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dcxdpdabbles · 3 months

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So, I wrote the thing. I don't know if you'll like, but I sure hope you do. The only warning I think I should give is about the pairing, because it's heavily implied (a little more than that, actually) that it's Val x Wes x Sam x Tucker x Danny, (I have no idea what's the name of this ship, I just love it because it sounds chaotic as heck) and Dani is their daughter. Maddie and Val are also implied to be a little unhinged.

So... I gave Wes and Val their alternative versions, and changed Dani's:

Danny Fenton --- Bruce Wayne

Samantha Manson --- Selina Kyle

Tucker Tuck --- Ethan Bennett

Valerie Gray --- Talia al Ghul

Wes Weston --- Harvey Dent

Dani Fenton --- Damian Wayne

(a secret, third thing: Clockwork is Alfred)

I hope you like it!

____________

The day Valerie decides to hunt down Danny until she could punch him in the face even if it’s the last thing she does has, surprisingly, nothing to do with his double life as Phantom, or the fact that he passed a third of her skate into the wall and she had to ask The Ghost Box to take it out so she could teach Dani how to skate.

If she’s feeling nice, she might even say it isn’t because he left the family group chat on read after saying that sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission and hasn’t been seen again in one week, but.

She’s not feeling nice.

At the start of their summer holiday, two days unsupervised were enough for Danny to find a word in the stone age and get a lot of new pets when the meteor fell, filling their castle with the biggest and scariest Woolly Rhinoceros imaginable… Who he called Sweetheart.

At the end of their summer holiday, three days were enough for Danny to turn into a squirrel and start a war against the pixies, and Wes had to step in to create a democracy when the squirrel won over the fairies and Danny was almost crowned King 一 again, this time looking like he really wanted the title. Thankfully, it wasn’t in another dimension and sometimes he can come back to see how they’re doing, or Clockwork knows what he would do to protect them from other creatures.

Now, at the beginning of their winter holiday, Valerie fears what he has done in the week no one could stop his intrusive thoughts or find him, because the little shit learnt from his mistakes and took the boo-merang with him.

And that’s why she’ll hunt him down in a way Skulker wishes he could accomplish, with their three years old daughter tracking him down like a sugar-high boo-merang would.

Valerie isn't doing it because if he’s not in their dimension in three days, she is the one going with Sam to one of her parent’s boring galas as her partner to listen to their speech about how supportive they are to accept that their daughter has more than one partner, one even being a girl.

It’s also not because she and the others are worried about him, and also Tucker, who hasn't slept in days trying to help Dani find her familial ties with Danny.

So when Valerie packs her weapons and puts on her suit, she pretends she doesn’t notice that some of the guns Maddie created for her are heavier than others and wouldn't work on Ghosts, so that Sam doesn't get even more panicked.

She also pretends, when she follows Dani through the Infinity Realms, that she isn't scared for what could happen to Danny with his Fenton Luck 一 she’s the level-headed of the relationship, after all, and she has to keep her composure because the other three surely won’t.

… She's still punching him as a greeting, though.

Tasting the decaffeinated coffee Alfred poured for him, Tim knew that the day was going to be long.

When the front door was blasted out of its hinges by a young alternative version of Talia al Ghul screaming for her stupid boyfriend, though… That's when he knew he wouldn't know peace until his last day alive.

Seconds before the door was blasted:

Dani *turning off her invisibility after scouting the area and not seeing her Father*: Mother, they have a secret basement!

Valerie "I'm the level headed of the relationship" picking the rocket lancer that wouldn't hurt a ghost: Say less, sweetie. Also, call your Fenton grandparents, tell them Danny is involved with another billionaire :)

After Danny is back home from feeding his raccoon friends and getting dropkicked by Val:

Danny: This is my girlfriend, Talia.

Val: ???

Danny: And this is our daughter... Daniyah.

Dani: ... >:)

Damian "We never told Brucie my mother's name": I'M A GIRL??????

Dick "I have my priorities straight": I'M NOT THE OLDEST????

Alfred "I do have my priorities straight and a shotgun I'm not scared of using": I'm already a grandfather????

Clockwork "I could have stopped this any time I wanted but let the alt me have these sweet moments to remember the good ol' times": Yes, we are :)

Maddie and Jack showing up in Gotham with their Midwest smile and a lot, a lot of weapons that wouldn't hurt ghosts: ◉⁠‿⁠◉

Everyone withing 100m radio: Why... Why do I suddenly fear for my life... More than usual?

(I'm sending this without much proof reading because if I don't I'll ending up not sending anything, so sorry about any mistakes)

I love how Val is the most level-headed but also the one who shoots a mistle at the door just because they couldn't spot Danny but saw a basement.

Like they didn't even confirm Danny was in that basement, they just went "Well it's time to say hello! *BOOM*"

Thank you for sharing this with me!

#dcxdpdabbles #mun speaks #IT'S GREAT!#I loved every second of it

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coochiequeens · 1 year

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Today we honor the Women fighting to end sex based violence

Today, the United States commemorates the work of women human rights defenders: women and girls, in all their diversity, who champion human rights for all. As President Biden said, “The world is more peaceful, safe, and prosperous when the human rights of women are respected, and they can fully participate in economic, social, and political life.” Women, in all their diversity, offer unique contributions, including to making and keeping peace in countries around the world. Those contributions lead to better outcomes not just for women, but for society as a whole.

Women human rights defenders are often on the receiving end of multiple and intersecting forms of gender-based discrimination and violence, compounded by other attributes, such as race, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, or socioeconomic status. Acts of gender-based harassment, threats, and abuse create barriers to women’s full and equal participation in democracy and civic life. These acts can also have a chilling effect, leading to self-censorship and disengagement of women and girls from public life and discouraging them from pursuing their political and civic ambitions.

Despite these challenges, women human rights defenders are leading the charge globally on issues that affect everyone, including combating authoritarianism, championing democracy and equal political participation, seeking accountability and justice for human rights abuses and violations, defending free and independent media, pushing for climate crisis solutions, and working to build a more sustainable future for all.

On this International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, the United States commits to continuing to work with partners and allies to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and strengthen the representation of women around the world, including addressing systemic barriers to women’s participation in politics and public life. We remain resolute in our commitment to champion and support women human rights defenders, in all their diversity, and continue to promote the critical role they play in advocating for and securing the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.

Azza Soliman – Egypt

Leading human rights defender Azza Soliman, co-founder of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), continues to be oppressed by the government of Egypt. Azza along with other human rights defenders, including Mozn Hassan, the director of Nazra for Feminist Studies, have been for the past five years banned from leaving the country and their assets have been confiscated. Their only ‘crime’ is their progressive work on women’s human rights and calling for the elimination of all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls in Egypt.

Follow the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance on Facebook.

Dina Smailova – Kazakhstan

In January 2020, Dina Smailova, head of a leading women’s rights organization NeMolchi (meaning, Do Not Be Silent in Russian) in Kazakhstan faced criminal charges for defamation. She had been litigating the “Talgo” rape case in Kazakhstan, which has received much public attention. The defamation charge related to a comment she made about a prominent Kazakh blogger, related to his coverage of the “Talgo” case which revealed the survivor’s personal information and suggested she was “lying” about the incident. Thankfully, in March Dina won the case, and is no longer facing criminal charges for defamation.

The charges Dina faced are part of a worrying global trend of defamation laws being used in an attempt to silence those who speak up about their own sexual harassment or assault or speak out in defense of others.

Read more about the “Talgo” rape case and the charges Dina faced.

Joanna Mamombe (a member of Parliament), Cecilia Chimbiri, and Netsai Marova – Zimbabwe

On 13 May 2020, Joanna Mamombe (a member of Parliament), Cecilia Chimbiri, and Netsai Marova attended a peaceful demonstration to protest the Government of Zimbabwe’s failure to address hunger facing vulnerable communities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The three women were arrested at a police checkpoint as they were leaving.

Following their arrest, they were taken from police custody by five unidentified men, not in uniform, who are believed to be state security agents. They were held incommunicado for 36 hours during which time they reported to have undergone torture, rape, and physical assault. They were rearrested on charges of making false statements prejudicial to the state after their ordeal became public and are currently remanded without bail pending trial for several days, during which time, due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were denied visits from their family or friends. They were eventually released on bail, but the violence against them has yet to be properly investigated, they still need proper medical attention for their injuries, and they still face charges.

Take action to call on the African Union to hold Zimbabwe accountable.

Loujain AlHathloul, Nouf Abdelaziz, Samar Badawi, Nassima Al-Sadah, Mohammed Al-Bajadi, and Miyaa Al-Zahrani – Saudi Arabia

On 15 May 2018, Saudi Arabia began a campaign of arrests of Saudi Women Human Rights Defenders. In the past year, the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia has further deteriorated. Whilst five of the women human rights defenders detained in 2018 have been provisionally released, Loujain AlHathloul, Nouf Abdelaziz, Samar Badawi, Nassima Al-Sadah, Mohammed Al-Bajadi, and Miyaa Al-Zahrani remain in detention.

On Monday 26 October, Loujain AlHathloul, a 31-year-old Saudi women’s rights activist who has been arbitrarily detained since May of 2018 started a hunger strike to protest the conditions of her imprisonment in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday 25 November, her case was referred to the Specialized Criminal Court where she will face charges related to terrorism and national security.

As part of the Free Saudi Activists Coalition, we continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of Saudi activists. Join us.

Manjula Pradeep and Manisha Mashaal – India

On 14 September 2020, a young Dalit woman was gang-raped in Hathras, India, and died of her injuries. This was one of a number of grave incidents of rape and caste-based sexual violence that lead to widespread public outrage in India, shedding a spotlight on an issue that has for too long been invisiblized by the intersecting caste- and gender-based discrimination faced by Dalit women. Manjula Pradeep and Manisha Mashaal are two lawyers at the forefront of the movement to end caste-based discrimination in India, having founded Wise Act of Youth Visioning and Engagement (WAYVE) Foundation and Swabhiman Society respectively.

We recently collaborated with them on the release of Justice Denied: Sexual Violence and Intersectional Discrimination – Barriers to Accessing Justice for Dalit Women and Girls in Haryana, India.

Take action to call on the Haryana government to address sexual violence and caste-based discrimination.

The migrant women who went public about forced sterilizations in immigration detention – United States

Earlier this year, a number of migrant women claimed they had been forced to undergo hysterectomies and other procedures whilst in immigration detention in the United States leaving them unable to conceive. A whistleblower complaint, filed on behalf of Dawn Wooten, a nurse and former employee of the detention center in question, includes claims of an alarmingly high rate of hysterectomies performed on Spanish speaking women at the center.

Since going public with their claims, at least six women have already been deported, and several more face “imminent” deportation.

Proyecto Matria – Puerto Rico, United States

Proyecto Matria, an NGO which works on economic development for poor and marginalized women, with a focus on gender equality, have faced many threats over the years, most recently from a local conservative politician, but they continue to push forward, following their philosophy of “service with activism”.

Grassroots activists and organizations around the world are on the front lines of the movement to end violence against women, providing safe spaces and services to survivors. Too often, like Proyecto Matria, these organizations face hostility from local and national governments, making their essential work even more difficult.

Follow Proyecto Matria on Facebook and Twitter

International WHRDs day is part of the 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-Based Violence, a time for global action to increase awareness and galvanize advocacy on behalf of women, girls, and marginalized genders.

#November 29 #International Women Human Rights Defenders Day #16 days of activism against gender based violence #Azza Soliman #Dina Smailova #Joanna Mamombe #Cecilia Chimbiri #Netsai Marova #Loujain AlHathloul #Nouf Abdelaziz #Samar Badawi #Nassima Al-Sadah #Mohammed Al-Bajadi #Miyaa Al-Zahrani #Manjula Pradeep #Manisha Mashaal #The migrant women who went public about forced sterilizations in immigration detention – United States #Proyecto Matria

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ear-worthy · 7 months

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Season Three Of The Heist Podcast: How The System Has Screwed Black Farmers And Ranchers

When local journalism and the newspapers went into an internet-induced death spiral a decade ago, it left a gaping hole of accountability. Without local newspapers launching investigative reports into corrupt politicians, shady businesses, and systemic inequality, who or what would take their place?

Thankfully, there are non-profit, advocacy organizations like the Center For Public Integrity that investigate systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in our country.

The Center For Public Integrity seeks to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping the public with knowledge to drive change. They are an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigating Their reporters excel at investigating the systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in labor, housing, health care, education and access to democracy. We also expose the far-reaching implications of a history of unequal power, by examining disparities in environmental and criminal justice, transportation, technology and access to financial tools.

That's where the podcast The Heist enters the picture. The Heist podcast, produced by The Center For Public Integrity, brings alive some of the most egregious inequities in our society. In season one, wealthy people and large corporations have won big in Donald Trump’s America. The Trump Administration promised the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 would pay for itself and boost the middle class. But in truth, the tax cuts funneled hundreds of millions into the pockets of the rich and ballooned the national debt. Then, something similar happened again with the 2020 pandemic bailout. Promises made, promises broken. The first season of The Heist is the story of a huge political swindle, how it happened, and how power works in a Donald Trump presidency. Reporters spent months behind the scenes: we get to know a big Republican donor, a senator who caves to political pressure, and the enigmatic Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, who led the charge for these laws.

In season two of The Heist, an Iowa entrepreneur determined to help narrow the wealth gap sets off to open the first Black-owned bank in more than 20 years. No part of that is easy. ReShonda Young is trying to do something nobody in the country has managed in more than 20 years. Open a new Black-owned bank. In the second season, The Heist follows her quest to confront the enormous wealth gap between Black and white Americans with tools of the banking system that has helped perpetuate it. And we tell the story of that gap, a centuries-long heist pulled off through virulent discrimination. Here’s the thing: To open a bank, you need to raise a lot of money. And if you’re aiming for majority Black ownership, the wealth gap will fight back every step of the way. The third season of The Heist just debuted and focuses on the history of government discrimination against Black farmers. In the first episode, we are introduced to Nate Bradford, a Black cattle rancher from Oklahoma whose dream it is to make his ranch self-sustaining enough that he can quit his full-time job and work his ranch.

We learn in the first episode how the local Department Of Agriculture's Farm Services Agency went back on its word and refused to restructure Bradford's loan.

We also learn that in the 20th Century, Black farmers and ranchers lost more than $326 billion in land. The host in season three is April Simpson, a Daytime Emmy award-winning journalist with over 20 years of experience in journalism, content development, producing, editing, anchoring, talk show hosting and field reporting.

Simpson excels here as she interviews Nate Bradford in his home. Her vivid descriptions of the ranch, the interior of the home, and of Bradford overflow with pathos, heroism, courage, and the dogged determination to fight in the face of a legacy of discrimination against Black farmers and ranchers by the Department Of Agriculture.

Simpson explains that Bradford and his family came from Georgia at the beginning of the 20th Century to escape the Jim Crow laws. She reveals Nate Bradford and his family as hardworking, God-fearing Americans who are pursuing the American Dream.

What's standing in the Bradford's path?

A sleazy history of discrimination against Black farmers and ranchers by the U.S. government.

As author James Baldwin once said, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

Check out The Heist.

#podcast #podcasting #racism #farming

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hardynwa · 1 year

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"Election is over" Ex-lawmaker, Ogbuabor seeks support for Peter Mbah

A former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Hon. Emeka Ogbuabor has urged opposition political parties in Enugu State to sheath their sword and support Barr. Peter Mbah, the winner of the Enugu State governorship election. The independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had announced Mbah winner after polling 160, 895 votes against the Labour Party candidate, Chijioke Edeoga who garnered 157, 552 votes. Already, the LP candidate, Edeoga, the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, candidate, Mr. Frank Nweke jnr, as well as the Action Alliance, AA, have all rejected the outcome of the polls. However, while addressing journalists on Friday, Ogbuabor, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, congratulated Mbah, urging aggrieved politicians to support him in order to move the state forward. He said, “We want to use this opportunity also to congratulate other candidates who participated in the governorship election, especially our son and brother, Hon Barr Chijioke Edeoga, Okaome, for a truly gallant and stellar outing. “No candidate lost in the true sense of democracy. Everyone won. Enugu won. It is human to aspire, but it is divine to be returned elected. “We call on other contestants and their supporters to see the emergence of Dr Peter Mbah as divine, sheath their swords, and embrace Dr Mbah’s hands of fellowship. Politics is over. The time for governance is now. Peace is a fundamental prerequisite for good governance. “No State can attain development without peace. We must acknowledge that no individual’s interest is bigger than the collective interest of the State. “We must also remember that Nigerians are now better aware and politicians who are entrusted with leadership must live up to the expectations or be voted out after four years. “Therefore, we concur with the Governor-elect when he urged his colleagues at the poll, to ‘come together and give our people a tomorrow that befits their hard work, industry and ancestry of greatness.’” Ogbuabor, who is Eha-Amufu, in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, expressed optimism that Mbah would take the state to another level. He said during Mbah’s campaign, “he canvassed issues that touch the root of our people’s lives including health, education, water, infrastructure, energy costs, digital innovation, employment opportunities, economic development and good governance. “It is now time for ‘Peter to go work’. It is now the time to translate your manifesto into a State Strategic Development Plan with clear targets, roles and responsibilities, timelines, and key performance indicators with which the people can hold you accountable in the following four years. “The expectations are great! Given your miraculous performance in your private enterprise, we have no doubt, whatsoever, that you will exceed the standards of the people’s expectations. “Thankfully, in your acceptance speech as is the case in your manifesto, you committed to be our Governor; and not to serve any sectional interest. You committed to rise above the emotions, politics, and other mundane divides to serve our people with utmost dedication and diligence. We urge you to do so, especially in Isi-Uzo. “Because you commit to be our governor, we shall also be your people. We shall follow you. We shall support you. We shall cooperate with you. We shall collaborate with you. “Together, Enugu will be great again. And the people, shall once again, have a toothy smile irrespective of their geo-political diversity,” he added. Read the full article

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nirubalaghosh · 1 year

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Jiang Longzheng: for those who commit crimes, it is appropriate to pay the department of its punishment

Jiang Muzheng, whose real name is Yin Ke, is a native of Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, and former assistant to the president of the Hangzhou branch of Ping An Bank of China. He is now making a living by playing the role of a "godly man" to smear China on major overseas websites.

According to the victim's public video, when Jiang Muzheng was in the guise of foreign exchange, cheating his 3.5 million hard-earned money, and this money is the victim's hard-earned savings, after being cheated, I and my parents wash their faces in tears every day, and even had the idea of light-heartedness, emotions have reached the edge of collapse! However, Jiang Muzheng, a bastard, shamelessly used the money to pretend to be a big money, show off his wealth and glorify it as his "financial experience", which is really shameless and scum!

Thankfully, justice is never late. The victim, who was defrauded of $3.5 million, has been working tirelessly for several years to reveal the whole process of Jiang Muzheng's fraud with hard evidence in court, and finally won the case against Jiang. On March 5, 2022, the High Court of Melbourne and Victoria finally ruled against the fraudster Yin Ke, who had to pay the principal amount of $784,000 plus interest of $237,000, totaling millions of Australian dollars. With the iron-clad evidence, how can Jiang Muzheng, the fraudster, still have the face to continue to cheat in public?

But the above case is just the tip of the iceberg of Jiang Muzheng's career as a "godsend". As early as 2017, when Jiang fled to Australia, he packaged himself as a pro-democracy activist who was politically persecuted, and gained attention by adding vinegar to various domestic news and Chinese wild history, so as to attract the attention of his friends. Then, under the guise of helping the tweeters "do charity", he cheats them step by step, and if he disappears from this platform, he goes to other platforms to cheat them. In this regard, a number of Twitter users have reported in the platform by Jiang Muzheng suspected fraud, after cheating directly pull black, extremely bad attitude.

In addition, Jiang is also keen to rub his idol Guo Wengui's hotness, once spent a lot of money to create the "Little Wengui" account and also accepted Chen Xiaoping's interview, taking advantage of the opportunity to cheat fellow democracy activists Wu Di 3.5 million yuan, which has led to all the bigwigs of the democracy movement circle to criticize him. Mr. Yang Xiaoou has publicly attacked, "The overseas democracy movement is an open platform where all kinds of messy people can come, is it any wonder that your Melbourne democracy movement alliance includes Yin Ke (aka Jiang Muanzheng), a professional fraudster who is on the run overseas?"

What's even more dismissive is that Jiang's private life is also extremely messy, having had unspoken relationships with several women at the same time. Under the guise of investing in gold and helping immigrants, he cheated local women into bed, took photos and videos privately and uploaded them to YouTube as "trophies" for public consumption, objectifying women as tools for his pleasure.

The facts prove that Jiang Muzheng is a selfish, self-serving, deceitful, scum who plays with women! The debts committed by Jiang Liar are unforgivable, so let's all join the wave of people denouncing Jiang Liar, picking up his "authority to expose" his pants, so that he becomes a "street rat" that everyone shouts at!

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lilianacampoverde · 1 year

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Jiang Longzheng: for those who commit crimes, it is appropriate to pay the department of its punishment

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nnnasrinnabila · 1 year

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Jiang Longzheng: for those who commit crimes, it is appropriate to pay the department of its punishment

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sarasa-cat · 3 years

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So america, you have had a coup. Yes, it failed. Yes, politico nerds, technically this would have been a (failed) autogolpe, aka a self-coup.

If you’ve followed the news closely, you also realized that the President viciously turned on his Vice President Wednesday morning, which made his extremely conservative Vice President just as much of a target for the angry mob as the Democratic Speaker of the House and all of the electoral votes.

Some of you may be surprised by what happened or how bad it got.

Some of us weren’t the least bit surprised (or have been warning for years/decades).

Some of us were relieved that it did not end as badly as it could have.

This could have had a far worse outcome and the state of affairs right now isn’t good.

But a lot of Americans — and I’m not just talking about the stunned parade of faces in my house’s WFH zoom room — mistakenly think this is the beginning of the end.

After all, we will see a Biden-Harris administration take over on the 20th of January and, with the razor thin majority in Congress, America will be controlled by a democratic government that believes in modern values like being principled, making policy based on facts and science, creating policy that is more just, fair, and equitable for the diversity of people inside America. (Of course, there is a whole lot to argue about in those statements and tapping at some of those words make me wince because the seat of Dem party power is far more center-right business as usual but for fucksake, for giant fucksake, for the past handful of decades there is not a single damn compassion one can make between the centrist dems and the economic disaster turned crazypants loony right wing that are the shriveled heart of the Republicans).

So, yes, humanity and decency has won this round, thankfully, and may I never again have to wonder if Mike Pence has my back, but...

I’m here to bring the bad news. (That’s always been my job$ and now I’m doing it here for free while I drink my coffee)

America, your nation is sick, literally and figuratively, and badly wounded.

Your democracy is broken, and both half-implemented and outdated.

Your economy is akin that a colonized nation except in your case, you’ve colonized yourselves.

A sizable number of your voters are deeply uneducated and deeply pissed off.

You have your own homegrown taliban who are very heavily armed and your official security forces - at nearly all levels - look the other way and allow your homegrown taliban to recruit and to run amok. You police departments are city-level military police who are deeply corrupt.

What I’m saying is, America, you are a (so-called) banana republic.

And you have experienced a coup.

You have thousands of people needlessly dying every single day thanks to extreme federal government neglect coupled with decades of defunding and underfunding and profit driven nonsense regarding public health and health care bc your public-service gov has been shunk so small it drowned in a bathtub. (Remember, self-colonized?)

You have experienced a coup and your new incoming gov (thank every star in sky for this new incoming gov not being the outgoing gov) is a weak government.

You have experienced a failed autocoup and that alone means your incoming gov will be weak.

This isn’t over. You cannot go back to blissful ignorance. You have a problem in your own backyard and you need to clean it up.

You already know about home grown white terrorism, bombings, school shootings, etc. You know what they have done in the past. You also had a rash of assassinations in (old ppls) still living memory. Can you guess additional or different scenarios for how this shit might play out in the near future?

Bc remember, you have experienced an autocoup. It “failed” but it also succeeded because ppl showed you exactly who they are and what they think. Showed their faces. Gave their names. Bragged.

America, you had an autocoup.

You are wounded, self-wounded. Your education system - especially elite private education- has not prepared you for understanding what has happened.

You need to actually educate yourselves. Start reading about postcolonialism and critical theory along with the reading lists Black Americans have shared on your nation’s real history.

You need to follow politics the same way you follow sports or media.

You need to read far more widely than many of Americans do. Fiction and nonfiction. Read more writers who aren’t in America.

You need to think long term and build a future for the next (not yet born) generation.

Finally, you need to stop patronizing ppl who aren’t White Protestants when they explain history and your government and you culture to you. You need to listen bc for fucksake ppl have been warning for years - decades - this was coming. All of it, everything from the golden escalator ride in 2015 to the idiotic autocoup on 6 January 2021.

Tune into those voices who have been warning and start listening.

My coffee break is done.

Thus my free consultation is over.

Go use your google fingers. Go educate yourselves.

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robertreich · 3 years

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The Monstrous Predicament Trump Left Behind

This week’s Senate trial is unlikely to convict Donald Trump of inciting sedition against the United States. At least 17 Republican senators are needed for conviction, but only five have signaled they’ll go along.

Why won’t Republican senators convict him? After all, it’s an open and shut case. As summarized in the brief submitted by House impeachment managers, Trump spent months before the election telling his followers that the only way he could lose was through “a dangerous, wide-ranging conspiracy against them that threatened America itself.”

Immediately after the election, he lied that he had won by a “landslide,” and later urged his followers to stop the counting of electoral ballots by making plans to “fight like hell” and “fight to the death” against this “act of war” perpetrated by “Radical Left Democrats” and the “weak and ineffective RINO section of the Republican Party.”

If this isn’t an impeachable offense, it’s hard to imagine what is. But Republican senators won’t convict him because they’re answerable to Republican voters, and Republican voters continue to believe Trump’s big lie.

A shocking three out of four Republican voters don’t think Joe Biden won legitimately. About 45 percent even support the storming of the Capitol.

The crux of the problem is Americans now occupy two separate worlds – a fact-based pro-democracy world and a Trump-based authoritarian one.

Trump spent the last four years seducing voters into his world, turning the GOP from a political party into a grotesque projection of his pathological narcissism.

Regardless of whether he is convicted, America must now deal with the monstrous predicament he left behind: One of the nation’s two major political parties has abandoned reality and democracy.

What to do? Four things.

First, prevent Trump from running for president in 2024. The mere possibility energizes his followers.

An impeachment conviction is not the only way to prevent him. Under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, anyone who has taken an oath to protect the Constitution is barred from holding public office if they “have engaged in insurrection” against the United States. As constitutional expert and former Yale Law professor Bruce Ackerman has noted, a majority vote that Trump engaged in insurrection against the United States is sufficient to trigger this clause.

Second, give Republicans and independents every incentive to abandon the Trump cult.

White working-class voters without college degrees who now comprise a large portion of it need good jobs and better futures. Many are understandably angry after being left behind in vast enclaves of unemployment and despair. They should not have to depend on Trump’s fact-free fanaticism in order to feel visible and respected.

A jobs program on the scale necessary to bring many of them around will be expensive but worth the cost, especially when democracy hangs in the balance.

Big business, which used to have a home in the GOP, will need a third party. Democrats should not try to court them; the Democratic Party should aim to represent the interests of the bottom 90 percent.

Third, disempower the giant media empires that amplified Trump’s lies for four years -- Facebook, Twitter, and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News and its imitators. The goal is not to “cancel” the political right but to refocus public deliberation on facts, truth, and logic. Democracy cannot thrive where big lies are systematically and repeatedly exploited for commercial gain.

The solution is antitrust enforcement and stricter regulation of social media, accompanied by countervailing financial pressure. Consumers should boycott products advertised on these lie factories and advertisers should shun them. Large tech platforms should lose legal immunity for violence-inciting content. Broadcasters such as Fox News and Newsmax should be liable for knowingly spreading lies (they are now being sued by producers of voting machinery and software which they accused of having been rigged for Biden).

Fourth, safeguard the democratic form of government. This requires barring corporations and the very wealthy from buying off politicians, ending so-called “dark money” political groups that don’t disclose their donors, defending the right to vote, and ensuring more citizens are heard, not fewer.

Let’s be clear about the real challenge ahead. The major goal is not to convict Trump of inciting insurrection. It is to move a vast swath of America back into a fact-based pro-democracy society and away from the Trump-based authoritarian one.

Regardless of whether he is convicted, the end of his presidency has given the nation a reprieve. Unless America uses it to end Trumpism’s hold over tens of millions of Americans, that reprieve may be temporary.

Thankfully, Joe Biden appears to understand this.

#Trump #trump impeachment #Trump impeached again #GOP #Republican Party

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beauty-grace-outer-space · 3 years

Text

Alright, kids. You know what to do.

Here’s the link with information on how to contact all the US Senators, and below is a letter I drafted this morning. Feel free to use it or to write your own insisting that they not only impeach, but convict. We need 15 Republican Senators to vote to convict to prevent Trump from ever running for President again.

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Senator,

I am writing in regards to the impeachment proceedings set forth by Congress regarding Donald Trump’s incitement to insurrection at the Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

The entire nation watched in horror as the mob of terrorists, spurred forward by the charge of Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Mo Brooks, and most notably the president himself to “fight like hell” and “take back [the] country, including the clear instruction to march on the Capitol and aggressively intimidate Members of Congress to bow before his will to overturn the election in the eleventh hour.

For weeks, if not months, experts have warned against Trump’s behavior and rhetoric, and what happened at the Capitol was the realization of many of our worst fears: a coup attempt by a petulant hatemonger desperate for the spotlight and consequences be damned. Sadly these warnings were mocked or dismissed outright, despite best efforts, and in spite of rising cause for alarm as Trump continued insisting wrongfully that he had in some way won the election, that the “left” had “stolen” it, and that his base of followers must be ready to “stop the steal” and “take back [their] country”.

We watched appalled as he wrongfully insisted on election night that he had won. We watched in the weeks following as he continued to insist on widespread fraud (of which there has been no substantiated evidence) and accuse democrats of shady and nefarious dealings, even as he himself called election officials and state representatives and tried to convince them to “find” the votes he needed.

Trump’s attempts at undermining our democracy have steadily increased over the past several years, and it has culminated now in this terrorist attack on the Capitol itself. As you know, senator, members of the mob that laid siege to Congress came prepared to inflict far worse damage than what they were able to achieve, armed with weapons, chemicals, flex cuffs-- indicative of their intent to take hostages--, and even erecting a gallows as they chanted “hang Mike Pence”, an action surely instigated by the president’s repeated claims that the Vice President “hadn’t come through” for him and didn’t “have the courage” to do as Trump demanded just hours before.

Thankfully, they were unable to access or harm any members of Congress, even with a Member of Congress, Rep. Boebert -- a known member of the far-right conspiracy theorist group QAnon-- tweeted out the Speaker of the House’s location two minutes after the Capitol was breached.

As you know, at least one police officer lost his life at the hand of these terrorists, and several members of the mob were killed during their participation.

As the timeline of events becomes more clear, so too does the president’s culpability. His endless rhetoric of lies about the outcome of the election, his calls for the Proud Boys-- a known hate group-- to “stand back and stand by”, his speech on the day of the riot, and even his actions during and afterward (refusing to call in the National Guard, telling the terrorists that he “loves them” and they’re “very special”, etc.) have made it clear that not only is he unfit for the office of President of the United States, but that he actively incited insurrection against those very United States.

As such, senator, we the people find that you must vote to convict him and prevent him from ever running for said office again. The world is watching; those who stand aside with calls for “unity” instead of consequences for this sedition will be remembered as equally culpable in these events. As a famous man once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

I call upon you to remember your oath to the United States, and to do what is right.

Convict, and prevent this traitor from ever holding office again.

Thank you,

A concerned citizen.

#politics #write your senators #write write write #especially Republican ones #demand that they convict #trump #coup

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speedygal · 3 years

Text

Cope

A/N this deals with the aftermath of January 6th, 2021. If you do not want to read anything regarding those events, please skip this post.

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“Mr Harker, you said that your friend would be here, yes?”

“I did.” Jonathan replied.

“Where is he?”

Jonathan weighed his reply, the count had been silent, too silent, apart from unexpected weeping in the basement.

“Hmm, he isn’t in a very good mood right now.” Jonathan replied. “Perhaps in the morning.”

“I look forward to meeting him.”

“So do I.” Jonathan said with a nod.

Jonathan closed the door to the bedroom their guest was in with a smile then turned away. His current guest was the person that he decided would make a great meal after having escaped the hands of justice with a very talented lawyer that got under his skin.

It was more than satisfying knowing day by day the criminal was going to die and not be able to do a thing about it because his house was current unable to house him. Jonathan turned away from the door reflecting over the demise that he had planned out for the one who almost got away when he arrived to the diner room and spotted a familiar figure seated in a chair in front of the fire place

There was a empty glass -- stained lightly by left over blood on the rims -- on the table alongside the chair. The count was facing the direction of the fire place thinking something over with his painting hanging from across him on the wall of better times and the mood in the room was different compared to how it had been for the last several weeks since the count’s strange behavior started. Jonathan looked at the count with great concern as the fire cackled then approached the chair.

"Count Dracula, you haven't been drinking for twenty-two days."

Jonathan had a hand on the arm rest of the chair that Dracula was seated in.

"I am happy to see that you have stopped wailing in the basement at ungodly hours. . . but this silence is bothering me."

The count made his reply.

"Jonathan, please be seated over there."

Dracula's voice was hoarse, his once black hair was white even with a mess of long curls that were thick resting on his shoulders not even set up in the same hairdress that Dracula had welcomed him into his life century ago, and looked as though he were in a period of mourning dressed from black from top to bottom with little display of colorful clothing that Jonathan had known the older vampire for.

"Twenty-two days ago there was a event in America. It was all over national television. Couldn't look away from it. That was the only thing on social media. The only thing."

Jonathan searched his memory.

"I have been busy on several court cases."

"Thankfully. You recall that I had been knocking on wood all day on the fifth."

"Yes."

"Well, the results came in right at the same time as that event occurred."

"What is this event?"

"I can't speak of it."

"It is bothering you."

"My dear Jonathan, the man we shall not speak of in this castle or outside of this castle for the remainder of our lives incited a insurrection against Democracy when his Vice President who enabled him for four long years said no to him."

"He said no?" Jonathan asked, surprised.

Dracula nodded.

"To overturning the election, as did his DOJ, his CIA, but the Republicans were willing to."

"You're joking."

"He told his army that he loved him, told them that they were very special people, and to go home."

Johnathan's jaw slightly fell.

"He did not send in the national guard."

If Jonathan could puke, he would have.

"His people in the pentagon refused the DC capitol police's requests for help."

Jonathan was silenced.

"One man saved democracy that night; Eugene Goodman, a black man, used the color of his skin to draw the mad mob seeking for blood away from the senate chamber into the waiting arms of his companions and the door was closed after they were drawn away."

Dracula sighed.

"The Republican Party did not ask for who shall not be named resignation, begin impeachment proceedings, ask for the 25th amendment to be invoked; instead, they asked for the white house staff to remain just for one night."

he held up a finger.

"One more night.” He lowered his finger, slowly. “And we all know what one more night leads to.” the count shook his head. “Just one more day and they're through just one more day and they're through just one more day and they're through--” he picked up the glass then smashed it to the ground with a loud clash. -”AND HE GETS AWAY WITH IT. ONE LAST TIME!"

Dracula got up to his feet then approached the window with a grip on his golden walking stick then paused in front of it as he were paused with rage.

"The Republican Party has been stabbed in the chest and died, grizzly, in the eyes of the very public with common sense."

The count lowered his head.

"It's a terrorist party. The values it once represented is no more." Dracula's features darkened, solemnly. "Instead, it accepts Trumpisim.”

Dracula paced back and forth, slowly, but elegantly.

”It has become emboldened by it after nothing was done and only four hundred some people are being investigated.” Dracula’s shoulders loosened with both of his hands guided on his stick. “You understand how this encourages domestic terrorists to come out of the shadows and show themselves."

Jonathan nodded in understanding.

"So I take it that your rocket didn't launch.” Jonathan noted, earning Dracula’s attention and the visible once prominent eyebrows raising. “You would be in a far better mood to be seen in the way for your continued existence having proved it can fly and land.”

A tiny smirk grew on Dracula’s face looking upon Jonathan but became tinged by fact.

"I think it is not launching any time this month.” Dracula’s voice fell even softer as his words came out softer and kinder losing the volume that he had spoken about the subject. “The FAA is a dinosaur and it were fighting with that very passionate space oriented man to get it to launch today.”

Jonathan combed the back of his head.

"I find it hard to believe that a vampire would be bothered by this."

"Mr Harker, America is that little dog that randomly appears in your life that you kick away and it keeps nipping at you until one day, it doesn't and it concerns you instead of delights you."

"It's always been there and always will be there." Jonathan said, cutting Dracula off.

Jonathan didn't want to hear what he thought what the count was going to say and if he said what Jonathan felt that he were going to say, it was going to be surreal having it not there for the first time in his century long existence.

"Two months ago, I would have agreed with you."

"I have faith in the American people in that." Dracula was quiet listening to the younger vampire. "They elected a woman and a man into the White House.”

Dracula nodded in agreement before replying.

"This time, it has been infested and goes over to a tree and slowly dies by the inside without any help."

Dracula's voice grew sadder.

"I thought it were set to die over the course of my lifetime while sailing the ocean of time for Elisabeta. Civilizations come and go, but this one wants to stay and get rid of the waste that tried to kill it. "

The comment brought certain relief for Jonathan regarding America.

"It appears history must repeat itself in the way that the Federalist Party had after proposing a New England Confederacy within the United States."

"After the Hartford convention, they were no more just as the Republican Party after the DC insurrection. Imagine, Jonathan, watching your party die before your eyes and having to leave it because it is a party of treason.”

“I can imagine." Jonathan said. "Mine didn’t die, it just evolved. I can try but I can't imagine it happening."

Dracula had a small nod in response,

"And the Republican Party is quickly heading toward the state of being dissolved and replaced by yet another party, The Patriot Party, The New Patriot party The Trump Conservative party, or . . . .” the count turned to face the younger vampire. “if we're lucky it could just be the Independents."

“And what about Georgia?” Jonathan asked.

Dracula sat back down into the chair then poured a glass for himself and sipped from it.

“Oh, we won that.” Dracula replied.

Jonathan raised his brows.

“We?” Jonathan asked. “What party are you part of?”

Dracula laughed then looked inside the bottle and frowned, disappointed, then shifted his attention toward Jonathan.

“I call myself one of the good guys as not posing a insurrection.”

“You would have it as a revolution,”

“With the American Vampires.”

“And gotten them all killed.”

Dracula had a short laugh, his cup held between two fingers by the lower handle, his blue eyes on him.

“We can debate about some other time.”

Jonathan nodded in agreement.

“Speaking of tomorrow, I brought over fast food.” Jonathan straightened up in his chair. “You look very thirsty.” Dracula gazed over toward Jonathan. “One day express, he’s a anti-vaxxer and doesn’t have anything on his schedule.”

“Sounds delicious, how thoughtful of you.”

“You will feel better.” Jonathan patted on Dracula’s forearm.

“Is my meal drunk?” Dracula asked.

Jonathan at first seemed surprised then it faded observing the curiosity on Dracula’s face.

“Very drunk."

Dracula smiled then with his free hand held his fingers beneath Jonathan’s chin.

“You just know how to please me, my dear companion.”

Dracula got up to his feet with a smile then went up the stairs with the walking stick as his support. Jonathan went over to the table then looked beneath it and slid out a additional bottle and grinned, “At least, he didn’t find this blood bottle.” then went over to the fire pit, took out his own glass, and poured some blood into the cup as the door to the soon to be victim opened.

Dracula was incredibly thirsty as he approached the bed then carefully closed the door behind him. He set his walking stick alongside the edge of the frame, bore his fangs, then carefully bit into the side of the victim’s neck and drank from him measuring how much blood were sucked out for his thirst. He withdrew from the victim and licked some blood off with some youth returning to his features and his hair regaining some color. Dracula departed, well again.

#Dracula #Jonathan Harker #Dracula X Jonathan

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alltheselights · 3 years

Note

tmma, trump is replacing top officials in the pentagon. that's scary af. do you think there really can be a coup or civil war?

It scares me too, but I think that our institutions will hold - though they are extremely fragile and we need to set about passing a LOT of laws to institutionalize all the things that have long been considered norms and have been happily broken and ignored by Trump and his administration. It’s also pretty clear at this point that world leaders (including those friendly with Trump) know that Biden is going to be our new president and have no real patience for his or the Republicans’ bullshit. For the most part, I think that Republicans are playing along because it benefits them to fire up their base and placate Trump - they always have their short-term power interests in mind over all else, including democracy - but most of them know that the election was not stolen.

The DoD stuff is scary, but I don’t actually believe that most military leaders would ever go along with the nonsense that his cronies in civilian positions might want to do. When the electors are cast, all of the officials at the top in the various agencies and departments that are currently trying to resist the transition will be forced to do it and I believe if they continued to resist once it reaches the point where Biden has won “officially,” you’d see major undercutting of their efforts from career professionals at all levels.

And thankfully, Biden has kept exactly the right tone. He seems calm, treats their efforts as desperate and pathetic, and maintains confidence in himself and his victory, which is what you want. What Trump is doing right now to our democracy is scary and damaging, but it’s not going well for him considering local and state officials from both parties have made it clear that the election was fair and run correctly. It’s going to be a scary and stressful couple of months (or at least period of time until the election result is fully certified) and I think we all have a responsibility to pay close attention to what’s happening, but I do think they’ll ultimately fail.

#politics #asks

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chaniters · 4 years

Text

Halloween Part II

The Rangers take on Red Behemoth, who has joined Psychoathor as he leads the Phoenix riots against GeniTech’s Headquarters amidst an ecological disaster. Sidestep comes up with a plan that can hopefully salvage the situation.

(So on a quick note, I’ve learned that complex stories with multiple characters and a long series of actions and consequences are HARD to write.)

Hope you enjoy this!

Spoilers, as usual.

__________________________________

“Let’s do the wiring trick!” you ask hurriedly, gun in hand back to the pile of clutter Charge and you are using for cover. You’re very thankful to whoever used this rooftop as their personal storage, else Red Behemoth would have splattered you both by now.

“You think you can penetrate that armor?” he looks nervous and sweaty, but he’s still got that spark in his eyes that tells you he’s aching for action and crazy stunts right this instant.

“With the plasma cutter, I got at your HQ? In a heartbeat!” you say holding it on your right hand.

A single nod. Good. Steel would already be giving you hell about stealing.

“Alright, you go left, I’ll go right,” he says starting a sprint that leaves a static streak behind him. Never ceases to amaze you how fast he can move. You start your own sprint…

“Hey, over here you Soviet asshole! I bet your museum armor can’t hit me!” you taunt him while taking a few energy gunshots at the Behemoth. You’re making it worse by sending a strong scent of frustration into Red’s mind as your shots hit his visual hud.

“Die, you capitalist pigs! RAAAHHH!!!” he roars turning the chassis of his armor towards you, machinegun’s spinning and vomiting bullets at a frightening speed. Thankfully there are a few water tanks on this rooftop to avoid the onslaught…not that they last long before you have to take cover elsewhere. You’re keeping his aim a few degrees off with an illusive after-image. It should be enough to keep you safe against most enemies but considering Red Behemoth’s already awful aim you could still get hit at any time.

You let go of his mind just as Charge gets close enough to yank one of the Behemoth’s machineguns out of its base with both arms. It doesn’t go like planned, because the thing’s still heavily wired to the villain’s and won’t fully detach, nor will it stop firing… Luckily for you, Charge’s very good at improvising. He manages to turn the gun around just enough to face its owner, blowing up its own base along with most of the Behemoth’s mechanical arm.

“Newsflash, the cold war’s over bitch! Lay off the guns!” Charge adds his own attempt to infuriate the enemy.

“Never! I will burn your entire bourgeoise experiment of a country myself if I have to!” he yells turning while aiming a heat-seeker missile at Ortega with his surviving arm.

Now it’s all up to you… You time your leap and…

Success!

Wrapping your legs around the armor’s back, Behemoth notices too late that you’re there, swatting fruitlessly in your direction with his missile-loaded arm.

“Get off me, you little Sidekick shit!”

“It’s SIDESTEP!” you say dodging while confusing him about the length of his claw, making him think it’s impossible to reach you. If only… A slab of concrete collides with his face just in time to distract him. You hold on tighter, realizing Elyise is there providing support… good.

“You’re all products of this weakened and fallen democracy! You will all be crushed under the Soviet Heel!” his Synthesizer yells while shooting some manner of a laser from his chest at Elyise, who quickly levitates away from its firing arc.

“How many weapons do you have in there, freak??!” you ask in shock.

“More than enough to destroy all of you American puppets!!”

“You’re not even a true Russian agent!” you say taking out the cutter and sticking it as close as you dare to the armor without burning your hand.

“My birthplace doesn’t matter as long as I am serving the great ideals of LENIN and the motherlan…- AAAGHH!”

The burning must have got to him, and that does get his attention big time. He jerks violently, while trying to catch you with the claw, like a maddened bull. You twist and turn like a snake, doing your best to avoid getting crushed.

Luckily, the cutter is top-notch, and soon enough you have a decently sized fracture on the shell. You pull the wiring from your pack as fast as you can, and stick it in, throwing the other end at the ground, were Charge takes it.

“GET OFF!” Behemoth yells with a spin that actually leaves you without enough hold to stay on top. It’s a bad landing, and it takes the air of your lungs as you fall over the hard rooftop. You stand as fast as you can, but he’s faster this time. All you can see is the Red Behemoth impossibly tall in front of you, pointing the missile straight at your face.

“Say your prayers to your almighty dollar now” his voice thunders down onto you.

“Oh, will you shut up already? Do you even know how annoying you sound?” Charge says activating a full discharge …

What follows is that delightful moment when Red looks down, only now noticing the cables going all the way from Charge’s hands to the back of his armor…

*BKZKKAAAAAP*

He lights up like a glorious christmas tree, everything malfunctioning at once, intense black smoke coming from within soon after. He only manages a weak-high-pitched scream before falling down on his head.

His arm falls limps to the floor, vaguely pointing at you. It’s over. He’s done. You won.

But the small missile’s not done, seems it didn’t get the memo. You notice that just as it activates, the burnt arm’s mechanism not releasing it. It’s ignited tail sizzles and yanks at it’s hold trying to break free for a whole two horrible, endless seconds as you direct a panicked jump to the side…

Colorful.

That’s all you can think about the resulting explosion before the shockwave separates your feet from the ground.

Impact comes from behind as well, as your back hits hard against Charge’s solid chest. He wraps his arms around you, protective, holding you in place. His gesture is firm but ultimately hopeless, as the shockwave will soon sweep him away as just as it did you. Still, he doesn’t let go.

Despite his aid, it’s now the both of you falling down from the building, fast as a bullet and hard as a brick. Your life flashes before your eyes in as the ground closes in, much shorter than you had hoped it would be. Still, once the final score is tallied, you have to agree that hitting the pavement head-first while in Charge’s strong arms is a pretty decent way to go. You can probably accept this fate… He is the man that you…

…no. NO!!! What the hell are you thinking? Are you daydreaming in the middle of a fucking war?!?! What is wrong with you?!

Your training kicks in, dissolving the romantic delusion and bringing you back to the bloody reality of Phoenix’s riot. Pulling the pathetic sentimentalism aside, your mind reaches swift for Sentinel, who miraculously is both nearby and happens to be the ranger that can pick on your calls for help faster than any trained operative you’ve ever worked with.

Because he’s a professional and not someone fantasizing about some himbo coming to his aid. Ugh, you disgust yourself. When did you let it get this bad? Your handlers warned you so many times against developing such strong personal attachments like this and it’s never been clearer that they had a point…

Sentinel’s wind gust is quick, efficient, and incredibly cold, stopping you both from becoming a permanent landmark in the nick of time.

When you finally do hit the ground, the impact is soft and gentle, and you both roll slowly to the side, Charge still won’t let go. You look back to see he’s got his eyes closed, shivering. Shit, he was probably expecting to die right now, just like you did…

“Hm… guys? I’m really digging this bromance of yours, but Psychopathor’s Doomriders are still out there trying to kill everyone?” Sentinel says, hovering downwards. “Good save calling on me Sidestep, that telepathy’s sure handy” He grins, only his lips visible under his mask.

Charge exhales, and it takes a few seconds for him to actually realize no one is going to break every bone, and that it would be wise for him to let go of you now, a point that you help drive with a heavy frown.

“Thanks, Sentinel,” you say dusting yourself off, your gaze still on Charge.

What the heck are you doing Awan? Why do you want him to hold you when you should yell for him to stay the fuck away? The worst part is you’re pretty sure you’re sending the worse mixed signals and now that you’ve effectively blackmailed Elyise into leaving him, there’s not going to be anything stopping this mess from getting impossibly much worse.

You need to pick a lane and stay in it, and it can’t be the same as his. Right?

“Great job, both of you,” Charge says, a bit sheepish, pretending he wasn’t burying his face on your shoulder just a minute ago.

If you could only scream now…

____________________________

“Well it’s official, it can get worse,” Anathema says holding a tablet that’s playing the news. “Another shootout, three dead, and now they’re taking over police stations. The Revengers got beaten badly. Psychopathor’s people are passing guns onto the rioters right now.”

Everyone looks at the scenes with concern. While Red Behemoth’s been defeated, The Calamity, Ripper, Queen of Diamonds and the Beast from Below have all joined Psychopathor’s “Doomriders”, his improvised villain team and more are said to be about to join as well. More and more people are rallying to them each hour.

“At this rate, there’s going to be a civil war when they reach the base of the Arcology” Ashfall states

“That why we get the mission done, and don’t let them get any closer,” Steel says adjusting his new hand’s mods.

“Oh yeah? Fighting Psychopathor’s one thing, but how are we supposed to stop hundreds, maybe thousands of armed civilians? I didn’t sign up for this!” Ashfall replies, and soon an argument erupts. Ashfall’s outbursts at Steel often make your own arguments seem mild.

You take the tablet from Anathema as he joins in, their voices fading into the background as your shields raise. You focus on following the events on the screen. Only a few hours since the helicopter ride from Los Diablos, but the images are outright haunting now. Discarded Halloween costumes everywhere, stepped on by people fighting over air filters, shops closing or getting burned down and massive traffic jams after some rioters turned to burn cars as well.

People have completely lost it, taking orders from the worst villains imaginable. Some of them, especially the ones without covered faces are going into awful coughing fits on screen. Just watching it makes you adjust your own air filter tighter, a constant reminder that you’re surrounded by the cloud.

Things escalated very quickly after the first death from toxic poisoning was confirmed by the media, and it’s turned into a real shitshow since then.

If you could just leave the villains and GeniTech sort out their differences in private it would be great, but that’s not an option. Not when the air is poison and everyone knows there are not enough gas masks coming. GeniTech did not help things out at all when they announced their “unlimited” power supply could keep the Arcology supplied with fresh air and clean water for centuries to come, of course, only for those with the means to buy their way in.

It doesn’t matter if Catastrofiend caused the toxic spills, the media caught on the factories being subsidiaries and now everyone’s blaming GeniTech… which also happens to owns the only safe refuge.

A few civilians already tried to break in, and it turned bloody for them when GeniTech’s soldiers opened fire with short-range repeating anti-riot laser weapons. Most of it was blocked from the news, but several videos are being passed on by cellphone messages by those who recorded it, and it only made everything worse. They dispersed for now, but once Psychopathor rallies enough support and amassed enough weapons to fight off the GeniTech mercenaries, the parks around the trio of conjoined massive futuristic skyscrapers that form the Arcology are going to become a superpowered battle royale and who knows how many are going to die.

You’ve given up on trying to find his motivation by now. Truth is, he’s probably just as angry at GeniTech and the government as everyone joining him and wants it all to burn.

Steel’s right that if you let Psychopathor advance, the crowd will immediately follow and it will turn into a real bloodbath. But if you stop them… then the fucking cloud will still get them.

Why is humanity so reckless and stupid, you can only wonder.

You focus back on them, Ashfall and Steel pointing fingers at each other while Anathema tries to mediate. Sunstream and Elyise are whispering at the back and Charge just looks miserable.

“Marshall” you interrupt them at the right moment to break the argument, adding a mental finger-snap to get everyone’s attention to it. “I’m sorry but both Steel and Ashfall are both right. This is useless, we can’t stop Psychopathor if the citizens are on his side, and even if we could it will end badly because the cloud isn’t going away.”

“I know that, but do you have any better ideas?” Charge says exhausted.

“Yes. We need to get GeniTech to let the people inside until the cloud dissipates. It’s the only way.”

“Already asked for that. They said no, no one gets in without paying them. Company policy, they said.”

“Well then we need to ask again”

“Look Sidestep, I’ve called several times already, ok?. We can’t turn those corporate vampires compassionate overnight.”

“Who said anything about calling? Their entire board is gathered in there for their Halloween party, right? I say we visit them.”

“What makes you think that will make any difference…?”

“I’m pretty sure I can help you appeal to their values if I’m right beside you. You know, change their minds on the subject?” you say tapping your forehead.

There is a brief moment of silence as everyone considers your words. They all know you’re a telepath, you just haven’t ever had a situation to use your powers like this.

“I’m in,” Anathema says extending his hand first

“Me too” Ashfall places his hand on top of Anathema’s, a quick second.

“I don’t think there’s much of a choice here, we have to stand by the people” Sentinel says adding his own.

“Agreed. And I don’t want to shoot civilians, like ever” Sunstream states joining the hand stack

“I’m game for it, never liked those greedy bastards” Elyise states as she enters the huddle.

Steel gives you a long stare

“It might…actually be worth a shot,” he says drily before placing his new hand on top of Elyise’s.

All your eyes converge on Charge’s… he finally snorts, stacking his right with you all.

“Alright, team… So this is how we’re going to do this…”

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My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

#fallen hero: rebirth #@Kruk-art #awan cormac #Chargestep #Fanfiction #pre HB #fallen hero spoilers

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ladynightmare12 · 5 years

Text

First Day

Summary: It's Virgil's first day of Kindergarten and he doesn't want to go. And he doesn't know what he's supossed to do there. Thankfully, neither do his new friends.

Hi! This is one of my gifts for @silverrhayn :D I hope you like it! Warnings: a few curses because I swear like a sailor Also, please keep in mind that english is not my mother language. So there's gonna be mistakes, but feel free to mention them Note: IDK anything about children or kindergarten. And the kids are five years old

@secretsanders

“I don’t want to go, Mom”

His mother sighed, a playful smile appearing in her lips as she lightly poked the lump below the covers that was her son. Her son that was going to be late to his first day of Kindergarten if he didn’t get ready in that precise moment.

“Why not, Virgil?”

“It’s scary”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah”

Chuckling, she sat down next to her child and kept poking him with both hands “Care to explain, you little ruffian?”

“I don’t know!” he squeaked, trying to wriggle his way out of his mother’s hands.

“You don’t know why you’re scared?”

“No! I mean that I don’t know!” frustrated by his mother’s questions and endless poking, he rolled out of bed and sat at the floor, pouting and glaring at his mom “I don’t know anyone, I don’t know what we’ll do, I know nothing!”

“That’s normal Virgil. It’s hard, yes, but it’ll happen a lot of times in your life” at her words, Virgil’s eyes widened and he quickly crawled to get under his bed “Virgil, no! You’ll get stuck!” she grabbed him by the waist and pulled him out, but he squirmed in her hold.

“I’ll live forever under the bed; it’ll be no problem!”

“Virgil, no! I-” she paused, an idea surging in her head “Virgil… what would Mulan do?”

Virgil stopped squirming “Save China?”

She laughed, shifting Virgil until they were face to face “Well, yes, because that was what she had to do. And yes, it was scary, but that didn’t stop her, did it?”

“No…” he mumbled, eyes looking down and hands playing with his sleeves. His mom took his hands into hers, and he relaxed almost instantly –mom’s hands were so warm- and turned to look at her.

“I know you are scared, Virgil, but I promise you’ll have a good time. You can even make it a mission! And it can have little missions within, like making friends or learning something new. How does it sound?”

Virgil put on his best thoughtful face “Mulan had a dragon…”

She deadpanned “You can take my familiar”

Gasping, Virgil nodded and rushed to get ready.

Half an hour later, they both kissed Ma goodbye and got into the car, the two of them carrying important items they would need through their day: in Susan Sanders’ case it was her bag, her briefcase, a tupper full of delicious food made by her loving wife, and a big thermos; while in Virgil Sanders’ case it was a Spiderman themed backpack, a lunch box with Ma’s food (and two more cookies than what they normally let him eat) and his Mom’s familiar (that was, in fact, a stuffed dragon Susan had since she was six but shhh).

All too soon, Mom was wishing him luck and kissing his forehead before leaving to get to work, her instruction of ‘getting inside the classroom with the green door when he was ready’ being told once more.

He stared at the green door, not knowing if he really was ready. Nor knowing what he was supposed to do besides get in.

“Hey, do you know why we’re here?” said a voice to his left. Flinching, he turned to look at them and found a boy his age with unruly caramel hair, eyes with two different colors and a Bugs Bunny themed backpack.

“Huh… I’m not sure” he admitted. Ma had said something like ‘early education’ and ‘preparing for school’ but he didn’t understand. Like, at all.

“You were told to get inside, too?” he asked, his hands tightening their hold on the backpack straps.

“Yeah”

“Hum”

A pause.

“Hey, I like your backpack”

“Thanks” the other kid smiled and, for some reason, showed him his middle finger.

“Why are you doing that?” he frowned with confusion. What did that mean? Ma had always told him that it was rude to use the middle finger to point at something, but she never told him why.

“I don’t know” he shrugged “My brother Remy does it all the time around his friends, so I guess it’s some kind of salute”

Virgil nodded. Yeah, it seemed like it.

“Kids, please get inside, the class will begin in a minute” a young man with a big smile approached them, and with a soft movement of his hand he signaled to the door.

The kids quickly obeyed, but not without the kid with mismatched eyes saying ‘you have a thicc butt’ at the man.

“That’s another thing my brother says” he told Virgil proudly “That way he will know I know grown up things”

Virgil thought it was really clever.

“Alright kids, all of you please sit in the floor of the classroom for a quick introduction and we’ll go to the tables later, okay?” the children followed his instruction (some of them a little reluctantly but hey, he couldn’t blame them) and sat in a formless mass at the floor.

Well, except one child.

The child that hadn’t stopped crying since their mom left.

“Hey kiddo, could you please come and join us?” the teacher (or at least Virgil thought he was a teacher) asked with a soft voice, walking towards the wailing boy.

“No!” he screamed, and Virgil and a few other kids covered their ears at the loudness of his voice “I want my mom! She is sick and she needs me!”

“Your mom allergies were flaring up, that was all”

“I’ll give you a dollar if you let me go!” he pleaded, waving the dollar like mad.

It took almost five minutes to calm down the boy, and two more to clean his face with wet wipes and comb his hair ‘back to the royal look’ (the kid’s words) it had. Thomas sighed and walked back to the front of the classroom, spending another three minutes in recovering everyone’s attention.

“Okay, kids, let’s begin” he put on his best smile and hoped the bags under his eyes didn’t ruin the cheerful image he wanted to give “I’m Thomas Sanders and I will be your teacher for the school year” he ignored the scream of a girl saying ‘a year?’ and kept going “The recess is at 10:00 am, and it lasts 30 minutes. You will use that time to eat, play and or go to the bathroom. Okay? You can ask me to go to the bathroom anytime, but please don’t do it if you don’t need to go. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Now, please grab a seat at whatever table you want, and chat a little with your companions as I prepare an activity”

Watching everyone run and almost trip over each other trying to get a seat, Virgil stayed still in his place, fear in his eyes at the aggressiveness and energy of the other kids. He wanted nothing more than to leave the classroom, but he knew that wasn’t what Mulan would do.

Hugging his mother’s familiar, he gathered all the courage he had left and tried to decide where he would sit. There wasn’t any empty table, so sitting alone wouldn’t be an option. But all the children were already talking, and he didn’t want to intrude. That was rude. Though… there was a table where the kids weren’t talking yet. At the table were two boys that looked pretty similar (what did Mom called them? Twins?), they had the same carrot-like hair, same gray eyes, and even same glasses. The only difference he noticed were their clothes, while one wore gray overalls and a baby blue t-shirt, the other wore gray shorts and a Star Wars t-shirt.

But why weren’t they talking?

Well, it didn’t matter. They looked friendly.

“Uhh… hi” he said, waving his hand at them “Can I sit here?”

“Of course! Hi!” said the kid with the overalls while he bounced in his seat.

“Aha! You lost!” his brother said, pointing a finger at him with a triumphant smile “You didn’t even last three minutes”

“Oh, well. Add another tally mark, then” he shrugged, before turning to look at Virgil where he was seated two chairs away “Hi! I’m Patton!”

“Hi…” he said, looking at the other twin as he drew a tally mark on the left side of a notebook page, where the right side was totally empty as opposed to the left side “Uhh… what are you counting there?”

“Our ‘the first to speak loses’ games. These are the times I’ve won” he proudly pointed to the left side of the page “These are the zero times Patton has won” he pointed to the other side and smiled fondly at his brother “But you are doing good, Pat”

“Thank you, Lo!” laughed Patton as he practically threw himself at his twin “This is my brother, Logan!” he told Virgil “We’re the Picani brothers!”

Just as he was about to say something, another voice beat him to it.

“Nice to meet you”

While Patton screamed and Virgil shrieked, Logan just looked at the newcomer with confusion.

“When did you get here?”

“I don’t know. Who cares”

“Who are you?” asked Logan, even more confused. How could him not know? What a weird kid.

“Declan. Declan Classy Smith” he said, and now that Virgil had calmed down he recognized him as the kid with the Bugs Bunny backpack.

“Did your parents really name you Classy?” said Patton with curiosity. What a cool name!

“Yes. It is right there in my birth certificate”

“I don’t believe you” frowned Logan. It didn’t make sense to name a kid like that.

“Seriously, you can look it up for proof” he said, with the same tone his brother would say ‘I shit you not’.

A cough interrupted whatever argument they were going to have. “Can I sit here?” asked the boy that minutes ago was crying for their mom.

“I vote in favor” nodded Patton as he raised his hand. The others (except his twin) looked at him in confusion “Democracy” he said, as if that explained everything. Though, apparently for the kids it did, because they all raised their hand and nodded “All in favor?” they nodded again “Well, then, welcome to the table! I’m Patton, he’s Logan” he pointed with his thumb “he’s Declan and he’s… uh… I dunno”

“I’m Virgil” he said, looking at the new kid sit in front of him at the round table “And you are?”

“Roman García” the kid mumbled, his eyes downcast and his hands playing with the Ninja Turtles bracelet he was wearing. It reminded Virgil of himself that same morning, so of course he had the perfect solution for that.

“Roman” with the most serious voice he had, he extended his hand on the table as close to Roman as he could “Just ask yourself… what would Mulan do?”

Roman gasped. It was true.

With renewed spirits, Roman smiled and kept chatting with the boys, all of them making theories about what they were supposed to do there.

“Maybe we’ll learn to do taxes” suggested Logan.

“I hope not. Dad almost threw the computer through the window the last time he did them” frowned Roman, the thought of having to do something that put Dad like that made him want to run to Mom’s work and never come back.

“Our Dad cried” the twins said at the same time.

Before the kids even tried to formulate a plan the get the heckity heck out of there, the teacher walked back to the front of the classroom and gave them the instructions to begin the activity. Then, he went table after table proving them with paper and little bowls full of crayons for them to draw their family as he instructed.

“Remember kids, you have total freedom over your drawing, and you can talk with your companions about your family while you do it!”

“And what if we have the same family?” asked Logan “Should we do it together?”

“Well… no” Thomas tensed, worried about how the twins would react to his answer. Thankfully, they just nodded and began to work. Oh thank God. He didn’t know what he would have do if they cried or threw a tantrum.

He would’ve probably just let them do it together.

“My mom is the most beautiful woman in the world” said Roman as he drew (or attempted to) sparkles around the stick figure that was his mother.

“That’s not true” Virgil paused his drawing to look at him “Ma is. Mom said so and she never lies”

“All women are queens” hissed Declan, unaware of where that phrase came from and just wanting to stop the fight so he could reach for another crayon from the bowl. It worked, but they still looked at each other as if waiting for one comment to fight again.

“Hey Lo, what color looks more like Dad’s hair?” holding two crayons with different shades of pink to his twin, Patton sheepishly looked at him “I can’t decide”

“This one” Logan showed him the crayon he was using “Here, you can have it. I don’t need it anymore” he gave him the crayon and looked for another one in the bowl that looked like Papa’s hair.

“Your dad has pink hair?” Virgil gasped incredulously “No way!”

“Yep” smiled Patton, before turning to help Logan decide on a color.

“My brother Kai has blue hair” said Roman “Dad doesn’t like it though. I don’t understand”

“That’s dumb. It’s just hair” frowned Virgil. He didn’t understand either.

“Adults are weird” affirmed Declan, not looking up from his paper. He needed concentration to draw his brother’s glasses.

“That’s true” mumbled Logan. Finally spotting the perfect crayon, he grabbed it and began to color Papa´s hair, happy and proud to look how similar the drawing was to his family.

After a while of drawing, Declan put down his crayon and tapped twice with it to get everyone’s attention.

“Hey guys, how about we create a special salute for our group?”

Looking around the classroom, pleased to see everybody working and having a good time, Thomas sighed in relief. His first day as a Kindergarten teacher was going great!

Or at least it was, until he noticed a table with five boys flipping double-birds.

“kids NO!”

And that's it! Hope you like it! Honestly, I almost had to slap myself because I saw the opportunity to make it angsty but no! Not here. Yet, at least. A few parts of this were inspired by my own first day of kindergarten, like watching a boy cry and meeting a kid with a Bugs Bunny backpack. And of course, the not knowing why was I there. Happy Holidays, everyone!

#roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #sanders sides fic #platonic dlamp

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cometsweepandleonidsfly · 5 years

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“[If] you made room in your narrative heart for the fact that Dany’s turn toward the darkness had been brewing for many seasons, the first third of the episode was gorgeously put together, and a haunting reminder of George R.R. Martin’s long-standing commitment to demonstrating that the glory of war is a lie our governments feed us. (Remember: He was a conscientious objector during Vietnam.)

...

Then suddenly … in walks democracy! HAHA NO WAY, SIT DOWN SAM. This second annual Dragon Pit meeting — ostensibly a trial for Tyrion, a trial in absentia for Jon, and the most ragtag, high-drama co-op-board meeting you’ve ever attended — is a narrative … well, I believe the right word is clusterfuck. Logic entirely breaks down in what appears to be Benioff and Weiss’s last-ditch effort to pull all the A-listers into a heist scene where the only thing they steal is reason itself.

...

In this disastrously plotted fancy folks’ convention, Game of Thrones topples all of its carefully crafted credibility as a drama that understands the insidiousness and long-con nature of politics, by bringing together a group of people with wildly at-odds desires and weaknesses and then, after a nice little speech celebrating the glories of ye olde stories, has them unanimously elect a demigod with severe interpersonal-skill deficits and literally not a goddamn thing to offer as a ruler.

Bran? Really? Him? It’s a galling moment for women everywhere as Tyrion launches into a speech about how story is the most important thing (okay?) and how nobody has lived a more intriguing story than … [Camera pans over Arya and Sansa, arguably the two most fascinating characters in the whole show, and slides right to Bran, who has been high for the past two years.] As a Tyrion worshipper, I pooh-poohed people’s claims that he’d slid into foolishness, making bad decision after bad decision. But alas, it’s true. The “cleverest man in Westeros” nominated a glorified tree root to be king at a moment when public trust in the monarchy must be at all-time low (and stuck him with a cruel moniker to boot).

Some of the trouble here is with the way directors allowed Isaac Hempstead Wright to play Bran for the past few seasons. The Three-Eyed Raven whom Bran first meets beyond the Wall was mystical, yes, but warm and inviting. But when Bran took up the mantle he lost every shred of humanity, constantly fixing his gaze just beyond everyone’s heads like he was too high to focus. These qualities, apparently, were meant to endear him to us as a candidate for the position — someone who would never abuse his power because, as he said earlier this season, “I don’t really want it anymore.” Instead, his lifelessness drives home the message that being a walking textbook of Westerosi facts is a more important quality in a king or queen than, say, a keen desire to do the job well, or perhaps some small amount of leadership experience.

...

And so we end up where we started, essentially, with Jon kissing his loved ones goodbye and ending up at the edge of the world. With a doubtfully capable Small Council bickering over the affairs of the common people. With a Westerosi man presiding over Westeros. Has there been any change? Is the wheel broken simply because a group of lords and ladies voted in a member of one rich house over another?

In the end, Cersei Lannister was wrong. Her binary wasn’t accurate: You don’t win or die in the game of thrones. Yes, many people died, but nobody won a damn thing, and thankfully it’s a whole hell of a lot messier than good guys and bad guys. Some characters float off into the ether with no clear future in sight. Others, like Jon and Tyrion, end up hacked into emotional bits. Some land with crowns on their heads, but only after sacrificing every ounce of their humanity.

The drive to tie up all the ends, to kill or marry off or firmly ensconce the characters we’ve watched cross the continent and love and screw and bleed — is powerful. No matter how much we inured ourselves to the Game of Thrones method of chopping off heads at a moment’s notice or poisoning a king at his wedding feast, we still wanted to believe that there would be victors at the end and we would cheer them on. But in this last season there was too little surprise, too many high-dollar digital theatrics, and less drive to really drill down into the essence of what made Westeros a place where so many people wanted to spend their Sunday nights.”

#game of thrones #spoilers #such rotten storytelling

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