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flash-exchange · 10 months

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Ahoj, holiday season!

Would you look at that, it appears our beloved suitors have already started their vacation.

Who else sent us postcards? Are there any connections between them? What misadventures befell them? Well, there's only one way to find out -- stay tuned!

Best wishes from the crew of IFE.

Transcriptions below the cut.

Greetings from Prague. Thank you for looking over the mansion on my behalf. I hope our residents are not causing you any trouble?

We went to see Charles Bridge. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV. Do you know about Charles? Charles of Luxembourg? Born Václav, the first King of Bohemia to become the Holy Roman Emperor? The founder of Charles University in Prague? Charles IV, ranked first in the 2005 edition of Největší Čech TV show?

Charles’ reign is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Bohemia. Given the fact that he made Prague his capital, founded the first university in Central Europe, focused on diplomacy, not to mention the Golden Bull… ! It is only understandable.

Has le Comte perhaps… considered expanding his family?

Sebastian

Greetings! Prague is so beautiful. I only wish I took my paints with me… Although, Theo was able to supply me with some without any problem. He’s been acting strange, though. He didn’t even touch his pancakes this morning…

We’ve visited a botanical garden. Would you care to see my sketches once I return? I think I’ve captured the beauty of the flowers there just right. But it’s a shame you weren’t here with us for the butterfly exhibition… Perhaps I should paint them too.

I almost caused a little accident at the Charles Bridge, but nothing happened. If Theo mentions it, don’t worry.

Does le Comte intend to join us? I’ve briefly talked with a man… I forgot his name… He said he’s his old friend.

Let’s come back here together one day,

Vincent

Hondje,

Tell le Comte that his old acquaintance is scheming something. Vlad’s been following me and my broer for days now.

We’ve been to a botanical garden today. Broer wanted to sketch some of their orchids and other plants for practice. We learnt that there are butterflies in the Fata Morgana Greenhouse, so we went there. The moment I turned around, I could see a black cloak fluttering in the corner of my eye. I know he was there.

Also, what is it with those ridiculous fees for painting at Charles Bridge?! Vincent wanted to make a wish, so we went there. He set up his easel, and we almost got fined… They listened to Sebas’ rambling about the king, though, and left us off the hook.

Be a good puppy and notify le Comte that something is off. What could Vlad want from my broer?

You humans truly produce quite lovely things. The world I’ve seen today… I’m glad.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Prague. It’s grown a lot, but the botanical garden is still here. If anything, it’s more beautiful than I remembered it being. It hosts butterfly exhibitions now too? Haha, I like the name of the greenhouse – Fata Morgana. Fitting.

Charles Bridge is also still here. Did you know that touching certain statues there is supposed to have some specific effect? Haha, who knows if they work… But I tapped the plaque with St John of Nepomuk just in case. It says I will come to Prague again. I hope to take you with me then. It’s been one of the wishes I made at the cross there. It’s a little morbid they placed it at the spot where St John fell into the river, but that’s just how you humans are, no? Curious, curious things…

Let’s meet in the dreams.

Vlad

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todaysdocument · 2 years

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Speech given by college student Raymond Anthony Mungo at the Boston Common for an anti-Vietnam draft rally, 10/16/1967:

“I'm here today, and this is a very historic day, to go with you . . .I say again, I have nothing more to do with the Selective Service System.”

File Unit: Boston Common, 1928 - 1976

Series: Precedent Case Files, 1928 - 1976

Record Group 118: Records of U.S. Attorneys, 1821 - 1994

Transcription:

RAY MUNGO: I am going to talk very briefly. I'm not exactly sure why I'm here to speak to you because I can't speak as elegantly as either of the two gentlemen who preceded me, and I'm not black, and I'm embarrassed by the fact that nobody black is up here; and I'm not working class, even though my parents are working class, because I obviously went to college, you know. But I have learned a few things since I started going to college.

When I started going to college, the Civil Rights movement was the big thing and I thought that was great because there were these people down South pounding people and beating people and I assumed that was very un-American. The American character was to be peaceful, to be non-violent, to be just and I assumed that south was the festering sore in American society. That is why I started going to college.

In 1964, three men died in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their trials were just coming up this week in Mississippi. Their murderers will no doubt be acquitted. In 1965, I was aware of the war in Vietnam. [following underlined in red ink:] I burned my draft card on the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. In 1967, I'm here today, and this is a very historic day, to go with you to the Arlington Street Church to say that I have nothing more to do against, and I say again, I have nothing more to do with the Selective Service System. [end underlining] Now I think this country is getting very close to being a fascist state and I'm afraid, I'm deeply afraid, and I'm afraid of the draft too and you know you are too because it affects all of our lives. I am eligible for the draft and so are you, even though I am in college. It affects people's career positions. It affects the way you look at things. I do not believe, for example, that it's a coincidence that the United States Army, that the same United States Army that is destroying people in Vietnam, can be destroying people in Detroit. I think that it's connected. I think people who go to fight and kill people find it easier to come back here and kill people, and I think killing

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people is wrong, categorically in any situation, because people are all that we have. People are it, man. You know!

For the fascism that we have in the United States of America is not like the German fascism. It is not like World War II or the Atomic. It is the fascism of the $100-a-plate diners in San Antonio, Texas, who can sit and mildly, smugly, applaud the President on his (word inaudible) when he makes statements that indicate that he's mad, that he is out of touch with reality, and it is the fascism of - yes, it is the fascism of BU student and Harvard University student and Brandeis University students who will not stand up and say anything about the war. It is the fascism of people who continue to pay the taxes, and people who continue to register for the draft because they do not want to stir up any trouble.

I was in (place inaudible) with NICK EGGLESTON (Phonetic). I met a girl that was 23 years old. She had 200 shrapnel wounds in her body because she was teaching in elementary school when it was bombed again and again. I saw pictures of women whose children were born with metal pieces of lead in their faces that went through the woman's womb before birth. I saw people that had their skin seared off by this war in Vietnam, and I've seen black guys in the United States that had their heads bashed in, and I think we’re all going to end up in the can sooner or later if we take a moral stand on this issue, so I'm willing to do it now.

I might be crazy. Why am I subjecting myself to the possibility of jail? Why do I not sit and accept the arguments that may political activists have offered me, that it is more effective to stay out of jail and play along with the system? Because you can't revolutionize the system and you can't change a country that is rotten to the core unless you make a complete break. I cannot object to American materialism if I depend on American affluence and if I'm afraid of jail. I am not afraid of jail. I'm afraid of killing people and being killed and I am afraid that this whole planet is going up in smoke if we don't do something about it immediately. Jail is not to be feared. Jail is an honorable alternative to this war in Vietnam.

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I feel - Eugene Bent (Phonetic) said in 1918, "I am accused of being against the war. I admit it. I am happy to be against the war. I will be against all wars". And then HENRY DAVID THOREAU said, considerably before that when he was in jail, somebody came up to him and said, "Why are you in there". He turns around and says, "Why are you out there, baby?"

Because a society - in a society which is (word inaudible) unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY said in the closing lines of a poem "Am I a spy in the land of the living that I should deliver men to death. Though the password and plans of our city are safe with me, never through me shall you be overcome." [following underlined in red:] If resisting the Government in the United States of America, which is killing people abroad and killing people at home, black people and yellow people and poor people, if that is treason, I want to be a traitor. I want to be nothing but a traitor. It's the only honorable thing to be, and I want as many of you as are ready to take this step today to come with me and a lot of other people down to the Arlington Street Church to tell the United States Government together, today, that you are men, and not tools, that you have rights and you have dignity and you belong to the human race. That's all I'm asking you to do.

If you believe in killing people, it is crazy to register with the - if you don't believe in killing people, it's crazy to pay your taxes. It's crazy! Don't give them a nickel! If you don't believe in killing people, it's crazy to register for the draft. You've got to make a break now. Please come with us today. [end underlining]

#archivesgov #October 15 #1967 #1960s #Vietnam War #the draft #conscription #Raymond Anthony Mungo #cw: violence

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thewritingofspencerrose · 1 year

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An Interview with Charlotte Dunne

Daisy Jones and the Six

Author's Note: While I have made a concerted effort to remove myself from the narrative, I have included here a verbatim transcript of my conversions regarding Charlotte with Daisy Jones, Charlotte Dunne, and Billy Dunne, because I was, in fact, an active member of these recollections.

CHARLOTTE: So, where do you want me to start?

AUTHOR: Start with who you are, your connection to the band.

CHARLOTTE: My name is Charlotte Willow Dunne, although my mother calls me Charlie, and my connection to the band? Well, I'm the reason that Daisy Jones got sober in November of 1978. And I'm the reason that Camilla left Billy Dunne in July of 1979.

BILLY: Charlotte? I first learned about her after the show in Chicago.

DAISY: Charlie? Well, how honest do you want me to be?

AUTHOR: As honest as you want to be.

BILLY: I had just finished talking to Daisy. She- she had just told me how she was pregnant. And that it was mine. So I sat down at the bar and I ordered a tequila neat. And it arrived. And I sat there and I picked it up and swirled it around and I sniffed it. And then two women came up to me, and asked me to sign autographs for them. Said they'd never seen anything like Daisy and me. I signed two cocktail napkins and pretty soon after, they left.

DAISY: It was the middle of the night, after a show at the Chicago Stadium in July of '79, when I got back to the hotel. I don't remember what I'd been doing. I just remember that I was avoiding Billy. He knew at that point the only thing I had been hoping to keep from him. I think I probably walked around the city or something. I was still out of it when I got back to the lobby. And I turned right, to head for bar. I remember thinking I didn't even want to be conscious. But I must not have realized where I was going or what I was doing because I ended up walking straight into the elevator. I thought, All right, guess I'll watch tv and go to bed. But when I got to my room, I couldn't get my key in the door. I kept trying but I couldn't get it to fit. I think I was making a lot of noise. And then I heard a child's voice.

BILLY: I grabbed the glass - the tequila, I mean - I grabbed it again and I stared at it. And I thought about what it would taste like. Clean smoke. I was lost in it when the guy next to me went, "Hey, you're Billy Dunne, aren't you?" And I put it down.

DAISY: I was stuck out there, in the hallway. Unable to get into my room. And I slumped down on the ground and I started crying. I looked down the hall and I realized it was... well... out into the hallway comes Camila and she's holding you...

AUTHOR: I remember this. You were in a white dress, I could see your baby bump.

DAISY: You were about five or so, I think. So... you've got a good memory. Camila came into the hallway and she was holding you, and she said, "Do you need help?" I didn't understand why was being so nice. I said yes and she took my key and she let me into my room. And she walked in with me. She put Julia down on the bed. She told me to sit down and she brought me a glass of water. I said, "You can go. I'll be okay." And she said, "No, you won't." I remember feeling really relieved. That she could see through me. That she wasn't going to leave. She sat down next to me. And she didn't mince words. She knew exactly what was happening. Exactly what she wanted to say. I was... unnerved. I felt so out of control and Camila was so in control. She said, "Daisy, he loves you. You know that he loves you. I know that he loves you. But he's not going to leave me." Camila said, "But what I need you to know is that I'm going to leave him. I told him that when I he started loving you that would be where we ended. But then I wasn't going to give up on him, not until the baby." And I just remember thinking, there is no way that she knew the baby was Billy's. I had been married to Nikky long enough that she could have, should have thought it was his. But she knew better.

BILLY: I took a taste of it. Not even a sip, but a taste. It took everything I had not to gulp it down, not to throw it into the back of my throat. It tasted like comfort and freedom. That's how it gets you - what it feels like is the opposite of what it is. But my whole body went slack, from the relief of it being on the tip of my tongue.

DAISY: Camila got up and poured me another glass of water and she got me a tissue. Which is when I realized I was sobbing. Those damn hormones. She said, "Daisy, I don't know you very well, but I know you have a great heart and you're a good person. I know my daughter wants to grow up and be you one day, and I know that I want the twins and Julia to know their brother or sister." And I told her then. She was the first person I told other than Simone. I told her I was having a girl.

BILLY: The man next to me, he was watching me. He had a full beer in his glass and he was sipping it, like you sip something you're indifferent to. I glanced at him and then... I did it. I drank it. Maybe half of a finger or so. And then I held on to the glass. Like someone was going to try to steal it from me. I told myself to put down the glass. Just put it down.

DAISY: Camila looked at me for a moment. And I wanted to know what was going through her head. And then she gave me a soft smile, softer than I would have mustered in a situation like that and congratulated me. She said, "Julia, Susana and Maria will love having a new sister." And I could tell that she meant it. "But Daisy, you have to leave the band."

BILLY: I couldn't put it down. My hand held on to the glass. And I thought, I wish this man would take it out of my hands and throw it across the room."

DAISY: I was quiet for a while, trying to process what Camila had said. And then she said, "I think it's time for you to take time off for yourself, and the baby. You can't keep this life up and have her end up healthy. I want the best for both of you." And I finally said, "Why do you care about what happens to me? To my child?" And she said, "I think almost everybody on this planet cares about you. But I care about Billy, and I don't want his child or future being affected by any of this."

BILLY: The man looked at my hand and it seemed like he was looking at my wedding ring and he said, "Are you married?" I nodded, chuckling sadly. "For now," I had answered. He laughed and said his girlfriend would be crushed. "You got kids?" That caught my attention, caught me off guard, but I nodded again. "Three girls, and a baby on the way." And it had felt so abnormal to hear. One on the way. He said, "Got any pictures?" And I thought of the photos, in my wallet, of Julia and Susana and Maria, and of the baby on the way. And I put the glass down.

DAISY: Sometime in the early morning, Camila picked you up out of my bed, and she grabbed my hand. I grabbed her hand back. She said, "Good night, Daisy." And I said, "Good night, Camila. Thank you." It was as I opened the door that Billy was walking down the hallway, his eyes catching Camila and I.

BILLY: I saw them, Camila and Daisy, with you hanging from Camila's hip.

DAISY: Camila just looked at him and said, "We're getting a divorce, Billy. I told you this would happen when you fell in love with her, and that baby needs you around."

BILLY: I just nodded. I didn't want to fight her if that was what she wanted. I had already put her through enough. And so I just looked at Daisy.

DAISY: He just looked at me, and all the love I had thought I had seen behind his eyes to that day, was no longer behind his eyes, but front and center. And he was looking at me.

CHARLOTTE: At least, that's how Mom and Dad told it to me. Camila and Dad got divorced that month, and two weeks later Mom and Dad announced that not only were they an item, but that Mom was pregnant with Dad's baby.

WARREN: Finding out that Billy and Daisy had been together was a surprise to no one.

GRAHAM: I was happy for him, finally being able to be happy with the one big love of his life.

KAREN: I was just happy for Daisy. We had talked about her wanting to be a mother, get clean, and she was able to do both.

CHARLOTTE: I know, and have always known I was never planned. But I do know I was born to two amazing parents, who have remained clean since. They got married when I was three, and, well you know this part, but you, the twins and I were their flower girls. So yeah, that's my story.

Unknown to Charlotte, Billy Dunne and Daisy Dunne had come out to the patio where we were filming her interview and were leaning together against the wall behind her, smiles on both of their faces.

AUTHOR: Thanks Lottie.

CHARLOTTE: Anything for my favorite big sister, but don't tell the twins I said that.

Charlotte Dunne grew up in northern California with her mother, Daisy Dunne nee Jones and her father, Billy Dunne. Camilla Dunne moved with her daughters Julia, Susana, and Maria to North Carolina shortly after the divorce. Charlotte Dunne is currently a second year nursing student at the University of California, Berkley, while Billy and Daisy enjoy their retirement from their lives as rockstars.

#djats #daisy jones and the six #daisy jones x billy dunne #daisy jone #daisy jones #billy dunne #camila dunne #fanfiction #the writing of spencer rose #interview format

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uncloseted · 1 month

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I work full time and I go to university and I feel a lot of guilt because I don't always get all my assignments done or I cut corners. Sometimes I don't do certain assignments because I have a big test or a paper that's due, and i just feel one outweighs the other. I still go to class everyday and I've only missed for legitimate reasons, but I just feel so much guilt because I cant get everything done. I feel like the worst example of a student, and it makes me feel like a fraud.

If it makes you feel better, I think this is the experience of most university students, even the ones who don't have full time jobs. A lot of the time, there's just more work assigned than there are hours in the day, and if you gave all of them 100% effort, 100% of the time, you would never be able to do anything else. I think it's actually really important to learn how to prioritize which things need you to give them your full effort, and which ones can be ignored or given 80% effort. And for the most part, your professors aren't really expecting that you're giving every homework assignment 100%, either. In any given class, the majority of the students are trying to pass while putting in as little effort as possible. At least in my experience as a university TA, the fact that you care already sets you apart from your classmates. And the fact that you're putting in this much effort while working a full time job is admirable.

I also think it's important to remember that ultimately, the benefit of going to university is just the piece of paper that says you went (and maybe the connections that you made there). Unless you're planning on going to graduate school, it's unlikely that anyone will ever look at your university GPA or transcript after you graduate. And even if you are planning on applying to graduate school, sometimes they don't care (mine didn't). Of course it's important to put in the effort for the sake of learning and to be proud of the work you're producing, but any one assignment won't make or break your future.

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c-schroed · 3 months

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Podcasts I Adore - Within the Wires, Season Five: Voicemail

What would the subversive artists think, Nan, if they knew you were coming to watch their show. All of these cynical idealists with their disgruntled disquiet, their painted bodies and disruptive language and grotesque dance? They would probably say “Who’s the cop?” And I would tell them “Hands off. She’s mine.” And they would not change the subject to prop stations and costume repair, because they fear arrest the way they fear a tattoo. It’ll be painful yes, but a proud mark of a proud artist. Their souls are made of leaves. Their souls grow and sway and change and die and rot and renew. Being prematurely plucked away is part of the profession. At least the fear of it is. Although I don’t think any of them have ever known anyone who was. It’s all “this one time in the 80s” or “my friend’s husband’s co-worker’s something was.” Artists getting disappeared by the boogeyman. It probably doesn’t happen, but what if it does? I don’t know, Nan. You’re not just some tool of the system. You’re different. That’s what we usually say, right? “Not this one. They’re different!” We can’t know that. But we can’t know anything. I’m just going off intuition. I’m relying on my gut. And my gut says “I’m drunk, Indra. Figure it out yourself.” And I did. I figured out you’re different. I figured it out based on your lips, because they’re pink and soft and they smiled at the right spots in the show. That’s the data on my bar graph. That’s my internal memo. Attn: Indra. Regarding: Hot cop, second row. Kiss that spy before the night’s over. And I did.

Sorry for the long quote. Originally I just wanted to start this review with

Hey. You didn’t answer. Hey. Nan, I wanted you to answer. Answer me, Nan. Nan. Naaaaan. like your name, you know. Short and simple but low and sweet.

But then I went through the transcripts in the gorgeous-as-always WtW Wiki, to find the exact wording, and I remembered that each episode is full of favourite quotes. Because season five is my absolute favourite. It's the peak Within the Wires experience, if you ask me. And I'll most happily elaborate why.

Of course, season five continues Within the Wires modus operandi of telling its story via found audio tapes from an alternate history. This time, we listen to the tapes of an old answering machine. However, this season comes with two narrative twists: Firstly, we have two protagonists, whose connection will unfurl in the course of the season, and secondly (and more importantly), this time the story is told in reverse order.

We start with an answering machine message from Indra to Nan, her former lover, five years after they broke up. Indra is at ease, she has a wife now and a teacher job she loves. But we will encounter other faces of her, too. Cold resignation, outright anger, drunken lovestruckness. Because someone seems to go through old answering machine tapes, in reverse order. Maybe to find Indra's first message? Maybe out of sheer nostalgia? We will not find out, because as usual in Within the Wires, we do not get much more than Indra's perspective.

Except that this year we will also hear a few short messages from a person named Gwen Nettles, agent of the Internal Investigation Division, the infamous secret police of Within the Wires' alternate history. And Gwen of course is somehow connected to Indra and Nan, as we will find out. But Gwen's messages are always short and mainly add some information that will make most sense in hindsight. In fact, one of her messages even made me fucking sob in tears of joy on an open street when I listened to it again after finishing the season's final episode. Because the timelines are just so marvellously connected. But back to Indra.

So once more, we're more or less stuck with one point of view. And by the messages that our protagonist leaves on mostly the phone of her lover, we witness an almost classically star-crossed love story. The ambitious actress of a subversive theatre company and a government employee fall in love. It can't go well for too long, we know that. And thanks to the story being told in reverse, it's not a secret waiting for us. Instead, it's a fascinating take on this kind of story. It has it's dramatic moments (like Indra lashing out at Nan's answering machine in episode three), but thankfully it starts and ends just lovely. Hopeful and warm, with lots of little pleasant surprises.

And that is mostly thanks to the most darling protagonist a podcast rom-com can ever wish for. Amiera Darwish voices her Indra charming and mostly lighthearted, but always with enough depth to not make her seem stereotypical. Norma Butikofer, on the other hand, voices Gwen Nettles as good counterpoint to the main protagonist: Calm, professional, but also not devoid of emotions and needs. In my eyes, season five is even more character-driven than the other seasons, and its two voice actors do an absolutely marvellous job in making that work.

And when we turn our attention to the music and score of this season, we even find one more twist: In seasons one to four, the music was diegetic; it could either have been added to the audio by the protagonist (seasons one, two, and four) or it played in the background (season three). In season five, however, the music is not part of the found audio, it's just added by the producers for atmosphere. And don't get me wrong, it does a lovely little job in giving even more of a rom-com feeling, but it's also a bit of a pity to say goodbye to the more elegant ways of adding music in the seasons before.

But even with that little bit of a slightly bitter pille, to me season five is perfect. It excels at telling us a story of tragic love, and thanks to its rather unique narrative structure manages to have two positive and hopeful endings. That both brought me close to crying tears of joy. 10 out of 10 points, thanks for the ride!

< My review of season four

My review of the Within the Wires novel >

#within the wires #wtw #within the wires season 5 #podcast #podcast review #podcast recommendation #science fiction #alternate history #romance #romantic comedy #schroed's thoughts

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cup-and-chaucer · 6 months

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Romantic Comedy and the Curse of Booktok

I just finished Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield and my Lord in Heaven do I have feels about it.

And not butterflies at how cute it was.

This was not It for me in so many ways and, in fact, it’s flaws were so great and so significant to me that I do feel compelled to write it all out in a *insert drum roll* numbered list.

Summary: Heroine Sally works at a fictionalized version of SNL and is frustrated by the fact that all these uggo sloppy men hook up with hot beautiful women. She, an uggo sloppy woman, then ends up hooking up with a hot beautiful rock star Noah Brewster during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. The Pacing and Information Dumping

The pacing of this book was…bizarre to say the least. The book was divided into three sections. The first describes the week that Sally and Noah meet. The second is an 80 page exchange of emails between the two as they reconnect online during COVID. The third describes their meeting and romance. All of these were slow in their own way.

The first section was laden with details about the production of a weekly episode of SNL. I found this pretty interesting actually because I am a fan of the show and show biz insider baseball always fascinates me. But as the book went on, this section felt increasingly waterlogged. We never meet many of the characters again and we never return to the SNL set. It does feel like it exists solely to prove that Sittenfield read Tina Fey’s Bossypants. This section, of course, is also…like. Not that funny. It’s just not. Physical comedy is incredibly hard to transcribe to the page effectively and so the descriptions of many of the sketches fell flat for me and also the banter was not anything more sparkling than you would find in any other romance book.

The second section was also incredibly mundane. I have developed deep and emotionally intimate connections online and I think this is not an unusual experience to have nowadays. And I am sure if someone read back the transcripts of email and text conversations with those people…they would also not be that interested (though they’d be more interesting Im sure than this). You would need our context to make those conversations sing and to understand why some mundane things meant everything. This correspondence felt dull but it was partially because, without watching how Sally felt when she got a notification, without hearing how Noah wrote and rewrote and rephrased his messages, it was hard to gauge how impactful the exchanges were.

The third section was fine. And again, I know what it’s like to fall in love with someone quickly but their whole relationship felt really rushed. Even here, conversations were weighted down by unnecessary exchanges about what to have for dinner, etc that didn’t move the scene’s actions or emotional arcs forward.

2. Where’s the Conflict?

So. I get that we all want to communicate openly and honestly with our friends and partners. On the page, it’s deeply boring though. This is why Noah Brewster sucks as a hero—he is literally perfect. He’s rich, handsome, emotionally aware, kind, considerate. He apologizes right away and sets appropriate boundaries.

All the potential juice in a conflict is side-stepped from the real ramifications of fame to beauty standards to COVID to wealth disparity. Even Chekov's wig is revealed to be Noah getting some hair transplants that are explained away in a single cuddle session. All is resolved through a series of petty fights and pat reassurances.

*yawns*

The problems in their relationship originate with Sally. She is drunkenly snarky to him at a party and that leads them to not speak for two years, she gets irrationally upset at Noah for dropping her hand in front of the paparazzi, she moves into a hotel the moment they discuss their future and come into conflict. These aren't bad plot points but fighting Noah is like fighting a piece of wet cardboard because he is always reasonable and always level-headed and almost always right.

I thought about this book when rewatching Joe Wright’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice this weekend. What I love so much about that book and both movies, what makes that one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time, is the fact that both Elizabeth and Darcy grow and change and their relationship is the catalyst of it. This is shown in different ways in each adaption. The 2005 version does a masterful job of showing different perspectives to create a classic misunderstanding and crossing of social wires while the 1995 focuses on Elizabeth and Darcy as truly and deeply flawed. Both work for me in different ways. What I love Colin Firth’s portrayal especially is that he genuinely is an asshole…he’s a good person but not a particularly nice or sensitive one. His attitude is the result of snobbery and classism, not a lack of street smarts (like McFayden’s Darcy who is mostly shy and awkward rather than suave as Colin Firth is when he handles the Wickham situation).

Romantic Comedy hints at wanting to be a social commentary but it ultimately fails because it doesn’t allow its characters to be impacted and warped by the society that they live in the way that Austen and Firth allow Darcy to be unlikable because of his social standing.

3. Beauty and Desirability

Soooooo....like. Sally isn't really unattractive. Sally's narration is focused on other people's appearances...Noah is hot, Henrietta and Viv are attractive, Annabelle is beautiful. She is not. The whole premise of the book is that Sally is not a model. But Sally doesn't actually defy any conventional beauty standards except to be...not the perfect specimen of 21st century beauty. She isn't described as being fat. She isn't described as being visibly disabled. She isn't described as hairy (except when she is shaving everything off). She isn't described as being particularly masc. She is white and so there's no examination of colorism or Western beauty standards. She's just...a normal looking white woman. And like, trust me, as a normal looking white woman who is pretty traditionally femme, of course I have insecurities too, and a lot of Sally's commentary was very relatable to my experiences in dating, in sexuality, in my relationship to other women I perceive to be more attractive than me. But that doesn't make the book particularly interesting or transgressive, especially because the beautiful women in the book don't have much of a personality or depth (looking at you, Ariana Grande caricature.)

I read Olivia Dade's Shipwrecked series last year. And these are pretty silly romances tbh, but what I love about them is that the women in them are fat, yes, but their fatness is part of their attractiveness. Dade manages to do this in a way that doesn't feel fetishizing or patronizing. The women are described as being beautiful because they simply are and the men who desire them simply desire them, not just because they have a great personality which *makes* them beautiful, but because what people find beautiful and attractive is diverse. Those books also deal directly with the challenges of being in a "mixed weight" relationship and it drives some of the conflict, particularly in the first book...eating habits, exercise, media representation, etc. In contrast, it doesn't seem like Sally either grows into her desirability or that Noah ever really expresses clearly that she is beautiful to him. He talks about how great their connection is and how much he wants to fuck her...but if my memory serves there's not a lot of *specific* talk about what she looks like, what *specifically* about her physical appearance she finds so repulsive and he finds so hot, if he likes what she wears. This isn't a beauty and the beast retelling where someone looks beyond someone's appearance to see the inner person. This isn't Cyrano de Bergerac where there is something that Sally feels is fundamentally unlovable about her...except sort of a general global malaise about her desirabilty. Sittenfield can't decide what to do with the premise of her own book except to do a pale version of "not like other girls" where Sally becomes the funniest, smartest person Noah has ever met even if, in his own words, he never would have gone after her if he had just seen her picture.

4. Show and Tell and the Self-Consciousness of Politically Correct Writing

All of my issues listed above could pretty much explained by the fact that Sittenfield chooses to tell, not show, nearly all of the story. We are told by Noah that Sally is desirable and he is in love with her....but we don't see much of their interactions beyond just...fucking. We aren't allowed the space to interpret actions and feelings, especially after the first section of the book ends. Even the emails are a cop-out. As a result, the book becomes very literal.

One of the best things my writing partner has ever said is that "Sex should be about everything but sex, and everything that's not sex should be about sex." But in this book? Everything is exactly as it appears and so the underpinning of their interactions lacks chemistry. As Noah says, he's not looking to seduce her. Which is very nice of him. But very unsexy. When they finally do have sex, I struggled to care. It didn't feel like a crescendo of boiling tensions, it didn't feel like anything except the next logical step when you date someone. It is a romance but without eroticism and sensuality. God, it's even set during a pandemic where touching and masking is essential. My God.

This can be expanded into my biggest criticism of the book which was the handling of the political references and diverse cast. The characters clunkily engage with the political ramifications of COVID and the Black Lives Matter movement. The characters tell us that they go to protests (we don't see it), Noah tells us that he thinks about intersectional feminism (is that likely in a teen heartthrob...see Mr Darcy commentary above), they talk about racism (though there are two Black characters in the book who do...nothing). We are told that they are good people with the correct political opinions so we like them. They reach the quota of having one (1) queer friend and one (1) PoC friend. We don't see them do the hard work of being good, we see them do the gymnastics of being palatable to the other one. It doesn't change the fact that this story presents an extremely traditional view of relationships: the heroine marries a wealthy white man and her two friends are mothers in monogamous relationships by the end. It makes every mention of every political event and opinion feel deeply disingenuous and the book as a whole feel so self-consciously written that it was hard to fully immerse yourself in it. I felt the author everywhere, pressing in from all sides, unable to allow her characters flesh and blood and conflicts deeper than a single conversation.

Argh.

#curtis sittenfeld #romantic comedy #pride and prejudice #jane austen #olivia dade #ship wrecked

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stormclouds-chainmail · 2 months

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A video from 1st March 2024 of a debate in the UK House of Commons about a conversion therapy ban.

My partner insisted I watch this after I got in from a long and difficult day. It's encouraging to know that there are some Tories who will attempt to protect LGBTQIA+ people. I don't know anything else about Alicia Kearns but this is good.

youtube

[Video transcript taken from Hansard:

Alicia Kearns, Conservative Party, MP for Rutland and Melton: I am often asked why I fight for a ban on conversion therapy. People say, “Surely there must be some personal connection. Surely you must have some personal history,” but I do not. In fact, there is no one in my family who is LGBT; we may be the only family in the UK without someone who is LGBT. The reason I do it is because fundamentally, as a Conservative, I have a duty to defend individual freedoms. I believe that the state should stay out of people’s lives, but it should protect the most vulnerable—defend those who others seek to harm, and recognise that the first and foremost duty of any Government is to protect their people.

This is not some woke frontier for politicians to weaponise for clickbait, and I am shamed by the debate that is increasingly taking place on conversion therapy. I remember the first debate I secured in this place on conversion therapy. It was moderate; we sat and debated the intricacies of legislation that was not yet there. Unfortunately, that has changed.

People in positions of trust are abusing those who they tell they are sinful, broken and need correcting, which causes lifelong hate. There are survivors in this place—in Parliament. The reason I fight so hard is that so many LGBT colleagues do not feel that they can come here and be labelled as fighting for themselves. They should be free to do that, but sometimes they cannot, and—do you know what?—allyship matters. We have a duty in this place to not impose our own personal views on things, but recognise that our rights—potentially to religious freedoms—can be protected while we also protect those who live a life different from ours.

Neale Hanvey, Alba Party, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath: The hon. Lady has made a really important point about LGB people coming to this place and feeling safe to argue their position on this important matter. I have experienced the most horrendous bullying in this place because I take a contrary view, or a more guarded view, than some in the LGB community. In fact, people in the LGB community are often referred to as “bigots”, “transphobes” and other slurs just because we have concerns about legislation such as this and want to make sure that young LGB people are protected —and trans people. Does the hon. Lady agree that that rule must apply to all sides of any debate, not just to the side that she favours?

Alicia Kearns: The hon. Gentleman is entirely right, but there was one letter missing in his LGB: the letter T. We do not divide the LGBT community in this place. Members can say that they have concerns about what we are doing, but by removing the T, the hon. Gentleman is suggesting that transgender people do not exist. He is suggesting that they are less than other LGB people, and I will not stand for that, because it was trans people who stood with gay people at Stonewall; it was trans people who fought alongside them for LGB rights. I will happily discuss the intricacies of legislation with the hon. Gentleman, but when he chooses to eradicate, that is wrong.

Miriam Cates, Conservative, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge: Will my hon. Friend give way?

Alicia Kearns: No, I will not give way on this point, because I will not hear more erasure of a transgender community. We can discuss the intricacies, but that I will not stand for.

I am not going to go into the arguments about the Bill, because the hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) did an exceptional. job. He went out and met every single person, organisation and lobby group and listened to all their views, even if he disagreed with them—and that includes the LGB Alliance, who have also removed the T—and I have supported him. He has done a phenomenal job.

The hon. Gentleman has set out what the Bill does. It protects religious leaders, who can still guide their flocks. Health practitioners can still support and challenge people, and parents are protected. That is why all major faith groups back the Bill, why the royal colleges back it, and why exploratory therapy is protected. This is a compromise Bill, and I say to Members who wish to oppose it, “Search within yourself, because you have a duty to protect children and a duty to allow professionals to do their job, and you need to recognise that some people’s objections are not to the nuances in the Bill.” The only people who fear a ban on conversion therapy are quacks and charlatans who profit from bigotry and misery. Conversion therapy causes lifelong harm. This is a moderate Bill and a compromise Bill, and it does not go as far as the Government’s proposals. [Interruption.] The hon. Member may chunter and laugh, but I am appalled—[Interruption.] I will happily give way to him if he asks, rather than chuntering.

Danny Kruger, Conservative, MP for Devizes: I apologise for chuntering. I was simply amused by the suggestion that this is a moderate Bill. This is not a moderate speech that the hon. Lady is making. The hon. Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) made a very good speech, recognising that there are legitimate views on the other side of the debate. The hon. Lady talks about erasure, but she dismissed the comments of the hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Neale Hanvey), suggesting that his view was completely invalid. I respect her arguments and her wish to pursue this Bill, or this kind of legislation, but can we please have a debate with more civility?

Alicia Kearns: I would suggest that the ultimate failure of civility is to erase a member of the LGBT community —to erase an entire group. I am happy to discuss the nuanced points, but I will not do so if Members want to suggest that transgender people do not exist, or that we do not really have a definition in law of what transgender people are. They exist in law and they exist in this place, and they exist in the hon. Member’s constituency as well.

The Government should back this compromise Bill, because love is not a pathology, and transgender people are not a pathology: they do not need treatment. I say, very simply, to those people, “You are seen in this place and you are heard in this place, and very many of us back you and will protect you.”

End description]

#video transcript #uk politics #Tories #conversion therapy ban #Youtube

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horce-divorce · 3 months

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just thinking about that time i was going to uw oshkosh,and they had done a real bang-up job of letting me "fall thru the cracks" during my transfer, so i had no advisor to speak to and had never been given an orientation or anything of the sort and had to figure out EVERYthing, from campus maps to their fucked up nonexistent parking (that was also under construction at the time, and I was commuting!) to titanweb, on my OWN. like, alone. i never even got an ID.

and THEN i had the GALL and AUDACITY to get sick midway thru the semester, and when i went to medically withdraw the dean of students' office did NOT inform me of the ramifications and fees, did NOT refer me to the head of financial aid for a consult as was standard, and in fact did not refer me to anyone else or any other materials/resources that could help. he just tried to talk me into signing up for different classes and got annoyed when i kept saying "i'll still be sick even if I change my major." he handed me the paperwork begrudgingly and without additional comment.

so anyway i go thru all of that and then immediately get a notice from uwo, during my first ever 2 weeks of homelessness, that i owe them about $1700 for withdrawing after the deadline and if i don't pay it asap i'm going to court. that was a really normal amount of stress to be under for a guy who had just withdrawn from school for being too sick to stay awake in class anymore and then immediately got kicked out for it. good times, good times

i've never paid it and they did eventually send me to the DOR, who put a lien on my bank account (for all the good it did, I've never had any income coming in, anyway). but also, my transcripts will be forever withheld as long as i owe this balance, and i'm gonna die drowning in student loan debt for... what! nothing! an education i was not able to complete. resources i was never given, connections i never even had the chance to make. I paid tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of having UWO fuck up my life for me. I could've done that on my own, for free!

oh, also, just thinking about how, yknow, years after all this went down, we found out two heads of administration were fucking embezzling from the uwo foundation. they 'were never accused of personally profiting' from this theft, despite the fact that NO ONE can seem to answer as to why they used uwo funds to help renovate things like an off-campus hotel. (I also heard rumors- like, actual IRL hearsay, nothing I can link to- that they bought a house or two during that time. idk how substantiated that gossip is, though.)

they took upwards of $11 million, bankrupted the foundation, and were sentenced to pay back $70k each in restitution. UWO's reputation has been forever and even further damaged, which is hilarious to me because it already wasn't great before this, at least not with anyone millennial age or younger, and not with anyone marginalized who's attended for even a few weeks. everyone my age knows it's one of the most physically unsafe UW campuses; a bunch of us also found out that hard way that they are financially unsafe, as well!

i'm FAR from the only person who had issues like this btw. in addition to the above, they did all kinds of unprofessional shit CONSTANTLY, like repeatedly "losing" my financial aid paperwork, and then magically finding it all of a sudden when my dad would call and get stern with them about having made/sent in copies in triplicate. My old roommate went to UWO briefly and they outright LOST something like $7,000 of his tuition. I don't remember exactly how it went down but I think it was at the beginning of the semester they kept telling him he still owed a bunch when his loans had already gone through, and they kept having similar "issues" of "losing" his documentation. (yes, this WAS, coincidentally, I'm sure, also during the time that the foundation was being ~improperly managed~)

I'm looking into the borrower defense loan discharge in the hopes that I can at least get my loans from UWO discharged. The time I wasted at UW-FDL and Milwaukee was my mistake, but I think I have a lot of grounds here to say that UWO misled me in multiple ways, especially about the nature of the money I owed and the withdrawal deadline I was supposed to know about. maybe if I had ever been assigned an advisor or given an orientation that wouldn't have happened?

unfortunately, the "judgement" subheader doesn't apply here, I don't think-- the criminal charges and judgement that were issues were against the former chancellor and cbo as individuals, not against the university, and I don't think university students were listed as victims here, somehow. in fact, I think uwo itself as an entity is the primary victim listed, as again, their foundation was bankrupt and it damaged their reputation so much etc etc.

Hilarious btw. I always hoped someone would pull a Papas Fritas on UWO, but if I got to see them die slowly that might be just as good. I'm not anti-university or anti-education or any of that. I've just been eagerly awaiting this particular school's downfall for over a decade. they ruined my fucking life, embezzled from me, told me to my FACE "whoopsies!! oohh sorry that shouldnt have happened to you ;( anyway, pay up," and have been holding my transcripts hostage while demanding I pay them back for the privilege ever since :) 👍

yknow just. having my little morning thinky thoughts!!! tee hee!!!

#me #prsnl #uwo

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dailyaudiobible · 8 months

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9/2/2023 DAB Transcript pt1

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13, Psalm 46:1-11, Proverbs 22:15

Today is the second day of the month of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as we get ourselves moved into this brand-new month. And even as we're moving into this month, we’re ending a week. So, it's always transition, isn’t it? And speaking of transitions, we concluded the book of Job, yesterday, which means we have to transition into some new territory. Kinda sticking in the same kind of theme.

Introduction to the Book of Ecclesiastes:

Today, we’ll move into the book of Ecclesiastes. And both Job and Ecclesiastes, this as well as Proverbs and the Song of Solomon and some of the Psalms, these are part of a grouping of books that are known as wisdom literature. So, this book that we’re about to read Ecclesiastes, traditionally has been kind of connected with Solomon. And there’s scholarly debate about this for lots of reasons. There’s scholarly debate about lots of things for lots of reasons. But the book probably was originally with Solomon and was translated and updated and…and that still happens today, as we translate and modernize the language as time goes forward. But we know that Solomon was considered to be an incredibly wise man, in fact, the wisest man in the world. And we've read about his reign and how he kind of sat at the apex of ancient Israel's civilization. He was at the top; everything went downhill after Solomon. And Solomon went downhill before the end of his life. But we read of Solomon, and he was a very powerful, very wealthy man of his time. He was very much in demand, audiences with him were being pursued from leaders from throughout the known world of the time. And he was able to do whatever his heart desired to pursue, no matter what he dreamed up. Like, that, he was the king with all of the power, at a time when Israel was very powerful. So, nothing was off-limits to the king and his dad, King David, had unified Israel and brought them to a place of authority and prominence and power and peace. So, Solomon had incredible resources at his disposal. He had a thousand of the most beautiful women in all of the world as wives and concubines. He had a royalty, he wore a crown upon his head, he had unbelievable power, and he had the wisdom of God. And so, as we go into this book Ecclesiastes, knowing who we’re talking about here. All of a sudden, we start reading Ecclesiastes and everything seems out of character. How could a person who has it all come to these conclusions. Like, we might read Ecclesiastes, and think okay, this is what Solomon has to say at the end of his life, this is going to be a memoir of greatness, it's more of a depressing and hopeless rant. But if we’ll stay with it and look underneath it all, go below the surface, Ecclesiastes gives us this very thoughtful, very penetrating look into the human heart. Because we’re all pursuing things, right, dreams and goals in our lives, and there's always somebody to look at as if they have what we wanted, and they got it easy and we’re clawing and scratching for anything. It’s real easy to get into this comparison thing and begin to think if I just had the resources, if I just had the knowledge, if I just had the right partner, if I just, if I could just get my life and all of its pieces in alignment. But no matter what we get in alignment there's always going to be somebody that's doing way better. But with Solomon here, we’re looking at a guy who, it would be hard to find an example of someone who has more. King Solomon has the power of life and death in his hand, unbelievable wealth there's no shortage of resource for anything that he could desire to do. He has all of these wives and women that have been sourced the most beautiful women, like he has, this is a person who we can look at from a human perspective and say okay, that's the top of the pile, there isn't any higher to go in the, in the human experience. Very, very, very few people experience that. We’re always able to say, if I just had that, life will be better. If I could do this, life would be better. What if we got it all though? What if we actually got it all, then what? This is what Ecclesiastes exposes and explores. Solomon had pursued whatever he wanted, achieved whatever he set his hand to, and then later in his life the beautiful harem of women from all over the world that he loved, ended up seducing his heart away from God and into idolatry.

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captainconvey · 1 year

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Looks more like a cover up than an investigation.

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, he is expected to head up the House Intelligence Committee. Good morning to you.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Good morning Margaret, thank you for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So we have this development in regard to the further materials that were found at President Biden’s Delaware home. What is your reaction? And what does it signify to you that no one realized that this classified material was missing, some of it dating back to his Senate years?

REP. TURNER: This is really incredible. And as you know, congratulations to you, we would not know anything about this if it hadn’t been that CBS had broken this story. The White House nor the Department of Justice had shared any of the information with the public. And this really is one matter, we wouldn’t have this issue if it hadn’t been for Biden’s Attorney General did- making the decision to raid former President Trump’s house looking for- for classified documents that were being held there. What’s amazing about all this is it takes us to the question of why were these documents here? Well, now that we learned that some of these go back to his Senate time, you know, clearly he’s- he’s become a serial classified document hoarder. Why did he have these? Who did he show them to? I mean, the only reason you can think of as to why anyone would take classified documents out of a classified space at home is to- is to show them to somebody. Who did he show them to? This is going to be crucial, I think, to the special counsel’s investigation, is why did the president have these documents? Who did he show them to him? And is it connected to the Biden family businesses?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you know, the differences of course, too. I want to talk about the Biden situation. But just to clarify, when you reference President Trump, there were 300 classified documents, there was a warrant, there was refusal to comply in terms of handing things over and the White House and the president’s lawyer are pointing out that in the case of Biden, he granted permission, and this was consensual for the DOJ to come in and search. Does the fact that the Justice Department conducted the search signify anything more to you and do you have any insight into the sensitivity of the documents?

REP. TURNER: Sure, absolutely. I think this looks more like a cover up than an investigation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any facts to back up your- your allegations that he was hoarding things in terms of intention to take classified material versus it’s been characterized that it was somehow accidental? Do you have any insight into what these materials were?

REP. TURNER: Well, they didn’t fly to his home without him. They went on a train with him from the- his Senate offices and then in boxes that he was in charge of. The chain of custody here is going to be important, because we know that these were in Joe Biden’s hands and Joe Biden’s control, then ended up behind his Corvette in his garage and in his office, that he did not control and also throughout his house, so the special counsel is gonna have to deal with the issue of what was the chain of custody? Who had these? Why did he take them to begin with? When did he get them? When was he handed these documents? And what did he do with them? And this is a real critical question to all this, why did he have these documents to begin with? And that is why the special counsel’s work is going to be really important, because I can think of no reason why the president should have taken home, as a senator or as vice president, any classified documents that clearly have no protection. They’re available and open to anybody.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have also before this development asked for a briefing from the Director of National Intelligence. You set a deadline of Thursday, do you have any further reason to believe they will meet that deadline, that you will get any insight into these materials?

REP. TURNER: Well we’ll have to see, but what’s critical here–

MARGARET BRENNAN: They haven’t responded?

REP. TURNER: –And this is very important, this is what’s very important to all of this, Margaret, and that is the FBI and the national archivists were working completely independent of the intelligence community, or the Department of Defense. They claim this was all an issue of national security, but they did not speak to anyone who’s involved in national security.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So no response yet from the intelligence community?

REP. TURNER: I have not received a response, no.

Captain Convey Note

Joe Biden kept secret documents and took them from the senate while he was a senator for years.

"I can think of no reason why the president should have taken home, as a senator or as vice president, any classified documents that clearly have no protection. They’re available and open to anybody."

Joe biden didn't STEAL just a few secret documents as first reported.

Joe Biden has been stealing and taking secret documents for years starting when he was a US Senator.

These secret documents had NO Protection.

Joe Biden is a TRAITOR to the Uninted States and should be tried for treason.

What Joe Biden is and was is not being reported.

Joe Biden is a spy for foreign governments along with his son and family members!

CaptainConvey.com

CaptainConvey.tumblr.com

AnyCalculator.com

theconservativetreehouse.com (A must read daily website that refutes the government lies and propaganda.)

Gaetz.House.Gov

vaccines.news

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packedwithpackards · 2 years

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"Introduction" to my Packard family history

This is the 1st in a series of articles which serializes my family history, which I wrote in November 2017, titled "From Samuel to Cyrus: A fresh look at the History of the Packard Family." Below is the introduction from that history:

38 years ago my grandfather wrote a genealogy. While this was published 14 years before I was born, he likely would be proud that someone else is adding to his family history all these years later. For his 50-page book, which only had a circulation of seven copies, a cousin named Tommy L. Atkins, along with other living Packard family members, gave him information to fill out the Packard part of the story. He was aiming to, as he states in his dedication, present a genealogy to help family members “gain a better appreciation of the roots of their families in American life.” His history proceeds in reverse chronological order, using “progenitors” (ancestors or forefathers in direct line), to weave the story from Samuel Packard to the 20th century.

This book aims to build upon that history. Due to the fact that he was writing the family history in the “pre-internet” days, he had to work with what he had, sometimes requesting records from appropriate state agencies and other times relying on the Packard family as a source. In the years since, numerous genealogical resources have appeared online, including scanned original records of varying towns in repositories such as the free-to-use Family Search, run by the Mormons in Utah, or the subscription-based services of Ancestry.com. Hence, the work he did can be enhanced with many primary sources, along with secondary, and some genealogical, sources as backing.

As the 12th generation that descended from Samuel Packard (my 9th great-grandfather), who lived centuries before me, I feel compelled to write this history.

Much of the information in this book comes from my own research. In August 2017, as part of a family vacation, I went across Massachusetts following in the footsteps of my grandfather. As the story goes, he entered a store in Plainfield, and friendly town residents asked him why he was there. He said he was researching family genealogy of the Packard family. One person responded saying “I’m a Packard, he’s a Packard, she’s a Packard, we’re all Packards here.” Another one of his cousins had a similar experience but slightly different in Pittsfield, asking about the Packards at a local library and they had a whole section dedicated to the family. For me, I didn’t have the same experience. There is currently no industry in Plainfield, but I did talk with a member of the Plainfield Historical Society named Matthew Stowell who showed me a Packard family genealogy which the society had recently received. He was kind, friendly, and I’m glad I made contact with him in the process of writing this genealogy. The same was the case in Hingham. Although the archivist of the Hingham Historical Society, Michael Achille could not find anything on the Packards except something tangentially connected, it was also worth talking with him on the subject. Beyond that, I visited, with my family, graveyards in Bridgewater (First Cemetery), Cummington (Dawes Cemetery), and Plainfield (West Hill Cemetery), the latter two which were Packed with Packards. I also talked, via email and on Find A Grave with another Packard descendant, Richard Packard, who provided some helpful information. As many primary sources are cited as possible rather than family genealogies or even transcripts of vital records that have few sources at all. [1] This history attempts to rectify the lack of primary sources in the past.

With new information available, new stories and perspectives can be discovered. Hence, more can be learned about our collective past. The first chapter illuminates uses the best sources available at this time to tell the story of the Packard family within England before some left for the “colonies.” The second chapter focuses on the journey of Samuel and Elizabeth Packard across the ocean to the “new world.” The other chapters further tell the story of the Packard family. Chapter three tells the story of the Packards in Bridgewater. The fourth chapter focuses specifically on Samuel Packard, while the next chapter talks about his and Elizabeth’s children. The sixth chapter tells the story of Zaccheus and Sarah Packard’s family, while the next follows the story of John and Lydia’s family. After that, chapters eight, nine, and ten follow the story of the three Barnabas Packards and their families. The following chapter, chapter 11, focuses on William and Rachel Packard’s family and the Civil War. Chapter 12 focuses on Cyrus Packard and his family. Now let us continue this journey.

Notes

[1] See, for example, pages 204 and 311 of the Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, pages 237-250 of Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 Vol. 1, and pages 273-286 of Vital Records of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to the year 1850 Vol. 2.

Note: This was originally posted on June 22, 2018 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

#packards #family history #genealogy #genealogy research #lineage #plainfield #bridgewater #hingham #massachusetts #find a grave #cummington

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interact-if · 3 years

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Day 2 of Pride Month interviews! You know them, you love them…. give it up for Ames!

Ames, author of Attollo and Metamorphosis

Pride Month Featured Authors

“…and it was a singular, terrible thought, which burrowed itself into your mind like an engorged maggot. This was not a man nor a monster. This was a concept, an ideology, a terrible myth, which had personified itself to stand before you now.You were, to put it simply, screwed.”

After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your sibling’s apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s going on and, hopefully, be home before the weekend.

Too bad it’s never so simple.

Demo: Attollo, Metamorphosis (TBA)

Tags: cybernoir, thriller

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1: Tell us a little bit about your project(s)!

Attollo is a cyber-noir horror set in a walled city off the coast of the Atlantic that’s been a victim of a nuclear disaster. After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your sibling’s apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s going on and, hopefully, be home before the weekend. Too bad it’s never so simple. Attollo is a 17+ game that deals with heavy topics and a lot of moral questioning; from cults to corrupt government, it has no shortage of monsters in the dark—both metaphorical and literal.

Metamorphosis is a crime/horror story based in the world of crime scene cleanup, where there are three simple steps: Get the call, clean the scene, and don’t ask too many questions. These are the rules that you live by under the employment of Noctua’s Crime Scene Services, and you credit them for keeping you alive.

However, after a routine house call brings forth nightmares of memories that are not your own, you find yourself pulled deeper into Noctua—a city of both monster and man—in a bid to find out the truth behind the murder of Deirdre Callow, and better yet, how her memories came to be yours. Your job mandates that you don’t dig too deep—but could this finally be the exception?

Metamorphosis is 18+ and will have explicit content; follow the last moments of a stranger to find out not only who took her life, but how this connects to the underbelly that Noctua works so hard to hide.

Q2: Why interactive fiction? What drew you to the medium?

Lmaoo, oh man. I think it really all began last summer when I first found examples of interactive fiction. I don’t even remember how I came across it, it might’ve been that I saw it mentioned in a post or I saw it as a tag on Itch.io, but at some point, last summer I began to investigate it more. I think what really drew me in was the ability for the player to control the narrative; it was like playing an old RPG, but modernized, and the fact that I could see a story unfold that was influenced by my decisions was so fascinating to me. Not to mention that IF allows so much more character depth than regular novels, in my opinion.

I’m 99% sure my first exposure to interactive fiction was through the game Crème de la Crème (a fantastic game, by the way) and I just enjoyed it so much that I went haywire for the genre. Then Temple of the Endless Night came out (another fantastic game that I’m looking forward to!), and that was really the turning point for inspiring me to give it a go. Now, almost a year later, here I am working on my own two games!

Q3: Are your characters influenced by your identity? How?

My bisexuality doesn’t have much of a major influence on the game, but I do think it contributed to the way that I view and write relationships. I figured out my sexuality around high school (I kissed a girl in high school and found out I liked it just as much as when I kissed a boy) and since then I’ve been very involved in the LGBTQ+ community of both my hometown and uni town.

I think this involvement, like being able to hear about other people’s experiences and share my own, has made me feel a lot more comfortable writing some of the characters in the game. Although Attollo and Metamorphosis both don’t focus heavily on relationships (both have murder in them, which I feel is a bit more pressing), I do keep the option for any RO’s to be romanced by anyone, regardless of gender or preference, because that’s simply what I’ve become so attuned to. In terms of side characters relationships as well, I think my involvement and my own experiences have allowed me to write far more diverse relationships than I might have, and I think that this has also allowed a more fulfilling experience for players when reading through.

I also have incorporated some struggles that I’ve faced before because of my identity into the games. For example, I and a few others have faced issues with religion due to who we are, and I incorporate this into both games. Dreamwalker, Pariah, and Sysba from Attollo all have shadows of this experience in their character origins, and Ilali and Ariston from Metamorphosis has a major point involving identity and beliefs. Both games also have undertows of ostracization and division between groups, which is also something I’ve experienced in the past. Being able to grapple these moments and control them via a narrative has been eye opening for both myself and others involved, and I’m hoping it can be a learning experience for the readers as well.

Q4: What would you like to see more of in LGBT+ fiction?

I think, now, the amount of progress in LGBTQ+ fiction is expanding at a wonderful rate. There are so many interactive fictions with options to select sexuality, select gender, select beliefs, etc. However, despite this expansion, there’s still a good deal of backlash against some aspects of LGBTQ+ fiction.

For example, as a bisexual woman who has dated men, I know there are some individuals who may not consider me a part of the LGBTQ+ because of this aspect. Not only is this incredibly disheartening, but it’s a viewpoint that I think should be educated against, and fiction is a fantastic pathway to do this. Another example I can think of is a friend of mine who identifies as asexual but is sex-neutral rather than sex-repulsed. Most people can’t believe her when she says this, and she often faces backlash for this declaration as well. This is another thing that I think that, with exposure through a medium such as fiction, can be worked on.

What I’m trying to say here is that I think LGBTQ+ fiction can be a brilliantly educational platform—if used right. Although it already teaches so much with what it has, I think having that representation of different subgroups of sexuality, of their experiences and beliefs, so people can become aware and knowledgeable of these options, is something I’d like to see more of.

Q5: What or who are some of your biggest inspirations?

Oh man, I struggled to list off inspirations because I know I have some, but as soon as someone asks me who they are my brain just goes ‘brrrrrr’ LMAO.

In terms of the games that I write and the worlds that I build, I think David Lynch and Robert Chambers are probably the two that I somehow incorporate. Attollo and Metamorphosis both have a lot of surrealist horror, which are what these two really specialized in. Shirley Jackson is also another person who inspired me a lot when it came to the writing and creation of Attollo, especially the intrapersonal relationships between the characters.

In terms of life, this is something else I really struggle to answer. I don’t really have celebrity inspirations or anything like that, but I do get inspired by my close friends and sister a lot. Seeing them go through the struggles that they face and absolutely thrive really drives me to push through my own struggles. They’re the strongest, most brilliant group of people that I know, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I can be a part of their lives. Not only that, but we also all collectively encourage each other to push further and to chase our dreams (as cheesy as that is LMAO) and that’s something that I think is another stroke of good fortune. I struck gold when I met them, and they’re some of the biggest inspirations in my life.

Q6: What’s a super vague spoiler for your current project?

For Attollo, I’d say ‘Home is where the heart is.’ For Metamorphosis, to quote John Berendt, ‘Always stick around for one more drink.’

Q7: Lastly, what advice would you give to your readers?

What advice would I give to you all? Oh my, I’m not exactly a wise woman here, but I’ll do my best to give you something lmaooo. I think what I really want you to walk away with, from both my stories and this interview, is that if you’re passionate about something, then share it with the world. Don’t let anyone deter your passion.

I remember listening to this painter once who commented to his friend how he ‘really liked painting’, and his friend’s first response was ‘but are you good at it?’. He then compared this to the scenario of walking; would you say, ‘but are you good at it?’ to someone who said, ‘I really like walking’? No, because it simply wouldn’t make sense, and it doesn’t make sense to say that to anyone who’s doing something out of passion.

To put it simply—if you love something, then don’t let anyone take that passion from you. I began writing these stories because I’m passionate about Attollo and Metamorphosis; I love each character, each bit of lore, and I share it with you because I want you all to enjoy it as well. Am I the best writer? God, no. Does everyone like what I write? Definitely not. But will I let this stop me from writing, from enjoying what I’m doing? Never, and I want you to do the same.

Explore your passions, embrace your passions, and let what makes you happy continue to do so

#if: events #Pride Month 2021 #pride month #queer authors #queer fiction #queer creators #interactive fiction

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thinplacesradio · 1 year

Photo

an orange-pink-purple sunset. on the right, a jetbridge extending out into an empty airport runway, lights on the horizon. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[019] THE APARTMENTS. A CALLER LOOKS FOR A CONNECTION. THE HOST WAITS FOR DEPARTURE.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning]

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I’m your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don’t worry. You’re not alone.

[Thin Places theme]

I’m coming to you in transit from my studio, which is what I like to call this abandoned corner of this airport terminal, all the screens blinking that blank, forgetful blue. [background hum] It’s floor-to-ceiling dark through the windows, and the light above me keeps flickering in and out. I can see people passing this gate every once in a while, their tired steps, faces contorted in yawns and sneezes and the blur of motion. No one sits down. Why would they? This isn’t their gate. It doesn’t mean anything at all to them.

So… what is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you’ve got going on in your life - feelings, omens, premonitions, hauntings.

Is someone following you and your friends around?

Is your home connected to someone else’s? Metaphysically?

Are you out looking for sea monsters?

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Call in, get it off your chest. Lines are open.

[click] [You have: 2 new messages.] [click]

Hi, um - I was scrolling through TikTok earlier, like the 20-something I am, um, and I came across this video that... was... of the two rooms that were shown, it had the exact same ground plan, exact same floor plan, as, as my apartment. And, it, it freaked me out. Um. And I don’t know if they, you know, they’re my neighbors or, y’know, just the same architect reused the floor plan. But it - the fact that it came across me and had the same - looked the same - it was weird. Um. Yeah.

[click]

Hi, um - me again. I just woke up so this - last night, I was, yknow, messing around on my phone and whatever, right before I went to bed, just trying to get tired enough to go to sleep, and then - all of a sudden I saw these, these headlights, outside my window, which would be normal, except that I live on the second floor, and my room doesn’t face the street, it faces - actually, the opposite way from the street. And I didn't hear any sort of car, and I - I checked the weather, and it was completely clear, it couldn’t have been lightning, but I - I swear it was headlights, even though... I don’t know. It was strange. I just hope you might be able to offer some insight. Thanks.

[click]

Hi, caller - I know you meant these as two separate questions, a week and a day apart from each other, but I think that they might actually be the same one. Two questions opening a door to the same location, interconnected with one another. Is the place I live connected to another, different place? The headlights coming in another window, in another apartment, onto your wall, the same shape as the wall in that apartment, the same rooms beside one another, the same kitchen and the same appliances and wall moulding and floor ridging.

[searching music]

The same house in two separate places, occupied by two separate groups of people, living their lives right on top of each other without ever knowing. Do you feel them, sometimes, when you’re both in the same place at the same time? Two hands turning on the shower, or the stove, or sliding the lock into the door? A sense of deja vu but for someone else entirely?

In the end, it just... is. It’s just true that all of us are connected to each other in a thousand different ways. You have the same water bottle as the person across the quad from you. You have a mole in the same spot on your cheek as someone else does on the other side of the planet. You have the same taste for dark chocolate. You wear the same clothes somebody else donated, in a different way than they used to. There is no universal experience, no emotion that everyone feels the same way, no situation that every person goes through all at once. But any two people will have something in common. Any two people, if you look close enough at them, and at yourself, have some small - or large - human overlap, a small mirror reflecting back and forth and back and forth and back.

[click]

[dot-dash-dash dot-dot-dot-dot dot dot-dash-dot dot / dot-dash dot-dash-dot dot / dash-dot-dash-dash dash-dash-dash dot-dot-dash]

I, Ir - I don’t know. I don’t ever know. I don’t -

[dot-dash-dash dot-dot-dot-dot dot dot-dash-dot dot / dot-dash dot-dash-dot dot / dash-dot-dash-dash dash-dash-dash dot-dot-dash]

[click] [low background chatter]

I don’t have a suitcase, like everyone else, a backpack, any kind of duffel or cross-body purse or plastic shopping bag or tote. I think this is my gate, though. I’ve got a boarding pass here in my pocket, but when I fish it out, I can’t read the five or six letters of my name on it, the barcode, the arrival or the departure airport. But the door ahead of me is opening, now, into nothing. And the only thing to do is to see what other place it’s connected to [humming] - whose apartment is on the other side. I can’t stay here. That isn’t what an airport’s for. The only thing to do is to walk into the dark to see what happens next.

[click]

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That’s 717.382.8093. Until next time. I’ll be somewhere.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal.

Tonight’s voicemails were left for us by Kaia. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme, by Miles Morkri, and Umeed by RANA. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪(717) 382-8093‬. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

[dot-dash-dash dot-dot-dot-dot dot dot-dash-dot dot / dot-dash dot-dash-dot dot / dash-dot-dash-dash dash-dash-dash dot-dot-dash]

#episodes #019 #the apartments #codes #thin places radio #tpr #liminal #caller: kaia #surreal #thin places

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redrobin-detective · 3 years

Text

Delayed Mourning

Going Angst Day 5: Death

_________________________________________

It was 3pm when there was a knock on Maddie Fenton’s door. She huffed and set down the meal she’d been working on. Of course the one day she had time to pre-plan a nice meal from her family was the day she’d get interrupted.

“Yes? May I help you?” Maddie asked, opening the door. She had expected a salesman. Possibly even a neighbor coming to complain, again, about the noise or the smells that came from Fentonworks. Instead she found a small woman who couldn’t have been much taller than 5 ft with dark brown hair tied up in a tight bun. She was wearing a sharp white shirt and suit jacket with a matching white skirt.

“Mrs. Fenton, hello,” the woman gave a polite little head nod. “I’m from the the Government Institute of Interdimensional Warfare though I hear the locals like to call us the Guys in White.” She said with a knowing smiling, “of course, as you know, it’s not only the guys who are interested in ghosts. May I come in?”

“Oh yes, hello,” Maddie blinked, opening the door to let the agent in. The petite woman stepped inside, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. Her small frame, her oversized glasses and soft nature seemed so at odds with the meatheads Maddie usually found in the GIW. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Perhaps,” the agent demurred. “It’s more there was something I wanted to inform you of. If you’re not too busy, may we sit down and talk? Your husband and children are not home.” Maddie thought that last statement was a bit odd, framed as a statement of fact rather than an inquiry but moved on.

“Yes, Jack’s out of town visiting a relative and my kids won’t be back for a little while,” Maddie said. “Let me just finish putting this roast together, I’m almost done. Can I get you anything? Water? Tea?”

“No, thank you,” The woman said quietly. “And please, continue while you’re doing. Let me give you a little bit of background.” The agent adjusted her large glasses with her tiny hands. “Let me introduce myself, you may call me Agent S. I work primarily out of Washington for the Institute but sometimes I am deployed on site for... special cases. And, as I’m sure you’re aware, your town is very special.”

“Now, as you may have noticed, I am not particularly built like the normal Institute agents you have probably come across. That is because I do not work in the field but behind the scene in Investigations. My job is study the history and happenings of hauntings and spectral entities.”

“Oh that sounds fascinating,” Maddie beamed as she finished with her final preps and put the roast in the over. She looked over her shoulder at Agent S while she washed her hands. “Jack and I dabble a bit in history and folklore but we’re more versed in the hard sciences of ghosts.”

“Yes, I’ve read some of your papers, you and your husband truly are the frontrunners in the field,” Agent S nodded. Maddie preened at the praise and sat down, delighted to have a sophisticated conversation with someone in her field who she wasn’t married to. If more of those GIW agents were like Agent S then Maddie would get along a lot better with them. “So, Maddie, may I call you Maddie? What date and time did your portal start working?”

“It was August 28th,” Maddie said proudly. “It didn’t work at first when we first plugged it in. I’m afraid I don’t have an exact time it started up as we weren’t here. Jack was convinced one of the electrical conduction pieces wasn’t fully connected and was preventing ectoplasmic distribution. We ended up driving 4 hours to Springfield and back for some specialty parts only to find the portal working when we returned.”

“I can help you there,” Agent S said with a soft smile reaching into her white briefcase and pulling out several thick folders. She laid them out gently on the table and Maddie was unnerved by some of the information: schematics of Fentonworks, past and present financial records, transcripts of public statements. Her shoulders tensed when she saw Jazz and Danny’s names on some of the files. “Toll camera captured your vehicle on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway at exactly 1:26pm on August 28th. We can confirm you and your husband’s vehicle traveled to Springfield and back via video feeds and credit card statements at 10:45pm that same day and were therefore out of the city all day.”

Maddie suddenly felt very trapped by the woman’s sharp grey eyes as she plucked a piece of paper and pressed it towards Maddie.

“At 3:18pm, the majority of the residential power in town went out for a period of 2 and a half hours. The cause was determined to be from a massive power surge that blew out the transformer. You may recall being blamed for this outage given your history with previous outages but the news that you were out of town settled that argument. However, I was not convinced.” She pulled out another piece of paper and Maddie bristled to see it was a Casper High attendance sheet.

“Your daughter, Jasmine was at her final summer cram session which ran from 2pm until 5pm. I spoke to her tutors and she never left the whole time and, in fact, stayed late to help a fellow student work through her study materials. But what about your son?” Agent S asked with with a curious smile but her eyes belied the fact that she had her own answers.

“How dare you spy on my family, on my children,” Maddie hissed, crumpling one of the papers in her fist. “Get out of my house, I will sue the pants off of your organization for this invasion of privacy! Get out!”

“Now Maddie, don’t you want to know how your son started up your Portal?” Agent S asked coyly, that drew Maddie up short. Danny? No, he couldn’t have possibly. He had no interest in their work, in fact, now that she thought about it, Danny had been sick that day. Agent S pulled out a set of blueprints for the Fenton Portal. Some small component inside the Portal was circled.

“You left at approximately 1pm and your daughter presumably left not long after. Phone records indicate Daniel called both Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson. Your neighbor, Mrs. Benson, saw them coming into your house not long after but before the 3pm power outage which I was able to triangulate did in fact originate from your home.” Agent S tapped the circled part of the inner portal mechanisms. “Now did you happen to push the on button in the Portal before plugging it in?”

“On button?” Maddie asked with a dry mouth, overwhelmed by the amount of information being thrown her way. All she could think about was how Danny hadn’t seemed sick when they’d left that afternoon but had looked awful when they returned. Would he have really gone downstairs and messed with the Portal? Had he gotten hurt? Been contaminated down there? Images of Vlad’s sickly visage after his accident flowed through her head. She should have paid more attention but she’d been so excited about the Portal working...

“It’s right here in the blueprints you submitted to the patent office, buried under dozens of other hardware bits. Its small, such a little thing compared to all the moving parts required to open up a dimensional portal. Daniel was a bright boy, his middle school records prove it. A bright mind, friends to impress, no parents around to chastise him... I think you can see where I’m going with this.”

“No, no,” Maddie said, burying her hands in her hair. “No, I’m not. You’re saying -what? - that my teenage son turned on the Portal when we were gone? No, my Danny wouldn’t lie to me about that... Why wouldn’t he say anything?”

“I don’t blame him for not mentioned in because, if my hunch is correct, he was inside the Portal when it turned on, killing him instantly,” Agent S said with a carefully neutral face. “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I’m afraid this haunting has gone on long enough.”

“My child is alive!” Maddie screeched, standing up in her chair. “Danny is alive and healthy and he is not a ghost!”

“I will admit the evidence of how he died is circumstantial but the fact that Danny Fenton is deceased is not.” Maddie fell back into her chair as he legs gave out underneath her.

She watched the agent put paper after paper in front of her and detailed all sorts of data about her son that Maddie, who lived in the same house as him, had missed. Unusually high ectosignatures picked up by GIW (and their own) detectors, Danny being spotted in some form before most ghost attacks, faked signatures of hers getting him out of nurses’ visits. Maddie barely felt alive herself as she stared at a red light camera photo of her baby sitting atop a light post late, late at night. His eyes were a toxic green color.

“I know this must be distressing as a mother but your child never left that basement, never attended high school and will never achieve his dream of working for NASA.” Agent S said with carefully measured sympathy as she gathered up her papers and put them back in her case. “But you are a brilliant scientist, unlike your husband, you should be able to look past your emotions and see that your child is gone and the ghost he left behind is dangerous.”

“My husband?” Maddie asked blankly, running a finger down Danny’s unnatural photograph.

“I approached Jack two days ago, mistakenly believing he would be the most understanding of you both. He refused to believe the evidence and was, in fact, going to warn your son’s ghost that we planned on taking him. He is safe but he presently being held at one of our facilities until the capture is complete.” Maddie should feel outraged at her husband’s kidnapping but all she could think about was the fact that her son was dead, dead, dead, killed by her own invention over a year ago and she never noticed. How could she not have noticed?

“Daniel’s ghost is extraordinary, not only able to pass as human so accurately for so long but immensely powerful. We need to make sure he doesn’t harm anyone else. Think of his friends who are probably being forced to aid him and keep his death quiet. Think of your husband, your daughter, living in the same house as a dangerous ghost.” Agent S dropped some of her professionalism and plucked the photo of Danny out of Maddie’s hands and replaced it with her own tiny hand.

“I know this is impossible thing to ask but I must do it anyway, will you help me capture what remains of Danny? There is a chance with his charade exposed, he will be able to move on and so will you. You have been wronged, Maddie. You have been denied the right to process and grieve your child by his own ghost. But a delayed mourning is better than none. Danny’s death is a tragedy but please don’t let it become someone else’s.”

“Maybe he’s not-” Maddie’s breath hitched, “he’s never shown any signs of aggression. Jasmine spoke of benevolent spirits... maybe-” Agent S sighed roughly and retracted her hand to grab another photo from her case. Maddie was surprised when she held up a picture of Phantom.

“Ignore the glow,” Agent S instructed. “Change his white hair to black, his green eyes to blue. Think of how often Phantom is spotted in your neighborhood, around Casper High. Remember how he always has his hands on your technology,” the agent frowned. “Think of how he grins when he sees you, like he knows something you don’t. Like it all just a big joke you’re not a part of.” Maddie felt like she’d been slapped.

“Your son is dead,” Agent S said more forcefully, throwing the picture of Phantom next to the spooky one of Danny. “And his ghost has taken his place, taunting you, stealing energy from your family, from the portal that killed him. Phantom’s power is increasing too rapidly and soon we won’t be able to contain him. It’s why I was brought in to identify his haunt so that he could be stopped before anyone else died.”

“I will state this plainly, I am giving you the chance to participate in putting your child to rest but you are not required for this operation. If you refuse, you will be confined with your husband until Phantom is taken down. Do not let this monster with your son’s face trick you any more. So I ask again, Maddie Fenton, will you help us stop Phantom from making a mockery of your son’s memory?”

XxX

“Mom! Jazz! I’m home!” Danny announced, kicking off his shoes and grabbing a paper out of his backpack as he walked into the kitchen with a grin. “And I have a present! Jazz’s tutoring paid off, look at this A I got on my history test! Well A- but a solid A-!”

“Oh... that’s great,” Mom muttered quietly. She was sitting at the kitchen table, not cooking or tinkering with some gadget. Just sitting there quietly, twiddling her thumbs and not looking at him.

“Is everyone okay?” Danny asked, dropping his bag on the floor and walking over to his mother. “I saw Jazz at school but is Dad okay?”

“No, everything is not okay,” she said turning and looking at him with tear-filled eyes. “Someone died, someone I love dearly and I’m not ready to let them go,” she sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “But they've been gone for a long time, even if I’m just hearing about it now. I’m upset but it’s better to know and be grieve than to go on in ignorance, living a lie.”

Danny was about to ask who had died when something was jammed into his neck and he was shocked within an inch of his half life. His body spasmed to escape but his mother was gripping his arm to hold him in place. He transformed unconsciously but that only made it worse. He fell to the floor, ectoplasm leaking off his form as he could barely hold himself together.

“Mom,” he croaked, reaching for her despite everything. She stomped on his hand which was practically goo from such a vicious, destabilizing ectoplasmic shock.

“Don’t you ever call me that,” she hissed through angry tears. “I didn’t want to believe it but the proof is right in front of me you horrible, selfish ghost.” She kicked him in the side and half of him ended up on her boot. “How dare you, how dare you impersonate my son! How dare you string me along all this time, make me look like a fool who had to told that her own child was dead! I bet you just laughed and laughed at our stupid, human ignorance of what your were!”

“‘lease,” he begged through the ectoplasm in his mouth. “I’m still your....”

“My son is dead and he has been for a while,” Mom said, throwing the ecto-taser away from her. Danny vaguely heard the door being kicked in and in his rapidly diminishing vision, he saw black boots and white suits. “With you gone, I can finally come to terms with it and not be tormented by an inadequate replacement.” She turned her back to him. “Get that filth out of my house, I never want to see it again.”

“Of course,” a quiet feminine voice said as his goopy arms were restrained with ghost proof cuffs. “I know this is hard, Maddie but you made the right choice for your family and Danny’s memory. Jack will returned to you within the hour. I spoke to my superiors, for your cooperation, the Institute will take care of declaring Danny dead as well as covering costs for your boy to be laid to rest, the first step in moving on.”

“No, the first step will be removing that duplicitous monster from my home. It’s stolen enough of my baby’s life. Now please leave, I have - I have a funeral to plan.”

#going angst week 2021 #*jazz hands* I uh finally contributed #this is another interesting thing that just sorta happened #I was actually rereading and writing more for Side Effects when I realized that someone could follow the paper trail of the accident #which led me to a tiny lil GIW Investigator who blew Dannys secret wide open #which *then* led me to the tragedy of Maddie learning of her child's 'death' second hand but over a year after a fact #there's something about delayed tragedy... thinking everythings ok only to learn it hasn't been for a while #Love Mads but btw her an Jack shes the one who seems the more likely to take offense to her son's ghost haunting his own life #to keep playing along and pretending to be alive #him secretly being Phantom was the final straw #Both pretending to be Danny then *teasing* her when he saw her as a ghost #(obviously thats not the case but Maddie believes was Made To Believe it was)#Oh I wanted to strange Agent S this whole time typing #the blatant.... manipulation #Maddie may feel free to grieve now but her child's torment was only beginning #haha good times see ya

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contemplativepancakes · 3 years

Text

Following the Thread Transcript

AKA all the "canon" there is of Aiden. Google doc to save for easy reference is here. Providing this is entirely selfish of me, please use it and write some lambden <3

EXT. SUPERVISOR’S BUILDING

GERALT approaches a GUARD standing outside of a door.

GUARD: Don’t like folk wandering around here.

GERALT: Oh yeah? Well, got a beast you need someone to get rid of? I’m here about the notice.

GUARD: Ah, supervisor Lund posted it. Yeah, a beast haunts the outskirts, murdering folk. Got ‘em scared to leave their homes after dark.

GERALT: I’d like to talk to this supervisor.

GUARD: Too bad he don’t receive petitioners.

GERALT: So what’s he do, exactly?

GUARD: Delivery relief on behalf of the city council—flour and groats for the paupers. Meaning, he don’t do it personally. He’s got men for that. He, himself, he, uh. (GESTURES BROADLY)

GERALT: Supervises.

GUARD: Exactly!

GERALT: I aim to hunt down this monster.

GUARD: Best hurry, then. Some other bloke’s already after it.

GERALT: Who took the contract?

GUARD: Didn’t see the man. Was just told some brave fool’d turned up.

GERALT: When’d you find the last victim?

GUARD: Just last night. Hubert, a beggar, but a decent man. I’d let him sleep in the shed from time to time—that one, on the right. Eustace hasn’t come for the corpse yet. It’s lying in there, where I found it.

GERALT: Any eyewitnesses to these attacks?

GUARD: No, just the bodies. Beast appears only at night, chooses isolated victims.

GERALT: Thanks. So long.

Geralt goes to the shed and examines it, finding a puddle of blood that’s not human, and Hubert’s body, which is drained of blood. There’s ekimmara tracks in the shed that Geralt follows along the river’s edge, until they disappear at a dock. Geralt swims across the river and finds the tracks again, leading him to another building. Geralt notes that’s there’s rat corpses outside that have been drained of blood.

INT. DARK HOUSE

There’s the sounds of combat upstairs, blade clashing, an ekimmara screeching, and a whoosh from aard. Geralt rushes up the stairs to see LAMBERT fighting the monster. They kill it together.

GERALT: Greetings, Lambert.

LAMBERT: Damn, it’s good to see you, Wolf.

GERALT: Decide to do some hunting in Novigrad? Far as I remember, you never liked this city.

LAMBERT: Still don’t. Thing is, got a certain matter to take care of.

GERALT: What have you been up to? Any luck on the path?

LAMBERT: A lot, in fact. Quite the takings in Lan Exeter. Was asked to hunt down a giant, who turned out to be a forest troll and some bandits.

GERALT: Bandits?

LAMBERT: (SHRUGS) Came as a package with the troll.

GERALT: The matter you mentioned, anything I can help with?

LAMBERT: Hmm. Maybe. But we’ll talk about that later. Got our reward to collect. I’m kinda in a hurry. Let’s say you’ve earned half, what the hell.

EXT. SUPERVISOR’S BUILDING

Geralt and Lambert approach the guard from earlier.

GUARD: So?

LAMBERT: What do you think? We did what we had to do. Time to pay up.

GUARD: Wait here, I’ll go see the supervisor, get your reward.

LAMBERT: Do that ourselves. No reason you should leave your post.

Geralt gives Lambert a sideways glance.

GUARD: Hmm, can’t argue with that logic. Go on in.

EXT SUPERVISOR’S BUILDING, COURTYARD

Lambert and Geralt approach SUPERVISOR LUND in an outdoor space. There’s three guards milling around.

LAMBERT: We dealt with the monster at the docks. Here for our reward.

LUND: Witchers? Since when do you travel in pairs?

LAMBERT: Lots of dangers for a lone witcher. Bandits, for example.

LUND: I’d advise you to change your tone.

LAMBERT: Where’s Jad Karadin? Talk!

GERALT: Who?

LAMBERT: Trust me, Geralt. This is important. There’s something I gotta know.

LUND: I do not know any Karadin. Take your coin for the before and bugger off before I lose my temper!

LAMBERT: (YELLING) Where’s Jad Karadin? Asking you for the last time!

LUND: Guards, to the dungeon with them!

Lund runs out of the courtyard, and Lambert chases after him, leaving Geralt to fight the three guards.

INT. SUPERVISOR’S BUILDING

Geralt walks inside to find Lund cowering from Lambert.

LAMBERT: This guy’s more trouble than the ekimmara.

LUND: Karadin’s disappeared. I swear! The others, too! I only know of Vienne.

LAMBERT: What about Vienne?

LUND: She drinks at the Seven Cats. There day and night.

LAMBERT: See? You can be helpful.

Lambert unsheathes his sword and stabs Lund in the gut while Geralt watches. Lund collapses to the floor. Lambert turns to look at Geralt in challenge.

GERALT: That was murder. Was that really necessary?

LAMBERT: Yes.

Geralt shakes his head.

LAMBERT (cont.): More guardsmen’ll show soon. Let’s go. Meet me at the Seven Cats. Tell you everything there.

GERALT: The tavern Vienne frequents?

LAMBERT: Yeah. See you later.

EXT. SEVEN CATS INN

Lambert is leaning against a rock when Geralt approaches him.

GERALT: All right. High time you explained some things. Why’d you kill Lund? What’s this all about?

LAMBERT: Want the short version or the long one?

GERALT: Lemme hear the whole thing.

LAMBERT: Had a friend. Aiden was his name.

GERALT: You? Had a friend?

LAMBERT: Oh, hi-fuckin’-larious. I met him soon after I'd accepted a contract to lift the curse from the Ogre of Ellander. Aiden had been hired to kill it. He was a witcher from the school of the cat.

GERALT: Far as I remember, the ogre was killed in the end.

LAMBERT: Yeah, after it gutted my employer, we really didn’t have a choice. I cut a deal with Aiden. We joined forces, split the reward for killing the ogre between us. After that, we worked together a lot. Hands down the best man I’d ever met. I mean, I like you, you know that. Still, no comparison.

GERALT: What happened to him?

LAMBERT: Some time ago, Aiden took on a contract to lift a curse off a duke’s daughter. It was a political mess from the start. Then there was the hatred for the school of the cat to deal with.

GERALT: They worked hard to deserve that hate. Basically hired assassins.

LAMBERT: (SNAPS) Aiden wasn’t like that. (PAUSES, LOOKS AWAY) Anyway, some of the duke’s courtier’s had designs. Weren’t all keen on the curse being lifted from the duke’s first born. So, a band of trained assassins ambushed Aiden, murdered him. Our dear supervisor was one of them.

GERALT: And Jad Karadin?

LAMBERT: The assassins’ leader. And the one to deal the mortal blow.

GERALT: Sorry about your friend.

LAMBERT: Don’t need your sympathy, just your help. (PUSHES OFF ROCK HE WAS LEANING ON TO STRAIGHTEN) We have to talk to Vienne. Must’ve had enough to drink by now. Let’s go.

INT. SEVEN CATS INN

Geralt and Lambert approach VIENNE, a lithe elvish woman wearing a deep cut purple blouse with her dark hair in a braid. She has a drinking glass in front of her where she sits alone at a table.

GERALT: Vienne?

VIENNE: What do you want?

LAMBERT: We wanna see Jad Karadin.

VIENNE: (LAUGHS) Now why would I help you?

GERALT: It’s really important to my friend here.

VIENNE: And what will I get out of it?

LAMBERT: Pay for your beer, for starters. Then we’ll see how valuable your information is.

VIENNE: (CONSIDERS, TAKES DRINK) I was part of Karadin’s band, but… When was that? I don’t know where to find him; I’ve fallen out with the lot.

Geralt sits at her table.

VIENNE (cont.): Besides, he’s no longer chummy with his old mates. Word around town is he’s changed.

Lambert sits down, also, now.

GERALT: Karadin’s changed? What do you mean?

VIENNE: He’s dropped all his old connections, stopped taking on petty killings. He’s hidden himself away in some hole. Must be planning something big.

GERALT: Who else was in Karadin’s band?

VIENNE: Aside from me? Selyse, Hammond, and Lund. But they’ve scattered all over the world. Selyse went to Tretogor, Hammond to Skellige, and Lund—

LAMBERT: Lund’s dead.

VIENNE: (CACKLES) Finally met his match. Well, you’ve only Hammond or Selyse to talk to, then.

GERALT: What about you? What’s your story?

VIENNE: Scoia'tael was decimated, so I joined Karadin. They never treated me as an equal. No. I could hit a sparrow from a hundred paces, but I was never good enough for Karadin. He always preferred that cunt Selyse…

LAMBERT: You have a hand in the murder of the witcher Aiden?

VIENNE: Perhaps. I don’t remember.

GERALT: We need information about Hammond.

VIENNE: Karadin’s right hand man, once. When the band broke up, he went back to Faroe whence he had come. He’s a pirate, now. Even the jarls treat him with respect.

GERALT: This Selyse, where can we find her?

VIENNE: She’s done well for herself. Runs a brothel in tretogor, the kind rich men frequent. Whores suck information out of them, then she sells it.

LAMBERT: Name of this brothel?

VIENNE: The Black Lily. Selyse always did have horrible taste.

GERALT: (TO LAMBERT) Satisfied?

Geralt and Lambert both stand.

LAMBERT: She doesn’t know anything. We need to talk to Hammond and Selyse.

VIENNE: Don’t go looking for Karadin. If he senses you nipping at his heels, he’ll kill you without batting an eye.

LAMBERT: We’ll see. As for you…

OPTION ONE

GERALT: No, Lambert.

LAMBERT: Right, better to leave her like this.

VIENNE: What about my coin?

Geralt and Lambert exit the inn.

VIENNE (cont.): Arseholes.

OPTION TWO

GERALT: Do whatever you think is right, Lambert. Not here to preach morals.

VIENNE: (LAUGHS) “Do what you think is right?” Only one thing worse than cold blooded murder—hypocrisy. Informers, racists, snitches!

VAREN: Vienne, bloody hell. What is it?

VIENNE: They’ve come for me, Varen! I told you someone would, sooner or later!

VAREN: (IN ELDER) Don’t be afraid.

GERALT: Shit.

A fight breaks out in the inn and ends with Vienne dead.

EXT. SEVEN CATS INN—NIGHT

LAMBERT: You’ve gotta help me, Geralt. Best thing will be to split up. You sail to Skellige, try to squeeze something out of Hammond. I’ll go to Tretegor and try to get something out of Selyse.

GERALT: Lambert, let’s talk about this.

LAMBERT: Let’s not. This is one of those situations, serious situations, where you don’t ask unnecessary questions and just help your friend.

GERALT: Where’ll we meet once I’m back?

LAMBERT: At the Nowhere Inn.

GERALT: All right, I’m off. Good luck.

They both nod to each other, and the scene fades to black as Lambert walks away.

EXT. PIRATE’S SETTLEMENT, SKELLIGE

Geralt approaches two men standing guard outside of the settlement he’d been pointed to in order to find Hammond.

GUARD: Whaddya want?

GERALT: I’m looking for Hammond.

GUARD: What for?

GERALT: Business.

GUARD: He prays at the chapel on the hill this time of day. If it’s slaves you’re looking to buy, you’ll have to wait ‘til he’s done.

GERALT: He’s praying? Wouldn’t have thought him a god fearing man.

GUARD: Hmm. Yet it’s not something that would surprise any man who knows him.

GUARD TWO: Another snoop! You know the drill!

A fight breaks out with all of the pirates. After Geralt defeats them, he travels across the island.

EXT. HAMMOND’S SHRINE

Geralt walks into the shrine, and it’s an outdoor space with wide, curved beams driven into the ground that create a circle. Hammond is in the middle of the area in front of a pile of weaponry and shields. Hammond is shirtless and wearing a green tartan kilt with a wide leather belt. His hair is in a ponytail, and a leather strap encircles his left bicep. There’s a brown arm guard on the same arm, and there’s a gold band wrapped around his right bicep. There’s a large war hammer strapped to his back.

HAMMOND: Gods of the sea, I’ve never begrudge ye no gifts. Grant me another victory, so I can make an offering of me loot. (STANDS AND NOTICES GERALT) Fuck, what now?

GERALT: Heard you were in Karadin’s band.

HAMMOND: Fuckin’ say what you want. C’mon, spit it out, you arse lickin’ bastard!

GERALT: I’m looking for Jad Karadin.

HAMMOND: And just who the hell’re you?

GERALT: A friend of a friend. I’m looking for Karasin, thought maybe we could make some sort of deal.

HAMMOND: What, our business rubbing some Novigrad pricks the wrong way? Ploughin’ guild! (TO HIS GUARDS) Come on, what are you waiting for? Kill the fucker!

A fight breaks out and Geralt kills Hammond and his three guards. After, Geralt searches Hammond’s body and retrieves a letter on elegant stationary.

Hammond,

Thought I made it clear during our last face to face talk. I don’t want to keep in touch and I especially don’t want to do any business with you. I’ve no doubt the enterprise you proposed would be profitable. Nevertheless, to speak colloquially, count me out.

There are plenty of other potential buyers in Novigrad: goldsmiths, jewelers, and merchants dealing in luxury goods, for starters.

I don’t want to get involved.

Whatever you decide, I will wish you well in it. Treat this letter as our final farewell.

Karadin

INT. NOWHERE INN

Geralt approaches Lambert. Lambert is sitting at a table scattered with gwent cards and with a tankard in front of him.

LAMBERT: What the hell took you?

GERALT: Pretty likely Karadin lives in Novigrad. And he never severed ties with Hammond. They’re actually in business together.

LAMBERT: Mm. Learned something, too. He trades in, uh, live goods on the sly. Owns a ship called the Pearl of the Coast. Runs between here and Skellige. Changed his name, too, to Roland Treugger, who officially is a respected Novigrad trader and philanthropist. Has a residence in Gildorf.

GERALT: Anything on Selyse?

LAMBERT: Hmm. Well, didn’t have you there to stand up for her.

GERALT: All right, let’s pay Karadin a visit.

EXT. KARADIN’S HOUSE

Lambert and Geralt stand in a stone alleyway, looking at several guards.

LAMBERT: Think I know how to get in. Got a plan.

GERALT: If your plan doesn’t include dealing with an escort of guardsmen, best revise it.

The guards approach Lambert and Geralt.

GERALT (cont.): Calm, now. Let them start it.

GUARD: You’re expected. Come in.

Lambert and Geralt share a glance, and the scene fades to black.

EXT. KARADIN’S BACKYARD

There’s a child in a blue smock, who points at Lambert and Geralt and runs to Karadin. Karadin has yellow slitted eyes, dressed nicely, and there’s a sword at his hip.

KARADIN: Make yourselves at home.

GERALT: (TO LAMBERT) He’s a witcher.

KARADIN: Very true. Let me introduce my wife, Laetitia, and my two little tots. (GESTURES TO A WOMAN AND TWO CHILDREN SITTING IN THE GRASS) You know who I am, and I’ve heard of you. You’ve been asking questions about me. That always draws my attention.

GERALT: What school’d you come out of?

KARADIN: That of the cat. So few of us left.

Lambert sneers.

GERALT: Witchers can’t have children.

KARADIN: But they can have wards. Or take in a woman along with her children, embrace them as their own.

GERALT: I could understand a witcher becoming a hired assassin, but a merchant?

KARADIN: Why ever not? Not one among us doesn’t dream of changing our life. I simply did not stop at dreaming. They say no witcher has ever died in his bed. I aim to be the first.

LAMBERT: Remains to be seen.

GERALT: My friend needs to talk to you.

KARADIN: (TO GUARDS) Lads, take the children and Laetitia and leave us. Our guests wish to speak with me.

His family leaves.

KARADIN (cont.): I’m all ears.

LAMBERT: Talk to him, Geralt. If I do, first word he says to me, I’ll lose it and throttle the fucker.

GERALT: Nice place you got.

KARADIN: As it turned out, I’ve a flair for enterprise. Now I’ve coin enough to provide my family with the finer things in life.

LAMBERT: With some left over for philanthropy.

KARADIN: Miss Marabella’s institute does not scorn small donations. Neither does the city's Widow and Orphan Relief Fund, amongst others.

GERALT: Your wife know who you were?

KARADIN: We are thoroughly honest with each other, harbor no secrets. She prays for me each day. You know what? I think it’s working.

LAMBERT: Fucking hell.

GERALT: Relax, Lambert.

KARADIN: I confessed all just before we pledged to marry one another. Began a new life that day, with a clean slate.

GERALT: Remember Aiden? A witcher. Murdered in Ellander. Guessing the killers were paid well.

KARADIN: I remember him as I remember all the others—with the deepest regret. Yet Aiden was different, in a way. Contrary to rumor, we did not set out to kill him. We were forcced to, when he attacked us.

GERALT: What’s your version of this story?

KARADIN: Aiden had accepted a contract to lift a curse from the duke’s daughter. He took the coin, bungled the job, then left once the girl passed on.

LAMBERT: You lie!

KARADIN: We were not to kill him. We were debt collectors. He’d spent the coin already, so we demanded his swords. When he refused, tempers flared. Vienne, positioned as sniper, lost her nerve, hit Aiden square in the eye.

Lambert looks down. Geralt glances over at him.

KARADIN (cont.): Later, she devised her own version of the story. To silence her guilt, I expect.

GERALT: I’ve heard enough.

KARADIN: What now?

OPTION ONE

GERALT: You’ve changed. You have.

KARADIN: Forgiveness. It’s my sole aim now.

LAMBERT: You’re buying this bullshit? Bastard’s lying his ass off!

OPTION TWO

GERALT: You know what, Karadin? Your remorse—it’s feigned. Completely dishonest. You put on a good show, but I just don’t believe you.

LAMBERT: Don’t even know why we bothered with this chat. We came here to kill you.

OPTION THREE

GERALT: Maybe you’ve changed, maybe not. To me and Lambert, it doesn’t matter.

LAMBERT: You killed Aiden. Fuck your new life. I don’t believe in giving second chances.

OPTION ONE

GERALT: Do what you want, Lambert. Your friend, your vengeance.

LAMBERT: Been waiting a long time for this.

KARADIN: (UNSHEATHES SWORD) And I don’t aim to die.

A fight breaks out, ending in Karadin dead.

LAMBERT: Thanks for your help, Geralt.

GERALT: You’re welcome.

LAMBERT: Wanna talk about it?

GERALT: No.

LAMBERT: See you later. Some day.

GERALT: So long, Lambert.

OPTION TWO

GERALT: Leave him. Let’s go.

LAMBERT: What? Are you fuckin’ nuts?

GERALT: Lambert, this is one of those situations where you have to realize you’re pissed as hell, rein it in, and trust your cool headed friend. Let’s go.

LAMBERT: For fuck’s sake, Geralt. Don’t know that I’ll be able to forgive you.

GERALT: I said let’s go. You can always come back.

Lambert storms off.

KARADIN: Thank you.

Geralt sighs and walks away.

EXT. KARADIN’S HOUSE

LAMBERT: Explain yourself.

GERALT: Don’t intend to. Just felt Karadin didn’t deserve to be murdered in cold blood. If you feel otherwise, you can always go back. Without me.

LAMBERT: I feel like beating the shit out of you. See you later. Some day.

GERALT: So long, Lambert.

#the witcher #the witcher 3 #aiden #lambert #lambden #following the thread #reference #contemplative writing

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