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hyperbali · 4 years ago

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Agatha Harkness Was Right, And Here’s Why

Alright. Finally had to sit down and write my way out of this quiet, internal temper tantrum, and a few people were interested in seeing what I had to say, so I present to you:

Agatha Harkness Was Right, And Here’s Why

Disclaimer: MASSIVE spoilers for the entirety of WandaVision, and I am not nice about it.

I’ll start off by saying that, for all its foibles, WandaVision was genuinely a good example of a property within the MCU/Disney umbrella that stepped out of the usual ‘good guys fight bad guys action extravaganza’ in a way that pushed the envelope. The pseudo-horror aspect of the first few episodes is something I would really love to see engaged with on a more thoughtful basis in future projects.

I would say that it proved to be more than a vehicle to promote toys, but… well…

Yeah. Anyway.

I’ll assume that you watched WandaVision if you’re reading this, but quick recap: In the aftermath of ‘the Blip,’ Wanda is left broken and alone with no one in her corner. Her biggest mentor willingly abandoned his team to get his own ‘happy’ ending (do not get me started on Steve, that’s a document in and of itself), her other biggest mentor is probably off enjoying his family while ignoring the incredibly racist killing spree he’s been on for the past five years, and her lover is dead. When she goes to claim the body, she’s told nuh-uh, that’s government property, please leave.

So she goes to a plot of land in the middle of some nowhere town in New Jersey, which Vision apparently bought despite the fact they were living a pretty decently comfortable life in Scotland, where she looks at the deed that Vision drew a heart on and wrote ‘To Grow Old In’. Very sweet. Kind of weird, considering nothing of this caliber had ever been suggested for either of their characters and they’d been actively running from specifically the U.S. authorities? But sweet.

She has a breakdown and, in her grief, contains the entire town of Westview and all 3,892 of the people in it in her own personal paradise, where nothing bad ever happens beyond sitcom hijinks, no one dies, and every problem is tied up and neatly dealt with by the end of an ‘episode’. Except we learn that this is only paradise to Wanda, who apparently shares the aspect of having to relate everything to her favourite pop culture with Tony, because everyone else in Westview is more or less being psychologically tortured by the incredible amount of pain she’s in, forced to be puppeted actors to make her happy.

Bear in mind, Westview might have been bigger at some point - we have no idea how many people survived the Blip, or how many have been brought back to life within the past few weeks of the current setting. Either way, this is a town that has already dealt with a lot of trauma being dragged into yet another awful, much more specific kind of emotional damage, thanks to ‘the heroes’. Nice.

Agatha Harkness, a witch who’s been up to who-knows-what in the 340 years since she drained the coven that tried to kill her for getting a little too ambitious into jerky, feels the massive expenditure of magical power and decides to investigate. All the while, she carefully uses her own magic to try and peek into Wanda’s psyche, her motivations, all while keeping up appearances and not letting slip that anything is amiss.

I’ll point out that she’s no saint here, either - she specifically keeps one Westview resident at her mercy, and knows what’s happening to the rest of them, but doesn’t attempt to stop it. I’ll chalk that up to her pragmatism; their ‘sacrifice’ was fine to her as long as she could figure out how Wanda could have done something so unheard of in terms of power.

What we come to learn over the course of the show is that, given everything that happened, Wanda didn’t mean to take over an entire town and tool it into her own personal slice of heaven. She very quickly became aware of it; we know that she knows it’s her own personal bubble as soon as episode three, when she’s confronting Monica about how the latter could possibly know about Ultron. Wanda is made further aware of how much damage this is inflicting on others in episode five, when Vision himself tells her that these people are scared. But still, she has everything handled! It’s okay! The outside world is worse, trust her!

Her handling of the question, ‘where are all the children of Westview,’ is one that bears some thinking - and, y’know, kind of more than a little concern. They’re allowed to walk around as part of the ‘Halloween special,’ but as Vision walks further and further out towards the edges of town where Wanda doesn’t have as much full control, people are just frozen in place, or conducting the same few seconds of action over and over. And fully aware of being trapped.

How are they being sustained? Eating, sleeping? If someone isn’t part of her storyline, is she just locking them down into a coma? What made Wanda decide that keeping the children ‘out of the way’ was somehow kinder than involving them, especially given her later argument that she’s been trying to keep the entire town safe and happy?

The fact of the matter is, she only actually starts to feel remorse for any of this after she’s confronted with the fact that, after weeks of being at her mercy, the townspeople of Westview would rather be dead than endure another moment of having to play nice for her enjoyment. She finally opens the ‘bubble’ to let them out - which leads to the ‘epic’ finale of three different entities trying to take down Wanda and her happy family: the S.W.O.R.D. military led by Hayward, the White Vision, and Agatha.

Winding back to how we got here: after Agatha uses her own trapped resident, Ralph Bohner (who, given his casting and the props in place during the last episode, I’m willing to bet is actually the missing witness protection person Jimmy was looking for) in an attempt to lure out Wanda’s reasoning - and fails - she’s pretty much done pretending. She tricks Wanda into her basement, nullifies her powers, and makes her face her own past to get to the truth of the matter.

Not going to lie, favourite moment of the show. Kathryn Hahn killed Agatha’s slightly-amused-slightly-irritated observations about Wanda’s coping mechanisms, and the whole arrangement was extremely meta. I would have paid real money dollars to see her do the same thing to the likes of Tony, Strange, and Loki. Hell, even just having her meet the rest of the Avengers? Augh. If wishes were fishes.

When Agatha comes to the conclusion that Wanda is the vaunted, nigh-indestructible force of nature that she’s literally spent her entire life reading about is the ultimate source of chaos magic and will likely bring about the end of the world, she’s pretty understandably taken aback. To that matter, the fact that Wanda… has very little control over any of it, and is using what she does understand to play housemaker? After how long Agatha has spent learning control, hiding in plain sight, just to be child’s play compared to what Wanda has at her fingertips? I’d be pretty pissed off, too!

The way that WandaVision handled both of the major ‘fights’ - Vision versus White Vision ending in philosophy, and Wanda ending up beating Agatha at her own game of deception - is excellent. A little grating that they had to go with the beat down angle before they got there, but this is MCU; punches and thrown cars had to get shoved in somewhere. And, given that this series very much played with the idea of grey morality, I was sort of hopeful that Agatha would end up in a not-quite stalemate arrangement with Wanda. She’s not as powerful as the Scarlet Witch, but she has the know-how that Wanda sorely lacks; in recompense for her own deeds, she would be able to teach what she knows while also kind of scheming on her own time.

Y’know, like what they did with rehabilitating Loki?

Except that Wanda, who has just gone through the entire rigamarole of coming to terms with the fact that she trapped thousands of people into a nightmare scenario against their will, rendering them helpless to her mercy… traps Agatha into a nightmare scenario against her will, rendering her helpless to Wanda’s mercy.

That moment actually shook me. Oh, my god. We’re supposed to still look at Wanda as a good guy after this?

This isn’t even covering the incredibly awful confrontation with her and Vision where she tries to gaslight him into believing that everything is A-OK, or the fact that the person she gets most violent with (apart from Agatha) is Monica Rambeau, a black woman who spends most of the show bending over backwards trying to say that what Wanda is doing is understandable, justified, and just needs a gentle touch to be dealt with.

That could be its own document, too - how Monica, much as she’s incredible and definitely looks to be a really exciting addition to the MCU roster, more or less gets used as the Good One to absolve and enable Wanda’s actions. One of her last lines to Wanda, after seeing how the people of Westview (rightfully) look at Wanda like she’s monstrous, is “they’ll never know what you sacrificed.”

Sacrificed what? The fake husband and fake kids she made out of her own compulsion to pretend that everything is okay? None of that would have existed if she’d been given the proper resources to actually cope with how much loss she’s had to deal with. None of that would have existed if she hadn’t caused this problem in the first place.

In the end, Wanda flies off in her fancy new gear before the FBI shows up, avoiding any real consequences to her actions - which has pretty much been the running theme of her character ever since she was introduced to the MCU in Age of Ultron. The worst kind of direct consequence she’s ever gotten was being grounded to her room for a while, then kept in the Raft for, like, maybe a day - and both times, she was broken out post-haste.

Meanwhile, she worsened the issues in Sokovia (which, I will say upfront, was Tony’s fault to begin with), unleashed the Hulk on Johannesburg, got a pretty significant amount of civilians killed as bystanders in Lagos (hey, how come Wanda keeps turning a lot of black people into casualties?), and stood back in Wakanda to let their people try to fight off Thanos from getting to Vision until it was clear that there was no other option than for her to get involved.

Great Power Comes With No Responsibility At All, Actually.

Wanda, in the several years she has maintained her identity as an Avenger, has proven time and time again that she takes on innumerable risks without any full understanding of what they mean, allows others to take on the brunt of the fallout for her, and looks sad until she’s forgiven and moves on to the next problem. She has no business casually throwing around the kind of power that being the Scarlet Witch entails, not until she’s actually made any kind of headway into making reparations for what she’s done and tried, really tried, to get a handle on what she’s capable of.

Which she’s apparently doing in the last post-credits scene, astral reading the literal Book of the Damned on her lonesome in the mountains, but… without anyone to guide her, or give her any kind of boundary?

[I ran out of images I could post, but you know exactly what image I am referring to here]

Agatha Harkness was right. And that should terrify everybody that has to deal with Wanda in the future.

(P.S. Do we know if she actually even killed that dog? We never see her holding anything but a blanket, and characters go in and out of that show all the time. Granted, she wasn’t great with the cicada-turned-bird... hmm.)

Additional Notes:

“Well, you’re a Tony Stan, of course you think Wanda’s a villain”

I like Tony because he’s such an awful mess, and the narrative isn’t exactly kind about telling him what a piece of shit he can be! He reaped a lot of problems, created practically half the villains in the MCU, and ended up dying a martyred hero. Thanks to being the tent pole by which this franchise hoisted itself into a cultural powerhouse, he will always be their golden savior. If you want to read about how he’s the true villain of this entire affair, feel free to look up any number of takedown pieces about him that are out there. He’s a dick. I will never “uwu sad baby who did nothing wrong ever 🥺” him the way people do about Wanda.

“Why are you so pressed about this”

Because something as good in concept as WandaVision could and should have been about anyone other than the whitewashed, antisemitic take on Wanda Maximoff that MCU brought upon us. They put crucifixes on her wall in Civil War, for fuck’s sake!

“Weren’t you mad about them not including Aaron Taylor-Johnson”

At this point, I am almost kind of relieved the real Pietro wasn’t resurrected for this, because god knows they probably would have killed him all over again just to inflict that much more pain on his sister.

“Anything else you’d like to tell us, turbo nerd”

This was literally itching at me all weekend to write, so it’s more or less just to get it off my chest. If you powered your way through it, uh… thanks? Sorry if I yucked your yums, but I tried to be as clear with the disclaimer as I could. 🤷‍♂️

#blah blah #long post #marvel #mcu #wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision critical #anti wanda maximoff

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phoenixyfriend · 4 years ago

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The “Momma Sturmvoraus was Literally Satan” AU

As requested by @spazzbot. This AU was initially brainstormed on the GG fanworks server almost a year ago. Specifically, on the first day of 2020.

[ID: a truncated discord message by “Miss Nixy, Gay for RoboLadies” posted 01/01/2020. The message reads “I need to sleep but please for the moment consider:” and ends there.]

So. Let’s get to it.

Satan took a human form because why not see what's going on topside, live like a human, and “Oh shit is this pregnancy? This is pregnancy. Fuck, that's a tiny human. Which is now half demon. Am I supposed to take care it? Wonder if retconing this form into that Valois family was a bad idea. They do have SO much money though, I get to live like a queen. I suppose another child shouldn't hurt, it wasn't that bad. Oh, he's cute, this is actually making sense, why humans do all the sinning. Not counting dear Aaronev's murders, of course, those are just evil, but I did search out the worst of the humans to pair myself to...”

This is literally just "Tarvek and Anevka's mom was low-key Satan on a bored “let's be human for a decade or two to see what happens” jaunt, consequences happen because these kids are LITERALLY half-demon and arguably anti-Christs."

Also it's just Very Funny for Tarvek, ineffectual sexy lamp fashion twunk extraordinaire, to be an antichrist

Jeff thinks he’s pretty. Jeff keeps describing features that don’t entirely make sense. (Jeff’s canon name is Karl Thotep but they spent so long unnamed that the server collectively named them Jeff.)

This is not a crossover with anything, btw. Ambiguously Pop Culture Satan just got bored and went to have babies with a serial killer.

They’re just kids! That are vaguely demonic. So. Moreso than the rest of the Valois.

Sometimes "mom" comes back from the dead and visits Anevka and Tarvek to impart Wisdom and possibly magic lessons The rooms always smell faintly of sulfur after that...

They try to put Anevka in the machine but SHE isn't hurt and the MACHINE just melts

So that's the end of that.

It's very awkward for everyone, but the paperwork isn't too bad. It's very easy to write "incidental fire began during late-fugue experimentation, resulted in fire spreading through six rooms and several casualties, including Prince Aaronev Wilhelm Sturmvoraus."

As per @atagotiak, “I feel like if we’re going in any way dimensional weirdness with thing, Tarvek got so good at exploring bc he could just clip through walls.”

With image provided by @thisarenotarealblog:

Tarvek in Paris: My dead mother keeps showing up in my dreams to tell me I need to seduce my way out of my problems and also she looks like Satan. Tarvek's Voltaire-Appointed Therapist: I still don't know what that means. Just like the last five times. Tarvek: I keep telling her that I can’t seduce Colette, if seduction is that important she should get Anevka to do it.

Like he probably wouldn’t say most of that in front of any Voltaire-approved individual, but still.

Tarvek is still very good at self control but there's a Special Edge to his rants.

(Derailed in the moment to me thinking about Anevka in a sfw-but-concerningly-deadly succubus getup, because... yeah.)

Aaronev dies and goes to hell and his dead wife is just there like "hi! Time to be tortured for eternity!" He wasn't a good husband so. He can't exactly sentimentalize his way out.

“In the sexy way?” “... not for you, no.”

Mostly I just want the BULLSHIT that is "Storm Mom was actually just Satan getting bored and going on vacation as a retconned Valois girl, the kids are half-demons and sometimes it Shows."

To clarify: the Satan bit isn't the retcon. Grandma used to have one daughter. Now there are two. (Seffie and Martellus's mother doesn't remember being an only child, but sometimes...)

Satan retconned a new daughter in, which included a Valid Valois Venusian Vestment, so the blood tests play out.

The subtle signs of wrongness would be fun too. Anevka tends to smile a bit too wide and sharp for a human face. Inexplicable uneasiness, here you can’t point at any specific thing that’s wrong but it’s uncomfortable. Uncanny valley prettiness, almost like the porcelain she became in other timelines. Skin isn’t supposed to be that smooth.

My brain's pre-nap contribution at that point was "Satan's pronouns when not pretending to Human are sin/sinself" which is! Certainly a thing.

Tarvek, at some nebulous future point: I mean, your ancestors were monsters, but my dad was a serial killer and my mom was literally Satan, instead of just figuratively like Lucrezia, so. I mean. I kind of get what you're going through.

Per @firebirdeternal: Tarvek and Anevka growing up with "you're allergic to holy water" and not questioning it until a little later because What.

And then they test it and it's like "yeah, no, there's a rash now. That stung. What the fuck."

It INFURIATES Gil in Paris when Tarvek tells him that's a thing, because there's nothing chemically different about Holy water and regular water. But no, this is somehow happening.

It gets logged in medical journals as a Valois genetic thing because, well, Mom was like that too, right?

One time they both go into a church for an Adventure and Gil is very annoyed to find that Tarvek is like. Faintly smoking. It smells like burnt hair in here.

Gil: What smells like burnt hairgel? Tarvek: [glares]

Gil decides that it must be something particular to the church, like a fungus or something in the stone, contaminating the air and water so it only LOOKS like the holiness is what's setting off reactions.

It is not.

Tarvek once got into an argument with someone and ate a slab of raw, completely uncooked meat as a power move.

SVV seems to work perfectly. Everyone is fine. We get the ‘you fight like ducks’ moment.

And then Tarvek bursts into flames, and everyone panics because no they fixed this what the fuck is he still infected with Hogfarb’s oh my god... and then everything settles down and he's perfectly fine. Not a scratch on him, no longer turning funny colors. Completely unharmed. He's in a nicely tailored suit and looks faintly stunned

"I just met my dead mom, who's apparently Satan. She told me that after I died the first time just now, I should be harder to kill later, especially with fire, because now there's more demon and less mortal and guys I think I'm going crazy." "Is that a martini?" Tarvek looks down. "Apparently."

Tarvek starts just. Randomly setting things on fire by glaring too hard and has to tone it down. Meanwhile, Agatha and Gil are having crises about how he's somehow getting PRETTIER.

Is he faintly glowing? Maybe!

Gil handles it by angrily sniping at Tarvek about how of COURSE he's an evil little rat with a background like that.

Tarvek just wants a nap and to forget this ever happened. Many people are sworn to secrecy. It's very awkward.

Still, SVV did something, for handwave-y reasons, and so they're linked now. Gil and Agatha both getting tiny flashes of the same shenanigans.

They get none of the powers. They just keep getting Weird Shit.

Other characters with divine influence are like "Did you.... did you make a pact with a demon?" "What no that's our boyfriend."

Tho tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if a Heterodyne did sign a contract with a demon at some point in exchange for like. Materials. A hundred souls sacrificed in exchange for some succubus blood. Thanks!

Tarvek and Othar: Falling out of CW as in canon. Tarvek: WHAT THE HELL SINCE WHEN DO I HAVE WINGS HIDE THIS BEFORE I GET BOOTED FROM THE LINE FOR THE THRONE

IDK where Anevka is during all this. I think she might have decided to go sleep her way through the courts of the Ice Tsars. Vacation, y'know?

Othar after he's decided to make Tarvek his new Heroic Apprentice: AH, my poor afflicted young friend, it's noble of you to go against the dark nature of your tragic heritage like this. Tarvek: I hate you. I wish I could hate you to death. But you have a point. I shouldn't let my father's blood limit what I strive for in life. Othar: I... I thought your mother was... Tarvek: I know what I said.

Tarvek: Also you can't tell ANYONE about that, I can't have them thinking I'm not actually in line for the Storm King's throne.

He does admittedly have to like. Explain things to Grandma.

Terabithia is Tarvek’s maternal grandmother so this is supremely awkward. That said...

Grandma fondly remembers her pregnancy cravings; bone marrow and sulfur.

"Yeah so, my mother, your daughter, was... maybe actually Satan? But retconned into your life?" "Tarvek, darling, please. I figured that out half a century ago."

TARVEK ACCIDENTALLY FINDS HIM HIMSELF WEIRDLY INTENSE AT CONTRACTS

I mean that honestly just Tracks about Tarvek anyways? But like moreso.

He just. Writes something up and there's things getting signed or shook on and then the person tries to break the contract and either suddenly catch fire or are deeply unlucky for a set amount of time.

And Tarvek's just standing there like "how in the FUCK did I do that?"

Severity of infernal punishment depends on the severity of the breach of contract.

Tarvek finds out that Anevka's been convincing rich people to sign their souls over to her. It's a fun challenge. She keeps them in jars.

They can still remotely pilot their bodies but like. They can't TELL anyone what happened.

Satan: I'm going to go make babies and now everyone else has to deal with the consequences.

Anevka's living up to that whole "princess of hell" vibe. Tarvek's just like "nope nope nope I want the storm throne, not the hell throne, BYE MOM."

Satan's just feeling sinself down in hell like "awwww look at my babies go, aren't they adorable?"

Tarvek: Anevka, what... first off, how did you figure it out? Anevka: Well, I temporarily died when father put me in the machine, and... I can't say that hell kicked me out because they were afraid I'd take over, but mother DID say she'd rather I play about with human governments instead of Hell's. Tarvek: Okay, cool cool cool. What after you planning to DO with all these souls? Anevka: They make for some lovely reading lamps, don't they?

(Anevka absolutely sets herself the goal of acquiring new titles that rival her old ones, or even surpass them. She just black widows her way through Europa.)

I just want someone (probably Snackleford) to ascend, take one look at Tarvek, and run SCREAMING.

Tarvek still needed to be anchored to Higgs, because Tarvek is Baby.

Gil is eventually in a relationship with an Eternal God Queen and the Literal Son of Satan.

Family dinners can include ALL the in-laws if you duck down to hell! - You borrow Bill from... probably heaven, maybe purgatory. - You have Lu and Aaronev and Satan already there, though the first two... well. Aaronev and Lu get invited to dinner but they have to eat by themselves at the kiddy table and nobody talks to them or acknowledges their presence. After all, this is hell, and what better punishment for Lu than to be completely ignored, and for Aaronev to see Lu at her worst and be reminded that he gave everything for this horrible, horrible person who isn't even pretending to care about him anymore. - Zanta and Klaus get invited via portal. - Anevka saunters in with a blood-soaked dress and a complaint about militant demon-hunters refusing to let her go shopping for a new pair of shoes. - Zeetha tagged along with the OT3. (She can't wait to see this situation explode.)

Oh God, Satan is actually second place as far as good parenting goes.

Well, actually, fourth. Because Adam and Lilith. But second as far as bio parents go. 1. Zanta 2. Satan 3. Klaus 4/5. Lu and Aaronev N/A. Bill

Someone (Anevka) decides to stir the pot and invites Von Pinn, Terabithia, Bang.

Bang is basically Gil’s older sister, right? Right.

This is Zanta meeting Bang for the first time! Zanta is just: "It's so nice to meet my husband's adopted daughter." Klaus freezes. Bang freezes. Gil is the only one who is just. "Yeah." Meanwhile Zeetha is crying with laughter off to the side because both of them deserve this. (Zanta would legit love Bang though.)

Agatha: Tarvek, I think DuPree is-- Tarvek: Hitting on my sister? I know. Agatha: On your mom, actually. Tarvek: NO!

Also I do love the idea of like. Nobody tells Bang they're inviting her. She just wakes up in Hell like. "Ah. Yes. Fair enough."

Satan: Oh no no no my dear, you're here as a guest. Besides as well as you'd fit you're not one of mine, you've got other things waiting for you. Bang: Okay, but I love the decor. And is that Cheesecake?

Bang’s family has their own evil god in the novels, but! Bang DID pick on Tarvek a lot in Paris. Satan cares more than Anevka does. Bang might get the sexy punishment.

I feel like the fact that no permanent damage was done and it taught Tarvek a lot of things means Satan isn't gonna be all that upset about it.

And let's be real, if there's a character in GG who could look the literal Christian devil in the eye and be like "Yeah I tortured your kid, what're you going to do about it?" it's Bang.

Even Satan doesn't know what to do or think about Othar.

He sure is here! As Anevka’s arm candy! Nobody knows what to do except Anevka herself, who just wants to be Smug.

(What's that scene from Phineas and Ferb that's the mad scientist trapping the platypus within the rules of polite dining at a fine restaurant? Like he can't make a scene because that would be rude?) (That. Othar would dearly love to start a fight, but it's a Family Dinner. You're only allowed to fight verbally at those.)

(Othar isn't even fighting Satan, he just wants to argue with Klaus.) (And maybe fanboy in Bill's direction a bit).

#Girl Genius #Phoenix Posts #Anevka Sturmvoraus #Tarvek Sturmvoraus #Aaronev Sturmvoraus #Gilgamesh Wulfenbach #Agatha Heterodyne #Lucrezia Mongfish #Othar Tryggvassen #Bangladesh DuPree #Otharnevka #GG OT3

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silveanna · 4 years ago

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In The Next Lifetime

Non-idol!Jaehyun x Fem!reader

Summary: your bestfriend Jaehyun is dating someone for 5 years now you should be happy for them right? A big NO, he’s your soulmate and he’s supposed to end up with you in this generation. And clearly it’s too late for that to happen.

Genre: Slight angst, Reincarnation!au, Soulmate!au,

College!au

Note: Agatha is your great great grandmother:)

Even though time has changed you’re still the one I will choose in the next life

“In the past few days, I keep dreaming about you” your best friend Jaehyun said, you two were at his rooftop laying down while looking up in the night sky.

“Really?”

“Yea, you were wearing a historical gown and it seems like we’re still super close in those dreams” he explains, the image of you in his dream flashes in his mind again.

“Well I dreamed about you too, and as far as I can remember, you’re a son of a farmer”

You change your position and faced him “do you think it means something, Jae?”

“Hm... maybe”

It was weekend again, you and your family visited your grandma and stayed in her house for the night. It was 8pm when your grandma knocks on your door, you quickly opened it and greeted her with a sweet smile “Yes nana?”

“I want to show you something, come follow me” she smiled and gestured you to follow her, confused, you put your phone in your pocket and followed her.

She lead you into a unfamiliar place of the house, it’s also a bit dark and dusty. At the end of the hall it was a dead end, and there’s large bookshelf there.

You were wondering if she wants to give you a bunch of books to read not until she pulls out one book and suddenly, a tunnel opened. You and your grandma immediately went inside, it was completely dark so you turned on the flashlight in your phone.

In the end of the tunnel, there was a small room filled with very old stuffs. Your grandma finally found the switch and turns on the light, it wasn’t bright enough to lightened up the room though.

What are all these stuffs? “Is this what you wanted to show me nana?” You looked at her, she smiled and shook her head. She went to a large object that looks like a painting and removed the cloth covering it. “This”

What the-

You silently gasp and hold your head, seeing the painting suddenly made your head ache.

It was a woman wearing a historical gown, her hair was long and curly, and she looks exactly like You “Are you alright?” Your grandma ask you.

“Yes..uh, is that me?”

“No, She’s your great great grandmother. Agatha. She looks exactly like you right?, Beautiful” she runs her fingers softly to the dusty painting. “This is the only painting of hers that she passed through the generations, why? the love of her life is the one who painted this”

“What’s his name?”

“Jaehyun, the eldest son of the farmer who works for Agatha’s family”

Year 1894

“What? Why?”

“Well isn’t it obvious? He’s noble, respectful, handsome and can cook. Agatha, He’s the right guy for you” her father explains, suddenly she loses her appetite to eat.

“But I love someone else..” she whispered.

“What?” the tone of her fathers voice suddenly changes, he hardly even heard her but he’s sure she said something that’s against his plan.“N-nothing, I’m full thank you for the food” she forced a smile and immediately went upstairs to her room.

Her father arranges a marriage for her with a man she has no idea who is, Agatha wanted to protest and tell him she loves someone else but she’s too scared.

It was midnight and everyone was peacefully sleeping, Agatha took this chance to sneak out and meet up with someone. She uses a match to light up the small lamp and took it with her. She immediately went to the garden where there’s a small house located, it took few knocks before someone opened the door. “Jae..” Agatha whispered and hugged him tightly.

“Darling what’s wrong?”

“It’s Father,he arranged a marriage for me with someone else, I don’t want it Jae. I want to be with you” she hugged him even tighter, Jaehyun sighed and stroked her hair.

He didn’t know what to do, the man your marrying must be rich and he can’t compete with him since he’s just a son of a farmer. You’re in a era where the rich are powerful.

Jaehyun closed his eyes took a deep breath, him and Agatha really love each other and there’s no other choice but to “let’s runaway, let’s find a house very far from here, build a family after a few years and live happy together.

——

“Absolutely not”

“Father please I’m begging you” Jaehyun’s father is utterly against the plan, he didn’t want to let go of his boy,still hesitating. “But it really looks like you two love each other, well then i will escort both of you on the way out..”

“Really? Thank you Father! I promise once we get there, i’ll write you a letter” Jaehyun hugged him, his Father patted his back while forcing a smile trying to hold back his tears. “I’ll visit you two on holidays”

Agatha was also weren’t quite happy about the running away plan, she has a lot of responsibilities at home but she also don’t want to be stuck with a man her family forced her to love.

all of them finally went out, but before the couple leaves Jaehyun’s Father hugged him again for the last time. It didn’t last long, Agatha’s Father came marching with a bunch of guards, his face filled with anger. “Traitors!”

“Father I-“

“Silence! And you rascals! I treated your family very well and this is how you will repay me?! Abducting my daughter?!” The way Agatha’s Father just casually calls Jaehyun and his father rascals angered her. She wanted to protest but the guards are holding her back.

“I’m vanishing you to this town and never to be seen ever again! If you dared to come back I will not hesitate to kill you!”

“No!” Agatha screamed, the guards took her back to her room and there she cried for hour and hours until she no longer feels anything. Completely numb and lonely. She stood up and searched for something, a painting of hers precisely.

While staring on the portrait, happy memories of her and Jaehyun started to flash in her head “Stay still! This may turn out badly if you keep moving!”

As expected, the next day, Jaehyun and his family is no longer around and has completely disappeared in town. And in that day, Agatha started to receive letters from him and she would always write back. But the letters stopped coming and Agatha eventually got married and had a family.

Back to Present time

“The end”

“Wow, that’s so sad.. did they get to see each other again nana?”You ask sounding like a little kid.

“Sadly, no, but the last letter that Agatha received from him says that Jaehyun will be searching for her in their next life” your grandma explains, you suddenly remembered the dreams you and jaehyun were talking about the other night. Maybe it does means something, it wasn’t you who Jaehyun saw it was Agatha!

And both of you are the Reincarnation of Agatha and Jaehyun in the past life!

It didn’t work in the past but the universe gave them/you another chance to try again.

“Argh!” You heard a piercing sound and your head started to hurt again, “Sweetie are you alright? Come let’s go back to your room so you can rest.” Your nana helps you on the way out.

After hearing Agatha’s story, you’ve been spacing out the whole weekend, you wanted to call Your bestfriend but maybe it’s the best to tell him everything in person.

You were packing your things in Your room when your grandma came knocking in. “Yes nana? Do you need something?”

“No, it’s just that.. I wanted to give you this” she handed you an old notebook it says ‘Diary’ on the front cover, “that’s Agatha’s Diary, something is telling me that I should give it to you because it might be a help” she explains. You nodded and hugged her.

“And you can keep it” she added.

You furrowed your eyebrows in disbelief “I don’t think— but since something is telling you to, then sure I’ll keep it”

It was already 4am but you couldn’t sleep, something is bugging the hell out of you. Maybe it’s the Diary? You look at your study table where Agatha’s Diary sits.

You turned on your lamp and read the first few pages, it was quite entertaining. The untold stories lies in her Diary. You read further and come to a small portrait of Jaehyun. He’s wearing the same attire you saw in your dreams. You flipped the pages again and a paper slipped out, you quickly picked it up and read what’s written in it.

‘I Promise to look for you in the next life’

“That’s it?” You said, quite disappointed and looking on the other side of the small parchment. But that’s all it says. You sighed and put it all back. Going back to your bed and forced your self to sleep since you still have school later.

“Hey Y/N!” Your bestfriend Jaehyun greeted you. But your too busy spacing out so he flicked your forehead “Ouch! What was that for?” You glared at him and rubbed your forehead.

“You’ve been spacing a lot lately Y/N is something wrong? What happened at your Nana’s?” He ask.

you didn’t know where to begin, Jaehyun has the right to know but what’s holding you back?

“Hi Jae!” A girl pops out of nowhere and pecked Jaehyun’s lips.

Your eyes widened, “who the hell is she?” You pointed at her. It confuses you more when he puts his arm around her shoulder. “My Girlfriend, Remember? We’ve been dating for 5 years now. Y/N did you hit your head on something?”

You’ve been pretty busy minding Agatha’s story and her Diary that you forgot Jaehyun in fact has a Girlfriend. You softly shook your head and look at the girl, “u-uh what’s your name again?”

Confused, she replies “Lily, Seung Liliy”

But Jaehyun is supposed to be with you right? what the hell did you do in the past years that made him fell in love with someone else?

“Anyways, my friend is throwing a party at her house if you’re free then we can come together?” Lily changes the topic.

“Sure, how about you? wanna come with us Y/N?” Jaehyun and Lily both looks at you waiting for your response.

“Yea yea sure, why not” you shrugged.

The music was very loud you barely even hear your own voice, so you decided to stay outside for a while. It was a bit chilly, quiet and you were lonely but it’s fine. It’s better if you’re alone.

“What are you doing here?”an unfamiliar voice spoke behind. You turned around and saw it was Johnny Suh.Your classmate.

“It’s loud inside... and, I can’t find my friends” you looked down avoiding eye contact, you felt a bit akward since this is the first time Johnny talks to you. He nodded, “same”

“Johnny?”

“Hm?”

“What would you do if your soulmate is in love with someone else?” You ask randomly, you weren’t that close to ask him about things like that. But he’s the only person who showed up and it seems like you can trust him. “Well if they’re really in love and happy with that someone then so be it, i don’t want to ruin the relationship. Not all soulmates end up with each other” he answered.

You nodded your head and looked down, “I was given a chance but it’s too late when I found out” Johnny has no idea what are you talking about so he just stayed silent. But after that, you changed the topic. The conversation last long until it’s time to go home, “see you at school” you smiled and waved goodbye at Johnny. He did the same.

Jaehyun droves you home and when both of you are finally in your doorstep you stopped and faced him, “Jae, Do you love Lily?”

“What made you ask that? Of course I love her”he replied.

“Like Love LOVE?” You ask him again.

“Yes I Love LOVE her truly, I could see my whole life with her without cringing”

“Ok then... see you tomorrow”before going inside your apartment, you smiled at him and after that you shut the door. You leaned back on the door and took a deep breath while running a hand thru your hair.

I’m sorry Agatha.

Year 2105

Lunch time, but it was too crowded in the cafeteria so Y/N decided to eat at the rooftop instead.

Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw a boy standing near the edge of the building, he was about to jump but luckily Y/N immediately pulled him down and he ended up falling on top of her.

“What the hell” the boy said and got up.

“I’m the one who’s supposed to say that, WHAT THE HELL What are you doing?!”

“Well isn’t obvious? I’m committing suicide!” The boy shouts back.

“Stop screaming! and if you really died the doctors gonna see you naked, do you really want that?”

They both paused and looked at each other, the boy scratched his head “well that changed my mind”

“Also, you dropped your diary” he pointed behind her.

Y/N picked it up and removes all the dirt in it, “it’s not mine, it looks really really old and I’m not the type of person who writes in a stupid Diary”

“And who still writes in a Diary? It’s 2105” she added.

“Just keep it, there’s no way you’d find the owner anyways”

81 notes · View notes

thegreatestofheck · 5 years ago

Text

Ocean and Alcohol Pt. 6 ✘JJ Maybank✘

Part One! Part Two! Part Three! Part Four! Part Five!

(gif not mine. all credit to rudypankows!)

Word Count - 4716 Warnings - Abandonment, verbal abuse, brief mention of sexual abuse, Synopsis - Hurricane Agatha hit and she hit hard. An old friend stops by with bad news and brings along some repressed memories. JJ shows up at your window just before a breakdown and invites you to a kegger at the boneyard with some very harsh news. A/N - I thought I should start making these a little bit shorter just for readability, so here we go, another short one! As with the last one, there are some pretty heavy themes here especially around the ideas of abandonment, so if those things are going to be triggering, please be cautious! I love you all and your health is the most important thing to me! I also, I decided the ending while writing this, and let’s just say, I’m very very excited. Thank you for your love and support and thank you for 100 followers!

“A storm’s coming,” Kid said, looking out your window. You looked up at him from your book He was looking dramatic, head resting against the wall, hands laced together in front of him. You knew he was planning a music video out in his head and you tried not to laugh. “It’s more than a storm, Kid,” you said with a sigh, turning the page despite not reading a single word on it. “It’s hurricane Agatha.” “Are we going to be okay?” He asked, eyes shifting away from the window and toward you. You nodded, eyebrows pinched together. “Of course we are, Kid,” you said. By his downcast eyes, you knew that he didn’t really believe you. You set your book down and patted the bed beside you. “Come here.” Kid scurried across the room and jumped up beside you onto the bed. A dull ache pulsed through you, the bruise on your side not yet fully healed. You put an arm around Kid. “We are going to be fine,” you said as firm as you could manage. “This house is well built, sturdy. In the morning, things might look a little haggard, but inside the house we will be perfectly safe.” As you said the words, you thought of all the houses you saw in the cut that were nothing more than shacks. Your heart tightened in your chest thinking about what might happen to them all. Maybe you could convince your dad to let you help in repairs once the storm was over. But you couldn’t think about that now. All that mattered was Kid and making sure that he was safe. Nothing else was more important. You had been mulling over how to get rich fast without your dad getting suspicious for nearly a week since you were thrown down the stairs. Any practical ideas had yet to pop into your head. Not that it mattered much. You were barely seventeen, almost a whole year until you could even vie for full custody of Kid. Still, your nerves ran wild with bad ideas. Become an escort. They get rich fast. But that would involve sex or at least something close to it and if you could barely let JJ touch you, how were you going to let a wrinkly old man that smelled like cigars even breathe anywhere near you? Join a strip club. Just dance, no touching. But there was no guarantee that would get you enough money. Get another job. You were already exhausted as it was, but getting another job was the only thing that made any logical sense to you. That meant less time with JJ and the Pogues, less time with Kid. What would you be sacrificing by getting a second job? Any chance at a real relationship with JJ, sure. But you would also be distancing yourself from the only family you had ever known. Was it worth it? Leaving Kid at the house even longer just so you could make more money? A few more fantastical ideas passed through your dreams; join a mob, become a high class thief, murder your dad in the middle of the night and inherit his money, marry fast and marry rich. You were ten times more inclined to kill your dad than marry any of the rich pricks that lived on Kildare Island, but still, murder was risky and you couldn’t chance getting put away and leaving Kid on his own. Even as you sat beside Kid now, all you could think about was getting him away from your dad. When rain started to pitter against your window, your heart lept at of your chest. Your dad wasn’t home yet and if the hurricane hit now…. Death by hurricane. That was a natural cause and it would still mean you could inherit the money. But you were too young. They would still put you both into foster care. When you first heard the knock at the window, you thought it was just the rain getting harder, but when it came again, your eyebrows pinched together. “JJ?” You stood from the bed, Kid curling his legs up to his chest. To your surprise, and abhorrence, JJ was sitting outside wearing his shorts, muscle t, and backward hat, as if a hurricane wasn’t less than an hour from reaching you. You threw the window open and dragged him inside. He was already soaked to the bone.

“What the hell are you doing?” You ran back to your bed to grab a few blankets. “I wanted to talk to you, but the phones are down,” he said, smiling despite the trembling in his body. “Phones are down already?” You threw the blankets around his shoulders, rubbing your hands up and down his arms in hopes of warming him up. “They shut ‘em off I think,” he said, walking in a small circle before sitting on the floor. “JJ, you have to get home. You’ll freeze to death out there.” “Kie drove me.” “Kiara’s out there?” You ran to the window. To your amazement, Kie’s car was in fact parked outside your window. You could barely see her through the rain, but you waved anyway. “Listen,” JJ said, standing. “We’re all going out on the Pogue tomorrow once Agatha moves on. You’re coming.”

“I can’t.” “Come on! There will be loads of fish and-” “JJ, I really can’t. Not when-” You glanced over at Kid, who was trying not to watch the two of you interact. “My dad will be staying home tomorrow and he’ll expect us to help him clean up whatever damage the storm does. There’s no way I’ll be able to sneak out unnoticed.” “I haven’t seen you in forever,” he said, putting a hand against your neck. “For a good reason.” He scowled his smile fading as he dropped his hand back against his side. “No, not….I just mean that I can’t be doing anything risky right now. Please, tell me you understand.” “Yeah, no, I understand.” He started to back toward the window. You ran a hand over your face, squeezing your eyes shut. “JJ-” “No, Ellie, I understand.” JJ pulled the blankets off of his shoulders and lay them over the back of a chair. “I’ll see you soon, yeah?” “Yeah.” JJ pulled the window open and crawled back out into the pouring rain. You stood in the middle of your room, face in your hands. “Are you not going because of me?” Kid asked. You looked up at him and shook your head. You walked over to Kid, feet shuffling on the floor. You knelt to the ground at his feet and took his hands in yours. “I’m not going because there is no way I can get away tomorrow. That’s all,” you said. “Okay?” “But I can cover you!” Kid said. “I can help-” “No, Kid!” You squeezed his hands, giving yourself a second to calm down. “Kid, you never have to cover for me, okay? If Dad ever asks where I am and you tell him.” “But we always come up with a plan.” “No more plans, Kid. If I am gone, you tell dad that I’m out with JJ, alright? You tell him that,” you said. “I don’t understand. Why?” “Because-” Because then he’ll want to kill me and not you. “Because it would be better for both of us. You never have to cover for me, Kid. My actions are my own. That means the consequences are mine, too.” Kid nodded his head slowly. It was clear to him that he still didn’t understand completely what you were saying, but that was good. You didn’t want him to. A crack of thunder startled both of you. Half a millisecond later, you saw the flash of lightning. You crawled back into your bed, holding Kid close to you. The wind beat against your house, rain pelting it from all sides. With every new thunderclap, you could feel Kid flinch beneath you. You squeezed your eyes tight, running your fingers through Kid’s hair in hopes to get him to fall asleep. The light above you flickered, sparked, and went out with a pop. Kid gasped, burying his face between your neck and the pillow. “Shh,” you whispered, rubbing his back as you looked at the lightbulb above. “You’re okay. It’s gonna be okay.”

***

There was no power when you woke up. Checking your phone, there was no service. It wasn’t as if you expected there to be, but still, you had hoped. Kid was still asleep a few inches away from you. You had no idea what time it was, but from the position of the sun it couldn’t have been much later seven. You rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, yawning, and stretching your stiff muscles. You opened your door, peering out into the empty house. “Dad?” You called. You remembered that he hadn’t been home when you fell asleep. He could have very well died out there- “Down here!” Your heart plummeted. You peered over the railing down to the foyer. Your dad was surrounded by a sea of candles, none of them lit. “You wanna help me put these around?” You started down the stairs, the chill of the wood shocking your bare feet. As you rounded the bottom of the stairs, you saw that your dad was smiling. “Don’t you think this is overkill on the candles?” You asked. “The generators will be on soon and we won’t need them.” Your dad picked up one of the candles, admiring it for all its generic whiteness. “What else would we do with them?” “There are going to be people all over without power, especially in the cut. I think if I could just take some over-” Your dad stood suddenly and you took a few steps back, flinching. “I don’t want you on the south side of this island ever, Elma, do you understand me?” “Dad, there are people over that need help-” “No! All those people are lazy, useless people who do nothing but drag this island into the mud. They don’t deserve anything from us.” Your eyes began to swim with tears, chest heaving. “How can you say that?” You asked, breathless. “Mom always took care of those people when they needed help.” “Don’t bring up your mother right now.” “She would never have let those people go without light or food.” If you pushed hard enough you might just get him to listen to you. “You don’t want to disappoint her, do you?” Your dad sighed, looking down at the candles. “You’re right,” he said finally. He stepped over them and pulled you into an embrace. “I love that you’re always thinking of other people, Elma. Your mother would be so proud.” Your nose burned, lips trembling. It was hard to say that you missed the woman who abandoned you and Kid with the man that hurt you, but missing your mother felt like a different matter. In your mind, you could sometimes separate them. The woman who gave food the poor for no charge and stepped in between you and your father many times was not the same woman who forced you to get rid of your child and then left alone. When your dad finally let you go, he pressed his lips to your head. You tried to pretend it was a gentle and loving motion, but it didn’t stop your heart from pounding uncomfortably in your chest. “I’ll pack these into the car and take them to the cut. Get your brother up, will you? Start working on cleaning up outside.” “Sure, Dad,” you said, tucking your hands into your back pockets. “I love you, kiddo.”

“Love you, too, Dad.”

After helping your dad pack the candles into his car, you spent the next hour attempting to make Kid breakfast before he woke up. There were a few pancakes that you could salvage to take up to him. He was still asleep when you walked upstairs, the stack of pancakes in your hand. Instead of waking him, you left the pancakes on your desk and went back downstairs.

Stepping outside, you heaved out a heavy sigh. Agatha had really done her damage.

“Hell hath no fury,” you mumbled to yourself as you bent down to pick up some trash. After another hour, consisting of you picking through the damage and trying to figure out was salvageable, Kid came outside, fully dressed and ready for the day. “What can I do?” He asked, scanning the yard. “Just start by picking up trash, if you could. I think that’s the best place to start,” you said. “Okay.” Kid ran over to you, pulling on your arm, and kissed your cheek. “Thanks for the pancakes.”

You beamed.

“No problem, Kid.” He scampered off to get a trash bag. Shaking your head, you turned back to your work. By the time your dad returned, most of the smaller trash had been picked up and larger things that were no longer usable were in another pile. “Hey, Elma!” Your dad said as he climbed out of his car. “Yeah?” You stood up, wiping sweat from your forehead. “I just spoke to Ward Cameron. Do you remember Ms. Lana and Scooter?” Your dad asked, walking over to you with his hands on his hips. You nodded your head, pulling off your work gloves. “Course.” “Well, Scooter hasn’t been seen since yesterday.” “Scooter’s missing?” “Not missing,” your dad said, putting his hands up. “Just...they don’t know where he is. Ms. Lana is going to come over in a bit. I want you to have some food ready for her, make her comfortable, alright? Scooter was a good friend of mine, Elma, don’t mess this up.” No pressure. You walked back into the house and quickly changed out of your sweaty clothes into something cleaner. Heading back downstairs, you wondered what you could make that wouldn’t require cooking anything. Salad and sandwiches made the most sense to you. You could bring some out for Dad and Kid but also keep some inside for you and Ms. Lana. You also put on a pot of water for tea. You pulled the honey out of the cupboard and turned it over in your hands. You had never actually been allergic to honey. It was one of your favorite things, especially in tea. But when you came home after a heavy make-out session at a party that was supposed to be just a small slumber party with red and swollen lips, you had to make something up. Your mom had been mildly allergic to tea, and when she had it in her honey, it made her lips swell in a similar way. Ever since, you had to keep up the lie. Still, you drank honey in your tea when you could sneak it around your dad. You finished the sandwiches and brought two out for your brother and your dad, which they both took gratefully. Just before you went back inside, you saw Ms. Lana pull up in her car. You jogged over to her car as it rolled to a stop. She got out with a weak smile. “Ms. Lana.” “Hello, El, darling.” You pulled Ms. Lana into a hug. “Would you like to come inside? I just finished making lunch and some tea,” you offered. Ms. Lana gave you a watery smile and nodded her head. “Hi, Ms. Lana!” Kid shouted, waving his hand over his head.

“Hello, Ford,” Ms. Lana replied. A smile pulled at your lips. Kid had been in love with the movie actor Harrison Ford since he was little. He tried to get everyone to call him Ford, wanting to take after his idol, but Ms. Lana was the only one who actually did. Even today, it still made your brother grin. You were glad that Ms. Lana was still somehow able to make your brother happy. “Lana,” your dad said, walking over to her with a sympathetic look in his eyes that almost made you cringe. “Gerald,” she said, shaking his hand. “He’ll turn up,” your dad told her. Ms. Lana sniffed, nodding her head slowly. You reached out and linked your arm in hers. “Let’s get you some food,” you said. Having a conversation with Ms. Lana was always a special treat that you took advantage of when you could. Your dad and Scooter had been friends for a long while, but Ms. Lana and your mother had been even tighter. Whenever your dad said anything about the cut, Ms. Lana and Scooter were always excluded. They weren’t like the “others”. They were civilized. Or so your dad said.

But Ms. Lana held wisdom that you were always grateful to listen to. She understood you like very few others did. She could hear you screaming even when you said nothing. She didn’t know anything about how your father treated you or the true reason behind your mother’s departure, but she still cared. Sometimes, that was all you needed. Ms. Lana had you laughing after only a few sips of your tea. She was like the sun personified, light and laughter emulating from her with every word, every step. But for the past few months, that light had dimmed. The light she radiated was forced. You could feel it especially now. “How did finals go?” She asked. You smiled behind your teacup. “Ended with all A’s.” “That’s my girl!” Ms. Lana said, giving you a high five. “I know that you were stressed about that math class of yours.”

“Ugh, yeah, it was tough, but I did it.” “No cheating?” “Do I look like the kind of person who would cheat?” “You are your father’s daughter.” You hated what that insinuated. You took a large gulp of tea, letting the heat scald your throat. “So,” Ms. Lana said, tapping your knee with hers. “Have any boys caught your eye?” You coughed at the sudden question, the tea in your mouth spilling out back into your cup. “I’m sorry?” “I’m going to take that as a yes.” A mischievous smile graced Ms. Lana’s face. It was a real smile, a hint of true light shining through the darkness. You couldn’t take that away from her by shutting her question down. “You have to promise not to say anything to my dad,” you said, leaning forward. “You know how he is about boys.”

“Oh, a secret affair.” Ms. Lana raised an eyebrow and your face turned red. “I won’t say a word.” “Alright.” You leaned in a little bit closer, afraid of your voice carrying. “There is a boy that I have been sneaking out to see occasionally.” “What’s his name?” “Now, Ms. Lana, that is dangerous information. We could both get in a lot of trouble.” “I see. I understand.” Ms. Lana tapped the side of her nose with her finger. “But I’m going to take a wild guess here and say that he isn’t from this side of the island.”

Against your attempts to stay completely unphased, your cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red. When Ms. Lana let out a knowing laugh, you tried to hide your red face in your palms, a laugh of your own escaping your lips.

“That’s very Romeo and Juliet of you, Miss El,” she said, taking a sip of her tea. “I hope it ends better than that,” you said, dropping your hands back into your lap. “Have no fear, my girl, I won’t say a word to your father.” Ms. Lana put a hand over yours. “And if you ever need a cover, you are more than welcome to use my name.”

You felt yourself smile, eyes watery. You leaned off of your chair, wrapping your arms around the woman’s neck. She startled for a moment, but then put an arm around your back. You tried not to sob into her shoulder right there and then. “I’ve got you, darling,” she whispered. “Thank you.” “What’s going on here?” You pulled away instantly at the sound of your father’s voice. You wiped away a small stray tear as Ms. Lana smiled up at your dad. “I just needed a hug,” Ms. Lana said. “I hope my daughter isn’t keeping you from eating anything,” your dad said, looking at the untouched sandwiches and salad bowls. “Nonsense, Gerald.” Ms. Lana waved her hand through the air. “Spending some girl time with El here was just what I needed to calm my nerves.” “That’s good to hear.” Ms. Lana sent you a knowing look as your father sat down. You tried to hide a smile. She left not much later with the sandwich wrapped in plastic and a tupperware of salad. “Are you sure I can’t give you more?” You asked as you helped her to the car. “Child, you have already done so much for me. This is enough,” Ms. Lana said. “I’ll see you soon, Ms. Lana.” “I’ll see you soon.” Watching her drive away, arms crossed over your stomach, reminded you of the day your mother left. You were used to screaming and dishes being thrown, but the sound of your mother crying in the dead of night? That wasn’t something you had numbed yourself to. Despite everything, you had never seen her cry. She was the strongest woman that you knew. You hadn’t been able to sleep, the pain in your stomach and your heart far too great. You felt disgusted with yourself, your own silent tears running from your eyes. When you heard her sobbing, you sat up, slowly. Your dad had gone to bed hours ago after a long fight with your mom, but you still crept by his room on your way down the stairs. When you got to the dining room, you found your mother fully dressed at the dining table, a suitcase by her side. Her head was in her hands, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. You knew immediately that she was leaving. Tears sprang into your eyes and you swallowed a lump in your throat. “Mom?” She gasped and looked up at you. When she used to look at you, there was always love in her eyes, always a smile on her face, but now there was only one thing in her eyes; disgust. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, voice breaking with every word, tears and makeup running down her cheeks. “I’m your mother! Why didn’t you tell me what he did to you?” The tears in your own eyes started to fall, hands shaking by your side. You were 14. How were you supposed to tell her what your dad had done? “God!” Your mother stood, grabbing the suitcase. “Mom?” You watched her walk right past you, but you felt frozen where you were. “Mom!” She threw open the door and paused for just a moment, taking one last look at you, before walking out. She couldn’t just leave you. Not when you needed her the most. You ran to the door, calling after her. You didn’t hear your father’s door open, didn’t hear him thundering down the stairs after you. All you could think of was stopping your mom from leaving. “Mom!” You screamed after her, running down the porch steps. She was already at her car, throwing her suitcase into the back. “Mom, wait!” She slid into the front seat, slamming the door shut just as you reached it. You pounded on the window, begging her to let you in. But she wouldn’t listen, she just cried and turned the car on. “Mom!” You pleaded, tears and sobs nearly choking you. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! Don’t leave me!” She pulled the car backward and you jumped away, not wanting to get your toes caught under the tire. You made to run after the car, but before you could get far, your dad grabbed you from behind.

“She’s gone, kiddo,” your dad whispered in your ear, but it only made you scream louder. “No! No, Mom!” “Come back inside, Elma,” your dad said, pulling you backward. “No!” You reached out for the car, even though it was long gone. You kicked out your feet as your dad hoisted you off the ground, dragging you back toward the house. “MOM!”

***

Returning from the memory was like bursting through the surface of the water. You were in the same place, Ms. Lana’s car retreating through the trees. You tried to smile and offered one last wave before she disappeared completely. It had been three years since your mother left. You tried to pretend it didn’t hurt anymore, but you would still sit on the porch sometimes when you couldn’t sleep, praying that you would see her car pull onto your lawn. It never did. “Elma! Let’s get back to work.”

***

You sat in bed later that night, tapping mindlessly on your computer. You were writing the same letter you had been writing for three years. You had written it on paper, thrown it away a million times. You had typed it out, deleting it a million times. It didn’t matter how many times you tried, you could not write the letter you wanted to your mother. Kid and your dad had gone to bed early. The day had been long and gruesome, so you didn’t blame them. You were exhausted, but your mind wouldn’t let you sleep. Every time you closed your eyes, all you could see was your mother’s tear-stained face, her car pulling away from you without so much as a second a thought. Anger crackled at the tips of your fingers. Who the fuck leaves their two, defenseless children with an abusive asshole? Everyone still spoke so highly of her, as if she wasn’t just as bad as your dad. You slammed your laptop shut, but the little burst of anger was enough to trigger a silent outburst. You threw your computer against your beanbag chair, dropping to the floor. You were about to start pounding your fists into the hard wood when you heard a tap on your window. You looked up, eyes overrun with tears to see JJ peering in at you. You sucked in your lower lip, hanging your head for a moment. When he tapped again, you pushed yourself to your feet and pushed the window before dropping into another chair. “What did he do?” JJ asked, hands curled into fists at his side and his jaw tight as he stared at your door. You shook your head, reaching out to take his hand. JJ turned to you a knelt down on the ground. “What happened?” The anger was gone from him instantly as he looked at you. You shook your head again, feeling like there were a million rocks weighing you down. Instead of answering, you put one arm around his neck, slowly pulling him in as you slid to the ground. He wasn’t sure exactly what was happening until you were kneeling in front of him, both of your arms around his neck. He linked his arms around your back, holding you tight. “What happened?” He asked again. “Babe, you can tell me.” He brushed hair from your face, but you shook your head for the third time, large tears rolling aimlessly from your cheeks. JJ stopped asking you questions, cradling your head as you clung to his shirt. Your breathing shuddered as you tried to calm down. Once the tears stopped flowing like a river and once you felt like you can breathe normally, you pulled away from JJ, exhausted from all the crying. “Why did you come?” You asked. “I have a bunch to tell you,” he said, lifting your chin. “Today was absolutely bat shit. Plus, we’re having a kegger and I thought you’d want to come.” You tried to smile and met his gaze, your eyes still watery. “I would love to go to a kegger and hear about your bat shit day,” you said. “Your dad-” “Screw him.” JJ grinned and helped you to your feet. “You can tell me whenever you’re ready,” he said as he led you to the window. You nodded your head once. “Let’s just get drunk, yeah?” “I can do that.”

Taglist - @bitterbethany @lovelymaybankk @ilymarkchan @downbytheouterbanks @clearcolourlessglass @obxwriterfan @tangledinsparkles @chill-sushi

#jj maybank #jj obx #jj x reader #jj x oc #obx #outer banks #ward cameron #lana obx #kiara obx #kie obx #self insert #tw: abuse

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devourer--of--books · 4 years ago

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Some time ago (and by “some time” I mean a long ass time, oops) Kate (@pumpkinpaperweight) posted an analysis of gold rush by Taylor Swift tracing parallels to Agatha, which this post is clearly inspired by.

(Go check that one out after you finish reading this post, it’s really good.)

Ever since, I’ve had an entire tagatha x taylor playlist/unfinished post that I don’t think will ever see the light because I’m too lazy to actually finish it. But now I have some spare time and I noticed that,,,, invisible string wasn’t on it.

And that's cause, well, despite the obvious gold fingerglow motif which is very tagatha … you already read the title of the post. It’s more like my own version of of what I would have had happen post-otk (will my epilogue version ever see the light, I wonder) than anything else, but this is my account, in which I am correct all the time and accept no criticism so,,,,

Green was the color of the grass where I used to read at Centennial Park

I used to think I would meet somebody there

Basically, these first two lines are about how Sophie’s egocentrism isolated her and kept her from making genuine connections with people from very early on, until she becomes friends with Agatha and even after that.

Okay, so have you guys ever seen those tiktoks that are like ‘13-year-old me, in black jeans and sneakers, at the beach, reading a book mYstERioUsLy so that when Harry Styles showed up he’d know I’m dIfFeRenT'?

This is the energy I get here.

Like, Sophie in the start of book one doing all those ‘good deeds’ so set herself apart in the eyes of the school master hoping that he’d bring her to the school where she would meet *drumroll* The One.

Most of us have, at some point (I hope, otherwise it was just me and that would be so embarassing), tried and failed to channel that main-character-energy to manifest ourselves into a story much more interesting than whatever is going on in your life at the moment. I feel like at the very core, that’s sort of what Sophie was trying to do? It’s a very juvenile feeling and shows just how little Sophie knew about love overall. Love as it is in fairytale books, as opposed to as it actually is.

She thought herself as above everyone else and thought she was entitled to true, unconditional love, which ended up holding her back and isolating her from everyone in the town, save for Agatha, give or take.

This mindset is what really keeps her from seeing Tedros (and Agatha, and everyone else) as people, rather than characters in her story, and actually connecting with them on a non-superficial level.

Teal was the color of your shirt when you were 16 at the yogurt shop

You used to work at to make a little money

I don’t think this part needs much explaining?

On surface level, Nicola canonically started working at her father’s pub at a very young age to help with family expenses.

If you think about it a little more and contrast it with the previous line, though, it highlights the differences between Sophie and Nicola:

Nic works to help her family, learning responsibility and duty, while Sophie barely ever did anything for her father, both out of vanity (and a superiority complex) and out of spite (which is honestly undeserved all the way up to book 3, when Stefan let Callis die and fucking tried to blame Agatha for returning without Sophie and then guilt-tripped her into going to save her, after which he was dead to me lol). Sophie grew with a princess-like mindset, despite being just slightly better off than Nic, given all the villagers save from Callis and Agatha (due to them being outcasts) seem to have a similar income (with the exception of the beggar which I don’t understand and am probably overthinking about, but honestly, it’s a impossible to leave town and people die on the mill all the time, there's no college or whatever, did none of these assholes offer the beggar a job- I’m getting carried away), while Nicola has to shoulder most of the responsibilities due to her dad being sick.

Also, given the *misogyny* I’d be surprised if Nic didn’t have to do all the housework, as the only girl in her house.

I doubt that the uniform of the pub was teal and given the book timeline she wouldn’t have been 16 in any instances in which Sophie and her met in Gavaldon, but I digress.

Time

Curious time

Gave me no compasses

Gave me no signs

Were there clues I didn't see?

Also kinda self-explanatory in a way?

On one interpretation, it takes Sophie an awful long time to mature and grow into an okay person. She lashed out after Tedros’ rejection because her desire was, when you get down to it, to be loved, even though she didn't understand what love was or how to go about it. She was already loved both by Agatha and by her father but she couldn't see it because the idea of love (romantic, loud, grand-gesture) was so embedded into her, but the clues to it were there all along.

On another, you could argue that Nicola also did not see this coming at all, specially if you consider canon!Nicola rather than fanon!Nicola (why would you, but okay, ignore my Hunter post, go on, stomp on my feelings). Nicola, whose purpose in TCY was to be the new hort-love-interest no one asked for, ending up with her *gag* love-rival? Unexpected, iconic, never done before (never actually done in canon), amazing, mind-blowin-

Bad was the blood of the song in the cab on your first trip to LA

You ate at my favorite spot for dinner

Bad Blood was a smash hit on Taylor’s career, playing on the radio non-stop during the 1989 era, arguably her peak in terms of mainstream pop and radio plays.

The Tale of Sophie and Agatha was the equivalent in this context, as it was all the rage in Gavaldon after book 3; Sophie’s persona as the Dean Of Evil is solidified and everyone in The Woods knows who she is and read her tale, including Nicola (who already knew who she was, but now had a another version of her to compare to the version she already knew, which hm, did not favour Sophie either way).

I think it’s kind of fascinating how parasocial relationships work in the context of SGE because like, the storian is there as an omniscient narrator, but it doesn’t write everything. Like, does it just expose what the people in the tale feel and think only if it suits the plot or do the tales look just like the SGE books, in some sort of fourth wall break or is it like an actual children’s fairytale, where you just get told actions and have to sort of assume motivations? How does that affect public opinion? I don’t think most people would be too keen on stanning Sophie after reading The Tale Of Sophie and Agatha (cause damn, Sophie does a lot of questionable shit there) but canonically, they do, despite her being the villain, which is something I have opinions on (do I ever not have opinions on things?).

Like, sure there would be Nevers stanning her, but honestly, if they read the tale, wouldn't they be more likely to stan Hester or even Agatha? Cause Sophie almost got both Evers and Nevers killed, doomed everyone in The Woods for a guy, and was overall a horrible person with no regard for actual Good or Evil as balanced things? Isn’t this why The Coven sided with Agatha, like, I don’t get it- Is it stanning out of fear? Cause that’s the only sort of explanation I have, specially for people in Gavaldon, but that’s something I’ll go deeper into in another time.

Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nic’s first class at SGE was about The Tale Of Sophie and Agatha, given she was originally placed in Evil, due to Dovey and Sophie’s bet, and Evil’s school curriculum was under Sophie’s control, so if you think those classes were anything other than the Sophie-Show, you are wrong.

Now, on to headcanon territory, wouldn’t it be poetic if during her first lunch Nic sat at that tree in the middle of the clearing where Agatha and Sophie used to sit? Not only for ship reasons, but the tree is right in the center, which could relate to how Nic was supposed to be half/half?

Bold was the waitress on our three-year trip getting lunch down by the Lakes

She said I looked like an American singer

It’s a real shame that I don’t remember most of TCY. (But is it really?)

This is kinda of my own personal interpretation of what the OTK epilogue should have been like (and so, it's kind of a spoiler for my ever unfinished rewrite sksnsksn).

Imagine if, instead of that horrid school wedding (kill me now, please), they actually held the respective funerals for all the people lost in the Camelot power-struggle (I’ll take a school funeral, but don’t come at me with school weddings or I’ll lose my shit).

Tedros and Agatha, poor traumatized children, are on their way back to Camelot to try and get stuff back under control and do royal things. Sophie is pretty much on her own, with the remaining faculty of the school, as well as the new kids (yeah, Hort’s staying dead, boo hoo, I’m not sorry sbfhbsdb). Nicola will be returning home to Gavaldon soon, since the school schedule is already messed up beyond repair and everyone is taking some time off anyway. She was only staying there until christmas originally, so might as well.

Public opinion on the main trio is kinda weird at the moment:

Tagatha suffered a coup, then a while laterTedros killed the brother of his usurper, whom had been more popular than him, and well, they do tell people that Japeth killed Rhian, but it’s not like they have receipts? Like, there’s no way to fact check that. They could very well have killed Rhian, we, as bystanders, wouldn’t know? You can bet rumors like these don’t just go away.

And Sophie?

Well, I think public opinion on Sophie was already fear-based rather than coming from a place of admiration for her acts. People aren’t sure of her alliances anymore, and don’t really know how to behave around her so they mainly avoid her. Now that Dovey and Hort are dead and everyone else is resuming their quests, she’ll be pretty much on her own to deal with the aftermatch, which is not only sad, but also probably not healthy. She considers staying with Agatha, but she doesn’t want to add more scandal to the Camelot situation.

So she decides to go back to Gavaldon. Not permanently tho. Just to visit her father and take some time off to decide who could balance her well enough to be appointed as Dean Of Good.

She'd choose Agatha, but you know, Agatha is kinda busy. Plus, it'd be good to see her father. Watching most of your parental figures drop like flies really puts things into perspective and maybe (just maybe) there's still something to salvage there.

Not many people know she's at Gavaldon, and that's on purpose. For once, Sophie just wants to be left the fuck alone, so she just tries to lay low and not bring unnecessary attention to heself. It's so unlike her to do so that when she walks in to have lunch at Nicola's pub, no one but Nicola even recognizes her.

And if Nicola keeps her company and accompany her on walks, well, it’s no one’s business. Bonding time? Bonding time.

Time

Mystical time

Cutting me open, then healing me fine

Were there clues I didn't see?

You know what these kids need after this Camelot shitstorm? Therapy, that’s what.

There’s no therapy in The Woods, so friendship will simply have to do. Please sir, let these kids heal.

Nicola was dragged to SGE while her father was sick and knew no one there personally, then got dragged again, now into a power struggle where she almost died multiple times, dated a guy, broke up with a guy and I can’t even remember what else but that sounds like a stressful time considering how close together the events from TCY are compared to TSY. What does she want to do now? Will she become a knight? Will she remain in Gavaldon? Does she have to finish school? How have Hunter and her dad been? Whatever went down with her brothers? Why was she important in the first place? Lots to reflect and self-search.

And Sophie. Oh Sophie.

Sophie fell once again for a ‘get-love-’quick’ scheme, not once, but twice! That is not something easy to look in the face and forgive yourself for.

With Rhian, it backfired by hurting everyone she loved, and after the shit Rafal pulled on her, she should have known better. But can you blame her? It’s not like the Rafal thing left her unscratched: you try being in an abusive relationship with a predator, see if you don’t get some trauma. And instead of doing the hard thing and keeping up the work she had been doing on herself she threw her progress out the window the moment Rhian said what she wanted to hear!

After that went belly-up, she at least managed to help her friends, but then later that backfired and she got brain-washed (are we gonna talk about this? disturbing much?). Then, she got fragile enough for her to attempt to find purpose in her life within Hort’s feelings for her, even if she didn’t actually reciprocate those feelings, simply because she was sure of them and they were familiar.

And later, even Hort was taken away from her.

(Probably for the best, given their attachment had been… precarious, to say the least.)

Therapy, I’m telling you.

A string that pulled me

Out of all the wrong arms right into that dive bar

Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire

Chains around my demons

Wool to brave the seasons

One single thread of gold tied me to you

These two would be so good for one another.

I think that being alone when you’re going through something is literally the worst you can do, but when you have someone who just…. gets it, you know? They were there too. They understand. It forms a connection.

After OTK, both of them (Sophie mostly) have enough on their plates for them to go down a dark path to a horrible place. But they don’t. Cause they are here for each other and have their support system to help them.

Does that translate into late nights drinking together after the pub shuts down? Maybe. Keeping tabs on each other to make sure they’re sleeping and eating right? Yes. Keeping secrets and confessions? You got it.

And then my friends, begins the pining.

Cause, you know, they’re just gals being pals, gals being gay- wait what.

Nicola probably comes to terms with it first, but thinks Sophie is not interested in her like that (she also suspects that Sophie only sees her as Agatha’s stand-in and will drop her eventually once Agatha is no longer in such high demand.) Sophie is, in classic Sophie-fashion, neck-deep in denial, she’s not a lesbian right? she’s boy crazy, she’s not a lesbian-

Except she never felt like this with any of those boys. The only comparison she has is what she feels for Agatha, this feeling of being heard and seen and understood, but-

But Sophie doesn’t want to kiss Agatha.

And in retrospect, she never wanted to kiss anyone like this either. Tedros who, Rafal who, Rhian who, Hort who, these bitches could never.

Eventually they attend the official tagatha wedding, HELD AT THE CASTLE, as each other’s plus-ones, and well, maybe consider checking my eventual OTK-epilogue for more on this, once it eventually comes out.

Cold was the steel of my axe to grind for the boys who broke my heart

Now I send their babies presents

Very self-explanatory, Tedros may be Sophie’s favorite ex, but he’s still an ex and they will be killing each other if left unchecked for two long unsupervised.

Nicphie as the tagatha baby godparents. Please, YES.

I’m not gonna go into detail because children make me uncomfortable, I wish this was a joke, haha, but yes, Sophie and Nic pic the presents together and they attend the baby shower together. Are they dating, are they just married but don’t know it yet? I wonder. They're just together and no one really knows what's going on.

Gold was the color of the leaves when I showed you around Centennial Park

Hell was the journey but it brought me heaven

You know what’s funny? I didn’t tell you anything between the wedding and the baby shower. Remember how there was an opening for Dean of Good?

Yeah, too late to send in your resumes, position is already filled.

Sophie shows Nic the ropes of being Dean, or at least that’s how she’ll present it, but they’re still sort of figuring it out together. And that's okay.

They spend summers traveling around, christmas in Gavaldon, new years in Camelot and all is well. Their fingerglow colors now match. But it’s, unfortunately not gold.

Time

Wondrous time

Gave me the blues and then purple pink skies

And it's cool

Baby, with me

Yeah, it’s fucking purple.

I can’t remember if Nic has a canon fingerglow color, but I don’t really care much for canon, do I? I just really like the imagery of it, so it’s blue and pink mixed together. Because, you know I’m a symbolic bitch.

And isn't it just so pretty to think

All along there was some

Invisible string

Tying you to me?

Anyway, I am correct, this is the post.

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theepsizet · 3 years ago

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Me ranting about Chris Chibnall part 1: Historical Stories

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be ranting about the Chibnall era and how frustrated I am over the quality of it. Today we’ll be looking into historical stories and why they don’t work in Chibnall’s tenure as showrunner compared to his predecessors.

Watch for the tag “Chibnall rants” if you want to view more. With that out of the way, let’s get started.

While I could technically be making a YouTube video about this, plenty of others have already done so.

The thing is about the writing quality of the show is that it dropped. Dramatically. Chris Chibnall has a knack for writing crime dramas — anyone who has seen his work on Broadchurch and Life on Mars can agree with that — but so far he’s shown to be pretty bad with science-fiction such as Doctor Who. (This is evident in his episodes in the RTD and Moffat era, but that’s another entry for another time.)

One of the things that he often gets criticized for is the fact that he has this habit of putting “politics first, story next”. And yeah, he does. We’re about 24 episodes in, and it’s pretty obvious he’s only making firm political statements about humanity and society are the main focus rather than the plot & characters of a story.

The historical stories in his era of a blatant example of this. Since Doctor Who is a show about having adventures throughout time and space, it wouldn’t

Well... uh... yeah in this case it is.

Most of the historical stories in the Chibnall era — except for Demons of the Punjab but we’ll get to that — tend to have their main focus on real-world historical figures rather than the plot. Historical stories in Doctor Who tend to find the Doctor and their companions landing in a historical setting and, coincidentally, battling aliens alongside those historical figures. Usually the story will focus on what made the figure well-known and inquorate. And while it comes across as formulaic, it’s not a bad formula:

The Doctor and Rose battle ghosts with Charles Dickens.

The Doctor and Martha battle alien witches who share Shakespeare's genius for language.

The Doctor and Donna solve a murder mystery with Agatha Christie.

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory attempt to discover why a siren is plaguing Henry Avery’s crew.

And so on and so forth.

Except with the 13th Doctor... the stories focus on the historical figures, not the story. The best example is perhaps the weakest of these historical stories, Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror, where the Doctor and her companions spend 80% of the story learning about Tesla’s life (even going as far as to include Thomas Edison, who doesn’t do anything other than being an egocentric nuisance) and not bothering to deal with the fact that piratical alien scorpions are trying to kidnap him and take over the world. The Doctor solves the problem by simply pointing her sonic screwdriver pointing at the queen’s device and sending her back to her ship. She then tells Tesla to activate the tower and the Skithra leave Earth. The story then ends with the Doctor telling Yasmin about the future once they leave.

That’s it. That’s exactly what happens, and it’s jarring to think this is what Chibnall presents a historical story as. Pointless runaround and educating the audience about a historical figure, not caring about the conflict at all. It’s bland, pointless, and feels like a waste of time once you move on.

Before Chibnall became showrunner, Moffat presented a historical story called Let’s Kill Hitler, in which the Doctor, Amy, and Rory take their best friend Mels. At some point — for spoiler reasons I’m not saying — River appears and steals the show, allowing the audience to get invested in a River who just became herself.

The thing is, Hitler is simply locked up in a closet after 10 minutes of screentime. And while Let’s Kill Hitler is one of Moffat’s weaker scripts, the episodes mocks the idea of focusing only on a historical figure. Even the Teselecta is just a cheap time machine that represents the classic “touring through time” trope that is quite childish compared to what Doctor Who presents it it’s audience.

This is a complete opposite to something like Vincent and the Doctor, which is the complete reverse of the formulaic historical Doctor Who story. Instead it focuses on Vincent Van Gough and the only real reason it isn’t educational is because it focuses not on Van Gough’s life, but on his friendship with the Doctor and Amy, something that the recent historical tries to avoid; the Doctor instead visits them as a total stranger, rather than try and get along with them to not the situation too awkward (a great example is how the Doctor is going as far as to avoid interacting with Rosa in Rosa, which though might also be due to the racism at the time) .

Then there is the case of using historical figures for fan service. Both Spyfall: Part 2 and Rosa feature historical characters that barley impact the plot but just seem to be there just because the writers thought it would be a good idea. In Spyfall: Part 2, the Doctor just happens to meet Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan out of the blue and just because the writer [Chibnall] wanted her so. They’re only impact in the plot is, in Ada’s case, the Doctor finding a McGuffin from the previous story and landing in a different time period, and seeking shelter (both Ada and Noor’s case). In Rosa, while the episode tries and focuses on her, the weak antagonist and how easy the situation gets resolved leaves a pretty bad taste in the mouth. Rosa Parks is characterized well, good even, but the conflict doesn’t seem to serious. Technically speaking, Rosa Parks could have still gotten on the bus and still went to jail; the only difference is the bus-driver. The other problems include the fact that situation is resolved so easily, and well, again the inclusion of historical figures. Martin Luther King Jr. pops up, but he’s immediately sidelined, and seems to really only be there because the writers gave a shout-out along the lines of “hey this guy changed racism in America, he’s important and you should pay attention” rather than focus a story on him.

This feels like something the classic series would do. Speaking of which...

Classic Doctor Who started off as an educational show, and the earliest historical episodes did either focus on a time period or a person — i.e. the first Doctor’s tenure had an episode where the Doctor and his companions join Marco Polo and interact with King Richard the Lionheart during the Crusades — but historical stories pretty much mellowed out in favor of more science fiction approaches. When a historical story did show up, it was more focused on the science-fiction aspect of it, rather than the historical part.

There’s a self-aware joke of doing a historical Doctor Who story by —sorry everybody, but he’s clever — Douglas Adams, in the episode City of Death.

For those of you who don’t know, City of Death follows the 4th Doctor and Romana trying to stop an alien from travelling back in time and causing a paradox that will prevent his species from extinction. Indeed, he has to fund his time machine using six copies of the Mona Lisa, which the Doctor later has to go back and time and drop off the blank canvases so they can be painted for this future adventure.

...this feels like something Steven Moffat would write.

Anyways, during the first part the Doctor and Romana visit the Louvre and visit the Mona Lisa. While the 13th Doctor would be characterized at showing how amazing Leonardo Da Vinci was and how his work will impact humanity forever (similar to what she did in Rosa), this exchange occurs:

Romana: Why hasn’t she [the painting] gotten any eyebrows?

The Doctor: What? Is that all you can say? No eyebrows? We're talking about the Mona Lisa! It's the Mona—

(The Doctor inspects the painting more closely)

The Doctor: Good heavens, you're right. She hasn't got any eyebrows. Do you know, I never noticed that before.

Get it, it’s funny because it works? Ah, I guess I’ll see myself out.

So... yeah. That’s it for now. This is part 1 of me ranting about Chibnall’s poor Doctor Who writing.

Side-note: The reasons I didn’t talk about stories such as The Wtichfinders and The Haunting of Villa Diodati is because — at least in my opinion, feel free to complain in an ask — they worked as episodes, even if it dragged at times. The Witchfinders did a pretty good job at demonstrating the sexism and paranoia over something logical at the time and The Haunting of villa Diodati did a fantastic ghost story by following the formula of the new series. Mary Shelley and Frankenstein was the main focus, and the Doctor and her companions had an adventure inspired by, well, Frankenstein.

Also I don’t count Can You Hear Me? because the historical setting wasn’t very important; it wasn’t really a historical episode.

(Screenshots © copyrighted by the BBC; do NOT give me credit for the pictures)

#The Epsizet rants #chibnall rants #doctor who #chris chibnall #nikola tesla's night of terror #let's kill hitler #vincent and the doctor #spyfall doctor who #rosa doctor who #thirteenth doctor #team tardis?#eleventh doctor #amy pond #rory williams #steven moffat #fourth doctor #romana ii #douglas adams #analysis i guess

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letterstothemidnightsociety · 4 years ago

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THAT’S RIGHT BITCH! It’s October and I am still watching and inexplicably blogging about Supernatural - a dinosaur of a television show that’s been on the air longer than most children I know have been alive.

I know I’m An Old because I don’t think kids these days understand the struggle it was watching television before streaming. We had to wait for episodes. Hell, I don’t think kids these days even really have to wait for seasons. I mean, Voltron premiered on Netflix in 2016, capped off their seasons at 13 episodes a piece and, oh yeah - aired seasons 5 - 8 all in 2018. Was I mad about that? No of course not. Do I also say phrases like “kids these days? Yes, so who even knows if what I think is relevant anymore.

Alright, so speaking of seasons, last time I looked at pilots and pilot seasons and how the streaming era is changing everything we know about starting a TV show. But once you’ve got your pilot down, now what?

Not this kind of pilot. Also, based on the prerequisites for demon possession, we’re all agreed this co-pilot’s like, an alcoholic, right?

There’s a rule in TV (sort of) that the first six episodes (some might argue the first season entirely) should be a kind of rehash of the pilot. The pilot sets up your premise and once you’ve got your pilot down, your job as a TV writer is to re-establish that premise over and over again. You’re building your world, you’re writing it’s rules. You’re setting up a template, a formula for how your episodes are gonna play out. This helps your audience get to know the characters, get familiar with your world, get comfortable spending time with them. Essentially, you’re getting your audience to trust the show that they’re going to be tuning in to for at least the next 20-some-odd episodes.

I’d also argue that this is important so that later, you can break that format later. I’m not saying you should break the trust your audience puts in you, and that’s probably a real fine line of distinction. But if you break your rules right, it can hit the audience with a big emotional sucker punch. Or, it can stand out as a real breakout, tentpole of an episode - I’m thinking specifically about Ghostfacers! In season 3, or Once More, With Feeling, from Buffy. Those episodes work, really work, because they deviate from the formula, but they only work because we know the formula so well. And these aren’t big changes to the way episodes are done, they’re just shifted ever so slightly that they felt new again..

So what is the premise of the first four episodes Supernatural? What’s the formula they set up for the rest of the series?

Brothers. I said it in my last post, I’ll say it again, Sam and Dean/Jensen Ackles and Jared Jared Padalecki are what makes this show. Full stop. I think we could have gotten 5 seasons out of a show starring two other dudes. I do not think this show could have gotten 15 seasons with two other dudes. So from the pilot through Phantom Traveler, we learn that Sam and Dean have a sh*tty home life - their mother was killed by some mysterious evil thing and their father raised them to be little demon-hunting child soldiers while they look for the killer. Oh yeah, and Sam’s girlfriend died the exact same way which we will never forget because Sam’s gonna have a dream about it almost every episode from here on out. We set up the tension between the brothers - that Sam got to go to college while Dean stayed with their dad like a good boi. We learn that everybody hates each other probably because they are deeply and unhealthily codependent love each other so damn much.

Next we get the basic rundown of the season arc:

Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days. The Winchester brothers are looking for him and by extension, looking for answers as to what killed their mom/Sam’s girlfriend. We also get the basic rundown of every episode: dad is a mysterious and elusive sonuvuabitch, so every episode they go about, say it with me now:

“The family business.” I would also accept “Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can,” but why can’t I find a gif for it?!?

Backtracking on this but you know what else gets hecking established with the Winchesters? Sam is the cute one with the people skills and the puppy dog face, so you’d naturally assume that he’s the soft one. No. Not the case. Dean is the Sofffft Boi. The SOFTest boi. Dean wants Sam to talk about his feelings, Dean wants Sam to not keep things bottled up, Dean is the one who desperately wants to keep a hold of his family and also is just deeply broken and traumatized on the inside and oh no, I told myself I wouldn’t do this but I did it anyway. Sorry not sorry. This watch, I’m really picking up on the fact that Dean is, weirdly, the Mom Friend in this first season. Like, he’s basically a Trailer-Trash-Teen-Pregnancy Mom who’ll give you spaghettios five nights a week and a shot of whiskey so you’ll quit yer bitchin’ and go to sleep faster, but he’s the Mom nonetheless. Later in this season and in other seasons, I think you even see him do his dumb-baby-best filling in as the Mom when John went off the deep end. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings and we don’t have time to unpack all of that so I’ll just move on.

RUDE.

Next we set up our Supernatural Bag of Holding - what’s in it? What are the mystical artifacts they use to kill those evil sons of bitches? First up is The Car. Damn, I am not a cars girl, but that 67 Chevy, it does things to me.

This car has some weird pavlovian trigger for me, it’s not NATURAL.

The journal.

John Winchester, you journal the way I imagine a psycho killer journals and I would just really appreciate it if you could be ANY MORE ORGANIZED THAN THIS.

The Trunk Full of Weapons - I love that in these first few episodes (and possibly the rest of the series???) they give this HELLA conspicuous look every time they open the trunk full of weapons. It’s hilarious EVERY TIME.

No, you’re not being obvious at ALL, guys.

The Fake ID’s - from credit cards to impersonating feds, these boys are not afraid to break the law to save some lives and I feel like that’s...that’s the theme of the show maybe? They’re here to save people and they’ll do what they have to to do that? In a world that clearly establishes a dark vs. light/good vs. evil dichotomy, the Winchester make it their job to live in a world of grey? Basically?

Next on the checklist for this first season of Supernatural - it’s spoopy. *Spoop mileage may vary.* I said it last time, but I’ll say it again: this first season aired at 9:00pm at night. That means it’s primetime stuff for the 18 - 25 year old crowd, but they don’t want to risk some 13 year old watching it and getting too scared before bed. 9:00pm is X Files time slots, Fringe time slots. 9:00pm says you’re gonna get something a little more gruesome and gory and shocking than at 8pm. 8pm is for Friends. Vampire Diaries aired at 8pm its first season. 9pm is for the real adult content (but not too adult because the audience is still mostly children).

SPOOP!

But yeah, let’s look at the real horror vibe that you get off of these first four episodes. We talked about La Llorona from the first episode - this is a legit ghost that they fight. The kids at the end that literally drag their mom to hell? Pretty spooky stuff. The Wendigo in episode 2 is a literal monster of the week and so for me personally, it’s not that scary, but it is a cannibal monster that eats human flesh. Dead in the Water has vibes from both Jaws and Friday the 13th. Everything from the lighting to the sound design let’s you know this is a horror show, or as horror as you can get on network television. Listen to the scenes just before somebody dies and you get a nice creepy “Come play with me” whisper coming out of the water. I’m a little spooked just thinking about it now. Yes I know I’m a chicken, and I’m OK WITH THAT. And if we go past my season 1 disc 1 into episode 5, Bloody Mary is STILL terrifying and I STILL watched that episode with half my face covered. That’s where I am these days. It’s 2020 and the world is a nightmare but imagining Bloody Mary creepin’ out in my mirror does not need to be a part of it.

SHE F*CKIN CLIMBS OUT OF THE MIRROR GUYS! I DIDN’T KNOW SHE COULD DO THAT!!!

Then we get Phantom Traveler and our very first case of black-eyed-demonic possession. Watching this episode now, it’s like watching someone’s home movie of their first steps as a baby. They’ve never even done an exorcism before guys! They have to read the exorcism rite out of the journal! It’s so cute!!! Let’s not think too hard about how they got that full sized bottle of holy water past TSA in a post-9/11 world. And try to ignore how poorly these special effects have aged - the smoke from the demon possession?? OMG! THIS EFFECT! I’m pretty sure I could make that effect with my first ever graphic design software on my, like, 2009 mac book pro. So cute and soooo good! I’m gonna leave that CG plane alone, they’re doing their best.

SO cute and SOOO good!

You want to know what my favorite established staple of Supernatural season 1 is? The extras. LOOKIT these guys -

Wendigo you have Cory Monteith who later goes on to star in Glee.

You have Alden Ehrenreich, Debatable Han Solo, doing a lot of face work with very little dialogue.

You have Gina Holden who is in SO. MANY. Spooky-type things! My personal favs are Blood Ties and Harper’s Island, but she’s in Fringe, she’s in the SAW franchise, she’s in the Final Destination franchise, she was in some deleted scenes on an episode of Teen Wolf! I LOVE seeing Gina Holden, anywhere she pops up.

And speaking of Harper’s Island, you’ve also got Callum Keith Rennie who played John Wakefield in Harper’s Island, a show that was A+ Great and I highly recommend if you like Agatha Christie and/or murder mysteries.

Honestly, Rennie looks like he’s about to murder a bitch in this episode of Supernatural, it is not a stretch to believe he’s a psycho killer.

Dead in the Water you’ve got Amy Acker, a regular in Joss Whedon and Whedon-adjacent type shows.

Good LORD, this wardrobe was SO 2000′s WB and it PAINED me.

And finally in Phantom Traveler, you have Jaime Ray Newman who also shows up in a lot of the shows that I like to watch. She was in Eureka, she was in Midnight Texas, both kind of terrible shows that I love because they are terrible, but she was ALSO in Bates Motel and Veronica Mars, which are generally considered to be more quality, so there’s that.

This still implies that they actually LIT scenes, which is a SURPRISE TO ME.

Point is, seeing these actors in Supernatural back in the early 2000’s felt like I was seeing the start of their careers. That may or may not have been the case, but as a viewer it was exciting to see them pop up again in other things.

So what about TV now? Do we still use those first 6 (sometimes more) episodes to re-establish the premise? Well, it certainly hasn’t gone away. Look at any network show that still produces 22 - 24 episodes a season and you’ll still see that the pilot season just keeps re-iterating the premise established in the pilot episode, specifically in anything that’s procedural - that’s you’re monster/problem-of-the-week shows. Think sitcoms like Brooklyn 99 or Superstore or dramedies like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. The reason being that these shows play in the traditional model of television - on a network, once a week. They are not releasing episodes all at one time or relying on their audiences to stream a whole season in one sitting. These are shows that still assume that someone out there is going to tune in or stumble across their show one night while they’re surfing channels (lol) and need to be told, no matter what episode they’ve just turned on, what the premise of the show is. They need to be formulaic so that people can pick it up anywhere at any time.

But what about shows that don’t follow this traditional model? I mentioned in my last post that seasons are getting shorter and shorter, so when you’re writing a show that only has (8) episodes instead of 22, how much time do you really want to spend establishing the premise? Because of these short seasons, you’re also dealing with shows that are more serialized and less procedural than their predecessors - meaning, you’re dealing with a show that focuses on a season long story (think Game of Thrones or Stranger Things where each episode is an important chapter that you can’t skip) vs. a procedural (think the shows I mentioned above or any cop drama really) where each episode is it’s own contained story, neatly wrapped up at the end. These are shows where you can skip an episode and still know where you are in the show no matter where you start or stop watching. Supernatural is a little bit of both - procedural with their monsters of the week AND serialized with a season long arc. We’ll talk more on that in a later post.

Not only are we getting shorter seasons, but we’re also dealing with shows that are not released over long periods of time. A few streaming channels, like Disney+ and HBO Max, make a deliberate point to slow-drip their seasons, but most streaming channels will release entire seasons in one shot. You don’t need to worry about your audience missing an episode because they have 24/7 access to all the episodes all at once. And for the most part, they’re designed to be binged. They start at full speed and they don’t slow down to keep driving you to the finale.

Do I think the procedural is ever going to go away? No. As much talk as there is about dropping the cop drama from TV all together, I think audiences still love a good mystery series. And you can’t just think of procedurals as cop dramas either - a procedural also covers most if not all sitcoms. New Girl, Letterkenny, Parks and Rec, Superstore - these all have a premise that doesn't change from week to week. They may make tiny shifts away from what they set up in the pilot, but by and large, you know what you’re getting into any time you turn on an episode. I think we as an audience still like that kind of familiarity. We may be seeing a bigger swing towards more serialized content, but that doesn't mean that the procedural is dead and gone.

So that’s what we’ve got for Supernatural - two dudes, driving around in a car full of spears and hand guns, killing bad guys. Some day, they may even find that father that’s missing. What could possibly go wrong? A lot. Stay tuned.

#Supernatural #Supernatural Season 1 #Supernatural Rewatch #Sam #Dean #Winchester #Pilot #Wendigo #Phantom Traveler #Television #History of television #Dead in the Water #Jensen Ackles #jared padalecki

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seven-oomen · 4 years ago

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Hi, Ben! I hope your day is going well so far! Are you still getting snow, or has the storm calmed a bit? We’re supposed to be getting a potentially severe ice storm over the course of today. There’s already a thin layer this morning, we’ll see how the rest of the day goes. And temperatures are supposed to stay in about the -4 to -6C range the rest of the week. I’m very glad that I’m off the next couple of days, and managed to get by the grocery last night after work.

I saw your post about writing and writing styles! It was helpful because I’ve not really seen the different styles written out and explained before. I’m still not 100% which I am, but probably either an intuitive plotter or a methodological pantser. Usually there’s a scene or a line or two that I’m like “this needs to happen in this story” and everything else is fairly free-form. I did try actually writing down an outline for IYWTD, but even then it’s more a list of beats/tropes and the order I want to include them in. (And I’ve only just made it past halfway through, although a couple may need to be altered a bit, oh god, how did this get so long…)

It’s also always kinda of amusing to me how many of those writing advice lists are like “Don’t do this”, “Stop doing this”, “Never do that”, and then they’ll encourage you to find your own voice and style. Like, bitch, you just told me not to ever do half the shit that makes up my style. Which am I supposed to do? Damn. XD (You will seriously pry adverbs and similar descriptors from my cold, dead, grasping hands. Also the occasional epithet. No, I’m not using a character’s name nine times in one paragraph, sorry, and pronouns don’t always help if the characters are the same gender. The reader can deal. ;D )

And I feel ya on the tall, skinny, blue-eyed boys thing. It doesn’t have to be just a white boy, but if he’s taller than me, slender, and has a pretty pair of baby blues, my higher brain functions tend to go into insta-lag. I ain’t particularly proud, but I’ve long accepted this about myself (there are many reasons Luke became my forever BAE.) That’s not to say a lack of any of those is a deal-breaker in the slightest, but it’s definitely going to immediately get my attention.

Speaking (vaguely) of Luke, I had a thought the other day of him and Din being off on some planet together (Grogu is staying with Aunt Leia and Uncle Han for a few days), and there’s a noise in the middle of the night, and Din refuses to accept Luke’s assurance that there’s nothing out there, and in true himbo fashion insists on going out to investigate having grabbed only the darksaber and his helmet to cover his face -but nothing else. Luke just finds it a combo of hysterical and adorable (and kinda hot.)

I hope your novel is going well (whatever stage you happen to be at), and I’m always up for hearing whatever you feel like sharing about it.

I hope you’re still doing well with the whole eating and hydrating regularly thing (it’s also totally okay if you aren’t!), and I’m super proud of you for sticking to it as much as you can anyway. That shit is hard. (Also, ignore the 1500 calories thing, I swear that shit is designed for 130lb women trying to shed a few pounds, not people who need to safely and steadily lose larger amounts of weight. But then I’ve also never fully understood making someone lose weight before surgery, either. “We need you to get rid of some excess weight before we’ll okay this surgery to *checks notes* get rid of some excess weight." Like, weird flex, but okay.)

Anyway, I’m rambling again, and should really eat some breakfast and try to write a little myself today, maybe. Hope you’re feeling okay, and that things are going well overall. I hope Mo is doing well, and enjoying his best cuddle buddy life. Take care! *Hugs!*

Okay, gonna try this this way so that I can refer back to the links on my phone if need be. I couldn’t quite see the full entries for the physical descriptions, and when I tried clicking on them it kept asking for a login, but I think I saw enough to get the gist. I’m not sure exactly what sort of feedback you’re interested in, if any, so this will mainly be my usual sort of rambling stream-of-consciousness type thoughts and questions. Hope that’s okay. Feel free to ignore if it’s not what you’re after right now! :D

I think one of the first questions that popped to mind was where is/what happened to Ellie’s mom, and is that something that’s going to cause problems later in some way? (I.e.- was she killed on a hunt, are they divorced, was it bitter or amicable [would she come after her daughter if she heard about his relationship?]) I guess technically similar questions could also apply to Nate (late husband, ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, one night stand, sperm donor?) it was just more noticeable with Ellie being so young still. Although that could also be part of why he’s ended up in Wyoming, which was another question I had, although there I assume it’s hunt-related.

I also anticipate quite a bit of tension of all kinds when he and Nate first meet, because Faron strikes me from his descriptions as someone rather used to being able to get his own way either through the influence of who he is, or through his size (not necessarily in any kind of intentional or aggressive way, more in an unconscious privilege kind of way, if that makes sense?), and I don’t think Nate sounds like the type to give two shits about either of those things, and it would probably drive Faron up the proverbial wall that Nate isn’t intimidated by him in the slightest. (I could be entirely wrong about all this, this is just the impression I get so far. :D ) And I think Nate being noticeably older than him would just make it that much more irritating at first, too. Now, how long these impressions last will just depend on how quickly they get to know each other, and whether Bachelor #3 is helping or hindering things. XD The potential for just sitting back and watching the fireworks as “laid-back dad jokes with a quick temper” clashes with “quiet, reserved, and possibly takes themselves slightly too seriously” might prove too much for our last contestant for a while, depending on where his personality falls. ;D (Especially since Faron coming in and starting shit will likely come off as a direct threat to people and places Nate considers under his protection.)

Also, are any of these three going to have met before? Will Nate already have some sort of relationship with the werewolf (Does he already know about the supernatural at all?) Did he and Faron encounter each other on the trip to Europe you mentioned in the Life Highlights? If he and the wolf already know each other, how does he get along with Cas, or Nate’s pets? Is the werewolf also going to be native to the region? Does he know anything about Faron’s family? Does Faron already know he’s a werewolf, or is that going to be a bit of a crisis for him later? A test of how well he’s learned not to judge? If Nate doesn’t already know, how will he deal with both their secrets? Do you plan for full-shift only wolves, partial-shift only wolves, or a mix of the two like TW? Are there other supes in the area?

I think you mentioned maybe having him be of Native American descent? I think that could be very interesting, but would require a LOT of research into which tribes are active in the Yellowstone area, and what their individual mythologies say about things like shapeshifters, and LGTBQ+ issues, etc., because there can be a fair amount of variance, I’m sure. Also, I’m just overall curious how he’ll fit in with the other two size wise (get your mind out of the gutter, you know what I mean. XD ) Also curious if any o them are going to have the slightest clue on the feelings front, or are they all going to be just absolute disasters? Will the kids figure it out before they do? Will the kids get along? (Will BachelorWolf have any kids of his own, or just Nate and Faron?) Will Nate’s coworkers have any clue about either the supernatural, or what’s going on with those three? Because I suspect at least some of them will be way more obvious than they think they’re being. XD

Uh… I think that was all that’s occured to me right now?… I’m sorry you’re having a yucky day overall, and I hope tomorrow’s a bit better! The ice storm has finally moved in here, and I can feel the temperature drop radiating off of the front door and windows. It went from rain to freezing rain/hail and I’m not sure how long it’s supposed to last. Hopefully only a little while. Also, sorry your book was terrible. I haven’t seen too many recent recommendations from friends, and I’ve been mostly reading “cozy” mysteries (Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, etc) as my comfort reading myself, lately, so I can’t really suggest anything in particular, unfortunately. At least, nothing I think you wouldn’t already know. Anyway, hope you’re getting some decent rest, and hope you have a better day tomorrow! Take care! *Hugs!*

Alright since this is going to be like a very long one, I’m break it down into a few things.

First full physical descriptions, cause I didn’t know Milanote would be a bitch about it.

Nate:

164 cm (5'4), 75 kg (166 lbs), Short slightly overweight trans man in his middle age. Nearly always the shortest man in the room, only standing around 5'4 and weighing in around 166 lbs. With kind moss green eyes that have permanent crow's feet in their corners and a polite but reserved smile always on his face.

A face that's framed by faint freckles that are only visible in the sunlight. A neatly trimmed beard spices up his features and frames his pink lips. His thick but short eyebrows frame his eyes and create a short arc to his slim nose.

A high forehead separates his brows from his wavy dark blond hair that's always tucked behind his ears.

He generally wears the Superintendents' Park Ranger uniform while on duty. When he's not he wears comfortable jeans and t-shirts, usually a mono color like green, white, or black, plaid flannel shirts, socks with the weirdest patterns and colors, and hiking boots. He wears a steel ring on his right index finger and has a little steel Mjolnir on a necklace around his neck.

He's missing two fingers (his ring and little finger) on his left hand due to a childhood accident.

Faron:

185 cm (6'1 ft), 93 kg (205 lbs), Faron is a tall man with plenty of muscle from his time hunting. He can seem daunting and intimidating when you first meet him but there is a kinder, softer side to him. He has a warm light brown skin color, blue eyes, and black natural tight curly hair that he keeps very short. His full dark beard decorates his cheeks and chin, connects to his upper lip, and all the way up to his sideburns.

He tends to wear dark clothing, leather jackets, no jewelry that could identify him, jeans, henley shirts, or V-neck shirts, and black, brown, or red jackets. He usually wears black combat boots or dark brown hiking boots. He's got knives and other weapons hidden all over his body and pockets and it might take him a good few minutes to unload every single knife from his body when he was to disarm.

There are also scars all over his body, including some scars on his neck that are visible from day to day life. He had the bad luck of being struck down by a vicious Wendigo but managed to escape. He survived thanks to his sister's quick thinking and first aid.

He covers some of those scars up with tattoos; he has one tattoo of a dragon laying down on his shoulder, with its head on his chest and its body curling over his shoulder and ending just below his shoulder blades. And one tattoo covers up some scars on his lower arm, it's a tattoo of a wolf's head that covers up a bite mark.

Dichali:

He’s 37 and has 4 siblings, and two children, Kajika & Kaniya (Jika & Niya, identical twins, but one of them identifies as male, he’s trans. Kajika is his chosen/reassigned name. They are 10.) Dichali grew up in Riverton, WY, which is the largest town of 10,000 in the largest Native Reservation in Wyoming. He’s also a dear friend to our Nate (who is also his boss technically) and has slowly been falling in love with him for the last few years. (Although he still hasn’t realized that he loves his friend.)

Yena, his coworker and friend, who’s much younger at 25 has been watching her coworker and her boss joke and dance around each other. She has a betting pool with her girlfriend on who snaps first.

Not sure how I’ll connect him to Faron if it’s more fun/better to have him find out later or to already know him and keep it quiet.

I’m still working on him, so I don’t have much of personality and other things written down yet. But I have made his physical description:

At 178 cm (5'8) and 83 kilos (182 lbs) Dichali probably isn't the tallest man you've met, he's also not the shortest. And while he's got some good muscle on him from working as a Park Ranger, and being a werewolf, he also has some softer sides. All the better to cuddle with. He has long straight brown hair that falls to his mid-back and deep brown eyes and a long nose that ends prominently. His eyebrows are thin and he has a high forehead. His skin is a light Tawny color, there's a hint of an orange brown with a cool undertone.

His skin is also relatively clear and youthful looking because of his lycanthropy.

He tends to wear pants and jackets made by native designers and always incorporates native fashion into his outfits. He has jackets of mostly gray, blue, brown, and black colors made of denim, cotton, wool, or brass that are lined with more traditional cloths and patterns like the designer brand Ginew. Usually he pairs them with dark jeans, either black, gray, or dark blue. He pairs it with white, blue, red, black, or printed band t-shirts (Metallica, Green Day, Marianas Trench).

For shoes he has brown hiking boots that are part of the Ranger uniform, more western styled boots like black cowboy boots, and a pair of sneakers.He also wears a copper bracelet with lighting bolts etched into it.

Now this whole story got started because I had the question what if we had a DILF romance going on while/because the following happened?

What if a YouTube video that accidentally got uploaded shows the existence of a werewolf in Yellowstone park? Threatening to expose the entire supernatural world.

The werewolves right now are a mix, so half shift is like the classical half shift of a wolf head on a man’s body, but the full shift is more like a larger wolf. Almost the size of a black bear. Though I might change those ideas as the story progresses.

But that is how the Cryptid of Yellowstone is brought into the world. And that brings problems. Big problems.

Wendigos, vampires, djins, I plan to create a world where a lot of supernatural creates exist. From all sorts of cultures. I’m also toying with the idea of Kelpies and Griffins. That kind of stuff.

The supernatural world is hidden from ours, hidden in plain sight if you will. Most encounters are written off as really strange, sometimes a picture pops up, but with the coming of the internet, things have gotten more complicated. Also with deforestation and competition with regular wildlife has made some bigger supernatural creatures either extinct or thought to be extinct. They’re not sure what still lives in Australia, though.

Nate or his son don’t know about the supernatural world. Neither does Yena. Or much of the world. Dichali, his children (to some extent), Faron, and Faron’s family do know about this world.

Alright, as for your other post XD

Right now it’s no longer storming but due to the freezing temperatures the snow’s not going away and all public transport and delivery services are still not driving/delivering/running. So that’s neat. Not.

I swear we get some snow and the country is just down. Upside, ain’t nobody going outside and this helps with lockdown.

I hope your snowstorm won’t be too bad and everything thaws down soon. Snow’s fun for a day but after that...

Make sure you stay warm alright? And bundle up.

Yes dad... alright XD

Honestly, I’m glad to hear you liked my advice too. I’m getting quite a bit of positive feedback on it and that just makes me really happy ^^. I’m definitely writing more writing advice from everything I’ve learned so far.

There’s honestly so many contradicting ones out there, it’s a matter of picking and choosing which ones work best for you and applying those. And that’s the real trick of advice.

Fun fact, a lot of famous writers are also pantsers. Steven King, Neil Gaiman, George RR Martin are examples of famous pantsers or gardeners as they are also called.

John Grisham, JK Rowling, RL Stein fall into the plotter or architect category.

Writers like Hank Green seem to fall in the in-between category of plantser (somewhere between a plotter and a pantser. Or the Intuitive plotter.)

Okay but the DinLuke things is really really kinda hot and cute and adorable and has me smiling <3

And I can’t remember what else I wanted to say since it is like 2 am and my meds are seriously kicking in now.

But I hope you’re doing alright and that the snowstorm isn’t too bad where you’re at.

I’ll be alright, my diet hasn’t been going so well the last few days and I can’t really exercise, but I did mostly get healthy groceries that will be delivered friday so there’s that.

Fingers crossed I can pick it back up.

Okay I’m heading to bed XD

I’ll talk to you later, B <3

Hugs from me and Mo <3

#my ocs #please don't reblog #B #my convos with anon #ben writes original fiction #submission

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thesmalltowngal · 5 years ago

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Snowbaz 15- Romeo and John

Otp Prompt #15: Simon and Baz are both cast in Romeo & Juliet, but the roles they get are… interesting. (Prompt idea credit to @yellow-car)

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday or the day before! I went to a football game (and got home super late), and then I had a birthday party to go to, and I just got super behind on writing. This one is extra long, just because I really felt the inspiration with this one. 😂 Enjoy!

Somehow, Agatha convinced me to sign up for the Watford school play. (There’s only one every four years because we don’t often have time for extracurriculars at a magicks school). This year’s play is Romeo and Juliet (I’ve read this book once- didn’t understand a word). Agatha told me that I was a shoe-in for Romeo and she (of course) was going to be Juliet. It would work out perfectly. I suppose I would have been perfect for Romeo (other than my utter lack of coordination and my terrible singing voice) if bloody Baz of all people hadn’t decided to audition as well.

When we first got to auditions, everything was fine. Totally alright. We got in groups and practised our auditions songs (both Baz and Agatha said I sounded like a dying cat) and acted out scenes. By the end of the day, I was thoroughly beat. Exhausted on all accounts and ready to go home, even if it was with Baz. Of course he was flawless at singing, acting, and dancing. His voice sounded smooth and sweet. His feet moved like someone was moving them perfectly for him, and he acted as if someone else had entirely possessed him.

So the day after (today), everyone comes back to the theatre (a run down old thing- falling apart at the seams) to be given their roles. The theatre teacher starts listing off names one by one, stating recommended role and a secondary role that they could be considered for under certain circumstances. Of course Baz gets the role of Romeo with the secondary role of… Romeo. Literally the only role they would like him to play since he’s so bloody perfect. Figures. He looks over at me and flashes me a smug smile.

Agatha would be the last to be given her role since she’s toward the end, and I’m right before her. When the teacher finally gets to me, she says simply, “Simon Snow: Villager #3…” She hesitates before saying, “Or Juliet.” I nearly choke on my own spit, and when I look over at Baz he’s doubled over in laughter. Tears spill out of the corners of his eyes and he’s holding his stomach. His laugh his big and bellowy, and for some reason, part of me feels… satisfaction? At the fact that I made him smile for real and laugh so hard. Granted, it’s at my expense. Agatha’s eyes bulge out of her head and she turns a bright red. (Embarrassed to be dating a male Juliet, I suppose).

“Um, er- Madame? Pardon, but what exactly made you consider me for the role of Juliet?” I’m sure my face is bright red from embarrassment as I stumble over my words. Baz looks like he’s about to combust or pop a vein.

“Well, Mr. Snow, you have certain… qualities… that might make you a good candidate. Also, we thought perhaps more LGBT representation among the Watford theatre programme may be good,” Baz is practically choking on his own spit and his shoulders shake with laughter. He is just loving this. “In fact, you were our first choice, but we assumed you wouldn’t be interested, so we gave it to…” She glances at her list before looking back up at me. “To Agatha Wellbelove. If you want the role it’s yours, but-” I look over at Baz (who has abruptly replaced his laughter with a smug smirk) and Agatha who are looking at each other. Agatha looks excited, and Baz looks thoroughly satisfied at the fact that he would be getting to snog my girlfriend. Well, I’m not about to bloody well let that happen.

“Crowley, I’ll take it. I’ll be Juliet- but can we maybe change the name to something a… tad more masculine?” Agatha has whipped her head toward me so fast and hard that I’m not sure it didn’t give her whiplash. She glares at me and I can feel waves of angry magic rolling off of her. (Usually it’s me who overflows with angry magic). Baz has schooled his expression into one of surprise and curiosity.

The professor claps her hands together excitedly. “Wonderful! Perfect. You can be… John, yes?” I nod my head and she continues, turning to Agatha. “Agatha darling, you’ll be a perfect fit for Rosaline, the girl that rejects Romeo. Get ready everyone- we officially have all roles! Rehearsal for Romeo and John starts tomorrow!” She dismisses everyone and I immediately turn to Agatha. She looks bloody pissed. I suppose I’ll have to kiss Baz now (a fact that makes my insides churn), but better me than my girlfriend.

“How could you, Simon?! You get a lead role even when it’s supposed to be a girl and I’m the one who talked you into this in the first place and you knew that I wanted to be Juliet?” She’s turning red, but she has to understand where I’m coming from. The only reason I did it was so that Baz and Agatha wouldn’t kiss. I’m too worried that they’ll end up together if that happens.

“Aggie, I only did it so you wouldn’t snog my enemy!”

“Oh and it’s much better if you do?”

“Yes, yes it is!” Now I’m getting angry at her, and I can feel the magic rising to my skin- Agatha doesn’t seem to notice (or maybe she just doesn’t care).

“Aleister Crowley, Simon! You two have more bloody chemistry than he and I do!” What in the bloody hell is she on about? She throws her hands up in defeat. “That’s it, Simon, I need a break.”

“A break?” A break from what? From the play? From Baz? I support all of those things.

“A break from us, Si. I just… I need some space.” Everything goes momentarily red before I feel a strong, calloused hand clamp down on my shoulder and drag me out of the building, pushing and shoving me farther away from campus. When the person spins me around, I’m face to face with Baz. I lunge for him, but he ducks away. (Just as graceful as ever, the prat.)

“Calm down, Snow! You were about to go off! Crowley, you’re lucky I saved your bloody arse when I did. As much as I was enjoying the show, didn’t want you to blow us all up.” He sneers at me and I growl at him, but I can feel myself calming down. “Just breathe, Snow.” I take in deep breaths and close my eyes, trying to think about happy things. When I finally open my eyes, completely cooled down and ready to thank Baz, he’s gone. I look around, but I can’t see him anywhere. I suppose we’ll just pretend that never happened.

…

When I finally went back to our room last night after my near-meltdown, Baz was already in bed and asleep. (Or so he acted like he was- he acts like he’s asleep a lot, but I know when he’s really asleep. His breathing is different). This morning, he acted like him comforting me had never even happened, and everything went back to normal. He sneered at me all day, and I growled at him in turn. Name calling. Truth be told, it all just feels routine now. Like I’m just going through all of the emotions of despising him… but I’m not totally sure that I do. Not after last night. Even though it would have been hilarious for him to see me go off yesterday, (he would think it was funny because he knows that I subconsciously protect him when I go off. I can’t even help it) he helped me calm down. In fact, he even stopped me from making a huge mistake by yelling at Agatha, which isn’t like him at all.

So now I’m here at rehearsal, trying not to stare at my arch-rival. Agatha went through with her promise of being on a break, but if I’m being honest, I’m not all that mad. I think I’ve been thinking (well, as much as it’s possible for me to think) about breaking it off with her for a long bloody time. I just… kind of filed it away under the things I’m not supposed to think about. As with my hatred of Baz, I just feel like we were just going through the motions of dating. I love Agatha, but I don’t quite think I’m in love with her. I suppose Penny was right. Right now, Agatha is ignoring me completely while we learn stage directions. There aren’t many songs to sing, but there is a party in which people are supposed to dance together- I have to dance with Baz. But for now, we’re learning the very beginning of the play, and we aren’t quite ready to learn the dances yet.

The whole rehearsal, Baz and I are separated, because our two characters don’t meet yet- we’re in completely different scenes. Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo and John, I suppose) seems like a silly concept. The whole bloody forbidden love thing doesn’t seem very realistic; if you love someone that much, it’s not going to be horrible, yeah? I mean, Crowley, if a romance was really forbidden in the real world, surely the ‘main characters’ would be like ‘screw this, this is absurd’ and then they would ride off into the sunset. But these two both end up dying. Over love. What a cliche. (I don’t know how Agatha talked me into this). But anyway, Baz and I don’t see each other for nearly the whole rehearsal, except for at the very end when we’re all seated around the professor.

We’re going over every act and every scene in our scripts, reading the lines all out loud. The only problem is that the professor has Baz and I standing in the middle of the circle for ‘practise acting together’. The good news is that no one seems to be looking at us- everyone is just staring down at their scripts.

In a few scenes we have to change pronouns since the lead (me) is now a male, but they’re easy fixes. When we get to the party part in the script, Baz looks up at me, but keeps saying his lines. (Of course the twat already has lines memorized). Our characters just talk to each other for a while (I fumble on a few lines because bloody hell Baz is staring me down) before dancing. We skip that part because we haven’t learned it yet. When we get to the first kissing scene, I feel myself blush for some reason. Just the fact that I have to kiss my nemesis is weird. But if I have to do it for the play, I suppose I will. But not now. We won’t do the kiss until opening night- the professor said so.

I don’t know how Baz is so good at playing this love sick character when he’s never been with anyone, as far as I know. In this scene, the two characters are falling in love with each other. Baz delivers every line with love and lust, portraying this forbidden love thing far better than I am. We make eye contact as he delivers a line. “Prodigious birth of love is it to me that I must love a loathed enemy…” He sounds so genuinely said that for a second, I nearly forget that it’s just the character that he’s playing, and not Baz himself. Baz would never stand to pine someone- he’s just not that kind of person.

Throughout the whole rehearsal, it was weird to see Baz interacting with people. Actually laughing. It’s like he really comes alive when we’re all working for the same thing. In fact, he’s actually tolerable. He cracks jokes himself, and I even caught him laughing at a few of mine. It’s so unlike him that it’s slightly disorienting. In fact, when we’re finally done with rehearsal, he doesn’t speed up out of the door to get ahead of me. He walks with me. Well, maybe not with me, but a few feet beside me.

“You sound like a robot, Snow,” I look over, expecting to see a sneer, but instead I see a small smile. “Work on sounding more love sick.” He says it like it’s so easily- then again, everything seems to be easy for him.

“I don’t even know how to do that,” He raises a curious eyebrow at me, and I walk a little closer to him so we don’t have to yell across the whole bloody field.

“Didn’t you and Wellbelove just break up?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Well you must be hurting then, Snow. Tap into that. Acting is just… drawing upon experiences and feelings, no matter how deep down they may be. Crowley, just work on putting some emotion into your lines!” He shoves me (but with no aggression… which I don’t know what to make of) and I realize that for him to draw up those emotions, he must have some love sickness for himself.

“So then… how do you draw up love?” He scoffs and rolls his eyes, like he thinks I’m taking a stab at him. “No, really. What do you draw from?” He looks at me funny for a moment before changing his expression into his usual one that he saves especially for me- a sneer and venom in his voice.

“We’re not friends, Snow,” He spits out my name, and I just want him to go back to how he was acting before. Actually pleasant for once. “That is none of your bloody business, you twat.” He speeds up, passing me and jogging toward Mummers House. I make a feeble attempt at trying to call out to him, but I suppose having fun with him was only meant to last a moment.

…

Baz ignores me whenever he can. He ignores me often, but it’s different this time. He always takes a chance to make fun of me and poke me until I go off. Maybe brag about stealing my girlfriend. But now he’s not saying anything. I’ve tried provoking him, just to get something from him, but it hasn’t worked. He just ignores me, not even throwing the occasional sneer my way. Yesterday at rehearsal, our characters still hadn’t met, so we didn’t interact much. He was perfectly fine with everyone else- joking around (as far as joking goes for him, anyway) and laughing. It felt odd, feeling a bit sad when he would stop smiling when he looked at me. Like my face made him sad.

Tonight at rehearsal, it’s time for everyone to learn the dance for a party scene. Everyone partners up- including Baz and I. The choreographer teaches us the basic steps, and I’m certain that I’ll trip over my feet and piss Baz off even more. But we set up nonetheless. I’ve never been a good dancer, and I’ve certainly never danced with a bloke. But it seems like Baz has done this before, because he takes control. He grabs one of my hands, lifting it up (he has very rough hands, but they’re oddly soothing) and wraps one arm under my armpit and sets his hand on my back. I follow his lead and rest my arm on his, letting my hand settle on his upper back as well. He doesn’t look at me once while we set up. Crowley it’s weird to be this close with Baz. I can feel his breath, and smell his overwhelming scent of cedar and bergamot.

Looking up at him (he’s always been taller than me by at least three inches- and he never lets me forget it, either), I see that he looks tired. He has bags under his eyes, and his hair is falling from it’s usual slicked back state. His eyes are a stormy grey (bastard always had better eyes than me, too). As soon as the music starts, he begins to move his feet all around. He has the perfect posture while gliding around the floor, and I can only just follow his lead. He’s so graceful. His back is strong (and oddly tense) under my hand, but the hand that I’m holding is loose while it holds mine. In the scene, we’re never supposed to break eye contact, but he seems to be looking anywhere but at me as we dance. He spins me around many times, but we’re only halfway through the dance (it’s killing me- I don’t know how Baz is still breathing normally) when the music stops, as well as the other students.

The professor walks up to us, clicking her heels and stops right in front of Baz. She leans in to whisper something in his ear, and then promptly turns on her heel back to her spot in the audience when he nods. He rolls his eyes as she walks away, but he readies to dance again as the music starts. This time, he’s looking right at me. In the play, his character should be looking at me as though he was falling in love with me, but Baz looks like the exact opposite of that. He just looks… bored.

I lean forward until my lips graze his jaw as I whisper, “I know you hate me Baz, but Romeo is supposed to be falling in love with John… act.” When I pull away, I see that his face has changed to (a very real looking) fake smile, and his eyes have softened. I don’t know how he manages to fill his eyes with love (I didn’t even know what that would look like- now I know that it looks like this), but he does. He really looks as though he’s falling in love. We glide across the floor with minimal tripping as we finally get to the end of the song. When it ends, Baz springs away from me and sneers. Oh how quickly things change.

…

The next rehearsal is the kiss scene. Baz and I take our places (we’ve been assigned to memorize these lines- I wanted to practise with him, but he laughed in my face) facing each other. He begins, standing right in front of me, eyes pleading, taking one of my hands with his. (The text was altered to make more sense in modern times, so we can actually understand what the other is saying).

“Your hand is like a holy place that my hand is unworthy to visit. If you’re offended by the touch of my hand, my two lips are standing here like blushing pilgrims, ready to make things better with a kiss…”

“Good pilgrim, you don’t give your hand enough credit. By holding my hand you show polite devotion. After all, pilgrims touch the hands of statues of saints. Holding one palm against another is like a kiss.” I say in turn, pulling him a little closer to me. (It’s not in the script, but it feels right for this scene).

“Don’t saints and pilgrims have lips too?” “Yes, pilgrim—they have lips that they’re supposed to pray with.”

“Well then, saint, let lips do what hands do. I’m praying for you to kiss me. Please grant my prayer so my faith doesn’t turn to despair.” I’m so lost in my head (thinking about Baz saying he wants me to kiss him, even though it’s just his character), that Baz has to squeeze my hand to remind me that we’re still in the scene.

I shake out of my stupor and reply, “Saints don’t move, even when the grant prayers.”

“Then don’t move while I act out my prayer,” He responds, leaning in. I stay stone still while he presses his lips to my cheek (for the real showing we’ll do a real kiss, but we’re marking it for now with cheek kisses. Saving the real one for the showings was Baz’s idea- marking it with a cheek kiss was mine). His lips are cold and soft, and after he pulls away, I forget for a moment that we’re not alone in the classroom. I look around to see everyone staring at us. I’m red from head to toe. “Now my sin has been taken from my lips by yours.” He smiles as he says this, gazing into my eyes.

“Then do my lips now have the sin they took from yours?” I smirk at him, mostly because that’s what my character would probably do. I try to push any love that I have inside me to me eyes, showing the fact that I’m falling in love (in the play).

“Sin from my lips? You encourage crime with your sweetness. Give me my sin back.” It sounds like such a Baz thing to say that I’m caught off guard (for the tenth time today) for a moment.

I lean forward and put my hands on the back of his neck, pulling him to me (because he’s too tall for me to just reach forward) and placing a kiss on his cheek. It lasts a bit longer than the first one, and people start catcalling. I roll my eyes and blush as I spring away from Baz. The move felt so natural. Like I had taken him by the neck before- but I haven’t. Not even to get in a good punch, to my recollection.

I spend the rest of the night thinking about his lips on my cheek.

…

It’s been months since our first rehearsal for Romeo and John, and tomorrow morning is the first showing. Over the months, Baz has gotten less defensive, and we’re mainly back to normal. But for four hours of every day, we have to act like we’re falling hopelessly in love, which I suppose isn’t normal. Tonight was our last rehearsal, and we ran the whole thing through twice… except for the kisses. We have the dancing and acting down no problem, but I’m worried about the first kiss. Not just because I have to snog my enemy of all people, but because it’s a huge climactic part of the play- the moment where they’ve realized that they’re falling in love. Baz and I have fought for the past seven and a half years- how the bloody hell are we supposed to snog like we’re falling madly in love? Crowley, I’m nervous about it.

So nervous, in fact, that I sit bolt upright in bed and spell the lights on. I swing my legs over the side of my bed, turning toward Baz (I know he’s up- he’s breathing his awake and thinking breathing) and say, “Baz, get up.” He groans, but sits up nonetheless. He doesn’t look tired, exactly, but his sneer falls flat when he tried to throw one at me.

“Aleister Crowley, what is so important, Snow?”

“I’m nervous about the kiss tomorrow.” He rolls his eyes and runs a hand over his face.

“For Christs’ sake, if you don’t want to do it that much, Snow, we’ll do a kiss on the cheek.” He turns slightly pink, like this conversation is making him uncomfortable. (He must’ve just eaten).

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” He quirks an eyebrow at me, but I continue on. “It’s just that we’ve never actually done it before, and I’m bloody worried that it won’t be good enough.”

“So what would put your dimwitted little mind to rest?” I think for a moment, and I think I know exactly what will make me feel better about it.

“We need to pratise- just once to make sure it will be good enough for the stage.”

“You’ve gone right loony, Snow.” He shakes his head and sneers at me. (A real one this time, not one that falls flat).

“Please, Baz? We’ll be doing it for the next week anyway. What’s one more?” He rolls his eyes, but stand up anyway. I stand up too, so we’re facing each other now, close enough that I can see flecks of blue in his grey eyes.

“Fine, Simon. One time.” He looks annoyed, but I’m thrown by his choice of words. Simon? My heart flutters with something that I don’t quite recognize, but I’m startled from my thoughts when he snaps three times in front of my face and raises an eyebrow.

“Okay, so… how do we do it? Do we start by saying some of our lines, or just-” I’m cut off when Baz’s face turns soft for a moment before he cups my face and presses his lips to mine. I gasp and then sigh against his mouth, running my hands in his hair and on his stomach. My mouth opens to let him in, and his does do. We’re breathing heavily and I can barely even think. His mouth is cold but in a wonderful way. Even though he’s a bloke (and my enemy), this might just be the best kiss I’ve ever had.

It feels like fireworks. Like one of those kisses in the movies where the camera does a circle around them and zooms out and in while they just grab at each other. He grabs a fistful of my hair and I can’t help but sigh against his mouth. Our noses bump together, and it’s just so desperate. He’s my enemy and I’m supposed to hate this… hate him. This kiss is magic. This kiss is… forbidden. Now I understand what Romeo and Juliet is about.

When he finally pulls away, we’re both breathing heavily and he simply says, “Good enough for the stage, Snow?” I just stand there, mouth open and eyes trained on him as he lays down in bed and spells the lights off. I stand there, slowly nodding, for what feels like hours before I eventually find my way to bed.

I am screwed.

…

It’s opening night tonight. This morning, Baz just went about sneering at me as per usual, but I couldn’t bring myself to growl back. Because that kiss just kept replaying itself in my mind over and over again. The way we clawed at each other… the desperation that I’m sure we both felt at that moment. This morning, Agatha told me she was ready to get back together, but I couldn’t let it happen. I just don’t love her like I thought I did. And after that kiss… nothing feels the same. Not for me, anyway.

All through the first act, everything goes smoothly. I can’t stop staring at Baz. When we get to the dancing scene, it feels like everyone else just melted away and it was just him and I… floating across the stage. I kept staring at his lips, and in his eyes. I never wanted to stop. That kiss had to mean something to him. It meant everything to me.

When we get to the kissing scene, there aren’t bloody butterflies in my stomach- there are birds. I try to deliver all of my lines without my voice hitching. When he first kisses me, it’s not open-mouthed; it’s not supposed to be. But for the second one, when we both lean in to kiss each other… it can be as desperate as we want it to be. As soon as his lips touch mine, I’m consumed by him. Everything just melts away and it’s just Baz and his bloody mouth. We claw at each other, and I can barely even hear the applause from the audience- it all just seems so far away. It’s the end of Act 1, so the curtains close, calling for the end of the scene; and the kiss. But I don’t want to stop. We stay like that for two full minutes after the curtains close until eventually Agatha comes to rip me from him. As I walk off stage left, I look behind me and see Baz looking at me, looking as confused as I feel.

“What the hell was that, Simon?!” She’s raging in my face, but I can barely focus on her. I’m ready for the next kiss scene.

“What was what?” I ask like I don’t know. I know exactly what she’s talking about. What was that kiss with your mortal enemy?

“You and Baz basically devouring each other in front of everyone! It was so irre-” She’s cut off by the professor coming around clapping and shrieking like a banshee.

“So spectacular! That was wonderful! You could see the love- the longing! Brilliant! In all of my years of teaching drama, I’ve never seen such great actors with such feigned chemistry. Bloody amazing!” She keeps on about what amazing acting it was… but I’m not so sure that it is just acting anymore.

…

The rest of the play goes by without a hitch, and every scene I have with Baz is magic. I can feel the electricity when we kiss, and I can see the sparks when we just talk. It feels so forbidden, and I suddenly have a newfound respect for this play. At the end, Baz and I walk onto the stage together, hand in hand, bowing for the audience as they cheer and throw flowers at us. (There’s no way they actually brought the flowers- not many grow around here, so they must’ve just spelled them). Even as we exit the stage, I don’t let go of Baz’s hand. We walk back out with the rest of the cast and do the bows. The audience goes crazy, but all I’m focused on is the feeling of Baz’s hand in mine.

As the curtain finally closes, everyone is cheering, and the cast on the stage is brimming with joy and excitement. I turn to Baz, grinning as I see that he’s smiling, too. “We did great, Baz!” He looks at me as though he’s still in character- with love in his eyes. I look back up at him (with love in my eyes too, I’m sure- there’s a lot to draw from at the moment), but I don’t have to act when I smile at him; it’s genuine.

In the middle of all the chaos, there we are. Baz and I. Romeo and John. Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch and Simon Snow- what have you. In the middle of everything, here we are, two boys with conflicting feelings, being told that we can’t be together. Being told by our friends and family that we were destined to kill each other.

Everything goes quiet as the Love Story of Baz and Simon comes to a riveting conclusion (or maybe beginning), when I pull him closer and kiss him like there’s no tomorrow. Everyone is silent, but when we finally break apart, looking at the cast, everyone erupts in cheers. I laugh for just a moment before I’m pulled back into Baz. Suddenly I know how I managed to draw up the emotions of love in order to act…

Because in the middle of everything- all of the chaos, drama and heartbreak…

I have Baz. And that’s all I need to feel all of the love in the world.

89 notes · View notes

greatfay · 5 years ago

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Sabrina

Ohhhhh boy.

my all-time ultimate fave character:

Ambrose Spellman. First of all who are his parents? How is he Sabrina’s cousin? Whatever. This man is so beautiful right like all the time, or 90% of the time, idk why the other characters don’t just record his voice and play it back whenever they have a dumbass moment, a sort of audio “What Would Ambrose Do” recorder because every single time, Ambrose ends up being riiiiight. And there’s still so much about him that’s gone unexplored imo. The Vatican plot, the group he was a part of, him grieving his boyfriend from season 2?? Just saying, considering the character of Salem was split into the not-talking Cat and Ambrose, he really should be more intertwined into the plot.

a character I didn’t used to like but now do:

Prudence. She also grew on me, though there’s some issues with this show’s writing and I think it comes from Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa trying to be Ryan Murphy in the worst way possible. Yes you can quote me on this, don’t @ me, argue with your mama. Prudence and her Weird Sisters are basically the Unholy Trinity of CAOS, except that unlike Brittany and Santana, Agatha and Dorcas never get real character development, and Prudence’s cold outer shell slowly melts only to pop back up unexpectedly and cruelly, so it’s like I like her! But then she’ll say/do things in random moments that makes it hard to like her because The Writing. Liiiike her blaming Ambrose at the end of Part 3 for that thing that happened. Also casting a person of color to play a fictitious fantasy race that calls other races “half-breeds” is never cool lmao, I’ve noticed this is a trend in fantasy, basically take your character who’s supposed to be a race supremacist and cast a black person to be them and suddenly it’s not as bad—it’s worse. And anyway I’d take a whole spin-off miniseries of Ambrose and Prudence with her TWO FUCKING SWORDS prancing across the Scottish countryside and down New Orleans streets on a quest. Geralt is shaking.

a character I used to like but now don’t:

Nick. I love a bad boy. I love a bad boy with layers. Everything about his character was supposed to be a tempting fruit to convince Sabrina to sign her name in the book, and for the most part it works!!! So the Dark Lord might ask you to sacrifice a baby here and there, you get to have magic! And do sex magic with Gavin Leatherwood. And I had very different expectations for where his arc would go in Part 3. Sulking was not a good look for him. Jealousy was also not a good look for him. And the foot thing was gross af. I don’t see how his character can remain relevant moving forward if he’s not even Sabrina’s friend, let alone her boyfriend.

a character I’m indifferent about:

Sabrina. At first, I liked her characterization because as much as I’m a sucker for magic, it would be hard to just ghost all your friends. Especially if you have real friends, people who would be there for you, people you know are vulnerable and want to protect. I liked Sabrina as this half-in/half-out girl who wants both worlds and does the right thing. I also don’t mind a hero who does shady shit to save the day because I’m all about that moral complexity. But now she’s a bit annoying, like pull out your moral compass and pick a point! So I feel nothing toward her. My positive and negative feelings cancel out.

a character who deserved better:

Lilith. She should’ve been Queen of Hell. That whole plot point should’ve been stretched out WAY longer, especially the “they’re praying to ME” scene. BUT. I’ll say this. As much as I would’ve liked a whole Queen Lilith/Church of Lilith thing, miss thang didn’t really market herself at all. Lucifer knew exactly how to get these people eating out of his hands, and Lilith does… nothing! When they prayed to her for the first time, she should’ve made all the statues cry milk, butterflies sing with the voices of the dead, and a rainbow appear in the sky. It’s about the Drama, she could’ve a whole following but spent the whole season being Sabrina’s Unholy Godmother. Which of course, is due to the Writing. I’m just surprised she never betrayed Sabrina, and also her getting stuck with her abuser again is disgusting.

a ship I’ve never been able to get into:

Sabrina/Harvey. They’re portrayed as endgame in the beginning but I knew he’d always be the thing holding her back from Plot Stuff, so he had to go; plus he never had a positive experience with magic and was never going to be onboard. Next is, surprisingly, Ambrose/Prudence. I really like the Sherlock/Watson thing they have going on, but Ambrose is just so nice and Prudence so blunt that they only have chemistry when they’re fucking, and tbh my “ships” are actual relationships, not fuckingships, there has to be shared emotional baggage and communication, which they didn’t have. Ya know what… Sabrina x Prudence. Now there’s a couple I would root for.

a ship I’ve never been able to get over:

Sabrina/Nick because it was the sneeze that never happened. Feels like I didn’t even see it onscreen. Next is Tommy/Life because he shouldn’t have died, and my OTP is Faustus/Jail because he’s a fucking creep.

a cute, low-key ship:

Theo/Robin. Listen… not only are they cute as heck individually, but together it’s too powerful. And it’s such a big deal that a trans masculine main character can be the object of someone’s affections that were so strong that the character in question betrays their own family, a group of mythical creatures and gods, to do the right thing and protect him. Runner-up is Zelda/

an unpopular ship but I still enjoyed it:

I don’t think I have one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a ship that was totally wrong and never should have happened:

Zelda/Faustus. Literally I vomit, I euuuughhh, euuuuughhh 🤢 listen I am not a woman, I don’t think I believe in incarnations? But watching their interactions triggered like… flashbacks in me as if I was a suburban housewife in the year 1958 and my husband will be home in 5 minutes and the “shrimp jello salad” I was supposed to have ready for him is a complete disaster and he’s going to beat me. I got Game of Thrones flashbacks watching their interactions.

my favourite storyline/moment:

When I actually thought Sabrina killed one of the Weird Sisters was a great moment for me personally, also liked the flashbacks of Lilith in the dawn of Earth, also loved Ambrose and Prudence’s adventures across the world.

a storyline that never should have been written:

That whole nightmare hallucination where Theo (before he changed his pronouns and name) woke up in a “boy’s body” was so intimately disgusting and terrible and problematic, it almost completely undoes every good thing about Theo’s storylines and the representation.

Harvey getting accepted to some artsy private school only to be haunted by nightmares of the Dark Lord??? Where did that go again? I forgot.

my first thoughts on the show:

Dark, creepy, stylish. I like it.

my thoughts now:

Messier, sometimes frustrating, still dark, still stylish. I like it?

Ask me about a tv show/movie series/book series!

#zerograviga #caos #chilling adventures of sabrina

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ladyherenya · 5 years ago

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Books read in October

Twenty novels (including two audiobooks), three graphic novels, one novella and two rereads: more books than are pictured above. I can’t remember the last time I read so much in a month. Maybe when I was high school?

It was a combination of factors: Rainbow Rowell’s latest books became available at the library, I realised that Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells books are murder mysteries, and I made the very exciting discovery that I could get Ellen Emerson White’s previously-out-of-print novels as ebooks.

Favourite cover: Life Without Friends.

Reread: Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher, Hold Me by Courtney Milan (and then The Road Home).

Still reading: Mapping Winter by Marta Randall and When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll.

Next up: Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

The Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgis: Princess Sofia is unimpressed when her sister’s latest plans involve sending Sofia on a diplomatic mission to Villenne. Sofia wants to stay in her room and read, not remind everyone that she struggles to be a perfect princess. But in Villenne she discovers unexpected opportunities to attend lectures and make friends. And when calamity strikes, it’s up to her to save the day. A solid adventure about friendship and what it means to be a princess, a philosopher and a person all at once. It’s the sort of book I’d like to send back in time to my twelve-year-old self.

The “Uncommon Echoes” trilogy by Sharon Shinn: Set in a world where many of the nobility have “echoes” -- identical copies who follow them, more substantial than shadows but not capable of speech or independent action. Or so people believe. Begins with Echo in Onyx.

Echo in Emerald: After a story about an ordinary woman pretending to be an echo, here is a woman pretending her echoes are ordinary people. Chessie has the ability to shift her consciousness between herself and her two echoes, enough to give the impression that they are three different people with different personalities and jobs. Usually she keeps to the lower classes, but one day she’s asked to deliver a message to a noble who is investigating a recent murder.(Another inversion, another case of themes and variations, as the first book is about trying to conceal a murder.)This builds upon the first book, deepening our understanding of the political context and of echoes. Chessie’s experience of identity is fascinating.

Echo in Amethyst: A story about echo who slowly gains sentience and independence from her original is a good idea in theory, a logical progression for this trilogy. But it turned out to be a massive misstep. The echo belongs to a woman who is abusive towards her echoes and rude towards nearly everyone else. The echo spends a long time incapable of being anything other than a passive observer of unpleasant people. I skimmed bits and seriously considered abandoning this. Not recommended -- but the first two books standalone sufficiently that you could read just those without this series feeling naggingly incomplete.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks: Super cute! All through high school Josiah and Deja have worked together at the pumpkin patch every September and October. Tonight is their last shift. Deja is determined that Josiah is finally going to speak to the girl he likes. Nothing goes to plan. This is a story about changes, chances and choices. It’s also a love letter to everything Josiah and Deja love about the pumpkin patch -- which includes their relationship. I really liked the characters, and the artwork does such a wonderful job of bringing them, and this place, to life.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan (narrated by Jayne Entwistle): Unexpectedly entertaining, a cosy mystery full of excitement, danger and character growth, set against the backdrop of the London Blitz. Mrs Braithwaite, divorced and deposed from her position as head of the village Women’s Voluntary Service, tries to find her missing adult daughter. Mrs Braithwaite is a very forceful personality. I really liked that she is not only challenged to reevaluate her attitudes, she discovers that qualities like bossiness and tenacity can be great strengths. Large, loud and assertive middle-aged women are so often been relegated to irritating or comedic minor characters, rather than getting to be protagonists.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson: Isobel has spent years painting portraits of the fair folk. She knows to speak courteously, make bargains carefully, and avoid jeopardising her family’s safety. And then she meets the prince of the autumn court. I have mixed feelings. I really liked Isobel, with her practical streak and her passion for painting, and liked the way she describes her experiences. The people she’s closest to are quickly established as interesting, complex and individual. However, this story leans heavily into a portrayal of the fair folk which I don’t find very appealing. A matter of personal taste rather than quality.

Artistic License by Elle Pierson (aka Lucy Parker): I wasn’t sure what to expect from an early self-published novel about an art student and a security guard in New Zealand, especially as the London theatre world is a big part of why Parker’s other books appeal to me. But Queenstown is such a scenic setting and the characters immediately felt like the sort of people Parker writes about. I particularly enjoyed Sophy’s internal dialogue, and how she and Mick become very protective of each other. They’re so mutually caring! In hindsight, this book could have been stronger... but I liked the characters and their interactions. Sometimes that’s enough.

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay: A story about cross-age friendship and forgiveness, about three different women working together in a bookshop. Madeline, a lawyer, has inherited the bookshop from her aunt. Janet is angry and has an ex husband, adult children who rarely speak to her and old friends she wants to avoid. In the middle is Claire, aware of the shop’s precarious finances and trying to juggle work with motherhood. I’d nearly finished this when I realised it’s classified as “Christian fiction”. I really liked how it is about forgiveness and messy, complicated relationships. Not a perfect book, but it surprised me.

The “Heather Wells Mysteries” by Meg Cabot:

Size 12 Is Not Fat: I discovered that this series isn’t just chick lit, it’s murder mystery chick lit about a former pop singer now working as an assistant director for a college dorm. (Talk about misleading covers!) When a student is found dead, Heather is convinced that it wasn’t an accident but murder. At times Heather reminded me of Mia from The Princess Diaries, which I found fascinating and frustrating (some attitudes are more understandable coming from a teenager than from a woman approaching thirty). Anyway, Heather is kind and humorous, I liked the setting, and the mystery had enough twists to satisfy me.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either: More of the same, except that this time when a student turns up dead, it’s obvious to everyone that she has been murdered. Instead of trying to convince everyone of the need for a murder investigation, Heather is trying -- unsuccessfully -- not to get involved in it. I like how supportive Heather’s friends and colleagues are. Her father has been absent (in jail), her mother and her manager ran off with Heather’s money, and her long term boyfriend was unfaithful, but she’s still got people in her life who care and who are there for her. And I did enjoy some of her song lyrics.

Size Doesn’t Matter (US title: Big Boned): I was relieved that this time round the murder victim is not another female student. Yes, murder is horrible regardless, but there can be something particularly unpleasant if a story keeps only killing young women. I definitely don’t want murder mysteries to be all grim and bleak, but I prefer it when murder mysteries aren’t this light-hearted. This isn’t a criticism, just a realisation about my personal taste. I kept reading to see some resolution in Heather’s love life. (I know, priorities). I’ve no idea the woman on the cover is wearing a wedding dress. Marketing is weird.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell: Simon, Baz and Penelope set off on a roadtrip across America to see Agatha, who Penelope is convinced is in trouble. Rowell is so good making me care about her characters and their relationships. I liked how this is a journey of discovery -- exploring a new country, finding out things about the world they live in and learning more about themselves. I enjoyed reading this but wasn’t so enthusiastic about the final act (it becomes a story about vampires) or the conclusion (busy setting up for a sequel, it leaves emotional arcs unresolved). Expectations and personal preferences, I guess.

Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White: I was so excited when I discovered that this had been released as an ebook. A decade of wanting to read something may be an unfair amount of pressure to put on any book, especially on a teen novel from 1987, but I was not disappointed. White is so good at writing smart, acerbic teenage girls dealing with trauma and intense emotions, like guilt and grief. And Beverly’s relationship with Derek is so believably awkward and tentative and hopeful -- two people with their own flaws and fears making the effort to get to know each other. It’s, like, everything I want from teen romance.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers: A team from the 22nd century explore four habitable worlds in orbit around a red dwarf star. It’s a fascinating glimpse into what the future might be like -- what space travel and other worlds might be like -- and a thought-provoking meditation about space, science and life. When it comes to the characters, there’s something quite elliptical about it -- which is fitting, given that Ariadne is writing this account for a specific purpose. It left me feeling unsatisfied, but I think that’s because there are particular things I’m looking for and this novella intentionally -- and effectively -- focuses on something else.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Reading): The Athena Club return to London from one extraordinary adventure and are plunged into another. Their teenaged kitchen maid Alice has been kidnapped, Sherlock Holmes is missing and there is a plot afoot to impersonate the queen. This story has adventure, teamwork, mystery, unexpected twists, more cameos by characters from popular Victorian fiction, and commentary on late Victorian concerns (like empire and eugenics). My favourite part was the Athena Club's interactions when they interrupt the narrative to discuss their lives together, highlight what they think is important or argue about what Catherine included. They’re a team, a household, a family.

All Emergencies, Ring Super by Ellen Emerson White: A teenager asks Dana, a former actress working as a building superintendent, to investigate a building fire. This was curiously lacking in tension --- until things became intensely personal. By the end, I was seriously disappointed that there isn’t a whole series about Dana solving mysteries. I like that Dana investigates by doing research at the library, making use of her acting abilities and enlisting support from friends. Her friendships are one of the highlights -- smart, difficult people who are honest with each other is an interesting dynamic. And the way White writes about the aftermath of trauma is compelling and thoughtful.

The “Echo Company” series by Ellen Emerson White: I read all five books in two days. They’re fast-paced and some aren’t particularly long -- they were published by Scholastic in the early 90s -- but that is only part of why I read them so quickly. They are compelling and unexpectedly fascinating.

Welcome to Vietnam: Eighteen year old Michael Jennings is conscripted to fight in Vietnam -- and I really wanted to see him to find his feet, make friends and survive. I can relate to how much he cares about his dog, and his sense of humour makes him an entertaining character to spend time with, even though he’s been thrown into a terrible, terrifying situation. Even knowing what wars can be like, I was still surprised by conditions the soldiers faced. I was also surprised by how interesting I found it all. It left me thinking about a lot.

Hill 568: Michael has made some friends (and some enemies), he’s grown accustomed to some of the realities of life on the frontlines in Vietnam, and he takes on more responsibility. White’s characters are lively and, in spite of the situations they’re in, often humorous. That humour is a huge part of why this is an engaging story, like an antidote to the horrors of war, but it also serves to emphasise that all those horrible things are happening to a bunch of ordinary young men barely out of school. This book made me laugh, and made me worry about the characters.

‘Tis the Season: Twenty-one year old Lieutenant Rebecca Phillips is a nurse working in the ER of an evacuation hospital in Vietnam. Although already dealing with grief and difficult family relationships and a nightmarish workplace, she’s a bright, upbeat person who goes out of her way to entertain others. Self-appointed “Court Jester”. During the Christmas ceasefire she goes out on a medical helicopter -- and everything goes to hell. There are more medical details than I, a squeamish person, really prefer, but once I got to know Rebecca -- and also once her circumstances became tense and terrifying -- I was very, very invested.

Stand Down: This has some tense moments, but otherwise feels a bit lighter -- a welcome change of pace after everything the characters have been through. Michael spends a lot of time moping over correspondence (or lack thereof) from a nurse he’s met once -- but in context, that’s very understandable. He so desperately needs something positive and hopeful to focus on. I like that Michael’s and Rebecca’s initial interactions aren’t easy, because that feels realistic in the circumstances, and because it’s a positive sign that they’re able to get through awkward conversations; it sets them up to be honest with each other.

The Road Home: I stayed up stupidly late reading this, on a school night too. White is so good at writing about dealing with the aftermath of trauma, and about smart, difficult people making an effort to build relationships -- friendships as well as romances. This follows Rebecca’s final six months serving as a nurse in Vietnam, and the months afterwards. It’s about the things that get her through the war (letters, friendships, alcohol) and the difficulties of adjusting to life back home. I love how this book deals realistically but hopefully with so many things. I have a lot of feelings and favourite passages.

Applied Electromagnetism by Susannah Nix: Two colleagues who travel interstate to do a job with a deadline find themselves under extra pressure due to complications of bad weather. I liked all the references to Olivia and Adam’s nerdy interests, and I thought the discussions of Olivia’s ADHD and her experiences as a woman in STEM were interesting. Otherwise nothing jumped out at me as deserving of criticism or praise, it was all just okay. Less humorous than I expected from something book described as “romantic comedy”, but that was okay. (And maybe someone else would find it funny, humour is such a your-mileage-may-vary thing.)

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill: I love the concept of tea dragons and a tea dragon society. And the dragons are really cute! But the way people’s expressions are drawn in this graphic novel didn’t quite appeal to me and I think that coloured how I felt about the book as a whole. And it’s not a very long story, so it doesn’t have so many opportunities to win over a reader who isn’t enamoured with the illustrations. I’m sorry, book, I’m sure there are other readers out there who will appreciate you!

Runaways: That Was Yesterday (volume 3) by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka with Matthew Wilson: Follows on from Find Your Way Home and Best Friends Forever and involves the reappearance of someone from the Runaways’ past, the appearance of children of old enemies and Christmas. I read three volumes of the original Runaways comics last year -- and this volume really left me feeling like maybe I’d appreciate it more if I’d read those more recently or else if I’d read more of them. Or maybe it was just that it focused a lot on a character I don’t like as much? But, I still liked it. I definitely would like to read more.

#Herenya reviews books #Sharon Shinn #Rainbow Rowell #Ellen Emerson White #Stephanie Burgis #Margaret Rogerson #Lucy Parker #Katherine Reay #Meg Cabot #Becky Chambers #Theodora Goss #Susannah Nix #Katie O'Neill #Finally posting this

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rathertoofondofbooks · 5 years ago

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Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality, which is all about sharing the books that you’ve acquired in the past week!

Books and eBooks

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

I’ve had this book on my wish list for ages now so when I spotted it in a deal this week I snapped it up. I think this will be a hard and in-depth read so I’m not sure when I’ll get to it but hopefully it won’t be on my TBR stack for too long.

Unbelievable by T. Christopher Miller

I recently watched the Netflix drama which is based on this book and I was gripped by it so I wanted to read the book. I downloaded the sample onto my kindle but that was as far as I got then yesterday I saw the ebook in the Kindle sale so I grabbed it. I know I’ve already posted my Non-Fiction November TBR but I might swap one of those books for this one!

My Sh*t Therapist and Other Mental Health Stories by Michelle Thomas

The title of this book caught my eye in last month’s kindle sale and after getting engrossed in the sample I downloaded I had to buy it. It feels like an easy read but one that will also be helpful and interesting.

Catching a Serial Killer: My Hunt for Murderer Christopher Halliwell by Stephen Fulcher

I’ve just started watching the ITV drama A Confession and as often happens I wanted to know more about this case so when I saw this book I had to get it. I might try and squeeze this one in during Non-Fiction November if I can as I’m keen to read it soon.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This is one of those books that has been on my radar for such a long time and yet somehow I’ve never picked up a copy of it. I’ve not put that right and I hope I can finally get to read this book before too much longer.

Tuesday Mooney Wore Black by Kate Racculia

This is a book that I keep seeing and every time I see it I wonder if it’s for me or not. I’m still not sure why I’m not sure but I think it’s one my husband might enjoy so I decided to buy a copy anyway and we can both try reading it.

A Gift in December by Jenny Gladwell

This was an impulse buy because it sounds super festive and I do love a good Christmas read in December!

The Memory Collector by Fiona Harper

I love the sound of this book so this was another impulse buy!

The Visitor by Zoe Miller

This is another book set at Christmas but it’s more of a crime/thriller and I do like a book like this during the festive season so I’m glad to have a copy of this one.

Audio Books

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer

This book has been on my radar for years now but I’ve always held back from buying the paperback so when I saw it was in Audible’s recent sale I decided that this was the format I wanted to read it in so I snapped it up! I do love an interesting read where I can learn something as well as it being a really fun read.

Justice: What’s the Right Thing To Do? by Michael J. Sandel

I’m not sure where I first heard of this book but it’s been on my wish list for ages now so I bought it immediately when I saw it in the Audible sale.

The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau bu Graeme Macrae Burnet

I’ve not read anything by this author before but I do have his more famous book on my TBR and I do love the sound of this writing so decided to take a punt on this one when it appeared in the Audible sale.

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

I’ve just finished listening to The Dream Daughter by this author and very much enjoyed it. It reminded me just how much I used to love reading Diane Chamberlain’s novels so I couldn’t resist buying this book in the Audible sale.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

I’m currently reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and loving it so when this book popped up as an Audible daily deal one day this week I decided it was time to re-visit Miss Marple and bought it! Joan Hickson narrates this audio book so I think it will be wonderfully nostalgic to listen to it as I always think of her portrayal of Miss Marple whenever I read the books.

ARCs

Home Truths by Tina Seskis

I was delighted to get a copy of this from NetGalley as I’ve really enjoyed the author’s previous novels. I’m hoping to read this one this month in amongst my Non-Fiction November books.

I Carried a Watermelon by Katy Brand

I requested this one from NetGalley on a whim as I have a complex relationship with the film Dirty Dancing but have recently being able to love it again. This book sounds like it will be a real nostalgia fest and I’m definitely going to add it to my Non-Fiction November TBR!

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

I’ve heard so much about this book and have been so keen to read it. I have pre-ordered it but I also requested it on NetGalley recently so I was thrilled when I got approved. I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist reading this one for very long so I may have to fit this in amongst all my non-fiction books too!

Have you bought any new books over the last week? Please tell me below. 🙂 If you join in with Stacking the Shelves please feel free to leave your link and I’ll make sure to read and comment on your post.

Stacking the Shelves with my new Book Haul (2 Nov 2019)! Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality, which is all about sharing the books that you’ve acquired in the past week!

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andonewillbringhisfall · 6 years ago

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Alexa, this is so sad.

Return of the meme-inspired fics! I’m sorry lol (side note: I NEED THERE TO BE MEME SPELLS IN WAYWARD SON)

This is the song in the fic

SIMON

‘This is so sad. Alexa, play Despacito,’ I say, for the fifth time. I’m still not sure where to point my wand while I say it. This time, I try the ceiling, but nothing happens.

‘It’s not working because you’re not sad enough,’ Penelope says.

I groan and drop my head on my desk. ‘I am sad. Sad that I can’t get this stupid spell to work.’

‘No, you’re not. You’re frustrated and annoyed,’ she says, not looking up from the notes she’s writing in her book.

‘Who needs a spell to play Despacito anyway?’ Agatha grumbles. ‘That’s the most useless spell I’ve ever heard of.’

Across the room, the song suddenly starts blaring, loudly. The entire class looks around to see who’s managed to cast the spell, and of course it’s Baz. It’s always Baz, brilliant git that he is.

‘Seriously,’ says Agatha, ‘this is ridiculous. What’s the point of a spell like that?’

Across the room, the song cuts off. Baz puts his wand down on his desk and leans back in his chair, looking bored, probably because he wants us to think that using memes as spells is beneath him. If he’s so good at it he must know more about them than he lets on, though.

‘This is so sad,’ says Agatha, but she’s not even holding her wand. She’s looking around at the whole class waving wands and rings around (and Gareth, the only one standing up), trying to get Despacito to play. I guess it is kind of a waste of magic, but Miss Possibelf says it’s a learning experience. She thinks memes are a magickal phenomenon because of how quickly they spread throughout the Normal world. She says they’re vital to our understanding of how words are given power.

Most of the class has managed to cast the spell by now. Despacito is playing at different times all over the classroom, and Rhys and Gareth are singing along every time one of the versions hits the part they know. Agatha’s face is all pinched, and Penny’s chewing the end of her pen and staring into space, which means she’s brainstorming something. Baz is saying something to Niall. He catches me looking at him and raises an eyebrow. I know he’s noticed that I haven’t managed to cast the spell. I look away from him and clench my jaw, raising my wand to try again.

‘Silence!’

Everyone quiets down – we don’t really have a choice – as all the music cuts off at once. Miss Possibelf paces back to the front of the classroom.

‘Excellent work,’ she says. ‘Would anyone like to discuss the spell?’

Keris raises her hand. ‘It only works if you’re sad,’ she says. ‘And I’m not sad.’

‘I disagree,’ says Rhys. ‘People don’t usually use the meme when they’re actually sad. Magic derives from context and intention.’

‘And the meme has been quoted with other songs, often when the sadness is sarcastic,’ Miss Possibelf says. ‘So how do you think that might have affected its use?’

I tune out of the conversation, watching Baz out of the corner of my eye.

I shouldn’t watch him like this, but I do it anyway. I’ve never really been able to help it, have I? It’s different now though, since Agatha and I broke up. Or since she told me she wasn’t interested in him, but that didn’t stop me from getting upset every time he so much as looked at her. I finally figured out that it’s because I want him to look at me.

He does, eventually. He usually does. I think I stare hard enough that he’d feel it even if we were oceans apart. Sometimes it feels like I think of him hard enough that he should be able to feel it. But the look he gives me now is venomous, so I look away.

‘I have an idea,’ Penny is saying, so I try to pay attention. ‘The person using the meme is often not feeling sad; they’re feeling whatever mood is portrayed by the song they choose, even if they preface it by saying they’re sad. So I was thinking the spell could be used almost like a musical mood ring.’

‘Very good,’ says Miss Possibelf. ‘Let’s take a few minutes to experiment with Penelope’s idea and see if you can find a combination of words that will make it work the way she described it. Remember, the key to casting magic is in the intention behind your words.’

The classroom dissolves into chatter. Penny turns halfway in her seat.

‘Which one of you am I spelling?’ she asks, sounding way too eager.

Agatha rolls her eyes. ‘Spell me.’

It’s probably for the best. Penny already thinks I talk about Baz too much; she probably doesn’t need to see what goes on inside my head.

‘Alexa, this is so sad,’ Penny casts. A soft, slow song starts playing. It sounds like it’s coming from somewhere just above Agatha’s head. I don’t recognise it, but it’s a woman’s voice, something about feeling lost and lonely. I didn’t know Agatha felt that way.

I try casting the spell on Penny, but now Despacito decides to start playing. Two seats across from me, Baz is watching, smirking. Typical, he mouths. Fuck you, I mouth back.

I’m too worked up now to concentrate, glancing at him every few seconds, and he’s not looking at me but I know he knows I’m doing it. The spell plays Despacito every time. At least now it’s doing something. Then, finally, I forget about Baz and focus on Penny and it actually works, playing some upbeat confidence anthem, which I guess makes sense since she just invented a spell that the whole class is now using. Grinning, I turn my head to find Baz – I wish the first thing I thought of wasn’t whether or not he saw me cast the spell, but he’s always the first thing I think of – but he’s not even watching. I deflate.

Miss Possibelf calls the class back to order. ‘Let’s have a demonstration in front of the class that we can all discuss. Penelope? Basilton?’

I sigh. Of course she chooses Baz. Penny better show him up.

He walks to the front of the classroom like he owns the place, which he probably thinks he does. Reminding me, again, that he’s an arrogant prick and probably evil, and I ask myself if I was out of my mind thinking about him the way I have been. Not for the first time, not for the fiftieth.

Then he meets my eyes, and I’m captivated all over again.

He has to stop doing that. Looking for me in a crowd, even if it’s only for a second. Lifting his chin in my direction every time he does something impressive in class, like he’s showing off for me the way I try to for him. Even though I know he just does it to drive home the fact that he’s better than me.

Penny and Baz stand at the front of the room, almost like they’re facing off. He lifts his wand and she points her ring at him.

‘Alexa, this is so sad,’ Baz casts, his voice steady, confident. The opposite of mine. The same song that played before plays again, so at least I know I did it right. It’s just typical that he wasn’t paying attention the one time I didn’t fuck up.

Then it’s Penny’s turn. ‘Alexa, this is so sad,’ she says.

A pop song fills the room, which is the last thing I expected. It’s not dark or edgy at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s Taylor Swift.

You’ve ruined my life by not being mine, she sings.

Baz starts, glancing around him quickly, wand at the ready. I sit up straighter in my chair.

I’m so furious at you for making me feel this way.

The class has started whispering. The song is so unlike Baz. And it’s clearly about unrequited love.

He does his best to sneer at Penelope, but even from here I can see he’s shaken. ‘That’s enough, Bunce,’ he says. She lowers her ring, but the music doesn’t stop.

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die.

Impossibly, his cheeks are tinged pink. Baz never blushes, even when he’s furious with me.

He lifts his wand. ‘Silence!’ The classroom goes silent, except for a few giggles. I might be staring at him open-mouthed, but I’m too shocked to care.

He fancies someone. I don’t know why that’s so hard to imagine, especially because imagining it is all I seem to do these days, but it is. He just seems so cold, so in control, like there’s nobody who could shake him like that.

‘Since when do you -’ Dev starts.

‘It’s Mordelia,’ Baz snaps. ‘She’s been listening to it on repeat.’

He doesn’t take his eyes off Penny, glaring at her like he’s trying to burn a telepathic message into her brain. Death threats, probably.

She’s looking at him like he’s a problem she’s just figured out. ‘Blue eyes, huh?’ she says slowly.

‘It’s just a song.’

‘A song that describes your emotions,’ says Penny.

I’m staring at him, but now it’s allowed, because the whole class is. Everyone else probably can’t feel their magic burning the back of their throat, though.

‘There are cats in this song. I don’t even have a cat,’ Baz says, crossing his arms.

‘Ha! I knew you listened to it.’

‘Once. In passing. By accident.’

‘Admit it. You like it because you relate to it.’

‘Or your spell was defective,’ Baz counters. I want him to look at me. I think hard about it, as if the force of my thoughts could make it happen, as if the magic leaking out of me could make it happen. I want him to look at me, because it would mean he was thinking of me and slipped up and gave it away.

‘My spells are never defective,’ Penny huffs. She’s right.

‘There’s a reason why I’m top of the class and not you, Bunce.’ He still doesn’t look at me.

‘Yes, because I’m too busy being dread companion to a certain blue-eyed someone.’

Crowley. Does Penny know how I feel? Why would she say that?

He shakes his head, mutters something under his breath, and stalks back to his seat.

PENNY

‘His eyes aren’t ocean blue.’ I think that’s what he said. ‘They’re just blue.’

SIMON

I Google the song as soon as I get a chance.

There’s nothing I hate more than what I can’t have.

Yeah. Yeah, I know what that’s like.

He flirts with Agatha after dinner. It makes me mad. I wonder if the song is about her. Nothing I hate more than what I can’t have. Does he know we broke up? But he doesn’t hate her. He hates –

Oh.

No.

I won’t do that to myself. I won’t even finish that thought.

But then I start noticing things I never noticed before. Like how he watches me almost as much as I watch him, only he’s so careful about it that I almost never catch him until I start trying. And how he never looks at Aggie unless she’s with me. I spend a whole day not looking at him and I notice that he’s in a foul mood after, picking on me for stupid things like my desk being messy. The more I ignore him, the meaner he gets. Or when Agatha and I go out to the Wood for spell practice – it’s easier to do stuff like that now that we’re not together, there’s less pressure – and he sees us walk back together, and then after dinner I find that he’s spelled my shoes together by their laces.

‘What the fuck did you do that for? We’re not twelve,’ I say.

‘I felt like it,’ he snarls.

(I walk down to breakfast in my socks the next morning and ask Penny to undo the spell for me. Better not to risk setting the shoes on fire.)

I bump into him in the hallway later and instinctively grab his arm. His whole body tenses, and I’m positive I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t looking so closely.

‘Sorry,’ I say. I hold on just a second too long – just to be close to him – and wait for him to pull away. He doesn’t. I let him go.

‘Watch where you’re going, you absolute numpty,’ he snarls.

I’m sure I’m just making this up. Reading into things that aren’t there, seeing what I want to see. I can’t help it.

‘You’re annoyingly optimistic,’ Baz told me once, in sixth year. ‘Though I suppose it’ll make it easier for me to catch you unguarded when I finally decide to get rid of you.’

He was right. It’s completely idiotic for me to even be entertaining the thought that he might not hate me, let alone feel what I feel.

Still. I buy the song. I listen to it every night. I hate you so much, she sings. I hate you so much, Baz tells me, with his eyes, every time he looks at me.

I’m not… I’m not anything. I can’t be the guy in the song. Especially not to him.

But he is. To me. It’s always been him.

BAZ

Snow has started singing that infernal pop song.

In the shower. While he’s getting dressed. Humming while he’s doing homework.

You’re so gorgeous, I can’t say anything to your face…

Fuck him. Seriously, fuck him.

I’m not sure if he’s taking the piss or if he just really likes the song and can’t get it out of his head. (Alright, fine; it’s catchy. I did listen to it a few times.) He’s probably taking the piss. But there’s no way he’s figured out that he’s the one I’m in love with, because he’s far too thick. And because if he had, he would have done something about it by now. And not the kind of something that I wish he’d do.

Then he starts doing it when he passes me on the way to class, singing under his breath so only I hear him, so I know he’s taking the piss. Once I walk behind him in the morning when he’s fixing his hair in the mirror – since when does Snow fix his hair? – and he makes eye contact through the mirror and sings the line about ocean blue eyes. All the blood I drank last night goes to my cheeks.

‘Snow,’ I say, ‘you sound like a dying hyena.’ Though I can think of some ways to shut him up.

‘Who are you in love with?’ is his response.

I huff and don’t respond, stalking out of the room. Then I want to march back in there and give a proper retort, because he never catches me without a proper retort, and now he’ll know that he’s gotten to me.

In Politickal Science, I feel him trying to catch my eye the entire lesson. I refuse to give him the satisfaction, staring straight ahead or at my notes the entire time, but his stare burns almost as much as his magic and I can only stand it for so long. Finally, I give in and look over at him.

What? I mouth.

You are so gorgeous, it makes me so mad, he mouths back, exaggerating all the vowels to make sure I catch it. I nearly choke.

I’m going to kill him. I really am. I’ll throw him into the moat and make sure the merwolves tear him limb from limb. Or I’ll wait until he pulls his sword on me and then I’ll slit his throat with it. Or I’ll kiss him until he can’t breathe.

One morning I’m woken up by the song suddenly blaring in my ear. I bolt upright and Snow’s not even in the room, though he’s probably on the other side of the door fleeing down the stairs. (He should be fleeing.) His laptop’s set up on the nightstand between our beds, the volume turned all the way up. Apparently rudely awakening me like this was worth leaving his computer in my hands, unprotected. I take the laptop, go to his email, and send a dumb and mildly insulting meme to the Mage. It’s a stupid prank, but I’m too rattled to think of anything better.

The day is halfway over before I remember that the Mage probably doesn’t even check his emails. He prefers to communicate through more magickal channels, like birds, which is ridiculous, but that’s the Mage. So Snow will probably never even know that I executed any kind of revenge plot, even as pathetic as it was.

He spends the rest of the day with a smug look on his face that I’d like to wipe right off it. It’s idiotic for him to be this proud of himself, and I’m completely smitten.

I should pull something awful to pay him back, but I can’t even seem to think around Snow anymore. For once in his life, he has the upper hand and he knows it. He sings the song in my direction, and I go mute. It’s like he’s finally figured out how to disarm me, and he hasn’t even worked out my real secret yet.

The more I react, the more he does it. If I stumble over my words after he smirks at me, he makes sure to do it again. Frequently. If I lose focus in class when he stares at me, he settles into his chair with his chin in his hand and doesn’t take his eyes off me for the entire lesson. And, Crowley, when he sees me tense up after he touches my hand, I know I’m done for.

‘Baz,’ he says then, his voice softer than it has any right to be, eyes crinkling at the corners.

‘Snow, stop flirting with me,’ I say. He should start spluttering and protesting and blushing, horrified at the suggestion, but he just sends a maddening grin over his shoulder and keeps walking.

I have no idea what in Merlin’s name any of this means. Snow isn’t capable of plotting. But he’s also not capable of… this. Whatever this is.

About a week later, I walk down to the Catacombs in the evening like I usually do to hunt, and I hear something, too faint to make out what it is, not far from the entrance. I follow the sound with my wand pulled out and I’m almost at the source when it dawns on me; it’s the fucking song again. When I find his laptop, it’s just sitting there on the ground with very little remaining battery life, the song queued up to play on repeat. He must have set this up and had it waiting for me hours ago.

It’s too much. All the staring and lingering touches, teasing me like this is all a joke to him.

I hunt quickly, then pick up the computer and march back up to our room. He’s asleep, not even waiting up to see my reaction to his little prank, and it’s utterly moronic for me to be disappointed by it, but I am. I slam the door behind me then flick on the light just in case that wasn’t enough to wake him. He bolts upright, his gaze going straight to my empty bed before he finds me in the doorway. I march over to the window, which he’s left open, of course, and hold the laptop up in front of it.

‘Give me one good reason not to chuck this into the moat,’ I say.

Snow squints at me, and it’s criminal for him to look so endearing while he does it. ‘Did you have to turn the light on for that? What time is it?’

‘Give me one reason, Snow.’

He groans and falls back onto his bed. ‘You won’t do it.’

I arch one eyebrow. ‘Don’t test me, Snow. You know I will.’

‘You won’t.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because you like me too much?’ he tries.

I push the window open further and slide the laptop onto the ledge. He scrambles out of bed and walks over to me.

‘Come on, Baz,’ he says, holding his hands out in front of him like I’m an animal that might spook. ‘Look. I know that the song was for me.’

Fuck. He does know.

‘Last chance,’ I say, giving the laptop a nudge.

‘I’m the one that you hate,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t that hard to figure it out.’

I fight not to let my panic show on my face. He knows everything. After seven years of hiding it, tormenting him, letting him torment me. He hates me. I know he does. He looks so fucking thrilled.

I take a deep breath and pull my face into a sneer. ‘Really, Snow? You think I have romantic feelings for you?’

I want him to back down, or blush, but he does neither. ‘Do you?’

I laugh incredulously. ‘Crowley, you do think highly of yourself, don’t you?’

He just shrugs. ‘Not as highly as you, apparently.’

I swallow. At least I manage to hold his gaze. Thank snakes for those three inches I have on him so I can at least pretend I’m still okay, that I’m not bracing myself for him to punch me in the gut, whether physically or figuratively.

‘You’re the one who’s been serenading me with that fucking song,’ I say. It’s a weak retort and we both know it. I should kiss him just to make him back off. At the very least I should toss his laptop into the moat, just to show him I would.

He shrugs again. ‘Well, yeah,’ is all he says.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

He looks at me like I’m being slow. Which is my fucking job.

‘It means I fancy you,’ he says, with a massive roll of his eyes. ‘Hadn’t you figured that out yet?’

‘You what?’ This is not happening.

‘I,’ he says, and swallows. His eyes drop to my lips. (This is definitely not happening.) ‘I like you.’

I shake my head and step back. ‘No,’ I say. ‘You’re fucking with me.’

He stares at me, looking affronted. ‘I’m not fucking with you.’

‘No, this –’ I say, waving my hand in the general of direction of his face, his moles that I’d kiss, his mouth that’s saying these ridiculous things – ‘isn’t real. You hate me.’

Snow steps forward and grabs my hand. ‘I don’t hate you. Baz, you can have me.’

I don’t pull away. I should, but I don’t. It feels so nice, having him hold my hand, and Crowley, I’m pathetic.

‘Awfully bold of you to assume that I want you,’ I mutter, but there’s no bite behind it, because he’s brushing his thumb over the back of my hand and leaning in and I’m practically swooning.

And then he kisses me.

SIMON

I can’t believe he’s actually letting me do this.

I’m kissing Baz. And he’s kissing me back. And he’s tangling his hand in my hair, the other hand still holding tightly onto mine.

‘Simon,’ he keeps whispering, between kisses. I can’t believe he thought I was just messing with him. I can’t believe he thought I wouldn’t want this.

‘Baz,’ I say, pulling him closer.

It’s even better than I hoped it would be.

#snowbaz #carry on fanfiction #simon snow #baz pitch #there's some dialogue in here that i wrote more than 2 years ago when i was just experimenting with fic writing in my notebook #what i wrote back then was awful except those two lines i thought were great but never got to use until now #can u tell which part it is

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hopevalley · 6 years ago

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Within reason ( I have to preface this because the writing of this show can be truly abysmal at times) - what is the logical drama or challenge Lee and Rosemary are facing this season? Pascale has gone on to say we see a softer, more subdued side of Rosemary this season which makes me think it's something that is going to take more than one ep to nut out.

Earlier, when I was working on getting pages up on my website, I was working on an article that briefly talked about whose families we’ve seen or heard about:

Jack’s (met all living direct relatives)

Elizabeth’s (met all living direct relatives, even Aunt Agatha)

Bill’s (heard about his son, met his ex-wife)

Abigail’s (heard of her husband, son, a father, a grandmother, and a large family)

Lee’s (heard of, we know his little brother died young)

Carson (heard of some; met both sisters-in-law)

Frank (heard of a grandfather; actor talked about his parents in an interview too)

Rosemary (briefly heard of her father)

Clara (heard of her family, husband)

Jesse (mentioned them once but it might have been a lie)

Faith (mentioned her mother was a nurse, and an uncle who runs a quarry)

Anyway, the post I was redoing for the site was a theory that Theo, Rob Estes’s character in s6, might be one of Abigail’s mentioned brothers.

But that just reminded me of all of the characters whose families we don’t actually know, so when you sent this message in, that was the first thing to pop into my head. Lee has already lost a brother; might he lose a parent, too? Or will it be Rosemary who loses someone? We know her father is/was(?) a Mountie. It’s also possible a parent gets deathly ill and they have to go be with them; that takes a toll. Or a parent dies and the other has to move in with them; that can be even more difficult to deal with, but for very different reasons.

Anyway…

Logical, somewhat reasonable considerations for a Lee/Rosemary plot for S6:

Internal family drama (Lee still wants children and she doesn’t; she loses a baby; she can’t get pregnant even though they’re trying; she hits menopause early; she gets pregnant and doesn’t want it)

Health issue (depression, anxiety, or one of them is diagnosed with a health problem: for example, a weak heart for Lee (he’s often stressed) or tonsillitis for Rosemary (fear of surgery and how it might affect her singing voice). It could also be any kind of physically limiting injury.)

Personal issue (Rosemary giving up the stage, Lee giving up on having children. Rosie is the one without a steady dayjob, so maybe she needs something new to keep her occupied…)

Broad family drama (death in the family and/or in-law moving in and/or contact from unwanted family member.)

My personal pet favorite is Rosemary deciding to give up her dreams of having a theater in Hope Valley, either because it just feels too far away, or because the money is tight and she knows she doesn’t really need it. I love it because the first plot to spring to mind afterward is that she could definitely have a sweet plotline with some of the children, especially Emily, where she decides to teach theater and dance so that she doesn’t feel she has to give it up entirely…

Better yet, she still gets her theater (so that the kids can perform in it!) for a sweet and heartfelt ending to the episode.

It also has the added bonus of kind of flipping the script on something Rosemary said a long time ago: that those that can, do, and those that can’t, teach. I’ve always hated that phrase, and I hated it even more when Rosemary said it. Her discovering that 1) it’s not true, and 2) there’s a joy to be found in sharing your passion with others and helping them learn it… It would be a beautiful little bit of growth that would do so much good for her character. I get excited just thinking about it! (I can dream, can’t I?)

Did you have a favorite/thought to share/idea for a plotline for s6? Let me know if you do. There are so many possibilities it’s hard to even guess what kind of story Hallmark will choose to tell. With Elizabeth having had a baby, it’d feel weird to have a baby plot with Lee and Rosemary, but since there’s a baby around it also feels like a topic that would come up? So I guess narratively a really involved baby-having plot would feel like “too much” but the discussion of children and whether or not to have them��that makes more sense and feels like a more sound narrative choice.

(Hey Hallmark… PST. HIRE ME.)

#i screamed at the way you ended your message by the w ay #it was so funny i almost lost it #truly magnificent and out of nowhere #when calls the heart #lee coulter #rosemary coulter #rosemary leveaux #answered mail #anonymously asked #character studies and information #Season 6 Spoilers #season 6 shenanigans

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braincoins · 6 years ago

Text

Character Crack Meme

by @lionesshathor

Pick 10 random characters. These could be from real life, cartoons, books, etc. (The more random the better)

I have chosen 8 random characters from various media and thrown in 2 of my OCs.

Got ‘em all picked out? Good! They will be represented as numbers in this meme. The first character will be 1, the second 2, and so on.

Now for the fun part! You will be given random situations. Each set of circumstances will have at least one character, as determined by their number. Your job is to write down what would happen in these scenarios, and then share the results.

HAVE AT IT!!

*grins and rubs hands together in glee*

1. You find 1’s secret stash of chocolate. GIR is briefly upset and there’s some brief lasers happening, but then he gets distracted because his favorite commercial just came on

2. 2 confesses their love to you. Pidge, I... I love you, too, but not in that way. We’re just... too much alike. Also I’m like waaaaaaaaay older than you are.

3. You bump into 3 while walking down a dark alley….at midnight. Keep on saving the world - or at least Arcadia Oaks - Jimmy! :D You’re doing a great job!! ...um... can I... touch the armor? :3

4. 4 saves your life. Well, that’s a switch. Usually I’m saving Alistair’s butt. JUST KIDDING! He’s my tanky boyfriend, we all know that. <3

5. 5 is living in your house. Agatha Heterodyne is living with me? I’ll never be able to get renter’s insurance again. Also the whole building is about to explode.

6. You find 6’s cellphone. I wasn’t aware Lina Inverse had a cellphone. >_> <_< [opens it up to find lots of pics of Gourry sleeping] [Lina walks in and sees what I’m looking at] [I am promptly Dragon-Slaved]

7. You’re asleep and 7 comes in to wake you up. Sette wakes me up and now I have a headache for the rest of the day. @__@

8. 8 kidnaps you. If I was kidnapped by Bram, it’s probably for my own good. Likely he’s saving me from Agatha blowing up my house or Lina Dragon-Slaving me >_>

9. You go to the theater. 9 is sitting in your seat. Holtzmann can have my seat and also my heart.

10. 10 gives you a ride somewhere. MJ shows up and offers to let me ride on Noyissa and we fly off together on her dragon!! :D

11. 2 and 9 are arguing. If Pidge and Holtzmann are arguing, it’s probably over physics or something and I don’t understand any of it, but it’s fascinating. Record that shit and slap it on YouTube. It’ll be viral on the MIT campus in no time.

12. 6 is dancing with 3. HA! The hell she is. If she is, it’s because Lina feels she has to and Jim is probably apologizing for stepping on her feet, but that’s okay because Lina doesn’t know how to do this dance anyway. (She’s probably just trying to steal the amulet.)

13. 5 and 10 are trapped in a burning building and you can only save one. PFFT! I’ll save MJ because Agatha can take care of herself.

14. 2 is invisible. PIDGE FIGURED OUT HOW TO CLOAK HERSELF WE’RE ALL SCREWED.

15. OMG! 7 becomes a pop star! Well, that’s not a surprise. Sette (thinks she) has the best voice and she’s owed all kinds of accolations* and such like.

(no, “accolations” is not a word. Unless you’re Sette)

16. 1, 3, and 5 are at your house for dinner. There’s a black out. Jim thinks something’s going on, and immediately armors up. Agatha views this as an excellent chance to play with the house’s wiring. GIR just screams and laughs.

17. 9 and 6 pull a prank on you. I die.

18. You walk in on 4 and 10 kissing. Alistair and MJ? It was probably MJ giving him a kiss on the cheek for helping her with something because she’s a sweetheart and also a huge lesbian.

19. 1 and 8 steal your car. GIR and... Bram? [nod nod] Yeah, I believe that. GIR probably causes it to crash though.

20. 5 and 7 rob your house. Sette’s taking all the obviously valuable stuff (though she’s too little to steal the TV). Agatha’s making off with all the computer stuff, and has already somehow built a clank to carry it all... so I guess the TV goes, too.

21. You need an organ transplant. 2 and 4 are both compatible. Alistair insists on giving me his. Pidge shrugs and lets him.

22. 3 is robbing 5. HAHAHAHAHHAHAA GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, JIM! Robbing Agatha never ends well, even if you get away with it in the moment.

23. 10 holds you hostage. I doubt it. It’s probably a ruse of some sort on MJ’s behalf. She apologizes to me later and explains herself.

24. 2, 4, and 6 are watching a horror movie. Alistair is terrified and keeps hiding behind Lina, who’s used to grown, muscle-y men hiding behind her. Pidge is enjoying the hell out of herself.

25. You’re stuck on a deserted island with 8, 9, and 10. Bram pops in and out, trying to find a way to manipulate the timeline so that we either (A) don’t end up on the island in the first place, or (B) are rescued quickly.

Every time he comes back, Holtzmann keeps trying to steal his watch (which is how he jumps through time) and quizzes him about paradox.

MJ is equally fascinated, but mostly she’s busy trying to build a way to escape with whatever might be found on the island. Mostly as a way to kill time; she knows her shinies will come for her - and thus all of us - and we’ll just fly off on Noyissa.

26. 3 and 5 have robbed a bank and come to you for help. Jim Lake would never rob a bank! And Agatha would only do it if she had to for some reason. In any case, they don’t need my help, except maybe as a place to lay low.

I bake them brownies.

27. 6 is mad at 3 and 5 for robbing that bank. Lina’s mad they didn’t take her with them.

28. 1 and 7 are doing a wacky dance. You and 5 are filming it. GIR and Sette would do the most bizarre dance ever. Instant viral hit, especially when Agatha’s clanks join in.

29. 3 confesses their love for 4. You are eavesdropping nearby with 9. Jim confesses his love for Alistair? Holtzmann’s eating popcorn and I’m right there with her. This is gold.

30. All of them go to a convention! MJ is fascinated by cosplayers. Holtzmann, Lina, and Jim are constantly asked for pictures by people who think they’re cosplaying. People think Alistair’s a LARPer and he spends the rest of the con trying to find out what that is? Bram makes it to all the panels because time travel, bitches. Sette is, of course, darting through the crowd robbing people blind. GIR gets lost in the dealer’s room; Agatha buys out every steampunk booth. And Pidge, of course, is in heaven. <3

#this was fun!#<3

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