( notes for alex, jean, morgana, anya, rogue, babs, and zane )

[Public]

[Charles is in his room, which looks much the same as ever - the comfortable, organized clutter of academia everywhere, along with a couple notable artifacts scattered here and there, like the model prehistoric sea creatures Anya had gotten him for Christmas sitting on his desk - and he looks... good. More or less the same brand of content he's been since he got back from his trip home, although there's a sort of unnatural formality to the way he's sitting and addressing the camera.]

It's been two years and three months since I first made my deal with the Admiral. When I did, I had just suffered a variety of great personal loss. I was depressed, desperately hurt, and incredibly frightened of what the future had to offer for both me, personally, and for my friends and family, and I'll be the first to admit that the Barge wasn't entirely helpful in alleviating those worries.

But I'll also be the first to admit that I wouldn't have what I do now without it, and I know I'm not the only one who can say that. I also know that to some of you, I'm likely sounding like a broken record, but as this is the last time I'm going to have opportunity to say something like this for the time being, [And his smile falters a bit at that, because he's said it, he's leaving, he has to go home.] I just want to tell you that what you're feeling right now - the fear and the anger and the sadness - is all legitimate. You are allowed to feel upset, you're allowed to feel defeated and trapped, but it will get better. You will get past it. You will walk away from this and have a future you deserve. And at the end, this is worth it.

[He means it. He's been tortured, hurt, killed, watched friends die, lived a dozen different lives, been blamed for the actions of other counterparts, and a hundred other things, and he has a future to return home to.

That's made it - all of it - more than worth it.]

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning, if anyone's got any last minute business they'd like to address. It's time. [And he feels badly about that, because he'd wanted to stay longer, but he knows he'll always find a reason to stay, and... he really can't. He misses Erik, he misses Raven and the others, and he wants to get the school up and running. Do some real good in his world. He can't do that here.]

And if anyone's got anything to pass along to Tony, Erik or Raven, I'd be more than happy to drop it off.

[Private to River]

I hope you take up Jean and Rogue's offer to learn more about your gifts. If you're ever in need of a place to stay after your time here has come to an end, we'd be happy to have you.

[Private to Crichton]

I know you're probably tired of me meddling in your business, [It's mostly a joke!] But I know Jean would be more than happy to be a resource you can turn to in dealing with Harvey. I'm sorry I couldn't do more while I was here.

[Charles is back, and while he doesn't look any different - he doesn't look older, he's got the same hair cut and navy blue sweaters - there's still something different. He seems... happier, more enthusiastic than he's been in a long time before Erik graduated.]

Well, I'm glad to see the ship hasn't burned down in my absence. [And if he sounds mildly surprised about that, can you really blame him?

Anyway, moving on.]

I'm very happy to report that things are moving along quite smoothly at home. Erik says hello, [Or some variation on that to some of you, let's be serious graduation didn't suddenly turn him into a super fluffy fun guy who particularly cares about 90% of you.] Although he remains fairly adamant that he's absolutely not coming back in this lifetime, if at all possible.

[Which kind of begs the question of what the hell is he doing back here, but that's for him to know and you guys to find out at some point maybe.

And with all that said and done, he sobers a little, although he's still looking pretty upbeat and generally pleased.]

I've spend two years on this ship, and in that time, I've had too many people tell me some variation of "you can't change your future", or that I was wasting my time putting my faith in someone who's too incompetent to ever do anything right, and I understand where all of that stemmed from. It's incredibly easy to lose hope here, especially in regards to both those things, and if anyone tries to tell you you're weak for doing so, they're wrong.

But it does work, and you can change your future. This place has done everything it could to drag me and the people I love under, but we've still managed to overcome it, and you can, too.

[And he means that, seriously. He's got the proof to back it up now, too.]

For any new arrivals, I'm Doctor- or I suppose it's really Professor Charles Xavier, now. I'm a warden, I'm a telepath, [Mutant and proud, right?] and I'm one of the wardens in charge of the garden, if anyone's interested in lending a hand. I'm also available as a counselor for anyone - warden or inmate - who feels they need someone to talk to.

( Spam for Jonah )

[Charles is considerably less composed than Erik was when he clicks on his comm and addresses the Barge. He's happy, but he's spent so long waiting for this to happen, has spent so long here being put through literal hell, listening to people tell him time and time again that it was hopeless for them, that they weren't going to be any different and while he'd never really believed them, it's still good to know that those people had been wrong, that there are going to be challenges in the future but they'll be able to face it together, he won't have to be alone, and he can't stay on this ship for a second longer. Not right now.

So he's smiling, desperate relief radiating off him in waves. His face is still flushed, his eyes a little red, but he absolutely doesn't care less that it looks like he's been crying because this is what he's been waiting for for two very long years.]

I have to go. [And again it hits him that he can go home, that they're going to fix this and he lets out an almost disbelieving laugh.] There's a very urgent matter I need to attend to back home, and it can't wait any longer.

[And there's a part of him that's terrified they'll go back and this will all have turned out to be some kind of cosmic joke, but sounds more excited than anything else, to go back and hope this plays out the right way this time, that they're finally getting their second chance.]

I can't- [Some of the excitement fades, and he takes a breath before continuing.] Knowing the Admiral, I can't promise I'll be back, obviously, but I'll try. I intend to come back.

In the mean time, try not to get into too much trouble.

( Notes for Alana, Alex, Jean, Anya, Morgana and Zane )

[Hey Barge, you know what you were in the mood for?

I hope you said a history/Earth culture lesson, because that's what you're about to get.]

As I'm sure a good portion of you are aware, tomorrow is the fourth Thursday of November, which means some of us will be either celebrating or thinking of past celebrations of Thanksgiving.

[Stick with him, he'll explain for people who have never heard of this before.]

There's an interesting amount of misleading assumptions surrounding the tradition of Thanksgiving. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, [There are, after all, a lot of people who don't come from Earth as he knows it, and a decent amount of those weren't here last year.] it's a holiday that traditionally commemorates the celebration of a good harvest held by early English settlers and the native American Indians in 1621.

There's a popularly stated "fact" that Thanksgiving as many of us know it was first "invented" by the 16th President of the United States - Abraham Lincoln - after a woman wrote to him insisting that the feast between the English and American Indians be remembered with a national holiday, but in reality, people across the country had been and were celebrating long before he declared it a federal holiday in 1863. Several presidents before him - including George Washington and John Adams, the first and second president respectively - had declared a national day of thanksgiving, and the Continental Congress had done so before the United States had been officially separated from Great Britain. There's even well documented evidence that days of thanksgiving - which could include feasting - were held in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, years before the "first" thanksgiving was held in 1621.

I'd also like to point out that - to the best of what I can determine with the help of the library on board - that while tomorrow is Thanksgiving, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Jewish holidays rotate throughout the Julian calendar year because the Jewish calendar is lunar-solar, unlike the Muslim calendar which is almost entirely lunar, and the Christian calendar is almost entirely solar. I won't get into the math - I've probably already bored you all enough as is - but between that and the fact that the Jewish calendar doesn't account for a solar year being 365.25 days long instead of 365, this means that this particular combination won't happen again for several thousand years. Fascinating, isn't it?

[He is being 120% serious, don't hate.]

( Spam for Erik )

[There's a hard edge to Charles' voice that's just not present on the normal Barge under just about any circumstance, and he sounds somewhere between amused and disgusted.]

I wish I could say I was surprised to hear that so many of you are considering breaking down the Admiral's door in the slim hope that they'll be able to inherit his position, [And everyone should know exactly how he's heard that.] But in case anyone's forgotten, most roads to the Admiral end in vaporization. With the death toll barely operational, is that really a risk worth taking, just to instate your own fascist regime on this creaking wreck of a ship?

[This is directed at wardens as much as it is directed towards any inmates hoping to get out of here.]

Take off your blinders. What better way to lull the more power hungry or desperate amongst us into a false sense of hope than to suggest that door offers anything more than an excruciatingly painful end? Murdering each other to get at it is just going to save it the bother of killing you itself.

[Spam for Erik]

[Supplies are - and have been - running low for quite some time, and while Charles hasn't always been the best warden, getting what he wants has never been a problem. Ever. It's better not to ask how he comes by what he does, even though most people probably can guess, anyway.

He's never made what he can do a secret. Not here.

And his priority now - and has been, for longer than he feels comfortable admitting even to himself because it could be dangerous for both of them - is making sure that no matter what happens - because he is far less optimistic about their situation than he might lead others to believe - that Erik still has food and medical supplies and whatever else he might need. Erik has been and probably always will be his Achilles' heel, and he's already had to prove - more than once - just how far he's willing to go to protect him. It's a weakness too many people know about, and he tries to convince himself that he doesn't care, that it's better that they know what they're risking when they try to start trouble with the inmate.

So he's returning to his friend's room with lunch. He'd been able to get his hands on a can of soup, some bread that isn't quite stale, apples, cheese and - most excitingly - alcohol that wasn't made from fermented god-knows-what in someone's bathtub. He doesn't bother knocking - his friend knows he's here, and the door swings open before he can even reach out to touch the doorknob, which gets a small, wry grin out of him as he steps into the room.]

Thank you.

[Private to Raven and Alex, post spam]

[Despite... everything that he's feeling right now, Charles' voice is as cold and businesslike as usual when he clicks on the feed.]

We need to speak.

[ooc: So Charles' detailed au history is available here! with a cw for brief discussion of wrongful institutionalization. The short version is that he's Magneto, which means he takes no one's shit and is bitter, ruthless, and a-okay with using violence to get what he wants and protect what he has. He's also done a lot of yelling about mutant rights and is way more fast and loose with his telepathy.]

[It might surprise some people to see that Charles has some mud on his shirt, which is clearly the result of having some of it thrown at him, versus from falling on his face. His daemon, Hypatia, isn't in frame, but she's obviously not far and is currently in much the same state.

He looks... well, irritated probably isn't the right word for it. Exasperated might be better.]

I understand that everyone's very fond of their war games, but I think we'd all appreciate it if you kept any mud slinging activities safely away from noncombatants.

[And then a wry smile spreads across his face.]

That goes double for any adults playing along.

[YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.]

[Spam]

[Charles and Hypatia have always been a little bit unusual amongst the academic crowd from Jordan College. They're friendly and active and eager to get out and do research and get involved with people of all walks of life, instead of being content to just stick to the stuffy, closed off world of some of the other scholars. So while they can both certainly be found on the college grounds and in the library, it's just as likely to catch him out on the streets of Oxford doing research.

His particular area of interest has always been understanding and raising awareness and tolerance towards other cultures and ethnic groups, so he's just as likely to be at a society party exchanging stories with explorers and business men as wandering the markets, browsing the wares and talking to street children.

But his most common haunt - as long as they're in town, anyway - is visiting with his best friend Erik and his family, either just by wandering Oxford with him or dropping by the family longboat for dinner, as he's done ever since he was a teenager. He's by no means been adopted as Gyptian, or anything close to that, but he's been working to improve relations and general attitudes towards them amongst the non Gyptian population, and so anyone with a particular interest in that would likely at least know his name.

And then, of course, he checks in on his cousins Nathan and Alex occasionally. Never mind that Nathan is actually older than him and probably doesn't need looking after.

Most of the time, anyway.]

Zane murdered Touko Fukawa earlier this evening, and he's going to be held under house arrest in his room for a week. If anyone has any questions, feel free to direct them to me.

[Warden Filter + Erik]

Erik, Alex and I are going to be guarding the door. If anyone else is interested in taking a shift, let me know. [He figures Kelsier at least might be interested in knowing what's up. B(]

[Private to Cassel]

Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

[Private to Chromie]

I'm trying to get him to talk about why it happened. Once I have more information, I'll let you know.

[Spam for Erik, slightly backdated]

[Charles is sitting in a comfortable chair in his room, flipping through a new biology book he'd recently discovered in the library, and while he should be focused on what he's reading, he's not, and he hasn't been for a long time, which is entirely the fault of the other occupant of the room.

Erik's been quiet, and for a while Charles had been attributing that to the fact that they were both focusing on the books they were flipping through, but there was definitely something... off about him that he can't quite put his finger on. There's almost always at least a slight telepathic connection between the two of them these days, and usually it was handy to point out different things in the texts without having to get up and show the other, but Erik's just. Quiet. And he's been fidgety, like he has a bad headache or didn't get enough sleep the night before, which is sort of strange too, considering the other mutant usually liked to keep a lid on when things like that were bothering him.

Finally, he can't take it anymore and puts the book aside entirely, staring at his friend and just coming out with the question.]

What's wrong?

[Notice that he's not giving you opportunity here to say that you're fine, because something is definitely wrong, and you are going to fess up about it. :|]

[Private to Spock, backdated to after Sulu's announced that he's back]

I hope this isn't a bad time- [Although from his tone, this is serious fucking business and he doesn't really care if he's interrupting anything right now because asldkjsdglj!!!!!] Have you spoken to Erik or Anya since you've arrived back on the Barge?

[Private to Anya]

We need to talk.

[Like. Right this second. Spoilers: you're grounded. :|]

[Spam for Erik]

( oh, adhere to me for we are bound by symmetry )

[Public]

[Charles looks a little frazzled - his hair's a little messier than usual, and he looks drained - but smiles, clearly at least a little enthusiastic.]

Well, this has certainly been an eye opening experience thus far. [He raises a hand, and a couple metal things carefully lift off the desk and start rotating in the air at about eye level with him. So you can probably guess whose powers he ended up with.

Eventually, the novelty's going to wear off, but for the time being, being able to experiment with something new is pretty cool.]

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone else who's found their powers swapped with anyone else's. [Zane, Alex, Jean, etc. :|] And if anyone needs help, I have had some experience with helping people learn to control their abilities, and I'd be happy to try to lend a hand with this.

[Private to Marsh]

[And this point, the metal objects have all clunked back down on the desk because THANKS, ZANE, but Charles still looks pretty calm and unflustered by the day's events thus far.]

I hope I'm not being a bother, but I'm Charles Xavier - Zane's warden. I know we haven't met, but Zane's told me you might be able to tell who's switched abilities with him, and I was wondering if you'd mind giving us a hand.

[Friends Filter]

[Charles sounds tired - and anyone who was in the infirmary right after port ended might have noticed him hovering while people tried to help Zane - but otherwise, actually pretty okay.]

I know we're all exhausted and in need of some relaxation, but if everyone wouldn't mind letting me know you got out alright, I'd appreciate it. And if there's anything I can do for any of you, don't hesitate to let me know.

[Spam for Erik]

[Getting his telepathy back felt like he'd been unblindfolded, and while he had noticed the change immediately, in the first minutes back on the Barge, he hadn't had time to appreciate it. The focus was instead on saving Zane's life, and it wasn't until he was stable and unconscious that Charles had the time to reach out with his gift and reassure himself that they were back, they had made it out, and so had the people he cared about.

He'd checked on the kids first, reassured himself that they were in one piece and mostly in need of rest before anything else, and reassured them that he just needed much of the same before looking for Erik.

It's not difficult. His mind had almost instinctively wrapped itself around the familiar presence as soon as it had been established that Zane would be alright, and so Charles catches up to his friend as Erik's coming down from the deck, a relieved smile immediately stretching across his face as he gets his first good look at him.]

This might be the ultimate instance of the pot calling the kettle black, [Because he knows he's got some cuts on his face and other minor injuries from their time in port, too.] but you look like you're about to fall over.

[ooc: Filter includes but is not limited to the immediate X-Fam, Zane, Merlin, Arthur, Morgana, Anya, Pietro, Barbara, Tony, Kelsier, the Emperor, Ivy, and even you, Felix. Basically anyone Charles is friendly with or would have reason to check up with, idk I'm always bad with these filters and end up forgetting someone. /o\

Also, feel free to spam him if you want! He'll probably be pretty unconscious for the first day and a half afterward, but will be up and around after that.]

[Warden Filter + Doyle - backdated to After Alex's Post]

I want to make one thing explicitly clear: Ben was not responsible for the attack on Dr. Kozak. He's been thoroughly cleared, and it's fairly evident that someone is trying to frame him for the act. Rhade and several other people are investigating the matter thoroughly, and if anyone has any further information, we would appreciate hearing it.

[And anyone who goes after Ben anyway will have quite a bit of hell rained down on them. B(]

[CTS Spam for Erik, Jean and Alex]

( so come on, put on your war paint )

[Private to Zane]

[He's not really sure what to make of the pairing announcements in some ways, but he's hoping it's a good thing that they've already had some time to get used to each other, that there's some manner of trust there. He knows he screwed up with Felix and feels like he's been more or less useless to Morgana, but Zane seems like someone who needs some positive direction, and he's hopeful he can provide that.]

I've got your file. We should probably arrange a time to meet. Do you have a preference? [He assumes you've been let out of Zero by now, but.]

[Filtered to Erik, Jean and Alex]

[Charles sounds more serious than tired, although there's certainly a sort of weariness in his voice because this is not exactly a fun topic to be discussing.] Considering it seems as though whatever destination the Barge is heading towards isn't exactly going to be a pleasant one, I'd highly recommend everyone taking precautions in case we're left somewhere dangerous without access to our abilities or other means of defending ourselves. ["Like the Vanquish" is going unsaid, but the three of you know why he'd be overly cautious about an announcement like that, so.]

Obviously there's no guarantee that we'll be able to bring supplies with us, but in case there is, I'd strongly suggest making certain your flight suits are on hand and undamaged, and potentially even packing an emergency kit to leave with them.

[He knows he's sounding kind of bossy, but he's worried and doesn't want anything to happen - even though it probably will anyway - so he's maybe stepping up and saying something about this instead of just letting things happen. B(]

( More Notes for Erik, Barbara, Arthur, Gwaine, Bruce, Merlin, Rorschach, Kon and the Admiral )

[Warden Filter, backdated to Day One of the flood]

[Again, Charles sounds more tired than anything else when he makes this post, because today is officially going on the record as the longest day of his life, and he'd really, really like it to be over. Like, now.]

Alex and I brought Pietro Maximoff down to Level Zero after he attacked and tried to kill us. I don't know if he's been assigned a warden or not, yet, but if anyone's stepped up to take responsibility for him, he'll probably be awake and hopefully willing to talk in an hour or so. [He might have put him to sleep for a while. B(

He lets out a slow breath before continuing.] Has anyone seen Dr. Banner?

[And everything else in this post is present dated!]

[Friends Filter - if you think you're on it, you are]

I'm sorry I wasn't very available during the flood. [And that's all he really wants to say about it from his end.] How is everyone doing?

[Private to the Admiral]

[As much as he doesn't like you, Boss Man, he's learned how to ask for things from you, and this is important. Also potentially very stupid, but Zane had been right, he could tell what they were used for, and he was more likely to be sympathetic to someone who power reductions literally meant feeling as though they were missing a sense just as important as sight.]

I need a reasonable amount of tin and copper for Zane, enough to keep him comfortable until he's assigned a warden who can continue supplying it. Please.

[Spam for Pietro]

[His first priority after the flood was over was to head down to Zero. As much as he really didn't want to spend time down there ever again after what had happened when Tosh had been in control of the ship, he couldn't just leave Pietro down there, either, and so he's shoving aside his discomfort and heading downstairs to let him out.

He calls over to him before he actually gets in front of the cell, concerned.]

Pietro?

[Spam for Erik]

[It's not really uncommon for them to just invite themselves over, whether for chess or needing to tell the other something or simply because they're bored, and so after letting Pietro out and gently checking to see if Erik would mind the company at all, he heads back to their floor and opens his friend's door instead of his own, closing it behind him and managing a sort of wry-but-pained smile.]

If I wasn't already convinced that meeting you was one of the best things that's ever happened to me, I think this would have cleared up any doubts. [It's supposed to be a joke, making light of the issue because he really, really did not know how to process what had happened at all. They'd talked before about how maybe they did live in the best possible reality, and times like these made Charles think they were right.

He sobers a little when he looks at Erik, a faint line of concern forming between his eyes.] How are you doing?

Mark and I have been discussing making ourselves available to anyone who feels that they need someone to talk to in a more traditional, therapy setting after what happened with Toshiko taking control of the ship. It doesn't require warden permission, and anything discussed will be considered entirely confidential, unless we believe there's a direct threat posed to yourself or to others by not saying anything.

[And he hesitates a beat before saying anything else, because lol does he feel like a hypocrite for saying it.] I know it isn't easy to talk with someone about this sort of thing, but you don't have to cope with it on your own. That goes for wardens, too.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

[Private to Anya]

You neglected to mention the wise and gentle advisor was a monkey. [But he sounds more amused than anything else, really.]

[Private to Felix]

[This is considerably harder to get into, and there's a part of him that's almost resistant to try, but guilt ends up winning out as it usually does.]

I wanted to apologize for how our conversation went the other day. Toshiko's actions tore open a few more old wounds than I'd like to admit, and I wanted to step away from the conversation without- [Making it obvious how badly he'd been fucked up. :v

He cuts himself off, frustrated with not just being able to brush this off, and not wanting to make it look like he was trying to make excuses.] I should have articulated myself better and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to seem like I was being dismissive.

[Spam for Erik]

( this is the time, this is the place, so we look for the future, but there's not much love to go round )

That was a bit of a rougher landing than usual. Has anyone been keeping track of who's gone missing? [An official head count of who fell overboard and who got lucky seemed like a good idea, in theory.]

[Private to the X-Fam]

I was thinking, considering our history with this sort of thing, [And yes, he's including himself in this, but he's allowed to >C at you kids/Erik for not being safer, too even though Erik's been pretty good at not doing stupid shit like almost getting strangled/beat up/stabbed to death, good job Erik.] it would probably be best to establish some kind of telepathic link to make sure we can still communicate with each other and call for help if necessary.

[Or, you know, stick together, that would be good, too.

And yes, he is planning on going out whether you guys are or not because SCIENCE!!]

[Open Spam]

[It's probably ridiculous, to venture out into a port, especially considering his history with this sort of thing, but he has his telepathy and gear to survive underwater - thankfully no gills - and that's good enough for him.

He's a scientist, and despite past scares - anything involving the Vanquish was safely boxed up out of sight, out of mind for the time being - he does get a little stir crazy on the Barge. There's only so much reading and revising and chess you could stand before you wanted a change in scenery, and so he'd left the ship, and started exploring. He can feel the hum of intelligent minds somewhere out in the blackness, but they seem distant and largely nonthreatening, so he doesn't bother them, even if he keeps a mental ear out, just in case.

Just because he's willing to take a risk doesn't mean he's going to be stupid about this.

While he doesn't wander too far from the light of the Barge, the ruins end up interesting him more than the wrecks. He's no archaeologist, but he's still got questions about how this city wound up on the bottom of the ocean, and he's careful in handling any artifacts, generally just brushing off grime rather than picking them up and playing with them.

And maybe mentally chattering to Erik occasionally about anything particularly interesting, or any theories he might have about it. Maybe Atlantis really was real in this world, wherever it was.]

[ooc: Feel free to play with the timeline a little if it works better for you/your character, I don't have anything super specific planned for Charles for this port, so multiples/fuzzy time/etc. is totally cool with me. c:]

[Filtered Away from Alex, Jean, Pietro, Anya, Wanda, Erik and Bruce because Bruce >C]

[Charles clicks on the feed and hesitates before saying anything, because man, he really doesn't know if this is something he actually wants. To poll people about, which is mostly because he's really damn reluctant to admit any kind of doubt on this front and just. Yeah, feelings are weird. B(]

How many of you have children? Or have otherwise worked with kids or young adults, in whatever capacity? [He's mostly interested in parenting questions, but. He will listen to other people's input too. :c]

[Private to Morgana]

How are you feeling today?

[Private to Gwaine]

May I ask a favor?

[Private to Erik]

Are you busy? I want to ask you something. [And it's sort of a weird personal question apparently but also involves SCIENCE and cool things he learned so. Don't be busy.]

[ooc: Also Bruce meaning Wayne not Banner. :>]

Tony Stark's graduated and elected to return home for now, so I'm afraid congratulations might have to be directed towards one of his teammates to bring back with them when they depart, or otherwise wait until he returns. [If he does, because man seriously Charles would not blame him at all if he elected to stay home permanently.

But then again, Charles has hated the Barge for a long time so maybe he's a little biased. :V]

[Friends Filter]

Are you alright?

[ooc: The one friendly conversation rule applies to the filter! Em says Tony would have said goodbye in person to at least Charles, Pepper, Steve and Banner, but otherwise he just peaced out.]

( Backdated note to the Admiral )

[Public]

Thank you all for the gifts. Nice that we actually had a more or less quiet month, rather than being dumped in another Overlook Hotel-style port. [Which is being said dryly, but seriously. This is the first nice port they've had in months, mistletoe is pretty low on the totem pole in terms of horrible things that could have happened this month.

He almost looks like he's considering switching off the feed and leaving it at that, but reconsiders.] I had a discussion with Agent Carter while we were in port about how the city had changed over the years, particularly after the Blitz. For those of you unfamiliar with Earth history, from September of 1940 to May of 1941, Germany launched a series of strategic bombing raids against the United Kingdom, targeting ports, industrial centers and other civilian targets, killing around forty thousand civilians in the process. The goal was to demoralize the British populace, because at the time, Britain was one of the few powers standing against Nazi Germany.

Obviously, it didn't work, and Germany and the other Axis powers would lose the war four years later. After the attacks ended, people were left to pick up the pieces left behind and restart their lives. [Which he hadn't really been around for. By the time he'd seen London again, everything had been more or less tidied up.]

Rebuilding wasn't simply people trying to bury the bad memories or pretend none of it ever happened. Like any traumatic situation, what you get out of it depends largely on how you're willing to move forward. You can become bitter and jaded, or you can make peace with the memories without forgetting what happened and try to move forward and prove you're stronger for surviving. It all depends on how you choose to look at it.

That certainly doesn't mean it's easy, but it is possible.

( Notes for Erik, Tony, Pepper and Arkady + a Spam for Jean )

[Private to the Admiral]

( Items for Erik, Jean, Morgana, Tony, Merlin, Arthur, Steve, Anya, Ivy, Sara, Babs, Wanda, Arkady and Pepper )

[Spam for Erik, backdated to shortly after his talk with Anya]

[It wouldn't exactly be accurate to say that Charles immediately headed for Erik's room after talking with Anya. It wasn't like he'd sprinted there, or anything. But there was really no denying that there was a lot he needed to tell him about, even if some of it he wasn't actually really sure if he wanted to tell him

Still, he still pretty firmly believed some of this was probably best to hear from him, rather than Anya or Lua or whoever else got their hands on the information, so he didn't really beat around the bush once Erik had let him into his room.]

I spoke with Anya.