Scald-Crow 1: The Rocky Road to Whateley

ShadowedSin wrote: Oh Gods, I'm geeking out so much from having Morpheus post thoughts on my story *Fangirls hard*!

That being said, all of your thoughts on this -one- part are seriously sparking ideas. I'm about done with part 3, I need to polish off scene 2. And I'll be ready to tear into Scald 2.

Uhm, I'm Dreamer, Morpheus is another person on the forums. I just do this story commentary each week both because several of the authors have said they like them and a way for me to enjoy the story.

Dreamer wrote:

ShadowedSin wrote: Oh Gods, I'm geeking out so much from having Morpheus post thoughts on my story *Fangirls hard*!

That being said, all of your thoughts on this -one- part are seriously sparking ideas. I'm about done with part 3, I need to polish off scene 2. And I'll be ready to tear into Scald 2.

Uhm, I'm Dreamer, Morpheus is another person on the forums. I just do this story commentary each week both because several of the authors have said they like them and a way for me to enjoy the story.

Sorry, I confused you two! Still, your commentary is amazing. It really made this author feel awesome.

((Morpheus has the name dream in his discord name. apologies))!

mhalpern wrote: OHH THAT is golden, the burden of proof is on the state, by refusing to investigate, all the defense needs is to draw suspicion on the witnesses for the prosecution, all you need to do is get them to admit to their usual behavior, shouldn't be hard for a decent lawyer as they are teens that wouldn't recognize what they are being asked in cross examination, the other route is catching them in a lie, which can invalidate their testimony, a good lawyer will do both.

You don't actually think it would ever go to trial, do you? The MCO's usual method for cases such as this is to deny that they every had the person in custody, ever heard of the person at all, or that that their agents ever came within a mile of that school, then accuse the parents of creating a false record of a child who never existed for the purpose of suing a large and well-funded international NGO.

It is safe to say that both Fairchild and the County Registrar mean to destroy all documents mentioning the existence of Padraig O'Callaghan (and Sophia Jameson, too, since the MCO will undoubtedly insist that she come with them as a 'material witness') the minute they are off school grounds - all in the name of assisting the legitimate operations of the MCO, of course. I can even see the MCO risking a black bag operation to remove the documents at the Callaghan's and Jameson's homes, while planting 'evidence' that there never were such people.

After all, we've seen them do this before, haven't we?

Though doing this so close to Seattle may end up backfiring on them, should Miles Waylann get wind of it.

And there's the rub: the MCO itself is so inconsistent, so schizoid, so full of contentious internal politics, so contradictory in how different offices act (consider the actions of the Dallas office in "Small Mercies" compared to the Sioux Falls office in "Buffalo Gal") - and with a leadership which seems to encourage an almost reflexive level of paranoia and duplicity - that it is impossible to say if this will happen or not. The organization's procedures are so sloppy and oversight so loose (hence why Waylann's rules-lawyering is atypical) that how they handle a given case seems to often come down to the individual offices, or even individual agents.

'Buffalo Gal' by ElrodW wrote: "I mean, if you call the MCO," he said, looking solemnly at Mom, "you could just flip a coin as to whether you'll ever see her again, or whether she'll just disappear, like too many other youth mutants such as Sara Johnson and Roberta Jennings."

The MCO (at least in the Gen 1 time period) seems to be in a perpetual state of low-key civil war, a state apparently encouraged by the ex-intelligence agents at the top. They could try to disappear them as I described... or they could just pack them off to Whateley with new identities and a whispered, "don't tell my boss". Or any of a dozen other possibilities. There's just no way to tell yet.

And you'll never know why they did what they did, later, because it is as likely to be a matter of office politics as it is to be out of good or bad intent.

The fact that this inconsistency and dissonance suits the dramatic needs of the CC (TINCC) is coincidence, surely.

No wonder Jadis was able to pull off that dodge in "Saks and Violence"; to your typical LEOs (even in New York City), just about any behavior must seem plausible from the MCO.

Schol-R-LEA wrote:

mhalpern wrote: OHH THAT is golden, the burden of proof is on the state, by refusing to investigate, all the defense needs is to draw suspicion on the witnesses for the prosecution, all you need to do is get them to admit to their usual behavior, shouldn't be hard for a decent lawyer as they are teens that wouldn't recognize what they are being asked in cross examination, the other route is catching them in a lie, which can invalidate their testimony, a good lawyer will do both.

You don't actually think it would ever go to trial, do you? The MCO's usual method for cases such as this is to deny that they every had the person in custody, ever heard of the person at all, or that that their agents ever came within a mile of that school, then accuse the parents of creating a false record of a child who never existed for the purpose of suing a large and well-funded international NGO.

It is safe to say that both Fairchild and the County Registrar mean to destroy all documents mentioning the existence of Padraig O'Callaghan (and Sophia Jameson, too, since the MCO will undoubtedly insist that she come with them as a 'material witness') the minute they are off school grounds - all in the name of assisting the legitimate operations of the MCO, of course. I can even see the MCO risking a black bag operation to remove the documents at the Callaghan's and Jameson's homes, while planting 'evidence' that there never were such people.

After all, we've seen them do this before, haven't we?

Though doing this so close to Seattle may end up backfiring on them, should Miles Waylann get wind of it.

And there's the rub: the MCO itself is so inconsistent, so schizoid, so full of contentious internal politics, so contradictory in how different offices act (consider the actions of the Dallas office in "Small Mercies" compared to the Sioux Falls office in "Buffalo Gal") - and with a leadership which seems to encourage an almost reflexive level of paranoia and duplicity - that it is impossible to say if this will happen or not. The organization's procedures are so sloppy and oversight so loose (hence why Waylann's rules-lawyering is atypical) that how they handle a given case seems to often come down to the individual offices, or even individual agents.

'Buffalo Gal' by ElrodW wrote: "I mean, if you call the MCO," he said, looking solemnly at Mom, "you could just flip a coin as to whether you'll ever see her again, or whether she'll just disappear, like too many other youth mutants such as Sara Johnson and Roberta Jennings."

The MCO (at least in the Gen 1 time period) seems to be in a perpetual state of low-key civil war, a state apparently encouraged by the ex-intelligence agents at the top. They could try to disappear them as I described... or they could just pack them off to Whateley with new identities and a whispered, "don't tell my boss". Or any of a dozen other possibilities. There's just no way to tell yet.

And you'll never know why they did what they did, later, because it is as likely to be a matter of office politics as it is to be out of good or bad intent.

The fact that this inconsistency and dissonance suits the dramatic needs of the CC (TINCC) is coincidence, surely.

No wonder Jadis was able to pull off that dodge in "Saks and Violence"; to your typical LEOs (even in New York City), just about any behavior must seem plausible from the MCO.

Having a respected member of the local buisiness council as witness to the arrest stacks things,

Gerald is the Lawyer for the Lummi Business council

ShadowedSin wrote: Gerald is the Lawyer for the Lummi Business council

So if/when they try anything they are f-ed, probably making sure the right to have parent/guardian and/or legal council present is exercised at all times... I suspect they sprang for a Giz phone, anticipating something to come up,

interesting that she has the syn fiber allergy but not the dietary restrictions we have seen come with it in the past...

mhalpern wrote: interesting that she has the syn fiber allergy but not the dietary restrictions we have seen come with it in the past...

The aversion to meat hasn't been presented as a physical intolerance, it's just not appealing anymore. It could just be that her body's need for complete proteins overrode the tofu cravings.

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: interesting that she has the syn fiber allergy but not the dietary restrictions we have seen come with it in the past...

The aversion to meat hasn't been presented as a physical intolerance, it's just not appealing anymore. It could just be that her body's need for complete proteins overrode the tofu cravings.

or that she is becoming something deeply magical enough to be affected by unnatural things yet isnt Sidhe

I found the section titled: Friday Afternoon, October 16th, 2007 - Lummi Island, very confusing. It seems to constantly shift in time and place, a lot of it does not actually happen in late afternoon. The fact that he is daydreaming while on the ferry home really needs to be estabished earlier than it is.