corners Akira and says, “You’re an Orange! Why didn’t you mention?”

Akira blinks at him. “Of course I wear orange, I do railway maintenance.”

“I don’t think you understand, there hasn’t been an Orange sentai in decades. Not since Battle Cossack in 1979. This is extraordinary. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

A slow nod. “If you want to, I guess.”

Before long, though, the children have to be dropped off, and shortly after they’ve left Akira bids Gai a slightly friendlier goodbye and wanders away into the sunset, playing harmonica. Gai, watching him go from the Galleon, sighs and says to Ahim, “You know, it’s really hitting me seeing them, I think we were the end of an era.”

Ahim nods. “Sentai these days do seem to be much more complicated.” A pause. “I still don’t think that boy Right has the right temperament to be a Pink of the usual sort, but perhaps these children function differently. And Kagura is very sweet, I approve of her completely.”

“All the teams nowadays function differently. The Go-Busters are pretty strange, you remember, and the Kyouryugers have all those extra members, and now these kids have an Orange and they trade...” Gai sighs, but happily. “It’s exciting, you know? I’ve been thinking I should make a serious study of how Super Sentai have changed over the years. Maybe I’ll write a book about it.”

#ikari gai #ahim de famille #nonomura hikari #izumi kagura #nijino akira #fanfiction #anonamouse

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needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves · 4 years ago

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To recap today's episode!!; Holi and Jan get kidnapped by Hellbat, who uses them as hostages as an attempt to gather autobot intel. Thanks to some arts and crafts work by Jan, as well as help by Galaxy shuttle and Star Saber, they were able to escape. Hellbat puts everyone on blast, and reveals that he did steal somwthing from the autobots. Jan's homework. Suffice to say, daddy Deathsaurus wasn't happy. That's all for today folks!

Episode link;

https://gogoanimetv.to/anime/transformers-victory-yv71/ep-14

#recaps #Rescue Jan!!#s1 ep14

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applejacks1552 · 5 years ago

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Day 7 - Theme: AU for Rogue and Gambit week 2020

(Also Day 3 - Domesticity)

Entire story can be found here:

#Rogue/Gambitweek2020 #Rogue/Remyweek2020 #Romy #Rambit #AU #Gambit #Rogue

Children of X

CHAPTER 8

The sun was seated on the horizon with morning properly underway, as the twins strategically circled Gambit out on the dusty savannah.

Becca, crouching slightly, cocked her head at Ollie moving her eyes just so, then lifted her chin to the right, communicating her intentions silently. Ollie scrunched his nose at her suggestion, shook his head no, and nodded upward to convey another meaning. Meanwhile, Remy stood stalk still between them grinning and at the ready, a blindfold tied snugly over his eyes.

Rogue and Storm sat off several yards away, resting casually on a sizable cluster of rocks located nearby the disguised entrance to the underground lair. They looked on with mild interest as the kids' “homework” commenced. The assignment for them was simple enough - steal the blindfold. Meanwhile, Remy's job was merely to evade their attempts without leaving the circle he had outlined in the dirt.

The twins rushed him together, Becca attempting a flying grab for his head, while Ollie tried to sweep his legs. Remy dodged them both, smoothly rolling to the left as the kids nearly collided in their enthusiasm.

He laughed, “Good try. But you’ll have to do better than dat.”

As they regrouped for another attempt, Rogue was engrossed with the Wakanden tablet Storm had lent her. She inserted the drive she had smuggled back from her mission and began pouring over a schematic, delighted to find she could pull it out into a 3-dimensional model with the advanced tech.

"Your next target?" Ororo inquired looking over with curiosity.

Rogue nodded, studying the model intensely with a furrowed brow, "Yeah."

Storm inspected the diagram, "Where is this exactly?"

"Just South of Chenjianping ..." Rogue answered. "Looks like a run o’ the mill factory, but it goes a lot deeper down. See?" She gestured.

Storm nodded her agreement. "How many bases will this have been now?"

Rogue was thoughtful, recounting their targets, "We hit the one in Nebraska first. Wasn't much there anymore really. Still abandoned since it was originally blown up. Same goes for the one in the Kerguelen Islands an' the theatre in Seattle, … then there was Paris … Anchorage … All the connections were already closed, though."

“All this searching … when will you know it is enough?” Storm asked in her straightforward, placid manner.

Rogue scowled slightly, “When he’s gone. And for good this time.”

“Still X-Men. Even after all this time. Forever fighting the hopeless cause.” Storm observed with bemusement, looking back to the training session.

Rogue frowned. “Ah don’t like it any better than you do, ‘Ro. But there isn’t a lot of choice in the matter."

“That was not meant as a criticism, Rogue. Just that … I’m sorry it has come to all this. As X-Men, sacrificing all that we have … I had always hoped it meant we could find some peace in our time and that our children might do the same. That they’d be the ones to live in the dream.” Storm reflected wistfully. “They’re getting quite good though.” she nodded, as Becca finally managed to glance a thwarted grab off Gambit’s shoulder while he was avoiding another kick from Ollie.

“Dat’s my girl.” Remy encouraged. “C’mon now, Ollie. Get in here. Not gonna let your old man win now, are ya?"

Rogue smiled, glancing over. “It’s kind of amazing watchin’ them grow. Seein’ what they can do. Ah see myself in them sometimes, 'Ro.” She sighed. “But yeah ... then I wonder … are we doing right by them? Was it wrong of us, bringing kids into all this? The X-Men? The Thieves Guild? Spendin’ their whole life in hiding because of who and what we are?”

“As I recall,” Storm smirked, “It was not exactly as though you and Remy planned this out. Fate made the decision for you.”

Rogue laughed, “Well … fate or not … can’t say Ah wasn’t a willing participant.”

Storm echoed her laugh with a heartier one.

They turned their attention back to the skirmish, where the kids were still losing.

Rogue whistled to them and when they looked her way, she made a twirling signal with her finger. They nodded understanding and paused a moment. She bent down to scoop something up.

"Hey! No help from de peanut gallery!" Remy objected in her general direction.

Rogue skipped a stone past his left foot with a sly smirk and when his head turned toward the movement and sound, the kids pounced on him, barely missing this time.

Rogue and Storm shared another good laugh.

"Jus' tryin' ta even out the playin' field, sugah." Rogue hooted at him in a sweet molasses taunt.

Remy recovered from his sharp roll away, shook his head and smiled his devious smile, muttering to himself, “Dis woman”.

"Seven years is it now? And with the very man some said could never settle down.” Storm observed. “Yet here you both are. And in all this time you’ve been almost entirely on the run too. Hasn't that been difficult?”

Rogue watched as the sparring continued, “Can’t say it’s always been easy or anywhere near perfect. We're apart so often ... too often, really. An' the times when we are together, sometimes it's just about gettin’ through it all an' surviving. And sure, once in a while Ah kinda have the urge to knock him unconscious for maybe an hour or two.” She smirked, “But …” she looked back over as Remy dodged another of the kids’ attempts with a fancy flip and devil-may-care laugh. “Yeah, Ah don’t know what Ah’d do without him.”

“I imagine Remy would echo those sentiments. Even now, the man is still showing off for you.” Storm pointed out.

“Pfffhh, he’s showing off for whoever happens to be watching him.” Rogue noted wryly.

The kids had finally gotten ahold of Remy by each arm, but they still couldn’t actually bring him down low enough to grab the blindfold. Laughing he pulled them over into a heap where the lesson quickly devolved into an all-out tickle war. Though as his blindfold finally fell loose in the scuffle, Remy's eyes caught Rogue’s for a moment and the same intensity was still there between them. The same intensity that there had been back on the beach and ever since their reunion - the building anticipation they were both trying to stave off and ignore.

“Thanks for pulling some strings with T’Challa.” Rogue mentioned refocusing and rifling through the data some more. “Hope that didn’t cause anything … awkward?”

“We have an understanding.” Storm explained serenely. “Maybe you’d call it an arrangement? At any rate, there are some loyalties that can never be completely severed. When you've been as close as we have ... that's forever, regardless the circumstances.”

Rogue wasn't sure exactly of her meaning, but she understood the sentiment at any rate and nodded.

“Just let us know when ya'll need to kick us out.” Rogue answered. "Don’t want to overstay our welcome. What IS this place, anyway?"

"A safe house, of sorts. Or a secret rendezvous spot." Storm answered with a conspiratorial grin. "Depending on your point of view, I suppose."

Remy came walking over to join them, calling over this shoulder, “Why don't ya'll go play for a bit, D’Accord? Let the grown-ups talk awhile."

The kids grumbled about how they WERE grown up, but skittered off anyway eagerly looking for bugs to catch.

"Awww, non. Don' tell me you ladies are over here talkin' shop." Remy groaned, noticing Rogue with the building mock-up projecting from the tablet in her hands.

"Hey now, Ororo is nearly as expert a thief as you are. Ah just wanted to run this by -" Rogue started as Gambit sidled up next to her, his fingers settling hungrily between her bare shoulder blades, and tapped the schematic decisively off.

"The key there bein' nearly." he teased. "Now let’s get back to dat later, eh? How 'bout I go dig out the bottle of champagne I stashed in the fridge and we celebrate this fine reunion wit' a proper toast?"

"Remy, it's barely 7 am." Storm observed in a droll tone.

"Sure, on Wakandan time. But on California time, de night is young an' it's jus' about bedtime for some kids." he smirked, his eyes catching Rogue's again with that same fiery gaze. "Meanin' we can finally relax, neh? Be right back."

He hopped up and slipped into the nearby hideout before either of the women could object further.

Rogue shrugged and grinned after him. "We can get back to it tomorrow. But Ah think we'll need a different strategy for this target. It's one the X-Men have never encountered before and bigger. Ah'd really like your input, ‘Ro. An' Ah know Remy will too."

"Judging by the size alone, a one man mission will not be sufficient. But then what of the children?" Storm looked at her friend with concern.

"Well they ain't comin' with, obviously." Rogue acknowledged. "But yeah, we'll need to make some arrangements. There's no way Ah'm lettin' Remy run this next one solo though. An' Ah know he'll try."

Gambit re-emerged, champagne and flutes in hand. He passed the delicate glasses to Rogue. She cringed as he put his freed fingers to the top of the bottle to lightly charge the cork. It shot into the air and dissolved in a buzzing fushia fizz of sparks.

"See? I've gotten pretty good at dis." he grinned triumphantly and took a glass from Rogue who raised an amused brow at him as he poured and offered the first glass to Storm.

She raised a hand palm out. "Thank you my friend, but I will have to pass."

"Aww c'mon, padnat. Not even one? Can't hardly toast our gracious host dis way." he said, laying on as much charm as possible while he passed the glass back to Rogue instead.

"I have my reasons, Remy LeBeau. Now if you want to be a true gentleman, there's a carafe of freshly squeezed juice in the kitchen." she admonished him a little sternly.

Gambit cocked his head at her, a little taken aback, but recovered to smoothly reply with an over-the-top, "As you wish." complete with mocking bow. He took an empty glass from Rogue and handed her the bottle, shooting her a contemplative look before retreating back to the kitchen.

Rogue glanced at Storm a little uncertainly and took a sip from her glass. Strong of principle though she was, Storm wasn't one to avoid indulging in the simple pleasures of life or to let Remy irritate her.

She was formulating something to say, when Becca slipped up onto her lap wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Rogue reflexively pulled her baby girl in closer, setting the flute of champagne aside.

"Mama, can we go flyin'?" the little girl inquired sweetly, big eyes demanding her full attention.

Rogue pressed her forehead to her daughter's, rubbing turned-up nose to turned-up nose. "Ah dunno, sugah." She sighed.

Storm laughed with amusement. "So I see Remy has passed more than one of his skills on to the next generation?"

"Ah'll say. This one gives him a run for his money."

"Pllleeeaassee???" Becca laid on thicker and sweeter and was soon joined by a, "C'mon! Can we?" plead from Ollie.

"We're still under cover here." Rogue told them very seriously. "King T'Challa is doin' us a big favor lettin' us stay. So we can't do anything that's gonna attract too much attention."

"One moment, Anna. I think I can be of assistance." Storm interceded, hers eyes clouding over to a bright white and lifting her hands skyward. A thick fog swirled up out of thin air, then spread upward and outward to encase their entire camp in a tall hollow cylinder of cloud, hiding them from view for miles.

The kids looked around with an impressed "ooooohhhh" and ""aaawwww".

"Alright." Rogue caved, grinning at Storm as Ollie hopped up into her lap also. "But after this, it's to bed with the both of ya."

She tucked a child safely under each of her strong arms and they shot off into the sky with delighted squeals and whoops.

Storm was watching them with a satisfied and wistful smile, when Remy rejoined her. He handed her the glass of juice and took a seat, looking up to observe his family and admire Storm's handiwork.

"Thanks for dat, 'Ro. An' for everythin' else. So ... How far along are you, chére?" he asked, casually pouring himself some champagne.

Storm sipped her juice and swirled the glass thoughtfully, glancing sideways at Gambit to contemplate him, then finally answered. "A few months."

" ... A celebratory toast then?" Remy raised his glass slightly, but retained a sober tone.

"Perhaps in time, Remy." she answered with measured enthusiasm.

"... an' de father?" he started, trailing off before finishing the question.

"Doesn't know yet ... because I don't know for certain yet." she calmly explained.

Remy raised an eyebrow and nodded. "An' the King?"

"I'm not going to get into that now." Storm stated matter-of-factly.

"Sorry, chére. Dat things are ... complicated. Also means ya won't be joining us on dis next mission den." Remy took another long sip.

"No, I am afraid not." Storm nodded. "Can we keep this between us?"

"Sure. If dat's what you want. But Rogue's gonna wonder. Think she was hopin’ you'd come with me or her to China." he explained.

"I would not ask you to keep my secret from your own wife, Remy. But until I can tell the father of this child, it needs to stay between the three of us at least." Storm noted.

"We understan' more than most 'bout the need for discretion." Remy observed and gave her a reassuring smile. "If there's anything we can do ta help?"

"There is not. But I'm glad you are here." Storm looked skyward. "It does me good to see what this could look like ... in time."

"Not like you don' have a choice." Remy started.

"I have considered the options, my friend." She interupted. "But with so few mutants in the world, it seems wrong to deny this one a chance."

"The X-ranks be growin’ den, though maybe not in th' way ol' Chuck used ta recruit." Remy barked an ironic laugh.

Storm shot him a raised eyebrow, as Rogue suddenly lit down in their midst with two screaming kids.

"AGAIN!" they shouted in chorus.

"Nuh-uh! Nope! Ah said one ride and then ta bed." she metted out firmly.

"Awwww. Bed?! But the sun is out!" Olivier argued, collapsing bonelessly to the ground in protest, and Becca piled on a sassy and exasperated, "Yeah!" throwing her hands up at the bright sky.

"Don't try my patience." Rogue shot them a look. "It's nearly midnight in California. C'mon now. Tell Miss Munroe thank you and goodnight."

"Thank you, Auntie Ro." Rebecca shot glumly and Ollie added a "G'night." pulling himself up as Rogue herded them toward the hideout entrance.

Remy stood, but Rogue insisted, "Let me get them ta bed, sugah. It's been such a long time since Ah got to. "

"Sure, chére. You get them settled. Then mebbe … we should be hittin’ the hay too, yeah?" his eyes caught hers again.

She grinned and cocked her head at him. "Maybe."

Storm followed their exchange, adding, "I think I'll see if Illyana will take me back to the States with her for the day. I need to catch up with a few people. Then you all can have a quiet place to rest."

"Oh ... uh, if you want to, 'Ro. But don't go on our account." Rogue answered a little self-conscientiously, tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"Nonsense. I will return later." Storm insisted with a knowing grin.

"Alright. Well, goodnight then. And thanks." Rogue answered gratefully. She glanced from Storm back to Remy, who had both kids wrapped up in a bear hug.

“G’night, mes petits.”

They scampered into the hut and down below. He watched Rogue follow them, looking back over her shoulder at him once more as she disappeared from sight. Then he looked back to find Ororo watching him watching her.

He smirked a little self-consciously, “What?”

“Nothing … just … I’m glad for you. For both of you. Some things, at least, don't change.”

CHAPTER 9

The twins were settled in a room down at the end of a hallway off the central room, one meant for sleeping a small garrison it seemed. Several individual beds were vertically and horizontally stacked like stair-step shelves that jutted out from the walls in a mysterious fashion, independent of any supports, railings or ladders. The ceiling and walls were inlaid with tiny periwinkle bioluminescent lights that faintly alternated in patterns that resembled flowers then trees then stars. Becca, still hyper off the adrenaline rush from flying with Rogue, was already having a grand time of flipping and swinging amongst the many beds like a spider monkey. Ollie had made a solid, but somewhat more cautious climb to the top most bunk, standing there like king of the mountain and surveying his new dominion.

Rogue ordered them both back down to Earth and set Ollie to brushing his teeth at the basin, while she lovingly unwound Becca’s plaits and brushed out her fine, soft baby hair. It was more Remy's texture than hers, thicker and straighter than her own. It still impressed her that Remy had gotten accustomed to braiding it in her absence, though undoubtedly it was no challenge for his talented fingers. There was something unspoken between them … about the things they would carry on for each other in case there ever came a day when one of them didn’t return. Rogue found herself brushing longer than she need and stopped, giving her girl a gentle squeeze of affection. She never figured she’d be good at this … want this … miss this even.

Rogue helped the kids change into their night clothes, the simple garments already seemed worn and to be getting small on them. She would need to pick them up some new clothes soon. It was on her mind more so now than when she had left for her mission - how quickly they were growing. For mutants, growing meant getting closer to the day their powers would emerge in full. And for their children in particular, getting their full powers meant bringing them closer to the day they would be lost to their destiny. Rogue shuddered and pushed the thought from her mind. They weren’t there yet. There was still time. Time to make a difference. And time yet to enjoy all these little fleeting moments.

“What book are we reading then?” she asked, seating herself on the edge of a lower bunk.

"Here, Mama." Ollie pulled a beat-up volume from his bag and handed it to Rogue, climbing into the bunk where she sat. Becca scrambled in next to him.

"Move over!"

"I was here first!"

"Alright, alright ... no fighting or no book." Rogue threatened half-seriously.

Becca stuck her tongue out at her brother, who crossed his arms and huffed at her, but Rogue ignored them.

She turned the novel over to read the cover and chuckled to herself with a roll of her eyes, "Of course ..." then she turned to where the bookmark rested. Pulling it out, she cleared her throat and started, "Chapter 4, The Keeper of The Keys".

The twins listened with rapt interest as she described the magical giant man breaking into the isolated safe house out on a stormy sea, the way he put the human oppressors in their place, and the good news he delivered to their protagonist.

"You're a wizard, Harry." Rogue read in her best Hagrid voice and continued through the chapter as he received his letter and arguing followed and -

"Why isn't there a special school for mutants?" Becca suddenly interjected, looking at Rogue with her piercing eyes.

Olivier, though annoyed at the interruption of the story, gawked contemplatively at Rogue as well, curious for her answer.

" ... well ... there used to be ..." she started.

"But there isn't anymore?" Ollie cocked his head.

" ... sort of ... " Rogue went forward cautiously.

"You mean there IS one?!" Becca sat up with excited interest.

"No, no ... just ... there's a place that ... well, that takes care of mutant kids who don't have anyone to look after them." Rogue explained.

The twins glanced to each other and back to their Mother.

"Don't they have parents?" Ollie wondered.

"They're orphans, right?" offered Becca.

"Lots of reasons." Rogue answered calmly. "Now how about we finish-"

"Is it big? Like Hogwarts?" Becca queried on with more excitement.

Rogue grumbled to herself and massaged her forehead. "No. It's very small and very secret."

"Like Hogwarts." Ollie whispered with awe.

"It's NOT like Hogwarts." Rogue insisted. "Now do ya want ta hear the rest of this story or not?"

Ollie bit his lip, but Becca just frowned thoughtfully.

After a pause filled with silence and giving an *ahem*, Rogue began to continue on with the story again, "Why aren't you supposed to do magic-"

"But WHY is the mutant school so small?" Becca interrupted again.

Rogue sighed and put the mark back in the book, this time closing it in her lap.

Ollie whined, but Rogue reached out to touch their faces and look them in the eyes as she said gently, "Because ... there aren't a lot of us left."

"But why?" Ollie asked, his small brow now also furrowed to match his sister's.

"It's complicated, darlin'. Mostly ... it's because people didn't want to have mutants born in their families a while back and they took a medicine to stop it from happening." Rogue told them honestly.

" ... oh ..." the little boy bowed his head.

"Hey now ... see here ..." Rogue pulled her babies into her lap. "That doesn't have anything to do with us, alright? People were just scared of what they didn't understand. Maybe there aren't a lot of us anymore. But we're not alone, ok? We have each other and we have friends, people like us."

The kids nodded. They'd met a slew of fellow mutants in their many travels.

“But there aren’t any other kids.” Becca pointed out.

“Sure there are, hon. Remember Josiah? When we were on Chandilar? That place with all the tall buildings?” Rogue asked.

The twins just looked at her blankly and Rogue frowned. “Well … ah guess maybe you were too young to remember. Anyway, the point is there are plenty of other mutant kids, just like you.”

“Do they look like us?” Ollie wondered.

“No, stupid. Everybody looks different. Right, Mama?” Becca insisted triumphantly.

“Hey now, don’t be mean to your brother.” She chastised. “An’ yes, everyone looks different and has different powers. Most kids don’t even have powers ‘til they’re older. Just like we talked about.”

“Can we meet them?” Becca was intense and excited again.

“Alright, alright … time to calm down, both of ya.” Rogue shushed them. “Ah’m sure you will sometime, but Ah ain’t makin’ any promises right now. Now lie down and not another peep until Ah finish this chapter.”

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twiddlebirdlet · 5 years ago

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https://www.wired.com/story/chris-evans-starting-point-politics/

Chris Evans Goes to Washington

The actor's new project, A Starting Point, aims to give all Americans the TL;DR on WTF is going on in politics. It's harder than punching Nazis on the big screen.

It’s a languid October afternoon in Los Angeles, sunny and clear.

Chris Evans, back home after a grueling production schedule, relaxes into his couch, feet propped up on the coffee table. Over the past year and a half, the actor has tried on one identity after another: the shaggy-haired Israeli spy, the clean-shaven playboy, and, in his Broadway debut, the Manhattan beat cop with a Burt Reynolds ’stache. Now, though, he just looks like Chris Evans—trim beard, monster biceps, angelic complexion. So it’s a surprise when he brings up the nightmares. “I sleep, like, an hour a night,” he says. “I’m in a panic.”

The panic began, as panics so often do these days, in Washington, DC. Early last February, Evans visited the capital to pitch lawmakers on a new civic engagement project. He arrived just hours before Donald Trump would deliver his second State of the Union address, in which he called on Congress to “bridge old divisions” and “reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution.” (Earlier, at a private luncheon, Trump referred to Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, as a “nasty son of a bitch.”) Evans is no fan of the president, whom he has publicly called a “moron,” a “dunce,” and a “meatball.” But bridging divisions? Putting an end to the American body politic’s clammy night sweats? These were goals he could get behind.

Evans’ pitch went like this: He would build an online platform organized into tidy sections—immigration, health care, education, the economy—each with a series of questions of the kind most Americans can’t succinctly answer themselves. What, exactly, is a tariff? What’s the difference between Medicare and Medicaid? Evans would invite politicians to answer the questions in minute-long videos. He’d conduct the interviews himself, but always from behind the camera. The site would be a place to hear both sides of an issue, to get the TL;DR on WTF was happening in American politics. He called it A Starting Point—a name that sometimes rang with enthusiasm and sometimes sounded like an apology.

Evans doesn’t have much in the way of political capital, but he does have a reputation, perhaps unearned, for patriotism. Since 2011 he has appeared in no fewer than 10 Marvel movies as Captain America, the Nazi-slaying, homeland-defending superhero wrapped in bipartisan red, white, and blue. It’s hard to imagine a better time to cash in on the character’s symbolism. Partisan animosity is at an all-time high; a recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic found that 35 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of Democrats would oppose their child marrying someone from the other party. (In 1960, only 4 percent of respondents felt this way.) At the same time, there’s a real crisis of faith in the country’s leaders. According to the Pew Research Center, 81 percent of Americans believe that members of Congress behave unethically at least some of the time. In Pew’s estimation, that makes them even less trusted than journalists and tech CEOs.

If Evans got it right, he believed, this wouldn’t be some small-fry website. He’d be helping “create informed, responsible, and empathetic citizens.” He would “reduce partisanship and promote respectful discourse.” At the very least, he would “get more people involved” in politics. And if the site stank like a rotten tomato? If Evans became a national laughingstock? Well, that’s where the nightmares began.

It took a special serum and a flash broil in a Vita-Ray chamber to transform Steve Rogers, a sickly kid from Brooklyn, into Captain America. For Chris Evans, savior of American democracy, the origin story is rather less Marvelous.

One day a few years ago, around the time he was filming Avengers: Infinity War, Evans was watching the news. The on-air discussion turned to an unfamiliar acronym—it might have been NAFTA, he says, but he thinks it was DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an Obama-era immigration policy that granted amnesty to people who had been brought into the United States illegally as children. The Trump administration had just announced plans to phase out DACA, leaving more than half a million young immigrants in the lurch. (The Supreme Court will likely rule this year on whether terminating the program was lawful.)

On the other side of the television, Evans squinted. Wait a minute, he thought. What did that acronym stand for again? And was it a good thing or a bad thing? “It was just something I didn’t understand,” he says.

Evans considers himself a politico. Now 38, he grew up in a civic-minded family, the kind that revels in shouting about the news over dinner. His uncle Michael Capuano served 10 terms in Congress as a Democrat from Massachusetts, beginning right around the time Evans graduated from high school and moved to New York to pursue acting. During the 2016 presidential election, Evans campaigned for Hillary Clinton. In 2017 he became an outspoken critic of Trump—even after he was advised to zip it, for risk of alienating moviegoers. Evans could be a truck driver, Capuano says, and he’d still be involved in politics.

But watching TV that day, Evans was totally lost. He Googled the acronym and tripped over all the warring headlines. Then he tried Wikipedia, but, well, the entry was thousands of words long. “It’s this never-ending thing, and you’re just like, who is going to read 12 pages on something?” Evans says. “I just wanted a basic understanding, a basic history, and a basic grasp on what the two parties think.” He decided to build the resource he wanted for himself.

Evans brought the idea to his close friend Mark Kassen, an actor and director he’d met working on the 2011 indie film Puncture. Kassen signed on and recruited a third partner, Joe Kiani, the founder and CEO of a medical technology company called Masimo. The three met for lobster rolls in Boston. What the country needed, they decided, was a kind of Schoolhouse Rock for adults—a simple, memorable way to learn the ins and outs of civic life. Evans suggested working with politicians directly. Kiani, who had made some friends on Capitol Hill over the years, thought they’d go for it. Each partner agreed to put up money to get the thing off the ground. (They wouldn’t say how much.) They spent some time Googling similar outlets and figuring out where they fit in, Kassen says.

They began by establishing a few rules. First, A Starting Point would give politicians free rein to answer questions as they pleased—no editing, no moderation, no interjections. Second, they would hire fact-checkers to make sure they weren’t promoting misinformation. Third, they would design a site that privileged diversity of opinion, where you could watch a dozen different people answering the same question in different ways. Here, though, imbibing the information would feel more like watching YouTube than skimming Wikipedia—more like entertainment than homework.

The trio mocked up a list of questions to bring to Capitol Hill, starting with the ones that most baffled them. (Is the electoral college still necessary?) They talked, admiringly, about the way presidential debate moderators manage to make their language sound neutral. (Should the questions refer to a “climate crisis” or a “climate situation,” “illegal immigrants” or “undocumented immigrants”?) Then Evans recorded a video on his couch in LA. “Hi, I’m Chris Evans,” he began. “If you’re watching this, I hope you’ll consider contributing to my new civics engagement project called A Starting Point.” He emailed the file to every senator and representative in Congress.

Only a few replied.

In hindsight, Evans realizes, the video “looked so cheap” and either got caught in spam filters or was consciously deleted by congressional staffers. “The majority of people, on both sides of the aisle, dismissed it,” Evans says. Many “thought it was a joke.” Yet there are few doors in American life that a square jaw can’t open, particularly when it belongs to a man with many millions of dollars and nearly as many swooning Twitter fans. Soon enough, a handful of politicians had agreed to meet with the group.

On the morning of his first visit to Capitol Hill, as he donned a slick gray windowpane suit and a black polka-dot tie and combed his perfect hair back from his perfect forehead, Evans felt a wave of doubt. “This isn’t my lane,” he recalls thinking as he walked through the maze of the Russell Senate Office Building. Here, people were making real change, affecting the lives of millions of Americans. “And shit,” Evans said to himself, “I didn’t even go to college.”

“This isn’t my lane,” Evans thought as he walked through the maze of the Russell Senate Office Building.

The trio’s first stop was the office of Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. “Which one is the senator?” Evans asked.

Coons, having never watched any of the Avengers movies, didn’t know who Evans was, either. But in short order, he says, he was won over by the actor’s charm and “very slight but still noticeable” Boston accent. The thing that got Coons the most, though—the thing that would lead him to pass out pocket cards on the Senate floor to recruit others, especially Republicans, to take part in the project—was how refreshing it was to be asked simple questions: Why should we support the United Nations? Why does foreign aid matter? Coons saw real value in trying to explain these things, simply and plainly, to his constituents.

“Look, I’m not naive,” Coons says. He is the first to admit that one-minute videos won’t fix what’s wrong with American politics. “But it’s important for there to be attempts at civic education and outreach,” he adds. “And, you know, his fictional character fought for our nation in a time of great difficulty.”

Evans stiffens slightly when people mention Captain America. The superhero comparison is, admittedly, a little obvious. But again and again on Capitol Hill, the shtick proved useful: Sometimes it’s better to be Captain America than a Hollywood liberal elite who defends Roe v. Wade and wants to ban assault weapons. When Evans met Jim Risch, the Republican senator from Idaho joked about catching him up on NATO, “since he missed the 70 years after World War II.” When he met Representative Dan Crenshaw, a hard-line Texas Republican and former Navy SEAL who lost his right eye in Afghanistan, Crenshaw lifted up his eye patch to reveal a glass prosthetic painted to look like Captain America’s shield.

Eventually, Evans loosened up—at least he lost the tie. Since that first round of visits, he and Kassen have returned to Washington every six weeks or so, collecting more than 1,000 videos from more than 100 members of Congress, along with about half of the 2020 Democratic hopefuls. Evans has conducted every interview himself. Kassen, meanwhile, managed the acquisition of a video compression startup in Montreal. About a dozen of the company’s engineers are building a custom content management system for A Starting Point, which is slated to go live in February. They’re running bandwidth tests too—just in case, as Kassen worries, “everyone in Chris’ audience logs on that first day.”

“We have to do this now,” Evans says. “It’s out there. We have to finish this. Shit.”

Back in LA, Evans pulls up the site on his iPhone. He hesitates for a moment and covers the screen with his hand. It’s still a demo, he explains, in the same bashful tone he uses to tell me the guest bathroom is out of toilet paper.

On the homepage, there’s a clip of Evans explaining how to use the site and a carousel of “trending topics” (energy, charter schools, Hong Kong). You can enter your address to call up a list of your representatives and find their videos; you can also contact them directly through the site. The rest is organized by topic and question, with a matrix of one-minute videos for each—Democrats in the left-hand column, Republicans on the right.

Early on in the development of the site, Evans and Kassen fought over fact-checking. Kassen, arguing against, was concerned about the optics: Who were they to arbitrate truth? Evans insisted that A Starting Point would only seem objective if visitors knew the answers had been vetted somehow. Ultimately he prevailed, and they agreed to hire a third-party fact-checker. They have yet to put their thousand-plus videos through the wringer, so for now I’m seeing first drafts. If they’re found to contain falsehoods, Evans says, they won’t appear on the site at all.

Kassen showed me a sampling of some of this raw material. Under “What is DACA?” I found dozens of videos, offering dozens of different starting points.

One representative, a Republican whose district lies near the Mexican border, describes the program’s recipients as “1.2 million men and women who have only known the United States as their home.” They go to school, he explains; they serve in the military; they’ve all passed background checks.

Sometimes it’s better to be Captain America than a Hollywood liberal elite who defends Roe v. Wade and wants to ban assault weapons.

Another Republican representative says, “So, DACA is a result of a really bad immigration system … We’re seeing record numbers of families crossing the border because a kid equals a token for presence in the US. All right? We have all of these people come over, we can’t process them, they’re claiming asylum. I just heard from the secretary of Homeland Security this week, about nine in 10 don’t have valid claims of asylum. Meaning they’re not political—there’s no political persecution going on. OK?”

These two responses (from politicians on the same side of the aisle, no less) illustrate some of the quandaries that Evans, Kassen, and their fact-checkers are likely to encounter. The first representative, for instance, says there are 1.2 million DACA recipients, when in fact only 660,000 immigrants are currently enrolled in the program. The higher number is based on an estimate of those who could be eligible published by the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. The “nine in 10” statistic, meanwhile, is a loose interpretation of data from 2018, which shows that only about 16 percent of immigrants who filed a “credible fear” claim were granted asylum. But this does not mean, as the representative implies, that the other claims weren’t “valid”—merely that they weren’t successful. Nearly half of all asylum claims from this time were dismissed for undisclosed reasons. These are fairly hair-splitting examples, but even the basic, definitional questions are drenched in opinion. What is Citizens United? “Horrible decision,” says a Democratic senator in his video response.

Evans doesn’t want to spend time refereeing politicians. To him, A Starting Point should act more like a database than a platform—rhetoric that rhymes with that of Facebook and Twitter, which have mostly sidestepped responsibility for their content. He’s just hosting the videos, he says; it’s up to politicians to decide how they answer the questions. There’s no comment section and no algorithmically generated list of recommended videos. “You need to decide what you need to watch next,” Kassen says.

One of the assumptions underlying Evans’ project—and it’s a very big assumption—is that the force of his fame will be enough to attract people who otherwise would have zero interest in watching a carousel of videos from their elected officials. This, by all accounts, is most people: Only a third of Americans can name their representatives in Congress, and those who can aren’t binge-watching C-Span. “Celebrities bring an extraordinary ability to get attention,” says Lauren Wright, a political researcher at Princeton and author of Star Power: American Democracy in the Age of the Celebrity Candidate. But Evans, she says, is “not taking the route that a lot of celebrities have, which is: The solution to American politics is me.” It would be one thing if Evans were guiding you through the inner workings of Congress like a chiseled Virgil. But why would someone watch a senator dryly explain NAFTA when they could watch, say, a YouTube video of Chris Evans on Jimmy Kimmel?

Without its leading man in the frame, A Starting Point begins to look uncomfortably similar to the many other platforms that have sought to fight partisanship online. A site called AllSides labels news sources as left, center, or right and encourages readers to create a balanced media diet with a little from each. A browser plug-in called Read Across the Aisle (“A Fitbit for your filter bubble”) measures the amount of time you spend on left-leaning, right-leaning, or centrist websites. The Flip Side bills itself as a “one-stop shop for smart, concise summaries of political analysis from both conservative and liberal media.”

The underlying idea—that there would be a new birth of civic engagement if only we could wrest control of the information economy from the hands of self-serving ideologues and deliver the news to citizens unbiased and uncut—is an old one. In 1993, when the modern internet was just a gleam in Al Gore’s eye, Michael Crichton wrote in this magazine’s pages that he was sick and tired of the “polarized, junk-food journalism” propagated by traditional media outlets. (This was three years before Fox News and MSNBC came into being; he was talking about The New York Times.) What society needed, he argued, was something more like C-Span, something that encouraged people to draw their own conclusions.

But does any of it work? Not according to Wright. “We have many years of research on these questions, and the consensus among scholars is that the proliferation of media choices—including sites like Evans’—has not increased political knowledge or participation,” she says. “The problem isn’t the lack of information. It’s the lack of interest.” Jonathan Albright, director of the Digital Forensics Initiative at Columbia’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism, agrees. “All of these fact-checking initiatives, all of this work that goes into trying to disambiguate issues or trying to reduce noise—people have no time,” he says. “Some people care about politics, but those are not the people you need to reach.”

Naturally, this sort of talk makes Evans a little nervous. But he takes refuge in what he sees as the core strengths of the concept. For one thing, he argues, snack-size videos are more accessible than text. Also, those other sites rely on a translator to interpret the issues, while A Starting Point goes straight to the source. It’s not for policy wonks. It’s for average Americans, centrists, extremists, swing voters—everyone!—who want to hear about policy straight from the horse’s mouth. (Never mind that most people hold horses in higher regard.)

Evans has all kinds of ideas for how to keep people coming back. He might add a section of the website where representatives can upload weekly videos for their constituents, or a place where policymakers from different parties can discuss bipartisan compromise. He talks about these ideas with an enthusiasm so pure and so believable that you almost forget he’s an actor. The whole point, he says, is giving Americans a cheap seat on the kinds of conversations that are happening on Capitol Hill. That’s a show that Evans is betting people actually want to see.

The worst thing that could happen isn’t that nobody watches the videos. That would suck, but Evans could deal with it. What gets him riled up most is thinking about what he might have failed to consider. What if the site ends up promoting some bizarre agenda that he never intended? What if people use the videos for some kind of twisted purpose? “One miscalculation,” he says, “and you may not get back on track.” (See: Facebook.)

Evans knows his idea to save democracy can come off a little Pollyannaish, and if it flops, it’ll be his reputation on the line. But he really, really believes in it. OK, so maybe it won’t save America, but it might piece together some of what’s been broken. A fresh start. A starting point.

“This does feel to me like everybody wins here. I don’t see how this becomes a problem,” he says, before a look of panic crosses his face, the anxiety setting in again.

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dancsjournal · 5 years ago

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Week 6 & 7 of CST 325

This week, we tackled matrices! Honestly, I had a ton of fun with this one and I’m extremely grateful for my higher math background as I think I would have struggled with this homework if not for that linear algebra course I took a while back. I’m extremely grateful for that teacher as well, as they helped me understand that matrices are nothing more than data structures for vectors which helped A TON with the final bit of this homework! I got it all done, with the biggest issue being getting the moon to circle the earth. I don’t know why I forgot to combine the rotation matrix with the earth transform matrix, but I did and that caused me no end of issues. But I did find out that this way of doing the problem is kinda boring. I know if we change the axis that we rotate on (z -> y) we can get a much cooler effect of the earth passing in front of the sun! Either way, this was a really fun project and now I’m scared for the next project: rasterization.... Should I scream now or later is the question of the day

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duhragonball · 6 years ago

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Dragon Ball Z Movie 5: Cooler’s Revenge

Movie time again. This time it’s Cooler’s Revenge, which premiered on July 20, 1991, between the airdates of Episodes 99 and 100. The original title was “Dragon Ball Z: The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest“

I found the timing of this movie very strange, because the whole plot is direct sequel to the events of the Frieza Saga, which didn’t end until Episode 107. In Episode 99, Frieza is still fighting Goku on Namek, and he feels pretty confident about his chances. A few days after that episode airs, you go to the theater and see this movie, where Frieza’s already dead and his brother goes after Goku to take revenge.

On the other hand, the manga had already moved on to the next arc by this time. Chapter 333 was published on July 16, 1991, and it features Goku meeting Future Trunks, right after he finished killing Mecha-Frieza. So this movie apparently presumes you read the comics. Or, if you’re anime-only, maybe it assumes you kind of know which way this Frieza thing is going to turn out.

The movie opens with the destruction of Planet Vegeta. You know, they really got their money’s worth out of that Bardock TV Special, didn’t they. I think this is the fourth of fifth time they used this footage for flashbacks, and it was less than a year old at this point.

From a distance, a second spaceship observes Frieza destroying the planet. They apparently have really great cameras if they could get such a good close up of Frieza’s face.

The crew also notices a single spacecraft escaping the planet’s destruction. I guess they patched into some camera inside the ship? Their leader orders them to destroy it, but then their boss belays that order. He sees this Saiyan baby as an oversight on Frieza’s part, and he refuses to clean up Frieza’s mess for him. As Cooler puts it, Frieza planted this seed, so he can reap the harvest, whatever that might be.

And there’s the title card. We’re underway.

On Earth, Goku’s parting the ocean outside Roshi’s house, and Roshi thinks about how much stronger Goku is since he returned from Namek.

Back at Goku’s house, Chi-Chi brings Gohan some Tang and tries to chase Icarus away, but then Goku does that last one for her. He’s all “Hey, don’t bother Gohan, Icarus. He’s gotta do his homework!” Chi-Chi assumes this means Goku has a fever.

She’s so worried about this that she drinks Gohan’s Tang. Rude.

Turns out Goku does have a fever, and the only prescription for that fever is camping. He want Gohan to hurry up and do his homework so they can goof off in the woods somewhere. I guess the TWO camping trips from Movie 3 didn’t scratch that itch.

Meanwhile, on some other planet, Cooler’s men report that Frieza was killed by a Saiyan named Son Goku. Cooler is astonished and outraged, and he resolves to go to Earth and kill Goku as soon as possible. Not because he cares about Frieza, but because he insists on restoring his family’s honor.

Flash ahead to the camping trip, where Krillin is making curry over a campfire. He sends Gohan to get some more firewood and.... does Gohan have his tail? Huh.

Elsewhere, Goku catches a big-ass fish that Krillin’s gonna fry up to go with the curry. This does sound like a fun time, actually.

But then the bad guys show up. The big green one, Dore, grabs him by the tail, and questions how this kid could have killed Frieza, since his power level is 50. Salza, the blue one, notes that his reading it probably low because of his tail being grabbed, but that’s still pretty weak.

Then Goku shows up, and they introduce themselves as Cooler’s Armored Squad. The brown one is named Neiz, by the way.

Goku fights all three of them at once, and does pretty well, but then their boss shows up and he mistakes him for Frieza.

Then Cooler tries to shoot down Gohan, who’s flying nearby, so Goku has to go save him...

... only to take a ki blast to his back.

Despite this, he manages to fire back at Cooler, who deflects it. Then Goku nd Gohan fall in the river and get lost in the water. Cooler’s men are satisfied that they must be dead, but Cooler isn’t convinced. Goku survived his attack, and had enough power to strike back, which means he’s tougher than most Saiyans. He orders his men to find Goku no matter what.

Gohan manages to get Goku into a cave, but he’s still in rough shape.

Making matters worse, Cooler’s men decide to carpet bomb the whole forest to flush Goku out. All the end up doing is sealing off the cave Goku’s hiding in.

Later, Cooler’s goons report that they must have vaporized Goku by now, but Cooler won’t be satisfied until they bring him a body. He notes that he could have just blown up the whole Earth and killed Goku that way, but he wants to kill Goku in person, as he feels this would be the only way to satisfy his family’s honor.

That night, Krillin, Oolong and Icarus search for Goku, and Icarus manages to sniff out Gohan’s hiding place. Krillin digs them out, being careful to suppress his ki so the bad guys’ scouters won’t pic them up. Goku insists that he should take care of the animals first.

But Krillin has already delegated that task to Oolong and Icarus. Only trouble is that Oolong starts a rockslide while he’s freeng that bunny rabbit, so Krillin has to use a ki blast to save him.

Fortunately, Neiz nearly collides with a pterodactyl as he chases down the scouter blip, and he decides the pterodactly must have been the source of the disturbance.

So Krillin sends Gohan and Icarus to Korin’s Tower to get some senzu beans. Meanwhile, Goku sleeps on a deer while a bunch of otehr animals gather ‘round him to make him look cuter, I guess.

Gohan makes the trip via Icarus, because if he flew on his own power it would tip off Cooler’s guys. But when he makes it to Korin, Korin chews him out for not climbing the tower like everyone else i supposed to do. Gohan started about halfway, because he was riding Icarus. This scene is kind of weird, because Gohan’s never even been here before, and Korin seems pretty content to mess around while Goku’s life is at stake. Does he not sense Cooler’s presence on the planet? This is an emergency.

So Gohan agrees to go back down and climb the tower from the ground, but then Yajirobe tosses him a whole bag of senzu beans. He and Korin argue about it, and eventually Korin admits that he was just going to give Gohan the beans for being honest, so Yajirobe just stole his thunder.

On the way back, Icarus is pretty worn out, so Gohan gives him a senzu bean to rejuvenate him. But it works a little too well, because Icarus ends up flying so fast that he creates a signal on the bad guys’ scouters.

Gohan tries to fight the Armored Squad by himself, and he doesn’t too badly, but there’s three of them and one of him, and soon the numbers game catches up with him. It’s a really well-animated scene, though.

Then Piccolo shows up to help, because by now it’s become a DBZ Movie tradition.

Piccolo sends Gohan on ahead, but the squad sends Dore after him, so Piccolo shoots a ki blast at Neiz. Neiz can suck his entire head into his chest, though, so the blast misses him...

Only Piccolo wasn’t aiming at him in the first place. The blast locked onto Dore and followed him until it killed him. Piccolo, you magnificent bastard.

Neiz manages to catch Piccolo in some sort of paralysis field, so Salza heads after Gohan, leavng Neiz to finish Piccolo off.

That turns out to be a huge mistake, because Piccolo somehow manages to turn the attack back on Neiz, killing him instantly.

Then Piccolo chases after Salza in the forest. You know, this movie’s really good. Even this middle part has plenty of cool visuals and action sequences.

Piccolo does some stretchy arm stuff, and Salza makes a ki blade on his arm that can cut through trees, but ultimately Salza only survives thanks to a timely assist from Cooler, who zaps Piccolo with ki beam.

Later, Gohan returns to his dad with the senzu beans... but then Salza shows up and zaps them into ash before they can use them. Whoops.

While Krillin fights Salza, Gohan remembers that he still had one more bean in his belt, so he digs it out and feeds it to Goku.

Salza makes short work of Krillin and Gohan, and then he checks for Goku... when his scouter explodes.

Goku’s back and he’s pissed.

Then Cooler shows up and sets off an explosion under Piccolo. What a jerk.

Salza tries to punch Goku while he’s distracted, but it does absolutely nothing. Welcome to Goku Town, jackass.

Salza gets knocked into some rocks when Goku powers up, and then Goku and Cooler fight. It’s mostly even, though it looks like Cooler is holding back somewhat. Once he’s satisfied that Goku really is strong enough to have beaten Frieza, he decides to step things up a bit.

He reveals that while Frieza had four forms, Cooler has a fifth, which means he can become even stronger.

I mean, I get the idea of having your new villain one-up the last villain, but this sort of goes against the notion of Frieza’s transformations. The “final form” he used was his natural state, and the weaker forms were ones he devised to help suppress the bulk of his immense power. Cooler is starting out in his “final form”, and he claims to have a transform that will make him stronger instead of weaker. I think Toei might have gotten it backwards.

Still, the fifth form looks pretty cool.

Cooler just beats the shit out of Goku at this point. Goku can barely do anything against the guy. At one point he tries the 20x Kaio-ken Kamehameha he used against Frieza, but Cooler just leaps into the blast, swims through it, and comes out the other side to punch Goku in the face. Wicked.

Satisfied that he’s beaten Goku, Cooler decides to go ahead and blow up the planet.

Goku collapses onto the ground, and then he spots a bird that must have been hurt during Cooler’s invasion.

Then Goku gets up and heals the bird. How the hell did Goku do that, you may ask.

Because he’s the Legendary Super Saiyan, that’s how.

Cooler tries to fire a blast down at him, but before he can even bring down his arm, Goku’s already floating next to him and grabs him by the wrist. “Bitch, you thought--?”

Then he tries to punch Goku, and that does absolutely nothing. Welcome to Super Goku Town, you grape-flavored dumbass.

Goku only hits Cooler a few times before he gets the picture. This was the power Goku used to defeat Frieza, and Goku is about to use it on him.

So Cooler fires a huge blast at Goku. It doesn’t hurt him at all, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to use it as a diversion...

... so Cooler could make a big energy ball to destroy the whole planet. Baically, Cooler is a lot like Frieza, only he’s much more direct. He doesn’t waste nearly as much time on this stuff, although he could have done this half an hour ago and saved himself some trouble.

Instead, Goku stops the attack before it hits the ground, and then he mucles it up and launches it back on Cooler with a Kamehameha. If you’re watching the dub version, “Revelation” by American Pearl plays over this, and it’s petty awesome.

Cooler ends up getting launched into space, and eventually he realizes he’s headed for the Sun. That’s what you get for hurting innocent birds in Super Goku Town, you lowlife. Also, Piccolo and so forth. Mostly birds.

As Cooler dies in just about the most awesomest way possible, he realizes that he made the same mistake Frieza did. Frieza failed to intercept Goku’s spaceship when he was a baby, but Cooler let it go too. And now Goku’s defeated them both. So their whole family is a bunch of losers.

I really dig this. It’d be good enough to see the bad guy blasted into the sun like this, but on top of that, we see him realize the extent of his folly. Cooler believed he was even more cruel and ruthless than Frieza, but in the end he was brought down by he same sloppiness that plagued Frieza. He insisted on searching for Goku and giving him a chance to recover when he could have just blown up the planet from the start. And look where it got him.

Somehow, the explosion causes the whole sky to light up and then go dark before everything goes back to normal.

Everyone congratulates Goku on his victory, but they wonder what happened to Piccolo. Then they hear someone digging out of the rubble...

But it’s Salza. He’s like “I lived, bitch.” Then a Special Beam Cannon comes out of nowhere and kills him.

Elsewhere, Piccolo takes a drink of water and goes “No you didn’t.”

How did Piccolo recover from his injuries? He didn’t get a senzu bean, and Cooler worked him over pretty badly. Oh well.

And that’s the end.

Just to touch on continuity a bit, this one almost fits into the canon, because you could set it right after Future Trunks warns Goku about the Androids. It doesn’t seem too unlikely that Goku would take a camping trip as a break from training for the Android menace.

The only real continuity problems that arise are things like Gohan still having his Namek-era bowl cut, and growing his tail back. It’s not impossible, but it seems rather unlikely.

More importantly, it doesn’t add up that Goku seemed to wait until the very end of the movie to turn into a Super Saiyan. In the Future Trunks episodes, he revealed that he could transform at will. In this movie, it feels like he couldn’t transform until the situation became desperate enough. Also, it seems odd that Frieza’s brother invaded Earth and Tien, Yamcha, and Vegeta didn’t get involved at all. When Mecha-Frieza came to Earth, everyone sensed it immediately.

Nevertheless, this is one of the better entries in the movie series. The animation is really excellent, the visuals are pleasing and colorful, and the plot is satisfying enough to compensate for the somewhat unoriginal villain. Frieza has an older brother who’s stronger than he is? And where was he until this movie happened? Why doesn’t he rule the universe instead of Frieza? It’s the sort of thing a fan would make up as a gag, like El Hermano, Jiren’s evil brother from the Latin American DBZ fanbase. Only Cooler really hapened, and he got to be in a movie. Two movies.

Still, Cooler does have a certain charm to him as a guy who wants to be a better version of Frieza. My only complaint about him is that he’s voiced by Ryusei Nakao, the same voice actor who played Freza. That makes sense, sure, but it’s also pretty dumb, becaue the character was already a Frieza clone to start with. Giving him the same voice just makes things worse. Funimation got it right by casting a completely different person to play the part, and punching up Cooler’s self-esteem issues. Also, the dub had the cool soundtrack. If you want my advice, watch the dub version, but the original Japanese is still a good experience.

#dragon ball #2019dbliveblog #dbmovieliveblog #movie 5 #cooler's revenge #cooler #goku #oolong #krillin #gohan #yajirobe #piccolo #korin #chi chi #icarus #neiz #salza #dore #bardock #frieza

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matlabhwexperts-blog · 7 years ago

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smithbysmithies · 6 years ago

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Can you give some information about each house. I am an incoming first year and I would like to know more about each house. Like a mini blurb?

Hi! Here are some tidbits about some of the houses. I hope this helps!

Talbot: I live in Talbot, which is located on Upper Elm! We’re known as the moose house around campus because of our moose head. We have lots of house traditions and a strong house community. Here’s a post I wrote about Talbot on my blog.

Duckett: One of my best friends lives in Duckett and absolutely loves it! They’re located on Lower Elm and are one of the smaller houses on-campus. They have a tight-knit house community and a Wii in their living room. Their house mascot is the Duck.

Cushing: A fun fact about Cushing, they wear bunny ears a lot because Gloria Steinem lived there! They host an open-house party called Cushmansion. My friend that lives there loves doing homework in the living room with her housemates and likes not having to go outside to get to a dining hall!

Sessions: Sessions is the oldest house on-campus, and is considered by many to be haunted. They have a secret staircase that new students are tasked with finding every halloween (my friend that lives there still won't tell me where it is).

-Miranda ‘22

Capen: I have lived in Capen for all of my years at Smith College thus far. I think for what I need it is the best house. It is on the edge of campus which helps me mentally disconnect school life from home life. It has the most beautiful garden behind and you get to see the amazing transformations it goes through during the year. Moreover the Mwangi Cultural Center is right next to it and as a minority this building is especially important. Finally if you choose Capen house you would be right next to the food quad where basically you can do the food olympics with little to no work (food olympics is where you go to as many dining halls as possible and eat).

-Aboni ‘21

Duckett’s a pretty chill house. It’s central to different buildings on campus and to town. The rooms have a lot of personality and we have a table in the dining hall. We used to have a Wii- but it’s gone missing. Hopefully it’ll return. I wrote about Duckett here.

-Tari ‘21

Northrop: I lived in Northrop House my first year and plan on living their for years to come. It not only has a beautiful exterior, but it is close to so many of the dining halls (Gillet- vegan/vegetarian, Lamont, Chase, and Cutter z). It’s also the perfect location for me on campus-- right in between downtown, the quad, and the academic buildings. I am not super social in my house but I like how in Northrop you have the option for either.

-Anna ‘22

Chapin: Chapin’s one of the more centrally-located houses on campus. It’s right next to the CC and close to academic buildings. It has a great lawn out in front and views of the Pond and Botanical Gardens on the other side. It has a strong house community but there’s a good mix of people.

Jemara ‘20

Cutter: Cutter is one of the two houses with AC(!!!), a working fireplace, an elevator, a full-sized kitchen, and a dining hall along with huge glass windows/walls (that I adore very much). Cutter also is mostly singles with a guaranteed single by sophomore year. The location is absolutely amazing as it’s right across from the Campus Center and close to both academic buildings and downtown Noho! Cutter has one of the highest proportions of international students (along with Ziskind). The house community is very much present for anyone who wants to be involved, but it is very chill if you choose not to be involved as much. Box Love!

-Marium’22

Hopkins: Hopkins is a co-op where students shop and cook collaboratively- you can apply to live there if you are a student of color interested in a more intentional, smaller, food-justice driven community.

-Indie ‘21

#SmithCollege #Houses #Anonymous

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mirasdarkmaterials · 7 years ago

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The Wizarding World - The Coming of the Metamorphmagus - Chapter 5 (Legends & Charms)

THE WIZARDING WORLD of Harry Potter - THE COMING OF THE METAMORPHMAGUS

David was still in utter disbelief at what he just witnessed. He thought that he has seen it all: enchanted food, elves, half-giants, freaky water, ghosts! But cats turning into humans, he looks at the cat before him and wonders if this is a poor soul of Mrs. McGonagall…or a real cat. Reality was getting hard to distinguish in this place…the laws of the Muggle world just don’t apply to this realm! Minerva usually pulls this stunt with all the first year students to gage their ideas, inspiration and to see which students will be trouble. She adjusts her glasses as she addresses the class. “I must apologize for my tardiness, there was an incident in the courtyard prior to class that I had to attend to.” as everyone turns and glances at Rowan, Lily and David. “Please, if I can have your attention for a brief moment longer,” she says as everyone looks at her. “Welcome to your transfiguration class, today we will learn proper wand techniques! All movements should be firm and decisive! Any movements that are weak or indecisive will result in fail transfiguration. Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.” she begins and get to the subject, “Now, can anyone tell me what one can use transfiguration for?” Rowan raises her hand as Minerva acknowledges her, “To transform objects into another?” Minerva nods her head as she explains, “Correct Miss Bagnold, we can use transfiguration to transform one object into another…you all will not be learning those spells until year two however. Any other uses?” as she looks at the many faces looking at her. David raises his hand and gives it a shot, “What about revealing an objects true form?” Minerva was surprised to see David take a chance in answering a question as only two days ago, all he knew was the Muggle world. She nods as this brings her to the subject of today. “Correct Mr. Adriatian, we can use transfiguration to reveal an object, or persons...” as she glances at David for a moment “...true form.” as she writes onto the chalkboard…a true artifact! ‘Transfiguration is very hard work and needs a magically scientific disciplined mind!’ “According to Emeric Switch, transfiguring requires decisive wand movements. Do not wiggle to twirl your wand unnecessarily or your transfiguration will certainly be unsuccessful!” Rowan leans into David’s ear, “You should do great in this!” as Minerva glances at David and Rowan and tries to ignore Rowan’s out of place conversation, knowing it is important for self-encouragement. “Transfiguration is literally advance mathematics! You need to take all this into consideration before applying your spell.” she writes this on the blackboard: T = (w×c)(v×a)×Z∗ “‘T’ equals the intended transformation…take your cat for example…what would you want to turn your cat into?” Minerva asks as a Slytherin gives a cocky reply. “How about a pot of gold!” he says as Minerva accepts the idea and continues. “So ‘T’ equals a pot of gold and to be successful you need to consider first your wand’s power times by your concentration at the moment. At the same time, you need to know the cats viciousness times by the cat’s bodyweight and times that by the power of the spell, which is ‘Z’. Each and every one of you will have 10 minutes to take mental measurements of your individual cat and what you want to turn it into and when I call your name, you’ll write in on the board.” the students remain transfixed on her. "Well, have at it!" David looks at the foot tall grey cat as he tries to calm the cat, but it wants nothing to do with him and if he tries to touch it, it hisses at him. A few Slytherin’s chuckle as Rowan tries to help, and takes the cat with no issue, but as she hands the cat to David, the cat freaks out! “I think your cat is jinxed!” Rowan says as David looks at his fussy feline. “Okay Mr. Kitty, we need a truce between you and I!” David says as Lily comments. “Ah, I think that is a Mrs. Kitty, David!” she says as David smiles as it does not help his problem. David writes down the equation and then thinks of what to turn this cat into: ‘I know the perfect thing to turn you into…a catfish!’ David thinks as he writes Catfish on his paper and writes: ‘Catfish = Decisive wand movement X Concentration while taking the cats state of mind X the cats weight 2.5 pounds X the incantation.’ “Okay, times up…” Minerva looks around to see many lost faces as science does not come easy to wizards and witches. “Mr. Adriatian, please come to the board and write your answer.” David looks around as he rises and walks over to the chalkboard and writes: (Catfish= Decisive wand movement X concentration + Cats state of mind X 2.5 pounds of mass with X being the incantation.) David lays down the chalk and looks at Minerva as she looks at David’s work and says nothing as she dismisses him back to his chair. David does not know what to think as Rowan and Lily come to the front and add their answers and then the rest of the class. Most of the answers shy away from David’s answer whereas Rowan’s and Lily’s answer are close to his. Minerva looks at the class as she holds the answer in advance. “Can you use transfiguration on yourself or another?” she asks as there is a mixed response. David shakes his head as it does not sound safe and Lily nods her head as Rowan is divided. “Yes, you can use transfiguration on yourself…but it is very dangerous and if you choose to live as a human transfiguration or are an animagus, you must register with the Ministry of Magic or face a trial and punishment. It is dangerous as if a human is transfigured into a lower class animal, you can become trapped in that form for the rest of your life. Only Animagi retain their mental processes.” “What about the dead?” asks a student as Minerva shakes her head. “You are speaking of necromancy, we don’t teach the Dark Arts here Mr. Rowley. Transfiguration is only used on living or inanimate objects…also, to transfigure an item like the size of the Main Table in the Great Hall would require much concentration and power…which most of you will never achieve! Even I cannot transfigure a Dragon into a pot!” David looks up sharply at the mention of dragons, “Dragon’s? There are dragon’s here?” he asks as Minerva shakes her head. “Not here…but they do come here from time to time.” she states as David tries to picture a dragon like Smaug clawing around! Minerva continues with lecture, “The second order of Transfiguration is Conjuration and you must follow the five principals of exceptions of Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration…anyone know the first one?” Lily raises her hand, “There is only one known and it is a restriction that you cannot conjure food.” “Unless it already made and charmed…” explains a Hufflepuff first year student, hearing about how the elves send the food to the Great Hall. “Well done!” Minerva says as she smiles. “10 points awarded to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor!” she says as Lily smiles, earning her first points whereas David lost Ravenclaw 50 points for his little stunt with Kalama. “So what is the four branches of Transfiguration?” David raises his hand as she acknowledges. "Mr. Adriatian." “Transformation, Untransfiguration, Vanishment, and Conjuration.” he says as Minerva nods and asks him. “Explain Transformation Mr. Adriatian…” Minerva says as she feels that David is doing well and wants to see if he is making connections. David hesitates as he does not want to disappoint her, “Transformation is the process to alter ones form. Human transformation is split into three subgroups; Animagus, Metamorphmagus, Therianthrope...” “What about vampires?” asks Mr. Rowley. “No…they can’t change form at will Mr. Rowley, same with Werewolves.” Minerva pauses to ask a difficult question. “What other subgroup was there before it went extinct?” she ask as David raises his hand. David hesitates to answer as he isn’t confident in saying the word. “Mermaids?” he says as Minerva nods her head and smiles. “Well done Mr. Adriatian, for adding a correct answer to the board, answering the four branches and even four subgroups…I award Ravenclaw 50 points.” David smiles as he got his house’s points back…but would have had 50 plus if he didn’t duel Kalama in the first place. “For homework, you are to study and practice the incantation of reparifarge which is used to reverse partial transformations and is required before you can move on to further spells…come prepare next Monday to demonstrate.” as there is a chime and the class is over and the students file out. David, Lily and Rowan stay behind to wait for David as he approaches Minerva nervously. “Professor McGonagall, for the reparifarge spell, how do we know if we are doing the spell correctly?” he asks as Minerva looks at him and comes up with an idea. “What you have in your pocket?” she asks as David takes out his cellphone and places it on her table. She takes out her wand and casts a partial transfiguration and turns his smartphone into a partial old fashion brick cell phone. David picks it up and smiles and pockets it. "Wow...what a downgrade! Verizon will be pissed!" he chuckles as he thinks of question two. “Second question,” David asks as Minerva nods; showing great patients. “Where can I find Mr. Hagrid?” David asks as Minerva squints her eyes at the strange request. “He is outside of the schools grounds…near the Haunted Forest.” she says as she picks up her books and heads for the door. “Isn’t that area restricted?” David asks, not wanting to get in trouble again. He just got Ravenclaw’s points back and he does not want to lose them again. “At night, yes…” she says as she opens the door and leaves as David looks at Rowan and Lily. David brushes off his robes as he sighs and looks at Rowan. “Any idea where the Haunted Forest is?” he asks as Rowan shakes her head, she will not take him. “Sorry, I will not risk losing more points for Ravenclaw.” she says as she does not want to leave David all alone in the dark. “I’d check you welcome book…I am sure there has to be a map in there!” as she and Lily turns to go. David understands their reluctance to go. Students are warned to stay away from the woods and lake…wild things lurk there. Inside the Transfiguration class all alone…well except for about 20 cats…he pulls out his book and sure enough, there is a map that shows where he is. Currently in the school wing of the castle…he needs to go back to the dorms, through the courtyard and over the foot bridge that spans the Deep Gorge. Exiting the classroom and walking along the school’s edge, David follows the map back to the second tallest tower that serves as Headmistress McGonagall’s office from where she watched the duel and the offices of Professor Hermione Granger-Weasley where she can stay in direct contact with the Ministry. Climbing up the tower, he comes to the third floor and takes the walkway across to the dorms. Heading for the Grand Staircase, he goes to ground floor and walks through the cobblestone courtyard as students stand around in small groups talking about their first class. David goes pretty much unseen as he goes through the main gates and out to the courtyard guarded by the last few surviving sentinels. Many are missing chunks of stone, limbs or even their weapons…but stand guard over the massive foot bridge that crosses the deep chasm. Stepping off the cobblestone walkway and onto the grass he sees a hut off in the distance with smoke billowing out of the chimney. The hut is a simple structure made of the wood from the Haunted Forest and stones that were rolled here. There is a small garden surrounding the building and a fence surrounding the house. The smoke smells sweet, as if someone was cooking cake mixed with hickory. David walks up to the house and knocks lightly on the door as he waits. The door opens as Hagrid looks down at David and smiles. “Ah good, yer got the message!” he says as he opens his door the rest of the way and waves him in. David never like to enter another person’s home, but does so out of respect and the fact that he is trapped in a strange land! “I see the clothes fit ya well!” Hagrid remarks, looking at the bright blue trim and black cloth. “Thank you for getting them for me…plus my books!” David begins as he does not know exactly why Hagrid did so. “Thank you for helping me survive…it was certain by now I would have left and gone home…” David looks grim as he wonders if that is even possible now “…if I even can.” “Nonsense!” Hagrid says as he checks his boiling pot. “You’ll have the chance to go home by Christmas break…unless you wish to stay?” he offers as David smiles. He really would like to go home to see his mom and dad and ask for their forgiveness for doing something as stupid as going out on his own. “Yer must stay for at least one Christmas here at Hogwarts…it is simply a magical time!” “I think everything here is ‘magical’, Hagrid!” David remarks as his first class at least had some science in it. “True!” Hagrid says as he stokes the fire and continues, “So how was yer first class?” David thinks about transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, surprising, he did well in it. “It wasn’t bad…we are to practice the reparifarge spell.” he says as his cellphone was turned into a useless piece of junk! “I never did well in transfiguration…" Hagrid says as the embers crackle "...I did well in charms and especially care of mythical creatures…which is why I asked you to stop by…” as Hagrid opens the door to the cottage and welcomes David to follow as old Fang comes over, slobbering. Fang comes up to David to sniffs him up one wall and down the next and then waddles away. “Glad he is friendly!” David remarks, “Professor McGonagall’s cat really hated me! Even that cat that follows Mr. Filch gave me the stink eye…I don’t know why?” David says as it disappoints him. “Don’t take it personal, Mrs. Norris is not liked by any of the students…even I would like to give that cat a good kicking!” Hagrid says as they come to the edge of the forest and take the route to the lake. “You have time?” he asks David as he nods. “Next class is at 1pm.” he says and thinks about the third class. “Hagrid, for flying class…we are not really going to learn to fly!” “On brooms and all!” Hagrid laughs as David’s experience in the magical world is a breath of fresh air. “Madam Hooch is a strict instructor, but she knows her stuff…you’ll do fine!” he states as they finally arrive to the shore of the lake and hands David a rake. “Need to look for some glass.” he says as David looks puzzled. “Glass?” David asks as Hagrid nods. “Glass.” he replies as David decides to do his best and rake the soil and finds nothing that looks like glass…only slate and stone. David helps Hagrid for about 30 minutes until Hagrid gives up. “Looks like no glass!” he says as David wipes the sweat from his forehead and nods. “Not a shard!” David smiles as Hagrid and David leave the beach and head back to the hut. Tired from all the hiking, “Trebam uzeti disanje!” David calls out as Hagrid glances back at David. “Huh?” he asks as he does not understand a single word the boy just muttered. “I need to take a breath!” David replies as Hagrid pauses and is certain that isn’t what David said. “Do yer speak any other languages?” he asks as David stares at Hagrid as it is making sense, he must have had one of his episodes again! David looks away as Hagrid sees that this has been an issue for him. “Yer don’t have to say if yer don’t want to!” “No,” David lightly says as he will be honest with the gentle giant “for years I have had this issue of speaking phrases when I am stressed in what Ted said is Croatian…he thinks I am from there!” “I thought you were from Fort William?” Hagrid says, remembering seeing David’s ticket when he crashed on the tracks. “I am from Fort William…I was adopted…” David says as this is new to Hagrid. “Adopted…” he says as he thinks about all that has transpired. “Makes sense, so you aren’t a Gill?” David shakes his head. “I don’t know my mom and dad’s real name, Professor McGonagall keeps calling me Adriatian.” David says as Hagrid’s eyes open as wide as two full moons as the name sparks a fire in his memory. “You say Adriatian!” Hagrid says as David nods, “No, can’t be!” he adds as his suspicions are coming true. “What is it Hagrid?” David asks as the 7 foot tall man will not say. “Hagrid!” David cries out once more. “Sorry David, I got the wrong name, I thought you said Adriatic!” he says as he looks at his cabin. “Come, I have another gift I have been taking care of for you.” as he opens the shed behind his house and pulls out an Ural owl. “Strix uralensis…” he says as he hands David the cage. “Isn’t she a beautiful creature!” as David looks at the white owl with brown pillars scattered all over its feathers. “Could have gotten you a toad, but those are useless and I hate cats!” “You’re not alone!” David remarks as it seems cats hate him. “What is her name?” David asks. “She’s your bird!” Hagrid says as David lightly chuckles, his mom and dad don’t want any pets! “Mur,” he says as he looks at the bird and then at Hagrid. “I appreciate the gift, but I am not one for caged animals!” David says as Hagrid nods with a gleeful smile as David opens the cage and gently pulls the bird out and with a gentle toss, the bird takes flight and circles around as Hagrid and David watch the owl swore around one silent wings. Mur flies down and lands upon David’s shoulder to his surprise. “As I said, she is your bird…and with your kindness…I think you two will be good friends.” he comes up to Mur and gently pets her and then looks at David. “Tell her to go to the owlry…there you can go see her and send letters when needed…” “Even to home?” David asks as Hagrid nods. “I know how much you miss yer family…” he said as he looks at the Ural owl and smiles brightly. David looks at Mur, "Head to the owlry, and feel free to fly whenever you like my friend." Mur takes flight as she fly's toward the solo tower. David hears the bell alerting that lunch is near and looks at Hagrid. “Thank you so much for the gift Hagrid, I own you a debt!” he says as Hagrid waves off the notion. “It was instructions from Helena Ravenclaw…first time she ever came to see me!” he says as David recalls the grey ghost…she must have been the one who coordinated all this! “But I did buy you a few things not on the list…” David smiles, “See you tomorrow in class!” he says as David nods and smiles. “At nine a.m...” David replies as Hagrid returns to his hut to get cleaned up as David rushes across the bridge and back into the castle. Hurrying off to the Great Hall, he finds a few students have arrived including Rowan and Lily who are sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking. Lily sees David walk into the hall as she waves him over. “Over here David!” Lily says as David joins the two girls. “Did you find Hagrid?” she asks as David nods, still over joy with the gift of his own owl. “How is it that owls don’t claw out your eyes or fly away?” David wonders as if he took an owl back at home, he’d be bloodied! “These are not your typical muggle owls…they were raised by Owlgots and trained to serve until death their wizard or witch.” Rowan says as she too has an own in the owlry. “Was that what Hagrid wanted to see you about?” “I guess it is required that a student has an owl, cat or toad!” David says as Lily nods her head. “I have an owl too, dad wasn’t to incline about having a cat and mom hates toads!” Lily says as Rowan smiles and the three sit at the table as Lily plays with her farting gnome she got from Ron. A young boy, Lily’s cousin named Hugo walks over and takes a seat at the Gryffindor table. He isn’t like the other Weasley children, his hair was quite bushy like his dads, but brown like his moms. His face decorated in freckles with the utmost inviting smile that could charm an alligator! “Bring two over to the Gryffindor side cous?” Hugo says as David and Rowan are aware they are at the wrong table. Lily looks at Hugo, quite annoyed with his interjection as she looks at her two Ravenclaw friends. “Head to Charm’s after lunch?” Lily asks in her charming voice as Rowan nods and takes David over to the Ravenclaw table as the Prefect glares at them. “Just some advice,” the Prefect says, annoyed. “I’d start spending more time with your own house then the houses of others.” he looks at David with piercing eyes. “If you start ‘acting’ more like a Ravenclaw Mr. Gill, you would not make glaring mistakes that cost Ravenclaw 50 points!” “I gained 50 points back!” David says in protest. “No!” he barks back, “You lost us 50 points for illegal dueling!” he says as some of his roommates stare at David, hearing about David’s fooling ventures with dueling Slytherin and walking off campus. David just stands there rejected as he sighs and nods and turns and walks out of the Great Hall, disgusted as his house sneers and jeers. Rowan looks at the Prefect as she shakes her head. “How clueless are you!” Rowan says as everyone looks at her. “He only did what he had to do to stop Slytherin from using the flipendo charm on Lily. No one would come to her aid and David did what he had to do to stop the bullying!” There is exchanged of looks across the table as the opinion on the matter of the subject changes in favor of David. Even the Prefect sinks back in his chair as he was not told this. Lunch appears before them as Ravenclaw has lost their appetite while Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin scarf down their meals. The Prefect has too much pride and ego to correct his mistake as the guilt makes him sick. David walks across campus to the school as he goes back to the area where he royally screwed up. He does not even know where he learned those spells and he used them on another soul! David worried that if this could happen on day 1…what would happen on day 365? He could have killed those girls! Even his friends look at him like a freak, now! What was he becoming? David sits on the banister as the water cascades behind him, soothing and calm. It is moments like now that he yearns for home and thinks to himself ‘I’ll give it one week! One week and I’m gone!’ as David tries to fit in, but he just cannot. The clouds fly by as David watches them and then pulls out his book on Charms. He looks at the map and sees that the classroom as just across the court, between Defense Against the Dark Arts and Wand Wizardry. Getting up and walking over, David opens the door and goes inside as he looks around at a classroom divided into two sections. Stadium-like seats on either side look to the center of the room like a stadium with massive windows filtering yellow light upon a staircase of books. David walks over to the tower of books and picks one up and opens it and reads: ‘Lapses in concentration while charming can result in painful side effects; remember Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself lying on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.’ David chuckles at the idea as he flips through the book. He comes to a charm as he reads it, “The Cleaning Charm, Munda prius, is a charm used to clean the target. This spell is on the W.O.M.B.A.T. test and considered an advance charm.” David places down the book as he picks up a black book and opens it. “The Spell Of Concealment is considered an advance spell used to hide things from sight and unable to be revealed by a simple revealing counter-spell. There was one spell designed by Adriatic that requires a transfiguration and charm to break and was called ‘A Spell Of Concealment’.” David looks for the incantation, but finds that page is gone. He coughs and for a moment, the book glimmers as the missing page comes into view and then fades again. So David breathes on the book as the missing page comes into view and he sees the words: Cantatio de occultis and then the words and page fade again. “So weird!” David places down the book and takes out his wand as he swishes and flicks as he says, “Cantatio de occultis as nothing happens. He looks at the teaching lectern and again points his wand and takes a stance and says in a strong voice, “Čarolija uskrsnuća!” just as the lectern begins to flicker and fade away and then it is gone. David stares as he walks over to where the lectern once was and finds that it isn’t there. “Oh no…!” as he realizes that he just vandalized! “Oh no indeed!” a tiny voice says as a little man walks in from the shadows. It is Professor Flitwick who has been watching from the side and is impressed. “Where did you learn such spells?" Professor Flitwick says as he approaches David. “Out of this book…mom taught me few before I came to Hogwarts…” David says as he is disturbed by his Head of House’s appearance and looks away. Flitwick, being the head of house for Ravenclaw, he has great interest in helping his fellow Ravenclaw’s excel. “I’d be impressed if you could break your spell of concealment!” Flitwick says as David looks grim as he shakes his head. “Sorry Professor Flitwick, but I don’t know how to!” he says as Flitwick nods and takes out his wand to start the lesson. “One should never use charms that they cannot correct!” he says as he climbs his stack of book and stands beside David. “Hold out your wand and shout passionately, revelio!” as he looks at David take stance and with his wand in hand; Flitwick shakes his head. “No, no, no…holding your wand like that is fancy, but not advised!” as David holds his wand with a death grip. “Let me see your wand!” he says as David passes his wand to the half-goblin half-human as his bushy white eyebrows rise. “What a unique wand! Lot of power!” he says as he picks up the wand and holds the wand at the end where the wand has a depression for secure holding against counter spells. “Like this!” he says as he hands the wand back to David and David holds the wand like Professor Flitwick held it and has the professor check his form. “Good…now swish and flick with the word, revelio!” David swishes and flicks and says, “Revelio!” as the lectern begins to appear and then fades away. “Hmm, that is one powerful charm you cast onto my lectern!” Flitwick says as he takes his wand and says, “Revelio!” and like before, the wand casts a white light and his lectern appears and then disappears. David takes his wand in hand and together they cast the revelio charm and this time the lectern appears and remains in form. “There we go!” he says as David walks over to the wooden stand and touches it and it is solid. “That is a hard charm!” David remarks as the professor chuckles and agrees. “Most second year students struggle with the charm…you seem to have a natural talent for charms Mr. Adriatian!” he says as David smiles and finally feels good about himself. “If I may ask, why did you not have lunch with your House?” David walks to a seat and sits down near the center and sighs, “To be honest, I feel like I am wearing shores that are too tight!” David says as Professor Flitwick makes his wand at the ready. “I can help with that!” he offers as David smiles and shakes his head. “Nothing is wrong with my shoes Professor, it is a terrible saying apparently that muggles use I guess.” David states as Flitwick accepts that theory as he has little experience with muggles and prefers to simply avoid them. “Ever since I have come to Hogwarts, I feel as if I am constantly at odds with everyone! The Prefect even wonders why I was put in Ravenclaw and I think he has a point…with the trouble I cause, I should be in that snake house!” Flitwick leans against the books as he has received reports about his student, David. He pockets his wand as he gives some advice. “Did you want to be put in Ravenclaw?” he asks as David nods. “My mom was in Hufflepuff house and my biological parents…well I don’t know.” as David ponders if they were also in Hufflepuff or in Slytherin! “I did not want to be in Slytherin as I don’t like their message and Gryffindor house seems nice as I have a friend there, but I don’t think I am Gryffindor material. I considered Hufflepuff to please my mom…but the Sorting Hat says I will do wonderful things in Ravenclaw…has the Sorting Hat ever been incorrect?” “The Sorting Hat is rarely wrong!” Flitwick says as he comes with an answer. “Just seeing your talent with a year 7 spell and mastering a year 3 spell…not to mention the Freezing Spell and Water Spell you used against Miss Kalama...those are both 3rd and 4th year spells!” Flitwick smiles as the door opens and closes, “I think you just need to keep surprising us Mr. Adriatian and be open about being a wizard and not a Muggle!” as the rest of the students flood into the room…this class is packed as the room is much smaller than the wide Transfiguration room. Rowan finds David and rushes over to him and takes a seat, “David!” she says as she wants to comfort him, remembering how the Prefect treated him. “Are you alright…I told the Prefect to back off!” David grimmest as he is worried that will only make it worse. “He was right Rowan…I cost Ravenclaw 50 points because…” “Because standing and doing nothing is far worse?” Rowan says as Lily comes over to David and takes a seat as Hugo sits next to her. Lily looks at David, trying to catch his attention. “I heard what your Prefect did,” she begins as David looks at her. “I spoke to Mrs. Weasley about it and she said she’ll talk to McGonagall.” Lily feels proud of her actions as Professor Flitwick comes down to the floor.

“Welcome everyone to your first charms course, you’ll all find that charms greatly differ from Transfiguring spells, and does anyone know why?” Flitwick asks as David quickly raises his hand. “Ah, Mr. Adriatian.” “Charms add individual effects to an object or creature whereas transfiguration changes the object into something different.” David says as people look back to Professor Flitwick smiles and puts his hands up in a celebratory fist. “Well said Mr. Adriatian!” he states as David is patted on the back by Rowan for good work. “So what do you call a charm that lasts for hours, days or weeks?” he asks as David isn’t certain, but Rowan is as she raises her hand. “Ah yes, Miss Bagnold!” “It is called Bewitch!” Rowan says as David writes this down as he did not know that as Flitwick nods and smiles. “Well done Miss Bagnold…10 points to Ravenclaw for coming prepared!” he says as a few Gryffindor’s and Slytherin’s don’t agree…Hufflepuff could care less as they are like David and feverishly writing notes. “Remember, this class will require you to come prepared and practice outside of the class…everything will determine on your technique…remember always, swish and flick! As you go through your schooling here at Hogwarts, your spells will grow with power and even aid you in daily tasks and defending yourself! Take the Fidelius charm for example, cast properly, you can completely hide a person or a place so no one can find them without the aid of the secret keeper. There are many spells you will learn in the 5 years here at Hogwart’s, and if you excel in your OWLS, you can practice on advance curses, jinxes and hexes.” David sits there as the idea of learning curses, jinxes and hexes bothers him as he is afraid that he could use them…and before today, using a charm on another individual seemed like something he’d never do! David listens to Professor Flitwick talk about how to successfully cast a charm by concentration, precise wand movements and proper pronunciation of the incantation. “And what would happen if you say it incorrectly?” a Hufflepuff student asks as David looks to Professor Flitwick. “If you fail to properly cast a spell, the spell can backfire on you.” Flitwick answers as Lily whispers a story to David about her uncle, Ron. “One time my uncle tried to curse someone to eat slugs with a broken wand and he ended up puking slugs for over three hours!” Lily says as David cringes at the idea of throwing up slugs. “Eww…why?” David asks as he wonders how many points her uncle lost for that. “Defense of his friends!” she says as David glances at Lily and understands that he made the correct choice in the Fountain Courtyard. “Your first charm you will learn is the Levitation Charm. It is the fundamental charm that all wizards and witches learn…to make objects fly and levitate! Now everyone, take out your wands…” as Flitwick and the rest of the class takes out their wands and look at him. “…and swish twice and flick with the words, wingardium leviosa!” he says as the students make an attempt with saying wingardium leviosa while swishing twice and flicking their wands. Flitwick passes out white egret feathers for them to practice. “Now concentrate on the feathers and cast your charm!” he says as he stands on the books as he looks at the class. Rowan works swishing her wand and Hugo swishes his wand too and the wand flies out of his hand and nearly nails David in the head. He picks up Hugo’s wand and hands it back to Hugo. “I think you dropped this?” David says as Hugo blushes and takes back the wand. “Sorry!” he says as he holds on tighter to his wand as he tries the charm one more time. “Wingardium leviosa!” as his wand control is a bit messy. Rowan and David take pity on him as Lily, help him on his form. With a few tries, his feather flutters and he smiles as David, Rowan and Lily return back to their own work. Rowan has beautiful form as she works on her concentration and the feather flutters and dances on the table. For David, he has already did the levitation charm and he picks up his wand and says, “Wingardium leviosa!” as the feather lifts off the table and David uses his wand to put it up into the air. There he leaves the feather floating there as Flitwick looks at the feather floating in the air as he smiles and cheers. “Well done! Look everyone, Mr. Adriatian has done it!” as Flitwick writes down ten points for Ravenclaw as Rowan and Lily looks at the feather floating there in the air and David loses concentration and the feather gently floats down to the table. “How did you do it?” Rowan asks as she takes pride in her ability to conduct magic and being shown up by her friend makes her feel inadequate. “I just concentrated on the feather and after saying the charm, imagined the feather was floating.” he says as Rowan tries this and soon her feather begins to lift slowly off the table and float before her eyes. “Help Hugo and I’ll help Lily…" David says as he turns to Lily as he tells her the same and after a few tries, she manages to get her feather to rise off the table. With time, David opens his book to year one charms and sees that he will be required to know the following charms: Levitation Charm, Wand-Lighting Charm, Lumos Solem, Fire-Making Spell, Softening Charm, Severing Charm, Unlocking Charm, Locking Spell, Mending Charm, Dancing Feet Spell and the Knockback Jinx… David flips to the next spell “Wand-Lighting Charm…” he reads as he wonders, “I wonder if this is the same as the lumos charm?” he reads a warning from author, Miranda Goshawk; ‘The Wand-Lighting Charm is simple, but requires concentration. Take care not to accidentally set your wand alight as damage of this kind can be permanent. If in any doubt about your abilities you would do better to buy yourself a magic lantern.’ He looks at his wand, he would be devastated to damage this precious piece of wood, it has been through a lot and he promised to take care of it. He thinks how many times he foolishly performed the charm without education and he could have set his wand and trailer on fire! David continues to work on his charm casting as he seems to become fluid with the casting and it becomes easier to cast the charm. For about 30 minutes, the class seems to go by quickly as the bell rings to end the class as the first year students are to report to the grassy courtyard for flight as everyone files out as they have 30 minutes to prepare. Flitwick calls out. “Mr. Adriatian, please hold back for a moment.” he says as David looks at his friends and they go outside to wait for him. “I saw what you did Mr. Adriatian, with helping Miss Potter and Miss Bagnold…you have great leadership and skill in charms. For a moment, I thought you might be one of the great to come to Hogwarts…but now I am sure! Don’t overwhelm yourself with so many spells…pace yourself...enjoy the process. Magic isn't suppose to be work, it is suppose to be relaxing!” “Thank you Professor Flitwick!” David says as he likes the feeling of being on task. “If you ever need someone to talk to…you know where my office is!” Flitwick says as David nods and he smiles, “I better let you get going…Madam Hooch does not like tardy students!” “Thank you sir!” David says as he turns and hurries to find Rowan, Lily and Hugo waiting for him as they hope that the conversation went well. “Ready to go?” David says as this next class has worried him since he learned he was signed up to do it. “Ready!” Hugo says as Lily and Rowan smile and nods as they hurry down the center of the Fountain Courtyard to the gate and crosses under the inner wall between Dragon Science and Advance Arithmancy as they come into a shaded courtyard surrounded by high castle walls and towers. This is the first time David has visited this part of the castle and he looks around as the castle seems so massive in size! Passing through the outer castle gate, they enter the grassy field. David, Hugo, Lily and Rowan have arrived early as the sun was warm and the air conformable as they sit down in the warm grass. Hugo laid down and closed his eyes as David and Rowan practiced on their charm as Lily watched. “Is it true,” begins Lily as she finally has time to talk with David without having to stay with her house “that you apparited before the train?” “What does apparited mean?” David asks as he has heard this word, but still is unclear. “It means to appear.” Rowan says as she uses her book to levitate. David nods as he still has a few bruises from that fall. “Yeah, broke a few bones too!” he commented as Hugo remarks. “That is so cool! You have to be the youngest to have ever apparited!” and Hugo was correct! The youngest to ever apparite was Mr. Harry Potter at the age of 13…David was 11. “It hurt like hell!” David remarks as a woman with silver hair and jaundice eyes walks out onto the field in light black robes with a white trim. She wears brown gloves that look like she just got done horseback riding with a brook pendant necklace hanging on her chest. “Hey you four, give me a hand?” Maddam Hooch says as she calls over to David, Hugo, Lily and Rowan to help her bring out the brooms. The two Gryffindor’s and two Ravenclaw’s come over to her side as she guides them to a wooden door “Alohomora” she says as the door unlocks and they look inside to see brooms and gear for Quidditich. “Grab three brooms and take them to the field.” she says as they all pick up 12 brooms together. “Thank you.” Madam Hooch says as she looks at them, “For your help, 5 points to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.” as they lay out the brooms with six on one side and six on the other side.

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mattbaierorganizingllc · 7 years ago

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A professional organizer talks about how to get your parenting life in order

The end of the summer always gives me a mild case of the blues. I enjoy the more relaxed schedule when school is on hiatus, even though I work year-round. But this year, more than ever before, September landed on my doorstep with a miserable thud. As my two kids have gotten older, they have gotten busier — scouting, marching band, multiple sports, homework, social activities. Welcome to parenting a Gen Z tween.

We have a color-coded command center on the wall in the kitchen. We have a homework station. We have all of the apps and alerts to let us know when there are changes in the soccer schedule or band practice. Yet we were spending too much time each week trying to figure out how to get Kid 1 to Point A and Kid 2 to Points B and C, while still getting dinner on the table and keeping the house running and holding down two full-time jobs.

In the midst of this chaos, Julie Morgenstern’s new book, “Time to Parent,” showed up in my mailbox at work. I hungrily dived in, looking for something — anything — that could help me rein in our over-scheduled existence (and yes, this is self-inflicted and avoidable — a topic for another day). The book’s aim, according to the blurb on the jacket, is to help people find “a healthy balance between raising a human and being a human.”

Morgenstern, who has been a professional organizer for about 28 years, including working a project for the Oprah Winfrey show staff, divides each of those tasks into four components (Provide, Arrange, Relate and Teach for raising a human, and Sleep, Exercise, Love and Fun for being a human). I homed in on the “Arrange” part, which covers the scheduling and organizational tasks involved in running a home and a family. If I could just get that under control, I thought, maybe we would reclaim some semblance of order.

I recently spoke with Morgenstern, who also launched a podcast on this subject this week, about arranging and more. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

There was a lot of talk about a year ago about the unequal distribution of emotional/mental work in families. This ties into your section on arranging. Why do you think it ends up being so unequal?

People gravitate toward the things they notice or are good at, or the things that are important to them, and the work silently gets divvied up without discussion. And even when there is discussion, it’s never complete. . . . But it’s a huge deal because the infrastructure of a family or household either enables or obstructs each family member from being able to achieve their goals. When we’re organizing a closet for one, we’re the only ones who are affected, but when multiple people are using a system, whether it’s the front entry, the kitchen, the living room, it can’t be based on how one person organizes.

[How schools are failing working parents — and how some are helping]

All of the arranging required for a household of people to operate successfully, to be able to come home at night and relax and spend quality time together, is not any one person’s job. It’s the tasks of the family. . . . You need to put everything on the table and divide it based on skill, ability, interest. . . . I think with that mind-set, people respond very well: These are the tasks required for the family, and sharing the work is a way of taking care of each other. Everyone gets that, and it’s liberating for most people. If you don’t honor a system, don’t put things back where they belong, or leave dishes in the sink, that not doing it is the theft of time. Every time you don’t honor a system, you’re putting it on someone else’s to-do list. Mindset shifts really help.

The suggestion in the book, of using index cards to represent family chores, then dividing them up to show the workload distribution, seems like it would help a lot of people. Can you talk a bit about that?

It is a visual aid. . . . The family I featured in the book, I think it was a 15-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. The boy was so reluctant, like, you’re kidding me. He really felt very put-upon with chores. But when we divvied everything up on the cards, he was transformed. His mom had 80 percent of the cards in front of her, he had a few, his sister had none. She wanted to do stuff but had to be taught, and it never occurred to the mom to teach her. . . . It helps you put it out there and make it objective. It can also clarify the things you don’t need to do, and that’s very powerful.

How can parents have the arranging portion more under control?

Automate the key areas and create systems to deal with things. . . . I had a client, she and her husband work and have three kids, but they never figured out systems for their house, like where things belong. They never figured out the food thing, so every day they had to figure out what are we going to have for dinner. . . . If you sit down for an hour and design a system in the most simple, predictable way, come up with 10 dinners that everyone likes and are easy to throw together, and that’s what you make. You can have a shopping list made up ahead with a list of the ingredients, and you just circle what you need. Put the ingredients together in a bin, with a card on how to make it. Whoever gets home first can prepare that meal.

Don’t overcomplicate it. You need to keep the routines simple and self-instructing, so anyone can do it, a child or a friend or neighbor or family member who is helping out. . . . If you don’t have patience for it, get someone else to do it, or do it as a family. Someone is bound to have the skills, so sit down as a family and figure it out.

Any guidelines on how to set limits on kid activities to give us all a breather?

Lots of families who handle this really well, who want their kids to have rich lives but also value downtime, literally limit it every semester to one or two extracurriculars for each kid, not five. . . . If you have more than one kid . . . try to choose ones that synchronize really well. And also for the parent, if the kids are doing these things on weekends, try to align your self time for when the kids are doing their things so you can also have downtime together. . . . There’s something really lovely and healthy for kids to have some together-apart time in the house, where they’re each doing their own thing under the same roof. If kids are out constantly doing things, you’re eclipsing any of that together-but-apart time, and that’s cheating them of something.

How can parents, particularly those with flexible schedules, keep from letting work and home bleed into each other?

The key is to always put up the edges and look before you leap. There’s no better practice for parents to contain each thing than to end every day by looking ahead, tomorrow plus two days beyond. Set it in your head: Tomorrow the kids are at school, and I’m working from 8 to 2, then I’m picking up the kids, being with them for three hours, then when they do their activities, I’ll go back online for more work. Find the [natural divisions] in the day … just like when an athlete sees their run before they go. Create intentions for each block, set your benchmarks for what success looks like. . . . Make each block of time pure. If you’re going to be with the kids for an hour, be with them. If you’re online working, be online working. . . . Even though we can work anywhere and anytime, I don’t think it’s good to do that. The more it all bleeds together, the less satisfying it all is.

Source: A professional organizer talks about how to get your parenting life in order

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ejwcoaching · 7 years ago

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De-fucking-cluttering Everything

a.k.a. .....Clearing Spaces

As part of my Year of Preparation For My 5th Decade (gotta come up with a good acronym....any ideas?) on our Earth, in this body, I have decided to open my eyes and have a good looksee! And I see too much shit! I have too much shit! Too much shit! Too much shit. And I am not just talking about all the possessions and physical stuff.....I can totally relate it to my enlightenment through Tarot. There is too much shit emotions, shit energy and shit thoughts.

Now is the time to do something about all this shit! It’s a process. And given the Virgo who is writing this blog, it definitely does need to be a process. There is more to it though ......there needs to be a commitment to follow through ...(and that’s another acronym I need ......A Commitment to Follow Through).....which is one of my lifelong weaknesses being addressed during my Year of Preparation For My 5th Decade.

So flashback quick (maybe) story about My Giant, my baby boy Z. For the last couple of years, he’s been getting to spend time on a ship and his living space is tiny. Absolutely no room for excess stuff! After his first trip, he came home and tore up his room something fierce. He tossed everything he owned on the floor and went through each item piece by piece. And then proceeded to throw out about 80% of his stuff! I was agog! “How? Why? What about? Wait, what.....you threw that out too.”

Hey, that was pretty quick. Cool. And it was all done pretty quick also - maybe a week, perhaps even less.

So, nope! Not prepared to throw everything I own on the floor and go through it piece by piece. I am prepared to, however, (and this is one of the key factors to my Commitment to Follow Through) make a daily list of simple miscellaneous stuff that needs to get done that often doesn’t get done because I forget or because social media has sucked my brain out and left me staring mindlessly at brain cell destroying devices with blue lights. Like right now.

Pulling it together: Part of my transformation and becoming me is seeing the shit, recognizing the shit, letting go of the shit and actually literally throwing out the shit!

How it’s being done:

1. Social Media is destroying me. Has destroyed me and I am working on finding myself again. That said, I do love connecting with many of my people via social media. So rather than stepping away forever, I am sort of practicing delayed gratification. I enjoy my time on social media but I am now limiting it to the evening only and only after I have done what I gotta do. There has been an occasional drop by Instagram but that it not my major source of brain sucked out loss of time.

2. Daily List of must dos ......helps me remember what I gotta do. And gives me something I check off and physically see that I am following through.

3. The Art of Practicing the Follow Through. The daily lists. The check offs. The big dreams and goals intention setting. It doesn’t and won’t get done if I don’t commit to the list.

4. Setting routines and rituals. Obsessed a little, yes but my morning routine is essential to the success of my day. Next on the list, figuring out a legit evening routine and ritual.

5. Let’s talk about the daily list and the the decluttering. On the list every single day:

Throw out at least 5 things. This can include anything.

Find 5 things that are no longer useful to you but could be useful to someone else. Set the plan to give it away. This can also include anything.

Put away 5 things. And this doesn’t mean put away 5 dishes and leaving the drying rack full of 12 other things. All the dishes are one thing only. This is actually great for laundry (I am notoriously lousy at laundry).

Read for 20 minutes. It’s on the list because I love to read but because of social media brainsuck, I forgot how.

Homework. Research. The information I need to learn about stuff. Often forgotten about when I suffer from social media brainsuck.

I rambled on this blog. It’s really all about the list for me right now. It’s the practice of the Follow Through and the Commitment to Me. The de-fucking-cluttering of my physical space and the cobwebby corners of my brain!

Peace yo!

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talesofealdancynedom · 4 years ago

Photo

Leo Greenwood, and his familiar Dolly. I forgot to include him earlier, because this character design was an excuse to use green markers.

Tale 21: What The Wagon Was For (chapter 5 - Exact Change 5/8 ) part 6. Stories of wizards

domestic violence, self harm

Childlike wonder; this phrase is used to describe magic in Ealden Cynedom. Here, people who love magic, feel a unique sensation, that can only be described this way. The sensation of awe, mixed with an innocent curiosity; How could something so impossible, and wonderous exist? This state of simple joy, brought on by something so small, yet feels so new and big. Magic has a wonder and whimsy, that never grows old.

For Morgan’s next appointment, he brought Leo a vile of potion. It had fancy silver floral cap. Morgan had a whicker basket, full of various potions, of varying complexity, function, fancy containers, and value. Leo was impressed. Morgan wielded swords, restored ancient book, took care of fey, sang, gardened, and baked; But Leo had no clue Morgan was interested potion brewing. The potion vile Morgan pulled out, in the red and silver vile, was called Rosa Sanguine; A potent, rare, and precious potion. It is used to cure the hemorrhagic fever from any causes. Rosa Sanguine is a S-Class potion, on the A-Z apothecary system; A medium-high level potion. The vile was dusty; which meant it was likely brewed long ago.

“This is the first potion I ever made. It requires a special ingredient: The red petals of the White Winter Cereus. That fey is only found in Rosethorn Manor.” Morgan explained. Morgan was talking. It was bringing Leo to the edge of his seat.

“Your friend, Amadeus, gave you the ingredients?” Leo asked.

“Nope.”

“So, this isn’t going to relate to your loneliness, or bullying issues?” Leo said. Morgan shrugged.

“Why did you bring so many potions then?" Leo persisted.

“Because I couldn’t use a wand, after I saved up to secretly buy one; But I could make potions and summon things. I summoned the unbreakable bow and blade in my bedroom, with sidewalk chalk. But potions are both my downfall and insight. The reason I couldn’t use a wand, is because I’m a mage; But like wizards, mages can make potions. Even better then the most practiced apothecaries. I wanted to be one once; Because I thought it was all I was capable of. I got the petals in the shadow veil.” Morgan said quietly. He was gazing into the wicker basket full of glittering bottles. They were labeled with masking tape.

Morgan got an allowance; His parents wanted to teach him money management. But instead of cool shoes, Morgan secretly went into the magic markets after school, on his way home. The exact opposite of what his parents wanted. Morgan saved for a wand that didn’t work, and then bought, or was given, old books to restore. These mage journals contained a lot of knowledge; including magic instructions. Each charming ballad, potion recipe, summoning diagram, and more, had to be tried; Just to see if something wonderful would happen. More then getting lost in these mage’s mythical legends, Morgan was learning how to use magic. Without him, or anyone else, noticing.

One day, Morgan decided to go shopping to make a healing potion. He had read an inspiring recipe. In the tree kingdom, a winter white cereus, who had gone red, gave him petals in thanks for watering. Morgan knew how valuable a gift that were, and wanted to use them. He purchased glass ware, a vile, a burner, and the rest of the ingredients; Then smuggled them up to his room. It was no different then baking a cake for him. In fact, the instant success of potion brewing was anti-climatic. Morgan shoved the mage journals in his bed end trunk, and the vile of potion in his junk drawer, and began to clean up. His room was now covered in homework, apothecary tools, clothing, and first aid supplies. It was overwhelming, causing Morgan’s bed to call him. On his side table was a cardboard box full of different summoning sticks: charcoal, blood wax, bees wax, Vetician chalk, sidewalk chalk, pen woad….

Morgan was violently shaken awake by his father. It was dinner time, but super would have to wait. His father pulled him out of bed, tightly by the wrist, and pointed at the dirty potion set.

“What is this?” He yelled.

“Um… A chemistry set?” Morgan lied. His heart was about to jump out of chest. He knew that lie was transparent. There were apothecary brand-name packages in the waste bin.

“Chemistry? You’re in middle school Morgan! Why are their magic supply boxes in the trash?” His father yelled. Morgan saw his mother in shock by the doorway. She was wearing an apron with pastel plaid on it. Still holding Morgan’s wrist, his father began to shatter the glassware, and shove it all into the garbage. Then he lifted his hand.

“Did you make something? You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt trying; Potions are dangerous. Particularly if you’re not a trained apothecary!” He scolded. Morgan stayed quiet, and looked at the floor. Like he knew his answer wouldn’t stop his father, and resistance was futile. Morgan knelt there, waiting for the blow.

Morgan spent an hour applying first aid. Most of his injuries were bruises, a few cuts on his face. But the rest he did himself. Morgan had fallen down a lot, trying to escape down the hall. Defeated, he returned to his room, from the bottom of the stairs, empty inside. He sat at his desk, and cried on it. The potion was still in the drawer, and the broken apothecary set on the floor; Which he was expected to clean up himself. He regretted acquiring the set, or ever thinking about trying to make a potion. What a waste of money and time, he thought. In the homework pile, was a filled, and unsigned, application for the local magic academy. A specialty wasn’t selected. Unable to use a wand, Morgan assumed he wouldn’t get in, even if his parents allowed him to go. Morgan was spiralling into despair; He was filled with meaningless regret and guilt. He felt insufficient, tiered, and in need of a hug. He wished he had someone to talk too. Then, a knock on his door. Morgan stopped breathing, and didn’t look up. His mother came to in, and put a plate of food next to him.

“Saved you some supper. Though I don’t think your hungry right now. But you might be later.” She said quietly. Icthya put her hand on Morgan’s shoulder, and he flinched. She recoiled, and couldn’t describe the guilt she felt in that moment. Because she was a bystander, trying to keep the family safe, she had let Morgan become traumatized to the point of rejecting any human contact.

“I heard you crying; Do you want to talk? Potion making is dangerous if your untrained, and I think that was a bit risky. But your dad shouldn’t have been so aggressive. We just love you, and want you to be aware magic can hurt you. You shouldn’t keep meddling with it.” Icthya said. Her comment wasn’t helping. Morgan didn’t respond. His mother stood up, and saw the academy application on top of the homework pile. She sighed despondently, and left the room.

Morgan was sick of being taunted, shoved into lockers, and not having none one he could trust with his feelings. No one understood how he felt around magic, or what his dreams are. Then he got a smashing idea! Why not try and summon a familiar? The most harmless spell in the book, and the highest failure rate. But Morgan didn’t have a wizard text with that spell in it. All he had was an old journal of Helrem Monafyra, that had a summoning diagram, labelled: For Familiar Summoning, that had one instruction: ‘Speak your complete self’. Very helpful. The thought of someone who would share his feelings, and hugs, was enticing. Morgan couldn’t wait for a friend, when the possibility of a familiar entered his mind. He immediately decided he would give the spell a shot; If he could keep it a secret, that is. To be sure of his success, Morgan checked to make sure his parents were asleep, then grabbed the blood wax from his dresser. He drew the diagram on the floor, and stood directly in the center of it. Then Morgan began to quietly talk about himself, to himself. Morgan’s whispering, transformed gradually, into desperate crying:

“My name is Morgan Cynedom. I love my family, baking, gardens, and reading old books. I, I think magic is pretty, and friendly. I want to be a seer. I have no friends, but want them so bad. People scare me, and I’m scared if I talk, I will get hurt. I hide my injuries because I want to stay with my parents. I hate them for stopping me, but love them so much. I wish I could have adventures like the mages I read about. I think the shadow veil is better than home. I hate coming home. I hate myself. I know I am a mage, but I don’t want to pursue it; Even if it makes me happy. Because I want to belong, and feel safe. But I know doing ancient magic, that people think is dangerous, will only scare people away more. I feel so trapped and scared, all the time.”

Morgan woke up on the floor in the mourning. The alarm started with the weekend radio broadcast. Across form him, was a golden Eagle.

“Hello sir.” It spoke. Morgan was amazed. He reached out to pet the bird, and felt himself being petted as well. He felt the joy of the eagle, as it was ruffled. It was mildly disturbing. Morgan was still excited; He had a new friend, to go with him everywhere.

“I’m Morgan, Can I call you Icarus?” Morgan gleamed.

“Certainly, young master.” Icarus said. “I felt that part about bringing me around. Judging by the blood on the floor, by a bin of broken magic memorabilia, some people will not take kindly to you having a familiar on your shoulder. But if that doesn’t bother you, I would love to.” Icarus explained. He had a good point. Familiars had a tendency to be a magic user’s conscious, being based in their master’s inner nature. Summoning a familiar, is actually summoning yourself.

“Follow me by flying? Maybe stay perched just out of sight?” Morgan bargained. He knew that would only work for so long.

At breakfast, there was a ring at the door. Morgan’s mother answered it. Icarus was nested in Morgan’s linen basket, in the closet. Morgan was waiting for toast, and his father was finishing his coffee.

“Cetus! I’m so happy you visited! But you didn’t send a letter… Brother, why are you here?” Icthya asked, blocking the doorway.

“Can I see Morgan, Icthya? Mother said he was looking rough, and suggested Odysseus may be hurting him; Crazy I know. Came to check anyway, since I was near the ranch. Me, Jupiter, and our girl, came for a-” Cetus said. Icthya slammed the door in her brother’s face. Morgan ran out of the kitchen, and up to his room. He locked the door, then went into his closet, holding Icarus tightly. He heard yelling downstairs, then someone coming. Morgan was shivering and dizzy. Luckily, it was his Uncle Cetus.

“Hey sport; Want to open up and give your uncle a hug?” He said, in a cheerful tone. Morgan didn’t move.

“With all due respect young master, I think your uncle isn’t going to hurt you.” Icarus whispered. Morgan took a breath, and pushed the closet door ajar. Cetus crouched just outside. Morgan was curled up on his coats. He was covered in bandages and bruises. His wrist was taped, and looked like he’d never slept. He was gripping Icarus for dear life.

“Oh no.” Cetus said.

“Don’t take me from my parents.” Morgan cried.

Morgan ran away later that night. His grandmother had filed a domestic violence investigation, and Cetus came to get a witness account. Yet, it was too late; Morgan was gone, before family services could pick him up in the mourning. If he ran away, he could always come back. But if the police or wizards got their hands on him, he could be locked up and never see his family again.

NEXT--->

<---PREVIOUS

#tales of ealdan cynedom #story 21 #morgan #icarus #cetus #Odyseus #icthya #leo

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duhragonball · 6 years ago

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Dragon Ball Z 139

No one really knows how to end the Androids Saga, since the good guys can’t win and the bad guys don’t feel like killing them at the moment. So the final battle is basically over whether Chiaotzu can cook good ramen.

“Badman”, “Post Boy”, and “Tacos.” get a lot of press, but I think there’s something to be said for Chiaotzu’s “Cook” apron.

And the verdict is...

Everyone likes it! It’s definitely way better than the stuff Krillin cooks around here. Everyone really did forget about Launch, didn’t they?

Chiaotzu explains that he learned how to cook because he makes all of Tien’s meals. Launch just vanished one day...

Anyway, Tien shows up to collect Chiaotzu and train with him. But why? Tien didn’t even think he was strong enough to be at the android fight this morning. What good would it do to train with him if he’s not going to fight?

Elsewhere, Vegeta has an crisis of faith. He’s always believed that his bloodline made him the strongest Saiyan, and that the Saiyans were the supreme warriors. Now he’s a Super Saiyan, so that makes him the best ever, at least in his head, but he still got his ass kicked.

This scene right here is why I don’t have much truck with critics who complain about too many Super Saiyans. As far as I’m concerned, DBZ doesn’t have enough Super Saiyans. Every butthole in this show should be able to turn Super Saiyan. It doesn’t cheapen things, because the moral to this arc, and the turning point in Vegeta’s character arc in particular, is that being a Super Saiyan doesn’t actually solve anything. Goku used it to beat Frieza, fine. But Vegeta ascribed all these hopes and dreams to this legend, half of which he seemed to make up as he went.

This whole arc has been about deconstructing everything Vegeta thought he knew about Super Saiyans. They don’t appear once every thousand years, because Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks transformed within the span of a quarter century. They’re not invincible because all three of them got beaten up by androids. You don’t have to be merciless, or crave battle, or even be a full-blooded Saiyan, because Trunks can do it and he keeps trying to avoid a battle with the androids. All the “rules” that Vegeta thought were inviolate are meaningless. The transformation makes you stronger, but that’s basically it. It’s not a guarentee, or even a stopping point. So it really doesn’t matter how many characters learn to use it. It was only special because people thought it was special.

What’s important is that Vegeta realizes that he’ll have to keep going, and set his sights higher if he wants to beat the androids. That’s what being a Super Saiyan is really about. It was Vegeta’s ambition to get stronger that got him to this point, and now he’s finally figured out that this was never his final destination.

Meanwhile, Goku has a fever dream where the newly awakened Androids show up to kill him, and then they kill all his friends and family, and he can’t do anything about it because he’s a ghost.

In fact, he’s sleeping on some big plane thing, while all the people he was dreaming about are with him on the way to Roshi’s island.

Chi-Chi wants Gohan to do homework on the way. Well, she did say she would let Goku train Gohan for the big fight with the androids, and then he would get back to studying. Yeah, the Z-Fighters lost the fight, but it’s not her fault they couldn’t hold up their end.

Meanwhile, the Androids are driving to Goku’s house, only 17 and 18 don’t know where it is.

16 knows exactly where it is. Why does he have that information and the others don’t? It’s like Dr. Gero only wanted some of the androids to kill Goku.

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think this might be the very last shot of someone giving Goku his medicine. You know, that bottle keeps changing every time they show it. Sometimes it has little pills, sometimes it looks like it has a septum for drawing up with a needle, other times it looks like a little bottle. All I know is they’ve been feeding him medicine every other episode since he got sick. You’d think that bottle would be empty by now.

So what about Trunks? This whole campaign against the androids was his project, and it’s turned into a complete debacle. Instead of preventing the androids from wrecking the word in the present day, all he’s done is bear witness to their activation. He can’t beat them in the present, and he can’t beat them in the future. Where does he go from here?

At first, Trunks considers travelling further back in time, so that he could destroy Dr. Gero’s lab before 17 and 18 were reactivated. Then he remembers that this wouldn’t do any good, because whenever he changes history, it creates an alternate timeline. For example, he gave Goku medicine to survive the heart virus, so while there may be a future where Goku survives, the Goku in his own world is long dead, and that won’t change. Likewise, any trip he takes into the past from here will only benefit some other timeline, not this one.

So Yamcha asks Trunks why he bothered coming back in time at all. During his first visit, he seemed very determined to change history, and very concerned about making sure he only changed what he wanted to change. If his own world is unaffected by changes in this one, what’s the use?

I’ve long appreciated the simplicity of Yamcha’s question. So many time travel stories make the mistake of getting bogged down in explaining how time travel is supposed to work. What makes this one so effective is that the story is about why Trunks would go back in time if he can’t actually change anything.

And Trunks’ answer is equally beautiful. His mother, Bulma, thought it would be nice if there could at least be a timeline where the world was safe from the androids. Even if she couldn’t live in that world herself, she liked the idea of helping such a world be possible.

And, from a more pratical standpoint, Bulma wanted Trunks to join Goku’s fight against the androids. So really this second trip through time was the lynchpin of the whole operation. The first trip was just to make sure Goku would live long enough to see this battle. But the main goal was for Trunks to be there when Goku fought, so that if and when they won, Trunks could use that victory to find a way to beat the androids again in his own world.

Or Trunks could simply bring Goku back with him so he could defeat the androids personally. That’s the cool thing about Future Bulma. For her, it wasn’t about changing history so much as exploring altenate scenarios to find a solution. If the answer to the androids problem no longer existed in her own universe, then she’d simply find an answer in another one.

So Trunks starts having a flashback to his own future world, with him wandering through a ruined building that apparently serves as a base. A bunch of guys are all lying around with swords of their own, and one guy has a jacket just like Trunks. The implication here seems to be that Trunks is the leader of some resistance movement, and jackets and swords are just standard issue.

Then 17 and 18 barge in and start shooting, and that snaps him out of it. Pretty sure that whole daydream was inspired by the dream sequence in Terminator 1. I can’t remember if it was Reese or Sarah Conner, but one of them dreamt of all these human soldiers huddled up somewhere, and then a Terminator Robot infiltrated the place and started shooting everyone up.

What Trunks doesn’t understand is how things changed so dramatically. Goku caught the heart virus later, and there were five androids instead of two.

Trunks blames himself, since the only possible explanation can be his own impact on the course of events. I often wonder about why the androids turned out differently, but I can never quite square it. For one thing, we really don’t know exactly how things when in the timeline Future Trunks grew up in. I figure there’s two possible scenarios.

1) Dr. Gero activated 17 and 18 on May 12, an they turned on him and attacked Amenbo Island themselves, basically like Trunks expected would happen in Episode 126-127.

2) Gero built 19 and had himself turned into #20, and Vegeta and Piccolo were able to beat them, forcing Gero to activate 17 and 18, who eventually killed all the Z-Fighters. Trunks just didn’t know about any of those details because he was a baby when it happened, and Bulma wasn’t around to witness any of it.

But that still doesn’t explain why 16 only seems to exist in this timeline and not in Trunks world. It also doesn’t explain why 17 and 18 are stronger here than they are in Trunks’ world. In the past, I chalked this up to 17 and 18′s systems breaking down over time. After 17 years of continuous operation, their powers would begin to wane. However, Dragon Ball Super seems to contend that 17 and 18 could actually get stronger over time through training. Maybe that’s not a contradiction. The 17 and 18 in “History of Trunks” certainly had no reason to train or get stronger, while the ones in Dragon Ball Super did. So it’s no surprise that the ones in DBS are more powerful.

The bottom line here is that there isn’t a neat and tidy explanation for all of this. Trunks just doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, and that’s what makes time travel so dangerous. He knows the broad strokes of what he wants to change, but there’s so many tiny details that he just doesn’t know about. And these details are much more important than he can know. Things like Dr. Gero having a secret lab near North City, or Bulma trying to fly over the battlefield once she knows about the android menace. Things like Goku being able to teleport. And those are just the details he’s found out about. There’s all sorts of things that he hasn’t learned about and never will.

But as he begins to regret tampering with the timestream, Chi-Chi reminds him that if he hadn’t come back in his time machine and given Goku the heart virus medicine, he wouldn’t still be alive right now. Whatever else might happen, Trunks has saved Goku’s life, and Chi-Chi is grateful for that. So maybe the burden of time travel is too great for one man, but Trunks has still done some good. Maybe that’s all that matters.

Krillin agrees. It’s not over yet. As bad as things are, there’s still time to fix things, and sooner or later they’ll get a chance to turn things around. They just have to hang on a little longer.

Krillin calls Bulma to fill her in on what’s been going on, but she has something important to tell them. Specificially, she wants to talk to Future Trunks.

bnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntwang

doo-toodle-to-doo.... bunnng-twang!

dooodly-dooodly-doodly-doooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn....doon twang.

doo-to-do-to-doo-dllllle....

doo-to-do-to-dooodly-do-too

doo-doo-doo-doot-doo-doot-do-doo...

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