#like i mean he should be aware that he doesn’t know how complicated ian’s relationship with his mother is

[jeanmoreaux]

ok since u were just talking abt trevor / ian & mickey in ur tags im gonna just go off for a second! the scene where trevor tells ian to just move on bc monica apologized always kind of made me ? bc he's literally a social worker for lgbt teens in crisis like.. it seems like he should be able to understand complicated relationships with parents and understand why ian cant just "move on"

yeah, you’re absolutely right! it’s actually quite baffling how insensitive he is about the issue considering his professional background. he should be aware of the fact that some parent-child relationships are more complicated and emotionally charged than others, and that issues within these relationships sometimes can’t be soothed, let alone resolved, with an apology. his “move on” comment in this situation always rubbed me the wrong way bc it feels like he doesn’t even attempt to see things from ian’s perspective ir sympathized with his situation as a survivor of parental neglect & abuse.

[aion-rsa]

Doctor Who: Perfect 10? How Fandom Forgets the Dark Side of David Tennant’s Doctor

https://ift.tt/2URb21b

As recently as September 2020 David Tennant topped a Radio Times poll of favourite Doctors. He beat Tom Baker in a 2006 Doctor Who Magazine poll, and was voted the best TV character of the 21st Century by the readers of Digital Spy. He was the Doctor during one of Doctor Who‘s critical and commercial peaks, bringing in consistently high ratings and a Christmas day audience of 13.31 million for ‘Voyage of the Damned’, and 12.27 million for his final episode, ‘The End of Time – Part Two’. He is the only other Doctor who challenges Tom Baker in terms of associated iconography, even being part of the Christmas idents on BBC One as his final episodes were broadcast. Put simply, the Tenth Doctor is ‘My Doctor’ for a huge swathe of people and David Tennant in a brown coat will be the image they think of when Doctor Who is mentioned.

In articles to accompany these fan polls, Tennant’s Doctor is described as ‘amiable’ in contrast to his predecessor Christopher Eccleston’s dark take on the character. Ten is ‘down-to-earth’, ‘romantic’, ‘sweeter’, ‘more light-hearted’ and the Doctor you’d most want to invite you on board the TARDIS. That’s interesting in some respects, because the Tenth Doctor is very much a Jekyll and Hyde character. He’s handsome, he’s charismatic, and travelling with him can be addictively fun, but he is also casually cruel, harshly dismissive, and lacking in self-awareness. His ego wants feeding, and once fed, can have destructive results.

That tension in the character isn’t due to bad writing or acting. Quite the contrary. Most Doctors have an element of unpleasantness to their behaviour. Ever since the First Doctor kidnapped Ian and Barbara, the character has been moving away from the entitled snob we met him as, but can never escape it completely.

Six and Twelve were both written to be especially abrasive, then soften as time went on (with Colin Baker having to do this through Big Finish audio plays rather than on telly). A significant difference between Twelve and Ten, though, is that Twelve questions himself more. Ten, to the very end, seems to believe his own hype.

The Tenth Doctor’s duality is apparent from his first full appearance in 2005’s ‘The Christmas Invasion’. Having quoted The Lion King and fearlessly ambled through the Sycorax ship in a dressing gown, he seems the picture of bonhomie, that lighter and amiable character shining through. Then he kills their leader. True, it was in self-defence, but it was lethal force that may not have been necessary. Then he immediately topples the British Prime Minister for a not dissimilar act of aggression. Immediately we see the Tenth Doctor’s potential for violence and moral grey areas. He’s still the same man who considered braining someone with a rock in ‘An Unearthly Child’. 

Teamed with Rose Tyler, a companion of similar status to Tennant’s Doctor, they blazed their way through time and space with a level of confidence that bordered on entitlement, and a love that manifested itself negatively on the people surrounding them. The most obvious example in Series 2 is ‘Tooth and Claw’, where Russell T. Davies has them react to horror and carnage in the manner of excited tourists who’ve just seen a celebrity. This aloof detachment results in Queen Victoria establishing the Torchwood institute that will eventually split them apart. We see their blinkers on again in ‘Rise of the Cybermen’, when they take Mickey for granted. Rose and the Doctor skip along the dividing line between romance and hubris.

Then, in a Christmassy romp where the Doctor is grieving the loss of Rose, he commits genocide and Donna Noble sucker punches him with ‘I think you need somebody to stop you’. Well-meaning as this statement is, the Doctor treats it as a reason to reduce his next companion to a function rather than a person. Martha Jones is there to stop the Doctor, as far as he’s concerned. She’s a rebound companion. Martha is in love with him, and though he respects her, she’s also something of a prop.

This is the series in which the Doctor becomes human in order to escape the Family of Blood (adapted from a book in which he becomes human in order to understand his companion’s grief, not realising anyone is after him), and is culpable for all the death that follows in his wake. Martha puts up with a position as a servant and with regular racist abuse on her travels with this man, before finally realising at the end of the series that she needs to get out of the relationship. For a rebound companion, Martha withstands a hell of a lot, mostly caused by the Doctor’s failings. 

Read more

TV

Why David Tennant Lost Hannibal Role According to Bryan Fuller

By Kirsten Howard

TV

Staged: BBC Comedy Confirms Sheen & Tennant’s Double-Act Greatness

By Louisa Mellor

Series 4 develops the Doctor further, putting the Tenth’s Doctor’s flaws in the foreground more clearly. Donna is now travelling with him, and simply calls him out on his behaviour more than Rose or Martha did. Nonetheless the Doctor ploughs on, and in ‘Midnight’ we see him reduced to desperate and ugly pleas about how clever he is when he’s put in a situation he can’t talk himself out of.

Rose has also become more Doctor-like while trapped in another reality, and brutally tells Donna that she’s going to have to die in order to return to the original timeline (just as the Doctor tells Donna she’s going to have to lose her memories of travelling with him in order to live her previous life, even as she clearly asks him not to – and how long did the Doctor know he would have to do this for? It’s not like he’s surprised when Donna starts glitching). Tied into this is the Doctor’s belief in his own legend. In ‘The Doctor’s Daughter’ he holds a gun to Cobb’s head, then withdraws it and asks that they start a society based on the morals of his actions. You know, like a well-adjusted person does.

What’s interesting here is that despite presenting himself as ‘a man who never would’, the Doctor is a man who absolutely would. We���ve seen him do it. Even the Tenth Doctor, so keen to live up to the absolute moral ideals he espouses, killed the Sycorax leader and the Krillitanes, drove the Cybermen to die of despair, brought the Family of Blood to a quiet village and then disposed of them personally. But Tennant doesn’t play this as a useful lie, he plays it as something the Doctor absolutely believes in that moment, that he is a man who would not kill even as his daughter lies dead. It’s why his picking up a gun in ‘The End of Time’ has such impact. And it makes some sense that the Tenth Doctor would reject violence following a predecessor who regenerated after refusing to commit another double-genocide.

In the series finale ‘Journey’s End‘, Davros accuses the Doctor of turning his friends into weapons. This is because the Doctor’s friends have used weapons against the Daleks who – and I can’t stress this enough – are about to kill everyone in the entire universe. Fighting back against them seems pretty rational. Also – and again I can’t stress this enough – the Daleks are bad. Like, really bad. You won’t believe just how mindbogglingly bad they are. The Doctor has tried to destroy them several times by this point. Here, there isn’t the complication of double-genocide, and instead the very real threat of absolutely everyone in the universe dying. This accusation, that the Doctor turns people into weapons, should absolutely not land.

And yet, with the Tenth Doctor, it does. This is a huge distinction between him and the First Doctor, who had to persuade pacifists to fight for him in ‘The Daleks’.

In ‘The Sontaran Strategem’ Martha compares the Doctor to fire. It’s so blunt it almost seems not worth saying, but it’s the perfect analogy (especially for a show where fire is a huge part of the very first story). Yes, fire shines in dark places, yes it can be a beacon, but despite it being very much fire’s entire deal, people can forget that it burns. And fire has that mythical connection of being stolen from the gods and brought to humanity. The Time Lord Victorious concept fits the Tenth Doctor so well. Of all the Doctors, he’s the most ready to believe in himself as a semi-mythic figure.

Even when regenerating there’s a balance between hero and legend: the Tenth Doctor does ultimately save Wilfred Mott, but only after pointing out passionately how big a sacrifice he’s making. And then he goes to get his reward by meeting all his friends, only to glare at them from a distance. His last words are ‘I don’t want to go’, which works well as clearly being a poignant moment for the actor as well, but in the context of Doctor Who as a whole it renders Ten anomalous: no one else went this unwillingly. And yet, in interviews Russell T. Davies said it was important to end the story with ‘the Doctor as people have loved him: funny, the bright spark, the hero, the enthusiast’.

It’s fascinating then, that this is the Doctor who has been taken to heart by so many viewers because there’s such an extreme contrast between his good-natured front, his stated beliefs, and his actions. He clearly loves Rose and Donna, but leaves them with a compromised version of happiness. They go on extraordinary journeys only to end up somewhere that leaves them less than who they want to be, with Russell T. Davies being more brutally honest than Steven Moffat, who nearly always goes the romance route. Davies once said to Mark Lawson that he liked writing happy endings ‘because in the real world they don’t exist’, but his endings tend towards the bittersweet: Mickey and Martha end up together but this feels like they’re leftovers from the Doctor and Rose’s relationship. The Tenth Doctor doesn’t, as Nine does, go with a smile, but holding back tears.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

It’s a testament to how well written the Tenth Doctor is that the character has this light and shade, and with David Tennant’s immense likeability he can appeal to a wider audience as a result. It’s not surprise he wins all these polls, but I can’t help but feel that if the Doctor arrived and invited me on board the TARDIS, I’d want it to be anyone but Ten.

The post Doctor Who: Perfect 10? How Fandom Forgets the Dark Side of David Tennant’s Doctor appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iaqbDk

[yeah-all-of-it]

I wrote a fic the other day (my first!) that included a brief appearance by an original character named Rhonda, who is Ian and Mickey’s neighbor across the hall. Decided to write a bit of a prequel, exploring how they came to be friends with her. It’s 2 parts because it’s 4.7k and I don’t have an Ao3 account. Link for part 1 is here and at the bottom. Hope you enjoy!

Spill Your Guts: Part II

They walk across the hall and knock on the door. Rhonda answers, wearing a different boho dress than a couple weeks ago. Her hair is in a long side braid.

“Ian!” she gushes and gives him a warm hug. “And you must be Mickey. It’s so wonderful to properly meet you. I’m Rhonda, or Ms. Rhonda as Ian insists on calling me.” She gives Mickey a hug as well, and he awkwardly accepts.

As they enter the apartment, wonderful smells from the kitchen swirl around them. Her apartment is identical to theirs, only hers has much more furniture and is eclectically decorated. It feels warm and homey, much like Rhonda herself.

“Come have a seat, dinner is almost ready. Mickey, we’re having roasted duck tonight. Hope that’s okay. And there’s some Old Styles in the fridge, help yourself,” Rhonda states, and winks at Ian.

Mickey sees the wink and glances over at Ian, who looks fittingly guilty of conspiring over the choice of dinner served this evening. Mickey’s mouth ticks up slightly at the corners.

Ten minutes later, the three of them are seated at the table passing around serving dishes, small talking for a little while.

“This duck is fuckin’ incredible. Oh shit, sorry. Is that okay?” Mickey apologizes.

Rhonda laughs. “You can say anything around me, I don’t offend easily.”

“Oh, that’s good, cause I can be kinda fuckin’ offensive sometimes,” Mickey quips.

They all chuckle, enjoying their conversation and how easily it has flowed, like they’ve been friends for years. Just before dessert, Rhonda says,” So, Ian. I promised you that I would tell you my story at dinner, yes?”

“Yeah, you did.” He turns to Mickey. “She’s let me basically pour my heart out to her for the last three weeks and I was a selfish prick who didn’t even ask her about herself.”

“It’s completely okay; I’m going to tell you now,” she says and smiles warmly at her new friend, grabbing his hand across the table and giving it a little squeeze.

She continues. “So, about 50 years ago, I met the love of my life. It was a different time back then. Much like you boys, we had to hide what we were to each other. Pretend we were just friends in public when we were madly in love in private. I also had an abusive, homophobic father whom, although he was aware since I was a teen, I didn’t officially come out to until he was on his deathbed, too weak to physically hurt me, when I was 40 years old. His last words to me were that I was a huge disappointment and that he didn’t love me. I was a grown ass woman but I felt like a heartbroken child in that moment. Never mind that I had found the love of my life, graduated top of my class earning my Ph.D. in psychology, had a happy successful life. I was a disappointment.”

“Wait, you’re a lesbian?” Ian inquires. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong.”

“No, Ian sweetie, it’s fine. Yes, I am.” Rhonda continues, “My wife’s name was Margo and I loved her deeply. She, unfortunately, passed away about 5 years ago from cancer.

“So, back to my story. It took me years after his passing as a grown adult with an advanced psychology degree to undo even some of the damage he did to me. It still hurts sometimes all these years later. He took so much from me but you know what he was never able to take? My love for Margo and my beautiful life with her. I spent 45 incredible years with her. We traveled all over the world together, experienced so many things, made so many memories. Made love in strange places and safe places and a few dangerous places.” She smiles softly at the memories. “You boys aren’t the only ones who’ve been caught in the act,” she laughs and the two men chuckle, still a little embarrassed.

“You beautiful boys remind me a lot of myself and Margo. Had to struggle through a lotta years. But madly, hopelessly in love. Loyal and dedicated to each other,” Rhonda observes.

Ian reaches over and gently takes hold of Mickey’s hand. He flinches a little but doesn’t pull away, still getting used to affection in front of others they aren’t close with.

“That’s… thank you for that,” says Ian softly. “And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, sweetie. I try not to dwell on what I’ve lost and just appreciate what I had with her. Makes it not hurt so much.”

“I’m really sorry,” Ian apologizes, “but I have to excuse myself to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.”

He tries to make it quick, knowing how awkward Mickey probably feels being alone with this woman he’s just met. He’s probably just staring at a spot on the wall or down at his lap. As he’s exiting the bathroom, he hears them talking. He doesn’t want to interrupt but is eavesdropping wrong? He stops for a minute to listen, gauge when he should head back in.

The voices are quiet but he can just make out what they’re saying.

“Mickey, your Ian didn’t tell all your secrets, I promise. He was very respectful of your privacy. He did mention a little about your father though and I just wanted to tell you, I’ve been there and I understand the conflicting emotions that come from a relationship like that. If you want to talk about it, I’m here, okay?”

Ian doesn’t expect Mickey to say anything, but suddenly Mickey is speaking.

“Uhh, ok. Just, like…,” Mickey stammers, searching for words. “He was just such a fuckin’ prick, but it was more than that. He… um… used to beat me and shit. Almost killed me and Ian when he caught us together once. Again when I came out, and when we got married. But still, all I wanted to do was make him proud, not let him down. He’s fuckin’ dead now and I’m glad. But I was actually… sad? maybe?… when it happened? I don’t fuckin’ know.” Word vomit, Ian thinks.

“That’s completely normal, Mickey,” Rhonda replies sympathetically. “I felt exactly the same when my dad died. It’s such a weird feeling, to be upset but not sure why. To be glad you’re rid of them, but you still miss them in a way? It’s so complicated and it’s hard to understand if you’ve never been there. It’s just, weird.”

“Yeah. I’m just kinda numb about it now, ya know? Ian really helped me through it. Always had my back. Always has, actually.”

“That’s funny,” Rhonda states. “He described you the same way. ‘Always has my back’. He loves you, Mickey. So much. It’s so clear to me that what you boys have together is so, so special and rare. I can tell how much you love him, too.”

“I really really do, Rhonda. I try really fuckin’ hard to show him all the time but I’m not sure he knows how much-“

“He knows. Trust me. He knows.”

Ian figures he’s listened far too long; they’ll probably wonder why he was in the bathroom forever.

He steps out into the hallway to head back to the table and sees Rhonda and Mickey sitting right beside each other, looking each other in the eyes, and she has both of Mickey’s hands grasped in hers.

Ian walks into the room and Mickey clears his throat, pulling his hands away, and quickly wipes what appears to be a tear from his cheek. Sniffs a time or two.

“So, who wants dessert!” Rhonda says cheerfully.

———

“Night, boys!” Rhonda calls from across the hallway as Ian and Mickey head to their apartment after dinner. She grabs Ian’s shoulder, stops him for a moment and whispers in his ear, “You were right. Mickey is an absolute gem,” and gives him a wink.

“Sooo…” Ian hesitates, as soon as they are back home. “What did you and Rhonda chat about while I was in the bathroom?” He thinks he’s being nonchalant.

“I know you were listening,” Mickey states matter-of-factly.

“Um, what?” Ian questions.

“C’mon, man. Were you takin’ a shit? You were gone for like, fifteen minutes.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m sorr-“

“Ian, it’s okay. I don’t mind. It’s nothin’ you don’t already know anyway. You were right though. Something about Rhonda just makes you wanna spill your fuckin’ guts out to her,” Mickey admits.

“Maybe it’s the psychology Ph.D.? I mean, she’s basically a professional listener,” Ian suggests. “And she’s not, like, legally allowed to judge you or something.”

“Yeah, maybe, but it’s more than that I think. She’s just so fuckin’ like, kind and welcoming and shit. I don’t know.”

“So,” Ian says as he sidles up to Mickey, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “We can be friends with her? Like, actual real friends that do stuff and hang out together? Especially now that you know she’s not after my giant cock?”

Mickey sighs and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay. We can be friends with her,” Mickey relents and places his hands on Ian’s hips.

Ian bends down and kisses Mickey slowly and softly, holding him close. When he pulls away slightly he says, “That’s great, because we are doing yoga on the roof with her tomorrow morning, 8 am sharp.”

PART 1

[gallavictorious]

Do you think Mickey feels he got closure with terry?

Short answer and based on what we’ve seen so far: not really, no. Or rather: not yet.

Long (and I do mean really quite long) answer below.

Admittedly, writing on this topic now, before we’ve seen how Mickey deals with the aftermath of Terry’s death in the next episode, strikes me as a bit of a fool’s errand, because what we get on Sunday will (probably, hopefully) offer us more insight into how he feels about his dad and their relationship now. But I am fascinated with the subject, so I’m going to go ahead and indulge in rambling, though with the proviso that everything below is a tentative analysis that might well need to be revised once 11x09 has aired. As always, I’m glad of other people’s input, because I suspect I’m nowhere near done forming my opinion on this.

Before we start, I’d like to note that this post solely and specifically addresses how Mickey reacts to his dad and trauma on the show; it’s not a statement on how actual live trauma victims should or should not relate to their abusers. That really, really isn’t for me to say. Okay?

All right, then. Let’s get to it:

Following 10x12 I thought that Mickey was pretty much done with Terry; as far as he was concerned, that bridge was burned once Terry burned down The Bamboo Lotus, and even though they must have reached some sort of unspoken cold war type of truce (ie not actively trying to kill one another) Mickey seemed content to ignore his dad. No more asking for advice; no more helping out with various “jobs”; no more attempts at some semblance of a relationship, be it a cordial one or a murderous one. What we got in 11x06 didn’t really change that: seeing Terry thus weakened understandably stirred a lot of emotion in Mickey but both his choice not to kill his dad and his choice to eventually help him have arguably less to do with Terry or Mickey’s relationship to him, and more to do with what sort of person Mickey wants to be. At that point, he chooses to be a man stepping away from his father’s hateful legacy, wanting to be better than that. (And by God, Mickey dearest, you are so much better than that.) And that could have been the end of it, you know? That could have been closure of a sort – not in the sense that it in any way healed the wounds of the past, but in the sense that it signified Mickey finding a way to live with the hurt that allows him to move forward.

Now, we knew (from the episode descriptions) this wasn’t the end of their story, but I was still surprised by Mickey’s overt preoccupation with Terry in 11x08. This isn’t just someone doing the (more than) decent thing to be a decent person, this is genuine concern for Terry’s welfare – and while part of it might be tied to the ingrained idea that “family is family” and while Mickey is still very much aware of the fact that Terry is an utter piece of shit, it’s very hard not to read this as Mickey – once more, and probably without fully acknowledging it– being driven by a latent wish for his father’s approval, that need for connection. (As I’ve argued before, I think that’s why Ian’s not necessarily very enthusiastic about Mickey’s dedication, even though he thinks everyone should receive aid and even though he probably is quite taken with Mickey being so caring.)

But while I didn’t really see it coming, I do like it. I get why you’d rather have him finally and vocally and possibly violently denounce his dad; it’d be cathartic, surely, for a lot of people to see that. But to me, what we get feels truer to the complex push and pull of their fractured bond and is quite frankly more interesting to me because it is messy and complicated and unfinished. Terry is a nightmare; he’s still Mickey’s dad; the relationship between an abusive parent and a child is often highly complex, and I think the show has done a consistently good job of showing that. 11x08 is no exception. You might think Mickey should tell his dad to fuck of once and for all because Terry doesn’t deserve Mickey’s time or devotion (I mean, he really doesn’t), but I find it highly realistic that Mickey would opt for this instead now that it’s a possibility. (It’s relevant to note, I think, that Mickey only allows himself to approach Terry again when Terry is helpless and not in a position to actually harm him; Mickey’s ultimately in control here, and I think that’s very important.)

So yeah, I think Mickey is searching for something from his dad still, but I don’t think he quite gets it. Can’t get it, really.

See, I believe that Terry, to some small degree at least, regrets not having a better relationship with Mickey: that’s how I read “you’d probably have made a half-decent son”. However, his regret isn’t tied to any notions of “I wish I’d been better and given another chance I’d try to do things differently” but instead an expression of “yeah, it suck’s that you’re gay so I had to hate you”. It’s not an acceptance of responsibility or even a vague hint of being willing to change or to accept Mickey for who he is, and because of that – because Terry is not willing or able to change and because Mickey will no longer accept anything less – Mickey’s potential but unvoiced dreams of reconciliation cannot be fulfilled. (And let’s be clear: even if Terry did repent and changed and made what amends he could that doesn’t undo or make up for the damage he has done and Mickey has zero obligation to forgive him or spend even another second in his company.)

So it’s not enough – what could be? – but it is something. A grudging acknowledgment of Mickey’s good qualities, an admission that he is desirable as a son – or would be, if it weren’t for that one thing. :/ It’s recognition and rejection all wrapped into one, and I really like Mickey’s response: he makes it clear that he knows that he’s not the problem here and that he’s fully aware of what an evil bastard Terry is but that he still chooses to be there; chooses to feed Terry and find him a nurse, rather than scoop his eyeballs out or piss on him or use his mouth for a fucking ashtray.

It reminds me of a passage from the Swedish novel Beartown by Fredrik Backman: “She will hold all the power in that moment, but she will spare him. She doesn’t forgive, she doesn’t pardon, she merely spares him. He will always know it.” (2017[2016]:466, my translation.)

It’s remarkable too, I find, that Mickey doesn’t try to hide his hurt here: he allows himself to be vulnerable, to let his father see the pain he has caused. And Terry doesn’t pounce on it; he doesn’t scorn Mickey’s “weakness” or argue with his denunciation; he accepts the judgement and opens his mouth to accept the food without further protest, accepting – in that moment, at least – what Mickey chooses to give him. He concedes his loss of power and his dependance on the son he tortured and disowned. (But it’s not like he gives fully either – there’s no apology, no thanks, no actually asking for help: he just opens his mouth. It’s a lot for Terry, and I think we can acknowledge that, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is an utter and total asshole – and I’m glad that the show didn’t have him do more, because that would have felt… unlikely to me.)

It’s such a small thing, and so far less than what Mickey deserves, but probably more than he expected at this point. In time I think it will be helpful to him, to have gotten even this much, but at the time of Terry’s death I’d argue that it adds to rather than lessens Mickey’s burden. Because it’s possible that this could serve as a bookend to their relationship: not a reconciliation but as much of peace as they’ll ever know – eyes lifted to momentarily meet across the abyss in one brief instance of seeing, and being seen by, one another. But going only by what we get in 11x08 I don’t think that this is quite it, and rather than Mickey (in the moment) taking this as the final word or where they stand I think that he – in spite of everything Terry has done – can’t help but think of this exchange as an opening, the potential start of something. Not sure it’s a conscious thing, or how comfortable he is with this notion, because of course he is still very angry with and hates his dad, but consider the way he keeps looking at his phone and insisting they check back in with the nurse: that’s not the actions of someone who has laid things to rest and let it go, that’s Mickey doubling down on being a concerned son and… Yeah. As things stand, I tend to think that he was hoping against hope that maybe, possibly–

And then Terry is dead and Mickey is left with all of his conflicting emotions and nothing to do with them. It’d have been easier, probably, if it hadn’t been for that tiny, tiny softening; that small flare of hope I think Mickey might be quite angry with himself for feeling, if he admits to feeling it at all. It’d be easier if he could just hate Terry, you know?

Now, we don’t know what Mickey would have done if Terry (and that’s a big fucking if) had ever indicated any actual regret. But whether Mickey would have wanted that opportunity to rekindle a relationship with his father or if he’d have used to spit in Terry’s face and spend five hours telling him why Mickey would never forgive him and felt nothing but hatred and revulsion for him, that choice was forever and finally taken from him.

However, I don’t think this means that Mickey won’t find closure; I believe he will, and I think – hope – that we’ll get to see some of that in the next episode. Because the thing about Terry not being willing or able to change means that he would never have been able to give Mickey what he truly needed anyway (and as mentioned, even if he did change there’s no undoing his crimes). It was always going to come down to Mickey finding a way to live with the scars; finding a way to make some sort of peace with the past (which doesn’t have to include making peace with Terry at all) and to let it be the past. He doesn’t strictly speaking need Terry for that and given what an asshole Terry is, maybe it’s actually easier to manage it when he’s not around to fuck it up.

So yeah. It’s not likely to be sweet or neat or even very conclusive – these things rarely are and recovery is a process – but I think that Mickey will get some closure one way or another, and I believe that in the end he’ll be glad for the tiny moment they shared just before Terry’s death, even if it’s a complicating factor now.

(It should also be noted that Terry isn’t horrible just as an evil response to Mickey being gay; he was plenty horrible to him and the rest of his kids outside of that too. Consider Mickey listing the awful things Terry did when Mickey was just a kid; consider Mandy telling Debbie in season 5 that she learned how to cover up a bruise form living with Terry. The attempted murder(s) and corrective rape and disowning Mickey was a result of Terry’s virulent homophobia, but he was an awful father long before he knew Mickey was gay. So even without the homophobia, there’d be a hell of a lot to hate him for.)

There’s certainly more to say on this topic, and I think that we’ll have reason to return to it come Sunday - but for now, that’s most of my thoughts, I think.

[superemeralds]

OH WOW thank you for answering so fast!! I wanted to ask because in my opinion, Shadow is written kind of... poorly.. at the metal virus arc :c and I love how you characterize Shadow!! I was wondering, if you could, how would you have written him in it?

okay so this got. RAELLY long. it’s under the read more.. hhaaa... get ready for rambles.

before i start on what i would love to see different, here’s a few things that i really liked about his characterization in idw:

shadow being persistent about what he thinks is right, being very straightforward and strict in wanting to execute his ideal

the way he stepped down and let sonic try his way instead of being stubborn because sonic made a very good point. Shadow wants to be fair, and if he of all people deserves a chance, then so should eggman. kind of ties back to maria also, which is a nice nod to have considering it seems like modern writers for sonic usually treat the ending of shth as “ok she never existed to him anyways”

i like that he uses his GUN affiliation to his advantage to do good and help people (even if by rouges account he does it because he doesnt want to deal with zombots)

he has great devotion to make sure the truck is safe and peole get a chance to get out, giving (according to the comics anyways) more than 100% of his power dealing with hundreds if not thousands of zombots alone

I like that there’s a nod to shadow being insecure about his status as ultimate life form, and he is tempted to get infected just to prove to himself he really CANT get sick and he really IS a perfect being. He struggled a lot with the high expectations that were laid upon him, the expectations he’s laying upon himself.

I like how he had a great sense of shock and defeat when he realized that he DID get infected. It’s very true for him to be thrown off by it, get a little careless due to shock. its natural. it’s good.

his “i told you something like this would happen” towards sonic in the beginning of #19 is justified. He hates that he was right, he always is, and he wishes he wasnt. he could’ve prevented this, but its too late now. then later he risks getting infected with the metal virus, and he DOES get infected. He suddenly wasnt right anymore. This sense of irony... it’s probably one of the reasons he has trouble to concentrate on the fight. it’s a nice parallel. IDK if ian intended it to be this deep, but that’s what i read into it.

(i also want to point out that i like that herms gives everyone slightly diverse “skin”-tones. like diverse undertones. im still peeved they are all pretty pale but its hoenstly a nice little nod)

okay so here’s what i think could’ve gone better:

I feel like shadow being the one to drive the truck into the city is a reference to 06, where he is driving around in various vehicles. That in itself is nice, and i think shadow is a person who prefers to do things himself if there’s a lot at stake (which there was a lot of peoples lives) but i also think that he would think of himself as a powerful shield. He would rather be the one overseeing the battlefield insread of being the designated driver. He knows he was created for the frontlines, and he is someone who knows he can survive the front lines. He is not a sacrefice tobe made, he is the one who will make sure that no one else has to sacrefice themselves. Shadow should’ve been on site from the very beginning. Where is the rest of GUN anyways? Those low level humans should make an effort to protect the life on their planet.

Shadow did absolutely NOT use 100% of his pwoer to protect the truck. He could EASILY have done more. He can lift trucks. He could use chaos blast. He could easily have prevented just faling victim to the zombots so easily.

As mentioned above it kind of DOES make sense for him to go down easily due to being infected, but I think this was the wrong time to let him get infected. I think he wouldn’t let his guard down and carelessly touch a zombot. He would not give in to the temptation to test his limits like this if there was not a greater cause. I think he would easily break if someone he cared about (other than sonic) fell victim to the metal virus. This is something that would get him emotional, to get careless. He knows sonic can outrun the virus, but rouge can’t. Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Vector, all of Sonic’s friends can’t outrun the virus. There’s a big chance that he is immune, there’s a slim chance he is not. But even with that slim chance, he knows he could outrun it, just like sonic. Losing someone he cares about to the virus would remind him of his superiority, of how fragile life is and of his responsibility to protect life itself. Any restrait would be gone. He would be driven by guilt and anger at himself, that he could’ve done better, that he HAS to do better. It’s something that spirals him totally out of control. It’s something that would make him want to prove to himself that he has the ability to fix it all. because it’s all his fault.

this is honestly something that is so important. he feels responsible for this, because he did what was right and gave sonic and eggman a chance. In his mind, sometimes the right hting to do is the wrong thing to do, because sometimes only wrong actions get you to the right goal. he is a gray character like that, and i think it’s not shown enough. his regret and guilt don’t surface enough so that anyone who is not as invested in the character would be able to read it out of #19. there’s a lot of stuff going on inside shadow in this issue and its just. not enough time to unpack it all. this whole deal of him getting infected was too rushed. (as mentioned above i wouldve preferred he get infected a little later or under other circumstances)

I think shadow is aware of his responsibility as living weapon to not fall into the hands of the enemy. he has learned what it means to be manipulated, he learned what it means if he was used as a weapon by an enemy of life on earth. he does NOT want to be used as an object of destruction ever again. He would RUN. even if hesitant, but his emotions would make him excell even in that. he would make sure he’d run faster than sonic. he’s want to make sure that he’d give 110% and cure himself, something sonic couldn’t do.

the way he would go down in my mind is him excerting himself. He would absolutely reject help. he would prefer to not have any contact with anyone at all. For one because he feels guilty and he doesn’t want to deal with that emotionally, also because he doesn’t want anyone to see him in this state of weakness. He absolutely would loathe the idea of anyone being able to see him go down and surrender to the enemy. He would absolutely exhaust his entire energy reservoir building barricades and being the sole and only front line protecting evacuation efforts from a distance, to make sure that they have enough buffer to escape, should he fail.

shadow is someone  who is rash and has a tendency to boast his strength, but he also is someone who tries to consider any and all possibilities, no matter how painful they are to admit to his pride. he will shove them to the back of his mind, but they are still there. and if it COMES to those scenarios, he will have a plan for them. only if unpredictable things happen, or things that shake him emotionally, he would lose grip.

also in all those talks abt things shaking him emotionally, i dont mean that other people who arent his friends are not important to him, its just that friendship has a bigger impact on people. i think that should be pretty obvious, but since people like to misinterpret shadow id like to make sure people understand that i think that shadow values all and every life on the planet. he griefs over random deaths as much as his friends, it’s just that it hits more personal. mostly because he thinks... of himself as someone who always protects, but never has to be protected.

shadows relationship with himself is complicated. he thinks very low of himself. he pretty much hates himself. but that is because he thinks oh so highly of himself. he is perfect, ultimate, unbeatable, unstoppable, immortal, immune.... he expects all this of himself... even though he knows that it’s not true. it’s the one thing that he knows of himself. The one thing he feels that he could maybe achieve if he tried hard enough, and of course he is never trying hard enough; and at the same time he is trying so hard. He gives 300% and yet he still feels like he halfasses everything and he still feels like he could do better. On the outside he presents it with his strict edgy persona, that looks down on everyone. but really he feels so small. most of all towards sonic. sonic is so so tall compared to shadow (pun intended).

he looks up to sonic so much, because he always manages to go out of hisway to do what is right. even if it meant risk, even if it meant weakness. Sonic, the guy that easily could just get killed and hurt and not recover. the funny jokes dude that never thinks more than a single step ahead. This boy is out there risking his life for the life of this planet on the front lines and he shows not a single care about his own safety, always putting everyone else before him. shadow envies him. he really really does. thats why he values his opinoin. thats why he listens to him and even steps back from his OWN ideals, something he would do for only VERY few people, because of course shadow is always right. this is referenced in various sonic games (sa2 most of all,shth,sth) and in sonic x (yea its not canon but like. They Really Got His Character).

ADDING SOME RAMBLING AFTER ISSUE #33 RELEASED

[salvatoreschool]

‘Legacies’ season 2, episode 6 review: Secrets, secrets are no fun

I think we were all ready for Legacies season 2, episode 6. For Freya to make her first (and hopefully not last) appearance on Legacies and for some big plot pieces to start moving forward. And (whoa boy!), did they ever.

After last week’s big reveal about Vardemus and Clark and all that craziness hiding in plain sight, I was so ready for some hard truths to come out. And what better way to get secrets out in the open than a monster who consumes those keeping the biggest secrets? Read on for all my Legacies season 2, episode 6 thoughts and make sure to comment and tell me what you thought of the episode.

Josie visits hallowed Mikaelson ground

So, the raven-haired Saltzman takes a trip to New Orleans in Legacies season 2, episode 6 to get Freya’s help with a spell, but more so to get some motivation to not be selfish. An interesting head trip for Josie to go down, since she’s usually the self-less twin. This sudden and intense flip of her character’s core being is tough for the Josie-loving part of my heart to accept.

I mean, I get why she’s hesitant, she clearly loves Landon and this is going to complicate matters for him, but ultimately, wouldn’t having full knowledge of someone and what they mean to everyone around you better than keeping everyone in the dark? Holding Landon hostage to what he does and doesn’t remember wouldn’t pave an easy path for their relationship to travel, that’s for sure.

Also, who else had some serious The Originals pangs when seeing Cami, Davina, Josh, Jackson and Freya plastered all over the walls of Rousseau’s? I definitely squeaked and covered my mouth at glimpses of all the characters this world has brought us. It also reminded me just how much I NEED Davina, Kol, and/or Marcel to give their niece a visit. Especially now that they remember her existence.

Kym needs to get supernatural because I want her around PERMANENTLY

In classic TVD fashion, as soon as a human wants to see what goes on in the (usually unexhilarating) world of the supernatural, all hell breaks loose. In Legacies season 2, episode 6 that chaos takes the form of a zombie and a Croatoan, but more on their monster selves later.

I am in love with this new character. I want Kym Hawkins to be a frequent visitor to the Salvatore School because she is smart and witty and confident in some truly refreshing ways. She gives Kaleb so much more to do in scenes, especially since he is super protective of her, and clearly wants her to stay human. I never thought Kaleb Hawkins and Elena Gilbert would have something in common, but there you go.

Let’s table this

I love that Hope and Lizzie’s big plan to keep the Malivore puddle hidden from Mystic Falls-ians was to set up a table over it for Commonwealth Day. That alone should have signaled to both of them that the zombie probably didn’t come out of the portal. Someone would have noticed a zombie climbing out from underneath a table. And, I mean, how many monsters have had the Triad symbol carved into their foreheads? I’m pretty sure that a practiced witch like Hope should have recognized it for what it was, a spellmark, but instead, she just believes Lizzie when she tells her its a Malivore monster. And I think it should have been an even bigger red flag when the Croatoan showed up, but maybe that’s just me.

Josie gives me a Davina flashback

We knew from the Legacies season 2, episode 6 trailer that Josie was going to use black magic against Freya, but I have to take a second and talk about what she was actually doing in that scene. At first glance, I thought she was just using magic to get Freya off her back so she could get back to Mystic Falls and make up her mind about whether she wanted everyone to permanently remember or forget Hope Mikaelson.

But now, after having seen the episode in its entirety, I think she made her decision to restore Hope’s memory the minute she saw the picture of Hope and Freya smiling together on that wall. I think it reminded Josie that restoring Hope’s memory is about more than just Landon. It reminded Josie that Hope has a family out there, has loved ones who are suddenly missing a very important piece of the Mikaelson family story.

So, I think when we saw black magic throw Freya to the ground, it was Josie’s first time casting the restoring spell. I say this because Freya would have needed the heads up to travel all the way to Mystic Falls to arrive before that epic reunion with Hope in the town square. So Josie knew what she was doing before she ever stepped foot back in Mystic Falls.

‘Unhand me you turnips!’

That Sebastian. I like having him around. M.G. and Kaleb hatch an ingenious (if not a little risky) scheme to capture Sebastian, and it works like a charm thanks to the human bait, Kym. The biggest takeaway I have from this scene is that Kym is awesome and I hope they get her into as many episodes of Legacies season 2 as possible. She not only annoys the hell out of Kaleb, which is delightful, but she speaks her mind like nobody’s business. I’m telling you, I want her around ALWAYS. Can we make her a super latent witch whose powers were dormant or something? I need her to move to Mystic Falls ASAP.

Another Alyssa Chang reference!

Now that Alyssa Chang has been cast, I’m more aware than ever that Lizzie is constantly mentioning her. I can’t wait to see what adding Olivia Liang to the cast as Alyssa will do to the character dynamic we’ve been building since season 1. I’m sure she’ll fit right in, since most of our faves know her already, but it’ll be nice to not just use her as random miscellaneous Salvatore School character that gets mentioned from time to time.

The Croatoan

So, does anyone else remember learning about Roanoke in school? As soon as Kym said the name of the lost colony, I had flashbacks to one of the most enduring unsolved mysteries of American history. From this point on I knew I was going to love this episode, but little did I know how much I was about to learn about the Croatoan.

We’ll leave his creation and all that for the section about Sebastian below, but I have to say that I really liked the concept of this episode. I love the larger mystery surrounding the Croatoan. I love his whole concept and what it forces our faves to confess to. I am really glad this is a part of Legacies season 2, and I can’t wait to see what other monsters they have in store for us after this.

‘I’ll just ask him about ‘Star Wars’ and he’ll talk the whole time’

I need to take a second and just discuss how well Lizzie knows Landon. While she’s definitely not a Jandon shipper, she is so tuned into her sister’s wants and needs that she is paying attention. The second she talked about distracting Landon by asking him questions about Star Wars, I sort of swooned for the observational skills of Lizzie Saltzman.

You know who else Lizzie is not shipping? Hosie. She is so not about Josie and Hope having crushes on each other throughout their childhood. Why is she so against them dating? I’m actually really curious about this, because while I see what she has against Landon, I would think that Josie dating Hope would be a step up from Josie’s exes that Lizzie hates, i.e. Penelope Park.

That late ‘TVD’ season Easter Egg

That candle that Lizzie lit to keep Landon safe, wasn’t that the candle that Bonnie used to keep Enzo in the cabin? My heart broke to see it in use again in Legacies season 2, episode 6.

Sebastian’s history

Not only did we learn about the Croatoan, we learned the how, why, and who of Sebastian’s dessication. Except for how he ended up in the Salvatore School basement, but we won’t worry about that for the time being.

So Cassie, Sebastian’s long lost lady love, was a witch. She summoned the Croatoan to distract the Roanoke colony leadership from hunting Sebastian. She wanted the Croatoan to ferret out everyone else’s lies and leave Sebastian alone, but the Croatoan got out of hand and killed everyone in the village.

Cassie dessicated Sebastian to keep him safe (since he was a vamp that nobody knew about, AKA BIG secret stuff), and that left him unable to save her when the Croatoan attacked her. He had to watch her be dissolved in front of his eyes, and then was left to dessicate for a few centuries. As much as I don’t know how to feel about Sebastian in the present, being helpless to save the woman he loved must have been a truly awful thing to endure.

This sheriff is going to be more Matt Donovan than Elizabeth Forbes

Alaric gave this new sheriff a chance to prove she was willing to be in on the secret world of the supernatural, but she failed with flying colors. It seems that he’s going to have to keep her in the dark when it comes to all things vampire, werewolf, and witch… and phoenix, too. There are going to be a LOT of animal attacks in her tenure as Mystic Falls’ sheriff, maybe even more than during the Liz Forbes era, and that is saying something.

How cool was that spell?!

So how awesome was that spell that Josie cast to reinstate Hope into everyone’s memories? I loved how they chose to visualize it, and that the only supernatural creatures that weren’t knocked out were the two who know who Hope Andrea Mikaelson is.

This show has made some incredible choices when it comes to monsters and magic and how to bring them to the screen, and this spell was a big risk. I think it was really cool to see it as a sort of transparent curtain that only affected those that had prior memories of Hope Mikaelson.

Coming clean

This was definitely the episode for hard truths. Hope is remembered, so that starts a whole wrecking ball of secret-sharing. Hope tells Landon that she knows he almost slept with Josie. Lizzie and Josie admit to each other that they both kept the secret of Hope’s truth. M.G. brings Sebastian back to the Salvatore School and comes clean to Lizzie about how she was seeing Sebastian and why everyone can see him now. Oh, and Raf tells Hope (yet again) that he must stay away from her because of his feelings. I really need him to get on the friendship train. These two have epic friendship written all over them. There were probably a few more truths sprinkled in there, but those are the major ones.

Should Hope continue flirting with the Muggles or return to the magical?

So, now that Hope is remembered and things can get back to some semblance of normal, where is Hope going to go to school? She’s made friends and started building a new life at Mystic Falls High, and clearly Leo and Maya aren’t just going to disappear because Hope’s legacy isn’t lost to Malivore anymore. So, is there a case to make for her continuing at Mystic Falls High and maybe building herself a life completely removed from all things supernatural? Or will she re-enroll at the Salvatore School and pick up where she left off?

That Freya hug

Watching Hope get bad news from Raf was rough, considering what she’s lost and gained in the last 6 episodes, but it was all healed by seeing her reunite with her magical mentor. I don’t know if Freya is going to be appearing in any other episodes anytime soon, but I really wish we could have seen these two get more than a hug. I wanted Freya to talk about how the rest of the family is taking her sudden reemergence into their family memories. Kol, Davina, Rebekah, and Marcel have to have some sort of a reaction to this. But, at least their moment was heartfelt and gratifying. I certainly hope this isn’t the last we see of Aunt Freya.

They’ve got his eye on you

So now there is a free-moving zombie eyeball just hanging out at the Salvatore School. Random, crazy, and totally wierd, I just wonder how long before SOMEONE notices?!?!

And I only have like a hundred different theories about who could be under that red cloak now. The strangest, and least well-conceived is our new sheriff and her kids. They act all normal and human, but who’s to say they aren’t just really good, old supernaturals with an agenda.

What did you think of ‘Legacies’ season 2, episode 6?

[gentlemenclubbbz]

68. “He’s four years old”; 145. “I don’t care if he’s 4 or 40, you don’t hit people!” (Max)

Combined the two prompts since I felt inspired today. Still set in a sort of Superhero/Villain AU, continuing the other one with Ian being a hero and Max being the villain. I just like the idea. But he’s kind of a failed/not-that-bad of a villain. The silly kind of villain (but I bet he could be menacing if he tried hard enough). And I couldn’t come up with a villain name for him, so I kinda avoided it XD

***

“How did I end up your side-kick again…?” you grumbled under your breath, utterly exhausted. You were tired of following your lover all around town, pretending you were doing ‘bad deeds’. Those weren’t even things villains did! I mean, come on, popping the balloons of little kids? What kind of villain does that when he has high ambitions like conquering the world someday? It seems it took a special kind of villain, which was unsurprisingly your boyfriend. You still wondered how you ended up in his ‘clutches’ (he pretends he charmed you with his evil boy attitude and you accepted it for too long to ruin his dreams and tell him it was his sweetheart personality that attracted you like a magnet to him in the first place). But, no, seriously—even though he was potentially a very ‘dangerous’ criminal around town, your boyfriend is a little clumsy, potty-mouthed sweetheart. Despite him acting all tough and like he doesn’t care, that was just a façade. In fact, when the two of you were alone, he was like a kitten that was constantly looking for affection. You were practically smothered with the attention you were getting and that he wanted to receive—and he did anything that you wanted.

It wasn’t like this in the beginning: you met him at a local café and he seemed normal. Just an ordinary college student that had particularly interesting hobbies. You found out later on in your relationship (well, not that long, probably after two weeks) that he was actually a well-known criminal that constantly opposed that one superhero, whatshisface. You couldn’t remember. In fact, you didn’t care. After he told you, all jittery and nervous by your reaction, you could see the resemblance with the villain The Australian Cunt—oh, no, my bad, that was the way the hero Edupps called him. What was Max’s villain name again? The Pokemon master? Wasn’t that his main hobby? Err…you felt bad for forgetting it, but you can’t be blamed here! Max always had his group of acolytes by his side and it was hard to remember that he was the leader. I mean, Max barely did anything aside shout orders in that obnoxious voice of his. He didn’t participate in the fights (mostly, since he gets a good kickin’ from Edupps from time to time). He didn’t do anything. He just accepted it all without even throwing a punch. Didn’t want to get his hands dirty, he said. Then what was the point of being a villain? Couldn’t he be a hero instead? You had no idea what was going on inside his head, but it intrigued you. You wanted to know to what extents he could go, so that’s why you weren’t as surprised when he told you to join him. You did so without remorse; this was the most interesting thing that ever happened in your life, how could you say ‘no’? 

So here you were, pretending to be his side-kick, slightly regretting it now. That’s how he called you to protect your identity. Myeah. As if it wasn’t easy to figure out—and you had to wear this stupid costume that matched his too. Ok, that was rather cute, but still. You weren’t cut out for being a criminal (although it gave you a certain satisfaction) and to put your life in danger. You were lucky you never got arrested by Edupps before; you just pretended you were a victim and got off with. In fact, you only complicated things with this since Edupps tries to save you while Max protects you.

“You’ll never get your filthy hands on my love!” He’d boldly declare, saying those cringy lines so openly, to the whole world to hear. You’d feel embarrassed and hide your face whenever he spouted stupid cheesy shit. 

God help you. 

You were in this situation and you wanted to escape; but at the same time, you didn’t. It was interesting spending time with Max at night, in the streets, running from ‘danger’ and playing tricks with Edupps, in an attempt to outsmart him. It was nice to see that, despite being a rather poor small villain, he was respected by his peers and strive to be a greater leader. It was nice that he had ambitions (though a bit unrealistic, but hey, you never know). And you admired his dedication. And you learned to appreciate the thing he was doing, his views (maybe a bit morally wrong), the way he smiled and congratulated a fellow villain—you liked seeing that side of him. And he wasn’t harming anyone. Yet. Stealing a loaf of bread there, tripping an elder on the crossing road, that kind of stuff. At least you were there to make things right. In a way…

But this…This crossed the line.

“MAAAAAAX!” you shouted across the park, fuming with anger. You left him one second alone and he has already fucked it up. You saw it all from afar and you didn’t like it one bit.

“Munchkin, don’t shout my real name, please, it’s—“ he tries to say as you approach him, in a whisper and aware of his surroundings.

But you weren’t going to buy it. “What did you do?!”

He looked guilty—you were usually a calm person and put with so much of his shit. So when you were actually angry, it was bad. He cowered under your gaze. “I…I uh, punched him in the nose?”

Max was aware of the fact that there was a kid crying next to him and he wasn’t helping his situation at all.

“He’s four years old!” you cry out in indignation, not sure if you should slap Max or tend to the crying kid. There was a trickle of blood running down his nose and he was bawling so miserably—certain to get unwanted attention soon. You had to scram away from there as soon as possible. But not before making sure the kid was fine. At least a little bit: maybe buy him an ice-cream as an apology—no. No, wait. You think that the ice-cream was the cause of all this, judging by the melting pink melted pool on the ground with a cone sticking out of it.

“Hey, he started it!” Max defended himself, crossing his arms, as you tried your best to comfort the kid.

“How?!”

“W-Well, I wanted to steal the ice-cream, since I’m a villain, but he wouldn’t let me—“

“Of course he wouldn’t!”

“—and I tugged it, he wouldn’t let go and I flipped off and…” Max averted his gaze to the side, starting to sweat from nervousness. “…and I accidentally punched him in the nose…”

“That was no accident. You did it on purpose!”

“…I—I won’t admit it!” You knew Max had a short temper on him and he could easily get mad if he didn’t get his way. He simply lost his cool and threw one at the poor kid—sometimes, Max had no self-control. You were still working on that, he could be very reckless.

“I don’t care if you’re 4 or 40, you don’t hit people!” You stood up, seeing that he kid won’t stop bawling despite your words. He was a lost cause. So you focused your attention on your guilty lover.

“I’m a villain, it’s what I do!”

“You’ve never hit anyone before! No one in the group did! They always get their ass kicked by that green alien dude!”

“…Urgh, but—“

Then, suddenly, police sirens were heard around the park and there were random shouts, coming from both the police and your fellow criminals. Max’s eyes narrowed, suddenly turning serious “Never mind that, we need to go!” And he grabs your hand, dragging you out of there.

You huff a “We’ll talk about this later!” and do your best to not get arrested for the night. You still needed to apply a severe correction to your lovely villain here. 

[salfordelim]

Neil’s Reflections

After 40 years of zero contact I was contacted by a school friend on Facebook. We exchanged what were in effect short CVs of our lives: where we had been, what we had been doing, and who we had been doing it all with.

I tried to explain about the church, describing to someone outside of church-world what Pentecostal meant. I fell back on the description as ‘so-called happy-clappy’.

Well how would you describe our life together? Informal, friendly, open to the life of God, Gospel-centred?   

It raises the question, what does it actually mean to be a Pentecostal?

To get to grips with it, you can look at what Pentecostal churches around the world look like, or you can have a look at what it meant in the beginning of the movement, which would lead you to a different challenge.

Most people would agree that the first Pentecostal church was in a renovated warehouse on Azusa Street in Los Angeles in 1906. It was led by William Seymour, a black, partially sighted preacher at a time when to be black and poor in the States was to be on the receiving end of accepted racial abuse. So when the church began to grow as a mixed-race church, with white visitors from all over the world willing to listen to people who were at the bottom of the social ladder, it suggested a completely different church. One of the early pictures shows some of those early Pentecostals:

Male, female, white, black, old, young. What they had in common was an experience of the Spirit and, as one journalist would write after visiting a service, they knew that ‘the colour bar (the racial laws) had been washed away in Jesus’ blood’. The Spirit had created a community that shocked genteel society but demonstrated something of the Kingdom of God.

Did it last? In truth, not long. Petty arguments, church politics, doctrinal differences and racism all pulled apart what had happened. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it did happen.

So when we talk about who we are, maybe we shouldn’t talk about size, or perceived liveliness, or even friendliness, but should say that we were formed as communities that knew that their life together could be radically different.

It’s why Luke’s picture of the earliest sets of believers in Acts 2:42-47 is so significant. A group who were willing to sacrifice time, treasure and talents for one another in radical acts of generosity. They shared what they had, they met daily, they were devoted to one another and, unsurprisingly, they grew. Well they would, wouldn’t they?

Did it last like this?

In truth, not long. People tried to take advantage of one another, they disagreed and fell out with one another, they found it easier to follow racial lines.

But does it matter that they had experienced something different at their birth? Absolutely.

It’s who we were meant to be, it’s the shape of communities that have experienced the life of God. And in these days of separation, confusion and struggle, it matters more than ever. We will spend a little more time looking at this passage on Sunday together. Meanwhile, pray that we will be all that the Spirit would want to shape us as over these next years.

If you’re intrigued in reading more about these early days of Pentecostalism, you might be interested in reading this.

If you would rather know about early British Pentecostalism you could watch this (around 1:03 you might recognize one of the contributors).

Interview

This week’s interview is with Anne Albinson. Enjoy listening to the remarkable decisions she has taken in her life.

https://youtu.be/c90bryXBAJE

News

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

1. Our Gatherings

Sunday Gathering

The link to this Sunday’s Gathering is here:

Join our Sunday Zoom meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/836810848 Meeting ID: 836 810 848

Small Groups

A chance to reflect on life and scripture together. We are using this resource at the moment. We are in the second week.

Thursdays at 7.45pm is the time to log on.

Join our small group Zoom meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/998857193?pwd=Ni9ZY2pSSWdQcWRvellMWXJYbG5rZz09 Meeting ID: 998 857 193

Inviting Others

During these strange days, we want to stay growing as church. You might have friends and family who might be interested in staying in touch with us as a church. Ask them to fill out the form on our church website and we will add them to our mailing list.

Sign up for updates from Salford Elim Church

This may be an easy time to invite friends and family to our Gatherings, after all they can be with us from the safety of their own homes. You have nothing to lose, they have a lot to gain!

2. Prayer Together

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Why?

For some time we have sensed that as a church we don’t pray enough together. This was also reinforced in the feedback we received during Neil’s ‘Listening Exercise’ earlier in the year. 

Prayer really is part of our ‘core business’ as disciples of Jesus; it’s the life-blood of our relationship with God and one of the primary means by which God speaks to us, challenges us, encourages us and changes us.  The current global pandemic has caused many of us to pray more than we did before. It has also accelerated some of the changes we were going to make as a leadership. As a result, we hope that some of things we put in place now will continue after the crisis is over; one of them is to pray more together. 

When?

Tuesday evenings 8-9pm starting on Tuesday 19 May and then fortnightly onwards.

Where?

From the comfort of your own home!

The link to each meeting is here:

Join Prayer Together

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82385306337 Meeting ID: 823 8530 6337

And the link will be on our church’s events calendar.

We do hope you will join us to pray during this unprecedented time in history.

3. You’re not alone

If you need prayer, or need to talk, don’t hesitate to contact folks in your WhatsApp group, or Neil – his number is 07771 558058.

4. Hardship fund

We set aside some of church’s money so that we can respond to needs that we become aware of in church. You might want to give to that fund, if so, let Bev Walsh know, or you might be in need yourself. If you would need help, don’t be embarrassed to talk with Charlie Blundell. We want to help.

Links and Resources

1. Elim Leadership Summit

This is happening online on 12-13 May. You can hear about it and get the links here.

If you want to hear more about Neil’s research he will be ‘live’ at 2pm on Wednesday – but I guess it will be made available afterwards.

2. To watch

The last two months have changed things for many of us. I know some of you life got busier and more complicated. For other, it was less busy and the danger is that we lost a sense of purpose. For either group this might be worth a watch:

John Mark Comer wrote a really readable book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. In this interview, John Mark talks about family life, slowing down, finding rhythms of life that help us and our families connect with God, and the importance of Sabbath. It seems fitting for the season that we find ourselves in.

3. Children’s Resources

Morag and Ian have out together a couple of films for children at different ages. Having said that, whatever your age you might want to take a look!

But if you have children that fall into these groups, I know that they will really value your feedback, so please do leave a comment on the page.

Get this week’s Kids Resources