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didanawisgi · 3 years

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Martin Luther King Jr., Guns, and a Book Everyone Should Read

BY JEREMY S. | JAN 15, 2018

“Martin Luther King Jr. would have been 89 years old today, were he not assassinated in 1968. On the third Monday in January we observe MLK Jr. Day and celebrate his achievements in advancing civil rights for African Americans and others. While Dr. King was a big advocate of peaceful assembly and protest, he wasn’t, at least for most of his life, against the use of firearms for self-defense. In fact, he employed them . . .

If it wasn’t for African Americans in the South, primarily, taking up arms almost without exception during the post-Civil War reconstruction and well into the civil rights movement, this country wouldn’t be what it is today.

By force and threat of arms African Americans protected themselves, their families, their homes, and their rights and won the attention and respect of the powers that be. In a lawless, post-Civil War South they stayed alive while faced with, at best, an indifferent government and, at worst, state-sponsored violence against them.

We know the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision of 1857 refused to recognize black people as citizens. Heck, they were deemed just three-fifths a person. Not often mentioned in school: some of that was due to gun rights. Namely, not wanting to give gun rights to blacks. Because if they were to recognize blacks as citizens, it…

“…would give to persons of the negro race . . . the right to enter every other State whenever they pleased, . . . and it would give them the full liberty of speech . . . ; to hold public meetings upon political affairs, and to keep and carry arms wherever they went.”

Ahha! So the Second Amendment was considered an individual right, protecting a citizen’s natural, inalienable right to keep and carry arms wherever they go. Then as now, gun control is rooted in racism.

During reconstruction, African Americans were legally citizens but were not always treated as such. Practically every African American home had a shotgun — or shotguns — and they needed it, too. Forget police protection, as those same officials were often in white robes during their time off.

Fast forward to the American civil rights movement and we learn, but again not at school, that Martin Luther King Jr. applied for a concealed carry permit. He (an upstanding minister, mind you) was denied.

Then as in many cases even now, especially in blue states uniquely and ironically so concerned about “fairness,” permitting was subjective (“may issue” rather than “shall issue”). The wealthy and politically connected receive their rights, but the poor, the uneducated, the undesired masses, not so much.

Up until late in his life, MLK Jr. chose to be protected by the Deacons for Defense. Though his home was also apparently a bit of an arsenal.

African Americans won their rights and protected their lives with pervasive firearms ownership. But we don’t learn about this. We don’t know about this. It has been unfortunately whitewashed from our history classes and our discourse.

Hidden, apparently, as part of an agreement (or at least an understanding) reached upon the conclusion of the civil rights movement.

Sure, the government is going to protect you now and help you and give you all of the rights you want, but you have to give up your guns. Turn them in. Create a culture of deference to the government. Be peaceable and non-threatening and harmless. And arm-less, as it were (and vote Democrat). African Americans did turn them in, physically and culturally.

That, at least, is an argument made late in Negroes and the Gun: the Black Tradition of Arms. It’s a fantastic book, teaching primarily through anecdotes of particular African American figures throughout history just how important firearms were to them. I learned so-freaking-much from this novel, and couldn’t recommend it more. If you have any interest in gun rights, civil rights, and/or African American history, it’s an absolute must-read.

Some text I highlighted on my Kindle Paperwhite when I read it in 2014:

But Southern blacks had to navigate the first generation of American arms-control laws, explicitly racist statutes starting as early as Virginia’s 1680 law, barring clubs, guns, or swords to both slaves and free blacks.

“…he who would be free, himself must strike the blow.”

In 1846, white abolitionist congressman Joshua Giddings of Ohio gave a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, advocating distribution of arms to fugitive slaves.

Civil-rights activist James Forman would comment in the 1960s that blacks in the movement were widely armed and that there was hardly a black home in the South without its shotgun or rifle.

A letter from a teacher at a freedmen’s school in Maryland demonstrates one set of concerns. The letter contains the standard complaints about racist attacks on the school and then describes one strand of the local response. “Both the Mayor and the sheriff have warned the colored people to go armed to school, (which they do) [and] the superintendent of schools came down and brought me a revolver.”

Low black turnout resulted in a Democratic victory in the majority black Republican congressional district.

Other political violence of the Reconstruction era centered on official Negro state militias operating under radical Republican administrations.

“The Winchester rifle deserves a place of honor in every Black home.” So said Ida B. Wells.

Fortune responded with an essay titled “The Stand and Be Shot or Shoot and Stand Policy”: “We have no disposition to fan the coals of race discord,” Thomas explained, “but when colored men are assailed they have a perfect right to stand their ground. If they run away like cowards they will be regarded as inferior and worthy to be shot; but if they stand their ground manfully, and do their own a share of the shooting they will be respected and by doing so they will lessen the propensity of white roughs to incite to riot.”

He used state funds to provide guns and ammunition to people who were under threat of attack.

“Medgar was nonviolent, but he had six guns in the kitchen and living room.”

“The weapons that you have are not to kill people with — killing is wrong. Your guns are to protect your families — to stop them from being killed. Let the Klan ride, but if they try to do wrong against you, stop them. If we’re ever going to win this fight we got to have a clean record. Stay here, my friends, you are needed most here, stay and protect your homes.”

In 2008 and 2010, the NAACP filed amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court, supporting blanket gun bans in Washington, DC, and Chicago. Losing those arguments, one of the association’s lawyers wrote in a prominent journal that recrafting the constitutional right to arms to allow targeted gun prohibition in black enclaves should be a core plank of the modern civil-rights agenda.

Wilkins viewed the failure to pursue black criminals as overt state malevolence and evidence of an attitude that “there’s one more Negro killed — the more of ’em dead, the less to bother us. Don’t spend too much money running down the killer — he may kill another.”

But it puts things in perspective to note that swimming pool accidents account for more deaths of minors than all forms of death by firearm (accident, homicide, and suicide).

The correlation of very high murder rates with low gun ownership in African American communities simply does not bear out the notion that disarming the populace as a whole will disarm and prevent murder by potential murderers.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated 1,900,000 annual episodes where someone in the home retrieved a firearm in response to a suspected illegal entry. There were roughly half a million instances where the armed householder confronted and chased off the intruder.

A study of active burglars found that one of the greatest risks faced by residential burglars is being injured or killed by occupants of a targeted dwelling. Many reported that this was their greatest fear and a far greater worry than being caught by police.48 The data bear out the instinct. Home invaders in the United States are more at risk of being shot in the act than of going to prison.49 Because burglars do not know which homes have a gun, people who do not own guns enjoy free-rider benefits because of the deterrent effect of others owning guns. In a survey of convicted felons conducted for the National Institute of Justice, 34 percent of them reported being “scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim.” Nearly 40 percent had refrained from attempting a crime because they worried the target was armed. Fifty-six percent said that they would not attack someone they knew was armed and 74 percent agreed that “one reason burglars avoid houses where people are at home is that they fear being shot.”

In the period before Florida adopted its “shall issue” concealed-carry laws, the Orlando Police Department conducted a widely advertised program of firearms training for women. The program was started in response to reports that women in the city were buying guns at an increased rate after an uptick in sexual assaults. The program aimed to help women gun owners become safe and proficient. Over the next year, rape declined by 88 percent. Burglary fell by 25 percent. Nationally these rates were increasing and no other city with a population over 100,000 experienced similar decreases during the period.55 Rape increased by 7 percent nationally and by 5 percent elsewhere in Florida.

As you can see, Negroes and the Gun progresses more or less chronologically, spending the last portion of the book discussing modern-day gun control. It’s an invaluable source of ammunition (if you’ll pardon the expression) against the fallacies of the pro-gun-control platform. It sheds light on a little-known (if not purposefully obfuscated), critical factor in the history of African Americans: firearms.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I highly recommend you — yes, you — read Negroes and the Gun: the Black Tradition of Arms.

And I’ll wrap this up with a quote in a Huffington Post article given by Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter:

https://cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/huffpo-maj-toure.jpg”

#books #black history #history #american history #Guns #civil rights #constitution #supreme court #gun control #martin luther king jr.#dread scott #concealed carry #concealedcarry #everydaycarry #gun confiscation

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inthefallofasparrow · 4 years

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Idea for a fifth and final season of Fargo

Set in 2016, about five years after season 3 and ten years after season 1, the story interconnects many of the narratives from all of the previous anthologies, with various returning characters tied into a new story.

See below...

MAIN CHARACTERS Odina Tripoli (Amber Midthunder) - During a long exile, the tenacious daughter of deceased mob boss, Moses Tripoli a.k.a. Hanzee Dent, has gone from bratty to vengeful in her entitlement. She is now looking to re-establish the Fargo Crime Syndicate, ten years after its dissolution at the hands of Lorne Malvo (season 1). A chance encounter with Charlie Gerhardt, the last surviving member of his own crime family syndicate from the 70s (season 2), now happily living his life as a law-abiding citizen, does not dissuade her from her path to take back control of the town from the Kansas City Mafia, with the help of her father’s only remaining employee, a deaf hitman.

Wes Wrench (Russell Harvard) - After escaping custody at Duluth hospital ten years ago (episode 1x08), and returning to the mob headquarters, Wrench discovered that Malvo had killed everyone there except for the boss’s precocious teenager. He begrudgingly took her to a log cabin near Blackduck to hide with her last known family; a distant cousin of Hanzee’s named Shep Proudfoot. Shep had been a fugitive in hiding there since a triple homicide incident in 1987 (Fargo, the movie). Wrench was recaptured by the police and put in jail, but returned to Blackduck years later, with a briefcase full of money that he and Nikki Swango took from Varga (episode 3x10). Odina convinced him to wait as she planned how to use the money to take back Fargo. Zero Fadda (Joe Mantegna) and Mike Milligan a.k.a. Satchel Cannon (John Amos) - Now in their seventies, the two sons of crime bosses from a dying age, once traded away as pawns (season 4), now run what is left of the Kansas City Mafia together as close friends. Over the decades, the organization has evolved from a criminal enterprise into a largely legitimate business concern. Zero looks after the professional, above-board side, while Mike handles any illegal undertakings when necessary. This partnership has served them well, but since taking Fargo from the Gerhardt family in ‘79, eventually losing it to Moses Tripoli, and then reclaiming it again after Moses’ death, the Minnesota area has been more difficulty than it’s worth, especially now Odina Tripoli has returned as a new challenger stirring up trouble. Winnie Lopez (Olivia Sandoval), Now the chief at St Cloud Police Department, and pregnant again, she is assigned to a bank robbery and multiple homicide, where the robber appeared disinterested in taking any money, and his accomplice appeared unaware he was taking part in a robbery at all. Greta Grimly (Joey King), Molly Solverson’s stepdaughter, now in her early 20s and studying crime in Twin Cities. She and Lou Solverson (Keith Carradine), Molly’s father, have grown especially close, and often organize to meet up for lunch in Brainerd, halfway between Bemidji and the capitol, to keep in touch. After Lou is caught in the crossfire during a bank robbery while there, Greta is spurred to investigate, and becomes entrenched in Odina’s brewing turf war. Bly Vanderslice (Aubrey Plaza) Winnie’s estranged half-sister is an escort with a penchant for drugging her clients and running up their hotel room service tabs while they sleep, before leaving them in compromising positions. Her mother, Noreen, babysat Molly as a child (season 2) and she shares her interest in philosophy and nihilism. Bly suffers from face-blindness, which makes her role as a witness to a series of murders largely untenable.

Dirk de Wees van Hoebeek (Dan Stevens) An awkward, introverted local birdwatcher and duck enthusiast who has developed an unhealthy obsession with Bly, fantasizing that the two of them are dating. He mistakes her literal inability to recognize his face, as a sign of her playing hard-to-get, and is eager to impress her despite her indifference. When Wrench discovers he knows sign language, he tricks Dirk into acting as his interpreter during a bank heist, implicating him in the crime. Wrench gives him all of the money they take, making Dirk suddenly rich, but an unwitting scapegoat. Oddly enough, everywhere he goes, he seems to be randomly haunted by stereotypical lumberjacks (both in iconography and actual people); a symbol of the dominant masculinity he can never personally attain. Ruby Goldfarb (Mary McDonnell), In the past five years, ‘The Storage Queen of The Great Lakes Region’ (season 3) has gone from strength to strength, and after recently buying the ‘Phoenix Farms’ supermarket chain from former ‘Supermarket King of Minnesota’ (Season 1), a now despondent Stavros Milos (David Platt), she is looking to expand further west into North Dakota. But given their control over the area, this expansion will require the mafia’s blessing and necessitates a sit-down with Zero Fadda and his representative in Fargo. Pearl Smutney-Cannon (Aunjanue Ellis), The niece of Mike Milligan, she owns a car dealership in Alexandria as a front for the Kansas City Mafia, her involvement with whom is only familial and unavoidable as her finances are tied up with theirs. She represents their interests in Fargo, but intends to distance herself from the mob, taking this new conflict as an opportunity to get out. She is targeted first when her dealership is shot up by Odina’s crew during a drive-by, damaging much of her stock. This prompts her to uncover the secret partnership between Odina Tripoli and Ruby Goldfarb, that was formed after Zero refused to support Goldfarb’s expansion to the west.

Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare), After his actions in 1987 (Fargo, the movie), Gaear is serving multiple life sentences in jail, where he meets Wes Wrench and becomes a twisted sort of mentor figure to him. His connections on the outside help Wrench and Tripoli build an army to retake Fargo. He also alerts them to a safety deposit box of unexplained importance in a bank in Brainerd, which confusingly turns out to contain only a small replica statue of Paul Bunyan, the theft of which starts off the narrative chain of events.

#fargo #Mike Milligan #Lou Solverson #Joey King #Aubrey Plaza #Dan Stevens #Olivia Sandoval #Amber Midthunder #Peter Stormare

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tcm · 4 years

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Life at Sea: The Nautical Adventures of Classic Hollywood By Raquel Stecher

To escape the trappings of fame, Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn and Sterling Hayden took to the open seas in search of peace and quiet. Sailing offered an opportunity to invest their energy in something other than movie making and to find some much-needed solace. Let’s take a look at these three movie stars and their passion for all things nautical.

Humphrey Bogart

“Unless you really understand the water and understand the reason for being on it and understand the love of sailing and the feeling of quietness and solitude, you don't really belong on a boat anyway.” – Humphrey Bogart

The greatest love of Bogart’s life, besides Lauren Bacall and their two children, was his yacht the Santana. In Bacall’s memoir she wrote, “if ever I had a woman to be jealous of, she was the Santana.” Bogart’s love of sailing began in childhood with family trips to Lake Canandaigua in New York. When Bogart became a movie star, he indulged his interest in sailing and purchased a motor yacht he named Sluggy. It also happened to be the nickname he gave to his then wife, Mayo Methot. He found comfort being at sea. It was an escape from his turbulent marriage and his busy shooting schedule. Whenever he needed some peace and quiet, he would take his yacht out onto the waters to disconnect from everything.

He sold Sluggy and eventually bought Santana, the 54-foot yacht that he named after the yacht featured in his film KEY LARGO (’48). According to Bacall, Bogart was infatuated with the Santana. He learned everything about her history, participated in races with her, had a miniature model of her and even named his production company, which produced such films as IN A LONELY PLACE (’50) and BEAT THE DEVIL (’53), Santana Productions. He was a member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club and Los Angeles Yacht Club and would often take Bacall on his seafaring adventures. Bogart’s dying wish was for his ashes to be scattered over the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the practice was illegal at the time and he was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial. In lieu of a casket, the model of the Santana stood at his wake.

Errol Flynn

“The only real wives I have ever had have been my sailing ships.” – Errol Flynn

Australian-born Errol Flynn, the swashbuckling star of seafaring adventures such as CAPTAIN BLOOD (’35), THE SEA HAWK (’40) and AGAINST ALL FLAGS (’52), was an avid sailor in his own right. He was a direct descendant, on his mother’s side, of Midshipman Ned Young, a mutineer on the HMS Bounty in the late 1700s. This connection would come in handy with his first movie role IN THE WAKE OF THE BOUNTY (’33), which was about that historic mutiny. Warner Bros. publicized their new star as a descendant of Fletcher Christian, whom he plays in the film, instead of Young, to drum up interest in the film. Before acting, Flynn held many jobs, including charter-boat captain, river boat guide, fisherman and shipping clerk. Flynn grew up near the Hobart and Sydney Harbors and developed a great love for sailing.

In 1937, he wrote and published his first memoir, Beam Ends, a reference to the nautical term “on the beam ends”, in which he discussed his seven-month journey from Sydney Harbor to New Guinea and back on his boat the Sirocco. He named his next boat Sirocco as well, instead of Sirocco II, which went against nautical superstitions.

When Flynn and actress Lili Damita divorced in 1942, she won their home in an alimony suit and Flynn lived on his yacht. He spent the last years of his life living in Jamaica with his third wife Patrice Wymore and his trusty schooner Zaca. He went on many adventures with the Zaca traveling to Mexico and throughout the Caribbean. At the end of his life, the financially strapped Flynn was forced to sell the Zaca but died of a heart attack before he could do so.

Sterling Hayden

“I caught a glimpse of the harbor. The glow inside me turned to a dancing flame. At the end of a sun-swept wharf lay a ship with two high masts. She was gone in a flash but I knew I’d be back, and I shivered.” – Sterling Hayden

When his mother and stepfather moved the family to Tumbler Island in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, Hayden became sea-struck. According to Hayden biographer Lee Mandel, he was “enchanted by the ocean” and immediately set out to seek a life at sea. He had no interest in becoming a fisherman. Hayden instead dreamed of traveling on the high seas and visiting exotic locales along the way. He wasted no time in making his dream a reality. At age 16, he got a job on a schooner headed for California called the Puritan. Hayden seemed destined to be a sailor. He was eager to learn and athletic enough to endure the backbreaking work that went into long voyages at sea. Unfortunately, life as a sailor didn’t pay well and it was a pair of seafaring buddies who convinced him to find a new job that would help pay for his interest in sailing. He auditioned for a movie role and the rest was history.

Hayden didn’t want to become a movie star. He saw it as a means to an end: a way to earn enough money to get back to the sea. In 1955, he purchased the schooner the Wanderer for $200,000. A few years later, he planned to take his four children on a long voyage aboard the Wanderer. He was in a bitter custody battle with his wife Betty. Hayden got custody of his kids but was told by the judge he couldn’t take them on his planned voyage because of the condition of the ship. Hayden ignored the judge and took them anyways. Now a fugitive of the law, Hayden, his children and his crew went on a 10-month journey across the Pacific to Tahiti and back. Hayden eventually had to sell off the Wanderer to pay off debts, something that pained him greatly. In 1998, he wrote a memoir called The Wanderer, about his life and love of sailing.

#Life At Sea #ships #boat #yacth #classic film #classic hollywood #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #nautical #sea #Raquel Stecher

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sensoriella · 4 years

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CANON DIVERGENCE: CRIME SORCIERE’S PARDON.

disclaimer: please note that this analysis does not necessarily reflect any personal out of character opinions. people who have murdered and committed violent crimes are obviously bad and deserve punishment. whether i think people like that can be redeemed in a realistic setting is a concept i don't even feel like fathoming in a casual roleplay setting. it’s simply incomprehensible to me because well, i don’t know any murders or criminals in real life. and if i did, i would probably pick the sensible answer and say no, or that it would take an immeasurably long time and probably lots of psychiatric council. ( much longer than the span of the fairy tail series ) BUT, i didn’t major in human psychology or criminal justice unfortunately, so i’m going to work with this pardon thing in a fictional sense the best i can.

it’s difficult to understand how exactly the justice system of fiore works. but given the amount of excused ‘crimes’ and disregarded acts that have occurred for other mages ( not in dark guilds ), the crime sorciere pardon isn’t that hard to believe. also please consider the fact that fiorian royalty isn’t exactly clean of non-violent acts themselves. i mean, they have a group of mage executioners than kill people ( maybe brutally, for all the royals know ) on their behalf!

mind you, crime sorciere is not pardoned easily. per plotting with other crime sorciere muses, these former dark guild wizards participate in a series of ethic / criminal trials to answer for their sins and past crimes. their trials go on for weeks to months. after the alvarez war, they were held under strict probation ( via magic resistant trackers ) and were not allowed to leave the city of crocus during those trials. their pardon does not occur absent of conditions. so be aware that their freedom doesn’t come without a price, and their lives do not necessarily become easy nor more peaceful.

so how did this become possible ? why were ex-criminals and former fugitives allowed to walk free ?

firstly, why would crime sorciere wizards agree to the pre-trial terms at all? why would they all consent to magic trackers and even bother facing the trials ? they could’ve ran again, fled the country even, in the smoke of post-war chaos. yet it’s hard to believe that a guild who took arms against an enemy in support of fiore would abandon their home now. they could’ve just left the country ages ago, before the war got ugly at least. i personally theorize that they want their voices to be heard. they want to be forgiven in the eyes of the public in pursuit of a better future, because they do not enjoy the fugitive life! isn’t it the main purpose of crime sorciere to atone for their sins and find peace within themselves–––to be able to lead lives where they don’t have to feel shunned and hated by the world? one could argue that defeating zeref was the main purpose, but i truly can’t see that being a strong enough reason for them to risk their lives for years in service of fiore, when they can just leave and forget everything–––let the dark wizard be the light guilds’ problem! it’s always been about a bigger picture for them, whether it be survival, redemption, or just simply being able to live with themselves after all their lives hit rock bottom. it’s also possible that many, if not most, of them had no intention of returning to jail if things went sour. they are tired of running nonetheless.

going into the trial period, they’re smart enough to know that their participation in the war helped the country immensely ( yes, i do believe they helped. even if most of what canon shows us is members being K.O.ed by august. ) every action, every collaboration, and their appearances at the war, some members making a bigger impact than others, made a difference in bringing down the common enemies. members of crime sorciere are smart enough to know that fiore can’t just ignore that.

so let’s go back to the beginning, to remember the extent of their past transgressions. jellal deceived fiorian leaders, abused his council authority, kept a slave operation afloat, murdered, and attempted to destroy many lives–––all under the influence of a higher manipulator. ultear did . . . most of the same, on top of her allegiance with grimoire heart who were involved in the destruction of various villages and mass killings. meredy was associated with grimoire heart, and it’s likely that she too took part in violent crimes. ( whether she personally killed mages or not ) the oracion seis also participated in the destruction of various guilds and mass killings. the oracion seis members, and this is canonly mentioned, killed for money or as a result of completing jobs. were those deaths warranted? does that make things better? not really, but it makes them slightly more manageable than the others, i’m sorry to say, with the proper conditions. the problem with the oracion seis, is they haven’t been freed from prison for very long, so they appear more unpredictable than jellal, meredy, and ultear. whereas, the original crime sorciere members proved that they are able live ‘peacefully’ in fiore for at least seven years. again they didn’t attack innocents only dark guilds, and they exclusively carried out their work in a non-public manner, for their own sake.

now, breaking convicts out of prison is definitely frowned upon. ultear and meredy participated in the prison break of jellal, freeing him well before the end of his sentence time. in regards to the oracion seis ‘prison break’, please note that one wasn’t even a prison break! the oracion seis was set free per official order of a man of the magic council. if anything, he should’ve been penalized for the same crime that ultear and meredy committed. but he wasn’t because justice is twisted in fiore. so these crimes are also hard to overlook, but with enough persuasion and the right ‘connections’, not impossible.

crime sorciere was always meant to be a stealth operation. they were quiet and lived under the radar. they didn’t disturb the innocent public, or interact with anyone else unless it was absolutely necessary. there main targets were always dark wizards and dark guilds, which provided more help than harm through the council’s eyes. meredy and ultear watched the grand magic games from a mountain, because they didn’t want to be within sniffing distance of the rune knights. it’s clear that they probably spent most of their crime sorciere years that way. while in crime sorciere, the oracion seis didn’t commit violent crimes under jellal’s rein. not just because of jellal watching their every move, but because they were smart enough to keep their heads down. given that fact, one of the platforms that they used to argue is that they have not truly committed any illegal acts after ‘disbanding’ from their original designated dark guild, under their original leader ( re: jellal participating in the gmg. since that act more so involved the grand magic games society, it’s not really within the jurisdiction, or concern, of the magic council. basically, cheating is bad, but it doesn’t warrant incarceration. ) this is assuming that it’s not necessarily an imprisonable offense to be an unofficial guild, so long as they don’t accept illegal jobs or disturb the innocents. which they hadn’t. i assume it’s not warranted to arrest to be in an independent guild, because crime soricere operated for seven years, while the council knew of their existence, without being caught. either the rune knights are terrible at their job ( probably ) or they didn’t care enough if said guild wasn’t bothering anyone innocent.

a huge argument that can be made in favor of their freedom, is their ‘community service’ to fiore that extended for up to 2 years. ( 7 years for some members ) yes, their actions were very ‘vigilante’ like, but their acts were more annoying, yet helpful, to the council than wicked. they also argued on how it would be unjust to criminalize them for being quiet and non-destructive as an independent guild, when some legal guilds are capable of demonstrating unethical and destructive results of their behavior, without receiving arrest. ( tips hat to fairy tail )

when it came to past transgressions, some could argue that they had received punishment. most of them were imprisoned for seven years. others were forced to live life in solitude, forcibly exiled from fiorian cities and towns. is that a suitable punishment? not really, but something is better than nothing.

during their trials, individuals may have testified against or in favor of the pardon. it's safe to say an array of opinions came flooding in.

parents of children, whom which erik had saved from human trafficking, were in favor of the conditional pardon. human trafficking is a huge issue in fiore and often slips under the council’s nose. some found that this was an example of demonstrated acts of good will and capabilities of change.

those affected by the nirvana incident, were not in favor. nirvana’s awakening specifically affected three official guilds. blue pegasus and lamia scale took the most damage at the hands of the oracion seis. unfortunately for them, some could say that having the original proprietor and mastermind of the nirvana plot, Master Brain, left behind bars was sufficient justice ( hey this headcanon where Brain was left alive came in handy! ) especially since many of the other oracion seis members were under the age of 18 during that crime. ( i’m not saying this is adequate justice nor does it excuse the oracion seis of their crimes. trust me, it’s a brutal situation and many people would’ve been rightfully angry. but it's a small detail that helped them down the road to granted redemption. )

some fairy tail members were also in favor of the pardon, due to personal / professional ties with certain members of the guild–––and due to lack of suffering by the guild. yes there’s biases were involved unfortunately! but this happens all the time in fiore canon, so why can’t it work here too? fairy tail may have fought all of these members at one point, but since they didn’t receive grave injuries ( and some even bonded with / forgave them after ) they simply didn’t feel the need the vote against a pardon. and unfortunately for some, fairy tail is a very powerful guild both physically and politically. fairy tail’s guild master has pulled enough strings in the past to make their voice exceptionally influential.

villagers, non-mages, mages, and anyone else who suffered as collateral damage at the hands of grimoire heart and the oracion seis would not have been in favor. it might not have been personal for the dark guilds, but it was personal to them. but given the amount of many years that have passed since their conflicts with those guilds ( both of which were disbanded, guild masters either dead or imprisoned ), and it’s difficult to place designated blame on ex-guild individuals. those witnesses may have to settle for probationary terms and certain pardon conditions.

other guild members personally affected by some crime sorciere wizards like kagura, who have valid reason to hate jellal for the death of her brother, for example, may have also taken part in the trials. complicated opinions may have been made in favor or opposition of the pardon. ( i will not go into too much detail about this, as decisions of certain character opinions rests with those who write as them. )

unfortunately for anyone else who didn’t favor the pardon, most enemies of members of crime sorciere and the oracion seis were also dark guild wizards, or dead. so their input could not be presented before a judge as reliable input. yes, this is a loophole that really benefited crime sorciere the most.

after the rigorous trials and ethnic screenings, crime sorciere was granted a conditional pardon. several terms had to be abided by for this to come to pass. the independent guild of crime sorciere, under the rule of jellal, was forced to disband. the council just couldn’t bring themselves to allow a guild, run by a man who betrayed the council in the past, to exist. per a idea thought of by jana and marcy, the crime sorciere members had to participate in a reintegration program. following disbandment, former crime sorciere members were made to enter this program if they wished to remain in fiore, otherwise leave the country in exile. the reintegration program was a means to encourage those ex-convicts to learn to live in the fiorian society as model citizens. members were not allowed to pursue jobs without supervision of approved s-class mages of legal guilds. the ex-cons of crime sorciere had to demonstrate ethical behavior and were forbidden to accept jobs without a ‘mentor’ consent. this probationary period may last between months to years, depending on the behavior of said member. crime sorciere ex-members were not allowed to pursue any independent jobs, until the probationary period was complete. of course, the mages of crime sorciere were not happy with this arrangement, but the outcome would far benefit the possibly of incarceration and, for some, banishment. crime sorciere ex-members were also held financially responsible for any transgressions they caused in the past ( ex: medical expenses of mages they harmed ). another condition would be that psychiatric / cognitive counsel ( aka. therapy!! ) is also a necessity in order for the ex-crime sorciere members to be confidently released independently back into society.

after the conditional period was completed successfully by all members, a new crime sorciere was eventually allowed to be legalized, providing a more trusting and suitable master ( in the eyes of the council ) would lead. meredy, a former crime sorciere / grimoire heart member with mostly misdemeanor crimes ( all of which occurred under the age of 13 ) was permitted to reform the guild under certain guidelines and close monitoring. meredy would present the idea before the council ( perhaps a year or so later ) and inform them of the benefits crime sorciere could have on the country. it was meredy’s goal, inspired by jellal and ultear, to rebuild the guild so that it would be recognized by the council to help reformed convicts and troubled mages to rehabilitate and integrate into society. most new members would most likely be those who recently served their debt to society, but were not trusted enough to be left alone. it would be the renewed crime sorciere’s aspiration to help future problematic mages become functional members of fiore. while other wizards may have been suitable for the role of acting master, meredy would demonstrate the most ethical improvement in character, the cleanest record ( of previous crime sorciere wizards ) and pose as a model mentor for mages who previously strayed from a moral path.

#i hope this makes sense tbh #GOD This was long #this is a very important headcanon i've been meaning to write #my fellow cs rp partners can feel free to adopt this hc if you want !#if you would like to create your own hcs in ref to this ( regarding ind. trials ) please do so !!??#i didn't want to go into too much detail about the trials bc well...#it's not my place to hc exactly what may have been said from/about wizards involved #♡ headcanon. — ❛ far too young to die.#♡ canon div. — ❛ never looking back.#also i proofread this 36236897 times so sorrry if there may be typos ??#im tired jfc

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toussaintsteachings · 4 years

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Put Down Your Weapons

“The 22nd of July”

https://www.netflix.com/search?q=mass%20shooting&jbv=80210932

“A Killer on Floor 32″

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVfzxLvIxi8

Gun control is a topic of discussion in the United States which many Americans seem conflicted about. People advocating against the use of gun control and gun reform have consistently expressed concerns regarding the second amendment in the constitution, the right to bear arms. Many pro-gun Americans believe this is an invasion of privacy and does not represent a democracy that we pride ourselves in. Along with the infringement of privacy those who are pro gun feel that laws involving gun control will limit the ability for people to protect themselves and even lose hobbies like hunting with the progression of gun reform. Individuals who see the need for gun reform and gun control are adamant that the presence of these guns is in fact a risk to people's safety. They stress how easy and available guns are to the public, bringing people to forget how dangerous such common commodities are to the public eye. Our gun culture as a country stems from our revolutionary roots throughout colonial history. In the second amendment it states, “ A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Pro gun individuals insist that the second amendment protects the individual's rights to own guns and allows them to protect themselves and their families whenever a threat becomes real. With the relevance of mass shootings in our country especially throughout the past decade, people who are not pro gun believe that having guns around is doing more damage to society than protecting individuals. The easy access along with the new technology that breeds these killing machines are not the same guns that were used to protect ourselves when the Constitution was written. They believe the answer is not to abolish all gun ownership but to look into the laws and writing of the constitution and see if there is a common ground in which we can still have guns, but be safer with them.

My father is a retired marine and correctional officer at the maximum security prison, Sing Sing. My dad is a Republican and is very conservative in his views, but gun control is always something that he has been relatively progressive about when we talk. When I was growing up we never had a gun in our house, specifically for the reason that my dad associated guns with violence and having them in the house increases the likelihood they will be used in a time or place when they are not needed. After he retired he did armed security for a while. This was a job that required him to have a license to carry and own a handgun and was the first time that we had a gun in our household my entire life. In my family we never hunted or use guns as a hobby, so it is tough for me to acknowledge and understand the persistence of people who support guns for this specific reason. This helps me shape the severity of my stance when it comes to gun control and how I feel as if this is a major cause of violence in our country. Being someone who completed their K-12 education, lockdown drills, and active shooter drills was something that we rehearsed a couple of times a year. This was one of my biggest fears growing up, being involved in a school shooting, and how that would cause so much trauma to the individuals involved. Mass shooting alone fuels the fire when it comes to gun control and reform. This is not a matter of guns or no guns, but a middleground to please both parties. I believe that there are ways to allow us as Americans to feel safe and protected that do not involve arming every citizen. In addition, the accessibility level is another major issue when discussing gun control.

My friend from home called me over a week or two ago to hang out. I walked into his house and my friend Chase was standing in his living room with a semiautomatic rifle, with a smile on his face. My immediate reaction was to ask him where and how he got it. He proceeded to tell me how he walked into Dicks sporting goods, traveled back to the hunting section, provided an ID, followed by a quick background check, and walked out with the rifle all in the same hour. This is when I decided that I would write about gun control for my final paper and blog post. I wanted to write about this because in my eyes, guns scare me. I have never shot a real gun, or quite frankly even want to. I have grown up with an officer as my parent, and have heard many stories about how my dad almost lost his life with all of the gun violence he has encountered. The amount of damage that a gun causes, does not correlate with the difficulty of getting and owning a gun. The elimination or ban of guns would not address the problem. We have seen that throughout history when you tell a group of people or an individual that he or she may not do or partake in something, it only increases the likelihood of them disobeying. This was most popularly proved when the prohibition of alcohol was instated. People found every way in their power to not only consume, but illegally sell alcohol, regardless of the prohibition. This is not a way to cure the gun problem we have in our country, eliminating all guns will not work, and is not even a possible idea. People who are pushing for this need to realize that compromise will be the only way that we can properly address it and take into account society as a whole's belief, not just one side or the other. The need for reform is simply based on the amount of time that has passed. In the constitution guns were used for hunting and were oftentimes not even efficient or trustworthy enough to complete their original task. Now, technology has advanced these guns into killing machines that need active reform. The question is will these gun laws actually be effective.

An article I read from the National Center for health research, explained how guns are a part of U.S. culture. However, public opinion polls show that “85% of gun owners and non-gun owners support gun control laws like background checks.” Regardless of your take regarding gun control, the everyday citizen will agree a background check to own a gun is more than necessary. What was shocking that the article brought forward was that, 40% of gun sales do not go through a background check because they take place online, at gun shows, or through classified ads.(Manier, 2018) This was a shockingly high statistic, and even more reasoning for more efforts than a background check. Background checks are originally required by law under the “Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993.” The bill allows states to decide whether local law-enforcement or the FBI will do a background check for the individual attempting to purchase a firearm. The article stated how the “Brady Bill stopped 2.1 million gun purchases between 1994 and 2014—an average of 343 purchases per day. The law blocked 1 million felons, 291,000 domestic abusers, and 118,000 fugitives from purchasing a firearm.” The bill was extremely effective and the checks done at the local level were said to lower gun related suicides close to 25% and lower gun related murders to roughly 20%.(Manier, 2018) Although we see the effectiveness when conducting background checks and how it affects gun related crime and violence, there are still holes in the system that peak through. The bill has had times where it has failed to report felons to the federal databases. The story regarding Devin Kelley in 2017, explained how he entered a church in Texas and killed 26 people. “The Air Force failed to report Kelley, and other service members charged with serious convictions, to the federal gun background check database. If Kelley had been reported, he would have been stopped from buying a gun because of his previous domestic violence conviction.” I thought this was interesting that many of these stories include retired or ex military, and are often a demographic that slips through the cracks when discussing responsibility of gun violence. It was reported that the Army fails to report roughly 40% convictions, followed by the Navy, with a striking 36% of convictions not reported (Manier, 2018). I also believe there is a hole in background checks when it comes to mental health. A lot of the time individuals can go decades before being diagnosed with a mental health disorder that would not show up in a background check if they are not diagnosed and have had any convictions involving this illness. Someone who is bipolar, living with their parents but has not been diagnosed may just come off as an adolescent struggling with anger problems or behavioral issues, but when a background check is done this will not come up on paper even though this is a clear characteristic of someone who our society deems not fit to own or purchase a firearm. The data and statistics have proven that we need more than a background check for an individual to own a gun, period. It has proven to be a step in the right direction, but there are too many holes, and non reported conventions for this to be the only limit of gun control in a country with the highest prevalence of guns.

More effective laws and control appear as the article continues, starting with Missouri's “Permit to Purchase” this law requires people to get a permit from local law-enforcement before purchasing a gun. Oddly enough Missouri repealed its permit to purchase Law in 2007, resulting in roughly a 60% increase in the firearm homicide rate per year following the repeal (Manier, 2018). Connecticut had a similar permit to purchase law instituted in 1995. This installment of the permit to purchase resulted in close to a “40% drop in firearm homicides. There was no drop in non-firearm homicides, indicating that it was likely the permit-to-purchase law that prevented gun deaths.” Requiring a permit before purchasing a gun could help a substantial amount in efforts to reduce gun-related homicides. It is an additional safety net to ensure the buyer is an appropriate holder of a firearm. Another issue in gun control is the accessibility of automatic and semi automatic assault rifles. In 1934 the transfer of machine guns was taxed under the national firearms act in effort to discourage their use. Semi automatic weapons, which are categorized as burst guns, are illegal in most states but banned in California Connecticut Washington DC Massachusetts Maryland New Jersey and New York (Manier, 2018). What I thought was really interesting that the article touched on after stating that semi automatic weapons are legal in most states was the ability to turn a semi automatic rifle into an automatic rifle. It went into further detail of explaining accessories like a bump stock that was added to the exterior of the gun to make the gun shoot faster similar to an automatic rifle. The Las Vegas shooting in 2007 was an example of someone who purchased the accessories, like a bump stock, to modify the semi automatic rifles so they would fire like a machine gun. The technology of present day people allows there to be loopholes in many of the gun laws and reform.

I did a lot of research regarding other countries' gun laws, and how they change and additional reform has led to a decrease in gun violence. I watched a video produced by global news regarding where one of their examples included the “Australian Port massacre”. I also researched an article, titled “Are Gun Control Laws Effective in Reducing Gun Violence” where they touch on this example as well. A gunman armed with semi automatic weapons killed 35 people, while wounding 23 others. The country responded with fast reform and some of the most comprehensive firearm laws in the world. They started by buying back around 700,000 firearms (Semple, 2019). In addition, they banned civilian ownership of semi automatic rifles and shotguns. They also implemented background checks when purchasing a firearm. Unlike the United States, Australian did not see “self defense”as a valid excuse for owning a weapon and one must have a more reasonable need for ownership. Although the right to bear arms is not in the constitution like what we have in the United States with the second amendment. When the laws passed, the firearm homicide rate dropped by more than 40% in the 7 years following. Also, “within 20 years from 1996, the odds of being murdered by a gun decreased 72% from 0.54 per 100,000 to 0.15 per 100,00 people”. They closed this section of the article with somewhat of a “jab” at the United States says “ many supporters of gun control believe the United States could follow Australia's successful and effective gun control rules and regulations.” In the video, South Africa has a similar reform of gun laws that took place in 2000. South Africa banned powerful weapons and implemented a background check system. They also required gun owners to have permits and licenses. A study found that gun deaths in five major South African cities decreased by nearly 14% per year for the next five years (Semple, 2019). Similar to the reform that took place in South Africa, Austria had a similar gun law implemented in 1997, that included background checks, limited access to powerful weapons, and a change in how people who owned guns wore store and carry them. It has been statistically proven that those cross countries with harsher gun laws and more restrictions have had less gun related deaths and are responsible for a much smaller percentage of gun violence, like mass shootings.

In the article, “Are Gun Control Laws Effective In Reducing Gun Violence”, the author explains how other cultures deal with guns and gun violence. Honduras has shown to have a different outlook on gun culture, but not by choice. A statistic provided stated that “Astonishing 80% of deaths in Honduras or a result of gun violence. Honduras is an underdeveloped Third World country and is a victim of gun trafficking.” Due to its location it is home to see routes in airdropped zones for gun trafficking. Corruption mixed with drug cartels is the perfect recipe for gun violence. Israeli gun culture is much different from the United States due to the fact that it requires military service from its citizens. When they are 18, they take a gun safety course along with other military training. Israel does not allow citizens to have guns unless they have a reasonable need to carry a firearm or are in a military practice (Paulsen, n.d.). That being said if you are employed in a security job or someone who cares about objects of high value, this deems fit as well. Due to the location of Israel and the neighboring countries like Iraq and Syria, citizens take personal protection very seriously. Many people believe that due to the high gun usage and access in Israel it would produce the same number of gun related deaths as the United States but this is not the case. This is because of the common practice of gun safety in the familiarity with guns on a day-to-day basis for reasons like personal safety. Finally, Japan was introduced to the discussion, which is practically a “gun free zone.” Japan practices an extremely strict set of laws and requirements when purchasing a gun. People who want to own a gun in Japan must complete a plethora of steps. These include Taking an all day safety course in passing your written exam followed by the requirement to shoot 95% on their marksman test. After this a rigorous background check which includes criminal records, drug use, both illegal and prescription based and mental health screenings (Paulsen, n.d.). The buyer is even checked at an employment level and colleagues are checked for links to extremist groups. In addition, yearly inspections are required and license expiration every three years are just some of the many rules Japan has in place for gun laws. Due to the vast rules and requirements, the ownership of guns and gun related death are extremely low. The author states how “In 2014, only 6 deaths by gunfire occurred in Japan, compared to the 33,599 deaths in the United States.” The stigma around guns has held true and allowed Japan to have success containing gun violence. I really enjoyed this article and how it was outlined. The main theme used the other countries, and their gun laws with the results, constantly comparing them to the US. This helped exploit and highlight the fact that we need reform and how that will lead to a progression when dealing with gun violence.

People who are anti-gun control often use the defense of protection. To them having a gun is the ideal way of protecting their families but statistics have shown that this is just simply not true, or a valid excuse to disregard gun reform. An article from ProCon.org states that, “The United States has 120.5 guns per 100 people, or about 393,347,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns (35% of men and 12% of women).” The second highest country, Yemen, was at 52.8. We are also the highest in mass shootings. Mass shootings are one of the main indicators our country should note in regards to the gun control discussion. I found an article by SabRang, which showed a graph of mass shootings from the years 1983, to 2003. 119 shootings occurred, 78 of them in our own country, with the seconds closest being Germany with 7. We account for close to 65 percent of those shootings (Lemieux, 2018). People who believe this ideology that more guns equals a higher protection rate are not reading into gun related crime and deaths. If you read that graph, it helps you visualize the severe difference in ownership of guns in the United States, but this directly correlates with the amount of mass shootings taking place. This is a major area of concern when dealing with gun reform. This is especially important, because we see the amount of damage that these guns can cause and how more recently how they have affected schools. Are you supposed to arm everyone or teacher in a school setting? Will this result in a dramatic drop in school shootings and actually serve as a preventative measure? No! The most simple analogy, two wrongs don't make a right, can be applied here. More guns are not the solution when it comes to gun control. That is at the very bottom of the priority list, compared to making it harder to access these killing machines, and taking a look at which guns we should even have access to as everyday citizens. The only way to take a hard look at our issues with gun control, is to take into account how other countries who have had success with this dilemma, and try to model our society and begin to practice their restrictions. The common theme of countries like Japan, and Austria, include severely reducing the amount of guns available for the public, rather the implementation of more guns as a defense mechanism.

“Guns don't kill people. People kill People'', is something you commonly hear when discussing the argument of gun control with someone who is against reform. An article by the Rolling Stone titled, “4 Pro-Gun Arguments We’re Sick of Hearing”, by Amanda Marcotte, states that this is a logical resonse when dealing with one death, but to rack up a death count of 10-20 people, you need a weaopn, a gun. Appointing and reflecting the blame is a lackluster way of going about such a serious dilemma. It highly suggested that if you do have any sympathy or feeling toward the recent trend guns have attached to themselves, then you should have no issue in implementing laws that make it harder for individuals to obtain. A little further down in the article it touches on a similar blame tactic pro gun individuals use when defending guns, which is mental health. I thought that the author did a great job of highlighting the neglect of mental health from the republican party, until something like a mass shooting comes alone. Statistics show that 1 out of every five Americans are diagnosed and deal with a mental health disorder (Marcotte, 2018). Due to the abundance of shooting incidents, we have a lot of information on these individuals. “Data shows it is hard to predict when someone suffering from mental health is going to go off, and only 23 percent of shooters have a diagnosis. Even if all of those individuals got gold-star treatment, the system would only stop a few shooters.” (Marcotte, 2018) Although I felt that these were the major takeaways from this article, the author did have additional information exposing limitations of the argument that guns are the only way to protect us from gun violence. No mass shooting in the past 30 years has been stopped by armed civilians. Only in 1982 did an armed civilian successfully kill a shooter, but it was only after he committed his crime (Marcotte, 2018). The idea is that shooting back during the chaos of a mass shooting or a school shooting is unrealistic and oftentimes makes matters worse. We saw this with the example given in the article when in 2011 Gabby Gifford nearly shot the wrong man when attempting to take out the active shooter.

To come back to the original question will gun laws be effective, I think there is a clear-cut answer. Yes! Throughout the extensive research there has been an abundance of articles, and videos that thoroughly support the enforcement of stricter gun laws in the United States. Just like any other topic of discussion the best way to bring awareness to a dilemma is through comparison. I saw by researching other countries and getting familiar with their gun laws that there was a common trend that led to successful gun control; low amount and accessibility of guns in the first place! This is not an object or a commodity that should be taken lightly, since we have seen its potential and how it is only growing through the revamping of technology and the progression of time. It is fair in every Controversial topic to take both sides into account, and try to come to a middle ground rather than in this case abolishing the right to own or purchase a firearm.

References:

History of Gun Control - ProCon.org. (2020, November 03). Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://gun-control.procon.org/history-of-gun-control/

Lemieux, F. (2018). “5 things to know about mass shootings in America”. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/5-things-know-about-mass-shootings-america

Manier, L. (2018, April 12). “Does Gun Control Really Work?” Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.center4research.org/does-gun-control-really-work/

Marcotte, A. (2018, June 25). 4 Pro-Gun Arguments We're Sick of Hearing. Retrieved November 23, 2020, from https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/4-pro-gun-arguments-were-sick-of-hearing-194212/

Paulsen, M. (n.d.). Are Gun Control Laws Effective in Reducing Gun Violence. Retrieved November 13, 2020, from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=4a1b03cf5575487190772768259d653d

Semple, Jeff, director. Gun Control: Do Firearms Laws Actually Work. Gun Control: Do Firearm Laws Actually Work?, 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODwRtjN13No.

#shootersshoot #whyyousoobsessedwithguns

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maraudersandlily20 · 6 years

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Wolfstar Headcanons!

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!!! Again, this is mostly for the benefit of myself, so if you disagree, that’s fine. You can have your own opinions!!

ALSO!!! I’m 8 followers away from 600!! I’m so shook, I don’t know what to do. Thank you for following the mess that is my blog and liking and reblogging all of my stuff. I love you kiddos so flipping much!!!

Sirius met James first on the train. The two boys hit it off almost immediately. They were introduced to Peter Pettigrew at the Gryffindor table, and he asked if he could room with them. When they went into their chosen room, one of the beds were already taken by a very scarred, short boy. Remus Lupin was his name and he asked if it was alright if he was in here with them.

They all agreed.

Over the course of first year, the four bonded exponentially. By the end of the school year, they were inseparable and were masters of stealth and coming up with ridiculous jokes and pranks.

Remus was still a little nervous about getting involved, but he was getting better.

The other three learned of his lycanthropy after Remus was constantly sent to the hospital whenever he came back from “visiting home” in first year. James thought he might be getting abused, considering all of the scars. But Sirius quietly discouraged it, saying that it didn’t make sense. There was something a bit more… magical about Remus’ disappearances.

Sirius brought it up one night when it was just the two of them in the dorm. “So, your parents just so happen to make you come home every month around the full moon?”

Remus stiffened but Sirius rolled his eyes. “It’s fine, Rem. I know you’re a werewolf. You don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want.” And that was that. Remus didn’t have to explain himself or talk about it if he didn’t want to. But he had a friend who could take care of him. He, of course, told the other two a few days later.

Remus was often the cause of many girls crushes as they grew up. He was quiet and kind and he never let anyone feel like they didn’t matter when they talked. James teased him relentlessly about it, but Remus always rolled his eyes. He didn’t think he was much to look at, but as he matured, that started to change

Of course, Sirius never really look at Remus in any special way. He was just Remus.

But Remus was looking at Sirius. Especially fourth year. Sirius had hit a growth spurt and shot up a few inches. He grew his hair out to his shoulders and always wore it back in a messy bundle. He was coy and funny and whenever he said something witty, he would look at Remus and wink. It made Remus blush, though he tried to hide it.

When his shifting became more painful and he returned every month with more and more injuries, the other boys decided to help by becoming unregistered animagi. It was illegal and Remus was so worried for them, but Sirius always shook him off. “You’re worth it, moons.” He’d always say.

Fifth year was when Remus suddenly became a man. His voice dropped, he grew in height, taller than all of the other marauders, and suddenly he wasn’t a little boy. He was wiry and tawny and the muscles in his body suddenly hardened out. Everyone was shocked. He was hot.

Sirius was just confused. Remus looked different, but Sirius couldn’t tell why it affected him so much. Of course, he had a moment in the library where he realized he was in love with him, and everything changed.

Remus had been in love with Sirius for an entire year, but didn’t think his best friend felt the same, so attempted to keep it to himself. They fumbled around each other with their words for months because they were too afraid to reveal their feelings to each other.

They got in numerous squabbles because of the lack of communication and the air was always tense between them.

During the summer, they shared their first kiss at the Potter’s home while the Potters were in India. And then, suddenly they were together and everything was good.

They spent the next two years in school together, wrapped up in each other. They told each other every secret they had, trusted each other, and made sure that their boyfriend always felt loved. Everyone adored their relationship.

They weren’t a gross couple. They quarreled and laughed and weren’t overly prominent in their romantic affection. Besides a few kisses in between classes or holding hands, they behaved very similarly to how they did when they were just friends. It made being both of their friends much easier. Peter was relieved that they were considerate of how gross he thought their snogging was.

When school ended, Remus and Sirius joined the order along with everyone else. They lived in their respective flats and took care of each other until James and Lily were married. Then they moved in together and were amazed at how easy it was.

Remus started doing work for the ministry in regards to other werewolves, and he and Sirius fought about his secret work often. Sirius felt like all of the trust between them was vanishing. It got so bad between them that he didn’t trust him when James and Lily were choosing their secret keeper. But they didn’t choose Sirius, at his own urging, and it was a mistake that Sirius would regret for the rest of his life.

Sirius was arrested and spent 12 agonizing years in Azkaban. Remus came and visited him on their birthdays, but they two didn’t talk deeply or often when he came around.

When Sirius escaped, he was told to hide at Grimmauld House, which he hated, but there was one consolation for his time in the hated place. He had Remus, who had very quickly admitted that he was still in love with Sirius, which was reciprocated. He and Remus found they could pick up where they left off. They spent countless days on Sirius’ childhood bed, making constellations with their wands and giving each other lazy kisses. It was happy, but claustrophobic.

Sirius wanted to stretch his legs, and often, so Remus would take him on “walks” as Padfoot and kept it a secret from the rest of the order. He couldn’t bear to watch his lover be so unhappy.

Two years of this happy couple-ness, Sirius was suddenly ripped from the world. Remus was inconsolable for weeks. He barely spoke or ate or did anything. He hated the order and he hated voldemort and most days he just wanted to die.

Until Nymphadora came around.

He had known her when she was much younger, but now she was a woman. A beautiful, stubborn woman who walked into his home and demanded he pull himself together. She made sure he bathed and ate and came around once a day to ensure that he wouldn’t slip back into old habits.

At first, Remus didn’t see her in a romantic light. She was just a friend who had practically saved his life. But, then, slowly he began to notice weird things about him. Like the way her eyes lit up when she was passionate or how smooth her skin was or the way her laugh made the entire room feel warmer.

She wasn’t romantic, of course. It was too much work to be flirtatious constantly, especially when she felt like he didn’t feel the same. So she just acted like herself and tried to squelch her feelings for him. It didn’t work and all she wanted, every day was to see him.

And he fell in love with her. And she with him.

She was much too young and of course deserved so much better, but that didn’t stop her from loving him fiercely. She kept coming back, forcing him to allow her to take care of him until he could no longer argue.

She became a fixture in his life.

And though she would deny it, he actually kissed her first.

“I’m too old for you, Dora. It would never work. I’m basically a fugitive.”

“I don’t care, Remus. You’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted, and I’m not going to leave you. Not now, not ever.”

He turned on her and grabbed her face, pressing his lips against hers almost violently. He backed them up against a wall and only parted when he had to breathe. He looked into those eyes, the eyes he loved so well and said, “You are the only thing left that makes me want to keep living.”

He felt guilty, because of Sirius. He wasn’t sure why, Sirius had been dead for a while. But he still loved Sirius. He had intended to spend his entire life with him. But he had to move on eventually. Dora made it easier.

He told Molly Weasley how he felt, how conflicted he was about being with Dora. The older woman gave him her usual kind smile and said. “I think, Love, that more than anything, Sirius would want you to be happy. In whatever form that would happen in. Don’t let fear stop you from something good.”

So Remus let himself love Dora. And he knew that Sirius, wherever he was, was simply glad that Remus was happy.

#Hi kiddos #almost 600 followers #i am shooketh #thank you all so much for the love #you're all beautiful and amazing humans #sirius black #remus lupin #wolfstar #wolfstar headcanons #my writing #happy reading

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fuckblizzardbearlover · 4 years

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in case i cant load this file at the library. (trying to print a document so i can quickly show Alleged well meaning ignorant trump voters why, he isnt just evil, he’s anti republican/christian and they shouldnt vote for him). Good god this was only the last 2 months. what an asshole

Trump is anti republican values

Letting a private media network run the country

August 21, 2020 – Department of Homeland Security officials were told by Trump to watch Lou Dobbs “every night.” The Fox Business host and ardent supporter of the president was the department’s “shadow chief of staff,” said former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor. “The president would call us and… he would say, ‘Why the hell didn’t you watch Lou Dobbs last night? You need to listen to Lou. What Lou says is what I want to do.’”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/miles-taylor-trump-lou-dobbs-fox-marching-orders-homeland-security_n_5f4066aec5b697824f98b023?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWNzd2VlbmV5cy5uZXQv&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAGFv3J9DnCA3yhN9irljBGeIbETe34K6hRT9yzxk6fd6EH5rwaIC9XZg45NhSNMmcvi9VOlg6_bhNLjM5dJN0RyAgwY-OU7N6WLocW6uEbm0aIboW8YpMa9gJWFC2ROIFYRfX1D3NcVHgWKxWLeie8yY03vhUz2vWZR5jrJSGEy

Every word of this is blatant government corruption. Trying to rig an election, putting someone in charge who gave you money to make sure it happens? WHy does he hate america democracy so much?

August 17, 2020 – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was accused of deliberately slowing mail delivery to give the president a boost in the November election. Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Ted Lieu of the House Judiciary Committee called for the FBI to open a criminal probe into DeJoy, who was appointed by Trump in May. The businessman earned millions of dollars from a company that does business with the Postal Service. He donated $1.2 million to Trump’s election campaign.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/512284-two-democrats-call-for-criminal-inquiry-of-postmaster-general

More corruption! Using the Presidential seat to promote a donar’s brand? Is America just a money making scheme to him and his rich elite?

August 16, 2020 – Trump said that the Food and Drug Administration “should be approving” an extract from the oleander plant as a coronavirus cure, even though there is no evidence that it is beneficial. Oleandrin had been touted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a major Trump donor who has invested in the company that makes the extract. Lindell is not a doctor.

https://www.axios.com/trump-covid-oleandrin-9896f570-6cd8-4919-af3a-65ebad113d41.html

Hates america and democracy. If America is so great why cant he respect the democratic process

August 19, 2020 – Trump would “see what happens” in the November election before accepting its result, said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. “The president has always said he’ll see what happens, and make a determination in the aftermath.” Two days earlier, Trump had said, “The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-election-results-white-house/

More lies

August 14, 2020 – The Senate Intelligence Committee asked federal prosecutors to investigate former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon for possibly lying during its inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Senators also said that Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks offered conflicting testimony.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-08-14/senate-committee-sought-investigation-of-bannon-raised-concerns-about-trump-family-testimony

Stole from his own voters!

August 20, 2020 – Stephen Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, was charged with cheating hundreds of thousands of donors who were told that their money would go toward building a wall along the Mexican border. A federal indictment said that Bannon, arrested with two other men, used almost $1 million for personal expenses; in all, the men raised more than $25 million. Bannon, who portrayed himself as a man of the people, was arrested on a $35 million yacht owned by fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/nyregion/steve-bannon-arrested-indicted.html

Still no tax returns? If he was successful and legal he wouldnt be hiding!

August 20, 2020 – A federal judge ruled that Trump must give his tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney, who is investigating Trump’s financial records. Judge Victor Marrero rejected the president’s most recent attempt to block the release of his returns. “This is a continuation of the witch hunt, the greatest witch hunt in history,” Trump told reporters. “There’s never been anything like it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/20/nyregion/donald-trump-taxes-cyrus-vance.html

More voter manipulation

August 6, 2020 – White House health officials said that the U.S. might have a coronavirus vaccine in early 2021. Trump, however, claimed that one could be available “sooner than the end of the year, could be much sooner.” Asked if a vaccine could arrive before the November 3 election, he said, “I think in some cases, yes possible before, but right around that time.” No reputable scientists, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, believe a vaccine is possible before 2021.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-vaccine/trump-says-coronavirus-vaccine-possible-before-nov-3-idUSKCN25221Q

Vote intimidation is against 1st ammendment and your right to vote

August 20, 2020 – In order to prevent voter fraud, Trump said, he will order law enforcement to the polls on November 3. “We’re going to have sheriffs, and we’re going to have law enforcement. And we’re going to have hopefully U.S. attorneys, and we’re going to have everybody and attorney generals,” he said. Law enforcement is barred at polling places in several states because of concerns over voter intimidation.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/513048-trump-says-he-will-send-law-enforcement-us-attorneys-to-polls-in

More election tampering

August 4, 2020 – Trump’s campaign sued Nevada, arguing that a bill allowing voters to mail in election ballots would lead to fraud. In a tweet, Trump called the legislation “an illegal late-night coup,” adding, “See you in Court!”

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/trump-campaign-sues-nevada-over-bill-expanding-mail-in-voting-for-general-election

Undermining America, insulting the American system, undermining democracy and making attacks on the American people. No one hates american democracy like Trump

August 21, 2020 – Trump said he had a “theory” that if November’s election results were not known by the end of 2020, “Crazy Nancy Pelosi would become president, you know that. No. No. I don’t know if it’s a theory or a fact, but I said, ’That’s not good. That’s not good.’” In his remarks to a conservative group in Arlington, Va., Trump also said, “The more success that we’ve achieved, the more unhinged the radical left has become. Anarchists and violent mobs have rioted in our Democrat-run cities, attacking police and tearing down statues. I’m the only thing standing between the American dream and total anarchy, madness, and chaos, and that’s what it is.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/us/elections/trump-says-he-is-the-only-thing-standing-between-the-american-dream-and-total-anarchy.html

No one is above the law. Refusing to comply with investigators

August 24, 2020 – New York State’s attorney general asked a State Supreme Court judge to compel Eric Trump, the president’s son, to testify in an investigation. The inquiry was looking into whether Trump and his business overstated assets “to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits.” Eric Trump canceled an interview with the attorney general in July, and the Trump Organization said it would not comply with seven subpoenas that it was sent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/24/nyregion/letitia-james-trump-projects-investigation.html

Big govt stealing from taxpayers

August 27, 2020 – In visiting his own properties 271 times as president, Trump and Secret Service agents netted the Trump Organization more than $900,000. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s business also brought in at least $3.8 million in fees associated with 37 political events held at Trump’s properties.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-company-secret-service-spending/2020/08/27/9331bd86-de36-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_trumpsecretservice-1150am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory-ans

More attacks on American WOrking class. He acts like the postal service is a boogie man. Its hundreds of thousands of hard working americans trying to do a job to keep this country running

August 13, 2020 – Trump said he opposed $25 billion in emergency aid for the U.S. Postal Service. He made the unfounded claim that the coronavirus relief funding would help the service process “fraudulent” mail ballots for the November election.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Praising Terrorist

August 31, 2020 – Trump suggested that a 17-year-old charged with murdering two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, acted in self-defense. “That was an interesting situation,” Trump said at a news conference. “He was trying to get away from them, I guess it looks like, and he fell and then they very violently attacked him… I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would’ve been killed.” The shootings occurred during an anti-racist protest after Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police. Trump planned to travel to Kenosha, but Blake’s family said they would talk to the president only if the family’s lawyers were present. Trump said he would not speak with them.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/31/trump-defends-kenosha-gunman-406377

Promoting conspiracy theorists

August 12, 2020 – Trump congratulated Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican congressional candidate from Georgia who voiced her support of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon. “Marjorie is strong on everything and never gives up — a real WINNER!” Trump wrote on Twitter. The FBI identified QAnon as a potential domestic terror threat in 2019.

https://www.axios.com/trump-qanon-georgia-runoff-marjorie-taylor-greene-50ccdb7a-89ca-4331-9b16-77710ea27b5c.html

But his whole campaign is based on baseless conspiracies

August 11, 2020 – In a radio interview, Trump said, “China will own the United States if this election is lost by Donald Trump.” He added, “If I don’t win the election…you’re going to have to learn to speak Chinese, you want to know the truth.”

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/11/politics/trump-china-biden-learn-chinese/index.html

Anti free speech

– August 28, 2020 – At a campaign rally in New Hampshire, Trump ridiculed social justice protesters around the country. “You know what I say?” he told a small crowd. “Protesters, your ass. I don’t talk about my ass. They’re not protesters. Those aren’t protesters. Those are anarchists, they’re agitators, they’re rioters, they’re looters.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump/trump-knocks-protesters-against-racial-injustice-during-new-hampshire-rally-idUSKBN25O1AE

More anti free speech

– August 7, 2020 – The Trump administration issued two rarely used executive orders to ban TikTok and WeChat. The popular social media networks are owned by companies in China — a frequent target of the president’s pre-election rhetoric. “The spread in the United States of mobile applications developed and owned by companies in the People’s Republic of China (China) continues to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” Trump wrote. He did not, however, outline any specific threat from the companies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/technology/trump-wechat-tiktok-china.html

Only cares about his brand and money

August 8, 2020 – An aide to Trump asked the South Dakota governor’s office what it took to have a president added to Mount Rushmore. In 2018, Trump had told future Governor Kristi Noem, “Do you know it’s my dream to have my face on Mount Rushmore?”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/us/politics/kristi-noem-pence-trump.html

What is wrong with him. A dr is just doing her job and he attacks her cus dead americans make him look bad? Suck it up!

August 3, 2020 – Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said that the pandemic was “extraordinarily widespread.” Trump replied that she was “pathetic.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/03/trump-blasts-birx-after-coronavirus-claims-390881

Speaking ill of the dead, Not giving a shit about Russia putting bounties on american troops heads, not caring that americans are dying

August 4, 2020 – Jonathan Swan of Axios asked Trump how the coronavirus was “under control” when 1,000 Americans were dying of it every day. “They are dying. That’s true. It is what it is,” Trump replied. In the same interview, Trump maintained that he did not know about Russia’s offer of bounties for American troops killed in Afghanistan. The bounties, though, were reportedly brought to his attention in intelligence reports. “I read a lot,” he said. “I comprehend extraordinarily well. Probably better than anybody you’ve interviewed in a long time.” When asked how history will remember the late civil rights leader John Lewis, Trump replied, “I really don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know John Lewis. He chose not to come to my inauguration.”

https://www.axios.com/trump-coronavirus-under-control-5f114a16-9952-428c-bc07-3cfa360b0977.html

Trump is anti christian

Intentionally spreading the virus

August 27, 2020 – The Trump administration broke norms and flouted the Hatch Act by using government property — the White House — for a political convention. Trump delivered his closing-night speech from the South Portico, flanked by Jumbotrons on the South Lawn that screened campaign billboards. Roughly 1,500 people attended the speech, sitting closely together, most refusing to wear masks. A senior White House official dismissed any concerns about the coronavirus, telling CNN, “Everybody is going to catch this thing eventually.”

Lying about dead americans to look good in the polls

August 5, 2020 – The United States recorded 1,380 COVID-19 deaths in a day, but Trump said, “This thing’s going away. It will go away like things go away.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/trump-says-surging-virus-will-go-away-like-things-go-away

Do not take the lord’s name in vain. He’s trying to speak for God.

August 6, 2020 – Trump said that Biden, a Catholic who has long attended Mass, was “following the radical left agenda… no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God. He’s against God."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

Thou shalt not covet . He’s so full of hate when obama comes up

August 19, 2020 – As Obama criticized Trump in a speech at the Democratic National Convention, Trump assailed his predecessor in tweets. He wrote, “HE SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, AND GOT CAUGHT!” and “WHY DID HE REFUSE TO ENDORSE SLOW JOE UNTIL IT WAS ALL OVER, AND EVEN THEN WAS VERY LATE? WHY DID HE TRY TO GET HIM NOT TO RUN?” Earlier in the day, having heard some of Obama’s prepared remarks, Trump said, “When I listen to that and then I see the horror that he’s left us, the stupidity of the transactions that he’s made — look what we’re doing, we have our great border wall, we have security.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-hammers-obama-ahead-dnc-speech-so-ineffective-so-terrible-n1237359

Lies, coveting , and being a petty man baby

August 9, 2020 – Trump cut short a news conference when a reporter asked him why he repeatedly took credit — more than 150 times — for a veterans’ health care bill that was signed into law by President Obama. “Why do you keep saying that you passed Veterans Choice?” asked CBS correspondent Paula Reid. “It was passed in 2014… it was a false statement, sir.” Trump answered, “OK. Thank you very much, everybody.” Then he abruptly walked away.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/08/politics/trump-veterans-choice-paula-reid/index.html

Threatening American citizens, the poor the homeless, displaced. Threaten to take away money from the state so they could help those whos homes were destroyed

August 20, 2020 – As wildfires displaced more than 100,000 Californians, Trump again blamed the state for the blazes, threatening to withhold federal emergency funds. Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, he said, “I said, you gotta clean your floors, you gotta clean your forests — there are many, many years of leaves and broken trees and they’re like, like, so flammable, you touch them and it goes up.” He added, “Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don’t listen to us.”

https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/08/20/trump-blames-california-for-wildfires-tells-state-you-gotta-clean-your-floors-1311059

Note: We now know he knew how deadly it was when we only had 11 cases. He held this rally on govt property knowing his own voters might catch it and die

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/wh-brushes-off-covid-concerns-amid-trumps-maskless-crowd-in-game-of-make-believe

Willfilly killing Americans by taking away their medicine if their hospitals don’t obey him. Thats fascism. Thats murder

August 25, 2020 – The Trump administration announced that if hospitals did not report coronavirus data to the Department of Health and Human Services — until now a voluntary program — they would have their Medicare and Medicaid funding revoked. The loss of the money could force hospitals to close.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-data.html

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" 9th commandment

– August 23, 2020 – Without providing any proof, Trump alleged that the Food and Drug Administration was intentionally delaying coronavirus vaccine trials. “The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,” he tweeted. “Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!”

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/22/politics/trump-fda-coronavirus-vaccine/index.html

More easily identifiable lies. Does trump not know how to use google?

August 13, 2020 – Trump, who had spread the lie that Obama was born in Kenya, gave credence to the conspiracy theory that Kamala Harris could not be vice president because her parents were immigrants. “I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” Trump said of Harris, who was born in California and is thus eligible for the vice presidency and presidency. “I have no idea if that’s right. I would have thought, I would have assumed, that the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/politics/trump-kamala-harris.html

Destroying God’s land

August 17, 2020 – The Trump administration announced that it would begin selling leases for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a vast area of undisturbed wilderness in Alaska. The Center for American Progress said that the drilling — sought by Republican lawmakers for decades — would lead to the release of more than 4.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/

More enviroment destruction

August 13, 2020 – The Trump administration eliminated an Obama-era rule that required oil and gas companies to repair methane leaks. The EPA said the companies will no longer pay roughly $100 million a year for repairs — resulting in the release of 850,000 tons of planet-warming methane by the end of the decade.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/climate/trump-methane.html

Thou shalt not commit adultery

– August 22, 2020 – Trump was ordered by a California judge to pay an adult-film actress $44,100. The money was for her legal fees related to a lawsuit that she had brought against the president. Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, had sued Trump to be released from a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement to keep her quiet about their alleged sexual relationship.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-08-22/trump-ordered-to-pay-44-100-in-stormy-daniels-legal-fees

Trump is an incompetent idiot

-August 31, 2020 – In defending police officers, Trump said they can make mistakes in using deadly force in the same way golfers sometimes miss putts. “They choke,” he said. “Just like in a golf tournament, they miss a three-foot—.” Fox News host Laura Ingraham interrupted the president to keep him from continuing. “You’re not comparing it to golf,” she said, suggesting that “the media” would use that against him.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/514539-trump-compares-police-who-use-force-to-golfers-who-choke-and-miss-a

– August 22, 2020 – “You can’t trust him,” Maryanne Trump Barry said about her brother, Donald, in a conversation secretly recorded by their niece, Mary Trump. A retired federal judge, Barry said, “His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God. I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/maryanne-trump-barry-secret-recordings/2020/08/22/30d457f4-e334-11ea-ade1-28daf1a5e919_story.html

Blatant lies

August 10, 2020 – Trump said he would not have called for Obama’s resignation if 160,000 Americans had died on his watch. Trump, though, had said in 2014 that Obama should resign for his response to the Ebola outbreak, during which two people died in the United States. “I think it’s been amazing what we’ve been able to do,” Trump said about his administration’s response to the pandemic. “We understand the disease. Nobody understood it because nobody’s ever seen anything like this. The closest thing is in 1917, they say, right? The great pandemic. Certainly was a terrible thing where they lost anywhere from 50 to 100 million people. Probably ended the Second World War, all the soldiers were sick.” The pandemic that Trump spoke of actually began in 1918 and lasted until 1919. World War II ended 26 years later, in 1945.

https://www.axios.com/trump-obama-resign-787b042d-0361-48f1-bba5-c97b05837331.html

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-so-far-atrocities-1-889#2020

#trump #antifa #weapons against trump #we all need to convert at least one racist

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cleverwolfpoetry · 7 years

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Psycho-pass Movie Novel Chapter 4 - Final Part

Sorry, sorry, sorry for making you wait for so long, it may take me some time but I’ve not stopped working on Psycho-pass novels at all. Two jobs and a family are not easy to handle. Anyway, here we are with the final part of chapter 4.

As always, the sentences in italics are the characters thoughts.

The line of vehicles had been arranged in a huge elevator as it was. It didn’t give the sense of being on the top of a building, that huge elevator. Large as a soccer ground, it was climbing steeply the city tower, heart of Shambala Float. When the elevator came to a stop with a loud sound, the top floors of the city tower opened up to the eye with their magnificent view. The sky gardens of Krita Yuga. A lot of green — not artificial, but real plants growing everywhere. One could tell at first sight they were real because of the taste of the refreshing air.

In the pictures: the huge elevator and the sky gardens of Krita Yuga.

The rest after the cut…

Positioned across the large courtyard, the Chairman’s official residence was a compromise between the colonial style and a medieval palace. Got off the car, Tsunemori’s group stepped into the Chairman’s official residence. Rather than human soldiers, security drones made in Japan were overwhelmingly larger in number. Under Nicholas’ guidance, she advanced all the way to a special parlor.

“Excuse me”

Walking through a thick door made of the best mahogany wood, she stepped firmly onto a luxury carpet.

Chuan Han, the SEAUn’s Chairman, was already sitting at the head of the table far from the entrance.

“I am Tsunemori Akane, Inspector at the Japanese Ministry of Welfare’s Public Safety Bureau”

“I am Chuan Han”

Han went to offer his hand to Tsunemori who was standing up. She answered with a rather unconvinced smile.

“Surely I didn’t think that the Chairman would have met me personally”

“The thing is that I am very interested in you”

“Ah…”

Han sat down. Then, he invited Tsunemori to take a sit too.

A dictator, leader of the military clan — . Though she had been told so, she hadn’t realized straight away*. An intelligent elderly man, well-trained for his age and dressed in a custom-made suit that really suited him.

“Our Shambala Float. How is it? I would really like to hear your impressions as an inspector from Japan, birthplace of the Sibyl System”

“I think that even with limited machineries and materials, you’re searching for the best way. However, you still have many things left to do…”

“Ah ah ah, this is harsh”

Han laughed in a businesslike manner.

“…this time, I’ve been told I can receive your help in the international investigation?”

“The man you’re after, I heard he’s a terrorist who’s supporting the guerrilla, isn’t it?”

— the fugitive Kougami Shinya.

“…we have such a suspicion but…”

“About the measures against guerrilla in this country, I simply want to repress it. I don’t call that an investigation”

Even while laughing, Han was intimidating her with an inner glow in his eyes.

However, Tsunemori also stared back at him without flinching.

“Won’t I receive help?”

“…of course you will, you’ll receive unstinting aid. Only, the situation of this country and even its foundation are different with the ones of your country. I hope I can get your understanding at least on that”

“…I understand”

“In case you go out of this special district of Shambala and visit the key facilities, always act together with the guard that’s been arranged here”

“Together…with the guard?”

“Is it a nuisance?”

“No…”

Han looked towards Nicholas,

“I’m counting on you. Treat her right”

“Leave it to me”

It had been arranged that Tsunemori would stay in the residence for foreign important guests located in a corner of Krita Yuga’s sky gardens. Despite its name of vip guest house, hers wasn’t a place where people with a status of heads of state or ministers stayed for the night, but a relatively modest sleeping quarters for the retinue. RELATIVELY MODEST* — . And yet, it was doubtlessly the same class one could find in the suites of first category hotels. A loft structure built in a cottage-style mainly made of grained wood. She could enjoy the city view from the big windows.

The self-moving suitcase had reached the room first.

“Open case”

At Tsunemori’s words, the suitcase opened on its own.

The contents were scarce, the bare minimum. However, Tsunemori noticed a pouch she didn’t remember placing inside that case and let out a doubtful “mm?”. When she picked it up to examine it, she saw it was accompanied by a card with Karanomori Shion’s kiss mark.

On the card, the sentence “open it if you’re in trouble”.

“Geez, Shion-san…”

She appropriately took off her shoes and clothes and lied down on the bed.

“Ha…”

Tsunemori opened the documents she had previously prepared in Japan on her portable terminal. Visual and written data got displayed one by one on the holographic monitor.

— Chuan Han. Former General of the Army. The Shogun leading the military which has fought for the hegemony on the union.

He gained the support of Japanese Government on condition that he created a special district governed by Sibyl within SEAUn’s territory and overwhelmed the rival powers. He founded the newborn Parliament.

However, the voice opposing to the political power obtained through the military force hasn’t stopped, and the situation within the territory is unstable as ever. Even in the special district of the maritime Shambala Float, the arrangements for a strict defense are ongoing by means of a collection of unmanned weapons…

The terrorist group who entered Japan illegally…after all, I guess they are members of the antigovernment guerrilla. Han’s power base lies just in the Japanese Government’s support. The distant Sibyl System is the one supporting Shambala Float. Military drones. So, has Tōkyō become a target of retaliation terrorism…?

At that moment, the room interphone announced a visitor.

“Excuse me, may I come in?”

“Ah, yes”

A young girl dressed in modest maid clothing stepped into the room. She must have been around 14 years old, right? A healthy brown skin and lovely round eyes. She was wearing that collar showing she was a latent criminal.

“I am honored to look after you. My name is Nyan Yō. If you need anything, I’m at your service”

“I am glad to meet you too”

“I can surely arrange your meal immediately. I don’t have to care about access restriction so, if you let me link to your portable terminal, I also shall be able to receive your order through that. Even late at night me or my coworkers will meet your requests. Besides, I was told by Nicholas-sama that in case you go out, as long as it’s a building classified as restricted or ‘the other side of the bridge’, there is no problem even if you move by yourself, Tsunemori-sama”

“I see”

“As the restriction on buying and selling of alcoholic products is going to start in a week thanks to the System’s influence, if you want to try some this is the right time. For the time being, you can control entirely the room features with the touch panel on your bedside table. If you need a holo avatar…”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“It’s a personal question so, is it right for you?”

“If I can answer…”

“This…life you’re leading at ‘Shambala’, is it happy?”

After smiling in a slight melancholic way, Yō answered.

“…of course”

“But, that collar… it must be a menace for you. In the worst case it could even take away your life*”

“If I can keep my psycho-pass stable enough I will be safe, isn’t it so?”

“…I’m sorry. Manners here are different from Japan’s, I can’t get used to it no matter what…”

“No, don’t apologize like this…”

“Does it mean that you approve a domination by means of Sibyl System? Even if it was that collar?”

“The inhabitants of this island, every one of them is really thankful to Chairman Han who introduced the Sibyl System”

“…”

“…not so long ago, there were no safe places everywhere in this country”

Night came on. The real investigation activity would have been tomorrow. Tsunemori had decided to eat dinner in the busy quarters of Dvapara Yuga lower stories. The bustling streets extended outwards from the base of the city tower. That was the place for middle class citizens with good hue and psycho-pass rather that for the wealthy class. It wasn’t as much a mess as the ‘outside’ of the city on the water but it was rather disorderly.

Tsunemori let her guard down if only just a little at the night view of the new refreshing country. Even the huge images casted by the Japan-made hologram devices had a rich exotic charm and the religious mood was quite strong. A combined atmosphere of labyrinths and a lot of towers — the lower story was like encircled by walls. Even though it should have been a cramped space, the view of the holograms was open and distorted the sense of distance.

She roamed absent-mindedly around the bustling streets.

What a hot country — .

The hot air of the daytime still remained on the floor surface of the mega-float. She wiped lightly the sweat formed on her forehead and entered a street with stalls all lined up. There were some stalls selling food and others selling small furniture and accessories.

Tsunemori didn’t enter a restaurant but an eatery with a cheap appearance. She mingled with the local people and ate South-eastern Asia’s typical dishes. A Vietnamese spring roll* made of shrimps and vegetables. A salad with coriander and an acidic dressing. Curry with chicken and potatoes. The curry had a taste different from the Japanese one, the red pepper paste and coconut milk had been dosed with just the right balance. Even if she was tired, that dish tasted like she could eat as much as she liked.

— this heat makes me thirsty.

The sweaty shirt was sticking to Tsunemori’s skin. As in the upper stories the air conditioning was impeccable, it was not probable that this sensation could be tasted there.

Tsunemori, who had finished her meal, bought a bottled beer at a stall. She was slightly surprised because the old man of the stall used an anachronistic unfamiliar utensil called ‘bottle opener’. There was a small park on an elevated ground that allowed to look down on the bustling streets, Tsunemori leaned against a railing there and drank directly from the bottle. A cold beer. The carbon dioxide fizzed in her throat and a refreshing taste popped inside the chest.

“…”

May I have gotten drunk — ? Tsunemori looked at the ghosts*.

Kagari Shusei, Masaoka Tomomi, Funehara Yuki had gathered around her before she could notice it. Everyone sent to Tsunemori an affectionate glance that seemed to ask her ‘Are you well?’ ‘Are you happy?’

If Kougami Shinya was here, things would be completely like in the past— .

(ah…that’s right)

— maybe in my subconscious I was comparing the Division 1 I had been initially assigned to with the present Division 1.

A good team. The Division 1 from the times Tsunemori was still a newbie. Even now, somewhere deep in her heart, the feeling that they were the best team at those days was still remaining. Even after the Makishima case had been solved, she couldn’t get rid of that feeling. If Kougami, Kagari or Masaoka teamed up with the present Ginoza become an enforcer, what kind of job would have they done?

“That’s not good…isn’t it?”

Unintentionally, I can’t but think about things fallen apart.

Livening up, she swallowed the remained beer.

NOTES TO TRANSLATION:

*Though she had been told so, she hadn’t realized straight away: a little explanation of this sentence cause it may sound not clear. In Akane’s mind, Han’s interest for her doesn’t make sense. Why should a politician, leader of the country, dictator, etc., be interested in a common woman like her? At that moment, she doesn’t understand the reason and smiles unconvinced. Then Has tells her that he wanna hear her opinion about Shambala…well, there may be other reasons to be interested in her. After all he is one of the brains of Sibyl, but we can only make suppositions about it.

*RELATIVELY MODEST: I guess that after 4 chapters you already know why it’s written in capital letters. Same reason of all the other parts: in the book this sentence is written with dots above the kanjis.

*it could even take away your life: I’d like to point out this sentence in the text. Instead of using the verb 殺す (to kill), the author used the verb 命を奪うtake away your life (literally to steal your life). I like to think (but it’s just my personal thought) that it is a way to underline how Akane is always attentive to life and how she keeps it as precious, as her grandma used to say to her.

*Vietnamese spring roll: in Japanese namaharumaki (生春巻き), in Vietnamite it’s called Ram. Ram is always made from whole shell-on shrimp or chopped deshelled shrimp and some green onion, wrapped in rice paper and deep fried. Ram, like most specialty food items from central Vietnam, are not widely available in Vietnamese restaurant overseas. (from Wikipedia).

* ghosts: the word used in the Japanese text is 幻 (まぼろし) that means both ghost/ phantom and illusion/vision/dream. Both of the meaning are really fit for the situation.

Thanks for reading and always supporting me!!!

For more psycho-pass translations you can browse the indexes on my website.

#psycho pass translations #psycho pass movie novel #chapter 4 final part #tsunemori akane

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opedguy · 4 years

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Snowden Manipulates Sympathetic Author

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 21, 2020.--Publishing his new book, “Dark Mirror,” on 36-year-old fugitive National Security Agency [NSA] thief-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden, Pulitizer Prize winning former Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman showed how personal sympathies impact objectivity. There’s plenty of sympathetic people for so-called whistleblowers like WikiLeaks Julian Assange, who, above anything else, is a psychotic recluse, hiding from the law much like Snowden. Unwilling to face espionage charges in the U.S., Snowden fled from Hawaii to Hong Kong May 23, 2013 ending up holed up in Moscow’s Sheremeytyevo Airport, where Russian “czar-like” 67-year-old President Vladimir Putin granted him political asylum July 12, 2013. Gelllman’s new book glamorizes Snowden’s theft of U.S. classified documents working for NSA contractor Booz Allen Hamiliton in Hawaii.

Gellman saw dollar signs writing a book on an intriguing subject like Snowden, who, for certain people, romanticize Snowden’s theft of classified documents as a form of “whistleblowing,” something so preposterous, it’s hard to imagine anyone naïve enough to believe Snowden’s smoke blowing. But for authors like Gellman who stand to make easy cash, Snowden becomes a cause celebere, when it fact he’s a garden-variety hacker-con artist, who thought he could enrich himself stealing classified government documents. If Snowden wanted to repent, there’s plenty of opportunity for him face justice in American courts, with many high-profile defense attorneys wanting to take on another high-profile celebrity driven case. Gellman thinks Snowden shared special secret documents proving that after Sept. 11, the government routinely spied on U.S. citizens for whatever reason.

Pandering to the government conspiracy crowd, Gellman thinks spending time with Snowden he’d get the real story on an intrusive NSA, with secret files proving the government routinely violates the First Amendment. Yet Gellman would be the last person to question what former President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice [DOJ], FBI, CIA and NSA did to 73-year-old President Donald Trump, launching a bogus counterintelligence investigation, illegally obtaining warrants to wiretap Trump’s campaign for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] Court, accusing Trump of being a Russian asset. No Gellman, like the Snowden case, thinks he can get the juicy inside story of what really happened to an American hero. Snowden’s the architect of the phony “whistleblower” narrative when he violated his employment contract with Booz Allen Hamiliton and betrayed his country.

Nothing stopped Snowden from returning to the United States to face the world’s most compassionate and fair criminal justice system. But no Snowden chose to flee the country, escape justice and pretend he lives a glamorous life behind the Iron Curtain. “Edward Snowden succeeded beyond his wildest ambitions that he could plausibly have had . . Even the biggest critics of Snowden—not all of them, but some of them . . . all say he started a debate that the public needed to have about the limits of surveillance in a democratic society,” wrote Gellman in “Dark Mirror.” Snowden didn’t open up any national debate, other than for skeptical Patriot Act journalists, who value the First Amendment as long as it’s used to Democrat advantage. Journalists like Gellman have no problem working for the Washington Post, a paper so biased and controlled by the Democrat Party it has zero credibility.

Gellman insists Snowden, of all people, opened up a national debate on government secrecy and spying in a post-Sept. 11 world. Gellman admits that most of the programs Snowden exposed are still in existence. Snowden expressed concern to Gellman that he would take the government side, fearing repercussions from publishing “Dark Mirror.” Gellman doesn’t take long to expose his own bias. “When [Donald] Trump came to power—a guy who is allergic to norms, a guy who is at war with every institution of accountability, whether it’s the press, whether it’s inspectors general, whether it’s the courts . . “ Gellman wrote, exposing his colossal hypocrisy about government surveillance. Gellman is so brainwashed by Snowden and his own leftist agenda, he can’t fathom that the government’s national security apparatus was used to undermine Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Gellman’s book “Dark Mirror” exposes for all to see the fake news industry, content to spawn tales of government conspiracy but only if it’s directed at Re[publicans. Gellman fits right in with the #MeToo movement that uses violence against women to bludgeon Republicans but not Democrats, like 77-year-old Democratic presumptive nominee former Vice President Joe Biden for whom the same rules don’t apply. Gellman was smitten with Snowden because he thought his story would sell books. Living as an ex-pat in Russia, Snowden spends his life justifying his larceny of government secrets, pretending that he did it for noble cause: To protect the First Amendment. In reality, Snowden stole government files because it had asset-value to America’s enemies. How much Snowden got from Russia’s FSB [Federal Security Service] or SVR [Foreign Intelligence Service] is anyone’s guess.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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kappasigmalife · 7 years

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Desolate Caladium: Chp 2

Desolate Caladium : chapter 2

Falls on me

The dead of night came quickly for us, I was able to use some of my savings to get us out of port on a cargo ship going to neighboring islands. The kingdom is in an uproar and caladium is terrified. While on the hold we were finally able to rest and I watched as he tossed and turned the entire night. Of course I wanted to tell him everything was fine but in truth how could it, losing your father, cast from your kingdom like a leper, and your only company is a guy you saved 5 years ago, and is wanted for the murder of the king. When he woke up I found him eating a basket of fruit some of the sailors gave him, tossing me a banana, he told me to eat it plenty of it considering scurvy is a thing in the high seas. Eating the fruit I notice that caladium is taking out a long dagger and looking at it.

“an azoth dagger, meant for mages who completed their training as novices and attain the rank of casters, only given when one slays a beast, never thought I’d ever unwrap the cloth to use it.” “it’s a beautiful blade prince, but why take it out now” As I ask I notice hime cut it into his long locks of hair and sees it change color, from dark brown, to a light tan.

“as of now, my name is callum, and drop the prince, I don’t have use for it no more.” When we got to port he asked me to get him clothes that were civilian instead of royal and as we walked I saw him eyeing the guards around us, looking for me.

“don’t worry if anyone notices you, ill keep them away alright.” “being a mage must really be cool.”

“well it’s the hard work that pays off.”

His hair almost looks better shorter, but of course the hair that fell off just burned away, no doubt to just simply keep from being tracked later on. He grabbed my by the arm and brings me to the marketplace where he places some cents on a man’s table asking for a place for the night. The man tells him money is no good for him as the merchants guild has been struck down by the fallen kingdom and requires assistance more than anything. He gave us the room in exchange we bring his caravan to the next city 5 miles away. Gladly accepting, callum looks at me and smiles knowing that were safe another day. That night he slept more soundly and I kept watch outside once again. I began notice the sound of a horse galloping fast around the market and place it as nothing more than rounds being done by the police force. My real concern was watching callum just sleep as the night drags on. He woke around 4 am telling me he will take over and for me to rest before we must leave again. I can tell his very focused as he doesn’t even blink as he gazes outside, his auburn eyes under the moon glistened as I looked at him before drifting off. Although my time with him has been short we have been through more than enough to know the confines of needing one another to survive in this world. He promised me that we would be okay and in retrospect we are, together we stand against the illegal acts of the coup de ta while also running from our fate at the hands of the gallows. Forbidding himself from magic, he relies only on his brawn to keep us safe.

While the night persisting into the early morning we were able to rest enough to be ready to head out with the caravan. He took the reins and whisked us away from the market all the way to the next town in only a matter of hours, with one horse and supplies. As we arrived he received a large sum of cash that he stashed into his satchel to get us another room. Instead of a nice room in an inn, we chose to stay in the stables free of charge in order to recuperate and regroup our route away from the kingdom. His idea is to become a merchant only to provide protection as well as favors for cash in return for living quarters and start a new life. While I would like the idea of having a new life with him, it is not fair he is the one doing all the work. I requested to be sent to the local apothecary to work as a medical official and help townspeople with licensing from the city. The issue is that I need an alias as well, but callum assured me that desmond is so common it wouldn’t be an issue and effortlessly got me an emblem signifying my alliance to a med corp. as tears ran down my face I saw that he was smiling and wiped the tears from me.

“your eyes, I didn’t notice they were green, the color of life, a perfect fit for a medic.” “I never really noticed callum, thank you.” “we should celebrate, lets splurge a bit at the bar.” we drank til the hour grew late and we laughed at the expense of our new life, although much of it was running thin on the confines of time as we needed callum to still earn a living with the merchants guild. As a mage he could easily be a noble or even king, but his life was gone and he looks like hes okay with it.

“why are you so happy callum?” “huh, that’s no issue des, I just love being happy.” “but you have lost everything you had in a matter of days and you see the brighter side so quickly.” “of course I do, its because deep down the more I see the pain and anguish the easier it is for me to learn from it and become a better person throughout my life”

“why help everyone but yourself, you act like that’s your purpose.” “as a mage that is how I am born to be, to use magic as a way of helping instead of destroying as my master would say, but now I cant without being outed by the guards.” As I think back at all the things hes had to endure its more prevelant now that I merely only know one minute of his life aside from the entirety. He went on to tell me of his childhood, when his mother died when he was born due to the inheritance of her magic, his father showering him with affection even though he was king, spending time with other kids his age accidently hurting them only to have one friend who understood him.

“I fear that he may come soon, he is the most powerful knight of my fathers council and his bloodline is laced in carnage and bodies.” “how come, isn’t he your friend.” “because its his duty to protect the kingdom, as of now were seen as fugitives and at the same time as victims of conspiracy, but that doesn’t matter to them, they wish to seek control and end the kings familial bloodline one way or another.” “you really are a brave man, I don’t get how you could ever…..” he cut me off placing his hand on my mouth and gesturing me to leave with him. Sneaking out the back he pulled me into a back aisle in the road where he snuck behind the crates. A large hulking figure was looming around stopping in the aisle before moving on. I knew something was different, he was reeking of blood and seemed like the type to end a many for simply arguing with him.

“already found us, and not even three days passed, well done black knight, may we settle our debate tonight or shall I continue to elude you.” As I blinked the man came between us narrowly slicing me with a odd weapon, a sword and staff combined. He looked at both of us and kicked me into the crates as he went to take on callum, whose leaped in the air to the rooftops grabbing his azoth dagger. The man followed suit and I could only watch as they continually fought clashing blades and running after one another.

“for a man who is the kings lapdog, it’s a surprise you didn’t decide to kill him.” “true I didn’t, but given the price I can easily take his sons hide as my own trophy.” “always the morbid talker, taking any price for the job, taken any price for a rescue.” Callum had blasted him off right at my feet landing on his head. As soon as I thought he was dead, he rose back up cracking his neck into place and laughing.

“losing your touch caladium, you really surprise me without your true magic showing.”

“its callum, and what did I expect from the son of the impaler, or as I call you guys, the failed kinship.” “ouch most damage you ever gave me” Callum was getting more and more serious in this fight and all I could do was watch as the two moved more quickly than ever at each other. The metal of the blades going back and forth like a wavering dance of who would lead next, until chris began incantations.

“caelum hoc urere flammis bestia”

“oh goodie breaking out the dead language that gonna be fun.”

A burst of flames erupt from callums blade and strikes the man into the wall allowing him to grab me and run. The man gets up and gives chase merely cornering us and getting to grab my by the collar as I tried to run. Putting his blade to my neck he asked for me to drop mine and come with him. Doing so callum gives into the demands and leaves. I pick up his azoth dagger and glows in the direction he left with the man. Following the signal I come to see the man with piercing red eyes and golden hair curled with a massive beard. The two are drinking together near the shore and I sneak to see what is going on.

“its been years bro, how have you been?” “tough, but you know what its like in the kingdom.” “yeah true I don’t get it either but they pay well, and again im sorry to hear about your dad.” “he was old and things happen, but thank you for the sentiment.” “pleasure now that I know your good on your own, im gonna tell them your dead, and so is that nurse fellow.” “thank you for this, Trev” “least I could do after busting your ass to get me the knights gig, a vampiric knight of the council god everone flipped.” “those were the good old days.” I watched as callum got up and hands over a emerald pendant as the black knight rises and takes it from his grasp.

“payment for this favor, you know the drill.” “ill find two loathsome vermin in town your size and axe them off, then you disguise them yourself, that will act as proof of your death.” “not the first time we did this, go to the east district that where most of the mongrels live.” “good to know, and by the way, why hang around that kid.” “I see something in him innocent, that’s been masked for a long time, also his smile is adorable.”

#lgbt #gay #bear cub #bear

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hillyans · 5 years

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Hybrids & Clones

Work in progress post about Hybrids and Clones in BGE2.

Hybrid-specific

6/12/17 E3 Trailer Breakdown:

Michel: Yeah, the pig tries to dominate the monkey, but the monkey is very confident, he's got no fear, and they're talking about "master" and "slave" and...

Chris: "Domesticated"...

Michel: Exactly, that's exactly the idea that even between hybrids, that are a mix between animal and humans, it was a way to establish that there is a social system in this world and you can clearly, a little example here...

[Zhou Yuzhu: "Show me the idol, show me the redeemer."]

[Knox: "Here you go, mate."]

...

Chris: So the pig is not happy with what's just gone down obviously and he appears to have something in his forehead...?

Michel: Yeah, that is some blood and some pieces of glass that fell on his head...

Chris: Look how many scars he has, too.

Michel: Yeah, yeah, this kind of scar is important because hybrids have been created for dangerous tasks that no human wanted to do. They can also be used as fighters, you know, like hybrids fighting against each other. And there's a lot of slavery so it's another way to reinforce the depth of the world and all this history that the characters are carrying on their body.

6/12/17 E3 Interview:

The big, very important thing is this is the prequel of BGE1, so we discover the pillars of the world, how this world is built, what is the role of these characters-- we call them the "hybrids". Hybrids are half-human, half-animal, and they've been created by humans to colonize planets that are very, very dangerous, whether it's toxicity or whatever. They are supposed to be a magic race by humans. We want to show, to express and to explain to the players what is this world about, how all these things are connected, and the trailer is a part of that.

...

Again everything is connected, it's really connected to the first game, so you will recognize races that were in BGE1. I like the first sentence in the trailer, "Where is your master? I don't deal with domesticateds," There is this kind of relationship, even if they're all hybrids, there is this social system between them, and there is a religion thing with the Pey'jin statue. They invented their religion, names based on gods and divinities.

7/17/17 Character Focus: A new character, Kim Hyun-Jun, is revealed.

Supreme hunter Kim Hyun-Jun was used by his former masters to track and capture the many hybrid slaves who attempted to escape – until he refused and fled.

He survives day-to-day in the Ganesha underworld by competing in illegal hybrid blood sports, and as a hired gun and incomparable hunter.

9/21/17 Character Focus: A new character, Hsing Hsing, is revealed.

Many religious pilgrims to System 3 used the hybrid descendants of the sacred giant panda to help build and maintain their temples and gardens.

10/24/17 Instagram:

BGE2 - What if we had the ability to create biological beeings and use them as mass market products - They could be used as toys and many other purposes . Let's talk about it ! #spacemonkeyprogram bgegame.com

10/24/17 “Hybrid Exploitation” blog post:

In the world of BGE2, hybrid slavery is the keystone of System 3’s economy. The Hybrid Slave Codes made slavery a permanent condition, inherited through trademarked genomes, and defined hybrid slaves as property: inanimate objects with no feelings and no rights.

We imagine the society might use hybrids as:

- Customizable house pets - Corporate bodyguards, conditioned to obey - Trackers to hunt down fugitive slaves - A source of spare organs for their owners - Combatants in hybrid blood sport arenas - Pleasure Providers… - Forced labor for resource or agricultural exploitations

Who knows what happens when a hybrid rebels or outlives its usefulness? Maybe their organic matter gets recycled into fertilizer or consumable goods…

In what other ways do you imagine the hybrids would be exploited and/or discriminated against in System 3?

12/7/17 Space Monkey Report #1:

(WIP)

5/3/18 Space Monkey Report #2:

(WIP)

6/11/18 E3 2018 Trailer Breakdown (video):

(WIP)

6/11/18 HitRecord World Overview:

What's really important is that the clones created in System 3 are being engineered, designed, to have a specific job. So, for instance, if we are talking about the hybrid monkeys, we know in the game they have been created to be miners because they're very agile. They are making good miners to work on those different mines we have in System 3.

6/11/18 HitRecord Anti-Establishment Art (post):

In the world of Beyond Good and Evil 2, pirates (both humans and hybrids) live and die to mess with the powers that be. When they’re not wreaking havoc on the system by attacking and pillaging corporate holdings, banks, and merchant vessels -- or looking for treasure and trouble -- those with an artistic bent create original ‘anti-system, anti-establishment, and countercultural artwork which calls out their rage against the oppressive society of System 3.

In BGE2, every member of society -- be they human or hybrid -- is a genetic clone, who is required to perform a specific role within the system. Thus, some of these anti-establishment messages seek to incite revolution or recruit fellow revolters - encouraging all beings to choose their own destiny and write their own stories. Becoming a space pirate is the ULTIMATE act of rebellion in System 3!

...

Space pirates have more means and resources than the hybrid slaves, but not as much as high society and the establishment. This should translate into the kinds of media and aesthetics we incorporate. For example, space pirates don’t ride around in new spaceships, they collect whatever parts they can find.

6/11/18 HitRecord Anti-Establishment Art (video):

One of the key parts of our game is space piracy. Space piracy is everywhere in System 3, the main solar system of Beyond Good and Evil 2. There are many pirates in the underworld of Ganesha City. These pirates want to recruit the best crew members among the population of the city, but they're also challenging the system, questioning the society that enslaves hybrids.

6/11/18 HitRecord Anti-Hybrid Propaganda (post):

In this project, we’ll be creating signs, posters, and artwork designed by the corporations and the establishment to segregate and oppress the hybrid slave population. In System 3, the entire economy was built on the backs of its hybrid slaves -- part-human, part-animal genetic creations. Many areas of the sacred city of Ganesha feature anti-hybrid messaging and imagery designed to enforce the segregation between hybrids and humans. The powerful establishments in this society create and distribute this propaganda, which is designed to preserve the status quo and keep the hybrids in their place, at the bottom rung of society.

...

Hybrid Genotypes: For now, we want to focus on 8 hybrid genotypes: Monkey, Pig, Rhino, Shark, Tiger, Elephant, Chameleon, Snake

Hybrid Slave Code: Hybrids are only allowed in the poorest and lower levels of the vertical Ganesha City, where pirates, hybrids, and the criminal underworld reside. In the upper levels, hybrids are banned from gardens, shops, restaurants, and even from some of the temples to Ganesha and other Hindu deities. These places are where you can see the literal signs of hybrid segregation (for example: “No Hybrids Allowed” signs)

Fugitive Hybrid Slave Law: The establishment enforces a racist law that incites all humans in System 3 to hunt down runaway hybrid slaves. These posters might portray the fugitive slaves as a mortal danger to humans and the system’s economy. They might encourage humans (and bounty hunters) to ‘do the right thing’ and capture or kill escapees in exchange for a reward. They might take the form of ‘Wanted’ posters that would be seen on mobile billboards throughout the city, as well as in the streets of the criminal underworld.

6/11/18 HitRecord Anti-Hybrid Propaganda (video):

So, in the world of Beyond Good and Evil 2, hybrids are these sort of part human, part animal genetic creations and throughout much of System 3 they're exploited as slaves for their labor. The establishment and corporations who control many of the planets and cities in System 3 are heavily invested in keeping the hybrids in chains.

System 3 was built on the backs of hybrid slavery. In the world of Beyond Good and Evil 2, hybrids are not considered citezins. They're exploited by people and enslaved by corporations, all of whom want to maintain the status quo. Many areas of the city feature anti-hybrid messaging and iconography designed to enforce the segregation between hybrids and humans.

Another symbol of anti-hybrid racism is the Fugitive Slave Law. This law incites that all of the humans of System 3 to hunt down runaway hybrid slaves by portraying them as a mortal danger to humans.

6/11/18 HitRecord Hybrid Mythology (post):

In this project, we’ll be creating imagery, paintings, and rudimentary artwork, created by hybrid slaves, and depicting various interpretations of The Legend of Moksha. In the world of BGE2, ‘hybrids’ are part-human, part-animal genetic creations, and throughout much of System 3, they are exploited for their labor as slaves.

To cope with this bleak situation, hybrid slaves have developed their own beliefs, superstitions, and spirituality, designed to give meaning to their existence, and instill them with hope.

Perhaps the most well known of these stories is The Legend of Moksha, but there are many different interpretations and meanings given to this legend, depending on which hybrid you ask. Many hybrids believe that Moksha is a mystical gateway, which leads to a promised land where hybrids can live free. The most prominent interpretation of the legend can be found in written form HERE.

The various interpretations of this legend can be found depicted in primitive artworks painted onto the walls of caves, abandoned temples, and mines where hybrid slaves are forced to live, work, and survive. Both the legend, and the artworks, are designed to bring hope to the hybrids - that one day they may find salvation and escape their suffering.

...

For hybrids, the symbols in these paintings are based in ancient tradition and might be indecipherable to humans. For centuries, the hybrids have relied on these paintings as a form of exclusive communication.

6/11/18 HitRecord Hybrid Mythology (video):

So, in the world of Beyond Good and Evil 2, hybrids are these sort of part human, part animal genetic creations and throughout much of System 3 they're exploited for their labor as slaves. So to find hope in this bleak situation, hybrid slaves and communities have developed their own beliefs and superstitions and spirituality.

Hybrid slaves have developed their own beliefs, superstitions, mythologies, in this distant galaxy at the end of the 24th century. In this project, we'd love for you to collaborate on creating the imagery and murals that depict scenes and interpretations of this hybrid spirituality, from the point-of-view of the hybrids themselves.

The new hybrid religion is what gives them hope that one day they will be freed from slavery. For instance, one of the most important legends in System 3 is the Legend of Moksha. To many hybrids, Moksha is a mystical gateway which leads to the promised land where hybrids will live free.

We will tell you the story of one version of the Legend of Moksha to give you some inspiration.

Hybrids express their spirituality, beliefs, and legends in artwork that can be found in the underground areas of Ganesha City or in any caves in the planet, and everywhere hybrids work as slaves.

6/11/18 Moksha Legend (HitRecord):

The Legend of Moksha is told far and wide throughout System 3. Below is one of the many interpretations....

Many hybrids believe that Moksha is a mystical gateway, which leads to a promised land where hybrids can live free… And, while there are many interpretations and embellishments with each new telling (oral and visual), there are a few key steps that regularly appear as part of the pilgrimage that leads to Moksha and beyond…

1. The Calling: The Book of Hybrids suggests that the first stepping-stone on the journey to Moksha has already been taken--about a hundred years after the founding of Ganesha City. It is said that a hybrid monkey slaving in the mines of Naraka discovered a celestial map, which miraculously revealed itself to him when he touched an ancient meteorite freshly fallen from the sky….(which should’ve burned him to a cinder!). The location of the map remains a secret today, although many stories of Moksha contain clues that suggest its whereabouts.

2. The Uprising: The Book of Hybrids tells us that the time for revolt is near… The alignment of the planets, moons and stars of System 3, presumably visible on the celestial map that was revealed to the hybrid monkey so long ago, is soon to occur. (In ‘game time’, we are approaching the end of the 24th century.) And when this happens, Moksha will awaken and the hybrids must throw off their chains and set out for ‘The Passage’.

3. The Passage: Once the stars are aligned and the hybrids have reached Moksha, ‘The Passage’ will be revealed, allowing those, and only those hybrids who deserve to cross over, access to the secret that lies beyond….

Hybrid artists have retold this story through the arts for centuries, notably through primitive paintings that can be found in the depths of the mines in which they slave their lives away. However, no one truly knows what lies beyond the mysterious artefact in deep space…

Also, the hybrids are not the only ones in the galaxy trying to crack the secret of Moksha…it is one of the major stakes in the numerous ongoing conflicts in System 3.

The gateway might offer rebirth; resurrection; immortality; an unimaginable source of power; a treasure of unimaginable wealth--or, some cynics say it’s a trap--a certain road to a quick and painful death. There are even stories that Moksha is the harbinger of a coming apocalypse, the time when hybrid gods will cross over into System 3 and take revenge upon all those who exploit the hybrid kind! Most hybrids and The Book privilege the theory that beyond Moksha lies freedom.

In the city’s underworld, and in all the places where hybrids toil as slaves, artwork featuring the mysterious Moksha artifact abound.

12/10/18 Space Monkey Report #4:

Clones in this world are created, are being built, engineered, to fulfill a specific role in this society. So for instance, if you are born a hybrid monkey, you are meant to be a miner because hybrid monkeys are very agile. They make great miners when they work in the underground mines of System 3. ... The other side of the planet is always turned towards space and frequently bombarded with huge meteorite showers, breaking the ground of the planets and creating these huge craters on the planet. And the humans living on the safe side of the planet are sending hybrid slaves to this dangerous side of the planet to collect a rare mineral called “Diwalite” that can only be found on this dangerous side of Soma. And of course those hybrids are sent almost to their deaths when they go under this meteorite shower to collect this precious mineral. ... The bombarded side is extremely dangerous, they are much like cannon fodder, they just get sent out and they know hundreds are going to die and they’re going to bring back just small chunks of Diwalite. ... And when the humans send hybrids on the dangerous side, on Naraka, they tell them they are on a godly mission basically, and that the Diwalite is sent by the Gods. And they tell them if they collect enough Diwalite they could win their freedom, and not be slaves anymore. It is something that almost never happens and again, most of the hybrids die in this pretty cruel process. ... Here we can see the hybrid monkeys who have a special mechanical glove that they wear in order to collect the Diwalite, which is incredibly volatile, it explodes in your face. One of the stories about the hybrids that go on this side is that they have a certain quota they have to obtain, and if they don’t obtain that quota, they don’t get picked up in the end, they just leave them to die. So it’s an incredibly stressful area for the hybrid slaves.

3/13/19 Cityscapes: “Districts of Ganesha City, Part 1″ (blog post):

The Temples, lush gardens and shops, which adorn the upper parts of this district (and are forbidden to hybrids), attract tourists from across the System. Meanwhile, in the lower depths of the city, the older, buried and abandoned temples have come to serve many purposes, including sanctuaries for fugitive hybrid slaves and defective clones fleeing the oppressive system, black markets, drug dens, illicit laboratories and other unsavory activities.

The shining city we see in our first Beyond Good and Evil 2 cinematic trailer for E3 2017 was built on the backs of hybrid slave labor, who form an underclass relegated to the lower areas of the city.

...

Here on the waterfront, an Entertainment Corporation runs the business of fun. An arena hosts extreme sports events, such as hybrid blood sports, where hybrid slaves and renegade human clones fight each other to the death, much like the gladiators of Old Earth. On another day, you might find Death Races, where the best space racers can take on one of Zhou Yuzhu pet pilots… or each other!

3/29/19 Naraka: The Dark Side of the Moon (blog post):

Forced by their corporate masters and with the (false) hope of freedom, hybrids brave meteorite impacts and risk their lives in a harsh environment to gather the dangerous and powerful resource raining down from the skies.

Space Monkey Report #5:

(WIP)

Clone-specific

6/11/18 HitRecord World Overview:

And when they arrive and settle, they've discovered that they've become infertile and the only way they're able to survive then since they cannot reproduce naturally is to clone themselves. So they use the cloning technology they brought with them and they're somehow able to continue to colonize System 3.

Cloning was the only way to actually populate System 3 at that time. So what's im portant is that all the characters that you will meet in BGE2 are actually clones. Clones coming from those original limited DNAs that they had on board the ship.

6/15/18 Instagram:

#BGE2 Shani last version by Pascal Ackermann, a fantastic 3d artist. An important theme for us is identity. This world is made of clones. All clones in bge are registered as numbers and are dedicated to specific tasks. Becoming a space pirate is a way to escape that pre-determined life and become unique. But freedom has a price and the society prefers dealing with quiet clones instead of unmanagable pirates. In BGE, you may recognize the same clones but in various roles and behaviors. They share the same DNA sequence but have chosen very different destinies.

12/10/18 Space Monkey Report #4:

To backtrack a little bit, the first expeditions that left the Earth in order to come and explore the Surya solar system came and the very first expedition was sent out and they deployed clones. Of course it was a very hostile and they were going to face terrible conditions. So the first people that they sent out there were just clones of the experts that came. And they established outposts and what you see here in the image is Dyaus, which is a huge gas giant around which you see the planet in the foreground which is Soma, and Soma’s a moon that turns around the Dyaus. This is one of the first planets that they settle.

...

What’s really important in mind is at that time, cloning was the only way to populate this new solar system. So people in System 3 have been created from a limited number of DNA strains that they had on board that very first ship. It means that all the people you will meet actually in BGE2 are clones coming from those limited number of DNA strains. Clones in this world are created, are being built, engineered, to fulfill a specific role in this society.

12/21/18 “Space Monkey Report #4: VOD & questions answered!” blog post:

Do clones age?

“Yes, clones do age. Uma, in our second trailer, is a prime example of a clone who aged. But keep in mind that clones may age in ways that are specific to them…”

...

How does cloning work in this world and is the entire population made of clones? Are people still infertile during at the time BGE2 takes place?

Clones cannot give birth. Human beings purposely created them with this limitation. Since clones were the only ones to ever reach System 3, the whole population of this planetary system is made of clones who were created in cloning centers.

2/14/19 “Diwalite: The Ultimate (Re)source of Power” blog post:

Human & Hybrid Cloning: To populate and construct these new colonies in far-away planetary systems, pre-programmed Diwalite was sent along with specific strains of DNA in order to create cloned humans and hybrids to begin the colonization process.

3/13/19 Cityscapes: “Districts of Ganesha City, Part 1″ blog post:

Ganesha City was founded on the planet Soma by the cloned members of an India-based corporation, and one of the original members of the Earth conglomerate that led the colonization of System 3.

6/19/19 “Space Monkey Report #5 Livestream: Your Questions Answered” blog post:

Only male clones? Are there any female clones?

“To create clones in System 3, there is an equal number of male and female DNA strains. For example, there is a female as well as a male hybrid monkey DNA strain.”

...

So I guess there will be no children in System 3?

“Exactly, human and hybrid clones are born with adult physical characteristics, so there are no real children per se in System 3.”

#lore #world

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merigreenleaf · 7 years

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Current Projects

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on: writing, art, gifsets, whatever. I think I was tagged by @racqueljones @write-out-of-time @quilowrites and @nicolawritesnovels Oh gosh, warning: dorks ahead. Most of what I’ve been working on are books (and ideas for books) in this lgbt+ comedic fantasy series so this is going to get long. So I did a 1 sentence thing for each book. Colorweaver (Book 1, Unexpected Inspiration series) Status: rewriting 2nd draft Blurb: Adair Cerulean is an amateur cartographer with the ability to make his drawings have the semblance of life. Like the other creators who possess magic and channel this through art, Adair is a Weaver. Adair is in the process of working on the project that, once complete, would advance him in rank when disaster strikes! The map is stolen and’ as its new owner seeks out more Weavers, Adair feels a tug from his creation to follow. This pull leads him to a carnival where he meets a healer standing guard over a stricken performer. It turns out that his thief is more than a mere robber and there’s more at stake then just a stolen map. Wacky antics ensue as Adair attempts to get his art back and stop the thief before he hurts anyone else. (OneTwo sentence summary: A young trans-boy artist with magic bumbles his way into a carnival, befriends a few carnies who are as dorky as he is, and the group bumbles their way to a sort-of-victory while wondering where all these antagonists came from. Lots of dorks, lots of bumbling, not nearly enough pies.) Sentinel (Book 2) Status: brainstorming 3rd draft (aka why won't this story find the right plot??) Blurb: Adair has recovered his stolen map and acquired a loyal bodyguard who will - with luck and a lack of imps - protect him in the future. Adair’s elation is short-lived when the other artists refuse to accept his choice of sentinel. Conflict with his peers and a realization of magic gone awry lead Adair to restore a fractured friendship. Caught between past and present, Adair must decide how far he’s willing to bend the rules of his class. No one ever actually decreed that carnival performers couldn’t be sentinels, did they? (One sentence summary: "One True Threesome" trope crosses "Mindlink Mates" trope, partially distracting the dorks who are trying to investigate why magic is glitching across the city and why one of their friends suddenly grew a tail.) Iconoclasm (Book 3) Status: brainstorming 1st draft Blurb: When Adair and his companions find themselves summoned by the Artisans' guild, they are given a specific assignment. They are to travel north to Montglace, the former home of the twins, under cover of their fledgling carnival troupe. Their true task is to investigate the source of the frequent earthquakes and a possible corruption of magic. There's only one problem: Etri and Sol are fugitives. Can this group of inexperienced carnies-turned-envoys find the source of the elemental corruption before their presence is detected? (OneTwo sentence summary: The dorks, who have no idea what they're going to face, are sent by people who have even less idea to spy on a situation that really should be Someone Else's Problem. Unsurprisingly, "spying" becomes "neck deep in trouble and also elementals help where did all these come from and how do we make them go away???") Then I have two more books that are even less planned out that take place later in the series and about different characters. Shadowweaver (tentative title - book 1 in this duology? Trilogy?) Status: brainstorming ideas Blurb: Gilly is a girl who cannot speak except to ghosts. She has the ability to make things vanish- or appear out of thin air- and works as a carnival performer and thief. While she's hunting down art that was illegally gained by a dishonest art dealer, the dealer's teenage sister catches her in the act. Gilly gets away, but is intrigued by this girl whose weak voice is oddly captivating. She soon learns that while Chantrell is confined in her own home, she isn't as sick as she appears. Gilly is determined to find out the truth and set her new friend free. (One sentence summary: Teenage girl falls madly in love and decides that she needs to create an heroic rescue with the help of her long-suffering gender-fluid roommate.) Sciamachy (book 2 in this trilogy or whatever it is) Status: brainstorming ideas Blurb: Chantrell has become Gilly's thieving partner; with her magical ability to produce any sound, Chell is the perfect distraction for Gilly's silent heists. It's during one of these encounters that Gilly notices a shadow that shouldn't be there. Meanwhile Astra, a few miles away and sixteen years in the future, notices the same thing. Someone or something is trying to reach out to both her and Gilly using the shadow magic that the two young women share. Astra, however, has been secretly using light magic without the knowledge of her father/teacher- could this be what the mystery shadow senses? (One sentence summary: Somehow the author figures out how to make 3 POV characters work when one lives in the present, one in the future, and one in another world that connects to both timelines.) I feel like I’m so late to the party that a lot of people were already tagged! If you’ve already been tagged or don’t want to do this, that’s cool! And if you do want to do it and haven’t been tagged, consider yourself tagged! @calemor @megan-cutler @c-foley @december-soulstice @jj-justwriteit @theflowofink @rainbow-pages @wchwriter @laurabwrites

#tag game #writing #writeblr #my writing ramblings #current projects

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kamuwrites · 7 years

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In the Bag, Ch 6/10 (a One Piece gen cat fanfic)

Fic Summary: All pirates have hordes of treasure. It just so happens in this life, cats are the treasure in Luffy’s.

Chapter Title: Merry Whatsit Things

Words: 2048 (Not the game)

read on ao3

Buggy used to live in a lot of shitty places while on the run from the cops when he was a sprouting young criminal. He liked to think he escaped that life once he established a rule of terror in an unknown East Blue town with a name not worth remembering anymore.

A few years of living as boss gave him a shady construction business in which he was rolling in dough. The whole shindig had illegally imported explosives and everything. Hell, he even provided dental to his workers slash underlings. His life was great.

Straw Hat ruined that window of bliss with his literal homewrecking.

When did the kid even have TIME to hotwire a bulldozer and level his entire base? He had to have stayed in town for two hours at most!

Buggy almost forgave Straw Hat. It took a country bumpkin maniac with a destructive streak to make him realize just how small his worldview had become. Sheesh, he used to have big dreams and shit. The kid reminded him by smacking him in the face like they were basic punks duking it out on the streets.

The kid packed a hefty punch, but Buggy knew he could take it. Later. After the bruise healed.

So yeah, Buggy tried to slash the kid’s tires after finding out where he worked. ‘Tried’ because motherfucking Benn Beckman caught him in the act. He was one man he did not want to cross. Anywhere Beckman was at, Red Hair certainly would be hovering around nearby. The pair were mushy and together like that, reminding single people everywhere that they were SAD, ALONE, and in his case ANGRY. Bastards.

“What about that fling with Alvida?” Luffy asked, interrupting the beautiful monologue of his worthwhile career in crime.

“Work buddies. Don’t shit where you eat,” Buggy sniffed.

Alvida told him the things Luffy did when he disbanded her gang. Frankly, he thought they didn’t measure up to the deeds Straw Hat did to him. It looked like Luffy turned her life around for the better, if the kid couldn’t recognize her from the pig she once was. He avoided a kick to the crotch after that.

Now that he thought about it, Buggy himself was profiting from the waves that kid brought to his nowhere nook town. He’d never tell the brat, but Luffy had punched the idle satisfaction from his body that day.

“Hm,” Luffy said, watching a fly buzz by as he ate.

Buggy could see his reply fazed through him. Anything not concerning meat and cats were filtered out of his brain.

“Speaking of places to eat,” Buggy said, watching Luffy perk up immediately. “You need to get out of this place. I killed like five roaches on my way to kitchen.”

Luffy let Robin, one of the newer additions, settle into his lap. “Whaddya mean? Here is fine,” he said.

“Uh, kid?” Buggy said. He gestured to the peeling walls and the paper panels lined with cat sized holes. Half of them were repaired with index cards and duck tape. “Your house is falling apart. You have a bug problem. I think a freaking rat scuttled past my ankle when I was taking a shit in the toilet. Not a mouse. A RAT.”

Luffy tilted his head. “Robin and Sanji can take care of them. They’re both former barn cats,” he replied.

“Your water doesn’t spit out hot anymore,” Buggy said.

“I can go to the public baths,” Luffy returned easily.

“There’s no AC,” Buggy tried.

“We can open the doors and hang up the mosquito net,” Luffy put forth.

“Kid!” Buggy shouted. “There is MOLD infesting the kitchen ceiling.”

Buggy took brief satisfaction at the way Luffy hesitated. The feeling was short lived, however. He had to break the bad news to Luffy, which was as unpredictable of a situation as predicting a storm. The guy would either take it like a champ or refuse to budge.

...Or, Luffy would make this godawful devastated face like someone had told him one of his cats had died. Buggy HATED the possibility of that outcome. He always knew to avoid it whenever he brushed the topic of family. Despite being unfazed even in the face of death and the muzzle of a gun, Luffy still had hang ups like anyone else.

And Buggy would completely take full advantage of that, if only the threats of an internationally wanted fugitive and the hellstorm that be a retired ATTORNEY GENERAL weren’t breathing down his neck…

Oh, and Shanks could go fuck himself. Those crow’s feet and bleached gray hair all the way down to Beckman’s roots? Nuh-uh. Buggy ain’t taking a part of that circus, not yet.

“That’s not good for you or the cats,” Buggy continued, pushing the Monkey D. elders and the inevitable forthcoming of old age to the back of his mind. “The kitchen is where everyone eats. Not all of the furry things have strong immune systems, not like you.”

Luffy’s face was doing that thing where he was thinking. All signs pointed to this being a herald for bad ideas.

Buggy already made it this far. He might as well finish his guilt trip to the end of its bittersweet journey.

“Straw Hat Luffy,” Buggy said, standing up and heading toward the front door. “You can do better.”

Of course, that was where the metaphorical bad weather ended for a while.

Buggy assumed, with the radio silence, maybe Luffy decided to be sensible for once. Hey, he might even listen to Buggy’s advice and Buggy could rein it over his head forever!

Nope. Someone chose the absolute WORST outcome to come to fruition.

Monkey D. Luffy made his choice, on his own terms.

“Call on line 3 for you…” Mohji said to him one day.

Buggy, like the inattentive fucker he was, didn’t notice how pale his underling looked. He had to go ahead and take the call like an ignorant fool.

“I’ll give back the bulldozer in two days,” Luffy started.

Buggy hurled the entire phone set against the wall.

***

The village mayor had to be certain.

“Are you absolutely sure this is a cat?” Dalton asked the young man.

“Yeah! Geez, I know what’s a cat and what isn’t!” Luffy said.

Dalton looked over at the pudgy hooved animal. It watched him with clear wide eyes from its place in Luffy’s lap, as if daring him to contradict its adopted human.

“It has hooves,” Dalton said.

“He’s self-conscious about that.” Luffy nodded. “He’s not as polycrocodile as Nami and Robin are.”

“No tail?” he asked.

“Chopper is the opposite of Usopp!” Luffy exclaimed with a laugh.

Dalton frowned. “He’s a baby now, but he’ll probably grow horns in the future when he turns into an adult,” he persisted. How would this kid explain that?

“Horns?” Luffy lifted Chopper to look him in the eye. “Are you going to grow horns, Chopper?”

The goat-cat blinked slowly at Luffy. He turned his head to look at Dalton and then turned back to Luffy.

Chopper bleeped.

“He says sure, but they’ll fall off on their own,” Luffy said.

Dalton was at an impasse. He had troubles accepting that someone could be so stubborn about an animal’s presumed classification. Was it against certain animal laws if he just let this boy take a wild deer-goat-cat as a pet?

“No worries, Bull-guy,” Luffy assured, stretching to pat him on the shoulder. “Doctor-lady told me Chopper is a cat. I’ve never seen a cat like him before, so I guess I haven’t seen ‘em all!”

Their resident doctor and veterinarian told Luffy this? Dalton had never questioned her expertise in animal care before, but what would she gain from teasing a young boy from out of town?

“She approves of you taking him with you?” Dalton sighed.

“Mm! I told her my new place is near the sea and mountains, so she Hail Mary-ed Chopper into my arms and told me to get out! You should visit once we’re done building,” Luffy said.

Luffy placed a creased card onto Dalton’s palm. The paper shone in laminated purples, yellows, and reds with a splash of brown. It was all backdrop to a cheery lion shaped cleverly like a sun or a flower.

“The ‘Thousand Sunny’,” Dalton read on the other side.

“For the thousands of sunny days ahead of us,” Luffy followed up, swinging Chopper around in a circle.

It made sense with what Luffy wanted to do with the animal sanctuary. He briefly thought maybe he caught onto what Dr Kureha had intended in leaving the goat-cat-dog-deer to Luffy. Their small suburban town in the cold north was no place for an active animal that belonged in the wild. In an animal sanctuary, Chopper would have a better and longer life than the one he had with his herd, or so the Doctor had bitterly told him while drunk.

“Will Chopper have a lot of friends?” Dalton asked.

Luffy stopped and set down Chopper, who wobbled on shaky legs before collapsing onto a nearby pillow. The goat-cat-dog’s tongue stuck out as he tried to regain his sense of balance.

“You bet! There’s Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji—”

Dalton listened as Luffy told him of their happy and growing family.

“It sounds fun wherever you guys are,” he said once he found a gap in one-sided conversation.

Luffy beamed. “That’s right!” he agreed.

Dalton stepped up and patted the young man on the back. He glanced over his shoulder and grinned at the approaching people, more particularly the grumpy doctor refusing help from the younger veterinarians around her.

“Take care of him. I know Chopper has dealt with plenty of coldness in his life. He could use a lot of warmth from now on,” he said as he turned Luffy to the arrivals.

“Nami! Sanji!” Luffy took off toward the sleeping cats being rolled into the waiting room. He barrelled into the hovering veterinarians in his haste. The room quickly filled with many protests.

“You brats! Don’t wake them! They just came out of surgery and need rest!” Dr. Kureha whipped out a pair of latex gloves and whacked the jumpy young man with them.

“They’re okay now?” Luffy peered at the cats on the cart, taking care to keep his voice significantly lower.

“Yes, you impatient buffoon. Sit with Chopper, I need to pack and write up the basics for his care and the cats’ aftercare for you before you take off.” She waved the boy away and glared at the surrounding vets. “You bunch need to leave me be before I bring out the meter stick.”

Taking heed to the woman’s hand inching toward her hip where she kept the retractable not-weapon, the vets scattered.

Dalton felt he had overstayed his welcome. He headed toward the glass doors of the clinic, before someone cleared their throat behind him.

“You must’ve distracted the brat well enough, if he managed to stay in this room for four hours straight without interrupting me,” the doctor said, one hip and an eyebrow cocked.

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I think it’s the other way around,” he admitted.

She snorted. “I’m a creature of solitude, so I know when someone isn’t. That boy,” she jutted her chin at Luffy attempting to imitate Chopper’s hops, “is someone who loves and needs love. I’d almost think he’s more animal in that aspect, but most humans need others to live fully. Otherwise, we’d die before our time.”

“Is that so?” Dalton took vague amusement as Chopper perched on Luffy’s shoulder like he was a mountain face, accidentally knocking over his hat.

“Of course. I’m an old woman who has found the secret to longevity. However, I haven’t found the right way to love Chopper in the way he needs. That’s why I’m allowing Straw Hat to steal my cute apprentice.” Dr. Kureha chuckled at Dalton’s baffled expression. “He’s very good at fetch, that Chopper.”

As if to demonstrate, Chopper jumped down and presented Luffy the hat in between his teeth.

“Cats don’t do fetch,” Dalton reminded with a twinge of his lips.

“Oh, shut it, brat,” Dr. Kureha said to the noises of amazement and praise filling up the small clinic waiting room.

TBC

#one piece #one piece fanfiction #monkey d. luffy #dalton (one piece)#tony tony chopper #kamu fic

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