#basic explanation of John's situation is up in the link! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

local-crying-boy · 8 months ago

Text

Not me who made a Hadir Karim playlist because I couldn't find any and had to put matters into my own hands..

Playlist link for those who actually want to listen here

Not like it's a very long one or one that might be very connected to Hadir, just songs that make me think of him every time they start playing.

Here are the songs that are on the playlist:

1. waiting Room (Phoebe Bridgers)

“Know it’s for the better” He stole the gas and used it because he wanted Urzikstan to be free. And “Plus, I know whatever happened to me, I know it’s for the better” because let’s be honest he probably knew he was going to die at some point, and he knew that it most likely wasn’t going to be from natural causes, not with the war he grew up in.

2. Fool (Bôa)

“You and I, born as fools now.” I don’t know what it is about this line, but it hits and it makes me think of Hadir. Maybe because he used the gas, making Farah despise him. “You and I think, think we rule now” this mf became Commander at some point, which just ENRAGES Farah, no?

3. O Superman (Laurie Anderson)

Well, does this song need any explaining? I found this song on a Farah playlist (made by one of my favourite Tumblr accounts, hence me making a post about the Hadir playlist). So if this song makes me think of Farah, it immediately makes me think of Hadir.

4. Love and War (Fluerie)

Love and War, says it in the title, no? Plus, “the truth begins to show”? Him using the stolen gas to save Farah and Alex, but only killing the Russian army and some ULF soldiers (if I remember correctly). And don’t even get me started on “lover, hunter, friend and enemy, you will always be every one of these.” UGHHH it's such a good line and I think that it represents Hadir very well, maybe alongside Farah too.

5. In the house - In a Heartbeat (John Murphy)

Do I really need a reason for this song? It's so good and it makes me think of numerous edit ideas (despite the fact that I give up on editing the minute I open Capcut), just the vibe and sound reminds me of Hadir, makes me think of his whole character development, his story, ect:

6.Forest (Twenty One Pilots)

"The situation's becoming dire" The line makes me think of the moment when Hadir calls Alex to help him get the gas, making it be used and everything kicking off and him becoming the enemy. "And for some reason I smell gas on my hands" well, this needs no explanation. "This is not what I had planned" Although I think that Hadir knew that Farah would have gone against him the moment he decided to use the gas, I feel like he wouldn't expect her to basically turn on him so much that it seemed like she didn't love him anymore.

7.Army Dreamers (Kate Bush)

I think everyone can see why I put this song on here, not only because it is such an amazing song, but also because Hadir is obviously a solider. Also, I know the song's meaning is about a mother grieving her son dying because of war. HOWEVER, the song does heavily remind me of PTSD that soldiers suffer from (more so from the music video where all their eyes are wide, which kinda is like Shell Shock/PTSD), and I'm 100% certain that Hadir, like any other character is CoD, would suffer from some type of mental illness, or nightmares, or grief/guilt from being soldiers.

8. I know it's over (The Smiths)

The repeat phrase of 'Oh mother, I can feel the soil falling over my head" just makes me think of how he died and, in my head, I have an image of him just dead and, well, we know his and Farah's parents are dead. I don't know how to explain it exactly, been staring at this paragraph trying to figure out what the hell I'm trying to say. But it just makes me think a lot of him and his mother, because I seriously get vibes from him that he was a mama's boy before she passed.

9. Advice (Alex G)

"The world is full of fishes, but I trust you" really makes me think of him and Farah, because the two of them would have had to relied on each other at a young age after their parents died and when they were building up ULF and during their time in prison. They would have had a lot of trust in one another, which makes sense with the amount of pure betrayal and rage we hear in Farah's voice when she finds out Hadir stole the gas and then used it. The two of them would have had such an almost unbreakable relationship, not only because they are siblings, they trusted one another and they went through so much, they would have HAD to have trusted each other.

10. Poison Tree (Grouper)

This song alone has so much emotion to it, it ALTERS my brain chemistry. I love this song, so it just meant I had to link it to one of my favourite characters. Which, therefore, means it has a place on the playlist.

11. The Hand that feeds (The Crane Wives)

This song screams Farah, but I feel like it could apply to both Hadir and Farah. Afterall, the both of them are doing a tiring job that is going to both mentally and physically drain them. It's dangerous and they know it. "My papa taught me how to growl, how to bear my teeth and growl", although in the scene where we see of kid Farah and Hadir, their father turns to Hadir and says to 'stay strong for Farah', this is probably one of the many reasons why he does so much for her, even if makes her fucking despise Hadir for what he's done.

12. I wait for you (Alex_g_offline)

"I wait for you" I don't know what is it about the repeated line that makes me think so much about Hadir, about his whole character, but for some reason it really does.

13. If we have each other (Alec Benjamin

The song that makes me, really, think of any two characters that are related. "So I'm thankful for my sister, even though sometimes we fight" the line is more so towards the usual sibling type fights that happens throughout with growing up with siblings, which would easily be able to apply to the two of them. However, it also makes me think about the fact that Hadir still loves Farah and calls her sister, even when she hates him. When he was dying, he even said to her that he still loves her even though she hates him now (something along those lines)

14.Where'd all the time go? (Dr. Dog)

"There ain't no way to sweep up the mess that we've made" I know it says 'we' but I think that Hadir regrets what he did, even if he believes that it helps winning against the Russian army, I don't think he likes that fact that Farah hates him over it and he knows that he can't do anything to fix that, to 'sweep up the mess'. There's no fixing that, there was no fixing that broken trust between them after that.

27 notes · View notes

theoversky · 2 years ago

Text

I made a post like 1 month ago talking about my thoughts on Jason x Kimberly ship and how I think it was literally meant to be but was cut off due to salary’s fight on BTS. It isn’t a post to hate on Jason David Frank, but it’s like an explanation about JDF x ASJ legendary rivalry. Our Vegeta VS Goku lol.

The special episode about 30 years of Power Rangers is closer than ever, so I was watching MMPR S1 and it took me to some trivia on Google.

In this link I put here (all in spanish) it was basically what I thought. According ASJ, all the six actors from MMPR cast were unhappy about their salary and the amount of hours of job they had, the six had issues with Fox and tried to do a riot about it.

It happens that Tommy would appear for a few episodes, but everybody loves a bad boy and Fox received like a plenty of letters asking for Tommy to stay. His popularity was instantaneous. So, in that time, the actors needed the six to make a difference, specially JDF, the MVP in that moment. So, fighting about it with Fox, the six actors threatened to leave the show if the payment wasn’t fair. That’s when the things got harder, Fox offered to JDF the lead role as white ranger (the white ranger would exist anyway, but an actor called Brad Hawkins had been cast and, after all this, replaced by JDF). JDF knew he was the most popular character at this point, he knew about the movie and convinced David Yost and Amy Jo Johnson to give up and stay with him.

ASJ, Thuy Trang and Walter Jones had no idea about the caracters’ popularity, like ASJ said, they hadn’t social media in 90s, they worked so hard, they didn’t even know the hit the show was. Maybe they didn’t expected that Fox actually would fire them and the other three actors would give up the fight. The fact is that ASJ told Fox mocked they about Tommy’s popularity factor and said basically they didn’t care because the viewers wanted green ranger and they would make Tommy greater. And, well, they made everything about him without doubts. His image was already saturated. And that was the factor that cut off all the team when JDF decided to leave.

It makes sense to me, I respect JDF and I understand his reasons but I understand ASJ’s reasons too. Also I know ASJ isn’t a saint and neither JDF, but we can’t deny JDF was always a little egocentric and always wanted to be linked to PR franchise in some way, like “the best ranger ever” and things like that. The comic about Tommy is an example, the independent movie he was filming too. It’s ok, it’s ok to be ambitious. I can’t say he did wrong when I don’t know his versions of the sams situation.

So I was searching an answer because my ship didn’t sail back to 90s’ and we have that much of BTS.

#jason x kimberly #kimberly x jason #jimberly #jason and kimberly #kimberly and jason #austin st john

2 notes · View notes

anywherexwhen · 3 years ago

Text

@fatherofthevortex gets a FobWatched!Hound they didn’t ask for

He was sitting behind the countertop of the little bookshop, his head resting in his hands when the man came in. It was the stranger’s tread that made John look up, his whole body moving as if of its own accord -- like a thousand years of muscle memory straightening his spine and moving to mask the pain of the migraine half blinding him to his surroundings. It was a ridiculous notion, of course. He knew as soon as he laid eyes on the man that he’d never seen him before... but that was what it felt like. As if he’d heard those same footsteps and been instinctively drawn out of himself a thousand times before... as if it were the only thing his body truly knew to respond to...

“I knew you’d come.”

John stood up, smiling warmly as he moved around the counter, his hand outstretched. “Apologies about the mess! We’ve had some new orders in, and, well, it’s just me to get everything sorted out. You’re here about the room to let upstairs, yes?” Funny... He couldn’t remember how the man had gotten in touch... “I’m John. John Smith. It’s lovely to finally meet you in person, Mr-... I’m... sorry... I seem to have forgotten your name...”

#fatherofthevortex #FobWatch!Hound #whoops my finger slipped #a new plaything for your exiled president's amusement #basic explanation of John's situation is up in the link!

16 notes · View notes

maybebanks · 4 years ago

Text

Hurting Part 2

LINK TO PART 1

@mavelfanatic @my-therapist-hates-me @rudypankowswife

⚠️: trigger warning, talks on abuse

JJ lead you to his car and took you back to the chateau. When you arrived, you were wet and cold from the ocean, but you couldn’t budge.

You never actually admitted what was done to you. Not to JJ, or anyone. There was still hope for you to convince him he was wrong.

When he parked, he stared back at you.

“How are you feeling?” JJ said softly.

You scoffed, “freezing. But fine.”

You had a towel wrapped around your legs and another draped over your shoulder.

“I should go home,” you shrugged.

“Sleep here,” JJ suggested, turning off the car and opening his door.

He got around and opened the door for you, “It’s up to John B,” you argued.

JJ chuckled, “you know John B would let you stay any day,”

You inhaled for a deep breath, but it was shaken and not smooth. This made JJ worried.

“Here let me help you out,” JJ said, guiding you with his hand on your lower back.

“Hey! I can get out of a car myself,” you interjected, slowly climbing out.

JJ put his hands up in defense, that little part of him intrigued by your stubborn side. It was like him.

You both walked inside and headed to the bathroom.

“Ooh damn it’s cold!” JJ yelped as he jumped in the shower and turned it on.

You smiled, “bet it’s freezing,”

This motivated JJ to be playful, he smirked and jumped out, then grabbed you gently and pulled you into the shower.

“Ah! No!” You screamed.

JJ laughed and let the water soak you, still with your bathing suit on.

You moved the hair out of your face and grabbed JJ by his cheeks, “You son of a-“

He cut you off by pressing his lips to yours. And once he knew you were comfortable, he moved them gently with yours.

Your hands fell to his neck and intertwined with the back of his hair.

He smiled under your kiss, and gently pushed you against the wall.

The water was getting warmer.

JJ started to unzip your wet suit top, so you pushed him back.

“Not right now, J,” you sighed.

“Oh but you’re sooo pretty,” he pleaded, one hand on the side of your face.

“Im...I’m sorry. I want to make you happy. But every time you touch me...” you paused, looking into his concerned eyes, “it’s stupid.” you sighed, looking away from him now. You moved to get around him but he stopped you.

“Hey, it’s not stupid. I’d never hurt you, Y/n,” JJ said.

“You’re just saying that,” you mumbled.

“I’m not. Do..uh do you see your step dad when I touch you?” JJ asked. Scared of the answer himself.

“No. JJ no. He’s not...I mean I’m like you. Okay? He doesn’t touch me like that, I swear.” You pleaded. If JJ was going to know about anything, he shouldn’t know about the sexual side. Those theories should be laid to rest.

“So how does he touch you?” JJ asked.

You didn’t want to talk about it, “J...um.. like I said. Like you,”

“He hits you? Do...uh you have bruises?”

“Are you asking for proof?” You asked, offended.

“No! Y/n, that’s not what I meant,” JJ tried but you already pushed past him and started grabbing stuff to leave.

“Y/n!-“

“Stay away from me JJ! You don’t have to worry about me anymore! You don’t have to care! I’m leaving!” You shouted, tears pouring down your face as you pushed away the one you loved.

“Where do you think your gonna go? Back there?” JJ suggested, trying to stop you.

“I’m- im not telling you.....I’m not telling you the worst thing about myself!” You said breathlessly.

JJs heart broke. He knew how you felt. But it was so extreme, he knew if you bottled it down you would feel worse.

“Come here,” JJ whispered, you looked at him, afraid.

Slowly, he got close and held her tight, as if she would fall through his arms.

She held him close, as if closing her eyes tight enough would make her forget about the world.

“It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. You’ve gotta talk to me. I’m not going to judge you, or blame you,” JJ assured.

You didn’t say a word, just hugged him. JJ was a good hugger.

“He just..he slapped me. That’s why there’s no bruises like you. He does it sometimes when we fight and my mom is out of town,” you admitted.

“But your mom is almost always out of town.” JJ sighed, knowing your hurting could happen a lot.

“I know. It’s bad. But like I said, you can handle it. So, I can too,” you argued.

“But...” JJ didn’t know how to phrase it, it was worse for you because you were a girl, and there was something sexual about it.

“...the bruises on your legs. And your ass,” JJ continued, his was seeking an explanation.

You sighed, “no, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Those are probobly just from sitting on rocks,” you lied.

JJ furrowed his brows, he hated the fact that you would lie to him. As a way of protecting him. He should be the one protecting you.

“Show me.” He demanded.

“W-what?” You stuttered, gripping tightly to the towel covering your body.

“Show me, please,” JJ added, he only wanted the truth. He didn’t want you to lie to him, or yourself.

“No. I’m sorry, but no.” You exclaimed, trying to get around him and away from this situation.

“Y/n. This is not a joke. Lift up your towel for me, baby. I’m not gonna hurt you,” JJ added, you couldn’t understand where he was coming from.

Why did he have to know?

You got lost in thought until you felt JJ steadily lifting the towel up gently. More of your thigh was visible and park of your butt cheek.

You were still in fear, watching JJ’s jaw clench.

“I’m gonna kill him,” he said softly, “I’m gonna fucking kill him,” he seethed.

You pushed his hands off, “you..you can’t.”

JJs eyes were wide, “what- well he should at least be punished Y/n! There is no way I’m letting him make a pass at you again,”

Your heart throbbed, “you don’t understand. This is why I never wanted to tell you,”

“You haven’t told me anything. And...and look...I get it. No one should have to go through what you’re going through, you’re so god damn strong. But, baby, staying quiet is not helping,” JJ explained.

Your throat felt as if it was closing, the thought of telling anyone haunted you, you shook your head, muttering no.

JJ pulled you in for another hug.

“I’m not going to rush you. But you’re not going back there, got it? You stay by my side, never leave,” JJ told you.

“She comes back tomorrow,” you sniffled.

Your mom.

“Y/n-“

“It’ll be fine. He’s usually nicer when she’s there,” you made an excuse.

“No way. Unless you’re gonna tell your mom, which I don’t think you’re ready for, your staying with me,” JJ said, closing the bedroom door that you were nothing in.

“Are you serious? What, so you’re my body guard now? JJ, don’t try to control me! You don’t even know anything!” You argued in frustration. Hating the feeling of being trapped.

“Because you don’t tell me!” He retaliated.

“Fine! I’m not telling anyone because he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to my mom! We’re basically fucking kooks now! It would break her heart. It would break us. And if he even has the slightest thought that we might tell, he’ll go to her first, and no one will believe me! No ones gonna believe me, over him.”

“I believe you. I’m here, Y/n/n. And you have proof, and you have me to back you up,”

“That’s not enough,” you sighed.

“Yes it is. I’ll show you. It’ll get better, I promise,”

You’ve never heard JJ say that. Ever. He never promises anything. Maybe once as a joke, but this was meaningful.

PART 3

Link to part one

as always, the topics discussed may be triggering. Please seek help if this is happening to you. Love you all so much. Have an amazing day.

#jj maybank #obx imagine #obx fanfiction #outer banks #obx netflix #jj imagine jjxreader obx #obx jj #obx jj maybank x you #outerbanks #jj outer banks #jj maybank fanfic #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank x y/n #jj maybank imagine

419 notes · View notes

lochsides · 3 years ago

Text

You Signed Up For This Review

If you're following me, you really did sign up for this review. I love that the title of this album lends itself to so many puns. Maybe that was the second indication that I would adore this album (the first being that its a Maisie Peters album). God, where do I even begin to review the pop mastery that is YSUFT? The album is both cohesive and chaotic in the best way possible. Maisie is one of those songwriters who approaches writing with quick wit and personality. That’s my biggest takeaway from this album. YSUFT has so much personality. It is very authentic while being refreshing. I’m so glad it finally here, to be consumed in all its glory. She really hit it out of the park and it was well worth the wait. There is not a single skip.

For those of you interested, below the cut you will find a review for each song. My favourites are 'I'm Trying (Not Friends)', ‘Love Him, I Don’t’, ‘Hollow’, ‘Villain’, ‘Brooklyn’, ‘Elvis Song’ and ‘Volcano’ — yes I know that’s half the album. This is my review and I make the rules. I've also included a little ranking at the very end.

You Signed Up For This — This song has so much main character energy. My favourite thing about Maisie as a songwriter is that her songwriting has a sense of humour to it. This song says so much in 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Its the perfect album opener, particularly for a debut album, but it's also a really good introduction to Maisie Peters for new listeners and old fans alike.

I'm Trying (Not Friends) — I can't decide what my favourite part of this song is: her sharp, witty songwriting or the cadence. This is what I mean when I say that the album is authentic while being refreshing. The cadence is unlike anything I’ve heard before, especially from Maisie, but the passive- aggressive lyrics are so Maisie. She has always had this unvarnished honesty to her songwriting that I really appreciate about her.

John Hughes Movie — Pop perfection! That's it, that's the review. I love the message of this song. It has a sense of self-worth and confidence despite being let down. And when I tell you I adore the fuck out of the bridge of 'JHM', it's an understatement. It was actually the perfect lead single for an album with so much main character energy.

Outdoor Pool — 'Outdoor Pool' is basically Fifteen (Maisie’s Version), when all you wanted was to be wanted. She really captured that in this song. I felt so sad listening to it because 15 really is such a delicate age. The music and production felt very cinematic to me and that really brought to life this story that she was telling. It really is almost Skins. I have so much affection for this song in like a big sister way.

Love Him, I Don't — Ooft, this song hurt my feelings. The production at the start with her ‘ooh’s was already chilling but then she hit me with ‘I wasn’t eating and you still said nothing’ and ‘guess that was my stubborn season’ and took me out. ‘Love Him, I Don’t’ is a song about toxicity and I’ve been there. I have friends who have been there. The lyric ‘what a waste of your twenties’ reminded me of a relationship my best friend was in. There are so many little details in this song that make it so relatable in a way the hurts. I love the melody of the pre-chorus and chorus, and then she goes and strips it back in the last verse. The whole song is a 5-star experience. It's so raw and the emotion in her vocal takes it to another level.

Psycho — Maisie Peters said feral girl summer and make it catchy. There are two bridges in this song. That should be enough to sell me, but she had to go and write ‘you made me feel so useful then so used.’ All in all though, ‘Psycho’ is probably my least favourite and that’s only because there are so many good songs on this album that outrank this.

Boy — I’m joining Maisie Peters’ fight to take away men’s rights because valid. It’s funny because I can hear Ed Sheeran’s writing in this song, mostly in the production. I love the tone throughout this song, but specifically when she says 'I can tell that you've never been hugged, boy.' It's sassy as fuck and I love that for her. My favourite aspect of 'Boy' is that the catchiest part, the one that is most likely to get stuck in our heads. is 'I can do better than this' and that feels very intentional, like a little message from Maisie reminding us that we can do better than The Boy ™️.

Hollow — 'Hollow' is such a good heartbreak ballad. It has all the makings of a great classic pop ballad, from the piano to the production to the poetic lyrics. Was it fair of her to put the lyrics 'now I'm a comma in your explanation of your learning curves and your mistakes' in the same song, in the same verse, as 'you're the one that got away and you got away with a lot' and then follow it up with a bridge of memories and 'I just miss my friend'? Let's discuss. I think the reason I, personally, love this song so much is the lyrical links to other songs like 'Villain' ('now you're kissing that girl I shouldn't worry about'), 'Volcano' ('you got away with it') and 'Tough Act' ('saying goodbye to a best friend' / 'drain it all 'til its all so hollow'). I love it when there are layers to a story.

Villain — I’ve had the hook of ‘Villain’ stuck in my head all morning. The way she explores rage in this song as something bitter that we all swallow but it burns the whole way down our throats, that dichotomy being explored through the subtlety of the production and the feral lyrics, is absolute genius. The song is told through the perspective of someone that feels wronged but they are still the villain of someone else's story and that's something I can personally relate to. I love how much angst is in the bridge, aided by the build up in the production, as she sings 'whole town's gonna hear how you messed me up.' Truly excellent songwriting.

Brooklyn — I think Maisie absolutely shines when writing songs about her sister. 'Personal Best' is my most played song on Apple Music, ever. 'Brooklyn' is almost like a continuation of that, or a deeper dive into her relationship with her sister. The storytelling aspect of this song feels very organic, like a friend telling you all about the adventure of their transatlantic trip over a cup of coffee. And the production is chef's kiss.

Elvis Song — I think this song is the one I connect with the most. The nostalgia factor always gets me and that's what this entire song is. Is the whole second verse a callout? Maybe. It's fine. If I end up calling the person this song makes me think about, it's Maisie's fault. My favourite lyric is 'I was scared to throw my heart off the edge, easier to tell myself we'd mess it up instead, so I left.' That line reads me, but it also captures the tone of regret that comes with reflection on something that ended. The production of 'Elvis Song' gives me old-flame montage vibes. I think it's the perfect candidate for an end-of-summer single.

Talking To Strangers — 'Talking To Strangers' is such a cute song. The whole concept of random people knowing such minute details about your life, that maybe even the people in your life would overlook, just because this one person that loves you so much can't help but tell everyone they meet about you is so fucking romantic. This is such a romantic song. It is 'this made me think of you' in a song except instead of telling the person you think of, you're telling literally everyone that it made you think of them.

Volcano — 'Volcano' is very reminiscent of Maisie's musical roots, which is why this song is one of my favourites. The lyrics are an actual gut punch and her vocal delivery only makes it hit harder. I think the lines that really get me each time are 'in the silence when you stood there, you just stood there' and the bits in the chorus where she sings 'and your friends said nothing' or 'and the world said nothing.' When you're in a situation that can be toxic, it fucking hurts when no one says anything. Then you look back on it and wonder 'why did no one stop you from absolutely breaking me?'

Tough Act — I think many of the songs on YUSFT accumulate to 'Tough Act' and placing it as the album closer makes so much sense in terms of closure from a lot of these stories that Maisie has shared with us. 'Tough Act' is acknowledgement and growth. I think this is best described in the lyric 'I got busy and you forgot how to miss me when I'm not much of who you grew up with.' She has come to terms with the fact that things have changed and this break up is just 'the bad part of the right thing to do.' The melody of this song is so beautiful and it's only heightened when those strings come in under the piano. Maisie's lovely vocals are the cherry on top.

Ranking the songs on this album was so difficult because each one is so outstanding. I think YSUFT is honestly one of the best pop debuts in recent history. She absolutely nailed it.

Love Him, I Don't

Volcano

Villain

I'm Trying (Not Friends)

Elvis Song

Hollow

Brooklyn

Outdoor Pool

Tough Act

You Signed Up For This

Talking To Strangers

John Hughes Movie

Boy

Psycho

#maisie peters #reviews #ysuft #music

21 notes · View notes

forevers-winter · 4 years ago

Text

full folklore analysis!!

as promised, here u go. warning very long.

first of all, the album’s name is super important to its meaning. “folklore” is stories passed by mouth, whether spoken or sung, so taylor’s not singing about herself in most of these songs and some of them are linked into a bigger story. i’ll start with individual analysis of each song and then get into the main storyline.

the 1: from the perspective of a girl (our protagonist) that’s been cheated on, hence the line “if it would’ve been me.” she’s looking back on a relationship that was very summer-love-esque and fun while also acknowledging that it wasn’t meant to be and detailing the bittersweetness of that understanding. one of my faves; linked to august, illicit affairs, and betty.

cardigan: from taylor’s perspective about joe and how she met him at a time where most everyone saw her as a snake or a backstabber and was neck-deep in the worst drama she’s ever been in. as she says in miss americana, “falling in love with someone who had a wonderfully normal, balanced life” was the best thing that could’ve happened to her at that time, hence her relationship with joe made her “feel new again” after so many that were always in the public eye. a lot of people think the cobblestones line is related to betty and/or the 1, but this song as a whole doesn’t fit with the heartbroken themes of those two. more likely it’s hinting at the fact the taylor and joe spend a lot of time together in europe, where cobblestone sidewalks and roads are commonplace.

the last great american dynasty: as many have realized, this is the story of rebekah harkness, the former owner of taylor’s rhode island house who hosted a ballet studio there. that’s literally it, just the story of a badass who doesn’t give af about the opinions of people around her. also one of my faves.

exile: dual perspective from both sides of a relationship that ended with the woman moving on and the man staying stuck in the past. “staring like he’s just your understudy,” “i gave so many signs,” etc. may be about one of taylor’s past relationships in relation to her and joe now but i doubt it. if i had to guess, probably calvin harris bc there were also engagement rumors and marriage plans swirling around with the two of them.

my tears ricochet: taylor’s perspective about the john mayer situation, ie “didn’t have it in myself to go with grace,” “if i’m dead to you,” “battleships,” etc. taylor notoriously wrote an almost-seven-minute song absolutely tearing him apart back on speak now (not going with grace), and their relationship was crazy violent and accusatory for the year or two following (battleships) and neither of them have talked about it since (dead to me+battleships sinking). i think this is her way of apologizing whether or not she had to (spoiler alert: she didn’t).

mirrorball: taylor’s perspective about the public’s opinion on her and joe “i know they said the end is near” but also telling them that their relationship is still going strong “i’m still on my tallest tiptoes...shining just for you.”

seven: holy fuck this song. it’s obviously from taylor’s perspective about her childhood as it mentions pennsylvania, but i have no clue who it could be about and i think that’s the point. it’s about loving someone in your childhood (no pronouns but implied that it’s a girl due to braids and hiding the closet) and wanting to run away with them but realizing as you get older that it won’t happen and eventually forgetting each other’s faces but still remembering how they made you feel. def one of my faves on the album bc it’s g a y a f.

august: also very young-summer-lovey, perspective of a high school girl who lost her virginity to someone older (same person who cheated on her in the 1) hence “never have i ever before,” “you back at school,” etc. but ended up being abandoned and manipulated into thinking they still cared “cancel plans just in case you’d call.” linked to illicit affairs and betty, more on that later.

this is me trying: taylor’s perspective detailing the struggle of growing up in the public eye as a superstar. “had the shiniest wheels now they’re rusting”=going from the golden girl of country music to a politicized controversy-ridden indie/alternative artist. again linked to miss americana: she wanted to stand up for what she believes in and is defending her missteps by stating that she’s trying her best. another of my faves.

illicit affairs: protagonist again. goes into detail about an apparent affair with her partner, now confirmed to be a “him” in the line about perfume.

invisible string: about taylor and joe, super cute, soulmate au type beat. next.

mad woman: taylor roasting sc**ter br*un within an inch of his life as she should. next.

epiphany: hooo boy this one is DEEP. not taylor’s perspective, but about the general trauma anyone experiences from watching someone die or being with them as they die; “some things you just can’t speak about.” extremely relevant during the pandemic, “hold your hand through plastic now” and the recurring line about watching someone breathe. the epiphany in question is the hope for a miracle cure to save the person as they’re dying. favorite crying song on the album.

betty: here we goooooo. perspective of the protagonist’s partner james and his* apologizing to betty for cheating “it was just a summer thing.” the scene of walking on cobblestones and being picked up in a car is the opposite perspective of the same scene in august, and “her” is the narrator of the 1, august, and illicit affairs. the way my interpretation differs from others is that betty isn’t the protagonist in the storyline. *also the fact that this song could very well be wlw if one assumes that illicit affairs is a standalone story not related to the love triangle.

peace: this one...giving us very much kaylor if you ask me. sunshine babey. i can’t even fully analyze it because my dumb bisexual brain just becomes tv static. however, it implies that kaylor will never be an official thing but they’ll keep coming back to each other as friends, hence “never give you peace.” also completely unrelated but the line “clowns to the West” LMAOAKSDNWN ROAST THEM SIS.

hoax: our girl is back. not taylor, the same narrator from all those other songs. this is her final take on james leaving her for betty until the 1, years later.

okay, if you’re still here, buckle up bc here’s the full story in order. august: our girl and james are in love in the summer. everything is cute and good but looking back she sees the trouble on the horizon. illicit affairs: james gets with betty but is still fuckin around with our girl on the side. the line about lies and lies implies that he said betty was the side girl and she believed and cared about him enough to stay while he’s really falling in love with betty and she ignores all the signs that she’s actually the other woman. between this song and betty, betty finds out about our girl and breaks up with james. betty: james realizes he loves betty instead of our girl and is apologizing (and making excuses) on her porch. betty’s a dumb bitch so she forgives him and they get back together. hoax: our girl is in absolute despair over james, who she trusted and loved with all her heart only for him to run off with betty. the 1: despite being the first song on the album, it’s the conclusion to the love triangle’s story. our girl is years older and more mature, looking back on her summer with james and understanding that he couldn’t control his falling out of love with her but appreciating the time they had together. flashes of the sadness from hoax come back, but she always switches it back to the positive. in conclusion, chronological order of the story is: august, illicit affairs, betty, hoax, the 1. and scene.

here’s my potentially hot take and explanation why i don’t think this album is about karlie: doubting taylor and joe’s relationship in favor of shipping kaylor is biphobic, especially after seven on this album basically confirms taylor has had crushes on girls/is bi. it’s one thing to speculate about the past or hope for them to get together, but ignoring the times taylor has gone on record saying that she loves joe and the songs she’s written about him and the more recent evidence that the two are quarantining together is disrespectful to her current relationship. the notion that she’s secretly dating karlie while letting her fans and the press think she’s with joe is furthering the stereotype that bi people are more likely to cheat or lie in a relationship and therefore biphobic. thank you.

anyway lmk if you want me to analyze the non-storyline aspects of the album! (or if you hate me for making it less gay lmao)

108 notes · View notes

tsarisfanfiction · 4 years ago

Text

Long Way From Home: Chapter 1

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Friendship Characters: Scott

His brothers are missing. In their place is a family of strangers, the only explanation that makes any sense is beyond comprehension, and the only solution is impossible. Scott Tracy’s never been so far from home.

Oh boy, so I’ve been working on this for literal months and it’s gonna be a hell of a ride. Strictly speaking, I haven’t got far enough in writing this to be totally confident in starting to post it, but it’s Thunderbirds Day and quite frankly there is no day more perfect to start this particular adventure. I have a vague plan to update this approximately weekly, but we’ll see how uni interferes with that...

Beep… Beep… Beep…

The shrill noise pierced his head unpleasantly. It was familiar, frustratingly so, but as unconsciousness slowly permitted him to drift awake, he couldn’t find a single reason for it. Who was hurt?

And why, he wondered as he peeled his eyes open briefly to see a sterile white ceiling, was he lying in a bed? A hospital bed, with wires pressing against his skin.

His memories held no answer, for all that he probed at them.

The mission had been a simple one. Solo, even, his brothers still fast asleep in their beds as the dead of night cradled home in its embrace. A trapped climber was routine by this point – Alan likened it to International Rescue’s equivalent of the fireman’s cat up a tree, for all the comparison was somewhat inappropriate. Grandma had told him off for that, when she’d heard him say it. He hadn’t, seeing the humour. Grandma had then told him off for not being a responsible adult and schooling his youngest brother.

The woman shouldn’t have been there, alone amongst the peaks of the Rockies with no backup as dawn broke to find her camp set up too close to a precipice and a simple rockfall cutting off any route she could take with the gear she’d had. She’d made the call, and Thunderbird One had been dispatched to pick up the latest in a long list of stranded climbers.

After he’d set her down at the base of the mountains, he’d started talking with John about sending out a worldwide PSA to please be careful in the mountains. It had started off a joke, something to keep his mind alert as he turned the beautiful red nose of his girl towards home, but he’d barely left the American coastline before their discussion took on a more serious note. Too many climbers were taking risks that just never used to happen. International Rescue was being taken for granted, and they only had so much capability to be in multiple places at once.

The beautiful, rugged spires of home had come into view, John signing off from the conversation for another of his cat naps, and he’d landed Thunderbird One safely in her silo without a hitch. He remembered post-flight checks, making a note to check a minor issue with a shoulder harness later after some sleep, and then disembarking onto the extended gantry as usual.

Then, nothing.

Had he fallen from the gantry? His brothers were periodically clucking about the lack of a handrail – Gordon, in particular, disliked it – but he’d never felt unsafe on it. It was high above the hangar floor, however, and while the beep… beep… beep… steadfastly continued, he was in no pain. An unchecked fall from that height would have left his body broken.

Experimentally, he flexed his fingers. They obeyed instantly, hands curling into loose fists and then extending again. His toes responded equally positively. No paralysis, tricking him into thinking there was no injury, then. Well, he’d always take good news, and more made itself known as he drifted a hand up to his head. No lumps, bumps or bandaging of any sort.

In fact, there was no bandaging anywhere. He’d spent enough time injured over the years to know the slightly itchy feeling of the fabric against his skin, but nowhere could he feel even the tight stickiness of a plaster clinging to his skin.

Thoroughly mystified at the information his memory and sense of touch were relaying, he opened his eyes again. This time prepared for the white, he didn’t immediately close them again. Instead, he looked around, realising with a sinking feeling that wherever he was, it wasn’t home.

The room was an infirmary of some sort, as he’d initially surmised. With at least one other bed in clear view, and room for more between metallic tables and cabinets filled with meticulously organised jars and bottles, it was clearly private, rather than hospital-grade. He was reminded of their infirmary at home, ready for use at a moment’s notice despite ignored prayers that it would never be needed and kept organised by the iron fists of Grandma and her willing protégé Virgil.

There was a window, though. At home, carved into the rock their villa was as much an extension of as an intrusion upon, the infirmary had no natural light source. Artificial lights and holographic visages kept the room from being a dark dungeon. From his position on the bed, he couldn’t see outside, but the light streaming in through open blinds was entirely natural.

Most bizarre of all, however, was the technology surrounding him. At a glance it seemed outdated, the light-up displays using something that seemed even older than LEDs and not a hologram in sight. John would dismiss it as junk, he assumed, before realising that he had no idea what most of it was for. Numbers flickered, not even digital but a flick-flick-flick of cycling cards. If not for the labels – tacky, raised lines of metal forming letters and words – the idea that it was monitoring his blood pressure and other vital signs would never have even crossed his mind.

Basic competence with standard hospital technology had been drilled into them all firmly by Grandma, even if only Virgil had taken it further than the fundamentals needed to keep someone alive long enough for professional medical help to arrive. Outdated technology had been included in that list, anything Grandma had ever used throughout her life a requirement because not everywhere had the technology of International Rescue, or even an up to date machine.

He could say with certainty that he wouldn’t even know where to start with the technology surrounding him. Logic dictated that that meant it was even older than Grandma, or state of the art beyond even Brains’ inventions, but neither felt right.

There was nothing primitive about the machinery, for all that he still maintained John would find it fit for the WRMs. Brains and Virgil would be itching to take it apart, see how it worked and whether they could improve it, or find inspiration to improve their own.

Speaking of his family, it was odd that none of them were nearby. Virgil almost always camped out if someone was injured or sick, and if he was away on a rescue another Tracy would step up to take his place. Gordon never stopped talking when he was on infirmary duty, finding topic after topic to plough through until he found one the injured party reacted to and milked it for all it was worth. Alan, in true teenager fashion, was a fidgeting wreck unless he had his games with him; it was not unusual for him to flop belly-down on an unoccupied bed with his headset on in his own form of company. John might not be capable of physically being in the room, unless it was so bad he’d felt compelled down from his beloved stars, but constant communication links allowed him to be tied in at all times.

Of all his brothers, it was John he was most surprised to have seen or heard nothing of since he awoke. His vitals should have been being streamed straight to Five, no matter where in the world he was – John would have known the instant he regained consciousness and responded accordingly. Even if, as he realised, his uniform and communicator had been relieved from his person.

Someone, presumably the person responsible for settling him in the unfamiliar infirmary, had changed him out of his flight suit and into soft, flannel pyjamas. They were comfortable enough, even if they weren’t his usual style, and fit perfectly. His uniform, he discovered with relief after another look around the room, was folded neatly on a chair. Everything was there, his baldric still full of grapple packs, barring the one used up on the rescue, and the grapple itself, and the controls for remote piloting both One and his jetpack remained three per bracer.

Wherever he was, and whoever had put him there, it appeared no-one was interested in investigating International Rescue’s gear. At least he could rule out the Hood, he supposed, although perhaps he’d have preferred their nemesis to the total unknown…

No, he decided after a moment’s deliberation. He wasn’t quite that desperate. He was unrestrained and his gear was safe. That automatically made the situation far better than anything involving the Hood.

Still, too many questions and no answers for any of them spurred him into action. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, wires tugging futilely before falling away and sending the machines into a frenzy, he steeled himself to make a break for it – out of the room and hopefully ending up somewhere that would give him the answers he needed.

The door opened as beeps turned into squeals, and he turned towards the new arrival, hoping to see Virgil or Grandma, hands on hips as they chivvied him back into bed.

It was not Virgil or Grandma. Nor was it any of his other brothers.

Sharp blue eyes surveyed – analysed – him, set into a face that was hard to read. Furrowed brows gave the stare an almost disturbing intensity as his conscious state was registered; they were almost the same colour as the mop of short dark brown hair on the man’s head. Dimples that, if coupled with a smile, could bedazzle and disarm anyone completed the look, and he felt his jaw drop slightly before strength of will forced it shut again.

Standing in front of Scott Tracy, arms crossed and wearing a look of cautious suspicion he knew all too well, was Scott Tracy.

Chapter 2>>>

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #scott tracy #long way from home

32 notes · View notes

infinitelytheheartexpands · 3 years ago

Text

Month of New Operatic Works, Round 2, #19: Hérodiade (1995 Plasson recording)

Owing to a headache arising from my sleep schedule going completely bonkers last night (passed out sometime around 9 PM, woke up about 2 hours later, and have not been able to fall asleep since), I opted to listen to this recording instead of watching the 1984 Liceu production of this, the most famous Massenet opera with which I was by and large unfamiliar (I’d only heard two of the opera’s big arias, “Il est doux, il est bon” and “Adieu donc, vains objets”).

Update: uhhhhhhhh so this is how my initial experience went

me: *curls up on the sofa in the living room with a blanket and Hérodiade*

me: ah yes this is the perfect arrangement *types out the first paragraph of this post and saves it during the first few minutes of the opera*

me, 10 minutes later at like 7:30 PM: *passes out from sheer exhaustion*

me, 2 hours later: *wakes up with the music STILL PLAYING and listens to Cheryl Studer and Ben Heppner sing the hell out of an awesome duet and then immediately proceeds to pass out again*

me, waking up again 4 hours later: ...oh COME ON

so that was how my first attempt went and I say that not as a dig on Hérodiade, which it is not, but as an explanation as to why this took so long. anyway, on to the review!

This is definitely now Up There on my list of favorite Massenet operas.

So I listened to this recording from 1995 conducted by Michel Plasson with Cheryl Studer as Salomé, Nadine Denize as Hérodiade, Thomas Hampson as Hérode, Ben Heppner as Jean le Baptiste, and José van Dam as Phanuel. Unfortunately, it is not available on Spotify (seriously???); the only available one has (on the upside) Renée Fleming as Salomé and Dolora Zajick as Hérodiade, but (major downside) has The Tenor Turned Baritone Who Shall Not Be Named as Jean.

The cast is marvelous top to bottom; Nadine Denize is a new name for me but she was excellent. The other four leads were excellent as always. I’m a huge fan of Plasson’s work.

Anyway, this opera is extremely interesting. It doesn’t follow either the original tale of the death of John the Baptist or the Wilde play that became the Richard Strauss opera. It’s quite different.

The backstory: years before the action of the opera, Hérodiade abandoned her daughter Salomé (who has no memories of her mother except that she was abandoned) in order to marry Hérode. in the intervening time, Salomé has found comfort from Jean and his preaching (as well as fallen in love with him) and heard a voice telling her to come to Jerusalem in order to find her mother. she has followed and become friends with Phanuel, who’s an adviser kinda in everyone’s business. Jean has been busy insulting Hérodiade, which has the completely expected effect of making her severely PO’d. meanwhile Hérode has seen and fallen in Opera Villain Lust (TM) with Salomé. also there’s an attempted revolt going on against the Romans.

The plot, very shortly: Salomé dreams of both finding her mother and furthering her relationship with Jean. Hérodiade asks Hérode to have Jean executed; he says no. Jean calls Hérodiade out a bunch and it’s awesome. Later, at a party or something, Hérode is horny and drinks a potion that makes him have erotic visions of Salomé. Phanuel tells him about the political situation and Hérode, in order to become more popular, allies himself with the revolt. However, unexpectedly the Roman official Vitellius shows up and Hérode changes his tune real quick. Jean comes on with his followers and Salomé and basically disses everyone. Hérodiade notices Hérode making eyes at Salomé and tells Vitellius that Jean is bad news, hoping to get someone to help her get Jean executed.

Hérodiade then pays Phanuel, who apparently is also an astrologer, a visit and asks him to tell her what the stars hold. Because this is an opera, there is a whole lot of blood and destruction in those stars. Phanuel also tells Hérodiade that her star is linked to that of her abandoned daughter and that said abandoned daughter is nearby. Hérodiade is overjoyed at first but when Phanuel points to Salomé outside, she’s horrified and her joy turns to hatred. Salomé tries to find Jean inside the palace because he’s been captured, but Hérode finds her first and essentially all but sexually assaults her. Then Jean is put on trial; Hérode offers to pardon him if he helps him overthrow the Romans. Jean says no. Salomé then asks to die alongside Jean. Everyone’s like “wtf?!?!?!” and Hérode, realizing that Jean is his rival, sentences both to death. Hérodiade, who wants to dispatch both the man who insulted her and the woman who’s drawing her husband’s wandering eye, thinks this is convenient.

Jean angsts in prison. Salomé finds him and declares her love, and at last he too declares that he loves her. But in a twist, Hérode pardons Salomé (and her alone) and summons her to the palace. She is carried off as such against her will. Jean is executed. The Romans have crushed the rebellion, and Hérode (who just goes with what’s in vogue) holds a banquet to celebrate along with Hérodiade. Salomé interrupts the festivities and asks that either she die with Jean or Jean be saved because Jean was the only person who truly cared for her after her abandonment by the mother she despises. An executioner announces that Jean is dead. Salomé realizes that Hérodiade is responsible and goes to stab her, but Hérodiade reveals that she is Salomé’s mother. Salomé, in despair, kills herself instead. The end.

It’s really an extremely sad opera. All Salomé wanted was to have someone truly care about her. And in pursuit of a man, Hérodiade ruined her life twice over and became directly responsible for her death. And yet she isn’t completely a monster either; she’s a complicated woman who wants to keep her husband from straying, which is understandable given what she gave up to be with him, though she went about it all wrong. Hérode is almost certainly worse, with little to none in the way of redeeming qualities. Jean is a Good Tenor who doesn’t want Salomé to get hurt. Phanuel is just trying to keep everything together but he’s failing miserably. It’s really very compelling.

The music! My God, the music! Massenet writes so beautifully and has a rare gift among composers: to maintain a distinctive style while still fully immersing the listener in the distinct soundscape of the world in which the opera takes place. And since this is Massenet, the score is marvelous start to finish, though several moments stood out at first listen:

all the arias (in particular, I had no idea Salomé got a second marvelous aria in Act III after her iconic “Il est doux, il est bon” 15 minutes into the opera)

the Act I trio for Hérode, Hérodiade, and Jean

I didn’t realize the tune from the orchestral intro to “Il est doux, il est bon” was a motif for Jean!

those dreamy harp arpeggios leading into and out of Hérode’s vision

the entire Salomé/Hérode duet (Salomé is such a badass)

the Act III danse sacré

the moment when Salomé publicly declares her love and admiration for Jean

the ensuing ensemble

the entire Salomé/Jean duet

from Salomé’s final entrance to the end of the opera

anyway, marvelous opera. even though I’m technically one short, I think this is a good place to end this month’s experiment. it’s been fun. :)

#opera #opera tag #Month of New Operatic Works Round 2 #Hérodiade #Massenet #Jules Massenet #French grand opéra

3 notes · View notes

strongerwiththepack · 5 years ago

Text

Sensory Sunday: See

A new challenge you say? I am in. Believe it or not I have a half written fic on my laptop for IRRelief but I never got round to finishing it - whoops! Anyways, I work better with a deadline so managed to bash this one out today. It felt really good to be writing again, thanks so much for organising another challenge for us @gumnut-logic!

Gordon groaned into his pillow at the sound of the claxon but jumped out of bed nonetheless. Glancing at the clock he calculated that he’s barely gotten 3 hours of sleep and rubs his eyes tiredly. When he gets to the lounge Scott’s already there with John. Virgil and Alan are still out on their own rescue. Gordon was usually Virgil’s primary co-pilot but he’d been out on a solo rescue at an underwater research centre when the call had come in so Alan had taken his place.

Scott seemed to be arguing with John when he walked in. “-didn’t have to wake him, I can handle it.”

John glared. “You won’t be able to use the autopilot on One in those winds Scott, this is a two man job.”

John seemed to notice him then. “Sorry Gordon, I know you didn’t get much sleep. You feel up to it?”

Gordon stretched his arms above his head and grinned. “Totally. I am well rested and raring to go.”

He reckoned the statement was kind of ruined by the fact he was still in his pjs with bed-head but he tried his best.

Scott rolled his eyes at the statement as he made his way over to his chute. “Fine, suit-up Gordon but you are off duty for 12 hours minimum when we get back.”

“Aye-aye captain” he said with a salute while running towards his elevator.

…

Scott briefed him on the situation while they flew. A climber had gotten his ropes tangled on the side of a cliff in the French Alps. He was caught on the rocks and had broken his leg when he’d been slammed into the side of the side of the cliff. Mountain Rescue couldn’t get to him due to the growing wind in the area.

Gordon wondered how idiotic you had to be to scale a mountain at this time of year by yourself. That was like rule number one of rock climbing - always have a buddy. Hell, he wasn’t even allowed to go rock climbing on Tracy Island without one of his brothers. It was just common sense.

Gordon rarely flew in Thunderbird One and it was crazy how quickly they got there. Don’t get him wrong he loved Thunderbird Two but he had to admit he was impressed. Even if he had been pushed back into his seat by the G-forces the whole way.

Scott slowed as they reached their destination and John came on the line to direct them to the climbers location. With the reduced speed Gordon was able to stand up and prep for the rescue. He pulled on his helmet and strapped into a harness at the hatch of his brothers bird.

Scott voice sounded through his comm. “Okay Gordon I have sights on the climber, we’re about as close as we’re gonna get.”

Gordon gave confirmation that he was ready and Scott opened the hatch. The wind was harsh as it roared through the opening. Thunderbird One was even swaying slightly as his brother fought to keep her still.

Gordon hooked Thunderbird One’s grappling cable to his belt before taking out his own grappling gun. Scott could have shot One’s grappling cable out on his own but in these winds there was too big a risk of hitting the climber. It was safer for Gordon to grapple across first and attach the bulkier line by hand.

He shot his grapple gun towards the top edge of the cliff, well above the climber, and grinned when it attached straight away.

“Oh yeah, got it in one.” He boasted over the comms. “Heading out now.”

He could practically hear Scott’s eye roll over the comm. “FAB Gordon.”

Gordon braced himself and pulled the cord taunt before jumping down out of the hatch. He sailed across in a smooth arc through the piercing winds and bent his knees as he collided with the rock. He quickly found some hand-holds to steady himself and started making his way over to the climber who was a couple of metres to his right.

He knew John had been in contact with the climber but he called out anyway. “Hey there, heard you got yourself in a bit of trouble here.”

The guy was pretty much flattened against the cliff, one leg hanging loosely while the other was bent up onto a foothold, trying to take some of his weight off of his ropes. His teeth were chattering and his cheeks were red and starting to blister.

Hypothermia. Gordon thought grimly. The guy had been exposed to extreme icy winds for over an hour now. With the broken leg Gordon knew he could be dealing with shock as well

The guy did manage to give him a small smile that turned more into a grimace. “International Rescue.” He said with a relived tone. “Boy am I glad to see you.”

The guy was older than Gordon had expected but he could tell the man must have been a seasoned climber. He had all the right gear and looked to be in pretty good shape for his age. Kind of reminded Gordon of his dad.

Gordon smiled. “Let’s see what we’ve got here.” Gordon scanned the ropes and decided there was no use trying to salvage them. With the cold and the mans broken leg it would be better just to get the man secure and cut the ropes.

“We’ll get that leg set as soon as we’re inside Thunderbird One okay? Any other injuries?” Gordon asked as he attached another carabiner to the man harness, attaching the man to himself.

He looked up as the man shook his head. His heart stopped as he caught sight of something over the mans shoulder. Hardly 10 meters away was one of the chaos crews bombs. There was a blinking light that was steadily getting faster. Dammit.

No time for taking it slow now. He quickly attached the man to one of the ziplines hanging from the line coming from Thunderbird One. His own line was already attached so he gave a quick yank of the line, making sure it was secure before all but pushing the man off the cliff yelling “GO!”

The man yelped as he was suddenly airborne and Gordon followed close behind. He winced as the mans broken leg slammed against Thunderbird One’s interior as they made it inside but he didn’t have time to do anything. He turned back and pressed the manual release of the grapple line to detach them from the mountain.

“What the hell Gordon!?” Scott’s angry voice sounded over the comm. He’d basically broken every single safety procedure they had.

“Go Scott! Get away from the mountain! We’re in.” He yelled. There would be time for explanations when they were out of range of the blast zone. Gordon knew the damage one of Fuse’s bombs could cause.

He knew Scott wanted to shout at him some more but he couldn’t fault his brothers trust in him when they quickly flew away from the cliffside. The hatch started closing as Gordon helped get the man strapped into a seat. He didn’t want to cause the guy any more damage if this thing exploded and rocked their ship.

Gordon realised if there was a bomb on the mountain, the chaos crew couldn’t be far away. He didn’t want to admit that thought made his heart beat a bit faster. The memories of his last encounter weren’t going away anytime soon.

“Scott be careful, I think the chaos crew are in the area.” He warned across the comm link.

“Dammit.” Scott swore, his voice tinted with a growl. “John, can you see anything on the scanners.”

“Nothing Scott.” John was quick to reply. “They could have upgraded their cloaking technology though. EOS is running a more thorough scan.”

“FAB, John. Why do you think they’re here Gordon?”

“I saw one of their bombs on the mountain. It was about to blow.”

John hummed across the line. “There haven’t been any explosions in the area as far as I can see.”

“Maybe it was one of those proximity bombs or something.” Gordon theorised.

Johns answer was crisp. “I’ll look into it.”

Gordon couldn’t help the unease he was feeling as he got himself back into the mindset of a rescuer and returned to helping the climber.

“Sorry about the rough landing.” He tried to keep his voice light. “Let’s take a look at that leg.”

The man just nodded clearly still a bit shaken.

…

Gordon made his way back to the cockpit once they’d unloaded the climber to the local hospital. He gave the man a few choice words about not climbing alone in the future but from the pat on the shoulder and the alright sonny he’d received, he was pretty sure it hadn’t gone in.

He sat down heavily in the cockpit and once they were airborne Scott switched to autopilot and swivelled in his chair to face the younger man.

“Are you okay?” Scott eyed him wearily.

Gordon could understand the concern. That was his first encounter with anything hood-related since his accident.

“I’m fine, Scott.”

At the pointed look he received he sighed. “Honestly, Scott, I am.”

“Okay.” Scott conceded. “Talk me through what happened.”

When Gordon was done Scott gave him a confused look. “Why would the hood go to the trouble of placing a bomb and then not show up? Or even detonate it for that matter.”

Gordon just shrugged. He’d been wondering the same thing. In fact, he was still wired up waiting for a surprise attack. Anywhere they found chaos crew tech, the chaos crew were never far away. And they always showed up.

“Did the climber say anything?”

Gordon shook his head. “Said he didn’t even see the bomb. Don’t know how he missed it, it must’ve been right next to him for the whole hour he was there.”

Scott frowned at that. Something just wasn’t right here. “John notified the GDF, they’re going to scout out the area in a few hours once the storm has passed.”

Gordon just nodded at the statement. “Good.”

…

Gordon woke up that afternoon feeling a lot better after a good 8 hours of sleep. Despite it being the early hours of the morning when they’d gotten back last night he’d had to do a pretty thorough debrief with Scott and he was practically falling asleep standing up by the time they’d finished.

He wandered through to the lounge with a towel hung over his shoulder. With all the stress yesterday, he really needed to get in some laps of the pool.

He found Scott at their fathers desk later in the day. “Hey Scott, any word from the GDF?”

“Yes and no.” His brother replied cryptically with a sigh. Gordon caught the bags under his brothers eyes and knew Scott hadn’t slept as well as he had. He had a worried afterthought that maybe Scott hadn’t slept at all but John was usually on top of that.

Gordon rolled his eyes when his brother didn’t continue. “Are you going to elaborate or..?”

Scott seemed to have forgotten he was there as he looked up from the computer again. He must be working on something. “Uh yeah sorry Gordo.”

“The GDF combed the area but they couldn’t find anything. Not a trace that someone had even been there let alone any tech from the chaos crew.”

Gordon frowned and Scott eyed him wearily. “John’s been monitoring the area as well and he hasn’t found anything, not even a blip in the data…listen Gordon, are you 100% sure you saw something?”

Gordon could hear the reluctance in his brothers voice as he asked the question but it still stung a little. He became defensive. “Yes! It was there Scott.”

Scott held up his hands in a placating manor, but Gordon felt it gave off more of a patronising feel. “Just a question Gords. The visibility wasn’t great and it was a high stress situation, I’m just asking if you’re sure.”

Gordon frowned and actually took a second to think back. The visibility hadn’t been great but he’d seen it! He couldn’t have missed it with the red blinking lights counting down to his doom.

“I’m sure Scott.” He said decisively.

Scott nodded at his statement. “We’ll keep looking into it, if the hood has a new cloaking technology we need to know about it.”

When Scott went back to typing away on his computer Gordon couldn’t help but notice the slither of doubt present on his eldest brothers face. The pain he felt at the slight loss of trust was hard.

…

There was another call a few hours later. A cave-in, multiple groups of climbers scattered throughout the complex mining system. This was an all hands on deck sort of job, luckily Gordon had just passed the 12 hour mark since their last rescue.

He and Alan were burrowing into the East mining site on foot while Scott and Virgil took the West and Central sites respectively. There was only a short tiff from Alan about having to be babysat. If Gordon was honest, he was pretty sure it was himself who was being ‘babysat’ but he didn’t let Alan know that.

Honestly, he quite enjoyed rescues with his baby brother. Alan was much easier to wind up than Virgil and much less dangerous to wind up than Scott. Don’t even get started on the complex task that is winding up John. This was just some fun banter with his little brother who could definitely fire back as good as he got it.

“Y’know every time I look at you in your uniform it just reminds me of when you used to dress up as a power ranger.” Gordon hummed as they walked. Alan’s face turned thunderous and he knew he hit a good one.

“Maybe it’s the shoulder pads” he continued musing as he placed a hand on his chin in mock contemplation. “Oooor” he drawled out. “It’s just the fact that you’re still a little sprout with a babyface.”

Alan glared at him.

“Grandma says I’m going to grow taller than you.” His little brother huffed, sticking out his tongue at the end just to add to Gordon’s enjoyment of the childish statement.

“Oh definitely.” He nodded back. “Going to go from a baby sprout to a bean sprout just like Johnny. Maybe you’ll get the bad coordination to go with it.”

“I can hear you, you know Gordon.” John lectured through his watch.

Gordon at least had the grace to give a sheepish look at his space-bound brother.

“Sorry Johnny.” He grinned with basically no conviction behind the words.

“Mmm-hmm” John shot back.

Alan turned around, giving him a sickly-sweet smile. “You know, we all know you’re just overcompensating for your own height. Too bad you can’t grow out of that one.”

With the cheesy grin on his brothers face Gordon knew he thought he’d got him with that one. Gordon couldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“I’ll have you know I am very comfortable with- ALAN MOVE!”

All Alan had time to do was widen his eyes in panic and start to turn to glance over his shoulder before Gordon grabbed his brother and forcibly shove him behind him. Alan wasn’t ready for that though and lost his footing, taking Gordon down with him.

Alan cried out as they landed hard on the ground and Gordon panicked, thinking it had got him. He looked around wildly but saw nothing. The needed to move.

“What the hell Gordon!?” He heard Alan grunt out.

He practically full-on lifted his brother off the ground in his hurry to get out of there and he didn’t miss his Alans hiss of pain as he cradled his wrist to his chest. He mentally stored that information away for later and gave his brother a light push back towards the way they’d come.

“Run.”

“What’s going on Gordon?” John questioned with a hint of stress behind his words.

They were still running as Gordon answered, keeping Alan in front of him and glancing back frantically to make sure nothing was following them.

“A mecha tried to attacked Alan!”

“A mecha? The Mechanic is in custody Gordon, it couldn’t have been a mecha.”

“Well considering one almost just electrocuted Alan, I think you might want to double check that Johnny.” He huffed out.

“FAB Gordon, I’ll inform Scott and Virgil.”

Gordon didn’t let them stop running until the broke out into the sunlight again. Both him and Alan took a second to pant as they regained their breath. Gordon focused on his little brothers’ wrist immediately which he still held cradled to his chest.

“You okay?” he asked.

Alan grimaced. “Think I sprained my wrist.”

You mean you think I sprained your wrist. Gordon thought darkly as he recalled pushing his brother to the floor.

“Let get it wrapped in Two.” He sighed.

Virgil came running up to them then.

“What the hell happened?” Virgil exclaimed, seemingly trying to assess both his brothers simultaneously as his head pinballed between them almost comically.

“There are mechas in the tunnels!” Gordon told his brother worriedly. “Where’s Scott?”

“He’s on his way out with a group of miners.” Vigil hyper-focused onto Alan’s wrist as Gordon internally winced at the fact that him and Alan had abandoned the miners they were supposed to rescue.

“The mecha did this?” Virgil questioned Alan as he turned his brother’s wrist over gently.

“Uh, well not exactly.” Alan said sheepishly, looking at Gordon apologetically. “Gordon push me out of the way, and I fell on it.”

“Sorry Al.” Gordon said sincerely.

Alan waved him off, but Gordon still felt bad.

…

Scott joined them while they were in Two’s medbay. Alan sat on one of the pull-out beds, wrist wrapped tightly and had taken a couple of mild painkillers to chase away the ache.

Gordon startled as Scott came storming into the room.

“Mechas!? I thought we were done with those! What’s going on?”

John popped up then, like he always did when answers were needed. “I’ve spoken to the GDF, they’ve confirmed The Mechanic is still in custody.”

“So, the hood is using mechas now? Or the chaos crew?” Scott questioned, running a hand through his hair stiffly. Gordon could practically see them turning grey on the spot.

“It doesn’t make any sense, but I don’t have any answers right now.” John said with a frown. It wasn’t often John couldn’t provide the answers and Gordon knew it made him uncomfortable.

“There’s something else.” John said wearily. “I’m still not picking up any signs of any hostiles in the area.”

“What are you saying John?” Scott prodded.

“I should be picking up something on my scanners Scott. Even if the chaos crew aren’t here I should be able to pick up the mechas, I’ve always been able to in the past. There’s just nothing.”

Scott sighed. “FAB John, just keep looking.”

John pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something else but signed off nonetheless.

“We need to go back in to get the last group of climbers.” Scott said wearily.

Gordon started. “The GDF-“

“-won’t get here before this whole tunnelling system collapses” Scott countered quickly.

“How many mechas did you see?” Virgil queried from the side.

“Just the one.” Gordon answered.

“Alan?”

Alan looked like a deer caught in headlights as he looked between Virgil and Gordon. “Well to be honest, I didn’t see any.”

Scott’s brow furrowed at that one.

“Wait what? You didn’t see anything Alan?” Scott questioned.

“Uh no. Gordon pushed me down before I could look.”

Scott and Virgil shared a look and Gordon felt anger bubble up from within him, they’d clearly talked about this.

“Don’t act like I’m not here, I know what you’re thinking Scott.” Gordon growled. “I know what I saw.”

“I’m not saying anything.” Scott tried to diffuse.

There was a beat of tense silence before Scott frowned and headed over to the supply cupboards, taking out some clips to reload his grapple. The silence as he did so was deafening.

Scott put his field commander persona back in place as he continued. “Okay. Virgil, you come with me to get the last group of miners.”

“I can come too.” Gordon tried. “Safety in numbers and all that.”

“I want you to stay with Alan” Scott said firmly in his Commander voice. Gordon knew that meant there was no room for argument.”

“Fine.” He said in a huffy voice, sitting back down in a chair.

Scott and Virgil made to leave.

“Just- “ Gordon started, stopping them. “-be careful okay?”

“FAB” Scott replied grimly as he and Virgil went back out towards the caves.

…

Scott and Virgil had retrieved the miners with no problems. Gordon had kind of been hoping they’d come across some trace of the Hood. He realised guiltily that he’d subconsciously been hoping his brothers would find trouble. He was glad they were safe but it would’ve been nice to have someone to backup his claims.

The trip back to the island had been pretty quiet but now was time for debrief. Gordon headed to the lounge once he’d showered and changed. He hovered in the doorway when he heard hushed angry voices in the lounge.

“What if it’s PTSD or something?” Scott whispered not-so-quietly.

“He’s not shown any other signs, you’re jumping to conclusions Scott.” That was Virgil.

“He hurt Alan! If he’s seeing things it could be dangerous.”

“No need to whisper fellas.” Gordon decided to announce his presence. “The whole island can hear you.”

“Gordon- “ Scott started, having the grace to look at least slightly guilty.

“It’s fine.” Gordon huffed as he sat down on the couch.

They waited in silence for Alan who ran in a few minutes later grinning sheepishly as Virgil glared at the damp bandages around his wrist. He was supposed to keep them dry. Gordon reckoned a trip to the infirmary was in line for his little brother once they were finished.

John popped up on cue as always and they started the debriefing. Scott talked through the actual rescue and then Gordon gave yet another account of what he saw in the mines. Albeit a much more detailed version while he was practically playing 20 questions with John and Scott. He felt like they were trying to poke holes in his story, but he tried to keep calm.

“Yeah like I said, it climbed up the wall behind Alan and pounced at him with the taser arm thing extended.”

“What was the visibility like?” Scott questioned further.

“Pretty dark but we both had our torches on and it’s kind of hard to miss a sparking spider monster in the dark Scott.” Gordon added a hint of sarcasm into his voice.

“I think Gordon’s told us enough Scott.” Virgil reasoned, always playing buffer between him and Scott.

John stepped in to give his report. “The GDF haven’t found anything in the area. And I still haven’t found anything either.”

John sounded like he was getting frustrated with himself.

“So, you pushed Alan down and it just disappeared?”

Apparently, Scott wasn’t done with his 20 questions yet.

Gordon sighed. To be honest this was the part that was bothering him as well. “Yeah, it’s weird when I knocked Alan out of the way I was sure I was in it’s path.”

He contemplated for a second before continuing. “I could’ve sworn the taser arm touched me before I fell too but I didn’t feel anything. Then I lost sight of it when I fell.”

He felt like the memory was becoming a lot clearer to him and he was finally noticing all the things that just didn’t add up.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t hear it land either.” Gordon knew he wasn’t exactly helping his story here, but he was just trying to be honest. “Those things are huge; it should have crashed to the ground.”

Everyone was staring at him now, Scott with worry, John with curiosity and confusion from both Alan and Virgil.

“What are you saying Gordon?” Scott asked gently, almost tactically.

Gordon was frustrated with this whole thing. “I don’t know okay! Something weird is going on.”

Scott spoke again, even more gently. “Listen Gordon, you’ve been through a very stressful situation when it comes to the Hood, you can tell us if you think you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“I know what I saw Scott!”

The concern in Scott’s eyes practically burned into his soul as his brother continued. “Paranoia is common in cases of PTSD, there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Gordon scowled, scrunching his fists into the couch. “I’m not crazy Scott! Why can’t you just trust me!?”

“Well give me another answer for what’s happening then Gordon.” Scott shot back.

“I don’t know! But I know what I saw Scott!” Gordon exclaimed jumping up from the couch. All his brothers were looking at him with worried looks now and Gordon felt tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. “Why won’t you guys believe me?”

He knew he must be looking a bit crazy now but the problem was he was beginning to doubt himself as well. What if he hadn’t seen anything? Alan should have been able to see the mecha if it had been there. The climber should have noticed the bomb as well. John should have been able to pick up everything on his scanners and the GDF should have found the tech at the rescue sites.

He knows what he saw. But what if he can’t trust what he’s seeing anymore. Maybe he is imagining things. And then the worst possible thing happens. He sees a mecha on the ceiling in the corner of the living room. It just looks so unnatural in this setting that he cracks.

He sits back down heavily on the sofa and presses the heels of his hands into his head. “I don’t know what’s happening.” He whispers.

He looks back up at the ceiling and the mecha he thought he’d seen has vanished, leaving just the dark shadows of the corner. He is seeing things. His tears finally start to fall.

With tears streaming down his cheeks and panicky breaths coming from his lungs he’s not surprised when Virgil is suddenly there, kneeling down in front of him and placing hands on his shoulders.

“Just breathe Gordo. In and Out.” His brother deepens his own breathing, encouraging Gordon to imitate him. Gordon does and it gives him enough breath to let out a half-muffled sob. Virgil wraps his arms around him, and Gordon has to admit, he immediately feels slightly better. Virgil’s hugs are magic like that sometimes.

“You’re not crazy Gordon.” Virgil assures as he squeezes just a bit tighter. “We’re going to figure this out.”

Gordon sniffs, raising his own arms with a shuddering breath and hugs his brother back before tensing as his eyes catch movement on the table. He sucks in a sharp breath as his eyes watch the mecha. It’s not real. It’s not real.

But then Scott’s guilt-ridden eyes catch his own and follow his gaze. Gordon does not expect it when Scott’s eyes also widen in horror and he back-peddles away from the table so fast he almost trips.

“Holy- “

Gordon pushes Virgil off him in shock, pulling his brother up with him as he backs away, he sees Alan doing the same thing to his left. “You- you can see that?”

Scott just nods as Virgil gapes beside him.

“YES!” Gordon exclaims happily before quickly realising this is not much better of a situation. The glares he receives from his brothers prove as much.

“Sorry, sorry. Just revelling in the fact that I’m not actually going insane.” He tries to say it as a joke but his voice cracks half way though and his hands are still shaking slightly. “But I get it. New problem.”

“Why isn’t it doing anything?” Alan asks quietly and Gordon motions for his little brother to come and stand closer to him and Virgil.

“How did it even manage to get on the island?” Scott asked in bewilderment. Gordon could see the tension running through his eldest brothers body. This was their home, they were suppose to be safe here.

John’s hologram was still hovering above the table that it was standing on and a stupid part of Gordons brain was scared at his brothers supposed proximity to it. His space-bound brother was furiously typing on his keyboard with a deep frown etched onto his face.

“I don’t understand.” John exclaimed. “It’s not on any of my scanners, it shouldn’t exist!”

One of John’s hands was pulling at his hair and Gordon wondered briefly if his brother was feeling the same amount of crazy as he had just moments earlier. Well probably not the same amount, Gordon was pretty sure he’d fallen down the rabbit hole for a few minutes.

“Well I’m looking at it with my own two eyes Johnny so I can confirm it does exist.” Scott shot back.

Gordon couldn’t help himself.

“Sure you’re not seeing things Scott?”

“Not the time Gordon.” Scott grunted.

And then more of them scuttered in through the door. Another six to be precise. They scattered as they came in, covering the room.

“Dammit.” Scott swore. “Where’s Kayo?”

“She’s not on the island Scott.” John answered grimly. “I’ve called her back in but she’ll be at least another half an hour.”

“Grandma and Brains?”

“Locked in Brains’ lab, they’re aware of the situation.”

Scott nodded. “Good.”

Gordon felt Alan pushing in closer to him and peered over, noticing one of them slowly creeping towards his baby brother.

“What do we do Scott?” Gordon asked. He knew it was cruel of him to put this on his eldest brother, but he was just so used to Scott having all the answers.

“Try and get to the balcony. We can lock them inside.”

Gordon grabbed a pillow off the coach before retreating backwards towards the balcony. The mechas just seemed to stare at them as they went and Gordon thought they were going to get away easily before one started skittering towards him at a fast pace. He did the only thing he could do and threw the pillow he was holding with deadly accuracy…only to watch it soar right through the mecha.

What?

The one he’d hit seemed to shimmer slightly before reforming.

“They’re holograms!” Gordon exclaimed.

“Of course!” John gasped, a little too excitedly. “That’s why I wasn’t picking up any signals or thermals from them.”

“And why they never made any noise in the cave!” Gordon added.

Scott looked dumbfounded. “But why? Why go to all this trouble?”

It was then a low laugh sounded through the room and the mechas vanished, leaving behind a very realistic looking Hood.

“For fun Mr. Tracy”

Gordon scowled at the familiar voice.

“Hood.” Scott replied darkly. “Whatever your plan was it didn’t work, we’ve figured out your game.”

The Hood laughed under his breath, filling Gordon with unease. He even threw another pillow at the projection just to make sure he wasn’t the real thing. Thankfullt, it soared through harmlessly again.

“Knowing about them doesn’t reduce the impact Mr. Tracy. I have hundreds of microscopic projectors on your property now. They’re tiny and sophisticatedly cloaked, you’ll never find them all.”

Scott scowled, glaring at the man as he continued. “Let’s see how well you get on when you can’t even trust your own eyes.”

The man gave a roaring final laugh before signing off.

The brothers looked at each other with grim expressions. How were they going to get through this one?

Maybe tbc? I make no promises.

#sensorysunday #sensorysunday2020 #thunderbirds are go #this one turned out wayyyy longer than I expected #and its technically not even finished urghh #really should have been multi-chapter with more fleshing out #tis my own fault tho #lastminute.com #as per #oh well

27 notes · View notes

dailyaudiobible · 4 years ago

Text

04/21/2021 DAB Transcript

Joshua 22:21-23:16, Luke 20:27-47, Psalms 89:14-37, Proverbs 13:17-19

Today is the 21st day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is always a humbling pleasure and joy to just to come in and have a seat around the Global Campfire with everybody else and have this place. It's amazing what…what we’ve been able to do together, right? To build an oasis, like an oasis for the heart that we can come to. It's like we made…we built this. Every day we can come here and it's a safe place to be in. Its just God word being read over us and us knowing that we can never really listen to the Daily Audio…like there's no time that we’re listening that somebody else isn't listening as well. And, so, we are in this together and that is an awe-inspiring thing. Even after all these years, it’s still an awe-inspiring thing…I mean I’m sitting here thinking about it and I can't stop talking about it. It's incredible that we have this place where we can be together. And, so, thrilled. Thrilled that we can take our place and take the next step forward. The next step forward leads us back into the book of Joshua. We’ve been traveling with Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan and the taking of the promised land and the dividing of the promised land. And we will conclude the book of Joshua tomorrow, but we left ourselves yesterday with a bit of a cliffhanger because the 2 1/2 tribes were going home, they built this large imposing altar and the 10 tribes found out about it in they’re like, they've gathered together for war and have sent some delegates from each of the tribes to find out what in the world is going on. And, so, we’ll pick up that story. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Joshua 22:21 to 23:16.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we have basically rounded the corner and we are at the end of the book of Joshua. We will conclude the book of Joshua with tomorrow's reading. And we had a situation, develop in the last couple of days that could have been catastrophic, actually could've been civil war with…well…who knows how that would have gone other than it would have gone bad, right? So, just by way of reminder, these two and half tribes Gad, Ruben, and the half tribe of Manasseh that are in question here, they had been given their tribal land on the other side of the Jordan. It was conquered lands while the children of Israel were still wandering in the wilderness. And this land was given to them on the condition that they would cross the Jordan and fight alongside their brothers to settle that land, which they did. And then they came…they were…they were released, and they went back to the Jordan River and made this big altar. Okay. So, the news of that altar reached back to the other tribes in the land being settled and a story when around about that altar that these 2 1/2 tribes were rebelling against the other tribes and against God. That was not true. That is called an assumption. An assumption is a plausible explanation or a plausible way of looking at reality without all the facts. So, you have pieces of a story. In this case, yes, indeed the 2 1/2 tribes left camp. Yes, indeed the 2 1/2 tribes went back to the Jordan River. Yes, they built an altar there and continued on their way. Those are the facts. The rest of it was assumption, a plausible explanation that happened to be utterly false and could…that…that assumption, that reality that people had begun to live into and believe was the truth, that this 2 1/2 tribes went back to the Jordan River and conspired against the other tribes and conspired against God and had built this other altar was going to cause the other tribes to go and squash the conspiracy. And had they strapped on their swords and God on their horses and took off down toward the Jordan River toward these other tribes believing the assumption then it would've been catastrophic. Thankfully, they sent a delegation to see if there might be missing pieces to the story. And once those pieces were put into place the assumptions fell apart because they were false realities. Let's think though about how many assumptions we make in any day, but let's think of major assumptions that we've made that we've acted upon that have caused catastrophe in our relationships. Just because you can assume it doesn't make it real. Even just because you want it to be real doesn't make it real. And we are a people prone to believing whatever we want to believe. When an assumption is almost a creative power within us to fill in blanks and make a cohesive story that has a very important missing pieces that we made up so that it can make sense. And this isn't helpful. We remember the story of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi saying, “what are the assumptions about me? What are people saying about me?” And we remember the disciples saying, “they think you're John the Baptist rising from the dead.” That’s a…that's a false assumption, right? He wasn't John the Baptist raised from the dead or something…that you're one of the prophets of old. That was a false assumption. That's not who he was. Obviously, that story in the gospel is to lead us to the same question that He was asking, “who you say that I am?” But that it's ties in here because it's not “who do you assume that I am or who does everybody else say that I am, not make up an assumption or follow someone else's assumption. What is the truth of who you say that I am?” So, back to this story in Joshua. The assumption could've created something devastating. We need to remember that in our lives before we start trying to figure out things and filling in the blanks and forgetting that those are assumptions and not facts because otherwise we’re living a false reality, something we made up that could lead to something devastating.

Prayer:

Father we invite You into that. Our one point of truth is You. You are the way the truth and the life. When we are pursuing You with our hearts, we are pursuing the pathway of truth and the pathway of peace. When we’re frustrated or just making things up because it seems foggy out there and we need answers, and we start building assumptions then we’re being impatient and creating false realities. Help us Holy Spirit to be present to what is actually happening, to be present to the leading of Your Holy Spirit because You have promised You would lead us into all truth. So come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it's the website, its where you find out what’s going on around here. So, always, always stay tuned, always stay connected in any way that you can and, in any way that you want to.

Check out the Community section. We've talked about that many times. This is where the Prayer Wall lives.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. There’s several different departments in that job, several different categories of…that are just full of resources that we've crafted over the years for the journey that we are on, whether it's just to stay connected, whether it's just to enhance our life experience. Like, we’re kinda coffee fans around here. And, so, we have our own fresh roasted fresh sourced coffee brand that we’ve had for well over a decade now and tea. Hot beverages pair well with quiet contemplation and allowing the Scriptures to wash over us and be a part of our lives. And, so, that's kinda part of my daily routine. And, so, all of these things we’ve just kinda crafted together over the years. And, so, check those resources out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app to you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Thank you, Brian, your family, and the team. Everyday Brian you say that you are very thankful and grateful to have us partnered with you to bring the word of God across the world. And yet for me I really think I want to be the one to say that I am very thankful, honored. And it's such a privilege to be part of a ministry that is impacting, influencing, blessing, touching, changing every tribe, tongue, and nation across this globe. It's…it's just…it’s amazing just to even have that thought that God's word is penetrating to these places that I can't even go to myself, but the word of God through this ministry and through this technology is going across and beyond borders. I'm so thankful for this. Proverbs 11:25 says a generous person will prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. And I want to say that I am so refreshed that others are being refreshed. And, so, I want to extend this thanks in the same way that you have been extended your thanks. So, thank you so much. This is Ann from Arizona. By.

I just listened to April the 16th and I heard Jasmine who is a Canadian who is in Africa as a missionary and her husband David facing grace in Jesus. I just lift them up to You today. Wrap Your arms of love around them and sustain them. And I just ask for supernatural healing to flow over her husband's body, that You would heal him from this covid and this malaria and that You would sustain him and her daughters as their heir Lord for the Kingdom of God. Their Kingdom builders and I pray that You'd reward them for their service and that You would put a hedge of protection around them and keep out the fiery darts of the enemy. Make them strong Jesus. Help her to feel our prayers and our love and our care and our concern for You are the mighty God and Your hand is not short and there's nothing that You cannot do. I just left this precious family up to You Jesus and we’re trusting and hoping to hear a good report soon. We ask all these things in Your precious name. Amen.

Good morning family it's Mary Lynn from New Brunswick Canada and I'm calling this morning on Friday April the 17th or 16th I'm not sure for Jasmine. And Jasmine I want to pray for you. My husband's name is also Dennis and as you heard I'm also Canadian and I have two friends that are in Africa as missionaries as well. So, family just pray with me right now. Father I come before You Lord and I stand in agreement with Jasmine's request for her husband Dennis and his health. Father I ask Lord that Your hand of protection and healing would be upon Dennis right now Lord in the name of Jesus. Father these two people have given their lives at servants for You in this country far away from home. And Lord Your word tells us Lord that You are our healing. Your word tells us that You are our protection. Your word tells us that You're our stronghold and our…our savior. Father You are our everything. And Lord these people have given their lives in obedience to You, and they are looking to You to fulfill the promises that You have given them. So, Father just like it says in Genesis, “and the Lord said” and that is exactly what happened. Father we’re claiming that for Jasmine and Dennis, faith and grace. We ask Lord that every promise You have ever made to these two individuals for Your service that You would bring them to pass in this time. Give her peace, give her comfort, give her confidence in her savior Father. Help her to hold tightly to the hope that she has. And Father we just thank You. We thank You because it's done. Your word says and that is exactly what happened. So, we thank You Lord that You have been faithful to this couple. In Jesus’ name. Father, thank You. Jasmine we’re praying for you. Bye family.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family this is John Opara recording from South Sudan Juba in South Sudan. It's been quite a while that I checked in. I have been traveling to the field to support our staff that are in the field within South Sudan. So, this has caused me to run behind but thankfully, thanks to God I have caught up now and this is why I am recording to just let everyone know I'm doing OK. I'm preparing to attend my daughter's wedding in the US. And I need your prayers because I need to first of all go to Nigeria to get my passport renewed and…and then go to US to attend the wedding in June. So, maybe I…I will call in from US when I get there. May God bless you. But I just want you to know and I…I hear all the things that are going on and the…the pain, the attack of the enemy upon the body of Christ and I want you to know that God remains the ultimate power. He is absolutely in control and will never fail you. Thank you. Bye-bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Rebecca Joy from Illinois calling in. This is a few days late so I apologize for that, but I am calling in for Radiant Rachel and her niece Kaylee. I've heard the prayer request about how Kaylee's having some problems swallowing food and having a fear of it. And strangely enough out of everything that day that I have related too I related to that because when I was younger, I also had those kinds of irrational fears that I just didn't know where they came from but suddenly, I was afraid of things like thunderstorms and elevators and just odd things. But I wanted to call in hopefully giving some encouragement and let you know that I'm praying for Kaylee. I want her to know, if you would be so kind as to tell her, that having those fears, feeling those fears is OK but what's not OK is giving into them and letting them control your life. And, you know, I hope that she learns that lesson a lot sooner than I did because it took me quite a while. I'm 23 now almost 24 trying to still figure that out but hopefully she can get a head start. Yeah. I'm praying for you guys. Thanks for calling in and I hope to hear from you all soon.

1 note · View note

thecoleopterawithana · 5 years ago

Text

Don’t Let Me Down

AKA Trust Issues

I am fascinated by Lennon/McCartney. I am fascinated by John, I am fascinated by Paul, and I am fascinated by them together. And my fascination leads me to try and better understand the complex emotional dynamics that played between them. And I must admit, the more I unravel, the greater my fascination becomes. More than that, increased awareness only increases my love for these human beings.

Getting to know them – and, inadvertently, getting to better know myself – has truly been the most wonderful experience.

This series will both function as a personal attempt to understand them, their actions and motivations – which I find is facilitated by me having to expose it to a third party – and as an ode to their beautiful humanity; a public declaration of how much I appreciate and respect them, and an attempt at expanding, even more, your love for them too.

So please know that this is a labour of love. And that I’m working on a very simple principle:

Understanding leads to Love and Love leads to Understanding.

But let’s get to the specifics about this particular series of posts and the issue that it will explore.

The Hypothesis

It was never a lack of love, but a lack of trust.

Specifically, a lack of trust in the other’s love.

With this, I mean to say that, if there was anything that compromised the Lennon/McCartney relationship, it was never a diminishing of the love they had for each other, but rather an exacerbation of the fear.

But how are we going about exploring this issue? Through a lot of observation. Primarily, of their behaviours and their statements about them, which offers us different kinds of information.

When I try to make sense of something as complex and multifaceted as, say, interpersonal dynamics, some strategies become very helpful:

For one, I try to identify underlying patterns and deconstruct them to their barest, simplest forms.

Secondly, I remember that these mechanisms are present for an evolutionary, biological reason.

Let me tell you, bringing biology into it really helps to clear out the seemingly nebulous nature of human emotion.

But you might be (rightly) dubious about trying to understand the whole by simply breaking it down into parts. After all, we all know that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. But for me, I find that in order to really get the full picture, I have to ally both the simplistic and holistic. And in the end, like in a symphony, the true beauty arises from seeing the kaleidoscope of possible interactions between these different components.

But let’s start with the second strategy and built up from that to the first.

Animals have evolved a great motivator: the Reward System.

It’s a neat little mechanism that leads us to increase contact with beneficial stimuli and avoid potentially harmful stimuli, in the interest of our own well-being or the continuation of the species.

So Pleasure is just a signal that says, “this stimulus is good, let’s try it again!”

And Pain is the alarm that alerts us that something is wrong, “this thing is probably bad for us, let’s try to seek relief from it (and consequently, get pleasure) and learn to avoid it next time.”

So we have “positive” emotions and feelings, those that are attractive or “good”, and “negative” emotions or feelings, those that we are generally averse to and try to escape.

Because the subject we’ll be exploring is the Trust Issues, there will be a greater focus on these “negative” emotions as motivators.

It doesn’t mean that they weren’t equally motivated by pleasure; as we’ve seen, even seeking relief from pain is chasing pleasure in itself. But because I’m specifically trying to figure out what went wrong, I’m afraid we’re going to have to dwell in these more adverse waters.

The choice in title is no coincidence. In fact, this specific expression – don’t let me down – is a plea they repeated throughout a lot of their songs:

‘You Can’t Do That’ (1964): So please listen to me, if you wanna stay mine, I can’t help my feelings, I’ll go out of my mind, I’m gonna let you down and leave you flat

‘Hey Jude’ (1968): Hey Jude, don’t let me down

‘Don’t Let Me Down’ (1969): And if somebody loved me like she do me, Oh, she do me, yes, she does. Don’t let me down!

‘Oh! Darling’ (1969): Oh! Darling, please believe me, I’ll never let you down!

‘3 Legs’ (1970): When I thought you was my friend but you let me down, put my heart around the bend

‘Tomorrow’ (1970): Oh baby, don’t let me down tomorrow, holding hands we both abandon sorrow.

‘The Other Me’ (1982): I want to be the kind of me that doesn’t let you down as a rule

So glaring was the pattern, even Paul remarked on it:

PAUL: There’s a story. There’s another one – ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. “Oh darling, I’ll never let you down.” Like we’re doing—

JOHN: Yeah. It’s like you and me are lovers.

PAUL: [reserved] Yeah.

— Get Back Sessions (24 January 1969).

But what does it mean? What were they begging for or promising?

By definition, to let someone down is to disappoint, to fail to be there for someone as they had hoped, to fall short of expectations.

And it’s this fear of being let down that is at the core of a lot of their problems.

They didn’t trust the other to be there for them because they were terrified of the pain they would feel if/when he wasn’t.

Because what is fear if not the memory of pain?

We seem to have evolved fear as a defence mechanism against suffering, a pre-emptive signal against that which would harm us.

But pain itself is nothing more than the signalling of a stimulus, an alarm alerting us to a certain situation so that we can best choose how to deal with it. The way people handle the existence of that alarm, however, is interesting.

John just lets the alarm ring. He lets himself be overwhelmed by it and all the frustration that it brings, alternatively getting down and depressed or resentful and furious. All this, I suspect, because he is convinced that he himself can’t turn it off, but someone or something out there probably can. John has a recurring problem with acknowledging his own agency. After all, it’s arduous to have to make conscious decisions and take responsibility for their consequences. It’s easier to try a find an entity that we can give the reigns to; someone who’ll take care of us, but that we can also blame when things go wrong. So John’s strategy to dealing with the alarm of pain is to look for something/someone that can shut it down for him.

Paul simply ignores that the alarm is ringing (while it remains ringing all the same). He feels it’s his responsibility alone to move past the ringing and carry on. But, truthfully, he doesn’t like the feeling of those “negative” emotions. He’d much rather stay on “pleasure mode” all the time! So rather than acknowledge his unpleasant feelings and having to go through the nasty business of facing them, he’d much rather deny their existence in the first place (and, hopefully, exorcise them through more unconscious and productive means, such as creating music). Also, much in the same way he doesn’t want to hear it himself, Paul doesn’t want others to know that there is an alarm ringing inside him. And he will take protective measures not to have anything set it off again.

As we’ve seen, these protective measures often translate into fear, and specific to this series, lack of trust.

It is my opinion that their basic fear is the same, but that they reacted to it completely differently. And the way they responded to it was so opposite, that it caused a complete breakdown in communication.

I’ll be attempting to examine this issue further in a series of posts, focusing on either specific stages in their lives or on certain facets of their relationship. To that end, I’ll be updating the section under the cut with links to the various analysis.

John | If I trust in you, oh please, don’t run and hide

I Just Believe In Me | Disillusionment

As we share in each other’s minds | Climbing the Mountain

Paul | Did I ever open up my heart and let you look inside?

When you were young and your heart was an open book | Paul’s Upbringing

I’m scared to say I love you | Verbal Expression of Affection

Paul is a concept by which we measure our pain | Tag explanation

We’re A Family | The Beatles and Dysfunctional Family Roles

#John Lennon #Paul McCartney #the beatles #lennon mccartney #Don't Let Me Down | Trust Issues #for you were in my song #you can't do that #Hey Jude #Don't Let Me Down #Oh! Darling #3 legs #Tomorrow #The Other Me #if i trust in you oh please don't run and hide #Did I ever open up my heart and let you look inside?#the person I actually picked as my partner #meta #my stuff

186 notes · View notes

ellagracehargreeves · 5 years ago

Text

“The Spark” Music Playlist.

Here’s the Playlist on Youtube! The songs are also individually linked below!

I don’t have spotify or any of the other music things because I don’t listen to much music and I am BROKE!

(PLEASE GOD DON’T MAKE FUN OF MY VIDEOS IF YOU LOOK, I WAS A SMOL DUMBASS CHILD I SWEAR I’M LESS CRINGY NOW OK, I PROMISE.)

Love y’all. And I love these songs, Here’s why:

Lean on me - Bill Withers : Ella’s lullaby. Vanya started singing it to her around the age of 1 when she heard it on the radio at the 7/11 while she was trying to calm a fussy Ella. She began singing along with the song as a last ditch attempt, and it surprisingly worked like a charm. Ever since then, Cara and Vanya, mostly Vanya, sing it to Ella sometimes at bedtime, substituting the words with “Mother” and “daughter” when needed. It always calms Ella down.

Hazy Shade of Winter - Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro) : …. Duh. Plus this gets me hype for Ella being powerful and happily violent and just being a part of the Hargreeves clusterfuck. ….This just slaps.

Cold Blooded - Khalid (slowed) : So this doesn’t fit entirely, but basically to me this feels like what Vanya feels when she’s empty, sad, and just blank, but then she sees her daughter being happy. It doesn’t erase the deep sadness within her, but it strengthens the resolve that she has. She will give everything she has for her daughter, just to make sure she’s warm and happy. Also this song makes me think of Ella forcibly cuddling Vanya on the couch when she is having a bad day.

(Slowed Down) Elastic Heart - Sia : Just…. V a n y a.

Dancing with your Ghost- Sasha Sloan : This song makes me think of Vanya and Ella and Cara, being happy and dancing together and making memories, but at the same time Vanya struggles with her guilt involving her siblings. She can see them sometimes within her girl, she can see them as she makes the memories. She feels like she doesn’t deserve to be happy, because she never has. She struggles with that feeling when she feels so happy her heart could burst. This song also makes me think of the relationship between Cara and Vanya, it just makes me think of Vanya trying not to cry over something but then Cara pulls her head down to her lap and runs her fingers gently through her hair and Vanya can finally let it out and it’s peaceful and happy.

(Slowed down) I found - Amber Run : Vanya…… If the commission wins.

(Her mouth is open in a silent scream as she cradles the small body towards her, this can’t be happening, no no no nonononono not her baby-

Why aren’t they helping her- Please, she’s hurt, can’t you see-?- She can’t tell the difference between her tears and those of the heavens, between the tears on her face and the blood on her hands-)

(She is no longer herself, she is a steadily growing drum-beat of pure pain and grief and power and she is not thinking but the very earth shall pay for the blood that has spilled, HER FLESH AND BLOOD-)

Somebody That I Used To Know (slowed down) - Gotye (ft. Kimbra) : The Hargreeves siblings and Vanya, after her betrayal is revealed. They feel like they should’ve been told about Ella, even if they weren’t close to Vanya at all, which is valid. But Vanya remembers them as being cold and shitty to her and tbh she’s only telling them for Ella’s sake. Plus this song is just melodramatic and I feel like it would fit the Hargreeves in any situation. Like, I can see Klaus or Diego stubbing their toe and then having this song playing in their head. They’re all extra as hell and this song works for any betrayal.

( slowed down ) lovely - Billie Eilish (ft. Khalid) : This is honestly one of my favorite songs, especially slowed down. I just listen to it while writing because it’s beautiful. But it also kinda reminds me of Vanya and her glass wall, constantly struggling with the feeling of being trapped and being stuck within her childhood abuse. She fights against it for Ella, her beautiful Ella, who gives her hope no matter how trapped she feels. This song is just a sad bop tho. Good shit.

Night Bus (Slowed) - Gabrielle Aplin : A happier sounding bop, but still slow and chill. I know it’s about lovers, but we ain't gonna take it that way okay.

“I’m on my way home to you for the last time” obviously doesn’t fit, because Vanya wouldn’t leave her daughter alone, ever, but this song kinda makes me think of Vanya gradually letting Ella go and letting her be her own person. Like, she’s still her mom, and this song also makes me think of the love between them. It makes me imagine Vanya watching Ella play in the park, or maybe watching her interact with the other girls at Gym, and thinking to herself “She’s got this. She’ll be okay. I don’t have to stay so close, she’ll still come back to me in the end even if I let her go.”

Also, this song is calming but happy, instead of most of these which are calming and sad. I needed a happier song, one that made me think of hugs and playing outside and having snowball fights and happy squeals and playing tag with wide involuntary smiles and flushed cheeks. In short: ‘Tis a bop. A happy bop. Happy times.

revenge (slowed & reverb) - xxxTentacion : Makes me think of Vanya, disillusioned, believing that her siblings have known about her powers this entire time. Makes me think about her thirst for revenge, to make them feel the soul-deep infraction against her. Makes me think of Vanya being torn between keeping her daughter safe, keeping her terrified daughter comforted, and her revenge. Torn between holding the one she loves most and punishing those who were supposed to love her. It makes me think of agonizing indecision.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don’t know if this scenario will happen in the fic! I’m not sure how things will go down, and how Vanya will find out and react to her powers. I’m making this shit up as I go! But this song made me think, “What if?”

Dollar For Your Sadness - Unlike Pluto : (They hurt her daughter, her world, her Ella, She will DESTROY them, ALL OF THEM-)

JOLT - Unlike Pluto : The lyrics perfectly describe Vanya’s eternally growing resentment, her struggle of trying to forget her childhood, her trauma, her siblings, while raising her daughter. Trying to leave the past behind so she can move on with her Ella and Cara, her real family. They’re all she has now. Aren’t they?

(Also, Jolt. Electricity. Sparks. Heh heh heh. I’m so clever.)

Villain of My Own Story - Unlike Pluto : I’m unsure of this one, not sure if it fits. Vanya getting fed up with her siblings’ muttered remarks and snide comments? (*unconvincing cough* Diego and possibly Luther) Her just going “yknow what fuck all y’all you can suck a cattapilla dick” and being angery and pissed off? Tbh I just put this song in here because I discovered Unlike Pluto yesterday and went feral.

Maybe Vanya during the explanation, or her when she snapped at Diego? (The first time) or maybe it’s just her feeling so put down and invalidated and such a failure that she just goes “fuck this.” Vanya when Ella got bullied? It makes me think of the moments where she’s ticked off and her powers show up but just barely bc she eventually calms herself.

It makes me envision a young girl, possibly Vanya, idk, in tattered, dirty clothes, running down an alleyway in slow motion, and all I can see is the back of her hair flowing in the wind as she runs, the bottoms of her feet as she takes another step. I can see her checking behind her to see if she’s being followed, her hair whipping on her face so she can hardly see. It makes me think of frustrated anger, just an overall feeling of “FUCK THIS SHIT.”

Whatever. I listen to it when I write. It’s in the playlist.

Stay and Decay - Unlike Pluto : (Cartoon masks and gunshots. Flashing lights, ears covered tight, eyes squeezed shut, tears staining her cheeks, fear-)

(Mommy? Mommy! Mommy, no, nonono-)

(There’s dark blood staining her small, small hands- they hurt Mommy, they hurt her, she’ll hurt them- Mommy’s blood dripping- spilling, flowing- onto the wood floor and why won’t it stop-)

(-MommyMommyMommy- Please Mommy, I’m scared-!)

(She’s running after them, her feet hitting the ground, her mother’s blood splattering behind her, Mommy yelling garbled, broken protests- ringing ears, pounding heart, eyes sparking green, r a g e- )

(-she’ll get them, she’ll hurt them, she has to, THEY HURT HER MOTHER-)

Rocky Mountain High - John Denver : :) this is Cara’s favorite song, and my mother likes it as well :) Cara hums it a lot, and sometimes she sings it to Ella. Vanya’s not approving of it, because the song is about WEED, but she doesn’t do anything to stop it. Cara finds the hidden meaning hilarious when she sings it to the child.

everything i wanted (slowed + reverb) - Billie Eilish : Vanya has everything she needs, but she’s still drowning inside herself. Vanya has everything, yet she still feels so so dead. But Cara holds her, smelling like forest leaves, and Ella smiles at her, looking like beautiful starlight, and they make it better. They will always make it better, and she loves them.

The Phoenix - Lindsey Sterling : Ella. Ella, dancing in the air. Ella, hugging her mother tightly. Ella, sweet, gentle Ella- bright as the sun itself, Ella, powerful Ella. Ella, her happy light infecting everyone she meets, Ella, her excitement emerging in response to every new thing she encounters. Beautiful, beautiful, chaotic Ella- adjusting reality with a twitch of her finger. Ella, summoning a tornado full of destructive everyday things with a single tantrum. Ethereal Ella, dancing and laughing and smiling and hugging and throwing and yanking and crushing and destroying Ella. Just… Ella. Loving, Obliterating Ella.

That’s all I have for now! I gotta admit, writing all that out kind of drained me. I might reblog this with additions as I add them, if you guys want! Thanks for checking out this glance inside my process.

#music #writing music #writing #writing post #The Spark #The Umbrella Academy #Umbrella Academy #the umbrella academy fanfiction #vanya hargreeves #vanya hargreeves fanfiction #original character #original child character #ella hargreeves #ella grace hargreeves #playlist #fanfiction #fanfiction playlist

7 notes · View notes

caledfwlchthat · 6 years ago

Text

R:R(RR) theorypost: GAME OVER and the route to victory

I’m now at the point in Rose: Remember where I really have to decide how I’m going to wrap it up just in order to write new material. I’ve put the poor dears through a lot, and am putting them through more, and they’ve been changing in response to it. Do I just leave it hanging, as a meditation on the indifference of the multiverse? Do I crush their hopes by revealing to them the truth that victory was never solely within their grasp? Do I give them some small part to play in filling in gaps of the canon retcon timeline? Or do I work to find a way for Rose’s plan to pay off, into an AU vision of victory diverging further from canon?

I don’t know that there’s any particular right or wrong answer for this. My thoughts on how long the story should be, and how to end it, have evolved as I’ve written and more of the story’s potential has been revealed along the way. I feel like I’ve taken some risks already, so whatever I do, I don’t want the conclusion to be a timid anticlimax. But while I could argue that the doomed timelines that have been revealed are all mostly canon-compliant, the essential nature of the canon retcon timeline is pretty much set in stone. And we’re only shown, in canon, doomed timelines that somehow come back to affect the alpha.

Also, the reason I set “canon compliance” as a goal to shoot for is that I’m interested not only in the characters and their relationships, but the whole mythos and big-idea questions Homestuck poses. Thus if I go the AU route, I want whatever I come up with to be heavily informed by the meta-structure and central themes of Homestuck canon, while interpolating somewhat to resolve the tensions I’ve already built up with the doomed timelines we’ve seen so far, and propelled by the momentum the characters are building in their shared dream-bubble afterlife. I’m happy with the canon Homestuck ending, but I see the constraints posed by Lord English’s influence as a challenge to be curious about.

Regardless of what route I take, I need to think carefully about what GAME OVER meant and what the deal was with the retcon timeline in my view. Again, better theory minds have thought about this in a canon context. Items to consider below include:

the nature of Rose’s proposed plan in R^4;

the nature of John’s retcon powers and LE’s influence;

the details of Terezi’s choice to have John revive Vriska.

Mild spoilery stuff for R^4 under the cut, not in terms of any definite choices yet made but in terms of my reasoning about the scope and flavor of things to come, based on constraints from Homestuck canon theory. (Major spoilers for the end of Homestuck though, if you’re just reading it now!) If you’re a fan and want the inside scoop, or if you just have opinions, click the clicky.

Rose’s Cunning Plan

At issue here is whether to provide the doomed meteor kids of R^4 with a plausible path to victory, as Rose suggested in chapter 15: by allowing the meteor kids in a currently live timeline to meet their doomed alt-selves and receive game-saving cross-timeline support. This choice recalls Vriska’s insistence on acting to remain relevant despite being stuck in the afterlife. Similar things do happen in canon (Davesprite, the Aradiabot army, John joining Vriska’s treasure hunt), but less often, and perhaps not in the way Rose is talking about. There is quite a lot of commerce between players and/or ghosts from different universes (Calliope, all of Openbound, pretty much all of Homestuck really), but much less from different timelines within the same universe.

This might be just as well, because if it happened regularly it would mean pretty much any player could become a Seer of Time/Mind/Heart after experiencing at least one death, in addition to all their other powers and abilities. It would break something. It seems as though it should be rare, or have a high cost attached to it (e.g. a Denizen Choice), or both.

What the cost should be, though, depends heavily on the context provided by the canon narrative, so let’s look at that.

John’s Retcon Powers and the End Run Around Lord English

My understanding of what happens in Act 7 is strongly informed by this comprehensive post (“Apotheosis and Creation Myth”), which sets out the entirety of the Homestuck canon narrative as the “alpha timeline” controlled by Lord English, and interprets the house juju and universe door as linked entities providing entrapment within, and escape from, the alpha timeline and hence the canon storyline.

This means John’s retcon powers are fundamental to Homestuck as a story. If LE really is that powerful and has absolute causal control over the alpha (canon) timeline as a stable loop, then the only way to break his influence is to introduce acausal elements — which is what John does, by dipping his hand into the rich world of possibility. This could consist either of pulling in extra-canon influences, or remixing influences within canon in ways LE couldn’t have anticipated starting from the initial conditions that spawned him. Within the narrative, John’s actions fix a bunch of fairly prosaic problems with the GAME OVER timeline that could probably be addressed with regular Time player shenanigans. But on a mythic or meta-narrative level, the retcon powers are absolutely necessary to neutralize LE.

This is why, in R^4, even timelines in which alt-Daves decide to use time travel to fix things end up doomed. From within the narrative, if Dave can only travel to events along his own past or future world line, Dave actually can’t access the primary decision point John uses to fix things (reviving Vriska). From a meta-narrative viewpoint, Dave is a Time player working only with elements LE has already doomed, so his efforts are hopeless.

I thought about giving Dave a Denizen Choice that could enable him to preserve the timeline and defeat LE. Based on the above theoretical understanding of LE, though, the scope for that is pretty limited. I could wangle things to give Dave retcon powers instead, but thematically they’re much better aligned to Breath than Time, and to John’s personality, so that solution would stretch plausibility. Or I could get Dave to team up with John somehow — meaning the price would already have been paid and a Denizen Choice for Dave would be superfluous. I might allude to Dave being presented with such a Choice, but it won’t play a major part in the action.

So any alternative ending R^4 produces has got to involve John’s retcon powers somehow. This requires John to:

Participate in the treasure hunt and interact with the house juju to acquire his retcon powers;

Participate in at least one GAME OVER timeline to spur him to gain control of those powers;

Make his own Denizen Choice and claim the retcon powers as his own;

Receive information from some trusted source (such as a GAME OVER Terezi or some other cross-timeline Light or Time player) enabling him to F1X TH1S.

Technically it could happen that John never gains control of the retcon powers and just blunders into a solution, but the in-narrative probability of this is basically zero, and the lack of any meta-narrative cost would stretch plausibility. This also illuminates why GAME OVER had to take place. You could say GAME OVER is the true cost of John’s retcon powers, at a much higher overall price than his Denizen Choice (although the latter impacts John more directly, in terms of his knowledge of Retcon Jade’s loneliness).

A Multiverse of Retcons

What this also suggests to me is that John’s retcon powers could be even more of a problem for LE than previously implied. The canon retcon timeline demonstrates at least one way to resolve the various problems that prevent the players from winning. Any timeline that leads to victory needs to pass through the choke points defined by LE’s influence, but there are so many degrees of freedom in a timeline that it’s far from obvious to me that those constraints define a unique and immutable solution to Homestuck. Thus, if I was able to think of another one, who’s to say John couldn’t have made those choices?

The Apotheosis post is optimistic and generous about the openness of the post-game world. In principle, I don’t see why that spirit couldn’t extend to any alternative retcon timeline that could be made convincing.

The one problem with this approach that would necessitate a true AU, rather than an elaboration on canon, is the fact that LE originates from within the new universe created in the retcon timeline shown in canon in ACT 7. This raises the question of what LE’s relationship is to any other potential universe created from a separate retcon branch of the alpha timeline not shown in canon. If multiplying offshoot universes also multiplies instances of LE, the kids have actually made the situation worse for existence! And if LE is associated only with the canon universe, that fact needs to be explained somehow too. There’s nothing in canon that would explain why LE would be associated with any particular offshoot universe; we could call it “spontaneous symmetry breaking” which might be an acceptable explanation from a within-narrative standpoint, but not from a meta-narrative standpoint. It isn’t elegant, in a way that galls me.

I’ll have to let that one simmer for a while but I welcome comments on it.

The Problem of Vriska

So, what are the choke points? In particular, what context guides Terezi’s specific choice of intervention — to bring Vriska back?

This choice remains controversial, but upon thinking about it, it seems like the most economical choice that could have been made under the conditions. Here’s what that single change accomplishes:

Brings Vriska back (i.e. prevents a major character death). Doc Scratch telegraphs Vriska’s death as a classic LE move — saying that Bec Noir’s massacre of the meteor kids, but implying any other outcome in which Vriska lives was “certainly not an outcome the alpha timeline would allow”.

Absolves Terezi of the guilt of having killed Vriska, which certainly serves LE’s purposes — though this may be disappointing for those who want to watch Terezi grapple with and overcome this guilt on her own.

Enables Vriska to intervene for Rose and Terezi, keeping them out of destructive substance abuse and/or blackrom cycles.

Nonlethally removes Grimbark Jade from the action until Condy is dealt with.

Prevents a post-retcon Aranea from screwing things up all over again, since pre-retcon Aranea was inspired by dead Vriska to intervene and cause GAME OVER.

Provides the group with a player who is not only willing, but enthusiastic, to forgo entering the new universe in order to face off against LE with the house juju.

That’s a lot of stuff. It’s pretty much a comprehensive catalog of Act 6 failure points. If Vriska isn’t brought back, then all the rest of these other highly non-trivial things have to be dealt with by other people. The other important thing John does is to exonerate Vriska re: Murderstuck, prompting Terezi to arrest Gamzee and thus contain LE’s influence through him — and even this isn’t totally unrelated to Vriska’s death sentence.

I remember Hussie getting a lot of flak for bringing Vriska back at the time. The main accusation I remember was that it was lazy storytelling. Some fans were glad to watch (Vriska) learn some humility and find flushed happiness with Meenah, and felt she was robbed of this development. Others felt as though Vriska’s meteor interference was ex machina and robbed the meteor kids of the chance to develop more naturally; prior to the retcon, though, they were clearly all in arrested development post-Openbound, and needed some kind of stabilizing influence against Gamzee, or for Gamzee to be contained. Apart from that things are all a bit hazy in my head.

So, can the R^4 kids win without Vriska in a way that isn’t implausible or distressingly expensive? If it can be made to work, the result would be an alt-ending AU, requiring the story to depart from its relatively strict canon compatibility. If we instead believe that the canon retcon timeline is the only way Lord English could have been defeated, this clamps down on the influence the dead meteor kids can have from their bubble, and gives the story an even darker and more fatalistic feel than it already has. Of course, I have elements in motion to take some of the pressure off (*coughrosemarycough*), but it will definitely affect how the plot flows.

#homestuck #homestuck fanfic #r:r(rr)

2 notes · View notes

fitzsimmons34hassan-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Money is non exclusively ane thing we demand, it's something we want. We deprivation to have a strong lifestyle in which we don't penury to concern well-nigh remunerative our expenses. To do this, 1 workplace typically isn't plentiful, which explains wherefore a hatful of opt on the World Wide Web prospects as elaborate listed on a lower floor.

Set about paying appraise programs online if you need to take in just about surplus money about the face. Food market enquiry firms bequeath privation to catch altogether the consumer comments as you possibly fire, and those search are a corking way of life to nonplus this done. Surveys may range of mountains anywhere from 5 cents to 20 dollars strung-out upon the kind you do. Star sign up for a vane situation that May even up you to learn netmail messages during the continuance of the morning. You whitethorn only catch hinder links to CAT scan some various websites and take care at by means of sundry written schoolbook. This leave likely non mother you considerable metre and rear make up retired expectant benefits in the long term. Explore what early populate are labor on-personal line of credit to pull in money. In that location are whole lot of slipway to take in an online net income presently. Occupy a moment to see simply how the Best everyone is doing the shape. You could light upon agency of generating lucre that you never fanciful of scarce ahead! Get a diary in purchase order that you support in take care completely of them when you affect linked. Receive started small when you take to make money on-billet, to deoxidize prospective release. For deterrent example, something which looks supporting could spell into a skint so you don't want to bead a muckle of clip or dollars. Comport a solitary confinement taks, indite barely unity unity place or buy scarce ane merchandise up until the place you terminate up pick is rubber and worth. Mountain of multitude come they toilet induce excess gross by accomplishing studies. At that place are tons of follow-up World Wide Web sites online which testament give prohibited for your opinions. You merely demand a valid e-post computer address. Get you ever dreamed around earning money online? Many people are playing it right at once. There are respective options on the sack up that you rear end profit from. This stake will bring out to you what you ought to think when you are evaluating that radiance option to realise money. provide you investigations, endow cards and PayPal payments. Be true when you make full in your data so you potty be entitled to the surveys they extradite. If you presently take an initiative, you are able to ameliorate your gross sales via web site merchandising. Raise your products wholly by yourself World Wide Web web site. Add dismiss rates and gross revenue. Hold the selective information current. Require consumers to mark up for a mailing listing therefore they catch continuous reminders relating to your product. You make the ability to pass on a planetary viewers this means. If you do non hope to situation a Brobdingnagian economic investment funds into your vane line of work, assume into explanation selling and purchasing websites. Fundamentally, catch a world in a sway and roller underside Price. From in that respect, trade it off for the taxation. Hold in judgement, yet though, to shop at or so and form come out which domains bequeath be in take. Your reward streams should be as diversified as you dismiss. Making use of The World-huge-internet To Make Some Money is much severe to mother money on the vane. A income watercourse that could be rewarding like a shot might non be so rewarding in a few months. Broadcast KO'd your streams of income skinny to. You will have other John Cash run options if some other starts decreasing. Bring out a new. Owed to the sake in e-books, you tooshie fix a life by creating textbooks. Amazon River online has created it real uncomplicated to write down a refreshing, postal service it and tender it on the commercialise. You only if necessitate your grammatical category reckoner, an Amazon online explanation addition a awe-inspiring mental capacity to compose phrases others would desire to go through and through. Unless you regard to situated a boastfully medium of exchange disbursal into your internet site, retrieve well-nigh selling and buying domains. Basically, enthrone in a site at a sway undersurface esteem. Later that, deal it remove to receive a net. Echo, however, to seek entropy and anatomy proscribed which site names are in want. Benefit from gainful per put out for those who take additional prison term and deficiency to pee money on the net. Hoi polloi testament motive to feature anyone to get articles on their internet site to boost a product or avail or pass a gravid judgment, which leave facilitate them terminated clip. In rally, Devising money online is rather successful for many hoi polloi. It only requires a fleck of investigation and organizing. You volition breakthrough numerous locations and concepts that rear end assistance you stool money. This article is an incredible start manoeuvre. Save Reading to hear roughly ideas which tooshie be operative for early individuals. are passing to overcompensate you a outstanding total. Subscribe to to a inside information accounting entry line of work if you deficiency to score special money close to the expanse. These are time-overwhelming tasks, simply prat tally up all over time and you should non postulate a neat make do of power. Among the rattling benefits with this Job is the fact that you'll take the content to undergo it through in your sign of the zodiac. Like about the great unwashed, you near surely only demand approximately entreat to arrest started on your possess dollars-preparation. The full tidings is, these suggestions serves as an excellent initiation for the on the cyberspace wealth conception expertise. Wield acquisition if you would comparable produce a considerable total from Online sources. Sustain in head what you've figured away in this article, and produce started forth now.

1 note · View note

theliberaltony · 7 years ago

Link

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Television shows are writing the 25th Amendment into their ripped-from-the-headlines storylines. Pundits debate the possibilities of the removal and succession of the president if he is incapacitated. Even former FBI Director James Comey has weighed in on whether Donald Trump is “medically unfit to be president.” (He doesn’t think so.) In the unlikely — but politically fascinating — event that a Cabinet were to use the power to oust a sitting president, what would come next?

Let’s take a deeper look at the 25th Amendment and think about what each section of it has meant in the past — and what it might mean for Trump-era politics.

Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

The amendment’s initial section revisits what Article II of the Constitution set up from the beginning — the vice president takes over if the president dies or is unable to serve — but with clearer language to clean up previous constitutional confusion. When William Henry Harrison died shortly after his inauguration in 1841, there were questions about whether John Tyler, nicknamed “His Accidency,” was truly the president or just an “acting” president of some kind. Tyler made clear his intent to fully occupy the office and do everything an elected president would have done — and he forged his own path separate from Harrison. Since then, seven presidents have taken office after a presidential death (all before the 25th Amendment was ratified) and one after a resignation. In this way, the amendment codified the status quo.1

What this means now: Many have already discussed the possibility of a President Pence. But it’s worth underscoring how much he represents a different, more establishment brand of Republicanism than Trump. If Trump were to be removed for incapacity, it would be an interesting test of whether Trumpism could survive if carried out by a leader with a very different temperament and political profile — or if that leader would abandon Trumpism altogether.

Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Before this, if the vice president became president, there was … no vice president. That exact situation accounted for 24 years of U.S. history, including a period just before Congress took up the 25th Amendment in 1965. From taking the oath of office in November 1963 until he and Hubert Humphrey were sworn in after winning election in 1964, Lyndon Johnson had no vice president. Instead, the next two people in line (per the 1947 Presidential Succession Act) were both in poor health and, in the words of Roll Call’s David Hawkings, “a combined 157 years old.” This section of the 25th Amendment has since been invoked twice, when Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and Richard Nixon chose Gerald Ford to replace him, and when Ford succeeded Nixon as president in 1974 and chose Nelson Rockefeller as his VP.

What this means now: If Pence became president, he could choose his own veep, subject to congressional approval. Depending on party control of Congress, that could get interesting. It would offer a chance for Pence to either choose a Trump ally or move the party in a different direction. Pence’s choice could say a lot about whether invoking the amendment was a reaction to Trump personally or a repudiation of his overall approach to politics.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

This section seems like it should be pretty straightforward. It was invoked without controversy twice in the early 2000s when President George W. Bush signed over power to Vice President Dick Cheney for a few hours during sedation for routine medical procedures. But it can get fuzzy.

The 25th Amendment wasn’t invoked when Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, despite the fact that the White House physician kept a copy of the amendment in his bag. Bill Clinton didn’t formally put Section 3 provisions in place when he had knee surgery in 1997, saying that he was never under general anesthesia. However, Clinton’s press secretary indicated that the chief of staff had been in close contact with Vice President Al Gore’s staff in case “anything about the 25th Amendment is indicated.”

And there is disagreement on whether Reagan properly invoked the 25th Amendment in 1985 when he underwent surgery to remove a polyp from his colon. Reagan submitted letters to the House speaker and Senate president pro tempore designating Vice President George H.W. Bush as acting president, citing an “existing agreement” between the two. The letters also stated that Reagan was not specifically activating the process laid out in the 25th Amendment and that he did not believe that “the drafters of this Amendment intended its application to situations such as the instant one.”

Some argue that this message reflected the basic spirit of the 25th Amendment, while others suggest that because it wasn’t a formal invocation, it’s not really an instance of a president using the 25th Amendment.

What this means now: When people talk today about invoking the 25th Amendment, they aren’t talking about Trump having minor surgery and temporarily handing the reins to Pence. But the resistance of earlier presidents to using the 25th Amendment in such cases, even though the amendment seems directly designed for those instances, illustrates the depth of the struggle and complications over control of presidential power.

Section 4 (first paragraph). Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Here’s where we transition from historical explanation to future speculation. This section has never been invoked, and it has a number of ambiguous phrases that leave it open to a range of possibilities. For starters, who exactly gets to decide that the president isn’t able to serve? The conventional interpretation of the amendment is that it needs the vice president plus a majority of the Cabinet.2

But with the deciders well agreed upon, if not explicitly spelled out, what does “unable to discharge powers and duties of the office” mean, and who gets to provide the definition? The context for the 25th Amendment was pretty clearly aimed at the kind of physical and mental incapacities that come after strokes, heart attacks and bullets. Woodrow Wilson’s stroke, Dwight Eisenhower’s heart attack and John F. Kennedy’s assassination (and the related worry about what would have happened if he had survived but been incapacitated) all informed the debate about the amendment. But there’s nothing in the text that actually requires a diagnosis.

What this means now: This could end up being a test of the authority of the Cabinet as much as anything else. The amendment empowers the Cabinet to take this action. But what we see with Section 3 is that a lot of anxiety about giving up power still looms over the process. Even if the Cabinet followed the letter of the law, it might still look like a palace coup. In order to get around this, the Cabinet has to have a certain amount of stature — an issue that would be put to the test if it sought to remove the commander in chief.

Section 4 (second paragraph). Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.

In other words, the 25th Amendment provides a way for the president to respond to accusations of a lack of fitness. And that’s where things get interesting. After the president offers a declaration that he or she is able to serve, the Cabinet has four days to object and respond. But who gets to be president during that time? The text isn’t clear. It goes on to say:

If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Many parts of the Constitution are vague, but this one sets the country up for a pretty wild ride. Constitutional scholar Brian Kalt points out: “Section 4 is drafted less than perfectly. The best reading of Section 4’s text — and the clear message from its drafting history — is that when the president declares he is able, he does not retake power until either (1) four days pass without the vice-president and Cabinet disagreeing; or (2) he, the president, wins the vote in Congress. But the text is ambiguous on this point and commentators have frequently misread it as allowing the president to retake power immediately upon his declaration of ability.”

This opens up a possibility that Kalt describes in detail in his book “Constitutional Cliffhangers,” in which the country ends up with two presidents and two Cabinets. In the fictional scenario, the vice president and 11 Cabinet members agree to remove a president whose behavior has been erratic. But she conspires with her chief of staff to “declare that no inability exists,” reclaims power, and fires and replaces the Cabinet that removed her. In this setup, an amendment aimed at preventing a constitutional crises has now created one.

Kalt and others have pointed out that, in addition to the ambiguity of the text, it is difficult to remove a president through the 25th Amendment. In the event that the president disagrees about the incapacity issue, the amendment requires two-thirds of the House and Senate to remove him or her (as opposed to the impeachment process, which requires a simple majority of the House to impeach and two-thirds of the Senate to convict).

What this means now: The provision of the amendment that everyone’s been talking about is the one we know the least about. Since the 25th Amendment was ratified, presidents, vice presidents and White House officials have tread very cautiously around the provisions of Section 4. It seems fairly safe to say that there are lingering legitimacy issues when it comes to members of the executive branch actually talking about removing the president and replacing him or her with the vice president. And even under perfectly innocuous circumstances, presidents seem very reluctant to entertain the idea of being temporarily replaced under the amendment’s provisions.

All of this points to a conclusion we probably already knew: The Cabinet, especially as it’s currently constituted, is pretty unlikely to take action against Trump. But Congress has its own set of political pressures, and if the Democratic “wave” happens, we may see a serious attempt to go after the president. If impeachment proceedings don’t get off the ground, Congress could turn to the 25th Amendment: While Congress can’t initiate removal of the president under the amendment, it can convene a body to investigate the president’s fitness to serve — and such legislation has already been proposed.

Convening an investigative commission might seem like a bureaucratic and indirect step compared with the drama of impeachment. But such a commission might be easier to sell to members of Congress who are wary of impeachment. It might also be a way to address the legitimacy issues that otherwise seem to plague the 25th Amendment — a president’s removal from office may be less likely to be seen as a coup if it comes from the people’s elected representatives. And voting to create a commission might be more palatable for congressional Republicans.

One of the arguments against invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump is that it wasn’t really intended for this purpose. But looking at how the amendment has been used in practice reveals that political context matters, and so does legitimacy. Presidents have avoided activating Section 3 of the article, appearing reluctant to concede even temporary power to their own vice presidents. And Section 4 spells out a process that is legally unclear. It’s likely that any discussion of the 25th Amendment will be about the politics of the moment rather than the precise text of its provisions. Whether we see it put into practice will depend on whether Congress or members of the Cabinet see political benefit in doing so. A critical part of that process would be to overcome the legitimacy challenges and political disruption that using the 25th Amendment would create.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Julia Azari

8 notes · View notes