#Ready to Rule: elena season one | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kiss-my-freckle · 8 months ago

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Full Episode Commentary

1x22: Founder's Day

One of the things you should know about the writing… some of these episodes end completely opposite how they start. Elena opens the episode as Katherine. Katherine ends the episode as Elena.

I feel the need to point this out while she's dressing up as Katherine because it builds and builds as the seasons move along. "Did Stefan think that he could use me to replace her?" Note how she puts this necklace on whie standing in front of an oval mirror. It's as if Stefan's desire is becoming a reality.

Damon and Stefan are at the Founder's Day event. Stefan hsa the nerve to ask Damon what he's doing there, treats him as if he doesn't belong. I love Damon's response. "Why wouldn't I be here? Bonnie deactivated the Gilbert invention, Isobel is gone and it's Founders' Day! I'm here to eat cotton candy and steal your girl." This is what it sounds like for Damon to feel at home again, and he's being honest. He plans to steal Stefan's girl, he's just not ready. "You started this, Stefan... with that whole 'I'm insecure, leave Elena alone' speech." Damon is just as honest here. He's saying the same thing I said. Stefan should've left Isobel's words with Isobel. Stefan knew better, but he let his jealousy get the better of him. Damon is now a danger to the Stelena ship. They show Damon's rebellious nature over and over again. I feel this is the aspect of Damon's character that Katherine preyed on.... his rebellious nature. "Who needs rules?"

Damon is a rebel, a rule breaker. Tell Damon not to do something, he's gonna do it. You see this in the pilot episode.

Stefan: Not here. I won't allow it. Damon: I take that as an invitation.

You hear this again in 1x6.

Elena: And yet you let him get involved with Caroline? Stefan: Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me.

Hear it again in 1x13.

Damon: My father never approved of anyone I dated, which only made me want them more. Of course.

You even see this in season 2.

Katherine: I knew that if I begged you not to kill Elijah, that's exactly what you'd do.

So when I say that Stefan should've left Isobel's comment with Isobel, trust I mean it. Stefan knew better, but he let his jealousy get the better of him.

Stefan: History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned. Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you understand?

What you get with Damon and Elena in this episode is the direct result of Stefan disrespecting Damon, in thinking he's the one who gets to make the rules.

Damon: Hey look, I get it, I get it. I'm the better, hotter, superior choice. And you're scared now that Katherine is out of the picture, that I'm gonna turn all my attention to Elena. But don't worry, Elena is not Katherine. Stefan: You're right, she's not.

This mantre works in Damon's favor. Stefan believes it works in his because Elena is a good person, so he believes she'll always choose the "good" brother. It was always Stefan for Katherine. It will always be Damon for Elena.

I love how this mantra spills from Damon's lips as Elena comes out dressed as Katherine. History started repeating itself from the moment Stefan entered Elena's life pretending to be human... just as Katherine entered their lives pretending she was human. I'm basically saying Stefan is a little late in telling Damon that history won't be repeating itself where Elena is concerned. That's not his choice to make, it never was. I love her dress. Their responses are a direct result of her being dressed like Katherine. Damon isn't happy with it. She's dressed like the woman that abandoned him. But Stefan... he's quite comfortable with his Katherine replacement. Elena's curtsy in this scene is a basic way of paying respect to the man that escorted her at the Miiss Mystic pageant. That's why she directs it at Damon.

Anna stops in to see Jeremy as he gets dressed for the event. He's part of the parade, so he's dressing up like 1864 Damon. I love how Jeremy is written between these brothers. He's having a hard time, now stuck beteween John and Anna. He understands wanting John to protect the people in the town, but also understands vampires wanting a place to call home. If not for the tomb vampires wanting revenge, Jeremy would've completely sided with Anna and saw John for what he really is. I'm not sure what he expected Anna to do… but staying in the town that killed her mother isn't gonna happen. Anna hands him a vial of her blood so he can turn into a vampire. He's changed his mind… for the moment. I honestly would've loved to see Jeremy as a vampire in season 2.

Damon: Oh, and when you do tell Elena and she needs a friend to talk to about anything, I'm here for her. Stefan: I just… I wanted to tell you before Damon dropped it on you in some typically inappropriate way.

Damon gets Stefan to reveal his jealousy. If Damon had any intention of telling Elena about John, she'd already know. Stefan makes a lot of assumptions about Delena's friendship.

The 1864 of it all. Resurrecting a character. Some fans mistake Damon's character journey. They're not redeeming him, they're resurrecting him. His redemption takes place in his human life with Elena. A resurrection is what you'd want for a character that spends 145 years being something other than himself.

Jeremy is pretty damn pissed at Elena, and I honestly don't blame him. She took away his choice to mourn Vicki properly. She also took away his choice to not have vampires in his life when she invited the Salvatores into hers. This knife cuts both ways. Stefan invited Damon into Elena's life when he chose to enter her life, then Elena invited the Salvatores into Jeremy's ife when she welcomed them into hers. Elena is having a difficult time because she's trying to be the best friend and the parent… and you can't be both. That's why Jeremy is so pissed at her. She made a parental decision for him, and kids hate their parents for a reason lol

"Why don't you have Damon erase my memory again? Then I could go back to being your in-the-dark little brother." Secrets keep people in the dark. That's why Elena needed to know they're vampires... Stefan had her dating him in the dark. Damon acts like a light in the dark for Elena.

Like Jeremy, Tyler is dressed like 1864 Damon.

Damon: I was fighting for the South. It's not exactly a time I like to reminisce about in front of my friends." Oscar: Yeah, you had the same opinion back then. Hated everything your side believed in. Hey, you wanted to desert, but feared shaming your old man.

And again, Elena is dressed like Katherine. It's best to understand going forward that the parade float is for the Miss Mystic pageant, so you'll understand why these scenes are the way they are.

Damon's signature moment is literally put on parade. Stefan was devouring Amber during the pageant. One episode of playing suicidal vamp, and everyone forgets about the girl he nearly killed in the woods.

This is Damon playing off of his moment, and you can click to view larger if you want.

This is how Elena responds in Stefan's jealousy of their friendship.

This is the whole of their "near touch" dancing. This is every bit why you get Valerie vervaining Caroline's skin in season 7. It's to make it so Stefan can't touch her. He has to understand the purpose of the near touch.

Carol: There's no touching during this part. Katherine: No touching, Mr. Salvatore. Those are the rules.

For now... he's the same with Elena that he was with Katherine.

Damon has been trying to get a clean slate with Bonnie since 1x9. The difference between this attempt and his last two attempts is the lack of benefit. He has nothing to gain in this scene, he truly wants a clean slate with her. "The device that Emily spelled could have killed me. I don't take what you did lightly, so thank you." She's withholding the truth about the device. It can still kill him. It can kill both of them.

It takes a long time for Bonnie to understand Damon.

John is setting up the vampire device in his brother's medical office. A lot of this is additional to their Augustine storyline. I don't know when they decided on Damon's 1953 storyline, but a lot of their seeds were in place before season one finished. Most of their seeds for the Augustine storyline can be found in 1x5. They also use 1953 for Stefan's "date war" with Mr. Tanner in 1x3.

Any vampire within a five-block radius of the device will be at risk of death by fire. Given the way they cut scene, it's to my understanding that the vampire leader is John's source on their revenge plot. I'm assuming he made a deal with this tomb vampire for the sake of taking out all the others. So 15 tomb vampires plus the 2 Salvatore boys. That's what John is looking to kill. Their soundtrack in this scene refers to the night Damon and Elena first met...

Somewhere in this city is a road I know Where we could make it But maybe there's no making it now Too long we've been denying Now we're both tired of trying We hit a wall and we can't get over it

Lifehouse - It Is What It Is

Damon is the only one that tells Elena the period look didn't suit her and he likes her better like this. Just Damon. He basically tells her the "Katherine" look didn't suit her and says it's a compliment of the highest order. He has no plans to repeat history… that's really what Stefan's comment boils down to. Stefan tells him that history won't be repeating itself with Elena… when Damon had his heart broken by Katherine. I'm just glad they took their time with Delena because I didn't want Elena to be a rebound for him. But I do consider her a rebound for Stefan. In the 145 years he's been a vampire, Lexi is the only woman he's been emotionally involved with.

They're both withholding their conversations with Stefan. Elena does everything she can to avoid the Salvatores fighting over her. She pulls this… back-to-back silence in 1x22 and 2x1. She doesn't tell Damon that Stefan was talking smack behind his back and she doesn't tell Stefan that Damon tried to kiss her. "History will not be repeating itself where Elena is concerned." I love the way Damon responds to Elena in this scene. "No, nothing worth repeating."

"So, I think you should stop with the flirty little comments and that eye-thing that you do." I love how Damon does the eye thing while asking her what eye thing. "Flirt with your eyes." She's talking about the flirt with his eyes at the parade. It's all Miss Mystic pageant stuff, his signature moment. Damon hates seeing Elena hurt. But honestly… his confrontation with Jeremy is something I'd expect from him. He just got done choking the hell out of Elena's biological mother for threatening her. This is where Stefan's jealousy comes in. Isobel didn't randomly guess that Damon is in love with Elena. Stefan knows they saw each other. Now he doesn't want Damon getting in Elena's relationship with Jeremy. "What are you doing? Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business. So stay out of it!" Idiotic for Stefan to redirect Damon when he dug into Elena's adoption before he even met her… which was none of his business. He then put a wedge between her and Jenna when he revealed Elena's adoption to her.

Stefan's jealousy is hilarious. It's not like Damon was gonna knock Jeremy unconscious while there's a party going on outside. "What are you doing? Elena's relationship with her brother is none of your business. So stay out of it!" I wonder if Stefan would say the same of Damon attacking Isobel in the previous episode. "Get over yourself. We both know you're not doing this for the right reasons." Damon notes Stefan's jealousy lol... and you can tell Stefan is jealous just by the look in his eyes.

"Well, see Damon, it's only real when it comes from your desire to do the right thing for nothing in return. And I know that it is an entirely foreign concept to you. I completely understand that you wouldn't get it." Says the brother that entered Elena's life for himself because he knew what he'd get out of a relationship with her. "I have to know her." It's not like Stefan entered Elena's life simply to help her move on from the death of her parents. According to Stefan, Stelena isn't real because it didn't come from his desire to do the right thing for nothing in return. Here, have this parallel...

Liz: You've gone behind my back? Lockwood: Yeah... because we knew this is exactly how you'd react.

Stefan: Why? Because I kept it a secret from you? Come on, Elena. Look, given the way you're reacting right now, can you really blame me for doing that?

John and Mayor Lockwood are using the people in their town as bait to kill the tomb vampires. Liz is pissed and feels them both insane, but Mayor Lockwood is completely on board with the plan. John tells him to leave because plan or not, Mayor Lockwood wouldn't let him knock out Liz the way he does. He handcuffs her as far away from her belt as possible so she can't reach her cuff key.

Anna approaches Damon and informs him about the attack the tomb vampires have planned on the founding families. Because he believes the device has been deactivated by Bonnie, he warns Alaric and tells him to get some stakes ready. "Saving your life." It's adorable the way he holds Eleana's hand against his chest. He does this a lot. I love Caroline's desire to fix every fight. She's currently trying to patch things up beteeen Tyler and Matt.

Mayor Lockwood hits the Grill to tell Tyler to head home. Because they're using the townspeople as bait, he doesn't want him around when they decide to strike. He talks Matt and Caroline into going with Tyler. Anna meets up with Jeremy and takes him into the Grill bathroom. They start the fireworks, which is the planned time of the attack for John's inside source. He had his source plan the attack at the same time they start the fireworks so that he knows when to turn on the Gilbert device. The fireworks display is also the best time to do it because everyone will be too busy watching them to pay mind to the vampires dropping like flies. Damon walks in, still having no idea that the device actually works. He believes John put everyone in danger. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"John turns on the device… and they all fall down.

This scene is insane. If not for Alaric, both the Salvatore brothers would be dead. They have Jeremy dating Bonnie in season 2 when she's responsible for Anna's death. Like I said before, this device works like Bonnie's head trick, but on a much larger scale. It covers a 5 block radius, making the blood vessels in their brains go pop. That's why I think it's insanely brilliant how the writers had them doing fireworks whie using the device. Because vampires heal quickly, it can be done over and over again. Pop, pop, pop. They're all dropping because it's looping without stopping. It's because it also works on werewolves that you see Bonnie's head trick continue into season 2. They even have Elijah's witches use it. And it makes sense for the device to affect werewolves because it basically acts as a painful dog whistle. Tyler ends up getting into an accident because it's that painful. And as the medics work on him, his eyes reveal that he's some kind of supernautral. Very pretty. Because Caroline was in the car with him, she ends up in the hospital after her collapse.

I would tell you about this save Alaric pulls with Stefan, but I'm saving it for my season one gif post. He helps Elena move Stefan out of the way so that he doesn't get taken by one of their deputies. The device affected Mayor Lockwood just as it did Tyler, so the deputies inject him with vervain and put him with the tomb vampires. Anna is still in the bathroom screaming in Jeremy's arms when she gets taken. John packs up the device and leaves.

I'm not sure how many tomb vampires are in the basement, but my last count was at 16. I see 7 tomb vampires in their aerial view, along with Damon and Mayor Lockwood. Anna grabs at John's ankle. He turns around and realizes it's her. She begs him to spare her life, but he doesn't. Damon is truly trying to save her… you can hear it in his breath. He then lets out a grunt when he sees the stake go. It's insanely painful for him to watch. Some of the vampires starts to sizzle in the fire… Damon feels the need to turn his head away from them. From my count, that's 9 tomb vampires left.

Stefan describes how it feels to have the blood vessels in his brains pop. "It was like needles were piercing my skull and it just stopped." When Alaric tells Stefan and Elena where they took the tomb vampires, Stefan pieces it together. John used his brother's medical practice. Because it's a Gilbert property, Stefan realizes they were attacked by the Gilbert device. Elena thinks Bonnie deactived the device, but Stefan corrects her.

Stefan: We asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires. Elena: So we could protect you. Stefan: And Damon. Vampires.

Stefan doesn't view vampires as people. This is the second comment that I know of where he differentiates people and vampires. Damon is human-vampire specific because he sees vampires as people.

Carol walks into the sheriff's office to find Liz handcuffed. She gets the cuffs off Liz and tells her that her husband was taken, explains that he isn't a vampire. Damon catches sight of the mayor. "I'm a vampire. What's your excuse?" lmfao… he wants to know why the mayor is in the basement with him and the tomb vampires. "No, really. The vervain didn't affect you, you're not a vampire, what the hell are you?" Because the device affected Mayor Lockwood, but the vervain didn't, Damon knows they're some kind of supernatural. His interest gets piqued in season 2 because Mason shows up. If not for Mason, Damon wouldn't bother because he has no beef with Tyler. One of the tomb vampires lives long enough to kill the mayor. While Damon gets off on watching Mayor Lockwood die, John gets off on killing Anna. This is their hate written on opposite sides.

They cut scene to Tyler's werewolf eyes and Caroline's collapse. Stefan catches up to the building where the tomb vampires are burning. John is standing there, watching and smiling. Damon struggles to get up because the vervain is that powerful. Had he died in that fire, I have no doubt Stefan would've killed John. "Go ahead, you won't make it out. It'll save me the trouble of killing you myself." At least he warns Stefan that he plans to kill him. Elena tries to help Stefan save Damon, but John stops her. I love how Elena confronts him about his paternity. He confirms he's her father in his response. She then takes off to help Stefan save Damon.

Bonnie tries to stop Stefan from going in to save Damon. I love this scene. She realizes that her Grams would've died either way because Damon was in the tomb. She has to go through Stefan to kill Damon. It's because Bonnie knows she has to go through Stefan to kill Damon… that she tries to kill Damon while Stefan is busy helping vampire Caroline. Damon knows that Elena is the only reason he's alive. Bonnie wouldn't have bothered otherwise. She… wanted him dead, it's written all over her face. Stefan and Elena catch up, talk about how the fire was covered up for the sake of hiding the death of vampires.

Elena: You care about him, so do I. But I love you, Stefan. And I know that you are worried about that. Stefan: I just… you know, I know my brother. Elena: But I love you, Stefan. Stefan: I know the trouble he can cause. Elena: I love you Stefan. You! Elena: You have nothing to worry about, okay?

lol… I love the fact that Damon doesn't have to start trouble. She falls for him on her birthday. This is the scene where Elena gives Stefan his "You" like Damon's in 4x7. She goes to the school to pick up her stuff from the Founder's Day event.

Jeremy puts the vial of Anna's blood in his desk drawer. He turns to see Damon standing in his doorway. Damon's only issue with their previous scene is his lack of consideration to Jeremy's feelings. He only cared about Elena's. He tells him that Anna is dead, that he was forced to witness it and tried to help her. Damon completely removes Elena from the equation. It's just him and Jeremy. He so much as offers to compel Jeremy without permission from Elena. "Look, I know you think you took it away, but it's still there. Even if I can't remember why." This is the truth of Elena's compulsion in season 6. Damon apologizes to Jeremy for his role in Vicki's death, and in doing so, basically apologizes for his prior actions at the Founder's Day event. But Anna… her death changed Damon.

I feel this scene is extremely important to 2x1. Damon tells Jeremy that he went without his emotions for a very long time, and life was a lot easier. In admitting this, is also admitting his emotions are currently on. If not for this scene, I believe Jeremy would've killed Damon in 2x2… and would've succeeded because of the vervain. Elena has no idea about this scene, and I feel that's why they have a difference of opinion in season 2. She tries to stop Jeremy from hanging out with Damon. When 2x1 comes around and Damon snaps Jeremy's neck, he makes a comment that directs Jeremy back to this moment. A moment specific in the fact that it's about Jeremy's emotions AND Damon's emotions. Jeremy basically realizes that Damon was in so much pain that he snapped his neck. You then get the dual dialogue.

Jeremy: I did it for a… I did it for a very long time, and life was a lot easier. Elena: He doesn't want to feel, he wants to be hated. It's just easier that way.

I like this scene of Tyler and Matt. Caroline was trying to patch things up between them. Girl had to collapse and get sent to the hospital to do that. Like Damon snapping Jeremy's neck ending Jeremy's feud with Elena. Liz explains that there was some internal bleeding, and they're taking Caroline into surgery. Liz tells Tyler to call his mom because Mayor Lockwood was killed. Damon knew that Jeremy was considering vampirism based on his line of questioning. He's in his bathroom, drinking Anna's blood. He then takes the rest of the pills from Elena's car accident with their parents. I can't stop laughing at Bonnie's comment to Stefan. "Even if I have to take you with him."

This is my favorite scene cut in season one…

I love this soundtrack, Bloodstream by Stateless. The lyrics become literal with Elena's transition to vampire. Like I said, the episode ends complete opposite the start. Elena opens the episode as Katherine. Katherine ends the episode as Elena. She's carrying the period dress, the "Katherine" dress… and she is Katherine. Damon takes her dress and her purse and sets them down for her. "I'm not a hero, Elena. I don't do good. It's not in me." Damon is being honest here. He doesn't like taking credit for good deeds, doesn't like playing hero, he'll so much as do bad things so that Stefan doesn't have to…. because he feels Stefan is the hero. That's why he says it's reserved for Stefan. "Because she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided that I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that." Damon is referring to 1x8, but he has no idea. Stefan makes a comment about it in 1x9. "I didn't kill my brother, as much as he deserved it. He has you to thank you for that." That's why Damon thanks "Elena" in this scene. He kisses her on the cheek as a thank you. Because it's really Katherine and she accepts the kiss, he kisses her on the lips. She's referring to this kiss when she tells Damon to kiss her in Masquerade. She wants Elena to feel it. Jenna opens the door and catches them kissing. She assumes Katherine is Elena because she has no idea Elena is a doppelganger. She tells her to get inside, then asks what she's doing. Katherine tells her she doesn't wanna talk about it. Jeremy finishes the bottle of pills and lays in his bed. Katherine cuts off John's fingers, then stabs him in the gut…

I'm pretty sure she did this because John wasn't supposed to add Damon and Stefan to the list, and she's pissed that he did. Elena is on the phone with Stefan when she gets home. She has no idea that John ws just stabbed in her kitchen, or that Jeremy overdosed on pills with blood in his system. He's choosing to become a vampire that can "turn it off" rather than ending his life like Damon tried to do when he was in transition.

#Bite Me

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chicleeblair · 1 year ago

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Dawn of Redeeming Grace [4/23]

Title: Chapter Four: December 23, 2005 || FFN

Rating: NC-17/Explicit

Pairings: Meredith Grey/Derek Shepherd

Six weeks after Derek left to take the NIH job, Meredith is ready to use the holidays to prove she has this working mom thing on lock. Sure, he neglected to tell her he'd be bringing a guest, but whatever, 'Tis the season for truces. Even Ellis Grey took the day off. But with every moment of family togetherness, a return to the trenches seems more impossible. Can a few days of peace put their relationship back on track, or has she fallen for the illusion of a snow-globe, destined to either settle or shatter?

Dawn of Redeeming Grace|| FFN

New York Derek. Genetically-engineered for Manhattan, maybe, but it’s not all about genetics. The show never goes into it explicitly, but I think it’s very important that Derek went to Bowdoin for college. At eighteen, he wanted out. I think he came back because of Amelia, and between Mark and Addison, found his life shaped into this Upper East Side, house in the Hamptons lifestyle that he didn’t actually like. The guy with that life isn’t even the one Addison fell for, judging by things like the Chinese food on Thanksgiving. She might’ve felt as out-of-place in the world they would’ve been in if he’d had the self-awareness, or felt allowed to make the choices that would’ve taken them toward a life more like the one her and Meredith get—but it wouldn’t have been as extreme as the trailer.

I go back and forth as to Derek’s desire to have kids, and knowing what happened with Amelia makes a lot of sense in that regard. I know people who were really responsible for their siblings and feel like they had their kids. That said, his dad is his hero, and nothing in his life looks at all like his dad’s life. Kids would change that—but he’s best friends with a guy who had well-off parents who likely had their kid for the wrong reason. He wouldn’t want to do that.

At the beginning, I think a lot of the appeal of his relationship with Meredith is the fresh start. That’s a huge part of their s3/s4 issues. This guy, who clearly adores his family, wants to leave all the past in the past. He can’t do that. After he has to necessitate Meredith, he’s sitting there with Addison and Mark at his sides—exactly like he would’ve been when Amelia OD’d. It’s not a coincidence to me that his mom showing up is part of the arc before his s5 breakdown. But his assertions about his family, about “normal” families, are also pretty rose-colored. Amelia’s arrival on the show is after he’s been offered the D.C. job, but their interactions; that he reminds her of the person he used to want to be—I think that has a lot to do with why he can’t let it go. Also, we’re not two full years out from Mark dying. It’s still one of the longest periods he’s gone through without him.

If anything feels like foreshadowing or a dark joke in this chapter, it is. This whole fic is about how the past affects you, particularly on holidays where tradition rules, this is the chapter with the most allusions to A Christmas Carol. Derek throughout the end of his time in New York is a very Scroogian figure if you ask me—I really should’ve Amed one of my Shepherd kids Fred.

For reference, here is my Shepherd family headcanon.

Kathleen + Reid (2nd husband)

Allegra (’87 stepdaughter)

McKenzie (’89 stepdaughter)

Stephanie (’93)

Oliver (’99) or Lucas (’96)

Nancy + Peter

Carly (’90)

Elena (’92)

Shepherd (’94, nicknamed Squared)

Hunter (’95)

Tyson (or Lucas, ’96)

Liz + Ian

Briana (’93)

Frances, Maria, Patrick (or Lucas)* (’96)

Hannah (’00)

*I’d have to reconfigure for Lucas to be Liz’s, I think, because I don’t see him as a triplet. I think he’s Kathleen’s, since he’s Derek’s favorite and Meredith liked her kids, but if he’s not I like having the gap between her youngest wider because of how I’ve written Stevie.

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ilyasorokinn · 3 years ago

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nico “girl dad” hischier , nico hischier

note, this was a shower thought, and it was inspired by that one interivew g and ryanne did with andrea (linked here). this is apart of "the hischier family" series, so check the masterlist linked below. pair, nico hischier x reader summary, nico hischeir is a girl dad. warnings, pregnancy talk, quarantine talk/covid talk word count, 1089 words

(gif not mine)

"Now that all the work talk is out of the way, how's lockdown life going for the Hischiers?" Amanda Stein asked.

"It's good. Getting all the baby stuff out of the way." You nodded, looking over at Nico.

"Yeah, just a lot of getting ready for the baby." He nodded along.

"Baby Hischier! when are they due?"

"Well, we clearly didn't plan this too well. But, baby Hischier is due sometime in September." You nodded, rubbing your bump.

"Can I see the bump?"

"Yeah." You moved the screen down to showcase your bump.

"Look at that." She cooed, "And can I just add, you look gorgeous."

"Thank you." You smiled, fixing the camera.

"I saw the photo you posted on Instagram of the finished nursery. I also spotted the little NJ on a shelf."

"Yeah, a gift from NJ himself." You laughed.

"Awh, that's so cute." She smiled, "Are you guys planning on going to Switzerland or anything? Go up to Canada?"

"Not until after the baby's born. We visited a little earlier in the pregnancy so we got some family time in, but now, it's a little late in her pregnancy." Nico answered.

"Well, I could talk to you guys forever, but I know you're probably busy, so I'll let you guys go. Thank you so much for talking with me today."

"Thank you for having us."

Sadly, due to the bubble, Nico wasn't able to be there for the last leg of the pregnancy. You made sure to send him photo updates, as well as videos.

"Anything new?"

"Nope." You sighed, running a hand over your bump, "A lot of moving around, but that's about it."

"Moving around how?"

"Calm down, moving around in the middle of the night. Sleep is not something we've been getting in the Hischier house as of late."

"I'm sorry." He frowned, "Can I talk to them?" You moved your phone down to the bump. You smiled, "Don't listen. This is baby talk between me and baby."

You rolled your eyes but looked away, "Look, bud, you can't move around so much at night. I know you want to play, but it's sleepy time. And mom kind of needs her sleep." You smiled as you listened.

"Hey! No, listening!" Nico shouted.

"I'm trying. I can't exactly leave the room." You pointed out.

He narrowed his eyes playfully, "Fine. You can listen in, but just this once." He went back to his conversation with the baby, talking about how excited he was for them to finally come.

Months later, Nico was home due to the birth of Elena. He was given the choice to go back into the bubble but decided he didn't want to go.

If it were a normal season, he would've been forced to return to the game 3 days after the birth, but due to the strangeness of the season, some rules were altered.

Nico was sitting in the room in your house you deemed the office, on a zoom call. You were out running an errand which left Nico with Elena.

Nico was nodding along to something someone else on the was saying when he heard Elena crying. He waited for a second to see if she would stop before he knew she wasn't gonna stop.

He stood up and rushed off to her room, "You just wanted attention, huh? You just wanted daddy's attention." He cooed, bouncing up and down and swaying.

"Well, I gotta finish this call, then we'll play." He carried her back to the office, sending everyone else on the call an apologetic smile, "Sorry, duty calls."

"No, don't apologize. Speaking of duty, how's dad life?"

"The best thing in the entire world. I have the best partner, so everything is so much easier with her." He boasted.

He completed the rest of the interview with Elena in his lap.

Before even Nico was told he was gonna be captain, you were the one to find out. They thought it would be a cute surprise if Nico found out from you and Elena instead of just getting an email or phone call.

You had been given a small little jersey for Elena, with his number, his name, and the C patch on the front. You got her dressed in the jersey before heading over to the arena.

You found him in the tunnel, working on his pre-game routine, "Hey." You smiled, grabbing his attention.

"Hey, what're you doing here? And why is there a camera following you?" He glanced back at the cameraman curiously.

"Oh, it's just for some behind the scenes with families or something." You shrugged it off.

"Huh." He nodded, then made grabby hands to Elena, "Hi, my pretty girl." He cooed, kissing her cheeks, straightening out her little jersey. He stopped when he saw the big C patch in the corner, "What's that?"

You shrugged with a smirk, "Is this real? Are you messing with me?"

"Nope, congrats, Mr. Hischier. You are the 12th Captain to the New Jersey Devils." Someone higher up came out to congratulate him.

He handed Elena back over to you as he shook people's hands, accepting their congratulations. Once everyone was done, he turned around to you and Elena, pulling you both into a hug.

He let out an excited laugh, "Captain Hischier." You tested out, "I like it."

"Me, too." He smiled, turning to Elena, who was interested in the camera instead, "And thank you, my love. That C does look mighty fine." He picked her up and kissed her cheeks, bringing her attention back to him.

A few months later, well into the next season and past Elena's first birthday, you were at the arena, standing close to the glass, trying to spot Nico.

"Where daddy?" She was standing on the small ledge in front of the glass, her hands glued onto the protective wall in front of her.

"He's coming, don't worry." You reassured, kissing her head.

And you were right. The lights went off and the special spotlights flew around the room in every direction as each player skated out onto the ice.

Your spot near the glass was almost always the same, so Nico easily found you. He skated over, giving Elena their signature pre-game high-five.

He blew a kiss, and she blew him one back. He blew you a kiss, you blew him one back. It was a ritual at this point.

'I love you' He mouthed. Elena smiled, blowing him another kiss, then waving as he skated off.

my taglist: @bords @idblowburrow @joelsfarabees @tysonjost-taylorsversion @Besthockeyfics @boqvistsbabe @joshsandersons @stars-canucks @punkharts@iwantahockeyhimbo @blondiekook @2manytabsopen @lady-laura-speaks @youngbeezer @maximoff-xmen @heatherawoowoo @thescooby-gang @123happyllama @ggggmoneyyyy @voidohanax @drysdaleseyes @4ambagelbites @lovethepreds @ashleymarine @kamri-janae123 @colecauliflower @eve132 @wherethedinonuggies @ciziikas @monamourthings-blog @x-a-v20x @bowenbyyram @satanxklaus @himbobimboeater @Pasta88love @paintlavillered @itssophlouise @lam-ila @barzysandhughesbaby @kidlnthedark @jostyriggslover96 @liz-69 @tanninetanya @capsleafsstarshurricanehamilton @duhaimes @kermits-fat-cock @drei-mrssvechii @shinytoadpandadeputy @rainysuitcaseprunegiant @nicohishcier @sebbyaho @kpopnationunited424 @tpwkstiles @April @Mulit-fandom5 @shxwty43 @owenpowerstapejob @catahshart @shxwty43 @talksoprettyjjx @svechnikov3737 @alexis-34 @wandrrrlusstt @thorslittlewhore @livelaughloveurdad @huggybearmylove43 @starlightfooty @oowenspower @ohpuckyeah @drysdalesgf @hockeyboysarehot

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rere-the-writer · 3 years ago

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Title- 'I want crazy'

Pairing- Kol Mikaelson x F!Human!Reader

Warnings- just fluff and Kol being in love with his lady

A/N: Hunter Hayes's 'I want crazy' is like one of my favorite songs of his and I was listening to it and was l like Kol fic. So here we are.

When you started dating Kol Mikaelson, your friends weren't really supportive unlike his siblings as they saw how you seemly tamed the wildest Mikaelson. You and Kol didn't see yourselves being with anybody else but with one another.

"I wish she didn't date him." Elena huffed watching you being picked up by Kol and him jumping into the pool with you. Your squealing laughter rang out in the air as he held you grinning.

"Don't worry she'll come to her senses." Damon said equally upset with your choices.

Kol brought out a wilder side in you while you bought out a calmer side of Kol and there was one thing everyone agreed on was that Kol was unbelievably deeply in love with you.

I'm booking myself a one-way flight, I gotta see the color in your eyes. And telling myself I'm gonna be alright. Without you,baby, is a waste of time. Yeah, our first date, girl, the seasons changed. It got washed away in a summer rain you can't undo a fall like this. 'Cause love don't know what distance is. Yeah, I know it's crazy

You tried not laugh as Kol stood outside in a coat standing in snow under your bedroom window while your sister Elena was asleep with Damon.

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel jump out of your bedroom window to join me for the night!"

"Okay, keep it down though." You giggled getting dressed in warmer clothes and got ready to jump which Kol caught you with ease. Both Damon and Elena frowned watching you run off laughing with Kol for a night fill with mischief.

Kol found he didn't want his usual relationship with a woman but that he wanted one that last. As you changed how he saw relationships with every passing moment.

"Let me stay the night Kol? I don't wanna go home."

"Okay." Kol answered you with a smile as that night Kol had made soft romantic love with you and not his usual fuck and leave. No you made him want everything about you and this not be a one off thing.

But I don't want "good" and I don't want "good enough" I want "can't sleep, can't breathe without your love" Front porch and one more kiss, it doesn't make sense to anyone else. Who cares if you're all I think about? I've searched the world and I know now it ain't right if you ain't lost your mind. Yeah, I don't want easy, I want crazy. Are you with me, baby? Let's be crazy, yeah

Your laughter rang out though the Mikaelson home as Kol chased you through the halls annoying Klaus, Rebekah needing to leave and Elijah found it adorable.

"Kol!" You squealed when the vampire caught you picking you up smiling brightly and eyes twinkling seeing your face flushed from running. You cupped Kol's face and kissed him lightly making his smile bigger.

"I love you, darling."

"I love you more."

"I love you to the moon and back."

"I love y....."

"Yes you both love one another now stop it! It is sickeningly sweet and adorable!" Klaus called from his studio making you and Kol burst in a fit of laughter falling onto the couch relaxing.

Well, I wanna be scare, don't wanna know why. Wanna feel good, don't have to be right. The world makes all kinds of rules for love I say you gotta let it do what it does. I don't want just another hug and a kiss goodnight catching up call and a date sometimes. I love that we're rebels and we still believe we're the kind of crazy people wish that they could be, yeah. Uh, and I know we're crazy, yeah

It was a cool spring morning as Kol stood at a altar filled with excitement as Klaus put his hands on his little brother's shoulders. Kol's excitement got worse when the bridal march started.

Elijah held his arm out to you with a smile as you too were bouncing with excitement to see Kol.

"You both were made for one another." Elijah teased as you giggled stepping out and Kol looked at you. Klaus swore the vampire stopped breathing when Kol saw you walking down the aisle in your beautiful wedding dress.

"Breath Kol."

"She is prefect Nik." Kol whispered when you finally reached him and he took your hand. Kol couldn't focus on anything but you and once he heard the prist aounnced you as his wife. You squeaked when Kol wasted no time pulling you into a kiss. Kol pulled away placing his forehead on yours smiling eyes twinkling as you smile back brightly.

"I love you Always and Forever, my wife."

"And I love you Always and Forever, my husband."

"Yes yes, this is cute now run off to your honeymoon." Klaus ushered you both off and for old times sake Kol picked you up running off with you.

"You say you are annoyed but you are happy for Kol."

"I am Elijah and if you tell him that I'll dagger you." Klaus tells Elijah who held his hands up in mock surrender and then looked at you and Kol seeing both dancing in the rain ready to start your forever after.

#rere's stories #kol mikaelson fluff #kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson x reader

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loveisalwaystheanswer · 2 years ago

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Rules: tag nine people you want to know better.

tagged by @lordjohnwgrey thank you! 😘

three ships: are you ready? i'm not a shipper at all (breaking news! I know!), i like love stories in general, but nothing more. with one and only one exception that got under my skin without asking - Tommy&Grace (peaky blinders). don't think that I'd choose to suffer voluntarily, it just... happened. I also used to like Damon&Elena, but the vd became boring and i stopped watching it.

first ever ship: it's funny, because my very first ship that comes to my mind is Nami&Zoro (one piece). yes, they from anime, sue me. I was a teenager. urgh, it's ridiculous 😒

last song: girl crush by little big town

last movie: glass onion, I'm going to watch my policeman and the menu next

currently reading: the song of achilles by Madeline Miller and two fics :)

currently watching: nothing at all, but I re-watched Sherlock last week and I still think that the last two seasons are a disaster (except the wedding episode) and I really want to start watching the office

currently consuming: coffee

currently craving: crisps or anything crunchy or salty actually

tagging (with no pressure) @i-just-look-at-pictures @peakysgrace @somepeakyblinders @eledhwens @tommyxgrace-always @thesoldiersminute and everyone else who's into it.

#tag game

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multimetaverse · 4 years ago

Note

thoughts on the doafp season 2 trailer?

It looks like S2 will be great. I was impressed by how little evidence of covid restrictions there were; that will definitely help the series age well. I thought it was likely that Sam would move in and I’m excited to see how that plays out. The mother-daughter growing apart angst is going to be brutal to watch but there's a lot the writers can do with it. Interesting that they’re focusing so much on Melissa’s redemption right off the bat and that they’re also introducing a school play story line. I’m withholding judgement on the use of Gina Rodriguez as Elena’s conscience but it does make sense to increase her role since she’s by far the most famous cast member.

I was very pleasantly surprised that the trailer focused so much on Bobby’s story line. The biggest shock was that they included a brief shot of Bobby and CJ smiling at each other in the high school hallway. I’ve thought that CJ is a likely choice to be Bobby’s real love interest ever since it became clear last fall that Donovin Miller had joined the cast. He’s the right age, non-white, and only shows up in 2x06 which is very late but makes sense if CJ and his role in Bobby’s story line is subject to Disney restrictions that straight characters don’t have to worry about. It’s interesting that CJ is featured in the part of the trailer where Elena talks about being there for others and lifting them up, it strongly suggests that CJ will be a positive influence on Bobby. A lot of the Bobby clips look pretty angsty and with CJ only first appearing in 2x06 I’ve speculated that there could be a shift in Bobby’s story line then or an old one wraps up and CJ helps launch a new one.

That scene of Bobby walking at night with Liam is almost certainly Bobby coming out to Liam in 2x10, a scene which Brandon has been hyping up for a while. Nathan was also on set that night but perhaps he leaves earlier or joins later. There’s also the possibility that Bobby comes out to Danny earlier but it’s hard to tell which ep that could be since Danny is in every ep except 2x09 this season. Of course, it could also be a misdirect and Bobby decides he’s not ready to tell him yet. I’m shocked that Danny somehow found out that Bobby had a crush, on what he thinks was a girl, back in 7th grade. I can’t wait to see how that comes up, did Bobby let something slip or were they talking about Monyca? Also I think that Bobby on the blue couch is him talking to Cami about struggling to come out which I’m sure will be well done. I’d love to see Cami coming out to her own parents but I really don’t know if Disney will allow that when it looks like the writers already have quite a bit packed in to Bobby’s coming out arc.

We’ll also go a long way to finding out whether Brandon has been hyping Cartero because he has been explicitly told that Liam is meant to be bisexual regardless of whether Disney ever allows it or whether he’s been projecting his own bisexuality onto Liam without any basis in reality. That being said, I don’t think we’ll actually get canon Cobby or Cartero this season and any canon relationship for Bobby would only come in the 3rd season if they’re lucky enough to get one. Back in the fall Ilana liked a tweet that said writers should normalize interracial relationships that don’t involve a white person and I think she’s applying that to Bobby’s story line and that we can rule out his love interest being white. It’s a bold move for a Disney show since even most of their straight interracial relationships involve one white person. Not to mention Disney has a poor track record of how they treat their black male characters, something Doafp seems determined to improve on.

There’s also the unfortunate fact that there will be limits on what Disney allows but I’m confident that the show will make history with Bobby coming out to his family and friends by season’s end. There will be a price to pay for all this lgbtq rep and I think the show being released all at once which will likely doom any hopes of S3 is part of that. Disney did something similar with The Owl House which is the only Disney show to surpass Doafp’s level of lgbtq rep, the show was cancelled and the 3rd season will consist of only three 44 minutes eps (if you haven’t watched The Owl House yet you should, it’s a hoot).

The trailer seems to confirm what was evident from the cast’s social media posts while filming, that Ziggy only has a very small role and is largely absent. Presumably he goes to another high school but it’s gonna be hard to reintegrate him back into the show if they get a S3 and he’s the only one who wasn’t around for Bobby’s coming out arc. We saw Tony Espinoza’s character on stage with Elena during the student rep speeches so he’s connected to that story in some fashion. Brogan Hall’s character Tripp is absent from the trailer but we know he’s in 5 eps, most in the first 6 eps of the season and he seems to be Elena’s main opponent in the student rep race. Also not much of Jessica and nothing of Joey.

I’m curious to see how all these story lines fit into only 10 eps especially when so many of the recurring characters are in so many of the eps: Liam and Sasha are both in all 10 eps, Danny in 9, even Melissa is in 7 eps this season. Some story lines and characters will probably fall through the cracks. We know Ilana directed 2x09 so we’ll see if that’s a special ep. Fwiw Charlie on twitter said that his favourite eps were 2x03, 2x05, 2x07, and 2x09, presumably some of those eps focus on Bobby coming out to Cami and his family at least.

I really hope that we get a miracle and Doafp gets a 3rd season but with the news that the Doogie Howser reboot is getting the standard weekly release starting in September it makes it more and more likely that Disney is airing all the eps at once just to burn them off. On the plus side the trailer on the official Disney twitter account has over 811 000 views as of me writing this so perhaps a proper advertising campaign could draw a larger audience if Disney is willing to put the effort in.

#Diary of a Future President #Doafp #Bobby Cañero-Reed #Liam Carter #CJ #Elena Cañero-Reed #Cobby #Cartero #Doafp asks #asks #answered

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mc-critical · 4 years ago

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Watching the MY series, a generational pattern I’ve noticed in the series is how jealous daughter-in-laws become unsympathetic mother-in-laws. Such as Hafsa telling Hürrem she’ll have to learn to “share the sultan as she once did.” Or Mahidevran telling Fatma that surely Mustafa wasn’t going to seek her permission before marrying Helena or lying with other women. Or Kösem telling Aysë and Farya that their purpose, along with the rest of the harem, is pleasing her son and etc etc etc. I wonder if it’s a trauma response of sorts? Something parallel to “if I couldn’t have the monogamous married life than neither will you” kind of thing?

It's not only a pattern, I guess it was the reality of those days. A self fulfilling toxic cycle. They are different people after all and their motivations shape up how they came to be in different ways and yet, that particular behaviour obviously originates from the exact same place.

It's a part of the adaption to the circumstances in the harem, something that is just inevitable. No matter how hard one resists, there is always someone that would remind them of the rules they should follow, of their position, because it's precisely the polygamous system that is established, what the harem leans upon. Putting an end to it is unheard of and presumably impossible. But the interesting thing is, this is what all these women stand up the most against early on, the thought they would ever accept it never slipping their mind. They show hard resistence against these rules and everyone, more or less, wants the Sultan/the Prince all for themselves and the reason is two-fold: because they love him or have learned to love him dearly (most of the cases in the show, probably to minimize the toxicity in these relationships) and because this was the most effective way to gain at least a bit of peace and stability and privileges in their life. But finally, we see how they've given in and how they've absorbed and now apply what they have been told. Why? They all get so engrained in this harem life, it drains their youth, their innocence, their dreams, their ideals and when they're older, already into all the power and the intriguous, mysoginistic environment, they recite to new people all these same rules all over again. Perhaps to get used to them before they do the foolish mistakes they did, perhaps truly because of the trauma they've experienced and never got the chance to cope with, using every possible chance to hammer in the fact that these other people shouldn't even try - the fight is already lost. Trying to change this "law" would only bring in conflict and would cost everyone in the room dearly.

The MC/K franchise presents the evolution of this cycle very thoroughly with one sultana after another, connecting the adaption to the system with other different factors that depend on origin, personality and character themes in the beginning and as the series go on, so I might as well briefly go to each Sultana I can recall, one by one:

This high and mighty initial remark sets its roots, of course, with the collective representative of the old traditions herself, Hafsa Sultan. She applies it to Hürrem and Mahidevran, and is very firm in keeping it, it seems she has even devoted her whole rule of the harem to it. The notable thing is, she is a Crimean princess, a member of a dynasty, one who is actually married to her Sultan (confirmed in E49-50.), on a high position from the start, and yet, she had to witness "other women". She probably was "into" the laws even before she went to the harem, and when she had experienced blows from them firsthand, her will to keep them in check had probably strengthened even more. She may be one of these cases where she really uses the remark out of spite on a personal level ("You don't know what hardships I had to experience with Sultan Selim." i.e well, I experienced it, so should you!), but that also couples with her love for the law overall, that is so in line with who she is and her overall character traits. ("Love in this harem doesn't exist../Love makes you blind."; "The Sultan can't be with only one woman.")

Hürrem is a particularly interesting case, because she's the one whose fight with the laws and traditions is shown the most, in all stages, and yet, she succumbs to the "obligatory" remark anyway. She applies it to Nurbanu and Huricihan, which, despite of the other reasons present, is exemplary of what the harem is capable of doing even to the most daring and rebellious people. I see her character arc as symbolic to letting the past go and the adaptation to current curcumstance. She was very often going with the flow, risking it all for success, but her fight with the polygamous system was ultimately, the biggest fight she had fight with the haremly traditions. Gülnihal, Sadıka, the Russian concubines, Isabella, Firuze, Nazenin... no, it was hard and tough, having to face it in every season, and it ended only when she realized her life would be over. (signora Porzia in S04 around E131-132, while neither a concubine, nor an arc, being more of a thematic reminder of how well known Hü is around the world, still spent time with Süleiman and seemed to show a last sign of slight jealousy on Hürrem.) In fact, to completely win Süleiman over, is one of the first things she set herself to achieve (with Nigar's advice in the first episode.) and due to it opposing the system in its very core, it had the most stable traditional opposition. It questions the system itself, it risks to break it all apart, and she didn't fully succeed. It must have been exhausting for her to track one woman after another and to put her love to the test again and again. She didn't fully make it, and believe it or not, she realizes it very well. And this whole desire connected with her striving to achieve the highest position in the hierarchy. She fought to get rights for herself, but not for anyone else. So, when she finds herself in a comfort zone, she applies what Valide Hafsa and the others have once applied against her, being more than them and thus, already too far gone to sympathize. (I think this post elaborates on these dimensions of Hürrem's character way better than I ever could, though being more about how another aspect of the toxic system, the elitism, is applied in what ways, respectively.) It's more of a turning into a ready product of the environment rather than some personal negative resentment or entitlement, even though that could be it, too, as an endorsement of her ethos that she's Hürrem Sultan and no one could be like her. (as also said by Selim, her own son.)

We encounter something quite similar with Mahidevran on some extent, with her not only striving to be the only woman SS loves in his life, it was something she already had, and only then had to fight to get back - making rash, impulsive decisions due to the loss of her attachment, which is why accepting and getting in accordance with her loss is presented more as character development than regression. And ironically (or not), it began to happen after her conversation with Valide after she sent Sadıka to SS in E16, seeming to take her advice to heart. (her stopping to be jealous of other concubines, even befriending them in their distaste for Hürrem.) But then again, the coin always has two sides, because while she got calmer, wiser and more decisive in Manisa, every possible sympathy she could have to those that experience the same, is now gone. She applies these remarks to Fatma and Elena for them to begin living with it and behave accordingly. For them to accept it, just like she once did. She does judge them to herself. ("All good things come to an end. It's hard to accept it, but I accepted it. Because this is the truth.") And because Mahidevran also cherishes laws and tradition and considers every single imprudence as unprecedented and off limits, she would obviously recite the words Valide reminded her of every other day, to "keep piece and order".

After these three cases, this remark turns into a behaviour, applied more to those the Sultanas would perceive as ambitious rivals to themselves, that began building up from Hürrem and Nubanu, and would keep on to the other "generation" of the Sultanate of Women right into Kösem.

Nurbanu, albeit not so directly, applies it to Safiye. With her being sent from Mihrimah and her bold streak, Nurbanu perhaps used it as a "precaution", to warn her what is in front of her. She probably doesn't hold much belief in a monogamous relationship, especially due to what she experienced with Dilşah, but her relationship with Selim was way more stable than any of this kind in the show.

With Safiye we actually have something bizarre, because right in episode 1, she tells Anastasia that the possibility of going home is the first thing she should forget, and yet, she utters this "weird" (in retrospect) quote: "Should we tell her that the only thing that could make this cage bearable is love?". She doesn't tell her that she has to accept "other women", she motivates her to fight for her love and to get it, seeing her potential. But that happens only as a long as she's loyal to her. Once Anastasia became Kösem and she didn't give Safiye the reciprocal loyalty, their enmity began.

Kösem is the paralleling contrast to Hürrem, since she doesn't truly adapt to this system, but she merges herself with the country that is vital to this system. This is why she applies it to Farya and Ayşe. I think Kösem is the sultana that accounts personal feelings the least here, since she's the one that let them behind in favor of the country. So, her reminding Ayşe and Farya of their purpose, is to prevent them from causing any kind of unrest. Because she values her relationship with Ahmet and sees it as something beyond love. ("Today, I married not only Sultan Ahmet, but the country, too!" - this isn't the exact quote, but the meaning is the same.)

#magnificent century #ask #stuffandthangs

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crisp-sweet-pink-lady · 4 years ago

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General Thoughts on Coronation Day

And thus, Elena of Avalor comes to an end.

As always, I’m amazed at how much they managed to pack into just a little over an hour. I have a few quibbles, but for the most part this was a satisfactory ending to the show.

First off, I’m glad they kept Flo to a minimum. Honestly, you could cut out all her scenes and nothing would be lost. Which kind of begs the question of why she was there to begin with, but since the crew crammed in as many recurring characters as they could, she had to be there, too, I suppose. Speaking of recurring characters, I’m so glad we got to see as many royals as we did, and i appreciated the Valentina/Alonso stuff. They make a cute couple. (And speaking of cute couples, there were definitely some seeds of Mateo/Carla in this ep.)

All exposition should be given in puppet show form, though that does bring up the fact that we never got to hear what Armando thought about Esteban’s betrayal. I mean, they seemed to work closely under Shuriki’s reign, and even more so once he became head of the castle. Surely he had conflicted feelings on the matter.

I loved the callbacks in the first song to Ready to Rule and My Time. And I very much appreciated the grand council pointing out that Elena would just do what she wanted regardless of what they decided.

All of the action was fantastic, from the first battle to the Olaball match to the fight against the shades.

When I heard the final enemies were called The Shades of Awesome, I was a little “Really?” but finding out they gave themselves that name, it's not as bad. When they asked Esteban what his biggest desire was, I thought he might want to go back and erase his mistake, since one of them had time power, so I was a little perplexed when he was all “I always wanted to be king,” but when he explained to his grandparents that he felt it was the only way to make people listen to him (which has been an established thing since the earliest episodes of season one), it made sense. That scene between him and his grandparents, so emotional!

I was not impressed with the Grand Macaw, even if he was voiced by Patrick Warburton. But seeing Bobo again was fun (they should have left Flo at home and given Bobo more lines). And that scene between Elena and her parents was very nice, especially since it also snuck in some answers to questions fans have had for years. We finally learned why Shuriki had it in for Avalor, and (sort of) how Esteban got involved with Shuriki in the first place.

After Elena got back from the spirit realm, I was like “Is this really the time for an introspective song?” But then Esteban’s verse kicked in and of course I was on board. One last Christian Lanz song for the road.

We all knew that the only way Esteban could be redeemed was for him to sacrifice himself to save Elena, and that is exactly what happened, but fortunately in a way that could be reversed with the power of Forgiveness! I loved the reveal that Esteban could use the scepter, and the two of them combining their powers to send the last Shade back to the spirit realm was so good. I wish there had been a smidge of acknowledgement that he had been atoning during Shuriki’s reign, but ah well. There was a lot that needed to get resolved in this ep, some things had to fall by the wayside.

Sofia the First cameos! It’s so cool that we got to see aged up Sofia, Amber, and James, even if their models did look a little weird. But they showed up, and that’s was more than I could have asked for.

I liked Esteban giving Naomi his blessing to be the new chancellor, but is that really what Naomi wants, considering how much of it is paperwork? I mean, it’s great that everyone got official promotions and titles, so I guess Naomi needed one, too, but I really don’t think she’ll be happy with the position. Unless Esteban takes over the paperwork part again and she does the other stuff.

While all the songs were great, the final one was really the best (as it should be).

There’s a ton more stuff I liked about this episode, but this is getting pretty long, so my one remaining quibble is that we didn’t get to see Esteban’s parents, even though being in the spirit realm would have been a perfect opportunity. They could have just been in the olaball crowd, and that would have been enough.

#elena of avalor #eoa spoilers #episode thoughts #coronation day

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amaryllisblackthorn · 4 years ago

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man I love the comparison of Esteban in Ready to Rule vs Home for Navidad. in RtR he’s generally either annoyed or not impressed, while HfN he’s into it. like, I guess you could argue he’s in the holiday spirit in HfN since he smiles and sways in Let Love Light the Way from the first Navidad episode, but then all you have to do is compare RtR to Familia Forever.

I love the little dance he does in HfN when they’re outside the palace, and it’s kind of similar (but not exact) to the one Isa does in the first version of the theme song during the line ‘with her family by her side’ – in fact that part is also a good comparison to HfN bc Esteban is rolling his eyes while Elena and Francisco play guitar and Luisa and Isa are into it

Esteban’s development in this regard really makes the season 3 stuff hit all the harder and it’s just really good.

#elena of avalor #elena of avalor spoilers #;sorry I'm late to the party I fell behind ~halfway? in s2 bc I didn't #;know when the new episodes started coming out again

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shes-an-oddbird · 4 years ago

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Christmas at River’s End Mall

Summary - A Christmas AU in which everyone navigates their seasonal jobs, relationships and Christmas spirit, or lack there of, through woven together tales inspired by holiday prompts.

Chapter 9 - Christmas Parade

Summary - While at the annual Christmas parade, Mack and Elena discuss Hope getting older and Mack steps into help when when one of the parade floats breaks down.

Prompt - Christmas Parade Relationship - Mackelena POV - Daniel

Mack wonders if they should have brought chairs with them. Unless there was snow on the ground, they’ve always just watched the parade from the curb with a blanket folded up underneath them and another one pulled around them for warmth. But considering they invited Elena to join them, maybe a chair would have been nice to offer her.

“Dad I don’t see her!”

“Calm down Sparkplug, I just texted her a minute ago.”

“Well, that’s all some of us need.” His heart does a skip at the sound of her voice behind them. Her hands land on his shoulders, her long hair and festive red scarf falling over his shoulder and she leans down to say hello.

“Yoyo, you made it!”

“Of course, the parade is a tradition right?”

Hope nods. They have a few minutes before the parade arrives, although he thinks he can hear the first of the sirens that lead the parade in the distance. The parade, which sets up in the mall parking lot, would makes its way down the main road just outside the mall and then head down towards the small downtown area. They always stayed close by the start so they could head inside after for more activities.

Elena sets her own blanket on the ground next to theirs, sitting close although there wasn’t much other option as the street became more and more crowded. As they wait for the parade to come around the corner they talk about work and weather and other mundane topics.

“So what are we up to after the parade?”

“We’re going to go see the drones, dad finally decided on the right one which is the same one I wanted from the start.” Hope turns her eyes back on him. “Do you think Fitz will be there?”

“I’m sure he will be kid, he’s probably starting to think you’re after his job you ask him so many questions.”

“CANDY!” Several kids scream in excitement as a float from the public library drifts by and the riders dressed as reindeer toss candy canes and chocolate kisses from the sleigh. Hope and the other kids surge forward to collect them.

“I have to buy that damn drone today, I’m afraid if we go back again without buying anything their going to think we’re casing the place.”

“I’m sure they’re used to it, kids are obsessed with those gadget demonstrations.”

“That’s true and half the time we don’t even go in, she just talks with Fitz, the guy who demos them, goes well beyond what I know about them.” Elena looks at him curiously. “What?”

“Nothing.” She shakes her head but she’s grinning like she knows something he doesn’t.

“What, tell me.”

Still looking far too amused she gives in. “It’s just, it sounds like Hope has a crush on him.”

“What?” Mack laughs. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“Oh come on, she’s only eleven, she’s not old enough to be having crushes yet.” Was she? No she was just a kid, it was ridiculous.

“Oh please, what do you know about it?” Elena laughing now at his utter disbelief.. “I was eleven when I had my first crush, and that was well after all my friends started too.”

“That’s just not like Hope, she still thinks all the boys in her class are stupid.”

She just shrugs. “Maybe that’s part of it, look I bet Hope is the smartest kid in her class right?”

“In the whole grade, maybe the whole school.” He answers proudly.

“Exactly and all her friends are starting to get crushes on these boys who are probably so boring to her, she starts to feel left out.”

That was reasonably to assume but he still only agrees with a hesitant, “I guess.”

“Then she meets Fitz, and Daisy’s told me about him, a brilliant engineer, someone who can have a conversation on her level who’s also nice to her and let’s her test all these drones and gadgets she’s preoccupied with.”

“But he’s– “

She cuts him off. “But he’s what, a grown up, you never had a crush on a teacher before?”

“Alright, I get it.” Mack contemplates this new revelation. When exactly had Hope gotten old enough to have crushes. Was he supposed to do anything about it. He had promised they would go there to get the drone after the parade. “Should I take her back there?”

“I don’t see why not, if you don’t and she finds out why she might think she’s done something wrong,” Elena advises. “But maybe give Fitz a heads up, it’s hard having your first crush at eleven but having your first heartbreak at eleven is ten times worse.”

Mack nods, making a mental note to pull Fitz aside and explain. Then he looks back at Elena a little in awe. “How did you get so good with kids?”

“I’m not, but I was a little girl once, it’s a tough life.”

She’s so pleased with herself. That was one of the first things he realized about her that he really liked; she was confident. Determined and straight forward.

And now they’re exceptionally close together. Forced into each other’s personal space as kids return to the sidewalk, arms full of treats. He blinks and she’s closer again, leaning in towards him.

There’s a deafening screech and they snap apart. The parade has rolled to a stop and a horrible grinding noise is emitting from the truck hauling the River’s End High School’s float. It rolls to a stop and cuts off. The crowd around them chatters in concern while the students frantically dismount the float and the truck bed.

“What’s going on?” One girl yells from the float.

“The truck must have stalled.” Another answers.

“Flint, what’s going on up there!”

The skinny young boy driving the truck leans out the window and shouts back at them. “It won’t turn back on.”

“Gabe, I thought your brother fixed up this thing.” A girl with white-blonde hair storms around the float, frustration evident as she addresses a boy still sitting in the bed of the truck.

“He had the guys at the shop take a look at it.”

“Well can you fix it?”

“Yeah Ruby, let me just jump right down from here and look under the hood.” The boy snapped back sarcastically.

The boy driving the truck jumps out and runs around to the front to lift the hood. “Yeah, I don’t exactly know what I’m looking for here.”

“This is going well.” Elena whispers to him as he watches them concerned.

“Old model, bad engine, probably something one of the kids picked up for cheap.” Maybe it was the mechanic in him but he was already assessing everything wrong with the truck. Even if it hadn’t stalled making it to the end of the parade would be a Christmas miracle.

“Dad, do you think you can help them?” Hopes asks.

“I haven’t got my tools, not sure there is much I could do.”

“I don’t think it could hurt.” Elena says, her eyes wide a the boy at the hood yanks his arm back as it crashes down. He’s joined by a girl with lots of dark curly hair and they open the hood again, steading it on the support.

“Alright.” He pushes himself off the ground “before someone loses a hand.”

Mack jogs out into the parade chaos. He has to clear a path through the crowd of students now converging at the front of the truck.

“This truck belong to one of you?” He shouts.

“It’s mine sir.” The girl with the dark curly hair speaks up.

“You have this problem before?” He asks. A glance over the engine and its not as bad as he anticipated, it’d clearly already had some decent work done on it but unfortunately it doesn’t show any obvious cause to the problem.

“Yes, but someone was supposed to have it checked out for me.” She glares at the boy now wheeling his way towards them.

“Shut it Tess, I’m trying to get Robbie on the phone.”

Mack tries hard not to groan. He’s so not ready for Hope to be on the verge of her teenage years.

He needs to check the radiator and fuel but its too hot to reach for anything with his bare hands. “Have any of you got an old rag or t-shirt?”

“There’s probably one in the truck.”

“Grab if for me, what about a flashlight.”

“I’ve got my phone.” Flint grabs the phone from his pocket and holds it out over the engine.

“Thanks kid.”

“Here.” The girl hands him a stained t-shirt. He manages to get the cap off the radiator but it doesn’t appear to be the issue.

“Was there any odds smells when you were driving?”

Flint shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so.”

Alright, that rules out a few possibilities.

“No, Robbie its fine, someone else is here already,” Gabe listened for a second, nodding along unimpressed before holding the phone out to him. “He wants to talk to you.”

Mack begrudgingly accepts the phone. “This is Mack.”

“Hey,” a voice with an accent like the boy’s greets him shortly, “the truck stalls on inclines and my brother won’t tell me where you are.”

That explains a lot. “They didn’t make it far, we’re on the main road outside the mall.”

“Dammit, my crew was supposed to fix the problem.”

“No worries, I think it’ll start again, its been down for a few minutes, doesn’t seem to have any other issues unless it’s the extra weight.”

“Give it a try, if they can get off that hill the parade levels out, should make it to the end.” Mack nods at Flint who jumps back in the truck.

“Easy.” He calls. Flint starts the engine which, after a long moment, stubbornly springs to life and relief washes over the students. “Alright its going.”

Robbie sighs. “I’ll get a backup truck over there just in case, first I gotta go fire somebody.” Mack chuckles, he doesn’t know this Robbie fellow, but he thinks they’d probably get along.

“I’ll follow along behind them down the hill.”

“Appreciate that.” Mack hands the phone back to Gabe.

“Alright everyone back on board, if you can make it down the hill you should be in the clear.” If there wasn’t a damn marching band in front of them, they could just throw it in neutral and roll. It takes everyone a minute to get back in place so he hurries over to Elena and Hope who are still watching from the curb.

“Everything alright?”

“Should be fine but I’m going to follow them for a bit make sure they don’t get stuck again.” Mack explains. “Do you mind hanging here with Hope?”

“Can’t we walk with you?” Hope asks.

“She can ride with us if she wants.” Tess, the curly haired girl offers. Hope’s eyes light up and she looks pleadingly up at him. Personally, he doesn’t want her anywhere near that truck but at two miles an hour she’d probably be safe.

“Alright, let’s go.” Mack lifts Hope up onto the float. Tess takes her hand and backs her away from the edge.

“Let’s go Flint!” Gabe shouts and the other boy waves his hand out the window. They being to roll and the crowd bursts into applause.

“You saved the day.” Elena nudges his shoulder as they begin to walk along side the float.

“I didn’t really have to do anything.”

“Well, you get credit for trying, I didn’t see anyone else run out there to help, just heard a bunch of moaning and complaining.”

“Yeah well, they’re good kids, but now all I can think about is how that’s going to be Hope in a few years.”

“Don’t worry about that, she’ll be just fine, she’s got an excellent role model to look up to.” She nudges his arm again, this time slipping her hand into his as they walk.

#mackelena #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #hope mackenzie #aos fic #aos #christmas at the mall #25 days of christmas

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takaraphoenix · 5 years ago

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So... Why do you think Tangled the series is crap?

*blinks surprised* Well, this was defininitely not what I expected in my inbox this morning. Okay. xD

EDIT: So answer under the cut. If you still end up reading it and don’t want to hear criticism of the show, I really don’t know what to tell you…

1. Eugene/Rapunzel

What really didn’t do it any favors was the fact that before I started watching Tang/ed, I had just finished watching Tarzan the animated series for the first time. And, I’ve gone on a lengthy praise-rant about that one but the sum of it is that Tarzan is a beautiful portrayal of a healthy relationship and its growth.

Tang/ed flat-out forgot Eugene existed for the majority of season 1. Like. He was there. Occasionally. More in the background. Showing up after the adventures. And even when he was prominently featured, he didn’t get any romantic scenes with Rapunzel. They severely cut back on the Eugene/Rapunzel interactions in season 1.

Most of Rapunzel’s screentime was spent with New BFFOC #1, while most of Eugene’s screentime was spent with New BFF OC #2.

And I love Eugene/Rapunzel, I love their tenderness and how they got together in the first movie. I had expected a Tarzan level of romantic growth, development and focus on their romance. I mean, seriously, the whole movie had little going on that could have been continued, what with the hair cut and the witch gone, there was only “Rapunzel gets to reunite with her family and her and Eugene’s relationship gets to grow and develop while Rapunzel learns what it means to be a princess”.

Holy shit would I have loved a TV show with that premise and focus.

Instead, they sidelined Eugene for most of season 1 in favor of focusing on the new OCs - and yes, I admit, the Eugene/Rapunzel got better and got more screentime and actual development in season 2, but that’s… a whole-ass season too late in my opinion.

The Eugene/Rapunzel dynamic was what carried Tang/ed the movie, but the show put Eugene on the backburner to focus on its new shiny things. He should have been right there, at her side, every step of the way, not her sneaking off with only Cassandra all the time. He should have been her rock, her number one fan and supporter.

2. The Parents

Rapunzel’s parents? The freaking trauma of the whole thing? The loving reunion, the bonding time? Barely there and even then it sets in relatively late and very much only in between. This should have been one of the main angles of this show; after so many years, a whole life-time in fact, they are reunited with their daughter, now it’s time she learns what you love and what you’re like and you learn what she loves and what she’s like, you get to show her her kingdom and tell her about her family. It does however end up more like the… D story of the cartoon, really.

Half the time, they just Exist. And most of the times that they are prominently featured, it’s for dad to somehow royally screw up, really… Which only made me sadder, because I usually love Disney Dads. Like, Disney creates beautiful dads. Instead, this show continued making him mess up.

The missed opportunity for bonding time, real bonding time, in actual character arcs, not just in throwaway episodes maybe every now and again, is just… so infinitely sad to me as someone who loves a good family dynamic and who, looking at a movie that literally was about “long-lost daughter is reunited with her parents”, absolutely expected that to be in the focus somewhere, not in the background.

3. The OCs

In number 1, I already mentioned New BFF OC #1 and New BFF OC #2, so lets give them names and let’s also dive into them.

I love Lance Strongbow. He is genuinely the one thing about this cartoon that I absolutely adore. He’s the type of personality Eugene absolutely would have gotten into trouble with as a kid. Their dynamic is so well-captured and he’s a delight.

My problem is Cassandra. I really hate that character, hated her even before the reveal that ultimately made me drop the show.

Look. Rapunzel is this incredibly positive sunshine girl. And they… gave her a pessimistic, sarcastic, snarky best friend. That’s a really hard clash and it can work brilliantly, or it fails. In this case, it fails, because Cassandra constantly channels her sarcastic snark into mean comments and insults aimed at Eugene.

Who, the actual ever-loving fuck, would stand for that?

Who would let this new chick just constantly insult your partner, stab at your partner with words, put your partner down, and then decide “Yes. You are my New Best Friend!”. If someone would treat my girlfriend, who is absolutely amazing and whom I adore, the way Cassandra treats Eugene? I would definitely not befriend that person, what the fuck.

And that’s not taken into consideration Cassandra’s side of things. She seemed to think of Rapunzel as her best friend, but she still had to constantly vocally insult Rapunzel’s boyfriend. Who does that? You don’t like him, okay fine, shut up about it though, no reason to always be extra mean to him, especially not while Rapunzel is right there to hear you.

It’s just… I get it, I get when you don’t like your friend’s partner. But… Cassandra has no actual reason to be that way with Eugene? He literally never did anything to her. He saved Rapunzel, he was ready to die to save Rapunzel, way before Cassandra even knew Rapunzel. If anything, he should have her respect, but at the very least he should have the benefit of the doubt.

I don’t like this unfounded hostility toward Eugene and I don’t like how Rapunzel just smiles and ignores it and never calls Cassandra out on it.

And then the point where I stopped watching the show. When Cassandra, who is supposed to be Rapunzel’s best friend, betrays her because of Gothel. Because of course it’s revealed that she’s Gothel’s daughter - they really had to retcon her into being Gothel’s daughter, they really had to do that cheap dump trick, never mind who would have slept with her, when, oh how convenient that her kid is Exactly The Same Age as Rapunzel despite Gothel being literal centuries old, and like fuck that woman would have raised a child on her own like that, the only reason she tolerated Rapunzel was because of her powers. But no, now Gothel had a secret toddler before stealing Rapunzel and instead of ever, at any point, getting her daughter back, she just traded her for superpowered Rapunzel. Which is just such bullshit writing and so cheap and cringey, but to then make Cassandra, who was supposed to be Rapunzel’s best friend and who knew of the abuse, who knew of the trauma that Rapunzel had suffered at the hands of Gothel, betray Rapunzel because “mommy liked you more!” was just… the ultimate Fuck You to me, personally.

And while we’re at OCs and cringey bullshit writing - they really had to retcon Eugene into being A Prince All Along. And not just… any prince, no, no, since she is the sun and her kingdom watched over the sun drop, he is the moon and his kingdom watched over the moon drop and isn’t that super poetic? But that’s beside the point, that comes later, for now just the fact that they couldn’t even let Eugene stand on his own either, they had to also retcon him.

That’s like if the Aladdin show had decided to introduce the sultan of the neighboring kingdom and oh no wait he’s Al’s father now, Aladdin was a prince all along after all actually! No, that show at least kept Al’s suddenly alive father also a streetrat and thief.

That’s what Tang/ed should have done, if they had to retcon Eugene out of orphanhood. Make his dad a supposedly Big Bad and thief until at the season finale it is revealed that they’re father and son and dad maybe never even knew Eugene existed or whatever.

But to make him a prince just like that and have Eugene act so… nonchalant about it all and take it all in such stride, after all these years… it was bullshit.

Also, before we get into the big issue (because yes, so far, this was the small stuff that bothered me), let’s talk about Varian. Man was that a heap of bullshit too. Cute adorable kid who could have become an ally… had to… turn Angry And Bitter and feel betrayed by sunshine protagonist because something happened that was absolutely out of sunshine protagonist’s control. I hate that plot-tool so incredibly much. And then he’s just… redeemed and immediately forgiven and All Is Good. Pff.

4. The Moon

Fuck this. Fuck this. Fuuuck thiiis.

Gods, I can’t put into words how much I loathe the fact that they took “so she had a sun drop, right? Let’s now add–A MOON DROP! *gasps*”… It’s so stupid, it’s so stupid, it’s so stupid.

And badly handled, man.

The contradictory powers would have been cool. The moon drop as the shadow side to her could have had like… potential. But what they did with it? With the weird black stones, with the weird sudden black hair (why in the world would the moon incantation work on her, she is literally the sun drop and has no attachment to the moon drop). Why would the moon drop black stones cause her magic hair to grow back, that was bullshit too.

Like, yeah, the whole hair thing is questionable at best in the movie already, I know - why would cutting it have an effect on the magic, since the magic is inside of her, that was nonsense.

But that it now just… grows back. And like. the full length. For no reason. Not that she just turns blonde again and her hair grows back the normal way, nope. Sudden 10 meter of hair. Because… I mean, you can’t make a Rapunzel show without Rapunzel’s classic long hair, I guess.

That whole sun and moon thing was so… stupid, yeah, and badly handled and executed because the powers just make no sense and the cause and effect there are just so weird. It was very much just “it does whatever the plot requires it to do” and I hate that kind of writing, I prefer set rules within the magic that make sense.

Also, watching this parallel to Elena of Avalor, who also had a sun and moon balance plotline and handled that on a way more evened out playing field? Yeah, that only made Tang/ed look even worse.

5. The Animation

We’re taking the part where I personally think the art style is ugly as fuck out of the equation here, because I know that’d be an unfair point and that others find that style… pretty… for some reason.

The main problem here is more that good gods do I miss 2D movies when I have to sit through these kind of tie-in shows. Because back in the day, a tie-in show actually tied into the movie, in art and animation style too.

I hate that style-break, it’s dumb. It’s dumb on Big Hero 6 too.

Seriously. You’re Disney, you have the freaking budget nowadays, if you make a TV tie in for a movie, at least try to find an animation style that is vaguely in line with the movie…

Like, the argument that 3D animation would be more expensive - or, you know, more easily looks cheap as fuck - doesn’t even count if you consider that this is DISNEY. I’m serious, look over at DreamWorks.

Sure, sure, many were bothered with the cheaper animation of the How to Train Your Dragon series, but it was at least 100% in line with the movie and let’s be real you can’t expect the same animation budget for a show like you got for a movie and that was always the case. But it was close enough.

They could have done this for Tang/ed. Especially considering it’s Disney and they literally have all of the money.

I mean, again, look at DreamWorks - Trollhunters may just be the prettiest 3D animated series out there. That looks gorgeous, in animation.

There’s no reason why Disney can’t do that, can’t put that much effort into its tie-ins of its 3D movies. No reason at all.

Instead, they went with what I assume is a cheaper way of animation and just a huge fuck you to the gazillionaire corporation that has the budget to book its movie stars into whole-ass MCU tie-in shows and would have the budget to fully animate a Tang/ed show in the same quality level as the movie if they wanted (and I’m not even asking for that, really).

It’s cheap. It looks cheap. It’s a jarring clash with the original movie and if you make a tie-in for a movie there should be no clash between the two.

–

Well, there you go. The five reasons why I personally think this show is crap.

I was really excited for a tie-in to this movie and I had really low expectation - like, literally I just wanted to see Eugene/Rapunzel be cute and Rapunzel bond with her parents, that was literally all I expected. And I only got half-assed attempts on both of those, while the focus got completely derailed by a newly added OC and a whacky, very forced plotline.

#Anonymous #so time to ramble #in the tags #to make sure #this doesn't pop up #in the show's tag #because let's not go there #I know there's people #who actually...#enjoy this #so like #...resist the urge to read it??#Disney #Tangled the Series #Tangled

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rachelthompsonauthor · 5 years ago

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The past two quarantine months have been like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my lifetime, and I turned 56 in January. So rather than regurgitate what you’ve likely read in the news or on social media, I’ve decided to share how I’ve spent my time these past two months along with random thoughts. I hope you’ll continue along with me as I share what I’m doing each week.

Books

Oh, how I’ve missed reading! With my business so insanely busy (for which I’m truly grateful) these past few years, I’ve barely had time to read little more than Slack, emails, texts, and social media updates. Not exactly satisfying for this lifelong, avid reader. This quarantine has allowed me a little bit of extra time, which I’ve put to good use.

In no particular order, here’s what I’ve read:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow is fantastic. Read it in one sitting because I didn’t want any of the details of this lacy, incredibly intricate work to fade. I highly recommend it. A mix of fantasy, drama, and a love story (because in the end, aren’t all stories love stories?), anyone with a working brain will love this novel.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is also superb. I’d heard about this book for a while, yet only got around to it because it’s also now a mini-series on Hulu (which I watched afterward – also very good, though the character arcs and the plot changed in crucial, at times startling, ways).

Curious if you’ve read the book and watched the series, what your thoughts are? I could write an entire post about it, yet I’ll only share this…

As a child, my parents hire a housekeeper. My folks both work full-time and we are not in any way rich or well-off. Neither of my folks has college degrees – Dad is an assistant manager at a chain drugstore and Mom has just completed x-ray tech school and works nights at San Bernardino County Hospital. We live in a small house on a long street in the smoggy Inland Empire of California.

There are two of us, my older sister and me. Then my mom gets pregnant when I’m nine and has my baby sister when I’m ten. My folks advertise for a housekeeper and Miss Louise answers. She’s African American and willing to work for the little they can pay her. She smokes a lot (outside only, so as “not to hurt the babies”), insists on wearing a uniform though my mom tells her it isn’t necessary and comes looking for us in her big old white Caddy if we aren’t home from school exactly 20 minutes after it lets out.

(Miss Louise’s husband’s name is George. If you are alive in the 70s and watch The Jeffersons, you understand why this is an endless source of amusement to my sister Caren and me.)

Being that young, neither Caren nor I understand what privilege means. We didn’t get whatever we wanted because my parents are always strapped, yet there is food on the table, and the lights are always on. Except for the occasional venture to Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm that one time (mom hated it), our vacations consist of driving to visit our Zayde (great-grandfather) in a nursing home in Santa Cruz, or some other relatives we don’t know somewhere in L.A. (I remember one great-aunt who drank. A lot.) We’d always stop at Cantor’s for a soup and sandwich (the highlight for us), and be back on the road. We don’t mind because it is anywhere but home.

Anyway – my entire point is that in Little Fires Everywhere – the show – Kerry Washington’s Mia is an artist who takes a maid job with Reese Witherspoon’s Elena Richardson’s family to keep an eye on her daughter Pearl, who is quite taken with the teenage Richardson clan. The racial and financial dichotomy is blatantly obvious: a rich family who’s seemingly got it all vs. a seemingly poor black single mother, which adds to the ‘fires’ mentioned in the title.

The book really made me think about my own privilege and despite how well my folks treated Louise, and how much we loved her, and she us, there would always be that wall. Granted, it was a business arrangement and my folks paid her for her services, and in truth, anyone could’ve answered the housekeeping ad. The fact that she was African American and we were white created a racial divide that’s undeniable.

The third book I read is Certain Cure by Jennifer Valoppi, also excellent. It’s the first in a series (parts two and three aren’t out yet, darn it). The novel chronicles the life of three generations of the Cummings family; Claire, a woman in her 70s who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Helene, her television journalist daughter and Justin, the teenage grandson whose adoration of his “Grams” leads him to discover the dark secret behind the miracle technology that is not only curing Claire of her cancer but tempting his mother with eternal youth, as traditional medical industries wage war against the mysterious doctor from China who threatens them all.

I had no idea what to expect with this one, and I’m glad I read it. Valoppi is a former TV journalist from NYC so she knows her stuff. I’m not particularly religious (or scientific), yet I didn’t find either the science or religious stuff bogged me down. Fascinating read. I highly recommend it.

Movies and Shows

Gosh, so many. With four of us in the house (and two teens), it’s worth it to me to pay for Hulu and Netflix, Amazon Prime Video comes with my Amazon Prime membership already, plus my internet plan comes with AT&T Direct, Showtime, HBO, and other premium channels. For the amount of entertainment, it’s worth the money.

I watch movies and shows on my iPad at night, once I’m finally off my computer. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like a super loud TV with stereo surround-sound barking at me after a long day of noise and stress. So I go upstairs to my cozy bed, surround myself with blankets and pillows and cats, and snuggle in for a few hours to watch a movie or a few episodes of something I enjoy.

Another note: not a big ‘reality TV’ watcher, mostly because, as a writer, I prefer well-written shows. I also don’t like the negativity and yelling normally associated with those shows. That said, I do watch Vanderpump Rules (on Bravo) with my daughter (age 20). We bond.

Shows

Here’s what I’ve binged these past few quarantine months, show-wise (no links because you can Google):

Ray Donovan – ggggggreat! Heard it was wonderful, yet truly had no idea how awesome. Liev Schrieber is captivating as Ray. Flawed, human, sad, and, in case you don’t know, a childhood sexual abuse survivor (church abuse). I had no idea going in this would be a theme of the show, yet it was handled with care and truth. The entire supporting cast is also amazing. Every season is great. Watch it all. I hated to see it end.

Homeland – the first four or so seasons were mesmerizing. Then, I got bored. This last season had me falling asleep and then WHAM! that ending. Worth it.

Hunters – Good, not fantastically great. The twist in the last episode will get you, though.

Upload – Loved it! Thought it would be silliness (and in some places, it was, but that’s okay – we need a little silliness right now). Had a ton of heart which I love.

Bosch – come on, it’s Titus Welliver. He’s fantastic. This last season didn’t draw me in as much as the entire rest of the series, though. You?

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – terrific, all of it. Every season, every episode, every character.

Tales From The Loop – amazing. Anything having to do with time-travel or the bending of time, I’m a total sucker for. This hurt my brain in a good way.

The Feed – weird but good and thought-provoking.

Dark – by far, my favorite show year. A German show dubbed in English (you get used to it – don’t let that scare you off), this time-bending, decade-moving hit show spans two seasons and every episode is worth watching. And the music – my god. Amazing. Here’s a Spotify playlist link.

Movies

Parasite – thought-provoking. Took a while to get into it and then boom! It just goes full-on insanity. Well-written, well-acted, and the message of the movie is just, wow. No spoilers in case you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

Hustlers – loved it. Whatever issues people have with strip clubs and ‘dancers,’ get over it. These girls are amazingly talented, are in amazing shape, and work hard to make money for their families. What I loved the most about the movie is that it’s all about the women; the men are only there as a plot device. It’s a movie entirely shot through the ‘female gaze’ (though of course, men will enjoy the dance scenes which are sexy, yet not unclothed). How many movies can say that?

Memento – I think I’m probably one of the few people who had never seen this neo-noir psychological thriller starring Guy Pearce looking like Brad Pitt (who was originally considered for the role). It was great, I think? LOL. My brain still hurts.

Call Me By Your Name – Lovely, sad, gorgeous. (And I will not make a juvenile peach joke.) And the music! Oh, my.

Zombieland – I hate zombies, I hate horror movies. I hate gore and squishy sounds. This movie was cute. (Not ready for the sequel, yet.)

Music

As mentioned above, the music in Dark sent me off on a ‘who are these talented musicians?’ lark. I’ve discovered so many. Here is who I’m listening to right now (all free on Spotify) and links provided here:

Apparat (you’ll recognize the opening theme of Dark and stay for the rest).

Agnes Obel – wondrous. I’ve played her entire catalog repeatedly since discovering her music on Dark. She’s become a commercial favorite as well now. Familiar is the song used in the show that’s received the most play.

Alev Lanz – otherworldly. I’ve not heard anyone like her. Her songs on the Dark soundtrack and Black Mirror are what she’s most noted for (May The Angels, and Fall Into Me, respectively), however, I love all of her work. Her harmonies are like nothing else. One song is layered with her voice and African throat singers – it’s gorgeous (May The Angels). She’s active on Twitter and we’ve interacted a few times. She’s beautifully transparent about her love of music and it shows in all her work.

Patrick Watson – I heard this song, Good Morning Mr. Wolf, on the Ray Donovan soundtrack and immediately clicked my SoundHound app. Who is this talented being? This song, in particular, sounds so large and cinematic – I wondered – is he is a film composer? (yes). A band? (yes). And so much more. I cannot get enough of all of his music, and still, I play this one song on repeat – repeatedly.

London Grammar – I discovered this band a few years ago and still adore them. Strong is still my favorite song, though Rooting For You is a close second. Hannah Reid’s vocals are big and beautiful.

Hilary Woods – ethereal and lovely. Especially the song Kith.

Sufjan Stevens – many of us just discovered him from the movie Call Me By Your Name soundscore, however, he’s been a working musician since the early 2000s. Talented beyond.

I could go on and on, but I’ll stop here. I made a Female Rockers list on Spotify which you’re welcome to.

Thoughts on Quarantine

My Business

Living in California, I’ve barely left the house in two months, with the exception of going to the pharmacy for meds or for the occasional physician appointment for me or the kids, because of the quarantine restrictions in place. And I’m okay with that.

I’m fortunate that my business is primarily online-only: I work with authors and small businesses on their branding, marketing, and promotion, so given that all real-life events are off the table, I’ve been quite busy working with my clients to ensure their products and services are still viable.

This doesn’t mean I don’t need help as a small business. I applied for an SBA loan and couldn’t even get onto the website the first time – it was pretty ridiculous – like the end scene in Beetlejuice. You all know who those first small business loans went to, right? Not small-potatoes people like me. So the second time around, it went much smoother, and I’m grateful to have received a small loan which will definitely help me keep going with rent, insurance, and other expenses.

I still did my annual non-profit initiative for writers, NaNoProMo (National Novel Promotion Month) this year over on my business site, BadRedhead Media, yet only for two weeks instead of the entire month. Daily blog posts from experts on everything publishing-related plus amazing giveaways. It’s always exhausting, yet I find enormous gratification in helping writers.

This year, however, getting writers to comment to win amazing, FREE giveaways was like pushing a house up a hill. I get it – people are focused on putting food on the table instead of commenting on blog posts, even if the giveaways were worth $500. That’s why I wanted to do this initiative this year – to help writers who are in a jam – yet only a smattering of writers participated.

I’m seriously rethinking if I want to do it next year given the financial cost as well as the personal toll. My first therapist, who I started seeing after I gave birth to my daughter Anya (I was terrified to leave her to go back to work, given my history with childhood sexual abuse), gave me this tip whenever I had trouble deciding whether to do something:

“If you ever aren’t sure if you should do something, ask yourself this question: Is this good for Rachel? If the answer is yes, do it. If the answer is no, don’t. It really is that simple.”

Self-care, y’all.

Social Media

I’ve stopped interacting with the crazies on social media (and who knows, maybe you’re one of them so truly, no offense), but I’d rather stay safe and keep my family safe by working exclusively at home – which I mostly do anyway – than venture back into face-to-face meetings with clients. I support four people with my business and if something happens to me, four people are doomed.

So the answer is simple to me: stay home, work from home, and don’t risk dying from this virus.

I don’t buy into any of this ridiculous conspiracy crap. Sorry, not sorry. You can if you want to. Spending time arguing with people online about it takes away time from my business, my kids, my guy, and my own sanity. Speaking of which…

Mental Health

There were a few mix-ups with my meds when this all started, and I couldn’t get my prescriptions filled and delivered before I ran out, so I ended up having about a week of insomnia which I’ve never had to deal with. I was a zombie (the non-squishy kind) and it sucked.

If you have insomnia, I’m sorry. I feel for you.

It’s all straightened out now, thank goodness. My son Lukas and I donned our masks and drove to the local CVS the other day because I couldn’t wait two days for my meds to be delivered. It felt like walking into a dystopian future walking in there: everyone in masks, tape six feet apart for the waiting line, plexiglass between us and the cashiers.

I’m thankful for these measures, of course, and wonder how long we’ll need them, or if this is our new normal?

My Writing

I finished the final edits on Broken People and sent it back to my editor. She’s had some health issues, so the delay is understandable. To be honest, I’m not in a huge hurry to launch a new book right now. Here are the questions that run through my mind:

Do people have money to purchase a new book?

If they do, will they want to read my new book?

If they do want to read my new book, will they take the money they do have to read mine, and then review it?

Does it even matter in the grand scheme of life?

I’m an author just like any author – I want to get my work out there so people can read it, engage with it, connect with me. I hope they’ll like it, feel something, reflect on their own lives, learn something new, particularly about being a childhood sexual abuse survivor. It’s a weird limbo to be in right now.

Our New Normal

This phrase is bandied about quite a lot yet let’s face it: it’s life as we know it, now. The anxiety is real, too. I haven’t hugged or kissed my elderly parents who live two miles away in two months. I bring them toilet paper and cookies from our favorite bakery (drive up and trunk drop off, pay online only) and drop it on their porch.

All these scenarios run through my mind: If I go to do this, what happens if? I know I’m not the only one. And yet, we can’t predict anything. So I sit here, writing this post, safe inside my little house bubble, grateful I can pay my rent, put food on the table (delivered by Instacart, thankfully), and everyone around me is healthy.

What’s your new normal? What have you been reading, watching, and listening to? If you’ve stuck it out this far, I thank you. Would love to hear your comments! Safe hugs, y’all.

***

Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available in print everywhere!

The post This is How To Spend Quarantine With Me appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

via Rachel Thompson

#IFTTT #Rachel Thompson

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agl03 · 6 years ago

Note

What do you say our chances are of FitzSimmons getting a happy ending? Who do you think won’t get a happy ending? A lot of people are saying Daisy will die, do you know why? Do you think the ending will be the team has to go their seperate ways?

Hi Anon,

Bearing in mind there are still 16 episodes to go and a heck of a lot can happen this is my hot take after watching/reading many of the SDCC interviews, chatting with the CTT, and my gut (if that counts for anything).

I do think that part of the “Bittersweet” ending that the cast and EP’s are referring too is that we will see the team, for the most part, going their separate ways as the final credits roll. I also won’t rule out them pulling some sort of “19 Years Later” kind of thing and we get flash forwards for the teams as to where they land.

Right now here is my hot takes on the Main Cast and a few bonuses.

Fitzsimmons: Yes, I do think they will get a happy ending. Loop Fitz was doomed from the beginning, as soon as the writers realized they could kill him and have a way out. Even more evidence for that to me is the difference between how they have written Season 5 vs Season 6 Fitz. Those who follow my blog know that with Iain running back and forth so much mid season I am expecting something to happen to Fitz be it he goes on an undercover mission or gets kidnapped again (really I’ll be shocked if he (and Jemma) aren’t grabbed or go in the finale). And this final separation and likely a few other tipping points such as a the death of someone really close to them or Baby Bomb is what seals the deal for them leaving active duty. I think they do leave either to help at the Academy or start their own company and will have a family.

May: Like Fitzsimmons will get out of Shield. For her it will be time to pass the torch to another generation and she’ll want to fulfill Coulson’s legacy with the Academy.

Sarge/Coulson: If I am right and we end the season with Sarge trying to come to terms with having ghosts of Coulson’s memories and now not having a mission we’ll likely see him hang around with Shield to fix whatever poop gets triggered in the finale....still looking at you Chromicons. However I need to see how this shakes out before I can theorize much ore where he’ll end up. But I still maintain we wont’ see him turn into “our” Phil Coulson again.

Deke: I won’t lie, I do have concerns about Deke surviving the series finale. He’s toeing the line a bit of a hero arc similar to Mace’s back in Season 4. I do think that as we finish Season 6 and move into 7 he will at the very least find his place with his grandparents and likely more of the Shield team as well. Since we’re seeing him and Fitz get close now we’ll see him and Jemma getting closer, especially when Fitz is missing (the annual Fitznapping is a tradition after all). I also don’t see Deke hesitating for even a second to sacrifice himself to save someone he cares about, especially his grandparents. My ideal ending is he buys Nana and Bobo that castle in Scotland and the live there inventing all sorts of stuff safe and happy but I also know this show.

Daisy: I do see Daisy making it to the end and I actually feel that they’ll finish the arc they started her on and we’ll see her at some point be the Director of Shield. She wasn’t ready in Season 5, but the mission in space saving Fitz plus whatever is to come I feel will finally have her where Coulson saw her being and ready to lead.

Mack: Which brings me to the one I”m gonna get yelled at over. Because for Daisy to be director, means that Mack needs to retire or fall....and I think unless we have a massive flash forward, that we don’t see Mack retiring so soon after taking over as Director. I could see something horribly personal happening as well that would have him walk away but no one is going to like that one either is I feel Elena is the only one close enough to him he’d hang it all up for after losing.

Elena: I worry about Elena too. No question that something Major happens to her in the Season 6 finale, perhaps a death and miracle safe and she joins the been dead club. In the comics she dies sacrificing herself as part of a mission

Essentially I do see who is left from OT6 making it out. Again I could change my mind with so much real estate to go.

I do think that somehow we’ll see old faces return as things wind down. Ward, Davis, Piper, Bobbi, and Hunter (for the love of all things writers just give me one ONE scene with Fitz, Deke, and Hunter...preferably sassing the Hades out of a baddie) are the big ones for me right now...and no i have no clue HOW yet just its on my radar and we have time travel now so sky is the limit.

As I watched interview something that jumped out at me was that Jed, Mo, Jeph, and Jeff felt a lot of pressure to “stick the landing”. As finales get so much attention and those who miss we can all name off the tops of our heads and even ruined the series for long time fans.

Even though they wrote Season 5 as a potential series finale they left that loop hole with Fitz and that was an arc all ready to go for Season 6. It was them wanting to find a way to keep Clark but not bring back Coulson and throw away what they felt like was his perfect ending, that gave birth to the absolutely facinating Sarge arc. I for one am really enjoying it and I love Clark being allowed to stretch his wings a big and how many complicated layers there are to this.

This time they aren’t leaving any loop holes they need to clean up. Yes things will be left open but not to the point where we won’t know someone’s final fate.

Another comment that stuck out was “We don’t want to do the same thing again”. For me that takes killing Fitz, someone getting eaten by a space rock, mass kidnapping, and dropping Sarge and May off in Tahiti off the table.

While I will never ever ask you guys to trust the writers and I’m super leery about it myself. I do feel that they saw the um lets just go with feedback after the Season 5 finale. They saw the comments on the internet, they got the comments we sent to ABC, they know they hurt the fandom something fierce. And while seeing where they went with the whole Space Arc and we got the masterpiece that is Inescapable out of it I’m okay. Again had they not told me the’d written that as a series finale and just season the upset wouldn’t have been nearly as bad. I get that it is still hard to trust them especially when Loeb uses words like heartbreaking. But remember they have a different dictionary with us I simply refer too “soon” and “Satisfying” as examples of this.

#aos spoilers #aos speculation #ask agl03 #that escalated quickly

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theworkofxanderking · 5 years ago

Text

The Originals: Bad Blood (Alternative Season 5)

Episode Six: From Here to Hell Town (Part One of Two)

Warnings: I do not own the original content to “The Originals”, “The Vampire Diaries” or “Legacies” or any of the characters from the television shows.

15 plus, displays of Violence, Gore, Torture, M/M, F/M, F/F.

Klaus found himself walking through the woods of Mystic Falls which looked exactly like it did a thousand years ago a time when things may have been simpler but were far less tolerable.

He vamp sped through the forest only to find him back in the same spot so he continued to vamp speed and try and escape but kept returning to the same point much to his disappointment.

“No matter how hard you try Niklaus everything always leads back to here.” Nathaniel said to him appearing from out of thin air much to Klaus’ surprise.

“What kind of bloody spell have you cast on me?” Klaus snapped at him.

“This is no spell Niklaus I am only here because I’m on your mind.” Nathaniel replied with a smile across his face.

“Of course, you’re on my mind you’re a treacherous bastard I would’ve done anything for you, and you return after a thousand years to treat me and my family like chess pieces.” Klaus shouted while walking towards Nathaniel.

“That’s not how I recall it I asked you to leave this place with me, but you couldn’t.” Nathaniel responded. “I wanted a life with you and instead we both have had several lifetimes without each other.”

“Why are you doing all this?” Klaus snapped while grabbing a hold of Nathaniel. “What did I do to ever deserve this from you?”

“You ripped out my heart,” Nathaniel replied as Klaus found himself choking on blood only to look down to see Nathaniel’s hand inside his chest. “Now I will rip out yours.”

Suddenly Klaus woke up in his bed shirtless and sweating while heaving panting looking around his bedroom to realize, he was at the compound and it was all just a dream. Sadly, the return of his former love now possible enemy was no dream but a living nightmare.

Hope and Hayley were in the bayou fight training with each other each wearing boxing gloves and gym gear Hope managing to hold her own against her mother but neither hitting the other particularly hard clearly not wanting to hurt each other and training to keep themselves ready for a fight they had a feeling was coming.

“Not too bad!” Hayley said as she threw a punch in her daughter’s direction only for Hope to duck and miss Hayley’s fist.

“I had a good teacher.” Hope replied as she launched her foot at her mother’s legs tripping her up in the process and causing Hayley to fall to the ground back first. “Now are we going to talk about my uncle Henrik returning from the dead all grown up and ready to kill us all or is everyone going to just keep lying to me?”

“We’re not trying to hide anything from you Hope it’s just we don’t really know much right now.” Hayley answered her daughter while rising back on her feet. “Rebekah’s gone to some weird ass ghost town to speak to this Malus guy under some illusion she can get more information out of him I mean if anyone could it’d be your aunt Bex.”

“You know just once I’d like to get a family reunion that doesn’t end in somebody being murdered.” Hope responded with a sigh. “I can’t believe Aunt Rebekah gets to go witch hunting for possibly the most mysterious sounding witch in history and I’m stuck here, no offense.”

“Offense taken,” Hayley said with a sarcastic smile. “Rebekah has history with him and she’s immortal so she’s allowed to go witch hunting you however are a 15-year-old girl who should be studying not hunting.”

“Please mum I’m part wolf and their all about hunting not to mention my father is an original vampire and we all know they are the number one predator.” Hope said making it clear she was not a little girl anymore. “I’m not saying I want to be thrown into every crazy situation our family gets into because quite frankly nobody’s got enough time in the calendar for that, but I want to get involved from time to time instead of always feeling left out.”

“Hope you are involved,” Hayley told her as she gave her daughter a hug. “Everything we do both your father and I is to keep you safe to give you a better life than either of us ever had.”

“I know that’s what you think your doing but I’m not some little princess who needs protecting I’m a Tribrid and I’m pretty sure I could take you.” Hope said as she brushed off her mother’s hug.

“You think so huh?” Hayley laughed. “I’ll tell you what the next Mikaelson mission I go on you can come with but only if you can beat me.”

“I’ll take it easy on you mother by not using any magic because that would be too easy.” Hope replied with a sinister smirk eager to prove herself as a formidable opponent.

Rebekah drove down an empty clearly run down road while driving a luxury sports car with the roof down so the wind would freely blow her hair as she blared music only for Bonnie who was sitting on the passenger seat to switch off the radio much to Rebekah’s dismay.

“Do you really need to switch off my music every bloody time I’m just starting to get into the song?” Rebekah asked her while keeping her eye on the road.

“You asked me to come with you to a creepy ghost town to meet a creepy witch now is not the time for music.” Bonnie moaned at her.

“You could’ve simply said no and left me to face the wicked old witch by myself after all I’ve faced many in my time.” Rebekah replied to her.

“All three Malus witches are a threat to not only you and your siblings but anyone who possesses magic which includes my witches in New Orleans, your niece Hope who I can imagine is quite high up on the list being an all-powerful Tribrid and then myself of course. Not to mention once their done with New Orleans they’ll probably head straight for Mystic Falls where there’s a school filled with magical students.” Bonnie said to Rebekah making it clear she was literally carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders in that moment.

“You are truly remarkable Bonnie Bennet I struggle to care for my own siblings at time’s Niklaus especially which I’m sure you can understand why and yet you somehow care for everyone.” Rebekah complimented her. “But here’s a little hint from one girl to another loving everybody else leaves very little time for loving yourself and a lot of time for heartbreak after heartbreak.”

“Enzo used to always tell me to be a little more selfish.” Bonnie replied with a smirk before a look of heartbreak crossed her face. “I tried that with him, and it ended with Stefan ripping his heart out right in front of me and me having to be a bridesmaid while my best friend married the man who killed the one, I loved.”

“See that the there is not selfish that’s the epitome of Bonnie Bennet only you would do something like that after what Stefan took from you I would’ve ripped his heart out on his pretty wedding to Caroline and made sure blood drenched her wedding dress purely for the satisfying visuals and dramatic effect.” Rebekah revealed.

“Trust me there were many times I pictured killing Stefan and then he died, and I couldn’t help but blame myself for not saving him.” Bonnie admitted. “I despised him and yet I still felt guilty because my best friend the most loving person in the world lost her husband the same day, she married him.”

“If you ask me Caroline had a lucky escape loving Stefan Salvatore only ends in heartache especially when doppelgangers are in the mix even if Elena chose Damon in the end I’m sure Katherine would find some way of claiming Stefan even from the great beyond.” Rebekah reassured Bonnie in typical Rebekah fashion. “Besides Caroline needs someone who challenges her, someone who can handle her and who she can handle.”

“I swear if you say Klaus, I’m throwing myself out of this car right now.” Bonnie laughed.

“Believe it or not Bonnie but when us Mikaelson’s love we love with every fiber of our being even if the world sees us as monsters.” Rebekah replied with a sigh of sadness.

“I know it’s just when also when you hate you hate with every fiber of your being.” Bonnie admitted causing Rebekah to laugh.

“Bonnie Bennet I think I’m beginning to like you or at least tolerate you.” Rebekah revealed as she gave Bonnie a smile before returning her attention to the road. “I sure hope you don’t wind up dead today.”

Klaus walked into the dining area of the compound to find Hayley, Marcel and Elijah sitting at his table clearly having a conversation which had been hushed by his arrival making Klaus keen to know what his family had been keeping from him this time.

“Please don’t tell me another mistake of mine has crawled out of their graves to torment me further.” Klaus said to them.

“Actually, we just having a conversation about a Mikaelson representative at the faction meetings.” Marcel with a wicked smile clearly ready for the inevitable drama to unfold.

“Finally, some good news,” Klaus responded with a smile of his own. “I promise to try and be as reasonable as possible and perhaps even attempt following some rules.”

“Yeah see I agreed to a Mikaelson representative, but I never said I was going to agree to it being you.” Marcel revealed to him as he stood up from his chair.

“Please there is no Mikaelson better fitting than me!” Klaus snapped.

“History shows that there is no Mikaelson less fitting than you.” Hayley said as she too stood up from her chair. “Out of all the Mikaelson’s you have the most enemies and that’s quite a feat considering Kol has less enemies than you.”

“Kol has the right attitude but fails to make a lasting impression like I do.” Klaus replied with a sinister smirk.

“Brother it really is in the family’s best interest that we make this work this time around with as little bloodshed as possible.” Elijah told his younger brother as he was the last to stand up from his chair.

“That’s easy for you to say I was once a king in this city!” Klaus shouted. “And now you want me to be what another local?”

“Hey at least now you can put your full attention on seeking out Henrik and Nathaniel where are we on that by the way?” Marcel said to Klaus attempting to change the subject.

“Rebekah and bloody Bonnie Bennett are heading to some hell town as we speak to seek them out,” Klaus snapped while looking at Marcel, Hayley and Elijah with pure fury in his eyes. “However, I may advise them to switch sides with me and align ourselves with Henrik instead.”

“Bonnie is the least likely person to ever work alongside you Klaus.” Hayley said with a smirk clearly amused by Klaus’ rage.

“This will not stand!” Klaus shouted before looking at Elijah. “You’re the Mikaelson representing at these meetings.”

“Yes, but I promise to work alongside you as much as possible brother.” Elijah admitted to him.

“Well good luck to the lot of you because the only thing more boring than endless meetings is Elijah and you’ve just aligned the two now that’s the ultimate enemy give me psychotic witches and long lost zombie siblings any day over meetings with Elijah.” Klaus moaned in a fit before vamp speeding out of the dining area leaving Elijah, Hayley and Marcel smirking at each other over his reaction to their news.

Rebekah’s car pulled up just in front of the graffiti-ed Welcome to Helton signed which was graffiti-ed to say Welcome to Hell town as Rebekah and Bonnie got out of the car and walked over to the sign so that the two of them were standing right next to it.

“Did somebody really have to make this place any spookier by calling it Hell town?” Bonnie asked while looking at the sign.

“Trust me the sign is not as bad as what’s after it and I’m not talking about hooded robes pulling out hearts I’m talking about the entire town seeming haunted. Murders I can take however ghosts of people already dead and usually by me or my blood well they tend to be a little bit trickier.” Rebekah replied to her.

“Why have we stopped here?” Bonnie questioned.

“We’re walking the rest of the way just in case things get messy I don’t want my car coming to any harm.” Rebekah answered her as the two began walking in wards to the ghost town.

“Suddenly I’m finding this place creepier than the person living here.” Bonnie revealed. “And I can’t help but wonder why a powerful witch would reside here instead of somewhere more extravagant or at least less dead although I suppose they do specialize in death magic.”

“Ghost towns make good prisons or at least that’s what Nathaniel would like me to believe is the only reason I can tell this place means something to him I just haven’t figured out what yet and honestly that’s the last question on my mind needing answered by him.” Rebekah admitted to Bonnie.

“You mean like how he went from human to Malus almighty in a thousand years or how he learned about his magic if so far it’s only him, his father and Henrik that appear to have this ancient magic knowing he must’ve taught Henrik and his father was too busy trying to kill him to play teacher.” Bonnie went on to say as they continued their walking inwards to Helton.

“Exactly well that and the added power hungry consuming magic thing.” Rebekah answered. “Don’t get me wrong he seems like more of a bastard than he was a thousand years ago, but I can still see Nathaniel in there or at least I’ve fooled myself into seeing him.”

“You want to trust him, don’t you?” Bonnie asked her as they walked up to the abandoned town center of Helton.

“Of course, I do he was my first friend, Niklaus’ first love although he thought we didn’t know, and he was like family.” Rebekah said with a sigh of sadness. “Makes sense as to why he wants to kill us now.”

“I don’t think he does I mean he removed The Hollow from you and your siblings and only wanted you to free your brother in return.” Bonnie said to her as the two stopped outside the boarded-up Helton Hotel. “As wicked as Malus is meant to be so far, he seems only to be of help to you even though you drained him of his blood. I don’t think he’s fully giving into this magic like his father and Henrik has and that’s the real reason he needs our help because he’s not powerful enough to take down his father alone and he needs help saving Henrik.”

“What you genuinely believe that unlike all Malus witches Nathaniel has somehow fought the darkness within this magic for over a thousand years?” Rebekah asked in shock. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it? We don’t know much about Malus most of it is whispers of whispers and to be honest with you I’m putting money on Nathaniel not being too much of an expert either.” Bonnie replied.

“His father would be though, and it just so happens he’s being held right here.” Rebekah said with a scheming smile. “As long as we’re smart about it, we can finally get the answers that Elijah and Nathaniel have been keeping from us.”

“Or we release the nastier version of Nathaniel into the world and get nothing but lies.” Bonnie warned her.

“Don’t you want to know more about this magic? We are powerful women you lead an entire city of witches and I reunited my family and yet we’re kept in the dark so to speak by men.” Rebekah stated. “Let’s get the answers from the father then we’ll have more sway when we speak to the son.”

“Okay I’m in but if anything goes wrong, we get the hell out of hell town.” Bonnie told her.

“You’ve been dying to say that haven’t you?” Rebekah laughed.

“Perhaps just a little.” Bonnie responded with a smile.

Hope found herself walking down the busy streets of the French Quarter before taking a turn down an alleyway only to be left surprised to see Nathaniel stood in the alleyway instantly recognizing him as somebody with immense power realizing he must be the powerful witch her family had been talking about.

“So, I don’t see any family resemblance so I’m going to guess that you are my father’s ex Nathaniel and not my uncle Henrik.” Hope said to him.

“Ex?” Nathaniel replied with a smirk. “I suppose that is the correct term I must say you truly are remarkable Hope Mikaelson defying the impossible and not being one but three of the supernatural a true hybrid.”

“Less of the flattery please why don’t you get straight to the reason to why your hanging out in alleyways looking for a fifteen-year-old.” Hope snapped at him.

“I would go to Bonnie but I’m afraid one favour is more than enough to owe the Bennett’s and as for your aunt Freya she is rather busy with the whole pregnancy and everything and besides she doesn’t strike me as anywhere near as powerful as you Hope.” Nathaniel explained. “I’ve been working with your uncle Elijah with a plan to rid myself of my retched father and save Henrik’s soul however what he doesn’t know is that’s plan B you my precious little fireball are plan A.”

“And what makes you think I would be foolish enough to trust you?” Hope asked him.

“Because all you’ve ever wanted is your family united and I’m trying my everything to help Henrik be a part of that family.” Nathaniel admitted. “All I’ve ever wanted was for Henrik to live a life different to my own to be free from the curse that comes with this magic.”

“My aunt Rebekah went to go find you she’s going to be super pissed to find out you’re in New Orleans.” Hope responded trying to change the subject only to see Nathaniel’s facial expressions change to that of pure fear.

“Rebekah went looking for me did she not think to run it past Elijah?” Nathaniel asked the youngest Mikaelson as he began to fear the worst.

“Yeah my aunt Bex doesn’t really ask for permission for anything from anyone.” Hope said while noticing Nathaniel’s fear. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I’m afraid your aunt maybe in great danger I had hoped to avoid him at all costs but I’m going to need you to take me to your father.” Nathaniel declared. “If we don’t move quickly Rebekah’s life could be at risk.”

Rebekah and Bonnie were walking through the woods of Helton until they saw Nathaniel’s mysterious followers in hooded robes standing in the same circle as Rebekah had seen them before while a lifeless Augustus remained tied to the tree with his heart on the ground next to him.

“So, what exactly is the plan here?” Bonnie asked Rebekah as the two of them hid behind a tree to not be seen.

“I was thinking I fight off the undead while you place his heart back in his chest and then do some barrier spell of your own so he can’t escape.” Rebekah explained quietly. “Afterwards we hope Nathaniel’s ghost squad isn’t too pissed and conduct their own barrier spell as we leave with all the information we’ve been looking for.”

“That’s not a plan that’s a rash violent mission which is bound to get us both killed.” Bonnie warned her.

“Like we haven’t both done much worse before.” Rebekah replied with a smile before vamp speeding towards the worshiper's direction.

Rebekah only got halfway there before one of the robed worshipers raised their hand in her direction stopping her mid flight and forcing her to freeze on that spot unable to move as the worshiper's begin chanting loudly in the unrecognizable language which was becoming far too regular for Rebekah’s liking.

Bonnie moved from behind the tree chanting in Croatian while holding her hands out only to begin feeling immense pain as her veins turned black showing through her skin and her nose began to bleed furiously.

“If you’re going to do something now would be the time.” Bonnie shouted in between chants.

“I guess this means we go to Plan B.” Rebekah mumbled to herself as she fought past the worshiper's magic with the help of Bonnie’s spell and vamp sped over towards Augustus picking his heart up from the floor in the process and launching it into his chest.

“No!” The worshiper's screamed in unison before their bodies began catching on fire the flames burning them harshly and rapidly as the hoods fell revealing them as zombies with rotten skin and bones clearly once human but not recognizable to anyone anymore.

The worshiper's let out a series of screams as Bonnie fell to the ground causing Rebekah to fear for her frenemies’ life only to be further shocked to see the worshiper's explode in unison leaving nothing but body parts and rotted skin behind.

Rebekah vamp sped over to Bonnie kneeling over and picking her up in her arms before shaking the witch’s body hoping to wake her.

“Bonnie Bennett you don’t get to die not here!” Rebekah snapped before she noticed Bonnie beginning to open her eyes causing Rebekah to smile. “You’re quite the remarkable witch how did you manage to kill them all?”

“I didn’t do that.” Bonnie revealed making Rebekah look around the woods only to realize Augustus was no longer anywhere to be seen.

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