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-I'm Still Here | Jim's Theme
Treasure Planet (2002)




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The Rose That Grew From Concrete━━━━━━━━━━
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writing▂▂▃▃▃▅▅▅▅▆▆▆▆▆██████
Revolution ██████▆▆▆▆▆▅▅▅▅▃▃▃▂▂
If the city were hard to live in before, it would seem like luxury to the life we live now.
Vagabonds in our own right, heads held high looking for our own fights;
Where on earth did we go so wrong.
Power is held by the people is a lie we've been told for so long.
Our backs are breaking hearts are aching;
Peace won't come without its cost.
On the day the soldiers came it was more than freedom that we lost.
No rest for the weary too many eyes gone bleary;
I tell a mother and her children to stay strong.
This tragedy unites us and here we belong
Only victory in our revolution will bring us our absolution;
In the face of uncertainty, that is our solemn vow.
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About ██████▆▆▆▆▆▅▅▅▅▃▃▃▂▂
Everyone needs something or someone to believe in; Michael De Leon vowed to be that someone. Growing up in a city on the cusp of war caused tensions, anger, and protests to skyrocket but failed in crushing his spirit.
As a kid he was known around the block as Dandelion, a sunny yet notoriously stubborn individual who stood up for those smaller than him and refused to be swayed from what he believed in.
Days were spent playing handball in alleyways, loitering around the arcade, or forming a pack to roam the streets, just trying to find a place to belong. Some stayed, others left, but Michael became the big brother that looked out for the rest of the gang no matter who came along. He tried his best to stay out of trouble but the longer he stayed out the more he became aware of the world beyond his neighborhood. At dusk he and the older kids hung out on the rooftops and fire escapes, surveying the chaos down below. The injustices they witnessed and innocent people caught in the cross made his blood boil.
As matters grew more heated. Michael figured that they shouldn’t suffer for the problems of adults. He formed a group among his peers that put an ear to the ground and when trouble started brewing, they made sure the kids got out safe. They stayed like that for years, outreaching to other groups, creating a safe place for other kids, gathering and distributing resources. It took all he had to not join the protests but at the time it wasn’t worth risking his life over.
It was a sunset like any other, business as usual, cars streaking through the streets, the golden glow reflecting on the bay, but there was a buzz on the horizon, one that grew too loud too fast. In an instant he was blinded and in an instant all hell broke loose. Dazed and confused, his building was relatively untouched but the city was ablaze with more than the dying light of the sunset. The fires were sweltering, the sounds were ones he would hear forever in his dreams, people rushed too and fro and he dove headfirst into the fray. He helped with evacuation, search and rescue, herding kids to safer spots; the city was no longer safe. Nowhere was safe.
Day in and day out he and others worked to quell the fires and minimize losses but in the end, their once glistening city looked like the apocalypse. No one could say for sure how many were lost but when the troops arrived over the horizon, they only had a matter of time to flee. Michael led those who would follow to his old safe-houses, traveling through the underground tunnels to beyond the city limits. They would find their way, but there was still more to be done in the city. He may have turned his cheek at the protests but now older and wiser he was ready to fight for his people.
Whispered among the soldiers, he was known as the Dandelion. They never knew when the sabotage efforts would come but they knew nothing the did could prepare them. As for refugees, all they had to do was look for the flowers growing through the cracks that would lead them to safety.

Art by the lovely
_SilentSiren_ | Text fonts by
Cooltext | BG Dividers:
Pittsburgh B&W by Matt Robinson | Poem by myself