1. World peace feels impossible. But it isn't as far-fetched as conservatives might tell you. Progressive foreign policy for any given nation would generally include the following: pursuing diplomatic solutions (using political tactics, not the military, to achieve solutions with mutual gain rather than one victor and one loser); reducing the role of the military as a whole (e.g. working to prevent wars rather than focusing on winning them); engaging strategic competitors (the US, for example, must learn to work with Russia and China while still being critical of their reported human rights' violations rather than remaining perpetually at odds with them); using force as a last resort (and multilaterally, e.g. through the UN, and with a definitive plan about when to withdraw); strengthening international institutions (e.g. using institutions like the UN to facilitate global cooperation, rather than one country taking control); reshaping nuclear weapons policy (reducing the size of nuclear weapon arsenals, never using nuclear weapons first, cancelling all plans to build/deploy new nuclear weapons, etc.); considering the humanitarian impact of economic sanctions (economic sanctions almost always disproportionately impact the poorest and most vulnerable members of a population, and therefore if used should be modified to only target wealthy/powerful individuals); enhancing oversight and accountability (the US, for example, must fight internal corruption, end unchecked mass surveillance of its citizens, etc.); tackling climate change (both within the country and on a global level); and improving global health (e.g. funding international organizations that support global health, increasing humanitarian aid to developing countries, preparing for the next pandemic, etc.). Implementing these policies would be a solid step towards true global cooperation and maybe, one day, world peace. (Condensed from soyouwanttotalkabout on Instagram!)
2. If you live in the US and are 18+ - VOTE. BLUE. ALL THE WAY DOWN YOUR TICKET. Democrats/Progressives need to control both the House and the Senate for effective, lasting policy changes like what's discussed above to occur.
Bonjour vous-autres! I hope you're all doing well this weekend. You know, surviving the global pandemic and whatnot. This chapter is a little shorter, but I'm pretty sure next week's update is kind of a beast compared to other chapter lengths lmao, so it balances out. I hope you enjoy!
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Amaya pulled both boys into a tight hug, one which they immediately reciprocated.
"What are you doing here?" Callum asked when she released them. He signed as he spoke, though he found himself faltering through the words. Not only was his sign language a little rusty, but his mind was racing with a million thoughts. He was torn between feeling ecstatic to see his aunt after so long and also freaking out because Rayla was currently sitting in the dining room. Rayla, who was Xadian. Something his aunt might… have a problem with.
This evening was not going to end well.
"I thought you weren't coming in until winter break?" he finished, giving her a questioning look.
"That was my original plan," Amaya signed, a wide smile on her face, "but Harrow informed me a few weeks ago that a certain nephew of mine got accepted into KSU's prestigious art showcase, and I knew I couldn't miss that for the world. I reorganized my vacation time with some help from Gren, so here I am!"
Callum found himself overwhelmed by the fact that his aunt had redone everything just to see him. Him. Well, and his artwork. Amaya was the best.
"Dad, did you know about this?!" Ezran demanded, though his accusatory tone didn't match the excited sparkle in his eyes.
"I may have known a thing or two," Harrow said evasively before winking at his sons. "But it wasn't confirmed until three days ago that she'd actually be flying in. I'm afraid she's only going to be here for this weekend before she has to leave again, though." Noticing Ezran's disappointed frown, he quickly added, "But, if all goes well, she should be back for winter break. It will just be for a slightly shorter amount of time than originally planned."
Amaya waved her hand dismissively. "Enough about me. We can talk about my future trips later," she signed. "What's going on with you guys? It's been nearly two years since my last visit!"
Callum had a feeling that two years was a slight exaggeration, but the sentiment was entirely true. Last time she'd visited in person, he'd been about to start his senior year of high school, and Ezran had still been in middle school. Now -
"I can't believe you're both in different schools!" she continued. "I swear you've grown up so much. Too much!"
"Actually, I haven't grown up at all," Ezran griped with a mock-scowl. "Dad says I won't hit my growth spurt until I'm at least a junior."
Harrow shrugged. "Late-bloomer genetics. Me and Sarai are both to blame."
"Honestly, you haven't missed all too much," Callum said, choosing to actually answer his aunt's question. He fingerspelled 'missed' as his mind blanked on the correct sign, then proceeded to forget an 's' anyways, which he didn't realize until after the fact. Gah - he seriously needed to brush up on his sign language, or else his hands would never keep up with his mouth. "I think the most exciting thing is the art showcase." He flushed. "Which you obviously already know about. Since that's what you're here for."
"Oh, Claudia has been cast as the head witch in Macbeth!" Ezran added. "And KSU's football team is currently undefeated because Soren is the best quarterback of all time. So that's some other pretty cool stuff going on."
Amaya chuckled. "I'll make sure to talk to those two about that tomorrow at the showcase, then." She glanced at Harrow before adding, "How is Viren?"
Harrow grimaced. "Viren is… himself."
Amaya nodded. "Nothing ever changes with him, does it?" Although she signed it indicating a question, Callum knew it wasn't one.
"Ah…" Harrow sighed, shrugging. "No, not really."
Ezran snapped his fingers, and Callum felt a chill run down his spine when he caught sight of the mischief glinting in his brother's eyes. "We're all forgetting one major change, actually."
Uh oh. Callum did not like where this was going. "Ez…"
Amaya raised an eyebrow at her nephew's comment, a small smile on her lips. "Is that so?" she signed. "And what change would that be, exactly?"
Ezran smirked, reaching up to throw his arm around Callum's shoulders. "My brother here has a girlfriend! And she's the coolest person in the world."
Callum's instinctive response was to facepalm as blood rushed up to the tips of his ears. Yeah, he should have seen that one coming. "Yes," he mumbled with a nod when his aunt sent him an inquisitive look. "Her name is Rayla. We met this year." His blush deepened. "She's… er, she's actually in the dining room right now. If you want to meet her." There was no use putting it off - his aunt would find out regardless. And it wasn't like he could sneak Rayla out the back of the house.
Still. This was not at all how he'd imagined Rayla would meet his aunt, much less the way he preferred it to occur. But he'd rather introduce them at least somewhat on his own terms than to totally throw Rayla under the bus.
Not that his attempt at reason negated the sinking feeling in his stomach, of course. The borderline-nausea reminded him too much of how he'd felt before meeting Runaan and Ethari.
Amaya smirked at him. "Oh, did my arrival interrupt a date?"
Callum groaned. "Ugh. You're as bad as these two," he said, gesturing to his stepdad and brother. "And no, it wasn't really a date."
"Are you sure about that?" she signed, giving him a teasing smile. "Forgive my skepticism, but you're dressed far more nicely than what you typically wear."
Callum dragged his hand down the left side of his face as he rolled his eyes. "This is bullying. I'm being bullied."
She snickered at his exaggerated reaction. Which was good. He'd rather her be in a positive mood when she met Rayla compared to… well, any other mood. "Don't worry, Callum. I'm just kidding. I would love to meet Rayla."
When they returned to the dining room, Rayla had only eaten a few more bites of her jelly tart, and was busy texting someone. When she noticed them enter, she immediately turned her phone off, placing it facedown on the table. "So who was…" she started to say, trailing off when she noticed Amaya standing in the back of the group. "You're Callum's aunt!" She paused. "I think?"
Amaya gave Callum a questioning look, presumably confused at Rayla's recognition of her.
"I've shown her a lot of family photos," he hastily explained, waiting for his aunt to nod before he moved to his girlfriend's side. Rayla stood up from her seat as he did so. "Rayla, this is Aunt Amaya," he said, slipping one hand into hers and gesturing towards Amaya with the other. "Aunt Amaya, this is Rayla. We've been together since September." He was grateful to see Ezran translating as he spoke, as he wasn't sure he had the mental capacity to fingerspell out each word with his free hand.
Rayla gave Amaya a small wave. "Hi. It's nice to meet you."
"You as well," Amaya signed in response, which Callum relayed to his girlfriend. He noticed something… odd flicker in his aunt's eyes as she took in Rayla's appearance, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. In other words, he couldn't get a good read on her initial reaction. "How did you meet my nephew?"
Rayla hesitated, and Callum could already feel the tension in the room thickening. But his girlfriend took a deep breath and answered. "Well, Callum, Claudia, and Soren were the only students to approach me at KSU when I arrived in August." Ezran paused in translating to clear his throat loudly, and Rayla smiled at him. "Ezran, too. We all hit it off right away, and have been friends ever since."
"Are you a transfer student?" Amaya signed, though Callum had a feeling the real question she wanted answered was why wouldn't anyone else talk to you.
"Not quite," Rayla replied, giving her a hesitant smile. "Exchange student." She glanced at Callum, before calmly adding, "From Xadia."
To anyone who didn't know her, it would have seemed like Amaya did not at all react to Rayla's admission. They'd be impressed, concluding that she'd remained calm and collected even in the face of such an 'unusual' proclamation.
But Callum did know her. And he saw the way her jaw tightened. How her shoulders stiffened. The icy look that appeared in her eyes for the briefest of seconds.
He also saw that Rayla's face had paled ever so slightly, and he knew she'd picked up on his aunt's… negative reaction, too.
"I assume you're enjoying your time at KSU?" Amaya signed, breaking the awkward pause, though the tension in the room only grew.
Callum translated, and Rayla nodded. "Yes. Even though it's only been a few months, I've already found a close group of friends who don't care that I'm Xadian. In fact, they love me all the more for it."
He knew her words were a dig at his aunt, and he couldn't even bring himself to be mad, because if he was honest…? They felt deserved. Amaya's false cheer in Rayla's presence was as bad as Runaan's blatant iciness towards him had been.
"Well. That's good, then," Amaya signed in response, though there was a certain jerk, an aggression to her motions that had not been present earlier. "I'm glad to hear it."
The tension in the room was as bad as the times when Soren and Claudia argued - rare but awful occurrences. More importantly, both were scenarios Callum had no idea how to resolve.
Rayla's phone started ringing, effectively shattering the uncomfortable silence that had fallen. "Excuse me," she said stiffly, with a polite nod towards Amaya after she picked her phone up from the table and read the caller ID. "I need to take this." She gave Callum's hand a quick squeeze before stepping out into the living room.
It took every ounce of Callum's willpower not to explode. "Aunt Amaya," he said, trying to keep his voice as level as possible, "I hope you'll forgive me for saying this, but what the fuck was that about? Rayla hasn't done anything to you!"
His aunt ignored him, whipping around to glare accusingly at Harrow. "How on Earth could you approve of their relationship?" she signed angrily. "Being friends with her is one thing, Harrow, but allowing them to date? I can't believe you!"
Callum did not appreciate her rude dismissal of him, especially considering it was his relationship that was being discussed. "I wasn't finished," he snapped, moving so she could see him signing. "You had no reason to be so rude! Why does it matter that she's Xadian? Shouldn't the most important thing be that we love each other? That she makes me happy?"
"You can be happy with someone who is not Xadian, I assure you," Amaya signed in response, directing her heated glare at him. "You're just a child, Callum. It's not like you really understand what love is yet -"
"I don't need to 'understand' what love is to know that I care a lot about Rayla and that Rayla cares a lot about me," he interjected, aware his interruption was disrespectful but unable to make himself give a shit. He prayed whoever Rayla was on the phone with couldn't hear them arguing. It was bad enough that Rayla herself probably could. "But I do understand enough about love to recognize that the way you're acting is the farthest thing from it. You're - You're being hateful and bigoted and - and completely unfair! You're letting prejudice get the best of you!" He faltered, struggling to articulate to his point. "I - How can you justify being so cruel to Rayla just because she's Xadian?!"
"Because Katolis and Xadia have been at war for centuries," she retorted, her hands shaking slightly. Something akin to hurt flashed in her eyes. "The peace you've known during your life, Callum, is new. It is fragile. And it cannot be counted on. So as much as I wish we could guarantee a permanent peace, the fact remains that Xadia cannot be trusted."
Callum shook his head in exasperation. "You can't expect one person to be representative of their entire country! Much less expect them to represent their government." Because since when had any nation's government actually listened to its people? "If we keep acting based on bias and prejudice like you are right now, yeah, you've got a point. Maybe peace won't last. But that's because the only way to move forward and to keep this peace is to dismantle our own bigotry!" He glared at his aunt, his signing becoming more staccato with each motion as his frustration grew. "You claim to want a permanent peace, but your default reaction is distrust, and that's a big reason why we'll never have one!"
Amaya started to sign something else, but Ezran - who'd been silent until then - cut her off.
"Aunt Amaya, Rayla is a good person. And she's not good 'despite' the fact that she's Xadian." Ezran's signing grew bigger and more frustrated. "She's good and Xadian. She's good because she's Xadian! You have no idea how much ignorance she has to deal with every freaking day while she's here! But she stays. Because she wants to keep learning at KSU. Because she wants there to be peace between Xadia and Katolis. Because she loves Callum, and because Callum loves her." He shook his head. "What's so hard to understand about that?"
Callum found himself absentmindedly wondering if he and Rayla were really that easy to read. He concluded that if they were, he didn't mind.
"And - And you're a good person, too, Aunt Amaya!" Ezran continued, his voice almost pleading. "Don't think you're not. If you apologize to Rayla, and if you really mean it, I promise she's going to forgive you. You can't start over with her, but you can at least make amends."
"There's no such thing as a bad time to start learning," Callum added, feeling more level-headed after Ezran's temporary intervention. "You didn't create the hatred between Katolis and Xadia, no. But you didn't have to create it in order to perpetuate it." He took a step towards her. "Now, you can choose to reject that hatred. You can choose to work for acceptance and peace. There is no other way to move forward."
For the first time that evening, hesitance flickered in his aunt's eyes, and hope bubbled in Callum's chest. They were getting through to her, he knew it.
But she still didn't respond.
"You asked me how I approved of their relationship," Harrow said after a pause, slowly signing each word to his sister-in-law. "Why I'm 'allowing' them to date." He raised an eyebrow at Amaya. "I'd like you to consider that your father asked your mother the same thing when Sarai and I started dating."
Amaya flinched, and Callum exchanged a look with Ezran. He hadn't known that. Based on his brother's shocked expression, neither had he.
Harrow's gaze softened, and he placed a hand on Amaya's shoulder. "But, if memory serves, you were the first person to step in and defend me, just as my sons now defend Rayla." He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before letting go. "Think about it."
Regret flashed across Amaya's face. But as she began signing a response, Rayla stepped into the room, and Amaya froze.
"Sorry," Rayla said quietly. "Can I steal Callum for a moment?"
Callum didn't wait to be granted permission, instead leading his girlfriend out of the dining room without hesitation. "What's going on?" he asked after he'd closed the doors behind them. "Is something wrong?"
She rolled her eyes, giving him an amused smile. "Just because I asked to talk to you in private doesn't mean something is wrong, silly prince." She slipped her phone in her pocket. "I wanted to let you know that I'm leaving. Didn't want to disappear without saying goodbye."
Callum frowned. "Leaving?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Claudia's waiting outside."
Callum's frown deepened. "What? Rayla, I could have brought you home -"
Rayla placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "We both know you need to stay here with your aunt. Talk to her." She offered him a small smile. "Besides, I have a video chat with Runaan and Ethari in like half an hour that I completely forgot about. So we'll be having…" She chuckled. "Similar conversations, I'm sure."
Callum hesitated. He didn't like the idea of her leaving and not being able to give Ezran or Harrow a proper goodbye, but… he couldn't think of any way around it, either. "Okay," he finally agreed, slipping both of his hands into hers and leaning forward to touch their foreheads together. "See you at the showcase tomorrow?"
Her smile widened. "Obviously. Wouldn't miss it for the world."
Her words were eerily similar to his aunt's from when she'd arrived, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. But before he could chicken out, Callum stood on his tiptoes to press a searing kiss to his girlfriend's lips, trying to convey all of the emotions tumbling through him into the one action. When Rayla leaned down into it, he knew she'd understood.
They pulled away, whispering their goodbyes. Callum stood silently in the hall as he watched her slip out the front door. Afterwards, he returned to the dining room, where his three family members had moved from standing in a circle to sitting more peacefully at the table. A good sign, he supposed.
"Rayla left," he said shortly, making no move to join them. "Claudia came to pick her up."
Harrow grimaced, sighing. "I see."
Ezran slid a plate towards his brother. "Jelly tart?"
Callum shook his head, giving his brother a soft smile. "No thanks, Ez. I'm good." He absentmindedly rubbed his left shoulder. "I think I'll turn in early tonight. Big day tomorrow."
Harrow nodded. "We understand." He offered his stepson a sympathetic smile. "Goodnight, Callum. Sleep well."
Ezran echoed the sentiment, and Callum nodded to the both of them. "Goodnight, guys." His gaze flickered over to Amaya, who was staring down at a mug of… some drink, he supposed. Maybe water.
She must have noticed him looking at her, because she lifted her gaze and signed, "Goodnight. See…" She shook her head. "Talk to you tomorrow."
Callum could feel tension easing out of his body, and he offered his aunt a warm smile as he signed back in response. "Talk to you tomorrow."
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Ending on a hopeful note :') I wonder how their talk will go? Guess we'll find out soon! Also, if any Deaf or HOH individuals have comments/advice about writing Amaya and what I could do to improve, I would absolutely love to hear your feedback. I did a lot of googling, but googling can only tell you so much compared to a real person, you know? Anyways. Merci pour lire! Au revoir!
