Nothing new to report (but I'm bored so...recap time)
Screencaps. (via screencapped.net)
Revolution 2.01 Born in the U.S.A. (141 MB)
Revolution 2.02 There Will Be Blood (141 MB)
Revolution 2.03 Love Story (203 MB)
Revolution 2.04 Patriot Games (141 MB)
Revolution 2.05 One Riot, One Ranger (171 MB)
Revolution 2.06 Dead Man Walking (98 MB)
Revolution 2.07 The Patriot Act (99 MB)
Revolution 2.08 Come Blow Your Horn (91 MB)
Revolution 2.09 Everyone Says I Love You (100 MB)
Revolution 2.10 Three Amigos (147 MB)
Revolution 2.11 Mis Dos Padres (132 MB)
What we know...
So, you probably remember this news that Daniel Henney was going to guest star as 'Peter'. But let's go over it again (coz I've forgotten too - it's been like 5 weeks!).
Peter Garner:
+ According to The Hollywood Reporter he'll have a three episode arc.
+ According to THR he'll first appear in 2.13 (Happy Endings).
+ Kripke told THR Peter is: a "handsome, charming and incredibly intelligent" character.
+ Mis Dos Padres revealed that Peter had worked on the Aaron's code with Priscilla. So, he's probably been talking to dead people too.
+ We have this picture of him looking like he's leading a faith healing thing...
_ _ _
Then, there's Duncan (oh, I have such hopes for Duncan...):
+ Entertainment Weekly told us to: look out for the addition of a female warlord named Duncan (played by Katie Aselton), who, Kripke teases, “has a war clan similar to Titus, except she’s not completely bird-sh- crazy.” “Our heroes - though they were battling war clans at the beginning of the season - find themselves in the interesting and uncomfortable position of allying themselves with a war clan in the second half of the season in order to defeat the patriots.”
+ Nika found this pic and among Kate's tweets to feed our speculation.
+ She'll also first appear in 2.13 (as you can see from the Happy Endings synopsis below).
+ Looking at the Masterlists for the Extras casting ( 1 and 2) she's in at least 2 episodes (I think?), maybe even three. Then again if the whole point of S2 is to war against the Patriots then she'd have to be around at the end of the season to help the Mathesons.
...and I think that's all we know, which sucks :/
__________________________________________
And if we wander onto IMDB and combine it with the Extras Casting we can make some vague guesses, like thus:
[Speculation and Guesses]We're obviously going back to New Vegas, and this will see the appearance of a: RINGMASTER, ZUES’ MANAGER, TOURISTS, RESIDENTS, NEW VEGAS DEALERS/EMPLOYEES, and ARMED SECURITY GUARDS.
IMDB (2.13) has this guy - Troy Brenna - listed as Zeuss and according to his previous work, he mainly he does stunts.
So more bare knuckle boxing maybe? But in a casino type environment? Can Monroe take his shirt off again? And he has a manager (I assume the spelling's off) so he's probably an act/performer of N.V.
- - - -
And IMDB has this guy - Trenton Rostedt - listed as Ray for both 2.13 and 2.14. And it looks like he has scenes with Monroe, 'Ely Gould', Connor and Charlie. And I have no idea what role he plays, given we don't know who Ely Gould is yet (except that he has guards/henchmen and is probably running a casino) - but maybe 2IC? Or something like Tom's old role in the M.R? Someone to suss out troublemakers and liars?
__________________________________________
Entertainment Weekly also had this:
“Trusting [Monroe] into the position of father has brought out some really unexpected and interesting colors in the character,” teases executive producer Eric Kripke.
And not long after we meet Connor, he adds, he will find himself among the group of people hoping to bring down the season’s big bad. “The second half of the season is part of our group marshalling their forces and pulling everyone together - that includes Monroe’s son and Neville - and bringing everyone together against the bad guys,” he says. “Meanwhile, the bad guys’ plan becomes terrifyingly clear as well as the audience getting to know really the big bad of the season, which is the president of the ‘United States’ - in quotes. All the chess pieces are moving into position for a final confrontation.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Extras Rambling]And Extras Casting calls for the new year started with...
URBAN COMMUTERS,
SUITED EXECUTIVES,
JOGGERS/RUNNERS,
BIKE MESSENGERS,
LOITERERS,
BEARDED COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS
TECHIES,
MALE AND FEMALE INTERNS,
MALE AND FEMALE TATTOOED ASSISTANTS,
MALE AND FEMALE SECRETARIES,
D.O.D. EMPLOYEES,
CHICAGO PEDESTRIANS,
CHICAGO COMMUTERS with CARS,
DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE REPS,
MOTEL GUESTS W/ CARS
+ plus added notes provided small clues as to what they're shooting -- 'This episode is set in modern day Chicago and Minneapolis during March. People should be dressed in spring attire'.
+ Things like this for Jan 9th are confusing:
09:00 am - CHARLIE/MONROE Stand-in (Stephanie)
09:00 am - AARON Stand-in (Kevin)
09:00 am - NORA/PRISCILLA/RACHEL Stand-in (Misty)
09:00 am - HORN/MILES Stand in (Klifton)
+ And:
SOLDIER RECRUIT TRAINEES: male and female (15-19 y.o), for work on our next upcoming Episode #216 - sometime between 1/17/14 - 1/30/14.
Makes it sound like they're not shooting completely in sequence anymore, or at the very least they're leaving bigger (extra filled) scenes for later whenever they can. It also sounds like we're going to get to see more of these super soldiers the Patriots are making out of pouty teens.
+ And then the casting gets super interesting...and weird.
DISRUPTIVE PRISONERS,
GITMO ARMY PRISON GUARDS,
MALE DIRECTORS/COMMANDERS/US G’VMT OFFICIALS,
GITMO MARINES,
ARMY GUYS ON BOATS
I mean, if the Patriots could somehow get prisoners to fight for them (along with Gitmo Marines, who've probably had nothing much to do, but train for years and years) I can't see this 'occupation' ending anytime soon. Or maybe I'm reading into that wrong, maybe they're just moving the prisoners from Cuba for easy access? Maybe they're abandoning Cuba finally, pulling up stumps and they don't want to leave anything (anyone) behind?
I'd really like to see Miloe Vs. Guantanamo Bay Marines. Just for reasons.
And BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRISONERS? is right up there with what happened to the astronauts? as far as I'm concerned. And I'd really love it if a whole bunch of them escaped and we sort of a Gotham City type situation across the region, with all these psychotics running around plotting things...well, in a way that wouldn't be too distracting lol. Surely the Patriots have been experimenting on them?
__________________________________________
Episodes to come.
-- 2.12 --
"CAPTAIN TRIPS" ( x)
01/22/2014 (08:00PM - 09:00PM) (Wednesday) : CHARLIE AND RACHEL SHARE AN INTERESTING BOND- KIM RAVER GUEST STARS - When Gene (Stephen Collins) decides to assist the town of Willoughby, Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) feel compelled to help too as Miles (Billy Burke) and Monroe (David Lyons) continue to join forces in order to survive.
Also starring JD Pardo, Christopher Cousins, Mat Vairo, Maureen Sebastian, Steven Culp and Kim Raver.
_ _ _
-- 2.13 --
"HAPPY ENDINGS" ( x)
01/29/2014 (08:00PM - 09:00PM) (Wednesday) : MONROE HATCHES A PLAN - BRET MICHAELS GUEST STARS
Monroe (David Lyons) leads Connor (Mat Vairo) and Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) on a risky mission, as Miles (Billy Burke) and Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) keep an eye on things in Willoughby. Meanwhile, Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) gets a new assignment and Aaron (Zak Orth) reunites with an old friend.
Also starring JD Pardo, Stephen Collins, Katie Aselton, Steven Culp, Maureen Sebastian and Daniel Henney
[We haven't had synopsis news since Jan 10th...arg. So Nika's theory is we're going into Hiatus again before 2.14 - boo]
__________________________________________
*BONUS*
Aaron's (slightly redundant) journal entries.
Via NBC.
[Fireflies/Dying in Willoughby]
Fireflies
Fireflies are native to this part of Texas. We had them in Minnesota when I was little, too, and I'd watch my cousins run around the backyard trying to catch them in mason jars. Maybe I'd have joined them, but it wasn't (isn't) in my nature to exert myself. When they'd bring the jars inside, fixing pieces of cheesecloth to the lids with rubber bands, making little glass and gauze prisons, I'd feel bad for the fireflies. Because after a while, the blinking lights would get dimmer and less frequent, the soft buzzing would stop entirely. And in the morning, someone would finally remember to let them back out... but it was too late. They were already dead. It rides the dial between funny and disturbing how many childhood activities involve the genocide of insects.
Yet, since we came to Willoughby, it always made me smile when I'd see the local kids chasing them. I guess that means I've changed. I don't empathize with the poor, defenseless fireflies; I'm reminded of being safe and warm in my parents' house. And it made me happy to know that at least one thing about being a kid hadn't changed. When the lights went out, the fireflies didn't.
But then, they took on a whole new meaning for me. Who knows why, but they became the symbol of the nanotech. Of death and rebirth and controlling infernos with my brain. It may have been terrifying, but I was starting to get used to it...
And now the fireflies are gone. At least, the ones around me. I haven't seen one since Cynthia died, and you can bet your ass I've been looking. If I did see one, my friends would think I'm crazier than they do now, because I'd be on the floor groveling to it in a heartbeat, begging for a miracle. Begging for Cynthia. Begging for answers. They didn't teach it in Hebrew school, but the phrase that keeps coming to mind is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's probably some kind of blasphemy to put myself in the place of Jesus on the cross - add that to the list, I guess. But if the nanos didn't want to be compared to God, they shouldn't have played God. A cruel, capricious God who gives me back my life with one hand and lets Cynthia die with the other.
So all I can do now is ask myself: what does it mean? They've been following me for months, interfering with my life and my friends, bending the rules of nature... and now they vanish without a trace. Have they moved on to someone else? A new, better chosen one? Someone without my flaws? Or have they given up on humans entirely? If the latter is true - well, I can't imagine a world where having 500 quadrillion robots on the opposing team is a good thing.
It's getting late. I'm going to take a walk. I hope my 10-year-old self will forgive me for bringing a mason jar.
___________________
Dying in Willoughby
I knew where I was going to die... or at least "be dead."
There's an old cemetery up on the hill that overlooks most of Willoughby. It's been there - I have no idea how long - but some of the graves go back all the way to the 1800s. Which is just... cool. I first saw it when Cynthia took me up there to "meet" her parents. Most of the trees are dead, the gates are rusted and the gravestones are all worn away, but that view? That view is to die for, no pun intended. So standing there, overlooking everything, I thought, "Yep. This is my spot. Right here. This is where I'm gonna be buried." And there was something oddly reassuring to know exactly where I would spend the rest of my afterlife.
But that's not gonna happen now.
Willoughby is no longer my home. Everything that made it special, everything that made it unique and wholesome - all of that is gone. And it's not just because Cynthia isn't here. It's changed. The people. The town. It was sweet and friendly. Now it resembles something closer to Baghdad. And sometimes I wonder if anyone living here has even noticed. The people say, "we're safer," and "the Patriots have made life better." But I mean... really? Everywhere you look, you're surrounded by khakis with guns. There are curfews and bombings. Willoughby basically traded some amenities for a police state. And I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who likes Trident gum THAT much.
Somebody smarter than me once said, "Patriotism and fear go hand in hand." Well, if that's true, Willoughby is turning into one of the most patriotic places I've ever seen. Sometimes I wish I didn't know what I know about the Patriots. I wish I could just live my life, smile, and keep my head down. I did that a lot when I was rich. Sure, I threw money at the occasional charity and voted now and again, but that's about it. I was too busy living my life to worry about the big picture. That was someone else's job. And who knows? Maybe that's why we're in the position we're in now.
I'm not fighting to save Willoughby. Not anymore. I'm fighting to make sure the thing that Willoughby's become doesn't spread anywhere else. And sadly, that means it's time to start looking for a new resting spot.
___________________
Husband and Father
Priscilla and I never talked about kids. I mean, not really. Sure the subject came up whenever she got dragged off to one of her friends' baby showers. And, of course, her mother brought it up like clockwork at every family holiday. But I always figured that's what parents do and that we simply had nothing else to talk about.
We were both just too busy with our own lives. With work and just being together. Enjoying one another. I mean, you can't exactly jump on a midnight flight to Turks and Caicos for the weekend when you've got a drooler at home. We were happy and I didn't want to screw that up.
After the Blackout, well, the idea just became impossible. There was barely enough food for those of us who made it, let alone adding another mouth to feed. I remember wandering through some of the early camps and seeing mothers with their crying, malnourished babies, thinking, "Wow. Thank God that is not mine." Trust me, people who got pregnant in the years following the Blackout never did it on purpose. And if I'm being brutally honest, if I couldn't protect Priscilla, I sure as hell didn't want to bring a baby into the equation.
I will say, however, I'm pretty sure Cynthia wanted kids. She was too scared to have any with Carl, but I think that's partly why she liked me. Sure, she never stated any of this. I think she knew that would have freaked me out, but it was written in everything she did. That's why she became a teacher. She used to say, "If the people of Willoughby won't raise their kids right, I'll do it for them." She loved them all like they were her own and she would have made one of hell of a mother.
Even now, I don't see myself as the fatherly type. I'm not bad with kids - we get along just fine - but something that small and that fragile...? I mean, I can barely manage my own life and you want to put me in charge of another? I know we need to repopulate, but I'm gonna leave that job to guys like Miles. I mean seriously, he should have like thirty kids by now, and who knows, maybe somewhere out there - he does.
The crazy thing is, apparently the whole time Priscilla and I were together we already had a kid. We made it in college together, in a wild and crazy scientific three-way. And that kid grew up, caused the Blackout, killed billions of people and is now self-aware and leading me across the country on some nano scavenger hunt. Congratulations, I'm apparently the world's worst absentee father. Way to go, Dad.
________________________
Oh, Aaron. Thirty kids?...Miles would be rocking back and forth in a corner with two.
And so you know we're thinking of doing a Mini Rewatch for 2.10 & 2.11, and 2.12 & 2.13 during the Olympic Hiatus :D
Revolution 2.01 Born in the U.S.A. (141 MB)
Revolution 2.02 There Will Be Blood (141 MB)
Revolution 2.03 Love Story (203 MB)
Revolution 2.04 Patriot Games (141 MB)
Revolution 2.05 One Riot, One Ranger (171 MB)
Revolution 2.06 Dead Man Walking (98 MB)
Revolution 2.07 The Patriot Act (99 MB)
Revolution 2.08 Come Blow Your Horn (91 MB)
Revolution 2.09 Everyone Says I Love You (100 MB)
Revolution 2.10 Three Amigos (147 MB)
Revolution 2.11 Mis Dos Padres (132 MB)
What we know...
So, you probably remember this news that Daniel Henney was going to guest star as 'Peter'. But let's go over it again (coz I've forgotten too - it's been like 5 weeks!).
Peter Garner:
+ According to The Hollywood Reporter he'll have a three episode arc.
+ According to THR he'll first appear in 2.13 (Happy Endings).
+ Kripke told THR Peter is: a "handsome, charming and incredibly intelligent" character.
+ Mis Dos Padres revealed that Peter had worked on the Aaron's code with Priscilla. So, he's probably been talking to dead people too.
+ We have this picture of him looking like he's leading a faith healing thing...
_ _ _
Then, there's Duncan (oh, I have such hopes for Duncan...):
+ Entertainment Weekly told us to: look out for the addition of a female warlord named Duncan (played by Katie Aselton), who, Kripke teases, “has a war clan similar to Titus, except she’s not completely bird-sh- crazy.” “Our heroes - though they were battling war clans at the beginning of the season - find themselves in the interesting and uncomfortable position of allying themselves with a war clan in the second half of the season in order to defeat the patriots.”
+ Nika found this pic and among Kate's tweets to feed our speculation.
+ She'll also first appear in 2.13 (as you can see from the Happy Endings synopsis below).
+ Looking at the Masterlists for the Extras casting ( 1 and 2) she's in at least 2 episodes (I think?), maybe even three. Then again if the whole point of S2 is to war against the Patriots then she'd have to be around at the end of the season to help the Mathesons.
...and I think that's all we know, which sucks :/
__________________________________________
And if we wander onto IMDB and combine it with the Extras Casting we can make some vague guesses, like thus:
[Speculation and Guesses]We're obviously going back to New Vegas, and this will see the appearance of a: RINGMASTER, ZUES’ MANAGER, TOURISTS, RESIDENTS, NEW VEGAS DEALERS/EMPLOYEES, and ARMED SECURITY GUARDS.
IMDB (2.13) has this guy - Troy Brenna - listed as Zeuss and according to his previous work, he mainly he does stunts.
So more bare knuckle boxing maybe? But in a casino type environment? Can Monroe take his shirt off again? And he has a manager (I assume the spelling's off) so he's probably an act/performer of N.V.
- - - -
And IMDB has this guy - Trenton Rostedt - listed as Ray for both 2.13 and 2.14. And it looks like he has scenes with Monroe, 'Ely Gould', Connor and Charlie. And I have no idea what role he plays, given we don't know who Ely Gould is yet (except that he has guards/henchmen and is probably running a casino) - but maybe 2IC? Or something like Tom's old role in the M.R? Someone to suss out troublemakers and liars?
__________________________________________
Entertainment Weekly also had this:
“Trusting [Monroe] into the position of father has brought out some really unexpected and interesting colors in the character,” teases executive producer Eric Kripke.
And not long after we meet Connor, he adds, he will find himself among the group of people hoping to bring down the season’s big bad. “The second half of the season is part of our group marshalling their forces and pulling everyone together - that includes Monroe’s son and Neville - and bringing everyone together against the bad guys,” he says. “Meanwhile, the bad guys’ plan becomes terrifyingly clear as well as the audience getting to know really the big bad of the season, which is the president of the ‘United States’ - in quotes. All the chess pieces are moving into position for a final confrontation.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[Extras Rambling]And Extras Casting calls for the new year started with...
URBAN COMMUTERS,
SUITED EXECUTIVES,
JOGGERS/RUNNERS,
BIKE MESSENGERS,
LOITERERS,
BEARDED COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS
TECHIES,
MALE AND FEMALE INTERNS,
MALE AND FEMALE TATTOOED ASSISTANTS,
MALE AND FEMALE SECRETARIES,
D.O.D. EMPLOYEES,
CHICAGO PEDESTRIANS,
CHICAGO COMMUTERS with CARS,
DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE REPS,
MOTEL GUESTS W/ CARS
+ plus added notes provided small clues as to what they're shooting -- 'This episode is set in modern day Chicago and Minneapolis during March. People should be dressed in spring attire'.
+ Things like this for Jan 9th are confusing:
09:00 am - CHARLIE/MONROE Stand-in (Stephanie)
09:00 am - AARON Stand-in (Kevin)
09:00 am - NORA/PRISCILLA/RACHEL Stand-in (Misty)
09:00 am - HORN/MILES Stand in (Klifton)
+ And:
SOLDIER RECRUIT TRAINEES: male and female (15-19 y.o), for work on our next upcoming Episode #216 - sometime between 1/17/14 - 1/30/14.
Makes it sound like they're not shooting completely in sequence anymore, or at the very least they're leaving bigger (extra filled) scenes for later whenever they can. It also sounds like we're going to get to see more of these super soldiers the Patriots are making out of pouty teens.
+ And then the casting gets super interesting...and weird.
DISRUPTIVE PRISONERS,
GITMO ARMY PRISON GUARDS,
MALE DIRECTORS/COMMANDERS/US G’VMT OFFICIALS,
GITMO MARINES,
ARMY GUYS ON BOATS
I mean, if the Patriots could somehow get prisoners to fight for them (along with Gitmo Marines, who've probably had nothing much to do, but train for years and years) I can't see this 'occupation' ending anytime soon. Or maybe I'm reading into that wrong, maybe they're just moving the prisoners from Cuba for easy access? Maybe they're abandoning Cuba finally, pulling up stumps and they don't want to leave anything (anyone) behind?
I'd really like to see Miloe Vs. Guantanamo Bay Marines. Just for reasons.
And BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRISONERS? is right up there with what happened to the astronauts? as far as I'm concerned. And I'd really love it if a whole bunch of them escaped and we sort of a Gotham City type situation across the region, with all these psychotics running around plotting things...well, in a way that wouldn't be too distracting lol. Surely the Patriots have been experimenting on them?
__________________________________________
Episodes to come.
-- 2.12 --
"CAPTAIN TRIPS" ( x)
01/22/2014 (08:00PM - 09:00PM) (Wednesday) : CHARLIE AND RACHEL SHARE AN INTERESTING BOND- KIM RAVER GUEST STARS - When Gene (Stephen Collins) decides to assist the town of Willoughby, Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) feel compelled to help too as Miles (Billy Burke) and Monroe (David Lyons) continue to join forces in order to survive.
Also starring JD Pardo, Christopher Cousins, Mat Vairo, Maureen Sebastian, Steven Culp and Kim Raver.
_ _ _
-- 2.13 --
"HAPPY ENDINGS" ( x)
01/29/2014 (08:00PM - 09:00PM) (Wednesday) : MONROE HATCHES A PLAN - BRET MICHAELS GUEST STARS
Monroe (David Lyons) leads Connor (Mat Vairo) and Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos) on a risky mission, as Miles (Billy Burke) and Rachel (Elizabeth Mitchell) keep an eye on things in Willoughby. Meanwhile, Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) gets a new assignment and Aaron (Zak Orth) reunites with an old friend.
Also starring JD Pardo, Stephen Collins, Katie Aselton, Steven Culp, Maureen Sebastian and Daniel Henney
[We haven't had synopsis news since Jan 10th...arg. So Nika's theory is we're going into Hiatus again before 2.14 - boo]
__________________________________________
*BONUS*
Aaron's (slightly redundant) journal entries.
Via NBC.
[Fireflies/Dying in Willoughby]
Fireflies
Fireflies are native to this part of Texas. We had them in Minnesota when I was little, too, and I'd watch my cousins run around the backyard trying to catch them in mason jars. Maybe I'd have joined them, but it wasn't (isn't) in my nature to exert myself. When they'd bring the jars inside, fixing pieces of cheesecloth to the lids with rubber bands, making little glass and gauze prisons, I'd feel bad for the fireflies. Because after a while, the blinking lights would get dimmer and less frequent, the soft buzzing would stop entirely. And in the morning, someone would finally remember to let them back out... but it was too late. They were already dead. It rides the dial between funny and disturbing how many childhood activities involve the genocide of insects.
Yet, since we came to Willoughby, it always made me smile when I'd see the local kids chasing them. I guess that means I've changed. I don't empathize with the poor, defenseless fireflies; I'm reminded of being safe and warm in my parents' house. And it made me happy to know that at least one thing about being a kid hadn't changed. When the lights went out, the fireflies didn't.
But then, they took on a whole new meaning for me. Who knows why, but they became the symbol of the nanotech. Of death and rebirth and controlling infernos with my brain. It may have been terrifying, but I was starting to get used to it...
And now the fireflies are gone. At least, the ones around me. I haven't seen one since Cynthia died, and you can bet your ass I've been looking. If I did see one, my friends would think I'm crazier than they do now, because I'd be on the floor groveling to it in a heartbeat, begging for a miracle. Begging for Cynthia. Begging for answers. They didn't teach it in Hebrew school, but the phrase that keeps coming to mind is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It's probably some kind of blasphemy to put myself in the place of Jesus on the cross - add that to the list, I guess. But if the nanos didn't want to be compared to God, they shouldn't have played God. A cruel, capricious God who gives me back my life with one hand and lets Cynthia die with the other.
So all I can do now is ask myself: what does it mean? They've been following me for months, interfering with my life and my friends, bending the rules of nature... and now they vanish without a trace. Have they moved on to someone else? A new, better chosen one? Someone without my flaws? Or have they given up on humans entirely? If the latter is true - well, I can't imagine a world where having 500 quadrillion robots on the opposing team is a good thing.
It's getting late. I'm going to take a walk. I hope my 10-year-old self will forgive me for bringing a mason jar.
___________________
Dying in Willoughby
I knew where I was going to die... or at least "be dead."
There's an old cemetery up on the hill that overlooks most of Willoughby. It's been there - I have no idea how long - but some of the graves go back all the way to the 1800s. Which is just... cool. I first saw it when Cynthia took me up there to "meet" her parents. Most of the trees are dead, the gates are rusted and the gravestones are all worn away, but that view? That view is to die for, no pun intended. So standing there, overlooking everything, I thought, "Yep. This is my spot. Right here. This is where I'm gonna be buried." And there was something oddly reassuring to know exactly where I would spend the rest of my afterlife.
But that's not gonna happen now.
Willoughby is no longer my home. Everything that made it special, everything that made it unique and wholesome - all of that is gone. And it's not just because Cynthia isn't here. It's changed. The people. The town. It was sweet and friendly. Now it resembles something closer to Baghdad. And sometimes I wonder if anyone living here has even noticed. The people say, "we're safer," and "the Patriots have made life better." But I mean... really? Everywhere you look, you're surrounded by khakis with guns. There are curfews and bombings. Willoughby basically traded some amenities for a police state. And I don't know about you, but I don't know anyone who likes Trident gum THAT much.
Somebody smarter than me once said, "Patriotism and fear go hand in hand." Well, if that's true, Willoughby is turning into one of the most patriotic places I've ever seen. Sometimes I wish I didn't know what I know about the Patriots. I wish I could just live my life, smile, and keep my head down. I did that a lot when I was rich. Sure, I threw money at the occasional charity and voted now and again, but that's about it. I was too busy living my life to worry about the big picture. That was someone else's job. And who knows? Maybe that's why we're in the position we're in now.
I'm not fighting to save Willoughby. Not anymore. I'm fighting to make sure the thing that Willoughby's become doesn't spread anywhere else. And sadly, that means it's time to start looking for a new resting spot.
___________________
Husband and Father
Priscilla and I never talked about kids. I mean, not really. Sure the subject came up whenever she got dragged off to one of her friends' baby showers. And, of course, her mother brought it up like clockwork at every family holiday. But I always figured that's what parents do and that we simply had nothing else to talk about.
We were both just too busy with our own lives. With work and just being together. Enjoying one another. I mean, you can't exactly jump on a midnight flight to Turks and Caicos for the weekend when you've got a drooler at home. We were happy and I didn't want to screw that up.
After the Blackout, well, the idea just became impossible. There was barely enough food for those of us who made it, let alone adding another mouth to feed. I remember wandering through some of the early camps and seeing mothers with their crying, malnourished babies, thinking, "Wow. Thank God that is not mine." Trust me, people who got pregnant in the years following the Blackout never did it on purpose. And if I'm being brutally honest, if I couldn't protect Priscilla, I sure as hell didn't want to bring a baby into the equation.
I will say, however, I'm pretty sure Cynthia wanted kids. She was too scared to have any with Carl, but I think that's partly why she liked me. Sure, she never stated any of this. I think she knew that would have freaked me out, but it was written in everything she did. That's why she became a teacher. She used to say, "If the people of Willoughby won't raise their kids right, I'll do it for them." She loved them all like they were her own and she would have made one of hell of a mother.
Even now, I don't see myself as the fatherly type. I'm not bad with kids - we get along just fine - but something that small and that fragile...? I mean, I can barely manage my own life and you want to put me in charge of another? I know we need to repopulate, but I'm gonna leave that job to guys like Miles. I mean seriously, he should have like thirty kids by now, and who knows, maybe somewhere out there - he does.
The crazy thing is, apparently the whole time Priscilla and I were together we already had a kid. We made it in college together, in a wild and crazy scientific three-way. And that kid grew up, caused the Blackout, killed billions of people and is now self-aware and leading me across the country on some nano scavenger hunt. Congratulations, I'm apparently the world's worst absentee father. Way to go, Dad.
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Oh, Aaron. Thirty kids?...Miles would be rocking back and forth in a corner with two.
And so you know we're thinking of doing a Mini Rewatch for 2.10 & 2.11, and 2.12 & 2.13 during the Olympic Hiatus :D