#i guarantee they have nightmares about leaving him what did rick even mean when he said that

[thebigqueer]

literally unbelievable that annabeth wasnt even thinking of bob. as if bob isnt one of percy and ananbeths biggets guilts since leaving tartarus. fucking unbelievable

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 9, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today began the second impeachment trial for former president Donald J. Trump, this time for incitement of insurrection against the American government.

Still, the people who are really on trial are the 50 Republican senators judging Trump’s guilt.

The impeachment trial today covered whether it is constitutional to try a former official. This angle was designed to get Republican senators off the hook: if not, they could avoid voting on the article of impeachment.

The proceedings went badly for the defense. Lead House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-MD) began the session by pointing out that Trump’s lawyers were arguing for a brand new “January exception to the Constitution of the United States of America.” Constitutional lawyers from across the political spectrum, he pointed out, agree that former officials must be held accountable for their actions after they leave office. Otherwise, officeholders could commit high crimes and misdemeanors and then promptly resign, putting themselves beyond reach of impeachment.

“It’s an invitation to the president to take his best shot at anything he may want to do on his way out the door, including using violent means to lock that door to hang on the Oval Office at all costs and to block the peaceful transfer of power,” Raskin said. “In other words, the January exception is an invitation to our Founders’ worst nightmare. And if we buy this radical argument… we risk allowing January 6 to become our future.”

What would that look like? Raskin answered his own question with a thirteen-minute video that revisited exactly what happened on January 6. Using footage and tweets from the attack on the Capitol, the video laid out the direct relationship between Trump’s speech at his rally that day and his supporters’ attack on Congress. It was devastating. Seeing the events of the day laid out in chronological order, with Trump’s words echoing from the mouths of furious insurrectionists attacking the Capitol, was even worse than seeing it happen in real time on January 6.

After the video, Raskin and the impeachment manager who followed him, Representative Joseph Neguse (D-CO) laid out, in historical detail, that the Framers certainly intended for impeachment to include officials who had already left office. They pointed both to a case that was underway in Britain when the Framers were including impeachment in the Constitution and to the case of Secretary of War William Belknap, who was impeached in 1876 after he resigned from office in the midst of a scandal.

The goal behind impeachment, Neguse said, is to guarantee accountability and stop corruption. There is, he said, no merit to Trump’s claim that he can incite an insurrection and then insist weeks later that the Senate lacks power to hold a trial.  

Like Raskin and Neguse, Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) emphasized that there is no “January exception” to the Constitution. He pointed out that Trump committed a terrible constitutional offense when he incited an armed angry mob to riot in the Capitol.

Cicilline also pointed out that Trump did not back down. At the end of that fateful day, he tweeted: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” It is no wonder Trump’s lawyers want to talk about jurisdiction rather than facts, he said.

After their presentations, Raskin gave an emotional plea to senators to defend American democracy.

After a recess, it was Trump’s lawyers’ turn. It didn’t go well.

The two men, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, only joined the defense team a little over a week ago, after Trump’s original team leaders all quit, and so have had little time to prepare. They were also apparently surprised by the quality of the prosecution’s presentation today, and so tried to change their own presentations on the fly.

Castor spoke first, coming across as condescending and meandering—Schoen later defended him by saying Castor had not known he would be speaking today. Even Trump supporter Alan Dershowitz, who defended Trump in his first impeachment trial, seemed put off. “I have no idea what he’s doing,” Dershowitz told Newsmax.

Next up was Schoen, who insisted that the Trump voters whose candidate lost the election must be heard. He appeared to threaten the senators with civil war. “This trial will tear the country apart, perhaps like we’ve only ever seen once in history.”

The two men seemed badly outmatched, rambling and unprepared. While the Democrats’ presentations were clear, organized, and illustrated with slick videos and graphics, the defense had none of that. Watching from Florida, the former president was allegedly irate. The goal for the defense today was simply to give cover to Republicans who wanted to avoid voting on the merits of the case by giving them room to dismiss the case on the grounds it was unconstitutional. Castor and Schoen did not give them that cover.

At the end of the presentations, the Senate voted that it was constitutional to proceed with the trial by a vote of 56 to 44. Six Republicans, one more than had voted yes on a similar vote in Congress, joined the Democratic majority. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said the defense lawyers had not provided a convincing argument that such a trial was unconstitutional. When pressed by reporters about why he thought the defense was poor, he said: “Did you listen to it? It was disorganized, random—they talked about many things, but they didn’t talk about the issue at hand.”

The defense lawyers’ problem, of course, is that they are being asked to defend the indefensible. They know it; we know it; Republican senators who have been defended Trump know it. During the video of the insurrection, Trump supporters Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) looked at papers on their desks, Rick Scott (R-FL) looked at papers on his lap, and Rand Paul (R-KY) doodled.

Republican Senators willing to excuse Trump for his incitement of an insurrection that attacked our peaceful transfer of power are tying the Republican party to the former president and to an ideology that would end our democracy.

What led the rioters on January 6, 2021, to try to hurt our elected officials and overturn the legal results of the 2020 election was Trump’s long-time assertion that he won in a landslide and the presidency had been stolen from him. This big lie, as observers are calling it, is not one of Trump’s many and random lies, it is the rallying cry for a movement to destroy American democracy. He is building a movement based on the idea that his supporters are the only ones truly defending the nation, because they—not the people who certified the 2020 election—are the ones who know the true outcome of the election. He is creating a narrative in which he is the only legitimate leader of the nation and anyone who disagrees is a traitor to the Constitution.

As Cicilline noted, even after the riot Trump refused to repudiate that big lie. And now, even in the face of impeachment he has not repudiated it. Indeed, he has doubled down on it, refusing to admit he is a “former” president. His supporters haven’t admitted it, either, including his supporters who sit in Congress. None of those who challenged the counting of the electoral votes on January 6 and 7 has admitted it was a political stunt. Now, they are arguing that impeachment is a partisan attack on the part of Democrats.

If Republican senators permit Trump to get away with the big lie, it must, logically, take over the Republican Party. It’s no wonder that he lost his first defense team because he insisted they use their media time to argue that he had won the election in a landslide. Trump is not trying to win just this trial: he is trying to win control of the Republican Party and, through it, the country.

Tomorrow, the Senate impeachment managers will begin to argue their case.

——

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[justjessame]

Put Me In Coach Chapter 25

Alexandria.  I was surprised at how easily we’d found sanctuary.  We hadn’t been that far from our starting point, and there it was.  The leader, a politician named Deanna Monroe, when we introduce ourselves I see her eyes flash at my name. Great, I thought, one of Mom’s friends.

“I was sorry to hear about Delia and Robert,” she offered, once my trio of travelling companions were scouting houses to see which one would be best for us.  “They were good people.”

I nodded, my fingers twisting the diamond necklace that Negan had given me during my graduation dinner, the matching bracelet flashing in the sunlight, and with my hair pulled back the earrings were visible too.   I wore the set because each piece had been given to me by someone who wasn’t with me right now.  

“The world wasn’t great before,” I muttered, looking around at the shiny new community that seemed too perfect to be trusted.  “But this?  This is a fucking nightmare.”

Deanna was far more optimistic than I was.  She was a politician after all, so she knew how to spin the scenario to best suit our needs.  Since I would have gotten my teaching degree had the world not turned to a living horror film, she decided that would be my role in our new group.  I’d teach.  Mary, Eric, and Steven were given the same types of jobs that they would have had if we’d kept going down our planned path.  Mary, who had teased about winning acting awards, took charge of supplies and inventory management.  Eric had planned to go to medical school, but after four years and time spent as a medic, became the medical team for supply runs outside of the walls of our community.  And Steven worked with Deanna’s husband, since he’d planned on working in architecture.  

We settled into our new life, but after only a few months, I knew there was something Mary hadn’t told us.  And I confronted her, forcing her to confess to something that I had suspected, but she had feared.

“Yes, alright, I’m pregnant.”  She had her forehead pressed to the toilet of our shared bathroom.  After a week of hearing her rush to the bathroom at first light and toss her cookies so fucking loud that I nearly joined her, she finally admitted it.  

“Mary, who-”  She shot me a look and I swallowed the question.  “Well, I guess I’ll just have to be the little peanut’s ‘daddy’.”  I sat down beside her on the bathroom floor and brushed her hair out of her face.  “I mean, not like I’m gonna have any kids of my own, right?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Amara, you could meet someone-”

It was my turn to flash her the look.  That was dangerous territory and they all knew it.  “Or,” I stood up and offered her a hand up.  “I could just be a spinster and leave the romance to Eric and Steven.”

“That’s right, bitch!”  I heard Eric call from down the hallway.  “We do it better than you straight assholes anyway!”

A year and a half, give or take, and our foursome was five, at least for a while.  Trey was our little monkey.  Adorable, with dark curly hair, eyes so dark they looked black, and an olive complexion that people would kill to have.  He had all four of us wrapped around his little finger from day one.  

Unfortunately, our lives weren’t guaranteed, not that life was ever to be taken for granted.  When Trey’s first birthday drew closer, Mary became insistent that she go on a supply run.  I told her it was ridiculous, a one year old doesn’t really care what he gets for his present, all he really wants to play with is the wrapping paper anyway.  But she wanted, no she swore, she needed to go out and find him something special.

I didn’t like it or agree with it, but Mary was his mother.  She wanted him to have something hand picked by her for his first birthday, then come hell or highwater, she was going to do it.  I should have known, between the flash of fear when she said she wanted to go and then the promise she made me make before she walked away with Aiden, Deanna’s son, I should have seen it.  The promise was easy to make, of course I’d take care of Trey, and God forbid should something happen, I’d take up his care with the same intensity as Mary had.  

Mary didn’t come back.  No body.  No closer.  She was gone.  Aiden couldn’t look me in the eye.  He definitely didn’t look Eric or Steven in the eye.  And as I held Trey to me, knowing that he would feel the tension in our house from Mary’s absence, I knew that he was mine.  Forever.

Almost eight months after we lost Mary, as Trey was nearing his second birthday, a new group showed up led by Aaron our resident people finder.  They looked haunted, and terrifying, but there was a baby and a teenager in their group so I knew I’d come to know them sooner or later.  I was taking Trey for a walk when they showed up, dirty and thousand yard stares all around, but my little boy was excited when he saw they had a little person too.  

“Come here, baby,” I whispered, picking up his toddling self and holding him tight as the group passed.  “Can you wave at the little girl?”  Trey’s fat fist waved and I caught a few of the adults in the group smile despite themselves.  Kissing his dark curls, I turned away and walked back home.

I’d been right, of course, I did get to know the group.  Rick Grimes became our security/peacekeeper, along with a fierce looking woman named Michonne.  She had taken a keen interest in Trey, asking if she could hold him and I trusted her, somehow.  Michonne became a welcome visitor to my house, along with Maggie and her husband Glenn.  Maggie’s eyes had landed on my rings and asked a question I’d grown to expect.

“Did your husband not-”  I smiled sadly, watching Trey play with a set of blocks on the floor.  

“We never actually made it to the altar.”  I thought about the dress I’d found almost a week before I saw the text that ruined it.  “I don’t know if he made it or not.”  I left it there, and usually that kept people from asking more questions.  Grief was easy to deal with, we ALL lost someone, but the unknown?  That was far worse and left people speechless with the worry and fear of the status of their missing loved ones.  

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and I let our eyes meet.  “Glenn and I were separated for awhile, and I thought I lost a piece of myself.” 

Nodding, I didn’t share more.  Negan and I were a conversation I kept to myself.  Even Eric and Steven knew better than to bring him up.  Wearing the rings, my diamond set, those were the only evidence that I even thought about him at all.  

Trouble seemed to follow the newcomers into our world.  The walkers, the dangerous people, and so much upheaval that I couldn’t possibly tell anyone what I taught or who my students were during that clutch of waves.  I lost two young students.  I watched another lose an eye.  I saw our leader die from a walker.  Her husband having preceded her to the grave by the hand of another community member, our physician actually.  I watched Deanna lose Aiden.  I watched our people learn quickly that we were all so very ill prepared for this new reality we arrived in.  And I watched as Rick Grimes and his group try to catch us up to speed.

Out of the entire group, even including Michonne and Maggie, I found the most comfort in getting to know the crossbow wielding redneck that needed a shower worse than some of the feral animals still roaming freely.  I had a feeling he and Carol had more than a friendship going, but I caught sight of the woman leaving Tobin’s house so I guessed wrong.

Daryl was soft spoken, despite his outward appearance.  He listened and he learned quickly.  Lacking tact, he almost made me think of Negan, but then he’d blush and duck his head and the flash of memory would go away and I could have peace again.  He was amazing with Trey and Judith, Rick’s little girl.  

When the horde came, it was Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham that led them away.  We lost so many fucking lives that day.  I had the children whose parents could be convinced of the danger, hidden with me in the church, the preacher Gabriel keeping me company, creepy though he was.  We heard the chaos and could almost FEEL the pain of loss even tucked away.  

We all should have known that it wasn’t over.  Not when we heard about the attack of motorcycle riding men demanding things on the road.  Not when the long haired man who called himself Jesus came along.  Not when we lost Denise, or second in line for group doctor since Eric demanded to be allowed to stay with the runners, just in case.  He hadn’t been with Mary’s group the day she died, and he still blamed himself.  What horrible irony that the one time Denise went out on a run would be the last time she breathed air.  

I’m not sure how I missed his name.  I’m not sure how Eric and Steven didn’t hear it.  Maybe we’d conditioned ourselves to NOT hear his name.  Since I wouldn’t say it, they wouldn’t offer it up, then maybe we’d conditioned ourselves to not acknowledge his name at all.  That’s the only way I can explain not knowing he was coming.  That he was alive.  That the man I’d loved was safe and sound, and apparently he was also the biggest bad that anyone in our community had ever fathomed. 

[rickssugarplum]

Father’s Day

This is purely a vent fic. This holiday is never fun for me. Anyone who has to deal with father’s day with a sadness in their hearts, I want you to know you are loved. I hope you can make today a good one for yourself. Thank you for reading. ❤

Rick C-137 x Female Reader) SFW, Father’s Day, Angst, Hurt/Comfort. TW: Emotional Abuse, Depression, 4,400+ Words

Father’s Day is hard to deal with every year. Rick is there to help you through it.

Your eyes opened to the brightness the sun provided, peering through your bedroom window. Your ears were serenaded by the morning chirp of the birds in the trees. Taking the time to stretch out your body, you slowly got up out of bed and looked out. The sky crystal blue with flowers of all kinds bloomed and painting the world view with its various colors. Taking a deep breath in and letting it out, you saw that it was a beautiful June day. You looked down at your phone. Every good possible thing about today came to a screeching halt when you looked at the date on your home screen.

Sunday, June 16

Father’s Day

You shuddered as those two words caused everything to collapse and fall on top of you. To some, it was a wonderful day to celebrate the patriarchs who have done so much for their children. For you, however, it was a painful reminder. It reminded you of your past, the childhood you lost, the many tears you have shed, the love you were denied, and the years you will never get back.

You immediately felt an ache in your heart. A feeling you couldn’t tell whether it was from emptiness, or if it was simply broken. You placed a hand on your chest, trying to soothe the pain, but you couldn’t fix the damage that had been done so long ago. Your throat started to become tight, your eyes were welling with tears. Your head was filling itself with painful words and phrases that were spat out by one you had once looked to for love and comfort. Hearing them again in your mind, made your knees buckle, bringing you to your floor. Now on your knees, you began to sob, just like you had many times as a child. You could still hear the angry, scolding voice telling you to grow the fuck up and stop crying. But you never did, you never could. And today, you wondered if you ever will.

Hugging yourself, you let out a wail of anguish, as you were brought back to that painful time, thinking you were unworthy of love. If your own father couldn’t love you, how the hell would anyone else? For years, you held out for hope that he would one day see the affects he had placed upon you. That he would one day come and hug you and tell you he was sorry for all the pain he had put on you, that you didn’t deserve any of it and that you were worthy of love and he would show you how he would be better for you because that’s what you deserved.

But, years went on, and it never happened. One night, it had been made clear, that he would never change and you would never know the love of a father you had sought. When you were old enough, you had left and never went back again...

But it seemed to have never left you. You’d been haunted in seemingly odd ways. At night, you would sometimes wake up screaming as he taunted you in your dreams. Certain songs you couldn’t listen to without taking you back, you made choices to avoid following in his footsteps, and now; the inevitable. Every third Sunday of June, you would always be reminded of what you never had and your reaction was always the same. 

You wanted to be alone, but at the same time you wanted to be wrapped up and given the love you were denied long ago. But you knew that couldn’t happen today. 

Immediately, your mind went to Rick, who knew a little about your history, but enough to know this holiday would be rough on you. However, he’d probably be too busy as he would be celebrated by his family, including his daughter. While yes, Rick wasn’t the best father, part of you somehow envied Beth. Sometimes, you wish your father had left. Looking back, it would have saved you a lot of pain. At least then you wouldn’t have to deal with nightmares of his words at night. Silence would’ve been much more peaceful...

       ◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

“Happy Father’s Day!” shouted the cheers of Morty and Summer. Jerry smiled from his seat at the dining table as he received hugs from them both. Meanwhile, Beth had been preparing a grand breakfast for both her husband and father of their two children, and she felt incredibly happy that she had her own father to celebrate with this year. She walked into the dining room with eggs, pancakes, and bacon, ready to eat. Going over to Rick, she kissed his cheek.

“Happy Father’s Day, Dad.” she exclaimed. Rick looked at his daughter with pride. “Thank you, sweetie. Man, you did a real great job on breakfast, Beth. C-c-can’t wait to dig in!” he declared with a smile. Beth’s smile went from ear to ear as she walked over to her husband, giving him a quick peck on his lips.

“Happy Father’s Day, Jerry.” She beamed. He smiled back at his wife, grinning wide as he soaked in the feeling of being back in their home. Everything was perfect. Well...almost.

To be blunt, tension was still thick in the air since his return to the house, to the dismay of Rick. Knowing that he had been the reason of the initial break-up a few months earlier. But now, it seemed like Beth was more sure of herself in what she wanted in her marriage and she was no longer afraid of her father leaving. Time will tell if that will last...

For now, Rick had to deal with Jerry back in the picture. Just as long as his buttons weren’t pushed, things would be fairly pleasant. He was stuffing his face with his daughter’s delicious pancakes, his grandkids celebrating a holiday made for greeting card companies to make an extra dime. Rick wasn’t foolish enough to pretend. He knew he was a bad father. Hell, he doesn’t consider himself a good grandfather. But he’d put up with today for their sake, They couldn’t help being so attached to these made up traditions. And plus, who could resist pancakes?

“So, what’s the plan for today, gang?” Jerry asked enthusiastic. Morty and Summer both looked at their Mom with pleasant smiles. Beth spoke up, sharing her kids’ happiness. “Well, since it is Father’s Day, I figured why not let the dads choose what we do!” she chirped.

Jerry spoke up immediately. “Well, I would like to go fishing today with my family today!” 

How simple. Jerry would find joy in going to a river five minutes away and catching some fish. Rick wasn’t keen to fishing, but he had anidea.

“There’s a place on planet Zxonculon where they have really good fish. We could travel there, no equipment required.” He stated flatly.

Beth’s eyes lit up. “Oh that’s great, Dad! We could have a little space trip too!” She exclaimed, so happy. This day was gonna be great.

“NO. I told you, Rick. I don’t want any science involved in our trips!”

Oh boy. 

“Jerry, I can guarantee that it would be much more exciting that catching some unlucky creatures that are swimming in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The tension added on as Jerry’s brows furrowed and arms. “I am the man of the house and I said it’s out of the question!” he declared.

Rick stood up from his chair, hands flat on the table. “And I heard Beth say, that she wanted the dads to decide. Dads. As in both of us.” he explained, calm but firm.

“Beth, you would agree that science would not be good for this fathers’ day would you?” 

Beth smiled nervously. “Well, I think it would be good if we all enjoyed today, maybe we could meet somewhere in between!” she suggested. Morty and Summer looked on awkwardly, fearing the worst was yet to come.

“How brave of you, Jerry. Couldn’t come up with your own argument, so you try to use my daughter against me.”

“Dad...” 

“..should be lucky she considers herself your daughter...” Jerry muttered.

The sound of silverware clanks on the table. The children’s frowns prominent, while Beth sat, horrified. Everything was falling apart at the seams. Rick glared daggers into the other man’s eyes.

“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?” he asks, coldly.

The two men looked at each other from across the table, challenging the other.

“C’mon tough guy.” Rick egged on. “We allll know what you wanna say. So just. say it.”

Jerry was not going to be intimidated. “You weren’t there for her as a father. You bitch at me for knocking her up. If I was such a horrible thing that happened to her, maybe you should have been there to stop it, but you weren’t. Were you, Rick?”

“JERRY!” Beth yelled out.

“Dad!” Shouted Summer.

“Aww jeez, Dad...” Morty muttered quietly. He couldn’t argue with him though. He was saying the truth.

Rick said nothing. He didn’t even flinch. Everything Jerry said was true. Sometimes he blamed himself for not being there. He could’ve possibly helped Beth with her self-esteem. But he couldn’t change the past. Not for anyone.

“I never said I was a good father, nor do I try to make myself out to be a good person. I know I’m not a good person. That’s why it was better for me to leave.”

Beth looked on, mouth agape as she listened to her father speak. Rick turned to her.

“Sweetie, can I talk to you alone?” Rick asked. Beth only nodded as she stood up from her chair. Jerry’s fist hit the table hard.

“No, NO! You will talk to me ab-”

“Shut up, Jerry!” Beth glared at her husband, who sunk back into his chair at her fiery gaze. She followed her father into the garage. Rick let out a long sigh.

“Beth, I know- I know this had all been really hard on you. I’m...sorry If what I did, made you feel you weren’t good enough, because you are.”

Beth’s throat tightened as her eyes started to water. She had struggled with the abandonment her whole life. No longer could she hold it in, and the tears started flowing down her face.

“Oh, sweetie...” Rick said as he walked to his daughter, embracing her as she needed. His fingers combed her honey-blonde hair, just trying to calm down his baby girl. He owed it to her.

“I love you, Dad...” she quietly cried out. Rick hushed her, trying to calm her down.

 “I know...I love you too, sweetie..”

They stayed like that for awhile. Beth had wanted everything to be perfect today, but it was just wishful thinking for her...She started to take deep breaths in her father’s arm and started to relax. “I’m sorry, Dad...”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” he stated. “I meant what I said out there.” Beth broke the embrace to look her father in his tired eyes. 

“I thought it was better for me to leave, to save you from anymore hurt I might have caused....” he confessed. Beth still couldn’t understand. “How can you ever think I was better off without you?” she asked, confused.

“Sometimes, it’s better for someone so toxic to be apart. Some people think all parents should be with their kids no matter what, even if they’re pieces of shit. And that can do a LOT more damage than not having that person there. You could be like.....” 

He stopped. 

“Like what?”

Not what. Who. His mind thought of another. Beth couldn’t have possibly known. But he started to realize that today would have been hell for someone else.... Running a hand through his hair, Rick knew he had to do something. He took his portal gun out of his lab coat.

“Don’t wait up for me. Jerry can go on his dumb fishing trip. Let Morty and Summer spend time with their Dad today..”

“Are you leaving?” Beth said, sounding defeated.

“I promise I’ll be back, sweetie. I have to be somewhere quick.” he stated as he shot a portal. He told his daughter he loved her one more time before walking into it. With the portal closed, Beth was left in the garage; alone.

       ◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇ 

You felt the world was spinning at a rapid speed. On the floor, you had been bawling as thousands of thoughts and memories flowed through your mind. The ache, knowing you were completely alone today, was all the more reason to just lie in your misery. Your heart sped up and it was getting harder to breathe.

Rick had arrived from your living room. Wondering where you were, he didn’t have to long. He heard your wails coming from your room.

“Shit.” Rick muttered to himself. He wasted no time getting up the stairs to reach you. The closer he got, the louder your cries. He opened the door, to see you on the ground in the fetal position, face red and wet with tears. Your mouth was wide open as your voice cracked in agony. You couldn’t hear him come in, with your weak screams, but his presence was known as soon as you felt one of his cold hands touch your shoulder.

“Baby...”

His voice was so soft, you were only used to screaming and scolding ones. His fingers brushed your hair back away from your face. Your eyes stinging, you tried to open them, but tears had still flowed. 

“R-R-R-Ri-ick...”

“Shhhh...It’s okay...Just try to breathe...” he instructed. Your body had been brought into a warm embrace, Rick holding you close to his chest protectively. The overwhelming feelings were all too much. You were suddenly being rocked as a parent would to their newborn baby. As a father would...

Your heart felt heavier at the love you sorely needed...but never got. A father’s love, was one that would forever be foreign to you. All of Rick’s science in the world, could never reverse that. You erupted a muffled scream in his chest, as you pleaded to no one...

“Please....D-don’t le-leave me-e-e” you weakly begged.

“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. You’re safe with me, okay?” he murmured in your ear.

“I-I-I’m s-s-s-sor-rr-ryyy.....” you croaked out, struggling to breathe in a steady pace.

“W-what are you sorry for?” he said, dumbfounded. There was nothing in his mind that you needed to apologize for. But there were hoards of reasons you thought of. For not being good enough. For not being perfect. For not being smart enough. Like Morty, you struggled with your grades. Your mind flashed back to a screaming man confronting you about not getting the perfect scores on your report card. You had always tried your best. But your best was a pathetic joke. Just like you.

“I-I-I...”

Rick didn’t know what was in your head, but he knew it had to have been hell. He waited for you to catch your breath.

“I-I-I’m a w-waste...” you meekly cried. Two hands grasped your face, making you look into his eyes. “HEY!” He shouted in your face. His furious tone frightened you to your core. You could smell the alcohol on his breath.

You were immediately brought back, where another man looked at you with such anger, drunkenness, and bitterness. He would pierce your little ears with hateful words and demands for respect... 

“NO! Please! I-I-’m sorry! Please.....” you pleaded, sobbing.

Rick eyes softened. He immediately regretted his loss of control as he saw your face contort into sheer panic. Your body was quaking as you begged for mercy. The sounds of your bawling had nearly broken his heart.

“I c-can’t t-t-take anymore...”

All your life, you had only been scolded, screamed, humiliated. You had never been good. You were never daddy’s good girl. Your chances had died before it could even be possible.

“I-I j-just w-w-wanted to be good...”

Rick was completely at a loss for words. But he tried to convey his thoughts through touch. Pulling you close to him again, he resumed to adorn you with soft caresses and placed soft kisses on your head.

“I never m-meant to be bad...I tried to be good...I tried.I tried.I tried...” you repeated.

The silence from Rick was no accident. He realized your demons were much more than he thought. He was no stranger to daddy issues, but bottled up ones, were never good to keep. He let you speak your peace. Whatever you needed to get out, was allowed now.

“But it-it wasn’t enough...I’m not enough...” you wept. 

In Rick’s mind, he wondered how anyone can treat their children so poorly, that they completely collapsed at the mere thought of them. He knew he left some damage in Beth, but he never tried to make her feel worthless or frightened by him. The fact that someone made you feel this way, let alone your own father, made his blood go cold. In the moment, he knew you needed the complete opposite of all you were afraid of, soft tone, kind words, and so much love...

"That is not true. You are not anything that piece of shit made you feel. I don’t give a fuck what he said. He didn’t know how good he had it.”

You listened to him. Here was the smartest man in the universe, a father himself, telling you this.

“I’m so sorry for what he put you through...I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt you...Whatever he told you to make you feel like you deserve this, he was completely wrong.”

Your shining eyes looked into his, wanting to see the words flow from his mouth. To prove you weren’t dreaming.

“I promise you, baby. You didn’t deserve any of it...”  

The way he said it. So sure, so certain. Everything you were told back then, completely disputed by the genius you loved so dearly. 

“I wish I could go back and take it all away from you, but I can’t...” With all his genius, time travel was still very difficult to perfect. You tried to stifle yourself for a moment so you wouldn’t miss a word of what he had to say.

“What I can do now, is show you how much you are loved, because that’s what you deserve.”

Your breathing patterns were starting to improve. Heavy gusts of air hit Rick’s chest, his shirt damp with your tears and snot. In and out, you kept telling yourself. Rick had noticed your efforts.

“Thaaat’s it baby...You’ve got it...” he encouraged you. His hand tenderly stroked your back, trying to soothe you. His gentle praise calmed you just a little more.

“Gooood girl...” he whispered as he pressed his lips to your forehead.

“I-I am?” you squeaked out. You couldn’t possibly believe that.

“Yes, you are. You are one of the kindest people I’ve ever known and incredibly brave.”

“But I didn’t face it...I just left....” you muttered.

“And that’s the smartest thing you could do. You had already faced it long enough.” he stated. “I’m no stranger to leaving things behind, b-believe me, but you knew that environment would do you no good if you stayed...” 

You were silent, unsure what to say...

“I’m proud of you, baby...” 

Your wet eyes went wide. Did...you hear that correctly? Rick gently grabbed your face with both hands, making you look up at him. “Look at me, baby...” 

In his eyes, they showed empathy, sincerity and...love. And not in a lustful way, a genuine look of pure, unconditional devotion. 

“I’m proud of you...” he repeated. His thumbs caressed your cheeks, wiping away tears that stained them. He leans to you, foreheads touching. 

“If there’s anything I can do to help or if you even need to talk, you come to me okay? I don’t give a fuck what time it is, what dimension or galaxy I’m in. I will come to you...” he softly declared.

Speechless, you simply nodded your head. You needed one thing right now.

“Please, just hold me..” you tiredly pleaded, falling into him. All you wanted was to feel safe. You felt his arms wrap around your frame.

“Of course, baby...” He resumed rocking you gently, trying to put you at ease. In his lap, you closed your eyes, letting yourself take in the comfort of his embrace. No one could get to you, as long as you were there...

Rick wanted you to feel comfortable, and while you were content, he figured it would be much better if you two were off the floor. “I-I wanna get you comfortable in the bed. Is that alright, babydoll?” he asked softly. You nodded and immediately were lifted up. It only took a few steps for him to gently lay you down on your soft mattress. He immediately joined you and held you close you, peppering your face with soft kisses. You hummed as you nestled in his chest.

For awhile, you both simple lied in silence. Only sounds you heard were breathing and his heartbeat. The only feeling was of his affection. The atmosphere was so serene. You were no longer alone. Rick’s gruff voice broke the silence.

“I-I know I never say this, b-but I think you need to hear it right now...”

You looked up at him, anticipating what it was. He leaned in close to your ear and whispered so delicately. 

“I love you...”

It felt like your breath was taken away. The rainbow had come shining through after the storm. Your dark gray world had been painted with color. The three words you’ve always wanted to hear...

Slowly, he leaned his face closer to you and press his lips to yours. You kissed him back, giving all you had to convey you appreciation. Suddenly, you felt his body roll on top of yours. Rick kept the kiss light and soft. He was attentive and patient, taking his sweet time with you. When you stopped to breathe, his lips gently brushed your cheek.

“I love you, angel...And I want you to see that so maybe...you can learn to love yourself...”

That would sure be a long road. You looked away from him for a moment. You didn’t want to tell him it wasn’t possible. 

“I-I-I know it’s a motherfucker, this pain you’re dealing with...It’s not a-a walk in the park...But you are not a lost cause...You’re a survivor, baby...” 

“Thank you, Rick...I love you, too...” you whispered. The day you always dread now had a silver lining this year. But it wasn’t without concern.

“W-why aren’t you with your daughter...?” you questioned.

Rick sighed. “Jerry was being a fucking idiot as always...I left and wanted to check on you...” 

You were not shocked. Of course. Rick always had trouble getting along with his son-in-law and you didn’t see that changing anytime soon. But it wasn’t about Jerry today...

“Beth needs you...” you simply stated. You felt you had no right taking someone else’s father away from them because of your own issues. Rick didn’t even appear to be conflicted. He was always low-key about his decisions, no matter how many light years away he would go.

“I want to take her to a stress-free planet, to give her the break she deserves. You could come with us. I don’t want you to be alone today...”

What other option did you have? It was that or cry alone in your house the rest of the day. No way would you make Rick stay away from his own daughter today.

“Okay.” you agreed with a shy smile. That plan sounded quite nice. He smiled back at you in relief. Things were appearing to come back together.

“Great.” He shot a portal. Standing up, he reached out his hand. You took it and he helped you up from the bed and into the portal.

       ◇─◇──◇────◇────◇────◇────◇────◇─────◇──◇─◇

In the Smith’s kitchen, Beth was sitting at the now empty table, still riddled with dirty dishes from breakfast time. She sighed thinking of all that went wrong earlier. It was so unfair. All she wanted was a nice day with her father on this mundane holiday. Goddamn Jerry couldn’t keep his mouth shut for once. He was now on his coveted fishing trip with Morty and Summer. He got what he wanted, while she was alone without her father and now her children. She felt like the sad little girl all over again. But, she was too used to it to cry about it anymore. She told herself she was no longer afraid. Still, he told her he would come back...

A buzzing sound emitting from the garage made her lift her head up. He came back! Her thoughts immediately turned around. They could still have a great father’s day together. It didn’t matter where or what it was, as long as her father was there, that was all she wanted.

“Hey, sweetie.” He greeted as Beth got up from her chair, embracing him.tightly. He hugged her back, rubbing her back to show his affection.

“Hi, Dad!” She chirped happily. They broke the embrace, and Rick gave a proposition.

“Beth, I wanted to take you on a nice stress-free trip for the day. We’ll go off planet, we can do anything you want there!” he proposed.

She placed her hands together in glee. “Oh that sounds wonderful, Dad!” Her curiosity peaked however when she saw you over her old man’s shoulder. You had been keeping a distance, not wanting to interrupt the moment.

“Oh, hi there!” She sounded surprised, but not unpleasantly so. That had to be a good sign. You simply greeted her back with a tiny voice and a kind smile. “Hi, Beth.”    

“Beth, I wanted to bring her along cause...I just thought it would make her day better too...”

It was a little confusing to her. In her head she wondered why you would spend time with them and not with your own father. She got a good look at you and noticed your kind eyes were red, lashes appearing damp. Then it clicked. She looked at you with the empathy and understanding you were never met with. While she didn’t know the details, she knew what it was like to spend father’s day alone.

She would not let that happen to you if she could help it. And who knows? Maybe, you could become good friends.      

With a smile, Beth agreed. “The more the merrier! I think we all could use a getaway.” 

All three of you wore content faces. This year, you had something to look forward to. And in time, with love and support, your heart could mend....and you could learn to love yourself again. 

❤

[thehunter-and-theninja]

How Dare You - Trial (Part 2/2)

Daryl was awoken by the sound of a metal door opening and the sound of footsteps. The next thing he noticed was that he was sitting at what felt like a wooden table instead of asleep next to Paul in bed. Daryl furrowed his brows as he slowly lifted his head. His neck was stiff from the awkwardness of the angle in which he’d slept. He opened his eyes and grimaced as bright sunlight flooded his vision. When his vision cleared he could see Paul asleep on the table to his right and Maggie to his left, Paul’s fingers interwoven with his. Suddenly, the events of yesterday came rushing back to him and he realised they were in the cell in Alexandria to answer for their “crime.”

“Get up,” a harsh voice spoke over his shoulder and he turned to see who it was.

Daryl didn’t recognize the man, must be from the Sanctuary, and noticed that his hand was placed firmly on the stock of his gun. His face was hard and angry, he’d probably been one of the Negan sympathizers they’d been worried about. A groan next to his pulled his attention away from the guard.

Paul slowly lifted his head off his arm and let go of Daryl’s hand to properly stretch. Daryl could see that Maggie was slowly waking up at the sudden disturbance of the guard. Daryl rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned, “What?”

“Rick wants you all escorted outside. He’s decided to let each of you speak once and anyone from the community that wants to say anything before he decides on what to do with you. We sent messengers to the other communities last night. Carol, Ezekiel, and Kal have already arrived. We’re just waiting for the Oceanside and the Sanctuary representatives to arrive.”

Daryl nodded, he’d expected this. Michonne encouraging Rick to make an attempt at saving face by including all of the communities in their sentencing. He should’ve done that with Negan, but what’s done it done; no changing it now.

“We’ll be ready, not like we’re going anywhere,” Daryl said to the guard.

“Good,” was all he said and then left, slamming the door behind him.

Maggie and Paul both jolted the rest of the way awake at the sudden loud noise.

“What he want?” Paul yawned.

“Rick’s called in reps from all the communities for us to plead our case to. He should’ve done this with Negan.”

“He should’ve, but he didn’t and now he had to deal with the consequences,” Maggie said, “watching his family tear itself apart.”

Daryl nodded, “why couldn’t he have just listened to us? It’s not like we haven’t approached him before about at least holding a proper trial with all the communities present. If as a group we decided to spare him, I could live with that because we decided it together with all of our voices being heard. And if the outcome was we kill him, Rick should’ve accepted it and done it.”

“I know, but he is a prideful man that is still suffering from the loss of his son. Rick won’t admit it, but he’s broken. Carl’s death broke him in ways that no one, not even Michonne and Judith can fix. He survived for Carl, he’s lost his reason for surviving this world. We have to remember that,” Maggie said.

“But it still doesn’t give him the right to decide everything for everyone else. If he keeps going down this road, he’ll just become another Negan,” Daryl reminded her.

“I know, that’s why we did this. It was justice and a wake up call for Rick,” Maggie assured him, taking his hand, “His word is not gospel and it’s time someone reminded him of that fact.”

“I’m pretty sure at least Tara and Rosita guarantee that Oceanside will be with us, I’m assuming their the Oceanside reps. Carol and the Hilltop will be behind us, too. I’m not sure about Ezekiel though, his community was the last one to joint the fight. He may see this as an act of revenge, not justice,” Paul spoke up, shifting the conversation to what comes next, their trial.

“But he is dating Carol, wouldn’t surprise me if he supports her views. She is a force to be reckoned with,” Daryl countered.

“True, so we can agree that Ezekiel is the only wild card in the other communities. I’m pretty sure Eugene and the new sanctuary will take the side of Rick. A lot of those people still hold some sense of loyalty towards Negan, it’s why they chose to stay at the Sanctuary under Eugene’s leadership,” Maggie said.

“It’s going to be hard to predict where the Alexandrian residents will land on the matter,” Paul mused.

“I think Aaron will be with us because Eric died fighting Negan. The people here loved and respected both of them, maybe it’ll draw some of them over to our side,” Daryl offered.

Paul nodded, they all fell silent. If Rick wanted to lock them up for a time, they had no idea what would happen. Maggie needed to be there for her son and Paul worried that Rick would put them all in separate cells.

Paul wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope with not being able to be with Daryl and he knew Daryl would not do well shut up in a cell. The man had to leave the bathroom door open otherwise he’d have a panic attack from the confined space. The only reason he wasn’t having a panic attack now was probably because he wasn’t in here alone. He knew Daryl suffered from severe PTSD from the sanctuary and would most likely end up hurting himself during one of his nightmares or flashbacks if he was locked up in a small cell by himself.

Rick couldn’t really assign community service because they already did so much for their community it wouldn’t feel any different than normal. The most likely option was that they’d be banished from Alexandria, though Paul was sure Rick would try to get all of the communities to cast them out. That would never work and they all knew it. They knew that if they were banished, it would most likely only be in effect in Alexandria and maybe the Sanctuary, which was fine since Daryl and Maggie wouldn’t set foot there in a million years anyway, because they doubted the other communities would be okay with losing a community leader and two of their best fighters and scavengers in one fell swoop. Plus, Carol loved Daryl and Maggie too much to lose him, same goes for Tara and Rosita at Oceanside. Hilltop felt too much love and loyalty for all three of them to let them go.

The door swung open again and in walked three guards, all armed and carrying handcuffs. They each stood and calmly waited as the handcuffs were placed on their wrists, “don’t slip them this time, understood?”

Paul smirked and nodded, the three sets of handcuffs from yesterday sitting in plain view on the nightstand next to the bed. He was grabbed roughly by one of guards and heard Daryl growl out a warning behind him. The guard’s grip loosened significantly and Paul barely managed to hide his smile over the fact the guard was still wary of Daryl even when he was handcuffed and surrounded by armed guards.

When the stepped outside, they were greeted by a rather large crowd of people that had traveled from the other communities to either condemn or support them. It looked like more than just the community leaders had shown up with at least 20 people sporting armbands from communities other than Alexandria.

Carol, Ezekiel, Kal, Tara, Rosita, and Eugene stood on the porch of the house in a a kind of semi circle with Rick and Michonne front and center. Daryl could physically see the distance between Rick and Michonne and felt slightly guilting at being part of the reason for the distance, but not enough to get him to back down. Michonne had made her choice yesterday when she moved to stand beside them and while Daryl greatly appreciated her support, it had obviously brought some tension between her and Rick.

Rick’s face was hard and his eyes cold just like they had been yesterday. Ezekiel, Rosita, and Eugenes’ expressions gave nothing away about how they felt about what had happened. Carol looked pissed, but also worried which meant the anger was probably directed at Rick and not them. Tara looked pissed as well, but her angry gaze was directed directly at Rick’s back, so they weren’t worried. Michonne’s face held a look of determination, there was no way she was going to back down from her new stance on this matter. Kal’s eyes lit up when he saw Maggie

“Poor kid,” Daryl thought, “he’s going to have to wait a while for anything to come of his crush on her.”

The guards moved them to stand the three of them side by side before moving over to the side of the porch. Daryl and Maggie stood on the ends with Paul in between them. They all took a stance of strength, standing up straight, shoulders back, chests forward, and legs hip width apart to create what looked like a wall of defiance. Their heads were held high and their expressions conveyed no remorse over what they’d done. Practically radiating power, determination, and completely unashamed of their actions as they stood there staring down Rick. Rick shifted uncomfortably under their intense gazes, which lit a small spark of satisfaction in Paul’s chest.

“Are these things really necessary?” Paul spoke up first, “I mean really, why would we run? If we were ashamed of our actions we might, but we’re not.”

“Yes, they will stay on...” Rick started, leveling his gaze at Paul.

Michonne, however, cut him off and stepped forward, “release their hands, I trust that they will not run. They wouldn’t get very far anyway.”

Rick glanced at Michonne with what appeared to be annoyance at being undermined in front of all these people, but said nothing as one of the guards moved to unlock Daryl’s cuffs. When the guard moved to Paul, Paul reached out his hand and placed the handcuffs in the palm of the guard, smirking at him. Daryl snorted and took Paul’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. A lot of their family members did a double take of their intertwined hands, but none of them said anything. Daryl caught Tara’s gaze and she smiled gave him a thumbs up making Daryl blush a bit.

Once all of them were free of the cuffs, Rick turned to address the crowd.

“These people have been charged with the murder of Negan. They plotted and went behind our backs to kill a man we had ordered to be protected,” Rick began.

“You mean that you ordered!” Aaron shouted from the back of the crowd holding Gracie.

Rick paused before speaking again, “I may have ordered it, but you all agreed to it.”

“No we didn’t,” someone from Oceanside countered, “you didn’t even bother to ask us what we wanted.”

People started speaking all at once, some trying to keep the peace, mostly the Alexandrians, but a lot of people were pointing their fingers at Rick. Nobody moved forward physically, which Daryl was thankful for, the last thing he wanted to cause was an all out brawl.

“Yeah! Negan murdered my brother!”

“My husband!”

“My daughter!”

“My mother!”

Rick backed up a bit, shaken by the crowd’s angry outburst. He’d obviously expected most of them to be on his side. The community leaders remained quiet as the people below shouted. Maggie turned towards the crowd and raised her fist. Paul caught on and raised his free hand to his lips and whistled loud and clear. It had been a signal during the war to call attention to the leaders as they gave orders during battle, Maggie figured people would still be subconsciously trained to listen and watch for it. Her theory was proven right as the crowd grew quiet as soon as they heard the whistle.

Rick took the silence to begin speaking again, “I understand your pain. I lost people, too. But the fact still stands that these three disrupted the peace we now enjoy by murdering Negan. They violated a symbol of a new beginning and a better way of life. Negan was incarcerated instead of killed because we can’t continue down that path. Bloodshed only causes more bloodshed.”

Rick stopped and turned to face away from the crowd and looked at the three of them instead.

“Because I know that none of you would hurt any of the people here, we have a more options than we did with Negan. The first option is we build a few more cells and lock you all up for a while. The second option is banishment from all of the communities. All of you are capable of surviving out there, especially with each other...”

“So you would forcefully separate me from my son? Or are you planning on banishing my son, too?” Maggie demanded, cutting Rick off.

“Not all of you need to have the same sentence. Maggie, your situation is different from theirs because of your son. You’ll probably be locked up from a little while.”

“Again, are going to forcefully separate me from my son?”

Michonne stepped forward and grabbed Rick’s arm, “Back off, Rick,” she warned.

Eugene spoke up, “there is another option.”

Rick turned to look at him, “What?”

“House arrest,” Eugene supplied, “It was a common practice long ago when putting a criminal in a normal jail would cause more trouble such as riots in and outside the prison. We could confine her to Barrington house and place a few guards on her and remove her from her position as leader of Hilltop. That way she can be with her son and still carry out her sentence.”

Rick nodded, “sounds fair enough. Daryl, you’ll serve your time in the cell here once we clean it. As for you Jesus, banishment is really the only option since we can’t trust you not to break out of your cell. We all just saw how easily you can escape cuffs.”

Paul stomach dropped, he’d been worried about Rick trying to separate them in different cells, he didn’t realize just how much Rick would want to separate them. He could sneak back in and free Daryl and then take off together, but he didn’t think Rick’s version of banishment meant letting walk out the gates. It probably entailed driving him hundreds of miles away, giving a few provisions and then threatening to shoot him on sight if they ever saw him again.

“No,” Daryl growled at Rick.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no. You will not banish Paul.”

“I’ll do whatever needs to be done. We can’t trust him not to break both of you out on the first night.”

“If he goes, I go with him.”

“Daryl, don’t do this. I don’t know what is going on between you two, but I can guarantee it’s not worth abandoning your family for.”

“Yes, he is.”

Daryl looked over at the other leaders, begging them to step forward and defy Rick’s dictatorship.

Carol walked forward, “I speak for the Kingdom when I say you can banish him from the other communities, but he will always be welcome with us.”

“I speak for Oceanside,” Tara spoke up and went to stand by Carol, “they will always be welcome with us.”

Kal stepped up beside Carol and Tara, “Maggie is our leader and Paul and Daryl are her second in commands, they will all be welcome at Hilltop.”

Rick turned to them, “you can’t do this...”

“Yes, we can,” Ezekiel spoke, leaning on his staff, “You do not own us. We are allies and that means we work together, but it doesn’t mean we have to accept your word as law if we don’t agree with it. Is this not why you called us here today? To work together to decide on their fate? Because right now it appears as if you plan to assign their different fates yourself.”

Rick shifted uncomfortably at Ezekiel’s words as he looked at the other leaders.

“You are the leader of Alexandria and nothing else. We are independent communities that all came together in a time of crisis, but that doesn’t mean we are all under your leadership. Tara and I represent Oceanside, but we do not Oceanside’s leaders. Cyndie is our leader and she answer to no one except her own people,” Rosita said.

Kal crossed his arms over his chest, “You don’t have any power over Hilltop either. Maggie is the best leader Hilltop’s ever had. We’re not letting her go and I won’t let you take away her from her child. Daryl and Jesus are two of our best members and Maggie’s advisors and second-in-commands; you can’t banish them.”

Rick backed up as the line of leaders and reps, all except for Eugene, turned against him.

“As I said before,” Maggie said, “killing Negan was an end to a time of blood for us. From now on, jails and trials will be what we use. But I couldn’t start doing that without gaining closure first. Everyone that Negan murdered...”

Rosita and Tara nodded, joining hands remembering Denise and Abraham.

“tortured...”

Paul squeezed Daryl’s hand and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“or were forced to hurt others or be hurt themselves...”

Some of the old saviors who left the sanctuary to join one of the other communities after the end of the war nodded.

“can now have closure and move on knowing the person that caused so much pain is gone. He is no longer alive to be a reminder of the horrors we endured at his hands. He was not a symbol of a new beginning, he was the mascot of the past and now we can put him behind us.”

Rick looked out over the crowd and the faces of his family and his resolve began to crumble, but he refused to go down without a fight, “No! There needed to be something more than violence in that war. Carl saw that and he begged me in the last letter I got from him to stop the fighting. He even asked Negan to stop the fighting in one of his letters. I was honoring my son and you robbed me of that.”

“You robbed us of closure and justice. We approached you before about holding a proper trial for Negan and we’d all accept the outcome of it, whatever it was. You refused, three times you shut us down and told us to go home and forget about it,” Daryl said, “I remember you saying ‘I did it for Carl,’ but wouldn’t Carl also want you to listen to your people? Your family?”

Rick started backing up towards Michonne, his hands coming up to cover his face and he looked about ready to fall over, “I... I had to. Carl, my son, his last wish was for a better world... I had to give it to him... I...”

Rick collapsed and Michonne did her best to catch him and slowly lower him to the ground. Rick was now starting to cry and stopped making a lot of sense, “Carl... no more fighting... have to stop it. My son wanted peace I had to give him peace. I had to...”

Daryl watched the scene unfold and felt horrible that this is what it took for Rick to finally give in and let himself break down. He’d refused to step down as leader after the war was over and his family had recognized it as a coping mechanism for losing Carl. It seemed like being in charge was the only thing keeping him sane and their defiance over Negan had been the last straw. He couldn’t cope anymore, he needed to step down and let Michonne take over because he was unfit to be in charge in the state he was in. He’d been emotionally and mentally compromised since the second he found out Carl was bit, but nobody had been able to get through to him until now. Daryl just wished his breakdown hadn’t been so public.

“I can’t do this anymore... Michonne, please help me,” he whispered as he cried and held onto her like a lifeline.

They all stood there in silence knowing it was over, Rick had finally let himself go, let himself feel the full pain of the loss of his son. When Rick finally passed out from exhaustion, it was well known that he was barely able to sleep and almost never ate, Michonne lowered him the rest of the way to the floor.

She stood up and addressed everyone, “I will be relieving Rick of his role as leader of Alexandria because he is emotionally and mentally unstable because of the death of his son. Anyone have a problem with that?”

No one spoke up.

“Good. As for you three,” she said turned to them, “I understand why you had to do it, just like how I had to find and kill the governor back at the prison. My only command is that you stay out of Alexandria for the time being to give Rick some time to process what has happened. When I think he’s stable enough to see you again, I will send someone to let you know you’re able to come to Alexandria again. He will be angry with you for a while because Carl was bit, not murdered which means he has no one to direct his bottles up anger at other than you three.”

They nodded, understanding her reasoning. The fact that it was a walker and not another person that killed Carl made the pain of losing him so much worse. There was no one to blame for his death because the thing that killed him was already dead. It wasn’t like how Maggie lost Glenn, she’d stayed sane by focusing her anger on Negan and doing everything in her power to bring him down. Rick didn’t have that and it was killing him. Daryl felt for Rick, he wanted to help his brother so bad, but he knew his presence right now would only further complicate matters.

“We’ll take our leave then,” Ezekiel said and motioned for the crowd to clear.

Daryl, Maggie, and Paul began making their way towards where they’d parked their car yesterday when they’d arrived. Daryl heard footsteps coming from behind him so he paused and turned around only to suddenly be enveloped by Carol wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his cheek before pulling away, “Congratulations on your new relationship.”

“Thanks,” Daryl smiled glancing behind him at Paul.

“He’d better treat you right because if he doesn’t I’ll throw his ass to the walkers.”

“Same goes for Ezekiel,” Daryl laughed, her hugging her one more time before she left to join Ezekiel at the gate. A smile played on his lips as he watched Ezekiel greet her kiss a chaste kiss before mounting their horses and leaving. Michonne came over and hugged each of them goodbye before heading back to her house to care for Rick and Judith. Tara and Rosita both gave his a thumbs up and Tara even shouted, “get some!” as they made their way out, making Daryl blush hard. Kal came running up to them and threw his arms out to pull Maggie into a hug that she gladly accepted. The kid was in deep and honestly, Daryl couldn’t blame him, Maggie was a pretty badass woman.

“Time to go home?” Paul asked opening the door of their car. “Yeah, let’s go home,” Daryl said leaning in and kissing Paul while pointedly ignoring Maggie and Kal’s high five next to them. Negan was dead, Rick was finally going to get the help he so desperately he needed and all was good for the first time in a long time.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Scheifele Down (Dece 28)

  Tough news on the injury front for Mark Scheifele owners as the Jets’ centerman was forced from last night’s action with an upper-body injury. We should find out more about the severity later today, but my suspicion is a broken collarbone based on how he went into the boards.

Look for Bryan Little to step up with Scheifele out. He’ll never be as valuable as Scheifele, but Little could certainly score near a point-per-game pace for however long Scheifele is out. Little is owned in only 26% of Yahoo leagues, but that will soon spike.

This also opens up the 2C spot for Jack Roslovic to get called up from the minors. I discussed Roslovic’s potential in Tuesday’s ramblings. Exposure to any of Winnipeg’s top-six wingers is a great spot to be in.

There is potential for someone else to step into that 2C slot. For instance, Mathieu Perreault has been deadly in limited action on the fourth line and was lights out filling in for Kyle Connor on the top line during the brief period the youngster was out. Stay on top of the Jets’ line combinations using the Frozen Pool tools.

It sounds like Dustin Byfuglien will be back soon. Paul Maurice indicated early January for his return. Jacob Trouba hasn’t done much with the bonus minutes. At this point, I suspect that the struggles of the Jets’ defensemen to put up elite totals is a stylistic thing. They simply aren’t jumping into the play as much as in previous years. It’s probably helping Connor Hellebuyck, but hurting Trouba and Byfuglien, who have combined for two goals (both from Trouba) after scoring 21 last season. When Byfuglien returns I am going to drop Trouba in leagues that don’t score hits/blocked shots. He isn’t seeing the requisite PP time, and isn’t jumping into the play enough.

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Cam Talbot’s six-game winning streak came to an end, but I’ll stick with the process believing him to be a solid bet for the second half.

Despite skating 20+ minutes with top unit power play time Andrej Sekera is scoreless in three games since returning from injury. The upside for him even with top PP minutes is a 40-point pace so expectations should be modest. Plus, after so much time away he’ll need lots of time to get fully up to speed. I wouldn’t be shocked if Sekera is a regular scratch now that the Oilers are healthy on the blueline. There’s no sense in burning Sekera out with back-to-backs if they have other defensemen to work into the lineup.

Oscar Klefbom missed last night’s game, but should be ready to go on Friday. He has been banged up all season, which is part of why he has struggled. Klefbom could bump Sekera off the top PP unit, but that’s no guarantee that he’ll get back to relevance. The Oilers’ PP remains a struggle.

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Devan Dubnyk returned from injured reserve to serve as backup to Alex Stalock. They’ve got a back-to-back against the Predators this weekend so Stalock isn’t out of the mix just yet. In fact, Stalock has played just well enough to linger as an option to steal starts from Dubnyk. Dubnyk would have to fall completely flat to lose his gig entirely, but losing the odd start is totally doable.

I do have some concerns about Dubnyk. The Wild rank dead last in Corsi-For%. This isn’t the be-all-end-all, but generally speaking you want to be controlling the majority of the shots. To overcome such a deficit, you need elite goaltending and scorers who can drive shooting percentage.

Bruce Boudreau has driven teams to above-average shooting at every stop of his coaching career, including with this squad last season, but they’ve taken a step backwards on the elite shooting. In particular, Mikko Koivu whose shooting percentage has dropped to 5.2% from 12.9%. The career 9.1% shooter has seen an overcorrection that has killed his fantasy value. With only two points in his last 16 games, Koivu has become un-usable for fantasy owners.

Without elite shooting that leaves Dubnyk to be an elite goaltender. He has had some stretches of elite play for the Wild, but has a career 0.916 save percentage, which is essentially league average. A league-average goalie getting hemmed in with shots is going to give up more three-goal games than fantasy owners can stomach, especially since with scoring falling back to normal allowing three goals will lead to a loss more often than not.

Barring an elite run, which would be unpredictable, Dubnyk’s trending towards third-tier starter status. You know he’s giving you roughly 60 starts, but probably isn’t giving you more than 30 wins.

Zach Parise is on the road back playing rehab games in the minors. It’s been a while since Parise had universal fantasy relevance, but he should still provide solid depth scoring and shot volume. If Rick Nash is good enough to be relevant in your league Parise should offer similar production.

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Chris Kreider was knocked out of last night’s action due to an upper-body injury. Like with Scheifele we are waiting for an update today. This pushed Nash into top-line and top PP duties. Nash could have an extended run of elevated play, although the Rangers’ have struggled to score of late.

Mika Zibanejad is scoreless in four games since returning from injury. Everything from linemates and minutes is there for him to produce, he simply hasn’t gotten it done yet. I’m not ready to bail on him yet, but we did see Zibanejad fall apart after getting hurt last season. It’s something to be weary of if it becomes a trend.

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In positive injury news, Ryan Kesler returned to the Duck lineup last night. Check out their lines:

  #1           28%        COGLIANO,ANDREW – KESLER,RYAN – WAGNER,CHRIS

#2           22.4%    GETZLAF,RYAN – KASE,ONDREJ – RAKELL,RICKARD

#3           21.7%    HENRIQUE,ADAM – ROY,KEVIN – SILFVERBERG,JAKOB

#4           15.5%    RITCHIE,NICK – SHAW,LOGAN – VERMETTE,ANTOINE

  That’s not a great spot for Kesler, especially with him banished to PP2. Also losing Jakob Silfverberg off that line won’t help. Kesler probably won’t make an immediate impact coming off of hip surgery so set your expectations low for now. He skated 16:44 with time on both special teams units, but it could be another month before he’s back to skating 20+ minutes a night. Once he’s up to speed he’ll be the nightmare we al remember.

It’s good news for Adam Henrique that Kesler’s return didn’t squash his spot as #2C with PP1 time, but it’s bad news that Henrique has only two points in his last eight games, both of which came in a revenge game against New Jersey. He’s heading straight to the waiver wire for fantasy owners.

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The Penguins were without Kris Letang due to a lower-body injury. His status is day-to-day. How a player gets hurt over Christmas break, I’ll never know, but if we were taking bets Letang was the front-runner.

This injury underscores the value of Justin Schultz. Mind you, Schultz has been out with an injury of his own, but we have seen that he has the capacity for greatness when unleashed in Letang’s stead. With rumours swirling about Letang potentially getting traded, Schultz has the chance to explode once again.

I don’t want to overplay this situation. I’d put the odds on Letang getting traded at less than 50%, but they did win a Cup without him, which could embolden them to make a big move.

Most of Letang’s “struggles” have been percentage based. His 917 PDO is the lowest in the league among players with at least 200 minutes of 5-on-5 action. Whatever degree to which you think talent can impact shooting percentage, it isn’t as extreme as the Penguins shooting just 3.9% with Letang on the ice, especially not when you consider that they have elite shooting talent on the roster.

Whether it’s trade or injury, Schultz has some mighty potential. Schultz’s ownership has hit a low at just 61% on Yahoo. I encourage making a speculative pickup. You need to be willing to ride this out for a few weeks, which could mean some bleak production from Schultz. He has scored at roughly a 35-point pace thus far, and 35-point defensemen can go through dark stretches. On a high scoring team like Pittsburgh that is less likely, but the potential for him to fail to score for two weeks exists if he remains blocked by Letang.

As for Letang, his value would take a hit going elsewhere as he’d lose exposure to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the gang, especially Pittsburgh’s lethal PP. However, the Venn diagram of plausible destinations for Letang and teams where he wouldn’t be the #1 option has no overlap. He’d still be good, but perhaps not good enough to absorb the injury risk.

As always, any question of selling a player comes down to what you can leverage in return. It is certainly worth exploring what you can get in return for Letang, but if you can’t net a star calibre player (someone around the top-10 at any position) you are probably better off riding it out.

By the way, with both of those guys out it was Olli Maatta who stepped into the top PP minutes. He was held scoreless, but did manage five SOG. Maatta has had a bounce-back season after multiple injury-plagued runs. He’s once again in the mix for a 30-point season, a feat he has yet to accomplish as an NHLer.

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With Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg and Zach Werenski out we saw more changes to the Blue Jacket PP formations.

Seth Jones, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Artemi Panarin were locked in, but we saw Josh Anderson, Nick Foligno and Oliver Bjorkstrand rotating in. Bjorkstrand probably has the upper hand here, but Anderson would be spicy considering he also skates on the top line.

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Blue Jackets move towards some three-forward looks when Werenski returns. Werenski remains day-to-day with a mystery injury speculated to be a back ailment. I wonder if this is the sort of injury that lingers and saps a player’s efficacy. There’s no question that Jones has been the better of the two top defensemen.

I have discussed the irrelevance of who plays on the Blue Jacket power play because they have been so bad, but last night ended a four-game streak of scoring a PP goal. They have gone 5/23 over the last seven games. All they need to boost their players is to be run-of-the-mill bad, which is achievable.

I continue to be smitten with Dubois. He has 11 points in 13 games this month, which would have relevance in just about every league, especially since he has winger eligibility with certain providers. He is available in 70% of Yahoo leagues and could help a lot of fantasy teams.

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Break up the Bruins’ second line! Boston laid five goals on the Senators with all five coming from the second line of Danton Heinen, Riley Nash and David Backes. Heinen is easily the most interesting of the trio. He has run his point total up to 24 in 31 games. He has five goals and 12 points in 12 games this month.

I still don’t think we’re looking at sustainable relevance for fantasy owners because of his reduced PP usage. All the same, we’re talking 15-16 minutes per game with secondary PP time. In the average league, he’ll fade from relevance at some point, but you can use him while he’s hot! In particular, I’ve made some hay with Heinen in daily fantasy.

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Perhaps you jump to the Heinen option now that Kevin Fiala and Kyle Turris are cooling off in Nashville. Fiala has gone two straight without a point, but Turris has run it up to four straight, which is more concerning. I’m not quite done with this duo, but I don’t mind keeping a short leash with them as their opportunity on the Preds is reduced. I do expect to be dropping Fiala at some point.

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It may be time to jump back in with Justin Faulk. The opportunity has been there all season, but shooting percentages have not been in his favour. He has points in three straight games. We’re going streaking!

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The official timeline for Tyson Barrie is 4-6 weeks following surgery to repair a broken hand. I also wonder how effective he’ll be coming off that surgery. We have seen players like Brendan Gallagher tank in efficacy after hand surgery. He should have the legs when he returns, but will he have the dexterity?

Erik Johnson took over PP1 duties with Barrie out. There is some big time potential here. He notched an assist in 26 minutes of action. Mind you, Johnson has been logging heavy minutes all year but the PP1 time and the exposure to Nathan MacKinnon will help him gain relevance over the next month and a half. Johnson has already been piling up peripheral stats and is on pace for 231 SOG. He won’t fully replace Barrie, but is adequate.

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Corey Crawford is on the IR once again, with an undisclosed injury. Last time he missed a week with a lower-body injury, but there’s no sense in speculating at how long this will be. If the timeline is weeks, not days, then the timing isn’t great. Chicago has the late bye week and is off January 15-19. Ideally, Crawford would miss time during the Blackhawks’ bye week, but it would have to be serious for him to miss a month.

In the meantime, Anton Forsberg is your uninspiring replacement option. Jeff Glass has been recalled from the AHL and boasts modest numbers, but we won’t see him unless Forsberg is a trainwreck (possible) or Crawford is out for an extended period.

Forsberg is 1-4-3 with a GAA of 3.13. The Blackhawks play their next four games on the road. This is a nightmare scenario.

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Zac Rinaldo’s six-game suspension won’t have much fantasy impact, if any, but I’ll have to admit that I was hoping for a much larger penalty. My stance on this doesn’t has less to do with the specific play and more to do with my disdain for the enforcer role, which is thankfully getting phased out of the game. The NHL has the fastest professional sport going, it doesn’t need goons interrupting the breath-taking action. I’d have thrown the book at him, but mostly because he represents the type of player I no longer have any time for.   

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Check out Cam Robinson’s latest prospect ramblings with a bunch of World Junior coverage.

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Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-scheifele-down-dece-28/

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 9, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

Today began the second impeachment trial for former president Donald J. Trump, this time for incitement of insurrection against the American government.

Still, the people who are really on trial are the 50 Republican senators judging Trump’s guilt.

The impeachment trial today covered whether it is constitutional to try a former official. This angle was designed to get Republican senators off the hook: if not, they could avoid voting on the article of impeachment.

The proceedings went badly for the defense. Lead House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-MD) began the session by pointing out that Trump’s lawyers were arguing for a brand new “January exception to the Constitution of the United States of America.” Constitutional lawyers from across the political spectrum, he pointed out, agree that former officials must be held accountable for their actions after they leave office. Otherwise, officeholders could commit high crimes and misdemeanors and then promptly resign, putting themselves beyond reach of impeachment.

“It’s an invitation to the president to take his best shot at anything he may want to do on his way out the door, including using violent means to lock that door to hang on the Oval Office at all costs and to block the peaceful transfer of power,” Raskin said. “In other words, the January exception is an invitation to our Founders’ worst nightmare. And if we buy this radical argument… we risk allowing January 6 to become our future.”

What would that look like? Raskin answered his own question with a thirteen-minute video that revisited exactly what happened on January 6. Using footage and tweets from the attack on the Capitol, the video laid out the direct relationship between Trump’s speech at his rally that day and his supporters’ attack on Congress. It was devastating. Seeing the events of the day laid out in chronological order, with Trump’s words echoing from the mouths of furious insurrectionists attacking the Capitol, was even worse than seeing it happen in real time on January 6.

After the video, Raskin and the impeachment manager who followed him, Representative Joseph Neguse (D-CO) laid out, in historical detail, that the Framers certainly intended for impeachment to include officials who had already left office. They pointed both to a case that was underway in Britain when the Framers were including impeachment in the Constitution and to the case of Secretary of War William Belknap, who was impeached in 1876 after he resigned from office in the midst of a scandal.

The goal behind impeachment, Neguse said, is to guarantee accountability and stop corruption. There is, he said, no merit to Trump’s claim that he can incite an insurrection and then insist weeks later that the Senate lacks power to hold a trial.  

Like Raskin and Neguse, Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) emphasized that there is no “January exception” to the Constitution. He pointed out that Trump committed a terrible constitutional offense when he incited an armed angry mob to riot in the Capitol.

Cicilline also pointed out that Trump did not back down. At the end of that fateful day, he tweeted: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!” It is no wonder Trump’s lawyers want to talk about jurisdiction rather than facts, he said.

After their presentations, Raskin gave an emotional plea to senators to defend American democracy.

After a recess, it was Trump’s lawyers’ turn. It didn’t go well.

The two men, Bruce Castor and David Schoen, only joined the defense team a little over a week ago, after Trump’s original team leaders all quit, and so have had little time to prepare. They were also apparently surprised by the quality of the prosecution’s presentation today, and so tried to change their own presentations on the fly.

Castor spoke first, coming across as condescending and meandering—Schoen later defended him by saying Castor had not known he would be speaking today. Even Trump supporter Alan Dershowitz, who defended Trump in his first impeachment trial, seemed put off. “I have no idea what he’s doing,” Dershowitz told Newsmax.

Next up was Schoen, who insisted that the Trump voters whose candidate lost the election must be heard. He appeared to threaten the senators with civil war. “This trial will tear the country apart, perhaps like we’ve only ever seen once in history.”

The two men seemed badly outmatched, rambling and unprepared. While the Democrats’ presentations were clear, organized, and illustrated with slick videos and graphics, the defense had none of that. Watching from Florida, the former president was allegedly irate. The goal for the defense today was simply to give cover to Republicans who wanted to avoid voting on the merits of the case by giving them room to dismiss the case on the grounds it was unconstitutional. Castor and Schoen did not give them that cover.

At the end of the presentations, the Senate voted that it was constitutional to proceed with the trial by a vote of 56 to 44. Six Republicans, one more than had voted yes on a similar vote in Congress, joined the Democratic majority. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) said the defense lawyers had not provided a convincing argument that such a trial was unconstitutional. When pressed by reporters about why he thought the defense was poor, he said: “Did you listen to it? It was disorganized, random—they talked about many things, but they didn’t talk about the issue at hand.”

The defense lawyers’ problem, of course, is that they are being asked to defend the indefensible. They know it; we know it; Republican senators who have been defended Trump know it. During the video of the insurrection, Trump supporters Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) looked at papers on their desks, Rick Scott (R-FL) looked at papers on his lap, and Rand Paul (R-KY) doodled.

Republican Senators willing to excuse Trump for his incitement of an insurrection that attacked our peaceful transfer of power are tying the Republican party to the former president and to an ideology that would end our democracy.

What led the rioters on January 6, 2021, to try to hurt our elected officials and overturn the legal results of the 2020 election was Trump’s long-time assertion that he won in a landslide and the presidency had been stolen from him. This big lie, as observers are calling it, is not one of Trump’s many and random lies, it is the rallying cry for a movement to destroy American democracy. He is building a movement based on the idea that his supporters are the only ones truly defending the nation, because they—not the people who certified the 2020 election—are the ones who know the true outcome of the election. He is creating a narrative in which he is the only legitimate leader of the nation and anyone who disagrees is a traitor to the Constitution.

As Cicilline noted, even after the riot Trump refused to repudiate that big lie. And now, even in the face of impeachment he has not repudiated it. Indeed, he has doubled down on it, refusing to admit he is a “former” president. His supporters haven’t admitted it, either, including his supporters who sit in Congress. None of those who challenged the counting of the electoral votes on January 6 and 7 has admitted it was a political stunt. Now, they are arguing that impeachment is a partisan attack on the part of Democrats.

If Republican senators permit Trump to get away with the big lie, it must, logically, take over the Republican Party. It’s no wonder that he lost his first defense team because he insisted they use their media time to argue that he had won the election in a landslide. Trump is not trying to win just this trial: he is trying to win control of the Republican Party and, through it, the country.

Tomorrow, the Senate impeachment managers will begin to argue their case.

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON