#cw aftermath

[cherry-shugah]

How i imagine ales' aftermath in rayman origins ending

Uncensored versión below! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

I return to highschool tomorrow f*ck

[front-lines]

ROCKWELL, FAREWELL

Claire Rockwell, Esq., has been appointed as the United States’ representative to a UN special task force which will be convening at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Ms. Rockwell’s credentials are extensive, having graduated from Yale Law at the top of her class, and being the daughter of General David Rockwell, a decorated former US Army veteran who, following his military retirement, served on the World Security Council until his death.

Choosing to take a more philanthropic route than her father, Ms. Rockwell founded the non-profit Citizens’ Heroes following the Battle of Manhattan. The organization works to help with the recovery after super battles, collaborating with several other non-profits, as well as running a children’s shelter based in New York, though she left the organization earlier this year to disassociate her own stance on the ACCORDS from that of the group.

Before her departure, Ms. Rockwell agreed to a retrospective interview with the Bugle.

Hit the jump to hear more.

Ms. Rockwell, congratulations on your appointment. And thank you for hosting us.

Thank you, but I wish it hadn’t come to the point where this appointment was necessary.

Do you have any orders from the President on how to proceed during this gathering?

I think I can show you the official commission, assuming I haven’t packed it away already [laughs]. The gist of it was that he wanted me to make it clear the United States will strive to be an example for the world during the process of the ACCORDS being evaluated. Though I think it might also be to get me out of the country for a while.

What makes you say that?

Well, if I stay in the US, I’d probably end up in a Supreme Court case talking about the human rights violations committed at the Hart Island prison. There were minors in there, being subjected to torture without a proper trial. That’s at least Amendments Five, Seven and Eight of the Constitution being violated right there. I think it’s absolutely disgusting, and I’m sure there’s a large portion of people in the government who would prefer it if I were off in the Netherlands, rather than making trouble for them here in the States.

You weren’t happy with the ACCORDS.

No, I wasn’t. I’m still not, and I’ve never made any secret about that. I even reached out to my father’s old colleague, Alexander Pierce, before he passed away himself. I… wasn’t all that happy with his response, but I know it’s in poor taste to speak ill of the dead. To his credit, I do think his intentions were good. But I also think it kind of proved my point. In the face of ugly situations, people often do things that they might not have considered in other circumstances. And intent is often meaningless.

But your organization is dedicated to the recovery from superhero battles. Does that mean intent is meaningless there too?

Absolutely not. But that’s because Citizens’ Heroes has layers of protocol in place to keep the intents from being corrupted or otherwise compromised. The process of how the ACCORDS was basically rushed into effect and how no one seemed to consider the ramifications of implementing them is what frustrates and disappoints me more than anything. When I say intent is meaningless, I’m talking about it in concepts of evil things being done with good intentions. Which I don’t think is the same thing as the collateral damage issues that resulted in the ACCORDS’ creation.

So, would I be right in thinking that you’re in favor of fully dismantling the ACCORDS?

I am in favor of eliminating any and all legislation that unfairly targets people purely based on their abilities. I do think we need stronger legal practices enforced for those who abuse their gifts for selfish reasons, and we need clearer definitions of what counts as abusing those powers.

Do you have an example?

I do, actually. After I left Citizens’ Heroes, one of the clients I picked up was the Xavier Institute. There are a number of people there whose powers are essentially involuntary. Under the ACCORDS as they were implemented, these people could have been arrested for accidentally or unknowingly using their gifts. And then we start to get into the issue of discrimination. If a person is being arrested because of the powers, rather than what they’ve done with them, the ACCORDS are punishing them for something they had no choice in.

You’re not going to go into further specifics?

I’m not going to violate client confidentiality. If someone has a story they want to share with your readers, I’m sure they will when they feel it’s safe enough for them to do so. But that’s another issue I have with the ACCORDS, people who harbor anti-metahuman sentiment now feel that they can openly spew their vitriol. I believe some of them have even submitted to the Bugle’s Citizen’s Report section?

The Bugle has disavowed those views.

Yet you still print them.

The public has a right to know these opinions to make their own judgements, Ms. Rockwell. People could make the same kind of assessments about this interview.

I’m not saying they don’t; Freedom of the press is a vital part of our nation’s principles. But printing those kinds of things is its own tacit endorsement. And if they want to have a civilized conversation about this with me, they’re welcome to come find me at the American Embassy in the Netherlands. If they want to come to punch me in the gut as some of their [clears throat] like-minded compatriots have done in the past, I’d ask that they stay here in the States. And that they not punch people.

Good words to live by.

Unless a person is a superhero, and the target of the punching is a supervillain. Then, I think a little punching is justified.

Getting back on track, do you know how long your time at The Hague will be?

I think it’s safe to say it’ll be a long time. This is international policy that’s going to have a lot of fine print being hammered out, and even if it ever makes it out of the ICJ, it’ll still need to be ratified by all UN nations. But, no, we don’t have an exact time frame in mind at this point. I think they’ll brief us on the goals and the desired duration when all the representatives are gathered.

What are your plans for when you get back?

Well, depending on how things have panned out, I may resume my time representing those people who want to press charges for their mistreatment on Hart Island, but I was thinking that it might be time for me to look at public service. I’ve spent the majority of my life in Washington DC, I know how things work there. Maybe it’s a bit ambitious to be looking at the House or the Senate, but there are a lot of other good positions at the state level I’m interested in seeing about. But again, I think it’s all going to depend on how things go at The Hague.

Well, I wish you the best of luck with this task force. Thank you for your time today.

It was a pleasure to have you. I’ll make sure to get a copy of this to read on the plane ride.

[thesouthernrogue]

“Conversations with parents are sometimes exhaustin’.”

[tonystarktogo]

“I hate magic.”

aka Civil War--That-Fucking-Letter-Bitterness™

“It’s alright, sweetheart,” Maria soothes, gently wipes his tears away with a clean tissue.

Tony doesn’t protest--he’s supposed to, he knows, Stark men are made of iron--but her arm is a warm and comforting weight around his shoulder and her perfume smells like home, so he leans into the touch instead.

“There,” she smiles and Tony can’t help but smile back. “All better. Now go back inside and apologise to Hope.”

Tony frowns. “But I don’t know what I did wrong!” He really doesn’t. He’s just told her the truth and then she was crying. And he really, really doesn’t like making other people cry. “I don’t want to!” Then softer, sadder, “I don’t know how to fix it.”

His mother sighs, just a little, and Tony feels a bit like his stomach is dropping out under him, but then she pulls him into her side again and he relaxes. “I know, Antonio, I know. But listen to me, all you need to do is go up to that little girl and tell her you are sorry.”

“Why?” Tony asks, hands twisting helplessly.

“Because saying ‘sorry’ will make it better.”

Tony’s face scrunches up in confusion. “But why?” he repeats, more insistently this time. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Because it’s a magic word,” Maria eventually settles on and is not in the least surprised when her son sends her disbelieving scoff that is all Howard. “Don’t look at me like that,” she gently ruffles through his hair. “Just like machines are fixed with science, people are fixed with magic. But you have to really mean it when you apologise, otherwise the magic won’t work. Do you understand?”

And Tony nods, still a little doubtful, but willing to listen like he always is. He does what is asked of him, and Hope stops crying and lets him kiss her cheek instead and all is forgiven.

And for a little while, Tony believes in magic.

*

I’m sorry.

Sorry always makes it better, Tony thinks almost hysterically, as the letter crumbles in his hands. He’s shaking, he thinks, but finds it hard to care.

Hopefully one day you can understand.

Did you know, Tony laughs bitterly to himself after his third glass of whiskey, that nothing ruins an apology like an excuse or a justification? 

Nothing but silence answers him. 

The compound is empty.

Locks can be replaced, but--maybe they shouldn’t.

Sorry is a magic word, Tony hears the words echo in his mind, accompanied by musical laughter and affectionate caresses. He watches the remains of what used to be a phone melt into an indistinguishable chunk of plastic with a scarily familiar, haunting sense of detachment.

He leaves the remains at the compound, on a kitchen table he can barely stand to look at, the day before SI cuts all financial strings to the former headquarter of the Avengers.

Tony doesn’t believe in magic. The world he lives in has ensured nothing less.

I figured my 400th post on this blog deserved to be something special. And apparently bitter. Woops. 

[octowhat]

Jesus Christ...

My last period was in 2024...

Byebye my period blud

2019-2024