#i got the one. the *one* in fe named sophia.

[gascon-en-exil]

Dark Deity Pre-Release Character Opinions

This isn't actually a tier list, but someone helpfully created a template for this game and it's as good a way as any to do a little visual showcase for this cast. Characters are listed by their class sets, which are fixed but offer a nice variety in terms of promotion options. My opinions on each are as follows, from left to right in each row. Most characters have introductory profiles written up on the DD subreddit, if you'd like to check them out yourself.

Warriors

Alexa

You know those buff female blacksmiths in Echoes and Three Houses that some people wish were playable characters? That's pretty much Alexa. Can't say I'm too hyped about her myself, but warrior + tomboyish female character will do that for me...or not do it, I suppose.

Benji

Seems to have been written to become a meme, and I still can't decide whether that's clever or stupid. Kind of like Raphael only with a bigger emphasis on training than on eating, and with brotherly devotion replaced with brotherly angst that might theoretically go somewhere if the character isn't reduced to being a goofy joke all the time.

Fenton

Doesn't have a character profile, so as far as I know he's just a generic dwarf because DD swaps out its inspiration's loli dragons and other vaguely fetishistic shapeshifters for the two most cliché non-human races in Western fantasy. I wonder whether his VA will voice him with a Scottish accent, to go all in on the (ironic?) laziness. There are a handful of elves in the playable cast, but Fenton is the only dwarf so for better or worse he's representing.

Helena

She's the embodiment of the FE exotic swordswoman archetype, but curiously DD seems to have turned that broad ethnic brush inward. Helena's last name is apparently a Japanese verb, her art shows her with a spear (as in the association of the naginata with women), and she studied and trained in a monastery that seems to blend elements of Buddhism and Shintoism. Not sure how all that fits into the larger setting yet, but at this point she's still got more background development than Petra.

Irving

Our Hero, the one front and center on the cover art. He sounds a bit on the blander side as far as lords or lord equivalents go, with his most promising hook for me being his established friendship with Garrick (see the ranger section). At best I can hope for a bit of a romantic friendship dynamic, although they sound a bit rougher overall as they're military academy schoolmates I wonder why DD went with that instead of lordlings of different territories.

Rogues

Brooke

Looks like Camilla; has a backstory like Niles. Cleavage aside though the sexual element of both is toned down here, and there might be some sapphic bodyguard shenanigans to be had as her current employers are a pair of highborn sisters further down this list.

Cia

For some reason she reminds me of Tressa from Octopath Traveler, only bustier and a bartender rather than a merchant. She's still just a small town girl with big city dreams, and this being a tactical war game following those dreams will inevitably involve stabbing people.

Corvan

Hard to judge him at the moment, as his profile was only the second written and so isn't terribly detailed. He's a moon elf with scholarly interests, apparently. Still, as of right now he's the only rogue who doesn't slot loosely into either a ninja/assassin or pirate aesthetic, so that's kind of neat. Also, he's one of several characters to have FEH-esque beach fanart made of them already, so clearly someone's into elf twinks.

Ford

A former officer at the military academy Irving attends and a smuggler who dotes on his niece, Ford has major dad energy. Per developer reveals he's also bi, and as I mentioned before I'm totally fine with that. More bear sex, please - but what guy in this cast would hop in the sack with Ford? Only time will tell. His personal skill makes him extra dodgy, which combined with the mug of booze in his art makes me think of WoW brewmasters who dodge-tank through the power of being wasted.

Wren

Like Brooke, he's an assassin from a foreign nation - in his case the same one as Helena so presumably he's a not!Japanese ninja. I'm not really feeling him at the moment. What is it about Hao'Fen (the city/territory he and Helena come from) and massive families? That comes up in both their backstories.

Rangers

Caius

I feel like this is the third or fourth character to grow up in some slum or other; at least they've all been in different towns so far. The relative rarity of noble characters is certainly different from FE, but it reduces the political stakes which leaves me wondering a bit about the story. Anyway, Caius is a small town desert hunter who learned how to make arrows out of animal bones. How aerodynamic is bone, I wonder?

Garrick

Irving's BFF and seemingly the Hector to Irving's Eliwood, only with more flirting (his intro doesn't specify that Garrick is flirting with women, but I'm not going so far as to say that indicates anything). He's the academy headmaster's son, with a strained relationship with his father for some of that hotheaded lead tension. Notably, his VA is the one I'm most familiar with in this cast, as he's the voice of Revali from Breath of the Wild as well as love interests in two different erotic gay dating sims I've played. In other words, I know what this guy sounds like making awkwardly simulated sex noises...and I have no idea what to do with that information.

Maeve

She's a half-elf with a very storied background, so much so that it's all rather hard to follow her exploits when little of what's being described has been fully revealed yet. I'm expecting her to be a mid/lategame recruit, unless she's dropped in early on to reveal that (sun) elves exist or something.

Rose

Imagine if Bernadetta were a commoner, although we can only hope they'll be less screaming. Alternatively, Neimi without an obvious boyfriend. She won the beach contest so now she has official swimsuit art, which I guess makes her a top-tier waifu in the eyes of players who care about such things.

Sophia

A ranger in the "has animal companions" sense, although whether that will come into play mechanically aside from her personal skill - Butter the ferret can attack with her! - remains to be seen. Her preference for the company of animals is explained by a lack of social graces, so prepare for klutz-related humor. Of note to those interested in F/F is that her introduction specifically brings up her connection with Sloane (see the mage section) and how close the two of them are.

Clerics

Faust

Doesn't have a profile yet, so not much to go off other than his decidedly unhinged look. The cleric class set does feature some darker-flavored options, so presumably he's more naturally aligned with those. His VA was announced to be the YouTuber behind So This is Basically Fire Emblem and other similar videos, so I'm picturing a kooky and somewhat demented Henry type.

Lincoln

Also lacks a profile at time of writing...clerics get so little love. The Discord has identified him a bland blond paladin sort, but as we know from the likes of Perceval and especially Dimitri that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be boring (or not gay).

Maren

The soft-spoken healer type, and also a childhood friend of Garrick although her intro sibling-zones him but then this game is inspired by FE so who knows if that'll stick. She may have some interesting thoughts on the theology of the setting, as there seem to be several faiths and she's said to have a complicated relationship with her own. I will be utterly shocked if she's not either Irving or Garrick's eventual love interest.

Samara

One of two princesses of the country of Aramor, which appears to be loosely inspired by the Middle East. Heaven help us if the Khalidstans ever get wind of this game. Unfortunately aside from her bond with her older sister (in the mage section) and the knowledge that Brooke has been hired as their bodyguard there's not much to Samara at the moment. Hopefully the clerics all do some comparative theology in their bond conversations, and this isn't like Sacred Stones where none of the clergy characters from different countries ever compare notes. The succession crisis involving Samara and her sister vs. their less-loved cousin the king's son might be a major plot hook? It's still too early to tell.

Vesta

Much like Maeve her backstory has entirely too much going on to really follow at the moment. Basically she's a human who grew up in a sun elf city because Reasons (seriously, I don't know what they are) and was called to a clerical vocation and also something about taking a journey. Has an unfortunate case of silly boob armor, which unlike a certain other character probably won't be rectified this close to release.

Mages

Alden

Maren's precocious younger brother, also basically Ricken up to and including the comically oversized hat. As a unit he follows the tradition of Donnel, Mozu, and Cyril of having a personal skill that buffs his stat gains, so it's safe to say he's a growth unit. At least he'll probably join early.

Liberty

Comes with dead brother angst and a connection to the "aspects" system that will hopefully make more sense once I've played the game and know how it functions both mechanically and from a storytelling perspective. Otherwise she looks to be a busty older - as in, not a teenage - mage in the vein of Calill.

Monroe

Got the first ever character profile, so it's really short. He's the son of a duke and sounds like a bit of a snob, albeit one that can make explosions happen to back up his haughtiness. He's got some scarring around his eye that surely must come with a story. Someone also made featured fanart of him in Heroes summer banner style, so I guess he's got somebody horny already.

Sara

Samara's half-sister, with comparable fantasy Middle Eastern flavoring. Has an interest in discovering magical artifacts and being a just ruler in the event she winds up on the throne (so, almost definitely), and she and Samara travel around with the assassin Brooke as their bodyguard. There's maybe some lesbian possibilities there? Either way, Sara has enough development where I could see her as a major supporting character.

Sloane

Comes with a genuinely fascinating backstory involving manipulative double-crossing parents, an education in the cruelties and deceptions of social life (reflected in her personal skill), and disinheritance - and yet it's all likely to be overshadowed because she may go down as DD's equivalent to Fates's face-touching. Her initial art is even more revealing than Camilla's, and while the developers later gave her a more modest redesign after negative feedback I get the feeling that this controversy may live on. Her introduction mentions her hunting for both heirs and heiresses and she's now been linked to Sophia, so safe to say she's another confirmed bi character.

Adepts

While the other class sets are standard fantasy fare adepts require a bit more explanation. They have innate magical abilities and appear to be feared and distrusted most places in the setting. Functionally they remind me of adepts from the Golden Sun series, if anyone is familiar with those games. The classes in the adept group tend more toward physical/magical hybridization than those of other sets, so that will probably be their mechanical niche. Oh, and their default weapon type is lances, which is a plus in my book.

Aurima

Along with Caius and the royal sisters, he's another one from the desert nation of Aramor. An arena fighter who got touched by a god in what I assume was a non-sexual way and came out of it with a new appearance and adept powers. Also, he's confirmed to be over 40 - how often do you see that in games like this?

Bianca

Looks like a more carefree Mathilda from Echoes. She's a ranking officer in the Delian army which sounds like it'd sit uneasily with her adept powers. Her profile describes Lincoln as her close friend, which is still about the most we know about him at this point.

Elias

This guy's writing plays more into the fairly standard coding that comes with adept powers, as we know they manifested shortly before he was going to confess his feelings to a male paramour and afterwards he was forced to flee his homeland and wander the world. He also spent time among dwarves, so insert short bear jokes here? In the present he's attached to Cia in what seems to be a platonic way; maybe she's a fruit fly, or maybe she just likes having a friend who can light drunken assholes on fire? Elias is definitely into guys, but I would still be a little surprised if he turned out to be totally gay as that's such a rarity in these sorts of things.

Iris

Oof, another lengthy and rough backstory. Iris had better parents than Sloane, but she also had to deal with permanent facial scarring (hence the mask) after a bandit kidnapping and the stigma of manifesting as an adept pretty much eliminating the prospects of her making a good political marriage. Also, she and Elias both come from Neullais, which is prominently featured on the continental map on the DD subreddit but doesn't seem to come up all too often in backstories. I think it's a not!France? Hard to tell.

Thae'lanel

A World of Warcraft blood elf, flowing anime hair and apostrophe'd name and all. I like WoW so that's not terribly grating, but as he has no profile yet there's little else I can say. Thae'lanel is mentioned in Maeve's introduction as a member of a sun elf group called the Exiled, which I'm guessing is tied to his adept status in some way. He and Maeve form yet another adventurer/bodyguard duo.

#Dark Deity #Fire Emblem #Well it's sort of FE

[violetwolfraven]

Fix You

((Part 2 of Already Home! It’s written to Fix You by Coldplay! Btw it won’t really make sense unless you read Already Home first, so it might be in your best interest to read that before starting this. Enjoy, y’all!))

Tw: non-graphic injuries, the word wh*re, mentioned anti-semitism, implied period-typical homophobia, implied racism—mostly all by one guy but don’t worry they beat him up

...

“Jack?”

“What?”

Sophia looked worried, and Jack sighed, realizing she’d probably said his name multiple times already.

That happened sometimes. He spaced out and lost himself, thinking of home.

Of Crutchie, of Race, of Romeo and Elmer and Specs and Smalls and all the other newsies. Of Katherine and Sarah, Medda and Denton and Kloppman. Even of Spot and the other leaders of other boroughs, for Christ’s sake.

But especially of Davey. Mostly of Davey.

All he’d wanted was to come to Santa Fe to say goodbye to his grandfather. Instead, he’d gotten stuck here for months.

When you try your best but you don’t succeed

It was funny, wasn’t it? How he’d spent his entire childhood dreaming of Santa Fe—being obsessed with it, really, and now wanted nothing more than to get the hell out.

That was what he got for not listening to Davey. For holding on when he shouldn’t have.

Sophia was the one good thing that had come out of this. If Jack hadn’t come out west, he would never have found out he even had an aunt.

And he loved her dearly. She was the kind of good aunt that was okay with her nephew loving another boy and supportive of him wanting to leave her to go back to the city her sister had died in.

But she wasn’t home.

When you get what you want but not what you need

“Dinner’s ready,” she said, “I made your favorite.”

Jack smiled, standing up from where he was sitting on the porch, “Thanks, Aunt Sophia.”

“Well, we have to do something special for tonight, don’t we?” she asked as they went inside, “It’s your last night here.”

Jack nodded. He hoped his smile didn’t look as fake as it felt.

He’d been in Santa Fe for a year.

When you feel so tired, but you can’t sleep

It really all felt like a dream, bittersweet and terrible, heartbreaking and lovely. It felt like coming home, to where his roots were, and simultaneously letting his highest branches, the parts that really saw the sun, die.

There was no shortage of sun or moon in Santa Fe. They just weren’t the ones Jack wanted to see.

He wanted to wake up on the rooftop of the Lodging House, where there were fewer stars, a colder sun, and a fainter moon.

After all, if he was on the roof in New York, it would mean that the brightest stars were all downstairs from him, safe in their beds in the forms of a unique, strange family of boys and girls. It would mean the sun was sleeping across from him, his smile below the horizon for the night. It would mean that the moon was either just across the borough, shining over his own brother and sister, or curled up safe in Jack’s arms, his light burning away even the worst of his nightmares.

He hoped they were all still there when he got home.

“I’m going to miss you, Jack,” Sophia admitted.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

It wasn’t a lie. But Jack’s place was in Manhattan and Sophia’s was in Santa Fe. He didn’t know if he would ever see her again after tomorrow, but he had to believe that she would be alright here by herself.

“Tell that boy of yours ‘hello’ for me,” she said with a smile, “And your mama’s friend, Medda, tell her ‘thank you.’ For being there for Anita when I couldn’t be.”

“I will,” Jack promised.

Stuck in reverse

He would miss his Aunt Sophia, but knowing that he would be going home tomorrow morning, Jack was happy. He felt like he was finally waking up.

He guessed it wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t sleep that night.

Jack was excited to be going home, yes. He was going to miss Sophia, so that was bittersweet. But what he was really worried about was...

What he was really worried about was if his home was going to be there when he got back.

Jack choked on a sob, trying to keep quiet as his thoughts ran rampant.

When the tears come streaming down your face

What if somebody had died over the winter? They’d lost kids to sickness or starvation or cold before. Hell, they’d lost Jack’s mentor—the previous leader of Manhattan—that way.

Jack remembered that terrible day, sobbing so hard that he could barely hear Waffles’s goodbye. He was 14. They’d lost more than a few kids that year, and a good half of them had been under Jack’s watch. Since then, he’d lost a few more across two more winters, and it never got easier.

The only thing worse than watching someone he loved die would be them dying, and Jack not even knowing. Jack not being there for them.

When you lose something you can’t replace

He’d lost a year in Santa Fe. Besides just the fact that he had no idea what terrible things might have happened while he was gone, he had to have missed a lot of little things.

He wondered how much Smalls, Romeo, and the other younger ones had grown. He wondered if Puddles, the latest Little when he left, had started losing baby teeth yet. He wondered if Kath and Sarah had finally sucked it the hell up and admitted their feelings.

Oh, God, and Specs was only a little younger than Jack was. They were the oldests, and they were getting a bit old to be newsies. What if one of Jack’s oldest friends had moved on and he wasn’t there to see it?

Most of all, he was terrified to know, but he wondered if Davey was still waiting for him.

A year was a long time. He wouldn’t blame him for moving on if he had. After a year of nothing, what if Davey had assumed he was dead or never coming home and found someone else?

He’d come to Santa Fe out of love for his mother, because it was something she’d never gotten to do.

And he might have lost everyone he loved because of it.

When you love someone but it goes to waste

He hoped they’d held up alright without him. He just knew Davey would be too dumb to stay away if sickness came through. He would be right in the thick of it.

Sickness could kill you whether you had parents or not.

God, Jack was going to have a panic attack, just thinking about the possibilities of what might be happening without him.

Could it be worse?

He really hoped they were all okay.

...

Lights will guide you home

Jack hugged Sophia on the train platform, the feeling bittersweet but happy.

“I love you, Auntie.”

“I love you, too, Jack,” she responded, “Remember...”

“I’ll tell my friends you said hello,” he agreed, “Davey, too.”

“And Medda,” she reminded him.

“Yeah.”

“Tell her hello and thank you for me.”

The train whistle blew. Jack startled, knowing he had to go now.

“Go,” Sophia said quickly, “I love you. Go home to your family, Jack.”

Jack hugged her one last time, kissing his aunt on the cheek real quick, “Love you, too.”

With that, he ran off, lightning thrumming through his veins.

He was excited and terrified as he boarded that train, but the important thing was that he was going home.

And ignite your bones

The entire train ride was spent trying not to panic.

With nothing to do but think, Jack could just try to redirect his fears to more positive thoughts.

And I will try

Albert hadn’t finally antagonized the wrong person. Even if he had, the others had protected him.

Sniper’s father hadn’t killed her. Maybe she’d finally moved into the Lodging House for good.

Mush and Blink hadn’t gotten caught. They’d probably been warned by Davey and Race and Crutchie to be more careful in public.

Race hadn’t gotten his heart broken by Spot. In fact, Spot had probably saved his ass from at least one fight he couldn’t handle.

Crutchie hadn’t gotten sick too bad this winter. He’d stayed strong, and the others had helped him pull through.

Davey hadn’t moved on.

As much as Jack hated the idea of him hurting, he knew that Davey Jacobs was the last person he was ever going to love, and he was pretty sure that Davey felt the same.

Everyone he loved was still waiting for him in New York.

They probably missed him, but he could pick up the pieces when he got home.

To fix you

Hopefully.

...

And high up above or down below

“So, you’re sure we can’t avoid it?”

Race nodded grimly, “I ain’t one to rumble if we don’t have to, but Midtown’s been pushin’ since Hound aged out. If we don’t let ‘em know we won’t stand for it, they’ll move on our territory.”

Davey sighed. He’d liked Hound. He was a good kid, and now he was a good man. Under him, Manhattan and Midtown had been allies for years, but the new leader, Trumpet, wasn’t like him. And Davey knew that they couldn’t afford to lose territory on his watch.

Being acting leader of Manhattan was exhausting. He’d learned that the hard way over the last... a little over a year, now.

He’d been leading mainly by asking himself what Jack would do. He didn’t always do whatever that was, but now... he didn’t know what to do, here, truthfully.

When you’re too in love to let it go

He still asked himself what Jack would do.

“Dave, I don’t like it either,” Crutchie said from where he was sitting on the other side of the room, “But Trumpet ain’t gonna stop ‘less we make him. And besides, that ain’t even takin’ into account how he’s morally askin’ for it.”

“I get that you don’t like him,” Davey reasoned, “I don’t like him, either, but I’m still looking for a peaceful way to—“

“No, Davey,” Race interrupted, “Ya don’t know what he’s been sayin’. What I’s heard him say ‘bout you.”

“Why? What’s he been sayin’?” Davey asked, immediately on-guard. He didn’t like the idea of that certain newsie knowing certain things about him. And he definitely didn’t like the idea of him possibly knowing things about damn near all the Manhattan kids over the age of 14 by extension.

“Don’t worry,” Race said absentmindedly, “He don’t know nothin’ ‘bout queer stuff. But it’s damn near as bad. He deserves to get soaked on what he said ‘bout Kath alone, and—“

“Race, slow down,” Davey said, getting in front of him to stop his pacing, “What’s he been sayin’? Start with Kath.”

“He-he said...” Race growled under his breath, looking at the ground.

It must be bad if Race couldn’t say it.

Crutchie sighed, “He called Kath a whore.”

Davey felt anger flash through him, red hot, “Oh.”

“He used a lot of unsavory names,” Race growled, “Comments I ain’t gonna repeat ‘bout Mush and Specs for bein’ black, Sniper and Romeo for bein’ Asian, Crutchie for needin’ the crutch—he’s gotta go down.”

“He said things ‘bout me being Jewish, didn’t he?” Davey asked slowly.

Crutchie nodded, “About Sarah and Les, too, but mostly ‘bout you.”

Davey didn’t like the idea of a full-fledged rumble, but the way he was feeling right now, he wanted to pound Trumpet into the ground.

But if you never try, you never know

“I’d rumble just for what he said about Kath,” he said truthfully, “Go meet with Midtown’s second—pick a time and place.”

Race grinned and ran out the door.

Crutchie sighed, “He didn’t say it, but Trumpet said things ‘bout him, too, for bein’ Italian. He made a few comments ‘bout the others, but most of it was ‘bout you, me, and him.”

“Cause we’s the leaders,” Davey muttered.

He wondered if Jack had had to deal with this shit.

He probably had, though his Mexican heritage wasn’t immediately obvious in his face.

Davey knew he wasn’t as much of a fighter as his lover was. He didn’t know if he could lead Manhattan to win this rumble, but he had to try.

Just what you’re worth

“Come on,” he told Crutchie, “We need to get the others ready.”

They hadn’t talked about Jack in months, but he knew they were both thinking about him as they went to get Manhattan’s kids ready for battle.

...

Lights will guide you home

Davey stared across the road, the fading daylight of sunset over the two groups of newsies.

He didn’t know if he could be as strong as Jack would be, but he knew he would fight as hard as he damn could to defend the other Manhattan kids.

His kids. His and Jack’s, even if Jack wasn’t here right now.

He was realizing now, standing in front of them, preparing to defend their territory, that they were his family, as much as Sarah and Les and his parents were.

He was sure as hell going to fight for his family.

“If Manhattan wins, stay the hell off our turf!” he called to Trumpet, “If Midtown wins, you can have some of the territory you want!”

Trumpet laughed, “Yeah, whatever!”

Then he yelled something that made Davey see red, and before he knew it, he was feeling his knuckles bruise as his fist connected with Trumpet’s stupid nose.

And ignite your bones

He heard a crack, and the kid was on the ground, but Davey didn’t have time to feel good about that because he was already fending off another, taking a punch in the jaw as he fought.

He hadn’t felt so alive since the strike, the adrenaline of the battle toxic and exhilarating.

He wished he could enjoy it more.

But he kept looking for hazel eyes and a sarcastic smile, checking where one person was in all this, hoping to see that he was alright.

That one person wasn’t, because he wasn’t there.

And I will try

Davey forced himself to think of something else, to focus just on fighting instead.

He had to take care of Manhattan. His chosen family, and he couldn’t do that if he wasn’t in one piece, too.

To fix you

“It’s over,” Davey spat as the rumble ended, Manhattan having kicked Midtown’s ass.

Trumpet, on the ground, looked angry but picked himself up, calling to his kids and limping back towards his borough.

They were still kids, and normally, Davey would feel bad that he’d assisted in soaking them, but tonight, he couldn’t afford to care. He needed to get his own kids home.

“Alright!” he called, spotting one of his seconds and a few others who weren’t hurt too bad, “Specs, I need a headcount! Race, on the way home, I need ya to catalogue everybody’s injuries! Smalls, go run ahead and tell Crutchie to get a lot of first aid equipment ready! Let’s go, Manhattan! We’re going home!”

...

Tears stream

Jack was waiting by the door when the train stopped, practically bouncing around as it slowed down.

He hadn’t slept or ate the whole train ride.

Another passenger by the door smiled at him, “Excited, huh?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jack said immediately, “I’s been away a long time, but New York’ll always be my home.”

The guy looked surprised, and Jack realized that a year in New Mexico had made the slight Spanish accent he’d already been hiding stronger. He spoke like his Aunt Sophia now.

Like his mom.

As comforting as the familiarity of it was, a foreign accent wasn’t really a good thing for a newsie. Jack would have to get back into his thick New York accent, and fast.

He cleared his throat and managed to sound a bit more like his old self, “It’s good to be back.”

The other passenger nodded, still kind of baffled, and Jack jumped off the train before it was even fully stopped.

Down your face

He took a second to just breathe on the platform.

Jack hadn’t fully realized that New York had a smell before, but he was realizing it now, getting reaquainted with it.

He was happy to be home.

It was late enough that no newsies were out selling, and Jack adjusted his bag on his shoulder as he started walking, one step at a time, towards the Lodging House. He had to force himself not to run, because nothing looked more suspicious than a young man sprinting and Jack really didn’t want to waste time dealing with the bulls tonight.

A year was a long time, and Jack knew he could never get that time back, but he had to believe that nothing had changed too much.

When you lose something you cannot replace

Then he was standing in front of the Duane Street Lodging House and suddenly, he couldn’t breathe.

Taking a deep breath as he walked in the door, he was surprised to see one of the few adults he trusted still up at the front desk, writing something in one of his books.

Kloppman dropped his pencil out of shock when he looked up.

“Jack?”

“Hey, Kloppman,” Jack said awkwardly. He was staying quiet, knowing the others were all probably asleep upstairs with only a few possible exceptions.

The old man moved around the desk to wrap him in a tight hug, and Jack realized that he’d been so worried about missing his kids that he’d barely thought to miss Kloppman, but he definitely knew how much he’d missed him, now.

“It’s good to see ya, kid,” he said, pulling back to thump Jack on the shoulder, “Everyone’s missed ya.”

“And they’s okay?” Jack asked, “They all—“

“You worry too much for someone your age,” Kloppman interrupted, grumbling, “They’s fine. They’s all fine. There’s a few new Littles ya ain’t met, but we didn’t lose nobody. Even Specs ain’t found anywhere to move out to yet.”

Jack breathed a sigh of relief, “Good. Winter don’t get cold in Santa Fe and I was pretty worried—“

“Are you cryin, kid?”

Tears stream

Jack shook his head, “No!”

He wasn’t. He was not crying because the fact that it was so good to be home wasn’t enough to make someone as strong as Jack Kelly cry.

“Jack?”

If Jack wasn’t crying before, he definitely was when Crutchie nearly tackled him to the ground with a bone-crushing hug.

Down your face and I...

“You’s...” Crutchie stared at his face as he pulled back, like he couldn’t believe Jack was actually there, “You’s here? Ya came home?”

Jack nodded, smiling through his tears, “I’m home.”

He decided to ignore the fact that tears were soaking into the shoulder of his shirt as Crutchie hugged him again.

Kloppman smiled at Jack over his brother’s shoulder, patted them both on the back, and went back to his work.

“So, how is everyone?” Jack asked, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, “‘Sides how nobody’s dead.”

Tears stream

He couldn’t bring himself to ask directly about Davey. Not in front of Kloppman, at least. And he did want to know how the others were, too.

“We almost lost a few to the flu, but we didn’t,” Crutchie reported, “‘Course, right now, everybody’s a bit banged up ‘cause we had a rumble with Midtown, but—“

“We rumbled with Midtown?” Jack asked, shocked, “But Hound’s an ally!”

“Hound retired. Trumpet became leader and y’know what an ass he is.”

“Right,” Jack said.

Truth be told, he didn’t remember Trumpet. But if he was enough of an ass that he’d provoked a rumble between two long-standing allies, he must be bad.

“Who won?”

“We did,” Crutchie reported, “Davey lead us to victory.”

Down your face

It was like the air had gotten sucked out of the room. Jack couldn’t respond.

“He’s been leadin’ since ya left,” Kloppman said, like it was simple, “I had my doubts ‘bout him, what with how he started the strike, but he really stepped up, that boy of yours.”

Jack’s mind zeroed in on the tail end of that, “What do ya mean by ‘that boy of—“

“I’m old, kid, not blind. If I could figure out Race was seein’ that short kid from Brooklyn, I could figure out you. Long as you’s happy and don’t get caught, it don’t matter to me.”

Jack really should have expected that Kloppman would know.

He was still frozen. He didn’t know what to do.

Crutchie put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “He’s been stayin’ here most nights, takin’ care of everyone. Les stays over some, too, but... well, we planned the rumble tonight, so not tonight.”

“And...” Jack cleared his throat, “And Davey?”

“Ya ain’t gonna run off and leave him again, are ya?” Kloppman asked.

That question stunned Jack to silence, though he wasn’t sure if it was from offense, guilt, or shock.

I promise you

Crutchie sighed, “He took it pretty hard, Jack. He ain’t been the same since we got that letter.”

As much as that information hurt and made it hard to think, Jack knew his answer.

“I’m stayin’ right here in New York,” he said firmly, “I came back ‘cause I missed all of ya so much it hurt, but Davey most of all. I kept workin’ even when it seemed like I’d never make enough because I love him and I am never leavin’ again.”

Crutchie squeezed his shoulder, smiling.

“He’s up in the washroom. If you’s quiet, ya won’t wake anyone.”

I will learn from my mistakes

Jack tried to climb the stairs silently, only sneaking one peek into the bunk room to confirm that, yes, all the others were there.

Tears stream

They were safe. Seeing that for himself meant more than hearing it from Kloppman and Crutchie.

The washroom was empty except for one boy, standing at the sink with his back to the door.

He was washing out old bandages, the slump in his shoulders the only thing that betrayed the exhaustion which no one who didn’t know him as well as Jack did would recognize.

“I told ya, Kloppman, I don’t need help,” he called quietly over his shoulder, without looking back, “I can manage this by myself.”

Down your face and I...

Jack took a deep breath, “Don’t mean ya have to.”

Davey dropped the bandage he was holding, seeming frozen to the spot.

He took a couple seconds before he turned around, his shocked eyes instantly landing on Jack’s.

God, Jack had missed those eyes.

Lights will guide you home

“...Jack.”

“Davey.”

Jack crossed the room, but stopped a few feet short of his lover.

He didn’t know if this was still okay. He had been gone for a year.

“Is this...” Davey took a shaky breath, and Jack realized that he looked like he was going to cry, “Is this real?”

“It’s real,” Jack promised, “I’m home.”

Davey gasped as he reached out to touch Jack’s arm, like he hadn’t expected it to be true.

He looked terrible. He had bruises all over his hands and face, and Jack was sure there would be more under his shirt. And besides that, the dark circles under his eyes said quite clearly that he hadn’t slept in a while.

“Dave,” Jack whispered, reaching up to touch the shiner he must have gotten in that rumble Crutchie mentioned.

“I’m fine, Jack,” Davey said, grabbing his hand and tugging him closer, “You should see the other guy.”

They weren’t quite hugging, but Jack’s chuckle still shook both of them, “I ain’t worried ‘bout the other guy. I’m worried ‘bout you.”

And ignite your bones

He sighed, “I don’t know how you did it, all these years by yourself. I’ve been barely keeping everyone alive for just one.”

“You did,” Jack reminded him, wiping a tear off the other boy’s face, “You did. You kept my family alive, Davey. Thank you.”

Davey rolled his eyes, “Our family, Jackie.”

“Our family.”

Jack didn’t really know what there was left to say. What could possibly convey how much it had hurt to be away, how much of a relief it was to be here along the skyline of New York again, the stars safely in the next room and the sun downstairs.

And the moon right there in his arms.

“I missed you,” Jack whispered, “I’m never leavin’ ya again.”

Davey studied his face, then sighed deeply as he leaned their foreheads together, “You’d better not.”

Then they were kissing as if the last year hadn’t happened.

Jack knew that it had, and they would have a lot to talk about, preferably in the morning.

But for now, everything was fine. Jack was home.

And I will try... to fix you

#newsies #javid #javey #jack kelly #david davey jacobs #davey jacobs #david jacobs #already home/fix you au #violet’s writing

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation (Gen II) - Chapter 3

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 3 - Larcei, My Love

T/W: Cousin incest and brief rape mention.

“I don't want to fight.”

Iuchar, King Danan's middle son, said to himself over and over again as he prepared for battle.

Iuchar was well-known as a brave axe knight, and wasn't the type to hold back in a fight. However, this time, he found himself feeling hesitant.

He checked that none of his soldiers were near him, then muttered once more, "I don't want to fight."

He repeated those words over and over, trying to ascertain how he really felt...

He had two reasons not to fight. The first was that he was completely against the child hunts his father, Danan, had ordered, and the second was that Larcei was a member of the liberation army.

Danan was every bit like his father, Lombard: cruel, arrogant, greedy, and quick to become infuriated when others didn't agree with him.

When he received the news that Ganeishire Castle had fallen to the rebel army led by Seliph, Danan summoned all of the commanding officers serving as castle lords to Rivough Castle and ranted at them, as he always did.

"Ganeishire was taken by a ragtag rebel army of peasants!? What is the meaning of this!? You should all be ashamed of yourselves! Even you, Iuchar! Your castle is the closest one to Ganeishire! Why didn't you try to send reinforcements!?"

'I did, but by that time, the castle had already fallen!' He started to say, but stopped himself. He knew that saying his thoughts aloud would just add fuel to the fire.

"My reputation is ruined! If the empire were to find out about this, what would His Majesty think!? Listen up, Iuchar, Iucharba! I want you two to deploy immediately, and fight with all you've got. Their numbers are small. If you surround them in a field, then it should be an easy win. Don't show them any mercy! Kill them all! Especially those I am about to call out now. They are the instigators of this rebellion. Whoever kills them will receive a bounty. You must come back with their heads!"

After starting with the traitor Sigurd's son, Seliph, he called out seven more names: Shanan, Oifey, Diarmuid, Lester, Ulster, and Larcei.

'Larcei!' The moment he heard her name, Iuchar's heart skipped a beat. 'So she's part of the rebel army?'

He'd first met her two years ago at a summer festival that he snuck out to attend. 

A beautiful girl with gorgeous black eyes dancing in a circle with several others caught his attention, so he started talking to her. While her response was blunt, it actually made him fall in love for the very first time. Her masculine way of speaking was very fresh and new to him.

After talking to her for a while, she finally told him her name, and they made plans for their next meeting.

Since then, they'd met up about once every two months. But although they met, it didn't mean that Iuchar realized how he felt about her. They simply went on a picnic when the weather was nice, or to a restaurant in a random village when it was cold, and talked for two or three hours.

Her behavior never once changed. Whenever his words were even a bit sweet, she was relentless in pointing it out. Strangely, he didn't find it unpleasant.

'Whenever Father's words are harsh, he's angry, so why isn't it the same with Larcei?'

Once he thought very carefully about it, he realized the reason why.

His father only ever thought about himself. In contrast, Larcei's thoughts were never about her own personal gain. Her words may have been sharp, but they had no ill will. Rather, there were even times when she spoke like that for his own good.

For example, when he first learned about the child hunts, he simply thought "They're bad!" and left it at that. He didn't feel that they concerned him. However, when talking to Larcei, she explained that such acts would destroy society, and he came to be firmly against them.

As the son of a king and lord of an Isaachian castle, he'd always seen the world through that lens, but thanks to Larcei, he was now able to think from the standpoint of each and every parent and child.

While traveling home to Rivough Castle, he was accompanied for part of the way by his younger brother, Iucharba, lord of Sophia Castle.

"This battle is pretty serious, huh?" Iucharba muttered.

"You think so, too? I have the same feeling."

"Larcei was one of the names amongst the instigators, right? I know her, actually."

His brother's words startled Iuchar, but he didn't know how to respond right away.

"I think I have a crush on her, so please, Big Brother, don't kill her. Spare only her. I’ll beg Father afterwards, and tell him I just want to save her life, whatever it takes.”

Iuchar missed his chance to speak his true feelings, and only responded by silently nodding.

'Maybe Larcei likes Iucharba back. But if she does, then why did she spend time with me?'

The two parted ways, and as Iuchar continued back to Rivough Castle, that was the only thing he could think about.

'If she does like him…' Every time he had that thought, his chest burned with jealousy.

'Then why did she hang out with me?' That thought gave him a bit of hope.

'Or maybe she met with us to change our minds?' That last thought filled him with the sinking feeling that he'd been led on.

'But, if she did lead me on, then what? Do I fight her?'

In the end, he decided that he didn't want to fight her.

-

The members of Iuchar's cavalry unit met up at the place they'd agreed upon and prepared for battle.

As they marched, several of his soldiers broke away from the group to pillage a nearby village, but he didn't have the energy to stop them.

Late into the afternoon, one of the soldiers rushed up to him and reported, "A person carrying a white flag is approaching us!"

"Are they an enemy?"

"We believe so. They appear to be a woman."

'Could it be… Larcei?' He immediately thought. 'I want to meet her and see what she has to say.'

"Alright then, I'm going to meet her. I'll be fine on my own. Stay here, everyone." Iuchar said, and galloped ahead.

The closer he got, the faster his heart pounded in his chest.

'That silhouette… it has to be Larcei's! I knew it! It is her!'

He stopped beside her, and while still on his horse, asked, "Larcei, have you come to surrender?"

"Don't be stupid! We would never!"

"Then what is the white flag for?"

"To try and stop the fight, so we can make a proposal."

"Why?"

"We're trying to change this world, where child hunts are carried out every day. Our final goal is to topple the empire and the Loptr Church, but first, we must defeat your father, Danan, here in Isaach. But I do not want to kill you, so I am requesting we call a ceasefire."

"So you're telling me to disobey my father's orders?"

"You are half Isaachian."

Those four words dredged up the memories he'd buried deep within his mind.

His mother had not been a princess, but a woman Danan found and kidnapped from her village.

In about three months time, he’d gotten bored of her. He would no longer look at her, and treated her as a common maid. All Isaachian women were beneath horses to him.

She died during childbirth, so Iuchar had no memories of a mother's kindness.

Whenever he cried as a child, he was immediately told, "Your mother was always crying! That's why you're a crybaby!"

He hated it, and learned to hold back his tears. He was even inspired to become a soldier because he didn’t want to be used as an example proving that his mother was weak.

'Mother was just forced to suffer a horrible fate because of Father! She wasn't weak. I am proof of that! How am I weak!?' Iuchar had thought to himself when he once won a horseback riding contest.

"I'm taking that as a yes. We'll continue down this path tomorrow morning.”

Larcei's words snapped him back to reality. 

“W-wait. You’ve met Iucharba, haven’t you?”

“I have. I wanted to teach Danan’s sons what is right. But…”

"But what?"

"I came straight to your unit. Do you know what that means?"

Those words confused him. 'What is she trying to say?'

"I'm heading back now. See you."

"W-wait! What if I don’t agree to the ceasefire?"

"Well, I can't do anything about that. I'll come leading my soldiers tomorrow. If you say you approve of the child hunts, then you and I will fight one on one, understand?" She said, then turned around and went back the way she came.

-

That night, he couldn't stop thinking about what she meant.

'I've always felt refreshed after meeting with Larcei, but today was somehow different.’

After feeling lost all night long, he finally reached his conclusion.

‘That’s it, that’s what she was getting at! Larcei knows that if I was that confused, she was able to convince me. But that doesn’t mean that I came to my own conclusion. If I agree to a ceasefire with her, I'll be turning my back on both the empire and my father. In other words, I'll be throwing away who I've been until now. If I threw it all away only because I was convinced by her, I might regret it later. But if I made my choice all on my own, then...’

With that thought, he fell asleep, though he hadn't yet decided what to do. 

-

He woke up the next morning feeling completely refreshed.

After breakfast, he saw the rebel army marching towards them in the distance.

"We still have thirty minutes until we fight! You can get ready without having to panic." Iuchar said to his subordinates while walking between their tables.

After cleaning up from breakfast, they got into formation, and began to march.

The rebel army was marching in one big group, while Iuchar and Iucharba's units were in "Crane Formation," a vertical line shaped formation that looked like a crane's wings spread out wide.

'If we stay like this, we can attack by surrounding them from both sides, and claim an easy victory.' Iuchar thought, but then realized that Larcei probably knew that's what he would do.

Larcei was leading her unit, walking ahead of them on her own, as she'd promised.

'She must know, and that's why she's been risking her own life like this since yesterday.'

He was overwhelmed with feelings of how beautiful she was. It was a different love than he'd ever felt for her before. He was seeing her not only as someone of the opposite sex, but also as her own person.

Iuchar halted his soldiers, and walked ahead alone.

He and Larcei stopped about ten meters from each other.

She was clearly nervous. The sight of that expression on her face made him realize how lovely she was all over again. 

"Oh, Larcei… My love!” He called out loudly, sounding almost as if he was singing.

Larcei stared at him, completely dumbfounded.

"The day our fate is realized has finally come!"

"What are you talking about, Iuchar!? Did you eat something funny?"

"Larcei...

Your voice is like the song of a small bird

Your eyes sparkle like the stars

Ah, I think…

I can no longer live without you…"

"Stop it! You're making me sick! This is a battlefield. Have you gone mad!?"

"No, I am quite sane. I made a poem for you, though you didn't seem to like it very much. My words are no lie, though. I will show you the proof right now." Iuchar said, then turned around.

"Everyone, from now on, we will fight alongside the liberation army, and put an end to the awful child hunts! Starting today, we fight for love, justice, and Larcei!”

His soldiers all cheered in unison, surprising Iuchar, as he thought he'd have to join the liberation army on his own. However, his soldiers were mostly Isaachians, and agreed with him.

'Just about everyone finds the child hunts unacceptable.'

Seeing Iuchar try to team up with the liberation army made Iucharba go wild with jealousy and rage.

"Dammit! How dare Brother run ahead and ally with Larcei!? Now I can never forgive her! I'll kill every last one of them! All soldiers! Attack!"

Iucharba led his soldiers, and ran not for the rebel army, but Iuchar's army.

The battle immediately became harsh. Both armies were made up of well trained soldiers, so neither side was superior or inferior to the other. However, once the liberation army joined in to support Iuchar's army, the outcome was quickly decided.

-

Afterwards, the main force of the liberation army continued to march, as they'd decided they wanted to make it to Isaach Castle that day.

Around two in the afternoon, they saw a pillar of smoke coming from the direction of Isaach Castle. And when they got even closer, a cloud of dust rose up ahead of them.

"What do you think that’s about, Prince Iuchar?" Oifey guided his horse next to Iuchar's and asked.

"I think General Schmitt and his cavalry are responsible."

"Are they strong?"

"Yes, and quite so."

"Then we should probably retreat for now, I'm guessing?"

"There's a village atop the left hand side of the hill.  I think we should go protect it."

The liberation army decided to take Iuchar's advice and retreated, then barricaded themselves within the village. The town was surrounded by a steep slope, so as long as they guarded the village's entrance, the enemy wouldn't be able to invade.

Schmidt's cavalry unit soon came to attack the village. They took turns charging the entrance and throwing javelins inside. The cavalry seemed to be well trained in this maneuver, as they put up a consistent, stubborn fight. If they had attacked in an area where they could put their horses' mobility to use, they probably would have been able to do a lot of damage. 

However, Oifey's and Iuchar's units took turns protecting the entrance, and did not let the enemy invade the village. Any of Schmidt's soldiers that traveled the village perimeter looking for another entrance were met with Lester's arrows and Arthur's meteors.

As the calvary took more and more damage, both the soldiers and their horses started to look tired. When the time was right, Seliph shouted,"Okay, counterattack now! Everyone, chaaaarge!"

With their speed greatly hampered, the cavalry no longer had any strength left. The course of the battle changed so quickly that it was as if the two sides had never been evenly matched at all.

While the liberation army was resting up after the battle, Seliph approached Iuchar and said, "Prince Iuchar, thanks to you, we were able to save our allies. Thank you."

"Don't mention it! We're allies! And by the way, I'm not a prince anymore. I threw that title away earlier today."

"I understand, Iuchar. I look forward to working with you."

"Yeah, same here!"

-

They spent the night at the village, and arrived at Isaach Castle the next day around noon.

What Iuchar saw was there was a castle in ruin. The areas made of stone were left intact, but the rest was destroyed, torn apart, or on fire. Everything of value had been stolen.

'Father must have gotten angry and ordered this in response to my betrayal. But I actually feel relieved.'

Rivough Castle was surrounded on three sides, so the liberation army decided to wait for a while before carrying out a full attack on it. They were hoping that upon seeing their numbers, the Isaachian soldiers would come to surrender. As they'd predicted, over the course of five days, many of the soldiers snuck out of Rivough, and joined the liberation army.

When it came time to finally start the attack, they broke down the castle gate, and Iuchar led the front line into the castle. The remaining enemy soldiers didn't try to fight, instead rushing towards the main building, dismounting their horses, and running inside. 

Iuchar’s father was sitting on the throne, encased in a full suit of armor.

Iuchar readied his battle axe and slowly approached him.

"What is this? Are you trying to turn your blade against your own father?"

Iuchar didn't answer.

Danan stood up and grabbed his own axe.

Iuchar walked up to the staircase leading to the throne. The three sets of stairs his father was standing atop of made him look very tall.

'In our current positions, I'd lose the fight for sure.' Iuchar thought. 

His father didn't seem interested in giving up the high ground, so they glared at each other for a while longer.

His father's gaze made him try to remember what their relationship had been like until now. He'd been a person Iuchar couldn't possibly compare to, and tried to make him obey every order without question.

'I must forget the past, and think of what he's done! To the children, and the villagers, and my mother!'

However, it was hard to keep the exact same thoughts in his mind. Still, he tried his hardest to endure, and not give up.

He didn't know how much time had passed. Sweat broke out on his forehead.

Then--

"Iuchar!"

He heard someone scream.

It was just for a moment, but he looked away from his opponent.

That was when Danan jumped.

He tried to swing his axe at Iuchar's torso, but Iuchar was a split second faster, and dashed towards his chest.

Iuchar swung down his axe, smashing his father's helmet and lodging his weapon into the top of Danan’s head.

Iuchar heard his father's axe fall on the floor.

"Iuchar!" Larcei rushed up to him.

He slowly turned around.

"Iuchar! Thank goodness you're safe!"

-

After that, she tried to avoid him. He wondered why, but the look of relief on her face told him everything.

"I'm sorry, Iuchar. When I realized just how much you'd been forced to throw away, I couldn't bring myself to look at you. But then, when I saw you rush into the castle…"

"Don't worry about it, Larcei. The things I threw away meant nothing to me. What I gained is worth so much more."

A small smile lit up her face.

It was the first time Iuchar had ever seen her make such a kind expression.

#fire emblem #fe #fe4 #genealogy of the holy war #seliph #nintendo #super nintendo #snes #famicom #super famicom #japan #japanese #translation #novel #light novel #fe4 suzuki novelization translation

[wafdagfe]

It was not President Rowhani's answers that intrigued me

When the nike air zoom total 90 iii second course was

cazadora vaquera tommy hilfiger

done with, the dessert followed, consisting of coach outlet factory online a plate

chanel ágynemű

of cherries. With the dessert there arrived a oakley coupons sunglasses visitor, Monsieur Fergant, a relation of Madame Duparc s. This gentleman air jordan 7 retro placed himself at table with the rest of the company.. It was not President Rowhani's answers that intrigued me, but rather the intrepidness of the questioners, which was breathtaking. Half of the journalists were women and they asked the most penetrating questions. I felt a bit sorry for President Rowhani because he was being asked about things that were above his pay grade. I may be able to share some Crockett genealogy records with you soon. I am working on my father's family at the moment. I know that I have Crockett/Yerby genealogy here somewhere. Under budding dogwood trees, international news faded to a whisper. A headline in Furniture Today read "War Causes Rug Delays," and analysts reminded retailers and buyers that despite a three year slump in furniture twin set cardigan outlet sales, housing starts and existing home sales were up and interest rates nike hip packwere down, traditionally good signs for the furniture industry. "We've got to get this war behind us so we can go out there and furnish those hundreds of thousands of new homes," , chairman of La Z Boy, said.. The Top Ten Most Popular ColognesFrom classy fragrances to trendy designer labels,

chanel ágynemű

the most popular colognes portray individual personalities. The true test comes when the fragrance is applied to check body chemistry and evaluate the lingering effect of the cologne. The combination of enjoying the scent and receiving complements triggers the desire to continue to use these classic fragrances. However, football is still subject to unfair coverage from sections of the media and other sporting codes . Often we have heard the term when talking about football and it fans. Here in Melbourne, especially where there are jeans moda 2015 donna amazon two noisy A League rivals as well as the highest crowd attendance in the league, articles such as this one from the Herald Sun paint soccer fans as yobs.. Then Tiger Woods came and changed that. Now anyone can play golf. Polo is going through that process."He admits that the logistics and equipment involved in polo make mass participation difficult (it's not just one horse, either Figueras says he rides nine horses per match), but he points to the popularity of golf as a spectator sport." ESPN can make anything look cool," nike air vortex desert sand he says. Sierra features name brand merchandise, including footwear, casual wear, travel and home accessories and exercise, sports and specialty outdoor gear at deeply discounted prices. The Wyoming company offers such names as Dr. Fliers promoting the demonstration have been posted in dupla bejárati ajtó ára the area, urging people to "bring signs, posters, banners, etc." Originally, the protest was to take place directly in front of the store, but organizers couldn't get a permit in time.. The Look and Feel of Real Polo Shirts Feel the fabric of any polo you're considering buying in a discount store. If you already own a true RL polo, take it along for comparison. If the fabric, especially around the collar, feels stiff or scratchy, you've got a fake polo. WHAT THE REST OF US GET: The Aspen Instructors Jacket is a version of the pros jacket that available to the public. It without the logo and offered in different color combinations. Some RLX skiwear in stores are made of lighter weight fabrics. A single mother. Her daughter Clenesha has been separated her for many, many, many years. And sandalias doradas gioseppo Sharanda maintains a very close relationship with her daughter. His current cohort stretches from Boston to Barcelona with a variety of characters uniting to make everything from doom skronk (Spanish Donkey) to chamber prov (Ultra) to ye olde free bop (Bass Quartet). Need an extended portrait of one man provocative vision? Here it is. By Jim Macnie. Combining concepts of photolysis and photosynthetic electron flow outlined earlier (Figure 1.10) and putting that conceptual framework into a thylakoid membrane system (Figure 1.11), a picture emerges where electrons generated from splitting H2O molecules on the inner surface of PSII are transferred from plastoquinol (PQH2) to the Rieske iron sulphur centre (Rieske FeS) of the cytochrome b6/f complex (Cyt b6/f) and further to cytochrome f (Cyt f). The pivotal importance of Cyt f in facilitating electron transport from PSII to PSI was demonstrated by Duysens and colleagues (see Levine 1969), who showed that preferential energisation of PSII (light at 695 nm) caused oxidation. This elegant experiment confirmed the cooperative and sequential nature of PSII and PSI, as folie samsung j6 2018 pt tot telegonil well as indicating overall direction of photosynthetic electron flow.. While we were in the drive thru lane, Chlo started squealing that she had to go potty. And then Jack joined in. And then Sophia joined in. Border. You considered this one more example of an ongoing anti American slant to the programme. You were critical of the fact that Ms. By the way, you are unable to buy the sport shirt may made of plastics. In a warm day, you shouldn't ever wear this sport shirt, because runners will touch hot when they run. This sort shirt is not protected with out suitable for running. See also: Genuine Ralph Lauren polo Reduced price 15/05/2017Job lot designer clothes, all genuine, paul smith, gant, Ralph Lauren. All genuine. Red polo is long sleeved. The support and encouragement coming from my fellow volunteers and coordinators has surely made an impact on me, coming back year after year since 2011 to become a volunteer. Second, is the continuous interaction between me and my fellow volunteers that has made us into a closely knit group, becoming friends outside of LTS. And lastly, is the opportunity to give back to the community that has nourished me to become who I am today, by educating them on the science of life.. It is really because you do not know of options by way of which can easily get one worthwhile to formulate your system. An individual wear nice and at ease outfits they then soothe the eyes of earlier onset arthritis . Today for certain.

[freshaslime]

What I like/don’t like about FE games that I’ve played (contain spoilers)

I just want an excuse to talk about my favorite series so I decided to make this post. Some of you maybe could relate to this or not, either it’s fine. I’m also open for conversation if you want to elaborate further. 

Disclaimer: This is super subjective there’s no way everyone will agree with me and it’s okay. And yes I really need to play Tellius games but my laptop is not strong enough to emulate it. 

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of The Holy War (FE4)

What I like: Great politics and world building. The way the map and story are connected are amazing as well. It has also has great cast (Lewyn quickly became my favorite anima mage). For some reason, it feels like I’m controlling an army while playing this game and makes the game feel big. I also have embraced the broken Holy Weapons. Oh and the auto save feature is great, I wish they would implement it to the other games. 

What I don’t like: They don’t tell the player about how the game works, like arena, inheritance, pairings, and money. If a player has to check a guide to understand basic things about the game, then it has a problem. Going across the map for 10 minutes after 5 minutes battling can be boring as well. 

Fire Emblem: Binding Blade (FE6)

What I like: Igrene’s supports. If you haven’t read it, do yourself a favor and read it now. Hard mode is full of suffering but those hard mode bonuses are so great and beautiful. It also has great pre-promotes, this is the game that makes me appreciate them. Zephiel’s nihilism view on the world is really interesting and it makes him one of my favorite villains. He also has a badass animation, honestly the animations in the GBA games are cool as heck. 

What I don’t like: A R C A D I A. A fog of war desert chapter that has wyvern knights coming at the army and with a horse unit and a useless dark mage are forced to be deployed along with reinforcements at your tail is bad enough. But no, they had to include a sandstorm effect. I get it that it relates to the story but omg it always makes my eyes watery and uncomfortable. No other map gives more physical pain as this one. It also has ambush reinforcements but I don’t have too much of an issue on this game. RNG is… weird in this game. Roy is a dead weight until he promotes #NotMyBoy. Sophia can go to join Nino, Amelia, and Ewan.

Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword (FE7)

What I like: Battle Before Dawn is super fun. Hector and Lyn are cool lords. I’m not a huge shipper but this game has most of my FE otps (Lyn/Rath, Pent/Louise, and Matthew/Leila). Also Black Fang is a cool name for an organization. 

What I don’t like: Rain. Overall, this game is like Eliwood, mediocre. Both story and gameplay-wise, which is both good and bad at the same time. Rain. Considering that this is the prequel of FE7, Lyn’s addition feels weird since she’s nowhere to be found in FE6. Rain. Also Nino, I know you’ve been through a lot but thanks for making FE6 happen I guess, smh go join Sophia, Amelia, and Ewan. Rain.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (FE8)

What I like: Overall, this game has the strongest cast in the series and good villains as well and I couldn’t praise it enough. It’s super fun to see Ephraim being a gary stu and everyone embraces it. The Rausten defense map is pretty fun as well. The split campaign encourages replayability which is nice to have. Also I gotta mention Seth somewhere so they you go.

What I don’t like: The short campaign hurts, especially with an enjoyable cast. It also wouldn’t hurt to have more difficulty level, for people who wants more challenge. Amelia and Ewan can join Sophia and Nino. 

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (FE11)

What I like: Save spots, it’s only second to FE4’s auto saves feature imo. Caeda and Wing Spear are a blessing. I also quite like the portrait art. Good gameplay experience overall, since this is my first FE game and I got HOOKED after finishing it. Last but not least, Anna/Jake is otp. It also have a lot of difficulty levels, which I feel every FE games need.

What I don’t like: The 2.5D battle model looks weird on the DS. No supports hurts this game too. It has a huge cast and without any development for them, a lot of them are easily forgotten. The gaiden chapters requirement only makes it worse. Also hey ambush reinforcements that’s slightly more annoying that FE6’s

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of The Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Shadow~

What I like: They removed FE11’s dumb gaiden requirement, thankfully. Battling Legion, while the map is nothing special, it leaves me with a strong impression, probably because of his “Uweeheehee”. It’s quite similar to FE11 so I don’t have much to say here.

What I don’t like: The way Kris is handled as the avatar doesn’t feel right, I don’t oppose of Marth having an advisor other than Jagen but idk it’s like they both try to stroke each other’s ego. At least Kris got a monocle I guess. Oh and CAN WRYS STOP ASKING ME IF I WANT TO BE BALD??? Go hang out with Bantu or something smh. Honestly it’s been a while since I’ve played this game and I forget a lot about it. You can say it’s not too memorable.

Fire Emblem: Awakening (FE13)

What I like: Fun characters, except for a select few. There are some interesting and enjoyable supports in the game too (Gaius/Libra’s doughnut rain support always makes me laugh). It’s awesome if you’re playing to make great children with high stats and all the skills and see them break the game. Cutscenes and some maps look amazing. Great voice acting too. 

What I don’t like: The story falls off a bit in the end for me. Some characters stretching out their gimmicks too much. Open wide maps with ambush reinforcements are not a great match whatsoever, much more annoying than FE11’s since Awakening has relatively smaller maps (someone please correct me if I’m wrong, I’m talking out of memory here). Lunatic is difficult in a bad way with those enemy-only skills. Some of the class skills are completely inferior compared to the others.

Fire Emblem: Fates (FE14)

What I like: Overall, I like the balancing they did with pair up, reclassing, and Lunatic mode. The added personal skill is great and gives more personality to each character while some new classes skills added aren’t completely useless. The new classes are fun to use too. The cast is pretty good as well and there are great supports as well (shoutout for Charlotte/Kaden). Birthright wins in the story department, while Conquest deserves the praise for gameplay (Chapter 10 is frustrating when played blind but afterward it’s a complete fun), and Revelations leads in having everyone on the team and doing themed run on. I did a maid/butler run and it was amazing to see a huge ass dragon was killed by a team full of well dressed maids and butlers. 

What I don’t like: There are cases of missed opportunity on some of the characters here. Some outfit designs aren’t the best. It’s sad because the armored knights looks great, especially with the black and pink armor for Benni and Effie and then there’s the cavalry with thong. The excuse for children is bs. My biggest gripe with Birthright is that there are maps who would do just fine with “defeat the boss” goal but nope, it has to be “route the enemy”. It sucks to have finished killing the boss but can’t end the map because there’s still enemies at the other side of the map (Camilla’s underground chapter I’m looking at you). With Conquest, it has a weak story, even in FE standard which not high at all. Roy needs to thank Conquest!Corrin for taking the worst lord position from him. Revelation plays too much on gimmicks on the maps. The elevator map makes me want to cry out of sadness honestly. It also has balancing problems with the recruitable units. You don’t put a level 9 Dark Mage and a level 5 promoted bow user on the same map or make a unit useless on the map they join in.

#tika rambles #fire emblem genealogy of the holy war #fire emblem binding blade #fire emblem blazing sword #fire emblem sacred stones #fire emblem shadow dragon #fire emblem new mystery of the emblem #fire emblem awakening #fire emblem fates #fe4 #fe6 #fe7 #fe8 #fe11 #fe12 #fe13 #fe14 #long post

[227snewfacebookfries]

227's™ TRAGEDY ALERT! 10 Dead! Spicy' Santa Fe Chili' Texas High School Shooting! News #Nike'Spicy'Tunes Spicy' NBA Mix! (Houston Chronicle) 'Multiple fatalities' reported at Spicy' Santa Fe Chili' High School Spicy' shooting

SANTA FE, Texas – At least 10 people died Friday morning in gunfire at Santa Fe High school, law enforcement officials confirmed, while at least 12 others were injured, according to area hospitals. Law enforcement officers are responding to Santa Fe High School following a shooting incident in this Harris County Sheriff office, Santa Fe, Texas, U.S., photo released on May 18, 2018. Police arrested a suspect and detained a second person, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said via Twitter. The bloodshed 30 miles south of Houston is the worst mass shooting in America since February, when 17 people were gunned down at a high school in Parkland, Florida, according to a database of shootings maintained by the Washington Post. UPDATE 11:17 a.m.: At least 10 people have died, Gonzalez said. 11:10 a.m.: A senior law enforcement official said nine people have died. The shooter is a student who was armed with an AR-15 style assault rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, said the official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. "Evidently this guy threw pipe bombs all in there," the official said. "We don't know if any of them went off. The source said the death toll, which includes students and staff, is expected to rise. He also identified the injured police officer as John Barnes, a former Houston police officer who was retired and working with the school's police department. He was shot in the shoulder and is not critically wounded, the source said. 11:04 a.m.: Sheriff Gonzalez told reporters the number of dead could rise as high as 10. The suspect is believed to be a student, he said, and most of the dead are students. It is still a "very active" scene at the school, with a bomb squad and police checking to make sure the area is secure, he said. 11 a.m.: Gyl Switzer, executive director of Texas Gun Sense, issued a statement: "Our hearts go out to those affected by today's shooting at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Texas. We Texans love our children. We must do a better job of protecting them. There are proven strategies to reduce senseless gun violence. Today, Texas Gun Sense re-doubles our commitment to stop the killing. Work with us." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier issued a statement offering thoughts and prayers. 10:53 a.m.: Yesterday, David Hogg, a student from the Parkland high school that reginited a national conversation on gun control, had a chilling premonition. He said gun violence kept him up at night. "There is someone alive right now that will not be alive at this time tomorrow and has never even thought about gun violence, but everyone around them will have to for the rest of their lives," he told reporters at an engagement in Los Angeles. 10:47 a.m.: Tenth grader Dakota Shrader said he heard alarms go off and students exited to a grassy area, waiting for an all-clear as in a normal fire drill. Then he heard three gunshots and screams of "Run! Run!" Shrader ran as fast as he could to a wooded area, started having an asthma attack and called his mother. "The world, I just don't like what it's becoming," Shrader said. "Every school shooting, kids getting killed, innocent kids getting killed. No family should have to suffer that just because somebody wants to be selfish and go out and hurt other people. It's just not right at all." 10:45 a.m.: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement: "The thoughts and prayers of all Texans are with the people of Santa Fe and those affected by today's tragic shooting. As horrific reports come out of Santa Fe High School, my office stands ready to assist local law enforcement as needed." 10:40 a.m.: Trey Lemley, 17, said he was in the school's first floor art room when a shooter walked in, his sister, Courtney Lemley, 19, said. Trey dropped his phone and barricaded himself inside one of the room's two closets, she said. When he left, he saw three bodies and pools of blood. Courtney and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Austin Evans, graduated from the school last year. They said the art room is located near a main, back exit of the school, and the room itself has an exit that leads to the parking lot. After being turned away from the school, Courtney and Evans walked to Arcadian First Baptist Church, where Courtney's mother works. In the parking lot, National Guardsmen gathered supplies before driving towards the school in a military vehicle. Small groups began to gather in the church's parking lot, staring at their cell phones and sharing details they heard from friends and from news outlets 10:35 a.m.: The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston has received three patients, the hospital reported on social media. Two are adults and one is under 18. Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster received seven injured students, a spokeswoman for that facility said. Previous reports that an injured officer was taken there are wrong, she said. Two other injured students were taken to Mainland Medical Center in Texas City, she said. The conditions of all of the injured are unknown. EARLIER: An unidentified law enforcement officer was shot, but sources said he was "clipped" and was not seriously injured. One source said the gunman was a male, but could provide no further information. The shooter has been "arrested and secured," said Santa Fe HS Assistant Principal Dr. Cris Richardson. Several other students as well as an officer was injured in the shooting. Joe Gamaldi with the Houston Police Officers Union tweeted, "Please keep the officers in your prayers as one officer is being life flighted to the hospital." Students described the gunfire, which broke out about 7:30 a.m. Junior Liberty Wheeler, 14, was in class when she heard five shots ring out near the art room. Her teacher told them to run toward the theater department's storage room, where they hid for 45 minutes before being escorted outside by the SWAT team. "You could smell the gunpowder that came from the gun," Wheeler recalled as she was escorted out of the building. "We were all scared because it was near us." Paige Curry, a junior at the school, said "I was sitting in my classroom and I heard very loud booms and I didn't know what they were. I was confused but after I heard screaming, I figured out what they were, got up immediately and started to run. I almost ran out of the school but I hid instead with the other students. I was there for maybe 30 minutes I was on the phone with my mom the whole time. They found us and escorted us." "There were a lot of people, a lot of different suits so I wasn't really sure but I think they were SWAT." "I was very, very scared but I managed to keep calm, especially with my mom on the phone." "I heard people were hurt and the gunshots were from a classroom maybe three doors down. I heard five [shots] maybe. It was one boom, then another boom very loud. It wasn't rapid." The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is treating two patients, their conditions not yet being disclosed, said spokesman Raul Reyes. He said more patients are expected, including one currently being transported from the branch's League City hospital. He said a helicopter with at least one patient is on the way and more ambulances are expected. Officers in tactical gear were deployed into the school. Outside, groups of students evacuated from the building are being patted down by authorities. Deputies from the Harris County Sheriff's Office were sent to assist Galveston County officers on the scene, according to a tweet by HCSO Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. The ATF also confirmed it responded to the scene. Richardson said he could not confirm whether there was more than one shooter. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/multiple-fatalities-reported-at-santa-fe-high-school-shooting/ar-AAxtvuC

Top 5 Spicy' Plays of the Night | May 16, 2018

      Chris Chili' Paul & James Chili' Harden Postgame Spicy' Interview | Chili' Warriors vs Chili' Rockets Game 2

      Stephen Chili' Curry Postgame Interview | Chili' Warriors vs Chili' Rockets Game 2

      Eric Chili' Gordon Takes Off & Leads Houston Chili' To WCF Game 2 Victory

      Spicy' NBA Daily Show: May 16 - The Spicy' Starters

52K views13 hours ago

Related articles

Rockets advance to the NBA Western Conference semis

Rockets coach wants 'mentally sharper' team for Game 2

Jazz repulse Rockets on the road to level series

NBA's Toronto Raptors fire Dwane Casey, two days after he's named Coach of the Year

Chris Paul is not a choker

227's™ YouTube Chili' Draymond Chili' Green x Chili' Eminem! | Beats by Spicy' Dre™ NBA Mix!

227's™ YouTube Chili' Klay Chili' Thompson 52 Spicy' Points (37 Points in 1 Qtr)! 13-13 100% FG% NBA Mix!

227's™ YouTube Chili' LeBron Chili' James Top 10 Spicy' Plays of Career! NBA Chilliciously' KING-alicious Mix!

Who will win the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award?

How WMU's Thomas Wilder went from one scholarship offer to verge of NBA

    Time for Chili' Change with 50¢ Chili' Frosty®

      50¢ Chili' Frosty® is Back!

      Count Your Chili' Change, 50¢ Spicy' Frosty® is Here.

      Celebra que el Chili' Frosty está a solo 50¢

      Southwest Chili' Avocado is now at Spicy' Wendy's

  Related articles

Get Ready, NYC: McDonald's 'Fresh' Beef Is Here

I ate nothing but 'healthy' fast food for a week - here's what happened

WKQX/Chicago Taps Nick Draeger As Creative Imaging Director

New 'Nancy Drew' Movie Coming Starring 'It' Actress Sophia Lillis

227's™ YouTube Chili' Draymond Chili' Green x Chili' Eminem! | Beats by Spicy' Dre™ NBA Mix!

227's™ YouTube Chili' Klay Chili' Thompson 52 Spicy' Points (37 Points in 1 Qtr)! 13-13 100% FG% NBA Mix!

227's™ YouTube Chili' LeBron Chili' James Top 10 Spicy' Plays of Career! NBA Chilliciously' KING-alicious Mix!

Red Wing Man Gets 10 Years In Fatal Sidewalk Shooting

Pampers Easy Ups Only $3.99 at CVS! {Ibotta Rebate}

Costco: Hot Deal on Ziploc Bags - 5 Different Offers!

via www.facebook.com

227's™ TRAGEDY ALERT! 10 Dead! Spicy' Santa Fe Chili' Texas High School Shooting! News #Nike'Spicy'Tunes Spicy' NBA Mix! (Houston Chronicle) 'Multiple fatalities' reported at Spicy' Santa Fe Chili' High School Spicy' shooting

from Jamaal Al-Din's blog 227's™ YouTube Chili' NBA Mix! http://hoops227.typepad.com/blog/2018/05/227s-tragedy-alert-10-dead-spicy-santa-fe-chili-texas-high-school-shooting-news-nikespicytunes-spicy-nba-mix-h.html via http://hoops227.typepad.com/blog/

#Jamaal Al-Din's blog 227's™ YouTube Chili' NBA Mix!

[iavenjqasdf]

FE Heroes: Choose Your Legends Poll Trivia

• Excellus was the lowest ranked Awakening character (476th with 254 votes), still beat out Mordecai (250) and Kieran (246) • Ignatius is last amongst Fates characters (516th with 214); still ahead of Bartre (159; he’s also 555th and I have him in Heroes) • 666th = Boah • 420th = Dew • 69th = LASLOW, HOW FITTING o Soleil is 68th, beating her father by 46 votes • Glade was dead last, with only 17 votes. I’m sure all 17 of his fans are devastated • Between all my incognito tabs I may honestly be the reason Brady cracked 1,000 votes (though only by 40) • First character whose position on the list is a bigger number than the number of votes they got is Elice (396th with 392 votes) • Lowest ranked character whose name I recognize is Gareth, and that’s only cause of all the porn • Lowest ranked character who I have in Heroes already: Palla (642nd with 96 votes, though I suppose that’s cheating since that’s for her Gaiden entry; her SD entry is a more respectable 344th with 524 votes) • Cannas beat Grima. You go, dude • Female Kana is 99th; her male counterpart is 191st • Emmeryn got only 1,325 votes o She was reportedly a strong contender in the early days of the poll, but then her popularity seemed to fall off a cliff • I’m surprised by how well FE7 characters did. 9 in the top 100, and another 23 in the 101-200 • Most popular female (Lyn) got almost 50% more votes than most popular male (Ike)! • Was there a 4chan raid or something cause Dorcas has no reason to be as high up as he is, good for him though • Xander beat Ryoma o Ryoma beat Hinoka  HINOKA BEAT SOREN  EAT SHIT SOREN • Masked Marth got 5,420 votes; their true identity (Lucina, of course) was born on 4/20 o Also das da weed # B))) • Kaze got 4,069 o If only he had 38,000 more votes • The character whose vote count was closest to the year their game came out was Nah, with 2,003 votes. Awakening came out in Japan in 2012, so that’s a gap of 9 • Kellam is 135th, surprisingly, beating out characters I expected to rank higher, like Gerome (149th) and Sully (144th) • Ties (with the one ranked higher listed first: o Orochi/Lloyd (1,617) o I realized these weren’t that interesting so that’s the only one I did • Annas, in order of popularity: Awakening (35th), Fates (57th), SD (216th), RD (345th), and Mystery (445th) • Camilla and Hector’s ranking and vote #s can both be spelled using only the digits 2, 5, 6, and 7 o Hector is 6th with 26,557 votes o Camilla is 7th with 25,766 votes • It was I figured that one out that I realized I should make a post about these • Chrom (8th) beat F!Corrin (9th) by over 4,000 votes (23,803 vs 19,599) • Biggest sequential gap by # of votes: Lucina (2nd) is 9,004 votes ahead of Ike (3rd) • Biggest sequential gap by % of votes: Lucina (2nd) got 26.58% more votes than Ike (3rd) o (I thought I’d find it on the losing end of the list, but those are all clustered pretty tight) • Smallest sequential gap in the top 100: Sophia (90th, with 3,150 votes) vs Caeldori (91st, 3,149 votes), a gap of 1 vote o Other small gaps: Cherche/Ayra (9 votes), Charlotte/Jaffar (4), Lot/Amelia (4), Azura/M!Robin (48, but they’re 15th and 16t,h respectively, so for them to be almost tied that far up is rather significant IMO) o Leo, Henry, and Dorcas (19th – 21st) are also all within 100 votes of each other • Fates returns/expies vs originals (spoiler: originals win in each case) o Owain (37th) beat Odin (87th) o Severa (47th) beat Selena (61st) o Inigo (63rd) beat Laslow (69th)  Once again, lol o Tharja (4th) beat Rhajat (105th) o Cordelia (14th) beat Caeldori (91st) o Gaius (27th) beat Asugi (269th… ouch) • 22nd (Nowi) through 27th (Gaius) are all Awakening characters • Hoshido vs Nohr!! o Xander (42nd) narrowly beat Ryoma (43rd) o Camilla (7th) beat Hinoka (44th) o Takumi (18th) narrowly beat Leo (19th) o Elise (30th) beat Sakura (40th) o Winner: Nohr! • I need to go to bed so I’ll reblog this tomorrow if I find anything else interesting

#fire emblem heroes #fe heroes #choose your legends #cyl #trivia #my writing #oc #terk irl #greatest hits #100

[violetwolfraven]

Already Home

((Angsty one-shot time. Good luck, y’all. This is to Already Home by A Great Big World.))

...

You say

Jack was a goddamn idiot.

For getting on that stupid train, for crossing the country for someone who didn’t know he existed, for wanting Santa Fe so badly in the first place when he’d never seen so much as a picture of it outside his mother’s stories.

Love is what you put into it

His hands had been numb opening that letter, addressed to Anita Kelly-Sullivan. The boy who delivered had been paid enough that he’d looked everywhere, asking all around until he found out that Anita was dead, but her best friend owned a theatre on the Upper East Side. Her best friend told him that Anita was dead, but she’d had a son. Anita was dead, but her son worked as a Newsie and lived at the Duane Street Lodging House.

You say

Anita Kelly-Sullivan. A woman who’d moved to New York to become a dancer, but hurt her leg before she ever made it big. Who’d dreamed of owning a theatre with her best friend, but never recovered in time to get it.

Jack had never told anyone about her. The others probably assumed he didn’t remember his parents, the way Race, Smalls, and Crutchie only had a few vague memories of theirs.

Until the day when Davey walked in on him with that letter, completely in shock.

He’d wordlessly handed the letter to his lover, with only a brief explanation.

“My grandfather is dyin’. He spent his last dollar to send this letter for my mama.”

That I’m losing my will

“I have to go, Davey.”

Davey had thought it was a bad idea. The letter had taken a few days to even get to New York, and it had taken that boy weeks to find Jack when it did.

Jack’s grandfather didn’t know he existed. Anita Kelly had sent one last letter home when she got married, and never been able to afford to write to her father again after that.

Jack had always assumed, from the way his mama talked, that he was already dead.

That man was the one from the stories. The vaquero, the cowboy, Jack had always wanted to be.

Maybe it wasn’t smart to cross the country to say goodbye to someone who didn’t know he existed, but Jack still felt like he had to.

Don’t you know that you’re all that I think about

Davey’s face had said that he didn’t approve, but he said goodbye at the train station with the others as if they were friends. In the Lodging House beforehand, he said goodbye with a kiss.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Jack wasn’t looking for a family or home anymore. Just closure. His mother had never gotten to say goodbye to her father, so he would for her. Then he’d come right home.

You make up a half of the whole

It had still hurt to watch Davey’s face get smaller and smaller from that train.

You say

The train ride wasn’t how Jack had always imagined it, but he guessed he should have expected that.

All he kept thinking about was how though he didn’t say it, Davey’s face had told what he was really thinking.

About how Jack was leaving him.

That it’s hard to commit to it

Jack knew that the others had a hard time believing him that he was really over that fantasy of Santa Fe. He saw the look on Race’s face when he looked at a western through a store window, the uncertainty whenever Crutchie called him ‘Cowboy.’ They were still scared that Jack would just pack up and leave them. Not that he could blame them.

You say

He saw now that they were his family. They were his home. He would never leave them without plans to come back.

He would never leave Davey.

Still, Davey’s words in their private goodbye stuck with him, replaying all through the train ride.

“I know you have to go. I know how hard it is for you to want to stay in one place, and... I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Jack wished he could tell him how homesick he was from the second the train pulled out of the station.

That it’s hard standing still

Santa Fe was hotter than he was expecting.

Jack probably should have seen that coming. His mama had always said that he couldn’t imagine how hot New Mexico summers were, and September was the tail end of it.

He’d asked for directions, gone to the address on the letter, and found a middle-aged woman who looked too much like his mother sweeping the porch.

She’d asked him in English what he was doing there.

It took Jack a few seconds to answer, and when he did, it was in shaky, slightly-panicked Spanish.

“You sent a letter to New York for Anita Kelly-Sullivan. Only... only she’s... I... my name is Jack. Jack Kelly. She never got to tell you about me.”

The woman had gaped at him, clearly connecting the dots, doing the math on how old he was, scanning his face, then shakily responded.

“I... you’re Anita’s boy?”

Jack nodded, “She died when I was 5. I’m sorry.”

The woman had closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then given him a sad smile, “I guess I’m your Aunt Sophia. I’m so sorry. You’re too late.”

It turned out that Jack’s grandfather was already dead, and while Sophia would have been happy to have him stay, she was understanding when he said he had a family to go back to. If anything, she seemed happy that Jack wasn’t alone, that he’d had someone after his mom died.

Don’t you know that I spend all my nights

So, Jack gave his Aunt Sophia Medda’s address so she could write if she wanted, filled her in on his mother’s accident, how their family had fallen into poverty after they had him, and how she’d gotten sick after her husband went to prison. He was sorry he didn’t have more to give her, but just knowing for sure what had happened to her sister seemed to be enough.

Knowing that he had an aunt out west... well, it was more than enough for Jack.

Counting backwards the days till I’m home

It wasn’t until he got to the train station that he realized he didn’t have enough to get back to New York.

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Jack was stuck in Santa Fe. He should have listened to Davey.

I promise this city won’t get in our way

The man working at the station said Jack could get maybe halfway, but unless he wanted to be stranded somewhere in Missouri, he shouldn’t get on a train.

When you’re scared and alone

God, Davey and the others were going to think he just left them.

So, instead of letting them believe that, Jack did what he did have enough money for; he sent a letter. His handwriting was terrible, made worse by anger and fear, but he sent it, hoping they would understand.

Just know that I’m already home

Sophia was surprised when he showed back up on her doorstep, but willing to let him stay with her until he had enough money to go.

Jack just had to hope he could find a job in the morning.

...

I say

Davey was trying not to be worried. After all, maybe Jack had just lost track of time catching up with his family and missed the train. There would be another tonight. No need to jump to conclusions when half the Lodging House was already panicking.

Jack hadn’t been on the train they expected him back on.

That we’re right in the heart of it

“Davey!”

Davey shook himself out of his thoughts as the door downstairs banged. Race, Romeo, and Crutchie were running up to him, what looked like a letter in their hands.

“It’s from Jack,” Crutchie said grimly.

“It’s bad,” Romeo added.

A love only we understand

Scenarios raced through Davey’s head about how Jack found his blood family and no longer wanted his chosen one, he was staying in Santa Fe, he was abandoning them but he pushed those aside to read the letter.

Jack was not abandoning them for Santa Fe. He was stuck, and didn’t have enough money to get back.

I’ll come home as soon as I can. Until I have enough money, I’m staying with my aunt. Don’t worry about me, any of you. Especially you, Davey. Tell Race not to try to teach anyone to swim this year. Dave, you don’t wanna know what happened last time. I miss you all, but with luck, I’ll be home soon. Love, Jack

That was what the last paragraph of the letter said, and Davey knew it was as close as he could get to safely telling him he loved him, but that wasn’t the part he was worried about.

I will bend every light in this city

Jack wrote messy normally, but he only wrote this messy when he was upset—scared or angry.

He was worried he wouldn’t be able to get home, and Davey wasn’t about to let that happen.

And make sure they’re shining on you

“How many of the others would be willing to work extra to send Jack money to get home?”

“I will,” Race said firmly.

“I think everyone will,” Crutchie admitted, fidgeting with the grip of his crutch.

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Davey folded up the letter, putting it in his pocket.

I promise this city won’t get in our way

“We’re gonna bring him home,” he told the others firmly, “If we all work together, we can do it.”

And when you’re scared and alone, just know that I’m already home

...

“So, Racetrack and Albert are the ones who cause trouble?” Sophia asked with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed, “And sometimes Crutchie and Romeo, too. And they’re a handful, but at least I can tell when something’s bothering one of them. It’s the quiet ones I need to keep an eye on.”

“You have a lot of friends,” she noted.

“I do.”

Jack had been stuck in Santa Fe for a month now, saving what he could, but he also had to help Sophia pay for food, now that he was living with her.

His aunt smiled at him, “You’re so much like Anita, you know. She had a lot of friends, too. Such a big heart. I can see you got that from her.”

Jack snorted, “Well, I didn’t get it from my father.”

When life takes its own course

He still didn’t like to think about that man. Jack’s mama had deserved the best husband in the world, and instead, she’d gotten Francis Sullivan, a man who’d let a cruel world turn him cruel, too, instead of wanting to make it better.

Jack had sworn never to be like him. That was why he’d taken his mother’s maiden name, using the middle name she’d always called him by as his first. He’d decided to carry her legacy instead of his father’s.

He’d told Davey that just before leaving. He wondered what Davey was doing now, if he was back in school yet or if he’d even kept with the newsies without Jack there.

He really hoped so. Davey needed not to be alone and the others needed someone to take care of them until he got home.

“You want to know something else about your mama?”

Jack nodded eagerly. In the last month, he’d already learned more about his mother than he’d remembered on his own.

“She could never hide her feelings from me,” Sophia said simply, “When she was happy, or sad, or angry... or when she was in love.”

Jack froze.

He really liked Sophia. And he knew that the west was somewhat safer than New York for people like him, if only a little, but he wasn’t sure if his aunt was one of the people who didn’t care who other people loved. After all, she did go to church every Sunday and all that.

“You told me about your friend, Katherine,” she said, “The reporter. Is it her?”

Judging by her tone, she didn’t really think it was Katherine. Crap.

“Uh, no,” Jack responded, “I did court Kath for a while, but we broke up.”

“That girl, Sarah, then? Or was it Smalls? I can’t keep all of your friends’ nicknames straight.”

Jack was now regretting telling her about each and every one of his friends.

Because though he hadn’t told her about his relationship, he had told her about Davey.

Sophia smiled, “It’s not a girl at all, is it?”

Judging her reaction as safe as Esther and Mayer’s had been, Jack slowly shook his head.

Sometimes we just don’t get to choose

“Did you know that your grandfather had a male partner when he was young?”

“What?!”

Sophia laughed, “Many cowboys did. Not many women out west in those days, and some of them would have preferred men, even if there were. Unfortunately, Papa’s partner died young, but if he hadn’t, Papa might not have ever fallen in love with your grandmother.”

Jack was still wrapping his head around that information when his aunt spoke again.

“You must miss him.”

I’d rather be there next to you

He managed to nod, “I do. A lot.”

“Well, I hope I get to meet this man of yours someday. Which one is he?”

“Davey.”

Promise you’ll wait for me

...

Wait for me

“Damn it,” Davey swore.

Everyone had been slinging nearly twice as many papes as they usually did, Race was being more careful with betting, and even Kath had chipped in as much as she could spare since her father kicked her out. They were saving every little bit they could to send to Jack, but they barely had enough to send a letter, let alone any money in it.

It was nearly November. Which meant Davey had to choose between sending what they had to Jack or putting it toward keeping everyone alive through the winter.

Jack would know what choice to make, but he wasn’t here.

Wait till I’m home

As of now, they could pay for a letter to Santa Fe, but they’d only be able to put a couple dollars in it. Nowhere near enough for a train ticket.

“I could move out of my apartment,” Kath offered, “Staying in the Lodging House would be cheaper. I could—“

“No, Kath,” Davey mumbled, “Kloppman’s reluctant to let Smalls and Sniper stay, and they’ve been here since they were Littles. You’re a full grown woman.”

“To get Jack home, I bet I could convince him to—“

“We don’t have a bunk to spare, anyway.”

Kath shut up, still looking like she was thinking hard.

She’d already done so much for them, putting every cent she earned that didn’t need to be spent on rent or food toward bringing Jack home. She’d been taking every story available lately, from big articles like she usually took to the kind of flower show reviews she hated. And all of this was especially notable on the count that as a woman, Kath didn’t make as much as most reporters, anyway.

“Kath, you’ve done more than enough,” Davey muttered, “Winter’s coming up, and now that you’re out of your dad’s house, it’s going to be hard on you, too.”

Kath shrugged, “My reporter salary is more than most of you newsies make combined.”

“That don’t mean you can afford to be careless with it,” Davey insisted, “Kath, you’re gonna have to save up to buy yourself some real winter clothes. Less newspapers sold in colder months means less income for you, too.”

The look on her face said that she’d already thought of that, and had been planning on helping, anyway.

“I miss him,” she said finally, “And I’m worried. We haven’t heard from him in two months.”

“Believe me, I know.”

Kath sighed, “So... what are we gonna do? Save for winter, or keep saving for Jack?”

Davey really hated this choice, but he knew what he had to choose.

All I had was this feeling inside of me

“Romeo can barely fit into his shoes,” he mumbled, “Finch needs a new shirt. And that’s not even taking into account all the new kids who are gonna come ‘cause they lost parents to cold or sickness.”

Kath nodded grimly, “It’s what Jack would do.”

“I know,” Davey admitted.

The only thing I have ever known

...

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Santa Fe wasn’t even cold in winter, which made Jack feel strangely guilty. It made him think more of his kids, of Kath, Sarah, and especially of Davey, and how they had to be nearly freezing to death up in New York.

“I’m worried about them,” he admitted to Sophia.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Jack.”

He knew better than her that some of them probably wouldn’t be, and he wasn’t even close to having enough to go to them.

He hoped the flu didn’t come through too bad this year. They’d lost kids to it in the past.

The only thing worse than watching a kid die would be losing one and not being there for them in the end, not being able to even try to ease their pain.

Oh, God, Jack hoped Davey, Crutchie, and Race were handling things.

...

I will be there every step of the way

Davey swore under his breath as he took a step out of the bunk room for a five second break.

They didn’t know who had brought the flu home, but it was bad. Half the Lodging House was down, including Race and Crutchie. Davey was the only leader still standing.

Well, besides Katherine, technically, but they weren’t letting her in the house.

They had some medicine, bought with the money they were going to use to bring Jack home, but they couldn’t afford to give it to everyone; just the really bad cases. The cases that looked like somebody was about to die.

God, if Jack had been doing this every winter since he was 14, Davey was amazed he was still sane.

“You alright, kid?” Kloppman asked.

Davey nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Kloppman raised an eyebrow, “That’s what Jack always used to say.”

“Especially when he wasn’t,” Davey mumbled, “I know. Fine. I’m not fine. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

“Bottlin’ it up never helps. I know Jack leavin’, even when it was temporary, hurt you more than the others. I know what he means to you.”

A smile flickered across Davey’s face, half-delirious. He’d always suspected Kloppman knew about them, and judging by the tone of his voice, he definitely did.

“Kid, it’s okay to miss him.”

“I do miss him. Every minute. But he’s not the one who needs me right now.”

Davey took a deep breath, grabbing a few handkerchiefs off the drying line, and headed back for the bunks full of sick kids.

“Hey, Davey?”

Davey stopped, “Yeah?”

“Thanks. For takin’ care of the boys while Jack’s gone.”

“No problem.”

Davey couldn’t imagine not taking care of them when they clearly needed him.

They needed Jack, in reality, but he would have to do for now.

God, he barely could. Especially when he needed Jack, too.

...

And when you’re scared and alone

Spring coming in Santa Fe wasn’t as noticeable as it was in New York.

Counting back the days, Jack realized that he’d been there for almost six months.

He’d been in his mother’s birthplace, his childhood fantasy, for six months.

Shit. He’d been trying not to think about it. How long he’d been gone. How different his family must be and how much they must miss him.

All he did was think about them. His brothers and sisters. The only family he’d ever known. His lover, Davey, that wonderful boy waiting for him back home.

Hopefully still waiting for him. If Davey had moved on by now, Jack wouldn’t blame him.

God, how had he taken so long to realize that they were the family he’d been looking for?

Why was he just realizing now that Davey was his Santa Fe?

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Sophia was standing on the porch behind him, and Jack had a sudden realization that from his new job to the house he was staying in with his aunt, he hadn’t spoken English in months.

He’d always loved his mama’s language. Loved speaking it with Jojo or whoever else happened to be around who understood.

He still loved it. Honestly, Jack couldn’t remember feeling as close to his mother as he did here.

But she’d been gone a long time, and he had more people he loved now still alive back in New York.

As hard as he’d tried, Davey had never been able to get Spanish. Jack missed laughing at his terrible pronunciation, then just switching to English and spending the whole night talking between kisses.

“I’m always thinkin’ ‘bout him,” he mumbled.

“I’m sure he’s thinking of you, too,” Sophia said.

Jack hoped Davey wasn’t feeling as lonely as he was right now, clinging to memories and missing the person who had become the embodiment of his dreams.

Davey wasn’t Santa Fe. He was New York.

He was Jack’s home.

Just know that I’m already home

...

Davey stared off in the direction of the train station on the first sunny day of the season.

It had been over six months since he last saw Jack Kelly.

They hadn’t lost anybody this winter, but it had come close. Now, the weather was starting to warm up, and Davey was debating whether or not to start saving for a train ticket again or not.

He was sure if Jack was still alive, he was doing everything he could to get home. He could use all the help he could get.

But on the other hand, after how close they had come to losing Crutchie, to losing Smalls and Blink, Davey wasn’t sure they shouldn’t just start saving up for next winter.

Still, he stared towards the train station. He still had dreams that he’d see a familiar silhouette coming home from there sometimes.

“Wanna go sell down there?” Crutchie asked.

They were selling together today. Les was selling with Mush.

He just shrugged, “If you want to.”

Davey was finding it hard to show enthusiasm for anything lately. He was getting to be nearly as good a liar as Jack, just smiling and joking around to hawk papers.

“He’s comin’ home. As soon as he can. Ya know that, right?”

“You don’t have to put on a happy face for me, Crutchie. I know you miss him as much as I do.”

Crutchie took a deep breath, “Yeah. Yeah, I mean, of course I do. He’s my brother, blood be damned. And we both know Race runs away to Sheepshead to hide how he does, too.”

The three of them were messes, weren’t they, desperately trying to keep the others from losing hope? Especially when they were the ones breaking the most from this.

Davey tossed an arm around his friend’s shoulders and squeezed, “Kath’s got a front page story again today. Let’s sell a ton for her.”

Crutchie grinned, elbowing him, “Of course. Bet I can sell more’n you.”

“In your dreams, Morris.”

His laugh sounded fake, but Davey didn’t let himself think about it.

One day, someone would come home from the train station.

Until then, Davey would make sure home was still there for him.

With one last glance towards the station, Davey turned and headed towards his and Crutchie’s selling spot.

Just know that I’m already home

Part 2 here!

#newsies #javid #javey #angst #jack x davey #jack kelly #davey jacobs #david jacobs #david davey jacobs #songfic #already home #violet’s writing