#alexander mitchell

[lindahall]

Alexander Mitchell – Scientist of the Day

Alexander Mitchell, an Irish engineer, was born in Dublin on Apr. 13, 1780.

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[this-one-is-spoken-for]

Staircase in the Alexander Mitchell Mansion, Milwaukee, WI

Via architectural photographer @ Mark F. Heffron

[carriedawaysims]

this puppy dog face tho

[carriedawaysims]

Christine has her favorite meal

before she goes off to that great plumbob in the sky

[carriedawaysims]

favorites. and that's the gourmet random legacy roll all complete

[carriedawaysims]

talking to yourself in the middle of the night. you definitely aren’t freaking out the pets, nope

[carriedawaysims]

the attempt to summon a bewitching rain from the weather stone was a fail

but it did lead to meeting Lester

[rockman-ds]

Title: Floating in my Mind Song: Antigravity - Starset Warnings: Mental Hospital, Drug Usage

The more I fight, the more I work The more I dig into the dirt

“-begin recording now. This is meeting number twenty-three for patient one-one-two-three-four-seven-seven-one, Alexander Carter Mitchell. Are you ready, Alex?”

A small nod was the only response the boy gave. He didn’t talk much, I had come to notice. Not surprising, considering what he’s been through. I’m almost amazed he’s so unharmed physically, for how much damage has been done to his mental state.

To be fed up, to be let down To somehow turn it all around

“How are you doing today, Alex?”

Again, no response, but judging from the expression on his face I’d say he was doing the same as usual. I jotted ‘mood: upset’ down on my notebook.

But then fate knocks me to my knees And sets new heights beyond my reach

“Tell me Alex, are the pills helping any? Do you feel any better than yesterday?”

He shook his head lightly. I raised a brow. “Are you actually taking them?”

He shook his head again. Which is what I expected. “I want you to, take them tonight.”

A small nod was his response this time. I doubt he’ll actually take them, but I sure hope he tries.

Below the earth, below concrete The whole world shackled to my knees

Our meeting went as usual from there. I asked questions, got little to no responses, and then I just talked to him for a while about what was going on in the news right now.

That was, until he shocked me by speaking up, something he hadn’t done since he arrived.

“...can I have paper...and a pencil?”

Then it falls away Into the great escape

Watching him draw was interesting. He seemed so much more focused than normal, his eyes stayed completely concentrated on the picture.

“What are you making?”

No response, I don’t know if he even heard me, but that was fine. I’d ask again when he was done. This might be the way into his mind.

Over walls and weights This antigravity taking over me

It looked like an image directly from a Poe classic. In fact, I’m certain it’s a reference to the Cask of Amontillado. Alexander is being walled up by what appears to be a second Alexander, this one with the word ‘Doll’ written across his stomach. There’s a sledgehammer in the corner of the picture, sitting in a jar, with a fairly obviously placed hole near it.

I don’t know if I even need to ask what this is a picture of, I can infer what it means just by looking at it, but I ask anyways.

And far below, the carnivores Are looking up to where I soar Above the clouds, above the storm

“...That’s me, walling up the old me. Those pills you give me are the hammer. The old me could reach the hammer, but he doesn’t really want to.”

“What happens if the old you gets completely walled up.”

“I stay here forever.”

Above the earth I am transformed The energy has set me free And pulled me through the galaxy

That was probably the most terrifying thing I had ever heard a patient say. He understands, he understands the situation he’s in, but he doesn't know how to get out of it. Even if you put it in front of him, he can’t bring himself to follow through with it. All of this conveyed through a drawing.

Which gave me an idea. I fetched more paper and pencils and offered to allow him to draw in his room, under the stipulation that he be sure to explain the pictures to me during our meetings.

He agreed with a nod.

I've risen up beyond the sky I am awake, I am alive

The next meeting was exactly what I was hoping for, he had drawn a large number of pictures, apparently only stopping because he ran out of lead. And they were all as explanatory of his mindset as the first.

We went through them one by one and as we got more in depth with the more detailed images, I began to feel like I was getting through to him.

Then it falls away Into the great escape

I convinced him to take the pills, after a few hours of conversation. It was probably my longest meeting with a patient in a long time. But that’s what I had dedicated myself to with this one apparently.

The next day, he seemed to be doing much better. I assume he actually kept his word, with how much calmer he is now.

I decided to try and hold a normal conversation with him about art.

Over walls and weights This antigravity Let it fly through the universe

Again surprising me, he not only successfully held the conversation and actually managed teaching me about multiple different artist and poets and what he likes so much about them.

It was obvious he was still very much not okay or better, he would need a lot more time for that to become true, but he was doing much better than usual.

That gave me hope.

Into the outer space Over walls and weights This antigravity taking over me

It had been almost two weeks since Alexander and I held that first conversation and now he had been able to handle having quite a few more, I had decent insight into his current condition and I can say he has improved a lot.

Seeing that, I decided to allow his parents to come visit him, finally. They had been dying to see him since he went missing nearly a year ago, but we had felt it might be dangerous to bring them in too soon.

It wasn’t too soon anymore, in my opinion.

I won't come down If you wanna break free You know where to find me

Luckily, I wasn’t horribly wrong. Alex didn’t seem to understand why they were here at first and I was almost afraid he wouldn’t recognize them, until his eyes widened briefly and he began to choke up.

I can’t be sure what exactly made his mind put and two and two together, but I presume it was due to him both waking up a little more and hearing his mother calling him ‘Lexy’.

If you wanna break free You know where You know where.. If you wanna break free

Their reunion sadly could only last a couple hours before I had to ask them to go ahead and go home, reminding them they could come back for visiting hours daily if they so desired. When they left, Alexander seemed much happier.

But sadly that only lasted for about twenty minutes. After that twenty minutes, he started to break down and unfortunately I didn’t know how to calm him. I considered calling his parents back in, but that might be a terrible idea, so I didn’t.

Instead I tried talking him down as best as I could.

You know where to find me If you wanna break free You know where..

“Is it too late to pick up the hammer?”

“That would be up to you, Alexander.”

“I wanna pick it up.”

I didn’t expect bringing his parents in to push things so far forward, honestly, but I wasn’t upset or worried by it. I can only assume that he really wanted to repair a long time ago and just couldn’t figure out how.

Then it falls away Into the great escape Over walls and weights

Almost a month has passed, Alex is doing much better now. He’s still not okay to be discharged, but he’s not as bad off as he might’ve been if he didn’t start making a proper effort to heal.

But, for the last week, there seems to be no further progress. Which is starting to bother me, I’m worried he might start regressing if nothing changes. I’ve made a motion to take him out of the hospital and move him over seas for a sort of a ‘vacation’.

Alexander seemed to be happy with the idea.

This antigravity Let it fly through the universe Into the outer space

His parents reluctantly sent their approval, on the condition that they can come along and live nearby as well, and honestly I couldn’t be happier with that decision. I would have asked them to come along anyways.

So we were getting Alexander ready for transfer, packing up what we had found at the ‘Victim’s’ hideout, including the necklace he refused to get rid of. He didn’t wear it anymore, but he said throwing it out would be getting rid of an important part of himself.

I decided that respecting his wishes was the best decision.

Over walls and weights This antigravity taking over me

We decided that Japan would likely be the best place to let Alex relax and heal for a while longer. It wasn’t anywhere that anyone could recognize him and enough people spoke English that getting around shouldn’t be a horribly big problem. And it was filled with appreciation for art forms, which is something he could benefit from.

His parents and I decided to let him have his own apartment for the duration of a month, though he would receive constant visits from both his parents and I, just to ensure nothing bad was happening to him.

Alexander’s excitement was actually impressive. I was a bit excited for him, mostly for the prospect of him coming back from this with legitimate improvement in his condition.

If you wanna break free You know where to find me If you wanna break free You know where You know where.. Anti-gravity Anti-gravity Anti-gravity