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kingwuko · 3 years

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Wuko in the Comics: Ruins of the Empire, Book 1 part 2

Welcome to my series of posts discussing Wuko in the Comics. In this post I'll continue to discuss RotE Book 1. There are some... interesting moments in the second half of this comic, including a very famous line that all but confirms canon Wuko.

Plot Summary

Fearing that Guan will use violence to stop the election, the Krew decides to bring Kuvira along with them to Gaoling, hoping that she can talk him down. When they come face-to-face with Guan, however, they discover he does not intend to use violence, but will run in Gaoling’s election. The Krew decides the best solution is to find another candidate with enough public support to defeat Guan fair and square; and they decide to ask Toph to run. It is revealed, however, that Guan does not intend to win fair and square. He’s planning to brainwash Gaoling’s citizens to vote for him.

Major Plot points in the second half of Book 1

We start off right away with the Sauna Scene. Everyone looks excellent. The ladies' sauna wear is lovely. Mako and Bolin have their classic swim suits seen in season 1. Wu is literally just wearing a towel. I found myself googling saunas and steam baths to see if it’s normal to wear swimsuits or just a towel, and everything I read said pretty much anything goes as long as you are comfortable, but I do find it interesting that everyone wears swimsuits except Wu. Maybe because he does steam baths more often and he’s just more comfortable in that setting? He seems pretty confident and not at all shy. I don’t have anything analytical to say about it, I just think it’s an interesting detail, that he doesn’t seem to have any hang-ups about being nearly naked around Mako his friends.

They are discussing Guan’s militaristic movement toward Gaoling, and tossing ideas around to handle the situation. Mako not-so-helpfully suggests using force with the united forces which Zhu Li shoots down right away, not wanting to escalate the situation. Wu agrees and wants to find a peaceful resolution. Korra, remembering her conversation with Kuvira, thinks she has the answer. She proposes bringing Kuvira along to Gaoling, which NOBODY is happy about. Asami is upset because she made it clear earlier she does not want to be in the same room as Kuvira, Bolin is distressed because Kuvira nearly had him killed when he defected from her inner circle, Mako points out that he nearly lost his arm taking down the mech, Zhu Li says she invaded republic city, Asami reminds everyone that Kuvira killed her father, and Wu boldly declares that we can’t forget she ruined his coronation… He quickly reads the room and apologises (character growth?).

Korra acknowledges everyone’s concerns and points out that she truly believes Kuvira can be an ally- she was their ally when Zaheer was trying to kill her and the airbenders; and when her spirit vine weapon ripped open a new portal to the spirit world, Kuvira thought she had died and Korra believes that changed her. Bolin points out that Kuvira is very persuasive and may have a good shot at convincing Guan to stand down. Everyone is convinced and declares their support for the plan.

Zhu Li orders Kuvira’s release and Korra brings her onto the airship taking them all to Gaoling. And, I’m sorry, this frame is like, the bitchiest collective look from Mako, Wu, Bolin and Pabu. I just love it.

They initially plan to restrain her, but decide it’s pointless when Kuvira points out if she wanted to escape that she would have already. They arrive at Gaoling and there’s no sign of Guan and his army. Kuvira is certain he’ll be there, and points out that she needs to change so she doesn’t meet with him looking like a prisoner.

Korra and Wu go to meet with the election candidates. Their portraits are on the wall and it’s revealed that the candidates are both elderly magistrates who have been working in the local government for a long time. They are practically indistinguishable from each other, which causes Korra concern. Wu isn’t happy about it either, he was hoping the elections would bring in new leaders to take the earth kingdom in a new direction. Instead, it looks like nothing will change in Gaoling or the rest of the earth kingdom if things play out the same way. They are both disappointed but Korra is optimistic that this is the first election and over things will improve as they iron out the political kinks

Back in the flying machine, they give Kuvira an outfit of Asami’s that is…. Like I can’t put it into words. I’ve never seen asami wear it and that is a shame. The word that comes to mind is “Dapper”. Like is we saw Asami wearing it when they first introduced her character literally everyone would have predicted Cannon Korrasami and immeadiately said “yup Asami’s gay straight women don’t dress like that”. Slacks, a collared long sleeve shirt, with a grey vest over top. Just like, amazing. I am so disappointed we never saw Asami wear this. Someone point me to a fanart of Asami in this outfit that canonically belongs to her please.

Guan arrives and Kuvira tries to talk to him, which goes about as well as you’d expect. So she tries to appeal directly to his troops and urges them to surrender, and they all say in unison “Hail Commander Guan!”. So Kuvira decides to challenge Guan and beats the crap out of him in a punch that looks like something directly out of a WWII propaganda poster or something.

Kuvira is literally about to kill him by bending the metal collar around his neck when suddenly Asami electrocutes her with some device she had hidden in the belt she gave Kuvira.

Once Mako and Bolin drag Kuvira away, Korra attempts to reason with Guan and tells him she won’t let him interfere with the election. Guan then reveals he has no intention of interfering- he plans on running in the election! He immediately turns in all the necessary paperwork to be on the ballot. He informs the Krew that soon, all the upcoming elections will have Earth Empire representatives running and once they have power in every territory, no one will question the Earth Empire's right to rule.

They reconvene back on the airship, where Kuvira is detained in the platinum box. They explain to Kuvira that she was wrong to provoke him, but right that he is an excellent strategist. Mako then tells Wu that he should just call off the election. Wu replies “Mako, you know I love you, but I’m trying to encourage democracy. I can’t just go around canceling elections because I don’t like one of the candidates. We need to see how this plays out”

…

Yes. “Mako, you know I love you”

…

We’ll discuss that at length in a bit.

They decide the best path forward is to find a new candidate who is popular enough to beat Guan. Korra excitedly suggests Toph. Which, like, wouldn’t have been the first person to come to mind for me, but I guess she’s the only person they know who is originally from Goaling? But everyone seems on board, except presumably Toph because she doesn't like to get involved in worldly affairs… So Korra announces they will just have to convince her!!

We then cut to Guan's encampment, where he is discussing Kuvira’s actions with a Doctor Sheng, observing that Kuvira just isn’t the same, and that the Avatar has corrupted her mind. The doctor suggests they “recalibrate” Kuvira’s mind and leads him into a structure where she shows him their latest “recruits'. We then see Goaling citizens tied up in chairs with devices on their heads. They are being brainwashed to vote for Guan! Yikes!

Mako and Wu Scenes

The Sauna scene

The meeting that took place in the sauna was at the behest of Wu. He said he was very stressed out so he couldn’t miss his steam bath. I know there are lots of jokes about Wu being high maintenance because he needs his spa days or whatever, but he is in a highly stressful situation right now and we know that self care is essential to maintain one’s mental health and in order to perform one’s job well. I think this was an interesting way to weave together his seemingly superficial hobbies with his new maturity and responsibility. I really loved this scene for that (though seeing all the hot people in sauna-wear is a bonus).

Also there is a recurring thing where Mako is just offering the worst advice to Korra. He wants the United Republic, a completely separate Nation from the Earth Kingdom, to just.. March into another country and ‘enforce’ their democratic process??? Like…. If you know anything about world history and current events we know that is awful and wouldn’t be received well and would be a recipe for political instability and long term conflict. Thank goodness everyone is like Mako no. I’m pointing this out because, as much as we think of Wu as being immature, irresponsible, whatever, the reality is that he has a level head while Mako is actually giving the irresponsible solutions here. It’s a really interesting evolution from the infamous Wu meltdown scene where Mako was the voice of reason, but here things have reversed.

Also, I want to point out the moment where Wu backs down after he adds his grievance to the list everyone is giving (She ruined my coordination!), it’s kind of played for laughs but like… Wu has a totally valid reason to be upset on par with everyone else, considering Kuvira had him drugged and kidnapped…. Why wouldn’t he have said that? Well, the simple and obvious answer is- the writers wanted to make a “Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking” joke. But since us fans like to give depths to the characters that they deserve, maybe Wu is genuinely traumatized and just doesn’t want to bring it up. And maybe everyone knows he’s traumatized and doesn't want to bring it up, because no one else is like “Wu, did you forget she had you drugged and kidnapped???” They just give him a look and he’s like “LOL oops sorry should have said my thing first!!” maybe Team Avatar understands that it was a really scary moment for him and they just let him shield himself with humor.

I know it isn’t isn’t exactly a strong Wuko moment, but the bitchy look that Moko, Bolin, Wu and Pabu give to Kuvira in the airship breathed life into me for some reason. I’m loving how they look like a group of mean girls who were just badmouthing Kuvira before she walked in. I think they were having a nice bonding moment before this.

Mako, you know I love you

Ok. So after Mako casually mentions just calling off the election, Wu flat out says “I love you” to Mako. This is a line us Wuko shippers just DIE for. The full line is as follows:

Mako: I say you call off the vote, at least for now. Make it impossible for Guan to win

Wu: Mako, you know I love you, but I’m trying to encourage democracy. I can’t just go around cancelling elections because I don’t like one of the candidates. We need to let this play out.

So. Like, what the heck are we supposed to make of this?

I’m not going to dig too deep and force my own interpretations and headcanons onto you. This I love you could mean a number of different things. I just want to pose some rhetorical questions about it and the context to give us all some things to think about.

Is Wu flirting? Does Mako actually know that Wu loves him? Is this an extension of Wu’s many other instances of flirting with complimenting Mako (on par with ‘my big tough guy” while staring at his ass)? Has Wu said “I love you” to Mako before? How many times has Wu said “Mako I love you” before? Is this evidence of them actually being in a romantic relationship during this comic? Or is it evidence of romantic tension building? Is Mako just totally oblivious to the fact that Wu said I love you? Or did he hear it and his brain blue-screened from the shock of being blatantly told I love you? Has Wu just gotten fed up that Mako seems oblivious to all his previous flirtations and he just decided to up the ante? Does Mako love Wu back?!

Lots of questions. Lots of interpretations. But (as far as I remember) Mako has only said I love you to two people- his brother and Korra (I don’t think he said I love you to Asami but I could be wrong). And if you’ve read this you know that Mako’s relationship with Wu is not brotherly. We’ve never heard “I love you” from Wu toward anyone else that I can recall so I don’t think he makes a habit of throwing the phrase around lightly. Also, worth noting: Literally no one reacts to the casual “I love you”. Everyone just goes on with the conversation at hand. The next frame that we see of Wu and Mako’s faces together, Mako is SMILING at Wu.

So like, he’s clearly not uncomfortable with being told that Wu loves him. And no one else is uncomfortable with it either. So what gives? Are they together? Are they flirting? Is everyone else just like “yup Wu said I love you Mako nothing out of the ordinary here because it’s painfully obvious Wu is into Mako, let's move on, nothing to see here”?

Wu and Korra

One thing I LOVE about these comics is the friendship between Korra and Wu. During the series, Korra tolerated Wu, warming up to him a bit at the very end when he told her his plan to abdicate. But through these comics there seems to be a comfortable familiarity between them. A bit of teasing, loads of moral support, and not a hint of her (or anyone) being super annoyed by him. He also doesn’t hit on her or anyone else except Mako, which is a very refreshing character growth because it was very tiresome to watch him objectify women in the animated series.

Korra and Wu spend a good amount of time together as she accompanies him to Gaoling’s city hall. They seem very comfortable with each other, comfortable enough that the writers included a fart joke.

Korra reassures Wu when he expresses worry about the election being pointless, she steps forward somewhat protectively when Guan shows up- the entire scene with Guan, Korra is standing between him and Wu.

Basically I bring this up because I genuinely love the idea that Korra and Wu are close and friendly, that they have moved on from his cringy behavior from the series (I like to think he apologized to both her and Asami?)

What this means for Wuko

If you are writing fic or just coming up with headcanon, there are two ways to look at the scenes. Either they are in a relationship, or they aren’t. You could easily just say they are in a relationship and are being quiet about it, because they aren’t ready to be fully public, or maybe because they are still figuring things out, or they are waiting for Wu to abdicate and move back to Republic City, etc. “You know I love you” is such an easy piece of canon content to make this your headcanon.

Likewise, one could say they are Not Together right now. Pre-relationship, if you will. Maybe they’ve danced around the idea, discussed feelings without actually getting together. Or maybe they are still clueless that there is a potential for a relationship. Wu might be putting out feelers to see how Mako responds to his flirtations. Mako might be wondering if he’s misinterpreting Wu’s affectionate touches and words. Lots of romantic tension, pining, each wondering if the other one has any feelings.

I also love the idea that Wu and Korra are friends and have discussed or will discuss Mako and Wu’s feelings for him.

So, in summary, Wu loves Mako. It’s canon. It’s right there in black and white. Make of it what you will!

Next post I will discuss Wuko in the first half of RotE Book 2. Wu goes on a life-changing field trip with Korra to meet Toph and confront a swamp-vision of his Late Great Aunt, while Mako gets captured and brainwashed by Guan. Wu and Mako are not together during these scenes but there will be lots of wonderful Wu backstory along with plenty of angst potential from the brainwashing storyline.

Wuko in Turf Wars

Wuko in RotE part 1

#Wuko #Wuko in the Comics #RotE #Mako #Prince Wu

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lady-star-strings · 3 years

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About Dream’s Tweets...

To begin with, I’m demisexual and have been part of the community for years - I think I have pretty good credence to speak on this matter. I try not to throw my two cents into situations like this because I can’t stand the ignorant responses of the internet anymore at my age - DeviantArt Dark Ages vet right here - but sometimes I just have to. Whether you agree or not, I could honestly care less, but I would appreciate it if you read everything and gave it some thought before responding, be it positive or negative. With that said, let’s dive in...

At this point, if people are taking the shipping/fanservice jokes and banter between the Dream Team and other creators surrounding them seriously, I don't know what to tell them or really even say, honestly. They've all stated they're not looking to start relationships with each other - multiple times and on-stream/Twitter, might I add, because people keep donating and asking/demanding an answer to both that and about their sexualities - and that it's just messing around with friends. (If we want to talk about making people uncomfortable and being offensive in that regard, don’t you worry because I've got opinions on that too.) Bottom line is, you can't get mad at them for the fan-service now when you supported it before, especially when nothing has changed and they’ve been transparent about how everything actually is.

I understand that some may feel it’s an insensitive and inappropriate thing to do in some regards, and that's perfectly valid, but please don't go mobbing through the town with pitchforks over literal jokes between friends. Keep in mind, they’ve made it clear that’s all it was before people starting jumping down their throats, and still there are groups using their sexuality to attack them over it because "YoU'rE nOt MlM sO yOu CaN't MaKe ThOsE jOkEs, YoU'rE hOmOpHoBiC!!!!!" They're even openly attacking lesbians and bisexuals - whether they agree with them or not - because they're not gay and that somehow renders their words “invalid.” You can't accuse them of being ignorant for messing around as friends because it entertains the fans, and then turn around to attack literally the entire rest of the community for offering their opinions because they aren't valid enough for you in the argument to count - that makes you ignorant. You also can’t claim to be of the opinion that everyone’s sexuality is their own business, but then demand for them not to be ambiguous about it when it pleases you. Honestly, even thinking about people doing that is so incredibly hypocritical that it gives me whiplash.

I completely understand not everyone is a fan of this behavior, but to accuse them of queerbaiting, being homophobic and faking allyship over it all right now is just ridiculous and borderline disgusting to me. They've made it clear they're not romantically interested in one another countless times and that it's just fun between friends because they're super close - they aren't playing the "Am I, or am I not?" game with anyone for gain so no, they're not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is when it’s not explicitly said at any point whether someone is or isn’t LGBTQIA+ so they can play both the community and conservative side by putting them in ambiguous situations that can lean one way or the other for gain, whether it be monetary or otherwise. Not to mention, if they were really as “homophobic” and “falsely allied” as everyone thinks, why would other LGBTQIA+ creators such as Antfrost, Eret, Scott Major, etc. not only support them, but also consider them friends? Again, I get the offense and hurt people might have taken from this behavior, but your opinions and feelings are ultimately not universal so while they are all valid, that doesn't make them right and the final say on the matter. I don’t mean this to say you’re wrong or inferior in the argument, just that you can’t demand others to see your point of view and abide by it without granting them the same respect. The road goes both ways kiddos, I’m sorry.

Side note, there's no one to blame but the fans themselves for the jokes and whatnot to have continued on this long because they not only supported it, but also actively encouraged it. It’s been taken so seriously that Dream has outright stated on a stream - and now on Twitter - that he and George aren't together and more than likely never will be because they're honest to goodness just really good friends screwing around. Now if you think you're uncomfortable as part of the community, how do you think they feel being accused every five minutes of being against it because they won’t openly state their sexuality? Not to mention, they can't ever talk about actual relationships or joke about other ships because people will literally send death threats to whoever the other party is because they're "rUiNiNg ThE sHiP" at this point - need I remind you of the Septiplier fiasco? It’s alright if it’s a persona or a personality, but for the love of all things holy, please stop treating people like Barbie dolls that you’re trying to make kiss. They gave us the go-ahead to ship them because it makes us happy and allows us to be creative with the concept - don’t ruin it by trying to force them to play the parts you’ve constructed in your head and then get pissy because they won’t.

Also, it is unbelievably messed up for you to donate money to ask their sexuality and/or for them to tell each other that they love them - which then basically makes it a demand because if they ignore it they get blasted for not responding and “taking their money.” For example, Dream will say he loves any of his friends without issue because he does - just not in the way everyone is assuming or wants - and that's just the type of person he is, but George doesn't like to express it that way and that's okay. He shows his love in other ways that we don't always need to know about or see to make it real, just as it is with anyone else in the world. I don’t know how so many people miss it, but when he gets a donation to tell Dream - or anyone for that matter - he loves him on stream, you can easily tell how uncomfortable it makes him - and yes Dream presses/teases him about it sometimes, but he still drops it and doesn't flame him for it for eternity. Those that donate and chat, on the other hand, will not let it go when he doesn’t say it and continue to pour donations in begging him to say it when he’s already made it clear he won’t. You honestly shouldn't be bribing them to say or do anything through donation because that's beyond messed up and manipulative, especially where these matters are concerned.

And even if they weren't straight - which used to be the case and may have changed by this time, we can’t determine such things nor should we try to - or were in a relationship with each other, it isn't any of your goddamn business to know - no way, no how. What they do offline and out of the public eye isn't anyone's business but their own and people need to respect that, not try to force it out of them or play detective to dox that information for the attention. I mean, if you want a good reason as to why Dream hasn't done a face reveal yet, this is absolutely number one on the list because there will be little to no form of privacy for him after he does and he isn't ready to lose that just yet. I certainly can’t blame him for that considering all that’s been happening to him and his friends as of late, and neither can multiple other creators who hold the same beliefs and fears - ie. CorpseHusband, H20Delirious, Ohmwrecker. No one should have to tip-toe on eggshells in their personal life because fans online don't understand boundaries, that's just cruel and unfair after providing the content and comfort that they do without asking anything but support in return.

At the end of the day, I truly just don't understand how people can join in and support the jokes that they've made clear are purely just messing around, but then turn around and crucify them for the exact same thing later down the road. How can you practically harass them about their sexuality and relationship status through providing monetary means, then go on a witch hunt because they’ve decided to be more private with that information in the present? You can't play both sides and then expect to somehow be right or justified in the situation whichever way the tide turns because, at that point, the only wrong one is you. I completely agree that they need to watch their step with what they say and do sometimes - just as everyone with a strong platform does - but only more so now because people will create a problem the second they do anything that could spin into them being horrible people with too much power.

They’re all still incredibly fresh and new to the realm of social media popularity all things considered, and they reached said popularity startlingly fast so it can’t be easy to adjust to all the attention on everything you say and do. With that said, they’re doing remarkably well so far and I have faith that they’re going to continue to learn and grow in this arena given the time. They might mess up and make mistakes - already have, in fact - but that’s part of the gig and you can’t always please or satisfy everyone, so the best you can do is acknowledge your faults and move forward. You can’t demand someone’s head on a pike when they’ve made an effort to right things and it wasn’t good enough for everyone, it’s just not a fair standard to hold anyone to. In that same vein, you also can’t demand whatever you want out of them with the excuse that they owe it to you as a fan - you’re not a fan in any way, shape or form when you play that card, and you need to either shape up or ship out if you're doing that.

If you don't support it and/or don't like it, just don't follow or watch them anymore, it’s truly as simple as that. You can't continue to watch and support them as a “fan” while also touting how ignorant and horrible they are as detractors, that's just not how it works - pick one or the other and stop attacking them and those that don’t agree with you. They’re only on year one of their careers and the amount of people trying to “cancel” and tear them down over things that really aren't issues already is ridiculous, you aren't the righteous keyboard warriors you think you are and it's things like this that are ruining the internet for everyone, not just you.

That’s all I have to say on the matter and will continue to say going forward - sorry if you came here looking for my usual nonsense, but I really felt this needed to be said and addressed. I usually try not to do these sort of rants, however, this is a serious matter and a discussion that we as a community have been needing to have for a while, so now’s as good a time as any.

So, with my peace being given and my two cents thoroughly tossed, why don’t we focus on the bigger issues with YouTube such as their blatant ignorance of pedophilia and copyright abuse? Those seem like a much bigger problems to address at this point in time since that effects creators and fans as a whole - both in the present and the future - don’t you think?

#don't sleep won't sleep #sleep is for the living #rants with mady #dream team #dreamwastaken #georgenotfound #sapnap #dreamnotfound #tldr #the hypocrisy is SCORCHING rn #there are no pedestals to me #been there done that with other creators #ain't no one special in my eyes #this is just an explanation of another viewpoint #all replies welcome #sorry not sorry kiddos #LGBTQIA+

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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With respect, Ironwood brought an army to deal with a covert threat. In his FIRST appearance he'd had ozpin removed from the tournament staff with secret meetings. He was told many times his embargo was hurting the city, he kept a woman on life support prisoner and his treatment of Robyn convinced a technically legal protest into an outright criminal. Not to mention he abandons the best defense humanity has against the Grimm to keep some control. Shooting a dissenter seem very in character

“Ironwood brought an army to deal with a covert threat” - For which he was suitably chastised by Ozpin. It’s a whole conversation in “Welcome to Beacon” and, back when RWBY was doing a better job of handling these complex issues, that conversation gives weight to both sides. Ironwood isn’t trying to, idk, take over Beacon or something with his army. He wants to be prepared in order to help people. “I’m just being cautious.” Ozpin points out that scaring everyone won’t help, but notably the story acknowledges that Ozpin’s preferences are far from full-proof. “Do you really believe your children can win a war?” Can you prove to me that the kids we’re training will be enough when the shit hits the fan? Ozpin doesn’t have an answer. He dodges answering by saying only that he hopes his kids won’t have to fight, not that he has unwavering faith that they will win. Then Beacon falls. Ozpin dies. Ironwood is left alone with an entire kingdom to keep safe and I think it’s worth acknowledging that he did that. Mantle is far from perfect, there’s a lot there to fix, but the people are alive and that’s in part thanks to the soldiers that keep the grimm from eating them all. The rest? That’s due to Penny, a symbol of hope that Ironwood gave to the people. He learned that from this conversation with Ozpin.

“In his FIRST appearance he'd had ozpin removed from the tournament staff with secret meetings.” - It’s not Ironwood’s first appearance. He meets with the inner circle, has his talk with Ozpin, introduces his Atlesian knights to the public, attends the Beacon dance, discovers Ruby fighting Cinder, later compliments Ruby for her initiative in Ozpin’s office, confides in Glynda that night, and helps defend Vale against Roman’s attack. So your implication that as his “first” appearance this tells us he’s really an irredeemable person is not accurate.

Second, I’ve seen this claim a lot the last couple of months and I finally went back to find/watch the scene for myself (it’s in “Breach”). These were not secret meetings. Ironwood “reported” to the council which I assume is what he’s supposed to do. Given that he is a Headmaster. And this is the council overseeing the schools. Keeping updated is their entire deal. Were these reports fair to Ozpin? We don’t know. You might assume they’re full of lies and horrible misrepresentations, but that’s not what the text tells us. Ironwood told the council Ozpin’s plans, then the council said, ‘No way are you holding the Vytal festival with those precautions alone.’ Then the council asked Ironwood to provide troops for additional security. Did Ironwood manipulate the council and paint Ozpin as a villain to get what he wanted? Maybe. Did Ironwood objectively say precisely what’s going on - Ozpin thinks his huntsmen are enough to keep everyone safe in the event of an attack - and the council, independent of him, came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough? Maybe. Again, we don’t know. What we do know is that Ironwood is doing all this because he honestly believes it will help others. He begs Ozpin to understand that: “This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise I will keep our people safe. You have to trust me.” And you know what? He wasn’t entirely wrong. No one could have predicted that Salem’s minions would take control of his army. Ironwood did, however, predict that there would be an attack too large for a bunch of students to handle... and he was right. Beacon fell because a those half-trained kids weren’t enough to hold off a major attack, but Ironwood did everything he could to try and prevent that. In a slightly better world where his army wasn’t unexpectedly taken advantage of, that could have easily been what turned the tide of battle and saved Beacon instead. The world where everyone views Ironwood as a hero for providing those extra forces is just a smidge away from the world where everyone views Ironwood as a villain for inadvertently providing the enemy with those extra forces... but the forces themselves are not a black and white bad thing to have. Not in a world where your festivities are interrupted by the giant bird trying to eat the audience.

“He was told many times his embargo was hurting the city” - Yes, the embargo hurts the city financially. Ironwood is attempting to keep it from being hurt in the ‘everyone is wiped out’ kind of way. Post the Fall of Beacon he’s unsure if the other Kingdoms will declare war against Atlas or not, so it’s not wise to continue giving them one of the easiest means of attack. That’s the official story, but Ironwood (and the audience) know that Salem has also been collecting dust for a while now... so how about we stop giving her any more? Was this the right move to make? Are short-term economic difficulties worth avoiding the risk of potentially supplying enemies with the means of destroying you? I can’t answer that, but it’s not a clear-cut bad decision like you’re making it out to be. Retroactively we can say that no one attacked Atlas and Salem seems to have stopped collecting dust because the writers forgot about it... but Ironwood doesn’t get to see into the future. He didn’t know things would turn out this way. Once again, he’s trying to prevent tragedies, not just survive them when they come along. The balance between short-term sacrifice and long-term protection is far from an easy thing to strike and a character’s failure to achieve perfection despite their best efforts says more about their luck than their morals. Ironwood is an incredibly flawed man, but those flaws have always shown throw via his attempts to help others.

“He kept a woman on life support prisoner” - Are we talking abut Amber of Fria here? Either way that’s a gross misrepresentation of what happened and, frankly, does little to make me receptive to your other arguments. Amber was attacked, Qrow brought her back to the inner circle, Ironwood kept her alive so that the rest of the power wouldn’t immediately pass to Cinder (and, I would think, because this group isn’t in the habit of just letting friends die if at all possible). Fria was the Winter Maiden, she got dementia, and Ironwood had her live out the rest of her days in a facility so that a) no one murdered her, b) a Maiden with dementia didn’t wreak havoc on the city (we saw her powers go wild during the fight), and c) the power passed to an ally when she finally died. How do you know Fria was a prisoner? Was there a scene I missed where she said as much or, just as likely, might she have agreed to these precautions once her memory started to fade? Amber, meanwhile, was in a coma and unable to consent to anything. Ironwood did not kidnap her for nefarious experimentation, nor do we have any evidence that he held Fria hostage. That sort of thinking only makes “sense” when we’re already inclined to paint a character’s every action as morally corrupt. Is a 80 year old who keeps wandering into the street held prisoner because they were put in a home where they could be taken care of? That’s this with the added complications of “The 80 year old could kill everyone with magic. Or reveal to the world that magic exists” and “A lot of people want to kill this 80 year old” and “If they succeed the world is #screwed.”

“His treatment of Robyn convinced a technically legal protest into an outright criminal” - Robyn is a criminal. Ironwood never stopped her from protesting. He required that she a) not spy on a classified project, b) not keep his men from working on that project, and c) not steal supplies meant for that project... all actions that are illegal. Honestly I’m not entirely sure what this phrase is saying. That Ironwood forced Robyn to become a criminal? If so, we once again need to discuss agency and how Character A doing something that Character B doesn’t like does not give Character B blanket justification for every horrible choice they might make.

“Not to mention he abandons the best defense humanity has against the Grimm to keep some control” - I’m not sure what this is referring to either. What defense? The wall? Amity? Mantle? “To keep control”? That’s another incredibly simplified and subjective view of events. I’ve already done enough work on this blog to explain why, based on the group’s current knowledge, Ironwood’s plan is horrifying but also the best they’ve currently got. It’s not a grab at power, no matter how easy it is to paint it as that and move along. The morality of these actions is absolutely in question, but the motivation is not. We’ve seen no evidence - and a great deal of evidence against it - that Ironwood is simply out to maintain power.

Nothing here proves that Ironwood would be willing to shoot an allied kid. “Ironwood did controversial things in the name of protecting others” does not equal “Ironwood is willing to murder an ally.” Rather, these things contradict because we’ve spent six volumes with Ironwood pushing every limit possible to help others, not attack them. Lists like these likewise ignore everything that Ironwood did which doesn’t support shooting Oscar: every conversation he’s ever had where he didn’t attack someone for disagreeing with him, every action he’s taken being in the service of helping others (even if there’s disagreement about how to best go about that), him flipping his gun around when Qrow (presumably) attacked him, reassuring the Vytal students that there’s no shame in running from the fight, confiding in Glynda, standing up for Weiss, sending Yang her arm, being overjoyed to (he thinks) see Ozpin again, willingly training Oscar, choosing to trust RWBYJNR with both his plan and the relic, listening to them later about Robyn and telling the council about Salem, destroying his arm to protect the people, choosing arrest rather than, I don’t know, just trying to straight up kill Team RWBY for daring to say no to him. Because isn’t that the Ironwood you’ve described above? Someone who won’t hesitate to do anything to get what he wants, even murder? It’s a compelling character, but I don’t think we’ve seen that character anywhere prior to Volume 7′s finale. That character is the opposite of who we had before. When things get tough, stressful, and traumatic the show has said, time and time again, that this is how Ironwood treats his allies

So it’s a bit jarring to suddenly go, “Never mind. He shoots them now.”

#rwby #rwde #mymetas #Anonymous

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mikauzoran · 4 years

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Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Thirty

Read it on AO3: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: ...as comfort.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Marinette asked for what was maybe the fifth time as she watched Adrien pace the television studio dressing room, waiting for his turn to be interviewed by Nadja. “It’s kind of a big deal.”

He nodded vehemently. “I’m sure. I mean…I’m not, but I am…if that makes any sense. I want to…but I don’t want to. But this is something I have to do, so…”

Marinette pursed her lips, changing the cross of her ankles as they dangled over the side of the countertop she was sitting on with her back to the mirror. “Adrien, coming out isn’t something you have to do…especially not on live television.”

He stopped pacing and turned to face her, anguish clear on his features. “I feel like it is, though. People always talk about what a good ally I am, and I feel like an imposter. What kind of hypocrite am I when I tell the teens I mentor to embrace who they are and not to be ashamed of not being straight? I’m tired of living this half-truth. I don’t want to be an ally on the fringe of things; I want to be an actual, acknowledged member of the community. I want to be able to talk about my own experiences without living in fear of being outted. I want to get this over with on my own terms,” he spit out in his agitation.

Marinette nodded patiently. “Okay. You know I support you and want you to be happy.”

She hopped down off of the counter and went over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him in close. “It’s going to be okay.” She gently touched her lips to his.

He melted into her, letting all of the tension go, knowing that even if everyone else turned on him, he’d still have her.

“Thanks,” he breathed.

The interview went smoothly. Adrien responded to the questions he’d been sent ahead of time with the answers he’d worked with his image consultant to prepare. From time to time, Nadja would throw in something off the cuff, and Adrien would reply with a polished answer.

It was only when Nadja got to the second to last question that Adrien’s calm façade seemed to chip. “So, Adrien, can you tell your fans something they don’t know about you?”

Adrien shifted on the couch, smiling nervously. “Well, my image consultant thought I should tell you that I’m actually a fairly skilled rock-climber, but…I decided I wanted to use this opportunity to talk about something more important. Something my fans don’t know about me is that I’m bi.” He paused to let that sink in and to watch the gaping, startled expression on Nadja’s face before continuing, “Meaning I’m romantically attracted to both men and women. I’ve known for a couple years now, and I decided it was finally time to come out.”

Nadja quickly got over her surprise and jumped back into reporter mode. “What made you decide it was time to share this news?”

Adrien exhaled some of his nerves, and his posture became less rigid as he answered, “I’ve been doing a lot of volunteer work the past few years mentoring queer youth, and I always tell the kids I work with to accept and love themselves for who they are and not to be afraid or ashamed. It’s never really sat right with me that I wasn’t doing what I was telling them to do.”

Nadja nodded sympathetically, letting Adrien talk at his own pace.

Adrien bit his lip. “I used to think that the part of myself that liked guys wasn’t really relevant because I could get by dating girls and just letting everyone think I was straight, but…as I’ve become more involved with the queer community, it started to feel like I was lying to everyone. I’m not just an ally. My work as a mentor is about me trying to make things easier for kids like me. I’m blessed to be able to do a lot for the community in terms of raising funds and awareness because of my fame, first as a model for my father’s brand and now in my own right as a budding actor, but I started thinking, ‘If I can do so much while being perceived as a straight guy, how much more could I do if everyone knew that Adrien Agreste was a queer kid too?’”

“And…what does your fiancée think of this?” Nadja prompted. “Is this something you’ve shared with her?”

“Of course,” Adrien assured with a warm smile. “Marinette is amazing. I told her a few years ago back when we first started dating, and she just took it in stride. She just loves me and supports me no matter what. I feel really blessed to have found such a wonderful partner.”

“Now, your fiancée is actually here in the studio with us tonight, isn’t she?” Nadja asked, looking over to where Marinette was standing next to Adrien’s bodyguard by one of the lights. “Marinette, could you come on out and join us?”

Marinette looked startled at being addressed but quickly regained her composure and made her way onto the set, giving Adrien a hug and a quick, bolstering kiss as she sat down on the couch beside him.

Their arms went around one another’s waists, her head on his shoulder, his cheek resting on her head. They fit together like puzzle pieces.

“Marinette, how are you feeling about all this?” Nadja inquired, greedy for a scoop.

Marinette shrugged, smiling warmly. “I’m proud of him,” she answered simply, voice picked up by the microphone on Adrien’s shirt collar. “I love him exactly as he is, and I want him to be happy. It doesn’t matter to me who he’s attracted to; he picked me, and that’s the important thing. I just hope his fans keeping loving and supporting him too.”

Nadja nodded sympathetically. “Some people aren’t very accepting of people who are different. On behalf of myself and the station, thank you for choosing us for this sensitive announcement.”

Marinette and Adrien both nodded.

“So, Adrien,” Nadja smiled conspiratorially. “have you ever had a boyfriend or maybe a guy you were interested in?”

Adrien blushed, lifting his head to grin down at Marinette. “I’ve never dated a guy before, no. Marinette’s kind of been it for me.” His smile turned sheepish as he looked back up at Nadja. “There is this one guy I have feelings for, but he’s dating someone else, and I already have Marinette…whom I’m super excited to be marrying this coming summer and starting a life with. So, unless she dumps my sorry hide, I don’t foresee me ever announcing that I have a boyfriend.”

He looked back to Marinette, and the cameras captured the glowing, affectionate way they gazed at one another.

“I’ve found my person,” Adrien explained. “I don’t need anyone else.”

“And…what does your father think about your announcement?” Nadja inquired, still fishing for ratings-boosting content.

Adrien paled visibly as his face fell.

Marinette gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’ve never told him, so he’s finding out right alongside all of you. I don’t think he has a problem with queer people. I mean, I’ve never seen him treat queer individuals any worse than anyone else or heard him say anything that would make me think he had a problem with people who weren’t straight, but…I imagine it’s different working with queer people versus your child being queer. I’m guessing he either won’t care or won’t talk to me ever again, so…we’ll see how that goes.” Adrien gave a tired shrug. “At the very least, I don’t think he’ll be throwing me a coming out party.”

“It’s okay,” Marinette assured confidently, recapturing Adrien’s attention. “My parents will.”

Adrien’s smile came back with a vengeance. He laughed, hugging her to his side as he bragged to the camera, “Do you see how amazing this woman is? Is it any wonder I’m in love with her? Seriously. I’d be lost without her. I’m really lucky.”

Adrien’s bodyguard gave him a fond head pat and a grunt that spoke of pride and unwavering support.

Adrien broke out into a wide smile of gratitude. “Thanks, Vitya,” he breathed in Russian.

Victor nodded ushering Adrien and Marinette towards the car, on the lookout for anyone who might cause trouble.

They made it without incident, and no sooner were they situated in the backseat than Adrien’s phone rang.

He took a deep breath.

Marinette slipped her hand into his, giving him an encouraging smile. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here.”

Adrien squeezed Marinette’s hand and answered Gabriel’s call. “Hello, Father.”

“Adrien,” Gabriel replied, sounding irked.

Adrien winced, bracing for impact. “Yes, Father?”

“The only thing I have a problem with,” Gabriel snapped, “is your propensity to drag private matters out into public view, thereby bringing shame upon me, the company, and yourself.”

“I’m sorry, Father,” Adrien answered meekly.

Gabriel snorted. “Clearly, you are not or else you wouldn’t keep making a spectacle of—”

“—Tell him you’re proud of him,” Nathalie hissed in the background.

There was a beat where Adrien imagined his father gawking at his stepmother.

“No,” Gabriel hissed back, holding the phone away from his ear. “I will not encourage this kind of behaviour. This is not how you discipline a child, Nathalie.”

Nathalie let out a longsuffering sigh. “Gabriel, he’s not a child anymore. Give me the phone. Adrien?”

“Hi, Nathalie,” Adrien chuckled, appreciating her unending efforts to train her former boss.

“Adrien, we’re really proud of you,” Nathalie assured with a touch more emotion in her voice than usual. “We love you very much.”

“Thank you, Nathalie. I love you guys too,” he replied through a smile, getting choked up.

“We are not proud,” Gabriel insisted, taking the phone back. “We are disappointed in your childish behaviour.”

“We’re not disappointed,” Nathalie sighed, shaking her head at her husband’s stubbornness.

“And did you really think I didn’t know about your feelings for that punk boy you’re friends with?” Gabriel ranted. “Furthermore, Tom and Sabine are not throwing you a coming out party. I will be hosting your coming out party. Tom and Sabine may cater, but I will not be outdone by my son’s in-laws. Is that understood?”

Adrien blinked, completely baffled. “Uh…yes, Father. Thank you. I…I understand.”

“Good.” Gabriel cleared his throat and adjusted his ascot. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“Yes,” Adrien tentatively agreed, not yet sure of his footing in this strange new world where his father was throwing him a coming out party in an attempt to compete with his future mother- and father-in-law. “I am too.”

“And, Adrien? One more thing.” Gabriel’s voice was suddenly poised and impassive once more.

“Yes father?” Adrien held his breath.

“Your young woman is a very special, rare person,” his father informed him. “Take care of her, and don’t take her for granted.” There was a hint of regret in his words, as if he wished someone had told him that before it was too late.

“I know,” Adrien replied warmly, squeezing Marinette’s hand. “Thank you, Father.”

Gabriel sighed. “Endeavor to keep her. She’s good for you, and I like her.”

“Yes, Father,” Adrien laughed.

“Goodnight, Adrien.” Gabriel hung up abruptly, not waiting for his son’s response.

Marinette gave her fiancé a quizzical look. “What did he say?”

Adrien shook his head and shrugged. “Apparently, he knew I was bi, I’ve brought shame upon the family and the company again, he’s going to disown me if I mess things up with you, and he’s jealous of my bond with your parents, so he’s throwing me a coming out party which your parents will be allowed to cater.”

Marinette nodded, taking the news in stride. “Well. I’m glad he took it so well.”

“So am I.” Adrien slumped against her with a sigh. “…Thanks for everything.”

“Any time,” she promised, pressing a light kiss to his temple.

#Marichat #Adrinette #Adrienette #Miraculous Ladybug #Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction #Adrien Agreste #Chat Noir #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Gabriel Agreste #Nathalie Sancoeur #Le Gorille #Coming Out #Kissing #Writing Prompts #Mikau's Writings #Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses

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stevenuniversetanzanite · 4 years

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Ally x Cordelia X Reader (Part 3)

So I haven't written this in a while but I'm excited. I didn't reread it in full so I hope it makes sense. Also, I think this is longer than the other two parts.

Summary: The three of you have had your fair share of troubles but what will happen when all your pasts’ come to for the foreground.

Warning: N/A

Parts: One, Two, Three, Four (will be added when posted)

I can see the headlines now, “Senator Allyson Mayfair killed Ex-Wife.”

Ally stared at the local online newspaper report about her accusing her of murdering her Ex-wife, listing some recent evidence that had surfaced supporting the case. She couldn’t take the threats as just that anymore. This person is ruining her reputation in the public's eye. It wasn’t long until now that these accusations will need to be addressed and if they find out the truth, that they were true.

Without a moment's hesitation, she picked up her cell phone and dialled up your phone, knowing you would do her odd request without thinking twice. She needed you to pick up Oz from school that instant, to ensure that he doesn’t accidentally hear the claims. She wished for you to keep her offline until she got home. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted as long as the both of you stayed in the house and kept off the internet. This resulted in the two of you playing on your old Nintendo Wii that you wired up onto your office monitor.

Little did the two know that the girlfriend in charge of the school had received dozens of phone calls about the news reports, parents questioning if their children were safe and benefactors questioning if their money would be better spent elsewhere. Cordelia assured them that all matters will be dealt with and assured them that the students were safe at the school as they have always been.

Cordelia came down to inform you of what’s been happening when she spotted Oz with you. What she was going to say, now put on pause until the boy was out of earshot.

“What game are you two playing?” Cordelia asked as if it wasn’t obvious that they were playing Mario kart. Oz answered the question, momentary taking his attention off the game allowing you to get past his cart and gain first place. Oz huffed, claiming that it wasn’t far, but you laughed and said he was making up excuses.

“Y/N, can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure thing De. Oz you pick the next game,” You said tossing your controller onto your cushioned desk chair. The boy perched on the edge of the medical cot jumped off the bed and shuffled through the box of games you’d brought down from the attic. “Take your time, I’ll be back in a second.” He acknowledged what you said before continuing to search for the best two player game he could bet you at.

Your girlfriend escorted you out of the room, shutting the door behind the both of you.

“What’s up?”

“Oz is home early,” Cordelia stated.

“What? Did he ruin your idea of a mid-day make out session?” You kidded. You caught that Cordelia didn’t play back. Your first response was, “Ally asked me to pick him up-”

“I came to inform you that I’ve been receiving phone calls all day from worried parents-”

“And?”

“A news article has come out accusing Ally of killing her ex.”

“Did she?” Cordelia remained quiet. All that the blonde had been told was that the woman (Ally’s ex) was out of the both of their lives. “I mean if she did it wouldn’t change much-”

“How's that?”

“All the school's staff have either killed or sent someone to their death. Zoe’s killed; Queenie’s killed. Some of our students find out that their witches after someone gets in the crossfire. We’re all as bad if not worse. Ally seems like the type to have a reason and I’d like to hear it- again, assuming the accusations correct.”

Cordelia couldn’t argue with that, you were right. The possibility of Ally killing someone did throw Cordelia for a loop, she’d never expected something like that from the woman and she would have liked to have known for in case something like this accord. There wasn’t much they could do now except wait for Ally to come home and explain everything.

“I’ll make sure no one brings it up in the school and organise a time for us all to sit down and talk about it.”

“Maybe after Oz has gone to bed.” Cordelia hummed at the idea, her mind flicking through a list of ideas to sort this out. “I don’t want to be a worrywart but what if they want to investigate and take Oz away from her-”

“Then he can stay with us.” Ally didn’t have any external family besides Oz and school. Her marriage didn’t go down well with either Allyson’s or Ivy’s parents causing them to cut ties completely. “However, Ally might have to go away for a bit. If it gets serious, she won’t be able to be around the school without causing drama.” You hated to imagine a world where you couldn’t be with the two people you love. But sacrifices had to be made.

“Let's hope it doesn't come down to that.”

“Yeah,” you agreed. “I have to go back inside.”

“I’ll let you go.” Cordelia pulled you in for a quick peck, but you wanted more. You pulled her into a long kiss.

You both missed the door open. “Eww~” Oz whined. The two of you pulled apart, the both of you chuckling. “Gross.”

“Well now that we’re done scarring the kid, wanna join us?”

“I can’t, I have to deal with work stuff,” Cordelia cleared her throat trying to hint at what she was talking about without saying it in front of the boy.

“Alright, I’ll see you later,” you said. You mouthed to her, “Everything will be alright.”

She mouthed back, “I know.”

At the end of the day, the safety of the coven was her number one concern, if her love life got in the way of the safety of her girls then she’d have to let go of love. Ally wasn’t a witch, not that she wasn’t any less a member of the school, no one thought twice about her presence, some of the students assumed that she too was a witch just didn’t perform magic in front of them for whatever reason. It would devastate all if she’d get torn away from the others and you knew for a fact that some of the girls would do anything to get her back, if not for themselves than their headmistress and you.

Time flew by as the two of you played Super smash bros, you never noticed it was almost dinner time until one of the students came to fetch you. You and Oz spoke about his friend James and all the games he owned.

“Can we get one?” Oz said after talking about all the games he played at his friend’s house on the newest Nintendo console.

“A Nintendo Switch?” Oz nodded. “I don’t know how your mum will feel about that.” He looked up at you with puppy dog eyes. “I suppose, if we say it’s mine, she can’t stop me from buying it.” He cheered and thanked you. You chuckled at his reaction and said, “Don’t get too excited, I haven’t bought it yet.”

The knocking on the office door snapped you out of your gaming groove. The door opened revealing said student who came to get you for dinner. Before you could ask her if she were alright, she told you the meal would be served in five and you’d be dining alone tonight. You rose your brow but remained silent. What was Cordelia up to?

After packing up the game, the two of you headed to the dining room where you met said student from before. She had to be the most inexpressive person you’d ever met. She informed you that your meal would be served in the kitchen on the circular table. Oz looked at her confused, him too wondering why you were eating elsewhere from the other stuff and students. Oz complained, wanting to talk to you some more but you told him that you can chat after. You truthfully didn’t know if you would, confused on why you were being isolated from the rest. You didn’t mind the silence at first, it was peaceful until the noise from the dining room picked up. Then you felt like you were missing out on something. You were halfway through your plate when someone sat down. You were two focused on the plate and your own thoughts that you didn’t bother to look up at who it was.

“I thought I was dining alone,” you said picking up a piece of salad. You looked up to find Ally sitting in front of you. “I thought you were going to be Cordelia.”

“I haven’t spoken to her yet. How dead am I?”

“Not as dead as your wife.”

“Y/n-"

“She wants to talk about it later,” you paused. “Did you?”

“Would it change the way you see me?” That’s a yes then.

“No.”

“Yes. I promise I had no ill intent-” You scoffed at the ‘ill intent’. “I was protecting my family.” You stopped immediately. Family?

“How so? By killing one of your own? Did she try and hurt Oz or something?”

“Indirectly, but yes. It’s best if I wait until Cordelia’s here.”

“Will be she be dinning us too?”

“I thought she would be dinning already.”

“She’s probably caught up with work. You’ve been quite the buzz as of late, everyone wants to give their two sense about you.”

“People really care that much?”

“Your rumour is bad for 'business', as it were. Founders and parents are calling up complaining. It probably won’t stop until we come up with a solution to save your reputation.”

“We?”

“You’re one of us now. As long as you associate with us, you’re protected under this coven.” Your words comfort Ally. She knows that you didn’t just mean her but her son as well.

“Thank you for picking up Oz, again. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Your welcome.” You sat in silence for a few tossing and turning over something you wanted to repeat Ally. “I wanted to repeat something I said to Cordelia earlier, all staff here have been partially involved in someone’s death. It’s not uncommon for death to happen in our coven and as long as you follow our one rule, you’re fine with us.” You didn’t say murder in case someone was eavesdropping. [The one rule, don’t (purposely) kill a witch or warlock in the coven.]

“Have you?” She knew Cordelia had, she told her that she was forced to burn Myrtle. A woman that all the staff members were fond of, but Cordelia wasn’t allowed to bring back due to being requested not to.

“Hmm?”

“Killed anyone?”

You glanced down at your plate. You spoke in the quietest voice, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Ally left it alone. It surprised her even more than it did with Cordelia to learn that you killed someone. You were a doctor, your amendment to help people, you’ve dedicated your life to helping the sick. You had a gift and you used it for the greater good. A part of her hoped it was just a mistake while operating, you had been a surgeon for a while or at least so she had heard. You’d bounced around positions in the hospital so many times, she can’t remember what you did and for how long. If an accident caused you this much grief, then she wished you shot someone.

The two’s silence was interrupted by the clinking of high heels on the floor.

“Delia?” Ally guessed. She’d be the only one not eating now so you gave a weak nod. A few seconds later you spotted the woman at the archway. She got a sense for the room, noticing your uncomfortableness immediately. She put it down to the other woman who had spun around on the Supreme’s arrival. “Cordelia.”

“Allyson.” Ally cursed under her breath.

“Y/n.” You turned your attention to your girlfriend. You hummed. “What are you doing out eating out here?”

“Didn’t you want me to-” You noticed the confused expression on the blonde’s face. Maybe Ally wanted you to sit out here so she could talk to without her son around and before Cordelia got to her.

“After you're both done dinner, I want you in my office,” She announced.

“What about you? Are you going to have dinner?”

“I’ll have it later.” She was gone a second later.

“Well I better tell Oz I want be playing video games with him tonight.”

You left your dinner and left to speak to Ally’s son.

In Cordelia’s office, Ally told you both the events leading up to the murder of her ex-wife Ivy. At the time of the 2016 presidential election, Ally’s phobias resurfaced. However, Ally avoids taking her medication and suffers a series of hallucinations in the form of a group of clowns intending to kill her. When the hallucinations happen again at The Butchery on Main, Ivy realizes that Ally is not taking her medication and forces her to take them. She goes on about their replacement babysitter, a woman named Winter Anderson and the murder of Ally and her Ex’s friends Tom and Marilyn Chang. She went on about clown attacks and how she accidentally shot Pedro, a Mexican staff member at her work. This was seen as a racially motivated homicide throughout her suburb in Michigan. She managed to clear her name. She found out her wife was in the cult terrorising the town (which Ally joined). Ally tells them how she poisons Ivy with arsenic in order to have Oz all to herself. She talked up until she and Oz moved to New Orleans, she got job as Senator and met Cordelia and later you.

Cordelia took a second to take in the story she had heard, trying to imagine pain and stress Ally went through to keep Oz safe. She did not know what she would do if she was in her boat. Cordelia was content with the story. “We need to figure out who brought this back to the surface.”

“I don’t have any enemies that would know about any of that, all the ex-cult members are dead.”

“Yet someone is after you,” you said.

“Whoever they are, they are sending me letters in parts”

“The letter you got the other day, was that one of them?” Ally nodded. “Do you still have them?”

“Destroyed them.”

“Nothing Is destroyed when you live with a group of witches.”

“The first would be at the garage tip by now.”

“Do you remember what they said?” You said. Ally nodded. You fetched a notepad and pen, “Good, write them down. And Ally, next time you get one show us, we might be able to use it to track the person down.” Ally silently agreed.

It didn’t take long for the next one to show up. It was only the next day. Ally didn’t bother going into work.

Your job would be over and your girlfriends’ couldn’t keep you around the school could they? A murder would wreck the school’s reputation.

The three stood around the opened letter. Ally in the desk chair and the other two peering over her shoulders.

"They know about you," Ally said to you. You were lost in my head, trying to figure out who would know. To the best of your knowledge, only the schoolgirls knew even how much Oz knew was questionable. As far as you were aware you were just an extremely close friend of his mother's.

"Impossible," Cordelia said. They had all made sure no one knew- mainly due to the short time you'd been going out and due to your age difference. Also, the fact that you had been a student here and people might make horrible and untrue comments about your girlfriend. And not to being on how the public would think if the polyamorous relationship.

"Have you told any-"

"No! No one knows except our girls. You don't think-"

"Couldn't be," Cordelia said.

"Should we track it?" You asked Cordelia.

"We should think through it carefully first," Ally added her two cents. "We don't know who we are dealing with or if it's a trap and the world knows that this is a witch school so they may have taken extra precautions."

"Y/n,"

"Hmm~"

"Set aside materials for a tracking spell."

You gathered all the materials you needed, including the letter they handed over to you after they had photocopied it for evidence. They trusted you to put it aside somewhere safe, unbeknownst to them, you had different plans. You’d performed the spell yourself and 7 hours later you found yourself in Atlanta, Georgia, standing outside the Delphi Trust building.

You had learned about this corporation a long time ago, only learning of the dirty truth behind it in the last 18 months. The Delphi Trust was an asset management company that served as a front for an ancient order of witch hunters that were known for using blessed silver bullets to kill witches. As far as you're aware, the company no longer was associated with witch hunting after the previous owners were murdered in the middle of a meeting. But with all sources pointing to the letter’s origins coming from here, what you thought was wrong.

You should have turned back or notified Cordelia your findings but you already snuck out and you knew she would only scold you and tell you to wait until you had back up. Your phone was bound to have 100 missed calls and messages. She’d probably be begging one of the tech savvy students to help her track down your phone's GPS signal.

Adjusting your bandana to ensure it covered the lowered part of your face, you teleported past the front doors. You flinched expecting motion sensors to go off, but nothing sounded, almost as if they anticipated your arrival.

You scoured the building for anything interesting. No one was on the premise which raised more alarms in your head. It was overly a trap and you knew it was possible passing one of these corners could send a silver bullet straight through you. Killing you would be easy; they could explain it as trespassing and it would be as good as done. They wouldn’t mess with Ally and the coven if they wanted to shoot you. Maybe they wouldn’t shoot you because you aren’t Ally, who the threat was targeted for, they could be expecting her. That wouldn’t explain the security system.

You reached a room lined with office desks and seating. All desks had personal items assigned to whoever’s desk it was, photos of people and their families, to go cups left on the occasional desk and the level of organization shifted from table to table.

One desk stood out, rested on the table was a brown archive box with the lid removed. It was the type of box that people pack their belongings in when they get fired in tv shows. It strikes you as odd, so you crept closer to survey its contents.

Inside was a knitted baby blanket. You cocked your brow, removing the blanket from the box. You played with the fabric in your hands as you unfolded it. It was as if it had been drowned in fabric softener for years. As you moved the fabric about, you noticed the name Odelia embroidered in ribbon on it. You traced the lettering with your finger before casting your eyeline down to the box.

Underneath were the blanket once was, a wedding band and a note sat. You slipped the ring into your pocket before choosing to read the note. Happy anniversary. “Shit!” You swore as you dropped the card, glancing around to see if anyone was around. You searched the person's desk finding no personal items. “Fucking god.” You slammed your hands into the desk, eyeing the box once more. Whoever planned this, expected you’d be the one to come. Whoever did this knew more about you than you’d like. Worse part of all of this, you didn’t find out who was troubling Ally. All you knew is she wasn’t the main target, or at least only.

You grabbed the blanket and dashed out of the building, missing the message on the other side of the note. See you soon x.

#ally mayfair richards x reader #cordelia goode x reader #cordelia x reader #cordelia foxx x reader

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megashadowdragon · 4 years

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itsclydebitches

sent by anonymous

“In his FIRST appearance he’d had ozpin removed from the tournament staff with secret meetings.” - It’s not Ironwood’s first appearance. He meets with the inner circle, has his talk with Ozpin, introduces his Atlesian knights to the public, attends the Beacon dance, discovers Ruby fighting Cinder, later compliments Ruby for her initiative in Ozpin’s office, confides in Glynda that night, and helps defend Vale against Roman’s attack. So your implication that as his “first” appearance this tells us he’s really an irredeemable person is not accurate.

Second, I’ve seen this claim a lot the last couple of months and I finally went back to find/watch the scene for myself (it’s in “Breach”). These were not secret meetings. Ironwood “reported” to the council which I assume is what he’s supposed to do. Given that he is a Headmaster. And this is the council overseeing the schools. Keeping updated is their entire deal. Were these reports fair to Ozpin? We don’t know. You might assume they’re full of lies and horrible misrepresentations, but that’s not what the text tells us. Ironwood told the council Ozpin’s plans, then the council said, ‘No way are you holding the Vytal festival with those precautions alone.’ Then the council asked Ironwood to provide troops for additional security. Did Ironwood manipulate the council and paint Ozpin as a villain to get what he wanted? Maybe. Did Ironwood objectively say precisely what’s going on - Ozpin thinks his huntsmen are enough to keep everyone safe in the event of an attack - and the council, independent of him, came to the conclusion that it wasn’t enough? Maybe. Again, we don’t know. What we do know is that Ironwood is doing all this because he honestly believes it will help others. He begs Ozpin to understand that: “This is the right move, Ozpin. I promise I will keep our people safe. You have to trust me.” And you know what? He wasn’t entirely wrong. No one could have predicted that Salem’s minions would take control of his army. Ironwood did, however, predict that there would be an attack too large for a bunch of students to handle… and he was right. Beacon fell because a those half-trained kids weren’t enough to hold off a major attack, but Ironwood did everything he could to try and prevent that. In a slightly better world where his army wasn’t unexpectedly taken advantage of, that could have easily been what turned the tide of battle and saved Beacon instead. The world where everyone views Ironwood as a hero for providing those extra forces is just a smidge away from the world where everyone views Ironwood as a villain for inadvertently providing the enemy with those extra forces… but the forces themselves are not a black and white bad thing to have. Not in a world where your festivities are interrupted by the giant bird trying to eat the audience.

“He was told many times his embargo was hurting the city” - Yes, the embargo hurts the city financially. Ironwood is attempting to keep it from being hurt in the ‘everyone is wiped out’ kind of way. Post the Fall of Beacon he’s unsure if the other Kingdoms will declare war against Atlas or not, so it’s not wise to continue giving them one of the easiest means of attack. That’s the official story, but Ironwood (and the audience) know that Salem has also been collecting dust for a while now… so how about we stop giving her any more? Was this the right move to make? Are short-term economic difficulties worth avoiding the risk of potentially supplying enemies with the means of destroying you? I can’t answer that, but it’s not a clear-cut bad decision like you’re making it out to be. Retroactively we can say that no one attacked Atlas and Salem seems to have stopped collecting dust because the writers forgot about it… but Ironwood doesn’t get to see into the future. He didn’t know things would turn out this way. Once again, he’s trying to prevent tragedies, not just survive them when they come along. The balance between short-term sacrifice and long-term protection is far from an easy thing to strike and a character’s failure to achieve perfection despite their best efforts says more about their luck than their morals. Ironwood is an incredibly flawed man, but those flaws have always shown throw via his attempts to help others.

iron-and-ice I never thought I’d see people referring to Ironwood providing comfortable protected residence to an elderly woman in possession of magical WMD powers as ‘imprisonment’. Fria, unlike other ‘good guys’, understood what her duty was. Vol 7 MVP, undisputed.

#rwby #rwby fria #rwby ironwood #james ironwood #general ironwood #ironwood rwby #itsclydebitches

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sweet-evie · 4 years

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Their Happy Ever After

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Original Publication Date: February 25, 2019

Original Link: Their Happy Ever After FFN

It took several centuries, four years, and then some. But they were finally here.

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It was difficult to love someone who couldn't love you back…

Everybody knew that. She knew it all too well after centuries of existing and wandering the earth fruitlessly. Perhaps it would be a stretch to say, but it was fair to point out that she'd seen — not all — but most of it happen again and again. Hell, it happened to her in her early quest for love, and her immortal years trying to find a genuine one.

It was just unfair that when she'd found someone who was capable of showing it, she knew in her heart that they would never deign to cast her — or her feelings — a second thought. Because… who would love a Witch?

If the years of being alive taught her anything, it was that immortality was a curse; a plague. An anomaly in the fabric of humanity. People were meant to live within a set number of years, thus making every moment of life precious, and making every relationship worth treasuring. Ideally, there should be no room for regret, because life is short, but that was also the beauty of human folly and a very human paradox.

It was all about being human…

But she was above that, wasn't she? And unhappily so…

What she would give to live a normal life, and find and offer love the right way. After immortality had claimed her, she couldn't remember every life she'd damaged in her selfish quest. Even the love she had to give them was tepid at best. Because even if there was ingenuity in there, it would always be tainted. There was no changing the fact that she had made contracts with them to pursue a goal she had yet to meet — to claim something she had yet to experience.

He was right to say she was a selfish woman. He wasn't wrong when he accused her of being cruel once.

Because she was… She'd given up her real name for that reason…

CC didn't deserve to be human… She was a selfish, stone-hearted, cruel witch.

Love was the last thing she could deserve. If she ever did in the first place.

So, even if she did acknowledge the fact that she had genuinely fallen in love with him in this ongoing journey between him and her, she would never tell him. Because he deserved someone whole and someone good. Someone who wouldn't bring him back to life for selfish reasons. But she did it anyway… Because he owed her something, and she wasn't going to let that slip. It was the least he could do if he wasn't going to ever return her feelings even after he told her he didn't hate her.

His first love died because of her. He lost friends and family because of her… Because she gave him a power and a curse that would isolate him from everyone else. And even when he accepted, she could have still told him the truth. She could have told him the terms of the contract, but she didn't. And it was all because she was so hell-bent on getting her one of two wishes in her entire existence.

Throughout his Rebellion and his Zero Requiem, she had stayed, and was determined enough to see it through. Because she made him a promise. Because even if he couldn't fulfill her true wish, she still sought hope. Because she loved him then, and even now.

And with every realization that rang stark and true in her tired mind, tears started leaking from unveiled golden eyes. Life was unfair, but why did it have to be so? Why did it have to be her? Couldn't it have chosen someone else?

But perhaps she deserved it because of who and what she was. Every ounce of pain and suffering was hers to bear, and not his. He was far too kind. Overwhelmingly selfless and only wanted the best for the ones he deemed precious. She was never going to be one of them though. She was neither friend nor family. Not even a love interest.

Just an accomplice. Just an ally in his finished quest…

And now that it was through, she didn't understand why she chose to keep hurting herself by staying with him when she knew her company wasn't appreciated. But that was the funny thing about love, wasn't it?

It made you do the most foolish of things, even when your heart was going to suffer brutally in the process. Even if it tore you to shreds. Even if it made ribbons out of your entire being. Such was the beauty and cruelty of love. It made you selfish and selfless at once.

So even if it was clear that he didn't want her, she would stay by his side for as long as he needed her…

Because she loved him, and wanted the best for him — even if it was at the cost of her own happiness.

vVvVv

She was an enigma, and he didn't understand her…

That was why he had lashed out at her on multiple occasions in the past. It was but an emotional tantrum of a boy who didn't know better. She was right to call him as one before, because back then, he really was just a boy with a man's agenda and a personal vendetta to deal with.

From the beginning until the end of his journey, he had sacrificed many — spilled rivers of blood, and became the most hated of heroes. By all accounts, he had every right to hate her for bestowing a power and a curse unto him in his most vulnerable moment — in the instance when he couldn't say 'no.' But that very same moment in time saved him and changed his life — for the better and for the worse.

Her 'gift' to him was a double-edged sword…

In the end, when he had lost everyone — even his greatest loves — and had only her left, he couldn't find it in himself to resent her. How could he? When he had seen so much of the precious dreamer underneath all that stoic personality. Yes, she was selfish and cruel to a point, during his Rebellion, but weren't they all? Everyone had their fair share of mistakes. She was still human by all means, despite her immortality, and humans were subject to errors.

She lived a life different from theirs. And she had been suffering. Wasn't it human nature to seek an end to all things that brought pain? Wasn't that why he began his rebellion in the first place? Why should she suffer resentment for only wanting a shred of happiness. Her methods were unorthodox, and though they could never be excused, he understood why she did it — to a point.

It was all about finding happiness and love in a world that gave her none from the moment she was born.

So how could he hate her, when she was simply another embodiment of a wish by mankind? How could he hate her when she was yet another victim of the world's cruelty?

When he lay dying, she crossed his mind along with so many others, and a part of him sincerely wished that he had had the chance to grant her one true wish. And when she brought him back to life for another purpose, he couldn't even find it in him to hate her after all that time. It was waking up to a realization that he now had a chance to do what he couldn't then.

Their journey together had never been easy. It was rough, and always, there were problems to solve. And secretly, he admired her for pulling them both out in the thickest of problems. He was also thankful to her for taking care of him and his then useless body. She did so much for him, and it made his heart ache, knowing this girl was just as precious as the ones he'd lost. She was, in all reality, all he had to live for now.

This, he thought as he watched the wind play with her green hair — a color so bizarre and so enthralling. A color that reminded him of the freshness of Spring. A part of him wanted to call for her attention, so they could resume their travels. And yet the other just wanted to stay back and watch her stare at the gorgeous scenery the far off mountains made.

"CC…"

She turned to acknowledge him, and he saw the same sad and impassive eyes he had been seeing for the past few weeks. She was always distant… Always cold… And yet, so very lonely. It was that way ever since their journey began, and though he wouldn't have thought to question it before, he was beginning to now.

"Even after all this time… Do you not resent me, Lelouch?"

Her question was met with a wall of silence. But honestly, was she expecting anything less? And what else was she to do but take his silence as a form of agreement? She'd asked him this question before — when they were aboard the Avalon and about to venture out and join the raging battlefield. He told her he didn't hate her then, and though a part of her had relished in that, she soon realized that it was his answer before she went on and ruined his Zero Requiem.

Come to think of it, she shouldn't have asked… She'd rather believe the lie over the obvious truth. Because… Because it would—

"We've been through this before, haven't we?"

He'd closed the distance between them and he was now standing next to her, gauging her carefully with those purple irises she knew all too well. To her surprise, he responded with a tender smile — one that was reminiscent of how he used to smile for his precious little sister. She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze and what that smile could possibly mean.

"I don't hate you, C****."

At the sound of her real name, she turned and faced him. Closer than he had been, he slowly took one of her limp hands and held them firmly. They were quiet for a few short moments, letting the howl of the mountain winds fill the sudden and uneasy silence. It was a period where all she did was stare at their hands; even as he slowly began to intertwine their fingers together.

He laughed softly to himself, and it earned him her attention. "It's funny that you'd ask something like that."

She frowned immediately and made to pull away, but his grip became firmer as he took the chance to step a little bit closer.

"It's a bit amusing, because… The truth is…" He glanced at her shyly, reverting back to the teenaged boy he'd been four years ago, as he spoke slowly. "I think you've always known…that I care about you." She bit her lip as he sighed deeply. "That I've grown…to love you."

She looked away, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. He was a liar. It was just another lie. Just another fabrication, so she wouldn't leave, because he needed her for now. It wasn't as if she would leave in the first place. She'd already resolved to stay with him until he didn't want her around anymore.

"You're lying…" She tried forcing a mischievous smile, but the mask failed, and all she accomplished was a slight grimace. "Why would you?" Her hand slipped away as she turned her back on him again. "Don't feed me lies, Lelouch. After I cursed you; after I doomed you to a life of isolation — acknowledged and unwanted by no one. You said so yourself…" She glanced at him over her shoulder to see a strange expression on his face. "I'm a cruel and selfish woman. All I do is bring pain and misery wherever I go." A bitter laugh punctuated her words — a contrast to the silent tears that rolled down her fair cheek. "I'm honestly surprised you haven't sent me away yet."

His heart ached… Those were the only words he could use to describe the sudden pain that lanced through him when she spoke. Because she was telling the truth. He had called her cruel and selfish once. He'd told her how he couldn't understand why any man would want her or look twice at her. And he hadn't realized how much his past actions — no matter that they happened years ago — had damaged and caused her pain. The point of the matter was that he had hurt her.

And who was to say he wasn't hurting her now?

She thought of him as a liar… He had lied, and had deceived the world for a good cause. Even when he promised Nunnally he would never lie to her, he did anyway. He'd made promises and broken them. He was such a pathetic excuse for a human being — so imperfect, jaded, and unbelievably tarnished. And yet, if there was one truth he was sure of, he knew he had never lied to her — not to his Witch.

In years of turmoil, she had been his night light — barely acknowledged, but always there.

CC flinched in surprise, but didn't protest when she felt his arms slowly wind around and across her shoulders, his hands — one over the other — dangling lightly above her beating heart.

"Do you not believe that I love you?" The embrace tightened slightly as he nuzzled her hair and buried his face into the crook of her neck; voice but a gentle whisper in her ear. "I came back because I made you a promise. And I'd be damned if I break it. I fulfilled everyone's wish for peace, no matter how fragile it is. If I could give the world something to look forward to, then why wouldn't I provide a better future for the one who gave me the power to do the impossible?"

The tears flowed faster now, as she hung her head. Every word that left his lips destroyed her — broke her walls down brick by solid brick until she was left standing alone in the middle of the rubble; no barrier between her stormy feelings and his anguished confessions.

He lifted his head from where it was nestled between her neck and shoulder. His arm had drifted south and wrapped around her waist securely, while his other hand aided in turning her body slightly so she could clearly see his face — and the unshed tears glistening in his own eyes.

"Don't you understand, C****? I fought to come back, because I love you." She trembled in his arms as he lovingly traced the thin river that continued to pour from her bullion eyes. "I've hurt people, and I've lost them. And even if I know I deserve to die to atone for every sin, I can't help but feel I betrayed one precious soul for the lives of others." He pressed his forehead to hers, nuzzling her face when he continued his whispered confession against her lips. "You were my only regret when I lay dying, my love. If they get their wish, then why can't you?"

"I don't deserve one." She quietly sobbed in a tiny voice, silently relishing the way he stroked her hair. Her own hands drifted to his shoulder blades, fisting the back of his shirt.

He shook his head; eyes half-lidded as he laid a poignant kiss on her tear-stained cheek. "Don't say you don't deserve it. Because everyone deserves a chance at love. You deserve to be happy, my Witch. So, let me fulfill your wish. I want to see you smile for the rest of your days, not just in death."

"Lelouch…"

He kissed her other cheek. "C***, I love you." A kiss at the tip of her nose. "I love you so much, and I swear that you won't go another day without being reminded of how much you mean to me."

The last of the wall came crumbling around them both, and she waited with bated breath as he slowly leaned even closer to kiss her lips. And when they touched, she accepted his token of affection — reveled in it, and returned it in full. She was deaf to the world; deaf to the ugly voice inside her head, because his truth and his confession was all that mattered in this moment. It was what anchored her to reality and sent her flying. His words and his profession were her new sanctuary — a little piece of heaven in a centuries' worth of hell.

They slowly parted, but just barely. His thumb stroked her bottom lip gently as he gave her that smile again. This time, she returned his gesture despite the leftover tears in her eyes. And he watched with fascination and awe as the Witch finally smiled in what felt like forever.

"Thank you, Lelouch." She reached up and cupped his face, slowly bringing it closer to hers again. "I love you." She kissed the base of his neck, where his Code was. "I love you." A kiss on his forehead.

"I love you…"

#code geass #code geass resurrection #re:zero #lelouch vi britannia #c.c. (code geass)#c.c. x lelouch #lelouch x c.c.#fan fiction #fanfic #code geass r2 #lelouch of the resurrection #cluclu #lulucc #wbad fanfiction

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ace-theatre-ghosts · 5 years

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Hi, I Am Asexual/Ace

I am just sharing where I am coming from as an ace person. These are by no means guidelines for all ace people but the goal here is to inform or expose. To share with you personally a little bit about what it’s like to be ace. Lately, I’ve had to come out all over again to a variety of different kinds of people who don’t seem to know much about what being asexual actually implies.

Let’s start with a few definitions---

Asexual: someone who is not sexually attracted to others.

Demisexual: someone who only feels sexual attraction after forming an emotional connection.

Aromantic: someone who is not romantically attracted to others.

These definitions are important because there are people who think that being any of these things means that those who identify with them don’t have sex or are afraid or can’t have certain connections with others (whatever it may be). Breaking it down very basically- this is all about attraction not activities. It is all solely about the individual who identifies as one of these. It’s kind of like- someone who is Roma is not Romanian but there are Romanian Roma. So, someone who is asexual isn’t sexually attracted to someone but there are asexual people who are repulsed or indifferent about sex and prefer not to have it. LIKE ME! Yeah.

I am indifferent about sex and in some ways repulsed by it. I don’t like it, I don’t want to have it, I don’t think it is necessary in relationships (and if you really want to get deep, I certainly don’t think it should play a major part in ANY relationship but that’s just me). You cannot change this. I have had a significant other that thought this was flexible, like if only the right dude came along (like he would be the right dude, uhm excuse me).

When I pursue deeper relationships beyond friendships, they are strictly platonic. I have yet to compromise my lack of sex life for a relationship and I don’t expect to.

^ Nor do I expect to become demisexual. But- who knows. Not current me’s problem.

I consider myself aromantic. Aromantic and asexual are different, you can be one or the other or both. I don’t feel the need to be in a relationship and lack romantic desires so therefore- aromantic.

I feel the need to say this a few times just so y’all get the point- THIS DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T HAVE A RELATIONSHIP! Some asexual people just so happen to not desire a significant other- some do. A lot do, actually. While I am not chasing anyone down, I am not against being in a relationship.

I acknowledged that I might be ace when I was 15 or 16. I always thought the sexual feelings would just eventually be there- as if they are some vital part of development. Buuuut. They didn’t. SO... Uhm. I came to full terms with being ace when I was 17. But I’ve sort of always, I guess, known... I think that’s what I’m supposed to say but I really wasn’t too educated on the whole thing until I even got to high school.

I am not 100% out for a lot of reasons. This isn’t common knowledge among my family or even some of my closest friends. I’ve been close to someone since I was 13 who does not currently know I am asexual. Unless he’s reading this now in which case SURPRISE *as it rains gray, purple, white, black confetti* Some of my friends- it isn’t necessarily that they’ll reject me but that I don’t think they’ll understand to the point it would hurt our friendship. To be honest, everyone is different and being ace is important- but it isn’t all I am. Someone knowing or not knowing won’t change anything about me and our friendship means more.

I pursue intimate friendships. I tend to cling to small groups of people. Like “quality vs quantity” I guess. I’m an open book overall but I prefer being an open book to smaller amounts of people instead of a bunch-- if that makes any sense. There is a lot of potential it doesn’t.

Being ace doesn’t make friendships and feelings any easier and I don’t really know why people would think that. Then again- I don’t know why people think a lot of the things they do about asexuality or why they ask some of the things they do. I mean, even writing this I’m sitting here thinking, “I can’t believe I actually have to answer this question, why is this even important.” Or I am going through some of the things that have been said to me after coming out and I wonder what is so hard to understand. Anyway, you’ll of see why I would think that in a minute.

I have been in relationships beyond intimate friendships. I don’t really feel like going into depth about this but if you really want to know- certainly ask because I do tell. Usually with a lot of passive aggressive remarks for flavor but I do tell nonetheless.

I do not share my personal sex life (partner or no partner ;) ) with others so don’t ever ask. I’ve told you all you need to know.

I don’t identify as gay or straight or anything else that points me towards a particular gender. I can tell you that my type tends to be masculine and I don’t necessarily discriminate against genders. But as for the types of people I’ve had some serious feelings for: butchy girls, trans men, men... I think you get the point. And I would prefer to be with someone who is also asexual, I just see it going better when both parties are equally yoked and have an understanding agreement vs a compromising agreement. I think it would make everyone happier. But hey- I’ve also never really pursued a relationship with anyone who isn’t ace. Feelings for non-ace, yes. Relationship with non-ace, yes. Pursued non-ace, no... (yeah that probably tells you too much about my dating life...)

I feel alone. Like. A lot. Because while I tend to feel intimate with people without needing a relationship- they don’t. I can care a lot for people who aren’t my significant other but I don’t feel like anyone cares about me the way I care about them. And as for what it’s like to actually pursue relationships, I face the issue of losing out on a relationship because I won’t have sex. A lot of people don’t want a relationship with an ace person or they think they can change that ace person by, “being the right one,” and that just isn’t the case. In fact, a lot of ace people face the issue of sexual assault when with non-ace partners due to lack of good communication and failure to properly recognize signals (or lack there of). Anyway, I feel like no one really understands where I’m coming from and how I am feeling. Like there’s something missing and I don’t really know how to describe it so I wish I could just transfer my feelings to other people, and they magically understand. But. I can’t, so... Here I am writing about it I guess and that’s just how life goes.

yeah so I’ve never really felt like I’m missing out on sex. Logically speaking- if you were to feel that way then... Would you still identify as asexual? I am not entirely too sure about this answer. It’s probably a yes but... that just doesn’t really sit with me as being simple.

Yes... I know what sex is and how it’s done. Thanks. I really... Really could care less for your worldly wisdom and middle school health lesson. Honestly just- THINK about it (sorry this is personal, stick with me).

No I don’t take birth control so I don’t get pregnant... Like most girls don’t take birth control so they don’t get pregnant.

Why do you care if I’m a virgin or not? Why does this even matter? Who asks?! I know who asks... People ask. A lot. Like. Why is this relevant information. This may be (historically) one of my most asked questions. That and, “are you gaaay.”

Being ace is not my “identifying characteristic” and if anyone thinks it is- I would prefer to try to inform them or distance myself from them. Like this isn’t the most important thing going on in my life 24/7. And fuck no, I’m not (will not be) your token ace friend. I am a girl who just so happens to be ace. This is (btw) why I can’t believe I have to answer some of the questions I do (if you recall from a few answers ago).

When I dress in what is considered “sexually provocative clothing,” it is for my personal fashion (like it probably would be for anyone else)- not provocative purposes. I like my boobs, what can I say?

My friends really confuse what it means to be asexual. Having to re-explain this to new people is really frustrating and anxious because I never know how people will react or how I will react to those reactions. I am very open minded of what other people think but to me it should be really simple--- why should my sex life even matter all that much for it to make or break a friendship.

I support marriage and if I find the right person it actually is in my plans to get married one day. Children of my own however-- I am not too entirely interested in having them.

I definitely consistently imply that I’m ace, but some people lack the education or understanding to make the connection. And that’s fine. But I do “come out” formally to most of my friends. It doesn’t usually just lowkey drop in a conversation. I usually make a decision on rather or not to come out. It isn’t advertised on my public social medias, I don’t scream that I am ace when I am around friends I’m not out to. It’s a moment for me each and every time because... what if? What if they don’t like that? What if they really don’t know what the fuck this is? What if they say, “you’re not a plant.” Or assume I’m just some kind of robot?

Though, as someone who identifies as asexual I am technically apart of the LGBTQA+ Community- I don’t personally get that involved outside of being an ally of sorts to my friends. I guess I just feel like I get a lot of pressure to answer to additional sexual identities like “You’re asexual- do you like men or women?” Like. I don’t and that’s my answer. Why does it matter? But I have a lot of friends within the community who totally respect that too so-- depends on the day and phase of the moon, I guess.

I am not ashamed of my sexual orientation. But it’s my business and it’s for me to talk about. I don’t want to be outed by anyone else. This isn’t a card anyone else gets to pull, a joke to flaunt, a topic token they get to just throw around. My orientation is a very serious aspect of my life. It isn’t funny. It isn’t yours

My best advice for someone who doesn’t understand asexuality is to just ask. Don’t make assumptions. Make an effort to better understand especially if you have an ace friend in your life. We are still people with very real human emotions facing problems both just as unique and common as anyone else.

Some of these are answers to questions I personally get a lot or things I wish people knew/understood about me, and some are answers to questions I found online that other ace people get a lot since I do have a history of having very accepting and understanding people in my life over this issue (mostly other members of the LGBTQA+ Community). If you have any additional questions--- I would love to answer them but as I said my sex life as far as what I have done and will do with or without a partner is personal and I don’t care to keep people who don’t need to know informed (you would be surprised so put that eyebrow down, I know the stats). Just as I don’t really care to hear about other people’s sex life (please and thank you). Find another ace to ask if that’s the question.

Everyone is different. What I have shared are not guidelines for all ace people. There are many different kinds of people within this particular community and they are all coming from different experiences, orientations, and situations. For example- some ace people have and enjoy sex. I just so happen to not... It’s very much about the individual as most things tend to be. I hope this helps people understand a little about me or maybe someone you know. Thank much for reading! Continue on with your daily lives, disasters, existence, etc!

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throughtheglassdarkly · 5 years

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Roadblocks, part 1

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” – Anne Lamott

Hey, you’re back. Welcome to hell.

So, after Pam got the note from Cassi, we all settled into our usual routine for a couple of days, but all of us were on edge. Bella ended up going back to work but asked us for some space. I started doing a little digging into some questions I had about what happened after I was taken. The others focused on getting their own projects done.

Our next big adventure started on an otherwise lazy Sunday morning. After the blowup with Day’s and Bella’s Fetches and hearing from Yova how her Fetch went bonkers, I realized I couldn’t ignore my Fetch anymore and I needed to track it down. My Facebook page gave me a few hints. Before I was taken, I had posts set to private, but check-ins and some photos were public. My Fetch hadn’t changed the security settings, so I was able to see that it was still doing things. I figured the best way to look for it was to simply re-trace my steps and go to the places I used to go before I was taken.

I ended up striking gold at my old apartment building. I was waiting around for about twenty minutes, trying to see some sign of life (the fading “O’NEILL, D.” sticker next to the buzzer at least let me know it hadn’t moved on) and was about to give up, when I saw it coming down the street carrying a couple bags of groceries. As it got up to the front of the building, it dropped its keys and sighed, kneeling down to pick them up. I steeled myself and stepped up, asking, “Need some help?”

It looked up at me and its eyes went about as wide as I’ve ever seen. Looking down at it was – unnerving. It was just like looking at myself before I was taken. A couple of years older, but the same messy hair, same beard growth, even the same glasses. The feeling passed after a moment, but for a second it was like I was questioning who I was. The Fetch started freaking out, trying to grab its keys and telling me it didn’t want any trouble.

I let out a sigh and reached out, jiggling the doorknob to the front door of the building in the way it used to let you open it even if you forgot your keys and propped the door for the Fetch. It looked wary but picked up its groceries and stepped inside. “Thanks,” it said, still looking like it was going to bolt at any second. “So why are you here?” I shrugged and said, “I got back. Wanted to see what was going on. If you were still here.” It shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “Well, I’m here,” it said. “You still doing data entry?” I asked. “Yeah,” it said. There was a minute of silence. I exhaled and asked the question I didn’t really want the answer to: “Let me guess, mom and dad haven’t reached out to you at all, have they?” It paused for a second and said, “No. And I feel like I should be pissed about that… but I’m really not.”

I didn’t know how to react to that. I haven’t told you a lot about my life before I got taken, but cliffs’ notes version is that my entire extended family is blue-collar Catholic mill workers and my folks didn’t react well at all when I came out. Not in the “Get out, we’re never talking to you again” routine, but in some ways that would have been easier. They just had a blow up and then refused to ever acknowledge it again. And over time, that turned into not really acknowledging me at all. When I learned that they hadn’t tried to contact me for the entire two and a half years I’d been gone, it… felt like something broke. Like it was just more confirmation that they really hadn’t cared about me at all. They didn’t even notice I was gone because they’d barely even noticed I was there.

My Fetch was waiting for me to say and do something, so I shook my head and told it that it could have my life, that I didn’t want it back. It slammed the door to my old apartment and I heard the deadbolt turn. I turned and started walking off. As I did, I saw a sleek red Mustang across the street, definitely a car that was out of place in my old neighborhood, with a driver wearing a scarf over her head and giant sunglasses, but she drove off before I could get a good look at her. My hands were shaking, so I put them in my hoodie pockets and just kept heading away.

While this was going on, Day was fixing up his office. He’d gotten a new ID and name, Lance Wilde, which I’d helpfully pointed out was also the name of several fine performers in man-on-man pornographic features. His office was nicely decorated, courtesy of Yova, but he’d been having trouble getting clients to come in. He heard a knock at the door and opened it to see Brenda standing there with some coffee. They had banter about his terrible new name and how she’d make a good wife someday. She ribbed him about not having any clients and he said, “Hey, it’s gonna happen! I just need a few high-profile clients!” “High-profile clients. In Albany,” she deadpanned.

It turned out that Brenda hadn’t just stopped by to give him a coffee – Bella’s parents were in town from Chicago and they’d filed a missing persons report. “They say she’s been missing for something like a few days now,” she said. Day took in a deep breath and said, “Oh, shit. That’s a big problem.” Brenda told him that she couldn’t dissuade them from looking for their kid, and that they were not going to just go away.

“Can’t we fake it by sending a note or something, make it look like she’s okay but going to be away for a while?” Day asked. Brenda scoffed and said, “You haven’t met her parents. And there were at least three siblings waiting outside while I was talking to them.” “Man, when things go wrong,” Day said, downing his coffee. Brenda said that she had to go to work and he asked if she wouldn’t mind going out to breakfast with him. “Do you actually want me to hang out with you?” she asked. He scoffed but admitted he missed their banter and she agreed to go get a breakfast sandwich with him. “Yes! You’re paying, right?” he asked. “Dude, I still have your tab from before you got grabbed,” she kvetched as they headed out.

Bella and Yova were having quiet mornings. Bella was at work, selling crystals, sage, and delicate hand-blown glass pieces that were totally not bongs to anyone who was stopping in. Yova was in DIY mode, hunched over her sewing machine and making a very fancy outfit for the upcoming Winter Formal. (She’d shown me some sketches and I told her that Marigold was going to be completely swept off her feet.) Both of them, however, were about to have things turned completely upside down, as were Day and I. And who was responsible for this? Dear, sweet, I-don’t-wanna-be-a-bother Pam.

Pam was having a rare lazy morning, sleeping in well past the time she’d set her alarm for. Changelings have pretty much near-control over our dreams: we can make them just how we want them to be, featuring anyone and anything we want in them. Pam was dreaming about the wonders of space, sitting and watching the stars and the expanse of the universe, while sipping a nice apple cider that maybe had just a touch of brandy in it. And that’s when the trouble started.

As Pam was enjoying her stargazing, she felt a ripple in the air and suddenly saw mossy greens growing up into her dreamscape. The path of stars she was sitting on became a forest floor and the comets started to become vines. She saw a small figure walking ahead, looking confused and walking around. Pam stood and walked toward the figure, closing the distance a lot quicker than she should have been able to, and greeting whoever it was. The hood the figure had on fell back and Pam saw Cassi, an absolute shit-eating grin on her face. “Oh, my God, I can’t believe that actually worked!” she said.

Pam gave Cassi a huge hug and told her how good it was to see her. Cassi squeezed back and said, “You would not believe the crap that’s been going down. There’s not a lot of time to explain, I don’t know how much time I’ve got here. Crap, where do I start? Quick, ask me a question.” Pam was a little startled, but asked, “How’s everyone doing?” “I’m fine, I think Adrian and Luca are fine, Belle’s probably not fine, but she’s never really been fine, so that’s not new. But yeah. Amberleigh’s still a bitch and everybody else is just trying to keep her happy, as far as I know. It’s been a while since I’ve been at the keep.”

“And you said you’re working on getting out, right?” Pam asked. “Yeah, actually, that’s a work in progress,” Cassi told her. “It’s more I’m trying to bust them out. When you guys left, Amberleigh went, like, shit hit the actual fan and she wasn’t too happy about us letting you guys go. I managed to get away, but she’s got the others locked up somewhere. I don’t know. I can’t get in, they shut off that cave entrance. There’s not a lot in the way of safeness for one changeling in the whole of Arcadia. So, I’m working on it.”

“And how did you find out about your dad?” Pam asked. “Well, I’m not exactly good at getting things in, but Adrian’s good at getting things out,” Cassi said with a sly smile. “He finds a way. I don’t know how he finds me – well, that’s not true, psychic, but that’s not important – the thing is I need help.” Pam promised to help and asked her what she needed. “I need people here. I need some sort of allies or tools or something to be able to get back in, but I don’t want – I can’t actually get back here if I leave. It’s weird, like only the fae know how to get back to Arcadia. Or only the people they let know. So, any way you guys can try to get back here would be great.”

Pam thought for a second and said, “I think Yova might know something about this.” She told Cassi about the Summer Court and its ideals, which Cassi thought was awesome. “But I don’t have a lot of time. I bought this dream teleporter thing off some weird guy and it’s probably going to blow up if I use it too much.” She told Pam to tell the rest of us she missed us and that when we got in, she was hiding near the border between Scáthach’s and Lamashtu’s territory. “Amberleigh’s been doing what Scáthach did, trying to snap up whatever she can. She’s actually doing a lot better job of it than Scáthach ever did.” With that, she vanished.

While Pam was dreaming a little dream of Cassi, Yova got a text from Marigold, asking her if Brenda was free for the interview she was hoping for that day. She signed off as she always did, “Best regards, Marigold.” Yova cooed a little over that, then told Marigold she would check in with Brenda. She called Brenda, who was halfway through Day eating the restaurant they were in out of house and home. Brenda told Yova that she could meet Marigold around dinnertime because she had a long shift ahead of her.

While Yova was on the phone with Pam, Pam sent out a group chat message to all of us, giving us the skinny on what her dream had been about. I was a few blocks away from my old apartment when I felt my phone buzz, pulled it out and stopped dead in my tracks, my head feathers sticking up and out in every direction. Day got the message and swallowed a sausage roll whole, making his way over to Pam’s quickly. Yova grabbed her work clothes and sped over in her new car (RIP her crappy Jeep, which met an ignoble end after it wouldn’t start in the Arby’s parking lot). I decided to run, burning up the pavement as fast as I could go. Day saw me coming down the street and started saying, “Hold up there, I don’t see a coyote.” I was in no mood, so I just kept going straight at him and jumped with all my force, barely clearing his head and continuing on up to Pam’s door. Yova pulled up just after this. Day seemed nonplussed.

You might notice that there’s one of us who didn’t react much to what was going on. Bella was at work and just kept going about her business, not responding to Pam’s text. It wasn’t long after this that she heard the bell chime and saw two uniformed police officers come in. Trying to play it cool, she said, “Oh, welcome! Can I offer you something from our selection of frankincense or sage? They’re very good at warding off malevolent spirits.” The cops looked like they wanted to say something snarky, but one of them said they wanted to talk to her about a missing person. Around this time, Professor Fauxlawney came in and asked what was going on. The cops filled her in and Fauxlawney asked Bella on the DL if she needed an immigration lawyer. Bella managed to keep from punching her in the face, suggesting that she spread some lavender. One of the cops asked Bella if she would be willing to come down to the precinct to answer some questions about a missing person she resembled. She agreed to go if they would let her call “her roommate.” She dialed Day’s number.

Back at Pam’s apartment, she was finishing up telling those of us who made it over what Cassi had told her. I would really love to say that I was keeping calm and collected, but I’d needed a paper bag to breathe in and out of since about halfway through her story. Yova and Day both came up with the idea of going to the Summer Court and asking them for help, though Yova also pointed out that Aurora could be a way to get back into Arcadia, and that we had the list of locations Buck had provided us about where she might be. Day’s phone rang and he got the call from Bella, who was trying to let him know how much shit was about to hit the fan. He got her to describe the cops and realized he knew one of them from his time on the force. “Okay, listen to me. You are obviously not who they are looking for, so just go along with them and we’ll figure some way to get you out of this,” he told her. They hung up and she agreed to go along with the cops. We all piled into Yova’s car and drove off to the station, putting a pin in our rescue planning for the moment.

On the way over to the station, the cops were trying to talk to Bella about who she was with the usual gentle coaxing they do to try and convince you that you aren’t in trouble. She managed to stay clammed up the entire time, so they just escorted her inside. And then the trouble started.

Bella saw her oldest brother, Antonio, arguing very heavily with one of the beat cops. And Bella, beautiful idiot that she is, immediately cracked. She called out to him and he ran over, scooped her up, and gave her a huge hug. She started crying. He asked her where she’d been and she pulled the classic little sister move by crying so loud the glass in the station windows started cracking. Through her hiccoughing and crying she asked him if they could go somewhere else and he practically dragged her outside.

In the car, we were discussing the various ways in which we might try to get Bella out of this mess. And it was around then that I heard my phone ding. I looked at it and saw a message from Bella. “Hi, Derek! I’m with my brother outside the station right now!” along with a couple of happy emojis. I paused, staring at it for a few minutes. Then when Yova came to a stop at a red light, I said, “Hey guys? I just got a text from Bella. She’s hanging out with her brother right now.” All the oxygen got sucked out of the car. Yova wordlessly reached over to the Bluetooth and changed the song playing to “O Fortuna.”

I texted back, “Just stay where you are, don’t say anything crazy, and try to stay calm so that when we get there, we can strangle you properly.”

Antonio and Bella ended up sitting in a park outside of the station and he asked her what the hell happened. “Why did you guys freak out so bad?” she asked. He told her that she’d dropped off the face of the earth and hadn’t posted on Facebook or Instagram for two days and wasn’t answering her phone. “If you’re getting second thoughts, that’s one thing, but you can’t just leave and not tell anybody,” he told her. This, combined with the ring, finally made the synapses in her brain connect and she realized her Fetch did get engaged.

“No, I don’t want to get married,” she said. “Oh, thank God,” he said. He told her that he could cover for her until she broke things off with Carlos, but that they should get dinner that night and that almost their entire family was in town. “What? Why are they all here?” she asked. “We were worried,” he said. Bella wasn’t sure about dinner and was particularly worried about her dad, but Antonio told her that their dad was probably going to just be glad she was alive. “Carlos wasn’t… hurting you, was he? Because if I need to break some knees…” he said. She cut him of at the pass and said absolutely not, that she just realized she was not ready at all to get married.

“I’m just glad you decided on things a month in and not right before the wedding,” Antonio told her, much to her relief. He realized she needed some space and said he would head out, but made her promise to call him later that day. “I’ll talk to mom and dad, but you know we’re not getting out of dinner,” he said. “Maybe I can postpone it a couple of nights, but they’re going to want something for coming all the way out here.” As he was about to leave, he took a second look and asked, “By the way, when did this goth look happen?” She shrugged and said, “Well, it’s kind of always been in there, but when you have to be a certain way for everyone else…” He gave her a hug and told her he’d call her later before he made his way off.

We’d pulled up outside the park shortly before Tony left and Yova was the one to take the lead, heading up to Bella and sitting down next to her, asking if things worked out okay. Bella was still shaken but realized things worked out better than they might have. “And apparently she got engaged to somebody,” she told Yova. Yova gently tried to remind her that we told her about that the night of the rave. “I don’t remember any of it,” Bella said. She squared her shoulders and told Yova how Tony wanted her to go have dinner with her family. “Do you want to go have dinner with them?” Yova asked. Bella started crying, talking about how much she missed her family, and Yova hugged her, suggesting they go back to Pam’s and talk about something else so she could get her mind off it. Bella agreed and we all got back into Yova’s car, heading to Pam’s.

Our first order of business was trying to figure out who, if anybody, we could call about getting backup on storming the castle. Pam reiterated what she’d told Cassi about the Summer Court and Day and Yova both agreed that it sounded like something along the lines of what the Summer Court was all about. “Do you think the Autumn Court might also be able to help?” Pam asked me. I thought for a second and said, “I’ll try calling Stella. She’s not going to want to come, but she might be able to tell me who can help us. Or who can help us crack the riddle about getting them out. And I’m going to call Evain, too. He’ll definitely be on board.”

I stepped out onto the balcony for some privacy and called Stella’s number. It rang and rang and just as I thought it was going to go to voicemail, she picked up. “It’s Stella, state your business,” she said with her trademark warmth and sympathy. “Hi, Stella, it’s Derek. I was wondering if maybe you could help point me in the right direction of anyone in our Court who knows how to deal with a couple of things that might seem completely unrelated at first but actually have a lot more to do with each other than it looks,” I said. “Speak,” she told me. “First, anyone who might be able to help us get back into Arcadia and break out some of our friends who we had to leave behind when we escaped, and second, anyone who might know how to untangle contracts and agreements with the True Fae.” There was a single beat of a pause. Then she said, “As to the first inquiry, are you insane? And as to the second, possibly. I will look into it and call you back within the hour.” I got out, “Thanks, Ste-” before I heard the *click* on the other end.

The second call I made was to Evain. Like Stella’s call, it rang for a few times before he answered, saying, “Hey, Derek, what’s up?” I said, “Hey, buddy. Wanted to let you know we’re about to break back into Arcadia to try and bust Cassi and our other friends out and I was checking to see if you wanted in?” A full thirty seconds of dead silence went by. Then he said, “Yes. Yes, I do. Holy shit. I would be insulted if you thought I didn’t want in.” We talked for a few minutes about supplies or anything we might get and he told me that he’d ask around, but things were probably going to be difficult to find outside of the Goblin Markets. “Oh, and just so you know, Cassi says she’s punching you in the face when she sees you,” I said. He paused for a second and said, “Yeah, that’s fair. I deserve it.” “You totally do. Catch you soon, dude,” I said.

While I was doing this, Yova was calling the Summer Court. She only had the one number to contact and was hoping to get Cahir and not Dania on the line. However, she ended up hearing a new voice she hadn’t encountered before, a woman’s voice that was inviting and oily all at the same time. She introduced herself as The Red Lady and asked Yova what she could do to help. Yova explained the situation and the Red Lady said, “Interesting. I’d love to hear the story, but I’m frankly not sure what the benefit to our Court would be and the resources spent would be extreme, to say nothing of the risks.” Yova was grinding her molars by this point, but she had to admit The Red Lady had a point when she said, “We’re here to keep the Fae at bay, not to pick fights.” Yova did her best to schmooze The Red Lady by asking if there was any information or advice she could get, which The Red Lady seemed to think was fair enough. She thanked Yova for passing the information along and hung up.

Yova joined me out on the balcony, where I was white-knuckling the railing. She pulled out a cigarette and asked me if I wanted one. “No thanks, I don’t smoke, even though I would look so grown-up doing so,” I said. She gave me a look and held it out. I sighed and said, “Fine,” then took it and put it in my mouth, chewing on it. Pam, Bella, and Day came over to the frame by the balcony and we tried to figure out what our next step was going to be. “I hate to say it, but I think it’s time for us to pay an old friend a visit,” Yova said. “Yeah. She is definitely overdue on hearing from us,” I said. “This whole thing is freaking nuts,” Day said. “But what choice do we have? We can’t leave them there. We already left them there once,” Yova said.

I straightened my back, looking out over the city and thinking about what had happened that day. From the queasiness over talking to my Fetch to Bella actually managing to get her life back to the possibility of getting everyone – especially Adrian – back, it had been a complete roller-coaster of a day. “Yeah. We’re not leaving them there. I’m not going to leave them there,” I said.

And that’s as good a place as any to stop for now. Next time, war preparations and other shenanigans. Until then, stay safe and may you never get snubbed by your doppelganger.

#Changeling: The Lost #ctl #changeling #ic #recap #the answer is yes stella we are completely insane for even attempting this

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endlesshero1122 · 6 years

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Back to Formula

(Hero Fanfic Chapter 3)

Sorry for the long post. All rights go to Pixelberry. I only own my MCs. Enjoy!

The following Monday started out the same way: both step-siblings overslept, rushed to get ready, and raced to catch the train that would leave only seconds after they arrived.

“Oh, C'mon!” Kameron screamed in frustration as the train pulled away without them. “Again?!”

Alyssa stared after the train thoughtfully. A grin slowly broke across her face as an idea formed in her head.

“You know… we do have a faster way to get to work.”

The gleam in her eye was enough for Kameron to know what she was hinting at.

“I don’t know,” he began. “This is only your second day out of the hospital, and you didn’t do much resting yesterday like you were supposed to.”

Alyssa groaned. “I’m fine, Kameron! Besides, now that we can fly, we can get to work before Marjorie…”

Kameron opened his mouth to retort, then stopped. His sister did have a point.

“... ah, screw it. Let’s go.”

The two ducked into an empty ally, being careful not to be seen. Once they were sure no one was watching, they shot off into the sky. Kameron whooped in delight as he and his stepsister easily outpaced the train.

“Flying definitely beats taking the train!”

Alyssa laughed. “I can’t wait to see Marjorie's face when we get to work before she does!”

Kameron was about to reply but was halted by an incoming call from his phone. He took a quick glance to see who it was from before answering.

“Hey, Poppy. What’s up?”

“Hi, Kameron. I just wanted to check up on Alyssa— wait, what’s all that noise?”

“Uh… it’s a little windy up where we are…”

“Wait, are you guys flying to work?”

“... Maybe?”

There was a brief pause before Kameron heard Poppy chuckle from the other end of the line.

“You do know that Dax won’t be happy about this, right?”

Kameron smirked, though he knew Poppy couldn’t see. “Who says he needs to know?”

“Kameron…”

“Joking, joking! But I really don’t see why you need to tell him; we are perfectly fine flying to work—”

“SQUAWK?!”

“ACK!”

Kameron glanced behind him just in time to see Alyssa crash headfirst into a few passing crows, startling both them and her.

“You okay?”

His stepsister gave him a thumbs up as she coughed out a few feathers. “I’m—koff!—good.”

“Kameron, what happened?!” Poppy asked worriedly. “Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine, Poppy,” Kameron chuckled as Alyssa brushed herself off. “Turns out Alyssa is just as clumsy in the air as she is on the ground.”

“I heard that!”

“Well, it’s true!”

“Bite me!”

“Hey, you two! Fly now, bicker later,” Poppy jested. “And I will be telling Dax about this.”

“Snitch,” Kameron teased.

“Just focus on keeping your sister from killing any more birds, you moron.”

“Way ahead of you. Talk to ya later.”

The two step-siblings landed a few feet away from Prescott Industries. Construction crews moved through the courtyard, replacing broken glass windows and support beams.

“Prescott Industries sure doesn’t waste any time,” Kameron comment as he and Alyssa ducked into another abandoned alleyway.

Once Kameron had helped Alyssa clean off the last few stray feathers, they made their way towards the building and stepped through the remains of the front doors. More construction workers swarmed through the lobby. As expected, Grayson was overseeing their work, along with…

“Silas Prescott?!”

The older man and his son turned to acknowledge the step-siblings.

“Kameron, my boy!” Silas boomed enthusiastically. “So good to see you again.”

“Hey, you two,” Grayson greeting the step-siblings as he and his father approached them. “Feeling better?”

“Uh… y-yeah,” Kameron replied, still surprised to see Silas Prescott himself. “Great, actually…”

“Well, I’m certainly glad to hear that,” Silas declared before taking a moment to acknowledge Alyssa. “And this must be our miracle survivor from last Friday if I’m not mistaken?”

Alyssa nodded mutely, still uncomfortable being in the presence of the powerful man.

“Uh, yeah. This is my stepsister, Alyssa,” Kameron spoke up, trying help cover for his stepsister’s nervous silence.

Silas frowned thoughtfully as he glances between the two step-siblings before resting on Kameron. “Yes, I remember Grayson mentioning you having a sister... or rather a stepsister.” An amused smile curved his lips as he turned to Alyssa. “That reminds me: I believe you outright refused to take time off from work?”

Alyssa bit her lip nervously. “Um… y-yes, sir. T-that’s true…”

“Well, consider me impressed. I can honestly say I’ve met very few people of your age as stubborn and eager to prove themselves.”

Alyssa flushed. “O-oh… well—”

Silas chuckled softly. “Relax, kid. I’m just teasing you… Besides, look where it got me.”

He swept out his arms as a grand gesture at the wreckage around them. “About a million dollars worth of damage, along with a front-page article in the Northbridge Gazette declaring me a threat to public safety!”

Alyssa blinked in confusion. “Um, no disrespect, sir… but isn’t that bad for your publicity?”

Silas smiled pleasantly. “My dear, there’s no such thing as ‘bad publicity’. Besides, this is the perfect opportunity to reinvent ourselves: newer and better than ever!”

The construction crew cheered at Silas’s last proclamation, though the stepsiblings and Grayson didn’t share their enthusiasm.

“But Alyssa has a point,” Grayson spoke. “Dad, someone was killed last Friday, and more people could have gotten hurt… Alyssa was!”

Silas dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “Well, you know what they say: you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” He turned to Alyssa. “Good thing you have a tough shell.”

Alyssa, Grayson, and Kameron exchanged uncomfortable glances.

Silas clapped his hands together. “Well, I’ll leave you all to your work; I have to meet with Mr. Delacroix to discuss the redevelopment of Bayside.”

Grayson opened his mouth to protest, but Silas merely waved over his shoulder as he strode out of the building. A tense silence hung over the trio.

“… So, how’s everything?” Kameron prompted lamely.

Grayson's face fell. “Not too well, to be honest… Aside from my father, everyone’s spirit has been down after last Friday’s incident. He acts like the whole thing never even happened, and only wants to focus on the ‘brighter future’…” Grayson raked a hand through his hair as he let out a long sigh. “And there’s still the matter of that man who was killed on Friday… I sent the family flowers and offered to cover the expenses for the funeral, but I feel like we should be doing more.”

“Grayson.”

The older man looked down at Alyssa as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’m sure the family is grateful that you thought of them.”

Grayson gave her a half-hearted smile. “Thanks, Alyssa…”

“Alyssa? Kameron?”

The three turned around to see Marjorie staring slack-jawed at the stepsiblings. “I… but… how…?”

“Hey, Marjorie!” Kameron greeted cheerfully. He was enjoying the woman’s shock of being beaten to work by them. “Miss the train or something?”

Marjorie scowled at him. “No, of course not! I… I just assumed you both were supposed to be in the hospital.”

“Just me, Ms. Marjorie,” Alyssa corrected her politely. “And I’m well enough to come to work.”

Marjorie turned to Grayson with an arched eyebrow. “Did you approve of this?”

Grayson shrugged. “She insisted on coming in today.”

The stern woman grumbled under her breath. “Well, never mind that. I have more important things to do than babysit a little girl and her brother.”

Kameron frowned as he watched Marjorie trot briskly over to a smaller pile of debris. “Is it just me, or does she seem a little more agitated than usual?”

Grayson shrugged. “Like I said, everyone’s been on edge since the Gala… why don’t you two check in on her and see if she needs help with anything?”

Kameron and Alyssa exchanged reluctant glances but nodded.

“Good. Alyssa, I want you to check on Santiago afterward; seeing you out of the hospital should lift his spirits. Come see me after you’ve finished checking in on everyone else. Kameron, I’d appreciate it if you and Dax can find out more about the Prism Gate’s malfunction. We owe a lot of people an explanation for what happened last night.”

The siblings nodded once again before hesitantly approaching Marjorie as Grayson headed off to his office. The strict woman was attempting, but failing, to move a heavy piece of debris. She let out an aggravated growl before acknowledging the step-siblings with an icy glare.

“What?!”

Kameron gently pushed Alyssa forward, unwilling to face Marjorie’s wrath first.

“Um, Grayson wanted us to check on you,” Alyssa explained, giving Kameron a pointed look. “Is there anything you need help with?”

Marjorie huffed in annoyance. “Nothing you two could possibly help with… especially since one of you should still be in the hospital.”

“Well, I felt better and decided to come to work,” Alyssa replied evenly. “So, how can we help?”

Marjorie paused for a moment, then sighed as she stood. “Unless one of you have some way of getting my engagement ring out from under this rubble, I don’t think there’s anything I have for you to do.”

“Wait, you’re engaged?!” Kameron asked in bewilderment. “When? How?”

“For your information, I’ve been engaged for the last six months,” Majority snapped at him before turning back to Alyssa. “One of the robbers from the gala tried to take it, but he dropped it during the chaos. I tried asking the renovation crew to recover it, but apparently, the ‘higher priority’ is to restore the building’s structural integrity.”

“I mean, that kinda makes sense—” Marjorie silenced Kameron with a searing glare. “Never mind…”

“Like I said earlier, there’s clearly nothing you two can do to help me.”

The corners of Kameron’s lips curved ever so slightly. “Well, we might just have to surprise you.”

Alyssa gave him a knowing glance as he walked over to the pile of rubble. He saw Marjorie give him a skeptical frown as he took hold of the slab of concrete.

“You don’t really think you can lift that, do you?”

Kameron met Alyssa’s eye. A magenta glow, so faint that only he could see, surrounded the slab, lightening its weight. He heaved the slab off the pile before setting it aside. Remembering that Marjorie was watching, Kameron collapsed to his knees and pretended to be winded.

“Holy—” Marjorie began before catching herself. “I… I didn’t think you could actually move that!”

“Well, it’s definitely heavier than most of the stuff I have to move around in the lab,” Kameron replied as a slight glimmer of gold caught his attention. Grinning, he picked up the ring and handed it to Marjorie. “Here’s your ring!”

Marjorie quickly slipped it back on before giving Kameron an appreciative nod. “Well… thank you, Kameron.”

“No problem.”

Marjorie turned to address Alyssa. “Well, since you’re feeling better… we all have a lot of work to do! Now get to it!”

The step-siblings both jumped before scrambling away from Marjorie.

***

“Hi, Santiago!” Alyssa flashed the man a smile as she walked into the security office.

Santiago barely glanced up at her as he stared downheartedly at the security monitors. “Hey, Alyssa… need something?”

Alyssa frowned in concern. “Grayson wanted me to check in on you… are you alright? You seem a little down.”

Santiago scoffed dryly. “That’s one way to put it.”

“What happened at the gala wasn’t your fault.”

The head of security sighed heavily as he turned away from the monitors to face the young girl.

“Then tell me whose fault it is. Because from where I’m standing, the whole damn thing seems to be on me. I said nothing bad would happen and look at the results: an innocent man died on my watch, and you nearly did, too. I practically begged Mr. Prescott to fire me, but he refused my resignation…”

Alyssa opened her mouth to reply, but Santiago cut her off.

“This isn’t something a little pep talk is going to fix, Alyssa. I… I’m just gonna need some time to recover from this.”

Alyssa frowned, then gently placed a hand on Santiago’s shoulder.

“I understand,” she said softly. “But I’m here for you if you wanna talk… about anything. Your feelings, the weather… or how Marjorie still can’t figure out who changed her ringtone to the Psycho theme…”

A small smile slowly crept across Santiago’s face before he erupted into laughter.

“I still can’t believe you did that.”

Alyssa giggled. “I just hope she doesn’t find out any time soon… there’s so much I want to do before I die.”

Santiago chuckled. “My prayers are with you.” His smile softened as gazed at Alyssa appreciatively. “And thank you. I… I really appreciate you looking out for me.”

Alyssa nodded. “No problem. I have to go meet with Grayson, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure thing.”

***

Dax greeted Kameron with a broad grin as the teenage engineer stepped into the lab.

“Hey, Kameron. How you doing?”

“Pretty good. Grayson wants us to find out what caused the Prism Gate to go haywire last Friday.”

Dax frowned. “About that… I’ve been reviewing the data on the Prism Gate to figure out what caused it to act out like that, but there’s nothing to imply any sort of malfunction.”

Kameron frowned thoughtfully as he slipped on his lab coat. “Are you sure you didn’t miss anything? Something had to cause that reaction.”

“Well, I can’t be sure… all I have are the readings of the Prism Gate’s energy,” Dax explained, nodding to a nearby console. “I have a hypothesis that the crystal might have been the cause since the Prism Gate uses it as its power source, but it’s pretty much impossible to confirm that without being able to analyze the crystal.”

“What about the Gate?”

Dax shook his head. “Like I said, it needs the crystal’s power in order to work; without it, it’s useless. Besides, Silas has it locked up in ‘secret storage’; so to say, we’re not gonna see it again any time soon.”

“Great,” Kameron sighed. “Looks like we’re in for a late night…”

“What’s that mean?”

The two engineers jumped as Alyssa entered the room.

“Don’t you ever knock?!”

Alyssa gave Dax an apologetic glance before addressing her stepbrother.

“I’m just checking in before heading up to Grayson’s office. Did you find out anything about the Gate?”

Kameron shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. Dax thinks the crystal might’ve had something to do with the Gate’s malfunction, but we need to analyze the crystal in order to be certain.”

“And since those goons from the gala took it, we can’t,” Dax added. “Which means Kameron and I are gonna have to stay in late to find some decent answers for the public.”

Alyssa let out a heavy sigh. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?”

Both Kameron and Dax frowned at the young girl in concern.

“Alyssa, why would you—”

“I’m the one who touched the crystal, then let that man get away with it,” she continued, her voice small and soft. “If I just held onto it a little longer, or didn’t touch it at all…”

Kameron placed a gentle, but firm hand on his stepsister’s shoulder. “Alyssa, what happened wasn’t your fault, or anyone’s for that matter. Besides, look on the bright side: we both have superpowers now. That’s kinda cool, right?”

A small smile tugged the corners of Alyssa’s lips. “Yeah, I guess so.” “That reminds me,” Dax cut in, shooting the stepsiblings an amused yet stern look. “Poppy called me earlier and told me you two flew to work today?”

The two teens smiled sheepishly as they attempted to avoid looking at the engineer in the eye.

Dax sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Really, you two… you need to be more careful about using your powers.”

“Nobody saw us!” Alyssa protested. “And we got here just fine!”

Dax raised an eyebrow at her.

“…I didn’t see those birds, okay?”

Dax inhaled deeply as he considered his next words carefully.

“Look… the history of humanity has been a continuous arms race ever since the time of the cavemen; once the first cavemen picked up the club and killed the second one, the rest of the human race has been competing against each other to find the bigger club. As of last Friday, you both became the club, but you’re still cavemen too.”

The stepsiblings stared at him blankly.

“Okay, so that wasn’t the best metaphor I could’ve used,” Dax conceded. “But what I’m trying to say is that the world is full of people, dangerous people, who’ll do anything to get power even if they need to hurt other people to get it. You both are power now, but you’re still human… which means people can and will hurt you if you draw too much attention to yourselves.”

“Dax has a point,” Kameron told Alyssa. “And it’s not just us; the people closest to us could get hurt. Mom, Dax, Poppy, even Grayson…”

Alyssa bit her lip. The thought of strangers getting hurt without being able to do anything was enough to upset her, but having her family and friends be put in harm's way because of her…

“We’ll talk about this later. You better report to Grayson if you’re done checking in on everyone,” Kameron told her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “You should be able to take a cab or the train straight home afterward, emphasis on straight home.”

“Where else would I go?” Alyssa sassed.

Kameron glared at her. “Don’t let me imagine.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes playfully as she turned her heel and left the lab. As soon as she was out of earshot, Dax turned to Kameron with a toothy grin.

“Hey, how about we get those system diagnostics out of the way so I can show you something I’ve been working on for you and your sister? I think you’ll find it helpful.”

Kameron raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Dax’s smile widened. “Well, I never said you and Alyssa couldn’t use your powers, just that you had to be careful about keeping them a secret. So, Poppy and I took the liberty to make you both something that could help with that.”

***

Grayson smiled up at Alyssa as she entered his office. “Well, that was quick. How is everyone?”

“Well, Marjorie’s still her usual self, but Santiago was still a bit upset about what happened at the gala,” Alyssa reported.

“Will he be alright?”

“I think so… he says he just needs a little time. Same goes for the rest of the staff.”

Grayson nodded. “That’s understandable. What about Dax and your brother? Did they find out what went wrong with the Prism Gate?”

“Not yet, but they’re going to stay in late to see if they can dig up any answers,” Alyssa informed him.

“Oh? How are you getting home then?”

Alyssa shrugged. “Same way I always do, I guess? Just without Kameron.”

Grayson frowned slightly. “I don’t think you should try walking home by yourself, especially with all the crime going on at the moment. How about I drive you home?”

Alyssa hesitated. “You don’t have to—”

“It’s no trouble,” Grayson insisted. “There was something I wanted to show you after you finished checking in on everyone; we’d have to drive anyways, so I might as well take you home afterward.”

“Well… I guess if it’s really no trouble for you.”

Grayson smiled. “Alright, then. We better head out now if we want to beat the traffic.”

***

About half an hour navigating through Northbridge’s infamous downtown afternoon traffic, Grayson pulled his car up to a curb.

“Well, we’re here,” Grayson announced before climbing out of the car. “Welcome to Bayside.”

Alyssa surveyed the town with keen interest. It was definitely rougher than the other areas of Northbridge she used to: faded paint peeling off the walls of small stores, boarded up windows, crooked signs with missing letters, newspaper pages littered throughout the empty streets… the only building that looked well taken care of was the DMV across the street.

“Does anyone live here?” she asked Grayson as he helped her out of the car.

Grayson nodded. “Generations of families have lived here ever since the 1900s… including my grandparents.”

Alyssa blinked. “Really?”

Grayson chuckled. “Well, my family wasn’t always rich. Anyways, this is what I wanted to show you.”

Alyssa quickly followed after Grayson as he led her to an old building that seemed to have once been a cabaret. She stepped closer to read the words spelled out with crooked neon letters.

“‘The Grand’.”

“Well, what do you think?” Grayson prompted.

Alyssa studied the building, letting the rest of the town fade away. All at once, she could see it: The Grand in its former glory, men in top hats and elegantly dressed women crowding around the door as lively music filled the streets. She could even see the lavishly dressed performers just through the cracks of the open door.

“Alyssa?”

The images faded as Alyssa snapped back into reality. She gave Grayson a sheepish smile as her cheeks began to heat up.

“Um, sorry. Kinda got caught up in my imagination…”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Grayson assured her. “Can I get a little insight into what you were imagining?”

Alyssa bit her lip, worried about how her thoughts would sound out loud. “I… I was just imagining what this place might’ve been like when it was still new: kinda a mix of The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge… even though they aren’t really in the same time period.”

Grayson chuckled warmly. “It never ceases to amaze me how you can see things like that… no wonder you have a knack for writing.”

Alyssa blushed.

“And your imagination was actually reality at one point… this place used to be world-famous; people from all over came to see the shows. Some of the best singers and entertainers of the twentieth century actually performed here… there are even rumors that P.T. Barnum’s circus did a show here!”

Alyssa’s eyes sparkled. “Whoa… that sounds amazing.”

“I take it you like it?”

“I love it!”

“Good; because you own it now.”

Alyssa stared at Grayson in bewilderment.

“Well, technically, I own it since I bought it,” Grayson continued, his eyes sparkling with a smile. “But since my dad is preparing me to take over the family company, I’ll be needing your help to run it.”

He turned to face Alyssa, his face set with determination. “If we can pull this off, we can help the people in this town get back on their feet instead of forcing them out of their homes like my father plans on doing. It would really help a lot of people…”

Alyssa arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you using this as a way to give me more money for my tuition?”

Grayson shrugged shamelessly. “Hey, you never said I couldn’t give you a second job.”

A smile broke across Alyssa’s face. “Okay, I’m in!” She declared. “But what exactly are we going to do with it? There’s not may cabarets around anymore…”

Grayson nodded. “Sad, but true. I was thinking about converting it into an old-fashioned cabaret-themed nightclub; it would be like going back in time, or stepping into an old movie.”

“It sounds perfect. And we could open it as a multipurpose facility during the day!”

“That’s a great idea!” Grayson beamed. “All that’s left to do is hire a manager for the place, and I already have someone in mind. I’ll be meeting with him tomorrow to discuss the job offer… you should come with me.”

“Are you sure?”

Grayson nodded. “You’re the one who’ll be working with him, so I think it’s fair if you come with me to negotiate the terms of the job.” His gaze softened as he studied Alyssa for a moment. “If you’re in no rush to get home… would you mind if I took you out to dinner? We can discuss more plans for renovating The Grand, and your responsibilities as its owner. Besides, I don’t think Kameron would appreciate me letting you go home on an empty stomach.”

Alyssa considered the offer carefully. Kameron did tell her to go straight home, but as long as she wasn’t out alone, she should be fine. Besides, she wasn’t that great of a cook, and the step-siblings were low on groceries anyway; if nothing else, what her brother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

“I… I think it would be okay.”

Grayson smiled. “Great! I was thinking La Trattoria if that’s alright with you. You don’t have to worry about the price, I’ll cover it.”

“O-oh! You don’t have to do that, really—”

“But I want to,” Grayson insisted. “Think of it as a ‘thank you’ for agreeing to help me with The Grand.”

“Well… if you’re sure it’s okay.”

“It is,” Grayson assured her. “Now, let’s get out of here before traffic gets bad.”

***

Alyssa followed Grayson closely as they followed one of the hosts to a secluded table in the back of the restaurant. She whispered a soft “thank you” to the host as he handed her a menu before seating herself across from Grayson. A light silence hung over them as they both pursued their menus.

“Um… is there anything you think I should get?” she asked.

Grayson shrugged lightly. “To be honest, everything here is great. If you’d like, I could order you the same meal I’m having.”

Alyssa nodded gratefully. Grayson’s blue eyes remained fixed on the young girl as she carefully sipped the water from her glass. After spending a few moments considering his words, he cleared his throat.

“Alyssa…” he began carefully. “I know I said I wanted to take you out to dinner to talk more about The Grand, but to be honest, that wasn’t really what I wanted to talk to you about.” His face fell as he softened his voice. “I… I still feel terrible about what happened to you at the gala. I know you keep saying you’re fine now, but you were seriously hurt and… well, I was terrified. Even worse, being there with your brother and your mom, not knowing if you’d wake up… I couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like for them if they lost you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t do more for you.”

Alyssa frowned softly as she stared down at her hands. She hadn’t meant to frighten anyone, or cause them to worry about her. The last thing she wanted was for someone to blame themselves for what happened; after all, it was her fault.

“You don’t need to apologize to me, Grayson. I was the one who touched the crystal, so I pretty much put myself in the hospital. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me.”

Grayson’s face hardened. “You know that’s not true.”

Alyssa shrugged and offered him a half-hearted smile. “Well, I’m not in the hospital anymore and you’re covering my medical bills… let’s just leave it at that?”

Grayson gave her a seldom nodded as a waiter approached their table. He quickly gave him their order and waited for him to leave before speaking up again.

“So… you’re mom seems nice. You and Kameron are really lucky to have someone like her in your lives.”

Alyssa smiled softly. “Yeah, I know. She adopted me when I was a baby, and then married Kameron’s dad a few years later. She basically raised us both on her own after he—”

She stopped sharply, her smile disappearing.

“After he died?” Grayson prompted gently.

Alyssa nodded. “I… I know he was Kameron’s dad… but he was mine, too. Even if it was only for a short amount of time…”

“I’m sorry… I know how hard that is to live with.”

Alyssa glanced up Grayson curiously. He gave her a soft, yet sad, smile.

“My mom died when I was ten years old,” he told her, his voice just above a whisper. “Things were never the same after that… believe it or not, my dad and I used to be really close.”

Alyssa blinked. “Really?”

Grayson nodded. “Yeah… But he disappeared from my life after she died; he became more obsessed with his work, and withdrew himself from everything and everyone.” He paused for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh. “To be honest I… I felt like I lost both my parents instead of just my mom.”

A heavy silence surrounded them as they both hesitated to meet the other’s eye. A moment passed, then two, before Alyssa hesitantly spoke up again.

“... what was your mom like?”

Grayson glanced up at her, a faraway look in his eyes. He closed them, seeming to sink back into the memories flooding through him, before opening them again and smiling at Alyssa.

“She was… well, she was a lot of things: sweet, caring, gentle, compassionate, loyal, imaginative, brave… and the kindest person I ever knew.” His eyes softened as he held Alyssa’s gaze. “She had this… this way of seeing the good in everything, and everyone… and bringing it out for the world to see.”

Alyssa smiled softly. “She sounds amazing.”

“She was.”

Grayson studied Alyssa thoughtfully before hesitantly speaking again. “I know this might sound weird since I’m your boss… but that’s why you’re so important to me.”

Alyssa tilted her head slightly but allowed the young man to continue.

“When my mom died, she told me she was scared. At first, I thought it was because she was dying, but she told me it was because she was losing me… that she was leaving me alone and making it feel like I’d never see her again.” Tears glimmered in his eyes, but he wiped them away. “And then when I met you, I… I saw her. I thought it was just because I still miss her, but every day I saw you, every time you came into the room, I saw my mother: her warmth, her smile, her laughter, everything.” A soft smile graced his lips. “As crazy as it sounds… I used to swear you were an angel that my mom sent to watch over me so that she wasn’t really leaving me alone. I care about you and your brother but… you’ve been the closest thing I’ve had to a family after my mother died. You’re more than just my assistant… you’re like a little sister to me.”

A tint of color appeared on Alyssa’s cheeks as she bashfully looked away from Grayson.

“Grayson, I… I don’t know what to say.”

She felt his hand gently take hers, and looked up to see the warmth of his smile.

“Then let me say this: thank you, for giving me back a little piece of my mother, and for being a part of my life.”

***

About half an hour later, Grayson’s car pulled up to the curb just in front of the apartment Alyssa and Kameron shared together. A soft breeze ruffled Alyssa’s hair as her boss helped her out of his car.

“Well, here we are.”

Alyssa gave Grayson a grateful smile as she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her head.

“Thanks for driving me home. Have a nice night.

Grayson nodded, a bright smile on his face. “Yeah, same to— LOOK OUT!”

Alyssa barely got the chance to let out a scream as an explosion from a nearby jewelry store shook the streets. She felt Grayson grasp her arm and pull her behind his car, shielding her with his body as glass shards flew pass them.

“Are you alright?” He asked her, frantically checking her over. “Are you hurt?!”

Alyssa’s voice shook as she spoke. “I-I think I’m okay. W-what happened?”

Grayson began to stand. “I don’t know—” He stopped short, eyes widening. Before Alyssa could ask him what was wrong, he quickly dropped back down behind the car and placed a firm hand over her mouth. He nodded towards the jewelry store and raised a finger to his lips before slowly removing his hand. Slowly and carefully, Alyssa peaked around the edge of the car just as two masked figures stepped out into the street.

“Think anyone heard that?” one of them questioned as he glanced around nervously; much to Alyssa’s relief, he didn’t notice her or Grayson.

“Try the whole damn neighborhood!” The other growled back. “Cops will be here any minute!”

“What’s the rush, boys?”

Alyssa felt her blood run cold as another figure emerged from the smoke, roughly dragging a younger man with a leather jacket by his long stringy hair. Though she didn’t recognize the younger man, there was no mistaking who the other was.

“Grayson,” she whispered. “That’s—”

“The guy who robbed the gala,” the young heir growled quietly. “Looks like he and his friends are still in business… and did some recruiting.”

Alyssa frowned as she watched the younger man struggle against the lead robber; he didn’t seem to be a willing member.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as the leader’s skin shifted into solid grey stone. A wicked smile cracked across his face as he gave the young man’s hair a sharp yank.

“It’s not like the cops are much of a threat anymore… right, kid?” he sneered gleefully as the younger man winced in pain.

A loud gasp escaped from Alyssa before she could stop herself. Grayson slapped a hand over her mouth once again and hastily pulled her out of sight just as the leader’s head sharply turned towards their hiding spot. The two felt their blood turn cold as heavy footsteps made their way over to Grayson’s car. The young heir quickly pushed Alyssa under his car.

“Whatever happens, don’t come out until they’re gone!” he whispered to her.

“But--”

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Grayson raised a finger to his lips and stood just as a pair of heavy combat boots came into view.

“If it ain’t the son of Silas Prescott himself...”

Alyssa’s hand flew to her mouth, barely muffling a gasp as there was a dull sound of flesh hitting flesh. Grayson gasped in pain before sinking to his knees, clutching his stomach tightly. She saw the gunman

“I’ve got a score to settle with your dad, Prescott.”

Alyssa watched as Grayson was hauled to his feet and dragged away. She risked peaking out from her hiding place just in time to see the leader shove Grayson into the back of the van before crawling in after him along with one of the goons. The other led the young man in the leather jacket to the driver’s seat and forcefully shoved him in. As soon as the last goon got into the passenger’s seat, the van took off down the street.

Alyssa sprang out from under Grayson’s car in a flash. She ducked into the discount store right next to her apartment; if she was going to be a hero, she needed a disguise. She slapped a small wad of cash on the counter before grabbing a pair of yoga pants, a workout sweater, and a pair of running shoes before sprinting into the changing room. Once she had changed, she quickly snatched a pair of dark sunglasses before dashing out through the back door and rocketing up into the air, scanning the streets for the black van.

Her phone then vibrated in her pocket, prompting her to fish out her phone. A picture of Kameron lit up the screen; he was probably calling to check that she had made it home safely. She was about to reply when she saw the van speeding around a corner and onto a high overpass. Alyssa hesitated, glancing at her phone then after the van.

“... sorry, Kameron,” she whispered softly as she selected the ‘hang up’ option.

She stuffed her phone back into her pocket before racing after the van, catching up to it easily. The passenger window rolled down, and Alyssa was met with the barrel of a submachine gun.

“Get ready to die, freak!” The goon snarled before firing at her.

Alyssa yelped as she spiraled out of the way of the incoming bullets.

Even with his mask on, Alyssa could feel the goon sneering at her. “Say goodnight!”

Alyssa glared at the goon before thrusting out her hand at the gun. The gunman shouted in surprise as the psionic energy pulled the weapon out of his grasp just as the side door slid open.

The leader, still sheathed in his stony armor, gave Alyssa a grin of pure malice before grasping her arm and pulling her close. She could see Grayson behind him. The goon in the back with them had the blonde in a headlock, the barrel of his gun grinding against the man’s temple.

“Well, lookie here!” he sneered as Alyssa struggled helplessly against his vice-like grip. “Looks like I’m not the only freak in this city.”

“Stop it!” Grayson shouted. “Leave her alone!”

The villain ignored him. He roughly grasped Alyssa’s chin, forcing her to look up at him. His eyes roamed her body as he leaned in closer to her.

“Shame… you’re quite the looker” he murmured leeringly. He released his grip on her chin before striking her across the face.

Black spots danced across Alyssa’s vision. She began to feel unsteady as the world around her began to blur. The leader grinned wickedly before pushing her out of the van and over the edge of the overpass.

A shimmering purple sphere surrounded her, slowing her descent to the speed of a glacier. The energy began to fade as a pair of slender, yet strong, arms cradled her before gently setting her down. A beautiful face framed by long dark hair was the last thing Alyssa saw before the world faded to black.

#playchoices hero #choices fanfiction #kenji x mc #eva x mc

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ask-the-phan-site · 4 years

Text

Phan Cam: The Museum of Sloth

WARNING: This post could be a bit long.

>The Royal Palace of Eternia. It has been a while since we came here. The Guardians of the Galaxy left to cash in their reward as fast as they can and told us to contact them when we’re ready to return to Earth.

>In the throne room, we were all sitting around waiting to hear what happened to Adam. Then, Queen Marlena comes in.

How is he?

He’s alright. But he’s confined himself in his room. All we can do now is hope things will be better with him.

King Randor: I hope so.

I can see why. You discover that you’re the reincarnation of your ancestor, have to take up his duties, but you have to keep it a secret from everyone including family, then people start doubting you because they don’t know you’re secret, and now this?

It does seem rather horrid if you ask me.

You don’t know the half of it. We were surprised too when we learned the truth.

It’s true. Long ago, only three of us knew that Prince Adam and He-Man were the same person.

Mew.

Man-At-Arms: Forgive me, four of us. Myself, the Sorceress, Orko, and Cringer.

Joker: The Sorceress never quite explained how everyone else came to know.

Man-At-Arms: I’ll tell you. I hope you like long stories.

>Man-At-Arms told us the whole story. How a great evil from another planet known as Third Earth came to take over using the Powers of Castle Grayskull. How the heroes of that world, the Thundercats, came to stop this evil and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe joined them. How He-Man died and transformed back into Prince Adam in public for everyone to see.

He died!?

King Randor: He came back, thank goodness. I was the first one to learn the truth. And I revealed it to the rest of the kingdom. We defeated the evil and things fairly returned to normal... Or so we thought. Not everyone is happy to learn the truth.

They want him to stay as He-Man permanently and give up being Adam.

That’s what they’re saying. They don’t want someone like Adam to be their king. They say he’s weak while He-Man is strong and powerful. They don’t even care that they are the same persona. You heard so yourselves.

That’s complete bullshit! Adam had done nothing but good for them the best way he can, yet they just wanna tear him down just because he only had power has He-Man.

What kinda effin kingdom is this!?

Ryuji, stop it!

Queen Marlena: (trying to calm them) They are just the vocal minority. As we speak, the streets are full of people dancing knowing that all this time, their prince was defending the kingdom all along, no matter what form he takes. And they are celebrating even more now that he has returned to us from Earth.

That’s good, isn’t it?

But things didn’t turn out well, did it?

‘Fraid not. They may not be that many, but they still don’t like Adam.

Man-At-Arms: Adam had to pretend to be weak and reckless. I guess the people bought it a little too well.

But I’m sure if they fully knew the story, they might change their minds.

Man-At-Arms: Easier said than done. The people are just too scared of any evils that might arise. Evils that only He-Man might be able to fight. Trying to show them that Adam is just as capable will take some hard work.

And with his 21st birthday coming up, we have very little time.

I guess I sort of know how he feels. People think negative of you for something you couldn’t help. If I hadn’t met my friends, I would have gone on believing my mother’s death was my fault and spend the rest of my life locking myself in my room. We just can’t let this happen to Adam.

How do we do that? It seems like something that might be out of our hands.

This isn’t the first time he felt some doubt about himself. But he managed to overcome it, But this time, things are different. I doubt talking to him will work. Even the Sorceress is having a hard time. She said something about... Adam’s heart.

I do not understand how his heart fits into all of this. Is there some kind of medical problem?

This is not about the organ, Roboto. More like his spirit. His soul.

Oracle: His cognition.

Sy-Klone: Exactly. Teela, what did the Sorceress say about Adam’s heart?

Teela: She said that it’s been damaged in some way. Warped by a negative aura that it seems it can only be fixed from the inside. She said his heart has been... Distorted.

Distorted?

Ren, is there something you want to share with us?

>I wasn’t listening. I just ook out my phone and opened the Metaverse Navigator.

Joker: Prince Adam.

Nav: Candidate found.

I think I have the answer.

Dude! Location!

>I look around. Everyone was staring.

Joker: I know most of you have kept the secret of He-Man before. So I think we can trust you with one of our own.

What do you mean?

Man-At-Arms: You have seemed to have helped us before. I suppose we can return the favor.

King Randor: If it means it will help our son, so be it.

Queen: Well, I don’t suppose you know about a group that goes around stealing the hearts of bad people. Reforming society on Earth.

I think our allies on Arus told us about something like that.

Wind Dragon: Are you talking about the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?

Oracle: (smiling) Brace yourself, hero...

We’re them.

Wind Dragon: (shocked) You!? You guys are the Phantom Thieves?

>Mona changes to cat form.

Does this prove it?

>He changes back to human form.

Wind Dragon: A lot of people can do that. I’ve seen it.

Woman’s Voice: They speak the truth.

You know, Sorceress?

Sorceress’s Voice: Yes. I can sense that they wish to help. I am not sure if that will work, but I think it would be best to let them try to help.

I think we should listen. They seem like good people.

Wind Dragon: But on Earth, they’re considered criminals. Forcing someone to have a change of heart is not always the best choice.

Crow: Me and Sumire thought the same thing. But after being with them for a time, we learned that sometimes...

You have to do things that seem to work.

Wind Dragon: Hmm. I suppose. And from what I know, you have done some good things for others. Fine, as a hero, I’ll allow it.

Joker: That’s good to hear.

Teela: We’d actually like to hear more about what it is you’re talking about.

>We tell them our story.

Man-At-Arms: So you go into another world known as the Metaverse where exist Palaces and Jails where you take the core of that place. Their Treasure. When you do that, they have a change of heart?

Queen: That’s the gist of it. Also, in there Metaverse, there are enemies known as Shadows. They attack us if we try to take the Treasure. Thankfully, our Personas help us fight them.

Sy-Klone: Your Personas? You mean that power of heart you spoke of.

Queen: Yes. Once we take the Treasure, they have a change of heart and the distortion in them is gone.

King Randor: So you’re saying that our son’s heart is distorted and now he has one of these Palaces.

Ram Man: I don’t understand. Don’t he already have one?

Buzz-Off: Not this place. They mean a world inside Adam’s heart.

Noir: Don’t worry, there’s still a lot about the other world we don’t know about.

Queen: Either way, if Adam has a Palace, I think it would be best to investigate. But we won’t take his Treasure unless you both say it’s alright.

Queen Marlena: Very well, we’ll let you do what you must if it helps our son.

Mona: Then it’s decided.

Violet: We have the first keyword, we just need the other two. Is there any place that Adam might have some significance?

Man-At-Arms: Well, he is often in my workshop.

Nav: No candidates found.

Violet: I guess that’s not it.

Teela: I guess you need these keywords to get into Adam’s Palace.

Queen: Yes, we need the location of where his Palace is and what he views it as.

Teela: I guess that makes sense. I don’t know much about Earth technology, but we’ll do what we can. Let’s see, if it’s not my father’s workshop, maybe it’s the stables. He always goes there for a nap.

Nav: No candidates found.

Crow: That doesn’t seem to be it. Maybe a place that might be related to He-Man.

Orko: That would be Castle Grayskull. You think that might be it?

Nav: No candidates found.

Queen: That’s not it, either. Anywhere else?

Buzz-Off: Both He-Man and Adam are usually in the jungle around here.

Nav: No candidates found.

Orko: This is so hard. How on Eternia are we going to do this?

Nav: Candidate found.

Orko: (surprised) Oh my!

Noir: It’s not possible.

Fox: I’m afraid it is. Adam’s Palace is...

All of Eternia.

Queen Marlena: I had a feeling as such.

Oracle: We now have the who and the where, now we just need the what.

Panther: I guess he would probably see it as a royal palace, but I think that would be too obvious and already has this place. Besides, it wouldn’t be much of a distortion.

King Randor: Either as Adam or He-Man, he would probably see it as a battlefield.

Nav: Conditions have not been met.

Mona: He probably wanted everyone to acknowledge him as both, so it must be something like that. Maybe a library.

Nav: Conditions have not been met.

Fox: No, I feel he would want something more grander. I think a museum.

Nav: Results found. Updating guidance system.

Mona: That’s it!

Man-At-Arms: So we can go in now?

Queen: Pretty much. Don’t worry, Your Majesties, we will help your son.

King Randor: Do what you must. Thank you, Phantom Thieves.

>With that, the king and queen leave.

Teela: If it’s alright with you, I would like to join you in your mission. I may not have this power of heart, but I’m still an agile fighter.

Queen: I suppose. With Teela chan with us, we would like two more would like to join us as well.

Man-At-Arms: I would join you since Adam is one of my top students aside from my daughter, but my attention is needed in case anything happens.

Ram Man: I’d go, but I don’t think I’m cut out for thievery.

Skull: Actually, I wouldn’t mind the extra muscle. More than I normally give. But if Ram Man says he can’t do it, maybe Roboto.

Roboto: I shall do what I can for you.

Mona: As for our third, we could use a flyer. Extra point for good eyesight.

Buzz-Off: I know it’s for Adam’s sake, but I didn’t join the Masters to become a thief.

Sy-Klone: Neither did I.

Stratos: I may have wings, but I’m more of a glider.

Wind Dragon: I’ll do it.

Joker: Are you sure?

Wind Dragon: (with determination) Being a hero is all I ever wanted... What all my clones wanted. I’m my own person now, yet that’s still what I want. So, please... Let me do this.

Alright. We’ll be counting on you.

Wind Dragon: Thank you.

>Later on the palace balcony, we gathered here ready to go to Adam’s Palace.

Joker: Is everyone ready?

>They nod.

Then here we go.

Nav: Beginning navigation.

>The familiar red wave passes over us. When it’s over, everything looked a bit darker.

Teela: Are we in? It doesn’t look like things have actually changed.

Oracle: I wouldn’t be so sure. Look.

>Out in the distance stood a tower-like building with lights shining on it from the bottom.

Wind Dragon: So that’s it?

Fox: What’s that over there? Past it? Is that...

Roboto: Castle Grayskull. The tower is standing between it and the Royal Palace.

Mona: Then let’s get to it.

>Mona becomes our van. We get in and drive off.

>We arrive at the Palace. Up close, it looked like a cross between the Royal Palace and Castle Grayskull. There was also a large banner hanging over the entrance.

From here until the 21st Year, the Exhibition of Prince Adam of Eternia and He-Man of Grayskull!

Teela: (a bit surprised) You were right. He really wants to be acknowledged as both Adam and He-Man.

Wind Dragon: ...

Joker: Is something wrong?

Wind Dragon: ... It’s nothing. Let’s see what we can see.

>We step out of Mona. As soon as we do, our clothes change in a flash.

So we’re already perceived as threats.

He’s shutting everyone out. Of course that would be the case.

Oracle, can you scan to see any Shadows nearby?

Oracle: It looks like they’re a bit further in, so I guess we can check what we can on the inside.

Alright, but stay alert. Teela, Roboto, and Wind Dragon may be strong, but they don’t have Personas.

>We search the area until we found a window. I go up to it to see a storage room.

Joker: I think we can get in through here. Let’s go.

>Inside, we go through the storage room and into a lobby. In it, a large statue of Adam and He-Man crossing swords.

Seeing this, I can really feel the theme here.

Feeling like a fake. I know that. It’s not just Oracle.

Same here. When I think about those times I pretended to be an ace detective, I sympathize with Adam.

But that was so long ago now. You’re past that.

I don’t know, ever since I got Black Mask Mode, I might end up going crazy one day.

Roboto: I do not understand. Can you verify what Black Mask Mode is?

Crow: It’s kind of hard to explain. I think the only way is to show you.

Oracle: I think we can allow it. I don’t sense any Shadows nearby.

Crow: Alright, you asked for it.

Teela: (surprised) Whoa! You weren’t kidding!

Probably way better than He-Man, huh?

Wind Dragon: (unimpressed) I doubt it.

????: Who’s here? Who spoke of us?

Everyone: !

>Someone was coming down the staircase behind the statue. It looked like Adam, but wearing a dark version of his father’s attire. And his eyes were golden.

Teela: (surprised) Adam!? Why are you here?

Roboto: Hold on, Teela. It does seem like Prince Adam, but I am sensing energy levels that do not add up.

That’s his Shadow. The real Adam is still in the Royal Palace.

Teela: His Shadow? That’s the him of this world.

Normally, they try to keep us from the Treasure, but other times, they don’t.

Oracle: It seems he doesn’t mean us any harm.

Shadow Adam: Have you come to marvel at He-Man or criticize Prince Adam?

Wind Dragon: Neither. We’re here to help you.

Shadow Adam: Which one of us have you come to help? Adam, the Disgraced Prince of Eternia? Or the Legendary Hero, He-Man, who needs no help at all?

Wind Dragon: Both. Everyone loves both you and He-Man. That vocal minority just doesn’t understand.

Shadow Adam: They don’t? Then why do they sound like they do?

Oracle: You just had a bad experience. You’re letting their words distort your way of thinking. You need to pull through it and break free of what they think.

Shadow Adam: Break free?

Joker: That’s right. Only you can decide what to do with your life.

Shadow Adam: Only me? ... Just who am...

>Back in his room in the Royal Palace in the real world, Adam was starting to wonder something.

Break free... Only me... Just who am...

Man’s Voice: You heard me! Let me through!

Ram Man’s Voice: I can’t let you do that. Yer gonna have to leave.

Man’s Voice: I'm not going to let a bully like you get in my way. Move it!

Ram Man’s Voice: Hey!

>The doors of Adam’s room burst open and someone comes in... It was the doubtful man from before.

Doubtful Man: There you are, you piece of shit!

>He grabs Adam by the shirt.

Adam: (scared) What are you doing!?

Doubtful Man: (angry) You know why. How dare you come back as the weakling you are! You have no right to be king. We want He-Man on the throne! Why don’t you just disappear so we can finally have a strong ruler that will make Eternia great again? Why don’t you!? The last thing we want is a weakling like you... Especially one who is...

>Adam was getting scared. Fortunately, Ram Man and some guards come in and drag him away.

Ram Man: Okay, buddy, you need to leave.

>With that, the doubtful man was gone. Adam was shaken.

Ram Man: Adam, you okay?

Adam: ... Just go.

Ram Man: Adam-

Adam: (upset) GO!

>Ram Man, not wanting to upset Adam any further, leaves. Adam slumps on his bed in tears. He begins crying.

Adam: NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME!

>Outside the palace, the guards push the man out and close the door. He looks around. He’s all alone... So he removes his disguise.

I’d say that went rather well.

>Back in Adam’s Palace, the sound of eerie jeers could be heard.

Voice: Why don’t you just disappear so we can finally have a strong ruler that will make Eternia great again? Why don’t you!? The last thing we want is a weakling like you... Especially one who is...

Shadow Adam: (scared) NOOOO!

What the hell!? What is that!?

Mona: Could they be the people of Eternia?

Teela: Is that bad?

Mona: If it effects Adam’s cognition, it’ll effect his Palace as well.

Shadow Adam: N- N- NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME!

>A loud roar could be heard from above.

Shadow Adam: They have come for us.

Wind Dragon: What?

>Two Shadows appear. One looked like a royal guard and the other was an armored tiger.

Shadow Adam: They are causing us trouble. Remove them at once.

>With that, Shadow Adam leaves.

Roboto: My sensors indicate that these guards are powerful.

Oracle: No kidding.

Shadow Guard: Lord Adam and Lord He-Man have ordered you to be thrown out. If you won’t leave quietly, we will use force.

>The Shadows then change shape.

Oracle: Here we go! Persona!

>Necronomicon scans the Shadows.

Oracle: Got it! The first one’s weak to Ice. The second one’s weak to Fire and Nuclear Skills. Inari, Panther, Queen, time to shine.

Fox: I will do what I can. Persona!

Panther: Let’s do it!

Queen: We’ll give them hell!

Panther and Queen: Persona!

>I change Personas.

>Koumokuten uses Matarukaja. Byakko tries to use Bufudyne on Panther, but it misses. Goemon uses Masukukaja. Carmen uses Matarunda. Johanna uses Marakukaja. Sui-Ki uses Bufula on Koumokuten. He is knocked down. I pass the baton to Panther and Carmen uses Agilao on Byakko. He is knocked down.

Panther: Do it with style!

>After the attack, Koumokuten and Byakko are still up. Koumokuten uses Nuke Wall on Byakko. Byakko uses Swift Strike. Me and Queen dodge it. Goemon uses Bufula on Koumokuten. He is knocked down. Fox then passes the baton to Panther and Carmen uses Agilao on Byakko. However, he dodges it. Carmen uses Agilao again. He is knocked down. We don’t do an All-Out-Attack this time. Panther attacks Byakko. Johanna uses Vajra Blast. Despite being knocked down, Koumokuten resists it. Sui-Ki uses Headbutt on Byakko. Koumokuten gets back up and uses Assault Dive on me. It was a critical hit. Koumokuten then uses Matarukaja. Byakko gets back up and uses Bufudyne on Panther. It knocks her down. Byakko then uses Swift Strike. Goemon uses Counterstrike from it. Goemon then uses Tempest Slash on Byakko. Panther gets back up and Carmen uses Dormina on Byakko. He falls Asleep. Johanna uses Freila on Koumokuten. I get back up and Sui-Ki uses Bufula on Koumokuten. He is knocked down. I pass the baton to Panther and Carmen uses Agilao on Byakko. He is knocked down.

Panther: This is the chance!

>After the attack, Koumokuten and Byakko are still up, but slightly weaker. Koumokuten uses Deadly Fury on Panther. Byakko uses Swift Strike. Goemon uses Bufula on Koumokuten. But he dodges it. Carmen uses Agilao on Byakko. He is knocked down. Panther passes the baton to Fox and Goemon uses Bufula on Koumokuten. He is knocked down.

Fox: I will slice you to pieces!

>After the attack, Koumokuten and Byakko are still up, but more weaker. Johanna uses Flash Bomb. Byakko is Confused. Sui-Ki uses Bufula on Koumokuten. However, he dodges it. Koumokuten uses Matarukaja. Byakko uses Bufula on me. Sui-Ki absorbs it. Goemon uses Bufula on Koumokuten. He is knocked down. Fox passes the baton to Queen and Johanna uses Freila on Byakko. He is knocked down.

Queen: Let’s wipe ‘em out!

>After the attack, Koumokuten and Byakko are still up, but now weaker. Sui-Ki uses Bufula on Koumokuten. I pass the baton to Panther and Carmen uses Agilao on Byakko. He is knocked down.

Panther: Let’s finish this!

>After the attack, Koumokuten and Byakko are still, but now almost done.

Panther: We can do this! Fox, you ready?

Fox: Yes, let us end this battle in beauty and grace!

>That was that. The battle is over.

Teela: (amazed) Wow. I know you said how you fight, but still, those are the power of the heart. Your Personas.

Queen: Yes, it is.

Shadow Adam’s Voice: So you wish to go on? Very well. At least let us give you a small advantage.

>Then, something turns on. It looks like a light has been turned on in an information booth. I go over there to see something pamphlets on the desk.

Joker: I found a map. But it says it’s 1 of 3.

Violet: I guess in a way he does wish for us to help him.

Wind Dragon: (looking a bit down) ...

Toshio kun, are you okay?

Wind Dragon: I’m... I’m fine. Let’s head back.

>We all agree to leave the Palace for now. We’ll be back.

>Back in the throne room in the real world, we fill the king in queen on everything that happened. They also tell us about what happened with their son and the intruder.

That piece of shit snuck in here just to tell him that!? How could he!?

Noir: I can’t believe he did that. It’s just so horrible.

Crow: How did he even get in here?

Man-At-Arms: We’re still trying to figure that out.

Mona: That explains why the Shadows attacked. When he said those awful things to Adam, it effected his cognition.

Queen: Now we know we have to change Adam’s heart. At this rate, he could lose the will to live altogether. No Adam and no He-Man.

Queen Marlena: (sadden by this) No.

King Randor: We can’t let this happen. Phantom Thieves, you must save our son.

Don’t worry, Your Majesties, we will.

Wind Dragon: ...

Joker: Is something on your mind, Toshio kun?

Wind Dragon: I can’t help but think about what we heard in the Palace. What that guy said. “Especially one who is...” One who is what?

>Man-At-Arms was blushing.

Joker: What’s with the look?

Man-At-Arms: Well, it’s like this: A short time before Adam was taken to Earth, just a little after the Thundercats visit, Adam and I were in my workshop. I told him that his parents weren’t the only ones who were extremely heartbroken by his death. Teela, the Masters, Orko, Cringer, and... Me. I was crying. Then, he started crying, too. Then before we knew it, he and I were... We were...

We get the picture.

Man-At-Arms: Neither of us saw the servant come in. She was just bringing dinner. She didn’t expect to see that. She just put the tray down and back away. I tried to talk to her, but she ran off. She said she only told some of her closest friends. But I guess they told their friends, as well. Before we knew it, news of Adam’s interests were all everyone spoke about. This left some worried and others outraged.

Wind Dragon: I see. So Adam’s...

Queen Marlena: (smiling) Our son loves all the people in his life. No matter who they are, no matter their background, no matter their spices... No matter their gender.

Even this Skeletor?

Buzz-Off: (unsure) That may be a bit of a stretch.

King Randor: But Adam is sure that somewhere buried under all that evil... still beats the heart of my brother, his uncle.

Skeletor’s your brother?

King Randor: Well, half brother. But still, we are bound by blood. Long ago, my brother, Keldor as he was known at the time, was a brilliant alchemist. But then he was taken by a demon of envy. He sought to take control of Eternia through dark and terrible means. But we stopped him, but at a price. He was burned by his own magic. After that, he became the villain we all now know as Skeletor. But I agree with Adam. I hope one day, my brother will finally find whatever goodness still glows inside which will lead him back to his true family.

Violet: I see. I hope that happens, too.

King Randor: Thank you.

Panther: Though, I’m still shocked to see the people don’t like Adam just because he might be attracted to guys.

Teela: I know. And an attraction like that isn’t even uncommon here on Eternia.

Ram Man: It’s true. I knew these two girls in my old school days. Now they live happily together. Even got a few kids of their own.

Man-At-Arms: Even some of our guards are in that kind of relationship.

Crow: But what makes Prince Adam so different?

King Randor: Adam is the first in the royal family to have that attraction. This has left the people worried that my son will not have a wife to produce heirs with. And since this was found out just after the news of him and He-Man being one and the same, things started to get more difficult.

Noir: So they have high expectations of him. I know about that.

King Randor: When I announced that Adam would soon become king, the people were outraged saying that they would only accept him as such if he agrees to give up being Adam who they see only as weak and a disappointment and solely become He-Man whom they consider strong and powerful as a true king should in their eyes. This really upset my son and he fled.

Teela: We tried to go after him, but something happened. From the sky, a bright light. It blinded us. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone... And so was Prince Adam.

Queen: That must have been when he was taken from Eternia and to Earth.

Crow: It must have caused his memory loss. He didn’t have any bumps on his head, so I suspect it must have been the shock of being taken between worlds that did it.

Man-E-Faces: But now it seems he’s wishing it stayed that way. The people are as brutal as ever.

Joker: We can’t let this go on. We have to change Adam’s heart and show everyone how wrong they are about him.

Queen: The Palace said that there would be an exhibition until the 21st.

King Randor: I can understand why. That’s when we begin official planning of the coronation which will take place on Adam’s 21st birthday a week later, the 28.

Queen: I see. So we have a deadline. Either the 21 or the 28. We have to establish a route to the Treasure and send the calling card no later than two days prior, either the 19 or the 26.

Joker: We’ll do what we can. Don’t worry.

Mission Start!

>We all agree... None of us notice Wind Dragon wondering off.

>A little later, Wind Dragon was now at Adam’s door. He knocks.

Wind Dragon: Your Highness? Prince Adam?

>No response.

Wind Dragon: I know you can hear me, I can sense you near the door.

Adam’s Voice: Wh- What do you want?

Wind Dragon: I heard everything that happened. I sort of understand. But I know you don’t have to talk to me about it if you don’t want to. So if you ever have anything you want to say, just let me know. That’s all I wanted to say.

>With that, Wind Dragon leaves... Adam opens his door a little.

Adam: ... Thank you.

>To be continued...

#phantom thieves cam

0 notes

milaleah · 6 years

Text

Untold Stories Of Election Day 2016

BELOW IS A RECAP OF ELECTION DAY/NIGHT FROM ESQUIRE MAGAZINE featuring ROGER STONE.

**** Roger Stone, longtime Trump ally: She was just dead in the water. ****

On November 8, 2016, America’s chief storytellers—those within the bubbles of media and politics—lost the narrative they had controlled for decades. In a space of 24 hours, the concept of “conventional wisdom” seemed to vanish for good. How did this happen? What follows are over 40 brand new interviews and behind-the-scenes stories from deep inside The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, and more—plus first-hand accounts from the campaigns, themselves. We’ve spent a year hearing the spin. Now it’s time for the truth.

THE RUN-UP

Steve Bannon, Trump campaign CEO: When I first came on the campaign, I said, “You have a hundred-percent chance of winning.” We just got to stick to that plan. Even with Billy Bush, I never wavered for a second.

Jim Margolis, Clinton campaign senior adviser: I am normally a glass-half-empty guy when it comes to expectations on election days. This was the first big election where I was absolutely certain we were going to win.

Dave Weigel, The Washington Post: I called Jeff Flake the Sunday before the election. I said, “I have one round of questions if Hillary wins, and one if Trump wins.” And he just started laughing, saying, “Why would you bother asking the second one?”

Rebecca Traister, New York magazine: We got up around 7 a.m., and there was an electric current running through my body.

Ana Marie Cox, Crooked Media, formerly of MTV: I was staying at my in-laws’ place in New York. They’re Trump supporters. They weren’t in town, but my father-in-law made a joking bet with me. He said, “The next time we see each other, there will be a President Trump.” I remember laughing at him.

Neal Brennan, comedian/writer: I was at SNL. Chappelle was like, “Dude, I feel like Trump’s gonna win.” I was like, “Dude, I’ll bet you a hundred thousand dollars he won’t win.” He did not take the bet, thankfully.

Sen. Tim Kaine, Democratic vice presidential candidate: I thought we would win, but I was more wary than many for the simple reason that the U.S. had never elected a woman president and still has a poor track record of electing women to federal office.

Ana Navarro, CNN commentator and Republican strategist: I schlepped my absentee ballot around with me for a month. It was getting pretty beat up inside my bag. I would open it up and look at it every now and then and say, “I’m not ready. I can’t bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton. Please, God, let something happen that I don’t have to do this.”

Brian Fallon, Clinton campaign national press secretary: There had been a battleground tracking poll our team had done over the weekend that had us up 4 [points]. We were up in more than enough states to win, taking us over 270. The public polls all showed a similar outlook.

Zara Rahim, Clinton campaign national spokeswoman: We were waiting for the coronation. I was planning my Instagram caption.

Van Jones, CNN political commentator: The Democrats had this attitude, which I think is very unhealthy and unproductive, that any acknowledgement that Trump had a chance was somehow helping Trump, and that we all had to be on this one accord that it was impossible for him to win. I thought that was stupid. I’ve never seen that strategy work.

Matt Oczkowski, formerly of Cambridge Analytica (Trump campaign data firm): When you see outlets like the Huffington Post giving Trump a 1 percent probability of victory, which is not even physically possible, it’s just like, “Wow, people are going to miss this massively.”

Roger Stone, longtime Trump ally: She was just dead in the water.

Joel Benenson, Clinton campaign chief strategist: I go into the 10 o’clock call and we’re getting reports from the analytics people and the field people. And they finish, and whoever’s leading the call asks if there’s anything else. I said, “Well, yeah, I got a call 20 minutes ago from my daughter in Durham, North Carolina. People are standing on line and aren’t moving, and are now being told they need to vote with paper ballots.” To me, that was the first sign that something was amiss in our boiler room process. That’s essential information. We needed those reports so the legal team would activate. I was stunned, and actually quite nervous. I thought, “Do we even have what we need on the ground to manage election day?”

“I MEAN, IT LOOKED LIKE A LANDSLIDE”

5 p.m.

Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight: When I was coming in on the train at 5 p.m., according to our model, there was one-in-three chance of a Clinton landslide, a one-in-three chance of a close Clinton win, and a one-in-three chance of a Trump win. I was mentally preparing myself for each of those outcomes.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker: I thought about, and actually wrote, an essay about “the first woman president,” and the historical background of it all. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the suffragettes, the relationship with Frederick Douglass…a historical essay, clearly written in a mood of “at long last” and, yes, celebration. The idea was to press “post” on that piece, along with many other pieces by my colleagues at The New Yorker, the instant Clinton’s victory was declared on TV.

Bret Baier, Fox News chief political anchor: We got the exit polls at 5 p.m. in a big office on the executive floor. Rupert Murdoch and all the staff were there. It looked like we were going to call the race for Hillary Clinton at 10:30 or 11 p.m.

Steve Bannon: The exit polls were horrific. It was brutal. I think we were close in Iowa and Ohio and everything else was just brutal. Losing everywhere. Florida, Pennsylvania. I mean, it looked like a landslide.

Ashley Parker, The Washington Post, formerly of The New York Times: The RNC thought they were going to lose. The Trump campaign supporters thought they were going to lose. They were rushing to get their side out of the blame game. I spent part of my day lining up interviews for later that night or the next morning to get their version of events.

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, Trump’s religious adviser: I called Sean Hannity and said, “I really think he’s going to win tonight.” Sean said, “Well, I’m glad you do, because the exit polls don’t look good.” I found out later that Trump was very pessimistic, too.

Steve Bannon: Jared [Kushner] and I were out on this balcony in Trump Tower. We looked at it on Jared’s iPhone. And the numbers were so bad that we regrouped inside. We look at each other and we go, “This can’t be right. It just can’t.” And Jared goes, “I got an idea, let’s call Drudge.” And Drudge says, “The corporate media—they’ve always been wrong the entire time—these numbers are wrong.”

Brian Fallon: I was hearing from my high school principal, people I hadn’t spoken to since college. Everybody is conveying thanks for taking on Trump. It was going to be a cathartic experience of him getting his comeuppance after months of representing something that was so egregious in the eyes of so many people.

Rebecca Traister: They were serving, like, $12 pulled pork sandwiches [at the Javits Center]. It was nuts, people were bouncing off the walls. Everyone genuinely believed she was going to win. I don’t know if it made me feel more confident or not.

Evan McMullin, Independent candidate: Our election night event was in Salt Lake City. I was drinking Diet Coke and eating hummus and olives.

Ana Marie Cox: At the MTV watch party, we had dancers and graffiti artists. There were people giving temporary tattoos. I remember my colleague Jamil Smith and I both bringing up at a meeting, “Hey guys, what if something goes wrong? What if this doesn’t go how we think it’s going to go?” And the answer from some MTV exec was, “We’ll pivot.”

Steve Bannon: Drudge snapped us out of it, saying, “You guys are a couple of jamokes. Wait until the second exit polls come out, or later.” We called the candidate and told him what the numbers were and what Drudge had said. And then we said, “Hey, ya know, we left it all on the field. Did everything we can do. Let’s just see how it turns out.”

Sen. Tim Kaine: Based on the returns from one bellwether Virginia county I know well, I realized that we would win Virginia by a significantly larger margin than President Obama four years earlier. This was a huge feeling given all the work that Anne and I have done for 30-plus years to help make Virginia more progressive. It struck me for the first time, “I will probably be vice president.” That feeling lasted about 90 minutes.

Ashley Parker: I walked over to the Hilton for election night. At some point they rolled in a cake that was like…a life-sized, very impressive rendering of Trump’s head.

Melissa Alt, cake artist: I got an order for a Hillary Clinton cake. So, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to make Donald Trump as well.” Just because that would generate a lot of interest. My manager, who has a friend who works for Donald Trump Jr., said, “Let’s contact them and see if they’re interested in having cake.” And obviously they said yes.

The Kid Mero, Desus & Mero: I’m surprised a stripper didn’t jump out of the cake.

Melissa Alt: I start getting phone calls of people saying, “This is TMZ, or Boston Globe, or People magazine. Do you know that your cake is trending all over the whole internet?”

Ashley Parker: I don’t know if I was ever allowed to eat it. It seemed fairly decorative.

Melissa Alt: Obviously, I wanted everyone to see it first and then eat it. That cake could probably feed about a hundred.

Gary Johnson, Libertarian candidate: I was taken aback by the fact that, at least at the start of the evening, all the networks were showing three names on the screen for the first time, meaning mine and Clinton and Trump. But no, I don’t remember the cake.

“I THINK I’M GONNA THROW UP”

8 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Maggie Haberman, The New York Times: When I went downstairs at 8:15, Hillary was up in Florida. When I came back upstairs, it had flipped. I got a sense the second I set foot in the newsroom that something was going on.

Van Jones: You got smoke coming out of every gear trying to figure out what the heck is happening out there. And you’ve got John King who had said, over and over, that there is no pathway for a Trump victory. Suddenly, that whole thing starts to come apart.

Roger Stone: I was committed to be an on-air anchor for InfoWars. I think I was on the air for seven hours straight.

Steve Bannon: We had taken over the fifth floor of Trump Tower, which had been Corey [Lewandowski]’s original headquarters. It was a concrete floor with no carpeting. They didn’t heat it. It had computers everywhere, guys are tracking everything, we had a chain of command. We called the fifth floor “the crack den.” It looked like a crack den. We put all the maps up and we started getting raw feeds from both our local guys and also the secretary of state of Florida. They were putting up their total vote counts. And [national field director] Bill Stepien was sitting there with all of our modeling. They were really focused on Florida—particularly the Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Also North Carolina was coming in. And obviously Ohio and those states were starting to come in. But the big one we were focused on was Florida. Because if we didn’t win Florida, it was not going to happen.

Omarosa Manigault, Trump campaign: If we believed what was on the television, we would have thought we lost. But looking at the numbers that were in front of us in the key battleground states, we were up…or we were neck and neck, with expectations of higher turnout and more enthusiasm. We were going off of our own internal data. What was being shown on CNN and MSNBC and some of these other networks was showing a stark contrast to what was in front of us.

Reza Aslan, author and religious scholar: I thought, “Oh my God, how terrible are we that it’s even this close?”

Brian Fallon: As I was walking off the risers [at Javits], Jen Epstein, a Bloomberg reporter, grabbed my arm and said, “Are you guys nervous about Florida?” I gave her some sort of verbal shrug. Right after that I called into the boiler room and asked for a gut check.

Van Jones: My phone was literally warm from the text messages coming in.

Zara Rahim: I had been going back and forth between the venue and backstage. My face was really tense. All of these reporters can read your energy and your face. You never want a reporter to tweet like, “Clinton campaign members are nervous.”

Jim Margolis: I finally called Steve Schale, who ran Florida for us in the Obama campaign. I said, “Steve, what’s going on here? Is this just a lack of information?” He said, “I think you’ve got a problem.”

Bret Baier: At 8:30 I turned to Chris Wallace, who was sitting next to us on the set, and said, “This does not look like it’s lining up.” We came back from commercial break and Chris said, “Donald Trump could be the next president of the United States.”

Jerry Falwell Jr.: My 17-year-old daughter, Caroline, had been following the election. It’s the first time she’s ever followed politics. And she was so nervous about the result that her stomach got upset. She told her brother, “I think I’m gonna throw up.” So he took off his Trump hat and she threw up in it, right next to Laura Ingraham.

Felix Biederman, Chapo Trap House: At that point the blue wall hadn’t come in yet, and that’s when the air in the room started to tighten. It was like, “Oh, fuck.” She can still do it, but everything that needs to happen for Trump is happening. What if what’s always happened with Hillary—they did all the work, they know everything, they’re super qualified—what if they didn’t do it? What if they fucked it up?

Ana Marie Cox: I did a couple of on-camera news hits where I was told, “What you need to do here is tell people not to panic.” Meanwhile, I was panicking.

David Remnick: Not only did I not have anything else ready, I don’t think our site had anything, or much of anything, ready in case Trump won. The mood in the offices, I would say, was frenetic.

Dave Weigel: I’m in the parking lot of the Scalise party. There are Republicans drinking, some celebrating, some not paying attention. My editor was calling to see when I would hand in my story. One, I’m on a minor story that’s falling apart, and two, I’m probably in the wrong place. Three, I need to reorder the story, and four, how much did I tell people confidently about the election that I was wrong about?

Ashley Parker: We started running up to one another like, “He’s gonna win, he’s gonna win. We know it now, it’s gonna happen.”

Desus Nice, Desus & Mero: It’s one thing to find out Donald Trump is president, but another to be on TV with people watching you watch Donald Trump become president.

Michael Barbaro, The New York Times: Carolyn Ryan, who was the politics editor, pulled me aside and said, “I need you to be involved in a ‘Trump Wins’ story.”

Matt Flegenheimer, The New York Times: Michael and I build this thing out together into a fully sweeping and historical news story. Maybe 1,500 words. We lock ourselves in this little glass office in the Times building and try to tune out the unstoppable din of the newsroom.

Steve Bannon: Jared came down and the candidate was upstairs. Then when word got out that Florida was competitive, that it was gonna be real, he came down to the 14th floor, the headquarters, where we had what we called the war room, which had multiple TVs running. And so what we did is we moved the data analysis thing that we had up to the 14th floor. And I went over with Stepien and the others and just stood next to the candidate and walked him through what was going on. And he finally took a seat. And we sat there and watched everything come in.

Jacob Soboroff, MSNBC correspondent: I went from this feeling of, “Oh my god, wow. I can’t believe it,” to, in a matter of seconds, “Oh, whoa, I can totally believe it.”

Steve Bannon: Stepien looked at it and said, “Our spread is too big, they can’t recover from this.” Miami-Dade and Broward were coming back really slow. They were clearly holding votes back, right? And then Stepien looked at me and said, “We have such a big lead now. They can’t steal it from us.

“I FELT SO ALONE, I KNEW IT WAS DONE”

Ashley Parker: I received a frantic call from Mike Barbaro, so I was racing around the ballroom getting quotes and feeding them back to the story.

Joshua Green, Bloomberg Businessweek correspondent and Devil’s Bargain author: At 9:05 p.m. I sent Bannon an email and said, “Holy shit, you guys are gonna win, aren’t you?” He sent a one word reply: “Yes.”

Dave Weigel: I had told my parents, who are Clinton supporters—my dad actually knew Clinton growing up as he’s from the same town in Illinois she is. I texted him early in the night saying, “These Florida counties seem to be going the way they usually go.” But once I realized there was no way for Clinton to win, I called them saying, “I’m sorry, this is what I do for a living and I was wrong.” My dad said, “Well, I’m still holding out hope.” And I said, “Don’t bother. Process this, and figure out what you’re going to do next, because it’s not going to happen.”

Trae Crowder, comedian and author: I felt very mad at liberals, you know, like my team. I was very upset with all of us for a lot of reasons.

Rebecca Traister: I felt so alone, I knew it was done. I was by myself on the floor. I started to cry.

David Remnick: That night I went to a friend’s election-night party. As Clinton’s numbers started to sour, I took my laptop out, got a chair, found a corner of that noisy room, and started thinking and writing. That was what turned out to be “An American Tragedy.”

Steve Bannon: As soon as we got Florida, I knew we were gonna win. Because Florida was such a massive lift for us, right? We were so outstaffed. But then we won Florida. Just made me know that the rest of the night was going to go well.

Maggie Haberman: I started texting some of the Trump people and one of them wrote back, “Say it with me: ‘President Trump. President Trump.’”

“CAN WE STAY IN THE U.S.?”

Zara Rahim: A member of senior leadership came, and I’ll never forget him looking at us and saying, essentially, “If she doesn’t win Michigan and Wisconsin, Donald Trump will be president-elect.” That was the first time I heard those words.

Jim Margolis: The tenor had changed completely. People were very nervous in the room, we’re all talking to each other. I’m going back and forth with [Clinton campaign manager] Robby Mook, who is over at the hotel. We’re on the phone with some of the states that are still out there, trying to understand what is taking place in Wisconsin and Michigan, because those numbers are softer than they ought to be. That’s beginning to weigh very heavily.

Rebecca Traister: I was thinking everything from, “I’m gonna have to rewrite my piece” to, “Can we stay in the U.S.?” I texted my husband, “Tell Rosie to go to bed. I don’t want her to watch.”

Roger Stone: The staff at InfoWars is largely people in their late 20s, early 30s, all of whom are interested in politics, but none of whom would consider themselves an expert. So they would look to me and say, “Well, are we going to win or not?” And I said, “Yes, we’re going to win.”

Matt Flegenheimer: Michael Grynbaum—who covers media—we had been following the Upshot percentages on the race. We were trying to get our heads around it. If it’s 75 percent, two coin flips, Donald Trump’s president. You had dynamic, shifting odds on the meter. Maybe it’s one coin flip. Maybe it’s half a coin flip. At some point, when I was in that little room with Michael Barbaro, Grynbaum comes in, takes a quarter, slams it down on the middle of the desk. Doesn’t say a word. Just walks out. I still have that quarter in my wallet.

David Remnick: Obviously, we were not going to press “post” until a result had been announced. So I made some revisions, came across a quotation from George Orwell, played around with various sentences, but all in a kind of strange state of focus that happens only once in a while.

Steve Bannon: We stayed there until I want to say about 11 o’clock, 11:30, after Florida got called. It looked like others were coming our way, that we were obviously gonna win. That’s when we went upstairs to the residence, to the penthouse. In hindsight, we still had two and a half hours to go, because they didn’t call it ‘til like 2:30 in the morning.

Symone Sanders, Strategist for Priorities USA: Omarosa called [into MTV] saying, “It’s a good night over here at Trump Tower.” She’s like, “I knew Donald Trump would be the president. I told everyone months ago. And the day is here!” I was just dumbfounded.

Neal Brennan: Slowly but surely it dawns on us. And I had said things like, “You know, I’ve heard that technically Republicans can never win another presidential election.” I’m just saying dumb shit, all things I’d read on Politico or fuckin’ The Atlantic or whatever. And then slowly but surely it happens. It’s like we…it…fucking Hillary lost.

Van Jones: I picked up my pen and I wrote down two words: “parents” and “whitelash.”

Jeffrey Lord, former CNN political commentator: People get so obsessed with the race thing.

Ana Marie Cox: I happen to be in recovery. I had a moment of, like, “Why the fuck not?” I went on Twitter and said, “To those of us ‘in the room’ together, he’s not worth it. Don’t drink over this.” And the response I got was amazing. I said, “I’m going to a meeting tomorrow. Everyone get through this 24 hours, get to a meeting, we’re not alone.”

Evan McMullin: I looked at my staffers. In my mind’s eye, they were all seated up against this wall. They were disappointed, they were afraid, all of that. I told them that I didn’t want to see any long faces. I told them to buck up. And it had no effect.

Van Jones: I literally said, “This was many things. This was a rebellion against elites, it was a complete reinvention of politics and polls. And it was also about race.” But the “whitelash” comment became this big, big thing. What’s interesting about it is, I’m black, my wife is not. She and I were talking about what was happening in Europe. And I said, “The backlash is coming here.” She said, “Yeah, it’ll be a whitelash here.” That was in the back of my mind. People think I made that term up on the spot. It’s very rare you can put two syllables together and make the entire case.

Jeffrey Lord: I thought he was wrong. While Van and I disagree, he’s a curious and sensible soul. I thought at some point he would come to a different conclusion.

“WHAT’S OBAMA THINKING?”

1 a.m. – 3 a.m.

Melissa Alt: People were texting me the whole night, just congratulations on the cake. That was funny because the night turned out so different than I expected. Who knew cake could generate so much hype?

Bret Baier: The futures markets had taken a nosedive, so we were covering that aspect of things. Fortunately, we had Maria Bartiromo on the set, who looked at the numbers and said, “Well, I would think this is a buying opportunity, because if you look at policy, tax cuts, regulation roll back, and everything else, that’s probably going to mean the market turning around when businesses weigh in.” That turned out to be pretty prescient.

Ana Marie Cox: A Muslim colleague of mine called his mother. She was worried he was going to be the victim of violence at any moment. A colleague who is gay and married was on the phone with her wife saying, “They’re not going to take this damn ring away from me.”

Van Jones: I had Muslim friends who came from countries like Somalia asking, “Should we leave the country tonight?” Because in their countries of origin, if a president that hostile takes power, they might start rounding up people in the morning.

David Remnick: Jelani [Cobb] and I spoke around midnight. We were both, let’s put it this way, in the New Yorker mode of radical understatement, disappointed. Jelani’s disappointment extended to his wondering whether he should actually leave the country. He wasn’t kidding around. I could tell that from his voice.

Gary Johnson: Well, I was really disappointed at the results. But what I came to very quickly was, as I’ve said many, many, many, times, if I wasn’t elected president, I was going to ski a hundred-plus days and I was also going to ride the Continental Divide bike race.

Jill Stein, Green Party candidate: Did I have remorse about running? Absolutely not. I have remorse about the misery people are experiencing under Democrats and Republicans both.

Neal Brennan: That’s sketch-writing night at SNL. So all the writers are crestfallen, and it was up to us to write comedy for that Saturday. Me and [Colin] Jost wrote the sketch where Dave [Chappelle] is watching the election, and Chris Rock shows up and everyone’s bawling. It was based on the experience of being in Jost’s office and me saying incredibly stupid shit as reality crumbled.

Ashley Nicole Black, writer/correspondent, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee: We all went into a room and sat in silence for at least five minutes. The conversation wasn’t like, “What is it going to be in the country?” It was like, okay, “We’re at work. We have a show tomorrow. What are we going to do?” And Sam goes, “I think this is my fault.” It’s Sam’s first time voting in an American election, and she told us how the first time she was on Law & Order, Law & Order got canceled the next day. And she got interviewed by Playboy, and the next day they announced they were no longer doing nudity. And now she voted for the first time and broke America. We all laughed, it broke the tension in the room. Then we started writing Act 1 with that idea in mind.

Rep. Adam Schiff, congressman, 28th District of California: I was at a victory party for my campaign at the Burbank Bar and Grill. And it was the most somber and depressing victory party I’d ever had.

Brian Fallon: Eventually there were conversations around the awkwardness. There started to be this pressure to concede even before AP called the race.

Nate Silver: I felt like if the roles had been reversed, and if Clinton had been winning all of these states, that they wouldn’t have been so slow to call it. In some ways, the slowness to call it reflected the stubbornness the media had the whole time about realizing that, actually, it was a pretty competitive election.

Jerry Falwell Jr.: The crowd at the Trump party was really aggravated because Megyn Kelly didn’t want to call it. She was so hopeful that Trump would lose. She let hours go by. Finally, the crowd started chanting, “Call it! Call it! Call it!”

Bret Baier: There was a growing group of people who had gathered outside Fox News who obviously were Trump supporters. They were going crazy.

Zara Rahim: There was a massive garage behind the Javits center. John Podesta stood up on a box and told us, “We will have more information for you soon,” which is the most frustrating thing to hear in that moment. Everybody was in this big circle of sadness and nobody knew what to do. Leadership didn’t know what to do. We were all at a loss.

Jon Favreau, Crooked Media, former Obama speechwriter: We were in a constant text chain with our buddies in the White House, asking, “What’s going on? What’s the boss thinking? What’s Obama thinking?” And finally they told us, “Oh, he just talked to her and he thinks she should concede and she agrees. She’s just waiting for the right moment.”

Jerry Falwell Jr.: I called the president-elect. He said, “Well, why don’t you come over to Trump Tower, you and your family, and watch the returns with us?” And I said, “I don’t want to do that, because by the time I get over there, you’re going to be coming over here to do your victory speech.” And he said, “All right, whatever.”

Matt Paul, chief of staff to VP candidate Tim Kaine: Senator Kaine, when the news became very grim…the senator actually went to bed. Nothing was going to happen that night. He had to put together a different type of speech.

Brian Fallon: I was on the phone with the decision desk people at AP, trying to glean a sense of their confidence about the numbers in states like Wisconsin and Michigan. I knew that when those got called, it was ball game, so I was trying to impart to them what we were hearing about what precincts might still be outstanding. We were also trying to gauge if they were about to call it, if and when she should speak.

Michael Barbaro: We really labored over a few paragraphs and a few words, just capturing the enormity of a Trump victory. That it wasn’t expected. The messages the campaign had run on, what they would suddenly mean for the country. And it was a real challenge to convey all of the things he had said and done in the campaign, and all the controversies that he had sparked and put those into the context of a traditional, sweeping, “This person has just been elected president of the United States,” New York Times story.

Matt Flegenheimer: I think after 1 o’clock we had our final version and we were ready to press the button on “Trump Just Won.” It did make the last edition of the print paper.

Michael Barbaro: There was so much going on that night and so many last-minute changes and such a hectic schedule that the story was published with the wrong bylines. The historic front page, “Trump Triumphs,” ran in the paper with the wrong bylines.

Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker: I saw the New York Times headline and I was very discomforted by it. For one, I knew that I had a child on the way.

Maggie Haberman: I was supposed to go on a CNN panel at 2 a.m., they were doing a very early version of New Day. I got stuck because of a deadline anyway, so it worked out I couldn’t make it, which I felt bad about. In reality, I wasn’t prepared to talk about it. I couldn’t really understand what had happened. And I think images of gobsmacked reporters probably wouldn’t have helped.

Michael Barbaro: We’re all sitting around and we’re all doing what journalists do after a big story, which is talk about it endlessly. I don’t think any of us wanted to go home. I don’t think any of us wanted to go off into the private space of figuring out what this all means. This gravitational pull kept us there much later than we needed to be.

Reza Aslan: My wife stayed up and I went to sleep, then she woke me up around 1 or 2 in the morning bawling and told me that it was over. My poor, sweet wife. She wanted to hug and kiss me but I went into a panic attack and couldn’t breathe.

David Remnick: We agreed that night, and we agree today, that the Trump presidency is an emergency. And in an emergency, you’ve got a purpose, a job to do, and ours is to put pressure on power. That’s always the highest calling of journalism, but never more so than when power is a constant threat to the country and in radical opposition to its values and its highest sense of itself.

Brian Fallon: We had this issue where the Javits Center needed us out by 3 a.m. The decision was made that someone had to come out and address the crowd.

Zara Rahim: There were die-hard Hillary supporters that were like, “We’re not going.” Folks who were sobbing and literally couldn’t move because they were so distraught. I remember pieces of memorabilia on the floor, little Hillary pins and “I believe that she will win” placards.

Rebecca Traister: People were throwing up. People were on the floor crying.

Steve Bannon: We had an agreement with these guys. Robby Mook had sent this email saying, you know, “When AP calls it, we’ll call and congratulate you right away.” Because they were expecting Trump to keep saying, “It’s rigged, it’s rigged.” So Robby Mook sent a thing over which I’m sure he regrets. [Laughs]. He sent an email to us, he said, 15 minutes after AP calls it, they would expect to hear from us. If they hadn’t heard from us, she would get up to give a victory speech. I think AP called it right when we left.

Roger Stone: We figured they had her in a straitjacket by then. Or that she was throwing things and cursing.

“LET’S GO ONSTAGE AND GET THIS DONE”

Bret Baier: It was around 2:30 in the morning, and I said, “Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States.” This whiz-bang graphic with all of these firework animations flashed across the screen with the words Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States. Just seeing that, everybody on the set was silent for a little bit, as the whole thing was being digested.

Stephen L. Miller, conservative blogger: The Onion headline kept flashing through my head really heavy. During the primaries they had the Trump story, “You really want to see how far this goes, don’t you America?”

Jorge Ramos, Univision news anchor: When he won, I said it as if I was reporting a football score or a soccer match. “Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States.” No emotion. Just the facts. That’s what the audience demanded. That is a sign of respect. As a journalist you have to report reality as it is, not as you wish it would be. That’s exactly what I was doing.

Jeffrey Lord: It was an amazing moment. Anderson [Cooper] came over to me and, in his classy fashion, shook my hand and said, “Congratulations, you were right.”

Steve Bannon: When it was called, he was actually upstairs in the kitchen. He has a small kitchen with a television. When he heard it was being called by AP, I shook his hand and said, “Congratulations, Mr. President.” So we kinda laughed. There were no big hugs or anything. Nothing crazy. He’s not a guy who gets overly excited. He’s very controlled. People around him are very controlled. We were obviously very happy and ecstatic. But it’s not a bunch of jumping around, high-fiving, anything like that.

Matt Oczkowski: It almost felt like a videogame, like you were playing something and won. You’re like, “Wow, this is the presidency of the United States.”

Roger Stone: The champagne tasted great. This was the culmination of a dream that I’d had since 1988.

Jim Margolis: I was on with Robby [Mook], who was in the room with her when she did the concession call to Trump. It was surreal. It was beyond my imagination that we would be in this position with this person being elected president.

Steve Bannon: It only took us 10 minutes to get there, it was right down the street. When we got there, we were in this weird holding stage, kind of off to the side. Very crammed. She called the president on his phone. Or it might have been Huma Abedin called Kellyanne [Conway] and then she hands her phone off to the president, and then Secretary Clinton was on there, you know, “Hey, Donald, congratulations, hard-fought win.” Two or three minutes. Then we looked at each other and said, “Let’s go onstage and get this done.”

Roger Stone: He looked surprised at the fact that he’d won. Which is surprising only because he pretty consistently thought he would win. Not unhappy, but rather, shocked.

Neal Brennan: I thought it was so fucking weird that he was like, “Is Jim here? Come on up here.” Like he was emceeing a sports banquet. But it was good that he set the tone right there. So long, context. So long, history.

Joshua Green: I thought he had actually made at least a cursory effort to try to unite the country by reaching out to Hillary Clinton voters. That sentiment probably evaporated before the sun rose the next day. At least on election night he said something approximating what you would expect a normal presidential victor to say in a moment like that, to try and bring the country together.

Symone Sanders: I still couldn’t believe it was happening. When he talked about us coming together and healing for the country, I wanted to throw up in my mouth.

“YOU’RE FUCKED”

3 a.m. – 7 a.m.

Maggie Haberman: I was getting bewildered texts from my child who couldn’t sleep, asking me what happened. I think this election was really difficult for kids to process.

Matt Paul: It was fucking terrible. We had these hastily organized calls every 10 minutes to determine what was going to happen the next morning. There was no advanced plan. Where were we going to do this massive global television event? How were we going to get people in the room? Who was going to say what in what order? That happened between 4 in the morning and when she spoke.

Rebecca Traister: In the cab home, the cabbie had on the news, that’s when I heard his acceptance speech, and I said, “Can you turn it off?” I couldn’t hear his voice. I was like, “I can’t listen to his voice for the next four years.”

Desus Nice: I went home, and it was like when your team loses and you watch it on SportsCenter over and over and over. I turned on MSNBC, and Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow were asking, “How’d you get this wrong? How did Nate Silver get this wrong? What did Hillary do?” I kept turning to Fox News and seeing them gloat and the balloons falling. I think I stayed up until three in the morning just drinking and watching.

The Kid Mero: I went home and smoked myself to sleep. I was like, “This sucks.”

Ashley Nicole Black: I took a shower, and then as soon as water hit me, I started bawling. I didn’t really have any feelings until that moment.

Ashley Parker: Times Square felt like a zombie-apocalypse movie. There was no one there. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I walked from the ballroom to the newsroom. They were like, “Go home, get some sleep, you’ll need it.” I walked back to my hotel. I couldn’t sleep. I watched cable news and then fell asleep.

Van Jones: I was walking out the building. Your thumb just kind of automatically switches over to Twitter. I saw that my name was trending worldwide. And I was like, “Whoa, that’s weird.”

Brian Fallon: I stayed in Brooklyn throughout the campaign, but that night I got a hotel in Midtown, close to the Peninsula. I actually walked past his hotel. I saw all the red hats that were still milling about outside of his victory party. It was pretty surreal.

Ashley Nicole Black: I looked at myself—I’m going to cry even saying this right now—I looked at myself in the mirror, and in that moment, I looked like my grandmother. The first thought I had was that I was glad that she wasn’t alive to see that. Then I felt so guilty because of course nothing would ever make me glad my grandmother is not alive. I love her so much, and I wish she was here. But she died when Obama was president, with that hope that the world had moved forward, and black people had moved forward. And she didn’t see the huge backlash that came after. In that moment, I was very grateful, and then guilty, and then I went to bed.

Jorge Ramos: I’ve been to wars, I’ve covered the most difficult situations in Latin America. But I needed to digest and to understand what had happened. I came home very late. I turned on the news. I had comfort food—cookies and chocolate milk—the same thing I used to have as a kid in Mexico City. After that, I realized that I had been preparing all my life for this moment. Once I digested what had happened with Trump and had a plan, which was to resist and report and not be neutral, then I was able to go to bed.

Rebecca Traister: I got back to Park Slope, I went to check on the girls. When I went to say goodnight, I looked at Rosie, and I had this conscious thought that this is the day that will divide our experience of what is possible. This is the day where a limitation is reinforced for her.

Michael Barbaro: I went home and woke up my husband, I think it was 4 or 5 in the morning, and asked him what the next steps should be journalistically. Should I move to Washington? Should I change jobs? It was pretty disorienting.

Maggie Haberman: One Trump supporter sent me a message saying, “You’re fucked.” [Laughs] If you use that, please recall me laughing about it. It was really something.

Van Jones: I got to my apartment and put my head down. I woke up like three, four hours later. And in my mind I thought, it was a dream. Just for a split second. I was still fully clothed. I had makeup all over my pillow. And I was like, “Shit.”

“IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST SPEECHES SHE’S EVER GIVEN”

7 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Jon Favreau: It felt like when you wake up after someone close to you passes away. Not nearly as bad, obviously, but that same feeling where you think, for like five seconds, you’re okay, maybe it’s a normal morning, and then it hits you what happened.

Roger Stone: I mean, we were walkin’ on clouds. We were still in the halo of the whole thing. I was very pleased.

Jerry Falwell Jr.: The feeling afterward was relief. I had worked so hard to help him. I’d risked so much and went so far out on a limb. Everybody thought I was crazy. It was a renewed hope for the future of the country, and a little bit of fear that I was going to be chosen to serve in the administration, because I didn’t want to.

Steve Bannon: I had my whole family that had come up to the victory party and I hadn’t seen anybody, so I went home and grabbed a shower, just like the night before, got another hour of sleep, and I was with Jared. And I think we were with Trump at like 8 in the morning. So it was just like the exact same thing as the day before. The day before I felt we were gonna win the presidency, and the next day we had won the presidency. It was odd, there was never any big insurgent feeling or anything like that. It played out how I thought it would play out. I didn’t have much doubt the first day of the campaign, didn’t really have much doubt on Billy Bush weekend. He was connecting. He had a powerful message.

Reza Aslan: I remember thinking, as clear as day, this is who we are. This is what we deserve.

Shani O. Hilton, U.S. news editor, BuzzFeed News: You get on the train from Brooklyn. It’s silent. And not in the normal way of people not talking to each other. It felt like an observable silence. I saw at least three people sitting by themselves, just weeping silently.

Melissa Alt: The next day my manager took the cake back to Trump Tower because they didn’t cut it at election night. Donald Trump Jr. told my friend that it was delicious.

Matt Paul: I remember rolling up in the motorcade and seeing some of our staff and organizers couldn’t get in. A reporter or cameraperson who was familiar to me said, “Can I sneak in with you?” I looked at that person, sort of stunned, and said, “Fuck no.” Then I realized I shouldn’t have said that. It was just a visceral, gut reaction to seeing some of our staff that couldn’t get in who had killed themselves for two years.

Nate Silver: If you read FiveThirtyEight throughout the election and listened to our arguments with other journalists and reporters, then you would’ve been much better prepared and much less surprised by the outcome.

The Kid Mero: We very quickly became familiar with the term “economic anxiety.”

Reza Aslan: You take your kids to school, you go to the store, you go to the post office, you’re looking around, and you’re thinking, “These people hate me.”

Jelani Cobb: I went to the airport the next morning for a 7 a.m. flight. There’s an African-American gentleman, maybe in his 60s, working at the check-in counter. He starts talking about how disastrous and dangerous this moment’s going to be. And he’s seen history in the South and thinking that we might be headed back toward the things he thought were in the past.

Dave Weigel: I was connecting through the Atlanta airport. I looked around and thought, well, for eight years, I didn’t really think about who voted for who. But as a white dude with a mustache, fairly bloated by the campaign, most of the people who look like me voted for this guy who, as far as they know, is a bigot. I remember feeling that this divider had come down, this new intensity of feeling about everybody I saw.

Van Jones: The next day, my commentary had become this sort-of viral sensation. Fox News is mad at me for saying “whitelash.” Liberals are treating me as some kind of hero. And literally, for the next two weeks, I didn’t have to pay for anything in any establishment in D.C. or New York. Not one meal. Not one cab. Uber people would turn the thing off and just drive me around for free.

Joshua Green: Bannon called me. He said, “You recognize what happened?” I’m like, “What the fuck are you talking about?” He goes, “You guys,” meaning you on the left, “you fell into the same trap as conservatives in the ‘90s…you were so whipped up in your own self-righteousness about how Americans could never vote for Trump that you were blinded to what was happening.” He was right.

Matt Paul: There were five or six of us standing in a hold room. One of Hillary’s brothers was there with his wife. A couple of the president’s people. Myself. A couple of campaign photographers. President Clinton walked in. It was very tough. Secretary Clinton walked in and was strong and composed. I stood there in shock at how put together and strong she was.

Rebecca Traister: As someone who covered her in 2008 and watched her struggle with speechgiving, it was one of the best speeches she’s ever given.

Jim Margolis: Everybody was basically in tears. Huma was in front of me. Jake [Sullivan] was on one side. It was one of those incredible scenes. Nobody had had any sleep.

Steve Bannon: Never watched it. Couldn’t care less. Her, Podesta, all of it. I thought they were overrated. I thought they were—they’re a media creation. People say how genius they were, how brilliant they were. Look, I’d never been on a campaign in my life. But I can understand math. Just looking at where it was gonna come down to. Morning Joe tells me they’re so brilliant every day. Why are they not getting some pretty fundamental stuff here? But no, I had no interest in seeing her concession speech. I have no interest in a damn thing with their campaign because I don’t think they knew what they were doing. I only have interest in what we did. Which was just, focus, focus, focus.

Rep. Adam Schiff: My staff both in California and in D.C. were absolutely devastated. People would come up to me, constituents and others, with tears in their eyes. And the astounding thing is, here we are now. People continue to come up to me with tears in their eyes about what he’s doing. I’ve never seen people have a visceral reaction over an election and be so deeply alarmed at what’s happening to the country.

Charles P. Pierce, Esquire writer at large: On the Sunday before the election, I drove out from Philadelphia to Gettysburg. Once I got out of the sprawling Philadelphia exurbs, I started to see improvised signs. There were several of those small portable marquees that you see outside clam shacks and chili parlors. I saw a huge piece of plywood nailed to a tree outside a motorcycle repair shop. I saw an entire barn painted red, white, and blue. “Trump,” it said, on the side of the barn. “Make America Great Again.” And I could see that barn, out in the field, in my mind’s eye, as Hillary Rodham Clinton gave her belated concession speech. And when she talked about making the American Dream available to everyone, I thought, damn, somebody had to want it bad to paint a whole barn just to argue about that.

Roger Stone: Trump is a winner. He’s a very confident, upbeat guy. That’s just his style. He thought all along that he would win. There’s no doubt that the Billy Bush thing shook him a little bit, but it ended up not being determinative.

Jerry Falwell Jr.: We had traveled on the plane with him during the campaign. He went and got the Wendy’s cheeseburgers and the fries, put them out on the table for us. I just think he’s a people’s president. I think that’s something we’ve not had in a real long time.

Gary Johnson: Well for me, just speaking personally, I do not aspire to be president of the United States anymore. Why would anybody want to be president of the United States now that Donald Trump’s been president of the United States?

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from Roger Stone – Stone Cold Truth https://stonecoldtruth.com/untold-stories-of-election-day-2016/ from Roger Stone https://rogerstone12.tumblr.com/post/167439001643

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rogerstone12 · 6 years