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nellynee · 3 years

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The makings of greatness, or why, as a ride or die Treasure Planet stan, I’m glad there’s no Treasure Plant 2

You ever see somethings that makes you unreasonably angry? Yes I understand exactly what I’m saying, and how that indicates that my emotions and opinions on this are exactly that. Opinions. There’s a good chance I have some objective truths mixed in, but that does not make my opinions based on those truths truth. If you disagree or have different tastes or opinions or interpretations, cool, let me know! maybe you’ll change my mind. That being said.

The plot synopsis for the Treasure Planet sequel makes me angry. Not like, actively so, just annoyed enough to be in a bad mood. And now you guys all have to be in one as well. Why?

Reason 1, and probably least important: Disney sequel syndrome.

Ok so Disney sequels aren’t inherently bad. I’ll stan the Aladdin sequels to my grave, who knew Cinderella could world build, obligatory Rescuers Down Under (the first one was better) blah blah blah.

But there is an inherit problem with sequels in general, and that usually has to do with cast and crew. An original piece of fiction has to grab the audience yes, but there’s also freedom in that. Media touches people in different way. The worldbuilding can mean more to some than others. Some are in it for the animation, or the character developments, or relationships. What connects with one person won’t connect with another. The problem with sequels is that different people who worked out the original material might and usually do not work on the new. And those new people are already working on that new material with their own personal lenses and experiences and interpretations coloring the old. The reason sequels (and remakes, and big budget presentations of other materials like books into movies) tend to bomb hard is because you are essentially being forced to accept someone’s fanfiction into the canon material. Usually, there’s a pretty strong correlation between more successful franchises/extension material, works staying true to the core material, original crew working on the material, and the enjoyment of the audience.

And sources say very few of the original crew remained. Some yes, but mostly voice cast. Even worse, TP2 was a DisneyToon production, not even a mainline feature. Now I’m not saying the new people weren’t talented, or passionate about the project, or were lacking in experience. It doesn’t really matter if any of those things are true or not. It’s the warping of their personal lenses I don’t trust. Fanfic I can disregard, meta I can disregard. This would have been canon.

And reading the Artbook makes is abundantly clear that the parts that touched me personally would have been missing. The very core of Treasure Planet for me was the relationship between Jim and Silver (and their exquisite animation budget). However you choose to interpret that relationship, you can not deny that Treasure Planet is a powerfully emotionally romantic movie. It’s quiet moments and emotional resonance shaped my views of intimacy with a sharp and fine touch. Silver and Jim’s bond is as undeniable and powerful as it is compelling and awe inspiring to witness unfold.

And a lot of that is owed not only to the voice acting of Joseph Gorden-Levitt (Jim) and Brian Murray (Silver), But to animators Glen Keane and John Ripa, who were the head animators of Silver and Jim respectively. Not only did Gorden-Levitt and Brian Murray deliver stunning performances, but made sure to work together and jointly play off each other in ways most voice actors don’t have the opportunity to do. And the Masters Keane and Ripa took an already stellar and carefully crafted vocal rapport and took it one step further. I highly recommend the Artbook as a good read, both Keane and Ripa talk about the journey of discovering who Jim and Silver were with delight, acting out entire scenes together using their own body language to build the characters together, using the same animation reals to animate, tag teaming in and out of the program rather than do it separately, becoming so attuned with their characters attitudes and mannerisms that you can tell they poured entire pieces of themselves into Jim and Silver.

I’m not saying the Sequel would have been inherently bad because it’s a sequel, or because a new crew worked on it, but I am saying I wouldn’t trust it with a ten foot pole.

Reason 2: Thanks I hate it (I’m saying it’s inherently bad because the plot is bad and I hate it)

I’m sorry for the length, but for you to really understand just how bad this is, I actually have to pick through every single line and tell you why it fails critically at some junctures and where it would be so simple to fix. For those of you who were unaware that there was a sequel in the works at some point, I’m pulling these quotes pretty much wholesale from the AnimateVeiws article Buried Treasure: The ill-fated voyage to Treasure Planet 2, specifically the interview with Jun Falkenstein who was set to direct the now canceled sequel. Spoiler warning, I guess?

So, from the begining

“The sequel was to pick up where the first film left off, with Jim Hawkins going to the Royal Interstellar Academy. At the Academy, he is a hotshot “natural,” but he doesn’t follow the rules very well.” - Strong start but then dropped the finish. I think the interstellar academy would be a very compelling starting point. I see no fault in it at least, it’s a good opportunity to world build. Clemence and Musket like to make a point that Jim was crafted to connect with the emotionally wounded and distant youth in a age of divorce, so showing what happens when that youth hikes up their britches and gets to work can extend on that theme aaaaaaand you dropped it. Dropped that strong start. Yes, Jim was more than a bit of a bite back rebel in the film, but that was a reactionary response to the bad place he started in. Jim was abandoned, and tied his self worth into that abandonment. His kickback against society was a reaction stemming from an inability to see his personal worth and any sort of future he could craft from it. He outgrew this, his very character development was about this in the film. His character arc was about realizing his inherent worth, embracing a sense of confidence and learning what he could do. Even disregarding that, bonus material outside of the film shows that Jim has a very strong sense of respect for Captain Amelia, her military career, and the hard work she put into it, and he’s there on her recommendation. Why would he act out in this? He is a natural yes, but the film shows he’s incredibly sharp and intelligent, if unlearned, and more than ready to learn given opportunity.

“Hence, he gets off to a shaky start – especially with his classmate Kate, who is very smart and has a type A personality. Kate’s father is Admiral Blake, the Commander of the Navy. Jim and Kate vie for top of the class but have very different skills.” - So building off this to fix the problem before. I guess the dynamic they are going for is something like “the kind of a jerk hotshit hotshot who’s got it all figured out and the straight laced rule fallowing stick in the ass rival”? I’m not apposed to to a rivalry, but lets tweak this, given how “hot shot natural jerk” isn’t really where Jim settles at the end of the film. Jim is a natural talent, who excels under tutelage, but more importantly, he has practical experience. While the time period spent on the RLS Legacy is not defined, they do sail to a deep and unexplored part of the galaxy, probably well outside of regular settlements, so no small distance, though Jim is young enough that a very long period of time would be noted in physical growth. Given comparisons to classic nautical sailing of the source time, months, perhaps up to a year? That’s a long time to spend, learning the rough and tumble basics, tying knots, experiencing food and water rations, extreme temperatures, playing with the rigging and mechanical aspects of the boat. Jim knows what it’s like to actually sail. Meanwhile, this is the Royal Academy, who probably takes in upper class second born children and pumps out military accolades for well learned mathematicians and strategists. Jim doesn’t fit in because he can visualize, he can think outside of the box, he can weld a damn engine to a hunk of shrapnel and ignite it freefalling against a metal hellscape and outrace a boat in a high adrenaline situation. He adapts where the other’s frantically look through their notes for the answer. Worse yet, he’s poor and not classically educated. Make it a class issue. In this aspect I do like Kate. Being the Daughter of the Commander of the Navy, she probably has a very technical and far more expansive understanding of navel ships, particularly the running of them. In this way Jim and Kate are perfect foils. Jim representing the poor, instinctually and practically knowledgeable crew, and Kate the upper-class, technically knowledgeable command, a dichotomy representing the haves and have nots in their skills, experiences, an class.

I don’t want to post a picture and break the post, but I do love Kate’s design. I do recommend looking up the article and checking it out. that being said, being a feline species, they messed up not spelling it Cate.

“Captain Amelia is dean of the Academy, which has a brand-new vessel: the Centurion.” - I… why, why is Amelia the dean? Additional material shows that Amelia broke ties with the military because she didn’t like their rule stickling ways and red tape. Why would she want a red tape position? She helped with a war and then bailed first opportunity to become a freelance captain so she could fallow her own rules. Even if you don’t know any of that additional material, you do know that she is a freelance captain. Why is she dean? what happened to the old one? Are they dead? Did DisneyToon kill them? Did Disneytoon kill the old dean?

“Designed by Doctor Doppler, the Centurion is the fastest ship in the galaxy.” - HE’S NOT THAT KIND OF DOCTOR!

“B.E.N. is its pilot”. - NO

In all seriousness all three of those statements show a serious problem, in that none of those characters are in fact those things. Amelia I’ve already explained. But Doppler was a debatably youngish bachelor with too much money who was fascinated by astronomy specifically and who suffered from ennui. And BEN was a navigational unit, so maybe it makes sense for him to be a pilot, but why is a robot who was functioning under a galaxy feared pirate for who knows how long given any kind of agency over a brand new incredibly important ship? These decisions were probably made to incorporate as much of the old cast as possible, to not exclude fan faves. But any decision that makes BEN a prominent part of the plot and thus gets more screen time is a BAD one.

“The pirate Ironbeard desires to commandeer the Centurion. This ruthless villain is relatively all iron – almost nothing of whom he originally was, inside and out, is left.” - On the one hand, I have a weird feeling that this would somehow violate the 30-70 rule. Buuuuut on the other hand, the Artbook does describe the decision making process of what and how was mechanical on Silver (my favorite tidbit was the wheel on his head representing his constant thinking and assessing) and states that that they in a way represent the pieces of humanity he gave up looking for Flint’s Trove. Extending that to a pirate who has given up everything could be a powerful thematic tool if used right (or intentionally)

“He leads a group of pirates to hijack the Centurion while Jim and Kate are aboard.” - ok, yeah, I’ll buy that. If they are butting heads constantly, I could see them sneaking off to the new piece of hardware to one up each other on who knows their stuff, or maybe bond over wanting to learn about the said new tech and being frustrated with restrictions.

“The Navy can’t catch the Centurion, due to the vessel’s speed and armor.”- sure

“Jim and Kate escape the Centurion. Jim decides he needs a pirate to help catch pirates. They find his old buddy Long John Silver in the Lagoon Nebula, where he is running a smuggling ring. “ - So what Jim just goes “I know just the pirate to help us” and then finds him? That journey of itself deserves it’s own movie, anything less is a disappointment. Alternative. Jim and Kate escape onto a particularly lawless planet. Jim has some tricks to keep them safe and fed, maybe he even excels in ways he’s been straight up stop gapped at the academy. Maybe his knowhow is appreciated by others who society also rejects. But Kate is a frustrating fish out of water, getting offended and worked up over things that are big deals to an average citizen but not criminals and pirates. But such reactions are putting them in danger and she needs to get perspective fast. It’s plausible maybe that Silver tracks them down through interesting rumors, but more than that, let it be fate. Neither having any idea the other is there till the second they see each other. Bonus points if Jim and Kate get in a bind and Silver is the leader of the harassers. Better yet lets add some thematic mirroring not only to the scene where Silver saved Jim from Scroop, but directly contrast it to the scene where Silver doubled back and down against the notion of caring for Jim when called out before the mutiny. *kisses finger* Touching and hilarious.

“ Silver agrees to help when he hears about the Centurion. “ - Silver agrees to help when he hears about the Centurion without Jim even having to ask. Storywise, lets make some kind of deal over how Jim, an upstanding enrollee of the academy, apparently is chummy with a pirate. Tension doesn’t just have to be external, and Kate is the daughter of the Commander of the Army. Maybe she’s recognized and this gets them in trouble. Maybe Kate has issues with her identity outside of her father’s career and need to learn a lesson about being outside of a rigid social structure?

“Jim and Kate receive a tracking signal from B.E.N. – who is currently hostage aboard the Centurion – and follow via Silver’s creaky vessel. They discover the Centurion docked near the Botany Bay Prison Asteroid. “ - While being the fastest ship yet is a good excuse for wanting it to get stolen, my suspension of disbelief breaks a little at any ship, let alone a creaky little pirate vessel, catching up to the fastest ship yet, or the tracking signal being the only way to track it to a guarded prison. Seeing as how I’ve written BEN out of this scenario lets fix it. After the events of the movie, the Royal Military swoops in after to confiscate the debris of Treasure Planet. For those in the know, canon lore states that the Planet was a giant computer, and it and the map were the byproducts of an ancient and advanced civilization. Studying the debris led to the Centurion, notable not for it’s speed, but for it’s stealth. It can cloak itself. Which is why no-one can find it. Meanwhile Silver lets it slip that he snagged the map from it’s pedestal as they escaped the planet as a souvenir. (handwave why the portal was still open with a “the whole thing was exploding, the computer froze). The map is able to track the remnants of said planet, aka the Centurion, meaning Silver has the only means of tracking the cloaked ship

“Ironbeard is using the Centurion to disable Botany Bay’s security systems. Jim, Kate and Silver sneak aboard the Centurion, where Silver reveals to Jim that he wants to take the Centurion for himself. He asks Jim to join him.“ YES. YES YES YES YES YES YES! Understanding that Jim’s decision to not go with Silver in the first movie is key here. He rejected Silver’s offer the first time because Silver had shown him he had intrinsic value, and Jim finally felt that the natural gifts he had were worth cultivating, that he did have the chance to explore who he could be on his own terms. Jim was comfortable being on his own, because he felt capable. Now, Jim and Silver bring out the best in each other, and the time apart has done them harm. Jim’s strings of social rejections are starting to fell like a glass ceiling he can’t overcome, and is finding more and more comfort in being a big fish in a pirates small pond, and the emotions of of being wanted that come with Silver is a powerful drug. But it’s a one way ticket away from any opportunities he could work towards, not to mention his barely repaired relationship with his mother. Meanwhile Silver has been slowly slipping back into the colder, more selfish self he was, a necessity for his lifestyle, and doesn’t want to loose his connection to Jim and what Jim brings out in him, but is still far enough gone to make the offer and try for the boat anyways, even if he knows it’s not what’s best. It’s an emotionally compelling decision. You want them to say yes, you know they shouldn’t

“Kate overhears this and is horrified, especially since the two have, of course, started falling for each other during the adventure.” - Hate. this I hate. Leaving shipping to they way side, what’s that “of course”? why do they have to fall for each other? Why the Disneytoon sequel love interest? I have a feeling her characterization would come at the cost of it. Why can’t they be rivals? why can’t they develop a mutual respect outside of attraction? Why can’t they both learn an individualized lesson about finding their own place in the world outside of social constraints as foils without macking? I hate this concept. Kate overhears, and is horrified, because Silver is a Pirate which is actually in universe get yourself hanged offense, and Jim is considering this, and they are going to steal a VERY IMPORTANT BOAT and and leave her stranded in a dagerous prison, and are making an objectively morally bad decision.

“Ironbeard discovers the intruders, charging into a fight in which Silver is injured. Meanwhile, the other pirates throw down ladders to the prison below, allowing swarms of elated prisoners to climb up into the ship. Silver, Jim, and Kate exit the Centurion amidst all the confusion. However, Ironbeard shoots down Silver’s ship. They plummet to the prison asteroid below, crash-landing” - cool. Drama. But for my purposes, lets tweak it so Silver isn’t injured yet. But I really want to emphasize that this attack does not interrupt before Jim can react to Silver’s offer. Even something as tentative as “I’m not sure” has consequences. None of this “misunderstanding” BS.

“ Kate is angry at Jim and storms off. “- again, make it clear that Jim showed a real chance of agreeing to steal the ship. if she’s angry before he had a chance to answer that’s contrivance for drama’s sake. Give her a reason to be mad

“ Jim is about to blow her off as well when Silver tells him to give her a chance. He reveals a part of his past through a flashback, when a young (non-cyborg) Silver screwed up a relationship with the love of his life – a decision which directly led to his life of piracy. “ - nope. nope nope nope . I’m gonna put a big old * here because this is reason number 3 why I hate this potential movie, and I will get to that believe me, but here’s me, putting a pin in it. That being said, have Silver selfishly try to double down on getting Jim to join him in a three way argument instead. This is the conflict of the film. Kate, who was learning to grow outside of the strict restrictions of her life and do her own work, make her own way, is being rejected. She is as morally repulsed as she is hurt that she wasn’t included, and hates herself for that hurt as well. Jim is torn between the freedom of what he could be after the academy paired with the strict social constructs around it, and the freedom of a life “full of himself and no ties to anyone” but running from the law and the two friends they represent. Silver is the aggressor here. He likes Kate, he does, but he loves Jim and only has one place in his heart, and has spent his life being selfish. There’s already a crew on board, and Iron beard is hooked into the Centurion. With having the only other means to navigate, they take down ironbeard, the rest will surely fall in line. This is paydirt. A fantastic ship, a bloodthirsty crew, and Jim.

“Silver has a very dangerous cargo with him that he had been trying to smuggle and sell for a fortune, which has the power of a neutron bomb. Jim, Kate and Silver reconcile and work together to fix Silver’s ship and prevent the Centurion, filled with the most evil pirates in the galaxy, from going on an insane robbing-and-killing spree. At the last second, Silver reluctantly gives up his “retirement fund” in order to destroy the Centurion, with Ironbeard and all the pirates on board.” - this entire section needs rewritten. That’s a mcguffin Silver put it away. I have retconned the mcguffin to be the old map, so that is now moot. Now to not blow up the ship. Afterall, Silver and Jim have both already overcome what Treasure Planet represented with it’s destruction. Rather, B plot

If we are that desperate to have past characters in, let’s have Amelia and Delbert back home. When the Centurion is captured, Amelia immediately volunteers to fallow, feeling responsible for Jim and secretly pining for some adventure. Delbert feels the same, and he to a bit of an adrenaline junkie after the events of the first movie, but they have the children to think about and only one can leave. Delbert is the one chosen to help by the navy officials searching for the Centurion. While Amelia bickers with the Admiral Blake over his pragmatic but emotionally distant decisions over the situation of his missing daughter, Delbert is an astronomer, and is blah blah blah science meta, fallow the flashing and bending lights around the cloaked ship to find it. As in Delbert is helpful. Amelia in a reflation to Admiral Blake, is torn between her family and commandeering her own ship to help. Blake is frustratingly headstrong in his decisions, and the script makes it seem like that emotional distance is disinterests, but reveals to the audience that it incorporates a great deal of suppression of his anxieties and worries over his daughter, and trust in her abilities, though he has issues expressing this pride to Kate herself. Amelia, Delbert and fam make what is probably a poor decision in commandeering a ship and leaving on their own to track the Centurion, the navy hot on their heels.

Back to A plot, the navy is approaching. Jim has to make a decision. He is the only one who knows how to unmask the ship using the old ones tech without training, as it’s based off the map. While Kate and Silver are distracting iron beard, he has to either steal the ship and sail off, or uncloak it for the navy. Iron beard is taken down, but not without Silver getting injured. Jim decides that Silver’s life is worth more than anything, and after agreeing with Kate that she’ll commandeer a doctor and wont let Silver die, uncloaks the ship. The Centurion is retaken in a blaze of naval glory that is the action climax. The pirates fight back up are over run. Maybe Kate gets taken hostage as the Admirals daughter, as an opportunity for a resolution with her arc as Blake’s distant daughter, though obviously said resolution comes at her showing her abilities in taking care of herself and the practical skills she has learned.

“Silver again parts from Jim and Kate, telling them to take care of each other. A few years later, Jim and Kate graduate with honors, while a proud Silver secretly watches from the shadows, smiling” - Boooooo. Kate and her dad make up, and she challenges him that she’s going to one day Captain the Centurion, with him understanding that she needs less a mentor and more an emotional support while she works her way up the ranks. She invites Jim to be her first mate, to which Jim accepts as a navigator, (a thing I’ve pointed out to be his real strength in another post). But to Silver, who has been “pardoned” for his part in retaking the Centurion, the movie hinting that he to would be on the eventual crew there I fixed it fic to come I s2g.

yeah there’s a lot of good there, but it’s so easy to fix the bad it’s frustrating. which brings me to

Reason 3: that little pin

Nope nope nope I’ll tell you why.

First of all, sources like the artbook say that Jim is so Important to Silver because he’s the first person Silver has ever let become important. he’s specifically stated to have no family, never married, no children. And that’s something he cultivated actively. His life of piracy, his metal limbs, his loneliness and moral failings were all gleefully accumulated for one reason and one reason only

Treasure Planet.

Treasure Planet was the great love of Silver’s life. It was a lifelong obsession. It destroyed his body, took his youth, his opportunities and nearly his life. He broke Jim’s heart over it.

And he let it go. For Jim.

And Jim understood this

This is the crux of treasure planet’s very themes. This is where Jim found self worth. Another person finally looked at him and said “you matter, you matter more than anything. I like being around you and I choose you first.” and it made Jim realize he’s someone worth choosing.

The treasure was EVERYTHING to Silver, and Silver let it go, for Jim.

That one line there, attributing the start of Silver’s fall to a girl? that actively retcons the entire theme of the previous movie. IT rewrite the emotional linchpin of Silver’s sacrifice of the gold. And actually fuck that. right into the ground. I do not accept. I do not pass go. I refuse. Fuck you non existent movie. That makes me mad. every single time. Hate I shall never let go.

#Disney #Treasure Planet #Jim Hawkins #long john silver #john silver #long post #meta #god I hate this non existent movie #This outline is the closest I've ever come to writing spitefic and its still up in the air #Treasure Planet is such a romantic movie and you come into my house and try to shred the emotional core and themes by recontextualizing?#fuck off #Fuck I love Treasure Planet #sequel synopsis can die in a fire tho

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dwellordream · 3 years

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“To understand what friendship between women was, we must first understand what it was not. Before turning to the ways in which female friendship illustrated the play of the Victorian gender system, we must develop grounds for distinguishing it from other relationships between women. This is a detour, for the subject of this chapter is female friendship; erotic desire and marriage between women are the focus of subsequent sections. But friendship, erotic infatuation, and female marriage have so often been conflated, and women’s relationships so commonly understood as essentially ambiguous, that the detour is a necessary one.

The language of Victorian friendship was so ardent, the public face of female marriage so amicable, the comparisons between female friendship and marriage between men and women so constant, that it is no simple task to distinguish female friends from female lovers or female couples. The question “did they have sex?” is the first one on people’s lips today when confronted with a claim that women in the past were lovers—and it is almost always unanswerable. If firsthand testimony about sex is the standard for defining a relationship as sexual, then most Victorians never had sex. Scholars have yet to determine whether Thomas Carlyle was impotent; when, if ever, John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor consummated their relationship; or if Arthur Munby and Hannah Cullwick, whose diaries recorded their experiments with fetishes, cross-dressing, and bootlicking, also had genital intercourse.

Just as one can read hundreds of Victorian letters, diaries, and memoirs without finding a single mention of menstruation or excretion, one rarely finds even oblique references to sex between husband and wife. Men and women were equally reticent about sexual activity inside and outside of marriage. In a journal that described her courtship and wedding in detail, Lady Knightley dispatched the first weeks of wedded life in two lines: “Rainald and I entered on our new life in our own home. May God bless it to us” (173). Elizabeth Butler, whose autobiography included “a little sketch of [her] rather romantic meeting” with the man who became her husband, was similarly and typically laconic about a transition defined by sexual intercourse: “June 11 of that year, 1877, was my wedding day.”

The lack of reliable evidence of sexual activity becomes less problematic, however, if we realize that sex matters because of the social relationships it creates and concentrate on those relationships. In Victorian England, sex was assumed to be part of marriage, but could also drop out of marriage without destroying a bond never defined by sex alone. The diaries and correspondence of Anne Lister and Charlotte Cushman provide solid evidence that nineteenth-century women had genital contact and orgasms with other women, but even more importantly, they demonstrate that sex created different kinds of connections. The fleeting encounters Lister had with women she met abroad were very different from the illicit but sustained affair Cushman had with a much younger woman who became her daughter-in-law.

Those types of affairs were in turn worlds apart from the relationships with women that Lister and Cushman called marriages, a term that did not simply mean the relationships were sexual but also connoted shared households, mingled property, and assumptions about exclusivity and durability. We can best understand what kinds of relationships women had with each other not by hunting for evidence of sex, which even if we find it will not explain much, but rather by anchoring women’s own statements about their relationships in a larger context.

The context I provide here is the complex linguistic field of lifewriting, which brings into focus two types of relationships often confused with friendship, indeed often called friendship, but significantly different from it: 1) unrequited passion and obsessive infatuation; and 2) life partnerships, which some Victorians described as marriages between women. The most famous and best-documented example of a Victorian woman’s avowed but unreciprocated passion for another woman is Edith Simcox’s lifelong love for George Eliot, which has made her a staple figure in histories of lesbianism.

Simcox (1844–1901) was a trade-union organizer and professional writer who regularly contributed book reviews to the periodical press and published fiction and nonfiction, including a study of women’s property ownership in ancient societies, discussed in chapter 5. From 1876 to 1900, Simcox kept a journal in a locked book that surfaced in 1930. Simcox gave her life story a title, The Autobiography of a Shirtmaker, that foregrounded her successful work as a labor activist, but its actual content focused on what Simcox called “the lovepassion of her life,” her longing for George Eliot as an unattainable, idealized beloved whom she called “my goddess” or, even more reverently, “Her.”

Simcox knowingly embraced a love that could not be returned, though she was aware of reciprocated, consummated sexual love between women. Her diary alludes to a “lovers’ quarrel” among three women she knew (61) and mentions her own rejection of a woman who “professed a feeling for me different from what she had ever had for any one, it might make her happiness if I could return it” (159). Tellingly, though twentieth-century scholars often refer to Simcox euphemistically as Eliot’s devoted “friend,” Simcox rarely used the term, and modeled herself instead on a courtly lover made all the more devoted by the one-sidedness of her passion. Simcox defined her diary as an “acta diurna amoris,” a daily act of love, and aspired to keep it with a constancy that would mirror her total absorption in Eliot (3).

After bringing Eliot two valentines in February 1878, Simcox wrote: “Yesterday I went to see her, and have been in a calm glow of happiness since:—for no special reason, only that to have been near her happens to have that effect on me. . . . I did nothing but make reckless love to her . . . I had told her of my ambition to be allowed to lie silently at her feet as she pursued her occupations” (25). George Lewes, the companion whom Eliot’s friends referred to as her husband, was present at most of these scenes, and he and Eliot tolerated and even enjoyed Simcox’s attentions, which they consciously construed as loverlike.

During a conversation about Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s love poems, Sonnets from the Portugese, Eliot told Simcox “she wished my letters could be printed in the same veiled way— ‘the Newest Heloise,’” thus situating Simcox’s missives to her in the tradition of amatory literature (39). In private, Simcox indulged fantasies of a more sensual connection, reflecting on a persistent “love that made the longing and molded the caress,” and recalling how “[i]n thinking of her, kisses used to form themselves instinctively on my lips—I seldom failed to kiss her a good night in thought” (136).

In trying to define her love for Eliot, Simcox significantly refused to be content with one paradigm; instead, she accumulated analogies, comparing her love for Eliot to both “[m]arried love and passionate friendship” (60). Like a medieval ascetic, Simcox eroticized her lack of sexual fulfillment, arguing that her love was even more powerful than friendship or marriage because, in resigning herself to living “widowed of perfect joy,” she had felt “sharp flames consuming what was left . . . of selfish lust” (60).

In an unsent 1880 letter to Eliot, Simcox again found herself unable to select only one category to explain her love: “Do you see darling that I can only love you three lawful ways, idolatrously as Frater the Virgin Mary, in romance wise as Petrarch, Laura, or with a child’s fondness for the mother” (120). By implication, Simcox also suggested that there would be an unlawful way to love Eliot—as an adulterer who would usurp the uxurious role already occupied by Lewes. She concluded by explaining that her relationship with Eliot was too unequal to be a friendship (120).

In the absence of the sociological and scientific shorthand provided by sexology or a codified subculture, and in the absence of a genuinely shared life that could be represented by a common history or joint possessions, women like Simcox represented their unrequited sexual desire for other women by extravagantly combining incompatible terms such as mother, lover, sister, friend, wife, and idol. Other women deployed similar rhetorical techniques of intensification and accumulation to express sexual loves that were not equally felt and did not lead to long-term partnerships.

At age twenty, Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912), one of England’s first female doctors and an activist who helped open medical education to women, met philanthropist Octavia Hill (1838–1912). In a biography of Jex-Blake written in 1918 that still adhered to Victorian rhetorical conventions, Margaret Todd called her subject’s relationship with Hill a “friendship” but qualified it as one that made “the deepest impression . . . of any in the whole of her life.” Jex-Blake considered the degree of love she felt for women to be unusual, writing around 1858, “I believe I love women too much ever to love a man” (78).

During a brief relationship that Hill soon broke off, the two women may have been sexually involved, but even so their feelings were never evenly matched. During the period when the women were closest, Hill reduced their bond to mere chumminess by calling herself and Jex-Blake “great companions” (85). By contrast, Jex-Blake was in awe of Hill and described her as both child and mother, roles often eroticized for Victorians, writing in her diary of “My dear loving strong child . . . I do love and reverence her” (85). Even after the relationship ended, Jex-Blake thought of Hill as her lifelong spouse, referring twenty years later to the “fanciful faithfulness” she maintained for her first love, to whom she left “the whole of her little property” in repeated wills (94).

Like Simcox, Jex-Blake used intensified language to underscore the uniqueness of her emotions. When she described inviting Hill on a vacation that included a visit to Llangollen, a site made famous by the female couple who had lived there together, Jex-Blake wrote of her “heart beating like a hammer” (85) and then described Hill’s response: “She sunk her head on my lap silently, raised it in tears, then such a kiss!” (86). Female friends often exchanged kisses, but Jex-Blake’s account took the kiss out of the realm of friendship into one of heightened sensation. Although it was common for female friends to love each other and write gushingly about it, Simcox and Jex-Blake also wrote of feeling uncommon, different from the general run of women.

Simcox identified closely with men and Jex-Blake felt unable to love men as most women did; both were extraordinarily autonomous, professionally successful, and self-conscious about the significance of their love for women. Other women also had intense erotic relationships that went beyond friendship, but were less self-conscious about those relationships, which they rarely saw as needing special explanation, and which usually lasted years or months rather than a lifetime. An example of outright insouciance about a deeply felt erotic fascination between women is found in the journals of Margaret Leicester Warren, written in the 1870s and published for private circulation in 1924.

Little is known about Warren, who was born in 1847 and led the life of a typical upper-middle-class lady, attending church, studying drawing and music, and marrying a man in 1875. Her diary attests to a fondness for triangulated relationships that included an adolescent crush on her newlywed sister and her sister’s husband, and a brief, tumultuous engagement to a male cousin whose mother was the dramatic center of Warren’s intense emotions. In 1872, when Warren was twenty-five, she began to write incessantly about a distant cousin named Edith Leycester in entries that reveled in the experience of succumbing to another woman’s glamour: “Edith looked very beautiful and as usual I fell in love with her....Tonight Edith took me into her room. . . . She is like an enchanted princess. There is some charm or spell that has been thrown over her.”

Numerous similar entries recorded an infatuation that combined daily familiarity with reverent mystification of a sophisticated and self-dramatizing woman. Warren’s fascination with Edith lasted several years. Unlike Simcox and Jex-Blake, Warren never self-consciously reflected that her feelings for Edith differed from conventional friendship, but like them, Warren ascribed an intensity, exclusivity, and volatility to her feelings for Edith absent from most accounts of female friendship. Indeed, Warren rarely referred to Edith as a friend when she wrote of her desire to see Edith every day and recorded their many exchanges of confidences, poetry, and gifts.

Warren fetishized and idealized Edith, was fixated on her presence and absence, and used superlatives to describe the feelings she inspired. Within months of meeting Edith, most of Warren’s entries consisted of detailed reenactments of their daily visits and the emotions generated by each parting and reunion: “Edith was charming tonight and I was happier with her than I have ever been. She looked beautiful” (287). Warren created an erotic aura around Edith through the very act of writing about her, through a liberal use of adverbs and adjectives, and by infusing her friend’s most ordinary actions with dramatic implications.

Describing how Edith invited her to visit her country home, for example, Warren wrote, “Edith came in and threw herself down on the chair and said quietly and gently ‘come to Toft!’” (291). Although Warren got along well with Edith’s rarely present husband, Rafe, she relished being alone with her and described the awkward, jealous scenes that took place whenever she had to share Edith with other women (362, 369). Warren found ways to dwell on the details of Edith’s beauty through references to fashion and contemporary art. Like many diarists, Warren had an almost novelistic capacity to observe and characterize people in terms of prevailing aesthetic forms.

She described Edith with flowers in her hair, looking like a pre-Raphaelite painting, and recorded her desire to make images of Edith: “I sd. like to paint her. . . . It wd. make a good ‘golden witch’ a beautiful Enchantress” (290–91). A ride with Edith inspired Warren to pen another impassioned tableau: “All the way there in the brougham I looked at Edith’s beautiful profile, the lamp light shining on it, and the wind blowing her hair about—her face also, all lit up with enthusiasm and tenderness as she leant forward to Rafe and told him a long story . . . I . . . only thought how grand she was” (369–70).

Shared confidences about Warren’s broken engagement to their male cousin became another medium for cultivating the women’s special intimacy. By assuring Warren that she did not side with the jilted fiance´, Edith declared an autonomous interest in her: “‘I wanted you to come here because— because I like you.’ She was sitting at her easel and never looking at me as she spoke for I was standing behind her, but when she said ‘because I like you,’ she looked backwards up at me with such an honest, soft, beautiful expression that any distrust I had still left of her trueness melted up into a cinder” (290).

Just as Warren heightened her relationship with Edith by writing about it so effusively and at such length, the two women elevated it by coyly discussing what their interactions and feelings meant. Before one of her many departures from London, Edith asked Warren: “‘[A]re you sorry I am going? . . . How curious—why are you sorry?’ Then I told her a little of all she had done for me . . . how much life and pleasure and interest she had put into my life, and she said nothing but she just put out her hand and laid it on my hand and that from her means a great deal more than 100 things from anyone else” (293). Edith’s gesture drew on the repertory of friendship, but in the private theater of her journal, Warren transformed the touch of a hand into a uniquely meaningful clasp.

This is not to say the relationship was one-sided. If Warren’s diary reports the two women’s interactions with any degree of accuracy, it is clear that both enjoyed creating an atmosphere of pent-up longing. Edith fed Warren’s infatuation with provocative questions and a skill for setting scenes: “She asked what things I cared for now? And I said with truth, for nothing— except seeing her” (303). Three days later, just before another of Edith’s departures, Warren paid a call: When tea was over, the dusk had begun and I . . . sat . . . at the open window. . . . By and bye Edith came and sat near me. . . . The room inside was nearly dark, but outside it was brilliant May moonlight. . . . Edith sat there ready to go, looking very pale and very sad with the light on her face. . . . We did not talk much. She asked me to go to the party tonight and to think of her at 11. . . . She said goodbye and she kissed me, for the first time. (303–4)

Warren is exquisitely sensitive to every element that connotes eroticism: a darkened room, physical proximity, complicit silence, a romantic demand that the beloved remain present in her lover’s mind even when absent, a kiss whose uniqueness—“for the first time”—suggests a beginning. Any one of these actions would have been unremarkable between female friends, but comparison with other women’s diaries shows how distinctive it was for Warren to list so many gestures within one entry, without defining and therefore restricting their meaning. Warren’s attitude also distinguishes her emotions from those articulated by women who took their love for women in a more conjugal or sexual direction. Her journals combine exhaustive attention to the beloved with a pervasive indifference to interrogating what that fascination might mean.

Never classified as friendship or love, Warren’s feelings for Edith had the advantages and limits of remaining in the realm of suggestion, where they could expand infinitely without ever being realized or checked. Women who consummated a mutual love and consolidated it by forming a conjugal household were less likely to leave records of their most impassioned moods and deeds than those whose love went unrequited or undefined. Indeed, women in what were sometimes called “female marriages” (a term I discuss further in chapter 5) used lifewriting to claim the privilege of privacy accorded to opposite-sex spouses.

Like the lifewritings of women married to men, those of women in female marriages assumed intimacy and interdependence rather than displaying it, and folded their sexual bond into a social one. They described shared households and networks of acquaintances who recognized and thus legitimated the women’s coupledom, liberally using words such as “always,” “never,” and “every” to convey an iterated, daily familiarity more typical of spouses than friends.

Martha Vicinus’s Intimate Friends cites many nineteenth-century women who described their relationships with other women as marriages, and Magnus Hirschfeld’s magisterial, international study of The Homosexuality of Men and Women (1914) noted that same sex couples often created “marriage-like associations characterized by the exclusivity and long duration of the relationships, the living together and the common household, the sharing of every interest, and often the existence of legitimate community property.”

Sexual relationships of all stripes were most acceptable when their sexual nature was least visible as such but was instead manifested in terms of marital acts such as cohabitation, fidelity, financial solidarity, and adherence to middle-class norms of respectability. Because friendship between women was so clearly defined and prized, one way to acknowledge a female couple’s existence while respecting their privacy was to call women who were in effect married to each other “friends.” Given that “friends” was used to describe women who were lovers and women who were not, how can we tell when “friends” means more than just friends?

…There are many instances of published writing acknowledging marital relationships between women by calling them friendships. Victorian women in female couples were not automatically subject to the exposure and scandal visited on opposite-sex couples who stepped outside the bounds of respectable sexual behavior. Instead, many female couples enjoyed both the right to privacy associated with marriage and the public privileges accorded to female friendship. The Halifax Guardian obituary of Anne Lister in 1840 recognized her longstanding spousal relationship with Anne Walker by calling her Lister’s “friend and companion,” a gratuitously compound phrase.

Emily Faithfull, whom we will encounter again in chapter 6, was a feminist with a long history of female lovers. An 1894 article entitled “An Afternoon Tea with Miss Emily Faithfull” described her home in Manchester, decorated by “Miss Charlotte Robinson,” whom Faithfull readily disclosed “shares house with me.”80 Faithfull left all her property to Robinson in a will that called her “my beloved friend” whose “countless services” and “affectionate tenderness and care . . . made the last few years of my life the happiest I ever spent.” To call one woman another’s superlative friend was not to disavow their marital relationship but to proclaim it in the language of the day.”

- Sharon Marcus, “Friendship and the Play of the System.” in Between Women: Friendship, Desire, and Marriage in Victorian England

#victorian #sexuality #history #sharon marcus #between women

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thetimelordbatgirl · 3 years

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Another owl house inspired AU on stories by me and my friend, @disneyfan50 , with this one being based on technically Treasure Planet, but with disneyfan’s characters/takes on characters and some Twisted Tale characters from my Twisted Tale series.

*John Silver- also known as The Goo Man due to his cursed form, John never intended to join a coven, given he preferred his freedom over it that allowed him to be an adventurer to its fullest, but this just added to the many reasons hes often hunted down by the emperors coven, but despite this, he still manages to do well when surviving on selling human junk that he gets through a portal door that he found one day when adventuring, but one day while selling the junk, two humans run through the door for their book back and in the process, change everything completely.

*James ‘Jim’ Hawkins- a human from the human realm, Jim is the oldest of him and Nova and he does try to sometimes be the responsible older sibling, but both are as bad as the other when it comes to their love for adventure stories, especially the one called Treasure Planet, often showing their love for the story in various ways, with one incident that included Jim’s book report, getting him sent to the principles office and when Nova was sent to the office as well, the duos mother was cornered into sending them to a summer camp that would hopefully calm them down a little, but neither go, as they end up following some goo creature for their book back and in the process, find themselves in another realm all together.

*Nova Hawkins- a human from the human realm, Nova is the youngest of her and Jim and as a result, often acts like the annoying younger sister a lot, but both siblings get along in their love for adventure books, especially Treasure Planet, and both are as bad as the other when showing said love, as just as Jim’s sent to the office for his book report incident, Nova is sent for her science project incident that included borrowed fireworks from Jim, and with their mother cornered by the principle, both are sent to a summer camp to calm them down, but neither show up as instead, they go after a goo creature for their book back and in the process, find themselves in another realm all together.

*B.E.N- his origins are unknown, but what is known is that B.E.N was found by Silver once while hiding out from the coven and once B.E.N was fixed up by Silver, he left with Silver and has been with him ever since, but often fails in his attempted tough act.

*Shifty- a demon that resides within the house, Shifty is the Treasure House in some sense and as a result, can travel throughout the house and sometimes beyond it when he’s not residing within the door, and while he can come off as creepy a lot, he does have good intentions.

*Morph- Silver’s palisman that Silver made out of palisman wood years ago, Morph is capable of shifting a lot and when not being used by Silver or the Hawkins eventually, Morph often floats around the house or gets human junk when Silver needs it.

*Amelia Smollett- once friends with Silver during their student days, both lost contact over the years, especially after Amelia got into the Emperor’s coven and became dedicated to her duties, but Amelia still seeks to find a way to cure Silver of his curse, and with IronBeard promising that, she has the task of bringing Silver in by any means.

*Temya Kesen- once childhood friends with Ayesha, both fell out while younger due to Ayesha ending the friendship, and ever since then, Temya has been the victim of various bullies, especially when next to being a late bloomer, she also fails the Abomination Track a lot, but after sneaking in two humans, she ends up being switched to her rightful track of Potions and ends up befriending the two humans by the end of it.

*Katherine ‘Kate’ Blake- a Hexside student, Kate is known for her dedication to her studies in the Construction track and can often come off as a rule sticker, but still has her adventurous side, especially with her love for the human realm and therefore, does end up helping Temya at least when Temya sneaks in two humans one day, becoming the trios loyal friend in the process.

*Ayesha Weaver- the only daughter of Azimerate, Ayesha used to be friends with Temya but due to her mother’s pressuring and threats to ruin Temya’s future, both fell out and in present, Ayesha can often come off as a mean girl due to her mother’s upbringing and is known as the star student of the Abomination Track, but as the encounters with the humans keep happening, she ends up slowly changing, with her slowly gaining a crush on the human, Jim, in th process.

*Alia Vizier- a student in Hexside, Alia is known to come from a rather rich background and therefore, often is the schools main bully, especially towards students like Temya, but still works hard in her track of Illusions and is the schools main sports star.

*Hope Fitzgerald- a student in Hexside, Hope often tags along with Alia in everything, and this includes bullying other students but also sports at least, and is known to be a hard worker in the Plant Track at least.

*Azimerate Weaver- the mother of Ayesha, Azimerate is known to only expect the best from her daughter and her treatment of her daughter is harsh as a result, especially with her meddling when she thinks Ayesha is being held back by something, and like Ayesha, she specializes in Abomination Magic, being in their coven while owning and running Weaver Industries.

*Emperor IronBeard- the ruler off the Isles, his origins are unknown outside of the fact that under his rule, the Isles magic is heavily restricted and the coven system exists to stop wild magic from running free, and anyone who is a threat to his rule are swiftly dealt with, but for unknown reasons, he seeks a path into the human realm and is determined to get the door as a result.

*Remington Kolver- IronBeard’s right hand man, Kolver is a force to be reckoned with and his enemies often end up in bad states, with him being dedicated to the coven, but slowly growing a hatred for the Silver Pirate when she starts to get more jobs then him

*The Silver Pirate/Reese- a witch that was taken in by IronBeard as a child, Reese can often come off as a robot herself sometimes and is known to be loyal to the coven fully, with her having to use a artificial magic staff ever since a mission cost her her arm, but slowly comes to doubt the lies shes been told, especially when a palisman bonds to her despite her so called weak magic.

*Cheyanna Hillthorne- a old friend of Silver’s, both lost contact when Silver pushed her away to protect her from his curse, but both end up reuniting when in present, Cheyanna becomes the new head of the Beast Keeping coven, intending on leading a rebellion from the inside.

*Delbert Doppler- the principle off Hexside, Doppler is known to be both caring and strict with his students and is in the Abomination Coven, with him having allowed the humans in due to how it’ll be curious to see how a human does magic.

#megan's fanfiction #dani's fanfiction #the treasure house #alternate universes #OCs #aka the most random one yet from this lot #but it got planned out so

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princessjaqulinechess1031 · 3 years

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My M*A*S*H oc, Dixie, relationships with the major characters (except Charles because the post was too long).

Captain Dr. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce

Ah yes, my favorite tag: the love is requited, they’re just idiots.

In all seriousness, the basis of this is a good friendship. She is the straight man to his goofiness, and he’s the cynic to her optimism. They complement each other in that kind of way, but they also bond over their mutual feelings of inadequacy at times. Any kind of romantic relationship comes second to that friendship, and that’s ultimately what keeps them from pursuing it for so long — they didn’t want to loose that friendship. (Also because they’re blind, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Captain Dr. John “Trapper” McIntyre

Trapper basically took one look at Dixie and went “that puppy is mine”, and is very protective of her. I mean, he annoys the ever living snot out of her but at the same time would not stand for someone else doing the same thing. When her fiancé leaves Dixie, Trapper is basically leading the charge of “oh so this is the asshole” when he comes through camp. Basically, it’s a big brother and their baby sister.

They get along all right, just about the only point of contention between them is Trapper’s rampant cheating on his wife. Dixie is an extremely loyal person and a woman, so she is offended on principle even though she doesn’t know this woman. But Dixie also sees it as a coping mechanism for Trapper, so she’s less inclined to put up a stink as she would usually.

Major Dr. Frank “Ferret Face” Burns

Dixie may not be as a vocal about her displeasure with him, but it’s there in everything she does. She views them as being completely incompetent, and her method is to ‘kill’em with kindness’ when it comes to his outrageous viewpoints. She flowers her language with so much formality and surface-level respect that it takes him a second to catch on that she’s insulting him.

Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan

This relationship, aside from Hawkeye, is the most dynamic one she has. Because at first she is off-put by Margaret’s coldness and affection for Frank. But eventually, she sees a kind, lonely woman beneath Margaret’s exterior. She’s the first of the nurses to reach out to Margaret, and they have a pretty solid friendship after this.

Margaret and Dixie are the definition of Good Cop, Bad Cop and becomes Margaret’s unofficial second in command because of this reason. The sweet to Margaret’s sour at times, they are ultimately really good friends.

1st Lieutenant Father Francis Mulcahy

Dixie is actually religious, even though she considers herself a Protestant rather than Catholic. She has a lot of respect for Father Mulcahy, being someone who tries to hold onto their beliefs in the face of adversity. Mulcahy will sometimes act as her common sense filter, as she can be a bit spacey at times. It’s not time time period appropriate, but this sums up their relationship:

Dixie: That’s like cyberstalking, but in real life!

Mulcahy: So….stalking?

Dixie:

Dixie: Oh, you’re right!

They have a difference of opinion when it comes to interpreting the Bible, but they are respectful of the others beliefs and ultimately see each other as brother and sister in Christ.

Lt. Colonel Dr. Henry Blak

Blake is not what Dixie was expecting out of her commanding officer, and that sometimes shows in their relationship. Blake and Dixie are the kind of people that are connected by the people they know, they wouldn’t seek each other out if not for that. Blake sees Dixie as someone who can hold their own, so she doesn’t worry about her too much, especially since she normally isn’t one of the ringleaders of the camp’s mischief. Normally.

Cpl. Walter “Radar” O’Reilly

If Dixie is Trapper’s baby sister, Radar is Dixie’s baby brother. The two share somewhat of a similar background — grew up in a rural area, tight-knit family — so Dixie and Radar grow into good friends. Dixie views Radar as someone who just wants to maintain some semblance of optimism in the world, which she can relate to and she does her darndest to help him keep that optimism, even as hers starts to fade over the series.

Cpl. Maxwell Klinger

This can be summed up in one quote: Klinger gets them into trouble. Dixie gets them out of trouble.

Captain Dr. B.J. Hunicutt

BJ and Dixie are not as close as Trapper and Dixie were, but they are still good friends. They come from two very different worlds, but often both play Straight Man to Hawkeye which is something they bond over. Dixie will sometimes tease BJ about being from California, but they do care a lot about the other and they do their best to look out for each other.

Colonel Dr. Sherman Potter

Dixie has immense respect for Potter. Both are Southern, so sometimes Dixie is the only one to catch onto Potter’s more out there phrases. Potter is tough on Dixie as he sees a lot of potential in her, potential that is realized when she becomes a doctor herself after the war. Dixie is at first skeptical of all the changes Potter makes to camp, but eventually comes to understand and admire his discipline and kindness.

#m*a*s*h oc #m*a*s*h #hawkeye pierce #trapper mcintyre #margaret houlihan #sherman potter #henry blake #maxwell klinger

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snowonthebeachmp3 · 3 years

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July 2016

Jul 3rd - Taylor's 4th of July festivities kick off at her Rhode Island house. Guests include Tom Hiddleston, Abigail Anderson, Matt Lucier, Claire Winter, Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Karlie Kloss, Josh Kushner, Austin Swift, Ruby Rose, Harley Gusman, Halston Sage, Gigi Hadid, Cara Delevingne, Britany Maack, Ben LaManna, Martha Hunt, Jason McDonald, Uzo Aduba, Chioma Aduba, Jordan Masterson, Kesha, St Vincent, Ed Sheeran, Cherry Seaborn, Rachel Platten, Kennedy Rayé and the Haim sisters. (x) (x) (x) (x)

This is the day Tom wears the infamous 'I <3 TS' tank top while they're all at the beach. (x)

Jul 4th - The online mockery for the 'I <3 TS' shirt is quick to pour in. Daily Mail commenters are yet to shut up about it in 2021.

The party continues with a giant inflatable waterslide, body painting, karaoke, charades and fireworks. (x) And also Kesha and Haim getting tricked by Cara, Uzo and Ruby into thinking they heard scary noises in the night, and trying to call the police but not knowing their own location. (x) (x)

Jul 5th - The day after the party, when all the guests post their photos online.

Britany posts a photo of her & Ben, Blake & Ryan, and Taylor & Tom. (x) The internet has a field day with Ryan's unimpressed facial expression. (x) (Ryan later says that it's just his resting bitch face as he wasn't aware a photo was being taken. (x))

Taylor posts several photos to Instagram of her celebrating the 4th July with friends, but doesn't post any pictures with Tom. (x)

Claire Winter posts a bunch of Polaroids, including one of Taylor and Tom kissing. (x)

Abigail posts a photo to Instagram showing the banners Taylor put up to celebrate her engagement to Matt and the anniversaries of Cara & St Vincent (real name Annie Clark) and Ed & Cherry. (x)

Jul 6th - Taylor and Tom fly out of Rhode Island (x) and arrive at LAX that evening. (x) They then get on a plane to Australia.

Joe attends the Warner Music Group summer party in London. (x)

Rumours are swirling that Tom is no longer in consideration to be the next Bond, due to his relationship with Taylor. (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Jul 8th - Taylor and Tom are flying on a commercial Quantas flight so someone is able to take a pic of them on the plane. (x)

According to another passenger on the plane, Taylor plays Scrabble during the flight (presumably on her phone because nobody takes big physical board games on commercial flights and the creepshot of Hiddleswift on the plane suggests she wouldn't have had anywhere to put the board anyway). In hindsight, knowing how Taylor and Joe play lots of Scrabble together including online Scrabble aka Words With Friends, and how they stayed in touch largely via texting that summer, it’s very possible she was playing against Joe.

Taylor and Tom arrive in Sydney, where Tom is about to start filming for Thor: Ragnarok. (x) Aussie media, including daytime TV, goes nuts over Hiddleswift's arrival in the country. (x)

Flying from LA to Australia involves crossing the international dateline, so they would have left the US on the 6th July local time and arrived in Sydney approx 15 hours later on the 8th July local time.

Calvin's new song Olé, written for John Newman, is released. There is speculation that it's a Hiddleswift song, written from Tom's perspective and containing lyrics implying that Taylor cheated on Calvin with Tom. However, sources also told multiple outlets that the song was written and recorded months earlier, and its supposed links to Hiddleswift were just for publicity. (x) (x)

Jul 9th - Tom goes out for a run (x) and avoids answering questions about Taylor. (x)

Jul 10th - Taylor and Tom go out for dinner to Gemelli Italian restaurant in Broadbeach on Australia's Gold Coast. (x)

Jul 11th - Taylor is named as the highest earning celebrity on the 2016 Forbes Celebrity 100 list, with earnings of $170m mostly due to the 1989 World Tour. If she and Calvin had not split up, they would have been the top-earning celebrity couple. (x)

Jul 12th - Taylor visits Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in South Brisbane. (x)

Jul 13th - Us Weekly makes a wild claim that Tom is planning to propose soon, and Taylor is going to say yes. The magazine cover also claims they're already talking about babies. (x)

TMZ claims that Taylor wrote TIWYCF, and that Calvin disrespecting Taylor following its release was the reason for their breakup. (x)

Taylor Swift really is the creative brains behind Calvin Harris' monster hit "This is What You Came For," and their relationship fell apart because he disrespected her when the song was released ... this according to sources connected with Taylor.

It's a fascinating story. We've learned an early fan rumor about the song is true, but to a deeper extent than anyone suspected. During their relationship, Taylor wrote the song, sat down at a piano and did a demo into her iPhone. She sent it to Calvin, who loved it. They both went into a studio and did a full demo with Taylor on vocals and Calvin doing the beat.

They both knew the song would be a hit, but Taylor wrote it for Calvin and both agreed it was a bad idea to let the world know they collaborated as a couple ... it would overshadow the song.

So Taylor, who kept the publishing rights, used the pseudonym Nils Sjoberg on the credits.

The problem in the relationship came the day the song was released. Calvin appeared on Ryan Seacrest's radio show and Ryan asked, "Will you do a collaboration with your girlfriend?" Calvin responded, "You know we haven't even spoken about it. I can't see it happening though."

We're told Taylor was hurt and felt Calvin took it too far.

It was a quick downward spiral from that point. One source called it "the breaking point in the relationship." The Met Gala was several days later, when Taylor danced with Tom Hiddleston.

Tree confirms to People magazine that Taylor did write TIWYCF under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg. (x)

Calvin also confirms that Taylor wrote TIWYCF and goes on a Twitter rant:

Katy Perry tweets a gif of Hillary Clinton with a smug/'told you so' expression. (x) She also retweets an older tweet from May 2015 which reads, 'Time, the ultimate truth teller.' (x)

#TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trends on Twitter (x) (x) and Taylor's Instagram comments are spammed with the snake emoji. (x)

Following Calvin's tweets, TMZ publishes another article claiming he is downplaying Taylor's involvement in the song as she wrote the melody in addition to the lyrics. (x)

Jul 14th - Taylor goes out shopping in Gold Coast. (x)

Tom mentions Taylor in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter: (x)

You're in the middle of a cultural frenzy right now because you're dating Taylor Swift. How would you respond to people who claim that you're involved in some sort of publicity stunt?

(Laughs.) Well, um. How best to put this? That notion is — look, the truth is that Taylor Swift and I are together, and we're very happy. Thanks for asking. That's the truth. It's not a publicity stunt.

Martha says at a Pepsi/World Emoji Day event that Taylor and Tom are 'both happy and free together. It's amazing, I'm all about people being happy in love.' (x)

Kim talks about Taylor and the Famous controversy in a clip from an upcoming episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. (x)

“I never talk shit about anyone publicly, especially in interviews. But I was just like I had so had it,” Kim says in the clip to her sister Kourtney. “I wanted to defend him in it. She legitimately quote says, ‘As soon as I get on that Grammy red carpet I’m gonna tell all the press. Like I was in on it.’”

“And then she just didn’t like the reaction?” Kourtney says in response.

“Yeah, and you know just another way to play the victim,” Kim replies. She then brings the infamous VMAs moment from 2009 by saying, “It definitely got her a lot of attention the first time… I just don’t think he should be punished for it still to this day.”

Jul 17th - Kim posts an edited recording of Kanye and Taylor's phone call. In it, they discuss the 'I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex' line and Taylor says, 'Go with whatever line you think is better. It’s obviously very tongue in cheek either way. And I really appreciate you telling me about it. That’s really nice.' However, nowhere in the Snapchat video does Kanye consult her about the line, 'I made that bitch famous,' which is the line Taylor insisted she had never approved. (x) The other Kardashian sisters retweet and support Kim. (x)

(The full recording of the call, leaked in 2020, confirms that Kanye never told Taylor he was going to call her a bitch. It also shows her reminding him that she sold 7 million albums before he had even heard of her, in response to him suggesting the lyric, 'I made her famous.')

Kim takes to Twitter to call Taylor a snake.

Taylor posts a statement on Instagram responding to Kim's Snapchat video. (x)

Selena tweets, 'There are more important things to talk about… Why can’t people use their voice for something that fucking matters? This industry is so disappointing yet the most influential smh' (x)

Katy Perry tweets, '#RISE above it all' and links to her new single. People interpret it as a dig at Taylor. (x)

Martha Hunt tweets, 'It's pathetic how quick our culture is to sensationalize a fabricated story...' (x)

Jul 18th - #KimExposedTaylorParty spends the day trending at number one worldwide on Twitter. (x) To the point where 0.8% of all tweets posted in the entire week from the 18th-24th use the hashtag. (x) (Assuming that 1/7th of the week's total tweets were posted on each day, that means more than 1 in every 20 tweets on the 18th used the hashtag.) #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty also returns.

TMZ claims to have a copy of a letter from Taylor's lawyer, dating back to February, demanding that Kanye destroy the recording of their phone conversation and reminding him that it is a felony to secretly record a phone conversation in California. (x)

Taylor changes the name on her writing credits for TIWYCF on the BMI songwriters database. She is now listed as Taylor Swift instead of Nils Sjöberg. (x)

Camilla Belle, the subject of Taylor's 2010 song Better Than Revenge, posts a quote to Instagram which reads, 'No need for revenge. Just sit back & wait. Those who hurt you will eventually screw up themselves & if you’re lucky, God will let you watch.' (x)

Abigail tweets against Kim and Kanye, saying, 'May God forgive you & your wife for doing to others the very things you pray are NEVER done to your daughter.' She deletes the tweets after receiving death threats but leaves a tweet which reads, 'Guys…I will always stand by my best friend. There's no point in fighting over that.' (x)

Joseph Kahn (director of many of Taylor's music videos) defends Taylor on Twitter. (x)

The aunt of Dinah Jane from Fifth Harmony tweets, 'I always knew @/taylorswift13 was a SNAKE! Trying 2 break up my girls & use @/camilacabello97 as her protégé bitch bye you’ve been exposed!’ (x) The tweet is soon deleted and she claims her account was hacked. (x) (Camila quit the band at the end of 2016 and has since said that Taylor had nothing to do with her decision to leave.) (x)

Paula Erickson, Taylor’s former publicist from 2007 until 2014, likes a two-and-a-half-week-old tweet dragging Hiddleswift for being a badly executed bit of PR by Taylor and Tree. (x)

James Corden spoofs the recorded phone call on the Late Late Show. (x)

Calvin is rumoured to be dating Tinashe. (x)

Jul 20th - Todrick Hall defends Taylor, saying, 'She's one of the most genuine people I've ever met in my entire life.' (x)

Uzo Aduba says Taylor is 'a beautiful person and strong' and that she will overcome the Kimye drama. (x)

Paula likes another tweet shading Taylor and Tree. (x)

A graffiti artist creates a mural in Melbourne 'in loving memory of Taylor Swift' (misspelled as Smith). According to the artist, they are then contacted by Taylor's lawyers and threatened with legal action. (x)

Jul 21st - Taylor's Wikipedia page is vandalised with insults. (x)

Taylor and Tom fly back from Australia into a private airport in LA, and are seen out and about. (x) (x)

Jul 22nd - Fergie, who had Kim appear in her M.I.L.F. $ music video, says she thinks the Kimye-Taylor feud was planned and 'they’ll probably all come together at the MTV Awards or something.' (x)

Taylor goes to the gym in LA. It is the first time she has appeared in public since Kim posted the edited video, and her phone screen is now shattered. (x)

She also returns to Instagram to wish Selena a happy birthday. (x)

Jul 23rd - Taylor goes to the gym in LA. (x)

Tom is at Comic Con in San Diego. (x)

Calvin lip-syncs to Kanye's song That Part in a video posted on his Snapchat. (x) He also attends J-Lo's birthday party and is photographed with Kim. Apparently they have a friendly chat. (x) A source claims to E!, 'When Kim walked in Calvin saw her and stood up. He was clearly excited to see her and said 'hi' to Kim backstage.' (x)

Jul 24th - Taylor blocks the snake emoji from her Instagram comments section using a new Instagram feature. (x)

Tom is seen at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills with members of Taylor's security team. (x)

Jul 26th - Tom flies back to LA from NYC, where he has just spent a couple of days. On the same day, Taylor's plane arrives back in LA from Nashville, where she has spent a couple of days. (x)

VMA nominations are announced. Taylor is not nominated in any category, despite Out Of The Woods and Wildest Dreams being eligible, leading some people to think she has been snubbed. Gossip Cop, an outlet widely used by celebrity publicists to quietly squash rumours, says that Taylor did not submit any videos for consideration this year. (x)

Jul 27th - Taylor goes to the gym in LA. (x)

John Newman, singer of Calvin's song Olé, jokes, 'Supposedly we had a holiday where he was movin’ on from his ex-missus,' referring to the trip to Mexico to film the music video, which involved girls and a yacht. He also says he doesn't think it's his place to say what inspired Calvin to write the song. (x)

Taylor and Tom go for dinner at Hillstone restaurant in Santa Monica. One source claims they 'seemed to really be enjoying each others’ company.' (x) It is the last time they are papped together.

Kanye makes a surprise appearance at Drake's concert in Chicago where he responds to Kim's Snapchat video for the first time, saying, 'All I gotta say is, I am so glad my wife has Snapchat. Because now y’all can know the truth. And can’t nobody talk shit about ‘Ye no more.' (x)

Cara appears on James Corden's show and talks about how she, Uzo and Ruby pranked Kesha and Haim at Taylor's 4th of July party. She mentions consulting Taylor and Tom first so that security knew what they were up to. She also says that Taylor and Tom got woken up at one point by all the noise they were making, and came upstairs together to find Cara and Uzo still making ghost noises. (x)

Jul 28th - Taylor goes to the gym in LA. (x)

Jul 29th - Sources close to Calvin deny rumours that he is planning to collaborate on music with Kanye. (x)

Abigail likes E! News' Instagram photo of Tom and Taylor going out for dinner on the 27th, which has a gushing caption about them. (x)

Jul 31st - Taylor is seen entering her gym in LA through the back door. (x)

A fan sees Tom and Taylor at The Church Key restaurant in LA. (x) The outing is not papped.

Intro // February // March // April // May // June // July // August // September // October // November

#taylor swift #hiddleswift #tayvin #swiftwyn #jaylor #toe #taylor swift in 2016 #timeline

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hopeshoodie · 4 years

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I know literally no one else cares about both Love Island the Game AND The Mangus Archives, but yall know that I (a Lily stan) exclusively make posts that will get negative notes. Also if I don’t combine my special interests I’ll die. Also also it’s spooky season. So I made some ‘The LITG islanders as TMA avatars’ edits.

If you actually know what I’m on about or care, I put explanations below the cut

Blake: The Hunt

Blake’s intensity comes from her hunger- she wants more and is thrilled by the process of fighting for it. Attacking MC wasn’t anything personal, it was Blake clamoring for relevance and a spot in the villa. Like Hope, she’s more seduced by the dread power than tormented by it. Blake has always felt the call of the hunt, the hunger, but chalked it up to being petty and ambitious. But becoming an avatar lets her fully give into that call.

Carl: The End

Carl’s pretty basic, pretty boring, so he’s the end. I headcanon him to have a lot of catholic guilt, so of course he’s afraid of death. He’s afraid of not knowing. Plus, he’s pretty ambivalent to horror or the other fears, so the only terror he can conceptualize is dying.

Chelsea: The Dark

I don’t have a big reason for this one, I just feel like Chels is pretty basic and the classic ‘unknown lurking in the dark’ spooks her. Another episode rec- go to that link and scroll down to episode 86. Another stand alone episode that SLAPS.

Gary: The Flesh

I will never forgive Jonny Sims for taking something so viscerally horrifying as the idea of body horror, your own flesh and meat betraying you, and reducing it to ‘lol raw meat kinda nasty, here’s a big crunchy man’. The flesh isn’t about filth or festering or conquering other people’s bodies, it’s about the horror of existing inside your own body. It’s about gender dysphoria and depersonalization and fatphobia and self hatred. I think Gary’s the only person who knows this intimately. Fighting through an ED teaches you the disgust of flesh, and that manifesting into the real world would equal parts ruin Gary as it would empower him. Gary as the bone turner? Horrifying, but relatable.

Henrik: The Buried

I don’t really have a huge character reason for this one. Henrik likes being outside and climbing, so I imagine being trapped, claustrophobic, and unable to control his environment would really get to him. Also if you’re reading this and don’t know what the magnus archives is, stop what you’re doing right now, click on this link (http://rustyquill.com/the-magnus-archives/), scroll down to episode 15, and spend the next 26 minutes getting absolutely spooked. You don’t have to know any of the characters or storylines, it can be a stand alone episode. I think Lost Johns Cave would WRECK Henrik.

Hope: The Web

This one feels obvious. The web is all about control, subtle manipulation, and keeping tabs on everything. Hope’s greatest strength is bonding with everyone superficially to the point where they generally trust her, and her greatest weakness is that she’s so concerned about her own self interest that she’ll use that trust to manipulate people. Hope wouldn’t be devastated by the web as much as she’d be tempted- the ability to be in complete control and not ever be clocked or called out? Irresistible.

Rahim: The Stranger

So much of his conflict is internal so I was tempted to say spiral, but it’s all ABOUT how he interacts with people. He’s horribly insecure, he feels like he doesn’t fit in or know how to communicate, and he’s happy with his interests but worried about how other people will react to them. He’s 100% tormented by the stranger. I think this would manifest at first as something victimizing him- turning everyone around him off and slightly wrong. But once he becomes an avatar, he no longer worries about being the sore thumb of the group.

Jakub: The Corruption

This feels like low hanging fruit, but Jakub’s obsessed with perfectly waxing himself, keeping things neat and clean, and organizing things, of course he’s a corruption avatar. I think he’s closer to the bug end of the spectrum than the mold or rot end- he’s more rooted in disgust than anything else.

Lottie: The Extinction

I was tempted to go with the desolation for Lottie, because obviously all the hot fire ladies, duh. But I don’t think Lottie fears the desolation, the untamed consumption, enough to indulge in the dread power. She loves blowing issues up and adding more fuel and gossip to make it worse because she loves the game, but deep down, I think she’s afraid to consider what comes AFTER conflict. So much of her friendships are outlined by ‘girl code’- she needs to have established rules for how to interact with people and is always ready to pull receipts of past behavior. So nothing would terrify her more than all those rules, established relationships, receipts, history just… Disappearing. As much as Lottie loves to feed into conflict, she cannot conceive of a world post-conflict where there’s no one to fight with and nothing matters. Lottie IS the umbrella.

Lucas: The Lonely

He’s convinced himself he hates commitment and doesn’t need anyone else, but by the end of the season he’s SO happy to have found MC. My dude uses every single opportunity to avoid emotional intimacy- status, career, hobbies. He isolates himself because he feels like he has no other choice, and has convinced himself he’s happy. Also I feel like he has strong Peter Lukas vibes, a wealthy privileged man who was ignored by his family and turns to manipulating others and acting above it all to cope.

Marisol: The Eye

Marisol is the eye, obviously. She loves looking into people’s inner lives and intentions for the sole purpose of Knowing (™) what’s going on, and has a strong need to classify the world in tangible categories. Plus, the dark academia aesthetic of the Archives? Puh lease, she would love the ‘austerity’ of the Eye.

Noah: The Spiral

Noah drives himself crazy gaslighting himself (insisting he and Hope’s relationship is worth saving and he’s not actually unhappy) and worrying about the morality of his every action. You’re telling me he’s not trapped in a spiral within himself, failing to live in the real world because he’s so lost internally? You’re wrong. And he gets the creepy fingers to match.

Rocco: The Vast

I feel like literally everyone with depression is a vast kinnie. But Rocco’s coping mechanism of ‘oh I’m sad, time to go explore the massive wilderness alone in my truck’ is peak vast. God he would be such a good avatar too- someone you encounter in the middle of nowhere who seems welcoming but then banishes you for no reason other than daring to like him?

Shane: The Desolation

I don’t know why this one seems so right? He just has that intensity. Like Lottie, he loves feeding into things and being involved in intense, consuming conflict. But he’s not as dependent on established norms and rules where he cannot pick up the pieces after it’s done. He’s more self-aware than that. He knows how to protect those he cares about and to weaponize conflict.

Shannon: The Corruption

Bear with me, but I think Shannon’s the opposite end of the spectrum than Jakub. Her corruption is the filth, the rot, the disease. Like the Eye, she wants to know other people’s intentions, but it’s not for the sake of just knowing like the idea, nor is it the web’s pleasure of exerting power over the will of others. She’s looking to benefit personally. So the idea of something uncontrollable, unstoppable, encroaching on her life and slowly degrading it terrifies her. Look how messy she got when Jo started changing the way the villa was ‘supposed’ to be- deep down, Shannon just desperately needs the world to be fair so she can get what she wants. But the corruption isn’t fair, isn’t escapable, and isn’t accommodating.

#litg #tma #god noah as the spiral????? i would literally let him strangle me #is it obvious that I'm a corruption kinnie

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welllpthisishappening · 5 years

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I HAVE FEELINGS ABOUT JOHN MURPHY AND BELLAMY BLAKE. WHAT ARE YOURS

HELLO, YES, I HAVE THOUGHTS. Ok, so I think Bellamy and Murphy are a lot more similar than either one of them would ever be willing to admit and that’s the cause of a lot of their friction because they go about acting on those similar emotions a little differently (or so they’d argue) and it’s because...wait for it:

THEY ARE VERY IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE AND ARE WILLING TO PUT THAT PERSON ABOVE ALL ELSE, NO MATTER WHAT.

Listen, John Murphy is an asshole. A lovable and even at sometimes understandable one, but an asshole all the same. He’s all I ONLY CARE ABOUT MYSELF, I’M WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO SURVE. And then Emori shows up. And Emori doesn’t know anything about John Murphy. He even tells her, “you might be the only person on this planet who doesn’t hate me” or whatever. And that changes something for him. Like in his core. And, quite suddenly, here’s this girl, who is interested and the same as him - just trying to stay alive, but maybe...what if they stayed alive together???

And then made out, but I digress.

And for as much as Murphy continues to be on his survivor schtick throughout the rest of the seasons, he never stops thinking about Emori. I mean, come on:

Which then leads us to our fun, little Bellamy parallel. Bellamy Blake has spent his entire life living for others. HIs whole existence while he’s on the Ark and even after they get to Earth is focused on protecting his sister. On surviving. And he’s willing to do anything to make sure that happens.

Shooting Jaha. Getting on the dropship. Getting the wrist bands. Like, the limit does not exist for Bellamy and surviving. Now, yeah, the majority of that is to protect Octavia, but there’s a reason Bellamy and Murphy were a unit in those first few days on Earth.

They understood what the other was doing.

AND THEN.

Heyoooooooooooooo

LOOK AT THAT IDIOT’S GODDAMN FACE. Dude is S H O O K. Because everything has suddenly shifted. He’s still trying to survive, but he doesn’t have to do it alone. He’s got this girl and she’s snuck her way into his heart and under his skin and that flips the whole foundation on its head.

Which fast forwards us to season six. And Bellamy and Murphy being two sides of the same coin. Still trying to survive, still willing to do anything to ensure that, but their focus is ON SOMEONE ELSE. Murphy wants to survive to BE WITH EMORI. Bellamy wants to survive to SAVE CLARKE. And they both understand what the other is doing. Again.

IF BELLAMY KNOWS THAT CLRAKE IS DEAD, THEN ALL OF THIS IS FOR NOTHING. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

TLDR: Bellamy and Murphy are love struck idiots who should bond over that more often.

#laura rambles #bellamy blake #john murphy #the 100 #BLAKE-MURPHY BEST FRIENDSHIP FOREVER #listen i just love john murphy so much #franklyineedcoffee

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summernightskyy · 4 years

Text

My Top The 100 Men

So, @nomattertheoceans tagged me to post about my Top 5 The 100 Women, and while I was doing that, I got curious about who her Top 5 The 100 Men are (I’m almost positive I know at least one person who would be on her list, and I think he might even be number 1 haha). So I decided to do my own and then tag her in this! This was very hard, but in a different way from the women for me. I knew who my number one was, no doubt. But #2-5? I love every character on this list a lot, so really almost everyone else is tied for second place hehe.

1. Bellamy Blake

Oh Bellamy. My journey with him has been a long one. I started out the series nearly hating him, but then as we got to see the motivation behind his actions, I started to not only understand the character, but love him. Now, he’s one of my favorite characters across all media - potentially even my absolute favorite male character of all time. He’s an extremely nuanced character, and I love getting to see different sides of him. I love getting to see a lead male character express emotion the way he does (and not just anger); I love seeing a male lead get to cry, and not be portrayed as weak I think we need that more on TV and in movies. I grieve for the childhood both of the Blake siblings had, and I’m so proud of them (is it weird to say I’m proud of a fictional character?) for turning out the way they have. Bellamy, who was burdened with so much at such a young age, who probably never thought he would get to have a life outside of Aurora and Octavia, for fear of Octavia getting discovered. Octavia, who knew nobody outside of her brother and mother for what, like 15 years? Who probably thought she’d never get to have a life of her own either? (Ugh, I get so annoyed when I start thinking a little too much about Aurora and the decisions she made. She doomed both her children. I don’t know how she thought either of them, especially Octavia, would ever have normal fulfilling lives. If Octavia hadn’t been sent to the ground, they wouldn’t have.) Yeah, they’ve both lost their way at times, but I LOVE the Blakes (especially the eldest one haha). Season 7 has been pretty good so far, but I somehow became even more aware of just how much Bellamy (and B.ob, because he’s an amazing actor and portrays Bellamy so well B.ob antis DNI!!!! Regardless of what anyone thinks about him as a person, I think he’s a great actor) brings to the show for me with his extremely limited presence so far this season. I really enjoyed 7x11, even if it ended up with my boy being brainwashed. I stood by him even after he wrongfully and stupidly participated in the grounder army massacre, and I’m sure as heck gonna stand by him now too. @clarkegriffinlovebot said they would watch Bellamy Blake watch paint dry for 45 minutes, and I totally agree. (Is it weird that I’m tagging you? I don’t know you and I’ve never interacted with you past liking that post, but I wanted to give you credit haha) The show is just so much better for me when this adorable mythology and history nerd is in it.

2. Nathan Miller

Onto number 2! I chose Miller because although we *unfortunately* haven’t seen much of him or delve into his character that much, I’ve loved all the little bits we’ve gotten to see. He’s just so sassy and snarky, and I love it, in addition to him being loyal (sometimes to a fault) and trustworthy (lmao, that’s funny considering he’s a thief - but I don’t know, in my eyes he’s trustworthy when it counts 😂). I love him, and him hating all the planets they’ve been to is so, so relatable. I would be just entirely done and tired as well. I also really enjoy Millamy and Millarke as brotps (although I don’t think I’d mind if Millamy was a romantic ship haha). There’s quite a few things I would change about this show, but two of the things highest on that list would be 1) making Jarod Joseph part of the main cast so we could properly explore Miller as a character and give him his own full story line(s) and 2) making Miller x Monty canon, even if it was just for a little bit! Marper was cute, and Mackson is alright, but I think these two would have been cuter, and I’m so salty the show didn’t go down that route, especially since both Jarod and Christoper Larkin seemed to be on board.

Also, I really need to learn how to make my own gifs, because I was really hoping to find one with Miller saying “In other words, get the flock out of here!” I actually died during that moment. Maybe someone did make one, but if they did, I didn’t see it. That’s fine, though. I needed motivation to start trying anyways, because its something I’ve always wanted to do.

3. Gabriel Santiago

Everyone else on this list has been on the show since season 1, and I definitely didn’t expect to love a character who was introduced in the penultimate season as much as I love Gabriel. At the end of season 6, I was really hoping they’d keep Gabriel around, so I was super happy to hear they were going to, and I haven’t been disappointed. I love how he literally seems to thirst for knowledge. (I clearly have a thing for attractive, nerdy guys, okay?) I also find it incredibly brave that he pushed so hard for the Primes to stop what they were doing, because he had to know that all of them, including the love of his life, would turn on him. It was obvious that Ryker wasn’t fully okay with what was happening either, but he didn’t do what Gabriel did and fully renounce the practice. He clearly has a pretty strong moral compass, even if he was lead astray from it for awhile. I also really liked seeing him bond with Echo, Hope and Orlando. He’s smart, hot as hell, subtly funny, and not afraid to do what’s right even if that’s gonna end up making the people he cares about mad at him.

4. Monty Green

Monty has been one of my favorites from the jump, and I miss him so much. He’s just so adorable and kind, and literally one of the best people on this show. He suffered through and lost so much, and I wish we could have had more focus on him dealing with those traumas. I hate that we never really got to see how he dealt with what happened at Mount Weather. The focus tends to be mostly on Clarke and Bellamy, but even then mostly Clarke. I think it’s easy to forget that while, yes, they pulled the lever, Monty made pulling that lever possible so he could save his friends. We also don’t really get to see much about him dealing with the trauma of having to kill his own mother, and even Jasper’s suicide was relatively swept under the rug. I mentioned earlier that there’s quite a few things I would change about this show, and when it comes to Monty, I wish we could have seen him process these events and heal. I also think credit for saving the day tends to go to Bellamy, Clarke, Octavia and Raven - but Monty has been instrumental in many instances. Those five, in my opinion make up the core five characters of the show, and honestly, the show hasn’t been the same without Monty. I love Jordan, he’s adorable and genuinely good just like his dad (and mom) but Monty’s part of the soul of the show to me. Also, how cute is it that Monty taught Jordan Korean?!? (I really think Jordan might be onto something about Cadogan and the Disciples interpreting the text incorrectly - so look at that, Monty might indirectly save the day again)

Also, shout out to @thelovelylights for making this gif - it’s one of my favorite moments of Monty, I’ve been following her for a long time, and her blog is amazing.

5. John Murphy

Honestly, I didn’t realize just how much I’d come to like and care about Murphy as a character until this season. I’ve been sooo stressed out watching every single episode he’s been in, worrying that he would end up dying. I’m a sucker for well depicted character growth / redemption arcs, (I mean lol, there’s a reason that some of my favorite characters include Bellamy Blake, Zuko, and Jaime Lannister), and Murphy’s had a great one. He was such a dick in season 1 who, unlike Bellamy - who clearly cared about Octavia at least, really seemed not to care about anyone but himself. It’s been so amazing to see him grow into the person he is now; a person who cares so much about the lives of random people, who was genuinely scared when he realized Madi was in danger, who reassured to her that she was safe and helped calm her down. I really hope the theories about a Memori baby end up becoming canon, because Memori has grown sooo much over the course of this series and they would be absolutely amazing parents.

Honorable mention: Lincoln Kom Trikru

Lincoln was just such a great character. I miss him so much 😭

Tagging @nomattertheoceans and anyone else who sees this and wants to do this!!

#the 100 spoilers #the 100 #top 5 the 100 men #bellamy blake #nathan miller #gabriel santiago #monty green #john murphy #lincoln kom trikru #also just have to mention how large my crush on chuku modu is #being bi is great lol #i'm official bellamy blake trash

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dagenspear · 4 years

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Crisis On Infinite Earths Outline Fix, Part 5: Laurel Returns!

This is the conclusion to the Crisis, Part 5! This is a bit of a longer one again. For parts 1, 2, 3 & 4, here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

I thank God for these ideas, if He wills, that He blessed me with:

The bright green light consumes the screen.

Kara, Wally, Jjonn, Ray, Sara and Kate all wake up in their new earth.

But things are different. Black Lightning's, Supergirl's, Earth 1's, Earth 3's and another earth's are now all merged into 1. Lex is the head of the DEO. All the speedsters remember everything. Cisco's powers are back, which when he touches Wally, vibes his pre-crisis memories back. The history of Earth 3 is now apart of that earth's, the Justice Society Of America having been prominent heroes, with the members of Jay Garrick Flash, Dinah Drake Black Canary (Laurel and Sara's mom), Ted Grant Wildcat, Dr. Fate, Hawkman/Hawkgirl, Alan Scott Green Lantern, and others, apart of the team in the 80's & 90's. Barry Allen's Flash has been erased, having never existed. Wally is seen as The Flash, the 2nd Flash there's ever been, after Jay Garrick. John Diggle's life has been altered as well.

Cisco misses Barry, but has become accepting of the situation after the preparations made for it and sees it as his responsibility to maintain the protection of the city. He uses his vibing to give Caitlin, Ralph and the others their memories back, but Wally stops him from giving them to Joe and Iris, saying that he doesn't want them to bear the heartbreak of losing Barry all over again.

Iris is the head of the Central City Citizen, which Post Crisis is a prominent newspaper.

Wally is left to ponder that the people see him as the Flash, him refusing to wear the costume, stating that he's not the Flash. Cisco tells him that the people think he is.

Mia is angry and guilty about the loss of her dad. Diggle has guilt that he couldn't be there for him when it happened.

Cisco picks up a reading of something coming from space, and traces it to landing outside STAR Labs, which he confronts, to find a man landing there.

Sara and Diggle talk about Oliver's loss and she tries to assuage his guilt, stating that no matter what, Oliver wouldn't have wanted him to die fighting this threat, and that Oliver was very stubborn, which they both have a small laugh about.

Sara comforts Mia, whose beginning to be accepting of her dad's death and that he died saving the multiverse, seeing him as a hero.

Sara, though having wanted to continue fighting, is still depressed about the fact that so much of her family is gone and that she has almost no one in her life. Which she talks with Mia about.

That's when they're attacked by some shadow creatures. They fight them, but are pinned down, about to be torn apart, when suddenly...

A sonic scream emerges from the side! BLASTING THEM BACK! And from the side...

Emerges Black Canary.

Sara is shocked. But apprehensive... until Black Canary looks at them and acknowledges Sara as her sister with a smile and rushes to her. Sara realizing that this is E1 Laurel. Alive. Laurel helps her up and Sara touches her shoulders, almost in disbelief that this is real, tears springing to her eyes, before hugging her, crying, in tears of happiness and grief. Mia almost smiles at the moment as well. Mia realizes and says that if they attacked them, they may attack the others as well.

They go to STAR Labs to warn them about what's happening. And are met with Cisco stating that he knows it's not over, as they've been told by someone, that someone revealing themself as the Green Lantern AKA Guy Gardner, from the Justice League Of America 1997 TV Movie, played by Matthew Settle.

Everyone is brought together, Diggle, Kate and Mia included. Guy Gardner tells them that he was from the other earth that was merged with the others, and is questioned by Diggle in how he survived the merge with all his memories intact. He says that his ring protected him. Cisco and Guy explain that the antimatter verse portal is still open, but is slowly closing as this new timeline, of sorts, cements, and if it does, those shadow creatures will be stuck here. Cisco determines that they're gonna need to recreate the sonic pulse to try and get those shadow creatures to them, so they can somehow get them into the portal before it closes. Laurel volunteers to do it, in spite of Sara's concern. Cisco explains that because there's no way to know where they are, they're gonna need to double the pulse from before to get all of them to them. Diggle suggests Dinah. Laurel questions that, but Cisco states that the Dinah Diggle is suggesting is Zinda Blake post-crisis and doesn't have a sonic cry and Laurel's mom has never had powers. Diggle realizes that he hasn't gotten all his memories straight yet. Cisco then says that there's someone else who can help them.

We cut to E2 Laurel standing in front of Laurel. Laurel is uncertain about this. E2 Laurel maintains her memories of pre-crisis. Laurel asks how this is possible. Cisco speculates that with the merging of some universes there may be holdovers from the previous, then stating that both Laurels have the metagene for the canary cry, a now discovered gene post crisis, and, with his memories of EX Laurel, he speculates at least most, if not all the Laurels in the multiverse, have one as well. But E2's was activated by dark matter, while post crisis Laurel's was activated by a gene bomb HIVE set off in 2014, HIVE post crisis being an organization who sought to enhance humanity, using techological and biological enhancements. Laurel asks E2 Laurel if she can be trusted with her history as a villain. E2 Laurel points out that she remembers nearly dying to help and hopes that's gained something. Sara vouches for her. Laurel trusts Sara's judgement and agrees.

The group all agree that the only reason the shadow creatures would have a reason to attack them is based on the Anti-Monitor being alive still. They talk about how that's possible, Sara, among the Legends, suggests that as time hasn't fully cemented yet, he may not be erased, Cisco then suggesting that he also may be acting essentially as a time remnant or using something to keep himself from erasure, like tech or something. Jjonn tells them that he read the Anti-Monitor's mind before he transported himself away and he read that because his plan to cause an antimatter universe of his own in place of our multiverse has been stopped, he's willing to try and prevent the multiverse from forming at all, even if it means his own destruction. They work out how he'd do that, coming to the conclusion that he can use the temporal zone to go to the dawn of time to try and undo it at it's inception.

As the group works out their plan, Guy Gardner uses the STAR Labs computers to look into information about his friends post crisis, from his earth, and where they are now.

His Barry Allen is now Darryl Frye, a detective in Central City.

B. B. Dacosta is now Green Fury, her alter ego as a pop star, Madonna-esque.

His Ray Palmer is now Al Pratt, a respected physics college Professor, and first Atom post crisis.

Tori Olafsdotter is now Mary Pratt, married to Al Pratt, and a reporter.

His Martian Manhunter is unable to be located here.

Diggle is there and tells him glad that a lot of his friends are okay on this earth. Guy Gardner understands that he speaks from a place of a grief at his friend having died in the crisis. Guy Gardner and Diggle bond over that, Guy telling him that now all his friends are found, that Martian Manhunter from his earth is still missing, but he has faith that he's out there somewhere and Diggle has to have faith that his friend is somewhere out there too. Diggle agrees that he does, that it's like Oliver said, it's God's plan.

The team works out the plan.

Before starting, Sara apologizes to Laurel for what happened on the boat. Laurel tells her that she didn't go through with it. Sara says that she would've and that kills her, for being jealous and petty like that, saying that she wanted to have what Laurel had, be her, but she was just hurting herself and her whole family, stating that she doesn't want this, hating herself, to hold her back anymore, that she wants to move forward. Laurel agrees.

Kara and Kate talk, Kate telling her that she can't find Bruce and doesn't know where he is. Kara tells her that she can't give up.

The majority of the group tracks the energy signature of the Anti-Monitor, courtesy of Cisco with combination of tech and his vibe powers, through the temporal zone in a waverider pod, as Diggle, Wally, Guy Gardner, E2 Laurel and Laurel remain on the waverider, above earth. The waverider pod containing Sara, Kara, Alex, Kate, Ray, Cisco and Jjonn.

The 2 Laurels begin their sonic pulse. Guy Gardner explains that they're going to have to act quickly, as his ring is running out of power, and that's why he can't use it for flight while he's using it for the trapping of the shadow creatures and why he'll have to stand at the open door of the waverider as he does it. When Diggle asks if he can recharge it, Guy tells him that post crisis the ring isn't his anymore and will seek out it's true bearer when the time comes, and because of that he doesn't have access to charging it. When the shadow creatures are drawn to the waverider by the sonic pulse, Guy Gardner uses his ring to capture them, giving the go ahead to Wally to superspeed a speedforce portal into the closing antimatter portal, allowing Guy Gardner to funnel the creatures into it.

Meanwhile the others chase after the energy signature of the Anti-Monitor in the wavrider pod, as he flies through the temporal zone. They get close to him, but, realizing they can't catch up, Cisco breaches them both into a neutral area, the vanishing point. The waverider pod crashing. When the group climbs out, they see...

Anti-Monitor standing, unscathed, towering over them, in full comic book Crisis On Infinite Earths Anti-Monitor tech body armor.

Cisco breaches away quickly.

The Anti-Monitor mocks them for that and bringing him here, stating that he's been erased from existence, so the vanishing point no longer holds it's sway over containing him.

Sara states that they didn't bring him here for that. They just didn't want anything or anyone to be in the crossfire, when they destroy him.

They begin the battle:

Atom blasting the Anti-Monitor, even trying to fly into his ear, shrunken, but he's slapped away.

Jjonn flies into him, reaching into his chest by phasing, but the armor he's wearing electrocutes and burns Jjonn. The Anti-Monitor then responding by punching into his chest, him flying backward, being smashed into the ground.

Kara and Kate double team him in an attack of distraction and offensiveness, but are blasted away by an energy beam.

Alex begins shooting at him from behind, telling him not to touch her sister, but he, unaffected, simply redirects his beams at her, which she just barely dodges, then, on the ground, leg badly hurt, being met with another blast directly at her.

Kara quickly superspeeds inbetween her sister and the beam, trying to hold it back with her heat vision, him walking up to her, pushing her heat vision back into her eyes, grabbing her head, placing his hand over her eyes, the heat vision burning them, BLINDING HER, her yelling out in pain.

Back on the wavrider Diggle, flying above earth, tells those on board that it's time. The 2 Laurels are ready.

Sara comes up behind him with a blade, but he grabs her quickly by the throat, destroying her blade, mocking her for thinking it'd work, then saying that now she's alone again. Sara smirks, saying that she's far from alone.

Suddenly a breach opens and Brandon Routh Superman emerges, flying like a freight train into the Anti-Monitor. The Anti Monitor's grip on Sara is immediately broken, him being SMASHED into the ground.

Cisco exits the breach right after, as Cisco as ever, exclaiming, "Was that a bird? A plane? Why, I think it was Superman!" He then asks Sara if she's okay. She says that she is, but what took him so long? He explains that they had a couple last minute additions.

Out of the breach emerges:

E1 Black Canary

E2 Black Canary

Killer Frost

Citizen Steel

Heatwave

Tyler Hoechlin Superman

Black Lightning

Tom Welling Superman

Obviously Brandon Routh Superman, as he re-positions himself.

They all engage in battle with the Anti-Monitor. Their powers all together do some damage. Atom's blasts, the canary cries, the electric blasts, the cold blasting, the flamethrower flames, the heat visions of all the Supermen doing the most damage. But he's still too powerful to defeat. Cisco tries to use his breaches to slice the Anti-Monitor apart, but his suit breaks the breaches apart when they close in on him.

Alex crawls over to check on Kara, whose eyes seem almost seared in a way.

In the waverider, Guy Gardner is having a hard time containing all the shadow creatures as he funnels them into the antimatter portal. Diggle, flying the waverider with some difficulty, tells Wally that the others need help down there. Wally's uncertain he can. Diggle lays it out, telling him that it doesn't matter what he thinks, because they still need the Flash. Wally takes the Flash ring out of his pocket, pondering it. Diggle asks him if he's ready to do what it takes to save everyone. Wally, in resolve, places the ring on his finger, and extends his fist, the Flash symbol on the ring glowing in almost a lightning crackle blaze.

In the battle, Sara tells them to try to hit the Anti-Monitor with all their powers all at once. They make an attempt, but he's too powerful for them to get at with all those hits at once. Cisco tries something, throwing his breaches around the Anti-Monitor's hands, then giving the Supermen the go ahead. The Supermen do so. Brandon Routh Superman grabbing his left arm, Tom Welling Superman grabbing his right, Tyler Hoechlin Superman grabbing his head, them all holding him in place.

On the waverider, Guy Gardner's green lantern power ring starts to drain, just as the last batch of the shadow creatures are getting to the antimatter portal. He tells Diggle he's almost there. Diggle tells him it could kill him. Guy states that they have to make sure they're all gone now, as the antimatter portal's about to close, it taking all of his willpower to hold it. Just as the last shadow creature gets in, the portal closes, Guy's power ring runs out and he falls unconscious from exhaustion, falling out of the waverider into earth's atmosphere. The Green Lantern ring slips from his finger and flies off as he falls. But just before Guy's about to be hit with the heat of re-entry...

Diggle swoops in with the waverider and catches him!

The Supermen holding the Anti-Monitor gives the others the room to throw their powers (canary cries, lightning, etc.) at him at the same time. It does more damage, but he still struggles. Tom Welling Superman stating that they can't hold him much longer. Sara asks how he's still so powerful.

Kara, hearing this, realizes, and tells them, that he's still empowered by the energy of the sun that was used to cause him to form and it may take a similar energy to destroy him. Cisco, as he holds the breaches around Anti-Monitor, intensely struggling, his nose bleeding a lot, says that it could work. Sara states that the only way to be sure would be to drop him into it directly. Cisco says that could result in the energy of the sun blowing back and killing all of them here. Kara tells them no, then asking Cisco if he has enough power to drop her in front of the sun. Cisco begrudgingly says yes, understanding her goal. Kara stands up, her eyes still seared, telling him to do so on her go ahead. Alex asks Kara what she's doing. She tells Alex that Nazi Supergirl could absorb enough of the energy of a sun to explode, and that if she gets enough, she could destroy him. Alex asserts that Nazi Supergirl died from it. Kara acknowledges that. Alex telling her no, she won't accept that. Kara hugs Alex tightly, telling her that she can't lose her home again and quickly pushes Alex away from her, telling her that she loves her and tell Lena she's sorry, then telling Cisco "now", the breach opening around Kara, taking her and closing just as quickly before Alex can stop it.

Tyler Hoechlin Superman asks what's happening.

Kara floats before the energy of the yellow sun of earth, it energizing her, the energy flowing to and healing her eyes, her opening them, with the energy of the yellow sun making them glow.

At Kara's request, Cisco breaches her back into the battle.

Kara floats over the battle, telling the Supermen to get away from the Anti-Monitor. Tyler Hoechlin Superman, realizing himself what's happening, tells her no, that he can't let her die, there has to be another way. The other Supermen agree. Kara states that he has a son to take care of, all of the Supermen do, it has to be her, that protecting him was her job in the first place. Tyler Hoechlin Superman continues to reject that.

But in a flash of lightning, all the Supermen are pulled away from the Anti-Monitor, and Wally stands before them, in the full Flash costume.

The Flash lives again, as Wally circles the Anti-Monitor at superspeed, throwing lightning at him multiple times, this keeping him in place...

Allowing Kara to enact her plan. She says to Tyler Hoechlin Superman, "I love you, Kal-El." and flies towards the Anti-Monitor, her heat vision BLAZING with the fire of the sun, searing into him, it burning through his armor, burning him from the inside out, FLAMES igniting from the eyes of his suit! This use of her powers causing her eyes to crack with yellow sun energy bleeding out, the cracks spreading more and more. The Anti-Monitor, enraged, yells out, "NO!" And Kara collides with him, the force of it IMPLODING THEM IN A FLASH OF LIGHT!

Leaving nothing but a crater, and Kara's torn cape. Alex and Tyler Hoechlin Superman rushing there, seeing only the cape, them both breaking down, almost leaning on eachother, Alex devastated, inconsolable. The other Supermen stand silently in mourning, placing their hands on their shoulders in an attempt at comfort. Everyone else surrounding them, in silence.

The President gives a speech, honoring the sacrifices of Supergirl and the Green Arrow with a statue of an \S/ in National City and one of Green Arrow being built in Starling City.

Diggle visits Guy Gardner in the hospital who tells Diggle that his time is over and now it's his turn. We confirm that Diggle, now having gained full memory of both earths, in this post-crisis, his name is John Stewart.

The team honors the Flash silently with a Flash symbol built in it and empty seats for Barry, Oliver, Kara, even Bruce at the new table, in the Hall Of Justice.

In the montage of showing the earths with show the same things, but now with inclusions of:

The Birds Of Prey TV Series Earth, showing that team now working with Kevin Conroy Batman, who has a renewed pursuit of heroism.

Tom Welling Superman with Lois, watching their kids, before he gets an alert on a fire in Metropolis, with Lois being proud of him.

Justice League Of America TV Movie Martian Manhunter alive, leading martians on Mars.

Earth 1 Bruce, alive, stranded on another earth, but on the search for a way back.

Gotham TV Series Bruce as Batman in his earth.

Some quick flashes with the Batman 89 earth and Batman 66 earth.

On a re-established Earth 90 E-90 Flash speeds through the city, before getting a message from Christina McGee of a bank robbery by Trickster, E-90 Flash smirking and then speeding off to it.

On earth prime, something falling to earth in front of Diggle, but stopping just short of hitting the ground and it redirecting and pointing right at him. It emanating a green light reflecting on his face.

Ending still on the Superman The Movie nod of Brandon Routh Superman flying, his symbol back to yellow and red.

THE END.

In case ya’ll are curious, Kara and Barry aren’t really dead and aren’t gone for good. In their respective seasons, they’d return after a couple episodes or so. Please review and tell me what you think!

#Crisis on Infinite Earths #laurel lance #The Flash #supergirl #arrow

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xxmarzimoonxx · 4 years

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So I just finished the 100. That show has made me so emotionally drained. But that show was so freaking good. Still don’t understand why Emori was given the option to transcend, but I guess only your mind has to be alive, not necessarily your body for it to happen. ANYWAYS. I love John Murphy, Raven Reyes, and Octavia Blake. I love them. Madi deserved better, and I wish we got to see more family time between her and Clarke. I also would’ve loved to seen more bonding between Madi and Abby in season six or five. For some reason I really liked Gabriel, I thought he was so interesting and I wish he could’ve survived with the others. These last three seasons were good, but much different from the first four. I think I preferred the earlier ones, maybe because everyone was alive and it was more action packed, I’m not sure! I wish they hadn’t changed Bellamy the way they did. I also wish we saw more of Hope, Octavia, and Diyozas family. Same thing with Hope, Gabriel, and Echo. I think it was interesting how Niylah stayed with everyone through it all, she really was a cool character. Overall, it was pretty sad. It was cool they ended back on earth, but I do wish EVERYONE was still alive. I wish it ended similar to how things were in earlier seasons. On earth with the different clans, everyone alive, I don’t know, I wish it just could’ve ended more positive? Anyways, great show 10/10 recommend if your into post-apocalyptic/sci-fi kind of things!

#the 100

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theculturedmarxist · 4 years

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If someone were to tell you that major and influential business sectors like the fossil fuel and health insurance industries simply don’t exist, or imply that major corporations like ExxonMobil and Cigna don’t try to manipulate public opinion and advance a political agenda in order to protect and maximize their profits, you might find it hard to contain your laughter.

But looking at corporate media’s coverage of corporate media, one gets the sense that anyone who dares to suggest that media corporations like Comcast-owned MSNBC, AT&T-owned CNN or News Corp–owned Fox News have their own commercial interests—which incentivize them to push pro-corporate politics—are kooky “conspiracy theorists.”

That’s really strange. After all, there are plenty of reports from corporate media discussing how major oil and health insurance companies spend fortunes to propagandize Americans into believing that a single-payer healthcare system would be disastrous, or that the climate crisis really isn’t that serious, despite all evidence to the contrary (FAIR.org, 1/24/20, 1/31/20). There are whistleblowers like former Cigna PR executive Wendell Potter who revealed how he, along with other paid corporate propagandists, cultivated “contacts and relationships among journalists and other media gatekeepers,” and learned from the tobacco industry’s “groundbreaking work in stealth PR” in order to develop talking points and advance a political agenda to protect industry profits.

So why exactly should we trust for-profit media outlets to be impartial and have their news coverage untainted by their own business interests?

Throughout the 2020 election cycle, FAIR (7/17/19, 8/21/19, 1/30/20, 4/7/20) has documented how corporate media have been trying to play kingmaker by aggressively pushing centrist and right-wing Democratic presidential candidates like Joe Biden onto the electorate, while assailing progressives like Bernie Sanders as “unelectable.” Now that Sanders has dropped out of the race, it’s worth examining the role propagandistic and hostile media coverage played throughout the primary in determining the outcome.

Analyzing the paradoxical phenomenon of the sizable “Socialists for Biden” voting bloc, FAIR’s founder Jeff Cohen (Common Dreams, 3/16/20) noted that although continuous exit polls confirm that most voters agree with Sanders ideologically, many nevertheless voted for Biden, because they perceived him to be a more “electable” candidate against Donald Trump.

Although several people have debunked the myth of “low” youth voter turnout in this election cycle (FAIR.org, 2/26/20; Films for Action, 3/5/20; Atlantic, 3/17/20), it’s true that older voters turned out in massive numbers to support Biden. On Twitter (3/14/20), journalist Malaika Jabali attributed the “generational divide” in voting behavior to an “information divide,” and argued that many older voters don’t suffer from a lack of information, so much as too much information from different sources compared to younger voters.

That influential media outlets like CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the New York Times and Washington Post continue to exercise a formidable class-control function on behalf of their owners and advertisers seems to be borne out by data confirming Jabali’s analysis.

Pew Research (12/10/18) found that although social media has become a more popular source for news, television still retains supremacy, with 49% of US adults receiving news most often from TV. Whereas young adults aged 18 to 29 receive 36% of their news from social media and 16% from TV, older voters aged 50–64 receive 65% of their news from TV and only 14% from social media, and voters older than 65 receive a whopping 81% of their news from TV and a mere 8% from social media.

Pew (9/26/19) also documented a striking partisan divide on Americans’ trust in the media, with 69% of Democrats having a “great” or “fair” amount of trust in the media, compared to only 15% of Republicans.

Other media studies of cable news like CNN and MSNBC confirmed their pivotal role as an anti-Sanders attack machine (FAIR.org, 1/30/20). According to the Norman Lear Center (5/19), self-identified liberals watch MSNBC at three times the rate of moderates and ten times the rate of conservative viewers. Branko Marcetic (In These Times, 11/13/19) documented that MSNBC’s August–September 2019 coverage of the Democratic primary not only emphasized electability over policy issues, but also talked about Biden three times as often as Sanders, who had fewer negative mentions (11%) compared to Sanders (21%). Another survey by In These Times (3/9/20) of CNN’s coverage of the 24 hours after Sanders and Biden’s massive wins in Nevada and South Carolina found that Sanders received three times more negative coverage than Biden, despite winning by similar margins.

Given Sanders’ massive advantages over Biden when it came to campaign staff and volunteers, organizational and online presence, ad buys as well as money in Super Tuesday states, it’s clear that the media blitz following Biden’s South Carolina win played a decisive role in propelling him to victory in states he didn’t even campaign in (New York Times, 2/26/20).

Yet, in what is truly a collective galaxy-brain level take, corporate media appeared to deny their own existence and how the profit motive compromised their coverage throughout the primary.

Whenever corporate media discuss themselves, they frequently use scare quotes around the term “corporate media” (e.g., Washington Post, 10/24/19; Politico, 8/13/19), as if the term is referring to a nonexistent entity or a figment of their audience’s imagination. This is in stark contrast to their alarmist attitude towards foreign state media outlets like RT and Xinhua, which are frequently referred to as “propaganda” and “state media”—no quotation marks required (New York Times, 3/8/17, 2/18/20).

Yet when they weren’t suggesting they were imaginary, corporate media were also fully capable on occasion of discussing their enormous impact on the race. Vanity Fair’s “Joe Biden, Revenant, Was an Irresistible Media Story—and It Helped Win Him Super Tuesday” (3/5/20) described how Biden campaign aides were gloating to CNN about riding their “earned-media tsunami” to victory in Super Tuesday—referring to coverage that wasn’t paid for following Biden’s South Carolina win—and estimated to be worth at least $72 million during those crucial days.

Despite noting that Sanders actually had more free coverage ($156 million) during this time period from the same “‘corporate media’” which had “written him off” earlier, Vanity Fair argued that media narratives trump any other factor (including money), with Sanders’ narrative being largely negative in contrast to Biden’s:

In recent days Biden has basked in mostly positive coverage, with TV pundits citing his South Carolina victory in arriving at a consensus narrative: Biden, despite poor showings in all of the early-primary states, is the comeback candidate peaking at the perfect moment…. Following Biden’s Saturday blowout, the media narrative shifted from Sanders being the momentum candidate to questions about whether his campaign was constrained by a ceiling due to his poor South Carolina performance, particularly with black voters, the most consistent Democratic voting bloc.

Corporate media frequently noted how Sanders has been their most frequent critic when he was on the campaign trail, and even when they grudgingly admitted its validity at times, they treated Sanders’ media criticism as an ideological perspective on the media, rather an uncontroversial description. Politico (8/13/19) wrote that “Sanders has long accused the ‘corporate media’ of putting the interests of the elite above those of the majority of Americans.” Vanity Fair (2/18/20) wrote: “Sanders has long contended that the agenda of ‘corporate media’ doesn’t necessarily reflect the people’s needs, and his 2020 campaign has doubled as a rolling media criticism shop.” The New York Times (3/5/20) also gaslit readers by attributing critique of the “‘corporate media,’” and MSNBC’s hosts for pushing an “‘establishment’” perspective, merely to Sanders and the “activist left,” as if their critique were only a sectarian complaint.

The Washington Post’s media critic Erik Wemple (10/24/19) mocked Sanders’ critique of the “‘corporate media,’” implying that Sanders hasn’t “done enough research” to “tease out tendencies,” despite writing that “attacking the ‘corporate media’ is good politics for Sanders, and his critiques sometimes land with heft and reason.” Post media columnist Margaret Sullivan (2/12/20) glancingly acknowledged media hostility towards Sanders when she observed that Sanders kept dissing “what he calls the corporate media,” and that his “ardent followers bond with him and with one another by despising the mainstream media, often enough with good reason”—yet she failed to explain this hostility in structural terms regarding media ownership and commercial interests. In the Post’s “Bernie Sanders’s Bogus Media Beef,” Aaron Blake (8/14/19) cited executive editor Marty Baron dismissing Sanders’ claims as a “conspiracy theory,” while the Post’s Paul Waldman (8/14/19) dismissed Sanders’ media criticism as “something in common with pretty much every candidate,” and breathtakingly asserted that “ideological bias is usually the least important.”

Waldman’s assessment isn’t shared by FAIR (Extra!, 10/89), or by Politico’s founding editor John Harris (11/7/19), who admitted that “the pervasive force shaping coverage of Washington and elections is what might be thought of as centrist bias, flowing from reporters and sources alike.”

Another approach to dismissing structural media criticism has been to portray Sanders and Trump’s media criticisms as equally wacky conspiracy theories (FAIR.org, 1/24/20). CNN’s Chris Cillizza (8/13/19) asserted that Sanders’ critique of the Jeff Bezos–owned Washington Post’s coverage is “absolutely no different than what Trump does.” Politico’s John Harris (2/13/20) bemoaned the “dilution of mainstream media’s institutional power” and pined for the days where editors at “major news institutions possessed enormous power” to “summon sustained national attention on subjects they deemed important” with their story selection and framing, while denouncing Sanders for following the “Trump precedent” in “taking flight from public accountability.”

When corporate media didn’t dismiss their bias against him, they sunnily described how Sanders didn’t seem to need fairer coverage from corporate media—and cable news in particular—because nonprofit media outlets, with considerably less resources and reach, are increasingly picking up the slack. Citing the “formidable” influence of “alternative media,” the Los Angeles Times (12/12/19) argued that “coverage in what Sanders likes to disparage as the ‘corporate media’ may matter less to him than to any of his rivals because of the benefit he derives from a surging alternative media ecosystem.” The New Republic (2/12/20, 2/28/20) acknowledged MSNBC’s hostile posture towards Sanders, yet also failed to explain that bias in terms of corporate interests, while arguing that Sanders’ campaign strategy of relying on an alternative media infrastructure to run “against the ‘corporate media’” and “withstand attacks from mainstream networks” has “worked wonders.”

Strikingly, in all these reports, corporate media either misrepresented Sanders’ proposed solutions to corporate media bias or omitted them altogether. Vermont journalist Paul Heintz (Washington Post, 2/26/19), for example, chided Sanders for not understanding what a “free press” does, and claimed that Sanders’ remedy for corporate media is merely “uncritical, stenographic coverage of his agenda.”

In fact, Sanders’ op-ed in the Columbia Journalism Review (8/26/19) echoed many of FAIR’s criticisms of corporate media and proposed solutions:

Today, after decades of consolidation and deregulation, just a small handful of companies control almost everything you watch, read and download. Given that reality, we should not want even more of the free press to be put under the control of a handful of corporations and “benevolent” billionaires who can use their media empires to punish their critics and shield themselves from scrutiny….

In my administration, we are going to institute an immediate moratorium on approving mergers of major media corporations until we can better understand the true effect these transactions have on our democracy…. We must also explore new ways to empower media organizations to collectively bargain with these tech monopolies, and we should consider taxing targeted ads and using the revenue to fund nonprofit civic-minded media.

Setting aside the interlocking commercial interests mass media corporations share with other industries and advertisers funding their coverage (FAIR.org, 8/1/17), just as one can expect the healthcare and fossil fuel industries to launch propaganda campaigns to protect their profits (Intercept, 11/20/18; Guardian, 10/23/19), one can reliably predict these same media corporations to oppose any political agenda that harms their own profitability. Given Sanders’ opposition to future mergers and corporate consolidation of mass media giants, proposals to wield antitrust legislation against Google and Facebook, and levying new taxes to fund nonprofit media outlets, is it any surprise that for-profit news sources opposed his candidacy (Politico, 8/28/19)?

Perhaps future media criticism might sound less “conspiratorial” if we simply referred to outlets like MSNBC as “Comcast,” CNN as “AT&T” and the Washington Post as “Jeff Bezos” instead. When one understands corporate media as an industry in themselves, decisions to have a centrist bias to maximize profits by appealing to liberals and conservatives alike, or creating “information silos” to sell the news as a commodity to target demographics, make a lot more sense. And when we understand the news industry as a top-down institution, beholden to stockholders like all other corporations, we can stop blaming journalists for bad coverage, and start blaming executives like Les Moonves and Tony Maddox for doing things like gifting billions of dollars in free coverage for Trump (FAIR.org, 3/31/20, 4/13/20).

Then maybe claiming that corporate media outlets like MSNBC and CNN are hostile to left-wing political agendas will be considered just as obvious as saying that ExxonMobil and Cigna are opposed to climate action and universal healthcare.

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1989dreamer · 4 years

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The Journey of the Seven-Tailed Fox--’Neath the Halo of a Street Light

Sequel to Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

Art Post

On AO3

Warnings: Graphic Depiction of Violence and Injuries Sustained.

~ * ~

Peter can’t breathe. His lungs are crushed.

Next to him, Deaton sleeps peacefully. They aren’t in the vehicle anymore. And it’s just the two of them.

The ground is rough beneath Peter’s back, sticks and stones digging into the flesh where his shirt has been torn. He digs his claws into his thigh, trying to trigger his healing.

Slowly, it comes back online, and he can finally draw a breath.

He sits up, scanning the clearing that they’ve landed in. None of the others are around, and there is no evidence of Deaton’s vehicle.

Sniffing does nothing. His senses are still offline. It’s frightening because it’s like the years he was stuck in a coma, and it’s not something Peter wants to experience again.

“Ah, you’re awake,” someone says, and Peter snaps his head around, staring at the alpha werewolf kneeling behind him. Even though it’s still night out with occasional flashes of lightning, the alpha has a pair of dark glasses over his milky red eyes.

“Deucalion,” Peter says. He remembers meeting him many years ago. He hadn’t liked him then, and his fondness hasn’t increased.

“Peter Hale,” Deucalion responds, his tone bland and English. Peter curls his lip at him. Deucalion spreads his hands as if to show him that he’s unarmed, but Peter heard once that Deucalion wasn’t always blind, and likewise, Peter expects he isn’t always unarmed.

The fact that he’s sitting here with hardly any senses while Deucalion mocks him by pretending to be defenseless speaks volumes.

Peter struggles to his feet. Deaton is still out for the count, and Peter kind of hopes that the ex-emissary won’t wake up. In some ways, he blames Deaton as much as he blames Derek for the decimation of their family.

He also blames his sister, but it’s harder to stay angry at the dead than at the living. Besides, Derek has committed the travesty of ripping Peter’s throat out.

“What do you want with us?” Peter magnanimously includes Deaton with the sweep of his arm.

Deucalion smiles. “I’m sure it will become abundantly clear just what your purpose is,” he says, patting the ground next to him. Peter has no intention of sitting down again.

He casts about, searching for a weapon. Deucalion follows his progress, laughing to himself as Peter finds any number of branches that he discards immediately because they lack the structural integrity to bruise a human.

He finally finds a metal strip off Deaton’s minivan. He hefts it in his hand and then swings it. Deucalion stops it with his hand, his sunglasses discarded, eyes bright red. Peter knows then that Deucalion is looking at him, seeing him with more than just his senses of hearing and smell.

“You have a part to play,” Deucalion says, jerking the metal from Peter. He tosses it aside, threading the fingers of his other hand through his hair. “Such a pretty man,” Deucalion sneers. “Not as pretty as your nephew, though. That is a man that can have the world if he only knew how to take it, but you made sure he couldn’t, didn’t you?”

Peter’s heart stutters in his chest. He used to be able to hide when he was affected, when he lied. Six years is a long time to lose parts of yourself you didn’t know you were losing. Peter is still learning himself again. “I don’t know what you mean,” he says. Deucalion laughs.

“You forget that I knew you both when you were younger. I saw you both, I knew what you would do to your nephew, jealous boy that you were.”

“I was never jealous of Derek,” Peter grits out. He feels his face flush, and he snarls at Deucalion, snapping blunt teeth at nothing—he doesn’t want to risk angering Deucalion too much right now because there’s no doubt who’s stronger right now.

“Yes you were,” Deucalion says calmly. “There’s a reason the boy lost his first sweetheart and it wasn’t because he was a werewolf.”

Peter opens his mouth to deny it again, but Deaton groans, drawing both of their attention.

“Ah, he awakens.” Deucalion kneels next to Deaton, hands coming to rest against his chest. He draws some pain from Deaton, and he rouses enough to gasp.

“What’s going on?” he asks as soon as Deucalion helps him sit up.

“We’re stuck in the middle of the villain’s monologue,” Peter tells him, shouldering Deucalion aside to haul Deaton to his feet.

“Why am I not more hurt?” Deaton wonders, patting his body down in a poor imitation of a frisk. He touches a wet spot on his head and winces. “Peter?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the forest healed you?”

“Or maybe you absorbed some of the energy from the darach,” Deucalion suggests.

Deaton blinks at him before succinctly saying, “Shit.”

“Wait, really?”

“In all likelihood? Yes.”

“That’s fantastic,” Peter says sarcastically. He shoots a glance at Deucalion. The darach, Jennifer Blake, had been sacrificing people to try to stop the alpha pack. If Deucalion suspects that Deaton can pose a threat to him or his pack, then Alan is as good as dead.

Deaton must feel the same expiration hanging over his head because he too looks to their—what?—attacker?—savior?—and sighs.

“Oh, don’t worry, Doctor,” Deucalion says, “I have no intention of killing you.” He rolls his head to stare at Peter with his milky red eyes again. Unnerved, Peter looks away first. “He’s going to do it.”

“Why?” Peter wants to know. He might have felt a need to murder Derek earlier, but surprisingly, the urge has mostly passed. He isn’t going to hurt Deaton right now.

“Because,” Deucalion says, “you’re going to kill your pack.”

~ * ~

Peter paces in the clearing. Almost thirty minutes have passed since Deucalion made his announcement, and Peter hasn’t stopped moving, or thinking, since.

Deaton watches him warily. Neither of them have forgotten Deucalion’s words. It isn’t as if Peter’s going to suddenly snap and kill Deaton. He has no reason. Deaton isn’t even part of Peter’s pack. Why would he kill someone who has no significance to him?

He could of course claim that it is revenge for the fire, but there’s someone who ranks even higher than Deaton on his kill list.

Derek.

He’s come back full circle and his need to exact revenge has grown again. Surprisingly, the boy is still a part of his pack. Peter reaches out, searching the bonds, and there, faintly, he can feel Derek’s heartbeat.

He’s nowhere close, not that Peter can sense—he’d be able to smell him if he were—but he’s not so far away that the bonds are muted as they were when Derek was the alpha.

Deucalion tracks Peter’s progress, a smile on his lips as he cocks his head one way and then another. “Can you hear them?” he asks.

“Hear who?” Peter stops, straining his ears. All he can hear is Deaton’s raspy breath.

“Your pack,” Deucalion says, flicking out his claws, using them to mark the fallen tree he’s perched on. “They’re fighting. Trying to get to you.” He stands up, dusting off his pants. He picks up his cane, unfolding it with a flick of his wrist. His smile turns sinister, eyes glowing bright red behind his glasses. He turns his head, tracking Peter with his eyes. “Shall we?” he asks before he lunges, the uncapped tip of his cane whistling past Peter’s ear.

He leaps back, swinging his own, clawed hand at Deucalion.

They trade blows that don’t land while Deaton watches them.

Finally though, Deucalion lands a lucky strike on Peter’s side, punching his still-tender ribs out of place. Peter curls down over the injury, and Deucalion’s cane slices over his cheek, scoring deep enough that he can taste the metal as it scrapes over his tongue.

Peter spits blood at Deucalion’s feet, tackling him below his knees, knocking him over, smashing his head against the ground. He doesn’t give him a chance to recover, crawling over him to slam his fist into his face again and again.

Deucalion just laughs.

“They’re here,” he taunts right before one of the other alphas, Kali, if Peter recalls correctly, jumps into the clearing followed closely by Ennis.

Peter pauses, studying the way the he lumbers after Kali, his bloodied hands reaching for her as she dances out of his reach. Tethered to Ennis by a length of rope, stumbling over the uneven ground and felled branches is the Sheriff.

John has a bloody gash across his forehead and his shirt sticks to his body as if he’d been dunked into a cold bath. In his hand, he holds a sharp piece of metal.

“What about the rest of them?” Peter asks, eyeing Deucalion.

He laughs again. “Search your pack bonds. Tell me, where are they?”

Peter concentrates, aware that he’s probably opening himself to an attack. He knows there are at least two other alphas that are still unaccounted for.

There! He can feel Derek nearby, closer than before, Stiles with him, and faintly, Scott.

They’re coming, a storm of vengeance heading for the alphas.

Peter smiles to himself. The fight is going to be bloody. People might not survive. Peter doesn’t care; his fangs drop just as Stiles breaks through the foliage, a bat held high above his head, a battle cry on his lips.

It’s beautiful to watch as Stiles slams his weapon against Ennis’ head. John moves with Ennis, the rope pulling him along. Stiles might appreciate his father being removed from the line of fire, and Peter reaches out to cut him loose, only to be beat by John himself. After he’s free, John drives the improvised knife into Ennis’ back, right into his spine. Werewolves can heal, but it takes time especially if the injury occurs to a critical point. Ennis drops like a stone, the nerves in his spinal cord severed. He’ll be out for at least ten minutes.

John looks to Peter, a blankness in his eyes that gives Peter pause. Something’s not right, but he doesn’t know what it is and he doesn’t have time to figure it out right now. He needs to disable Deucalion and Kali and find the remaining alphas. But first. He leans down and draws his claws across Ennis’ neck, cutting deep enough that there’s no way to heal.

Kali shrieks when she realizes what he’s done, throwing herself at him in a flurry of kicks and claws, her feet tearing his chest, flaying him open.

Peter fends her as best as he can, but he’s still weakened from the crash and from whatever Deucalion used to inhibit his senses.

Kali gets in a good hit, and Peter goes down, gagging from the blood in his lungs. She grins at him as she raises a hand to return the gesture of tearing his throat out when she coughs suddenly, blood spurting from her own throat.

She falls forward, and Derek stands there, eyes wide, blue turning quickly to red as Kali’s power slams into him. He breathes hard through his nose, trembling. Peter spits at his feet.

Derek is weak. He doesn’t deserve the alpha power, any alpha power. It is an oversight that Peter will rectify when he has the time. Right now, he needs to kill Deucalion.

And then Scott finally enters the clearing, being chased by a magnificent abomination.

Apparently, though it should be a physical impossibility, the remaining alphas are able to meld together into a hulking creature.

No matter. The bigger they are…the bigger they are. Peter grins, leaping over Scott to claw at the creature.

He manages to tear them apart, twins falling to either side of him. Before he can turn to finish them off, John kneels down, metal crossing their throats deep and fast. He reaches his bare hands into their necks and pulls out their tracheas. Both alphas expire quickly, and suddenly Deucalion is all on his own.

John turns to Peter, blank look on his face. “He’s mine,” he says, emotionlessly.

“No.” Peter shoves John back, and Stiles grabs his father.

“Dad, Dad, what’s happened to you?”

Deucalion smiles. “Don’t you know?” he asks. “He’s gone. Taken. Bye-bye Sheriff.”

“Shut up,” Derek snaps. He’s still trembling, still pathetic. If Peter didn’t need him to help take down Deucalion, he’d rip his throat out right now.

Deucalion shakes a finger at Derek. “You can’t mix a fox and a wolf.” And then he jumps over everyone and bites John’s shoulder.

John screams in pain, the first thing other than the blankness that he’s exhibited since the crash.

“You motherfucker,” he swears, stabbing Deucalion over and over again. Stiles backs away from him, eyes wide, mouth open in shock.

Deucalion laughs, allowing the metal to penetrate him before leaning in close to John. “Boo.”

John crumples as if the word had something to do with it. Stiles yells, lunging forward to catch him. He cradles his father, whispering to him, the same word over and over again.

Deucalion stands up, smiling. “If you thought I was bad, just wait until you see what’s going to happen now.”

Peter tears out his throat.

~ * ~

The trek out of the woods could be worse.

By the time they reach the edge of the preserve, everyone is either healed or used to their injuries, except John. He’s still unconscious, being carried by Derek.

Deaton is leading them, probably because his animal clinic will be the first sign of civilization that they’ll see. Scott marches next to Deaton. Stiles hovers next to his dad in Derek’s arms. Peter brings up the rear.

There’s a buzz surrounding Peter, the power from Ennis and Deucalion thrumming just under his skin. Every hair stands on end. Something is coming. Whatever Deucalion tried to do to the sheriff, it didn’t work.

Or maybe it did.

Who knows.

They won’t know until John wakes up.

Derek’s shoulders tense and he stops walking.

Peter glares at him. “Keep moving.”

“He’s waking up.”

Stiles grabs onto his dad’s arm. “Dad? Dad, can you hear me?”

John lifts his head, staring at Stiles with no recognition. And something more from the way both he and Derek physically recoil, and Derek almost drops John. Who slumps down again, eyes closed.

“What’s wrong?” Peter asks Stiles.

“His eyes,” Stiles stutters. “Those aren’t my dad’s eyes.”

“Pure black,” Derek reports. “No iris, no sclera. Like it’s all just pupil.”

Peter feels the blood in his veins stop moving. “Jet black?” he asks tightly.

Stiles nods. “Peter, what does that mean?”

“It means he’s been possessed,” Deaton answers. He points at the place on John’s shoulder where Deucalion had bitten him.

“‘Can’t mix a fox and a wolf,’” Peter remembers. “Is there a fox demon in these woods?”

Deaton shoots an unreadable look at him. “Not in these woods, no. However, seventy miles south of us, there was legend of a trickster demon, a Nogitsune, buried within a defunct internment camp from World War II.”

“And how do we defeat a Nogitsune?” Peter asks. “If Deucalion’s bite failed and he’s still a fox, what do we do?”

“You give him to me,” a new voice joins them. A woman, of Japanese heritage, steps from the shadows. She holds a katana in one hand and a slim obsidian blade in the other.

“And who are you?” Peter demands.

The woman barely spares him a glance before she focuses back on John. “I am the only one who can stop him. Give him to me before it’s too late.”

Stiles steps in front of his dad. “No.”

The woman raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think you understand just what he is.”

“A Nogitsune,” Peter says, “yeah, we know.”

“But you don’t understand.” The woman lifts the obsidian blade and snaps it. Blue sparks crackle and then more shapes poor out of the shadows. “If he is allowed to remain, he will cause untold suffering. Allow me to rid him of his burden before it’s too late.”

One of the shapes, a man in a mask, Peter thinks until he sees the glowing green eyes, sees the way the outline is only just in the shape of a human, steps forward, shoving Stiles aside. Derek cries out as John is wrenched from his grip.

Weakling.

Peter launches forward, slamming the thing away from John. “Back off.” His hands burn where they contacted the thing.

“Don’t touch the Oni,” the woman says. “They won’t hurt you. They only want the Nogitsune. If you continue to defend it, you will only end up more hurt.”

“It’s my dad,” Stiles says. “You can’t ask me not to defend him.”

The woman’s gaze softens. “If we can separate them without causing the death of your father, we’ll try.”

“You think they’re not going to kill me the minute you turn me over to them?” John asks. His voice adopts a pleading tone. “Stiles, don’t let them take me.”

It’s Derek who stands up, moves in front of John. He puts his head down, breathing hard through his nose. His left arm is completely blistered, the skin burned so badly, Peter can see the bone.

“You can’t have him,” Derek says. “Not until you can assure us that you can exorcise the Nogitsune from him. We will do what we have to to keep him contained, but you cannot take him.”

One of the things, the Oni, slides next to Derek. It reaches out and touches the burn. Derek crumples, screaming, curled around his arm.

Before anyone else can react, John leaps to his feet, drives his sharp piece of metal into the Oni. When it does nothing, he holds up his hands and steps away from Derek’s sobbing mass.

Peter catches the quick kick John delivers to Derek’s lower back.

He would feel sorry for his nephew, but it’s Derek. He’s made his bed, lined it with the bodies of their dead family. Everything he gets is less than he deserves.

“I’m giving myself up,” John says. “Do with me what you want, but leave them alone.”

“Very well.” The woman nods at her Oni and they surround John. Stiles gives a battle cry and rushes them. They vanish in a puff of melting shadow, the woman gone with them too. Stiles throws his head back and screams at the sky above.

It sounds like a howl, and Peter feels something stir in his chest. Derek feels it too by the way he struggles to lift his head. Stiles can’t be in both his and Derek’s pack. And Peter isn’t going to concede to his nephew. Derek will have to die, and sooner than later. Just as soon as they get John back.

Although, how bad would it be to let the woman and her Oni cleanse John—even if they ended up killing him—and then he could manipulate Stiles into accepting the bite. To prove his loyalty, Peter thinks he’ll have Stiles kill Derek.

“Where would she have gone?” Stiles demands of their small group. Everyone shakes their heads except Derek.

“There was a new family that moved to town,” he says. “Kitsunes. I’m pretty sure that woman was a kitsune.”

“And you saw her aura, I suppose,” Peter says snidely.

“No. I know my lore. Kitsunes are the masters of the Oni. Or at least, their tails are.”

“Tails?” Stiles frowns down at Derek. “Like actual tails or…no, that thing she broke. That’s what controls the Oni. That’s what we need to get then. One of those things. Then we can control the Oni.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” Derek struggles to his feet. He doesn’t even ask for help. His arm is definitely injured from whatever the Oni did, and it’s affecting him as he stumbles toward Deaton. “We need to regroup before we go running after her. She’s obviously powerful and we just survived a battle with an alpha pack.”

Peter steps forward, pressing claws into Derek’s arm, and Derek jerks away, out of reach. “And you want to let them get further away while we wait for you to recuperate your strength? You’re the only wolf still injured. Stay here and Scott and I will go get Stiles’ dad.”

“No, Derek’s right,” Deaton says. “We need to come up with a plan. And Derek may be the only werewolf still injured, but he’s not the only one still injured.” He turns to Stiles. “We need to get you checked out to see if there’s any lingering effects from the darach’s ritual.”

“Derek, you know who moved to town and where they live?” Stiles demands.

“I can find out.”

“Then let’s get medical attention and come up with a plan.” Stiles fixes Derek with a heavy glare. “If anything happens to my dad while we’re waiting, I will let Peter rip your throat out.”

Derek sags almost imperceptibly, but he nods with surety. “I wouldn’t expect anything else.” Derek cuts a quick glance at Peter and then away, but Peter saw the sorrow writ upon his features. When the time comes, Derek won’t go down without a fight, and honestly, Peter wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Come now,” Deaton claps his hands, “we’re only a few yards from the edge of the preserve. I have another vehicle at the clinic we can use to get to the hospital for those that need it. Derek, I want to take a look at your arm when we get to the clinic. I think I may have something that’ll help with the pain.”

“That’s settled then,” Stiles says, the words falling like stones to the mud, splattering each of them with exhaustion and weariness. Then he turns, shouldering his own burden, and stumbles onward.

One by one, they fall in line behind him.

~ * ~

At the clinic, Scott offers to drive Stiles to the hospital, but he declines, watching with interest as Deaton flushes Derek’s arm with cold water and a mixture of herbs and powders. Nothing seems to help and eventually Deaton stops and wraps Derek’s arm.

Derek refuses to get into the vehicle, instead leaning in the passenger window to talk to Stiles. “I’ll get the information on the kitsunes while you get checked out. Don’t worry, Stiles. We’ll get your dad back, from both the Oni and the Nogitsune.”

“You promise?” Stiles counters.

Derek doesn’t respond. Peter shoulders him aside. “Want me to keep an eye on him?”

Stiles stares straight ahead. “No. Let him work alone. I trust him. A hell of a lot more than I trust you.”

“Ouch.” Peter pretends to rub away the hurt, but he steps back and lets them pull away. By the time he turns around, Derek is already gone.

No matter. Peter can track the woman and her minions. He can rescue John all on his own. Or ensure his death. Whichever drives Stiles into his pack faster.

Peter retraces his steps back to the preserve, finds the spot where John had been taken, and starts searching.

Nothing. Even his scent fades away like it’s been doused with a fresh rain. Strange. But he does find the scent of the woman. She’s definitely a kitsune. Old, by her smell. Derek may have his methods for finding the kitsunes, and Peter has his.

He heads back into Beacon Hills, following a thin trail of the woman’s scent.

He circles the whole town, moves in a block and circles again. By the time he’s made fifteen circles, he finally picks up what might be the woman’s smell all over a suburban home.

The fact that his nephew is standing outside the home, watching it with a wary eye means that this is probably the kitsunes’ den.

What’s surprising is there’s human all over it too.

“Peter,” Derek whispers, when he stops next to him, “there’s three people who live here. A mother, father, and daughter.”

“The mother we met, yes?”

“Yeah. She’s an old kitsune. Her husband is human. Her daughter. She’s a kitsune, but really young. She doesn’t even know how to hide her aura. I would be very surprised if she actually knew what she was.”

Peter looks at the house in disgust. “Why would they not tell her what she is? That’s like cutting off half her body and expecting her to function.”

“Not everyone views their abilities as gifts,” Derek murmurs. “If her father doesn’t know what her mom is, why should they train her? Maybe they want her to be human.”

Peter shakes his head. “She’ll never be human.” He turns to Derek. “Are we going to tell her what she is?”

“I don’t think we have a choice. We need to know where her mother might go, where she’d take Stiles’ dad.” He stops Peter with a hand on his arm. “Let me talk to her first.”

“Why?” Peter frowns at Derek. “So you can sweeten her up, maybe butter her up with a little flirtation?”

A grimace crosses Derek’s face. “No. I’m just going to talk to her.” Before Peter can say anything else, he moves to the front door and rings the doorbell. Peter backs away, under the shadow of a tall tree.

A man answers the door. His voice is pleasant, if confused when he says, “Hello. Can I help you?”

Derek’s shoulders straighten. “Hi, yes. I’m looking for your wife.” He thrusts his bandaged arm at the man. “You see, your wife managed to injure me with some kind of poison. I need to know what it is so that I can get an antidote.”

The man looks at him with suspicion. “Are you sure my wife did that?”

“Well, she didn’t,” Derek admits. “Her Oni did.”

The man blanches. “What’s an Oni?” he stutters, but there’s no way to hide that he knows what happened. That he knows what his wife is. And that’s when Peter decides Derek’s had long enough to get to the daughter.

He leaps forward, landing next to Derek, shifted, eyes blazing. Certainly a frightening sight. The man barely blinks at him before turning back to Derek.

“Okay. Werewolf,” he says.

“Human,” Derek returns with a small smirk. He points over the man’s shoulder. “Kitsune.”

The man spins around. “Go back inside,” he snaps. The girl, hair in pigtails, maybe about the age of the rest of the hooligans, that is to say, in her teens, pulls back, but her heartbeat stays strong. She’s out of sight of her dad, but both Peter and Derek know she’s still there.

Derek sticks out his uninjured hand. “Derek Hale. Werewolf.”

“Ken Yukimura. Human.” Ken turns to Peter. “You are?”

“Peter Hale. Derek’s uncle.”

“Ah yes.” Attention back on Derek. “So you say that one of my wife’s Oni touched you?”

“Yes. One of our friends became possessed with a Nogitsune, and your wife absconded with him. She claims she just wants to help exorcise the demon, but…” Derek trails off, shrugging at Ken.

“You don’t trust her,” Ken finishes. “I understand. But I can assure you, neither my daughter nor I know where my wife is.”

Derek tilts his head. Peter heard it too. Ken’s heart tripped. He’s lying.

“Where is your wife?” Peter demands.

Derek lifts a hand as if to stop Peter, and he sees red, whirling on his nephew and slapping his open palm against his ear. Derek crumples, hand pressed to his head. Ken leaps back and slams the door. Peter hits the door an instant later and bounces off.

“Mountain ash,” he growls.

“We’re not trying to kill them,” Derek says. “We’re just trying to find John. You’ll get a lot further if you play nice.”

“Like you, you mean.” Peter spits next to Derek. He doesn’t flinch. “If you hadn’t wasted so much time being nice, we’d have John already.”

“Just go and search for him then. You know what the woman smells like. You track her that way.”

“And what about you, dear nephew? How will you contribute to our mission?”

Derek stands up, dusting off his jeans like they aren’t caked in bloody mud. “I’m going to keep working on the Yukimuras. If the girl’s mother won’t help us, maybe she will.”

“Don’t bite anyone I wouldn’t,” Peter shoots over his shoulder as he bounds away. He doesn’t catch Derek’s reply, but he does hear the door open.

He keeps running. They’re losing too much time. Derek might be right that the way to find John is to use the woman’s family, but Peter wants results now. Usually he is the diplomatic one, but right now, he’s still fighting the want and need to tear his rival limb from limb.

He lifts his head and lets out a warning howl.

No one answers.

~ * ~

Peter finally catches not the woman’s scent but John’s. Fear, hurt, anger, disgust. So many chemosignals. Peter inhales deeply, finds the center and lopes into a clusterfuck.

He gets two steps into the abandoned building the woman is using before he’s surrounded by the Oni. This time, they have blades.

Peter let’s his claws grow, snarls around sharp fangs.

“Leave him,” the woman orders, and the Oni part and step back so that she and Peter can size each other up.

Peter snaps his jaws at her and she shakes her head, aura sliding out like armor.

Their eyes, red and orange, meet.

And the battle is on. Peter slashes, bites, and slashes at her while she dodges and parries with her katana.

Neither has the advantage, and to Peter it is infuriating. He’s used to being the most powerful creature. He’s used to winning.

The only way to beat him is to burn him and dispatch him when he’s trying to heal again.

And still, this woman, this kitsune, has him pressed against the wall as often as he drives her backward.

He thinks she’s waiting for him to run out of energy before she lops off his head and then kills John.

“Wait,” he pants when she shoves him back once more. “Wait. Have you figured out how to get the Nogitsune out of him yet?”

“No,” she says, sadly, almost regretfully. “I am going to have to kill him.”

Peter makes a show of putting away his claws, of smiling with completely human teeth. “That suits me just fine.”

“It doesn’t suit me,” John says, right before he drives one of the Oni’s blades through the woman’s back.

She cries out in pain and slashes back at him, catching him on the side of his head. John recoils, hand pressed to the wound. No blood runs through his fingers, no blood drips down his face. And when he moves his hand, there’s no sign of any injury.

“Oh, oops,” John laughs darkly. No, not John. The Nogitsune.

Peter senses it an instant before it happens, backing away and letting the Oni hold their former master while the Nogitsune taps on the blade still protruding from her back.

“The pain is certainly exquisite,” what used to be John says, “but it could be more, better.” He spins to pin Peter with a gaze lacking all compassion. “Be a dear and fetch the others. I want all the pain and suffering I am due.”

“Don’t leave me here,” the woman hisses. “If you do, then I am dead. He will kill me.”

Peter shrugs at her. “Not my problem.”

And he turns to walk away.

“Peter,” not-John calls. Except it sounds like John. “Peter, please don’t let him kill her. Please.”

“And how would I stop him?” Peter asks.

“Bring him the one he wants. Bring him the boy and everyone can live.”

“The boy?” Peter immediately thinks of Stiles. There’s no way he’s giving his best beta to a soulless creature like the Nogitsune.

Then he thinks of another “boy.”

“You want my nephew,” he says, and not-John confirms with a nod.

“Fine, but he’s at her house. I’ll need her if I’m to get him. You know what a complex he has. All we have to do is go to the Yukimuras’ house and you can have Derek.”

Not-John sweeps an arm out. “After you,” he taunts. Peter grabs the woman’s hand and pulls her with him. He walks leisurely. There’s no purpose to wasting the energy to get back to the kitsune house when it suits him just as much to lead the monster to his nephew. He can only hope he gets to watch the Nogitsune take its first bite out of his nephew’s brittle soul.

Peter smiles. What a beautiful sight the desecration of Derek will be.

~ * ~

By the time they make it back to the woman’s house, her husband and daughter are outside with Derek, and Deaton, Scott, and Stiles have joined them.

Not-John smiles. “All the people I need. Thank you, Peter.”

Peter shoves the woman at her husband and clamps a clawed hand around his nephew’s wrist.

“As promised,” he says, tossing Derek at the Nogitsune. The Oni catch Derek and right him on his feet. Not-John steps up to him and lays a hand on his shoulder, pressing down until Derek drops to his knees.

“All I want is suffering,” not-John says. His fingers trace over the back of Derek’s neck, and he shudders under them. Not-John tightens his hand. “If you let me have this one boy, the rest of you can live your lives unaffected by me.”

Stiles’ mouth opens, and Peter steps in front of him.

“You have him. The deal is made, signed, and sealed. Take your prize and go.”

Not-John smiles, fingers digging into Derek’s shoulder. Derek looks resigned, frightened but willing, and Peter hates him for it.

Then the Oni close around them and they blow away with the shadows.

Almost immediately, Stiles hits Peter’s head. “What the fuck was that?” he demands. “You didn’t even try to get my dad back. Instead you let him take Derek.” Then he turns on the woman. “And you! Why aren’t you still in control of the Oni? How’d my dad get them?”

“That was the Nogitsune, not your father,” the woman says. “I don’t know how it got control of the Oni. They would need a tail from the kitsune that summoned it to do that.”

“Noshiko, you’re hurt,” Ken says. “We need to heal you and then go after the Nogitsune again.”

Stiles whirls on him. “Why? So she can kill my dad?”

The woman, Noshiko, looks drawn, tired and in pain. “If there is another way to save him, please find it. Do you feel comfortable leaving that boy in the Nogitsune’s grasp? He will be tortured, maimed, maybe even killed. Can you live with that if I don’t kill the Nogitsune, and yes, the host as well?”

Stiles blinks. He looks to where Derek was last. “Derek is strong,” he says. “He can take it. Can you not kill my dad right away? Let us find a way to save him while getting rid of the Nogitsune.”

Noshiko nods. She waves off her husband. “I’ll heal. Eventually.” She nods at Stiles. “I need to keep an eye on the Nogitsune and make sure that he doesn’t violate his agreement.”

Then she starts running. For an old kitsune, she has great speed. She’s out of sight in a few minutes, and even Peter can’t hear her anymore.

Predictably, Stiles turns to Deaton. “Any ideas on how to stop a Nogitsune?”

“One,” Deaton says. “Does anyone have that box Derek’s mother’s claws were in?”

“What do we need with that?” Peter demands. It was just a box, wasn’t it? He doesn’t even know where Derek had gotten it from.

“Yes and no,” Deaton says. “It is a box that I made from the remains of the nemeton. If we can somehow separate the Nogitsune from its chosen host, then maybe we can trap it in there.”

“Why trap?” Stiles asks. “Why not just destroy or kill?” Deaton raises an eyebrow. “Of fucking course. It’s un-killable,” he announces to Scott because everyone else, the Yukimuras included, understands that there are some things that you can’t kill no matter the trouble they cause or how much you’d like to be rid of the burden they create.

“So,” Peter says, “how do we separate a Nogitsune from its host?”

“That,” Deaton says, dramatically, “is slightly more doable. It just takes a little research.”

“You’d better come in then,” Ken says. “We’ve got all the books on kitsunes and how to summon or bind demons. All the lore and the tried and true methods.”

“Thank you,” Deaton says. “That would be wonderful.” And then, as one, they all follow Ken into his house.

Except Peter.

He wants to catch up to not-John and his new toy. Maybe see some of that torture and maiming that is supposed to happen. See his nephew suffer like he had suffered.

No one bothers to look back.

Peter vows then that when he rebuilds his pack, the first thing he is going to do is eradicate the McCall pack.

First though, Derek.

Peter smiles at the thought of blood running down his nephew’s face, of skin cracking and peeling as flame licks it. And he hurries. Can’t wait, doesn’t want to miss a thing.

The laugh that trails out of him would shame him were he still the same wolf he was before the fire.

Just at the edge of town, he catches the scent of the Nogitsune and Derek. Oh, he thinks, how fitting.

If Peter follows them, he’ll be going home.

All the better theater for a show.

Peter turns up his old driveway and starts walking.

~ End Part Two ~

#Teen Wolf Fanfiction #My Story/My Writing #The Journey of the Seven-Tailed Fox #Part 2

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resilientsovl · 5 years

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BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: samuel william winchester. PRONUNCIATION: pronounced how it’s spelled. MEANING: so from the hebrew name שְׁמוּאֵל, it means god has heard, or name of god. it’s a little ironic considering sam is lucifer, god’s fallen son’s, true vessel. REASONING: sam was named after his maternal grandfather, samuel campbell. NICKNAME(S): sam, sammy, little winchester, moose, 738273 other height related nicknames. PREFERRED NAME(S): sam. BIRTH DATE: may 2, 1983. AGE: honestly he’s not sure. he’s died 3-4 times, been the vessel for demons and archangels which probably stalled his physical aging too. i say he’s probably biologically somewhere around 35, even though he’s technically 47ish. ZODIAC: taurus. GENDER: cismale. PRONOUNS: he/him. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: heteroromantic. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual. ( he can appreciate that men are attractive, has probably even slept with a couple, but has no desire to be in romantic, serious, relationships with men. ) NATIONALITY: american. ETHNICITY: wonderbread white. CURRENT LOCATION: san francisco, ca. LIVING CONDITIONS: a crappy two bedroom apartment he rents by the month. it’s small, not in a great neighborhood, but it does the trick. TITLE(S): n/a.

BACKGROUND

BIRTH PLACE: lawrence, kansas. HOMETOWN: technically lawrence kansas, but they moved around frequently. SOCIAL CLASS: blue collar. EDUCATION LEVEL: undergraduate degree from stanford. FATHER: john winchester. MOTHER: mary winchester ( neé campbell ). SIBLING(S): dean winchester, adam milligan ( half ). BIRTH ORDER: dean, sam, adam. CHILDREN: jack kline ( adopted / unofficially ) PET(S): n/a. OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIVES: bobby singer, pseudo uncle. castiel, pseudo brother / brother-in-law. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: natasha herrera, wife. ( separated ) PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: jessica moore, amelia richardson, meg, sarah blake, ruby, a few one night stands, amy pond ( first kiss ), etc. ARRESTS?: a few, yes. PRISON TIME?: minimal, seen in folsom prison blues.

OCCUPATION & INCOME

PRIMARY SOURCE OF INCOME: credit card scams, illegal activity. SECONDARY SOURCE OF INCOME: n/a. TERTIARY SOURCE(S) OF INCOME: hunting, but it pays for shit. APPROXIMATE AMOUNT PER YEAR: unknown. CONTENT WITH THEIR JOB (OR LACK THERE OF)?: this is never the job he wanted. so no, definitely not. PAST JOB(S): student. SPENDING HABITS: extremely frugal, only on necessities. MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: john winchester’s journal.

SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: peak physical condition, human, in-shape. OFFENSE: extremely skilled with weapons and hand to hand. DEFENSE: extremely skilled with lethal and non-lethal defensive moves. SPEED: faster than average. INTELLIGENCE: educated and above average. ACCURACY: above average. AGILITY: above average. STAMINA: above average. TEAMWORK: below average. he doesn’t work well with people he doesn’t know or trust. it takes time to develop a bond / ease of working with others. TALENTS: computer skills, digesting information, critical thinking skills. SHORTCOMINGS: stubborn, naive, reckless, deep psychological trauma, suicidal ideation, a nice grabbag of issues. LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: latin, english, probably a bunch of other old, dead, languages that might come in handy. he probably also took spanish in school. DRIVE?: yes. JUMP-STAR A CAR?: yes. CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: yes. RIDE A BICYCLE?: yes. SWIM?: yes. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: no. PLAY CHESS?: yes. BRAID HAIR?: no. TIE A TIE?: yes. PICK A LOCK?: yes.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: jared padalecki. EYE COLOR: hazel. HAIR COLOR: brown. HAIR TYPE/STYLE: long and flowing. GLASSES/CONTACTS?: n/a. DOMINANT HAND: right. HEIGHT: 6′4 WEIGHT: 220 ish lbs. BUILD: slender but muscular. EXERCISE HABITS: rigorous. he jogs in the mornings, does sit ups / pull ups at night, and lifts weights during the day in between cases. he stays in shape. SKIN TONE: tanned. TATTOOS: anti-possession tattoo over his heart. it was carved out in 2026 but the scar has been tattooed over, replacing the original. PEIRCINGS: none. MARKS/SCARS: he’s died and come back so many times, it’s hard to say what’s still there and what’s gone. he does still have the bullet wound from where he shot chuck though. it never healed. NOTABLE FEATURES: nose, hair. USUAL EXPRESSION: smirk of disbelief, concern. CLOTHING STYLE: lumberjack lesbian. JEWELRY: he wears a chain with his wedding ring around his neck, the one he never got to put on for real. ALLERGIES: none. BODY TEMPERATURE: normal. DIET: not great. hence the need to work out. PHYSICAL AILMENTS: general fatigue from a rigorously active lifestyle.

PSYCHOLOGY

JUNG TYPE: INFJ JUNG SUBTYPE: Introvert(47%) iNtuitive (34%) Feeling(31%) Judging(38%) You have moderate preference of Introversion over Extraversion (47%) You have moderate preference of Intuition over Sensing (34%) You have moderate preference of Feeling over Thinking (31%) You have moderate preference of Judging over Perceiving (38%) ENNEAGRAM TYPE: the reformer or the challenger. MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic good. TEMPERAMENT: melancholic. ELEMENT: taurus are usually earth elements, but i think air suits sam better. PRIMARY INTELLIGENCE TYPE: logical-mathematical, probably. APPROXIMATE IQ: unknown. we know he scored a 174 on the LSAT, which is incredible, but that doesn’t always translate over to IQ. i would say he’s got a pretty high IQ even if he lacks a few common sense points. MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: undiagnosed depression, anxiety, PTSD, imposter syndrome, and survivor’s guilt — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. don’t ask me to psychoanalyze the winchesters, it’ll break us all. SOCIABILITY: he doesn’t seek it out but he can keep up with the joneses. EMOTIONAL STABILITY: not good. he has exhibited severe signs of codependency, suicidal ideation, lack of regard for his own life, and believe that he’s cursed. the boy is a mess. OBSESSION(S): vengeance after significant loss, saving people ( even if it’s from themselves ), trying to make up for all of the blood on his hands. PHOBIA(S): clowns. not a fan. ADDICTION(S): demon blood ( previously ) DRUG USE: no. ALCOHOL USE: recreationally. PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: can be, yes.

MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: casual. ACCENT: american. nothing specific. QUIRKS: chewing on pen caps, tapping to songs on the radio against the steering wheel with his fingers. HOBBIES: reading, researching, pool, morning crosswords. HABITS: stress pacing, irritability under extreme pressure. NERVOUS TICKS: jaw clench, nostrils flaring, hands curled into fists. DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: vengeance, restoring order / protecting people, survival. FEARS: losing the people he loves, hurting innocents, isolation. POSITIVE TRAITS: dependable, loyal, protective, determined, strong, honest, vulnerable. NEGATIVE TRAITS: impulsive, reckless, guilt-stricken, naive, obtuse, too trusting. SENSE OF HUMOR: dry, sarcastic. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: no. CATCHPHRASE(S): damnit, dean. jerk / bitch.

FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: long drives. ANIMAL: hedgehogs. BEVERAGE: monster energy drinks. BOOK: probably the classics, or something by neil gaiman. CELEBRITY: he doesn’t have one. COLOR: blue. DESIGNER: doesn’t have one. FOOD: philly cheesesteak. maybe mashed potatoes, if not the cheesesteak. FLOWER: sunflowers. GEM: none. HOLIDAY: none. MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: car. MOVIE: mallrats. MUSICAL ARTIST: none. he’ll just listen to whatever they have in the car, or is on the radio. before i think he was probably into top 40, maybe even classic rock as much as he complained about it. QUOTE/SAYING: none. SCENERY: autumn leaves falling from trees. SCENT: linen. SPORT: none. he doesn’t care. SPORTS TEAM: see above. TELEVISION SHOW: none. he probably only watches soap operas every now and then again. he doesn’t watch anything he would have to invest time and energy in. maybe pawnstars, or mythbusters. WEATHER: drizzle. VACATION DESTINATION: somewhere warm, tropic, and free of monsters.

ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: to have a normal life. he knows he’ll never get it, has come to terms with the fact that he was never going to be normal. GREATEST FEAR: ending up alone, watching everyone he loves die. MOST AT EASE WHEN: around the people he loves. LEAST AT EASE WHEN: on a hunt that’s starting to go awry. WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: turning into a monster — the very thing he’s dedicated his life to hunting, or becoming evil. being forced into killing his own brother, or someone he loves like family, would also make the list. BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: in a really soft way, i want to say it’s becoming a pseudo dad to jack. it might not have been what he saw for himself, or how he imagined being a dad, but he loves the kid. if not that, maybe stopping the apocalypse. not that it lasted for very long. BIGGEST REGRET: not telling jessica the truth. he will always believe he got her killed. that guilt will set with him until the day he dies. MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: too many to count. BIGGEST SECRET: he remembers a lot of what the demon did when it possessed him in 2026. he fought with everything he had, but every time he broke through they pushed him back down. TOP PRIORITIES: figuring out what comes next, i suppose.

#meta.

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thedcdunce · 5 years

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Amanda Waller

“I don't care. I'm not part of the law anymore. Kill them.” - Amanda Waller

Real Name: Amanda Blake

Aliases:

Black King

Mockingbird

White Queen

Gender: Female

Height: 5′ 1″

Weight: 200 lbs (91 kg)

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Black

Abilities:

Espionage

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Intimidation

Manipulation

Political Science

Tactical Analysis

Universe: New Earth

Citizenship: American

Base of Operations: Washington D.C.

Marital Status: Widowed (Joseph Waller; husband)

Occupation:

Government Agent

Politician

First Appearance: Legends #1 (November, 1986)

Abilities

Espionage

Firearms

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Intimidation

Manipulation

Political Science: Amanda has a degree in political science.

Tactical Analysis

Origins

Amanda Blake grew up in the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green area of Chicago. At the age of 18 she married the 20-year-old Joseph Waller, and they quickly had a large family together. Her first child was Joe, Jr., then Damita, then the twins Martin and Jessie, and then her youngest child Coretta. Their lives were a financial struggle, and they relied on social programs, but they were happy. Joe, Jr. was set to go to college on a basketball scholarship until he was killed in a mugging gone wrong. Damita was raped and murdered in an alleyway on her way home from church. They knew who was responsible, but the police could not get a conviction with no witnesses. Her husband Joseph Waller set out to kill the rapist "Candyman" and both men shot each other dead. Amanda swore that the streets would take no more of her family. She worked hard to put all of her other children through college, then she put herself through college and earned a political science degree. Amanda decided to go into politics, and she approached democratic congressional candidate Marvin Collins to become his campaign director. Collins was elected thanks to her efforts, and he took her to Washington as his aide. Amanda discovered the old Task Force X files while searching through old bills, and asked to revive the Suicide Squad under her direction.

The Agency

The Agency was formed by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X. Valentina Vostok brought former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein into the Agency as an operative. Amanda Waller later promoted Stein to the command position and demoted Vostok. Harry Stein would later re-organize the Agency and name it Checkmate.

Legends

Amanda Waller rebuilds Task Force X, and its former leader Rick Flag is assigned to work under her. Flag argues with Waller about her agenda, and Waller says the only thing she cares about is his ability to follow orders. Nightshade is the second member she recruits, as an undercover operative. Her first target is Brimstone, and she has a team of scientists analyze the monster for weaknesses. Waller puts together a new Suicide Squad lead by Flag with members including Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, and Enchantress. The criminals are offered pardons in exchange for their service, and fitted with explosive bracelets that will detonate if they disobey orders. Her team destroys Brimstone at Mount Rushmore. Blockbuster is the only casualty, despite her expectations that all of them would die. Waller tries to keep the criminals in custody, but Flag insists on honoring their deal and releases them. Captain Boomerang is captured by G. Gordon Godfrey, and threatens to expose the Suicide Squad unless they rescue him. Amanda gives them orders to silence Captain Boomerang by any means necessary. Flag insists on solving the problem non-lethally. Waller later presents her case to President Reagan, and thanks to this success he decides to let the team continue on a provisional basis.

Suicide Squad

Waller sets her team up in Louisiana's Belle Reve prison, under the care of warden John Economos. Simon LaGrieve and Marnie Herrs conduct psychological profiles, and warn her that the entire team is emotionally unstable, but Waller is unconcerned. Waller briefs the team and sends them on their next mission, destroying the terrorist group Jihad in Qurac. Waller authorizes Doctor Moon and Karin Grace to mindwipe the traitor Plastique. This infuriates Flag, and Amanda agrees that it is wrong of her. Belle Reve is attacked by the Female Furies of Apokolips, and Waller is unable to stop them from taking her prisoner G. Gordon Godfrey. They are asked to take down the racist vigilante William Hell, and Waller insists they discredit him instead of making a martyr for the "white power" movement. President Reagan has Waller send the Suicide Squad to arrest Firestorm, under the leadership of their incompetent NSC liaison Derek Tolliver.

Waller argues against the team going on purely political missions, but they are sent to rescue imprisoned author Zoya Trigorin in Moscow. LaGrieve worries that Amanda is suppressing anger over her family deaths, and counsels her to channel it into something productive. Amanda confronts Derek Tolliver for sending her team on the irresponsible Moscow mission, and Tolliver replies that her team was expendable. She punches him in the face, and tells him that this does not mean their lives can be thrown away like garbage. Flag has a breakdown following this mission, and Waller relieves him of command duty.

There is a political summit during Millennium, and Waller has an inter-agency rivalry with General Eiling. Waller sends her team to destroy the Manhunter temple with a bomb, and does not tell them they are all expected to die in the explosion. Batman infiltrates Belle Reve and threatens to expose the Squad. Waller stands up to Batman and talks him down by threatening to expose his secret identity, using the fingerprints of Matches Malone. Flag impresses her in the fight against Batman, and she reinstates his command. Waller is forced to send Rick Flag on another mission she politically disagrees with, rescuing Hawk in Nicaragua. She sends the rest of the team to kill drug czar Xavier Cujo. Nightshade argues that an illegal assassination is murder, and Waller replies that it is justice. Speedy tells her that this did not fix anything, and she only created a power vacuum. The Agency is reorganized by Harry Stein to become Checkmate, under Task Force X. Amanda Waller becomes their boss.

Rick Flag disobeys Waller to rescue their operative Nemesis, who was stranded in the Soviet Union. Waller is so angry that she has President Reagan send Justice League International to stop them. The JLI's publicist Maxwell Lord threatens to expose them, and Waller intimidates Lord with violence. Senator Cray blackmails President Reagan and the Suicide Squad to help his reelection campaign. Waller is forced to work under Derek Tolliver, Cray's aide, or she will be fired. In a moment of weakness, she confides in Bronze Tiger that everything has gone with her idea since the start. Amanda reveals that Bronze Tiger was supposed to be the leader, and Rick Flag was imposed on her, which she believes is because of racism. Despite this setback, she regroups and leads the team to save the world from Doctor ZZ. The Jihad returns to attack Manhattan, and they deliver an ultimatum demanding Waller's team be handed over. Waller orders Rick Flag not to intervene, and he disobeys her, so she tells him to do the job right this time.

Waller's inability to deal and compromise with her people led to the departure from the team of Nemesis, the death of a US senator and thereby indirectly to the death of Rick Flag Jr. Nonetheless, the team remained loyal to her, often choosing to side with her instead of the government. It was ultimately revealed that the reason that Amanda Waller even kept the heroes such as Nightshade around, was in order for them to act as her conscience. Over the course of her first run with the Suicide Squad her actions became increasingly erratic as she fought to retain control of the Squad. This was heightened by the public reveal of the Suicide Squad, and her being officially replaced, although her 'replacement' was in fact an actor, and Waller remained the team's director. Even that secret would eventually be revealed and Amanda Waller would be put on trial. During this time, the Squad also became involved in an inter-agency conflict in a crossover between the Checkmate and Suicide Squad titles called the Janus Directive. She eventually found herself serving prison time for her pursuit of an organized crime cartel based in New Orleans called the LOA and killing its leadership, using Squad operatives in the process.

The Squad's rebirth

Waller was eventually pardoned and released a year later to reorganize the Squad as a freelance mercenary group at the behest of Sarge Steel to deal with a crisis in Vlatava, Count Vertigo's home country. Afterwards the Suicide Squad performed a variety of missions, but were ultimately disbanded when Waller became disillusioned with her life.

During the course of her renewed tenure with this team, Amanda Waller became closer to her operatives, even accompanying them on their field missions. This allowed for her and her team to bond more effectively, although she retained her dominant and threatening personality.

Shadow Fighters

Around this time Amanda Waller would organize many superheros to confront the villain Eclipso. Again she would confront Sarge Steel. Her first attempt at a team did not go well as most of the them were brutally murdered. Her second attempt with a much larger team had much more success.

President Luthor

She would eventually rejoin federal service, initially as Southeastern regional director for the Department of Extranormal Operations, and eventually got promoted to Secretary of Metahuman Affairs as a member of the Luthor Administration. Luthor would use her as he saw fit, one of the few who could.

Checkmate

In the wake of being jailed briefly for her alleged connections to Luthor's illicit activities whilst in office, she was released yet again and ordered by President Jonathan Vincent Horne to take command of Checkmate in the wake of the O.M.A.C. Project debacle as a placeholder "Black King" until the United States and United Nations could decide what to do with that organization.

One Year Later

In the revamped Checkmate series, Waller is shown to have been assigned by the UN to serve as Checkmate's White Queen, a member of its senior policy-making executive, although she appears to have her own agenda, blackmailing Fire into committing murder on her behalf during Checkmate missions. Waller's assignment as White Queen has her commissioning the imprisoned Atom Smasher to organize a new Suicide Squad to attack Black Adam.

As leader of the reformed Checkmate, Waller has continued to use morally ambiguous methods to achieve her agenda, ranging from secretly authorizing a "take no prisoners" mandate in an attack on a Kobra stronghold, blackmailing Beatriz da Costa, a former assassin, into returning to her old murderous ways, and executing a female Kobra operative herself when she foils an assassination attempt. She later used the Suicide Squad to round up dangerous criminals and metahumans as part of Operation: Salvation Run, an unauthorized plan to exile various supervillains to another planet, later revealed to be a part of the Apokoliptian Empire. When Waller's colleague found out about the Operation, they forced her to resign as White Queen, though she managed to retain authority over the Suicide Squad.

Task Force X

After her resignation from Checkmate, forces in the US Government recommissioned her as the overseer and director of the Belle Reve metahuman prison and the leader of a new Suicide Squad known as Task Force X due to deeming her teem as a necessary asset to the US Government.

Fun Facts

Amanda Waller's sister Mary has said that she was raised Baptist, which means Amanda was as well.

#Amanda Waller #amanda blake #black king #mockingbird #white queen #agency #Checkmate #D.E.O.#deo #d.e.o #Shadow Fighters #Suicide Squad #task force x #u.s. government #us government #dc #DC comics #thedcdunce

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