#but hearing that voice and trying to picture apollo is impossible to me

[im-still-watching-anime]

the guy they have voicing apollo in these trailers sounds like he’s about to ask me to a game of golf

[barbarianprncess]

is there a reason you’re blushing like that !!!!

i actually loved writing this so thank you for the prompt!

forever house

read on ao3

or

“Mom, I’m home!” Percy calls distractedly into their apartment as he wrestles with his skateboard.

“Hi honey,”  Sally answers from the couch, and he can hear the smile in her voice when she says “There's a surprise for you in your bedroom.” He furrows his brow and hurries upstairs. He opens his bedroom door expecting cookies and is instead greeted with familiar blonde hair and a bed overrun with papers far too complicated to be his own. He can’t help the smile that overtakes his face at the sight of his girlfriend, still in her Catholic school uniform.

“Hey!” He leans over his bedspread being very careful not to wrinkle her designs to plant a kiss on her cheek. “How’s my favorite genius?”

“Hey Percy.” Annabeth is currently scrambling to get her papers in order, which he finds odd because usually when he calls her a genius she’ll smile and kiss him extra gently. And then she only needs a little prodding and he can get her to explain what she's working on. She gets this crinkle in the corner of her eyes when she talks about her projects and gesticulates wildly to get him to understand. It’s awesome.

But right now, Annabeth is beet red, eyes manic, and piling papers with a vengeance. He’s not entirely sure what’s happening but Annabeths got this look in her eye- like one wrong move and she’s gonna bolt. “What’re you working on?”

“Nothing!” She says voice cracking in a way that clues him in on the fact that the subject of her stress but her work. Which Percy finds ridiculous because he may not understand the nuanced and complicated world of design, but Annabeth’s smarter than anyone, she’ll figure whatever it is out. Annabeth gets like this sometimes- ADHD fixation and her need for perfection is a combo that doesn’t mix well and in the months that they’ve been dating, there have been more than a few times when Percy had to loosen her fistes curled around her designs in frustration, and talk her down from a panic attack because Apollo didn’t love his statue. Percy hates that her work does that to her, but he likes taking care of her.

“Annabeth,” He says slowly, hands already positioned to relieve her of the designs that she managed to wrangle in her lap, but she bats them away.

“No, no it's not- I’m not.” She looks up at him and her eyes soften at his concern. “I’m fine, seriously I’m not stuck on anything.” Percy raises his eyebrows skeptically.

“Sooo… is there a reason you’re blushing like that?” Annabeth's hands fly up to her neck as if she can stop the flush of her skin from the outside. Which is a mistake on her part because Percy immediately grabs the blueprint she was so desperately trying to hide. She lunges for it, causing the remaining papers to fall forgotten on the floor, but Percy's growth spurt, along with the angle she’s sitting on his bed, makes it so he’s able to keep her at bay.

“Percy!! Give it back, oh my gods, I’m gonna kill you!” He’s heard that before and he’s still breathing so, he takes his chances. He makes out the words “Forever House: Annabeth Chase”, and a vague sketch of what looks like a shoreline. He catches Montauk and something about support beams when Annabeth finally succeeds in snatching the paper from him. She’s flushing even harder now, and her hands are covering her face.

“Which of the gods are asking for a forever house?” He laughs until he notices Annabeth shaking her head and she lets out a muffled ‘none of ‘em’ from behind her hands.

“Hey, hey Annabeth.” He says softly poking at her sides and pinching at her cheeks (he gets mostly fingers because she’s still covering her face but, all the better to grab her hands with). She sighs and lets him take her hands and sit on the edge of the bed, still not meeting his eyes. He squeezes the fingers in his grasp, a silent promise not to make fun of her, and she takes a deep breath and forces out an explanation.

“Well, a couple weeks ago, while I was waiting for you to get out of school, me and your mom talked for a while and she mentioned some of your trips to Montauk and how much you loved them, and we were looking at pictures and she mentioned how you always said you wanted to live there, right on the beach when you got older, and inspiration kinda struck and I started sketching out your hypothetical beach house. And I guess subconsciously, your beach house became a version of…. the forever house.”

Now, Percy’s heard of the hypothetical ‘forever house’ before. Annabeth had told him once about her favorite theoretical place, created when she was little. Having lost every person and place she was told to call home, caused a deep distrust for anywhere she lived in the future. (He doesn’t blame her, he’s not sure he could ever trust anything if he went through what she went through before Luke turned to Kronos- let alone everything she went through after.) So to cope, in her head she’d design a house that she’d build when she was older- now known as the forever house. She told him she daydreamed about building it, how it’d be open and bright with huge windows so she’d never feel alone again. But, despite its openness, it’d be sturdy and rooted in place. The design and location changed over time but it always had big windows and it was always immobile. And no matter what happend, that house would be her ‘something permanent’. Her forever house.

As what she was saying registered, Percy’s smile grew impossibly wide. Annabeth must’ve assumed he was laughing at her and deflated. “I know, it’s stupid and creepy just forget it ok I didn’t mean-”

He let go of her hands as she rambled and cut her off with a kiss. He wasn’t sure how to articulate what he was feeling with words, so he let his body speak for him. His thumb swipes at her cheek (I’m sorry that you had to build a house in your head because the people that were supposed to love you didn’t, it wasn’t your fault, thank you for trusting me anyway), he runs fingers through her hair (It’s an honor to be a part of your future, I’m going to care about you, on purpose, for as long as you’ll let me), he tilts up her chin to deepen the kiss (I love you, all of you).  

When they part he rests his forehead on hers and allows himself a minute to be in awe of her. He learned a long time ago that Annabeth was brave. But after learning so many of the intimate details of her past, he thinks that her ability to love at all is an act of bravery. Everytime she tells him a secret, or holds his hand, or lets him walk through one of her walls is an act of rebellion. To love Annabeth is to be in awe of her relentless courage.  

“Thank you.” He whispers. He doesn’t clarify what for and she doesn’t ask. She just smiles something small and says, “You’re welcome.”

He kisses her forehead because he can and half-laughs out, “You made me a house.”

“Ugh.” She buries her head in his shoulder bites at his collarbone in annoyance. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t, you love me, you know how I know?”

“I’m begging you to shut up.”

“Because you made me a house!” He says gleefully into her hair.

Annabeth shoves him back on the bed and he pulls her down with him. She half on top of him, face buried in his chest when she retorts,

“I made us a house.”

He hopes she doesn’t mind when his arms tighten around her. It’s instinct. And a necessity. And when he whispers i love you into her hair, it's a silent promise. A promise to do anything and everything possible to get them to that house one day. From the way she smiles into his shirt, she’s gonna do the same.

[cursestothemoon]

I Won’t Say I’m In Love

i.

Fred Weasley x Fem!Slytherin!Reader

Read the summary here

Warnings: Language, suggestive themes

Word Count: 2569

SERIES MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST

(i found the picture on google, there is a name on it but other than that i am not sure who owns it. I do not.)

The leaves, newly fallen from the on coming of Autumn, crunched under the feet of hurrying students. Hogwarts had begun it’s new school year, witches and wizards were hurrying from boats and carts to get into the castle and catch up with friends. Just outside of the dining Hall was a sea of students, chattering with friends, everyone staying in clumps of like colors.

Gryffindors stayed with their own, as did Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs were the ones to intermingle the most, having friends in almost every house. Then there was the house of Salazar Slytherin, a proud bunch, robes of green tightly knit together leaving no room for outsiders or stragglers, not that the other houses (excluding Hufflepuff) thought highly enough of the green and silver house to make friends.

Y/n L/n, a proud member of Slytherin stood proud with her friends and housemates. Her chin was held high, a playful smirk painted delicately on her features as she listened to Blaise Zabini give a recount of his summer holiday. Blaise had always been a nice boy, his mother was a beautiful woman who was familiar with the front page of many high end wizarding fashion magazines. Then there was Lily Webberforth, another pureblood from a family of wealth, she was in Y/n’s year and a cherished friend.

“Father said he’d be purchasing a new peacock for the manor, though he couldn’t decide between albino or not.” Draco informed.

Draco Malfoy had wormed his way into the group during second year, a good kid...when he wanted to be, but absolutely snotty otherwise.

“Y/n, how about you wear my jersey for the first game of the season?” Adrian Pucey asked, arm slinging around Y/n’s shoulders making her internally cringe.

She was never a fan of being touched and Adrian seemed to be all for it when it came to her. They were in the same year and he’d been trying to convince Y/n to make it official since third year. She preferred to play with him rather than commit to him. It was easier that way, being able to differentiate her feelings from an early age, she knew she didn't particularly like him, but they had a few good nights and now she can’t shake him. He had become rougher over the years, harsh and controlling with an affinity for blackmail.

“No my clothes are just fine, Pucey, thanks.” She shrugged off his arm as Lily snickered at the exchange, finding joy in giving Adrian a look that told him ‘better luck next time’.

Adrian, not the biggest fan of rejection then turned to Lily in hopes of getting a jealous rise out of Y/n.

“What about you, Lils? You’ll wear my jersey won’t you?”

Lily shook her head, “I’m on the team with you, clear why you're not in Ravenclaw isn't it?”

Y/n laughed at the comment and moved to stand next to Lily, away from Adrian. Luckily, he got the message, for now, and left to find Marcus Flint.

“Have you seen the twins yet?” Lily asked, leaning closer to Y/n to make sure she wasn't overheard.

The girl gave her a questioning look before asking, “Why would I go looking for them?”

“Their hair’s come in nice, looking a bit shabby last year, remember?”

“Yeah, they’ve finally cut it?”

Lily shook her head, her eyes glowing with excitement, “Even better, it’s grown out a bit longer. Real nice looking, George looks rather well I’d say.”

“I always figured you had a thing for him.” Y/n laughed.

“Oh please, you and I both know that you love how much attention Fred gives you.”

Y/n tried to respond, really she did, but she was both out of words and interrupted by Lily again.

“Look, here they come.” Her voice was quite as she nudged her head in the direction behind Y/n.

Y/n turned slowly, in no rush to give Fred Weasley the satisfaction of having him know they were talking about him. When she did finally meet his eyes she couldn’t help but agree with Lily, his hair had grown out quite handsomely and he seemed to have reached an impossible height, well over the six feet he towered at in the previous year.

“Ladies.” They greeted simultaneously, Fred eyeing Y/n as they neared.

She gave a silent nod to them as Lily vocally greeted them with a reserved, “Hey.”

“News is that the first match of the season has our houses against each other. Shame isn’t it, Poppet? You can’t cheer for me.” Fred asked, arms crossing in front of his chest and lips stretching to a smirk.

Anyone could tell Fred was proud of his large frame, as a beater he worked hard for his toned arms, and thick biceps but his height was a complete natural gift bestowed upon him by the gods and he wouldn’t waste their generosity.

Y/n snorted, “Oh yeah, makes me feel empty inside when I can’t cheer for you, Weasley.”

“I know, no need to tell me. I fill you right up don’t I?”

The comment made her sneer at him, but she was unable to say anything back as her house was called into the Great Hall for the beginning of the year feast. Fred watched her leave as George poked fun at his inability to charm his way into her heart with innuendos and sarcasm.

It annoyed Fred, it was common knowledge that you had been with a few guys, some people even going as far as giving Y/n an undeserved title for it. Unfortunately, common knowledge happened to be a common rumor made by people who disliked her. Fred didn’t know this however and her constant rejection made him wonder, what did all those other guys have that he didn't?

Y/n and Fred had a back and forth relationship, neither being afraid to throw jabs at the other with the underlying tone of flirtiness yet both of them knowing the line not to cross. Fred thought she was ethereal, the way she seemed to glow as she walked through the halls had him weak in the knees. Her voice was buttery and soft, a velvety quality that seemed to grasp onto each of his heartstrings. Fred was head over heels for her and he hated it so he used sarcasm and a condescending tone to combat his feelings. Over time this developed into a false belief that he really didn’t like her, she was cunning, sly, and so easy to hate when he couldn’t love her.

--

Lily and Y/n sat in potions class, potion already brewed and completed as they gossiped in hushed tones and watchful eyes.

“So, anything new with Weasley?”

Y/n didn’t need a first name to know who her friend was referring to and she groaned.

“No, and there never will be.”

A loud groan emitted from Lily’s lips, “When are you gonna stop lying to yourself? I can see right through you.”

“There is no chance, no way that I’d ever fall for him.”

“You’d never fall for him or you’d never let yourself?”

The following silence was just as good of an answer as any, and Lily gave her a smug looking knowing she had won the argument.

Class ended shortly after that exchange, Y/n and Lily now having a free period chose to hang out in the room with the goblet of fire, watching as people put their names in. It was only last night that Fred and George had voiced their complaints quite loudly at the age restriction and Y/n was excited to rub it in Fred’s face that she was of age. Of course she wasn’t going to put her name in the goblet, she had better things to worry about than some tournament.

Lily and Y/n entered the hall at seemingly the wrong time, seeing as Fred and George had run through the doors leaving the girls in their dust. The whoops and hollers from bystanders made Y/n roll her eyes much to Lily’s amusement.

“How can you not be annoyed by their arrogance?” Y/n asked incredulously.

Her friend shrugged, “They are amusing.”

Y/n ignored the comment as they neared the twins.

“It’s not going to work.” She sing-songed loud enough for them to hear as she walked by.

Fred and George heard the comment and made a b-line for her and Lily. Fred plopped down behind Y/n, his face turning to meet her eyes, George doing the same to Lily.

“You don’t think that, do you Lily?” George asked Lily with a feigned look of childlike innocence.

“Come on, Poppet, have a little faith in me.” Fred said, a sarcastic look of pleading falling over his features.

For extra effect Fred jutted out his bottom lip making Y/n laugh at his ridiculousness, and oh how he loved to have her attention to himself.

“It’s incredibly dimwitted.” Y/n answered.

Lily nodded, “See that there?” She pointed to a white line around the goblet as she continued, “it’s an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself -”

“Meaning something as pathetically dimwitted as an aging potion isn’t going to get past it.” Y/n finished.

Fred tsked as he shook his head, “That’s why it’s so brilliant.”

“Because it’s so pathetically dimwitted.”

The twins stood up abruptly and Y/n’s eyes followed Fred’s figure. The way his jaw flexed as he drank the potion and his hair flopped when he jumped down from the bench with George made Y/n lose grasp on her emotions for just a moment.

He was good looking, she couldn’t deny it. Fred Weasley seemed to be built by the gods, his hair burned as that of Ares’, and his face chiseled to the likeness of Apollo. But Y/n had been there and done that with pretty boys, all of them were the same and wouldn’t give in to another one. She refused to let herself fall for him, afraid of the repercussions of really loving him.

The fire let out an angry growl that brought Y/n’s mind back to that room and what was happening, with good timing too as she then watched George and Fred get thrown a few feet in the air and land away from the age line. They sprouted long grey beards and got into a tussle on the floor.

The sight made Y/n giggle before she quickly regained her composure and acted as unbothered as possible making Lily roll her eyes. It would’ve been a fairly enjoyable time, regardless of what Y/n would’ve told Fred, but Adrian Pucey walking into the hall made her shrink in her chair as she grimaced.

“Go, don’t think he’s seen you yet.” Lily whispered, eyes trained on the other Slytherin.

Y/n nodded and hugged the walls as she made her way to the door, hopefully, unseen. She celebrated too early, and her face fell as she heard the unmistakable tone just as she made it through the doors.

“Running away from me?” Adrian called, his smirk evident in his words.

She stopped, turning to look at him as she spoke, “Don’t be so surprised. You ought to have realized by now your company isn’t wanted.”

“Come on Y/n, give us a chance. You know you want to.” He said coming closer to her.

“Really, Adrian, I don’t.”

Adrian reached out to pull her under his arm and forced her to walk with him, the act making her tense up but he didn’t seem to mind. He leaned closer to her ear, his breath hitting her skin making her incredibly uncomfortable.

“You’re mine, you know that don’t you? And no fucking ginger is going to get in my way.” He growled.

“You’re disgusting.” She spat, eyes burning with the anger of Hephaestus’ greatest fire.

Adrian laughed as he leaned closer to Y/n’s ear making her give an uncomfortable shiver, “Careful, darling, your feelings are showing.”

--

“Miss me, poppet?”

Fred Weasley’s voice was chipper and cheery as he greeted Y/n in their first class of the day. He had just woken up and it showed, his red hair looked as though it was hastily brushed through with his own fingers and his eyes still a bit puffy. He looked positively endearing as he took a seat at his table with George, just behind Lily and Y/n.

“Ridiculously.” Y/n mumbled, not looking up from her Herbology book.

“We’re only a few weeks in, what could you possibly be studying for?” Fred asked as he leaned over his desk to catch a glimpse at what you were looking at.

You glanced at him momentarily before looking back at your book, “Just giving myself an idea of what to expect.”

“Not a bad idea.” George said, considering doing it himself.

Fred gave him a funny look before turning his attention back to the girl in front of him, chin resting on his hand propped up by his elbow on the desk. She wasn’t paying attention to him, instead focusing on the book in front of her. She was slightly to the side allowing Fred the perfect view of her face without giving her the satisfaction of knowing he was staring at her.

Y/n’s hair fell in gentle waves down to kiss the top of her hips, she had fring that framed the length of her face and parted in the middle that was incredibly voluminous. Her eyes were focused with intense determination as she read, face relaxed as she was completely absorbed in what she was doing. Fred noticed early on that she rarely laughed, a genuine, eye crinkling, giggle but instead always had a look of unbothered casualness. He couldn’t understand this, not in the slightest, seeing as he was sure he had smile lines forming already.

He wanted to know more about the ethereal Slytherin, he craved it with everything in his being. Something about her drew him in, held him in place and refused to let him go.

Deep in thought, Fred failed to notice her eyes now looking at him with a curious glint and her hand coming out to poke him with her index finger.

“Alright, Weasley?” Her eyebrows were furrowed and Fred shrugged off the bubbly feeling he got in his gut.

He smirked, “Aw, do you care about my well being? Georgie hold me I may swoon.”

George laughed and shook his head at his brother, Lily joining in on the laughs as she watched Y/n’s face contort to one of distaste.

“Oi, Freddie’s got himself a girlfriend.” Lee Jordan, a close friend of Fred and George’s called from his table on the other side of the greenhouse.

Fred gave a short chuckle, his defenses coming up instantaneously as he tried to ignore the burning of his cheeks. And maybe if he hadn’t been so keen on putting down any and all rumors of him having feelings for Y/n he would’ve noticed the shy smile that graced Y/n’s lips as she turned her face away from the boys.

But alas, he didn't, and instead opened his mouth to shout over to Lee.

“My standards aren't that low, mate. I’d just as soon shag a goblin, Godric knows they’d be less bothersome.”

Taglist

@freddieweasleyswife​  @anywherebuthere​ 

[delta-roseblr]

Lol, all the new info about the solangelo and delix kids made me want to have a fic just about them. So I was wondering if that would be possible? xD

Hello, Anon!

I know it has been forever since you sent this prompt, but it wasn't forgotten!

I hope this is worth the wait

_____________________________________________________

The Kids

· Because Solangelo and Delix both set down in California, Solangelo in New Rome and Delix stays in Northern California; they see each other a lot, as do their kids.

· The fact that Michael and Lee (Nico and Will's twins) and Mason (Felix and Dean's son) are a little more than a year apart just added to their drive to get together as a family. The kids could entertain each other, and they always got along well. The twins were challenging to entertain when they were little, so this is a big deal.

· Will and Dean always figured the three of them would always get along because, well, that was how they were, but Nico and Felix had their doubts. They figured that as the three got older and if (when) the twins started showing their demigod powers that they would drift.

· Nico and Felix turned out to be completely wrong, and the three just got closer as they got older.

· You would think, since Mason is the oldest of the three, he would take on the leadership role in the group, but that isn't how it works out. Mason is a pretty even-keeled kid. He definitely got Dean's tendency to want to put his head down and do his work. He can and does take the leadership role during team things like sports but not when the twins are involved.

· The twins are a damn handful from the moment they are born, and they never really change. Both of them are outgoing in their own ways. Lee is more competitive and will jump at the opportunity to take on a challenge, while Michael is more social- he can (and will) start a conversation with pretty much anyone he meets. The two are also a perfect storm of trouble because Michael will come up with an idea like they should buy fake ids and sneak into a club, and Lee will view it as a challenge, so he wants to do it, and they will absolutely find a way to talk Mason into joining them. Mason definitely tries his hardest to keep them out of trouble and manages to be at least somewhat successful sixty-five percent of the time.

· The twins love showing up at Mason's mortal school events, so even though they do not go there, most of Mason's classmates recognize them. They are also pretty much honorary members of Mason's lacrosse team. While Mason gives them shit for being menaces, he really likes when they show up, it definitely stops things from getting boring.

· Mason visits New Roman as well, even though not as much because going to New Roman can be a process as a mortal going to New Roman. Still, he has teamed up with the twins and a few of the other children of the seven around their age to case a little harmless trouble on the weekend.

· Btw, Dean has had several conversations with a teenage Mason about precisely what to do if he finds himself being hit on by a horny god (with very specific things to say to Apollo or Dionysus). Mason considers these the most embarrassing conversations he has ever had with his days. It's bad enough that his middle-aged dads still act like teenagers half the time and CAN'T keep their hands off each other. He doesn't want to hear about how Greek gods had tried to bone them back in the day. Grandpa Solace jumping in with "Just remember, Apollo isn't nearly as good in bed as he claims, and you can take my word for it" doesn't help with the awkwardness. He would rather have to go through the birds and bees talk a million times over.

· All three of these boys are NOT STRAIGHT. Michael is gay, while both Lee and Mason are bisexual. It's hard to say that Michael or Lee "came out" because it happened so organically. There was no sit everyone down and tell them moment. Instead, it was just "I LIKE like that boy" or "that boy is really cute" when they were like twelve. Mason takes FOREVER to admit this to himself and even longer to admit it to anyone else. Michael and Lee KNOW way before Mason admits to anything, and neither of them lets him hid from it. Lee tries the comforting approach hoping Mason will admit it while Michael goes more the exposure therapy route- he'll point out cute guys and ask what Mason thinks. He tricked Mason into going to a few gay events without Mason knowing until it was too late to back out.

· FYI, Mason comes out to Lee first, but only because they get into a fight because Lee is flirting with a boy; Mason secretly has a massive crush on (or at least he thinks it's a secret, but everyone can tell). Michael is solidly pissed about this for months, but that doesn't stop him from trying to play matchmaker.

Dribble:

The rain had stopped, and Mason supposed he should have been happy about that, but the lingering sense of tension and danger made it hard to appreciate. He, Michael, and Lee had already walked one block north of Gypsy Bar, and Mason was hoping as they put even more distance between themselves and the bar that sense of unease would dissipate at least a little.

They had been walking in silence for several minutes. That was a rare thing, and Mason hoped it meant that it was one of those rare occasions that his cousins were thinking about how horrible their idea had been, but Lee killed that hope the moment he opened his mouth.

"Well, we had to try," Lee declared.

Mason looked over and up because, of course, Lee was at least three inches taller than him. That would have been more annoying if Mason was at all insecure about his height, but at six foot he was comfortable. Also, he had a couple of inches on Michael, which helped.

Lee's hair looked practically white instead of its usual light blonde under the street lights' harsh glare, and his complexion seemed extra fair. Even his freckles were lost in the artificial light. Not surprisingly, there wasn't a single sign of worry on his face.

Maybe if Mason had Greek god powers, he would have been relaxed too, but he didn't. That call for adventure that Lee and Michael had just seemed like asking for trouble to Mason, the mere mortal. "Not with the worse fake IDs in history," Mason pointed out yet again.

"They were not that bad!" Michael was quick to defend.

This was not the first time Mason had heard that, and it didn't make it any less ridiculous. One of Michael and Lee's dads was literally a doctor that could heal people by touching them. There was no fucking excuse for their inability to see what was right in front of them. Why Michael had even bought the IDs, having seen them, Mason would never understand.

"They looked like they were hand-drawn by a preschool," Mason pointed out, "And the names were ridiculous."

"Pictures didn't look much like us," Lee agreed.

Michael let out a long, loud sigh, pushed a dark strand of hair that had fallen out of his ponytail and into his eye line, and tucked it behind his ear. While Lee looked like the stereotypical California surfer dude, Michael almost looked Mediterranean. He had light brown hair that he had grown out over the last year and now almost exclusively wore tied up, and he naturally had a more tan, almost olive complexion. Even with the differences, it was impossible not to recognize the two as twins immediately. They both had the same sharp facial features, lean and athletic builds, and light blue eyes.

Mason was the obvious odd man out in the group. His hair was somewhere between a light brown and a dark blonde, and his eyes were hazel rather than blue. His build was boxier, and he was definitely wider in the shoulders than his cousins, but that might have been because he had been playing lacrosse since he was eight. His facial features were also a little more square and angular. It might not have been a stretch to believe the three of them were related, but no one was going to mistake them for triplets.

"Okay, that is enough with the pouting," Michael declared with just a little bit of annoyance in his voice. Mason was a little surprised it had taken that long because usually, the more outrageous and destined to fail one of Michael's plans were, the more annoyed he got when it did, in fact, fail. "At least we got a fun story out of it," he stated.

Knowing Michael, he really did see that as a win which was crazy. Mason fucking loved his cousins. They were literally his best friends and really always had been, but sometimes they were crazy to be around. Mason put that on all the demigod stuff. After all, if you have literally trained to fight monsters since you were a little kid getting fake IDs and trying to sneak into a twenty-one and over club probably didn't sound all that crazy.

Mason wasn't exactly a fucking nun. Sneaking into a bar didn't sound completely crazy but trying to get into a bar known for checking IDs with comically bad fake IDs did.

"We are lucky they didn't call the police," Mason pointed out flatly. The bouncer had decided to take pity on them for some reason after giving them one hell of a fucking lecture, and Mason would forever be grateful. "Or worse, our parents," he added with a shutter.

"What are you worried about?" Lee asked with a laugh, "Uncle Dean and Uncle Felix would have been totally cool."

Mason gave Lee a serious look. "Nothing about my parents is cool," he stated firmly, "No matter how many people say otherwise."

"You really are a master of denial," Lee commented teasingly before patting his shoulder and adding, "It's kind of impressive."

The fact was Mason was well aware that his dads were pretty cool. If they had been called and told Mason had been caught with a fake ID trying to sneak into a bar, they probably wouldn't have even yelled at him. Neither of them were big yellers. Mason would have gotten one hell of a disapproving lecture which Mason was convinced was worse than yelling ever could be. He definitely would have lost a whole bunch of privileges for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, Mason had been hearing about how cool his dads were since he could remember. The fact that Felix getting early releases of video games all the time helped. Dean always bringing Mason and his friends for ice cream after practice when he was younger didn't hurt. As he got older, he just became the one with the cool parents in all his friend groups. It got old after a while, and that was before the term DILF started getting thrown around.

He would have been more annoyed if it was anyone besides Lee and Michael. They had it just as bad as he did, even if it was slightly different. Uncle Nico was practically a legion among Demigods for all the questing he did as a teenager, and even if he had just sat on his ass, he was still the son of Hades, which was a big thing. Uncle Will didn't have the history with all the questing, but he played an important role in some battle, which was enough to give him some fame. The twins had to deal with their fair share of people going full-on hero-worship over their dads, and then there was the fact that Uncle Nico had worked as a model for like five years.

Mason might not have been truly pissed off, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to flip Lee off for that comment. He did grin as he did it, at least so it was clear that it was all good.

They had walked about half a block as they had talked, and they made it about a block more in silence before Michael huffed. "So what are we going to do now?" he asked. Mason went to answer but barely got an opportunity to take a breath before Michael held up a finger to cut him off. "And the answer of going home is not allowed, so just don't even say it," he stated firmly.

Mason didn't get why going home, playing video games, ordering a pizza, and hanging out was such a bad idea. His dads were out on a date night, so they probably would have had the house to themselves, not that that mattered. According to Michael, that was just not an acceptable way for them to spend their evening, and in fairness, he had made that clear before then. That didn't mean that wasn't exactly what Mason had been prepared to suggest, but he wasn't really surprised that Michael warned him not to before he got a chance.

Mason stopped and looked around to get a feel for where they were. Since they were in West Berkeley, it was more his stomping ground rather than the twins. If it were New Rome, the twins would have a list of places they could go and things they could do, so he guessed it was on him to at least come up with one suggestion.

If he was honest, he only had a vague idea of where they were, and it wasn't a part of the city he visited often, so he didn't have the best idea of what was around. Ultimately, he went with the first thing that came to mind. "There is a really cool vintage bookstore like two blocks from here," he stated, pointing in the direction he thought it was.

It might have been the first thing he had thought of, but Mason didn't think it was a half-bad idea. He had been to the place a few times with Dean because Dean had a radar for little bookstores, and it didn't matter what they were doing or where they were supposed to be; he had to go in. It was such a well-known fact that Felix always looked up where bookstores were when they went on vacation so they could plan when they went. The little bookstore that Mason couldn't remember the name of had actually been pretty cool.

"You found an answer worse than go home," Michael commented flatly, "Why do you hurt me like this?"

Mason rolled his eyes because now Michael was just overdramatic. "They serve coffee and stuff," he informed.

"Coffee actually sounds pretty fucking good," Lee admitted, which was a good sign. Of the two, Michael always wanted to do something big and over-the-top. Lee could be like that sometimes, but he was more likely to see reason when Michael was just suggesting something crazy. Usually, if Mason could get Lee on his side, he had a chance. If Lee backed Michael's idea, then it was only a matter of time before Mason agreed to whatever insanity had been planned.

Michael stared between Mason and Lee with clear disapproval. "We can not go from trying to sneak into a 21 and over club to drinking coffee in a used bookstore," he stated with disgust before just shaking his head with disappointment, "Honestly, what is wrong with you two?"

"Okay," Lee declared, managing to sound just as unamused by Michael as Michael was with them. Lee was infinitely better at dealing with his brother when he was being dramatic than Mason was. "How about we go into that pizza place-" he pointed past Mason toward a small pizza place just across the street from where they were standing, "-and talk to the cute girls that are walking in."

"Well, that doesn't sound like fun for me!" Michael grumbled as he turned and assessed the option for a split second. "Oh, there is a couple of boys that could be cute! I don't hate that idea."

Mason gave in and turned to see what they were talking about and immediately wanted to crawl into a hole and die. "Oh my god, could you too stop staring," he hissed as he turned his back on the scene and hoped no one saw him.

They should have gone to New Rome.

Of course, both Michael and Lee were staring at him, and he knew they were going to ask. Neither of them was precisely known for letting things go either.

"What?" Mason shrugged, sounding more defensive than he meant to, "They are people from my school."

Michael and Lee exchanged a look that was never a good thing. It was one of those weird twin silent communication things they would do, and it usually meant they were about to tag team, Mason. It never worked out well.

"You know them?" Michael asked, although he managed to give the question far more weight than such a simple question should have had.

Lee was even less subtle as he stared at Mason with obvious suspicion, "How come we don't know them?"

Obviously, Michael and Lee didn't go to Mason's high school because they were in New Rome, but they hung around with Mason enough that they knew all of Mason's school friends and a fair number of his classmates. It wasn't necessarily weird that they didn't know someone that Mason knew from school, but it was a more rare occurrence. On this specific occasion, it actually made a lot of sense because they were people Mason only recently started getting to know.

"It looked like Theo and a few of the other kids from the theater club," Mason explained. Mason was not a theater kid. Even if he had wanted to be, he never would have had time with lacrosse and soccer. Since he was a junior and apparently would benefit from diversifying his afterschool activities (so saith his guidance counselor), he joined the AV club and somehow ended up helping with the school play, so he got to know some of the theater kids over the last few months. Not a big deal in the slightest. "And for the record, you two aren't entitled to know all my school friends," he pointed out just to prove a point.

Michael and Lee exchanged another look.

"Theo?" Lee questioned.

"Interesting," Michael commented.

Mason's heart jumped into his throat. Had he said that name? He hadn't meant to, but it must have just slipped out. He was absolutely fucked because the twins weren't going to let that go, and that was the last thing Mason needed. Theo was just a dude with great hair that made Mason feel weird sometimes, and he didn't want to talk about that.

Play it cool, Mason told himself through his internal panic. He shrugged, which felt like the most unnatural gesture ever. "He hangs out with a lot of the AV kids helping with the play," he explained. More accurately, he hung around many band kids helping with the play, and Mason had to adjust the audio equipment a fair amount. After talking a few times, Mason may have invited him to hang out with the AV kids, and the guy took him up on that. There was no fucking way he was telling Lee and Michael that story. "I've learned his name. It isn't a big deal," he stated. That at least was true, and no one would convince Mason otherwise.

Michael and Lee were silent for a long moment, just staring at him before Michael broke the silence. "You know what? Pizza sounds fantastic," He declared before turning on his heels and starting across the street. He was halfway across before he called over his shoulder, "And I love a good theater club. Always fun gays."

Lee patted Mason on the shoulder, which turned into him practically pushing Mason forward toward the pizza shop. "So, which one is Theo exactly," Lee asked in a mischievous tone.

Now Mason wished their wrong fake IDs had worked.

[headquarters90]

Tired (Warrior of the Crown 10)

Pairing: Darkiplier x French Goddess!Reader

Words: 2,032

Warnings: Mentions of abuse and mental health

Series Masterlist Read This Discord Server

A/N: It’s been a hot minute and I do apologize. I’m just now getting into the grove of things again while fighting not just my normal depression and anxiety but now postpartum depression as well. Thank you so much for your patience when it comes to this series or just anything I write, honestly. Oh! And if you’re on Tiktok and come across someone named MakariaBless doing videos of a Goddess named Lucette that’s seems to have the same background history and story plot as Y/N in this, don’t worry. No one stole my idea - that’s me! Lucette is the inspiration of this series and what Y/N’s background and personality is based off of - and someone answered the debating I was having for me and Lucette will have to different storylines on Tiktok - her original and this one. Just an fyi!

Hit my ask box if you want to be added to a tag list for this series!

“Lady Y/N.”

Your nose scrunched up as you watched the servant bow before gesturing you and Dark inside.

“What does Lord Pierre owe to this visit?” The servant asked and you gave a soft smile.

“I’m in need of seeing Damon, actually. Is he here or has he returned to Hades?”

“He is still here. I shall go retrieve him for you.” The servant bowed again and you scrunched your nose once more as you watched him make his way out of the throne room.

“This must be what a throne room should look like,” Dark mused and you glanced towards him, raising an eyebrow.

“I would have thought you’ve seen Lucifer’s if you were the first one Ivy thought about.”

“Funny.”

“Lady Y/N, is there something you need?” Damon’s voice drifted into the room and you turned your eyes on him.

“There might be a traitor among our mists.”

“And you think it’s Damon,” Pierre’s voice deadpanned and you raised an eyebrow at your uncle.

“It was me that convince them to allow Damon with you, Pierre. I do not believe it’s him. I was coming to see if he may know who the traitor is.”

“Sorry, Lady Y/N, but I do not. I wasn’t even aware there was another traitor among them,” Damon spoke and you nodded, glancing at Pierre who raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“There’s a good chance they know that Damon is on our side now. I would be cautious.”

“You’re talking to a-”

“-War God, I’m aware. You have been in the picture long before you revealed yourself as an uncle, Pierre,” you spoke. “But, must you forget, that he does live in Hades and that he is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of said God and Charon. I will let Isabelle and Charon know for when he returns.”

“Thank you, Lady Y/N,” Damon spoke up before Pierre could and your eyes drifted to him. “They trust your judgement.”

“It’s not that they do not trust my judgement but rather, the fact that I can see just how much good is in a person and their true intentions…most of the time.”

“You say that as if it fails you 35% of the time,” Pierre snorted. “I’ve never met one person that special ability of yours has failed you.”

“Yes, well, emotions can cloud anything when it comes to certain things,” you replied, glancing towards Dark before nodding at the two. “If you discover anything, Damon.”

“Of course.”

~

“Why are we meeting here?” Angel questioned, looking at you with furrowed eyebrows. “You hate coming here.”

“You’ll know when everyone else is here,” you promised as you shifted on your feet.

Focus on-

Dark. I know.

Your eyes glanced towards the entity in question as he leaned against a nearby wall, his arms crossed in annoyance of Anti speaking.

“At this point, sweetheart, it feels like we should just live at yours,” Hades spoke as he appeared alongside Bellatrix and you shook your head at the God. “Are we the last to show?”

“That would be us,” Pierre spoke up and Hades glowered as he glanced over at him and Damon.

“Why are they here?”

“Jean-Paul should be here as well,” Sébastian spoke, appearing beside you, his hands behind his back. “While everyone is still getting used to Pierre being part of the now Cinq, he still needs to be at meetings that require the Quatre Gods.”

“The Quatre Gods?” Anti questioned and you glanced at him. “New to the French Pantheon, remember? Not very well known.”

“The Quatre Gods are simply the French versions of the Greek’s Elder Gods. The Quatre Gods, now Cinq Gods, also known as the Children of Nickolas, are Bellatrix, Jean-Paul, Thana, Eva, and now, Pierre,” Sébastian recalled.

“Why are we giving a history lesson?” Jean-Paul’s voice drifted into the room and Angel snorted.

“Because unlike those who lived through the years, had the history lessons young, and live here, there are still those who don’t know, uncle,” Angel answered, turning her head to look at him.

“Teach the history lesson another time then. I have things to do and this was declared an important emergency,” Jean-Paul waved her off before wincing, turning his head towards his wife.

“Just because I married you, doesn’t mean I won’t stay by Tempête de Feu’s people,” Christina scowled before her eyes drifted over everyone in the room. “Y/N called the meeting, didn’t she?”

“Yes,” Bellatrix answered, nodding her head. “No idea on what though.”

“Pierre and Damon as well as Apollo already knows this but,” your eyes flirted over everyone, taking a deep breath, “there’s reason to believe a traitor among our mists.”

“Impossible,” Jean-Paul exclaimed, shaking his head.

“That witch, you called her Thandi? She clued you in on this when she possessed me, didn’t she?” Ares spoke up and your eyes moved to his, an eyebrow raised. “I was with you for a few years, Y/N, I know how you think, believe it or not.”

“She did,” you answered, nodding your head. “She knew of Apollo being a possible lover. The only ones that even know about the Warriors are the ones in this room, Monstres, Titans, and those we are allied with outside of our realms. The only ones that knew about Apollo are Flinn, Ivy, and-”

“-the ones in this room,” Hades finished and you nodded. “And not even everyone in the room knew.”

“I don’t know how many traitors we have. I don’t know if they’re willing associates or being blackmailed like Pierre and Damon once were. All I know is that if the traitor is among any of our people, it’s mine.”

“Now, you don’t know that for sure, Y/N. We can have Maxence-”

“I’m sorry, auntie, but where else could the traitor be? We’ve only been having meetings at mine and even if we’re not having meetings, I’m talking to Dark, Anti, Sébastian, or Apollo about what’s going on and how to go about things. There’s no where else they could be.”

“She has a point,” Thana pointed out. “Family dinners have even been held there for awhile now. If it’s not hers, where else?”

“We should-”

“Not Maxence.”

You raised an eyebrow at the multiple people jumping to his defense before you lifted your eyes to Dark.

“They’re right. It’s not him. We’re just know getting a traitor, Maxence has been with us prior to me being born.”

“You said it yourself, Goddess. They could be willing or blackmailed.”

“We have protocols,” Bellatrix spoke up, looking over at the entity. “Thought process is good but we have protocols for such a thing.”

“But what if-”

“Impossible,” Jean-Paul butted in and Dark scoffed, pushing himself off the wall.

“Everyone in this room, who is the one person you all are so desperate to protect no matter what? The one person that can be held against you if you were being blackmailed?” He challenged, holding up a finger. “Aside from the two buffoons over there.”

“I am a-”

“-War God. I’m aware but alas, you cannot touch me, Pierre, and you know that.” Dark gave him a dull look before looking around the room.

“He has a point,” Juliette spoke up.

“Time and time again, you’ve prove that you would do anything to protect her. Even Ares, though a complete ass-”

“Dark-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Goddess. Even he has proven that, when it comes down to it, he’d protect her. And that is part of Maxence’s job, is it not?”

You let out a sigh as those around you murmured to themselves and your eyes met your mother’s who raised an eyebrow.

“Have something you’d like to say, my dear?”

“No.”

“You know, it’s a pity that you think you can lie to your mother.” Thana sent you a grin. “Out with it.”

“Now isn’t the-”

“No, no. I think I know what this is about,” André spoke up and you turned your eyes to him. “You’re not a damsel.”

“It’s not the-”

“Y/N.”

Your eyes met your aunt’s who raised an eyebrow back at you and you let out a sigh, moving your eyes to meet Dark’s before they dropped to the floor.

“No, I’m not and…and I’m tired of being treated as if I am. I get that I acted like a damsel, a child, for years, to get a childhood I so desperately wanted that wasn’t focused on the abuse I took on for three years, to forget the fact that my mother died in my arms at 8 years old. And I know I’ll have moments of acting like a child because of it and I’ll have moments where I remember and falls into a panic. And I know that I’ll need help in those moments but I’m tired of subjects being tip-toed around, I’m tired of being tip-toed around.

“I’m where I need to be. I’ve overcome what I needed too and I get that it’ll take time but…but I’m tired of all the protection. And I get that it’s certain people’s jobs like I get that Hades feels like he took on this father role with me and that he feels that need to protect me. I get that and I’m not saying I’m ungrateful because I am and I will forever be grateful for what you’ve done for me over the decades when I wasn’t okay but I am now and if I have to have auntie touch me to prove it, I will but I’m okay.”

You took an unsteady breath as you lifted your eyes to meet Dark’s once more before your eyes glanced around the room.

“I’m okay.”

“I wondered how long you would hold that in,” Apollo mused and you turned your eyes towards him.

~

Hearing something thud against the table before a chair was pulled out, you glanced to your left, watching as Dark sat down before your eyes went to the book in front of him.

“How’d you find out if you didn’t read it before I hid it?” You questioned, returning your eyes back to your tablet, scrolling onto the next article.

“Discovered it while looking for you when you were avoiding me,” Dark admitted. “I just happened to turn to the page.”

“Let me know if you have any questions,” you hummed before you pursed your lip in thought. “The Fates.”

“What about them?” Apollo’s voice drifted into the room and you glanced up at him, watching him raise an eyebrow. “You two seem to be getting cozy.”

“Sitting next to each other isn’t “cozy,” Apollo,” you pointed out, setting your tablet down.

“It is for you, sweetheart,” he rebutted and you rolled your eyes. “Anyways, what about the Fates?”

“Maybe not the Fates, possibly the Egyptians…Wait, no, Sumerian,” you spoke and Apollo furrowed his eyebrows.

“No one has heard from the Sumerians for centuries, Y/N. We don’t even know if they still exist. What is this about?”

“Flinn might. Flinn is older than all over us. Him and Aelita. The Source had asked Flinn to keep watch on the Darkness, he should know where they are.”

“Aelita?” Dark questioned and you glanced at him before looking at Apollo who held the similar question in his eyes.

“Aelita? She’s…Never mind that. I’m rumbling. I need to call Ivy.”

“Wait, wait, what is this all about?” Apollo raised an eyebrow, stopping you as you stood from you seat.

You looked between the God and the Entity before blinking at the realization of you not saying anything.

“Angel and I are having difficulties trying to figure out a way to kill Azazel. Any of the Mesopotamians should be able to know of a way. They’ve been around longer than any of us.”

“I forgot Ivy gave you a side mission,” Apollo mused.

“Actually, Lucifer did. He wants him dead. I think Ivy just wants everything about it to disappear.”

“How would you know that?” Apollo raised an eyebrow.

“Because she did, you fool,” Dark muttered and Apollo winced at the reminder.

“Right.”

“Ivy has a lot more to overcome than I did but she’s not on track for it yet. She’ll get there.”

[scarlettlawyer]

This is fanfiction of a fanfiction! Specifically, the Phantoms and Mirages fanfiction series by Meowzy (renegadewangs on tumblr), which can be found over at AO3! This post’s fic contains SPOILERS for the series up until the end of Lifting Spirits, the fourth installment. If you have not read the Phantoms & Mirages series up until at least the end of Lifting Spirits, it will not make a lick of sense to you either! So I would highly recommend checking the series out first if you would like to give this post a read. I would still recommend checking it out if you don’t want to give this post a read too! :P

Anyway here is the little thing I wrote just in case others would like to read it :)

-------------------

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 10:14 AM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

It was Christmas morning, and it had been six days since his client had been handed down the death sentence in court.

The execution had already been carried out, he’d heard. Just as swiftly as the court’s verdict promised.

Phoenix Wright wasn’t feeling especially festive, but it was Christmas, so putting a smile on his face and doing his best to carry on as usual was the least he could do. He had to, at least for Trucy’s sake. It wouldn’t be fair to let recent grim events detract from her celebrating and enjoying today.

But he supposed he couldn’t act like this was just like any other Christmas, either. They’d rarely seen Athena in the past few days – she had taken the outcome of the trial especially hard.

And Apollo…

There’d been friction as of late. That was undeniable, and impossible to avoid. He’d starkly disagreed with his and Athena’s actions starting back when they’d acted as the Phantom’s defense team, but he’d soon learned afterwards how that had all been a ploy, and then Apollo had quickly understood, any discontent completely washed away.

It had been for a good cause, after all – to ensure that the spy known as Mirage was caught and faced justice. The Phantom’s role in that trial had only been relevant insofar as it had furthered that goal; it had nothing to do with Phoenix and Athena actually supporting him or advocating on his behalf outside of that. Once Apollo realised that, he’d been at ease once more and all was well.

The trial for Alexander Luster Jr., though, that was different. There was no ploy; it was a completely genuine and earnest attempt to seek a second chance to be granted for a man to turn his life around for the better, and for him to have a future. Athena and Phoenix had actively chosen to stand by that man’s side and fight for his second chance.

And that core stance was the source of the fundamental and insurmountable disagreement between Apollo and the two of them. Apollo could not, and would not understand their decision to advocate for that second chance. Phoenix couldn’t entirely blame him, and it would be unfair to expect Apollo to understand.

It didn’t matter now; they’d lost, in the end. Alexander Luster Jr., the Phantom, whatever you wanted to call him, was dead now. Apollo’s stance had ultimately won out and it was the one that the court system had officially endorsed. 

—————- 

Date: December 19th 2028 Time: 12:04 PM Location: District Court – Courtroom No. 4.

He continued to stand by the defense’s bench in the wake of the verdict, motionless and paralysed, as his client was carried away screaming, forced towards his impending death. 

There was nothing Phoenix could do but stand there uselessly. His mind was blank as the chaos went on around him.

And just like that, his client had been taken away, but the impact of the day’s events was still unfolding everywhere in the courtroom.

Whenever he was involved in a case, the court had never really come to the wrong decision before. Even when losing a case, there hadn’t been any issue because it was the correct and just outcome. The only other time the outcome of a trial he’d defended in had felt so utterly wretched and bleak and wrong was when he’d lost his badge.

His badge…

A very dark moment passed over him. If he couldn’t ensure a just outcome, if he couldn’t protect his client, then what was the point? Why stand in court?

He stood frozen, and the sudden mad urge to tear off his badge subsided. There was no way he could cast it aside so easily, not after everything he’d been through. That wouldn’t be right either. He couldn’t do that to Trucy. And Edgeworth had done so much to help him and to get it back.

To throw it all away… it was something he felt that he probably would have done many years ago, if he hadn’t been able to bring Matt Engarde to justice. But this situation wasn’t quite so dire, and back then he hadn’t had a daughter and two apprentices to think about. Back then, he’d never experienced having his badge taken away from him either, hadn’t suffered so much and for so long before he could get it back again.

But ultimately, what did this symbolic representation of his membership to the legal profession even amount to? He’d been proven useless in the end. It was all futile. He was supposed to act as an agent of the law to ensure justice for all. It was supposed to result in justice for everyone, but… Phoenix wasn’t so sure what to think about that anymore.

Still, he had duties that he was bound by. Duties to the people around him, and to carry on with his work… he just needed to make sure he didn’t suddenly find himself entrapped by the very things that used to feel freeing.

Time passed, and the courtroom grew to be practically empty. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, but it must have been a while.

He started to walk. It was an aimless gesture with no real intent, hardly paying attention to where his feet might be carrying him.

“Daddy, there you are…! Polly and I, we found-”

“-Athena,” Phoenix said automatically upon catching sight of her. She was looking quite the worse for wear, and Apollo was standing by her side, awkwardly trying to offer support.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here for you. It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to be sad. There’s no use crying over him - think of how much the Phantom has taken from us all. He can’t hurt anyone anymore, now. It’s over and it’s best we all move on… There was never really any other way. This was necessary for-”

“You don’t GET to decide when someone’s life ending is NECESSARY, Apollo!”

Apollo started back in shock, Athena’s sudden fierce tone forcing him into silence as she continued.

“Do you think that his death will magically make the past better? Can it undo anything that’s already been done?! Who are you to decide that a human life should be offered up as some kind of,” she waved her hand about wildly, “sacrificial stepping stone for your own personal development to make you feel better? Execution doesn’t bring back the dead. It only adds to the death! Another lifeless body thrown upon the pile.”

Widget had turned from dark blue to red in a flash at Apollo’s words, before reverting back to a deep blue once more. Evidently, Apollo hadn’t expected his attempt to console her to be met with such defiant anger. After a few moments, his response came, unusually quiet, but firm and resolute.

“You’re right. It’s not for me to decide. It’s for the courts to decide. And a conclusion has already been reached for this case. It’s not about feeling better – it’s about what’s right, and what needs to be done. It’s about justice. The sooner you see that, the sooner you can heal.”

“You think-,” she broke off, her voice struggling with the effort it took stave off sobs. “You call this justice? Lex – didn’t want – to h-hurt anyone! He just wanted - to live! He was a – new person, and-,” she then shook her head, breathing heavily. “I’ve gotta go.” At that, she rushed out the door.

Apollo sighed, his expression dismayed and stern. “She’s too far gone,” Phoenix heard him mutter to himself.

“Apollo-”

“No, Mr Wright. Do you expect me to feed the idealistic fantasies she’s constructed? Because I can’t. It’s not healthy… For either of us. I just can’t- I mean, don’t you think… things have been hard enough as it is? Every now and then, I still find myself checking my phone on occasion, expecting to see a new message from Clay… Out of habit. Even thinking about that… Phantom is a constant painful reminder. I’m sick of it - I don’t want to have to hear about that killer anymore, and I shouldn’t have to.”

Apollo paused to catch his breath and calm down somewhat, and Phoenix let him.

“’Who am I to decide’…? Who was the Phantom to decide that ending Clay’s life – anyone’s life was necessary? There’s no use… distorting things into such a one-sided picture, because life doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter who you are, in the end. What’s done is done, and everyone needs to be held to equal standards of accountability for their own actions. Isn’t that what justice is? No one is so special that they are above the law, yet even you seem to need reminding of that right now. She should know – and we should know this better than anyone. We’re lawyers. This is how our legal system works!”

Alexander Luster’s final, terrified and desperate screams that had filled the air as he begged and pleaded for his life before he was dragged from the courtroom were still ringing in his mind, branded deeply, haunting him with the horror of a life knowingly about to be cut off. The inherent horror of the awareness there must be, that it was your life at its end, your life that you barely knew.

This is how… their legal system works.

This can’t be right.

It shouldn’t have ended like this. It was his fault. He could have prevented this. He could have done more. He could have saved a life, if he’d just tried harder.

It was all… wrong.

“…I’m sorry, Apollo. This is one case where… we won’t be able to see eye to eye. We don’t have to agree on this; you don’t have to understand. Right now, I think we should just give each other space.”

Apollo’s mouth set in a grim line. “Fine. Next I see you, I hope you’ll have actually regained some of your senses.” And with that, he stormed off.

Maybe Apollo was right, in a sense. Maybe the system was working exactly as it was supposed to. The courts would swallow up input, spit out a result, and whatever that result happened to be the citizens are demanded to gaze upon it and call it “justice”. If it pleased or displeased the masses, then so be it. Maybe, on some level, the idea was that the result didn’t have to make sense. Maybe there just had to be one, so that everyone else would then be free to go home and carry on with their lives, their legal truths set in stone.

—————-

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 10:21 AM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

The next he did see Apollo after that, neither of them had said a word about the incident.

It would be wrong for Phoenix to hold Apollo’s feelings about it all against him, and he didn’t. Apollo had lost his best friend. And Apollo knew that the verdict had dealt a blow to both Athena and Phoenix. Even if he clearly disapproved and thought that the Phantom wasn’t worth anyone’s time up until the very end, he made a point of doing his best to not say anything that would exacerbate the strain that was present or add any unnecessary grief, after that instance gone awry. It was an unspoken intent to keep the peace amongst them; neither would voice any of the internal thoughts that may upset the other when in their presence.

Lessons had been learned when Apollo had unintentionally overstepped, but Athena had been the first one to apologise when they’d crossed paths the next day. She apologised for yelling at him, and he apologised for unintentionally making things worse, and they were able to leave it at that.

Even so, their interactions had been rather stiff as of late. After all, there was still the uncomfortable fact hanging over the three of them that Apollo was pleased with the very same verdict that had left Athena crying out desperately, even attempting to stop the Interpol agents from taking the former spy away. So much for the Wright Anything Agency all coming together for Christmas…

So there it was: Apollo was happy with the outcome. Athena was devastated. And Phoenix, well…

Phoenix still personally disagreed with Apollo and could not internalise the Judge’s decision as the right one.

So here he was, still a lawyer, on Christmas morning. He was acting cheerful, and so was Trucy. She’d loved her presents, just as Phoenix had hoped, and hugged him enthusiastically as she’d thanked him. But Trucy was a smart girl and must have known not everything was currently as well as it could be, and that relations among the Wright Anything Agency had seen better days. Maybe, to some extent, she was actively injecting enthusiasm into her demeanour for that reason, too.

He just needed to keep staving off the depressing thoughts. He had time… time to come to terms with the verdict, and what it might mean, on some other day. Today was for focusing on family.

Suffice it to say, given everything, he hadn’t been expecting Athena to march right through the door with such lightness and energy to her demeanour.

“Merry Christmas!” she exclaimed, a bright grin settling on her face. She dumped a bag on the floor which Phoenix could see contained some wrapped gifts.

“Merry Christmas, Athena! Good to see you,” Trucy beamed.

“So what’s the go, Boss? I sure hope you’ve got a big Christmas lunch on the way, ‘cause I’m hungry!”

Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly, a little taken off-guard. He hadn’t even had the chance to greet her yet! “W-wait, but if you’re hungry, didn’t you have anything this morning?”

Athena reached up to tap at her earring, causing it to sway. “Well, I did have brunch just earlier with Simon and Bobby, but… The point is, I know I will be hungry once it’s lunchtime!” She thrust a peace sign in Phoenix’s direction and continued, “Big meals are an essential part of Christmas, anyway!”

Phoenix might have thought that she was forcing some kind of cheerful act, were it not for the fact that Widget was glowing green with genuine happiness. But even if it wasn’t for that, he would have been hard-pressed to deny the essential truth that her high spirits seemed to ring with.

“So, um… Where’s Apollo?” she asked, her tone softening a little.

“Ah,” was all Phoenix offered in reply.

“Maybe… you should give him a call? Invite him over. That’s- if he’s not busy with other plans, that is. We can’t have a Wright Anything Agency Christmas party without him, after all.”

“Hah, there’s nothing Polly could be too busy with that he can’t drop it all at a moment’s notice to see us! Isn’t that right, Daddy?” Trucy urged.

“Ahaha, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

—————-

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 1:34 PM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

As it turned out, although Apollo was involved in other plans and couldn’t leave immediately, he had promised to be there in the afternoon. He should be arriving any minute, now.

It was strange; Phoenix really hadn’t thought they’d be able to salvage the day to this extent, but here they were. It was just as it should be – everyone was upbeat, Apollo was on his way over, and they could all forget any troubles. Phoenix didn’t need to pretend to be upbeat as they played makeshift games and unwrapped more presents. It was just a shame that Edgeworth wouldn’t be arriving until a bit later, too, but once he did, there’d still be all the rest of the afternoon and the evening to spend together at the Wright Agency Christmas party.

Speaking of which, he’d needed to leave the main room to take a phone call from Edgeworth. It had gone on for longer than planned, and he stopped himself just before stepping back into the room once the call was over, not wanting to intrude on the solemn exchange of words that seemed to be taking place between Athena and Trucy.

“-was so worried. You’re sure you’re okay?” Trucy was saying.

Phoenix hadn’t meant to overhear that, but in truth, this had been nagging at the back of his mind as well. It seemed odd for Athena to have bounced back to normal so quickly… And the worst of times are when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, I promise.”

Trucy nodded. “…Alright, I believe you.”

“Besides, today’s not the day to go around being gloomy… But thank you. It’s touching that you care.”

And when Trucy left the room to get some materials prepared for an elaborate magic trick so it could be ready for Apollo’s arrival, it was Phoenix’s turn to speak to Athena one-on-one.

“I’ve been meaning to ask. You said you had brunch with Blackquill and Agent Fulbright this morning, didn’t you? How… How are they?”

“Ohh…” Athena seemed to think carefully for a moment, searching for the right words. “I think… they’re going to be okay. I think they’re going to be just fine.”

“Hmm…” I’m sorry, he wanted to say, I feel like I let them both down. And I let you down, too. But there was something holding him back. “And what about you?”

“Me? Come on, Boss. I know you heard what I said to Trucy earlier – you’re not that subtle with your eavesdropping, you know. I’m alright, and how could I not be? It’s Christmas Day and I’ve been spending it with my friends.”

Ahh, caught red-handed, it seemed. “But, aren’t you… sad?” he tried. Something still didn’t seem to add up.

“Of course I’m sad–”

… Interesting.

“-but there’s a time and a place for sadness. I don’t want to be all miserable right now. I don’t want to focus on less pleasant things. So, let’s continue enjoying the rest of today. …Mr. Wright?”

“R-Right! You’re right.” His phone beeped. “Ah… Apollo will be here in five minutes.”

In actuality, Apollo arrived in three minutes’ time, bearing presents of his own. After responding to Trucy’s enthusiastic welcome, there was a brief awkward silence when he caught sight of Athena.

“…Hey, Apollo,” she said, holding out a present done up in shiny red wrapping, “got you a gift!”

“Athena! Mr. Wright said you were here, but I thought-,” he shook his head. “…Thank you. Merry Christmas.”

Just like that, everything felt so normal again, among everyone.

It was a crazy thought, but

…Maybe, somehow, everything had all worked out in the end. There was something about Athena’s demeanour that put him at ease, allowing him to trust that all was well… it allowed him to trust in justice.

Maybe, he didn’t quite have the full picture. That was alright with him; he didn’t need to pry any further.

In this case, just the idea of it was enough. 

[aion-rsa]

William Shatner Explains The UnXplained

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The UnXplained will premiere on History on July 11, confounding viewers with impossible tales improbably told. But the most inexplicable thing about the paranormal-and-beyond series is its host. William Shatner is not just an actor or a star, he is almost public domain. His breakthrough character, Captain James T. Kirk, was recognized and claimed by popular culture, the counterculture, and the subculture of Star Trek aficionados. 

Shatner started his career as a workaholic actor who never said no. He took big and small parts on great TV shows and movies, and awful ones. He’d go on to continue his work in popular TV series with appearances in indie and B-movie films which have become cult classics. Who can forget his creepy crawl up the basement stairs in Kingdom of the Spiders or his pentagram brand and dis-gouged eyes in Devil’s Rain? In their own way, they are as influential as Star Trek on a generation of low budget filmmakers. 

As a recording artist, he defied odds. Even Spock, with his ultrasensitive Vulcan ears, would be hard pressed to find a logical correlation between Shatner’s first album, The Transformed Man, and his persistent appearances in pop charts. There is no explanation.

History’s The UnXplained explores mysteries with eerily familiar coincidences. An escape from Havana, Cuba, carried out by a man hiding in the frozen wheel retraction compartment on an intercontinental flight, feels like classic Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” A survivor of a scuttled World War II era submarine survived an equal measure of chance as the crew members of Star Trek‘s “Balance of Terror,” itself based on the WWII naval suspense film The Enemy Below. 

Shatner has spent much of his career in the outer limits of entertainment but maintains, in interviews, he’s never actually experienced a paranormal incident. But this is the man who found the strength to walk away from the cursed fortune teller machine on The Twilight Zone. When he performed on Broadway, he dared do it in a show called Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It, and he did it as a solo act.

William Shatner took the com in an interview with Den of Geek. His ever-inquisitive mind offered more questions for each answer on things which remain unexplained.

Den of Geek: I really enjoyed the three episodes of The UnXplained I got for the season. I didn’t get “The Truth About UFOs” yet. Do they at all discuss the 1967 incident where the Enterprise was picked up on radar?

William Shatner: There is a phenomenon that I read about and suggested it since I didn’t know about it until I stumbled across it. I suggested it to the producers of the show, Kevin Burns, of The UnXplained, but I also put together an autobiographical album. During this coronavirus time, I worked with a composer in upstate New York, with a lyricist in New York City. I recorded a good number of the songs on my iPhone, here. It’s autobiographical. There is a phenomena that I suggested to both those people. To the lyricist, we discussed what the song would be, and to the producer of The UnXplained, what the magic of this phenomenon is. It’s called Fata Morgana. There’s a song we wrote called “Fata Morgana” and there is some activity on whether it’ll make an episode of The UnXplained.

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Culture

Kiss Guitarist Ace Frehley Claims UFO and Ghost Encounters

By Aaron Sagers

Fata Morgana is the phenomenon of a layer of hot air inversion over cold air. In Los Angeles here, we get heat inversion quite often. That is where hot air traps the cold air underneath it. As a result, like it does in the ocean where different currents of different temperatures overlay each other, that sound and, in this case, sight, are reflected off these currents so that that layer of hot air acts like a mirror. Things that are going on on Earth a thousand miles away might be reflected, like a mirror, to someplace near you. You think you’re seeing something but it’s actually happening a thousand miles away or a hundred or next door. It is a phenomenon that has not been recognized until recently. It’s the explanation of mirage in the desert.

So, when you and I talk about UFOs and we see cameras taking pictures of entities that are going at speeds unknown by man, what in heaven’s name is that? Fata Morgana is a possible explanation. The song is about trying to explain things that we see that have no explanation: Ghosts, objects, things that are mysterious to us that might have a scientific explanation.

When will this song come out?

Well, it’s an album that we’ve finished. I’ve got two albums. I’ve got a blues album which will be released by the end of the summer and then we’ll bring the other album out after that. We think it’s going to be accompanied by a book. So, it’ll be a book and an album together. It’s an autobiographical album. I don’t think it’s ever been done before. These are stories that happened in my life that the lyricist and I have talked about and made.

For example, I was in England approaching the Apollo Theater. I was there in London. I had a sold out audience on a Monday night at the Apollo Theater, 3,500 people. That afternoon, I’m in the hotel room resting, waiting to go on. In the hotel room, on television comes Boris Johnson who says, “What we had thought was herd immunity, we’re rescinding that and now no more than 10 or 15 people,” I forgot what he said, “can meet at one time.” That’s Monday afternoon and I have this theater filled with people in four or five hours.

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TV

Can Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Avoid Rebooting Captain Kirk?

By Ryan Britt

Several hours later, I get in the car that takes me to the theater and I don’t know whether there’ll be anybody there or whether there’ll be 3,500 people there. I get in front of the curtain and I’m hearing a voice. When I stepped out, almost everybody who’d decided to come was there. A large number of people risked their lives to come and see me. We wrote a song called “Monday Night in London.”

I can’t wait to hear it. You’re Shakespearean trained. Do you think that William Shakespeare was as influential on how we see things like the paranormal and witchcraft as mystical writers?

What a fascinating thought. You just asked me something unique. What a great question. “Is this a dagger I see before me?” The concept of ghosts and visions and tears running down a painting and tears running down a statue, what is that phenomenon? It brings up the nature of reality. What is reality? Where are you right now?

I’m in front of a computer.

You’re in front of the computer in an area in your house?

Yes.

Do you know how a computer works? I mean, really works. I don’t mean you speak into it and you see an image and you can access knowledge. Do you know the mechanics of a computer? Could you make a computer?

No, I could not.

Nor could I. Nor could anybody but 10 people. It’s magical. You know this one, right? You slice a crystal and that crystal that vibrates here and another piece of the same crystal is vibrating 1,000 miles away at the same intensity. It’s the beginning of radio. Are you aware of that? Okay. Nobody’s ever explained how, faster than the speed of light, two crystals vibrate all that distance apart, but that’s radio. What is the magic? What is the fucking magic that a computer is issuing? And the crystal. Right in front of us, every day, right now, an unexplained miracle is happening right now that we have no explanation for. Why is the universe expanding and not contracting? We don’t even know what gravity is. There’s a law of gravity. It’s a basic law of nature, gravity. It doesn’t work in the universe. Why?

These are fundamental mysteries. It’s as big a mystery, really, as is there a God and is there life after death. It’s inexplicable, so in some minor way we examine phenomena that have no explanation. How did this guy in a coma, as he comes out of the coma, become a piano player? What the hell is that? The mystery of the human brain, it’s as big a mystery as a vibrating crystal. It may very well be a vibrating crystal in that we’re electrically charged, anyway.

These profound things are exemplified by what is reality. What is your reality and my reality, they’re different. They may not be greatly different. We see the same object. But you’re seeing it differently than I am, colored by your filters. Literally colored by your eyes and figuratively colored by your experience. All our realities are different. Then, the question is how different can the extreme differences be in reality? Does that conjure up ghosts? Or, is that a Fata Morgana?

Has anyone ever asked you to hit them in the head so they could play the piano?

No. I’ve hit people on the head. They didn’t ask me to play the piano. They hit me back. Very strange behavior. 

Along those lines, I’ve asked everybody who can do it to hypnotize me and I’ve never been hypnotized. I’ve tried to have people hypnotize me again and again and I’ve never had it happen. You see these guys go snap their finger and five people go to sleep onstage? How is that possible? And yet, I have no explanation for that. That’s unexplained, as far as I’m concerned. 

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Culture

Rhys Darby Examines Aliens Like Us In New Podcast

By Aaron Sagers

Are all those five people playing a role? And why would they do that? Why wouldn’t one of them poke their head up and say, “See, I was only kidding! He paid us 50 bucks to act like this.” What a sensation that would be. And if the hypnotist is paying them off, he’s got to live in fear that somebody’s going to do that. So, he wouldn’t risk it. I want to fall asleep like those guys and go through the manifestations of the sensation of burning and acting in a peculiar fashion because he or she suggests it. That’s never happened.

I agree with you and I envy people that are able to let it all go like that.

That’s the same with me. I envy, and yet part of me says, “It’s unreal. Why can’t they do it to me? Those people are faking,” the way you did and the way I would.

I loved the Houdini episode.

Houdini is incredible! I saw something on television last night. A magician doing something and there’s no explanation. It isn’t occupying your attention one way, disguising your eye and varying your attention so you don’t see the magic trick. This had nothing to do with that and there’s no explanation of how it happened. I’m sure there is, but I don’t know what it is.

What does the child in you want to believe is true? That he was an expert in his craft, he was really magic, or that he had a transporter?

Everything that you can imagine is real. You can make it real. You mentioned transporter. Can you take an entity and beam it somewhere? Well, yes, you can. They’ve done it already. On two electrical posts, they’ve beamed a molecule. But of course, we’re composed of billions upon billions of molecules. And what is it you’re transporting? Are you physically transporting the molecule? Or, do you bring its qualities, as well? I don’t know. Everything that you can imagine, that we, little insecure bereft human beings, everything we can imagine we can bring into being if we just apply ourselves long enough.

You’re a performer. Houdini was a performer. Could you give that kind of a performance if you studied and mastered those tricks?

I would love to be able to do magic tricks, plural, and especially, I don’t even want to call it a trick, an event in which the explanation is paranormal.

After hosting the episode on bizarre rituals, how much research do you think went into The Devil’s Rain?

A lot. In my mind, it’s the mind/body connection. We know that it exists. We don’t quite know why it exists. I’ve been reading about the vagus nerve. Do you know about the vagus nerve? Behind your throat. It’s a means of communication. The means of communication between your brain and your body is many-fold.

We know about the central nervous system. What has not been talked about a lot is the vagus nerve behind your throat and these little nerves that extend all through your body, connecting every organ. It’s a whole other system that seems to work on vibration. With vibration, you activate this part of your body. You never hear about it. I’ve just been reading about it recently. What’s the explanation behind that? I don’t know.

Do you ever use sense memory?

Absolutely. Sense memory exists because your whole body has memory. We know each cell has the intelligence of the other cells so that the cells of your brain, I believe, have the same information as the cells in your left toe. All your cells have the same intelligence. And so, you have emotional memory, you have physical memory, because the body remembers more, better, than the brain. We know that the sense of smell evokes memory better than any other cells. So, why not sense of touch and sense of sight? “I’ve seen this before. I’ve been here,” and you have, somewhere, some time. Something like it. Sense memory is absolute.

But sometimes we get a sense memory and déjà vu, which you think, “Wait a minute. Was this in another life?” because something, the color of the sky, the sound of something, or you’re next to somebody, some cue has given your body a reason to think this has happened before. It did, but you’re just not aware of it.

Have you ever gotten a sense memory from an earlier performance? And is a performance just as real as something that you’ve done in action as a person?

There are times in a performance in front of an audience, in front of an audience is the key, when I have been absolutely at one with the audience. Some mysterious connection happens between me and an audience. In a one man show that I was doing, prior to the coronavirus, I would sometimes experiment with the audience and work up a moment in which I send my entertainment spirit, my being, out into the audience and want theirs back. The audience and I work at it to when the moment of this connection is palpable.

The audience feels it. I asked them, “Do you feel it? Do you know what I mean?” In that moment, that spiritual thing happens. That can happen in a performance where the lines, the words, the intention, the emotional meaning, the joke, we’re absolutely one. That’s the best. And then I’ve done that enough to recognize it in myself. Something I’ve done, I don’t know what it is, is able to make a connection with the audience. It’s magical. For example, you’re listening intently. Over these phone wires, I can hear you intrigued as hell. I’ve captured you as my audience.

Oh, yes, absolutely. Leonard Nimoy and Zach Quinto both hosted In Search Of, but they’re out of their Vulcan minds. What do you bring to a show like this that a science officer doesn’t?

What I bring to it, and what I’ve attempted to do with my wraparounds, is two things. One is my total involvement in it, so that I’m looking askance and yet I’m believing. I’m trying to tread, at different times, the audiences’ feelings. Like, “Oh, shit. This can’t be true. Oh, my God. Maybe it is true, or, “You’ve got to listen to this, because I’ve had…” I’m sort of in between that. I’m not just saying, “And a strange thing happened. People believe. It’s not academic.” I’m trying to actually involve you in it.

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Movies

The Wrath of Khan Producer Hints at New Potential Star Trek Movie

By Don Kaye

The second thing is that I did the first time I got onstage with this background. This background is giant screens. They’re 20 feet high and 10 feet wide. There are three of them. They’re giant screens playing film. As a performer, I’m sitting in front. As a performer, when I first started, I looked behind me and I saw something happening in the screen. That giant screen is what is used in movies for trick things so that the actors in front of the screen, they’ve already filmed what’s happening on the screen and then the actor reacts to what’s happening on the screen. I started reacting to what was happening on the screen, like, “Oh, shit. I hope it’s not coming towards me,” sort of thing and got a laugh from the crew. I realized I was on to something.

So now I’m taking into account, and we’re beginning to film for it, what’s happening behind me. So, if there’s a curse and there’s a dance and I’m looking back a little apprehensively, I’m in the scene and I’m telling you, “My God, there’s a curse.” So, I’m totally involved and I’m hoping that I’m involving you. It seems to be successful.

Everyone knows about the historic interracial TV kiss on Star Trek‘s “Plato’s Stepchildren”, but I recently re-watched the 1962 Roger Corman movie The Intruder. At the time you were doing it, and I know that you said you would have done it for free, did you know you were taking that kind of stand?

Oh, yeah. We went down South. We were in Cairo, Illinois. They pronounce it Care-oh. At the time, it was the toughest city, the most dangerous city, in the United States at that time. It’s right on the Mississippi River. It was at the time of integration. A large segment of the population didn’t want the white kids to go to school with the Black kids. I don’t have to tell you there was murder and mayhem and we were in the midst of it. 

It was well known that we were there to make a movie about integration. I had escape paths. I knew that if something happened at the motel we were all staying at, I was out this window in the bathroom and into the cornfields that surrounded us. We had police protection all the time. We knew what we were doing.

By the way, that is one of the scariest performances I’ve ever seen. You’re so smiley in that movie.

It was an interesting role to do.

The show covers the unexplained and one of the most inexplicable things in recent years is conspiracy theories. Do you think it’s possible we can really be ruled by some sort of congregation of extraterrestrial reptilian overlords or Gorns?

Well, there are two elements to that question. One is conspiracy and the other is aliens of some kind guiding in our destiny. The conspiracies: We seem to need to be able to relate things that are a little weird to humans, a little different than are naturally in our ken, like people wanting freedom who say they haven’t got freedom, and the people who do have the freedom can’t imagine they don’t have the freedom, and therefore disbelieve it.

We in the States here, we white people, can’t really imagine. We can pretend we imagine “Black lives matter,” but we can’t put ourselves… And I’m Jewish. I know what anti-Semitism is. I lived with anti-Semitism as part of my upbringing. So, I know what it is to see a sign saying, “No Jews allowed,” which is the equivalent of no Blacks allowed, and feel the shame of: “There’s something wrong with me because I’m not allowed there.” 

That’s diminished a lot, anti-Semitism in Canada and in the States. You don’t see signs like that anymore, although in the boardroom it may be the same. But African Americans live with that 24 hours a day. We can’t imagine what it’s like. So, we spin conspiracy theories to explain it because otherwise, there’s no explanation.

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TV

Star Trek Season 3: What Went Wrong?

By Don Kaye

People think that the coronavirus pandemic, which has happened all through mankind, now you’re getting people who say, “Oh, it’s part of a plot.” You say, “A plot by whom?” “Oh, the overlords. The people who are guiding all our destiny. They’re doing it either part of an untold plot or it’s part of a plot to disparage Trump.” I mean, the bizarreness of the conspiracy theories is only equaled by the bizarreness of people willing to believe it.

And yet, it’s an explanation for something in their lives that is less than wonderful. Something in their lives needs an explanation. They need an explanation why things aren’t going better in their life. They need an explanation why they’re homeless. They need an explanation why they don’t have the riches they see on the ads on television. 

People are saying, “Oh, yeah, I need a shade on my house so I’ve got this shade,” or, “You need this furniture. You need this bed in your house,” and these 40 million people barely have a bed or a room to put the bed in. They’re wondering why the rest of the people, the 300 million, have a reason to buy that bed, put it in that room, and we 40 million, we don’t have it. There must be an explanation and the explanation’s got to be, “It’s not my fault.”

The UnXplained season 3, episode 1, “The Greatest Escapes,” premieres July 11 at 9 p.m. on History.

The post William Shatner Explains The UnXplained appeared first on Den of Geek.

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