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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 4 years ago

Note

You probably have gone over it before but what are your opinions on Romione (Ron x Hermione)

I actually haven’t.

Well, probably not a surprise given the hints I’ve dropped, but I’m not a fan of this one either.

However, that said, ships are on a scale. Romione bores me but it’s not in the “this would never happen and fans are deluding themselves” area that some very popular ships end up in. I don’t argue with it being a possibility or that this is where canon ended up.

Now, that aside, what’s up with Ron/Hermione.

Well, it’s that quintessential 90′s romance. The pair bicker constantly, all they do is fight with one another, we later learn that they did this because they were secretly attracted to one another. Now they’re dating and they still bicker constantly.

It was a big trope for a while but I was rarely, if ever now that I think about it, sold on it.

It’s sort of “The Lady Doth Protest Too Much” except, No, the Lady really Doth Protest Too Much. All Hermione and Ron do is bicker and fight, they don’t even really seem to like each other at the end of the day, and I can’t see them ever really being happy together in the long term.

So, why can I see it happening? Well.

Why Does Hermione Go For Ron?

I’ve gone over this before, but part of it I think is that Harry’s off the table and Hermione has accepted that very early. Harry never shows any interest in Hermione as anything other than a friend and Hermione knows it.

Now, Ron never does either, at least for a while, but I think Ron is a safer option in a lot of ways. He’s a part of the golden trio but he’s not its heart, he’s important to the three of them, but Harry is the heart and soul of the group. If Hermione ruins things with Harry, then everything falls apart. If things don’t work out with Ron, well, the three of them have spats every now and then and Ron will probably come back if it goes wrong.

Basically, I think Hermione gravitates towards Ron because by being with Ron the golden trio remains as it is. They’re still Hermione, Harry, and Ron. If Hermione brings in an outsider, the entire dynamic gets thrown off, suddenly there’s a fourth there or Hermione has to split her time between Ron and Harry and New Guy.

Ultimately, I think Hermione values her friendship with Harry and Ron (the only friendships she’s ever had in her life) more than she does dating someone like, oh, Viktor Krum.

Hermione also seems to like dating guys she feels safely smarter than. Hermione places all her value in her intelligence, and frankly, when it comes to Harry and Ron she’s kind of right to. They clearly value her as a friend mostly because she’s the nerd research homework friend. They make it very clear that she’s really only tolerated at best and constantly walking on thin ice.

Everything in Hermione’s life confirms that, if she doesn’t have her intelligence and hard work to offer up, then she’ll be dropped like it’s hot. So, per the end of canon, and I think probably for the rest of her life given she marries Ron, Hermione will never pursue someone who threatens these qualities. Because if she introduces someone in her life who’s at least as smart as her (if not god forbid smarter), then what’s the point of Hermione Granger?

Ron’s dumber and far lazier than Hermione. Oh, Ron’s not necessarily as stupid as Harry (who is dumb as bricks), but he is fundamentally lazier and thanks to his worse grades will be a nice, safe, choice for Hermione who can be assured that Ron will always need her.

He might resent her for it now and then, but he does need her.

Why Does Ron Go For Hermione?

Surprisingly, I think Ron gets together with Hermione for similar reasons. For a very long time he shows -1 interest in Hermione. She’s the ugly girl friend who’s pretty much one of the dudes.

This changes when others start going after Hermione.

With Victor at the Yule Ball, suddenly, the golden trio is threatened. Hermione can clean up into an attractive young woman, people outside their tight knit friend circle can be interested, and suddenly Hermione can leave if she wants to.

For the longest time it was a long accepted truth that for better or worse Hermione was stuck with them. So Ron could rag on her, get pissed about the Firebolt fiasco, pretty much anything and Hermione would eventually be back because she has nowhere else to go.

I think the Yule Ball was the first wake-up call that this isn’t true. Hermione can leave, she just has to find the courage to do so.

Well, Ron brushes that off after Hermione’s relationship with Viktor pretty much goes nowhere. And then we get sixth year, Ron has a girlfriend (which is nice until she starts expecting things of him), but worse McLaggen starts showing interest in Hermione.

Essentially, I think Ron dates Hermione and convinces himself he’s attracted to her so that no one else can date Hermione.

He reasons that they fight all the time because they actually like each other. And if they date, nothing actually changes. (And as he becomes increasingly paranoid that Harry himself is into Hermione it all just starts sort of spiraling out of control.)

Basically, I think Ron and Hermione end up together to ensure that everything remains as it was. And it does, because Harry’s relationship with Ginny is practically non-existent (it’s very telling that Ginny does not join them on the horcrux hunt and is essentially left to be murdered or taken hostage by Voldemort).

So What Now?

The future for Hermione and Ron is, not necessarily bleak, but it’s not particularly good and ultimately quite dull.

They still fight constantly, Rose and Hugo watch their mother and father have daily screaming matches with each other over nothing. They assume this is normal and just what parents do.

Hermione’s the overbearing and very accomplished wife and bread winner that Ron secretly resents. They both know he resents her for it, neither says this out loud.

Ron’s laziness caught up with him and he just works in George’s very successful store. Ron doesn’t even really like pranks, George does most of the work, but Ron is too myopic to actually leave and do anything else. Just like all his life, he’s overshadowed by his older brothers, his wife, and his best friend. He is a pit of bitterness that he tries not to let show. His wife certainly knows.

They’re an extremely dysfunctional, bitter, couple who stays together thanks to inertia, expectations, nostalgia, and the desperate desire to keep things the same. Harry obliviously doesn’t notice and whenever the three get together (sans Ginny as she’s not invited) he notes how great it is that their amazing friendship has survived all these years.

They have shitty sex once a week. It’s probably circled on Hermione’s calendar in their bedroom, “Sunday, 9:00pm, Sex with Ron”.

Rinse and repeat for the rest of their lives.

Really Though, I Just Have 0 Interest in the Ship

I can’t tell you why it does but it bores me to tears. It just does. Every single aspect of it. Even the dysfunction is boring.

To quote a friend:

If ships had literal boat counterparts, this would be the dullest kind of ship, it would be a wooden motor boat with no exciting speeds, it just put-put-puts out to fish and then returns to port.

- @therealvinelle

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #ron weasley #hermione granger #anti ron weasley #anti hermione granger #anti harry potter #ginny weasley #anti ron/hermione #ron/hermione #harry potter shipping #anti harry/ginny #harry/ginny #meta #headcanon #opinion #vinelle #therealvinelle

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valentin-talbot · 3 years ago

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"Gosh, I’m really bad at this, aren’t I?”

“...”

“Thank you. What’s the next part about? Oh. That-... I won’t blubber about this, I promise.”

PART 6: LIKES & DISLIKES

What is/are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?

“Oh! I love to sing! I-, I’m not good at it! But I used to be in the Church choir when I was little and, well, now it’s disbanded for the time being. But I hope to bring it back. I’ve only studied a tiny little bit of music, but I think it could be good! And if all the old members come back, maybe even Zachariah, I’m sure I won’t have to do too much work either. They’re all brilliant.”

What is your most treasured possession?

“You know that officially I don’t think I’m supposed to have one?” A pause. “Apart ... maybe? From the Holy Bible?” He wasn’t sure, actually. Weren’t the words of the Scripture supposed to be in him by now or something? Either way. “I like things that keep me warm. Tea cups I was gifted for my move in, blankets my mother made, um, my hot water bottle. Oh you’ve never had one? They’re great. They’re made of tin, I believe. Basically the same flasks the military uses, but a bit larger, and then you wrap it in a pillow case and it’s just great.”

What is your favorite color?

"That depends on the day. I know, terribly boring answer, but it’s true! Today I love blue. Ocean blue, on a stormy day. So a bit greyish, a bit angry, a bit chaotic. Sometimes I love the outer edge of a flame, you know that very dark orange? I also love the white of early Spring flowers, or apple blossoms. And just the other day I thought, my,” He closed his eyes, “what beauty can be found in honest brown eyes.”

What is your favorite food?

“Oh, that’s hard,” he chuckled, opening his eyes again almost as to avoid all the images of food flooding in. “I mean, there’s hardly anything I won’t eat; I’m a good dinner guest. But-... You see, I’m not a hedonist. I don’t value temporary joys like some do. A good dinner is a-, a marvellous feat, and I applaud any chef who learnt to make food like it’s art, but-...” He hummed. “I love a good rice pudding, if that counts? A good apple? Broth? Broth is good.”

What, if anything, do you like to read?

“At the moment I sadly don’t find too much time to read anymore. And even before that, I mostly read what my professors or Lady Dinah told me to read. I think, if I were to bring one author on a long voyage to read over and over again, it would be something by Victor Hugo.”

What is your idea of good entertainment (consider music, movies, art, etc.)?

“Well, music, definitely. Choir. Symphonies. Not so much those modern airs, I fear, but that’s just because I don’t understand it. I’m open to learning, though. I also enjoy a good book, naturally. I’m not the most enthusiastic about the moving pictures, but I’m don’t think they’re quite as banal as people make them out to be. The theatre can be great, and so can opera, but I find it exhausting to go see a play only to have someone talk through it the entire time. So I prefer books, yes. They’re ... quiet. There’s no one there to pay attention to, or to offend.”

Do you smoke, drink, or use drugs? If so, why? Do you want to quit?

“I smoke, occasionally, when I’m offered, and the same goes for drinking. I believe it’s similar to food, for me. The joy is so ... brief, compared to something which lasts in your memory for decades. Like, I don’t know, a prank or a good hug. So I don’t spend much thought trying to drink or smoke.”

As for the second half of that question, he knew what that was about. “I don’t ... believe that to express disapproval over other people’s mistakes, you have to do the exact opposite as they did.” He thought of his old professor at Oxford, who, after he’d witnessed to male students kiss had angrily invited his wife to dinner to show Valentin and his course mates how great his marriage was...

extra:

How do you spend a typical Saturday night?

“Working,” he sighed. “Late into the night.”

What makes you laugh?

“A lot of things, I fear. I don’t mock people though, I don’t laugh at their embarrassments, and I’ve never found it funny when others stumbled or fell out of trees. I just mean-... Well, I mean! People are marvellous, aren’t they? It’s rare that you meet someone who doesn’t have a little sun within him that just waits to burst and shine.”

What, if anything, shocks or offends you?

“I’ve recently learnt I can grow quite offended over people misappropriating the Lord’s name? And I don’t mean accidentally saying ‘Oh God,’ or something. I mean, behaving ... terribly. Selfishly. Full of hate and bigotry! And then saying God would’ve wanted it so. It-, it upsets me, yes.”

What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

“Insomnia means ... not being able to sleep? Because recently I wish I wasn’t so ready to sleep all the time. I’d love to wake up by myself and have more time in the day. I’d go back to work, of course.” Though perhaps he wasn’t actually correct about what this insomnia meant.

How do you deal with stress?

“The question is, if I do at all.”

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

At this, he paused and hummed, planning out his answer. “Spontaneous.”

What are your pet peeves?

“When others purposefully try to misunderstand me. Or others. Strawman arguments.” He paused, hesitated, then leaned in a little closer: “I also really don’t like how thin the paper of new bible editions is becoming recently,” he whispered. “I mean, that’s just asking for paper cuts, right? Next thing you know, you won’t recognise Christians by a cross around their neck anymore, but by the wounds on their fingers!”

#pasternosterlift #first half: deep and pensive #second half: so paperscute AMIRITE?

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shoryubug · 5 years ago

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Charlatans: Chapter 1: Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

As most of you already knew, I was updating the intro to this story to clear up some stuff...and because I wanted to just...get some information set up, since I really didn’t like the thoughts going on that Adrien might be an idiot, and that Marinette would leave without informing Chat Noir about what was going on. The two of them respect each other, and she treats him as a partner, a friend, and an equal. On top of that, some Gina sugar, before getting to the Lila and Mallory salt! Which while mild, is going to culminate itself in the next chapter. I hope you guys like this redo, and that you like the ideas for the trip I’d set up for Gina and Marinette! Also once again, the original idea of a fake ladybug au was never mine to start with, I’ve seen it done over and over again by various people my personal favorite one being Checking Sources but if anyone knows who originally came up with the idea, please let me know, I genuinely do want to give them credit for the idea! Also for the most part, everything after Marinette getting back home is kind of the same, for the most part, save for the conversation with Tikki when Tikki makes her go to sleep.

It had come out of nowhere when Gina had decided to visit, and pull Marinette out of school, leaving the poor girl without any notice and without any ability to contact her friends about what had happened, instead just her parents had known, as it was a surprise for her after all, Tuesday night Gina came like the whisper of a breeze before a storm, powerful and fresh, but pushing all the right buttons to make a person comfortable and happy, and Marinette couldn’t deny it, being around her Nonna made her happy, so to go out and traverse Brussels, Vianden, and Milan, then come back home to Paris had seemed like a dream come true in a way. While Marinette knew she wouldn’t be able to spend as much time as she might have preferred with Gina, the small bit that she was being allotted for this trip was more than enough for her. Sending Marinette and Gina up to rest together for their early day, getting up at around the same time that Tom was to begin prep work for the bakery just to ensure that they’d make their seats on the train at Gard Nour station in order to reach Brussels effectively, Marinette let out a sigh of joy.

Of course, her parents had been more than certain to pack up her clothing for this surprise, gathering as much as they could for her in a duffel bag, though now, they had no idea of the actual true necessities, a satellite phone that she’d been slowly paying off in order to keep in touch with the world about what was going on in France from nearly anywhere else in the world, all in preparation since her fourteenth birthday when Gina had made her the promise about taking her away for some time, and the horse miraculous glasses, which lay hidden inside the gramophone that Wang Fu had left to her after he passed the title of Guardian over to her. Softly she pressed in the combination to open the device, and with a nimble quickness her fingers softly opened each compartment until she found the correct one and pulled out the glasses, setting them in center of the neck hole in her shirt, ready to use should the time call for it, though now only appearing to be a cute accessory to anyone that asked.

“I hope that I can actually have some fun on this trip, you know, without the usual Ladybug worries...” Marinette whispered to Tikki who zoomed out of her purse and nuzzled up to Marinette’s cheek.

“I think you don’t have too much to worry about! After all, Hawkmoth has been a little slow lately, so maybe you’ll be okay!” Tikki offered as Marinette sighed.

“Should I give Chat the number to my satellite phone in case anything goes wrong, or should I just keep updates from the Ladyblog and just let him know I’ll be gone for a bit?” Marinette asked as Tikki held a small hand up to her own face and gave it a small bit of thought, the anxiousness creeping through Marinette’s features.

“You should definitely let him know you’ll be gone, but if you want to keep your identity safe, don’t tell him about the satellite phone, just tell him you’ll be keeping updated with the Ladyblog! He might be able to help you get information from there faster in case Alya is slow to update!” Tikki offered as Marinette nodded, calling on the transformation magic then ducking into her closet, in case her parents had chosen that moment to pop their heads in. Pulling her yo-yo out she set up the call feature and was sent straight to his voicemail, which...made sense, especially if he wasn’t exactly active at that moment.

“Hey Chat! I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be going to be out of Paris for a while---” she began before she realized that if he had known her as Marinette...which he seemed to already, then that might complicate things from her own absence...especially if he was going to go to Alya at all to get her to update the Ladyblog in a timely manner. “Uhh...my family wanted to visit Lyon and I’ll be out of school and I can’t exactly avoid going with them, but if there are any problems here in Paris I’ll come in with the horse miraculous, so no need to worry about me! But I will be keeping tabs on the state of things from the notices on the Ladyblog, so as long as there’s a notice on there I’ll make an appearance!” she offered, before closing the yo-yo, hanging up the call, then detransforming. “We should get some rest Tikki...” Marinette offered as Tikki nodded in approval, letting loose a small yawn.

The trip with Gina had been more than Marinette had ever expected, getting to visit the Cathedrale St-Michel was amazing, the architecture of it alone was just so fascinating, and for all of her life Marinette had only really had interests in fashion due to Gina, she had never thought to look into buildings, but now it was as if an entire new world was opening up to her, giving her more room to explore, but then going off to the Place Royale had given her the same level of attraction and affection toward this new field of wonder, the various shapes, the way everything was held together, how something so historic could still hold so much presence in the lives of so many people, and how it alone could bring in people like her and Gina to envision and experience from it...it was like a fascinating and beautiful new avenue, and suddenly she was lit with excitement from every which way...and this was just the first part of the first day!

The Belgian Royal Museum of Fine Arts was another avenue that gave Marinette a lot of inspiration, Gina following after her, a bit bored herself with the idea of a museum, though Marinette had all but ran through the area, her sketchbook in hand, sketching up a storm as she gazed longingly at each and every painting in the museum, her mind fluttering about. The only problem with all of it was that she had yearned to take photos with her normal phone, but knowing the roaming charges would be astronomical, she opted against it, and when Gina had remained too far behind, Marinette had taken a moment to give Tikki a small treat inside her purse, and allowed for Tikki to come out for a brief second to view her sketchbook and the painting she stood in front of, sharing a soft moment with her wonderful companion. Soon after though, due to Gina’s boredom, the pair had left to the Atomium to take many goofy photos together and get some lunch, ending the tour of Brussels at the Mont des Arts, before Gina rented a motorcycle and Marinette had stuffed the horse miraculous in her purse, practically chaining it across her front, as they rode the next three hours out to Luxembourg.

Finding a hotel for the night, Marinette had been certain to check up on the Ladybug one more time, having absently checked it moments throughout the day as if it were second nature, still coming up with nothing she was overjoyed to find just that...there was nothing. Another day when Hawkmoth wasn’t going to make an appearance.

The few days of exploring with Gina were absolutely wonderful, doing a tree climbing course in Vianden and proving to Gina that she was fitter than she might seem (though that was entirely thanks to her job as Ladybug!), going on the chairlift and looking down at the town below, visiting the bronze bust of Victor Hugo and taking photos with it, then visiting the Chateau de Vianden to close that day out...it was almost surreal, she couldn’t believe how small the world looked from above in the chairlift. She’d been in planes a few times before in her past, but to actually watch as something gets smaller below her without the benefit of her Ladybug suit was strange and exhilarating, and then to outdo her grandmother while climbing the trees was something else in itself. Gina had attributed it to all of her energy, but she and Tikki both knew better as they joked while they waited for the others in the tree climbing course to meet her up above. And throughout that day she also continued to check in on everything gradually, though before they had left the Chateau de Vianden and had taken a plane out to Milan, she had checked again, still coming up empty from the Ladyblog.

The day in Milan had been strange...it dragged on for Marinette, she didn’t really like the city, because it had been too stuffy, there were too many religious things to visit, and she just wasn’t all that interested, but she stuck it out for Gina, as Gina had done for her back in Brussels, and eventually the two had gone to have lunch together, both agreeing that after visiting the Opera at Teatro alla Scala, they would make their way back to Paris, and then spend whatever time was left getting ice cream and cooling down with the rest of the family.

When they had finally taken a plane back home to Paris and the two of them had gotten to the bakery, Sabine handed Marinette a packet of homework, with a note on it from Alya, which simply said “CHECK YOUR MESSAGES GIRL!” and Marinette waited on it, while she wanted to give her friend some attention, she was more interested in spending some more time with Gina and her parents, going off to have dinner with them, and when she was finally ready to get upstairs, she turned her satellite phone off, turned her normal phone on, put the horse miraculous away, and then went to check her phone for the messages Alya wanted her to read, and it was as if everything in the world had come to a screeching halt the moment that she read a single text from Alya.

>>>GIRL, YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT, LADYBUG IS A CONFIRMED STUDENT HERE IN OUR CLASS!

She felt her heart contract, no...no they couldn't be close to finding her identity. No. This wasn't possible, she was so careful!

As the panic set in she couldn't bring herself to respond to Alya. "Tikki...we might have a problem, Alya said someone in our class is Ladybug..." she whispered.

"What?!" Tikki's high-pitched squeal painted her ears.

"I don't...I don't know how this could have happened!" she whispered.

"Well...if Alya didn't say anything about Ladybug being you, maybe they don't really know yet!" Tikki pointed out and finally Marinette was able to breathe in relief, her heartbeat finally slowing to a more steady pace.

"Y-you're right! I shouldn't worry! I should go to bed...tomorrow we can figure this out!" she whispered as Tikki flew to her pillow and Marinette curled up in the bed herself. All that she had hoped was that whatever was going on, Chat hadn't heard about it...but that was wishful thinking, wasn't it? She had been absent from the city for a few days, which means that whatever Alya had said was probably on the Ladyblog...OH MY GOD IT WAS PROBABLY ON THE LADYBLOG! She thought, reaching for her phone she began to scroll upward before Tikki flew through it and huffed, glaring Marinette in the face.

"It's time to sleep!" Tikki stated as Marinette sighed.

"I know but I just thought we should check the Ladyblog in case Alya posted something on it!" Marinette rationalized.

"No! You can worry about it tomorrow! Besides, you've been checking the Ladyblog all week on the trip, and right now you need a clear and level head so sleep!" Tikki insisted, and with hesitation, Marinette relented.

For once, she hadn't slept through her alarm, and rolled off of her bed, rushing through her morning routine, and zipping off to school after she had finished. She had a lot of time to spare, which was a surprise, but as she made her way through the school doors and into her class, where she found Alya sitting, her best friend's eyes went wide for a minute before getting back to normal, as if a realization washed over her for a moment then faded.

"Hey, Alya! So what was with your text? I would have responded sooner but as soon as I got home I was just exhausted and kind of passed out, and this morning I forgot to respond! I'm so sorry!" she apologized before Alya's eyes perked up again.

"You are NOT going to believe the scoop I got for you! There's this new girl in our class, Mallory, and she's Ladybug! She even has the Ladybug earrings and looks EXACTLY like her!" Alya whispered. "She even knows stuff about the Miraculous that only Ladybug would know!" she whispered, which deflated Marinette's mood. Well...at least...it wasn't that her identity was outed.

"Oh...I mean...are you sure she's really Ladybug? It...seems a little too good to be true..." Marinette offered, which Alya rolled her eyes at.

"Are you going to get upset at this girl like you do at Lila because she's also spending time with Adrien?" Alya asked with a huff, and Marinette rolled her eyes. Of course, it always came down to jealousy, even if she didn't actually know that this Mallory girl was interested in Adrien.

"Alya...I don't know anything about this girl...I've been gone a few days, remember? Besides, if Ladybug is adamant about identities being a secret then why would she tell you before she told Chat Noir?" she offered, which Alya again huffed at.

"She didn't just tell me, she told the whole class!"

"Well then that makes it even less likely that she's actually Ladybug, don't you think?" Marinette stated flatly before a girl who could almost be her double walked up the aisle and let out an angry huff.

"You must be the girl Lila told me about, Marinette, right? Well you don't have to believe that I'm Ladybug, but you should at least not try to drag me into your drama!" she snapped as Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Then you shouldn't lie to the class about something so serious." Marinette countered as the girl scoffed and stomped up the stairs to her seat in the back. Whoever that girl was, she definitely wasn't even a good replica of Ladybug, all she had were similar looks to Marinette's own, nothing more, she clearly couldn’t replicate the way that she carried herself as Ladybug, she stood too straight and poised, and even as Ladybug that was something that Marinette struggled with, and if anyone actually believed that Mallory was Ladybug then they really were blind.

@sofmimis @tinyterror333 @xmenlov @calicokitkat @galaxykrystal123 @yin-390 @littleacecutie @draw-me-some-stories @im-a-useless-and-shitty-blob @wild-lady-luck @siamxshade @lenamau @justafanwarrior @random-posts-and-stuff @gwennex @thezestywalru

#ml salt #ml fic #lila salt #alya salt #ml fanfic #ml fanfiction #mlb fanfic #mlb fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfic #ml charlatans

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alastanor · 4 years ago

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youtube

To start, I would like to thank @cis-het-angel-kinnie for bringing this video to my attention, even if it was to praise the video rather than to point out it's flawed arguments against Charlie for main character.

If you have not seen the video yet, I recommend giving it a watch prior to reading this or you may be confused.

Click to read more...

What Is A Protagonist?

I am not bringing up this question because I think the source used was incorrect. However, the statement that "protagonists ask questions and antagonists make arguments" is an oversimplification of both roles. And I am going to explain why.

The trope of protagonist vs antagonist is an age old theme which has been used countless times throughout storytelling's history in books, plays, films, and story-driven video games. As such, the definition of both roles has continued to flourish and evolve over time. It is no longer good vs evil.

While @diregentleman used books written by, I assume, published writers for his argument, I am going to use Creative Writing and Literary Experts from a Masterclass article.

In the article, a protagonist is described as this:

"In storytelling, a protagonist is the main character or principal character or group of characters in a story."

More than one character is capable of being an antagonist in this story. Given that demons are meant to be redeemed, fitting the theme of the story, it is fair to surmise that all (or the majority of) the demons surrounding Charlie are protagonists in some form.

The article goes on to state that the protagonist's goals reflect the overall story goals and the plot moves forward based on their decisions.

This being said, Charlie's overall goal reflects the premise of the story, that being that Hazbin Hotel is a story about redemption. This is a goal that Angel Dust does not have.

In DireGentleman's video, he claims Angel Dust joined the Happy Hotel with the intention of being redeemed, albeit skeptical whether it could actually be done. This is actually inaccurate, and we see this in both the pilot and the comic.

Angel does display skepticism straight from the gate, but when they explain their reason for approaching him (that no one else has agreed), he makes this face:

Does that really look like someone who believes redemption may be possible? But for further establishment of just how little Angel believes redemption is possible, Angel also laughs them off and calls their goal "lame."

The only reason Angel agrees to Charlie and Vaggie's proposition is because it is a rent free place to stay. He admits as much just a bit further into the comic. By the end, Angel says "Redemption, it's silly. Huh, Nuggs."

The tone we are led to believe he uses is one of contemplation and relief. Relief due likely to the fact that there is some light at the end of the tunnel to the shit situation he was in.

This is just comic evidence, of course. If we go to the pilot, when Angel is engaging in the turf war with Cherri Bomb, he explains that he is using Charlie and Vaggie for free rent. Further exemplified when he later asks if participating in the turf war meant he didn't have a free room anymore. But also in his conversation with Cherri, he also admits that he is still taking some drugs behind Charlie and Vaggie's back. Something that we see immediately toward the opening of the pilot when Angel buys a bag of Angel Dust.

Character Dynamic

I cannot emphasize this enough, the Hunicast is NOT a good exemplifier for character dynamics. Every single "character interaction" is based on fanon, not canon, and they are prompted by the fans themselves. Only Viv really knows exactly how Angel and Alastor would canonically interact. It is no better a source for character dynamic than the wiki is for accurate information. IE, some things may hold true, but the majority of it is not and it is better just to wait until it is confirmed canon.

Moving on...

There is a lot of focus on Valentino as a main antagonist, based entirely too much on the hope that Angel will be the main protagonist. And this is really just disingenuous when you consider there are two other implied Overlords, as well as several other sources of strife within the world of Hazbin Hotel.

An Antagonist is someone working against the protagonist to prevent them from achieving their goal. Alastor would not meet this criteria, as he is a self-professed observer and conflict creator. But he is not a main antagonist. Someone working against the goal of redemption could be anyone from the Overlords (which, far as we know, would include Valentino), Lucifer, or even Heaven itself.

Where antagonists come into play, quoting Masterlist once again, I think these two types of antagonists were overlooked:

A conflict-creator. An antagonist doesn’t have to be a “bad guy.” Sometimes, they’re just a character whose goals are in direct conflict with the protagonist’s, like Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice or Javert working to arrest Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

The protagonist themselves. The main source of conflict in a story can be from within the protagonist themselves—their shortcomings or insecurities are keeping them from reaching their goal. A prime example of this is Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. While Holden comes into conflict with many characters in the novel, the ever-present antagonizing conflict comes from his own obsessions and insecurities.

Now, why did I bring up these two types? Well! I'm glad you asked! You see, where conflict-creator comes into play would line up more with Alastor. He isn't really the bad guy, but he does create some friction where his goals meet with Charlie's. He is a professed observer, but it is strongly believed that there is something else, another goal, that he has omitted.

As for the Protagonist themselves, this lines up pretty strongly where Charlie is concerned. You could argue that it does for Angel too, but Angel's goal, as mentioned before, is not Redemption. That goal is Charlie's, and hers alone. Yet it is her naivety, inexperience, and insecurities surrounding her failures as a princess that are holding her back from achieving her goal. Going by this, not only do we have multiple protagonists, but we also have multiple antagonists.

"So far, no one else's past is wrought with tension like Angel Dust's."

Even if this wasn't a sweeping, dismissive statement made with limited information, it would still be incorrect. Why? Because each and every character in Hazbin Hotel is going to have their own story to tell. Stories that will each be as relatable and wrought with tension, the only reason we know Angel so extensively is because Viv put the most work into him. She has admitted that Alastor and Angel were characters she wrote based on past dealings and experiences she had. Let those implications sink in a bit.

Now, to further this, people don't need to empathize with a character to like them. They can sympathize as well, even if they personally cannot relate to the emotions the character is feeling.

And where Angel is concerned, he is not addicted to drugs. Angel has used drugs to escape the pain of his trauma. His response in the pilot to having his drugs stolen from him is not one of a typical addict. Which leads us to believe the drugs are simply a coping mechanism more than they are an addiction.

Real Audience for Hazbin is 12 to 16

I would really fucking hope you are joking. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that this was said by someone who isn't a parent. While yes, kids will be sneaky and watch or play things they're not supposed to, a show with drug use/abuse, rape, sex, physical/mental/emotional abuse, and suicide is as much for them as Rick and Morty.

Further, it is not just these themes that make the show for adults. It is the format of the storytelling. Yes, you can complain about what you consider issues with the pilot. But at the end of the day, it did it's job. It established the story premise, introduced important characters (Fat Nuggets does not fall in that category, calm down), gave a basic understanding of their relationships to each other, and get the audience interested in continuing the series. Considering the views for the pilot and the resulting disproportionate growth of the fandom, I would say it did that in spades.

Hazbin Hotel is not Steven Universe. I cannot say this enough times, and the reason I cannot is because I cannot tell you how many times I have come into contact with the underage side of the fandom griping about lack of lore, griping about lack of production information, and overall being exceedingly impatient. At the risk of sounding like an old miser, the underage side of the fandom has never had to wait for additions to a series. Like waiting for Homestuck updates, or the new release of a Harry Potter novel. They have had a steady schedule of content, along with shows that give exposition dumps "in the first 3 minutes."

So don't look at Hazbin Hotel through the lens of kids' show fandoms. It has so much more to offer than that.

Alastor vs Valentino

No, this is not about whether Alastor could beat up Valentino. In the video, DireGentleman pulled a huge pet peeve of mine and lumped Valentino and Alastor together, labeling them both "monsters." Which is opening a huge can of worms for me. So, I will give a brief summary of why that is wrong, and provide a link to one of my other posts for deeper diving.

So, there is a reason why Valentino is more hated than Alastor is. Lumping them together is a mistake.

Valentino is a pimp that abuses and manipulates his victims through intimidation and (implied through) some kind of addiction to the red smoke (whether that is real or symbolism is yet unknown). He takes who and what he wants, be damned the consequences or who gets hurt. He is incredibly self-serving, with no consideration for anyone else. He uses people like pawns, and when those pawns refuse to do what he wants, what does he do? He forces them to do it anyway.

By comparison, while Alastor may use his people like pawns, he also has more consideration for them and doesn't abuse them (far as we can tell). The evidence to support this is the attitude of those serving under Valentino vs those under Alastor. Niffty and Husk both seem to not have a problem with Alastor, and where Husk is concerned it seems that his attitude toward Alastor is their typical banter. But definitely nothing that displays abuse. In fact, when Husker is hesitant or even refusing to do as Alastor asks, Alastor doesn't force Husker. He offers payment in the form of something Husker genuinely likes.

Now, while some might argue this is also manipulating through addiction, one could look at it this way. However, Alastor didn't make Husker an alcoholic. That was Husker's vice to begin with, Alastor simply has no intention of fixing it. After all, Alastor has said he doesn't think anything can change a sinner.

For further explanation and delving into Alastor, click here.

Parents don't 'get' Charlie = Disney Princess

Once again, we fall upon the slippery slope of disinformed statements. While the joke was made that the princess of hell expresses herself best through song, parent issues do not equate to being something that is relatable primarily or only to kids and teens. It's kind of offensive that there is a sort or implication in this statement that adults don't have issues like insecurities surrounding their own failures, or parent issues like what Charlie has or worse. And once again, we fall into the empathize vs sympathize realm and I once again will say that the audience does not need to empathize with the protagonist to make them a good protagonist.

Charlie is a failed princess, her people don't respect her and didn't even prior to her hotel announcement. Yes, she is sheltered and naive. Likely due to how little she was able or allowed to interact with sinners. After all, her ex-boyfriend was from another hellborn family. One that, from what we can surmise, interacts rather frequently with the Magne family.

And it is because of this naivety and inexperience that her method to redeem sinners will not work.

In the video, DireGentleman states that we can pretty much assume that Charlie's redemption methods will work. But her methods, as we see in her song, is to inject demons with meds and take away/burn their vices. She is seeking immediate resolutions to problems that require therapy and a long process that should be making sinners want to change. All Charlie is currently accomplishing is earning the ire and scrutiny of her people. This is why I previously mentioned that Charlie is both protagonist and antagonist, as she is getting in her own way to accomplishing the goal of redemption. And this is where we find that Charlie meets the "starts out being wrong" requirement mentioned in the video as well as "admiring a character for trying."

Charlie is also in a perfect position to be the tour guide for us, the audience, as we observe the metamorphosis of every demon who needs to be redeemed. She is, once again, surrounded by those who need to be redeemed which means we will witness every character arc. This includes Angel, who does not need to be the central focus for us to witness his story.

Finally...

It was stated, or at least implied, that Hazbin Hotel's pilot is no longer relevant. This is a statement that pretty much leaves me puzzled. The only way it would be irrelevant is if Hazbin went in a completely different direction, and we have no reason to believe it will. Vivziepop is still creative director for Hazbin Hotel, and A24 is notorious for giving creators their creative freedom. What A24 is doing is animating, making VA regulations, and ensuring there is an air tight lid kept on the project. Especially given it's popularity in such a short amount of time.

Contrary to what DireGentleman said, Hazbin Hotel will definitely live up to it's hype. Being picked up by A24 will not compromise the show simply because it's not in the same realm of indie production that Helluva Boss is. And it's a bit unfair to Vivziepop to imply as much.

In Conclusion...

Please do a bit more digging in regards to not only the show, but everything surrounding it. Don't lump fanon and canon together and expect them to be equal sources, and please do not claim an obviously adult-audience show is more fit for children and teens.

And lastly, please do more digging to better understand media and storytelling. Reading books is great, but what you were using as the foundation for your arguments were far too simplified and vague,, given the complexity of the protagonist and antagonist roles. Overall, the video just came across as one huge helping of Angel Dust bias with a side of strong dislike for Charlie.

#Youtube #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel husker #hazbin hotel video critical #video analysis #long post #diregentleman #counter argument

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buffintruder · 3 years ago

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Explain Le Mis to those of us that only know it's something something french revolution?

Hello anon thank you so much for this ask, literally saving my sanity here

I'll be talking a bit more about the book than the musical, but the plot stuff mostly applies to both (this will contain some spoilers, but I'll try to keep them from being in too much detail).

The story takes place over a period of time from 1815-1833, so a fair bit after the French Revolution. There is a rebellion in the climax that takes place in 1832, but historically speaking that was very minor and not an actual revolution.

The plot is basically about this dude called Jean Valjean who gets released from prison after 19 years and is struggling to get any sort of job or lodgings or anything because who would trust a convict. Various shenanigans happen and he breaks his parole, crafts a new identity, accidentally becomes the mayor of a town, gets caught as being an ex-convict, adopts a daughter, and goes hiding in a convent for a few years.

There's this police officer, Javert, who knew Valjean from prison so whenever he runs into him, he usually recognizes him as that dude who's on the run from the law, causing Valjean to instantly drop everything and run. Javert is sort of the epitome of a cop, and he sees law in black and white terms and also trusts people with status and power unthinkingly. When he is finally forced to come to terms with the fact that the law is not the exact same as morality, he has an existential crisis that does not end well for him.

The daughter that Valjean adopts is called Cosette and she's the heart of the story. When she's older, she and Valjean move out of the convent and go live in Paris where she falls in love with this boy named Marius who is the biggest dork in the world.

Marius is very vaguely associated with a group of revolutionaries, mostly students and a couple workers. This group is fantastic and also what the fandom tends to focus on because liberal students makes up a fair portion of the fanbase. Marius also has some neighbors who are basically the shittiest people, like corpse robbing and child abuse + abandonment are just the first two things they do that come to mind. But their daughter Eponine is wonderful and deserves much better and is also in love with Marius/the idea of Marius (who is kind and maybe not rich but also not quite as badly off as her). Marius is absolutely oblivious though

In summary, Les Mis is a several thousand page long story about how society is the root of all evil. Don't blame someone for doing what they need to survive when you could blame the unjust systems of power that forced them to have no other options. Even if fixing the world might be impossible and your efforts might fail, it's better to try than to stand by and let bad things happen.

It's a depressing story in a lot of ways, but also there are lots of puns and funny bits. Plus Victor Hugo can't shut up so you get chapters on topics like "the Battle of Waterloo" and "Parisian sewers" that have very little bearing on the plot, but I guess are important thematically, so a lot of people make fun of him for that

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explosionshark · 5 years ago

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Thanks for recommending Gideon the Ninth! It was so good! Do you have a book rec tag I could check out? :)

honestly i should, huh? i’ve read more books than probably ever before this year and i’ve talked about ‘em intermittently, but not with a consistent tag. i’ll recommend some right now, though, with a healthy dose of recency bias!

sf/f

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon - a truly epic fantasy novel with one of the most beautiful, satisfying f/f romances i’ve ever read. the novel takes account nearly everything i hate about fantasy as a genre (overwhelmingly straight, white, and male centric, bland medieval European settings, tired tropes) and subverts them. incredible world-building, diverse fantasy cultures, really cool arthrurian legend influence. one of my favorite books i’ve ever read tbh.

gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir - which you’ve read, obviously, but for posterity’s sake i’m keeping it here! sci-fi + murder mystery + gothic horror. genuinely funny while still having a super strong emotional core and more than enough gnarly necromantic to satisfy the horror nerd in me. makes use of some of my favorite tropes in fiction, namely the slowburn childhood enemies to reluctant allies to friends to ??? progression between gideon and harrow. absolutely frothing at the mouth for a sequel.

the broken earth trilogy by nk jemisin - really the first book that helped me realize i don’t hate fantasy, i just hate the mainstream ‘medieval europe but with magic’ version of fantasy that dominates the genre. EXTREMELY cool worldbuilding. i’ve definitely described it as like, a GOOD version of what the mage-vs-templar conflict in dragon age could have been, with a storyline particularly reminiscent of “what if someone got Anders right?”

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone - i’m not usually big on epistolary novels, but this one really worked for me. spy vs spy but it’s gay and takes place between time traveling agents of two opposing sides of a war. the letter writing format really plays to el-mohtar’s strengths as a poet, the unfolding love story is weird and beautiful. it’s a really quick read, too, if you’re short on time or attention.

empress of forever by max gladstone - i just finished this one this week! if you’re in the mood for a space opera, look no further. imagine if steve jobs was an asian lesbian and also like not a shitty person. this is where you start with vivian liao. you get the classic putting-the-band-together arc with beings from all across the universe, your romances and enemies-turned-friends and uneasy alliances all over the place. really satisfying character development and some extremely cool twists along the way. it’s just a fun good time.

the luminous dead by caitlin starling - this one rides the line of horror so it’s closest to that part of the list. it reminds me of the most inventive low budget horror/sci-fi films i’ve loved in the best way possible because it makes use of the barest narrative resources. it’s a book that takes place in one primary setting, featuring interactions between two characters that only meet each other face-to-face for the briefest period. the tension between the two characters is the most compelling part of the story, with competing and increasingly unreliable narratives and an eerie backdrop to ratchet things up even higher. the author described it as “queer trust kink” at one point which is, uh, super apt actually and totally my jam. the relationship at the center of the book is complicated to say the least, outright combative at points, but super compelling. plus there’s lost of gnarly sci-fi spelunking if you like stories about people wandering around in caves.

horror

the ballad of black tom by victor lavalle - we all agree that while lovecraft introduced/popularized some cool elements into horror and kind of defined what cosmic horror would come to mean, he was a racist sack of shit. which is why my favorite type of ‘lovecraftian horror’ is the type that openly challenges his abhorrent views. the ballad of black tom is a retelling of the horror at redhook that flips the narrative by centering the action around a black protagonist.

lovecraft country by matt ruff - more of what i just described. again, lovecraftian themes centered around black protagonists. this one’s especially cool because it’s a series of interconnected short stories following related characters. it’s getting a tv adaptation i believe, but the book is definitely not to be missed

rolling in the deep / into the drowning deep by mira grant - mermaids are real and they’re the ultimate deep sea predators! that’s really the whole premise. if for some reason that’s not enough for you, let me add this: diverse cast, a romance between a bi woman who’s not afraid to use the word and an autistic lesbian, really cool speculative science tangents about mermaid biology and myth.

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson - it’s halloween month so i’m thinking about hill house again. one of the greatest american ghost stories ever written. especially worth the read if you follow it up w the 1964 film adaptation (the haunting) and then the 2018 netflix series.

the hunger by alma katsu - i’ve always been fascinated by the donner party even though we now know the popular narrative is largely falsehoods. still, this highly fictionalized version of events scratched an itch for me and ended up surprising me with its resistance from the most expected and toxic racist tropes associated with donner party myth.

wounds / north american lake monsters by nathan ballingrud - nathan ballingrud is my favorite horror writer of all time. one of my favorite writers period regardless of genre. in ballingrud’s work the horror is right in front of you. you can look directly at it, it’s right there. but what permeates it, what draws your attention instead, what makes it hurt is the brutally honest emotional core of everything surrounding the horror. the human tragedy that’s’ reflected by the more fantastic horror elements is the heart of his work. it’s always deeply, profoundly moving for me. both of these collections are technically short stories, but they’re in the horror section of the recs because delineations are totally arbitrary and made solely at my discretion.

short stories

her body and other parties by carmen maria machado - tbh i almost put this in w horror but there’s enough weird fiction here for me to be willing to straddle the line. it was really refreshing to read horror that centered queer women’s perspectives. the stories in this collection are really diverse and super powerful. there’s an incredible weird fiction piece that’s like prompt-based law and order svu micro fiction (go with me here) that ends up going to some incredible places. there’s the husband stitch, a story that devastated me in ways i’m still unraveling. the final story reminded me of a more contemporary haunting of hill house in the best way possible. machado is a writer i’m really excited about.

vampires in the lemon grove by karen russell - my friend zach recommended this to me when we were swapping book recs earlier this year and i went wild for it! mostly weird fiction, but i’m not really interested in getting hung up on genres. i don’t know what to say about this really other than i really loved it and it got me excited about reading in a way i haven’t been in a while.

the tenth of december by george saunders - i really like saunders’ work and i feel like the tenth of december is a great place to start reading him. quirky without being cloying, weird without being unrelatable.

misc

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid - there’s something really compelling to me about the glamour of old hollywood. this story is framed as a young journalist interviewing a famously reclusive former starlet at the end of her life. the story of how evelyn hugo goes from being the dirt-poor daughter of cuban immigrants to one of the biggest names in hollywood to an old woman facing the end of her life alone is by turns beautiful, inspiring, infuriating and desperately sad. by far the heart of the book is in evelyn finally coming out as bisexual, detailing her decades-long on/off relationship with celia st. james, another actress. evelyn’s life was turbulent, fraught with abuse and the kind of exploitation you can expect from the hollywood machine, but the story is compelling and engaging and i loved reading it.

smoke gets in your eyes by caitlin doughty - a memoir by caitlin doughty, the woman behind the popular ‘ask a mortician’ youtube series. it was a super insightful look into the american death industry and its many flaws as well as an interesting, often moving look at the human relationship with death through the eyes of someone touched by it early and deeply.

love and rockets by los bros hernandez (jaime and gilbert and mario) - this was a big alt comic in the 80s with some series within running on and off through the present. i’m not current, but this book was so important for me as a kid. in particular the locas series, which centered around two queer latina girls coming up in the punk scene in a fictional california town. the beginning starts of a little sci-fi-ish but over time becomes more concerned with slice-of-life personal dramas.

#book recs #long post #SORRY IF THIS IS MORE THAN YOU WANTED #obviouslyending #book tag

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cbk1000 · 5 years ago

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Could you give me a list of your top 10 must read books? They don’t have to be your favorites, just books that you think everyone should read in their lifetime at some point (preferably English for right now lol).

Well, I’m gonna’ have to include some Russian books on this list, but I’ll be helpful enough to include suggestions for English translations (though preferences, of course, do vary from person to person, and if a book has a few different translations of it, you should always read some samples and see which you like better; the translation can mean the difference between one of your favorite books, and one you had to slog through).

Without further ado, and not in any particular order:

1. War and Peace: So far I’ve read three translations, and having now read it in Russian as well, my favourite translation is still the Rosemary Edmonds Penguin Classics edition. I know it’s a great big fucking book, and daunting, but I read it in Russian side by side with an English translation to help me with vocabulary when I was only 6 months into learning Russian, so if I can read it twice through simultaneously in two different languages, you can give it a shot once. Tolstoy puts an incredible amount of humanity into his writing. He’s one of my favorite authors of all time.

2. Survival In Auschwitz by Primo Levi: This is actually the first of a trilogy, but it’s not technically necessary to read the rest (though I would suggest it). Primo Levi was an Italian chemist imprisoned in Auschwitz who wrote about his experiences there. It’s a really disturbing examination of humanity and why and how it perpetuates the atrocities it perpetuates.

3. The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in the gulags after slagging off Stalin, and he was PISSED about what he saw and experienced: so pissed he wrote three massive volumes about what a bitchboy Stalin was. There is a one-volume abridgment if you feel light-headed at the idea of three 700+ page books about the Stalinist government. This is another work that forces you to take a good hard look at the human race, and a good hard look at the parts of yourself that are capable, as every human is under the right circumstances, of participating in some of the worst acts of our fucked-up species.

4. The Count of Monte Cristo: Not as literary as the preceding works, but I had a damn good time reading it. I finally just got my dad to read it (by buying him a copy as one of his Christmas presents so he’d feel obligated to give it a shot), and when he finished it he e-mailed me to say he couldn’t believe he’d never read it before and it’s now one of his favorite books. Poison!! Revenge!! Infanticide!! Who said 19th century literature can’t be a sexy, sexy time?

5. The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett: I’m cheating on this one because it’s a series, but more people need to know about Dunnett. This is a six-book historical fiction series set in mid-16th-century Europe as well as the Mediterranean, following one Francis Lymond, a Scottish nobleman who gets himself mixed up in the political shenanigans of the time period. And there were a lot going on, in multiple countries: and this series spans an immense amount of them. Scotland, France, Russia, Turkey--there are some absolutely fucking fantastic set pieces here. Dunnett has some truly stunning prose and is an extremely atmospheric writer; I feel like I can touch and taste her writing. I do think some people will struggle a bit with the first book in the beginning; Lymond likes to speak multiple languages, to quote poetry, make obscure references, etc. etc.; if you feel flummoxed by him, so is everyone around him. I actually think he’s a bit of a twat. This is one of those rare series where I don’t care all that much for the main character, but the supporting characters and plot make up for it. And for the majority of the series, you see Lymond through the eyes of other characters, so I wasn’t oppressively trapped in his head, screaming at him to stop being a whiny bitch. He’s a sort of Byronic hero, so YMMV. 10/10 swashbuckling. There are some action sequences so gripping I became physically angry if interrupted while reading them. Mr. Jenn got ignored quite a lot while I was dipping in and out of this series.

6. The Once and Future King by T.H. White: More than another piece of Arthuriana, this is a touching and even sometimes hilarious examination of war and our propensity for violence. The first book in the collection is whimsical and funny and feels every bit the comfy childhood read that it is: and the next book opens with a cat being boiled, which should tell you something about the tonal shifts the series undergoes as White works his way through the myths. I only read this for the first time a few years ago, and I’ve already read it three times since then. It’s left its mark, needless to say.

7. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: Another War and Peace, this time with French people. Listen: I know Hugo goes on for much too long about the Parisian sewer system. I know it. But there’s so much soul in this book, and so much compassion, and maybe he did spend too long waffling on about literally everything in the world, but dude did it with a style few people can match. Even in translation this is a gorgeous book. I’ve read it in English and Russian and it’s equally beautiful in both.

8. A Higher Call by Adam Makos: This is a true story about a badly damaged American bomber flying over wartime Germany, and the German Messerschmitt who escorts it to safety. The writing is pretty standard narrative non-fiction: adequate, but you’re not going to get your panties in a luscious twist over any of Makso’ sentences. But it is truly a gripping story, and a moment of incredible humanity amidst so much inhumanity.

9. The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt: The author uses fairytales and the power that stories have over us to examine society as it careened toward WWI. I forced myself to slow down while I was reading this book because I wanted so badly to savor it. It’s an evocative look at how stories (fairytales, in this case) can be both an escape when we need it and an excuse when reality needs us.

10. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally Not just an example of someone doing the right thing when so many people wouldn’t, but an example of an imperfect human doing the right thing when so many people wouldn’t. Schindler was a chain-smoking heavy drinker with a wife, a mistress, and a girlfriend who risked his life to keep Jews from the concentration camps. It’s important to know that just as all the people who contributed to the atrocities of the Holocaust were not soulless monsters, and therefore could have been any one of us, so too were its heroes not all paragons of virtue. There is the capacity for kindness and violence in all of us.

Thanks for the question, come back any time to talk about books!!

#books #jenn reads

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sigmaleph · 5 years ago

Text

Book recs masterpost

y’all really came through here, thanks! Here’s a collected version, I will continue to update it if recs keep coming. Format will be a little inconsistent but I will try to keep books by the same author together and give the summary if it exists and who provided the rec.

Under a cut cause it gets long:

Gene Wolfe:

The Fifth Head of Cerberus

Three interconnected novellas about life on an authoritarian twin planet system where humans have apparently wiped out the natives. Superbly well written and thoughtful imo

rec by @femmenietzsche

Book of the New Sun

rec by @napoleonchingon

Octavia Butler:

Dawn, rec by @empresszo, @typicalacademic

Parable of the Sower, rec by @st-just

Kindred, rec by @squareallworthy

Angelica Gorodischer:

Kalpa Imperial

epic fantasy in the style of conan the barbarian, we see the stories of an old empire in some nondescript country, a nondescript amount of millenia ago. small vignettes of different time periods within the country. very light in fantasy, basically an entire book of nothing but lore for a D&D campaign

Trafalgar

comedy sci fi. the life stories of a sales man, a guy who goes door to door selling whatever he can, except IN SPACE. all the stories are framed as him in his little bar in rosario with his friends or drinking mate, telling his latests adventures through space.

La saga de los confines by Liliana Bodoc

lord of the rings except instead of taking inspiration from nordic folk tales is based on the american conquest. see fantasy races and cultures based on the native american population from south america. lots of poetry, lots of cool classic fantasy with a fresh new flavor

(Already read)

la batalla del calentamiento by marcelo figueras

the fantasy here is very understated to the point of it being magical realism but still my top three favourite book of all time. it starts with a man who suffers gigantism receiving a message from heaven delivered by a wolf speaking in latin. the most colorful and endearing little town with the most wacky of habitants open their arms to the guy who is desperatly in search of redemption

homestuck (by Andrew Hussie)

there is really nothing i can say about this that you havent already heard, so im not even going to bother. just give the first arc (which is about a hundred pages long) a change and see where it goes from there

All of the above suggestions by @fipindustries

Ada Palmer. Terra Ignota series (starts with Too Like the Lightning) (seconded by @youzicha)

(read the first one, have the second one but haven’t read it yet)

Jo Walton, Thessaly series (starts with The Just City)

Yoon Ha Lee, Machinaries of Empire series (starts with Ninefox Gambit) (seconded by @terminallyuninspired)

Ann Leckie:

Imperial Radch series (Starts with Ancillary Justice) (seconded by @youzicha and @squareallworthy)

Raven Tower

N. K. Jemisin:

Broken Earth trilogy (starts with The Fifth Season) (seconded by @typicalacademic)

Dreamblood duology (starts with The Killing Moon)

Seth Dickinson, Masquerade series (starts with The Traitor Baru Cormorant)

(Good rec, already read the first one)

Jeff Vandermeer, Southern Reach series (starts with Annihilation)

Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom

Tamsyn Muir, Gideon the Ninth

Arkady Martine, A Memory Called Empire

M. R. Carey, The Girl With All The Gifts

All of the above by @st-just

Le guin:

The Dispossessed, rec by @st-just, @youzicha

The Left Hand of Darkness, rec by @youzicha and @typicalacademic

both also seconded by @squareallworthy

(I love Le Guin, read both of these)

Zelazny: Lord of Light, rec by @st-just

Charles Stross:

Missile Gap.

A Colder War.

Peter Watts, Blindsight

Bruce Sterling, Heavy Weather. (I assume. There are multiple books named such)

All of the above by @youzicha

Fonda Lee, Jade City

Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon

Shining Path, more thorough rec here.

all by @typicalacademic

Lois McMaster Bujold:

the Vorkosigan Saga

(rec by @omnidistance, seconded by @squareallworthy. Already read all of them, excellent choice)

The Curse of Chalion, rec by @theorem-sorry

Greg Egan:

Permutation City

Orthogonal

above two and “anything else” by him, rec by @saelf

Diaspora, rec by @squareallworthy

The Clockwork Rocket

Physicist discovers relativity in a Riemannian (as opposed to Minkovskian) universe. Also the world is ending.

rec by @jackhkeynes

Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

Dick, The Man in the High Castle

Gaiman, American Gods

Gibson, Count Zero

Heinlein, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Liu, The Three Body Problem

Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife

Niven and Pournelle, Footfall

North, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Powers, The Anubis Gates

Wilson, Spin.

All of the above by @squareallworthy

Pratchett, Discworld books (going postal, thud!, unseen academicals, or the wee free men recommended by @acertainaccountofevents, Wyrd Sisters rec’d by @squareallworthy)

Neal Stephenson, Cryptonomicon & D.O.D.O.

Ted Chiang, Story of Your Life and anything else by him

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (also suggesting this review)

C.J. Cherryh – The Faded Sun Trilogy.

Honestly not sure there’s anything groundbreaking or unique about it but a solid scifi tale with aliens and politics and it really fleshed out and made me empathize with all the opposing and strikingly different factions.

Taiyao Fujii – Orbital Cloud

A space-related technothriller, quite fun! If you liked the first 2/3rds of Seveneves you’ll probably like this.

Gwynneth Jones – Life.

Story of a woman trying to be the best biologist she can despite a lot of setbacks, bascially. Barely counts as science fiction, really, but I just really like Anna and Spence as characters and their relationship. This a very feminist book, at times quite preachy–but personally it came across as characters being preachy not the author, and therefore much less annoying, but ymmv.

Katherine Addison – The Goblin Emperor.

Fantasy high politics but nice? Like also pretty level headed but not grimdark like fantasy high politics usually is. Also love the worldbuilding, the linguistics, and my precious cinnamon role Maia who deserves good things.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

the most tumblr print book I have ever read. TBH the cover blurb is better than the book but it’s a quick read and enjoyable.

Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl.

Ian MacDonald – The Dervish House.

The twenty-minutes-into-the-future setting has aged weirdly since it was written back when Turkey was trying to join the EU, but I reread it recently and the plot and characters are still compelling.

All of the above by @businesstiramisu

"James S. A. Corey", The Expanse series (rec by @justjohn-jj)

Mariam Petrosyan’s The Grey House

kids and minders in a boarding school for the disabled, their relationships and their setting. Mostly a coming-of-age thing but with a lot of weirdness and some fantastic elements. Extremely readable

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky:

Hard to be a God

Inhabited Island

Roadside Picnic

Stanisław Lem:

Fiasco

Cyberiad

Karim Berrouka’s Fées, Weed & Guillotines

what it says on the tin. Pretty fun. I would suspect his other fantasy mystery novel comedies are good too.

The Invisible Planets anthology

extremely hit or miss, but definitely has its hits.

Bernard Weber’s Les Fourmis

All of the above by @napoleonchingon

The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells

Sarcastic cyborg tries to avoid humans and watch entertainment media all day and perpetually ends up saving some. With all the snark.

rec by @rhetoricandlogic

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North

Guy is born in 1910s, dies at 80 or so… and is born again in the 1910s, and so on. Also the world is ending.

The End and Afterwards, Andy Cooke

A probe to Alpha Centauri, an idealist Nigerian biotechnician, a humdrum English family – and then the world ends.

Against Peace and Freedom, Mark Rosenfelder

50th century interstellar humanity is mostly doing okay. But socionomics doesn’t cover crises, such as the dictatorship that’s taken over Okura, or the unscrupulous tycoon who’s plotting something over on New Bharat. For that we have Diplomatic Agents. Like you.

all of the above by @jackhkeynes

Meta-recommendations:

worldswithoutend.com, their list of lists, and in particular, defining science fiction books of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

@squareallworthy

Jo Walton’s Revisiting the Hugos series. (by @businesstiramisu)

#book recs

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brightbeautifulthings · 5 years ago

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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (trans. Robin Buss)

"'I have heard it said that the dead have never done, in six thousand years, as much evil as the living do in a single day.'"

Year Read: 2019

Rating: 3/5

Context: Last year’s year-long Les Mis read went so well, I decided to choose another intimidating classic to tackle in the same fashion this year. I know myself, and if I don't deliberately pace out a book like this, I'll try to read a thousand pages in a week, and it will just be a miserable experience. (That's not to say some classics aren't miserable experiences regardless of how you read them, but that's another issue entirely.) The Count of Monte Cristo was calling to me from the shelf, and by pure luck, I already owned the edition I wanted to read (plus a B&N abridged version that promptly went into the donation box). Reviews overwhelmingly praise Robin Buss’s translation for ease/modernity, and the Penguin Classics haven’t let me down yet.

For my less coherent updates in real-time: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX. My review is spoiler-free, but my updates are not, so read with caution if you’re not familiar. Trigger warnings: In a book with a thousand pages? Everything, probably, but for sure death, parent/child death, suicide/suicidal thoughts, severe illness, guns, abduction, poisoning, slavery, mental illness, sexism, ableism, grief, depression.

About: When forces conspire to have sailor Edmond Dantès arrested for a crime he didn't commit, he spends years in a hellish prison, fighting to stay sane. Through bravery and good fortune, he manages to escape, and he assumes a new identity for himself: The Count of Monte Cristo. Under this guise, he inserts himself into the lives of the French nobility, vowing revenge on those who wronged him.

Thoughts: Like most thousand page novels, there's no reason this novel needs to be a thousand pages, but the one thing I can say about them, collectively, is that I come away feeling like I have a relationship with them that I usually don't get from a shorter book unless I've read it multiple times. And it makes sense: I've been reading this book for a year. I've had relationships with actual humans that were much shorter than that. Dumas's prose (helped along by Buss's translation) is accessible and not overly dry, if not quite as humorous as Victor Hugo’s. Thanks to both of them, I now have a rudimentary understanding of the French Revolution and the difference between a Royalist and Bonapartist (because truly the only way to make me read about history is to put it in a novel).

Dumas proves himself more capable of staying on topic though, with one or two exceptions. The only margin note I cared to write was, apparently, "Horrible digression", and I stand by that. As soon as the novel leaves Dantès’s perspective, it gets less interesting, beginning with Franz encountering Sinbad the Sailor on Monte Cristo and continuing with the Very Weird and Terrible Side Anecdotes about bandits in Rome. Otherwise, much of the storyline is more or less linear, without the intricacies of Waterloo or the Paris sewer system. It grows more chaotic as the book goes on though, with frequent digressions into every character's backstory.

The plot takes such a drastic turn that it's almost like reading two different novels with two different main characters. At the beginning, it’s most like an adventure story. There are sailors, prison breaks, and buried treasure. Yet, for all those things, it’s surprisingly un-suspenseful. Dumas has a very stolid way of story-telling. The pace is almost supernaturally consistent, so that even things that probably should have tension in them are presented as a matter of course. (Or maybe I’m just hugely desensitized by media.) I wasn’t as excited as I thought I should be during some of the more compelling parts, but there’s something reassuring about Dumas’s relentlessly straightforward story-telling.

The middle takes a major dip in interest. Cue a lot of long and tedious backstories, plus Monte Cristo's elaborate set-ups to take down his enemies. It basically devolves into a soap opera of the various dramas of Paris’s rich and powerful families. Monte Cristo barely needs to lift a finger to destroy these people, since with a few mostly harmless suggestions, it looks like they're all going to self-destruct at any moment without outside help. The ending never really recovers from the action of the beginning, thanks in large part to the characters. There are more than it's worth keeping track of, including a lot of side characters, family members, and name changes. A detailed, spoiler-free flow chart of how everyone is connected to everyone else would have been helpful. (But be careful about Googling those because spoilers.)

Edmond Dantès is an easy hero to pull for, since he’s honest, good, and capable, and he has a kind of earnest faith that things will work out that’s endearing. He goes through a fair amount of character development in prison, and his father/son relationship with Faria is especially moving. On the other hand, it's difficult to like his alternate persona, The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas goes a bit overboard in making him filthy rich and knowledgeable about literally every subject, and no matter how generous he is to his slaves, they're still slaves. Whether he’s playing the part of a pompous ass or is actually a pompous ass is sort of irrelevant by the end. There are a couple of flailing attempts at character development in the last sections where he wonders whether he had the right to do everything he did, but it's too little/too late to make much of an impact.

The story wouldn't work without some Shakespeare-level villains. Danglars is Iago whispering in Othello’s ear, and Villefort is even more insidious because his upstanding citizen act is so convincing. Caderousse is just a coward, and it’s interesting to see how jealousy, ambition, and fear all play an integral part in condemning an innocent man. Mercédès is a bland love interest; Valentine and Morrel are basically the Cosette and Marius of the novel, but at least there are some decent people on the page to pull for. Much as I dislike all the descriptors of Eugenie as “masculine” (because she must be less of a woman if she has a mind of her own), she's a powerhouse, and I was living for her lesbian relationship with her piano instructor.

It's clear Dumas has no idea when to end a story, since every time I thought we'd wrapped up a plot with a certain character, they'd resurface a few chapters later to spin it out a little further. Though everything (and I do mean everything) moves much more slowly than necessary, I was satisfied with the way it all played out. It's hard to come back from a main character I can barely stand though, and I happen to not like novels where nearly every character is terrible. While I found Les Mis surprisingly relevant on its social commentary, I’m struggling to see why Monte Cristo has stuck around. Only the first parts could reliably be called an "adventure novel," and the rest is purely middle of the road.

#book review #the count of monte cristo #alexandre dumas #monte cristo readalong #classics #3/5 #rating: 3/5

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sandeepmaheshwaritips-blog · 5 years ago

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Best Motivational Quotes to Overcome Anxiety and Depression

Moving statements and motivational quotes to overcome anxiety and depression have a stunning capacity to change the manner in which we feel about existence. This is the reason I find them so intriguing and significant on our ways to progress.

So what's their mystery?

The manner in which you contemplate yourself, including your convictions and assumptions regarding what is workable for you, decides everything that transpires.

To be successful, you have to use each day as an opportunity to grow, to find purpose in life, to be better, to get a little bit closer to your goals. It might sound like an impossible thing or a lot of work—and with a busy schedule, next to impractical. But the best part is, the more you get the results, the more you’ll want to work hard, the higher you’ll want to reach. So as long as you have the hunger for success, you will always have the power within you to achieve it.

You have full oversight over just a single thing known to mankind — your reasoning – and that is the place inspirational statements come in!

Everybody needs a little motivation now and again.

Regardless of whether you're experiencing a separation, you've recently lost your employment, or you just woke up feeling a little shaky toward the beginning of today—we've all had nowadays.

I've assembled a rundown of probably the best-overcome anxiety and depression quotes so you can begin the year by assuming responsibility for your considerations, thinking emphatically and defining new objectives.

Dont Forget to read the best Dalai Lama Quotes and Sayings to bring a positive change in your life.

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Suess

Motivational and Inspirational Quotes

“I think being in love with life is a key to eternal youth.” —Doug Hutchison

"I’m a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let him down.” – Abraham Lincoln

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” — Dalai Lama

“Feelings don’t try to kill you, even the painful ones. Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences, you’re responsible for treating it. But…you’re not responsible for causing it. You’re not morally at fault for it. No more than you would be for a tumor.” ― Patrick Ness, The Rest of Us Just Live Here

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

“Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Stephen King

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” — Mae West

“Not how long, but how well you have lived is the main thing.” — Seneca

“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“How can a person deal with anxiety? You might try what one fellow did. He worried so much that he decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to be his hired worrier for a salary of $200,000 per year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, “Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?” To which the man responded, “That’s your worry.” ― Max Lucado

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” —Dolly Parton

“Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can.” — Hillary Clinton

“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.” — Ashton Kutcher

“Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work. I live by that. You grind hard so you can play hard. At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay off.” — Kevin Hart

“Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.” — Kobe Bryant

“I like criticism. It makes you strong.” — LeBron James

“You never really learn much from hearing yourself speak.” ― George Clooney

“Life imposes things on you that you can’t control, but you still have the choice of how you’re going to live through this.” — Celine Dion

“Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met – obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.” — John F. Kennedy

“Live for each second without hesitation.” — Elton John

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” — Albert Einstein

“Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius

“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” — Helen Keller

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” — Steve Jobs

“My mama always said, life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” — Forrest Gump

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”— Lao-Tze

“When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life or the life of another.” — Helen Keller

“The healthiest response to life is joy.” — Deepak Chopra

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you only spend it once.” — Lillian Dickson

“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little nameless, unencumbered acts of kindness and of love.” — Wordsworth

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” ― Robert Frost

“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” — Charles Swindoll

“Keep calm and carry on.” — Winston Churchill

“Maybe that’s what life is… a wink of the eye and winking stars.” — Jack Kerouac

“Life is a flower of which love is the honey.” — Victor Hugo

“Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there’s so much to smile about.” — Marilyn Monroe

“Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” — Buddha

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.” — Dr. Seuss

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” — Mark Twain

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” — Stephen Hawking

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The greatest pleasure of life is love.” — Euripides

“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” — Grandma Moses

“Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Life is about making an impact, not making an income.” — Kevin Kruse

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

“I’ve spent most of my life and most of my friendships holding my breath and hoping that when people get close enough they won’t leave, and fearing that it’s a matter of time before they figure me out and go.” ― Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.” – Les Brown

“The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.”– Henry Ford

“In order to write about life first you must live it.”– Ernest Hemingway

“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.”– Frank Sinatra

“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”– Thomas A. Edison

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”– Albert Einstein

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”– Babe Ruth

“Money and success don’t change people; they merely amplify what is already there.” — Will Smith

“Sing like no one’s listening, love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like nobody’s watching, and live like it’s heaven on earth.” – (Attributed to various sources)

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” – Leo Burnett

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”– Soren Kierkegaard

“To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.” ― Søren Kierkegaard

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates

“Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey

“The more you pray, the less you’ll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You’ll feel more patient and less pressured.” ― Rick Warren, The Purpose of Christmas

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” – Steve Jobs

Thank you for giving your time to read these beautiful inspirational and motivational quotes about anxiety and depression. Stay connected for more.

Source: Best Motivational Quotes to Overcome Anxiety and Depression

#quotes #motivational quotes #inspirational quotes #anxiety quotes #depression quotes

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imagitory · 6 years ago

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D-Views: The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Bonjour, mes amies! Welcome, bienvenue, to another installment of D-Views, my written review series for films produced or inspired by the Walt Disney company! For more reviews for films like Enchanted, Star Wars Episode III, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, feel free to consult my “Disney reviews” tag, and please, if you enjoy this review or any of the others, please consider liking and reblogging! I look forward to writing more of these in the future for films like Wreck-It Ralph and Halloweentown, as well as Non-Disney films like Charlotte’s Web.

I recently put out a poll suggesting three Disney Renaissance films for possible review subjects, and although The Little Mermaid won that poll, this film ended up not far behind. (Thank you, @schifty-al and @mygeekcorner for your votes!) It’s one of my personal favorite Disney films of all time...The Hunchback of Notre Dame!

Victor Hugo’s classic novel Notre Dame du Paris, called The Hunchback of Notre Dame in English, seems like a very odd inspiration for a Disney animated family film, and that’s because...yeah, it is! When the Disney animators first brought Hunchback to the table, they were less inspired by the original Hugo novel glamorizing the architecture of Notre Dame cathedral, and more inspired by a graphic novel adaptation of the story, which was likewise much more influenced by the 1939 Hollywood film adaptation. Because of the historical context that 1939 adaptation was made in (premiering at Cannes during the rise of the Third Reich), themes of social justice were added to a story that originally was about how the “edifice” can outlast the flaws and sins of mankind. The “social justice” element is something that Hugo interestingly put more in his follow-up to Notre Dame du Paris, the epic brick book Les Miserables, but has since been similarly tied in the public consciousness to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, despite not existing in the original book.

The project was already an odd choice for Disney to take on thanks to the darkness of the book, but the political themes also were unique for a Disney picture as well. It clearly was a more “adult” endeavor, even though thanks to the success of previous projects like Aladdin and The Lion King, there were studio mandates demanding more comic relief, and even the marketing team was reluctant to advertise Hunchback as anything other than a family film. Rather than showing the artistry and darker scenes, the marketing almost entirely focused on the Feast of Fools and the gargoyles, highlighting the “Ugly Duckling” aspect added to the story and downplaying the more adult themes. In the end, it’s likely thanks to those poor marketing choices and the inconsistent tone of the picture that this movie failed to find its audience on first run. It only earned $21 million worldwide, compared to Pocahontas’s $29 million and The Little Mermaid’s $84 million, with mixed critical and audience reaction. Although it was nominated for an Academy Award for its music and won several others, it was noticeably less successful than other installments in the Disney Renaissance, and even now, Disney often doesn’t give Hunchback that much attention. Like Quasimodo, the film has been sort of locked up in its own tower...but now, today, I aim to bring The Hunchback of Notre Dame out of the shadows and give it the appreciation it deserves.

Our film begins in complete darkness, accompanied by resounding church bells and the amazing vocalizations of the English Opera Company, and from the very beginning, I’m just enveloped by the embrace of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz’s unbelievable score. Choral music in general has always been something special in my family. My mum and dad were in choirs a lot of their lives: they even first met when they joined the San Diego Master Chorale in the 80′s. Choral music remains one of my mother’s greatest loves and passions, and when I saw Hunchback, it made the choral music my parents loved so much, which focused around a faith I hadn’t been raised with and didn’t believe in, that bit more accessible to me as a child. Mum, who studied Latin in college, went on to teach me about all of the chants and phrases Menken and Schwartz added to each song so that I could more appropriately sing along. It remains one of those Disney soundtracks that cemented our close bond, and I’ll always treasure being able to see the La Jolla Playhouse production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with my mum and getting to hear the amazing choir and instruments live.

The Bells of Notre Dame, as an opening number, cannot be matched in how it introduces us all to the story, characters, themes, and tone of the piece. In just a few minutes, the music and lyrics perfectly showcases our setting, the theme of what makes a man, the atmosphere of fear and injustice, our villain, and our hero. Menken and Schwartz previously worked together on Pocahontas, but Hunchback in my opinion easily outstrips their previous collaboration. The use of church bells of all sizes to convey the solemnity, mystery, and grandeur of the cathedral at the center of the proceedings, and the clever use of Latin phrases -- it’s just unbelievable! As one example, in the sequence where Frollo (a judge in this version, as opposed to the Archdeacon) chases Quasimodo’s mother up to the stairs of Notre Dame and she pounds on the door, crying for help, the choir sings “Quantus tremor est futurus quando Judex est venturus,” which means, “What trembling is to be when the Judge comes.” And sure enough, the line comes to a horrible, horrified halt when Judge Frollo snatches the woman’s child away and throws her to the ground.

After one of the most epic musical introductions in a Disney film, we meet our sweet, gentle hero, Quasimodo, voiced by Tom Hulce, who is just such a ray of sunshine. Although I loved hearing Michael Arden as Quasimodo on stage, Tom Hulce will always be my Quasimodo. When I was a teenager, I went through a horrible “hating the world” phase where I only ever saw pain and suffering and felt not only powerless to make anything better, but worthless as well. During that time, I turned my back on a lot of the things that had brought me joy, feeling almost unable to enjoy them anymore. One of the very few exceptions, however, was this movie and especially the character of Quasimodo. When I was at my darkest points, Quasimodo never failed to bring me some light, not because he was particularly funny, but because for all of the misery in his circumstances, he never faltered in being gentle, creative, and kind. Looking back on how I’d been, I wish I’d had just a shred of Quasimodo’s grace back then. I wish I hadn’t allowed myself to fall into despair and resentment. Since I can’t go back, however, I keep Quasimodo in my mind sometimes whenever I’m going through something difficult. He’s kind of become a guardian angel of sorts to me, reminding me that my life is a precious gift and I shouldn’t take anything for granted. And really, I couldn’t do that if not for Tom Hulce and Quasimodo’s supervising animator, James Baxter. I truly am grateful to both of them for giving me a character that even now can be a symbol of everything I wish I could be.

Unfortunately along with Quasimodo, we also meet the gargoyles, Hugo, Victor, and Laverne. As a kid, I actually liked the gargoyles all right, but as an adult...yeah, they really break the mood. Badly. The worst offender is easily Hugo, which is a shame because I like Jason Alexander as a performer, but he just goes way too over-the-top-obnoxious. It would admittedly not be as bad if it were clear that the gargoyles were all in Quasimodo’s head, but Djali sees Hugo come to life at one point and they later help Quasimodo fight off the guards. I greatly prefer the way the gargoyles are handled in the stage production, where all of the saintly statues have their own voices that nonetheless reflect what Quasimodo is thinking and when Quasimodo hits his lowest point before Esmeralda’s execution, he forcefully banishes them out of his head.

Even though the comic relief is handled poorly, I certainly cannot say the same for the villain. Judge Claude Frollo is easily one of the most evil villains in Disney history. Tony Jay’s vocal performance is just chillingly resonant, commanding your attention and making you subconsciously shrink in on yourself whenever he speaks. It makes for a despicable, cold, cruel man -- the antithesis of a father, the true embodiment of a monster. Frollo is often compared to Mother Gothel from Tangled in how they both lie to, control, and emotionally abuse their charges (Quasimodo and Rapunzel, respectively), but I personally find Frollo so much worse than Gothel, because he not only cuts Quasimodo off from everyone, but he indoctrinates a gentle, kind soul like Quasimodo in his racism and intolerance against those different from him -- including Quasimodo’s own people, the Romani. Mother Gothel hoards Rapunzel away like a dragon hoarding treasure -- Frollo treats Quasimodo like a burden, beating into him that no one else would want him and that Frollo was such a “good man” to take him in. It’s just vile.

And now we come to my single favorite Disney song of all time -- Quasimodo’s aria, Out There. From the time I was little, this song spoke to me like few others did. Growing up, I was an only child with a huge imagination surrounded almost entirely by adults and who had a lot of difficulty relating to kids my age. I often liked being on my own, but it didn’t change how I often felt different and detached from the people around me, and as I got older, that feeling only increased. I moved a lot in my childhood, making it difficult for me to plant roots, and I rarely followed trends or popular norms, so I constantly stayed in the fringes of the crowd, enviously looking on at those who could fit in more easily than I could. I always tried to hide my insecurities, but they were still there, and when those insecurities took hold, I would often imagine the world being a place where I could be myself, just like Quasi does. Quasimodo’s longing to be “part of them” and lamentation of people being “heedless of the gift it is to be them” has always resonated with me, and even though it’s hard for me to sing Out There without shifting octaves, my heart swells every time I hear it.

The Captain of the Guard, Phoebus, is easily the biggest liberty that Hunchback adaptations have made with the original novel. The book version of Phoebus was more like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast than how he’s portrayed here, but I frankly have no complaints. Kevin Kline is wonderfully dry and witty in the role -- he’s more than a match for Esmeralda, being brave, noble, and sarcastic with seemingly no prejudice for those different from him. And then yeah, as for Esmeralda herself...as Phoebus says later, “what a woman!” Esmeralda was one of my very favorite Disney heroines as a kid, and she still is. The character of Esmeralda is often rather saint-like in her incarnations, but here we see both the “angelic” and “demonic” sides of her -- she’s fiery, but kind; rebellious, yet noble; anti-authority, but patient; distrustful, yet loyal. In the musical adaptation, when Esmeralda is first revealed, we hear Frollo, Phoebus, and Quasimodo sing this about her --

Frollo: She dances like the Devil!

Phoebus: She dances like an angel --

Quasimodo: An angel!

Phoebus: -- but with such fire!

Frollo: Such fire!

All Three: Who is she?

This is Esmeralda’s characterization and her relationship to the three male main characters in a nutshell. Quasimodo only sees the best of Esmeralda; Frollo only sees the worst of her; and Phoebus sees her for everything she is...as a person. And this is why she ultimately chooses Phoebus, unlike in the book where she solely chooses Phoebus because of his looks.

When we reach the Palace of Justice, I’m reminded that I have yet to accent how absolutely stunning every single background is in this movie. Yes, the animation overall is wonderful, whether in the character animation or otherwise, but there are few Disney films that have more atmospheric and beautiful backgrounds than this. It serves to give the movie such a wonderful depth and makes the setting feel that much richer and deeper. Admittedly one weaker aspect of the animation is the now-slightly-outdated CG background characters. They were made by taking a handful of templates and then mixing up their clothes and colors, so as to multiply them ad infinitum and make the crowds of Paris look bigger and more colorful. Even with that, though, you do sort of have to look carefully at the background crowds to notice, as there are lots of hand-drawn characters sprinkled in in front of those CG models that help obscure their repetition and awkwardness. Those CG crowds also make the city of Paris look appropriately overcrowded and huge, so I’m glad that they used the technology even if it was still so in-progress at the time.

Even though Topsy Turvy starts off so fun and festive, however, it soon devolves into a terrible riot where Quasimodo is bound and tormented by the crowd. I admit, the transition is a little abrupt, but it still works for me, as people can be so easily swept away by mob mentality and those in power -- namely, Frollo’s guards -- sometimes flaunt their authority by putting down others. Fortunately Esmeralda is there to save Quasimodo and give Frollo a much-deserved verbal smackdown. The following scene, though, is another example of the mismatched tone, stretching out Esmeralda’s escape with a lot of comic “hijinks” that don’t really add anything to the film and kind of serve as a big time waster, especially after it abruptly cuts off and turns much more solemn and sad as Frollo silently confronts Quasimodo and Quasi returns to Notre Dame in shame.

Hunchback’s focus on religion is, in my opinion, one of the things that made producing an adaptation of Hugo’s novel such a bold decision. I’m not a religious person at all (Agnostic and proud), but it was still really meaningful to me to see both the good and bad associated with religion, represented by the Archdeacon and Frollo respectively. Frollo, along with Pharaoh Seti from The Prince of Egypt, taught me as a kid that evil is not always self-aware and, more importantly, how much more dangerous evil is when it garbs itself in godliness and righteousness. That’s a valuable lesson, regardless of your religious faith. God Help the Outcasts may invoke God’s name, but it could just as easily be a prayer to the world, or even just to you as an individual. The Christian faith preaches that we are made in God’s image...so when Esmeralda asks God to help her people, maybe she’s in truth asking you to try to be the loving God they need.

Something unique about Hunchback is the wonderful friendship that develops between Esmeralda and Quasimodo. From the time I was very little, I made friends with both boys and girls, so it was so wonderfully refreshing to see a story where a girl and a boy became such close friends and supported each other so much. Yes, admittedly, Quasimodo is romantically interested in Esmeralda, but when he sees how much she loves Phoebus, he both accepts their relationship and treasures Esmeralda’s friendship all the same. He doesn’t wallow in bitterness upon Esmeralda not choosing him; he loves her all the same as the first real friend he’s ever had. Esmeralda truly loves Quasimodo and treasures their friendship too -- her choosing Phoebus romantically is never framed as her teasing Quasimodo or leading him on; she simply loves Phoebus and Quasimodo in different ways. And that I find so unbelievably cool. I also like that in Esmeralda’s and Quasimodo’s conversation on the roof, there are some strains of the deleted song Someday in the instrumental accompanying the scene -- you can hear a R&B variation of Someday in the film’s credits, but originally it was meant to replace the more religious God Help the Outcasts, only for God Help the Outcasts to be chosen over it. I agree with the filmmakers’ decision, but I still like Someday too. Quasimodo’s helping Esmeralda and Djali escape Notre Dame by climbing down the towers also beautifully foreshadows Quasimodo’s dexterity in climbing down to save Esmeralda at the end of the film.

Quasimodo and Frollo are both enthralled with Esmeralda, but as mentioned previously, they each only see the angelic and demonic sides of her, which is best encapsulated by the dual numbers Heaven’s Light and Hellfire. Heaven’s Light is appropriately sweet and pure, but I can’t beat around the bush here: Hellfire steals the show, not just from Heaven’s Light but from all other villain songs in Disney history. The song starts with a choral chant praying for forgiveness, which then segways into Frollo’s demented, mad raving about his lust, fear, and hatred for Esmeralda. The words are almost terrifying in their level of conviction and paranoia, which then devolves into vindictive, destructive mania, framed by the mournful echoes for “mercy” from the choir.

Right after Hellfire, we get one of my favorite instrumentals on the soundtrack called Paris Burning. The choir’s bustling, dramatic cries trimmed by the tense strings and horns of the orchestra just evokes fear and horror as Frollo terrorizes Paris. Then Phoebus finally takes a stand, refusing to set fire to the miller’s house and then, after Frollo does it himself, leaping in to save the family from the flames. In the musical, this whole sequence is accompanied by the amazing musical number Esmeralda (which honestly, every fan of this movie should listen to, it’s really worth it), but the film handles it unbelievably well with only a short scene and an instrumental that sears the final “Kyrie Eleison” into the audience’s ears like a fire brand.

Sadly, after this amazing, epic sequence, we once again are subjected to tonal whiplash when we return to the bell tower and the gargoyles decide to sing Quasimodo a song to cheer him up. Although I maintain Hunchback has one of the best soundtracks ever recorded, what stops it from being flawless is this song. A Guy Like You is not an inherently bad song on its own, but when combined with the rest of the soundtrack, its melody, tone, and out-of-place pop cultural references are just ridiculously jarring. It’s like we’ve been transported into a completely different movie, one less inspired by a classic French novel and a critically acclaimed film about social justice and one more inspired by Disney hits of the day like Aladdin and later projects like Hercules. As sad as it is, it’s kind of a relief when it’s over and we’re brought back down to earth by Esmeralda carrying a close-to-death Phoebus into Quasimodo’s tower.

Frollo’s arrival after Quasimodo agrees to hide Phoebus is excellent in its suspense. We can sense Frollo’s suspicion, and all the while, we’re so worried for Phoebus hiding under the very table he and Quasimodo are sitting at. Then Frollo, who we’ve only ever seen as cold, conniving, and controlled, bursts into a rage the kind of which we’ve never seen before, and for a second, he’s a demon himself. After his rage is spent, he sets his cruelest, most terrible trap yet: using Quasimodo’s feelings for Esmeralda so that he can capture her and the rest of the Romani. And at first, Quasimodo almost doesn’t take the bait, thanks to a short-lived pang of self-pity. At first he’s bitter about his heart being broken and considers not helping Esmeralda, as there’d seemingly be no “reward” in him doing so...but the feeling is quelled in seconds by the memory of Esmeralda and how much her friendship means to him. Quasimodo’s selflessness and goodness wins out in its struggle with his more selfish instincts...and this, in the end, is what makes Quasimodo a hero in my eyes.

All right, I guess with our entrance into the Court of Miracles, I should address the elephant in the room. I’ve called Esmeralda’s people “the Romani” in this review, but throughout the entire film, the term is substituted for the admittedly-period-appropriate slur “Gypsy.” I knew nothing about the Romani culture when I first saw this film and I profess no intimate knowledge of it now, but even with that, I have to acknowledge that this movie doesn’t always showcase the Romani in the best light. Although Quasimodo’s parents, Esmeralda, and (to a degree) Clopin are given relative sympathy, the sequence in the Court of Miracles doesn’t do much to endear them to the audience. These victims of persecution are not really given the focus they deserve: we never learn much about their culture or about why they’re persecuted, and we don’t really get to see how they live their lives as ordinary people. To someone who doesn’t know anything about the Romani, I don’t think this film would be the best introduction to their culture and heritage.

Our climax is accompanied by the best instrumental track in the film, Sanctuary! Whenever I hear this piece, I have to stay completely silent, drinking in every single line and note, so as to properly absorb its brilliance. The track has accompanied a lot of my writing in the past: it’s always helped me when I was writing a powerful, emotional climax, whether through the emotion it wrought from me or just from wanting to write a new scene to the music. This entire sequence, from a musical, writing, animation, and character point of view, is I think what made Disney decide to make this film in the first place. The pacing -- the character animation of Quasimodo tearing down the pillars -- the drawn backgrounds of Notre Dame -- the camera whirling over the never-ending crowd’s heads and up onto the cathedral as Quasimodo hoists Esmeralda over his head -- this is the heart of why the movie was made and what the entire film was building up to. This resistance against injustice and the protection of our sacred, historical institutions from hatred and cruelty is what Hunchback is and should be all about. Occasionally this battle scene is inter-spliced with comic bits that once again aren’t really necessary and kind of stick out (Laverne’s Wizard of Oz reference and Hugo’s impression of a fighter plane in particular are out of place), but it doesn’t ruin anything for me. Fortunately as the climax grows darker with the arrival of Frollo and the transition from Sanctuary! into And He Shall Smite the Wicked, the gargoyles take a backseat, and we get focus where we should’ve always had it: on Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Frollo. Thanks to his love for his friend Esmeralda and the realization of his own self-worth, Quasimodo finally stands up to Frollo and breaks free of his poisonous influence once and for all. This line of Quasi’s has always stuck with me --

“All my life you’ve taught me the world is a dark, cruel place...but now I see the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!”

Even now this line is just so powerful. There was a point where all I saw of the world was its cruelties and injustices...but like Quasimodo, I’ve come to see that those cruelties are not inherent to the world or even to mankind as a whole. Humans are capable of both great evil and great good, but as long as the evil people of the world are allowed to seize control and exert their toxic influence over everyone else, the world and mankind overall will never become better. Like Quasimodo, we must stand against those who’ve embraced cruelty and hatred over acceptance and love. We must protect the brighter parts of the world that evil so wishes to snuff out. It’s a moral I think has only become more relevant and important over time.

Unlike in the book and musical, Esmeralda survives, and as much as I’ve heard people try to argue Esmeralda living is not true to the spirit of the original novel, I think it really suits the story being told and really feels just for both characters. Quasimodo deserved happiness; Esmeralda deserved happiness; and most importantly, this all the more highlights how different Quasimodo is from Frollo. Frollo says to Esmeralda, “Choose me or the fire” -- basically, if he can’t have her, he doesn’t want anyone else to...but Quasimodo doesn’t think that way. He cherishes Esmeralda and her friendship without any caveats or conditions: therefore him losing Esmeralda, whether to Phoebus or to death, doesn’t prompt him to commit suicide like he did in the novel. It’s not only a more uplifting ending, but I think a lesson in the selflessness of love, even if it’s just platonic love. And because Esmeralda loves Quasimodo just as much as a friend, she leads him out into the sun, where he finds even more of the love he deserves from the city he wished so much to belong in. Quasimodo doesn’t get the girl, but that was never what he wanted in the first place: it was merely to be accepted as he was.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was one of the most formative films of my childhood, right up there with Beauty and the Beast, The Prince of Egypt, and Anastasia, and it remains my second favorite Disney animated film of all time. With time, I’ve seen more and more of its flaws, but those flaws don’t ruin what in the end is one of the most daring, revolutionary projects Disney Animation has ever tackled. Its artistry, from the backgrounds to the character animation, is exceptional; all of its major human characters are multi-faceted, complex, and real; its themes are eternally relevant and powerful; and its score and nearly all of its songs are just through the stratosphere in their quality. Hunchback, along with Beauty and the Beast, made me fall in love with France from afar as a child, a love affair that has only become more and more intense through the years, and Quasimodo and Esmeralda even now are so close to my heart. I wish so much to be as kind and gentle as Quasimodo and as brave and noble as Esmeralda, and I can only hope that at some point, if I ever visit Disneyland Paris, I might finally meet them. The Hunchback of Notre Dame may not have gotten the appreciation it deserved when it first came to theaters, but I’ll always be happy to hear Disney fans remembering it as fondly as I do. Who knows? Maybe someday, the world will be wiser and will give this film its time in the sun at long last.

#d-views #disney reviews #the hunchback of notre dame #disney #opinion #analysis #reviews #oh boy here i go

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pixie-skull · 6 years ago

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AU Disney Heroines # 2: A causal Day with your Cutie (no worries dates will happen)

Before I go, yes I am going to attempt to make this open to anyone, but this creator wants more LGBTQ+ AUs, so this one just if you and x character went and the character’s thoughts. Please share your thoughts if this good or not in my ask box? :D Here are the rules too.

P.s. Like mentioned in the first AU on Disney Heroines, I can not promise all featured like in the first one, but I try to list the ones that are fan favorites and please feel free to give kindly worded feedback. Lastly, I do edits with (non)Disney hand-drawn characters, so feel free to request. :D I kinda did the “what family thinks of you” here too. XD So two in one. I am aware some of these are borderline dates, but I do hope for date AU just list the character’s respected dream date.

Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs):

*When hanging out, Snowy likes to learn how to cook a few things together. She not a perfectionist, but if you do tease her and try flavors without asking, she would be nervous. (kinda like Jenna Marbles with her cutie, I swear them cooking together is so cute).

*If not cooking then (very inspired 500 Days of Summer, down below) run around a houseware store and act like a married couple already, even though she acts bashful about it at first.

*At first a Grumpy (it is not you, it is him), Sneezy (you accidentally brought flowers once to Snow, that he was allergic too), and Sleepy (he felt you hanging out once with her, that laughing too much woke him) were not sure of you, but luckily Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful all liked you.

Cinderella (Cinderella):

*Cinderella favorite thing to hear your favorite little pins, designs, etc on various sites and saves up to make you something and even teach how to do a few sown tips. You act like you do not care, but you secretly make tiny projects.

*You give her letters that her animal friends (like her dog Bruno fetches it and gives to her) to the other and explaining how much you look forward to meeting “the secret admirer” who wrote this. Her (step*)sisters kinda like you, but her (step)mother does not, but you still happy to see your strawberry^^ blonde cutie.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty):

*Aurora favorite thing to dance together, like walking down the street she hears a nearby song and dance a bit to it, but be she shy about it.

* She loves to go in tiny shops on healing stones and thinks of her aunts.

* Aurora enjoys the evening or sunset walks, the only downside she gets sleepy.

*Her aunts and parents all like you, especially when being aware she gets tired easily and take her home instead drag on the hangout.

Jessica Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit):

*Jessica likes to dance like a dork, nothing sexy because she feels so comfortable with you.

*Just get away the public eye and be just with you, so you both wear outrageous outfits. Her favorite when you wore a pair of rabbit ears and a colorful bowtie combo.

Ariel (The Little Mermaid):

*Swimming or even (yes an ex I had was like this, the first point here) run in sprinklers, while you stand watching and smile. The downside is holding her hand it is so wet and the respect side of your gets a bit wet too, and you try to not feel concerned about her catching a cold.

* Ariel loves more than anything to hold her breath in and see how it feels when inhaling.

* On clear days after rain, she loves to comment how clear it feels in the air.

*Her sisters' all different feelings of you, but secretly they all notice a trait about you that is complimentary. Attina felt you have a “good crown” or brain for how witty you are. Alama tries to socialize, yet a bit shy yet does say how romantic Ariel acts around you makes her happy. Aquata tries to make up for Alama and interact with you and encourages everyone to talk to you, while oddly enough by accident embarrasses everyone. Arista likes how much you think of Ariel and even her family, for when Ariel taking forever or late to an event (sadly common) she shows off her music skills. Adelle feels so touched you include, even not make mean (sibling teasing) on her weight. Andrina clearly being close to youngest goes through a lot of questioning and even has a girlfriend, she not ready to introduce to the family, but you overhear Ariel give words of comfort. **

*Ariel’s dad seems a bit standoff, like say little to nothing.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast):

*Belle likes to find books on your passions and if not that, then a book she feels like you would enjoy. This, of course, includes comics, graphic novels, and more.

*She may not be a huge talker, but if you talk about what she loves or her recent book, she is happy to fill your time in her enthusiasm on either.

*Sometimes you ride her horse, Philippe and whoever in front, likes to hold the other closely. You have a soft spot when she in front, for how much she reads her horse’s mini responses so well.

*Her dad likes to be playful with you, but if drunk, be ready for him to list of all facts he knows relating to a machine and try to arm wrestle you while laughing a lot.

Jasmine (Aladdin):

*Jasmine is outgoing, yet she is an ambivert, so after a nice walk around the market, she wants to relax in her home.

*Her cat loves you, but will play off as if hates you, but if you rub the right spot, this huge kitty is purring for you.

*Jasmine’s dad wants to get to know your family and traditions too.

Pocahontas (Pocahontas):

*Besides walks and talking (what can I say her love language is quality time and words of affirmation) she likes to go to dog parks and see all the different animals.

* She looks up what flowers are in the season and always plays with the idea of creating a garden or not.

* Her best friend Nakoma sometimes hangs out with you two, because of thanks to Nakoma you met Pocahontas and of Pocahontas’ exes (John Smith and John Rolfe, and even her semi-ex Kocoum), Nakoma thinks you are the most wonderful.

*Pocahontas’ dad appreciates your consideration and respect to his child.

Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame):

*Esmeralda’s friends and you all hang out together and you quickly get along with Quasimodo and you joke one of his three dogs, Hugo, (the gargoyles) are cute with her dog, Djali (her goat^* and yes I am aware in the first AU I misspelled XD) and are couple and older happy men (I am sorry, not clear in the first AU). You even jokingly make a wedding for the two, while Victor the best man and Laverne the maid-of-honor.

*With her, Phoebus, and you all play sword fighting, while Quasi’s cheer on whoever currently loosing, typically you sorry to say, but hey underdog you do make Esmeralda play easier when just you two because how much Esmeralda’s find you cute.

*Sometimes you go to Church events with Esmeralda and not she pushes you to convert to her faith. However, if you are Christian, she respects that she likes you for so much more then just that.

Megara (Hercules):

*She may not have the most friends, but the ones she cares about, she is loyal to, as much she denies she cares about anything. So when hanging out she may at first seem distant, but gradually she opens up.

*A tip you get from friends is complimenting her and she does like to be a flirty tease, but this fun game of seeing who can out cute the other. Once you both jokingly teased of how each of you can name 97 cute things of each other to see who would win but got so each other face, you almost ended up kissing, Phil though put you on blast of you two to stop.

*She though likes showing up to your place of work or something and make you flustered as she gives you “the look”. Oh yes, that is your Achilles’ heel.

Mulan (Mulan):

*She likes to just relax, her family can have plans back to back, so do not feel her literal eyebrows be pulled it nice just hang out, drink tea and catch up.

*Sometimes her friends give you a hard time, especially when asking you do you like Mulan when more feminine, natural, or masculine. You do not know till later inside joke how one of Mulan’s friends was a former significant other, but luckily both are on good terms.

*Funny enough for a such a friend group of guys, all enjoy a good tear-jerking movie, while Mulan offers them all hugs.

*Mulan and you enjoy walking her dog, Little Brother and you jokingly call him all types of words like Dude, Kind Sir, etc.

*Her family, at first find you bit odd, but seeing you like Mulan, they warm up to you, especially her grandmother who loves to embarrass you both.

Jane Porter (Tarzan):

*You and her love to find little cute spots, like a turtle pond, and she draws away.

*When extra flirty and alone, you joke and pose and she too gigglingly to focus.

*Sometimes she brings a book full of haikus and it shocks you how such simple words strung together make such beautiful writing, that or you love hearing her British accented voice speak.

*Jane does get busy sometimes, so you have to visit her when she waits for her. Her father a professor, so when she waits for him you chat a bit.

Kida (Atlantis: The Lost Empire):

*You both hangout often at this cute little good well store, where she finds all types of goodies. Her favorite finding something and giving a fake history to it.

*Kida may act immature, but she seems so beyond her and your age.

*She loves to teach you self defense, even though sometimes she overpowers you even.

*If you have (sun)glasses she likes to take them and wear them to show off.

*She oddly can find any animal cute, even spiders she jokes are beautiful for their ability to make tapestries.

Audrey (Atlantis: The Lost Empire):

*Audrey may joke her dad wanted sons for boxing and wrestling, but she knows a fair share of both; her recent passion is rollaring derby.

*Every once in a while when looking around her home town, you are shocked how much she can recognize about cars by just looking at certain types. She even offers to help with any car related trouble you have or friends and/or family.

Helga (Atlantis: The Lost Empire):

*Helga takes you back when you realize this femme fatal loves to go fashion.

*She is oddly though careful with her purchases to not waste money all at once.

*However when a good deal, she buys beautiful dresses, that either compliment her shoulders and slender neck, that sexy leg slit, or both. She also has a huge collection of racerback tank tops and a few designs too.

Nani (Lilo and Stich):

*Outside of being busy with work, Lilo, and even the once in a while Stich, you two go to the beach. She tries to teach you how to surf, but not much luck, but oddly body surfing you grow to love. The feeling of being pushed gently over a wave to shore is fun.

*If she does have Lilo with her, plus their dog Stich, you all enjoy hanging out at a dog park and have a picnic.

*You love hearing the stories of Stich, for you joke he is more Alien then dog.

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog):

*When hanging out she excited make you try her new meals and even you learn a thing or two and she gives you feedback.

*Her few pets are frogs and she thanks you actually because you feel like a pet would be a cute surprise for her when hanging out by a pond.

*Her mother finds you so respectful and even already jokes how much hear the wedding bells.

Charlotte or Lottie (The Princess and the Frog):

*Lottie first favorite thing to go shopping and does not mind spoiling herself and loved ones.

*Her favorite place to go outside shopping malls, is seeing puppies and kittens. She would tell you about her “Big Daddy” give her pets.

*Speaking of “Big Daddy” you try to not laugh at his nickname from her, luckily he takes it well, and already happy someone makes Lottie so that is his approval.

Rapunzel (Tangled):

*Rapunzel favorite hang out just hang out in your place or hers, yet she sometimes does like to go out. Bonus if a good clear and cool she draws with chalk, yet if not then paint inside to the rain.

*She can be hesitant at first if a fun new drive, yet after a bit of encouragement she has so much fun.

*Her parents she was unsure how they react meeting you, yes her parents were missing her for 18 years and clearly show a type of love that kept their bond intact for so long, but she still understandable not too sure. However, her mother was excited to meet you, while the father was distant yet in an “I have respect for you and over time like you” view.

Merida (Brave):

*If the hangout has a competition or competitive element Merida is happy.

*Her own brothers, help her win and sometimes shock you in how they help you. However, you enjoy letting the triplets winning and do a dog or should I say, bear pile on you. They are still young kids, so not too heavy.

*Her mother took time to give her approval for you but seeing how much a positive effect you on Merida helped her warm up to you. The father was so happy to someone who takes his jabs and sure awkward smiles ensue, Merida secretly appreciates you go with it.

Anna (Frozen):

*If it involves new foods, especially sweets, Anna so excited.

*She also appreciates you asking her on if tiny things are alright like it can hold her hand, hug, and more. You are aware you could just do it, but her various smiles are so adorable you can not help but ask, it is like each tiny thing is a tiny gift for her. She also asks you too and the most adorable one is when there one piece of food left and she asks in a tiny voice if can have, you typically say yes.

*Actually anything new and bonus can do with Elsa sometimes just as to the two alone, she is more excited. Or in other words, likes you find events or ideas for the two siblings to bond over.

*Speaking of Elsa, she actually did not like you at first. She worries Anna see too much good in people and not enough bad to be realistic. However the fact you would check on things that could be so simple, she wished someone did for her, but to see you care for Anna like this, makes Elsa happy.

*She loves the daytime for walks, seems more energetic by it.

Elsa (Frozen):

*Very distant, she mistook your awkwardness as bad and luckily Anna helped her see good in you.

*You two just do tiny night walks (for some reason Elsa feels her powers more and therefore can show off).

*However she did struggle to open that side of herself to you, but when noticing things, she asked Anna to actually makeshift break up with you. Luckily when confused Anna said “it is not you, it is her” and accidentally implied too much. However luckily seeing you did not react poorly, with tiny steps to Elsa she opened up.

*Even though these hangouts are not quite dates, she does like how much you stayed by her side, even though she knows she can be hard to work with. No worries keyword above, makeshift, she does want to date you but gives it some time.

Moana (Moana):

*Swimming, dancing, singing, are her top three hangout ideas.

*However she loves adventure, so if you can suggest something new, she almost every time says yes.

*So much her family, minus grandmother, were getting worried but saw you always had each other back and were safe.

*Her grandmother actually loved how much you two would plan something impulsively, well Moana would do a tiny bit of research, but enough she understood what to pack.

*Your favorite aspect of Moana how much she loved her pets, yes simple, but she has such respect for the pig and rooster, you smile as they walk to you excited each time you visit.

*Her friend, Māui, he bit in competition to “prove yourself”, yet after a simple “quest” of certain rocks, leaves, and more to give him, he gives his approval. His quest was a leaf with you writing on why you like Moana, which after blushing, he liked what you wrote.

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*=I have older step-siblings and I do not like how stepfamily is seen as evil, I may be lucky, but I love them as siblings. ^_^

^^=Yes, in the animated movie Cinderella, had strawberry blonde hair.

**= Heavily inspired by these two artists and please look at their amazing work. :D

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(^ an idea of Snow White and you cooking)

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that-curly-haired-lesbian · 6 years ago

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The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo + Taylor Swift: a master post - Part 6/6

Hi guys, welcome to the final part of my masterpost regarding parallels between Taylor Swift and Evelyn Hugo, the fictional actress from the book The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by author Taylor Jenkins Reid!

Before proceeding please be aware that there will be

**MAJOR SPOILERS**

for the book ahead and please also read my disclaimer!

It’s very important that you read these in order so if you haven’t yet go ahead and check out the previous part right here, thank you and enjoy!

When Evelyn starts telling us about beard #6 she reveals that they got married in Joshua Tree (Pg. 295) which is you know, an actual place and all, but my first reaction was (perhaps understandably given this context)

“You got married WHERE, now?!” and then it took me quite a while to stop laughing and honestly, this is kind of too hilarious not to include!

Evelyn also points out on that same page that she wore an ocean-blue dress for the ceremony.

Though Max Girard (beard #6 and legit husband #2) initially starts out as a non-bearding situation (in a desperate attempt to get over Celia) it soon becomes clear that Max doesn’t love Evelyn, he loves Evelyn Hugo™ He loves the idea of her more than the actual person, he loves the famous persona. Evelyn says:

“I didn’t know how to tell him that I loved her too, but I wasn’t her.” (Pg. 298)

This is that age-old debate of Taylor vs. Taylor Swift™. The two are not the same person and sometimes it feels like (het in particular) fans have as hard a time as Max to make that distinction.

Taylor Swift the public persona isn’t Taylor Swift the person and that is perhaps the most true when it comes to Taylor’s actual love life vs. her fabricated one. There might not be a single fact more important to come to terms with in order to understand Gaylor Swift (and her reasons for being closeted) than that simple one. If you feel lost here, please go read this again!

“When you’re known for being gorgeous, you can’ not imagine a faith worse than standing next to someone and falling short.” (Pg. 299)

And all the young things line up to take your place

In a letter to Celia:

“I hope you will forgive me for being so blunt, but how did we make such a mess of it all?” (Pg. 301)

Oh, we made quite a mess, babe

After years of being separated (yet again) Evelyn finally calls Celia and when they discuss the possibility of getting back together without having to hide Evelyn points out that:

“Everything has changed”

And as proof of this change she brings up the fact that Elton John is now proudly out (this part of her story is set in the late 80’s) to which Celia counters with:

“’Elton John doesn’t have a child and a career based on audiences believing he’s a straight man.” (Pg. 303)

Taylor may not have a kid, but she most certainly has a career based on audiences believing she’s a straight woman and that must be freaking terrifying!!

During that phone call Evelyn explains that she never stopped loving Celia and when Celia questions this by pointing out that Evelyn (in a non-bearding way) got married to someone else Evelyn explains:

“’I married him because he helped me forget you,’ I said, “not because I stopped loving you’” (Pg. 304)

He will try to take away my pain And he just might make me smile But the whole time I'm wishin' he was you instead

During a dinner following the phone conversation Evelyn tells Celia:

“I spent my life hiding so no one would knock me off the mountain. Well, you know what? I’m done hiding. Let them come and get me. They can throw me down a well as far as I’m concerned.” (Pg. 313)

When Celia questions if Evelyn really means that Evelyn assures her that she does.

“Any other line of thinking…It’s how I lost you. I don’t want to lose anymore.”

HELL YEAH, EVELYN IS DONE HIDING!! Also, the “I don’t want to lose anymore”-line reminds me of:

Us traitors never win

And what I said about that line in my analysis of Getaway Car:

What she says I think is that people who pick their career over their love life won’t end up being happy, or “winning” at life in the long-run.

When Celia has made absolutely sure that Evelyn is truly ready to give it all up for her this time she suggests that they move to Spain together, she says she wants to spend her final years:

“On a beautiful beach. With the love of a good woman.” (Pg. 314)

Drinkin' on a beach with you all over me

When Evelyn leaves her sixth husband for Celia he is pissed off and threatens to out her and he does, to untrustworthy magazines and anyone who will listen. (No one believes him, but still) (Pg. 319)

The whole divorce is very bitter and the bitterness of it all kind of reminded me of one of Taylor’s particularly bad bearding situations. But when Max goes so far as to basically say he made Evelyn’s career an even worse taste was left in my mouth……………..

In a conversation with Evelyn about their differing degrees of fame Harry says the following:

“I’m only famous because you’re famous, Ev. They don’t care about me or what I’m doing unless it somehow relates to you.” (Pg. 321)

Here we once again have bearding 101, but also it reminded me of someone…

On page 325 Evelyn refers to Harry as:

“My best friend, my family.”

And while this is obviously said platonically between those two it nonetheless made me think of something that I’m honestly still not over Taylor saying about Karlie!!

Towards the end of her career Evelyn meets a young man named Nick, he wants to be an actor and asks Evelyn for advice. She bitterly considers telling him:

“You have to be willing to deny your heritage, to commodify your body, to lie to good people, to sacrifice who you love in the name of what people will think, and to choose the false version of yourself time and time again, until you forget who you started out as or why you started doing it to begin with.” (Pg. 326) (x)

Evelyn’s friend (and beard) Harry dies tragically in a car accident in 1989

While Taylor has always used the motif of cars/car rides in her music there are A LOT of car mentions on 1989, an album many het Swifties seem to believe to be about Harry Styles, interesting…

After Harry’s death Evelyn and Celia move to Spain together and out of the spotlight they finally get to openly be together and Evelyn “chose the rose garden over Madison Square” if you will and she was extremely happy. About her relationship with Celia during that time she says:

“I cherished every moment we had to ourselves, every second I spent with my arms around her.” (Pg. 344)

When I get you alone it’s so simple

I could've spent forever with your hands in my pockets

Evelyn describes her seventh husband and last beard (Celia’s brother) as so charming that most other women were:

“Enchanted by him” (Pg.344)

Oddly specific word choice!

As happy as Celia and Evelyn were at this point in their lives something was hanging over them, Celia was sick and dying. Evelyn tells Monique that when Celia promised Evelyn she’d never leave her again:

“We both knew she was making a promise she couldn’t keep.” (Pg. 346)

Brokeeeeee the sweetest promISEEE that you neverrrrr should have MADEEE

Listen to that you guys, that’s my goddamn heart breaking!!!

CELIA AND EVELYN’S WEDDING SCENE (pg. 347-349) IS SUPER SWEET!!!!!! A fun little detail is that New York (which is as we’ve previously established significant to the Kaylor relationship as well as the Evelyn and Celia one) was made relevant in a scene taking place in Spain (Celia’s shirt)

ALSO allow we to go into crazy fanfic territory here, but can’t you just IMAGINE the “we can get married”-conversation happening between Taylor and Karlie when same-sex marriage became legalized nationwide????

All wlw just want a wife #ConfirmedOnPage349

Seriously, if you wanna be punched in the feels today go read the wedding scene and imagine Kaylor in Evelyn and Celia’s place. (No one is sick in the Kaylor version, but they are deeply closeted and still at the height of their careers) oh, my fragile, gay heart!!

When Celia does die from her illness Evelyn describes her reaction with:

“I fell to the floor.” (Pg. 350)

I'm HERE on the KITCHEN flooOOOOr

Don’t TOUCH MEEEEEE

After Celia’s death Evelyn truly stops hiding in the closet:

“I could not keep my true self from coming out.” (Pg. 353)

“It cost so much, caring. I didn’t have any currency to spend on it.” (Pg. 354)

“People were still easily distracted from seeing how I felt about Celia St. James, but this time was different because I wasn’t hiding anything. The truth had been there for them to grab if they’d paid attention.”

“But of course they got it wrong. They never did care about getting it right. The media are going to tell whatever story they want to tell. They always have. They always will.”

To me this is the essence of the Reputation era, Taylor having realized that she can’t make the media she the truth so she just avoids them and tells the truth to those of us who are paying attention. This time it’s different, because she isn’t hiding anything.

There will be no further explanation. There will be just reputation

Evelyn saying it made her happy to spend money on her loved ones (Pg. 356) makes me think of Taylor being so extra with the fans ❤

“No one is just a victim or a victor. That’s Evelyn Hugo for you, somewhere in the middle.” (Pg. 366)

“She’s painfully human to me now.” (Pg. 371)

Is that Monique saying that about Evelyn Hugo after finding out her true life story or is it me saying it about Taylor Swift after falling down the Gaylor rabbit hole? No one knows for sure…

“Evelyn is going to die when she wants to and she wants to die now.” (Pg.375)

I'm sorry, the old Taylor can't come to the phone right now (Ooh, look what you made me do) Why? (Look what you made me do) Oh, 'cause she's dead!

in the death of her reputation she felt truly alive

The huge difference between the death of Taylor Swift and the death of Evelyn Hugo is that Evelyn’s death is literal and Taylor’s is figurative.

Despite this Evelyn’s death is somehow every bit as cinematic as Taylor who just recently killed off her reputation in order to feel truly alive. They’re both still doing it on their own terms, literally controlling the narrative that is their lives up until their last breaths (figurative as well as literal)

“Evelyn trusts me with her story. Evelyn trusts me with her death.” (Pg. 377)

Just as Taylor is trusting us with the death of her false reputation and the truth of her actual story and narrative.

“The tears that come out of me feel as if they were decades in the making. It feels as if some old version of me is leaking out, letting go, saying good-bye in the effort of making room for a new me. Somehow both more cynical about people and more optimistic about my place in the world” (Pg. 377-378)

Okay so this is a lot and it hit me right in the heart! I can only imagine this is just how Taylor felt when she decided that killing of her old reputation and public image was the right move. After everything that happen to her just before she decided to take a break to figure that stuff out (and everything that has happened for her entire career as far as bearding and hiding goes)I bet those tears felt decades (or at least a decade) in the making when they finally came. After all she’s been through in the industry since the age of 16 it’s no wonder if she feels cynical about people, but after taking the break to figure it out and deciding to COME out I’m sure she also feels optimistic now that she’s on the road to being herself publicly. She’s found her place in this world as out and proud and now she’s working towards getting to that place every day.

All these years she’s just been trying to find a place in this world and oh, Taylor, I am so glad you’ve found it! ❤

It must be such a relief to have made up your mind, to not have to be afraid anymore.

“There’s still so much I don’t know about my father. Maybe he was gay. Maybe he saw himself as straight, but in love with one man. Maybe he was bisexual. Or a host of other words. But it really doesn’t matter, that’s the thing.” (Pg. 380)

This is an interesting quote, to Evelyn the word bisexual mattered a lot and to Celia the word lesbian did, as for Monique’s father we don’t know what he would have said on the matter concerning his own identity because he’s been dead since long before the book started. Ultimately Monique comes to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter what her father would’ve identified as, as long as she knew he loved her (which it has been shown throughout the book that he undeniably did.)

In the same way we could argue all day about whether Taylor is gay or bi or straight or a “a host of other words” for the time being we’re in much the same position as Monique, Taylor hasn’t told us and it’s not like we can just ask her, but does it matter? We all love Taylor and we know that she loves us. Her being in love with women and writing her songs about them instead of the men we were lead to believe were her muses doesn’t change that. In the end it’s not a big deal whether Taylor is gay or straight, we still love her, we came for her music that we related to and loved and then we ended up staying for Taylor, the person, because we fell in love with her and her storytelling. Who she loves doesn’t change that. We love her and she loves us and that’s all that matters.

On page 382 GLAAD is mentioned by name as an organization that Evelyn gave most of her fortune to after her death.

The piece Monique ends up writing about Evelyn for Vivant summarizes the main theme of the both and to me it also summarizes what Gaylor Swift is about:

The TRUTH behind the SCANDAL that was her love life.

(Pg. 385)

And now for the final piece in this puzzle

And all our pieces fall Right into place

🌈 🌈 🌈

Thank you SO much for reading all of these masterposts, I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed reading that amazing book and writing all of these parts!

#tshoeh #tshoeh spoilers #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #gaylor swift #kaylor #masterpost

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sweetpworld · 6 years ago

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The P.A. - 1/2

Summary: Being a Personal Assistant is already a job full of ups and downs. When things start to change with your boss, you see yourself in a full on roller-coaster. Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Plus Size!Reader Word count: 9.262 in total (I GOT OUT OF CONTROL, SORRY) Warnings: Self-doubt, Body-shamming, Fat-shamming, mentions of smut and FLUFF. A/N: Ok, I’m trying this again after Tumblr went all riot on me. I still can’t believe I wrote over 9000 words, so I decided to make it a two-shot so MAYBE tumblr won’t fuck it up again.. I’m so sorry for any typos or grammar errors. English isn’t my primary language, so please, go easy on me. I’m really sorry if this turned out shitty, but I really feel good about the plot and I honestly hope you guys enjoy it.

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Another day on the set and here come the stares. Again.

It was always like this with you every time you showed up beside Sebastian, just because you were his fat personal assistant. Like, really people? Grow the fuck up.

When you first started this job you used to feel bad about this, about your body and about all these stupid people who keep on looking at the size 20 girl walking around them; but then, after a couple of months and receiving praises for your hell of a good job, you decided that people would still stare at you, but that didn’t mean you should care. You were here to do your job, not to please them.

You could still remember the day Mark Ruffalo was talking to Sebastian about the new movies and you were beside him taking notes and Mark said “Hey man, you know, your P.A. is a fucking good one. I don’t even know where mine is. If she was taking notes as much as yours is, I wouldn’t be as lost as I am most of the time.”. You all laughed at that, but that was also the moment where you understood that you weren’t a charity case. You were good at what you did and should be proud of that.

So here you are now, walking beside Sebastian with your head held high, iPad in hand and ready for the ridiculously crazy schedule you had for today. There was only one little thing that made your day harder than it should be: your boss.

Sebastian Stan is a very good-looking man and everyone knows that. All you need to do is look at him and bam: beauty. But after the last year and a half working with him, you have also met different sides that just made him look even more amazing in your eyes. Like the way he smiles at puppies, or how he works so hard on each role he gets, or how he loves his fans so much, or how inept he is with technology, or how he blushes so hard at compliments, as if he doesn’t know how amazing he is.

It’s a lot. Like, a lot. Specially for your heart to not fall for a man like him. But, of course, besides your job, there was always a problem with you having a crush on someone: they never liked you back.

Sebastian, for example, has a ‘dirty secret’. Not a problem or anything major, of course, but something that doesn’t come out to the public. He likes sex. A lot. And, let’s face it, it’s always easy for him to get someone to have one-night stands. The thing is that you are the one to deal with them later. So You're the one in charge of making them sign a confidentially contract, take away their phones to make sure they don’t have any pics or videos and finally send them on their ways while Sebastian is hitting the gym or something. And the thing is they are always the same tall, skinny and glamorous type of woman.

If you weren’t sure that he would never feel attracted to you before he asked to take care of them, you were completely sure after. So it was still hard to see him flirting with any good-looking woman that shows interest in him, but it helped your efforts to get over him, in a way.

-Hello Mr. Stan, hello Y/N. You look lovely today.

You were brought back from your thoughts by Jack’s greeting. He is Anthony’s personal assistant and has always been really nice to you.

-Jack. Shouldn’t you be with Mackie? - Sebastian asked him coldly. Which was odd, since he was always very friendly with everyone.

-I’m just going to take his coffee, Mr. Stan, but thought I should say hello to you. And to Y/N, of course.

-Well, hi Jack. Thank you for being so thoughtful. - You said smiling at him and giving Sebastian a look when he scoffed. - But go on and take Anthony’s coffee, I’m sure he is waiting.

-Right, well, we talk later, right Y/N?

-Of course. See you later! - You said walking quickly to catch up with Sebastian, who was already a few steps ahead. It was very odd, but you wouldn't make a scene out of it, so you just kept on going and decided to ignore it. Maybe Jack did something that bothered Sebastian or whatever.

And this was pretty much how your week went by: lots of appointments, taking care of Sebastian’s needs, watching him being rude with Jack every time you two were talking for a bit, not getting it any of those times, and just pretty much ignoring it. And just like that came Friday and you couldn’t be happier. Fridays meant Sebastian would go find a hook up and that meant free time for you. At least until the next morning, when you’d be needed to take away the trash, of course. But you were still glad to have a day to get home, put on some comfy pajamas e just chill.

Soon came the end of the day, it was getting darker, and Sebastian was finished for the day. You waited for him to change and met him back on the car waiting for you.

-Ok, so tonight you don’t have anything planned, tomorrow afternoon, starting at 2 p.m. you have a photoshoot for Hugo Boss and tomorrow night I’ll need you to attend an art exhibit that is raising money for the children’s hospital. But I’m sure you can find a woman for you there, so you won’t sacrifice your Saturday night’s fun. I’ll make sure to be at your place tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. with coffee and the papers for whichever lady you pick tonight. - You said checking your week agenda.

-Actually, you don’t have to worry about the papers. - Sebastian said beside you, looking out the window.

-Why? Is there a girlfriend this time? Because if not I have to do that so they don’t go around spreading picks of you naked on Facebook, IG or Twitter. - you said still not looking up.

-No, nothing like a girlfriend. Nothing at all actually. - He said turning to look at you when you shot your head up to eye him.

-What do you mean ‘nothing at all’? - you said eyeing him suspiciously.

-I mean that I don’t want any girl tonight. Or tomorrow for that matter. - He said turning his head to the window again.

You were shocked. Like, for real. You were just sitting there, gapping at him like a fish and not knowing what to say.

-But... But... You always... Are you okay? - you ended up asking him.

-Yeah, I am more than okay. I have realized some things in the past few months and I just don’t want random woman anymore. - He said smiling softly, still looking out the window.

-Oh... Well... Good for you then. I mean, if you are happy, then that’s what matter, right? In that case, I’ll show up around 10 a.m. at your place, is that okay? - you asked him still slightly confused.

-You work too hard. Don’t worry, show up at midday and I’ll be ready, okay? I want you to rest and have a good night of sleep.- he said smiling and looking softly at you.

-O...kay. I won’t say that I don’t appreciate that, but are you certain you are okay? - you asked him again.

-Trust me, I am. I just need some me time to figure some things out. - He said taking your hand and kissing it. - We are here. Go get some rest.

You turned, still stunned that he was acting all weird like that and saw that you were indeed in front of your building.

-Well, who would’ve known? Maybe I should be in shock every time I take the bus so it goes faster.

He chuckled at that. - You were always funny.

You smiled, still confused, but decided that you needed some wine and your best friend to talk to. - Well then, I see you tomorrow at midday. Bye Sebastian, good night.

You didn’t wait for him to reply nor did you turned back once inside your building. If you had done any of those things you would have heard him saying a soft “Good night, love” and asking the driver to wait until you were out of sight.

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Once inside your apartment you called your best friend, Victor, inviting him to go over your place.

-Sure girl, I’ll be there in 40 minutes. Should I bring pizza?

-Absolutely. The Supreme with extra cheese.

-Okay, I get it, something happened, probably hot boss, don’t worry, I’ll be there.

He hung up on you, but you just smiled softly. Your friend was the worse, but he made it work the best. So you took a shower, put on some cute pj’s and shoved another bottle of wine on the cooler. You just knew you would need it. Not much later Victor arrived with two pizzas and 4 different Ben & Jerry’s.

-You know, if I didn’t need those today, I’d beat the crap out of you for ruining my diet.

-Girl, shush and live a little. Now, be a good friend and grab the wine. I’m taking these beauties to the freezer and those beauties to your coffee table.

Once everything was settled, you were already eating and “The Proposal” was on your T.V; Victor decided to do what he does best: go straight to business.

-So, care to tell me why you needed my wonderful assistance?

-Why, can’t a girl just love to spend time with her bff?

-Uh nuh. Cut the crap. We both know you have something bothering you and if I was to bet I’d bet it has something to do with Mr. Sebastian Hot-Body-And-Jawline-For-Days Stan. A.K.A. your boss.

Taking a deep breath you looked up to your ceiling – Ok, fine, yes, it has to do with him, but I seriously need your opinion here. - You said turning to look at him. Victor simply held your hand and signed you to keep going. - Okay, so you and I both know that Sebastian likes to have one night stands, right?

-Almost as much as I like those.

-Yes, exactly. And every Friday and Saturday night he finds someone to hook up with. And I am the one responsible to take care of them the morning after.

-You take out the trash.

-Yes, exactly again. So, what would you think if I told you he told me to not worry because he doesn’t want any woman today OR tomorrow? Like, at all. - You asked watching Victor pensive face.

-Well, that is odd, I’ll give you that. Did you ask him if he was feeling okay? Maybe he has a cold or something.

-I did ask him and he just said something about ‘realizing things for a few months now’. - you said making quotation marks with your fingers.

-Was it just that? I mean, was it the only weird thing about that talk?

-Well, he seemed a bit light-headed, you know? And he kissed my hand. Like right before I got out of the car.

-Hum… elaborate.

-There's nothing much of it, really. He was just off, smiling while looking out the window, dismissing his woman hunt, kissing my hand and telling me he wanted me to rest and have a good night of sleep.

Victor and you stared at each other for a couple of secseconds.

-BITCH, I KNOW HIS TEA! – He yelled all of a sudden making you jump.

-Oh my GOD, what?

-He is into you.

You stared at his smiley face for a couple of seconds, trying to decide if the was serious or not.

-What?

-He. Is. Into. You. It's obvious. He likes you.

-And you say that because of what exactly? He kissed my hand? C'mon V, you can't be serious. – you said pouring some more wine for you.

-Look, I am a guy, okay? A gay man, but that's the closest we have to thinking like a straight man right now. And as a guys I don’t stop sleeping around and show affection to someone if I am not really into said person. In fact, I only realized I wanted to date Nick because I didn’t feel like having sex with any other guy but him. And look at me now. Going for our second anniversary and still in love with the motherfucker. And let me tell you this: that Italian guy, Paolo, was a hell of a good lay.

-Okay, I get it. No need to be grafic. Again. But you don't have all the facts.

-And what am I missing.

-You're missing the fact that it is impossible.

-Oh my Zeus, girl! – he said rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath. – Why is that so impossible for you?

-It just is, V.

-No, I will have none of that. Talk to me Y/N/N. Why its it so impossible? – you sat there in silence for a couple of seconds – You can open up, you know. You don't have to share, but you don't have to carry whatever is inside your head alone either.

-I… It's just… - You took a deep breath, trying to focus on what to say – V, I am not the kind of woman who gets the guys.

-What do you mean?

-V… I am not like you. I don't have 7 or more guys lining up to take me out even if I was dating someone. Guys… People don't find me attractive.

-Y/N/N… But I see you with guys sometimes.

-Yeah, drunk guys who don't know who they are kissing on night club. Or guys who have a fat fetish. But I just don't have what you have, okay? Have I ever introduced you to someone and said ‘this is my boyfriend’s?

-Not that I remember…

-And you won't remember because there was never this person… The thing is, I am not pretty. I am fat. And no one really wants to know me. Specially guys. I act like people don’t affect me, but they do. So, it doesn't matter if I am smart or funny or whatever. No one will love you if you're unattractive. I used to hear that back in my school days and I hate to have figured it out it's true. It's real. No one could possibly want me. And that's why people like you and Sebastian and so many others can jump from relationship to relationship. I mean, there is an interview where Sebastian says ‘no matter what I do I always end up between Black Widow’s legs’. But he means it like it’s the most amazing thing in the world. Have you ever seen Scarlet Johansson? That woman is a Goddess so of course it is the best thing in the world. – you took a sip of your wine only to realize how sour it tasted now – Sebastian has always gone for model like woman ever since I know him. I am a fucking size 20. And I can't just take the fucking zero from that number and change its place. Therefore, he can't like me. No matter what I feel and no matter how much I try… It's impossible.

Victor took your hand in his and made you look at him.

-You couldn't possibly know how much it pains me to see you looking at yourself like this. – he said on the verge of tears – How much I am angry that you don't see yourself like I do. Do you have any idea how beautiful I think you are? Do you have any idea how I envy your fashion sense? Do you have any idea how many times I've said to Nick and so many others what a lucky bastard the guy who dated you would be? Too many to count. I am not saying that because I am your friend. I am saying that because you are truly amazing. Y/N, you are fat. And you are smart. And you are funny. And you are beautiful. And you are all of those things together because you don't have to be just one single thing. And Sebastian will be a fucking fool if he doesn't see that. Or any other man for that matter. You know what? I am texting Nick because I will marry you and he will be my dirt little not so much of a secret. You are my best friend Y/N, and I can assure you: any man who dates you is a hell of a lucky son of a bitch. And I will pay someone to beat whoever hurts you again, because let's face it, I am too thin and can't beat anyone up.

You both laughed at that and hugged each other, just enjoying the comforting bubble you two always build when together.

-Are you seeing him tomorrow? – He asked after a couple of minutes with the movie being the only sound in the room.

-Yeah. He has a photoshoot tomorrow afternoon and then a charity event. I have to go to both. – you said almost in a whisper.

-Well, then let me doll you up. I love your fashion sense, but I want to make you extra.

-Oh God, I created a monster.

-Yes you did. Call me Frankie. Now, let's eat chocolate ice cream, watch some stupid horror movies and romcons, I will get those pjs I always leave here and tomorrow I will make you look even more stunning. Okay?

-Will you not do it if I say “no"?

-Absolutely not. You will be my beautiful size 20 doll and you will like it.

You smiled softly at your friend. Maybe dolling up a bit more wouldn't be that bad.

----------

The next day you woke up at 10 a.m., the latest you had ever woken up on a Saturday, to the sight of Victor already up and checking your closed for whatever he wanted you to wear.

-Good morning sunshine! - he said in a sing song voice – I've chosen the perfect outfit for you already, so get up, eat some leftover pizza, take a shower and put on that amazing matching underwear I got you for your birthday. Go on! There is also makeup.

Groaning you made your way around doing just as he said and, surprisingly, you were content with what he had picked out for you: black leggings, a black dress-like shirt with some sparkle in it that you adored, your favorite ankle boots and your favorite leather jacket. All black, but that would be great, especially for the art exhibit. So, you put them on over the sexy lingerie he had given you as a birthday present: also black panties and a nice bra all in lace. You actually loved it.

So you put them on, applied a bit of makeup and your favorite red lipstick that always made you feel a bit more powerful and left your room.

-Oh wow. Damn bitch, you look stunning. Hot and stunning. Hotunning. - Victor said making you laugh.

-Why thank you. I have a good stylist.

-I know bitch, I know. Now Let’s go. I’ll drop you off at Sebastian’s apartment before going to Nick’s.

After a short drive you hugged Victor goodbye and thanked him for helping you out.

-Y/N, we are friends, I have no problem helping you out any time of the day. I know you still think it’s impossible for Sebastian to be into you, but I will ask you one thing and one thing only.

-Fine, what is it? - you said rolling your eyes.

-Pay attention to him today. And try to not say “it’s nothing”. See if his behavior is still the same and try to think positively, okay?

Taking a deep breath, you opened the car’s door. - I can’t make any promises, but I will pay attention.

Waving him bye you greeted the doorman and went straight for the elevators.

Going up, you couldn’t stop thinking about what V had said, but a bigger part of you kept on thinking it was just impossible.

Shrugging the thoughts out of your head, you put on your best professional face and knocked on his door before using your spare key to get in his place. What you weren’t expecting was for him to open the door for you wearing only jeans, socks and no fucking shirt; making your eyes go bigger than plates and your mouth drier than a fucking desert.

-Hey Y/N! You’re here earlier than I expected. Come in, please. You look even more beautiful as usual.

-Good morning Sebastian. I’m sorry, I was just to let myself in. I should’ve brought you some coffee. - You said after cleaning your throat and trying to focus on anything but his muscles or what he had just said. After a few seconds to do just that, you turned to him again. - Are you wearing jeans today? It’s not a problem for the photoshoot, but it’s a bit underdressed for the exhibit. I should just pack you another set of clothes. - You said moving towards his room.

-Hey hey Y/N, it’s no problem. I can just change. It’ll save us some time, right?

And just like that he unbuttoned his jeans and started to take them off in front of you.

Usually, when he had to change shirts real fast, he would do it inside of a car or whatever and you always had a few seconds to prepare yourself. But he never, ever, changed pants in front of you before. So, of course, you turned as red as your lipstick and it took you a few more seconds than it should for you to turn around and try to not droll at the sight. Key word: try.

-I will just change real fast. Sit and relax, okay?

-Sure. - You could beat yourself for the high-pitched voice, but at the moment, you were just trying to get a grip on your heart.

You sat down on his very comfortable couch and took some deep breaths that were helping you calm down. That was until he came back in only his boxers and two pants in his hands, asking you which one would go better. This mas is trying to fucking kill you, you are sure of that.

-What? - your brain was completely mushed at this point and the only thing you could see was Sebastian fuckingly-handsome Stan in only black boxers and socks in front of you, so answering anything was just not possible.

-Which one of the pants will look better for the occasion? - He asked smirking at you.

-Ahn... - You forced yourself to eye both of them – The dark blue one. It goes well with pretty much anything, is dark enough for a night-time event, but also light enough to pass as a casual look. - Finally, one good and professional answer.

-Yeah, I like this one too. And It will make me look good next to you. - He said turning around and going to his bedroom again.

-As if you wouldn’t look good any time – You said under your breath. Only to then realize what he had said. What did he mean by ‘look good next to you’? He is really ill, that must be it.

The next time he left his room he was fully dressed and smelling better than ever. The bastard was using your favorite male perfume.

-So, let’s go? - he asked adjusting his hair.

-Yeah, sure. I’ll order us some light lunch when we get to the studio. I’m calling the driver.

-Or... - He said putting his hand on top of your phone. When did he get so close to you? - We could go get lunch together since we still have time and then go to the studio. - He said smiling expectedly to you. - I know a really nice Italian place not far from there that has one of the best tiramisus I’ve ever tasted. Besides yours, of course.

This man was just a fucking player and no one could tell you otherwise. He was looking at you like a lost puppy, bringing on your love for Italian food AND telling you he had actually eaten the tiramisu you made once for your birthday? Your favorite desert ever? What the fuck is going on?

-Are you ill? - You end up asking.

He looks surprised at that. - No. Why do you ask that?

-You are just acting very weird since yesterday. As your personal assistant, I need to worry. - You said hoping you were giving your best professional face, instead of the utterly confused one you were feeling.

He looked at you for a minute, as if looking for something, only to smirk back at you. - I fell amazing, Y/N/N. And I just want to have lunch with a beautiful woman who happens to be my assistant.

-O...kay... - There goes your brain and your ovaries. Again. - I’ll call the driver.

As soon as you stepped into the kitchen to make the call Sebastian let out a full-on smile, feeling proud of himself.

Since he first hired you, he knew there was something different in the way he felt towards you. He didn’t know what it was at first, but that changed when Anthony hired that stupid Jack as his assistant and he started to flirt with you. Sebastian could swear he saw red whenever the two of you were interacting. The only thing keeping him calm on those times was seeing how you didn’t care for his intentions or maybe didn’t notice at all.

He was no fool, he knew damn well what the media kept on telling woman how the ‘perfect’ body is and how many people would give you stupid looks whenever you walked beside him. And he could admit he also believed that shit for a while. He would always look for woman deemed as ‘perfect’: tall, slim, usually blonde with big boobs. And he always had his fun with them, but that was always it. They never had anything new. Gorgeous, yes. Some of them really smart too and some quite funny. But they were pretty much always the same.

Then he began to really notice you. You were really pretty at first and had an amazing fashion sense. You would always wear what you wanted and even leggings and jeans jackets would look really put together on you. But there was more to you than that. He started to notice how you would always throw your head back when smiling, how perfect your smile was; he took notice of the way you laughed and how you always tried to help people around you. He took notice of how much you loved your friends and how proud you were when any of them were successful. He took notice of the was your Y/E/C would change in the sun, how your skin always looked so soft, and then he started to notice how much he wanted to feel you.

Gosh, he wants to feel you. Your skin, your embrace, your heat, everything.

When he realized that he tried to tell himself it was just some crazy thought that would go away in no time. But then he started to not enjoy his hook ups so much. He didn’t feel like kissing of having sex with any other woman anymore. He started to feel guilty whenever you showed up at his place to send the woman away. And then, the last drop was when he actually moaned your name while fucking another woman. She was pissed, to say the least, but also agreed to wait until you got there.

He called Anthony the very same day when he went to the gym, asked to meet him there and told him everything.

“You do know you’re in love, right?” - Anthony said to him, back then.

“No, I’m not. I just... I don’t know.” - He said frustrated with himself.

“Okay, fine then, let me ask you this: If you’re not in love with her, would you be okay if Jack started dating her? Because he wants to.” - Anthony said watching his friend’s face transform into one of pure rage only to end up punching one of the sand bags that were near them. - “Thought so. The thing is why are you so afraid to like her? You’ve dated before.”

“It’s not that. It... It will sound stupid.” - He said sitting down and lowering his head.

“Good. Love should be stupid. Go on.” - Anthony said patting his shoulder.

“Shisatntmdiaillhafafilledday” - He said with his face in his hands.

“I’m sorry what? I don’t speak Romanian or whatever language you were speaking just now”

Taking a deep breath, Sebastian let go of his face and said slowly, in a whisper - “She is, you know, fat. And the media will have a filled day.”

Anthony’s hand fell off his shoulder and made him turn to his friend only to see his face contort in the angriest he has ever seen.

“You are fucking kidding me, right? Tell me you are kidding me, please.” - Anthony said with a tremor in his voice.

“I-”

“No, that was rhetorical because you better be damn kidding with me. You know what Sebastian, I came here because I noticed your feelings for her long ago as was just waiting for you to finally figure things out. It’s so obvious and the only person who hasn’t noticed is Y/N. Don’t you have any idea why she doesn’t notice the way you look at her or the way Jack constantly flirts with her? Because we live in a fucked up society and she probably had to live her entire life hearing that no one would love her because she is fat. As if that is such a problem. As if that is a good enough reason to forget how amazing she is. She pull a fucking tough face fin front of everyone, but if you look close enough she is always looking at thin woman with longing, desperately wanting to be like them, because of people like you who care so fucking much about appearance and made her think that is the only that would make anyone like her for her.”

He was almost screaming at the end of that speech, but Anthony didn’t care at this point. He just didn’t want to make more of a scene, so he took a deep breath before looking at Sebastian right in the eyes.

“You are handsome and you were always handsome. You never had to go to school and hear people making fun of you. I bet in school girls fought for your attention, just like some woman still do today. So, you have no idea what if feels like to be different, to not meet society’s standard of beauty and grow up with people constantly tearing you apart. Fuck society and fuck the media. Since when should they rule your personal life? But if you really think that Y/N being fat is such a problem, do her a favor and leave her be. She doesn’t need someone like that messing up with her heart. Okay?”

Anthony got up and left that day, but what he said replayed on Sebastian’s mind like a broken record. And thank the gods for that. Thanks to Anthony he realized the media could go fuck themselves. He is in love with you, not just for your body, but for you. He wants your body and he wants your heart. He just wants you.

That was when he decided the was done pretending and began to make anything in his power to make you his. Starting by not going for any more random hook ups and trying to see if you could feel the same way towards him.

He hoped you did.

----------PART 2

Ok guys, I wanted it to be a one-shot but Tumblr wants to get personal with me. So, Hopefully, this part 1 won’t have any problems. Thank you to @iamdorka for pointing the problem to me.

Tagging those who showered interest in this fic and I hope this works out this time: @calumsbiceps96 @angelus320 @mikaelasingswritesloves @nutmegroo1514 and I’m tagging my lovely mutual @andyl394 who I hope also enjoys this. Let me know of any problems again, okay?

Love you guys!!!

#tnupsweetpie #fanfiction #fanfic #Bucky Barnes #bucky x reader #bucky barnes x plus size reader #sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x plus size reader

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