( Backdated Spam for Alex )

[Public Video]

[Charles is in the garden, which he still has very reliably looking after since Ivy's departure with the assistance of several others. There's not much to do with most of the ordinary outdoor plants right now, what with it being January, but it's still a nice place to come and think and make sure the snow hasn't hurt anything too badly.

He's been out here for a while, properly bundled up with a wool coat and fingerless gloves, but his cheeks are red and his skin's pretty pale, so obviously it's still pretty cold outside. Still, he looks cheerful and genuinely excited when he launches into what he has to say.]

While farmers and herders had understood the benefit of selective breeding for thousands of years, the actual mechanisms governing inheritance were almost completely unknown. After people began to develop more sophisticated microscopes and started studying cells, they became more interested in discovering how a trait is passed from parent to offspring, and the first man to get it more or less right was a relatively unknown monk named Gregor Mendel. He crossbred pea plants, and his work helped scientists finally understand how hereditary actually works. [So basically, it's awesome.]

I know it's a bit early to plant peas out in the garden, but I thought it might be fun to try and recreate his experiment in the spring, if anyone's interested in seeing some very basic genetics in action. We could start a few plants in the greenhouse, first, and move them out here once it gets warmer.

[Private to Steph]

[This message comes after he's come back inside, and he's more or less gone from enthusiastic science geek/teacher to calm, supportive voice of reason. He wears many hats.]

I'm sure you're aware, but Dr. Banner asked me to touch base with you after the holidays if I hadn't already heard from you per your agreement to begin speaking to a therapist. Since I hadn't, I thought it might be time to touch base.

[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 )

As surprising as this might sound- [And he's somewhere between wry and not-quite-self depreciating, but also not-quite-I don't really care how ridiculous this might sound.] I do, actually, agree with what I said in my last address to the network, even if I'm not currently operating under the delusion that I'm the 32nd President of the United States.

I say it might be surprising, but that's honestly probably just for the newcomers, because this isn't anything I haven't said before. I've been quieter about it in recent months, and I know there are people who won't agree with me, and might even be angry with me for suggesting that we have a responsibility to each other, because I know discussions of community building and learning from example often isn't a popular topic, here.

But in the wake of truly terrible events - like the ones we've witnessed recently - we have to remember that this is a place that requires all of us to meditate on our responsibility to each other and the community at large. And revenge and defeatism often isn't as productive or fulfilling as it might seem.

I know how difficult this might be for some people to hear, because God knows I've been in that place myself often enough over the last two years, but I can promise, going down that path isn't worth it. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be.

[Private to Chris]

[So, this is maybe a little awkward. It's not like Charles and Chris have exactly been on the best terms (or really spoken much since Charles told him not to brutally fourth wall people way back when), but he's not really good at just sitting around when he might be able to help someone.]

I'm assuming you've already been approached with quite a few viable options in terms of navigating the Barge, but I've got a motorized wheelchair Tony designed for me if you're interested. [And as if the fact that it's designed by Tony Stark isn't enough...]

It's also capable of flight.

[Since the event ended, Charles has more or less been holed up in his room sleeping it off, and still sounds pretty drained when he actually starts talking, voice not quite droning, but definitely more tired and worn out - almost disappointed, really - than enthusiastic.]

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story.

I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.

But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times." He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,for his anger will change nothing.

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed."

[There's a short pause, and he continues, now almost sounding distracted.] It's an old Cherokee fable. For those of you who aren't from Earth, or are unfamiliar with this particular subject, the Cherokee are a Native American people who have historically settled in the south eastern parts of North America.

[There's another short pause, like he's considering maybe saying something else, but the feed clicks off without any further elaboration after a few seconds.]

[Private to Merlin & Arthur]

I don't know if you've been told, [Or care. :V] but Morgana's vanished.

[Private to Alex]

[This he actually manages to sound more or less like himself for, because he really is happy for Alex.]

I hear some congratulations are in order.

( 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 )

[Warden Filtered + The Admiral]

[Charles honestly feels like he should have addressed this months ago. But Erik got paired and he was maybe hoping Parker would get what the problem was, here, and give him the benefit of the doubt and just give him stuff back, but that obviously didn't happen and, yeah. He's waited too long, and now he feels guilty he didn't do it earlier.

He hasn't talked a lot with people about who Erik is to him - because really he doesn't talk much about himself at all and the whole best friend/arch nemesis thing is still new and decidedly unpleasant for various reasons - and he isn't really planning on going into detail now but. This couldn't wait.]

I understand that this isn't the sort of thing wardens have much control over unless they're actually assigned to an inmate, but I'd still like to petition the Admiral to give Erik Lensherr his powers back, at their full ability, as soon as possible.

[And he is very well aware why in light of his most recent post that might get some raised eyebrows, but.] I know most of you are aware by now that we're mutants. Humans, in our world, have started to evolve to develop unique gifts. We're not entirely sure how or why - it's my field of research, and there's been some discussion that it's the result of entering the atomic age - but the fact is, we were born with these abilities. We've learned to control them and use them responsibility, and we've had to hide what we really are from most people in fear of how people would react to knowing people like us exist. When other humans do become aware of what we're capable of, they've often responded with fear, or taunting, or with plans to turn us into little more than a sideshow, or creatures to be experimented on. We've spent a lifetime trying to hide who we are and learning control to protect ourselves and others, and control or abuse of power really isn't an issue at this point in our lives.

Erik has a much darker view of mankind than I do, and it comes from a lifetime of witnessing the darkest parts of humanity. Coming here, and being told that he's a prisoner, and being denied a fundamental part of his being, repeatedly, despite already having control and showing that he isn't an inmate to be concerned about is just making things worse, and I'm concerned that without getting his abilities restored, we're all running a larger risk of damaging his ability to make any progress at all here, which is something I can't watch happen. [He might have accidentally paralyzed him and kind of gone off the deep end a little, but Erik is still his best friend/hetero life partner. :c] This isn't just some parlor trick or a luxury he can learn to live without. It's a part of him, as much as much as any other sense or facet of a personality is.

Anyone who has an ability or biological make up that differs from the human "norm" understands how violating it feels to have it stripped while in a port. But at least we have the guarantee that in a few days, we'll be back to normal. Erik - and other inmates like him - don't have that luxury, and after everything we've been through I, personally, can't endorse. Not after this long. Not when he's done nothing to prove he can't be trusted with it, and not after what we've all been subjected to already. Being stripped of your abilities is [And he kind of hesitates before using the word, because he is still decidedly Not Okay with his paralysis and talking about it with other people. He ends up spitting it out almost like he's aware of how potentially ironic his choice in words were, almost self depreciatingly funny.] crippling, and I can't imagine being in the position of the inmates on board who've been denied full access to things that help define them.

[And yes, maybe it's a little selfish that he's only asking for Erik and not for everyone but. It's Erik. And it's easier to start small and he's still kind of a selfish person.]

I'm obviously telling the wardens as a whole, but I'm addressing this to you as well, Admiral. Assuming you're listening. If you actually care about the well being of those under your care, you'll take this under serious consideration. We don't know how long it will take for him to get reassigned, and I'm not letting him wait for another six months just because he doesn't have a specific warden working with him.

[Added Later: Private to Tony]

Now that we've all had some time to cool off, would you mind telling me exactly what was going on with you and Erik? [He feels like he's got a decent enough read on you to know that's not really 100% normal day to day behavior and just what the hell was that, bro.]

[Added Later: Private to Steve]

I am so terribly sorry for what was said, earlier.